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
November 2nd meeting Join us on Tuesday, November 2nd for our monthly meeting. Don‘t forget to vote: Tuesday, November 2nd 12:00 noon County Public Works Conference Room, 1st Floor 123 E 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
Coalition seeks funding for Trail Stop Biking to the County’s Energy Division at 4:20 PM on October 1st, Coalition president Ralph Fertig delivered eight copies of an application for CREF funding for our proposed “Obern/de Anza Trail Stop.” No reason to rush, he still had 40 spare minutes before the deadline. We especially thank Bicycle Coalition member and architect and Jeff Stoutenborough for donating a week of his time to design the project for us. It’s a beautiful yet functional rest and information area for all trail users. Jeff kept plugging away toward the funding deadline for a week in spite of encroaching illness. The cost estimate came from Allen Associates, a local contractor known for environmentallyresponsible building practices and advocacy, notable with the Sustainability Project. We are grateful to owner Dennis Allen for volunteering his profit as a donation to the Bicycle Coalition. The cost estimate came in at nearly $35,000. For this year’s funding cycle, there is about $300,000 in Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF) money available for non-acquisition projects like ours. Right now, all applications are in the hands of the County’s Energy Division staff who are writing evaluations of them. On November 22, Fertig will give a presentation to the County Supervisors
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.
asking them to fund our project. In early December, the Supervisors will vote on the allocation. Although we had five letters of support, you as an individual can still write or email or speak out in favor of the Trail Stop on November 22. Your thoughts on the project should go to: Supervisor Susan Rose, phone 568-2191 105 East Anapamu Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 email srose@co.santa-barbara.ca.us Although we hope to see this project funded by CREF and constructed next spring, the County’s Wilson Hubbell cautioned that sometimes these projects take additional funding sources. You can view a copy of the application online, in Adobe PDF format (it’s a 360 KB file) at: www.sbbike.org/docs/CREF.pdf
This project will be a first for us in terms of lasting physical amenities for bicyclists and other trail users. Perhaps a bronze plaque at the site can recognize our noble efforts.
More people cycling
Our Bike Ed program The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition’s Bike Education program offers bicycling skills classes for school children and adults. Look for details of upcoming classes inside Quick Release, or contact our Coordinator Nancy Mulholland by phone at 563-9073 or email nmulhol04@yahoo.com.
November 2004
Riders for the MS Bike Tour & Fest register and prepare to pedal for the charity on October 16th.
Two October rides in Santa Barbara County saw growth in the number of participants. The People Powered Ride, a century ride out of Los Olivos, saw the numbers of registrants increase 42% over 2003, up to 460 cyclists. Most surprising was the number of day-of-ride registrations that were up by 85% over 2003. A week later, the Multiple Sclerosis Bike Tour & Fest took place in Santa Barbara. It had an 8% increase in riders over 2003, with a total ridership over 1200 cyclists. Whether these increases reflect the “Lance Armstrong” effect, better marketing, active lifestyle increases, vacations nearer home, or other things, it’s your guess. But cycling is on the rise!