On Saturday, September 22nd, Albany and El Cerrito will once again close Key Route Boulevard across the cities’ border and beyond to let everyone take to the street to play and meet. Among various activities there will be an Albany versus El Cerrito tug-of-war and AS&R will be giving away smoothies blended up by attendees using pedal power. You can learn more here.
Please let Ken McCroskey Wait know when you can help with AS&R’s smoothie bike that day. You can email him here.
The monthly Traffic & Safety Commission Meeting 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.
The agenda will be posted on the City website here.
Come on down
Help develop Albany’s Complete Streets plan for San Pablo Ave. and Buchanan St. — Kickoff Community Meeting
Help develop Albany’s Complete Streets plan for San Pablo Ave. and Buchanan St. — Community Walk and Design Workshop
You probably know Street Level Cycles as the group who has given free bike tuneups at the annual Albany Arts & Green Festival. They’re much more than that, so come to their holiday party to find out more!
Join them for an afternoon of food and fun to raise funds for their youth programs!
Waterside Workshops has received a $10,000 challenge grant, and you can help us reach our goal by attending our event!
A donation of $10 per person gets you:
* a free boat rental
* wooden toy-making for kids
* entry into the kids or adult bike raffle
Also, Doc’s of the Bay will be here with their gourmet food truck serving up mouth-watering locally-sourced fare and the Cookie Department will be sampling their amazing cookies, the perfect addition to a cup of our famous Waterside hand-crafted coffee. Our interns have been hard at work creating fine wooden handcrafts and building bicycles for the whole family, so while you are here, don’t forget to visit our Holiday Sale to mark a few names off of your list. During the event, we will give away 25 kids bicycles to local low-income families. If you know a family in need of a kid’s bicycle, please tell them to contact us before the event! At 5pm, we will be showing “Waterside” a documentary film about our organization and its role in the community. All proceeds from this event will go directly to supporting our free programs for low-income youth. Please join us on the 9th to kick-off the Holiday Season while giving back to your community!
For more details, go here.
With the input of Albany residents, the “Complete Streets process” of this past week has been identifying ways that the streets could be changed to better accommodate alternative modes of travel, including walking, bicycling, and public transit, while still effectively serving drivers. Its result will be a set of plans that the City can use for future project ideas and grant applications.
This Wednesday evening the consultants will present their plan concepts, the results of the work by members of the community. Come on down and have a peek at the future!
More information
Join Wheels of Justice Cyclery in Albany to learn about this summer’s AIDS/LifeCycle ride, a fully supported, 7-day bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to raise money and awareness in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Representatives from the event will be on hand to show a video and explain how make the most of your time on the road, whether you’re a trepid beginner or seasoned expert. They’ll answer any questions and offer the chance to sign up or receive more information.
If you’re not planning on signing up for the ride, please stop by and chat, meet the staff of our shop, and pick our brain about bikes!
Google Maps insists that we’re in Berkeley, but we are in Albany – trust us!
Tonight’s Planning & Zoning Commission Meeting will include the first look at the newest proposal for the University Village Mixed-Use Project, including a Sprouts Farmers Market as anchor tenant and a two-way cycle track for excellent bicycle access.
More details about the project are here.
Discussion of and recommendations for the San Pablo Complete Streets project is also on the agenda.
Look here for the full meeting agenda.
Please come to the meeting to ask questions or speak, or send a message to the Commission care of cityhall@albanyca.org celebrating and supporting the proposed the cycle track.
Join us at our special meeting for Bike Month (every other month – odd-numbered months) where we discuss policy and projects and talk about what’s going on in Active Transportation in Albany.
Note special date because normal date conflicts with Arts & Green Festival.
Tonight we will talk about our busy Bike Month – the APAL Bike Rodeo, Arts & Green Festival, the return of Bike About Town rides, among other things.
Have something you want to talk about? Request an Agenda Item in “comments.”
Location varies so check back here or email Angela at the above address.
Look forward to seeing you!
It’s time for the Albany Arts & Green Festival again!

Our free Bicycle Valet Parking service at the Arts & Green Festival is always popular!
photo courtesy Matt McHugh
As AS&R does every year, we will provide FREE bicycle valet parking, sponsored by Bua Luang Thai Cuisine, so you can enjoy the festival without worrying about your bike.
Come visit our booth to find out about what’s going on for cyclists and pedestrians here in Albany!
For the 6th straight year, non-profit bike workshop Street
Level Cycles will provide free or low-cost bike tuneups, so if you have an old bike that you want to get road-ready, come on down!

Street Level Cycles has graciously donated free bike tuneup services at the Arts & Green Festival since 2008
photo courtesy Matt McHugh
CAN YOU VOLUNTEER TO HELP US? ALL VOLUNTEERS WILL GET A CHIPOTLE BURRITO FOR LUNCH AND THE FIRST 15 TO VOLUNTEER WILL GET A SPECIAL COUPON FROM BUA LUANG THAI CUISINE.
We need people to park bikes and work at our table. Please email Amy Smolens to help out!