Black Lives Matter

For years now, we’ve been creating and sharing bikepacking stories as if they represent universal truths about the freedom and joy of riding a bicycle. But our mostly white team acknowledges our privilege in being able to ride our bikes nearly anywhere, carefree and without consequence. Without fear of physical harm or death. We acknowledge that this experience is not one shared by people of color in this country, who must navigate a completely different set of circumstances in their daily lives and have been profiled, assaulted, and killed throughout the United States’ long and ugly history of racial injustice. It’s on all of us to work to change this.

We recognize that people of color do not have equal representation in the words and photos we publish here on BIKEPACKING.com, and we pledge to do a better job of using our platform to elevate BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and other marginalized voices. We’ve had countless opportunities to do a better job of listening, to be better allies, to be more inclusive, and to help break down the barriers that keep bikepacking an almost exclusively white activity. We regret that it’s taken yet another tragedy for us to speak out and directly acknowledge this disparity and its myriad effects.

We condemn the horrific murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department, and we stand in solidarity with the protestors, organizers, and everyone who’s working to fight racial inequality. We believe peaceful protest is a fundamental and necessary part of creating change and we support protest movements nationwide.

There’s a long road ahead to combat hundreds of years of violence and oppression, but we’re starting with the small step of donating to the groups that are working toward creating equity in the cities we call home. We encourage you to do the same if you can. We’re also engaging with BIPOC folks in our online community to strategize ways to share their stories and experiences. And we’ll be taking some time off from posting bikepacking content on social media to make space for more meaningful messages from our friends of color.

Black lives matter. Let’s get to work.