October
2004

Bicycle component for Measure D?
by Ralph Fertig



The City of Santa Barbara used Measure D to fund the Calle Cesar Chavez project that includes bikelanes. Without the Measure D tax, it wouldn't have happened. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Back in 1989, voters in Santa Barbara county approved Measure D, a half-cent sales tax to be dedicated to transportation uses. It's a 20-year tax, so it will end in 2009 unless it's extended.
• Thirty percent of the tax revenue is going to 15 major road projects, and the remaining 70% is divided by population for our cities and unincorporated county. A 2000 report on Measure D said that 6.3% of the local government agencies money has been spent on bikeways, sidewalks, school crosswalks, and handicapped access facilities. However, we don't know how much of that 6.3% actually went to bicycling projects, nor how many road projects may have had an unreported bikelane or other bike component.
• With reauthorization of Measure D not coming up for five years, why are we talking about it now? It's because any tax now requires a 2/3 majority vote to pass, while in 1989, only a majority was needed. So reauthorization may take a few attempts to pass and satisfy that two-thirds.
• The Association of Government's Gregg Hart came to our Board of Directors meeting on September 15th to discuss Measure D. Our president Ralph Fertig had been contacting bicyclists in California to see what they were doing for their transportation sales tax. Alameda County, for example, passed a tax in 2000 that includes a 5% amount exclusively for bicycle/pedestrian projects.
• Should we ask for a given percentage of the tax for bicycle and pedestrian projects? Maybe. Within our county, 6.7% of the workers bike or walk to jobs. Should that percentage be used for bike/ped projects? Should 2.4% be used for buses because that's how many people use them? Should the proportions be larger because we want to encourage more bus, bike and foot traffic?
• Some counties are now asking for a "routine accommodation" clause in their upcoming tax reauthorization. That means that new and reconstruction projects will accommodate cyclists and pedestrians. Should we ask for that?
• In the upcoming months and years, we'll be hearing more about Measure D. At this point, our questions are unanswered. What do you think?

Obern/de Anza Trail Stop design moves ahead



Wilson Hubbell, left, discusses design considerations with architect Jeffrey Stoutenborough. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Designs are progressing for our South Coast project of an "Obern/de Anza Trail Stop" at the junction of the Obern and Maria Ygancio Trails. On September 23, Bicycle Coalition member and architect Jeff Stoutenborough met with Ralph Fertig and Wilson Hubbell to consider preliminary designs. An application will be made for CREF funding for the project.
• The Trail Stop is currently envisioned as having a sitting bench, bike rack, horse hitching posts, trash can, some paving, and information panels on the de Anza trek, the Oberns, Jose Maria Ygancio, and the adjacent riparian habitat. It will have anti-vandal, flood-resistant, and fire-resistant features.

Post Accident Management
Word from our Board, by Jim Marshall

• Here are a few tips that can help after you've been in an multi-vehicle accident.
• Carry a cell phone. The cell phone can easily be a life saver. All cell phones will make 911 calls even if it doesn't have active service.
• Carry Identification. It's a good idea to copy your drivers license and then put on the back emergency contact information, insurance information, blood type and any medical conditions or allergies that you have. Laminate the copy and keep it on your person when you ride. Also, remember to keep it up to date if there are any changes.
• Call the police at 911. Always wait for the police to respond to the accident scene so that an official report will be filed. Many cyclists do not realize that they have been injured until several hours after the accident. By then, it may be too late to identify the at-fault driver. Many drivers who cause accidents will initially apologize and accept blame for the accident, but later, after they have time to consider the ramifications, will deny that they were negligent. The police accident report will include the driver's statements as well as all other witness statements.
• Seek medical attention. This is proof that you were, in fact, injured and the medical records generated by the medical provider will help establish the extent of your injuries. Take several photos from different angles and lighting of your injuries as soon as possible after the accident. Keep a journal (injury diary) of your physical symptoms starting immediately after the accident and make entries every day.
• Don't fix your bicycle. You need to keep your bicycle and clothing in the condition that it was in after the accident. But if you can't do that have a bicycle shop make an independent assessment of your bicycle and gear.
• Carry a pen and paper. You may need to exchange information with other people at the accident. Get names and numbers of as many witnesses as possible in case they leave the area before the police arrive.
• I hope you never need to implement any of these tips, but it always helps to be prepared. Ride Safe!

Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference 2004



A bike workshop gave conference participants a chance to ride the 36-mile long Galloping Goose Trail, a popular commute and recreational trail. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Four people from Santa Barbara County participated in the Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference held in Victoria, British Columbia, in early September. Here is a report on what impressed two of them.
• Susan McLaughlin
• After three days at a conference talking specifically about walking and cycling, I left with some concern regarding public health and how it relates to suburbia, but also optimism hearing about various efforts in bicycle and pedestrian advocacy. Modern day society has become accustomed to convenience in every form, whether it is in a prescription pill, a TV dinner or a single occupancy vehicle but soon enough, obesity and environmental degradation will be the utmost inconvenience.
• Here is the good news: professionals in the fields of health, transportation planning and land use planning are working together towards a new paradigm. The concept of Active Living by Design was a recurring theme at the Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference. Active Living by Design is a concept of increasing physical activity through community design.
• I was thrilled to realize that the field of transportation planning is moving into an even more interdisciplinary realm. Who would have thought that Transportation Planners would be sitting beside health professionals at a work related conference?
• The time has come; research now proves that suburbia is directly correlated to weight gain. A session by Lawrence Frank from the University of British Columbia presented research comparing walking and physical activity levels for "Urbanites" and "Suburbanites."
• His research has proven that suburbia causes weight gain over time, while urban environments provide more opportunities for walking and physical activity. He began his presentation with some humility, stating that his mother told him that she did not need years of research to conclude that if you spend more of your day driving rather than biking and walking, you are bound to get fat.
• Erika Lindemann
• The Greater Victoria Bike to Work Society has a lot of ideas to offer us here in Santa Barbara with their excellent "Bike to Work Week." I was fascinated to find a little web site, www.biketoworkvictoria.ca, not only because I was headed to Victoria the very next week for the Pro Walk/Pro Bike conference, but also because their program works with employers, targets new bicycle commuters, offers bicycle education, and expands the traditional Bike to Work Day format. What's more, I was pleased to see their week-long project was very similar to our month long "Corporate Commute Contest." I knew we could learn a lot from the folks in Victoria.
• With the contacts I made in Victoria, I hope to learn many more details about the extensive employer-based outreach and corporate participation the Bike to Work Week group obtained, especially in their efforts to target new bicycle commuters. Incorporating many of the characteristics of their event into Traffic Solutions' 2005 Corporate Commute Contest will certainly make for a more successful event.
• In the coming months SBCAG Traffic Solutions will be asking the bicycling community to provide us with ideas and feedback about the types of programs that can be developed here in Santa Barbara to encourage commuter cycling and especially reach out to new bicycle commuters.
• We'll be creating a web-based survey and will be holding a focus group before the end of the year. If you have ideas or want to provide feedback about how we can improve upon Bike to Work 2004, please feel free to contact me at 961-8919 or elindemann@sbcag.org.

Greg Siple

Bike Education News



The Children's Bicycle Safety Course attracted Lompoc kids on bikes on September 18th. Photo by Erika Lindemann.

• LCI Refresher Course. Nine League Cycling Instructors attended the Refresher Course on September 16th to learn the Safe Routes to School Curriculum for Bike Safety and Handling Skills Rodeos. Thanks to all who attended and gave suggestions for improving the curriculum. We are looking forward to a busy fall season at the local elementary schools.
• Children's Bicycle Safety Course. As part of Lompoc Old Town Fair on September 18, this course was offered by two LCI instructorsŸthe Bicycle Coalition's Chuck Anderson and Traffic Solution's Erika Lindemann. Support was given by the Lompoc Valley Bicycling Club.
• Street Skills for Cyclists, in Santa Barbara. Coming in November, watch for details. You'll be surprised at what you learn about cycling in traffic as your perceptions of danger change forever.

BikeEd Fact Sheet

• Information you can share when someone asks, "Isn't it safer to ride facing traffic?"
• Traffic safety is based upon predictability of vehicle drivers. Motorists expect to find other traffic on the right side of the road. At intersections, including driveways, they look where they expect traffic.
• It's the law!
• Traffic lights are impossible to read from the wrong side of the road.
• Head on collisions are fatal more often than being hit from behind due to the combined closing speed of the cyclist and the car.
• Motorists have no idea what to expect when you make a turn.
• —from Better Bicycling Fact Sheets, League of American Bicyclists, Bicycle Advocacy and Education Center. www.bikeleague.org

Exercise is best to increase longevity

• A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at longevity among 2339 Europeans aged 70 to 90. What it determined is that four factors greatly reduced their risk of death by different percentages:
• Physical exercise, 37%
• Not smoking, 35%
• Mediterranean diet, 23%
• Moderate alcohol use, 22%.
• The more of those factors you choose, the longer you'll live. If you choose all four, your risk of death will decrease by 65% compared to those who choose none. Of course you bike for exercise, but consider adding the others if you haven't already.

Governor signs and vetoes bike bills

• We have good news and we have bad news from Sacramento.
• The good news is that Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 1087, an extension of the Safe Routes to School program that would have otherwise expired in 2005. The program will provide $22 million a year for crosswalks, bikepaths, bikelanes, sidewalks and traffic calming measures that increase safety near schools. These have been done throughout Santa Barbara County and elsewhere in the state.
• The bill provides a three-year extension of the Safe Routes program, and will include a report by the Highway Patrol on program effectiveness by early 2007.
• The bad news is that our governor vetoed AB 1381, a bill that would have created a California Task Force for Bicycling and Walking. That task force would have made recommendations for policies that enhance bicycling and walking. It would have also required Caltrans to maintain a database of rail right-of-way and document how each Caltrans district office considers the needs of nonmotorized travelers.
• Our governor wrote in his rejection, "While I support efforts to promote increased walking and bicycling, both of which are important for improving physical fitness, I believe that this measure would impose unnecessary legislative requirements."
• We're pleased that our Assemblymembers Hannah-Beth Jackson and Abel Maldonado voted for both bills. And note with disappointment that our Senators Tom McClintock and Bruce McPherson voted against them both.

Sweeping views from upcoming Coastal Trail



Unobstructed ocean views with low coastal habitat will greet cyclists and other users when the trail is finished. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• A new section of the California Coastal Trail at Gaviota State Park is coming our way. The 2.5-mile section will extend east from Gaviota along the coastal shelf between Highway 101 and the ocean, offering splendid vistas. There will be separate equestrian and paved cycling trails. It will be built on Highway 101 right-of-way and through property owned by Shell Oil.
• Right now, the project is heading into environmental review that may uncover problems. A draft version of the report is coming late this year. When completed, this section will leave only a 6-mile gap in the Coastal Trail between El Capitan Ranch and Gaviota, bringing the dream of a Goleta-to-Gaviota trail ever closer to reality.

Elings Park summer races draw bikers



The Dirt Crit races were held high up in Elings Park, with inspiring views of the mountains, city, ocean and islands. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• A series of seven Santa Barbara Twilight Dirt Crit races was held at Elings Park in Santa Barbara this July and August. As word spread about the races, more bikers participated. Race Director Mike Hecker reported that there were 36 racers at the final August 31st event. Next year? Hecker sees the event series being even better.

We've got lights

• Thanks to a grant from the Goleta Valley Cycling Club, we've been able to buy 304 flashing LED lights. We'll be giving them away to kids who bike so they're safer whenever they ride. Our bike rodeos at local schools will be events where we give them to kids who participate. Other suggestions are welcome: please email Nancy Mulholland at nmulhol04@yahoo.com with your ideas.

Goleta bikepath funds

• The SBCAG Board has transferred $235,000 from the defunct Ellwood bike/ped bridge over Highway 101 to the San Jose Creek Bikeway. That should help the City of Goleta proceed faster with the much-needed bikepath near Old Town Goleta.

September Coalition meeting topics

• Our September 7th Bicycle Coalition gathering attracted 4 people to discuss these and other issues:
• Heather Diez (City of Goleta) talked about the Cathedral Oaks/Highway 101 bridge project, saying that roundabouts would be too expensive, that 8-foot shoulders are planned, and some project funds have been transferred from the Ekwill/Fowler Road projects. Others questioned the sidewalk's location on the west side of the bridge, and wondered how to keep motorists off the shoulder.
• We may participate in the California Lemon Festival if there's no booth fee, and we won't be duplicating Kiwanis efforts to distribute bike helmets.
• If scheduling permits, we might attract participants to the Walk/Bike California 2005 conference in Ventura by offering facility tours of our South Coast.
• Ralph Fertig will represent the Bicycle Coalition at the Economic Community Project workshop on October 22.
• Don Lubach and Ralph Fertig will represent us at the Green Awards Luncheon on September 24.
• Our upcoming evening meeting on October 5 will be at Madam Lu Chinese Restaurant in Santa Barbara.
• Nancy Mulholland reported that the September 4 Salsa Festival Bike Rodeo had a low turnout, but she will try to build the program.
• We'll have to ascertain needs of the Goleta Valley Cycling Club to help with their People Powered Ride on October 10.
• Nancy Mulholland wants to raise everybody's awareness of our Bike Education program. She is the Bicycle Coalition's program coordinator and will act as the broker between bicycling instructors and requesting organizations.

Safer cycling at UCSB

• Many people have recently discussed the bike situation near Kohn Hall on the Coast Route through the UCSB campus. The Kohn Hall addition apparently has narrowed the space next to the service road so much that it's not feasible to have both a sidewalk and bike-path, even if the parking spaces are removed.
• A sensible solution, apparently acceptable to cyclists and administration alike, is to align the bikepath with the service road and install four-way stop signs there. Cyclists will have a safer crossing of Lagoon Road, and can use the service road, sharing it with occasional motorists.

Help with the PPR

• Last fall, the Goleta Valley Cycling Club asked whether the Bicycle Coalition might be willing to help them with their annual century ride in return to sharing the profits. We answered, "maybe," and said that we would ask our members to voluntarily help them on their People Powered Ride this October to see how it goes.
• So far, Ralph Fertig created a logo and a flyer. Wilson Hubbell has been helping with permits. Jim Marshall said that he will help the day of the rides. Here's what the GVCC's Kathleen Boehn has said that they can use help with:
• Sag drivers for the morning or afternoon (they'll reimburse for gas with a receipt)
• Food servers and "go fors" at base camp near Los Olivos mid-day and afternoon
• Food stop and cleanup people
• Home-baked or donated goodies for the food stops
• Pasta salads or fruit for the ride-end BBQ
• Donations for raffle prizes.
• Volunteers can ride before or after work, depending on their schedules. All volunteers get a baseball cap with the ride patch on it. Direct your general questions and raffle prize ideas to Kathleen Boehm at 687-6218 or by email at kboehm@silcom.com. For food stops, contact Connie Styrwoll at 962-4307 or clstrywoll@aol.com. Baked goods and other goodies are being organized by Rosie Thompson at 964-2339 or rosie@nbdca.net. Pasta salads or fruit are being coordinated by Doris Phinney at 968-3143 or cyclebug@aol.com.
• It's important to get the word out. The ride flyer is available at www.goletabike.org/2004PPRflyer.pdf. This is an opportunity for the Bicycle Coalition to help earn money for our projects that help kids and adults bike more safely and more often.

Dutch bike firm moving to SB

• The Netherlands—that country where more people bicycle for transportation than anywhere elseŸis currently home to Renaissance Cycles, a mail-order source of classic bicycle parts. Their owners, however, have decided to move their operation to the United States and what city did they select out of all those in the US: Santa Barbara!
• We first became aware of the upcoming move when Bicycle Coalition's Ralph Fertig received an email on August 2nd from co-owner Cecile Corpuz. She wrote:
• "We'll be bringing some of the European Culture (Dutch!) cycling with us, bicycles and accessories and also the lifestyle of living with the bike. Over here bicycles are a part of everyday life; not only for pleasure but they are tools as well. It's very common to see a person riding her bike with up to two children, one on the front with the other on the rear with two saddle bags loaded with groceries along with a stroller dangling off the rear. Of course the bikes here are designed to handle these chores. And yes when our kids were small we also performed these cycling chores. So promoting bicycles as an alternative mode of transportation will be one of our strong points."
• They will be moving next January or February to a building at 615 East Gutierrez Street. There are plans to use the large yard behind the shop as a "European type courtyard where cyclists can meet, hang out, and talk bicycles over a cup of coffee." Coffee? Yes, they plan a cafe as well as a vintage bike display and reading area for us.
• To find out what kind of business they will be bringing into our community, check out their web site www.renaissance-cycles.com. And be ready to welcome Corpuz and her American husband to our area next year. Bring them on!

Active Members

• Please thank and support the following Bicycle Coalition business members:
• Hazard's Cyclesport, Santa Barbara
• Rincon Cycles, Carpinteria
• Piekert Group Architects, Santa Barbara
• We welcome new Bicycle Coalition members Judy Carpenter from Santa Barbara. And we certainly thank those who renewed their memberships: Matt Dobberteen, James Elliott, and Tony Johansen.

U-locks easily opened



VeloPro employee Paul Crow holds a Kryptonite EV 3000 lock that is safe from pen theft. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Since an online post on September 12, the bike world has been abuzz with stories of popular U-locks being opened in seconds with a common Bic pen. Apparently, it was first noted in 1992 in the UK, but knowledge of the easy theft wasn't widespread until recently.
• The vulnerable locks have tubular cyclinders, including several popular Kryptonite modelsŸtheir Evolution lock, KryptoLok lock, New York Chain, New York Noose, Evolution Disc Lock, KryptoDisco and DFS Disc lock. If you have one, you better not use it until you get Kryptonite's replacement parts.
• The problem goes, however, way beyond Kryptonite. It includes models from Planet Bike, Norco (the "Bike Guard" brand), and probably others. Additionally, it includes other circular locks commonly used in vending machines, coin changers and ATMs.
• Kryptonite is offering free replacement parts for locks bought within the last two years. Details for recent customers are on their web site www.kryptonite.com, along with replacement deals for others. Many high-end locks that have a "disk-style cylinder" are safe, along with all those with keys.