May 12, 2017
50-year celebration of the first bike lane in America at the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame expertly presided over by Davis Public Relations manager, Bob Bowen. First, bike centric Mayor Robb Davis told us about how bike lanes convinced him and his wife, Nancy, that they had to switch to a Car-Free lifestyle in the late 90’s when they first moved here. Then, we listened to speaker after speaker talk about how the steady drumbeat of the value of bike lanes finally started to make an impression on elected officials. All this as the Centennial Lager (brewed for the Davis 100th birthday which is also happening this year) from Sudwerk Brewing Co. which flowed freely, had already loosened up the spirit of the room.
A genuinely historic event, Bob remarked to me afterwards that “getting such a group together will likely never happen again”. In fact the bike lane pioneers he was able to bring out, since a fair number had already passed away, all moved a lot slower than the days when they were out beating the bushes for bike lane support. For example, one had just had heart bypass surgery, one was in a wheelchair and several walked with the aid of a cane. True warriors, to them all the world can be thankful for they set the standard that the all the road builders of this Nation’s future would be required to follow!!
WoW – what an honor to have been a part of this ceremony as our Main Street USA – the National Bicycle Greenway works to replicate the honor Davis has established for its population of cyclists on our route from San Francisco to Washington DC!!
You must be logged in to post a comment.