What would it take for a city like Buffalo to become America’s Bike Capital? That might be a long-stretch, but at the same time can you imagine the benefits if we even attempted it? Sometimes if there is no ultimate goal, then you’re not quite sure where the bar is. And if you don’t happen to reach that bar and fall short, at least you’re way ahead of where you were.
At this moment there are other cities that are battling it out to become the US Bike Capital… while others are going one step further by trying to claim that their city is the Bike Capital of the World. Because certain cities set their expectations so high the entire city learns to embrace the benefits of biking.
Some people may say that Buffalo doesn’t stand a chance in hell of claiming rights to any such victory. Our city would have to have a cooperative bike lending program, and organizations fighting for safer streets, bike-friendly schools, and bike-friendly businesses. There would have to be progressive bike services, and people willing to spend time enacting them.
Once these (and many, many more) types of progressive people and programs make some traction, you can expect others outside of the city to take note. Even if it’s a family making long bike trek and visiting a nearby bike museum along the way (a bike museum that needs to find a home downtown). When cyclists delivering a message come to Buffalo they should feel welcome… and when they leave they should spread the word that Buffalo is a bike-friendly city.
Did you even think about taking your bike to work this morning? If you did, does your office building have bike racks available? I’ve seen more and more BRO commentors discussing their rides to work in the morning and that’s great.
For those of you who may say that Buffalo will never become totally bike-friendly because of the winters, then maybe we should be looking at the city in a different way. Have you heard that there is a small movement to re-open one of the city’s old velodromes (an indoor arena for track cycling)? Plus there is still an ongoing effort to relocate the world’s largest collection of American made bikes to a new home in the city. Recent news also includes Common Council passing the Complete Streets initiative – it will be interesting to see soon we will start to see that kick in. Let’s hope that Complete Streets recognizes the growing number of winter cyclists.
The Niagara Greenway and all of the latest bike paths (and bridge) leading from Delaware Park to the waterfront have made it easy and fun to bike along our waterways. With the health and wallet benefits along with environmental impact, biking in Buffalo should be more that a pastime… it should be an ongoing movement. Get a bike and get out there. And look out for the bike races and the bike clubs that are popping up all over town. Oh, and try to support the small bike businesses in the city – they might not be the cheapest, but they are the best and the services that they offer will far outweigh the few bucks that you might save at Walmart (for a crappy bike).
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