My First Bike Ride in Almost 1000 Days!
Hello beautiful people!
Some of you may know that I love bicycles! Bikes were my main way of getting around for 15 years from 2005-2020 AND
how I met most of my friends of the past two decades
they were (almost always) my only form of exercise
are the cheapest, cleanest, and most efficient form of transportation around!
were the primary focus of my work (paid and not) as I tried to make it safer and more delightful for everyone to ride a bike…
I worked for bike organizations around the country like the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Bike Easy (in New Orleans), the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and even Bike Pittsburgh to try to make bikes accessible for everyone
CRASH!
And then one day while I was riding home in Pittsburgh, where I was working for Move PGH, I was hit by a car and woke up the next day in the hospital with a demolished face and no memory of how or why I was there! (And WHYYYYY are these godawful bright lights shining in my eyes!?!)
I Lost a Lot of Things in That Crash - Including
my four front teeth (which required numerous surgeries over two years to repair)
my previous record of not breaking any bones in my face (so long, broken nose and jaw)
my main form of transportation after 15 years of Biking-for-Everything-in-Life person -- there's no place, particularly in the US, where I feel safe riding if cars are in the same space
My profession -- I could no longer confidently, responsibly, or enthusiastically recommended that people ride bikes for transportation while I was going through two+ years of challenging recovery
Ability to fit into my clothes! When my perceived safe-access to the only form of exercise (biking for transportation) that I regularly pursued was removed
Some Things I Gained in That Crash
A serious love for audiobooks/ podcasts because I couldn't read books or look at screens for the first month
A bunch of weight!
A deep appreciation for compassionate dentists
A renewed passion for all forms of public transportation, beyond focusing exclusively on bicycle advocacy
A new and lived-experience understanding of how we design public space and our transportation networks for able-bodied people
I STILL don’t remember the crash, I just have the scars and the (slowly dissipating) despair to show for it!
Confidence, Transportation, Profession — GONE
Beyond the teeth I lost that day, I also lost my confidence to ride a bicycle and all those benefits I told you about above. Dramatic sobs.
I mean, not my friends, dang.
But I couldn't ride a bike with them anymore, certainly not on the street in American cities where I'd have to share the road with giant vehicles always growing in size, driven by ever more distracted drivers where there was almost never a physical barrier or any sort of protection between a person on a bicycle and a 6,000 pound vehicle.
I was devastated, all the time. It was really boring, actually.
How lovely it would have been to be able to hop on a bicycle and pedal out some of my rage and despair, but alas, no.
Fast forward wayyyyyy too many surgeries and too long of healing (well over a year more than I was originally told) of humpty-dumptying my mouth together again so I could eat like a normal human…
Spectacular Transportation Exploration in Medellín
and finally I'm in Medellín, a place where I've wanted to visit to explore their magnificent transportation for a very long time.
And finally finally finally, I worked up the courage to consider riding a bicycle again because here they have a vast and phenomenal network of separated bike infrastructure and before I bore the hell out of you with that type of language, let me just say that it makes a WORLD of difference being able to ride a bicycle on "roadways" where cars/ trucks/ SUVs do not go.
So on Saturday, I booked a bicycle tour of Medellín with Green Bike Tours and right before hopping on a bike for the first time in years, I recorded this video about how excited I was…
and then I put on a helmet (love you, brain) and hopped on a bike for my first bicycle ride (aside from a tiny blip for the filming of a music video for Move PGH with Benji) and it was SPECTACULAR.
(Transportation That’s ) So Fresh and So Clean
I almost started crying about 39 times about how happy I was to be riding a bicycle again. How natural and fast and free I felt. I do love walking and I love transit but damn, being able to move quickly by pedaling and feel the gorgeous breeze again after 956 days was just MAJESTIC.
And tonight, I'm going on my second ride!
It's a group ride with SiCLas and I am TWITCHING with excitement! Riding with dozens or HUNDREDS of people is THE best and I’m thrilled to experience the ride here, led by experts, and be surrounded with so many other people who love bikes too. Photos, maybe video to come!
Please Don’t Text and Drive (or Ride!)
Wish me luck and fun and if you drive a car, please don't text and drive and watch out for people riding and walking. We're just trying to get somewhere too and our lives are important to us and the people who love us!
