Davis will be new home of Bicycling Hall of Fame
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By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com
Published: Friday, Apr. 10, 2009 - 8:10 am
Last Modified: Friday, Apr. 10, 2009 - 8:18 am
Davis has snagged its own sports hall of fame and will become the n ew home of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. Davis, the self-proclaimed "bicycle capital of the United States," beat out Greensboro, N.C., to capture the hall that for the past two decades has been in Somerville, N.J. One city official, Councilman Stephen Souza, said the hall could be in temporary quarters in a downtown city-owned building by the end of the year.
Bill Brunner, who chaired the hall of fame search committee, said it was a close call between the two cities but Davis was given the nod because of its many bike trails and because so many residents bike to work and scho ol. The hall asked communities to submit proposals to host the hall because the current Somerville location is slated for redevelopment. About 50 communities were interested and 11 submitted proposals. The finalists turned out to be Greensboro and Davis. Both cities were visit ed by selection team members. "The distinguishing difference between Greensboro and Davis was that Davis was so bicycling friendly," said Brunner. "All those bike lanes and the sheer number of people who use the bicycle as a method of transportation or recreation or sport." The hall's museum is filled with artifacts such as trophies, jerseys and bicycles from greats such as Major Taylor and Greg Lemond. The museum also inducts bicycling greats every year into the hall. "When we started this home search process, our intent was to be the Cooperstown of Cycling," said Brunner. Cooperstown hosts baseball's hall of fame. Bicycling is being embraced by people during a time of high gas prices, c oncern about health and the green movement, he said.
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Rick Peoples Temecula CA US of A
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