It’s easy to declare that Bicycle Colorado wants our state to be known for its amazing views and scenery, and as a place where you can ride a bike anywhere you want to go and be treated with respect.

It’s another thing to achieve this lofty goal. It takes vision. It takes leadership. But more importantly, it takes support from people who love to ride their bicycles and want to improve bicycling for everyone.

Our membership grew by 8% in fiscal year 2012, and financial contributions have increased by a whopping 94% in the past four years. We believe this growth shows us that we’re doing a better job reaching people who believe in our work (do you follow us on Facebook and Twitter?), and that the work we do is growing in importance to the people we reach.

These numbers are critical to us. Because even though we’ve helped make great changes around bicycling happen in our state (you’ll read about some recent successes in this issue), we’re facing major challenges ahead:

• New state and federal transportation laws threaten to cut bicycling projects, potentially setting back improvements to roads, education programs, trail building and more.
• As the number of people riding bicycles grows, anti-bicyclist voices gain media attention.
• Our communities still lack a complete bicycle network.
• Twenty years ago, bicycle advocacy was not on anyone’s radar in Colorado. Today, Bicycle Colorado is considered a model for how to do it right. We’re entering our third decade of building a fun, safe and bicycle friendly Colorado on steady ground.
• Our board of directors reaches across industries, ages and types of riders.
• Our staff-just eight of us-accomplishes amazing volumes of work. Each of us is fueled by a love of riding bikes and the desire to give Colorado bicyclists a safe and friendly place to ride.
• Our relationships with businesses, local bicycle advocacy organizations, and elected and agency officials are stronger than ever.

We believe that, with continued financial support from members and donors, we will be miles ahead five years from now. As isolated bike lanes and bike paths branch into community-wide bicycle networks, riding a bike becomes an easy choice for people to make. Continued education to drivers, bicyclists and law enforcement improves civility on our roads. Improving trail access close to where people live opens
new connections to Colorado’s natural beauty.

We’re proud of what we accomplished in 2012, and we are truly grateful that it was possible because of strong community support, including yours.

Thanks for riding with us,
Dan Grunig
Executive Director

Terry Malouf
President, Board of Directors