For the first time in a long time, bicycle advocates and transportation professionals from all over the State of Washington will get together in Olympia for a two-day summit to put their heads together and share knowledge and experiences.

The Washington Bike Summit is organized by (you guessed it) Washington Bikes with support from Cascade Bicycle Club, Group Health and WSDOT, among others. As advertised on Seattle Bike Blog, the summit is March 16 – 17. The second day is also the annual Transportation Advocacy Day at the state legislature.

Unfortunately, the summit is sold out. But you can still go for Transportation Advocacy Day.

“The Washington Bike Summit gives advocates and professionals alike an opportunity to learn the state of the art in growing bicycling,” said WAbikes Statewide Policy Director Blake Trask. “As the #1 Bike-Friendly State, a forum to connect and share advocacy and expertise has been sorely lacking. Washington Bikes is excited — with the help of its many partners — to bring in leaders from around the country and our own state to share knowledge and inspire both advocates and professionals.”

If you didn’t get a spot at the summit, WAbikes hopes to make it an annual event, and will likely look for a larger venue next year. So stay tuned.

A statewide bike summit is a fantastic idea, allowing planners and advocates operating within the same state transportation laws and funding systems to share experiences and best practices with each other. There’s no reason for every city and town to reinvent the wheel.

With more and more Washington communities looking to bikes as a way to boost tourism and help their residents get around, it will be cool to get folks in the same room working to make sure Washington remains the number one state for bicycling.