Opening plenary focuses on recreation and congestion

League Director Andy Clarke

The opening plenary is going on now.

But before I get to that, some news.

Commissioner Adams is here. I saw his badge at the registration table and a few folks have seen him walking around. He’s in DC for a meeting of the National League of Cities. I didn’t know he’d be here so this is great news. Last year, he was slated to speak at the opening but got food poisoning and did a u-turn back to Portland as soon as he arrived.

Back to the opening.

This year there is a large contingent of mountain bike advocates here. That might have something to do with the fact that Tim Blumenthal, former head of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), is now head of Bikes Belong.

So I guess it comes as no surprise that the opening plenary so far has focused on mountain biking.

Big crowds at the opening.

Bike Belong’s Tim Blumenthal

We’ve heard from the new head of IMBA and now Jim Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior.

This focus on recreation is something of a shift for the League and the Summit, and perhaps signals the growing convergence between “transporation cycling” advocates and recreational advocates.

Right now Tyler Duvall, the Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy at the U.S Department of Transportation. He’s making some very interesting comments. I’ll post about them separately.

And I just walked by Congressman Earl Blumenauer, the man who put bikes on the map in Washington (along with Jim Oberstar). Blumenthal just introduced him as “our esteemed leader”… stay tuned.

Advocacy, Front Page, National Bike Summit '07, Politics
National Bike Summit