February
2002

Bicyclists respond to anti-bike article

• Tom Becker, the guiding light behind the local Cars Are Basic group, greatly benefitted local bicyclists with his editorial article in the Santa Barbara News-Press on January 13th. Several times in his article he refers to the Bicyclist Coalition as an "extreme environmental group," able to "place members of their organization in key government positions." What really touched a nerve, however, was his dumb assertion that "...automobiles such as the Toyota Prius hybrid vehicle produce less pollution per mile than a bicyclist."
• The immediate response to the Becker article has been 12 letters and articles, one praising him and the others refuting and questioning his stance. Thanks to Bicycle Coalition members Susan Carty, Judy Keim, David Madajian, Curtis Ridling, and Gary Wissman for their measured and sensible responses. In addition, several other letters came from the general public. On top of that, News-Press columnist Barney Brantingham talked about the storm of response in two of his columns. Our thanks to Becker for a promotional opportunity!

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New bumper stickers

• By partnering with local groups, the Bicycle Coalition is producing new bumper stickers that will bring four new messages to the public. One is shown here, the others are:
• Had I ridden my bike, you could park here.
• Think globally, bike locally.
• Make every street a Safe Route to School.
• Thanks to our partners for help: Air Pollution Control District, UCSB Transportation Alternatives, and Safe Routes to School Coalition.

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Innovative signs slow motorists near schools



Motorists respond to new speed signs near Montecito Union School. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• Just stand near one of the new speed signs, and watch drivers slow down below 25 MPH as they approach Montecito Union School. If drivers are going too fast for the school zone, the sign rapidly flashes their speed on the screen, then moves to a steady number when they slow down under 25 MPH. Driver after driver slows down! It's impossible to watch without smiling at its effectiveness.
• The new solar-powered signs are an innovative combination of existing technology conceived by the County's alternative transportation coordinator Wilson Hubbell. The California Office of Traffic Safety agreed to fund production of four prototypes for $7500 each. The signs come equipped with timers so they are activated only during times when school children are in the area.
• The alternative to these signs mounted on posts next to the roadway is a trailer with a speed panel mounted on it. Unfortunately, these sit in the roadway shoulder or bikelane, forcing kids biking to school—and any other cyclists—into the traffic lanes. And they cost more. The new signs are bolted to a concrete footing next to the roadway. Because of the attachment method, they can be moved to another footing at a different school.
• Two units are now working on San Ysidro Road in Montecito, and the other two will probably be installed in Orcutt. Montecito Union school was chosen because of the strong support from the school's safety committee and the Montecito Association. Thanks to all involved, this innovative product is making it safer for kids to bike and walk to school.

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Preserving biosphere diversity

• The geography of biological life on our planet is not uniformly distributed. It is concentrated in a small number of habitats scattered on different continents. Just 25 of our earth's hot-spots of diversity occupy 1.4% of the land surface, but are home to 44% of the plant species and 35% of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.
• One of those special places is our home: California's Mediterranean coast. We are the stewards of this, the biologically richest place in our country. May we have the wisdom to recognize and preserve this unique treasure.
• — National Geographic, January 2002

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SB Car Free site

• The "Take a Vacation from Your Car" group has created a new identity and new web site santabarbaracarfree.org. The group, sponsored by the Air Pollution Control District, is partnering with the Bicycle Coalition and other local groups to promote car-free travel to both tourists and local residents.
• The web site has a section devoted to bicycling, with links to our 11 South Coast bike tours, plus bike clubs, bicycle rentals, and tour providers. It also features walking tours developed by Bicycle Coalition Board member Ann Lawler. Check it out.

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Mechanics needed for Earth Day booth

• For the past decade, the Bicycle Coalition has had a booth at Santa Barbara's Earth Day festival. This year, it will take place on Sunday, April 21, at the County Courthouse gardens.
• We give out bike maps, Quick Release, Bike Week info, other bike literature, and enjoy chatting with visitors about bicycling. Our most popular feature, however, is our free bicycle check-ups. What we need—and are willing to pay for—are bicycle mechanics. If you are able to offer check-ups, even for 2 hours, please contact Pierre Delong at 683-0034 or at travellingpierre@earthlink.net. And if you have ideas that improve our booth, come to our general meeting or again contact Delong.

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Calendar promotes clean transportation



10-year old Karen Rios from La Honda School in Lompoc did this drawing for January.

• The enthusiastic response to last year's "Kids Care for Clean Air" calendar was so positive that producers Traffic Solutions and the Air Pollution Control District decided to create a 2002 version. Over 500 kids from all over the County submitted drawings in a competition for a bicycle from Bob Zaratzian at Bicycle Bobs, or a savings bond.
• Most of the printing of 2000 copies went to contacts for the two agencies. However, there are some extras that are being given out while they last. If you would like one, phone Traffic Solutions at 963-SAVE right away. For the record, four of the 13 drawings are about bicycling—a healthy way to travel for the cyclist, and a non-polluting mode for the community.

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Coalition writes to Caltrans

• On January 23, the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition sent a letter to Robert Miller, Caltrans' project manager for proposed improvements on Foothill Road west of Mission Canyon Road.
• The letter noted that proposed changes for Foothill can significantly improve our safety. We urged Caltrans to design the road with four-foot paved shoulders (preferable marked as bikelanes), shoulder stripes, and designated "NO PARKING" zones on both sides.
• "The advantages of the no-parking paved shoulder are many," states the letter. They are "safer conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists, a place for USPS mail trucks to enter for delivery, safer conditions for disabled vehicles, space for motorists when emergency vehicles approach, greater sight distances for motorists exiting driveways, and no blocking of motorists by slow-moving bicyclists in the travel lanes." We'll keep you posted as project designs progress.

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Safe Routes to School offers Bike Ed course

• In order to advance bicyclist safety, our Safe Routes to School Through Safe Communities Project is sponsoring a "Bike Ed" instructor training course this spring. The two-day Bike Ed course will be taught by League of American Bicyclists (LAB) instructors from Washington DC. A date has not yet been established, but April seems likely.
• The Safe Routes Coalition will pay the $175 registration fee for individuals who sign up for the Bike Ed class and agree to subsequently teach South Coast school children. Participants have to join LAB by themselves for $30.
• "Our goal," explains Safe Routes Coalition coordinator Dru van Hengel, "is to create a pool of certified instructors as a resource for schools and other groups that would like to have on-road bicycle instruction taught."
• The Bike Ed Instructor Certification Seminar will give tips, tools, and techniques needed to confidently teach safe bicycling to children and adults. If you're not interested in teaching kids, you can still take the course and pay $175. Look for LAB program details at: www.bikeleague.org/educenter/education.htm.
• To date, 15 people have signed up. Interested? Contact van Hengel by phone at 564-5544 or email at dvanhengel@ci.santa-barbara.ca.us.

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UCSB sells helmets

• After prodding by Jamey Wagner, the Transportation Alternatives coordinator at UCSB, both the Associated Students Bike Shop and Student Health Service started selling inexpensive bike helmets to students. The helmets are being obtained through a County program.
• In addition, Wagner got the University Children's Center to send home order forms to all parents. Never missing an opportunity, Wagner adds, "I put a plug in there for the parents to buy a helmet for themselves as a model for their kids." Good thinking!

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The Web turns ten

• In January 1992, the World Wide Web was born. At a conference in France, Tim Berners-Lee stunned physicists when they could access the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center high-energy physics database 6000 miles away.
• Our Bicycle Coalition was one of the first advocacy organizations in the US to recognize the importance of the Web in spreading our message. Thanks to Gary Wissman, Robert Bernstein, and Ralph Fertig, it was launched in November 1995. History has proved us right.

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Santa Barbara’s newest bicycle buddy
by Mindy Norris



Erika Lindemann with her commute bike. Photo by Ralph Fertig.

• One recent evening, neither rain nor darkness could stop Erika Lindemann from her twelve-mile bicycle ride home from work at the Traffic Solutions division of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. Erika is a true-blue believer in the virtues of bicycle transportation and we are very fortunate she has recently decided to return to her hometown of Santa Barbara.
• Erika returns home with an impressive repertoire of experience in the promotion of bicycles and other forms of alternative transportation. She will undoubtedly make a significant contribution to the cycling community in Santa Barbara County. After graduating from University of California at Santa Cruz with a BA in Environmental Studies, Erika began working for the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission's rideshare agency, Commute Solutions, where she worked as a commute consultant. She also spent a year working for Bike to Work, a small non-profit agency in Santa Cruz, where she helped implement and oversee a variety of projects aimed at encouraging people to try bicycle commuting, including an eye-popping two annual Bike to Work Day events (in the spring and fall)!
• Erika joined the Traffic Solutions staff last November and has quickly become an invaluable member of the program's team. Scott Spaulding, Traffic Solutions' Transit Coordinator, says, "Erika brings an enthusiasm to her work that's not only infectious, it's sincere—she believes strongly in what she's doing. And her belief makes all the difference when she talks to people in the community about Traffic Solutions' programs." Nobody creates a carpool matchlist with more care, concern and love than Erika! Additionally, Erika has fearlessly taken over the leadership reins for the Bike Week 2002 event (May 18-May 27, 2002), which promises to be another fun and successful series of events for bicyclists throughout Santa Barbara County.
• Join us in welcoming Erika back home! She will undoubtedly make her mark on the Santa Barbara County cycling community. Erika can be reached at 961-8919 or at elindemann@sbcag.org.

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BikeTEA founded

• A new national organization has been created to fight for better bicycle policies in the upcoming renewal of TEA21, the federal transportation bill. The BikeTEA coalition consists of eight national bicycling advocacy groups. One of them, Bikes Belong Coalition, sponsored by American bicycle industry, has committed $500,000 towards the campaign.
• TEA21 has been very important in providing federal money through the state of California for bicycle facilities in our County. Before the revolutionary ISTEA transportation act of 1991, the predecessor of TEA21, there was virtually no federal money for bike projects. Now there is 100 times as much.
• The membership of the BikeTEA Coalition includes: Adventure Cycling Association, the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, Bikes Belong Coalition, the International Mountain Bicycling Association, the League of American Bicyclists, National Center for Bicycling and Walking, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and the Thunderhead Alliance.

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GVCC funds projects

• The Goleta Valley Cycling Club voted at its January meeting to fund three community bicycling projects. The money comes from personal effort in conducting their annual People Powered Ride in the Santa Ynez Valley. The three projects are:
• $2360 to the Santa Barbara Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers for buying tools, trailers and radios.
• $1200 to the Santa Barbara County Medical Society's free bicycle helmet program for children who cannot afford them.
• $875 for GVCC members who wish to attend the LAB's Bike Ed instructor training program. (See separate article about the upcoming program.)
• An additional $565 was set aside for a possible additional project later this year. Congratulations to the GVCC for helping further safe biking in our community. For information about the club, visit their web site www.goletabike.org. Or pick up a copy of their monthly newsletter South Coast Breeze at local bike shops.

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Bicycling brings fitness

• The deplorable statistics are becoming worse. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 56% of US adults are overweight. Worse, the number of Americans who are obese has soared 61% over the past decade.
• We're all aware of the serious health problems from being overweight, but inactivity is dangerous too. About 27% Americans don't engage in any physical activity, and 28% aren't regularly active. People who control their weight but don't exercise are subject to 35 unhealthful conditions like coronary artery disease that can lead to an early demise.
• California is better off than most of the rest of the US. Men's Fitness magazine recently ranked our 50 largest cities for fitness: all 8 of the large California cities are among the 25 most fit.
• Bicycling is an activity that provides pollution-free mobility while bringing needed—and low impact—exercise to all of us. How much exercise? A 160-pound person burns off about 620 calories/hour at 12 MPH speed, and 770 calories/hour at 14 MPH. That same person sitting in a car would only burn 120 calories/hour.