Well, it’s happening. Bicycles are changing U.S. culture, infrastructure, and economy at a remarkable rate. I’ve been on a mad dash for years to try to keep up with all the instances of amazing work, community, and change going on around bikes. Along the way, I’ve been writing about as much of it as I humanly can. All of this work is about to converge into a beautifully-designed, rectangular, PANTONE cyan 100%, inspiring, motivating, ass-kicking, fact- and story- filled manifest.
That’s right, my book Bikenomics, How Bicycling Can Save the Economy hits bookstores in a month and a half. (!!!)
Like anyone awaiting the moment a big project sees sunlight for the first time, I’m stoked. And a little nervous. Both emotions are evident in this book trailer made by my publisher:
That trailer, by the way, is also the video for a Kickstarter project to send Bikenomics on tour. We aren’t ones to mess with a good system, so the big Bikenomics tour is also going to be the fourth annual Dinner and Bikes tour, coming up in June, 2014.
My big goal with all this writing and touring and writing some more is partly to reframe our national conversation around transportation. Even more than that, it’s to reframe all the other pressing issues we face, from the most micro to the most massive. Name your issue; bikes can probably help. Beyond the machine itself, though, we can address and get through a lot of our problems, especially the economic ones, by thinking at bicycle speed and at human-powered scale.
That’s more than one person and one book can or should do—which is why every single person who backs the Kickstarter project will have access to a series of slides and notes and tips that you can use to give your own Bikenomics presentation. The details are in the project; it’s a kit that turns you into a Bikenomics expert, a public speaker, and very possibly a game changer in your community.
In our culture, a book inevitably turns the author into an “expert.” My goal is to share that status with all of you, so that we can all be knowledgable and informed together about how to make our world a place where we can make better choices and live well.
Thanks for being in it with me,
Elly
P.S. The book is officially released Dec 1 but pre-orders ship earlier so there’s way less waiting than you might think!
P.P.S. There will be a small release party in Chicago at the end of November and a big one in Portland at the beginning of December. More details coming soon!
Note: The Kickstarter project has been fully funded. You can now order the book directly.