¡Tucson Ciclovia!
I attended the Tucson Ciclovia meeting yesterday and was very pleased. Representatives from the City, County, YMCA, and others attended and there seems to be a lot of interest and excitement about getting a ciclovia going in Tucson.
Right now the most probable date is Sunday, May 2, 2010, although some other dates are under consideration. The ride will occur from 8 AM to noon (again, this is all provisional) and a six-mile route has been selected with several “nodes” where various health-related activities would occur, and food and water would be available.
My own belief is that an event like this should be targeted primarily to people who want a chance to ride their bikes in town without any fear of being wiped out by a car. People who want to take their kids on a bike ride, or who want to try bicycling but are nervous about doing it in traffic.
The fact it is only going to happen once (at first) is disappointing of course, but I still think this is a great first step.
The folks at the meeting all agreed that the Tucson cycling community needs to hear about this effort and start talking about it. Anyone who wants to help (and a lot of help is needed!) should plan to attend the next meeting, which will be Tuesday, December 15, 2009 at 11:45 AM in the Public Works Building downtown at 201 N. Stone.
I’ll let people know again before the meeting. Please join us if you have any experience with Ciclovias or if you want to help!
Click these links to read about my experiences riding in the the Mexico City Ciclovia and the Bogota Ciclovia.
–Erik Ryberg