Hi, all! Thanks again for your letters of endorsement of me as the first Metro Atlanta Bicycle Mayor as part of a global consortium of more than 135 worldwide bicycle mayors with the Amsterdam-based social enterprise BYCS.
Here is my final executive summary. 7 bullets, folks. A quick read with top-line updates and some rubber-hits-the-road truth (as usual).
Please encourage folks you know to apply to become a Bicycle Mayor for Metro Atlanta or any of its individual 10 counties or 70 cities or we will be off the global map as of November 1, 2022. Also, encourage folks from anywhere in the USA to apply. At many global meetings, I was the sole representative from the United States. Big things are happening globally and it’s important that we stay involved.
In separate news, it was a great joy and honor to be offered the opportunity to do a PeopleForBikes Ridespot Takeover of your Instagram account last weekend, Jenn and Eric. I provided 16 hours of original content pro bono, which I then amplified across social media. The most popular asset across social media is still highlighted on the Ridespot Instagram account, showing my MARTA bus driver Anthony demonstrating how to load a bike on a bus. (Note I took my folding bike onto the bus that day — another highlight on the feed shows an additional TikTok that shows me loading a bike onto the front rack). You may find these poll results interesting! Also, it’s so nice to see PeopleForBikes finally start an account on TikTok. Please note the car folks are on TikTok — the bike folks have been slow to represent. Follow me, and join me there.
I’m currently wrapping up my job with the CDC Foundation serving the State of Alaska as a Communications Specialist (a job I was offered after my Peace Corps Uganda service got derailed due to COVID). I am planning a cross-country trip for six months starting late March 2023 (with a duck) via bikes, buses, trains, and working on a handful of organic farms (while also freelance writing and probably working on a new book, of course). I’ll be reporting live from numerous cities about their bikey-ness. Hope to see you out there Traveling at the Speed of Bike!
Thanks for all you do to try to create a more welcoming USA and world for people on bikes. As you know, there is no more time for the gutter of failed imagination, sharrow-minded thinking or compromises that kill.
Trust the journey,
Pattie
Traveling at the Speed of Bike 