Bike Fed executive director visits La Crosse

From Kevin Hardman, Bike Fed executive director:

I was in La Crosse on Thursday and Friday to meet with bicycling allies and find out about work being done in that area of the state, with the goal of learning what can be applied in other parts of Wisconsin. I had an amazing time. On Thursday evening, I rode the trails built by Human Powered Trails. This volunteer organization is one of Wisconsin's leaders in sustainable trail building, full of great people doing great work.

On Friday, I met with Tim Keneipp, president of the Driftless Region Bicycle Coalition. DRBC is a very new organization, but they have accomplished much in their short history. They are coming off of successful Bike to Work Week events in La Crosse and Onalaska. Right now, they're focusing on building a coalition of organizations to support countywide and local Complete Streets legislation to complement what passed at the state last year.

Friday afternoon I went on a bike tour of bicycle facilities with Larry Kirch, director of planning for the City of La Crosse. La Crosse is a bronze-rated city by the League of American Bicyclists and they are working hard to move up the ladder. I saw several trails under construction and a large bicycle bridge.

The Bike Fed is looking forward to partnering more with cycling advocates in La Crosse and throughout the state to improve cycling opportunities at the local level.