Monday, April 12, 2010

Bicycling the Cinderella Classic

I joined 2499 other women in bicycling the Cinderella Classic on Saturday. It's an extremely well-organized, women-only, metric century coordinated by the Valley Spokemen Bicycle Touring Club in California every year.

After the ride, we sponsored a drawing at our booth for a free WomanTours trip. Of the 244 women who entered, Nancy Levin of San Francisco was the lucky winner. Many thanks to Roxanne and Meri for staffing the booth and for Kathy for pushing me so hard on the ride.

Get on the mailing list now and plan to join us next year. The ride sells out every year!

Thursday, April 08, 2010

Our Tour Schedule by Guide

While we think all WomanTours guides are excellent, I know that some of you have your favorites. So here's a listing of our 2010 tours by guide. It might help you decide where to bicycle this year - good luck!

Carol Wilder
Vermont Champlain Valley
Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park
Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard



Denise Purdue
Northern Tier Cross-Country #1
New Mexico Land of Enchantment



Jennifer Thompson
Finger Lakes Wine Country




Kimberly Masters
Shenandoah National Park
Tour de Tetons
Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park


Laurie Collins
Maryland Eastern Shore
Washington DC Bikeways - May & September
Shenandoah National Park
Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard - June
Tour de Tetons
Teton Valley
Glacier National Park
Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Outer Banks of North Carolina
Arizona in Autumn
Death Valley National Park

Linda Baldwin
Northern Tier Cross-Country #2
Arizona in Autumn
Death Valley National Park


Linda Gryczan
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Teton Valley
Glacier National Park
Santa Barbara & Santa Ynez Valley - October

Lynne Brach
Santa Barbara & Santa Ynez Valley - May
Cape Cod & Martha's Vineyard - June & September
Michigan Grand Traverse
Washington DC Bikeways - September
Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Michelle Slusher
Northern Tier Cross-Country #2
Santa Barbara & Santa Ynez Valley - May & October
Northern Tier Cross-Country #2
Sun Valley
Idaho Greenways
Grand Canyon, Bryce and Capitol Reef National Parks
Moab: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks

Patty Jackson
Maryland Eastern Shore
Washington DC Bikeways - May
Northern Tier Cross-Country #1
Sun Valley
Idaho Greenways
New Mexico Land of Enchantment
Grand Canyon, Bryce and Capitol Reef National Parks
Moab: Arches and Canyonlands National Parks
Outer Banks of North Carolina

Sid Moffat
Alaska: The Inside Passage
Michigan Grand Traverse
Vermont Champlain Valley


and me...
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks
Finger Lakes Wine Country
Amalfi Coast of Italy #1
Adirondack State Park

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Go to a National Park for free!

In celebration of National Parks Week, entrance fees to all 392 National Parks are being waived during the 9 days of April 17-25, 2010. So grab your bike or your hiking shoes, but leave your cash at home, because admission is free! Read more about National Park Week here.

If you can't make it your favorite park this month, then consider one of the many tours that we do that includes a visit to a national park. We always include admission to the park for free!

Friday, April 02, 2010

Use Google Maps for Bicycling Routes

I use Google Maps for everything -- not just to get me where I'm going, but to help me design and update routes on our bike tours. I also use it to help me plan our tour schedule by telling me how long it takes to get our vehicles from place to place.    

Now, it can also help me to commute by bike. The next time you're looking up driving directions, click on the "By Car" option and change it to "Bicycling". Then click "Get Directions." Google displays a bike-friendly route.

Google's not always correct. Sometimes it misses a bike path that I know about, or puts me on a high-traffic road, but it's also helped me find new routes that I had never tried before. 

Use it whether you're looking to commute by bike or not. The more that Google sees that there's a need for it, the more they'll invest in making it accurate. It can only get better with time and use.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Update on International Tour Survey

It's been a little over a month since we began our international tour survey. If you haven't taken it yet and want to register your preference, click here to take our survey.

So far, 226 people have weighed in and Italy is by far the overall winner.  That's a good thing, as we already go to Italy. There's still space on our fall tours to the Amalfi Coast. Here are our results to date:

Argentina - 64
Belize - 53
Bhutan - 32
Italy - 101
Peru - 56
South Africa - 48
Vietnam - 50

The country with the most write-in votes is France with 17 with Ireland running a close second at 15. Thanks for your input. We'll keep counting and we'll keep working on some new international tours for y'all!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Please Take This Cycling Survey

The Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP) is coordinating a survey of female bicyclists. Please take the anonymous survey by clicking on the link - I did. It's worth the 15 minutes of your time. I hope it helps get more women and girls on their bikes!

The APBP is also sponsoring a free webinar on March 31, 2010 at 3:00pm eastern time. It's entitled, Writing Women Back into Bicycling: Changing Transportation Culture to Encourage More Women to Cycle More Places More Often. Read more about it and register here. 

Feel free to pass this information on to all the female cyclists you know.

Monday, March 22, 2010

NY Bicycling Coalition Seeks Executive Director

The New York Bicycling Coalition (NYBC) seeks an Executive Director. It is a well established, 20 year-old statewide non-profit organization whose mission is to provide a coherent, credible voice for the interests of all bicyclists in the state, on- or off-road, recreational or racer. NYBC is looking for a highly energetic, innovative
individual willing to make at least a three-year commitment to this challenging position.

The Executive Director has responsibility for all NYBC activities, including:

1) Working with the Board of Directors on legislative matters and meetings with representatives from New York State government Executive and Legislative branches and other priorities that may arise.
2) Communication with members and other related parties via the tri-annual newsletter, website updates, monthly e-news and club outreach letters, and managing an ongoing membership drive.
3) General program administration, operational activities, grants management, and regular correspondence with the Board.
4) Annual budgets for the Board’s review and advice, oversee the allocation of financial and staff resources among the various projects and functions, and devise any needed work plans.
5) Networking with personal contacts, cycling groups, and officials for the purpose of NYBC program and fund development.

The Qualifications needed for the position are:
1) Commitment to the mission: The E/D is a cyclist and committed to creating an improved, safer environment for bicycling throughout New York State. This involves working collaboratively with an equally committed volunteer Board of Directors.
2) Strong communication skills: The E/D is the public "face" of the organization, and needs excellent written, presentation and oral communication skills. Ideally, the candidate will also have some web programming and desktop publishing experience.
3) Leadership skills: The E/D must have the capacity to work with a wide array of interests — government officials, bicycle clubs, civic and business leaders and the news media. The E/D will have thoughts and plans on reaching-out to clubs for mobilizing and activating their membership.
4) Professional expertise: The E/D must have an understanding of bicycling, pedestrian and transportation issues. This includes the ability to manage advocacy and plan projects. A body of published papers and presentations and recognized stature in the field is a plus.
5) Management skills: The E/D must be able to identify strategies for achieving NYBC goals, and raise resources to support those strategies. Key is the ability to plan and budget, evaluate operations and programs, and control spending. E/D must also be able to manage outside consultants as well as full and part-time paid staff.

Salary range: $35K-40K/yr (with benefits)
Start Date: Spring 2010
Resumes accepted until an Executive Director is selected, expected to be early April.
Location: Capital Region of New York, the seat of State Government

To apply, please send the following materials via email to the Coalition or mail to:
NYBC Executive Director Search
PO Box 8868
Albany, NY 12208
1. Cover letter that speaks to your experience in fundraising and campaign management.
2. Résumé
3. Two writing samples of less than one page each for which you were the sole author--one should be a fundraising piece and the other should reflect advocacy or policy work.

The New York Bicycling Coalition is an Equal Opportunity Employer.