Rambling Roads

If you don’t know what Google is, you don’t need to read any further.  But if you do, I’d like to compare the Google Culture with the Bicycle Culture.  It’s got nothing to do with the high-tech, stereotypical culture we think of when ruminating on such outfits as Google, Microsoft or Apple.  Maybe you don’t ruminate at all except on a tough piece of meat.  Maybe as far as you get is massaging the keys on your iPhone while lingering over a latte after a ride.  All is well even if you’re not an arm-chair philosopher.  However, you should be aware of the eerie similarities between the Google culture and our two-wheeled culture.

Everyone with a computer has noticed that Google occasionally changes its logo on its home page on special occasions.   For your information these are called doodles.  There is a whole team of people devoted to this.  They design the doodles to brighten the user’s visual experience.  I’m all for brightened experiences.  My experiences on my bike are usually pretty bright.  The following interview with Micheal Lopez, the chief doodler, will give you an idea of the Google culture¹.

Interviewer: Why change the Google logo?

Lopez: Because it's fun. I think that was the idea early on way back when [Google co-founder] Sergey [Brin] did our first doodle [in 1998] for the Burning Man [an annual festival in the Nevada desert].

Interviewer: How do you come up with ideas for doodles?

Lopez: We all have our own ways of coming up with inspiration, but for me it's definitely doing the research into that particular culture or that particular day or that particular holiday.

Interviewer: Do you ever take stances on social or political issues with doodles?

Lopez: We'd probably never do that. Again, we're not trying to make any kind of statement. We want to celebrate things that are fun and a reflection of the Google culture.

Interviewer:  When you say Google culture, what do you mean?

Lopez:  There's a certain fun and quirkiness involved in everything we typically do. We do a lot of collaboration.

Interviewer:  What type of medium do you use to make these doodles?

Lopez:  Traditionally, we did everything digitally. We have pen tablet and tablet PCs that we work off of to create these doodles. But more recently, we are tying to do a lot of exploration and we are trying a lot of innovation around how we do doodles.  We encourage experimenting with new things.

Interviewer:  What's the feedback like?

Lopez:  A lot of it is just our users saying, "Wow, that was fun," or "Thank you for brightening up my day."

Interviewer: I want to be a doodler, so what do I need to do?

Lopez: First of all you have to know how to have fun and you can't take your art too seriously.

Interviewer:  How do I submit ideas for doodles?

Lopez:  There's a mailing list to submit ideas at proposals@google.com.

The following interview with an anonymous VBC ride leader will give you an idea of the VBC bicycle culture.

Interviewer: Why ride a bicycle?

VBC rider: Because it's fun. I think that was the idea early on way back when I first got started.

Interviewer: How do you come up with ideas for rides?

VBC rider: We all have our own ways of coming up with inspiration, but for me it's definitely just getting in the saddle any particular day.

Interviewer: Do you ever take stances on social or political issues?

VBC rider: I’m not trying to make any kind of statement while on my bike. I just want to enjoy what’s fun and make a positive reflection of the bicycle culture.  I have to admit though, that Black Butte Porter jersey does make a statement.

Interviewer:  When you say bicycle culture, what do you mean?

VBC rider:  There's a certain fun and quirkiness involved in everything we typically do. We do a lot of collaborative riding.  We’re a social bunch.

Interviewer:  What type of bikes do you use?

VBC rider:  Traditionally, many of us started out with a ride around the block on a mountain bike.  That was too much work and we eventually graduated to road bikes and began experimenting with new types of equipment.  Exploration and a lot of innovation eventually became a part of our lives.  Some of us still use our mountain bikes—in the mountains.  Then there are the recumbent bikes.

Interviewer:  What's the feedback like from riders and friends?

VBC rider:  A lot of it is just our riding friends saying, "Wow, that was fun," or "Thank you for the ride."  For non-riding friends it is usually, “That sounds like fun.  I wish I could do that.”

Interviewer: I want to be a ride leader, so what do I need to do?

VBC rider: First of all you have to know how to have fun and you can't take yourself too seriously.

Interviewer:  How do I submit rides for the calendar?

VBC rider:  There's a webpage on the club’s website for submitting a ride.  The Road Scholars’ webpage offers 150 rides from which you can select, but new rides are always accepted.  Make that list 151, if you have your own ride. 

Now you know what the Google culture and bicycle culture have in common.

Ramble on.

^{1 Amy Zerba, CNN, February 24, 2010}