*UPDATE* Alan Scholz Wins 2004 Alice B Toeclips award!

Alan shows his award back in the BF Factory, his life's work whirring behind the plastic curtain ...

March 9, 2004: Alan Scholz wins the 2004 Alice B Toeclips award! At a gala Portland ceremony where some (but not all) attendees traded their Scotchlite and lycra for sequins and penguin suits, Alan and 9 others received the award that recognizes outstanding achievement in the area of bicycle advocacy. Read about Alan and the other winners on the BTA website.

The award itself is a nice silver toeclip with a traditional leather strap mounted on a plinth, and the plate is specially engraved with a different message for each recipient. Alan's reads:

"For Making Bikes an Integral Part of our Lives." This is a great compliment which suggests, as Alan has said, a collapsible bicycle is not just for jetsetting - it allows you to always have your bicycle with you.

One of the winners was Anissa Cobb (together with her sister Angel) who was a counselor for the Kids of B.I.K.E. program. Read about Bike Friday's visit to Kids of B.I.K.E.

PS: Ride with Alan and other luminaries in the Lon Haldeman BF Training Camp April 4-11, 2004 - you still have a few days to register!

Alan in front of the Yellow Jersey that he and Jeff Linder took in the Burley Duet tandem stage race in 1999 - proving that his little wheeled invention is not only 'Performance that Packs', it 'Packs Performance'! In the framed photo is Alan and Jeff riding the Hanz Scholz Signature Twin Air tandem, plus BF Torch Meister Peter Kaspar right behind them, captaining yet another BF tandem. "Our travel tandems beat the big wheelers on corners," says Peter.

Marc Guichard was the winner of the Bike Friday New World Tourist with TravelSystem donated by BF for the BTA fundraising auction. It went for around $1300. Of course, Marc will receive a custom built Bike Friday. Beside Marc is Alan's wife, Theresa Scholz. "I would never have made it this far without her," says Alan.

Alan with the MC Earl Blumenauer, U.S. Congressman and bike proponent, and fellow Alice winners Anissa and Angel Cobb.

Alan with Larry Van Wyngarden from the Oregon Commission for the Blind, a great Bike Friday supporter who leads rides for blind stokers using Bike Friday Family Tandems.

+++ About the award

Each year since 1995, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance bestows an annual Alice B. Toeclips award for feats of bicycle advocacy. The award goes to individuals, businesses, government agencies or community groups that have provided inspiration to cyclists, made biking safer or easier, or helped make bikes a part of the fabric of our community. Alan was nominated for this year's award by Diane Bishop, Eugene Oregon's Bike Coordinator, and Sue Wolling, head of the Eugene Bike Coalition. They submitted the following nomination.

___________________

Date: Jan 26, 2004
To: Bicycle Transportation Alliance
From: Diane Bishop and Sue Wolling
Subject: Alice B Toeclips Nomination We are pleased to nominate a most worthy recipient for the Alice B Toeclips Award - Alan Scholz. Alan is one of those unique people whose life-long and varied involvement with bicycling is enviable. He's the kind of guy who puts the 'You' in Eugene, and really gets involved in bringing his vision to the community. And there is no doubt that Eugene benefits. Why, everyone looks forward to Friday, and Eugene has more Fridays than anyplace else in the world!

In the beginning:

* At age 16 Alan and 3 friends took an unsupported 1,100 mile bicycle tour of North Dakota.

* By age 17, Alan had started his own bicycle and cross country ski shop in the family garage; he called it Dakota Nomad

* His shop became popular and he expanded, adding another shop in Grand Forks.

* In 1971 Alan placed 2nd in the 110 mile road race in the US amateur cycling nationals (held in Salem that year) at age 20

In Oregon:

* Alan and his former wife 'Burley Bev' founded Burley Design Cooperative, creating bicycling clothes and bags --as Sue puts it, taking the business from 'bags to britches'. They would bicycle 25 miles from Cottage Grove OR to sell their wares at Eugene's Saturday Market.

* When his daughters, Hanna and Fraeda were born, Alan designed the famous Burley Lite Trailer, so he could continue to bicycle, yet carry them safely.

* After a short time away, Alan and his brother, Hanz, arrived back in Eugene in the late 80's to present Burley with a new proposal. The theft of their tandem had inspired them to design and build a tandem that they encouraged Burley to market. This proved to make Burley and Eugene even more visible on the national bicycle scene.

* Carrying on the family bicycle tradition, Alan and Hanz began Green Gear Cycling (known for its Bike Fridays) and began making a folding bike that you can take as carry-on luggage.

Alan truly believes in cycling as a way of life: * He is a role model to employees and neighbors by always choosing to commute to work by bicycle.

* He has provided hundreds of jobs in the bicycling industry over the last 35 years.

* He and Hanz have provided bicycles to the BTA and other great causes to help with fundraising and their business tithes monthly to support the Eugene bicycle education program.

* According to Larry Van Wyngarden at the Oregon Commission of the Blind, Alan has been instrumental in helping several visually, developmentally, and physically challenged people experience the joys of bicycling by arranging tandem rides.

* Alan regularly encourages friends, customers, and employees to become 'bicycle ambassadors', whether you ride a folding bicycle, regular bicycle, any kind of bicycle...

*** STOP PRESS! ***