SANDAG Transportation Scenarios Public Workshops

Speak Out on August 6th for Greater Investments in Walking, Cycling and Transit for a Healthier San Diego!

Join us on August 6th at a San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) public workshop to review draft transportation scenarios for San Diego’s future. The plans include a combination of transit, highway, and pedestrian/bicycle projects that will be built over the next two decades, as well as the timing for each.
Our Region need to create a transportation network that offers many realistic, convenient choices to help reduce dependence on cars and the resulting health burdens caused by traffic-related air pollution and accidents, and climate change. 

SDCBC, Circulate SD, and our partners are calling on SANDAG to develop and test an alternative scenario, one that provides earlier investments in walking, cycling and transit, rewards smart growth planning and builds transportation choices BEFORE building out the long range freeway network. Please join us on August 4th or send a letter to SANDAG to provide a plan for the region that will put us on the best path to achieve a healthier, more sustainable future.

SANDAG Transportation Scenarios Public Workshops

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

     • 11:30 to 2 pm or

     • 5:30 to 8 pm

CALTRANS, 4050 Taylor Street, San Diego

RSVP  to Dan Gallagher at dan.gallagher@sandag.org

San Diego County Bicycle Coalition Elects New Board Members

Current board members elected to vice chair and secretary

The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition announces Elayne Fowler and Khalisa Bolling as its newest board members.

Known for her remarkable work as global marketing director for Electra Bicycle Company, Elayne Fowler brings an innovative approach and inspiring attitude to the Bicycle Coalition. Founder of her own marketing company, Elayne pulls from her background in strategic marketing for top-tier agencies, entrepreneurial endeavors and passion for all things bicycles to guide the Coalition. 

Currently a community health program representative at the University of California, San Diego, Khalisa Bolling has made public health her primary focus since earning her bachelor of science in health promotion and her masters in public health. Regularly delivering group education sessions aimed at increasing physical activity and participating in advocacy efforts to increase local walkability, Khalisa brings her health expertise to the Bike Coalition to drive countywide event and policy engagement.

In addition to electing Fowler and Bolling, existing member Judi Tentor advanced to vice chair and Maria Olivas to secretary.

For more information on the Bike Coalition and its efforts in San Diego County, please visit www.sdcbc.org.  

Bike Coalition Executive Director Appointed to City's First-Ever Bicycle Advisory Committee

Andy Hanshaw appointed to guide city bicycle initiatives until mid-2016

Today, San Diego City Council appointed Andy Hanshaw to the City’s first-ever Bicycle Advisory Committee with a term ending July 1, 2016. Recommendations from Mayor Faulconer included Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition and Point Loma resident, and Kyle Heiskala of Hillcrest. 

Hanshaw and Heiskala joined six additional bicycle advocates and residents from around the city to serve on the advisory board, including Coalition Board Member and Advocate of the Year, Randy Van Vleck. Others appointed include: 

• Kathleen Keehan (Rancho Bernardo)
• Michael Brennan (Hillcrest)
• Nicole Burgess (Point Loma)
• Petr Krysl (University City)
• Samantha Ollinger (City Heights)

In March, San Diego City Council unanimously approved its first-ever Bicycle Advisory Committee to provide guidance to the City on local bicycle projects to make a safer, more accessible and bike-able city, including the implementation of the Bicycle Master Plan Update.

“The City has a lot of great bicycling initiatives coming to fruition and copious opportunities to become one of the most bike-friendly cities in the nation,” says Hanshaw. “I look forward to working with the committee members and elevating San Diego to be a premiere city for bicycling.”

The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, an organization protecting and advocating for the rights of all people who ride bicycles, celebrates that the City of San Diego joins numerous cities in the county that have formally and informally sanctioned bicycle advisory committees.

For more information on Hanshaw and the Bike Coalition, please visit www.sdcbc.org. 

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San Diego County Bicycle Coalition (SDCBC) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for and protects the rights of all people who ride bicycles. They promote bicycling as a mainstream, safe and enjoyable form of transportation and recreation. For more information, go to www.sdcbc.org.  

Bastille Day Ride review

Bastille Day- French National Day- is akin to our Independence Day. It is in remembrance of the storming of the Bastille, a prison-fortress that also held political prisoners and ammunitions. Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, feudalism was abolished and The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was passed - It became the basis for a nation of free individuals protected equally by law. We, at the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition further interpreted to mean everyone had the natural right to enjoy the buttery deliciousness of French pastries.

Laissez-les manger des croissants!

Cycle Quest in Sorrento Valley offered to host our Bastille Day Ride. We chose to ride to Darshan Bakery in Encinitas. We rode 12 miles, indulged in some French pastries, and then rode back.  Sharon of Cycle Quest provided a nice pre-ride spread of fruit, madeleines, and baguette. The Sunday morning ride was quiet from the start but soon became busy with other cyclists and cars along the 101. One rider suggested that we return using a different route, utilizing back roads rather than relying on the Rt. 101. We all agreed that would be a great alternative. 

The 25 mile was at a social pace and riders introduced themselves to each other and even discussed bicycle safety.  A puncture near the end of the ride provided the perfect opportunity for a photograph to document the riders.

We hope to make this an annual event, maybe to a different French bakery each year. Suggestions?

 Ride to Darshan Bakery in Encinitas

Bike ride back to Cycle Quest

 

Summer Bike In Movie at the Pearl

The Pearl loves showing movies in their chic space, which allows viewers to watch a movie in the comfort of a pool. They also are friends with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, offering a discount for cyclists on the last Sundays of the month.

Pedal over to the Pearl for a free movie under the stars.
The event is sponsored by New Belgium Brewing Co., with beer sales benefit the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.

++++++Bike valet++++++++

Seating is limited- Dinner reservations recommended –

RSVP to guarantee your spot! ~ rsvp@thepearlsd.com

Thursday August 7, 2014.

6pm Meet up,

6:30pm Bike ride

8-10:30pm Movie- The Three Amigos!

The Pearl Hotel- 1410 Rosecrans St.

San Diego, CA 92106

www.thepearlsd.com

619-226-6100

Bastille Day Ride this weekend July 13th

July 5th was the start of this year’s Tour de France. Sure we are not in France, eating baguettes au Brie and donning berets, watching racers. . . .racing. Well here in San Diego, we can ride to a French café and oh la la even ride French bicycles if we have them! We are planning a Bastille Day(weekend) bicycle ride up the 101 to Encinitas from Sorrento Valley to those that want to speak with a French accent and binge on pastries.

This Sunday- July 13th!

We are meeting at Cycle Quest, who have graciously offered parking, water, air and a restroom! Cycle Quest is also conveniently located across the street from the Sorrento Valley train station for riders arriving by train.

We will ride up the Rt.101 up to Darshan Bakery for fine pasteries and a coffee and we then ride back to Sorrento Valley. We should be back in time to watch some of the World Cup Final. What is more French than that? Je ne sais pas?!

Casual pace, about 13 miles each way, and one big climb each way, so come prepared with a couple gears, and a good attitude. Unlike the Tour de France, this is not a race. We should be back by noon.

(yes, we know Bastille Day is July 14th, but that is a Monday and I have to work, je suis désolé, France)

REQUIRED ITEMS FOR BASTILLE RIDE(in addition to your bike!):
Bike helmet
water bottles
Patch kit or Spare tube
Identification
Money for Bakery- It is $CASH$ Only at Darshan Bakery

More information on the Meetup and Facebook.

Ride profile from Sorrento Valley to Encinitas(one way)

 

 

Robert's Mini Bike Book Review- Major: A Black Athlete, a White Era, adn the FIght to be the World's Fastest Human Being

By Todd Balt

Review by Robert Leone

It's summer in San Diego. While waiting for Tuesday and Friday nights, as well as the occasional Saturday, and the racing at the San Diego Velodrome, fans of brakeless bikes on the track can read about the early days of racing on ovals. It's not only a recounting of great racers and the steel steeds they created and rode, but also a profound meditation on the late nineteenth and early twentieth century emergence of professional sports in the United States and the world. It's also an exploration of the debilitating effects of commonplace racism: Marshall “Major” Taylor wrote that he couldn't compete in some towns because he wasn't, or wouldn't, be allowed to get a good meal there! He and his wife were on board a steamship for an ultimately well-received and successful tour of Australia when the question of that country's own draconian racial entry rules came up. No, not entry into racing venues: Entry into the country!

The author, Todd Balt, does a magnificent job delineating and describing the conditions of bike racing, social mores and prejudices, and even bike design. He notes Taylor's first manager, retired racer Louis “Birdie” Munger, went bust several times in the pursuit of perfection (exemplified by a surviving “Birdie Special,” a startlingly light drop frame bike, suitable for the then-scarce feminine “scorcher”), before his quest for safer motor-pacing through better tires came to the notice of the infant automobile industry. He notes the background of Taylor's nemesis, California-bred Floyd MacFarland, was almost as unlikely in a country still dominated by the settlements of the East Coast and Midwest. He also notes how acute the training wisdom of that long-ago day was in getting peak performance out of endurance athletes, including Taylor's using of an “unclimbable” hill in his adopted home of Worcester, MA for hill repeats. If you're not riding a bike, reading Major is almost as much fun.

USA Today Names San Diego in Ten Best Bike-Friendly Cities

San Diego only California city recognized in national bikeability list

Yesterday USA Today released its list of the ten best cities nationwide for bicycling. San Diego was the only California city mentioned. To read the article, click here. 

According to the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, the recognition is warmly welcomed but long overdue. “San Diego is making great strides and we’ve got even more on the way to be excited about including CicloSDias, bike share and the regional bike plan,” says Executive Director Andy Hanshaw. 

Major accomplishments from the past year include: 

• Launching San Diego’s first ever open-streets celebration, CicloSDias
• SANDAG’s approval of $200-million for a regional bike plan Early Action program 
• San Diego’s first bike share program with DECOBikes unanimously approved
• Record number of Bike to Work Day participants in May, 2014

The USA Today article highlights scenic and luxurious bicycle routes in San Diego including the Silver Strand, the ride to Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma and the Pacific Coast Highway route up the coastline and through some of the county’s most beautiful beach towns. 

For more information on bicycle opportunities and developments in San Diego, please visit www.sdcbc.org.