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).[Read 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.

[Read more…]