I've often argued that if bicycle advocates want to encourage cycling, they could learn a thing or two from the tourism and restaurant industries. Publicly celebrate the good, and fix the bad behind the scenes.

Imagine if the tourism industry distributed color coded "tourism suitability maps" for visitors, with red and purple areas highlighting the high-crime and low-rent districts, or if the restaurant industry handed out color coded maps based on health inspection ratings. The reader would immediately develop a negative impression. In contrast, these industries highlight the popular and highly rated places, and promote safety at a much lower profile.

I'm a novice wine drinker. I recently attended an educational/entertainment "wine dinner" at a local Italian restaurant that greatly expanded my understanding and appreciation of the different grapes and the pairing of wine with food. It was a great experience that left me wanting to do it again, and to try it on my own - and not just the "safe" pairings, but choices based on better knowledge. I like comparing the wine instructor's approach to ways that cycling advocates, including LCIs like myself, could help novices enjoy cycling more.

Several years ago I designed a "Historic Downtown Cary" ride that included some historic sights and food destinations along the way. I've also noticed the popularity of other rides that included social and destination components. The route choice and how ride leaders treat the novices are big factors in how enjoyably the activity will be experienced. Successful encouragement is about promoting enjoyment and possibility.

In terms of maps, I've encouraged Cary and Raleigh to continue their "attractions" based bike maps for the public instead of switching to "suitability" maps that have been proposed. The "attractions" maps treat recommended routes as "scenic," "enjoyable," "pleasant" routes instead of "safe" routes, which would imply that most others are unsafe. I've suggested that engineers and planners keep a separate engineering/planning map for identifying problem areas that they need to work on, making more "strategic" corridors "pleasant" and vice-versa.

Some bicycle advocates get worked up over hating cars. It's happened to me. But I think we need to set that issue aside when encouraging bicycling, and focus on what it is that we love about bikes.