Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council Endorses Cyclists' Bill of Rights!

There would have been more to add to this if I'd remembered to take pictures, but the Great Cypress Park Neighborhood Council voted unanimously to endorse the Cyclists' Bill of Rights tonight, Tuesday, August 18, 2009! Yay!

I made a mistake (as you'll note in my earlier post), and I went to the Glassell Park Neighborhood Council meeting - a meeting which did not have Rourke Reagan, and a meeting with no mention of cycling or the Cyclists' Bill of Rigths on the agenda.

I was in a rush to get out the door in time for the 7 p.m. start, and I didn't catch my mistake until the Glassell Park meeting got under way. I dashed out to Glassell Park at full speed on my bakfiets, and I'd even convinced my wife to bring along our daughter for the evening.

What a surprise to see that I wasn't on the agenda when I could have sworn that I'd been emailed about it. Fortunately, an autistic man named Raymond got up to go to the bathroom and I asked him if there was another neighborhood council meeting tonight. Raymond is a neighborhood council nut - he is obsessed with attending and memorizing eery detail about the councils and their actions.

"Yes, the Greater Cypress Park Neighborhood Council is meeting right now! They have already started their meeting! Excuse me I have to go to the bathroom now," said Raymond, in his full voiced monotone. Great, I thought, I'm at the GPNC, when I needed to be at the GCPNC - both of which hold meetings that are only one mile apart on the same night at the same time.

So, we strapped baby into my bakfiets, I gave my wife a quick lift on the back of my bike to her car and off we dashed to the new state park in Cypress Park for the GCPNC (not he GPNC) meeting.

We arrived in time to catch the first two hours of the meeting before I got called up to speak. Mommy took baby to play in the park. By the way, the GCPNC has, perhaps, one of the best family-friendly meeting locations I have ever used. The community room at the park is located ... well ... it's got doors on both sides of the room that are sound proof, but your kid can literally play right alongside the building while you're inside complaining about DONE, the mayor, or a lousy neighbor. The food was awesome, and free, and the new park though totally over run with families is a blast and almost too much fun with all the wild boys and girls running around jumping and playing, parkour training older guys, basketball, soccer, baseball, bike riding, etc. etc. going on.

I gave a spiel, answered (poorly) some very pointed questions from the council, and in a few minutes time the GCPNC had unanimously voted to endorse the Cyclists Bill of Rights! An older guy at the meeting told me he worked with Joe Linton in the lawsuit to allow the park to be constructed, and had learned what bike advocates are all about in that fight. Way to go Joe!

Thanks to everyone on the GCPNC, especially Rourke Reagan (who encouraged me to come on behalf of the Bike Writer's Collective and got this on the agenda), and thanks also to my neighbors for agreeing with cyclists when they ask to respected, protected and given fair and safe access to the right of way!