Monthly Archive for April, 2010

Nurturing our bicycling culture

Published by Russell Reagan on April 30, 2010 in Davis Bicycles! Column. 0 Comments

Published in the Davis Enterprise on Fri., April 30, 2010

By Sydney Vergis

Davis is a great place to live and a fun destination. By embracing and nurturing what we have to offer — including our extensive network of bike lanes and bike paths, the new U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, “America’s favorite” Farmers’ Market, events at the Mondavi Center, and a great array of easily accessible downtown local shops — we can enhance our reputation as a great bicycling destination.

The city and UC Davis additionally host a variety of events that draw thousands of visitors annually — for example, the Davis Jazz Artists Festival, the California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Art, the much-maligned Picnic Day, UCD graduation and the Amgen Tour of California — and not all of those visits have to be by car.

Davis has an opportunity to further our environmental leadership and strengthen our local businesses by implementing self-service bicycle rental kiosks at the Amtrak station. This prime location would be convenient for day visitors arriving by train, in-town guests and the occasional Davis resident with a bike in the shop (because we all already own bikes, right?!) and who is looking for a easy way to cruise around town.

European and other U.S. cities have successfully implemented similar programs that proactively facilitate tourism development without increasing congestion or straining existing parking facilities. Existing programs offer creative ideas for funding and implementation. Continue reading ‘Nurturing our bicycling culture’

BIKE LOOPALOOZA – MAY 16

Published by Christal Waters on April 28, 2010 in Events. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Celebrate spring and May is Bike Month on the Bike Loopalooza!  Join other families in riding the Davis Bike Loop on May 16 from 10 AM to 2 PM.  Stations along the loop will have information on how to use the city’s great bike paths and lanes and lanes to safety bike to school.  Each station will also have an activity or goodie geared to elementary school students.  Activities include helmet checks, bike checks, skills course, tattoos (soluble, of course!), face-painting, and birdwatching and tree identification at the southern end of the loop.  Elementary students will receive passports at the first station.  Three stamps on the passport earns the student a small prize at the third station.  Completion of the entire 12-mile earns anyone a bike loop completion certificate.  Join the loop at any point,  clockwise or counter clockwise.  The Bike Loopalooza is sponsored by Davis Bicycles! and the City of Davis. A suggested donation of $1.00 to $5.00 per participant is requested to help defray the cost of printing and insurance.   We still need volunteers, especially “runners” to bike between  stations carrying materials for stations that have run out.    High school students with signed permission of the parent are welcome to be runners.  Volunteers should also be available to attend a pre-event meeting on May 14 at 7:30 PM.  Please e-mail Christal Waters at chrystal2waters@yahoo.com if you or your student would like to volunteer.

Harrisonburg to Davis: Lessons Learned, Common Interests

Published by admin on April 17, 2010 in Davis Bicycles! Column. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Lara Mack and Tom Benevento (photo by Aaron Johnston)

By: Lara Mack and Tom Benevento

Note: From March 4-7 of 2010 a delegation of seven from Harrisonburg, Virginia — including the town’s mayor, bike/pedestrian coordinator, planning commission member, a bike shop owner and two community bicycle activists – visited Davis to learn about our bicycle friendly city by studying our infrastructure and culture.  The following is a reflection by the two community bike advocates who made the trip. Davis Bicycles! was the lead organizer on our end, but many across the community from the City to the Davis Bike Collective (Bike Forth), in particular, were highly involved. – Robb Davis

On behalf of the Harrisonburg, Virginia delegation and its citizens we wish to thank Davis, California for welcoming us into your city.  We are most grateful to the efforts of Davis Bicycles! for its careful coordination of our visit to learn about your amazing bicycle friendly city. We are also grateful to the many people and organizations who shared their knowledge and experience with us including Mayor Pro Tem Don Saylor and city staff, especially Tara Goddard, the Davis Police department, teachers and parents of the Safe Routes to School program, the Bike Forth bike collective, Village Harvest, Bicycle Hall of Fame, and Pepper Peddlers. Continue reading ‘Harrisonburg to Davis: Lessons Learned, Common Interests’