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Entries tagged: Mia Birk

Mia Birk was there at the dawn of the revolution.

Back when “bike lane” was a four-letter word, Birk was fighting to make streets safe and inviting for bicyclists. Her energy and vision propelled Portland, OR, to become the nation’s most bike-friendly city, making once-crazy ideas realities on the pavement. So, if you’re a bike history buff, Birk’s book, Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet is required reading. Luckily, Joyride doesn’t feel like a history lesson – it feels like your friend retelling war stories over a couple of beers at your favorite bar.

A conversational writer, Birk reveals her battles within the bureaucracy in an engaging narrative, not a dry, technical timeline. She recreates scenes – some tense, some hilarious – with character descriptions and internal dialogue that put us right there in the room, whether cajoling indignant suburbanites who love their SUVs or convincing policymakers to open their minds to the idea of healthier transportation options. She gives us a glimpse into our collective past and, from her unique perspective, provides inspiration for a better future.

And she wants to start a conversation with you and your friends — face-to-face.

Form a Joyride book club and you’ll get wholesale pricing ($12 plus shipping and handling) on the purchase of 10 or more books. Once your group has had time to read and digest, Mia beams into your living room, via Skype, to discuss lessons learned, obstacles faced, and strategies for success.

Folks across the country are raving about the content and impact of the book:

• “What a fantastic book,” says Linda Crider in Florida. “It’s so well written and engaging….a must for anyone wanting to make bike-friendly communities.”
• “Mia Birk really gets it,” says Kent Anderson, Director of the Columbus Area Metropolitan Planning Organization in Indiana. “Joyride was music to my ears, and served to recharge my batteries.” 
• “Joyride has had a profound impact on my life,” says Bari George, who founded the BikeNewport.me blog and website.

Take advantage of the opportunity to start a conversation with one of the movement’s most influential, energetic and engaging leaders. E-mail .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to set up your book order and Skype date with Mia Birk.

(Read my November 2010 interview with Mia in Momentum magazine here.)

Whether you live in a big city or small town; whether you’re working on a local initiative or statewide effort, progress brings push-back. As we work toward and win victories for biking and walking in our communities, we inevitably encounter resistance. Whether we’re confronted by a challenging policy maker or a well-organized group, we need tactics and strategies to address, confront, or work around obstacles and opposition.

Join us tomorrow, March 16 at 2 p.m. EST for a Mutual Aid conference call on Countering Resistance. Delving into this topic, we’ll hear from:

• Mia Birk — Principal at Alta Planning + Design; former bike-ped coordinator for Portland, Oregon; and author of Joyride, which details decades of work confronting and overcoming resistance at the public, government and bureaucratic levels
• Sally Broadaway — a leader with the Northeast Arkansas Bicycle Coalition, which successfully countered bike-ped resistance from a vocal Tea Party group in the creation of a regional transportation plan
• Pete Stidman — leader and founder of the Boston Cyclists Union, which organized against recent efforts to roll back bicycle infrastructure and is building relationships in neighborhoods that view bicycling as a potential threat to their way of life

As always, this is an interactive discussion. We want to hear from you, too, so bring your experiences and ideas to the table. We’ll also have plenty of time for Q&A with the panelists, so bring your questions for them, as well.

To make sure you receive the call agenda, outlining the speakers’ talking points, register by 2 p.m. EST today. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me at carolyn@PeoplePoweredMovement.org.

Are you attending the National Bike Summit?

The Alliance is excited to be a Steel sponsor of the Summit, a key annual event hosted by our partners at the League of American Bicyclists. If you’re coming to DC, be sure to stop by our table to say hello.

Pick up new Alliance materials that will be hot off the presses, like our 2010 Annual Report, 2011 Calendar Cards and Safe Routes to School Activity Books. Swing by to meet our new Advocacy Advance Program Manager, Brighid O’Keane, and chat with the rest of the Alliance crew about campaigns, programs and initiatives you’re working on in your community.

Plus, we’ll have a guest star joining us. Mia Birk, principle at Alta Planning + Design , will be hanging out with us Wednesday morning and the first 100 folks who stop by will get a free copy of her book “Joyride.” If you’re not familiar with Birk or her book, click here or here to read a review and interview I recently wrote for Momentum magazine.

For more information about the Summit, click here.