SOAR Blog

Colorado Representative Andy Kerr briefs Colorado Bicycle Summit attendees prior to sending them out to meet with their representatives in support of House Bill 1092.

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Let’s get this out of the way right at the top: I’m not from Colorado. During two days of inspiration and advocacy at the Colorado Bicycle Summit last week Chip and I had to explain more than a few times that we Utahns were just along for the proverbial ride. In Denver to meet with Primal Wear. Lucky coincidence. Just interested, no real skin in the game in the cycling fights of the Centennial State. Or so I thought.

Though I’m a bit of a political junkie (I rubberneck at car accidents too…), I’ve never dabbled in any political advocacy because of my newspaper background. With objectivity always on the mind, I’ve tried to stay above the fray. So listening to the battles being waged in the state next door and what cycling advocacy groups like Bicycle Colorado are doing about it was a huge eye-opener.

Trek President John Burke gave a great talk at the summit, outlining how cycling can solve a lot of our country’s less attractive trends (traffic congestion, crowding, environmental issues and obesity) and how to get organized and make a difference.

The takeaway: Democracy is for the people who show up.

I can’t begin to count the number of public meetings I attended as a reporter where the only people there were the board members and me. When folks did show up, the elected officials were likely to listen, if for no other reason than to hear a voice besides their own.

It’s not easy to show up. Just like it’s not easy to wake up early for a run or hit the trainer when there’s a cold beer waiting in the fridge. But if you’re not there to fight for it, nothing gets said before a vote is cast that changes your life for the worse.

So consider this a belated New Year’s resolution: In 2011, whether it’s an email to my congressman, a community council meeting or, yes, bicycle advocacy, I’m going to do my best to show up. It wouldn’t kill me to hit those morning runs, either.

Nearly two months ago Bikes for Kids Utah hosted its first-ever omnium event with the University of Utah cycling team to raise money to get new bikes to kids and to support the U’s team. Both organizations did a ton to pull off the weekend-long event that included a criterium, hill climb time trial and road race. Bradlee Duncan, the U of U team race director, spearheaded and coordinated a good portion of the event, and helped make it a really successful fundraiser. Below are 10 of his tips for for race organizers, or, for racers 10 reasons to be nice to the race organizers and officials. It’s not as easy as it looks.

1. Sometimes people lose track of time and forget to do things, so build extra time into your plan.

2. Charge late registration fees, and make them expensive! Most of us are procrastinators and we need a little extra incentive to commit to a race in advance.

3. You can never have too many volunteers, so treat them nicely.

4. The officials are your best friends, the officials are your best friends, the officials are your best friends.

5. Government entities are slow and bureaucratic. You can’t start talking to them too early.

6. Have a specific registration game-plan, otherwise it’s chaos. Did you hear me? it. is. chaos.

7. People can be impatient, that’s why it’s so important to be patient.

8. Be patient.

9. Sometimes even Mother Nature loses track of time and gets things mixed up; be ready in case she sends warm, sunny weather in March and a few feet of light fluffy Utah powder in April.

10. Have fun!!!!!!!!! You’re doing something that fosters and grows the sport you love!

To read the press release about this event, click here.

Check out Bradlee’s blog too, TwoWheelPhotos.blogspot.com.

Credit Matthew McDermott

Outdoor Retailer ended in late January on a high note with both industry attendance and optimism up from winter 2009. In the midst of writing orders and thinking about upcoming selling seasons, though, the industry as initiated dozens of efforts to provide relief for Haiti after its devastating earthquake.

Manufacturers across the Winter Market show floor offered product to an industry Haitian relief effort coordinated by Terramar, Sierra Trading Post & Eric Larsen. The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) also partnered with Americares to get first aid kits, water purification systems, headlamps, tarps and hydration containers willing donated from manufacturers in the outdoor industry to Haitians in desperate need of essential supplies. (See below for more information on getting your product to Haiti via Sierra Trading Post and Americares).

In an industry that highly values authenticity and social responsibility, it’s no surprise that the outdoor industry mobilized so quickly to aid Haiti. It employs individuals with just as much strength and heart as the products it manufactures- prepared to be put to work at a moments notice. These qualities and others make SOAR super proud to be part of the outdoor industry.

In fact, we see these qualities in the outdoor industry year round. We associate with outdoor industry leaders that support advocacy groups and let their passion for their sport drive their compassion. SOAR has had some fun and rewarding opportunities to work on a pro-bono basis with non-profits like Bikes for Kids Utah and Trips for Kids. We get to see how much work goes into each event and initiative. Every donation, vote of confidence, re-tweet and sponsorship makes a difference.

Let’s all continue to heed OIA’s call for the industry to “dig deep” during this and every time of crisis and need.

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Click here to read about the partnerships forming in the outdoor industry to help Haiti.

To donate this urgently needed product/equipment contact Randy Weiss at Americares at (203) 658-9527 or rweiss@americares.org. All donations will be delivered by air and sea directly to the region by Americares.

Outdoor Retailer exhibitors are invited to donate show products to Haiti via Red Cross if it can arrive at Sierra Trading Post by FEBRUARY 8, 2010. All packages should be sent to Sierra Trading Post Robin Jahnke/Haiti 5121 Campstool Road Cheyenne, Wyoming 8200.

I pledge to reduce my greenhouse gas emissions by 450 pounds during May, which many U.S. cities, including Salt Lake City, recognize as Bike Month.

I have the farthest commute of all the SOAR team members (about 30 miles), so I’m not going to attempt to commute the entire way by bike. But I will take the bus two to three times per week, and stop asking my husband to drop me off and pick me up from my home bus stop (I learned at the Bicycle Leadership Conference that 40 percent of trips in the U.S. are just two miles and are the most polluting). If I do this during the month of May, UtahCommuter.com tells me that I can reduce my vehicle trips by 450 to 680 miles and my greenhouse gas emission by 380 to 575 pounds.

Me prepping for the Momentum bike fashion show at Interbike

I first started using mass transit because it was cheaper than buying snow tires for my 1988 California-raised Volvo. Even though the threat of snow is gone (let’s hope), I still try to commute by bus twice a week. The entire commute from point to point takes about 30-40 minutes longer than it would if I drove by myself, but I think it is worth the extra time spent. One-way bus fare cheaper than a gallon of gas and the time I have on the bus to read Newsweek and study Portuguese is priceless. Plus, I get home to my husband in a much better mood not having fought traffic for 45 minutes.

I’ll also reduce my green house gas emissions by biking around town more. I’ve been assessing every road I drive on for its bikeability and often think, “I could totally bike this. Why am I even driving a car?” I see bike trips to the gelaterie are in my not-so distant future.

You can learn how many pounds of carbon emissions your commute reduces by registering at UtahCommuter. com (hint: if you only commute by a car alone, your commute reduces NONE! Think about it.)

“My bikes goes hard, don’t need no car” says the scraper bikers of the San Francisco Bay Area hyphy movement.

The scraper bike movement that originated in Oakland, Calif. is now sweeping the world. “Scrapers” in the hip-hop world are huge cars with rims so big they scrape the inside of the wheel well. According to a NRP story aired last year, Tyrone Stevenson Jr. (better known as “Scraper Bike King”) first thought to apply the aesthetic of the scraper car by fitting large wheels on small bike frames and painting the frames to match the rims, accenting them with colorful foil wrappers from food like Oreos, Doritos and Lemonhead. I saw several scraper bikes on display at the Oakland Airport on a recent trip to my hometown in the South Bay. They’re works of art as much as they are vehicles.

Stevenson made his first scraper bike because he couldn’t afford the car version. Now he makes a living designing them, while giving teenagers in his community creative and healthy ways to channel their energy.

Click here to watch the YouTube rap music video that started the now world-wide scraper bike phenomenon.

Salt Lake has some die-hard cyclists. I met some of them at the SLC Critical Mass meeting/ride last week while conducting research for a Momentum Magazine assignment. The weather conditions that day weren’t particularly brutal, but the participants told me they stayed true to their bike commutes even through the bitterness of the Utah winter. One rider vowed to ride to school every day. And he had, even when the snow-covered ground required a unicycle equipped with a mountain bike tire. Another cyclist recently sold his car and instead tackles snowy paths with a studded bike snow tire.

SLC Critical Mass in March

I don’t envy the chilly weather conditions the SLC Critical Mass folks cycle in for a good part of the year. But I do envy the city they get to navigate. I think I would have a richer appreciation of Salt Lake if I could experience by bike more often. The brightly-lit, snowy Wasatch Mountains were dead ahead of us when we started out. As we passed by an Eastern Orthodox church, a bagpipe rendition of “Amazing Grace” pumped out of the stereo of one rider’s homemade tall bike (like a horse, but with less stability). The stone and stained-glass Cathedral of Madeline was on the right as the mass headed west.

My photographer, McKenzie, was a hardcore as the cyclists she was following. Still, she and her driver, Austin, had trouble keeping up with the speedy pack because Critical Mass doesn’t have a set route. Simultaneously using my mobile and riding urban streets required more coordination than I had in that moment, so I had to pull over to update McKenzie on the riders’ location. Given my difficulties, I was pretty sure McKenzie would have had an even greater struggle managing both handlebars and an SLR. At least in the car she could leave the driving to someone else. Thanks, McKenzie, for your stealthy cameras kills and to Austin for chasing down the pack!

Keep your eye on this blog for more updates on my Momentum article research.

Mimi McDonald holding her daughter, Mia, post-op

Mia McDonald spent her first few months in the world with congenital heart defect. Fortunately, on Nov. 10, four months after her birth, Mia underwent a successful heart transplant. Mimi and John McDonald are overjoyed about their daughter’s recovery and at the same time overwhelmed with steep medical expenses associated with it. Friends of the McDonald family have collaborated to create the Mia McDonald Fund to help the family deal with its financial burdens.

Though the McDonalds are based in Seattle, their friends in Provo, Utah have planned the “Help Baby Mia Bike-a-thon” to give baby Mia supporters a per-mile opportunity to donate to Mia’s cause. The riders will travel between 40 and 60 miles in two hours, starting in Provo and ending at the Alpine Loop by the Sundance Resort. For more information about the ride, visit the Facebook group: “The ‘Help Baby Mia’ Bike-a-thon” or email Dane at gdanesmith@gmail.com or Abbie at abbierufener@gmail.com. You can read more about Mia’s story at http://helpbabymia.blogspot.com/.

For more bike-related advocacy opportunities, visit the Bikes for Kids Utah website to learn about a non-profit organization with a mission to provide free bikes to underprivileged children in Salt Lake County.

Samson Riders Bicycle Club

Considering the plethora of well-established mountain biking cultures that exist worldwide, it is telling that Trips for Kids (TFK) would establish its first international chapter in Israel. In addition to the typical complexities that challenge childhood, Israel’s youth faces the challenge of developing tolerance for the variety of ethnic, educational, socio-economic and immigrant groups in their communities.

I imagine this is true even in Beit Shemesh, Israel, where Trips for Kids Israel- Samson Riders Bicycle Club (TFK Israel-SRBC) has been established. This community in the heart of the Judean Plains merits a group like TFK Israel-SRBC that encourages young people to understand and unite with their peers of all backgrounds. Before Samson Riders Bicycle Club became the foundational group for TFK Israel, it had already been successful in bringing Jewish and Arab youth together to ride, learn about each other, break down barriers, discover new interests and respect the land. The club’s new relationship with TFK will make it possible to expand this program, Riding for Co-Existence, to give more underprivileged youth in Israel a chance to experience mountain biking and involve youth from other local ethnic communities in the bike ride planning and implementation.

Come late November, riders with TFK Israel-SRBC will take their first tour of the monasteries, water springs and olive groves as an official chapter of the Marin County, Calif.-based non-profit organization. For many of them, it will be their first time exploring their historic surroundings. For some, it may be their first time riding side by side with a peer who claims a different culture than their own.

You can learn more about Trips for Kids at www.tripsforkids.org.

The 2008 IMBA World Summit started in Park City Wednesday with several pre-conferences and opening ceremonies at the Utah Olympic Park. One of the conferences was for one of our clients Trips for Kids.

Close to 30 people representing 12 Trips for Kids chapters attended, and two attendees even came from as far away as Israel and New Zealand. Both of them want to open Trips for Kids chapters in their respective countries, which would be the first international chapters in the organizations 20 year history. Trips for Kids provides mountain bike rides for at-risk youth.

During the Trips for Kids conference topics such as how to start a chapter, how to find and work with volunteers, and how to effectively fundraise were discussed. Along with Jen Nibley, director of Trips for Kids Utah Valley, and Rick McFerrin of Two Wheel View/Trips for Kids Calgary, Canada, I spoke to the group about how to approach and work with a public relations agency on a pro-bono basis.

IMBA, which stands for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, is a non-profit association whose mission is to “create, enhance and preserve great trail experiences for mountain bikers worldwide.” Every two years, IMBA holds a world-wide conference bringing mountain biking advocates, land managers, ski resort professionals, trailbuilders, park and urban planners, tourism officials and the bike industry together for collaboration, planning, and celebration. This year’s Summit runs from Wednesday, June 18 through Saturday, June 21 at the Marriott-Park City.

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