Board Profile - MasterLink:    Jim Nicholson

This is a double-barrelled profile because it will also fulfill the "profile request" for my other position, that of "Past President" of BTCNJ. Which implies that I once was president... How the mightly have fallen!

Don't get me wrong, that's a good thing. This past year (2007) was my best riding year ever-- more rides, more miles than ever before. So I am enjoying the free time, not being President! However, I'm still the MasterLink editor, so I still do fulfull some useful function, however small!

I joined BTCNJ in 2000 so I am a relative late-comer when compared to those who founded it in 1978 or discovered it soon after. I've packed a lot into those seven years, though, serving on the Executive Board for most of them, first two years as Vice President, then two years as President and now two years as Past President, also fitting in about five years (off and on) as editor of the club magazine. For those of you doing the math, those "sentences" are being served concurrently, not consecutively!

I've been married to Sue for 27 years and she is my favorite riding partner. We've done some club tours together, other event rides and this year, we (with Lenore and Charles Cino) will be leading a club tour to the PA Dutch area in September. My two sons are now 23 and 21, the older living in North Carolina and the younger at Rutgers. Not into riding as much as I am, but there's still hope (and time.)

I still work for a living but am actively thinking about that time when I won't. Possible retirement locations have to go through one major filter -- what's the riding like there? OK, there are other important filters but that one is high up on my priority list!

As I am winding down my active involvement in running, and helping run, the club, I am developing other interests. In 2006, I became a League of American Bicyclists (LAB) Cycling Instructor (LCI) and began teaching their Road One cycling course. My fellow LCI, Kevin Ruane, and I have an ambitious program of classes on tap for 2008. The course is called Better Biking I and is a great way to become comfortable cycling on our busy streets and roads -- safely. We will also be offering the more advanced course, Better Biking II, in March of this year.

Cycling Advocacy has also become an active interest and I will be representing BTCNJ at the upcoming National Bike Summit held by LAB in early March in Washington, DC. Watch for articles about the Summit, both before and after, in the MasterLink magazine. (Being editor, I can make sure they get in!)

I love the hours I spend riding my bike. I ride for a number of reasons: my health, the exhilaration of being able to go from Point A to Point B without stopping at Point C (the gas station -- especially now with those astronomical prices!), to avoid weekend chores, but most of all for the sheer fun of it! I ride with the club for the pleasure of doing this with people who enjoy it as much as I do. I hope to be doing it for many more years to come.

~Jim Nicholson