fall 2012 quick release newsletter

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Fall 2012 • Volume 22 / No. 2 Help Bici Centro Find a New Home / 4 Want Bike Corrals in SB? Weigh In! / 6 Velo Wings Honors Women Cyclists / 10 “Skid Mark” Unveiled: Gramp’s Rant / 15 Photo contest: ENVISION YOUR SWEET CYCLING IMAGE FEATURED HERE IN OUR NEXT ISSUE! Check out page 7 Brought to you by the Santa BarBara Bicycle coalition

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SB Bike's news & events for our fair county.

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Fall 2012 • Volume 22 / No. 2

Help Bici Centro Find a New Home / 4

Want Bike Corrals in SB? Weigh In! / 6

Velo Wings Honors Women Cyclists / 10

“Skid Mark” Unveiled: Gramp’s Rant / 15

Photo contest: Envision your swEEt cycling imagE fEaturEd hErE in our nExt issuE! Check out page 7

Brought to you by the Santa BarBara Bicycle coalition

2 Quick Release Fall 2012

This fall is The season of flux for the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition and our Bici Centro shop. We plan to move to a new location this season, and we need your help.

We are also moving toward more community-driven advocacy starting in Carpinteria, Eastside Santa Barbara, and Old Town Goleta. We need your local networks and involvement if you live or work in one of these areas. Our youth after-school program, “Pedal Power,” is growing significantly, thanks to matching funds from

Measure A. We need your old kids’ bikes, your volunteered time riding with one of our groups, or your financial contributions to help complete our match.

Bici Centro—your community-run bicycle repair and education center—has had a tremendous run at our site host, Casa de La Raza. From our proof-of-concept monthly events in the Casa Patio to the four-year stay in a wing of Casa’s building, the partner-ship has been a great run.

We now need a more accessible space that better suits our needs, and in the process, we hope to revamp our bicycle mechanics bays and services such as truing stands, a solvent tank, a grinder/polisher, and similar amenities. Like a community barn raising, we are putting out the call for helping hands, so stay tuned.

Sincerely yours,

Ed FranceExecutive Director, SB Bike & Bici Centro

Cover photo by Michael ChiacosTwo dudes, two boards, one bike, no problem. Robert Caiza and his son, Gabe, head out for a day at the beach on Caiza’s custom-built Xtracycle.

BoardErika Lindemann, PresidentErik WrightDavid BourgeoisByron BeckMichael ChiacosRobert CaizaCarmen LozanoHector GonzalezTim BurgessCourtney DietzJohn HygelundMike VergeerDavid Hodges

StaffEd France, Executive Director [email protected]

Christine Bourgeois Education Coordinator [email protected]

Karen Blakeman Operations Coordinator [email protected]

Govt. LiaiSonS & adviSorSMatt Dobberteen, Advisor County of Santa Barbara 805-568-3576

Sarah Grant, Liaison City of Santa Barbara 805-897-2669

Kent Epperson, Advisor Traffic Solutions 805-961-8917

Ralph Fertig, President Emeritus 805-962-1479

Graphic deSiGnDanielle Siano www.daniellesiano.com

editorHolly Starley [email protected]

contact US601 E. Montecito St. Santa Barbara, CA 93103

PO Box 92047 Santa Barbara, CA 93190

www.sbbike.org (805) 617-3255

contriBUteYour time: www.bicicentro.org/volunteer

In-kind: www.bicicentro.org/wishlist

Financially: www.bicicentro.org/donate

oUr viSion

The Bike Coalition vision is that Santa Barbara will be a leader in creating a bicycle-friendly community and transportation system. Extensive on-road and separated bikeways, a coordinated transit system, parking, and amenities allow us to enjoy a culture where the majority of daily trips include a bicycle. As a result, our community is healthier and encourages balanced living within our resources. Universal cycling education for all ages supports the development of safe and respectful road behaviors from both motorists and cyclists. Widespread community and political support for bicycling is in place. By 2040, because it is a cycling-centered county, Santa Barbara is both a great place to live and work and a nationally acclaimed cycling destination, boasting a year-round calendar of successful, fun, and inclusive events.

lEttEr from thE ExEcutivE dirEctor

www.bicicentRo.oRg 3

contEntsa new Bici site? 4

signage update 5

Bike to Bowl 6

cyclemaynia challenge 7

tour de tent 8

sB century 9

women on wheels 10

Bike to school day 12

cycling camp 13

Events calendar 14

skid marks column 15

Joe Andello, ever the jokester, is a bike enthusiast who gets a kick out of learning more about bike repair and helping community members do the same. His disarming sense of humor breaks the ice with other volunteers and customers alike. This summer’s volunteer of the year helps keep the shop spinning and the morale high.favoriTe bike: Classic Bottecchia, steel-frame road bikefavoriTe Times aT The shop: When kids learn something new that they can do on their bike

The SanTa BarBara Bicycle coaliTion and

Bici cenTro would like To Thank all our SupporTerS

and BuSineSS memBerS!

voluntEEr BikE light

At Bike to School Day at SBHS, organized with the Dons Net Cafe, newest SB Bike board member and now retired assistant principal, David Hodges (seated), becomes part of Team Soil’s show. CHriSTiNe BourgeoiS

Left: Joe Andello. KAreN BlAKemAN

Dons Net CafeEye SpecialistsService Objects

4 Quick Release Fall 2012

afTer five years and over 3,000 individuals

helping repair bikes in its Do-It-Yourself community workshop, Bici Centro is actively looking for a new place to call home. The successful bicycle boosting program has facilitated massive growth in after-school bicycling programs, bicycling events like CycleMAYnia, and bike valet parking like that available at the SB Bowl and Earth Day. After years of generous support from La Casa de la Raza César Chávez Center, which has hosted Bici Centro since its inception, the program has grown beyond the effective use of the space. “Casa has made it possible for Bici Centro to grow from an idea to a very real benefit for many people,” recalls Ed France, co-founder of Bici Centro and current Bicycle Coalition executive director. “They believed in the power of an upstart community group to make positive change before anyone else. Wherever we next call home, the La Casa de La Raza César Chávez Center will always be a part of our story.”

Where will the next home for this com-munity cycling center be? For the answer to that question, the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition (SB Bike) is looking to the community at large.

The Bici Centro Community Bike Repair Project began in 2007. Local cyclists helped community members make needed repairs and fit adjustments that they otherwise didn’t have the skills, the tools, or the money to make. The program became fiscally spon-sored by SB Bike, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, in 2008, and in 2010, Bici Centro formally merged with the coalition, becoming the community services arm of the member-based advocacy orga-nization. The project has been hosted by La Casa de La Raza since it first got underway, but the program now has youth education

programming on five South Coast Cam-puses, one program in Santa Maria, and a mobile bike repair bi-cycle, “El Taller Móvil” (The Mobile Work-shop), that appears at

community events throughout the South Coast.The organization has three specific facility needs. The Com-

munity Open Shop requires 500 to 1,000 sq. ft. of retail space, ideally accessible by transit and within the Santa Barbara down-town core. Another 500 to 1,000 sq. ft. of storage space is needed for bicycle and component recycling. This enables Bici Centro to provide free refurbished bicycles to the youth program partici-pants, affordable “starter” commuter bicycles to the community at large, and used parts to low-income shop users. Lastly, Bici

Centro seeks an office of 500 to 700 sq. ft. for meetings and staff and intern worksta-tions. Combined, this would be a 1,500 to 2,700 sq. ft.-facility. It is preferable, though not necessary, to have all these spaces in one location.

Ideally this programming could be used to complement community service and active transportation goals of local government or larger nonprofit agencies. A

new Bici Centro site could also be temporarily used to help bring vibrancy to commercial real estate trying to reposition itself on the market.

With youth programming, bicycle recycling, adult education programs, assistance for low-income cyclists, and the community building of bicycling events like CycleMAYnia, Bici Centro believes that it will bring value to wherever its new home might be.

SB Bike needs your help to make the next stage of its offerings a reality. Please contact Ed France, executive director at 805/203-6940 or [email protected].

Bici Centro Looks for a New Home

By Bici centro Staff

Bici Centro started on the patio of Casa de la raza in 2007. File PHoTo

Bici Centro planning group, circa 2008. File PHoTo

Bici update

www.bicicentRo.oRg 5

my neighbor’s son uses a “Foothill

Route” sign nailed to a piece of lumber as a bike launch ramp. That’s one sign that’s definitely missing from a network that helps keep our county bike friendly and safe. The Santa Barbara County South Coast Bike Signage Network provides important route and direction information to local and visiting cyclists. In 1996, SB Bike and the County of Santa Barbara collaborated to design and install the county’s signage network. Since then, many signs have gone missing or been damaged.

In addition to replacing the missing or damaged signs, adding arrows that point to communities or areas of interest, as well as “You Are Here” maps at a few strategic junctions, will improve and update this important network.

On June 2, a dedicated group of SB Bike volunteers fanned out to survey the signs in the bike network. Each volunteer took a kit that included a map and index of the installed signs and set out on one of the bike routes to catalog the existing sign inventory. These initial route surveys taught us a lot. Volunteers identified signs located in places not shown on the maps, signs needing graffiti removal, signs needing repair or replacement, and signs completely missing. We also discovered that many of the signs have accumulated extra non-bike route signs sharing the signposts. In addition, many signs at bikeway and street intersections don’t actually indicate the name of the intersecting street, and new bike routes created since 1996 and currently heavily used by cyclists don’t have any signage.

We will provide this new information to the county Public Works Depart-ment so that the department can replace signs and improve the network.

However, some routes have yet to be surveyed. interested in becoming a part of these improvements? We need volunteers to conduct surveys of the signage on the remaining unsurveyed bike routes. Volunteers can pick a section of the bike route that will take about two hours to complete and work either alone or as a team. Routes still in need of volunteer eyes include the western half of the Obern Trail, the Foothill Route, and the Maria Igna-cio Route, to name a few. We will provide you with a kit that includes the map of the route, signs, and a booklet detailing the sign text as designed. You will need to bring a camera (a cell phone camera will be fine as long as you can upload the photos from it after the survey).

If you are interested in surveying a route, contact Tim Burgess at [email protected].

BIkEWAY NETWORk SIGNAGE UPDATE:

pedal for improvementsStory and photo By tim BurgeSS

aT Times, we need to slim down and tighten things up—times when excessive capacity must be reallocated for different uses. For our streets,

such slimming is aptly called a road diet. This simply means a reduction in the number of automobile travel lanes, which in this case will accommodate Class II bicycle lanes on Milpas from Canon Perdido to Cota. In addition, pedestrian-activated overhead flashers will be installed at Milpas and Yanonali Streets to help alert cars to people waiting to cross. Milpas and Ortega will also have flashers, as well as a raised island in the center that will act as a refuge for people crossing the street.

Some would argue that the proposed improvements to the Milpas Street corridor are long overdue. Most would agree that, unfortunately, it took the tragedy of fifteen-year-old Sergio Romero, whose life was cut too short, to mobilize the community. But what’s clear is this—the Milpas Street corridor is home to families, schools, businesses of all types, and increasing numbers of people getting around in a lot of different ways, not the least of which is by bike. Balancing all those users is challenging and necessary.

What does all of this mean for cyclists? Three blocks of bike lanes. While three blocks may not seem like much to some, those blocks will provide better con-nectivity to a possible underdog bicycle route—Nopal Street. Since the existing shared bicycle lanes (sharrows) will continue to be lower Milpas Street’s bike route, pro-viding bicyclists with other options remains important. In the hopefully not-so-distant future, a cyclist coming down Milpas Street could turn right onto Cota, where the Class II bike lane will end, to continue down Nopal, parallel to Milpas. The narrower Nopal boasts signifi-cantly less automobile traffic and feels like a safer, easier option to some cyclists who don’t enjoy, or even avoid, braving Milpas Street.

The simple reality is that three blocks of improvements is still three blocks of improvements, and it brings us all that much closer to a route that we can share more safely.

slimming down milpasBy courtney dietz

milpas Street

SB Bike is seeking more volunteers to survey the bikeway, documenting missing signage and signs, like this one, in need of repair.

advocacy

6 Quick Release Fall 2012

corrals Poll:

Weigh inWhat do you think? Are there locations in Santa Barbara County that could use “Bike Corrals” (on-street bike parking)?

A) Sounds cool, but not needed.

B) Absolutely, bring on more and better bike parking!

C) Bike Corral? What are we, cowboys?

To tell SB Bike what you think, submit your vote at bicicentRo.oRg/coRRal. We’ll post the results in the next issue of Quick Release.

remember Those sTories where you could choose your own adventure—the kind where the decisions you made at different points produced vastly different outcomes? Those were a lot of fun and a lot like life.

With a sweet series of shows remaining this fall at the SB Bowl, it’s sure to be a rocking autumn. How you get there is your choice. Try this one out:

Pocket from last night? Couch? kitchen table? Finally find your keys and head out to your car. Feel amped and ready to go but deflated as you see that the fuel light is illuminated. Again. Detour six blocks in the opposite direction to get gas, as fumes only work for so long. Head toward the Bowl. Again. You’re not even in sight and there’s no parking. Get frustrated as you continue to circle the blocks in an increasingly wider and wider radius, trying to find somewhere. Anywhere. Get antsy as you hear the music that’s not coming from your radio. Sigh in relief as you eye a spot that you can barely fit in but decide you’re going for it. Cross your fingers as the car in front of you slows, hoping she’s not hunting too. Feel your blood pressure rise as she slips into the spot ahead of you. Spend another agonizing ten minutes looking for a spot and then another ten minutes walking to the entrance. Breathe deeply as you look at your watch—it’s thirty-five minutes later than you had planned on arriving.

Or choose this:Grab your helmet as you throw your bag onto your bike (you’ll likely need a jacket for

the ride home). Pedal cheerfully as you feel the fading sunshine on your exposed skin. Point out the adorable dog in the front yard you just passed to your friends riding with you. Cruise past the line of cars backed up for two blocks, carefully avoiding the cones meant to contain the agitated drivers. Coast easily into the main parking lot returning smiles of the event staff as you enter. Ride directly to the table, where a friendly Bike Valet volunteer greets you with a valet ticket and a cheery, “Thanks for riding!” Turn over your bike, helmet, and bag (with jacket for the ride home) knowing it’s all under the watchful eyes of these new friends. Exude happiness as you walk away knowing that pedaling to the show saved time, money, and stress while allowing you to stretch your legs and your lungs. High five your friend as you walk up the hill to the start of the opening act.

What’s your choice?

going to the Bowl?choose your adventureBy courtney dietz

eD FrANCe

SB Bike Volunteers park bikes at the Santa Barbara Bowl. eD FrANCe

in our community

www.bicicentRo.oRg 7

The Quick Release (QR) is looking for your awesome bike photos, images, or cartoons to feature in its next issue, Winter 2012. Submissions must feature cycling or bike culture in the Santa Barbara area.

Along with having his or her work featured in the QR, the winning photographer will receive a complimentary one-year membership to the Santa Barbara Bike Coalition.

send submissions to [email protected], with the subject line “best image Winter 2012.” submission deadline is november 15, 2012.

Quick releaSe imagE contEst

hoW did 565 bikers log 5,790 trips and earn $3,000 for their favorite local nonprofits?

By stepping up to the challenge—Traffic Solutions of Santa Barbara’s eighth annual bike challenge. Part of CycleMAYnia, a month-long celebration and promotion of all things bike, the challenge pitted five-member teams, either business or personal, in a friendly competition to see who could make the most round trips by bike instead of car.

As a new addition to the Bike Challenge

2012, the top fifty teams got to donate their prize winnings to one of five local non-profit organizations. As a result, Bici Centro received $882; Santa Barbara County Food Bank, $702; SB Bike Coalition Bike Advo-cacy $560; Transition House, $483; and the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST), $373.

Team members logged their daily rides online and vied for weekly prize drawings to receive gear and gift certificates from local sponsors, Bicycle Bob’s, FasTrack, Open Air, VeloPro, Horny Toad Active Wear, and REI.

as a local eye physician and surgeon and a bicycle commuter, I support organizations that

promote exercise and improve the health of our community. I enjoyed captaining the Eye Specialists of Santa Barbara team for the Bike Challenge. The Traffic Solu-tions Web site made setting up the team and logging our rides a cinch. Throughout the month of May, our team members encouraged each other to ride everyday

via e-mails, texts, phone calls, and meet ups at the Cycle MAYnia events. We had a blast at the awards ceremony and bike-in movie and felt honored to donate our prize money to Santa Barbara Bicycle Coali-tion. Thanks to all the teams and riders for making Bike Challenge 2012 such a great event. keep your eyes on the road!

Doug Jacobson is associated with Eye Specialists of Santa Barbara and can be reached at (805) 203- 0852 or eyessb.com.

Eyes on the road Pays offBy doug JacoBSon, md

maynia numbers add up By Bici centro Staff

aTTenTion: PHOTOGRAPHERS!

DANiel girArD

First District Supervisor Salud Carbajal and Kent epperson of Traffic Solutions present one of two checks to ed France of SB Bike for a total Cycle mAYnia donation of $1,442. Special thanks to teams eye Specialists, Zen rabbit, Da rasta roadrashers, Pimento Cheesewheels, SB international, and City rollers! DANiel girArD

Above: layla Varner sports her armor for the medieval Family Bike ride sponsored by Cottage Children’s Hospital. Participants bedecked in royal garb or dragon suits road from Hollister School to goleta Beach.

in our community

8 Quick Release Fall 2012

biking is a great way to meet interesting people. This was

especially true on the 2012 Tour de Tent to Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura. My friend Steve and I met Sara on our way down to the starting point at Bici Centro. I knew Sara was a serious biker because she had a famous Surly Long Haul Trucker bike. Any bike that has a carrier for two spare spokes right there on the frame is a serious touring bike.

Meanwhile, the group gathered outside Bici Centro was growing. Like most avid bikers, Steve and I like to check out the interesting rigs that people put together. After we noticed the severe scratches on his seat post, Shane proudly explained that this was the mark of the vampire (actually a pedicab trailer). I confessed my secret desire to be a pedicab driver, mostly because it would be a great way to stay in shape and meet interesting visitors.

SB Bike director Ed France introduced us to Tour de Tent regulars Dave and Christine. Ed then introduced Mike Vergeer, his “partner in crime” and Dan Fishbein, our designated medic, who I later learned was providing cool solar-powered lights to people in rural places for reading and the like (check out www.unite-to-light.org).

We met krista and her son, Calvin. My back cringed sympa-thetically when I saw krista carried all her gear in a backpack on her road bike, but she handled the pack with relative ease. Marin chuckled when I mentioned her son’s rack looked like the old newspaper rack that I’d used almost thirty-five years ago (major flashback). I was right; she’d used that exact rack. Her boys were a hoot to watch because they were more energetic than a case of Red

Bull and were poster boys for sibling rivalry.

My new friends, including about twenty-five other riders, and I regrouped at the top of Carpinteria Bluffs, where we watched the amazing parasail-ers emulate the seagulls.

After the group arrived at our campsite and we’d set up our tents, I noticed that Anita didn’t have a tent, only a plastic bag looking thing to keep the moisture out. Of course, the ever-generous Ed offered space in his ten-man tent for anyone who needed it. Steve, krista, and I headed over to the camp-ground to get some refresh-ments and s’mores ingredients.

After a delicious dinner, the entire group hung out by the fire, relaxing and chatting. Soon, the guitars and drums appeared, and we enjoyed listening and singing to such

varied tunes as Eagles and Pink Floyd covers and many more. Steve finally overcame his shyness and pitched in to do a blues duet with Jason, another good guitarist. I enjoyed hearing stories from kG (don’t call him kenny G) about his adventures using CouchSurfing.org and WarmShowers.org in countries far and numerous.

The next morning, the whole group pitched in to make a deli-cious breakfast, including naturally colorful eggs provided by thirteen-year-old chicken farmer, Elias Siemens.

I felt privileged to meet a handful of riders and partake in the event. On the ride home, the fond memories were already seeded, and we brainstormed about neat locations for next year’s trip.

Tour de Tent is an annual CycleMAYnia event, and 2012 was its third year. Stay tuned for details regarding next year’s event. Have sugges-tions? Contact event organizer Mike Vergeer at [email protected].

The Tour de Tent group shot.

Clockwise from Left: eating well while on the road; Time for warmer socks; Tour de Tent riders cruising south; Calvin, ten years old, and ed gear up for the ride.

Tour de Tent 2012Story By mike Suding; photoS By chriStine BourgeoiS

rideS

www.bicicentRo.oRg 9

my name is byron beck, and I am a Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition board member. I

represent the Santa Barbara Century to the coalition. I am also an SB Century board member. Every year, the Century provides a great venue and raises funds for a number of nonprofits around Santa Barbara and the world, SB Bike and Sports Outreach to name a couple.

My first “job” as a Century board member in 2010 was to bring support to the different aid stations along the route, and when the last riders had gone through the stations, I was to pick up all the tables, chairs, extra equipment, pop-up shades, extra food and water, and so on. All of this, along with having just flown twenty-six hours after traveling around the Middle East visiting friends from Lebanon, Jordon, and Israel. Needless to say, I was running on empty.

The one thing that kept coming to mind was how extraordinary this ride actually was. The hundred-mile ride takes cyclists along one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, climbing up Toro Canyon, Ladera Lane, and then up Gibraltar, known in the bicycle world as the Alpe D’Huez of California. All of this climbing adds up to

9,000 feet plus of elevation gain, a feat that I really wanted to try.

After the first year shakedown of board meetings, I let it be known that, if I were to continue working with the SB Century as a board member, I would have to ride it the next year, just to see for myself if it was what its cracked up to be.

So the next year, I trained—well I rode a little, doing some hills and some longer rides, you know thirty miles or so—and then thought I was ready. Now mind you, for the previous five years, I had been rac-ing mountain bikes for Platinum Mountain Bike Team. Yes I realized my training had fallen off “just a little,” but I didn’t realize how much until the day I rode it.

When I woke up the day of the ride, the weather was foggy and rainy. I suited up in the appropriate gear—leg warmers, arm warmers, and vest—and filled two water bottles. A few days earlier, I had been talk-ing to one of my “younger” riding bud-dies, and he had said that he was going to ride with a big group and that he was sure that I could hang with them, no prob.

It turned out to be quite a big prob, because when I went out with them at 7:00 a.m., in the dark, we were averag-ing around 23 to 24 miles an hour. That is

about 5 more miles an hour than I usually do. Basically, by the time I reached the first hill, around thirty-five miles into the ride, I was cooked. I was already hurting, and I hadn’t even got to the first serious hill climb. So I stopped at the aid station and crammed in some food, a lot of it, before hopping back on my bike.

Over the next few miles, I began to wonder, Am I gonna really make this thing?

Then, I started to climb Gibraltar, and the dreaded it happened—cramps. Cramps, cramps, and more cramps. For the next three hours, I tried with all my might to work through them, but with no luck. I was engaged in what was, by far, the most difficult mind game I had ever played. When I got to the bottom of Painted Cave and stopped at the next aid station, I realized I needed more food. I ate three sandwiches and two bags of potato chips and downed two cokes.

As I rode the rest of the miles to the finish, I struggled like never before. It was by far one of the greatest challenges I have ever done.

The great lesson? Pace, eat, and hydrate constantly.

This year? Well, we’ll just have to see if the ole body will be ready.

a 100-mile feat and a gorgeous rideBy Byron Beck

ride or participate as support crew in 2012. This year’s santa barbara century will be held on saturday, october 20, 2012. for more information or to register, visit www.santabarbaracentury.org. local riders prepare to start the Santa Barbara Century 2011.

This year’s century will be held on oct 20, 2012. CHriSTiNe BourgeoiS

rideS

10 Quick Release Fall 2012

annE chEn by Jill Gass

if anyone in the Santa Barbara cycling community can be said

to have wings, it’s Anne Chen. She works at Santa Barbara Middle School, serves on the Echelon Cycling Club board of directors, races for the B4T9 women’s cycling team, organizes rides specifically for women, and volunteers at just about every cycling event in our area. Anne does it all, and she does so in a way that inspires others to want to do the same.

Thinking about trying a century ride? Anne will not only explain what a century is, she’ll have tips about everything from rotating pace lines to port-a-potties.

Want to find other likeminded women to ride with? Anne has all the connections and can point you in the right direction. Along with advice on riding safely in groups, how to change a flat, and where you can get the best post-ride coffee and pastry.

Want to try racing? Anne competes in every aspect of racing, from time trials, to criteriums, to road races, and can tell you about almost every event in California. Just be careful. When she has a number on her back, she transforms into a tough competi-tor, and she has the championship jerseys to prove it.

Many women of wheels have Anne to thank for introducing them to the wonder-

ful and challenging world of cycling. She’s a wealth of cycling information, inspira-tion, enthusiasm, and passion, and she truly deserves this award.

Jill Gass is a USAC Certified Expert level coach and captain of Team B4T9.

carmEn lozano by lynnette arnold & Howard bootH

carmen is the heart and soul of the Bicycle Coalition’s Spanish Language

Outreach Committee. She was one of the founders of the Mobile Bike Shop that travels to low-income Santa Barbara neighborhoods to repair bicycles for free to anyone who rolls up with a two-wheeler. Carmen helped organize the first annual Light up the Night campaign, which distributed free bike lights to a hundred cyclists last fall. At each of these events, Carmen has worked hard to educate cyclists about their rights and

responsibilities, providing accessible materials in both Spanish and English. She is a tireless advocate for the “invisible cyclists” in our community—low-income folks who use their bikes as a primary means of transportation—and is committed to ensuring that local organizations like the Bicycle Coalition serve the needs of these constituents.

Carmen is active on the Bicycle Coalition Board and can be found riding around town on her classy bike

with a huge smile on her face. She also enjoys riding with the no-drop Women Ride on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m., proudly wearing her Neon Girls Cycling jersey. Her next goal is to become a certified League Cycling Instructor in order to teach bike education classes in Spanish.

Que viva, Carmen!

kim stanlEy- zimmErman by eva inbar

kim attended UCSB and has lived in Santa Barbara ever since. She worked

for CEC for several years and then had a family—Lilly and Nate. Six years ago, the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST) was looking for a Safe Routes to School coordinator, and kim responded to the ad on Craigslist. COAST could see right away she would be wonderful, and that’ exactly how it turned out. The Safe

women on wheels honored for community cycling Programs

“if you WanT To knoW WheTher or noT an urban environment supports cycling, just measure the proportion of cyclists who are female. … Women lead and make it happen.” Howard Booth wrote this in his Santa Barbara Independent article about this May’s first

annual velo Wings awards. The three women cyclists who received the award—anne chen, carmen lozano, and kim stanley-Zimmerman—are examples of just this type of leadership. And the extraordinary programs to which these women have endowed wings are, indeed, hugely impactful in making Santa Barbara County an urban environment that supports cycling—cycling that is safe, inclusive, and enjoyable.

Al CrAwForD

Women on WheelS

www.bicicentRo.oRg 11

Routes to School program has flourished due to her leadership and hard work. Safety assemblies, bike rodeos, helmet distributions, walk around the block, Bike to School Day, Walk to School Day, and more—she does it all.

From just a handful of schools, the program has grown to encompass all schools on the entire South Coast, from Carpinteria—that’s thirty-eight schools. kim is having an incredible impact on this entire community, teaching the next generation how much fun it can be to bike and walk and be safe at the same time.

Last November, kim became a certified League Cycling Instructor. This June, she taught a June Cycling Camp for incoming

seventh graders. (Read about the camp next page.) Thank you, kim, for all your wonderful work!

Chen, Lozano, and Stanley-Zimmerman were honored at a May 9, 2012, ceremony on the patio of Whole Foods Market on State Street. The ceremony followed the third annual no-drop Women on Wheels (WOW) ride, during which a group of thirty-five women rode from Whole Foods Market to Goleta Beach. Whole Foods provided food and drinks. Mayor Helene Schneider, Second District Supervisor Janet Wolf, Hillary Blackerby on behalf of Assembly member Das Williams, and Jeremy Tittle on behalf of First District Salud Carbajal were in attendance.

Bici cenTro Shop Manage our open shop, bicycle recycling,

& education center facility concerns Monthly, 2nd Tues at 7pm

www.bicicentro.org/Bicicom

educaTion Implement our after-school & summer

programs for youth & mechanic & street skills classes for adults

Monthly, 2nd Wed at 7pm www.bicicentro.org/Educom

evenTS Participate at the planning home of

CycleMAYnia, bike valet, & any public or member-only event of the coalition

Monthly, 3rd Tues at 6pm www.bicicentro.org/EventsCom

memBerShip & communicaTion Weigh in on membership growth

& concerns, & community communications through our website, newsletter, & Facebook

Monthly, 3rd Thurs at noon www.bicicentro.org/mc

advocacy Steer our campaigns (currently completing

the bikeway network & bike parking) Monthly, 2nd Thurs at noon

www.bicicentro.org/Advocacy

SpaniSh language ouTreach Oversee & implement efforts to engage

the Spanish-speaking cyclist community Monthly, 3rd Thurs at 7pm

www.bicicentro.org/spanishcom

The SanTa BarBara Bicycle coaliTion’S

commiTTeeS meeT monThly

www.bicicentro.org/commitees

Join a commiTTee!

601 e. monTeciTo ST. SanTa BarBara(805) 617-3255

looking for other ladies to ride with? neon girls cycling is a local, open cycling group for women. The members post info about upcoming rides regularly on the group’s facebook page. destinations, starting points, and lengths vary. To join or find out more, visit www.facebook.com/#!/groups/neongirlscycling.

Opposite: Anne Chen (second from right) with her mentors Angie Bell, Jill gass, Anne Chen, and michelle lePierre at the CA State Championship Team Time Trial. Left: Carmen lozano prepping the first bike for the Taller móvil Comunitario de Bicicletas (Community mobile Bike Shop). eli gorDoN

Right: Kim Stanley leading a group of young

cyclists at the recent medieval Family ride

DANiel girArD.

Women on WheelS

12 Quick Release Fall 2012

Participants of Carpinteria Family School’s Bike to School Day pose for a snapshot. CourTeSY oF JAN SilK

Bike to school day carpinteria family school styleBy Lori Lee coLLinS

Wind bloWing through my hair, strength driving my legs, and my heart opening to the adventure just up the road. It was 1971; my blue Schwinn Stingray and I were

two inseparable entities. I biked everywhere, all day, every day. This is what you did as a kid. My trusty bike with extended sissy bar, raised handlebars, and elongated banana saddle took me on many a journey around the small town where I grew up during the ’70s. I biked the neighborhoods to visit friends and family, traveled with canvas bags filled to the brim with newspapers for delivery, and of course rode to school and afterschool athletic events every day. This was my joy, my passion, and my love. I loved this bike! I loved this life.

It is my dream to extend similar opportunities to my students at Carpinteria Family School. CFS is a public school of choice in the small community of Carpinteria for coming on ten years this fall. The three teachers; eighty students; and army of parents, grandpar-ents, mentors, friends, and alumni make up the heart of this small, cooperative, multiage school. It was with enthusiasm that our

families accepted the challenge I posted to encourage and support students biking to school on National Bike to School Day this past May 9.

Flyers were created, times and meet up points were designated, and volunteers were enlisted to lead the student cyclists to our final destination—our school garden for a community breakfast of muf-fins and freshly squeezed, homegrown orange juice. Some students were recognized and received fun bike “stuff” for distance cycled and various biking honors. The cool bike “stuff”—bells and spoke decorations—were provided by kim Stanley-Zimmerman, the Safe Routes to School Coordinator with the Coalition for Sustainable Transportation (COAST).

Lucky Llama, Carp’s new local community coffee café, hosted the largest meet up point with over thirty Family School community members arriving early to fuel up on espresso and cocoa before our short journey into town, over the very narrow bridge, and safely into the campus bus circle for a few parade laps together.

There was a moment when I knew we’d reached the heart of cycling; coming down the bridge and seeing the long line of student and parent cyclists joining together to share an experi-ence like no other; the joy, the freedom, and the power of cycling brought us together on this very special day. In the end, over fifty folks gathered to celebrate the elegantly simple pleasure one can find on two wheels.

My two wheels may no longer have a sissy bar attachment, but my love of cycling will forever be attached to whatever two wheels are beneath my saddle (banana or otherwise).

My hope is that this is only the beginning of building our bike to school community in Carpinteria.

Lori Lee Collins, along with a group of parents and administrators, is a founding teacher of Carpinteria Family School. She rides to school as often as she can. During the summer, she can be found riding with Women on Wheels on Wednesdays or exploring the foothills of Santa Barbara on her bike.

get ready for next year’s bike to school day. enroll your kids in bici centro’s after-school pedal power program. Bicicentro.org/youth

EYE SPECIALISTS OF SANTA BARBARA Douglas W. Jacobson MD, Eye Physician and Surgeon  

Appointments  available:  Monday  and  Tuesday  7AM  –  7PM  

Wednesday  1PM  –  5PM  Saturday  8AM  –  12PM  

         1919  State  Street,  Suite  303                      Tel.  (805)  203-­‐0852                                          www.eyessb.com  

At  Eye  Specialists  of  Santa  Barbara,  we  focus  on  listening  to  you  and  on  cle-r  communic-0on  so  you  can  make  informed  decisions  about  your  medical  care.  

Dr.  Jacobson  aMended  Nolorado  Nollege  and  Pale  Medical  School,  then  trained  at  Stanford  in  Internal  Medicine  and  University  of  Washington  in  Ophthalmology.  

Dr.  Jacobson  is  fluent  in  Spanish  and  accepts  virtually  all  medical  insurance.  

education

www.bicicentRo.oRg 13

T his June, the SB Bike offered its first Cycling Camp for incoming seventh graders at Goleta Valley and Santa Barbara junior highs.

The groups learned basic bike mechanic skills, such as how to fix a flat, lubricate the chain, and check the air pressure; reviewed bike handling skills; learned to incorporate into their riding safety measures, like visibil-ity on the road, group riding etiquette and choosing the best route on a bike map; and much more.

Participants put their new skills to practice each day by riding neighborhood streets with licensed cycling instructors. On the final day, the GVJH group went for a ten-mile loop ride along Los Carneros Road and through UCSB to Goleta Beach, then took the Coast Route bike path to the Maria Ignacio bike path and back to GVJH—a route they planned themselves. Teacher Wendy Newhouse offered her classroom for a focus on map skills. Newhouse, who SB Bike education coordinator Christine Bourgeois described as “our bike ambas-sador at GVJH” also went on several rides with the group and rides to school, herself, when she can. “Ms. Newhouse has been

an incredible supporter of our Pedal Power programs,” said Bourgeois. “She recruits participants. She opens her classroom for class time and helmet storage.”

SBJH participants also planned a chal-lenging ride so cyclists could practice deal-ing with traffic, steep bridges, and down-town Santa Barbara. The group crossed the US101 Freeway on Ortega Bridge, rode on San Andres, and returned using the steep bridge on Anapamu. Earlier in the week, they rode to the MTD lot and learned how to load a bike on a bus. They also went to Bici Centro’s DIY shop, where they lubricat-ed their chains, made some adjustments on brakes, checked air pressure, and pedaled the bike blender to make a smoothie.

“What a great success,” enthused Bourgeois. “Everybody showed better and safer riding skills on the road while having a good time with new friends.”

And she’s not the only one singing

the camps’ praises. “My daughter, Allyse, enjoyed the camp a lot,” wrote Lena kang-Birken. “No problems getting her up in the morning for camp, which says a lot in my family, and she had lots to talk about when she came home. Thank you!” Another par-ent, Amy Abbot, expressed her gratitude as well. “After completing the camp, I am confident that my son, Chris, has all the tools necessary to make him a safe cyclist,” she wrote. “He had a great experience and made some new friends. Anyone consider-ing having their child bike to junior high should enroll in this program.”

kang-Birken added, “I hope you contin-ue this camp next year for my son to enjoy.”

Bourgeois definitely plans to do just that and adds her thanks to Measure A for its support.

To learn about more cycling opportunities for youth, visit SB Bike’s Web site at www.bicicentro.org/youth.

cycling camps Prep new Junior high ridersStory By Bici centro Staff

photoS By chriStine BourgeoiS

incoming Santa Barbara Junior High seventh graders meet on the mTD parking lot to learn how to load their bikes on the bus. instructors included Sarah grant, Diane wondolowski, and lake Singh.

From Left: SB Cycling Camp participants learn to check the air pressure in their tires; Cycling Camp participants learn map skills in teacher wendy Newhouse’s classroom as they plan the best route for their ten-mile ride on the final day of camp; This SB Cycling Camp participant cleans his chain.

education

14 Quick Release Fall 2012

EDUCATION

pedal power: youth bicycle driver education 18 hours of instruction for only $20 registration fee. Students without bicycles will earn a Bicycle, Lock, Lights, & Helmet fesler Junior high (Santa Maria) Sept 10 — Oct 17th santa barbara Junior high Sept 25 — Nov 1st registration open* la colina Junior high (Santa Barbara) Sept 26 — Nov 1st registration open* goleta valley Junior high Sept 19 — Oct 25th carpinteria middle school Sept 25 — Nov 1st registration open*

*Register this week! Bicicentro.org/youth

street skills: The 4-part series for the prepare and aware bicycle commuter

clinic 1: get your bike ready to ride Oct 1st, Free

clinic 2: become a confident rider Oct 11th, $10 (plus Free bike lights!)

clinics 3 & 4: bike handling skills & group ride Oct 13th, Free with Clinic 2

learn your bike series Join us for our much acclaimed 8-week bicycle mechanics primer. Oct 1st — Nov 19th, $95 non-members / $85 members

coaster brake hub Workshop Explore the mysteries of inner hub packing. BICI CENTRO Oct 16th, 7:30 — 9:30pm, $20 non-members / $10 members

presentation by prof. John pucher, noted bicycle & pedestrian expert This exciting visit will highlight the latest in our field. CHASE PALM PARk CENTER Saturday, October 27th, 2pm

ADVOCACY

member meetings: Public welcome as we discuss needed bicycle improvements in these neighborhoods. in & about carpinteria Join us in discussing the Carpinteria Bridge replacement and bike path projects joined to the US101 widening. RUSTY’S

Oct 2nd, Noon, Free In & about the eastside EASTSIDE LIBRARY

Nov 6th, Free In & about old Town goleta GOLETA COMMUNITY CENTER Dec 4th, Free

BIkING OPPORTUNITIES

experience ciclavia: an open streets! field Trip Join our Airbus sponsored fact finding mission to this massively successful Los Angeles Bike/Ped celebration. Oct 7th, $10, Free

santa barbara century Choose from 35, 60, & 100 mile courses. Register www.santabarbaracentury.org, or www.bicicentro.org to volunteer. Oct 20th, Free

bike moves Check www.sbbikemoves.com for upcom-ing themes (not an SB Bike event). PLAZA DE VERA CRUZ (E COTA & ANACAPA/SB)

Monthly, 1st Thurs, 7:30 pm, Free

OUTREACH

sb family day & health fair Visit our mobile bike shop “el Taller móvil” along with a great collection of community offerings. WESTSIDE BOYS & GIRLS CLUB Sept 22nd, Free

“el Taller móvil” A chance for the neighborhood to come Air up and tune up their wheels. WESTSIDE BOHNETT PARk

Oct 27th, noon — 3pm, Free

illuminando la noche/light up the night Bicycle Lights Giveaway in Old Town Go-leta, Carpinteria, the Westside, Eastside, & Downtown Center of SB Nov 5 — 9th, the week of Fall time change.

COMMITTEE MEETINGS

Join us to plan our programs! advocacy Monthly, 2nd Thurs, noon www.bicicentro.org/Advocacy events Monthly, 3rd Tues, 6pm www.bicicentro.org/EventsCom spanish language Monthly, 3rd Thurs, 7pm www.bicicentro.org/Spanishcom education Monthly, 2nd Wed, 7pm www.bicicentro.org/Educom bici centro shop Monthly, 2nd Tues, 7pm www.bicicentro.org/Bicicom membership & communication Monthly, 3rd Thurs, noon www.bicicentro.org/mc

Show The SanTa BarBara Biking communiTy whaT you’ve goT going on.

To flaunt your stuff in the summer issue of the Quick Release, contact Ed France at

(805) 617-3255, [email protected].

Thank you!wanT To promoTe yourSelf here?

Fall Bicycling eventS CHECkOUT BICICENTRO.ORG/EVENTS

www.bicicentRo.oRg 15

Since our bicyclist population has grown and riding has gotten safer, all these new-school wing nuts have been trying to figure out how to show off with a more dangerous varia-tion on the pastime. It’s not like a handicap in golf, people! Cars stop intentionally running you off the road, so what do you do? Re-move your brakes. Bike lanes become available and storm drains stop becoming deathtraps? Cut your handlebars so short that you have the steerage of a gnat. Drivers start to yield you the right of way? Cut through inter-sections at top speed with the aforemen-tioned lack of brakes and tiny handlebar bikes against the light, hoping that the Buick driving through the intersection has the reaction time of a ninja and won’t plow you over.

Back in my day, there was no need to create risks the way kids create imaginary

friends. Functional brakes and working handlebars were our only line of defense against often unfriendly streets and often hostile motorists. The other day, I walked

past as an aspiring “fixie” kid road down the sidewalk on his no-brake, tiny handlebar, neon-colored machine. Too scared to ride in the road. Ha! Juvenile.

So listen, you don’t want to wear a helmet? Fine. Aside from trying to define what’s cool by

showing off your helmetless mop, deciding whether or not to protect whatever you ostensibly have in your dome is your own matter.

Riding like a track-axle against traffic through red lights and the like, however, places all those road raging motorists squarely against us having a right to the road. And being as weird as we are already, we can’t afford any more ostracizing. Ya punks!

SkID MARkS

stop riding like track-axles

coLUmn by grampsAt an age he will not reveal (we don’t think he’s quite hit a third digit), Gramps is not your average cyclist. He loves tossing his cane aside, feeling the wind part his wiry locks, and taking his keen, observant eyes and lumpy but spry legs out for a spin. But most of all, he is an avid opiner. In the QR’s new column, “Skid Marks,” Gramps has found a voice to vent his thoughts on all things cycling.

why should you register or renew as a member of the Santa Barbara

Bicycle coalition?

WhaT you young punks don’T undersTand IS THAT WE BICYCLISTS HAVE BEEN FIGHTING TO BE VIEWED AS LEGITIMATE ROAD USERS SINCE BEFORE YOU HELD UP YOUR

DIAPERS IN YOUR GRUBBY MITTS TO GO RIDE YOUR FIRST “SkUT”. MOST PEOPLE THINk WE CYCLISTS ARE A BUNCH OF WEIRDOES, AND WHILE THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, WE STILL SHOULD BE ABLE TO RIDE ON THE STREET WITHOUT GETTING A CASE OF PTSD.

Fred Armisen, you Poser!

Register online today at www.bicicentro.org/join.

memBerShip raTeS:

INDIVIDUAL, 1-year $30

INDIVIDUAL, 2-year $55

HOUSEHOLD*, 1-year $45

HOUSEHOLD*, 2-year $85

BUSINESS*, 1-year $100

BUSINESS GOLD*, 1-year $250

a business gold membership includes advertising!

*Household & Business memberships may include up to four members.

Join SB Bike

It helps us assert our collective rights as legitimate road users.

Power in numbers helps us influence local government for better bikeways.

We help you stay in the loop of local bicycling related events.

We offer discounts with our local bike shops, as well as for our classes and events.

Membership enables you to volunteer at premium opportunities like bike valet at the SB Bowl.

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