HER Helmet Thursdays is an ecology-economy sustainability project offering discounts for people who bike. Discounts are for males and females, visitors and locals.

Discounts apply on Thursdays year-round, from 12:00 a.m. til 11:59 p.m. Date restrictions may apply. FAQs below.  Have other questions? See Goals and Overview,  Quick Links, or contact Mari Lynch.

View listings here, in either of two formats:

1.  All Participants – Quick Reference Guide

Click link below to download PDF.

HER Helmet Thursdays – Quick Reference Guide – as of 15 May 2013 – View PDF

2.  Clickable Map

Click link below to access map.

HER Helmet Thursdays – Map

How to use the clickable map

1. You may want to first look over the Quick Reference Guide to get an idea of who you can expect to find on the map.  (Download the PDF provided above.)
2. Using the map allows choosing a venue by exploring the geographic location that you wish to bike to.
3. HER Helmet Thursdays spots are in Big Sur, Carmel and Carmel Valley, Castroville, Del Rey Oaks, Gonzales, Greenfield, Marina, Monterey, Moss Landing, Pacific Grove, Salinas, San Ardo, Sand City, Seaside, and Soledad. [Click on any city whose name is linked to go to tips about that city, including a quick-reference list of their HER Helmet Thursdays spots.]
4. The first click provides basic info, as shown in the Museum of Monterey example below.
5. “CLICK FOR FULL DETAILS” before biking over to claim your discount. Most will have bike-there tips.

• If you notice a participating location absent from the map or showing up incorrectly, please contact me.
• If you’d like help with the map, please ask.
• NOTE: Apple has changed how it interfaces with Google maps. You may, for example, find that you can still successfully access HER Helmet Thursdays listings via the map when using a PC desktop or laptop but perhaps not via an Apple iPhone 4S!  Any remedy? For some folks, while not a convenient user interface, you may be able to get the desired results on your iPhone by using this method: Zoom in by doing a “reverse pinch,” or pinching on the white space underneath the map. Once you’ve reverse pinched, you may be able to do the usual:  Touch a red dot with your finger to access the desired information.
• Troubleshooting the Apple-Google Maps access problem is pending available volunteer time. Contact me with questions–or better still, contact me if you are a smartphone wizard (preferably also savvy about Ruby on Rails) and may be able to donate volunteer time to help make the map work better for smartphones.

Example of basic listing info (“first click” on the map)

Tip:

To quickly locate the listing when you know the name of the HER Helmet Thursdays participant, it often works to do the following.

Type in your browser’s search window:

hht.herokuapp.com [and then the name of the  participating spot]

For example, try:

hht.herokuapp.com “Museum of Monterey”

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“I have gone to businesses on HER Helmet Thursdays, and they are always gracious. Thank you for making such a great program work!”–Sam Poteete

“No profit motive for its creator, Mari Lynch, just a vision to see more locals and tourists ride bikes.”–Ravi Kapur, KSBW

Donations and volunteers welcome

The HER Helmet Thursdays project is provided as a public service, with no fee charged to participating businesses/organizations or bicyclists.  Help maintain and expand this project.  Please consider making a donation.  To contribute volunteer time, contact Mari.

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Benefits of bicycling

The HER Helmet Thursdays project gives you one of the many economic benefits of bicycling–discounts on Thursdays!  For more reasons to bike, click here.

FAQs

Frequently asked questions….

1. Do we have to bike to an “H/hotels/lodging” place?  No.  See “How to get a lodging discount.“
2. Do we have to bike the entire way to an “E or “R” place?  No. Bike-and-ride options may be used.  Honor system–bike as far as your stamina and schedule permit.
3. I’ve heard there are wineries in the “R/Restaurants/other food and beverage” category. You heard right!  See “Wine-ding your way along Monterey County bikeways.”
4. What about drinking alcohol and biking?  See “Safe biking and drinking” tips in “Wine-ding your way along Monterey County bikeways.”
5. Do I show my helmet at a fancy place?  Places with valet service or a hat-check room can jot “bike” or “helmet” on the claim check, and you can show that to the staff member who will give you the discount.  See “May I take your helmet, Sir?” in HER Helmet Thursdays, Part II for additional tips.
6. I want to dress more elegantly–but on a bike? See the tips provided in the “How to dress” section of “Dress-Up Challenge.”
7. Do the more formal venues offer bike valet parking, as for cars? Yes, most do!  Bicycle valet parking is part of our bike-friendly county. Call them ahead if you wish to confirm.
8. Does the law require you wear a helmet while biking? As of now (January 2012),  in California, only children under 18 must wear a helmet.  See California bike laws and safety tips in the Tips for Bicycling Monterey County guide.
9. Any Seafood Watch program participants in HER Helmet Thursdays? Yes.  See “Bike for Sustainable Seafood.”
10. Any places on the wharfs? You bet! Wharf II is unanimous, and there are participants on Wharf I also.
11. What’s in the “E”/Education/Entertainment” category?  A variety of spots, including whale watching, museums, live entertainment clubs/theaters, and spas.  You’ll even find a family chiropractic practice that asked to be part of the fun–they said they educate their patients on healthy living!
12. We’re going to the Steinbeck Center. Any places in Salinas?  You bet!  The National Steinbeck Center itself is an HHT participant, and you’ll also find Salinas lodging, dining, theater, and spa services in HHT.
13. We’re not going to stay on the Monterey Peninsula, we like to explore rural parts of the county.  Cool! Although there are fewer participants in those areas–so far!–there are indeed HHT spots in most Monterey County towns, even in little San Ardo.
    
14. Which are the easiest venues to bike to with children?In Tips for Bicycling Monterey County, section 10, “Where to Bike in MoCo,” you’ll find suggested routes that are all off-road/Class I bike paths, great for traveling with children.  There are lots of HER Helmet Thursdays spots along or near Class I paths.  The clickable map makes such locations easy to find, or contact me.
15. Any more route tips? See “Where to get additional route tips” in “Partner Up with HER Helmet Thursdays Ecology-Economy Leaders.” Or refer to the Maps section of the Tips for Bicycling Monterey County guide.
16. We want to make a reservation. How can we estimate our arrival time? See “Estimating arrival time” in “Partner Up with HER Helmet Thursdays Ecology-Economy Leaders.”
17. I’m a visitor and can’t figure out these locations easily. No worries, contact me for help.
18. I’m a local and have bike-there tips to suggest. Great! Contact me.  I’d love to have your help, and to add you to the Acknowledgements page.
19. We have expensive bikes that we like to keep an eye on all the time. See “Bike Security” section for some HER Helmet Thursdays spots that make this easy, along with other security tips.
20. My business [or organization] would like to be in this project, though we haven’t been invited. Outreach happens gradually in this long-term project, and there’s no need to wait. You are welcome to sign up now!

• Quick links to all primary info about HER Helmet Thursdays.
• Goals and Overview of the HER Helmet Thursdays project.
• If your favorite H-E-R spot isn’t yet in this project, please feel free to invite them.
• See early posts,  “Partner Up with HER Helmet Thursdays Ecology-Economy Leaders” and “HER Helmet Thursdays, Part II,” for more about some of the above and other FAQs.

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HOW TO GET THE DISCOUNTS

Please contact me with any questions.

“H” = Hotels/other lodging

The Charter Participants/early leaders in the “H” category range from our local hostel to historic inns to large beachfront hotels.  See “How to Get a Lodging Discount” for details, and for additional lodging participants.

For the lodging category only, no need to bike there, nor to walk in with your helmet.* Instead, just:

Mention HER Helmet Thursdays, and either BYOB (bring your own bike) or rent a bike for one day or longer from any Monterey County bike rental location. A bike rental can be for all day on Thursday or Friday; the discount is on the Thursday night stay.

See “Rentals” section of “Tips” guide to find a Monterey County rental location. 

*Special note: A few lodging providers may state in their individual listing “show helmet/pump at front desk” as their way of confirming a guest brought their own bike).

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“E” = Educational attractions and entertainment venues

From museums to night clubs, from spas to whale watching, the emerging “E” category is flexibly defined and reflects the diversity of Monterey County!  Questions?   Please contact Mari.

Mention HER Helmet Thursdays—and show your helmet — when you bicycle on Thursdays to “E” places.

A few individual venues allow a cyclist to carry in either their bicycle pump or helmet as evidence they are cycling.  If so, that option will be noted in their listing.

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“R” = Restaurants/other dining and beverages

Included are formal and casual restaurants, wineries, coffee houses,  bakeries, delis, and more (any places with sit-down food or beverage service).

Mention HER Helmet Thursdays —and show your helmet—when you bicycle on Thursdays to “R” places.

A few individual venues allow a cyclist to carry in either their bicycle pump or helmet as evidence they are cycling.  If so, that option will be noted in their listing.

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For a list of the Charter Participants only–

the early leaders who created the foundation of this project–click here.

Questions?

Please feel free to contact me, Mari Lynch, 831.375.6278.

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If you found info on this site valuable

Please consider making a donation to help maintain and expand these resources.  Even the smallest donation is meaningful and appreciated.

HER Helmet Thursdays was launched Thanksgiving week 2009.