Michael Bickley, Trustee Candidate (Eastern Region)
Fellow AHRMA members, my name is Mike Bickley I live in Columbus OH, and I am asking for your vote and support as an Eastern Trustee of this fine organization. I started riding mini bikes in 1972 and continued for a number of years riding and racing motocross and cross country until the late 80’s. Like many, I took a sabbatical to get married, raise a family, work hard in the corporate world and eventually start my own business. In the early 2000’s I found a 1974 Yamaha DT125A, the bike I rode to high school and restored it to a high standard. This was the proverbial light bulb, subsequently I have bought and restored a great variety of motorcycles from a Kawasaki 500 triple, to many of the motorcycles I either owned, or desired as a young man, recently my garage had as many as many 15 bikes in various stages from “projects” to championship contenders.
I began racing again over 10 years ago, and have had the good fortune to win two AMA National Championships, 9 AHRMA National Championships (with 3 more to be decided in Nov), and a number of AHRMA Regional Championships in the Great Lakes & South Central Regions. In the two most recent (normal) years 2018 & 2019 I competed in as many as 15 events. Traveling the country from California to Florida, Texas to New York and all point in-between participating in six different classes with four bikes.
I have been an active volunteer with AHRMA for the majority of my time as a member. I managed the new AHRMA – Great Lakes Region until 2019, operated a number of AHRMA National off-road events as the sole AHRMA official / Race Director, and worked as a tech inspector at more than 20 AHRMA National events. I developed the newest PV class “PV-100”, which will become one of the most popular classes in the Sunday motocross race program in future years. It seems appropriate that the next step is to become involved at the trustee level.
Currently I am primarily an off-road racer. I ride VMX, PVMX and have participated in Trials and Cross Country, a couple of my AHRMA friends have made the transition from Off-road to RR this year and Barber RR is now a bucket list item for me. Irrespective of the various disciplines we ride, the role of a Trustee is to represent all members equally and effectively.
I have been a keen observer of all things AHRMA, and have expressed opinions both positive and negative on certain topics, however I believe I have always approached issues from the perspective of “what’s best for the members”. And as a trustee I would ask the tough questions, challenge the status quo, but will respect my fellow board members and support the majority vote. As a non-profit, member owned and governed organization I believe that the organization should always consider the members/owners point of view.
Currently the Midwest region is not well represented in the trustee position. The vast majority of Trustees are located in the far west, deep south or east coast. I am running to fill the seat previously held by Louis LeBlanc, while he represented the East, he was located in Louisiana just east of the Mississippi. While I understand the role of a trustee is to support all members, regardless of location or discipline, as a national organization I believe it’s important to have regional representation.
My background is in corporate sales & marketing, and more recently in the IT world, both skills that would be helpful to the board. Furthermore, there are areas that I feel strongly about, term limits for trustees, open ZOOM trustee meetings with opportunity for member participation, optimized utilization of social media, not just Facebook but Instagram, Twitter, and whatever the next tools are. And most importantly, to develop a multiyear year plan to grow membership at a rate that will sustain this group for the foreseeable future.
Please send me comments, ideas, and share how AHRMA can better meet your own needs, out to me directly at mikeabickley@yahoo.com, and let your fellow members know of my candidacy.
Thank you for your consideration.
Mike Bickley
mikeabickley@yahoo.com
614.332.1219
