See photos and find out about previous recipients of the Golden Wheel Awards here:

Check out photos from 2009's Golden Wheel Awards. Thanks to our photographers Dustin Jensen and Orange Photography

The 17th Annual Golden Wheel Awards ceremony and fundraiser was held on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 to honor Sunday Streets for their work opening streets to healthy activity. More than 250 people joined us at the historic Green Room in the War Memorial Building to celebrate Sunday Streets and the Year of The Bicycle. The event raised $55,000 for the SFBC's work to make San Francisco streets safer for the 120,000 people who bicycle regularly in San Francisco. Download the press release

City leaders like David Chiu, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Tom Nolan, Chairman of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and Ed Reiskin, Department of Public Works Director mingled with various community leaders, decision-makers and bicyclists

John Burke, CEO of Trek Bicycles was the keynote speaker and urged the crowd to get involved at this critical time when San Francisco is on the cusp of adopting a Bicycle Plan that will move forward 50+ bicycle improvements. Burke sees the bicycle as a simple solution for San Francisco's health, congestion and environmental problems.

"Getting more people to ride bikes more often by creating bicycle-friendly communities is the biggest opportunity we have to make this city and the world a better place," said Burke. "As bicycle people we have a lot to do and not much time to do it. The time is now in San Francisco."

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition honored Sunday Streets with the 17th Annual Golden Wheel Award, because it is a simple way that San Francisco is getting more people on bikes and creating people-friendly streets. Sunday Streets encourages healthy activity by temporarily closing streets to vehicle traffic and opening them up to people-powered activities.