This will be the last Ride Reminder of the decade. So much has changed in the last 10 years. Many websites didn't survive and BIKEIOWA is a very different site than we were 10 years ago, but thanks to Iowa cycling, and our readers, there is never a dull moment. Iowa continues to be one of the coolest cycling communities in the USA and still under the radar of most. Thanks to everyone who uses BIKEIOWA for the resource is it and to our sponsors who make BIKEIOWA possible!
Early Bird - 2020 Events
It is time to start planning your weekends for 2020. If you are hosting an event in 2020, it is time to get it posted on the calendar. Event coordinators can post their own events and edit at any time. Even if you don't know all the details, you can at least get it on the calendar now to hold the date. Post a New Event. If your event occurred last year, you can save some typing and clone your event by going to the event and clicking on the "clone" button or from the event list in your dashboard.
By the numbersWe like analytics and these numbers from the last ten years are astounding:
- 9,591 - Events posted with 25,940,378 views.
- 4,500 - News posted with 16,611,398 views.
- 642 - Features posted with 4,452,600 views.
- 109 - Reviews posted with 568,825 views.
- 33 - Blog posts with 872,878 views.
- 298 - Trails (over 2,445 miles of trail) added with 2,526,592 views.
- 1,009 - Cities added with 5,993,153 views.
- 220 - added to the Ride of Silence - "Injured" list (This is only a tiny fraction of cyclists who got injured.)
- 77 - added to the Ride of Silence - "Killed" list
So Social A social media presence is now expected from every business and we have committed to keeping ours fresh and frequent. To date we have 13,095 Facebook followers, 7,274 Twitter followers and 3,221 Instagram followers.
What's Next for BIKEIOWA? Keep bringing fresh and unique content and adding more news, features, reviews and blogs. There are so many cycling-related newsworthy things going on in Iowa each month. We just have to make the time to write about them all. We also plan to keep the Ride Reminders coming at least monthly - maybe bi-weekly given the months and the amount of rides, news, etc. - especially during the peak summer months. We'll also continue supporting and advocating for campaigns to make Iowa a less deadly state for cyclists.
What would YOU like to see us do ? See something that we could be doing? Missing functionality? Email us!
Top 10 Most Popular Events in 2019- Follow Your Folly - Cruiser 100 (6,099 views)
- Gents Race 9.0 (4,966 views)
- Des Moines Mayor's Annual Ride and Run for Trails (4,216 views)
- Monday Night No Drop Dirt Ride (4,081 views)
- Polk City's Annual Big Creek Bike Ride (3,963 views)
- Iowa Spring Classic - Cumming Adventure 2019 (3,928 views)
- Monday Night No Drop Ride (MNNDR) (3,839 views)
- Tour Of Mississippi River Valley (TOMRV 42) (3,194 views)
- Embrace the Hills (3,104 views)
- MayDay All Bike Swap Meet (3,060 views)
Top 10 Most Popular News in 2019- Trestle Trail Bridge in Johnston collapses in ice jam (4,444 views)
- 83-year-old Iowa City bicyclist dies after being struck by minivan on old Highway 218 (4,002 views)
- Various Central Iowa Trail updates (3,969 views)
- Bicyclist killed after being hit by car (2,755 views)
- Pedaler’s Jamboree Iowa 2019 Plans (2,487 views)
- Make an donation to Des Moines Trails (2,158 views)
- Happy Anniversary to Kyle's Bikes (1,890 views)
- Bike Rags Apparel has a new website!! (1,737 views)
- Gravel Race: Icy CIRREM Embraces the Suck of February in Iowa (1,704 views)
- Editorial: We need to invest in infrastructure (1,682 views)
Top 10 Most Popular Features in 2019 - BIKEIOWA's RAGBRAI Expo and route plans (3,967 views)
- Come see what BIKEIOWA has to offer at the Iowa Bike Expo (2,885 views)
- RAGBRAI XLVII ROUTE RELEASED (2,856 views)
- Ankeny Bike Club formed to get more youth and families riding bikes (2,757 views)
- RAGBRAI XLVII Route - pass-through towns released (2,514 views)
- The “Great American Rail-Trail” - a trail that will connect the country (2,491 views)
- Ride Reminders Revived (2,447 views)
- ACTION ALERT: Land Conservation and trails threatened by two bills in the Iowa legislature - Act now! (2,198 views)
- Bike Tech becomes an Official RAGBRAI Bike Shop (2,186 views)
- Bike Month - May 2019 (2,111 views)
Safety Concerns On average 7 cyclists are killed and over 600 cyclists are injured each year in Iowa. The vast majority of the time, a driver does not get cited and when they do, the fines are as low as $250 for killing a cyclist. Iowa does great in terms of world-class trails and amenities, but in terms of safety, education and enforcement, not so much. Iowa is still a very rural state and many of the legislators from rural counties don't believe cyclists should be on the road. To date, a safe-passing law has not passed in Iowa - even though a vast majority of states in the USA already have a safe-passing law. Why is that? We believe it is a lack of education and enforcement.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety has not released any campaigns or press releases in the last 10 years about bicycle awareness (we searched and searched - please send info if they have!). There are press releases telling football fans to be safe at the Iowa vs. Iowa State games, but nothing has been cycling related in the last decade. If this state department has not recognized cyclist safety in the last decade, then why do we think a safe passing law, or stricter penalties or enforcement will happen? It won't.
Given Iowa is such a bicycle-friendly state, a "Bicycle Safety Awareness" campaign should be one of the TOP campaigns of all the public safety announcements... just like "buzzed driving is drunk driving", "fines double in a construction zone" and the "click it or ticket" campaigns. All these campaigns are successful because of the time and effort spent on education following by the enforcement. We know we will get ticketed and fined if we break these laws. It took time for us to learn these laws, and we know the ramifications are high for breaking these laws. What if the time, effort and enforcement was spent on a "Bicycle Safety Awareness" campaign? How many cyclists would still be living in the next decade if drivers knew the law and what would happen if they broke the law? Just remember the cyclist is sometimes at fault too and there would be the same types of enforcement.
RIDE SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR !!
Here is to another 10 years of connecting cyclists with Iowa communities to make cycling better in Iowa.
|