[DB!-Announce] Updates and Announcements--exciting times in Davis for bicycling!

[Davis Bicycles Announcements]

A few updates and announcements: 

* Nov 17, (Sunday) Talk on Davis Bicycle History at Yolo County Historical Society meeting
Bob Sommer, retired psychology prof, will be talking about the history of bike lanes in Davis, 2-4 PM, Hattie Weber Museum (5th and C in Davis).  Bob has been telling audiences about bike lanes for over 35 years, he's been involved in bike lanes since their inception in 1967, and he's fascinating to listen to.  

* Nov 18, (Monday) Bicycle Advisory Commission meeting
The city's Bicycle Advisory Commission will be reviewing the pilot plan to containerize yard waste.  Come speak in favor of getting yard waste off the streets.  7-9PM, Veterans Memorial Bldg, 14th and B.   Complete agenda at  http://www.cityofdavis.org/meetings/agenda.cfm?c=29  
More info in the city's Fall '07 "Focus" mailer at http://www.city.davis.ca.us/Focus/pdfs/Fall_2007_Page1.pdf  This is our big chance to finally get yard waste out of the bike lanes, the pilot project will start on major bike lanes in Central Davis in January.  The sooner we begin experimenting with solutions, the sooner the day will come when we don't need to worry about broken collarbones. 
Email comments to Bike/Ped Coordinator Tara Goodard (tgoddard at cityofdavis.org) and Sue Gedestad (SGedestad at cityofdavis.org) (You can also give comments at the Natural Resources Commission on Monday the 26th, City Council Chambers)  (BTW, thanks to Julia Silvis for two years on the BAC, unfortunately for us she has moved to San Francisco.  Welcome to Kelli O-Neill, the newest member of the commission.)

* Nov 26, Monday Davis Bicycles! General Meeting
Social gathering, slides from peoples' travels to top European bicycling cities this last summer, and mixing/mingling with Tara Goddard, the city's new Bike/Ped coordinator.  Come out and giv her a big welcome back to Davis (she graduated from UCD in 2006 and worked for the City of Sacramento)  Davis Lutheran Church (8th and B), 7-9PM. 

* Yolo County Supervisors and bike lane issues
Seven people from Davis Bicycles! and the Davis Bike Club spoke at the County Supervisors' meeting on Nov 6 with concerns about maintenance of county roads and the death of Willie Lopez while riding to work at UC Davis.  We received a positive response, and county crews have since been seen cleaning the bike lanes on County Road 99.  You can watch us commenting the the Supervisors' response at http://yolo.granicus.com/AgendaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=46 or read about it in The Daily Democrat at http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_7405234 ,  Many Davis Bicycles! and Davis Bike Club members sent emails as well.  Maintenance of bike lanes is the first step in raising the priority of bicycling issues at the county level.  Email or phone your supervisors and tell them you appreciate the work they're doing, and encourage them to get all bike lanes up to the minimum Caltrans standard immediately!  

* "100 Easy Fixes" challenge to City of Davis
Seven people from Davis Bicycles! spoke at the Davis City Council meeting on Oct 16 and presented a "wish list" of 200 "small problems to fix" and challenged the city to fix 100 of them by spring.  Problems like replacing faded bike lane markings, longer bike and ped cross time at certain traffic lights, reconfiguring problem intersections (8th and F), etc.  The theory is that bike infrastructure has been neglected for the last couple years, and to get it up to snuff there's a lot of small, easy fixes that need doing.  If we ask one by one, they fall through the cracks, and the city doesn't get credit for work they do.  If we bundle them all together in a big package, then it's easier to manage, things get fixed, and everyone gets a pat on the back when it's done.  The list will be posted to http://www.davisbicycles.org soon, to add more things to it, send emails to tgoddard at cityofdavis.org and info at davisbicycles.org  (You should be able to see us at http://www.cityofdavis.org/media/ )  If you see a city councilor on the street, ask them how they're doing on the list!

* Campus issues DBUG UC
The "Davis Bicycle User Group, UC" (That's "D-BUG UC") is meeting Fridays at 1 at the Silo Pub to discuss bicycle issues at UC Davis.  Mont Hubbard, professor of Mechanical Engineering, is leading the group.  This is the time to get involved--campus is committed to "not resting on its laurels", we need to make sure they live up to their commitment!  Sign up to the discussion list by emailing Eugen at erdunlap at ucdavis.edu Topics are 
- involvement in the campus's Bicycle Circulation Study
- putting together a "100 easy fixes" list for the campus
- putting together networks of bicycle users--people who work on West Campus, people who commute in from out of town, on-campus families, etc.  
- reviewing all plans for new buildings and roads to make sure that bikes are properly provided for. 

* More bike racks coming
The city has a grant to buy $150,000 in bike racks next year.  If there are places you think more racks are needed, contact our new bike/ped coordinator Tara Goddard (tgoddard at cityofdavis.org)

* Davis Bike Loop update
The Davis Bike Loop has been an unqualified success.  The city marked the route as an experiment, and did not use a long-lasting paint treatment.  A permanent marking scheme will be determined this spring, but in the meantime if there are markings that are fading away, or there are places where an additional marking is needed, again, contact Tara Goddard (tgoddard at cityofdavis.org)

* "History of Bicycling in Davis"--the short version
I have a condensed version of my thesis now available, it's 12 pages of compact history and discussion.  I'd love comments on it.  It will be posted to http://www.daviswiki.org/davis_bicycles later today, or email me ( tjbuehler at ucdavis.edu ) and I'll send you a copy of it.  

* Farmers' Market--tablers needed.  We've gotten great responses from our Farmers' Market booth, if you'd like to participate send an email to info at davisbicycles.org or sign up at the Nov 26th meeting.  

* Get more involved in Davis Bicycles!-- we're small but active, if you have something you'd like to see done in Davis, this is the time to do it, DB! has the ears of city council, we get written up in the paper on a regular basis, this is the best environment Davis has seen for 10-20 years in terms of having bicycling on the front burner of council and campus.  Now we need to get educational programs back in schools, back at the university, and get the citizenry generally excited about bicycling again.  Many things can be done in 2008 that we couldn't dream of doing in, say, 2005, because now bicycles are on the minds of our leaders.  

* Thanks to everyone for pitching in and helping get Davis back on its bikes!  Davis shows many signs of being on the verge of a turnaround--the city is prioritizing bicycling issues, we have a new bike/ped coordinator, the campus is conducting a bicycle circulation study to ensure good bike planning, and we at Davis Bicycles! are bring policy solutions to the table where none have been offered before.  Keep up the good work.  Talk to your neighbors, your friends, your elected officials, encourage them to ride their bikes and support better bicycling facilities.  And set a good example--take pride in your bike.  Maintain it well.  Don't be stingy on getting the accessories you need for comfort and safety--fenders, baskets, a helmet, a mirror and lights! 

Ted Buehler