Cyclists came from all over Ontario to Ottawa this past weekend to take
part in Velo Ontario's very successful first conference,
BringingBicyclistsTogether.
The conference on Saturday Ocober 5 started shortly after 8 AM with
registration, fresh coffee and muffins, and presentations by two people
whose work has and is having truly province-wide impact:
David Hunt, Velo Ontario's project coordinator for the Provincial Cycling
Route Network (PCRN) talked about the plans for an 8000+ km network of
cycling routes (mostly on-road) throughout the province. For the past
several years, David and his team have been setting the groundwork for the
network -- defining and refining routes, talking to local cities and
towns, and working with the provincial Ministry of Transportation. Much
more work needs to be done before we have a full network, but there's lots
of opportunities now.
Jean Francois Pronovost of Vélo Québec talked about the extensive impact
his organization has had on cycling in Québec since it started in 1967.
In an extremely inspiring and energizing presentation, he talked about
-- le Tour de L'Ile, the largest one-day tour in North America (40,000 participants)
-- La Route Verte, the 3000 km+ Quebec cycling network that will open in 2005
-- Vélo Québec's thousands of members
-- its work in publishing and developing cycling facility standards
-- and much more
Pronovost said Vélo Québec's message and work was for all cyclists, not
just the elite. They wanted to ensure that cycling became part of everyday
life and culture in their province, and that meant that it was important
to reach all people who wanted to cycle.
Participants then enjoyed the first of three refreshment breaks while
informally networking.
Throughout the day, participants listened to engaging speakers on topics
that included:
* new ways to deliver cycling education
* better ways to build roads and highways for cyclists (with great slides!)
* barriers to more women commuting by bicycle
* techniques and hints for cool weather cycling
* interactions between cyclists and air quality
* making politicians and staff listen to cyclists
* Organizing Bike Weeks and other promotional events
Velo Ontario will post summaries of the presentations on our website as
they become available.
The day wrapped up with a review of Velo Ontario's objectives and an
invitation for all to attend the first general membership meeting, in
Toronto in January 2003. Watch our list and VeloOntario.ca website for
details.
Here's the conference volunteer organizing team, many of them local, that
made it happen:
Jennifer Allen - food and refreshments, logistics
Steve Beiko - program development
Richard Briggs - audio/visual support, photography
Issie Chackowicz - program development, registration, encouragement
Brett Delmage - concept development, signage, badges, opening plenary
Alayne McGregor - registration, billeting, promotion, media
Karl Mills - Ottawa Cycling Advisory Committee rep. and logistics
Lisa Moffatt - sustainable lunch
Martyn Olenick - program development, closing plenary
Melanie Ransom - billeting
Michael Richardson - Friday night social
Ernest Ruppenthal - finances
John Stevenson - Citizens for Safe Cycling rep., logistics, Sunday ride
Will Wallace - advisor
The conference could also not have happened without our sponsors and
suppliers:
Citizens for Safe Cycling - promotion
Councillor Rainer Bloess (Innes Ward), City of Ottawa - refreshments
Great Canadian Bagel, Second Cup, The Table - catering
Ottawa Cycling Advisory Committee - City Hall sponsor
Richard Mineault, J-F - City of Ottawa rooms and equipment
Rosemary Nelson - City of Ottawa Cycling Advisory Committee Coordinator
Vélo Québec
And our Billeters:
Ian! and Jan Allen
Richard Briggs and Carole Sauve
Greg Furlong
Alayne McGregor
Ron McKinnon
Stella Val
as well as the many others who offered and who were on standby for
additional needs
And thanks also to our workshop speakers:
David Hunt: provincial cycling route network
Steve Beiko, Graydon Patterson: cool weather cycling
Gosse van Oosten, Barb Wentworth, Jennifer Allen: Bike Weeks
Lisa Moffatt: Barriers to women cycling
Alayne McGregor, David Jeanes (Transport 2000): how to talk to politicians
and staff
Martyn Olenick, John van der Mark: air quality
John van der Mark, Norma Moores: cycling master plans and facilities
Steve Beiko, Issie Chackowicz: cycling education
Finally, a BIG thanks to everyone who made the conference a success by
attending. Ontario is a big province and some participants travelled up to
12 hours (one way) to attend. BringingBicyclistsTogether was a success
because of your enthusiasm and effort to be a part of it.
We are planning for this conference to be an annual event.
Watch for more exciting news about Velo Ontario in the months ahead, as we
start to bring more and better cycling to Ontario with your involvement.
We will also be posting conference photos to our website in the next two
weeks. We'll let you know on this list when they are up for viewing.
tailwinds,
Brett Delmage
interim president, Velo Ontario Cycling Alliance
http://VeloOntario.ca
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