Cyclist group planning community ride in Benton Harbor June 24

A new community cycling event is rolling into Benton Harbor this summer, and organizers hope it will help attract some new riders to the hobby.

Greg Collins is the founder of the Pachyderm Pedalers, a cycling club based in Stevensville that often attracts as many as 200 riders to its events. He tells us the Slow Roll will be held on June 24 in Benton Harbor, offering an introduction to riding for everyone.

“It’s not a cycling event,” Collins said. “It’s a community bike event, getting people out on bikes throughout the community, introducing them to some of the infrastructure that’s available for safe riding out there. Bike lanes and some new trails that have opened in the area, and just to introduce people to what’s possible out there.”

Collins says he wanted to create an inclusive and welcoming experience for riders ages 12 and up, encouraging participants to explore Benton Harbor in a new way while building connections.

So, what’s the plan?

“We will be staging at The Livery in Benton Harbor, and we’ll be riding about 10 to 12 miles. So it’s a family-oriented event, but not necessarily for small kids, because 10 to 12 miles is a bit of a ride.”

From the staging event, they’ll head through some Benton Harbor neighborhoods and over to the Lakeshore Trail along M-63. They’ll work their way up to the Whirlpool campus and then head back.

Collins says with the opening of the Lakeview Trail this year, Southwest Michigan is really opening up to cyclists, pointing to new trails in several locations.

“There’s a lot of interest in cycling right now. I think the Marquette Greenway coming from Chicago to connect to Berrien County and Van Buren County and up the coast is a sign of that. We’re also partnering with the Friends of Berrien County Trails, who have been instrumental in advocating and helping facilitate the construction of many of these trails. Everyone’s looking for a safer way to cycle too, so the trails make a lot of sense because many folks are a little bit afraid to get out on the roads, as they should be, but the trails are fantastic.”

The Slow Roll is inspired by a Detroit event of the same name that’s been held since 2010, and on hand for the Benton Harbor event will be its founder, Jason Hall, who’s helping plan the route. He told us the Detroit Slow Roll has always been an inclusive event.

“It’s for everyone, not the haves or the have-nots,” Hall said. “Everybody needs to be able to take advantage of the infrastructure. So we started Slow Roll really to just really bring people and get them out on bikes the easiest way we could, which is rolling slow through neighborhoods and every neighborhood.”

So, what’s Hall think of cycling opportunities in Berrien County?

“We’re excited to come up here and learn a lot about Benton Harbor to take back to Detroit and talk to people. And hopefully not only me to come up here and ride, but I bring some people from Detroit so they can see what’s happening here.”