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Join us and @SkanskaUSA for drinks on Tuesday

Friday, July 6th, 2012 by

Join Skanska and the Cascade Bicycle Club for July Greendrinks
Tuesday, July 10, 5:30 p.m.
EM Fine Art Gallery, 410 Dexter Avenue, Seattle

On the second Tuesday of every month, Seattle Greendrinks offers the opportunity for folks who work in the environmental field – or want to – to come together  for a fun, informative evening of networking. July’s event will feature appetizers from Chaco Canyon and drinks from Badger Mountain and Sierra Nevada, as well as the opportunity to learn more about Skanska’s two development projects Stone34 and 400 Fairview:

Stone34, located in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, is the second building to participate in the City of Seattle’s Living Building Pilot Program. Skanska will premiere a three-minute video about Stone34 – filmed and produced by local director Eric Becker. Eric’s short film, Honor the Treaties, was featured at the 2012 Seattle International Film Festival.

400 Fairview is Skanska’s newest project – located on the cusp of the South Lake Union and Cascade neighborhoods. The building will offer a ground floor open-air Market Hall featuring curated, small-scale retail, services, cafes and a restaurant, plus a convertible indoor/outdoor space. Skanska partnered with D.C. based Popularise to make 400 Fairview the first project in Seattle to ask the question – what do you want to see here?  Share your ideas at Greendrinks!

Donations made at the event will go to the Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation – one more great reason to join us. If you decide to come down, remember to bring your own cup. These drinks are “green,” after all, and we want to keep from wasting disposables. Hope to see you there.

Posted in Around town, Events | No Comments »

“Everybody has a cause, and I’m going to get behind others’ causes.”

Monday, July 2nd, 2012 by

This article first appeared as the Cyclist of the Month column in the July 2012 issue of the Cascade Courier, our membership newsletter.

Nominate a Cyclist of the Month!

Cyclist of the Month: TOM GIBBS
Age: 35
Wheels: 2003 Giant OCR3 road bike
Occupation: Manager, AT&T Mobility Network Reliability Center

About this photo, taken at the Bike Month Awards Party on June 7, Tom says, “From left to right you have Savannah (8 years old), Meredith (my amazing wife), my son Ben (5 years old), and our newest baby girl Vivienne (who is almost 3 months old). And then that really-lucky-to-have-such-a-wonderful-family guy on the far right is me."

If you had told Tom Gibbs six months ago that he would be standing onstage at this year’s Bike Month Awards and Recognition Celebration as the 2012 Group Health Commute Challenge Captain of the Year, he probably wouldn’t have believed you. After all, he’s so new to bike commuting that he doesn’t yet own a set of fenders.

Tom’s story begins several years back – on Valentine’s Day in 2004, to be exact. He was enjoying a celebratory dinner with his wife when he lost motor control of one of his arms. He made an appointment with a chiropractor, thinking he’d a pinched nerve in his back. But his symptoms only got worse. An MRI and spinal tap soon confirmed his fear: Tom had multiple sclerosis.

Grappling his diagnosis, Tom decided to ride the MS 150, a two-day, 150-mile fundraising ride put on by the Multiple Sclerosis Society. “I had no experience with that sort of thing, but I bought a bike, trained and raised a lot of money,” he says.

After the ride, he gave up bicycling for awhile. “The problem with me is I have a ‘been there, done that’ mentality. I proved to myself that I could do it, and my bike collected dust for a few years,” he says.

Then, on the day after Christmas last year, Tom relapsed again. He ended up in the hospital for three days getting steroid injections. “Having that happen instilled in me that I need to be proactive about my health,” he says.

During his annual physical shortly thereafter, his doctor told him that he needed to get more exercise. “I spend 10 hours a day sitting in a chair at work, and I go home to three kids. I don’t have time for the gym. I asked him, ‘When do I exercise?’”

“The doctor suggested that I try biking to work, and everything clicked,” he says. “It was a pivotal moment.”

(more…)

Posted in Bike Month, Commuting, Cyclist of the Month, Profiles | 2 Comments »

Members: Vote to update Cascade’s bylaws

Monday, June 18th, 2012 by

Special Bylaw Change Election
Deadline: Wednesday, June 20
Download a ballot 

Cascade’s board and staff would like to update the club’s bylaws to allow members to cast their votes electronically in future elections, but we need votes from current members in order to make the change. We’re hoping that providing the option of electronic voting will increase member participation in club-wide elections, and that’s a good thing.

Read more and download a ballot here. You’ll also find a paper copy of the ballot in the May issue of your Cascade Courier. We’ll be holding a member meeting on Wednesday, June 20 to give members a chance to ask questions, though attendance is not required to cast your vote.

Meeting details…

Membership meeting — Special Bylaw Change Election
Wednesday, June 20, 6:30-7 p.m.
Magnuson Park, Building 30, main floor conference room 

Thanks for being a Cascade member, and for participating in the future of your club.

Posted in Club news | No Comments »

Meet Moises

Friday, June 15th, 2012 by

Moises is a senior at Global Connections High School, and he’s a busy person. “On a scale of one to 10, I’m an eight,” he says.

Even so, he finds time not only to go to the Major Taylor Project club meetings every week, but to help out with the program in any way he can.

Speaking with a wisdom that belies his 17 years, he says, “It’s obvious that the facilitators really care about the program. They don’t spoil you, but they will help you.”

So he wants to help them, too. “We’re always there to help. We want to give back.”

From volunteering at Cascade events to recruiting new program participants, he makes time in his busy schedule to help with the program.

“We don’t have funding, but we have peers. We want other people to see it as important, too, and to help it get stronger,” he says.

He continues, “I’ve learned to be open to opportunities. When people ask you to do something, you’ve got to be willing to embrace it.”

It’s clear that he sees himself in the people who help with the program – leading rides, teaching bike maintenance skills and helping club members get the most out of their experiences.

“The people helping with the program are young, and they’re helpful,” he says. “You can see yourself doing that. It’s important to do community service. I’m not sure whether they’re being paid, but whether or not they’re being paid, what they’re doing is beneficial to the community.”

Moises is going to Western Washington University next year, and he’s bringing his bike with him. “There’s a lot of bikes there,” he says, smiling. “I’m going to cruise around Bellingham looking for a new bike seat.”

He plans major in education, and he credits his experience with Major Taylor, in part, with this decision.

“I want to work in after school programs, college readiness programs, retrieval programs, preschools or elementary schools. As long as I’m helping people, that’s where it’s at.” he says.

You can help youth programs like the Major Taylor Project flourish by riding with us this June 30 on the Red-Bell 100. Funds raised through our first ever pledge ride will be distributed both locally to support Cascade Bicycle Club Education Foundation’s extensive youth programming, and globally to support the amazing work of World Bicycle Relief in Africa.

Posted in Events, Kids on bikes, Major Taylor Project, Profiles, Red Bell 100 | No Comments »

“You can ride at a brisk pace and still do wacky stuff.”

Thursday, June 14th, 2012 by

This article first appeared as the Cyclist of the Month column in the June 2012 issue of the Cascade Courier, our membership newsletter.

Nominate a Cyclist of the Month!

Cyclist of the Month: JENNY ANDERSON
Age: 39
Wheels: 20-year-old Bianchi touring bike; Specialized carbon-fiber road bike
Occupation: VP, Instructor at Union Bank

When Jenny Anderson arrived at Log Boom Park in mid-May to lead that morning’s Cascade Daily Ride, one of her regular riders was riding around the parking lot, looking lost. “Oh, Jenny!” he said when he spotted her. “I didn’t recognize you. You’re not wearing your striped socks.”

Jenny laughs, “I didn’t know that was something people recognized me for. I just wear them.”

Jenny sticks out among Cascade’s clan of Ride Leaders in other ways, too. For one thing, she rides an “old dinosaur bike.” A few months back, at the cajoling of fellow Ride Leader Scott Boggs, she invested in a fancy new bike with a carbon-fiber frame.

“He asked, ‘How much does your bike weigh?’ I had no idea,” she says. “I weighed it with all my stuff on it, and it was 43 pounds! That’s ridiculous. His is 17 pounds.”

“I thought the right bike would make me go fast,” she adds. “It doesn’t. I’m still the last person on the hills.”

She says it’s her conditioning, but her overflowing rack trunk probably doesn’t help. “I carry fifty Band-Aids, two pairs of cleat covers, two bike pumps, two multi-tools and one piece of chain, since apparently I might need one if my chain breaks. But I have no idea how to fix that.”

Efficiency isn’t Jenny’s top priority. Instead, she focuses on fun. On her first ride of spring, she had each of the riders sign the waiver in a different “spring color” of ink. On April Fool’s Day, they all signed upside-down. “I never break the rules. I just have fun with them,” she says.

(more…)

Posted in Cascade Training Series, Cyclist of the Month, Daily Rides | No Comments »

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