New Year's Revolutions: 2011 on Two Wheels

2010 was a great year for bicycling in the Bay Area and especially for San Francisco, where new bike lanes are connecting the city and streets are being transformed with parklets, colored bike lanes and on-street bike parking corrals. Thanks to these improvements, more people were inspired to pedal to work or school and more continue their human-powered commute, even as the dark and wet winter is upon us.

Get out and ride

For some, 2011 will be the year they start bicycling. Johanna Marchese intends to be in that group. At an even 5 feet tall, Marchese has been doing her homework to find just the right bicycle. She says she is excited about the prospect of commuting by bicycle: "That's what looks fun to me - the urban ride. I don't have time to go to the gym, so I want to incorporate biking into my daily routine."

Explore new territory

Ashley Elliott took her commitment to two-wheeled transport to new levels in 2010. One of the founders of the monthly, upbeat East Bay Bike Party, Elliott says she looks forward to expanding the party to Hayward in January, inviting more people to bicycling in that city.

Caroline Dijckmeester was a regular bike rider in her home city of Amsterdam. Since moving to San Francisco in May, she has loved exploring the city. "I come from a very, very flat country. What I loved to see was that I could slowly take the hills." Her reward is at the top: "Every time, you are greeted with that beautiful view." In 2011, Dijckmeester says she wants to venture into uncharted territory, to go "beyond Valencia Street" and ride the Embarcadero, Hunters Point and other neighborhoods as she explores her adopted city.

Revel in the joys of the city

In 2010, San Francisco's Sunday Streets events grew in popularity and spread to Oakland and other Bay Area cities.

"One of the wonderful things of Sunday Streets was helping so many kids from so many different neighborhoods learn how to ride bikes," says Neal Patel, who runs the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition's Freedom From Training Wheels program. He's excited to see the program grow - literally - in the new year: "I'm looking forward to seeing kids return and already biking on two wheels and becoming some of San Francisco's next bike commuters."

Another fan of Sunday Streets is Lainie Motamedi's 4-year-old son, Jasper. Jasper learned to ride a pedal-less Skuut bike this year. In 2011, Jasper will get his first bike with pedals, and his sister, Nula, will be old enough to ride with the family. "To get both kids out riding bikes together will be fantastic," Motamedi says, adding that Jasper's enthusiasm and the chance to meet other families in the neighborhood make Sunday Streets one of the highlights of her year.

What is your resolution on two wheels for 2011? Wherever you ride, may your new year be blinky and bright, may your ride be smooth, and may all your bicycle dreams come true. Here's to another fantastic bicycling year!

Bike About Town is presented by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, an 11,000-member nonprofit dedicated to creating safer streets and more livable communities by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation. For more biking resources, go to www.sfbike.org