Hi Josh,

We met in Bike! Bike! Tijuana but did not speak much. Let me give you some context about me: I am Colombian (and brown) but have lived half of my life in French-speaking Europe. I have co-founded or help grow coops in France and Switzerland from 50 members to more than 2000 and I am also a board member of L’Heureux Cyclage, the French network of DIY Bike coops, L’Heureux Cyclage (with more than 100 coops all over the country and more than 100000 members).

I also write a dual degree PHD thesis ( Communication, Culture, and Media, Drexel University, Philadelphia and Urban and Regional Planning Université Gustave Eiffel, Paris, France) about the role of Bikespaces and countercultural bike movements in shaping the policies and practices that affect the way we live in urban environments. For instance you can trace the global bikeshares to the work of the first bike coops in the city of Grenoble in France; you can trace the Foro Mundial de la Bicicleta ( the biggest bike conference in the world) to a critical mass that was runover by a crazy driver in the city of Porto Alegre in Brazil in 2011; you can trace big open streets events ( Ciclovias) to a bunch of hippies in Bogotá, Colombia during the 70’s and its landing in the us to role of people involved in community organizations (see Bicycle / Race by Adonia Lugo where she explains how Ciclovía became CicLAvia in Los Angeles). More recently there is the circulation of the concept of mobility justice through theses spaces. Through this academic activity I got involved with the bike community in Los Angeles in 2018, when I was a visiting researcher at UCLA and got involved with some of the people organizing Bike! Bike! LA (that is how I landed in Tijuana).

I am currently writing an article with a professor at the University of Melbourne (Simon Batterbury) about the socialities of cycling, and the role of bike coops in fomenting the demand for cycling, while also focusing on community building, the circular economy, and mobility justice.

Your article does resonate with me. I have comments and questions:

Comments:

One bid difference that I see between bike coops in France and the US is the relation with public institutions. In the US I see much more distrust of the government in general and of government money. Most French bike coops run on public funds (subsidies but also free rent on publicly owned spaces). For instance, the bike coop that I helped build to 2000 members pays no rent on a space that is about 3500 square feet (I am attaching some pictures), and it also receives public money for specific actions ( like helping to do bike counts on the cycle paths).

With the pandemic, the French government allocated 80 million euros to encourage people to bring their forgotten bikes out of their basements. Every person could receive a check for 50 euros to be used in bike repairs ( usually done in bike coops) but could also use the money to receive classes on how to ride a bike with the popular education programs run by any of the coops. Part of the argument we are building in our academic article is that a cheap way of encouraging alternative mobilities is to fund bike coops, because they can have a big impact for little money.

There is also extensive literature on the role of coops in building community bonds for migrant communities ( Jesus Barajas in the bay area), on building self-esteem among migrant women ( Patrick Rérat, in Switzerland), to learn how to navigate male-dominated spaces ( Margot Abord de Chatillon in Lyon, France and Melbourne), to learn how to acquire mechanical skills and autonomy ( Alexandre Rigal, in France).

Questions:

Are you aware of the work of Do Lee (Queens College) in New York with e-bike delivery workers? What experience do they have when they come to coops looking for a cheap repair (but not necessarily the will to learn how to repair a bike)?

How does the bike coops connect to broader coalitions of social movements working within their communities and territories?

I would love to talk with you about all of this stuff, and I will certainly keep you in mind when thinking about events on bike equity and possible outlets for your pieces.

Best,

PS: the space you see in the pictures? the rent is 1 ( symbolic) euro per year. 

PS2: This is the government scheme for the subsidies ( in french): 

https://coupdepoucevelo.fr/auth/home

Alejandro