Donations to cycling related orgs [Archive]

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Ken C. M.

October 2nd 06, 01:28 PM

Just curious, so how about a poll.

How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
cycling related charitable orgs. .

I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
$25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through
the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
yet.

Ken
--
Messengers and mountain bikers share a common chromosome. ~James Bethea

Paul Hobson

October 2nd 06, 01:52 PM

Ken C. M. wrote:
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>

I've donated an old frame and several misc. parts to the local bike
co-op (www.sopobikes.org). That's about the full extent of my bike
charity - aside from free repairs for my friends ;)
\\paul

Roger Zoul

October 2nd 06, 05:14 PM

I consider it a donation when I go on a charity ride and pay $25 or more.
And so do they, apparently, since they promote them as being either for
birds, animals (things with paws), mental illness, etc.

I have sent money to Armstrong before.

Ken C. M. wrote:
:: Just curious, so how about a poll.
::
:: How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated
:: before to cycling related charitable orgs. .
::
:: I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them
:: a $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe
:: through the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website.
:: Also on the LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not
:: donated to them, yet.
::
:: Ken
:: --
:: Messengers and mountain bikers share a common chromosome. ~James
:: Bethea

mark

October 2nd 06, 09:51 PM

Ken C. M. wrote:
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>
> I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
> $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through
> the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
> LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
> yet.
>
> Ken
I've been maintaining a membership in Bicycle Colorado for the last few
years, they're an advocacy group for bicyclists in this state.
mark

Mike Kruger

October 3rd 06, 03:06 AM

"Ken C. M." > wrote in message
...
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>
Yes, several, but mostly local ones. I like to check out my charity as much
as possible.

A large portion of the proceeds of our club ride are given to
bicycling-related causes, and I spend a lot of time on that.

bill

October 3rd 06, 03:27 AM

Ken C. M. wrote:
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>
> I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
> $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through
> the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
> LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
> yet.
>
> Ken

I donate once a year when I ride the annual "Bike Around the Buttes"
event. The entry fee goes to medical research to aid children. That one
is in the spring, and I don't know of any others or I would be there. It
seems like a good way to get into a big social ride and donate.
Bill Baka

Daryl Hunt

October 3rd 06, 04:41 PM

"Ken C. M." > wrote in message
...
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>
> I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
> $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through the
> web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
> LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
> yet.

Just be careful when donating. Some are legit while others are thinly
masked Lobbyists.

Daryl Hunt

October 3rd 06, 05:06 PM

"mark" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> Ken C. M. wrote:
>> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>>
>> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
>> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>>
>> I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
>> $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through the
>> web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
>> LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
>> yet.
>>
>> Ken
> I've been maintaining a membership in Bicycle Colorado for the last few
> years, they're an advocacy group for bicyclists in this state.
> mark

Yes, they are. And they helped to write some of the dumbest laws in
creation. Now, some of us are having to get involved to rewrite those laws.

It appears that BC doesn't wish to "Share" with the low speed electric
bicycles even though it's a federal law that says they have to share.
Purists can be more than a bother when dealing with laws for everyone if
enough money gets involved.

Case in point, What is a motorized bicycle?

http://198.187.128.12/colorado/lpext.dll/Infobase4/63d2d/63f24/63f26/63f83/63fb6?f=templates&fn=document-frame.htm&2.0#JD_42-2-103

The term "Motorized Bicycle" comes from the early days of the Harley
Davidson prior to WWII. So the term "Motorized Bicycle" is anything on two
or three wheels with a motor. This applies to everything "Except" the low
speed electric bicycle that has been singled out a Federal law as to NOT be
a motorized vehicle.

Instead of working on regulating the Low Speed Electric Bicycles, vague laws
have been enacted to confuse the issue. The confusion has worked well.
Most cops won't bother stopping anyone no matter what they are riding. Even
those that should clearly NOT be on the hiways and biways. After stopping
an electric bicycle, the cop issues a ticket and gets chewed out by the DAs
office for ticketing an authorized vehicle, they stop bothering. You think
the public is confused? The Cops are even more confused.

Below is a ruling by the Colorado Legislative Council. You will note that
all vehicle classifications have a CRS attached to them with the exception
of the Low Speed Electric Bicycle which has only a Federal Public Law
reference. While Bicycle Colorado was busy trying to "Not Share" it ends up
that a 9 year old can be ripping down the hiway at 19 mph on a low speed
electric bicycle and not be in violation of the laws. I find this
unacceptable. We need to stop this nonsense and start working on regulating
the use of the low speed electric bicycle.

Will I send money to a thinly veiled Lobbyist organization? No.

I will attempt at getting people into office that will help get sane laws
passed, get rid of the stupid laws. And get those out of office that pass
these rediculous laws.

See http://i70west.com/electricbicycle/ And make sure you click on "It's a
Bicycle, Stupid".

Daryl Hunt

October 3rd 06, 05:10 PM

Leo Lichtman

October 3rd 06, 07:10 PM

One way I contribute is by buying as much as I can from the Recyclery, a
really well-organized non-profit, located in San Rafael, CA, and spreading
throughout the US. Not only do I get good deals--I feel every cent goes to
a number of worthwhile uses. I'm not a plant or a shill--just an
intelligent observer.

Chris Y.F.N.W.

October 4th 06, 03:06 PM

I donate to Rails to Trails, and Adventure cycling (A.K.A.
BikeCentennial). I am also a member of both. And while it's not bike
specific, the Sierra club, which does advocate bicycling, if only as
being eco-friendly.

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

Chris Y.F.N.W.

October 4th 06, 03:10 PM

Group: rec.bicycles.misc Date: Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 10:06am (EDT-2) From:
(Daryl*Hunt)

>Case in point, What is a motorized
>bicycle?

That's easy. A MOTORized biCYCLE is a MOTERCYCLE. that's how they came
up with the word. DOH!

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

Ken C. M.

October 4th 06, 03:38 PM

Chris Y.F.N.W. wrote:
> I donate to Rails to Trails, and Adventure cycling (A.K.A.
> BikeCentennial). I am also a member of both. And while it's not bike
> specific, the Sierra club, which does advocate bicycling, if only as
> being eco-friendly.
>
> - -
> Compliments of:
> "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"
>
> If you want to E-mail me use:
> ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net
>
> My website:
> http://geocities.com/czcorner
>

I donated to RtT because I have ridden on a couple of the trails that
have been converted and I must say they do make nice cycling trails. And
while I haven't /donated/ to ACA I did buy a set of maps from them,
although I thought some of the routing was a bit /off/ and could have
been better, they are probably still a worthwhile org. I don't know that
much about the Sierra Club.

Ken
--
Messengers and mountain bikers share a common chromosome. ~James Bethea

Daryl Hunt

October 4th 06, 04:51 PM

The cops have been trying to use that to keep the electric bicycles off the
public hiways and biways.

"Chris Y.F.N.W." > wrote in message
...
Group: rec.bicycles.misc Date: Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 10:06am (EDT-2) From:
(Daryl Hunt)

>Case in point, What is a motorized
>bicycle?

That's easy. A MOTORized biCYCLE is a MOTERCYCLE. that's how they came
up with the word. DOH!

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

Joshua Putnam

October 4th 06, 05:37 PM

In article >,
says...
> Group: rec.bicycles.misc Date: Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 10:06am (EDT-2) From:
> (Daryl=A0Hunt)
>
> >Case in point, What is a motorized
> >bicycle?
>
> That's easy. A MOTORized biCYCLE is a MOTERCYCLE. that's how they came
> up with the word. DOH!

Legally, they are usually *not* the same thing in the U.S. A motorized
bicycle still functions as a bicycle -- it still has functional pedals
that can propel it without the motor, and it typically has very limited
motor power, e.g. under 50cc or less than 2 bhp.

They're in-between bicycles and motorcycles in regulatory terms. It's
generally illegal to use them on trails that prohibit motorized
vehicles, but they often do not require a drivers license or motorcycle
endorsement to ride on the road.

Rules vary a lot by state, so check your local laws. There's much less
uniformity here than there is for cars or for bicycles.

--
is Joshua Putnam
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/>
Braze your own bicycle frames. See
<http://www.phred.org/~josh/build/build.html>

dgk

October 4th 06, 06:09 PM

On Mon, 02 Oct 2006 08:28:17 -0400, "Ken C. M."
> wrote:

>Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
>How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
>cycling related charitable orgs. .
>
>I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
>$25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through
>the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
>LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
>yet.
>
>Ken

I donate to Rails to Trails also. They are a good group. I also donate
to the Five Boro Bicycle Club (NYC) as well as (calm down now)
Time's-Up New York (http://www.times-up.org/). In addition to being
the non-sponsors of Critical Mass, Time's Up does a lot of good work
in the bicycle community, including free maintenance classes. They
also have a fix-it-yourself night every week (Thursday) where you
bring in your bike and they have the tools and pros to help you repair
things yourself.

Daryl Hunt

October 4th 06, 07:56 PM

"Joshua Putnam" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> says...
>> Group: rec.bicycles.misc Date: Tue, Oct 3, 2006, 10:06am (EDT-2) From:
>> (Daryl=A0Hunt)
>>
>> >Case in point, What is a motorized
>> >bicycle?
>>
>> That's easy. A MOTORized biCYCLE is a MOTERCYCLE. that's how they came
>> up with the word. DOH!
>
> Legally, they are usually *not* the same thing in the U.S. A motorized
> bicycle still functions as a bicycle -- it still has functional pedals
> that can propel it without the motor, and it typically has very limited
> motor power, e.g. under 50cc or less than 2 bhp.
>
> They're in-between bicycles and motorcycles in regulatory terms. It's
> generally illegal to use them on trails that prohibit motorized
> vehicles, but they often do not require a drivers license or motorcycle
> endorsement to ride on the road.

They do require a license of at least a Class C. Generally, they are
considered a Motorbike or Moped. You are confusing the Motorized Bicycle
with the Low Speed Electric Bicycle.

>
> Rules vary a lot by state, so check your local laws. There's much less
> uniformity here than there is for cars or for bicycles.

We have fought a battle in Colorado and have pretty well won it. Of course,
Purist Lobbyist Organizations that try and keep them off the hiways and
biways didn't help. In the end, they just muddled things up real good and
left us without the proper Regulations to deal with the low speed electric
bicycle. Yes, because of them, a 9 year old can be running down traffic at
almost 20mph legally without a helmet or any other safety equipment. Yes,
thanks Lobbyists, you sure did help us out. Now, Purist Bicycle Lobbyists,
get the hell out of the way.

Olebiker

October 5th 06, 03:47 PM

Ken C. M. wrote:
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .

I just filled out my United Way pledge card and specified that part of
the money go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I considered sending
part of it to thr Rails-to-Trails Conservancy but, according to the
publication from the United Way, RTC has fundraising and administrative
expenses of over 23%. That's pretty high.

Olebiker

October 5th 06, 03:48 PM

Tom Keats

October 8th 06, 12:44 AM

In article >,
"Ken C. M." > writes:
> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>
> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>
> I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
> $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through
> the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
> LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
> yet.

Planet Bike[tm] donates 25% of their profits to cycling advocacy groups.
So by purchasing Planet Bike products, a customer indirectly contributes
to those groups.
http://www.planetbike.com/ourpledge.html

Whether or not those advocacy groups stand up for what the
individual customer wants or needs (or doesn't want or need)
is an interesting question.

I'm also not sure about whether making a simple purchase of
a mini pump or blinkie or something, should be so political.

But I'm happy with the Planet Bike stuff I've bought.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Daryl Hunt

October 9th 06, 07:05 PM

"Tom Keats" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Ken C. M." > writes:
>> Just curious, so how about a poll.
>>
>> How many people (readers of this group) donate or have donated before to
>> cycling related charitable orgs. .
>>
>> I just received a campaign letter from Rails to Trails and sent them a
>> $25.00 donation. I am not sure how they got my address, maybe through
>> the web, seeing as how I have a link to them on my website. Also on the
>> LiveStrong foundation mailing list, although I have not donated to them,
>> yet.
>
> Planet Bike[tm] donates 25% of their profits to cycling advocacy groups.
> So by purchasing Planet Bike products, a customer indirectly contributes
> to those groups.
> http://www.planetbike.com/ourpledge.html
>
> Whether or not those advocacy groups stand up for what the
> individual customer wants or needs (or doesn't want or need)
> is an interesting question.
>
> I'm also not sure about whether making a simple purchase of
> a mini pump or blinkie or something, should be so political.
>
> But I'm happy with the Planet Bike stuff I've bought.
>
>
> cheers,
> Tom

I agree. Do a followup on what the advocate. They have to, by law, devulge
that info. Most people automatically assume that they will advocate just
for things like, Bicycle Lanes, etc.. But this may not be the case with
all.

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