I Rode to Joy again yesterday after Traveling at the Speed of Bike from my home to a MARTA train station; riding the train to Midtown, Atlanta; and then riding to the City of Decatur for my weekly volunteer assignment with the Global Village Project school for refugee girls. I stop at this interactive public art display and pound out my favorite little tune each week. It has turned into one of the highlights of my weeks lately.
My ride home found me trudging through a torrential downpour and a 30-degree drop in temperature. Freezing cold, I then took such a long, hot shower and thought about how much I’ll miss showers if I do end up without running water and electricity in a small village in Uganda.
And thus ended Biketober. My team, Trusting the Journey, came in 29th place in all of metro Atlanta, and I came in fourth place in the commuter category (for number of days using a bike to commute). There are 57 women who rode more total miles than I did, so that’s great news for female representation in our shared public spaces known as streets!
And now, today, on the 3-year-anniversary of BikeNoodle, I’m continuing to ride to joy by leading a tour with Bicycle Tours of Atlanta. It may be my last tour, so I am hoping it’s a good one. For what it’s worth, my final free metro-Atlanta bike class for women is this upcoming Sunday.
And after one little planned final conversation later today about the proposed Vulnerable Road User ordinance in the suburb-city where I live, I’m stepping out of local issues completely. I believe sustainability is the fun stuff (even when it’s critically life-saving) but I realize there’s a path and a pace for every city and organization and if you have to constantly try to talk folks into what makes perfect sense to you, your paths and pace may simply not be aligning. I’m not a fighter. Need is too great and time is too short for that.
I’m not sure what’s next for me, but I know it will continue to involve a bike. Because joy.
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 