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Last night the Alliance announced the winner of the 2012 Advocacy Awards at a packed reception at the National Bike Summit. Click the image below for more pictures from the event!

To shine the spotlight on the progress and victories of the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy movement, the Alliance for Biking & Walking is pleased to announce its 2012 Advocacy Award winners. Since 2009, the Alliance has solicited public nominations and recognized the individuals, organizations and business leaders who are propelling our People Powered Movement. This year, we honor the following winners from across North America.

Advocacy Organization of the Year- WalkBoston

Nearly all Americans walk on a daily basis, but very few consider themselves pedestrians. Organizing and advocating for this often-overlooked constituency — which is dramatically overrepresented in roadway fatalities — is challenging but critical work. Since its founding in 1990, WalkBoston has led the way, not just locally, but on the national level, as well. In Boston, the advocates’ long list of accomplishments includes a wealth of infrastructure victories, policy progress and successful public events. In 2011, WalkBoston launched its “Good Walking is Good Business” campaign, which highlighted the economic benefits of walkable communities, and distributed 40,000 copies of a federally funded research project to develop and test innovative tools to engage underrepresented populations in the planning process. Despite WalkBoston’s tireless work and nation-leading successes, the small staff is generous with its time and expertise, ever willing to share best practices with other organizations and engage with national advocacy groups in a way that benefits people who walk, not just in Boston, but in communities across the continent.

Advocate of the Year: Eric Rogers, BikeWalkKC

The campaigns may change, but in Kansas City, Missouri, one thing remains the same. “If you show up for an advocacy effort,” one nomination summed up, “there’s one guy you will always see — and that’s Eric Rogers.” Rogers’ long-standing involvement at the state and local level has earned him a reputation as both as a passionate advocate leader for the Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation, and trusted, go-to expert on bike-ped issues for policymakers of all stripes. While he chairs the Kansas City Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee and serves as the executive director of BikeWalkKC, Rogers spends countless hours attending hearings and meetings across the region; working behind the scenes to keep advocates updated; and improving critical education and encouragement programs like the KC Car-Free Challenge and KC Safer Routes. As one city council member attested in her nomination: “Eric has been a constant, persistent, passionate voice in the oversight of private developments and city infrastructure services, speaking out for sidewalks, bike lanes and routes, driver education, defined trails and safe crosswalks.” And, in the true spirit of genuine, selfless advocacy, Rogers never expects recognition beyond the legacy of his own good works.

Business Advocate of the Year: CLIF Bar

With its innovative 2 Mile Challenge, CLIF Bar continued to raise awareness about the power and possibility of biking for transportation in 2011, spurring thousands of people to log their trips on the website that tracked metrics like miles pedaled, car trips avoided and carbon dioxide saved. In line with its commitment to active transportation, CLIF Bar donated $100,000 to the three nonprofits leading the charge in the 2 Mile Challenge, including the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership.

Winning Campaign of the Year: Bike Delaware

Despite lean economic times, Bike Delaware did the nearly unthinkable in 2011—advocated for and won $5 million in new, dedicated state dollars for biking and walking projects and programs. With a tiny budget, the advocacy organization pioneered new ground in statewide bike-ped advocacy with its “Bikeable, Walkable Delaware” campaign, not only securing critical funding, but also cultivating key relationships at the state capitol and working with the Delaware Department of Transportation on the state’s first State Trails and Pathways Plan.

Best Practices Award: League of Illinois Bicyclists

The Best Practices Award goes to an organization that serves as a model for other bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations. In 2011, the League of Illinois Bicyclists played a critical role in the effort to preserve dedicated funding for biking and walking in the next federal transportation bill. Executing a model campaign that utilized relevant data and engaged of local elected officials, the Illinois advocates expertly capitalized on years spent cultivating relationships with members of Congress to to win pivotal support from Republican Representative Tim Johnson. And the LIB didn’t just build bridges on Capitol Hill — the statewide organization also worked with local groups, like the Active Transportation Alliance, showcasing the importance and power of effective partnerships.

Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award: Julia Field, Undriving

This award commemorates Alliance co-founder, Susie Stephens, honoring her passion for biking and walking as fun and economical means of transportation. The parallels between Susie and Julia are many. As one nomination pointed out: “Like Susie, Julia knows that people want to do good things—sometimes they just need ideas and cheerleading.” As the founder of Undriving, Julia established an artistic, energetic and effective program that empowers citizens to reimagine their travel habits in ways that protect the planet and improve community health. The positive power of the Undriving concept has earned Field recognition, not just in Seattle, but across the U.S. and beyond. If Susie were still with us, we know she’d be wielding her Undriving license with pride!

Innovation Award: BikeTexas

The Innovation Award goes to an organization that’s pioneering or inventing new ways to promote biking and walking — and BikeTexas continues to cultivate new and effective models in working effectively with the full spectrum political perspectives and full range of community stakeholders. Thanks in part to its traveling bicycle fleet, BikeTexas has organized rides with policymakers, agency staff and nonprofit organizations that have cultivated important political relationships and built bridges with new constituencies, including a 2011 President’s Award from the state NAACP for “going above and beyond the call of duty to develop interest in biking and green benefits from biking in the African American Community.”

You did it! Thanks to your support, the Alliance took first place in the 2 Mile Challenge, earning a $35,000 grant from the good folks at CLIF BAR.

The 2 Mile Challenge is CLIF BAR’s online effort to fight climate change by encouraging bicycle travel for short trips. In the U.S., 40 percent of all urban trips are two miles or less, but 90 percent of those short distances are made by automobile. In just a few months this summer, the Challenge replaced more than 65,000 car trips—while donating $100,000 to bicycle advocacy and climate protection.

The Alliance was selected to lead the Gold Team and, from coast to coast, bicycle enthusiasts put their pedal power behind the effort. Collectively, our team:

• Logged more than 225,000 miles
• Replaced more than 35,000 car trips
• Saved nearly 208,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and
• Came in first place!

“Congratulations to the Gold Team for the bell-to-bell run of the 2011 2 Mile Challenge!” said Ryan Mayo, brand experience manager for CLIF BAR. “It was a hard-fought victory that came with a ton of passion for getting out of the car and onto your bikes to help support the Alliance for Biking & Walking. We’d like to thank all of the participants this year for a great 2 Mile Challenge effort that will live on through the grassroots bicycle advocacy work of the Alliance and our other two nonprofit beneficiaries: Safe Routes to School Partnership and 350.org.”

Thank you again, Gold Team members, for taking the Challenge. And, thank you, CLIF BAR, for such an innovative and fun initiative!

The Alliance Gold Team is still rocking it in the 2 Mile Challenge, with members logging more than 10,000 miles of bicycle travel in the past week alone. We wouldn’t be in first place if it weren’t for dedicated folks across the country who have replaced car trips with bicycle travel and are putting their efforts toward winning the Alliance a $35,000 grant from CLIF Bar. To get to know these bike commuters and enthusiasts a little better, we’re doing 2-minute interviews with some 2 Mile Challenge participants.

Last week, we kicked it off by catching up with Pete “Dirt” Beers, a bike commuter in Virgina. This week, we spoke to Julie Viens, a senior designer living in Van Nuys, CA. Julie has racked up nearly 1,500 points, pedaling more than 2,600 miles, avoiding 675 car trips and keeping 2,430 pounds of CO2 out of the atmosphere.

What was the first car trip you replaced with a bicycle?
A trip to the grocery store. Once I realized how simple it was to replace a car with a bicycle, basket and backpack I began rethinking how I could navigate the city.

Why do you ride instead of drive?
Traffic in Los Angeles is nuts, then trying to find a parking spot can get crazy and expensive. It’s so much easier to ride a bike.

What’s your favorite two-mile trip
(Though this is always much longer than a 2-mile trip) Riding my bike to catch my favorite food truck, Lake Street Creamery.

Why did you take the 2 Mile Challenge?
The 2 Mile Challenge starts right as some of the organized rides I like to do finish. It keeps me on the bike, and out of excuses, when I am not training for a particular course.

If you could make two changes to make your community more bike friendly, what would they be?
First, I would add more bicycle friendly rail cars to the Metro system. Secondly, initiate a voucher/coupon system to help buy/provide bicycle helmets for kids and adults.

Join Julie and Pete- Take the 2 Mile Challenge today!

You know you’ve got a pretty good idea when the U.S. Secretary of Transportation immediately jumps on board. Well, just a few days after we announced the return of the 2 Mile Challenge, Secretary Ray LaHood threw his support behind the innovative competition.

The 2 Mile Challenge is CLIF BAR’s online effort to fight climate change by encouraging bicycle travel for short trips. In the U.S., 40 percent of all urban trips are two miles or less, but 90 percent of those short distances are made by automobile. For this year’s Challenge, CLIF BAR aims to replace 100,000 car trips - while donating $100,000 to bicycle advocacy and climate protection.

After a strong showing in 2010, the Alliance has been selected to lead the Gold Team, and we need your help to win $35,000 for local and state bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations! Here’s how you can take Ray LaHood’s advice and get involved:

• Go to http://www.2MileChallenge.com and join the Gold Team.
• Visit your profile each day and log all the miles you travel by bike. Every trip you take earns points for the Alliance! 
• Challenge your friends and share your progress through social media and you’ll earn even more points for the Gold Team.
• Continue to log your trips until October 31, 2011. 
• At the end of the competition the team with the most points will earn a $35,000 grant for its nonprofit.

Want to spread the word about the 2 Mile Challenge? Click here for a handy postcard, with basic information and tips, to forward to your friends or print for your coworkers.

The Gold Team is already going strong. We’ve traveled more than 65,000 miles and replaced 8,300 car trips — good enough for first place! And we’ve got a few notable names from the bike/ped world pedaling for the Alliance, including:

• Mia Birk, author of Joyride and principal at Alta Planning + Design
• Jim Sayer, executive director of the Adventure Cycling Association
• Musician Ben Sollee
• The staff at PUBLIC bikes

Join them by signing up for the 2 Mile Challenge today.

The Alliance is proud to join CLIF BAR’s push to replace 100,000 car trips with healthy, pollution-free bicycle travel this summer and fall. Returning for a second year, the Alliance is excited to once again lead the Gold Team in the nationwide 2 Mile Challenge.

The 2 Mile Challenge is CLIF BAR’s innovative, online effort to fight climate change by encouraging bicycle travel for short trips. In the U.S., 40 percent of all urban trips are two miles or less, but 90 percent of those short distances are made by automobile. CLIF BAR started the 2 Mile Challenge to build community among current bicyclists, encourage more citizens to travel on two wheels and support nonprofits that are working to increase active transportation.

For this year’s Challenge, CLIF BAR aims to replace 100,000 car trips - while donating $100,000 to bicycle advocacy and climate protection.

• Three nonprofits have been selected as team leaders: Alliance for Biking & Walking, Safe Routes to School Partnership and 350.org
• Each team’s total points will determine how much money they receive. First place will earn a $35,000 grant; second place $25,000 and third place $20,000. 
• The remaining $20,000 will go to grassroots initiatives across the U.S., based on rider participation and creativity.

Join the Gold Team and start pedaling for the Alliance today! Participants will earn points for themselves and their teams by riding their bikes, logging their miles, challenging friends and sharing their progress through social media. In 2010, the Alliance Gold Team came in second place, logging more than 18,000 bike trips that traveled nearly 167,000 miles and saved 153,000 tons of global-warming carbon dioxide.

“We’re excited to continue the 2 Mile Challenge partnership with the Alliance in 2011,” Ryan Mayo, Brand Experience Manager for CLIF BAR, says. “By growing and strengthening grassroots bicycle and pedestrian advocacy in the U.S., the Alliance’s mission is in lockstep with CLIF BAR’s hope to encourage people powered transportation as a means to fight climate change and invigorate our communities.”

“The 2 Mile Challenge is a fantastic tool and incentive to get folks to park their cars and hop on their bikes for those easily pedaled short trips,” Jeffrey Miller, the Alliance’s President / CEO, says. “It brings out the best of everyone’s competitive spirit, the positive reinforcement of doing good by the planet, and a social media platform that takes bicycling advocacy to a new level. The Alliance is grateful and honored to be included and to share this tool with our many members and supporters.”

Visit http://www.2milechallenge.com and sign up for the Alliance Gold Team today. The Challenge runs from May 12 to October 31, 2011.

It was a nail-biter.

In the final weeks of the competition, the Alliance’s Gold Team mounted a valiant come-from-behind surge in the 2 Mile Challenge.

Alas, it wasn’t enough to propel us to first place. But we’re excited to congratulate our friends at Trips for Kids for bringing home the victory and grateful to the nearly 2,000 participants who pedaled for the Alliance.

The 2 Mile Challenge is a national competition created by CLIF Bar to encourage people to replace short car trips with bicycle travel. To lead the charge in 2010, CLIF Bar selected three nonprofit organizations, awarded each a $25,000 grant and assigned them to represent one of three teams: Gold, Blue, or Red.

The Alliance went for the Gold and 1,825 residents across the country joined our team. Over the past six months, our dedicated team members pedaled thousands of miles in their communities and logged their bike trips on the 2 Mile Challenge interactive website. The results are impressive.

The Gold Team:

• Traveled 166,441 miles

• saved 153,126 pounds of carbon dioxide

• and logged 18,106 trips on their bicycles

We may have come in second place, but we put up a first-place effort. Kudos to all our amazing Gold Team members for their efforts this summer.

“People from all 50 states have responded to the 2 Mile Challenge because it’s fun, healthy and gives them a tangible way to battle climate change in their own communities,” Lauren Hatfield, lifestyle experience manager at Clif Bar & Company, said in a press release this morning. “They also get to do twice the good by supporting non-profits who bring the bike and climate movements to broader audiences nationwide.”

“Our heart-felt thanks go out to all the participants helping to raise awareness and funds for grassroots bicycle advocacy and climate change education this year,” added Gary Erickson, CLIF Bar’s founder, co-owner and co-CEO.

While the CLIF Bar 2 Mile Challenge team competition is over for the year — slated to return in Spring 2011 — the website remains active for people who to want to continue or join, log bike miles and challenge friends to ride their bikes for short trips.

Click here to take the challenge.