The second timeslot afforded me to attend the Youth Mountain Biking Opportunities, which I have vested interest in – as I have been trying to fulfill the past experience I had coaching with the NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing League, and have been trying to foster momentum in Pittsburgh for a similar program. One of our obstacles has been outreach paired with infrastructure support – namely, finding a way to get young riders that are interested, physically on bikes, and then trails, while navigating “the complicated minefield that is public academia.” as one friend put it. If there was one consistent theme amongst the speakers, it was that all the youth cycling organizations have some kind of parent organization which provides structure, insurance or other resources to accommodate necessary logistics. I’ll add that liability insurance is almost as volatile, and the speakers offered a temporary solution of using local advocacy club insurance’s umbrella to get things under way while a local bike shop organizes and supports the logistics (bikes, helmets, leadership).
Ann Meder spoke to her experience as a bike shop owner and group ride leader that providing a pro rider as an additional mentor brought further expertise and legitimacy for the expanding group, while another facilitator added that older youth who leveraged their experience got the most respect from the youngest riders. Julie Childers and her partner Patrick Childers, started a Trips for Kids chapter in DC which branched out into Trails for Youth. Julie’s take on youth mountain biking, was to make rides to the trails happen regularly, taking the trails to the kids whenever possible. The local Parks and Rec in Harrisonburg also had a program for youth mountain biking, which includes a growing fleet of bikes and older helmets, with professional staff. Certifications ranged from Physical Education degrees to CPR/First Aid and IMBA Bike Patrol and background checks; however, none mentioned coach licensing, which is promoted by NICA, which is the new NorCal for the rest of the country. I have often (and especially recently) pondered whether my coach education was being put to good use, or even necessary – and I considered a primary difference between these programs and NICA/NorCal was the race series. Is NICA a race organization, in its ultimate definition? As a former coach for the League, I think it is a valid question (rhetorical, unless you’re NICA staff and want to comment). It remains clear that NorCal/NICA offers the most extensive training and education for leadership in the youth mountain biking community. An additional community-oriented aspect of NorCal I appreciated and brought up as an example that I felt was relevant to IMBA, was having required trail maintenance (“Environmental Stewardship”) hours of the young riders. After all, wasn’t this summit about bringing more volunteers into the fold?
Velomuse Year in Review
People ask, all the time: what is Velomuse, what do we do, and what kinds of cycling are implied? The answer is everyone, everything and everywhere – basically expanding the current resource network in order for people to stick with their chosen sport. Here’s a summary of what we did over the last year, bringing a little bit of everything to Pittsburgh’s cycling scene to Create Lifelong Cyclists (our motto). There’s a link to more information and photos from each event, in succession below. If you want to keep tabs on our progress on a daily basis, please “like” our facebook page.
Start of the National Bike Rally 2010, Albuquerque, New Mexico
January 24: Create and donate medals for Cross’d Bite cyclocross race and provided course marshal support.
February: Create first several drafts of a Memorandum of Understanding (volunteer trail maintenance agreement) between the City of Pittsburgh/Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Pittsburgh Trails Advocacy Group.
Mar 9-12: Attend National Bike Summit in Washington DC with local advocacy representatives from Bike Pittsburgh and Dirt Rag/Bicycle Times Magazine, as a IMBA delegate for Pennsylvania. Include mountain bike access issues in meetings with Congressional staff. Report here.
April 1st: Pull a friendly prank on our readers for April Fools day.
May 4: Attend Pennsylvania Walk and Bike Summit in Harrisburg, PA with local advocates and City of Pittsburgh Bike/Ped Coordinator. Emphasize Safe Passing laws and help legislators identify concerned constituency. More info here.
May 21: Host Biker Breakfast and/or lead group rides for Bike to Work Day, and Car Free Fridays with various local bike shops and Bike Pittsburgh.
May 22: Venture Outdoors Festival: Organize and host the first Kids’ Bike Rodeo – working with Thick Bikes and Venture Outdoors, to draft and build kid-sized, rideable obstacles and borrowed bicycles from Wilderness Voyageurs. Expanded liability insurance protocol with League of American Bicyclists’ Club insurance program. Pictures and recap here.
May 2010: Host a Bike-Commute Mileage contest for Pittsburgh riders, as part of the National Bike Month. More info.
June 3-6: Attend National Bike Rally in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is what an advocate does for a proper vacation: 100 miles in 100 degree heat, through stunning scenery. Event report here.
June 18th: Summer Solstice Ladies’ Urban ride from Trek of Pittsburgh to Tazza d’Oro, as part of the Car Free Fridays campaign.
July: Work with City officials and local bike advocates to implement public explanation of City Municipal Code regarding off-road bicycle use in City Parks. Enhance press release distribution list, including newspaper, blog and twitter feeds.
August 12: Co-lead a MTB 101 group ride for women, as part of Bike Pittsburgh’s Bike Fest, with Dirt Rag‘s Karen Brooks and Elizabeth Klevens.
August 14: Host the City’s first permitted bicycle event Velomuse youth bike rodeo inside Frick park (bikes donated by Freeride), helping to create a system to bicyclists to apply for public space permits.
August 15: Coordinate with Thick Bikes and PTAG/PORC in an Adventure Epic connect a road ride with off-road endurance riding.
September 18th: National Park(ing) day – work with OTB Bicycle Café and Bike Pittsburgh to convert 2 street parking spaces with green space. Pictures here.
October 2nd: Lead a group ride for Girl Scouts troop leaders to facilitate training for a long-term bike program.
October 14th: Organize and coach annual Cyclocross 101 clinic, with Koeles Cycling Club, professional cyclist Barb Howe. Event permitted at Highland Park, licensed by USA Cycling and insured by League of American Bicyclists. Registration via Bikereg.com
October 27th: Velomuse Junior Devo and Team IMBA ride, Justin Uplinger WINS High School classification during the Month of Mud series.
November: Partner with International Mountain Bike Association’s Regional Leadership Advisory Council to develop Pennsylvania’s first Long Range “Shared-Use Trails Vision Plan”.
November 6: Attend the rideSFO SF Bike Expo and coordinate with local sponsors. Another vacation-type thing.
December 20th: Host Life Cycles Film Premier in Pittsburgh – the first mountain bike themed film hosted in a full scale theatre, with the help of Dreaming Ant and Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Ticket sales through Eventbrite.
Last year, Velomuse attended the National Bike Summit, hosted by the League of American Bicyclists, and coordinated with local advocates from Bike Pittsburgh and Dirt Rag/Bicycle Times Magazine. This year,
“We Need You More than Ever”
National Bike Summit – 2011
March 8-10, Washington, D.C.
bikeleague.org/summit11
The National Bike Summit is a three day event with more than 800 leaders of the bicycling advocacy movement and industry attending. We all converge on Washington, D.C. to share ideas and experiences about how we can make America more bike-friendly. Meetings are scheduled for all attendees with their members of Congress for the third day of the event. Delegates from all 50 states, including local bicycle retailers, industry executives, elected officials and user groups have the opportunity to speak with their elected officials and put in their asks for bicycling.
Furthermore, this is possibly the most important Summit to date. On November 2, 2010, we witnessed a political course correction of historical proportions in Congress. The 112th Congress opened on January 3, 2011, and nearly 80 new members of Congress took the oath, making this the largest group since 1992.
This Congress looks very different. Not only did the bicycling movement lose its biggest champion, Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN), on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, but more than 30 members of the House Congressional Bike Caucus did not return.
This means that the learning curve is high for these new members, and the pressure is on for the 112th Congress to pass a new transportation bill. We are not certain what direction this new transportation bill will take. However, we do know that there is much work to be done in regards to educating the new members on our issues and that they need to see YOU — the nation’s bicycling advocates — next March, in Washington, D.C. Tell them about the bicycle, a simple solution to many of our nation’s persistent problems. Register for the Summit today at bikeleague.org/summit11.
Keynote Speaker Announced
Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation, is the keynote speaker at the National Bike Summit’s opening plenary, Wednesday March 9. Since her appointment in 2007, the New York City has completed more than 250 miles of bike lanes and 20 miles of cycle track; passed innovative bicycle parking legislation and delivered extensive education and safety programs. Bicycle use has doubled since 2006, while fatalities have fallen to their lowest level in decades.
For more information, visit bikeleague.org/summit11.
DNS/DFL vs. DNF/DQ
What’re all those letters about? Well, the literal translation is “Did Not Start/Dead F*cking Last versus Did Not Finish/Disqualified”, and those acronyms are commonly used in bicycle race results, when no numeric placement can be identified. Having gotten my feet wet over the last few years as a professional cycling coach, I’ve had the opportunity to discuss the philosophy and psychology of racing (and goal development) with various intellectuals. It is not that I think a cyclist’s lifestyle is more quantifiable than the status quo; however, in being forced to consider the impact of one’s decisions in all actions, I believe cycling provides solutions where there would be an increasing void.
My personal interpretation relates these acronyms with an element of intention; that is, EFFORT. Basically, the largest obstacle in a race, is getting TO the event, itself. Finishing an event is the next greatest obstacle, which provides a great deal of satisfaction. The goals can also keep stacking, in smaller increments. Honor and good sportsmanship speak lengths about where your personal goals rest, and how much effort you are really willing to put forth. In essence, finishing dead last feels about the same as winning, when I look back on it. My memories are still in the smaller goals I’ve achieved, and there’s at least one thing I found to work on as a result of the race.
I have never considered numeric race results as an indication of success, as field size and conditions can vary widely. Satisfaction can be achieved with more specific goals: a particularly gnarly rockface descent, pacing a climb, nailing a twisty piece of singletrack without braking, etc. Therefore, it is important to pick events which suit your goals and skills, accordingly. And when the lack of opportunity arrives, just pick any race and focus on part of it. Numeric results may not provide the depth of satisfaction that one can achieve in a race situation, only giving a temporary interpretation. The decision to participate in the Art of Racing is a significant one. Success can be found in setting oneself against mother nature – a synergy of bike, mind and body – another good reason not to let recreational rides be replaced by competition entirely.
“Journal from the ride home”
by Charlotte PH on Wednesday, September 22, 2010 at 3:33pm
BikeFest 2010 Recap
- Dirt Rag and Velomuse Ladies’ MTB 101
We had a turnout of about 10 women to the 3rd Annual Ladies’ MTB 101 ride that Dirt Rag has been hosting. Like last year, Velomuse helped get the word out about the opportunity and we’re continuing to collaborate with local ambassador Michelle Johnson to bring a new, weekly Monday Ladies’ ride together.
Velomuse Youth Bike Rodeo
The Velomuse Youth Bike Rodeo was something special at Frick Park for a few reasons. The idea was received by the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works well, and we had our permit application for a bike event approved. This might be the first time that a bike event has been approved, and its a benchmark for continuing building professional relationships between bicyclists and administration in a pro-active manner. We also were proud to have the support and co-promotion from Free Ride, the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and Bike Pittsburgh. Indeed, all signs point towards the concept that we embrace: “Creating Lifelong Cyclists.”
While it was indeed hot and humid, the youth that came out still rode a bunch of obstacles, practicing for hours on end. Removing training wheels, learning new levels of balance, bouncing back up when they fell, and winning prizes. The mtb ride was short and sweet, with ample obstacle practice as a highlight. Even some adults practiced their skills on the obstacles. Can I say how sweet the obstacles are? Thanks again to Seth and Chris for help building them.
Thick Bikes CX Adventure Epic
Last but not least, the Thick Bike Cyclocross Adventure Epic (a long enough name to measure the challenge of the ride) proved humbling. Starting out in Frick Park, riders climbed on paved roads into suburbia and over to Boyce Park at a good clip. Upon arriving an hour ealier than planned, we rode a handful of twisty slippy trails before meeting up with the PTAG/PORC MTB fest finale and following “Machete Mike” around for the slow, intermediate ride focusing on more obstacles. Super fun times. After 5 hours of riding, we hung out for refreshments for about an hour, and then headed back through suburbia inquiring to the validity of connectivity along some ATV trails for another 2 hours. It turns out that an abandoned railroad and quarry were up for a Rails to Trails conversion some time ago, but funding fell through. I see potential for a 3-tiered dirt park that accomodates both ATV and mountain/DJ bikes. and maybe cyclocross bikes, too!
Velomuse Youth Bike Rodeo
Alley Kitty Scavenger Hunt and Youth Mountain Bike Ride in Frick Park, this Saturday!
With so much planning, we were almost disheartened to hear about the impending thunderstorms supposed to happen in the middle of the afternoon, yesterday. Luckily, there wasn’t any thunder, rain came down in short spurts, and there was a phenomenal sample sale on rain gear at one of the vendor booths.
the rain washed away the sidewalk chalk
Thinking about all the planning that had gone into it, we really wanted to see the effort manifest in a bunch of giggling, bike-riding children. With previously certified coaches and first aid staff, about 2 months ago we joined the League of American Bicyclists as a club, applied for liability insurance and seperate insurance certificates for the event. We scheduled a build party for the obstacles, drafted the design and layout of four obstacles, and purchased the materials about a month ago. With volunteers from Venture Outdoors, Thick Bikes, and Knobby Meats; we came together to construct a small barrier, a teeter totter, a ramp and short drop, and a zig-zagging platform.
We made a tear-off flyer for online and posting in local shops, worked with local organizations (like PORC) to create a buzz, organized a list of volunteers for load-in (Precision Electric, thank you!) and the day of the event (MJ), printed out extra liability waivers, purchased wristbands, sidewalk chalk, tape, and water soluable crayons for face-painting. Wilderness Voyageurs loaned us a half dozen kids’ bikes and helmets from their rental fleet, too.
We scheduled the rodeo to operate during the peak hours of the festival (from 12-4pm) just next to the bike path in Point State Park, and the storms came and went until about 2:30. That last hour and a half, we had about 40 kids clamoring to get signed up for the bikes!
MJ juggles getting the parents and kids organized.
With each lap around the rodeo, the kids learned new skills, and kept going until they were tired. There were a couple of gentle falls, but no scrapes or bruises.
We had lots of adults and even a unicyclist practice on the obstacles. The kids came back after they did other things at the festival, even played on the obstacles when we were packing up!
All in all the event was a success, and we’re prepared to do more, hoping to partner up with existing races to give a family-friendly atmosphere to the bicycle community.
