Table of Contents From the President Sock Recipients Mugged Members Award Winners OKHT News Wanted: Captain Advocacy Matters Trainer Tours Bike Lanes Member Spotlight Racing Ted Morris

From the President
Congratulate Our Winners

The December 2 Annual Meeting of the Louisville Bicycle Club was the usual celebratory event at which we recognized the accomplishments of the award winners and volunteers and elected officers for 2006. It was held at Big Spring Country Club and 165 club members and guests came, which made it the best-attended banquet ever.

But the event had a tinge of sadness as three of our most effective (and long-serving) officers stepped down from the Executive Committee: Tim Chilton, who conceived the Tour de Mad Dog and led our world-class touring program; Michael Seiler, who rescued and revived LBC racing; and Joe Ward, our classy Communications VP. Fortunately, three very talented club members have stepped up to take their place and with your support, they will surpass the accomplishments of their departing colleagues. Chad Green was elected the new VP Touring, Mark Luking, VP Racing and Sara Ferebee, our experienced newsletter editor, will become the VP Communications. All the other incumbents were re-elected to another term. All of us thank you for your continued confidence.

The Volunteer of the Year award, our highest honor, recognized two members for sustained contributions over the years. Lewis Miller, a member of the Old Kentucky Home Tour committee since 2000, was recognized for taking ownership of sponsor relations. As the club’s liaison for the past two years with the now four principal sponsors — Baptist East/Milestone Fitness Center, Buffalo Trace Distillery, Scheller’s Fitness and Cycling, and the Swope Dealer Network — Lewis has played a critical role in helping grow the tour.

Carl Davis, Club Statistician, was also recognized. The LBC statistics program tracks members’ mileage and helps them manage their personal fitness programs. And it provides data for bragging rights and mileage-based awards. (As I noted in my last newsletter article, it can also be a real conscience-pricker if you’re not riding much!) Carl and his wife, Sandy (who was given the Touring Program volunteer of the year award), take the mileage data from the ride sheets of every LBC ride, which they enter to create the stats database. Imagine the amount of work involved in that!

Fifty-seven club members were awarded the traditional LBC mug. These volunteers are the heart of the club. They volunteer day-in and day-out to support our programs (see complete list).

These volunteers and 100 others were given new LBC socks for their work on the Old Kentucky Home Tour.

All the top volunteers are listed here. Make a special effort to congratulate and thank each of them. Even better, ask them how you can help in 2006 to make the program they lead even better.

We also congratulated members for outstanding individual achievements. The touring champions, who racked up the most miles and received yellow jerseys in recognition of their accomplishments, were Bernice McGill, who has multiple wins of the top mileage awards, and Dave King. The masters champions, who were awarded blue jerseys, were Donna Connell and Jim Tretter, a prior yellow jersey winner.

Two touring members were recognized as most improved: Jenny Gray and Steve Montgomery, and two for reaching lifetime mileage benchmarks: Tom Hall at 25,000 and Paul Battle at 75,000!

As part of the president’s report, I reviewed the club’s role in the Mayor’s 2005 Bike Summit and the task force that was created after the summit to help sustain the momentum. A lot of progress has been made on the march toward making Louisville a bicycle-friendly community, a fact that was recognized by the League of American Bicyclists’ Honorable Mention Award. Our goal is to receive bronze level status by 2008.

On a personal note, it was an honor to be recognized by Mayor Abramson, who declared December 4, 2005, Earl Jones Day in Louisville in recognition of our work on the summit. But with the temperature at 35, I wimped on the Sunday afternoon ride. Oh well, maybe I can ask for a do-over in May!2005 was a great year for the LBC. 2006 will be even better. I hope you start it off right at the Gil Morris New Year’s Day Polar Bear Ride & Chili Lunch. It’s a tradition. I’m not superstitious, but I missed it in 2005. And you know what kind of season I had in 2005*. This year we’ll start from a new location: St. Paul’s United Methodist Church at Douglass Blvd and Bardstown Road. Don’t forget to bring something for the bike swap.

* For the record, there was a typo in the last newsletter edition: I clocked about 1000 mile with the club. Not Mad Dog territory but not the 100-mile total stated in my article.