Flag Velo d/b/a Flagstaff Biking Organization

To promote bicycling as a safe and attractive means of transportation and recreation in Northern Arizona.

We are a group of cyclists who came together to "promote bicycling as a safe and attractive means of transportation and recreation in Northern Arizona." Our initial project was to put on a Bike to Work Week for our community in May 2002. Building on the success we started to expand our efforts to keep people informed of cycling related issues and galvanize support for better and safer facilities, trails, and trail access. In 2017 we are organizing and promoting our sixteenth year of Flagstaff Bike to Work Week with our partners, the City of Flagstaff and New Belgium Brewery. Almost 150 workplaces and over 1300 individuals bicycled to work as part of our "Worksite Challenge". Hundreds of newcomers to bicycle commuting experienced the convenience and joy for the first time.

Our work with the Coconino SAFE KIDS coalition has helped us to teach bicycle safety and traffic rules to thousands of children over the past six years throughout Flagstaff and Northern Arizona. Through this program, we have also distributed thousands of helmets at subsidized discount prices, or for free, in local schools.

We are a Trips for Kids chapter as well. Through the efforts of this program, we have taken many underprivileged kids, including some of the "lost-boys" from Africa, on their first mountain bike rides, thereby adding a hugely positive experience into some difficult lives.Through contributions of money and volunteer time of businesses and individuals, we also run an aggressive trail program.

We planned and organized 8 trail work events in 2017 and brought thousands of hours of volunteer maintenance and construction to the trails in the Flagstaff area. Through our efforts and agreements with the Coconino National Forest, the City of Flagstaff and Coconino County, we have developed and begun to build the Flagstaff Loop Trail, a 42 mile non-motorized trail surrounding Flagstaff that will be not only a great commuter and recreational opportunity, but will assure access points from Flagstaff into the surrounding National Forest lands and outlying communities. Our leadership in trail construction and maintenance efforts has resulted in numerous partnerships and collaborations between mountain bikers and other trail users leading to more, and better maintained, trails. These collaborations also contribute to better understanding between user-groups and a healthier social environment for all recreational trail users.

Our advisory board members and other volunteers are ever-present at Flagstaff City Council meetings, County Supervisor's meetings, Forest Service scoping open houses, and many other public forums in order to make sure that cyclists' interests are represented and heard. To date we have almost 3400 registered supporters who are pushing Flagstaff to become the most bike-friendly city in America. Please consider becoming a paid member. Not only do your membership dollars help support our largely volunteer-driven initiatives, but your commitment as a paid member represents our strength-in-numbers when dealing with government agencies and other interest groups.