The Iowa Bicycle Coalition is under new leadership. Luke Hoffman is replacing Mark Wyatt as the statewide non-profit organization’s executive director. Hoffman says he has lofty goals for the future, starting with getting the Safe Routes to School program in every school and in every school district in Iowa so kids can experience the joys of alternative transportation.

Hoffman says, “The impact that that can have with a kid who instead of being driven to school on a bus or maybe by their parents in a car, can experience what it’s like to get to school awake and excited, their blood’s moving from having biked there in a very safe way, maybe with some friends — that helps build them a community of people.”

Wyatt helped to found the coalition 19 years ago and its mission all along has been to unite all cyclists across the state. Hoffman says he’s dedicated to continuing on that path.

“That happens through a variety of events, fun rides like the Bacoon Ride, we’ve obviously got RAGBRAI,” Hoffman says. “So how do we connect a bike club that meets for a Monday night gravel ride, maybe in Sioux City, to the bike club that meets in Iowa City and have them feel this affinity, and I think that’s a role that coalition can play.”