Sitting in a room full of people, you can tell the bikers from the non-bikers.  Skinny jeans are dead giveaway, as well as the choice of pullover outerwear, and those who are wet from the ride on a rainy Austin day to the Austin Convention Center for the last day of SXSWi.

What do we find in bike culture?  Or, more important:  Who do we find?

There are so many personalities out there riding bikes.  The connecting factor?   The bike itself.

Well, with the popularity and usefulness of social media, DL Bryon of BikeHugger and Doug Ulman of Livestrong each decided that connecting bike culture and social media would be a great way to help change lives.

How?  By using social media to connect these groups for a higher purpose, such as raising funds for cancer awareness and research.  Most people are familiar with Lance Armstrong and the Livestrong campaign.   BikeHugger is a network of bikers that started with 7 people.  These 7 riders met one day for a bike ride that led the group to a pub and that was that.  The group grew quickly.  This past Saturday, during SXSWi, there were 1,000 riders.

So what do these riders do?  They organize through social media and raise money.   More important, is the ease in which they can now organize and accomplish their goals.

“The bike has democratized transportation,” said Bryon.  Like they yellow wristband of the Livestrong campaign, everyone could participate.   Social media has allowed for the same level of participation.

“Social Media has changed philanthropy forever,” said Bryon.   An audience member expands on these ideas stating that people used to staple, stamp, mail-out.  Now it’s transparent, real-time.  The efficiency with which these groups  can organize is astonishing.  Check out BikeHugger and Livestrong to see exactly what they have been doing.

And, beyond cancer, cyclists are trying to change the way we live.  The panelists discussed how we built our cities for cars and have made day to day living quite difficult.   In order to be “happier”, we need to develop our transportation systems, including sidewalks for walking.  The goal is to “make the world more livable”.