Secretary LaHood is pumped for the National Bike Summit

The 2011 National Bike Summit is just four days away. The excitement is palpable in the League office. More than 700 Summit participants are finalizing their travel plans and taking last minute notes. Twitter is buzzing.

One man in particular is as excited as we are: the Secretary of Transportation.

Secretary Ray LaHood — the keynote speaker of Tuesday’s welcoming dinner — is already thinking about how he can top his famous Tabletop speech at last year’s Summit. This morning he blogged about his building anticipation and the importance of bicycling and walking for America’s communities:

I’ve been to more than 100 cities in more than 40 states across this great country, and everywhere I’ve gone, people have said they want more ways of getting around.  Often, they want to be able to leave their cars behind.  This means improved transit like streetcars and buses.   But it also means more opportunities–whether as a form of recreation or as a way of commuting–to walk or ride a bicycle safely.  We can achieve that through off-street trails, as in the Philadelphia Area Pedestrian and Bicycle Network, or through on-street bike lanes, as along DC’s own Pennsylvania Avenue.

In addition to the Secretary, who is sure to bring his big-time enthusiastism, we have a tremendous list of panelists and speakers, including Janette Sadik-Khan and the Let’s Move Campaign‘s Robin Schepper. You can be among the first to see the entire program here.