--- title: "Bicycles in Friday the 13th (2009)" subtitle: "The bicycle conspiracy" author: Seth date: 2026-10-26 13:13 publish_date: 2026-10-26 13:13 hero_classes: text-light title-h1h2 overlay-dark-gradient hero-large parallax hero_image: tree-13-chalk-1600x800.jpg show_sidebar: true show_breadcrumbs: true show_pagination: true taxonomy: category: culture tag: [ movie, cinema, slasher, horror, review ] --- In 2009, **Friday the 13th** was rebooted. I'm a fan of the series, and I enjoyed the reboot. Narratively, it's a combination of the [first](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_friday-13-1), [second](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_friday-13-2), and [third](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_friday-13-3) original movies. But what's never explained about the movie is the sheer number of bicycles in the rebooted world of Crystal Lake. It's nothing less than excessive, but the question is whether the art department found a cache of old bikes and felt obligated to use them, or whether there's a deeper meaning. How many bicycles do I consider excessive? Well, I've been able to identify 15 unique scenes containing stowed bicycles throughout the movie. I've probably missed some. But understand, it's not a matter of 15 unique camera setups, but _15 unique locations_. In other words, I'm not counting a bicycle in a shot after a cut-away in editing, I'm counting each bike placed on set by the art department, regardless of how many times it was in front of the lens. The question is, why are there so many bikes in storage in the world of the **Friday the 13th** reboot? Here are some theories, one to accompany each bicycle. ### Bicycles as the ouroboros Bicycle The double wheels of a bicycle mirror the mystical _ouroboros_ symbol of the serpent eating its own tail. In ancient traditions, the ouroboros was a reminder of the cyclic nature of life. That's an appropriate reference in the reboot of a series that itself was filled with repeating narratives. ### Bicycles as a symbol of transmigrating souls Bicycle The ouroboros was also sometimes used to represent the transmigration of the soul. In [Friday the 13th part 5](/games/blog/culture_friday-13-5), there's a strong indication that the killer of the movie isn't Jason Voorhees but the _spirit_ of Jason possessing people and causing them to murder. It's a controversial theory that even the **Friday** series itself doesn't fully commit to, but if we accept that it was true even temporarily then the bicycle-as-ouroboros symbology could be a reference to that. ### The wheel of eternity Bicycle A wheel is a circle, and a circle has no beginning and no end. It is an expression of eternity. This could be a representation of either the evil forces that drive Jason, or it could be a promise made by the filmmakers of how long the **Friday the 13th** series will continue: Forever, with endless sequels, reboots, offshoots, and variations. ### Bicycles ward away evil Bicycle Could it be that in the Crystal Lake region, bicycles were seen as a ward against evil? Horse shoes hanging over a barn is a common ward against demonic forces, and a bicycle is a low-powered substitute for transportation that would have traditionally been provided by a horse. It's not too far-fetched, I think, to assume that in this particular region of the USA, the bicycle came to be seen as a more advanced and complex symbol of the horse shoe. The more complex your ward, the better it would be at repelling evil, right? Well, as it turns out, that's wrong. The bicycles in this movie don't repel evil. But people try all kinds of things. ### The bicycle and motorcycle dichotomy Bicycle Speaking of technical complexity, one of the heroes of the movie rides a motorcycle, which is technically more complex than the bicycle. Maybe the comparison of bicycles to motorcycles is commentary about the futility of technology. Jason Voorhees is as to us as a motorcycle is to a bicycles: Essentially made of the same stuff, but with extra power. Like a bicycle running up against a motorcycle, we don't stand a chance against the killer in the hockey mask. ### The motorcycle and bicycle dichotomy Bicycle No wait, reverse that. Bicycles are simple and pure, propelled by natural force. There's just the one motorcycle in the movie, and even it can't outrun the vengeance of Jason Voorhees. The bicycles in the movie represent Jason, a force of the supernatural that we, even with our advanced technology, cannot subdue. ### Ethereal bicycle Bicycle Do the souls of Jason's victims ride ethereal bicycles to the afterlife? I'm not prepared to speculate on that, but you do have to wonder if that's the message the movie is sending us. ### The multiverse as spokes of a wheel Bicycle There are many models of the concept of the multiverse. The simplest one depicts "layers" of reality, one on top of one another, which assumes that a _reality_ is like a geometric _plane_. There are more complex models, however, such as the hub-and-spoke model, which assumes that a "seed" of reality could like the hub of a wheel, with spokes of variance extending in infinite directions. What better representation of this concept is there but a bicycle wheel? ### Spokes as tendrils of evil Bicycle In the **Friday the 13th** franchise, Jason knows no bounds. His evil, or whatever evil compels him, extends in all directions, inescapable and pervasive. A bicycle wheel could represent the spreading of this evil, as if the spokes were expressions of the evil found at the core. How many **Friday the 13th** sequels should there be? As many spokes as you can count on a rotating wheel. ### Lost childhood Bicycle Bikes are symbols of childhood. They're here as a reminder of all those hours of your childhood you lost while watching **Friday the 13th** on HBO, way past your bedtime. ### Vehicle of deliverance Bicycle Bicycles aren't toys. They're serious vehicles, powered by force of will (by which I mean muscle). They are a literal vehicle of deliverance, if you pedal fast enough. Actually, who am I kidding? Jason's bound to be around the next bend regardless of how fast you pedal and how slowly he walks. ### Futile innovation Bicycle Bicycles were actually quite innovative when they were invented. For most of humanity, bicycles didn't exist. But humans made them, and used them. Are bicycles in this movie a mockery of the futility of innovation? After all, no innovation yet has been able to put Jason down for good. ### Global ramification Bicycle Bicycles exist all over the world. Bicycle wheels are round, like the silhouette of the Earth. The bicycles in Friday the 13th represent the planet, a harsh reminder than none are safe from Jason. (Which is a little short-sighted, because we know from [Jason X](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_friday-13-11) that even people off-world aren't safe from Jason.) ### Dream catchers Bicycle We know that Jason fought Freddy Krueger in [Jason vs. Freddy](https://mixedsignals.ml/games/blog/culture_friday-13-11), and of course Freddy exists only in the subliminal spaces of dreams. The bicycles in this movie are almost always hanging, like superstitious dream-catchers, as if trying to catch a glimpse of the one entity that poses a threat to Jason. Perhaps by summoning another horror from the dreamworld, humanity can at last subdue the horror that haunts the waking world. ### Summoning circles Bicycle Since the shamans of antiquity, humanity has admired, and longed for, the uniformity and perfection of the circle. In occult mathematics, the circle represents the perfect unbroken shape with no beginning and no end, the infinite loop that constrains daemons and other supernatural evils. I believe the filmmakers were attempting to invoke the ancient art of summoning circles, not in-world, but because they actually believed themselves that the spirit of Jason dwelt among them on set. By containing him within perfect circles onscreen, they protected themselves from the possibility that Jason would emerge to exact his revenge on film crews that dare tell his story. ## A fever that can only be cured with more bicycles There are obviously many theories, some better than others, and no answers. I don't know why **Friday the 13th (2009)** had so many bicycles on set. I've worked in art departments before, and I know it couldn't have been easy to transport those bikes from set to set. They're big, clunky, wobbly, they get stuck on each other, they get stuck on other things. I wouldn't have done it. But somebody did. Somebody on the **Friday the 13th (2009)** set believed so strongly that every shot had to have a bicycle in it that it was worth the trouble of transporting bikes to every location. I admire the vision, even though I don't understand it. Are the bicycles to blame that we didn't get another **Friday the 13th** movie after this one? Or are they the only reason there's still hope for another one? That's for you to decide.

Tree number bark pattern header image by Zhen Hu on Unsplash. Unsplash License.

Screenshots are from Friday the 13th (2009) movie.