May
2002

Bike Week 2002 is May 18-26th

• Mark you calendar for a week of great bicycling events. We intend Bike Week to be a meaningful, educational and fun experience for all people. Plans for Bike Week 2002 have been coordinated by a committee from the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. Bike to Work day activities are being coordinated by Erika Lindemann. And this year we're pedaling a great logo, designed by local artist Megan Miley. There will be events all week, but the three main Bike Week events are these:
• Family Service Agency Children's Festival will take place in Alameda Park in Downtown Santa Barbara, 10:00-4:00. The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition will join the local PTA in promoting safe bicycling to schools. The County Emergency Medical Services program will be selling low-cost helmets.
• Bike to School Day events are being arranged school by school. Vieja Valley Elementary School set a winning example last year by having 97 kids to bike to school. This year so far, five schools—Foothill, El Rancho, Brandon, Vieja Valley and Mountain View—are having Bike to School Day events. If you teach or have a child at any local elementary or middle school, and want to help organize a safe bike to school event, contact coordinator Dru van Hengel at 564-5544.
• Bike to Work Day events will occur at eight locations throughout our county, each with its own coordinator. The sites are listed below, with a phone number of the coordinator in case you wish to volunteer to help staff the event or just want more details.
• Carpinteria, Cavell's Cafe, 7:30-8:30, 684-5405
  Santa Barbara City College, East end of bridge, 7:30-8:30, 965-0581 x2357
  Santa Barbara, State and De la Guerra Street, 7:30-8:30, 564-5544
  Goleta, Goleta Valley Athletic Club, 12:00-1:00, 961-8919
  UCSB, Faculty Club Lawn, 5:00-6:00, 893-5475
  Lompoc, South Side Coffee Company, 7:00-8:00, 961-8918
  Solvang, Solvang Park, 7:30-8:30, 688-7529
  Santa Maria, Santa Maria City Hall, 7:30-8:30, 925-0951 x244

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“Why I love to bike commute” contest

• Just tell us how much you like commuting to work by bicycle to your job in the South Coast and you could win one of three great prizes:
• Hazard's CycleSport — $150 gift certificate for bike accessories
• Bicycle Bob's — $100 gift certificate for bike accessories
• Citronelle Restaurant — Sunday Brunch for two.
• In addition, we may put your story onto local web sites so you can inspire everybody else. You can enter the contest in one of two ways:
• Tell us in 200-300 words why you really enjoy traveling to work by bicycle and mail it with your name, address and phone to the Bicycle Coalition by May 26, 2002.
• Alternately, go to our web site www.sbbike.org/contest.html and enter your text electronically, again by May 26th. If you have a photo of yourself, on your bike or not, please enclose a copy, or attach a digitized one to your online entry. We'll use any photographs on our web site, not to judge the entries.
• This contest is sponsored by the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, Hazard's CycleSport, Bicycle Bob's, Citronelle Restaurant, and Traffic Solutions. In submitting an entry, you agree that the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition has the right to use your entry for promoting healthy, responsible bike commuting within Santa Barbara County. Winners will be determined on the basis of their written entries by a Contest Committee selected by the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition's Board of Directors.

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Commuters among us
Word from the President, by Wilson Hubbell

• Commuting by bike is fun, sort of like a present that you give yourself before and after the labors of the day. It's something that is so available to many yet enjoyed by too few.
• Bike commuters recognize each other—even if we're headed in opposite directions. Sometimes we'll wave to acknowledge each other's uniqueness in the humdrum of the early morning or late afternoon traffic. I don't know most of these folks, even though I see them regularly from a distance, so I've given them nicknames: The Bike Friday Lady, Mr. Wire Baskets, Head Lamp Guy, Fat Fred and Joe Blue Shoes. No doubt some of them have nicknames for me.
• Those of us going in the same direction do cross paths and regularly chat: the regulars include the Middle School gang, Hannah, Rosie, Chris, Javier, Denise and others. Sometimes I'll catch up to them and sometimes they'll catch up to me. What all of us know is something that most of the folks in the smog belching behemoths next to us don't know—our commute is a gift while theirs is a drudge.
• Commuting by bike can be an adventure because no two trips are the same. The temperature, wind, daylight or darkness all change from day to day—and during the day. That means bike commuters must be ready to deal with whatever comes their way.
• The preparation for the commute is an enjoyable ritual that most of us do the night before: put the work clothes in the panniers, make sure the tools and the spare tube are there, plug in the rechargeable battery for the light, put air in the tires. These are the little things done in anticipation of the bike ride to come.
• The commute back can be more leisurely. For most, there is no precise time to arrive home like there is to be at work, so you can take a different and longer route. Enjoy riding in the sunset at the end of the day.
• These are all small things that people in the most expensive SUVs cannot enjoy, yet they are cheap and healthy and there for all who wish to partake. Joe Blue Shoes and I invite you to join us. See you at Bike to Work Day.

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UCSB bikepath detour



Bikeway detour around Engineering Science Building construction keeps cyclists moving. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Construction on the new Engineering Science Building at the NE corner of UCSB has forced a detour on the popular bikepath that is part of the Santa Barbara County's Coast Route. Thanks to project manager Roger Monte and members of the campus bicycling community, the current detour is well designed.
• There will be a second detour for a period not to exceed 14 days between school terms in 2003. That detour will be necessary because a new bikepath will be constructed. Perhaps by that time the proposed Broida Expressway will be finished and will be available.

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Biking to Cachuma



This is part of the 2.6-mile, narrow-shoulder section of Highway 154 west of Lake Cachuma. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• The Bureau of Reclamation's hearings on future management of Lake Cachuma resources brought up the idea of safely bicycling there from the Solvang/Santa Ynez area. In order for touring and recreational cyclists to bike the 6.6 miles between Lake Cachuma County Park and the junction of Highways 246 and 154, at least four-foot shoulders should exist.
• Currently, shoulders of six-to-eight feet wide exist for the first 4.0 miles on Highway 154 from the junction with Highway 246. Then, there is a 2.6-mile stretch where the shoulder ranges from nothing to three feet maximum. Rocks and gravel and dirt frequently fall onto what shoulder there is from adjacent hillsides. Making matters more dangerous for any foolhardy bicyclists is the hilly, curving road and the clumping that occurs when faster-moving motorists trail behind slow RVs and trucks.
• The only upcoming project in the area, according to Caltrans' Pat Michelson, is a roadway widening project from two lanes to three in the 2.3-mile section between Highway 246 and the Santa Ynez River. A wide shoulder already exists there, so that doesn't help us.
• Perhaps if the road has wider shoulders for 1.4 miles further than it currently does, that would put bicyclists onto Lake property near Bradbury Dam where conceivable a paved trail could connect to the County Park. Clearly this long-term project needs lots of planning, promotion and money. However, it is possible!

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PCL initiative

• California's Planning and Conservation League has enough signatures to place the Traffic Congestion Relief and Safe School Bus Act on the November ballot. The Act would dedicate a portion of the state's share of the sales tax from the sale of cars and trucks to a variety of projects, including $23 million/year for only bicycle projects, plus $29 million/year for both bicycle and pedestrian projects. Read about it at www.pcl.org/transportation/bicycle.html.

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Additional Bike Week events for your cycling pleasure

• In addition to the three main events described above, there are lots of other things happening throughout our County. Choose from the following menu:
• May 18, Sisquoc Road Race, sponsored by Cyclone Racing Team. A day of road racing around Sisquoc includes the Junior California and Nevada state championships. The 10.75-mile loop is open to light traffic. Details from The Bike Barn at 925-2875.
• May 18, Chris King Trail Daze, sponsored by Chris King Precision Components. Volunteers make new friends while refurbishing the Beach to Backcountry Trail at Gaviota. Includes breakfast, bag lunch, a BBQ dinner, and raffle. Sign-up at local bike shops, or phone 800-523-6008.
• May 18-19, State Qualifier BMX races, sponsored by Santa Barbara BMX. Event sanctioned by the National Bicycle League. Registration 7:00 AM Saturday, awards to riders who make their main event. Information at 564-8859 or www.sbbmx.com.
• May 18-May 24, Bike to the Art Museum. The Santa Barbara Museum of Art is offering free admission and a 10% discount in the Museum Store to those showing their bike helmets at the door. Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St, Santa Barbara. Info www.sbmuseart.org.
• May 18, Bike to the South Coast Railroad Museum. Bike there to see the Museum and get a free train and handcar ride. They're at 300 North Los Carneros Road in Goleta. Check out their web site www.goletadepot.org/index.htm.
• May 18-May 26, Bike to the Zoo. The Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens is offering a $2.00 entrance discount to bicyclists who show bike helmets at the ticket window. Santa Barbara Zoological Gardens, 500 Ninos Drive, Santa Barbara. Phone 962-5339 or www.santabarbarazoo.org.
• May 18-May 26, Bike to the Natural History Museum. The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is offering a discount toward entrance. Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol Road, Santa Barbara. Museum details at their site www.sbnature.org.
• May 18-May 24, Bike to the Maritime Museum. The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is offering a 50% discount toward entrance, and a $5 off membership during Bike Week if you arrive by bicycle. Museum's at the Marina in Santa Barbara. Read about it at www.sbmm.org/index.php.
• May 19, Santa Barbara Smog-free Criterium, sponsored by Echelon Santa Barbara. This day includes the criterium part of the Junior California and Nevada state championships. Races at Research Park in Goleta. Info and registration at www.echelonsantabarbara.org/SpringCrit02.htm.
• May 19, Tour de Cure, sponsored by the American Diabetes Society. Your choice of tours starting from the Carpinteria State Beach. You can do a 12-mile family ride, or a 30-mile, 60-mile, or 100-mile road ride. Phone 241-1849 for details or register online at www.diabetes.org/tourdecure.
• May 23, Ride Across America, slide show by Wilson Hubbell. Our Coalition president took 50 days off last year to bicycle from Oregon to Maine. He will talk about days of headwinds and the friendliness of Americans. Santa Barbara Public Library, Faulkner Gallery, 7:30-9:00 PM.
• May 25, IV Coop Bike Fest, sponsored by the Isla Vista Food Cooperative. There will be a group bike ride from the Java Station (4447 Hollister) to Isla Vista at 11:00 AM. Then, at the Coop from 11:00, there will be food, give-aways, bike repair and other workshops. Call Marcelino 968-1401.

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Amtrak future

• Although the future of the aging Coast Starlight train between Seattle and Los Angeles is questionable, the newer Pacific Surfliners are very successful, according to Brian Hart, regional representative for Amtrak.
• Use of the Pacific Surfliner—with roll-on bike service—continues to grow rapidly. So fast, in fact, that Amtrak has had to supplement its wonderful new trains with some older cars. Hart said that if you have a bike and an older car arrives, they will somehow accommodate you. The same is true if all nine bike racks on the three Surfliner coach cars are full. Unfortunately, they had to turn down a bike club that wanted to travel with 75 bikes. Surfliner service is available between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, running a good 89% on time. Because it's supported by California funds, it's very unlikely to be terminated.

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IV design workshop



Consultants from Berkeley's Opticos Design discuss street designs for El Colegio Road. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• On April 9-16, a public workshop was held to study the future design of Isla Vista, the high-density student community adjacent to UCSB.
• The workshop revealed that 87% of UCSB undergraduates in IV own cars, that 5000 students drive from IV onto campus, and that 90% of IV resident purchases are made outside the IV community. "Cars are driving the other land use issues," noted County planner Jamie Goldstein. Certainly bicycling is one of the keys to alleviating the car problem, and everywhere on the plans, bicycling was an apparent consideration. Traffic measures like round-abouts and bikelanes on El Colegio Road were suggested. For information about the ongoing process, look at www.islavistaplan.org.

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April meeting topics

• Here's a brief agenda report about what was discussed at our April 2002 general meeting:
• Our Safe Routes to School program received a $5000 grant, and has finished its first PSA
• Our Earth Day area will have bike parking, check-ups, and an info table
• We support an unpaved trail around Lake Cachuma, and will write and petition for it
• Our booth will be at the Firestone Cross Country Races on May 4-5
• We will repeat participation at the Goleta Lemon Festival this October 19-20
• BikeEd instruction material for May 4-5 has been sent to participants
• Coalition membership is stable, we're mailing 420 copies of Quick Release each month
• We support shoulders on Purisima Road near Lompoc and will write to the Supervisors.

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Bike bill in committee

• SB 1555, the Pedestrian and bicyclist safety bill described in April Quick Release is currently waiting a hearing in the California Senate's Public Safety Committee. The bill would levy a $4 charge on motorists' fines in order to fund a program to promote safer walking and bicycling. The Bicycle Coalition wrote to Senator Jack O'Connell, asking for his support. In response, O'Connell promised to keep our views in mind when the bill makes it to the Senate floor. You can follow SB 1555 and other Senate bills under "Legislation" at www.sen.ca.gov.

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Active members

• We greatly appreciate business membership of MarBorg Industries and Oasis Design in Santa Barbara, and Rincon Cycles in Carpinteria. Please support these businesses.
• We're pleased to welcome new Bicycle Coalition members Vie and George Obern of Santa Barbara. And we are additionally grateful to the following who renewed their existing membership: Dave Bowlus, Nicola Gordon, Dru van Hengel, Grant House, Drew Hunter, David Lawson, Steve Mack, Mark & Shira Musicant, Bill Pollock, Curtis Ridling, Burt Romotsky, Eric Schott, David, Karen & Zach Wheeler, and Sandra Wintermoss.

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Ads in Quick Release

• Quick Release accepts small advertisements. Circulation is over 400 people. Ads are business card size, 3.5" wide x 2.0" high. Cost per ad is $18 each, or 12 consecutive ads for $180. Details and an order form are available on PDF format online at www.sbbike.org/QR/ad.pdf.

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Lompoc Club asks for Purisima shoulders



Purisima Road has no acceptable shoulder, but continues to gain more high-speed commuters. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• The Lompoc Valley Bicycle Club has written to County Supervisors Joni Gray and Gail Marshall complaining about road conditions on Purisima Road just north of Lompoc.
• They observe, "The ever increasing number of people who live in Lompoc but commute to work on the South Coast has greatly increased traffic on Purisima Road over the past few years." New housing, currently under construction or being planned in the Vandenberg Village area, will add hundreds of homes and hundreds of motorist trips on Purisima Road.
• Indeed, most of the road that connects Highway 1 with Highway 246 and runs south of La Purisima Mission, has a meager shoulder. Widening the road to include at least a four-foot shoulder will improve everybody's safety, but especially bicyclists' safety. Currently, plans for widening the road are on the County's plans, but they have a low priority. What you can do to help raise its priority is to ask for help from Supervisor Gray:
• Supervisor Joni Gray
  105 East Anapamu Street
  Santa Barbara, CA 93101
  phone 737-7700
  email jgray@co.santa-barbara.ca.us

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Lois Capps and HR 1265

• In March Quick Release, we asked you to write Representative Lois Capps, asking her to co-sponsor HR 1265 that helps bicycle commuters. She replied to a Bicycle Coalition letter saying, "You will be pleased to learn that we are in complete agreement. I am a proud cosponsor of the Bicycle Commuter Act, which would give employees who bike to work the same financial incentives as car-poolers and mass transit users." Thanks, Lois, for your support.

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Earth Day success



Earth Day bike parking in the foreground, our booth at the right, bike check-ups in the back. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Those who went to Santa Barbara's Earth Day on May 21 saw hundreds of bicyclists everywhere. It was reassuring to see, and the Bicycle Coalition should be congratulated.
• We had our Bicycle Coalition booth, a 40'x20' bike parking area filled nearly all the time, and three bike mechanics busy just about all day giving check-ups. Our new blue bike banner stood 10 feet in the air at the beginning of our bike park area.
• Our numbers showed 69 bike check-ups given. We passed out 49 bumper stickers, 62 Bicycle Coalition brochures, 53 copies of Quick Release, 62 County bike maps, plus literature on Bike Week and Echelon Santa Barbara cycling club. We also obtained 62 signatures on a petition for Lake Cachuma trails, and 67 for the California Coastal Trail.
• Our location at the corner of Anapamu & Anacapa was perfect for getting the attention of most arriving bicyclists. We certainly thank the Community Environmental Center for giving us this prime space.
• Our thanks to the three mechanics Craig Collins, Chris Anderson, and Andy Rodriguez, and to those who staffed our enterprises: Pierre Delong, Gary Wissman, Ann Lawler, and Ralph Fertig. Can it be improved next year? It will be if we make it so.

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More bikes on buses

• Thanks to data supplied to the Bicycle Coalition by Linette Coverly at the MTD, we know that the number of bicyclists using the bike racks has doubled in the last year.
• For the period from May 1996 when the Sportworks racks were installed on three MTD bus routes, to February 2001 when 35 additional racks were installed on all 40-foot buses, usage rose quickly and stabilized about 1600 a month. But then, in the year since February 2001, with more capacity, usage has more than doubled to about 3900 a month.

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Brummer builds recumbents in Lompoc by Ralph Fertig



Tim Brummer in the machining area of one of his two bike manufacturing buildings. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Arguably, the best recumbent bicycles in the world are manufactured in Lompoc at Lightning Cycle Dynamics. Founder and owner Tim Brummer, previously an aerospace engineer at Vandenberg Air Force Base, started producing his bikes full time when the Base curtailed its missions two decades ago.
• Growing up in Tulare in the San Joaquin Valley, Tim had always had a bicycle, using it to go to school, visit friends, go on errands, and just have fun. Later, he moved to Los Angeles to study engineering at UCLA. While there, Tim worked with a group of students who designed and built a recumbent bike, not for a class, but for the challenge. Years later, that same design became the basis of his first production bike.
• Now, Lightning Cycle Dynamics is a thriving company with 12 employees, manufacturing 1000 bikes a year. The bikes range from a $1000 aluminum-frame model to a $5000 carbon-fiber bike that weighs 18 pounds.
• The bikes sell themselves, Tim says, after people simply ride them. The facility at 312 Ninth Street in Lompoc has samples of their different models for people to test ride.
• Recently Tim has become more involved with Lompoc transportation issues. When I visited him, he poured over a map, identifying areas that were dangerous for cyclists, where hundreds of new houses were going in, where motorized traffic would increase, where bikepath connections would make sense, where roads need shoulders, and so on.
• We're fortunate indeed to have Tim Brummer in our midst, crafting state-of-the-art recumbent bikes and making our communities better places to live.

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Discounts to members

• Quick Release editor Ralph Fertig sent letters in late April to bike shops within our County asking whether they could offer discounts to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. Two shops immediately responded with these discounts:
• Bicycle Connection, 223 West Ocean Avenue, Lompoc. Tune-up special $29.95. Also, they will pay sales tax on all accessories.
• Bicycle Bob's, 15 Hitchcock Way, Santa Barbara, and 250 Storke Road, Goleta. 10% off regular price on parts and accessories; and 5% off bicycles.

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Animal encounters

• What wildlife do Bicycle Coalition people encounter?
• James Wagner — A couple of fox sightings, red tailed hawks, lots of egrets, herons, cormorants, plus mundane ducks and crows.
• David Madajian — An unlucky cyclist I was riding along side had a collision with a bird that drew blood from his forehead. Today I noticed a mole on the path.
• Susan Kinnell Carty — I had a coyote keep pace with me for quite a while on the bike path not too long ago. He was unconcerned, while I was astounded!
• Chuck Anderson — I've come across a coyote on the road just before my driveway, and the first three foxes I saw in Santa Barbara were all along the bike path by Goleta Beach. I know folks who have encountered black bear and mountain lions while mountain biking in the backcountry.
• Mark Purcell — A couple of weeks ago, I was taking a corner at 30 mph when two deer started to run across the road. Luckily, the deer had better perception/reaction/braking than I did. The front deer stopped in mid-run about 2-3 feet from me. We sure scared the heck out of each other.

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Andy Singer