VACC works to make changes that encourage bicycle use such as improving cycling facilities, and helping to educate both cyclists and motorists about sharing the road safely. This involves working with municipal, provincial, and federal governments, and offering advocacy support and education to groups and individuals in the Lower Mainland. One of its most high-profile programs is the upcoming “Bike To Work Week” (May 26 to June 1, 2008), which, in turn, acts as a warm-up for “Bike Month”.

 

Bike Month, which runs the whole month of June, is the annual promotion of cycling presented by Better Environmentally Sound Transportation (BEST), a non-profit ‘voice’ for cycling issues and, more recently, for all forms of sustainable transportation. BEST has grown from its small beginnings in 1991 to an organization that works with governments, educators, youth, workplaces and community groups to “bring about the changes that will contribute to a better quality of life for people and communities in the Lower Mainland.”

 

Bike Month offers over 60 events including rides, public forums, art shows, bike festivals, children's safety workshops and social events, and is “a great chance to encourage your friends and family to cycle more.” Both VACC and BEST have information-packed websites, respectively: www.vacc.bc.ca and www.best.bc.ca.

 

Cycling in the Lower Mainland is not a fad. In the nearly five years since Road Rules began, BEST and VACC have helped to create many new cycling lanes on city streets, dedicated city-wide cycling paths, bicycle parking facilities, and public transit accommodation for cyclists. The chances are good, therefore, that many new and “re-newing” cyclists will heed the call of these programs encouraging even more cycling. And this calls for a reminder that, in addition to a bike, a helmet, a learned sense of balance and a bit of muscle tone—you will build more—cyclists need to know the rules of the road as well as any licensed motor vehicle operator.

 

Before you take to the road on your bicycle this spring, Road Rules recommends spending time at www.bikesense.bc.ca. Here you will find, “BikeSense”, an online 18 page manual that can be downloaded or ordered as a booklet “written and reviewed by professional cycling skills instructors, cycling advocacy organizations, bicycle trained police officers and provincial authorities responsible for making and interpreting our traffic laws.”

 

Relying on cycling information published in other cycling manuals in North America, “BikeSense”(like “RoadSense for Drivers”) condenses and paraphrases the relevant legislation, and provides excellent safety advice. The longest of the 12 chapters, ‘Cycling and Traffic Skills’ is a must–read for all cyclists at all levels of experience. And there you will find what may be the single most important rule for safe cycling: “remain alert and be prepared for unpredictable moves and mistakes by others”.