The following is an excerpt from the Winter 2014 Spoken Wheel, the Bicycle Coalition’s print newsletter. 

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The lifecycle of the Bicycle Coalition is impressive. The community catalyzed passion, passion bred generosity, generosity established success, and success generated investment.

Our persistent focus on community, working to improve local quality of life through a more bicycle friendly Central Coast continues to find great success. The Kitchen, Valet, and Education programs have reached tens of thousands of residents, helping each and every one of them actively recall the joy of riding a bicycle. We are ecstatic to witness our programs help more people find the confidence and develop the skills needed to use a bicycle for everyday transportation. Education and inspiration are essential components of our mission and represent our focus on creating change externally to make our community an even better place to live. Meanwhile, to compliment the strong showing of outward accomplishment, the Coalition never stops working on self-improvement.

Backed by the combined strength of thousands of donors, members, and volunteers we stand at a crossroads. Throughout the last few years, we have often said that the organization was in its late teens or early twenties. We moved out of our parent’s house, Clever Ducks, and found our first apartment, the headquarters in downtown SLO. We learned how to plan strategically, meet our budget goals, and save for the future. We increased our capacity to do good work in the community. We helped local governments plan and build miles upon miles of new, safer bikeways throughout the region. Now, the Bicycle Coalition aims to become an adult. We are committed to reaching every school with safety assemblies, providing smarter services for people needing help with their bicycles, and more important than all, working with local governments to build more bicycle friendly improvements on a faster timeline.

Your incredible support has initiated tremendous accomplishments and organizational growth over the years. Since 2009, the Bicycle Coalition has expanded our staff from one dedicated individual to a team of five. Our annual income has increased an average of 16% every year. We have three times the resources in our reserve so we can remain absolutely confident that the organization will exist for decades to come. Within the next few months, we will hire our first ever Program Director, to manage and further improve our valuable programs. Thanks to the leadership of our Board of Directors, we also take aim at the long-term goal of achieving an impassioned bicycle friendly majority in every decision making body in San Luis Obispo County. We’re looking forward to 2014 and know that your generosity is the key to our every accomplishment.

The community catalyzed passion, passion bred generosity, generosity established success, and success generated investment. Investment expanding the Bicycle Coalition is reflected by increasing government investment in safer streets. Now the community wields power.

See you in the Bike Lane,

Dan Rivoire, Executive Director