© Jason HallBet you didn't know the National Bike Summit was going on right now. Or did you? Perhaps I'm the only one who was clued into this late in the game. Regardless, the summit is celebrating it's 10th anniversary this week and is looking to garner as many bicyclists and advocates on Capitol Hill as possible.
Will you be in or around the Washington, D.C. area over the next couple days? Register on-site (since online registration is closed) and help Congress realize that the answer to energy dependence, health care and climate change is the bicycle.
"In 2010, Congress and our federal agencies will be setting national targets and goals for 2020. They will be writing transportation, climate, health care, natural resources and other critical pieces of legislation that will shape our future. Bicycling must be prominently featured in these important pieces of legislation..." notes the League of American Bicyclists.
Among the many sessions offered today, these two grabbed my attention right away: "Cycle Tracks to Pump Tracks - The Transportation-Recreation Connection" and "Entrepreneurial IMBA-Growing Mountain Bike Participation." A Capitol Hill rally and continental breakfast begin at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.
Speak up for cycling and let your voice be heard!
Judith Arndt, a professional road cyclist for team HTC-Columbia, won her first mountain bike race a couple weekends ago. Sure, the 33-year-old former world champion has won races before—but never a mountain bike race. In fact, she'd never raced off road before the Otway Odyssey. Meaning she won the first mountain bike race she ever entered.
"I really enjoyed the mountain bike race. People were really friendly. Everyone was so positive," she told Cyclingnews.
I remember having those same thoughts after finishing my first mountain bike race. I remember the course being slick from the rain that fell the day before too. I even remember passing a handful of women on the course and falling mid turn on my way downhill. I remember pedaling across the finish line, fresh blood dripping from my knee. Would you believe then that I don't remember what place I came in?
Maybe there's a reason.
What was your first race experience like? Did you win the first mountain bike race you entered like Judith Arndt? Or do you forget, like me?
This past weekend I had the chance to attend the Action Bicycle Open House Expo. Action is a wholesale distributor that delivers bike parts and accessories to bike shops all over the country, especially those located in the Mid-Atlantic area.
Each spring, their open house provides the opportunity for dealers to meet with various manufacturers and see what new products will be available for the season ahead.
I had a few hours to browse around and chat with vendors like Shimano, Saris, Kryptonite, Princeton Tec, Lizard Skins and many others. There are a lot of great new products in the works so keep checking back for new product reviews on bikes, components, and accessories!
What's better than singletrack, bike parks and cycling paths? Grant money to help build singletrack, bike parks and cycling paths! Bikes Belong, a coalition that "works to put more people on bicycles more often," recently awarded $55,000 in winter grants to help fund seven projects:
(Moab, Utah) - Moab Trails Alliance - Moab Canyon Path $10,000 will help to connect the paved Moab Canyon Path--also known as The Old Highway--from the Lion's Park Trail and Transit Hub with Arches National park and the mountain bike trails north of town. I rode this connector when I visited Moab a few years back and am thrilled it is going to be one step closer to completion--a truly stunning, safe way to travel around town.
(Crosby, Minn.) - Cuyuna Lakes Trail Association - Cuyuna Lakes State Trail $10,000 will help to construct two sections of paved trail that will connect an elementary school, senior housing facility and community center to five miles of existing trail in Crosby, Minn. Bike path riders will be introduced to mountain biking when it's complete--the 39-mile Cuyuna Lakes State Trail will link to the Paul Bunyan Trail and an IMBA Ride Center.
(Redmond, Wash.) - City of Redmond, Washington - Redmond Bike Park $10,000 will go towards building the Redmond Bike Park. The city and its partnerships with the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the Cascade Bicycle Club, and local bicycle shops and supplier will design and build this park. I have a feeling it'll get used--roughly 2,450 mountain bikers live within two miles of the facility.
(Cable, Wis.) - Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) - CAMBA Singletrack $5,000 will support finishing the final phase of development in the Cable, Hayward and Seeley clusters, which will create 28 miles of uninterrupted singletrack.
(Boone, NC) - Watauga County Tourism Development Authority - Rocky Knob Park Trails $5,000 will help develop a mountain bike trail system at Rocky Knob Park. As it stands, residents have to drive outside the county to access legal singletrack trails.
(Middleton, Wis.) - City of Middleton, Wisconsin - Middleton Bike Park $5,000 will go towards building a bike park neighboring the city's public golf course. Middleton is hoping to make the park a key part of its master trails plan, which will allow mountain bikers to ride instead of drive to the trails.
(Cincinnati, Ohio) - Ohio River Way, Inc. - Ohio River Trail $10,000 will go towards paving a portion of the Ohio River Trail, linking downtown Cincinnati to Lunken Airport. Another scenic transportation and recreation route, which will eventually connect to the popular Little Miami Scenic Trail.
