Tag Archives: tim johnson

Tim Blumenthal: The National Fight for People Who Bike

Bikes Belong Staff Portraits
PeopleForBikes President Tim Blumenthal. Photo courtesy PeopleForBikes

Bike advocacy is a sweeping term that captures a huge array of work. Fighting for better bike infrastructure on neighborhood streets, building new mountain bike trails, organizing charity rides, lobbying elected officials and many other things fit under that rather large umbrella of advocacy. Some might see that diversity of advocacy issues as a problem–that lots of sub-interests competing for limited funding and public attention will curb success for all. PeopleForBikes sees that variety as a boon to bicycling in America. The national advocacy organization helps fund everything from protected bike lanes to mountain bike parks; lobbies government agencies and elected officials; partners with professional cycling teams; provides grant funding; organizes their own charity ride; and much more. They’re guided by the basic principle that the more people ride, the better bicycling will be for everyone, regardless of what type of riding they do.

With over three decades of work in advocacy and bike racing, PeopleForBikes President Tim Blumenthal is a fitting leader. He got his start as a cycling journalist for publications such as VeloNews and Bicycling, worked with NBC on cycling coverage for seven Olympics, and spent 11 years at the helm of the International Mountain Bike Association before joining PeopleForBikes. I spoke to Blumenthal about PeopleForBikes’ work, his career in the cycling world, the value of combining cycling-as-sport and cycling-as-transportation in advocacy work, the strengths and shortcomings of American bike advocacy, and more.

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Mo Bruno Roy: Cyclocross, Working Pros, and the Debt of Chasing your Dreams

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Mo at the Gran Prix of Gloucester. Photo from GPGloucester.com

Mo Bruno Roy is one of the fastest women in U.S. cyclocross. The New Englander consistently places top-5 and -10 at the biggest domestic races and typically cracks the top-50% at the World Cup level. In and of itself, that’s an impressive feat. But Mo’s earned her palmarès while maintaining a full-time career as a massage therapist. In this interview, Mo talks about her entry into cycling, the struggle to find the balance between her race career and her day job, how the lack of financial support for women’s racing often necessitates being a working pro, how the demise of the US Gran Prix (USGP) cyclocross series will impact American cross and much more.

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Photos From Saturday at USGP Bend

Three teammates and I loaded up our bikes, piled into the car, and headed out from Seattle last Friday headed for Bend, Oregon for the last stop of the US Grand Prix of Cyclocross. Saturday’s pro races were spectacular. Katerina Nash took an early and decisive lead in the women’s race, but the battle for second between Nicole Duke, Meredith Miller, and Teal Stetson-Lee was fierce to the last corner. In the men’s race, Tim Johnson raced Jeremy Powers way off the front with a form he hasn’t shown all season long. Third place was a toss up between a chase group filled with people like Geoff Kabush, Chris Jones, Danny Summerhill and Ben Berden.

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