“Bicis del Pueblo is a place where my interests in health, bicycle mechanics, political education, and community action intersect. I am humbled by everyone’s commitment to each other, and I am excited for all the movement building activities we get to do together.”
Nancy Lloren, Bicis Action Team member
BiciPuede!
The seeds of Bicis Del Pueblo were planted during a trip to North Dakota, where PODER Youth attended the 2011 Protecting Mother Earth Conference. There they saw first-hand the effects of the extractive fossil fuel economy on Native American communities and deepened their awareness and commitment towards environmental justice.
When the group returned to San Francisco, they created a series of bicycle tours to highlight environmental health hazards in their own neighborhoods. This powerful experience shed light on another set of challenges; access to bikes and the many barriers to riding confidently in the city. Since then, Bicis Del Pueblo has grown within PODER to advance just, healthy and resilient neighborhoods through community building bike activities.
- Produce high quality refurbished bikes, bike literacy, and community building through shop days and community rides.
- Advocate for sustainable infrastructure by organizing alongside working class communities.
- Provide space, support, and encouragement to incorporate bikes into everyday life.
The dispossession of land, an extractive and exploitative global economy, and repressive immigration policies have shaped where and how our Latinx immigrant community moves. Working class communities dependent on reliable and affordable transportation must be able to define our mobility and access to San Francisco in order to authentically participate in the full breadth of our city’s ecosystem.
Bicis del Pueblo is committed to bolstering our agency to freely navigate our city in sustainable ways. Bicis cultivates bike riding practices as a healthy way to move in our city that curbs carbon emissions and deepens our relationships to each other. Our work fosters resiliency through health, community, and action for environmental justice. In this way Bicis Del Pueblo is an expression of love for our planet, our families, the neighborhoods where we live, for those who came before us, and those who will inherit what we leave behind.
Build a bike, build a Movement
We aim to be relational, not transactional. Our “convivios” or “bike builds” are a space where we practice cooperation, mutual aid, and shared learning where some of us may have something to teach, some of us have something to learn, but we all have something to share. Our group rides are a space for our community to stay connected and feel supported to ride.
Through the collective efforts of community members, and member leaders from our Bicis Action Team: bicycles are upcycled and distributed to individuals who may not otherwise have access to them. This program not only increases access to active transportation, but also cultivates a supportive community for people to incorporate bikes into their everyday lives. By offering bike literacy, we equip individuals with the skills to maintain and connect with their bicycles. Bicis Del Pueblo participants are then taking that knowledge to reclaim space in their city and find joy in movement through health-centered mobility. We are defining what a bike space looks like within a Solidarity Economy.
By advancing an intersectional understanding of how bicycles fit into Environmental, Climate and Racial Justice, Bicis del Pueblo organizes community members to become confident riders and advocates. Meanwhile, our Bicis Action Team serves as the leadership and governance structure of Bicis del Pueblo taking the helm of this work.
Our supportive programming fosters caring community spaces that inspire new riders and creates access to biking and healthy transit. Tap into our fun activities:
- Tuesday Shop Days- Learn about bike maintenance and earn a FREE bike!
- Thursday Kickback Rides- A chill afternoon ride for all rider levels.
- (not so) Serious Sunday Rides – This is a no-drop, self-sustained longer ride for experienced riders and regular riders looking for a challenge.
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