While in Orlando earlier this month (more coverage coming soon, I promise), I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Lisa Mills, an assistant professor of film at the University of Central Florida. She graciously gave me a copy of her documentary film Dear Mr. Gore: A Somewhat Cinematic Correspondence Awkwardly Tracing a Circular Journey Constructed on a Warming Planet. Here’s the trailer:
The 65-minute film is, in part, a personal account of her choosing to ride a bicycle as transportation. Among other things, it is a journey away from fear and toward a confidence. I highly recommend it.
I think the film speaks especially well to novice riders because we follow Mills on a journey that I suspect is nearly universal for those who begin riding for transportation in the United States. Novices will find encouragement, and old hands will be encouraged to think more deeply about why America’s roads scare so many.
Comments 7
We had this film as the feature in a Bike Film Mini-Festival here last Summer. It was well liked AND it sparked a great deal of debate and discussion.
The old timers were very upset that it showed critical mass in a positive light.
Posted 14 Jan 2010 at 12:15 pm ¶Matt… I’m not surprised people liked it and that it sparked discussion. There are all kinds of things I could criticize about the film if I were willing to forget my own novice experiences
Posted 14 Jan 2010 at 1:50 pm ¶“…old hands will be encouraged to think more deeply about why America’s roads scare so many.”
Well said. As someone who knows the area and the roads available to her, it really puts a focus on lack of connectivity and the half-assed “solutions” the DOT is offering. I think it should be a wake-up call for the people who are pushing for bike lanes on high speed arterial roads.
She thought there was something wrong with her for being afraid of that bike lane, but *I* am scared to ride in that bike lane. It is narrow, full of debris and way too close to speeding cars. I would be less scared to control the right lane on a road like that because passing cars would be farther away in the next lane. Unfortunately, the addition of the marginal bike lane kills that option, both legally and socially. So it solves nothing for the people it’s supposedly built for and it makes things worse for the ones who were already dealing with the bad road in the best way possible.
This is all about bad land use facilitated by over-engineered traffic sewers that are unfit for human life. It’s a HUGE subsidy for motoring, insidiously hidden beneath entitlement. It can’t be fixed with a band-aid, but the band-aid lets them look away from the real problem and pat themselves on the back.
Better advocates would not let them get away with that.
Posted 14 Jan 2010 at 4:03 pm ¶This comment snared by Andy’s overzealous spam filter!
Posted 15 Jan 2010 at 6:29 am ¶Steve… I have no clue why the SPAM filter is picking on you. But I am trying to figure it out.
Posted 17 Jan 2010 at 11:39 am ¶Dr Mills and I rode around Orlando today. We did the dreaded Colonial Dr., the Princeton I-4 interchange, the super-intimidating South Ivanho interchange and a few other things. Fear has been vanquished
We’re going to get together again and ride that nasty traffic sewer out in the burbs, too.
Posted 18 Jan 2010 at 5:12 pm ¶Keri… Excellent!
Posted 19 Jan 2010 at 11:03 am ¶