September
2001

Safe routes to school programs



Santa Barbara Middle School student Ian Wexler receives the prize bike that he won in a local Safe Routes to School logo contest. From the left are Frances Gilliland (APCD), Ann Lawler (Safe Routes to School), Ian Wexler, and Bruce Davis (Hazard's Cyclesport, donors of the bike). Ian already has a good bike, so he is giving his prize to his school. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• It's easy to be confused by the term "safe routes to school." Not so much in making it safer for kids to bike or walk to their schools, but by the proliferation of programs using the name. As far as Santa Barbara County is concerned, we've three programs:
• The Safe Routes to School Through Safe Communities project. This is a Bicycle Coalition program that started last year and was awarded a $25,000 grant from a California environmental group. Details below.
• A set-aside of $400,000 by SBCAG on August 16 to fund "safe routes to school" projects that were identified by local PTA leaders. This money is part of $15 million in funds that will be used for road maintenance within our county. And that $15 million is about a quarter of the total "regional flexible" money available for transportation; the rest will be split among projects now being proposed by the County and the seven cities in our area.
• The statewide Safe Routes to School bill AB 1475 was passed in 1999. It made $20 million a year available for two years for applicants throughout California. It was so popular that there's now a bill—SB 10—that may extend it for another three years.

---

Bicycle Coalition’s safe routes to school

• The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition is sponsoring the countywide Safe Routes to School Through Safe Communities project. So far, the group has met with PTA groups, been awarded $25,000, given away a number of mini-grants to local schools, and sponsored contests. Winners for our poster, logo, and essay contests are:
• Best logo, Ian Wexler won a bicycle.
• Best poster, Veronica Rios won a bicycle.
• Winners of "Why I love to bike to school" contest, Ashley Wagner won a bike trailer, and Jesus Hernandez won a scooter.

• "Why I love to bike to school" winners
• "It is fun to ride a bike to school because you get to use your energy and you can see more stuff and when you get to school you can tell everyone you rode your bike."
  — Jesus Hernandez
• "I love to bike to school because it stops pollution and I want to help the environment. Riding a bike is fun and it is good for my body. Cas are very noisy and are dangerous if they run into people. Crs cost a lot of money to buy and take care of. If there were less cars near schools there wouldn't be so many accidents. Bicyces exercise your heart and other muscels. I also like riding bikes because I like feeling the fresh air on my face."
  — Ashley Wagner
  
• School meeting September 5th
  
• Interested in safer bicycling around schools? Is there a problem in your neighborhood? Come to our next safe school meeting: Vieja Valley School, 7:00 PM, 434 Nogal Drive, Santa Barbara.
• We'll be discussing the recent awards, the upcoming Walk to School Day (October 2nd), and upcoming programs.

---

Kids can win prizes in calendar contest

• Last year, the response from local children invited to contribute art for a 2001 "Kids Care for Clean Air" calendar was so good and the art so much fun, that the sponsors have decided to repeat it.
• The new contest is open to kids aged 5-12 living in Santa Barbara County. Twelve winning pictures will be selected, one for each month, and winners will get a $50 savings bond and 25 calendars. One grand prize winner's art will be selected for the cover, and win a $100 savings bond, 50 calendars and a bicycle donated by Bicycle Bob's.
• The contest is sponsored by the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control Board and Traffic Solutions. They're asking kids to help encourage all people to bike, walk, carpool, ride the bus or train, or use other alternative transportation to help keep our air clean. They're seeking bright-colored pictures of fun ways to get around without creating smog or air pollution.
• Entries are due October 5, 2001. For contest details in English and Spanish, go to www.sbcapcd.org/contest.htm. Or phone Frances Gilliland 961-8838 with questions.

---

SB BMX track to move



Young Santa Barbara BMX riders pause before another practice run at the Elings Park track. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• The Santa Barbara Bicycle Motocross (BMX) racing track will be relocated to a different part of Elings Park in Santa Barbara. The current location was always considered temporary because the space was intended for a soccer field. Now, preliminary designs for 23 acres of a revised Park show a new BMX track near Las Positas Road.
• Dale Bowers, the leading track proponent, notes that local BMX riders have to raise $50,000 and do most of the construction on the new track. They are additionally looking for a corporate sponsor who will contribute $100,000 that they also need.
• Bowers is very pleased with the new Elings Park designs. "The new facility will be 100% better, with permanent restrooms, a permanent building for our office, and we will have electricity." Right now they manage with portable toilets, no office, and a generator. He has nothing but gratitude and praise for Elings Park executive director Joan Russell, their board of directors, and all the BMX riders and their families over these many years.
• If all goes well with upcoming reviews and funding, construction should be done by April 2003. If you haven't seen BMX, visit their track races Friday evenings.

---

Biking the United Way

• The Bicycle Coalition is pleased by those individuals who are contributing through a payroll deduction program at work to the United Way. By designating the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition as the beneficiary, we are able to help our entire community enjoy safer and better bicycling. Thank you all.

---

Local race promotes bicycling



Here a group of young bicyclists start out on their own grassy loop race. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• The Firestone Vineyard Cross Country Mountain Bike Race took place August 5 and benefitted our community in many ways. It raised over $3000 for four groups:
• SB Velodrome Movement
• SB Bicycle Club Junior Cycling Scholarship Fund
• SB Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers
• Lance Armstrong Foundation
• It brought over 330 racers and 300 spectators to the Firestone Vineyard near Los Olivos. Certainly, thanks go to Brooks Firestone and his family for their ongoing support of bicycling.
• Besides the adult races of 9, 18, or 27 miles, there were several short races for children of different ages that pleased the kids as well as cheering onlookers. Judging from the groups sitting on the lawn in the shade of big oak trees, a day at the races was a family affair.
• Event director Mike Hecker thanks all sponsors and 70 volunteers. Next year, he says, will be bigger and better, and the races will take place in May when the hills are greener and the temperatures, lower.

---

More web site visitors!

• We have weekly web site visitor counts that started in 2/28/00, so we can now compare 26 weeks of data from 2000 with the parallel 26 weeks in 2001: our web site has attracted 41% more visitors this year!

---

PCL will need help

• The Planning and Conservation League (PCL) is trying to fund California bicycle commuter projects. They sponsored a bill AB 321 that would dedicate $2 billion a year from vehicle sales taxes to transit, street repairs, and air quality improvements that would include $40 million for bike commuting projects.
• The bill has not done well in the legislature, so the PCL is planning a ballot initiative, the Traffic Congestion Relief Act (TCRA). Next year they will need our help to circulate petitions to put it on the fall 2002 ballot. Read about the TCRA at: www.pcl.org/transportation/summary.html.

---

From sea to shining sea under my own power
by Wilson Hubbell



Wilson Hubbell guides fellow cyclists through Montana. Or maybe it's South Dakota?

• The Scenario: Some 60 riders from all over the US gathered in Astoria, Oregon. We rode our bikes down to the beach on June 16, dipped our rear wheels into the Pacific and then rode east for 50 days until we dipped our front wheels in the Atlantic on August 6 at Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
• The Details: America by Bicycle is a private company that specializes in organized cross-country bicycle trips. You pay them a bunch of money. They haul all your gear and provide a route, water stops, mechanical support, motel/hotel accommodations, breakfasts, dinners, and sag if you need it. No Way! Death Before Sag! They generally insure that you have one of the best times you are ever gonna have as you ride your bike from sea to shining sea with like-minded non-conformists.
• The Route: Astoria and Portsmouth are 3,704 miles apart on the route we took, and that's not the shortest distance between the Pacific and the Atlantic. What our route was is scenic and quiet—and way cooler than crossing Arizona/New Mexico/Utah in the summertime. Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is someplace you do not want to ride through in July.
• The People: Long distance bikies tend to be an interesting lot to begin with, and with 60 of them together on a trip that lasts for 50 days, there were few complaints. I know that I made friends that will last a lifetime.
• We rode out and met The People of America, and they are fantastic. We were occasionally in some cities but mostly we stuck to the back roads. We talked with young urban professionals, cowboys, truck drivers, bike racers, housewives, potato farmers, shopkeepers, ranchers, reporters, carpenters, innkeepers, bartenders, cops, Amish, CEOs, and cattlemen. We met the mayor of Worthington, Minnesota and pig farmers near La Crosse, Wisconsin.
• Even on the roadway, the People of America were great. We must have been passed by 50,000 drivers in 11 states (and Ontario) during this trip, and I can honestly count the number of jerks we came across on one hand. Without exception, the People of America wished us well on our self-propelled voyage to the sea.
• The other people we never met—but thought about frequently—were those nonmotorized pioneers who crossed this huge country on foot or horseback or covered wagon more than 100 years ago. They were out in the elements like us, but they did not have paved roads, motels, restaurants and sag wagons. We thought about those people a lot as we slowly made our way across the land.
• The Body: This was not an easy trip. We averaged more than 80 miles per riding day and only had five days off. It was hot many days, humid some days and there was a headwind most days. People who say that the prevailing wind in the US is from west to east were obviously not on this bike trip.
• The legs got tired, the butt got sore, the temperature soared, we ate like pigs, we still were hungry (I lost 13 pounds) and we still kept going. You just learn to drink before you need to, keep massive amounts of suntan lotion handy, chomp power bars between huge meals, and spread on the ointment every night. Eventually you get tough and 80 or 100 miles does not seem like such a big deal anymore.
• The Summary: This was a milestone in my life for sure. Would I do it again? Not any time soon, but maybe someday!

---

Online bike routes?

• The Los Angeles air quality management organization sought proposals this summer for an online bicyclist route system. They're interested in a computerized system for their district, but if it's there, what about here?
• The proposed system would allow a bicyclist to go to the Internet, enter a starting point and destination. They then receive a few route alternatives. It could include locations of public bathrooms, telephones, water fountains, bike racks, and other amenities, as well as route details like difficulty, winds, and altitude. Would this useful for us too?

---

Roll bikes onto Surfliner cars



There's lots of room for three bikes in each Surfliner coach car. Sorry, no tandems. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Amtrak California is slowly placing new Pacific Surfliner trains on its San Diego to San Luis Obispo route, and the new cars in service are a joy for bicyclists. Each coach car has space for three bicycles in racks near the entry doors, only a step up from the station platforms, plus there's room for extra bikes in the baggage car.
• The bike racks are wall-mounted units by Bike Track. Bike wheels are inserted into two hangers, top and bottom. Their security cable can optionally be locked to the hinged arm at the bottom hanger. You need your own lock, but a padlock will do. It's multimodal travel!