Florida Bicycle Association History 1980’s
1988
By year end, membership included 18 clubs, four bike shops and 159 families and individuals.
The first FBA president, independent filmmaker Robert Seidler, produced a series of TV public service announcements that were financed by a grant to the Spokespeople that Lasche obtained from the Sarasota County Foundation.
A bimonthly newsletter, Florida Bike Lanes, functioned as a statewide information clearinghouse. Annual meetings were combined with “casual country cooler rides” in central Florida towns such as Winter Haven and Mount Dora. The FBA maintained a legislative liaison and advocated for state funding of bicycle and traffic skills education in the schools. It also pushed for bicycle registration and mandatory helmets for children and supported the development of rail trails such as the Tallahassee-St. Marks.
1987
1986
In February advocates met in Orlando’s downtown library to found the original Florida Bicycle Association.
In its first eight months, the FBA co-sponsored “Bicycling Magazine’s largest bike event in the southeastern United States – the Grape-Nuts Bike Festival” and raised $11,000 through the festival and memberships.
Mike Lashe of Sarasota organized a bicycling advocacy group known as the “Spokespeople,” which contacted and polled cycling advocates around the state.