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Margaret Day embodies everything a Bike Friday is about: long roads, long life! Seen here at the 2004 Gathering, Maslin Beach, South Australia.
IF YOU'VE joined our fold, you probably know about the Bike Friday referral program: refer your friends and earn real bucks ($50 per bicycle) or 'Bike Friday Bucks' ($75 credit towards your next purchase).
And chances are, you know about Australian Bike Friday Club founder and Air Friday owner Margaret Day who, with her husband Graham, has referred over 250 Bike Friday owners in the past ten years. That earned her a new Bike Friday a long time ago, but she only recently cashed in her chips and bought a Pocket Crusoe Petite with her credits.
Margaret has tirelessly championed the Bike Friday and wider cycling cause throughout Australia for years, and with the help of club co-organizers Bronwyn Laing and Dave Boyling has built The Australian Bike Friday Club, a nationwide club of over 80 members who meet annually for a 4-day fitness/fun/flag-reducing-inducing gathering (depending on how much you eat vs how much you ride) - all wheel sizes always welcome. Margaret well qualifies as one of our many, many super seniors. She's one of the hardcore cyclists who've ridden across Australia's Nullarbor Plain - a Latin word meaning "no trees" - on her Bike Friday of course.
Here's what Margaret told the Wall Street Journal in 2005 when they cam knocking on her email box:
The company which makes Bike Fridays changes lives for thousands of people, especially those who like to travel with their own bicycle. It is ten years since we first bought our Bike Fridays and although we rode top bicycles in the past, they seem to lie idle most of the time now as the BFs suit us for every day purposes as well as when on tour. Yes, you have our names correct, we live in suburban Adelaide, the main city in the state of South Australia.
Previously we had had many hassles when flying with big-wheeled bicycles to other parts of the world, lost, delayed, extra costs and so on. Now we pack and travel with the Fridays in their cases and nobody refuses us passage or charges extra on planes, trains, ferries or whatever.
I guess I refer most of the people but Graham is better with the technical answers so we both contribute in different ways. One thing which happened in Australia is that I wrote articles for our national cycling magazine from time to time so that was one way in which people became interested. And I also had a throw-away line on my first article which asked "Want to join the club?" There was no club, but I soon sorted that out, drew up some rules and the Australian Bike Friday Club became an incorporated body which has met annually ever since.
The tenth event will be held in April next year. Because we charge nothing for people to attend, we ask cyclists for donations for a charity, raising money for good causes. Ausralian Bike Friday Club people are generous. Cycling is one of the best ways to travel anywhere. Easy on the environment and good for health. Clean, swift and quiet
Cycling's a riot
More folks should try it
Cheers, Margaret +61 8 8271 5824
 +++ "When I don't want anyone to talk to me, I ride my [insert popular brand name bicycle here]," says one Bike Friday owner. "Otherwise, I ride my Bike Friday and everyone stops me!" +++ So make sure you always have your referral cards in your handlebar or seat bag to hand out whenever you hear the inevitable 'hey, don't you have to pedal more?'. Do like Katherine Roberts, referrer of more than 90 people: fill out the tear-off section for them and post it in yourself. That way the curious will be sure to receive our new Bike Friday catalog. Call 1-800-777-0258 or fill out an referral cards request at the end of the referral card page to have a set mailed to you. Your local bicycle shop is also a valuable source of our business. Encourage your favorite shop to carry a few copies our catalog so they can refer people specifically looking for a performance travel bicycle to us. We'll honor their endorsment with $100 'thank you' referral fee, when the sale occurs. Bike Friday is a small company. We rely on the reputation we've built with over 12,000+ customers worldwide. Keep on riding and keep on referring - you'll help keep little wheels - perhaps the pair attached to your EARNED Bike Friday - rolling off the line. RELATED LINKS Referrals happen when you least expect it - Galfromdownunder shows how easily it's done The Australian Bike Friday Club Emailable link to this article: http://www.bikefriday.com/referrals For more information, follow this link http://www.bikefriday.com/referralAwards.cfm. |
REMEMBER:
A Bike Friday must be one of the easiest prizes to earn - most people tell us they can't ride a mile without being stopped and quizzed about their bicycle.