A Better Cycle

Bicycle advocacy is sorely lacking in racial and ethnic diversity. That needs to change.

- Taz Loomans

Not long ago, I thought more bike lanes would save the world. In fact, my passion for a better environment for bicyclists and pedestrians was one of the reasons I moved to Portland, Oregon, which consistently ranks in the top 10 most bicycle friendly places in the country according to the League of American Bicyclists.

Since then I’ve become disillusioned with the bike advocacy movement, largely because of its lack of racial and ethnic diversity.

I never associated the bike and pedestrian advocacy movement with whiteness until I moved to Portland. I always assumed that progressive policies like better bike infrastructure and racial diversity would go hand in hand. But I’ve learned that’s not necessarily true.

“As non-diverse as Portland is, the typical bike fun ride is even less diverse ethnically, unfortunately,” admits bike fun organizer Chris McCraw.

“Bike fun” is a bike advocacy tool that consists of getting people together for fun bike rides in hopes of making more people comfortable with biking and getting more cyclists on the street to effect change in bicycle infrastructure policy.

Carl Larson, a fellow bike advocate, echoes that point. “There still seems to be a lack of racial and ethnic diversity in Portland’s bike fun,” he said. “More so than in the city’s biking population as a whole.”