You know all this climate disaster happening right here in the United States right now, today? You know we still have a chance to do something about that, right?
You know that something like 70% of all motor vehicle trips are less than three miles, right? You know that the simple act of not driving a motor vehicle once a day or even once in a while can help?
You know that it takes 9,600 bikes to do comparable damage to our aging infrastructure as one car, right?
You know that last year during lockdown when so few people were driving (for a brief time), my pollinators returned for the first time in over five years? You know that 99% of my goldfinches are still gone, right? (They used to be so abundant that it looked like a drug bust at a disco when I would open by kitchen door to my garden.) You know that something like 60% of all species have gone extinct since I was born, right?
You know that the constant refusal by governments to act to slow climate change (including the failure to provide safe access by transportation options besides motor vehicles) is a crime against humanity, right? You know that those of us who’ve been screaming this from the mountaintops since the 1970s or 9/11 or yesterday are inviting you to join us, right? And that we’re actually finding ways to experience joy in the midst of all this dystopia, including as an act of resistance against discrimination and marginalization, with full recognition of its conundrum?
You know that the world as created by our maker is actually beautiful and abundant, and we hold the power in our hands to make a measurable difference, right?
You know none of this is breaking news, right?
Every day while Traveling at the Speed of Bike, I meet another person who tells me they are going to take, or have taken, their bike back out again for the first time in years. If you are in Metro Atlanta and are considering that as well, you may find the welcoming routes I’ve created for you helpful. If you want to ride for the first time ever, anywhere in our shared public space known as Earth, you may benefit from my free Pedal Power with Pattie classes (available four ways).
We can do this, folks. Let’s stop spinning our wheels waiting for other people to change things. Let’s invite them along, instead. This is not our children’s job to save the world. It is ours, right now, today. One bike ride at a time.
This isn’t breaking news.
Note: I moved to Atlanta to take a job with CNN, after working with USA Today and Fairchild Publications in New York City. I worked as a senior sales promotion manager in the national ad sales department for four years, the first two with the news networks (CNN, CNN International, and Headline News) and the last two with the Turner Broadcasting entertainment networks (TNT, TBS, and Cartoon Network) as well as numerous other departments such as Turner Publishing and one dedicated to original documentaries. I hope to be part of the new CNN Life But Better initiative, starting soon.
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 