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www.sbbike.org 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 962-1479 email info@sbbike.org web www.sbbike.org

March 2nd meeting Join us on Tuesday, March 2nd for our monthly meeting.

Let’s improve bicycling in 2004: 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.

International bicycling symposium features Mayor Marty Blum This March 4th, Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum will address attendees at the International Symposium on Bicycle Friendly Communities in Washington DC. The symposium is sponsored by the national League of American Bicyclists, the organization that recognized Santa Barbara last year as one of our country’s “Bicycle-Friendly” Communities.

The symposium is open to mayors and municipal elected officials from around the world. The opening address will be given by Enrique Penalosa, the mayor of Bogata, Columbia, who is responsible for initiating car-free days that have become very popular and successful.

Mayor Blum will offer a 15-minute afternoon presentation about what the City, its staff, the Bicycle Coalition, and all us great bicyclists have accomplished here. On February 13, Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig and the City’s mobility coordinator Dru van Hengel met with Blum for over an hour discussing achievements that promote local bicycling. We feel that she has more than enough material to impress everybody.

The event will certainly promote bicycling in

www.sbbike.org/art-home/ flag.pdf

BIKE IDEAS. Mayor Marty Blum (left) discussed local bicycling before leaving for Washington with the Bicycle Coalition’s Dru van Hengel and Ralph Fertig.

Santa Barbara, but more important, it will bring elected officials together to discuss how to best encourage more bicycling in their communities.

We hope that a video of the conference will be available so we can all learn what happened.

Goleta cycling club proposes partnership The Goleta Valley Cycling Club (GVCC), a South Coast bicycling group with over 130 members, has proposed that we join them in producing and sharing profits from their annual People Powered Ride (PPR).

The ride, now in its 25th year, attracts several hundred cyclists for three rides up to 100 miles long. Because they have done it for so many con-

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:

March 2004

CYCLISTS MEET. Host for the People Powered Ride Brooks Firestone meets with GVCC members for breakfast on February 14 to discuss regional bicycling issues.

secutive years, most of the details are easily duplicated. However, every ride takes volunteers to help mark the courses, register, staff food stops, patrol the course, troubleshoot emergencies, and clean up afterwards.

Areas where the GVCC feels we could be especially helpful are obtaining permits (from the CHP, Sheriff, City of Solvang, the County), raising additional sponsors for food and raffle prizes, supplying home-made goodies to eat, promotion to regional cyclists, and designing needed art.

On February 14, the GVCC held its monthly meeting and discussed PPR issues with Brooks Firestone who offers his ranch facilities near Los Olivos for the ride start and post-ride party. The Club voted to partner with us if we decide to accept.

We previously considered having our own ride May 15th during Bike Week, but no decision was reached. So the questions before us now are whether we’re willing to help with fund raisers like the PPR, like a Bike Week ride, both, or neither. This important issue will be discussed at our March 2nd monthly meeting.

Looking up the road Word from the President I love the bicycle.

It’s the ultimate mechanical construction that carries its human load with unparalleled efficiency. Honed over 150 years by thousands of tinkerers, engineers and viRalph Fertig, President. sionaries, the bicycle has moved closer to perfection one idea at a time.

One day I watch lean racers whooshing by in a blur of speed. Next I see a little girl circling on her pretty pink bike with whitewall tires, her helmet fanciful with decals.

Then I watch workers pedaling home from lower-income jobs on secondhand bikes.

And young kids zipping around their neighborhoods on BMX bikes. The people and uses for offspring of this magnificent invention go on and on.

The bicycle is what it does. That’s what it does for the rider—and what it does for our community. It gets you to work while you’re getting exercise. It propels you around cars stuck in congestion, getting you to the store and out while they’re still looking for a place to park their SUVs. It bonds you and your family on trips to the beach and the ice cream parlor. It saves fuel, reduces pollution, saves the landfill, saves paving for car parking, provides more room for trees and birds and animals, it allows people to see and greet one another—and to grin because we share a secret way to live that others barely imagine.

The Bicycle Coalition has begun its fourteenth year of making things better for us all. Opportunities to share the fun of getting around by bike abound. I look forward to helping us spring into heightened visibility and greater effectiveness in the coming months. With our collective energy and imagination, we can forge a safer, more human community for us all. Let’s mount up and start pedaling toward the light.

Coalition may partner on kids SB bike project We may look back on February 2nd as an important date in Bicycle Coalition projects.

On that day, Lorriane Cruz Carpenter from Looking Good Santa Barbara (LGSB) phoned the Bicycle Coalition’s Ralph Fertig.

Their group was considering a project, perhaps for one summer, that involved reusing bicycles and getting them to kids who need them.

Although the main motivation of LGSB is in reducing solid waste in landfills, the program immediately resembled the Santa Barbara Bike Project that we were involved in the mid1990s. The idea was considered at our Bicycle Coalition meeting on February 3rd, and our new Board Member Nancy Mulholland agreed to join Fertig at an upcoming LGSB committee meeting to work on the project.

That February 18th meeting of six people resulted in a flurry of possibilities. Bonnie Switack, Assistant Principal at Santa Barbara Junior High, suggested testing a bike program with a small student group at her school. It could lead to week-long, afternoon summer sessions for students who will be entering the Junior High in the fall. And

bikes and parts might be stored in their large basement. Bike classes might even be held there.

Portland’s Community Cycling Center program was described, and the group considered hiring them as consultants to help set up a similar program here. The use of local bike mechanics to direct bike repair and reconstruction from rescued bike parts was considered.

Steven McIntosh from the City’s Solid Waste Division wanted to make sure that students learned the value of recycling things. The possibility of a League of American Bicyclists’ licensed instructor to teach bike handling skills also was discussed. Involving mechanics from UCSB’s Bike Shop, or those from Santa Barbara Middle School’s program were also brought up.

Overall, the importance of helmets, bike safety instruction and actual riding was stressed. Just giving kids bikes won’t result in many benefits, for the kids or for our community. More meetings are coming for this venture. Carpenter is coordinating things; if you have ideas, contact her at 386-2361 or cruz.carpenter@verizon.com.

SB starts Oak Park traffic management

CLOSING CASTILLO. This is the block of Castillo Street that Cottage Hospital proposes to close for its new two-block complex of buildings.

The City of Santa Barbara started a second neighborhood process for traffic management in its Oak Park area on January 27. The meeting was the first of five scheduled meetings that will end with a three day workshop with livable communities consultant Dan Burden.

The first neighborhood selected was the Saint Francis area where residents determined what traffic measures they want to have installed. They include roundabouts, lane striping, landscaping and curb extensions—efforts that help increase bicyclist safety.

The Oak Park neighborhood was selected because of the major changes that are coming from the rebuilding of Cottage Hospital. The plans call for closing off one block of Castillo Street so the hospital can span two city blocks. This will have an effect on circulation. If you live in the Oak Park area, consider attending the upcoming meetings; the next one is on March 18. Get more information from the City at 897-2509 or on their web site with an absurdly long address: www.ci.santa-barbara.ca.us/departments/public_works/transportation/alternative/ntmp.

Quick Release • March 2004 • Page 2

Active members

Nancy Mulholland restarts her career

Please thank and support the following Bicycle Coalition business members:

time to think about important things.

Most people retire What’s next? from a job and vegStarting on March etate, but that’s not 11, Nancy will join a what Nancy WomanTours ride Mulholland has in across the Southern mind. Nancy, a new Tier of the US. She Board member of the will be a guide on alBicycle Coalition, ternate days to get just left three dean idea of what it’s cades of working in like to lead a bike public health, spetour. She won’t make cializing in children it all the way to St. with disabilities, and Augustine, Florida is now plunging into because she will fly leading bicycle tours from New Orleans in ... perhaps.

UNDER COVER. Nancy Mulholland finds that her late April to join her Nancy was born rain poncho works to keep her bike saddle dry and raised in the San when she’s away. partner Mark Sapp Francisco East Bay, for a three-day course where she enjoyed bicycling—at least until in Port Townsend, Washington. That high school when automobiles lured her course is in bike touring leadership put on away. It wasn’t until she had children of by the Adventure Cycling Association. her own that she started biking again, and After all that, Nancy feels that she will encouraging her two kids to bike too. know enough to decide whether leading A wonderful tour that she recalls took bike tours will be her new career or not. place when her daughter graduated from Wherever she pedals, however, Santa the University of Colorado. The two of Barbara will always be home where she them created their own loaded tour from finds the bicycling just wonderful.

Boulder west through the Rocky Mountains, then south to Flagstaff, Arizona, where they caught a train home.

Since then, Nancy’s most memorable trip was in 1994 when she cycled across the US along the northern tier. Well, mostly along the northern tier because she entered Ontario at Sault Ste Marie from northern Michigan and rode all the way through Ontario to Kingston where she entered New York east of Lake Ontario.

Road cycling, she says, gives her a chance to be outside, to de-stress, and a

• • • •

Hazard’s Cyclesport, Santa Barbara Lightning Cycle Dynamics, Lompoc MarBorg Industries, Santa Barbara Rincon Cycles, Carpinteria

We welcome new members Nancy Mulholland and Brian Larinan. And we certainly thank those who renewed their memberships: Alan Bergquist, Owen Patmor and Doris Phinney.

February Coalition meeting topics Our February 3rd Bicycle Coalition meeting attracted 16 people who discussed many issues facing us, including these: • Matt Dobberteen described an update of the County’s Goleta Transportation Improvement Plan (now excluding the new City of Goleta). Six people volunteered to form a committee with Matt to review bicycle project priorities.

• Drew Hunter volunteered to work with the Goleta Valley Cycling Club concerning their proposal to partner with us on the People Powered Ride this October.

• Erika Lindemann said that plans for Bike Week are progressing, and an initial meeting will be held in late February.

• Ralph Fertig described data that compares bicycling and walking at Santa Barbara City intersections.

• Gary Wissman asked for an accountant to help him complete the federal and California tax forms. He will investigate possibilities.

• Officers and Board members were elected.

• Ralph Fertig described Santa Barbara Earth Day preparation. Eric Schwartz suggested an expanded bike area. We will keep our booth in the Courthouse sunken garden, and bike checkups and parking on the street.

• Ralph Fertig reported that Looking Good Santa Barbara is proposing a bike recycling program for kids. Nancy Mulholland will help define possibilities.

by Ralph Fertig

Local races attract hundreds of cyclists Sunny weather and back-to-back races combined to draw nearly 500 cyclists to each race: Santa Barbara Bicycle Club’s Good Ol’ Days Road Race in Los Olivos (left) and Echelon Santa Barbara’s Mothballs Criterium in Goleta (right). Echelon President Mark Purcell said “there was a lot of dual racing with Good Ol’ Days and Mothballs, good for each event.”

• Eric Schwartz reported that Velo City Cycles has been providing free “yellow bikes” on Santa Barbara’s Eastside neighborhood.

• We will again be participating in the Sustainability Project’s “Parade of Green Buildings” this May 1st with a bike tour.

Quick Release • March 2004 • Page 3

Upcoming bike meetings & events March 2, General Meeting. Meeting at noon, first Tuesday of the month, County Public Works conference room, 123 East Anapamu Street, First Floor, Santa Barbara.

Phone president Ralph Fertig, 962-1479 or email him at sb-ralph@cox.net.

March 9, Santa Barbara County Trails Council Annual Meeting. This annual meeting will have a special speaker, awards and roundup of events during the past year. It's open to the public. Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 7:00 PM. Details from Vie Obern, 682-3175 or email her at viegeoobern2@cox.net.

March 13, Solvang Century, sponsored by SCOR. The West's big seasonal kickoff ride.

Choose 100 or 50-mile rides starting from Solvang. Raffle, Bicycle Expo and barbecue.

Info and online registration www.bikescor.com or phone SCOR 562-690-9693.

March 27, Choo Choo Century, sponsored by the Goleta Valley Cycling Club. Annual Club ride. Take Amtrak to San Luis Obispo, spend the night, then bike back to Santa Barbara. Includes room in Pismo Beach, bike sag to SLO, and Amtrak ticket. Registration and Club membership required. Details from Lori Haney, 964-5822. Registration form online at www.goletabike.org/ Jan04_Breeze.pdf.

FREE BIKE MAP!

Oberns receive more honors All the publicity from the County’s naming a section of the Coast Route the “Obern Trail” has brought added—and well deserved—recognition to Bicycle Coalition members George and Vie Obern. The Oberns were largely responsible decades ago for envisioning and having built that section of popular bikepath.

The February 13th issue of the Valley Voice featured the Oberns with a cover story about their achievements, including a large color photo of them. Voice Associate Editor Margo Kline wrote, “Thanks to Vie and George Obern, trails are thriving throughout Goleta and Santa Barbara County, earning the lasting gratitude of hikers, bikers and equestrians.”

On top of that came a Certificate of Recognition to the Oberns from the California Assembly. “Heartiest congratulations and commendations are conveyed upon the oc-

casion of being recognized for lifelong contributions to the creation of trails and pathways in Santa Barbara County.” It is signed by Assemblywoman Hannah Beth Jackson.

Praise didn’t stop there. US representative Lois Capps entered a testimonial honoring the Oberns into the Congressional Record. It noted, “George and Vie Obern’s work led to the successful development of local trail and pathway projects, including the Maria Ygnacia Creek Bikepath, the Coastal Route Bikepath, the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, and many others.”

Can there be more? How about a dedication ceremony when the new Obern Trail signs are unveiled. We’ll let you know when a date is set. Until then, thank the Oberns when you have the chance for their dedicated efforts that we all enjoy.

How to get more bikes on MTD buses

For Santa Barbara County Bike Maps, info on ridesharing and van pools, just call: 963-SAVE. Quick Release • March 2004 • Page 4

A letter published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on February 4th by a foreign student complained about not being able to ride an MTD bus with his bicycle. It was because the rack was full and the driver would not let him bring his bike inside.

This is not the first time that people with bikes have been stranded far from home.

The MTD policy is no bikes inside, with the suggested reason of liability insurance.

However, other transit companies across the US manage to accommodate bicyclists better than the MTD. Here is a sample: • Denver RTD allows bikes inside when racks are full and it’s dark or the next bus won’t come for more than an hour.

• Vermont GMTA’s Mad River Valley Bus allows bikes inside (it has no outside bike racks).

• Philadelphia’s SEPTA allows bikes inside their buses whether the racks are full or not; some drivers prefer them inside.

• Pennsylvania’s Blair County AMTRAN allows bikes inside if the driver thinks that

other passengers won’t be endangered.

They encourage Altoona Police bike cops to board with their bikes for passenger security.

• San Luis Obispo Regional Transit has three-bike racks on both front and rear, accommodating six bikes total. The RTA just got a $5,000 grant to buy more of the three-bike racks to retrofit some of their two-bike mounts.

• Sacramento’s SRT allows bikes inside when bike racks are full and it’s the last bus of the day for that route.

The three-bike racks being used in San Luis Obispo are a new offering from SportWorks, the manufacturer of the MTD’s twobike versions. They are currently installed on 400 vehicles, including the whole Long Beach Transit bus fleet. SportWorks’ Lisa Robinson says the bikes go on and off them nearly as fast as the two-bike ones.

So where does this leave us? There are two options—pursue 3-bike racks and check the MTD’s liability concerns.

Biking and walking in UCSB students to vote New Coalition Board Our election of Bicycle Coalition officers Santa Barbara on new bikepath and board members at our February 3rd

Within the City of Santa Barbara, we see lots of people bicycling and walking. It’s what makes the place so livable for us all.

But just how many people do either? And how does it vary from one part of town or time of day to another?

The Bicycle Coalition’s Ralph Fertig had an opportunity to obtain some answers while gathering data for the City’s upcoming Pedestrian Master Plan. He counted pedestrians and bicyclists passing through 16 intersections over 185 hours between July 31 and September 12, 2003. The data show the following: • There were 43,145 pedestrians and 8,293 bicyclists. That means for every five people on foot, there’s one on a bicycle.

• The peak 2-hour period for bicyclists was 3:15-5:15 PM.

• Week day biking and walking had very different patterns than week ends, as shown in the graph.

• Intersections varied greatly, both in mix of pedestrians and bicyclists, and in hourly densities of either.

Ads in Quick Release Quick Release accepts advertisements. Circulation is over 400 people. Ads are business card size, 3.5” wide x 2.0” high. Cost per ad is $18 each, or 12 consecutive ads for $180. Details and an order form are available on PDF format online at: www.sbbike.org/QR/ad.pdf.

LIVING DANGEROUSLY. In spite of a heavy fine if caught biking on the broad sidewalk, few students walk their bicycles by Broida.

A five-day rush to get enough university students to sign a petition resulted in an opportunity to vote on a missing-link bikepath on UCSB campus. The proposed path would be 450 feet long and would connect Webb Hall and Engineering, just south of Broida Hall. “We did it!” exulted Associated Students’ BIKE committee director Edward France after they turned in 2661 signatures by the February 3rd deadline. “This happened only with a huge amount of help from a strong crew of both us, bike shop people, and the EAB chargers.” (The EAB chargers are Environmental Affairs Board people.)

What the University students will face in late April is a vote to impose a $3 per student per quarter fee for three years to pay the estimated project cost of $400,000. The cost is high because a building must be moved to make room for the new connecting path, and new landscaping will be needed. If the students pass the measure, design would be accelerated, and construction could happen this summer with borrowed funding guaranteed by future fees.

meeting resulted in some new people and some returning ones. Ralph Fertig was elected President, a repeat of his serving in that capacity in 1994-1997. Other officers are Chuck Anderson, Vice President; Gary Wissman, Treasurer; and Drew Hunter, Secretary.

Board members are now the following: Dru van Hengel, Don Lubach, Nancy Mulholland, Mike Hecker, and Jim Marshall. In addition, we now have a new category of professional advisors: Wilson Hubbell and Erika Lindemann.

Our contact information is listed on page 6, so feel free to contact any of us when you have ideas that we might benefit from.

Bicycling makes us smarter Just as we always thought—aerobic exercise like cycling not only keeps our brains from deteriorating as we age, it can make us sharper mentally. Recent research by Arthur Kramer reported in the Journal of Gerontology confirmed that exercise improves cognition as determined not only by tests, but also by MRI imaging of the brains of study volunteers aged 55 to 79.

A review of 18 earlier studies shows: • Women on estrogen replacement therapy benefit more than women not on it.

• Exercise programs involving both aerobic exercise and strength training produced better results on cognitive abilities than either one alone.

• Older adults benefit more than younger adults do.

• More than 30 minutes of exercise per session produce the greatest benefit.

So if you’re not smart enough now to realize how beneficial biking is, just go do it and you’ll eventually know how true it is.

Quick Release • March 2004 • Page 5

Discounts to members

“If you bicycle, you should join the Bicycle Coalition”

✔

Application for 12 Months of Membership

Yes! Sign me up to help make bicycling better for all of us in Santa Barbara County: ❏ Individual $25 ❏ Business $100

❏ Student/Senior $12 ❏ Sustaining $500

❏ Family $40 ❏ Lifetime $1000

❏ Century $100

name ___________________________________________________________________________ address __________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________ city, state, zip _____________________________________________________________________ phone ________________________________ email ______________________________________ ❏ New membership ❏ Renewal membership Make check out to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition.

Mail to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, PO Box 92047, Santa Barbara, CA 93190-2047

Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition Regional bicycle clubs & groups Road repair contacts President, Ralph Fertig, 962-1479 sb-ralph@cox.net

Vice President, Chuck Anderson 893-4616, mtbchuck@cox.net Secretary, Drew Hunter, 542-5112 watair1@earthlink.net

Treasurer, Gary Wissman, 964-4607 gary@gwissman.com

Director, Mike Hecker, 966-1807 hecktone@cox.net

Director, Don Lubach, 964-7798 dlubach@mac.com

Director, Jim Marshall, 962-3531 Jim2Mars@aol.com

Dan Henry, 688-3330 Cyclone Racing, Beth Wallace 753-6673, xyzbethie@aol.com Echelon Santa Barbara, Mark Purcell markpurcell@cox.net

Goleta Valley Cycling Club

Director, Dru van Hengel, 564-5544 dvanhengel@ci.santa-barbara.ca.us

Advisor, Wilson Hubbell, 568-3046 hubbell@co.santa-barbara.ca.us

Advisor, Erika Lindemann, 961-8919 elindemann@sbcag.org

SB Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers Chuck Anderson, 565-7511 sbmtv@cox.net

Santa Barbara City 897-2630 Wilson Hubbell, 568-3046 hubbell@co.santa-barbara.ca.us

Santa Maria

Santa Barbara BMX Dale Bowers, LBowers508@aol.com

Philip Chang, 968-4082 pchang@physics.ucsb.edu

Goleta

Santa Barbara County

Mike Hecker, 966-1807 hecktone@cox.net

UCSB Cycling Club

Rick Fulmer, 684-5405 x402 rickfulmer@hotmail.com

Larry Bean, 736-1261 l_bean@ci.lompoc.ca.us

Ray Harris, 736-5454

Carl Beerup, 474-9099 beerup@charter.net

Carpinteria

Lompoc

Lompoc Valley Bicycle Club

Tailwinds Bicycle Club

Pat Mickelson, 968-5779 pat_mickelson@dot.ca.gov

Steve Wagner, 961-7511 swagner@cityofgoleta.org

Kathleen Boehm, 687-6218 kboehm@silcom.com

Director, Nancy Mulholland, 563-9073 Santa Barbara Bicycle Club nmulhol04@yahoo.com

Caltrans

Bicycle Touring Club of Solvang

Rick Sweet, 925-0951 x227 71064.3132@compuserve.com

Solvang Tom Rowe, 688-5575 tomr@cityofsolvang.com

Members of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition are offered discounts at local bike shops. It’s another reason to join our advocacy group. To get your discount, take your copy of Quick Release to the shop & show them your address label that says “MEMBER” on it. Or cut out the label box and take it.

Discount details are posted on our web site at www.sbbike.org/ SBBC/who.html. Please patronize the following shops: Bicycle Bob’s 250 Storke Road #A, Goleta 15 Hitchcock Way, Santa Barbara Bicycle Connection 223 W. Ocean Avenue, Lompoc Big Gear Bike Gear 324 State Street #A, Santa Barbara Hazard’s Cyclesport 735 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara Mad Mike's Bikes 1110 E. Clark Avenue #G, Santa Maria Open Air Bicycles 224 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara Pedal Power Bicycles 1740 Broadway, Santa Maria VeloPro Cyclery 633 State Street, Santa Barbara 5887 Hollister Avenue, Goleta

UCSB Dennis Whelan, 893-7009 Dennis.Whelan@bap.ucsb.edu

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