January
2007

Looking back and pedaling ahead

• The year 2006 is gone and, looking back, it marks a year filled with Bicycle Coalition challenges, outstanding successes, and some situations that were not resolved to our satisfaction. During 2006, we worked hard to achieve these benefits for people who bicycle within our county:
• Offered six Bicycling Skills classes throughout the year, taught by Licensed Cycling Instructors.
• Celebrated the passage of the Amgen Tour of California through our county with a booth at the stage start/finish line. Our web site had a large surge of visitors who were presumably seeking bicycling opportunities here.
• Worked with UCSB's student BIKES committee to realize the filling of a missing link "Broida Expressway" on the campus bikepath network.
• Handed out free LED headlights and taillights to low-income workers who depend on bicycling for transportation. Spanish language bike safety brochures were distributed.
• Collaborated with a large group of nonprofits to obtain a very favorable Measure D tax renewal package that 46% voters disappointingly chose to reject in November, in spite of intense efforts.
• Produced a flyer Hospitality for Bicyclists that was distributed to South Coast hotel sales directors. The idea is to encourage greater accommodation of visitors who want to bicycle here.
• Spoke out for a new 7-block section of bikelanes on Chapala Street, and addressed committees to insist on the return of bikelanes on Anapamu Street that had been removed during work on the Granada Garage, both in Santa Barbara.
• Held Bike Week events that encompassed Bike to School Day, Bike to Work Day, a Bike Week Celebration dinner with Willie Weir's entertainment, bike flags on State Street, and lots more.
• Held another Member Appreciation BBQ at the beach, getting better acquainted with members.
• Raised questions over bicycling conditions in the proposed Isla Vista and Summerland Plans.
• Led bike facility rides at the statewide Sustainability conference at UCSB. Worked with the Habitat for Humanity to offer bike rides for those cycling to sites on their green home tour.
• Organized a commorative bike ride following the death of Jake Boysel who was hit biking to school.
• Encouraged Pedro Nava to modify the DMV driver test to address green issues.
• Participated in Santa Barbara's Earth Day festival for our 15th year, with bike parking, free check-ups, raffle prizes, and an information booth. Also staffed a table at Santa Barbara City College's Alternative Transportation Week festival.
• Our thanks to our Board of Directors, our Advisors, and all our members who helped make 2006 a year of regional progress for people who bicycle. In 2007, we will work to increase our efforts with Bicycling Skills classes, Bike Week, Earth Day, and more. We plan to expand efforts to reach youth, low-income workers, bike commuters, and officials.

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Web increases in importance and usage

• Use of the Internet continues to increase throughout our world. We have had a web site presence for nearly 11 years, although data on usage only goes back seven of them. Since 2000, however, there has been a steady increase in visitors to our site's home page as shown in the graph.
• The web has proven to be successful due to its open structure. Jaron Lanier writes, "We are spectacularly lucky that the people whose early experiments turned into the Internet conceived of an optimistic open design that happened to get locked in."
• The month of least activity is understandably December. From there, visits steadily increase to May, where they top out for Bike Week, then slowly decrease over the subsequent seven months.

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Buellton BMX track

• On December 21, our Bicycle Coalition sent a letter to the Buellton Parks and Recreation Commissioners asking them to support a proposed BMX Track, perhaps in conjunction with a Buellton Freestyle Bike Park.
• We wrote, "We were saddened to see the loss of the Valley BMX track a few years ago because it offered a place for young people to develop their bike handling skills, engage in competition, and maintain physical fitness."
• Citing the popularity of the Elings Park BMX Track in Santa Barbara, we note the enthusiasm that kids bring to the activity. "Perhaps as important," we continued, "it is a family activity where siblings and parents are there as well, cheering on the riders and bonding their families."
• Unfortunately, the distance from Buellton and the North County precludes most residents from participating in Elings Park BMX activities. That's why it's important for Buellton park commissioners, working with other Santa Ynez Valley parties, to help bring these recreational facilities to their community. We'll let you know how the projects progress.

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Coalition continues giving bike lights



A lightless bicyclist accepts one of the free lights from Bicycle Coalition Board member Don Lubach. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Catching Isla Vista residents bicycling home from jobs, Bicycle Coalition members passed out free LED headlights to those who lacked them on December 14th. Don Lubach organized the effort, stationed along the hill above Goleta Beach near the entrance of UCSB. He was helped by David Madajian, Mark McClure and Ralph Fertig. Funding for the light program comes from a grant from the Goleta Valley Cycling Club.

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Narrowed car lanes calm traffic

• An interim report from the national Transportation Research Board concludes that narrowed automobile lane width calms motorist traffic while slightly decreasing car lane "saturation" and having no measurable change—or a decrease—in crash frequency.
• The study looked only at urban and suburban arterials with speed limits of 45 MPH or lower. It determines that for a two-foot decrease in lane width, vehicle saturation decreases 4% while speed decreases by 3 MPH.
• What this implies for bicyclist safety is that wider roadways can be narrowed in order to make room for bikelanes or wide outer lanes, while not compromising motorist safety. In fact, it may make it safer for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists alike.

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California bike conference this fall

• This September 11-14, the third biennial Walk Bike California Conference will take place in Davis. The last conference, held in Ventura in 2005, attracted several participants from Santa Barbara County, three of whom—Bicycle Coalition members all—presented papers.
• The Walk Bike conference is the place for Californians to discuss issues that are important to us. It's an opportunity to network and learn from participants who are advocates, planners, engineers, elected officials, urban designers, Caltrans workers, architects, and health professionals.
• Right now through March 16, proposals for presentations are being accepted. We hope that our County will be represented. After all, out of the 38 California counties, we rank second in the percentage of people who bike commute to jobs (we are second only to Yolo County where bicycle-centric Davis is located).
• If you attend, you'll be able to chose sessions, mobile tours, and training workshops that serve your interests.
• Walk Bike California is brought to us by the California Bicycle Coalition, California Walks, and the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals. Learn more at www.walkbikecalifornia.org.

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California Tour update

• The 2007 Amgen Tour of California will pass through our county next February 23rd and 24th. Each day, there will be TV coverage on VERSUS channel (formerly OLN), giving cycling fans throughout the US views of professional cyclists in our beautiful area. A total of 14 hours of race coverage will be available at 70 million homes.
• The Local Organizing Committees in Solvang and Santa Barbara are working hard to accommodate and engage the thousands of people, mostly bicyclists, who will come here. There will also be TV time promoting regional tourism for both areas.
• The 650-mile route consists of a Prologue, six stages, and a Circuit Race. Here are descriptions of the two local stages:
• Stage 5: Solvang Individual Time Trial. At only 14.5-miles long, and with the start and finish located two blocks apart in Downtown Solvang, Stage 5 is ideal for spectators. The route will be on Alamo Pintado and Ballard Canyon Roads, passing through Los Olivos at the flagpole.
• Stage 6: Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita. At 105 miles, this could be the pivotal stage for the 2007 Tour. It is heavy on climbs and following the Solvang time trial, riders may be separated by just a few seconds, so the competition may be fierce.
• Nevertheless, we are suggesting that people come to Santa Barbara and stay for a weekend of local cycling and pleasure.

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Changes coming to Summerland



Workshop participants discuss drawings of proposed changes to Summerland. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• On December 12th, the County held a community workshop to consider proposed circulation and parking changes to Summerland. A few years ago, the County allocated $2.1 million for the changes. However construction costs are now expected to top $3 million, so the question to the public is "what are your priorities?"
• Compared to earlier plans, the proposed roundabout at Evans/Ortega Hill will now be 4-way stop signs. The roundabout at Lillie and Valencia is still there, although concerns about it being next to the school were heard. New sidewalks will be installed along Ortega Hill Road and Lillie Avenue.
• New lighting, landscaping, street furniture, and distinctive crosswalks are proposed. While these will certainly benefit pedestrians, the presence of more people on foot, especially crossing Lillie Avenue, will slow motorists and increase everybody's safety.
• The perpendicular parking will be replaced with diagonal parking along Lillie. Bicycle Coalition president Ralph Fertig attended and suggested that they consider back-in diagonal parking instead of pull-in. That way, approaching motorists and bicyclists will be able to make eye contact with parked motorists about to pull out. Otherwise, motorists have to back out blind, hoping that any approaching traffic sees them and waits. Back-in parking has been successfully installed in Downtown Ventura, and elsewhere. In either case, any diagonal parking slows motorists.
• There will be another workshop in January in Summerland. Proposed plans will be put on the County's web site soon, and construction will begin in 2007. You can learn more from County engineer Ron Bensel at 568-3311 or bensel@cosbpw.net.

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Payne and Boysel cases continued...again

• Some things seem to drag on forever. Last December 8th and 12th, continued hearings on the fatalities of Kendra Payne and Jake Boysel, respectively, were held. Both brief hearings resulted in further continuations.
• On January 9th, the next hearing for Ernesto Botello in the vehicular man-slaughter charge in Boysel's death will be held.
• Then on January 17, the next hearing for Marcos Almaguer in his charge of vehicular manslaughter of Payne will be held. Assistant District Attorney Patrick McKinley believes that the case will be settled then.

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Bicycling Skills for Women

• The Art of Cycling: Using a Bike to Transport and Transform.
• We're offering another two-day course for women in January, taught by women. If you've been wanting to learn the basics of bicycling with confidence on the road with other vehicle users, in a supportive and fun environment, then this is the class for you.
• Have you thought about using your bike for getting around town or for fitness, but just don't feel comfortable on the road? We'll show you how to ride legally and confidently. We'll also talk about women-specific bikes and clothing and how to make decisions in traffic. Have you always wanted to learn to change a flat tire or to perform other simple on-road repairs? We'll teach you.
• We'll also practice bike handling skills and emergency avoidance maneuvers such as quick turns and stops. Then we'll take you out for a road ride with women League Cycling Instructors (LCIs).
• The class is open to anybody 16 years of age or older. You can bring your child who is 14 years or older, with your supervision. The class costs $30, however some scholarships are available. Just ask us.
• Details about where and when the class will be held are being worked out. To learn more, phone Erika Lindemann at 961-8919 or email CycleSmart@sbbike.org.

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Sladek on lights

• UCSB's Phyllis Sladek often bikes at night, barely missing lightless cyclists. So she volunteered to help distribute our free LED lights to bikepath bicyclists who need them. This is what she wrote about it:
• I was happy (thrilled, really) to be able to connect up with Dru van Hengel and your project to make our bikepaths safer. As someone who often rides late at night (and has seen some near-misses), I was glad for the opportunity to hand out lights.
• Helping also gave me the chance to get to know some of the regular night cyclists. There's a group of young men who work in the restaurants downtown, and then cycle back (presumably to Isla Vista) sometime around 11:30 PM or so. I was glad to get to know them, and to hand out many of my lights to this group. I also gave out lights to a group of men who work on some of the small farms in Goleta.
• I also gave a light to a man who carries his belongings on his bike and his bike trailers, and spends the evening hours walking or riding on the bike paths. I also am glad I met him, as he is very polite and now greets me when I'm out. I gave out a few to others who live in Isla Vista, and seem not to afford lights otherwise
• I would be happy to volunteer further, if we could find a way to fund more "blinkie". I believe the need is still great. I ran out of lights before I had the chance to visit the nurseries and other places where I know people use bikes as their sole means of transportation. So, I hope we can find a way to do this. Please let me know if there is any way we can make more lights available for this effort. I'm grateful your caring extended into the "nighttime" hours.

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Sanchez posts video of US bike tour



In a shot from his video, Paul Sanchez pauses before Niagara Falls during his US perimeter bike ride. Photo by Paul Sanchez.

• Carpinteria resident Paul Sanchez finished a round-the-perimeter US bike ride in 2005, and has just polished off a short video about his epic 10,000-mile tour. He posted it on YouTube and it had attracted over 23,000 views by December 20th. You can view it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwOpX4G28yg.
• Sanchez dedicated his ride to meet and inspire children with dyslexia and learning differences. He currently is working on spreading the word to help these children. His upcoming ambitious project? Joining a 96-country, 70,000-mile tour with a group-this time alas, by car. The project is called The World by Road defined as "a grassroots company dedicated to increasing interest in adventure, world issues, and cultures." Sanchez just doesn't sit still.

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December Coalition meeting topics

• Our December 5th monthly Bicycle Coalition meeting was at noon at the Santa Barbara Bank & Trust conference room, attracting 18 people. We discussed these topics:
• Pedro Nava's reintroduced 3-foot motorist-bicyclist clearance law will be the same as before, but may be altered in committee.
• Hearings in the separate deaths of bicyclists Kendra Payne and Jake Boysel will take place in early December.
• The Holiday Parade of Bikes will take place on December 16; individual participation is encouraged.
• Our ongoing distribution of free LED bike headlights resulted in new volunteers to help.
• Lane Anderson and others considered possibilities for some kind of bicycle recycling program in Santa Barbara. A new three-person committee was formed.
• Pre-stage events in Santa Barbara before the start of the Amgen Tour of California were discussed. The idea is to attract families to the beachfront before the 11:00 AM start.
• The next Street Skills class will be held in January, CycleSmart coordinators reported.
• The unsatisfactory condition of recently sealed Obern Trail and Maria Ygnacio Bikepath were discussed. The County's Matt Dobberteen accepted comments to take to Public Works management for consideration.

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Bike Week is coming

• It's five months away, but we're busy planning for a better-than-ever Bike Week of activities. Bike Week 2007 will run from Saturday, May 12th to Sunday, May 20th.
• Great news is that Willie Weir has agreed to return to highlight our Bike Week Celebration dinner. Not only that, but we are hoping to keep him here for another four days if we can find enough activities to keep him solvent and busy. Although tentative, here is what's scheduled:
• May 15-24, Bike Week flags on State Street, Santa Barbara.
• May 12, Bike Week Celebration, dinner, awards ceremony, Willie Weir entertainment.
• May 15, Bike to School Day.
• May 16, Bike to Work Day.
• May 16-17, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, proposed bicycling presentations by Willie Weir, Ralph Fertig, David Bourgeois, and others.
• We're inviting all bike-loving people to consider what might be added to Bike Week 2007.

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Planning terminology

• Two terms used for community street design—context-sensitive design and complete streets—are commonly confused. This explanation may help us all
• Context-sensitive design concerns itself with fitting an individual road project appropriately into its surroundings. This is important. However, bicycles, buses and pedestrians are not "context," they are users of the transportation corridor, and don't have to be considered in context-sensitive planning
• Complete streets is about changing routine procedures on all projects so that all road users are included from the get-go. For example, under complete streets conditions, a bicyclist advocacy group doesn't have to show up to advocate for bikelanes, because people who bicycle are routinely considered from the earliest stage of every project.
• Santa Barbara County bicyclists lost out when Measure D was defeated because it contained a Complete Streets clause.

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Save on Car Free package

• Visitors can save up to 50% with a 2007 Santa Barbara Car Free Experience package. It offers discounts at hotels, restaurants and activity and transportation alternatives. Visitors are encouraged to come to Santa Barbara County car free in order to enjoy discounts. Details at www.santabarbaracarfree.org.

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Coalition supports proposed bikepath



This shows the existing pedestrian path parallel to Highway 154 and north of Calle Real. It might be turned into a multipurpose trail. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Following the death of Jake Boysel who was biking to La Colina Junior High last September, people have been seeking ways to increase safety for children walking and biking in the western part of Santa Barbara. The City's Dru van Hengel is now proposing the conversion of an existing sidewalk and pedestrian path into a multipurpose trail, and is seeking funding for it from the state's Safe Routes to School program.
• Our Bicycle Coalition supports the proposal, although important details about how the new trail will begin and end are still under consideration. On December 21st, we sent a letter to the state's coordinator who distributes Safe Routes to School funds, asking her to seriously consider the city's proposal, especially in consideration of Jake's fatality on adjacent Calle Real.
• The path would run just east and south of the Saint Vincent housing project that is currently under construction. At the north end, it will connect to La Colina Road that leads directly to Bishop Diego school and in a few blocks to La Colina Junior High.
• The need for a safer route for our children has been clearly demonstrated for this part of Santa Barbara. We certainly hope that funding will be granted.

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We thank our active members

• Please thank and support the following Bicycle Coalition business members:
• Bicycle Bob's, Santa Barbara
• Big Gear Bike Gear, Santa Barbara
• Café de Velo, Santa Barbara
• King Cycle Group, Portland, Oregon
• Nett & Champion Insurance Services, Santa Barbara
• Open Air Bicycles, Santa Barbara
• Pedal Power Bicycles, Santa Maria
• Santa Barbara Electric Bicycle Company, Santa Barbara
• In addition, we welcome new members Ron Adler, Lane Anderson, Fred Perner, and Patsy Bolt. We further thank Garrick Sitongia, Woodie Wilde, Drew Hunter, and Benjamin Ellsworth who renewed their memberships.

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Resealed bikepaths are questioned



Apparently, some three-wheeled vehicle rode over the newly-sealed path, leaving deep tracks. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Last November, the County spread a "slurry seal" over Obern Trail and Maria Ygnacio Path near Goleta. Emails and phone calls immediately resulted where bicyclists questioned the detour signage and the new surface. People were pleased that potholes had been filled, and root upheavals leveled, however the surface was rougher than before, and bicyclists and others had apparently scarred it before the slurry seal dried.
• The County's Scott McGolpin noted in an email "the goal of this surface treatment, like all surface treatments, is to extend the life of the pavement and to maintain this facility in perpetuity."
• McGolpin also said that the contractor had met all the County's specifications for the work. He noted that on roadways, heavy motor vehicles compress new seals, so any roughness quickly diminishes. Even without heavy traffic, the coat will settle down in time—but whether it will ever be as smooth as it was before is unknown. Actually, parts of the path network are fine, while others are rough. The County will patch areas where riders gouged the wet seal coat, but will let the roughness settle over time by itself.

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Oberstar heads House committee

• In a favorable move for people who bicycle, the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives selected avid cyclist James Oberstar from Minnesota to chair the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
• As an example of his concern for cyclists, Oberstar recently said that the words "bike lockers" will be added to airport projects eligible for funding from a $3.5 billion FAA fund. This followed directly from news about 70-year old Paul Caspersen who had biked to the Minneapolis airport. Unable to find any bike parking for his vintage Raleigh, he locked it to a post in a remote corner of the airport. Upon returning, he found that his bike had been not only removed, but was cut into pieces by security personnel.
• For us, this change means that our local airports will be able to obtain funds for secure bike lockers. Multi-modal transportation will be improved, thanks to Oberstar.

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