Advocate of the Month: Eric Arce

Name: Eric Arce

Pronouns: He/Him

Occupation: Freelance Photographer

Associated Advocacy Group: Pedal2ThePeople

Title at associated advocacy group: Founder

What is/was your favorite bike?

My first bike was a teenage ninja turtle BMX bike and it’s still one of my favorites. For mountain biking, my go-to mountain bike is the Stumpjumper.

How did you learn to ride a bike? 

My dad taught me how to ride a bike, like most people I started with training wheels. I grew up in a relatively small place where BMX jumps were the thing to do to pass the time. It was such a great way to play with neighborhood friends. 

Where is your favorite place to ride in Utah? 

My favorite place to ride is Eagle Mountain. I love that I can ride it after work. I love the flowy trails and wide-open views. It’s really different from the rest of the riding in Utah. The trail builders did an amazing job out there. 

What is your preferred type of riding and how did you get comfortable with it?

It’s definitely mountain biking. I used to live in a ski town and my brother got me a mountain bike when I first moved there. From there I was hooked. I literally broke every part that came on that bike. I wanted to get a new one, but bikes are expensive, so I had to work several jobs to upgrade. 

How did Pedal2thePeople begin?

I helped co-found Pedal2thePeople with my friend Rachel Olzer to improve representation in the cycling community. We wanted a more inclusive space where people can share their stories openly and without judgment. We want to highlight people’s stories that aren’t often seen but are vital. I love sharing stories from people we can learn from. 

Pedal2thePeople

Co-founder: Rachel Olzer

What is in store for Pedal2thePeople?

One of the beautiful things with pedal2thepeople is seeing the growth and support of the community in the last year. We get a lot of messages of how much folks love seeing people’s stories and how it impacts them positively. We’re hoping once it’s safe again, to have an annual meetup where folks can ride together. An annual meetup where people can feel comfortable biking together and where we share the joy we have of biking.  

What do you find most difficult about doing your work?

Sometimes there is pushback from folks that don’t want to hear about how the bike community can be more inclusive and welcoming. These people fail to understand how biking can be a place to make positive changes. A lot of folks tell us to just pedal and have fun. While biking is fun, the bike community still needs to fix a lot of its past and current mistakes.  

While we get pushback, we don’t waiver on what we believe is true: everyone’s story is uniquely important. We believe the narratives of people of color that have largely been ignored need to come to the forefront of the biking community. 

What would you want the cycling community to know in Utah to better support your work in making the outdoors more inclusive?

One thing is to be more welcoming but really go outside your initial friend network and ask for diverse models and photographers for ads or media outreach. 

Sometimes in cycling, there is a tendency to scrutinize riders based on the newest bikes or fanciest components. While those things are great sometimes, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what type of bike the person has. The biking industry and community are trapped in how a cyclist is supposed to look or what they’re supposed to ride. There is no right way to bike and there is no right type of bike, so it’s important to stay away from judgmental attitudes where people are made to feel bad about the gear they have. 

What do you find the most rewarding about your work?

I love giving people a space to share their stories and for them to get positive feedback. Often folks get disillusioned in the bike community, so I want to create a space where folks feel heard and seen. 

How do you ensure that they feel comfortable and safe to share their stories?

One thing that’s important in storytelling is to make people feel comfortable by checking in with them before an interview by asking if it’s okay to talk about certain themes. It’s critical to assure folks that they don’t have to talk about anything they don’t want to. You have to be careful with particular stories as to how you interview folks can surface a lot of painful memories. We want people to feel hopeful after interviews since we really strive for people to feel validated and supported on our page. 

How does your photography influence your advocacy?

From the beginning, I wanted to photograph people that I felt were underrepresented in biking. There’s a tendency in mountain biking especially in imagery and storytelling to be homogenous and repetitive with the type of stories that bike magazines put out in circulation. I always felt that there were so many unique stories out there. Biking is done by so many people for so many reasons, that I wanted to move beyond the typical shoots. While I love beautiful locations as much as the next person, I also wanted to redefine what people frame as beautiful. Photographing mountain biking trails in areas like Switzerland is of course amazing, but I also think there’s beauty in the ways Latinxs design lowrider bikes, or how people use biking to alleviate the effects of depression, or how BIPOC simply find joy on two wheels. 

How can we engage future generations to continue advocacy work?

One way is to make sure folks see themselves as part of the biking community. If kids of color see themselves as possible changemakers and future cyclists, then they’ll want to be part of the bike community that much more. If they feel respected from the beginning, then they’ll dedicate more energy to the bike community. If you are unwelcoming or disrespectful, then that will turn off future advocates. Being welcoming and equitable benefits everyone and only makes the bike community stronger. 

 Do you have a follow-up question for Eric? Would you like more info about your local bicycling advocacy group or have a specific active transportation project you’d like to see initiated? Do you know an advocate we should highlight? Email info@bikeutah.org!