Newsletter, May 1998
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition Gets Rolling!
By Marty Peckins
On Sunday, April 5th, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition had its charter meeting. Thanks to Chris Lang's efforts, there was a group of about fifty local bicycle enthusiasts gathered inside Bikadelic's, in Fairfax, for this historic event."The New Marin County Bicycle Coalition will endeavor to present a unified front from the cycling community to government agencies. That's how Chris describes the purpose and direction of this new coalition. Judging from the sampling of representatives present at the meeting, the new group has a broad base to work from.
Amongst the crowd were representatives from various organizations such as; Velo Club Fairfax, Transportation Alternatives for Marin (TAM), Trips for Kids, Marin Cyclists, Fairfax Action Team (FAT), Novato Bicycle Advisory Committee, WOMBATS, Wilderness Trail Bikes, Regional Bicycle Advisory Committee (REBAC), North Bay Environmental Institute, MCOSD Trails Commission, our own BTC of Marin, as well as several concerned citizens.
Upcoming events occurring this season were reviewed and almost unanimously backed. The Marin Mountain Bike Festival, The Marin Knobular, Critical Mass, Trips for Kids Bike Swap, The San Rafael Criterium, The Mt. Tam Hill Climb, The Sausalito Criterium, and the Marin Century were all embraced.
The Marin County North/South Bikeway Plan, Richmond Bridge Access, Bicycle racks on GGT buses, the BTC Trail Policy, and local school bicycle programs were discussed, just to name a few.
The theme of this year's Marin County Fair is "The Wheel Stuff". One would assume that the bicycle and other forms of alternative modes of transportation will be recognized topics at the fair. As a matter of fact, our new coalition's first urgent project is to help produce a new Marin County Bicycle Map, just in time for this year's fair.
Once again, thanks to Chris Lang, Velo Club Fairfax, BTU Stoker, Bikadelic, and the Marin Independent Journal, for all of their support.
Transportation Alternatives for Marin
By Peter Hively
One of the groups heard from at the April 5th meeting of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, was local bicycle advocacy group, Transportation Alternatives for Marin (TAM). Sponsored by Patrick Seidler and WTB (Wilderness Trail Bikes), TAM is involved with promoting a North-South Bicycle Freeway.
The Bicycle Freeway would be based partially on older, previously approved bikeway plans, that so far have gone uncompleted. The freeway would extend the entire length of Marin County North to South, passing through seven cities, with feeder routes following the main East-West valleys. The Bicycle Freeway would connect to major shopping centers, transit centers, ferry terminals, park and ride lots, Airporter connections, as well as passing within two miles of fifty-plus Marin County schools.
On this year's November ballot will be a measure to increase our sales tax to help fund a multi-modal transportation solution for Marin. TAM has studies showing the bicycle to be the optimal transit solution based on measures such as energy usage and lane capacity, and argues that the bicycle alternative rates as the optimal alternative under the guiding principles of the Marin County Transportation Steering Committee.
To find out more about TAM please contact:
Transportation Alternatives for Marin 187 E. Blithedale Ave.
Mill Valley, CA 94941 PH: (415) 383-4TAM (4826) FAX: (415) 381-2001
For more information about the Marin County Transportation
Steering Committee visit their
website.
©1997 Bicycle Trails Council of Marin
Old Spokes
This year the Marin Mountain Bike Festival will be held on
Saturday, May 30th, at Larkspur Landing. There will be even more
vendors this year than last, and all the favorite attractions will be
on board. Demo bikes (with a dirt track near by), climbing wall, live
music, beer from Marin Brewing Company, and new this year will be a
BMX show, with demos on a half-pipe. The BTC will be raffling off two
bikes this year, one from Wilderness Trail Bikes, and one from GT.
There will be a post festival party at Marin Brewing Company and a
night ride later that evening at Camp Tamarancho. Mark it on your
calendars. This is the BTC's biggest fund raising event of the year,
come on out and support the BTC.
