E is for Encouragement! P is for Pedal 4 the People
Jimmy Hallyburton
(*anything in italics is meant to be taken as... tongue-in-cheek, slightly salty not super sour, passively pleasant not purposefully pissed)
A community's "bicycle friendliness" is typically measured by the 5 E's of Bicycling listed below.
HERE COME THE FREAKING E'S...
Engineering: What's on the ground? What exists physically? Like the Greenbelt and protected bike lanes. Remember those?
Education: What sort of formal systematic education is available for kids, teens, and adults? Like bike rodeos at schools and bike/pedestrian training during driver's ed. Working on the latter.
Enforcement: How active is law enforcement in promoting bicycle safety? What laws are in place to protect people riding bicycles? Like the hardly enforced 3 foot to pass law.
Evaluation and Planning: What procedures, entities, and review processes are in place to continually work on becoming more bicycle friendly? Like the Mayor's Bicycle Advisory Committee. And the Ada County Highways Departments (ACHD). And the Idaho Transportation Departments's (ITD)?
Encouragement: What's being done to get people motivated to get off their butts and ride? Like Tour De Fat, Bike Week, and Pedal 4 the People.
I call them the "5 freaking E's" because they seem so simple, but tapping into them can be tough unless you're working within the system. Lucky for you, getting you access into the system is one of the main objectives of the #RideOnBoise initiative. But of all the freaking E's, encouragement is one that can be most easily done outside the system. Which might be part of the reason Boise scored higher on this part of our Bicycle Friendly Community report card. Think about Tour De Fat, Bike Week, Pedal 4 the People, #CarFreeForBBP, etc., these are all events put on by individuals and organizations. With encouragement, there's a lot of power to the people.
One of the main objectives of the #RideOnBoise blog/website/initiative is Encourage you, and others, to put the fun between your legs and go for a ride. Yes there's a time to take things seriously, but fun is contagious, and we need to create a "bug" that people want to catch.
#RideOnBoise does this by creating a year round community calendar that anyone, any business, any organization can submit their events to. Now, if you post a ride that involves carrying firearms and shooting neighborhood pets, it probably won't make the calendar. Post anything not completely ridiculous that promotes riding a bicycle in the Boise area (events, group rides, meet-ups, etc.) and it will be posted within 48 hours. You can do that on the events page. You can do that now!
PEDAL 4 THE PEOPLE...
If posting events to a community calendar sounds very familiar to you, you might be getting ready for the 5th annual Pedal 4 the People festival hosted by the Boise Bicycle Project. If you're not getting ready, you should be because it kicks off on Thursday, June 18th, with the Bike Builder's Gallery at 10 Barrel Brewing.
BBP started this 10-day community-organized festival years ago when they noticed that many of Boise's bicycle subcultures were not included in mainstream bicycle events. So it created a platform where BBP hosts the Kickoff event (Bike Builder's Gallery) and Grand Finale (Helladrome), and all the days in between are reserved for folks in the community to organize their own events.
2015's community organized events range from the Mario Cart Bike Battle, to Bare As You Dare, to the Zombie Ride, to Bookshop Bicycle Tour, and 20 more, There's pretty much something to tickle everyone's fancy. The goal is to provide a grand introduction to Boise's many fun-filled bicycle subcultures, and bring them all together under the same cause....making Boise a better/funnerer place to bicycle.
THE PEDAL 4 THE PEOPLE CHALLENGE...
To make things more interesting, Pedal 4 the People encourages folks to attend as many of the 26 total events as possible through a scavenger hunt-style challenge. Challengers will "compete" to see who can rack up the most points by attending/participating in events, and hitting the secret stops along the way. You can register for the scavenger hunt online, or at the Kickoff on June 18th. Either way, you'll want to pick up your packet and start accumulating points at the Kickoff.
A NEW CALL TO ACTION...
Last week I asked you to think about where you live (the city) and what other city you interact with most. Did you do it? Have you selected the 2 cities? I'm giving you 1 more week to get it done, and then we have some work to do next week.
This week I'm challenging you to attend the Pedal 4 the People Kickoff and at least one other Pedal 4 the People event. Maybe one of these events will take you outside of Boise and help you identify the "other" city from last week's challenge. Maybe the festival will encourage you to "put the fun between your legs" go for a ride!
*Bonus points for bringing a friend to one of the 26 Pedal 4 the People events.