Posted by Founder, Bicycling Monterey

Bike Buzz: Summer 2025 News from Bicycling Monterey

Summer Bike Buzz is dedicated in memory of Ophelia “Ophie” Chavez, 10 July 1943 – 8 June 2025. Ophie was known and loved by the bike community as part owner of Winning Wheels Bicycle Shop in Pacific Grove 1986-2024. https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/pacific-grove-ca/ophelia-chavez-12411170

This edition of Bike Buzz, which includes items relevant throughout the USA, is brief. While there may be occasional updates to this edition, the best way to catch more news this summer is to follow @bikemonterey on Mastodon. (Need tips on using Mastodon? See social media section of Bicycling Monterey’s Contact page.)

To receive email notifications of Bike Buzz and other infrequent communications from Bicycling Monterey (including alerts to any pop-up events), subscribe.

Our gratitude to these people!

If you follow Bicycling Monterey on Mastodon, you’ve likely seen the following, as well as other advisories:

ONLINE: June 24, 12-1pm (Pac time) free League of American Bicyclists aka Bike League webinar on organizing inclusive bike events. Registration required. https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/114701558760656122

MONTEREY BAY: July 11 registration deadline for Aug 1-3 League Cycling Instructor (LCI) seminar in Santa Cruz. https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/114701396475398416 / https://bikemonterey.org/aug-2025-league-cycling-instructor-seminar-in-santa-cruz.html

EAST COAST: July 7-25 is indie-rock duo Illiterate Light’s #RoadToNewport Folk Festival (NFF is July 23-25). We’ve never been, but those of you who go are likely aware Newport has been showing us up here in Monterey County by having some bike-powered stages for their music festival. (We’d love to see Cali Roots, Monterey Jazz, etc. follow their lead!) Details: https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/114700484697807901

NATIONWIDE: Were you at a public gathering on Flag Day, June 14? If so, were you able to bike or bike-and-ride there, like these folks? https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/114690932199441897

Juneteenth is observed nationwide on June 19, and on Saturday, June 14, the Monterey County Black Caucus organized a 2025 Juneteenth celebration in Seaside. For a local example of Black American history, see “On Juneteenth or any day, bike to history.”

To access all BikeMonterey.org posts, refer to Archive window in the sidebar. Website navigation tips are currently posted on our About page.

SAVE THE DATE:
Sunday, October 5, 2025
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Ciclovía Salinas

Monterey County’s local bike shops include a new one in Marina, with grand opening scheduled for the first week of July: Cycle House Bikes. We appreciate that one of their goals is cycling education (e.g., riding skills, bike laws, and safety tips).

Whether you have a bike-related business or just want to share resources about biking, visit our Tool Kit page to make use of minis, bilingual bike law summaries, and other info.

ADVOCATE FOR BIKING—in Monterey County, elsewhere in California, and throughout North America. Tips at the top of the following page are current: https://bikemonterey.org/resources/bicycle-advocacy-what-you-can-do

CALBIKE: Bicycling Monterey continues to serve on the California Bicycle Coalition’s Policy Advisory Council—advocating for Active Transportation funding, and more. We encourage checking out CalBike’s News section, including “CalBike’s Legislative Agenda at the Halfway Point,” a June update from California Bicycle Coalition’s Policy Director Jared Sanchez: https://www.calbike.org/calbikes-legislative-agenda-at-the-halfway-point/.

For Monterey County residents.
“I was in prison, and you visited me.”

If those words strike a chord for you, perhaps you’d like to “visit” some incarcerated Monterey County teens June 21. How? By purchasing and dropping off socks or other allowable items that Bicycling Monterey can take as gifts for boys in biker’s ed class June 21 at the Probation Department Youth Center. If interested, please phone us promptly to arrange dropping off gifts no later than June 20. Kindly note: No red, blue, or sports insignia. Alternatives to socks: Jigsaw puzzles, yarn for knitting, paperback books (nonviolent, positive content). And you bet, bike themed would be cool, but not essential. Number of gifts needed: 12-15 (consider teaming up with friends).

On June 20, we posted on Mastodon: “This is how bike community works!” Why? Something that made our heart sing that day was receiving a photo of a Salinas Valley dad who’d had no bicycle, now riding our old Giant hybrid, which we were no longer using. And likewise, other of his family members who’d had no bikes are now enjoying the used bicycles donated by a Carmel resident who contacted Bicycling Monterey because her family had bikes they were no longer using. (She called us after finding our post https://bikemonterey.org/where-to-donate-bicycles-in-monterey-county.html, and we were happy to connect her with an appropriate recipient.) If you have more bikes than you need, feel free to contact us.

Questions about Bicycling Monterey’s current projects and activities? Please phone us. Also: Let us know if you’d be interested in attending, hosting, donating to expenses of, or otherwise supporting a class in Monterey County on bike-friendly / bike-safe driving.

Not least in importance among Bicycling Monterey projects is direct outreach by bike! Our own time out pedaling is what refuels our passion for bike advocacy. Anytime an illness or injury waylays one from cycling a while, it rekindles the strong awareness: Biking brings joy! —

Pedaling in rural https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/114430859554647076
and urban https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/114459290436384029 areas.

Joy is one of the many benefits of biking! Thank you for your interest and support for Bicycling Monterey’s mission of inspiring and empowering more people to bike.

Additional donors are needed to support the work of the site and projects, a grassroots volunteer effort now in its 17th year. See how to donate, and FAQs: https://bikemonterey.org/about/financial-donations.