BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Everywhere which where you turn on Capitol Hill today you can see luminous bike-shaped lapel badges on the jackets of smartly-dressed bicycle advocates. Congress is bicycle-central for a few hours as advocates seek out friends and foes to pass on the pro-bicycle message.
Using the hashtag #ibikeivote, advocates here – and those who couldn’t attend – are letting Senators and House Representatives know that "bicycles mean business".
Most delegates are seeking out their local politicians and pressing them on community issues. But there’s also a great deal of lobbying for a "clean" (i.e. unaltered) extension of the stalled transport bill.
The current transport law – which funds "highway enhancements" critical to cyclists and pedestrians – expires at the end of the month.
Bicycle advocates are on Capitol Hill along with members of the bicycle business. Industry folks are keen to stress that more bicycling equals more bikes sold, more jobs, more tax revenue and less reliance on the healthcare system (this last point piques the interest of even hardened libertarians).
Pic below shows Chris Zigmount and Lance Camisasca of Lifeboat Events, here in Washington DC to lobby their local politicians, and to visit area bike shops.
