Pitch Weekly's annual "Best of" issue named Laurie Chipman as "Best Outdoor Activist":
Laurie Chipman will be damned if her bike isn't allowed where cars are free to travel. Don't tell this Brookside cyclist that the bank drive-through is reserved for customers on four wheels or that crossing the Missouri River should be a privilege of the motor class. In her efforts to create equality and increase safety for cyclists and pedestrians, Chipman has the endurance of a Tour de France champion. If there's a memorial ride for a fallen cyclist, she's probably one of the folks who organized it. If there's a city meeting or a state hearing related to roads, she's sitting through the excruciating boredom, waiting for her turn to testify. And you'd think she had a laptop attached to her handlebars, the way she keeps the cycling, running and walking community informed about the latest news in the nonmotorized world. Adding to her impact, Chipman started a new organization this year called Let's Go KC; she uses the group to coordinate thousands of neighborhood, athletic and environmental clubs to form a better front for a greener transit system. For a town where cycling is still license to get your block knocked off by irrational motorheads, Chipman is more valuable than Lance Armstrong's Trek Madone.
Congratulations to Laurie--former MoBikeFed Board Member & Vice-President, and still one of our best allies in the KC area in her current roles as
Kansas City Bicycle Club Advocacy Chair and founding member of
Let's Go KC.
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