Florida Bicycle Summit Unites Leaders and Advocates to Transform Communities
Orlando Health Leads Sponsorship as Nationally Acclaimed Keynote Speakers Inspire Safer, More Connected Streets and Trails
(Winter Garden, Fla.) - The Florida Bicycle Association is pleased to announce the sponsors and featured speakers for the upcoming statewide bicycle summit, taking place November 15-17 in Winter Garden and Clermont. The summit, themed “Breaking Stereotypes, Building Communities,” will bring together transportation professionals, advocates, and community leaders to focus on making Florida a safer and more accessible place for people bicycling.
The title sponsor for this year’s summit is Orlando Health.
“We aim to contribute to initiatives that promote safer streets, better infrastructure, and education for all road users,” said Dr. Tracy Zito, Trauma Medical Director for the Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center. Orlando Health—a private, not-for-profit healthcare organization founded more than 100 years ago—serves communities across Florida, Puerto Rico and Alabama. “This partnership with the Florida Bicycle Association and our sponsorship of the summit align with our dedication to advancing public health and fostering a safer environment for our patients and the entire community,” Zito said.
Summit sessions will highlight the role that bicycle-friendly streets and trails play in fostering more inclusive, connected, and prosperous communities, and how to create such places. The summit will feature two distinguished keynote speakers:
Scholarships Available for Bicycle Summit
Anyone who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend the summit may request a scholarship by emailing info@floridabicycle.org.
· Erick Cedeño: Known as the “Bicycle Nomad,” Cedeño is an advocate for people who bicycle and historian who has traveled thousands of miles by bike, retracing historic routes such as the Underground Railroad.
· Tony Garcia: A co-founder of Street Plans, Garcia is a leader in tactical urbanism, an approach that focuses on short-term, low-cost intervsentions to improve cities. His work emphasizes transforming public spaces to create more vibrant, bike-friendly communities.
Additional sponsor support is provided by Bike Law and the Live Wildly Foundation. The summit begins Friday, Nov. 15 in Winter Garden and offers a range of events that continue through Sunday, Nov. 17 in Clermont, including:
· Friday, Nov. 15: Plenary sessions that focus on planning, designing, and engineering communities to be more bicycle-friendly, with presentations from urban design, transportation and advocacy experts.
· Saturday, Nov. 16: Plenary sessions that center on advocacy and how individuals and organizations can advance bike-friendliness in their communities and across the state.
· Group Bike Rides: Attendees will have the opportunity to join group bike rides on Friday and Saturday that will be led by Bike Florida and Cedeño, starting in scenic Winter Garden, as well as participate in the Florida Freewheelers' Horrible Hundred large group ride on Sunday in Clermont, and the Freewheelers’ Cycling and Fitness Expo on Saturday and Sunday in Clermont.
Registration for plenary sessions and group bike rides is required in advance and varies from $10 to $70. Forty scholarships are being made available for representatives of non-profit organizations and others who would otherwise not be able to attend.
Register at https://floridabicycle.org/.
“This year’s summit is about breaking down barriers—both physical and social,” said Kelly Morphy, Executive Director of the Florida Bicycle Association. “This supports our overall goal to create spaces where bicycling is not only safe but embraced as a true form of transportation, helping to build more connected and inclusive communities.”
Supporting partners emphasized the importance of improving safety for people bicycling in Florida.
"Our mission-driven legal work and advocacy align closely with the Florida Bicycle Association's efforts to cultivate safer, more accessible and equitable biking across Florida,” said Rachael Maney, National Director of the Bike Law Network and co-founder of the network’s non-profit arm, the Bike Law Foundation. Maney and Bike Law's founding attorney, Peter Wilborn, are honored to sponsor this year's summit, she said. "Bike Law is proud to be part of a collective of transportation and industry leaders who understand the importance of marshaling essential resources for every member of our dynamic Florida cycling community. Advocacy adds up!"
Maney also is a featured speaker at the summit where she will share how Bike Law's legal representation of more than 2,500 crash victims across the country has impacted the organization's approach to advocacy, and her personal experiences addressing crashes that injure or kill people on bikes.
Live Wildly, whose mission is to connect people to wild Florida, supports bicycling for its role in helping to balance smart growth, a robust economy and a connected, resilient landscape.
"Bicycles connect people with nature and offer a practical solution to urban transportation challenges,” said Aaron Rickel Jones, Communications Director of Live Wildly. “Encouraging active transportation not only supports environmental stewardship but also enriches community life."
The Florida Bicycle Association’s board of directors, staff and volunteers also expressed appreciation to the following partners for their support of the summit: the City of Winter Garden, Street Plans, CLASH Endurance, Florida Freewheelers, Naples Pathways Coalition, Rails to Trails Conservancy, Friends of the River of Grass Greenway, Hands-Free Florida, Share the Road, Bike Florida, and Kali Protectives.
For more details on the Florida Bicycle Summit, including sponsorship opportunities, registration, and ways to volunteer, please contact Florida Bicycle here.
