Register Now: Bike to the Border
Registration is now open to Bike to the Border! If you sign up by 7PM tonight, you can place an order for an American Apparel t-shirt (or tank top) along with your registration. The ride is family friendly and flat, so please bring the kids and the grandparents.
This month we continue the work of showcasing great San Diego neighborhoods, outstanding businesses that support our work, along with beautiful scenery, bicycle facilities and most importantly - elected officials who steadfastly support our work to create safer streets. We are very honored to have Councilmember David Alvarez as a sponsor of our Bike to the Border ride. Prior to the start of the ride, he will talk about the work he has done to date and the work he continues to do in San Diego and at the San Diego/Tijuana border to facilitate safe transportation access.
Below here are a few logistical details. We want your Saturday to be as perfect and fun as we can make it.
- Registration, ride start and end location: Border X Brewing Parking Lot (in the rear) in Barrio Logan.
- How to get there: The 12th and Imperial Transit Station is less than a mile away from Border X. If you plan on driving, we encourage you to carpool. Post on our Facebook event page about your carpooling asks/offers and save some gas while making new friends.
- Check in: 8AM - 9:30AM. Ride starts promptly at 10AM.
- ☕️Cafe Moto coffee roaster tour and free cup of coffee: The optional Cafe Moto roaster tour begins at 9AM. We will walk from Border X to Cafe Moto which is a block away.
- What to bring: The ride will be at a conversational pace, but the day will be warm so please bring water bottles. We recommend two bottles. You can refill them at the pitstop in San Ysidro that will be staffed by our volunteers. We also recommend that you bring a spare tube and a pump, a camera to capture memories, sunscreen, sunglasses, and cash for food at Border X. Remember: the first drink is on us.
- Route map: is available here. Our volunteer ride leaders will be both leading the ride and riding in the rear to make sure no one gets lost or is riding alone. If you are an experienced ride, befriend someone you don't know and ride with them - we encourage it.
- Chain X Bike and Skate Shop in Barrio Logan is going to be on-site to do minor repairs and brake adjustments.
And most importantly, have fun! It's going to be a great day!
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Want to volunteer instead? Sign up here.
Foto Friday: Beach Side Bike Ride
San Diego is a beautiful city, but accessing its many resources is a challenge in part due to its many natural and man-made barriers. Part of the focus of the Beach Side Bike Ride was to showcase the route to the beach from the Old Town Transit Center. We wanted to demonstrate that it is possible to ride to the beach and have a great experience without the added stress of driving to the beach and looking for limited vehicle parking.
San Diego's many natural barriers for bicycling include our many urban canyons, rivers and creeks, and our mesas and valleys. The man-made barriers include our ever-expanding freeways that empty high speed vehicle traffic onto our neighborhood streets. Building a world-class bicycling city means we will eventually have a truly connected and accessible city. I hope that the Beach Side Bike Ride showcased how easy and accessible the beach was, at least from Old Town, and the work that needs to be done to make riding to the beach normal and safe for everyone. I hope you consider repeating the ride on your own and with friends, and then patronizing the many local businesses both in Old Town and in our many beach communities.
Below are a few photos taken on the day of the ride. You may view all of them on our flickr page.
A final photo: three vehicle parking spots can park 100 bicycles owned by 100 hungry bicycle owners.
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Thanks to the hundreds of you that showed up to ride earlier this month to participate in the inaugural Beach Side Bike Ride. Much thanks to Casa de Reyes for being incredible hosts and providing a great space for people to mingle and dine. Thank you to BikeSD member Bill Lusk for recommending Old Town be the start of the ride. Thank you to all our volunteers, including Charlie Sears from The Awarewolfs for being the event photographer, and to our ride and registration volunteers for making this such a great event: Erik, Heather, Patti, Brent, Omar, Andy, Lisi, Kristin, Jay, Sharon, Aire, and Paul.
New Ride: Bike to the Border!
Now that we are in the midst of summer it is time for another ride and this time we are riding to the border. San Diego is lucky to be right next to Mexico and on September 19th join us in a ride to and from the San Diego/Mexico border. More details are available on the registration website.
As always we wouldn't be able to put on a great ride without great partners, so we want to thank Cafe Moto for being a sponsor, Border X Brewing for being the host for the after-party, Chain X Bike and Skate Shop for being the ride shop to address all your bike repair and maintenance needs - all these great businesses are located in Barrio Logan.
Councilmember David Alvarez, long a champion for safer streets, will not only be present for opening remarks, but he will also be doing the ride with us. Tickets, details, route, and more are available on the registration website and more information will be added as needed.
The ride will start in Barrio Logan at Border X Brewing (in the rear parking lot). We also have an optional tour open of Cafe Moto that is scheduled to occur before the ride. The start and end location is accessible by the 12th and Imperial Transit Center which is a 1-mile bike ride away. The ride is family friendly (kids under 15 are free), the route is flat and goes along the San Diego Bay and along parts of the Bayshore Bikeway.
This has already shaped up to be a great event to put on. We are all looking forward to seeing you on Semptember 19th.
You are invited: Modern Times Festival of Dankness
In nine days, the inaugural Modern Times Festival of Dankness will make its appearance on the County Waterfront Park.
First off, if you haven't already, you should get your tickets since all the various city, county, and public safety officials have very sternly warned me that they will be monitoring the event to make sure that everyone present has a ticket to be there. In other words, no gate-crashers will be allowed and this event is going to sell out.
Second, BikeSD is very fortunate to be the charity that will receive the profits from the event. As stated on the event page:
All profits from the Festival of Dankness will benefit BikeSD, an independent member-supported non-profit advocacy organization. BikeSD is dedicated to making San Diego a world-class bicycling city while creating a more livable urban community by promoting everyday riding and advocating for bicycling infrastructure. By 2020, BikeSD's goal is to make San Diego one of the top 15 best cities for bicycling in the world.
An ambitious goal, but very attainable since the variables required to make that vision a reality are finite and accessible. But we can't aim high with limited financial capacity and this festival is giving us a boost to make that vision a reality. I also can't imagine a better way to celebrate the good life that is San Diego than by partaking in some of the most kickass offerings by the best breweries in the region and beyond at the Modern Times Festival of Dankness.
Sometimes when I survey the events happening around me in the city, it can be a little challenging to stay positive. My internal monologue is usually a repetition of, "Dear god! Another parking garage?!? Another freeway widening? People claiming to be pro-bike and yet opposing bike infrastructure? When will this madness end???". But looking back to 2012, when we first launched as an organization, and seeing how far things have changed, it's hard not to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Before BikeSD existed, the notion of bike infrastructure on our neighborhood streets seemed almost like a pipe dream.
But, it is not just about the bicycle or even just bicycle infrastructure (even though that is part of our core mission). It's more about how the bicycle serves as a very useful tool in connecting communities and bringing people together in a way that nothing else can. And the bicycle also happens to be the best way to truly experience, in a very visceral way, all the beauty that comes from living in a city. While I hope to see you at the Festival of Dankness, I also hope that you show up to meet other people who care about making San Diego a truly world-class city. Because it's only when we connect as a community that great things happen.
Get your Tickets to the Beach Side Bike Ride
Now that we are in the midst of summer it is time to celebrate with the Beach Side Bike Ride. Details, route, and more are available on the registration website and more information will be added as needed.
The ride will start and begin at Casa de Reyes, located in Old Town - a venue that is accessible by bicycle and public transit. After the ride, Casa de Reyes will be hosting you with live entertainment, delicious food and an excuse to meet new friends and old after a beautiful, 22 mile bike ride through some of the country's best coastline. The route is flat and goes along the San Diego River Bike Path, Mission Beach Boulevard, and Coast Boulevard.
Looking forward to seeing you on August 1st.