Urban Revolutions: A Woman's Guide to Two-Wheeled Transportation

Urban Revolutions is a different kind of cycling book. Author Emilie Bahr draws on her own experience as an everyday cyclist and a transportation planner in New Orleans to demystify urban bicycling in this visually-compelling and fun-to-read field guide. What does it mean for a city to be bike-friendly? What makes bicycling a women's issue? What does it take to feel safe on a bike? How do you bike to work in the summer and still look professional? What is the most fun you can possibly have on two wheels without having to become an athlete? Bahr answers all these questions and more in her friendly and thoughtful essays and detailed practical tips.

Reviews

“Urban biking is becoming a rage all over the world. It's an alternative to crowded mass transit, its health benefits are the benefits of rigorous exercise, and it adds a layer of positive human interaction to our streets. It's about time women got in on the action! Emilie Bahr's book will certainly go a long way toward equalizing the urban biking scene.” —Susan S. Szenasy, Publisher/Editor, Metropolis Magazine

“Here, ladies, is the skinny on how you can commute by bicycle – safely, comfortably, and , even fashionably, if you like. Emilie Bahr has written a book about her experiences pedaling to work in her native New Orleans, and she's filled it with clever tips that can help cyclists everywhere. (What's in that bike bag? How can you transport kids? Why do some women ride with pennies in their skirts?) Having commuted by bike as a student, a mother, and, eventually, a producer at 60 Minutes in New York, I certainly could've used Ms. Bahr's book many times over the years.” --Helen Malmgren, documentary filmmaker, writer

“Urban Revolutions is perfect for the woman interested in bicycling but hindered by the challenges of incorporating it into everyday life. Emilie Bahr teaches tricks from how to look work-ready after a hot commute to how to select the most fitting and fashionable clothing. It is the A to Z introductory guide for the female bicyclist, catering to all types of women, from the singleton transporting groceries on her cruiser to the mom with two kids in tow. Even if you don’t own a bike and haven’t ridden one in years, this book will make you seriously consider heading down to the bike shop.” --Stephanie Hepburn, journalist, fashion writer, and author, most recently of “Human Trafficking Around the World: Hidden in Plain Sight”

“Urban Revolutions is a fun and inspiring read for any woman who's ever hesitated to get into the saddle. It's a how-to guide, a why-to manifesto, and a reminder that cycling can be as stylish as it is revolutionary.” --Laura Bassett, Huffington Post women’s issues and politics reporter

“This fun-to-read field guide covers everything someone interested in riding her bike for transportation needs to know. Rooted in the author’s experience riding the streets of New Orleans, Urban Revolutions is the unusual book geared toward inspiring women everywhere – even in the car-loving South - to take to two wheels.” --Leslie Luciano, BikeTexas

"Emilie Bahr's charming, graceful book contains everything you need in order to bicycle today—apart from the bicycle itself. It is not only a practical guide but an eloquent statement about social justice and the future of the American city." --Nathaniel Rich, journalist and author, most recently of “The Odds Against Tomorrow”

“In any household, the top two expenses are housing and transportation, and a lack of viable transportation options can isolate entire communities. Thanks in large part to our growing network of bikeways, New Orleanians now have more transportation options and more bike commuters than ever before. The growing ranks of female bicyclists is especially striking. After the city’s first bike lane was striped along St. Claude Avenue in 2008, female ridership more than doubled! Women, it seems, are much more likely to bike when they have amenities that make them feel safer and more confident. I feel very strongly that this book will have a similar effect in prompting more women to take to two wheels.” –Kristin Giselson Palmer, former New Orleans city councilmember and author of Complete Streets legislation that requires streets redesigned or rebuilt in New Orleans to take all types of users into account.

“With warm encouragement and helpful information, Emilie Bahr shares the joy and expediency she’s discovered in bike-commuting with a demographic underrepresented on two wheels: women. Urban Revolutions will get everyone partaking in one of life’s few win-win-win-win-win situations, as bike-commuting is good for your physical and mental health, your budget, your city, the environment—and even motorists. Bahr shows you how in this informative and cheerful guide.”
--Prof. Richard Campanella, Tulane University geographer, author, and New Orleans bike-commuter

“I see the city differently from my bike. It feels more personal, more intimate. I see things I miss from a car… Emilie Bahr's book will help other women discover what so many of us already have.”
--Roberta Brandes Gratz, award-winning journalist and the author of “The Battle for Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs,” among other books

"A wonderful - and rare - guide targeted to the female cyclist. Bahr shines light on the joy and empowerment to be found in the bike saddle while offering helpful tips and inspiration to encourage more women take to two wheels." -- Pete Jordan, author of “In the City of Bikes: The Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist”

“A few years ago while in Paris, I saw legions of very stylish women doing something I hadn’t seen in the U.S.: riding their bikes to do the things we typically do in cars. I love Emilie’s book because it clearly points out all the benefits of riding a bike while also showing just how fashionable the act can be.” --Gil Garcetti, photographer behind “Paris: Women & Bicycles,” among other books, and former Los Angeles district attorney

“We have engineered physical activity out of our lives and any strategy to promote activity in daily living, such as biking for transportation, has the potential to have tremendous health benefits. Urban Revolutions provides women with inspiration and a step-by-step process for incorporating biking into their daily lives.”
---Dr. Timothy Church, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., Pennington Biomedical Research Center

“Urban Revolutions provides what the hesitant female cyclist needs—practical strategies to cope with the logistics of bicycling around town or to work, coupled with the confidence to embrace the freedom bicycling in the city can offer. Rather than ignore the bicycling barriers women may think of, Bahr tackles them head on.” --Kate Lowe, Ph.D., professor of urban and regional planning at the University of New Orleans

“Over the decades I have worked in the realm of bicycle transportation, I’ve noted a number of interesting paradoxes. For one thing, even as women appear to be in the majority in the fields of planning, public health and bicycle-advocacy, they remain in the distinct minority in biking on U.S. streets. Emilie Bahr’s book will go a long way toward changing the last statistic. As more women take to two wheels, their needs will be better accounted for in male-dominated street engineering and design, and our streets will become safer for all.” --Michael Ronkin, former pedestrian and bicycle program manager for the Oregon Department of Transportation and sought-out expert on pedestrian and bicycle facility design.

“For many people who feel trapped at home by a city’s travel logistics, the price of freedom can be the cost of a bicycle. Emilie Bahr explains how simple, safe, and fun two-wheeled liberation can be.” --Bob Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.