Ride Your Bike to Opening Day!

The East Village is once again hosting the Padres Opening Day Block Party on Tuesday April 9th.

Your San Diego County Bicycle Coalition will be there providing free bike valet service, so ride your bike and avoid the traffic and hassle of parking a car. We will keep your bike safe and secure during the block party and game!

J Street will be closed off from 6th to 10th Avenue for the Block Party where there will be live music, great food from local artisans and a Stone Brewing Beer Garden. Click here for more info about the block party. 

We will be set up from 11 AM to 6 PM (the game starts at 3:30). Just look for the SDCBC tent and racks! 

More Bikes, Less Cars – Coming to San Diego Businesses

SDCBC is launching Bike Local Sundays, a monthly line-up of events encouraging folks to ride bikes to local businesses and support neighborhood economies. 

Bike Local Sundays kicks off in fabulous Hillcrest on April 21 with free bike valet parking at the Hillcrest Farmer’s Market and Earth Fair in Balboa Park.

“Our kick off will be the ultimate Earth Day experience. Bike local to pick up local produce at the Farmer’s Market, then ride over to Earth Fair for a celebration of everything green,” said Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the County Bicycle Coalition. “Forget the gasoline, we’re fueling on fresh veggies and empanadas.”

In partnership with the San Diego Business Improvement District Council, Bike Local Sundays are for everyone to enjoy, whether their style is spandex and clip-in shoes, board shorts and flip flops or skinny jeans and heels, the events are for all to participate in everyday cycling in San Diego.

Participating in Bike Local Sundays could even translate into discounts with local businesses and vendors.

“We’re working with businesses to offer deals for those who skip the drive and ride instead,” said Tiffany Bromfield, CEO of the Business Improvement District Council. “For April, the Hillcrest Farmers Market will give a Market Buck to Bike Local Sundays participants. Who wouldn’t ride their bike to the market to save a buck at their favorite booth?”

Additionally, the Hillcrest Farmers Market, managed by the Hillcrest Business Association, is working with local organizations to offer other services for April’s Bike Local Sundays.
 
"The Hillcrest Farmers Market is excited to partner with Bike Local Sundays on April 21,” said Lisa Wier from the Hillcrest Business Association. “In addition the Market Buck, we're providing a mega-deluxe bike valet with Messy Jessie’s bike shop, and a huge interactive bike safety experience with Save Moves San Diego all day long. Head to the north side of the DMV with your bike for all our biking activities."

Bike Local Sundays started with a goal to get more people riding bikes to support business in San Diego. Trends show that more people riding bikes versus driving improves community health, air quality and traffic congestion, as well as boosts business by relieving residents of the costs of owning and operating a vehicle, transferring those savings to the local economy.

Beyond Hillcrest in April, six other districts throughout the City of San Diego will host Bike Local Sundays on the third Sunday of each month, some in conjunction with the City’s Mini-CicloSDias events and with a break in August for CicloSDias and Bike the Bay.

The Bike Local Sundays schedule is:

·   April 21, 2013 – Hillcrest

·   May 19, 2013 - South Park in conjunction with the Balboa Park Mini-CicloSDias

·   June 16, 2013 - Mission Hills in conjunction with Presidio Park Mini-CicloSDias

·   July 21 –Golden Hill in conjunction with Golden Hill Mini-CicloSDias

·   August 18, 2013 – San Diego CicloSDia

·   August 25, 2013 - Bike the Bay

·   Sept 22 – Pacific Beach 

     October 20 – Ocean Beach

For more information on Bike Local Sundays, visit www.bikelocal.org.

                                                       

Bicycle Detection at Traffic Signals

Sometimes an on-demand/traffic-actuated traffic signal does not change to green for people on bikes. This is more than annoying. It can be dangerous to proceed through a red traffic light, right? To increase your chances for triggering the light to change it is important to be correctly positioned at the intersection so that the traffic signal senor system can "see"/detect you. This is important both for the camera and for the in-pavement sensor systems; placement matters. 

Many traffic signal lights only operate on-demand, either by pushing a pedestrian crossing button or by the presence of a vehicle or bicycle at a very specific location at the intersection. For the systems that use devices in the pavement, it can sometimes be difficult on a bicycle to find the "sweet spot" that will trigger detection. Some cities place a "bicycle sweet spot" pavement marking to help with this. Without a sweet spot marker to help with detection we can look for the pavement cut marks to help find the best spots to stop over.

Below is a graphic depiction of how a person can best position themselves on their bicycle to cause various types of in-pavement on-demand traffic signal detectors to actuate/change a traffic signal; proper positioning matters. Proper placement for an in-pavement sensor will also work for camera detection systems. 

  

The illustration creator, Dan Gutierrez, provides this through the California Association of Bicycling Organizations (CABO).

There's lots more that could be said about this subject; one being that when you find a location where an on-demand traffic signal will not trigger for you, report it to the responsible city, county, or State agency. "Squeaky wheels get the grease."

Click here for more information about vehicle detectors. 

- Jim Baross, SDCBC Spokesperson and Advocacy Committee Chair

Women Riding Self-Contained…A Rare Species?

Have you tried bicycle touring? San Diego is along the most popular Adventure Cycling Association route- the Pacific Coast trail. This post comes from Nicole Blouin who is part of a group called the Two Wheel Travelers, a women's bike touring group who has done this route before. We at SDCBC are excited to hear about more and more women cyclists taking on touring! Read her experience with touring below and let us know if you have a story to share!

Recently a woman from UT emailed me about riding self-contained with our informal group, Two Wheel Travelers, and said she thought that “we were a rare species.” I’m finding that while this might be true, our numbers are on the increase with very little risk of extinction. For an example on how little it takes to revive the species, check out:

www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/okeeffe.

All newbies, one weekend and an incredible amount of high points. Claudia, who loves travel, found out how easy it is to go right out the back door. Clare loves to ride-sleep-eat-repeat, so having her days be all about this was amazing. Denise discovered she can do consecutive days, and Monday morning surprised her with bike withdrawal. Murchie expressed how it’s different than a day ride…more relaxing, no rush and nowhere to be.

“It’s hard to find other women who can leave the hair dryer and makeup at home and get dirty” (Patty in NY). So, we just need a way to connect and roll on. “I have all the gear and a finely honed sense of adventure” (Carrie in NM). So, we just need to organize the rides and they’ll come. “Sounds good, but what does self-contained mean?” (Jean in TX). O.k., so some of our species might need a little education before taking flight.

If you are passionate about cycling, there’s nothing better than a new road every day. Many women don’t consider that their bicycle can take them beyond a day, or they think of it as epic, and not simply pedaling off with a rack pack and credit card. It can be done anywhere, on any bike, for any length of time, with any amount of gear or lack thereof.

Find out how: www.twowheeltravelers.wordpress.com

 -Nicole Blouin 

City of Coronado Public Meeting to Discuss Bayshore Bikeway Improvements

The City of Coronado recently held a public meeting to discuss changes to the intersection of the Bayshore Bikeway with the entrance to the to the Coronado Cays development, and the Coalition was there to make sure cyclists needs were addressed.

The meeting kicked off with a presentation on the intersection. The project consultants gave some background on the large number of bikes and pedestrians crossing the entrances only a daily basis and a few accidents that have occurred. Attendees were then invited to place sticky notes of Ariel shots of the project noting problems or potential solutions.

The meeting was dominated by Cays homeowners, and many had stories of near misses with cyclists. While some homeowners wanted to force cyclists to stop and dismount before crossing the road, most realized that the main problem was visibility. With high walls leading up to the entrance from both sides and a guard booth right in the middle of the car drivers, they have trouble seeing cyclists coming from either direction along the Bayshore Bikeway.  The Coalition supports making improvements to the intersection while maintaining the flow of bicycles and pedestrians in one of the region’s busiest active transportation corridors.

Click here to view the intersection.

Many homeowners ride the Bayshore Bikeway themselves and saw that improvements could make for a safer ride and help beautify the entrance with new landscaping.  At the next meeting, scheduled for April 2nd, the project consultants will present some potential design options based on the feedback received.

If you ride the Bayshore Bikeway and would like to share your experience, you can email project engineer Darlene Danehy at ddanehy@psomas.com.

San Diego City Council Passes Resolution Promising Bicycle Infrastructure Improvements

Last week the San Diego City Council unanimously passed resolution promising bicycle infrastructure improvements to enhance safety.

BikeSD worked with Council Member Zapf on the resolution in response to the deaths of two cyclists in separate incidents in the councilmembers’ district over the past year. The resolution calls for the City to plan and develop infrastructure projects, explore ways to make cycling safer, support grants and other funding to build facilities and maintain staffing to implement projects.  You can read the complete resolution here:

http://dockets.sandiego.gov/sirepub/cache/2/qgctf355pl3rc245lywuogn4/50618303142013094428374.PDF

BikeSD and SDCBC came out in support of the resolution while noting that it will take more than resolutions to ensure that all people who ride bikes are safely accommodated on our roads. Momentum has been building improving cycling in San Diego, but this resolution reaffirms the City’s commitment to implement the 2011 Bicycle master plan and other programs. Aggressive action is needed to avoid more needless deaths and injuries to cyclists.

 In their discussion of the resolution, it was clear that the councilmembers shared a desire to make improvements for cyclists, although they noted that actually getting projects on the ground can be difficult.  With Mayor Filner’s recent announcement of the City’s first CicloSDia, bike share coming, and SANDAGs early action bike program, exciting changes should be coming sooner rather than later.

The Coalition will continue to work with the City and other advocates to make sure that much needed improvements for bikes are actually made and not just talked about.

Bikes Mean Business - Reflecting on the 2013 National Bike Summit

In my role as your Executive Director, I've had the privilege to attend the annual National Bike Summit held in Washington D.C. for the past two years.

Held each March, the Summit brings more than 750 bicycle advocates from across the country together to rally for important federal transportation dollars needed to make bicycling safer and more accessible for us and the people we represent who ride.

SDCBC Representatives at the Summit with Congresswoman Susan Davis

I've just returned, inspired and proud for the work that we do. The response was very positive and we can all take pride in the team that represented San Diego County at this years Summit. Together with our colleagues from all fifty states and beyond, we learned from our hosts and leaders at the League of American Bicyclists (LAB), the priority issues which we all "took to the hill" on a snowy, cold morning last Wednesday.  Our San Diego team met with our Congressional Representatives including Rep. Scott Peters, Rep. Susan Davis and staff from Rep. Duncan Hunter, Rep. Juan Vargas and Rep.

Darrell Issa. Additionally, I had the opportunity to talk proudly of the work we are doing in San Diego to the office of Senator Diane Feinstein, along with my colleagues from across our great state of California.  One of the issues we brought forward in our meetings this year, and this years Summit theme was that Bikes Mean Business. The economic impact of our local bicycling industry continues to grow and in California alone last year, the retail industry generated nearly $1.2 billion in sales and created 9,741 jobs. Our representatives from California and across the nation heard the call last week. Bikes Mean Business!

At the conclusion of the days events, everyone came back together to share their successes and hear from Andy Clarke, President of the LAB and Rep. Earl Blumenhauer, of Oregon, a true champion for our cause on Capitol Hill (see attachment). That experience of talking locally but bonding together nationally for more funding for bicycle infrastructure was very memorable and rewarding. Thank you for the opportunity to represent you.

Andy Hanshaw