By Scott Lyttle
Bike Utah is hosting the Fifth Annual Utah Bike Summit on Friday, April 26 at the University of Utah Guest House. The 2013 Utah Bike Summit: Keep Utah Rolling! brings together bicycle and trail advocates, representatives from our bike industries, cycling event promoters, city planners, representatives from Utah’s tourism industry, local and state government officials with one common goal, to promote biking in Utah. This year’s summit focus is Keep Utah Rolling! Utah has been making great progress over the years and the summit will help keep us rolling towards a bright future.
The 2013 keynote speaker is Tim Blumenthal, President of Bikes Belong. Bikes Belong is a national organization whose mission is very simple – to put more people on bicycles more often. Tim Blumenthal recently inspired over 800 advocates from 50 states at the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC.
The program will feature the vision of local leaders and advocates. Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams will welcome attendees and talk about the progress in Salt Lake County. A featured round table discussion will include leaders from Utah Transit Authority, Utah Department of Transportation, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Mountainlands Association of Governments and Utah State Senator Wayne Niederhauser. There will also be breakout sessions on trails and trail development, and a state of the trails discussion hosted by Trails Utah. Finally Senator Todd Weiler, sponsor of the Vulnerable Users of Highways bill that passed the Utah legislation this session, will join attendees to discuss the legislative process and how to get more involved.
Bike Utah is encouraging participants to ride or take alternative transportation to the Summit. UTA once again will be providing free TRAX rides to the summit. Vehicle parking is limited.
The Utah Bike Summit is sponsored by Bonneville Cycling Club, Specialized, SOAR Communications, QBP, UTA, Alta Planning and Design, Primal Wear, GOED, UDOT, Road Respect, Christensen & Hymas Law Firm, Tour of Utah, Wasatch Front Regional Council, Cycling Utah, Harmons, Trails Utah, and Fehr and Peers.
For the full program and registration, visit www.BikeUtah.org/BikeSummit.
