Read full excerpt below.
In his new book, Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life, DePaul University political science professor J. Harry Wray devotes three-and-a-half pages to local bike fun activist group, Shift.
In a chapter titled, Pushing the Envelope: Populist Politics, Shift is noted for working, “on the cultural side of bike consciousness.” To illustrate his point, Wray writes about several Shift-inspired events and phenomenon including Pedalpalooza, Move by Bike, Midnight Mystery Rides, Breakfast on the Bridges (which has recently expanded to Salem), and more.
The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from Paradigm Publishers. (This excerpt previously appeared in J. Harry Wray, Pedal Power: The Quiet Rise of the Bicycle in American Public Life. (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers 2008), pp. 142–145.)
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SHIFT (to Bikes)
Crritical Mass is not in the business of direct political advocacy, but its ideas tend to exude a kind of free-form political buoyancy. SHIFT of Portland, Oregon, is an activist organization of a slightly different sort. In 2002, Portland sponsored Bike Summer, a month-long festival celebrating the bicycle. It was hugely successful, drawing more than five thousand participants to a wide variety of activities. Both the strong response of the community and the feelings of camaraderie among the primary organizers of the activities led to the formation of SHIFT.
SHIFT works the cultural side of bike consciousness. It is a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to demonstrate that cycling is fun, liberating, empowering, sustainable and environmentally friendly.” It is both more structured and more diverse than Critical Mass, with a central organizing committee of young bike activists. The central committee plans and advertises a variety of events. At the same time, it is open to others using the structure of the organization to promote biking activities. It describes itself as an “informal, loose-knit group oj bicycle folks,” who are drawn together by a common enthusiasm for the potential of the bicycle. Jonathan Maus, a media contact person notes the fluidity of SHIFTers. Some folks have been around since the outset, but people are constantly moving in and out of leadership roles. Many are inspired to become more active through SHIFT event they attend. There are no dues and no membership rolls. Since it is volunteer driven, the organization requires little funding, and the group ethos promotes doing things without spending money. People donate talent and other useful things, and one or two fund-raising events are held. This is sufficient to meet SHIFT’s needs.
The SHIFT calendar is a frequently accessed and valuable organizing tool. Anyone who has a bike event may have it placed on the calendar. The calendar for May 2006, for example, listed sixty-seven events. These included a wide variety of rides, classes, tours, meetings, picnics, and swap meets. The activities that SHIFT plans exemplify its central purpose of highlighting the enjoyment of biking. The regular events they organized include Breakfast on the Bridges (free breakfast on three bridges on the last Friday of the month for pedestrians and bikers), Midnight Mystery Rides (regular late-night rides to intriguing destinations), and Pedalpalooza (described later).
There is a certain kind of rider who recoils at the notion that something cannot be done on a bicycle. SHIFT’s “Move by Bike” program appeals to just such a person. This program supports household moves using nothing but bicycle power. Some movers have bikes with special trailers that give them the capability of hauling large items. There is no charge for this service. A request is placed on SHIFT’s listserv, indicating the date of the move, location, destination, and incentives-typically food and beer. Cyclists wishing to help simply show up at the designated time and place. I told a non-biking friend of this service, and she immediately asked, “Why do people do this?” A reasonable question, with a complex answer. In its abbreviated form, the answer is “Because they’re crazy bikers.”
The annual grassroots bicycle festival Pedalpalooza is perhaps the most extraordinary event that SHIFT sponsors. Held each June, Pedalpalooza features over a hundred bicycle-related events, including a county bicycle fair. It has activities for virtually every subcategory of bikers, including tours of the city and surrounding area, BMX trickster exhibitions, mountain biking, races, a minibike steeplechase, tandem and novelty rides, and commuter-oriented rides. There are rides catering to a rich tapestry of social groups, including women, Latinos, gays, seniors, and kids.
Some of the more interesting of these activities include Polo 101 (sponsored by the People’s Republic of Polo, in which instruction, gear, and food are provided for “low-impact” bicycle polo), Bike with Your MAMa (a ride through Portland’s “cool riverfront paths” designed particularly for singles meeting through bikes and conversation), Malty Beverage Ride (a tour of Portland’s renowned microbreweries), a Fathers’ Day Ride (in which fathers pull young children in bike trailers behind them), the annual Donut’Ride (Wlth the goal of hitting every donut shop in the city, this event stakes a claim to the “highest caloric intake” event of Pedalpalooza), Daytime World Naked Bike Ride (for those who are tired of freezing on midnight naked rides), Bike Trailer Tango (in which participants “learn how you can transport anything on your bike”), the Hob-Nob (for high-occupancy bikes, including tandems, triples, trailers, and cargo bikes) , the Summer Solstice Ride (which begins at 10:00 P.M. and goes all night in celebration of the shortest night of the year), and the Bike Kiss-in (in which bikers ride to the most attractive part of the city and stage a kiss-in for the pleasure of homebound commuters-mints are provided, although kissers must bring along their own kisses).
For more information or to order a copy of the book, visit ParadigmPublishers.com.