Bicycling for Louisville
Date: Nov 21
Weather: 25F/33F
Mileage: 16
November mileage: 381
Year to date: 2854
Another unseasonably cold commute today, giving me all 5 days this week. That's a rarity in my commuting career for some reason. I have often been a 4 day/week guy with one rogue day of driving, but this week.
In the p.m. I did a little bit of 'Ville cycling advocacy, sort of. Bicycling for Louisville was hosting an open house in their offices downtown. Not being exactly sure what their mission was, I stopped by after work and before Friday evening family time. It was a low-key affair with slight attendance, but how knows how many were coming in the course of the afternoon. I had to leave at 4.30 and it was going until 7.00. As for BfL, their mission, as I learned seems to be more one of legal issues, state laws about lane width, traffic light engineering, vehicular laws pertaining to cards mowing down bikes with no responsibility, etc. Director Barry Zalph can also be found @ Barry's Blog. I also met Jackie Green at this function. He's the local advocacy guru via previously blog-mentioned Bike Depot. You can read some of his advocacy efforts on the tab on the BikeDepot site. I stated that his primary effort right now is leading the Safe Streets Louisville effort. I did inquire Barry about the various wings of the advocacy movement here in town. What I think is a little disconcerting is that there are even more advocacy groups and "stakeholders" in the 'Ville cycling movement: the LouisvilleBicycleClub, Metro Louisville Gov't's bicycling director, Bike Louisville, and perhaps more. I understand the difficulty of managing and negotiating the byzantine, serpentine route that is bureaucracy, but would the cycling movement be better served under one umbrella with its respective fields of expertise and interest? Is the local cycling commuting hindered b/c we have all these different "arms", but no "head"?
Let's be clear. This is in NO way to critize gentlemen like Barry or Jackie. They live the life. I question what the bureaucracy looks like in a Minneapolis, a Portland or even a Chicago. Are their efforts more coordinated and henceforth, more successful? I see some really postive energy here in the 'Ville, and I credit folks like Barry and Jackie for making it happen. I'll certainly be on my bike commuting, trying to do my own thing on the bike. Maybe I should not just walk the walk, but as James Brown said, "Get Involved, Get Involved, aaeeiii!"
Weather: 25F/33F
Mileage: 16
November mileage: 381
Year to date: 2854
Another unseasonably cold commute today, giving me all 5 days this week. That's a rarity in my commuting career for some reason. I have often been a 4 day/week guy with one rogue day of driving, but this week.
In the p.m. I did a little bit of 'Ville cycling advocacy, sort of. Bicycling for Louisville was hosting an open house in their offices downtown. Not being exactly sure what their mission was, I stopped by after work and before Friday evening family time. It was a low-key affair with slight attendance, but how knows how many were coming in the course of the afternoon. I had to leave at 4.30 and it was going until 7.00. As for BfL, their mission, as I learned seems to be more one of legal issues, state laws about lane width, traffic light engineering, vehicular laws pertaining to cards mowing down bikes with no responsibility, etc. Director Barry Zalph can also be found @ Barry's Blog. I also met Jackie Green at this function. He's the local advocacy guru via previously blog-mentioned Bike Depot. You can read some of his advocacy efforts on the tab on the BikeDepot site. I stated that his primary effort right now is leading the Safe Streets Louisville effort. I did inquire Barry about the various wings of the advocacy movement here in town. What I think is a little disconcerting is that there are even more advocacy groups and "stakeholders" in the 'Ville cycling movement: the LouisvilleBicycleClub, Metro Louisville Gov't's bicycling director, Bike Louisville, and perhaps more. I understand the difficulty of managing and negotiating the byzantine, serpentine route that is bureaucracy, but would the cycling movement be better served under one umbrella with its respective fields of expertise and interest? Is the local cycling commuting hindered b/c we have all these different "arms", but no "head"?
Let's be clear. This is in NO way to critize gentlemen like Barry or Jackie. They live the life. I question what the bureaucracy looks like in a Minneapolis, a Portland or even a Chicago. Are their efforts more coordinated and henceforth, more successful? I see some really postive energy here in the 'Ville, and I credit folks like Barry and Jackie for making it happen. I'll certainly be on my bike commuting, trying to do my own thing on the bike. Maybe I should not just walk the walk, but as James Brown said, "Get Involved, Get Involved, aaeeiii!"
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