Bicycle advocacy program praised by association

(Toronto, ON – March 6, 2008) — Trek Bicycle Corporation delivered good news to the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada (BTAC) on the eve of one of North America’s largest bicycle show, the Toronto International Bicycle show.

BTAC’s Executive Director, Janet O’Connell announced that, “Trek Bicycle Corporation has extended its 1 World 2 Wheels program into Canada. Shared by BTAC and the Canadian division of the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA) the funding will be used for bike related advocacy efforts in Canada. It is earmarked to play major role in BTAC’s advocacy, outreach and public education work, which is an exact match with Trek’s expectations.

This Canadian initiative is a natural evolution of Trek’s work with the IMBA and the League of American Bicyclists in the USA.  The mandate of 1 World 2 Wheels in the USA is too increase the number of bike trips taken, encourage bicycle commuting and provide a total of $1.6 million in advocacy support. For the Canadian component Trek will contribute $1 to from every helmet they ship to Canada to BTAC and $10 for every full suspension mountain bike will go to IMBA. The program is expected to raise $100,000 over the next three years. Many individual Trek dealers in Canada are also participating with comparable contributions.

Usman Valiante, BTAC’s Director of Cycling Advocacy praised the announcement, saying “Trek’s commitment to Canadian bike advocacy is just the right boost at the right time. It comes at a critical juncture for BTAC – a time when BTAC’s advocacy activities are ramping up exponentially and we are setting a long-term vision of how to get more Canadians to ride more often. Both the commitment and the funds it brings are going to be very helpful in moving forward on a core Canadian bike advocacy agenda.”