Austin's Bike Month -- A Best Practice Example

From the Austin Chronicle:

Austin Bike Month Rolls In
BY DANIEL MOTTOLA

Naked City has found a way to achieve the elusive – the simultaneous trifecta of supporting the troops, saving the environment, and sculpting a set of rock-hard buns. All one has to do is hop on a bicycle and participate in any of the numerous Austin Bike Month activities starting this Friday. In its 12th year, Bike Month incorporates group rides, free bike safety classes, park and trail maintenance, bike giveaways, bike to work day, and some good ol' parties, among other things.

Key Bike Month events include:

• The eighth annual Political Pedal, April 29. Join elected officials and City Council candidates on a short meander through downtown, departing City Hall at 4:30pm. The Political Pedal ends an hour later at the Bitter End Bistro & Brewery B-Side, 311 Colorado, in the Warehouse District, where riders can lube the wheels of democracy until 7:30pm at the "Bicyclist's Happy Hour."

• Bike to First Thursday, May 5. Cyclists are invited to ride down to this month's first Thursday festivities on South Congress. Jo's Coffee (1300 S. Congress) is hosting a Bike Month party with complimentary valet parking – for bicycles that is. E-mail preston3@communitymobility.org for more info.

• Members of the Austin Ridge Riders, a local mountain bike club, will teach the basics May 7 during a Mountain Bike Clinic and Ride at City Park (Emma Long Metropolitan Park), 1600 City Park Rd. Be there at 10am. E-mail Michael Castaneda for more info.

• Ride with licensed instructors and learn about cycling comfortably in traffic during the New to Bicycling Ride, May 8. Come out for a 4- to 10-mile group ride that will circle the Shoal Creek area in North Austin. All you need to bring is a working bicycle, helmet, and a bottle of water. Meet at 9am at Gullet Elementary, 6310 Treadwell, one block west of Shoal Creek Boulevard. Contact Marc Miller at 423-7262 for more info.

For a full list of activities go to www.austincycling.org/issues.html.
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Dan Tangherlini, Director of DC's Department of Transportation, at Bike to Work Day, 2004. (Photo by Jim Hudnall.)

I particularly like the Political Pedal idea. Maybe we could get some tandem bikes to bring people of different political persuasions together, such as this 10 person tandem bike ridden by the Fishers Rotary Club (Fishers, Indiana) in a local parade.

Can't we all just get along? (Photo by James.Yee@Topics.com) Imagine ten elected and appointed officials riding together on a bike such as this.

Area bicycling resources include Washington Area Bicyclist Association and the DDOT Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs office.