Monterey. Calif. -- Tonight David Luppino and I hit the famed Cannery Row in Monterey, attending a dinner to wrap up the Bicycle Leadership Conference that was held in connection to the massive Sea Otter CLassic bike festival and races.
David, who owned the Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium and parts of two other shops before deciding to open the Just Ride Bicyles shop in Fish Hawk, met several national bicycle industry big guns tonight. David's store, CBE, along with Randy Mhyre's Oliver's Cycle Sports, were the founding member of SWFBUD, and it was terrific I had the chance to introduce David to Tim Blumenthal of Boulder-based Bikes Belong.
It was a wonderful dinner as the founder of the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company was the guest speaker and outlined his company's amazing success as the country's number one craft brewery.
Ken Grossman built his tiny microbrewery in Chico, Calif. into a sudsy juggernault -- the number six beer in the country and number one in the craft brewing category.
These days, his Sierra Nevada company produces its own electricity, has its own rail system and its own wastewater treatment facility. His commitment to sustainability -- and delicious beer -- is admirable.
And what better way to wrap up any great bicycle ride with a great beer like Sierra Nevada. Ken was a former bike shop guy himself and loves to cycle -- a perfect match between bicycling and beer.
I hope to bring renewed energy and contacts back to the Tampa Bay area so that we make continue growing bicycling. We have a nice thing going -- a burgeoning bicycle movement -- and let's work together to continue the monentum.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Too Bad This Day Had To End
Monterey, Calif. -- So this is bicycle nirvana.
About eight miles off the Pacific Ocean, at a car race track of all venues, is the bicycle mecca of California and the country for four days this long weekend.
Today, I bit the Bicycle Apple in the Garden of Pedaling Eden, trying out wonderfully cracfted bikes, making connections with bicycle people from across the country and topping it all off with a liquidy happy hour of cold Sierra Nevada suds at the Clif Bar tent.
It's called the Sea Otter Classic and it's all about 60,000 bicyclephiles, including 10,000 competitors in road and mountain races, descending on a venue of pavement and dirt and beautiful steep green hills off the mighty Pacific.
I test-rode a $3,000 full-suspension Jamis mountain bike and a lovely Haro single-speed 650B bike and a $8,600 ultra-light-weight Fuji road bike that a racer pedaled during the Tour de Britian.
I watched three races at once, positioning myself at a perch to watch a 20-mile cross-country mountain bike ride right next to the dirt course, while taking in a road race in the car race track. And a few minutes later I watched mountain bikers with full head helmets flying down a slalom-looking course and catching air about 30 feet from the finish line.
All around there were bicyclists on all types of bikes making their pilgrimage on roads leading to the Sea Otter Classic. And for once, bicycles ruled the roads, and cars gingerly and politely and respectfully maneuvered around the bicyclists in the ultimate mutual respect of the share-the-road ethic.
Let's just say I don't see much of that in the Tampa Bay area.
In the afternoon today I changed my bike shorts for walking shorts and I made a ton of new friends at vendor booths all around the bicycle vendor village. There was Woody at the Bend, Oregon off-road bike trip tent who leads wonderful bike rides through the woods of Oregon outside Bend.
Jaclyn was a marketing manager for a health drink who used to live in New York and hopes to have a tent at the Bicycle Bash by the Bay.
And there were dozens of other folks I met who were impressed that the Tampa Bay area has an event such as the Bicycle Bash by the Bay and they hope to have a rep there at a table at the BBbtB.
I had a ball talking with the folks at bikecommuters.com, the brethren of Tampa's famed Ghost Rider -- Jack Sweeney of Seminole Heights who also writes for that Web site. There were RL and Jeremy and Moe and we shared stories of bicycle life.
We took goofy photos of one another on cool bikes and promised to swap shots for our respective web sites.
And that's what bicycling at the Sea Otter is all about. As long as you pedal a bicycle, you're a brother or sister of another bicyclist -- regardless of the genre of bicycle.
It's a beautiful thing. Just the mere act of riding a bicycle -- any type of human-powered wheeled transportation -- makes you an automatic member of a wonderful fraternity/sorority of folks who would love to do nothing better but get around our earth with a stroke of a pedal.
Bicycling can transform you. You will lose weight and feel fitter. It will sharpen your senses and give you a sense of accomplishment. And it will make you happier.
About eight miles off the Pacific Ocean, at a car race track of all venues, is the bicycle mecca of California and the country for four days this long weekend.
Today, I bit the Bicycle Apple in the Garden of Pedaling Eden, trying out wonderfully cracfted bikes, making connections with bicycle people from across the country and topping it all off with a liquidy happy hour of cold Sierra Nevada suds at the Clif Bar tent.
It's called the Sea Otter Classic and it's all about 60,000 bicyclephiles, including 10,000 competitors in road and mountain races, descending on a venue of pavement and dirt and beautiful steep green hills off the mighty Pacific.
I test-rode a $3,000 full-suspension Jamis mountain bike and a lovely Haro single-speed 650B bike and a $8,600 ultra-light-weight Fuji road bike that a racer pedaled during the Tour de Britian.
I watched three races at once, positioning myself at a perch to watch a 20-mile cross-country mountain bike ride right next to the dirt course, while taking in a road race in the car race track. And a few minutes later I watched mountain bikers with full head helmets flying down a slalom-looking course and catching air about 30 feet from the finish line.
All around there were bicyclists on all types of bikes making their pilgrimage on roads leading to the Sea Otter Classic. And for once, bicycles ruled the roads, and cars gingerly and politely and respectfully maneuvered around the bicyclists in the ultimate mutual respect of the share-the-road ethic.
Let's just say I don't see much of that in the Tampa Bay area.
In the afternoon today I changed my bike shorts for walking shorts and I made a ton of new friends at vendor booths all around the bicycle vendor village. There was Woody at the Bend, Oregon off-road bike trip tent who leads wonderful bike rides through the woods of Oregon outside Bend.
Jaclyn was a marketing manager for a health drink who used to live in New York and hopes to have a tent at the Bicycle Bash by the Bay.
And there were dozens of other folks I met who were impressed that the Tampa Bay area has an event such as the Bicycle Bash by the Bay and they hope to have a rep there at a table at the BBbtB.
I had a ball talking with the folks at bikecommuters.com, the brethren of Tampa's famed Ghost Rider -- Jack Sweeney of Seminole Heights who also writes for that Web site. There were RL and Jeremy and Moe and we shared stories of bicycle life.
We took goofy photos of one another on cool bikes and promised to swap shots for our respective web sites.
And that's what bicycling at the Sea Otter is all about. As long as you pedal a bicycle, you're a brother or sister of another bicyclist -- regardless of the genre of bicycle.
It's a beautiful thing. Just the mere act of riding a bicycle -- any type of human-powered wheeled transportation -- makes you an automatic member of a wonderful fraternity/sorority of folks who would love to do nothing better but get around our earth with a stroke of a pedal.
Bicycling can transform you. You will lose weight and feel fitter. It will sharpen your senses and give you a sense of accomplishment. And it will make you happier.
Getting Ready To Hit Sea Otter
This morning it's cloudy to start but I suspect it will burn off when bicycle fans from across California and the country descend on the big hills outside Monterey for the Sea Otter Classic.
I will be in and out at the Just Ride Bicycles tent, manned by SWFBUD member David Luppino and Tammy of SWFBUD member store Suncoast Trailside Bicycles. Stop by and say hi.
I plan to test ride some bicycles in the morning and hopefully my legs and lungs will be up to pedaling some bikes in the hilly terrain that includes some rather daunting steep climbs for a guy used to cycling the flats of Flatwooods county park and Morris Bridge Road. It's basically Sugarloaf Mountain Road climbs all around here.
The bicycle culture is amazing here and at Sea Otter bicyclists ride bikes alongside pedestrians who stroll the many dirt aisles of the exhibitor rows. There are literally hundreds of vendors and commercial tents, including all the big names of the bicycle industry.
I'll be sharing photos when I return to Tampa Bay early Monday morning.
I will be in and out at the Just Ride Bicycles tent, manned by SWFBUD member David Luppino and Tammy of SWFBUD member store Suncoast Trailside Bicycles. Stop by and say hi.
I plan to test ride some bicycles in the morning and hopefully my legs and lungs will be up to pedaling some bikes in the hilly terrain that includes some rather daunting steep climbs for a guy used to cycling the flats of Flatwooods county park and Morris Bridge Road. It's basically Sugarloaf Mountain Road climbs all around here.
The bicycle culture is amazing here and at Sea Otter bicyclists ride bikes alongside pedestrians who stroll the many dirt aisles of the exhibitor rows. There are literally hundreds of vendors and commercial tents, including all the big names of the bicycle industry.
I'll be sharing photos when I return to Tampa Bay early Monday morning.
Friday, April 17, 2009
An Afternoon At The Sea Otter Classic
This afternoon, I transitionef from the Bicycle Leadership Conference to the Sea Otter Classic, one of the truly great bicycle race and festivals in the country. I hooked up with David Luppino, owner of Just Ride Bicycles in Fish Hawk, and Tammy, who works at Suncoast Trailside Bicycles, at the Sea Otter Classic, where there were selling T-shirts and caps.
The Classic is a amazing mountain bike race and festival -- one of the signature bicycle events in this country in the hills outside Monterey about 75 miles south of San Francisco.
Thousands of mountain bikers and also roadies were walking and biking amid the dozens of exhibitors and tents, while mountain bikers raced down hills in various competitions.
Super dry weather with temps in the low 70s made for ideal conditions.
I took the opportunity to chat with vendors here to recruit them for the Bicycle Bash by the Bay, swapping biz cards for no less than 30 folks. I hope their companies participate in the Bicycle Bash by the Bay festival, which os Oct. 11 at Vinoy Park in St. Pete. Check out www.bicyclebash.com for more info.
The Classic is a amazing mountain bike race and festival -- one of the signature bicycle events in this country in the hills outside Monterey about 75 miles south of San Francisco.
Thousands of mountain bikers and also roadies were walking and biking amid the dozens of exhibitors and tents, while mountain bikers raced down hills in various competitions.
Super dry weather with temps in the low 70s made for ideal conditions.
I took the opportunity to chat with vendors here to recruit them for the Bicycle Bash by the Bay, swapping biz cards for no less than 30 folks. I hope their companies participate in the Bicycle Bash by the Bay festival, which os Oct. 11 at Vinoy Park in St. Pete. Check out www.bicyclebash.com for more info.
A Gala Night At The BRAINy Awards Ceremony
Monterey, Calif. -- The good news about bicycling is that there are people in the industry such as bike shop owners, suppliers and distributors who are doing wonderful work to advocate for better bicycling conditions in this country.
It was an honor to see those folks honored last night when Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN), the magazine that covers the bicycle industry, handed out "BRAINy" awards to these incredible people.
That's why I was awfully humbled to receive the retail bike store advocacy BRAINy on behalf of SWFBUD last night. I'm still amazed SWFBUD was singled among the more than 4,000 bike shops across the nation.
It's a tribute to the eight bike stores and one lawyer who make up SWFBUD. They need to be mentioned here: University Bicycle Center, Chainwheel Drive, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Bicycle Outfitters, Suncoast Trailside Bicycles, Trek Bicycle Store, Just Ride Bicycles and Tampa lawyer Thomas Singletary.
Please shop at those bike stores because those bicycle shops are committed to bicycle advocacy in the Tampa Bay region -- and they were honored nationally for that commitment last night. Know that some of your dollars that are spent at those stores are going to help put on the Bicycle Bash by the Bay festival and lobby local governments and agencies to improve bicycle conditions.
It was an honor to see those folks honored last night when Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN), the magazine that covers the bicycle industry, handed out "BRAINy" awards to these incredible people.
That's why I was awfully humbled to receive the retail bike store advocacy BRAINy on behalf of SWFBUD last night. I'm still amazed SWFBUD was singled among the more than 4,000 bike shops across the nation.
It's a tribute to the eight bike stores and one lawyer who make up SWFBUD. They need to be mentioned here: University Bicycle Center, Chainwheel Drive, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Bicycle Outfitters, Suncoast Trailside Bicycles, Trek Bicycle Store, Just Ride Bicycles and Tampa lawyer Thomas Singletary.
Please shop at those bike stores because those bicycle shops are committed to bicycle advocacy in the Tampa Bay region -- and they were honored nationally for that commitment last night. Know that some of your dollars that are spent at those stores are going to help put on the Bicycle Bash by the Bay festival and lobby local governments and agencies to improve bicycle conditions.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Pedal America TV Show Coming Soon To A PBS Station Near You
Monterey, Calif. -- He's a journalism professor from Chicago and he came to the Bicycle Leadership Conference here to pitch his PBS-TV show idea to the bike leaders -- a TV show on everyday bicyclists in communities around the country.
His name is Ira David Levy, but he goes by David and he's a 45-year-old journalism prof on sabbatical, taking a year off to launch a new public TV show called, "Pedal America."
David is from Ithaca College, a mere 45 miles down the road from my college, Hobart College, in New York state's Finger Lakes region. We're also New York Mets fans and we easily bonded here at the bicycle conference because both of our lives have ended up following this wild and wooly bicycle path.
David is lining up PBS stations across the country to broadcast Pedal America. In fact, a Tucson, Ariz. station called him while we were chatting this afternoon and confirmed they're in. He's also looking to sign up WUSF and WEDU in Tampa. I don't know the station managers at those two PBS stations, so he's on his own there.
But he's very interested in doing a segment on the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club, a terrific example of an urban bicycle club of members who ride an array of bicycles and spurn the Lance Armstroneg wannabe approach to cycling.
David also knows about the Pinellas Trail and I suggested he also do a compare-and-contrast of the bicycle scene in St. Petersburg to that of the city of Tampa to get a sense of a city government that gets it about bicycling versus one that is kinda on the clueless side.
He plans to make a sojourn to Tampa one day and you might just see a TV crew trailing a bunch of bicyclists in the Seminole Heights neighborhood.
David is a big bicycle rider himself, doing long tourist rides in the Rockies and also doing a cross-country ride to raise money for the families of those killed in the 9/11 attack.
I wish him well in his pursuit of his PBS bicycle show.
His name is Ira David Levy, but he goes by David and he's a 45-year-old journalism prof on sabbatical, taking a year off to launch a new public TV show called, "Pedal America."
David is from Ithaca College, a mere 45 miles down the road from my college, Hobart College, in New York state's Finger Lakes region. We're also New York Mets fans and we easily bonded here at the bicycle conference because both of our lives have ended up following this wild and wooly bicycle path.
David is lining up PBS stations across the country to broadcast Pedal America. In fact, a Tucson, Ariz. station called him while we were chatting this afternoon and confirmed they're in. He's also looking to sign up WUSF and WEDU in Tampa. I don't know the station managers at those two PBS stations, so he's on his own there.
But he's very interested in doing a segment on the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club, a terrific example of an urban bicycle club of members who ride an array of bicycles and spurn the Lance Armstroneg wannabe approach to cycling.
David also knows about the Pinellas Trail and I suggested he also do a compare-and-contrast of the bicycle scene in St. Petersburg to that of the city of Tampa to get a sense of a city government that gets it about bicycling versus one that is kinda on the clueless side.
He plans to make a sojourn to Tampa one day and you might just see a TV crew trailing a bunch of bicyclists in the Seminole Heights neighborhood.
David is a big bicycle rider himself, doing long tourist rides in the Rockies and also doing a cross-country ride to raise money for the families of those killed in the 9/11 attack.
I wish him well in his pursuit of his PBS bicycle show.
The Bicycle Advocacy Choir Is Singing Sweet Hymns
Monterey, Calif. -- Around Tampa Bay, there are so many folks who don't understand the beauty of bicycling that now and then it's just plain fun -- if not validating -- just to be around a bunch of bicycle folks who are working their advocacy asses off around the country to improve bicycling for all of us.
Such was the case this afternoon at the Bicycle Leadership Conference where a half-dozen leaders of various national and regional bicycle and bicycle-pedestrian groups talked about their roles in lobbying for federal money, distributing the dollars to places for bicycle/ped projects and tips at the local level to get the politicos behind the movement.
To be truthful, the stuff they said was not exactly new to me but sometimes you need a spiritual re-charging in the church of bicycle advocacy to know you're on the path to pedaling salvation.
The moderator was Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong in Boulder, an amazingly likable fella who has a wonderful touch at moderating these rap sessions. He passes the verbal baton from bicycle activist to bicycle activist with earnest questions that allow the advocate to explain how federal legislation will unfold or how money will be distributed for bicycle projects.
Tim said the stars are aligning across the country for bicycle projects to flourish. But you can help, too. It's up to you to contact your local city council or county commission or transportation agency and let them know how helpful bicycling can be to relieve traffic or get healthier or just feel more alive or connect with more people and that you want public resources devoted to enhancing bicycling.
David Luppino will be coming over for the BRAINY Awards dinner in a few hours when SWFBUD is recognized for its advocacy work. It's amazingly humbling to be nationally recognized when I see the amazing work done by so many people here at the conference in their communities. David owned Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium when he hired me to work on advocacy, Bicycle Bash by the Bay and bicycle promotion work about 2 1/2 years ago.
That hiring led to more Tampa Bay bike stores joining forces and creating SWFBUD, so it's only fitting that David is here to share the award. David is in town for the Sea Otter Classic bike race and festival -- one of the truly great bicycle events in our country.
Such was the case this afternoon at the Bicycle Leadership Conference where a half-dozen leaders of various national and regional bicycle and bicycle-pedestrian groups talked about their roles in lobbying for federal money, distributing the dollars to places for bicycle/ped projects and tips at the local level to get the politicos behind the movement.
To be truthful, the stuff they said was not exactly new to me but sometimes you need a spiritual re-charging in the church of bicycle advocacy to know you're on the path to pedaling salvation.
The moderator was Tim Blumenthal of Bikes Belong in Boulder, an amazingly likable fella who has a wonderful touch at moderating these rap sessions. He passes the verbal baton from bicycle activist to bicycle activist with earnest questions that allow the advocate to explain how federal legislation will unfold or how money will be distributed for bicycle projects.
Tim said the stars are aligning across the country for bicycle projects to flourish. But you can help, too. It's up to you to contact your local city council or county commission or transportation agency and let them know how helpful bicycling can be to relieve traffic or get healthier or just feel more alive or connect with more people and that you want public resources devoted to enhancing bicycling.
David Luppino will be coming over for the BRAINY Awards dinner in a few hours when SWFBUD is recognized for its advocacy work. It's amazingly humbling to be nationally recognized when I see the amazing work done by so many people here at the conference in their communities. David owned Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium when he hired me to work on advocacy, Bicycle Bash by the Bay and bicycle promotion work about 2 1/2 years ago.
That hiring led to more Tampa Bay bike stores joining forces and creating SWFBUD, so it's only fitting that David is here to share the award. David is in town for the Sea Otter Classic bike race and festival -- one of the truly great bicycle events in our country.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)