Meeting Summary September 17, 2024

Attending: Hultgren, Clark, England, Gosselin

The meeting began at 7:02 pm.

The activity for the Mansfield Festival Booth on 9/28 was discussed and it was decided to do a quiz about bicycling. As in past years, correct answers will not be needed and people don’t have to be present to win if their name is drawn out of the answer sheet box. 10 questions were agreed upon, several true/false and a few with one or two word answers.

The Cycling Without Age program was discussed noting that this year has passed without the program getting operational The trishaw is now having its gearing and chain-ring changed to be able to negotiate the hills in the area that will be used for rides. Since this will be a one-time modification to the bike, it should be able to be paid for by funds remaining in the ARPA grant.

For the program to start in the spring we will need to find and train pilots, set up a scheduling framework and determine who the contacts are in each of the living centers that the program will serve. To that end in the next few months we’ll need to:

            — Determine what software can be used so that living groups, pilots, riders and coordinators can all use it and have log-in access. Clark reported that the Book2Go program that is being evaluated may only be free for the first year, so other ways of scheduling via spreadsheet or Google doc needs to be looked into.

— Set up the pilot training through a comprehensive (but brief) manual and videos. Hultgren will finish his comments on Clark’s compilation of the CWA manuals from other Chapters/sources and forward them to Clark and England for further editing. Clark and England will identify 7 or 8 points to have covered in the manual (and video) … examples: starting the bike, loading passengers, selecting the gears and power, etc. Talking points for the video will be scripted … West Hartford has a quick start guide that can be used for guidance.

Hultgren explained that since Parker has retired from teaching at the Mansfield Elementary School there were 3 questions he is seeking answers from the school ‘s principal and PE teachers: 1. When will the program be scheduled in the 2024=25 school year; 2. Have helmets been budgeted for this year; 3. Does the program actually need two additional 24” bikes to be used as pedal-less balance bikes?

The meeting ended at 8:02 pm.

Lon Hultgren, Sec-Treas

Bike Mansfield