On March 17th, Bike Fort Collins joined fellow Colorado safe streets advocates for the inaugural Colorado Safe Streets Advocacy Community Convening in Boulder, hosted by It Could Be Me and and Bicycle Colorado. The convening focused on collaborative learning, problem-solving, and strengthening relationships across the statewide advocacy community. The program was organized around three central themes: advocating for impact, building and sustaining grassroots community, and communicating effectively to influence public perception and policy.
The day began with a guided bike tour highlighting Boulder’s bicycle infrastructure, providing participants with a shared, on-the-ground understanding of design and implementation. Following the ride, attendees convened at the Moxy Hotel in downtown Boulder for a series of presentations and discussions. Pete Piccolo, Executive Director of Bicycle Colorado, welcomed a diverse group of advocates representing organizations including Colorado State University, Bike Jeffco, Denver Streets Partnership, PeopleForBikes, Strong Denver, and Bike Colorado Springs, among others..
The morning session featured Dan Langengkamp, Advocate and board member of the League of American Bicyclists, Washington Area Bicycle Association, Families for Safe Streets, and It Could Be Me . He shared a deeply personal account of his advocacy journey following the tragic death of his wife, Sarah, who was killed while bicycling. His remarks underscored the human impact of traffic violence and the importance of sustained advocacy. Bill Nesper, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists, followed with insights into the interconnected roles of nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and the private sector. He emphasized the importance of identifying clear problems, developing actionable solutions, and building strategic implementation plans to achieve meaningful change.
Participants then engaged in breakout sessions focused on either developing effective advocacy campaigns—featuring a case study from Denver Streets Partnership led by Jill Locantore—or strategies for engaging with government officials, facilitated by Naomi Amaha of The Denver Foundation.
After lunch, Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the Vision Zero Network, spoke about the critical role of community-building in advancing safe streets initiatives. A second round of breakout sessions provided opportunities to explore coalition-building strategies with Danny Katz of CoPIRG or sustainable funding approaches for bicycle organizations, presented by Sue Prant of Community Cycles.
Throughout the day, Randy Neufeld of Good For Us offered engaging and inspirational interludes that energized participants and reinforced the cultural and community aspects of bicycle advocacy. Randy is a founding father of bicycle advocacy. He’s been promoting green modes for a living since 1987. His many accomplishments include helping to launch the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, which evolved into the Active Transportation Alliance, and then running the SRAM Cycling Fund. Randy is currently developing “Good For Us”—an initiative to create alternative communities for people seeking to live more active lives.
The convening concluded with a presentation from Tom Flood, Principal at Rovelo Creative & Strategies, who shared his expertise in marketing and communications. Drawing from his professional background and personal experiences as a parent navigating streets by bike, he highlighted the importance of storytelling and strategic messaging in building public support for safer, more equitable transportation systems. You can see Tom’s work at Rovelo Creative.
Overall, the convening provided a valuable opportunity for advocates across Colorado to connect, share knowledge, and align strategies in pursuit of safer streets and stronger communities.
And I will leave you with this…..
Way Funner Than Cars (Tune: Away, Away, With Rum By Gum)
By: Randy Neufeld
Chorus:
Way smarter, way cleaner, way funner than cars
Way funner by fars, Way funner than cars|
Way smarter, way cleaner, way funner than cars
Riding my beautiful bi..cy..cle
My neighbor drives crazy, to work he must race
He squeals out each morning, blows smoke in my face
But it’s all stop and go, got his shorts in a bunch,
Still trying to park while I’m having my lunch
Chorus
The wind on the front range gives bikers a strain
We also must deal with the cold and the rain
But I’ll take the weather and not be a chump
A watchin my dollars blow away at the pump
Chorus
Some folks don’t like biking, they it’s too slow
They jump in their Tesla and just want to go
But traffic’s backed up, it’s completely insane
As I’m whizzing on by in my little bike lane
Chorus
The drivers are sleepy, if not on their phones
They’re drunk and they’re texting, they speed through school zones
But it ’s biker behavior that needs to be healed
A shame that we want to treat stop signs as yield
Chorus
We all got excited, they funded our trail
We’ve been working forever, we thought we’d prevail
But Duffy removed it, when he saw the word bike
Guess Complete Streets for All has now taken a hike
Photos: David M Budd Photography
