Bike Summit Report to the Club
Submitted by President Pat McManus
In early March I attended the “Bike Club Leaders Super Session” at the League of American Bicyclists’ Bike Summit, held at the Hyatt Hotel near Reagan Airport outside Washington, DC. It was only five hours but was packed with interesting information regarding what other clubs are doing to keep their clubs interesting, relevant, and attractive to younger and more diverse riders. The four main speakers represented three clubs, each with over 1,000 members.
Ralph Monti, representing Sarasota Manatee Bike Club (SMBC), discussed their advocacy, Smart Cycling (SC), navigation, and bike maintenance programs as attractions for new members. SMBC offers free workshops that require a reservation deposit that is either refundable upon completion or convertible to a year’s club membership/renewal. The club sets up workshops using shared facilities (e.g., HOA club houses) or in cooperation with community groups or safety fairs. Smart Cycling workshops are structured under the guidance of the League of American Bicyclists and require League Certified Instructors (LCIs). The bike club subsidizes training of LCIs, with the requirement that LCIs must commit to leading SC classes for the club. Their club offers perks and programs that appeal to young families (e.g., free helmets for family members 16 and under, and family bike rides). On their website they stress value in membership SMBC membership benefits (hence my Top Talk for this month).
Nabil Ali and Nigel Samaroo, representing the Baltimore Bicycling Club, also stressed membership benefits on their website https://baltobikeclub.org/index.php/member-benefits, including discounted bike kits, free use of bike boxes, ride with GPS club membership, member-only rides, women-only rides, small grants program, subsidized RoadIDs and GoPros, and insurance. Members volunteer to help with community safety programs and Safe Routes to School. Mark Adkins, representing North Florida Bike Club, spoke of how proceeds from their event rides are used specifically to fund safety programs. Their club requires ride leaders to read from a laminated card containing safety instructions prior to every ride, stagger starts, and require sweeps. He mentioned they sponsor training rides, similar to our Reach the Beach Training rides, and they have also formalized a regular club team for these rides to increase recognition (chat with Ann Morrow if interested in joining our PWTC RtB Team).
Jina Doyle and Rene Waterson, representing American Specialty Insurance (used by our club), spoke about coverage limitations of club liability and accident insurance (see a summary in this issue of the QR). Most interesting was the restriction of gap medical insurance to injuries resulting from accidents on Class 1 and Class 3 electric bikes. Injuries when riding Class 3 Throttle e-bikes are not covered. Interesting, too, I found out that Class 3 e-bikes are not considered bicycles under Oregon and Washington laws because pedaling is motor-assisted up to 28 mph.
The essential message from the Bike Club leaders was that safety, volunteerism, and advocacy increase interest in club membership by young people, but new members are also looking for value in their membership dues.