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SFBC Biker Bulletin

August 31, 2010

"The Mayor also announced that he would like to 'make the 3 Foot Passing Rule a 3 Foot Passing Law' in California. He will be introducing the bill, going to Sacramento and working with the bicycling community to ensure that this becomes a reality. 'We'll keep at it until it becomes part of the California Vehicle Code.'"
-- "Give Me 3" Bike Safety Posters Unveiled by Mayor Villaraigosa, LA County Bicycle Coalition Blog, August 24, 2010

Biker Bulletin News

  1. Celebrating the First Complete Mile: Bike Lane on North Point
  2. Bike-Friendly Candidates Need Your Vote by Monday
  3. Help us Reach Our $20,000 Green Light Challenge
  4. Ballyhoo for Bicycling at the Annual Tour de Fat
  5. Pitch In for Power, Peace, and Parklets
  6. Anything is Possible -- With Interns
  7. Sunday Streets Stretches from Japantown to NOPA
  8. SF Bicycle Coalition Rec Ride: Solar Systems
  9. Another Good Roads Victory on the Wiggle
  10. Video: The Netherlands Shows How It's Done
  11. Upcoming Events

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Celebrating the First Complete Mile: Bike Lane on North Point

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is thrilled to invite you to celebrate the completion of the first mile of bike lane on North Point Street tonight (Tuesday). Three weeks after the City got the green light to start striping approved Bike Plan projects, new bike lanes are linking neighborhoods across the City. Join us at 5:30pm tonight at Pier 7 for a bike ride to North Point and Embarcadero where a ribbon cutting ceremony will commemorate the first completed mile of over 30 miles of new bike lanes coming our way.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will ensure the City dedicates all available resources towards getting 15 Bike Plan projects on the ground before the end of the year. After three years of no new bike lanes in San Francisco, the City has some serious catching up to do to make streets safer for biking. Here's an update on where to find fresh new paint:

The City's first mile of bike lane is striped on North Point Street: Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for a ribbon cutting ceremony and victory lap on this important new link. Tuesday, August 31st, meet at 5:30pm at Pier 7 and ride with us to the start of the newest bike lane in San Francisco!

Townsend Street: One mile of brand-new bike lane is on the street in the westbound direction, and the eastbound bike lane is complete from Eighth to Fourth streets. The SFMTA expects to complete striping of the entire Townsend Street bike lane by Sept. 10, creating a long-awaited and important link from Eighth Street all the way to the Embarcadero.

What's Next: Laguna Honda Avenue bike lanes, from Woodside to Plaza; the SFMTA expects to have this segment of Laguna Honda striped by Sept. 17 (the Portola-Woodside section of Laguna Honda will be striped this fall). That will be followed by Kirkham Street bike lanes (from 9th Ave to the Great Highway) and Ocean Avenue bike lanes (Alemany to Lee).

Click here for our full list of projects we want to see completed by the end of the year.

Bike-Friendly Candidates Need Your Vote by Monday

Have you voted yet? It might not be the first Tuesday in November, but your vote is important today too! The SF Bicycle Coalition is the largest local advocacy group in San Francisco, and we bring massive amounts of volunteer hours and publicity to local candidates and campaigns. But, we want to hear from you -- vote now for the candidates you'd like to see us endorse in the five Board of Supervisor races this year. The Board of Supervisors sets city policy and, along with the mayor, are the most important elected officials to getting real bike improvements on the ground.

Endorsement voting will end on Monday, September 6th, so make sure you vote this week! The SF Bicycle Coalition sent out a questionnaire to all candidates, so read up on how these candidates plan to improve San Francisco biking, walking, and streets and vote for your favorite now.

Help us Reach Our $20,000 Green Light Challenge

This is the last week to help us reach our $20,000 Green Light Challenge -- we are three-quarters of the way there and need your help to push us over the top!

All special gifts to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition or the tax-deductible SFBC Education Fund between now and this Friday, September 3rd will be matched $1 to $1 by two generous SF Bicycle Coalition donors. This will mean $20,000 to fund our work in keeping the City on track to stripe over 15 bike lane projects by the end of this year!

We are thrilled to be celebrating the first completed mile of bike lane on North Point St. Help us keep the city accountable to their commitment to complete 15 bike lane projects by the end of this year. No matter what you can give today, $10, $50, $100, or $250, the money you contribute in the next few days will go even further by being matched $1 for $1, helping us fuel our organization with a $20,000 boost.

We're almost there! Click here to donate today, and we thank you for your ongoing support.

Ballyhoo for Bicycling at the Annual Tour de Fat

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 25th when Tour de Fat rolls back into town with its ballyhoo of bikes and New Belgium Brewery beers! This all-day, all-green FUNdraiser benefits the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and the Bay Area Ridge Trail Council.

  • Volunteer and get a free Tour de Fat t-shirt. Volunteer to pour beer, sell merch, check IDs or valet park bicycles. Sign up at sfbike.org/vol_sign_up_tdf
  • Help distribute posters! Stop by our office (833 Market St, 10th Floor) or download and print some to distribute.

Pitch In for Power, Peace, and Parklets

The Metromint Giro di San Francisco is Monday, September 6th, and the SF Bicycle Coalition will be there with our free bike valet parking and San Francisco-style bike love. Join us for the action as we cheer on the racers and gain support for our bicycle advocacy work among our speediest fellow cyclists. Contact Tessa if you're outreach trained and would like to volunteer! Email LisaRuth if you would like to volunteer as a bike valet.

Power-Up Commuters on New North Point Bike Lane! We'll be out celebrating the new bike lane on North Point with a morning Energizer Station on Thurs. 9/2 from 8-10am. Are you excited and trained in SFBC outreach? Email Tessa to volunteer.

Power to the Peaceful returns Sept. 10-12 and we'll be there parking bikes and doing outreach under the SF Bicycle Coalition tent. Email Tessa to volunteer for outreach; to volunteer as a bike valet email LisaRuth. Make a difference and enjoy this fabulous music festival at the same time -- way fun!

Volunteer to spread the word: Park(ing) Day 2010 is Parklet Day! The SF Great Streets Project is encouraging business owners, neighborhood groups, and community benefits associations to try out a parklet on Park(ing) Day, September 17th. We need volunteers August 23-26 to distribute fliers and call businesses to let them know how to participate. Email liza@sfgreatstreets.org if you are interested in helping.

Anything is Possible -- With Interns

  • Winterfest Event Interns: Winterfest, Sunday December 5th, is the biggest fundraiser and party our organization throws. Be a part of it from the inside! We are seeking two highly motivated Event Planning Interns to work in a fun yet hard-working environment to help put all the pieces of Winterfest together. For full description of internship, go to sfbike.org/intern_development
  • Membership Intern: Gain firsthand knowledge about the backbone of our organization -- our members -- as a Membership Intern. For more info and to apply go to sfbike.org/intern_membership

Sunday Streets Stretches from Japantown to NOPA

Sunday Streets unveils a brand new route on September 19th, when it connects and opens streets from the Panhandle to NOPA's Grove Street Market, Golden Gate Avenue to Jefferson Square and Fillmore Street to Kimball Playground and Japan Center's Peace Plaza. Check out the new route at sundaystreetssf.com. The SF Bicycle Coalition is proud to partner with Livable City for Sunday Streets by recruiting and training 200+ volunteers for every event. Thanks to the amazing volunteers who made the last Sunday Streets event another huge success.

The SF Bicycle Coalition will also be hosting urban cycling classes, Freedom From Training Wheels and youth biking.

Four ways you can help make the Western Addition Sunday Streets a success:

  1. Volunteer at Sunday Streets as an Intersection Monitor or Route Rabbit and help Sunday Streets run smoothly! All volunteers get a t-shirt and lunch. Sign up at sundaystreetssf.com/volunteer.
  2. Do outreach under our orange tent! Volunteers must have attended a San Francisco Bicycle Coalition Outreach Training. To sign up, email tessa@sfbike.org.
  3. Be part of the pre-event Street Team: Help do community outreach and canvassing for Sunday Streets. Email sundaystreets@gmail.com to help.
  4. Help the little ones learn to bike: Email neal@sfbike.org to help train the next generation of bicyclists in our Freedom From Training Wheels Workshop.

SF Bicycle Coalition Rec Ride: Solar Systems

Solar power is hot! Catch this ride and see solar electric and hot water systems at residential and commercial sites and hear how one resident organized her neighborhood block to go solar together. Join the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition along with TransitionSF and the San Francisco Permaculture Guild on this Transition Tour that showcases local efforts that create community and support both the environment and economy. 2 hour ride plus optional 1.5 hour extension. SF Bicycle Coalition recreational rides are free for SFBC members (a $5 donation from non-members is appreciated); rain cancels rides.

Details: Sat., Sep. 11 | 9:45am | Meet at Koshland Park (Page St. and Buchanan).

Another Good Roads Victory on the Wiggle

Some of the smoothest pavement around is now on the Wiggle, ahead of schedule thanks to the hard work of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Good Roads Campaign. Sanchez Street between 17th St. and Duboce Ave. is being fully repaved right now after major sewer work -- a welcome addition to the stretch of Steiner St. that was repaved earlier this summer. We encourage you to ride cautiously during the last phase of construction -- visit our Good Roads page to find out what you should expect when construction is taking place on streets you ride on.

If you see unsafe conditions, report the hazard to 311, and email Neal with the details. We applaud the Department of Public Works for their efforts to keep work zones safe.

Video: The Netherlands Shows How It's Done

City leaders like Board President David Chiu, Department of Public Works Director Ed Reisken, and Ricardo Olea and Bridget Smith of the Municipal Transportation Agency are heading off to the Netherlands, thanks to Bikes Belong, to experience world-class biking and learn what innovations can be brought back to San Francisco to help get people of all ages bicycling more often. Hop on the handlebars in this video and see the amazing street designs they'll be riding on, such as this part of Route Imperiale No. 2 (a paved road connecting Paris and Amsterdam) dating back to Emperor Napoleon. This particular road has undergone many changes over the years, but today provides a great example of a world-class bicycling street.

Thanks to the advocacy and planning work of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, it is exciting to note that a similar street design was proposed by the SFMTA as one of four options to improve safety on Masonic Ave. Watch the video and be inspired for what San Francisco could be like in the years to come. Be sure to notice the ample bike parking, left turn pockets for bicycle riders, and how the raised pathway continues through side street intersections giving people on bikes priority. Watch the video!

Upcoming Events

Check out our online calendar of events. To add your bike event to our calendar, simply email the details to calendar@sfbike.org

** Wednesday, September 1st **

SF Bicycle Coalition Phone Banking
5-8pm | SFBC HQ, 833 Market St, 10th Floor

Got the gift of gab? Volunteer to phone bank with the SFBC! No cold calling, just simple reminders to friendly lapsed SFBC members that their membership is expired. Come share in the fun. The more the merrier! We supply dinner and good company. Contact juli@sfbike.org if you're interested.

** Friday, September 3rd **

SF 2 Google First Friday Friendly Frolic *
6:20am | Meet at Ritual Roasters, 1026 Valencia St

Ready to try out your first SF2G (SF to Google)? Want to make sure you get there in one piece and without getting lost? Join SF2G for their No Rider Left Behind (NRLB) First Friday Friendly Frolic rides! Depart at 6:30, arrival in Mountain View area ~9:45am. http://www.sf2g.com/nrlb.html for all details

** Saturday, September 4th **

SFBC Valet Bicycle Parking at the Ferry Building Saturday Farmers Market
8am-2pm | Harry Bridges Plaza

Pedal to the Ferry Building to fill up your panniers with local bounty and park your bike with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. All 52 weeks a year, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition will be providing complimentary valet bike parking in Harry Bridges Plaza (look for the orange tent)

Shaping San Francisco Bicycle History Tour: Food *
11am | Meet at CounterPULSE, 1310 Mission at 9th

Explore the history of food in San Francisco, with special food stops along the way, and with luck, making it to Alemany Farm for the final stop. A sliding scale donation of $15-50 is requested to benefit Shaping SF, but pay what you can/will. Info: 415-608-9035

** Monday, September 6th **

SFBC Valet Bicycle Parking at Giro di San Francisco
8am-4pm | Levi Strauss Plaza, Battery at Union Streets, San Francisco

The Giro di San Francisco is back, and the SF Bicycle Coalition will be there featuring our free bicycle valet parking and outreach love. Are you trained in outreach and want to volunteer? Email tessa@sfbike.org

(Events not sponsored by the SFBC are marked with an *)

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