July
2001

Kids love school class bike celebration



Judy Cortright's Fourth Grade class celebrates the end of the school year with a bike ride to Goleta Beach. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Having a "Beach Day" at the end of the school year has been a Hollister Elementary School tradition for years. Taking her 4th grade class to Goleta Beach by bicycle, explains teacher and bicyclist Judy Cortright, has taken place for the past six years. The ride is a few miles long, it's mostly on the Atascadero Bikepath, and kids love it.
• "Most parents are supportive of the ride," Cortright continues, and this year ten parents rode along with the 100 kids and teachers. Many kids offer extra bikes to those who don't have their own.
• In preparation for bike riding, the class has a bicycle unit of study in mid-May. The kids learn from a Bicycle Bob's volunteer who brings bikes and demonstrates basic operation and maintenance. The AAA bicycle safety check unit comes from Los Angeles to check each bike for mechanical problems. The CHP has a bike rodeo, where the kids ride their bikes in courses laid out in the playground. Teachers and parents are involved in bicycle and helmet fit. "All this," notes Cortright, "really raises the whole bike awareness level and gets the kids ready for the beach ride."
• Cortright herself bicycle commutes to Hollister School twice a week with a fellow teacher from Eastside Santa Barbara. "It is great exercise and good for stress release," she says. Bicycling extends to her family as well: son Aki Nakamura rides a mountain bike each day, and son Jiro Nakamura rides the NORBA national circuit as a pro downhill and dual slalom rider.
• What advice does Cortright give to other teachers who are considering a class ride? "Preparation is the key. The more you can get the kids involved with their bikes and helmets, and troubleshoot before the ride, the more successful it will be." And speaking of keys, Cortright has one final thought: have adults watch the bikes at the beach. Too many keys have been lost and lock combinations forgotten in the preparation of 100 kids for their bike parade home.

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Wilson Hubbell is new Coalition president

• The Bicycle Coalition has elected a new president, Wilson Hubbell, and two new Board of Directors' members, Chuck Anderson and Drew Hunter. Congratulations to all three!
• Hubbell, alternative transportation coordinator for Santa Barbara County, hopes to increase bicycling and strengthen the Bicycle Coalition's effectiveness in the North County, where he knows there's potential for growth. Further, based on our founding direction to support both recreational bicycling and transportation bicycling, he hopes to welcome all bicyclists into our activities. We'll have to wait for his August return, however, from his 50-day bike tour across America.

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IMBA selects Buckhorn Trail for a 2001 “Epic ride”

• The International Mountain Bike Association (IMBA) has selected the Buckhorn Trail as one of eight national Epic rides for the year 2001. Located in the Los Padres National Forest north of Santa Barbara, the 34-mile trail has 3900 feet of climbing on fire roads and singletrack trails. It offers panoramic views of the Dick Smith Wilderness during the ride past Mono Dam, abandoned mercury mines, and Chumash rock paintings.
• With the IMBA designation, our local trail joins 19 others that have been selected as IMBA Epic rides since 1999. It will certainly attract more attention to recreation in our backcountry where there are fewer conflicts with other trail users.

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Fairview clean sweep

• Bicycle Coalition member Richard Lambert complained about accumulating glass and debris on the Fairview Avenue overcrossing of Highway 101. So the County took action. Shortly thereafter, Lambert was pleased to see a street sweeper cleaning the bridge as he biked home.
• Wilson Hubbell, who took action on the complaint, said that thanks should go to Gary Christiansen, Richard Navarro and the rest of the County's road maintenance crew for their good deeds.
• There's a simple lesson here. If you see something that needs attention, just say something.

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2800 AIDS Riders pass through our County



California AIDS riders stopped at the Carpinteria Bluffs for fruit and baked goods generously donated by local people. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• The 8th California AIDS Ride brought not only millions of dollars to AIDS charities, but it also brought bicycling publicity through Santa Barbara County. The riders passed by here on June 7-8th, spending the night at River Park in Lompoc.
• In keeping with tradition, past "Team Santa Barbara" riders and supporters paid for their own special rest stop next to the Bird Refuge in Santa Barbara with music, turkey hotdogs, and ice cream cones. Then at the Carpinteria Bluffs, local people offered home-baked goods and fruit. One of the women there, handing out a tray of cookies to riders, when asked why she was helping replied, "My bother died of AIDS. I'm doing this to help others."
• The Carpinteria volunteers put out a large sheet of paper so riders could express their feelings. One rider wrote, "Every time I see folk like you along the way, it's like a tailwind of love."

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Where’s the bikelane?

• In the April Quick Release, the occurrence of parking in the bikelane on Hot Springs Road in Montecito was noted. The Coalition's VP Ralph Fertig protested to the County's Wilson Hubbell, who started investigating and found out that that part of Hot Springs was in the City, not the unincorporated County.
• Over at the City, supervising transportation engineer Derek Rapp investigated and reported: "This issue has a long history, dating back to the early 70's. It was agreed at that time that due to the limited parking for businesses north of the Vons shopping center that the bikelane would be available for parking from 9 AM on. The logic there was that this could be a bikelane for commuters."
• Most afternoons, according to daily observations by Fertig while biking by, there were between none and four vehicles parked in the lane. The City checked with nearby property owners and tenants, and they all stated that they need the parking.
• So the City looked at street dimensions and came up with a solution: in summer 2002, when the street is scheduled for a slurry coating, they'll restripe the road with narrower traffic lanes, a parking lane, and full-size bikelanes. Rapp concludes, "It may take a little time but we will make it better!"

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South Coast bikepaths get improvements



The Maria Ygnacio path may be beautiful, but it's become overgrown and the surface has deteriorated. Resurfacing should fix the problems but keep the beauty. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• It's summertime and the cycling is easy. Enjoy yourselves, but watch out for detours on the Maria Ygnacio and Atascadero bikepaths in Goleta. The Atascadero is due to receive a slurry seal, and the Maria Ygnacio will get a heavier overlay this summer.
• In addition, replacement work on the Maria Ygnacio bridge just south of Highway 101 will start shortly and take a month to complete.
• And there may be another improvement, although not this summer. The County has applied for a Coastal Resources Enhancement Fund (CREF) grant for new lighting along the popular Atascadero bikepath. They already have $100,000 in hand, but need more. We should hear about it this fall.

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How to increase bicycling

• "The most important lesson learned here was that the construction of a network of bicycle routes is in-sufficient in itself for bringing about a sustainable increase in bicycle use. The simultaneous execution of a policy discouraging car use is deemed necessary, as is attention to good bicycle parking facilities and informing people of the route network on a continuous basis."
• — The Dutch Bicycle Master Plan, Description and Evaluation in an Historical Context, March 1999, Directorate General for Passenger Transport.

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Bike Week success

• Judged a success by everybody, our Bike Week 2001 has passed into history. Counts for 7 of the 8 Bike to Work Day sites show that there was an 8% increase in participation this year over last! In addition, the number of people who went to our web site over an 8-week period around Bike Week was 61% higher this year!

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Santa Barbara Bikestation progress



Bikestation consultants are Tina Fife (Communications Director) and Mark Shandrow (Executive Director) of the Bikestation Coalition, a group of four existing bikestations and others being planned. The new Bikestation will be behind the five arches at the center of the parking structure. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• As design of Santa Barbara's new parking structure at Anacapa and Anapamu Streets moves ahead, so does the Bikestation that will be part of it. At a June 14 meeting, consultants from the Bikestation Coalition met with project engineers, City staff, and Bicycle Coalition officers to refine the project.
• The City will put out a RFP "request for proposal" to any individual or group that might be interested in running the facility. This could be the Bicycle Coalition if we are interested. The Bikestation will emphasize bike commuter services like daytime storage and minor bike maintenance and supplies, but could offer other services if the demand is found to exist.
• The new Bikestation will face Anacapa Street, next to a cafe-courtyard that will be an extension of the existing Coffee Cat. Bicyclists will have their very own pull-out and ramp for safe entrance and exit.
• The entire project is due for completion by fall 2003, but most Bikestation arrangements will have to made this year and next. We'll be joining other California bike commute facilities that already exist in Long Beach, Palo Alto, Berkeley, and Chatsworth. For information about bikestations, look at www.bikestation.org.

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Musicant wins again!

• Aaron Musicant, a junior at San Marcos High in Goleta, won the Junior Men's Criterium Championship for 17-18 year olds in the California/Nevada region on May 20. Musicant is a member of the Echelon Santa Barbara team.

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New signal at Phelps

• A new traffic signal has been installed at the intersection of Phelps and Storke Roads in Goleta, making it safer for cyclists using Phelps bikelanes to cross busy Storke.

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Bicycling long before it was fashionable
by Wilson Hubbell

• Some of the best kept secrets on the Central Coast are the great cycling opportunities that exist in and around the Santa Maria/Guadalupe/Cuyama areas which comprise the Fifth Supervisorial District of Santa Barbara County. And one person who knows this as well as anyone is County Supervisor Tom Urbanske.
• Tom is a long-time commuting cyclist who was sworn in as Santa Barbara County Fifth District Supervisor on January 3, 1995. Prior to becoming Supervisor, Tom served on the Santa Maria City Council and the Santa Maria Elementary School District Board of Trustees. But Tom may be best known by the constituents of his district for his 28 years as a teacher and a counselor at Santa Maria High School—and as a regular bicycle commuter to and from work long before it was fashionable.
• During his tenure on the Santa Maria City Council and the Board of Supervisors, Tom has been supportive of many efforts to promote bicycling countywide, but is particularly recognized for his leadership in helping the City of Santa Maria to obtain Coastal Resource Enhancement funding for the Santa Maria River Levee Trail Study. This multi-purpose trail, part of which is now under construction, could eventually extend from east of Santa Maria all the way to Guadalupe and provide the longest single off-highway, bicycle-pedestrian facility in the County.
• The Santa Maria Valley and the surrounding countryside are great places to ride a bike—and the area is lucky to have a County Supervisor who knows it!

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Bike Week flag sales

• We've sold 34 of our Bike Week flags so far, over half of the total number available. The 4'x6' flag has a white bicyclist logo on a red background. It's heavy nylon with two grommets for hanging. Price is $30 plus tax and postage. Find a PDF-format order form at: www.sbbike.org/art-home/flag.pdf.

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Measure D expenditures

• Measure D, the Santa Barbara County half-cent sales tax has been in effect for ten years. 30% has gone to regional highway programs, and 70% (or $128 million as of 6/2000) was spent by local government agencies.
• Of special interest to us is the amount spent on bicycling facilities. Unfortunately, it was grouped as "bicycle and pedestrian facilities." Overall, 6.3% of local Measure D money went to:
• New bikeways and maintenance
• New sidewalks and facilities
• School crosswalks
• Handicap ramps
• The chart shows how individual government agencies' allocations were spent. This may or may not reflect their dedication to bicycling, but their bicyclist/pedestrian priorities are apparent.