Adventure Cycling Honors 2012 Bicycle Travel Award Winners

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 13, 2012
Contact: Winona Bateman
(406) 532-2759
wbateman@adventurecycling.org

Missoula, Montana — Adventure Cycling Association, North America's largest cycling membership organization, is pleased to announce the winners of its 2012 Bicycle Travel Awards.

"This was such an inspiring year for our awards program, we received 56 nominations," said Alison Riley, awards committee chair. "Our awards serve as an opportunity to recognize some of the incredible people and organizations that make a difference for bicycle touring and cycling in general. These people make America a better, friendlier, and more connected country."

The 2012 June Curry Trail Angel Award goes to Byron Seeley, Kelly White, and Vikki Correll, of Jeffrey City, Wyoming. Located in a ghost town halfway between Rawlins and Lander on the TransAmerica Trail, these three provide resources and shelter to cyclists where none otherwise exist. As their nominator explained, "Byron and Kelly run Monk King Bird Pottery in an abandoned gas station across from the Split Rock Cafe, Vikki's place. Since the only motel in Jeffrey City closed in 2009, Byron and Kelly have graciously offered a place to camp, or accommodations in their trailer or the floor of their studio, to many traveling cyclists, including me. Jeffrey City is a wild place with big storms, rattlesnakes, clouds of mosquitoes, and miles and miles of sagebrush. The hospitality of Byron ‘the Mad Potter,’ Kelly, and Vikki is a true legend of the TransAm."

The recipient of the 2012 Pacesetter Bicycle Travel Award is Ian Klepetar of Gansevoort, New York. In 2007, Klepetar dreamed up Bicycle Benefits, a progressive bicycling program through which users display reflective helmet stickers to receive discounts at local establishments, rewarding individuals and businesses for their commitment to cleaner air, personal health, and the use of pedaling energy in order to create a more sustainable community. Klepetar promotes the program across North America traveling exclusively by bicycle. "He has brought this program to numerous communities in 21 states, the District of Columbia, and British Columbia," said his nominator. "I have never witnessed more passion for cycling, the bicycle, and non-motorized travel than that which Ian Klepetar embodies. He is a phenomenal human, and exemplary bicycle advocate." Through his work with Bicycle Benefits, Klepetar has created a bigger awareness of what is possible, accessible, and enjoyable by bike.

The recipient of the 2012 Sam Braxton Bike Shop Award is Pacific Coast Cycles in Oceanside, California, for the incredible care and attention with which they serve their customers. Chuck Hoefer’s shop, opened in 1977, is not very large, but there’s enough space to keep Surly Long Haul Truckers stocked in every size, as well as classic and custom bicycles, and mountain bikes. He also carries a wide variety of vintage and modern bicycle parts. Hoefer is a master mechanic and an expert wheel builder, and his shop shares the same spirit and tenacity that Sam Braxton's shop once exuded, one that creates life-long bonds and friendships, instead of just returning customers. "Chuck and Gretchen are honest, passionate, knowledgeable, and competent," said Pacific Coast Cycles’ nominator. "They want to sell you a bike you’ll love — nothing more. Chuck might be the best darn mechanic and dedicated lover of biking that Southern California could ever have."

The 2012 Volunteer of the Year Award goes to Christopher Marsh, of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Marsh’s work in New Mexico on the development of Bicycle Route 66, and his efforts toward its official designation as U.S. Bicycle Route 66 have gone far beyond Adventure Cycling Association’s expectations. In his nomination, Marsh’s outreach to New Mexican communities and tribal leaders, and numerous meetings with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, were gratefully noted, as was his detailed road review and analysis work. The New Mexico section of Bicycle Route 66/U.S. Bike Route 66 will be a wonderful journey for cyclists thanks in a large part to his efforts. "For the past 40 years, Chris Marsh has been contributing, supporting, and promoting bicycling," said his nominator. "Chris has a lifelong, multi-faceted commitment to cycling. He is a wonderful role model and leader for other cyclists, and has improved the cycling communities of all the towns and cities that have been fortunate enough to have had him as a resident."

The Adventure Cycling Awards Program began in 2003 as a way to recognize organizations and individuals who are doing extraordinary things in the name of bike travel. Nominations for the 2013 Bicycle Travel Awards will open Monday, July 2, 2013. If you would like to know more about past winners and how to nominate someone, visit www.adventurecycling.org/awards.

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Adventure Cycling Association inspires and empowers people to travel by bicycle. It is the premier bicycle-travel organization in North America with more than 45,000 members. Adventure Cycling produces cycling routes and maps for North America, organizes more than 70 tours annually, and publishes the best bicycle-travel information anywhere, including Adventure Cyclist magazine. With 41,420 meticulously mapped miles in the Adventure Cycling Route Network, Adventure Cycling gives cyclists the tools and confidence to create their own bike-travel adventures. Contact the office at (800) 755-BIKE (2453), info@adventurecycling.org, or visit www.adventurecycling.

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