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
May 6th meeting Join us on the first Tuesday of the month for our general meeting: Tuesday, May 6th 12:00 noon Santa Barbara Bank & Trust Community Room 1021 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara
Online email list We sponsor a free online email forum where you can post and read messages that pertain to regional bicycling issues. To subscribe, just send an email message to: sbbike-subscribe@lists.riseup.net
Leave the subject line and body of the message blank.
Bike Week 2008 is sprinting our way! In these times of rising gas and energy costs, declining fitness, and global climate change, the humble bicycle provides the solution to all our challenges while providing responsible mobility. Bike Week 2008 will parade the benefits of bicycling before our community. Here is a brief listing of major events. Go online for details about them all at www.sbbike.org/BW/bw.html. The following events are sponsored by our Bicycle Coalition unless otherwise noted:
May 15 & 17, Street Skills for Cyclists class.
May 16-23, Bike Week Flags.
May 16-18, Santa Ynez Valley National, sponsored by RideSB.
May 17, Children’s Festival, sponsored by COAST and our Bicycle Coalition.
May 17, Bike Art Project.
May 17, Fifth Annual Bike Week Celebration. See details on page 2.
May 18, Willie Weir Bikes around India.
May 20, Bike to School Day, sponsored by COAST.
May 21, Bike to Work Day, sponsored by UCSB and the City of Santa Barbara.
Join our Coalition You can help improve bicycling safety and conditions in Santa Barbara County by joining others in our regional bicycling advocacy group. Together we’ll continue to make a real difference. See page 6 for info.
May 21, Ride of Silence, unsponsored.
Touring cycling and entertainer Willie Weir will return to Santa Barbara for our annual Bike Week Celebration evening.
May 21, Use Your Bike for Transportation.
May 22, Bikestation Anniversary Celebration, sponsored by the Bikestation Santa Barbara and our Bicycle Coalition.
May 22 and May 24, Bici Centro Repair Workshops, sponsored by Bici Centro.
May 24, Bike to the Merc, sponsored by Bici Centro
May 24, Bike Film Night, sponsored by our Bicycle Coalition and HopeDance.
May 25, Bike Clinic, sponsored by Open Air Bicycles.
Barry Siegel Bikepath dedicated in Montecito
Our CycleSmart program The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition’s CycleSmart bicyclist education program offers bicycling skills classes for school children and adults. Look for details of upcoming classes inside Quick Release, or contact our Co-coordinators Dru van Hengel and Erika Lindemann by email CycleSmart@sbbike.org . Quick Release is published monthly by the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, PO Box 92047, Santa Barbara, CA 93190. Subscribe for $25 per year. Issue # 199.
May 2008
Supervisor Salud Carbajal and Martha Siegel hold up one of the six upcoming Barry Siegel signs.
On April 16, the “Barry Siegel Bike Path” was dedicated on North Jameson Lane in Montecito. Barry Siegel, a community transportation activist after he moved here from Los Angeles with his wife Martha Siegel in 1993, passed away last September. Siegel had been involved with Santa Barbara’s Transportation and Circulation Committee, the Montecito Association Board of Directors, and the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation. With his engineer’s rigor, he would devour complex and intimidating government transportation documents and ask astute, pointed questions at meetings. After SBCAG meetings in particular, he emailed meeting reports that were widely read not only by those missing the meetings, but also by those who attended them. Although Siegel didn’t bicycle, he loved walking along North Jameson to Summerland. Because of his efforts, we now enjoy pedaling—or walking—on the bikelanes there.
Event to honor Grant House and Ed France At this year’s Bike Week Celebration evening, our Bicycle Coalition will award certificates to honor Santa Barbara City Councilman Grant House and Ed France, the director of the Bici Centro community bike program. For the past four years, we have honored individuals who have contributed to making our community a better place to bicycle, and are pleased to include Grant and Ed for their years of active support for bicycling. The Celebration evening again will return on Saturday, May 17th to the Chase Palm Park Center on East Beach in Santa Barbara. The evening will start at 6:00 PM, and will include voting for winners of our Bike Art contest, chatting over drinks on the patio overlooking the bikepath and ocean, enjoying a dinner catered by Country Catering, applauding the deeds of Grant and Ed, and hearing tales by Willie Weir, who has just returned from three months of bike touring in Colombia and Venezuela. All for $35. Invitations to the Celebration evening have been sent to Bicycle Coalition members. And others can reserve by going to www.sbbike.org/BW/2008/dine.html.
CycleSmart bicyclist education news Every other month, we offer our Street Skills for Cyclists classes. If you missed earlier opportunities to hone your bicycling knowledge and skills for biking confidently in traffic, you catch our next class: Street Skills for Cyclists Class Thursday, May 15, 5:30-8:30 PM Saturday, May 17, 8:30 AM-3:30 PM Granada Garage, Santa Barbara The class is open to anybody 16 years of age or older. You can bring your child who is 14 or 15, with your supervision. The class costs
Tibetan Bike Relay passes through county A Tibetan Freedom torch was carried through our area on April 14-15th by Tibetan cyclists as part of a 50city protest against oppressive Chinese rule. The cyclists included Jigme Norbu, a nephew of the Dalai Lama. Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig was impressed that they selected the bicycle as their vehicle for nonviolent, self-propelled travel. Not an SUV, not a Tibetan cyclists prepare to bike to the University, led by Ralph Fertig, wearing the dark jersey. Photo by Kevin Young. Hummer, not an armored vehicle, but a bicycle. So he biked to “They were good cyclists, following all the Santa Barbara home where they were the rules of the road, wearing helmets, staying, expecting to take photos and see riding single file,” noted Fertig. The press them on their way. However, they asked him reports of the UCSB rally, however, missed to guide the group to UCSB for their noon the bicycling aspect, and concentrated on rally, which he did. counter-protesting students.
Earth Day survey At our information booth at the South Coast Earth Day event, we asked visitors to vote for the best ways to fund bicycling improvements. We gave them “Bike Bucks” that they could “vote” with by putting them into any combination of six labeled boxes as listed in the graph The voting results show that people want more bike lanes on city streets more than anything. Law enforcement is a low priority, and three other categories are half as important as the bike lanes are. Quick Release ~ May 2008 ~ Page 2
$30, however some scholarships are available. Just ask us. We are grateful to the City of Santa Barbara for their sponsorship of these classes. Learn details about the class structure and what it has to offer you and others on our website www.sbbike.org/CycleSmart/apply.html. If you have questions, phone Dru van Hengel at 564-5544 or email her at CycleSmart@sbbike.org. And be sure to tell others about it.
Coalition elections coming this July Our Bicycle Coalition election for officers and board members is held every two years, and it’s coming up this July. Nominations for the four officers and five board members will be accepted at our May 6th meeting, and by mail/email by May 20th. Ballots will be published in June Quick Release. Please consider nominating yourself or others for these important positions. Our future depends on what you all do.
Wet Willy Sez Dear Wet Willy: I’ve been thinking about putting a rear view mirror on my bike but I recently tried riding a friend’s bike with a handlebar-end mirror and found it to be basically useless. Are these things way overhyped or is it just me? — Stephen Dear Stephen: Although they may not be useless, Wet Willy isn’t a fan of handlebar mounted mirrors because they have a fixed mount on the bars that doesn’t allow “gazing” across a broad area the way helmet and eyeglass mounted mirrors do. In other words, helmet/eyeglass mirrors allow you to move your head and see behind in all sorts of directions but handlebar movement is much more limited. Wet Willy recommends that you try a helmet mounted or eyeglass mounted rearview mirror. I wear one all the time and (heresy alert!) would rather ride without a helmet than be without a mirror. A mirror allows you to quickly and frequently monitor what is going on behind you—much more quickly and frequently than turning your head to look to the rear can. This is especially important in high traffic situations where knowing what is approaching you from behind will influence the decisions you make regarding turning movements and your position on the roadway. Wet Willy uses a CycleAware ViewPoint mirror www.cycleaware.com that mounts on the inside of the left eyeglass lens. It’s effective, unobtrusive, nearly undetectable and cheap. Other inexpensive eyeglass or helmet mounted mirrors are available from companies like Blackburn, Third Eye and Take-ALook. Try one and let me know what you think. “Wet Willie” is an advice column authored by Coalition Vice President Wilson Hubbell. Please submit any questions you have about cycling issues to him at wilsonhubbell@aol.com.
Coalition participates in our 17th Earth Day Since 1992, our Bicycle Coalition has participated in the South Coast Earth Day, and this year’s event at the Santa Barbara County Courthouse was the best ever. People picked up over 900 pieces of literature—a record number—from our information booth on the Courthouse lawn and from our table outside the Bikestation across Anacapa street. With gas prices rising, a concern over inactivity, and an awareness of the global effects of CO2 emissions, people are hopefully realizing that the basic bicycle can solve them all. This year, our free and popular bike check-ups were inside the Our volunteer bike mechanics Geoff Grow, Robert Rainwater Bikestation. Although the location and Wilson Hubbell perform check-ups on Earth Day bicycles. was new, 65 bicyclists still found us, enough to keep our dedicated mechanics Wilson Hubbell, Robert Rainwater and Geoff Grow busy all day helping others bike better. New this year was a “TravelPass” program where any visitor could obtain a printed pass, visit seven alternative transportation booths where it was stamped, then enter into a raffle for prizes. We partnered with Traffic Solutions, COAST, Santa Barbara Car Free, the Bikestation, Community Environmental Council, and MTD for our mutual benefit. This brought hundreds of extra people to all our booths. The raffle prizes from us were:
$40 Hazard’s Cyclesport gift certificate from Bruce Davis Two-hour Pedal and Paddle certificate for a walking, bike or kayak tour from Judy Keim A Kelty daypack from Ralph Fertig.
The TravelPass program gave a great boost to the Santa Barbara Bikestation. Most who went there were surprised that it existed at all, let alone by the neat bike accommodations. Valet bike parking was offered by Bici Centro who parked over 300 bicycles. In prior years, we only had room for 50 bikes in our self-serve bike parking area, and it frequently overflowed, so this was a welcome improvement. The Community Environmental Council gave out two special awards to us and Bici Centro for our work in improving community transportation. On behalf of our organizations, Ralph Fertig and Ed France accepted the awards on the stage. Finally, our sincere thanks to our other volunteers who helped make Earth Day a success for bicyclists: Pierre Delong, Judy Keim, Bob Burgess, Ralph Fertig, Ed France, Thomas Matthias, Drew Hunter, Don Sarah Grant sports a bicycle balloon Lubach, and Rodrigo With his child secured in an up-front seat, a bicyclist leaves the Bikestation. hat at the Bikestation table. Soria. Quick Release ~ May 2008 ~ Page 3
Upcoming bike meetings and events
Donated bike racks dedicated at UCSB
Spring is here and our best cycling season is upon us. Check our website for ongoing updates and longer event descriptions at www.sbbike.org/meet/meet.html.
by Don Lubach
May 6, Bicycle Coalition General Meeting, sponsored by our Bicycle Coalition. Meeting at noon, first Tuesday of the month. Community Room at the Santa Barbara Bank and Trust building, 1021 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara. Phone president Ralph Fertig, 9621479 or email him at sb-ralph@cox.net. May 17, Rotary Wine Country Ride, sponsored by Rotary Clubs of the Santa Ynez Valley and the MS Society. Starting at Mission Santa Ines in Solvang, you can choose from 11, 25, 62, and 100-mile rides. Bagels and coffee to start, food stops all along the way, hot meal and live entertainment at the end. Details at http://solvangrotary.com. May 17-25, Bike Week 2008, sponsored by our Bicycle Coalition. An entire week of bike-related events will keep you charged up. An event list is on page 1, however updated details for all of the events, including registration for the Celebration dinner, are online at www.sbbike.org/BW/bw.html.
Island View Classic had something for all
The third annual Cruiser Race encouraged wild costumes for the three-lap race.
The UCSB Cycling team put on a local race on April 12 that attracted not only collegiate and professional cyclists, but also locals residents who participated in a Cruiser Race. The race on a closed circuit in Isla Vista involved a lot of organizing for the UCSB Cycling team. Crowds watched the races all day long, cheering on the participants on a sunny day near the ocean. Quick Release ~ May 2008 ~ Page 4
Associate Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher addresses the dedication group on April 10. Photo by Don Lubach.
UCSB freshman Melissa Wiggins was out of class and soon to be on her way to meet her visiting grandparents. However, after digging her new bicycle out of a pile beside her campus residence hall, she found a damaged bike. Her grandparents, Larry and Sandra Wiggins saw the shortage of bike racks and knew that something had to be done. Although Larry passed away soon afterwards, Sandra Wiggins decided to improve bike parking at UCSB as a tribute to her late husband. So she funded the installation of special bicycle parking racks manufactured in San Luis Obispo by Peak Racks. A dedication ceremony took place on April 10th. Joined by her mother, Helen Eslinger, and her two granddaughters Melissa and Vanessa, Mrs. Wiggins was pleased with the installation of new racks at the bus loop near the campus center. Associate Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher, along with many members of the campus community joined to thank the family. Brass plaques on the racks now say, “Bicycle Parking provided by: Sandra & Larry Wiggins to sustain UC Santa Barbara Cyclists.”
A better love affair “We always go on and on about how Americans have a love affair with their cars, but I’ve always felt they also have a love affair with the quickest, easiest, cheapest, most convenient way to get around. And if we make that something other than the car, Americans will love that just as much.” — Andy Clarke, executive director, LAB
New Santa Maria BMX A handful of Santa Maria volunteers are working hard to open the new Santa Maria BMX track by late spring. Since the Valley BMX track in Buellton closed several years ago, it’s been a hardship to travel to the Santa Barbara BMX track to train and race. The Santa Maria track is taking shape at the Elks/Unocal Event Center along Highway 101 south of town. Mike Porter has been the driving force behind the project, with help from Supervisor Joe Centeno and Ted Scott with the Elks. The one-acre project will have lights, announcer stand and moto board. The existing center’s snack bar, restrooms and parking are nearby. BMX is just about ready for action!
Lois Capps joins bike rodeo at Monte Vista
Ed France, right, instructs Monte Vista students on bicycling safety.
Our Congressional Representative Lois Capps accepted an invitation to participate in a bike rodeo at Monte Vista School in Santa Barbara on April 18th. According to Bob Zimels who extended the invitation to Capps, she gave a terrific talk about the health advantages of cycling to school, as well as its benefits to the environment, while at the same time cautioning them to ride safely. There was good participation of over 30 fourth-graders who rode their bikes to school that day. Capps helped others on the rodeo circuit by managing the car door prop to demonstrates how to avoid getting doored while biking. ` We are indeed fortunate to have a compassionate and articulate bicycling advocate as our local Representative. Our thanks to her, to Zimels who initiated the invitation, and to others who helped out.
April Coalition meeting topics Our April 1st monthly Bicycle Coalition was an evening meeting at Rusty’s Pizza, attracting 15 people to discuss these topics: Ralph Fertig described the University’s Long Range Development Plan that includes major changes in campus bike travel. Drew Hunter described the City’s Parks and Recreation recognition of volunteer work by the Amgen Tour of California’s Santa Barbara Local Organizing Committee, especially the coordinator Barney Berglund. We discussed upcoming Earth Day possibilities, like new locations for bike parking and check-ups, and ways to attract more people to our booth. We met Courtney Dietz, the new Walk Santa Barbara director who appreciates our common interests. The Bici Centro community bike program welcomes everybody to a grand opening of their new workshop space on April 5th. Ralph Fertig outlined our activities for Bike Week on May 17-25th. There is a possibility of bringing a “Bike Arch” from Ventura. Judy Keim described her Bike Art contest. There may be a Bike Film Night at the Mercury Lounge. We were updated on the Measure A transportation tax process. Passage is currently looking promising.
Bici Centro’s open shop
We thank our active members Please thank and support the following Bicycle Coalition business members:
All day long, visitors came by for Bici Centro’s new shop opening on April 5th.
Bici Centro introduced its new shop space to the public with a grand opening on April 5th. Coming by among others were Santa Barbara City Councilmembers Das Williams and Helene Schneider. The 1200-square foot space now allows Bici to hold regular shop hours and classes for students. Come by to volunteer or work on bikes at 601 East Montecito Street, Santa Barbara during either of the open shop times: Thursdays 4:00-8:00 PM Saturdays 1:00-7:00 PM. More information at www.bicicentro.org.
Bicycle Bob’s, Santa Barbara Nett & Champion Insurance Services, Santa Barbara Open Air Bicycles, Santa Barbara Pedal Power Bicycles, Santa Maria Santa Barbara Electric Bicycle Company, Santa Barbara Chris King Precision Components, Portland OR Run Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara.
We thank those who joined us: Brian Herdrich, Michelle Gooden, Stephanie Mortensen, Chris Sobell, Kevin Contreras, Paul Bergevin, Ann Dundon, Tim Pettit, Cynthia Holm, Trevor Plum and Brandy Vickers. And we greatly appreciate those who renewed their memberships: Don Bullick, Michael Chiacos, Michael Brown, Burt Romotsky, David, Karen & Zachary Wheeler, Mike Abbott, David Lawson, Diane Wondolowski, Thomas Matthias, Keith Coffman-Grey and Eric Schwartz. Quick Release accepts advertisements. Circulation is about 500 people. Ad details and an order form are available online at www.sbbike.org/QR/ad.pdf .
Quick Release ~ May 2008 ~ Page 5
Shop discounts
“If you bicycle, you should join the Bicycle Coalition”
Application for Membership Yes! I want to help make bicycling better for all of us in Santa Barbara County. ❏ Individual, 1 year $25 ❏ Individual, 2 years $45 ❏ Business, 1 year $100
❏ Student/Senior, 1 year $12 ❏ Student/Senior, 2 years $22 ❏ Business, 2 years $180
❏ Household, 1 year $40 ❏ Household, 2 years $75 ❏ Lifetime $1000
name _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ city, state, zip _______________________________________________________________________________________________ phone ___________________________________ email _____________________________________________________________ ❏ New membership ❏ Renewal membership ❏ Email me Adobe PDF files of Quick Release newsletters instead of printed ones. Make payable to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. Mail to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, PO Box 92047, Santa Barbara, CA 93190. We are a 501c3 nonprofit, so contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition
Regional bicycle clubs & groups
Road repair contacts
President, Ralph Fertig, 962-1479 sb-ralph@cox.net Vice President, Wilson Hubbell, 6831240, wilsonhubbell@aol.com Secretary, Drew Hunter, 896-2119 watair1@earthlink.net Treasurer, David Bourgeois, 899-3728 daveb@alumni.caltech.edu Director, Judy Keim, 687-2912 jkpedpad@aol.com Director, Don Lubach, 722-2349 dlubach@mac.com Director, Jim Marshall, 962-3531 Jim2Mars@aol.com Director, Mark McClure, 967-5031 mcclure606@yahoo.com Director, Nancy Mulholland, 563-9073 nmulhol04@yahoo.com Advisor, Dru van Hengel, 564-5544 dvanhengel@SantaBarbaraCA.gov Advisor, Erika Lindemann, 569-1544 eglindemann@gmail.com Advisor, Matt Dobberteen, 568-3000 matt@cosbpw.net Advisor, Ed France, 310-936-0857 edfrance@bicicentro.org
The Cutters Mark Langowski, 937-3252 mark_langowski@dot.ca.gov Echelon Santa Barbara Kim Weixel, kweixel@photoscene.com Goleta Valley Cycling Club Doris Phinney, 968-3143 Cyclebug@aol.com Lompoc Valley Bicycle Club Bob Grant, 735-7763 pambowman@hotmail.com SB Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers John Berberet, 681-0048 johnberberet@hotmail.com Santa Barbara Bicycle Club Dave Court, david_court@earthlink.net Santa Barbara BMX Dale Bowers, res0d201@verizon.net Tailwinds Bicycle Club Kris Madaus, 268-1802 kmadaus@gmail.com UCSB Cycling Club Jennifer Johansen, 661-478-5374 jojoh9@gmail.com
Caltrans www.dot.ca.gov/maintform.html Carpinteria Tom Evans, 684-5405 x402 pwd@ci.carpinteria.ca.us Goleta Bill Millar, 961-7575 bmillar@cityofgoleta.org Lompoc Larry Bean, 736-1261 l_bean@ci.lompoc.ca.us Santa Barbara City Dru van Hengel, 564-5544 dvanhengel@SantaBarbaraCA.gov Santa Barbara County Matt Dobberteen, 568-3576 matt@cosbpw.net Santa Maria David Whitehead, 925-0951 x227 dwhitehead@ci.santa-maria.ca.us Solvang Brad Vigro, 688-5575 bradv@cityofsolvang.com UCSB Dennis Whelan, 893-7009 Dennis.Whelan@bap.ucsb.edu
Bicycle Coalition members benefit from discounts at local shops. It’s another reason to join our group. To get your discount, take your copy of Quick Release to the shop and show them your address label that says “MEMBER” on it. Or cut out the label box and take it. Discount details are online at www.sbbike.org/SBBC/who.html. Please patronize these shops: Bicycle Bob’s 250 Storke Road #A, Goleta 15 Hitchcock Way, Santa Barbara Bicycle Connection 223 W. Ocean Avenue, Lompoc Hazard’s Cyclesport 110 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara Mad Mike's Bikes 1108 E. Clark Avenue #G, Santa Maria Main Street Cycles 311 East Main Street, Santa Maria Open Air Bicycles 224 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara Pedal Power Bicycles 1740 Broadway, Santa Maria Santa Barbara Electric Bicycle Company 805-275.233 info@sbebc.com VeloPro Cyclery 633 State Street, Santa Barbara 5887 Hollister Avenue, Goleta
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