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 Archives:
| April 9, 2006
Sunday is my favorite day of the week, that's when I get to ride my bike in the park and I don't have to worry about the scary cars. HEALTHY SATURDAYS -- SOUND OFF NOW!The de Young Museum is so anxious about sharing a little part of Golden Gate Park with ordinary people for two days of the week that they've sent a lie-packed letter to their members, whipping up fear and anxiety and bringing on a storm of misinformed opposition to Healthy Saturdays in the form of phone calls to the Supes. We need to counteract these calls with *your* supportive calls. If you do one thing for a better, healthier, greener city this week: CALL THE SUPERVISORS NOW -- ALL ELEVEN OF THEM and let them know you want to see a trial of Healthy Saturdays this summer. See our Leaders page for phone numbers: http://sfbike.org/leaders Briefly state your support for Healthy Saturdays in Golden Gate Park and go on to the next one. Call, call, call, call and let 'em know. Be ready to pack the hearing room at City Hall on Friday afternoon (Apr. 14, 1pm, City Hall, Rm 263) to testify to the goodness of car-free Saturdays in the park. This is the only chance for public comment! For more information, contact Andy @ 431-2453 x 307. ---> http://www.sfbike.org/ggp GOLDEN WHEEL TOMORROW NIGHTPlease join us for the SFBC's annual Golden Wheel Awards and celebration tomorrow, Wednesday, April 12th, from 6-9pm. (For details, see http://www.sfbike.org/goldenwheel) This is a great chance to meet other engaged Bike Coalition members, hear inspiring stories, enjoy lovely food, drink, and live music, and of course, use our valet bike parking service. Haven't RSVP'd yet? It's not too late - you can purchase tickets at the door. --> We are highly disappointed to announce that Mayor Gavin Newsom, who committed two months ago to be our keynote speaker, has...how to say this tactfully... bailed on the event. There's no nicer way to put it. Feel free to share your feelings about this with the Mayor at gavin.newsom@sfgov.org --> We welcome as our keynote speaker Mr. Nat Ford, the new Executive Director of the Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees Muni and the Dept. of Parking & Traffic, including the bicycle program. We look forward to hearing his vision for bicycling, as the head of transportation in the city. CLOSING THE GAP ON MARKET -- LET THE SUPES KNOW YOU WANT ITWe're less than a week away from a crucial hearing at the Board of Supervisors on whether to move forward with bike lanes on Market St. between Van Ness & Octavia, some of the most important cycling pavement in the city. We need everyone reading this email to do his or her part to make this vital bike network improvement happen -- please take a few minutes to send a personalized email to the Supervisors who will be making this decision, using our handy web tool: ---> http://sfbike.org/?market_email Remind them of the central importance of Market Street as a bicycle route -- there are more bicycle trips made on Market than any other street west of the Mississippi. And please think about taking a long lunch on Monday afternoon to come out and speak up at the Supervisors' committee hearing: Mon., Apr. 17, 1pm City Hall, Room 263. Contact Andy Thornley (andy@sfbike.org) for more information, or see our Market Street page: ---> http://sfbike.org/?market SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT BIKES THIS EARTH DAY - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!Stop the coughing, exhaust, and oil wars by spreading the good word about bikes this Earth Day! Organizations all over the city have asked us to table at their Earth Day events, and we need you to be our two wheeled ambassadors. Can you join us at one of the following events?
+ ENVISION EARTH DAY EVERYDAY
+ SHIH YU-LANG CENTRAL YMCA EARTH DAY
+ GET YOUR GREEN ON!
+ EARTH DAY AT CITY COLLEGE
+ 6TH ANNUAL PEOPLE'S EARTHDAY AT INDIA BASIN SHORELINE PARK Do it for Mother Earth! For more information about these events, visit our volunteer website: http://www.sfbike.org/volunteer. To sign up, email rachel@sfbike.org or go to http://www.sfbike.org/vol_sign_up. ---> http://www.sfbike.org/volunteer L.O.S. REFORM FOR MORE BALANCED STREETS -- HEARING WEDNESDAYEven in green, "Transit-First" San Francisco, planning and implementing better, safer streets for bicyclists and pedestrians and transit riders is complicated by an over-sensitivity to automobile drivers' experience when evaluating costs and benefits -- moving more cars faster is the imperative over which all other transportation and land use concerns take a back seat. Ironically, environmental quality considerations, in the form of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) findings, are often the biggest obstacles to making these quality-of-life improvements to city streets, not because pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements contribute to air / noise / water pollution (they don't), but because taking pavement away from private motorcars can potentially diminish the "Level of Service" (LOS) experienced by auto drivers below a failing-grade threshold of convenience. This Wednesday (4/12, 1:00 pm, City Hall, Room 263) the Board of Supervisors' Land Use Committee will be hearing a resolution brought by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi which asks whether auto LOS should be abandoned as a measure of significance for environmental review in San Francisco. This is an obscure but fundamental issue for the city's aspirations to a greener, healthier future, and anyone with an interest in better transportation and land use is encouraged to come out and participate in the process. For more information contact Andy Thornley at andy@sfbike.org. GOT AN HOUR OR TWO TO SPARE DURING THE WEEK? OUR OFFICE NEEDS YOU!With Healthy Saturdays on the horizon, Market Street bike lanes hot, and Bike to Work Day around the corner, our office is humming with activity and we need your help to keep us sprinting into spring. We're looking for helpful hands for data entry, filing, store fulfillment and mailings. All the little stuff that makes the biggest difference in keeping our office running smoothly. If you can donate an hour or two to this important cause, contact rachel@sfbike.org. SFBC EXEC. DIRECTOR RECOMMENDED FOR MTA BOARDMayor Newsom has recommended SFBC Executive Director Leah Shahum to a seat on the 7-person Board of Directors of the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA). This body oversees the overall policy direction and budget of the MTA, which includes Muni and all transportation modes, including bicycling. The recommended appointment will be considered by the Board of Supervisors, which must confirm the Mayor's appointees to the MTA Board, during the next few weeks. This would be an important first as a sustainable transportation voice is part of the MTA's highest decision-making body. FREE BIKE ED CLASS THIS SATURDAYOur four hour in-classroom courses teach the basics of safe and enjoyable cycling, including riding in traffic, necessary equipment, crash avoidance, and legal rights and responsibilities. The classes are open to adults 14 and over, and a bicycle is not required. Join us this Saturday, April 15th at 10:00am at the Taraval Police Station Community Room, 2345 24th Avenue, The Sunset. The price is right - FREE - but you must register. Visit our Bike Ed page to sign up: https://www.sfbike.org/edu ---> https://www.sfbike.org/edu NO VOLUNTEER NIGHT THIS WEDNESDAY, APRIL 12thBut we look forward to seeing you next week! Due to the Golden Wheel festivities, our biweekly Volunteer Night has been moved to Wednesday, April 19th. That means that Volunteer Night will be TWO WEEKS IN A ROW this month (April 26th as well). All the more reason to come snack on tasty treats, catch up with fellow bikers, and help keep our office rolling smoothly into spring. As always, the fine conversation and dinner are FREE. Everyone welcome. SFBC HQ, 995 Market Street, 15th Floor. Contact rachel@sfbike.org if you have questions, or just show up. SFBIKE.ORG KNOCKED OUT - BUT THE BEAT GOES ON!Many of you may have noticed some burps and spurts in the SFBC email and web systems in the past few days. We're sorry to those of you who took the time to compose letters to your supervisors on the several important advocacy issues on the docket this week - thank you for your time! Unfortunately, your maelstrom of grassroots energy and effort walloped our servers over the weekend and we're still sorting out the overload now. Our email is still misbehaving, and we're working to get everything back up and running ASAP. In the meantime, you can still visit http:// www.sfbike.org and get contact info and talking points to call or personally fax and email your decision-makers and let them know you support better biking in San Francisco! Stay tuned - and thanks again for bearing with us! You're reading the SFBC Weekly Biker BulletinGet this sent directly to your inbox by signing up here. Join the SFBC and add your voice to thousands demanding a city-wide network of bike lanes, traffic calmed streets, better access to transit and secure bike parking. Together we can make San Francisco the most bicycle friendly city in the country!
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