Our Vision.
We're for a Bicycle-Friendly Louisville, Kentucky. Biking is a fun and healthy way to get around, and we believe that it should be convenient and safe for everybody in the city.
And Also So Much More . . .
A good bike ride doesn't exist in a vacuum. Which is why we advocate for more than just bike lanes and other bike infrastructure. A bikeable city avoids sprawl, promotes healthy lifestyles and a healthy environment, and supports local businesses.
4 Better Land-Use.
If your nearest grocery store is 3 miles away and work is more than 10, needless to say, biking becomes a lot less convenient. We're working, along with organizations like the Urban Design Studio, to encourage efforts by the city to re-invest in its urban core. If things are close-by, we can get there by bike!4 Better Living.
It's unfortunate, but Louisville's public health statistics are some of the worst in the country. Regular, daily exercise is a great way to improve those numbers. And the low-impact, utilitarian exercise that comes with biking can be an easy way to get everybody feeling a lot better!4 Beautiful Landscape.
The positive environmental effects of biking can be felt across the region and the world. The less we drive, the less pollution we're producing and the less we're relying on expensive and unsustainable energy sources. Yeah, bikes!4 Buying Local.
Roughly 85% of car costs leave the local economy. And because of suburban sprawl, the average American is now spending more on transportation than on housing. Want to support Louisville businesses? Then one of the best things you can do is ride a bike. Instead of giving your money to global oil companies, insurance agencies, and car manufacturers, you can choose to spend your money on whatever it is in Louisville that's important to you!
In short, it's all interconnected. You can't have a bike-friendly city without good land-use, healthy citizens, care for the environment, and a thriving local economy. That's what we want for Louisville, and we hope you'll join us in helping make it happen!
The B4L Team.
Chris Glasser – President
Advocacy | Branding
Since joining B4L, Chris has worked with the city to plan and implement safe, convenient bike infrastructure for its Urban Bike Network. A graduate of Portland State University (BS, Computer Science) and the University of Virginia (MT, Secondary Education), Chris is currently collaborating with the city's Bike Louisville department on a long-term bike master plan. Outside of B4L, Chris is a web applications developer for LOJIC, the city government's GIS partnership. A Louisville native and proud Kentuckian, Chris volunteers with Louisville Grows and Meyzeek Middle School and is passionate about making Louisville a more urban, sustainable city.
Andrea Pompei Lacy – Treasurer
Strategic Planning
Andrea is a daily bicycle commuter to her job at the Department of Urban & Public Affairs at the University of Louisville. She is a 2009 graduate of that department with a Masters in Urban Planning and in Public Administration specializing in community development and public policy. As a hazard planner of a soft-funded research center, she spends much of her time applying for grants and working with Kentucky communities to develop plans for disaster resiliency. She, her husband, and their two cats – one of which enjoys bike-riding as well! – live in the Butchertown neighborhood.
Seth Short – Secretary
Branding | Education
Seth is a graduate of Western Kentucky University with a degree in Planning/GIS. He currently splits his time as a bike mechanic at Bike Couriers Bike Shop and as an audio tech for WHAS-11 News. Before that, Seth worked as a bike advocate in Boston with the Boston Cyclists Union, and as the coordinator and mechanic for WKU's bike share program – Big Red Bikes.
Chris Sims
Advocacy | Branding
Chris is a daily bicycle commuter and, in his younger days, BMX rider. He is an alumnus of Appalachian State University, where he earned a BA in Archaeology, with minors in Geology and Sociology. He currently works for the University of Louisville Sustainability Council, in addition to moonlighting as an archaeologist. He is completing an MA in archaeology at the University of Louisville.
Marc Broering
Marc is a graduate of the University of Louisville with degrees in Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Mathematics. Before coming to B4L, Marc served as treasurer for a teacher's union and a condo association. He is a recent recipient of a new bike through UofL's bike voucher program and likes to do a combo TARC/bike ride for his daily commute.
Dave Morse
Advocacy | Education
Dave advocates for an Urban Bicycle Network that serves the needs of all users. With his League Cycling Instructor certification, he has taught more than 1,000 Louisvillians how to operate their bicycles on our roads. Dave believes that increased bicycling improves public health, provides efficient transportation, and bolsters civic engagement.
Isabella Christensen
Falls City Community BikeWorks
Bella is the co-founder of Falls City Community BikeWorks, a community bike shop created in partnership with parent organization B4L and co-founder John Krueger. Although she owns zero spandex and rides a (comically) pink bike from Goodwill, Bella is totally serious about the personal and public benefits of biking. As often as she can, Bella bikes to her service projects, her job in environmental/urban policy, her music gigs, and her favorite R&R destinations along the banks of the Ohio. She looks forward to seeing you in the bike shop!
Mark Noll
Advocacy | Strategic Planning
Mark is a daily bicycle commuter to his job downtown where he works on recycling and sustainability initiatives for the City of Louisville. He earned a Masters in Community Planning in 2012 from the University of Maryland, where he focused his studies on transportation planning. Mark has authored bicycle and pedestrian accessibility guidelines for Baltimore's proposed "Red Line" light rail and assisted with several walkability assessments in Louisville's urban neighborhoods. He lives in the Tyler Park neighborhood.
Advocacy Efforts.
Ormsby, 6th, and Swan – Bicycle Boulevards
April 2014 | Swan | Ormsby + 6th
Further adding to the growing Urban Bike Network, the sharrows on Swan St, Ormsby Ave, and 6th St lay the foundation for emerging bike boulevards. B4L has been instrumental in getting this network on the ground -- proposing the route on Swan that connects Germantown to Paristown Point and the Ormsby connection that goes from Old Louisville to Shelby Park, as well as getting these routes included in the plan for this fiscal year.
Highlands-UofL Connector – Bicycle Boulevard
April 2014 | Map | Images
The Highlands-UofL Connector is the first route in the city's Neighborways project, an effort to establish a network of bicycle boulevards on quiet, 25 mph residential streets. The B4L advocacy team conceived and designed the route adopted by the city, which provides a direct, safe pathway through the Germantown and Schnitzelburg neighborhoods.
Floyd Street – Bike Lane & Sharrows
October 2013 | Map | Images
B4L advocated for including a bike lane in this route, which was originally designed having only sharrows. Adding a bike lane narrows the driving lanes, slowing car traffic and creating a safer biking experience. In addition, the southbound bike lane on Floyd pairs with the northbound lane on Jackson to create convenient access to and from Waterfront Park.
Brook & 1st Streets – Bike Lanes & Sharrows
August 2013 | Map | Images
For the first route in the city's Urban Bike Network, B4L pushed for shrinking the driving lanes, widening the bike lane, and adding a parking-side buffer to keep bikers out of the door zone. These routes established seven-foot wide biking lanes as the default installed by the city, a full two feet wider than the previous norm.
"Stalled" Report to Louisville Mayor
December 2012 | PDF
Seeing that the city's bike efforts had ground to a halt, B4L advocacy authored a report to Mayor Greg Fischer. The report proposed creating an Urban Bike Network starting in Old Louisville and downtown. In his 2013-14 fiscal budget, Fischer allotted $300,000 to this project -- the largest sum ever set aside by the city specifically for bike infrastructure.
Bike Education.
U of L Bike Voucher Program
Starting in 2012, University of Louisville students have been offered the choice to trade in their on-campus parking permit for a $400 bike voucher. As part of the program, students attend a B4L bike education class to learn how to ride safely in the city -- how to signal, where the safest bike facilities are and how to use them properly, when to take a full traffic lane, and how to safely lock their bikes.
Waggener High School Maintenance Course
Taught by B4L board member and bike mechanic Seth Short, this course introduces students to basic bike maintenance skills. Students in grades 9-12 learn how to repair a flat tire, adjust gearing, and align brakes, among other practical skills.
Past Events.
2014 Kickoff Fundraiser
January 8, 2014 | Clifton Center | Facebook Invite
Joining with the city's bike and parks departments, B4L is hosting an advocacy meeting and membership drive at the Clifton Center. The event will present on the progress of the city's Urban Bike Network, an effort started in July 2013 to create a unified series of bike routes starting in downtown and expanding outwards. Along with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and the city's bike/pedestrian coordinator Rolf Eisinger, B4L President Chris Glasser will be speaking at this event.
Bier and Bikes for Parks
November 3, 2013 | Holy Grale | Facebook Invite
In support of the Olmsted Parks Conservancy, Holy Grale held a fundraiser in its gralegarten. B4L teamed up with the bar, Parkside Bikes, On Your Left Cycles, and Kentucky Homebrew to draw a crowd whose support went toward helping the conservancy, one of the city's oldest non-profits whose mission is to enhance and preserve Louisville's historic and world-class park system.
Valet Bike Parking
Spring and Summer 2013
Over the spring and summer months, B4L's valet bike parking service was an integral part of dozens of festivals, picnics, community and city-wide gatherings. Our biggest VBP events were some of the city's main fair-weather attractions -- Thunder Over Louisville, the Forecastle Music Festival, and the Cherokee Triangle Art Fair -- providing citizens with a healthy and fun way to arrive, park close-by, and exit without getting stuck in traffic.
Falls City Community BikeWorks.
What is FCCB?
FCCB provides tools and guidance to anyone who wants to learn bike maintenance and repair. We also sell some parts, and refurbish bicycles for donation to locals in need of transportation.
We're located in the back lot breezeway at
1217 Logan St, in the Smoketown/Shelby Park neighborhood.
Our summer hours are:
Sunday 1-4 PM
Monday 6:30-9:30 PM
Wednesday 6:30-9:30 PM
Come on by! FCCB is a great place to fix a bike...and a great place for anybody from the community to come hang out!
About John and Bella.
John Krueger teaches German through KET Distance Learning, commuting between Louisville and Lexington. He was a member of Lexington's Broke Spoke Community Bike Shop, where he saw first-hand what a rich and vibrant learning environment that can be.
Isabella Christensen works in environmental policy and plays music. When Bella's bike started limping badly in the fall of 2013, she wished for a local place to learn some mechanical skills . . . and that's how she met John, who was on a similar quest.
Why do you want Louisville to have a community bike shop?
So my kids – and yours! – have a great place to hang, sharing skills and good times. -John
Because learning bike repair from internet videos is no fun at all! -Bella
Because biking (and bike repair) should be accessible to everyone! -B4L
Tell us your reason on
Facebook!
Donate to B4L.
First things first: thank you for considering giving to B4L! We're working for a more bikeable, more urban, more sustainable Louisville – and there's a direct connection between your giving and our ability to do that well. Your donation is helping make Louisville a better place to live for everybody.
If that weren't enough, when you become a Bicycling for Louisville member, you receive the following benefits:
Bicycling for Louisville is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit and is eligible to receive matching gifts.
Annual Membership (Recurring)
Want to Give Differently?
We also offer the option of monthly memberships – for those bike advocates who want their support to be more regular – and, of course, we're happy to accept one-time donations of other amounts.
Monthly Membership Levels
Join the B4L Mailing List.
When you sign up for the Bicycling for Louisville mailing list, you receive updates on our advocacy efforts, info on important bike-related public input meetings, notices of educational programs we're running, as well as volunteer opportunities with the organization (like our valet bike parking service). We also send out news on B4L events, rides, and other bike goings-on in town. We think it's a great way to stay abreast of the many of the changes that are making Louisville a more bike-friendly city.
