5th Annual Lakeview Elementary Bike Rodeo

Last week we helped instruct the 5th Annual Lakeview Elementary Bike Rodeo -- San Diego County's largest rodeo. Congrats to community leader and parent Kelly Bailey for another successful year and for another phase of Safe Routes To School infrastructure improvements.

Roundabouts In San Diego County

What is a Roundabout?

A roundabout is an intersection where traffic travels around a central island in a counter-clockwise direction. Vehicles entering or exiting the roundabout must yield to vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

 This handout will better help you understand the ends and outs of a Roundabout.

Roundabouts can be found in La Jolla and there is a recently installed one in Carlsbad, on Rt. 101. 

SANDAG to discuss bike path Mission Valley & Mid-City

SANDAG is scheduled to talk about a project that would lead to a new, safer pathway for bicyclists who wish to ride between the Mid-City and Mission Valley. Today's discussion would allow for a $1.8M budget adjustment. Final approval could happen as soon as January 2015.
Currently the only routes connecting neighborhoods like Kensington, Talmadge, and Normal Heights are Texas St. and Fairmount Ave. Anyone that has biked or driven knows that cyclists have to contend with high speed motorists and a steep uphill climb.
The proposal, State Route 15 Commuter Bike Facility Project, will add a concrete barrier along Route 15 to safely buffer bikers and motorists.The proposed facility will connect to bike routes along Camino del Rio South, Adams Avenue, and the bike route that runs parallel to SR 15 from Landis Street to Adams Avenue

  

The project, if funding is approved and all goes according to schedule, will be completed and open to cyclists January 2017.

CicloSDias - How to Boost your Business!!!

 

PDF link of this flier

Here are some great ideas to make the most out of your business for CicloSDias 11/09/14
Create a temporary Parklet in front of your business
Put a temporary display or “bike friendly” sale rack on the public right of way outside your door
Create special “grab and go” items for just that day
Move part of your business outdoors for the day
Pass out coupons or information about your business to encourage passersby to return
Use your imagination!
Questions about how your business can get involved in CicloSDias - info@sdbikecoalition.org

What is a Parklet?
A parklet is a small space serving as an extension of the sidewalk to provide amenities and green space for people to use the street. It is typically the size of several parking spaces. It’s a great way to increase your presence and attract new customers.

CicloSDias is a FREE open street event hosted by the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition designed to connect neighborhoods and encourage mobility. Sections of the street in Hillcrest and Bankers Hills will be closed to car traffic. Everyone is welcome to walk, ride, stroll, explore and enjoy the day of car free streets in support of a healthy and vibrant San Diego.

Bring Your Bike and make history at the People’s Climate March San Diego!

Have you heard?!  On September 21^st people from around the nation and the world will come together in an unprecedented citizen mobilization for the People’s Climate March in New York City. As world leaders meet at the United Nations climate change summit, hundreds of thousands of marchers will demand the world we know is within our reach: a world with an economy that works for people and the planet; a world safe from the ravages of climate change; a world with good jobs, clean air and water, and healthy communities. Other marches will take place around the world as we collectively call on our leaders to act now on climate change. 

The People’s Climate March San Diego will be on Sunday, September 21. We will gather at City Hall at 12:30 to call for a strong Climate Action Plan, stop at America Plaza / Santa Fe Station to highlight transportation alternatives, and end at the County Administration Waterfront Park, where we will hear from local leaders representing different communities. Confirmed speakers include San Diego City Council President Todd Gloria and Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council AFL-CIO, Richard Barrera.

One of the key issues we are raising is transportation - getting people out of their cars and switching to biking, walking and transit.  We are inviting cyclists to be in a big group up at the front of the march to emphasize this. Biking, walking, and transit will be addressed specifically at our stop at America Plaza. 

There are four organized bike rides to this event: two from the North (University City and Mission Bay); from the East (SDSU); and from University of San Diego. Each bicyclist attending the march will receive a special People’s Climate March Bib (see below).

Click here for more information and to RSVP for a bike ride.

The People’s Climate March San Diego has been endorsed by a coalition of over 35 environmental, health, labor and civic organizations, including the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition.

Help make sure our leaders get the message loud and clear! Join us on September 21.

Click here to RSVP, for all the details, and for resources to share the information with your friends, family and colleagues. Together, we can make sure our leaders take serious climate action!

See you there,

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)

 

 

San Diego Multi-Use Pedestrian & Bicycle Pathway Project Ceremony this monday

This Monday, April 21st, 2014, at 11:30am, Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Councilmembers Scott Sherman and Lorie Zapf will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the San Diego Multi-Use Bicycle and Pedestrian Pathway Project. This $1.8 million project consists of a quarter-mile of new multi-use pathway for bicyclists and pedestrians. The project completes a connection between existing bike paths that end on either side of SR-163.
It celebrates the completion of a missing path segment for bicyclists and pedestrians along the San Diego River. Safety components include luminaires, street lights, ADA accessibility, and signage have been completed. An information kiosk for community postings is also completed. It is great news, the addition to new segments is always welcome.

The ribbon-cutting will be at Avenida del Rio, Southeast corner of Fashion Valley Mall in San Diego.

France Offers Money to boost Bicycle Commuters

Could you imagine being paid to ride your bike to work? $1.00 for every two miles of your commute . . . Yes Please!! France is introducing this incentive, along with 24  other initiatives aimed to increase bicycling to work in France. The “Plan Velo” proposal, introduced last week, is aimed to help curb pollution and promote bicycle commuting. Ireland and other European countries already have similar programs in place to great success. At the moment, companies must reimburse employees some of their travel costs, paying rail or bus season tickets plus a mileage allowance for those who drive to work. (ed. note -The program to offer incentives for bicycle commuters is still an idea from the French government at this stage, note that Paris is offering a 25% rebate against the purchase of electric-bikes). An allowance for bicycle commuters is the next logical step. 

France, Paris in particular, is experiencing a pollution problem, forcing officials to issue health warning to the elderly and pregnant woman. In response, the transit system is offering free rides to abate commuters traveling by car. The solution is not so simple for a country with deep cycling roots, after WWII, France embraced the automobile. On Monday, thousands of citations to defiant car drivers with the wrong number-ending license plate were issued. Political opponents and car associations criticized the restrictions, saying it would be tough to police and would be seen as a political ploy.

France is especially vulnerable to air pollution because it is 60 percent dependent on diesel cars. In the 1960s, the French government and industry made a strategic assertion that diesel engines were less polluting, and would gradually supersede, unleaded gasoline. For nearly two decades, France has been aware of its mistake. Diesel engines are more polluting than their counterpart, the gasoline engine.  Fumes from diesel cars, as well as industrial emissions and agricultural fertilizers, are blamed for increasing the micro-particles in the French atmosphere to dangerous levels. This situation is not unique to France but is rather an unintended consequence of modernization, especially in nations that are quickly developing.

Here in San Diego, we do not have the pollution problems of Paris or our close neighbors north of us, Los Angeles. To continue to have clean, healthy air, we should think about solutions to decrease our dependence on single passenger automobiles, and look at more sustainable alternatives like riding our bicycles and public transportation.

Sources-

Les Echos- Le gouvernement annonce 25 mesures pour encourager l'usage du vélo

New York Times- Fighting Pollution, Paris Imposes Partial Driving Ban

by Joel Flood