Amazon’s HQ2 is coming to Arlington, VA’s Crystal City neighborhood, sure, but so too is the 20th annual National Bike Summit. And Altor Locks, based in nearby Sterling, VA, will be there.

Since its modest beginnings in 2000, the National Bike Summit has grown to become the premier bike advocacy event of the year. The theme for 2019, chosen in recognition of the changes afoot in the transportation space and the opportunity current trends afford the bicycling community, is SHIFT: Accelerating the Movement to Build a Bicycle Friendly America for Everyone. Organizers at the League of American Bicyclists hope that the summit’s programming will prompt attendees to ponder questions like What does a Bicycle Friendly America look like? and How can we make changes on the local, state, and national level to work toward this goal? Sessions slot into such classifications as “Bicycle Friendly Community,” “Building Stronger Organizations,” and “Cultivating New Audiences.”

The National Bike Summit runs March 9 through 12, kicking off with a day of pre-conference workshops, retreats, and rides; centering on two days of plenaries, breakouts, poster sessions, and happy hours at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City; and concluding with a lobby day on Capitol Hill. A full schedule of events is available online.  

For the second year, Altor will be among the vendors participating in the summit’s Women Bike Pop-Up Shop, which showcases woman-owned bike-related businesses. (Owned jointly by co-founders Karen Schaufeld (CEO) and Dylan Cato (COO), Altor Locks is both woman- and minority-owned.) The pop-up will be in operation Sunday, March 10 from 8:30 AM to 6:00 PM and Monday, March 11 from 8:30 AM to 7:00 PM. Summit attendees will be able to meet members of the Altor Locks team and check out Altor’s second-generation folding titanium lock, the APEX Ti. Locks will be available for sale. Come early for best color selection!

Won’t be able to make it to the National Bike Summit this year? You can still get your hands on an APEX Ti (or an APEX saddle bag), and you can still support the League of American Bicyclists’ work to create safer roads, stronger communities, and a bicycle-friendly America. Donate online!