May's miles, new team members, and a video

Way to go BCC!
Our miles in May totaled 1,657 (which beat April's 1,382 miles), and we took our cars off the road saving 211 trips (better than April's 139).

Thanks to everyone who cycled on May 13 for Ride Your Bike to Work Day!

Through May 2010 we've now ridden a grand total of 12,226 miles and saved 1,957 car trips. Based on the EPA's calculation that one gallon of gasoline produces 19.4 pounds of carbon emissions, and assuming 20 car miles to the gallon, Be the Change Cyclists has spared the Tri-Valley's air of 11,859 pounds of carbon emissions.

Welcome new team members!
We're pleased to welcome Bob Carling, Director of Sandia National Laboratory.

Bob's been riding his bike to work every day for many years. As a director at Sandia, Bob oversees the Transportation Energy Center in California, and recently traveled to China to speak at a conference about major public-private initiatives designed to accelerate innovation in low-carbon transportation through domestic and international partnerships.


We're also pleased to welcome Nadine Horner, External Relations Officer, with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Nadine is very active in our community, serving on various boards. Her husand is Doug Horner, Livermore City Council member. Nadine commutes to her office by bike on a regular basis!


We now have 39 team members!

Bike safety tips

Here's a 12-minute video about safety tips when cycling near busses. The video includes many good reminders--both what to do and what NOT to do in traffic. Thanks to team members Alan and Julie Casamajor for sharing this!

http://vimeo.com/7949969

Rush hour in the Netherlands

For a vision of what commuting and traffic at rush hour could be, take a look at this amazing clip shared by BCC team member Alma Schiefer...

http://www.flixxy.com/netherlands-rush-hour.htm

Thank you Pleasanton Patch!

Thanks to the Pleasanton Patch for highlighting our bicycle commuter club and our efforts to "Be the Change" we want to see in the world. Readers of the Patch are welcome to join our club! Read about our philosophy and how to join in the menu to the right.

Vintage photos!

Reminder that THIS THURSDAY is Bike to Work Day. Let's have a good BCC showing! The weather should be good.

The vintage photos of a younger you with a bike are trickling in. Steve Kowalewski and Melissa Ott sent these great photos below. Don't be shy, send me your photos!

Here's Steve circa 1949. Is that an early Trek, Steve?















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Here's Melissa in 1997, along with a current photo. Melissa is our youngest BCC member and will be attending U.C. Santa Cruz as a freshman in the Fall. Her dad must be proud.

May is here - time to ride!

Our miles in April (1,382) exceeded March (1,095) as more of us opted for the bike in lieu of that massive ton of minerals and combustion we call our car. Our best month ever was 1,763 miles in October 2009. Can we beat that in May? YES WE CAN!

May 13 is Ride Your Bike to Work Day, so let's try to have a good showing!

New team members: We've had several cyclists join our cause recently. Although I posted these folks to our blog's member roster, we want to officially welcome them! They are Tom Hall, Alma Schiefer, Rick Beaumont, Rob Barnett, Steve Kowalewski, and Peg Miller. Thank you for being the change!

Team member photos: Remember to send in vintage photos of a younger you with a bike. Here's one of Steve Sherman in a photo from a biathalon from 1991. Check out the state-of-the-art helmet, the Magnum P.I. mustache, and the aerodynamic sunglasses. For contrast, I've posted below a more current photo of Steve during his latest Ironman. Send me your photos!

Back in the saddle in March!

We're off to a great start for the 2010 season!

In March, our team logged 1,095 miles and 165 commute trips!

This brings our totals since inception of the club to 9,188 miles and 1,608 trips.

For fun, below is a picture of me (BCC team founder Jim Ott) with my bike, circa 1975. Email me with your similar youthful bike-related photos, and I'll post them to the site!

Get inspired by 4Wheel Bob!

Now that winter is winding down, BCC team member Bob Coomber is getting us motivated to get out there on the bike or any other human-powered contraption on wheels. In fact, affectionately known as "4Wheel Bob," Bob uses a wheelchair to get around. After acquiring juvenile diabetes in his early 20’s, Bob struggled with leg, ankle and knee fractures. The solution? A wheelchair!

Since then Bob became the first person in a wheelchair to summit California’s 3rd highest peak: White Mountain, at over 14,200 feet. Bob is also the first in a chair to summit Mt. Diablo and its companion, North Peak, as well as Mission Peak in Fremont.

Inducted into the California Outdoors Hall of Fame in 2007, Bob was one of only 27 Americans to receive the President’s Council on Physical Fitness Community Leadership Award in 2008. He’s also been featured in every Bay Area newspaper, as well as the CBS “Early Show,” ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” and the Hallmark Channel.

In October of 2010, Bob plans to summit Africa’s highest peak, Kilimanjaro, and be the first unassisted wheelchair to make the journey. The trip will also serve to distribute 200 wheelchairs in Arusha, Tanzania, in partnership with The Wheelchair Foundation of Danville. A potential spring warm up summit attempt of Mexico’s Orizaba (18,490’) is being pondered.

An inspiring motivational speaker, Bob is popular with everyone from schoolchildren to senior hikers. He loves to inspire others to reach for their goals, no matter what the “perceived” obstacles. Bob has been married to wife Gina for 14 years. They spend what he calls "way too much time" finding new trails to explore all over California and the West.

So when you find yourself thinking the car is easier to take than hopping on the bike, remember Bob climbing up a rocky trail, making his way to the top of some peak somewhere using only his powerful arms...

Check out Bob's new feature page through the East Bay Parks website at http://www.ebparks.org/bobcoomber.

Be the change! Commute by bike (or wheelchair)!