Event: SPOKESPEOPLE ride Nov. 1

[REPOST from SPOKESPEOPLE]

Hello SPOKESPEOPLE!

Riding with SPOKESPEOPLE is a great way for you to have fun and build your community. Next Saturday, Nov 1, at 2 pm, we’re going to enjoy a lovely fall day on our way to the Greenlake PCC, stopping to admire post-Halloween pumpkin activities on the way. We’ll start as we always do from the south end of Wallingford Playfield, 4219 Wallingford Avenue North. We’ll offer $10 helmet sales and bike fitting before the ride from 2 to 2:30. The PCC http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com has generously donated a piece of fruit or other snack for SPOKESPEOPLE riders – which fits well into our philosophy of providing a low carbon, low waste, local treat to you!

Please see below for information about a bicycle light test this Monday, October 27, and an LCI Bicycle Training opportunity in January.

In the next two weeks I believe our country will undergo a profound shift. It is during these times of change that we have the possibility of creating a new and compassionate future. Part of a desirable future is changing how we get around – more gracefully, and with more care for our planet. I have seen so much hope and so many new bicyclists on the road in the past month. I was so happy last week to see a formerly “reluctant” bicyclist on the road in Wallingford biking to her chiropractor’s appointment. We are shifting and changing one pedal at a time. It is a rare and precious time.

SPOKESPEOPLE brings together riders of all skill levels to encourage new and reluctant bicyclists on the road to ride with us. Our South Lake Union ride in October was a wonderful ride and we have finally completed the SPOKES around our Wallingford hub. We’ve had people as old as 84 and young as 7 pedal themselves to all of the neighborhoods adjacent to Wallingford: Phinney, Greenwood, Fremont, Ballard, Green Lake, University District, Ravenna/Roosevelt and now the loop of neighborhoods surrounding Lake Union. We now have a set of maps on-line that link these neighborhood centers on the road with the lowest grades and slowest car traffic that we’ve been able to figure out.

We’d love to help neighborhood groups start new SPOKESPEOPLE rides! Ballard riders will start a Saturday ride soon and several people in the Central Area have told me they would like to link with their neighbors by bike as well. Please let me know if you would be willing to start a ride from your neighborhood.

For more details about the rides, please check the SPOKESPEOPLE website http://www.spokespeople.us, or call or send email. All SPOKESPEOPLE first Saturday rides begin at 2 pm and end at 4 pm at the south end of Wallingford Playfield, 4219 Wallingford Avenue North.

Thank you for riding with SPOKESPEOPLE!

Cathy Tuttle
http://www.spokespeople.us
info@spokespeople.us

Bike Lights and Reflective Vests

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Headlight-Test Michael Snyder will be leading a slow, flat, very short (less than 2 mile round trip) bicycle ride starting at the Cascade Bicycle Club office 7400 Sand Point Way NE
Building 138 http://www.cascade.org from 8-9pm on October 27th to test, and compare headlights, tail lights, blinkies, reflectors, valve stem lights, reflective sidewall tires, reflective vests, jackets, and any other “see me in the dark” assists that anyone wants to try. Pedestrians are welcome. There will be a car and SUV available to compare how we look in headlights, passing through headlight beams, and from the view of a driver’s seat. We did this last year, had a good time, learned quite a bit, and came away with good ideas from others. Most of us traded bikes, bags, lights, vests, and jackets with each other to see what our own gear looks like. Everyone is invited. You don’t even need to bring a bike if you want to just show up and watch. If you are interested in this type of event but can’t make it, contact Michael and he will schedule another test during the last week of November when we have another moon-free night. Michael Snyder MichaelSnyderInBallard@gmail.com

LCI Training

Michael is also working with SPOKESPEOPLE to organize a League of American Bicyclists (LCI) training early in 2009 http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/education/seminars.php. SPOKESPEOPLE wants to have the best ride leaders it can. All SPOKESPEOPLE ride leaders are Cascade Bike Club certified Ride Leaders and LCI training will make us even better able to help you on the road. If you would like to learn more about teaching safe cycling at the highest levels contact Michael and sign up! MichaelSnyderInBallard@gmail.com