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www.sbbike.org May 2008

Serving Santa BarbaraCountyWe’re a countywide advocacyand resource organization thatpromotes bicycling for safetransportation and recreation.

How to reach usSanta Barbara Bicycle CoalitionPO Box 92047Santa Barbara CA 93190-2047phone 962-1479email [email protected] www.sbbike.org

May 6th meetingJoin us on the first Tuesday ofthe month for our generalmeeting:Tuesday, May 6th12:00 noonSanta Barbara Bank & TrustCommunity Room1021 Anacapa StreetSanta Barbara

Online email listWe sponsor a free online emailforum where you can post andread messages that pertain toregional bicycling issues. Tosubscribe, just send an emailmessage to:[email protected] the subject line andbody of the message blank.

Join our CoalitionYou can help improve bicyclingsafety and conditions in SantaBarbara County by joiningothers in our regional bicyclingadvocacy group. Together we’llcontinue to make a realdifference. See page 6 for info.

Our CycleSmartprogramThe Santa Barbara BicycleCoalition’s CycleSmart bicyclisteducation program offersbicycling skills classes forschool children and adults.Look for details of upcomingclasses inside Quick Release,or contact our Co-coordinatorsDru van Hengel and ErikaLindemann by [email protected].

Quick Release is publishedmonthly by the Santa BarbaraBicycle Coalition, PO Box92047, Santa Barbara, CA93190. Subscribe for $25 peryear. Issue # 199.

Bike Week 2008 is sprinting our way!

� May 15 & 17, Street Skills for Cyclists class.

� May 16-23, Bike Week Flags.

� May 16-18, Santa Ynez Valley National, spon-sored by RideSB.

� May 17, Children’s Festival, sponsored byCOAST and our Bicycle Coalition.

� May 17, Bike Art Project.

� May 17, Fifth Annual Bike Week Celebration.See details on page 2.

� May 18, Willie Weir Bikes around India.

� May 20, Bike to School Day, sponsored byCOAST.

� May 21, Bike to Work Day, sponsored by UCSBand the City of Santa Barbara.

� May 21, Ride of Silence, unsponsored.

� May 21, Use Your Bike for Transportation.� May 22, Bikestation Anniversary Celebration,

sponsored by the Bikestation Santa Barbara andour Bicycle Coalition.

� May 22 and May 24, Bici Centro Repair Work-shops, sponsored by Bici Centro.

� May 24, Bike to the Merc, sponsored by BiciCentro

� May 24, Bike Film Night, sponsored by our Bi-cycle Coalition and HopeDance.

� May 25, Bike Clinic, sponsored by Open Air Bi-cycles.

Touring cycling and entertainer Willie Weir willreturn to Santa Barbara for our annual BikeWeek Celebration evening.

In these times of rising gas and en-ergy costs, declining fitness, andglobal climate change, the humblebicycle provides the solution to allour challenges while providing re-sponsible mobility.

Bike Week 2008 will parade thebenefits of bicycling before ourcommunity. Here is a brief listing

of major events. Go online for details about them all atwww.sbbike.org/BW/bw.html. The following events aresponsored by our Bicycle Coalition unless otherwise noted:

On April 16, the “Barry Siegel Bike Path” was dedicated onNorth Jameson Lane in Montecito. Barry Siegel, a commu-nity transportation activist after he moved here from LosAngeles with his wife Martha Siegel in 1993, passed awaylast September.

Siegel had been involved with Santa Barbara’s Transpor-tation and Circulation Committee, the Montecito Associa-tion Board of Directors, and the Coalition for SustainableTransportation. With his engineer’s rigor, he would devourcomplex and intimidating government transportationdocuments and ask astute, pointed questions at meetings.After SBCAG meetings in particular, he emailed meetingreports that were widely read not only by those missingthe meetings, but also by those who attended them.

Although Siegel didn’t bicycle, he loved walking alongNorth Jameson to Summerland. Because of his efforts, wenow enjoy pedaling—or walking—on the bikelanes there.

Supervisor Salud Carbajal and Martha Siegel holdup one of the six upcoming Barry Siegel signs.

Barry Siegel Bikepath dedicated in Montecito

Quick Release ~ May 2008 ~

Every other month, we offerour Street Skills for Cyclistsclasses. If you missed earlieropportunities to hone your bi-cycling knowledge and skillsfor biking confidently in traf-fic, you catch our next class:Street Skills for Cyclists Class� Thursday, May 15, 5:30-8:30 PM� Saturday, May 17, 8:30 AM-3:30 PM� Granada Garage, Santa BarbaraThe class is open to anybody 16 years of ageor older. You can bring your child who is 14or 15, with your supervision. The class costs

A Tibetan Freedomtorch was carriedthrough our area onApril 14-15th by Tibetancyclists as part of a 50-city protest against op-pressive Chinese rule.The cyclists includedJigme Norbu, a nephewof the Dalai Lama.

Bicycle Coalitionpresident Ralph Fertigwas impressed that theyselected the bicycle astheir vehicle for non-violent, self-propelledtravel. Not an SUV, not aHummer, not an ar-mored vehicle, but a bicycle. So he biked tothe Santa Barbara home where they werestaying, expecting to take photos and seethem on their way. However, they asked himto guide the group to UCSB for their noonrally, which he did.

Event to honor GrantHouse and Ed France

At this year’s Bike Week Celebrationevening, our Bicycle Coalition will awardcertificates to honor Santa Barbara CityCouncilman Grant House and Ed France,the director of the Bici Centro communitybike program.

For the past four years, we have honoredindividuals who have contributed to makingour community a better place to bicycle,and are pleased to include Grant and Ed fortheir years of active support for bicycling.

The Celebration evening again will returnon Saturday, May 17th to the Chase PalmPark Center on East Beach in Santa Barbara.The evening will start at 6:00 PM, and willinclude voting for winners of our Bike Artcontest, chatting over drinks on the patiooverlooking the bikepath and ocean, enjoy-ing a dinner catered by Country Catering,applauding the deeds of Grant and Ed, andhearing tales by Willie Weir, who has justreturned from three months of bike touringin Colombia and Venezuela. All for $35.

Invitations to the Celebration eveninghave been sent to Bicycle Coalition mem-bers. And others can reserve by going towww.sbbike.org/BW/2008/dine.html.

CycleSmart bicyclist education news

Earth Day surveyAt our information booth at theSouth Coast Earth Day event, weasked visitors to vote for the bestways to fund bicycling improve-ments. We gave them “Bike Bucks”that they could “vote” with by put-ting them into any combination of sixlabeled boxes as listed in the graph

The voting results show thatpeople want more bike lanes on citystreets more than anything. Law en-forcement is a low priority, and threeother categories are half as import-ant as the bike lanes are.

$30, however some scholar-ships are available. Just askus. We are grateful to theCity of Santa Barbara fortheir sponsorship of theseclasses.

Learn details about theclass structure and what it

has to offer you and others on our websitewww.sbbike.org/CycleSmart/apply.html. Ifyou have questions, phone Dru van Hengelat 564-5544 or email her [email protected]. And be sure totell others about it.

Tibetan cyclists prepare to bike to the University, led by Ralph Fertig,wearing the dark jersey. Photo by Kevin Young.

“They were good cyclists, following allthe rules of the road, wearing helmets,riding single file,” noted Fertig. The pressreports of the UCSB rally, however, missedthe bicycling aspect, and concentrated oncounter-protesting students.

Tibetan Bike Relay passes through county


“Wet Willie” is an advice column authored byCoalition Vice President Wilson Hubbell. Pleasesubmit any questions you have about cycling

issues to him at [email protected].

Wet Willy SezDear Wet Willy: I’ve been thinking aboutputting a rear view mirror on my bike but Irecently tried riding a friend’s bike with ahandlebar-end mirror and found it to be ba-sically useless. Are these things way over-hyped or is it just me? — Stephen

Dear Stephen: Although they may not beuseless, Wet Willy isn’t a fan of handlebarmounted mirrors because they have a fixedmount on the bars that doesn’t allow “gaz-ing” across a broad area the way helmet andeyeglass mounted mirrors do. In otherwords, helmet/eyeglass mirrors allow you tomove your head and see behind in all sortsof directions but handlebar movement ismuch more limited.

Wet Willy recommends that you try a hel-met mounted or eyeglass mounted rearviewmirror. I wear one all the time and (heresyalert!) would rather ride without a helmetthan be without a mirror.

A mirror allows you to quickly and fre-quently monitor what is going on behindyou—much more quickly and frequentlythan turning your head to look to the rearcan. This is especially important in hightraffic situations where knowing what is ap-proaching you from behind will influence thedecisions you make regarding turning move-ments and your position on the roadway.

Wet Willy uses a CycleAware ViewPointmirror www.cycleaware.com that mounts onthe inside of the left eyeglass lens. It’s effec-tive, unobtrusive, nearly undetectable andcheap. Other inexpensive eyeglass or helmetmounted mirrors are available from compa-nies like Blackburn, Third Eye and Take-A-Look. Try one and let me know what youthink.

Coalition participates in our 17th Earth DaySince 1992, our Bicycle Coalitionhas participated in the SouthCoast Earth Day, and this year’sevent at the Santa Barbara CountyCourthouse was the best ever.

People picked up over 900pieces of literature—a recordnumber—from our informationbooth on the Courthouse lawnand from our table outside theBikestation across Anacapa street.With gas prices rising, a concernover inactivity, and an awarenessof the global effects of CO

2 emis-

sions, people are hopefully realiz-ing that the basic bicycle can solvethem all.

This year, our free and popularbike check-ups were inside theBikestation. Although the locationwas new, 65 bicyclists still foundus, enough to keep our dedicated mechanics Wilson Hubbell, Robert Rainwater and GeoffGrow busy all day helping others bike better.

New this year was a “TravelPass” program where any visitor could obtain a printed pass,visit seven alternative transportation booths where it was stamped, then enter into a rafflefor prizes. We partnered with Traffic Solutions, COAST, Santa Barbara Car Free, theBikestation, Community Environmental Council, and MTD for our mutual benefit. Thisbrought hundreds of extra people to all our booths. The raffle prizes from us were:

� $40 Hazard’s Cyclesport gift certificate from Bruce Davis� Two-hour Pedal and Paddle certificate for a walking, bike or kayak tour from Judy Keim� A Kelty daypack from Ralph Fertig.

The TravelPass program gave a great boost to the Santa Barbara Bikestation. Most whowent there were surprised that it existed at all, let alone by the neat bike accommodations.

Valet bike parking was offered by Bici Centro who parked over 300 bicycles. In prioryears, we only had room for 50 bikes in our self-serve bike parking area, and it frequentlyoverflowed, so this was a welcome improvement.

The Community Environmental Council gave out two special awards to us and BiciCentro for our workin improving commu-nity transportation.On behalf of our orga-nizations, RalphFertig and Ed Franceaccepted the awardson the stage.

Finally, our sincerethanks to our othervolunteers whohelped make EarthDay a success for bi-cyclists: PierreDelong, Judy Keim,Bob Burgess, RalphFertig, Ed France,Thomas Matthias,Drew Hunter, DonLubach, and RodrigoSoria.

Our volunteer bike mechanics Geoff Grow, Robert Rainwaterand Wilson Hubbell perform check-ups on Earth Day bicycles.

Sarah Grant sports a bicycle balloonhat at the Bikestation table.

With his child secured in an up-frontseat, a bicyclist leaves the Bikestation.

Coalition electionscoming this July

Our Bicycle Coalition election for officersand board members is held every two years,and it’s coming up this July. Nominationsfor the four officers and five board mem-bers will be accepted at our May 6th meet-ing, and by mail/email by May 20th. Ballotswill be published in June Quick Release.

Please consider nominating yourself orothers for these important positions. Ourfuture depends on what you all do.


Upcoming bikemeetings and events

Spring is here and our best cycling season isupon us. Check our website for ongoing up-dates and longer event descriptions atwww.sbbike.org/meet/meet.html.

May 6, Bicycle Coalition General Meeting,sponsored by our Bicycle Coalition. Meetingat noon, first Tuesday of the month. Com-munity Room at the Santa Barbara Bank andTrust building, 1021 Anacapa Street, SantaBarbara. Phone president Ralph Fertig, 962-1479 or email him at [email protected].

May 17, Rotary Wine Country Ride, spon-sored by Rotary Clubs of the Santa YnezValley and the MS Society. Starting at Mis-sion Santa Ines in Solvang, you can choosefrom 11, 25, 62, and 100-mile rides. Bagelsand coffee to start, food stops all along theway, hot meal and live entertainment at theend. Details at http://solvangrotary.com.

May 17-25, Bike Week 2008, sponsored byour Bicycle Coalition. An entire week ofbike-related events will keep you chargedup. An event list is on page 1, however up-dated details for all of the events, includingregistration for the Celebration dinner, areonline at www.sbbike.org/BW/bw.html.

Lois Capps joins bikerodeo at Monte Vista

Our Congressional Representative LoisCapps accepted an invitation to participatein a bike rodeo at Monte Vista School inSanta Barbara on April 18th. According toBob Zimels who extended the invitation toCapps, she gave a terrific talk about thehealth advantages of cycling to school, aswell as its benefits to the environment,while at the same time cautioning them toride safely.

There was good participation of over 30fourth-graders who rode their bikes toschool that day. Capps helped others onthe rodeo circuit by managing the car doorprop to demonstrates how to avoid gettingdoored while biking.

We are indeed fortunate to have a com-passionate and articulate bicycling advo-cate as our local Representative. Ourthanks to her, to Zimels who initiated theinvitation, and to others who helped out.

Donated bike racksdedicated at UCSB

by Don Lubach

UCSB freshman Melissa Wiggins was out ofclass and soon to be on her way to meet hervisiting grandparents. However, after diggingher new bicycle out of a pile beside her cam-pus residence hall, she found a damagedbike. Her grandparents, Larry and SandraWiggins saw the shortage of bike racks andknew that something had to be done.

Although Larry passed away soon after-wards, Sandra Wiggins decided to improvebike parking at UCSB as a tribute to her latehusband. So she funded the installation ofspecial bicycle parking racks manufacturedin San Luis Obispo by Peak Racks.

A dedication ceremony took place onApril 10th. Joined by her mother, HelenEslinger, and her two granddaughters Mel-issa and Vanessa, Mrs. Wiggins was pleasedwith the installation of new racks at the busloop near the campus center.

Associate Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher,along with many members of the campuscommunity joined to thank the family. Brassplaques on the racks now say, “Bicycle Park-ing provided by: Sandra & Larry Wiggins tosustain UC Santa Barbara Cyclists.”

Associate Vice Chancellor Marc Fisher addresses thededication group on April 10. Photo by Don Lubach.

A better love affair“We always go on and on about how Amer-icans have a love affair with their cars, butI’ve always felt they also have a love affairwith the quickest, easiest, cheapest, mostconvenient way to get around. And if wemake that something other than the car,Americans will love that just as much.” — Andy Clarke, executive director, LAB

`

Ed France, right, instructs Monte Vista students onbicycling safety.

New Santa Maria BMX

Island View Classichad something for all

The UCSB Cycling team put on a local raceon April 12 that attracted not only colle-giate and professional cyclists, but also lo-cals residents who participated in a CruiserRace. The race on a closed circuit in IslaVista involved a lot of organizing for theUCSB Cycling team. Crowds watched theraces all day long, cheering on the partici-pants on a sunny day near the ocean.

The third annual Cruiser Race encouraged wildcostumes for the three-lap race.

A handful of Santa Maria volunteers areworking hard to open the new Santa MariaBMX track by late spring. Since the ValleyBMX track in Buellton closed several yearsago, it’s been a hardship to travel to theSanta Barbara BMX track to train and race.

The Santa Maria track is taking shape atthe Elks/Unocal Event Center along High-way 101 south of town. Mike Porter hasbeen the driving force behind the project,with help from Supervisor Joe Centeno andTed Scott with the Elks. The one-acreproject will have lights, announcer standand moto board. The existing center’ssnack bar, restrooms and parking arenearby. BMX is just about ready for action!

We thank our activemembers

Please thank and support the following Bi-cycle Coalition business members:

� Bicycle Bob’s, Santa Barbara� Nett & Champion Insurance Services,

Santa Barbara� Open Air Bicycles, Santa Barbara� Pedal Power Bicycles, Santa Maria� Santa Barbara Electric Bicycle Company,

Santa Barbara� Chris King Precision Components,

Portland OR� Run Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara.

We thank those who joined us: BrianHerdrich, Michelle Gooden, StephanieMortensen, Chris Sobell, Kevin Contreras,Paul Bergevin, Ann Dundon, Tim Pettit,Cynthia Holm, Trevor Plum and BrandyVickers. And we greatly appreciate thosewho renewed their memberships: DonBullick, Michael Chiacos, Michael Brown,Burt Romotsky, David, Karen & ZacharyWheeler, Mike Abbott, David Lawson,Diane Wondolowski, Thomas Matthias,Keith Coffman-Grey and Eric Schwartz.


April Coalitionmeeting topics

Our April 1st monthly Bicycle Coalition wasan evening meeting at Rusty’s Pizza, attract-ing 15 people to discuss these topics:� Ralph Fertig described the University’s Long

Range Development Plan that includesmajor changes in campus bike travel.

� Drew Hunter described the City’s Parks andRecreation recognition of volunteer work bythe Amgen Tour of California’s SantaBarbara Local Organizing Committee,especially the coordinator Barney Berglund.

� We discussed upcoming Earth Day possibili-ties, like new locations for bike parking andcheck-ups, and ways to attract more peopleto our booth.

� We met Courtney Dietz, the new Walk SantaBarbara director who appreciates ourcommon interests.

� The Bici Centro community bike programwelcomes everybody to a grand opening oftheir new workshop space on April 5th.

� Ralph Fertig outlined our activities for BikeWeek on May 17-25th. There is a possibilityof bringing a “Bike Arch” from Ventura.Judy Keim described her Bike Art contest.There may be a Bike Film Night at theMercury Lounge.

� We were updated on the Measure Atransportation tax process. Passage iscurrently looking promising.

Bici Centro’s open shop

Bici Centro introduced its new shop spaceto the public with a grand opening on April5th. Coming by among others were SantaBarbara City Councilmembers Das Williamsand Helene Schneider. The 1200-squarefoot space now allows Bici to hold regularshop hours and classes for students.

Come by to volunteer or work on bikes at601 East Montecito Street, Santa Barbaraduring either of the open shop times:� Thursdays 4:00-8:00 PM� Saturdays 1:00-7:00 PM.More information at www.bicicentro.org.

All day long, visitors came by for Bici Centro’s newshop opening on April 5th.

Quick Release accepts advertisements. Cir-culation is about 500 people. Ad detailsand an order form are available online atwww.sbbike.org/QR/ad.pdf .

P.O. Box 92047Santa Barbara, CA 93190-2047

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PAIDSANTA BARBARA,

CAPERMIT NO. 647

MEMBERSHIP IS VALID IF LABEL BELOW SAYS “MEMBER”

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Put your name here by joining theBicycle Coalition and have Quick Release

delivered directly to you!

Santa Barbara Bicycle CoalitionPresident, Ralph Fertig, 962-1479

[email protected] President, Wilson Hubbell, 683-1240, [email protected], Drew Hunter, 896-2119

[email protected], David Bourgeois, [email protected], Judy Keim, 687-2912

[email protected], Don Lubach, 722-2349

[email protected], Jim Marshall, 962-3531

[email protected], Mark McClure, 967-5031

[email protected], Nancy Mulholland, 563-9073

[email protected], Dru van Hengel, 564-5544

[email protected], Erika Lindemann, 569-1544

[email protected], Matt Dobberteen, 568-3000

[email protected], Ed France, 310-936-0857

[email protected]

Regional bicycle clubs & groupsThe Cutters

Mark Langowski, [email protected]

Echelon Santa BarbaraKim Weixel,[email protected]

Goleta Valley Cycling ClubDoris Phinney, [email protected]

Lompoc Valley Bicycle ClubBob Grant, [email protected]

SB Mountain Bike Trail VolunteersJohn Berberet, [email protected]

Santa Barbara Bicycle ClubDave Court,[email protected]

Santa Barbara BMXDale Bowers, [email protected]

Tailwinds Bicycle ClubKris Madaus, [email protected]

UCSB Cycling ClubJennifer Johansen, [email protected]

Road repair contactsCaltrans

www.dot.ca.gov/maintform.htmlCarpinteria

Tom Evans, 684-5405 [email protected]

GoletaBill Millar, [email protected]

LompocLarry Bean, [email protected]

Santa Barbara CityDru van Hengel, [email protected]

Santa Barbara CountyMatt Dobberteen, [email protected]

Santa MariaDavid Whitehead, 925-0951 [email protected]

SolvangBrad Vigro, [email protected]

UCSBDennis Whelan, [email protected]

Shop discountsBicycle Coalition members ben-efit from discounts at localshops. It’s another reason to joinour group. To get your discount,take your copy of Quick Releaseto the shop and show them youraddress label that says “MEM-BER” on it. Or cut out the labelbox and take it.

Discount details are online atwww.sbbike.org/SBBC/who.html.Please patronize these shops:

Bicycle Bob’s250 Storke Road #A, Goleta15 Hitchcock Way, Santa Barbara

Bicycle Connection223 W. Ocean Avenue, Lompoc

Hazard’s Cyclesport110 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara

Mad Mike's Bikes1108 E. Clark Avenue #G, SantaMaria

Main Street Cycles311 East Main Street, Santa Maria

Open Air Bicycles224 Chapala Street, Santa Barbara

Pedal Power Bicycles1740 Broadway, Santa Maria

Santa Barbara Electric [email protected]

VeloPro Cyclery633 State Street, Santa Barbara5887 Hollister Avenue, Goleta

“If you bicycle, you should join the Bicycle Coalition”

Application for MembershipYes! I want to help make bicycling better for all of us in Santa Barbara County.

❏ Individual, 1 year $25 ❏ Student/Senior, 1 year $12 ❏ Household, 1 year $40❏ Individual, 2 years $45 ❏ Student/Senior, 2 years $22 ❏ Household, 2 years $75❏ Business, 1 year $100 ❏ Business, 2 years $180 ❏ Lifetime $1000name _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

address _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

city, state, zip _______________________________________________________________________________________________

phone ___________________________________ email _____________________________________________________________

❏ New membership ❏ Renewal membership❏ Email me Adobe PDF files of Quick Release newsletters instead of printed ones.Make payable to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition. Mail to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, PO Box 92047,Santa Barbara, CA 93190. We are a 501c3 nonprofit, so contributions are tax-deductible as allowed by law.

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