It’s been quiet on the PPSP website for a bit, so I thought this would be a good time to give a status update.

I just returned from another trip to Southern California to visit my father. I am pleased to report that he is doing substantially better than on my last visit in June.

This trip was the reason there is a long gap between the most recent Poky Pedal and the next one. There are still two Poky Pedals remaining in September, and I’m happy to be back home in anticipation of sharing more Bike Fun with Poky Pedalers.

Because of my numerous trips to California, usually taking me away from Stevens Point for a few weeks at a time, I have made some compromises in running PPSP this year. One such compromise was the balance between creating Bike Fun and writing PPSP posts about bikey news in our area.

There has been quite a bit of local bikey news to write about over the past 8 months or so, but I’ve hardly written about any of it. None of these items are earth shattering, yet I feel it is worthwhile to keep Poky Pedalers informed. Other media sources cover such news spottily, if at all, and usually without filling in substantial context due to lack of familiarity with how people who bicycle might be affected.

I feel PPSP is an outlet that can do a better job of giving the bikey perspective on local activity. In turn, this enables Poky Pedalers to more effectively speak up to local elected officials and other decision makers about the importance of making bicycling better where we live.

More recently, there have been a few bikey items that deserve to get in-depth coverage. Coupled with other musings over the past year, these items have prompted me to shift some of the balance back towards posting bikey news. Moving forward, Poky Pedalers can expect to read news coverage more regularly on the blog. Although there will be stories on many topics over time, there are 3 items in particular that you’ll be able to learn about over the next few weeks.

The first item is that the city of Stevens Point is considering adopting the portion of the Portage County Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan that is pertinent to the city. On Tuesday September 8, the Plan Commission will take up this item. I’ll report on what happens there as well as what happens at the subsequent Common Council meeting on September 21 when a final decision is likely to be made.

The second item is that Stevens Point has substantially improved bicycle parking in the downtown area. Ten bicycle hitches were installed recently. You can look forward to a post about why the old bicycle parking is generally substandard and how the new bike hitches improve the parking situation.

The third item is that Stevens Point has just formed a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee to aid the city in identifying how to improve bicycling and walking in the city. The BPAC has met once and will meet again in the next few weeks. My report on what goes on at the upcoming meeting will be the first in a continuing series of posts keeping Poky Pedalers aware of what the BPAC is doing.

All three of these items are very important, and I’m looking forward to covering these stories on the PPSP blog. Furthermore, as the PPSP blog progresses through the remainder of this year and into 2016, I’m really excited to resume writing about the many bikey issues that come up regularly.

I should mention that, as part of this rebalance, it is likely that I will create fewer Poky Pedals next year than the sixteen (!) on the 2015 Bike Fun Calendar. I’m still figuring out what that actually means, but this seems to be a good time to mention this likelihood. Whatever 2016 brings, I’m looking forward to sharing Bike Fun on all those Poky Pedals.

But 2015 isn’t over yet. So take a peek at the 2015 Bike Fun Calendar and the Upcoming Poky Pedals webpage to find out about all the Bike Fun to share with PPSP while our weather remains comfortable for bicycling.