Mike Jacoubowsky said:Quoted message said:Quoted message said:Matt: Did you make it to the DC Bike Summit? If you haven't been
before, you should definitely plan to go next year.
I almost went with the rest of the crew from Virginia Bicycling
Federation, but I had too much work to do that week. Also, it's
expensive. I didn't think it was a good use of my own funds, or my bike
club's. We can use $450 more effectively elsewhere, advocacy-wise.
Maybe I'll see you there next year!
Quoted message said:Matt: It's well-worth the expense; it really makes a difference when so
many cycling advocates crash the 'Hill at the same time. Hopefully the
club can sponsor you, or perhaps a local shop might help defray the cost
if they're not going themselves (and very few do go, which is quite
sad... maybe 30 of us this year, out of 450). If your club is affiliated
with the LAB, the cost drops $100.
The cost is reasonable, considering it's a national-level conference. But
NRVBA is doing some other stuff that we think is a better use of our
funds. For one, we're sponsoring stuff related to Bike Challenge, a
month-long celebration/promotion of cycling in Blacksburg and at Virginia
Tech (bikechallenge.org.vt.edu). For example, we're paying for T-shirts
to be printed, possibly paying for light sets and helmets to be given
away, etc. Our bike club encompasses two college towns Also, being in VA
to begin with, we have pretty good access to Congress already. Everyone
in town knows someone who knows someone, etc. Same with our state advocacy
organizations, VBF (www.vabike.org) and BikeWalk VA
(www.bikewalkvirginia.org).
So this is the serious question, and dilemma for the Bikeleague: what
are they really doing for us, especially for what it costs to
support them? I don't mean to be confrontational about this -- it's
merely a business issue. Frankly, I think a lot of us are already doing
more than they are. I'm afraid I may have really grilled poor Andy Clarke
about this, when he was gracious enough to come to our VBF leadership
retreat a month ago.
Anyway, at least 4 of us from VBF went to the Summit, and had a good time.
I really would have gone, if I could have taken time away from work.
Matt O.
