As somebody who regularly pays the annual BV membership fee, I often wonder what it is they actually do?
I mean, I understand their role in cycling advocacy in a general sense, but I’d be interested to hear specifics.
I get the impression from chats I’ve had with many people that BV don’t necessarily represent a lot of the Victorian cycling scene. They also have a reputation for being ‘all talk, no action’.
I know this thread sounds like I’m being deliberately facetious but I honestly would like to learn more about this organisation, and what other like-minded fixie riders think about them.
On a simplistic level I find their website quite difficult to use.
i have the same question about bicycle NSW. they dont even issue press releases when mindless vehicular assaults occur against packs of world-class cyclists. completely invisible…
Perhaps he was hinting at how the almost Spartan effectiveness of the fixed.org.au layout makes the jumble over at bv.com.au look positively Byzantine in comparison.
And don’t knock the BV Subaru promotion - scored a Pedros footpump out of it, I don’t even drive, the dealer had to drive me around to make it qualify for a test drive … thanks BV, not even a member …
The theory is that the revenue they raise from organising and running group rides (which only happen with continued support from unpaid volunteers) goes toward the campaigning and lobbying they do.
For the record they’re not too fond of Critical Mass either, and the relationship they have with bicycle user groups has a chequered history. One of the only BV board members I’ve met, I met at CM. Go figure. Who says organisations can’t change?
Sometimes they seem more like a travel agency or a tour operator than a cycling advocacy or lobby group, but then that’s the nature of the beast, right? Not everyone gets to sit in on board meetings or eavesdrop on the phonecalls Big Harry makes, but you can always read their annual reports.
