Bicycling Should be for All

By Kelly Morphy, Executive Director, Florida Bicycle Association 

Bicycling has the ability to make both the treasures and necessities of life more accessible throughout the Sunshine State.

Health, human connection, physical activity, engagement with the world outside, and even the satisfaction of being able to “put in a hard day’s work,” are within closer reach—and for more people—when and where bicycling is safe, accepted and encouraged. 

Across Florida, many people bike for recreation or competition, or for transportation. For some of us, it provides a social life; for others, it helps us live within our budget; gives us a way to reduce our environmental impact; is how our children get to school; or gives our parents continued independence. And for many of us, bicycling is not a choice, but is either the only option, or not an option at all.

For all of us, though, the Florida Bicycle Association has invested 25 years in education and advocacy, helping to make bicycling safer, more accepted, and more widely encouraged throughout the state. The organization has achieved some very big wins, notching not only measurable successes (including the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety law that took effect in 2021) but also creating a strong, stable foundation for its next chapters of growth and impact. 

Those next chapters will rely on strong partnerships and collaboration across sectors and cycling types: a collective and inclusive push toward policies, programs, and projects that advance bicycling for all. This is work, of course, that many of you—like outgoing Executive Director Becky Afonso, longtime board members, and numerous others—have been doing for a long time, and to great effect. 

In the weeks and months to come, I look forward not only to learning about what you—our members and partners—already have achieved, but also to planning for what more we will be doing together. Working alongside incoming Board President Eric Draper, the full board, the advisory council and YOU, I am ready to explore ways to support bicycling as a sport, as transportation, as a recreational activity, as a tool for self-reliance, as a means to grow local economies, and for its many other benefits.

If you’d like to share your ideas about the future of bicycling in Florida, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My direct email is kelly@floridabicycle.net and my office line is (407) 734-1690. Although I appreciate your patience as I get settled in, I promise to do my best to respond to every connection.

We are aligned in our commitment to the cause, and I understand the assignment. Let’s get at it.