#20 – Making Cycling Better for Boulder

Glen and I are joined today by Rob Andrew and Joseph Vigil of Cyclists 4 Community.  C4C was founded only 7 years ago; how C4C has accomplished so much in such a short time is a fascinating story of camaraderie and generosity and determination to make cycling safer on the roads of Boulder county.   If you are in the Boulder County area, you have to hear Rob and Joseph tell the C4C story.  If you live in another city or state and want to make your community better for cyclists, you also need to hear this.  Maybe you've heard of Wednesday Morning Velo? Listen in to hear the whole amazing story.

Rob Andrew One of the founders of C4C along with Russ Chandler.  By day a corporate insurance guy: partner at Lockton Companies.  Early morning or after work, tooling around Boulder on Road, Gravel and MTB.  Racing masters for the Full Cycle FCX team.   Also one of the organizers of WMV the pre-eminent cycling/business networking ride in Boulder Joseph Vigil Joined the C4C Board in 2015 after being super impressed with the great work and effort done for the communities of Jamestown and Lyons, where he went to high school. Joseph stepped up to become the C4C Board President 2019, and then has stayed on through 2020-2021 when the president elect for this term had to step down for family reasons. He is an architect and founder of WORKSHOP8 in Boulder, and rides his bike as much as he can, before, during and after. He joined the Wholesome Masters Racing team in 2018 at the behest of Rob Andrew, who then left and joined Full Cycle.

Outline of Discussion:

1. Wednesday Morning Velo – started 20 years ago as the Bankers Ride.  Evolved and grew over time: today would get up to 200 riders on some summer mornings.  Pandemic has put a halt to that for a short time.  Now have 4+ rides each week, moto medics, sponsorships, kits every 2 years, coffee and snacks after each ride.  Annual budget close to $20,000
2. Cyclists 4 Community – started in 2013 after the floods.  Looked for a way to give back to the communities most impacted and build a better relationship between cyclist and drivers in those communities.  Cyclists 4 Jamestown was the beginning raising over $250,000 to help solve big problems there and in Lyons.  Both locations were staples of the WMV routes we commonly road on.  Other notes:
   1. Incorporated in 2016 501c3 non profit
   2. Big event: Crank-it-Forward started in 2017
   3. Hired 1st Becca Blay and next Matt Muir as staff
   4. Worked with Boulder County extensively on rebuild of LHC, James Canyon, and 4 mile to be re-build bike friendly
   5. Portable sign on 36 every spring
   6. Signage around Boulder county (3 feet law, cross yellow line)
   7. Lights on bikes
   8. Lights at key intersection
   9. Bicycle Friendly Driver Education program developed – now working with Bicycle Colorado  and potentially national
   10. Porta potty in Jamestown
3. C4C today: Very engaged board and staff working on making Boulder County safer for cyclists and for better relationships with all users.
   1. Boulder to Lyons bike way study (LyBo)
   2. Matching Fundraiser going on right now
   3. Crank-it-Forward Oct. 1 at the JCC
   4. May bike Auction – fundraiser and virtual event
   5. St Vrain road work
   6. Jeffco to Boulder bikeway discussions