BK 50
ANDREW BENNETT
Founder and CEO, Good Company Bike Club
Jul 13, 2021
Sometimes good things are born out of adversity. Sometimes they are the products of boredom. Good Co. was born out of a little of both: Early in the summer of 2020, when the coronavirus lockdown had already dragged on for a couple months with no end in sight, Andrew Bennett decided to go on a bike ride. He put out a call on social media asking anyone who was interested to meet him at the steps of the Brooklyn Museum. Seventeen people showed up and the Good Company Bike Club was born.
A social bike club comprising predominantly young professionals of color, Good Co. today averages three rides a week to sightsee, explore the city and patronize Black-owned businesses. They’ve gone up across the George Washington Bridge into the Palisades; they’ve traversed the borough to Shirley Chisholm State Park; they’ve agitated for better roads and access in lower income neighborhoods under the slogan “We bike too.” And now, as Good Co. Bike Club turned a year old this month, it’s a membership organization with 200 riders on a tiered plan. It’s an LLC; they sell merch.
“It’s taken off in a good way,” Bennett said in an episode of “Brooklyn Magazine: The Podcast” early this year. “It’s a true testament that when you do what you love, everything tends to fall into place.”