Member Spotlight: Jeff and Rhoda Hein

Our names are Jeff and Rhoda Hein. We are lifelong San Diegans and cyclists. We currently live in Tehachapi California were we get as many as four seasons in a single day! Yes, that makes riding a challenge sometimes.  We have long climbs that end with 20% plus grades to head winds up to 60 mph gusts. We are moving back to San Diego this fall and we want to be as active in the biking community as possible. We crew for RAAM (Rhoda will race in the 2014 RAAM) She has also re-found her love for track biking and will compete in the masters state and nationals in the pursuit and time trial. I have been riding for about 30 years. I was hoping to become a master's racer, but I was severely injured overseas breaking my neck. I was told I would never ride again...but I am slowly making my come back and I hope to compete in the pursuit and time trials on the track myself. Rhoda and I have just started a nonprofit organization, "Cycling for Social Justice."   We will be raising money those who have no voice in the world. This ranges from animal rights to our current group: the National Association for the Mentally Ill. Rhoda has a passion for both the mentally ill and the families of the mentally ill as she has had to live and manage my life as upon coming back from the war on terror I was diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar disorder. We believe we can make a difference one pedal stroke at a time and we look forward to being a part of  the San Diego Bike Coalition and making San Diego a bike-friendly city.

Robert's Mini Bike Book Review

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)

By Sue Macy

Review by Robert Leone      

March is Women's History Month. Why not read a celebration of distaff cycling! First, though, a warning: Wheels of Change is written for the education market, meant to be read by teens, and published by National Geographic. The resulting product is filled with a dizzying array of sidebars, illustrations, captions, and color. Despite the sometimes overwhelming display of National Geographic graphic design prowess, this is a great read! From a time when the widest distribution of popular culture was sheet music, readers will learn of such songs as "Get Your Lamps Lit" - about night riding safety. We also learn of such athletes as distance riding phenomenon Dora Rinehart, and fierce competitors Jane Yatman and Jane Lindsey. The two Janes traded setting timed riding records along the same 20 mile course, while Rinehart guided her single-speed safety bicycle for hundreds of miles over the roads of Colorado before the turn of the last century. 

 

It's not just exemplary athletes, either, as any League Cycling Instructor could profit from the story of how Woman's Christian Temperance Union stalwart Frances Willard learned to ride a bike at the age of 53. Don't let the intended youth audience deter your reading this book. Macy's work and research are original, not a simplified version of an "adult" text. The resulting text and its accompanying pictures, the references, the trends and anecdotes, are not available in any other single place to the same extent as they are here. Find and savor it.

Mayor Filner Announces First Ever Open Streets Event in San Diego

This morning, Mayor Filner and the City of San Diego made a very exciting announcement. San Diego will host its first ever open streets event in August 2013! Called CicloSDias, this free, open street event encourages people to walk, ride, stroll and enjoy San Diego in a way they never have. CicloSDias San Diego celebrates our communities coming together for an unforgettable day of physical activity and fun! 

We at SDCBC could not be more excited and are happy to be partnering with the City on this event! 

To learn more:

  Visit www.CicloSDias.com 

Like CicloSDias on Facebook

Follow CicloSDias on Twitter

 

Coast Highway 101 Update

If you have not ridden Coastal Highway 101 recently through Encinitas, please do!  You're in for a treat!  Most of it is now marked with sharrows and "Bikes May Use Full Lane" signs.  That means traffic engineers have determined the outside lane is "too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane", per CVC 21202(a)(3), and so bicyclists have the right to control the lane.  Controlling the lane, rather than riding near the right edge, makes it easier for motorists to realize sooner that they need to change lanes to pass safely.   

Further, northbound, just north of Leucadia Blvd, there has been "lane diet", reducing the number of travel lanes from two to one, to make room for an eight foot wide bike lane.  And the pavement is all smooth now - goodbye Vulcan Ave detour!  Check it out!

Serge  Issakov

SDBC/SDCBC liaison


See full release below:

­February 20, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:  Andy Hanshaw, San Diego Bicycle Coalition, 858-487-6063

New Bike Lane, Sharrows Welcomed by North County Bicyclists

New roadway markings remind cyclists, motorists to share the road

SAN DIEGO, February 20, 2013 – Drivers and bicyclists traveling through Encinitas along Coast Hi­ghway 101 have seen a change to the roadway in recent weeks. In an effort to better accommodate the growing number of bicyclists in the area, the City of Encinitas added a new bike lane to northbound Coast Highway 101 from Leucadia Boulevard to La Costa Avenue. Crews also added a total of 140 sharrows and 28 “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” signage in both directions from K Street to La Costa Avenue to remind motorists that cyclists may ride in the center of the lane for increased safety and visibility.

San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, an organization that advocates for and protects the rights of all people who ride bicycles, reminds cyclists and motorists to follow guidelines for the new bike lane and sharrows, which now adorn streets across the county.

“For the thousands of people who ride Coast Highway 101 every week for recreation and transportation, the bike lane and sharrows are a welcome sight,” said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition. “They’re also markings of a more bike-friendly community, which we’re seeing in mass across San Diego County.” 

Supported by the Bicycle Coalition, sharrows are a newer tool in the bike-friendly community toolbox. Adopted by Caltrans in 2005 as a statewide universal marking for sharing the road, sharrows mark travel lanes that bicyclists and motorists share. When a lane is too narrow for a dedicated bike lane, a sharrow has been proven to be an effective tool in increasing safety and awareness for all road users. These four-foot wide bicycles with two arrows on top are painted on streets in neighborhoods and along thoroughfares in San Diego County that agencies have already designated as bicycle routes. Road users can see sharrowns in Oceanside in North County as well as the communities of Ocean Beach, Point Loma, Normal Heights and downtown San Diego.

Sharrows help bicyclists position themselves away from parked cars, to avoid being struck by suddenly opened car doors, and to alert other road users that bicyclists may occupy travel lanes. To aid the effectiveness of the sharrows, the City of Encinitas also installed several “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” signs to reinforce that cyclists have the right to be in the travel lane.

To celebrate the new bicycle lane and roadway markings, the Encinitas Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, along with Leucadia 101 Main Street Association and Downtown Encinitas Main Street Association have organized a casual ride on the new and improved Coast Highway 101. The “Joyride” will take place on March 23. The organizers encourage all community members to save the date and join them for a cruise up and down the coast with stops at local bike shops and restaurants. Please visit www.bikewalkencinitas.org for more details.

For additional information on sharrows and other bike-friendly infrastructure projects, contact the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition at execdir@sdcbc.org or 858-487-6063.

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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.  

South Bay Becomes More Bike-Friendly

Chula Vista has become the third city in San Diego County to install sharrows!  The City of CV's first sharrows were installed on East J St., a popular bike corridor over the I-805 which connects commuters and residents to schools, adjacent parks, and canyons while connecting "old" and "new Chula Vista."  Congrats to City staff Tom Adler and Frank Rivera and to the Chula Vista Ad-Hoc Bike Committee.  If you're interested in making CV a better place to ride and live, get involved with the new Ad-Hoc Bike Committee which meets monthly.  The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, March 5 from 6:30pm to 8pm and will meet on historic Third Avenue at D' Volada Cafe (320 Third Ave, 91910).  Please join us.  For more info, contact Tom Adler, tadler@ci.chula-vista.ca.us

-Randy Van Vleck

Volunteers Needed for Amgen Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California is coming back to San Diego County! I’ve been tasked with helping on volunteer support. 

Stage 1 will start AND finish in Escondido on Sunday, May 12th, and we will need over 600 volunteers that day. We are especially in need of Course Marshals who will be assisting with the tasks below. If you would like to help, please share the sign up link and information below. Just a note also that the Course Marshal responsibility is best suited for adults who will be able to help maintain a safe course.

Here is the link for volunteering: http://www.escondido.org/amgen-tour.aspx

Course Marshal - Assigned a designated area along the race course to assist with the coordination and safety of the field of play for all race venues; keep the course clear of pedestrians, spectators, cars, etc. 

• Assist police officers with road closures
• keep vehicles from entering the course when the race is passing
• Keep spectators, children, pets or any number of other hazards off the course

-Andy Hanshaw, SDCBC Executive Director

Member Spotlight: Debbie Chaddock

Reasons I Cycle:

Inexpensive Transportation: 

I live where almost everything I need is within walking and cycling distance (half mile to 3 miles).  

When I don't telecommute, I usually cycle to work (depending on project/assignment, 7-14 miles each way).  

My hybrid is equipped with fenders and I have rain gear, so weather rarely prevents me from riding.  

My spouse and I share one economy car between us, and it usually takes 2-3 weeks to go through a tank of gas.

Healthful, Inexpensive Recreation:  

I usually do a long-ish pleasure ride on the weekend (35-75 miles), on my own or with a group.  

On a good week, I squeeze in a midweek pleasure ride (25-30 miles).

Sport:

I occasionally participate in organized centuries and other rides.

Defiant Age Denial:

I used to run competitively, and cycling is part of my cross-training lifestyle that allows me to maintain the level of fitness I desire as I get older.