Recap of 2012 National Bike Summit – Day One

This year’s National Bike Summit broke attendance records: over 800 advocates showed up in Washington D.C. representing all states but Alaska. It was my first National Bike Summit and I registered not quite knowing what to expect. The goal as eloquently stated by Jonathan Maus was to,

learn about the key issues facing cycling in America, network with fellow advocates, and most importantly, to tell our elected representatives that bikes deserve respect.

Day One – Tuesday (March 20th, 2012)

The Summit kicked off with the first ever Women’s Cycling Forum. The packed room of mostly women and a handful of men listened attentively to the panel of women bringing perspectives from the bike industry, the racing contingent, the Netherlands, ethnically diverse communities, and a historical perspective on how bicycling was one of the early impetus for change in restrictive clothing for women that led to a huge shift in how women played a role in the public sphere.

This forum was not only welcome but was also something that should have been on the forefront back when the National Bike Summit first began over a decade ago. The Q&A period revealed long standing issues and concerns that, if addressed, will only help take the (mostly male) bike advocacy movement to the next level as advocates begin to acknowledge the tremendous amount of energy and perspective that women bring to the table.

The sold-out Women's Cycling Forum. Photo by Tanya Snyder (http://dc.streetsblog.org/)

Panelist Cornelia Neal from the Royal Netherlands Embassy didn’t hesitate to repeatedly bring up the mode split where 55% of female Dutch cyclists ride in large part due to the country’s comprehensive, well designed, safe bicycle infrastructure. Veronica Davis who founded Black Women Bike D.C.talked about her experience of being a role model to other black women and girls and about the failure of marketing to and welcoming racially diverse community perspectives. Davis had a take charge attitude that she said inspired many in D.C. and beyond. Andrea Garland, a engineer with Alta Planning + Design who recently moved away from San Diego back to Virginia, shared her experience on how women were getting involved both in bike advocacy and in their local advisory committees and the importance of being outspoken in order to get things done. The sentiment to be outspoken was also shared by panelist Marla Streb a former pro-mountain bike racer who shared her experience of the low pay as a female racer when compared with male racers.

Tuesday’s opening reception featured Mark Mckinnon, Former Presidential Campaign and Chief Media Adviser, as the Keynote Speaker. Mckinnon, the founder of No Labels, shared examples of great campaign strategies used by former U.S. Presidents in order to demonstrate how an effective message with a strong narrative can help tell a story and drive a message home. The purpose was to share strategies on how the attendees could convey the importance of preserving funding for bicycling and walking when they spoke with their respective Senators and Representatives on Thursday.

At Tuesday’s opening reception I had the opportunity to speak with Dick Schaffer, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Specialist with the Federal Highway Administration’s Office of Safety. He spoke at length about the efforts that the FHWA is undertaking to ensure that the roads services all its users besides automobiles. One of the methods is a formal safety examination of an existing or future roadway called a Road Safety Audit.

The overall takeaway message is one that seems to be happening everywhere all at once: a desire to unify (as evidenced by the recent merger between the three national bike advocacy organizations) and join forces in order to become stronger and have a more cohesive message.

I’ll post about days two and three in subsequent posts.