Nov. 4-5, 2022

Friday, November 4

9:00 a.m.

Summit Welcome: John Devine, AICP, Georgia Bikes Executive Director

Keynote Address with Bill Nesper, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists and Mike McGinn, Executive Director of America Walks

We’re excited to kick off the 2022 summit with an update on Georgia Bikes and an engaging conversation with our national-level partners in walking and biking advocacy!

10:30 a.m.

Bike, Walk, Drive SMART! An overview of Georgia Bike’s educational programs

Presented by Justin Bristol, Georgia Bikes Safety Education Programs Manager

This session will provide an overview of the free safety education programs offered by Georgia Bikes. Learn about the continuing education we offer to local police officers, the on-bike skills that we teach in our Smart Cycling Classes, and the bicycle and pedestrian safety training that we offer motor vehicle drivers.

11:15 a.m.

Current Legal Issues and Trends in Bike Law and Advocacy

Presented by Bruce Hagen, Bike Law Georgia

Join Bike Law GA for an interactive session discussing the state of the law for bicyclists in Georgia, enforcement of the law, and the need for meaningful legislation to protect people who ride bikes. This session will also cover existing bicycle laws, how police investigations of bicycle-related crashes are conducted, and ways to protect yourself through insurance coverage.

Optional Lunch Break Session: 12:00 p.m.

A walkthrough of the League of American Bicyclists’ online education tools with SEPM Justin Bristol

1:00 p.m.

Preparing and Surviving: Crash Recovery and Preparation

Presented by Maggie and Jackson Evans

While out on a normal training ride, SCAD professor, artist, and musician Maggie Evans experienced what many cyclists fear: she was struck by a car from behind. After countless days in the ICU, many surgeries, and hours of physical therapy, Maggie is back on her bike and setting her sites on the event that she was training for that morning, a 200 kilometer gravel race in Iceland. Along with her husband and training partner, Jackson, Maggie will share her story of recovery and provide tips for how you can prepare for the worst.

1:45 p.m.

Session 1: Bike and Walking Buses

Presented by Georgia Safe Routes to School Program Team

If you take the bus out of school bus, you may end up with a Walking School Bus! Add bicycles, and you’ve got a Bike Train or Bike Bus! The Georgia Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Program team will give an overview of Walking School Buses and Bike Trains/Bike Buses. Their expert SRTS Coordinators will provide attendees with tips and tools for selecting routes, planning the walking or biking bus, recruiting support and volunteers, engaging the community, and keeping the program going. They’ll also share real-world success stories and resources that are available to Walking School Bus and Bike Bus organizers.

Session 2: Walk Outdoors for Wellness!

Presented by Carolyn Hartfield, a Mentor for the Georgia State Walking College Class of 2022; a 2022 Sponsored Athlete for Senior Planet; and the leader for the Just Walk! a Walk with a Doc program in DeKalb County, Georgia.

Carolyn will share several—often-overlooked—precautions that can be taken when walking in public places. These will help us stay safe and avoid collisions, particularly as we share the road, trail, or path with other runners, cyclists, and those on scooters or skate boards. She will also share some lessons learned about vehicle traffic and tips for seniors and parents with young children.

Session 3: Innovative Multimodal Safety Tools and Case Studies from Georgia State Routes!

Presented by Ron Knezevich and Carly Queen

Join representatives from the GDOT Safety Office and AECOM as they share updates on efforts to improve multimodal safety in Georgia. Presenters will share case studies and examples of successful collaboration and application of new tools for data gathering and analysis that can be used to inform safety studies and projects across the state.

2:45 p.m.

Session 1: Summer Bike Camp- We all need it!

Presented by Nedra Deadwyler, Civil Bikes

Bike culture is at its finest when it is able to accommodate a wide range of people who ride bikes or hope to one day ride on wheels. Getting young people involved in riding a bike is one way to encourage the entire family. With children being on bicycles, it challenges adults to make better decisions about infrastructure, facilitates community connections/connectedness, and introduces safety skills at an early age. Learn about Civil Bikes’ summer camps and how they foster a love for bikes and bike safety that lasts a lifetime!

Session 2: Be Safe, Be Seen: How to Run (Or Not Hit a Runner) At Any Time of Day!

Presented by Dr. Emily Williams Burch, Elevated Running and Pacing

In this session, we’ll talk all things running, especially related to safety. Whether you’re the runner, or driving while sharing the road with the two-legged racer, get ready for some “lit” conversations while we share the @ElevatedRunningandPacing “vibe.”

Session 3: Presenting Safety Data Visually

Presented by Caila Brown, Bike Walk Savannah Executive Director, and Jon McBrayer, GIS Planner with Northeast Georgia Regional Commission

We’ll explore how you can pull, interpret, and display data graphically. From using GIS for mapping and identifying high-risk intersections and roads, to creating easy-to-read infographics, this session will help you present your information in new, eye catching ways!

3:45 p.m.

Session 1: Youth Partners in Creating Change to Our Streets

Presented by Vision Zero for Youth and ASAP members, Greyson Foster, Evan Weimann, Jacob Smith, Alison CdeBeaufort

In a collaboration between Atlanta Students Advocating for Pedestrians (ASAP) and Vision Zero for Youth, young road-safety activists will share the importance of meaningfully engaging youth voices in city-youth partnerships for safer streets. The presentation will sample activities from youth-led ASAP, as well as present findings from a national program scan of youth-led and -serving organizations in road safety, led by Vision Zero for Youth. Participants will leave inspired with ideas for how to include youth in advocacy efforts.

Session 2: Share Your Path and Park Data – SCORE!

Presented by Keith Larson, Bike-Walk Fayette

Want better mobility navigation by app in your area? Curious why your PeopleForBikes City Ratings, Walk Score / Bike Score and ParkScore is low and you know it should be higher? Find out how local volunteers improve these results and help your neighbors and community by sharing pedestrian and bicycle network data through OpenStreetMap.

Session 3: Regional Safety Strategy

Presented by Byron Rushing, Walking & Bicycling Program Manager for Atlanta Regional Commission

Atlanta Regional Commission’s Regional Safety Strategy is a new comprehensive action plan for improving transportation safety in the metropolitan region. ARC staff will present an overview of the plan, including crash focus types – walking, bicycling, intersections, and roadway departures – as well as research into high-risk scenarios and data-informed design solutions! 

Saturday, November 5

Athens Events:

Walk the Prince Avenue Reconfiguration with Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz leads a walking tour and educational session examining the Prince Avenue reconfiguration pilot project, which includes a road diet and other traffic-calming measures, protected bike lanes, and pedestrian improvements. Mayor Girtz, a regular bike/walk/drive user of Prince Ave. and a career educator, will teach attendees about the advocacy, planning, and implementation challenges and victories involved with this important project.

9:00-10:00 a.m. on Sat. Meet at the Cobbham Triangle Park on Prince at Cobb.

Ride the Prince Avenue with BikeAthens

BikeAthens will lead a tour of the new bike lanes on Prince Avenue. We’ll meet up at the Cobbham Triangle Park at 9AM for a group ride that will highlight the safety improvements along the corridor. If you want to participate but don’t have a bike, let us know before Thursday November 3rd. Email shop@bikeathens.org with any questions.

9:00 at Cobbham Triangle Park.

SORBA Athens No-Drop Mountain Bike Ride at Walker Park

Join SORBA Athens for their monthly no-drop (no one gets left behind!) group ride at Virginia Walker Park.

This ride is family friendly and all skill levels welcome. Please bring a helmet and plenty of water.

The ride begins at 10:30 and is typically 5-7 miles long, with options to exit early. Look for the SORBA Athens banner and a table at the top parking lot near the trailhead.

Atlanta Events:

1973 City of Atlanta Bicycle Route Tour

“The factories aren’t making bicycles fast enough. If we order 100 bikes, we’re lucky to get 25.”

This quote from a bike store owner wasn’t from 2020, it’s from 1971 in the midst of the largest bike boom of the 20th century. In response to the boom, the Atlanta Regional Commission created a study that was to serve as a guide for the planning of bicycle infrastructure. The study, which was largely abandoned in the subsequent decade, outlined best practices as well as made recommendations for locations of bike routes and trails.

One of the proposed routes was a 15-mile signed, on-street route through low-traffic residential neighborhoods known as the Atlanta Bike Route. It was said to serve riders “destined for Piedmont Park, the Inman Park Area, the Ansley Park neighborhood, the Morningside neighborhood, the Fernbank Science Center and Candler Park.”

We will trace this route, departing from the Martin Luther King National Historical Park at Irwin Street.

*New Event- Updated 10/27!*

City Cycling class on the West End

Get comfortable traveling by bike with this instructional group ride! This class will begin and end at 1000 White St. Here, we will perform a few quick drills then hit the city streets for a 45-minute ride of three to four gentle miles. Once rolling, we’ll:

– Take it slow, stay together, and practice our skills in a safe and supportive manner

– Experience Atlanta’s existing bicycle facilities, like two-directional protected and/or single-directional bike lanes and sharrows, and

– Learn to ride safely on streets without bike lanes by exercising our legal right to “take the lane.”

– Please bring a helmet and a bicycle in good repair that fits you. We strongly recommend that you also bring:

– Water and sunscreen

– Sneakers or other appropriate closed-toed shoes

– Comfortable, appropriate clothing for being outside and active

– A friend or three!

Please arrive promptly so all participants can benefit from the full time allotted for this instructional experience. These free classes are provided with the support of the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. Attendance at this or any class conducted by Propel ATL indicates your agreement to the following liability waiver: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wLubzcxy6vOsrBHFRiT0trIJ_AOuRW2F/view

*New Event- Updated 10/28*

Community Schoolyards Neighborhood Walk

Join a morning walk in the neighborhood around Toomer Elementary with the Atlanta Community Schoolyards initiative! Project partners from Trust for Public Land, Park Pride, Urban Land Institute-Atlanta, and Department of Watershed Management will tell the story of this vibrant community schoolyard and share how our work to open up public school property as park space outside of school hours puts more Atlantans within a 10-minute walk of a park. Creatively sharing public land for more parks makes city neighborhoods more walkable, livable, and green!

Meet at Toomer Elementary School (65 Rogers St NE, Atlanta, GA 30317) at 10AM for a roughly one hour walk. The route includes stairs.

Greensboro Events:

Greensboro Gravel Ride

Join Lisa Baynes on one of her favorite dirt road loops through Taliaferro & Hancock counties and experience the joy of riding the roads less traveled that abound in our area of the state. You will pass rolling farmland, cross flowing rivers and pedal through the historic community of Powelton. You will need a gravel, CX or mountain bike for this ride. Tire width of 32mm plus would be best.

The main route is 33 miles, but you can start 15-20 minutes later from another location along the route and we’ll pick you up on the way by if you’d like to cut off 10 miles and do the 23 mile route instead. Beautiful route, rolling terrain, farmland and one creek crossing that should be rideable, if not, easily walkable. For full details, see: https://www.bikesignup.com/Race/GA/Greensboro/GeorgiaBikesMobileWorkshopGravelGrind

Macon Events:

Your First Cyclocross Race

The barrier to entry is low for cyclocross, but it’s still a plank that you need to clear. With race specific-skills like mass starts, cornering on grass and dirt, and those pesky barriers, it can be intimidating for a new racer to line up at their first event. Add to these race skills the logistical challenges of registering for your first race, purchasing a license, and dressing for changing conditions, and the first trip to a cyclocross course can feel like a major undertaking!

Join Justin Bristol, Georgia Bikes Safety Education Program Manager and longtime cyclocross racer for an introduction to cyclocross clinic at the Middle Georgia stop of the Georgia Cyclocross Series. The former single speed state champion, coach, and educator will discuss in-race techniques and skills, and the minor details that can make or break a race day like tire pressure, registering, and when to arrive at the venue.

We’ll meet on the Georgia Premier Xc Course 3450 Fulton Mill Rd. in Macon, and scope out the conditions for Sunday’s event, giving you a secret advantage over all of your competitors!

For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/1154903665452558

Sunday, Nov. 6: Bike Walk Macon Open Streets: Walnut/Clayton St.

WHAT IS OPEN STREETS MACON?

An initiative of Bike Walk Macon, Open Streets Macon is a free community program that temporarily closes streets to car traffic and invites Maconites to reimagine their streets as places for people, not just cars. Bring your bicycle or just your feet, and get ready to experience your community streets in a safer, healthier, more livable way.

For more details: https://www.openstreetsmacon.com/

Peachtree City Events:

Peachtree City by Path, Bridge and Tunnel

Saturday, Nov. 5th at 10am

Enjoy this 15 mile/2-hour slow bike ride (or 5-mile walk option) in the scenic greenbelt around Peachtree City. Find out how this bike-friendly city built and maintains its 110+ mile multi-use path system and connected the network under and over State Highways, arterials, and connector streets from our neighborhoods to village shopping and restaurants. Lunch social opportunity will follow the ride. Your bicycle/e-bike, helmet and water bottle are required, bike lights and bell are recommended.

Start location:

Drake Field Park

155 Willowbend Road

Peachtree City GA 30269

Local e-bike rentals are available by advance reservation with a 20% discount if you mention “The SUMMIT.” Please contact:

PEDEGO-Peachtree City

100 N Peachtree Parkway Peachtree City, GA 30269

(470) 854-5658

hellofun@pedegoptc.com https://pedegoelectricbikes.com/dealers/peachtree-city/rentals-tours/

Rome Events:

TRED Trail Clean Up

We will be cleaning GE Trails at Garrard Park, 1935 Redmond Circle.

Meet in the trailhead and wear old closed toed shoes, long pants, gloves will be provided or bring your own, all clean up supplies will be provided. Water is encouraged.

Contact Julie Smith, TRED Executive Director, for details or questions. tredromefloyd@gmail.com or 706 844 8509

Saturday, November 5, 9-12pm

Savannah Events:

Savannah Truman Linear Park Trail Ride with Bike Walk Savannah

We’ll meet at 10 a.m. at Lake Mayer in front of the Community Center/Park Administrative Office and ride the Truman Linear Park Trail, ending with a conversation about Tide To Town and the future of our urban trail system.

Helmets required. Please bring your bike and water. Ride distance is approximately 7.5 miles.

The ride is free and open to the public, but we encourage you to become a member of Bike Walk Savannah or make a donation to support our work at bikewalksavannah.org.