MELISSA WONG FROM TORONTO HUSTLE: RIDING WITH AND FOR THE COMMUNITY
Every person gets into cycling for their own reasons, whether that be to get from point A to point B, to be more active, to develop a sense a community, to discover a new sport or simply because they enjoy it. For Melissa Wong, a member of the Toronto Hustle cycling team, it was seeing the great work the team was doing in the community.
“For two years I saw their work and I thought, ‘this is something I’m trying to do right now with the Queens team’, which was a lot of community stuff,” explained Wong. “It was something I knew I wanted to pursue after I graduated. I had my eyes on the team for a while and then when an opening came up the timing just worked out really well.”
The fourth year Queens University student is not only captain of her school’s team but also an active member of the Toronto-based team, participating in their community rides and taking on the brutal night shifts during the team’s most recent fundraising initiative, Ride for Mind. While Wong is an avid cyclist with plans to do more gravel racing upon graduating from school, her introduction to the sport stemmed from a place of wanting to help her network and community through different mental health movements.
“The first event that piqued my interest in cycling was the Jack.org [a mental health organization] charity ride in 2017 when I was in grade 11. At the time I was doing it because I was part of Jack.org in high school and my school was putting together a team for it so I was like, ‘why not?’. Some of the teachers said ‘hey, you should try the 50k’ so I went for it, but I didn’t fuel or drink at all and absolutely bombed. But afterwards I realized that it was kind of fun.”
While some may have been deterred from the sport after endeavoring a 50-kilometre ride as their first big challenge, a spark was lit within her along with a passion to help others through the power of the bike – both interests and values that align perfectly with what Toronto Hustle strives to do in the community. Riding for both Toronto Hustle and Queens University, her goal between both is to inspire women of all abilities.
“With the Toronto Hustle women’s team, there’s a lot of focus on getting more women on bikes and this year I’m the team captain at Queens. At the beginning of the year, I was involved in the team selection and for me something that’s always been lacking in cycling is having more girls and women on bikes so that was something that I really wanted to emphasize this year at Queens. Toronto Hustle’s women’s team is also doing a lot of great work with organizing rides during the summer in Toronto, or the Zwift rides which we were encouraging women of all abilities to join. It’s really important because when I started, having a safe space to develop in the sport was how I feel that I grew as a cyclist and that’s something that I want to help lead for the years to come.”
Creating that safe space and connecting with the community is something that is not only at the foundation of why Wong rides but is also part of the core values of the Toronto Hustle. Their mission to create an inclusive space, advocate for and support others was exemplified in their recent 24-hour Crush COVID and Ride for Mind fundraising rides that helped raise money for frontline workers during the pandemic and for mental health initiatives and organizations.
“There was a constant rotation of people in and out and it was bringing new energy every hour which was a nice way to keep you motivated. It was tough in terms of staying awake. Knowing that everyone else is doing it and that there are tons of people supporting us through donations, raising awareness and social media was amazing. It’s on my bucket list to do the full 24 hours.”
Having built her community through cycling, Wong aspires to continue to encourage more people to get active on their bikes. Despite the initial introduction being intimidating to some, she says the return pays in dividends, from exploring the world around you, to making connections, to learning more about yourself and testing your personal limits.
“I think there are so many benefits to cycling [and] everyone has their different reasons for falling in love with cycling and how they got into it. But it’s all about taking that initial first step in the sport and you’ll find your reason.”
As Wong finishes up her undergraduate degree, she hopes to be more involved with Toronto Hustle and help them build out more community events.
“My wish [with Toronto Hustle] is to really create a more open and encouraging space for people, especially women, to enter the sport. That’s something I hope that everyone, especially as a lot more people have gotten into cycling during COVID, can keep in mind. I think we have a lot of momentum with the sport, and it would be great if we could get as many people as we can invested in the sport.”
For more information about Toronto Hustle, including weekly rides and fundraising initiatives, click here.
