I sent this email yesterday (between Capitol Hill meetings, to which I and many others wore the pin pictured) to the mayors of the six certified Bicycle Friendly Communities in Metro Atlanta (five of whom are women, by the way). I’d like to share their cities’ plans for National Bike Month (which is May) as soon as possible to help inspire other cities as well. If you are in a different Metro Atlanta city and your city already has its National Bike Month plans, please feel free to send them to me and I will be happy to share them as well.
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Good morning, Mayor Bottoms, Mayor Gilvin, Mayor Henry, Mayor Fleisch, Mayor Garrett, and Mayor Cason. Congratulations on all your cities’ achievements as certified Bicycle Friendly Communities with the League of American Bicyclists. I ride my bike often all over Metro Atlanta and it means a lot to me. I publish TravelingAtTheSpeedOfBike.com, am a League Cycling Instructor, and represent the 10-county Metro Atlanta region in a global consortium of bicycle mayors.
My Ask
I would like to feature your city’s plans for National Bike Month (which is in May) on my blog in the upcoming weeks in order to inspire other cities to take forward steps as well to be more bike-friendly. Would you mind forwarding this email to the best person at your city hall to provide me with that info? I know these times are challenging, especially for group gatherings, so I am particularly curious to see the innovative solutions you may have devised for this year. Bikes have been such a blessing for physical, mental, and economic reasons during the pandemic and I hope you agree they should surely be celebrated during this biggest bike boom since the 1970s.
Additionally, on an ongoing basis, I am shining a light on people making it more welcoming to ride bikes all over Metro Atlanta. If you know of an unsung hero in your city, please feel free to let me know. If interested, here are some folks I’ve showcased already.
You may also enjoy some of the low-stress, art-filled self-guided bike tours all over Metro Atlanta I make available for free on my website. Feel free to share them with your citizens if it would be helpful to them. Lots of folks don’t know where to ride beyond the most popular trails, and there’s so much to discover. I’ll be continually adding more.
Thank you for all you do to make your cities continually safer and more welcoming to people on bikes. As the first survivor-on-bike of a motor vehicle driver charged with a Vulnerable Road User Ordinance violation in the southeastern United States, it means a lot to me.
Trust the journey,
Pattie Baker
League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor #5382
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 