May
16
It’s Bike to Work Day in SoCal
Filed Under Advocacy, Deep Thoughts, Rides | Leave a Comment
As if you didn’t know, bike community members, today is Bike to Work Day in Southern California. I guess other regions have it on different days. Judging by the number of bikes on the train platform this morning, I going to guess that its will be a pretty successful BTWD. The ongoing challenge, of course, is to keep everyone going beginning Monday. MasiGuy’s blog had a comment this morning that describes this well here.
A side effect of BTWD is the crowded trains. I guess it’s a positive sign for cycling, but the 2 racks per car on Metrolink here don’t cut it. There were 5 bikers on my train home last night. Can’t wait for tonight’s crowds.
On a positive note, there happened to be a “market research” person from Metrolink on my car. I commented to her about the need for more racks. She smiled and handed me a survey to fill out and suggested that I use the comment area to mention the problem. Also was able to put down that the bike is my mode of transport pre- and post-train ride. Bonus.
Along with the four other bikes there were four other bikers on the train. Had a nice conversation with one who was on a really nice carbon road bike. He’s definitely one of the industry’s “VIP Customers.” So much so, that after he found out that I worked for Interbike (did the jersey and socks plastered with the logo give it away?), he mentioned that he loves Interbike and goes every year. When I asked him how he gets in, he said that he’s a very good customer of his shop and they get him into the show. Now this volatile topic is worthy of a whole other post, but suffice it to say that if any type consumer should be let into the show, this is it. He doesn’t ask for price lists or deals or sponsorship, knows that the show is for the dealers and manufacturers to conduct their business and he buys everything he sees there from his local shop.
I’m not advocating at all that it’s ok for retailers to do this. They still need to respect the exhibitors and those other retailers who are uncomfortable with this and have expressed a desire to keep the show for the trade only. I do have to admit that this guy’s passion and love of bikes and cycling is strong enough to get him to drive 5 hours each way to Vegas and pay for his own hotel and expenses just to ogle cool new bike gear.
Continuing the trend of interesting conversations that happen when you bike and train to work instead of driving, I met the publisher of Skateboarder magazine this morning (they’re also based in San Juan Capistrano and are the sister mag to Bike magazine). He bikes to work most days of the week. Great talk about the future of traditional media and the web and also nuances of the various core “tribes” within the skate world. Good stuff. Would never happen in a car by yourself.
Finally, here’s one more pic for Carlton Reid (congrats on your award, btw!) who enjoys seeing where people live, work and ride. I was bit early this morning to the train and rode a couple of blocks over from the station to the beach. Another beautiful day to ride.
Apr
22
Sea Otter Video - Trek’s Women Who Ride Club
Filed Under Advocacy, Blogging, Exhibitor News, Interbike, Video | Leave a Comment
More video from Sea Otter. This time I had the pleasure of sitting with Krista Rettig of Trek Bicycles. Krista is the brand manager for their women’s division and Sea Otter was her first duty back on the job following maternity leave. The tent we were sitting under was for their new “Women Who Ride” club program that they were launching in a few days time. From the jackets we’re wearing, you can see that the weather was turning a bit more Sea Otter-like on day two. Day three would bring a high of 52F.
The new club is designed to encourage women to overcome real or perceived challenges to riding by being a part of an online community of fellow women cyclists. Members can share stories and successes and follow the blogs of 5 women selected from a writing contest to describe their journeys in cycling.
Programs to encourage greater women’s participation in cycling are important to me not only as the father of a girl, but as the husband of a Cat 2 racer (semi-retired) who credits a women-only, season-long race series as getting her started in racing. If it weren’t for her racing, we never would have met on that Tuesday night training ride.
Along with their “One World, Two Wheels” advocacy program (which I called “Two Wheels, One Planet” in the interview), this new effort shows Trek’s continuing commitment to getting more people riding.
You can read more about the club here: www.trekbikes.com/women
Apr
21
Sea Otter Video - Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong
Filed Under Advocacy, Deep Thoughts, Interbike, Video | 1 Comment
In light of my recent introduction into local bicycle advocacy, I thought I’d go to the source for some expert advice. As I mention in my intro in the video, I have some experience with some pretty big advocacy efforts like the National Bike Summit, but when it came to actually effecting some advocacy close to home, I really had no idea where to start. I guess the nitty gritty of the work had been left to the professionals at the League of American Bicyclists, Bikes Belong or IMBA, to name a few, in the advocacy that I had been a part of.
Tim Blumenthal, executive director of Bikes Belong, kindly accepted my request for an interview during his busy schedule at the Sea Otter Classic when I called him a few days prior to the event. Tim is always a pleasure to speak with and I’ve been lucky to be able to spend time with him at the last two Sea Otter events now. He’s a great advocate and representative for the industry. And he tells a great story.
The theme of this interview is advice for cyclists wanting to effect bicycle advocacy on a local level. Good stuff.
Technical note: I need to figure out how to turn my left channel only sound (from my mono microphone plugged into the stereo input on the camera) into left and right mono. Not so bad through speakers, but very noticeable with headphones. Maybe I just need to invest in some better video editing software.
Apr
14
Local Advocacy Opportunity
Filed Under Advocacy, Cycling | 2 Comments
I have a chance to be a part of bicycle advocacy efforts starting tonight. While looking up some unrelated information last Friday on our town’s web site, I was surprised to learn that the city (Vista, 35 miles north of San Diego) was inviting residents to join the “Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail Visioning Team.”
“As part of the General Plan Update, we are evaluating the City’s existing network of pedestrian and bicycle trials(sic) and examining how this network can be improved. Ultimately, we will be creating General Plan policies meant to promote walking and biking as safe, viable and appealing transportation options for both residents and visitors.”
The first meeting is tonight. By the quote above from the linked flyer on the city website, things sound encouraging. Then again, since they failed to respond to my email to them last week indicating that I wanted to volunteer, I hope that this isn’t just lip-service and they’re, in fact, just hoping that it will go away quietly. We’ll see. I’ll refrain from condemning them until after the first meeting.
There are four scheduled meetings over the next month listed on the flyer so, at the very least, this should make for a few interesting post topics. Having participated in a number of national advocacy efforts like the Bike Summit and working with groups like Bikes Belong and Trips for Kids, I’m looking forward to actually having a local impact through advocacy.
“Act Locally” as they say. I’ll keep you posted.
And, sorry about the late notice, but… if you live in Vista, California (or work here in the bike industry, for that matter: Haro? Masi? Canari? Electra? Trek Bike Superstore?) come on down. The meeting’s at 5:30.
Mar
5
The Bike Summit is On!
Filed Under Advocacy, Industry News | Leave a Comment
The National Bike Summit is in full swing today. Just want to wish all of our advocates there a productive day full of meetings with influential people.
A site to visit for coverage of the event is Jonathan Maus’ (or is that Maus’s?) BikePortland.org site. If you know of any others, let me know.
Lance, Robert and Andria from Interbike are there. Don’t be shy about going up to them and saying hi.
Update:
I found a nice list of bloggers that will be attending the Summit at the Commute by Bike site. Didn’t see any coverage there yet - just the “We’re heading off to the Summit this week” posts. Hopefully the posting will kick in soon.
Feb
29
Article: Year of the Bike in 2008?
Filed Under Advocacy, Cycling, Industry News, Interbike | 1 Comment
I hate to re-hash something that another site has already covered (very nicely, btw), but in this case I think the topic merits another mention in case anyone missed it - especially with the National Bike Summit taking over the Capitol next week.
The article that Jonathan Maus of the awesome bikeportland.org blog discovered recently was written with the Summit in mind by columnist James Peirce of the Washington Post Writer’s Group. Mr. Peirce goes through a list of issues that have been in the headlines recently that all point to a very favorable atmosphere for the growth of the use and acceptability of the bicycle as a legitimate form of transportation and dynamic solution to many of these problems. (That last point also eloquently brought up by Interbike show director, Lance Camisasca, back in 2006, btw.)
Jonathan does a great job of describing the article and has some nice pull-quotes, so I’ll avoid echoing here. Of course, you should read the whole article itself, but one snippet at the end where he describes the significance of Portland’s Bike Boulevards seems an important point, so I’ll excerpt it again here:
“But perhaps most importantly, they’ve marked a major shift from meeting needs of expert and intermediate cyclists. The focus, instead, is on making cycling welcoming for everyone — kids, families and novices included.”
We “expert and intermediate” cyclists in the industry can tend to forget the needs of the masses of non-riders (the 161 million, as I’ve often heard quoted as their number) that we are trying to encourage to leave their cars in the garage. It may be tough to paceline in a bike way or path, but that’s not really the point, is it?
Have fun at the Summit - and go do some good!
Feb
14
“What Word in ‘Bike Lane’ Don’t Drivers Understand?”
Front cover of the Outdoors section of the Orange County (California) Register this morning is this article by columnist David Whiting. My boss, Jim, saw it this morning and brought it in since I don’t live in the OC. But I sure do work here. And ride my bike here.
While the subject is unfortunate, the fact that article takes the cyclists’ point of view is refreshing. You can read the entire article in the link, but a few nice features of the story include:
- The black text box quotes from the California Vehicle Code on bike lanes. It clearly removes any doubt as to the legality of driving in a bike lane from this discussion.
- The ’sub-headline’ reads: “Vehicles illegally in bike lanes kill, maim, and terrify cyclists.”
- The OCR allows comments to its articles posted online so be sure to weigh in on the subject.
Got to run to a meeting now so I can’t expound more, but wanted to get this out.
Feb
1
National Bike Summit - Be There!
Filed Under Advocacy, Cycling, Industry News, Interbike | Leave a Comment
Mark your calendars, this is the big one: the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, March 4-6, 2008.
The League of American Bicyclists organizes this amazing bicycle advocacy event that seeks to “present a comprehensive, actionable, national bicycling agenda to Congress.” On a personal level, it’s also an awesome civics lesson as you roam the halls of Congress and meet with your elected officials and their staffers and learn the finer points of lobbying and the legislative process through workshops and speaker sessions.
According to the NBS website:
The National Bike Summit provides us with a unique opportunity to inform our members of Congress of the importance of bicycling, and to educate them on specific bicycling issues.
They need delegates from each and every congressional district in the United States at the National Bike Summit this year.
Interbike strongly believes in this event and we are sponsoring it again this year. We also encourage all members of the bike industry on both the manufacturer and retailer side of the business to attend this important gathering in Washington.
Oct
31
No, not for your baseball team. Congratulations on having your mayor commit to making Boston a bicycle friendly city. With all of the recent political bashing of the bicycle, it’s refreshing to see the mayor of such a large city get behind bikes and host the Boston Bike Summit to help promote the cause of cycling.
The Bike Summit was held Oct. 22-24 and was sponsored by Bicycling Magazine, the League of American Bicyclists and MassBike. “The Summit was a chance for leaders from the bicycling world to offer advice, information and inspiration to Boston’s mayor, transportation executives and local advocates,” according to an article on BicycleRetailer.com.
I’ve been casually following news from Boston on Mayor Thomas Menino’s newfound positive opinion of bicycles over the last 6 months, or so, that seems to have culminated in this event. He discovered cycling and has been riding his Trek Lime every day.
Kudos also go out to the city for their decision to hire former Olympian and racer Nicole Freedman as their new bike coordinator. I worked briefly with Nicole as a sponsor of one of her teams in a past life and have to say that her enthusiasm for bicycles is genuine. She has a great spirit and always seems to be smiling. And if you’ve ever read any of her writings, she’s got a great sense of humor, too. Good luck in the new job, Nicole!
Read the whole BR&IN article here.
Oct
17
Congressman McHenry’s “19th Century Technology”
Filed Under Advocacy, Cycling, Industry News, Interbike | Leave a Comment
This is old news having happened back in August, but better late than never. I remember hearing about this, but in the lead up to Interbike, I didn’t have time to read more and comment on it. Lance here emailed me a link to a blog post on it and it relates to my previous post on IBTimes.
Preceding Madam Secretary Mary Peters’ statements about the bicycle as a legitimate form of transportation, Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) spent some time on the floor of the Capitol presenting his opinions on the matter. Now, I have to admit that I have a pretty low opinion of all politicians to begin with, but when they go out of their way to make ludicrous statements, like McHenry does here, to promote their points of view, it’s just sad and embarrassing for them. In this case, his disparaging words really are an insult to our entire industry.
DeFeet (who btw made our awesome Interbike socks this year - thanks!), posted a link on their blog to a YouTube clip of McHenry speaking on the floor of Congress about the Democrats’ plans to offer cyclists a tax incentive to commute by bike in one their bills. He’s very dramatic in his presentation, and even has a big poster of an ancient high wheeled bike from, I’m guessing, the 1800’s next to his podium. The riding couple on the bike are Victorian outfits, and clearly he is trying to emphasize and reinforce his statement that the bike is a 19th century technology. How laughable is it, he is in effect saying, that the Democrats are proposing that such an antiquated technology is being promoted as the solution to all our energy problems? (In a funny retort, Paul at DeFeet wrote that the car that he is defending as the ideal mode of transport was invented in the same century.)
I’d just like to know why he, and seemingly so many others like him, feel so much anger towards bikes. I mean, how is a $20 a month tax incentive for people who commute by bike going to so severely and negatively affect his campaign donor special interests? That’s what all politics comes down to, isn’t it? The obvious big oil/car company interests would seem like an obvious foe of bikes, but are we really even on their radar screen enough to motivate McHenry to get so worked up? What’s behind this hatred of bikes as transportation?
What am I missing, here?
Thanks to DeFeet for finding and putting this important clip out there.