in this issue

PLANET BIKE DONATION
SAVE THE DATE
TRIPS FOR KIDS
OLD LICENSE PLATES
SHARE THE ROAD MINI GRANTS
LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD RIDERS
BETTERBICYCLING BLOG
AND THEN SOME
Quick Links
Contact

PLANET BIKE INTERBIKE TOURNAMENT WINNER DONATES WINNINGS TO FBA
Ken Fong, president of North East Cycles, Inc. has informed FBA that as a result of his winning Planet Bike's annual Interbike tournament FBA will be the recipient of a $3000 donation on behalf of North East Cycles by Planet Bike. Fong's decision to channel his donation to FBA was based in part by recommendations from several St. Pete. bike club affiliates and FBA's active role in bicycle advocacy.


SAVE THE DATE FOR 2008 PRO BIKEŽ PRO WALK FLORIDA CONFERENCE
Save the date for the fourth annual Pro BikeŽ Pro Walk Florida Conference to be held October 6-9, 2008 in St. Petersburg. Details will follow as plans develop on the conference website at www.probikeprowalkflorida.com.

TRIPS FOR KIDS, VOLVOS FOR LIFE
Marilyn Price is the founding director of Trips for Kids (TFK), a Mill Valley, California-based nonprofit that provides mountain-biking opportunities for inner-city youth. Owing to her two decades of service--during which fifty-seven TFK chapters have been created around the country--Marilyn has been named a finalist for the national Volvo for Life Awards. Determined by online voting, the winner in each of several categories will receive $100,000 for the nonprofit organization of their choice, while the grand prize winner gets a Volvo for life, to boot. Click on the following link to access Marilyn's story, as well as those of the other nine finalists in the "Quality of Life" award category: http://tinyurl.com/2t3cym.

Copyright 2007 Adventure Cycling Association, http://www.adventurecycling.org.

FBA has aTrips for Kids Orlando Chapter championed by FBA president Mighk Wilson. We are working with Great Oaks Village, a local residential foster care facility, to provide outdoor adventures for their children. We plan to expand the program in other areas of the state once the Orlando chapter is up and running.

OLD LICENSE PLATES
Check out this article which appeared recently in the Gainesville Sun regarding the Share the Road license plate at http://gainesvillesun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007711180328.


SHARE THE ROAD MINI GRANTS
The Marion County Sheriff's Office is the latest recipient of a Share the Road mini grant in the amount of $2,000. Funds will be used toward the purchase of five additional bikes for neighborhood patrols and rodeos. The bicycle unit provides education to schools and the public and plans to conduct bike rodeos on a monthly basis to target as many of the county schools as possible. The new equipment will provide a minimum of one bike per district (13) for the bicycle unit which patrols in communities through operations addressing share the road concepts of motorists being cognizant of bicyclists and bicycle safety.

Before the grant was awarded, bicycle unit deputies were requested to take a combination Community Training/Road 1 workshop. On November 19, the first combination workshop was held and attended by ten deputies. Congratulations to the Marion County Sheriff's Office for making bicycle safety education a priority.

The Sanibel Bicycle Club was awarded $1,800 to support the BIKE SANIBEL-BIKE SAFELY bicycle education program in Sanibel Island. This program will include a three-pronged effort to educate cyclists and motorists, including 1. Permanent signs affixed to rental bikes that list safe biking rules; 2. Posters that further expand and illustrate the safe biking rules to be posted prominently around the island in businesses and other public places; and 3. A publicity effort in local media to raise awareness of the program. Matching funds were acquired from the Sanibel Bicycle Club, Sanibel-Captiva Chamber of Commerce, local bicycle rental businesses and other donors. For more details about this program (which could easily be duplicated), contact Sanibel Bicycle Club president Tom Sharbaugh at sharbaugh67@comcast.net.

Share the Road mini grants are offered by Florida Bicycle Association and Bike Florida funded by proceeds from the Share the Road license plate. Visit both websites for a list of previous recipients and details on how to apply.

LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD RIDERS
Many of us know riders who were able to survive a crash because they received a blood transfusion. Maybe that rider is you. If so, LifeSouth Community Blood Centers may have a life-saving opportunity for you.

Every two years LifeSouth, which is based in Gainesville, FL and operates community blood banks in Florida, Alabama and Georgia, sponsors the Five Points of Life Ride, a cross-country bike ride that promotes five different forms of life-saving donations: blood, apheresis, marrow, cord blood, and organ and tissue.

LifeSouth is looking for 12 riders - strong riders capable of pedaling 15 mph for nearly 3,000 miles - who have some personal connection to one of those five points. The 2008 ride will leave Calgary, Alberta, Canada in late summer and arrive nearly seven weeks later in Mobile, AL. It's not a race. It's not a fund-raiser. It's an awareness raiser. At each stop along the way the riders share their personal stories. This will be the seventh edition of the ride, and each ride has followed a different route. FBA member Perry McGriff has participated as a team member and no doubt will return with the 2008 team. For details go to: www.fivepointsoflife.org or contact Mary Kate Flynn at mkflynn@lifesouth.org.

BETTERBICYCLING BLOG
FBA president Mighk Wilson has created a Better Bicycling blog at http://betterbicycling.blogspot.com for people new to bicycling or who haven't been on a bike for quite a while. Mighk has been cycling for over 35 years for fun, transportation, competition, and inspiration. He's also a certified cycling instructor through the League of American Bicyclists, and works as the bicycle and pedestrian transportation planner for Metroplan Orlando which covers Osceola, Orange and Seminole Counties.

Also check out FBA's blog at http://flabicycle.blogspot.com.

AND THEN SOME
Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." -Anthony J. D'Angelo

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." -Robert Brault

"Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't." -Erica Jong

"Motivation will almost always beat mere talent." -Norman Augustine

"Patience is the companion of wisdom." -Saint Augustine (11/13/534)

Quick Links...
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Contact Information
phone: 352-468-3430