Oklahoma-Bicycle-Coalition

When I started OKC Bicyclist in 2008, on-line communities for Oklahoma City cyclists were pretty much non-existent. There were a few mailing lists, but there was no consistent source for area cycling news including both events and advocacy. Since then, much has changed both in the local cycling community and with the ways and means to collect and distribute news. We’ve seen both large advocacy groups such as the Oklahoma Bicycling Coalition and personal advocacy efforts such as Susan Lash’s All For the Love of Bikes dramatically expand their on-line outreach. In my own small way as the VP of the Oklahoma Bicycle Society, I have tried to expand their blogging and on-line outreach as well. And then there is the technology explosion of Twitter and Facebook which has completely changed how to distribute interesting news and links. At this point, the idea of a link blog such as OKC Bicyclist is a bit of an anachronism and has become a burden for me to maintain.

The Oklahoman has written a nice article about the increased levels of cycling in eastern Oklahoma County which includes some great quotes from Roger Welch, president of OBS and Mike Flenniken, president of the Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition:

Between the forests and country homes of eastern Oklahoma County, the spandex and carbon fiber associated with cycling are an increasingly common sight.

“Any evening after five 5 o’clock, you’re going to find some bikers coming through here,” Jones Mayor Ray Poland said.

[Read More]

The Oklahoma Gazette has written a nice piece about the upcoming bike summit:

A group of Oklahomans is holding the state’s first-ever bike summit in the hopes of making Oklahoma more bike-friendly.

This two-day conference in Oklahoma City in early November, coordinated by the Oklahoma Bike Coalition, will be geared toward engineers, city planners and cycling advocates.

via Oklahoma Gazette News: Pedal power.

As a reminder, the conference will take place on November 4th and 5th. You can register at http://okbikesummit2011.eventbrite.com/.  I will be attending most of the session on November 5th and will be tweeting from the event.

The Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition is putting together the first annual Oklahoma Bike Summit on November 4th and 5th at the Chesapeake Boathouse. This event is the first of its kind in Oklahoma and will feature a variety of speakers and sessions. From the event registration page:

Friday, November 4th

John LaPlante will lead a day-long bicycle facility design workshop. Mr. LaPlante is currently Director of Traffic Engineering for T.Y. Lin International. He has over 45 years of professional traffic engineering and transportation planning experience. He is involved in several national committees and was principal author of the 1999 AASHTO Bike Guide. His hands-on workshop, which includes updates from the soon to be published 2011 AASHTO Bike Guide, will benefit professional engineers, city traffic planners, architects, and anyone who is involved with redesigning the urban landscape on a human scale. Planning professionals can receive 8 hours of CM credit from the American Planning Assocation for attending.

[Read More]