A bicycle tour Saturday will reveal the legacy of resilience, community, and displacement of Pasadena’s Black neighborhoods along the iconic 210 freeway route and 710 stub and will present an opportunity to exercise, socialize, and honor the profound impact of African Americans on the history of Pasadena.
The event, which will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday morning, is free and open to the public.
“Saturday’s bike ride will be a great opportunity to exercise, socialize, and understand the important role African Americans have had in shaping the Pasadena community,” said Vice Mayor Felicia Williams.
Colin Bogart from the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition (PCSC) said the Bicycling Tour of the Pasadena African American History is part of the PCSC’s bike ride every second Saturday of the month.
The 12-mile tour will start at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) office at 595 Lincoln Avenue.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to make our way south through Old Pasadena and down close to the area near Huntington Hospital. And then we’re going to head back north and ultimately back to the NAACP office,” said Bogart.
“The whole ride centers around the 210 and 710 freeway stub because a lot of what we’re going to be discussing is the displacement that occurred when those freeways were built in the early seventies.”
PCSC and NAACP had developed the African American History tour a few years back.
It was originally designed to be a bus tour but with COVID-19, organizers modified it to a walking tour.
According to Bogart, PCSC had been discussing doing a bike ride version of the tour.
“It seemed logical to do it in May because May is National Bike Month. It also is very timely given that the 710 freeway stub was relinquished by Caltrans back to the city of Pasadena.” said Bogart. “So it’s a good moment for people to be learning the history of the area and what was there prior to the freeway construction.”
Aside from the freeways, bikers will also visit several other locations including Scott United Methodist Church, which used to be in the area where the freeway now sits, and the Friendship Baptist Church, which Martin Luther King visited twice.
NAACP Pasadena Branch president Allen Edson will join the tour and speak about the sites. At every stop there would be opportunities for people to ask questions and for discussion.
“I will talk about some of what’s left but really the visuals would be the destruction of the black community but not only black community, but also the Asian and Latino communities as well,” said Edson.
A limited number of GoSGV e-bikes will be available for participants to borrow for the bike ride. To date, all bikes are already reserved.
So far, over 40 bikers have already signed up for the event.
To sign up, visit the link below:
Registration is open until 6:00 p.m. on Friday
Aside from the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, and the NAACP Pasadena Branch, Day One is also among the organizers of the upcoming bicycling tour.
