Delaware Bike Summit

Cyclists clip in and once again ''pedal'' the message about the Delaware Bike Summit

Dover -- For the second year in a row, a group of state officials and cycling enthusiasts will spend next week rolling across Delaware visiting communities and explaining why people should attend the upcoming Delaware Bike Summit.

The ''rolling press conference,'' is starting Monday morning in Bethany Beach and will end Friday afternoon at the Wilmington Grand Opera House, the site of the summit.

''We did this last year, and it was very successful,'' said Amy Wilburn, director of Delaware Bicycle Council. ''By actually visiting the towns, we are able to demonstrate our commitment to each community. If we are truly going to make Delaware more bicycle friendly, then all of the communities must work together.''

Scheduled for May 21 at Wilmington's Baby Grand Opera House, the Bike Summit is one-day conference featuring speakers from Delaware and across the country, who will discuss the methods that work and do not work in the effort to make a community more bicycle friendly.

The committee planning the Bike Summit is made up of officials from The Delaware Bicycle Council, Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), Wilmington Area Planning Council, Dover/Kent County Metropolitan Planning Organization, White Clay Bicycle Club and Sussex Cyclists and Bike Delaware.

''I am excited that for the second year in a row, the Bike Summit won't cost the taxpayers any money,'' Wilburn said. ''The committee raised enough money through individual and corporate donations to completely underwrite the costs.''