BP Protest Ride 2010

The BP Protest Ride was a 450-mile, round-trip bicycle journey taken in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill Disaster. The ride was documented online in a weblog (currently offline).

Inspired by—and in direct opposition to—marketing schemes where merchants were selling petroleum products online such as branded “Save the Gulf” condoms and rubber bracelets, the protest ride aimed to challenge folks to take direct action instead of buying oil-based swag.

The BP blog generated discussion on social media, and I was invited to promote a sustainable construction project that was based in Canada.

If I could do it again, I would invite more participation. People wanted to sponsor the ride by donating money to a cause for each mile I rode, but there was no mechanism set up to do that. I didn’t expect that people would want to give money. Perhaps some folks would have biked along. There’s always opportunity for creating community and participation.