I
n the spring of 2016 the weather was really nice in early
April. The Team Decaf (another Pittsburgh bike club)
group rides didn’t start until the end of April, so Larry
Nicolette suggested to his friend, Chris Devlin, a group
ride out of Rivertown Brewery for the first two weeks,
then go join the Team Decaf rides.
Devlin, Nicolette, their friend Cristin Gorajczyk and
a few others embarked on that first ride and had a great
time. “When it came time to switch to the Team Decaf
rides none of us wanted to go,” says Devlin. “The back roads in
Murrysville are great to ride on, and we had a good, small group
to ride with close to home, and enjoyed staying at Rivertown for
a beer after the ride. Rivertown puts out tacos on Tuesdays, so we
started calling the ride the Tour de Taco.” The group began to ride
every week, and others started joining in—with that, Cyclists of
Murrysville was born.
“At first, only people we knew were a part of the group. Then
word of the rides started getting around and people we didn’t
know started joining us,” explains Devlin. At the end of the first
season, the group had grown to roughly 15 people. Soon after,
Devlin and Nicolette decided to create a Facebook page to attract
more interest, and the group quickly started to pick up more riders.
Today, more than 50 people take a ride together on any given
Tuesday night.
They ride Tuesday night out of the brewery, now named
Helltown, at 6:15 p.m. “This season, Helltown started their own
food truck and the quality of the tacos is much improved,” notes
Devlin. “Anyone who
wants to ride with us is
welcome to join—we
do 13 to 20 miles, and
around here you can’t
avoid climbing some
hills, so the rides can be
challenging, although we
accommodate all levels
of riders and make sure
no one is dropped.”
Devlin, 49, is married
with three daughters.
He rode bikes as
a kid, then in high
school and college for
transportation. He got
his first mountain bike
just after college and
really got into riding in the woods. “I got a modern road bike
nine years ago,” he says. “At first, it was just so I could ride when
the weather was bad and the trails were muddy, but I started
road riding more than mountain biking—with friends early on
weekend mornings and various organized group rides. Now, of
course, I ride the weekly Tour de Taco as often as I can; cycling is a
better sport when shared with friends.”
Nicolette has also been riding bicycles for as long as he
remembers. “I have always considered myself either the slowest
fast rider in the group or the fastest slow rider in the group,” he
laughs. “I have a collection of bicycles and my favorite is the one
that I am currently on.” Nicolette lives in Murrysville with his wife
and daughter, who both ride as well.
“I think the group is important to the community for several
reasons,” says Nicolette. “For the folks that ride, it provides a way
to socialize in a healthy way and it provides adults with the things
we encourage in team activities for our youth. For too many adults,
those activities are rare. Cycling with our group also provides a
measure of safety, as riding in a group of cyclists is safer than riding
alone. Also, the burden of planning and scheduling rides is gone
for most riders on Tuesdays. Other than ride leaders, folks just
have to show up and follow directions. For the greater community,
I think the benefits extend beyond the obvious economic impact
of bringing customers to local businesses. We think we make riders
happier and healthier, which improves citizenship in general.
“On the flip side, we know that our presence can cause some
minor traffic inconvenience, as we are slower-moving vehicles
using public roads,” he continues. “We try to mitigate that impact
as much as possible by keeping to lesser traveled roads when
possible. We have also adopted a stretch of Old William Penn
Highway and do road clean-ups. We have also assisted Murrysville
police officers push disabled vehicles out of the roadway. We think
we have a wonderful
relationship with the
municipality and its
residents and work hard
to keep it that way.”
The Cyclists of
Murrysville Facebook
page is used to keep
people updated about
the weekly brewery ride
and to post the weekly
route or any special
plans for the week.
People also post rides
that they are planning
if they’re looking for
people to ride with—
one can almost always
find someone who will
join in. “Our page also has a sense of humor,” says Devlin, “as while
it’s a place to post any cycling news that the community might find
interesting, it’s also a place to share news/information/memes
about tacos—because who doesn’t love tacos?!” n
MURRYSVILLE ❘
WINTER 2019
13