This has got our attention: Traveling the United States by bicycle is about to be easier than ever. Not that the feat is anything close to easy, but a cross-country tour on two wheels will be made more convenient thanks to the emerging U.S. Bicycle Route System (USBRS), which will connect urban, rural and suburban parts of America–and could become the largest official cycling network on earth. The Build it. Bike it. Be a part of it. campaign will continue through National Bike Month, ending on Monday, May 31,2010.
The U.S. bike system has been gaining momentum in the past year at the state and federal level with more than 28 states that are interested or already working on implementing USBS. The system is currently part of the proposed Federal Transportation Bill now pending in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is included in Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood’s recent policy directive asking that more attention be paid to bicyclists and pedestrians. And a select group of media partners are helping to spread the word about the campaign, including Bicycle Radio, Momentum, New Belgium Brewing, NewWest.net, Pedal Pushers, Women’s Cycling Magazine, and of course, us here at Wend. Other efforts have been underway as well.
Yesterday morning, Adventure Cycling Association kicked off a grassroots fundraising effort to raise more than $20,000 to support organizing and cartographic efforts for the route system. Using social media and leveraged funds from diverse business and organizational donors, the fundraisers at Adventure Cycling hope to inspire cyclists across the U.S. to donate at least $10 to help build this national network. Before the start of the campaign, the association had already raised more than half its goal amount of $20,000.
Help build the U.S. Bicycle Route System, get involved and spread the word here.
Want to donate? You can donate through Causes on Facebook or through Adventure Cycling’s Change.org fundraising page.
We can hardly wait to break in this pavement. See you on the bike path…
[Via: Adventure Cycling]
