Discounts

Become an AS&R member and get discounts at local bike shops and businesses!

Blue Heron Bikes: 10% off parts and accessories.

Marie Bowser Acupuncture: 30% off your first visit.

Bikes on Solano: 10% off labor, parts and accessories.

Quad Republic Skate Co. 5% off SKATES, 10% off parts & accessories.

Offers are valid to members of Albany Strollers & Rollers and their households. Tell your friends!
Contact us with questions.

Events

Sep
9
Sun
Solano Stroll – Volunteers Needed – AS&R is providing Free Bicycle Valet Parking! @ Tree Lot and Wells Fargo parking lot
Sep 9 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Hundreds of people from all over the Bay Area take advantage of our Bicycle Valet Parking service at two lots on Solano Avenue. Please volunteer a few hours before enjoying the event! Thanks to Floor Dimensions for donating the Red Carpet to show the way!
Photo courtesy Amy

Albany Strollers & Rollers will again be providing Free Bicycle Valet Parking at two locations: 1800 Solano Ave (Wells Fargo) and 1245 Solano (the vacant lot near Masonic.)
We’ll also have an information table by our western lot near Masonic.
WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!
If you’d like to help park bikes (we parked 300+ last year!!) at either lot or volunteer at AS&R’s info table, please contact Amy Smolens or  Sylvia Paull.
This is a great gig for kids, too, as long as they are strong enough to roll a bike. If students need volunteer-hours, this is perfect!

AS&R Super-Volunteer Lynn Eve Komaromi takes a well-earned Pad Thai break – thanks, Bua Luang!
Please join Lynn Eve and your AS&R neighbors in volunteering!

All volunteers who work at least a 4-hr shift or pick up & return rental racks will get free lunch provided by a supporting Solano Avenue restaurants Tay Tah , Bua Luang Thai Cuisine or Brazilian Breads – yum!!
Kim’s Cafe is providing home made iced tea at our lower lot. Some sponsoring businesses also provide fabulous gifts or coupons for our volunteers, too!
RXBAR has also donated boxes of delicious protein bars (many flavors) for all volunteers and visitors to our AS&R booth!
**NEW VOLUNTEER PERK – Sam at Ale Tales just donated discount coupons for all volunteers (or parents of youth volunteers!!)
Volunteer hours run from 9am-5:30pm so it’s easy to pick a shift that works for you!
Since 1974 Solano Avenue and the cities of Albany and Berkeley have hosted the Solano Avenue Stroll, the East Bay’s largest street festival! The Solano Avenue Association , AS&R and Check for Bikes invite you to see what makes Solano Avenue a wonderful place. The Stroll features over five hundred vendors including 50 entertainers (there’s always great music!,) 50 food booths, 150 government and non-profit agencies, 150 juried hand-crafters, a 75 entry parade, state of the art mechanical rides and much more!

Come visit AS&R at our information table then enjoy a great stroll up Solano!
Or better yet, volunteer a few hours with Sherie, Amy and your neighbors before strolling!
Photo courtesy Patsy Reese

230,000 participants and event guests visit from all over the west coast so that’s where YOU come in – many of them ride their bikes, so we need people to help park them in our lots. Lots of them want to talk about cycling and walking around the area, and they want to talk to YOU!

Volunteers like Griffin and Sylvia keep things running like clockwork at both lots
Photo courtesy Patsy

AS&R’s supporting sponsor, Floor Dimensions has donated a long Red Carpet to lead passers-by to our information table and straight up the ramp to our western Bicycle Valet Parking lot!
Please see the press room to stay tuned into what’s hot at this years event!

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes!! 300 + of them at our two lots so please join us!!
Photo courtesy Nick Pilch

Sep
13
Thu
BMX/MTB Park and Albany Hill trails on Parks & Rec Meeting Agenda @ Albany City Hall
Sep 13 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
This item was written by Parks & Rec Commissioner Bryan Marten:

Want a fun bike park like Dirt World in Richmond? Support this project at an Albany Parks & Rec meeting and/or write a letter!

On September 13th, a course/park designer will pitch several plans for a proposed mountain bike/BMX bike park in Albany. Commissioners will benefit from input and feedback from the public, especially supporters like you, to help decide which plan, if any, to advance to the City Council. Proposed location is adjacent to Pierce St Park – just below it, to the west on Cleveland St. Early discussions described a MTB component around the perimeter space and a BMX component at the interior. The designer said he likes to design with different riding abilities in mind on the same course (very easy, medium, challenging) and to provide different price points for features, their materials, etc. He has designed and built Richmond’s new Dirt World and many other bike parks.
Here is the Design and Estimate Proposal.
Any input – in person or even in writing – you can provide (even just “looks great!” or “our family would use this!” will be helpful).

Separately, input is sought for what may be the final design review for the new and improved trails at Albany Hill Park. Here are the 90% Plans.
*New ADA trail at the top parallel to the ridge line
*Improvements to existing trails at the north
*Improved, re-landscaped access points to the park where Jackson and Madison dead-end
*Stairs plus a bulbout in the SE corner where Taft hits Hillside
The city has received the monarch roosting report it commissioned and is taking its results and recent community input to limit impacts to trees near monarch habitat. Some commissioners including myself (Bryan Marten) want to also use that information to move forward with choosing a select few trees to remove to improve views of the bay, bird habitat at the mud flats, etc. This involves the city approaching the large land owner at the SW corner of the hill which the city has said it will do.

This is the full agenda for the meeting.

BMX/MTB parks are great fun and recreation for kids, teens and adults!

Editor’s note: AS&R member and P&R Commissioner Bryan Marten will not be able to attend this meeting so if any of you can attend or at least write a letter about either of these projects, that will be extremely helpful.
PLEASE WRITE LETTERS OF SUPPORT to Albany Staff Liaison Chelle Putzer at cputzer@albanyca.org and request that she send your letter to all members of Albany’s Parks & Rec Commission. Thanks!
Mar
24
Sun
FREE Family Cycling Workshop – Bring your kids…Volunteers needed! @ Cornell Elementary School
Mar 24 @ 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Join Bike East Bay’s certified instructors and AS&R friends & neighbors for a day of fun games, safety drills, skills building, and a neighborhood ride. This workshop is for kids who are able to ride a bike and ready to take to the paths and roadways with their parents (suggested grade range 2nd-6th).
The event includes instruction on fitting a helmet, performing a bike safety check, communicating with other road users, riding in a straight line and avoiding obstacles,  as well as navigating safely through intersections, all while playing fun games!

We will be debuting the new Youth Versions of our Check for Bikes clings and stickers so you can pick some up here!!

We will also bring our bike teeter-totters and end the class with a group ride around the neighborhood together!  All minors must be accompanied by an adult to participate, both with their own working bikes and helmets. Each child will receive a free reflective vest.

AS&R will have an information table to talk to parents & kids about riding around the Albany area. You can pick up some great “Check for Bikes” clings and bumper stickers, as well as reflective leg & arm bands for safer biking.

The event is FREE but you must pre-register so for more information and to register please go here.
Hope to see you there!!

WE NEED SOME VOLUNTEERS TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!
We’re seeking 2-3 people to help out at the family cycling workshop.
9:30-10:15 to help with set up and checking in of participants, while instructors get a feel for the participants and check bikes out mechanically.
9:30-12:45 to speak to kids & parents about bike stuff, and help with packing up.
Contact Britt at bthesen@gmail.com if you can help out!

May
4
Sat
El Cerrito Trail Trekkers’ 6th Annual Hillside Festival @ various (check schedule and map)
May 4 @ 8:30 am – 8:30 pm
The sixth annual Hillside Festival will feature a wide variety of activities, with events throughout the 100-acre Hillside Natural Area: nature hikes for young people; a geological hike and shorter geological stroll; the Dog Scouts; a young persons’ hike led by Boy Scouts; walks to learn about native plants, birds, insects and wildflowers; a walk with a city firefighter focusing on preventing wild land fires; a hidden poetry-geocaching walk; a history hike; meditation in nature, and more.

Hikes range from strenuous to easy.
**CHECK SCHEDULE FOR SPECIFIC EVENT TIMES!! Download the full schedule and map to events at https://ectrailtrekkers.wordpress.com/hillside-festival-2019/

Locations vary, including
Motorcycle Hill
, where Navellier and Blake streets meet
Madera Elementary School, 8500 Madera Dr.
Madera Circle Entry, between 1540 and 1560 Madera Circle
Regency Gateway
, at northern end of Regency Court
King Court Gateway
, at end of King Court.
Schmidt Lane Trailhead, near the end of Schmidt Lane, west of the Recycling Center
SO CHECK SCHEDULE FOR LOCATIONS

Sponsored by El Cerrito Trail Trekkers and El Cerrito’s Environmental Quality Committee. Free.

The festival is free but maintaining and restoring the Hillside is not. Please make a tax deductible donation to this effort with a check to “ECCF,” with “Hillside Restoration” in the message line. ECCF is El Cerrito Community Foundation, our fiscal agent. Send to Pam Austin, 834 Kearney St., EC 94530.

May
5
Sun
El Cerrito Trail Trekkers’ 6th Annual Hillside Festival @ various (check schedule and map)
May 5 @ 8:30 am – 8:30 pm
The sixth annual Hillside Festival will feature a wide variety of activities, with events throughout the 100-acre Hillside Natural Area: nature hikes for young people; a geological hike and shorter geological stroll; the Dog Scouts; a young persons’ hike led by Boy Scouts; walks to learn about native plants, birds, insects and wildflowers; a walk with a city firefighter focusing on preventing wild land fires; a hidden poetry-geocaching walk; a history hike; meditation in nature, and more.

Hikes range from strenuous to easy.
**CHECK SCHEDULE FOR SPECIFIC EVENT TIMES!! Download the full schedule and map to events at https://ectrailtrekkers.wordpress.com/hillside-festival-2019/

Locations vary, including
Motorcycle Hill
, where Navellier and Blake streets meet
Madera Elementary School, 8500 Madera Dr.
Madera Circle Entry, between 1540 and 1560 Madera Circle
Regency Gateway
, at northern end of Regency Court
King Court Gateway
, at end of King Court.
Schmidt Lane Trailhead, near the end of Schmidt Lane, west of the Recycling Center
SO CHECK SCHEDULE FOR LOCATIONS

Sponsored by El Cerrito Trail Trekkers and El Cerrito’s Environmental Quality Committee. Free.

The festival is free but maintaining and restoring the Hillside is not. Please make a tax deductible donation to this effort with a check to “ECCF,” with “Hillside Restoration” in the message line. ECCF is El Cerrito Community Foundation, our fiscal agent. Send to Pam Austin, 834 Kearney St., EC 94530.

Jul
18
Thu
Movie screening-“Motherload”-fund raiser for Bike East Bay @ Blue Heron Bikes
Jul 18 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Blue Heron Bikes is hosting a screening of MOTHERLOAD, the movie, Thursday, July 18th.
Doors open at 6:15, shows at 7:00.

Liz Canning spent 8 years producing this, inspiring, crowdsourced documentary telling the story of the cargo bike movement.

Fundraiser for Bike East Bay, $10 adults, $5 children.

Bike East Bay info and tickets:
Sep
8
Sun
Solano Stroll – Volunteers Needed – AS&R is providing Free Bicycle Valet Parking! @ Tree Lot and Wells Fargo parking lot
Sep 8 @ 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Hundreds of people from all over the Bay Area take advantage of our Bicycle Valet Parking service at two lots on Solano Avenue. Please volunteer a few hours before enjoying the event! Thanks to Floor Dimensions for donating the Red Carpet to show the way!
Photo courtesy Amy

Albany Strollers & Rollers will again be providing Free Bicycle Valet Parking at two locations: 1800 Solano Ave (Wells Fargo) and 1245 Solano (the vacant lot near Masonic.)
We’ll also have an information table by our western lot near Masonic.
WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!
If you’d like to help park bikes (we parked almost 300 last year!!) at either lot or volunteer at AS&R’s info table, please contact Amy Smolens or  Sylvia Paull.

AS&R Super-Volunteer Lynn Eve Komaromi takes a well-earned Pad Thai break – thanks, Bua Luang!
Please join Lynn Eve and your AS&R neighbors in volunteering!

This is a great gig for kids, too, as long as they are strong enough to roll a bike. If students need volunteer-hours, this is perfect!

VOLUNTEERS  (first 10 to commit at Masonic Lot) WHO WORK AT LEAST A 4-HR SHIFT WILL GET FREE LUNCH PROVIDED BY A SUPPORTING SOLANO AVENUE RESTAURANTS  Bua Luang Thai Cuisine or Brazilian Breads – yum!! Others will get FREE Bobas donated by Tay Tah !!
Kim’s Cafe is providing home made iced tea at our lower lot. Some sponsoring businesses also provide fabulous gifts or coupons for our volunteers, too!
Volunteer hours run from 9am-5:30pm so it’s easy to pick a shift that works for you!

AS&R’s volunteers park hundreds of bikes at two lots at the annual Solano Stroll! Please give us a hand this year!

Since 1974 Solano Avenue and the cities of Albany and Berkeley have hosted the Solano Avenue Stroll, the East Bay’s largest street festival! The Solano Avenue Association , AS&R and Check for Bikes invite you to see what makes Solano Avenue a wonderful place. The Stroll features over five hundred vendors including 50 entertainers (there’s always great music!,) 50 food booths, 150 government and non-profit agencies, 150 juried hand-crafters, a 75 entry parade, state of the art mechanical rides and much more!

Come visit AS&R at our information table then enjoy a great stroll up Solano! Or better yet, volunteer a few hours with your neighbors before strolling!

230,000 participants and event guests visit from all over the west coast so that’s where YOU come in – many of them ride their bikes, so we need people to help park them in our lots. Lots of them want to talk about cycling and walking around the area, and they want to talk to YOU!
AS&R’s supporting sponsor, Floor Dimensions has donated a long Red Carpet to lead passers-by to our information table and straight up the ramp to our western Bicycle Valet Parking lot!

Volunteers like Griffin and Sylvia keep things running like clockwork at both lots
Photo courtesy Patsy Reese

Please see the press room to stay tuned into what’s hot at this years event!

See you soon!

Oct
17
Thu
Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival to Benefit Street Level Cycles & Adventure Cycling Association @ Sports Basement
Oct 17 @ 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm

For the first time ever, the Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival will visit the East Bay! The festival is a celebration of travel and human-powered adventure on wheels, and it is the only event of its type in the world. Proceeds from the event benefit the Adventure Cycling Association and Street Level Cycles.

From the frozen streams of the Himalayas to the sultry heat of Thailand, from a father and daughter sharing their first overnight outing to two Boomers finding love on an organized bike tour, there’s over a dozen films with something for everyone at this year’s festival. You don’t need to be a cyclist to enjoy these tales of adventure! Ciclismo Classico, the longtime pioneer in creative bicycle vacations, is proud to present this one-of-a-kind event.
Agenda for the Evening:

  • 6:00pm: Doors Open
  • 6:30pm: Introduction & Film Rolls
  • 8:30pm: Film Ends

Raffle Information: Ciclismo is generously raffling a $2500 voucher which can be applied to a specific Italian bike trip that Ciclismo will designate. Each admission ticket includes one raffle ticket. However, additional raffle tickets can be bought at check-in. One winner will be chosen at the film screening intermission and must be present to win.

Grab a drink, sit back, relax & enjoy the films! Sports Basement to provide light drinks and snacks.

FESTIVAL MISSION STATEMENT
The Festival’s mission is to inspire attendees to explore by bicycle. Whether across the globe or a few towns away, nothing recharges and expands horizons like bicycle travel. The Ciclismo Classico Bike Travel Film Festival is the ONLY film festival in the USA that focuses specifically on bicycle travel. The Festival commits itself to sharing a diverse array of journeys: adventure is for everyone

Nov
16
Sat
Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Multi-Use Path RIBBON CUTTING & KICKOFF RIDE! @ Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
Nov 16 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

After decades of waiting and advocating, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge will FINALLY be accessible to rollers and strollers!
The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony is scheduled to be at 10am.
Bike East Bay is leading this ride from Richmond BART to the RSR bridge.
Here are directions to the bridge entrance.
If you want to propose a ride from Albany to the RSR Bridge, comment below.

We’ll finally be able to cross!
Photo courtesy Bjorn Griepenburg

 

 

Jun
22
Thu
BikeMobile Free Bike Repair @ Albany Library Patio
Jun 22 @ 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Got a bike that’s squeaking and creaking? The BikeMobile will provide free tune ups & repairs for adults and children. The BikeMobile can fix flat tires, adjust brakes and gears, and even replace broken or worn out parts like chains, seats, and tires. The only thing they can’t do is replace missing wheels or gears. While the mechanics work on your bike they’ll explain how to keep it running smoothly!
Bike or no bike, everyone is welcome to attend to learn about maintenance, safety, and more! This is first come, first serve and space is limited.They will be set up on the patio on Marin Ave – come on over!!