HAPPY NEW YEAR ! If you are reading this then you survived 2020. We hope you made the best of it and used it as a reboot. We did as the pace was much slower than we were used to and it allowed us to focus on things we wouldn't normally have had time to do. Our riding times, distances and destinations were different. We rode mostly solo or in very small groups and did our part to social distance. We read more. We ate better. We cross-trained. We supported local businesses as often as we could. We found solace by visiting Iowa's state and county parks off-season for hikes, biking and camping. We still did plenty in 2020 as you can see in this BIKEIOWA Year In Review feature.
We hope you found solace in some fashion - If you have an interesting story, let us know.
The upcoming events on our calendar are still pretty sparse. Almost a year after the pandemic started, we are still seeing many 2021 Winter and Spring events being cancelled or going all virtual. We think this pattern will extend into the Summer months until everyone is vaccinated and the positive cases and deaths decrease. The Iowa Bicycle Summit, Safe Routes to Schools Conference, Iowa Bike Expo and the RAGBRAI Announcement Party are coming up January 28-30th. These are ALL virtual this year and we recommend registering and attending. All funds help support the Iowa Bicycle Coalition.
In March 2020, we posted this feature "Finding yourself with some spare time during the COVID-19 outbreak?" which provided a list of tasks you can do to your bicycle during your idle time. We think it still applies. We will miss seeing everyone in person at the Iowa Bike Expo! We still have plenty of BIKEIOWA Gear in-stock - much of it on sale! We are also getting caught up on our Pogie Lites back-order list. These have been crazy-popular this year as cyclists are liking the simplicity and packability. They and are now being used in 46 states and 6 countries including a pair we sent to Tasmania this morning! As we begin our 20th year as a cycling resource for Iowa, we are creating a small survey as we value YOUR input on what we are doing well, what we can do better, and any other ideas/comments you may have. Stay tuned.
|