Cyclists from around the Miami Valley will converge on Springfield next May for a one-day cycling summit at the Hollenbeck Bayley Conference Center.
The Miami Valley Cycling Summit will be held outside Dayton for the first time, Louis Agresta, transportation planner for the Clark County-Springfield Transportation Coordinating Committee, said.
“We’re hoping that affects attendance in a positive way,” he said.
The event drew 300 people this year, and Agresta hopes to have more in attendance when Springfield plays host.
The summit will be open to anyone who is interested, and Agresta said breakout sessions will be aimed at government officials, cycling advocates and interested citizens.
Local cyclists are hoping one of the many options for riding in the area will be back open before the summit.
Springfield resident Diana Daniels had been involved with the Lagonda Off-Road Bike Trail for mountain biking as it was developed behind Springfield High School.
The trail is located on private property and is not maintained by the National Trail Parks and Recreation District or the Clark County Park District.
The 3.5-mile trail currently has signs posted at the access point reading “Private Property, No Trespassing.” Daniels said a group of volunteers had worked on the trail from October 2009 until March.
“We were building it, and they were coming,” Daniels said.
She said negotiations with the owners of the property are the reason the trail is no longer open for use.
Jim Lagos is listed as the agent representing the owners of the land the trail had been located on, Olympic Farms LLC, on documents filed with the state. Lagos did not return calls seeking comment.
Agresta said the city is always looking to analyze what improvements the city can make for bike riders. The TCC is counting how many people use the three trails maintained by National Trail Parks and Recreation District for the first time this year, he said.
Agresta said the city is also in the “baby stages” of trying to get more bicycle parking in the downtown area. The city does not have a concrete figure as to the number of people who bike to work, but he said the number isn’t very high.
“We can put a tube across the street and count the cars but with bicycle commuting, it’s hard to count,” Agresta said.
A survey from the League of American Bicylists said 0.5 percent of American workers biked to work in 2010.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0263 or bethany.bruner@coxinc.com.
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