Okay, let's talk gear. Normally, we at SVBC do not concern ourselves with the type of bike people ride, as it is of little importance to us what you ride, so long as you are able to do so safely. However, I feel the need to delve into gear today - and the riding styles gear influences - as some people have taken up the misguided belief that SVBC is here solely to promote this:
Californian bicycle leaders: (l to r) CBC board member Andrew Casteel, Safe Routes to School National Partnership Executive Director Deb Hubsmith, CBC Communications Director Jim Brown and Executive Director Dave Snyder, and our own Corinne Winter enjoy a bonding moment.
Join SVBC and hundreds of other cycling advocates from all around the country at the National Bike Summit in March! The Summit is a great way to learn more about bike issues, swap strategies with other individuals and organizations, network with other bike advocates, and have fun!
Things have been pretty exciting here at SVBC Global Headquarters lately. We're fast approaching the Fourth Annual Dinner, which I'm very glad to not be in charge of. My colleagues are doing a fantastic job and I have the luxury of just working on the communications for the event, editing copy, and helping figure out creative places to store items for the auction. Each year, our big fancy benefit dinner gets bigger and fancier, yet somehow we pull it off without debacle and decide to step it up the following year.
Okay, brainstorming session everybody! Some of you might recall the 2011 Silicon Valley Bike Advocacy Summit. It was a pair of community get-togethers where advocates and government agency folks heard some of our area's best transportation and development experts speak about topics like bike planning, transportation-oriented development, corporate cycling support, and more. It was a first for Silicon Valley, and we were proud of the turnout and the valuable conversations started at the Summit. Still, there's always room for improvement.
A pair of local leaders - Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO Carl Guardino and Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager - were featured in a recent article in Eucalyptus Magazine, in which they discussed their great daily bike commutes on Santa Clara County trails. Regarding his car-free commute, Guardino says "It is a great and healthy way to start and end each day—burning carbs rather than carbon, getting some exercise, and enjoying the beauty of the Los Gatos Creek Trail."
Last Saturday, I joined a hundred or so other environmentally-minded souls for a relaxing bike tour of central San José. The Moving Planet Day bike ride was organized by local advocate, SVBC member, and KKUP on-air personality Diane Solomon, with help from SVBC, San José Bike Party, TransForm, the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club, and others.
This is a call to action to all you engaged and engaging San Mateo County cyclists. SVBC is working with the San Mateo County Health System to expand the role that bicycle and pedestrian advisory committees (B/PACs) and similar such organizations play in planning in the municipalities of San Mateo County.
As is always the case, I think it would be a bad idea for SVBC staff to go it alone, especially when there are so many of you already involved in B/PACs and other forms of bicycle advocacy. I need your experience and insight to make this project a success!
The office has been fairly quiet this week, with Corinne exploring the great frozen North and Ernesto in Minnesota at the Safe Routes to School conference. With nobody to boss around, I've been trying to get out of the office as much as possible.
I'm back! Two weeks into marriage, I can finally say I've bested Britney Spears at something (that was MY Mouseketeers slot!). The wedding was great, as was the honeymoon in Puerto Rico. But enough about me - let's get to the topic you all want to read about: What's the cycling like in Puerto Rico?
Puerto Rico is hot, humid, and crowded in the city. We stayed in San Juan, which has traffic to rival Los Angeles. Our Lonely Planet guide summed up the cycling experience well:
Gary Richards has an interesting and informative piece about road diets and other traffic-calming efforts in the Merc right now. Check out the article and leave a comment voicing your thoughts on slower car speeds and more bike lanes!
Read the article at http://www.mercurynews.com/top-stories/ci_18561104?nclick_check=1
I'm skipping town for the next couple of weeks to get married and then take a Caribbean honeymoon. What a summer!
Ernesto will take over website duties while I'm gone, but the e-bulletin will take a vacation next week and be back the week of the 25th. I'll miss you dearly, handful of anonymous readers (and Mom). Would you like a souvenir? Perhaps a seashell with some googly eyes? A Caribbean snow globe? Some authentic basketry, handcrafted in Shenzhen? I'll be sure to bring you something special.
As the islanders say, auf Wiedersehen!
As all 12 dedicated readers of this blog know, I recently graduated from my local underfunded exceptional institute of higher education. Now, I've been working for this here outfit for close to two and a half years, but I've never quite been able to work full time except for summer vacations and such. Graduation meant that I was not only a hot-shot with a highly prized four-year degree, but also that I now had some serious time to put in. None of this 32 hours a week nonsense - I was going full time!
