By Nadaja Burnett-Pierre
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
If you have heard loud music coming from behind as a whoosh of air crosses your back, you have probably seen Jhair Selvon-Rivera.
Towson University sophomore Jhair Selvon-Rivera has been gaining attention on campus for riding his blue-rimmed bike across campus while blasting his musical choice of the day. Selvon-Rivera uses a speaker to warn people around him so he doesn’t accidentally hit someone because they can’t hear him coming.
“People always had their headphones in,” Selvon-Rivera said.
But the music may not solve the issue for some.
“I feel like he rides up on people a little too fast for my liking, but that’s my only issue,” junior Toni Bass said.
Selvon-Rivera said he likes the attention that the speaker brings him. He often gets compliments—and sometimes complaints. But he doesn’t mind.
“It creates dialogue, I’m able to interact with people because of it,” Selvon-Rivera said.
He plays whatever music he is in the mood for that day. This playlist can range from Johnny Cash to rapper Chief Keef. He first started using his speaker on campus once he realized no one could hear him saying “excuse me.”
“It became a necessity then it became something I liked a lot,” Selvon-Rivera said.
Many people on campus enjoy his music and sometimes even give him suggestions on what he should play.
“When walking to class I would like to hear mellow music, like Daniel Ceaser,” sophomore Zoe Umeorah said.
Umeorah said that Slevon-Rivea is “in his own world” while riding his bike. She enjoys his music, but does find it to be “a bit loud” at times. She doesn’t mind people who bike on campus as long as they are doing it safely.
“When there’s a crowd of people and they go through people like a maze, I get scared,” Umeorah said.
Selvon-Rivera said that affordability and skill is the main reason he has gravitated toward bikes. He has used his knowledge of fixing bikes to stop him from being bullied when he was younger.
He is open to trying hoverboards or electric skateboards in the future but for now, he is focusing on learning everything he can do on his current bike. He first started doing tricks on his bike when he saw a guy on campus riding on the Towson bridge riding side-saddle on the bike. He was not peddling and just cruising through people while steering the bike.
That was “God in human form showing me what to do,” he said.
He is looking for a biker community in the Towson area who doesn’t use bikes exclusively for transportation. But for now, Selvon-Rivera will continue to ride back on and off-campus alone.
“I ride my bike literally every single day, it doesn’t matter where I’m going,” he said.