Various listmembers throughout the country have been directly involved in, or simply followed at a distance, the ongoing saga involving the relocation of the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame. Originally located in Somerville, NJ, misfortune led to the loss of the Hall's last location in that town a few years ago. An effort to find a new home in Somerville became an effort to find a new home in Somerset County, and then extended further afield. Last year, following a national competition, the Hall of Fame's board of directors selected Davis, California, as the new headquarters for the Hall of Fame.
The City of Davis and UC Davis, along with the Davis Bike Club and several private members of the Davis community, all contributed greatly to the community's bid. Those folks continue to come through as we approach this weekend: The Grand Opening of the new U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame museum at noon, on Saturday, April 24. The ceremonies will kick off at 11:30, but the ribbon cutting and the first smiling face walking through the doors will be at noon.
After the ribbon cutting, the museum will be open until 4 PM on Saturday, and then we'll shut it down for a reception later on for sponsors of the local AMGEN Tour of California start. (You can come to the reception, too, but you have to chip in some serious money to the Stage 2 start. I'm thinking the party may be pretty good, and you should have a look at your checkbook. And it's for a good cause, anyway!)
The new Hall of Fame headquarters is located at 303 B Street in downtown Davis. This is the building on the south end of Davis' Central Park if you're peeking via Google Earth. If you can't make the opening, in the short term our hours will be on Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings, coinciding with the adjacent Davis Farmers' Market -- a ridiculously good farmers' market, by the way. Before long we'll expand the hours, but we need some training time for volunteer crews. This is a good way not to overwhelm things at the start.
For updates, you can keep an eye on our newly renovated website at http://www.usbhof.org, and if you're on Facebook, search for U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame and become a "fan" of the page -- that way the updates will come to you.
If you visited the Hall of Fame in Somerville and think you've seen it, you haven't. We've added a ton of things to the displays, and it's finally in a building that it deserves. And, until further notice appears on our website and elsewhere, admission is free. I hope we see you soon!
Dan Kehew
Davis, California, USA