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Tag Archive for: carol wilson

american bicycling education association

On Giving Tuesday, ABEA Gives Joy

November 28, 2017/0 Comments/by Carol Wilson

Why do I give to the American Bicycling Education Association? Why does anyone give to ABEA?

Because ABEA’s programs give back so much to the people touched by them.

Consider Orlando Huguet Jr., Safety & Training Coordinator for the Risk Management Division of Fort Lauderdale’s Human Resources Department. Earlier this month he was a participant in ABEA’s flagship program, CyclingSavvy.

Perfecting bike handling skills in sunny Orlando, Florida.

Orlando Huguet Jr. practicing emergency stopping with CyclingSavvy instructors Lisa Walker and Mighk Wilson.

Orlando wants to become a CyclingSavvy Instructor, so he can teach Fort Lauderdale employees best practices for bicycling. That he gave one of his precious weekends to travel to Orlando, FL, to take the course speaks volumes about the reputation of the CyclingSavvy program. But it was what he wrote afterward that really caught our attention:

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you and the rest of the CyclingSavvy team for facilitating such a very informative and interactive course.

Until I had attended your course, I thought I knew everything I needed to know on how to safely ride my bicycle. Your course is really amazing in that it changes old ways of bicycle riding thinking and opens a rider’s eyes to new and safer ways on how you should be cycling, as well as expanding your travels to other areas around town.

I never thought I would be riding my bike down the middle of a three and four lane road way or making left turns at major intersections.

But your course gives the rider a sense of renewed confidence and opens the bike owner to having more hours of safe riding enjoyment that they perhaps never thought possible.

I look forward to joining the CyclingSavvy Team and I am excited to help promote more potential bikers to take to the road with more confidence and in absolute safety.

And so one student from one CyclingSavvy class will lead a ripple effect of giving to others, as Orlando goes on to become a CSI so he can further share his newfound knowledge.

What other investment pays such handsome dividends?

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us and the holiday season is rushing along at full speed, on this Giving Tuesday I hope you’ll pause a moment and consider making a gift to the American Bicycling Education Association.Savvy cyclists are expected, respected and normal.

We rely on your donations to operate. Many people think ABEA must be a large organization with deep pockets to produce such high-quality programs and train outstanding CyclingSavvy Instructors. But actually ABEA is still quite small. Last year’s budget was in the five digits. We stretched–well, we begged a little, too–to cover the upfront costs of developing CyclingSavvy Online. This year we stretched again to hire Shannon Walsh, ABEA’s new associate executive director, to help with marketing and the development of ABEA’s programs. In the history of bicycle education, CyclingSavvy is a quantum leap forward. We want everyone to know how easy it can be to choose bicycling!

This holiday season we are thrilled to have received not one but TWO matching gifts for donations up to $1,000. The donors behind these gifts especially hope you will donate to ABEA. For now, if you join or donate to ABEA, up to $1,000 of your gift will be matched TWICE, meaning your gift is tripled.

Your donation will enable ABEA to expand CyclingSavvy to new places across the U.S. and reach more people with this life-changing and life-saving program.

In the few years of CyclingSavvy’s existence, we’ve received numerous testimonials as glowing as Orlando’s. We are thrilled by each and every one. Right now we need your support to keep ABEA and CyclingSavvy going and growing.Help others discover empowerment for human-powered travel.

Our fundraising goal between today and year end is $10,000. If we reach our goal all with donations of $1,000 and below, that will mean $30,000 for ABEA! If you’re not already a member, please join today! If you are a member, we deeply appreciate your generosity in providing a year-end gift. ABEA is a 501(c)(3) educational organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

A heartfelt thank-you to ALL our donors who made it possible for Orlando to experience CyclingSavvy. It’s deeply gratifying to know that he will continue to pass along safest and best practices for bicycling.

See what you started? Please make your gift today, on Giving Tuesday, or as soon as you can. Keep spreading the joy of savvy cycling. Remember your gift up to $1,000 will be tripled while we have double matching gift offers. Help us reach our goal of $10,000 which, with matching gifts, means $30,000 for ABEA to provide groundbreaking bicycling education to more people like Orlando!

 

 

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/giving-tuesday.png 209 400 Carol Wilson https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Carol Wilson2017-11-28 11:30:382018-08-27 20:54:16On Giving Tuesday, ABEA Gives Joy
american bicycling education association

Team ABEA

November 22, 2017/0 Comments/by Carol Wilson

Did you know the American Bicycling Education Association has a team? Not a cycling team, a Cycling Education team!

Strategies to make bicycling easy, even under challenging conditions.

CyclingSavvy co-founder Keri Caffrey teaching last weekend in Orlando

While we ride our bikes (a lot), you’ll find team members engaged in many other activities. We write posts for The Savvy Cyclist. Want to contribute? Let Karen Karabell know. She’s the editor, and will send you a link to editorial guidelines.

We maintain ABEA’s websites. It’s a big job building a new national organization! We have several websites serving different purposes.

You may already know that ABEA is the non-profit parent of CyclingSavvy and CyclingSavvy Online. Have you explored I Am Traffic? This ABEA site is an incredible resource for planners, engineers, law enforcement and the general public. Team ABEA also maintains CyclingSavvy.Bike, offering the best instructor resources available anywhere.

Other Team ABEA activities include:

Savvy cyclists enjoying one of the nation's best bike expos.

Team ABEA earlier this month at the Philly Bike Expo. L-R: Karen Karabell, Marc Caruso, John Schubert, John Allen, Gary Cziko, Mighk Wilson, Shannon Walsh and Bruce Lierman

  • Continually improving CyclingSavvy and developing other new course materials
  • Teaching CyclingSavvy all over the U.S.
  • Presenting webinars as part of continuing education for CyclingSavvy instructors
  • Recruiting and training new CyclingSavvy instructors
  • Making improvements to the CyclingSavvy registration system
  • Creating video for our courses and websites
  • Designing printed materials
  • Planning conference and meeting logistics
  • Strategizing in board meetings
  • Networking with potential new students, donors, board members and business partners
  • Reaching out to thank donors
  • Doing ABEA’s financial reporting and preparing Form 990
  • Promoting ABEA and CyclingSavvy at bicycling and community events, in social media and in other online venues

Plus activities such as visiting ABEA folks in other cities for the sheer fun of bicycling around in a new town and meeting new people!

Besides donating time and talents, many members of Team ABEA make financial contributions — some small, some large, all important to ABEA’s success.

With Giving Tuesday around the corner, we want to recognize those who have given of their time, talents and/or treasure to support ABEA over the past year:

Jenn Bowers, Board President

Lisa Walker, Board Vice President

Randy Profeta, Board Treasurer

Eli Damon, Board Secretary

Bruce Lierman, Board Member

Karen Karabell, Board Member

Debra Sension-Hall, Board Member

Lucas Cruse, Board Member

Gary Cziko, Board Member

Mighk Wilson, Executive Director

Shannon Walsh, Associate Executive Director

Laura Hallam, Administrative Director

Alan Forkosh

Allen Muchnick

American Diabetes Association

Art Ackerman

Becky Afonso

Beth Gellman

Big Orange Cycling Club

Brian Cox

Bruce Dowell, Redlands Water Bottle Transit Co.

Carol Wilson, Care Accounting Services

Clint Sandusky

Courtney Reynolds

Darell Dickey

Diana Steele

Diane Jenks

Dwight Kingsbury

Eberhard Veit

Esther Lumsdon

Florida Department of Transportation

Frank Krygowski

Great Rivers Greenway

Gruppo Sportivo Andiamo

Harold Karabell

Hokan

Jason Aufdenberg

Jason Buckner

Jeffrey D. Stanton

Jeffrey Viscount

Jim Baross

John Allen

John Brooking

John F. Cinatl

John Schubert

Josh StevensWe respect ourselves, and know that when riding our bicycles, our safety is a product of our behavior.

Judy Frankel

Justin McMurtry

Karen Loewen

Katherine Tynan

Kea Wilson, Strong Towns

Kelley Howell

Keri Caffrey

Kimberly Cooper

Kirby Beck

Lee Sisselsky

Mark Nockleby

Matthew Brown

Melissa Brown

Monica Llorian

Pamela Murray

Patricia Huff

Patrick Smith

Penni Smith Gryder

Pete van Nuys

Phyllis Laufer

Reese Howell

Richard Abraham

Richard Wharton

Robert Cooper

Robert Henderson

Robyn McCutcheon

Sarah Cushman

Scott Chilcote

Sean Wilson, President, Southern California/Nevada Cycling Association

Seth Davidson, Law Office of Seth Davidson

Shannon Martin

Stephen McKenney Steck

Susan Kropscott

Susan Sachs

Tricia Kovacs

Valerie Sivicek

Walter Ezell

Western Riverside Council of Governments

William Carpenter

Should your name be on this list? If so, please accept my sincere apologies! So many people have contributed that I’m certain I’ve unintentionally left someone out. Please let me know. We’ll update our records. Each person is a treasure. However you choose to help, you help ABEA become that much stronger!

Many of the folks above are CyclingSavvy instructors, though certainly not all. I’m not a CyclingSavvy instructor. But savvy cycling strategies changed my life. I started giving to ABEA because I wanted to give other people the same advantages I now have thanks to CyclingSavvy.

What I gained was far greater. Besides increasing my own knowledge, I made many new friends and opened doors to experiences that have greatly enriched my life. I am forever grateful.

ABEA has a place for and a need for many types of people. Join the team working for educated and empowered bicyclists. We invite you to go to abea.bike and become a member today. ABEA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Financial donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

We hope to see you on our team, in any way you’re able to participate. Give to ABEA and discover how much ABEA can give back to you. Contact us if you are interested in volunteer opportunities or becoming a CyclingSavvy instructor. And be sure to join ABEA today!

What if you could go anywhere by bike? You can! Let us show you how.

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/deb-child.jpeg 165 400 Carol Wilson https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Carol Wilson2017-11-22 11:30:102018-08-27 20:55:36Team ABEA
carol wilson

Love At First Bike

August 16, 2017/6 Comments/by Carol Wilson

It had been a long hot ride. Reaching the parking lot where we started, I heaved a sigh of relief. I made it! Sweat dripped into my eyes and rolled off my nose as I gratefully slid off the saddle. I began walking toward my car, leaning on my bike for support, when a friendly and somewhat concerned face appeared in front of me.

“Do you like tabbouleh? I brought some tabbouleh salad in a cooler.” He paused, adding: “I made it.”

The young man standing before me looked like he had just finished a short stint around the block. Surely he was not on the same ride I had just completed! I was finding this fellow to be quite unlike anyone I had ever met.

Normally he biked to club ride starts, but this ride was further out of town so he had driven. “Yes, that would be nice,” I replied. I walked with him to his black Toyota pickup truck.Image highlighting text that says: Bicycling for him is like flying for a bird.

The tabbouleh was cold and delicious, and the nourishment began to revive me. To be honest, I pushed myself hard on this ride because I wanted to impress him. Bicycling was obviously effortless for him, as natural as flying for a bird. As I munched on tabbouleh, I wondered if I’d ever achieve his level of mastery and fitness.

Part of me was surprised to be so interested in this guy. After breaking up with a long-time boyfriend, I’d decided I’d had enough of men. I turned to exercise to work out my frustrations. I wanted to try the rides offered by our local bike club.

I had a beater bike from my college years, but didn’t want to bring it to these rides. I decided to treat myself to my first good quality bike. So I headed to a local bike shop, where they fixed me up with a neon yellow Trek road bike.

I started showing up for the club’s Wednesday night social rides. They were rather informal affairs. I’m not sure they even had an official ride leader. Everyone always looked expectantly to this guy to lead the ride. He accepted his role nonchalantly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Before each ride he’d go around the parking lot to help people pump up flat tires, adjust seats, generally check for loose things and make sure everyone had a bike that was ready to ride.Image of text highlighting Carol's observation. She writes: Little did I know what I was getting into when I bought that neon yellow Trek!

He never drove to these social rides. He always arrived by bike. After the ride, he made sure everyone returned safely and had their bikes properly loaded onto their cars. Then he left as he came, by bike. Always by himself. I wondered where he came from and where he went.

I was quite sure he was younger than me, way younger. That, along with my determination to avoid men, held me back. At the time he had long flowing black hair, the kind you see on heartthrobs adorning the covers of paperback romance books. He was thin, like he hadn’t quite grown into his frame. He was part of the bicycling group and yet he wasn’t. He stood apart, independent, never associating with anyone too closely. I found myself more and more intrigued.

And so I was surprised when the group stopped one day at a restaurant and he pulled a chair up to the table where I was seated.

That’s when it hit me that perhaps Mighk Wilson was interested in talking to me because he was interested in talking to me, not just because I was the “new rider.”

The rest, as they say, is history. I never did achieve Mighk’s level of bicycling proficiency. But fortunately we enjoy biking together on a tandem. A sure way to not get dropped!

Over the years we’ve participated in many kinds of bicycling – off-road, tandem, road riding, touring, bicycling for transportation – and we’ve acquired many wonderful bicycling friends along the way. Next year will be our 25th wedding anniversary.

By the way, today is Mighk’s birthday. He’s actually seven months older than me. :-)

I’ve watched Mighk grow into a nationally recognized transportation planning and bicycling professional. I’m especially proud of the work he’s doing as executive director for the American Bicycling Education Association.

Like so many others, I feel confident that following Mighk is the right thing to do. I’m just grateful he picked me to be his lifetime riding companion.

Little did I know what I was getting into when I bought that yellow Trek!

Photo of Mighk & Carol Wilson on their tandem bicycle, celebrating the grand opening of the Cross Seminole Trail with the Florida Freewheelers.

Celebrating the grand opening of the Cross Seminole Trail in Central Florida (1999)

 

Photo of Carol & Mighk Wilson on mountain bikes at the Suwanee Bicycle Festival in North Florida.

Enjoying the trails at Suwanee Bicycle Festival in North Florida (1998)

Photo of Carol and Mighk Wilson and their bicycles on a bald rock in DuPont State Forest in North Carolina.

On a bald rock in DuPont State Forest (North Carolina, 1997)

Photo of Carol & Mighk Wilson from 1993, shortly after they met, standing on a beach in Casey Key, FL.

The new couple in Casey Key, FL (1993)

Photo of Mighk & Carol Wilson on their tandem bicycle in the Colorado Rockies.

Mighk & Carol riding over Colorado’s Boreas Pass in 2015

 

https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/love-at-first-bike.png 273 400 Carol Wilson https://cyclingsavvy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CS-logo_xlong-header.png Carol Wilson2017-08-16 12:00:522018-08-27 21:16:44Love At First Bike

Get Smart!

Brand new edition! John Allen has updated his best-selling Bicycling Street Smarts to incorporate best practices for easy bicycling — wherever you ride!

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CyclingSavvy is a program of the American Bicycling Education Association. Our mission is to provide programs and resources for the education of bicyclists as drivers of vehicles, and bicycling-related education for traffic engineers, transportation planners, law enforcement professionals, educators, and the general public.

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