May is National Bike Month, an ideal opportunity for all of us to reduce our fossil fuel use and do our part to help minimize global warming.  We encourage you to experiment this month with ways to decrease your automobile use through biking, walking, carpooling, and bus travel.

In honor of National Bike Month, the League of American Bicyclists, Environmental Action Committee of West Marin and Black Mountain Cycles are sponsoring West Marin Bike Week from Sunday May 11 through Saturday May 17. Participants are invited to bike commute as many days this week as possible.

Cyclists should stop by and visit Mike Varley at Black Mountain Cycles in Point Reyes Station (www.blackmtncycles.com) and pick up an orange reflective triangle and pin it to your seat bag, backpack or jacket. This way you are easily identified as a West Marin cyclist using your bicycle for a local trip. Motorists, keep an extra-close eye out for bike traffic that week, which will likely be swelled by your neighbors who are sparing the air and giving their car a break.

Each day that you bike to work or school, email your name, address, and email to bike94956@yahoo.com and we’ll enter a raffle ticket in your name, featuring prizes from local businesses. West Marin Bike Week will culminate with a “Bike to Point Reyes” day on Saturday morning May 17.  We’ll do the raffle drawing at 10 a.m. next to Black Mountain Cycles in Point Reyes Station. To learn more about participation or to donate raffle prizes, contact Frederick at 663-9312 or email to bike94956@yahoo.com.

If you can only participate for one day, please join us on Thursday May 15th as a part of the Bay Area’s 14th Annual Bike to Work Day, a fun way to show community support for fossil-free transportation.

If you wish to participate in a Bike to Work Day ride from Inverness, meet Frederick at 8 a.m. at the Inverness Store parking lot for the bike ride via Olema to Point Reyes Station. Energizer stations will be set up that morning at the Bear Valley Inn (Olema) and Black Mountain Cycles for food and nourishment along the way. He will make the return trip at 6 p.m. from the EAC office in the Livery Stable Building on 3rd Street.

Bike to Work Day organizers expect 50,000 to 100,000 people in the Bay Area will participate. By supporting alternative transportation you are promoting a healthy lifestyle, helping to reduce air pollution and showing on the ground support for a safe, environmentally friendly pathway system in West Marin.

When you ride, follow the rules of the road (it’s the law) your bicycle is a vehicle and should be driven like one.

• Ride on the right side of the road (never ride facing traffic)
• Obey stop signs and signal your intentions for other road users.
• Don’t ride so far to the right that you risk running off the road or hitting car doors if they are opened.
• Be seen and recognized early – wear bright contrasting colors during the day and use lights at night.
• Share the road with other users (limit two-abreast riding) and yield the right of way when appropriate.

See you all out on the roads!

Frederick Smith

Executive Director

Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (www.eacmarin.org)

Amanda Eichstaedt

Board Chair

League of American Bicyclists www.bikeleague.org