002 Sue Prant, Walk and Bike Month

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:17] Speaker B: Hello, Boulder County. My name is Philip Ogren. It's June, which means it's Walk and Bike Month, which includes my favorite non holiday Bike to Work day on Wednesday, June 24. Later this month, Bike to Work Day is organized in part by Community Cycles, which is also hosting the Boulder Bike show on Wednesday, June 17th at VisionQuest Brewery starting at 5pm this is a staff favorite event at Community Cycles and promises to be a hoot. Please see communitycycles.org for additional activities including a Bike to Work Day happy hour on the 24th, a W360 slow marathon on the 27th, and the community Cyclist Member Party which is also on the 27th. You can also visit walkinbikemonth.org for even more events. For episode two, I sat down with Sue Prant at Community Cycles where she is the Executive Director to talk about her organization and their work in the community to promote riding bicycles and improving cycling infrastructure in Boulder. In addition to their involvement with making Walk and Bike Month a success, we also talked about transportation improvements happening in Boulder, Teens on E Bikes and her role as a secret ambassador for the all powerful bicycle lobby. But before we start, we are looking for sponsors for our podcast. Please reach out if you are interested. One quick personal note. If you are interested in walking to Coors Field with me and a few friends to go watch a baseball game on September 5, please reach out to me. We will leave about 10 hours before first pitch and we'll take the bus home obviously. Okay. Back to the show. I hope you enjoy this interview with Sue Prant. [00:02:02] Speaker C: Sue, thank you so much for joining us here on the Hearts and Minds podcast today. [00:02:08] Speaker A: Thanks for having me. [00:02:09] Speaker C: Sure. Do you mind introducing yourself? [00:02:12] Speaker A: My name is Sue Prant. I'm the Executive Director of Community Cycles. [00:02:16] Speaker C: Awesome. Well, thank you for your service to the community. I love Community Cycles and I'm excited to talk about it today. So it's June 1st. Welcome to June. And it's Bike to Work Month. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Walk and Bike Month. [00:02:32] Speaker C: Walk and Bike Month. Okay, cool. So tell us, tell us about that. [00:02:37] Speaker A: So Walk and Bike Month. We started it out as a month maybe 15 years ago. It was a week for a short time. For a very long time, it's Bike to Work Day. And Boulder had the first Bike to Work Day in the country. And that's probably, you know, I don't know, maybe 50 years old, very old. And that was put on by the city and the city put on for quite some time. And then they went to week for a while, a little bit predates me. I think I came along in 2006 when I moved here and became the coordinator of Walk and Bike Week. We did that for a couple years, probably five years and we just started to get so many more events that we expanded it into a month. And one of our events is always fall now outside of the week anyway. But so we expanded to a month. We added a lot more walking and things like that. And it's, you know, it's grown substantially over the time. We've also added Winter Bike to Work Day and which is now Winter Bike to Work Week. So it's always expanding and growing which is great because that's what you want to see with walking and biking. [00:03:49] Speaker C: Well, I, I love Bike to Work Day. I'm excited that it's a whole month. I have had so many good conversations with people at bike stations. Great to Work Day over the years and, and gotten some good swag along the way as well that I've found really useful elevations. Did a fantastic job last year with their handouts. [00:04:12] Speaker A: Oh great. [00:04:13] Speaker C: And yeah. Well, can you tell me what the Boulder B360 is? [00:04:20] Speaker A: So our first event of Walk and Bike Month is the Boulder B360 and actually we had a walk on Sunday but the first big event is the B360 and that's on Sunday the 7th and it starts at 10am goes to about 2 at Valmont park on Airport Road. So it's a free bike ride around Boulder. That event is also very old. We've been doing it 20 plus years and it originally was started to highlight the infrastructure and get people to know where the little cut throughs are, where the new bike paths were, where the new underpasses were. And to some extent it still does that although the route has been a lot more stable. But. But it really is to celebrate the incredible infrastructure that we have and to show that mostly using an off road multi use path, you can circle the town using multi use paths and low stress roads. And so it does a big circle. There's a 180 that does a smaller circle and at the end we celebrate with ice cream this year donated by Glacier and it's just a fun time. We get 700 people out there. It's very family friendly and it's a great event. [00:05:37] Speaker C: I assume you can do this as a self guided. [00:05:40] Speaker A: You can actually. So the way we market is starting maybe about two years ago on the multi use paths which are the bike paths, you'll see some stickers that say B360, B180 with an arrow. So you can do a lot of it all year long just on the bike path. Then we kind of inventory those and replace. Some of them get worn away. But there are some spots on the road that we have to mark. So we mark them in chalk paint. So they probably last. They're probably up until about August. And you know, depending on how rainy it is, probably the snow makes them go away between snowing and plowing. So you can really do it at any point. And that's kind of why we went to the, the decals on the, on the, the Maltese Pass, so people could see it and also to advertise for the event. Because this year we asked people, where did you see, you know, where do you hear about this? And so many people sent designs on the bike path. So we knew they were effective. So that was great. [00:06:41] Speaker C: Cool. I'm confused about one little thing. I've been on one of Darcy Kitching's 26 mile walks around Boulder. Is that an event that's related to the B366? [00:06:54] Speaker A: It's related in the sense that it's named the same and uses some of the same infrastructure, but some of it is walking on roads that maybe there's not great sidewalks or something like that. You know, I don't know the exact route of her. Her walk, but I think, you know, she wants to also incorporate some great walking infrastructure to it. So I'm sure she deviates at some points, but. But it's their sister events. [00:07:21] Speaker C: Cool. [00:07:21] Speaker A: Cool. [00:07:23] Speaker C: Well, what's, what's new this year for the bike to work day? [00:07:28] Speaker A: What's new? Haven't thought about that question. What's new this year? Oh, I know it's new. So we also do a bike show [00:07:36] Speaker C: and this year It'll be on June 17th. [00:07:39] Speaker A: And that's a really fun event. It's. People come out with all sorts of different bikes that they build and then so the bike builders come out and build all sorts of great bikes. And then people come out and just vote for, you know, their favorite in a bunch of different categories. You know, best cruiser, best commuting bike, things like that. So we've moved the venue because when we went to Planet, it was at Sanitas, which was only there for a year and that close, we've moved it to Vision Quest on. It's like 47th Street, I think. So Vision Crest Brewery. Yeah. So it's a nice big parking lot. I think it's going to be like, you know, we've never had that much space for It. And every year it gets bigger and bigger. We have a little parade at the end of all the winters. And that's always difficult in the confined space. So it should be really good in that space. And so we're excited about that. [00:08:31] Speaker C: And these are like little micro mobility vehicles. [00:08:34] Speaker A: No, this is your regular bike. This is your regular bike. So like one year, the bunk bed bike, which people have seen that around one. So that's a big thing. It usually shows up. Last year the trampoline bike won. Okay, that's also a big thing. [00:08:51] Speaker C: It's a silly, artistic. [00:08:53] Speaker A: Yeah. But there's also just beautiful bikes. You know, last year Leonard Zinn brought some of his beautiful hand builds for tall people. You know, there's some bikes, you know, where people just built this beautaken this old frame and just restored it and you know, with the double butting and the lugs and everything and the brass sat and the Brooks saddle and just like, it's just beautiful and just works of art, so. And then there's people who just decorated their bike like hell and that. That's also what they might enter. So. [00:09:27] Speaker C: And do bamboo bikes ever show up? [00:09:30] Speaker A: There was a bamboo bike one year. There was a bamboo bike. There's been wooden bikes, all wood bikes. So. Yeah, it's really interesting. It's great. It's actually for people who work at Community Cycles, it's our favorite event. [00:09:44] Speaker C: Okay. [00:09:45] Speaker A: For two reasons. It's not a fundraiser though. B360 is not a fundraiser. But B360 is so much work. But it's also like the thing we get to enjoy the most and we love to see the creativity in the community. [00:09:57] Speaker C: Some of those bikes you've gotten to know because people are working on them. [00:10:02] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true too. Yeah, that's true too. Some are. Some have been built here. [00:10:06] Speaker C: Do you still have the Earn A Bike program? [00:10:08] Speaker A: We do have the Earn A Bike program. So that Kids Highlight bike giveaway is our oldest program. That was our first program. We give away about 450 bikes to kids around Christmas time. The Earn A bike is our second oldest program. 2006, it's. It's. So that program has gone through many iterations, but the final iteration has been quite some time time probably about eight years where you know, you sign up for it. Low income people sign up students and you have to take two classes. The full mechanic. Complete mechanics, not complete mechanics. The like sort of a mechanic. There's a complete mechanics. It's six weeks. It's not that there's like one day of like bike 101. And so you take that, you take fix the flat, you do a few hours of volunteering at the shop and then you get to pick a bike. We used to have people build it but we really don't have room to store people's half built bikes. So. So we made it that you get a bike that we build for you. So. [00:11:11] Speaker C: Well, I, I asked because that's, that's sort of my connection to Community Cycles. [00:11:15] Speaker A: Oh, did you go through Earn a Bike? [00:11:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I went through Earn A Bike program back in. It was probably 2013, so I don't think it was. There was no income qualifying. It was like the program at the time was 15. 15 hours of volunteer service where you go through every aspect of. [00:11:32] Speaker A: Yeah, it used to knock a bike [00:11:34] Speaker C: and then you do in the next 15 hours just building up from your own frame. [00:11:38] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:11:38] Speaker C: And man, it was a great way to get to know the shop and the staff and it was. [00:11:43] Speaker A: Who was the teacher? Archer. [00:11:46] Speaker C: Yeah, Archer was there. [00:11:50] Speaker A: Yeah, that is a great way. We just did not have the capacity for it. It was, there were so many bikes hanging up that we just, you know. And they have to live here. [00:11:59] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. [00:12:00] Speaker A: Because you're going to walk in any minute. We just ran out of room for it and that was in our old shop. [00:12:04] Speaker C: It doesn't make me not love community. Yeah, I still had that connection through that time I spent but it was, it was a tough time in my life and it was very good therapy. [00:12:13] Speaker A: Oh good, good. You could still come in like just as a member with your own frame and week after week build it with the help of a shop assistant, you know, so with the help of a shop instructor. So you still really could do the same thing. You. Yeah. Now you need to income qualify for earn a bike but you could as a non income qualifying person you could totally ad hoc it and do the same thing. Great. [00:12:36] Speaker C: Well maybe I'll, maybe I'll do that again someday. [00:12:38] Speaker A: You just want to be able to store it here. You'd have to bring it home every day. [00:12:44] Speaker C: Something I'm curious about is how you're dealing with E bikes and I assume based on lots of anecdotal evidence that people are buying E bikes online and then they don't have reliable places to go have them maintained. Is, is Community Cycles trying to fill some of that gap or not really. [00:13:02] Speaker A: We fill some of that gap. So we offer as part of certain projects that we work on. We don't have it going on right now because we're not working on that project, but will come up again. It's been various. The way we work on projects is sort of you get a grant, you work on project, then you don't have that grant, but then you get a similar grant, you work on that project. So these E bike things keep coming and going. So one is going to be coming around the corner. But. And as part of those, we offer an E bike class. And in that class, you learn about choosing a good E bike. So, you know, you're probably discouraged from buying an online E bike. And you learn about the battery and safety and all that stuff. And you do learn about a little bit of maintenance, but the maintenance is geared towards your safety with that bike. So your safety with the battery, your safety with riding it on the road and it not being out of control, that kind of thing. It's not really geared towards you fixing that bike as a. As an electrical situation. And actually here we don't fix many of those. We do refer them to a few local guys that do sort of like a mobile E bike thing. There are a couple guys that do that as their own little business. So we do do that. I mean, I would say that, you know, if your E bike has a problem that's a bike problem, you know, you could get on stand and fix it here. Yeah, it's just if it's an electrical problem, you're going to need some other specialty that we don't have. But we also, as part of a grant coming up, we are getting training for some of our mechanics to work on E bikes. So they're getting certification to work on E bikes so that maybe like, by this time next year we'd have that more offered. But that program is coming around kind of in the fall, funded through the Colorado State Energy Office. It does a bunch of things, but one of the things it does is give us like, like trains for our mechanics. [00:15:04] Speaker C: My very first interaction with Community Cycles was as a sort of kind of a. Just a regular customer. I came in with a bike that needed some repair and I dropped it off and picked it up a week later. Is that still. [00:15:15] Speaker A: We don't do that. No. Again with the storage. So, you know, you don't have to. Yeah, normally. Well, yeah, but just to let people know how, like, our DIY shop works. So you have to be a member for the DIY shop, but you can pay by the hour, but ends up being more economical being a member. But you sign up online ahead of time. And that's mostly so that we know what you're looking to fix. So you say, I need to work on my bomb bracket. And we might ask you a few questions. So we know that that's a doable thing, because we used to get. We change that when we get. People come in with, like, a box of parts and say, I want to build a bike, you know, and realizing, like, it was impossible what they wanted to do. So we have it a little bit different. But there's still. In the summer, there's still times that people can come in and just get a flat fixed or things like that. But that's kind of more ad hoc, and depending who's on staff. Right. You know, who's working that day and how busy we are and things like that. But we're not. Dax likes to say, don't think of us so much as a retail shop. Think of us as, like, the Goodwill or thrift store, you know, So a thrift store with mechanics. [00:16:27] Speaker C: One of the things that just really impressed me about the times that I've spent here is all the parts that you inventory. [00:16:34] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:35] Speaker C: For all the different parts of a bike and some. So I guess I would just say, if you're listening and you have a bunch of bicycle parts accumulating that are in good quality. [00:16:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Drop them off. [00:16:47] Speaker C: Drop them off. There's a place for them here. [00:16:49] Speaker A: Drop them off. It's amazing how much we go through in parts. We actually. The quantity. You know, we go through about, like. About like 2,500 to 3,000 bikes come through and circle through here. In a year, 6 tons of rubber gets recycled. But the parts. I kind of measure it more in money, but we are getting a big scale, so we might be measuring it in weight once we get the scale. That's also part of another grant. But just in, like, when we started to track that, like, the first year we tracked it, it ended up being like, $98,000, you know, and it went from being, like, in sales and parts. So. And it's grown since then. So it's. It's not as much as what we sell in bikes, but it's a big percentage of it. It's a huge percentage. That's actually the only way I could track it. Now. How much of it do we sell? But. Because we recycle and throw away a lot of it. But. But, yeah, we'll look to improve those numbers, but it's a huge amount. It's a huge amount. [00:17:56] Speaker C: I was thinking 100 grand sounds like a lot for three tons of rubber. [00:18:01] Speaker A: Oh, no, no. The rubber we don't track that in money because we have to pay to get rid of that, actually. [00:18:08] Speaker C: Of course. So you have the shop and you have a lot of folks coming through to work on their bikes and. And fix stuff. Diy. That's super cool. I. I assume that's kind of half of what community cyclists do. [00:18:23] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:18:23] Speaker C: And the other half is advocacy. [00:18:25] Speaker A: The other half is advocacy and outreach. So I, you know, Walk and Bike Month is of part. Part of that other half. There's a lot of programming that goes on that some of is giving away bikes and things like that. That still gets kind of put in the half of the outreach because of who works on it, really. That's kind of how we track things, like what staff is working on it. So Sandy Hughes, I was walking in here, she does a lot of that. So we have a lot of programs we'll work with. We work with the county. We give away a lot of bikes through the county, mostly at housing sites, at Boulder Housing Authority sites. And we also offer little classes there, like Fix a Flat and simple things. We have the Kids Holiday Bike Giveaway, which gives away time bikes, the Earn A Bikes. And those programs are more like one off people come. And a lot of the real numbers of bikes that we give away are through like a program where we're going, you know, to Josephine Commons or something that's older people, but we do. We give them bikes too, where we're giving away 50 bikes on one day. You know, that's more than, you know, Earn A bike is maybe 150 people that go in and out throughout the year, but there's more in these single day events, so there's a lot of that. And then we do advocacy, which is a little bit different stuff, but we work with. Our advocacy committee is like, amazing. These people have been on the advocacy committee for many years. [00:19:55] Speaker C: Community volunteers. [00:19:56] Speaker A: Community volunteers. And then Alexi and myself. Alexi Davies and myself. There's two members at tab. It's always a problem because we can't have more than two members of tab. So somebody, as soon as somebody cycles off, somebody new on our committee applies. There's planning board member, you know, there's Parks and Rec board member. You know, it's a lot of people who are very into serving their community and have a lot of expertise in this. So plans go before planning board. Anything that goes before planning board or even really gets on. Like, we have access to the spreadsheet from the Department of Things that are just getting reviewed. So some of those things don't even go through planning board, but we still have access to those documents because that's very nice. Planning department is just like, you know, instead of you constantly asking us, let's just give you. Tell you what's in review all the time. So we have members of our committee who just go through that. [00:20:49] Speaker C: So you're talking about specific projects. [00:20:51] Speaker A: Specific projects. You know, what is that impact on. Yeah, what's the impact? So we looked at the impact on walking and biking. So that could be as far as like a new development project or it could be, you know, somebody's changing their driveway, like Hazel's when they change their driveway or something like that. And we've had a lot of influence. We've changed projects, you know, because we're like, yeah, you got the cars driving through the center of it. That makes no sense. You know, have them come on the outside. I mean, that has happened less because we've educated them. But, you know, there were years where we were, you know, we had big impact on the Google project where we were really having a lot of impact on the way these projects looked. [00:21:30] Speaker C: Okay. So I remember there was a kerfuffle about, like the Limelight Hotel and the accident. [00:21:35] Speaker A: There was. And that one, unfortunately, yes, that was a big project. Fortunately, we did have impact, but it wasn't as much impact as we'd like. So that project, it was because it was a driveway. The entrance crossed to the parking garage, crossing over the Broadway bike path. But CU owns that. Okay, It's CU and C dot. So it's not. They're not as beholden. [00:22:00] Speaker C: You can show them your opinion as [00:22:01] Speaker A: the city of Boulder. Yes, the city of Boulder will change things for us. You know, the. If that makes sense. But CU and C dot less so. So we did get them to fund a study to make it safer. And we're still monitoring it. So it's so, you know, we hope it remains safe. We don't think the final. We think the final product is safer than the original product, but we don't think it's safe enough. But. So that's another thing we do. So even not development projects, just even road projects that go through transportation. So any. Anytime, you know, 28th street and things like that, they're working on baseline. Obviously, the. [00:22:45] Speaker C: The baseline work is fantastic. I'm super. Yeah, I live off. Just off of baseline. And the improvements that came in last year were great. [00:22:54] Speaker A: And now there's a second level. [00:22:55] Speaker C: Yeah, the second next level is. It's. It's pretty cool. I assume you weighed in on that. [00:23:00] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, we were integral to that one. And the core arterial network that we. And then another thing that's kind of lesser known is there's something called pavement management plan, and that's really just the road resurfacing, but you can get a lot done in road resurfacing. So, for instance, I come from Philadelphia, where I was director of another bicycle advocacy organization. That organization, that was a long time ago, but we got a lot of bicycle infrastructure in through the regular road paving. So we had a plan. We got the city to do this plan. This was the 90s, so it was much harder effort. And it's Philadelphia, not here, but we got the city to do a plan for 300 miles of bike lanes. And. But, you know, they weren't about to go build it. You know, they kind of grudgingly did the plan. And so then we had the idea of, like, well, every time they resurface a road, can't you move a line? You know, so that was a big lobbying effort to do it, but we got it. And so you're still within the existing right of way, but you're moving the lines around a little bit. So then when we got to Boulder, at some point, we were talking about pavement management, and I ran the idea by Boulder, who was much more receptive than the city of Philadelphia. And they're like, yeah, that's not a bad idea. And let's look at that. And then pavement match. [00:24:23] Speaker C: But it is a good idea. [00:24:24] Speaker A: It is a good idea. And, you know, it can't always be done because of drainage. But in we're doing pavement management plan on Folsom, where we're doing something. But it's definitely been an accepted idea. Like, let's just not lay the lines down where they were. So they don't do, you know, city of Philadelphia does miles and miles a year. Boulder doesn't do as many miles a year. You don't have is the weather doesn't demand it, but when they do it now, they always look at it. And so it's a change of policy, which is what you want to do. You don't want to fight every single road, road by road by road. You want to change the policy so that they're just doing it, you know, and so that was good. So that's kind of how transportation works. You get these little tiny, weird policy victories, but they really make a difference on the streets that you use. Takes a little while to see them because, you know, that process is long, but. But yeah, makes a difference So I [00:25:26] Speaker C: know the correcterial network is, is a big thing that's underway and it's. There's a lot, a lot of planning that's gone into it and some projects that are shovel ready. And so I don't. Without trying to like diminish that, I'm kind of curious if there's other stuff on the horizon that Community Cycles is involved with that you're seeing. Super excited about or maybe it's worth just dropping in and talking about Cannes for a bit. [00:25:48] Speaker A: Well, I do think Cannes is pretty good. And, and you know, I mean, we have baseline underway. Folsom will be underway. [00:25:59] Speaker C: 30th Street. [00:26:00] Speaker A: 30th Street. North 30th is going to change. I live right on North 30th. So that's going to be much better. South 30th. I mean, that was one of the things we pushed for so hard. And this is how much the city change. When we were pushing for it, they didn't even want to look at 30th Street. They were like, oh, you know, and different people, different people in the city. But they were like, oh, you know, and then it was just after the whole kerfuffle over Folsom and they removed it. So they were so afraid. They were afraid of their own shadow and they, and. But they had like planning dollars to do saving this transportation department, totally different people. But they had, they had, they had a grant for a Planning grant for 30 street that just so happened to come in after that. You know, if you apply for these grants two years before you get them. So they had just gone through this like beating on Folsom street and this was ready to go. So when they went to the planning with it, and this is when also the city started to do ridiculous amounts of public outreach and they formed this giant public committee. And they said to the committee, whatever you want. Let's plan like whatever you want. And so they come up with this thing that instead of narrowing the roadway, which is what we would have done, and putting it on street on protective bike lanes, they made these bike paths on the side, which requires right of way way. It's a lot more expensive, you know, and that's what we got. That is what we got. And we, and we bought it. You know, we're like, oh, this is so ridiculous. This is going to take forever, blah, blah, blah. Right. And so then, you know, but they weren't hearing it back then. And then somehow, amazingly, they got the funding for. I will say they are great at getting Funding. They are incredible at getting funding and every other community should be jealous because they're. They're much better than every community. And. And they got it and we got it. And it's amazing. It's amazing. It's really an incredible facility. [00:28:10] Speaker C: I've actually kind of re. Rerouted a bunch of routes to where I go to include 30th. [00:28:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:16] Speaker C: Stretch from Colorado to Rapaho because it's comfortable and it's right in the middle of town and it's. It just. It opens up for me new routes that I wouldn't have used. [00:28:25] Speaker A: To go from what it was to what it is now is just kind of mind boggling. So Iris is another one that's in the core octor that, you know, we had a big fight about. We got. It's approved. I think there's always a fear can be revisited. But it's approved. It does not fund it. So. And that again is also a big, you know, know, a big funding lift. But. But we'll see. And I think that Folsom what's going to go in. And I'm really hopeful that the city will put that in first. And I think they are applying for that. [00:29:02] Speaker C: That's like south of Canyon or. [00:29:04] Speaker A: Yes, it's. It's through. [00:29:07] Speaker C: Through. [00:29:08] Speaker A: It's kind of from like the chamber to. [00:29:10] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:29:12] Speaker A: To the student housing area. So. And it's really beautiful. It changes in spots where it needs to be wider. It's wider. And spots where it can be narrower. It's narrower. So it changes. But it all makes sense. And it's a much more comfortable street. Like, especially the part like in front of the watch gallery, which is probably like the worst part. That's like there's. I'm not sure what else is there. Maybe a laundromat or something. I just know because I wear watches across from McGuckins. Yeah. And so like that part, like if you look at what that looks like today and what they planned for, it's so much more pleasant. And. And I think people are going to just love the way that looks great. And I think that'll help us, you know, ease the deal on. [00:30:05] Speaker C: There's a few places I bike where when I go through them, I just feel like I'm putting my life into other people's. Into driver's hands. And that's one of them. [00:30:15] Speaker A: That's one of them. [00:30:16] Speaker C: And I just say a little prayer, like this has been a good life on planet Earth. You know, if this is my time, this is my Time, but I try not to go through Folsom too much. But it. It's very convenient to go that way. [00:30:27] Speaker A: It is convenient. [00:30:29] Speaker C: I'm glad they're fixing it. [00:30:30] Speaker A: I. You know, I probably a little bit less fearful, you know, because I've in a lot. Philadelphia, New York City. But. But that was a long time ago and, you know, but. So I don't have fear over much in Boulder. But I understand people do it. My husband does. We ride through and he'll be like, [00:30:48] Speaker C: I feel like as I get older and accumulate a history of little close call. [00:30:56] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true. Driver mistakes that I've made. Yeah. [00:31:00] Speaker C: And so you would think I'd be a very confident cyclist because I bike everywhere. But I'm much more careful as I. As I get older. And I've accumulated these little close calls along the way. [00:31:15] Speaker A: But. And then 30th street from Iris to like Mike Spikes a little bit above Pearl Will. That's gonna look beautiful, too. That's also gonna look beautiful. I'm on that all the time. That's not pleasant. [00:31:28] Speaker C: No. [00:31:29] Speaker A: And. And the bus stops will work better there. Those bus stops. That bus stop at 30th and Glenwood is constantly full of people, and that'll be better. [00:31:38] Speaker C: You mean making it difficult for bikes to go. To get through or. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Well, it's just going to make it wider for the bus or for waiting for the bus and then channel the bikes around, people waiting for the bus and just overall more pleasant experience. [00:31:53] Speaker C: Is there anything else you wanted to say about Bike and Walk Month? [00:31:58] Speaker A: Well, Bike to work day is June 24, and so that right now I think we have maybe 60 stations in Boulder County. Stations are still coming in. The map just went up today on walkinbikemonth.org that's our website, walkinbikemonth.org and that gives you all the events, the breakfast stations, how to. They're all free. We have a dog walk on June 20th at Cottonwood Trailhead. This year they're going to dress up in costumes, too. So it's. It's just walking your dog, just walking [00:32:36] Speaker C: your dog with other people. [00:32:37] Speaker A: With other people. And. But there's also surprises for dogs and treats and stuff. And this year. So last year, one woman came with her dog in costume. I think that inspired the guy who runs it to do costumes and prizes. And then on the evening of Bike to work day on June 24, we have a happy hour at Zeel. So Zeal's in Boulder Junction. So that's free. Food at the happy hour, discount on drinks, and we have a transportation fair, so you can learn all sorts of fun things about transportation in Boulder and Boulder county in the region and just come out and see, celebrate. [00:33:12] Speaker C: I'm sorry, where is Zeals? [00:33:13] Speaker A: Zeals in Boulder Junction on Pearl Parkway. Sort of in the Hyatt Hotel, kind of almost. I think it might be in the bottom of the Hyatt Hotel, but it. It fronts onto Pearl Parkway, so that's a fun event. We always get a lot of people there. I already said about our bike show and then our Community Cycles member party is June 27, and that's here in our bike shop. There's some discounts for members. We have all sorts of food, we have games, we have prizes. It's just a fun time to celebrate our members so that you do have to be a member. But. But it's fun and it's worth it. And you should be a member of Community Cycles because it supports biking and Boulder. And we can't get any of this done without people being members. That's the one thing we ask them to do, is to be a member. Other than that, you know, we continue to work on all our advocacy stuff and all our. [00:34:09] Speaker C: You're a. You're a 401c3c3 tax deductible. So you're taking donations, I assume. [00:34:16] Speaker A: We take donations of bikes, parts, clothes, anything bike, as Dax likes to say. Dax Burgos is our program, our shop director. And. And of course, just donations of money. [00:34:31] Speaker C: We've been working together. [00:34:32] Speaker A: We two have been working together a long time. He's my work husband. We've been together probably like 14, 15 years. [00:34:40] Speaker C: Okay, cool. [00:34:41] Speaker A: So actually, most of our staff has been here like 12 plus years, actually. [00:34:46] Speaker C: I noticed. Alexis. [00:34:48] Speaker A: Alexi. [00:34:49] Speaker C: Alexi. [00:34:50] Speaker A: It's been here probably 12 years. Sandy's been here. [00:34:53] Speaker C: Do you have anything else you'd like to. To say? [00:34:57] Speaker A: Just get out on your bike. I mean, the summer is a great time this year. You could ride your bike all year and we saw that. And, you know, usually even in a regular winter, there's not that many. It's a couple weeks a year where you can't really ride if you're afraid of ice, and I'm afraid of ice. So it's okay to be afraid to ride your bike on ice and not do it. That's fine. If you do it, great for you. If you're afraid, bad for you. I've broken two wrists and three ribs, so I don't do that. But. But then I Walk or take the bus. And Boulder is a great place. You know, we really should appreciate how easy it is to get around here and how, you know, it's funny, like, other than Europe, when I travel around my husband and you know, he's not a bike advocate, but he's a bicyclist and he sort of understands it, but not, you know, he'll be like, he'll complain about something, right? And I'll be like, well that's because, you know, and here's how we do it different and you know, and things like that. So, and, and it's helpful to me because it helps me realize how people use the system who are not, you know, in my world, everybody's like a mini traffic engineer. And so how people use the system if they're just a user, how the system works for people and how the system doesn't work for people. And it's really good to sometimes see that through other people's eyes. But even from when I first moved here and before we made all these changes, it was still the city was heads above every place else. And you know, and we can complain about a lot and we'll always complain about a lot because things can always be better. And it's, it's not Amsterdam, it's not the Netherlands, but, but it's pretty good and we, we should appreciate it. You know, like the 28th street stuff is going in. I don't like that project at all because it's widening the road. It's widening the road to accommodate a bus. I think it was planned like 20 years ago. I think the way it was planned. That era's past, but anyway. But one thing they are doing is widening the multi use path on the side. And while that passes a lot of driveways and it's not a pretty place to ride. I live on 29th in Glenwood. That has made my getting around so much quicker because it's just like getting here. I've saved four minutes getting here because it's more direct and it gives you other options too. Like when the thing in back, the Whole Foods is flooded, which I might normally ride, you know, you can ride this way and just. It amazes me how many different options you have on your bicycle. And you know, I think the other thing that people might talk about, and you can edit any of this out is people complaining about E bikes and how people ride them. [00:37:46] Speaker C: Thinking about that. Yeah, especially the, the teenagers. [00:37:48] Speaker A: And the teenagers. And we get a lot of those complaints. I personally get a lot of those complaints. And the city gets a lot of those complaints, and the police get a lot of those complaints. And it is. It is a bit of a conundrum. I think the schools could do more, and they're a little bit not willing to do that because they don't want to upset the parents, upset the students. So I hear that. That they want to do stuff, but they. They also push back on it a little bit. They push back. They want to do, like, carrot, and they push back on stick. And I think in order for it to work, they're going to need to do some stick. And. And I just, you know, I just think that's, you know, they're too fun for teenage boys. You just, you know, I mean, I've seen teenage girls. Yeah, that's true. That. That too. They're too fun for kids. They're too much fun. And. [00:38:43] Speaker C: And I've seen different behaviors. The boys just, generally speaking, are going 30 miles an hour and doing wheelies and doing wheelies and stuff. [00:38:52] Speaker A: The girls are riding five to a bike. [00:38:53] Speaker C: That's right. [00:38:54] Speaker A: Yep. [00:38:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:55] Speaker A: Yep. That's. [00:38:56] Speaker C: That. [00:38:56] Speaker A: That is the. That is the difference. That is the difference. And they're not doing the wheelies. They're not going as fast, but they're riding too many people on bike. [00:39:04] Speaker C: Three people on one bike. [00:39:05] Speaker A: And they're not paying attention because they're, you know, and so. So we are certainly aware of it. I think the schools is where you can dress it because that's where you have the parents and the students. I do get a little frustrated with their. Not willing to be tough on it. But I do think that ultimately, in places where. So this is a problem nationwide, everybody's talking about. And so there are places that have tried more harsher treatments. There are some. I think it's California where they're. They've gotten Amazon to not sell some of those bikes in the state. And I think that's a great thing. I'd love to see that in Colorado. Like, I think that would really help if we cut down on the sale of some of the bikes, because it's easy to differentiate between what is a bad bike and what is a good bike. And our bike shops are not selling bad bikes. Our bike shops are not the problem. And unfortunately, because the bike shops are easy to reach the state, you know, like the state assembly and others like that have, like, put everything on the bike shops. Like, well, bike shops, you need to do this and hand out this and put on this sticker. They're not the problem. So I've pushed back on that a lot with legislators that have done that. But we really addressing it at the source would be great. And then working more with. Because I don't think the parents quite get it and I don't think the way to appeal the parents is like, oh, it's wrong and stuff because everybody's like, my kid knows. I talk to my kid, my kid knows. And I'm not parents. I sometimes feel bad, you know, not unfair saying that, but that is what we hear. But if you just make it like, look, these things are illegal. You need to get a license and you know, a license plate or this is a moped. This is a moped. Or you're going to get fined. Let's not make it a judgment whether you're a good parent or not or whether you've talked to your kid or not. What's legal, what's not legal, let's enforce it. And it's just that we don't have the capacity with the police to do it. So that's why doing it. School. Schools will be good. But anyway, so once we get to that point, I think the parents will be more aware when it's not a judgment on their parenting, when it's just about the vehicle. So. But that is kind of the next big issue. To what extent Community Cycles is involved in it. To the extent that we're kind of involved in everything. Bike. But, you know, it's not. I think it need probably needs to be led elsewhere. [00:41:34] Speaker C: There's an aspect of it that I am really encouraged by seeing kids on e bikes. [00:41:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:41:42] Speaker C: Because if you ever listen to the war on cars and some of the guests they have on talking about what makes cities great. Well, one definition is children being able to get around by themselves. And you know, we don't have. We don't have streets that are so safe that toddlers and elementary school kids can get around by themselves and go many places. But there's a lot of teens getting around on the bus and on bicycles. [00:42:11] Speaker A: They are. It took a motor for them to do it. [00:42:15] Speaker C: But yeah, it's like they're like an indicator species. [00:42:17] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure, for sure. [00:42:19] Speaker C: Community. And so there's. There's part of me that just every time I see them on a bike, I feel happy because I know they're. It's like. It's like safer than being on screen. So. Right. [00:42:30] Speaker A: It's safer than being on screens. It's not being in a car. It'll take me a long time to feel bad that it took A motor to do that. But, you know, I have nothing against E bikes, but I don't own one. You know, I still believe in kind of the true essence of a bicycle, but I totally understand how they work for other people. But kids are young and have lots of energy and, you know, [00:43:00] Speaker C: I had another thought that kind of surfaced. This is, this is kind of changing the subject a little. But, you know, when I think about cyclists in Boulder, they're these two camps of folks. There's the people who do it recreationally and get dressed up in Lycra and they, they get on their bikes on Saturday morning and they're looking at their stopwatch and they're trying to make time to go nowhere. [00:43:24] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:43:25] Speaker C: And then there's the people who get around on bikes, running errands and getting to school and work and such. And I'm just like, when I think about how to make change in Boulder, one of the tricks is to get somebody to do something for the first time, like take the bus or I don't know, how about ride your bike to a store to run an errand rather than. Yeah, going nowhere is. [00:43:54] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, that's kind of. Oh yeah, my career all the time, you know, that's kind of the impetus around Bike to Work Day. And we often say, like, when I'll do the KJNU interview or something, I'll say like, you know, you don't have to ride to work. That might be your hardest trip. Ride to the grocery store, ride to the gym. That's going to be your easiest trip, you know, because you're already going to work out. It's just warm up. I often ride to go running, you know, so, you know, we talk about that just changing one trip. But that is really, you know, in the 70s, why bike to Work Day started like, you know, could you do it one day, then could you do it two days and you know, one day in the summer, you know, so yeah, and it would be, I think in Boulder you do see some crossover on that. Certainly more we're more towards the transportation and community cycles. I think E bikes do help some of that crossover. People who, you know, will ride a regular bike fast to go, you know, as a workout, but will ride an E bike if they're going to the grocery store, you know, but I. Ultimately it's down to infrastructure. If the infrastructure is great and you're already ride a bike and you try once and you're comfortable, you'd be like, yeah, this ain't so bad, you know, [00:45:14] Speaker C: I feel like there's there's a. There's a puzzle there with the trying it once. [00:45:18] Speaker A: Yeah, there is a puzzle with trying [00:45:20] Speaker C: how to get people to try it. [00:45:21] Speaker A: Yeah, there's a pu. There's a puzzle. You know, the bus is a real thing. Again, people try it once. But yeah, it's it is a puzzle with getting try it once. But beautiful bike paths help. [00:45:32] Speaker C: Yeah, for sure. [00:45:33] Speaker A: You know, having your kids maybe ride helps. Having a friend ride with you helps. Nice weather helps. You know, not having to go far. Yeah, having having compact land use helps, for sure. [00:45:52] Speaker C: Well, this has been a lovely discussion. [00:45:54] Speaker A: Yeah, thanks. [00:45:55] Speaker C: I've really enjoyed it. Do you have any parting thoughts? [00:45:58] Speaker A: I do not. Get out and ride your bike. [00:46:00] Speaker C: Great. Thank you. [00:46:01] Speaker A: Thanks so much. [00:46:04] Speaker B: Better Boulder is a non profit political action committee that endorses candidates and ballot measures and develops and promotes policies that we believe will make Boulder more vibrant, livable and connected. We are working hard to create and enhance sustainable walkable neighborhoods and to champion well designed infill and redevelopment that reduces our impact on the climate, encourages less driving and keeps our community welcoming and economically thriving. This podcast is not governed by a consensus driven approval process that carefully regulates messaging. Opinions expressed on this podcast are solely those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Better Boulder organization. We hope you enjoy the diversity of opinions and perspectives and that these conversations spark improved dialogue in the community. Please visit betterboulder.com for official positions on a wide variety of topics. While you are there, please consider donating money if you value our work. This episode of the Better Bolder Hearts and Minds podcast was produced and edited by Philip Ogren, [00:47:24] Speaker A: Sa, Sa.