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Serving Santa Barbara County We’re a countywide advocacy and resource organization that promotes bicycling for safe transportation and recreation.
How to reach us Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition PO Box 92047 Santa Barbara CA 93190-2047 phone 568-3046 email info@sbbike.org web www.sbbike.org
December 2nd meeting Join us on Tuesday, December 2nd for our monthly meeting. Help us celebrate and improve bicycling: Tuesday, 12:00 noon County Public Works Conference Room, 1st Floor 123 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, California
Online email list We sponsor an online email forum where you can post and read messages that pertain to regional bicycling issues. It’s easy and free. To subscribe to our general forum, just send an email message to: sbbike-subscribe@topica.com
Leave the subject line and body of the message blank. That’s all!
Join the Coalition You can help improve bicycling safety and conditions in Santa Barbara County by joining others in our own regional Bicycle Coalition advocacy group. Together we will continue to make a real difference. See page 6 for details.
For sale: video & flag We’re pleased to offer our own video “Decide to Ride.” It’s about a young woman who learns to bike commute to work. It’s only $18 (tax and US shipping included) from us, address above. Plus, we’re selling Bike Week flags, 4’x6’ heavy nylon, terra cotta and white. They’re $33 plus tax. Look at this PDF file: www.sbbike.org/art-home/ flag.pdf
December 2003
Coalition buys Fernando a bike Bicycle Coalition members donated freely to buy a new bike for Fernando da Silva, a touring cyclist from Brazil. Five days after he arrived in Los Angeles, Fernando had his locked bicycle stolen from a rack outside the Santa Barbara Public Library while he was emailing his wife. As soon as an article about his loss appeared in the Santa Barbara News-Press, the Bicycle Coalition’s Ralph Fertig asked for donations to buy a replacement bike. Within a few hours, we had collected $200, and by the next day, nearly $300. That amount, plus two outside donations, were enough to buy Fernando a new bicycle. Niel Mazzolini at Bicycle Bob’s assembled a Giant mountain bike that Fernando had selected. What made the theft especially ironic was that Fernando had saved money for years to make this ride for peace of the soul and the mind. Not wanting any harm to come to the thief, the father of two said, “I like peace.” We’re grateful for generous donations from these people: Rob Dayton, Wilson Hubbell, Erika Lindemann, Anna Roberts, Ralph Fertig, Pierre Delong, Mark McClure, Sam Hartline, Don Lubach, Ann Lawler, Tricia Guilfoyle, Jere Lifshitz, Drew Hunter, Doris Phinney, Corey Anderson, Jim Marshall, Curtis Ridling, Alex Pujo, Gary Dempster, and Eileen Daley. When Fernando picked up his bike, he said that to him, it’s not a new bike, but a symbol of the friendship of the
Fernando da Silva picks up his new bicycle at Bicycle Bob’s, thanks to Bicycle Coalition donations.
kind people who gave it to him. In these times of declining worldwide opinion of America, we not only helped a touring cyclist in need, we also demonstrated to a foreign visitor that American people truly care about others on our planet. We did the right thing and feel very good about it.
Bicycling brothers flew to fame a century ago Five months after the first Tour lift, they mounted differde France, bike shop owners ent shapes on a horizontal and bicycle manufacturers bike wheel attached to the Orville and Wilber Wright used front of a special bike that their bicycle knowledge to crethey pedaled while meaate heavier-than-air flight. On suring the lift. Later, they December 17, 1903, the Wright built a wind tunnel with a brothers managed four flights delicate “drag balance” usin their airplane, flying 852 feet ing bike spokes and hackon their farthest flight. saw blades to hold test Where others had failed in wing profiles. They also the past, the Wrights called on used bicycle spokes to tentheir knowledge of bicycle techsion their airplane wings. nology to help them succeed. The brothers knew that They knew that riding a bicycle, The Wright Cycle Company shop in Akron, Ohio, weight was a major confor example, required balance cern for cyclists as well as founded in 1882, is now in Dearborn, Michigan. through body movements, so airplanes. So they saved they incorporated that into control of their aircraft: weight by building a motor of aluminum instead of the pilot shifted his hips from side to side to warp steel that was the usual material at the time. the wings and change direction, a function they Although the Wrights flew into history a century later controlled with handles, and that’s now done ago, their Wright Cycle shop was bought by Henry with ailerons. Ford and moved to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, When the Wrights were testing wing profiles for Michigan, where you can visit it today.