Cycling group Bbikes is encouraging more Denver minorities to pedal
"B" is for brown. And bicycle. 
Eboni Powers.
At least that's the logic behind the name of a new social group called Bbikes (pronounced bee-bikes) that aims to get more minorities to hop on bikes in Denver.
First step? Making the weekly Denver Cruisers ride more diverse.
The idea comes from Eboni Powers, a 31-year-old Highlands resident who works in event consulting. She officially started promoting Bbikes last year and hopes to spread the word more widely this summer in anticipation of a full-force launch in 2013.
At this point, the group is just starting to form. She says it's mostly a gathering of friends and others for the Denver Cruisers weekly ride on Wednesday night. (Last week, about eight of them took part in the Cruisers' celebrity-themed night.)
Courtesy of Eboni Powers Eboni Powers, in white and black dress, as Nicki Minaj for Denver Cruisers celebrity-themed ride.
"I've never seen any black people do this all together," she says. "The four times I went riding last year, I saw two black people...out of everyone."
She wanted to see Cruisers become more of a diverse event, so last year, she encouraged some friends to go out with her -- and then decided it might be fun to make it a bit more of a formal group.
"I've found groups of black, mixed, bilingual [individuals] that wanted to do these activities. That's kind of new," she says. "So I thought we might as well grab this bull by the horn...and we started planning." 
Sam Levin Denver Cruisers out on a recent night.
She thought of the name Bbikes, because it plays off of B-Cycle, the city's bike share program, and has the double meaning of "brown skin," she says.
Not that she wants to limit her group to those with brown skin or even minorities, she adds.
"Brown skin encompasses a conglomerate of things," she says. "This is for...groups that might not have as many resources."
Continue reading for more about Powers and her plan for Bbikes.
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