Bicycle Postcards

Try watching that and not being happy. Now picture that happening in Redlands! No need for it not to be a reality. Here are the positives for Redlands:

• Everything north of Highland is flat(ish).
• We have a LOT of new bike lanes going in.
• Redlands Classic brings a lot of awareness to the community.
• Two great bike shops.
• A community bike shop.
• Two great breweries that support the bike community and have plenty of retail distribution in town :-)
• A compact downtown.
• Lots of restaurants and public houses centrally located.
• A university.
• Lots of neighborhood schools (all but two of which are north of Highland).
• Majority (70% IIRC) of residents work within city limits.

Sooooo, what can you do? Ride your bike around town. Recreational riding is fine, but go on a date to the Krikorian, pick up a burrito at Cuca's, ride the kids to school. Every bike on the road increases visibility, which makes other bicyclists safer, and inspires non-bicycle riders to give it a try.

Encourage friends and family to ride. They know you're a bikey sort of a person, but may not view themselves that way. Get them out there and rolling! Loan them a bike, help them find one on CL, send them to the Bike BBQ to fix one up. Get them over that next hurdle.

Write letters to the Daily Facts. It's still a small town newspaper, and it's read by just about everyone downtown. They'll print pretty much whatever you send in. Praise the bike lanes, laud the Classic, compliment new bike racks at a store. Give it a try, you might like it.