Cycling helped me embrace my disabled identity

This is an accepted article with a DOI pre-assigned that is not yet published.Using a bike as a mobility aid was not a conscious decision, but it is how I began to understand that I am disabled, and that disability is a fundamental part of my identity. Because cycling enabled me to connect to the disability community, my understanding of transportation needs is broader, and I use this knowledge to be a better advocate for transportation infrastructure that better meets everyone’s needs. In this piece, I also reflect on the tension I experience from being a disabled person who uses an unconventional mobility aid and how this tension is a product of internalized ableism. I discuss how my platform as a co-organizer of Kidical Mass rides allows me to be a disabled role model to children and influence their conception of disability and cycling.