A prototype Trek Stop Cycling Convenience Center was assembled on June 30 just off the bike path in Madison, Wisconsin.

Trek Stop is a 24/7/365 convenience center for cyclists which provides access to cycling products, information and a safe place to work on your bike. Need a tube at midnight? Need some air on the way to your morning commute? Not sure of the best route to get where you’re going? Need a poncho, some wetwipes, or a power bar?

Trek Stop’s got you covered . This full service vending machine is stocked with bicycle products, food and cold drinks, and features an information center which includes maps, a message board, and advertising space for local events and announcements. There’s also a covered maintenance area with a work stand, free air, and even how-to videos a cyclist can play with the push of a button just in case their having trouble fixing that flat or repairing their chain.

The idea for Trek Stop came about a few years ago, when the Advanced Concept Group (ACG) at Trek Bikes, a crew of industrial designers led by Mike Hammond, began thinking of ways to make bicycle commuting more viable.

“Motorists have it easy,” says Hammond. “Gas stations, convenience stores, auto parts stores, tow trucks—you name it. The support network for cars far outclasses cyclists. The Trek Stop aims to change that by breaking down some of the ‘worries’ attached to cycling.”

“We got a budget together and started sketching out ideas. At that time, we found out that Aaron Goss and his wife (of Aaron’s Bicycles in Seattle, WA) had already set up a vending machine so that was encouraging,” added Hammond.
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Trek Stop’s construction consists of a regular vending machine, a small air compressor and a PC which runs the two video screens. All of this is housed in a weatherproof box made locally by Hoffman Manufacturing Corp. Add a repair stand and aesthetics, and you’ve got one very cool, very functional Cycling Convenience Center, a.k.a. Trek Stop.

Trek Stop was designed to be an extension of a real bike shop, not to replace one. Cyclists will still need the services and products found at local bike shops, but will have the convenience of 24 hour access to specific products and information.

For more information on Trek Stop contact Mike Hammond at mike_hammond@trekbikes.com or Rebecca Anderson at rebeccca_anderson@trekbikes.com.

If you read the post about Brian Shields, the Go By Bike Poster Guy from Kansas City, you’ll like this one from Kristin in Omaha. Kristin was the female Go By Bike winner in Omaha who agreed to take her shorts trips by bike in May. She got her new bike and took to it like a champ. She’s hooked. It’s June 12 and she’s still riding (loving it!) and blogging. Thanks, Kristin and Brian for the inspiration to “Go By Bike!”

Bikes and a pair of 3 inch heels

Last night I wore a little black dress with a gorgeous pair of patent leather, three-inch heel, Nine West beauties. Today, me and my tennis shoes are soaked in mud from a good, long ride on the Keystone trail before stopping at the Starbucks at 72nd & Dodge to journal and enjoy a frosty frappachino. The funny thing is, I used to put my bike in the trunk of my car and drive out to the Keystone for a ride. Now, I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that fact.

I love contrast and opposites–yin & yang–being girly and flirty one night and tough and muddy the next. Cycling has opened me up in a way I hadn’t expected and sorely needed. For that, I am incredibly grateful and achingly sad that this “challenge” has come to an end. That’s not to say I won’t continue to ride, but there’s nothing more motivating than feeling as if the “world” is watching. I can see why those television reality shows work.

This experience has taught me a lot: that I am capable of surviving Dodge Street on a bicycle; that I can shower and be ready for work in about 15 minutes; that I can enjoy riding through puddles and the feeling of mud spraying up my legs; that I have a lot of fantastic and supportive people in my life; that men really squirm at references to menstruation.

What’s been interesting is the unexpected changes that have come about effortlessly. I’m recycling more, walking if I don’t have my bike (i.e. instead of having a friend drive around the block to drop me off at home, I walk) and I’m craving healthier foods. My body has changed significantly in the last month, as evidenced by the fact that I am now wearing clothes I haven’t been able to wear in four years. Shopping just got a lot more fun.

I’m also ready for a serious cycling revolution to occur. It’s time for this country to surrender its reliance on automobiles and suburban strip malls. Omaha desperately needs a better trail infrastructure for commuters and a much more cycling-friendly driving community. When I took on this challenge, I had no idea I’d been joining the ranks of these underappreciated rebels who are more than entitled to their fair share of the road. Now, I’m proud to be even just slightly on the periphery of this courageous bunch of crazy endorphin addicts.

Meet Brian Shields of Kansas City.  He is a new poster-guy for “Go by Bike.” 

 Back in March we cooked up a promotion to challenge non bike riders to take up the bike again.   The “we” is 1world2wheels and Jay Thomas, owner of the Trek Store of Kansas City.  Jay was willing to pilot the promotion and with the help of the City of Kansas City staff, the “Go By Bike Challenge” was launched.  

 The contest was open to non-bike-riders and entrants had to explain how they would “go by bike” for short trips in the month of May.   The winners got a bike to use and had to write about the experience.    The contest ran in Kansas City, Omaha and St. Louis with two winners in each city, one male and one female.

Within days of posting the contest rules we had 250 entrants.   Reading the short essays brought a few things to light.

First, we heard that a lot of people want to ride but need some help getting started.  Second, a lot of people who are willing to ride now don’t have a place to put their bike at work or wherever they are going.  Third, a lot of people want their communities to be more bike-friendly.

Besides these consistent themes we learned from our 250 entrants that each could readily name 4 or 5 destinations they could bike to that were under two miles.  I was surprised to see so many people list “work” as a destination option.  I was not surprised that “habit” was cited as the most common reason for taking a car instead of a bike for short trips.

When asked why the person wanted to take the challenge, almost all of them cited “concern for the environment” and “wanting to improve personal health” as reasons.  

 We read through all 250 essays and picked six people for the Go By Bike Challenge.    You can find all the entries from the winners at www.trekbicyclestores.com.  And for fun, below you’ll find the blog posts of Brian Shields, our Go By Bike Guy from Kansas City.

Post #1,   Thursday, May 8, 2008 The big day finally arrived.  About two months ago I entered a contest designed to challenge people to take short trips by bike.  To my amazement I was one of the lucky few chosen to receive a new Trek bike and see if I was up to the challenge.  So today I went to the local Trek store in Kansas City and picked up my new alternative mode of transportation.  The folks at the store were just incredibly nice and very customer oriented.  I bought a few ‘extras’ and they added on the equipment while I waited.  The main thing I wanted was some type of carrier on the back in case I needed to haul something (like a sack of groceries from the store or a basketball when I go to the community center nearby). It’s been a long time since I actually owned a bike.  When I got married 22 years ago my wife and I bought bikes as our wedding gifts to each other (how romantic, you’re probably thinking!).  For the day, they were really nice Schwinn 12 speeds (my wife still has hers by the way … I wonder if that qualifies as an antique yet?).  Mine, on the other hand, ended up being stolen one night when we lived in

California.  So, for the last 18 years it’s pretty much been just me using a car for transportation. I’m looking forward to the first ride.  We’ll see how easy it is for an old dog to change!  

Post #2  Ridin’ to Church

Today we had beautiful weather for Mother’s Day.  In the evening I had to go to church because I teach Sunday school for the fifth grade class.  This made for another perfect opportunity to go by bike so once again I convinced my daughter to tag along with me.  I’m thinking if I can instill in her ever more deeply at this early age the importance of taking care of our planet and making smart choices when it comes to life, at least she’ll be headed in the right direction.  One thing I have come to realize is that there are not a lot of bike racks near most places I go (other than at schools).  Such is the case at our church.  I understand a couple of weeks ago they borrowed a bike rack from a nearby school for Earth Day but they didn’t really see a need for one other than that one time.  With that being the case, we decided to lock our bikes on the handrail where everyone entering and exiting would see them … kind of a reminder that there is more than one way to go places. I received a couple of comments from folks at church … one of the staff members couldn’t believe that I rode 2.5 miles to church (wonder what she was implying … it’s not like Dr. Kevorkian is going to be paying me a visit anytime soon!).  I made sure she knew all about National Bike Week (she thought I was kidding that we actually have such an event).  Later when I was leaving one of my fifth graders saw me with my bike helmet and started asking questions.  I told him it was a great way to be healthy and eco-friendly.  Who knows, maybe I’ll start seeing more people riding in the near future. I have been trying to promote Bike Week activities at work … we’ll see how it goes this week (which, by the way, is National Transportation Week too). 

Post #3 I have not been able to ride for two days, but this morning I was ready to go for my first try at a weekday commute to work.  I hopped on the trail near our house so I could head over to Fire Station #3 where Overland Park was sponsoring an energizing station for morning bike commuters.  I got about a mile from home when my carrying bag became dislodged from the back of the bike and started dragging on the ground.  I stopped and fixed it real quick but when I got back on something else had happened.  Apparently during my shifting to come to a stop the chain had become kinked between the front gears and the bike frame.  I quickly found there was no easy fix to this problem (at least for me).  So I headed back home pushing my bike along the trail (luckily I had not gone too far) so it was only about a 10 to 15 minute walk back home.  On my way back home I was thinking about the whole notion of riding a bike for short trips or to work.  Was this an omen of things to come?  But then I started thinking about something that had happened with my old Toyota one afternoon.  I was about two miles from home when a belt broke in the engine and similarly, I was out of commission.  The difference was that I had to wait for a tow truck (for an hour) and then spend several hundred dollars to get the car fixed.  At least I was under my own power right now, got to avoid the cost of a tow, and figured that any repair cost would be minimal. Once home I called one of the bike experts that I work with (Lisa actually was the one that got me to enter the Go By Bike Challenge) and I described what had happened.  She gave me the technical term for it … it’s called ‘chain suck’.  So later in the day I made a visit to the Trek store.  Dean was the person that helped me and it seemed to take him no time at all (having the proper tools sure is a big help … probably something I’ll need to invest in soon … maybe for Father’s Day, hint, hint).  Anyway, Dean also explained that I shouldn’t be using the smallest gears on the bike very often since that puts a lot of wear on the chain (so that’s my tip for the day for the rest of you novices in case you’ve read this far).  I especially liked it when Dean said ‘No charge’ for his time!  They definitely know how to keep a customer wanting to come back to their store. Well, I’m all ready now for tomorrow when I’ll once again try this commuter bike challenge.  For what it’s worth, I hear there was a good turnout at the fire

 station. 

Post #4 Great Ending to National Bike Week  After my chain suck problem on Wednesday, I’ve had three straight days of great biking.  On Thursday and Friday I rode my bike to work (about 8.5 miles one way).  Along the way I stopped at the Tomahawk

Ridge

Community Center on 19th Street and then the Matt

Ross

Community Center in Historic Downtown OP (Friday) where the city was sponsoring energizing stations.  It was great to see other riders there and also to check the sign in sheet to see how many had already stopped by.  It’s interesting to see what’s happening at work this year … a couple of my employees car pooled this week, another rode the bus and another rode his bike to work.  That’s a lot of change since last year (when we did nothing), and I hope we all will be able to keep it going.  My trips to work are north-south oriented from where I live.  That means crossing over or under I-435 (which means there are a limited number of crossing points).  I opted to go up Antioch the first day and Metcalf the second day.  Now I’m not crazy enough (yet) to actually ride on either of these streets since they carry about 40,000 vehicles per day so I stayed on the sidewalks (I have to confess that I had to ride in the travel lanes across the bridge just north of 103rd and Metcalf since it is under construction and there is no sidewalk yet … try that in the morning rush hour to get your heart pumping).  I have developed a mental shortlist of things to watch for … broken glass, people jogging with their ipods and not paying attention, drivers exiting driveways or turning right … I’ve also developed a shortlist of irritations like people that plant bushes that encroach into the sidewalk and people that don’t keep their trees pruned up high enough so I can ride under  them.  One other thing of interest has been the continuity of the sidewalk system … it looks great 95% of the time and then in the blink of an eye there will be a short piece missing.  Both days I had to be home rather quickly after work so I rode part way and caught the JO for the remainder.  It was only $1.25 to ride on Thursday and free on Friday.  I was mildly surprised to actually see 20 other people riding the bus (that’s actually a pretty amazing number for the burbs). This morning my daughter and I rode to have breakfast … what a beautiful morning … nothing like a little fresh air to build up your appetite.  After chowing down on pancakes, we headed back home with a brief stop along the way to see a friend who had just had surgery and was home recuperating.  If next week is anything like this week, I think I will be well on my way to a permanent change in my car only lifestyle.  Post #5: Now that’s something I didn’t know … Recently the folks from Trek were in Kansas City to help promote becoming a Bicycle Friendly Community.  I had a chance to meet Rebecca Anderson, Trek’s Director of Advocacy who was hired to lead the OneWorld, Two Wheels effort.  She brought along a group of folks from

Omaha … what an amazing group!  The folks from Omaha told me how they had raised $600,000 in private donations to get the city started on creating a better bicycling environment in

Omaha.  That is quite impressive …way to go

Omaha!  With employees like that being active in the community Trek can certainly be proud of their accomplishment. The same night I met Rebecca and the gang from

Nebraska, we also heard from the League of American Bicyclists about their awards program thatrecognizes communities that actively support bicycling(www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org).  As they went through the presentation, they talked about how the awards program had changed since it’s inception.  For a community to be recognized (at either the Bronze,Silver, Gold or Platinum levels), various criteria are evaluatedcovering the five “E’s” … engineering, education, encouragement,evaluation and enforcement.  There are only two cities at the platinum level … Davis, CA and Portland, OR.   Post #6: That was a long ride … Another week has passed and I am still at it (bicycling, that is).  On Saturday I decided to bike to my daughter’s soccer game (10 miles one way).  My wife and daughter would still have to drive out there, but I would have a chance to test out my bike on the open country roads …well, at least part of the way.  We have some pretty good bike paths that I was able to use except for the final three miles. On my way there I passed near a site currently under construction where our city is building a new outdoor youth soccer complex.  Next year when it opens my ride will be about half as long (and maybe I can have my daughter ride there too).  I made the mistake of going down one of the few roads that leads directly to the current soccer park … no shoulder and lots of soccer parents eager to get their kids to the tournament on time.  Luckily, no close calls. Once I got there, I had an easy time finding parking … right next to the field as a matter of fact.  After the game was over, I took a different route back home.  The two main roads I used had fairly wide shoulders (five feet on one and probably three feet on the other) so I didn’t feel like cars were ready to run me over everytime they went by.  The real killer was the wind, however.  Somehow it blew in my face almost the whole way home (first from the east, then from the north),and fairly strong, I might add.  At least I got to take in some new scenery.  By the way, for you long time bikers, have you ever tried to pass the time while biking solo? After awhile I decided to start keeping count of all the dead animals on the side of the road … 18 by journey’s end (better them than me, I guess).  Maybe you can let me know what works for you!  Post #7: The family the rides together, stays together. Finally, I got down my wife’s old bicycle from the top of the garage. For 22 years old (the bike), she’s in great shape (my wife looks great too).  We went on a short ride together which seemed to be uphill most of the way (coming home was a lot more fun).  I am finding out that my new Trek bicycle is very easy to ride up hills of all sizes.  In a previous post I mentioned that my wife’s bike only has 12 speeds … my daughter’s bike has 21 and my bike has 24 (my wife may need a new bike soon if we really embrace this bicycle commuting lifestyle).  She did spot a place near our destination that actually had bike racks out in front of their business (Winstead’s near 135th and Roe … kind of like a throwback diner).  I’ve started to mentally track things like this more closely.  If anyone out there wants to start a list of places in the KC area that support bike riders with bike racks or discounts, leave a message.  Post #8 Joel’s Ride … Today I had an opportunity to participate in the first annual Joel’s Ride for Social Justice.  Joel Winston was a local bicycle enthusiast that died from stomach cancer in June 2006.  He biked to work on a regular basis and was known to take his bike along on vacations (disassembled in a special suitcase).  He even went to his chemotherapy by bike.  To honor his memory and love for bicycling, his family held a 25-mile charity bike ride and a bike safety rodeo.   The event drew a lot of people for both the ride and the rodeo.  The local NBC affiliate was also there to cover the start.  The weather was great for the ride, but somehow I went through all of my water before I got back … guess I need a bigger bottle or a second one.  It was nice being out among other riders for a common cause.  I am quite sure if Joel were alive today he would be a strong advocate for the One World, Two Wheels campaign.  If you want to read about his life, you can google the Kansas City Star for an article that appeared in the Saturday, May 31st edition.

 

Not a week goes by without someone concerned about the environment asking me what they can do with their old innertubes or bikes.  There are certainly some outfits like Alchemy, Green Guru or Vy & Elle that will re-purpose old tubes or vinyl banners into useful bike messenger bags, but that doesn’t quite put a dent in the amount of tubes or old bikes we send to the landfill in this country every day.

Enter: Bike Furniture!  Andy Gregg of Marquette, Michigan has been perfecting his furniture since 1990.  That’s a fair amount of time to figure out how to turn an old Serotta that had a fateful meeting with a cattle grate into a flashy lawn chair.    (You’ll find just that on his website under the “chair” then “stuffed” line).   In fact, none of the furniture is stuffed and instead uses bike tubes for upholstery.  

I am lucky to have been given one of these chairs last year and I can attest to the comfort of tube upholstery.   It’s firm, yet springy.  Even better you can simply hose the whole thing off if it gets dusty.  That’s my kind of furniture.  Check it out here: www.bikefurniture.com

  

May is national bike month, but what does that mean?  It means ad campaigns and bike to work promotions and maybe, just maybe, decent weather.   For me bike month means a lot of people send me links to stories about the car/rider disputes.  Lesson? We all need to practice safe riding and driving.  Only safe riding can help change the perception that cyclists are scofflaws and that drivers hate cyclists.   Allow me to explain.

 A Trek colleague sent me a link to an article in the Atlanta Constitution.    The article was simply titled “Should Bikes Be Allowed on the Road?”  I had a feeling before I read the comments that there would be some not-too-nice comments about bike riders.   The term “blather” doesn’t come close to the 50+ comments that were posted, among them the usual old saws like:

- bike riders don’t follow the rules

- bike riders should stay off the road and on the sidewalk/bike path

- bike riders cause traffic to jam up 

- And my personal favorite: “bikes cause cars to have to go around them on blind hills which is dangerous.”  

 It’s hard to listen to those complaints and not get upset however, good communication requires understanding.  W hat I hear when I read the criticisms is fear, lack of understanding of the rules of the road, and uncertainty about how to work around bikes. 

Example: Why would anyone in a car pass another car on a blind hill? They most likely would not, but for some reason some drivers feel it’s ok to pass a bike on a blind hill….and instead of using common sense they get angry at the bike for being there.  I don’t know how to fix that one.    

Then again why would a cyclist zoom past a line of cars in order to make a right turn and risk being hit by the car already in the turning process?  I’ve seen this happen as I sit in my spot behind the cars in line to turn and watch a rider cruise past us to get to the front.   This is just plain foolish on the rider’s part and earns the angst (rightfully so) of the drivers who see it. 

Let me say that I firmly believe that cyclists are NOT innocent of rule breaking when it comes to riding in traffic.  But neither are drivers.   So all the shouting is getting us nowhere and why don’t we start talking a bit?  If someone starts shouting at you, don’t shout back. Use words.  Calm words.    We need a little Steven Covey here: Seek to understand before you are understood, ok?

Can we cyclists police ourselves better?  Can we be predictable and courteous?  It doesn’t mean that drivers will return it but MOST of them will.   That’s all we can hope for…most drivers are kind to bikes so let’s aim to be good citizens, on and off the bike, in and out of our autos.  

Safe riding all.  And if you haven’t joined your local or state bike advocacy group yet please do.  We need more voices at the table listening and talking.   

I was filling up my car last week and realized that just two years ago my tank took $29 to fill.  It’s now $57 and that extra $28/week is starting to hurt.    I take my bike to work so where the heck am I using the gas?

I’ve decided that the only way I can cut back on using my vehicle is to be very aware of how much I drive.  One way to do that is to ration the gas I buy.  Welcome back to 1940.  

My goal for April is to fill the car with $30 of gas each week.  No more, no less, but the $30 has to last an entire week.   So far my plan is working; I’m choosing differently because of the $30/week limit.  Example?

Last night I really, really, really wanted a glass of wine.  I could feel that my red wine cell count was low but…it would be a 15 mile round trip to get it and it was too dark to ride a bike.   So, I stayed home and had hot chocolate.  You know what? I was ok with that.   It’s funny how challenge creates opportunities to make changes we may have been wanting to make anyway. 

If I gain some fitness and lose some of the winter wine weight while staying under $30/week, I come out ahead.  I double dog dare you to try this…..pick whatever the dollar amount it was two years ago to fill your tank, and make it last a week.  Then write to me and tell me what choices you made to stretch the petrol.   Email me at info@1world2wheels.org.   

 For my part, I have to drive to town for a meeting today and one of the stops I’ll make is to the wine store.  I deserve a treat for not making the extra trip last night.  Yee-haw.

Someone sent me this photo and I’ve no idea if it was a real photo or an altered one.  It doesn’t matter as the message is  timely.  $4 gas, traffic jams, pollution….how many more reasons to we need to “go by bike?” 

It’s time to make a small change in habit; take your bike for short trips.  What is a short trip? It’s the one or two block ride to the gas station for a newspaper.  Or the mile drive to the bank to make a deposit, or the pharmacy to pick up a script.   The two mile drive to the java joint for a latte.  

Can we, collectively as a 1world2wheels community commit to taking these short trips by bike in May? 

What say we give this a try; leave the car and take your bike for short trips.  Then drop me a note and let me know how it’s going.  If you send a photo and brief story I’ll publish it on the site.    We need examples and stories and motivation to get ourselves and our friends out of the car and onto the bike.   Are you ready?  Go! Send me your fun stories about going by bike…info@1world2wheels.org. 

There’s a guy on a bike riding up and down the east coast pitching a program called “Bicycle Benefits.”  The guy is Ian Klepatar and BB is his program to encourage businesses to reward customers who arrive by bicycle.    

Simple and effective are two words to describe this program.   A business chooses what reward to offer a customer who arrives on bike, the customer gets rewarded and everyone wins.  

The program is so brilliant and effective that I’ve asked Ian to send in updates from the road.   He left his hometown near Saratoga, New York two weeks ago to start his trek around the east coast, talking up the benfits of “going by bike.”  Klepatar attended the Washington DC Bike Summit then lit out for Boston.    The first of many entries on his travels follows. 

Boston, MA: Today was like so many days that cyclists and bicycle advocates know all too well.  Whether we are pushing for bike lanes on a new street in our community or getting cut-off, doored or disrespected among traffic flow while commuting to work, we know the feeling in others just “not getting it.”  Unlike the past three days since I arrived in Boston, business owners didn’t really seem to be that interested in the benefits of bicycles.  ‘You know there aren’t really that many bikers that come in this restaurant’ they tell me.  I guess in my eyes, if somebody knows how to ride a bicycle, they are automatically a biker.  At the same time just because we ride bicycles, it doesn’t make us bikers.  So I go on to tell the uninterested owner the benefits of participating in a program which promotes physical activity, helmet use, alleviating congestion and parking hassle.  The concept of the program is pretty basic.  Businesses in the community offer discounts/rewards in order to entice community members to jump on their bicycles and visit the restaurants/businesses by bicycle.  Upon arriving by bicycle and showing the affixed Bicycle Benefit helmet sticker, the individual receives the designated discount/reward.  However, just as we often struggle to convey the many benefits of bicycle paths connecting neighborhoods to community centers or the importance of complete streets http://www.completestreets.org/ legislation to our elected politicians, I too wonder why some people don’t get it…Perhaps it’s been a while since we all felt the joy and benefits of riding a bicycle.      

This little piece was going around the web recently.  Without giving away the content, let me just say that it’s an excellent public awareness piece about cyclists.  

 I’ll send a One World, Two Wheels jersey to the first person who can get this piece playing on their local televion station!  Note, you need to send proof.  

http://www.dothetest.co.uk/

The Washington DC Annual Bike Summit is a cheer-for-all for bikes and bike people.   The Bike Summit is two days of seminars on what is happening around the country where bikes are concerned  and a few receptions in between.

If you’ve never been to the bike summit–or any summit for that matter–but you ride a bike I recommend you take the three days vacation next year and trek to the bike mecca of Washington.  The atmosphere was downright friendly with five or six hundred cyclists from all walks of life coming together around a topic we all love.  There were people in suits and jeans and people in bike jerseys.   It was a small comet of similar interests and the results were nothing short of stellar.

In three days I met people from every state.  They came to learn and to speak to their legislators and in some cases, to learn to speak to their legislator.  

 If you’ve never paid a visit to your congressman/woman it is much easier than one might imagine.  The Longworth building houses a lot of legislators and as soon as you are inside you see that you belong.  Groups of people representing their causes gather outside of legislative offices, waiting to be heard. 

 We elected these people, so they have to listen to us.  How beautiful is that? A group of ten of us from Wisconsin stopped in Congressman Ryan’s office and we laid out our case to the legislative aide that Wisconsin has a vibrant bike industry that contributes $10 billion to the Wisconsin economy and provides thousands of jobs.    We asked for support of upcoming  legislation that can add more funding for bicycle infrastructure.  we asked for bikes to be considered in all transporation bills. 

 My personal request to both Congressmen was that they ride to work.  That got the same raised eyebrow look both times.  I suggested that if Ryan and Kind start riding they could start a “bike pool” with  Congressman Blumenauer (D-Oregon) and James Oberstar (D-Minnesota) .

 That would really be a sign of change, wouldn’t it?

I learned that there are a lot of bike advocates in this country who showed up to speak to their legislators about making sure bikes get their fair share of the transporation pie.  Right now, that slice is mighty small but that means there’s no where to go but up.