Debbie Reid, founder and director of Bikes for Kids Utah, was a guest Thursday afternoon (5-29-08) on 1280 the Zone (1280 AM), the most popular sports talk radio station in Utah.
Thanks to the team at 1280 for letting Debbie come on the “Jake and Jim Show” to talk about Bikes for Kids Utah and what a difference a brand new bike can make in the life of any kid.
We at SOAR Communications are proud to support such a fantastic non-profit, a 501(c)3 status corporation. In case you didn’t know, Bikes for Kids Utah has donated 1,000 brand new bikes each year (since 2006) to underprivileged children in Utah, along with helmets, bike locks and assorted other items.
After holding the bike giveaways in September in 2006 and 2007, this year’s giveaway will be held this Saturday morning (5-31-08) at Intermountain Healthcare’s fantastic new Intermountain Medical Center in Murray. And once again, yours truly — Poppa P — got snagged to do the emcee duties. 
Anyway . . . here are a couple of the photos from Debbie’s interview on 1280 the Zone on Thursday.
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Debbie Reid, founder and executive director of Bikes for Kids Utah, being interviewed Thursday, 5-29-08, on 1280 the Zone (Utah’s No. 1 sports talk radio station in Utah).
Jim Fuchuck, one of the hosts of the “Jake and Jim Show” on 1280 the Zone (the best sports talk radio station in Utah), interviews Debbie Reid, executive director of Bikes for Kids Utah on Thurs., 5-29-08.
I’ve now been “officially” working in the Sports, Outdoor, Athletics and Recreation industries for slightly more than 3-and-a-half years now, and I must say I continue to be shocked at the overall lack of new media sophistication I see within these industries.
Understand that this is not meant as a slam against all companies in these markets (although it may come across as such).
I also recognize that almost every company I now find in any industry has a Web site. But for many companies, that’s it. And in some instances, companies have little more than a brochure-ware Website.
Others are beginning to step forward and are beginning to embrace newer forms of interactive media, sometimes known as Web 2.0 technologies. These solutions and tools include
- Blogging,
- Online video,
- Social networks (MySpace and Facebook being the most popular, but not the only ones),
- Microblogging (through such tools as Twitter and Pownce, to name two), and
- Podcasting.
What’s even more amazing to me, however, is the seeming lack of interactive / Web 2.0 sophistication among the media companies serving the outdoor and recreation industries. Here again, I’m not attacking every media-publishing company serving clients and/or end-users in the recreation, sports, athletics and/or outdoor industries. Just most of ‘em.
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If you ever need a boost of inspiration about the potential of diet and exercise (specifically cycling) to overcome one’s weight challenges, you’ve got to read yesterday’s story on The Gear Junkie: “Large Fella on a Bike” (4-18-08).
In summary, Scott Cutshall went from 501 pounds to 232 pounds by strictly following a self-imposed regimen of cycling and a 1,200-calorie per day diet, and he did so in a little more than two years.
I won’t go into more details here, but major, major props to Cutshall for his shining example to all of us, weight-challenged or not.
In addition, thank you “Gear Junkie” Stephen Regenold for bringing Scott’s story to light. I loved it!!!
David, Maura and I visited Delta 7 Sports in Payson, Utah last Friday. Things are going pretty good for the start-up. They are putting the finishing touches on the first few Arantix IsoTruss mountain bike framesets going out to distributors in the UK and Australia, a dealer here in the U.S. and the first frame to a consumer (a doctor in Texas). The photo to the left is of Tyler Evans, Delta 7’s bicycle program manager, tapeing off one of the frames for its final clear coat.
We met with Delta 7’s executive team to check in on them. They are pretty happy about getting some bikes out the door!
Tuesday on BicycleRetailer.com I read that Dick Burke, founder of Trek Bicycles, died Monday night, March 10, due to complications from heart surgery. It was sad to hear the news. It made me think about what Dick and Trek have accomplished and about what bicycles have done for me.
When I was in high school, my brother Steve was an Italian fanatic who had an Alfa Romeo Spider and a Pogliaghi road bike. I wanted to ride road bikes like him, so I bought a Japanese made Centurion (I couldn’t afford a nice Italian bike). I didn’t ride the Centurion too much. Riding bikes wasn’t the cool thing to do in high school. Continue Reading »
Burke challenges bike manufacturers to actively support advocacy efforts, including boosting donations to advocacy organizations to 0.5 percent of annual sales
SAN DIEGO, January 20, 2008 — John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle Corporation, started his closing keynote presentat
ion at the Bicycle Leadership Conference by stripping off his sweater to reveal a No. 4 Brett Farve jersey and show his passionate support for the Green Bay Packers.
He closed his speech by quoting President Abraham Lincoln who said his pastor had not delivered an excellent sermon because “He did not ask us to do anything great tonight,” and then Burke delivered an impassioned challenge to BLC attendees to do something great and increase their support of bicycle advocacy programs to half-a-percent (0.5 percent) of their annual sales.
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BPSA crafts new Bicycle Owner’s Manual language to help its members meet the new standards
SAN DIEGO — January 19, 2008 — Cycling manufacturers are about to be regulated by an entire set of European-crafted standards, whether such companies know about or agree with those standards. In response, the BPSA has crafted a new Bicycle Owner’s Manual that meets these new standards and can be licensed by any member of the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association.
This was one of the key issues raised during the Friday afternoon session of the 11th annual Bicycle Leadership Conference being held this weekend in this sun-drenched southern California coastal city.
According to Bob Margevicius, head of the Safety Committee for the BPSA (presenters of the BLC event), the BPSA-led effort took the better part of 2008 to craft the language, look and feel for the new manual, an effort he feels will meet all aspects of the implementation date for the looming standards.
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I’m somewhere above Las Vegas headed for the relative warmth of San Diego and the annual Bicycle Leadership Conference.
Given that it was something like 8 degrees Farenheit last night in Sandy, Utah, 60+ degrees is gonna feel like heaven.
Plus, I’ll get a chance to hang out with several clients and friends, while also getting an updated pulse on the cycling industry.
I’m particularly looking forward to Lance Camisasca’s presentation Saturday morning about future location prospects for Interbike. Should be interesting.
