Glimpses

The title of this blog is "I Dream of Bicycling." I was struggling to capture many concepts in one short phrase... Urban transport cycling, the infancy of cycling in Atlanta, the isolation of being a bicycle commuter here, and finally, the spirit of Atlanta (expressed, for instance, in Dr. King's "I have a dream" speech) which will face insurmountable odds in order to promote justice, equality, and people's rights to basic things like safety, mobility, health, and opportunity.

Usually, I am a lone cyclist in an ocean of cars. I'm okay with that. I'm used to being different. If I need someone to understand me, I have my boyfriend, friends, and the lovely bloggers of the global city cycling scene. But I hope it won't be that way forever.

Me and the motorists...

I envision Atlanta as being a city where any person can travel by any mode of transportation - walking, bicycling, private car, public transportation...anything except zipline, I suppose. Right now, access to private car travel is, for many parts of the Atlanta region, the difference between 'haves' and 'have nots.' And there are many people who spend more money than they reasonably should in order to have a car - money that comes out of their household budget for food, housing, education, savings, etc.

Every now and then, I see Atlanta differently. There is a glimpse where it looks like a real multi-modal city. Cyclists are passing by in the traffic, people are walking along an ample sidewalk, businesses are open and lining the streets, friends are walking side-by-side. Sometimes I can snap a photo of the moment.

In the evening, a student walks his bicycle while talking to a friend

I dream of bicycling. I dream of transportation justice.