Membership
Just before this past Labor Day weekend, a mass-mailing to over 300 Florida bicycle shops was conducted by yours truly. If you are a Florida bicycle shop owner and did not see this letter from the Florida Bicycle Association, then either we got the address wrong or you simply are not in our database. (You can correct that, by the way, by sending your information to becky@floridabicycle.net .)
Letters. We sent letters.
So far, 12 letters have been sent back, and I will re-address 7 of those to mail out this week. Yes, this is the bicycle shop version of ‘The Ask is ON,’ and I’m happy to report that 15 shop owners answered the call from this mailing and became members in good standing. Yea!
Before I get to plugging our Bicycle Shop Full Members, I have a sad story to tell. Seems the good intention of sending out framed certificates met with a less than favorable fate and, well, the hopes and dreams of this interim ED were shattered. Literally. I have an email to those shops in the works and we will make good on the goods being damaged. Meanwhile, if you received something from FBA in tiny pieces and wish to contact me direct, the email is becky@floridabicycle.net
If only the goods arrived the way I presented them here
Perhaps it was fate, but not only will shops receive a replacement, but the next mailing to all of our Full Member shops will include a FBA Media Kit CD. The CD will include a nifty set of bicycle safety snippets suitable for Facebook postings. The idea came about from the ride director of Bike MS – Breakaway to Key Largo, Cris Vidal. Here’s what Cris did with a safety snippet:
I’m running with the idea and will create enough of these media kits to send to our member bicycle clubs as well. Pre-packaged safety educational content for Facebook from the Florida Bicycle Association – membership does have it’s privileges!
Who is getting this first-run of FBA Media Kits? Glad you asked because now is a good time to plug those who support FBA, at least, for this blog, bicycle shops and clubs. First, our Bicycle Shop Full Members (in no particular order):
- Bicycle Center of Port Charlotte
- Fort Myers Schwinn Cyclery
- Infinity Bike Shop (2 locations)
- Jim’s Bicycle Shop (St. Petersburg)
- Lake Shore Bicycles
- Mack Cycle and Fitness
- Orange Cycle
- St. Joe Velo
- Suncoast Bicycles
- Sun Cycle Center
- Wildwood Cyclery
- Bike Sport
- Gator Cycle
- Bike America (8 locations)
- Acme Bicycle Shop
- Daytona Bicycle Center
- The Great Bicycle Shop
- Naples Cyclery
- The Bike Route
- Lauderdale Cyclery
- Wheels of Wellington
- Billy’s Bike Shop
- Ringling Bicycles
- The Bike Shop of Winter Haven
- Dragon Sports
And our Bicycle Club Members (in no particular order):
- Capital City Cyclists
- Boca Raton Bicycle Club
- North Florida Bicycle Club
- Gainesville Cycling Club
- Everglades Bicycle Club
- Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club
- Peace River Riders Bicycle Club
- Sanibel Bicycle Club
- Sarasota-Manatee Bicycle Club
- Polk Area Bicycling Association
- Emerald Coast Cyclists
- Florida Freewheelers
- Panthers Tandem Club
- Coastal Cruisers Bicycle Club
- MoXXie Bike Club
If your shop or club hasn’t become a member of the Florida Bicycle Association, I assure you, it’s not too late. Join on line or download the membership application and get ready to receive really cool stuff. Stuff we hope, moving forward, is everything it is intended to be and then some.
