The dominant underground bike culture in this city is a thriving independent culture. It promotes a healthy, sustainable lifestyle that is a direct rejection of the fundamentals of capitalism that fuel the mainstream’s automobile addiction. To begin to understand this culture and its values, the video After the Fall is a great entry point. The director, Marshall Pierce, is a member of the group he’s filming, and he summarizes his video as “A look at underground Bike Culture in a growing industrial city.”[1] The viewer is introduced to things that are important to this culture – road bikes in general, but fixed gear bicycles as an ideal (especially if it is somehow customized); the sport of bike polo; using the bicycle as a primary mode of transportation and also a means of employment. Pierce shows us these things by juxtaposing images of Milwaukee with clips of members of his culture speaking about and participating in that culture. These images and clips serve to highlight the greater subtext of the film - this is a culture that celebrates bad-assery [2] and competition among straight, white men.
After the Fall by Marshall Pierce. For a prime example of bad-assery, please view the exchange that begins at 7:34.
Despite the proclamation that this is an examination of Milwaukee’s underground bike culture, at no point in the video is a woman featured as a cultural participant. What is the explanation behind this obvious gap? The dominant underground bike culture is extremely male dominated and heterocentric, and this video, made from within the culture, is a prime example of its exclusivity. Men have always been granted immediate access to this community, and they are privileged in having a support network already in place for them upon first entering. Women, on the other hand, must create a place for themselves, and it is exceedingly difficult for a woman to attain the same status that is automatically granted a man.[3] Women are simply not taken as seriously. That is why only one female bicycle messenger is employed in this city. That is why there are not any girls featured as cultural participants in this video. That is why the Pedal Pusher Society exists.
We formed PPS in 2005 as a direct response to the dominant underground bike culture. For many of our members, the Pedal Pusher Society is the first bike culture that has made them feel welcome and comfortable. We accept members no matter what their level of performance or type of bicycle, which is truly uncommon in bike culture. We have even taught ladies how to ride. Many of our most active members are women who were intimidated by city riding and wanted to practice in a supportive group. One of the more seasoned riders in the gang commented that she enjoys riding with PPS because “we know how to keep a steady pace without leaving anyone behind”. It seems that members of all ability levels find it empowering to help transform a normally exclusive culture into one that instead encourages more women to become actively involved in cycling.
One of the things I find most exciting about the Pedal Pusher Society is the ways in which we encourage that involvement. In creating PPS, our intention was not to carve out a place for ourselves in the dominant bike culture, but rather to create something different and new. So we focused on opening up bike culture to include other interests, in the hopes that PPS would not become as insular as the dominant bike culture. In so doing, we knew we would appeal to more women who might feel more comfortable being part of a culture that wasn’t just focused on bikes. When we plan rides, we try to cater to these multiple interests. We’ll go to farmers markets and then make lunch from our ingredients. Or we’ll end up at a member’s house for a dance party or campfire. We have also screen printed and hand-embroidered gang jackets, to serve as subcultural signifiers for our members. In this way, the Pedal Pusher Society has become an important social outlet for many of our members, and a culture they are truly invested in.
Interestingly, the events that tend to empower members the most are the making of music videos. In 2007, we decided we needed to find a creative way of inviting people to join the gang. Participation was lacking, and it seemed that this was due partly to the stigma that surrounds underground bike cultures. We were viewed as an underground bike culture, so we, too, must be exclusive. To bridge this gap, we decided we had to create something that went beyond the confines of normal bike culture, and the idea for Eye of the Tiger was born. It was filmed over the course of two evenings with a camcorder that we bought from Wal-Mart (due to their generous 30 day return policy on opened electronics). Most of the participants had never ridden with us before, but were somehow connected to the group through common acquaintances. We used the shoot as an excuse to get these people involved, in the hopes that they would want to continue to participate. It worked – many of the people in that video have become some of our most active members.[4] When asked why, credit is often given to their participation in the video - none of us had made a video before, and none of us knew what we were doing. It was the shared process of creation that fueled the group with a sense of accomplishment and community.
Eye of the Tiger by the Pedal Pusher Society.
Last summer, we made a new music video, with even more participants, this time set to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (and essentially a direct response to the original Michael Jackson video). The video portrays two rival girls bike gangs who are brought together by the benevolent Pedal Pusher Society. In both of our videos, the characters present both a parody of male toughness and an alternative to it. The women in the videos are allowed to occupy spaces and roles that are usually inaccessible to them in dominant society. In so doing, the Pedal Pusher Society is changing the sphere of bike culture and claiming new spaces for women outside of the dominant bike culture. This is an important point of cultural differentiation – PPS is not trying to carve out a place for women within the dominant bike culture. We’re trying to create something new, something that hasn’t existed before. This is essentially the mission of the Pedal Pusher Society – to create a supportive, independent culture while simultaneously having an awesome time.
Beat It by the Pedal Pusher Society. This is a very large file, so please let it fully upload before attempting to view - otherwise the video is jerky. You might miss the subtle nuances! Embedding of Michael Jackson's original video has been disabled, but if you'd like to see what we worked in response to, you can view it here.
By and large, PPS and our videos have been met with a great deal of support, from those within the larger underground bike community and also from people functioning wholly outside of that culture. But the fact that PPS exists is very threatening to some male cyclists, as their exclusion from any area of underground bike culture is unprecedented. On a web community where the Beat It video was posted, one male cyclist responded by saying “If I start a bike club and hang a big sign on the metaphorical door that says 'boyz only, girls keep out' that would be wrong, right?”[5] The fact of the matter is that men don’t have to hang that sign on their club’s metaphorical door. The dominant underground bike culture is a definitive boy’s club – the message of that sign is enforced without it being there, resulting in the systematic exclusion of women, or any other group that would fall within an “other” category.
I always detest it when authors skirt around issues of race and queerness in their work, acknowledging that problems are present, but refusing to take the space to examine them. Nevertheless, I find that this is what often happens within the Pedal Pusher Society. As an example, I want the spaces we create to be open to people who are transgender. I have pushed this agenda on the group, touting PPS as Milwaukee’s premiere girls and trannies bike gang. But our inclusion of trans folks has ended there – we haven’t gone to any other lengths to make the space welcoming. I worry about what would happen if an out trans person showed up for a ride. On the one hand, I would be absolutely elated – I have experienced transphobia and I desperately want PPS to function as a space that is inclusive beyond the traditional gender binary (and also to not define itself in terms of that binary). On the other hand, I would be horrified that gender queer individuals might be pummeled with questions regarding their identity or of who they “really” are. Furthermore, what would it mean for the group’s perceived identity? These are questions and issues that have not been properly dealt with and, frankly, need to be.
It should also be noted that the experience of this culture is more or less limited to people residing within the confines of Riverwest and Bay View. While we usually take our rides well outside these areas, our outreach efforts end there. Consequently, our culture is predominantly young, and mostly white. This certainly impacts our agenda and the group dynamic. In an effort to diversify the group, we have talked about hosting a series of workshops around the city that aim to educate women about safe urban cycling skills. We would also like to hold open “fix-it” sessions in which we use our collaborative knowledge to repair bikes. These ideas are good ones, but I’m not sure how effective they would be.
There is a need for an alternative to the dominant underground bike culture. The Pedal Pusher Society actively works to help fill that need. I feel strongly that, even when we’re not riding, PPS is fulfilling its mission, because it’s helping more and more people to become empowered cyclists. There are so many other bike subcultures that would be a boon to cycling, and my greatest hope is that the Pedal Pusher Society would help to empower individuals to start these subcultures. In essence, that’s what we did – we saw a need, and we responded to it.
For more information, or to join, or to stare at pictures of us, please check out our not oft-updated website, our myspace page or these flickr photosets (set 1, set 2)
[1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivtP1Ihg1qA, accessed October 20th, 2008.
[2] Colloquial as this seems, I believe it provides the most accurate description. Traditional “masculinity” is not specific enough.
[3] There is the possibility that men might find it challenging to access this community, but exclusion would be due an obvious violation of subcultural style (for instance, riding an upright bicycle, or something equally uncool). A woman, on the other hand, might be in possession of all the subcultural tools of the trade, but she will still have to fight for a place in this culture.
[4] Most of our other members are women who saw the video and wanted to take part in the culture we created. Our e-mail list jumped from about 20 to over 90 after Eye of the Tiger was released.
[5] http://www.metafilter.com/74328/this-is-bad, 15th comment, accessed October 20th, 2008.
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