Cycling brings people together, and does away with barriers. These portraits represent only a small sampling of our very diverse cycling community, but they showcase many of the unifying sentiments behind our love of riding.

This is an ongoing project, shot with older medium-format film cameras: a 40-year-old 6x6 format Bronica SQ-A, and a 30-year-old 6x4.5 format Mamiya 645 Pro. All on Ilford FP4 black and white film, and natural light.

Click on the images to find out every rider's compelling response to the question, "What is the most important thing about cycling to you?"

(Model releases available for all photos.)