Chris McGarrell

“One month ago Chris McGarrell hadn’t ridden a bike since he was a child. Today he’s the leader of a rapidly growing cycling club, Man Dem CC.

In early June McGarrell was feeling down—people close to him were being laid off, gyms were closed, the pandemic continued and racial tensions were high in American and Canada.

In the height of all of this, McGarrell got word that a friend of a friend had just bought a bike. The idea of getting into cycling piqued his interest and he went out to look for a bike himself. He ended up driving two hours out of Toronto to find a shop that had bikes in stock, and decided on a Specialized CrossTrail with hydraulic disc brakes.

“I started riding randomly with a friend,” says McGarrell. “It felt really good to be on the road, with the wind and nature. After a couple of rides a few of my boys said ‘I have a bike too, we should ride together.’”

Their first ride consisted of eight friends and one rider who vaguely knew a friend of a friend. As one of the only cycling groups whose membership actually represents the diversity of Toronto, it was only appropriate to call the club the most Toronto name possible—Man Dem Cycling Club.

“Man Dem is Toronto street slang,” explains McGarrell. “It’s a patois slang we use. It’s not really gender specific, people at first got the impression it’s just for guys but that name was just inspired from the immediate circle that made the choice to start this.”

McGarrell says the club has changed his life. “One of the best takeaways for me was one of my closest friends (who didn’t have a bike 30 days ago) went from not riding at all to doing 60 km a day,” he says. “That’s been really cool to watch, seeing friends inspired to get out there.”

The club continues to grow and McGarrell can’t wait to see what his second month of cycling holds. “Whether you’re Black, white, Filipino, whatever sexual orientation, men, women—if you have two wheels, let’s go on a bike ride and enjoy Toronto.”

Text and thumbnail photo from the Canadian Cycling Magazine article entitled “Man Dem is the inclusive cycling club 2020 needs”.