Last week the whole crew at SVBC took a ride to check out the great new bike lanes that San Jose recently installed. To get there, we took Hedding from the Alameda to 11th Street. Hedding is a busy street that cries out for a bike lane. For me, not a really strong cyclist, the narrow lanes and heavy traffic are daunting. I probably would not ride it by myself. Fortunately, others led the way.
Jen Brecheen and I, along with SVBC members Jim Manitakos and Rob Robinson, met with Stanford Athletic Department staff to review the plans for our annual bike parking at the Stanford football games. SVBC has been a fixture at the Stanford games for many years, going back to the 1990’s. Longtime volunteer Jim is leading the bike parking again this year, with assistance from seasoned volunteer Rob, and our many volunteers.
I’ve been hearing a lot about our First Friday People-Powered art show, but didn’t have a good idea what it would be like. Last Tuesday we all went over to the Art Ark Gallery on Sixth Street in San Jose to finish hanging the pictures. Here’s a picture of us at work.
This is a really good show, in a nice space. I was amazed at the quality of the work; paintings, photos, and 3-dimensional art. Most, but not all involve bicycling. Kudos to Colin Heyne for putting all this together.
We were excited to hear about new bike lanes on Pollard Road in Campbell, particularly as they would serve Rolling Hills Middle School, creating a safer environment for children to bike to school. Pollard is a 4-lane through street which has a fair amount of traffic, particularly before and after school.
I decided to ride out last weekend to take a look. The bike lanes appear incomplete, so I am hoping that there will be a Phase II to ensure bicyclist safety, particularly for children biking to school. Here are some pictures.
We’re excited about the bike safety classes for children that we are sponsoring at Sunday Friends, a San Jose organization which has activities for families every (you guessed it!) Sunday. Super volunteer Dave Fork of SVBC Bicycle Exchange arranged for a grant from the Google Community Grants Fund of Tides Foundation, which enables us to hire League Certified Instructors (LCIs) and provide materials for five Sunday sessions this spring.
You probably noticed the re-do of our website. It is still a work in progress, causing us all various degrees of frustration, including for our web developer, who is working hard to get it finished. It is going to be great when it is finished. In addition to the redesign, which is a lot in itself, we moved to a new host. This will be better in the long run, as our former long-time host caused various problems and breakdowns from time to time.
As the lucky staff person who gets to receive payments and keep track of volunteer hours, I see the names of all the individuals and companies who support SVBC throughout the year. Today, I’d like to call out some of the bike shops that have become great supporters of our mission in many ways.
SVBC has put out a call for resumes from persons interested in our Safe Routes to School Assistant position. We are looking forward to hiring someone to work on our Safe Routes to School program which is beginning in the City of Santa Clara. Notices were posted in various media several weeks ago, and we have received a number of great resumes and are in the process of reviewing them to set up some interviews. This is actually fairly time consuming, as we want to be thorough in considering anyone who meets the qualifications.
What a great office we have now! The week after Christmas, when most of the staff was on vacation, Jen and I oversaw some serious renovations.
We completely cleaned out the front office, which had become our default storage area, and got the ugly and worn out old built-ins removed. Now it is fit for our Deputy Director, and Colin has moved in. He won't be mistaken for the receptionist anymore!
Awhile ago I wrote that I had spent a few days in Boulder, CO, and was amazed at how bicycle-friendly it appeared to be. My son took some pictures so that I could share them, but they were waylaid for awhile. I finally received them and now I can share them.
This intersection has three bicycle related signs at just one corner. No one is going to miss the warning that there are bicyclists!
I was bicycling in South Campbell yesterday, on my way home from work, when I was startled by a rude fire engine! Or more correctly, the driver.
I was in Boulder recently. The weather was wonderful, despite a few thunder showers. Lots of folks riding their bikes. You don't have to be there long to sense what a bicycle friendly town it is. For one thing, there are many, many signs warning motorists about bicyclists. They even have them at crosswalks where riders may be exiting separated bike paths. (By the looks of them, they operate with some different laws than we have here.)The bike lanes are striped (dashed) past right turn lanes.
Went to the on-bike education class hosted by SVBC and the City of Mountain View and taught by John Ciccarelli, a very able LCI (League Cycling Instructor) and transportation planner. It was so worthwhile. I had taken a similar class a few years ago when I was just starting out with street bicycling, and that was very helpful, but it was good to have a brush-up and pick up some pointers that I had missed before or forgotten. I urge anyone who can to take this type of class.
Last week, I complained about the lack of guidance that often occurs where bike lanes meet intersections. One reader sent some links that had good information on negotiating various difficult situations. I particularly liked http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/animations/. However, the point I was trying to make was not about my lack of knowledge so much as the fact that motorists need more guidance. We need well marked bike lanes so that motorists know where we are going.
