My reasons for bicycle advocacy

Everyone gets involved in causes for different reasons. I've been a cyclist my whole life, starting at age 10 when I was able to scrape together $120 to buy a Schwinn Continental. It was a beautiful bike and let me go anywhere. I have lived in the valley for 25 years. Cycling here has changed. The place is just busier now. About five years ago, I attended the dedication of the Vietnam memorial at the Duck Pond. Feeling great, I got on my bike and headed east on Rancho California, which used to be two lanes with a wide shoulder for cyclists. But things had changed. It had become three narrow lanes, no shoulder. (City staff said, "We have to move cars.") I got about 50 feet up the road when I felt a truck mirror brush me. No big deal. We all get that. The toy hauler he was pulling nailed me. I went over the curb and landed upside down on the grass, still clipped in. The event was breaking up, the crowd flowed out and people started stepping over me. Am I invisible? One woman stopped. "That guy didn't even stop!" she said. "Are you OK?" I was, but I started thinking we need to do something. A bunch of like minded cyclists began lobbying the city. Has anything changed? We did start the Ride of Silence, now in its fifth year. Each year cyclists support that event. We honor our dead and wounded. But we should be doing more. Lots more. At the last Ride of Silence, there was interest in taking another shot at lobbying the city for cyclists again. We live in a town that attracts cyclists from far and wide for its beauty and climate. But we also live in a town where bike racks are as hard to find as a bathroom after your last Starbucks stop and you can't remember how many times some red faced motorist is shouting for you to "Get that thing on the sidewalk."  We can change it. Look at Riverside. They have a cycling plan. They are hiring a cycling consultant. They have Bronze medal as a Bike Friendly Community. We can do the same. We can do more. Where's that competitive spirit that makes you sprint for the doughnut store? It can happen.