Friday, March 7, 2008

The Earl and Grand Old Man Of Bicycling

I'm sure there are many Congressional members who like bicycling. But the two superstars of cycling on The Hill are Earl Blumenauer, an erudite, bowtie-wearing congressman from Oregon, and Jim Oberstar, the persistent, old scrapiron bicycle advocate from Minnesota who has led the national charge for years.

Blumenauer kicked off the Summit activities Wednesday morning with a stirring speech that ended with a standing ovation from more than 500 bicycle leaders gathered here in Washington, DC for the National Bike Summit.

Oberstar ended the Summit Wednesday evening during a reception at the US Senate, stoking the crowd with his pro-bicycle words. Oberstar has been in bike crashes and has to go in for some hip surgery, but the Old Man of Bicycling just keeps on pedaling. It's like the man is being re-built like a good ol' bike.

They talked of using carbohydrates not carbon to fuel our transportation -- and with the price of gas going up and up and up more people will be taking those short 2-mile trips via bicycle and not by car.

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