It’s clean and green; it’s good for your health and your wallet. It’s bicycling, and Lansing has more than its share of advocates and aficionados. With today’s environmental concerns, the search for a healthy lifestyle and the realities of today’s economy, bicycling is enjoying increased popularity. And two organizations headquartered in Lansing are leading the way.

The League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB), led by Executive Director Rich Moeller, is a 26-year-old advocacy, education and information-sharing group, which also sponsors events, publishes its own newsletter and maintains an informative website for both avid bikers and beginners.

According to Moeller, “Michigan is a great place for biking. We have shorelines on all sides, extensive bike trails, remote and rugged wilderness in the Upper Peninsula, hills and valleys and miles of rolling fields. Except for that slight interruption called winter, there’s no place better.”

LMB advocates for the rights of bicyclists at all levels of state and local government, and, in addition to that core mission, sponsors five tours in the summer throughout the state; produces a quarterly Michigan Bicyclist Magazine; publishes an annual Michigan Ride Calendar with all of Michigan’s invitational tours and single- and multiple-day rides; participates in the Michigan Safe Routes to School Program and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, which promote student biking; publishes and distributes a bike safety handbook (What Every Michigan Bicyclist Must Know); promotes Bike to Work Week; and participates in events throughout the state and beyond promoting Michigan bicycling.”

For more information on the group and its activities, visit the LMB website at www.lmb.org.

Since 1972, the Tri-County (Ingham/Clinton/Eaton) Bicycle Association (TCBM) has been dedicated to promoting the use of bicycles for recreation and transportation; educating bicyclists as to their rights and responsibilities; and advancing public awareness. With over 1,500 members, the TCBA is the largest local bicycling organization in Michigan.

According to member Tom Hardenbergh, “In 1973, we were asked to operate the DALMAC (Dick Allen Lansing to Mackinaw Bicycle Tour) which had been originated in 1971 by former state Senator Dick Allen. This recreational tour has grown over the years so much that last summer we had over 2,000 riders. DALMAC is managed entirely by volunteers and raises money in support of many bicycling programs without asking riders to collect pledges. The DALMAC Fund, of which I am chair, allocates money for bicycle-related organizations and causes. Since 1985 when this fund was created, over $700,000 has been raised for safety and education programs, bicycle trail development and statewide bicycle organizations.”

For more information on the TCBM and DALMAC, visit their website at www.biketcba.org.

Bill Strickland, in The Quotable Cyclist, said, “The bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created. Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon.”

		Jane Whittington