28 March 2011

Becoming a Hard Man of Flanders

A guest article courtesy of avid cyclist, photojournalist and Blogger Mario Bartel

As countries go, Belgium doesn't exactly inflame passions.

Oh sure, Belgians brew more than 700 varieties of beer. And their chocolate will forever have you sneering at KitKat bars. But Belgium has been without a proper government for 10 months and nobody is calling an emergency session of the United Nations to resolve the crisis. Instead, Belgians are growing beards and withholding sex.

Photo left: kitting up in the rain in Oudenaarde's town square.

Come late March and early April though, the heart of every Belgian beats a little faster. It's Classics season, when the country's cycling heroes like Tom Boonen, Phillipe Gilbert and Stijn Devolder prove their mettle against the rest of the pro peloton on Belgium's narrow country roads and sharp cobbled climbs. The crowds lining the routes of the Tour of Flanders, Ghent-Wevelgem, La Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege can be 10 deep, their cheering deafening. The weather can be unpredictable, sunny and warm one race, cold, windy and rainy the next. The cobbles can be punishing, jostling and chattering the riders, slippery when wet, dusty when dry.

The heart of Belgians' cycling passion is Flanders. Ground Zero is Oudenaarde, a cozy little burg with a magnificent ornate town hall at one end of its central square. It's also home to the Tour of Flanders Museum. Imagine, an entire museum dedicated to one bike race!

Belgian cycling legend Eddy Merckx - or at least a giant poster of him - stands sentry at the museum's entrance, glowering from behind an old orange team car. With multi-media and interactive displays, the museum celebrates the race's champions, and its place in Belgian culture. Some of them are a little tired and worn, some don't work, but the passion is evident, especially during the rousing 13-minute film that precedes your entry into the displays. If you're lucky, you might also get a chance to meet Freddy Maertens, another Belgian cycling legend who's a kind of ambassador for the museum.

One of the most famous view in all of Flanders, from the summit of the Paterberg

The museum also serves as a rendezvous for cyclists heading out to test their own resolve against some of the nearby cobbled climbs like the Muur, the Koppenberg, the Oude Kwaremont, the Paterberg; there are showers, change rooms and storage lockers. Our taste of the Classics didn't come in the spring; but the fall day we rode was typical Classics weather, cold, windy, raining, unforgiving. Our hosts supplied us with full and proper kit, racing bikes that fit more or less, rain gear, gloves, shoes, even booties. Physically, neither my wife, princessofpavement.com, nor I were intimidated by the 72 km route that had been plotted out for us, including a half dozen cobbled climbs. I still had my fitness from completing the Whistler Gran Fondo a month earlier, and my wife was two weeks past running the Portland Marathon. She even proved a quick study for her first experience with clipless pedals, snapping in and out of them like a champ after only a few minutes of practice in the town square.

Photo above: A mural honoring cycling legends

The Flanders' tourist bureau knows its customers; it's created an extensive collection of cycling route maps, and the roads and bike paths that comprise those routes are well marked by signs. As with any rainy ride, once we started to warm up, the cold and misery of the day seemed to subside. The riding was sublime, barely any traffic on mostly smooth pavement, through tidy villages, past muddy farm fields where giant white cows stood resolutely against the wind. We also weren't the only cyclists crazy enough to be out in this weather; this is Flanders, after all.

Photo, left: The cobbles of the Muur.
Our first two climbs were on smooth pavement, the Kluisberg and Knokteberg. Neither was overly strenuous, but the gale at the top was icy. The Oude Kwaremont was our first encounter with cobbles. To say it was bumpy would be an understatement. The rain had rendered the pavé particularly slippery. I dropped down to a granny gear, relaxed my arms and fought to keep the front wheel from sliding away. By 100 meters I had gained a new appreciation for the Belgian Classics where the pros attack these hills in packed pelotons at speed. When we reached our next climb, the Paterberg, I rode it like a pro, heading for the smooth rain gutter alongside the cobbles. But the rain-slicked brown fallen leaves in the narrow ditch, and the smooth metal grates of the storm drains made it almost more slippery than the pavé. At the summit, peering into the misty Flanderian countryside rolling below us, our gloves and booties soaked through, our fingers, toes and cheeks raw from the cold wind, we told our guides that, like every good Italian cyclist, we were ready to abandon for the warmth of a hot drink.

Which is just what awaited us at the brasserie attached to the Tour of Flanders Museum. Still dressed in our drenched, muddy cycling gear because none of us had thought to bring a dry change of underclothes, we sat on the bike seat bar stools, surrounded by photos and trinkets of cycling's great champions. We nursed our chocolate chaud and Flanderian beers and began weaving the legend of our day as Hard Men (and Woman) of Flanders.

22 March 2011

Serious about riding, but also serious about looking good?

Photo, above: designer Sheila Moon is passionate about both cycling and her brand, designed exclusively for women who love to ride and look good doing it.

Talk to Sheila Moon. A fashion designer by trade and bike racer for 17+ years, Moon creates all her cycling apparel with the technical properties you'd expect of a sports performance garment, paired with fashion-forward designs. "These are NOT cut-down men's jerseys," she emphasizes. "My customers are women who are fashion-conscious, strong and fit. Women who want to be strong and competent [on the bike], but still LOOK like a woman."

The first online retailer to carry and ship her products to a national market, BicyclingHub.com met up with Sheila Moon at Interbike last fall, where she showcased some of her favorite pieces and introduced new products making their debut in the Spring/Summer 2011 line. Building her company in the early days via word-of-mouth and grassroots promotion, Moon remains just as passionate about both riding and her brand designed exclusively by and for women cyclists. Currently enjoying an international market and increased brand recognition, Moon reflects back on both her personal and professional expansion. "I grew with my business, size-wise" she laughs. "I had to think of things from a different angle; how do I make this fit other women of every size?"

With a typical customer profile ranging from ages 35-65 and self-proclaimed cycling enthusiasts to suburban professional mothers, Moon wanted to offer workout apparel that was low-impact, easy on the body, and provided a great introduction to exercise. Remarking on her selection of plus-sized jerseys, she notes, "It feels good to be able to offer something fashionable that fits."

Two of our favorite carryover pieces are the long-legged Women's Athena Cycling Shorts and Women's Venus Cycling Knickers, both featuring her trademark yoga waistline. Why so popular? we asked. "I used to race in men's bibshorts," Moon recalled. "Most women don't wear bibs." [Pit stops can get tricky for women, especially if you're riding in a rural area or there are no public restrooms readily available.] "I can't stand elastic around the waistband and constricting the belly." In addition to removing the elastic around the mid-section in favor of a yoga-style waistline, Moon also eradicated the elastic grippers around the legs.

Photo, left: Grippers be gone! Don't want your cycling shorts to ride up your legs as you pedal, but can't stand the feeling of elastic cutting into your thighs? Moon has solved both problems with her elastic-free cycling shorts. Note the silicone gripper at the cuff.

When it comes to finding the right fit, you might find cycling shorts to be a matter of highly personal preference. "What many folks don't realize is that the rise between the crotch and the belly button varies a lot; [measurements between] hips, waist and crotch region provides a lot of variation between women."

Other factors that might decrease your discomfort (and increase your ride time enjoyment)?
  • choice of saddle
  • proper bike fit
  • a good chamois (and no movement of the pad while riding)
  • chamois creme
One final piece of advice from a pro? "Chamois time is NOT training time," Moon states. [Once you're done riding] get outta those cycling shorts!"

Photo, right: Sheila Moon's eye-catching cycling dress, paired with black knickers, prove that fashion and function can work and play well together.

18 March 2011

America's Best Classics Team Prepares to Test its Metal

Team Garmin-Transitions and Cervélo Test Team have joined forces for the 2011 season to create Garmin-Cervélo, a new team that will build on past successes and expects to produce incredibly exciting racing this year. With a stacked 2011 roster that includes pro cyclists Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Tyler Farrar and World Road Race Champion Thor Hushovd, Team Garmin promises to grab headlines--and sweep podiums--throughout the racing season.

With a promising showing at Tirreno-Adriatico and high expectations placed upon him for the Spring Classics, including Milan San Remo, Tyler Farrar might well be on his way to his best season yet. But let's step back for a moment and recap the some of the most memorable moments that brought him to this point.

Tyler Farrar talks with Heidi Swift about racing in Europe.

Farrar visited Portland, Oregon one dark and rainy evening this winter to celebrate Upper Echelon Fitness's Grand Opening in November 2010 and be interviewed by fellow bike racer and wordsmith Heidi Swift. BicyclingHub had a front-row seat (literally) for all of the action and is pleased to bring you some of the highlights.

What win meant the most to you this past 2010 racing season?
"It's hard to pick one--especially since Grand Tour wins are so hard to come by."

Three of his top favorites include:
1. My second win in the Giro de Italia, because it was the best team lead-out my team has ever done.

2. The closing stage of the Vuelta de Espana: it was a pretty significant win in Madrid.

3. Getting 5th in the Tour de Flanders. It was rainy hardman stuff in general...but an EPIC day. Living in Flanders, racing close to home is always special. It is the coolest race of the season.
Farrar recounts the rocky start to the race and crashing 120K miles in, only to later be clipped by a car. "On the deck for the second time, I thought, no way I'm still in the race at this point.' But our Team Director said, 'DON'T QUIT NOW.' Adrenaline took care of the bumps and the bruises. I Owe a big thank you to Matt White; getting a Top 5 in Flanders is one of the high points on my resume."

What can fans look forward to for the upcoming season and the new Garmin-Cervelo Team?

"In the Classics it's such chaos and luck is such a factor. the more strong guys you have the better off you are....The more numbers you have, the better off you are."

With Thor Hushovd coming on board, Garmin-Cervelo have two really big sprinters on one team. Farrar's perspective on the team dynamics and how this shapes their overall program? "It gives us the potential to be winning two races at the same time in different places; for most of the other I'll go to one race and he'll go to the other, and hopefully we'll both be winning."

"We also have Heinrich [Haussler]; Heinrich's one of the most naturally talented riders in the world. He can do anything he sets his mind to. [Given recent crashes] he might not focus so much on sprinting, and focus a bit more on being an attacking/ breakaway rider, which he's also won Tour stages and other big races as."

"On paper, we'll be the strongest Classics team in the world...We have so much depth in our team that any scenario you can think up for a bike race we have a rider where that's the ideal scenario for them to win. I think it should work out to a whole lot of victories."

Major Goals for 2011?
"I like to break the season into chunks, or blocks."
1st chunk: the Classics
2nd chunk: The Tour [de France]
3rd chunk: the Vuelta and World Championships
"Also, whether I do the Giro or California, which I don't know yet...But until I finish Paris Roubaix...I'm worried about being the best I can be in the spring. The Classics don't change; the races you want to win stay the same. That stretch from Milan-San-Remo thru .,... Gent - Wevelgem, Tour de Flanders, Paris Roubaix..."

His crown jewel? "The Tour de Flanders is, for me, the most beautiful race in the world. I don't know if it's a race I can ever win. I've been top 5 there this year but being 5th place and winning is definitely two different things. but it's definitely my favorite day of racing. I'd love to be good there.

"I think races like Milan-San-Remo and Gent - Wevelgem probably suit my characteristics as a rider a bit more. they actually can be won in a field sprint so those will be very important but the beauty of the classics is because you're completely fresh for each one so you can give 110 % to every one. You can hurt yourself pretty badly and be full gas again a few days later..if you can win one it's a pretty successful year already."

On Doping
One of the audience members queried, How does it adversely affect the sport? and how much does it distract you from doing your job?

"It's something we're all aware of as cyclists. it's an issue that the sport faces; it's an issue EVERY sport faces. from a publicity standpoint it's for the bad, but from a sporting standpoint, it's a good thing b/c cycling DOES face it right up front and we fight it harder than any other sport. the "downside" [gesticulating air quotes] of fighting it is that we have scandals. if you don't do drug testing you don't have any positive tests--ala football [audience laughter] so that's the thing. a lot of sports chose to push it under the rug. We don't. We do everything in our power to clear it out.

Tyler signs a 2010 Garmin-Transitions jersey for Doug Duguay, Owner and Sales Manager of BicyclingHub.com. We will be auctioning off this very jersey to support the 2011 Portland Tour de Cure, to benefit the American Diabetes Association. The value will go up if/when he wins a stage at the Tour!

"It's human nature to cheat...the good thing is they are catching these people. That shows the anti-doping testing is working. It's a sport that has a long history of doping sadly in the last decade though it's a sport that's been turning itself out to change that culture. We've made a lot of progress--obviously, we still have a way to go...but you can't change it overnight...You have to fight it; as they make better and better tests, they're going to catch more and more of the guys that are cheating. And we're going to have to deal with a few of these scandals to make it happen. But these are the scandals that are the watershed moments in the sport that really changes things.

"Before the Festina scandal in 1998, no one really cared; Operation Puerto scandal was the next moment where anti-doping went to a whole new level. It's all a work in progress. I really think it's cleaning up a lot.

"You take my team [Garmin-Cervelo]: we were one of the first teams to come out and say, we are a clean team. We're going to do in-house testing on top of any UCI or WADA or whatever governing body testing. It was an interesting position to stake out at the time. A lot of people said, 'This will be an interesting test of how clean cycling is: if you have a completely clean team, how well are they going to do?' And we were 5th or 6th in the world this year. And I think that's a pretty good indication of how clean the sport is.

Farrar's sage advice on the matter: "You know it's there, but you'd go crazy if you worry about it; it becomes a crutch. The biggest thing: worry about YOURSELF, not 'what's that guy doing?' It's not my problem...I'll worry about my own training."

14 March 2011

Photos from Congressional Bike Ride and Delegation Reception now up!

Arizona state flags proudly flying in honor of Representative Gabrielle Giffords and those killed in the Tucson, AZ shooting.

What better way to close the National Bike Summit than with a RIDE?
(left to right): Shane Farthing and Kevin Belanger from the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA) escort Summiteers back to the Capitol.

Congressional aides, bike/ped advocates and National Bike Summit attendees gathered at Garfield Circle in front of the Capitol on Friday morning take a tour of Washington, DC by bike and see some of the latest bicycle infrastructure improvements, including the new bike lanes installed down the center of Pennsylvania Avenue (!!) and the two-way cycle track on 15th Street.

Hosted by the Washington Area Bicyclists Association, this year's ride was dedicated to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), a member of the Congressional Bike Caucus, and in memory of those killed in the Tuscon, AZ shooting.

Photo, right: Shane Farthing, Executive Director of Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA) , right, asks ride participant how she likes the new Capitol bike Share program that quickly, cleanly and efficiently transports individuals around the Metro DC area.

See the full catalog of photos on our Facebook album here.



National Bike Summit: Oregon Delegation Congressional Reception

Photo above: Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) shares a few words of inspiration with the Oregon delegates gathered.

Photo above: Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR) (left) and BTA Executive Director Rob Sadowsky (right).

After a busy day of asks on Capitol Hill, Cycle Oregon hosted a special reception at Capitol City Brewing Company (next to Union Station) to thank all of the Oregon delegates represented at elected representatives and their staff of their tireless efforts to make Oregon a heathy and sustainable state to live, walk and ride.

Photo left: Benjamin Beamer, Chairman of Greater Oakridge Area Trail Stewards and Alison Hill Graves, Executive Director of the Community Cycling Center, wear it loud and say it proud: "CELEBRATE THE RIDE!"


Photo, right: Jerry Norquist, Executive Director of Cycle Oregon (left) and Randy Dreiling, Owner of Oregon Adventures and Promoter of Mt Bike Oregon (right), agree whether it's on pavement or trail, Oregon is a beautiful place to tour by bike.

See the full catalog of photos on our Facebook album here.

10 March 2011

National Bike Summit 2011: What are we Asking For?

Once again, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) kicked off the opening convocation of the National Bike Summit by asking the question: “How many people, right this moment, in America, are stuck in traffic on the way to a health club to ride a stationary bike?” And once again, he brought a standing room only crowd of advocates, transportation officials, shop owners, industry leaders and legislative aides to their feet to offer thunderous appause.

Over 700 individuals are in attendance at the League of American Bicyclists' 11th annual National Bike Summit this week to meet with their elected representatives and discuss a number of America's troubles--climate change, energy dependence, the obesity epidemic, air pollution and congestion mitigation--that can be addressed with a suprisingly simple solution: the bicycle. Indeed, with reported 4:1 ratio of investment dollars (meaning for that every dollar spent on bicycle or pedestrian transportation improvements, 4 dollars are returned back to the communities from which they originate), one would be hard pressed to find other low-cost, high yield strategic transportation investments that foster healthy people and healthy communities.


Photo, above: left to right: New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and League of American Bicyclists President Andy Clarke discuss what inspires them in their work.


Yet the atmosphere this year is cautious and protective at best. With a new Congress fiscally focused and looking to make major cuts to bugets across the board, advocates are charged with the task of educating new members of Congress (96 newly inducted in the last election, 35 of whom have never held public office beore) about what transportation options entail, and establishing or building good working relationships. "We're not making a big sexy ask this year, like the ACT Act or a big transporation re-authorization bill," states Andy Clarke, President of the League. Rather, delegates will meet with their local representatives to request they support continued dedicated funding for bicycling and walking programs in 3 target areas:

1. Transportation Enhancements

2. Safe Routes to School

3. Recreational Trails Programs


Photo, left: Oregon state delegates gather before visits to Capitol Hill on Thursday.
According to the League of American Bicyclists, "Just 1.5 percent of federal transportation dollars currently support biking and walking, although these two modes represent 12 percent of all trips in the U.S. Bicycling and walking improvements are relatively inexpensive, highly cost-effective investments that create significantly more jobs per dollar than road repair and upgrades; they also boost local small businesses and increase real estate values."

Armed with packets full of facts and figures regarding how and where dollars are spent in each local district for transportation enhancements, Safe Routes to School and both surface and natural trails programs, the motto of this Summit might well have been dubbed, "keep it local, stupid." Indeed, the Bikes Belong Coalition cites Minnesota as one prime example. Cyclists spend $481 million annually in the state. Before a local trail was put in, hospitality sales tax collected was $250,000; AFTER the local trail was built, bringing in increased bicycle tourism, food traffic to shops, hotels and restaurants, and a place parents could bring their children, the hospitality tax collected shot up to $4.7 million. As Gary Sjoquist, Advocacy Director for Bikes Belong points out, "BIKES MEAN BUSINESS."


Photo, right: Gary Fisher, in blue, a strong leader in the bicycle industry, is present to advocate on behalf of road users and trail users alike.

In addition to reminding elected officials that supporting bicycling and walking programs means supporting local businesses, fueling local economies and building healthy, sustainable communities, advocates making their visits on Capitol Hill today (Thursday, March 10th) re-stated Congressman Blumenauer's plea to his fellow representatives: "Don't cut what you haven't visited."



Photos from National Bike Summit

Have you seen our photos from the 2011 National Bike Summit yet? Check out our albums on Facebook and have a look!

BicyclingHub.com Awarded Bicycle-Friendly Business Award at National Bike Summit

The League of American Bicyclists announced its latest round of Bicycle-Friendly Businesses yesterday, March 9th, at the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. BicyclingHub.com was proud to be recognized amongst the 55 newly inducted companies across the nation who have demonstrated that being bicycle-friendly is good for business.

"As an international retailer in the bicycling industry, our staff lives, eats, sleeps and breathes bicycling," states Douglas Duguay, owner and Sales Manager of BicyclingHub.com.


In the workplace, we aim to create an environment that encourages and fosters cycling as both a mode of transportation and a way of life. Be it encouraging a 100% staff bicycle commuter rate year-round, installing bike racks at our new office space for adequate bike parking, hosting group staff rides during the summer as 'team-building exercises,' participating in charity fundraisers such as Portland Tour de Cure and Park-to-Park Montana, or sponsoring community-building events such as Pedal Nation films, these investments have yielded excellent returns."



Photo, left: Head Content Developer Jennifer Clunie, left, receives the Bicycing Friendy Business Award from Andy Clarke, President of the League of American Bicyclists, right. In addition, the first-ever Bicycle Friendly University designations were announced, with 20 colleges and universities receiving awards. The program recognizes institutes of higher learning that create exceptional environments where bicycling can thrive and provides a roadmap and technical assistance to create great campuses for bicycling. While Stanford University earned the only platinum-level this round, we were pleased to see both Portland State University and the University of Oregon also made the list.

"Universities have long served as incubators for developing bike-friendly cultures and practices, and that has a big impact on the expectations that students bring to the workplace and beyond," said Bill Nesper, director of the League's Bicycle Friendly America Program. "With the launch of the Bicycle Friendly Universities program, we're able to highlight the crucial role that academic institutions play in shaping a more bike-friendly future."

The League of American Bicyclists' Bicycle Friendly America program has helped communities, businesses, states and now universities improve conditions for bicycling, creating the types of places where people want to live, work and visit. A full list of winners is available here.

Remaining as passionate about cycling as our customers fuels our business and enables BicyclingHub.com to enjoy one of the best customer satisfaction rates for online merchants in the nation. With your help, we look forward to becoming even more bicycle-friendly in the months and years to come.

07 March 2011

March Trivia Contest: Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne

Photo (above): 2011 top three (l-r): Yauheni Hutarovich, Chris Sutton and André Greipel (Omega Pharma-Lotto). Photo: © www.ispaphoto.com

March roared in like a lion just in time for season opener for “The Classics Season” with the Belgian Cobbled Duo of Het Nieuwsblad (formerly Het Volk) and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. KBK is of special interest to American cycling fans as it is one of the few Classics won by an American--George Hincapie--in 2005. In an exciting field sprint, Tyler Farrar came close this year. It is, remarkably one of the few races never won by the great Eddy Merckx!

This month we focus on a slightly more obscure Belgian Classic, founded in 1945, but one that since 2005 has been designated UCI 1.1 and is thus hotly contested by all the World’s Best Teams: the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne. (Photo left courtesy of Flickr.com.)


Q1. Like all of the Belgian Classics, knowledge of home roads in paramount in these winding, twisting, cobbled, windy, and often treacherous roads. Thus, the home nation has won the most editions. However, in the last decade, Belgians have triumphed ONLY THREE TIMES and WITH ONLY TWO RIDERS. Name them!


Q2. As mentioned, in the introduction, Belgians tend to dominate their home Classics. In KBK, so much so that in the first THIRTY-FIVE years of this event (1945 to 1979) only ONE Non-Belgian triumphed here! Can you name him and the year of his victory?


Q3. Who was the first back-to-back winner of KBK and when did he achieve this? HINT: He is one of the few riders in cycling history to have triumphed in ALL FIVE of the Monuments!


WAS I RIGHT? Answers below.


A1. Nick Nuyens (2006) and Tom Boonen (2007 and 2009). With Two wins, Boonen is part of a group of twelve quite elite riders to have triumphed here twice, and no rider has ever won three KBKs.

Photo, left: Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur - Sojasun) try to hold off the peloton in the final kilometres. Photo: © Bettini

A2. Piet Rentmeester, of Holland, and the famous Gitane team in 1962.

A3. Roger De Vlaeminck, with the legendary Flandria Team in 1970 and 1971.

01 March 2011

Keynote Speakers to Address National Bike Summit Announced


One week from today, March 8th-11th, over 600 advocates, educators and planners-- representing all 50 states and 6 countries--will gather in Washington, DC to urge Congress to make strategic transportation investments that foster healthy people and healthy communities. The solution? A surprisingly simple one: the bicycle.

The League of American Bicyclists, hosts of the annual affair for eleven years running, have recently announced a list of eminent speakers scheduled to address the crowd, including: U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Congressman Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Robin Schepper, Executive Director of the First Lady's Let's Move Campaign, Bikes Belong President Tim Blumenthal, and policy experts from America Bikes, Safe Routes to School National Partnership and the International Mountain Biking Association's "A Team” of Policy and Trail Care Experts.

According the League, "Half of all U.S. trips are three miles or less, [yet] more than 90 percent are made by car. The National Bike Summit has improved bicycle-friendliness and livability in many communities, but the need and opportunity to improve physical activity, safety and livability in the U.S., while reducing congestion, greenhouse gas emissions and our dependence on oil – remains greater today than a decade ago."

The Summit affords attendees a rare opportunity to network across state lines with those that have waged similar campaigns, share successful strategies, and trade words of wisdom. Such knowledge will then be injected back into local communities upon the return home. The League will be making its Spring 2011 Bicycle-Friendly Businesses official announcement during the Summit on Wednesday, March 9, recognizing selected companies who are doing wonderful things for its employees and the greater bicycling community.

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