Letter from the Saddle
Urban anthropologist Adonia Lugo writes that “people act as infrastructure, both physically in terms of how we [travel] and politically as networks through which information and power [flow].” For Dr. Lugo, “human infrastructure” is an underestimated force for moving our society towards a sustainable and equitable transportation system. In this issue of RideOn, we highlight the diverse ways in which Bike East Bay’s network of advocates, educators, members, and donors enable bicycling to grow and even thrive in places where bike lanes are few and far between.
One of the ways Bike East Bay builds human infrastructure is through our local leader groups. We are excited to introduce our newest local group, Bike Pleasant Hill, formed by Bike East Bay board member Kristin Tennessen after she literally ran into roadblocks while biking her kids to school. By leveraging existing local groups and personal networks, Bike Pleasant Hill joins Bike Concord and Bike Walnut Creek as part of a growing bike advocacy ecosystem in Central Contra Costa County.
Personal connections can also make your bike ride a lot more fun. In Fremont, advocate Melissa Avery is working to build connections by leading bilingual bike rides targeted especially to women of color. We’ve profiled Melissa before for her work on the Fremont Bicycle and Pedestrian Technical Advisory Committee (RideOn, Spring 2017). By creating community around riding, Melissa’s rides are an important piece of human infrastructure that connect people of color to the rapidly expanding protected bike lane network in the city.
Bike East Bay continues to grow our own human infrastructure for bike education by expanding and diversifying our pool of instructors certified by the League of American Bicyclists (LCIs). Our recent training in March again focused primarily on making space for women and people of color, and we brought on one of our first non-binary gender instructors, Dart Kaufman.
Fellow new instructor Nancy Hernandez is a great example of how Bike East Bay encourages organic growth and change for new bicyclists. After attending our free bike ed classes, Nancy gained so much confidence that she became an LCI this year and tackled her biggest bike adventure yet: riding from Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo, as part of Bike East Bay’s Climate Ride Team.
All of this amazing human infrastructure is built with your support as members and donors. Thanks to member-supported bike advocacy, we are making incredible progress in growing leaders, educators, and most importantly — new riders! In our annual report on pages 5 to 8, we highlight just a few of the voices from this thriving ecosystem of bike visionaries. You are the people power behind our pedal-power movement. Thank you!
Ride on,
Ginger Jui
Executive Director
