Over the summer, Metra invited riders to review its strategic plan at a series of open houses. Riders for Better Transit attended and provided feedback about the plan on behalf of our suburban members. Thank you to those of you who attended a meeting in your area and shared your own input on the plans as well.

Metra has taken the input it received from these open houses and made further adjustments to its goals and objectives, capital funding priorities and even its mission statement. They are now ready to update riders with these changes at a new round of public meetings! Find dates/times and the location nearest to you.

In most cases, these strategic planning open houses will also serve as public hearings for Metra’s 2013 budget, which was recently released. Thankfully, this year’s budget does not call for any service cuts or fare increases at this time. But it does paint a rather unhappy picture of Metra’s finances in the coming years. Particularly vulnerable, according to the budget, is Metra’s Capital Investment Program--the money needed for making long term investment in the structural aspects of the system. Metra’s budget makes it clear that if it cannot get the funding it needs from the state of Illinois, federal transportation funds and other expected sources, they may yet be forced to consider raising fares.

Active Trans plans to make comments about both the strategic plan and the budget at these upcoming meetings--and continuing our push for better transit, without fare increases or service cuts. We’ll encourage Metra to make decisions that put the riders first. Join us!

Throughout my life, I have found a great deal of enjoyment on a bicycle; as a child careening about on a Huffy with a coaster brake; as a teenager bombing down mountain trails in Alabama; in my early 20s as a bike commuter and endurance rider. In all its variations, the feeling of riding a bike is inimitable. The bicycle, with its mechanical advantage, allows us as humans to surpass our natural capabilities for speed and distance. It seems only natural that the Wright Brothers fostered an enthusiasm for cycles and bike parts via their bike shop. It’s the perfect half-step between walking and full flight.

The natural high of riding a bike was eventually replaced by a runner’s high. Post-college, I found myself entering 5K runs, and later half-marathons, as I discovered my love for endurance sports and nurtured my competitive side. I capped this off with an Olympic-distance triathlon before realizing, once again, that the bike was where I needed to be. Except this time, I wanted to race them.

I dove headfirst into road cycling in early 2011 when I joined a local bike club, began riding longer distances with faster people, and got completely swept up in the Tour de France. I’d never felt anything like the passion that I discovered in the culture, camaraderie, traditions, and sport of cycling. That summer, I discovered a cycling hero in Thomas Voeckler, a Frenchman who would hold the coveted leader’s jersey for several stages of the Tour, seemingly racing beyond his physical limits as he attacked the grueling climbs of the Alps. Astonished at his capabilities (compared to the Tour favorites), I had no reason to believe that Voeckler or any of these riders I saw on TV were involved with blood doping. This, of course, was the Tour, post-Lance Armstrong.  I mean, we were past all that, right?

I had been a huge fan of Lance, as many were and still are. Despite the allegations that he’d used performance-enhancing drugs, his seemingly infinite endurance and will to succeed were an inspiration in my days as a competitive athlete. In sharing this inspiration with fellow cyclists, I was faced with the countless dismissals: “That dude is using drugs. You know that, right?” For years, my reaction was stubborn: I didn’t understand blood doping and I didn’t want to. But more than anything, I had a hero, and I needed to keep him heroic.

But every time someone accused him, I started to see cracks in the hero myth. I didn’t want to. I trusted in Lance’s superhuman genetics and cardiovascular system, his comeback story. (I believed just as strongly in my new heroes like Voeckler—after I lost faith in Lance.) I was torn between my will to believe in something great and the inevitable bite of losing my hopeful naïveté.

As I eventually found my way into the delightful world of amateur racing, it became hard to stay that way. In my final moment of defending Lance, a fellow rider explained “Look, it’s not just him. It’s everyone. It’s just how the pros do it.”

Among bike racers, it’s understood: If you want to succeed as a WorldTour pro—the highest level of bicycle road racing, featuring the longest and hardest races known to man—you have to augment your body’s capabilities. Not because these guys can’t complete the races without drugs, but because they’re racing at the very highest level, where there’s no room for error. The tiniest increases in efficiency are sought fanatically, both in the riders and in the machines they ride.

Among a peloton of the world’s fittest athletes, the incremental performance boost from doping is enough to annihilate the competition. Period. One guy does it and then everyone has to, just to keep things competitive. I was disappointed, and thoroughly so, to hear about this. But then it became the reality of pro cycling to me, and I learned to accept it as a bitter, pragmatic truth.

As Armstrong’s former teammate, George Hincapie, put it, "Given the widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs by cyclists at the top of the profession, it was not possible to compete without them." I think the important word here is “compete.” Strong, successful racers were suddenly finding they could no longer keep up with their rivals. They were faced with the decision to start doping or lose, and they doped to level the playing field. (Well, not everyone. Read about one former pro who refused to follow the trend.)

As the revelations of doping in cycling continue to make news, what’s become clear to me is the pervasive presence of disappointment, not only for fans and amateur racers, but for the pro riders themselves. As riders issue apologies, accept punishments, and explain their regrets, you can almost feel the collective sigh of catharsis.  

As we take a deep breath and look ahead, my hope is this: With this fresh and startling level of truth-seeking comes a healing process that follows up “the doping years” with a new era of heroes. An era where today’s junior racers might find their way to the highest level of the sport and have the opportunity to race “clean,” with no pressure to do otherwise. An era in which the inspirational elements of cycling—the personalities and legends and superhuman feats—might one day be something else: Just human.

Simply, wonderfully human.

Afterword: Following the submission of this post, I read this article, written by someone with significantly more first-hand experience than myself. Pro cycling may be closer to reaching a new level of honesty than I thought. 

Thanks to the efforts of many officials and residents, Evanston has been designated a Bicycle Friendly Community (Silver Level) by the League of American Bicyclists. Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl, the city aldermen, Director of Public Works Suzette Robinson and her engineering team, the city sustainability and planning staff, and Evanston biking advocates all played a part in achieving this impressive distinction.

The Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) program recognizes communities that prioritize quality of life, sustainability and transportation needs. Municipalities with the BFC designation are known to be great places to bike, live, work and visit. The League of American Bicyclists has awarded three U.S. cities its Platinum level designation, 17 cities Gold level, and now Evanston joins a group of 47 communities around the country with Silver level BFC status.

The League has noted the following aspects of Evanston’s efforts to build a world-class bicycle friendly community:

"From Evanston’s bicycle commuters who ride to save on automobile and fuel expenses, the recreational bicyclist who enjoys viewing the neighborhoods and scenery, to the environmentally conscious rider who wishes to ease urban congestion and combat climate change, Evanston is a bike city at heart.

"Evanston has invested in signage, bike lanes, trails through parks, bike parking and linkage of trails with surrounding communities to make the streets accessible and safe for all types of cyclists. Evanston also employs road diets and area wide traffic calming to make the roads safer for all users.

"Evanston is also known for its ongoing community engagement and understanding of the needs and desires of the community as they evolve. Evanston city staff designed and constructed a protected bike lane after hearing that more residents want to enjoy their community by bike but are still hesitant to ride in the street next to moving vehicle traffic."

Congrats to the Evanston Environment Board, Citizen's Greener Evanston's Transportation Task Force, School District 65 Ad-Hoc Green Committee, Walk N Roll Evanston, the Evanston Bicycle Club and the Ten27 Bicycle Shop.

The Bicycle Friendly Community Award will be presented to the Evanston City Council on Monday, October 22 at 7:00 p.m.

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Last night Riders for Better Transit was on hand for the first public meeting about CTA plans for Bus Rapid Transit on Western and Ashland Avenues. An impressive number of community residents turned out to learn more about CTA proposals to bring better bus service to their neighborhood. 

Many attendess arrived at Iglesia Rebano Church even earlier than the scheduled 5:30 p.m. door opening to hear about the project. Before being shown the four alternatives the CTA has in mind for Western and Ashland, transit riders were able to view exhibit posters from the Chicago Architecture Foundation and talk to non-profit organizations that support the project, which included Riders for Better Transit. We gave attendes some background on the ideas behind the project and why we support bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Chicago, and we helped them navigate the abundance of information the public meeting contained—nearly 40 panel boards of statistics, maps and plan explanations.

Residents came with varying degrees of prior information about the topic. Some had been to earlier public meetings and were interested in seeing how the CTA had narrowed the options since June. Some were completely unfamiliar with the BRT project but saw a sign for the meeting on the bus and worried they might be losing service. Most seemed happy with the idea of improving bus service, and several submitted comments to the CTA about the alternatives.

We were happy to see a few Active Trans members (and Riders for Better Transit supporters) attend, several of whom asked important questions about how bicyclists would be accommodated in these plans. Cyc and encouraging the CTA to work with the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020.

Two more public meetings are scheduled for this week. Riders for Better Transit will be at all of them, and we hope to see many more transit riders, residents, business owners, and cyclists join us!

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