#CABikeSummit: the View from Twitter

On October 15-17, 300 bicycle advocates, government officials, and planners gathered for the 2019 California Bicycle Summit. Participants recorded their reactions to the workshops, plenaries, and tours on Twitter. These #CABikeSummit tweets are a good way to view a cross-section of the Summit.

Here are the top baker’s dozen of tweets and Twitter threads from the California Bicycle Summit.

#1: The most liked tweet was an appropriately angry comment by Bike East Bay’s Robert Prinz in response to the very first speaker our Board Chair Cynthia Rose introduced. Its thread included a shout out to a later speaker, Assembly Member Laura Friedman, who said, “Caltrans needs an awakening if they think that moving Amazon packages is somehow more important than moving children safely through our streets.”

Caltrans D7 director at #CAbikeSummit welcome plenary just got up & basically said “Sorry not sorry about #SB127. Freight is important, how many of you use Amazon? Gotta have that Prime!”

Fuck. All. The. Way. Off. Times. ♾

— Robert Prinz (@prinzrob) October 15, 2019

 

#2: Here’s John Jones III ruminating on his experience at the Summit.

Reflections on the day. Thanks @lacbc @CalBike @LosRyderzBC #realrydazbc @sahrasulaiman @StreetsblogLA #calbikesummit #cabikesummit #teamesr #unitedriders #movingforward pic.twitter.com/YdUMLVhmkj

— eastsideriders (@EASTSIDERIDERS) October 17, 2019

 

#3: It wouldn’t be a true California Bicycle Summit without an ear to the south, where we hear BiciActiva Radio telling us about bicycle advocacy in Colombia.

Latin American perspectives at #CABikeSummit
Lorena Romero of @BiciactivaRadio explains that the bicycle movement in Bogotá is now much more than Ciclovia. pic.twitter.com/WmlIKMqQ8T

— California Bicycle Coalition (@CalBike) October 16, 2019

 

#4: “If you bike, you should run for office.”

"If you bike, you should run [for office.]" says cyclist Meghan Sahli-Wells, Mayor of Culver City. #CABikeSummit@M_Sahli_Wells pic.twitter.com/ZUDRlQcJiz

— California Bicycle Coalition (@CalBike) October 15, 2019

 

#5: BikeLA, keeping it real.

Has @MayorOfLA's office ever backed advocates on safe streets? He wants help but offers no support. #CABikeSummit

Spring St green lanes? ❌
Transit signal priority? ❌#Fig4All? ❌#HyperionBridge? ❌
Central Ave? ❌
Playa del Rey? ❌
Trashed bike lanes? ❌#JusticeForWoon? ❌ https://t.co/BZammQRUtw

— BikeLA (@Bike_LA) October 15, 2019

 

#6: How bikes fit into the Green New Deal was a popular session.

Had a blast presenting on biking's role in #California's climate strategy and effective #advocacy strategies. Thanks for inviting me @CalBike!#CABikeSummit #GreenNewDeal #GND #Climate #Climatecrisis #publichealth #CAPolitics https://t.co/3Yby9woj67

— Chris Chavez (@el_chaveezy) October 16, 2019

 

#7: We LOVED the bike rides, especially the LA River Tour. Thanks LACBC and Alta for sharing your love of and knowledge about the river and what it can do for Angelenos.

LA River bike tour, showing access points for the gap closure project and parks on or near the river. #CaBikeSummit #bikeLA pic.twitter.com/JuXM4WEX5u

— Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (@lacbc) October 17, 2019

 

#8: And the walking tour, too!

Finished up a walking tour to wrap up my time at #CaBikeSummit angels flight, parklets and bike infrastructure, oh my! pic.twitter.com/DT5fK7HgOk

— Esther (@EstherRiv27) October 17, 2019

 

#9: Yes we do, Bryn. Yes, we do.

The sharp @TamikaButler re. govrmnt-advocate relationship– When's it time 2 stop calling in 4 favors from friends on the inside & 2 start calling ppl out? We need to turn up the heat sometimes & tell ppl's bosses (our elected officials), but listen & talk w empathy#CaBikeSummit pic.twitter.com/LF9ZcBOj23

— Bryn Lindblad (@Bryn_Lindblad) October 15, 2019

 

#10: Thinking big.

By Brooke Dubose of @tooledesign:

A bike lane network needs to be treated as ONE project. Not numerous projects that will fracture implementation.

Community feedback isn’t about asking for permission. It’s about figuring out how to make it work.

💪💪

@CalBike #CABikeSummit pic.twitter.com/LSEgpJ1XlU

— Have A Go ⚡️🛹🛴🚲🛵 (@HaveAGo) October 16, 2019

 

#11: Perhaps the most beautiful bikeways in the world.

Sam Corbett of @altaplanning shows us Auckland’s beautiful bikeways #CaBikeSummit pic.twitter.com/iTZJ0pxWqV

— California Bicycle Coalition (@CalBike) October 16, 2019

 

#12: The last plenary was all love as Sahra Sulaiman of StreetsblogLA facilitated a conversation among South Los Angeles bike club leaders. We all agree, they are heroes.

a thread on our #CaBikeSummit session [p.s. yes, they are truly heroes] https://t.co/UPaD6Ue5j1

— sahra (@sahrasulaiman) October 17, 2019

 

#13: Art Ramirez invited the summit goers to his birthday party so our Executive Director took him up on the offer, joining them for a ride from South LA to downtown taking over the streets and protected bike lanes with gorgeous bikes and joyful faces.

My first ride in the #myfig protected bike lanes is a sweet one with ⁦@LosRyderzBC⁩ ⁦@EASTSIDERIDERS⁩. Thanks for inviting us at the #cabikesummit Art Ramirez. Happy birthday! pic.twitter.com/rIbjsrJFDe

— Dave Snyder (@dave_bikes) October 19, 2019