I've been thinking a lot about this recently. One thing that I have noticed since I started riding again is that it is just more popular. Before, when I would ride, I would rarely see anyone else out riding. These are great roads to ride on, too. Now, I regularly see no less than about a dozen other riders during a typical 40 mile loop. I think this is wonderful that there are so many more people riding.

But it seems like there is *still* a lot of misunderstanding, miscommunication, hard feelings, etc. between those who ride and those who don't. For example, I know there are people who don't ride that think that cyclists shouldn't be on the road (my boss being one of them). Cities and towns pay a lot of lip service to making them more bicycle friendly, but there isn't a lot of action behind those words. Where I live, they could do so much more to make it a place people WANT to ride instead of drive. The infrastructure just isn't there and TBH, I don't think there is a lot of effort to effect that change.

So, I'm just curious what other people are doing or know of people doing to bring about awareness, advocate for non-polluting modes of transportation, etc. (individuals or groups). I know absolutely nothing about bicycling advocacy, but I'm interested in learning more about it. I know in the nearest city, there is an advocacy group, but nothing for my town (that I know of... I could be wrong, but then again if I've not heard of them, they're not getting the word out very well). I've been checking out the website for the League of American Bicyclists, which I had never heard of. Are there other national groups? Blogs that you are aware of? At this point, I'd just like to read more about it, in general, and rather than slog through the links google returns, thought I'd ask here.

We used to live in Europe. Riding a bike there is just as normal as walking or driving or taking the train. The buses and trains have places for bikes. Every single store has a bike rack. Every street has a bike path. Everyone rides. Year-round. From the youngest kids on striders to the 70 year old woman in her skirts and hat riding next to her husband in suit and tie. People drive expecting to encounter bikes, not treating them as a nuisance. I don't know if we'll ever get to that level, but it won't happen without some action. I'd love to see this country working toward that and realize it starts at the local level. Just thinking out loud some. Thoughts?