Thanks for your input Eric. I think you've written an excellent summary of the Bike Fed's strategy for the upcoming years. "Making Wisconsin a Better Place to Bicycle" will be the core of our mission - with a deliberate emphasis placed on not "discriminating" on what type of bicycling is being discussed. The Bike Fed supports and advocates for all bicyclists in the state - provided they agree to ride in a safe and legal manner.
You've hit the nail squarely on the head regarding the "what can we do about this?" question. We can organize statewide and speak (and vote) in numbers that simply cannot be ignored. Our needs as cyclists are all quite similar. On the surface, it may appear that the lyrca-clad crowd (which I'm part of) is completely removed from the urban commuter crowd (which I'm also part of) who is turn is completely removed from the white-knuckle singletrack crowd (of which - wait for it - I'm also a part of). Nothing could be farther from the truth. The "forces of darkness" are hard at work to keep ALL of us from doing what we love. Individually, we're not large enough to fight them, but COLLECTIVELY, we are mighty. 2007 may have been a "rebuilding year" for the Fed, and 2008 is going to be awesome. Let's all stand together and keep the mission moving forward. Call me, write me, drop by my office and let me know what's on your mind. I can assure you, the Bike Fed is interested. Regarding the quotations regarding Smart Growth and land use that currently reside on our website, those will very likely be removed during our upcoming website renovation. Publicly, the Bike Fed will only endorse bicycle-related issues. While we all have our opinions regarding issues like growth, sprawl and the idiocy of our car-dominated culture, it is best to keep these opinions out of our public declarations about "what we believe". Certainly, clear lines can easily be drawn to those issues from a bicycling advocacy POV, but it is best not to dilute an organization's focus by deviating from the core mission - and that is making Wisconsin a better place to bicycle. Thanks for reading. Deputy Dave ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Foe or Partner? (Eric Westhagen) Message: 2 Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:54:55 -0500 From: Eric Westhagen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [Bikies] Foe or Partner? To: BikiesSubmissions <[email protected]> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Dear Group and Matt Logan, Certainly Matt Logan does have points. But his direction might not be effective. When he says: "Making Wisconsin A Better Place to Bicycle. * We believe that through bicycling we can create a better world for our children and ourselves. " ---Good, so far. . . . But then he gets into soviet-styled land use planning. ("Smart Growth") And then he suggests that the transportation lobby is active in regional planning also. I went to his link and couldn't even figure out what the letters WTBA stood for. One would assume that if they represent transportation infrastructure construction and have been around since the 1930s, that they are well entrenched as a political reality and tilt toward where the money is. But also, is they have all the clout, the BFW would seem to be no match for them and their political influence. So, isn't it logical for bike people to join them? From the inside, the BFW can throw around what they do have--votes. But if the BFW aims to be effective for the goal of Making Wisconsin A BETTER PLACE TO BICYCLE, it should be understood that their strength comes from their votes, not getting "money consulting contracts" or other self aggrandizement. And if they are to attract the state's complete bicycle community and not just a group bent on "social change, climate change, and STATE mandated land use planning", they should stick to Matt Logan's first mentioned goal and approach the primary "transportation money" lobby as becoming an influential "partner." Eric Westhagen _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://www.danenet.org/mailman/listinfo/bikies
