Randy Victory

“The surprising thing about volunteering is that you almost always get more out of it than what you put in,” claims Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition President Randy Victory.

Known as “Ranger Randy,” Victory works at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. He often patrols the park on his bicycle, offering his own special brand of friendly assistance to the public. Born in San Francisco, he grew up near Dallas, Tex., not far from six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong’s childhood home. After graduating from Redwood High School in Marin County, Calif., --the birthplace of the mountain bike, says Victory-- he began cycling in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, logging 10,000 miles a year on his bike.

Volunteerism comes naturally to Victory, who was a Boy Scout and later volunteered as a National Mountain Bike Patroller, a program sponsored by the International Mountain Bicycling Association. Besides trail building, he learned a lot about working with the public. “The volunteers really helped the Forest Service and the sense of fulfillment, accomplishment and service was phenomenal,” Victory says.

"Transportation is incredibly important to human beings. We even have a special symbol for people with mobility limitations. I’ve always believed that I should be able to freely choose my mode of transportation. If you look at our Federal budget, transportation is second only to defense. At the State level, transportation is the biggest budget item. According to the latest statistics, transportation costs for the average American household are second only to housing costs. So as you can see, we place a high regard on mobility. I’d like to help create a community where individuals actually have realistic choices about how to get to school, or work, or to the park – where they don’t just climb into a car because they’re afraid to get there any other way, or feel compelled to act as full-time chauffeurs to their kids because the streets are unsafe," Victory says.

When he moved to Cottonwood six years ago, Victory became a Dead Horse Ranch Trails Coalition volunteer. “One of my first projects was to create a map of Thumper Trail,” he says.

Working with the volunteers at Dead Horse Ranch State Park inspires him. “I really respect the work they do. They give so freely of their experience and time. Experience can usually be rented, at a price,” Victory maintains, “But time is a priceless commodity.”

Victory was instrumental in organizing the VVCC, a bicycle advocacy group whose membership promotes “share the road” principles, education, and bicycle infrastructure integration on behalf of the local community. He said he couldn’t serve his community nearly as well without the help of his wife Cheryl, who is VVCC secretary. They were married at Dead Horse Ranch State Park. Friends Ian Wickson, Daniel Paduchowski, Dave Putman and the other members of the VVCC all provide invaluable volunteer assistance within the community. “We don’t accomplish anything without the people around us,” Victory emphasizes.

In 10 years the community will obviously be a lot bigger, and one of Victory’s goals is to work toward creating complete streets – streets that address the needs of pedestrians, bikes, cars, commercial traffic, and kids, people who have had DUI or other license trouble or for some reason can’t drive, the disabled and adults – not just adults in cars.

The biggest challenge for the community is compensating for the past 50 years of no education or bad education, Victory believes. “Education is a big part of the answer to so many of the world’s problems, and cycling is no exception. We need to help non-cyclists understand that infrastructure improvements and bicycle facilities benefit the entire community, not just bicyclists, and the time to put these improvements in place is now, while the cost is still low. Retrofits can often be a burden to the taxpayer.”

Promoting the bicycle as a preferred mode of transportation, Victory advises, “Just do it! Riding a bike is patriotic! And, if you’re going to do it, remember cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as operators of vehicles. Some folks ride their bikes in a manner driven by fear. So, they ride illegally and unpredictably.”

A safety advocate, Victory advises bicyclists not to do anything on bicycles that they wouldn’t do in cars, like riding on the sidewalk or against traffic.

There’s never a dull moment in Victory’s life. “Right now I spend most of my free time trying to work for cyclists’ rights and bicycle accommodations here in the Verde Valley. I probably spend between two and four hours a day working for local cyclists – sometimes more on special projects. In March I’ll be traveling again to Washington D.C. for the National Bike Summit to work with Congressmen and Senators for Transportation Enhancements Funding and improved bicycle legislation,” he says.

Victory sometimes laments that he doesn’t have much time to log the thousands of miles on his bike that he used to, because his “cause” takes up most of his time. He feels appeasing his passion to get the word out about the positives of bicycling and making a difference in transportation issues is worth that sacrifice.

Community members may learn more about bicycling opportunities by logging on to the VVCC Web site, www.vvcc.us. Volunteer Mark Luffman of Cottonwood created and maintains the site.

It’s not surprising that Victory’s favorite quote is the one Albert Einstein made famous about the Theory of Relativity, “I thought of that while riding my bike.”