Join us for the 25th Annual Bike to Work Day in the Bay Area, a party on wheels!!
As usual, there will be coffee, food, swag, bike goodies in the famous Bike to Work Day musette bags, fun and lots of good conversation & information so come on down on your way to work!
Here’s a short VIDEO that AS&R member Francesco Papalia took so you can see how fun the morning is!
The staff of Blue Heron Bikes and Berkeley Bikes & Skateboards will be volunteering their time, 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!
Local business Kim’s Cafe (thanks, Cathy!!) and Royal Ground Coffee (thanks, Mike!) are again donating home made pastries & beverages for our Energizer Station. Trader Joe’s El Cerrito, Barney Butter non-GMO almond butter from the Central Valley, Semifreddi’s in Alameda and GU Energy in Berkeley are also giving us generous donations. Safeway on Solano and Sprouts at University Village are donating gift cards for groceries, too!
SO YES, WE NEED YOUR HELP IN DISTRIBUTING ALL THESE GOODIES TO 600+ CYCLISTS!
Local businesses BLUE HERON, BUA LUANG, TAY 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!!!
WE WILL 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.
We will need help stuffing the musette bags with goodies beforehand, picking up food & coffee early morning on the 10th, 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 kenmccroskey@gmail.com or Amy Smolens at calamari@alumni.duke.edu or leave a comment on this post.
Thanks!!
Bring your kids to Albany Police Activity League’s Annual Bike Rodeo!
Planning is ongoing, but this event usually features free helmets for kids, bike safety inspections, a skills course, and cycling entertainment! (Details will be updated as they become available.)
Albany Strollers & Rollers contributes by fitting helmets, offering local cycling information, and hosting bike-blended smoothies for all, so everyone can pedal-power a delicious smoothie!
We’ll also have our “Check for Bikes” clings and stickers on hand for parents, our Reflective Leg & Arm Bands for all, and will be available to talk to kids and parents about biking and walking in and around Albany!
PLEASE VOLUNTEER: AS&R relies on volunteers to help run the bike blender station, fit helmets, and engage parents & kids about cycling in Albany. Volunteers get our undying gratitude and a special thank you gift. Local businesses BLUE HERON, BUA LUANG, TAY 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!!!
Please contact Ken McCroskey to help out!!
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!
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!
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!
Please see the press room to stay tuned into what’s hot at this years event!
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.
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!
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 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!
Due to an overstock of bikes, we are having an As-Is Bike Blowout Sale! We have hundreds of as-is bikes, frames, parts, and accessories that all must go! Complete bikes as low as $10! Unique and rare bikes deeply discounted! Don’t miss it!
More info at their Facebook event link!
The City of Albany’s Recreation Department is getting into the spirit of Bike Month with a Bike in Movie!
They will be showing “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” (PG), a family-friendly comedy about one man-child’s cross-country adventure in search of his beloved stolen bike. It’s a bizarre story of perseverance and hope in times of adversity, and is chock-full of zany characters.
Ride your bike on down to the Albany Community Center and join us for this fabulous Bike Month event! There will have plenty of space to park your bike in a protected area, complete with a massive bike rack.
The popcorn is free and will be flowing freely!
We’re excited to have brand new local business Wildcard Brewing partner with Albany Strollers & Rollers on “Pints With Purpose,” their community fundraiser in which they help out local non-profits.
In this Bike Month activity, $1 FROM EVERY PINT OR FLIGHT THAT YOU BUY ALL DAY WILL HELP AS&R FUND A BRAND NEW “BIKE BIKE RACK” FOR WILDCARD CUSTOMERS!
Since we’re anticipating lots of you riding over, we’ll have our Bicycle Valet Parking racks set up right out front for you and your families. Racks will be unattended (we’ll be inside) so please bring your bike locks.
Yes, Wildcard is family friendly (they have non-alcoholic beverages including craft root beer, New York seltzer and lemon flavored sparkling water, plus plenty of games) and you can bring or order food in to go with your beer!
They even welcome leashed dogs!
Feel free to bring lunch, dinner or snacks from your favorite restaurants on Solano or San Pablo Avenues, too!
Support those who support us – hope to see you there as Bike Month winds down!!
Do you or someone you know want to ride more but don’t feel confident enough?
Here’s a FREE bicycle skills class, courtesy of Bike East Bay…and it’s RIGHT HERE IN ALBANY!!
Learn basic rules of the road, how to share the road with cars on busy streets, how to equip your bicycle, lock your bike, fit your helmet, and avoid crashes by riding predictably, visibly, and communicating with other road users by your actions and signals. Every workshop has the same content so you only need to attend once. For adults and teens, no bike needed.
Attending this or any of our other classroom workshops qualifies you to also sign up for one of Bike East Bay’s free “Day 2” on-the-bike road classes and earn a free set of bike lights!
Class is FREE but please register here.
Do you or someone you know want to ride more but don’t feel confident enough?
Here’s a FREE bicycle skills class, courtesy of Bike East Bay…and it’s RIGHT HERE IN ALBANY!!
Learn basic rules of the road, how to share the road with cars on busy streets, how to equip your bicycle, lock your bike, fit your helmet, and avoid crashes by riding predictably, visibly, and communicating with other road users by your actions and signals. Every workshop has the same content so you only need to attend once. For adults and teens, no bike needed.
Attending this or any of our other classroom workshops qualifies you to also sign up for one of Bike East Bay’s free “Day 2” on-the-bike road classes and earn a free set of bike lights!
Class is FREE but please register here.