18 Sep 2004
When I began this resourceful website I imagined myself being able to type up opinions without much trouble. Actually I have been doing both, typing and forming opinions, but strangely enough not at the same time! The usual suspects kept me from this duty, such as work, training, racing, but another broken bone did not help either. Just as I apologized for not updating the content more frequently back in July/August, I must also apologize for not filling the editorial section more often.
Regardless of my slacking there have been many accomplishments this 2004 season to feel a sense of accomplishment.
Our efforts to accomplish the goal of 1000 bicyclists to sign up for the Share the Road cultural license plate fell short. Unfortunately, at the end of deadline there were only 650 who had offered their support. Falling short is a huge disappointment to everyone, but the efforts of John MaGuirk and Jeff Jolly of The Jolly Cyclist should not go unnoticed. Both poured a lot of heart, energy, time, and money to get this accomplished. John, Jeff, and many others involved supporting the efforts should feel proud of their work despite not reaching the ultimate goal. There's always a possibility that laws will change allowing for a Share the Road plate, and if it ever happens the team will be better prepared to fight the uphill battle.
Walk/Bike Nashville is making huge progress for pedestrian and bicycling issues in the city of Nashville, and more importantly developing a stronger relationship with TDOT. Glen Wanner's influence with those two governmental agencies should be respected, supported, and encouraged to continue. Walk/Bike now has a more influential seat with TDOT that should impact bicycling issues for decades to come. Progress will be slow, but the net results will show in time with bicyclists reaping what Walk/Bike has sown in 2004 and beyond.
Greenway development in Nashville continues to improve, and within the next few years many of the trail ways will connect throughout the city. Notable greenways in Nashville include Shelby Bottoms, along the Cumberland River at several sections, Harpeth River, Stones River, and Mill Creek to name just a few. One of the more ambitious plans is a bridge crossing the Cumberland River which will connect the Shelby Bottoms and Stone's River greenway, but this won't be completed until 2006. The plans for all greenway work is handled by the Parks and Recreation department of the city of Nashville, and can be found online at Nashville Greenways.
Tennessee is blessed to have some of the strongest bicycle clubs in the United States. Locally there is the Harpeth Bike Club, Veloteers Bicycle Club, Murfreesboro Bicycle Club, and Columbia Cycling Club. Moreover, Chattanooga has the active Chattanooga Bicycle Club, and Memphis has the Memphis Hightailers Bicycle Club. Each club is experiencing tremendous support at each of their events with attendance numbers increasing at their annual metric and century rides. If there's a century ride in Tennessee it's likely to have 500 to 600 riders with many are crossing state border lines to attend. That doesn't happen without careful planning and a total team effort from the club.
The new Division III professional bicycling team Subway-Express is based out of Tennessee, and has raced across the country at all the major races. Getting any team off the ground is no easy task, but to do so at that level is an amazing feat by itself. Subway-Express has competed at all the major races in the US such as Athens Twilight, USPRO Road Championship, NYC Invitational, Tour de Toona, Manhattan Beach Gran Prix, US 100K Classic in Atlanta, and the prestigous T-Mobile International in San Francisco.
Local riders such as Christian Foster (Nashville) and Robbie Yost (Murfreesboro) are part of the success of Subway-Express. Their season long efforts have been followed by many in the racing community here in Middle Tennessee, but more bicyclists in the area should know and recognized their achievements. Bumping shoulders with all the top domestic and occasional Euro-pros is experience that will propel their growth as racers for years to come.
Another local Nashvillian making a national and international name for himself is Zach Bolian. Zach is a former US Junior National Champion, and the past two season has raced for the dominant development team Hot Tubes. Zach's future potential to become a top professional bike racer is very real. He recently earned an automatic bid to race for the US National Junior World team in the UCI Junior World Road Championship in Verona, Italy.
Pause for a moment to allow that to sink in.....
Part of Zach's development has included racing for the US National team in Europe before, but the stakes continue to rise each time he crosses the Atlantic. This editorialist and many other competitive cyclists have watched his development over the last few years, and we are continually amazed at his talents. What's even more exciting is knowing Zach isn't near full potential. One day within the next few years the names could very well roll off Lance, Tyler, Julich, Hincapie, Danielson, and Zach.
Lastly, the Tennessee Bicycle Racing Association (TBRA) is once again leading the Southeast offering competitive races, and growing a development team to compete across the US in the major Junior events. Todd Nordmeyer is Directeur Sportif of Team Imagination comprised of 10 young racers picked from across the state who show great promise for the future. Getting the youth of Tennessee more interested in riding or racing their bicycles should be everyone's goal, but TBRA and others like Nordmeyer are leading the way.
Another TBRA accomplishment will be having Frankie Andreu speak at the 2004 TBRA Awards Banquet in Nashville on November 13. Frankie competed in 9 Tours de France and completed each one. He was also team captain of the US Postal Service when Lance won the Tour in 1999 and 2000. Frankie retired after the 2000 season, but is still involved in the sport through coaching and commentating on the Outdoor Life Network. Tickets to the banquet are available online, and everyone is encouraged to attend.
Above are just a few of the positive things happening within our family of bicycling. With the season winding down it's good to look back, reflect, and realize where progress has been achieved. This editor would argue 2004 has been a huge success.