Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition

For many years San Jose and others have touted that the city is the safest big city in America. This came close to home this morning while attempting to have an outdoor seat at my favorite morning coffee stop. While crossing in a signed crosswalk (complete with flashing lights) on four-lane Lincoln Ave., myself and another coffee shop regular were almost struck by a car that just passed right through the light doing about 25 miles an hour. Even though the light was flashing and the car next to her had made a complete stop she bolted the crosswalk missing us by a foot or two.

These are exciting times for residents of San Jose, but especially for the people who work, visit, and play in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. As we all know, transportation improvements are coming to the Diridon Station area in the form of BART, High Speed Rail, the electrification of Caltrain, and expanded services for Amtrak, the ACE train, and the Capital Corridor.

Recently Copenhagen hosted Velo-City 2010, an annual cycling conference which brings together cycling advocates from around the world. Planners, bike advocates, and transportation officials from North America had an opportunity to see what makes Copenhagen unique amongst cities in designing their city for people.

Bicycle Colorado will be staging a rally on the steps of the state capitol this evening to bring attention to the complete ban on cycling in Black Hawk, a small town 45 minutes west of Denver.

On June 22 the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors decided to delay any decision on the Special Events Ordinance until August. This ordinance was aiming to require permits and/or press releases for special events on county roads which would include recreational and group rides of 50-200 bicyclists.

The proposed County of Santa Clara Special Event Ordinance threatens cycling events! Join us at the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday, June 22, to voice your concerns. The item is on the agenda for 10 am, and is located in the BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' CHAMBERS, 70 West Hedding Street, San Jose. Consider reading the agenda and proposed ordinance (scroll down to agenda item #5).

Tour de Cure was an amazing success last weekend thanks to you. The HP campus was taken over on Sunday by brightly colored lycra clad cyclists on a mission to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. There were as many reasons to ride as there were riders.

Some rode in memory of a loved one who died from diabetes, others rode to show support for friends and family, but all rode to show the power that a group of cyclists can have on their community.

Good news broke out in a late night session of the Cupertino city council. Last night, at around 11:30 PM, the Cupertino City Council adopted a resolution and voted to deny a petition by residents on Scenic Circle who wanted to prevent access to the park's trails from their neighborhood.

Carole Groom speaks with Kevin Mullin of Peninsula TV's "1 on 1" on the Streets Alive event in San Mateo County along with Public Health issues in the area.

While making the trip to Capitol Hill this month, a group of us called on Congresswoman Jackie Speier, who represents the 12th District. District 12 encompasses the western portions of San Francisco and both the coast and bay side areas of San Mateo county, as far south as Redwood City.