History

In the late summer of 1998, a former board member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition circulated a letter that included a list of proposals for reenergizing the dispirited SF bike community. Buried in that list at number 7—after "suing the city" and "reeducating traffic engineers" —was the idea of a "Bicycle Summer"—"bringing thousands of monomaniacal riders from all over the world for an all-out conversion on the city streets."

It had been a rough time for SF's bikers. Almost exactly a year before, the July 1997 Critical Mass ended in disaster when Mayor Willie Brown, in a rash moment of frustration and egotism, vowed to shut down the ride. After weeks of mounting tension, thousands of bikers took to the streets under the glares of officers in full riot gear. Over a hundred riders were entrapped and arrested in illegal stings; every single case was dismissed by the courts. Critical Mass weathered the storm, but uneasily. The August ride, thousands strong, was a nervous, tentative truce between the riders and police— and the ride's legitimacy has not been seriously challenged since.

Soon thereafter, many of SF's bike activists were faced with an equally arduous task: the planning process for a citywide bike network that the mayor had promised to establish. In what seemed an endless series of community meetings, we created and presented plan after detailed plan. The final, marathon meeting saw hundreds of activists, neighbors, and merchants speak in favor of the network—one-by-one, over almost eight hours, and nearly unanimously. Almost a year to the day after the disasterous July Mass, we watched in shock as the aptly named Department of Parking and Traffic voted to deny virtually every one of the bike community's proposals.

When Joel brought his list around we were exhausted, frustrated, and just a little bit defeated. Of all his ideas, the one that caught the most attention was the simplest. BikeSummer would be a welcome break from the politics of the past year, and, we hoped, would remind us what we were working for.

From the beginning, BikeSummer was about building community. We knew there was no way our tiny BikeSummer Ad Hoc Organizing Committee could put together a summer's worth, or even a week's worth, of events. Instead, we focused on creating a framework—a calendar, a zine, stickers, word-of-mouth advertising, xerocratic propaganda—a context within which others could bring their own ideas to fruition. (How would you single-handedly go about putting together a 10-mile tour of ice cream parlors and recruiting hungry, sweet-toothed riders? But, given a month of bike events, how could you not add it to the calendar?) The real joy of BikeSummer, we soon found, was in watching these ideas develop. The obvious events—mountain bike rides, protests, a film festival—quickly filled the calendar; but along with them came events we could never have predicted. A slide show and panel discussion about bicycling's impact on feminism. Make your own bike clothes. Bike dating tips and tricks. A bonfire on the beach. A meteor shower tour. Bike ballet and bike polo. There were no bounds to people's creativity, nor to the ideas floating in the backs of their minds which they had never before had occasion to implement. BikeSummer's success was in creating a context in which those ideas could be realized. (And it is no coincidence that, as BikeSummer began, a beautiful bike lane appeared—if fleetingly—on one of the streets rejected by DPT.)

A frantic month, and over ninety events, later, BikeSummer '99 came to a close; but already some of our visitors were planning their own BikeSummer.

As it turned out, the Chicago bikers—an intense group known for heaving their bikes over their heads in solidarity—couldn't wait for BikeSummer, and managed to put together a BikeWinter in the interim.

Just months later, and showing no sign of slowing down, the organizers threw a BikeSummer with all the trimmings and more: a scavenger hunt, late night city mountain biking, a Bike Poetry Night, a class on setting up your bike to carry your dog, a drag ride...

Did they stop there? Naturally not. The success of BikeSummer 2000 notwithstanding, it may be that Chicago's greatest contribution lies in the continuing tradition of BikeWinter—an event now past its fourth frigid year.

In 2001, the eager activist crowd of Vancouver took up the torch, and put their own twist on BikeSummer—their summer of velolove.

Said one participant: "It was, well, wonderful. It was exhilirating to meet people fighting the same fights we are. I was immediately and warmly welcomed everywhere I went, fixed up with a lovely family who housed me and became good friends, and enjoyed every event, especially the Wholesome Undie Ride and Dinosaur Rocky Horror Show. The Vancouverites have got it going on! I have since been reviewing the Canadian immigration requirements and I think fondly of making the move. BikeSummer Vancouver was small but it was an exuberent, cohesive, and thoroughly charming time. You don't need lots of money or slick press coverage to have a good time and to make a difference, that's what livable communities are all about. ¡Que viva Vancouver!"

Portland, one of the great success stories of modern American urban planning and widely regarded as one of the best biking cities in the world, took over for 2002.

The CHVNKs, vigilant as ever in preparing for the Carmageddon, illustrated techniques for saving a baby from a flaming stroller while opposed by a biker in a Spiderman suit.

BikeSummer '02 also included an urban design tour, a wine country ride, camping, an ice cream tour... and several well-attended pub crawls.

Portland wins extra points for enlisting local brewers Full Sail to concoct a BikeSummerFest Ale. And, ending on a promising note for the future of BikeSummer, Portland donated $1,000 in startup funds to the 2003 BikeSummer committee and planned its own Mini BikeSummer for summer 2003.

New York hosted BikeSummer in 2003. We had a great time! More than 130 events filled our calendar, including arts, performance, literary interest, food, adventure, advocacy, competition, rides, tours, activism, multimedia events, films, education, fun, and more. But don't take our word for it. See the pictures in our Photo Gallery. And take heart: Even though BikeSummer is over, many of the event hosts are still doing great bicycle-oriented things. So check out our calendar to see what organizers are interesting to you, and then visit their Web sites to find out what they're up to.

1999 - 2002 by Greg Howard.