The third way to bike activism: Get creative (Part 3)

(Alex Thompson looks goofy with his tan arms and white hands . . . when will cycling manufacturers make "tan through" gloves?)

I've written about the most basic bike activism -- riding your bike in LA.  I wrote about extending that to talking to friends and family, and taking that a step further to volunteer for a bike organization.  What's left?  A lot.  There are many aspects of L.A.'s car culture that cyclists need to adjust in order for LA to be a bike friendly city.  Right now there simply aren't enough people doing enough things.

So what can you do?  The third way to bike activism is to get creative.  You can create an organization, or become a lone wolf agitator.  You could organize a group ride, pull off a media stunt, or become a regular at public meetings.  You could document biking through writing, blogging, the ibikeu Wiki, film or photograph.  You can take a leadership role in an existing bike organization.  There are many needs, and even more approaches.

(Bike activists argue at the L.A. Bicycle Master Plan update meeting in West L.A.  Photo by Franz Ellers, with Alex's camera!)

What you will do, if you get creative with activism, is fail.  I know this because I personally have failed more often than I have succeeded at bike activism.  I failed publicly on a joint project called Roll With It.  I failed on my first project, Critical Commute, which I embarked on with almost no knowledge of existing bike activism and culture.  I failed in trying to organize UCLA cyclists to lobby for a stronger UCLA Bicycle Master Plan.  Ask me in private and I'll share my more recent failures.  The point is to keep trying, and learn from your mistakes.  It's OK to fail because, typically, when you succeed, your success will snowball and catalyze more change than you could have anticipated.

I think that documenting bike culture and bike activism is an area where more creative effort is needed.  It's also an area in which one can have tremendous impact.  Recently, Emerald City reader Nolen Clark recommended I watch "Return of the Scorcher," an influential movie from the '90s about a resurgence in cycling.  As I watched it I felt as if the ideas it presented were useful, but unoriginal and commonplace.  Then it hit me -- this movie has been watched by almost every bike activist in the United States who has operated in the last decade.  It was so influential that everyone learned the ideas within it, making the ideas ubiquitous, and therefore the movie eventually made itself obsolete.  It seems basic to me because it is part of today's base of knowledge; it has become an element of the foundation of knowledge from which bike activists operate.  That is powerful.

(Two cyclists ride on the 405 during a traffic jam, a controversial instance of bike activism. Photo by Alex Thompson)

More recently a group called Crimanimal Mass mixed a creative ride idea with careful documentation to make a powerful statement about Los Angeles car culture.  25 cyclists (including me!), along with 3 rollerbladers, took to the 10 freeway, heading east onto the interchange to the 405 North, and eventually exiting onto Santa Monica Blvd.  In the midst of the rush hour parking lots we call "freeways," I felt safe riding, since vehicle speeds were below eight mph.  Organizers documented the ride using multiple video cameras and carefully crafted the footage for viewing on YouTube and Vimeo.  The footage was picked up by numerous bloggers, and hundreds of thousands of people viewed the videos and read the articles.

Now, you might exclaim "what positive impact can breaking the law and riding where you don't belong possibly have?"  "People are going to be put off by your wanton disregard for the law," you could argue.  Many were, but the footage of cyclists passing cars stopped in bumper to bumper traffic on the gargantuan 405 raised interesting questions.  Why is it that our transportation infrastructure is so broken that it doesn't function when it is most needed, at rush hour?  Why is it that cyclists are better able to make use of a system designed for cars?  Cyclists participating in the (second) Freeway Traffic Jam Ride succeeded in raising those questions in an intriguing way, a way not easily dismissed.  They catalyzed conversations between citizens about highway infrastructure and cycling.  By starting those conversations, they don't just help cyclists, but they help everyone who is stuck in traffic.  It was a unique and creative instance of effective activism.

(Bikes and trees go together, a creative post-Freeway Ride use of trees.  Photo by Alex Thompson)

Crimanimal Mass would have been far less effective had they received less media attention.  That's the risk with more creative activism: there's no guaranteed payoff.  However, the upside is that you can have impacts that conventional activism can only dream about.  No mass e-mail by an established advocacy organization could have a similar impact as the Freeway Ride videos or Return of the Scorcher.  This is true of other forms -- if you start a new organization there is a chance it will fail, but if it grows, then you have massive success.  If you blog, there is a chance you will have trouble reaching new readers, but if you succeed you have created a powerful new voice for cyclists.  These are higher-risk forms of activism, but they carry with them a chance of an avalanche of benefits for cyclists.

Next week I'll write about . . . I don't know what I'll write about.  Perhaps I will write more about other forms of activism.  What would you like to know about cycling in L.A.?

Comments

[ADS]

What govt entities determine the bike infrastructure in LA and Santa Monica? When will new bike master plans be available? Is there a correlation between the bike plans and the actual conditions (lanes, routes, etc.) on the streets? What are the best ways to shape local public policy, who are the people of influence in local govt? Are cyclists considered pedestrians, vehicles, or both? Under what circumstances? Why were you unable to mobilize bikers at UCLA? What do you think should be done at UCLA? Are there early morning "critical mass" style rides in LA or only late at night? In what ways have bike advocacy groups work with the MTA, Blue Bus, etc. to encourage non-car commuting?

[ErinD]

Alex--two things:

Did any major news pick up the rides? Being in Boston, not sure. But I saw lots on the blogs!

Another way to get more activism: provide easy info access for people to contact/call/write to help influence public policy, as well as what gov't entities, as questioned earlier, are appropriate to contact regarding meetings to discuss plans for bikes. From what I can see, local govt hasn't been so supportive in improving biking conditions as an alternative to automobiles. I think some people would be interested in attending meetings and voicing opinions but don't know where to go or who to contact.