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
The Ohlone Greenway is one of the trails & paths connecting your home with your destinations
Albany Recreation & Community Services
continues its Parks, Recreation & Open Space Master Plan update with the second of three workshops designed to gather community feedback. The first Albany Parks community workshop was intended to capture a high-level vision of what changes people would like to see in their park system. This next workshop is intended to focus at a site-specific scale on how those changes might look like. We will be joined on the webinar-style Zoom with the Albany Parks, Recreation, and Open Space Commission.
Are there enough bike racks at Albany’s parks & open space?
Significant is that this plan deals not only with parks per se, but also trails and paths like the Ohlone Greenway and the Codornices & Cerrito Creek Paths. Which connections do you and your family need to safely bike or walk where you’re going?
Are there sufficient bike racks and other facilities in our parks and open spaces?
REGISTER FOR THE WORKSHOP HERE
Please take the Albany parks community survey here and follow @albanyparksmp on Instagram for the latest updates. Stay in the loop through www.albanyparks.com. You can also receive Master Plan updates through “Albany Parks Master Plan” eNotifications.
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).
Bike East Bay staff and AS&R volunteers will make sure helmets fit properly!
courtesy Amy Smolens
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 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.
Pick up some Youth Versions of our Check for Bikes clings and stickers, as well as reflective bands, from AS&R volunteers!
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 sign up please go here.
Hope to see you there!! EVERYONE IS REQUESTED TO PLEASE WEAR A MASK TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS – THANK YOU!
We’ll finish off the event with a relaxed spin around town!
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!
Come join our annual rolling party, Bike to Work Day!
courtesy Francesco Papalia
Join AS&R and Xtracycle for “Bike to Wherever Day” in the Bay Area, a party on wheels!!
As usual, there will be coffee, food, swag, bike goodies in Bike East Bay’s famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, fun and lots of good conversation & information so come on down on your way to work, school, shopping or around town!
Here’s a short VIDEO that AS&R member Francesco Papalia took so you can see how fun the morning is! We’ll be at a NEW LOCATION, THE GREENWAY NORTH OF SOLANO!
We had plenty of food & drink, thanks to our supporting businesses and great volunteers! WE NEED YOU!!
courtesy Melanie Mintz
We’re getting generous donations from Kim’s Cafe (thanks, Cathy!), Royal Ground Coffee (thanks, Mike!), GU Energy (thanks, Roshelle!), Trader Joe’s El Cerrito, Sprouts at University Village and Safeway all the passing cyclists will have plenty to eat and drink!!
In addition to the great Bike East Bay musette swag bags, we’ll have our own safety items like clings and reflective bands, BikeLink cards, and lots of great conversation about cycling and walking!
Every day is Bike to School Day! photo courtesy Ginny Porter
SO YES, WE NEED YOUR HELP PREPARING & DISTRIBUTING ALL THESE GOODIES TO HUNDREDS OF CYCLISTS! SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER HERE!!
Rob Allen, owner of Blue Heron Bikes will be volunteering his time, checking your bicycles for safety and road-worthiness as he has in previous years!
WE WILL NEED HELP AT OUR ENERGIZER STATION BEGINNING AT 6:15 (prep) a.m. through wrap-up at 9:30.
Volunteers like you are the key to success – please join us! photo courtesy Britt Tanner
We’ll need help STUFFING THE MUSETTE BAGS with goodies, soliciting donations, shopping beforehand, picking up food & coffee early morning on the 20th, and handing out swag, food and counting cyclists all morning at the Energizer Station.
If so, please
Thanks!!
Here’s to another great Bike to Work/Wherever Day! photo courtesy Amy Smolens
The AHS Mountain Biking Team is leading the Bicycle Valet Parking at the Solano Stroll – will you lend a hand?
Free Bicycle Valet Parking will again be featured at the Solano Stroll, but with a new twist: the Albany High School Mountain Biking Team will be taking the lead for this important service, using Albany Strollers & Rollers’ specialized racks! The new location will be on Key Route Blvd just north of Solano Avenue – it’s near the Greenway so we’re expecting lots of drop-ins so it’s sure to be busy!!
As usual, AS&R will also have an information table near the lot where we (YOU!) will talk about and answer questions about active transportation stuff!
WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS!
Bikes, Bikes, Bikes!! 300 + of them coming to the Solano Stroll! Please help the AHS MTB Team park them all! Photo courtesy Nick Pilch
The AHS MTB team could use additional volunteers, so if you’d like to help park bikes (we have parked 300 bikes in the past!!) or volunteer at AS&R’s info table, please contact Amy Smolens .
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 (the first 12 to commit) WHO WORK AT LEAST A 4-HR SHIFT AT EITHER LOCATION WILL GET FREE LUNCH PROVIDED BY SUPPORTING SOLANO AVENUE RESTAURANT !!
AS&R Super-Volunteer Lynn Eve Komaromi takes a well-earned lunch break – thanks, Bua Luang! Please join Lynn Eve and your AS&R neighbors in volunteering!
Some sponsoring businesses may also provide gifts or coupons for our volunteers, too – stay tuned!
Volunteer hours run from 9am-5:30pm so it’s easy to pick a shift that works for you! Please let Amy know if you would prefer to help with the Valet Parking, the Info Table or either one, and if you have time preferences or are flexible.
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 Bicycle Valet Parking lot!
See you soon!
The Adams/Kains bike project is in the County’s and City’s plans for addressing alternative transportation along the San Pablo Ave Corridor in Albany. As the pilot project approaches the 1 year mark it has gone well in many ways and is valued infrastructure to help the City meet its climate goals and help people get around with fewer cars or no cars now that the state’s and city’s zoning has been changed to allow any housing big or small to have zero parking spaces. One sticking point with the city has been the parking direction. The pilot program has reported no collisions on Adams/Kains. Many blocks in Berkeley for ~50 years have had the same traffic flow as we have now on Adams/Kains where public data shows no injury accidents have been reported in the ~9 years since data has been collected. Literature opposed to the Adams/Kains project warned of the extreme dangers to residents, delayed emergency response and promised “chaos and carnage” if it was implemented but we have seen none of that. People who helped distribute that literature have said at public meetings “things are fine the way they’ve always been” while ignoring the city’s climate goals and new zoning that removes off-street parking requirements.
“Houston, we have no problem!”
Please RSVP or send any questions to amy@albanystrollroll.org .
The City’s Recreation Department is organizing its 3rd Annual Community Expo 
to showcase community based organizations like ours and City departments at the Albany Community Center. AS&R will be sharing a table with Bike East Bay, displaying materials, information and a variety of bicycles (yours?) and chatting about strolling and rolling. Other groups will be doing the same and there will be giveaways, food trucks, a raffle, activities and live entertainment!
We need a few volunteers to spend time at our table and speak to community members who may have questions about strolling or rolling in Albany and beyond. We’d also like to have a few bikes to display – a cargo bike, trailer, e-bike – anything you think might pique a neighbor’s interest!
Non-profit bike shop Street Level Cycles will be there
providing free and low-cost tuneups for you, so bring your old, creaky bike!
If you can volunteer or have a bike to display, please email Nick at nicky@mindspring.com
Come volunteer a few hours at AS&R’s information table before or after enjoying the Solano Stroll!
As usual, free Bicycle Valet Parking will be featured at the Solano Stroll on Sunday, September 8! The Albany High School Mountain Biking Team will again be taking the lead for this important service, using Albany Strollers & Rollers’ specialized racks! The location will be on Key Route Blvd just north of Solano Avenue – it’s near the Greenway so like last year, the lot and tables will be plenty busy!!
This is the biggest event of the year so come be a part of the fun and help out!
As we always do, AS&R will also have an information table near the lot where we (YOU!) will talk about and answer questions about active transportation stuff in and around Albany with people at the festival! WE NEED YOU TO MAKE THIS A SUCCESS! Whether you have volunteered before or are interested in helping for the first time, this event is for you!
The AHS MTB team may need additional volunteers, so if you’d like to help park bikes (we have parked 300 bikes in the past!!) or volunteer at AS&R’s info table, please contact Amy Smolens .
Parking bikes 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 (the first 12 to commit) WHO WORK AT LEAST A 4-HR SHIFT WILL GET FREE LUNCH PROVIDED BY LOCAL FAVORITE KIM’S CAFÉ & SANDWICHES!!
Volunteer hours run from 9:15am-5:30pm (the event is 10-5) so it’s easy to pick a shift that works for you! Please let Amy know if you would prefer to help with the Info Table, the Valet Parking or either one, and if you have time preferences or are flexible.
Since 1974 , Solano Avenue and the cities of Albany and Berkeley have hosted the Solano Stroll, the East Bay’s largest street festival! The Solano Avenue Association , AS&R , AHS MTB 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!
230,000 participants and event guests visit from all over the west coast so that’s where you all come in – lots of them want to talk about cycling and walking around the area, and they want to talk to YOU!
Bikes, Bikes, Bikes!! 300 + of them coming to the Solano Stroll! We hope you’ll be there, too!
The AHS Mountain Biking Team is leading the Bicycle Valet Parking at the Solano Stroll – will you lend a hand?
Our friends at “Rich City Rides” are organizing a family-friendly, all ages and abilities group ride across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Trail to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of bike and pedestrian access over the bridge! Meet at Richmond BART at 10am, roll at 10:30. It’s crucial that Albany Strollers & Rollers members support our neighbors and active transportation access between the East Bay and Marin County!
Many of us will take BART from El Cerrito Plaza to the start at Richmond BART so please join us!
“Afterparty” mentioned in flyer below at location TBA.
Join others from the East Bay on this fun RSR Bridge Trail ride!
DO YOU, A FAMILY MEMBER OR FRIEND WANT TO RIDE YOUR BIKE MORE BUT DON’T FEEL COMFORTABLE IN THIS URBAN SETTING? THIS FREE CLASS IS FOR YOU/THEM, AND IT’S RIGHT HERE IN ALBANY!
Learn rules of the road, how to equip your bicycle, fit your helmet, use different types of bike infrastructure, and avoid common hazards!!
This is an indoor class for adults or teens, no bicycle required to learn and benefit from the instruction.
FREE, BUT YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER HERE!
Bike East Bay’s award-winning bicycle education program offers both online and in-person 
classes, so register for a FREE workshop, access online blog posts and resources, and have fun on every bike trip!
EVERYTHING IS ABSOLUTELY FREE, BUT YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER HERE!
Thanks to AS&R’s Fiscal Sponsor, Bike East Bay, for running these valuable classes.
