In his State of the State address Jan 15, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper called for the creation of a statewide recreational trail system, and said “We want to make sure we get more Colorado cyclists out there.” He also proposed a Bike Health initiative that will look for funds for bicycle infrastructure, including “around the tallest mountains in Colorado.” This is great news for the Ring the Peak Initiative! Gov. Hickenlooper comes to Colorado Springs next week for an address, and you can bet TOSC will be there to connect with the state executive about how we can work together to create interconnected trails, bike infrastructure, and complete the trail around Pike Peak with our partners Friends of the Peak and other supporters.

Here are the relevant sections of his speech (our emphasis):

“Colorado cannot become the healthiest state for people if it is not the healthiest state for our natural environment. Part of educating our kids also means getting them outside for their physical and emotional health.

Mike King, the executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, will build on the progress we have already begun with Great Outdoors Colorado, and will engage our federal and local open space partners to craft a statewide recreational trail system…

We want to make sure we get more Colorado cyclists out there.

We have asked Ken Gart, our volunteer bike czar, to assist us in launching a Bike Health initiative that will take on a number of large challenges, such as create a publicly available data source to track existing bicycle trails, routes and cyclist feedback; seek funding for new construction for bicycle infrastructure; and create a plan to connect bike routes across communities and around the tallest mountains in Colorado.”

For the complete text of the State of the State address, go to this link.