Spring Fest Celebration

The UCSC Sustainability Office hosts an annual Spring Fest celebration to honor outstanding projects students have worked on for the year. Melissa and I were invited to this year’s Spring Fest to honor our work on our IDEASS Bike Transit Planning Project. The day started with the MC’s introducing all the different organizations and project teams who have been working on incredible projects this past year. After a delicious lunch, all project teams went alongside their project posters to describe to attendees about the work they’ve done and their future projections of their project. Melissa and I had just created our poster for the Wharf Sanctuary and could not wait to show it off at this celebration! Talking to people about our project with our poster behind us summarizing the amazing work Melissa and I have done was an incredible experience. It allowed us to both feel so recognized and accomplished. We are so proud of all the other project teams that were recognized at this event and we give a big thank you to the Sustainability Office for creating an event like this! 

UCSC slugs combat social & environmental injustices with bicycles in San Jose

There’s no doubt that the work that UC Santa Cruz students accomplish during their time at the University can serve as a training ground and experimental space for future work in communities beyond Santa Cruz. The latest example of this in the bicycle and social justice realm is the creation of a new bicycle cooperative over the hill by two UCSC bicycling banana slugs, Adrian Baker-Kang and Cassidy Kakin, who are pedal driven to make a difference for youth and bicycle riders in San Jose.

At a recent Bikes & Food Justice Festival at UCSC on May 3, I had the opportunity to hear Adrian, a UCSC senior and UCSCBike Coop co-owner, speak about his thesis work on the role bicycles can play in supporting communities who don’t have access to healthy, fresh foods nearby. In his words, 

“I looked at the obstacles facing low-income individuals when it comes to accessing sustainable, low-cost, transportation. Due to a lack of infrastructure and education, bicycles are simply not a viable method of travel in many cities still, where car users are reluctant to share roads that were not designed with bicycles in mind. The option of public transportation in busy cities can be a massive time investment for many individuals, with short trips across town taking two to three times as long compared to cars or even bikes, as buses become stuck in traffic between picking up and dropping off passengers.” 

Adrian’s solution is pro-bicycle, but with infrastructure issues also comes the costly matter of purchasing a bicycle and then maintaining it.

Adrian speaking at the Bikes & Food Justice Fest.

Both Adrian and his best friend Cassidy studied Politics and “focused [their] efforts and inquiries on the position of marginalized populations in low income communities.” Cassidy Kakin, who graduated last year, explains that “Adrian studied public transportation and bike infrastructure, and I worked on the intersectionality of poverty, race, and education in modern urban society.” Their grassroots approach to these complex issues comes in the form of a bicycle cooperative in East San Jose, called the East San Jose Bicycle Cooperative.

Intrigued by their vision and purpose, as well as their studies on social justice and accessibility issues in communities like East San Jose, I asked them for an interview. Here’s what they had to share:

Melissa Ott: How did this bike co-op idea come about?

Cassidy Kakin: I’ve spent the past year serving a Year of Service with City Year, an Americorps Partner, in a low income school in the suburban ghetto of East San Jose, and I’ve seen the many social pressures and economic struggles placed upon the massive population of marginalized youth in the Alum Rock School District. 

The East San Jose Bicycle Cooperative is the combination of the two efforts, studies, and experiences of two best friends and UCSC alumni.  Its exact origin is shrouded in cold IPA's and hot Sunday afternoons spent together day dreaming about changing the world and starting something big, and in some sense evolved organically from an idea I had to come back to East Side San Jose in a different and more ambitious capacity, and Adrian's divine inspiration to change the world and promote social justice from the seat of a bike.

Adrian Baker-Kang: As a community bike mechanic for two and a half years, I have worked closely with low-income and poverty-level individuals who relied on their bicycles as a critical method of transportation due to the low cost and ease of owning and operating a bicycle. I never considered its potential for social change until I spent a year working at the Bike Church in Santa Cruz. The Bike Church is a non-profit community bike shop that promotes personal empowerment through teaching individuals how to do basic mechanical work on their own bikes. One thing that struck me while working there was how much worth these individuals placed upon their bike, valuing them oftentimes more highly than shelter or a hot meal due to the transportation needs they fulfilled.

Melissa: What is your vision for the East San Jose Bicycle Coop?

Adrian: Our vision is to help make the city of San Jose one of the most bike friendly cities in the nation, and a model for sustainable transportation world-wide. Our model will be one of building strong relationships with the community to foster lasting bonds in promoting bicycles as a viable method of transportation. We will be working directly with San Jose’s youth and their parents to address the safety and educational needs unique to this city, such as how to effectively navigate between downtown and East San Jose.

See more photos and videos of youth supporting ESJBC here.

Cassidy: We’re still in the process of evolving from an idea into a sustainable and successful project. All our goals now and in the future involve means of promoting a positive bike culture in East San Jose's youth community, in order to fight the injustices imposed upon young people by restrictive socio-economic realities.

As of now, we are hoping to promote a positive bicycle culture as an alternative to the often illegal and illicit or gang related activities that some of East San Jose's most vulnerable youth fall victim to. We hope to work during existing afterschool programs in middle schools and elementary spaces in Alum Rock schools, which have successfully situated themselves to address the issues facing San Jose's youth. 

Melissa: What might your work in these schools look like?

Cassidy: With elementary school students, we hope to fan the flames of the developing hobby of young riders in a safe way.  We have seen students with bright futures riding dangerously and recklessly and want to provide education so that their increased access to bicycle infrastructure will not come with negative side effects. In addition, the multifaceted benefits and goals of the bicycle world like environmentalism, social justice, and invigorated cities will be promoted.

In middle schools, we hope to take a long term and holistic approach in the after school space, giving us the ability to form and develop meaningful relationships with students. We intend to have fully functional, mobile bicycle repair clinics to teach students how to maintain and service their bikes, while continuing bicycle safety education.

Image from the ESJBC website.

Melissa: Why are bicycle co-ops important and valuable to communities? Why does East San Jose need one?

Adrian: Bicycle co-ops are an invaluable community resource socially, economically, and environmentally. Socially, they bring communities together in an engaging environment in a way that automobiles cannot. Individuals have the opportunity to slow their life down for a moment and learn new mechanical skills and make new friends without spending any money. Economically, bicycles are a cost effective method of travel that vastly expands the distance individuals can travel who do not use a car. The lack of gas, parking fees, and maintenance costs provides a valuable resource for making fun and healthy trips around town to the grocery store, school, or meeting up with friends.

Cassidy: As I’ve described, we do not intend on having a stationary “shop” space as many bike co-ops have; we instead intend to be fully mobile, giving us the ability to work in schools directly and develop meaningful relationships with students. So why brand ourselves as a “co-op” rather than an educational after school program component?  There is a certain power in the word “cooperative,” both in the bike community and more generally. We are a co-op because we intend to base all of our programming on the needs of the community we serve, evolving with and promoting the growth of the students and community members we work with, hearing their voices and responding to their ambitions and goals for our project. We hope to bring the ideology of a co-op model without replicating the typical cooperative structure. In this way, we hope to empower the voice of East Side San Jose's youth while promoting bicycle culture in a safe and productive manner.

Melissa: How are you spreading the word about this, and how can the community support your work?

Adrian: We are promoting our cooperative through a grassroots campaign, working from the ground up to directly interact with the communities we will be serving. This includes hosting free drop-in bicycle clinics, writing city council members, and promoting our organization through the parents and teachers of the students we will be assisting. We are currently seeking help in terms of volunteers for assisting with our bike clinics, a graphic designer to create a logo, and financial support from potential investors.

Gathering community support for the co-op, Cassidy (right) stands with Justin of Autonomous San Jose and RideESSJ.

Cassidy: At the same time, we are expanding our efforts, learning, and promotion beyond the East San Jose foothills and have begun the important and extensive process of reaching out to networks and people in bike enclaves around the world—from Santa Cruz, Santa Clara and the rest of the Silicon Valley, Marin County, Oregon and beyond, to online networks and social spheres. We also hope to reach out with and sit down with some big movers and shakers in the Silicon Valley bicycling community, like San Jose Bike Party and the Silicon Valley Bicycling Coalition. Hopefully, we will be able to learn from and work alongside the giants who have been working on bikes for years in San Jose and the surrounding areas.

Adrian: With the support of others in our community, we hope to further the ideals of sustainability, safety, and financial viability by promoting bicycles to a younger generation, to help promote a greener and healthier future. We are seeking support from anyone who is interested in supporting our goals, so please visit our website, blog, and social media sites and send us your ideas!

To support Cassidy and Adrian in making their vision a reality for the youth of East San Jose, please visit their Indiegogo campaign site, blog, Facebook, and Twitter to learn more. You can contribute money, ideas, resources, and volunteer support in numerous ways!

Bicycle commuting community-building through conversation (Pedaling Periodical)

On St. Patrick's Day, March 17, a dozen bicyclists gathered in the People Power office in downtown Santa Cruz to discuss bicycle commuting tips, tricks, and laws. Hosted by People Power of Santa Cruz County and the UC Santa Cruz Bicycle Transit Team, this was the first of five community workshops happening every third Monday of the month from March until July.

The workshops are designed to educate new bicycle commuters, as well as remind and refine seasoned commuters' understanding of bicycle laws, best practices for all weather, and safe strategies for getting to work, school, errands, and back home safely on a bicycle. An article in the Good Times provides an overview of the workshops here.

Upon arrival, participants were asked to fill out a one-page survey about their current bicycling habits. The team coordinating the workshops will be compiling this data and comparing it to two post-workshop surveys one month and three months after the workshop. The purpose of comparing data is to identify the effectiveness of the workshops in encouraging more bicycling, as well as to be able to calculate carbon emissions reductions from miles biked instead of driven. The workshops are made possible by the UC Santa Cruz Carbon Fund, which funds projects on-campus and in the community that will reduce carbon emissions. 

The first twenty people to attend the workshops will receive a free bike light. Only about eight people attended the first workshop, so if you're looking for a new bike light, you might consider attending the next workshop on April 21. Front, white bike lights are required by law for night riding, and back red lights are required by common sense (the law does require rear reflectors for night riding, but a light's way more effective). 

In addition to bike lights and the survey, participants could take a free bike commuting tips half-sheet and if they do not already own one, a Regional Transportation Commission bike map. The map can also be downloaded online here.

The People Power office is located at 703 Pacific Avenue, and it has a big bike commuting workshop flyer on the window in addition to other information about bicycling. Right around the corner is the Bike Church, a tool cooperative where you can learn to fix your bike and also purchase parts.

Amelia Conlen, Director of People Power, led this first workshop, providing an outline and overview to bicycling law, best practices, and safety tips. Throughout the presentation, participants were encouraged to ask questions, share stories, and talk to one another about concerns and suggestions they have. Sitting at a table together helps to facilitate the dialogue, and it was clearly helpful to have community members talking among each other to identify solutions to challenges they face. 

At the beginning of the workshop, everyone shared their name and current bicycling habits. One woman had never bike commuted before, but she was interested in giving it a try. Another woman is an employee at UC Santa Cruz who has only biked to campus once. She is interested in making it her regular commute. Because everyone in the room knew a little about others in the room, people were able to share specific tips that they knew that might help others. When you get a slice of the community talking about bike commuting, you realize that we have the solutions to our problems within the collective knowledge of everyone in the room. It's pretty empowering to realize that!

Amelia had a whiteboard set up with a drawing of an intersection to demonstrate different ways to make left turns. Everyone had suggestions for methods they use to feel more comfortable among traffic, and it often depended upon location and comfort level as to the method people chose to use when turning left.

Aly Tyree, one of the student interns on the Bicycle Transit Planning Team, expressed her enthusiasm about the workshop: "By having people with a range of confidence in cycling, we really got to see the reasons why people bike compared to the reasons why people do not. I think by having some bicycle advocates at the workshop they became positive enforcers for the people who want to increase bicycling in their lives. It was overall a fantastic event and I had such wonderful conversations with everyone that showed up!"

The first workshop was certainly a success, and all people who bike commute or are considering it are encouraged to attend a future workshop. These free community workshops take place every third Monday of the month until July, from 6-7 PM at 703 Pacific Avenue in downtown Santa Cruz.

If you are an employee or owner of a business in Santa Cruz County and you'd like to have a free bike commuting workshop take place at your business during the lunch hour, please contact People Power at 831-425-0665 or email Amelia.

We hope to see you April 21st! 

Wheeling women: Female-friendly bike resources (Pedaling Periodical)

There has always been plenty of information out there for male-identifying bicyclists, and fortunately, there continues to be more and more resources designed for all different kinds of women bicyclists, too! As women, we want to share the resources we've found helpful in the bicycling world.

"Helmet Hair Do’s (and a Don’t)" by Janet Lafleur
One of the excuses I often hear from women is that they don't want to bike to work because their hair will get messed up. Well, that excuse is no longer valid thanks to Janet Lafleur of One Woman. Many bicycles., who writes about how to bike to work and still look professional, feminine, and composed. (Okay, I realize that she is one woman with a particular hair type that may not apply to all women, so some of you may not believe it's possible to bike without helmet hair... the biggest takeaway is to bike slower and take sweat out of the helmet hair equation entirely.) She's my go-to writer for stylish bike riding. Her blog has great fashion and practical advice, and she's tweets on Twitter a lot, too. She lives in Mountain View, so if  you're ever over the hill on Caltrain, you might just see her... (I have!). If you're looking specifically for tips on helmet hair, click here.

Photo credit: Janet Lafleur (One Woman. Many bicycles.)

Wheelwomen Switchboard
Do you ever wish there was a place to connect with other women bicyclists and ask questions or find opportunities for better bicycling? The new Wheelwomen Switchboard is that place. After creating an account, you can post offers or requests or reply to others' posts. Topics include job hunting, bike ride meetups, tips for better bicycling, and more! A Bike Portland post from March 18 quotes the creator of the site, Elly Blue: "'We weren't sure it would take off, but it was huge,' writes Blue, a 2002 Reed graduate whose most recent book is Bikeonomics. 'What it tells me is that the women's biking movement is something a lot of people are eager to identify themselves as being part of, that these same people are hungry to connect with each other, and that a lot of the stuff they want to talk about is practical tips for everything from gear to routes to organizing movements and creating equitable spaces.'" Female-identifying bicyclists, join today!

The Best Bike Stickers Ever
I recently perused the shop at Taking the Lane: Publishing the feminist bicycle revolution (another Elly Blue creation), and I found some pretty awesome, mostly feminist bike stickers. I ordered some, and I've since put one on my bike rack (see below). If you like stickers and bikes and beer and/or feminism, I highly recommend ordering some. Might as well search the rest of the shop, too, because the zines and books available are really cool. Anything related to Elly Blue tends to be cool, actually.

Pedal Love's next blog columnist: You!

A couple months ago, I came across Pedal Love, an online storytelling site for women who love to bike. I submitted some photos for their Valentine's Day post, and I was asked by Melissa Balmer, Women on Bikes California Director and Editor for Pedal Love, if I wanted to become a blogger for their site. Of course I said yes, and the first blog I submitted was a Bike Love piece. I've since written another piece featuring Santa Cruz women bicycling advocates, and I'm waiting for it to be published on the site now. The good news is that anyone who loves their bike can submit content to the site after connecting with Melissa Balmer, and there's a lot of other exciting stuff happening through the Women on Bikes and Pedal Love platforms. Learn more on the site here, and contact Melissa Balmer for details about writing for them.

Women's Bike Blogs

The largest list of women bike blogs the world has ever seen (or that I've ever seen at least) is available online here. Some are recreational blogs, some are environmental, others are hardcore cargo bikers with kids, and many are from other countries. If you're looking for more resources on bicycling from a woman's perspective, this list is a great place to begin searching!

Have more resources to share? Post in the comments, or email Melissa so we can include them next time.

Bike Smart: Education for young, powerful pedalers (IDEASS BTPT 2013-14)

"Education is a continual process, it's like a bicycle... If you don't pedal you don't go forward." - George Weah 

PEDAL POWER! This phrase stuck with me all day last Wednesday after Melissa and I volunteered with Ecology Action in doing Bike Smart rodeos at SC Westlake Elementary School with their 5th grade class. Elise Ehrheart, Bike Smart program coordinator of Ecology Action, was the voice behind the catchy phrase and the facilitator of these rodeos. These rodeos aimed to get students familiar with the structure of riding their bikes on city streets as well as mastering basic traffic laws. Melissa and I decided to volunteer at one of these rodeos to 1) get an idea on how many kids are interested in biking 2) to have a fun morning with kids! 

To start the morning off, Elise started outlining a bike course that mirrored the intersection of High St and Moore St since that's where the school is located. This course included multiple colored cones and chalk to highlight the different actions the students should be doing when they made their way to the middle of the intersection. I was amazed at the fantastic representation of the general situations the students might experience; such as, a fake rail road track, a bike lane merging with the street, how to merge to the left lane from the bike lane, and learning how to communicate their actions with the other cyclists and cars on the road. All these skills were formatted to educate these students in their participation in their school's Bike to School day that next week. 

The day really began when we all heard loud footsteps and saw a bunch of kids running out to our bike course. Many kids had bikes of their own, but for those who didn't we gave them bikes and helmets that Elise provided. We split the kids up in different groups and started them at the four different sides of the intersection. Each side had a different focus as listed above, and when they all reached the middle they had to communicate with each other to know who went first through the intersection and who did not. 

It was such a delight to be able to see so many kids be interested in biking and learning basic laws and skills. Some kids came up to us after the rodeo expressing that they had never really rode a bike before, but after completing this rodeo they felt a lot more secure and confident being on a bike. That's something you just can't wait to hear! This is particularly true since Melissa and I are about to co-facilitate bike commuting workshops to local businesses with Amelia Conlen, director of People Power. Although, these rodeos were designed for children, there are still a lot of essential knowledge that we will also be presenting to people at these workshops especially if they too feel insecure about biking. Overall, what a joy to be an educator for a day instead of being taught! Pedal Power!