Bicycle Bash by the Bay Posters

Steve Turner of Tampa has created two Bicycle Bash by the Bay posters with some bicycle photography I supplied him.

Thanks Steve.

UBC (University Bicycle Center) Joins SWFBUD

SWFBUD is proud to announce that University Bicycle Center has joined out alliance of retail bicycle stores. UBC, as its known, has been in operation since 1972 and people know their location at 1220 East Fletcher Avenue in Tampa north of the USF campus.

The Mirabal family owns UBC, which has been active in bicycle events in the Hillsborough County area. Please welcome UBC to SWFBUD.

SWFBUD Lobbies For Suncoast/Upper Tampa Bay Connector Trail

SWFBUD gets involved. We blew the whistle on a developer who built a traffic median into a bike lane on Fletcher Avenue near the Telecom business center last year. The median was removed.

We put on the Bicycle Bash by the Bay, a bicycle festival which drew several thousand people last fall to celebrate and advocate cycling.

And we lobbied the Hillsborough County commissioners to allocate CIT funds to build a connector trail that would link the Upper Tampa Bay Trail with the Suncoast Trail to create what would be the longest continuous paved trail in the state of Florida.

I was in front of the county commissioners yesterday afternoon explaining that we need both bike trails and bike lanes on roads, and that trails make our county a better place to live, that the DOT would reimburse the county for the lion's share of the connector trail costs.

I was pleased to hear from John Harrison, a county trails committee member and a SWAMP member that the commissioners voted to start building the connector trail. Here's John's report:

"GREAT NEWS!! The commissioners voted to start the trail with money from the CIT fund at today's Public Meeting.

"They allocated money to start the C-1 section of the trail on Lutz-Fern Lake Rd. This is the first section in the plan. Details will be forthcoming but I just wanted to let everyone know the result of all your letters.

"You made a difference. Special thanks to Alan Snell and Deborah Voiles who also presented this afternoon at the meeting. Thanks again, more details will follow in a few days.

John Harrison."

SWFBUD Addresses TBARTA At Its Monthly Meeting

This morning I represented SWFBUD and addressed the board of TBARTA (Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority). The TBARTA Board, chaired by former Bucs player Shelton Quarles, held its monthly board meeting at a golf course country club off State Road 52 near I-75. We need to let people know who serve on governing boards and in transportation agencies that bicyclists need a piece of the pie. Let your voice be heard.

Here was the statement I read into the TBARTA record:

"My name is Alan Snel and I am the director of SWFBUD, which stands for South West Florida Bicycle United Dealers. It’s an attention-grabbing play on words of that water agency name. SWFBUD is a coalition of seven prominent retail bicycle stores in Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties and we and our thousands of loyal pedaling customers are united behind one voice – a voice that is committed to advancing bicycling as an effective means of transportation and as a healthy lifestyle in the Tampa Bay region.

In much the same way you get in your car and apply your seat belt, I hop on my bicycle and strap on helmet. I pedal more than 12,000 miles a year in the Tampa Bay area. I have bike-commuted in cities such as New York City, Denver and Fort Lauderdale and I am here to ask you one thing – please integrate bicycling into every facet of your regional transportation planning and execution.

I talk with people all the time who want to bike to work or bike to the store or bike to the park and for many inexperienced cyclists they perceive the current road conditions as too dangerous. No safe place to ride a bicycle.

That needs to change and it will change through your political will and through your bicycle planning in your regional transportation plans. Please make your proposed corridors friendly to bicyclists – require all buses and any potential light rail to include accommodations for bicycles. Have bicycle storage stations at major park-and-rides. Require all roads to have a bike lane when you fix, widen or build a road.

I pledge SWFBUD will do our part. SWFBUD is holding a giant bicycle festival on October 19 in Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg to advocate and celebrate bicycling in all its forms, including bike-commuting. I am personally inviting each one of you to attend the Bicycle Bash by the Bay. SWFBUD also held the first of its “Pedal Power” lecture series just last night at one of our member bike shops and two speakers representing TBARTA – Brian Bollas and Brandie Miklus – spoke about your plans and we responded with one word – bicycle.

Bicycling makes sense and it’s cost-effective. I hope we can be a resource to you as you blend bicycling into your transportation plans and please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I appreciate your time.

Sincerely,

Alan Snel
Director of SWFBUD, 7 Tampa Bay area bike shops united behind bicycle advocacy and home of the 2008 Bicycle Bash by the Bay
www.bicyclebash.com
www.swfbud.blogspot.com

SWFBUD Backs Bicycling In Regional Transportation Planning

West Florida Bicycle United Dealers (SWFBUD) held the first of its Pedal Power Lecture Series tonight at Carrollwood Bicycle Emporium, inviting two representatives from the Tampa Bay Area Transportation Authority to give a presentation on regional transportation planning.

We learned that it's not just bike shop owners who wants more bicycling synthesized into a transportation program that crosses county borders. In fact, many people commented at forums and meetings across teh area about the need for bicycling to be blended into a regional transportation scheme, according to the presentation made by Brian Bollas and Brandie Miklus.

We peppered the two with comments and questions about whether TBARTA's program will include bicycling and they couldn't promise anything but did say many people have told them and the agency that bicycling and walking have to be part of the links in any regional transportation plan.

The TBARTA board meets Friday morning at 9:30 AM at a country club in San Antonio at I-75 and State Road 52 and they might just have a bicycling visitor.

New Web Site for the 2008 Bicycle Bash by the Bay

My pal Steve Swiger of the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club, who loves bicycling (you should see some of his works) and is a pretty darn good IT/computer whiz, put together a new Web site for the 2008 Bicycle Bash by the Bay, creating a concise, colorful and user-friendly site peppered with wonderful photos from the past two Bicycle Bashes.

Make this one of your favorites.

Sign of the Bicycle Bash by the Bay

Thank you Ryan Wakefield of the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority for this terrific sign for the 2008 Bicycle Bash by the Bay. This sign is scheduled to be installed on PSTA buses.