Biker Day at the Roundhouse: Saturday, 13 Feb. Save the Date

Jennifer (l) and Annette (r), past rally

 For the last few years, courtesy of the hard work of Jennifer Buntz and the Duke City Wheelmen, the bicycling community has been included in the annual Bike Day rally, which has been pulled off due to the heavy lifting of Annette Torrez and the New Mexico Motorcyclist Rights Organization. Thus, the rally has been a joint one of the bicycling and motorcycling communities.

 This year, the rally is also endorsed by the Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico while Tony Farrar, owner of New Mexico Bike N Sport, is welcoming us to his shop as a greeting and staging area, as his bike shop is ideally suited for a short ride down quiet roads to the Roundhouse. Diane Albert and I, on behalf of BCNM, will provide pizza. Bicycling writer and cartoonist Patrick O'Grady has offered to help with a cartoon for a poster.

We need to show up and use this to highlight the legislative issues that are important to both groups, including holding road users accountable with better laws that sanction dangerous driving, and by promoting a statewide complete streets policy. Bad roads and abrupt three inch dropoffs on shoulders are dangerous, whether on a Bianchi or a Harley-Davidson. We will also honor the late Andrew Wright, who was co-owner of Platinum Level Bicycle Friendly Business Bicycle Technologies International of Santa Fe. Andrew was killed last year when someone in a jeep pulled in front of his Ducati.

Stay Tuned.