Watch: Shifter on how people power made Seattle a great place to bike (featuring me!)

Tom Babin from the excellent Calgarian YouTube channel Shifter was in town for Cascade Bicycle Club's annual Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party (RSVP"), and I had the pleasure of meeting with him to talk about how Seattle bike culture got to be the way it is. We also went on a bike ride together and just talked for a while. He's as genuinely curious in real life as he appears in his videos, and you can tell from all the research work he put into this one that he really wanted to understand what Seattle has done well and what other cities can learn.

I think the video is fantastic. I know Seattle could be and should be so much better for cycling than it is and that many longtime readers probably shudder whenever someone from outside comes here and acts like we've got it all figured out. But perhaps part of the solution for making more progress is to take a step back and better understand our own strengths as a bicycling movement. I think Tom nailed the conclusion that the key has always been people power and organizing, whether that's Cascade, Seattle Neighborhood Greenways or just a group of neighbors who get together to make some part of their neighborhood a little better. It's not about the trails and big group rides, it's about the people power that then creates those outcomes.