On Thursday 4/25, we hosted a full house for Ride Reels at Burchfield Penney Art Center with presenting sponsor Evans Bank, and support from Clean Mobility Buffalo and Burchfield Penney. Thank you to ALL who came, and we’re so grateful to Manna @ Northland for the open bar and delicious food!

For the second annual event, we screened The Engine Inside from Anthill Films. The documentary followed cyclists from around the world and told their stories. Viewers met people from Ghana, Cairo, Alaska, Alberta, Amsterdam, and Colorado.

After the screening, our team rode to The Place to have a drink and recap the night. We asked each other who we most identified with from the film, and many of us said  Megan Hottman, a cyclist and cycling injury attorney in Golden, Colorado.

She summarized the struggle she, her peers, and cyclists in the United States are part of when she paraphrased the thoughts of those who would oppose efforts to advance cycling,

“‘If you choose to leave your house and go ride a bike, then whatever happens to you is on you.’
That’s part of the societal belief and bias that we face, is, ‘You left your perfectly nice (in my case, 4Runner) at home that would have protected you with a bunch of steel and airbags and you chose to go out on your two-wheeled toy and mix it up with all these big vehicles, well then, you can’t be too surprised when something bad happens.’
I mean that is the unfortunate impression. We’re just seeing humanity treating people on bikes like a punching bag.

“All 50 states here in the US, in every single set of state laws (and I know, because I researched them all), cyclists have all the same rights and all the same obligations as the operator of a motor vehicle. Period. And a big part of that is that motorists don’t know that. They truly believe cyclists either belong on the sidewalk, over on that bike path, if you must, in the bike lane, but don’t you dare come over into the traffic lane. With very few exceptions, cyclists can ride every single place that a car can drive, and have the exact same rights under the law.

“On the other side of that coin is that cyclists often times don’t know what’s expected of them. There is no driving test to become a cyclist. You buy a bike and are therefor a cyclist. So you have cyclists sort of figuring it out as they go which can also cause a lot of problems because they don’t know what the rules are.

“We are up against a giant, giant Goliath in terms of the perception of cycling, and yet the gains and the wins, if cycling can be embraced are huge. We’re literally fighting for lives and our best planetary hope of survival and existence. These are very, very big stakes here. This is not just a game that we’re playing.”

Shortly after Hottman had filmed this interview, and had a crew follow her around her city and adjacent mountains on rides, she, too, was also struck by a car and thankfully survived, but suffered a debilitating knee and shoulder injury. The film crew returned to Golden to conduct a follow-up interview about her recovery, where she was not yet back on a bike, but able to walk in a pool.

We highly recommend watching The Engine Inside, which you can watch for free here on Red Bull TV. This section of the film and the Hottman interview begins with a story about how Amsterdam flipped its car culture at the 35:00 mark.

GObike continues to work to improve and expand infrastructure to be more accessible and safe for people of all abilities to walk, bike, and roll. We work to lower speed limits, to educate drivers, and to educate cyclists of all ages about how to safely use our roadways.

Our work needs your support. Please consider becoming a member or donating directly at gobikebuffalo.org/donate. Thank you!