Leading the State? SB Pulls Ahead as a Cycling City
What do you do when your city's national ranking among communities serious about cycling goes from 120th to 12th in the nation? And 1st in California?
You celebrate and honor that work in the home of the national leaders in bicycle advocacy, presidents of Trek Bicycle and Trek Travel, John and Tania Burke.
So, join us Sunday May 19th at 5pm at the Burke's lovely Montecito blufftop residence for SBBIKE's annual event.
But before that you read the press release to explain what this new system is and how it works...
Uniting for Biking
2019 Velo Wings Award Winners Mobilize for Change
For the eighth year running, The Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition is honoring three women for their outstanding contributions toward improving local cycling. The annual Velo Wings Award ceremony is part of CycleMAYnia, an activity packed, month long celebration of all things biking. This year’s award winners have each worked to bring people together for a common cause: safer biking for all.
Award recipient Lori La Riva has spent over a decade creating innovative solutions to the challenges presented by the diverse needs of road users. As the Traffic Solutions Program Coordinator at SBCAG, La Riva oversees CycleMAYnia, helping to plan and implement over 30 biking events during the month of May.
From the fix a flat clinic, to bike commuter breakfasts, to bike in movies, CycleMAYnia casts a wide net, inviting novice to expert level cyclists to join in the fun. Says La Riva, “The most rewarding part of my work is my relationships with people. With CycleMAYnia, our collaborators are creative, inspiring and fun and I love bringing their ideas to the community.”
Courtney Dietz has worn many hats in the cycling community, from executive director at The Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST), to SBBike board president. She has helped shape the biking landscape in Santa Barbara both culturally and through her contributions to the Bike Master Plan. In each role, she says she has been motivated by “the desire to make biking accessible to more people.”
When Dietz welcomed the first of her two young daughters and saw a gap in cycling support, she sought a community solution.“I wanted to help educate families about the diversity of ways to ride with their growing family.” She organized Babies on Bikes, an event featuring gear to demo, the advice of seasoned family cyclists, and an encouraging atmosphere. She is hoping to host another such event in the future and is eagerly awaiting the day her youngest daughter is able to join in, “I’m really looking forward to us all being out together!”
Eighth grader Aria Riley started the school year as a less-than-enthusiastic participant in Dunn school’s biking curriculum. But, the more she biked, the more she grew to enjoy it, and the more she wanted to make significant changes to road conditions. She made better bike infrastructure the focus of her eighth grade project to, “raise awareness for the importance of safe bike lanes in Santa Barbara County.”
When Riley heard about The Two Wheel Town Hall ride she knew it would be the perfect fit for her project. The ride, organized to promote a collaborative approach to better cycling in the Santa Ynez Valley, had the support of local leaders, but Riley more than tripled the number of participants by planning an alternate class schedule and committing the entire Dunn school, including faculty, to attend. Says Riley, “I wanted to be involved in this bike ride because it was the perfect event to carry out my project while showing that a middle schooler can care for real world problems.”
The award ceremony will be held on May 11, at noon, at Bicycle Bobs in Goleta.
Pre-register: http://www.sbbike.org/velo_wings_awards_2019
Bike Share at City Council
This Tuesday (Tomorrow!) at 2:00 to 5pm Santa Barbara City Council will decide on a both moving forward with Bike Share as well as needed bike/ped/parking improvements in the Funk Zone. Santa Barbara needs bike share for downtown employees, residents who don't already bike, SBCC students & faculty, and so many more. Let's tell City Council this Tuesday to make sure our program is set up for success. E-bikes are critical for our program's use-fullness for residents of the Mesa, those accessing the City College, and other semi-hilly locations. The Bicycle Coalition produced this report, which highlighted the strong desire for electric bicycles to be part of the program, going back two years ago. Additionally, programs like that of the City of Santa Cruz have demonstrated a 3X increase in use for ebikes. Why start a program that wouldn't be widely used!? That would be like using this 1990's danish coin based bike instead of an app. Here is the council report:
Similarly, the Funk Zone study and plan will be considered which would allow for increased parking spaces along with a small amount of paid parking on the most congested streets. This is the equivalent of adding a parking structure to the Funk Zone- something that would otherwise be unfeasible. It will also generate much needed funding to leverage grants for pedestrian and bicycling improvements in the funk zone, - just like the Santa Barbara and Yanonali street intersection improvements that address demonstrated safety concerns! Ask City Council to realize the extensive work of the Funk Zone community and our City Staff. Say yes to the Funk Zone plan! Here is the council report:
But we need your help! City Council needs to know that we want a strong, innovative, and responsive bike share system- and that we shouldn't arbitrarily exclude ebikes. We also want council to know that the Funk Zone parking study and plan is important to improving bicycling and walking conditions in the Funk Zone. If you can attend in person, please RSVP here.
Changing the Culture: SBBIKE's Education Dream
Ten years ago, when I started with the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition (SBBIKE), my vision was to teach bicycle education in schools countywide. I never thought I’d be able to do it. I didn’t think I could get support from the community. I’m grateful to Audacious for giving me the opportunity to realize my dream.
At SBBIKE, we know how to teach bicycling. We know that changing the habits of this generation of kids (who don’t know how to ride) means offering bicycle education from second through sixth grade at least. We know that, if we help kids discover the independence of bicycling, we’ll change the culture of the community. It’s a long-term challenge, because parents think biking is dangerous. Riding to school has declined since the ’70s.
New Board President Frank Peters
For Mr. "Bicycling and Breathing," the cycling revolution's about building strong leaders and networking—with a dash of computer savvy and a sprinkle of humor.
Bici Bids Farewell to Program Manager Ted Hamilton
During his brief time with Bici SB, Ted Hamilton enjoyed being a part of team effecting change. And he has advice for the next program manager. He'll be missed. SBBIKE wishes him luck!