Finally back in Portland. It feels great to be home. The last day of the Summit was another whirlwind. I attended a workshop about Davis, California, the only “Platinum” level Bicycle Friendly Community. Evan Manvel (Executive Director of the BTA) attended it with me and wrote a great recap on the BTA Blog.
I also went to a workshop about online route mapping, which is a topic I’ve covered several times in the past few months. Online bike trip planning is the next big thing. There are tons of cool features you can build into it and I think it will bring many new people into cycling. I’ve got to find out the latest on what’s happening here in Portland…it’s been a while since I checked in with Wyatt’s Trip Planner at ByCycle.org and with the GIS guys at the City of Portland. I’ll try and find out the latest and report back what I hear.
Tomorrow is the big Alice Awards party at the Oregon Convention Center. The Alice Awards are a BTA fundraiser to recognize Oregon’s “bike heros,” folks that are doing great things for bikes. The BTA tells me they’ve sold completely out of tickets and that at least 600 people will show up to toast the 40 nominees from across the state. In addition to raising money, the night is really a big excuse to party and revel in our bikey-ness. I’m really looking forward to it. If you can’t make it down, I plan on posting some words and photos from the event.
OK, that’s it for now. It’s late and it’s been another long day. I can’t wait to get back into my regular rhythm. I’ve got a ton of neat stuff to post about and new things to embark on. It’s also been way to long since I’ve had some good, ol’ fashioned bike fun. There’s a ride I might check out on Sunday and if I don’t make it to that, there’s always Zoobomb!
Take a load off Jonathan, you must be exhausted (& besides, its sunny out). Thanks for the awesome bike summit coverage!