I live in Dallas and I have never seen so many bikes on the road, and path and sidewalk as I have this last year. I think this is part due to the Lance factor brought on by the latest TdF but we have also seen a huge spike in organized rides and I don't mean the typical "roadie" rides you see at your LBS where everyone is riding the latest hideous looking "wonder" frame that looks like a NASCAR reject and walking in moon shoes. There are now several casual rides here each week that are composed of the non-licra crowd who are riding for social purposes. Most of those are on vintage or crazy looking bikes with a few mountain bikes thrown in for flavor. Women comprise about 50% of those rides, which is good for any sport. We even have a monthly "Critical Mass" ride now which is more of a Tour of Downtown that is very peaceful and quiet for that matter. Heck, we have a single speed/fixie ride every Monday night even and the turn our has been amazing.

Our public transist just now installed bike racks on all the buses (yes we're a bit behind the times in some areas) and we have a few city council members who are becoming very vocal about making Dallas more cycle friendly. In fact we had "Bike to City Hall" event yesterday and several city council people rode and spoke about their plans for improving cycling opportunities. The local paper printed a nice article on the event today.

We have also had city council members tour cities like Portland recently in an attempt to figure out what works and why. Our previous city "bike coordinator" was a controversial figure and not well liked by anyone outside the "take a lane" licra crowd. His replacement is a hit so far.

My buddy at the LBS tells me business has never been better.

Cycling is alive and blooming in Dallas, Texas.

ps. councilwoman Angela Hunt is HOT and I would love to go on a licra ride with her!



Chris