Bashing, in a good way

Saturday night saw the first Dream Machine Biker's Bash, a fund-raising party for Bicycling for Louisville. We exceeded all expectations for attendance (over 250) and proceeds (over $10,000). Thank you to all of you who joined us for our party! We had a great time.

Some crowd favorites included:

• the wonderful food by Finbar Kinsella
• the 5-minute roller bike-a-thons, featuring riders Chrissy Halioris, Nancy McElwain, Walter Lay, and Glenn Francisco. Glenn scorched the rollers with an average speed of 44 mph (5.9 km in 5 minutes)!
• equipment displays from Scheller's, Bicycle Sport, Bike Courier Bike Shop, Bluegrass Bicycles, Clarksville Schwinn, and Goose Creek Cycles
• active bidding on great silent auction items
• the climactic raffle drawing for a $1000 shopping spree at Scheller's and ultimate overhauls from Bike Courier Bike Shop and Clarksville Schwinn. Congratulations to raffle winners Jerry Gordon, Carrie Christensen, and Phyllis Croce!

I thank our wonderful major sponsors: Scheller's, Planet Bike, SRAM, Jan Arnow, Republic-National Distribution Co. of Kentucky, Buchenberger, Darst & Eggers, Highland Cleaners, Barkstown, Bicycle Sport, Bike Courier Bike Shop, Bluegrass Bicycles, Clarksville Schwinn, Goose Creek Cycles, Donna Connell, YMCA of Greater Louisville, and ABC/Disney.

Special thanks to the people without whom the event could not have happened: event coordinator Kathy Schmitt; super-volunteers Tom Armstrong, Jim Duffy, and Garrett Adams; Bicycling for Louisville board members Steve Anderson, Jan Arnow, Kathryn Berla, Michael Crawford, Tim Darst, Joff Hoyle, Marilyn Motsch, Stewart Prather, Vertner Smith, and Dan Trabue; an amazing crew of event volunteers bearing a marked resemblance to the roster of the LBC Ya Yas; Mark and Lynn Luking; and our incredibly capable and hard-working office manager and all-around person-on-point Katie McBride.

Next week, I'll post some photos of the Biker's Bash. Stay tuned!

We already have ideas for a bigger and better Biker's Bash next year. Keep your calendars open for a Bicycling for Louisville Halloween event, too! Bicycle advocacy isn't all work - it's fun, too!

I leave in 2 hours for the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, thanks to a scholarship from Planet Bike and Bikes Belong Coalition. When I return, I'll share what I learned from the leading minds in bicycle advocacy in the US.