5 Reminders for National Bike Month (and Beyond)

Happy National Bike Month! Here are five reminders for this month (and beyond):

1 — You are enough. Simply existing in public space — especially if you are a woman, person of color, or person with disabilities (all underrepresented on bikes in our public spaces) — is the biggest act of advocacy you can take. You do not need to do another damn thing than ride your bike however and wherever you want.

2 — Center joy. Do whatever you have to do to remind yourself why you ride a bike in the first place. Ring your bell. Make streamers. Paint your bike and helmet (I do!). Ride to stores, schools, parks, restaurants, meetings. Wear a dress and fill your basket with flowers, or buy the sports clothes, if that’s what you want. If you find you come home angry rather than exhilarated, change your route to reduce threats to your joy (and life) (or try BikeNoodle — here’s everything you need to know about it). See the joy in every moment when you are traveling at a pace where you can look humanity in the face. Follow me on TikTok for joy, joy, joy.

3 — Your rubber-hits-the-road experience matters. If you want to share your joys and/or frustrations about riding a bike, shout it out. Post on social media, write a blog (or book or two!), email your local city hall and consider attending meetings to make sure your voice is at the table. Note: the majority of people at most city halls who are making life-and-death decisions have no frickin’ idea what it’s like to actually ride a bike for transportation where you live. And if they tell you creating something as small as a pop-up protected bike lane is too hard, it’s not. They do it with construction all the time. And I did it with cones. (No more Cone of Silence.)

4 — Your time is valuable. If you get the slightest indication that your city is only interested in lip action, not hip action (here’s how you know — you don’t feel safe when you buy a loaf of bread on a bike), leave your message (here’s my latest) but save your time and energy for somewhere that’s ready for action and values your voice. Life, as we know all too well from our near-death experiences on bikes, is too short. Oh, and charge for your expertise. You are worth it.

5 — You’re not alone. Join things (rides, clubs, movements) and invite others along — or just enjoy meeting nice strangers when you’re out there by yourself (as I usually am — see my street photography series @Today’sNiceStranger on Instagram). Share classes (I got two for you, free). Share rides (see the first Dino-Soar bike tour in the world: route below, triple-bottom-line sustainability highlights here).

Share tips (here are 11 tips for after surviving an assault while riding your bike — been there, done that). Share stories about others making it more welcoming to ride bikes. Share my books, Traveling at the Speed of Bike and Round America with a Duck! ALL proceeds are used to help more people ride bikes.

Have fun. Fun matters now more than ever. It’s an act of resistance in a world in crisis, and a way to build resiliency for our uncertain future. Hope to you see you out there!

Trust the journey — Pattie