[DB!-Announce] 40th Anniversary of Bike Lanes -- Forum with Bike Lane Pioneers, Wed Sept 12, 5-7 PM

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

America's First Bike Lanes, Davis CA
40th Anniversary, 2007
Come hear the story from the people who made it happen!
Volunteer to help out

BACKGROUND
The year was 1962...

Bicyclists in Davis, CA were being run off the road by ever-increasing 
numbers of cars.

Some Davisites had been to Amsterdam and seen designated lanes for 
bikes, and they had a vision of what Davis could be.

For the next five years, a small group of citizens quietly lobbied and 
petitioned city council to create bike lanes and bike paths.

In fall, 1967, their persistence prevailed and the first bike lanes in 
the U.S. were built on Sycamore Lane and 8th St.

Now, forty years later, their efforts have been richly rewarded.  Davis 
is the best place in America to ride a bike, with over 100 miles of bike 
lanes and bike paths.  Bike lanes, based on the work of Davis engineers, 
have spread to thousands of American cities.

And we are celebrating the movement they started.

EVENTS
* BIKE LANE PIONEERS TELL THEIR STORY -- WHAT WE DID, HOW WE DID IT
   Sept 12, 2007, 5 - 6:45PM.  Freeborn Hall.  Admission Free
   Featuring:
   - Donna Lott, member, Citizens' Bicycle Safety Committee, 1965 - 1968
   - Duane Copley, Engineer, Davis Public Works, 1965 - 1997
   - Bob Sommer, bicycle researcher and advocate, 1963 - 1971

* RECOGNITION OF BIKE LANE PIONEERS, and kinfolk of those pioneers that 
have passed on.
   Sept 12, 2007, 7:15 - 7:45PM, Davis Farmers' Market.  Mayor Sue 
Greenwald, Assemblymember Lois Wolk

* MUSEUM EXHIBIT--AMERICA'S FIRST BIKE LANES.
   Hattie Weber Museum, 445 C St.  Sept 8 - Sept 29.
   Open Wed and Sat, 10AM - 4PM

Events sponsored by:
* City of Davis
* Davis Bicycles!
* UC Davis Institute for Transportation Studies

* Volunteer!  If you would like to attend the Walk Bike Conference for 
free, (schedule at http://www.walkbikecalifornia.org -- runs Sept 11 - 
Sept 15) you can volunteer to help out with this event--I need people to 
usher crowds at Freeborn, make sure all the older guests get around 
okay, and etc.--contact me at tjbuehler at ucdavis.edu.

Forward freely,
Ted Buehler
tjbuehler at ucdavis.edu

--Note--there are *six* more 60s-era pioneers that would like to have 
attended, but unfortunately we chose the date as part of the walk/bike 
conference, and these guys are all off on extended adventures this 
month--1000-mile motorcycle tours, trips to Europe, and week-long 
fishing trips.  We may try to do another forum later this fall when more 
people can come)

--More background info -- my M.S. Thesis and Feb '07 "History of 
Bicycling in Davis" presentations are online at 
http://www.davisbicycles.org/BuehlerThesisFinalDraft.pdf
and
http://www.davisbicycles.org/BuehlerVarsityPresentation.pdf
--comments, additions, corrections encouraged.