BIKE LIFE

intro by Carrie Stetler,

words by Akintola Hanif and Lepi

images by Lepi“I would compare it to skydiving. You’re gambling with your life but at the same time trying to maintain control. It’s a euphoric feeling that’s indescribable.”

– Lepi

From West Africa to the United States of America, one of the fastest-growing subcultures is Bike Life. This underground sport mixes the love of motorcycles, bicycles, dirtbikes, and ATVs with a hint of gymnastics.

Riders in both Baltimore and Harlem lay claim to creating Bike Life in the 1990s. But it also has roots in urban moped culture of the 1970s and 1980s.

Since its start, Bike Life has been a staple in hip-hop music, with the late rapper DMX, Queen Latifah, Redman, and Meek Mill featuring it in their music videos.

However, due to its negative portrayal on shows such as FX’s series “Sons Of Anarchy” and its spin-off “Mayans M.C.,’’ and the behavior of rogue members, the culture has become a target for law enforcement. In most cities, it’s illegal to operate dirt bikes on the street and they are banned from most public roads throughout the U.S.

Rapper Meek Mill’s 2017 arrest for reckless endangerment for riding his quad bike in New York City brought this to the forefront. In September of 2022, Paterson, New Jersey’s Mayor Andre Sayegh declared war on Bike Life, promising seizures of vehicles on streets, banning the sale of gasoline to bikes, and classifying riding the bikes in the same prosecutable category as illicit drugs and firearms.

The fact that Bike Life persists anyway, and has thrived as a global phenomenon, is proof that, for those with a genealogical connection to chattel slavery, the ability to control your cultural identity after its abolishment has survived. Diasporic cultures have overlapping similarities, despite physical, geographical, linguistic, and/or religious differences. Everyone is family.

Photojournalist Lepi who rides herself, has begun fighting back against demeaning stereotypes of Bike Life as part of her series centering on the subcultures’ tri-state community, but also includes images from the West Coast and Africa. In this interview, HYCIDE’s editor-in-chief, Akintola Hanif, sits down with her to discuss the culture from her perspective.

Akintola Hanif: Describe Bike Life and what it means to you.

Lepi: I would say Bike Life, it’s more like a family, it’s like a bond. No man left behind. And it’s deeper than bikes. It’s a bond with people, even if they are strangers, you still look after them. Even if they are being chased by the cops. It doesn’t matter what race or color, it’s all like one big family.

AH: How did you get into bikes?

LP: I’ve been into bikes since I was a kid, but I didn’t know Bike Life even existed. I’m from the

West Coast, so it’s not even like a bike life, you just ride bikes. It wasn’t until I came to New York that

I experienced Bike Life. I was like, ‘oh, this is dope.’ We have a whole group, a subculture, and everybody fucks with each other. Everyone is tight-knit and more family-oriented.

AH: What do you think is the deeper energy or spirit around Bike Life culture?

LP: In the beginning, I think everyone rides for a reason. Like, you ride to relieve yourself of stress, to get your mind off things, and it’s also the adrenaline rush. You add the wheelie to it, it’s even more of a euphoric high. It’s a high you cannot buy. So, in Africa, I feel like everybody rides for the same reason unless you are doing it for the clout, and that’s a different story. But in Africa, it’s funny because all the guys are Muslim, so they live on a schedule. Sometimes they’ll have to go pray, and they’ll put on their gown and still ride their motorcycles to the Mosques to go pray. Time stops when they have to pray, and they will go out of their way to go pray. But I’ve seen them play Meek Mill — like my friend, he would blast Meek Mill in his room, but he’s praying. The music is just going on in the background, but this guy is full-on praying in his gown and doing the typical Muslim prayer.

AH: Tell me more aboutthe photography part of documenting

Bike Life.

LP: Getting the wheelies is cool and all, but getting to know these people is different. You get to know personalities and how people move. It’s essentially a little family once you get embraced. So photography is just a plus. It’s more about the relationships that I build. The reason I continue to document Bike Life is that, at the end of the day, these people are my homies. It’s not even about the pictures, but it’s me documenting a subculture that a lot of photographers, videographers, and a lot of companies are only there for a split-second trying to capture. It’s like I’m documenting history. One day it’s going to be like, ‘oh shit, that happened at this time.’ It is history at the end of the day. I want to preserve the history of Bike Life.

AH: How do you take pictures while you’re riding?

LP: It depends on what bike I’m on. For the most part, I’m usually on a dirt bike. I usually have my camera around my wrist. I use one hand for the most part. And then, if I need to zoom in, I bring my camera back, and then I zoom in. I’m usually never holding on to the person that’s driving me. I usually just squeeze my knees in to keep myself from falling. I’m usually just juggling things, and I have a fanny pack or a backpack that’s in front of me, and I have all my equipment in there. So I have my little device to record, or I’ll have my film camera in there. But for the most part, I use my digital camera that’s wrapped around my wrist. My settings are all there, and I can switch them on or off with my thumb, and the zoom I’ll just have to bring the camera in to adjust them. It’s not too hard. If you are riding and shooting, that’s difficult, and I wouldn’t do that. It’s too dangerous.

AH: What feeling does riding give you?

LP: I haven’t had the super euphoric feeling of a wheelie yet, but I know what it’s like to ride. It’s an adrenaline rush, and I can only imagine what wheelieing is like. If you are doing wheelies and tricks or whatever. I would compare it to skydiving. It’s like a crazy adrenaline rush, and you’re gambling with your life, but at the same time trying to maintain this control and composure. I think it’s a euphoric feeling that’s indescribable. It’s very hard to describe with words, but that’s what I can imagine wheelieing feels like. Riding is euphoric, but I feel like once you start wheelieing, it’s another type of euphoria that brings you to another level that I can’t describe.

AH: What are some unwritten rules to follow when riding with a pack?

LP: One would be, if you don’t wheelie, stay your ass in the back. Don’t ride too close to anybody. And I would say the most important one, which I’ve seen happen a lot lately, is you need to look over your shoulder before turning. There may be a bike wheelieing right next to your head, which is common. You have got to look. Some people just turn without looking. It’s just a domino effect. The bike behind you brakes and the bike behind them brakes even harder, and they’re on a wheelie, and they crash into each other because of you. I would say those are the most important ones. And also, do not buy a bike manufactured in China because you are just a ticking time bomb in the pack. You are just like a suicide bomber. Don’t do that. Those bikes are known to collapse and break.

AH: Are you bothered by cops?

LP: Yes, they make me super uncomfortable. It’s crazy that you say that because when I was in Africa, they leave riders alone.

They love Bike Life. Although, I have it in my brain that they are not here to protect us. As soon as I saw a cop over there, I freaked out.

I hopped on my friend’s bike and was like, “let’s get out of here, let’s go.” I freaked out. He was like, “it’s ok, the cops love us.” Then afterward, I had to switch my brain back because I’ve seen some crazy shit. I’ve seen cops try to hit people off bikes. I’ve seen a cop run over my friend. I personally got chased at 50 miles per hour in a park with kids present. There were two cop cars aggressively chasing us and trying to hit us off the bike for at least 20 minutes. I’ve been there before. So, my perception is to stay away from cops. Whoever I’m with, I ensure they are not antagonizing the cops or trying to stir shit up because that’s not cool, either. Some people try to throw bottles at the cops, and I don’t think that’s cool. You know they are doing their job, but at the end of the day, if you are over there haggling them, yeah, they might try to kill you. I’ve seen it plenty of times. So, antagonizing is not cool. I just stay away from cops at all times. I’m traumatized by them.

AH: What stereotypes/misperceptions about Bike Life do you want to change?

LP: I just want to steer everyone’s mentality away from these guys being hooligans, thieves, and robbers. They are sweet guys and regular people who work regular jobs. The reason why we blow red lights is because we don’t want to be stuck at a red light and the

cops roll up on us and tackle us,

or people get arrested. So, that is the reason why. I do not fully agree with getting up on sidewalks.

I disagree with blowing red lights. But in sticky situations, you must do what you must do when the cops are chasing you. Everyone is not a bad person. There are eighty percent good people, and twenty percent just don’t know the code. They are the ones that are antagonizing and throwing bottles at the cops. But I’m just saying Bike Life is not about that whatsoever, and if anyone sees that happening inside of Bike Life, they will check that shit quick. I just want people to know we are not bad people at all. We are actually really sweet people. We just like to ride and have fun. That’s it.

AH: Where do you see Bike Life going?

LP: I already see what’s happening to Bike Life right now. Right now, it’s becoming too popular and too cool. I see a lot of people just doing it

for popularity reasons. It’s not

about you riding; it’s more about

“I just want to be cool” and wanting to be known, “let me ride.” That’s where it’s going. Before, it wasn’t like that. It was more of “you love to ride, you can’t even wheelie, but hey, come on and ride with us.” Now,

I see a bunch of brands capitalizing off it. Hopefully, it will become a professional sport. Maybe you can get scored. You can go to a safe place and practice, kind of like motocross, but it’s a different type of sport. Maybe you can get points off combos, distance, and even a passenger. I see it becoming a sport one day. Even a televised sport, but no one knows how to go about it. I can see it becoming something bigger than it is. Everybody perceives it as a bunch of hooligans on the street, which is not the case whatsoever. I see it as something bigger than just the streets.