The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition Winter Bash happens tonight (6 PM to 9 PM, Old Adobe Building, Mountain View, California; free for members, $25 entry for non-members includes 1 year membership). For the third year in a row as an SVBC member, I have to skip this party — this year, there’s a Christmas party at my wife’s university, and Mrs Fritz’s happiness trumps measly bike fun.

The Old Adobe Building is located conveniently near the Castro Street Caltrain station, and a good time will be had by all.

Town to remove bike prohibition from El Monte Road

Two weeks ago, the Los Altos Hills city council directed Public Works Director Richard Chiu to paint “No Bikes” stenciling on El Monte Road, a popular road cycling route.

In California, local authorities are prohibited from banning cyclists from local roads such as El Monte Road. Cyclists responded by writing letters to the Los Altos Hills city council, the public works director and local newspapers. Long time cyclist advocate Bob Shanteau provided a lot of the legal ammunition and schooled the town’s lawyer on the finer points of the California Vehicle Code, while the Silicon Valley Bike Coalition informed the city of the potential for road rage from motorists misinformed by the signage.

After this tremendous response, Los Altos Hills called ‘Uncle!’ and removed the “No Bikes” signs. From Los Altos Hills Public Works Director Richard Chiu:

The pavement marking was originally installed to encourage bicyclists to use the new pathway through the college. It was brought to our attention that some drivers may act more aggressively towards bicyclist with the markings in place. The Town wants to encourage various modes of transportation and does not want to do anything that would result in more drivers behaving badly. As a result, the Town has temporarily covered the markings and made arrangement to have it permanently removed by early next week.

Photo: Amanda Aaronson.