Posts Tagged ‘IMBA’

National Bike Summit registration discount ends tomorrow

Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011

Meeting with Senator Debbie Stabenow's staff at the 2010 National Bike Summit

If you register for the National Bike Summit before tomorrow, February 3rd, and save money, especially for IMBA members.

Attending this year’s Summit is critical given the recent changes in Congress. We need bicyclists in DC to make sure our representatives understand the importance and value of continued federal investment in bicycling infrastructure. Without continued federal transportation funding, you can expect a major reducti0n in new bike lanes, bike parking, and more throughout Metro Detroit.

Let’s keep bicycle transportation moving forward and join us in Washington DC this March.

Ontario Bicycle Summits

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

This month there are two bicycle summits in nearby Ontario.

The first is the Ontario Bicycle Summit which runs from September 20th through the 21st. The location is Waterloo, which is about 3.5 hours from Detroit via car.

Although there are not many details yet on the planned workshops, they do have an impressive list of speakers, including Congressman James Oberstar and Researcher Todd Littman.

  • Oberstar plans to discuss the latest updates on the U.S. federal transportation bill he’s been crafting for months (which is currently stalled.)
  • Littman is the founder of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute, which has a wealth of excellent research on bicycling in both their TDM Encyclopedia and documents page.

The other event is the 2009 Ontario Mountain Bike Summit hosted by IMBA Canada. This event runs from September 25th through the 27th. The location is Kitchener, which is right next door to Waterloo.

Topics will include the creation of a provincial leadership body, bike parks and sustainable trails, youth outreach, and growing local capacity for the 40+ clubs and patrols in IMBA’s Ontario network. In addition to informative seminars and networking, the gathering will feature great parties and plenty of riding.

Of course, don’t forget the Mid-America Trails and Greenways Conference in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the end of October. For more information, visit the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance web site.

Mid-America Trails and Greenways Conference

Friday, June 12th, 2009

MTGA is actively supporting biking and trail development in the City of Detroit

Mark your calendars for October 25th through the 28th. The 2009 Mid-America Trails and Greenways Conference is coming to Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Here are more details from Nancy Krupiarz of MTGA.

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Mid-America Trails and Greenways Conference program topics and plenary speakers are up on the MTGA website. Hope you are making plans to attend this wonderful networking and inspiring educational event.

The pre-conference field trips are also coming together. They include the following options:

  • Mountain bike trip to Fort Custer Recreation Area
  • Horse and Carriage Ride down the Van Buren Trail
  • Bike trip on the Kal-Haven and Kalamazoo River Valley Trail
  • Bike trip at the Battle Creek Linear Park
  • Historical walk in downtown Kalamazoo

Prices and details will all be in the conference brochure which will be out in July.

And the post-conference sessions are shaping up for Wednesday, October 27th. They include:

  • Trails 101
  • Water Trails
  • Hands-on sustainable trail building with the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA)
  • Covering the Distance: Long-Distance Trails

Likewise, prices and details will be in the conference brochure.

Hope to see you there!

Wrapping up the National Bike Summit

Monday, March 16th, 2009
Mike Reuter, Todd Scott, Cullen Watkins

Mike Reuter, Todd Scott, Cullen Watkins

Here’s additional information from the National Bike Summit.

Bicycle Respect and Recognition

We reported earlier that Congressman Oberstar said, We need to make bicyclists a standard transportation mode by law.

BikePortland.org published more information on Oberstar’s initiative last week:

Today at the National Bike Summit in Washington D.C., Oberstar will meet with the country’s top bike lawyers to discuss the potential of a new legislative initiative to draft the country’s first piece of legal policy that would directly relate to the respect and recognition of bicycles as users of our roadways.

Portland bike lawyer Ray Thomas… describes the initiative as a way to create a federal law to ensure equitable treatment of people on bicycles who are involved in crashes. Too often, he says, drivers do not receive serious charges in collision cases. The way the system is set up now, police officers and prosecutors (for a variety of reasons) will often not even attempt to press serious charges against motorists.

Oberstar wants to fix the system so there’s a better chance that justice will be done.

A Plan for Circuit City Stores

One of the most interesting ideas I heard at the Summit was at an IMBA advocacy session. Sitting next to IMBA trail guru Rich Edwards, I began discussing potential indoor mountain bike facilities in Detroit.

Rich mentioned another more suburban opportunity.

567 Circuit City stores have closed around the U.S. These stores are large, well-lit, have concrete floors, heat, water, and very few uses — especially in this market.

One alternative idea is to make them into indoor dirt parks.

John Burke (right) holds a Detroit Gets Green pin

John Burke (right) holds a Detroit Gets Green pin

Trek Ride in Detroit

I attended the Summit with Mike Reuter and Cullen Watkins from American Cycle and Fitness. They invited me to a Trek dealer event at the Summit hosted by President John Burke.

After giving John a brief overview of what we’re achieving in Detroit, he offered to come to town this spring for an urban tour.

Detroit is 140 square miles with zero bike shops stocking new bikes on their floor.

Cyclists are Important Users

Ray LaHood, the Department of Transportation Secretary has a blog where he recently left comments on attending the National Bike Summit.

On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of addressing the National Bike Summit. I was invited to speak as a member of the Obama administration, but I have been a supporter of bicycling for many years and was a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus when I was in Congress.

Still, I don’t think the League of American Bicyclists knew what to expect when they invited me to their summit.

I hope they were pleasantly surprised because I am committed to investing in programs that encourage bikes to coexist with other modes and to safely share our roads and bridges. And there’s strong support in Congress for these goals as well.

Secretary LaHood also noted his excitement for the Active Transportation pilot program. The city of Detroit has submitted a proposal for participating in this program under the next federal transportation bill.

Help Increase Bicycling Opportunities in National Parks

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

IMBA World Summit belt buckle

The International Mountain Bicycling Association brings a huge amount of professionalism and energy to the table for all of us that use trails.

Now it’s our turn to step up.  We need mountain bikers to contact the National Park Service.

According to IMBA:

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has proposed an important rule change that will make it easier for parks to open trails to mountain biking. IMBA urges mountain bikers to register comments in support of the new rule. We have been asking the NPS to make this change since the 1990s — we now enter a 60-day commentary period to make the change official.

We know that several groups are working hard to defeat this proposal. It will take thousands of comments supporting the NPS to ensure the rule is approved. Please lend your voice to the discussion today.

Fortunately IMBA has made it super simple to contact the National Park Service.

And they’re also so professional about it.  As opposition groups rely on whipping up emotions and passions to get a response, IMBA writes a white paper that responsibly lays out the impacts of this rule change.

A rule change will not diminish protections that ensure appropriate trail use. All regular NPS regulations, General Management Planning (GMP) processes, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) still applies. Absolutely no environmental processes will be shortchanged. The public will still have ample opportunity to comment both locally and nationally. The parks that have existing mountain biking have gone through the GMP and NEPA processes and the trails are signed, actively managed and documented in the superintendent’s compendium.

If you want to support IMBA a bit more, by all means consider an IMBA membership.

And if you hurry, you can still get the tax deduction for this year.