Last week at the BikeSummer 2007 planning meeting (attended by Bruce Crowder,
Matt
Feiner, Paul Hammer, Brian Hornby, Rob Rocke, Melinda Tuhus, Adrienne Webb and
me—
thanks to everyone who turned out) we discussed some early steps that will help
ensure
this event puts New Haven on the map and becomes THE destination for bike
culture in
the northeast. Here's the update!

1) The Logo Contest—I posted this last week, but here's a reminder. We need a
logo for
BikeSummer 2007, something that combines bikes, summer, and a little bit of New
Haven.
Designers, artists and doodlers, please consider this your invitation to submit
your idea.
The deadline for submissions is coming up pretty quickly: Friday, March 30.
Electronic
files can be emailed to me at mrwkurtz@... or wkurtz@.... Hard copies
or
drawings can be dropped off at, or mailed to The Devil's Gear Bike Shop, 433
Chapel
Street, New Haven 06511. An ad hoc committee of judges is going to evaluate all
entries
and make a decision. If you're interesting in helping to judge, please drop me
a line.
What does the winner get? Well, bragging rights, a resume bullet and hopefully
a whole
lot of exposure.

2) The Fund-Raiser—BikeSummer is holding its kickoff fundraiser after April's
Critical
Mass ride. Big party, with live music and food. We'll also be passing the hat
for
contributions so please bring a couple of bucks for the cause. Elm City
Cycling's been
managing to stretch its resources pretty far the last few years but things like
bike
jamborees and commuter breakfasts aren't free and we're hoping to be even bigger
and
better this year.

3) Publicity—one thing everyone can do is help get the word out. If you have a
myspace
page, add the BikeSummer 2007 page to your friends. It's at
http://profile.myspace.com/
index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=168242999

You can also check out the past years' pages at www.bikesummer.org.


4) The Events—start thinking now about events you might like to create for the
BikeSummer calendar. We're setting up a central clearinghouse now, so it will
be a simple
matter to add them. Do you have a favorite loop you would like to lead a ride
around? An
impromptu race you would like to organize? Would you or your organization be
willing to
host a kid's bike jamboree? Do you want to show a bike-themed movie in your
yard? Can
you run a maintenance workshop? It's never too early to start planning.

Okay, that's all for now; I promised myself I would keep this short in the hopes
that people
will read it. Ride safe.

Bill