Last month, the 2019 Youth Bike Summit brought together hundreds of youth cycling supporters – students, teachers, and community leaders ranging from enthusiasts to advocates and activists – for a weekend of exchanging ideas and envisioning a more bike-friendly future. In this post, Bike to School Coordinator and YBS19 co-organizer Pio Tsai shares his experience at the Summit.

some fast stats about this year’s summit:

We kicked off the weekend with our Friday night pizza party at LIC-A & the Plaxall Gallery, welcoming arriving cyclists in on an abnormally warm winter evening for good food, games, music, dancing, and the first round of the Summit’s many gold sprints.

On Saturday morning, all summit-goers gathered together to hear powerful speeches from our amazing keynote speakers. One of the youngest members of the NYC Council, Council Member Antonio Reynoso described how the Youth Bike Summit inspired him to sell his car and begin campaigning on bicycle. He went on to introduce Joelle Galatan, the founder of Bike New York’s Learn to Ride on the Spectrum curriculum, a bicycle education program designed for people on the autism spectrum. Afterwards, the BRAG Dream Team from Georgia was invited on stage to accept the Golden Handlebars, taking on the mantle for hosting next year’s Summit in Atlanta!

Before the start of the day’s four presentation sessions, all youth and adult participants were split up into meet & greet zones, including a fun, interactive, and surprisingly yarn-oriented icebreaker courtesy of National Youth Bicycling Council. And for the remainder of Saturday, the challenge for attendees was figuring out which among the fantastic selection of 49 workshops to attend!

After all of the energy and innovation of Saturday’s presentations, it was time to regroup. The Summit gathered again on Sunday for our visioning session: the culmination of the weekend’s exchange of ideas and creative exploration, youth participants collaborated in designing their own bicycle utopias. Thanks to our friends at Clif Bar for making this brainstorming session possible!

Before saying goodbye until #YBS20 in Atlanta, we took a scenic group ride together through Long Island City to Roosevelt Island, taking the Summit to a whole new borough! If you couldn’t make it or, like us, simply want to relive the day, STREETFILMS made a short film on Saturday – check it out:

Youth Bike Summit 2019 (Queens, New York) from STREETFILMS on Vimeo.

To take a look at the full list of presenters and programs at the 2019 Youth Bike Summit, click here. Bike New York thanks our amazing participants, supporters, and sponsors for making this year’s Summit possible. Follow @youthbikesummit on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay informed about next year’s event!