This article is the third in a series profiling nominees for the 2008 Alice B. Toeclips Awards, and was written by BTA correspondent John McLaren.

At age 32, Stephanie Routh not only does not drive, she has never in her life owned a car. Instead she is a dedicated promoter of bicycling, in Portland, nationally and internationally. She even “married” her bicycle, “Sparky,” at the 2006 Multnomah County Bike Fair.

One of her biggest projects is helping organize the 8th International Towards Carfree Cities Conference, to be held in Portland June 16-20, 2008. It is expected to draw people from around the world who seek transportation alternatives to the automobile, and it will be the first time the conference has met in North America. She is also a member of the steering committee of World Carfree Network, a conference co-host.

Routh, a Portland native, has been a bike commuter in such varied locales as New York City; Changhuin and Dalian, China; and Bangkok and Suratthani, Thailand. She taught English and Theater Arts in the two Asian nations, and also led volunteer skin diving teams off a Thai island to help restore a coral bay ravaged by the 2004 Tsunami.

Routh returned to Portland in 2005 and has been going full bore ever since, mainly pushing bike related causes. Last year she was instrumental in developing Umbrella - from its conceptual development through application to the IRS for 501(c)3 status to establishing its accounting and programmatic procedures - and she is now the president. Umbrella will support community-based cultural activities, like Shift (whose projects include co-hosting the Carfree Cities conference, planning Pedalpalooza, organizing Moves by Bike and staging Breakfast on the Bridges each month).

“Stephanie has been instrumental in making sure that Breakfast on the Bridges took place on the Hawthorne Bridge on nearly every one of its assigned dates,” a friend, Matt Picio, says. “She coordinated resources, brewed coffee, hauled gear and stored materials for each event. Her energy ensured that people had a good time, remembered the experience and came back for more.”

For Moves by Bike, as many as 30 cyclists, often including Routh, turn out with work bikes and trailers to assist in bike moves, usually between apartments. “We move everything from futons and bookcases to pets and hide-a-beds,” she says. Routh also has been treasurer of Portland’s Exchange Cycle Tours, which offers bike maintenance instruction and local touring, and she is the SpokeN Word blogger for EcoMetro.com. In her day job, Routh is the Resource Development Coordinator for Green Empowerment, a nonprofit that promotes renewable energy solutions in developing countries.

Next nominee: Bike attorney, Community Cycling Center board member, BTA volunteer and community educator Margaret Weddell.

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