Spoke & Word puts storytelling in motion during Atlanta Cycling Festival 

On a hot, early September afternoon, six fully grown men stood atop a long-capped landfill in Southeast Atlanta. Our presence was not, strictly speaking, legal, but that hadn’t stopped a few enterprising adventurers from blazing some dirt trails through the surrounding woods. Shins and ankles scraped from pushing bikes through thorny brush, we took in the view, then slowly made our way back down the landfill’s cantilevers to a trail to paved civilization and post-ride beers. 

From rides into the woods to urban car dodging, every cyclist has a story. So it’s only natural that the art of storytelling will be featured at the upcoming Atlanta Cycling Festival, May 9 through May 16. Spoke & Word, a two-day ACF event, will be a “progressive dinner” of cycling and storytelling, according to organizer Shannon M. Turner. And while cycling stories will be part of it, tales of all kinds are welcome.

“It’s about and for the bike community,” said Turner, founder and creative director of Storymuse. “Because cyclists have great stories, right? But it’s really for anybody who wants to enhance their storytelling skills.”

The event kicks off with a storytelling workshop led by Turner on May 9 in the lounge room at Wild Heaven West End. While veteran storytellers Ian Campbell and Tom Bell are lined up to participate, Turner hopes that most of the stories will come from workshop participants. 

“Shannon will work us through story mapping and how you prepare to tell a story in a live setting,” said event organizer Mercy Montgomery. “Maybe you have something that you’ve been thinking of that means a lot to you — an experience or a time or a feeling. I think the workshop will help someone be able to whip that into a story you could share on a broader stage, even if that’s in a living room at a party.”

The first event will be stationary — no cycling involved or required. That changes with the event’s second portion, a free-of-charge progressive storytelling ride rolling from Pittsburgh Yards at 5 p.m. on May 10. The route is an easy, mostly flat 4.2 miles, ending at Boggs Social & Supply. There will be stories told at stops along the way and a mini storytelling fest at the finish.

“If you want to ride with us, ride with us,” Montgomery said. “If you want to just show up for the [Sunday storytelling fest], you can just come hang out and hear some good stories.”

For Bell, an experienced journalist who co-founded the Decatur Book Festival with Daren Wang, Spoke & Word represents a convergence of interests. 

“I was actually a competitive cyclist in college,” he said. “I mean, it was a long time ago. I’m not going that fast [now], but I love bikes.”

Asked for a preview of his performance, Bell offered a summary. 

“There’s a story I have that is at the intersection of cycling and dance,” he said. “As a competitive cyclist in Minnesota, where the winters are brutal and long, I had to find ways to keep my legs strong in the winter. And I thought I remembered an episode of The Brady Bunch where Peter Brady took ballet to get better at hurdles and track.”

“Part of the story I tell is that my memory of that was false,” he continued. “I was cobbling together some other things, but I thought I remembered that Mean Joe Greene had told Peter Brady to take ballet to be better at track, and I thought, ‘That’s a good idea. I’ll take ballet, and that’ll keep my legs strong in the winter.’”

“And it turned out that I was terrible at ballet, but I discovered in the process that I liked dance,” he concluded. 

Montgomery, an active cyclist who comes from a family of storytellers, also considers Spoke & Word a chance to merge two complementary worlds.

“Storytelling is a big part of my family culture,” said the Crawford, Georgia, native. “We would sit and visit my grandparents just about every Sunday. My grandfather was an English professor, and storytelling was something that I really am grateful to see modeled by them, with the kids included in the conversation.”

For Atlanta Cycling Fest assistant director Kevin O’Gara, including storytelling was a natural outgrowth of what cyclists do anyway whenever they gather — and a way to attract those curious about cycling.  

“This is [an] opportunity to join us for a short, easy bike ride and hear some great storytellers,” he said. “If you don’t know the West End, it’s a great way to see some of the West End and ride through it. And for those who haven’t been on a bike in a while, it’s doable and you’ll realize getting on a bike makes you feel like a kid again.”

Where & When

Spoke & Word, part of the Atlanta Cycling Fest, starts on Saturday, May 9 with a storytelling workshop at Wild Heaven West End and concludes with a storytelling ride on Sunday, May 10.
Workshop tickets, $20.
1010 White St. SW.

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Reid Davis, a former managing editor at Paste and Georgia Music magazines, is an Atlanta communications consultant, storyteller and bike commuter, currently plying his trade at Two Wheel Communications.