Press release from the City of Fort Wayne:
Local cyclists invited to free bike summit Saturday morning
Free event features workshops, keynote speaker, vendor expo, bike rides
(May 3, 2010) – The City of Fort Wayne invites cyclists to Saturday’s second annual bike summit at the Allen County Public Library downtown.
The summit’s keynote speaker, Randy Neufeld, will start at 9 a.m. He is a Chicago-area cycling advocate and SRAM Cycling Fund director. He will present examples from other cities that have had success in increasing bicycle use and offer solutions for expanding cycling opportunities here in Fort Wayne. Neufeld is coming courtesy of Summit City Bicycles and Fitness and Trek Bicycles.
Following Neufeld’s presentation, participants can choose from four workshops offered in two 45-minute breakout sessions at starting at 10:25 and 11:15 that morning. The workshops will cover bikes as transportation, sharing the road for drivers and bicyclists, grassroots advocacy and details about Fort Wayne Trails and Bike Fort Wayne. Workshop sponsors are the Ronald G. Repka Foundation Inc., Fort Wayne Outfitters and Bike Depot, Carson Boxberger Attorneys and the Downtown Improvement District.
A free vendor exhibit open to summit attendees and library patrons will be in the library’s Great Hall from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Additional summit sponsors are the Fort Wayne/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau and Engineering Resources Inc.
Summit attendees can participate in as much or as little of the summit as they choose. Due to limited capacity at the library, the summit will be first come, first served.
3 Rivers Velo Sport, a local bicycle club, will offer three free bike rides following the summit, starting from the east plaza at the library.
A 30-minute downtown ride will start at 12:30. A longer casual ride featuring parks, the Rivergreenway and low-traffic streets will start at 1 p.m. For more experienced riders, 3RVS will also lead an out-and-back 45-mile road ride to Columbia City starting from the library at 1 p.m.
The club requires all riders to wear helmets and anyone younger than 16 needs to be accompanied by an adult.
Anyone attending the summit will receive a free “Ride Your Drive” t-shirt.
With input from the public, including information gathered during last year’s summit and from the 4,000-plus responses to the 2008 bike-use survey, the City’s planning department has drafted the Bike Fort Wayne plan. It is proposed as an amendment to Plan-it Allen, the joint City-County comprehensive land-use and development plan. For more information about the bike plan, visit .
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