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:

Roger Geller, PBOT
Dick Schouten, Washington County Commission
Rob Sadowsky, BTA
Susan Peithman, BTA
Jerry Norquist, Cycle Oregon
Jill Van Winkle, IMBA
Scott West, Travel Oregon
Jay Graves, Bike Gallery
Alison Hill-Graves, Community Cycling Center
Veronica Rinard, Travel Portland
Robert Ping, Safe Routes to School National Partnership
Keith Ketterling
Marilyn Hayward, Coventry Cycles
Scott Bricker, Bricker Consulting/America Walks
Kristin Dahl, Travel Oregon
Steve Durrant, Alta Planning and Design
Nels Gabbert, Pettigrove Venture, LLC (real estate developer)
Randy Dreiling, City of Oakridge
Anna Laxague, IMBA
Ray Thomas, Law Offices of Swanson, Thomas & Coon
Jenna Stanke, Jackson County Road Department
Andrew Malcom
Mike Cosgrove, Oregon State Parks/Oregon Scenic Bikeways
Jennifer Clunie, BicyclingHub.com
Kim Curley, Commute Options Bend
Heidi Beierle, U of O Community and Regional Planning Masters Degree candidate
Gerik Kransky, BTA
Benjamin Beamer, City of Oakridge
Maureen Sevigny, Oregon Institute of Technology
Austin Ramsland, BTA
Alex Philips, Oregon State Parks/Oregon Scenic Bikeways
Jeff McNamee, Buy Local Cycling Team (Salem)
Adam Daniel
Price Armstrong, U of O Bike Program
Ted Sweeney, U of O
Lois Moss, Portland citizen advocate

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.