As stated in the previous post, this was an epic adventure of 4 riders where 3 of the riders each knew Ryanne, but did not know each other. I have had several of these experiences where as the wheels roll on day 1 of a multi-way ride and I have little knowledge of 1 or more riders in the group. I guess the risk is mitigated as at least 1 rider has vouched for the invited riders and there is also the self selection dimension. Fortunately, I have not had any issues. I feel many people do not put themselves in these situations where they have to rely on someone they do not know during a fairly intense endeavor. However, beyond the risk is a chance to meet someone new and learn another life story.
I am glad I have taken these chances and I feel I am a better person for it. As a society we seem to be coalescing into our tribes and demonizing everyone outside the tribe. Not that my fellow riders were random strangers, it seems like a good thing from time to time to connect with people you do not know.
Another observation from the ride was the feeling that people I encountered were less friendly. Historically, I thoroughly enjoyed the the aspect of bike touring where you’re rolling through a town and people are 1) really welcoming, and 2) generally curious about your ride. I find now there are still a number of friendly people, but a number of people who just stare forward and do not acknowledge my existence. I feel very few people are curious about my adventure. There probably are a number of contributing factors. One being that when I started bike touring there were only paper maps. Typically arriving in a town I would break out a map to check to see if I am still on course. This opened up a conversation by any passer by. It could also be my age with recency bias that I remember the past more fondly. However, in the end it seems like a less friendly experience rolling through a small town on a bike. My gut tells me to blame social media. People feel like they are connected through Facebook and see less a need to engage in a conversation with someone passing through on a bike.
Overall, I am glad I said yes to Ryanne to be a part of her charity ride. The physical accomplishment is something to be proud of, but interacting with the team was also a great experience and I was honored to be a part of the group who stuck together for 5 days on an epic adventure. I think most of all I am glad I could be an ally to this community. I am always curious where the ally network fits into the diversity and inclusion efforts. In most cases for those dedicating significant time to these causes, just doing the work for marginalized groups can take most of the assets and energy to address their needs. And the LGBTQ community seems to have a significant need for help in today’s rise of conservative messaging.
I briefly served as a DEI champion at work a number of years ago. I thought I was effective in the role, if for anything I was curious and showed up at many DEI related events, when others who look like me tended not to. The more I questioned what success would look like it seemed to always circle back to a need for more allies. In my mind I pictured a continuum going from racist to ally. I felt true racists would be the hardest to change and not worth the time and energy. I also felt if they ever showed their true selves in the workplace there were enough policy to squash them like the vermin they were. Moving on the continuum you would have the awkward dude who tells off color jokes, but would never admit to being racist. But you could also imagine this type of person blames any short coming in their life to benefits denied to them and bestowed on a marginalized people as part of a DEI initiative. I felt these were people who needed to be educated that their behaviors were racist and they needed to move along the continuum, which would be easier said than done.
Moving down the continuum I could see the largest group, those who felt they were doing no harm. They were clearly in their mind not racists, and likely they were not, but they were too busy, and potentially too scared, to be an ally. I felt this is where most efforts of education should be directed and an overall message that doing no harm, was potentially causing harm. With all that has gone on in the past and the struggles faced today for those who are marginalized, not being an ally was a problem. Not sure many looked at this the way I looked at it and there clearly is a significant amount of attention needed for the marginalized communities themselves that spending time trying to convert people to being allies will be less of a priority.
