CLEVELAND — Clvlnd BikeLife is an initiative that seats to change the negative narrative around youth bike culture. For the initiative's current leader Maurice Philpott, who goes by Los P, biking isn't a nuisance. It's the thing that saved his life. He says he still remembers when his grandmother and parents gave him his first bike.
"I grew up in the 116th, Buckeye area, [around a] lot of violence, lot of poverty...And that's the one thing that kept me outta trouble was riding a bike. So if it wasn't for a bike, I believe that would've been in the streets. I would've been involved, in something I shouldn't have been involved in."
Los says the BikeLife group exists to provide that outlet for others as well, drawing in young people from all areas to provide them with a positive atmosphere and a healthy outlet.
And recently, footage of Los performing on one of the group's rideouts helped bring BikeLife to another level.
"I found out the video got posted, it went viral and it went from like 1 million views, 2 million, all that, 3 million views and still rising. So since then, I believe it gave me more leverage. So I started a GoFundMe account to bring kids bikes in Cleveland. Uh, I started doing a Monday weekly ride off for kids to come down to, to keep them actively riding."
Los has also organized special rides - including a Halloween rideout planned for this weekend. And thanks to these events, a growing community and new initiatives. Los says he doesn't see Clvlnd BikeLife slowing down anytime soon.
"Clvlnd BikeLife is growing and the culture is gonna keep growing because kids are always going to ride bikes. I would say the lookout for these riders out here that everybody's not doing bad. If one person acting un-accordingly, they don't represent everybody else who is acting accordingly."
If you're interested in attending the group's Halloween rideout, please see the flyer below for more information.
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