Thanks for joining us at the 2018 WABA and Bicyclists’ Choice Awards!
Held on February 8th at the Josephine Butler Parks Center, the 2018 Bicyclists’ Choice Awards were an incredible success! This is a favorite annual events because we get to celebrate the people who are making bicycling better in our community – not only our members, advocates and supporters, but our partners, elected leaders and decision makers. These awards recognized the momentum happening for bicycling in the region right now; we were honored to recognize these people and their work.
This year, WABA received a record number of votes for the Bicyclists’ Choice Awards and hosted a record number of attendees. We also had the best host a bunch of bike nerds could hope for: Lauren Ober, of NPR and WAMU’s The Big Listen.
The energy in the room was absolutely electric – we can’t wait to do it again next year! Thank you to everyone who attended, voted, nominated, and supported such an amazing evening.
Continue reading to find out who won and to see photos from the event.

Chief Sogand Seirafi received the Public Leadership Award for her work managing Planning and Design for the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. Chief Seirafi is on the streets and behind the scenes ensuring that innovative protected bike lanes are designed, engineered and installed safely.

The winner of the Best Improvement for Biking in 2017 in the District of Columbia was the 15th Street protected bike lane extension to Euclid. Mike Goodno, Bicycle Program Specialist at DDOT, and DDOT engineer Sam Olatunji accepted the award on behalf of the DDOT team who made the 15th Street protected bike lane extension to Euclid a reality.

Best Improvement for Biking went to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission for the promulgation of new regulations to allow bike commuting after dark. Accepting the award on M-NCPPC’s behalf Commission were Chair of the Montgomery County planning board, Casey Anderson and Derick Berlage, Division Chief for Countywide Planning for the Prince George’s Planning.

Hains Point 100 won the 2017 Bicyclists’ Choice Awards Best Social Ride! Megan Jones, the event’s co-creator and great champion, brought together the most casual riders with some of our fastest roadies to get more women riding in the region. Accepting the award on Megan’s behalf was her co-creator Mark Blacknell.
WABA Award Winners
- Community Organizer Award: Anna Irwin
- Vision Zero Award: City of Alexandria (accepted by Mayor Allison Silberberg)
- Protecting Bike Lanes Award: Jon Renaut & DDOT Public Space Regulation Team: Matthew Marcou, Elliott Garrett, and Levon Petrosian
- Educator of the Year Award: Edgar Gil Rico
- Biking for All Award: Phoenix Bikes (accepted by Edoardo Buenaobra and Raymond Duran)
- Advocate of the Year Award: Dave Helms
- Volunteer of the Year Award: Lauren Annenberg and Michael Avilez
- Public Leadership Award: Chief Sogand Seirafi
Bicyclists’ Choice Awards Nominees
Best Improvement for Biking in the District of Columbia in 2017
- Dockless Bikeshare
- Oxon Run Trail
- Bike to Work Day pit stop in Twining, Ward 7
- Maine Avenue SW protected bike lanes
- Klingle Valley Trail Opening
- 15th St. protected bike lane extension to Euclid
Best Improvement for Biking in Maryland in 2017
- Silver Spring Circle
- Trolley Trail Connector through Riverdale Park Station
- HAWK Signals
- M-NCPPC new regulations, allowing bike commuting after dark
Best Improvement for Biking: Virginia
- Alexandria’s commitment to Vision Zero
- Underpass for Belmont Ridge Road on the W&OD trail
- Four Mile Run Trail improvements
- Updates to highway funding bill eliminating penalties for bike projects
Best Bike Shop of 2017
- Spokes, ETC.
- Conte’s Bike Shop
- CityBikes
- BicycleSPACE
- The Bike Rack
- Proteus Bicycles
- Gearin’ Up
- Bikenetic
- Big Wheel Bicycles
Best Social Ride of 2017
- Hains Point 100
- Ride to the Women’s March
- Proteus Sunday Coffee ride
- International Women’s Day Alleycat
- BicycleSPACE City Explorers
- Freezing Saddles
Bike Friendliest Business of 2017
- VeloCafe
- Bar Roubaix
- Dew Drop Inn
- Vigilante Coffee
- Shortcake Bakery
- Zeke’s Coffee
- Mapbox
- World Resources Institute
Presenting Sponsor:

Celebration Sponsors:


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