One Street News

October-November 2017

Vol. 10, Issue 6

1. Bicycles for Social Change – Interactive Presentations
2. Bike Hunt Stories Show the Power of Bicycles – A Series of Nine Stories
3. Resources - Cycling Towards a More Sustainable Transport Future
4. Hot Topics - Sweden Is Moving Beyond Vision Zero and Helmets

Bicycles for Social Change – Interactive Presentations

In the coming months, One Street’s executive director, Sue Knaup, will offer a series of interactive presentations on bicycles for social change. The first will take place Saturday December 9 at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona. These events will center around Ms. Knaup’s recently published memoir, Bike Hunt, about her experience as the director of a national bicycle nonprofit. She will also tap elements of a course she taught for five years at Prescott College called The Bicycle: Vehicle for Social Change.

Attendees will learn about and discuss how bicycles have changed the course of history and how even a single bike can help someone escape poverty. Ms. Knaup will pose questions such as why bicycles have been left out of social movements such as Civil Rights and why most bicycle initiatives serve only privileged people.

Ms. Knaup will offer solutions to common barriers faced by nonprofit leaders including outside forces opposed to changing the status quo. One Street’s campaign planning resources guide advocates through this process. She will also discuss internal infighting often found in nonprofits and how to first prevent it, but also how to respond if it does occur.

A book signing will follow each presentation. For those who would like to purchase a copy of Bike Hunt prior, it is available at Peregrine Books in Prescott or at online booksellers such as Amazon. Any bookstore can also order it. Learn more and listen to interviews with Ms. Knaup about the book on the One Street Press page at www.OneStreet.org.

If you would like to invite Ms. Knaup as a speaker, please email her at sue{at}onestreet.org.

Bike Hunt would make a perfect Christmas gift for anyone who loves bikes and is passionate about changing our world for the better. All proceeds from Bike Hunt sales, no matter where it is purchased, support One Street’s service to bicycle nonprofits around the world.

Bike Hunt Stories Show the Power of Bicycles – A Series of Nine Stories

By: Sue Knaup, Executive Director

Since publishing my memoir, Bike Hunt, at the end of August, I’ve had many thought provoking discussions with readers about the human tendency to behave badly in groups. This occurs in many nonprofits, and certainly played out at the Thunderhead Alliance while I was the director there in the early 2000s – the timeframe of the book.

The other favorite part of the book for readers are my detailed accounts of what I call Bike Hunts – my tales of searching for and then giving away used bikes whenever I travel. During my disturbing time at Thunderhead, my Bike Hunts were my only connections back to the world I’d known before taking the job. They were so important to me, I recall fine details of these precious moments simply helping strangers with bicycles.

Each Bike Hunt story shows the significant impact a bicycle can have on someone who is struggling, though it’s simply me giving a bicycle to another person. No anti-poverty program. No ribbon cutting. No media. Just two human beings and a bicycle.

So I’ve shared nine of my favorite Bike Hunt stories from Bike Hunt on our Defying Poverty with Bicycles blog (all tagged Bike Hunt), starting with a bright pink girl’s BMX bike I found at a Goodwill during a conference in Miami and named Peaches, and ending with a bike I named Silver in San Antonio, Texas. You can read all nine stories here.

Better yet, you can buy your own copy of Bike Hunt to read all of the stories and more. Find it through any online book vendor worldwide (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.) or order it through your local book store. We also have copies for sale at www.OneStreet.org.

Sue

Resources - Cycling Towards a More Sustainable Transport Future

The latest paper from John Pucher and Ralph Buehler is packed with facts and data that any bicycle advocate can use to make the case for investing in bicycling. You’ll find what you need to convince even the most stubborn officials that providing for cyclists now will benefit your community far into the future. Find the pdf of Cycling Towards a More Sustainable Transport Future under Papers & Presentations in the left menu at www.OneStreet.org.

Hot Topics - Sweden Is Moving Beyond Vision Zero and Helmets

Vision Zero programs that aim to prevent all traffic deaths bring with them the underlying threat of overzealous safety initiatives. Such a narrowly defined and extreme goal is an invitation to any ill-informed official to push through laws that threaten the freedom and rights of travelers. Perhaps the most common examples of such a law are mandatory bicycle helmet laws. Of course such laws don’t need Vision Zero programs in place, but such a backdrop is surely helpful.

So we were thrilled to discover that in Sweden, the very place where Vision Zero was launched, traffic safety advocates are shifting away from Vision Zero and toward policies that recognize the benefits of cycling. That includes a clear statement that promoting and mandating bicycle helmets are not appropriate steps toward this new goal.

Read about this new and inspiring effort on The Bike Helmet Blog.