The West Side

So, I'm finally getting around to writing about my experience at the National Bike Summit.  A bit late, but it's given me some time to reflect on the experience.  After all, it's on thing to visit the Capitol, and it's quite another to be inside the Capitol lobbying our Representatives (staff actually, but you get the point).  It's kind of overwhelming.  The National Bike Summit is organized by the League of American Bicyclists , the oldest cycling advocacy group in the country.  Over 800 people attended the event, and all but one state (Alaska) was represented.  Over a dozen of us from Indiana took time out of our schedules to stand up for cycling.  I traveled with 3 other members of INDYCOG , and  Nancy from Bicycle Indiana did a great job organizing, and scheduling meetings with our Reps.   The point of the Summit is to ask Congress to maintain funding for bike, and pedestrian infrastructure.  These funds are...

Time for a little reflection.  We talk a lot about cycling, and the rights of cyclists to have safe places to ride. It's easy to get impatient. Things don't move quickly enough. We aren't as progressive as (fill in the blank) city. I prefer to think about how far we've come.  I think about Richard Vonnegut, who has been beating the drum for bicycle advocacy as long as I can remember. He's someone that, as far as I'm concerned, doesn't get the recognition he deserves. I think about Diana Virgil, who has been plowing through the mountains of red tape surrounding the B&O Rail Corridor project-seemingly forever. Whatever progress we've seen recently has come from people like them working for years in darkness. I get a feeling of great hope when I see a group like IndyCog spring up, and accomplish so much. There are others, to be sure. Bicycle Indiana , and CIBA  just to name two.  People who love to ride bikes should feel a great sense ...