VBF’s board meeting and work session at James River State Park last weekend was very productive! We missed Bill, Chris, and James, but we still got a lot done.
James River State Park was a new venue for all of us. We were pleasantly surprised by its quality, and what it has to offer. Our cabin was superb, and almost new. Besides river access for small boats, the park has many miles of trails for hiking and mountain biking, plus several miles of roads within the park, and ideal biking roads all around it. We had a great ride on surrounding roads Saturday afternoon.
The most important topic from the meeting is membership. Please check to see if your membership needs renewing. We’ll have a proper membership form and online payment available soon. In the meantime, you can refer to our membership page, and mail us a check. More about this soon.
Bud reported on this year’s Virginia General Assembly, where he spent many days over the last 2 months. We’ve been reporting on the progress of bills we were concerned with. But the final story was that things became more partisan as the session wore on. Delegates who supported bills early on reverted to party lines. But the crosswalk bill came closer to passing than ever. It almost did. But now we know how to approach it, and other things, better next year.
For those wondering about the Cross-State ride, it’s still in the works. We’ve all been busy with other things, and haven’t had a chance to plan it yet. Champe Burnley is working on it. It’s still tentative, but most likely it will happen May 27-30, on US Bike Route 1 north to south. If you’re willing to lend a hand, contact Champe. Otherwise please hold off until you see it in our calendar.
Another project we’re working on is getting state universities to fully embrace non-motorized transportation, and help develop college towns into model communities — examples for the rest of Virginia to follow — of urban planning and design, land use, transportation infrastructure and use, and public awareness and education.
As mentioned, membership is job 1. Along with this comes the need for marketing and publicity materials. Our current supply is dwindling and tired, so we’re working on new brochures, envelopes, stickers, commuter vests, T-shirts, etc. We could use some help with this stuff, which brings us to our next topic…
…volunteers. VBF is an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff, and a lot of work to do. We need your help. There are no board positions open at the moment, but anyone willing to help can have a hand in shaping our future. Right now, we could use the most help with membership management and development, graphic design, communications (there’s lots of writing to be done, and we need people who are good), news gathering, networking, and, recruiting more volunteers. If you’re interested, contact anyone on our Board of Directors page.
There’s a lot more we’re working on that’s not ready to be shared yet.
Finally, our get-together was a perfect opportunity to toast the life of a great cyclist, cycling advocate, author, teacher, cheerleader, and sage, Sheldon Brown.
A toast to Sheldon Brown, L to R: Allen Muchnick, Barbara Duerk, Sheryl Finucane, Bud Vye, Matt O’Toole, Ron Enders. Photo by Champe Burnley.
More about this soon too!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-ffAr_0M34f91E.gif\")