Advocating for Bike Safety

Tom Butler: 0:04

This is the Cycling Over 60 podcast, season 2, episode 36, advocating for Bike Safety. And I'm your host, tom Butler. Thanks for joining me on my journey to use cycling to get and stay fit, as well as just enjoy all aspects of the bicycle. The Cycling Over 60 Strava Club is slowly growing. I am trying to post things that I think people might find interesting. Plus, I am working on planning some club events in the near future. One thing I would love to see is people posting upcoming rides in their area and then to drop some images in after the ride for everyone to see what's going on all over the place. I need a different banner for the club and I would love to make one out of your ride pictures.

Tom Butler: 1:00

I am continuing to plan the 400 plus mile trip across Washington. That is the challenge for this season. One area of the route that poses a particular challenge for me is the second day when I start with 42 miles climbing 6,923 feet. If I was going to do that today, I think I might only be able to average about six miles an hour for that section, to average about six miles an hour for that section. So that means seven hours to just do that. First 42 miles and then I have another 32 miles to go. That's not unbearable, but if I have to stop much it can make for a pretty long day. And then there is another day with 7,700 feet of climbing. That also will mean slow going. The main issue will be trying to keep my heart rate at a reasonable level. I need to find something to train on. That would be at least five miles with a consistent four to six percent grade. I would like to ride that occasionally to see if I can keep my heart rate under 155 beats per minute. I think I can maintain that level for seven hours with only a few breaks.

Tom Butler: 2:03

I have started wearing a continuous glucose monitor again. It makes such a huge difference for me to have that data. The other night after a ride, I went out and had Indian food I had rice and naan to test how I would react. My blood glucose level really spiked. I was hoping that I had become less sensitive to carbs and I was hoping that the ride might help with that, but I certainly didn't see a good response after the meal. It is possible that there was some added sugar to the dish I had. Any added sugar at all really triggers a blood glucose response from me, but I think this was just a response to the white rice and the refined wheat in the naan. I am trying to get back on track to bring my weight down under 200 pounds and for now the CGM is just really valuable to me in those efforts. This weekend we get to try out my wife Kelly's new bike and I am really hopeful that it goes well and we start riding together.

Tom Butler: 3:14

As I think I've demonstrated here on the podcast, I'm very intrigued by efforts to make roads more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. I got an opportunity this week to have Tyler Vasquez, the advocacy and policy manager for Cascade Bicycle Club, join me on the podcast. Cascade Bicycle Club join me on the podcast. While the work that Tyler does is specifically focused on Seattle, I think his efforts illustrate what is going on in cities across North America. Cascade Bicycle Club is the largest statewide club in the nation, so that does mean that they have resources to advocate for cyclists. That might not be available everywhere, but I think that makes it interesting to follow how a club like Cascade is working to affect change. Here is our conversation. I am joined today by someone who I feel is in a very unique position to talk about the future of cycling. Thank you, tyler Vasquez, for joining me.

Tyler Vasquez: 3:57

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Tom Butler: 4:00

You are with Cascade Bicycle Club. Can you talk about your role there?

Tyler Vasquez: 4:05

You are with Cascade Bicycle Club. Can you talk about your role there? Yes, I am the policy and advocacy manager at Cascade Bike Club and the nitty gritty of what I do in a day is I just make sure that bikes, bike infrastructure, people riding bikes are spoken for in Seattle's infrastructure policy throughout the city. So that's my job and I take it seriously.

Tom Butler: 4:30

Nice, I think you're fairly new there, am I right?

Tyler Vasquez: 4:34

Yes, I started January 19th, so today's April 3rd, and three months in more or less, I hit the ground running. And three months in more or less, I hit the ground running and I couldn't say that I have ever had a better boss, a better team and a better organization to sort of wear across my chest. So I'm excited to be here.

Tom Butler: 4:57

That's cool. Well, I think cyclists in general are just better people. That's a really biased thing to say, but but I do like everybody that I've met at Cascade Bicycle Club a lot. So congratulations on getting that position and thank you so much for what you do.

Tyler Vasquez: 5:15

Thank you, thank you.

Tom Butler: 5:17

Can you talk about your relationship to cycling as you were growing up?

Tyler Vasquez: 5:23

So I grew up in Southeast San Diego, which we didn't really use bikes for transportation to commute, and so my relationship with biking is was primarily recreational. I got a bike for Christmas and the limit of my kind of the boundary was block to block and we lived at one end of the block and our family friends were at the other end of the block, so that was the boundary of how far I rode my bike.

Tom Butler: 5:55

I find it a little bit interesting. It sounds like San Diego at the time was not very advanced as far as bike infrastructure. Is that a fair comment?

Tyler Vasquez: 6:06

I would say that the mindset was more for recreationalists. I would say that cycling has always been in the DNA of certain neighborhoods In San Diego. Triathlon was born there, and so there's a lot of routes. There's a large amount of cyclists, and so there's a lot of routes and there's a large amount of cyclists. I just think that it's more car centric transportation system. To actually think about riding your bike to work is may or more or less be taboo for a large amount of San Diegans.

Tom Butler: 6:37

Interesting. Have you always been interested in being active?

Tyler Vasquez: 6:47

in being active. Yeah, I would say. Several of the pictures on my parents' walls involved me either rollerblading, playing a ball of sports football, basketball, baseball being outside. My sister and I always played, so that was a central piece of our childhood and we always were active. My mom and dad always shuttled us from baseball game to baseball game, to football game, to basketball games. That was our average weekend, and not just in San Diego but throughout the West Coast.

Tom Butler: 7:17

And that continued on. In college, I believe I read something that sounded like you were involved with activities at University of Redlands, where you went.

Tyler Vasquez: 7:29

Yeah. So throughout my college experience I was the intramural coordinator. So I was that student representative that spoke for sports that weren't for other people that needed to be active, that former high school athlete that wanted to play water polo or play kickball I was that person that organized all of those sports. And you say, like cycling now is a part of my DNA, but intramurals was one of the identities or the hats that I wore throughout my University of Redlands days and I represented several organizations.

Tyler Vasquez: 8:05

One of my prides and joy was basically working with the executive board the board of trustees to fund a specific intramural field for our intramurals, to have students do alternative activities other than partying or shifting things away from that central, sometimes drinking culture. I was adamant we need an alternative, Similar to what I do is thinking about alternative modes to transportation. I feel like it's a similar mindset of what I used in college to basically get more people on board to fund a intramural field or infrastructure for intramurals. I'm doing something similar in Seattle's basically having people think outside of the box for bicycles and fund bicycle infrastructure and making sure that it's part of the DNA of Seattle and the right of way that we have on the road.

Tom Butler: 9:02

I love that concept of making it a part of the DNA of Seattle.

Tyler Vasquez: 9:07

Yeah.

Tom Butler: 9:09

I'm thinking there's a lot of moving parts when it comes to working with transportation in Seattle, but I'm thinking that as an advocate for intramurals at a university, as an advocate for intramurals at a university, that it's probably complicated system there as well and I'm thinking that you were kind of introduced to the art of working within competing and complicated not just financial resources but other priorities, things like that it seems like you were probably introduced to that kind of as a student.

Tyler Vasquez: 9:46

Right, I was introduced that as a student and I think just my college idealism hasn't really rubbed off yet and one of the things I always think about is like my message I don't think has changed since I've been in college.

Tyler Vasquez: 10:04

I've always thought safety is a big thing and we're having a rise in sort of like arrests and stuff like that of some of my friends from the drinking culture and I was like we got to have a safe alternative. If we schedule games later at night, people would want to play. We have competition, People want to come out and watch, and so that's how I phrased it and sort of that simplicity of breaking down an issue and sort of sticking it to your messaging and making sure that safe and a safe alternative is always there for people. That people will choose that safe alternative. Whether it's an intramural field or what I'm doing now, I think is pretty simple that we lead with safety and that safe alternative. People will choose it. And so I would say that I got introduced to sort of that mindset of advocating for something, but it's always been the same message from when I was 21 to now that I am in current days.

Tom Butler: 11:16

I like it. How did you become interested in transportation planning?

Tyler Vasquez: 11:20

In 2016,. I started walking to work. So not just I'm a bike advocate, I ride my bike, but I also am a runner, I walk, I use the public space for multiple modes, for all modes more or less, and there was a time I was walking I think it was 2016 or 17, and I was walking down the university bridge and my partner at the time I sent her a text saying this means progress, and it was the bicycle lanes across the university bridge and from that moment it was just kind of like a light that went off. I was just like what does this mean? How does this? I didn't know. This was something, more or less.

Tyler Vasquez: 12:10

I majored in business and race and ethnic studies from University of Redlands and I didn't know that active transportation or transportation or urban planning was a field of study because Redlands was so small. And from like 2016, 2017, I think it was the move Seattle levy started funding more infrastructure specifically for bikes, and so I started riding my bikes more and trying to piece things together, and I wouldn't say that I was like born in this industry, but I think the industry more or less chose me from that day just to like see those bike lanes, like how can I do this more, more or less? And I've been sort of being able to use that infrastructure and then I ended up realizing and kind of making that all of my that pathway towards active transportation policy make it happen. Like seven years later.

Tom Butler: 13:09

Well, I'm glad it shows you, because I think the optimism and the passion and the desire to see something come about that's for the public good, I think that's fantastic and I'm really glad that you're on board with Cascade Now. People from all over will be listening to this conversation, so I would like our discussion to reveal some broader issues about bicycle transportation, about active transportation. So kind of looking specifically at Seattle but kind of looking away to apply that in a bigger sense. I'm wondering if, giving some context, do you have data that shows information about cycling injuries in Seattle or in kind of that alternative to car transportation mode, whether it be walking pedestrians or cyclists, about kind of where Seattle is as far as that is concerned?

Tyler Vasquez: 14:05

Thanks for noting that.

Tyler Vasquez: 14:15

I would say Seattle is really good at sort of noting the high injury areas and also noting where traffic, high injury or serious injuries occurred and where deaths have occurred high injury or serious injuries occurred and where deaths have occurred.

Tyler Vasquez: 14:30

I would say that study and the sample size in the years needs to get broader.

Tyler Vasquez: 14:33

So some of the things are only five year statistics, but Cascade's been around for 50 years and so seeing what is within that 50 years or even 20 years that we've been doing our work, how we lived up to our mission, and I know, generally, compared to other cities and the stats and the data that we pull and pay attention to, I would say Seattle sort of is on the cutting edge of like spending public funds to understand and resource data on injuries. I would say that we were trying, attempting to weave it into our DNA and that the aspects of Vision Zero they're trying to realize. What is the actuality of that? What is the feasibility of Vision Zero? There's a lot of data points that they're trying to pull into one for one metric. Getting back to your question, compared to other cities, I think that the city of Seattle is researching and has data that they are providing to the other arms of government mayor's office and the city council members for them to make educated decisions on where they want to spend money.

Tom Butler: 15:48

Is there a project at University of Washington that kind of looks at that as well?

Tyler Vasquez: 15:53

Most likely. I know that for me. I found the Seattle Transportation Plan through graduate school, so I was a graduate. My capstone at the Evans School of Public Policy was with SDOT and we were mapping some sort of data that worked with injuries, the networks, and we were also working with the demographer from OPCD. I do know there's a specific freight lab that I don't know their specifics of how they what, where the injury network is. But there also is a mass advocate area of UW that is working on issues of the of this sort, working in different, wearing different hats, but I don't I don't have the specifics on that.

Tom Butler: 16:43

I'm wondering if there is a core concept when developing a strategy to improve safety.

Tyler Vasquez: 16:51

I would say that safety is simple and that when you have safe streets it benefits everybody. The word safe can be defined many, many, many different ways and interpreted in many different ways. So in my role at Cascade, when I advocate for safe streets, I would say the first thing is slowing down vehicular traffic, just that. One concept has many different things that you can do, whether it is speed bumps or narrowing traffic lanes, and that bicycle lanes have been proven to slow traffic down because people they narrow the lanes, they provide more users, the user experience. So more cyclists are riding on the roads and people have to pay more attention. One of the things with that we're seeing is safety and the conflict sometimes be and the reason why there's some serious injury is like distracted driving. So that's a whole another ball that I can't really get into. But I see that the alternative to not having bike lanes doesn't surpass the benefit of having a safer street with bike lanes.

Tom Butler: 18:14

I think I am like other older cyclists in that I feel less invincible than I did when I was younger. Yeah, you know how important do you think safe bike infrastructure is to get people to use a bike later on in life?

Tyler Vasquez: 18:31

I think about this every day, more or less. I think that our aging, or population, is aging. You referenced that you're an older guy, but my dad is a cyclist down in San Diego and he rides his bike every day and he doesn't use bike lanes. They don't have bike lanes. I've ridden his route with him several times. Population, but also school students the safe routes to school, more or less, is very important so that we can make sure that people are healthier, people are safer. There's like a whole Rolodex of reasons why protected bike lanes benefit the community, that they are put in.

Tom Butler: 19:25

You mentioned Vision Zero, so Seattle's Vision Zero initiative. It aims to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2030. How is Cascade Bicycle Club working with the city to achieve that specific goal?

Tyler Vasquez: 19:41

Cascade is, I think, a leader in this space. When I think about my work. Vision Zero is important to us and is important to me. We've seen several fatalities from 2019 to 2023 of cyclists on major arterials, and so when SDOT has a fatality on their space, we're one of the first organizations to reach out to them and be like what remediations are you building? What are you doing more or less? What are your constraints? What needs to happen so that the cyclists are not killed? And so that's why we're focusing on in our levy to fund those bike infrastructure, because one of the first things that we hear when we ask for more bicycle infrastructure is that there isn't enough funding to do the remediation for that specific area.

Tyler Vasquez: 20:40

Daylight the whole intersection so people have more time to see cyclists when they ride. Add a protected bike lane, add a more comfortable parallel route in that specific area Traffic, calm that street. So if there's a gradual left-hand turn, make sure it's more perpendicular. So cars have to slow down fully if it's a yield, or slow down to 10 miles an hour, to five miles an hour to turn left, rather than have them have a gradual left that goes quickly up a hill. So those are some things that Cascade does on a day-to-day basis with the city of Seattle to be in the room and talk about Vision Zero. We give SDOT feedback all the time on what they can do and we always say that we're not the expert, but we have the stories to tell on everybody's experience using the bike network, using the pedestrian network and using the roads in Seattle.

Tom Butler: 21:41

I think that's one of those lessons that can be applied anywhere is that Cascade Bicycle Club has kind of earned a place at the table. I think would be the right way to say it, because of the years that Cascade has been around, the experience kind of how seriously Cascade takes your role in advocacy, your role in advocacy, and so just having that organization I think Cascade is considered the largest bicycle, statewide bicycle club in the nation and just kind of having that, you know, the representation of so many cyclists, I think that that allows you guys to to have that voice to to be there, because local officials know that that you play a big role with the cycling community.

Tyler Vasquez: 22:30

Thank you for saying that. One thing I always say that many people know Cascade by many, the many different programs we do. So we, we do a lot of advocacy, yes, but we also do a lot of advocacy. Yes, but we also do. We help, I would say, over 50,000 students through our let's Go program, ride, and so a lot of people know our education programs. And when you talk about the scale or how big Cascade is, yes, we're the biggest bicycle club in the nation, but we have a large amount of things we do to help the community and aid the community to choose biking, to ride biking, to make sure that they don't teeter off from cycling when they get into 14 to 15, that they continue riding and using the infrastructure that we advocate for through 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 100s.

Tom Butler: 23:28

I love it. Now equity is a major focus in transportation planning. How is Cascade working to promote safe and accessible cycling infrastructure for all Seattle residents, regardless of background or neighborhood?

Tyler Vasquez: 23:48

of background or neighborhood. The first thing that I think that's underplayed with Cascade is the organization is also has gone through a way to hire more and more diverse employee base, and so when I look at safe routes in particular neighborhoods of color, they hired a Mexican to do this job. Like I'm a Mexican American. They also hired a black leader, lee Lambert, to lead the organization. And when we go advocate for bicycle lanes, we also advocate.

Tyler Vasquez: 24:17

We can't take our skin off, more or less and we advocate and we talk to bicycle lanes in southeast Seattle and we represent the community.

Tyler Vasquez: 24:28

We try to represent the community, but also we build relationships with communities, talk about direct routes in these specific areas. We want to make sure that there's an investment on Rainier Avenue South and making sure that there's a safe, reliable route for bike routes north to south, that there's a safe, reliable route for bike routes north to south, and also making sure that there's more east-west connections through the Rainier Valley. We're thinking about how to approach that, but we do think that there needs to be a completed network in southeast Seattle and there needs to be incremental increases in cyclists using those bicycle lanes and there needs to be incremental increases in cyclists using those bicycle lanes and that's where we see we have the ability to see that, our record and have data that if you do build bike lanes, people will use them and we've got to make sure that the communities in Southeast, southwest Seattle we want to make sure that the bike lanes are robust, that people feel safe when they ride and that these are usable in comparison to what we have in North Seattle.

Tom Butler: 25:40

There is an issue of development. One of the complex things it seems like to me is that there's a constant effort to develop the city, to figure out, you know, how do we change this, how do we change that? You know, not long ago they tore down a big overpass and opened that up, which is a massive change for the city. I'm wondering about how you interface in a way that takes in account all the changes that happen with the city and, as those changes are happening, kind of keeping up, you know, keeping the bike policy current to fit in with all the changes.

Tyler Vasquez: 26:26

If I were to reiterate what you said is, like Seattle, what we see is progressing, because you referenced the 99 Aqueduct getting torn down and we see that there's a multimodal corridor that's being built on the waterfront. On the waterfront, and when we think about progress in the transportation realm, we see that it's multiple partners and multiple people wearing different hats and roles. And so us, as advocates, we believe that the transportation system should follow what the public wants and that, through several different channels, the SDOT has gathered data from the Seattle Transportation Plan, a 20-year vision of what the transportation system has. So Cascade has been involved in advocating for what the vision of Seattle is going to look like. There's growth plans, there's a lot of plans, there's plans for the plan, and we spend a lot of our time giving feedback and working with other advocates and listening to what are they saying, what do they foresee, and making sure that we understand their issues and they understand our issues and we work together collaboratively to make this vision of Seattle, seattle's multi-modal network, active transportation, come to fruition.

Tom Butler: 27:55

Do you feel like you have really good data that shows, or is there good data nationwide, not just locally, but is there good data that shows that people are becoming less car-centric as far as getting around?

Tyler Vasquez: 28:08

I would say that I can't quote specific data to you, but I would say the overall feel, or, like cities that are focusing on active transportation, there is a desire to be there. If you're a mega million billion organization, they want to make sure that their employees have a good active transportation network, and also cities use that to publicize and recruit large businesses to be there. And so that in order for, I'd say, cities to be more relevant in recruiting businesses, they need an active transportation network that their employees can use and that are attractive to large events such as FIFA or the Olympics on a larger worldwide scale, or the Olympics on a larger worldwide scale. I was just in Paris for a vacation and they're building the Olympic system in the Olympic villages and everything into their active transportation network, and I think that's one of the biggest sellers to get these large events to your cities is the active transportation network, and so I think that that's something that is something that can't be looked over is the value add to the city.

Tom Butler: 29:35

It's so funny that you go to Paris on vacation, because I hear a lot about that. Paris has been transformed over the last few years into a real example of active transportation. It seems like you would have been working your whole vacation just kind of investigating things.

Tyler Vasquez: 29:52

You should tell my boss that so I don't have to use vacation time. But yeah, it was great. I would say. I'm putting a PowerPoint together to show to our, my other colleagues to be like, hey, this is what Paris is doing. One large takeaway that I think I really value was something that I don't think we can build, but it has to be persuaded or talked about and be communicated is how pedestrian centric their transportation system is, and so, prior to cars, paris was built, and so people cross streets and cars will stop for pedestrians first. Like looking both ways is always really, really valuable when you cross a street, but cars are also taking into account you on the road first. That's the same thing in Rome is that pedestrians cross streets, they jaywalk, they move around the city, but the cars are second and the pedestrians are first, and that's not what we have in the United States.

Tom Butler: 31:00

There's a. So on December 21st I had a conversation with Tom Babin and we were talking about winter cycling, but he brought up what he has recognized going, you know, different places in the world and there are some places that there's just a feel for cycling that you know we just don't seem to have here in North America. I'm wondering if educating drivers, if there's some value to that there's obviously value in infrastructure, but if there's things that can be done about educating drivers and, if so, if the Cascade is involved in that at all.

Tyler Vasquez: 31:37

We're not involved with educating drivers. What I can say on that is that if we had a large amount of cyclists, use all the bike lanes, you have to pay attention to them, and so every single morning, every single night, every single day, in those cities that are more cycle centric, they have an adoption rate which is significantly higher than the United States, so they have to pay it. The cars have to pay attention to them, and one of the things that I see with the network that I'm working on is that a large amount of those networks have created spaces for people to travel to their daily destinations their schools, their libraries, their grocery stores, that they're choosing bikes first, and so they have a network that leads them to these 15 minute destinations. And you're not just seeing me in Lycra riding around. You're seeing the people that are using their bikes to go to the grocery store, and also the families using these e-bikes now to take their families to school, to the library, and you're seeing just more people using bikes to just as daily routes and daily usage.

Tom Butler: 33:01

I want to be careful how I say this, because I think cyclists get blamed a lot for things that are more about infrastructure or the lack of infrastructure. But would you say that there is an educational component for cyclists to learn how to ride more safely?

Tyler Vasquez: 33:23

I would say there is a reason why Cascade Bike Club holds cycling in urban setting classes, also adult education classes, and there's a reason why we teach cycling in cities. I think those are the education components that we've identified and the curriculum that our adult leaders facilitate, and I wouldn't speak for educating all cyclists, because there's different issues, there's different pinch points, there's different risk assessments that each cyclist has to choose on their daily ride, not just in the United States, but in Europe and within any infrastructure. And when I've reviewed some of the curriculum for adult education classes, they are teaching how to ride safely in the city and some of the externalities that they're faced with. So I wouldn't say that cyclists need to be educated. I just think that there's a reason why we hold those classes.

Tom Butler: 34:32

Gotcha, there is the let's Go program that you mentioned and I believe that's a statewide initiative that Cascade manages overseas, whatever the right term is for that. Can you talk about that let's Go program a little bit?

Tyler Vasquez: 34:49

I may not be the best person because it is a large program. Our education department is, I think, moving mountains right now when it comes to educating the youth on cycling, specifically in schools and after schools. And so the let's Go program I think, as we referenced earlier in this interview, we're weaving cycling into the DNA of all Washingtonians and that program itself is vital for youth development and it's also we're seeing that bikes are used as a tool of liberation for people to go from point A to point B. Managers of the program told me that the PE classes that they're hosting the let's Go program in that one of the PE teachers referenced that that was the best after-school program they have ever led, and so we're getting we're seeing, after a year and three months now, the benefits of helping out over 50,000 students.

Tom Butler: 36:08

Looking ahead, what are some of Cascade's biggest priorities when it comes to shaping Seattle's future bike policy?

Tyler Vasquez: 36:17

Great question. This is my day-to-day what I do. The move Seattle Transportation Levy, by the time this is published, will have come out, have came out to the public and we are making sure that bikes are spoken for and the bike program is funded and well-funded for the next eight years. So the Transportation Levy is the primary funding source for all of Seattle's bike network and we are making sure that the Cascade Bicycle Club is advocating for more bike infrastructure and a good funding source to build off of for the next eight years. And additionally, I have several priority projects that I am focusing on.

Tyler Vasquez: 37:06

I would say, like the Alaska Way protected bike lane is coming to bid soon.

Tyler Vasquez: 37:15

We want to make sure that that comes to fruition and is built.

Tyler Vasquez: 37:17

And while it was built, we want to make sure that that whole waterfront is connected, from the Elliott Bay Trail to Alaska Way to the waterfront, to now the newly as of yesterday I think, they're breaking ground the East Marginal Way connection. So Seattle is going to experiencing over, like I would say, over 10 miles of protected bike lane just on the waterfront and making sure all that comes to fruition. That is an easy, comfortable, safe ride for not just cyclists, for tourists using line bikes and make sure that it's an asset. Additionally, I am advocating for more protected bike lanes in South Seattle, where we want to make sure that people that bike in South Seattle tell their story so that I can listen to it more. Where do they want bike lanes, how do they want them built, what is an alternative routes that they use and what is the pinch points that they see on a daily basis? We want to make sure that over the next eight years, there is protected bike lanes built in South Seattle, in South Seattle.

Tom Butler: 38:23

Now I'm reading a bit into what you're saying, which again, I think is one of these broader principles that is applicable anywhere. It seems like if there is an it's not bike friendly, then it kind of really limits the value of that network. Is that right to say this is?

Tyler Vasquez: 38:56

a bike metaphor, but we use it for the bicycle network that the bicycle network is only as strong as its weakest link. So we think that filling the gaps in the bike network we've identified them is vital for a better connected network in the city of Seattle.

Tom Butler: 39:18

How have you found Seattle city officials to be? Would you say that they're fairly sophisticated in their understanding of the needs of cyclists?

Tyler Vasquez: 39:48

I would say the Seattle individuals that I have talked to are very pragmatic and they have working with them is understanding their priorities and approaching them in a pragmatic way too.

Tyler Vasquez: 40:02

So, understanding what is in their district, what are they, where do they want to see incremental change, what is the right investment, where and we're working to make sure we understand that approach, and also the same for other elected officials, is, I think it's reasonable to have questions and to one of the things that we take upon ourselves is we have answers. You know, we create, we sit at the table and I like this euphemism is like we'd like to break bread and just talk, and I think human to human, that's the best thing that you, you can do, and one of the things that I've seen with all the elected officials is that they're willing to talk and they're willing to ask questions and give answers and go back and forth, which is greatly appreciated, not just with Cascade Bike Club, but as all citizens. To be able to talk with your elected officials is a very valuable source and I think that me, as a citizen of Seattle, I just value that a lot.

Tom Butler: 41:19

Now I bring this up a little bit tongue in cheek of the 8,760 hours in the year, the West Seattle Bridge is going to be closed two hours for bicycle only traffic. That doesn't seem like a huge thing, but recently the Seattle Times tried to turn it into a big thing, so I'm wondering if you have any thoughts on that.

Tyler Vasquez: 41:45

Yeah, I would say we just disagree with them. And that's two hours that the event, as I say, an amazing event is going to happen the Emerald City Ride and we just really believe that more people should see the beauty of Seattle by bike and that this event is welcome to everybody. We do work with other bicycle clubs to have entries in such too, and so one of the things that I just think that the, as I was describing, the Emerald City ride is attractive for everyone, and I think it's going to give many people a different view when they look back over their shoulders, over the on the West Seattle Bridge, when they're riding their bike up the city of Seattle, and just appreciate what we have, what we're building, all the flowers blooming and everything.

Tom Butler: 42:46

It feels a little bit strange to me that an organization like the Seattle Times would have a problem with this. There's this element I don't know if it's kind of bringing up that the roads are for cars. When you shut down a road like that, and again two hours on a Sunday morning you know it's not like rush hour two hours on a Sunday morning it just seems like there's an element of that's for cars. Bikes don't really belong on it. Do you think there's that element there?

Tom Butler: 43:21

I think the comments section sort of speaks for itself, where you're scratching your head, One of the things that at Cascade we're very pleased with the outpouring of support that has given the positive remarks and the kind of head-scratching that many of Seattleites have done on the article they pointed out was there's like this is somehow unfair, that, like cascade bicycle club is being given this resource and they're going to leverage that resource you know the resource being access to this bridge for this ride and they're going to leverage that resource into money that then will be poured into advocacy for for bicyclists at a time when Move On Seattle is being talked about and everything.

Tom Butler: 44:38

It's kind of this unfair access that Cascade Bicycle Club is getting. Now, again, that seems poorly researched as far as I'm concerned by Seattle Times, because this isn't like the first year that this is done. I don't remember how many years it's been going on. It was paused, I think two years, starting with the pandemic, but you know this is a this Emerald City ride has gone on a long time. It's been something, as I got into cycling again, something that I was really disappointed that wasn't going on, because I think it's a unique community event. What would you say in response to the history of Cascade with this ride?

Tyler Vasquez: 45:25

First, I'm just going to reiterate that the Emerald City Ride is an amazing event and that the history of the event has allowed many cyclists experience roads such as the 520 Bridge or the 99 Tunnel in ways that they wouldn't.

Tyler Vasquez: 45:45

And so when we think about the Emerald City Ride, I think that that is an event on our event calendar and that Cascade is known for many different facets, of which events are one of them, and advocacy is another hat that we're known for. We also have education that we're known for, and we also have just general people, our ride leaders that we do. And so the Emerald City Ride, I think, shows many Seattle residents different areas of the city that they wouldn't see if they were in a car. And so having an event, I think, goes back to our mission and so making sure that people enjoy cycling, and so this is just another event in our our. It's not just another event. It is an event that we hold closely and we really enjoy, and thank the city of seattle for working with us, and we have done all the the right process and gone through all the channels to make sure it happens well, it's fantastic, I'm registered I'm looking forward to it and my wife is getting a bike.

Tom Butler: 47:09

Uh, hopefully friday arrives and that will be her first Cascade ride so that's really exciting, because I got my son-in-law involved and my daughter then got involved, and then now, as a whole family, we'll be riding the Emerald City ride, which I think is another aspect, right, I mean just getting the whole family out and having the experience on bikes I think is awesome.

Tyler Vasquez: 47:36

That's the approach, I think, with all our rides, not just the Emerald City Ride, and that you're not alone with the family aspect. We have a seven mile route, we have a 22 mile route, and that this is the approach that many families, not just from Seattle, from Bay Bridge, bashan, snohomish County, pierce County, are choosing to ride and throughout Seattle, because it's approachable. We also, like e-bikes, are welcome on the ride. That has the ability to get up the hills faster, move around, you could enjoy the spring air. It has the ability to get up the hills faster, move around, you could enjoy the spring air. It's May 5th, and so that's just something that we're looking forward to it. We've got several emails from people that have expressed that their whole family's coming, and so that's something that our organization is buzzing right now just for the Emerald City Ride.

Tom Butler: 48:31

That's so cool and if you are not from the seattle area, it is a unique time to come and see seattle. Uh, may 5th, there's still some time to book some plane tickets or whatever. Uh, you know it's uh, you get to see the area in a different way doing it. It's one of those things when I talked about applying what goes on Seattle to maybe other areas, I think that this kind of experiencing the city in a different way. I talked to someone a while ago and they brought up Bike the Drive, which is an event in Chicago. There's just this element of bringing something really fun to a city. When you shut down these places that are normally too dangerous to ride your bike on and just let bikes take over, it breathes something, I think, unique into a city.

Tyler Vasquez: 49:26

That's true, that's true, true, right myself as a triathlete person that's done a lot of races and I know that a lot of my vacation is used on trying to attend other cities and other races, and I think that it's a value add. And when you have a city that is such so beautiful as seattle, any tool in the toolbox whether it is the Seattle Mariners or the FIFA World Cup or the Emerald City Bike Ride is a value add to every single value that our city has and how we're building upon a one Seattle in for the rest of the future.

Tom Butler: 50:16

For sure. How would somebody get involved if they are passionate about cycling, passionate about safe streets and they want to get involved in advocacy efforts? How would they do that? Through Cascade?

Tyler Vasquez: 50:30

Yeah, so cascadeorg is our website and we have an advocacy page. You can also email policy at cascadeorg and those reaches all of our policy team. We do statewide initiatives too. We do city of Seattle initiatives and also we just generally like educating the public on bikes, bike infrastructure. So our advocacy team is building and our department is changing its advocacy and community, which I think is just great for our organization because we're being able to connect our adult classes. I'm going to step in and talk to what we're doing and work closely with our adult education component of our organization.

Tom Butler: 51:29

There is an event coming up at the end of April, the Bike Everywhere Luncheon, and I am coming to that.

Tyler Vasquez: 51:38

Yes.

Tom Butler: 51:46

And what's interesting about that is I don't take my bike on a bus and taking it to a train and loading it on a train and coming into Seattle so that I can I think you have to bike to a bike anywhere luncheon. So I'm looking forward to that experience and doing that really kind of using public transportation that way for the first time.

Tyler Vasquez: 52:14

I'm looking forward to the follow-up with you to see how it went.

Tom Butler: 52:18

Yeah, you know, I already know it's going to go fine, I know it's going to go great and you know I'm actually looking forward to it opening up some different routes for me.

Tyler Vasquez: 52:28

So yeah, We've been seeing a large amount of people use that general the trains, the systems to get downtown, and so one of the things is that when you invest in infrastructure sound transit, protected bike lanes people use them. I really think that investing in bike infrastructure, you'll see incremental increases in bikes across the board across the city, and so that's I'm excited that you're doing that. Yeah, the luncheons pretty much sold out too, so we're getting a lot of traction, and it's our largest fundraiser that we have every year, and so we moved it from a breakfast to a luncheon this year so more people could come and have less excuses Just playing. We're really excited for us at Cascade. I think we're in great hands with Lee Lambert, our executive director. He's really been pivotal in my development as a leader, but also the development of the whole staff, and he'll be there. We're excited about the future of biking in Seattle.

Tom Butler: 53:43

What are some personal biking adventures you have on the horizon?

Tyler Vasquez: 53:47

Yeah, so I'm actually later this month I'm heading down to San Diego to ride the Giro with my dad, and my partner is riding with her. She's planning on doing the STP for her third time. This will be my eighth, and my father will be riding the STP too, and this is going to be his fifth. So those are the big rides that we have planned for this year.

Tom Butler: 54:15

Fantastic. Now is your dad in the cycling. Over 60 demographic.

Tyler Vasquez: 54:20

My dad is a cycling. He's a veteran cyclist, he is 56.

Tom Butler: 54:25

Okay, so he's getting close. He's almost there to cycling over 60.

Tyler Vasquez: 54:31

He is, but I'm not going to tell him that.

Tom Butler: 54:36

Well, tyler, thank you so much for taking the time to do this. I know that this has been a busy time for you and I just really appreciate you taking the time to do this.

Tyler Vasquez: 54:44

Yes, thank you, tom. I look forward to building a relationship with you and also I wanted tell the audience I'm looking forward to hearing from you and making sure that biking in the state of Washington is safe. Also biking throughout your journey. Your life is an enjoyable one.

Tom Butler: 55:03

Awesome. See you now. There's a ton of stuff in this conversation that I would like to get deeper into, but I'm going to keep my comments brief. First off, tyler seems like the exact person that I would like to have sitting across the table from a city leader and helping them see the value investing in bike infrastructure. I love the fact that he described leaders as quote pragmatic. I think that is exactly the way to frame a discussion where financial resources are not limitless. I also like that he sees it as breaking bread together.

Tom Butler: 55:44

Maybe one of the most valuable things that Tyler said was in response to my question about educating drivers. The best education comes from cyclists getting out and using the existing safe infrastructure. That does more to help drivers see that bikes belong on the road as anything else, and it creates opportunities for drivers to become more aware that they need to be aware. I hope, wherever you are, that you are seeing efforts to improve the safety of the places you ride. Please let me know what you are seeing in your area. You can find my email and the show Instagram in the show notes and, of course, we now have a perfect place to get discussions going in the Cycling Over 60 Strava Club. Whether you are cycling in a bustling city or on a quiet country road, I hope your cycling adventures are a blast and also safe. And remember age is just a gear change.