Visiting Cyclists give Intown Atlanta the Thumbs Up

At the end of Sunday morning services (our 8AM Aurora Coffee Ride), we returned to find a group of cyclists who had come from Columbia, SC to participate in Broken Hearts and Bicycle Parts. Broken Hearts is part benefit show and part Alley Cat. Riders came from all over the US to participate this weekend. (I got a kick out of the SUV Pinata. I'm going to have to learn how to make these.)

So, we struck up a conversation, and we find that this group of six was part of about 20 from South Carolina who came to participate in the Alley Cat. Three of the racers are professional bike messengers. They didn't know the city, but still one of them placed 14th -- using the "brute force approach" as he put it.

I was imagining these riders -- confidently assertive as cab drivers -- were going to tell us story after story about the bike/car conflicts. Instead, they praised the politeness of Atlanta's motorists. Now, I've ridden in Atlanta for nearly 30 years, and yes, things have gotten much better, but we were still surprised at this independent, unsolicited, and even encouraging appraisal of Atlanta's cycling conditions.

We were quick to point out that it's different outside the perimeter, but they interpreted this as modesty. They gushed about how "the motorists give you so much room here".

Atlanta, GA vs. Columbia, SC. Perhaps the glowing remarks reflect a "progressiveness gap" between Intown Atlanta and Columbia, but it's still good to hear that cyclists come from all over the country. I could chalk this up to climate, but I'd prefer to believe that we're starting to get a reputation as a decent place to ride a bike.