Hometown Hero: Marty Merritt | Something Extra From Cycling

Marty has always had a relationship with bikes. As a kid, he set up jump ramps with friends in the woods in Petersburg, Virginia. Marty spent his adolescence and early adulthood in Chicago. He skateboarded downtown, becoming friends with bike messengers who introduced him to track bikes. Soon, he got a Ferrari-red Fuji track bike.

“That feeling of being a kid sparked something special in me as an adult. I loved weaving through the city traffic to get here and there.” 

Chicago boasts long winters and a dearth of mountains, but something about the city and its cycling community always amazed Marty. He ran and was a tennis instructor, but cycling was a literal journey that offered something extra.

“People are tight. We huddle together and take care of one another. Maybe it’s something about the cold or something.”

Marty is one of the eight members of the Black Foxes, one of America’s collectives of black cyclists seeking to make the sport and outdoor spaces more accessible to underrepresented people. He currently resides in Catalunya, Spain, and enjoys its roads and trails.