Credit: Black History Bike Tour/Press Release

It’s hot outside now, but it won’t be too hot for history come the fall.

St. Petersburg Black History Bike Tour returns for its third season next month, offering free, immersive bike tours through St. Pete’s Black history and its relationship with systematic racism.

Registration is open now for St. Petersburg Black History Bike Tour’s 2023 season. Tour dates are Sept. 9 and 23, Oct. 7 and 14, Nov. 11 and Dec. 9 and 16. Dates for 2024 will be announced later in the fall as the season runs from September to May.

Led by founder and historian Josette Green, the tour begins at 9 a.m., this year at a new meeting place, The Wellness Center at 2198 15th Ave. S. Green, a docent of the Holocaust Museum’s civil rights exhibit, created the tour in spring 2021, after the exhibit closed as a result of the pandemic.

Utilizing records, books, census data, archives, and her own lived experience growing up in a historically Black neighborhood, Green created the tour and launched its first season in the fall that same year.

Before its closure earlier this year, the tour used to end with lunch at Chief’s Creole Cafe and a talk with its owners Elihu Brayboy (Mr. B) and his wife about their lived experiences. Mr. B is still active in the St. Pete community, and when he’s available, he’ll still be speaking at the end of the tour, or another local resident will be there to speak before the tour wraps up at 1 p.m..

This year brings a few other new additions to the tour besides its meeting place, including an opportunity for lunch immediately following the tour at a restaurant on the Deuces, enhanced historical content, and a website where dates and registration for the event can be found.

Like in previous years, tours are limited to 20 people to maximize the experience, and reservations typically fill up one to three months prior to the tour.

The tour recommends e-bike rental options for those who might not be able to make the five-mile ride on a manual bike, and helmets are required alongside a signed liability release. The tour is ideal for those 13 and older.

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