Biking in times of crisis
In this strange moment many things are canceled. Biking is not one of them.
Biking is not canceled. In fact, being on a bike is more important than ever to many of us.
Non-essential workers may be riding bikes more now than before the shutdown. Riding a bike can provide much needed physical activity. Just being outdoors, in a way that protects us and the people around us, is also very good for our mental health.
Essential workers may also be riding bikes more now than before the shutdown, particularly people paid low wages. For folks whose wages don’t allow them to own, operate, and maintain a car, riding a bike can be a solution to get to and from essential jobs at grocery stores and health care facilities.
The way we ride may look different for a little while. Riding with people you are not sheltering with is not advised. Reasons are brilliantly explained in an article penned by Dr. Anne Hyman who has not only spent a lot of time studying and working with airborne pathogens, but is also President of Potomac Pedalers a riding group covering DC, Maryland and Virginia. She explains that, “your respiratory signature is not just a stationary, six-foot sphere around you, but it turns into a comet-shaped trail while you’re at speed.”, cautioning, “picture yourself creating these comets. Or riding through a comet tail.”
Advocacy is not canceled.
People turning to walking and biking for mental and physical health reasons are flooding trails. This congestion makes it hard to maintain appropriate social distancing in some places.
Some folks who have historically relied on public transit are no longer finding it reliable or safe. Necessary cuts to routes and service means buses are unable to run as frequently and go as many places as they did before the shutdown. On active lines, riders are not always able to maintain appropriate social distancing necessary to protect their health and the health of the people they are serving.
Early numbers about traffic safety are alarming. Even though there are significantly fewer cars on roads, New York City traffic cameras have identified similar and on some days even more speeding violations. Minnesota has seen an alarming surge in traffic fatalities. We have not seen the numbers from Ohio yet but, conversations with state officials have them concerned about safety. None of this should be surprising. There is significant research showing road design and congestion influence the speed people drive.
Many communities around the nation and the world are finding ways to address these problems by reallocating public right of way on roads. Some communities are removing a typical lane of traffic or parking on streets to make it available for people walking and biking or closing some streets completely to motor vehicle traffic.
Our Yay Bikes! staff and volunteers are continuing to meet (on the phone and virtually) with decision makers from around the region. This moment has made clear that off road trails and separated on road bike lanes are an important component of resilient communities.
Education is not canceled.
Yay Bikes! continues to have a strong presence on Facebook sharing important content about what is happening locally and around the world. We want to make sure our followers have the most accurate information available to safely navigate the current environment. We want to make sure decision makers and grassroots advocates have the best information available to address the problems our communities are facing now and think about how to plan for a better future.
We have great content in the Bike Life Resources section of the Yay Bikes! web site. We can help people brush up on the rights and responsibilities of people riding bikes, as well as how to ride in a way that is most likely to prevent crashes. Need to buy a bike? We have good information on the locations of local bike shops and how to evaluate a used bike. Need help planning a route? We offer good advice for that too. Our article on how to recover a stolen bike also has good information on how to prevent theft, and how to prepare in case your bike is stolen so you can act quickly.
Bikes continue to be the solution.
At some point this public health crisis will resolve, but we are likely to face other public health or weather events that interrupt our typical lives. In these moments, bikes are often an important part of the solution.
My first memory of someone turning to a bike in a crisis was during the Blizzard of 1978. The city worked to dig out of a massive snow storm and was able to clear many streets but my family’s cul-de-sac neighborhood was a low priority. My parent needed to work and was able to do that by carrying a bike 3 blocks out of the neighborhood to a clearer street, then rode it to work. In late January of 2016 when Washington, DC was hit with so much snow that most forms of transportation were shut down or limited, bikes got people places that would have otherwise been inaccessible.
But for bikes to be a solution for everyone interested in giving them a try, people must feel safe and actually be safe riding. That’s the work Yay Bikes! does. Please financially support this work in whatever way makes sense for your household. Thanks.
No, that is not a mini bike rack. It is a standard 3’ tall inverted “U” bike rack, buried in snow. January 25, 2016 Washington DC