January
1992

Santa Barbara Bicycle Police come to SBBC meeting

• Two of Santa Barbara City's bicycle police patrol, Gil Zuniga and Steve Johnson, presented their views at the December 4th meeting of the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition.
• Zuniga stated that six people work for him, and he tries to put them in areas of greatest need. The Police Department accepts requests for specific enforcement, and he attempts to respond to them.
• During the school year, their first priority is traffic enforcement around school areas, including bicycle lanes. And the rest of the time, they generally concentrate on the congested downtown area.
• Zuniga said that the law treats bicycles as vehicles, and that we should stress observing the rules of the road. He noted that the rules most frequently broken by bicyclists include riding the wrong way, riding against traffic, drunk riding, carrying packages, bicycling unlighted at night, and improper turning movements. He admitted that making left turns is very difficult, that the bicyclist is often intimidated by motor vehicles, and the best approach is to make your intentions clearly known to drivers.
• Whether to cite a bicyclist for a violation is up to the discretion of the officer. The determining factor is frequently the existance of any major hazard.
• The police, explained Zuniga, are responsible for enforcing laws that pertain to existing bike lanes. It is the Traffic Committee who deals with the creation of new bicycle paths and lanes.
• The police Bicycle Safety Program for schoolchildren will probably be restarted early in 1992, although it's unclear which division, the Bicycle Police or others, will be responsible for presenting it.
• They hope that at least one of the bicycle patrolmen, maybe Johnson, will be able to attend future meetings of the Coalition.

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What projects will maximize our efforts to promote bicycling?

• At the January 8th meeting, we are going to discuss what we can do during Earth Day. Other yearly events that we can use to promote bicycling are:
• Bicycle Ride Against Drinking Drivers, April,
• National Bike Day, May 21, and
• Rideshare Week, September.
• But what other projects should we undertake during 1992 to promote bicycling within Santa Barbara county?
• Certainly there are things that come to your mind that we can do. Come to the meeting so we can discuss possibilities. One that occurs to me is a handout about local bicycle commuting to be distributed to businesses and people. Just what do we need the most?

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News-Press letters decry use of the automobile

• It came as a pleasant holiday surprise to read two letters to the editor published by the Santa Barbara News-Press. They appeared on December 24th-25th, and both questioned use of the automobile.
• Ruth Hoffman and Peter Mortola recently sold one of their two cars, haven't missed it at all, and have enjoyed life more since. "Imagine a city with very little automobile traffic. You'd take a walk in your neighborhood in the morning and hear more birds than cars."
• "Imagine your neighbors cruising by on foot or on a bike, on the way to work and school; you'd say 'Hi,' and comment on the weather. Imagine going shopping or to the laundromat on your bike, bike cart in tow behind you. Imagine all the fresh air and exercise you'd get, just getting around."
• "We haven't found it difficult to run errands like we thought we would—it's more fun to do them on bike anyway, and we use the car when we have to. Lots of days the car just sits in the driveway."
• Sharon Baumert-Kysely applauds efforts to improve local air quality. Her husband uses a motorcycle instead of a car, and she says, "I try to consolidate errands into on trip and walk or ride my bike whenever I can."
• Concerning others, though, "...to pry people out of their cars is going to take some major societal changes. Awareness is the key: if everyone at least considers the alternatives before grabbing the car keys, we will have started down the road to environmental improvement."
• Here we have excellent role models in our community. It's indicative of their commitment that they've written to the newspaper, but how can we use them to further the cause of bicycling?

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Local bicycle clubs serve varied Santa Barbara County interests

• The purpose of this section is to acquaint SBBC members with bicycling clubs within the County.
• If there are any special upcoming club-sponsored events that you believe others would be interested in, please submit them for publication here. Also, this is doubtlessly incomplete and possibly out of date, so send the right information to Ralph Fertig, or bring to a meeting.
• Bicycle Touring Club of Solvang. Phone: 688-3330. Address: c/o Don Henry, 1669 Maple Avenue, Apt 21, Solvang, CA 93463.
• Equipe Goleta. Phone: 967-9669. Address: Coastline Cycles, 286 South Fairview, Goleta, CA 93117.
• Goleta Valley Cycling Club. Phone: 684-6060. Address: P.O. Box 1547, Goleta, CA 93116.
• Santa Barbara Bicycle Club. Phone: 683-4188.
• Tailwinds Bicycle Club of Santa Maria. Phone: 925-7269. Address: P.O. Box 48, Santa Maria, CA 93456.
• UCSB Cycling Club. Phone: 968-2424.

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Solvang Century ride in Santa Ynez Valley kicks off 1992 bicycling season

• The biggest 100-mile "century" bicycle ride in the West will take place in Santa Barbara County on Saturday, March 7th. Sponsored by SCOR CCC of Fullerton, the ride is considered the bicycling season's kickoff ride. About 5000-6000 riders will be attracted from all over the US for the 10th annual event.
• On Friday evening before the ride, a special dinner will be offered at the Holiday Inn in Buellton. Jim Lampley, CBS news anchor, will speak; and Cathy Ellis, women's winner in last year's Race Across America, will be there for a slide presentation.
• Other century rides will bring road bicyclists together in our county later in the year. They include the Santa Barbara Century (sponsored by the Santa Barbara Bicycle Club), the Windmill Century (sponsored by Tailwinds Bicycle Club of Santa Maria), the Gourmet Century (sponsored by Santa Ynez frame builder Tim Neenan), and the People Powered Ride (sponsored by Goleta Valley Cycling Club).