Climb into my head for a moment: The venue is the farm country of northwestern Ohio where I grew up.

A rural school, books to read, a BB gun to shoot and a dog to play with were my reality. Oh, and thousands of acres of corn, wheat and soybeans filled out the picture.

But no bicycle.

Fast-forward in my cranium a number of decades, and everywhere I look in T-town I see people riding bicycles.

Some change from then to now.

"It's the most efficient way to travel under your own power," Mike Brown, the owner of Tacoma Bike, told me a couple of Saturday mornings ago after a ride.  "You have such a sense of freedom and independence on a bicycle."

In the peloton of bike-friendly cities, Tacoma is slowly but steadily peddling its way to the front as it goes wheel-to-wheel with West Coast bicycle burgs like Seattle, Portland and San Francisco.

Mike Brown, owner of Tacoma Bike, talks with fellow cyclists after a Saturday morning bike ride, a growing trend. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

The City of Tacoma has put together a Mobility Master Plan, the goal of which is to implement on-street projects to enhance the quality of the walkway and bikeway networks to foster these activities as an integral part of daily life.

Reaching this goal is an uphill ride.

"We want to create a bikeway network that allows individuals to bike anywhere in the city," Diane Wiatr, mobility coordinator and senior planner for Tacoma, told me during a telephone conversation.

Acknowledging that the network will take time and money to complete, she added, "There are more gaps than connections, but we are filling in those gaps."

As the Weekly Volcano reported Tacoma's bike rack program is gaining speed.

"Doing that is a lot cheaper than a $30,000 parking stall for a car!" Wiatr emphasized.

Most of the individuals I talked to who are involved in T-town's bicycling community are generally pleased with the city's efforts.

A non-profit cooperative, 2nd Cycle Tacoma advocates for and educates cyclists. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

True, some want a bit more action a bit sooner, but most local pedal pushers are happy.

"There have been some improvements," Noah Struthers said as we chatted at 2nd Cycle Tacoma, "but there is room for improvement."

Ranell and Kris Nystrom have led "Mob Rides" since 2009.  They are setting a trend to make bike riding inclusive for all. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

Ranell and Kris Nystrom, a couple of forward-thinking folks who have been instrumental in introducing Mob Rides to the T-town scene, agreed.

"The city has been trying to improve bicycle relations," Nystrom said moments after she and her husband rolled up on their bikes. 

As for the Mob Rides, they are events where cyclists of all types meet at a given point and ride from bar to bar. And no, it isn't about getting plastered and cycling.

"It's about having fun; about recapturing what many of us did as children," the Nystroms stressed.

Rides are usually 10 to 15 miles in length and draw between 40 and 70 people.  Cyclists follow a predetermined route, and no one gets left behind.

Long-time Tacoma resident Diane Walkup shows off the Gitane bicycle and messenger bag she used as a bicycle messenger in New York City in 1974. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

"These mob rides have people in them that I want to be around," Diane Walkup told me. "They understand the joy of riding."

Trust me, Walkup certainly does.

Now pushing threescore and 10, Walkup recalls well her days as a bicycle messenger in Gotham City in the mid-1970s.

"Speed, punctuality and nerves of steel were required," she said as she talked  about navigating her way on her Gitane to deliver messages to places like Rolling Stone Magazine, NBC, CBS and Marvel Comics.

"The job took intelligence; I learned the streets of New York City and all of the short cuts," Walkup added with a twinkle in her eye.

And there is no lack of intelligence in the effort to make Tacoma bike friendly.

It's not so much that I will take as gospel what city officials have to say  - I know they know that budget constraints may flatten the tires of their bike network plan.

Chris Kopp, owner of Defiance Bicycles, is a community leader in making Tacoma more bike accessible. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

"Budgetary constraints aside," Chris Kopp, owner of Defiance Bicycles and member of the steering committee, which drafted the Mobility Master Plan, told me as I stood in his shop. "There is a good core of advocacy for cycling here in the city, which is doing a good job."

The ride to a cyclist-linked city will be long but, with help from the middle-aged, Spandex wearing folks and collectivist-minded environmentalists to the high-speed, high-octane racers to the mob riders who want to highlight the fun of riding, the goal is not insurmountable.

"Bike riding is growing and evolving," Nystrom pointed out, as she and Kris got ready to ride off. "We see more people riding all the time."

LINK: 2012 May Bike Month Calendar

LINK: Bike Month Commuter Challenge

Jason Osborne, a mechanic at Bike Tech, adjusts a derailer on customer's bike. Photo credit: J.M. Simpson

Riley Martin of Old Town Bicycle adjusts a brake.  "I love coming to work; this is what I love to do." Photo credit: J.M. Simpson