September
2002

Coalition barbeque brings us together



Perfect weather greeted Bicycle Coalition members, family and friends to our first Member Appreciation Barbeque. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• It was promoted as the "First Annual Member Appreciation Barbeque," suggesting that more would follow. The large turnout and smiling Bicycle Coalition members who made the Goleta Beach event a great success, however, left no doubt that more would indeed follow.
• About 60 people showed up on a splendid sunny day, nearly all of them bicycling to the beach. Thanks go to our super cook Sandra Wintermoss, her family helpers, and Coalition Board members Erika Lindemann, Mike Hecker, and Ralph Fertig.
• One activity that had people thinking was a "bike bucks" opportunity for members to express how they believe money should be spent to best benefit bicyclists. See the results below.
• The impetus for our informal barbeque came out of concern from the Coalition Board that members did not know one another, and many are unable to attend our monthly meetings in Downtown Santa Barbara. Another change in our meeting schedule will probably come in October when a new location, time, and possible meeting structure will be chosen to replace our regular one.
• Email and phone communication work well, but they cannot replace face-to-face discussions. We want to continue to hear from all members what they think is needed most.

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"Why I love to bike commute" contest winner



Talin Lindsay bikes to her job at UCSB. Photo by Amy Runjavac.

• "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!! This is great news! This totally made my day!" So exclaimed Talin Lindsay when she was told that she was a winner.
• What she won was a brunch at Citronelle Restaurant for two because of her fine entry in the Bicycle Coalition's "Why I Love to Bike Commute" contest. Talin's winning entry is below, and you can read all 19 entries online at: www.sbbike.org/commute/love-it02.html.
• Why I love to bike commute by Talin Lindsay
• I started riding my bicycle to work at UCSB a week after I was hired. Living a mere 3 miles away, I had figured it would take the same amount of time to drive (with stop lights and traffic) as it would to ride. Besides, it's good exercise and I don't believe in paying my employer to obtain the right to park.
• And so began my daily journey leaving the impatient traffic in the Old Town area Goleta, past the stark cement emptiness of the airport, across a bridge over the serene wetlands, arriving to a spectacular view of the ocean and finally ending on campus.
• Each day is different: each day the little pockets of warm and cold air change their intensity or location; each day I pass another variety of fauna residing in the wetlands; and each morning, the tide is at a different level, indicating whether I'll be taking my lunch-time walk along the beach or on the bluffs. It has gotten to be such a pleasant experience, I even consider riding in inclement weather just to feel the breeze against my face, the little ridges and bumps that make up the road beneath me, and the cold, prickliness of the fog against my legs.
• Then one day I tore the meniscus in my knee during a run, threatening my ability to continue cycling to work. So, I drove. Gone were the vistas of nature and concrete, juxtaposing each other during the course of my morning "commute." Gone was the sensation of anything but the sterile environment inside the car. Gone was the serenity encouraged by the morning rides. I felt sorry for all the people in the cars around me, seemingly unaware of what they were missing. I knew exactly what I was missing and I was miserable.
• Encouraged by my desire to ride again, I did everything the doctors told me.
• All the pills, the icings, the stretches. Last week, I began cycling to work again, leaving my car behind where it does the most good—in the driveway.

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Setting an Example
Word from the President, by Wilson Hubbell

• Maybe the biggest obstacle that serious cyclists must overcome is the perception motorists have of us from viewing the antics of less than serious cyclists:
• Let's say you pull up to a stop sign at a controlled intersection and actually come to a complete stop. Other road users don't know how to react to you because they are so accustomed to cyclists blowing through stop signs that a rider actually obeying the law is an anomaly. Other road users would never accept a motor vehicle traveling on the wrong side of the road, but bicyclists do it all the time and other road users have come to expect it. Why? "Because cyclists just do that sort of thing."
• How do we overcome this perception?
• We need to act like legitimate road users if we expect to be treated as such. We need to teach others, whenever we can, proper riding techniques and the importance of complying with traffic laws. By each of us setting an example for other road users—motorists and cyclists alike—we may be able to influence the behavior of our fellow cyclists and alter the perception that too many motorists have of us.
• Something to think about—and act on.

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Child obesity grows

• Only 6% American elementary and secondary school children bike to school, and 19% walk at least once a week, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As exercise like biking and walking has declined, the number of overweight children has tripled since 1980, up to 13% in 1999.
• Parents cite four reasons to drive their kids instead: distance, traffic, weather and crime. The CDC calls for sending children to closer schools and making the routes safer. They set a goal of getting 50% of children to walk or bike if they live within a mile of school, by the year 2010. "We need to build physical activity into a child's daily routine," said Jessica Shisler, a CDC public health expert.

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Kemp is new director of SBCAG

• Jim Kemp was appointed as the new Executive Director of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) on August 15. Kemp, formerly a Deputy Director, will now assume management responsibilities over the staff of 18 and annual budget of nearly $20 million.
• Kemp replaced former Director Bill Derrick who resigned on June 20 after three years in that position.
• The Bicycle Coalition congratulated Kemp on his new job in a letter on August 16th. It said, "We recognize many of the transportation challenges that you are facing, and we offer support in whatever way possible to provide equitable and sustainable mobility within our county."

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Yardi party by Erika Lindemann



Early bird Yardi bicyclists at SoHo in Santa Barbara had first run on the food and drinks. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Yardi Systems was finally rewarded for winning the Corporate Contest for Bike to Work Day, May 22nd, 2002. Yardi Systems, which creates asset and property management software, had 36 employees ride their bikes on Bike to Work Day. To show our appreciation, we invited them to join us at SoHo Restaurant for tasty finger foods after work on Wednesday, August 14th, 2002. DakoCytomation, of Carpinteria, disrupted Raytheon this year by winning second place, with 26 employees riding, and Raytheon held a strong 3rd place with 22 employees riding.
• Although dinner at SoHo was a fun way to celebrate Yardi's triumphs, get ready for next year's Corporate Contest. The Bicycle Coalition and Traffic Solutions hope to make it bigger and better than ever. Call 963-SAVE to find out how you can promote Bike to Work Day at your worksite during Bike Week 2003 and win!

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Coalition asks for new Rincon trail



This short and little-known coastal trail west of Rincon could be extended to Carpinteria. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• The Bicycle Coalition has taken a position of encouraging the County Board of Supervisors to fund a new trail feasibility study. The study has been proposed by the County Planning and Development department to be funded with $55,000 from the Coastal Resource Enhancement Fund (CREF).
• The project coordinator Jenna Endres describes the project as a trail that will connect the city of Carpinteria to Rincon Beach County Park. The purpose of the feasibility study is to identify costs and challenges in selecting the best route for bicyclists, hikers and others. Three alternative routes are being proposed:
• A trail along the south side of Highway 101.
• A trail along the Union Pacific Railroad.
• From the bluff top at the eastern end of Carpinteria Avenue, a switchback trail that descends to the railroad, then heads east to the Park.
• The Bicycle Coalition's letter to the Supervisors points out the significance of this connecting trail: "This trail section is important because it will ultimately connect other sections of the California Coastal Trail, one of America's 50 state Millennium Trails, and the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic Trail, one of 16 National Millennium Trails within the United States."
• Our letter concludes, "While the proposed trail will provide bicyclists with an alternative to the Highway 101 freeway, it will also offer a safe coastal trail for all users, for generations to come. We urge that the study be funded."
• CREF applications were submitted by August 19th. On November 18, applicants will present their proposals to the Supervisors, who will vote on the projects on December 3. There will be opportunities in November to express further support for this Rincon Park trail or other coastal CREF projects.

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Give people a choice

• "If we don't give people a choice, they will have no choice but to drive their cars."
• — Jeff Morales, Director of Caltrans, June 3, 2001

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Andy Singer

Bike bucks—a measure of what we want

• Bicycle Coalition members told us what they wanted to see done to improve bicycling. They voted with five "bike bucks" worth $100,000 each that they were given at our Member Appreciation Barbeque on August 11. They voted by putting their five bike bucks into their choice of 11 containers labeled with possible projects or programs, plus one container called "Other" that was a write-in category. They could put them all into one container, or distribute them among different ones.
• The results, shown in the graph, indicate that while many things are needed, more facilities are most important. Facilities received 60% of the bucks, with bikepaths, bikelanes, and signal detectors being most important. Programs for kids—earn-a-bike programs, trips for kids, and education for kids—got 15%. Education and promotion received 14%, and the remaining 11% went to street sweeping and law enforcement (including more bike cops).
• Members could write in variations of the main categories, plus indicate what "other" things were needed. What we suggested were:
• bikelanes at Lake Cachuma
• bikelanes near schools
• fines for bad drivers
• fines for motorists who hit cyclists
• sweeping Cathedral Oaks Road
• bike education in Spanish
• a velodrome
• Santa Barbara bike station
• commuter trains accessible to bikes
• bike-access bridges
• commuter train from Ventura with bike lockers at both ends
• employer subsidies for showers and bike lockers.
• The majority of those are projects for which municipalities are responsible, and it's our job to bring them to their attention. There are programs for kids, however, that we might take a primary role in—like a trips for kids suggestion. Our members are the ones out on roads and paths each day, so what they say reflects realistic needs that we're listening to and acting upon.

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Santa Barbara City bikelanes

• An upcoming alteration of roadway, parking, and bikelane geometry on Modoc Road has raised questions about the City of Santa Barbara's approach to bicyclist facilities. Transportation's Supervising Transportation Planner Rob Dayton has offered us a clarification of the City's designs.
• "The parking/bike lane dimension we chose [for Modoc] is 7 and 5 feet. These are the minimum Caltrans and AASHTO dimensions. This is acceptable when the parking area has a low turnover (in commercial areas where parking turnover is high, one foot is added to meet the standard). Residential has the lowest on-street parking turnover and so the dimensions are appropriate.
• It is important to note that many existing bike lanes next to parallel parking have similar dimensions. Canon Perdido (Milpas to Santa Barbara), State Street (Sola to Constance), Shoreline Drive (Cliff to Shoreline Park), Carrillo (Cliff to the top of the hill), Cabrillo (State to Castillo), and Castillo (Montecito to Cabrillo) all have 7-foot parking lanes with 5-foot bike lanes.
• Dooring is a serious issue that we would like to minimize. Even Castillo between Mission and Cota (our widest parking/bike lane at 9' and 6' respectively) has incidents of dooring. Incidents of dooring in Santa Barbara have been on the decline in recent years and represent 5% of all bike collisions reported. We would like to see that number go lower.
• We will be updating and recertifying the City's Bicycle Master Plan this fall. One of the things we plan to investigate is dooring incidents since 1998 (the most recent Master Plan) and whether AASHTO Guidelines and Caltrans' Standards for bike lane striping are sufficient.
• We have discussed eliminating the inside bike lane stripe (4") as a way to draw the novice closer to the outside bike lane stripe (6"). We will try to keep and open mind; and as always, work side by side with the Coalition to achieve our common goals."

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August meeting topics

• Here's a brief agenda report about what was discussed at our August 2002 general meeting:
• The Coalition supports the County's proposal for studying feasibility of a trail west of Rincon Beach County Beach.
• Erika Lindemann and Mike Hecker reported arrangements for our Membership Appreciation Barbeque at Goleta Beach on August 11.
• Wilson Hubbell described the County's repaving and bikelanes from Summerland to Padaro Lane.
• Ralph Fertig described the Greenwell project of new housing and proposed changes to Modoc Road. The Coalition will write a letter to the Santa Barbara City Council.
• Goleta Old Town PAC meetings were discussed in terms of upcoming proposals to manage traffic flow. We will continue to monitor developments.
• The costs and labor involved in producing Quick Release were discussed and it was decided to pay editor Ralph Fertig for some of his work.
• The effect of new rumble strips on Highway 101 on cyclists was described; Caltrans responsiveness to our letter to them was discussed.
• Our response with letters and articles to the Taxpayers Association attack on bicyclist project funding was described.
• Bicycle Coalition volunteers will be considering a proposed trail around Lake Cachuma.

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Caltrans and 101 rumble strips



New 101 shoulder rumble strips here south of Los Alamos don't wander as much as elsewhere. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• In July, bicyclists on Highway 101 began contending with newly-ground rumble strips, and they didn't like what they found.
• The strips serve a real safety purpose because they alert motorists who are driving off the road and onto the shoulder. It's the installation, however, that's a problem for cyclists because the location of the strips within the shoulder wanders around instead of staying close to the white line as Caltrans' standards require. The remaining section of shoulder is narrowed and it's sometimes laden with debris and in poor condition. This can be scary for cyclists, especially on the downhill sections like the curving road north of Gaviota.
• On July 23, the Bicycle Coalition wrote to Caltrans District Director Gregg Albright about the problem. We also alerted cyclists in the North County to the situation. Immediately, Caltrans took action by assessing things and repaving the most dangerous sections of shoulder. As this goes to press, they are still addressing the problem, so the final outcome remains to be seen— and biked. Let us hear from you what you think of the reinstallation of rumble strips. Our safety is our concern.

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Kids, win a bike!

• Traffic Solutions and the County Air Pollution Control District are giving away a bicycle and savings bonds to 13 contest winners in Santa Barbara County. Open to kids age 5-12, the calendar contest will be judged on drawings that show how much fun it is to bike, walk, carpool, ride the bus or train, or use other clean-air alternatives. Entry deadline is October 4. For entry information, go to www.sbcapcd.org/contest.htm, call 961-8838 with questions, or email gillilandf@sbcapcd.org.

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New BLM biking plan

• Last month, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released a Draft Strategic Action Plan for the management of mountain bicycling on their lands. Although there are no BLM lands within Santa Barbara County, the draft is important because it will effect riding opportunities in the BLM's 264 million acres elsewhere in the United States.
• Mountain biking was in its infancy when the BLM last wrote land use plans, but biking has since grown to 13 million mountain bicyclist visits to public lands annually, making it a major activity.
• In December 2000, the BLM proposed to treat mountain bikes the same as motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles. After receiving protests from over 10,000 mountain bikers in a month, they decided to draft a separate document for mountain bikers, the "National Mountain Bicycling Strategic Action Plan." Bicycle Coalition Board member Chuck Anderson notes that "Mountain bikers played an active role in the crafting of this policy. It is the first time we've been involved in crafting a national level management plan."
• The new plan would promote environmentally sound use of mountain bicycles and other nonmotorized vehicles on BLM-managed public lands. The plan would ensure that mountain bicycling opportunities are recognized and provided for on public lands where appropriate, while reducing conflicts among different land users.
• The BLM seeks comments on its draft plan before September 25. It's available online at: www.blm.gov/mountain_biking/index.htm.
• This plan is the second of three BLM action plans. The first has already been established for motorized vehicle activities, and the third will be for nonmotorized/nonmechanized visitors such as hikers and horseback riders.

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Active members

• Please thank and support the following businesses that are Bicycle Coalition members:
• MarBorg Industries, Santa Barbara
• Oasis Design, Santa Barbara
• Santa Barbara Infrared, Santa Barbara
• Rincon Cycles, Carpinteria
• Lightning Cycle Dynamics, Lompoc
• We're pleased to welcome new Bicycle Coalition members Hildy Hoffman of Santa Barbara, Ann Paff of Lompoc, and Neal Turner of Goleta. And we're grateful to the following who renewed their memberships: Robert Young, Mark Sapp, Pierre Delong, Jeffrey Feldstein, Amy Frease, and David, Karen and Zachary Wheeler.

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Mark Mittermiller, bicyclist forever by Mike Hecker

• Mark Mittermiller, one of the first participants in the Bicycle Coalition in 1991, was born in Long Beach in 1954. His childhood and teenage years saw him lead the normal Southern California life of enjoying Baseball and Surfing. Sure he rode a bicycle as a kid, but only in his family's neighborhood. During those early years he hadn't thought of becoming a bicycle commuter or the Category 2 Road Racer that he would later become.
• Mark started cycling 26 years ago in 1976 at the age of 22. He was a student at UCSB. One day he noticed a group of UCSB Cycling Team members on a training ride and the sight intrigued him. He thought, "That looks like fun." Soon after that Mark bought a used ten speed and started riding just for the fun of it. He soon realized that the bicycle provided an easy and inexpensive way of getting around, and kept him in good shape too.
• That first bike came with old school sew up tires on it. Those tires turned out to be a real pain. Since they were costly, even way back then, and Mark was a student, whenever one would get a puncture he would have no choice but to remove the tire, remove the stitching, patch it, sew it back together, and re-glue it to the rim. Eventually Mark went on a ride down the coast from SB to San Diego, a ride that he thought would only take a day in a half took double that because he had constant flats with those darn sew up tires! Upon his return home he promptly enrolled in a wheel building course at the old Associated Students Bike Shop, so that he could switch to clinchers.
• In 1978 Mark started his career working for the County of Santa Barbara Public Works Department. Still living in Isla Vista he commuted by bicycle five days a week. One day while on his commute he came upon a local cycling clubs racing team out on a training ride. This club was the Santa Barbara Bicycle Club. Mark was able to ride at their brisk tempo with ease. On this day he met Darryl Abrams (now the owner of Velo Pro Cyclery) and Darryl suggested that Mark try his hand at the up coming San Luis Obispo Criterium. Darryl said, "Come on man ... you're good enough to race. You should do it." Mark entered the race all gung ho, just to be dropped shortly after the race had begun. But that first snag just got him started, the race bug bit him, he was in the sport to stay.
• Over the years Mark has always been involved with the racing side of cycling and the SB Bicycle Club. He served as its Vice President in the late 80s and was influential during the years that the SBBC was considered one of the best cycling clubs on the West Coast. He's helped promote several events and races with the SBBC. This year he has even came back to the club that he first joined, as so many others have, to help resurrect the Santa Barbara Bicycle Club. During the 90s he rode for a Masters Team sponsored by Diamond Back Bicycles.
• In the late Eighties, he met his future wife Coleen, Civil Engineer with County Parks. They were married in 1989. They have two daughters. Loren who is entering the 7th Grade and attends Santa Barbara Middle School, and Erica who is entering the 4th Grade. Both girls love riding their bicycles. Loren has ridden in three of the Middle Schools' weeklong bike journeys and Erica enjoys riding her Diamond Back on the Douglas Family Preserve.
• Today Mark still works for the County as Assistant Director of General Services. He fits in a ride during most lunch hours, and has organized a Wednesday evening ride with other county employees. Each and every Sunday morning you can find him mixing it up with some of the best local bicycle racers on the "Club Ride" that leaves from East Beach at 9:00 AM. Oh yeah, I almost forgot this very important fact—Mark commutes by bicycle to work. EVERY DAY!

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Thanks to GVCC

• Our grateful appreciation goes to the Goleta Valley Cycling Club for their donation of $500 to the Bicycle Coalition. Their members—several of whom also belong to the Bicycle Coalition—can be assured that we will put their money to good uses so we'll all benefit!

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School bikelanes kept



Parking on Anapamu Street will end in 2004. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Temporary on-street parking was recently installed on East Anapamu Street in Santa Barbara. However, thanks to Jonathan Maguire on the Transportation and Circulation Committee, and to George Gerth, Transportation Operations Parking Manager, parking is prohibited from 7:30-9:00 AM on school days because the street is a main route for children biking to Santa Barbara High School a few blocks east.
• The parking is temporary during the construction of the Granada Garage parking structure at Anacapa and Anapamu Streets. The Garage, including our new "bikestation," should be finished in 2004. We can hardly wait.