The 2016 International Winter Cycling Congress will be held in the Twin Cities next winter, as the organizers found a perfect place to promote bicycling in the snow and cold.
Next year’s event will be the first in the U.S.; the first conference, in 2013, was in Oulu, Finland; last year it was in Winnipeg and this year it’s in the Netherlands.
The three-day conference — no dates were mentioned for next year, but previous events have been in February — will bring together planners, engineers and those who ride and live in a cold climate.
Promoting this year’s conference, organizers say they hope to show “winter cycling is more than a sustainable solution for transporting people, it is also a way to develop a culture and built environment supporting the health, wealth and happiness of many people.”
The Twin Cities mayors sound excited about the chilly congress:
Said Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges:
“Minneapolis has long been recognized as one of the best bicycling cities in the country, and we have consistently been praised for our winter bicycling culture. We have the second-highest rate of people biking to work among large U.S. cities, including winter commuting. Much of this is possible because of our city’s efforts to maintain off-street trails year-round to allow people to continue riding. I look forward to showcasing our great winter cycling city to the whole world.”
And St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said:
“Here in Saint Paul, we don’t shy away from winter — we embrace it. From Red Bull Crashed Ice to the Winter Carnival to the many cyclists whose fat tires keep them going through any amount of snow, St. Paul is the perfect setting for the 2016 International Winter Cycling Congress.”
The Winter Cycling Federation, which runs the congresses, was founded in 2013 to share knowledge of winter cycling and set up events around the world.
