Carlsbad Village Business Spotlight- North County Family Bicycles

“Bicycles are the physical embodiment of freedom.”

Carlsbad resident Michael Kimmitt opened North County Family Bicycles, 300 Carlsbad Village Dr. Suite 300SB, just in time for San Diego Bike Month. The timing is apt: Kimmitt sells and repairs bikes designed for everyday riding, the main goal of Bike Month, from commuting to family outings, grocery shopping to beach cruising. Kimmitt stocks quality kid bikes, folding bicycles and cargo bikes. NC Family Bicycles also specializes in bike “make-overs” to transform average bikes to perfect ones that fit customers’ personalized needs and styles of riding. For growing riders, Kimmitt offers the Kids’ Bike Exchange Program, which puts the full retail value of a current bike toward a larger bike for kids, even if the original was purchased elsewhere.  NC Family Bicycles also offers Lifetime Flat Tire Repair.

NC Family Bicycles is dedicated to the idea that bicycles “create freedom, and the right kind of bicycle creates the freedom you’re looking for.” Kimmitt proudly shares that his entire staff bikes to work,  and he chose to open in Carlsbad because, as a resident, he knows the Village is a great place to travel by bicycle. He credits the improved bicycle infrastructure and ideal weather. Located just off Rt. 101 on Carlsbad Village Drive, NC Family Bicycles is the third in a triad of bike shops including Pedego Carlsbad and Ride Cyclery, which each specialize in different types of cycling.

“Bicycles are one of the last consumer machines that an ordinary person can purchase, and can come to thoroughly understand,” Michael remarks. NC Family Bicycles looks forward to assisting Carlsbad residents in their everyday riding, upgrading their current bikes and introducing recent advancements in bikes designed to transport kids and cargo.

Kimmitt also hopes to host local social rides that encourage new riders to build confidence. This weekend, NC Family Bicycles has partnered with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition as part of Walk + Bike Carlsbad to host Tips for Biking with Kids on Saturday, May 30^th, from 1:00PM-2:30PM. Join us or stop in anytime. NC Family Bicycles is open 7 days a week.

Walk + Bike is a partnership led by the City of Carlsbad, Circulate San Diego and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition to promote walking and biking around Carlsbad, with a special focus on the downtown Village and surrounding areas. The 12-month campaign is funded by a grant from the San Diego Association of Governments and includes events, outreach to schools, business promotions and other activities to get more people walking and biking instead of driving on short trips around town. For more information, visit www.carlsbadca.gov/walkbike.

The Key to Reaching City Goals is in the Green, Protected Lanes

Written by Andy Hanshaw, Chair of City of San Diego Bike Advisory Committee, Executive Director SDCBC
 

May is National Bike Month. Across the country, communities will spend the month of May promoting programs and activities to encourage more people to ride bicycles in their daily lives. And why shouldn’t they? The benefits of replacing a short car trip with a bike ride are numerous: studies show it benefits our health, our communities and our local businesses.  

National Bike Month is a good time to assess how far San Diego has come as a bike-friendly region and, while we have great goals for bikes, one thing is clear—we’re not investing in or implementing the strategies that will get us there.

In order to make San Diego a city less impacted by climate change, living with less pollution and maintaining safer streets for everyone, we need to get more people riding bikes. How do we do that? The most obvious, and only first step is to build safe and protected bike infrastructure citywide that connects neighborhoods, businesses, schools, shops and other destinations. Without more bike paths and lanes to make riders feel safe on our streets, our lofty city goals are just that: goals.

Currently, three city initiatives address this goal by encouraging the implementation of safe bike infrastructure and the many proven benefits they bring.

·       First, the City of San Diego wants to reduce impacts of climate change and harmful pollution in our air and environment; a goal everyone agrees is important. Mayor Kevin Faulconer and city council have drafted a Climate Action Plan with goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by calling for a significant increase in the number of people using a bicycle for everyday transportation. The goal of the plan is to get six percent of San Diegans riding bikes for transportation by 2020 and 18 percent by 2035. Currently, that percentage is barely one. How can we get more people riding if people don’t feel safe on the roads outside of a car?

·       Mayor Faulconer has outlined a plan to resurface 1,000 miles of city streets over the next five years, yet resurfacing streets doesn’t specifically include adding safe bike infrastructure. We need to do more than resurface and repave our streets; we need to repurpose them. Repurposing streets means we reconsider how we can use the space on our roads to make them safe for all types of transportation, particularly bicycles and pedestrians.

·       Hearteningly, the Regional Bike Plan includes already-funded bicycle projects planned for several key urban areas in the City of San Diego, including Uptown and North Park/Mid-City. The car-first mentalities we’re used to have caused push back on some of these innovative bike projects, keeping us stuck in an outdated and unsafe environment. Research shows better bike infrastructure benefits businesses and cities in the long run, so what are we waiting for?

While the status quo often has an allure, there are things far scarier than change—the fact that the city hasn’t prioritized the safety of its bicyclists and pedestrians over the relatively small loss of on-street parking that may be needed in order to complete these smart growth, sensible and needed projects. Riding a bike down University Avenue in Hillcrest is both a challenge and terrifying to many. If people don’t feel safe on bikes, no one is going to ride and our city’s progressive and necessary goals will collect dust. It’s as simple as that.

We have already seen firsthand that safe bike infrastructure encourages more people to ride from the recently installed buffered bike lanes on 4th and 5th Avenues. These bike lanes running from Hillcrest to downtown are perfect examples of the continuing change needed to reach climate and bike ridership goals and increase public safety. This model needs to be a part of the citywide strategy for a safer and healthier San Diego.

If we are going to talk the talk, let’s bike the bike. This is a call to significantly increase funding for biking and walking in our transportation budget.

A call to reduce our car emissions and air pollution to slow the damaging effects of climate change in our beautiful city.

And one to make the people of San Diego our biggest priority when the City plans for the 2016 budget and beyond.

Above all, this is a call that can't wait.

May is Bike Month

May is Bike Month. GO by BIKE!

Join thousands of San Diegans and GO by BIKE for National Bike Month in May. With an average temperature of 71 degrees and more than 1,340 miles of bikeways, the San Diego region is one of the best places in the country for people to commute on two wheels.

Pledge to GO by BIKE on Bike to Work Day, Friday, May 15. Help the San Diego region log 25,000 miles - the equivalent of one trip around the world and one million calories burned! Log your Bike to Work Day trip in TripTracker at 511sd.com/iCommute to make sure you’re counted toward the goal. Every time you GO by BIKE and log your trips in May, you will be entered to win prizes, including a new bike!

Pledge to GO by BIKE on Bike to Work Day, then roll into a pit stop on your way to work on Friday, May 15 to pick up a free Bike to Work Day t-shirt and snacks. Pit stops will be open from 6 to 9 a.m. Visit the Bike Month web page for a full list of pit stops.

Share how you GO by BIKE with @iCommuteSD on Facebook and Twitter or @SANDAGregion on Instagram before Bike to Work Day for your chance to win prizes, including a new bike! Then, share your Bike to Work Day experience by snapping a picture at a pit stop for an additional chance to win.

Get ready to GO by BIKE with resources on the iCommute website, including the San Diego Regional Bike Map, bike safety and bike security guidelines, and tips on how to take your bike on public transit.

For more information on Bike Month 2015 activities, visit the Bike Month web page, or call 511 and say “iCommute.”

Bike to School Day 2015 in Chula Vista

Thurgood Marshall Elementary School In Chula Vista. Amazing success, thanks in large part to Bicycle Mum(Skii Fleeton-Essenfeld), a mum and advocate in the community. She is a perfect example of leading by example.