So there’s been a movement this Spring on Twitter called #30DaysofBiking. It was co-founded by a Minneapolis native by the name of Patrick (or @patiomensch if you’re a tweeter.) This movement has coincided with Minneapolis being named #1 Bike Friendly city in America by Biycling Magazine, finally overthrowing our lovely sister city of Portland, Oregon. This recent accolade has lent itself to a visible amount of new cyclists and cycling fervor on the streets of the Twin Cities. This is excellent thing, but it’s a fragile thing.

Cycling, like anything has it’s tiers of involvement and levels of dedication. There’s the rugged messenger types who cycle every day rain or shine, the commuters, the hipsters, the weekenders, the people who have to cycle, etc. I’d LOVE to bike to work if it were more feasible, believe me. But for now I’ll settle for scuttling around the city more often and just going for more leisurely rides to get my cycling fix. I’m sure this opinion will be shared with thousands of new cyclists discovering or re-discovering the joy of biking this year. My concern is that in a city like Minneapolis, the hardcore cyclists can become cynical towards people who aren’t 100% hardcore about biking. This leads to resentment and scorn felt by the new cyclists that can lead to the new cyclists abandoning cycling altogether. This unfortunately misses the point of #30DaysofBiking.

#30DaysofBiking means whether you’re riding rain-or-shine to work or just taking your kid for a ride to the park 3 minutes away, it’s getting folks out on their bikes, enjoying the activity and growing the cycling movement.

So to all the hardcore cyclists out there, please be patient with the newbs (including myself). We’ll get there, and it in the process we’re all helping to build and retain a thriving cycling culture in our beautiful city.

Love,

- Justin Peddycoart (@JPeddycoart)

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