Category: news

Collaborative marketing: USA + France

Richard MasonerJune 16, 2008Leave a Comment

Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and AEG announced a marketing partnership to cross promote each other’s events. ASO owns the Tour de France and other European races, while AEG is the US based sports presenter that owns the Tour of California.

Beginning with the upcoming 2008 Tour de France and 2009 Amgen Tour of California, the multi-year agreement calls for the organizations to develop and initiate comprehensive cross-promotional platforms for the Tour de France and Tour of California.

ASO believes AEG’s success marketing their American sports teams and venues will benefit Tour de France marketing. “AEG’s success in developing and promoting properties like the Los Angeles Galaxy team with David Beckham as well as, among others, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, will greatly benefit the Tour de France in the United States,” says ASO deputy director Yann Le Moenner.

In a related move, AEG has named Matthieu van Veen to the newly created position of Vice President, AEG Sports Europe. Prior to joining AEG, van Veen directed the NBA’s media distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Posted In news | pro cycling

Team CSC finds sponsor

Richard MasonerJune 10, 2008Leave a Comment

Riis Cycling (RC) announced that Saxo Bank will be a title sponsor for the cycling team. The agreement will let Saxo Bank become a co-sponsor of Team CSC together with CSC. The agreement becomes effective immediately, which means that Team CSC will appear as Team CSC/Saxo Bank at the upcoming Tour De France. Computer Sciences Corporation announced last March that they would not renew their sponsorship of the cycling team after the 2008 season.

The agreement runs to the end of this year, and on January 1st 2009 Saxo Bank becomes the sole main sponsor of the team that, from then on, will be known as Team Saxo Bank. The duration term of the contract is three years.

“With Saxo Bank, we have found the perfect partner for the future. We are extremely proud to become associated with such a strong brand and a company that has a great passion for our team and our values. It has been a pleasure closing a deal with such dedicated and professional people as Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen. From day one, we have found a great understanding and this promises to become a first class collaboration for the years to come,” says Bjarne Riis.

Signing the agreement with RC, Saxo Bank’s founders and joint CEOs, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen pointed out that this is an opportunity they have been waiting for for a long time. “For a global bank like ours, this is the perfect match and when it became possible, we just could not let this chance pass by,” they said in a joint statement. “Team CSC/Saxo Bank has the international reach and name recognition that means that we will be able to get our message out to most of our clients group around the globe. We love the sport, we trust Bjarne Riis, and believe that together we will be winners.”

“At the same time, I want to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to our main sponsor CSC for their passionate and consistent support,” Riis said. “They have made it possible for us to become the best team in the world. We have achieved fantastic results thanks to their dedication. The level and the quality of this partnership is what we want to continue with Saxo Bank as our new sponsor.”

Saxo Bank takes over the sponsorship from CSC whose contract with the team expires by the end of the year: CSC has been the team’s main sponsor since 2001.

In explaining their decision to sponsor the team, Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen in their statement said that, in addition to being one of the world’s most popular and watched sports with an audience of billions of viewers, cycling on this level expresses the same kind of values and attitudes that Saxo Banks identifies with. “Winning and team work, is what Saxo Bank has been about from the outset,” they said. “Endurance and passion are some of the other features that we have in common. We are proud that we now will have the opportunity to highlight these values and show what sports and business can do together.”

The two CEOs have worked closely with their counterparts at CSC during this transition, and they point out that the CSC executives generously have shared their sponsorship experience with them. “We are very pleased that CSC has included us a co-sponsors for the remainder of their contract with RC creating the best possible transition for the team and us as the new main sponsors,” Fournais and Christensen said. “It goes without saying that this is the best possible scenario for all stakeholders.”

At CSC, this is also significant and good news.

“We are pleased to welcome Saxo Bank onboard as a co-sponsor of Team CSC for the remainder of 2008 and thrilled that they will become the team’s title sponsor in 2009,” said David Booth, President of Global Sales and Marketing for CSC. “We have enjoyed an incredible partnership with the Team for these past eight years; helping them secure another strong partner like Saxo Bank is in keeping with that spirit of partnership.”

For Bjarne Riis, the partnership with Saxo Bank will secure the kind of stability that is necessary for the team’s future success. He too, sees the sponsorship agreement with Saxo Bank as a match between two partners that have much to offer each other.

“Now we can focus on the next big event – Tour de France knowing that we have the possibility to build a team for the future with Saxobank. We are very ambitious about being the best team in the world and with Saxobank on board we have found the best possible partner for this project,” says Bjarne Riis.

The nine RC riders will get started as Team CSC-Saxo Bank in Brest when Tour de France takes off on July 5th.

Posted In news | tour de france

Bike to budget protest

Richard MasonerJune 10, 20082 Comments on Bike to budget protest

A school district superintendent and a non-profit board member plan to ride their bicycles from Mountain View, California to Sacramento to protest proposed budget cuts to education.

Mountain View-Whisman district superintendent Maurice Ghysels will ride with Bruce Barsi to deliver a personal message to the governor to protest what they say are nearly a half million dollars in buddget cuts for the district.

In California, school funding is decided at the state level. California has the second highest cost of living in the nation (Hawaii is highest), but ranks 46th in per pupil spending.

Read more at the Mountain View Voice. Props to Alison.

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Silicon Valley Bicycle Safety Town Hall

Richard MasonerJune 2, 2008Leave a Comment

The Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley will host a “Bicycle Safety Town Hall” discussion on Saturday, June 28 beginning at 1 PM at San Jose City Council Chambers, 200 East Santa Clara St. in downtown San Jose.

This free event will feature:

  • Congressmember James Oberstar, Chair House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee
  • Will Kempton, Director of Caltrans
  • Carl Guardino (moderator), President & CEO Silicon Valley Leadership Group

A followup panel discussion begins at 2 PM with

  • Lee Taubeneck, District Four Deputy Director for Planning, California Department of Transportation
  • Ian McAvoy, Chief of Development, CalTrain
  • Therese McMillan, Deputy Executive Director for Policy, San Francisco Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission
  • Corinne Winter, Executive Director, Santa Clara Valley Bicycle Coalition
  • Chris Augenstein, Deputy Director of Planning, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

See more information about the Bicycle Safety Town Hall meeting at the Commonwealth Club of Silicon Valley and Friends of Guadalupe River Park & Garden. This Town Hall meeting is presented in assocation with with CalTrain, the City of San Jose, Guadalupe River Park and Gardens, Caltrans, MTC, VTA, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coaltion, Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Mineta Transportation Institute.

Posted In news

IKEA bicycle

Richard MasonerMay 28, 200810 Comments on IKEA bicycle

After IKEA buyers and managers were seen at recent international bicycle shows, Bike Europe reports that the Dutch furniture retailer IKEA sells bicycles in the Netherlands now. Read more at Bike Europe.

Elsewhere in Europe… French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants to cut the European sales tax (VAT) on fuel to reduce fuel prices. Fishermen have blocked French ports for the last week to protest high fuel prices as prices for diesel for fishing boats has doubled over the past six months. More at the BBC.

In Canada, Dorel Industries had their annual stockholders meeting yesterday. They expect bikes to be big business for them as gasoline makes travel more expensive. In spite of the slowing economy, sales were up 54.9 per cent in the first quarter, compared to the same period a year ago. Overall, Dorel revenues rose 22 per cent to $556 million, and earnings went up 25.7 per cent to $35.1 million, or $1.05 a share, from the first quarter in 2007. Shareholders were told that Dorel plans to aggressively develop its bicycle business.

“The purchase of Cannondale and SUGOi immediately establishes huge IBD positioning for Dorel and will help us move toward a dominant worldwide position in the bicycle industry,” Dorel CEO Martin Schwartz told stockholders. “Our intention is to seek further acquisitions in similar high quality, performance bicycle companies and create new innovative products.”

Dorel sells bicycles under the Schwinn, GT, Mongoose, and Cannondale brands through mass merchant and independent bike retail stores.

My friend Tim Grahl has his 15 minutes of fame through a mention in this article at Forbes Magazine. Tim made Forbe’s list of richest bike riders in the world. Or something like that.

Posted In news

Santa Cruz approves "Bikes In Lane" signs for Mission Street

Richard MasonerMay 22, 200812 Comments on Santa Cruz approves "Bikes In Lane" signs for Mission Street

State approval required before signs installed

Santa Cruz council approves "Bikes In Lane" sign for Mission Street

In a meeting last week, the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously voted to request “Bikes In Lane” signs to be installed on Mission Street, where two cyclists were killed by passing traffic over the past eight months.

Local cycling advocates, traffic engineers, and officials agree that Mission Street is too narrow to share safely, especially with the heavy truck traffic that travels down the road. The city’s hands are tied, however, because Mission Street is California State Highway 1 and is under the jurisdiction of Caltrans District 5. Caltrans originally refused to install anything besides “Share the Road” signs, but after People Power Santa Cruz asked for state Assembly Member John Laird’s assistance, Caltrans relented and agreed to install signage that the city of Santa Cruz considers more effective.

At the meeting, the decision to make was between three different signs: an advisory “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” sign that’s becoming more common in California, a yellow “Watch for Bicycles Using Lane” sign proposed by Caltrans, and the “Bikes In Lane” sign that was approved by the council. The Santa Cruz police department opposed the “May Use Full Lane” sign but supported the “Bikes In Lane” sign.

Mission Street sidewalk cyclist
This cyclist rides on the sidewalk alongside Mission Street near Bay in Santa Cruz, California. While the sidewalk is empty on the mid morning when I took this photo, pedestrian traffic is typically heavier on the weekends and other times when traffic is high on Mission Street.

Bill the cyclist Bill of Boston rides his heavily laden bicycle down the middle of the lane on Mission Street in Santa Cruz, California. One citizen at the council meeting said cyclists should use the sidewalk. Riding on the sidewalk, however, does nothing to protect cyclists from right hook collisions.

Several traffic engineering experts explained how to improve the safety of bicycling on Mission Street. John Ciccarelli of the Bicycle Technical Committee of the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices explained that the “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” will likely be in the 2009 edition of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices published by the Federal Highway Adminstration. The MUTCD is the standard used by all U.S. transportation departments for their road signs — it’s the reason all stop signs in the United States are red octagons with white letters with a standard size and standard height.

Santa Cruz police chief Howard Skerry said they may ticket cyclists who in their view impeded traffic, regardless of any signage installed by the city. If bicyclists did not agree with that interpretation, he invited them to let the courts decide the matter.

Bob Shanteau spoke after the CHP and noted that the California Vehicle Code for impeding traffic only applies to 2 lane roads, not 4 lane highways such as Mission Street. “As long as the lane was too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to share side by side,’ says Shanteau, “then the bicyclist was allowed to take the full lane.”

“People have been taught since childhood to stay out of the way of cars, and that two bicyclists in Santa Cruz had followed that advice and they were both now dead. We need to make sure that never happens again,” Shanteau continue as people in the council chambers applauded him.

Selection of non-standard sign may hinder final approval by state

While the engineers and advocates wanted the Bikes May Use Full Lane signs, the city voted for the “Bikes In Lane” sign instead. People Power Director Micah Posner said, “In the end not that much different. Having the sign will really improve the campaign to encourage awareness. It’s about informing cyclist and motorist and it’s about cyclists asserting their rights. These signs will be a big step forward.”

Posner expressed some exasperation about the police department’s threat to ticket cyclists who “impede” traffic. People Power has already gone to court on behalf of ticketed cyclists and “we beat it in court based on California Vehicle Code.”

Caltrans still must get approval for the proposed sign from the California Traffic Control Device Committee, which meets next week. Because the city of Santa Cruz endorsed the untested “Bikes In Lane” sign over the standard “May Use Full Lane” sign, state approval is uncertain. The city council approved the Bikes In Lane sign thinking that Caltrans could get them installed this summer, but their selection of a non-standard sign will possibly mean a delay until this fall at the very earliest.

More:

Thank you to Micah Posner and Bob Shantaeu for the details.

Posted In news | santa cruz