United Wheels Inc.’s Post

May is National Bike Month and now is the time to kick your planning into high gear. This is a great theme to engage members (retention) by energizing your studio cycling program and creating some outdoor ride opportunities. This is also an easy theme for creating lead generation activities and community partnerships. Key Dates for National Bike Month 🚲 May 5 - National Ride a Bike Day (Star Wars day too, great combo opportunity) May 16 - Bike To Wherever Day, some areas still call it Bike to Work Day Here are a few ideas to help engage members and the community taking advantage of bike month: 1. Hold a bicycle safety class for kids. 2. Make National Ride a Bike Day a huge party in your cycle classes - themes, class length, dress up, prizes and food. 3. Lead an outdoor bike ride from your location or partner with a local bike shop and launch from there. Do short distance, easy all comers rides. 4. For Bike Wherever Day - find out who is sponsoring the one in your area and see if you can have an energy station at your Club. In the bay area it's Bike Eastbay as an example. 5. Partner with a local bike shop and have them come in to do a tire changing class or a clinic on DYI Spring Bike Tune Up. 6. In your studio program do a series of training rides that leads up to an organized outdoor ride. Four Weeks to Your First 100K Ride, idea. Have fun and enjoy the ride. Here is the website to the oldest bicycle organization in the country. Lots of great information available. https://lnkd.in/gKuxfdCZ

Safety should always be our top priority, especially when it comes to on-road biking. Did you know that protected bike lane designs are preferred by most for their safety measures? While it may not be possible to build a trail or side path everywhere, a protected bike lane can provide a safe and reliable option for riders of all ages and abilities. Let's prioritize safety and advocate for protected bike lanes in our communities.

I finished the Miami Marathon this weekend. In one word the experience was: OVERWHELMING. The 26.2 trek was filled with ups and downs. It truly was an emotional rollercoaster. I have ran many races before but I noticed an interesting juxtaposition this time around. Though you are surrounded by hundreds of people working for the same goal, it is really a “You vs. You” experience once the start horn goes off. There is a lot of camaraderie thought the entire course but it was also filled with moments of extreme loneliness. There is a point that no amount of gels, snacks, Gatorade, music can push to the next mile marker. That’s when you have to reach into within to find the strength to continue. I used the walk-and-run technique when my feet could not take the pounding any more, taking short, choppy BUT consistent steps forward in those really hard moments. In mile 23, I got a second wind that propelled me towards mile 25 and 26. I used that wind to run as far as I could before slowing down again. Many spectators were present cheering on their loved ones, but more broadly, all of the runners as well. I used this cheerful energy to get me through the latter stages of the race. In effect, I got extremely emotional when I saw my family cheering me on during the last mile. The waterworks just came out of me. I could not help it but seeing them was the morale booster I needed to finish the race.  A few of the lessons I gathered from this experience: 1) You can't accessorize your way to victory.  2) Cheer for others while running your own race. 3) It is okay to slow down before getting that much needed breakthrough. 4) When the breakthrough comes, use it the best of your abilities. This race was one for the ages. Final time: 6 Hours 15 minutes.

In late 2017, Christie Tracy reached out to Vandoit for more information..."We expected the typical sales pitch, but instead, we had a genuine conversation with someone who understood our needs and shared our passion for cycling. From that moment on, we felt like we were part of the Vandoit family, not just customers, and we took a leap of faith by placing our trust in the company to build our dream van." Read more about the Tracy's leap of faith to get into their dream campervan in this blog!

“𝘊𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘰!” - Conor Bicycling is how many Pittsburghers get to work, school, shopping, and appointments. See our blog for how you can support more safe biking and walking connections to fulfill these daily needs --> https://lnkd.in/e-JVEprC

Need some tips for celebrating Bike Month around the Kansas City region this month? From biking to work to meeting people who love bicycles, we’ve outlined a range of ways to get on two wheels on the WAY TO GO blog.

A picture from our area's past. This picture was taken during one of the early boat races on the Rogue. A few years ago, John and Gemma Scherbarth - neighbors from eight miles down river - asked me if I would like this picture. My answer? "Absolutely!" This is a family picture for me. More than that though, it reflects an important piece of our area's history. The boat upstream belonged to and was built by either my father or grandfather. It is acting as a pick up boat to get disabled boats off the course and ferry the drivers to safety. My father (Ernie Rutledge) is running the pick up boat. His left hand is on the controls for the motor - throttle, reverse, and steering. His right hand is on the jackass lift. My grandfather (Burl Rutledge) is at the front of the pick up boat - holding on to the race boat so that the racer (believed to be Denny Graves) can transfer to the pick up boat and so that the race boat won't float loose and get out into the current. In those days, the races were several laps long and they didn't do a restart or clear the course of disabled boats between the laps. Net/net, there were boats heading up river and boats heading down river at the same time and there could be debris floating down river through the course. They were still using this approach when I was a kid and, from a spectator perspective, it was a lot of fun to watch. From a safety perspective, it is a miracle that no one got killed. (Today, they still race boat on the Rogue, but they now do time trials and restarts after clearing the course between legs of the race.) We know the race in question happened before 1968 (when Burl Rutledge passed away) and we believe it occurred after 1950. One probably doesn't expect to see "jackass" used on a business networking site. A lot of people who aren't boaters may not know what a jackass lift is or what it does. Before Lost Creek Dam was built, the water in the Rogue during the summer and fall could get very shallow. There was no way to mitigate this. The boats had to be designed in a way to navigate the Rogue despite the water level. In the early days, a "step chain" - a chain that the boat driver used (kind of like a come-a-long) to lift the engine so that the boat could go over shallow spots. (If the lower unit hit the gravel or a rock, the pins holding it to the engine could sheer off. When that happened, you had no propulsion and no steering. You were at the Rogue's mercy.) Later, the jackass lift was invented. The jackass lift could be used in real time and you didn't have to take your eyes off the water in order to raise the prop. If you are interested in learning more about boats and their evolution on the Rogue, I highly recommend reading Roger Fletcher's book, "Drift Boats and River Dories." Each of the early guides on the Rogue came up with their spin on motor boats and drift boats. Roger wrote about some of the inventions that the Old Timers came up with.

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AND rightfully so! Mt. Ashland, OR caught a backcountry skier going uphill crossing under a cable from a winch cat the tension on that cable is unreal! IDIOT https://lnkd.in/g3cKAbm5 #BackcountrySkiing #UphillSkiing #SkiAreaLaw #SkiLaw @RecreationLaw #RecLaw #RecreationLaw

Criterium races, also known as crits, are high-intensity bicycle races that take place on short, closed-loop courses. And if your community hosts one, you understand the economic benefits of this type of event. Here's a rundown of the nation's largest and most successful criterium and how they impact their regions. https://lnkd.in/ev3V2kf8