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Bicycle Colorado members speak!

You probably know that Bicycle Colorado is a membership-based organization. Our members are the lifeblood of our advocacy work, providing financial support and the foundation of our political voice.

Bicycle Colorado’s influence is strong because we represent not just our small, passionate staff, but 8,500+ individuals across the state who care deeply about bicycling. That kind of community is hard to ignore!

New members speak out

This year in our fall membership drive, we asked new members to share their main priority for better bicycling in Colorado. We got great responses!

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Member word cloud small
A ‘word cloud’ showing the words that appear most frequently in members’ responses. Thanks to Tagxedo.com for the easy-to-use word cloud generator!

As you might imagine, safe, safer and safety appear a lot, as do words related to bike-friendly infrastructure, like bike lanes, shoulders and trails. I like that the word connecting appears frequently, too. Connecting existing trail systems is one of the goals Colorado is working toward through the Colorado Pedals Project.

My main priority for better bicycling is…

Here are just a few of the great responses we’ve received so far:

Bicycle advocacy & government lobbying

advocacy small

Better—and safer!—connectivity for bicycle routes: urban, city-to-city, & soft-surface trail systems.

connectivity small

Driver awareness education

driver ed small

To promote biking for families

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Shoulder lanes on roads & safe/courteous riding education

safe courteous small

What’s your priority?

Do you agree with these priorities? What bike improvements is your community working toward? Add your thoughts in the comments.

And it’s never too late to strengthen the Bicycle Colorado community with your voice! If you stop by our blue tent outside VeloSwap tomorrow (Saturday, October 24), you can become a member and get free entry to the swap. Or you can always join online.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

Madeline Kreider Carlson

About the Author: Madeline Kreider Carlson

COMMENTS (5)

Cindy Hamilton - Reply

Hi Madeline, It would be wonderful to put out a brochure/newspaper ad or fllyer of Cycling/Automobile laws. I think everyone is confused about our responsibilties on the road. I see both cyclists and motorists doing crazy unsafe things .For instance a lot of motorists still don’t know the 3 ft. rule and does that mean we as cyclists must stay 3 ft from them? Cyclists not stopping or even pausing at stop signs is a big one! Going from sidewalk to road. I get conflicting information from people I ride with who are sure they know the rules. (I.E. You can’t ride a bike on the side walk unless you are going at a walking pace. You have to ride single file up a hill even if there is a wide shoulder. Where can we find this information? My rule of thumb is to follow the traffic laws as if I were a motorist . Thanks for listening.

    Madeline Kreider Carlson - Reply

    Hi Cindy, thanks for reading and sharing your perspective! You’re right, I think there’s often confusion about cyclists’ rights and responsibilities on the road. It looks like you found it already, but ColoBikeLaw.com is a great resource created by our awesome board member, attorney and advocate Brad Tucker. Check out the Bike Law Q&A and Safety Quiz in our print newsletter, Ride Time News, as well. I’ll think about some creative ways to keep spreading the word to both drivers and cyclists so that everyone stays safe and happy. Thanks again!

Cindy Hamilton - Reply

OK, CDOT has a complete list of rules and responsibilties also Bicycle Law Colorado. Stilll would be good to get the word out at a Cycling Event but also for the Motorists that think they own the road. Thanks for your good work!

Frank Schwende - Reply

Brilliant writing! The word cloud, the images of actual hand-written responses! Just great!

    Madeline Kreider Carlson - Reply

    Thanks, Frank! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was fun gathering responses from so many voices!

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