About Bicycling Monterey
Bicycling Monterey serves as an information hub for bicycling in Monterey County, with over 300 posts and 65 web pages. Info relevant for bicyclists outside Monterey County is also included. Please respect copyright.
While Monterey County does not yet have a formal bicycle coalition, there are many local bike community leaders–see “Bicycle Shops, Services, Clubs, and Resources.” Along with Bicycling Monterey, all are working to help make our county an even more bicycling friendly place, for visitors and residents.
Founded in May 2009, the Bicycling Monterey website and projects are a public service of Mari Lynch and Fine Wordworking, recognized by the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, City of Monterey, City of Salinas, City of Seaside, Monterey County Health Department, Transportation Agency for Monterey County, Monterey-Salinas Transit, National Steinbeck Center, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey Institute of International Studies, California State University Monterey Bay, Stevenson School, Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Monterey Jazz Festival, Sea Otter Classic, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Naval Postgraduate School Foundation Cycling Club, California Bicycle Coalition, and many others, and recommended and featured by media including KUSP Central Coast Public Radio, KSBW, the Monterey County Weekly, the Salinas Californian, and the Monterey County Herald.
The Transportation Agency for Monterey County further recognized the value of these bike resources and projects with a Transportation Excellence Award on January 25, 2012.
How did Bicycling Monterey get started?
Mari responds: My first time to bicycle in Monterey County was in 1979, when I biked to Monterey from my home in Santa Cruz, 40 miles around the bay.
I’ve biked in Monterey County as a resident since moving here in 1981—although after moving to rural MoCo, my bike mileage diminished. There have been many years when I mostly limited my routes to my own rural area, or only biked after hauling my bike to the multi-use trail/bike path or elsewhere.
When I returned to biking frequently for transportation, and experienced again what a joy that is, I wanted to make it easier for others to bike here.
Biking on West Cliff in Santa Cruz, with my friend Gerri Dayharsh
The more people who bike in a community, the safer it is to do so. And it’s easy to see cyclists are having fun, along with enjoying many other benefits. They inspire us!
Hear KUSP’s broadcast of We’re All Heroes on This Bus, or read We’re All Heroes.
Tips for Tourists—and Others
I love to chat with people who come from all over the world to visit Monterey County. And answering their questions on the bikeways made me realize it wasn’t easy for them to find helpful information that I’ve learned over the years. So I created Tips for Tourists Bicycling Monterey and published it on this site in May 2009, as a courtesy to visitors. It soon expanded into a 20-section guide that is useful to locals as well, and it remains available free online for personal use, along with the hundreds of other posts and pages of this site.
Perhaps you’ve seen the posters for Tips for Bicycling Monterey County displayed in retailers’ windows and other places, including concierge binders. As more than one hotel staff person told me, “Biking is our #1 question, and we haven’t known what to tell our guests.” That’s understandable! Certainly, even after more than 30 years of living here, there’s a lot I still don’t know—things the hoteliers and others do know.
Sharing knowledge and talents can help us all have an optimum experience of our beautiful county! That’s one reason I’m sharing local cycling info. Other reasons include environmental impact and other benefits.
HER Helmet Thursdays
What about HER Helmet Thursdays, the ecology-economy sustainability project that encourages bicycling? The inspiration for HER Helmet Thursdays, which benefits both locals and visitors, came to me one evening on Cannery Row. Thanks to the immediate enthusiasm of local businesses and organizations, it quickly went from idea to form.
The first post about that project went up on 11/24/09, and by 12/16/09, there were 41 participants. By the project’s first anniversary, there were nearly 150 participating businesses and organizations.
- Read the history of the project in the Monterey County Weekly: “Wheel the Earth: HER Helmet Thursdays cuts carbon emissions and costs” – (4/22/10)
- Watch a feature introducing HER Helmet Thursdays, “Project Economy: Bicycling Monterey“– A KSBW Top News Story – 2-minute video – (1/10/10)
- Or, listen to “What’s up with the bike helmet buzz,” an Intro to HER Helmet Thursdays – KUSP, 14 April 2010 broadcast– 2-minute audio – (4/14/10)
- Or, click here for three audios and a video about the Bicycling Monterey projects from KSBW-TV and KUSP Central Coast Public Radio.
What’s here besides cycling?
California’s Monterey Bay region is the primary focus. Most non-biking content is related to ecologically sound projects and practices. Music will often pop up too, and just about anything that streams through my heart may occasionally be included here.
See “About Mari Lynch” and “About Fine Wordworking” (the business that provides the necessary support for these bike advocacy efforts). Feel free to contact me with questions.
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Volunteer or make a donation
If you might like to contribute time, money, or other resources in support of these bike advocacy projects, please visit the following pages, or contact me (831/375-6278) with your questions, comments, and ideas.
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URL options
1. The primary domain name is:
http://www.BicyclingMonterey.com
2. To avoid confusion, this site’s alternate URLs aren’t typically promoted. However, people whose fingers get tangled at the keyboard may prefer to use them. Typing b-i-k-e or b-i-k-i-n-g is easier than typing b-i-c-y-c-l-i-n-g for just about everyone!
http://www.BikeMonterey.org
3. You may also reach the site via these project URLs:
[Watch out that you don't type "helmet" as "helmut," a common error.]
4. This site may still be accessed via the original URL too:
