The most surprising thing about the LA Bike Summit last Saturday: The event’s popularity. Above’s a group shot taken before I got there — I had no idea there were so many enthusiastic bike-happy people in L.A. willing to spend all Saturday listening to keynotes and attending panels and workshops about bikes.
Of course, the event was free — and even offered a free lunch. Still, it was great to see people of all ages passionately talking about bikes, from electing bike-friendly political candidates to naming and shaming bike-haters…. (right: Joe Linton, main organizer for the summit)
I got to the summit just after lunch, and opted to go to C.I.C.L.E.’s workshop: “Lose up to Two Tons in One Day! C.I.C.L.E.’s Amazing Car-Lite Diet.” C.I.C.L.E.’s basically run by two women living on the east side who’re showing people practical ways to reduce their dependence on the car — without being too didactic or overbearing about it. Their presentation emphasized the pleasures of biking — and ways to bring more happiness into your biking life.
One idea I especially liked: Carve your own path through cute residential neighborhoods instead of following major roads — even if they’re city-designated bike paths — that are often noisier and more polluted. If I were on the east side, I’d totally try to do more with this group. Check out the C.I.C.L.E. site for bike education and safety classes — plus fun rides!
Then I was on the “Bike Blogs and More: Electronic Communications Panel” — along with Damien Newton of Streetsblog LA, Road Block of Midnight Ridazz, Ele Munjeli of the Bikex Database, and Ted Rogers of Biking in LA, who joined the panel last minute. If you missed it, LA Loyalist has a summary of the panel — with a photo of Damien and me looking like errant students not paying attention to the teacher.
For more LA Bike Summit goodness, visit:
>> Joe Linton at Handmade Ransom Notes has notes on the cute bike spoke cards and posters he made for the summit.
>> Damien at Streetsblog L.A. has a recap of the pre-summit press conference.
>> Nate Baird has a recap of the pre-summit meeting.
>> Damien has a recap of the keynotes, as well as a recap of the “Bike Safety in the Inner City, complete with video.
>> Brayj Against The Machine says he had a bike-gasm looking at so many cool bikes. Actually, he says he THINKS he had a bike-gasm; he’s not sure.
>> Travelin’ Local was psyched about all the free bike info and education — and the free lunch and T-shirt too. Nice meeting you –
>> Gary Rides Bikes was there but I didn’t see him….
Photos top to bottom: Lisa Newton, Siel, Wildbell
Woooo hooo! Two pictures of me, and a link at Green LA Girl! I’ve made it big time.
Thank you, Siel, for getting the word out on the summit, participating on the panel, and for consistently putting out great blogs on the environment – which includes biking. I too was really happy and a bit surprised at the good turnout… now to turn that energy into real change on the ground to make LA safer and more convenient for greener transportation options.
Joe Linton’s last blog post..Watering Trees from my Washing Machine
Comment by Joe Linton — March 14, 2009 @ 5:14 pm
I was there all day, but yeah I didn’t see you either. I think during your session I was in the one by Elly Blue of Bike Portland. Thanks for promoting and contributing to the summit, it was pretty inspirational to see how many people were excited about bikes.
Comment by Gary K. — March 16, 2009 @ 10:48 am
Thanks for putting the event together, Joe! And see you at the next summit, Gary –
Comment by Siel — March 24, 2009 @ 9:50 am