COEUR d'ALENE - Bike CDA is excited about cycling.

Whether it's working with community leaders to make streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists, organizing social biking events or educating new riders about bike safety, the budding organization has many spokes surrounding its central hub idea: to get people on bicycles.

"We're trying to encourage people to ride," said Bike CDA organizer and avid biker John Kelly.

Kelly, also a Coeur d'Alene Police officer, recently began turning the wheels for the concept of a bike-friendly Coeur d'Alene. He established the Bike CDA website, www.bikecda.com, and invited other bicycle enthusiasts to the first-ever "Bike Talks" gathering, which took place Saturday in Calypsos Coffee and Creamery in downtown Coeur d'Alene.

"Really, what we're looking at is bike culture in Coeur d'Alene," said Charlie Miller, manager of the North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation.

Kelly met with Miller and a diverse group of 11 in the conference room to discuss Coeur d'Alene embracing and expanding its biking community. The handful of bicycles parked outside the coffee house that morning was just a small sample of what the bike enthusiasts hope to see in the City by the Lake in the near future.

"Everybody has been affected by bikes in town," said North Idaho College Outdoor Pursuits program coordinator John Totten. "The more people on bikes, people are going to be forced to do something eventually."

The group discussed a variety of topics, including introducing recycled bike programs for NIC and the community, downtown bike corrals to create safe and convenient bike storage during events and widening roads for the safety of all who use them. Kelly, who recently had breakfast with Mayor Steve Widmyer in the extremely bike-friendly city of Boulder, Colo., brought up the idea of a monthly "ride with the mayor."

"That way, if the mayor's out riding the facilities in the street and being yelled at by motorists saying, 'Get on the sidewalk where you belong,' it sends the message," Kelly said. "Plus, it promotes that we have a bike-friendly mayor, and he's willing to do that, so I hope we can begin to make that happen.

Kelly also mentioned a big dream of his: a congregation of bike enthusiasts, a "Sturgis of bicycles," happening locally.

"I was thinking, why not take one of our wonderful events in Coeur d'Alene and overlay the "Sturgis of bicycles" on one of those?" he asked.

Those who attended the "Bike Talk" varied in occupation and background, from restaurant or vintage bike shop owners to those who simply love to ride. They all shared the Bike CDA vision of "building our beautiful community through the bike and biking events."

"The beautiful thing about Coeur d'Alene is that there's a chance to actually make a difference and make a lasting legacy for what our kids and our grandkids are going to be able to do," said Tyler Blackwelder, physical therapist and owner of Physio One in Hayden. "In other towns it's already been created. There's not a lot of opportunities like we have here to kind of unify and create something for the future. That's a pretty cool opportunity."

Bike CDA welcomes all aspects of the biking community. Kelly said he is looking for an attorney who is a biking enthusiast so the group can "do everything by the book" as it grows and becomes an official entity.

The next "Bike Talk" meeting is scheduled for May 3 at 8 a.m. at Calypsos.

Info: www.bikecda.com