Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood strapped on a bike helmet and took a leisurely ride through downtown Denver with Mayor John Hickenlooper Wednesday promoting Denver B-Cycle, a bicycle-sharing program the secretary called “a model for America.”

“People want a lot of different ways to get around the community,” LaHood said before getting on a bike for a ride with Hickenlooper and other dignitaries. LaHood said he expects cities around the country to copy Denver’s program, which began in April.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for Denver, as I said, to be the model for the country, which I think it will be,” he said.

LaHood was in Denver to speak at a roundtable on energy and climate change that was part of the Biennial of the Americas roundtable series.