Bike Ranger

I have been commissioned as a Bike Ranger for the Fort Collins Neighborhood Bike Coordinator Program. I have the badge to prove it; it will be going on my bike.

We Rangers met each other for the first time tonight, at the Resources for Bicycling in Fort Collins Event. I came up with the name "Rangers", by the way. We can't all be Coordinators, that would be silly. My second choice for title would have been "Geek", as in "Bike Geek", which is probably a pretty good description. "Ambassador" would be a good descriptive name but a bit pretentious. The Neighborhood Bike Coordinator Program is about getting the word out to our neighbors and friends about bicycling resources in Fort Collins, opening up our garage now and then to help neighbors fix up their bikes, air up tires, offer bicycling advice, pass out bike maps, and give out cool stickers.

I'm definitely the junior member of the Rangers, though. There's Dottie, who indoctrinated us to the program; she's a certified bike instructor for the League of American Bicyclists. There's Mike, who cheerfully exchanged quotes from seminal works of the League with Dottie. Miles talked about making his own bikes and the tricks he can do with his (like the ones my sons can do and I won't even attempt). Marty has his own bike-and-trailer based business, and Tom rode his two young kids in from the other end of town. I'm just the guy who rides his bike to work each day. I'm the only one in the group who doesn't have my own mechanic's stand. But I'm probably the only one who sports a coffee cup holder on my commuter cruiser!