Blog Post

During my time with the League, one piece of feedback has remained consistent: It’s difficult to get people to commit to 9 hours of bike education. So today, we’re proud to introduce our brand-new Smart Cycling Quick Guide! Over the past few months, I’ve explored ways in which we can create an entry-level guide that can be used to market the Smart Cycling program. This exploration, combined with a lot of input from League Cycling Instructors (LCIs), has helped with the development of this accessible Quick Guide to our material.

UPDATE: Congratulations Senators Boxer, Corker and Carper! In a slightly surprising but welcome vote last night, the Senate passed an extension and funding patch for the Highway Trust Fund that expires at the end of 2014 rather than May 2015 (as proposed by the House and original Senate bill). This is important as it forces the hand of this Congress to come up with a long term transportation bill and revenue source, rather than simply delaying the difficult decisions ahead as to how to do that

Advocacy Advance’s most recent Navigating MAP-21 Workshop was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Boasting an extensive transportation history and known for the “Chattanooga Choo Choo” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra, Chattanooga is located is southeastern Tennessee, just north of the Tennessee-Georgia border, and nestled along the Tennessee River and surrounding mountains.

For many women, clothing is not an insignificant barrier to bicycling.While advocates and educators and ride leaders are making huge strides in getting more women in the saddle, our National Women’s Bicycling Forum has shown that there’s an equally exciting movement among entrepreneurs to create commercial products aimed at addressing women’s needs. One such product that’s been getting recent headlines is the Skirtweight, so we got in touch with its creator, Lani Tarozzi, to hear her bike story and advice for fellow Women Bike entrepreneurs.

Last week, Sports Marketing Surveys USA released new data on the most popular sports and fitness activites in America — and biking ranked #6 on the list, with more than 41 million participants in 2013. While we often talking about the health benefits of bicycling, we focus on the physical: losing weight, managing diabetes, increasing energy. But, as Josie Smith, a rider and blogger in Decorah, Iowa, shared with us, cycling can heal our hearts and minds, as well. Here’s her story…

With more than 3,500 certified League Cycling Instructors nationwide, we have the privilege of working with hundreds of leaders who are delivering our Smart Cycling program and innovating bicycle education in exciting ways. Whether you’re an educator yourself or simply a bicycle enthusiast, our LCIs have so much knowledge and inspiration that we want to share their stories. In this first edition of LCI corner, Molly North, executive director of Bike Denver (and LCI #2669!), gives five helpful tips for marketing bike education.

Yes, we’ve seen columnist Courtland Milloy’s awful rant against bicyclists in yesterday’s Washington Post and wonder with you how such a dreadful piece of writing could find its way onto the pages of such a respected source of news. As usual, the question is how does one respond to such mindless vitriol? Facts clearly don’t matter. Self-righteous indignation probably isn’t going to make much of an impression, certainly not in the comment section of the paper’s website!

Advocacy Advance recently released its latest report, “How Communities are Paying for Innovative On-Street Bicycle Infrastructure.” The report provides examples of how communities across the country are paying for separated bicycle infrastructure. Just like how communities are paying for other important civic infrastructure, communities are using a combination of federal, state, local/regional, and private sources of funds.

Out on Main Street, nearly 90 percent of local bike shops in the United States are owned by men. But off Broadway in New York City, “Bike Shop The Musical” is a one-woman show. Inspired by the rich cycling experiences of Liz Barkan — a former bike messenger, bike shop owner and spinning instructor — the fictional play follows the journey of Bobby, a female bike mechanic who works in her grandmother’s shop and is not only fixing flats but piecing her life back together after a tragic accident.

Thank you to the more than 10,000 of you who submitted comments to the Federal Highway Administration asking them to institute a non-motorized safety performance measure. As of this publication, there have been 10,815 comments submitted.