Tweed Run Fun, Act IV

Please join me in congratulating ride organizer Houndstooth Road for winning a 2013 Best of Atlanta Prize in Leisure Biking from Atlanta Magazine. Huzzah!

Tweed Run Fun, Act III

more from the Autumn Tweed & Vintage Ride 2013 on Facebook

Tweed Run Fun, Act II

more from the Autumn Tweed & Vintage Ride 2013 on Facebook

Tweed Run Fun, Act I

more from the Autumn Tweed & Vintage Ride 2013 on Facebook

Save The Date: Tweed Ride Saturday

What better way to enjoy the bracing chill and autumn color than a tweed ride? Join the fun Saturday in Decatur Square at 1:30 pm. Our friends at Sq/Ft Boutique have special treats in store for both early birds and all who register. Please click on the poster for details. See you there!

Roll Model: Tracie Sanchez

Decaturite Tracie Sanchez dressed as Diana Nyad for Halloween. Inspiring as the long distance swimmer may be, Sanchez offers plenty of her own insight from a lifetime of bicycle commuting. "I really will do most anything to use public transit and enjoy the ride before I will jump in a car." At UGA, she sold the "Mustang that all the men in my family took me to pick out when I graduated high school. Vroom! College campuses are contained, even ones in agricultural states, and I lived nearby so I just biked to work."

The habit followed her to Washington, DC, where an enlightened employer installed office showers. "This was back in 1989! I never owned a car, bought gas, paid parking tickets, insurance, fines, got towed, had fender benders or road rage. Instead I read the paper, worked the puzzle, got some exercise, got super fit, saved money and threw away the gym membership."

The DC Metro and later BART in San Francisco augmented those bike commutes and informed her thinking so much that in 2011, UGA awarded her a Master's of Public Administration "in transportation solutions focusing on, you guessed it, bicycling." Reconciling professional dress codes with riding to work she says is "easy once you embrace it. Just buy a-line skirts, boots, skinny leg pants, lots of fun $1 gloves at Target and scarves for winter. Love scarves on bikes!"

Street Scene: Cabbagetown

dress: Ross
boots: Dr. Martens
bag: Coach
bike: Schwinn Point Beach

Roll Model: Niklas Vollmer

gorilla photo by guest blogger Niklas Vollmer
I recently lashed this beast to my bike handlebars to recognize nine months of being without a car. I once chose to bike across the country alone and it was an incredible experience (my sister and dad made the transcontinental trek a few years later) -- yet, it was immediately humbling to find myself carless with a child (11-year old T--lad) in this economy, and I hadn’t done much Atlanta city cycling. So far, I have chosen urban cycling over accumulating more debt after my car died prematurely. I am thrilled to tear up auto insurance offers that come by mail, peddle by gas stations and car repair shops, park for free, avoid sitting in traffic, and smile and nod at other cyclists along the way. When I was a kid, my favorite things were my bikes. I rode a yellow 10-speed I purchased with my paper route earnings everywhere. Cycling again reminds me what it was like as a kid peddling and babbling along next to your buddies (side by side biking is legal in most scenarios); I also learned that cars are not very social environments –– and covet the people I meet and the additional conversations with T –– lad as we explore the city. It can be slow-going and less convenient to bike, walk, or cobble together public transportation routes (three buses to a soccer game) –– yet, T--lad and I are a team, trying to figure it out together. We still grumble sometimes, are a bit more regional, and cannot do it all; these constraints make us more intentional and resourceful –– and physically active and fit. I thank fab T--lad for being game, and also appreciate the occasional loaner car or ride offer from friends (biking to the drive-in is no fun). A number of folks keep asking when I'm going to buy a car –– and, as a university professor with an inverted salary, I don't have an answer as carlessness saves me hundreds of dollars a month and I am not sure I can afford a car for a number of other reasons. I also feel good about lessening city congestion and environmental impact –– and have recently added a nifty bike trailer to port heavier loads. As urban crowd–sourced auto sharing groups arise, who knows. Craigslist is full of bike deals and there are terrific bike sales right now. If you haven’t done so already, go getcher self one. As cycling grows in Atlanta, support your local bike advocacy groups to boot!

Niklas Vollmer

Street Scene: North Highland Avenue, Alive!

More than an afternoon of zany fun, Streets Alive is symbolic of a shift in the dynamic of growth in Atlanta, says Maria Saporta. Thank you, Atlanta Bicycle Coalition.

The Terminus 5 C: Resurgens

She has what they want, but it could be yours: a vintage Miyata ten-speed bike. To obtain such a treasure you will have to run a gauntlet of five bike-friendly bars, each posing an unique set of challenges. To keep things sociable, play is for points, not time. Bring a friend or two. Free beer and a variety of runner-up prizes await at the last stop, Mother. Registration begins at 11am in Woodruff Park for the noon starting hour. The advance cost is $10 for Atlanta Bicycle Coalition members or $20 to join in both the fun and our voice for cycling advocacy. Please click on the banner for details.

Atlanta Bicycle Coalition

On The Road: Knoxville

The sight of a decorated bicycle compelled me to visit the Market Square clothing merchant Rococo Boutique. It seems that Smart Trips invited Knoxville businesses to join in their promotion of alternative transportation modes. Those pleated area maps and sound, if whimsical, advice were a crowd favorite.

Family Bike Show And Tell This Saturday