The neighborhood biking scene comprises a variety of two-wheeled styles. Here are a few of the faces you might see on the streets and trails.

Read our March 2012 cover story: Before we become a bike-savvy city, we have a lot to learn.
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The chic cyclist

The chic cyclist / Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Name: Lacey Mahone

Age: 25

Occupation: Owns a company that develops social and digital strategies

Neighborhood: Anita and Skillman

Bike: Mercier Kilo road bike

Mahone built up her fixed-gear bike herself, with the help of Switching Gears Cyclery in Expo Park. “It’s my first bike that I built up,” she says. “After a while, you figure out what you like and don’t like, so it makes sense to customize.” She started riding bikes about three years ago after she began work on a film project documenting “this new casual Dallas riding scene,” she says. She met a lot of people she really liked and decided to start riding herself. Mahone rides around the city, along the Katy Trail or out to dinner, but “it’s rare that I would go out to White Rock and do 30 miles,” she says. She is involved with dallascyclestyle.com, which aims to increase interest in cycling through fashion and lifestyle. Even though we might not see a bike helmet on a Paris runway, Mahone always wears one. “I didn’t initially because they look stupid,” she says. But recently, helmets saved the lives of two friends injured in separate bike accidents. “I have a master’s degree, and I worked really hard on my brain, so it’s worth protecting,” she says. “I always wear a helmet, even with a dress.”

The townie

The townie / Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Name: Michael Hubbard

Age: 49

Occupation: Attorney

Neighborhood: Casa Linda

Bike: 2008 Electrabike Amsterdam 3

Hubbard started riding a bike about five years ago, after his doctor told him he needed to get more exercise. Normally, he rides his bike a little over a mile to the White Rock Trail, which feeds to the Santa Fe Trail, which he rides almost all the way to his office in Lakewood. “It’s like they built the trail system around me,” he says. Once Hubbard got into cycling, he became a little obsessed with buying and selling bikes on Craigslist. They mostly are vintage cruiser-style bikes. At home, he has about eight bikes. They take up a lot of room, but the upside is that if one breaks down, he always has a backup. Bicycles are fairly simple to understand and work on, even for someone who’s less than mechanically inclined, he says. Hubbard prefers upright bikes with comfortable saddles. He’s not into road bikes or pedaling long distances. But Downtown is only a few miles away, and it’s a fun way to get a lot of exercise, he says. “Instead of mindlessly exercising at a gym, I try to go out and ride my bike for errands,” he says. It’s also been a good way for Hubbard to meet people and save on gas. It’s so easy and fun to ride a bike that there aren’t many excuses not to do it, he says. “If I have to meet a client or go to court, or if it’s 100 degrees out, I drive.”

The Mountain Biker

The mountain biker / Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Name: John Beach

Age: 41

Occupation: Owns a landscape company

Neighborhood: Casa View

Bike: Gary Fisher mountain bike

Street cycling is fine, but Beach likes the adventure of going off road on a mountain bike. “There are fewer limitations,” he says of riding trails. Beach received his first mountain bike as a Christmas gift in 1991, when he was still in college. But in the past five years or so, he’s become more serious about riding. There are several popular mountain bike trails in Dallas and the surrounding area. Beach’s favorites are Boulder Park in the Red Bird area and Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, which he recommends for beginners. The Dallas Off Road Bike Association website lists all of the mountain bike trails in the area, with updates on riding conditions and reviews from users. DORBA also hosts a group ride, starting at 7:45 p.m. every Friday, at Dallas Bike Works, 4875 W. Lawther. “If you want to get out there and meet people, that is a good ride,” Beach says. He’s had only one serious injury, about a year ago, when his front wheel malfunctioned and he flew over the bike and broke a collarbone. Since then, he’s learned that bike maintenance is extremely important in mountain biking. The injury could have been avoided if he’d just had better equipment, he says.