Tulsa man works to bring more diversity into cycling with a new team

TULSA, Okla. — Bringing more diversity and inclusion to the sport of cycling is one Tulsa man’s goal for building a new team.

Milus Clarke Jr. — who goes by Milo — is getting his wheels spinning on an idea to bring these values to more cycling competitions.

FOX23 first spoke with Clarke last summer during Tulsa Tough.

After taking some time off, Summer 2021 was his first season back, and he competed well after his hiatus.

“It was the first time racing in a couple years. I took 9th at Tulsa Tough. I had a state championship, a lot of top three finishes, a lot of top 10 finishes. We went everywhere, Kansas, Chicago, Texas,” he said.

Going into this year, Clarke created his own team of nine people. His goal is to bring diversity into the sport. Clarke said the amount of minority cyclists is low.

So far, his team, Logistics 918, consists of African American, white and Hispanic people.

He explained that if there are more diverse competitors on television, or even seen during Tulsa Tough, it will attract more diversity as well.

Clarke is hoping to recruit younger people into joining cycling as well. He hopes when the youth see diversity in the sport, it will make them feel like they can pursue cycling too.

“It’s someone who looks like them, because [people] think, ‘Whoa, if he can do that, I can do that too,” Clarke said.

Clarke also told FOX23 that his efforts are about more than just cycling. It’s also about giving back to his community. Through food drives, school supplies and more.

He said he is working on group rides to help train cyclists.

He adds he is looking for sponsorships for his team, and there’s plenty of room on the jerseys to add those sponsorship patches.

For more information on his team, you can go to their website here.