Riding shotgun with the Bang Gang.

by Alex Steed

Published October 22, 2008 @ 10:22AM PT

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.

-H.G. Wells, writer

Pythagoras was a jaywalker.

-David Meiklejohn, Bang Ganger

As I've briefly explained already, we spent last night with the Bang Gang, a relatively decentralized, recreational cycle gang based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Bang Gang

The group, which congregates once a week and serves as something as a tongue-in-cheek Critical Mass (that's my assessment, not their own), meets in the evening on top of a parking garage, rides around together for a couple of hours, and eventually each member finds their way back home after all of the fun has been had. They are very loosely organized via Facebook (though this appears to be a new element), take on various tasks week after week (the next convergence will require of participants to dress up either as animals or robots, and the two opposing species will be expected to fight playfully), and ride around town for hours. The group we met up with last night was about 15-people strong, though members explained that it was somewhat light because the weather is getting harsher as winter approaches.

The Manhunt

Despite my being grossly out of shape, I rode around with the gang on a borrowed bike as they looked for adventure, engaged in general frivolity, and were interviewed by a local documentary film crew.

After losing the gang due to technical difficulties with my bike, I called the gang via cell phone (they were at "the shoe tree," a tree that they've taken to throwing pairs of old, used shoes into as a form of decoration and marking of territory - you'll hear one of the members, David, mention this in one of the three videos below), and they all came back to offer help. While they were gone, another unrelated cyclist rode by Callum and I as we waited for the gang to show up and some local thugs, hanging out on top of a parking garage, threw a glass bottle at the cyclist, almost hitting him on the head. At the same time the gang arrived, a police car showed up in response to the incident, and we all headed to the top of the garage to find said thugs. Unfortunately, they had since escaped (to be fair to the gang's reputation - going after the thugs was wholly my idea - the BG might have been being polite in order to accommodate me, a guest, and it's unclear as to whether they regularly engage in the pursuit of vigilante justice).

Random Acts of Fun

Highlighting the BG was totally unplanned. I have long been friends with Meiklejohn and have also long been a fan of his work (he is a writer and filmmaker) - and he is just over the age of 30, thus disqualifying him from the age bracket we're focusing on. The median age of the gang, however, is around 25, and what's interesting about them is their emphasis on decentralized organizational structures, very loose use of Facebook to keep the group coming back to the table, and embrace of fun as a means of expression. While the group aren't activists in a very traditional sense, they are advocating and rallying for decentralized leadership, bare-bones Internet organization with an emphasis on maximized face-to-face activity time, and, most importantly, totally random acts of fun.

The following videos capture 1) Bang Gang participant and organizer David Meiklejohn talking to a local documentary crew about the role of the organizer in the Bang Gang session 2) Meiklejohn chatting briefly on our way to the shoe tree and 3) what the crew looks like while riding around.