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

May
12
Thu
Bike to Work Day – COME ON DOWN + VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED!! @ AS&R/Bikes on Solano Energizer Station
May 12 @ 7:00 am – 9:00 am

It’s the 23rd Annual Bike to Work Day in the Bay Area, a party on wheels!!

Come join our annual rolling party, Bike to Work Day! photo courtesy Nick Pilch

Come join our annual rolling party, Bike to Work Day!
photo courtesy Nick Pilch

As usual, there will be coffee, snacks, swag, bike goodies, the famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, food, coffee, fun and lots of good conversation & information so come on down on your way to work!

Great news –  Bikes on Solano is co-hosting this year’s Energizer Station with Albany Strollers & Rollers, so Mike, the owner, and other staff will be there with work stations checking your bicycles for safety and road-worthiness!

Plenty of food and drink for everyone, but we could use people to pick it up! courtesy Francesco Papalia

Plenty of food and drink for everyone, but we could use people to pick it up!
courtesy Francesco Papalia

We need help at our Energizer Station the morning of, as well as preparing for a big celebration.
Can you help stuffing the musette bags with goodies on May 6th from 3-5pm, picking up food & coffee early morning on the 12th, and handing out swag, food and counting cyclists all morning at the Energizer Station?

If so, please contact Ken McCroskey at kenwait@aol.com or leave a comment on this post.
Thanks!!

For Elected & Appointed Officials, as well as City Staff, City Councilman Nick Pilch is leading a ride for you…details coming soon, and yes, it will finish at the Energizer Station so you can enjoy our swag, food and company!

If you can help stuff these bags full of swag on the afternoon of May 6, please email Ken – thanks! Snacks provided!

The musette bags are always filled with swag!

The musette bags are always filled with swag!

Dec
16
Fri
CANCELLED – 5th Annual Rich City Winter Night Lights Solstice Ride @ Rich City Rides
Dec 16 @ 7:00 pm – 10:30 pm

5thAnnualRichCityRidesSolsticeRide

 

THIS RIDE HAS BEEN CANCELLED BY RICH CITY RIDES
Come on out and join your Richmond brothers and sisters for a beautiful night ride!
Bring your lights and good cheer for the 5th Annual Winter Night Lights Solstice RIDE. It looks like the weather just might be warming up already… hmm. Still dress warm and did we mention to bring some lights? Dance away Autumn and celebrate the longest night of the year as we usher in Winter season. Seasons Greetings!

Be seen while you pedal at night and keep your pants legs out of the chain with our new leg bands!

Be seen while you pedal at night and keep your pants legs out of the chain with our new leg bands!

If you need to be more visible for the ride contact Amy Smolens to pick up some awesome reflective leg and arm bands!

 

If anyone wants to coordinate a bike or BART ride to the starting point, write something in “comments” here or post on AS&R’s Facebook page.

May
5
Fri
Musette Bag Stuffing for Bike to Work Day @ Sports Basement
May 5 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm

Stuffing bags for everyone who rolls by is FUN!! If you can help, please email Ken at kenwait@aol.com – thanks!

You’ve enjoyed picking up the famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, chock full of swag & snacks. Help stuff those musette bags for our Energizer Station so friends, neighbors and passers-by can enjoy the fruits of our labor!

You’ve seen Lucy & Ethel in their famous assembly line – help us make ours more fun & successful by joining us!

This important pre-Bike to Work Day event is a ton of fun for all ages. Fast-paced assembly line is a great experience for kids. Snacks provided.
You’ve been getting the bags for free for years, now see how it’s done and boost your karma! Let Ken McCroskey know if you can help out.
If you want to connect with others to bike or BART to Sports Basement, leave a note in the Comments section of this post.

The musette bags are always filled with swag!

May
11
Thu
Bike to Work Day – Volunteers Needed! @ Albany Strollers & Rollers Energizer Station - Ohlone Greenway & Marin Avenue
May 11 @ 7:00 am – 9:00 am

Come join our annual rolling party, Bike to Work Day!
courtesy Nick Pilch

It’s the 23rd Annual Bike to Work Day in the Bay Area, a party on wheels!!

As usual, there will be coffee, snacks, swag, bike goodies, the famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, food, coffee, fun and lots of good conversation & information so come on down on your way to work!

Don’t miss rolling down to see all your friends and neighbors!
courtesy Nick Pilch

Great news – the staffs of Blue Heron Bikes and Berkeley Bikes & Skateboards will be there with work stations checking your bicycles for safety and road-worthiness as they have in previous years! Thanks to owners Rob Allen & Winston Jamison for spending time with us all! Blue Heron is also giving all Bike Month Volunteers a special coupon for helping out!!

Plenty of food and drink for everyone, but we could use people to pick it up!
courtesy Francesco Papalia

We need help at our Energizer Station beginning at 6:30 a.m. through wrap-up at 9:30, as well as preparing for a big celebration.

Donations so far from Kim’s Cafe and Royal Ground Coffee…stay tuned for more.

Can you help stuffing the musette bags with goodies on Friday from 10am-noon, picking up food & coffee early morning on the 11th, and handing out swag, food and counting cyclists all morning at the Energizer Station?
Want to help get donations of food, beverages or $ for food & bevs?  If so, please contact Ken McCroskey at kenwait@aol.com or Amy Smolens at calamari@alumni.duke.edu or leave a comment on this post.
Thanks!!

For Elected & Appointed Officials, as well as City Staff, City Councilman Nick Pilch is leading a ride for you…details coming soon, and yes, it will finish at the Energizer Station so you can enjoy our swag, food and company!

Stuff to stuff!

Stuffing bags for everyone who rolls by is FUN!! If you can help, please email Ken at kenwait@aol.com – thanks!

Oct
26
Thu
IMPORTANT MEETING – Kains/Adams Bicycle Boulevards on Agenda of Traffic & Safety Commission Meeting @ Albany City Hall
Oct 26 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

The crucial Kains/Adams Bicycle Blvd project will be on the agenda of October’s Traffic & Safety Commission Meeting.

WOULD YOU RATHER BIKE ON THIS…..

OR THIS?? SPEAK UP TO MAKE THIS A REALITY IN ALBANY!

Considerable local opposition has arisen, and we are in danger of missing out on these facilities. If you and your family would use either of these Bicycle Boulevards because you want to AVOID bicycling on San Pablo Avenue, live on Kains or Adams, go to the YMCA, please act!
How? 1) Send a letter of support to Aleida Andrino-Chavez , requesting that she forwards it to the Traffic & Safety Commission, and cc or bcc me, Amy Smolens , so I can track support, which is important.
2) Attend this meeting and tell the Traffic & Safety Commission that you and your family need these Bicycle Boulevards as they decide from among the various traffic calming and Bicycle Boulevard options for our neighborhoods.
Engage with City staff, consultants, and your neighbors in community planning for improving pedestrian and bicyclist.
I’m sure many of you have ridden the Bicycle Boulevards in Berkeley and seen how more comfortable it is to ride Milvia instead of MLK or Shattuck, Russell instead of Ashby, and 9th instead of San Pablo.
If not, here is info on Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevard system.
Now imagine if people could avoid San Pablo until a half-block from their destination by riding Kains and Adams!
This is the FINAL COMMUNITY MEETING before Traffic & Safety Commission makes its recommendations to City Council so your attendance is important!!

This was the consultants’ presentation at the meeting on October 4th.

The monthly Traffic & Safety Commission Meeting, the Fourth Thursday of every month, is a great place to make your ideas known, find out about the transportation issues and projects in Albany, and help improve things for cyclists and pedestrians in and around our town.

This is a map and chart of the regional bicycle route from Oakland to Richmond – Albany is the only gap in a 12+ mile North-South bike route.

Here is the meeting agenda. Kains/Adams is the second item on the agenda, and the first item is related – North Albany traffic calming, which included Kains Ave near El Cerrito Plaza.
Come on down – thanks!

Dec
4
Mon
Kains/Adams Bicycle Boulevards on Agenda of City Council – Important Meeting! @ Albany City Hall
Dec 4 @ 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm

The crucial Kains/Adams Bicycle Blvd project is on the agenda of December 4th’s City Council Meeting so we need your support!

OR THIS?? SPEAK UP TO MAKE THIS A REALITY IN ALBANY!

WOULD YOU RATHER BIKE ON THIS…..

In October, Albany’s Traffic & Safety Commission passed a plan that included two-way bicycle boulevards with semi-closures, so there will be no additional motor vehicle traffic at all – just safe two-way passage by bicyclists wanting to avoid San Pablo Avenue.

This is Option 3, which the Traffic & Safety Commission chose, without moving any stop signs nor utilizing traffic circles.

There was some local opposition by residents who didn’t see any need for bicycle facilities in Albany but YOU and your neighbors showed up and wrote letters. Let’s make sure that happens at this meeting, too, so bicyclists can ride safely in our town! If you and your family would use either of these Bicycle Boulevards because you want to AVOID bicycling on San Pablo Avenue, live on Kains or Adams, go to the YMCA, please act!

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1) Send a letter of support to citycouncil@albanyca.org , requesting that your email is forwarded to all City Council members, and cc or bcc me, Amy Smolens , so I can track support, which is important. Even a brief “I support the Kains and Adams Bicycle Boulevards and my family and I would ride on them…”
“My family and I don’t feel safe riding on San Pablo so please approve the Kains and Adams Bicycle Boulevards.” Any additional detail about your support is beneficial, but just do what you can do!
2) Attend this meeting and tell City Council that you and your family need these Bicycle Boulevards that the Traffic & Safety Commission has recommended.
If you are going to go to one meeting this year, this should be it, because Kains/Adams is a central project for our bike network and it’s at risk due to local opposition. I will tell you that I have lived on Kains for 25 years and I and other neighbors support it.
You know what the Warriors say – “Strength in Numbers” so we need you to made your voice heard – thanks!

I’m sure many of you have ridden the Bicycle Boulevards in Berkeley and seen how more comfortable it is to ride Milvia instead of MLK or Shattuck, Russell instead of Ashby, and 9th instead of San Pablo.
If not, here is info on Berkeley’s Bicycle Boulevard system.
Now imagine if people could avoid San Pablo until a half-block from their destination by riding safely & comfortably on Kains and Adams!

Yes, we mind the gap!

Here are a map and chart of the REGIONAL BICYCLE ROUTE from Oakland to Richmond – Albany is the only gap in a 12+ mile North-South bike route. Yes, we “mind the gap!!”

This is the FINAL COMMUNITY MEETING before it becomes a reality, so your attendance is crucial!

May
4
Fri
Musette Bag Stuffing for Bike to Work Day 2018 – May 4th, 9-11 a.m. @ Sports Basement
May 4 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Stuffing bags for everyone who rolls by is FUN!! If you can help, please email Ken at kenmccroskey@gmail.com – thanks!

You’ve enjoyed picking up the famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, chock full of swag & snacks. Help stuff those musette bags for our Energizer Station so hundreds of your friends, neighbors and passers-by can enjoy the fruits of our labor!
DATE AND TIME: MAY 4th, 9-11 a.m.
Local businesses BLUE HERONBUA LUANGTAY TAH CAFE AND FERN’S GARDEN ARE ALL  DONATING SPECIAL GIFT CARDS OR COUPONS FOR OUR BIKE MONTH VOLUNTEERS, IN APPRECIATION FOR YOUR TIME AND SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY!!!

You’ve seen Lucy & Ethel in their famous assembly line – help us make ours more fun & successful by joining us!

This important pre-Bike to Work Day event is a ton of fun for all ages. Fast-paced assembly line is a great experience for kids. Snacks provided.
You’ve been getting the bags for free for years, now see how it’s done and boost your karma! Let Ken McCroskey know if you can help out.

The musette bags are always filled with swag! Help get them that way!

If you want to connect with others to bike or BART to Sports Basement, leave a note in the Comments section of this post.

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!
May
2
Thu
Musette Bag Stuffing for Bike to Work Day 2019 @ Sports Basement
May 2 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am

Stuffing bags for everyone who rolls by is FUN!! If you can help, please email Ken at kenmccroskey@gmail.com – thanks!

You’ve enjoyed picking up the famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, chock full of swag & snacks. Help stuff those musette bags for our Energizer Station so hundreds of your friends, neighbors and passers-by can enjoy the fruits of our labor!
Local businesses BLUE HERON, BUA LUANGTAY TAH CAFEFERN’S GARDEN and BIKE LINK ARE AGAIN DONATING SPECIAL GIFT CARDS OR COUPONS FOR OUR BIKE MONTH VOLUNTEERS, IN APPRECIATION FOR YOUR TIME AND SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY!!!

You’ve seen Lucy & Ethel in their famous assembly line – help us make ours more fun & successful by joining us!

This important pre-Bike to Work Day event is a ton of fun for all ages. Fast-paced assembly line is a great experience for kids. Snacks provided.
You’ve been getting the bags for free for years, now see how it’s done and boost your karma! Let Elizabeth Vahlsing know if you can help out.

The musette bags are always filled with swag but they don’t stuff themselves! Help get them that way!

If you want to connect with others to bike or BART to Sports Basement, leave a note in the Comments section of this post.

Sep
24
Thu
BIKE TO WHEREVER DAY! @ Blue Heron Bikes
Sep 24 – Sep 30 all-day

It doesn’t matter where you’re going…just go!

Bike to Work Day was canceled this Spring due to Covid-19, but that doesn’t mean you’ll miss Bike East Bay’s musette bags in 2020.

Today is “Bike to Wherever Day!” and this is “Bike to Wherever” week!

Stop by our partner shop, Blue Heron Bikes, between Sept. 24 and Sept. 30, from 9am-6pm except for Sunday and pick up your bag. This year the goodies are going virtual unless you renew your membership, in which case you get an enhanced bag with some traditional, 3-D goodies (special pickup window on the evening of Sept. 24).

Find event details or join/renew via the Bike East Bay Bike to Wherever 2020 page.

…and we can always count on Rob’s generosity