Making cycling safe, fun and inclusive is part of Cyclehoop’s DNA as a business, and part of our workplace culture. We love innovating and reshaping the built environment to be more welcoming to all modes of active transportation, for all ages and abilities. However, we know that well designed, reliable infrastructure equipment alone will not get more people to drive less and ride more. Policies alone will not reduce our dependence on motor vehicles and fossil fuels. Peoples’ hearts and minds are critical forces in the transition to a cleaner, healthier, and more just transportation paradigm.
Another critical force in transforming the built environment is making the alternative as fun and attractive as possible. Riding a bike by itself may be pure joy for some, but there’s something that turns it up a notch for everyone, regardless of your relationship to the bicycle, and that’s music.
In and around London, Cyclehoop has been supporting bike parades and music rides via IBikeLondon since 2011. Our custom sound systems on cargo bikes have become iconic and have gotten thousands of heads bopping and firsts pumping over the years. Since then, iBike London has supported approximately 200 rides, parades and parties. We’re now bringing the bike party to America via Cyclehoop’s US operations based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Rather than start something new from scratch, Cyclehoop US has been connecting with social ride organizers in Minneapolis and Chicago to support their rides. Since September, we have directly supported 3 social rides with the Joyful Riders Club and are looking forward to two more before the end of the year. Next spring, we are partnering with Slow Roll Minneapolis, a community-based organization who demonstrate the importance of outdoor activity in social and racial justice. We support these local events by joining the ride on our rolling sound system; an ebullitt cargo bike equipped with a Soundboks Gen 3 speaker pumping out the right tunes for the occasion and working as a PA for announcements.
We’re also proud to support groups like Equiticity, a racial equity movement based in westside Chicago, IL. Lead by Olatunji Oboi Reed, Equiticity advocate for racial equity, increased mobility and racial justice to make lives better for Black, Brown and Indigenous people of color across the United States. They have developed incredibly potent strategies for building community, advocating for better mobility infrastructure, and affecting policy change. They call them “Community Mobility Rituals” and Cyclehoop had the pleasure of participating in one back on June 3rd, 2022. Music plays a big role on these rides to create a fun and inviting atmosphere.
Whether you call them “bike parades” or “social rides” or “community mobility rituals”, the effect on the participants and the community at large is the same: cycling becomes a tool for building community, fighting systemic oppression and making positive social change.