Salinas Leaders Promote Bicycling

A front-page story by Daniel Strain in The Salinas Californian highlights that Bicycling Monterey refers not just to the City of Monterey; it is for all of Monterey County!

The National Steinbeck Center and the historic California Fox Theater are among the organizational and business leaders in Salinas, our county seat, who are providing early leadership in the Bicycling Monterey ecology-economy partnership project, HER Helmet Thursdays.    With yet another addition since the story was published, Salinas now has 15 businesses and organizations who are charter participants in HER Helmet Thursdays.

Two of the charter participants, the National Steinbeck Center and the  Salinas Valley Fish House were highlighted in today’s Californian story, “Salinas bike riders offer discounts at local businesses.”  The story includes comments from interviews with the Steinbeck Center’s Executive Director Colleen Bailey and Tony DiGirolamo, co-owner of the Salinas Valley Fish House.

Strain’s story also includes remarks from cyclist Jeff Richman, a school nurse and Salinas resident.

Pick up a copy of today’s Californian.  Or, just click here to read the Californian’s story online, or go to http://www.salinascalifornian.com

Besides the National Steinbeck Center, California Fox Theater (for shows produced by the Fox), and the Salinas Valley Fish House, the charter participants in HER Helmet Thursdays for Salinas include:  Bahama Grille; Courtyard by Marriott; Cozumel; Elli’s Great American Dinner House; First Awakenings; Gino’s Fine Italian; La Plaza Bakery & Café, East Salinas-Bardin Rd, East Salinas-N. Sanborn Rd, and West Salinas; LALLA Lounge; Residence Inn by Marriott; and Yangtse’s Taste of Thai.

Also leading the way in representing non-peninsula parts of the county are these 6 businesses:  Central Texan BBQ, Castroville; Haute Enchilada, Moss Landing; La Plaza Bakery & Cafe, Gonzales, Greenfield, and Soledad; and Marisco’s Puerto Nuevo, Soledad.

In Carmel, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, and Seaside, there are another 55!  For a complete list of names, click here.

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Strain’s story refers to my not knowing my neighbors until I “hopped on a bike.”  It’s true!  There is a neighbor about a mile away from me who I didn’t know until I started bicycling through a nearby canyon. I’ve been a resident at the same rural Monterey County address since 1981, and nonetheless, I’d not crossed paths to meet this 90-year-old woman until I started bicycling that route and saw her out in her yard.  Now, when I am bicycling home from the Farmers Market, if she’s out in her yard, I stop to share produce with her.  A new friendship was born, to my delight, all because of biking.

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