I heard Camp was closed today due to manuevers? Is this true Gary? We need to figure out a way to get a real time live report here on the web site so folks could check the status from the site here. Not sure if this could be done...worth checking on.

Judy from BACA tells me the BACA table is fully manned for the Little Rock Marathon - Thanks to everyone who is helping or offered to help! You rawk Judy!!!

Ok...Judy tells me the upcoming BACA meeting is public after all...here's the scoop:

Meeting of Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas

WHEN & WHERE - Bicycle Advocacy of Central Arkansas will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 8 at the UALR School of Law. We will meet in room 114 (also know as the Friday Courtroom). See below * for directions to the law school - BUT NOTE! - THE LAW SCHOOL IS NOT LOCATED ON THE UALR CAMPUS.

FOOD - You are welcome to bring food with you &, for those who would like pizza (me included), we will order in from Iriana’s Pizza (we will split the cost). Please let me know by reply e-mail if you want to be part of the pizza group & we will order based on the number of people responding.

MEETING AGENDA - At the meeting we want to acquaint everyone with how to navigate around BACA’s new website, especially how to use the Discussion Forums for continuing exchanges of information & ideas. We will do that with a “live” demonstration by projecting the website on a movie screen from a laptop computer. That, of course, requires internet access which is why we are meeting at the Law School.

Two other items on the agenda for the meeting:

I will be attending the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. from March 3 - 5. This is the annual meeting of bicycle advocacy organizations & the organizers promise that it will be very helpful to fledgling organizations such as ours. I hope to learn much that will be of benefit to BACA & of interest to BACA members. At the March 8 meeting I will report on what I learn & do (some of what I do, at any rate).

Renee Buchholtz, Denise Cole & Monty Cole are coordinating this year’s National Bike Month (May) & Bike to Work Day (May 21 - ride the River Trail to the River Market) activities. This year we want to increase participation and make these BACA sponsored events greater than ever. To do that we need the help and suggestions of all BACA members (even if you will not be participating in Bike to Work Day). Please come to the meeting & help us brainstorm. You will be receiving a separate e-mail from Renee, Denise & Monty about Bike Month & Bike to Work Day.

The most recent order of bright yellow BACA shirts has arrived. At the meeting Mark Taylor will distribute the shirts to those of you who have placed orders & have shirts available for purchase.

See you on March 8. Let me know if you have questions or comments.

Ken Gould

* Directions to the UALR School of Law:

The School is on the east side of McArthur Park (the Arkansas Arts Center is also in the park) at 1201 McMath Ave. just off I-30. McMath Ave. is the street that runs along the east side of McArthur Park off of 9th Street (Shell station on the southeast corner of the intersection of 9th & McMath). Turn south off of 9th Street on McMath & go for 3 blocks. The Law School is the large brick building on the left side (east) of the street. There is a small security guard building at the entrance & there is plenty of parking. Enter the building through the north side doors (facing the parking lot). Room 114 (the Friday courtroom) is at the far end of the entrance hallway on the right side. If coming from I-30, the exit for the Law School is “9th Street” & is also marked, “UALR School of Law.”

Ken Gould
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
William H. Bowen School of Law
1201 McMath Avenue
Little Rock, Arkansas 72202-5142
Phone: Office - 501-324-9952; Home - 501-225-5343
Fax: 501-324-9992
Email: ksgould@ualr.edu

From Judy Lansky, Chair, BACA Education and Information Committee:

BACA will have a table at the Little Rock Marathon Health & Fitness Expo on March 5 and 6 at the State House Convention Center. This will be an excellent opportunity to reach people with information about BACA, as all participants in the Little Rock Marathon events must come to the Expo to pick up their packets. BACA will have a number of informational leaflets and brochures available for distribution.

We need volunteers to staff the table. If you are available to staff the table for a 2 hour interval (beginning at noon on Friday 3/5 or 9:00 a.m. on Sat. 3/6), please let me know. You can call me at 225-5343 (home), 604-5122 (work) or e-mail me at lanskygould@comcast.net. If enough people sign up, we might be able to reduce the time for staffing the table to one hour.

Thanks for your help.
Judy Lansky

I lost a pair of Avenir gloves near the parking area(left on the tailgate, while brain was on standby). If found, please enjoy or call me at 501-776-0297. Thanks,

Tom Burks

It has recently been brought to my attention that we are starting to find an increasing amount of trash on the trails. Several concerned members have picked up a huge number of empty gel packets, bike parts, and miscellaneous items. Everyone who uses our trails should pick up after themselves. I know we are all adults, but sometimes we need to be reminded of our responsibility. It is important to all of us to pick up our trash and not to leave even a trace of us being there. Doing so the next person may enjoy the trails as we did.
Thanks,
Gary Lamb

Aw yeah!..."stirring the pot" as my good friend Marvin use to say. Marvin's out in Seattle working for Bill now. 0'k filling in as Gary makes his way back across the vast pacific ocean. Some info bytes....

Ken Gould tells me this bicycling news is somewhat good for cyclist, not as good as it could be, but not negative by any stretch of the imagination.

For all those following Mt Lions in Arkansas...check out Sunday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in the Sports section on page 12c. Wow! that's a big cat out at Winona. Classified Ads in the design stages - keep ya posted...

Ya know Mt Biking is intense and when ever I'm thinkin about it...this music by Planet X explodes in my head.(mp3 sample). Check out all Planet X's releases if your into this style of jam. I mean!...you can feel yourself at warp 8 zig-zaggin on Camp's premiere mt biking trails to these tunes! Rawk!

Looking into recruiting Chef Mongo for giving us fantastic Mt Biking food recipes to bolster our Carbs out in the field!

Gary is rumored to be MT Biking in exotic places at the moment, so if you signed up for your CARP membership at a shop or via snail mail, your online profile may take a little longer then normal to populate. Thought I would post a few bytes of info....

Bike Rumor circulating - keep an eye on the below website address over the next few months....it's dead for now, but soon should come to life.

www.tourderock.org

MT Bike Racing maybe? Maybe MT Bike, Road Racing, and Tours? Reckon will see over the next few months. These same folks have the .net addy also.

July 24, 2004 - Burns Park, North Little Rock, AR - Get the details for The Southern Tour of 04 Adventure Race Series Qualifer. Pre Entry Discount till 7/10/04.

If your on a BACA committee or just want to hang out on the BACA site...surf over to the BACA Forums and register...the committee's plan to use the online forums for collaboration.

Yakima Roof Rack - Roof mounted tower bike rack. Yakima Q clip mounts on 48 inch bars. Includes 2 front fork blockheads, 2 front wheel holder bars, 4 mount locks (w/2 keys),and rear wheel snaparound clamps (does not include real wheel tray). asking $90.00 - If you purchased all of this new, it would cost $300+. Great deal! Call Phil at 501-772-1283

We're currently looking into setting up a classified ads type script where members and non-members alike can post items for sale.

I know, I know, Javelin Bicycles doesn't do Mt Bikes, but since the company was locally owned in North Little Rock...and many of you probably know Scott and/or Dean and train on Javelin road bikes to enhance your off road racing, seemed appropriate for a news post. The article appears in today's Business section of the Democrat-Gazette. Scott Warren has sold Javelin Bicycles to:

an affiliate of Citadel Group, a Chicago-based institutional investor with assets under management of more then 1 billion, Warren said in a news release."

Scott however will remain as chief operating officer. Did these guys ever sell any stock? Maybe we can buy stock now. Who knows...maybe they'll add Mt Bikes to the lineup. Alrighty....hope everyone is on the wheels and having a great time....Gary out.

Hey Everyone....well Microsoft has gone and done it again....the latest IE 6.0 Cumulative patch temporarily broke the webpage log-in here at the site. Basically we had to change the log-in where you will see a pop-up box and have to enter your user and pass again. Everything is working fine except the extra hassle of typing your user and pass twice...be sure and check the box "Remember My Password".....this will save the extra step of the log-in. Working on eliminating the extra login step asap.

Thx
Gary

In Arkansas, the city of Little Rock has an opportunity to acquire land to construct an 11-mile trail running through the city. A total of $11 million is needed for this acquisition from upcoming federal transportation reauthorization legislation. Congress will decide on transportation and trail funding in the next several weeks, so action now is critical!

Congress is in the process of rewriting the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), which authorized federal surface transportation programs. Included in this bill will be funding for specific projects known as High Priority Projects. In addition to roads, bridges, and rail projects, related activities such as bikeways and walkways, and the acquisition of scenic, historic, and archaeological landscapes can be funded under this category. This provides an opportunity to secure funding for important trail projects such as the Take it to the Edge Trail in Little Rock.

SUPPORT FUNDING FOR THIS IMPORTANT HIGH PRIORITY PROJECT!

The River Trail project involves the construction of an 11-mile pedestrian and bicycling trail extending from the Clinton Presidential Library in East Little Rock along the Arkansas River to Pinnacle Mountain State Park at the far western end of the city limits. The project is a major portion of the city’s alternate transportation corridor system, which is comprised of trail segments linking all parts of the city to downtown.

Recently criticized by the Environmental Protection Agency for having the highest concentration of particulates and carbon monoxide of any city in a five-state region, Little Rock is faced with implementing aggressive measures to reverse this trend. A barrier-free alternate transportation corridor linking eastern portions of the city to the far western city limits, and to North Little Rock, would not only cut down on air pollution, but also alleviate road congestion if used as a transportation resource as well as a recreational resource.

PLEASE ACT NOW!

Contact Senators Lincoln and Pryor and Representative Snyder and encourage their support for $11 million for the Take it to the Edge trail project as a High Priority Project in the transportation reauthorization bill.

PLEASE CONTACT:(NOTE: Remember to include your mailing address within the body of any email or fax communication.)

The Honorable Blanche Lincoln
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-4843
Fax: 202-228-1371

The Honorable Mark Pryor
U.S. Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: 202-224-2353
Fax: 202-228-0908
Email: mark.pryor@pryor.senate.gov

The Honorable Vic Snyder
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: 202-225-2506
Fax: 202-225-5903

Thanks for the heads-up Ken!!!