IN THE SLIPSTREAM OF CYCLING'S FORGOT THEN HEROES

My 1,900-mile ride through the American West to honor the Black soldiers of the 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps.

- BY ERICK CEDEÑO AS TOLD TO LATRIA GRAHAM

THE JOURNEY BEGINS WITH A PHOTOGRAPH.

In the most famous picture of the group, the men pose with their bicycles, dark military uniforms stark against the bright, almost white travertine and limestone backdrop, a spot in Yellowstone National Park known as Minerva Terrace. Each man has his hat cocked back, eyes visible, even though their faces look in different directions.

The individual expressions of the men are not clear in this grainy snapshot from 1896, but their poses carry an air of discipline and dignity, and they hold their bikes gingerly as if they are precious. The two wheels in their care are their only method of transportation back to their barracks, hundreds of miles away.

The thing that intrigues me, given that this is a photo from over 100 years ago, is that all the cyclists are Black.

These men were part of the 25th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps, one of six all-Black Army regiments that were known as Buffalo Soldiers. Informally called Iron Riders, for their mettle and fierce resolve, the Corps traversed the American West in an effort to prove the bicycle could be useful in military exercises. One of the group's earliest excursions was a 790-mile round-trip ride from their base at Fort Missoula, Montana, to Yellowstone National Park. Their next was almost 2,000 miles long; it began on June 14, 1897, and took 41 days. Newspapers called it “The Great Experiment,” and readers across America were transfixed by accounts of their progress as they pedaled from Fort Missoula to St. Louis, Missouri.