Bike Buzz: Winter 2025-2026 News from Bicycling Monterey

Here’s to a brighter new year for all in 2026. Do what you can, where you are, to help make it that way!

Bicycling ADVOCACY: What you can do — in Monterey County and throughout the USA includes more than a dozen options. They range from giving input to the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) of the Transportation Agency for Monterey County to how to participate in California Bicycle Coalition statewide advocacy actions to how to do a bike audit anywhere in the United States.

Do you get frustrated by the need for maintenance in places where you ride? See where to report a bikeway maintenance need—e.g., these conditions we photographed and reported in December and January (click here).

After the January 30 farmers market at Del Monte shopping center, this dad and his Weize bike caught our eye. We chatted about a favorite bike-and-ride option—Monterey-Salinas Transit—and how MST will upgrade and replace the mounted bicycle racks on all the buses, aiming to fit wider bicycles and electric bikes. (You may have caught that buzz on Mastodon—https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115981138861673011— or at the January meeting of Transportation Agency for Monterey County’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Advisory Committee. ICYMI, the public is welcome at TAMC BPAC meetings; seethe calendar and some tips on attending.)

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Bike Buzz indeed! There’s nothing quite like the natural buzz / natural high of bicycling. The joy that biking brings is so evident in this local bike commuter’s smile!

The Bicycling Monterey site and projects are a grassroots volunteer effort since 2009. Thank you to the first donors of 2026, “Pedal Pushers” Kathleen Jones and Nancy Baker. See who has donated to this work in 2025, and the total of 2025 donations.

If you’re able, please make a financial donation in any amount today. Another way to help is to contribute project supplies, as one Monterey woman did on January 18, 2026.

As we’ve pointed out since Bicycling Monterey’s first year (“Piping in the New: January Biking in Monterey County”), winter in Monterey County includes plenty of good weather for biking, whether on sunny days, like the January 2026 days below…

…or on the also appreciated rainy days!

Biker’s ed for youth (and others), Part 1

Riding a bike safely, legally, and courteously is a skill set. That’s why we focus so much time on helping youth, and adults, acquire those skills.

What about biking on the right side of the roadway, with traffic (aka “going with the flow,” as the sign above advises)? A surprising number of people mistakenly think they are to bike on the left side of the roadway, against motor vehicle traffic, like a pedestrian is to walk.

Aren’t youth, in particular, intentionally scofflaw? Some are, and in our experience, some are quite the contrary—they are actually eager to learn how to bike smart! Note the letter below about one of the bicycling teens we’ve helped who received traffic citations in 2025. In his case, he’d received three citations in our county seat and largest city, Salinas—including for not biking on the right side of the roadway.

To learn more about rules for biking on the right, including exceptions, see #2 in our California bike law summary.

For Biker’s ed for youth (and others), Part 2, click here.

We wish we had far more resources to educate all youth in our county who need our help. We do what we can! Your pitching in by making a donation, and/or sharing flyers or social posts, helps us reach more people.

The work of the Bicycling Monterey projects has diverse positive impacts. These range from climate change to social justice (e.g., our work with youth in the court system) to public health to traffic safety, and more. Not least of all is cultivating joy in people of all ages who are inspired and empowered to get out and pedal!

Donation FAQs.

Mastodon

While there may be occasional updates to this winter 2025-2026 buzz, the best way to catch more news this winter is to follow @bikemonterey on Mastodon. (Need tips on using Mastodon? See social media section of Bicycling Monterey’s Contact page.)

Support local bike shops in Monterey County, or wherever you live or travel.
Congratulations to Frank Pinto on his retirement following forty years in the bike industry. His most recent shop (since 2017), Work Horse Bicycles, closed at the end of December 2025.

Climate Change: California State Parks on our changing coastline

We appreciate this new, bilingual California State Parks interpretive sign’s emphasis on human-caused climate change, including the impact of transportation.

Thanks to this California State Parks ranger who paused at Asilomar State Beach on Veterans Day weekend 2025 to help get the message out.

Reduction of transportation’s carbon emissions is among the multiple benefits of biking that make us smile at people who bike. Biking isn’t all smiles though! Its challenges include drivers lacking in bike awareness—and of course, the big challenge of poor infrastructure.

Bike-friendly infrastructure is vital to preventing injuries and deaths! That’s why advocating for infrastructure improvements is a top priority in Bicycling Monterey’s various projects.

Tips for people who drive,
and people who bike, about
“dooring” and “the Dutch reach”

The Radwagon on the bike rack above is the daily transportation of a local veteran and member of Veterans for Peace. We talked with him in November and were very sorry to hear his wife had been doored!

Dooring can easily result in injury or death! Watch a 1-minute video on how easily dooring can happen.

IF YOU DRIVE: Seven short Bike League videos for motorists includE (#5) how to avoid “dooring” people who bike! —https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEunXMVRYA7SvZsgu-YYeUJbo0rdgmRIF; also available in Spanish https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEunXMVRYA7TRPpFiT_C14G_EBgDf2r_f

IF YOU BIKE: See 1:07 about avoiding being “doored” in https://bikeleague.org/videos/traffic-and-safety-tips/. (Also available there in Spanish.)

NOTE: As for YouTube, you may want to do as we do: make use of DuckDuckGo’s Duck Player. The Duck Player “lets you watch videos on YouTube without privacy-invading ads, and keeps what you watch from impacting your recommendations.‌” Details: https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckgo-help

In Monterey County, two more people on bicycles died in autumn 2025 from fatal injuries received in traffic collisions: Jennifer Lynn Chatman, in Salinas, on November 3; and Seth Pollack, in Pebble Beach, on December 5.

Regarding Jennifer’s death

Protected bike lanes with a physical barrier are what’s needed to really keep people who bike safer! In general, paint on pavement provides little to no real benefit in preventing fatalities. Nevertheless, one “paint on pavement” practice we would like to see far more of — and which possibly could have saved Jennifer’s life — is bike boxes at intersections, as we told Sara Rubin, Monterey County Now / Monterey County Weekly editor.

https://www.montereycountynow.com/blogs/opinion_blog/a-string-of-vehicle-collisions-in-salinas-ends-with-a-tragic-fatality-of-a-cyclist/article_074be0fe-e7dc-4924-920d-7a247d655514.html.

Regarding Seth’s death

Where to report a bikeway maintenance need in Monterey County, or maintenance needs for any California State Highways

Maybe your bike route includes one or more California highways (not freeways or expressways where prohibited, of course, but one of the many highways where biking is legal—which is not limited to the many that serve as community surface streets). If so, please submit a report to Caltrans when you come upon such road hazards. https://csr.dot.ca.gov/
For roads other than state highways, see “Where to report a bikeway maintenance need in Monterey County.”

As of 21 January 2026, this Olmsted Road rockslide issue (see photo below), which we reported to County of Monterey on 14 January, had not yet been addressed.

For another rocky hazard for people biking Olmsted (albeit less dangerous than the situation above, still a surprising hazard)—which we reported to the County on January 17—see “Kick rocks” photos from Olmsted in our Mastodon stream: https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115914206212707468

Below: On 4 January 2026, a small tree had blocked the shoulder of westbound CA SR 68, making it necessary to either bike in the motor vehicle travel lane of this high-speed, typically busy highway or hop off and walk the bicycle around the tree. We reported this to CalTrans that day, and a tree crew addressed the issue promptly. https://csr.dot.ca.gov/

Federal grants awarded for active transportation

Among efforts being made to improve the safety of people using active transportation, California’s Central Coast will receive $2.8 million in federal road safety grants, including active transportation grants. The following funds are earmarked for Pedestrian/Bicycle Safety: County of Monterey Health Department, $192,310; Salinas Police Department, $195,000; Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency, $250,000; and Santa Cruz Police Department, $100,000, as reported by Ricardo Tovar for KSBW on December 2.
https://www.ksbw.com/article/central-coast

More about federal funds for transportation: Advocate for 2026 and beyond

https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115629137845086000
https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115629233928631866

A bike comunity holiday ride

“Bike Nite” on Mastodon

People on Mastodon share a range of ideas in a weekly Q & A organized by Phil Yip https://sfba.social/@ascentale, a bike accessories small business owner and a staff member of our fellow CalBike partner (https://www.calbike.org/about_us/who_we_are/local_partners/) Bike East Bay. We occasionally chime in on Phil’s #BikeNite fun too, e.g., https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115636601280843678, https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115590893068547861,
https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115392175728530059,
https://sfba.social/@bikemonterey/115313636465282151.

Biker’s ed for youth (and others), Part 2

We chatted spontaneously with four young teens on November 20, sharing cautions to help prevent them being cited https://bikemonterey.org/bike-buzz-fines-for-bicycle-related-california-vehicle-code-cvc-violations.html. School had just let out, and their joy in biking was visible! Unfortunately, also visible were actions—by 2-4 of them—that could get unwanted attention from police:

• biking wrong-way on a 1-way street;
• popping wheelies in traffic lanes of a main street;
• no helmets (required for minors in California);
• biking on sidewalks where signs indicate sidewalk riding prohibited;
• biking through a pedestrian crosswalk;
• 1 of the 4 reportedly biking “under the influence.”

After we briefly pointed out they could get up to 5-6 citations (had a cop been present), 1 said, “That’s a lot to remember!” Yes, it can be, when you’ve not been taught bike laws from day 1 (e.g., https://bikemonterey.org/wp-content/uploads/Bike-law-summary-2025.pdf).

Resources on Riding Skills, Bike Laws, and Safety.
You pitching in can make more Youth Education possible. Please make a donation today; click here for details.

Contributions of projects supplies are welcome and appreciated!

BTW, although youth are required by California law to wear a helmet, sometimes they don’t have funds to purchase one. We appreciate Jane Anfinson’s January 18, 2026 contribution of project supplies, including helmets and more. If you have new or used bicycling accessories, or other project supplies to donate, please phone us.

Boost bicycling in 2026!

For how to donate to help support the Bicycling Monterey site and projects, and for FAQs, click here. 

Bicycling Monterey, founded 2009, is a grassroots effort benefiting individuals, communities, and the planet. The work of the founder, 2009-2026, is done as an unpaid volunteer. See what people say about the value of this work. For the total amount donated from 2009 to the present, click here.