Hello Tahoe Bike Buddies,

 

Phew!  We got through a busy summer time - a time filled with congested heavy traffic volumes compounded by miles of road construction.  Now, we can sigh a bit that is behind us and begin to more fully and safely enjoy riding on Tahoe's many bikeways.  Locals and seasoned bicyclists from around the country know this is the time of the year when bicycling in Tahoe is at its best - cooler temps, fewer cars on the roads, less people on the trails, the Lake calms down, and the golden leaves of aspen begin to place a new palate of colors on the landscape as we move toward and prepare for sliding to replace riding.

 

This summer is also marked with three new initiatives launched by the Coalition - bicycle safety education for youth, promoting bicycling tourism to Lake Tahoe, and increasing organizational capacity and influence. 

 

Bike Safety Education.

The Coalition collaborated with other local agencies and businesses to build and pilot a Bike Rodeo at the South Tahoe Boys and Girls Club in mid August.  The event's success demonstrates the need to continue on this education course and produce more Bike Rodeos in the future. Grant requests to support these efforts have already gone out for next season's events.

 

Promoting Bicycle Tourism. Three tactics were used to help increase awareness about and offer value for visiting bicyclists to Lake Tahoe: wide map distribution, advertising, and a lodging network.  50,000 Lake Tahoe Bikeway Maps were printed and for the first time distributed to over 325 bike shops throughout Northern California and Nevada.  The map's availability was promoted with full page color advertisements in Cycle California! Magazine (both print and electronic versions) -- reaching as far south as Santa Barbara, covering the Central/Sacramento/Stockton Valleys, to the Oregon border, and in Northern Nevada (Reno/Carson Valleys).  These magazines are distributed to over 800 leading bike and running shops, sporting goods stores, cafes, resorts, and health clubs. To channel newly generated bicyclists' interests in visiting Lake Tahoe, the Coalition teamed up with lodging properties to create the Tahoe Lodging for Cyclists (TLC) network offering special rates and benefits to the visiting bicyclists.

 

Increasing Capacity and Productivity

The Coalition took another bold move this summer by appointing its founder, Ty Polastri, as its first Executive Director.  The Executive Director position implements the direction given to it by the Board of Directors and sends a clear message to the marketplace of grantors, agencies and businesses that the Coalition is in business to successfully advance its mission.  To that end, Ty will be participating in two important national bike/walk retreats and conferences to learn, share and build the organization's capacity to increase revenues, influence and productivity.

 

To further capacity building, the Coalition is planning to increase the number of Board members.  More about this will be announced in the future.  But in the meantime, people who may have an interest in helping the Coalition elevate its ability to build revenues, produce programming and increase productivity can contact Ty at BikeTahoe@aol.com expressing their interest.

 

In closing, you can see that the Coalition has also been in a busy building mode this summer with plans laidout for the coming years.  The foundations have been built, the routes selected, and the gearing up is in play to mobilize people and resources toward a more bikeable/walkable community and destination. And, thank you to all the agencies, businesses, friends and colleagues who continue to support our efforts.  We would not be as successful without you.

 

See you on the bikeways,

 

Ty Polastri

Editor