Three stories from this year's 20-Year Club

Every year we have a 20-Year Club dinner for those Trek employees who have served the company for 20 or more years. We honor the new inductees and this year 12 new members joined the club. I talked about the accomplishments of the class of 1993 and then introduced each of the 12 and thanked them for their incredible service. After I finished handing out awards, I told the entire group that what made me really proud of Trek was not the numbers, but the incredible company that we have built over time and the good things that we have done to make Trek a very special place. I then shared three stories with the group to make my point. All three have happened in the last six weeks. 

One Last Great Thing

Today, I'm excited to announce the publication of a book I wrote about my father's life. When I began writing, I thought it would be something for my kids to have to help them remember the lessons of their grandfather. But the further I got, the more I began to think that these lessons are universal and could resonate with a much larger audience. It never occurred to me to write a book about my father, but the man led an extraordinary life and I'm excited to share his story. I've included the first chapter for you below. The full book is available here. All profits from the sale of the book go to support DreamBikes – a nonprofit bike shop staffed by members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Madison and Milwaukee. I hope you like the read.

Jb

Open publication - Free publishing - More biography

Interbike advocacy address - the good, the bad, and the future

This week I had the honor of addressing the attendees at Interbike. I wanted to talk about the good and the bad news and the "state of the union" about what's going on in bicycle advocacy. It was an awesome group of people capable of doing great things. Remember, the world is run by those who show up! Here's the video of the keynote:

 

One person does make a difference

Leslie Bohm passed away on August 20. On Sunday I had the privilege to share a few memories at his services. 

Jb 

I want to thank Lynn, Griffin, and Cooper for the honor of being here. 

Trek’s first customer was Elmer Sorenson the owner of Penn Cycle in Minneapolis. Elmer opened his bicycle store while he was a master mechanic for Northwest airlines. Elmer lived a long and happy life and as I walked out of his funeral service a decade ago, a Northwest 747 flew low over the church. I knew that was a sign from Elmer.

Leslie loved politics, debates, and elections. When I talked to Lynn on the phone the other day and she told me to watch out for the traffic in Boulder on Sunday because the President of the United States would be speaking in Boulder. I just smiled to my self because I knew that was Leslie at work. The headline...President Obama Speaks in Boulder

Over the years, Leslie and I became good friends. On the surface, we did not have a lot in common. Leslie was short, I'm tall. Leslie was quiet, I can be loud, Leslie always took his time, I can pull the trigger. However, we did have a lot of similarities, we both loved v-neck sweaters, we both loved the bicycle business, we both loved to ride our bikes and swap stories of our favorite climbs in Europe, we both thought the bicycle was a simple solution to the major issues of the day like climate change, health issues, and congestion; and we were both total overachievers with our wives. The first time I met Lynn we were having drinks the four of us. Tania and I, Lynn and Leslie. At one point I said to Leslie, “we really did well picking our life partners” and Leslie gave me that big Leslie smile and said “John we sure did. We have to be the two luckiest guys in the world.” The last thing that we had in common were ideas. Leslie loved ideas. 

Leslie was all about ideas and the lessons of life. Leslie lived an extraordinary life, and every day to Leslie was another opportunity to learn. Today in Leslie’s honor I want to review four of the lessons of life that he leaves behind:

1. Lesson number one is Unbridled Optimism. Leslie was optimistic about everything. Shortly after I learned of his cancer, I did some research and the research told me that Leslie was going to have a tough battle. I called Leslie to see how he was doing the next day. Leslie, this is John… I heard about your cancer, how are you doing? “John thanks for the call. I'm doing GREAT. The smile coming right through the phone. “You see I have an awesome family and they have been giving me such great support, and you know I have excellent doctors and they have put me in a special program because I am really fit and have a great attitude, I am going to beat this thing” In March at the National Bike Summit Tania and I had drinks with Lynn and Leslie and I asked him how are you doing? Leslie's reply “Great, I rode my bike 50 miles on Sunday with my family. We had a great time. ” But Leslie how is the cancer? “Well they just don’t know what to do, whether I should have surgery or stick with the chemo.” And then with his BIG Leslie smile he looks at me and says “John I just wish they would crack my head open, and take this thing out, so I could get on with my life.” Business, politics, bicycle advocacy, cancer, Leslie had one outlook in life and that was to Be Positive. 

2. The second lesson is Take Care of Others. One night early in his life, Leslie was with his sisters and other cousins. In a conversation, Leslie mentioned that he was feeling a little guilty because Aunt Sara seemed to favor him more than the others. To his surprise, each of the others said that they too felt guilty at having been Aunt Sara’s “favorite” They realized at that moment in unison , that Aunt Sara had managed to make each of them feel uniquely special. Leslie took Aunt Sara’s lesson and applied it to his personal life and his business life. Leslie not only succeeded at making other people feel special, he genuinely cared about others and went out of his way to take care of others.  If Leslie ever invited someone to go on a bike ride with him, he really meant that he would ride "with" that person. Even though Leslie was a strong rider in his own right, he was never one to push someone to ride beyond their own ability. Instead Leslie, would match their pace, and make sure that everyone had a good time. Once, on a winter hut trip in Colorado, Leslie was with a group that included a woman who was not as prepared for the back-country as she should have been. Leslie hung back to encourage the woman and assist her on the trail. Then the two of them became separated from the rest of the group as a storm moved in. Leslie dug a snow cave and kept the two of them sheltered and safe until the storm blew over and he could get the woman to safety. He literally saved her life that day because of his concern, and because of the fact that Leslie always put other people first in every aspect of his life.

3. The third lesson of Leslie's life is to be Open to Ideas. There is a great passage from Eleanor Roosevelt’s favorite poem that goes like this: “Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas.” Leslie loved ideas. At a Bikes Belong Board meeting Leslie was making the point that we needed to get better organized. “This really isn’t that difficult. All we need to do is take a look at the NRA. Leslie goes into a five minute monologue about the NRA and how they do it. They have great messaging, incredible marketing, and they have 4.2 million dedicated members, and they are advocating for guns. We are advocating for bicycles. Our cause is so much better and yet they are kicking our butts. We can learn from these guys?” From across the table I ask Leslie... "Leslie how do you know so much about the NRA. Well I did some research and I was so impressed with their work that I wanted to learn more, so I signed up and became a member of the NRA so that they would send me all the material. It’s really GREAT stuff." “Leslie are you really a Member of the NRA?” With that Big Leslie smile, “I sure am!” Leslie was very passionate about his positions in life, but he was always smart enough and humble enough and decent enough to look at all sides of any issue, including the NRA.

4. The fourth lesson of Leslie's life is Find Something that You are Passionate about and Make a Difference. In 1997 I met Leslie for the first time at the National Bike Summit. We had been summoned by Congressman Jim Oberstar to get involved at the national level in making sure that bicycles were part of the national transportation budget. At that time cycling received less than $20 million in federal funding. Leslie was part of the industry group that got together and helped to make bicycles part of the Transportation Bill in 1997. We worked hard and won the battle, bicycle funding went from $20 million to over $200 million. We sat in the basement of a lousy Washington hotel feeling pretty good about ourselves. There were four of us and Leslie turned the celebration into a question. Where do we go from here? A debate took place and a decision was made to create Bikes Belong, an industry organization that had the mission of more people on bikes more often. Not only was Leslie a founding member of Bikes Belong, he actively (and I underline actively), served as a board member for the last 15 years. In that time federal funding for cycling increased to over $1.3 billion and more and more places across America are starting to look like Boulder, Colorado because Leslie was passionate about cycling and wanted to make a difference. 

Unbridled optimism, taking care of others, being open to ideas, and finding something that you are passionate about and make a difference are four of the characteristics that made Leslie the Legend that he was. On top of those four there really is one other. Leslie was just a good person to the core.

While Leslie’s life was cut short at 59 years, history will show that Leslie packed 100 years into his 59. A few years back my father was in poor health and with his death imminent a friend told me something that will stay with me the rest of my life. She said, “John, his body will die, but his spirit will live on.” The same holds true for Leslie. While he his body died on August 20, 2012, Leslie’s spirit will live on and that spirit will be a guiding force for his wife, his two sons, the bicycle movement and the many others who had the privilege of knowing Leslie Bohm.  

Leslie Bohm, rock star.

Friends,

I awoke this morning to check my e-mail and saw a CarePages update on Leslie Bohm, one of the foundering members of Bikes Belong. About a year and a half ago, Leslie found out he had brain cancer and has been fighting it ever since. Leslie's wife Lynn, who is a rock star, wrote an update that I have shared below.

After I read this, I emailed a note of encouragement to Leslie and I think he would want to hear from all of his friends. If you have been lucky enough to know Leslie over the years, he is a very special person, so take a minute to send him a note on his CarePage or via Lynn at lynn@catacom.com. 

I am a list guy and here is my list as to why Leslie is a very special person:

1. Short on size, big on personality. 

2. Leslie can light up a room. I have been lucky enough to know a handful of people who can illuminate a room when they walk in. Leslie is one of those special people. Big smile, the big handshake, and the booming voice out of the small man "John how are ya!!!"

3. Great note taker. I have been to a lot of Bikes Belong board meetings. No one can take notes like Leslie.

4. NRA member. This one might surprise you, but Leslie is an NRA member. He thought they did such a good job with membership and message that he joined to learn and pass along those lessons to Bikes Belong.

5. Optimist! Great leaders are optimists and Leslie is a very optimistic person. When I saw him in April and we were talking about his brain tumor he told me "John, they just don't know what to do, radiation, or just have surgery. I hope they have the surgery. Just crack my head open and get this thing out of me. That would be great!" Leslie's optimism is best seen in the bike movement he loves. No problems, only challenges, and Leslie has a strong belief that in the end, the bicycle will prevail.

6. Founding Member of Bikes Belong. Back in the day there were only a few of us from the industry who cared about advocacy. Bikes Belong was founded in the basement at the National Bike Summit back in the late 90's. Total attendance at the Bike Summit: 75. People in the room that founded Bikes Belong: 4. Leslie was one. In the years since the founding of Bikes Belong, federal funding for bikes has gone from $20 million to over $1.2 billion. Thousands of miles of trail have been built and the accomplishments of the movement are too many to list. The bicycle movement owes Leslie a big thank you.

Colleagues at the National Bike Summit March 22 in Wash. DC. L to R: Tania and John Burke, Pro-bike leader in House of Reps; Earl Blumenauer, Leslie Bohm, Chris Kegel, and Lynn.

 

Take a minute today and send a note to Leslie. He would love to hear from you.

Jb.

Leslie

We haven't updated this CarePage because it's hard to write. You've all been such wonderful support that we want you to know what's going on.

Leslie is very sick. He developed a bad staph infection from the surgery at MD Anderson, which took a while to diagnose. He had a second surgery at Boulder Community Hospital for the infection. During the process of diagnosing the infection, we learned that Leslie had tumor in a new area of the brain that was developing quickly - it didn't show up on the MRI after the surgery but was there a few weeks later.

Leslie has been a graceful inspiration in his illness. Our plan is to bring him home and bring in nursing care.

This, of course, only begins to tell the story. There are so many of you we would like to contact individually. We so appreciate all your love, your prayers, your good thoughts and kindnesses. We hope you'll pray for him, in your own way, now. We read him your notes and texts, and they bring on that Leslie smile.

Love,

Lynn, Griffin and Cooper

 

An Amazing Day at L’Étape du Tour

This past Sunday I got in the saddle for my seventh straight L'Étape du Tour. The Étape is a race put on by the Tour de France organizing group ASO, and is usually held on the course of one of the hardest stages of the Tour. This year’s version was 152 km (94.4 mi) over five climbs: the Madeleine, the Glandon, the Croix de Fer, the Mollard, and La Toussuire. The 152km didn’t sound that bad. The problem was the 4,808 m (15,777 ft.) of climbing.

We arrived at the start line at 6:30 am with rain pouring down and ominous skies. The forecast called for a 70% chance of rain and scattered thunder showers. The Country Manager for Trek Germany-Austria-Switzerland, Petra Schmiedel, who was in our group, told me not to worry about it, that it would be a beautiful day in the mountains. Since Petra lives in the Alps, and that was what I wanted to hear, I went with it. 

The race stated and it was 15km of flats before the start of the Madeline. All good. We hit the Madeleine and it was, as advertised, a 22k climb at 7.5%. It was a BEAST. We made it to the top feeling pretty good. Next was a 22k decent and everyone seemed to be passing me by. We head up the Glandon and that was also a BEAST. It never stopped and I started to enter into the hurt box half way up the climb.

I said to my wife Tania, “I really need something cold to drink,” and she told me "tough luck, nothing around here until the Trek Travel rest stop on the descent."

Wrong! There was a small, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with this old lady out of the movies behind the bar and one customer who was the French version of Norm from Cheers holding the bar down. I had three Cokes and two apple juices and got back on the bike. Up to the top of the Glandon and another 3K to the top of the Croix de Fer. Made it. Three climbs down, two to go. One small five km climb and then one category one climb. The hardest part is over.

WRONG! I make it to the Trek Travel rest stop and for some reason my body says, “Oranges.” So I go oranges. I ate 6 oranges. I double my yearly orange consumption in 6 minutes. Back on the bike to the Mollard, a 5.7km climb. Turns out this climb was a BASTARD. 5.7K of seven, eight, and NINE PERCENT! I was DEAD half way up the climb and I started to think that perhaps this was not my day and I would get sucked up by the grim reaper, the ASO bus that picks you up if you don't make the time cut off.

I finally make it to the top and head down towards the final climb up to La Toussuire. Bruno is manning the Trek Travel rest stop at the base and he has a good spread, although my body can't really eat anything. I manage to eat a Snickers bar (My friend Dr. T. says they are better for you than energy bars) and drink a few Cokes. Bruno, who is a rock star, has somehow acquired 72% of the ice that exists in France. I load up 3 water bottles with ice and head up the last climb. According to Bruno, the 18km climb at 5% is not so bad.

WRONG! We get going over seven, eight, nine percent for the first 10km. The optimist in me says, “Wow this is great. It must be flat the rest of the way.”

WRONG! With the exception of two flat kilometers, it was a BEAR all the way up until the final kilometer.

I ended up finishing at 11:11 minutes. For the day, 9,000 riders started and only 4,400 finished.

Another day of living the dream!

Jb.

Congressman Blumenauer's comments on the transportation bill

Congressman Earl Blumenauer has been a great supporter of bicycles over the last 20 years. Earl issued a statement in regards to the Transportation Bill and I think it is worth a read.

Congressman Blumenauer Statement on Surface Transportation Authorization

Jb.

 

Update on the transportation bill

Cycling advocates,

Over the past few years, we have been working hard to make sure that bicycling gets a fair shake in the transportation bill. I am sorry to report that we LOST with the signing of the new transportation bill. Please read the note below from Tim Blumenthal, President of Bikes Belong on the details.

The good news: we fight the good fight. Bicycles are a simple solution to congestion problems, energy dependence, environmental issues, and health issues. We have won a lot of battles over the last 15 years and while we lost a big one this week, we will be back. Lesson learned, if everyone who really cared about making America a cycling friendly country got involved, we would have easily won this battle. Too many people sat on the sidelines and as a CAUSE we need to be better organized next time around. We will be.

I want to thank everyone in the Trek family who made an effort by calling Congressional leaders over the years, for attending National Bike Summits and State Summits, and for moving the meter in many different ways. You have made a big difference in the future of the bicycle in America and we are just getting started. 

Game On.

Jb.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

From: Tim Blumenthal 

Date: Thursday, June 28, 2012 8:58 PM

To: Bikes Belong Board

Subject: Update on the transportation bill

Hi,

As you probably know, a new three-year federal transportation bill will likely be approved by Congress by the end of the week. The bill covers the period October 2011-September 2014.

It includes major cuts for bicycling infrastructure funding—potentially as much as 60-70 percent by some calculations (that I believe are too pessimistic). Dedicated funding for Safe Routes to School, which totaled $131 million in the last fiscal year, has been eliminated. Dedicated funding for Transportation Enhancements, which totaled $266 million for bike/ped funding in the last fiscal year, has also been eliminated.

Most potential bike funding programs and opportunities fall into a new category called Transportation Alternatives. Recreational Trails money for bike trails, which accounted for about $31 million in spending during the last fiscal year, is now included in this category, as is Safe Routes to School. The bad news about this category is that environmental mitigation (which used to be treated separately) has also been inserted, as have some projects that focus on road repairs and improvements. Exactly how much money is available to fund Transportation Alternatives is still being determined and debated, but it will likely be a small number compared to what has traditionally been available to support bike stuff.

If there is good news—as of today, it doesn’t seem like there is much—it’s that local governments will be able to decide how to spend half of the Transportation Alternatives money. This is a new provision—and it’s a good thing for bicycling because city and town leaders tend to value bike programs more highly than state departments of transportation.

The text of the bill was finally released last night (Wednesday) about midnight. As you can imagine, it is long and complicated. We have a lot to learn to determine our potential to secure funding during the next two years. (While the bill is technically a three-year bill, funding will continue until September 30, 2012, at historical (higher) levels and with dedicated funding for Safe Routes to School.)

This means that fiscal year 2012 should go down in the record books as one of the best for federal investments in bicycling—most likely in the neighborhood of $800 million spent, just like last year.

Download America Bikes final statement from America Bikes. As you know, we fund America Bikes in its entirety, and serve on its board of directors.

Finally, there always is a chance for a final-hour rebellion against this bill. It could come from Tea Party members of Congress who are unhappy that the overall bill funding level requires money to be transferred in from the general fund. I don’t think this is  likely, but I have to admit that we’re hoping it does. In that case, transportation funding would likely continue into early next year at current levels, and we’ve have additional time to push back against massive and disproportionate cuts.

One thing is for sure: we will need to become more effective in each state and in more cities to secure the money that is available to make bicycling safer and easier for Americans.

More soon,

Tim

Tim Blumenthal, President

Bikes Belong Coalition

Bikes Belong Foundation

P.O. Box 2359

Boulder, Colorado 80306 USA

 

web: bikesbelong.org

phone: 303/449-4893, ext. 1

fax: 303/442-2936

street: 207 Canyon Blvd., Suite 202

           Boulder, CO 80302

Bikes Belong: Putting More People On Bicycles More Often

Have you signed the pledge to support bicycling? Go to peopleforbikes.org.

20 years at the bicycle company

Every year we have a 20-year Club dinner at Trek to recognize members of the Trek team who have worked here for two decades. Last Friday we inducted the class of 1992 and added 17 new members to the Trek 20-year Club. As a company that started in 1976, 20 years of service to the company is a long time and covers a lot of history.

I always say a few words before giving out the awards, and this year I came up with my speech as I made the drive to the dinner. When I got to the dinner I asked Mark Joslyn (Trek’s HR guy) to see if he could get a copy of Johnny Cash’s Ragged Old Flag printed out. He gave me a weird look and had it in my hand 5 minutes later. I wrote a couple of bullet points on the back of an envelope and there was my speech. It went something like this:

“I want to thank all of the new members of the 20-year club for their hard work and dedication to Trek over the last 20 years. However, I must be honest with you, 1992 was not a very good year for the bicycle company. We bet wrong on European currencies and it was the year that George Soros broke the Bank of England. While not a very good start, you have accomplished much in your 20 years and there is a lot to be proud of. Together we have built a great company.

As I drove here this evening I started to think about that currency loss in 1992 and I started to think about all of the other big moments in the last 20 years. We have had some big wins along the way. The introduction of OCLV carbon road bikes, the Y-Bike, Lance and his comeback, taking Trek from a company doing business in the United States to a global company doing business all over the world, 8 Tour De France wins, the new Madone launch in the summer of 2007, the list goes on and on and on. Along the way we have had some big wins and we have had some bumps along the way.

I want to thank all of you for what you have done for Trek and never giving up. We have worked hard over the years and we have built an incredible company. This afternoon I had a couple of visitors from Europe at the office and when we met they told me how much they had enjoyed their visit and what a special place Trek is. You have an amazing culture and an amazing company. I said thank you, and tonight I say thank you to YOU because Trek is an amazing place because the people who work at Trek are what make Trek what it is today and the 17 of you have been working hard over the past twenty years to make Trek the special place that it is.”

 

2012 inductees to the Trek 20-year Club

 

Jb.

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.