Oregon advocates sing praises of cycling on Capitol Hill today

Oregonians Robert Ping (L), Gerik Kransky, Jerry Norquist and Veronica Rinard during Capitol Hill lobbying day at the National Bike Summit last year.
(Photo © J. Maus)

As many of us here in Oregon begin our work day, a team of bike advocates at the National Bike Summit are trudging through the serpentine halls of Congress to share the importance of bicycling with our elected representatives.

BTA leader Rob Sadowsky stands with
Rep. DeFazio at a meeting a few
minutes ago.
(Photo: Steve Durrant)

Lobbying day is the climax of the Summit (it ends tomorrow with a Congressional bike ride, which this year is being held in honor of Arizona Rep. Gabriel Giffords). Oregon advocates have a full day of meetings with all seven members of our Congressional delegation. Oregon’s advocacy team numbers well over 20 people this year and we typically have one of the largest groups (per capita or not) at the event.

As per usual, the Oregon advocacy team was organized by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. They scheduled all the meetings and helped strategize for them beforehand.

Here are some of Oregon advocates who are at the Summit:

Their mission (along with 800 or so other advocates at the event) is to sing the praises of cycling’s impact on our state. Thankfully, our delegation is very supportive of bicycling and they already “get it” for the most part; but with looming deficits and budget cuts, they still need to know that bicycling is vital to our transportation system.

After a full day of lobbying, Oregon advocates have a dinner and reception planned at a restaurant near Capitol Hill. They’ll be joined by Congressmen Peter DeFazio, Earl Blumenauer and likely several other Members.

Get updates on the lobbying day action via our Twitter update widget.