Tonni poses with the sign she got installed, with help from Yay Bikes!, on St Clair Ave.
Tonni Oberly was introduced to Yay Bikes! last summer when her employer offered Ride Buddy rides to teach employees how to commute by bicycle. A community advocate with Milo Grogan's new Cultivate Community Development Corporation, Tonni was already commuting to work by bike, and was so excited to share the love of riding with her colleagues that she came on three rides with us during the summer of 2017!
Tonni, right, joins her Ohio Department of Health colleagues on a Ride Buddy ride.
Tonni was experiencing hostility on a segment of her daily commute—a narrow, one-lane bridge with a hill on St Claire Avenue that doesn't readily allow cars to pass when she's taking the full lane for safety (as is her right). So in June 2018 she emailed Meredith asking how to get a Bikes May Use Full Lane sign installed on that bridge. And—as quick as zip-zoom-zip—Meredith connected Tonni with the appropriate person within the City of Columbus, who did an assessment and had a sign installed...within the month.
Tonni is feeling much more relaxed now during that segment of her commute, confident that both motorists and bicyclists are being educated by the presence of her sign. Even more, she's in awe of the ease with which she was able to achieve this simple, yet meaningful, win. Without the assist from Yay Bikes!, she imagines it would have taken much longer to get a sign installed, with much more effort on her part.
Indeed, bicycle advocacy can be a long slog, with roads taking years to design and designs taking years to implement. But Tonni, empowered by her achievement, reminds us that some smaller changes are within anyone's reach. And with Yay Bikes! out there in the world, chances are even better that we who ride will get it done—together!
THIS, folks, is what your membership dollars support. Join now!
