Now that I’m back on the bike path and out of traffic for my commute, I’ve charged up and loaded the MP3 player with some podcasts for the ride. On the most recent episode of The Spokesmen, I heard CommuteByBike’s Tim Grahl referred to as an “ambassador for cycling.” I liked the ring of that and got to thinking about how I could become more of an ambassador. Yesterday afternoon I got my chance.
It was such a beautiful afternoon I took my lunch hour late so I could meet up with my youngest and ride home with him. The ice has melted off most of the path so I arrived at the bike rack about 10 minutes early. Wasn’t too difficult picking out my son’s bike because there were only two bikes in the rack. A few of the parents who had struggled to claim a parking spot (blocking out the school busses) were having a conversation with some of the other parents who had to park across the street and down the block a bit and walk over to meet their children; there was a lot of talk about what a nightmare it is to pick their kids up. When they looked over at me I just smiled.
I got my chance to be an ambassador when two of the dads came over to ask me if I’d still been riding in the frigid temperatures and all the ice and snow. I told them that the snow had knocked me out of the last week and a half but the temperatures really aren’t an issue. Then came the phrase that is often heard:
I wish I could get out on my bike more.
“It’s pretty easy, we’re a half mile away and it takes us about 3 minutes to get here.” And then, the comment that hopefully hooked them: “It’s nice not having to try to find a parking spot and it’s a breeze getting out of here.” One of the dads commented that he was going to give it a try when the weather gets a little nicer. At that point the other dad was now blocked in, Curtis came out, unlocked his bike and off we went.
Now, I just need to remind myself to follow up with the guy who seemed to be serious about trying it.
3 comments:
Good work! I'm chiseling away ever so slowly at some of my co-workers who ride for recreation, and I have a few fellow bus riders who said they'll at least try riding to the bus once to see how it goes. The time is growing very near.
Hey I have a question for you about the Indian Creek Trail... please email me at eric at kcbike dot info
thanks :)
As a longtime Ambassador for Bicycling, thru my BikeBlog, I especially enjoyed this post.
Good 4 U! ;-D
The resources in my sidebar are there for energetic people, just like you, to discover, and utilize in your own ongoing "Bike Ride" of life. ;-D
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