Building Community through Bicycling

San Jose Bike Party logo, featuring a crest with "sj" and a bike broken in half inside the crest, wings on the outside edge of the crest, and the words 'bike party' outside of the crest

Editor's Note: The following digital museum highlights ideas, reflections and research from Dr. jay johnson (University of Manitoba), Dr. Matt Masucci (San Jose State University) and Dr. Jessica W. Chin (San Jose State University) focused on community-building through bicycling, with a particular emphasis on the group's experiences with the San Jose Bike Party. 

Corresponding author: Dr. jay johnson, University of Manitoba, jay.johnson@umanitoba.ca

My introduction to the San José Bike Party (SJBP) was in 2009-2010 when a colleague and fellow bicycle enthusiast and I noticed a group of cyclists converging at a fountain on our university’s campus.

As this gathering looked purposeful and seemed to be semi-regular, I was immediately intrigued. The gathered bikes were primarily “fixies;” bicycles with a simple, timeless design that had one gear, and often no brakes. 

The mostly-male pilots appeared to be college-aged students and seemed to represent the diversity of the campus and San José, California at large. Having raced on the velodrome in SanJose, California (Here is a link to a Graduate student thesis that explores that history,  A history of bicycle track racing in San Jose : the Burbank Velodrome years, 1935-1941 and being aware of the bike messenger culture, I recognized these bikes of course, but had not seen such a proliferation of fixed-gear bikes in the past as part of a more popular, though still niche, trend and sub-culture.

Curiosity sparked, and as a cultural studies of sport researcher interested in the intersection of sport, popular culture and identity, my colleague and I started having conversations about this group to see what we could learn. As we peeled back the layers, we discovered that San José had become one of the west coast (USA) epicenters of bicycle culture including the emerging fixie scene, custom low-rider bikes (owing, in part, to the large Latinx population in SJ) and, as it would turn out, home to a truly fascinating mass-participation event that had been taking place since 2005 - The San José Bike Party.

 
 
Image of a fountain with a large column with a bowl of water on top and a ball on top of the bowl. Water is spilling out of the bowl. There is a palm tree in the background.
©️SJSU photographic services
Image of the same fountain as in Image 2 with a person on a bicycle in the background, a palm tree, and a set of stairs.
An aerial view of an outdoor velodrome nestled among trees.
A picture of a lineup of fixed gear bicycles that are for sale.
An image of a person doing a wheelie on a fixed gear bicycle. The person is wearing all black with a black baseball cap, and the bicycle has a black frame with yellow tire rims.
An image of track cyclists riding in a line on a velodrome. They are wearing red and black. A sign above them says "Hellyer Park Velodrome".

Over the years, the research team has participated in several Bike Party rides and have conducted numerous interviews and focus group conversations with participants.

An image of a blue low rider bike with chrome wheels and handlebars.
An image of researchers jay johnson and Matt Masucci with a black bicycle and an orange bicycle
An image of a group of people with bicycles. In the foreground is a person wearing orange with an orange super low rider three-wheeler bicycle, with an extended fork and front wheel, and a cockpit with a covered chariot.
An image of researcher Jessica Chin with her bike. She is wearing a white helmet, red backpack, neon green jacket, black shorts, and black cycling shoes.

 

Those stories, our ethnographic observations and subsequent analysis have been the foundation of academic presentations and peer-reviewed articles. However, beyond the academic trajectory of the work and perhaps sparked by the malaise that set in during the months of isolation and and lack of social contact due to COVID-19 restrictions, I found myself awash in nervous excitement at the thought of participating in the first live SJBP event since the lock-down.

Not only was this the first time in two years that there would be an organized mass-group ride, it was the first time participating with my partner and, ostensibly, in a non-academic capacity.  

 

A poster for the "Orange Ride" presented by SJBP, featuring a picture of an orange medical mask.
A poster for the SJBP "welcome back ride" that took place on Mary 21, 2021. The poster features an image of a neon bicycle.
An image of the post pandemic SJBP ride start. A large crowd of people are standing with bicycles under a blue sky.
An image of the first stop at the SJBP. People are standing on a platform with circular sculptures above them. They are holding their bicycles up in the air. More people with bicycles are in the background.

While it is hard to turn off “research-mode” the pent-up enthusiasm and positive energy coupled with flashing lights, booming music, and vibrant costumes, created a palpable ferment. Perhaps by experiencing the ride without the constraints of academic protocols and by attending to the pronounced  and carefree fun being experienced by my partner on her first Bike Party in June of 2021; the energy and allure of the event became more clear than I had remembered. This profound -and visceral- response, no doubt coupled with the catharsis (and slight apprehension) of being in proximity to so many others linked by the simplicity of riding a bike, together, highlighted the meaning, value and possibility of the SJBP to me. 

-Matt Masucci

As my former colleague and friend Dr. Matt Masucci, mentioned above, my introduction to the San José Bike Party (SJBP) was literally when I looked out my office window at SJSU one evening and seeing a motley crue congregating on bikes (at a seemingly central) meeting place around a campus fountain-that didn’t work-and then having the audacity to ask WTF is going on? From then on, we were hooked. 

This is where my office window used to be (just to the right of the door and prior to the renovations) where I first saw the early Bike Parties. 

That chance moment and the realization that I can combine my passion with my research and fantastic colleagues, has taken me on a 13+ years journey of adventures on a bike and in the spaces of academia. Here is a glimpse of what those experiences have looked like and where they have taken place.

An image of a white building with the words "Spartan Complex" on it

What is the San José Bike Party?

One of the things that we have learned over the years and that we unpack more extensively in our academic texts, is that SJBP holds a multiplicity of meanings for the people who take part. Here is a small snapshot of how SJBP defines itself on the website, and the mechanics of how a Bike Party unfolds and some images and videos to give you a  little “taste” of what it can be like when you are in the middle of it.

“one-half political party, one-half street party – made up of all types of bicyclists and human-powered transportation advocates who celebrate and build community in a monthly ride” (www.sjbikeparty.org)

'Everything Looks Better from the Seat of a Bike': a qualitative exploration of the San José Bike Party

A screenshot of the San Jose Bike Party mission and vision statements

The Process

You can  see as you peruse the webpages, that the way that a Bike Party takes place from the genesis of the theme to the completion of the event  is scripted, monitored and regulated. The ride is communicated via Social media in the week leading up to the ride which takes place on the 3rd Friday of every month, is anywhere between 20-30 miles (30-50 km). And generally has 2 or 3 planned stops along the route to party.

A screenshot from Strava of the SJBP August 2018 Disco, Donut, Dance bike ride
An image of a list that says #HowWeRide - 1. Stop at lights, 2. Stay to the right, 3. Pack your trash, 4. Roll past conflict, 5. Ride sober, 6. Be nice

 

This follows the pattern of another Bay area monthly Bike Gathering, the overtly political and leaderless ride-Critical Mass (CM) San Francisco Critical Mass which just hit 30 years since its inception! While there are many marked differences in their approach and philosophy, our first paper, “Everything Looks Better From the Seat of a Bike”, also looks at the overlapping political and activist landscapes of both the SJBP and CM rides.

An image of the Critical Mass San Francisco logo, featuring a comic-style drawing of a bicycle wrapped around a group of tall buildings with faces.
An image of the "Shift Happens: Critical Mass at 20" book cover, featuring a white person with long black hair, wings, and a red outfit on riding a bicycle, with a small Black child with dark hair, wings, and a colourful outfit on.

 

Depending on the time of year, and weather, between 2-4K participants meet at the designated start point, or join the ride in progress, on a given month.

Four photos featuring a mass start and people dancing and riding bicycles

Monthly themes

The monthly ride is designed around a different theme for every ride, (please see examples here). Additionally, to advertise or thematize the rides, they create a different poster for each that illustrates that month’s theme. In addition to tricking out their bikes, riders are encouraged to wear costumes and to accessorize themselves and  their bikes to reflect the theme of that month’s ride. Some of them can be quite creative and sometimes a little outrageous. Please check out the array of excellent artistry and creativity that are reflected in the themes and their posters below.

An image of a Mardi Gras Ride poster, featuring a purple and green eye mask and a turquoise bicycle
A poster of the Crazy with Love Ride, featuring artwork with two tigers on a bicycle on the right, and a turquoise background with hearts on the left.
A poster for the Mustache Ride, featuring a drawing of a person with a moustache in black and white
A poster of the Muppet Christmas Carol Ride, with images of muppets, bicycling, and Santa hats.

 

What does a Bike Party look like?

Check it out, here are two short video clips that we captured that highlights some of the features of a Bike Party.

 

Volunteers form a large part of the gears that keep the SJBP rolling. Over time, they have made several pivots to address issues as they arise. Two of these include the creation of volunteer posts called Birds, who help with repairs, information and general traffic control. Additionally, there are ravens, who have special bikes fitted with garbage and Recycling bins to assist with keeping the spaces that the Bike Parties roll through, looking as good or better than the event.

An image of a person wearing an orange vest with yellow reflective tape, with a logo that says "bird" stitched to the back of the vest
An image of a black three-wheeler bicycle with a garbage bin on the front of it.
An image of a person wearing a superman shirt riding a three-wheeler bike with a garbage or recycling bin in the front of it.

 

Global Bike Parties

Since the inception of the original Bike Party in San Jose California back in 2005, Bike Parties and the Bike Party communities have been active in countries around the Globe. Most of them use the SJBP website as a template to host their own sites. Those countries include but are not limited to Korea, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Spain and  multiple locations in the US, to name a few. While the SJBP is often identified as one of the bigger and more long standing collective bike party-like events, many versions of group rides, both political and celebratory exist in North America and beyond. The map below, while not exhaustive, pins Bike Parties that are organized in countries around the World.

A screenshot from the SJBP website of a world map with pins showing different bike parties around the world.

I work at the University of Manitoba in the city of Winnipeg, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that several different types of Bike Parties exist, the largest of which are the Nuit Blanche bike ride, Bike Jam on Vimeo  and the Rainbow Trout Bike Jams Bike Jams | rainbowtroutfest. Not too shabby for a city of 800 000 on the Prairies. 

An image of people riding bicycles through Winnipeg at night with the words "Bike Jam RTMF x WPG x MB"
An image of people bicycling with the words "Respect each other, Ride slow, Don't litter, Share the road, Smile and wave"

Our Research

We have authored multiple studies over the past decade or so that have focussed on various aspects and phenomena of the Bike Party, including:

  • Utility of the Bike
  • Politics Aims vs. Party atmosphere and participant enjoyment
  • Connection to communities; both bike and location
  • Identity
  • Technology and activism, Collective Action
  • Social Media

'Everything Looks Better from the Seat of a Bike': a qualitative exploration of the San José Bike Party

Keep it rolling: examining the San José Bike Party with methods on the move

Is the medium the message? Exploring the intersection of social media and collective action in the San Jos Bike Party

A Moving, “Neo” Methodology

One of my favourite projects includes the paper we wrote on “moving methodologies”, led by Dr. Jessica Chin. For me, this has been the most dynamic and fun part of the experience. I frequently pinch myself that an aspect of my job combines my passion and my most desired place to be, on a bike-I am so fortunate!

One of the most anticipated lectures I get to engage in is for a required graduate course where students look at the breadth of research in kinesiology and across our Faculty. We are invited as scholars to present the research that we do and the methods and methodologies that we engage with. I always use a large portion of that presentation to focus on the methods and methodologies we employ for our Bike Party research. I show multiple clips to the students that are a glimpse into how we conduct our interviews “on the fly” over the course of a Bike Party. Not only is it a great time for me to relive those experiences that I was embedded in, but also to elicit the responses from the students themselves with a focus on the challenges, benefits and mechanics of research. I wanted to share with you some of those specific clips to illustrate how this research unfolds…on the move.

This neo-methodology that we use during the Bike party involves phenomenology and ethnography and are essentially employing multiple “moving” qualitative research methods. We use these research techniques to engage and capture embodied emotions, meanings and practices of participants in The San José Bike Party. What this means is that we take part in the Bike Party as participants and as researchers. We often incorporate the use of GoPro action cameras in order to capture the deeply immersive experience and elicit responses from participants in real time, as the event is occurring. The GoPro units are rugged cameras, built for documenting adventure activities and they provide generally high quality images and sound. We also use body and helmet straps and mounts on the handlebars of our bikes to secure the cameras to get many different angles and images throughout the bike party and the interviews.

 

An image of the different parts of a GoPro camera
An image of the SJBP taken by GoPro, featuring people on bicycles riding by in a blur of lights

©️SJSU photographic services

 

The interviews can take place in various spots on the ride. My most enjoyable opportunity to interview a participant is while we are literally cycling in the flotsam and jetsam of the Bike Party itself. We received university ethics approval to get verbal consent, recorded on camera, prior to the interviews which is a huge advantage in terms of how quickly you can proceed into the interview and the frequency and ease for potential participants. I really like having to concentrate and focus on matching the tempo of the other rider, having a conversation in motion, feeling locked in to that engagement while also experiencing the visceral sensations going by, the sounds, the music, the aromas, the emotions, the constant dance of moving bicycles, it is a exhilarating research experience.

 

This method is not without its challenges though. The hills in San Francisco for example, present a never ending, undulations and steeped pitched climbs that can make capturing the video, particularly sound quality, an issue. It is also to control for light, or the lack thereof, as frequently images get washed out in the darkness.

 

Most Bike Party events have 2 or 3 “re-group” stops along the route where people, rest, dance, congregate, party, meet each other and take in the entertainment and overall vibe and energy of the event. During these stops, as researchers, we are also able to interview participants in the fields, the parking lots or the space where the stops take place. We have also developed techniques to strategically video record participants with their consent where their faces are not visible. We have also conducted focus groups at designated places that the group meets up on their bikes, including a train station!

Lastly, as there is usually a good 20-30 minute ride home after the Bike Party, the research team is afforded some time to begin our preliminary analysis, sharing of our individual experiences and possible development of themes as a result of analyzing, on the fly, our impressions of participant interviews. We have found that this “rolling analysis” method is invaluable as a way to hone initial insights that we just captured on our cameras…and we get to do it on our bikes as colleagues, bike enthusiasts, researchers and great friends.

I love my job!

            -jay johnson

 

Digital Museum Credits

Contributors: Dr. jay johnson, University of Manitoba; Dr. Matt Masucci, San Jose State University; Dr. Jessica W. Chin, San Jose State University 

Corresponding author: Dr. jay johnson, University of Manitoba, jay.johnson@umanitoba.ca

First Nations land acknowledegement

We acknowledge that the UBC Point Grey campus is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm.

Sport and Sustainability Media and Education Resource


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Research Excellence Clusters at UBC Vancouver is a joint initiative of the Provost and Vice-President, Academic, UBC Vancouver and the Vice-President, Research and Innovation. Funding support for the clusters is provided by Academic Excellence Funds – UBC Vancouver.

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