We know that this summer has not been incredibly encouraging to bicyclists. We’ve only had weather in the 80s maybe seven times, we’ve seen crazy rescissions in the bicycling transportation budget, Ballard businesses has appealed the court’s approval of completing the Missing Link again, and Seattle-region bicyclists have witnessed a shocking number of fatal crashes and dumbfounding assaults. Believe me, we know times are hard. We understand that events like these can make people think twice about swinging a leg over their two wheels. But throwing your bike back in the garage and sitting your butt down on that couch won’t help anything. Contrary to popular belief, now – more than ever – is the time to ride!

Not only is now the time to ride, but it’s time to bring a friend. You’ve heard it before, but the whole “safety in numbers” thing is not just something people say. Numerous studies have analyzed real data and have come to the same conclusion. The more people that ride, the safer it is for everyone. It has been shown that when the number of people riding bikes increases, the crash rate simultaneously decreases.

Take a look at the original 2003 report here, in which Peter Jacobson looks at the numbers from a variety of European locations and from California cities. Or check out the more recent statistics from Portland (page 11) or New York that prove the same thing.

Have you done your reading? Great! Now grab a friend and a couple of bicycles and go for ride! Cascade will be there to support your journey. Starting on Wednesday, Aug. 24, we will have Energizer Stations set up every week to help keep you rolling. We will provide a different service every week for a series of 5 weeks: pumping tires, providing snacks, greasing chains, cooling you off, and mapping routes.

Look for us on the Burke Gilman Trail on Wednesday afternoons: 8/24, 8/31. 9/7, 9/13, and 9/21.

Look for us at the I-90 Trail on Friday afternoons: 8/26, 9/2, 9/9, 9/16, and 9/23.

Look for us on the Elliott Bay Trail on Monday afternoons: 8/29, 9/5, 9/12, 9/19, and 9/26.

Those locations are not along your route? Feel free to contact us Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. We have plenty of resources for bicyclists, such as maps & route advice, helmets, classes and those bright orange stickers! We can even find you some riding buddies through our forums or daily rides program!

Have fun out there, and lets all ride safely together!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 22nd, 2011 at 11:38 am by Hanna McFall and is filed under Around town, Bike ambassadors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.