Underground Rail Road Bicycle Route: Using Cultural Tailoring to Increase Physical Activity Among African Americans

In 2004, the Center for Minority Health (CMH)at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health partnered with Adventure Cycling Association (ACA) to create the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (UGRR) a 2,100 mile roadway from Mobile, Alabama to Owen Sound, Ontario. The goal is to increase physical activity among African Americans and to diversify the cycling community. Drawing on the black history of the underground railroad CMH and ACA established a multidiscliplinary national advisory board that brought to life the varied paths slaves used to reach freedom. In May 2007, 20 riders from across the US launched the inagural URGG bicycle ride spanning 53 days. This presentation will highlight lessons learned in creating an innovative culturally tailored strategy to engage people in physical activity and to raise awareness about racial and ethnic health disparities. This presentation seeks to describe a unique cross-discipline collaboration which employed a culturally relevant framework to attract Americans of all walks of life into the cycling experience. Examples of local and national diffusion of innovation will be described.