Green Gal

On Wednesday, August 26, Green Guy and I attended the 5th Annual Silicon Valley Bike Summit in Palo Alto for a day of presentations and conversations about the state of bicycling in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, what new roadway and technology improvements are planned to improve bicycle safety, and how we can encourage more people in our community to safely bicycle for transportation, fun, and health. Getting There - Caltrain After a short bike ride to the Caltrain station, we boarded the bike car along with fellow active transportation advocates Richard Masoner ( Cyclelicious ) and Jaime Fearer ( California Walks ), both of whom spoke at the summit later that day. As with a number of other bicycle advocates who have an online presence, I had only ever communicated with Richard by Twitter, and it was great to meet him in person. His blog is a really great resource for all things bike in this area, and he's also on Facebook and Twitter . Jaime Fearer, who I hadn'...

By 6:15 AM today, I was biking down the hill from campus, enjoying the moments of stillness right before the sun rose. Lights twinkled in the city below, a familiar view that has been part of my experience at UC Santa Cruz for the last four years. Most of the time when I see the city's twinkling lights, though, it's at night. Seeing it this early in the morning dispelled any lingering desire to be in my warm bed, and it prepared me for a day of engagement with transportation issues. I was on my way to the Silicon Valley Transportation Choices and Healthy Communities Summit in Palo Alto, and this 15-minute bike ride was leg one of a multi-modal journey! After biking fast down the hill with my bright yellow jacket on, I arrived at the Santa Cruz Metro Station downtown with about 5 minutes to spare. I put my bike on the bus rack, paid my $5 for the trip over the hill, and sat down to breathe. I promptly closed my eyes and half-slept while sitting and not le...