Dr. Miles Coburn Environmental Symposium

The Dr. Miles Coburn Environmental Symposium honors the memory and work of our friend and colleague.

For 2012, The Ride For Miles will team with the Natural History Museum to bring author and biking enthusiast Jeff Mapes to Cleveland on September 14, 2012 as part of the CMNH Explorer Series.

A humble 19th Century invention - the bicycle - just may well be one of the most important urban vehicles of the 21st Century. In cities around the U.S., the bicycle is coming into its own as a serious transportation alternative. Political journalist Jeff Mapes spent three years investigating the growth of the urban bike movement for his book, Pedaling Revolution, and he talks about how it is changing the look and feel of cities ranging from Portland to New York. Jeff, using details from his travels throughout the U.S. and Europe, will talk about how health, environmental and quality of life concerns are converging to create a vibrant urban bike movement.

About Jeff Mapes: Jeff Mapes spent more than three years researching and writing Pedaling Revolution: How Cyclists are Changing American Cities. A longtime bike commuter, Mapes decided to write his book after watching the growth of a robust urban bike culture in Portland. He visited cities around the country and in Europe and charted the growth of cyclists' political power. Pedaling Revolution was reviewed by The New York Times and numerous other publications and is now in its third printing. He is also a contributor to On Bicycles: 50 Ways the New Bicycle Can Change Your Life.

Mapes is also the senior political reporter for The Oregonian, the daily newspaper in Portland. He has has covered numerous state, congressional and presidential campaigns as well as several sessions of the Oregon Legislature, and he is a former Washington correspondent. He is the author of a political blog, Mapes on Politics, and is a regular contributor to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Mapes continues to write and lecture about cycling and its importance as a means of transportation.

He lives in Portland with his wife Karen. Their last transportation purchase was a cargo bike.

Please check back later for how to get tickets for the event. Pleaes note: this year the symposium will occur as part of the RFM weekend, and as such, will be before the actual ride.