What left me astounded was how passionate the dealers were about advocacy. In the past, investing in advocacy has been a hard sell for bike retailers, especially when it came to the far-away land of federal advocacy. Like any small business owner, most retailers lack the bandwidth to concentrate on distant, intangible and—frankly—boring things like the federal transportation bill. However, that legislation is the #1 source for the bicycle lanes, trails, and paths in our backyards, so it is important for retailers to support federal advocacy, because it does come back to the local level.

I’m not sure whether it’s because advocates have done a better job marketing their work, or because John Burke has some kind of secret advocacy decoder ring, but the dealers at Trek World were totally on board. Bikes Belong president Tim Blumenthal presented about peopleforbikes.org in four workshops, each time to a full audience. For the meeting’s opening presentation, a clipboard with a stack of peopleforbikes.org pledge sheets was placed on every chair in the hall. After the crowd filed out, only a fraction of the clipboards remained. When I sat down to eat later that evening, I had the pleasure of talking to a bike shop owner from Georgia. Before I could finish my dinner roll, I had heard about the status of Georgia’s 3-foot bill, an upcoming state bike summit, and the shop’s involvement in their local and state advocacy groups. Not only did this guy know more about derailleurs than me, I think he knew more about advocacy!

Bicycle retailers are the industry’s connection to individual bicyclists, so it is encouraging to see them taking a greater interest in advocacy. The major suppliers like Trek, Specialized, Giant, and Cannondale can make the big financial investment in advocacy, but it’s the retailers who can mobilize the foot soldiers that movements like peopleforbikes.org need.

Summarizing the key takeaways of an action-packed, dawn-to-dark, four-day conference isn’t easy, so for now, we’ll focus on the bicycling experience in Copenhagen—a city of 500,000 residents that is widely recognized as perhaps the world’s best city for cycling.

• Thirty-six percent of all commuting trips to work and school in Copenhagen are currently made by bike, but city leaders aren’t satisfied. They’re aiming for 50 percent by 2015. They’re also working to reduce serious bike rider injuries by 50 percent during this same period.

• During the last 15 years, bike rider safety has already improved dramatically. In 1995, the city suffered 231 cyclist deaths; in 2008, the total was 92 serious injuries or deaths.

• Sixty percent of Copenhageners ride a bike every day. (This doesn’t mean they ride for all trips, and the percentage drops during the winter.)

• Bicycling in Copenhagen is promoted primarily as the fastest way to get from point A to point B, anywhere in the city. Yes, residents are aware of all the other benefits—health, air quality, climate change, fun, etc.—but bicycling is seen first as quick and convenient.

• Copenhagen does a solid job of counting bike trips. On one bridge in the northern part of the city, more than 10 million bike rides were tallied during the last 12 months by a wheel-actuated counter. That’s 37,000 bike riders per day!

• While not all streets have separated bikeways, much of the city is laced with a three-level street transportation system. First, next to buildings, is a sidewalk. Then comes a distinct bikeway that often features a unique pavement treatment (color or texture) that differentiates it from the adjacent roadway and sidewalk. Bikeways are often lined on both sides by bricks, and are often a few inches lower than the sidewalk. Finally, there’s the roadway itself, which is again a few inches lower than the bikeway. By the way, we saw almost no on-street parking for cars.

• To discourage cars from coming into the heart of the city, parking fees have been set at $5 per hour.

• Bicycling between 6 a.m. and noon is made faster by “The Green Wave,” which synchronizes traffic signals on major bike routes so that riders never hit a red light if they pedal at 12 miles per hour (20kph).

• Copenhagen estimates that it spends between $10 million and $20 million per year on bike infrastructure additions and improvements. (Many U.S. cities are now spending similar sums, so there’s hope!)

• Copenhagen boasts close to 30,000 cargo bikes and the city provides special on-street parking for these efficient, human-powered transporters.

• A top-notch presentation about bicycling in Copenhagen is available here in a PDF format.

Our gathering focused on best practices. We talked about new, cost-effective ways to make bicycling safer and more appealing by improving roads, paths, trails and crossings. These solutions focus on pavement color and materials,
signs and traffic signals, and creating policies that make bicycling better.

Here are a few of the meeting's quick takeaways:

1. U.S. cities are creating amazing, innovative bike facilities that are transforming the urban experience. At this event we heard about improvements in Portland (OR), San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Columbia (MO), Denver, New York, Washington and our home city of Boulder, Colorado. We also heard from Marin County (CA) and Sheboygan County (WI). This is a national trend...and it's happening fast.

2. Bike use has increased dramatically in just about every major U.S. city, particularly since 2005. (We already knew this, but it was helpful to see summaries of the latest growth numbers on the Powerpoint screen.)

3. In some U.S. cities, the percentage of trips taken by bike is approaching double digits--a number that becomes truly significant in addressing road congestion, air quality, parking needs, and quality-of-life concerns. (Top cycling cities in western Europe have achieved a 30-percent bike mode share, and they're aren't satisfied, yet.)

4. All of our partners are working hard on the city cycling challenge. If you want to learn more, visit the websites of the Alliance for Biking and Walking, League of American Bicyclists, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and the new Cities for Cycling project of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO).

We took a couple hours one afternoon to ride all around Boulder--our home base--and listen to city officials tell the story of how they developed a national-class, 380-mile network of bike lanes, paths, and trails. Boulder now boasts 74 bike underpasses--more than many states--that make it easy to pedal across town without waiting at traffic lights or busy intersections.

We're pretty sure that all of our guests enjoyed the tour, and now better understand why Boulder is recognized as one of the three U.S. Platinum Bicycle-Friendly Communities. Now we just need to keep working to bring this type of bicycling experience to other part of the country. Without a doubt, getting a million Americans to sign the Peopleforbikes.org pledge will help.

But, it was all about mountain biking from the minute Kate and I got on the plane to Atlanta with mountain bike legend Dave Wiens. We picked up our rental car the same time as Dave, and I decided to race him to Augusta. I can proudly say that Kate and I triumphed in the race, even though I'm not sure Dave knew he was involved in a race. I'm guessing that my experience racing in the Leadville 100 later this year will have a much different result.

The city of Augusta couldn't have been more welcoming to IMBA and all of the volunteers from around the world. IMBA, the Augusta Chamber of Commerce, and beer from New Belgium got the World Summit off to a great start on Wednesday evening, including a Frisbee throwing contest which I'm sure I could have won had I not had to step out to use the men's room.

Thursday's introduction by Mike VanAbel was inspiring and set a great tone for the key note Speaker Mike Mercuri. Listening to Mike speak about SRAM and what the mountain bike industry has meant to his business was inspiring. He took time to thank the volunteers and people at the Summit for their contributions in helping build a strong future for mountain biking and bicycling in general. Following the opening breakfast I joined a couple of the breakout sessions, and the one that I was most excited about was the Public Land's Initiative that was led by Jenn Dice and Ashley Korenblat. The IMBA Public Land's Initiative is a new national campaign to improve access for mountain biking, protect public lands and engage the bicycling community in critical U.S. public lands issues. The project is exciting because the bike industry came together at the Bicycle Leadership Conference to raise $600,000 to fund this new initiative.

Thursday afternoon I had to figure out why we were in the south for the World Summit and not in Colorado, Utah, or California. Kate and I got a change to ride the Forks Area Trail System. Riding those trails pretty much answered my question. We had one of the most fun and enjoyable afternoons of riding that I can remember. It was a solid example of what Hans Rey termed "Flow Country."

I kicked off the Friday morning session by providing the crowd with an overview of Bikes Belong and our commitment to mountain biking, as well as introducing our newest marketing campaign peopleforbikes.org. I love explaining how peopleforbikes.org has the power to make riding better and more accessible for everyone who wants to ride, and increasing mountain biking access is no exception. Giving access to those who love to bike, and providing the opportunity to introduce new participants to the activity, is a benefit of the job.

Augusta and the IMBA World Summit was a great experience. It was a thrill to see the energy that all those hardworking advocates bring to the sport we love. I just hope that I get a chance to go back and ride those trails again.

Thomas Gotschi, formerly of the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, presented a cost-benefit analysis of bike infrastructure and promotion in the city of Portland, Oregon. We all know that bicycling has many benefits, but if a city invests in bicycling, exactly how long does it take to officially break even on that investment? Since 1991, Portland has spent $64 million on bicycling paths, lanes, and programs. There are a lot of people reaping the benefits of bicycling there now, but it won’t be until 2017 that enough has been saved on health care and fuel for the city to recoup its investment. However, the wait is worth it: by 2040, Portland will have saved $1 billion in healthcare expenses thanks to bikes. That’s a profit of $6.5 dollars for every dollar invested in bicycling.

Even though Dr. Gotschi’s study on Portland was original, it’s not exactly a surprise to hear good things about bicycling in Portland. What was unexpected was hearing a professor from Tulane University, Kathryn Parker, describe the benefits of bicycling in a much less likely place—New Orleans. Her presentation, “If You Build It, Will They Come?: The health impact of constructing new bike lanes in New Orleans, LA,” focused on bicycle lanes built post-Katrina in a low income area of the city with funds from a federal submerged roads program. Dr. Parker found that after the bike lanes were built, the number of bicyclists increased 56%. Also, the number of female riders more than doubled, and there was a large reduction in the number of cyclists riding the wrong way against traffic. The new bike lanes enabled a primarily low-income population to bicycle more often and more safely, hugely important in a neighborhood still recovering from devastation of Hurricane Katrina and in a state with a higher than average obesity rate.

While Portland is far ahead of New Orleans as far as investment in bicycling to date, these two examples go to show that bicycling can have its benefits anywhere, and that it’s never too late to start investing. It may take decades for the initial cost to be recouped, but the positive effects can be realized immediately, even in the least likely places.

The Cities for Cycling project will enable more Americans to ride bikes more often by empowering cities to implement the best designs from around the country and the world. It's also a powerful sign that the largest, most influential cities in the United States are taking bicycling seriously as a component of a robust, balanced transportation system.

Bikes Belong's involvement in this program is part of our Bicycling Design Best Practices Project.

Bikes Belong, in partnership with Interbike, contributed $10,000—the first of a $50,000 commitment to bicycling in Las Vegas—to the Ward 5 community’s efforts to stripe bike lanes near three local elementary schools, including Matt Kelly, increasing safety and connectivity within a neighborhood where walking and biking are primary means of transportation. We got to see the brand new lanes we funded first hand and speak to the students about why riding their bikes to school helps make their community—and the world—a happier and healthier place. 

The school’s principal, Patricia Harris (one of those remarkable school administrators who knows all of her students by name) led an assembly, explaining the history and importance of the day and congratulating the students for walking and bicycling to school. Ward 5’s Councilman Ricki Barlow, Jacob Snow, who manages the Southern Nevada Regional Transportation Commission, and members of their staff were there to mark the occasion.

After brief remarks, and “big check” presentations from Bikes Belong/Interbike and the RTC, which matched our grant with $10,000 of its own, we awarded bicycles and helmets to two boys and two girls from Matt Kelly. The smiles on those four children’s faces as they came up to receive their bikes were brighter than the newly painted lanes. The children, led by Councilman Barlow on his bike, rolled up and down the new lanes with delight, flashing big grins at the local TV crews that showed up to film the festivities.

Engineers and planners from Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco and Seattle joined the Portland hosts in discussions about best practices for bicycle infrastructure in cities and how high-quality bicycle facilities can help address pressing urban challenges such as traffic congestion, high parking infrastructure costs and poor air quality. The group also met with a blue-ribbon panel of European bike planners, representing Denmark, the Netherlands, and the European Union.

Our organization and our president, Tim Blumenthal, believes that bicycling has great potential to help America's largest cities -- tight spaces and a need to make mostly short trips make cities well-suited to bicycle use. These cities rank among the U.S. leaders in developing innovative practices in urban bicycling that are enabling more people to ride bicycles more often.

Our BikesPAC fundraiser attracted 80 people and we raised $18,750 - an Interbike BikesPAC record. Board chair Steve Meineke and board VP Mike Mercuri spoke to our guests about the importance of Bikes Belong's work.

On Thursday, the Bikes Belong/NBDA Seminar luncheon drew 107 retailers (and other supporters) for an informative presentation from staffers Bruno Maier and Gary Sjoquist.

Bikes Belong generated lots of press in the Interbike Show Daily, including a 10th anniversary story that was featured on the cover of the Day 2 edition. The article inside talked about Bikes Belong's key accomplishments to date and mentioned the plans and goals of our upcoming consumer outreach campaign.

Bikes Belong was well represented at all the key industry and advocacy functions, including the Planet Bike Advocacy Leaders reception, the SRAM Cycling Fund/World Bicycle Relief Update, the Outdoor Industry Women's Coalition gathering, the IMBA Breakfast, and the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

Three Bikes Belong staffers competed in 'Cross Vegas--the international cyclocross race that attracted more than 5,000 spectators to a Las Vegas park on the first night of the indoor trade show.