Notes From Our Outgoing and Incoming Presidents
A note from our outgoing president
As 2021 comes to a close, here's a snapshot of what we at Bikeatoga accomplished this year:
Over 1,200 volunteer hours in the workshop
More than 500 workshop visitors
200 yard signs distributed and 6,700 people reached with our Facebook ad for the Slow Your Roll campaign
30 member businesses and nonprofits in the Saratoga Safe Cycling Coalition
16 events, including Slow Rolls with our friends at Palette Cafe, Impressions of Saratoga, Dark Horse, and Bicycle Benefits
3 overnight bike-packing trips
This December concludes my term as Bikeatoga President, and I want to praise the many volunteers and supporters who make our volunteer-run organization possible and share a few 2021 highlights...
Through the trials of the pandemic, our Workshop Chair, Mike, and incredible cohort of volunteers rolled with the challenges, masked up, and took great measures to keep the workshop open and safe.
One of our largest clientele are race-track workers, and this summer we were pleased to partner with the Backstretch Employee Service Team for a facility visit with our mobile repair vehicle cargo bike, fondly called "MRV", to pump dozens of tires and work on a slew of bikes.
In the fall our Advocacy Chair, Ed, gathered a mighty cohort of 30 nonprofits and businesses to form the Saratoga Safe Cycling Coalition to support a resolution to the city to identify priority bike lane signage and striping projects from the 2016 Complete Streets Plan and complete them within three years. The city council approved the resolution unanimously.
This fall we were grateful to partner with Skidmore Professor Nurcan Atalan-Helicke's civic engagement class, where students worked with us on a few projects, including volunteering in the workshop and building a new forthcoming website.
A special thanks to our outgoing secretary, Lauren, who shared her savvy organizational skills and coordinated a new "Bikeatoga Admin" position to manage communications. We welcomed Sine into this position following his years of supporting Bikeatoga with grant writing and reporting.
I am thrilled to welcome Greg as incoming president. Greg is kicking off 2022 with mechanics classes and gearing up to run member-focused events this spring.
Thanks again to our volunteers and supporters. On to pedal for a better future!
-Jen Natyzak
A message from our incoming president
Hello,
I just wanted to take the time to introduce myself as the new president of Bikeatoga.
It is my honor to serve this organization that has done so much for this community over the past years. With the bicycle boom still in full swing and the recent advocacy work that has been done over the past few months, it is an exciting time to lead this organization. My hope is to bring more members to our organization and encourage more community participation. Be on the lookout for more fun rides and events this upcoming year.
It is my belief that bicycling should be more inclusive and more empowering. So I ask you this question, what can Bikeatoga do to make bicycling more empowering for you?
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to reach out to President@Bikeatoga.org to let me know.
Best Wishes,
Greg Faust
