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Bike Buzz: May 2017 News from Bicycling Monterey

Below, 35 bits of BIKE BUZZ, including additional new posts since the May newsletter went out to subscribers.
In case you missed it, note the 38-photo, 3300-word special feature from April about the “World’s Premier Cycling Festival.” In it you’ll learn about some of the wide range of people who dig bikes, for all kinds of reasons. Included are people from all over the USA and beyond. Check it out: Scenes from Sea Otter Classic 2017.

Bike Buzz

NEW POSTS or recently updated posts and pages on bikemonterey.org, many of interest to people anywhere.  Also here: local bike NEWS.

  1. NEW POST: International Guessing Game: Language resources in Spanish and other tongues, plus Guess-Their-Country Game. My favorite activity in bike advocacy is direct outreach by bike! Among its pleasures are meeting the many people from other nations out on the bikeways. In this 20-photo gallery game, guess what country they are from.

    The first person to report (via social media) about playing this game was Keith DeFiebre. How about you? Feel free to comment below.

  2. NEW POST: Day in the Life of a Bike Advocate. An ordinary day gives a glimpse into where 10,000+ hours went over the past eight years.
  3. NEW POST: Team Bike Monterey County: 2017 Bike Month Stickers and Poster – Get some insights into TAMC’s 20 Bike Month “teams,” and celebrate “Team Everybody”!
  4. NEW POST: Bicycling the Big Sur Coast‘s Highway 1 isn’t for children or inexperienced riders. But helping to reduce motor vehicle traffic along the beautiful Big Sur Coast, as anywhere, makes sense. Consider whether a bike or bike-and-ride option may be right for you and your loved ones for even a small portion of your Big Sur experience.
    And if you are experienced, make use of the resources in this post too.
  5. NEW POST: Earth Pilgrim in Monterey County and beyond: Jody Emerson Quintana. (Photo below courtesy of Jody.)
  6. NEW POST: King City bike lock giveaway and safety presentation. A rare South County opportunity, geared to children and teens. Besides free bike locks, free bike-ped safety gear will also be provided to participants.
  7. NEW POST: June 10: ALBA Family Farm Day – Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association. Old Stage Road is a beautiful place to ride. June 10 will be a special day to check it out.
  8. NEW POST: Monterey County Teens Bike: at the 2017 California State High School Mountain Bike Championships and elsewhere. Whether you’re into mountain biking and want some tips, or whether you want a wide range of ideas for biking fun, check out the post. You’ll meet all three of Monterey County’s high school MTB race teams, and learn who brought titles home to our county from Petaluma. Thanks to George Garibay for providing the photo below.
  9. NEWS: The California Bicycle Coalition website has a Twitter feed highlighting bike news from around the state. Check it out: http://www.calbike.org/bikeca
  10. NEWS / UPDATED POST: Jeff Lindenthal, head coach of the Salinas High School Cowboys Racing Mountain Bike Team has received a Coach of the Year award. See “Awesome Bike Coaches of Mountain County.” In addition, the Cowboys, a co-ed team, have again qualified for the state championships after winning  the Northern California League South Conference team title on on May 7. At state, Noah Lindenthal placed 4th in the Varsity category; congrats, Noah! And still more good buzz about the Cowboys: the team won a Transportation Agency for Monterey County Golden Helmet Award for 2017; see newsletter item below.
  11. NEWS / UPDATED POST: Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite, Palma High, Salinas High Cowboys: Conference Competitions has been updated, including that Matthew Saldaña of Palma School and Stefan Hubrik of the Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite Mountain Bike Team are state champs, as of the May 14 competition in Petaluma.  Thanks to George Garibay for providing the photo below.
  12. NEWS / UPDATED POST: B is for Bi(pedal)ism: The Bike Jones of Mindy Surratt, a guest post by Susan Ragsdale-Cronin first published for Bike Month 2015, has been updated with another cool story about Mindy, the Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s Bike Month 2017 feature in the Monterey County Weekly, “Bay View Academy Walk and Roll Program.”
  13. NEWS / UPDATED POST: Biking between Salinas and the Monterey Peninsula: Monterey-Salinas Hwy 68, and Other Tips.
    See some of the people who bike California’s State Route 68 occasionally or regularly, besides me. And consider responding to the Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC)’s request for public input about SR-68, the heavily traveled corridor between Monterey and Salinas.
  14. UPDATED PAGE: Posters, logos, and more (to help get the word out about CA Bike Law Summaries, Tips for Bicycling Monterey County, HER Helmet Thursdays, etc.) has a new poster highlighting Carmel and Carmel Valley businesses and organizations participating in the HER Helmet Thursdays Project. Get it on that page or grab it right here: Carmel and Carmel Valley HER Helmet Thursdays spots as of 10 May 2017

    FYI, also on the Posters, etc. page are similar posters highlighting the first HER Helmet Thursdays spots in Pacific Grove, Salinas, Seaside.

    To quickly find participants in other Monterey County communities, see Map tip #2 on the LISTINGS, How to Get the Discounts, and FAQs about HER Helmet Thursdays page.

  15. NEWS: A new opportunity, as listed on the Bike Calendar, is Intro to Group Riding, a series of classes with Velo Club Monterey. On the VCM website, refer to: http://www.vcmonterey.org/newvcm/intro-to-group-cycling-classes-april-30-may-7/.
  16. UPDATED POST: Street Harassment and Other Bullying: Ways to help stop it – resources in Spanish and English from Safe Routes Now / Safe Routes to School, Hollaback, Stop Street Harassment, and Barbara Coloroso / Kids Are Worth It.

    Children, teens, and adults may all be subjected when biking, walking, or at other times. And even if you aren’t personally being bullied or harrassed, check out “The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander” too.

  17. UPDATED POST: Climate Change – Bicycling is part of the mix in climate hope. See why Washington Area Bicyclist Association and Bicycling Monterey partnered with others, including 350.org, Sojourners, Union of Concerned Scientists and more. And why other bike advocates—including San Diego Bicycle Coalition—are stepping up about this march as well.
  18. NEWS: Please wish a fond adieu to Turtle Bay Taqueria in downtown Monterey, a Charter Participant since 2009 in HER Helmet Thursdays, a long-term ecology-economy sustainability project. As reported by Mark C. Anderson in the Monterey County Weekly, this location will be closing in June 2017. (Seaside’s Fishwife and Turtle Bay, and Pacific Grove’s Fishwife will all remain OPEN and continue as HER Helmet Thursdays participants.) Stop in at Turtle Bay downtown Monterey, note the “Green Riders” Monterey County Herald newsclip framed on the wall by their cashier station, and order heartily. Best wishes to owner Jefferson Seay as he begins to slow down, at least a little, heading toward his retirement years.

    Here’s the current Quick Reference Guide to the hundreds of participating businesses and organizations that encourage bicycling by offering 10-50% discounts on Thursdays: https://bikemonterey.org/wp-content/uploads/HER-Helmet-Thursdays-Quick-Reference-Guide-as-of-20-Feb-2017.pdf

    Whether to help with updating the guide, inviting new participants, or in numerous other ways, consider volunteering some time with HER Helmet Thursdays. Please
    phone to learn more. HER Helmet Thursdays is a very time intensive project for Mari (and entirely unpaid, as with all Bicycling Monterey projects from May 1, 2009 to May 1, 2017). Thank you. 

  19. UPDATED POST / NEWS: April 2017 started the 6th year of the Monterey County Probation Department Youth Center’s Bicycle Repair and Safety class founded by Bicycling Monterey. Monterey County boys ages 14 to 17/18 are served by this class as well by the occasional Bike Nights also founded by Bicycling Monterey, in 2015. 
    Learn more in Youth Center – Teach Teens Well. Special thanks to fellow volunteers Frank Henderson and Luciano Rodriguez, who make it possible for the bike repair and safety class to continue. Frank and Luciano have faithfully served as instructors since April and July of 2012 respectively, and Luciano also accepted responsibility for the role of class coordinator in August 2014, when Mari stepped down from that role.
    In Fall 2015 Mari launched Bike Nights at the Youth Center, occasional gatherings for the general population of boys there. This provides an opportunity for boys not eligible for Bicycle Repair and Safety class (or for whom space is not available). The next Bike Night is coming up soon. To contribute raffle prizes, see section 9 of Youth Center – Teach Teens Well, then phone Mari.
  20. NEW POST: Mayo: Mes de la bici en condado de Monterey.

    Note too the Spanish resources highlighted in item #1 above,  International Guessing Game: Language resources in Spanish and other tongues, plus Guess-Their-Country Game.

  21. NEW POST: Bike Month 2017 resources, activities, and events—for the USA, the Monterey Bay region, and Monterey County. Includes Bike Month dates not on the master calendar. (Someone had offered to post those dates on the master calendar but didn’t get a round tuit.—Hey, I can relate to not enough time to do all we’d like to; see item #30 below re calendar dates.)
  22. HIGHLIGHT: I love our international visitors, and domestic ones, who bike or bike-and-ride while here. They reduce traffic, carbon emissions, air, noise, and water pollution, and expand our awareness too. On the bikemonterey.org home page, notice the people biking Monterey County who come from nations other than the United States. Among them, see people from Australia, China, France, Germany, Holland, and Italy. And ICYMI, see the new guessing game about Monterey County’s international visitors who bike while they’re here.
  23. NEW POST: May 20: Bike to Shop Day – Learn about the history of Bike to Shop Day, and check out Bicycling Monterey’s shopping-by-bike tips.

    And surprise! There are a few HER Helmet Thursdays spots where you can go shopping by bike and get HER Helmet Thursdays discounts. Yes, the HER Helmet Thursdays Project primarily includes Hotels, Educational and Entertainment venues, Restaurants, and related places. But among the hundreds of participating business and organizations are some retail shops and wineries who wanted to be in the project too.

    Learn more about those HER Helmet Thursdays spots in the Bike to Shop Day post.
  24. UPDATED POST / NEWS: Castroville Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing – Hooray! Pile driving commenced. This overcrossing is one of my favorite infrastructure projects in North Monterey County.
  25. UPDATED POST: Earth Day – Bike for Mother Earth. Among the many benefits of bicycling are helping reduce air, noise, and water pollution. Help reduce carbon emissions and more by biking regularly, or using a bike-and-ride option, all year.
  26. NEWS: The Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC) Golden Helmet Awards, part of TAMC’s Bike Month observances, will be awarded at the May 24, 2017 TAMC Board of Directors meeting.  For details and comments, refer to the April minutes of TAMC’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Advisory Committee, page 9—http://www.tamcmonterey.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/BPC_Agenda_PACKET_May_2017.pdf.
    TAMC received 20 nominations, and sub-committee members recommended the following as the 2017 Golden Helmet Award winners:

    Adult Individuals: Mike Baroni & Mari Lynch (a tie)*
    Youth: Salinas High School Cowboys
    Group/ Organization: Families of Color Monterey County
    Program/ Event: Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

    Each of these five receiving an award is listed among Monterey County Bike Community Leaders / Bicycling Resources, a 32-section directory. [Update, 4/7/18: FoCMC’s website, http://focmc.org, indicates “FoCMC is ending.”] Congratulations to all nominees and award winners. Thank you to TAMC’s Bike-Ped Committee, the Golden Helmet Awards sub-committee, and the nominators for their time and thoughtful deliberations.

    See Golden Helmet Award and Silver Helmet Award recipients since the program’s inception in 2010, including info on the nomination process.

    *May 26, 2017 update: Mari is grateful to the nominators and the committee for recognizing her bike advocacy volunteerism—the Bicycling Monterey website and other Bicycling Monterey projects—as an Adult Individual. She offered an option to further highlight Mike’s achievements by announcing him alone as recipient in the Adult Individuals category, and moving her to the Program/Event category, highlighting just one of the Bicycling Monterey projects, HER Helmet Thursdays. 

    Special shout-out to Michael Baroni: Since 2009, when Mike established Green Pedal Couriers, he’s featured on this site, and he’s in several scenes of Bicycling Monterey’s video about Monterey County bike community leaders. Mike’s daily life is car-free, and he advocates for bicycling in numerous ways. One of the most popular: the many valet stations he provides. Among current or past valet stations Green Pedal Couriers and friends have provided are the following ones highlighted on Bicycling Monterey: a weekly one on Tuesdays at the Old Monterey Farmers Market; valet parking for many special events, both annual events and one-time events, e.g.,California Roots Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Monterey Bay Reggae Fest, Monterey Beer Fest, First City Festival, and some other events at the Monterey County Fair & Event Center; City of Monterey’s 4th of July Big Little Backyard Bar-B-Que and Entertainment Extravaganza; Día de los Muertos at Closter Park; Ciclovia Salinas; plus numerous additional locations. He organizes fun bike community events ranging from this Earth Day 2011 ride to Bike-In Movie Night for Bike Month 2017. To learn more about this 2017 Golden Helmet Award winner, read Dennis Taylor’s feature story about Mike Baroni in the Monterey Herald, “Eco-friendly courier delivers the goods.“

  27. UPDATED POST: Bicycle Safety Month – “Keeping the Local Bike Scene Cool: It’s a multi-pronged effort.”
  28. UPDATED POST: May 26-28: California Roots Festival, including Bike Valet Station.
  29. UPDATED POST: Signs of a bicycling-friendly county.

  30. UPDATED POST: June 16: Ciclovía Salinas Youth Internships Application Deadline – Make the streets yours!
  31. UPDATED PAGE: Monterey County’s Open Streets, including Ciclovía Salinas. Tentative date for next Ciclovia Salinas is October 15, 2017.

    Check out the updated page also to see what may be coming for some other Monterey County cities.

  32. UPDATED POSTS: As is the case every month, year-round, many posts and pages on bikemonterey.org had updates. (Note that does not mean those posts/pages were reviewed and revised in their entirety. Many of these were first posted in 2009, and hey, this website and all Bicycling Monterey projects are a volunteer gig for me, since May 2009. You are welcome to be a community reviewer.)

    Among the posts/pages with one or more updates are Copyright Info and How to Request Permission for Reuse; Children and Teens Growing Up Bikewise; Bike Greenfield, plus South County HER Helmet Thursdays spots; Bicycling Pebble Beach; Where to Bike in Monterey County; Serious Cyclists: BMX, Fixed Gear, MTB, Road, Touring, and More (Clubs, Group Rides, Camping, and Other Resources); Bicycle Riding Skills, Bike Safety, and CA Bicycle Laws–for Children, Teens, and Adults; and many more. 

  33. UPDATED PAGE: Contributors of Project Supplies – Four new contributors in April 2017, including the book shown below. Hearing of Bicycling Monterey’s support for public libraries, Scott Fitzgerald contributed a copy of B is for bicycles, on behalf of the Fitzgerald company Buddy Pegs. Scott coauthored the book with Jannine Fitzgerald. B Is for Bicycles was illustrated by Kathleen Hanson.
  34. CALENDAR: As usual, numerous new dates were added to the Master Calendar for Bicycling Monterey County. Check the calendar regularly to avoid missing activities, events, meetings, and other info that may not be posted anywhere else on the Bicycling Monterey website. For example, the April 20 – Del Monte and Beach Roundabout Ribbon Cutting, City of Marina.
    To submit a calendar listing, see http://bit.ly/SubmitBikeCalendar. To volunteer to help maintain the calendar, http://bit.ly/ContactMari. 
  35. NEW PAGE: First, some background. Some people know that the Bicycling Monterey website and projects have been provided by the founder from May 1, 2009 to May 1, 2017 as a labor of love, for which she has received no salary or other personal compensation. This includes that all information published on this site to date—including info about products and services—has been provided for your consideration solely as a public service for eight years. No free goods or services have been accepted as compensation for the mentions and outbound links provided on this site.
    It makes sense that the Bicycling Monterey website—with thousands of site visitors every month and widespread acclaim—is considered a desirable site for promotion. In this 9th year begun May 2017, Bicycling Monterey may, for the first time, join the ranks of bike advocates who accept free products or services in exchange for promotion. If so, only partnerships or sponsorships whose products or services are determined by Mari to be of significant value will be accepted. For details, refer to the following NEW PAGE, “About products or services mentioned.” Questions? Contact Mari.
    QUESTIONS? All phone calls with a U.S. call-back number will be responded to—refer to contact page.

See About Bicycling Monterey. If you read this post—or other info on the Bicycling Monterey website, or benefit from other Bicycling Monterey projects—contribute if you’re able. Or, you may wish to comment, or call, or send a note by postal mail to express yourself.

Why? Your responses will help determine whether the Bicycling Monterey work is helpful in keeping y’all engaged in bike advocacy, even if that’s simply in one of the best ways possible: by your serving as a roll/role model out there riding your bicycle, wherever you are. It’s surprising sometimes to hear what people say about the Bicycling Monterey work. For example, a retiree in Peoria, Illinois was inspired by this site, bought two new bicycles, and is putting on many a mile.

Whether you bike in Monterey County or elsewhere, we’re all one family on this planet, and the more people who bike, the more we all benefit.

Happy Bike Month

Special thanks to all financial contributors to this work!

This post was published on 27 April 2017. One or more changes last made to this post on 16 August 2021.

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