The “Bike Gang” is a group of Ithacans who want to further opportunities for non-motorized travel, play, and exercise in our community. The particular interests of the members are very diverse — from providing bike rides for families with children to winter commuting to regional planning. By having a common hangout at BikeIthaca, we hope to bring Ithaca closer to a people-friendly, human-powered community. The focus is on bikes, but our aims include the interests of all — cyclists, pedestrians, people with disabilities, and anyone else who can benefit from an environment that welcomes human-powered travel.

The people I initially invited to this group were chosen for various reasons — some are professionally involved in bicycling advocacy and issues, some are enthusiasts and community leaders. I hoped that these people would accept the invitation rather than dismiss my unsolicited invitation as spam. The list is by no means meant to be closed; it would be great if we got lots more people involved in discussions and, especially, some action.

If you want to read traffic on the BikeGang email list or join the list, here’s the archive page.

Just for the record, below is the letter that started this “gang.” It was sent to a dozen “usual suspects,” a group that has since increased somewhat.

Dear people,

Please excuse the presumption: I added your name/address to a “listserv” for the purpose of brainstorming bike/pedestrian issues around Ithaca — more specifically, for planning events or strategies or interventions that might move us closer to the human-power-oriented community that many of us envision. I’ve added your email addresses to the listserv because you all play a role in furthering these ideas already. If you don’t want any part of this scheme, just let me know and I’ll get you off the list.

My fond hope is to bring some unity to the enormous diversity of cyclists and cycling groups around Ithaca and also to provide a place where pedestrians can submit their concerns.  For the present, my idea is to plan some events that keep the ideas of biking, bike-commuting, human-power-travel, etc alive in the public eye.

With the Bike to Work day last spring, it seemed possible to draw quite a bit of attention from the public. The Solstice Ride was another event that got noticed by bystanders and also an article in the Journal. These are little gestures, but if we could create more of them, perhaps they would begin to add up.

Now a suggestion for another event comes from Juan Salazar: We could take a table at the Chili Fest (Feb 21) to display information about cycling in Ithaca. The table costs very little and there is much info to convey. So, I’d like as many ideas (ideally with follow up, but just ideas are good, too) for what we could present.

A tentative free-associative list of subjects:

• Commuting by bike
• Road-cycling rules, laws, and etiquette
• Women’s mountain bike group
• MTB/ski groups
• Safe cycling courses
• Cycling in cold weather
• Finger Lakes Cycling Club
• FLCC Touring Group
• Cheap, low-carbon vacations: weekend cycling itineraries
• City bike plan prospects
• Black DiamondTrail info
• Bike/ped connections at proposed Carimoor development
• Bike-Friendly Community info

There are a lot of themes that could be developed and a lot of existing undertakings that could be revealed to an unsuspecting public. Who knows, the public might develop enough of an appetite for these things to let their leaders provide it to them! Anyhow, please reply to this list (bikegang@bikeithaca.org) with

- reactions to the idea overall and/or to details of it

- what you would like to see on an information table and who could best provide it

- what you can contribute

- whom else to invite to this brainstorming group

- other ways to support the improvement of cycling and walking conditions in Ithaca

- anything else that might help.

Currently, I think the website bikeithaca.org can be a central point for cycling information in the area. As we make progress toward an agenda, our news, ideas, accomplishments, needs, complaints, and triumphs will be posted there. With your help, let’s make something happen.

Andrejs