I used to be a biker.

I don’t mean a leather jacket-wearing, motorcycle-riding biker. Although, truth be told, I used to be one of those also.

Nope, I mean a bicycle riding biker.

I still have both the motorcycle and the bicycle, but I don’t ride either one of those very much anymore.

I’m considering dusting off the bike one of these days. The one you pedal, that is.

After all, I am a member of a biker gang, of sorts. Well, we are sort of a biker gang, anyway.

It is called the Blue Earth Active Living Coalition, or ALC for short. I have written about this group in the past, but it remains one of the least known committees in town.

The ALC was formed a number of years ago with the goal of promoting active living in the city. That includes walking and biking mainly, but also doing any kind of exercise to stay healthy. The ALC works a lot on promoting having sidewalks, crosswalks, walking and biking trails, and bike lanes on streets.

The ALC was organized by, and is funded by, SHIP, the Statewide Health Improvement Program.

Our local ALC actually owns a bunch of bicycles, 20 of them to be exact. They also have recently purchased and installed a bicycle repair station out at Giant Park. That repair station will be dedicated in a little ceremony during Giant Days this year. And to go along with the dedication, there will be, what else but a celebration bike ride around town.

That is the reason I might have to dust off my bike.

But, if you don’t want to have to dust off your bike or take the effort to get it to Giant Park during Giant Days, don’t worry. Those 20 bikes the ALC owns will be there for you or your family to use, free of charge.

I am more of a walker and a hiker (and a kayaker) than a biker these days. However, I am still pretty pleased with the fact there are so many walking and biking trails in the city of Blue Earth – including that new one, the off-road, single track bike trail along Leland Parkway. While it is meant to be a bike trail, it is also kind of a cool hiking trail, although not truly a straight walking path. It winds back and forth quite a lot.

While this new bike trail is not a project of the Active Living Coalition, the ALC members were pretty pleased to see another biking opportunity suddenly appear in the city.

So, this coming weekend, my suggestion is to go for a walk, a hike, or a bike ride. You will probably bump into some of your friends and neighbors along the way, because a lot of folks will be out doing the same thing.

This is a pretty active community, and the ALC members want to do what they can to keep it that way.

Here is a sneak peek at another walking and biking event being planned for Blue Earth.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the 911 attack on Sept. 11, 2001. A special event is being planned that will include a 9.11 kilometer bike/run/walk along Unity Trail in Blue Earth.

Look for more on this later this year.