Working Toward a More Bicycle Friendly America
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Working Toward a More Bicycle Friendly America
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This episode’s guest is Lauren Jenkins, Communications Director at the League of American Bicyclists. Lauren handles all of the League’s communications, everything from social media to what you see on the website. Her goal is to inspire people to ride bikes, advocate for safer roads, and celebrate the joy of cycling through storytelling. Lauren joined the League in 2019 after seven years as a public relations consultant. Listen in to learn more about the League’s programming and how you can interact to join in making a more bicycle-friendly America.
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Working Toward a More Bicycle Friendly America
Tue, 8/24
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
bike, people, league, retailers, bicycle, lci, leadership institute, dc, community, year, support, alexandria, local, members, bicycle friendly, ride, summit, cycling, infrastructure, shop
SPEAKERS
Heather Mason, NBDA , Lauren Jenkins
NBDA 00:10
You are listening to bicycle retail radio brought to you by the National bicycle Dealers Association.
Heather Mason 00:16
Welcome to another episode of bicycle retail radio brought to you by the NBDA. This is President Heather Mason. I’m so happy you’re here. Thank you for listening. If you’re a first time listener, be sure to check out the previous episodes. Please do us a favor and leave a review. Today’s guest is Lauren Jenkins, communications director at the League of American Bicyclists. Lauren handles all of the league’s communications, everything from social media to what you see on the website. Our goal is to inspire people to ride bikes, advocate for safer roads and celebrate the joy of cycling through storytelling. Lauren joined the league in 2019, after seven years as a public relations consultant. Welcome, Lauren. How are you?
Lauren Jenkins 00:54
Great, great. It’s a little rainy here today. So I’m not looking forward to another’s with Greg. But,
Heather Mason 01:00
man, where are you located?
Lauren Jenkins 01:02
I’m in the Washington DC area, specifically Alexandria, Virginia, and beautiful little historic charming town just south of DC. So we’ve got quite a bit of rain this weekend. And obviously the DC humidities always hanging over us too, but plenty of good writing and lots of great groups and good eye retailers out here to always in the writing such a nice area right
Heather Mason 01:23
there. definitely feel you with this swifting now it’s so nice to get outside. Right.
Lauren Jenkins 01:29
Right. I know, I saw one of my friend triathlete. You know, they’re one of us, too. She did a four hour train ride the other day. I don’t know how you do it. I don’t know how you do it, either. But she does it. also had
Heather Mason 01:40
some people do that like those like, I don’t know, I call them like this super long trailer ride. So they just go movie to movie or, or whatever. Yeah, not for me back in the day, maybe. So three years with the League of American Bicyclists. That’s pretty awesome. And you and I connected earlier this year for some stuff in the women’s advocacy, getting more women into cycling you thank you for your work helping me there, I thought it would be great to have you on bicycle, retail radio, to kind of like pop the cap off the work that the bike league is doing. And specifically how bicycle retailers who are listening could find ways to be involved in some of the work they’re doing. So thank you for joining me, I always love to start with a little background. So maybe you could give us a little bit about how you got into the industry.
Lauren Jenkins 02:24
Yeah, sure. You know, I think I have sort of a pretty similar story to what I hear a lot of, you know, other women and friends have, which is you know, you get involved in biking on your kid, your parents, you know, take you to target or I think it was Toys R Us back in the day and you get your first kids bike and your dad’s running alongside you teaching you to ride and, you know, the way he tells it, he couldn’t keep up at a certain point running alongside as I was biking. So he went to Target and bought his first truck and got it and that was you know, his bike story was that he got into biking because I was learning the bike. And then from there, you know, it was watching 30 minutes of the Tour de France highlights back in, you know, the early 90s McKellen, deranged crushing and so I’ve always been, I think I was ingrained at an early age in the bike industry, world of sport cycling and racing and following that, and you know, loving what bikes were and remembering wanting a VIP as a teenager and just, you know, having that really desire for, you know, the n plus one, even as a 14 year old or something. And so, you know, was something that I was into, then, you know, you go to college, you get interested in other things, you kind of drift away, you drift and other things, and especially in DC, you know, it’s a very political world, I was very interested in international relations, through a variety of jobs, I ended up working as a PR consultant working with a lot of nonprofits that also work with veterans and military families, and especially wounded warriors. And so a lot of what I got to do in my old job was support events as a PR, you know, as a flag, trying to supporting events, were wounded warriors for a lot of times handcycling and marathons, which is a popular way to include handcycle races and marathons. And then also just, you know, taking part in like Ms. Right rides and other sort of things as part of their recovery as veterans. And so I just remember thinking, I was hit by a car when I was 18, when I was biking. And that really put me off that really put me off biking for a while. And I just remember seeing some of these, you know, guys who were triple amputees or doing these amazing things on hand cycles and thinking, you know, what excuse Do I have to not be getting back out there on the bike. These guys love it. It’s so important to them. So important for their recovery, but both physically and as mental health recovery. And so they really inspired me to get back out on a bike and I was actually at a marathon in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I was the Marine Corps half marathon. And I remember there’s this really big hill that all runners hate. It’s called hospital Hill. And you can stand at the top of it and my colleague was doing her first half marathon and so I was out there to support her during her first half marathon, and I remember staying on top of hospital Hill and seeing these two hand cyclists to wounded warriors who had just biked up the hill, you know, on their hand cycles. And I just was so inspired by that I actually went to one of our local bike shops later that day and bought my first road bike in, you know, 20 years. And just like, I’m going to go and reteach myself how to clip in and clip out. And I fell over it myself a few times as one does. But you know, from there, it’s like, you know, once you get into it, once you get back on the bike, and you discover that community of people who bike, fell back in love with it, and fell back in love with being a part of it. And when they saw this opportunity at the league, pop up on LinkedIn, I don’t think I have to make sure more people that this experience, or at least have the opportunity to have that same experience. So that’s really how I got back into it, and how I ended up here and hopefully talking to you about how we can get even more people into biking. Oh, my gosh, I
Heather Mason 05:54
love that story. Thank you for sharing a very personal story. I can’t imagine, you know, getting hit while riding, thankfully. But then like the courage that it takes to get back on the bike. And, you know, I can as you tell the story, I’m picture you on top of that hill, like, you know, it’s transformation. That’s what it is, as we go through life, right and feel like you’re in a role that matches up with your passions, and you can pull from your past experiences. So you’re the communications director. And so I’m wondering, like, what does that entail? Is it a full time position? I’m just gonna ask you. What do you do?
Lauren Jenkins 06:27
Yes, yes, it is, I guess, touch so many parts of the organization as a communications director, which is great, because I get to learn about, you know, what our education directors doing, what our bicycle friendly America program directors doing, what our fundraisers are doing, and really get to amplify their work. And I think that’s always what’s really fun about it is that you get to hype up other people and what they’re doing. And you also get to sometimes break down the silos between you know, especially now in this kind of work from home world where you’re not all in the same office all the time. And it’s harder to maybe know what’s happening across the room or across the office, try to break down those silos. So everyone kind of knows, when we’re training, recollecting instructors to be like educators how that plays into what we’re doing to build bicycle friendly communities, and how we can be talking about all of those things at the same time, and really give people a better, hopefully holistic understanding of what the league does, because we do so much with it, we have a very small staff, we’re about nine full time. And we always have some really good interns, but very small staff compared to some of the other like, even local and state organizations. And so we’re doing so much here in Washington, on Capitol Hill. Training leads second instructors across the country, certifying businesses and universities and communities as bicycle friendly, during a lot of policy analysis on automated vehicles on state policy and vehicle, you know, vehicle size and how we can get the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to better regulate the huge, like truck grills you see these days. So I think our work touches so many things. And as the communications director, that’s gratifying because you have to talk about a lot but also very hard sometimes to try to explain in a succinct way what exactly it is that the lead does sounds very lucky in May to be joined by a new communications team member, we were able to hire a recent college grad Raven, to come on and help do a lot of the social media side a lot of the day to day work, and we can work really well as a team and her being, you know, a new bicyclist herself, I think brings a really great perspective to a lot of what we talked about. Because, you know, sometimes when you’ve been in any industry for a long time, you know, you can sort of forget what it’s like to be new. And you think you know how to talk to those people. But sometimes it’s like, well, no, we need someone like Rena Raven, who is obviously very smart, very well trained and communications from her, you know, school background, but also, you know, because she is newer to biking. Can I think pens, like a lot of what the community needs to us at the league to say like, no, this is, this is how we can explain it better. So I’m really grateful to have her on board to to the communications team. So I’m looking ahead to the rest of the year, we have a few reports coming out from our policy team, we’re going to be doing more advocacy on the infrastructure bill that you’ve probably heard quite a bit about in the news. And we’ll have some more bicycle friendly America certifications, and there’s always new lead cycling instructor opportunities available across the country. So it’s too much. No, it’s great. It’s great. There’s a lot.
Heather Mason 09:34
I’m thinking about just like the bike boom, you know, the incredible boom of new cyclists engaging in our sport, and it must Yeah, but just there’s additional work being put out everywhere. So I love that you got someone you know, fresh into the role to help you and to assist you. And I totally understand where you’re coming from where those new set of eyes, it helps you, you know, especially when we’re reaching these new cyclists, right to be able to explain it in a different way.
Lauren Jenkins 09:57
Yeah, and I think like we’ve probably talked about this before. In other situations, but it’s the same as how I know when I walked into a bike shop, and there’s a woman working there. And, you know, when I bought my first road bike, what, five years ago as an adult, and I remember Anna, who was the woman at the spokes, etc, at the time, you know, it was just great to have someone there who could understand my needs and talk to me in a way that I felt like seen and understood and represented. And so I think that’s, you know, it’s great to have a communications person on staff where, you know, it’s like, she can kind of be a good representative for people who are newer to banking, agree with you. I
Heather Mason 10:38
think we have spoken about that. But I suppose etc, is amazing shot by the way, I love that you brought that shop up. Alright, so you’re talking about all the stuff that bike league is doing? And you know, doing my research for our conversation today? Of course, I started with going on bike league.org the web page. Oh, no, no, I mean, there’s so much they are. But the words resonated with me. It says, I’m just gonna read this. We believe bicycling brings people together. when more people ride bikes, life is better for everyone. Communities are safer, stronger, better connected, our nation is healthier, economically stronger, environmentally cleaner and more energy independent. Wow. I mean, wow, I read it like five times. And then I wrote it out because I was like, This sums it up. So that was on the about the bike league page. Can you describe to our listeners about the bike like when it was formed? What the primary role is?
Lauren Jenkins 11:29
Yeah, the League of American Bicyclists was formed in 1880. So a long history of, you know, even pre cars, pre roads that bikes and people who may have been stakeholders in our nation’s infrastructure. So in the 1880s, it was mostly the men of industry. So the big that, you know, Henry Ford was a member, Olympic windburner. They know the the oracles were members of the league back in the day, they were like builders themselves. And so these were folks who were pretty powerful people at the time who wanted better biking, they went to Congress, there’s a giant wheel actually a giant petition at the National Archives with like a giant scroll of paper that’s been signed by like over 100,000 people, demanding and this is the 1880s but 100,000 people who had signed it mailed it in and been collected, and this petition was delivered to Congress demanding better roads for people to bike on. And so this is the good roads movement at the time that was called. And so that’s really sort of where infancy of paved roads came from was for people to bike on. So that was like the league’s doing at the time, which was kind of great. But there were also some things about the league at the time, which were very bad. You know, I think it was 89, before they passed the ban on people of color joining the league. So you know, it was it was a group of its time that was both revolutionary, but also very discriminatory. That version of the league ended up folding in I want to say the early 19 hundred’s because of the rise of the car. And a lot of people who have been involved in the league had become just for the same reason they love the bike, they then started loving the car. And so they got really into that. But then there were, there’s real emergencies of the league over the years, the current one because it came back out in the late 1960s as the League of American real men, which is what a lot of people, especially if my father’s age knew it, as I remember when I was talking to my dad about getting this job, it was like I think related to the League of Americans. Oh yes, in fact, that used to be called that. And it was called the League of American male men until 1983, at which point, the board changed the name to be more inclusive of women. And be more descriptive of what the week was, a lot of people had no idea what a woman was anymore. I think it’s an old timey word for bicyclist subtly, of today was resurrected in the late 1960s. And, you know, was very prominent during the bike boom of the 70s. And was really involved with with that community of biking of hosting rallies and hosting events for people to really discover biking, educating other people that have a bike. And so today, you know, that’s really where we still like, our roots are still like in that education and making sure people have access to basic education. And something we lobby for is making like education, a more integral part of public school education, and then enabling people to become bike educators themselves early cycling instructor program, and then also federal advocacy is obviously very important to us. It’s where we think we can make a big difference is, is continuing that, you know, that history of going to Congress and asking for better biking and to make it more accessible and safer for all people to continue to do that. I think we’ve had some good successes in the last, especially over this last year that we’re hoping to see be codified later this year that we have we’re really excited to like I said make it more accessible, we know basically hasn’t always been accessible and safe for everyone and we know it still isn’t and so how can we work with armor members and supporters to give that joy of piping to everyone because, you know, like you read from our website, it’s something that we do believe it is life is truly better for everyone. when more people buy, even for people who don’t buy, right, like it’s definitely the more people that do buy, it’s better for the people that aren’t buying too. So that’s a sales point sales pitch.
Heather Mason 15:21
I had no idea that history went that deep. And you know, I mean, we’re hearing what we’re under, like our climate is about to, we’re in major trouble, right? So we need more people to start cycling. Alright, who can have a membership to the league? So we have individual members, bicycle stores? Can you go into that a
Lauren Jenkins 15:39
little bit? Yep. Anyone can be a member, we have individual members, we have family memberships, we have business memberships, we have club memberships. So bike clubs can be members as well, like advocacy organizations can be members, companies, city members. So we’re happy to have anyone be supporting our mission and being in our email list to make sure that you can take part in our next petition to Congress that we can make sure that we’re getting things done together. And we’re also always looking for people for and especially the industry, who want to give back to help us with our member benefits. So if you ever dive deep into our webpage, like you said, there’s a lot there. And I think there’s you got six clicks, and you can find out what our member benefits are. And we do have a number of like industry, friends that have extended benefits, whether there are discounts or other things to people who are the members. So we’re always looking for other folks to join us in that way as well.
Heather Mason 16:33
My past experience with the bike League, as you know, May is National Bike Month, right. And I know that one of your programs, and we supported it this year, thank you for the help with that. And back when I was running a cycling club in my local community, I wanted to be an instructor so and I knew that the bike league offered certification for people to become instructors. But as I was on the website, there’s so many programs, there’s Leadership Institute, bicycle friendly America bike summit, the National bike challenge, so I thought if you’re okay, I might just like kind of dive into each one asked me to talk about it a little bit. Yeah, that’s a good quiz. Yeah, I mean, you’re the community. Sorry. So what is the Leadership Institute? Can you talk about that a little bit? And specifically, maybe ways that retailers could be involved with some of the work you’re doing there? If there is a way? I’m not quite sure.
Lauren Jenkins 17:23
Yeah, the Leadership Institute is really designed for our advocacy organization members, so your state and local advocacy groups, so the bike New York’s of the world all the way down to, you know, that my local Alexandria bicycle and pedestrian advocacy committee, for it’s a place for them to really connect and learn about best practices, and be at sort of the forefront of how at the local level, they can be pushing for better local bike pedestrian policies, also be involved at the state level, and then also turn that into federal change as well. We want to make sure that, you know, as the sort of national organization, that sort of a convening body for state and local groups, we want them to be able to learn from each other, and also be plugged into how they can impact that at the federal level. So I think as an example, I think it was two weeks ago, we had an amendment that we really wanted to push. And we briefly need at least one senator from Idaho to basically be the final vote that we needed on an amendment. So that’s where we kind of reached out to our folks in Idaho, their organizations, they’re in such a Leadership Institute to be a part of this and help us do reach out specifically to that member in Idaho, because it’s always has more impact when it comes from local constituents for politicians here in DC. So that’s sort of where we are. The Leadership Institute is really impactful for us as is being a place for advocacy groups from all over the country to be involved. And I would say, an amazing way that retailers can be part of that is supporting your local advocacy groups, I think, probably a lot of retailers Do you know them maybe through the Bike Month initiatives, because a lot of times, and I love seeing the Bike Month, like torque day events, often are really good collaborations between the local regional transportation organization, but also the local advocacy groups here at Siena, Washington area, bicycle Association. And then also so many retailers are volunteering to have tents and support the commuters, especially the ones who really are doing it for the first time any year out there. Maybe need a little lube on a chain or need a didn’t have a Schrader valve up at home and they need to get one. So I think that for the Leadership Institute, I think the best way for retailers to really support is, like I said, by going to our website and finding your local or state level advocacy organization and connecting with them if they haven’t already.
Heather Mason 19:50
Yeah, so let’s dive into that a little bit. Because retailers are I’m hearing often How do I do something in my community? How do I know who my local organization is? Who do I really Reach out to So you said they can go to your website is that?
Lauren Jenkins 20:03
Yep, if you go to a backlink.org slash map, you can plug in your local city, and it will pop up with the name of your if there is one, a local state advocacy group, and then also your local advocacy groups. If I put an Alexandria I think I would set up the Washington area bicycle Association, but also the Alexandria bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organization. But then I would also get a list of like, I’m pretty sure, etc, is on there, because they’ve joined us as a supporting bike shop. And you’d also get a list of local league cycling instructors. So if you were a shop or retailer that wanted to host a bike education, seminar, or not seminar, but the host, a kid’s rodeo or youth education program in your parking lot, you know, you could reach out to a local week’s instructor that you could find from our map.
Heather Mason 20:53
I love that. That’s amazing. So I’m a retailer, I’m gonna reach out to the advocate that you’ve listed on the website. What’s the best way to do that? Is it a phone call? Is it a letter? Is there? Like, I want to make a difference? Right, but I don’t know how to start. Let’s try that.
Lauren Jenkins 21:09
Yeah, I think phone call is gonna be a great place to start. You know, I think, and maybe you’ve run into this too. But sometimes, depending on a shop and your level of staffing and buisiness emails don’t always get the most attention. But you know, phone call is always a little bit easier to answer. And I think that, you know, that same as for advocacy organizations, oftentimes, depending on the size of the organization, that’s a lot of times volunteers at the local level. And so trying a phone call or sending an email, hopefully your best bet, I think sometimes you have to do a little bit of digging. But once you have the name of the organization, Facebook pages are great places to go to, to connect with a disorganization, we have a similar challenge with bike clubs in that bike club leadership often changes. Sometimes the email credentials don’t always move over as quickly as you would like to. So I would say, you know, be vigilant about it and try a few different methods, but offering your services seeing if they’re hosting any events in the coming. If they’re planning any events in the coming days, that you could be a part of, you know, I’m sure that would be welcome for them. I always lean on my experience with my local Alexandria v pack. But especially in the good old days, we used to host a lot of bike rodeos in school. So our volunteers or recycling instructors would go to the local public schools and teach PE classes on how to bake and how to do it safely. So I think that was always something we were looking for more volunteers for. And so I think, you know, shops and retailers are looking for ways to get involved. Who doesn’t love a teaching kids that safe biking and helping them figure out, you know, what a good helmet fit is and all that sort of stuff?
Heather Mason 22:46
Yeah, I think just reaching out, you’re gonna like once you start, it kind of just keeps going. Right? It’s like, slow that train down. National Bike Month. I’m a huge fan. You know, we definitely got some resources out to retailers this year. that’s been going on for a while, right? I mean, I don’t even know.
Lauren Jenkins 23:00
Yeah, I want to say 1954. I think I could go to the website and so predates almost this current iteration of the league. But it’s such a fun time, just to be in biking. You know, when you see people have a reason to go out and bike. I think sometimes for some, I think it goes back to, for some of us, I know for me, you know, it’s like, well, of course, I’m going to bike like every month, especially bike. And I know for a lot of our members. That’s how we feel, too. But I think it’s amazing during me to see how some people just need that little extra push right? To get out there and have that little extra reason to go for a ride. And I think national Bike Month is a great month for that. I do say it’s also true that every month is National Bike Month, because I think our friends in Alaska do it in June. I think Colorado also doesn’t do. I think Florida and Arizona do it in April. But for reasons you could probably understand, and it’s just, you know, a great way to think about, and I think for retailers to, you know, think about how do we get more people thinking about bikes under the Bike Month is a great time to do that. And we’re always thinking like, Okay, how do we, especially as a communicator, like how do we make this different, you know, what’s new and different about this. And I think increasingly, you know, this last year was last two years were very unique because of the COVID situation. And but from that, you know, you get the bike boom, and you get to go out and you get to see so many families riding bikes. And you know, if that doesn’t inspire you to figure out how to keep them riding and how to make the road safer. I don’t know what does. So we’re always looking for ways to get more people excited about biking. So we’re grateful for any help that you know, retailers want to play at the local level.
NBDA 24:36
Your NBDA membership helps support bicycle retail radi! Ggo to NBDA.com to join or renew your membership today.
Heather Mason 24:48
I am thinking about subways being closed down and mass transit, right and we’re talking about bicycle friendly America. And then I saw some content on how businesses can be more bike friendly and I’m sure that this year more than ever And then we’re talking about storage for commuters, maybe a place to shower. And there’s some work you’re doing there too, for a bicycle friendly America crap.
Lauren Jenkins 25:07
Yeah. And I think that was something that my colleague, Amelia, who runs our bicycle friendly America program. In our upcoming magazine, she has a great piece on sort of how communities and universities and businesses really responded to being more bike friendly in the COVID world. And the one that sticks out to me is about universities, in fact, because universities are part of our program, because they’re such a unique environment, and that they are semi closed environments. And so there’s a lot of room for innovating and implementing different kinds of transportation methods and parking and roads, University has a lot more control over the methods of getting around than necessarily a city might have. So they could close roads, they can build things, they could do things in a kind of a more interesting way, sometimes quicker. So we’re always looking at, like universities and how they’re responding to challenges like this. And one of the things a few universities did was open up their underground bike parking, so you’re mentioning storage, and they were allowing people to store their bikes there long term. So if they were going to be off campus for a while, and they didn’t have anywhere to put their bike, they could use the free, secure underground, you know, bike parking lots and use that as a place to store their method of transportation. And I think that was for a lot of them that bike parking like that is a moneymaker. Or it’s something that they charge people a nominal fee to use, you know, as they would, for any kind of storage vehicles. But I thought for some, you know, that just really stood out to me as well, what’s really good that they’re making it easy for students who are already having a really tough time, maybe having to go home, maybe having to come back really living in a very uncertain situation, to at least make it so they didn’t have to worry about their bike that they could, they would know it would be there. They knew where it was, they would be safe. And so at least taking the element of releasing the anxiety from the bike in the world of ice. That was a really important thing. And so we’ve seen that in cities to where shut down roads made it easier for people to walk and bike around last month by a partner and I were in Palo Alto, California, and they closed down some main roads there to build more outdoor seating for restaurants and shops. And it was great to see that even as the world was sort of starting to open up, they had kept these places more open to people and to cars, and people on bikes. And so that was a really great thing to see, continue. And we hope that’s the sort of thing in our bicycle friendly America program that we want to see continues a lot of that kind of thinking about, like, how do we make biking better for everyone, because we know what it takes. And it doesn’t always take big changes. You know, sometimes it’s a few extra bollards here to block car traffic or it’s opening up our bike storage a little bit more. It’s offering showers to employees so they can shower after they bike into work, just making it just slightly easier to make those trips and remove the barriers for people.
Heather Mason 27:58
I love some of these changes that have come about and I sincerely hope they stay. You know, I remember seeing kids out riding and I’m in the northeast, right? Well, it’s cold in March, but seeing kids out riding bikes in March and family and I was like this is wonderful.
Lauren Jenkins 28:12
So riding bikes is just like, sometimes you don’t have a great day at work or something. But you go out and you see like kids on bikes, like yeah, that’s why we’re doing it.
Heather Mason 28:21
It’s just a smart instant smile. Right? Okay, so the national bike summit, when I came into the role at the MBTA, everyone’s talking about the national bike summit, I think it’s held in Washington, correct. Everyone’s like, are you going to Washington, so not to put you on the spot any expectations about if that’ll happen? I know it was virtual last year. But
Lauren Jenkins 28:40
yeah, this year, we are planning for a hybrid event. So we are planning to have the option to come to DC and connect with people and connect with your legislators in DC. All the content though all of the panels will be available online. So we’re looking to really do this to make it still a very accessible national bike summit. So if you know you don’t want to come to DC, if you cannot come to DC, if you want to participate from anywhere in the world, you can do that. But we also have programming here in DC for folks who are in the area or want to connect regionally or are able to come to DC to do so. So we’re really looking forward to having you event with by candidate again, I think that’s something we’ve certainly missed the last few years of a virtual bike summit, not having at least the opportunity to bike around a little bit with each other. So this year, we’re really looking forward to that we’ve secured a space pretty safe. That’s what we feel is a pretty good safe space in DC to host some little get togethers for people. And yeah, so I have a summit theme planning meeting coming up next week. So I think we’re gonna start really buckling down on what the what the theme will be in this next of the 2022 summit, but expect to save the date pretty soon for late March 2022. So we’d love to have you come to DC if you can’t make it. Oh my gosh. Yes. And I heard some
Heather Mason 29:57
retailers have attended and in the Past maybe that there are a local involve locally and it came to this to take it to the next level. Can you speak on how retailers could get something out of the summit? Or if they even should consider attending or taking part online?
Lauren Jenkins 30:12
Yeah, the retailers. I think, in the past, we have had at the summit, a sort of, especially for women owned, like businesses, we’ve had pop up shops, where women owned big businesses could display and sell wares, from t shirts, to books to jerseys to all sorts of clothing and like blacks and what have you. And then for retailers, you know, I think like you said, a bit more locally focused has been great to support some of our rides, and to help with managing some of the bike issues folks might have in DC for the summit. But we’ve had retailers from all over come. My colleague, Allison historic at Landry’s at the Massachusetts area. And in fact, her at Landry’s always sends I think some folks to the bike summit, and that’s how she got introduced to the lead nationstar education director and our LCI training program. But yeah, she served at Landry’s and came to lead through one of the Landry’s sending their employees to the summit. So definitely have people from all over from retailers come to the summit and learn about the league and learn about becoming a bicycle friendly business and our hands on workshops and connect with lcis. And really discover sort of the breadth of what is possible. As a retailer. I think, going back to you know, I mentioned spokes earlier, I know I always lean on Alexandria, but we had a bout a year and a half ago, a big discussion over whether to build a bike lane, on a specific road in Alexandria. And I just remember being very excited to see spokes posts the petition, and like how you can advocate for this bike lane on Instagram, I think you know, it’s those little things I think retailers can learn through the summit is like, Alright, now I can see that connection, you know, a deeper connection of like, how to get involved and how to, you know, reach out and connect with the local groups to get something for the community that we know is all really better. And I think local chambers of commerce are amazing and do amazing work. But they don’t always know about the paving schedule, and when the next leguin debates going to come up. So I think, you know, retailers can learn a lot at the summit. And I think online is great is a great option. But if you can’t make it to DC, you know, I think we were talking about trade shows a little earlier offline. I think there’s just something from connecting with people in person, chances
Heather Mason 32:27
are there’s that magic that happened. Yeah. I agree with you. They can’t. So you alluded to earlier, the news about the bill that just passed. Can you talk about that for someone maybe who has no idea what you were referring to?
Lauren Jenkins 32:39
I’ll give my 30,000 foot understanding of it, especially because it seems like every morning I you know, open up Politico, which is like the very DC insider Capitol Hill newspaper. And I still don’t understand there’s some new development. And I’m like, Oh, I don’t know what that means. I’ll need to talk to Karen, but who is our Deputy Executive Director, and these are government relations work. But Karen, she’s amazing. And she does webinars every few weeks. So if you get on our email list, you can get involved in Karen’s webinars. But so the bipartisan infrastructure bill, it’s sort of a blend now of the thing that we work on every five years is the transportation reauthorization bill. It’s really how our transportation system is envisioned and funded and how policies are made and and funded. And so every five years, we’re really, this is like what we gear up for, we lay the groundwork a few years, you know, in the years leading up to it at summit, and then one summit year like so, in 2020. That was our big year to really pushed for the transportation reauthorization bill. And we did really well. It ended up at the end of 2020 G. I don’t know why maybe the political scene was just too terrible. But they didn’t pass anything, because Congress was just so divided. They didn’t end up passing the transportation reauthorization bill. They punted to this year. So now, six years later, we’re doing our transportation reauthorization bill. I know long winded but so we were working on the transportation reauthorization bill, Joe Biden comes in with his American jobs plan, and he’s like, I don’t want to do infrastructure. I have this big infrastructure plan. So we worked with the on both the Senate and the House side to get transportation reauthorization bills going. And then the Senate was also separately working on an infrastructure package. Now they’ve combined their infrastructure package with the senate reauthorization with Bill. So those two have come together. And now that’s it’s not a perfect bill. It’s got a lot of problems, but it’s really good for biking. So we are very much in support of it, because it does do a lot of great things for biking. We wish it was different. And we’ve tried through various amendments to get it to be closer to everything we loved about the House Bill, the house investor and America Act. That one was very forward thinking it was very good on climate, very good on equity. And I think that, you know, we still have hope that through a very intricate reconciliation process. Do not ask me about that. Because that I could not answer your questions on reconciliation. But I know what’s the word they throw around. And you see a lot that we do think through that process, we’ll be able to get a few more changes to the bipartisan infrastructure, though. But overall, we think what’s happening right now in Congress is good for people who bike and we’re looking forward to a lot more money coming down the road, for bike lanes, and trails and infrastructure that will make it a lot better for people to bike and walk. And one of the big things we’re also very excited at is some safety policy changes and funding changes. That will now kind of crazy, because I’m gonna say this, and you’ll feel like motion happy how it is, but in fact, no, and but now, thanks to some changes in Congress, the states that have high injury and fatality rates for people who like and walk will actually have to spend money to fix that. So previously, they wouldn’t have to spend that much money on it. Now, they’re actually going to have to spend up to 13% of all of their Highway Safety funding on fixing dangerous roads for people who buy. So that’s an addition to the bigger pot for infrastructure. We think it’s good, could be better. But we’re very happy about where this is going to go for communities and states. Yeah, I
Heather Mason 36:16
mean, I have goosebumps right now. I think this is super positive. And you think that’s the way it should be? Right. So I’m really glad that they’re gonna be held accountable and required to make the changes necessary. Thanks for boiling that down for us. I really appreciate it. It made total sense. You talked on equity a little bit in, you know, equity, diversity inclusion. I saw that on your web page as well. And we know it’s super important. Can you speak to the work that the league is doing in that regard?
Lauren Jenkins 36:42
Yeah, the league is very committed to increasing the work we have been doing on equity usually had been a really at the forefront in the early 2010s. I want to say 2013, thanks to a Daniela Lugo, who worked for the league and some other really forward thinking women, we put out the new majority report in 2013, with the Sierra Club that really laid out sort of the state of the demographics of the bike, who was biking and what was stopping them from biking, the barriers to biking in upcoming months, I wish I could give you a specific date. But very soon, before September 30, we’ll be releasing an update to the new majority report, to really sort of see where we’ve been over the last quick math eight years, since the first new majority report came out and see where where we haven’t improved, where we have improved and what the community of people who want to make better and better can do. So not just the league, because building has work to do. But I think we all as a bike community have work to do to make this a more welcoming place and inclusive place for everyone. So this report is hopefully going to give us at least some steps and also give the larger community some steps to about why this is where we are. And this is what we can do to do better. Because we know you we all have our work. Now, I want to say all of our work before as well. You know, we have always tried and want and put our VDI and equity of diversity inclusion at the forefront. But I think you look at the results as a whole for the whole bi community like we could be doing better, right? This is something that we thought we were doing and now we see we need to be doing better. And this is where we’re saying okay, we are going to do better. And one of the things that we’ve been really excited to be working with quality by kvp quality by product and that the good foundation, Rebecca versus organization is our LCI equity scholarship program. So with Rebecca wishes be good foundation and cutiepie, we’ve been able to host more gift free LCI training to black, indigenous and people of color. So we’re just always wanted to be diversifying our LCI pool, but this has really given us a way to remove the barriers to doing it right. And to not just say like, Oh, we want you but saying like, no, come on in. Here’s a scholarship, we want you to be a bike educator. So it was a struggle at first because we were doing just, we weren’t doing our CI seminars for a while because of COVID. We put them all on pause and we started doing few virtual ones. But now that we’re back, ramping up our LCI seminars in person, really getting those equity scholarships out there and into the world. And really just grateful for that industry support of those.
Heather Mason 39:30
I had no idea about that. I think that’s wonderful, because it’s a great idea to be LCI, right, but you do have to have money. It’s a program that costs money. So by removing those barriers, we’re getting more people into this for and it can only be Yeah, Rebecca is amazing. qbp is a fantastic supporter of The MBTI. So I had no idea that program existed and I’m really thankful to hear you say that.
Lauren Jenkins 39:49
I know. I’m always like, I think as a communications person, I’m always like, it’s a double edged sword. I’m like, Oh, no, she’s never heard of an opportunity. No, it’s it’s good.
Heather Mason 39:59
Well, there’s So much like I don’t even know how you get there. Okay, just a couple more questions. I’m just thinking you probably do work with retailers. I mean, I don’t know if you directly work with retailers. But is there any success stories or any retailer that’s done something with it, like left an impression with you that you think other retailers could learn from, you know,
Lauren Jenkins 40:17
I want to say Santa Monica spoke, I think that might not even be their real name. But I know we have some great partners in Santa Monica, and the retail space that they believe are a platinum level, bicycle friendly business. So our highest level of bicycle friendly business. And for us, that’s really the one of our favorite ways for retailers to get involved. And I think my colleague, Amelia, who runs a bicycle, funny America program, I think, is probably always looking for ways to get more bicycle, or bike shops and retailers involved. Because it’s one thing to sell bikes, it’s another thing to really understand and be part of the community of making bikes better. So I think that one of the ones that stands out in Santa Monica, they go out of their way to offer leave a like electric cargo bikes that they offer, like rent that’s like cheap rentals for people in the community to get their first taste of what being an E cargo biker is like, really trying to transform their local community out there. And then I wish I remembered these names better. But there was a reason bicycle friendly business round where when some of our bicycle friendly businesses were retailers were doing pop up, fix it workshops for free, and underserved communities. So taking, you know, a lot of shops had the van or they have the mobile workshop that they can take out. So he’s got these guys, I believe they were in Florida, we’re taking they’re driving their bands out to the sort of the communities where they don’t have a storefront, but the same owner, but if you come here, and we can fix your flat, do these things for free. And I think for us, you know, that’s the best thing. That’s where we see retailers just doing the best thing for the league, it’s like you’re going out there and you’re doing the work to build a bicycle friendly community in America for everyone, by going out and being that member of the community, I live a couple blocks from a bike shop, rip no longer in business, that you know, one of those shops where I don’t know, if you have a shop where you just love hanging out, you love the love the people that work there, and you’re just like, you’re not buying anything, really, I’m just gonna hang out here a few hours. And it was one of those shots. And I just remember, it’s funny because, you know, it’s the kind of shot where someone would bring in their Ex Works Ben and have a prison mark on it. But it was also the shop where someone who worked at the Dunkin next door would bring in their puffy to get some work done. And I just loved seeing the way to guys, they would treat every bike sort of like an every person that came in is like someone who was worthy of having their bike fixed. You know, it’s like that’s, you know, be a member of the community in that way and show everyone that sort of respect for getting it fixed. I’m also just remembering a shop I visited in California where they had a sign that said, like, your Walmart bike sucks in the back. And in the like. I was like, I mean, I get it like they’re not going to work out and they’re not
Heather Mason 43:03
be a good human right. And it’s all add up and one person can make a difference. And I think every bicycle retailer should be on this list of a bicycle friendly. Like it makes sense to me. You’re a writer yourself, right?
Lauren Jenkins 43:18
Yeah, yeah. Anything coming anymore? But oh, gosh, I had so much. I don’t know if you had this that I had so much. FOMO it felt like everyone I knew was it steamboat. I was like, I was having this much fun, although not fun, but like fun, but not fun. You know? Yeah.
Heather Mason 43:38
It’s like you do that to yourself, right? It’s like, I wouldn’t want to be there. It’s not that much fun. Oh, god, look at those photos.
Lauren Jenkins 43:46
And all the prewriting fun. Yeah, I think you know, for me, this year is still sort of a, I’m looking forward to cross camp. Because there’s drinking and there’s gravel riding. I’m not really looking forward to trying to remember how to pop a barrier or get back on a bike or any of that. But I’m really looking forward to the process the fun parts.
Heather Mason 44:08
So if anyone wants to contact you, would you share or should they go to the website? Or what do you think?
Lauren Jenkins 44:14
Yeah, I’m just Lauren at bikery dot o RG email wise, you ra n. And I’m also on Twitter, although it’s very melancholy these days. Because if you ever go on Twitter, things are scary out there. I don’t even know. Good. Thank you. pretty terrifying. Thanks for that I’m also on Twitter and the Vikings on twitter at likely. So follow us there. Especially we read in my camps persons doing a great job doing bicycle friendly tips. So for whether you’re a business or community or in a university, trying to get like this simple breakdown of like what it takes. We’ve been doing a lot of shares that sort of stuff on social media lately. So that’s I think that’s it. Yeah, retailers try
Heather Mason 44:57
to like reshare or whatever. Yeah, I love that. Yeah.
Lauren Jenkins 45:00
It’s funny, you were talking about the website, you know, I was like, Oh, no, not the website. Because it is very dense. You know, and we understand that and we’re very, we’re looking forward to and starting the process of getting a new website. But you probably know how that goes. So it’s a process and but in the meantime, there is a lot on our current website, it’s a good thing in a bad thing. I understand. You have to dive in and really commit to it.
Heather Mason 45:22
Yeah, and membership to the bag is not that expensive, and there’s so much you’re doing so I highly suggest anyone who’s listening individual retailer, go, please check it out. Lauren, thank you. You’re awesome.
Lauren Jenkins 45:33
You’re welcome. And do be in touch if anyone out there has questions because we are a small scrappy team. So we’re always happy to address individual questions. If you have any. Please feel free to reach out.
Heather Mason 45:43
Well, I like this deep dive into the work you’re doing and some of the efforts and I hope it brings awareness. Thank you again for having me, Heather, and hopefully we’ll see each other soon. I gotta get back on your webinars to women’s webinars. Right and I’m really excited about the women’s so that’s been going well so alright, so that is it. I invite you to connect with me. Come on bicycle, retail radio, share your story with our listeners, lots of love for our industry. There’s lots of great webinars coming up member networking meetings every Monday, check out the MBDA website. If you’d like to support the show, the best way is to share with your friends share on social media your favorite episode, we appreciate your support. Thank you for listening now goby. Great.
NBDA 46:22
This has been bicycle retail radio by the National bicycle Dealers Association. For more information on membership, and member benefits, join us at nbda.com
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The NBDA has been here since 1946, representing and empowering specialty bicycle dealers in the United States through education, communications, research, advocacy, member discount programs, and promotional opportunities. As shops are facing never-before-seen circumstances, these resources offer a lifeline. Together, we will weather this. We at the NBDA will not waver in our commitment to serving our members even during this challenging time—but we need your support.
Now is the time to become a member as we join together to make one another stronger. Whether you’re a retailer or an industry partner, your membership in the NBDA is one of the best investments you’ll make this year.
Learn more about the benefits of being a member and join now.
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