Yep, that’s right - we're wearing a cockroach costume. And no, we haven’t completely lost the plot.
There’s actually a very good reason we leaned into the roach life. And it all started with a study from Monash, QUT and Melbourne Uni.
Here’s what they found:
Researchers showed motorists an evolution diagram with cockroaches on one end and humans on the other.
Then they asked: Where do cyclists fall on the spectrum of humanness?
And guess what? Drivers rated cyclists closer to the cockroach end.
Let that sink in for a second.
Not lions. Not kangaroos. Not even mildly intelligent mammals.
Cockroaches.
Cyclists — people with families, jobs, mates, weekend plans, bad knees — were literally seen as less than human.
And that, folks, is exactly the problem.
Image: 'Austraian Drivers Regard Cyclists as Less than Humans, study finds'
When you're not seen as human, you're not seen at all.
This study struck a nerve with us, because it confirmed what many cyclists have felt for years: being treated like a pest, not a person.
When drivers don’t see us as people, they don’t value our safety. And if you’re not valued on the road, you're not protected.
That’s why we created the Flock Light — to humanise riders through movement. To highlight the very thing that makes us unmistakably human: our legs, pumping like mad things to stay upright and alive.
It’s called biomotion, and it works. Studies show it makes cyclists up to 5.5x more visible. Not just seen, but recognised as people.
So back to the cockroach suit.
We wear it as a statement. You might have spotted us in action already. A giant, sweaty, slightly unhinged protest. If society wants to dehumanise cyclists, we’ll lean all the way in — and then flip the script.
Because when you see a roach on a bike, it gets your attention. And then we can start the real conversation:
🚴 What would our roads look like if cyclists were treated like humans first, and traffic obstacles never?
Let’s evolve past this.
The cockroach might survive a nuclear blast. But cyclists shouldn’t have to survive daily commutes feeling invisible and devalued.
Flock is here to change that — one ridiculously attention-grabbing costume and one beautifully humanising light at a time.
Join the Flock. Sign up to Stay in the Loop.