Black motorcycle clubs come alive in the summer: ‘The best way to build community is on two wheels’

Building on decades-long traditions, Black bikers host rides, picnics and other gatherings nearly every summer weekend to celebrate community and freedom

The trip was only supposed to be a Memorial Day weekend girls’ getaway to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for Patrice “Foxy” Johnson. But once Johnson and her crew arrived, they inadvertently found themselves in the middle of an annual bike week where several thousand riders had convened. Johnson watched the “backpacks”, or the women who rode on the backs of male motorcyclists’ bikes, and realized she too wanted to be part of the community. She didn’t want to accompany the male riders, though. She wanted to ride herself.

In that moment about 30 years ago, Johnson decided that next time she would be attending bike week and coming with her own set of wheels. Once she returned to her home town of Raleigh, North Carolina, she enrolled in a foundational bike riding class at Johnston community college to learn more about motorcycles. Since then, she’s become such a staple in the Black motorcycle community nationwide that she holds multiple leadership positions across organizations.