RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
Perhaps the thought of all those white guys in expensive cycling gear riding expensive bikes behind a police escort kept away the cyclists who call themselves anarchists or who call themselves revolutionaries fighting for economic justice ( many of whom are also white guys from not so disadvantaged backgrounds. )
Also, I didn't see any of the Mexican immigrant cyclists I sometimes see around Columbus, or any of the Black teenage cyclists, or any of the South Side cyclists either.
As we rolled north on High through the Short North, I realized that making a conscious effort to cycle slowly can make one's shoulders ache, along with other body parts.
But to talk about the mental and not the physical, as I rode yesterday in that crowd of cyclists, keeping my lips tight, making sure I was not going to be the one jackass to blurt something out during the Ride of Silence, a thought occurred to me. Why can't this be a celebratory ride in which we'd wave and shout out to onlookers. We could have thrown to people along the streets of the Short North, the campus area, or Weinland Park, fliers about the joys of cycling, and how it's part of a cause for economic justice.
Instead, I just smiled and waved and tried to make eye contact with people through the lenses of my sunglasses. The cloudy morning and afternoon turned into a vivid early evening. The Ride of Silence spilled north on High Street like a colorful liquid curving around parked cars.
The fliers I would have thrown would have mentioned cycling as part of a 'transportation revolution.' That's what I tell some of my Mexican coworkers when my Spanish seems inadequate for conversations about the environment or economic justice.
But as things went, multiple onlookers shouted “what's the ride for?†None of us answered, keeping to our silence, as a sort of vigil for those killed and injured while cycling. Yet perhaps we would have honored the injured and fallen cyclists more had the spectacle of four hundred or so of us been celebratory, instead of somber. Perhaps the ride could have been similar to a New Orleans-style funeral. My friend and landlord, the Piano Peddler could have been part of the carnival.
To me the Ride of Silence seemed to emphasize identity politics and a sort of victim mentality on the part of cyclists. Yes, some cyclists get injured and killed, and I may sooner or later be one of them, as I do a sort of vehicular dance with motorists on Morse Road on a regular basis. Further, I have been mugged once while cycling.
But cycling is not a cause to promote in isolation to other causes. It's connected to other issues, both environmental and socio-economic. Cycling pertains to the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to the injustices in our own communities right here in Columbus. Cycling is relevant in terms of the damage we're doing to our life support system, which some people such as Jame Lovelock refer to as Gaia. Like the Comfest slogan of couple of years ago stated: No planet. No Party.
The Ride of Silence somehow reminded me of queer-themed public events I have participated in over the years, in that there was that sense of a shared identity among the participants, along with a sense of righteous indignation. Amidst those queer marches and rallies of the past , I kept thinking there ought to be ways to connect that cause with other causes that pertain to justice. I feel the same way about cycling.
As the Ride of Silence made its way down Summit Street with police lights flashing and sirens chirping and burping, a child who looked to be 8 or 9 years old and who had an unkempt 'fro and was wearing a shabby t-shirt and shorts shouted out to us en mass: “ Can I go home with one of you ?â€Â
Upon hearing his innocent question, I looked around me and got the sense that many, if not the majority of the cyclists who were participating in the Ride of Silence are people with various luxuries and political access. We were riding with the mayor and a police escort after all. The majority of the 400 or so cyclists rode expensive bikes and wore expensive cycling clothing. Also, the majority were, like me, male and Caucasian.
The question from the child with the raggedy clothes and messy 'fro reminded me of how cycling, as alternative transportation, can and should connect with socio-economic issues. To me cycling is not just about getting exercise or having a spirit of adventure, nor only about promoting cleaner air or addressing Climate Change and Peak Oil.
It can also a way to defy the custom of using automobiles to display our materialistic standing in the community, and a way to divest ourselves from a system that tends to deny low-income people without cars access to jobs, entertainment, and healthful food.
Launched in August 2010, TheMetropreneur.com is a local online resource devoted to small business development and entrepreneurship. Its aim is to tell the stories of Central Ohio's business community, foster regional economic development and assist entrepreneurs with its resource-heavy focus.