Yow! What an announcement for the week of our Bike Issue:

Evan Manvel, executive director of the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, has announced that he’s leaving the organization.

From the BTA blog:

Bicycle Transportation Alliance Executive Director Evan Manvel announced today that he is leaving the organization after two years of service.

“It’s been a wonderful couple of years,” said Manvel. “I’ve been honored to lead such an amazing organization and see it grow so significantly. There’s no doubt about it – the bicycling Renaissance is here, and the BTA is leading the charge.”

It’s an interesting time for Manvel to leave. As we pointed out in our bike issue, Portland is indisputably at a turning point—a transition that’s going to take an enormous amount of leadership and energy to keep the city from sinking into bike mediocrity, or, at best, resting on our laurels.

So, where is that leadership going to come from? Will the BTA find someone to fill those shoes, or will the next generation of bike leadership come from elsewhere?

Update: BTA policy director Scott Bricker is taking over for Manvel on an interim basis. Jonathan Maus has some thoughts on that over at BikePortland.org.