It's off season

     ....and the powers of advocacy never stop.
     Three college students and I rode our bikes to the local road commission offices for a meeting involving officials from several surrounding townships as well as cycling groups to review some suggestions to make our cities more bike friendly. We actually didn't ride together but I was pleased that despite being in the 20's with a ridiculous wind chill, at least four of 18 people rode their bikes.
High on the agenda was a brief presentation of the practices of Madison, Wi. which has attained a "gold award" for bike friendliness from somebody of authority.  Presented by Chris Barnes, the director of Transportation and Utilities for Portage, Mi.  the presentation included a brief overview of some of the innovations Madison has made to enhance cycling in their community.  One of the more interesting is this map placed on the major MUP which provides cycling routes throughout the city.  Apparently this map contains one of those chips which allows a phone smarter than mine to download the map by simply being in proximity of it.  That alone is cool, but the city has also done extensive work to restrict auto access on many residential streets to create "bicycle boulevards" throughout the city in addition to normal bike lanes and trails.

 The balance of the meeting was involved in reviewing some available software to help this ad hoc committee to develop viable bike routes for different purposes of commuting, shopping, recreation, and fitness.  Committee heads were established for each category and Paul Seldon assumed his role as
Chief Advocate in charge by organizing the group and helping to set some guidelines for future developments.

This is not a huge or influential activity, but it certainly makes one feel special to know that so many officials and local luminaries are thinking of cycling in the dead of winter.