How it all began - the founding of ABC

The Atlanta Bicycle Campaign started because a couple of in-town riders, Jeff Tiller and Greg Ramsey, called a meeting to talk about the problems of biking in Atlanta.

The year: I don't remember, but probably 1990. The place: probably at the Mary Lin School opposite Candler Park, where some later meetings were held.

At the end of this meeting, we decided to meet again – and after that 2nd meeting, we decided meeting monthly would be smart. After a few more meetings, we realized we were going to start an organization.

We considered becoming part of the Southern Bicycle League (SBL), Atlanta's long-standing bike touring club. The SBL had a fair amount of money in their advocacy fund. We didn't like their slow decision-making process, though. Could we become an autonomous committee of the SBL? When the SBL Board discussed it, they were most concerned about the autonomy. What we viewed as a fast response, they saw as a way we could ruin their reputation by, say, staging a protest ride onto I-75/I-85 downtown. So that wasn't an option.

Dennis Hoffarth and I met one night by his wood stove to think on some names. We were inspired by the London Cycling Campaign. We also wanted to make sure we said "Bicycle" (since in this country, a "bike" may have a motor) and "Atlanta", since that could be all-encompassing. ABC seemed a simple as we could go.

The initial logo also wanted to express the idea of bicycling in the city. So we chose the outline of a car, with a bicyclist beside it. It was perhaps too simple. I know it did not show the fun and exhilaration of riding on the roads.

And so we began.

Since we had no staff, the board did everything. We generally met at Board member's homes, with a pizza, and when we could, we'd bike there – even out to Cobb County from downtown for one meeting that stands out. (We rode back in cars, though, when we traveled that far.)

Interestingly, this was the time that the PATH Foundation was getting started. A guy named Ed McBrayer had moved to town from Colorado, and thought we should be building paths everywhere. At one Board meeting, we even considered merging with him. But we seemed to be headed slightly different directions.

One other organization got stated because of ABC. We managed to get an op-ed piece in the Journal-Constitution, probably for Bike-to-Work Day, and this lady called who thought we needed a walkers group in town. Her name was Sally Flocks, and I suggested it'd be easy to start an organization, and mailed her a copy of our by-Laws to use as a model. And Sally started PEDS, aka Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety.

MORE TO COME!