Here in Washington the rumor mill is swirling with names and questions:

• Will it be the National Transportation Safety Board Chairwoman Debbie Hersman? She’s already been meeting with Senate Commerce Committee members. (The Commerce Committee holds nomination hearings for the position of Transportation Secretary)

• What about Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles? He seemed like a favorite until he announced he wanted to complete is full term as Mayor — which runs until June 30th. Would President Obama wait that long to nominate a cabinet member?

• What about former Governors Christine Gregoire of Washington, or Jennifer Granholm of Michigan? Their names are being tossed around for many different cabinet positions.

Speculating on cabinet nominations is a common pastime in Washington, but not necessarily a productive one. As the selection of the next Transportation Secretary gets closer, the America Bikes coalition sent a letter to the President weighing in on the characteristics and qualities we most hope to see in the next Secretary of Transportation.

… We sincerely hope [LaHood's] tenure — and his legacy — is just the start of a new era of transportation policy that embraces all modes of transportation equally and ensures that transportation is more than just an end in itself. We hope your next appointment to this critical position: continues the extraordinary collaboration between DOT, EPA, and HUD, and even extends this multi-disciplinary approach to include health and energy agencies; builds on the remarkable success of the TIGER program in getting more funds directly into the hands of local government entities, where smarter, more equitable and inclusive community development projects emerge, and responds to the clear need for real transportation choices and options to be available to all in our communities…

Read the full letter here.

And remember, you can say thank you to Secretary LaHood at his last National Bike Summit in March!

Caron Whitaker
Vice President of Government Relations

Prior to joining the League of American Bicyclists in 2012, Ms. Whitaker served as the Campaign Director for America Bikes where she coordinated and implemented America Bikes federal policy agenda. Before that, she worked for the National Wildlife Federation on smart growth, international policy, and community engagement. In addition, Caron served as a Community Land Use Planner for the State of North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, providing technical assistance to local governments and staffing a stakeholders’ council responsible for revising state planning regulations. She has a Masters in Environmental Management for Duke University, Nicolas School of the Environment and a Bachelors of Arts from Williams College.

Clearly, allowing all staff to ride to work if they want to is an important step. Last week, President Barack Obama said his new Chief of Staff, Denis McDonough, “probably isn’t allowed” to continue commuting to work on his bike. With your help, we’ve collected dozens of great reasons to #letdenisride. But with a health-conscious Commander in Chief in the Oval Office, we couldn’t help but dream of the day that President Obama adds a BFB award next to that Nobel Peace prize.

Here are a few more ideas to help the White House join the U.S. Department of State, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency as a League Bicycle Friendly Business.

1) Secure bike parking is great way to encourage riding. BFBs often find that bike racks in prominent locations are a great way to start a conversation about their commitment to bicycling.

2) Convenient shower access is a great way to make bike commuting easier on both commuters and their co-workers.

3) We consider the ways businesses encourage cycling when deciding on BFB awards. We’re always impressed when workplaces print up custom cycling jerseys for their key staff.

4) While biking isn’t always going to be the best choice for a particular trip, the top BFBs make it possible to combine biking with other forms of transport.

5) Even with everything they do to promote cycling throughout the year, Bicycle Friendly Businesses always find a way to step it up on Bike to Work Day.

The first step is easy, Mr. President. Click here to download the BFB scorecard. #letdenisride and build a bike lane to the 21st century!

Thanks to my Photoshop genius colleague Katie Omberg and Primal for their help envisioning a Bicycle Friendly White House.

Scott Williams
League Director of Membership

Williams joined the League in April 2010. For the four years prior, he worked providing technology consulting and solutions to nonprofit organizations with Community IT Innovators.

Jacquie Phelan

A commuter turned racer, Phelan took the male-dominated mountain world by storm in the 1980s. “For more than five years, she went unbeaten, and easily bested 90 percent of the men, as the pack was unsegregated in those early years,” the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame raves. Phelan was also the founder of National Off Road Bicycling Association in 1982, keynote speaker of the inaugural IMBA meeting in 1987, created the Women’s Mountain Bike & Tea Society (WOMBATS) in 1987, and raced on four world championship teams from 1990-1993 during her “second wind.”

In just a couple of months, the mountain bike legend and outspoken advocate for gender equity and industry reform will join us at the National Women’s Bicycling Forum. To learn a little bit more about Jacquie, I interviewed her Esquire-style (ironic, right?), asking her to finish the bolded sentences below. As always, Phelan didn’t disappoint…

My love affair with bikes started late. I learned at nine, under harsh conditions. For me it was a sentence: Mom refused to drive any of the six Phelans. In Los Angeles, that’s child abuse. Or at least we thought so. We were obliged to ride.

What got me interested in riding competitively was two movies, and one sentence from a fellow commuter in San Francisco in 1980. Breaking Away and Chariots of Fire got me all dreamy and some guy said he’d taken a half-hour to catch me on the hilly San Francisco streets.

For me, mountain biking is an industry that has lost its way. It was supposed to be about sustainable fun, repairable machines, durable equipment. I mean…really durable. Thanks to most other mainstream bike companies, things must be thrown away regularly, under the guise of newer and better.

I created WOMBATs because the bicycle world is a patriarchal world. Sports is a surprisingly conformist, gender-role rigid milieu, and athletes are rewarded for ability to conform and not question. To something as huge and impossible to battle as ‘patriarchy’ my only response was: make a funny retort, and doll it up with tea and pearls, because it would remind me of my truly radical ‘moms’ in the 1860s, 70s, 80s, 90s — the ones chaining themselves to 1600 Penn Ave. and getting beaten by cops, etc. They were rich white women, by the way. But not considered ‘persons’ in a legal sense.

Some of my proudest moments were when I was included in a museum display at the San Francisco International airport. Joe Breeze curated the exhibit, entitled “Repack to Rwanda.” My bike’s in it, and Charlie’s first bike is in it, and in the context of those late-70s bikes — all modelled after the 30′s Schwinn boy’s bike — Charlie’s aluminum slope-tube, superlightweight, drop-bar, correct-frame geometry (now industry standard) looks absolutely visionary. Here’s a story I wrote about it. That’s a vicarious buzz. For me, my proud moments are when someone includes me in an event. Once, the promoter of TransPortugal flew me over to de-segregate his race (only men had raced this most rigorous of ultra-endurance races). Another time, the organizers of the reunion of the first-ever world championship — it happened in France three years before the Americans had their mis-named first ever world championship in Durango — had me over this past June for the 25th reunion. As a genuine old Bat, I enjoyed swanning around Villard de Lans and even ‘racing’ the old course. Beat a very jet lagged Joe Breeze, until I got off course and finished a bit early. See? Racers —always competing.

I’ll never forget Brian Stickel yanking me off the start line at Mt Snow, or Tom Spiegle booing me on the podium at the race the day before. Or Charlie Cunningham [my husband] momentarily forgetting his party-phobia, and pedaling up Mount Tamalpais on a full-moon night, to meet me at the top (I’d come up from the other side) and escort me down the moonlit dirt roads. Or my first speaking gig down at UC Riverside: An avid rider in the local club flew me down, because he thought the locals would enjoy a wild storyteller. It was the first time I got to travel without having to race also. It was magic.

I almost gave up when… I never almost gave up! Even when I can’t find sponsors for my activities (I’m paid directly by my victims, er, students), I can still ride, have opinions, have small impact, say the truth as I see it. Oh wait, both Charlie [my husband] and I almost gave up when the company he founded, Wilderness Trail Bikes, was taken from him after 25 years of giving his life and creativity to it. Which was also timed with my breast cancer diagnosis.

What sets me apart from the crowd is I am more of a social animal, with a super well-developed Play Ethic. So it’s natural I never really got with the Sponsor Is The Boss program. Especially, especially, when SUV companies used mountain biking as a platform for their uniquely planet-destroying vehicles! And ALL the teams had an SUV company. That’s when I really think the sustainability aim of bicycles, biking, commuting, and advocacy went off the rails. The bicycle had been shoved into the background of the story.

Some of my strongest allies and inspirations are Frances Willard, Kay Ryan, Anais Nin, Charlie Cunningham, Major Taylor, Talia Lempert, Wilma Subra, John Stilgoe and the great Sheldon Brown.

My biggest challenge as a woman in the sport is being taken seriously about stuff like race course safety (hello Bill Cockcroft!) and equal prize lists. This still hasn’t been worked out. Women don’t get to compete equally in the Olympics on bikes, the field is always half the men’s field.

I always tell women in my workshops that it’s ok to be afraid. I’m always a little scared.

If women are to gain equal footing with men in the bike movement we have to have our own magazines, our own companies, our own rich sponsors.

The most exciting thing I’m working on right now is learning to write, and maybe getting my first real job.

Register now for the National Women’s Bicycling Forum!

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

The Hains Point 100

First, here in the nation’s capital, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association is launching a new Women & Bicycles program. (The League’s Women Bike program is working closely with WABA, so, don’t worry — you’ll hear plenty more about this innovative pilot project in coming weeks and months!) Of course, to implement the program the organization needed to raise some cash. Inspired by the effort and wanting to help in some way, Megan Jones — a WABA member, bike commuter and triathlete — came up with a self-professed “crazy” idea: The Hains Point 100. While everyone else was kicking back, spending a cozy pre-holiday weekend eating cookies and wrapping present, Jones would ride 100 miles to raise money and awareness for the Women & Bicycles initiative.

Now, I’m privileged to live just a few blocks from Hains Point — a three-mile, low-traffic, paved loop that hugs the Potomac river. It’s an absolutely divine place to ride, but 100 miles? 33 times around? Even the glittering water and glimpses of the Washington Monument get old on that many go-rounds — especially when the temperature is barely inching into the upper 30s.

But, in literally a matter of days, word of the effort rippled across the metro region. Dozens of people committed to come and ride all 100 miles — or just a few laps — with Jones. Shortly after the fundraising needle passed $1,000, a private donor came forward with a $4,000 match challenge. By the end of 2012, the Women & Bicycles campaign had far exceeded that, banking more than $10K for the new effort. I only made it 10 laps before my frozen toes cried mercy (that’s me being swallowed by my ginormous blue scarf in the picture above), but Jones did all 100 miles with a smile on her face (and a Women Bike button on her jersey!).

Then, a few days later, Frank Peters of cdmCyclist, shared the story of April Morris. In September, the deaths of two women bicyclists on two consecutive days in Newport Beach, Calif., reverberated across the country. Both local residents and bicyclists from across the region came together in grief, concern and an impassioned desire to make their streets safer. April Morris led the charge to turn that outpouring into action.

Morris, who lives in nearby Anaheim but bikes Newport Beach streets, worked with the city council to set up a memorial ride for the two women who died. When she started organizing, her definition of a successful ride was 250 people. On the day of the event, the police stopped counting when they hit 1,200 riders.

Memorial Ride

But beyond riding, residents and area bicyclists wanted to do more to ensure safer streets. Again, working with the city, Morris helped to spearhead a groundbreaking fundraising campaign that combined municipal and individual donations to shore up the Newport Beach Bicycle Safety Improvement Fund. For every $1 contributed by a private donor, the city matched it 3-to-1. With dollars coming in from surrounding communities and even other states, the fund has swelled to more than $300,000.

Did Morris (pictured right) get some push back? Sure. Did she let it stop her? Heck no. “If I could do anything to prevent another death from happening on the streets of Newport Beach, that was my goal,” she told Peters on his radio show. “I do know [the two victims] would have been proud of what we’re doing and what’s happening with the money.”

Peters dubbed Morris his Advocate of the Year and, I gotta say, her interview — the energy and authority in her voice — got me all fired up. Click here to listen.

Speaking of getting fired up (you knew it was coming…), show your passion to get more women riding by registering for the National Women’s Bicycling Forum, coming up on March 4, here in Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

For those of you who attended the 2012 National Bike Summit, the subject may sound a bit familiar. We had a compelling keynote by Jason Ryan Dorsey, The Gen Y guy, who highlighted the distinguishing factors of this generation; many of which point to increased interest in active transportation.

The conversation was kicked-off by Phineas Baxandall, Senior Analyst at U.S. PIRG, who gave a great run-down of transportation trends across the board. A recent report from his organization, Transportation and the New Generation, put some compelling data behind what we already know: Millennials are driving less than the generations before them.

The chart Baxandall returned to again and again showed a 6 percent downturn in vehicle miles traveled since 2007 (below). “This is not a blip” he said.

So what’s the cause of the decline in driving? A lot of it stems from the millennials.

The under-35 age group is 25 percent of the transport population, and there was a 23 percent decline in VMT in that age group between 2001 and 2009. During that same span, biking rates shot up 25 percent, and walking rates rose 16 percent.

David Metz, a partner at the public policy research group Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates (FM3), shared some helpful insights into millennials’ values. Instead of donating time or effort, he said, millennials are more likely to support causes through monetary contributions. FM3′s research demonstrated that millennials value social ties and interconnectedness. They rated “success” not by how much money or material possessions they own, but by personal relationships such as a happy marriage, supportive friends, and strong family ties.

Between data, inspiring speakers, and insightful discussions, a question emerged: How do we get millennials engaged in bike advocacy? Of course, a question this big couldn’t be answered during a one-day workshop — but the conversation was energizing. Here at the League, we’re trying to get more youth involved through a consistent Facebook and attentive Twitter presence, as well as youth-rate memberships and a reduced registration fee for the National Bike Summit. We’re also planning a Club Leadership webinar focused on getting millenials involved in bike clubs.

But we also know there are miles to go before we sleep, and there’s a lot of work to be done to get millennials involved in making biking better. But the future is certainly bright. As Marc Gorton, founder of OpenPlans said in his speech: If millennials keep decreasing their VMT, “we’ll need to change the way we think about transportation.”

Do you have any insights or stories to share?

Katie Omberg
Events and Outreach Manager

Katie joined the League in April of 2010. For the two years prior, she worked at the Corcoran College of Art + Design as a programs coordinator. Katie has a BA in Religion from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass. She enjoys biking to work.

Watch the three-minute video, featuring clips of the event and interviews with leaders like Maga Miranda of the Ovarian Psycos, Caroline Samponaro of Transportation Alternatives and Lisa Rodriguez from Recycle-A-Bicycle.

In addition, Streetfilms put together a collage of insight from the Pro Walk Pro Bike conference, which also touches on women’s issues.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

More than 20,000 retailers, manufacturers and advocates are packed into the Sands conference center this week for the biggest industry event of the year — displaying countless marketing messages highlighting new products and campaigns.

Thanks to Elly Blue — and her presentation at the National Women’s Bicycling Summit last week — I’ve got a new lens to take it all in.

Panelists from the Who’s Selling Cycling to Women session (clockwise from left): Elly Blue, Yolanda Davis-Overstreet, Susi Wunsch, Maira Boustead, Mia Kohout (Photo by Bicycle Times)

As part of the “Who’s Selling Cycling to Women” panel, Blue came up with a simple analytical tool to assess women’s representation in bike-related media. Inspired by the Bechdel criteria for women in movies, Blue created a three-point test “to evaluate images of women in bicycling.”

1. Are women present or represented at all?
2. Are the women presented as active subjects rather than passive objects?
3. If the gender were reversed, would the meaning stay more or less unchanged? (Or would the image become hilarious?)

“As the influence of women grows across all types of bicycling, there has been quite a bit of debate about the representation of gender in everything from ads to advocacy campaigns, race tracks to board meetings,” Blue explains. “Is that photo of a sexy woman on a bike sexist, or is it empowering? Objectifying, or compelling? Tokenizing, or inclusive? Is it different if the photo was taken by a woman? What if the woman depicted is an avowed feminist? Does this mean we are never allowed to depict women wearing skirts and heels? These discussions tend to get frustrating, in part, I think, because we don’t always have a shared idea of what these terms mean. ”

Read Blue’s full description of the Bike Test on her blog, Taking the Lane.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

I could say the energy and enthusiasm were off the charts for the sold-out (well, more than sold-out) event on Thursday, but a) I’m still speechless and b) even that would be an understatement. With more than 275 women from across the country in attendance, we saw — and, more importantly, felt — our diverse collective power to lead and advance the bicycle movement.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to take in any of the presentations in their entirety, but I did catch glimpses of the insight and inspiration shared in the six sessions. (And we’ll be posting video, presentations and other resources in coming days…)

In Women in Bicycle Sports, I saw folks taking pictures with Dotsie Bausch, inspired by the chance to hold the track cyclist’s silver medal from the 2012 Olympics.

In the Young Women Who Ride panel, I heard Lisa Rodriguez, from Recycle-A-Bicycle, describe how she’s trained dozens of fellow female bike mechanics — and deals with customers who see a woman behind the wrench and insist on a second (male) opinion.

In the Selling Cycling to Women panel, we all laughed as Maria Boustead from Po Campo described bike shop owners’ confused response to her chic bicycle bags and Elly Blue’s three-point test about women cyclists’ representation in the media.

In the Women in the Political Process session, the conversation was going strong with folks like Robbie Webber from Wisconsin and Sam Ollinger from San Diego sharing their experiences in elected office and local committees — and firing up other women to speak up and get involved even if they don’t think they have all the answers or expertise (after all, men don’t either!).

In the Beyond Spandex, Toward Social Justice panel, the Ovarian Psycos — a predominantly Latina all womyn cycling brigade — set the room (and Twitter) on fire with their proud, assertive feminist organizing around cycling in East LA.

Beyond Spandex panel — four leaders from the Ovarian Psycos on left

I was halfway down the long hallway when I heard shouting and applause coming from the Family Biking and Car-Light Living session. When I made it into the room, an advocate who had been at the Pro Walk Pro Bike conference since Monday leaned in and whispered: “I just saw the best presentation I’ve seen all week.” The stunning speaker? Emily Finch, car-free mother of six, who put together a video with equal parts humor and inspiration. (More from her later today!)

But the Women’s Summit wasn’t just powerful because of the information sharing. It was about making connections. It was about seeing women at the podiums — seeing ourselves as the experts and leaders we are. As one reporter pointed out to me, the energy and diversity at the Women’s Summit foreshadowed a strong future for the bicycle movement.

So THANK YOU to everyone who attended; it was an honor to meet so many incredible leaders. And remember this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more videos and presentations from the Summit — and information about Women Bike.

Couldn’t agree with Elly more!

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

Still, there’s often the misconception that, as members or leaders of bicycle clubs and nonprofits, advocates are limited in how they can get engaged in local, state and federal elections. Yes, there are rules to follow, but there are many effective ways bicyclists can educate and engage candidates on important transportation issues.

To make sure you know how to make bicycling a part of the political dialogue in your community, Darren Flusche, the League’s Policy Director, compiled “An Advocate’s Guide to Elections: Making Campaigns Work for Bicycling & Walking.”

The latest report from Advocacy Advance — a partnership of the League and Alliance for Biking & Walking — uses clear explanations and real-world examples to highlight best practices for 501(c)(3) nonprofits, 501(c)4 organizations and even individual bicyclists.

“Elections matter,” Flusche writes. “During the election cycle, campaigns give bicycling and walking advocacy organizations the opportunity to educate candidates on bicycling issues, increase the focus on bicycling and walking issues in campaigns, and ultimately build a more bicycle‐friendly America.”

“These activities make a difference,” he continues. “For instance, Bike Delaware used a candidate survey to gauge support for a funding initiative that resulted in $20 million in state funds for a statewide bicycling and walking network. This guide includes insight and examples from Bike Delaware’s survey — and much more.”

To provide clarity and inspiration for bicycle advocates, the report provides:

• Guidelines for what 501(c)(3) nonprofits can and cannot do
• Explanation of 501(c)(4)s and their activities
• Bike/ped examples of
  • Candidate surveys
  • Candidate forums
  • Legislative scorecards
  • Show Me Events, and more

Making cycling safe and comfortable in your community starts with educating and engaging candidates running for office at all levels of government. Whether you’re a nonprofit leader or individual cyclist read this report and get involved during this important election season.

Questions about the election guide? Contact Darren at darren@bikeleague.org.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

In many communities, funding choices are made without public input or scrutiny; streets are repaved without a thought of adding bicycle lanes; and school properties are purchased miles and miles away from the neighborhood children they serve.

What can we do to make cyclists and pedestrians an integral, normal part of the transportation conversation? A new report from Advocacy Advance — a partnership of the League and Alliance for Biking & Walking — highlights the benefits of establishing a Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) to make sure active transportation has a dedicated seat at the decision-making table.

Click here to download Making Bicycling and Walking a Norm in Transportation Agencies: Best Practices in Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees.

Written by Matt Wempe, the League’s State and Local Advocacy Coordinator, the report includes:

• The definition and structure of a BPAC
• Benefits and challenges of a BPAC
• Making the case for a BPAC
• Establishing a BPAC
• Recommendations for an effective BPAC
• And more…

Just one example showcased in the report comes from Nashville, Tenn. In 2008, the city invited 23 individuals — including bike/ped advocates, public works staff, police, and private citizens — to assist the Metropolitan Planning Organization with a regional bike/ped study. That “working group” quickly evolved into a strong, standing BPAC and has gone on to boost bicycling across the region.

For instance, the BPAC helped develop scoring criteria that boosted the number of funded road projects that include bicycle and pedestrian elements by an impressive 70 percent. The BPAC also advocated for policies to establish a 15 percent set aside for bicycle and pedestrian projects in the MPO’s transportation improvement program. Talk about changing the conversation!

Learn more about establishing and improving your local BPAC; read the entire report at www.advocacyadvance.org/resources.

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League's blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women's Bicycling Summit and launched the League's newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.