Photo by Sam Morris

Pedal Pusher

I credit my dad for helping me get into cycling as something other than a kid's mode of transportation. When we were still very young, he had the idea to take the family on cross-country bike rides. This was the early 70s and was by no means as common an idea as it is today. I think my first long-distance ride was from our house in South Pasadena to my grandparents' in La Mirada.

Unfortunately, I got increasingly sedentary in my early 20s and am now trying to get back into shape again. I really enjoy cycling, but could be a lot better at it were I in shape. Another factor is my Repetitive Strain Injury. After I was diagnosed, I started riding my upright less and less. When I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, I knew I had to get a different kind of bike. I don't remember how I first heard the word "recumbent". I don't remember the first time I saw one. I only know that when I asked at the bike shops around Berkeley, a town with the highest amount of bike shops per capita of any city I've ever seen, nobody could help me. I decided to try an Internet search and turned up the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) home page. That put me in touch with other 'bent heads and within a year I had gotten a Haluzak Horizon. I've enjoyed cycling much more since.

Bay Area Cycling Links

Bike Activism in the Bay Area

• Bay Area Bridge Access Now!
• The San Francisco Critical Mass - the link on the Black Sunday site is now a 404. if someone has a better link, let me know. In the meantime, here's the SF Chron's roundup site.
• Peace in the Streets - Responsible, activist cycling
• A Different Take on the July 25th, 1997 Critical Mass Showdown (not necessarily my opinion)
• Women's Critical Mass
• Santa Cruz Critical Mass
• People Power - advocates for HPVs in the Santa Cruz area
• The Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition
• The East Bay Bicycle Coalition
• The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
• The Marin County Bicycle Coalition
• Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition - promoting bikes in some of the most car-heavy parts of the Bay Area.
• The Congressional Bike Caucus - briefs House members and staff on bicycle issues, organizes rides and lobbies for pro-bike legislation. Encourage your Congressperson to join this caucus!

Bike Resources

• The hard-working Carolyn Helmke at RIDES compiled the Bay Area Bike Resource Guide
• Great page on Downtown Oakland Bike Parking
• Bay Area Bike Commuter Page
• Bike To Work Day happens around May each year. Here's biking to work info in the meanwhile.
• RIDES' info on biking to work
• Missing Link - my absolute favorite bike shop. They've just repaired a major flaw by starting (tentatively) to carry folders and recumbents. They have opted for the Birdy and the BikeE respectively to be their first entries into this market.
• Pizza Power - includes trip reports of Bay Area rides.
• Sunshine Daydream - Road Bikes in the Bay Area
• California Bike Coalition - though young, they have been effective in lobbying for cyclists' interests at the State Capitol.
• Adventure Cycling - The closest thing to an "AAA" that cyclists have. They make great touring maps.
• Support Bikes - Have your next local package delivered by PedEx! (510) 843-PEDX

Bay Area Recumbent Dealers

It's amazing that we don't have more "weird bike" shops than we do. If I had capital...

• Zach Kaplan carries the best selection of recumbents in the Bay Area
• Santa Rosa Bike Artisan Bill Haluzak
• Santa Rosa is also home to Rotator
• Bicycle Outfitter carries BikeE and Vision.
• BikeE dealers in the Bay Area

'Bent Dealers Closer to the Bay Area than Timbuktu

Dave Cooper recommends The Chain Gang in Redding CA, about 200 miles north of the Bay Area on Rt. 5. He says: "This shop deserves mention because they are better stocked in recumbents than any Bay Area shop (I visited them all).They have in stock, for sale (you don't have to order and wait): Bike-E, Rans V-Rex and Stratus, Vision Metro and R-40, and Linear, an impressive lineup even by big city standards. Their prices are also better than Bay Area by 10-30%."

Bay Area Folding Bike Dealers

• Channell Wasson imports Bromptons to the U.S. Luckily for us, he's right here in the Bay Area.
• Missing Link in Berkeley no longer carries the Birdy, but has been known to do special orders. They can order Dahons for you.
• Fog City Cycles, (415) 221-3031 3430 Geary Blvd. (at Stanyan), will order Dahon folding bikes for you. They will also repair them for you.
• Gaerlan carries the Jeep Renegade (the U.S. version of the German Birdy), the Dahon Explorer, their own design, and soon - a Montague.

Bay Area Bike Miscellanea

• Exploratorium's Science of Cycling
• The Oakland Museum presents "Amazing Bikes: Two Centuries on Wheels". It ran from 9/12/99 to 1/30/00.
• The Unicyclone Page
• Bike Summer was a coordinated period of bike activism in the Bay Area, first held in 1999. It is now held in various cities every summer.

Bike Clubs

• The Oakland Yellowjackets Bicycle Club
• The Grizzly Peak Cyclists
• Bay Area Single Cyclists - Single, Cycling and Debauchin'
• Western Wheelers - A club that also sponsors monthly recumbent and "weird bike" rides
• Major Taylor Cycling Club - sounds like a cool group to me
• Skyline Cycling Club - "We ride to eat, we eat to ride". Cool.
• Different Spokes- We're here, we're queer, we're gonna ride our bikes!
• Delta Pedallers - a club for those in Eastern Contra Costa County
• Valley Spokesmen- sponsors of the Cinderella Century.
• Fremont Freewheelers Cycling Club
• Castro Valley Cycling Club - Thanks to Clark Lowe for the link.
• Diablo Cyclists - a Geocities site, so prepare for ads.
• Santa Rosa Cycling Club - now if only those people in Santa Rosa knew that Haluzak makes great bikes in their own town...
• Eagle Cycling Club of Napa Valley - Hey! They even mention 'bents!
• Bay Area Roaming Tandems - When you roam, do as the roamin's do
• Mountain Biking in the S.F. Bay Area
• WOMBATS The Women's Mountain Biking and Tea Society - mtn. biking isn't my cup of tea, but I support their work.
• Many messengers rub me the wrong way, but I'm all in favor of the San Francisco Bike Messengers Association's drive to unionize bike messengers.

I used to update something on this site about every two weeks. Unfortunately, things are probably going to be mothballed for a while due to a hellacious flareup of Repetitive Strain Injury. I also had some bad data loss, so if you wrote in before with a suggestion or comment, please write again! There are some folks I would love to keep in touch with, but whose addresses I've lost.