The BEST graduation gift?

My daughter Courtney graduated from high school last week, with honors! Graduating with honors is a big deal because yours truly never made the honor roll, and neither did my dad. Courtney kicked off high school with a 2.9 freshman year GPA and picking dandelions at the tennis matches. A lightswitch went off the summer of sophomore year and she made the honor roll every semester, while playing varsity tennis, making it to state junior and senior year.

I am so proud of her that when it came time for a graduation gift I thought I would do something really special and give her ... a bike.

Kind of lame from someone who runs a bike company, but I decided to make Courtney a very special bike: a pink Madone with her favorite panda bear on the front of the bike and the back. Lots of pink and white accents. Trek's Project One guru Eric Maves did a great job with the detailing and Courtney absolutely loves it!

Jb.

Pedaling to Prosperity

This is a great article and worth a read. The key point: bicycling and walking make up 12% of mode share in the U.S and yet only receive 1.6% of transportation funding. Biking and walking help to reduce congestion, are environmentally friendly, and lead to more healthy people which in turn reduces medical costs... which happen to be the largest and fast growing expenditures in the U.S. budget. Another great day to be advocating for a Bicycle Friendly America.

Pedaling to Prosperity: Bicycling Saves U.S. Riders Billions a Year [Forbes]

The gift of cancer

I like to read a lot. Books, magazines, newspapers, whatever. Last week, my friend Mark McKinnon visited Waterloo and one night at dinner we were talking bikes and talking life. The next morning Mark sent me an article which he had written a few years ago. It is one of the BEST stories I've read about surviving cancer. Take a moment and read it.

The Gift of Cancer [Daily Beast]

Jb.

An Amazing Weekend at the Warrior 100k Ride

Last weekend I headed to Amarillo, Texas and rode in the Warrior 100 mountain bike event with 20 members of the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that provides wounded military veterans with unique resources to live healthy, happy lives after their service. We’ve worked with them in the past to help create adaptive bicycles for their organized rides.

The Warrior 100 was a life-changing experience. I heard the stories of the 20 servicemen and women; people who lost arms, legs, and much more fighting for our freedom. The stories of how they’ve put their lives back together were truly amazing. I enjoyed meeting all the Wounded Warriors, especially Melissa Stockwell. Melissa graduated from University of Colorado and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. In 2004 her unit was deployed to Iraq. On April 13, 2004 a roadside bomb hit her Humvee and Melissa suffered the loss of her leg above the knee.

Melissa told her story last Friday night and it is quite powerful. She has become a certified prosthetist, in which she fits other amputees with artificial limbs. She competed in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing in swimming, and is the current and two-time World Champion in her triathlon class. The next day I was lucky enough to ride a really challenging mountain bike course in Palo Duro Canyon State Park with Melissa, and she is a really impressive cyclist. Visualize Melissa riding a mountain bike 100k over 3 days with her one good leg, without being able to get out of the saddle. She got the deal done and always had a smile on her face. What a rock star. Melissa and her boyfriend will be visiting Trek this summer to go for a ride.

To read more about Melissa, check out her website at www.melissastockwell.com.

-Jb

 

Help out Bo Bikes Bama

Last December, my rock star assistant, Cindy, walked into my office and said Bo Jackson was on the phone.

“Really,” I replied. The legendary Bo Jackson from my youth, who starred in the “Bo Knows” Nike commercials, and who was the Rock Star football player and baseball player? “Put him on the line.”

Bo wanted to talk about starting a bike ride in Alabama for the tornado victims from last year. I listened and said that sounds interesting; we like to use the bike company to help people. Bo replies, “Great. How about if I come up and we can meet.” Sure enough, a week later Bo Jackson drives up to Trek in his pickup truck and we talk about Bo Bikes ‘Bama.

Well, Tuesday the dream became a reality. I arrived in Birmingham Monday night and rode the first day’s route from Henagar to Lake Guntersville State Park.

My top ten observations from Tuesday’s ride:

10.  Alabama is a really great place to ride your bike.  Kind of like Wisconsin, but warm!

9.  Scottie Pippen, the 6 time World Champion Chicago Bull forward, is a great guy and a great basketball player, but didn't know a lot about riding a bike. Pat “Sully” Sullivan (Director of Trek Component Group) and I took care of that and rode with Scottie for the first twenty miles going through shifting with STI, clipping in and clipping out. We even got into drafting with a 20 mph headwind in the afternoon. In the end, a great athlete is still a great athlete.

8.  Rebecca Falls, who lead the Logistics team for Trek Travel, is a Rock Star!!! Ride was awesome and the logistics were better.

7.  It was cold at the start. Glad Sully was with me. He brought extra arm warmers and leg warmers and I used them both.

6.  The tornadoes that ripped through Alabama were the real deal. Over 400 tornadoes in three days. The damage was incredible.

5.  A lot of people lost their lives in Alabama; Over 300. When you read the paper, it seems like a horrible statistic. When you meet an 8 year old kid named Bryce, who lost his Mom and his Dad along with two siblings, it is no longer a statistic.

4.  The Alabama State Troopers rock. The ride support by all the law enforcement was impressive.  

3.  Picabo Street is the best climber I have ever seen. Her husband’s pickup truck riding next to her did not hurt the effort.

2.  I met a guy today riding a 1977 Trek. Really??? Yep. Original bike, original paint, still riding strong. A little rust, but a very happy Trek customer!!

1.  Bo Jackson is an amazing person, leading a ride to help heal the wounds left by the tornadoes that wreaked havoc in Alabama a year ago.

This is a good cause and worthy of a donation. Check out Bo Bikes Bama and help out the effort.

Jb.

 

I need your help to save funding for bicycles

5 minutes today can save $1.2 billion in federal funding.

Trek family, 

Over the past ten years, the bike community has made a huge difference in helping to make America a more bicycle friendly country. We’ve made a lot of progress, but we have a long way to go. Unfortunately, as a movement, we are facing some real challenges in Washington. On Thursday, February 2nd the House Transportation Committee is voting on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funding for biking and walking. We stand to lose $1.2 billion and over 3,000 potential bike and pedestrian projects, including Safe Routes to School programs. 

We need your help to preserve these dedicated biking and walking infrastructure funds.  What can you do?   

1. Pick up the phone and contact your elected official. Find their phone number here.

2. Send an email to your elected official. Find their email here.

3. Ask your representative to vote for Representative Petri's amendment to support dedicated funding for walking and biking.

4. Send your friends an email asking them to also contact their representative.

5. Ask your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter to take action.  

Your message can be as simple as this: 

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I’m contacting you today to ask you to protect the dedicated pedestrian and bicycle funding in the new American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.  

This bill is expected to eliminate the two largest programs that fund bicycling and walking infrastructure: Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities in your district and all over the country will lose access to resources to build the facilities that keep people safe.  

Bicycling and walking are critical to keeping our communities moving with healthy, safe, and accessible transportation options. 

Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of federal funding.  

And bicycling is good for health and the environment.  

Thank you for your support. [YOUR NAME] [YOUR CITY AND STATE] 

A call will only take five minutes out of your day, but it could be the difference between no funding and over a billion dollars in funding. Zero projects or 3,000 biking and walking projects. 

When you call your representative’s office, you will most likely get voicemail or talk to the representative’s staff member. That's okay. Still leave the message. Every call counts. It is vital that every everyone reaches out in some way. 

Your phone call matters. Last year, when the Transportation extension was at risk, Bikes Belong called upon 20,000 California residents to contact Congressperson Pelosi and ask for her support of dedicated bicycle infrastructure funding. Within 48 hours they had over 2,000 calls to her office. 48 hours later Senator Pelosi called a press conference and publicly announced her support of the bicycle funding. This new multi-year bill is critical. We need every representative to hear from their constituents.  

Thank you, John Burke 

Click here for more information regarding the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.

 

Dream Bikes, a brat, and a beer

It must have been around five years ago when I was working at a food pantry in Madison. Toward the end of work that night I asked Mike, the pantry manager, if there was anything that I could do to help out. "Well John, what these people really need is a job," Mike replied. "If I could do anything to wave a magic wand, it would be to open businesses near this neighborhood."

For the past few years I had been thinking about all the bikes that sit in garages of homes in really nice neighborhoods, not being used, and what it would take to get those bikes into the hands of kids who've never had a chance to own a bicycle. Put those two ideas together and we get Dream Bikes, the used bicycle store we helped open in a underserved neighborhood of Madison. Trek got the ball rolling and the local Boys & Girls Club joined forces to find the right kids.

Three years later we've sold thousands of used bikes to people who need them, and most importantly we have provided around 50 jobs to kids who needed a good job experience, a safe place to work, some money, and a lot of pride in a job well done. The Madison store has been such a success, we opened a store in Milwaukee. Next spring Dream Bikes #3 opens in Chicago. Once again changing the world with the bicycle.

On Monday the 22nd Tania and I are hosting the first annual Bike Drive at the house. Bring your bike to donate and stop by for a brat and a beer from 6-8. Bikes are the life blood of Dream Bikes and Dream Bikes needs bikes!!  If you don’t have a bike please join us and make a $25 donation to Dream Bikes. If you can't make it and want to help, send a direct donation to:

DreamBikes - Madison
4245 W. Beltline Highway
Madison, WI 53711

Jb

Mission accomplished.

I've been lucky enough to do some amazing rides in my life, including six previous l'Étapes du Tour, but this year’s edition of l'Étape was one was the BEST. Here's my recap.

The team started out as me, my wife Tania, and Nick Schaefer, better known as Mr. Trek France. We started in Modane, and it was super-fast, even for me. The first 15k were pretty much downhill and we were lucky enough to start in the first wave. On some sections we were cruising along at 35 miles per hour and it felt like we were doing really well. The night before I had put together the game plan as I always do before a big event; where I need to be on the route and at what time. I will take five key points and put down the numbers and stick it in my pocket.

After the first fast 15k we hit the base of Col du Telegraph, and up we went. The Telegraph climb was 13k long at a 7% gradient and we continued to do well. This was a beautiful day, bright blue sky with a few clouds and as we reached the top of the mountain, the views were amazing; so good that I stopped along the way to take a few pictures. The descent down the Telegraph was fast and I looked forward to the Galibier. At 17K to the top at 7.7%, this was going to be the ball game. If we could make it up the Galibier in one piece, I knew that we would finish.

Something funny happened up the Galibier, I was having fun! Before I even knew it, we passed the 12k mark, then the 8k mark and I thought, "I can do this." As we approached the top, the views again were amazing, you could look back from the top and see the road winding below filled with riders, it was super cool. I was told that the views at the top of Galibier are amazing and it did not disappoint. I thought we had seen the best as we hit the summit, but I was wrong, the view from the top looking down the other side was even better. We reached the top 1:20 ahead of schedule.

Now for the best part of the ride: downhill 47K to Le Bourg D’Oisans. This is definitely the strongest part of my riding; very long downhills that are not super steep so that you can get some good pedaling in and just cruise. This was an exciting descent with around 5 tunnels along the way. The scariest part of the ride came as I went into one of the tunnels and it was pitch black. I must have been going 35-40 miles an hour and there was no light, just the sounds of bicycles. Bicycles in front and…bicycles behind. Putting on the brakes was not a good option. I was happy when I saw light at the end of the tunnel! Down the hill we continued to go until we reached the village.

In this town, seven years ago at my first Étape, I was caught by the sweeper wagon and not allowed to go any further. I had a score to settle. We pulled into Bourg D’Oisans an hour and thirty minutes ahead of schedule, took a right at the roundabout and then before you know it, there it was… Alpe D'Huez… the legend of them all. 12k to the top, but the number I was focused on was 6k to the Trek Travel rest stop. By this time, I was definitely feeling tired, but kept the pedals moving until we arrived at the rest stop where guide Doug had an absolutely awesome spread. I had a few Cokes, a sandwich, a handful of M&M'S and I was ready to roll. Before my first Ironman my good friend Bart Knaggs told me, “Eat real food.” I have followed this advice in all of my endurance events: I play to my strengths!

As we headed back onto the course, I wasn’t feeling so good, but figured I could rally for the last 6K. We kept knocking them down and I had hoped to launch an attack with 3k to go. A few years back at L'Étape I was able to launch an attack at 3k from the top of the Hautacam to take down my friends Steve Malchow and Tony Smook but as we passed the 3k mark I didn’t have it. My wife did. I told her go catch the boys which she promptly did, catching and passing our friend Dr. T in spectacular fashion at the end. With 1.5k to go I found a little something and attacked with Trek's HR Director Mark Joslyn and Creative Director Eric Lynn. We passed 30 people before the finish line and left nothing in the tank.

Awesome course, awesome day, awesome support from Trek Travel, awesome bike, most importantly awesome friends.

Jb

Game time. L'Étape du Tour

At the start of L'Étape du Tour. 15 min before we go. Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and Alpe d'Huez. It doesn't get any better than this. Awesome team today. Nick Schaefer, aka Mr. Trek France, Dr. T., Mark Joslyn, and Tania on the team with a bunch of others including Dan "titanium" Titus. Check out Dan's bike.

Game time!!! Hope we make it.

Jb

Trails and fees - your thoughts?

On Saturday I rode my bike 80 miles out to Paoli and back to Madison. There are some great new bike trails and instead of riding the roads, I decided to try the trail. This was a great day; 75, sunny, and lots of people on the bike trails. All good until my wife, Tania, and I came upon an intersection and were stopped by someone from the Dane County Parks Dept. who wanted to know if I had my trail pass. "No, I don’t have a trail pass”, I replied. “Well,” responded Mr. Dane County Parks, "that will be $20 for a trail pass for the year and a $5 fine for not having one.” I happily accepted my fine, which is much better than the speeding ticket I received in the past. Smaller fine, no points, and no police lights.
 
As I rode back to Madison I thought about whether charging a $20 fee for using the trail is a good idea or a bad idea. I started with the good idea first:
1.  Cars pay taxes to use the roads. 
2.  The county needs the money and they are providing me with a service 
3.  It is the law. 
 
Then I moved over to the bad idea side of the argument: 
1.  Bike trails are freeing up the congested roads.
2.  Bike trails help the environment.
3.  Bike trails get people active. 
These are all good things and shouldn't the county be encouraging this behavior instead of handing out tickets?
 
I don’t know, what do you think? A. Counties should charge for people to use bike trails. B. Counties should not charge for people to use bike trails.

Jb