Bike to Work Day Part One: Open Thread

Today is Bike to Work Day in some parts of California, including the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas. That means: lots of bikes on the road—maybe more than usual, maybe not—but also lots of smiles, bike-bell-ringing, and high fives all around for everyone who chooses to use this most environmentally friendly way to get to work and everywhere else. And not just one day a year.

By Melanie Curry

3:40 PM PDT on May 12, 2016

Bike to Work Day 2016 at San Francisco City Hall. Photo: Roger Rudick/Streetsblog

However, on this day we get to make a big noise about how great it is to be able to bike to work and how much better it could be.

Streetsblog will do another open thread like this next week for Southern California, which will mark Bike to Work Day on May 20, so send in your photos and stories to melanie@streetsblog.org and we’ll add them to these posts. We’ve already seen a few blogs and ride reports, like Cyclelicious’s report on the San Jose VIP bike ride this morning. More to come!

We’ll start with the East Bay, where no fewer than THREE ribbon cuttings on new bike facilities got the day started off right. That’s on top of the Telegraph Avenue protected bike lane ribbon cutting that took place two days ago—is this a record? Probably.

Plenty of pictures after the jump.

Dave Campbell of Bike East Bay, with the mic, telling councilmembers Jesse Arreguin, Kriss Worthington, Lori Droste, and Laurie Capitelli, from left, that the Fulton Street bike lanes broke "the land speed record" for quick implementation. The Council gave final approval on Tuesday night, and the lanes were painted Wednesday. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog — Berkeley: Dave Campbell of Bike East Bay, with the mic, telling councilmembers Jesse Arreguin, Kriss Worthington, Lori Droste, and Laurie Capitelli, from left, that the Fulton Street bike lanes broke “the land speed record” for quick implementation. The Council gave final approval on Tuesday night, and the lanes were painted Wednesday. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

Staff and councilmembers cut the ribbon on the Fulton Street parking separated bike lanes. It took a bad accident, but the city responded in record time. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog — Berkeley: Staff and councilmembers cut the ribbon on the Fulton Street parking separated bike lanes. It took a bad crash, but the city responded in record time. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

This family rides Fulton Street to school every day. "This wasn't here yesterday!" said mom, with delight. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog — This family rides Fulton Street to school every day. “These lanes weren’t here yesterday!” said mom, with delight. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

Emeryville Councilmember Ruth Atkins and Mayor Diane Martinez listen to Bike East Bay Advocacy Manager Cynthia Armour thank Emeryville for its leadership on bike infrastructure. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog — Emeryville: Councilmember Ruth Atkins and Mayor Diane Martinez listen to Bike East Bay Advocacy Manager Cynthia Armour thanking Emeryville for its leadership on bike infrastructure. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

Emeryville: Councilmember Ruth Atkins takes a spin on the new, beautifully landscape-protected, two-way cycletrack. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

Bike to Work Day, San Francisco. Photo: Roger Rudick/Streetsblog — San Francisco: Smiles on Bike to Work Day. Photo: Roger Rudick/Streetsblog

San Francisco: SF Bicycle Coalition Interim Directory Margaret McCarthy shakes hands with Mak Gill, a nurse at SF General Hospital. Photo: Roger Rudick/Streetsblog

Another city, another ribbon to cut: Bike East Bay executive director Renee Rivera, on the left, joins Oakland City Councilmember Abel Guillen, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, and Piedmont councilmembers Tim Rood and John Chang to officially open bike lanes on Grand Avenue connecting Oakland and PIedmont. Photo: Chris Hwang, WOBO

There is plenty of room fr bike lanes on Grand Avenue now that the road has been slimmed from two lanes in each direction to one each, plus a median. This new configuration makes better use of the roadway than giving cars ways to speed around eachother or double park. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog — Oakland/Piedmont: There is plenty of room for bike lanes on Grand Avenue now that the road has been slimmed from two lanes in each direction to one each, plus a median. This new configuration makes better use of the roadway than giving cars room to speed around each other or double park. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

Berkeley: The Fulton Street lanes end after two blocks, sending bikes back out to share the less-hectic lanes just south of where February's crash happened. It's back to reality, folks, with a taste of what could be done. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog — Berkeley: The new Fulton Street lanes end after two blocks, sending riders back out to share the less-hectic lanes south of where February’s crash happened. It’s back to reality, folks, but after a taste of what biking could be like. Photo: Melanie Curry/Streetsblog

Melanie Curry

Bike Month | BTWD | Events | Streetsblog California

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