Edmonds bicycle advocate Peter Hallson was honored this month with the Cascade Bicycle Club’s 2024 Doug Walker Award in recognition of his more than 25 years tirelessly working to advocate for and promote bicycling to all ages and to share his love of this activity. Among his decades of achievements and contributions, Hallson was a key player in starting and ensuring funding for the Edmonds School District’s Let’s Go bicycling curriculum and the Safe Routes to School program, helping to clear the way for making bicycling a viable, safe way for students to travel to and from school.

“Peter has been a member of Cascade Bicycle Club for almost 25 years,” said Cascade Bicycle Club’s Laura Garner as Hallson received the award. “During this time, he has been a determined advocate of bicycling. He has been a ride leader for Cascade, sharing the joy of bicycling with all types of riders.” She also pointed to his work with North Sound Bike Advocates, formerly the Edmonds Bicycle Advocacy Group.

“Peter is somebody we can always count on to show up and support bicycling. Thanks to Peter, bicycling in Edmonds, Shoreline and Snohomish County is safer. Because of his dedication to our community and the achievements and contributions he has made, he is this year’s Doug Walker Award Winner.”

The 89-year-old Hallson began cycling as a youngster.

“It was a normal, growing up sort of thing then,” he explained. “But by the time I was 15 or 16 I got really car crazy, and didn’t cycle much at all. It took till just before retirement for me to start seriously cycling, about 30 years ago. I was 60 then, and over the past 29 years I’m guessing I’ve covered 50,000 miles. It’s kept me alive, and it’s kept me sane.”

During his working life, Hallson traveled the world helping educate organizations about how to become more efficient by instituting performance measurements, reviews and other management tools and strategies. Post-retirement, he discovered the Cascade Bicycle Club, which provided a fertile outlet to combine his education skills with his newfound passion for bicycling.

This association led him to become involved in the Safe Routes to School program that was just beginning in the Edmonds School District.

“I was able to work with the Hazel Miller Foundation to help them raise some money and this — along with help from then-Rep. Marko Liias to tap into Washington State’s federal fuel tax allocation — really got the program moving,” he explained.  “And through this Marko became a real buddy and champion for bicycling in Edmonds.

“Sometimes folks ask what a guy my age is doing cycling thousands of miles a year,” he said with a laugh.  “I know I’m slowing down a little — my family likes to think that we’re ageless, and I honestly believe that comes from just not worrying about it.”

But he has made some allowances as he approaches his 10th decade.

“I’ve been riding an e-bike for about six years now,” he said. “These days I pretty much ride it all the time and am thinking about giving my old bike away…just thinking, mind you!”

But stopping bike riding is simply not in the cards for Hallson.

“I ride everywhere,” he says. “I do it for fun, fitness and friends. It’s getting outdoors, getting active, seeing the world at 10 miles an hour and exploring all the nooks and crannies of Seattle  It’s a form of medicine for me, and it seems to be working just fine.”

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel