Bike industry titan Gary Fisher is hard to miss here at the Summit. A pioneer of mountain bikes in the 1980s, Fisher has gone on to be the namesake of a successful bike brand, a fashion icon, and one of only a few celebrities the bike world can call our own. He’s done a lot for biking over the years, but this is the first time he’s ever been to the National Bike Summit.

“I regret not coming before,” Fisher told me in the breakfast buffet line prior to our pep rally on Capitol Hill this morning. “I just never really made the effort.” So why this year? Fisher said his presence is the result of a classic case of arm-twisting. “Everybody kept telling me, ‘You’ve gotta’ go to this thing!’”

Fisher is just part of a huge contingent here from Trek Bicycle Corporation (Gary Fisher Bicycles is owned by Trek). There are 105 people in attendance thanks to Trek. Most of them are dealers, but a healthy handful are from their corporate offices. Trek President John Burke — who you might recall for his stirring “Inconvenient Truth” presentation at the 2007 Summit — is one of the brightest stars in a growing constellation of industry a-listers who support bike advocacy.

Fisher attended a session on
youth cycling yesterday.

Fisher says he’s impressed at how professional and organized the bicycle lobby is, but adds that it’s still the passion that sets them apart. “We’ve got something very special here… a powerful grassroots movement.”

And Fisher knows a thing or two about grassroots movements. He and his friends in Marin were laughed at when they came up with this crazy thing called a mountain bike. The industry barely gave them the time of day. But eventually, the mountain bike become wildly popular and ushered in an entire new era of bicycling in America.

Hopefully, with Fisher’s help, the bike advocacy movement will have similar results.

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

With the lobby day in full swing here on Capitol Hill, bike advocates from around the country are asking their representatives in Congress to support a variety of pending bike-related legislation. Last night, while looking through some information on these bills put together for us by the League, I was shocked at how partisan all the bills have become.

Close readers of this site will recall several past occasions when Congress Earl Blumenauer spoke about “bike-partisan” efforts to push bike legislation through.

But this year, things have become anything but bike-partisan.

Before the lobbying began today, there were 227 total co-sponsors of six different bills. Of those 227, all but nine are Democrats. There are only six Republicans members of Congress currently signed on as co-sponsors of all the major pending bike legislation in America. Here’s how it shakes out:

• The two Complete Streets bills (H.R. 1443, and S. 584) have 66 co-sponsors between them and not one of them is a Republican.
• The newly launched Active Community Transportation Act has six co-sponsors — all of them are Democrats.
• The Safe Routes to School bill (S. 1156) has 21 co-sponsors, all but four are Democrats.
• The Safe Routes to High Schools Act (H.R. 4021) has 21 co-sponsors; only two are Republican.
• The Urban Revitalization and Livable Communities Act (H.R. 3734) has 104 co-sponsors; 102 are Democrats and only two are Republican.
• The Land and Water Reauthorization and Funding Act (S. 2724) has nine co-sponsors. None of them are Republican.

Even Oregon is not immune.
League of American Bicyclists executive director Andy Clarke says the partisan politics around biking “has gotten worse.” It’s gotten so bad, Clarke told me this morning, that “We’re at a point where we might have to start introducing two separate bills, one Republican can support, and one a Democrat can support.”

Bike bills are not immune to the partisan politics permeating the Hill these days, and Clarke says, “We’ve just got to play within the system… It’s not that they’re opposed to what we’re talking about, but it’s the party line.”

Even in Oregon, there’s one glaring example of this partisanship. House Representative Greg Walden, a Republican, is the only member of Congress from Oregon who is not currently signed on to any bills on the Bike Summit agenda.

Hopefully, with over 700 advocates armed for battle on the Hill today, we’ll see that line start to change, but that’s a tall order in a town where political alliances between Democrats and Republicans are cooler than the mounds of snow still piled up outside their offices.

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

Scott Bricker, the former executive director of the Portland-based Bicycle Transportation Alliance has been hired by non-profit America Walks, a national coalition of pedestrian advocacy groups.

Bricker, who was let go by the BTA back in November, is now working as a consultant. With his new contract position as Campaign Manager with America Walks, he’ll be responsible for managing their Walking Wins Summit that will be held during the annual Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference coming to Chattanooga, Tennessee in September.

The summit is a project of America Walks and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP). The aim of the summit is to coalesce interest groups to support an action plan they hope will fund walking infrastructure and “thus strengthen American communities and ensure that everyone of all ages and abilities has high-quality walking access to their daily needs.”

One of today’s many excellent breakout sessions focused on youth cycling programs. When I popped my head in I saw a familiar face at the lectern. It was Gary Boulanger, former bike industry journalist, PR guy, and entrepreneur behind the now defunct bike brand Cycles Gaansari (and the eponymously named bike shop in Dayton, Ohio).

Boulanger is now the recently elected Board President of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA). NICA is a new organization (they held their first board meeting just last month) working toward the ambitious goal of developing competitive high school mountain biking leagues from coast-to-coast by 2020. So far there are just three states with leagues — California (NorCal and SoCal), Colorado, and Washington. But, with an impressive list of big-time corporate sponsors (Specialized, SRAM, Trek among others) and partners, the future looks very bright.

Freshman girls compete in a recent race in the NorCal League.

During today’s session, Boulanger highlighted a program in Marin County, California. At Sir Francis Drake High School, the 60-student bike team is larger than the football team. Last Sunday, he added, nearly 500 students competed at a national competition. Last year, the SoCal League (from Southern California) boasted 16 teams. Boulanger said that league will have 20 teams this year and most teams have grown 30-50 percent over last year.

Gary Fisher is a big fan of
youth cycling.

The Colorado league will start this fall and a league in Washington State has plans to kick off in 2011.

One big fan of NICA is bike industry icon Gary Fisher. Fisher was in the audience at the session today and I chatted with him about it afterwards. He’s excited not only about the positive aspects biking can bring to young people, but also about the economic potential this could have for the bike industry. “There are about 50,000 high schools in this country,” he said, “If we can get bike leagues going in a lot more them, it would really lift the industry.”

I wonder if there’s a way to tie this in with Earl Blumenauer’s Safe Routes to High Schools bill (H.R. 4021)? And Oregon, come on! We should be all over this!

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

One of the great things about being at the National Bike Summit is the feeling that biking, as a movement, is growing. And each year I’m reminded that it’s growing far beyond the typical, bike-friendly cities you always see on top ten lists.

Last night I met Julie Harris and a few of her friends from Activate Omaha.

When I did a double-take at her name badge and joked about biking in Omaha (in a nice way, I wasn’t condescending) she jumped right in and said, “You’d be surprised!” Julie said they’ve got seven bike-friendly businesses, a nascent bikeway with 20 more miles coming soon (paid for with $600,000 raised from private corporations), and a solid Safe Routes to Schools program.

Nebraska is one of 48 states represented at the summit this year. Nice meeting you Julie and best of luck in your advocacy work!

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

Earlier today, I got he opportunity to speak with Peter Birch, the product manager for Google Earth (and world traveler) who spearheaded development of their new biking directions feature.

Before I get to the Q & A with Birch, here’s a recap of his comments from this morning’s Opening Plenary.

“The challenge we face is, how do we get more people on bikes…. A lot of people don’t feel comfortable on a lot of the routes they’re on with busy roads and unfamiliar streets. We wanted to figure out, how can we scale this up, so we can handle every ride? At Google, we love problems of scale.”

Birch shared that they’ve got detailed map data ready to go on the site for 150 cities and over 12,000 miles of trail data — thanks to a partnership with the Rails to Trails Conservancy. “And over the next several months, we hope to extend that coverage as well as improve the quality of directions we provide.”

Birch then started talking like an advocate (which it turns out, he is — see my Q & A below):

“With this launch, we’re showing our commitment to providing maps for people, not just cars. We’re really proud to be a part of this growing movement in helping to build greener and more sustainable communities… What we’re launching today is just a start, we know they’re only as good as the data that’s fed into it, that’s why we need your help. You guys are the experts, we need your feedback in terms of providing directions and advice in terms of which roads and trails are the best ones… then we’ll transfer the knowledge to the people who aren’t as confident and experienced in where to go.”

Next up was Google product manager Shannon Guymon. “Cyclists have not let us forget that they haven’t been included [with Google Maps]. We’ve heard you all loud and clear.”

Guymon pointed out some of the new tool’s features. “We weight the algorithm to put you on trails as much as possible, if those aren’t possible, we go to the next best options avoiding steep hills and busy roads.” Guyton says they’ve also updated trip times. In addition, the new tool also allows you to drag and drop your route anywhere you choose and the directions update automatically. There’s also a gadget on the main Google Maps Biking so website publishers can embed the tool in their site.

Here’s a quick and rough transcript of my Q & A with Birch:

With car directions, a wrong turn can be a hassle, but with biking directions, bad directions can led to serious safety issues. How do you respond to people who are pointing out direction results that put them in harm’s way?

We know that’s going to happen. But this feature is in beta… it’s not a mature product yet. We really want to get everything right, that’s why we made this announcement here at the Summit; because these are the people with the expertise to tell us which roads are good and which ones aren’t.

What about data? Where did most of the bike route data come from?

“We’ve been working with RTC [Rails to Trails Conservancy] to get access to their rail-trail network. Most of the other data was brought in more ad-hoc from municipalities.”

Will this be brought to the iPhone and other mobile platforms any time soon?

“You can expect that to happen. Mobile is a key focus for Google, especially with directions, it’s great to have it in your pocket. I can’t tell you any specific dates right now, but we’re working on it.”

Is there any compatibility with GPS?

Right now, users can import a .KML file through the MyMaps tool. Just go to the “mymaps” tab and hit “import.”

What about problem spots and handling feedback from users?

“[There's a nice "Report a Problem" feature on the Google Maps Biking page.] Once it comes in, we vet it and say, “Is this a valid change?” If it is, it’ll take about a month for us to make the change.”

While you spoke, it was clear that your heart is in bike advocacy. Can you speak to how/if advocacy plays into this for you personally and for Google?

“I’ve been a bike advocate for years. I tried to get on the SFBC board and have been a member for 15 years. At Google, we like to make change thru action. Google is very bottom up… This [biking direcdtions] happened because people that work here are passionate about biking… We also want toserver the needs of our users. By launching bike direcstion, we want to make it easier for more people to get into biking.”

What do you think about the summit?

“It’s great. I wish I could stay here all week. Bicycling advocacy is hard work and it’s great to see so many tough and persistent people working on this.”

Go to Maps.Google.com/biking to learn more. Previous coverage of this story here (with lots of informative comments) and here.

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

Alison Graves is the new executive director of the Community Cycling Center. She takes the reins from Susan Remmers, who took over leadership of the non-profit four years ago. Remmers has been on medical leave since December (the medical issue is not related to this decision).

Graves was formerly the organization’s director of community and programs and she’s married to Bike Gallery owner and uber-advocate Jay Graves.

“I always imagined this would be my next step. I’ve been interim for the past few months and it’s been really fun. We’re in a really strong place. I love this organization and I’m ready!”

A statement posted today on the CCC’s website recaps the Remmers era:

“When she started in the spring of 2006, the Community Cycling Center was in a challenging stage of its organizational growth. While programs were successful, organizational infrastructure and key elements were missing. Remmers remembers, “I was looking for the mission statement and I found six versions of it.” She set to work immediately, igniting board and staff alike to gain clarity and focus.”

Susan Remmers.

Here are some highlights of Remmers’ accomplishments:

• Grew organization from $900,000 organization to $1.5M;
• Implemented living wage compensations and health benefits for full-time staff;
• Oversaw creation of vision statement, updated mission statement and designed strategic plan shifting organization from individual service delivery focus to a community change model;
• Led strategic program approach, focusing on north and northeast Portland;
• Created successful bike shop plan, resulting in a thriving, profitable enterprise.

Remmers also sat on the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030 Steering Committee. Suffice it to say, Remmers’ contributions to the community will be sorely missed.

Graves plans to write a new business plan to map the organization’s next steps. She presented on a panel at the National Bike Summit today that focused on promoting bikes in underserved communities, an issue she’s championed at the CCC, and one that she says will become an even larger focus in the future.

Nearly every seat was filled.
(Photos © J. Maus)

I’ve got a front row seat at the big Opening Plenary session at the National Bike Summit. There’s even more excitement than usual because there are a few guys standing around with blue Google t-shirts. In addition to a big announcement from Google about their new bike directions feature, there is an excellent panel of speakers on tap.

The opening session is billed, “The Next Decade” and Congressman Earl Blumenauer is first to speak.

Pennsylvania Ave bike lanes.

He’s going over the goals from last year. One of them was to fill every seat in this ampitheater. Done (there are a few empty, but there are also lots of people standing in back). One of the other goals was to get a bikeway on Pennsylvania Avenue. Blumenauer has been working on that for years, and he announced this morning that by Bike to Work Day in DC (early May) this year, there will be green painted bikeways on Pennsylvania Avenue.

About the impending bike lane project, Blumenauer likened them to one of America’s most historic and iconic streets, “An exciting symbol of cycling haven risen in our nation’s capitol.”

Blumenauer had a lot of gratitude for advocates. “Persistence pays… and I’m in a culture that reveres seniority. But we need new blood, people that are fired up… they are the hallmark of this effort.” Blumenauer asked the crowd how many were first-timers at the Summit and hundreds of hands went up.

Blumenauer needs help to make
his policies fly.
(Photos © J. Maus)

“We need you know more than ever!”

Blumenauer also spoke about gridlock — not on streets, but on Capitol Hill. “We’re here to show people in the Capitol how to break that gridlock.” Trying to raise spirits a day before the troops head up to the Hill for meetings with members of Congress, Blumenauer said, “We need you know more than ever!”

Blumenauer outline several of his bike-related legislative efforts including, his Active Communities for Transportation bill (a.k.a. “the ACT act”), a Safe Routes for High Schools bill, and a bill he calls “Green Routes to Work” that would give all modes equal commuting reimbursements from employers.

On Safe Routes to High Schools: “We know childhood obesity strikes between 12 and 19… We shouldn’t abandon high schools… We want to make sure there’s a bike culture to complete with car culture.”

On Green Routes to Work: “This is a blueprint for how we’re going to end socialism for the car… We’re not anit-car but we want to stop titling the playing field dramatically in favor of them.”

Of all the years I’ve heard Blumenauer speak at this Opening Plenary, this year he seemed weary and less inspirational than in the past. During the Bush years, his anger stirred up great emotion in the crowd. Then, at the dawn of the Obama era, he was imbued with a hope that things would finally start going his way in terms of biking. This year, I think the pall of partisanship hanging over D.C. is impacting a lot of Democrats. Blumenauer pleaded with advocates as sort of a Great Last Hope to help this town see some light. Here are a few of his remarks on this topic:

“I wasn’t joking before when I talked about gridlock. I’ve been here all my life and have never seen anything like we’ve had over the course of the last year… We need your energy, your vision, your blueprint for how to make things better… They [his colleagues] need to hear the message that this is not partisan or idealogical… a message that you can deliver…”

It was as if he’s tried everything, and that now it’s up to the power of people to make it happen. He went on,

“… Help them understand you are just the tip of the iceberg in every community. Help them understand you don’t want explanations why this place doesn’t work… You want them to work with you to help make it work… Our mission has become more important, it’s become grander in scope even as it’s become more urgent…”

Peter Rogoff, administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (one of the main sponsors of the even by the way) also addressed the crowd. He had high praise for Blumenauer, saying, “I may live on the other side of the country, but as a cyclist myself, he is my congressman too.”

“Our mission is the same as your mission,” said Rogoff, “We are trying to get our policies and our programs to recognize the new reality.” According to Rogoff, a new reality exists because people are “cramming for choices” in how they move around and “We need to upgrade our policies and programs to reflect it.”

Rogoff said the sour economy has many Americans looking to “jettison” their cars. “These families are discovering that transit works for them and that bikes work for them, and — what’s critically important — is that many of them are discovering that cycling and transit works for them.”

Rogoff also pointed out that the Obama Administration has boosted transit spending by 84% in just one year. Of the 51 projects selected for stimulus funding through the TIGER program, he said 24 of them included some type of bike improvement. “I think we’re beginning to put our money where our mouth is on these issues.”

He also acknowledged that there is “pushback on this agenda.” Then, echoing Blumenauer’s sentiment, he said, “That’s why it’s all the more important you’re here.”

As what may be the last line of defense to push transportation politics toward a new status quo, the 700 assembled advocates here at the Summit have a lot of expectations on their shoulders heading into the big day on Capitol Hill tomorrow.

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

First day is in the books here at the 2010 National Bike Summit — and it was a big one. Lots of excitment, record attendance, the launch of a major national promotional campaign, big news from Google, a guest appearance (via video) from Lance Armstrong, and lots more.

Check out the slideshow below (or browse the gallery). It contains all my best shots from today, including a visit to Bikestation D.C., a few snaps of the local bike-sharing solution, Smartbike DC, and photos of advocates from around the country:

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.

As reported earlier, Bikes Belong revealed a major new campaign tonight aimed at unifying a million voices in support of bicycling across America. The People for Bikes campaign was launched to a room packed with bike advocates and industry leaders from across the country at the opening reception of the National Bike Summit.

During the announcement, Bikes Belong executive director Tim Blumenthal shared a bit more about the campaign. He also shared a video they used as inspiration for the campaign (watch it below). Blumenthal said the official public launch will take place at the Sea Otter Classic bike race and festival in California on April 15th-18th.

Andy Clarke as Wile E. Coyote.

During a slideshow presentation, Blumenthal illustrated the goal of the campaign by sharing a Photoshopped image of League of American Bicyclists director Andy Clarke as Wile E. Coyote jumping a bike over the Grand Canyon. One side was labeled “250,000 advocates” and the other, “50 million riders.” Blumenthal also shared one of the campaign ads and said, “You’re going to see these ads everywhere.”

Assisting Bikes Belong on the campaign was creative firm Colle McVoy . Blue State Digital, the database technology and online strategists behind Barack Obama’s meteoric rise to popularity are also involved. Bike parts maker SRAM also played a key role as a “special investor” in the project.

A video was also played during the launch presentation. Blumenthal said it was created during the development of the campaign and shows the kind of spirit they’re after. I recorded the video with my iPhone. Watch it below (and listen to the rousing ovation at the end!):

Bike Summit coverage sponsored by Planet Bike. More stories on our special coverage page.