It makes a lot of sense considering the health benefits and potential. It's more than recreational, it's a way to get exercise while going to school, work, the store, or to visit friends.

A fifth grade class is lobbying to make cycling official:

Jackie Pollman’s fifth grade class at Cooper School on Milwaukee’s south side has been lobbying to make cycling the official state exercise joining other official symbols like the Robin and the Sugar Maple.

Ms. Pollman’s class has been studying how our government works and they decided to learn about it firsthand by working on their own bill. It might not be surprising that they chose bikes to champion. The kids took part in our Safe Routes to School Bike Driver’s Ed class a year ago. And Cooper School has been a leader in promoting cycling. The school was in our first group of Safe Routes schools way back in 2004, the school’s bike racks are full on nice days, and the school hosts walk or bike to school days in the fall and spring.

The kids asked their State Senator Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) to draft the bill. Then they helped get cosponsors including several Democrats but also Sen. Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) to make it a bipartisan bill. Now, they’re trying to get a public hearing on the bill before time runs out when the legislature goes home in the next few weeks.

One of the reasons it makes so much sense is how much cycling means to the Wisconsin economy:

There’s ample reason to elevate cycling to this lofty perch. After all, biking is a $1.5 billion business in Wisconsin and it provides 14,000 jobs. We’re home to big names in the industry like Trek, Saris, Planet Bike, Borah Teamwear, Madrax and Pacific Cycle not to mention a bunch of cool smaller companies like Fyxation.

With Chicago being the 2nd most-friendly bike city and SRAM headquarters located in Chicago, Illinois could probably make a similar case for making cycling the official state exercise. Sure, this may seem like a silly designation but it could help with the acceptance issue we have in Illinois. Having government make that designation would be a great show of support for cycling in our state.

See full article at Wisconsin Bike Fed: http://wisconsinbikefed.org/2016/02/02/lets-make-biking-the-officia...