Vote Now for 2016 FBRA Board of Directors

The voting process is currently open and you may place your votes as instructed below. 

VOTING IS OPEN

• You must hold an “active” USAC road rider, official, or race director license residing in the state of Florida as per your USAC license to participate in this process. Riders must hold a road license which covers the disciplines of road, cyclocross, and track, the disciplines that the FBRA represents for USA Cycling in Florida.
• Beginning Dec. 1 for new or renewal racing licenses, you must declare road, cyclocross or track as your primary discipline to be eligible to vote.
• Your vote must be submitted from the email address that is registered with your account at USA Cycling to certify your vote.
• You may vote once for up to three (3) Nominees
• Please email your “VOTE” for the listed Nominees directly to  with the subject labeled FBRA VOTE. You must include your name, e-mail address, and USAC license number on your email vote. To certify your vote it must be sent from your e-mail address as listed in your USA Cycling account.
• Voting Results – Results will be provided by Dec 1.  Those elected will be informed and the results posted in an email to the membership and on the FBRA website.

Nominees who accepted their nomination are Vince Cook, Zach Fout, Tish Kelly, Todd Leedy, Jim Mehr, Tim Molyneaux, Patrick O’Shea, Jonathan Perez, Ryan Saylor, John Tenney, Henry Willis, Jim Wright. 

The 4 newly elected members will serve for two years and join Jared Zimlin, Christian Heinrich and Darren Dowling who will be remaining for the second year of their two year term.

Scroll down to view the nominees and their platforms.

2016 FBRA Election

Nominee	Platform
	I did my first bike race in Florida when I was 14 years old and have been hooked ever since. I have raced in Florida every single year for the last 30 years and haven't missed many races north of West Palm since about 2003. I would wager that there are very few people, if any, who have done more Florida races than I have. Thus, I feel uniquely qualified to analyze anything brought before the board and take the best action for us racers. After being sick and tired of allegations and accusations of amateur racers in our state using performance enhancing drugs (PEDs), Jared Zimlin and I founded the Florida Clean Ride Fund to insure a fair and level playing field at our local Florida races. The Florida Clean Ride Fund is an all volunteer, non-profit organization that allows people to donate money to fund PED testing at Florida races. During its 4 year existence, FCRF facilitated quite a few tests catching a handful of cheaters and exonerating many clean racers. In the last few months USA Cycling has acknowledged the merits of our organization, taken over Florida Clean Ride Fund, and implemented the idea of PED testing at amateur level races nationwide. My focus while on the board will be: 1. Insuring safe courses and races for all of us to compete 2. Continue the encouragement of clean racing 3. Promote and develop womens and junior racing to help grow our sport
	I am an avid cyclists for 8 years cycling all over the world but mostly in Florida and I am cat 3 racer on Florida Velo team. I served on our Naples Velo Club board as VP for four years developing many events and rides. I also served on Naples Pathway Coalition board and spun off that board by developing my own "vulnerable user " ( bike ) safety initiatives including the introduction of a bill that is in committee in Tallahassee as we speak . I hope to beef up laws and penalties, clarify laws that are ambiguous and create a few new laws to protect cyclists/vulnerable users of the roadways . I am a director of the new Florida Cycling Foundation based in Tampa. It is a non - profit organization that foster cycling and healthy communities through advocacy, education and promotions. I am manager and owner of the new Flamingo Racing LLC that has developed a new woman's elite race team called Stradalli/PapaJohn's. One of Florida's only woman's elite race teams. ( pro 1) I have been involved in countless charitable endeavors/ fund raising and events. My aim is to help grown woman's racing in Florida. I would like to see it grow from cat 4 up. I would like to make it more inviting, safer and attractive to new racers. I would also like to promote woman's cycling. Just get more of them on bikes . Obviously I am also very involved in bike safety on our roads and the education of cyclists and motorists when it comes to out laws. Thank you for the opportunity here and I hope this gives you an idea of how involved I am. Sincerely, Tish Kelly
	Hello- My name is Vincent Cook and I am seeking re-election to the FBRA Board of Directors. My experience with bicycle racing began over 25 years ago while attending college at George Mason University. I have been president of various USAC Clubs from the Mid-Atlantic region to Florida. I have experience racing in all disciplines from Road to BMX, Mountain Biking, Track and Cyclocross. Currently I am a Category 2 Masters license holder as well as a certified coach through USA Cycling. As a director on the Florida Bicycle Racing Association board, I delivered on my election promises to support junior and beginner cycling by introducing new grants to support both junior talent development as well as beginner racing. I also supported grants that developed new USA Cycling Officials. I fostered good communication and tried to cultivate new ideas whenever possible. For 2015, I assumed the duties of approving permits for the Florida racing calendar. As part of my responsibilities, I worked with promoters from across the state to assemble a racing calendar for Florida that had a variety of courses, disciplines and whenever possible free of conflicts. Florida is the 3rd most populous state in the country and because of our beautiful weather we have the luxury and opportunity to race year round. I support more races among the various disciplines – as a state there are riders to support it. Additionally, I volunteered to lead a working group among other Local Associations from across the country. This smaller group met once a month via conference call and talked about how to best support USA Cycling’s long term goals as well as how to overcome roadblocks. These ideas were then rolled up to our new CEO, Derek Bouchard-Hall. As an FBRA board member I believe I have supported USA Cycling’s key initiatives by helping grow the sport of cycling and encouraging rider participation at all level of events. Here is what I would like to see in the future: New support for Interscholastic High School racing leagues like those in the Mid-Atlantic and Texas. Because of our population and weather I believe we have a special opportunity to have numerous high school teams from across the state. We have several special venues across the state that could be utilized for high school events – just like cross country or track events. I would also like to see new Collegiate Cycling Teams established across the state. My love for cycling started here so it is dear to my heart. New clubs and riders are the genesis for our sport and are without a doubt the future of bicycle racing. Continued support of the Clean Ride Fund. I believe it is essential to provide a level playing field from which athletes of all ages and categories can compete. I believe the depth of experience gives me a unique perspective that will continue to further the sport of bicycle racing while balancing the needs of the race promoters and racers.
	I have worked in the cycling industry for 19 years. I've worked in many shops within a number of capacities. Currently I am a manager at Bike America. I enjoy effecting change in this industry. It has never been more exciting to me than it is today. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings. Preservation & Growth I support the preservation of existing races and race series's across multiple disciplines. I believe it should be a priority to strengthen the quality of events. If we can provide promoters with every tool needed to manage a higher quality event it will make their job easier. If a promoter can better manage their event it will attract more participants. If those participating are satisfied with the event they will invite others to join. We can create a win/win situation with little effort. The overall idea is to stop bickering over the same small slice of pie and systematically aim to increase the overall size of the pie. If successfully implemented we will see quantifiable growth. We will be setting an example for other states and earn the privilege of hosting larger events within the borders of the great state of Florida! Thank you, Jonathan Perez
	My platform is to help find a scheduling and participation balance between the varying disciplines of cycling raced in Florida, with a subgoal of expanding and improving cyclocross. I am excited to try and help all of the disciplines of racers find easy, safe, enjoyable, and fulfilling access to the sport(s) they love. I am relatively new to the sport of cycling and I want to bring a fresh outlook and new ideas to the board. professionally, I work in IT and run a sizable organization that focuses on troubleshooting diverse problems and organizations, and at the base just getting things done. I want to take this personal passion and experience and help make cyclocross grow and be the family friendly and fun discipline that everyone wants to participate in at some point because it IS that. 'Cross is great in my mind because your loved ones and friends can watch the whole race and see you every few minutes; It's as much a spectator sport as any in cycling. I would love to bring my passion for cross to others in cycling, and I look forward to an opportunity to help all riders have a safe and great time in all disciplines.
	My name is Jim Wright. I have been a road racer in Florida from 1993 through 2012. Most of those seasons I raced every race in the "Florida" series. I have been a promoter and also an official for many of those years. After shoulder injuries and surgery forced my retirement from racing, I have focused on officiating and I enjoy doing my best to provide the kind of officiating that I saw was needed during my over 600 career races. As a racer I have won close to 80 races over 20 years, 7 state championships, 3 national championships, The 2006 Florida Cup and FPS Championships, 2007 FRCA Racer of the year. For one 12 month period in 2006-2007, I was ranked as the number one 50+ criterium racer in the country. I believe I may have finished 2nd (first loser), in the Florida series, more times than anyone else! :) I was promotor and/or Technical director as my club hosted Cecil Field races, Camp Blanding Road race, Bradford Truck School Criteriums, the three large (Riverside, San Marco, NRC downtown) Jacksonville Criteriums and Thunder Rd. road races, the Baldwin and Olustee State Time Trial events. I served as president and or race director for approximately 10 of Jacksonville Racing Club's 20 years. As an official I have worked at two different national championships, the junior road nationals in Orlando and the Junior road nationals in the Clemson area as well as many other events from Pensacola to West Palm Beach. Broad experience is what I bring to the board. I know what works and I learn fast about what needs changing. I can make sure the board has input from all three areas of my experiences. Very few individuals have this kind of significant experience in all three of these areas. If you think my experience, knowledge and skills would be useful of the FBRA board, I would greatly appreciate your vote. Thank you very much. Jim Wright
	I am seeking your support to join the FBRA Board based on my experience as racer, manager, promoter, and event organizer. I returned to cycling after a 25-year absence and am now in my 4th season of racing in the FLCX series. Since 2013, I have co-captained and managed 352 Racing, a club/team with over 40 members. Over this same period, I have served on the Board of Directors for the Gainesville Cycling Club, the largest such entity in Florida (over 1,000 members). I have also served in a broader community role as an appointed member of the Alachua County-Gainesville Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Board (2013-15). 2015 will be my third year as race director for Swamp Cross and also marks the first time the CX State Championships are held in the Gainesville area. I also created and continue to coordinate a local Veterans Day charity ride (2011-present). As a racer and a promoter, I appreciate perspectives from both sides of an event. As a member of multiple boards, I know that vision means little without the ability to build consensus. As a team manager, I understand that no decision will be universally popular yet decisions must be made. As a volunteer, I see value in service to benefit others. If elected as one new member on a seven person board, I do not see pushing a specific personal platform as very realistic. I want the same from FBRA as most of you probably do - expanded opportunity, sustainable growth, excellence in results. I will work towards these goals on your behalf.
	My name is Zach Fout, and I’m running for a board position on the FBRA. I’m a husband, father, coach, and an educator. My first priority goes to my family, and then my athletes and students. I have a beautiful wife and two young children, 3 and 5 years of age. I started my coaching firm, Cycology Coaching Solutions, LLC, two years ago and I have enjoyed working with different types of athletes. I specialize in cyclocross and mountain biking, but I also have a good amount of experience in training road, running and triathletes. I have also been a cyclocross promoter for 3 years and work year around to advocate for Florida cycling. I am hard working, professional, honest, and accountable. I know hard work and how to be successful. Being a father, coach/owner, educator, and athlete, I know how to get things done. If elected, I will work hard to promote and grow Florida cycling in all disciplines. I will make sure that our races, clinics, and other events are professional, and everyone involved will be held accountable to making the event professional. I will work to help bring a balanced race schedule so that all disciplines will have the opportunity to grow. I will work hard to continue to grow cycling in Florida by assisting our promoters, coaches, officials and racers to the best of my ability. I will advocate whenever possible to provide the best resources for the continued growth for cycling in Florida. Working together we can take Florida cycling to the next level. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Jim Mehr	Hello, my name is Jim Mehr. I have accepted the nomination for a seat on the FBRA board. I would like to thank everyone in advance for your vote and support. I would like to be on the board so that I can continue the positive and hard work of the current board. Here is a little bit of information about myself for those who don't already know me, I am a life long Florida resident, born and raised. I am a current USAC Official and I have a son that races as well. I am strongly in support of junior development in the state, woman's cycling and any & all the different types of cycling in the state of Florida. I want to work with the other board members to improve cycling in the state of Florida. I also support the efforts that FLCX has made to grow the sport of CX in Florida. I look forward to working with promoter in the state and other board members to attempt to have a fair calendar that works for all. In closing It is my goal to make Florida a fun, safe place to race for everyone. If anyone has a specific question that they would like to ask me directly, I am always available and happy to hear from any & everyone. Everyone's option matters. Again thank you in advance for your vote. Thanks Jim Mehr
	I accept the nomination to the fbra board and feel like my qualifications in the sport of bicycle racing make me qualified for the position. As a founding member of the board when USACycling first started the local association program over 10 years ago my goal was fro racing in the state through various programs and plans. As a primary promoter in the state I have continued to work closely with the board through the years to better racing and improve quality of the sport we all love. If elected to the board I will continue to work to add and implement programs through USACycling for all segments of our sport,women's, juniors,masters and categories. We are all invested in the sport and all need equal representation on the board.
	I have been an active member of the Florida racing scene since 2011. I have led my own team and most recently become the race director for a strong central Florida team. I also put on events here and there, mostly time trials. Last year I was part of the team that was awarded the state time trial championship. I believe the board has done a great job so far. I'd like to keep the integrity and professionalism going. I believe my experience as a successful business owner and community activist would be an asset to the board. Thanks in advance for your vote. John Tenney
	I hope to use the experience of being on the BOD and being involved in the sport on many levels to continue to help improve racing in our state. I firmly believe that we need to increase the involvement of all sectors of the sport we represent both geographical, age, and gender. I know that if we fail to get involvement from all of these sectors we are not only failing them but cheating everyone from having the very best we can offer in Florida. I feel we need to provide platforms where individuals can learn to race better and safer , to promote races, get communities involved. I strongly believe that all racers no matter what age group or category deserve the same quality of race at any event they participate in.