Recognizing the city’s efforts to improve conditions for cyclists, Cleveland has been selected as a recipient of a Bicycle Friendly Community Honorable Mention from the League of American Bicyclists. Andy Clarke, the head of the League, will be in Cleveland next week to participate in Cleveland’s first Bicycle Week. Clarke will present Mayor Jackson with the Honorable Mention Award at the dedication of the Treadway Creek Trail on May 16th.

Treadway and the ongoing Towpath Trail extension to the Flats, a Bike Cleveland Plan, the $13 million commitment to bike infrastructure as part of the city’s capital budget, the soon-to-open bike lane on Euclid Avenue—all contribute to a hoped-for new culture of cycling in the area.

But, this recognition is a good opportunity to start a dialogue about what’s needed to make Cleveland a finalist in the Bicycle Friendly Community awards. How do we secure more bike and pedestrian facilities in Northeast Ohio? What changes do we need at the Ohio Department of Transportation and at NOACA (which directs $ billions in federal transportation spending) which should mandate that every local road construction project is a Complete Street?

Cities that are deeply bicycle friendly often share common threads. Reading the June issue of Bicycling magazine, the feature “Top 23 Cycling Cities” all seem to start with a very visible commitment from the mayor. In Washington, DC, Mayor Adrien Fenty (pictured above) is an avid cyclist and tri-athlete—that has a ripple effect. D.C. recently became the first city in the U.S. to launch an automat public bike system.

Cleveland can start by revitalizing the Mayor’s Pedestrian/Bicycle Advisory Committee, where advocates pushed a Complete Streets agenda in City Hall’s Red Room. The task force and high profile events like Cleveland Bicycle Week can raise the bar, as they did in Louisville, Kentucky. A bike summit there launched the biannual Mayor’s Hike and Bike which had 4,000 participants last year. Another potential outcome of Cleveland Bicycle Week might be a Bike Coordinator or a transportation commissioner to push for a city sustainability plan that includes bikes and pedestrians such as the work Janette Sadik-Khan is doing in New York City.

Let’s think of outcomes and attitudes as we head into Cleveland Bicycle Week.