A DIGITAL ARCHIVE FOR CYCLING, EDUCATION, AND CULTURE AROUND THE WORLD

THE SPOKESPEOPLE PROJECT

Every spoke has a story.

The World on Two Wheels

What does a bicycle mean to you?

For some, it's a means of transportation. For others, a source of freedom, a childhood memory, or a pathway to opportunity.

Across countries, cultures, and communities, something as simple as a bicycle can hold countless different meanings.

Through firsthand interviews with individuals around the world, this oral history project seeks to document these perspectives, preserve the stories behind them, and explore how two wheels can both reflect our cultural differences and connect us through our shared humanity.

This project is a growing collection of voice-recorded interviews with people from every part of the world, talking about what a bicycle means where they live.

What does riding a bike look like in your community?

A bicycle may look the same around the world, but its meaning is shaped by the people who ride it.

"SPOKESPEOPLE"

Spokes: the thin metal rods on a bike wheel connecting the rim to the center of the wheel.

This project gives individuals from around the world a platform to be a Spokesperson for their community.

Every different story makes up the outer rim, while the spokes connect them in one place: The Spokespeople Project.

Bikes

How people get around, and what a bicycle is worth where they live.

Education & opportunity

Whether distance stands between someone and a school, clinic, or job.

Culture

What each person wants the rest of the world to understand about home.

Map

Reset

−

Scroll or pinch to zoom, drag to pan.

Now playing

Click any pin, or pick from the list below

{{selected.name}} - {{selected.location}}

{{selected.role}} · {{selected.region}}

Submitted {{selected.dateSubmitted}}

−10s

+10s

Audio not uploaded yet — send the voice memo and it'll appear here.

Click a pin to display the interview here.

All interviews

{{row.name}} - {{row.location}}

No interviews match that search.

Get Involved

Add your voice to the map

Share your story

Interested in participating in this global oral history project and having your story on the map? This archive is always being added to! Send a request for an interview.

Join the team

Interested in becoming part of the project team and helping collect interviews around the world?

Ask a question

Have further questions about the project? Reach out anytime.

jonathanthai@pedalforward.net

THE SPOKESPEOPLE PROJECT

My Mission

My name is Jonathan Thai, Founder and Executive Director of The Pedal Forward Foundation. I started this nonprofit to expand access to bicycle riding classes, bikes, and helmets for financially disadvantaged children in my community. At first, as a Team USA triathlete, my reason for starting this movement was to share my joy for cycling with all children and ensure these experiences were accessible to them regardless of their socioeconomic status...

EDUCATION AND OPPORTUNITY

...Now, after expanding nationally, working with schools and local governments, and conducting humanitarian trips internationally, I’ve come to realize that bikes are not only recreational but also vitally important for many children to get to school and access education. I realized that if I could provide more children in need with free bike riding lessons and reliable bicycles, I could help them focus on attaining an education, eventually supporting their families, and lifting their communities out of poverty. These children could then go on to change the world. If a bike can help, then I can help. More importantly, if I can inspire others to do the same, this impact can multiply exponentially...

PEDALFORVIETNAM

...Following Pedal Forward’s biggest milestone, our 2026 humanitarian trip to Vietnam (PedalForVietnam), which marked the beginning of our international program and annual humanitarian bike trips, I saw firsthand how much change a single bicycle could bring to rural communities. We donated 308 bicycles to students across four rural districts, and the stories of the children I met, along with the eye-opening experience of witnessing their circumstances firsthand, will stay with me forever...

Culture

...Hoping to continue expanding Pedal Forward International after the trip, I began exploring how distance affected access to education in other countries, where the need for bicycles existed, and how bicycles were used in different communities. I quickly discovered that there was no single answer, no clear next path, and that bicycles are used differently and hold different cultural significance in almost every part of the world. Yet, despite these differences, the fundamental functionality of the bicycle remains the same. I found this symbolic: even with our differences, something as simple as a bicycle can remind us of how much we share, while also giving us a reason to celebrate what makes each culture unique...

The Archive

...And so, I wanted to collect these perspectives, to explore what a bicycle means to people across different countries, cultures, and communities. Through this process, I discovered a new way of documenting history: not just through written records or historical accounts, but through the firsthand experiences and voices of people themselves. Conducting interviews with students around the world has given me the opportunity to document their stories in their own words, preserving perspectives that might otherwise go unheard. I started this oral history project to bring these voices together into a living, breathing digital archive of the stories that make us inherently human.

I’ve also been able to bring attention to gaps in access to education between countries and gain perspectives on what might help address them.

My hope is that this project will serve as both a celebration of our cultural diversity and a reminder of our shared humanity, encouraging others to listen, learn, and recognize how something as simple as a bicycle can hold so many different meanings. I also hope that we can continue to bridge gaps in opportunity, whether caused by distance or social barriers, and explore the role bicycles can play in creating a more equitable and sustainable future.

Please enjoy this global oral history digital archive on bikes, culture, and everything in between.

Jonathan Thai

Senior, Milton High School
Founder & Executive Director, The Pedal Forward Foundation

Oral History Interview Questions

What does riding a bike look like in your country, and what role do bikes play?

What's your earliest or favorite memory involving a bike?

In your country, is transportation or distance ever a barrier to education or opportunity? Who is the most vulnerable, if so?

What do you think would make opportunity more accessible in your country?

What's one thing you wish more people understood about your country?