SWFBUD -- South West Florida Bicyclists United With Dealers: June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

SWFBUD Supports Tampa Police 3-Foot Decals On Cruiser Windows

SWFBUD met with Tampa Police several months ago and voiced support for decals on the back windows of police cruisers that show the 3 Foot Buffer law that requires cars to pass bicycles by a minimum berth of 3 feet.

Monday, June 20, 2011

SWFBUD Welcomes The Mark Roman Law Group

SWFBUD welcomes its newest member -- the Mark Roman Law Group of Clearwater.

Law firm partners Mark Roman and Morgan Gaynor are bicyclists who support SWFBUD's mission to make the Tampa Bay area a more friendly place for bicyclists. Check them out www.markromanlaw.com.

The Mark Roman Law Group joins the following SWFBUD members:

Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium
Oliver's Cycle Sports
Just Ride Bicycles
Chainwheel Drive
Bicycle Outfitters
Street Fit 360
Trek Bicycle Store of Tampa and Clearwater
University Bicycle Center
ABC Bicycles
Trek Bicycle Store of St. Petersburg
The Ironman Store

Lawyer Tom Singletary
Lawter Chris Burns
Lawyer J. Steele Olmstead

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Early-Morning Biking In Tampa

I bike very early on summer weekend mornings to check out Tampa. There are few cars and no one is rushing around and it's not too hot.

I like Cypress Avenue because it's a decent east-west road that goes from central Tampa west all the way to the U-Path and the Rocky Point/Clearwater causeway area.

Here's Cypress west of Dale Mabry Highway and it looks like it has been re-paved, so I'm wondering why there are no bike lanes or at least sharrows.

RIP Tom McEwen -- the Tampa Tribune's former sports editor.

The U-Path trail connects Cypress with the Rocky Point area at State Roads 60 and the Clearwater causeway. The U-Path is very close to Tampa International Airport.

I found this paved trail behind Blake High School along the Hillsborough River and I'm wondering why is this gate locked?

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

SWFBUD Pushes For Regional Paved Trail Network

Bay News 9 this afternoon filmed Randy Myhre, owner of SWFBUD bicycle store Oliver's riding his mountain bike on the Bypass Canal Trail.

SWFBUD wants Hillsborough County to pave the trail next to the Bypass Canal Trail from Morris Bridge Road to State Road 60 to help create a region-wide network of bicycle trails that would lead from the county into the city of Tampa.

I will be making a powerpoint presentation on the Bypass Canal Trail to the Hillsborough County Metropolitan Planning Organization Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee, making the case that it's just one segment of a trail network that would include the South County Greenway, and the Selmon Expressway Greenway leading into downtown Tampa.

Look for the Bay News 9 report Wednesday during the day.

WHAT IS SWFBUD and HOW DID IT START?

SWFBUD (South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers) is a Tampa Bay bicycle advocacy alliance of 12 bicycle store dealers and four law firms committed to raising the profile of bicycling in the Tampa Bay market, getting more people on bicycles and drawing more public resources for bicycling.

The 12 bike shops are: ABC Bicycles, Bicycle Outfitters, Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, Chainwheel Drive, Just Ride Bicycles, Oliver's Cycle Sports, Street Fit 360, Trek Bicycle Store of Tampa and Clearwater, Trek Bicycle Store of St. Petersburg, The Ironman Store, University Bicycle Center and Velo Champ. The four law firms are Tom Singletary, J. Steele Olmstead and the Mark Roman Law Group.

The SWFBUD members enlist Alan Snel, a bicycle advocate and former metro newspaper reporter, to lobby local governments to provide more bicycle resources and to put on the Bicycle Bash festival.

SWFBUD is a play on words of Swiftmud, the Tampa Bay water district agency.

SWFBUD traces its roots to the summer of 2006, when then-Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium owner David Luppino (who now owns Just Ride Bicycles) hired Snel for promotions, marketing and to help put on the Bicycle Bash festival. At the start of 2007, Luppino believed it was appropriate that other Tampa Bay bike stores get involved in promoting bicycling, so Snel recruited other store dealers to get involved.

The Bicycle Bash was first held in October 2006 on the St. Pete Times Forum plaza before a Tampa Bay Lightning afternoon hockey game before SWFBUD moved the Bicycle Bash to St. Petersburg's Vinoy Park in 2007 and 2008 and to North Straub Park in downtown St. Petersburg in 2009. In 2010, the Bicycle Bash was moved into Hillsborough County's Flatwoods Park on Nov. 7 so that bicyclists can enjoy the Bash's exhibitor village and also have fun doing live biking in the park. In 2011, the Bicycle Bash will be held again at Flatwoods Park on NOV 6.

SWFBUD won national retail bicycle advocacy awards in 2009 from the Bicycle Retailer and Industry News (BRAIN) and the Trek Bicycle Corporation. The Bicycle Bash won the Florida Event of the Year in 2007 from the Florida Bicycle Association.

SWFBUD's Snel attends many public meetings in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, plus the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. to lobby political leaders and governing agencies to commit more resources to bicycling. SWFBUD believes communities that embrace and invest in bicycling become more successful and sustainable.

Flatwoods Park Ranger Thanks SWFBUD For Saving Park and Jobs

SWFBUD Wins National Bicycle Advocacy Award

The national magazine that covers the bicycle industry in this country honored SWFBUD with the 2009 Bicycle Retail Advocacy Award at the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey, Calif. SWFBUD is deeply honored by this national recognition and I received the award from Megan Tompkins, editor of Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, and Tim Blumenthal, executive editor of Bikes Belong Coalition. Click photo for more info and check SP Times story, too: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article996595.ece