(bicycle creaking) - Doc!

- What's up, sis?

(both laughing) How you been?

- So good to see you.

- I'm good.

- It's been now, what, two years since I've seen you last, exactly.

I met you in July.

Peace Peloton was a little baby.

(chuckles) What's changed for you?

- Wow.

I've met a lot of really cool people and had these amazing experiences.

- You've got a very chill vibe going on that I love.

- I dig it too.

- Yeah.

(both laughing) As we're talking and I'm thinking about getting on this bike.

So what are we gonna do today?

And am I gonna survive?

- Yeah, absolutely you're gonna survive.

And I am going to come close to guarantee that you're going to enjoy this too.

(Alison laughing) - And then, somehow you look cooler.

(Alison laughing) Just looks like this is your thing and it's not quite mine.

(Alison laughing) I did like once in New York, probably amongst my biggest regrets in life.

- [Doc] Yeah?

(Alison laughing) - You're giving me this confidence like, "I got this."

- We're both out here riding together.

- That's it.

- And we wanna enjoy this experience.

- All right.

- So let's do it.

- [Alison] Let's do it.

(motivational music) (motivational music continues) (switches to serene music) - Whoo!

- How you feel?

- I feel great.

(both laughing) - I mean- - You paused a bit.

- No, I just, 'cause I can't believe it.

- Okay.

- I feel free.

- Got it?

- And good in my body.

- All right.

- Let's go!

- [Doc] Perfect.

(Alison chuckles) (mellow music) I remember growing up, my mom never told us to go outdoors, never.

She would say, "Go outside."

Outdoor, and I never really thought about it until I started being outdoors.

Outdoors means to a young black kid growing up in Gary, Indiana who doesn't know any white people, and the only thing that we see with an outdoor banner on our TV is these white folks going out, having all the fun, climbing mountains.

They're all going outdoors, hiking.

They're all going outdoors.

Doing all these things outdoors, and we just thought, that's not for us.

But if you shift the language in a way that resonates with the culture that I grew up in and the community I grew up in, it's okay, going outside is easy.

Now that I've...

The only thing that it requires is your motivation to cross the threshold of your house.

Now you're outside.

What are you gonna do when you're outside?

You can do pretty much whatever you want.

Run, jump, swim, you know?

See how that language kind of changes things?

- I love that.

- Yeah.

- I love that.

- I'm like, yeah, so I tell people, man, let's go outside.

- Tell me about Peace Peloton.

- There was a lot of protests back in 2020, and our organization was incubated out of the energy that came about from the murder of George Floyd.

People were tired, and they were angry and really tired of, you know, just going down.

And no one bears any responsibility.

No consequences for the brutality.

People needed an outlet.

And also it was during Covid, so people wanted to get outside.

So I said, "Hey, guys, we're gonna have an event.

Our organization's called Peace Peloton.

Our bike ride is the Saturday.

Show up.

It's gonna be fun, and we're gonna ride to the Northwest African American Museum.

Made it all up right there.

I made up the name.

I made up the location.

I hadn't asked anybody any permission to do anything.

- What is a typical ride like?

Or is there a typical ride?

- There's a formula.

There are two things that have to take place in the ride, two major components.

One is it has to be a bicycle ride.

The second is it has to support viable businesses the owners of which happen to be black.

- When I think about moving through space as a black woman biking on the streets, there's an element of fear that comes into my mind, particularly since the 2020 reckoning or whatever you wanna call it, right?

But this idea of moving freely through space, it's sort of terrifying.

But Peace Peloton is all about claiming that space.

Can you tell me about, you know, what was it about biking?

Like when you thought of protests, why was it biking for your experience?

- Selfishly, I ride a bicycle.

I'm a bike commuter.

I ride for recreation.

I ride for speed.

So I want to do, if I'm going to do something, it helps that it's something that I enjoy and that I like.

When you're out at a park or on the streets and you see families bicycling together you don't feel threatened, right?

It just, it's a very calming and relaxing way to get outside and move your body.

- Well, we gotta get on the road again.

- Okay.

Okay.

- Where are we headed?

What's next for us?

- I think the sun has came out, the wind has died down.

So the weather gods are in our favor.

I think we should dip down to Lake Washington Boulevard and ride along there for a while.

It's gonna be super dope.

(serene music) (serene music continues) (serene music continues) (serene music continues) - [Alison] Whoo!

(chuckles) Hardest part of the ride was stopping from me right there.

(both laughing) This place is beautiful.

- Yeah, where I come.

This is a dope spot.

- Where are we?

- This is our Lake Washington and that is our Mount Baker Beach.

- Wow.

- So welcome to Mount Baker.

- When people leave a Peace Peloton ride, like what do you hope they leave feeling?

What do you want everybody to take away from this experience?

- [Doc] I want them to feel like family.

I want them to feel like their contribution is valuable to the greater scheme of what we're doing, our mission and vision.

- Hmm.

- Yeah.

- [Doc] Thank you for bringing me along for the ride and making me a part of it.

- Thank you, Doc.

- Yeah.

You're doing good work, sister.

- I feel the same way.

I felt a connection to your energy and what you're building and- - [Doc] Thank you.

- Thanks for taking me along for the literal ride today.

- Yeah.

(Alison laughing) Let's do some more riding.

- For sure.

- Yeah, everybody's welcome.

(serene music) - [Alison] Hear more about this episode on the Out & Back with Alison Mariella Desir podcast.

Just search Out & Back wherever you listen.

- [Narrator] Fleet Feet is on a mission to inspire the runner in everyone and is proud to sponsor Crosscuts Out & Back with Alison Mariella Desir.