Category Archives: National

National Bike Challenge begins May 1st!

It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for: the National Bike Challenge starts this Sunday
Sign up today and start tracking your rides. (It’s free, fun and easy.)

In its simplest form, the Challenge is an easy logging center for you to record the miles you ride while competing with other riders all over the country. But the National Bike Challenge is so much more than that. It is a community of people who all share a love of riding bikes. With competition possibilities on the local, state and national level, it is a free and easy way to challenge yourself, colleagues and the greater community to ride more. The Challenge aims to unite 100,000 riders to pedal 75 million miles from May 1, 2016 until September 30, 2016. Now in its fifth year, the Challenge is a successful partnership between PeopleForBikes and Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle Products brand.

Compete with your friends, co-workers and neighbors for a chance to win new prizes each month. It doesn’t matter if you’re riding hundreds of miles a week or just getting back in the saddle, you are welcome in the National Bike Challenge. Now get rolling!

Join the Challenge and ride with us on team
Bike Santa Monica!NBClogo-SCREEN

After you sign up for the National Bike Challenge. and create your account – join team Bike Santa Monica!

The National Bike Challenge officially starts May 1st. We are already warming up in April – don’t wait join now! This year there are 4 apps you can choose from to record your participation. Visit the app gallery here. IT”S EASY!

Santa Monica Spoke is the local community host – Our TEAM Bike Santa Monica is a collaboration with City of Santa Monica, Bike Local,  and the Santa Monica Bike Center. Together we host lots of events like our Handlebar Happy Hours throughout the challenge!

Cynthia Rose and Mobility Plan 2035 Are LACBC’s National Advocacy Award Winners!

We are thrilled to announce that Cynthia Rose and LACBC have been awarded multiple Advocacy Awards by the Alliance for Biking & Walking at this year’s National Bike Summit & Women’s Forum in Washington DC!

After receiving five nominations, Monday night we took home:

  • Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award - Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica Spoke
  • Winning Campaign of the Year - Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Mobility Plan 2035


Cynthia Rose rides a Breeze Bike Share bike with Countri Bike's Jeffrey Tannenhaus around Santa Monica. Photo: Santa Monica Spoke.

Cynthia Rose rides a Breeze Bike Share bike with Countri Bike’s Jeffrey Tannenhaus around Santa Monica.

Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award

This award commemorates Susie Stephens, one of the Alliance’s founders and an enduring inspiration for many members of the bicycle and pedestrian movement. The honor goes to an individual who carries on Susie’s passion for advocating for bicycling as a fun and economical means of transportation, as well as creating a safe biking and walking environment for all.

  •     Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica Spoke

I feel so incredible honored to have received this award that commemorates the dedication and inspiration of Susie Stephens. I am so grateful to her and her inspirational mother who has carried on her daughters enthusiasm with her own commitment and dedication. With that I must say that like any successful advocacy – there are many to thank. Those that preceded us and make our work and successes possible, those that continue today working with us side by side, and in Santa Monica to our wonderful, talented community and civic partners that help and support us in creating a safer environment that encourages more people to walk and bike. I am deeply appreciative of all these partners every single day. 

Thank you to the Alliance of Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists for their national leadership and support of local advocacy — and to our regional and state partners at LACBC and the California Bicycle Coalition. 

“Together We Lead” our communities to a healthier, safer, more equitable future biking and walking.

Cynthia Rose 

From the Alliance for Biking & Walking: “Cynthia Rose, a co-founder of Santa Monica Spoke, is also known to many in the Los Angeles area as ‘Purple’ (her favorite color) — but her vibrance spans the spectrum of bicycle advocacy. She played a key role in helping launch the first public bike share program in Los Angeles County: Breeze Bike Share, and pioneered the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Local Chapter program. She is an educator, an advocate and a rider leader, but even her actions are outdone by her joyful enthusiasm. Her bright smile and infectious attitude have invited countless new riders into the movement by making bicycling welcoming and fun. As her nominator summed up: ‘Cynthia truly is an inspiration.'”


Winning Campaign of the Year

This award goes to an organization for a winning campaign, in the last year, which has had the biggest impact on walking and biking. Their victory will dramatically increase active transportation in their state/ community or will dramatically shift the way that walking and biking are considered.

  • Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Mobility Plan 2035

LACBC_Mobility_Plan__2035_logo.jpg

From the Alliance for Biking & Walking: “With 300 miles of protected bike lanes, the adoption of Vision Zero and a central commitment to safety, the Mobility Plan 2035 passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 2015 marked a major transformation for big city transportation. Behind the scenes, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition helped to lead that charge with a thoughtful, strategic and multi-year campaign to increase access and safety for all. Their inside-outside game, rallied the public and LACBC members to engage with their policymakers, brought new partners to table and authentically considered the need of all road users, from bicyclists to bus riders. Read much more about their effort here.”


We would like to thank all of our members, partners, and supporters for making these wins possible! These wins (plus our additional nominations) are recognition of every call to action you’ve responded to, every meeting you’ve attended, every letter or email you’ve written, every public comment you’ve made, every hour of time you’ve volunteered in the office or on the streets, every hashmark recorded for our bike and ped counts, and every bike light installed as a member of Team Firefly, not to mention every mile you’ve pedaled either with us or on our behalf. We hope you’ll help Santa Monica Spoke, LACBC and all our local chapters continue this work to make Los Angeles County a great place for all people from all communities to ride their bikes everywhere, safely and conveniently, by becoming a member of LACBC and a local chapter or renewing your membership.

Congrats to Cynthia and all the other winners: Living Streets Alliance (Tucson), Fernando Martinez, and Community Cycling Center (Portland). Read more about all the winners on the Alliance for Biking & Walking blog.

Tell NHTSA to test new cars for bicyclist safety

Bike League Action

NHTSA recently announced an update to its 5-Star Safety Rating for new cars. This is a key means by which the federal government promotes consumer awareness of safety technologies. According to the proposed update, the 5-Star Safety Rating will for the first time include an assessment of crash avoidance technologies and pedestrian protection. While this is a great step forward for promoting the safety of people outside of cars it is not clear how or whether the safety of bicyclists will be included in these assessments.

The League of American Bicyclists has submitted comments asking NHTSA to:

  • Consider the completeness of crash avoidance technologies and whether they are effective at avoiding crashes with all road users when assigning a crash avoidance rating;
  • Include all non-occupants, including bicyclists, in the pedestrian protection rating; and
  • Develop appropriate tests and procedures if the lack of appropriate testing and procedures means that bicyclist crash avoidance and protection cannot be included in the 5-Star Rating System at this time.

Join us and endorse the League’s comments calling for an assessment that includes the safety of all people, including bicyclists, or submit your own comments to ensure that bicyclists are considered when crash avoidance and other new vehicle technologies are assessed by Clicking Here. This comment period will end on February 16th.

Action Alert: Ask Your Senators to Support Bicycling

People for Bikes
Write a letter to your senators in support of bicycle infrastructure funding.
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Did you know that your senators are making decisions that will affect the future of bicycle infrastructure in California?
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Use this easy letter-writing tool to reach out to your senators and ask them to continue their support of bike funding.

The U.S. Senate is currently working on a proposal for TIGER grants, an important source of federal transportation funding for projects to build roads, transit, ports, and bicycle infrastructure. The House has proposed $100 million in funding for next year, far less than the $500 million that TIGER was funded at this year. Let your senators know that you support full funding of the program and the bicycle projects it helps make possible.

Thanks for taking action!

— The PeopleForBikes Team

National: Build it, bike it, Be A Part of it!

A note from our one of our national partnership organizations!

Build it. Bike It. Be a Part of it.Donate Today
Happy National Bicycle Month! we am proud to announce the kickoff of Adventure Cycling’s 6th Annual Build It. Bike It. Be a Part of It. campaign to raise awareness and support for the U.S. Bicycle Route System. Thanks to our passionate supporters, nearly 10,000 miles of USBR’s have been designated so far, with thousands more to come.By donating today, you can help us reach 10,000 miles of officially approved U.S. Bicycle Routes and, better yet, designate the next 10,000 miles of routes on America’s best roads and trails for bicycling.Build it. Bike It. Be a Part of it. Please join the Campaign to reach 10,000 miles and beyond by donating at adventurecycling.org/beapartofit.During the month of May, you have a very special opportunity to have your gift matched 1:1 by an anonymous donor, up to $25,000. Your gift will travel twice as far in supporting the effort to designate and map U.S. Bicycle Routes in 2015 and beyond.Whether you’re planning overnight adventures from your front door, weekend outings to a state park or a cross country summer trip, the USBRS is your atlas to adventure. And we need your support to complete this monumental project!And don’t forget, your donation is doubled if you donate before May 31st. Take a look at the amazing giveaways we’ll send you with a gift of $100 or more!

With thanks,

Jim Sayer

Jim Sayer
Executive Director

Adventure Cycling Association
Inspiring and empowering people to travel by bicycle
www.adventurecycling.org
Phone: 800-755-2453

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National Bike Month Giveaway – Donate $25 or $50National Bike Month Giveaway – Donate $25 or $50

Donate $25 to the USBRS Campaign through May 31st and we’ll enter your name into a month-long drawing to win a spot on a Danube Bike Path 7-day bike tour with Bike Tours Direct. Donate $50 and you’ll also be entered to win this Revolt 1 bicycle from Giant. Learn more>>

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