Missed the Indianapolis Mayor’s breakout session? Late to the discussion on how to use social media as an advocacy tool?

Don’t worry, you can catch up now. We’ve compiled the presentation slides for a number of the stellar presentations and breakout sessions at the 2013 National Bike Summit. Takes a closer look at how to build “better blocks,” how to bring businesses on board, and how to navigate the new federal transportation bill. We’re still compiling the remaining presentations to put online, so please check back in the coming days for new content.

And while you’re at it, you can learn more about new face of the League.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard at the 2013 Summit. (Photo by Brian Palmer)

You can also flip through photos of the Summit on our Flickr page and watch videos of selected presentations on YouTube.

Guest post by April Streeter, author of Women on Wheels

Breaking ground in women’s cycling back in the early decades of biking wasn’t just for the racing types like Tillie Anderson and Louise Armaindo.

A strong, audacious woman named Belva Lockwood is considered Washington DC’s first female cyclist.

Born in 1830, Lockwood was used to breaking down gender barriers. A schoolmistress who wanted to study law before women were “allowed,” she got tutoring and set up practice in the nation’s capital in the late 1870s.

Lockwood soon noticed that her lawyer-ly colleagues were delivering documents by bicycle, speeding up their work considerably by way of two wheels.

She was a well-known figure in D.C., always dressed conservatively in a black velvet gown, which made riding the high-wheeled bicycle virtually impossible. Lockwood instead chose an adult tricycle as her transport of choice. Even displaying an inch of ankle was considered by some immodest, and Lockwood caused quite a stir with her “wheel.”

Such a stir, in fact, that Lockwood says President Grover Cleveland issued an “edict” telling the wives of his Cabinet officers that he did not wish them to ride bicycles.

In March 1879, Belva was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court, the first woman to ever appear there.

In 1884 Lockwood used her “wheel” to get to the post office to mail her letter accepting a nomination as presidential candidate – for the National Equal Rights Party. She received over 4,000 votes, an amazing feat considering her women supporters didn’t yet have the right to vote.

In 1890, the Wheel and Cycling Trade Review reported that Lockwood – now 60 years old – had retired her tricycle and “now devotes herself to the ladies’ safety, on which she is as expert a rider as she was on the three-wheeled machine.”

Read more about women in the bike movement in April’s book, Women on Wheels…

 

Even before the turn of the century, Maria Ward was teaching women to wrench.

During the bicycle craze of the 1890s, Ward published a popular book aimed at getting more women riding. But “Bicycling for Ladies” was more than a primer on choosing a bike and learning to ride. Ward aimed to empower women by teaching them to master their machines, as well.

According to Sheila Hanlon, a bicycle researcher in London:

Bicycling for Ladies was a catch-all guide to cycling, covering everything from choosing a bicycle and learning to ride to health and dress. What distinguished Ward’s manual from the wider genre of women’s cycling instruction — the majority of which was aimed at leisure riders and focused on genteel riding etiquette — was its attention to mechanical detail. Among its more forward-thinking chapters were “Women and Tools” and “Mechanics of Bicycling.” Ward’s objective was to emancipate her lady cyclist readers by teaching them the “laws of mechanics and physiology.”

Ward explained her approach in the introduction to “Women and Tools,” writing: “Most women can sew on a button or run up a seam; sewing, in fact, is regarded rather as a feminine in-stinct than an art… I hold that any woman who is able to use a needle or scissors can use other tools equally well. It is a very important matter for a bicyclist to be acquainted with all parts of the bicycle, their uses and adjustment. Many a weary hour would be spared were a little proper attention given at the right time to your machine.”

Lucky for us, the whole book — published in 1896 — is online. Check it out here!

 

Last week, more than 750 bicyclists from all 50 states gathered for the 2013 National Bike Summit — and several advocates were able to attend specifically because of their state’s Share the Road license plate. As a beneficiary of the specialty plates, Georgia Bikes used some of it funding to provide scholarships for three key advocates working in underrepresented communities.

But the Peach State is one of two dozen that have some version of a Share the Road plate. In this edition of Bike Law University, we explore the what, why and where of this increasingly important funding source.

What are they?

Share the Road license plates are specialty plates for cars that show support for the bicycling community. Specialty license plates are usually created after a legislative or administrative process that involves a certain amount of guaranteed sales. Plates can usually be bought at any time and often provide dedicated funding for an advocacy organization in a state.

Why should you care?

In many states, funds gained through Share the Road license plates are set aside for bicycle safety or education programs, or are shared with bicycle advocacy organizations in the state. In this way, Share the Road plates can be an important tool to ensure that there is dedicated funding for bicycling advocacy organizations or programs in addition to spreading the valuable message to “share the road.” Specialty plates can also be a form of outreach for bicycling advocacy organizations because they are purchased through the state Department of Motor Vehicles or equivalent agency and may expose [unfinished sentence].

Who has them?

Twenty four states have some version of a “Share the Road” plate. In 15 of those states, a bicycling advocacy organization is identified in the law or otherwise to receive funds from the program. In two states, Connecticut and West Virginia, a law is on the books but there is currently no way to purchase the specialty plates.

Where did they come from?

The first state to issue a Share the Road plate was Florida in 1999. For more information on how Share the Road plates began please visit this website: http://sharetheroad.org/the-story/. As of the last revision to the Uniform Vehicle Code (UVC) in 2000, there is no UVC section relevant to the creation and operation of a share the road license plate program.

Spotlight States – Mississippi and Iowa

Mississippi: Mississippi is one of 11 states that designate a bicycling advocacy organization as the recipient of funds produced from the sale of “share the road” specialty license plates. The Mississippi law also gives its chosen bicycling advocacy organization, the Bicycling Advocacy Group of Mississippi, better known as Bike Walk Mississippi, an advisory role in the design of the plates.

Iowa: In Iowa, an organization can get a specialty license plate through either a law or administrative process. The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) sponsored the Iowa Bicycle Coalition to create a specialty plate administratively. The Iowa Bicycle Coalition had complete control over the design of the plates, but had to pre-sell 500 plates in order to complete the administrative process. There are now more than 1,300 Share the Road plates on the road and it is the second highest selling specialty plate in the state.

Click image for the full chart.

Challenges

Unlike most of the laws highlighted in this series, the laws that enable specialty license plates actively involve a state agency. This can be great because it gets advocacy organizations to work together, but it can also create issues. Some of the issues that appeared as I did research on the subject include:

• Threats to funding dedicated to an organization by statute due to state budget issues
• Administrative complexity related to altering license plate designs
• Costly and time consuming start-up costs related to pre-selling plates
• Costumer confusion regarding whether a plate purchase includes a membership with the organization it benefits
• Lack of information sharing between the issuing state agency and the benefitted organization, so valuable information regarding customers is not available for the benefitted organization’s use

I heard several strategies to address these issues including:

• Partnering with other organizations that benefit from specialty license plates to reform the administrative processes surrounding changing plate designs, information sharing, and start-up or to protect the dedicated nature of funding from plate sales
• Work with the issuing state agency at both state and local levels to ensure that retail outlets have information that effectively presents the specialty plate and its purpose
• Survey members so that they are aware of the specialty plate creation process and the difference between plate purchase and membership
• Dedicate some funding raised through a specialty plate to advertisement and outreach to sell more specialty plates

Questions? Contact me at ken@bikeleague.org.

 

As Steven Rea showcased in his beautiful book “Hollywood Rides a Bike,” movie stars have long been pedaling the joys of bicycling on the big screen.

But few have adopted cycling in their daily lives like actress Katharine Hepburn.

Born in 1907, Hepburn missed the first bicycling boom by a decade, but loved to ride from early childhood to old age. In fact, Hepburn shared her memories of bicycling in a biography of her life written by Charlotte Chandler.

As historian Sue Macy recounts on her blog:

“I saw my parents riding their bicycles, and my brother Tom had his bicycle, too,” Hepburn is quoted as saying. “It looked like a lot of fun.” She related how, at age three-and-a-half, she learned to ride a special children’s bike her dad had made for her. Her first ride took place when he brought her to a hill in a nearby park, placed her on the bike, and gave her a shove. “He had a philosophy, you see,” she recalled. “He believed people will do what they have to do.”

Hepburn survived that ride, though her dad had neglected to explain the use of brakes. She only stopped when she ran into a man at the bottom of the hill — but that didn’t dampen her enthusiasm. “The bicycle offered a wonderful chance to see the world,” she said. “I rode all over the city on my bicycle. I don’t know how Mother would have felt if she’d known how far I went. A city seen from a bicycle is an entirely different city.”

That wonder didn’t wear off once she became a movie star, either. According to April Streeter, author of Women on Wheels, Hepburn “was one of the few Hollywood starlets shown in bike glamour shots of the 1930s and 1940s who actually enjoyed a cycling habit.”

Publicity shots with movie stars on bicycles were particularly popular in the late 1930s all the way through the 1950s, and there are plenty of Kate. Fellow actor Theodore Bikel said she was the only superstar that actually regularly rode her bicycle around the Warner Brothers lot. In fact, Hepburn enjoyed cycling nearly everywhere she went. On many movie locations, her pattern seemed to be: work all day, take a bike ride in the afternoon or evening, and retire early. Later in life, she could be seen in slacks and a shirt and sweater, cycling undaunted through Manhattan traffic.

After all, in Hepburn’s day, bicycling made sense from an economic standpoint. “In the Depression, the bike was a viable means of transportation, and then in World War II there was another push for people in the U.S. to ride bikes to save gas and rubber,” Steven Rea told Women Bike Advisory Board member Melissa Balmer. “Hollywood was also encouraging people to be active and healthy via bicycling and other forms of exercise.”

That healthy lifestyle certainly served Hepburn — who lived to be 96-years-old. Long after she retired, she was often seen riding near her ocean-front home in Old Saybrook, Conn. Here’s hoping more modern-day stars step up to Hepburn’s example in promoting bicycling for health, happiness and transportation!

 

Miss “Merrie Wheeler” was a cautious pioneer by modern standards.

Mary Sargent Hopkins, who became known by her penname “Merrie Wheeler,” established her magazine The Wheelwoman in 1895 in Boston. At the time — the heyday of the U.S. bicycling boom — Hopkins was the face of women on bicycles.

Before establishing The Wheelwoman, Hopkins was published in Bicycling World and L.A.W. Bulletin, New England Kitchen Magazine and Good Housekeeping, among other publications. Her cycling journalist contemporary, Ida T. Bell, wrote that Hopkins’ “name has become a household word wherever the bicycle is ridden,” according to a forthcoming book by historian Lorenz Finison.

Hopkins was a champion of women’s health, and much of that focused on outdoor recreation.

“The wheel is today the greatest emancipator extant for women — women who are longing to be free from nervousness, sick-headache, and a train of other ills,” Hopkins wrote, according to Finison. “Indeed the bicycle for women deserves to rank with the greatest inventions of the century.”

And while Hopkins identified as a women’s health advocate and bicycle enthusiast, she also believed a woman’s role was a domestic one. Her better health, she argued, would enable her to fulfill her domestic duties with more vigor.

Finison writes of this common-held belief at the time: ”Despite much emancipatory language, The Wheelwoman espoused conservative notions of femininity that coexisted during the bicycle craze of the 1890s. Hopkins advocated  gradual changes, comforting her middle class readers. The New Woman of Hopkins’ cycling imagery remained assuredly feminine. But she also had the capacity to reform men, and the world.”

Though there was a small but growing movement to reform women’s dress, Hopkins didn’t subscribe to this notion. After initially decrying any type of dress reform, she ultimately endorsed women wearing “short skirts” (about 4 to 8 inches from the ground), instead of the traditional floor-length garb, for bicycling.

Much unlike our previous profile of Amelia Bloomer, Hopkins was averse to all things “bloomer.” Instead she wrote: “It has made my heart sore to see the women who have been putting on knickerbockers, riding the scorching with the men.”

But at the time, Hopkins played the important role of happy medium between two often-quarreling sides. “For opponents of women’s rights, the bicycle exemplified the physical and moral dangers ensuing from any changes in the female condition,” Finison writes. “Mary Sargent Hopkins… produced an image of the female cyclist that was a compromise between the poles of this debate… She ingeniously described the New Woman as free yet morally constrained, athletic yet feminine, strong yet yielding, and not subjugated yet serving men.”

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our next profile in our Women’s (Bike) History series!

 

Looking out at the incredible crowd, it was hard to believe it had only been one year.

On Monday, I recognized many familiar faces at the National Women’s Bicycling Forum. Many folks who had attended the first event at the 2012 National Bike Summit were back to continue the conversation about engaging more women in bicycling. But even in such a short time, the Forum felt entirely different.

Instead of a two-hour panel discussion, this year’s Forum was a signature aspect of the National Bike Summit with nearly 30 diverse speakers; four in-depth break-out sessions; keynote addresses from Georgena Terry, Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth and NYC Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan.

At the start of 2013, the League made gender equity a national priority by launching Women Bike — and we’re not alone. A growing number in local advocacy organizations, leaders in the bike industry and transportation planners at all levels are tackling this divide in innovative and effective ways.

Our hope was that the National Women’s Bicycling Forum would inspire and inform those efforts — and, well, I think we hit the mark.

The keynote addresses were absolutely phenomenal; the break-out sessions were fresh and informative; and the photo booth and Women Bike Pop-up Shop added a new dynamic to the already high-energy event. We’ll be posting more in coming days but, in the meantime, watch recordings of all three keynotes below!

.. 

New research has sparked a debate about the merits of lobbying for dedicated funding for bicycling and walking in the current political climate (see Bikeleague, BikePortland).

One thing everyone can agree on, however, is that bicycling and walking projects are broadly eligible for the majority of federal funding programs in the new federal transportation law, MAP-21. These large and often flexible programs represent a huge opportunity for bike/ped projects to compete with others for a larger share of transportation funding.

Advocates in Delaware and Washington State, for example, have already had great success tapping into some of these larger funding programs for their states’ bicycling investments. They have done this by understanding two things:

1. How the programs work, and
2. The political dynamics. Through the Advocacy Advance Program, a partnership between the League and the Alliance for Biking & Walking, we urge advocates to learn the Who, What, Where, When, and How of the funding process and political landscape.

To demystify a fairly complex process, we’ve created a series of flow charts to illustrate the technical process from planning to construction — and the advocacy steps advocates can take to influence the process. Click on the links below to learn about the program, and check the back for more detailed recommendations.

• The Surface Transportation Program (STP)
•  The Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ)
• The Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP)
• The Transportation Improvement Program (TA or TAP)

Please contact me if you have any questions at darren@bikeleague.org.

 

With 750 attendees from all 50 states and three Canadian provinces, the 2013 National Bike Summit was certainly a success. The National Women’s Bicycling Forum also saw a huge turnout, with 350 people traveling to D.C. to hear from speakers like Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

We trudged through the snowy weather to show Congress that “Bicycling Means Business,” explored the many ways bikes boost the economy, got inspired by women leaders from across the country, discussed issues of equity in the bicycle movement and so much more. From all accounts, you enjoyed yourselves and are headed home with an even stronger tool kit to advocate for bicycling in your communities.

If you missed the Summit or simply can’t wait to relive it, you can check out our sampling of photographs below. Thanks again to all who came to Washington, D.C., — we’ll see you back in the nation’s capital for the Summit in 2014!

All photographs by Brian Palmer. Want to see more? Check out our Flickr page here!

There was no denying that Miss Katie Knox was a card-carrying member of the League of American Wheelmen, but her attendance at the annual meeting in 1895 lit a fire that sparked newspaper headlines from coast to coast. Only 21 years old at the time, the bi-racial seamstress and cycling enthusiast dared to challenge the new “color bar” instituted by the League just one year earlier.

Even before the controversy at the 1895 meeting, Knox had made a name for herself in her hometown of Boston. In 1893, the Riverside Cycling Club became the first black cycling group and, according to historian Lorenz Finison, Knox was among a “small coterie of black women cyclists in the early part of Boston’s [bicycling] craze.” In 1893, the Indianapolis Freemen, a black newspaper of the time, reported on Knox and Viola Wheaton performing “graceful” cycling at a meet-up in Martha’s Vineyard. That same year, Knox was listed in the rolls of the Bulletin — the League’s newsletter of the time — as a member of the growing ranks of the Wheelmen.

But controversy was brewing…

In 1894, despite strong opposition from many local affiliates, including numerous cycling clubs in Boston, the League passed a color bar. Spearheaded by Colonel W.W. Watts from Louisville, Ky., it was resolved at the annual meeting in 1894 that “none but white persons can become members of the League.” Since Knox was already a card carrying member — one of just a few hundred women at the time — it set the stage for an possible showdown at the 1895 meeting.

But Knox wasn’t one to shy away from the spotlight. In fact, in the run-up to the League’s annual meeting, she pushed the boundaries of women’s dress, winning a July 4th costume contest at the Waltham Cycle Park — clad in a gray knickerbocker suit. “Knickerbockers referred to what had been typical men’s and boy’s baggy trousers,” Finison writes in his upcoming book. “That Kittie won with such a uniform was quite astounding, and a testament to her seamstress skills, given the animus in some quarters against women of the time wearing anything but skirts – and long skirts at that.”

Knox must have been prepared for some animus from members when she joined thousands of cyclists in Asbury Park to participate in the League Meet. What happened when she arrived isn’t entirely clear. Some newspapers described Knox being refused entry — and either withdrawing quietly or walking out defiantly — while other reports denied her exclusion. As Finison describes it:

[Knox] was entering a socially segregated space – the Asbury Park hotel district, and given recent history, she must have known the controversy her appearance might create. However, she had the support of her Boston cycling companions, and her entrance was featured in many of the national and local newspapers, which seemed to regard her as a full member of the Boston cycling contingent, despite the existence of the color bar.

The New York Times reported: “With the Boston delegation is also Miss Kittie Knox, a pretty young colored girl, who rides in the Riverside Cycle Club, Boston’s only colored cycle club.” The Times got quickly to the heart of the conflict: “This afternoon Miss Knox did a few fancy cuts in front of the clubhouse and was requested to desist. It is thought that this episode will result in temporarily opening the color line question. Some of the Asbury Park wheelmen officials, it is said, will protest against permitting Miss Knox to remain a member of the league…  [and] the local ‘kickers’ say they will have a reckoning with the League Secretary, Abbot Bassett, upon his arrival.”

This is no longer you father’s or you grandfather’s League of American Bicyclists, president Andy Clarke said this week at the 2013 National Bike Summit.

It shows: With the League’s new branding efforts and larger goal of changing the face of bicycling, there was much to discuss at the League’s Annual Meeting Wednesday during the National Bike Summit.

Three new board members and representatives of the new Equity Advisory Council were on hand, and staff members took questions from League members. The staff, board, League members and others discussed the League’s new branding efforts, the quality of speakers and workshops at the Summit and the excitement around the equity work ahead.

(Board member David Madson introduces himself, as new board member, Tania Lo (blue jacket) looks on. Photo by Brian Palmer)

The new board members include:

• Jay Ferm, Director of Advocacy at Planet Bike. Jay is an active bicycle advocate at the local and national levels, having served on the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin Board of Directors and as co-chair of the Mayor of Madison’s Platinum Bicycle Planning Committee from 2006 to 2008. He is an active year round bicycle commuter.

• Tania Lo, Co-owner/Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Momentum Mag. Momentum Mag is an independent media company that celebrates the growing transportation cycling movement in North America with an emphasis on women and families. Tania is also the producer of award winning feature documentary Long Road North — from Patagonia to the Arctic, the story of discovery, personal endurance, cultural identities and family trials and tribulations from behind the handlebars. She is a dedicated bicycle commuter in Vancouver, British Columbia.

• Nicole Preston, Managing Director at Tour de Cure. Tour de Cure is a fundraising campaign with 90 cycling events nationwide that has grown from 26,000 riders to more than 62,000. Through Tour de Cure, Nicole promotes cycling to new audiences as a means to improve health and reduce the incidence of diabetes. Nicole rides regularly, in various modes: at low speed with family on the paths around the Washington, D.C. area, at moderate speeds in various cycling events around the country and in high-speed pace lines on timed segments.

Members of the Equity Advisory Council also gave a glimpse into their work to advance cycling — and inclusion — in Long Beach, Richmond, Seattle, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New York City, Atlanta and Miami — and their excitement to be working with the League at the national level. The council, along with Women Bike, is part of a broader goal: To change the face of bicycling by fostering true equity in the movement. Stay tuned for much more about that effort in coming weeks…

(Equity Advisory Council member Neil Walker speaks to the crowd. Photo by Brian Palmer)

The Equity Advisory Council members’ full bios can be found here.

Here’s to the important work ahead!

 

Guest post by April Streeter, author of Women on Wheels

It’s little known that bike racing for women flourished even before 1900. In the late 1880’s, a group of great athletic women including Louise Armaindo, Jessie Oaks, and Helen Baldwin raced their high-wheel Ordinary bikes in impromptu six-day races across the country.

When the so-called pneumatic ‘safety’ bicycle arrived around 1890, it was the vehicle that would get hundreds of thousands of women out riding. With two similarly sized wheels sporting inflatable pneumatic tires, it was definitely a smoother, more comfortable ride — and its low-slung frame allowed women in skirts to more easily mount and unmount than the practically impossible high-wheeled Ordinary.

By 1895 a new crop of athletic young women were defying disapproval from parents and paternal types to race diamond-frame, safety-style bikes — and one woman quickly rode her way to victory and newspaper fame: Tillie Anderson.

Anderson was a Swedish immigrant who arrived in Chicago in 1889 as a teenager. A seamstress, Anderson caught bike fever and saved for a bicycle. Soon she wasn’t just riding but also racing. Her beau Philip Sjöberg realized Tillie was a stronger rider than he was and shelved his racing aspirations to coach and train her.

Tillie seemed to win nearly every race she entered – taking first place in 123 of 130 races. In the 1890’s, these races were generally six-day events, with the women racers riding two hours per day on a banked velodrome track of eight laps to a mile. The format favored riders like Tillie with track-tested endurance. Yet Tillie’s secret seemed to also be, as one newspaper commented, the ability “to ride and think at the same time.” She liked to keep the lead but always looked shrewdly for the best moment to spurt ahead of her fellow riders to the finish line.

Six-day races were popular, even raucous events, and Anderson was a modest yet assertive champion of the form. Long before Tillie’s legs gave out her racing days came to an end – in 1902 women were barred from racing after another racer, Dottie Farnsworth, was killed in a non-racing circus cycling event.

Anderson lost her husband Sjöberg that same year, 1902, to tuberculosis. She became a masseuse and lived a quiet life. Decades after Tillie’s death, Alice Olson Roepke brought her great-aunt Anderson’s achievements to light, and Tillie was inducted into the Biycle Hall of Fame in 2000.

Find more tales of early bike heroines in bike blogger April Streeter’s handbook for city cyclists titled Women at Wheels.

 

The federal government is closed, but bike advocates are still trudging through the wind, rain and sleet to meet with members of Congress. While some offices are shuttered in the face of a potential blizzard, we still mean business about bringing the Bike Summit message — and the ever-popular bike pins — to Capitol Hill.

Here are just a few pictures of advocates making the ask — urging policymakers to support a national goal to reduce bicyclist fatalities, confirm Sally Jewell as the new Secretary of the Interior and visit a bicycle project back home.

The folks from the Iowa Bicycle Coalition had a great conversation with Senator Tom Harkin (right).

Senator Mike Enzi (right) shares an anecdote about his son riding his green Trek bicycle with advocates from Wyoming.

Senator John Barrasso (left) chats with Tim Young (right), executive director of Wyoming Pathways.

Jamie Merniek (left) from the Alabama Bicycle Coalition explains the need for better bike safety to staff from Senator Jeff Sessions’ office.

Stay tuned for more from the Summit…

Photos by Brian Palmer

 

The League is currently hosting the 2013 National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. — showing Congress that Bicycling Means Business.

Maybe you’re here in D.C. with us, defying the snowy weather. Maybe you weren’t able to make it — but you still want to be involved. Either way, make sure Congress hears bicyclists’ voices loud and clear today. (Image credit: Brian Palmer)

If you’re here at the Summit, we appreciate the time and energy you’re putting into Lobby Day today. For those of you at home, we want to make sure you’re in on the fun.

Tweet your representatives and let them know that, just because you can’t be in Washington, doesn’t mean you don’t care about bicycling.Find your elected officials’ Twitter handle at www.tweetcongress.org, and tell them to sign the letter for a performance measure for bicycle safety.Here are the official “ask” tweets you can use:

.[@RepresentativeX] Pls sign the letter to set bike safety goals #nbs13
.[@SenatorX] Pls support the confirmation of Sally Jewell for Sec of Interior #nbs13

(Don’t forget the period at the start, if you want the public to see. Without it, only your member will see the message.)

It may feel like one tweet to you, but it makes a big difference. Thank you for your help in advancing bike safety! 

It all started with a short hashtag: #blackwomenbikeDC

From there, Veronica Davis helped form an organization to bring together black women in Washington, D.C., interested in cycling. That spurred a Facebook page, and then a Washington Post article. Now @BWBDC has more than 750 members and is at the center of a movement to empower black women to get on bicycles.

Veronica Davis gave an inspiring talk yesterday in one of four rapid-fire sessions yesterday at the 2013 National Bike Summit. Watch each of the their presentations below:

Creating an Advocacy Organization: Veronica O. Davis, P.E., co-founder, Black Women Bike DC

Marketing to the Culture Class: Active Healthy, Affluent and Aware Consumers: Howard Chang, President, and CEO, Top Drawer Creative

Driving Fast and Riding Slow: The Real Risks of Not Bicycling: Tom Bowden, Chair, BikeVirginia

A Quick Taste — The Boom in Bike Tourism and Business Districts: April Economides, President, Green Octopus Consulting; and Jim Sayer,  President, Adventure Cycling Association

Guest post by Gillian Klempner Willman 

In 1895, Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky, a 23-year-old Jewish immigrant and mother of three, was visiting Stockton, California while on a cycling journey around the world — the result of an alleged bet among men that no woman could accomplish such a feat. Annie’s challenge was to circle the globe by bicycle in 15 months, earning $5,000 en route.

This was not only a test of a woman’s physical endurance and mental fortitude, but also of her ability to fend for herself in a man’s world. When Annie set out from the steps of the Boston Statehouse on a 42-pound Columbia bicycle she pedaled to prove the men wrong and to score a victory for the “new woman.”

“You want to know what I think about the bicycle for the physical development of women?” she mused rhetorically to a reporter for the Stockton Evening Mail that day in 1895. “I know from experience that there is nothing better than a wheel to build a woman up. The fact that women will wear corsets when riding is the reason so many suffer from the exercise. Tell the women to discard their corsets. If women will exercise properly on a wheel, they will have nicely rounded figures, bright eyes, and healthy cheeks, and will feel well the year ‘round.”

When she began her ride, Annie was neither a cyclist nor a feminist, but she gradually became an outspoken supporter of both causes. The (often) positive attention she garnered throughout her journey demonstrated that femininity and physical strength were not mutually exclusive. To the readers of the Stockton Evening Mail, she not only advocated for cycling and the benefits it could deliver to women, but for something more — the liberation of women from their corsets, both literally and figuratively.

Annie’s journey was more than one of miles: She left in full skirts as a 19th Century housewife and returned in bloomers as a celebrated (and controversial) heroine of a new era. At the time, The New York World called her trip “the most extraordinary journey ever undertaken by a woman” and said it marked the birth of “the new woman” — independent, dynamic, and free.

There’s no way to measure the impact of Annie’s ride on her Victorian peers — of how many women she inspired to take to their wheels, to pursue their dreams and create their own destinies.

But Annie continues to inspire women today. A Washington, DC-based documentary film director, I’ve made it my mission to bring Annie’s story to life for film audiences — and, after seven years in production, The New Woman: Annie “Londonderry” Kopchovsky will premiere at the DC Independent Film Festival tonight! If you’re a DC local or here for the Summit, click here for tickets!

For more information about the documentary, visit the film’s website or Facebook page.

Updated 11 am

The Federal Government has announced that it will be closed today, Wednesday, March 6. We checked with the Capitol switchboard, and Congressional offices will be open. We suggest calling the offices you will be visiting to confirm your appointments.

League staff will be available at Lobby Day headquarters -  Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol Street, N.E., Washington, DC, 20003

Congressional Reception is still on for tonight. The Green Lanes congressional briefing at 3:30 p.m. is still on.  The Capitol Visitors Center is also open today.

The Alternative Session will continue, though some speakers have cancelled.

No news yet on the Summit Ride tomorrow.

As of right now the Capital Bikeshare operations center tour will take place at 12 p.m. on Thursday as scheduled.  However, if the Congressional Bike Ride is called off, we will not be leading a ride to the operations center.  Those that are still interested can head straight there.  The operations center is located at 1714 2^nd Street SW, about a 5 minute bike ride or 10 minute walk from the Waterfront station on Metro’s green line.  There is a Capital Bikeshare station located just outside the Metro exit across 4^th Street.

Anyone who is interested in the tour should call Capital Bikeshare’s customer service number, 1-877-430-BIKE, in advance to confirm the tour is still on.

We’ve received some information on congressional offices that are CLOSED today.  We’ll keep a running list of closures, and please keep us updated as you can on Twitter, Facebook or in the comments below.

• Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)
• Rep. Charles Rangel (NY-13)
• Sen. Barbara Boxer (CA)
• Rep. Robert Brady (PA-1)
• Rep. Bill Shuster (PA-9)
• Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD)
• Rep. John Sarbanes (MD-3)
• Rep. Donna Edwards (MD-4)
• Rep. Steny Hoyer (MD-5)
• Rep. Jose Serrano (NY-15)
• Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-12)
• Rep. James Moran (VA-8)
• Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI)
• Rep. Justin Amash (MI-3)
• Rep. Sandy Levin (MI-9)
• Rep. John Dingell (MI-12)
• Sen. Mike Johanns (NE)
• Rep. Adrian Smith (NE-4)
• Rep. Lee Terry (NE-2)
• Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1)

A Democratic U.S. Senator from the Northeast and a Republican Mayor from the Midwest — at the National Bike Summit this morning we saw the success of local control from both sides of the political spectrum.

This time last year, at the 2012 Summit, we were still on uncertain ground with the federal transportation bill, MAP-21.”We were up against a tremendous battle,” Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) (pictured) recounted this morning. “The rhetoric coming out of Capitol Hill when we started MAP-21 was ‘not one dime but for roads’ — and there would be no set asides or opportunity at all.”

But Cardin stepped up with a game-changing amendment — and advocates had his back in a big way. “At the end of the day, we were successful with the Cardin-Cochran provision because of the people in this room,” he said. “You’re smart. You figured out a strategy to win. Rather than just make a point, we won. The strategy is local control.”

And local leaders are stepping up, too. Sharing the stage this morning was Greg Ballard, the Republican mayor of Indianapolis, Ind. Sure, Ballard likes to bike, but that’s not the political point. “I tell people very candidly, it’s all about talent attraction — it’s not because the Mayor likes bikes,” he said.

“We’re all in competition for young talent and young families,” he explained. “And young people, milenials, are looking for bike lanes. They’re looking for trails. They’re looking for that connectivity — and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Ballard’s vision to recruit the best talent includes a connected network of 200 miles bike lanes and trails that link the city’s cultural amenities and green spaces. It includes converting an underutilized market into a state-of-the-art YMCA facility for bike commuter to shower and change and the launch of a new bikeshare system later this year.

“There’s a lot of pent-up demand,” he said, “we just need to put in the infrastructure.”

And, well, stellar shower facilities don’t hurt, either. For the YMCA, Ballard joked: “I told them to go into the locker room of the Indianapolis Colts — that’s what I want. And that’s what I got.”

That kind of commitment at the local level is exactly the kind of control that will continue our work to build a bicycle-friendly America. Cardin, for one, is excited about the prospect: “Mayor Ballard, you’ll spend the money a lot smarter than the people in your capitol will to help your community.”

Stay tuned for more from the Summit…

Photo by Brian Palmer

 

Bike helmet or car keys? For a growing number of Americans, it’s not one or the other. As the popularity of biking rises nationwide, more and more people are motorists and bicyclists. Today at the 2013 National Bike Summit that common cause was highlighted with a keynote address from the nation’s largest advocate for safe and efficient mobility for all of those who use the transportation system: AAA.

“At first glance, it may seem surprising that AAA would be a leading voice at the National Bike Summit, one of the biggest bicycle advocacy events of the year,” says League President, Andy Clarke. “But AAA has become an important partner in our work to raise awareness about the benefits of biking, improve the safety of cyclists, and promote and protect the rights and responsibilities of all road users.”

Yolanda Cade, Managing Director for Public Relations for AAA, debuted a new Share the Road Public Service Announcement (PSA) that highlights the dual identity of many road users: driver and cyclist.

 

“As the voice of over 53 million members in the U.S. and Canada, AAA welcomes the opportunity to work with the League to reinforce the safety messages that both cyclists and motorists need to take to heart — we have a shared responsibility, beyond just sharing the road,” said Cade. “We all have the same basic need: a safe ride home.”

“We share in the enthusiasm from our Canadian partners at CAA and the Share the Road Cycling Coalition and we’re pleased to bring their PSA stateside, sharing it with our members and the public,” Cade continued. “It reminds us that by showing common courtesy and respect on the road, we can ensure the safety of all road users.”

To view the new PSA, created in partnership with the Share the Road Cycling Coalition and CAA, visit www.ShareTheRoad.AAA.com .

Stay tuned for more from the Summit…

 

We’ve got to admit: We were a bit surprised.

While we often head to Capitol Hill thinking bicycling is a tough sell, turns out, most members of Congress already get it. And, thanks to new data gathered by Douglas Meyer, a consultant at Bernuth & Williamson in Washington, D.C., we now know what messages work and which ones miss the mark.

This morning at the 2013 National Bike Summit, Meyer (pictured at left with the League’s Caron Whitaker) presented results from 30 interviews with both Republican and Democratic staff in both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

“These are some small but not unimportant bumps in the road,” Meyer said.  ”But with a little bit of bicycle handling, advocates can get over and past them.”

There were a number of compelling findings in Meyer’s research, but the most important take-away: Biking is not a fringe movement. Advocates no longer need to pitch the legitimacy of bicycling as a mode of transportation. “You’ve been asking for a seat at the table — it’s time to sit down,” Meyer said on Tuesday.

In fact, staffers told Meyer that lawmakers’ image of bicycling has shifted from  a middle-aged man wearing Lycra, to a working woman using a bikeshare program to commute to work. Adding to that credibility was the visible and vocal support of outgoing Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, who consistently positioned bicycling as an important mode of transportation. The good news: Everyone understands that biking is a key piece of the mobility puzzle.

But Meyer’s research also revealed challenges — and opportunities. Other top findings included:

• Bicycle advocates as “sore winners:” The interviews revealed that federal lawmakers generally believe bicycle advocates don’t get just how successful we were in the passage of the new transportation law, MAP-21. While opponents aimed to eliminate all funding and eligibility for bicycling, Congressional allies and grassroots mobilization kept biking in the bill. By spreading the message that MAP-21 was a loss for bicycling, has painted us as “sore winners” to many on Capitol Hill.

• Dedicated funding is not the end all, be all: While many in bicycle advocacy have pushed hard for dedicated funding streams in MAP-21 and other federal legislation, many on Capitol Hill don’t take well to the idea. They say the funding trend is away from the federal level, and has moved toward local and state decision makers.

• The future is a multi-modal transportation system; embrace it and use it: Rather than pitching Congress on the “bicycling movement,” staffers felt advocates would be more successful if be frame biking as a key cog in a larger multi-modal transportation system.

• Asking for a “fair share for safety” doesn’t resonate: To lawmakers, asking strictly for funding sounds like a money grab. Asking for safer streets through performance measures — or a national goal — is far more compelling. After all, bicyclists are a “cheap date,” and provide tremendous return on little investment.

Click here for Meyer’s full presentation. And stay tuned for more from the Summit…

Photo by Brian Palmer

 

Secretary Ray LaHood is a tough act to follow… unless, of course, you’re Janette Sadik-Khan, New York City’s Transportation Commissioner and visionary behind the transformation of the Big Apple into a leading city for cycling in the U.S.

Kicking off the Bicycling Means Business theme at the 2013 National Bike Summit last night, Sadik-Khan highlighted some new and exciting data out of NYC that shows the economic boost of biking in tangible terms.

The NYC DOT dug into the data, analyzing the sales tax receipts of businesses on streets with bike lanes vs. streets without facilities. “The findings were really astonishing — and an incredibly important quiver in our advocacy moving forward,” she said. “On 8th and 9th avenues, the nation’s first protected bike lanes, since 2007, we’ve seen a 50 percent increase in sales tax revenues — 16 times the borough-wide numbers… And we’ve seen this all over the city. It’s not surprising that more and more businesses are finding that bike access provides easier access for customers and improves the retail setting of the street.”

That’s not the only good news. Bruce Katz, director of the Metropolitcan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, called bike advocates the vanguards of the future. “In 1983, half of young Americans had a driver’s license; today it’s 29 percent,” he said. “When people live within a mile of work, nearly 40% walked or biked in 2009 — up from 25% in 1995…. These are profound shifts in a very very short period of time and I think we’re at the beginning of something even more dramatic. Over time, the big trends and forces are with this movement… This movement fundamentally represents the future of our country.”

And it’s not just in the big cities, Katz emphasized.”We’re seeing the urbanization of the suburbs — urban style density in these places,” he said during the plenary discussion. “The bulk of the country lives in suburbs and that’s why I brought up Research Triangle [in my remarks]. When Research Triangle decides it’s going to urbanize, it sends an enormous signal to all of suburban America that this is what it’s going to take to compete for talented workers… We’re talking about metropolitan America, not just urban America… It’s going to require dramatic change in the American landscape, but it’s already happening, and the people in this room are doing the political work necessary to remake streets and places.”

 

But, to accelerate that progress, we need more people speaking up, added Trek President John Burke. “Bike shops are seeing more people who want to ride bikes in the cities, but they want safe places to ride,” he said. “How do we link that love of cycling and the desire for safe places to ride…If we really want to change America, we need a lot more people who are coming into the bike shops and want to ride for transportation or to go out to dinner to also ask their local leaders for those facilities. Then we’ll see change very quickly… If we win in the cities, we’ll win in the suburbs.”

Stay tuned for more from the Summit…

Photos by Brian Palmer

 

The 2013 National Women’s Bicycling Forum was a resounding success — and social media made sure folks around the country were able to see and hear some highlights from the program. Through Tweets and Instagrams, we’ve compiled the day’s events. Click the image for the full story!

 

It was a bittersweet opening to the 2013 National Bike Summit last night. Greeted with (multiple) standing ovation(s), outgoing Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, fired up the crowd for his fifth — and final — time of his tenure at the U.S. DOT.

Since he was appointed in 2009, LaHood has been a true believer in the power of biking and has raised the credibility of bicycles as transportation at the federal level. “Ray LaHood is the first and only transportation Secretary that keeps talking about bikes — even after we’ve left  the room,” said League President Andy Clarke.

In fact, the Secretary’s has become such a household name in the bike community that “the President recently told me that he ran into someone who said something about Ray LaHood,” the Secretary recounted. “The president said, ‘You must be a cyclist’ — and he was.”

The bicycle-friendly Secretary isn’t done yet. In 2011, there was an 11 percent increase in bicyclist fatalities, LaHood noted. “We need to do better,” he said. And he’s starting DOT down the path toward active collaboration with bike advocates to do just that.

 

“DOT is going to address bicycle safety head on — and we’re going to pull from all of our resources to solve our safety challenges,” LaHood said. “Our policy experts, our researchers at NHTSA, and our engineers in the Federal Highway Administration will all work together on this. Most importantly, we want to make sure we have the cycling community behind us. As part of our ongoing safety efforts, DOT will partner with the cycling community to hold two bike safety summits in April… DOT will also work to create a standard guide for how we build modern streets, bridges and highways that keep everyone safe — including cyclists.”

But the Secretary also commended the progress of the bike movement and the vital role of advocates. “We’ll never forgot what you’ve done; what you’ve done in your communities, your vision… What a ride these four-and-a-half years with all of you. You’ve made a great difference; you really have.”

Right back at you, Mr. Secretary.

Stay tuned for more from the Summit…

Photo by Brian Palmer

Three decades ago, Georgena Terry broke open many of the discussions we had today at the National Women’s Bicycling Forum with a simple but revolutionary act: building bicycles specifically for women.

The industry trailblazer joined us at the Forum today as the opening keynote speaker, captivating the audience with her no-holds-barred opinions and charming humor.

Below, watch her opening address to the crowd here in Washington, D.C., and an engaging (and sometimes hilarious) sit-down discussion with fellow female bike builder, Natalie Ramsland, Founder of Sweetpea Bicycles.

And stay tuned tomorrow for more videos and recaps from the Women’s Forum!

 

She’s a household name, though maybe not quite in the way she expected.

Amelia Bloomer’s last name has taken on a meaning all its own. A contemporary of Susan B. Anthony and a women’s rights leader in her own right, Bloomer made headlines by wearing her full-length pants that gathered at the ankles. These contentious pants would later be commonly referred to ‘bloomers.’

While Bloomer didn’t create the garment, she popularized it — and stirred up a major debate on women’s rights during the mid-to -late 19th century. Many viewed bloomers as unbecoming of women during that time period, and Bloomer made women’s dress reform a keystone of her advocacy, writing about the pants in her newspaper The Lily, which focused on a number of women’s issues.   

So what’s it got to do with bikes?

The controversy around the “unseemly” attire intersected with the first American bicycle boom. As bikes spiked in popularity in the late 19th century, bloomers made it all that much easier for a women to hop on the saddle. The placement of the gears and pedals at the time made it difficult for a women to ride in a long dress or skirt. Bloomers changed the game.

So when you strap that velcro around your pant leg tomorrow, give thanks to Amelia and her push for dress reform. Interested in learning more about Bloomer? Click here.

Follow the League blog every day this month for profiles of the extraordinary women who have helped advance bicycling in the United States.

 

Across the country, a bicycling renaissance is afoot. Bike commuting is on the rise, new audiences are being drawn to two wheels and entire cities are being transformed by active transportation.

Yeah, it’s an exciting time to be a bike advocate.

As a leader of the national movement, the League is stepping up its game to meet that momentum. We’re giving ourselves a tune up— and looking to the future. This morning, we launched our new logo and branding at the National Women’s Bicycling Forum here in Washington, D.C.

Our new look may seem a bit familiar: It draws on our unique history and depth of knowledge, using elements of the original winged wheel logo of the League of American Wheelmen. But, with a modern edge and forward motion, it also showcases our commitment to propel the new, diverse and growing ranks of bicyclists in the United States, recognizing and representing the current and future face of the cycling movement.

The evolution of our new branding has been six months in the making — and we were so lucky to work with Language Department in New York City to bring it all together. Both incredible designers and active bicyclists, Language Department did a deep dive into the League’s heritage, our position in the bicycle advocacy landscape and the attributes that make us unique. Not only did they freshen and sophisticate our look, but helped us really hone in on who we are — and who we want to be as an organization.

Our work and our core mission — promoting cycling and looking out for everyone that rides a bike — remains the same. Our commitment to you is stronger than ever. But, with the addition of exciting new programs like Women Bike and our broader equity initiative, we are committed to opening the doors to everyone who rides — or wants to ride — in the Bicycle Friendly America we’re working so hard to create.

And the logo is just the beginning. Tonight at the National Bike Summit, League President Andy Clarke presented the full rebranding and our exciting course forward. Click here to watch Andy’s remarks.

 

For our friends in the media…

Washington, D.C. — March 1, 2013 — Last summer, Congress passed a transportation bill that slashed dedicated funding for bicycling projects and programs. But next week, hundreds of bike advocates, industry leaders and cycling enthusiasts will gather for the 2013 National Bike Summit to tell Congress that Bicycling Means Business.

Hosted by the League — March 4-6, 2013 –  the National Bike Summit will showcase how bicycles are propelling healthy, cost-effective solutions for community vitality and economic development nationwide. Highlighting the powerful, bipartisan and growing support for bicycling at all levels, the Summit will feature top transportation and government leaders including:

It may be the most famous quote about the role of bicycling in women’s history. In 1896, Susan B. Anthony — one of the most important leaders in the women’s suffrage movement — shared her perspective on bicycling with intrepid reporter, Nellie Bly.

“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling,” she said. “I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel… the picture of free, untrammeled womanhood.”

Anthony wasn’t alone. Her friend and fellow suffragette, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, wrote an entire article for the American Wheelman praising the bicycle for encouraging the building of “good roads” and increasing people’s mobility. Most importantly, though: “The bicycle will inspire women with more courage, self-respect and self-reliance,” she wrote, “and make the next generation more vigorous of mind and body; for feeble mothers do not produce great statesmen, scientists and scholars.”

There’s certainly no denying the important role of bicycles in advancing women’s freedom, mobility and position in society. In fact, at the 2012 National Women’s Bicycling Forum, our opening keynote came from Sue Macy, author of “Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom.” Since then, though, we started thinking about the other side of the coin: How have women influenced the history of the bike movement?

Well, what better time than Women’s History Month — which kicks off today!

During March, we’ll be featuring profiles and stories about the many women who have advanced bicycling in the United States. Some will be familiar names — like Susan B. Anthony — but we also aim to uncover and celebrate some of the lesser-known women who have made biking better for all Americans.

Coming up next week, we’ll tell you about Tillie Andersen, Kittie Knox, Annie Londonderry — and more. Stay tuned!

And don’t forget: The second annual National Women’s Bicycling Forum is just three days away. Online registration is closed, but you can sign up on site Monday morning!

 

An employee at the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and a certified League Cycling Instructor (LCI), Edgar Gil Rico led a commuting seminar at his office in Spanish. The one-hour workshop covered the benefits of bike commuting, what to do before you ride, how to choose a bike, how to choose a route, riding visibility, and more.

Rico didn’t stop there, though. He went beyond the walls of Hispanic Health and has  hosted a number of Spanish-language bike education classes in his community, most recently with Bike Arlington and the Shirlington Employment and Education Center.

We hear a lot of inspiring news through our Bicycle Friendly Business partners and Rico’s efforts truly illustrate business’ impact on the community. Hispanic Health, located in Washington, D.C., applied to our BFB program in Fall 2011.

As all applicants do, they received feedback on what they could do to make their workplace and community even better for bicycling. The business didn’t waste any time in implementing the suggestions.

First, they requested information from the D.C. Department of Transportation and invited a representative from GoDCGo to talk about Capital Bikeshare. As a result, Hispanic Health now encourages employees to ride by subsidizing Capital Bikeshare memberships for its employees  – 12 of their 22 employes take advantage of the benefit. In addition, they purchased helmets for all and provided a short educational workshop on city cycling.

Next, Hispanic Health invited Megan Van de Mark, then Washington Area Bicyclist Association‘s Bike Parking Program Coordinator, to assess their office for bike rack installation. A location was identified near the entrance of the building and Hispanic Health got their business neighbor’s approval. WABA provided the rack and installation free of charge!

Employees of the business also participated in the National Bike Challenge!

National Alliance for Hispanic Health will soon be reapplying to the BFB program and we tip our helmets to the incredible progress they’ve made already in becoming an even better Bicycle Friendly Business.

Are you interested in applying for Bicycle Friendly Business designation? Click here for more details on the program. 

 

Alison Dewey
League Program Manager, BFB & BFU

Dewey joined the League in 2008. For four years prior to that, Dewey worked for Massachusetts- based Landry’s Bicycles and served on the board of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. Dewey has a MA in International Relations and Communications from Boston University and is a graduate of St. Olaf College. She spent three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal.

It’s that time of year again. Here at the League, we’re working overtime to make sure next week is one of the most memorable moment for bicycle advocacy in 2013.

We hope your plane tickets are booked and hotel lodgings secured, because we’re just days away from the 2013 National Bike Summit — and online registration ends at 5 p.m. today. (On-site registration will be available, but the price will increase!)

As the new kid here at the League, I’m not quite sure what to expect. So I asked my colleague’s what it is they love about the Summit…

Andy Clarke (pictured): Remarkable moments like Ray LaHood’s tabletop speech and Enrique Penalosa’s call to action in 2004 are obvious highlights, but what I love about the Summit is the impact it has on advocacy the 362 days of year people are NOT in Washington D.C. The Youth Bike Summit; countless state and local bike summits; more effective meetings with city, county, and state elected officials everywhere; and delivery of a powerful, consistent national message about the value of investing in better conditions for bicycling… that’s a pretty impressive outcome of the National Bike Summit that’s hard to quantify yet really inspiring to witness.

Alison Dewey: I first attended the Summit in 2006 as a participant from Boston. I remember feeling so empowered while visiting the halls of Congress and voicing my support for bicycling. It was an experience I will always keep with me and is a constant reminder that my voice needs to be one of many to improve the nation for bicycling.

Darren Flusche: I love the National Bike Summit because it is a chance to see all of the talented and energetic state and local advocates we work with during the year and get to know new ones.

Bill Nesper: Shortly after moving to Washington I attended my first National Bike Summit. What excited and surprised me then continues to do so today – the access we have to our congressional representatives and how vital personal stories are to affecting change.

Katie Omberg: I always love seeing how pumped up the first-time attendees are at the Congressional Reception, after they’ve been up on the Hill. Most everyone I talked to was riding a high of being able to do something they were unable to do only two days before. As an adult, you don’t have too many opportunities to learn something totally new, but this is one of them!

Scott Williams: I love the lobby day, and seeing the halls of the Congressional office buildings filled with bike advocates wearing their brightly colored bike pins. Even more awesome is the Congressional Reception, when all those bike advocates are feeling empowered and effective from talking about cycling with their elected officials. No other conference I have ever attended has that energy.

Nicole Wynands: I love the Summit because it is so nice to meet so many advocates and civil servants in person that we have worked with over the years.

What do you love about the National Bike Summit?  Share your experiences and memories in the comments!

And don’t forget to register TODAY for the biggest bicycle advocacy event of the year!