Mission
Our Mission: SABA represents bicylists. Our aim is more and safer trips by bike.
Our Vision: Bicycling for everyday transportation is common it is safe, convenient and desireable.
Our Motto: Making Sacramento a cycling capital.
Latest News and Events
Larry Robinson smiles for the camera (left)
Everyone here at SABA has a story about Larry that will make you smile. In fact, if you’ve spent much time bicycling around Sacramento you probably have your own story. From his time as owner of The Rest Stop bike shop to his time with SABA, Larry has gotten to know many bicyclists.
SABA’s loved and respected Volunteer Coordinator has taken a step back from his role here at the office and into an advisory role. As Larry says, his role as “Professional Arm Twister” will now be “Arm Twisting Consultant.”
Larry told us on his last day as Arm Twister, “The best part of working with SABA was meeting new volunteers. I’d have never met such great people otherwise… And, riding the 19th and 21st Street conversions was pretty cool. Oh, and the number of events. Yep, SABA has really grown.”
If you’d like to get in touch with Larry just send an email over to volunteer@sacbike.org. We’re happy to make sure he gets it. Or for quicker contact, just hang out around the American River Parkway for a morning – he’s sure to turn up!
Larry will be missed!
Have you seen emails or blog posts asking you to sign up for a “volunteer team”? That’s SABA’s new Advocacy & Outreach Coordinator Amy Lee hard at work as she retrofits the volunteer program to make it clean, shiny and streamlined for both volunteers and staff! We’re changing things up so we can have a better idea of volunteers’ interests and availability, increase volunteering capacity, and make sure that you get the most out of volunteering with SABA.
So if you’re thinking: What are these changes? What are teams? And can I just volunteer when it fits into my schedule? Last things first: Yes! Signing up for a team tells us generally how and when you want to volunteer. You will still sign up for events that fit your availability. Are you a bike valet aficionado and want to park bikes more than a few times a year? Tell us so by signing up for the Friday Night Concert Valet Bike Parking Team! We’ll then send you the information and updates that best reflect your interests and schedule.
Teams are the new way that SABA is organizing and grouping volunteers (think Google+ Circles). They help you and us by:
• Streamlining our communication and recruitment efforts.
• Keeping you updated about what you’re actually interested in.
• Making it easy and simple to volunteer with friends, co-workers, teammates, classmates, or riding buddies.
All of which make volunteering easier and frankly, a whole lot more fun. Ready for the line up? Here are the teams:
Valet Bike Parking volunteers get special swag when they volunteer once (stickers), five times (custom t-shirt!), and 10 times (special day-long bike trip). Want to be on the short list of insiders making Sacramento #1 for bicycling? Make a pledge to volunteer 10 times over the valet bike parking season.
How do I get involved?
• Visit sacbike.org/volunteer for more information
• Sign up for teams via a quick online survey here!
• Make a volunteer pledge by emailing Amy at volunteer@sacbike.org
• Park bikes, clean-up trails, send mailers, bring your friends, and have FUN!
On February 7, SABA volunteers braved cold and wet conditions to count bicyclists in the Sacramento area. Between 4 and 6 PM, volunteers counted a total of 844 bicyclists at 19 locations in Sacramento and West Sacramento. In addition, they recorded information on direction traveled, gender, and sidewalk use. Of the bicyclists observed, 19% were recorded as female and 47% were observed riding on the sidewalk. Yikes! Research has shown that female cyclists are often an “indicator species” for the bicycle-friendliness of communities; when more women bicycle in a community there are often more bicycle trips made in that community as a whole. With this low number of women, it appears that Sacramento has room for improvement. SABA has been doing bike counts since 2007 in order to track mode share changes in the area and coordinate with the National Bicycle and Pedestrian Documentation Project. Unfortunately, it is difficult to compare the most recent count data with past data because the other counts occurred under mostly warm and rain-free conditions. Up until last month’s count, bike count data had been very consistent over time; however, the rainy and cold conditions on February 7th seemed to have been a serious deterrent to bicycling. Compared to the last set of bike counts done in September 2010, all intersections saw a decrease in the number of bicyclists, resulting in a 63% decrease overall. The next bike counts will be held in May. Let’s hope for some nice weather and some big numbers!
Email SABA’s head bike counter Brigitte at bkdriller@ucdavis.edu for information about the tallies or methods, and Amy at amy@sacbike.org if you want to get involved!
Last updated 2011-04-5 01:00:26 PM (EST). Please send corrections and revisions to our Webmaster.