Bicycling bug! (Praying mantis on fiddle head fern) Via Pick-A-Pepper.com
For Virginia Tech graduates the summer is finally here and the real world, getting a job, is the next 'To Do' before leaving Blacksburg forever. Luckily, I was able to walk for graduation and I'll be in Berlin this summer, taking the last class I need to receive my German minor. As such, I'll be back in Europe where my inspiration for successful cycling cultures is real and captivating.
Many people have asked what was my motivation for organizing Blacksburg Cycle Chic. To clarify, I focused my graduation personal statement on how I got to where I am. The following was read at the Science and Technology Studies graduation ceremony:
Entering
Virginia Tech as a sophomore transfer student from JMU, Lyndsay first learned
of the Humanities, Science and the Environment major through
Earth Sustainability. The four semester long program
fostered an ecologically conscious learning community where Lyndsay, with her
love of biology, thrived. Impelled to take action, Lyndsay became a passionate,
campus sustainability leader. A few of her highlights include serving as the
Environmental Coalition Vice President from 2009-2010, building momentum behind
VT’s Climate Action Commitment and organizing Power Shift Summits for the
YouthClimate Movement. She also attended the United Nations Copenhagen Climate
Change Convention in 2009 with the Sierra Student Coalition Delegation. There,
she mobilized grassroots efforts to push the new Obama Administration to commit
to equitable carbon reductions and a climate treaty. Frustrated with the
International Copenhagen Accord which promised minimal action on climate
change, Lyndsay shifted her sustainability efforts to alternative
transportation and urban planning. As a triathlete and
cyclist on the Virginia
Tech teams, Lyndsay embraced the opportunity to encourage bicycle
transportation among students to get people out of their cars. Two years later,
Lyndsay has blogged, presented and participated at numerous bicycle and
pedestrian planning conferences as VT’s first Alternative Transportation
Intern. While
studying abroad in Switzerland last spring, Lyndsay was able to
see successful cycling cultures firsthand and attended Velo-city Seville
(Spain) with the
League of American Bicyclists, with whom she networked during
the previous fall at Pro Walk Pro Bike 2010. Inspired by
Copenhagen Cycle Chic
(and that’s pronounced
sch-eek, as in
style), a famous street style photography blog and global movement that
celebrates everyday people bike commuting, Lyndsay came back to the States with
keen ambition to transform Blacksburg into a bicycle friendly community. Just
last week, Lyndsay, Student Government Association Transportation Director, put
on the culminating event of her environmental activism.
Blacksburg Cycle Chic –Commuter Celebration and Fashion Show showcased local groups striving towards
regional transportation sustainability and active lifestyles while revealing
bicycle heros in our Hokie Nation. The night was moving, successful and
inspired people to rediscover their bikes for transportation. Lyndsay’s undergraduate
research:
The Role of the American Bicycle Girl – An Indicator of Healthy U.S.Cities towards Sustainable Mobility, serves as another creative outlet where
Lyndsay is actively bridging concepts of womens mobility, bicycle
transportation and sustainability. Lyndsay believes the
importance of empowering women to bicycle cannot be understated in today’s
world of seven billion people, uncontainable pollution from cars, congestion,
dangerous streets and disappearance of active transportation lifestyles. She
believes empowering women to bicycle can lead to environmentally conscious
mobility, increased health amongst an obesity epidemic and sustainable
transportation for future generations.
As you can tell, the HSE major has enabled driven students like
Lyndsay to excel in the wider Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, National and
International communities as a change agent. She has experienced a rich
and vibrant academic career at Virginia Tech and is excited to complete her
German minor this summer. With an affectionate love of traveling, Lyndsay will
spend 8 weeks abroad in Berlin, Germany at the Freie University of Berlin. She
is ready to leave her Blacksburg home and friends, embarking upon a
new journey. In the fall, Lyndsay hopes to become a bicycle and pedestrian coordinator and urban
planner.
The first Saturday after Graduation is for many people, the first weekend of summer in Blacksburg. With thousands of pesky Virginia Tech students gone, it is calm and peaceful. However, on Saturday May 19th, College Avenue was anything but quiet. 
Blacksburg Triathletes! Left to right: 
