Hello again.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

Next month I'm headed to the League of American Bicyclists' National Bike Summit in Washington D.C. I'll also attend the National Women's Bicycling Forum which takes place on March 4th right before the Summit begins. In addition to covering those events, I plan to stay several extra days to soak in the D.C. bike scene, observe that city's infrastructure, visit with advocates, interview transportation officials, and so on.

This will be my seventh Bike Summit since 2006 and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with the national advocacy scene. The League has adopted a theme of Bicycling Means Business so we can expect a heavy dose of bikenomics woven into the regular programming. The list of speakers looks interesting, with outgoing US DOT Secretary Ray LaHood slated to be there, as well as the likely-outgoing New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. Other speakers include members of congress and, somewhat surprisingly, Yolanda Cade, Managing Director of Public Relations for automobile lobby group, AAA. (more...)

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...)

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)

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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...)

Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood speaking
at the National Bike Summit.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has followed up his encouraging keynote speech at the National Bike Summit -- where he said bike advocates "have a full partner at the US DOT" -- with a post on his "Welcome to the Fast Lane" blog titled, "Cyclists are important users of transportation systems".

The post is a reflection on his speech at the Summit. Here's an excerpt (emphasis mine): (more...)

A self-portrait while walking
the halls on Capitol Hill last year.

Tonight (at midnight, love those red-eyes) I'll get on my Bike Friday Tikit and ride to the airport for my annual pilgrimage to Washington D.C. for the National Bike Summit. This will be my fourth year in a row attending the event and I'm looking forward to it with all the enthusiasm, excitement and nerves of a first-timer.

This year -- with a new administration in the Oval Office, a strong Democratic majority on Capitol Hill, and a new transportation bill in the making -- there's more at stake for the national bike movement than ever before.

The League's main focus for the summit is "building bicycling into the transportation bill". But in addition to that, there are two other bills with major biking implications that are expected to be introduced this week; a new climate change bill, and a complete streets bill. (I'll have more about both of those in a separate post). (more...)

Cover of 2009 Summit brochure.

The League of American Bicyclists has announced details of the workshops that will be presented at their annual National Bike Summit that will take place in Washington D.C. on March 10 - 13th.

The event is both an educational and networking opportunity for bike advocates across the country as well as a chance to lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Here are some workshops that caught my eye (followed by my thoughts):

Bicycle advocates and industry leaders united for change.
The bicycle industry is more involved than ever in advocacy. Learn how we can more effectively work together in the corridors of power.

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