NYC bicycle ride-outs chronicled in inspiring short film

The ride-out is taking North America by storm, and one of the places it has taken root and grown into something very special is New York City. The rise of this unique and exciting side of recreational group bicycle riding is chronicled in a new short film by Ben Franke for Red Bull called Bike Life.

Franke first met Bronze-native Obloxkz in NYC’s Soho neighborhood, where he was waiting for his phone to be fixed at the Apple store. He wandered the streets a bit and when he returned, Obloxkz and some friends were out front.

“I had a camera with me, and I asked to take their picture, and the next thing you know, they’re like, oh, just wait, you’ll see something cool,” Franke says. “And they block off the traffic up the block. And then Obloxkz comes, you know, cruising down the block, and then pulls up his wheel and drags his hand on the ground. And, like, it was absolutely mind-blowing. And since then, I’ve kind of kept in touch with them.”

The film is nothing short of inspirational. These young cyclists are creative, passionate, and have created a powerful and moving community. Franke does a fantastic job, in a scant 10 minutes, of showcasing the ride-out life.

“I’ve always wanted to do something to kind of capture that community of people because I think it’s like a really positive and amazing thing they’re doing,” he says. “And I wanted to help, you know, tell the story of bike life.”

As the film shows, at one moment in New York City, it will be typical traffic snarls and honking horns, and the next, the stationary, smelly automobiles are engulfed by a sea of young and enthusiastic people on bikes, most of whom are black and brown men, performing incredible tricks and stunts many of which involve wheelies or standing and surfing on various bike parts.

Then there is Jae Milez who rides his bike without a front wheel, so basically wheelies forever. It’s beyond cool.

“From the outside, sometimes people, you know, it looks a little chaotic. It’s a bunch of them riding down the block, 100, 200 strong. But it’s a positive thing. It’s an amazing thing,” Franke says. “And they’re expressing themselves. They’re taking over the streets. Right. And I think the community is very positive. They support each other, they uplift each other.”

Ride-outs can number in the 100s, and they can last 20 to 30 miles. it’s not for the weak of heart, or leg. And although the whole idea is to take over streets and have fun, the interactions with the car folk have been mostly positive, aside from honking.

New York is the epicentre for this growing niche of bicycle culture but there are ride-outs throughout the United States in urban centres such as Philadelphia, Oakland and Los Angeles. It’s not always embraced, but when has bicycle culture ever been embraced with open arms?

“People in New York like to honk their horns, you know,” Franke says. “But people pull their phones out and take photos and capture it on video, I think people are positive about it because it’s almost like a flash mob kind of thing that just shows up out of nowhere, rides past you. And then as quickly as it showed up, they’re gone.”

But, there have been issues the past few years, including police roadblocks and arrests that some observers have said went too far.

One of the points of the film is to show how positive an experience it is for these kids. That they see their fellow ride-out participants as family.

Franke chose to highlight three riders for Bike Life, in addition to Jae and Obloxkz, he told the story of Curly, one of the first females to take a lead role in the ride-out.

With Curly, I wanted to represent the female riders and give her a voice,” he says. “And, yes, show it’s not just dudes riding around. That there’s also a female contingent who are part of this community.”

In Bike Life, Curly, who is from the Lower East Side, tells of how she was taken with the movement, but embarrassed by her bike and her skills, taking her time to practice by herself in a parking lot.

“But I decided to step outside of my comfort zone,” she says. “This is not just a guy’s sport.”

The film was shown at New York City Bike Week through Bicycle Film Festival and is available to watch online here.

Franke, who grew up in Germany and has been riding bikes his entire life, is hoping people get inspired by watching the film.

“ I hope the takeaway is that this is a positive community and that they hopefully become supportive of it,” he says. “And it grows and becomes bigger. And hopefully, they get on the bike and join a ride-out.”

Check out the film at the link below.