Report from the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C.

Mike Weiss of Bike Shark Bicycle Company (and the Missouri Bicycle Racing Association) attended the League of American Bicyclist's National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C., March 16-18, 2005.

Mike and Russ Willis, of the St. Louis Regional Bicycle Federation, represented Missouri at the Summit.

Mike's full report can be found here. Here is a short excerpt:

In general my impression was that on a national level it IS important to have contact with our States politicians- although I am not sure how much of our positive reception will actually manifest itself into votes. I think that the other industries that benefit from transportation funding have incredibly strong lobbies in Washington and that the cycling industry needs to get involved and not rely on the work of passionate local advocacy groups. When dollars, jobs, and votes are brought together the elected officials seem to pay a bit more attention. There are 72 bicycle stores in Missouri, almost 1,000 employees, and almost a 100 million dollars in sales excluding the volume of bicycles sold by big box retailers. As gas approaches $3 per gallon hopefully the constituency will recognize that cycling is more than sport and recreation and an actual means to improve economy and lifestyle.