Blumenauer at the congressional reception last night.
(Photo: Still from video by Ted Sweeney)

University of Oregon student Ted Sweeney attended his first National Bike Summit this year. Sweeney, an active advocate for bicycling on campus and in Eugene was standing just a few feet away from Congressman Earl Blumenauer at last night's big reception following a day when hundreds lobbied on Capitol Hill.
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[Publisher's note: The report below was written by Carolyn Szczepanski, communications coordinator at the Alliance for Biking and Walking. It was published on their blog this morning and we've re-posted it below with Ms. Szczepanski's permission. The story has been edited for brevity. — JM]

NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan
and Congressman Earl Blumenauer at the
National Bike Summit yesterday.
(Photo: Chris Eichler)

Wearing his signature bow tie and Velcro strap around his pant leg, Congressman Earl Blumenauer arced his arms over his head and brought his palms together as if beginning a yoga workshop, not a plenary address. Looking out at the more than 700 bicycle advocates gathered at the Grand Hyatt in Washington, DC, the Democrat from Oregon barely cracked a smile as he asked the crowd to repeat after him. (more...)

200,000 people have signed up
since last year.
(Photos © J. Maus)

The National Bike Summit doesn't officially kick off until tonight; but there's already been several bits of news to leak out of D.C.

Check out the roundup below...

Portland State named "Silver" bike-friendly university

The League of American Bicyclists just announced their first-ever recipients of the new Bike Friendly University awards. Similar to their well-known Bike Friendly Community awards, the League created this program to recognize universities that go above and beyond in making their campuses comfortable for people who choose to ride a bike.
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There will be a lot of people posting updates from the 2011 National Bike Summit via Twitter, so I figured I'd post the widget below. If you're not adept at Twitter, you can simply keep this post open in your browser to follow all updates from folks posting about the Summit...

Ray LaHood's speech was the defining moment
of last year's Summit.
(Photos © J. Maus)

As I write this, hundreds of bike advocates and industry bigwigs from across the country are making their way to Washington D.C. to attend the 11th annual National Bike Summit. They'll hear inspiring speeches from national transportation figures and elected officials, they'll learn best practices from colleagues in other cities, and they'll participate directly in our democracy by sitting down with elected representatives to explain to them why bicycling is so imperative to America's future.

And this year, there's more urgency than ever. (more...)