Before teaching my bike skills class yesterday, I ran into the police department for my metro-Atlanta suburb-city in the process of training officers for bike patrol. I stood and watched and got to talking with one of the officers. I said I was glad they were doing this. He said, “The biggest problem I see is when cyclists ride in a group and take up the whole lane.” I replied, “The biggest problem I see is when drivers try to kill me.” My hope is that once the officers start riding around, they will see the clear problems for vulnerable road users and how urgent a need there is to make things better.
I invite them to view some of my Go Pro videos taken while Traveling at the Speed of Bike in this suburb-city. (I have another of Tilly Mill to add soon, as well as another of Pointy the Bike Lane, pictured here). I would be happy to meet with them and share my rubber-hits-the-road experience, if they would find that helpful. Also, Chapter 3: Pedaling as Fast as I Can; Chapter 6: Noodle Lady; and the Epilogue in my book (available in print and digital versions in all Amazon markets globally) all contain specifics about Traveling at the Speed of Bike in this suburb-city. It’s a 2-hour/$10 read. Proceeds enable me to help more women and girls (currently underrepresented in our public spaces) ride bikes. I do some classes for free to targeted populations all over Atlanta, and offer a heavily-discounted fee-based class in Brook Run Park from which 20% goes back to Dunwoody to build more trails, etc. See here for more info.
They may also enjoy this post, which was a follow-up to city leaders after the recent Ride with the Mayor (which was organized and led by Joe Seconder, who is now considering a run for mayor), and included more details about things we discussed or experienced that day (which I told them I would spend the time to gather and send to them, per the interest they expressed). (By the way, I received two very brief replies to that email, each just saying thank you for sending it.)
Also, for what it’s worth, it would really be nice to see some female officers on bike out there as we move forward, such as in the City of Atlanta (pictured).
Note: Don’t miss the part about the “elephant in the room” at the bottom of this post.
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 