“It’s been a tough week for the board,” a buoyant Ayers told the gathering of about 50 cycling insiders, adding to long applause: “If we could get our politicians together like we came together to move an agenda, we’d have a lot of things move in this country — quickly.”

After a week of turmoil that, according on one board member, “felt more like a month,” the move defused a potential mutiny within club ranks and set the stage for a forward-looking agenda at its upcoming annual meeting next Thursday at REI.

The popular veteran club leader was fired unexpectedly a week ago by the board after refusing to resign. Board members, many of whom were recruited by Ayers, felt the 13,000-member, 24-staff organization had reached the point where a different leadership skill set was required. Longstanding members and staff, however, saw the move as a threat to Cascade’s bike advocacy efforts, as well as a signal the club was becoming more “PC” and corporate-like.

David Hiller, left, and Chuck Ayers: Together again

While numerous challenges remain organizationally, the move was widely greeted as calming the waters.

When the two stood before the group to hand out door prizes, it felt like an affirmation of the approach that boosted club membership by more than 30 percent in the past two years. Ayers’ reappointment was set for six months but can be extended. He will work with the board and membership to provide a smooth transition to new leadership.

On hand were four Cascade-endorsed legislative leaders, including City Council members Mike O’Brien and Tom Rasmussen, King County Council candidate Joe McDermott, and Rep. Jay Inslee.

Inslee put forward a five-point plan — “three serious, two comical” — for national policy with the admittedly optimistic goal of emphasizing a system “where the default position is the bicycle.” Non-motorized vehicle use should be closely integrated with land-use planning, Inslee said. And under the proposed National Transportation Objectives Act, motorized transport per capita per mile would be reduced by 16 percent over the next decade, with CO emission cut by 40 percent.

Inslee’s less serious propositions: Change the national motto from “E Pluribus Unum” to “The funny free feeling of feeling freewheeling.” Second, the Cascade club criterium should be held around the top perimeter of the Space Needle.

Inslee, who rides a classic 1981 Cinelli, said the demands of Washington “have killed my bike riding.” But he vowed to “keep pushing” to ensure bikes are included in federal transportation policy.

BikePAC, the club’s political action division, helps raise money to support bike-friendly candidates.

That’s pretty much what our inquiries into longtime advocacy director David Hiller’s future at Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club have yielded.

David Hiller: Whither goeth?

Does Chuck Ayers’ abruptly announced departure affect Hiller?

In press statements, Ayers made several pointed references to advocacy and grass-roots activism, hinting that the “new” Cascade would back off its roll-up-the-shirtsleeves approach to political organizing.

Club board members vehemently deny that’s the case. At the same time, they make it clear that the club will be taking a more professional, corporate approach to cycling issues in political, financial and civic circles.

Hiller did not respond to an email inquiry. A board member told us, “We just can’t get into that.”

When you ask a simple yes-or-no question and the room goes dark, you have to suspect something’s up.

Hiller’s departure, or even shift to a different position, would mark a giant change for Cascade. Moreso than Ayers, Hiller is the face of Cascade to the community at large.

A tireless lobbyist, Hiller has worked hard the past two years to get vulnerable-user (cyclist and pedestrian) legislation passed. Last year he was a key figure in the successful election campaign of now Mayor Mike McGinn.

Hiller has been in the forefront of Burke-Gilman Trail, bike lane and “road diet” campaigns. He’s the first person the press turns to for a quote on bike issues. And for good reason — we can’t recall him ever saying “no comment.” Till now, at least.

If Hiller were to leave Cascade, we doubt he would fade into the woodwork. It may be that David will join McGinn’s staff or find a lobbying position with a different bike organization. In any case, we suspect the name David Hiller will remain synonymous with bike advocacy for some time to come.