Grab your Artsy Bike water bottle and let’s go! Wait, not so fast. It’s crowded out there in the usual spots for bike riding in Metro Atlanta, and that’s a (good) problem because that means human-powered movement is increasingly popular. But maintaining distance is more important than ever right now, and the overflowing Atlanta Beltline’s Eastside Trail or your local park’s multiuse path filled with packs of relatives out for walks on this Thanksgiving weekend may not be the safest choice during COVID-19’s surge.

You may find my free Baker’s Dozen self-guided bike tours particularly helpful in providing you with additional options throughout Metro Atlanta. Considering that these concerns will last through the holidays, you could even package up a tour “gift certificate” with a bike bell or a promise of a picnic to create an original, affordable holiday gift for a friend or loved one. …

An hour and a half away from my home in metro Atlanta, via roads with speed limits I haven’t driven in years, I stood in the rain on the side of a winding road in Winder, Georgia as the newest ghost bike in the USA was dedicated in honor of a 17-year-old girl who died recently on my 57th birthday. She was hit from behind by a motor vehicle driver while riding her bike home from the supermarket where she worked.

I was the sole person there bearing witness besides David, who runs the nonprofit organization Bike Friendly ATL, which dedicates these ghost bike memorials throughout the Southeast (this is his 85th); Rick, a man with Trump signs on his lawn who gave permission for the ghost bike memorial for a Black girl named Obienuju Faith Osuegbu to be there on his property, too, in front of which you can still see the police markings from that night; and Toya, the sister of the victim, who a quick online search shows was a volleyball star at East Carolina University. I was grateful I went, to be able to take the photo of these three people who were strangers to each other not long before. I was grateful to be alive to tell this story, as I had miraculously survived a hit-and-run while riding my bike in the place I call home just eight weeks prior. …

Thank you so much for your kind responses to “Pedal Power with Pattie,” the first bike skills class in the world delivered securely via text (at the time each day you determine, for a commitment of less than two minutes a day over three weeks).

Due to requests for it in a PDF format (see below), I’ve now created an exact replica of the phone version so you can “binge” on it in one fell swoop, if you want (or take your sweet time).

I continue to offer this class, now in three formats (in person as the pandemic allows, via text, and via this PDF) for simply one reason: To help more teen girls and women take their places in our public spaces while Traveling at the Speed of Bike.

https://www.scribd.com/document/465572752/Pedal-Power-With-Pattie-Bike-Skills-Class-for-Teen-Girls-and-Women

1.

Truth? I’m Scared.

Truth? I’m scared to death. I am leaving everyone and everything I know to live in a village in Africa without running water and electricity for two years. And at 56 years old, with 30 years of marriage and a comfortable house in suburbia, that’s asking a lot. But with the world in crisis and the future uncertain in so many ways, staying put is no longer a viable option for me, for reasons I don’t fully understand and have learned to not question.

And so I am preparing to leave a metro-Atlanta suburb where my husband and I somehow ended up after we relocated from New York City so many years ago, for the Equator-straddling East African country of Uganda where I’ve accepted a position with the Peace Corps as an Agribusiness Specialist. …

Look, it didn’t take long during our current crisis for folks to realize that, besides toilet paper, food is a necessity. And healthy food boosts your body’s chances to fight off disease. Is it worth the effort as we hobble through this seeming-apocalypse known as the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic? Is it too late if you haven’t jumped on the turnip wagon yet? Is there maybe something else going on with homegrown, fresh-picked sustenance that feeds your soul at a time when a single flicker of hope can get you through the day — and night? …

(republished from Food For My Daughters)

First of all: all 7,000+ Peace Corps Volunteers are being evacuated globally right now and the entire program is currently suspended. With that in mind, my departure for Uganda in June is unlikely, and my calling is now local again. I will share whatever knowledge I can that you may find useful. Let’s start with this quick at-home garden you can create in less than two hours. Here’s the example.

I revived a raised bed garden originally created by Farmer D at Nicholas House (a transitional home for families in Atlanta) one spring in a way that would model how to do it for anyone who wants to start growing food. I bought supplies commonly available at Home Depot, for a total of $50, and included things I thought might be both quick growing and interesting. Small harvests are possible within two weeks, and can continue until late May in our metro Atlanta climate. …

So I’m on line at Costco, the mood heavy all around me, as I buy peanut butter and pinto beans in case we’re quarantined due to coronavirus, and it’s 9/11 all over again.

If you are feeling coronavirus (and other) stress, growing a little of your own food can help*, not just for the health-enhancing nutrients but also because planting a seed is the ultimate act of faith in the future and sometimes (like now) we just need to see that in action.

I still have two beds and a raised planter left in my home garden (the rest I’ve eliminated in preparation for leaving for Peace Corps Uganda) and I’m planting today, even though I didn’t plan to do so ever again at the home where I have lived for almost 25 years. My friend Rashid’s** words to me from years ago, “Plant anyway,” ring in my ear, and this recent stop at a community garden while Traveling at the Speed of Bike in south Florida during yet another eldercare trip this past week, pictured above, clinched my decision. …