By John Benson
In the ’70s there was a popular commercial that found a wise owl asking how many licks does it take to reach the center of a Tootsie Pop.
The same inquisitive nature is behind the inaugural Great Cleveland Bike Pull, which takes place Sat 10/5 at the Slavic Village’s Cleveland Velodrome. In a nutshell, the event finds commuters, roadies, mountain bikers, track riders and run-of-the-mill cyclists joining together – 2, 4 or 6 cyclists – to pull various vehicles.
A fundraiser for Bike Cleveland, the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op and the Cleveland Velodrome, the Great Cleveland Bike Pull is being organized by cycling magazine Great Lakes Courier’s editor Mike Gill. Cool Cleveland talked to the Lakewood resident about this truly unique affair, which ends with a cool Velodrome party.
Cool Cleveland: What exactly is The Great Cleveland Bike Pull?
Mike Gill: It’s a competition to raise some money for the three bicycle oriented non-profits in town. We are picking up on an idea that a friend of mine had and we executed together about five years ago. There used to be an event called Walk and Roll. We were involved in that event and asked to come up with an activity. He wondered how many bikes it will take to pull an SUV to illustrate the power of cycling and juxtapose those two different uses of energy.
And?
We actually figured out eight was the smallest number; however, we weren’t just pulling an SUV. We borrowed a U.S. Military Humvee, which is quite a bit heavier than my Honda. So that was the first time we did something like this and that was the inspiration to do this subsequent event, which is a whole different thing.
The notion of a bike pull has a bit of a freak show appeal, right?
Well, it’s certainly an unusual thing you don’t see all of the time. It has a little bit of tractor pull in it. I think it’s a common sort of urge or question to see how much weight you can pull. How strong are you? Either tractor pulls or tugs of war, it’s an idea that humans kind of have in their psyche to pull weight.
How will the bikes be tethered to the vehicles?
There’s a nylon loop that attaches to the left rear dropout of the bicycle and then by cable to a yoke across the vehicle. So it’ll look like horses pulling a wagon or reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh. Also, the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op is providing a set of bikes specifically for people to use at this event. Right now we’re going to be pulling at least one SUV. We’re working on different sizes of cars.
As far as the cycling non-profits are concerned, tell us about each one.
Bike Cleveland is an advocacy organization dealing with Cleveland proper and other cities to push for public infrastructure like bike lanes and also for improvements to the legal code that is helpful to cyclists. So last summer they succeeded in Cleveland getting passed what’s called Vulnerable User Legislation, which says that if you’re driving a car you need to give a cyclist three feet of clearance when passing. The Ohio City Bicycle Co-op educates people about maintaining their bicycle and safe riding. And Cleveland Velodrome is a group of guys who organize and pooled their money to build a bicycle racing track. They’re just wrapping up the first full season of racing at the track.
Finally, for those anti-cycling skeptics out there who have actively leveled a campaign of ambivalence against bicycle riders, what’s the message regarding the Great Cleveland Bike Pull?
When people think about bikes, they just don’t know how much their body can do. Humans are so incredibly capable and this is just a way of illustrating that.
The Great Cleveland Bike Pull takes place from 3 to 11 p.m. Sat 10/5 (rain date Sat 10/12) at the Cleveland Velodrome in Slavic Village, 5033 Broadway Ave., Cleveland. Pull Entry Fee: $25 per rider (includes participation in competition, party admission and a food and drink ticket). Party admission $5 (includes 1 drink ticket). https://bikepull.eventbrite.com.
Freelance writer John Benson spends most of his time writing for various papers throughout Northeast Ohio.
When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria. John also occasionally writes for CoolCleveland.com.