Fewer than 100 participants “biked to work” with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer this morning. The weather was perfect but the interest for biking to work in the City Beautiful is still nonexistent. Maybe it was the planned route: residents were invited to bike to Mayor Dyer’s work with him (not their own) by meeting at Dartmouth Park in College Park, the Mayor’s neighborhood. This meant many drove, carpooled or biked to Dartmouth Park before it even started. The Orlando Police Department had a heavy presence and served as escorts along the pleasant ride to City Hall.
Mayor Dyer appeared minutes before the start of the event. Wearing sun glasses and an OPD helmet, he quickly shifted gears to his 2-minute speaking-to-five-year-olds speech to kick everyone off. It included thanks for showing up, safety instructions to stay behind the Sergeant and Mayor, and a question of who bikes to work more than once a year. 75% of the crowd raised their hands. Then the mayor looked around saying “Sarge where are ya?” and the final instructions were given to follow all traffic laws. Off the bikers went.
Once the group arrived at City Hall, a microphone was set and ready for the Mayor. No speech, just a quick “thanks for riding your bike with me to work” and “awards” announcements that Public Works had the greatest city department turnout and OPD was in the top 3, even though they were the escorts.
The kicker of it all – as the Mayor headed into City Hall, all the other bike riders were left to fend for themselves. There was no sign of a return plan. Many small groups took off to attempt to make it through the streets and find their cars back in College Park or their workplace from the center of Orlando’s traffic mess and construction zone.
Chatter on the bike ride back to the park included, recent headlines of Orlando being one of the most dangerous cities for bike riders and pedestrians and the lack of any progress or announcements at today’s event, on how these dangers might be eliminated.
