We held Walk It! Bike It! open input sessions at the end of 2019 and fielded all sorts of great ideas for the coming year. While the committee has been ticking off the boxes on our safety and public education initiatives for a couple years now, we want to start pursuing the idea of building up the local bike culture. There was interest and there were ideas.

One of the first that we're tackling is the idea of offering public programs of general interest on a regular basis. We have been holding monthly and even bi-monthly committee meetings since 2015, but an invitation to that is not always the most compelling. People do want to get together, just not to discuss logistics!

So, we've come up with a slate of topics and activities and we're kicking off with monthly programs on the first Tuesdays of the month (with some exceptions for weather, like the very first one which wound up being rescheduled for Monday, January 13). For the first four months of the year, we will be meeting at 7pm at the Public Library for Union County. And then, once we get to Bike Month, May, we'll start meeting at Earl's and doing a combination of rides and more hands-on info sessions.

The topics for the indoor programs will be:

• January: Introduction to the new regional bike/ped plan
• February: Rail Trail Travelogue -- a Slideshow
• March: Bike Infrastructure Best Practices Slideshow
• April: Local Mountain Bike Racing for Grades 7 to 12

The outdoor sessions will start on May 5, again at 7pm, but at Earl's. The first ride will be approximately 8 miles, out to the Vicksburg Trailhead for refreshments and back. We'll gauge the interest at that time for planning future ride length and location. Topics to be covered in these sessions will include:

• Road safety
• Stepping up your riding
• Getting into gravel
• Where to ride

As all of these programs have arisen from public input, we also are always open to feedback and new ideas for programs as we move forward. We'd love to find out what you think and help you get involved.