AlleyCutes, Bike Joy, and translating Bike Joy to Bike Political Power
Joy is a great end in itself, but it is also a powerful political tool
This weekend I had a joyous time participating in an ~15 mile “AlleyCute,” bike ride in Oakland with about 100 other people. The AlleyCute is a spin on the “Alleycat” informal bike race style. Both races are informal events where riders are given a cluesheet with various checkpoints they need to bike to. Once there, they get a stamp or some other mark and then head off to the next one. So, instead of a race with a fixed route and order of destinations to hit, AlleyCute/AlleyCat riders pick their own routes and order of stops. The AlleyCute was ~15 miles but because every rider makes their own route in the end, my teammate and I rode about 17 miles. Technically we didn’t finish in last place (thus earning the “DFL” Prize) because we finished a few minutes after the race officially ended.
I’m not an expert on the finer points distinguishing AlleyCutes and AlleyCats, but my understanding is that the main difference is the level of aggression/macho-ness. I could be wrong, but in my mind AlleyCute is to Bike Party what AlleyCat is to Critical Mass. Slightly gentler and more accessible to a wider range of people. While all those four event types are different, they are all part of the big tent of Bike Joy. They all help shift the broader culture and political landscape to be more bike-friendly.
Bike Joy events are great in their own right: joy is a wonderful goal in and of itself. Bike Joy events also grow the biking constituency by lowering the perceived barrier-to-entry, get people excited, and get people riding. That makes them a powerful tool of culture shifting.
Bike Joy events also have a huge amount of potential electoral power. Local politicians, like Mayors and council members, have the direct power to build better bike infrastructure. 100 bikers collectively have a lot of local political power. Both with their votes and also with their ability to influence voting behaviors of friends and neighbors. 100 motivated bikers could easily swing well over 2,000 votes in a local election. That’s powerful.
Shifting from creating Bike Joy to organizing bike political power is tough. It is one thing to get a person onto a bike for a fun casual race. It is an entirely separate thing to get that same person to flyer for a pro-bike politician. However, translating Bike Joy into bike political power is essential. When we demand protected bike lanes from politicians, we are asking for a big departure from the status quo. That takes a lot of effort and some political risk on the part of those politicians and bureaucrats. It is on us as advocates to show these decision makers that we aren’t asking them to walk onto thin ice politically-speaking. We need to show them that there is a big constituency that would have their back if they make this change.
One of the simplest ways to start bridging the Bike Joy/bike political power gap is by inviting politicians to the Bike Joy events. They might not show (politicians are busy folks!), but they will almost certainly not show up without an invite. They don’t need to speak, be an honored guest, or even participate in the event– though all that is great. It is politically powerful just to make sure a politician sees lots of diverse happy people on bikes in their community. In a certain way, all Bike Joy events are bike political protests. Like all other protests, putting it in front of a decision maker amps up its power.
The next big step is the political follow through. We can win a lot of protected bike lanes by showing politicians the huge demand for them. But when politicians follow through, we need to have their back. Bike lane advocates are asking politicians to depart from the status quo. Any departure from the status quo provokes a backlash. As bike advocates, we must help our political allies withstand that backlash. Shifting the culture helps shrink and isolate the backlash. Volunteering to help turn out voters for our allied politicians overcomes the backlash. It is a lot easier for a politician to not be bothered by 30 angry drivers who don’t like the new bike lane proposal when 200 happy bikers volunteer on their campaign come election season.
If you want better bike infrastructure in your community, start by creating Bike Joy. The more Bike Joy you can build and then politically harness, the bigger changes you will win.
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