As a club our advocacy efforts have been very good at promoting access to cycling but there is another area of advocacy I'd like to see the club get involved in, I think this falls under the umbrella of "public relations".
Most of us are keenly aware of the vitriol directed at us by motorists on the road and in social media posts. I think some of this can be mitigated if the driving public knew the rules of the road (e.g. cyclists can use all non-access restricted roads, can use the full lane, how to pass a cyclist, etc.). The previous post "Cyclist Derangement Syndrome" demonstrates just how dangerous this ignorance can be.
Public relations messaging is a big task and not something I expect the club to take on alone. But we do partner with sister organizations (e.g. BikeWalkNC, Asheville On Bikes, League of American Bicyclists, NC DOT, etc) that have already produced educational material or with their combined resources have the clout to get public relations material out into the public. But at the moment there isn't a coordinated push to get this rolling. Here is where I think BRBC can help by pushing and advocating for greater public messaging concerning motorists and cyclists. It's not just access to cycling it's also our safety as road cyclists.
In addition to public relations messaging here is something else we can do in terms of educating the public and make it safer for us. The DOT has an approved sign Bicycles May Use Full Lane (aka BMUFL or R4-11). These are meant to replace the yellow "Share The Road" (yellow signs are advisory) and replace them with black and white R4-11 BMUFL signs (black and white signs are regulatory not advisory). I'd like to see BRBC start pushing NC DOT to install the R4-11 BMUFL signs.
I have presented these ideas in our board of directors meetings and here I'm expanding that to those BRBC members interested in advocacy. Comments are welcome and encouraged.
John (BRBC President)