A Bicycling Column in the Kansas City Star
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Executive Summary
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The passage of BikeKC represents a watershed event in Kansas City bicycling, but increasing bicycle usage requires a change of culture. The Star is in a unique position to make that change happen. There is a large audience with moderate interest in cycling and a smaller--but still good-sized--audience with intense interest. Countless topics of interest to cyclists are available--easily enough interesting topics for a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly column. Coverage of current and upcoming cycling events would round out the column.
Detailed Explanation
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* Reason: The approval by the Kansas City Council of the BikeKC proposal this week is a watershed event in area cycling history. Now that the "big gorilla" of the metro area has a plan in place, other nearby cities like Independence, Lee's Summit, Grandview, Liberty, and Raytown will have the incentive to complete the routes and facilities that will match up with those in Kansas City, Missouri.
But as the BikeKC proposal was debated, Kansas City Councilwoman Becky Nace struck a fundamental theme when she emphasized that making the bicycle a viable transportation option in the metro area will require more than infrastructure. Far more than any kind of pavement, grates, or roadway stripes, it will require a change of culture.
Government can only do so much to change the culture. Business and media have a very important part to play in promoting bicycling and educating the public about it.
If bicycling is to become a truly viable transportation choice in the Kansas City area, it needs regularized, institutionalized, high-profile support and visibility. That is one place where the Star--and probably no other Kansas City institution--can help.
* Audience: Bicycle events in the metro area draw surprisingly large crowds. Many regular, weekly rides draw 20, 60, or 100 cyclists every single week. Occasional events, like last week's "Tour de Blue" or this weekend's "Summer Breeze", attract hundreds of riders. Such events often have a charge of $15-$30, so this is a serious, paying crowd.
Such large organized rides happen most weekends in the spring, summer, and autumn. These events regularly attract audiences as large as or larger than many cultural events featured in the Star.
These events typically attract riders from upper-middle income levels, with a considerable amount of income to spend at their discretion.
Area bicycle trails are often so crowded on weekends that they are dangerous to ride.
The metro area supports over 25 local bike shops. And general merchandise stores like Walmart, general sporting goods stores, and toy stores probably sell far more bicycles than the specialized bike shops.
Every one of the bike shops is the center of a small universe of bike-riding friends, groups, teams, and organized rides.
Online forums that cater to KC-area cyclists are very active and have hundreds of subscribers. When I was promoting rides in support of BikeKC, one area bike shop owner mentioned that she maintains an email list for important bicycle-related announcements with about 1000 subscribers. Then another bike shop owner happened to mention that she, too, maintained a (separate) event announcement list with around 1000 subscribers. Several other area shops probably maintain such lists, each with a thousand or more subscribers.
Area bicycle clubs have hundreds of paying members, and relatively few active cyclists bother to join an organized club.
A very large percentage of the general population owns a bicycle and bicycles occasionally. A smaller core group cycles several times a week for longer distances. So as far as potential readership goes, there is a general interest in bicycling among a large part of the general population, and a smaller, very committed core who will follow every word.
Cyclists tend to love cycling and become passionately interested in all things bicycle. Such passionate devotees may not be the largest audience but they would likely be engaged and loyal.
Area governments and transportation authorities are planning to greatly increase cycling over the next decade or so. So the audience will only increase.
Education is known to be the best way to increase bicycling safety. So the column would provide an important public service.
* Subject matter: The column would deal with any subjects related to cycling. It would center around subjects of interest to everyday cyclists in the metro area, as opposed to racing or other activities that are more "elite".
I would see the column as being very similar to the weekly columns by music or arts columnists. It could also be seen as similar to a computer or business column, in that it would address current equipment, developments, and trends. It would address a topic (or topics) of interest and also provide short briefs on current items such as upcoming rides, events, or projects.
A list of possible subjects is below.
* Frequency: I could see a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly column. John Forester's book _Effective Cycling_ is 577 pages long, and each page easily suggests one or two topics of interest to cyclists. So there is no shortage of material, even neglecting all the local issues, events, personalities, and locations.
* Author: In order to cover the wide range of bicycle-related areas, issues, and perspectives, I would suggest having a main author/editor who would write perhaps half the columns and deal with the topical listings in each column. The other half of the columns would be written by a wide variety of guest columnists. Such guest writers could be area bicycle coordinators, transportation engineers, trail coordinators, bicycle club officers, bicycle advocates, cycling instructors, and other notable personalities. Such guest authors could give perspectives on off-road biking, racing, touring, family riding, trail riding, commuting, utility riding, and other such topics.
The main author would have to be someone very knowledgeable about cycling, have many contacts in the area cycling community, preferably be well known and respected in the local cycling community, and, of course, be a good writer. (You are probably the leading candidate, Mike . . . )
Possible topic areas:
Focus on various trails or segments, such as Blue River Parkway
trail or Katy Trail.
Focus on big upcoming events or rides.
Personalities, such as local riders who tour cross-country,
participate in MS150, ride with disabilities, organize Bikes for
Kids, maintain trails, commute, etc.
Interviews with interesting cyclists or advocates.
Profiles of interesting local cycling groups, teams, organizations.
Cycling advocacy information.
Advocacy alerts; notice of important public hearings;
information about such events as the banning of
bicycles from 83rd street in DeSoto.
Promotion of good riding practices. Explanation of safest
riding techniques. Accident avoidance.
Driver education for motorists as related to bicycling.
Ride or tour reports.
General discussion of types of equipment, such as recumbents,
trikes, tandems, bike trailers, trailerbikes, etc.
Simple bike repair/tune up tips.
Issues of interest to cyclists, such as right to the road, cyclist
rights, legal issues, liability issues, best routes, places to ride
(on-street or off-street).
Recent research related to cycling.
Safety equipment.
Health issues.
Bicycling technique & practices.
Teaching children to ride; teaching them to ride safely around the
neighborhood.
Reviews of cycle-related books, software, web sites, other online
resources.
Recently installed cycle facilities and improvements.
posted by Brent Hugh at
Sunday, August 25, 2002 |
permanently archived here
