WEBVTT
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.320
Imagine you're driving home through your neighborhood.
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.599
Behind you another car, not too close.
00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.240
Up ahead you see two to five people on bicycles and scooters.
00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.320
You're a rider yourself, so you enjoy the sight of seeing people on bikes.
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.039
As they get closer, though, one rider turns directly at you.
00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:25.519
You don't want to hit them, and you certainly can't just slam on your brakes.
00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:33.600
You can't swerve to the right because you risk hitting a mailbox, a curb, or a parked car.
00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:39.840
Just before they are about to hit you, the rider swerves at the last second.
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.359
Congratulations.
00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:44.960
You were just part of the swerve out viral trend.
00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.600
On this episode, I'm looking past any outrage headlines.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.600
I'm asking real questions.
00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.320
Is this just another viral trend?
00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.280
What does the cycling community think about this?
00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:03.119
And how do we let our kids experience thrills without letting them throw their lives away for an algorithm?
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.280
I'm your host, Chris.
00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.480
Welcome to the Movement Sherpa podcast.
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:19.120
Hello, movers.
00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:20.640
I'm so glad you're here.
00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.040
The swerve out trend.
00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:25.280
What have you heard about this trend?
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.599
Do you have an opinion about it?
00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.120
Or have you unfortunately experienced it personally?
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.239
Or maybe?
00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.280
Are you one of the ones that participates in this trend?
00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:37.439
I I want to know your story.
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:44.560
Send it to the show so I can follow up and we can do an episode about the other sides of this story.
00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:51.519
You see, I'm Gen X, so my first instinct is not to condemn young people for wanting to experience something thrilling.
00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.840
By definition, that's my childhood.
00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.920
For me, it's quite the opposite.
00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:06.000
I understand the attraction because I spent a lot of my life fascinated by movement, adventure, and the world of extreme sports.
00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:11.599
I believe wanting to find out what you're capable of is one of those core human experiences.
00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.280
But it is important, I have to be very clear.
00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.719
There is a big line between calculated risk and reckless behavior.
00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:30.479
And that line becomes painfully clear when the person absorbing the consequences of your decision might be a stranger driving a one or two-ton vehicle.
00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.280
So let's start with my first question.
00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:35.840
Is this just another viral trend?
00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:55.199
It's crazy because as I was finishing the outline for this episode, I caught a story on Reddit about people on the local Greenway here experiencing the same behaviors, which had me thinking about the clips I saw on social media that got me wanting to do this episode.
00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:03.599
And to me, the on the surface, this just looked like uh, you know, another bizarre behavior captured for social media.
00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:11.680
I mean, my wife and I send each other bizarre, crazy videos all the time, and this just seemed par for our viral feed.
00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.960
But the deeper I looked, the more complicated this story actually gets.
00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.719
You see, the reality is this behavior isn't anything new.
00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:26.240
As I researched the story, I found traces of this decades back.
00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:38.960
In 1983 and 1993 in Wisconsin, they had a court case of a bicyclist swerving into opposite lanes of traffic to play chicken, which unfortunately this resulted in a fatality.
00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:54.800
You know, in 2018, police and local news reports were describing organized ride outs with similar behaviors, and in the early 2020s, increasingly elaborate ride outs and swerve-out-like behaviors.
00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.199
So social media definitely didn't you know invent this trend.
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:06.400
I think what social media has done is give this old behavior a new fuel source.
00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:18.319
I mean, if you think before the smartphone, kids of my generation could do something reckless or let's be honest, more to the point, stupid, and maybe 20 people would know about it.
00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:28.800
Today, that same stunt can be recorded, it'll be uploaded, it'll be shared and copied, and before you know it, it's turned into a competition for attention.
00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.639
And here's where I feel like the incentive has changed.
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:41.360
Because if you think once a stunt or a prank becomes content, simply repeating it isn't necessarily enough anymore.
00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.160
It's the same with any kind of content for pranks.
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.399
All the way, think about the ice bucket challenge.
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:54.000
That thing escalated from simply sitting in a chair to people pouring ice buckets from second-story windows.
00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.920
Whatever that next level is.
00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:15.680
You know, with the swerve out, someone adds a wheelie, they find a faster road, or worse, and I mean absolutely worse, someone says, What if I wait just a fraction of a second longer?
00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:21.360
And you know, the danger then becomes part of the production value.
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:24.399
And this makes me want to talk about the algorithm.
00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:25.839
I want you to consider this.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:38.240
The algorithm doesn't understand, you know, human emotions like fear and courage, consequences, or even mortality, it understands one thing: engagement.
00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:45.519
You know, a successful near-miss can generate an enormous amount of attention.
00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:52.480
But unfortunately, so can the video of someone doing the opposite and not making it.
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.759
This behavior I'm referring to isn't new.
00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.360
It's just it's not just another viral trend.
00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.600
It certainly existed before social media.
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:15.279
However, I think that social media takes this risk-taking behavior, it pumps it, it amplifies it, it normalizes it, and creates pressure for escalation.
00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:19.839
And it that escalation doesn't guarantee success, but it guarantees exposure.
00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:24.240
And so seeing that, it leads me to my next question.
00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:38.720
If this really is connected to the cycling culture, what do the people who ride bikes uh actually understand and not just the ones that ride bikes, the ones that take calculated risks, what do they really feel about this behavior?
00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:45.759
In doing my research for this episode, I really looked for interviews with participants of this swerve out trend.
00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:47.680
There's not a lot of them.
00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:57.839
I don't know why the participants are so afraid to hide their identity, maybe because they have a morality problem with what they're doing.
00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:07.439
But of the clips that I did find, many of them tried to say that this behavior is part of the freedom of the cycling community.
00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:12.800
I mean, one of them went so far as to say it was how he expressed himself.
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:20.720
But as a cyclist, I am conflicted by this, and I wonder what the rest of the cycling community think about this.
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.279
You know, I'm not an extreme athlete.
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:33.600
I've always felt kin to those who push themselves physically: BMX riders, skateboarders, triathletes, climbers, surfers.
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:43.920
You know, these communities understand something that I think gets lost when adults see someone doing something perceived as dangerous, and they say, oh, that's stupid.
00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.040
But risk isn't automatically bad.
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.199
In fact, learning to manage risk is part of becoming physically competent.
00:07:51.360 --> 00:08:04.319
A BMX rider attempting some difficult stunt on a half pipe, you know, they have to understand the speed, the timing, the mechanics of their body as they're in the air, and and the and how to land it.
00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:12.720
That downhill mountain biker has to learn how to read terrain and make decisions at a speed that you know flatland bikes struggle with.
00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:17.199
You know, in climbing, we learn how to assess a route and manage our exposure.
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:22.800
You see, the risk is real, but there is preparation behind it.
00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:30.720
And here's where I feel like that the swerve out viral trend is fundamentally different because the rider isn't controlling all of the variables.
00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:39.519
They are, to the best of their ability, controlling their bicycle, but they can't control the the car coming towards them.
00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:42.399
The driver is the unknown variable.
00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.399
It and it's because the the driver is an unknown participant.
00:08:46.720 --> 00:09:05.039
But also, the swerve out rider doesn't know if the driver has excellent reaction time, whether the driver is distracted by a child in the back seat, whether the driver has bad night vision, or whether the vehicle even has a mechanical problem.
00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:12.080
The rider chooses to take the risk, but the driver is is a forced participant in this.
00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:16.000
And that's that's the ethical line that I keep coming back to.
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:22.960
You can choose to risk your own body, but you don't get to choose the risk that someone else has to absorb for you.
00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.919
And I I don't think I'm wrong here.
00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:27.919
What do you feel like, movers?
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.799
Is is that a fair assessment?
00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:36.159
Now there's another problem here, and I think it has to do with what we're calling mastery.
00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:55.440
Uh, some of the other comments on here mentioned how these swerve out riders had mastered their bicycle, and I don't I don't like that being used for them because when I think about real movement expertise, I know it is about learning to read an environment and adapt to it.
00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:01.440
But it is skill built upon hard work and learning from mistakes.
00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:16.000
You become better because you understand the terrain, you you learn how to anticipate what might happen, you you you understand that seal skill comes through moving through an environment with increased control.
00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.600
But the swerve out turns that upside down instead.
00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:30.159
Instead of mastering the environment, the rider intentionally creates an unpredictable situation and then relies on another person's reaction to complete the stun.
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.960
The driver becomes part of the trick.
00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:42.799
That's something that I don't think the broader cycling community can embrace because cyclists are already have hard enough time convincing motorists that bikes belong on the road.
00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:45.600
I mean, do you have this problem where you live?
00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:47.440
Are the roads shared?
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:51.200
Or do you see tension between the bikes and the cars?
00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:56.720
I also wonder, movers, is this a factor you consider when you ride?
00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:01.679
Because for me, I I don't feel comfortable riding on street roads anymore.
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:13.440
And I used to ride from my home in North Houston all the way to downtown Houston and back without any concern of drivers.
00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:28.639
And now when videos circulate of cyclists deliberately riding into traffic for views, I feel like it becomes incredibly easy for people to take the behavior of a small group and use it as evidence against an entire cycling community.
00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:35.679
But I don't I also don't want to stop there because if we simply call these kids reckless, I think we're missing something important.
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.960
The question is, why are they doing it?
00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:46.399
The research and the interviews surrounding bike life culture point to something happening outside the norms.
00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:56.159
It's a complicated mixture of oh god, it was adrenaline, belonging, rebellion, and identity.
00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:12.799
And and I can't I can't be the only one who feels like like this is taking the normal range of emotions and exposure found with bicycles and then using it to veil unchecked behaviors and fictional freedoms.
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.240
And that brings me to my third question of this episode.
00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:23.679
I'm a parent, an educator, and a huge fan of pushing the bounds of what humans are capable of.
00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.960
And I wonder how do we let our kids experience thrills without letting them throw their lives away for an algorithm?
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.919
Now, as an educator, I don't think the answer is to eliminate risk from childhood.
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:39.759
As a parent, I feel kids need to experience uncertainty.
00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.879
They need to move fast and climb, they need to fall, they need to explore.
00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:52.960
They've got to test their physical boundaries, and even occasionally they need to feel the surge of fear.
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.919
I can't be alone in feeling this way.
00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:08.559
Looking over the last, I don't know, 35 to 40 years, it seems like we as a society have systematically removed many of those experiences from childhood.
00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:19.200
Play is now so structured and supervised that I even had to check with my own mother to confirm, but she assured me there were no planning of play dates when I grew up.
00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:28.240
And it's not that they didn't, our parents didn't want us to be safe, but I think that there was a you know an accepted freedom to discover.
00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:44.879
And my problem is outside of organized sports, we haven't created enough spaces where kids can experiment with speed and risk, and then we act surprised when they find their own places to do it, or how casually forget we did the same things.
00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:53.440
I'm not, let me be very clear, I'm not trying to excuse dangerous behavior, but it does raise an uncomfortable question.
00:13:53.679 --> 00:14:02.159
What happens when we remove healthy opportunities for risk without removing the biological desire for risk itself?
00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:10.240
Now it's a little deep for this episode, but you know, the desire doesn't disappear, it just looks for somewhere to go.
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:16.720
And today the internet is really good at offering that risk a destination.
00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:22.080
In my opinion, the answer isn't simply telling kids don't do that.
00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:33.279
And we can't just go tell kids to play organized sports, because not every child wants to play sports, and even if they did, there aren't even enough spaces for all them to play.
00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:38.960
But as a parent and a teacher, what I do know, all kids want to be seen.
00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:45.279
All kids want to feel included, and all kids want to experience life with what interests them.
00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.000
Maybe the answer is giving them something better to do.
00:14:50.240 --> 00:15:09.039
I feel we need more pump tracks, more skate parks, more mountain bike and hiking trails, more climbing opportunities, more greenways, more places where kids can try, adjust, try again, and eventually become genuinely skilled.
00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.039
Here's where I'm curious.
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.279
Is this just a pipe dream of mine?
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:19.840
Because it seems like every space now needs a waiver, every activity needs a supervisor.
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:26.960
Tell me, do I have a lawyer in my audience who could tell me, will I need a waiver just to ride my bike in the future?
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.279
When will we take back personal responsibility?
00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.039
And how about you, movers?
00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.039
Am I alone in this feeling?
00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.960
And I think I think there's something even more important than the facilities themselves.
00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:45.600
We need to build communities where skill earns status.
00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:55.360
Because you see, the algorithm has figured out how to give these kids the attention, the belonging, the identity, and the recognition they're looking for.
00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:00.639
And if we want to compete with that, we can't just take away dangerous behavior.
00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:05.679
We have to give young people somewhere else to find those same human needs.
00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:13.440
And and we can't just make some random driver responsible for the final two seconds of some experiment.
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:20.000
All in all, the swerve out is not just some viral trend.
00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:28.799
The behavior is older than social media, but social media has transformed the way it spreads and the incentives surrounding it.
00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.320
What are I mean, what does the cycling community feel about this?
00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:36.320
What do people who take risk feel about this?
00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:40.559
The people who understand calculated risk aren't necessarily afraid of danger.
00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:45.840
They understand that there is a difference between pushing yourself and gambling with someone's life.
00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:56.159
How do we let kids experience thrills without allowing an algorithm to turn that desire into something potentially catastrophic?
00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:01.279
I feel like we don't eliminate the thrill, we redirect it.
00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:08.720
We build places where kids can test themselves, where kids can try opportunities to become skilled.
00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:17.200
We create communities where courage and persistence and physical competence matter more than how many people watched your video.
00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:26.880
And that's that's where I want to come back to the bicycle, because it's in my mind one of the greatest freedom machines we've ever invented.
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:40.559
It can take a child farther than their feet can carry them, it gives independence, it teaches things like balance and persistence and failure and confidence, and it does eventually lead to mastery.
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:46.960
But I don't think that the bicycle needs to become a vehicle for proving how close you can get to death.
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:55.599
It can simply be a way to experience the world, and maybe that's the thing we need to teach our kids.
00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:05.759
The goal isn't to get as close to the edge as possible, the goal is to learn where the edge is and learn how to move beautifully without falling over it.
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:13.279
And this brings me to one of my favorite movies of all time, and one of the most impactful quotes.
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.680
It's a state of mummy, it's a place where you lose yourself and you find yourself.
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:36.480
The movie is point break, and it's this scene where Patrick Schway's character, Bodhi, is explaining something to Keanu Reeves' character, Johnny Utah.
00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:46.160
But I really feel like to these participants of that swerve out trend, I don't think they figured out what riding is all about yet.
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:53.680
Because riding isn't about the car, and it's not about the camera, and it certainly isn't about the algorithm.
00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:59.119
Riding a bicycle is about feeling completely alive on two wheels.
00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:06.960
And it's not about putting anyone else's life at risk to enjoy that freedom.
00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.599
Thanks for joining me today on this episode.
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:11.839
If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend.
00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.920
I'd love to hear your feelings about some of the things we talked about today.
00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.079
Until next episode, do me a huge favor and go outside.
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:21.680
Lift your face to the sun.
00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:23.519
Move around a little bit.
00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:27.200
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be yours.
00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:31.839
I'm your movement Sherpa, and I'll talk to you next week.
00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:04.320
Imagine you're driving home through your neighborhood.
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.599
Behind you another car, not too close.
00:00:08.560 --> 00:00:12.240
Up ahead you see two to five people on bicycles and scooters.
00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:16.320
You're a rider yourself, so you enjoy the sight of seeing people on bikes.
00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:21.039
As they get closer, though, one rider turns directly at you.
00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:25.519
You don't want to hit them, and you certainly can't just slam on your brakes.
00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:33.600
You can't swerve to the right because you risk hitting a mailbox, a curb, or a parked car.
00:00:34.799 --> 00:00:39.840
Just before they are about to hit you, the rider swerves at the last second.
00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:41.359
Congratulations.
00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:44.960
You were just part of the swerve out viral trend.
00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.600
On this episode, I'm looking past any outrage headlines.
00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.600
I'm asking real questions.
00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:54.320
Is this just another viral trend?
00:00:54.560 --> 00:00:57.280
What does the cycling community think about this?
00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:03.119
And how do we let our kids experience thrills without letting them throw their lives away for an algorithm?
00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.280
I'm your host, Chris.
00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:08.480
Welcome to the Movement Sherpa podcast.
00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:19.120
Hello, movers.
00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:20.640
I'm so glad you're here.
00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.040
The swerve out trend.
00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:25.280
What have you heard about this trend?
00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.599
Do you have an opinion about it?
00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.120
Or have you unfortunately experienced it personally?
00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:32.239
Or maybe?
00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.280
Are you one of the ones that participates in this trend?
00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:37.439
I I want to know your story.
00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:44.560
Send it to the show so I can follow up and we can do an episode about the other sides of this story.
00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:51.519
You see, I'm Gen X, so my first instinct is not to condemn young people for wanting to experience something thrilling.
00:01:51.760 --> 00:01:53.840
By definition, that's my childhood.
00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:55.920
For me, it's quite the opposite.
00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:06.000
I understand the attraction because I spent a lot of my life fascinated by movement, adventure, and the world of extreme sports.
00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:11.599
I believe wanting to find out what you're capable of is one of those core human experiences.
00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.280
But it is important, I have to be very clear.
00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.719
There is a big line between calculated risk and reckless behavior.
00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:30.479
And that line becomes painfully clear when the person absorbing the consequences of your decision might be a stranger driving a one or two-ton vehicle.
00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.280
So let's start with my first question.
00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:35.840
Is this just another viral trend?
00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:55.199
It's crazy because as I was finishing the outline for this episode, I caught a story on Reddit about people on the local Greenway here experiencing the same behaviors, which had me thinking about the clips I saw on social media that got me wanting to do this episode.
00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:03.599
And to me, the on the surface, this just looked like uh, you know, another bizarre behavior captured for social media.
00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:11.680
I mean, my wife and I send each other bizarre, crazy videos all the time, and this just seemed par for our viral feed.
00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.960
But the deeper I looked, the more complicated this story actually gets.
00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.719
You see, the reality is this behavior isn't anything new.
00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:26.240
As I researched the story, I found traces of this decades back.
00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:38.960
In 1983 and 1993 in Wisconsin, they had a court case of a bicyclist swerving into opposite lanes of traffic to play chicken, which unfortunately this resulted in a fatality.
00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:54.800
You know, in 2018, police and local news reports were describing organized ride outs with similar behaviors, and in the early 2020s, increasingly elaborate ride outs and swerve-out-like behaviors.
00:03:55.120 --> 00:03:59.199
So social media definitely didn't you know invent this trend.
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:06.400
I think what social media has done is give this old behavior a new fuel source.
00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:18.319
I mean, if you think before the smartphone, kids of my generation could do something reckless or let's be honest, more to the point, stupid, and maybe 20 people would know about it.
00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:28.800
Today, that same stunt can be recorded, it'll be uploaded, it'll be shared and copied, and before you know it, it's turned into a competition for attention.
00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.639
And here's where I feel like the incentive has changed.
00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:41.360
Because if you think once a stunt or a prank becomes content, simply repeating it isn't necessarily enough anymore.
00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:44.160
It's the same with any kind of content for pranks.
00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:46.399
All the way, think about the ice bucket challenge.
00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:54.000
That thing escalated from simply sitting in a chair to people pouring ice buckets from second-story windows.
00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.920
Whatever that next level is.
00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:15.680
You know, with the swerve out, someone adds a wheelie, they find a faster road, or worse, and I mean absolutely worse, someone says, What if I wait just a fraction of a second longer?
00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:21.360
And you know, the danger then becomes part of the production value.
00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:24.399
And this makes me want to talk about the algorithm.
00:05:24.560 --> 00:05:25.839
I want you to consider this.
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:38.240
The algorithm doesn't understand, you know, human emotions like fear and courage, consequences, or even mortality, it understands one thing: engagement.
00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:45.519
You know, a successful near-miss can generate an enormous amount of attention.
00:05:45.920 --> 00:05:52.480
But unfortunately, so can the video of someone doing the opposite and not making it.
00:05:53.199 --> 00:05:55.759
This behavior I'm referring to isn't new.
00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.360
It's just it's not just another viral trend.
00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:01.600
It certainly existed before social media.
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:15.279
However, I think that social media takes this risk-taking behavior, it pumps it, it amplifies it, it normalizes it, and creates pressure for escalation.
00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:19.839
And it that escalation doesn't guarantee success, but it guarantees exposure.
00:06:20.399 --> 00:06:24.240
And so seeing that, it leads me to my next question.
00:06:24.560 --> 00:06:38.720
If this really is connected to the cycling culture, what do the people who ride bikes uh actually understand and not just the ones that ride bikes, the ones that take calculated risks, what do they really feel about this behavior?
00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:45.759
In doing my research for this episode, I really looked for interviews with participants of this swerve out trend.
00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:47.680
There's not a lot of them.
00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:57.839
I don't know why the participants are so afraid to hide their identity, maybe because they have a morality problem with what they're doing.
00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:07.439
But of the clips that I did find, many of them tried to say that this behavior is part of the freedom of the cycling community.
00:07:07.680 --> 00:07:12.800
I mean, one of them went so far as to say it was how he expressed himself.
00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:20.720
But as a cyclist, I am conflicted by this, and I wonder what the rest of the cycling community think about this.
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.279
You know, I'm not an extreme athlete.
00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:33.600
I've always felt kin to those who push themselves physically: BMX riders, skateboarders, triathletes, climbers, surfers.
00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:43.920
You know, these communities understand something that I think gets lost when adults see someone doing something perceived as dangerous, and they say, oh, that's stupid.
00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:47.040
But risk isn't automatically bad.
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:51.199
In fact, learning to manage risk is part of becoming physically competent.
00:07:51.360 --> 00:08:04.319
A BMX rider attempting some difficult stunt on a half pipe, you know, they have to understand the speed, the timing, the mechanics of their body as they're in the air, and and the and how to land it.
00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:12.720
That downhill mountain biker has to learn how to read terrain and make decisions at a speed that you know flatland bikes struggle with.
00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:17.199
You know, in climbing, we learn how to assess a route and manage our exposure.
00:08:17.439 --> 00:08:22.800
You see, the risk is real, but there is preparation behind it.
00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:30.720
And here's where I feel like that the swerve out viral trend is fundamentally different because the rider isn't controlling all of the variables.
00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:39.519
They are, to the best of their ability, controlling their bicycle, but they can't control the the car coming towards them.
00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:42.399
The driver is the unknown variable.
00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.399
It and it's because the the driver is an unknown participant.
00:08:46.720 --> 00:09:05.039
But also, the swerve out rider doesn't know if the driver has excellent reaction time, whether the driver is distracted by a child in the back seat, whether the driver has bad night vision, or whether the vehicle even has a mechanical problem.
00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:12.080
The rider chooses to take the risk, but the driver is is a forced participant in this.
00:09:12.240 --> 00:09:16.000
And that's that's the ethical line that I keep coming back to.
00:09:16.320 --> 00:09:22.960
You can choose to risk your own body, but you don't get to choose the risk that someone else has to absorb for you.
00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.919
And I I don't think I'm wrong here.
00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:27.919
What do you feel like, movers?
00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:30.799
Is is that a fair assessment?
00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:36.159
Now there's another problem here, and I think it has to do with what we're calling mastery.
00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:55.440
Uh, some of the other comments on here mentioned how these swerve out riders had mastered their bicycle, and I don't I don't like that being used for them because when I think about real movement expertise, I know it is about learning to read an environment and adapt to it.
00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:01.440
But it is skill built upon hard work and learning from mistakes.
00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:16.000
You become better because you understand the terrain, you you learn how to anticipate what might happen, you you you understand that seal skill comes through moving through an environment with increased control.
00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:19.600
But the swerve out turns that upside down instead.
00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:30.159
Instead of mastering the environment, the rider intentionally creates an unpredictable situation and then relies on another person's reaction to complete the stun.
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:32.960
The driver becomes part of the trick.
00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:42.799
That's something that I don't think the broader cycling community can embrace because cyclists are already have hard enough time convincing motorists that bikes belong on the road.
00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:45.600
I mean, do you have this problem where you live?
00:10:45.919 --> 00:10:47.440
Are the roads shared?
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:51.200
Or do you see tension between the bikes and the cars?
00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:56.720
I also wonder, movers, is this a factor you consider when you ride?
00:10:57.039 --> 00:11:01.679
Because for me, I I don't feel comfortable riding on street roads anymore.
00:11:02.639 --> 00:11:13.440
And I used to ride from my home in North Houston all the way to downtown Houston and back without any concern of drivers.
00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:28.639
And now when videos circulate of cyclists deliberately riding into traffic for views, I feel like it becomes incredibly easy for people to take the behavior of a small group and use it as evidence against an entire cycling community.
00:11:28.879 --> 00:11:35.679
But I don't I also don't want to stop there because if we simply call these kids reckless, I think we're missing something important.
00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.960
The question is, why are they doing it?
00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:46.399
The research and the interviews surrounding bike life culture point to something happening outside the norms.
00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:56.159
It's a complicated mixture of oh god, it was adrenaline, belonging, rebellion, and identity.
00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:12.799
And and I can't I can't be the only one who feels like like this is taking the normal range of emotions and exposure found with bicycles and then using it to veil unchecked behaviors and fictional freedoms.
00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:16.240
And that brings me to my third question of this episode.
00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:23.679
I'm a parent, an educator, and a huge fan of pushing the bounds of what humans are capable of.
00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.960
And I wonder how do we let our kids experience thrills without letting them throw their lives away for an algorithm?
00:12:31.200 --> 00:12:35.919
Now, as an educator, I don't think the answer is to eliminate risk from childhood.
00:12:36.159 --> 00:12:39.759
As a parent, I feel kids need to experience uncertainty.
00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.879
They need to move fast and climb, they need to fall, they need to explore.
00:12:45.120 --> 00:12:52.960
They've got to test their physical boundaries, and even occasionally they need to feel the surge of fear.
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:55.919
I can't be alone in feeling this way.
00:12:56.639 --> 00:13:08.559
Looking over the last, I don't know, 35 to 40 years, it seems like we as a society have systematically removed many of those experiences from childhood.
00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:19.200
Play is now so structured and supervised that I even had to check with my own mother to confirm, but she assured me there were no planning of play dates when I grew up.
00:13:19.679 --> 00:13:28.240
And it's not that they didn't, our parents didn't want us to be safe, but I think that there was a you know an accepted freedom to discover.
00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:44.879
And my problem is outside of organized sports, we haven't created enough spaces where kids can experiment with speed and risk, and then we act surprised when they find their own places to do it, or how casually forget we did the same things.
00:13:45.279 --> 00:13:53.440
I'm not, let me be very clear, I'm not trying to excuse dangerous behavior, but it does raise an uncomfortable question.
00:13:53.679 --> 00:14:02.159
What happens when we remove healthy opportunities for risk without removing the biological desire for risk itself?
00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:10.240
Now it's a little deep for this episode, but you know, the desire doesn't disappear, it just looks for somewhere to go.
00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:16.720
And today the internet is really good at offering that risk a destination.
00:14:17.279 --> 00:14:22.080
In my opinion, the answer isn't simply telling kids don't do that.
00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:33.279
And we can't just go tell kids to play organized sports, because not every child wants to play sports, and even if they did, there aren't even enough spaces for all them to play.
00:14:33.600 --> 00:14:38.960
But as a parent and a teacher, what I do know, all kids want to be seen.
00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:45.279
All kids want to feel included, and all kids want to experience life with what interests them.
00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:50.000
Maybe the answer is giving them something better to do.
00:14:50.240 --> 00:15:09.039
I feel we need more pump tracks, more skate parks, more mountain bike and hiking trails, more climbing opportunities, more greenways, more places where kids can try, adjust, try again, and eventually become genuinely skilled.
00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:11.039
Here's where I'm curious.
00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:13.279
Is this just a pipe dream of mine?
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:19.840
Because it seems like every space now needs a waiver, every activity needs a supervisor.
00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:26.960
Tell me, do I have a lawyer in my audience who could tell me, will I need a waiver just to ride my bike in the future?
00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.279
When will we take back personal responsibility?
00:15:31.519 --> 00:15:33.039
And how about you, movers?
00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:35.039
Am I alone in this feeling?
00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.960
And I think I think there's something even more important than the facilities themselves.
00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:45.600
We need to build communities where skill earns status.
00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:55.360
Because you see, the algorithm has figured out how to give these kids the attention, the belonging, the identity, and the recognition they're looking for.
00:15:55.519 --> 00:16:00.639
And if we want to compete with that, we can't just take away dangerous behavior.
00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:05.679
We have to give young people somewhere else to find those same human needs.
00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:13.440
And and we can't just make some random driver responsible for the final two seconds of some experiment.
00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:20.000
All in all, the swerve out is not just some viral trend.
00:16:20.320 --> 00:16:28.799
The behavior is older than social media, but social media has transformed the way it spreads and the incentives surrounding it.
00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:32.320
What are I mean, what does the cycling community feel about this?
00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:36.320
What do people who take risk feel about this?
00:16:36.799 --> 00:16:40.559
The people who understand calculated risk aren't necessarily afraid of danger.
00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:45.840
They understand that there is a difference between pushing yourself and gambling with someone's life.
00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:56.159
How do we let kids experience thrills without allowing an algorithm to turn that desire into something potentially catastrophic?
00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:01.279
I feel like we don't eliminate the thrill, we redirect it.
00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:08.720
We build places where kids can test themselves, where kids can try opportunities to become skilled.
00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:17.200
We create communities where courage and persistence and physical competence matter more than how many people watched your video.
00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:26.880
And that's that's where I want to come back to the bicycle, because it's in my mind one of the greatest freedom machines we've ever invented.
00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:40.559
It can take a child farther than their feet can carry them, it gives independence, it teaches things like balance and persistence and failure and confidence, and it does eventually lead to mastery.
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:46.960
But I don't think that the bicycle needs to become a vehicle for proving how close you can get to death.
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:55.599
It can simply be a way to experience the world, and maybe that's the thing we need to teach our kids.
00:17:55.920 --> 00:18:05.759
The goal isn't to get as close to the edge as possible, the goal is to learn where the edge is and learn how to move beautifully without falling over it.
00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:13.279
And this brings me to one of my favorite movies of all time, and one of the most impactful quotes.
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:25.680
It's a state of mummy, it's a place where you lose yourself and you find yourself.
00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:36.480
The movie is point break, and it's this scene where Patrick Schway's character, Bodhi, is explaining something to Keanu Reeves' character, Johnny Utah.
00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:46.160
But I really feel like to these participants of that swerve out trend, I don't think they figured out what riding is all about yet.
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:53.680
Because riding isn't about the car, and it's not about the camera, and it certainly isn't about the algorithm.
00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:59.119
Riding a bicycle is about feeling completely alive on two wheels.
00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:06.960
And it's not about putting anyone else's life at risk to enjoy that freedom.
00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:09.599
Thanks for joining me today on this episode.
00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:11.839
If you enjoyed it, share it with a friend.
00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:15.920
I'd love to hear your feelings about some of the things we talked about today.
00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:20.079
Until next episode, do me a huge favor and go outside.
00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:21.680
Lift your face to the sun.
00:19:22.160 --> 00:19:23.519
Move around a little bit.
00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:27.200
It doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to be yours.
00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:31.839
I'm your movement Sherpa, and I'll talk to you next week.
