There will be a Cape Fear SORBA workday at the Brunswick County Nature Park on Saturday (3/12/11) AND Sunday (3/13/11) starting at 9 am. Bring proper clothing and food and any tools you think might be useful.
I hope to see you at both work days!
Thanks!
Austin Fenwick
Cape Fear SORBA Vice President
NC Delegates as we prepare for our meeting with Senator Kay Hagen's staff
I’m sure some wise man once said, “All good things must come to an end.” That’s where I stand now. However, I can say that today was worth the trip alone for many reasons. Let’s recap!
My day started early and my first meeting was with Congressman Mike McIntyre’s aide Stratton Kirton. To be clear, in most cases with meetings at the office of Senators and Congressman you aren’t actually going to meet with the rep. In most cases you are meeting with a 20 something Legislative Assistant who works on Transportation or Natural Resources. That was the case here. The big issues that all the cyclists were working on in DC this year was just asking for funding to continue to Safe Routes to Schools, Transportation Enhancement, and the Recreational Trails Program. With the new congress with over 90 new members (that largely want to see funding cuts) our goal was not to ask for anything new. Instead we want to maintain what we have. Once I was done with that and had left him all of the materials on the important projects I also invited everyone with the McIntyre office to take a kid mountain biking day in October. Its something we can all work on in the Cape Fear Region.
Its at this point I think we are about done. My new friend and help for this particular meeting Randy Bass of Winston-Salem then asks if its ok if we have a picture with Mr. Kirton. This is where the plan changed! Mr. Kirton brought up that the Congressman was actually here and might have time to chat and take a picture with us. Well one thing left to another and this picture happened.
From left to right: Randy Bass, Congressman McIntyre, and myself
It was amazing to have the chance to repeat a few things to the Congressman that I otherwise would have left with his aide. Lets hope that this can develop into a relationship that all cyclists in our region can benefit from! The key? Follow up follow up follow up!
Next the NC delegation met up on the opposite side of Capital Hill to stop in and say hello to Senator Kay Hagen’s people. This time I kept mostly quiet and let the more experienced members of the party pitch our message. Sadly on this occasion we did not get to see the Senator (unlike last year when the Senator spent the entire time talking to us). However, Senator Hagen is a huge supporter of cycling and greenway systems and her aide was very interested in our issues and asked for additional information on specific problems that a few of our delegates were facing.
The NC Delegation in deep conversation in Kay Hagen's office
Lastly the end of the day came and all the Bike Summit attendee’s filed into the Dirksen Senate building to enjoy some food and drinks and get a chance to chat about what had happened that day. Its at this point I found out about an interesting rumor floating through the NC Delegation. I won’t say who I heard it from, but apparently there is a chance that the cyclists in NC might have a chance to converge on Raleigh for a NC version of the summit. That’s right folks, a NC Bicycle Summit is a distinct possibility.
So, what did I take away from the summit this year? Well first, David Wiens is a very down to earth person who, much like me, is trying to get more involved and learn about what he can do to pursue better cycling infrastructure. Also, mountain bikers really are the ones everyone wants to talk to. Lastly, the political process isn’t always exciting and you don’t always get to chat with your reps. However, when you do, it makes the effort you went through all worth it.
Thanks for following along with my travels everyone, when there is more to speak about concerning the possibility of a NC Summit you will hear it from me. Also I have some wonderful plans for a few pet projects I want to start up. Those too, will be coming soon.
NC Delegation
Its nothing like hearing a speech start with this question: “How many people are stuck in traffic on their way to ride a stationary bike in a health club?” That is how Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) began his speech to start the 2nd day of the National Bike Summit here in DC. Its so very funny that people want to drive to go indoors to exercise when we have the ability to right in their own back yard. But I guess if more people wanted to do that, I wouldn’t be in DC right now!
Janette Sadik-Khan, the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation, followed the congressman. She is one of the people responsible for the large-scale improvements in the bicycle infrastructure throughout the city. One of the points she made was that while it would be nice for the Federal government to aid us with inclusion of bike lanes etc…but we can’t wait for Washington. As advocates we can work to get things done locally WITHOUT federal funding. She also announced the creation of the Urban Bikeway Design Guide, something that they hope will become nationally recognized as the standard for bikeway design.
Our last morning speaker was the 2nd member of the Obama cabinet that I have seen in the last two days. The Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar was the final morning speaker…and he managed to give us all a laugh indirectly. Since the Secretary was late arriving Andy Clarke of the League and Mike Van Abel of IMBA had to do a little verbal song and dance to keep us all interested until he arrived. They went back and forth about various “important” topics…none of which I remember simply because we were laughing at their attempt to stall. Luckily though, Mr. Salazar finally arrived to save us all and he gave a delightful little speech as well.
Secretary Salazar
For the next 5+ hours I spent time in various breakout sessions learning as much as I could about various topics. I spent some time in a session that was talking about getting more youth active and engaged in the cycling community. I also took the time to listen to experts help describe to delegates what things they can do to make their pitch sound better and work better. Fun fact, did you know that DC is mostly run by 20 somethings and not the politicians? I bet they survive on red bull instead of coffee these days!
After our breakout sessions we finally got to meet up with the rest of our state delegations. It was great to see some of the same faces from last year like Steven Hardy-Braz from EC Velo and the folks from Liberty Bikes in Asheville. Also, we had new faces from across the state, bringing our grand total to around 20 people. Not bad at all.
A View of the NC Delegation at the National Bike Summit!
At the end of the day after a meet and great with other IMBA delegates I got to have a bite with the rest of the mountain bike nuts at a wonderfully crowded pub down the street. During this time I got to spend some time talking to various people, including David Weins. “David who?”, you might say. Oh he is nobody, just won the Leadville 100 a few times and beat that Lance Armstrong guy at it once.
Tom Sauret, the Southeastern regional director of SORBA made a funny statement about that chat with Dave. It went something like, “First Gary Fisher last year and now Dave Weins, you’re collecting them huh?”
Maybe I am Tom, maybe I am…
Long day tomorrow friends, wish me luck with Mike McIntyre and his staff.
Mountain Bike or Die
Austin Fenwick
Vice President: Cape Fear SORBA
Hello everyone and welcome to my blog from Washington DC during the 2011 National Bike Summit! Today was an active day of both traveling and listening to quite a wonderful array of presentations. So lets start from the beginning!
I started my day in DC with a pre-summit workshop on the IMBA Public Lands Initiative. To give a little background, this workshop has its origins in a battle that IMBA has been fighting to conserve mountain biking in areas that the Federal government has been trying to give the “Wilderness” designation. As it says on the IMBA website, “The Public Lands Initiative targets critical campaigns where public lands policies, legislation and management practices could close important trails to bicycles.”
AKA: Lets keep trails open to Mountain bikes!
Moving on, the workshop also had appearances from the members of the Trail Care Crew as well as all of the IMBA regional directors from across the country. After that I stopped by the IMBA booth to pick up my registration package and hear giggles abound…
Favorite quote of the day comes from IMBA Regional Director Hansi Johnson during this time of the day, “The Mountain Bikers are only a small bit of the people here…but we are the ones everyone wants to hang out with!”
The first timers orientation was standing room only, another very good sign for the summit this year.
At this point it was time for dinner and I really got an idea how many people had made the trip to DC this year.
During dinner delegates heard speeches from the President of the League of American Bicyclists Andy Clarke, President of Bikes Belong Tim Blumenthal and the highlight was Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. Secreatary LaHood was very proud to be speaking to the delegates again this year, going as far as saying that the Department of Transportation was with us and believed in what we were doing.
In review it was a fun and very tiring day that I wouldn’t have had any other way. Its certainly rewarding to be in a room full of bicycle nuts of all ages and disciplines. Its also very cool to see Dave Wiens and Gary Fisher wandering around…you can’t beat that!
Tomorrow will be a long day of breakout sessions and team planning with the other NC Delegates including the President of EC Velo Steven Hardy-Braz who i caught during dinner grinning away…
I’ll be filling everyone at the end of the day tomorrow as well since I don’t have WiFi access at the summit location. Until then everyone, have fun and be safe out there.
Mountain Bike Or Die
Austin Fenwick
VP Cape Fear SORBA
