Local Bicycle Advisory Council One Step Closer To Reality

As this week draws to a close on a great Sunday with summer like conditions, I’m pleased to know that one goal of helping to establish a local Bicycle Advisory Council has taken several steps forward. We now have a planned date for our first meeting. Thus far, we have 12 outstanding members representing a wide range of interests committed to being part of the Council. We are fortunate enough to have a former member of the NC DOT on board, members of the local health and county recreation departments, a member of the local police department, who is himself a cyclist, as well as, one of the town’s officers on bikes, a local cycle shop owner, a former competitive road racer turned fund raiser/consultant, a cyclist whose work background includes counseling with “at risk” youth, and another competitive cyclist with a background in financial advisement. We also have a general contractor committed to “green” initiatives and we’ve been joined by the town’s public works director. We have the support of our N.C. Bicycle Committee representative Claudia Nix. Each of the people recruited to this committee are well known individuals, who have served their community in many, many different venues throughout the years. Hopefully, these backgrounds will meld together into something where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts!

I’m planning a newspaper article on National Bike Month and specifically on “Bike to Work” week. Our first meeting will coincide with “Bike to Work” week and hopefully this symbolic starting point will grow over time into a meaningful part of our community.

My last week hasn’t seen much riding unfortunately. I did get out today and enjoy a quick spin around the Pigeon Valley area. I could tell that I’ve been remiss in keeping up my mileage and workouts. It was a struggle in the 87 degree weather. Still, I know I will sleep better tonight!

My brother, David, out in L.A. is returning to the world of recumbents. He bought a “new to him” bike this week. He says he mostly wanted the frame and has plans for Dana at Bent Up Cycles to do some serious reworking of the components. Here is an image of the “before” bike as purchased.

 

We’ll hope for an “after” image in a week or so… Also in from David this week was a link to a positive article from the US Department of Transportation. Check it out here: Click Me!

Well, the sun has dropped below the horizon now.  A gentle breeze is blowing off of Richland Balsam and down the valley feathering its way across my deck. I swear I hear the deck chair calling me…

Until later,

-- Zeke