Years of driving dogma have spawned generations of amoral with a sense of entitlement.

I’ve been sexually harassed, I’ve had a water bottle thrown at me, I’ve been driven off the road, I’ve been hit, I’ve been door’d, I’ve been cut off and this past weekend, I can add that my life was threatened-verbally.  I was riding east on Gay St. with a friend.  Gay St. is a two-way street; one travel lane in each direction and I maintained my lane.  A pick-up truck behind me was revving his engine; speeding up and slowing down to get my attention and probably to get me to move to the right but I had no intention b/c I had every right to maintain the lane.  At the red light, he sped up beside me, proceeded to spit on me and said I should ‘share the fucking road.’  I said, ‘how do I do that, I am legally allowed to take this ONLY lane?!’  He continued to be antagonistic, wanting me to ‘hit’ him.  I said, ‘I’m not going to hit you.’  He said, ‘I’ll end your life, you white bitch.’

A few more words were exchanged, the light turned green and since he was finally ahead of me, he was able to again maintain his driving cadence of 25 mph as oppose to my 15 mph.

I got home and couldn’t shake this particular instance.  I’ve had ppl intimidate me with their cars and I’ve never had anyone verbally threaten that they’d end my life.’  I rang a friend of mine who really helped me put this situation into perspective.  I could have handled the situation differently and I was beating myself up for it.  But, my friend told me that that person was my teacher – teaching me how I can improve myself the next time b/c there WILL,  inevitably be a next time.  Thank you, JLa.

I’ve written a ‘Will’ in case I die and its b/c I ride a bike.  How many drivers have written a ‘Will’ b/c they drive a car?  I bet I could gamble and say ‘not a whole lot.’  I constantly think and obsess over WHY, we are in such hurries that when we are slowed down, it infuriates us.  Why, as drivers, when we are slowed down, we have such anger and violence within us that we want to kill, intimidate, drive off the road, spit and harass.  How did we become so disconnected with each other and we don’t see the ‘human being’ component.

I am a daughter, a twin sister, an aunt, a cousin, a best friend, a human being.  When did we as human beings become so transparent that our destinations became more important than the safety of human life?  You’re wanting to END MY LIFE b/c I slowed you down for less than two minutes?  Let’s take a moment and really digest that sentence b/c that’s what I deal with on a regular basis.

Why is it drivers have more patience for school buses or public transportation buses when they make frequent stops yet they are ready to cut off and /or harass a person on a bicycle?  What is the difference?  The operator in any of these mode of transport is still a human being so why the fortitude with one and not the other?

Our streets began with people owning the streets – not cars.  Now, driving has become such a part of our DNA that this sense of entitlement and ownership has taken over our streets and our neighborhoods to where people will kill over it.

I’m willing to die in order to change this mentality.  I have been brought up to be a leader, not a follower.  Streets are suppose to be mini theaters- acting out life experiences and this can’t happen when cars control streets.  Families should want to take their kids on walks after dinner.  Families should want to sit on their front porch or stoop and talk to neighbors about how ridiculous ‘Honey Boo-Boo’ really is.  Nobody wants to do this when their front yards are three lanes wide and cars speeding at 40 mph.

I look forward to the day when we realize that some congestion isn’t always a bad thing and that life WILL NOT END if you have to slow down.  I look forward to the day when more people see change as a good thing and not fear it and react recklessly.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

‘Girls in Gear’ takes to the street – ‘urban design’ style!

This past week, my program Girls in Gear moved into Urban Design, something I am very passionate about.  Opening up people’s eyes at how our streets have been designed and how they can be so much more.

These girls, like the majority of our citizens have only viewed streets for one purpose – to get cars from point A to point B.  Next time you take a walk, be conscious of if you even have sidewalks to walk on.  So many of our neighborhoods especially the lower income neighborhoods, sidewalks have been eradicated to make more room for travel lanes.

Opening up these girls eyes and minds showing them how much more a street can be is critical.  They should know that they deserve simple infrastructure such as a sidewalk when walking to school.  They shouldn’t be ‘immune’ to gun-shells and used syringes in their playgrounds.  The design of a neighborhood creates the tone in how a community will use that neighborhood.  If you’re neighborhood is destroyed by four lane wide streets with cars moving at 4o mph, chances are there will be very little social interactions and enjoyment on these streets.

Aside from the aesthetics of a street, the people behind the scenes creating these streets are predominantly men.  I want these girls to know and believe that if they want to become planners, architects, or engineers when they grow up, they have just as good of a chance as men.  Have you ever stepped outside your house and taken a walk or a bike ride and stopped to collect the way that you ‘feel’ on a particular street?  Do you feel safe?  Intimidated?  Is the street pleasant to be on?  Is it soft with textures of trees, lights, benches, few travel lanes,gardens, etc.  or is cold and isolated with a slab of concrete serving one purpose – to get you to your destination?

The majority of our streets have been designed by men.  Imagine what our streets would look and feel like if the majority of them were designed by women?   The majority of our streets built today are not women and children friendly in my opinion.  This is one of the reasons I’m introducing Urban Design to these young girls.  When a street is designed with women and children in mind, everyone will feel safer experiencing that street.

Enjoy the pics.

Be safe and keep riding.

 

 

Took the girls on a walk audit to score two streets.

 

 

Group discussion as we wait to cross the street.

 

 

The girls discussing what they saw and felt on the two streets we scored.

 

 

Abby Downs discussing streets more than just places for cars.

 

 

The girls beginning their designs of their ideal bikeable / walkable streets.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »

You gotta get out and RIDE

Opinions are like assholes – everyone has one.  When it comes to bicycle infrastructure, assholes seem to be the reigning force.  I, of course have my opinions as well.  However, a big deal for me when I discuss my ‘opinions’ is that I do the research first.  I ride the current topic of infrastructure discussion instead of just ‘winging’ it.  I’ll go to that area, ride around, sit and look at human interactions with that area, desire lines, parking, signage, lighting, speeding, speeding, and speeding.  Once, I’ve finished my research, I’ll make my conclusions and give my ‘opinion.’  I’d rather give you m opinion based on actual experience than sitting behind a desk and thinking I know what I’m talking about b/c I live in the next neighborhood over and drive through it everyday.

Change is the number one constant in life.  People HATE change.  People get really sensitive when you come into their neighborhoods advocating for better streets; safer and slower streets.  I’m car-free and so are many of my friends and more and more are choosing to take this way of life.  I can’t live in all neighborhoods but I sure as hell bicycle through many of them.

I don’t think I need to remind anyone who reads this that we have an obesity issue here in our city; adults AND kids.  When it comes to playing outside, its night and day difference when I was young.  Its sad.  I work with youth therefore, I’m attending Elementary Schools and Middle Schools regularly and there are days I’ll get home and just become a pile of sadness b/c of how overweight some third grader is and they are already getting their fair share of fellow student heckling.

Our streets in our neighborhoods need to be updated so families and kids can feel safe playing and WANT to be outside.  Bicycle infrastructure helps.

If you all have been asleep with regards to what I’m passionate about, open your eyes and read this:  I’m passionate about making our streets enjoyable, slower, and safer in order for more families and women to feel confident enough to make the choice to ride their bikes to the YMCA instead of driving (arbitrary destination I chose).

Engineers still design roads in the mindset of men, why – b/c most engineers ARE men.  Another profession still heavily dominated by men.  We need to alter that to where they are thinking:  Will my grandmother feel safe riding this street to get to church?  Can Molly take her two kids on this street to get to Magic Mountain?  8 to 80 – the age range that engineers need to have burned in their brains when redesigning streets.

So…..  along with my bigger ’2 Wheels & Heels’ ladies ride, I’ve come up with another more intimate ride.  Lots of new infrastructure is being built here in Columbus and a lot MORE will be popping up -very soon.  I thought a good idea would be to take small and intimate groups of women to experience the new infrastructure around town.  I take them there, we ride and then at the end we discuss.  They discuss.  They tell me how THEY feel – as mothers, as sisters, as grandmothers – as WOMEN.  I actually write up their experience as detailed as I remember and submit them to our city engineers which they HIGHLY appreciate.

This recent ride was experiencing the newly built and very contested Tamarack Circle roundabout bike lanes.  Residents are saying that congestion is happening b/c a travel lane has been removed in order to have a dedicated bike lane built.

I’m from this area, I was raised on the north side of town.  When the new infrastructure was built, my mum drove me over here so that I could see it.  Again, driving next to it and actually experiencing it – two different animals.

So, this past Tuesday, myself and four other women were able to make time and ride over to the area to get a feel of this new infrastructure.  We parked at the YMCA and rode down the new lanes on Sandalwood and then took our time and rode the roundabout. The final result in our evening was overwhelmingly unanimous.  The ladies were extremely pleased with the infrastructure.  The bike lanes were a comfortable six feet in width.  There is a buffer throughout the roundabout that separates the parked cars from the bicycle lane.  That buffer is a comfortable six feet.  This gives not only the person on a bike comfort that they won’t be door’d but it gives peace of mind to the driver who gets out of their car as they have ample room to get out and not immediately be in the bike lane and worry about any conflicts.  The cars were courteous.  They slowed and yielded to us when they needed to make any right turns.

I think the successor of the evening was the buffer.  Normally, you see three feet buffers between parked car lanes, bike lanes, and / or travel lanes so have six feet of buffer was like riding on puffy clouds.  Buffers give off that extra sense of safety that so many folks are looking for.  Again, this isn’t just directed towards people on bikes, its directed towards the drivers exiting / entering their cars as well. The drivers who need to keep their door open to strap in their child to the backseat child seat.  Even with three foot buffers (which is about the length of a car door) they don’t need to feel rushed in order to not impede a bike lane.

We all rode with leisure.  We rode slow, with no feeling of having to ‘hurry up’ for the cars behind us.  I rode with my hand in my back pocket.  We took our time and laughed.  When you create streets in which people riding bikes can ENJOY, that street then becomes a  destination.  And yes, the street will be the destination and not a ‘pass through.’  That’s what makes city streets come alive – when you make the streets themselves a destination place of their own.

Be safe and keep riding

The lovely ladies who joined me.  Thank you

 

Shot of the six foot wide bike lane down Sandalwood.  ROOMY

 

Clearly marked.  Proper boundary width.

 

Entering Tamarack roundabout

 

You can see above the parking lane and the six foot wide buffer and the bike lane.

 

We all pulled over and discussed how we were feeling and now we’re hoppin’ back on our bikes.

 

 

A shot of the girls with a car next to them.

 

Six foot bike lane with the buffer to the right

Read Full Post »

Bike-Friendly Businesses Create ‘Staying’ Environments

I try to schedule a lot of my meetings at Cafe Brioso.  It’s central, the staff are stellar, and it’s such a bike hub.  If I want to see one of my biking friends, I usually just have to sit there for a bit until I see one of many of them – it’s a great thing.

For business owners who still sit on the fence about whether removing a parking space to accompany an in-street bike corral or some other bike-friendly treatment is too risky and ‘may’ take away from their business… it won’t.  It’ll only attract foot traffic and pedal traffic and keep people ‘staying’ at your business.  That’s essentially what you’re looking for, for people to ‘stay’ and spend money.  When you have these comforts and these accommodations that many, many people are looking for and desire – word WILL get around.  As a biker, my money is just as green as the car driver.  That’s what makes Cafe Brioso so special.  They don’t have an in-street bike corral… yet but, they sure are the beacon and a prime example of a successful business when you create it around people.  You have to listen and observe what people want.

Keep riding

Read Full Post »

Before bicycles and cars… we are pedestrians.

So… aside from being ‘mildly’ obsessed with bicycles and placemaking, I, along with many others work hard every day trying to make our roads safe and use-able for ALL modes of transportation.  Roads aren’t owned by cars even though many drivers these days feel this sense of entitlement when it comes to OUR roads.

It’s really amazing that from riding my bike everyday, the more ‘in your face’ things become.  All the rules broken by drivers AND bicycle riders.  I was recently at my friends birthday party and another friend and I were talking and she said, ‘I was waiting a red light and I got really frustrated b/c I saw a couple bike riders just blow through the red light.’  Then she says, ‘but then on my way home, I saw a bike rider waiting at the red light and thought, now there’s a bike rider who knows how to follow the rules.’  She then says that she noticed it was my bike and it was me.  Hearing this made me so happy.  It made me realize that there ARE people out there watching and do respect when rules are followed especially when so many of us are demanding the same kind of respect.  I recently saw two police officers on their bikes actually riding in the road.  I caught up to them and said, ‘thank you for actually riding in the road instead of riding on the sidewalk.’  Most police officers on bikes I see, ride on the sidewalk.  How can we begin to educate drivers about what we as bike riders are legally allowed to do when most police officers don’t even know???

Anyways, this blog is about the’ forgotten pedestrian.’  Recently, I feel like I’m just so in tune when I see pedestrians space be over taken by oblivious, non-respectful drivers.  Many cities have formed ‘Pedestrian Advisory Committees’ which I feel this city desperately needs.  Drivers are in such hurries these days that when pedestrians have the right of way, they are still honked at b/c drivers actually need to come to a complete stop and wait for them to cross.  I see pedestrians speed walk through cross-walks which is upsetting b/c one shouldn’t feel the need to rush in order to NOT be hit by a car who can’t patiently wait 6-7 seconds.  Drivers pull up to red lights and completely over take the cross walk which you’ll see in some pictures below.  I captured a mail person who parked their mail truck in the bicycle lane that I use to get to two of my schools in the Hilltop.

I’ve been capturing these photos to display the lack of thought and the lack of respect that drivers have towards others on the roads.  Is there a ‘fix?’  Well, I’m not sure about that but a few things can help:

1.  More people being vocal about their RIGHT to have shared and safe space on the roads

2.  Re-designed roads.  So many of our roads need road dieted.  Streets like Broad St. and Nationwide St. are streets that needs to be slowed down.  There needs to be wide and well-designed pedestrian refuges in the middle of these streets in case pedestrians can’t make it across in time.  The current ‘pedestrian’ refuge on E. Nationwide Blvd….  IS A JOKE!

3.  Placemaking designs that create staying environments.  You can’t just place benches in some dead space and expect people to utilize it and think you’re doing something beneficial for the community.  It frustrates me – having engineers who know NOTHING about placemaking and smart ‘green’ design, design these spaces that you’ll see below.

This driver is well over half way INTO the pedestrians right of way.

Yes, this cross-walk is nice and wide but it doesn’t give this driver any right to wait inside it.

ALL of these cars have a red light and look where they are.  They are through the cross walk and in the middle of the street creating no through way for any cars with green lights to make turns.  All for what??  This chaos provides them NO BENEFIT.

These two drivers are in the middle of the street!  You can see the cross walk…BEHIND them!  A potential safety hazard but they obviously don’t seem concerned.

 

Good ol’ mail truck parked in the bicycle lane.  The person wasn’t in there or else when I rode passed, I would have said something.  I’m pretty vocal about  my rights

This is suppose to be a little ‘green pocket park.’  Its near the corner of Town and Parsons and its just a joke.  Do you see the trash can immediately next to one of the benches?  There’s nothing ‘welcoming’ about this ‘pocket park’ at all.  There’s no color, it looks like the benches were just placed there, and there’s actually MORE concrete than greenery.  And, do you see any kind of pedestrian lighting??

 

There’s just absolutely NOTHING enjoyable about this dead space.  Do you wanna hang out here?  This is a perfect example of a POORLY designed and implemented ‘pocket park.’  Our city planners, whomever designed this needs some serious continuing education on placemaking.

This blog post today isn’t meant to be a ‘bitch’ fest.  It’s meant to bring acknowledgment that we as pedestrians, bike riders, etc. need to be vocal and let drivers know there ARE more types of transport using our roads.  The next time you get in your car and drive, be MINDFUL of where you rest at reds.  Think about a time when you’ve been almost hit by a car turning right at a red light.  Think about when the light turns green and you have the right of way to cross and a car speeds up and turns so they don’t have to wait for you to finish crossing.  All of these things that we may not realize but when it happens, you should feel compelled to be vocal about it.  Take back your space as a pedestrian.  The drivers destination should NOT be more important than our safety.

 

 

 

Read Full Post »