Features

Birk also talks about the importance of culture and how we encourage bicycle use in the mainstream. “First and foremost the bicycle has to be seen as fun, relevant, exciting, easy and comfortable. Playing on people’s guilt is not nearly as effective as showing how fun it is.”

Birk, along with other parents, successfully launched a Safe Routes to School Program at Abernethy Elementary, her children’s school in Portland. They added bike parking and the kids learned how to ride safely and properly fit helmets. The parents started “Bike and Walk Fridays,” where stylishly dressed parents rode with their kids rain or shine; the kids arrived at school smiling and happy. The adults made themselves available on the playground to answer questions so other parents could learn from them. They particularly wanted to show working women that they could dress nicely and still bring their kids to school on a bike. “It had to feel normal and daily. No Lycra needed!” Birk and her fellow mothers wore high heels and skirts and stashed their rain gear in their panniers. “We are looking fabulous while biking and this is such an important message to get across. This is not a sporting event; this is just how we get around.”

When Birk and the other parents launched the program there were 20 kids who biked to school regularly. This year there were 100 kids on bikes for the first day of school, a five-fold increase. Now 40-50 per cent of students bike and many others use school busses. The program has transformed the entire neighborhood and parents rarely drive their kids to school anymore.

Birk sums up by saying, “People also need to realize that change is not going to happen overnight. In reality, it takes a generation to change things.” Birk uses recycling as a perfect example of this. “People are addicted to driving and addictions are hard to break.”

What does being a self-propelled person mean to you?

“Health – I never get sick, I rebounded from two pregnancies very quickly, I have fabulous legs and I don’t worry about what I eat."

“Empowerment – particularly as a woman”

“Being Free – I smile every single day when I ride my bicycle.”

Mia Birk is working on a new book, Joyride: One Woman’s Journey to Empower People and Transform Communities, that will be released in the fall of 2009.