The week before Christmas I received an email from an old friend inviting me on a lighted bike parade.It was a fun, impromptu way to celebrate the holidays on bikes. My wife and I decorated our bikes, bundled up, and joined the festive procession of bicycles all covered in bright LED lights.We rode from Fairfax through the Cal Park Tunnel and back. Adding to the joyful spirit was the righteous selection of holiday tunes blaring from a loudspeaker being towed in a Bulry bike trailer by a guy in a Zeitgeist jersey.All along the way people smiled, cheered and honked their horns as we rode by. There is something about a group of people having fun on bikes that’s contagious.
I caught the biking bug over thirty years ago, and coincidentally the friend who emailed me about the Christmas ride was there right from the beginning. We met in Mill Valley’s Boyle Park in the late 1970’s while riding our 20-inch BMX bikes.As adolescents, bikes gave us a new sense of freedom. On weekends we would hitchhike from the old Arco station off Miller Avenue in Mill Valley and catch a ride as far up the mountain as we could. Then we’d hop on the nearest fire road or trail and head back down to town. One day, I was riding on a trail, when an off-duty ranger stopped us and said we weren’t allowed to ride our bikes on the trails anymore. At the time, news that the trails were closed was a bummer, but we didn’t realize the far-reaching implications of the change.
Today, riding bikes is my livelihood. As the Off-Road and Events Director at the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC), I work to expand opportunities to ride in Marin and organize events and activities to promote the health and environmental benefits of bicycling.
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition celebrates 15 years in 2014. You’ve seen the impact of our advocacy efforts in each of Marin’s towns: bike parking facilities, miles of new bike lanes, a bike routes system that is signed, several separated multi-use pathways, road repairs and resurfacing, share the road “sharrow’’ stencils, and much more.
More recently, you’ve seen the positive impact of our Off-Road Program’s efforts, including the beautiful new 680 Trail linking two County open space preserves, improved trail access on State Parks and GGNRA lands, volunteer trail work days and partnerships with other stakeholders to change the culture to one that is mutually aligned.
I look forward to sharing the work we are doing in detail through this blog and to engaging the bicycle community in expanding Marin’s network of safe and sustainable bike lanes, pathways, bridges, tunnels and trails!
Learn more about our work and how you can support MCBC at www.marinbike.org
Let’s ride!
Tom Boss