activesgv

[activesgv]

Christopher Tran

45, Property Developer, Pasadena

1) How do you help contribute to a healthy, sustainable environment?  

I installed 15 kw PV solar panels, re-landscaped to drought tolerant plants and artificial turf, planted more trees, and converted the boiler to a tankless water heater. With any distance within 2 miles, I ride a bike. I bought all electric cars. And I joined ActiveSGV!

2) What are your main motivations for being environmentally-friendly?

Our planet is our only home and I want to leave it in a better place than I am in.

3) What do you envision a more sustainable San Gabriel Valley region to look like and include in the next 5 years? 

Reduce auto dependency by having complete streets and better public transit for all people- regardless of age, economic class, and ethnicity.

[activesgv]

Wesley Chan (pictured with his brother, Parker Chan) 

Wesley, 8, Student in 2nd grade at Brightwood Elementary, Monterey Park

Parker, 6, Student in Kindergarten at Brightwood Elementary, Monterey Park 

1) Why do you bike?

Biking is fun. 

2) Who do you bike with?

I bike with family and friends. 

3) Where is your favorite place to ride?

My favorite place to ride is Legg Lake. I ride around my house. 

4) What is your favorite biking memory?

I don’t know my favorite biking memory. 

5) Who taught you how to bike? 

I went downhill so the hill taught me.

Parker: My dad taught me how to ride. I learned at Barnes Park.

[activesgv]

Doug Strange

60, Retired, La Verne

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

I love all my bikes, (and many others I don't own). I love my carbon fiber Synapse road bike that makes me feel faster than I really am. I love my Pivot Les mountain bike because it gets me into the great trails in the foothills of La Verne; places few realize are in LA County. But most of all I love my trusty, do-it-all, Salsa Vaya.  It’s a bike you don't see very often (until my new neighbor moved in across the street with one). It's steel, a cool "Smokey Robinson Blue" and it can be changed to be almost anything you want. I've ridden it in the mountains, it’s my commuter/around town bike, and last year it took me across the country.

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

First and foremost because I really enjoy riding. It’s great exercise, takes me some surprisingly beautiful places, and within the city, it makes you feel much more alive and connected.  But I also ride because I want to live in a city where I can reasonably move about car-free, and I believe the first step to making that happen is by being an example. Realistically, I find that for most trips there is little time difference (when you include parking), and riding the bike is a much better experience. 

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I grew up in Rosemead, and like most kids I lived on my bike. We had a pile of partially assembled bikes, and would piece together new bike regularly. We built a great new jump in the front yard that was made to jump over a bush. We built on bike specially for our new jump, and talked one of our friends into giving it a try. As we all watched, he sailed into the air, and mid-air (over the bush), the front wheel, and fork simply dropped off the bike into the bush. You can pretty much picture what happened next.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

My favorite places in the SGV are Marshall Canyon (for mountain biking) and Glendora Mountain Road (especially when closed to cars).  My wife and I have been able to bike tour regularly and have been some great places. Our favorite has been Vancouver Island the surrounding area.  When we rode across the country last year, Virginia was our favorite state.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

From a SGV perspective I would like to see continued progress on regional connectivity.  Like others in the area we often go on rides across multiple cities, and you can really notice the difference.  I would love to see viable, connected, safe routes for commuters from the eastern edge towards the center.  For La Verne, I don't expect them to become the role model in the next 5 years. However, I would like to see them fully embrace bicycling as a desired mode of travel, fill their role in a regional network by connecting with other cities, and to be implementing plans to fill out internal routes. 

[activesgv]

Sally Gee

24, Project Manager, El Monte

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

I currently have an old gray Schwinn 10-gear bike that I picked up from Craigslist. It runs great and I feel like I'm flying whenever I take it for a ride. I think of it as my gray stallion.

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

It's just fun!! I used my bike as my main source of transportation when I was in college, but nowadays I mainly bike for fun with my boyfriend and BikeSGV. It's a great way to explore many different places with a more personal view than when in a car.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I had a pretty, purple bike with sparkly streamers as a kid. I would ride it around and around my apartment complex and take turns as fast as I can. Of course I fell over a few times, but it was awesome to see my streamers flying through the air.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

My favorite place to bike is along the San Gabriel River Bike Path to the Santa Fe Dam recreation area. I love seeing all the native plants along the way. Outside of the SGV, I really like biking along the Emerald Necklace trail in Boston, MA.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

I imagine there to be more bike lanes on surface streets that connect us to the bike paths and Metro stops in the SGV, and more green spaces along the rivers and around our neighborhoods for people to enjoy. 

[activesgv]

Edward Duong

32, Bike Dealer and Instructor, El Monte

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

I would say my relationship with my bike is somewhat out of this world. When I stare at my bike I get this unearthly feeling. It feels like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff. There's a feeling of anxiety that builds up when I walk up to my bike and stops when I place my feet on the pedal and buns on the seat. The second I push off and feel that rush of air passing against my skin, it feels like I just left my body behind. Everything seems to fade away the minute I jump on and take off. Free from any stress, the deadlines, the worries.

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

I ride my bike because it is an easier way to get around. I consider myself lucky that I work approximately 4 miles away from my house and luckier that my commute entails riding through the Rio Hondo River Trail. This beautiful trail, which I feel is not used all too often, is away from stop signs, stop lights and most of all, traffic. I am motivated by the amount of time I save, not wasting my time sitting in bumper to bumper traffic and the amount of money I am also saving, not having to spend so much money on gas.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

My earliest memory of biking takes me back to my very first bike, which was a small 16" blue bmx bike. I rode that thing everywhere. Through my front yard, my back yard and sometimes on my driveway. My world was small but I sure felt like I was going places when I was on my bike. One day, my dad decided to take me outside my comfortable little bubble and down to Whittier Narrows Park. I remember being so excited because I had no idea how much green spaces there was to take my bicycle. I felt free like a bird but on the ground with wheels for wings. I visited different trees, went close to the water, raced other people on bikes. It was awesome. It was such an amazing feeling to explore, see and experience so many things that were new to me. Which probably explains why I still love biking today for those similar reasons.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

My favorite place I ever ridden was in Solvang, California. I rode with my CSU Long Beach Cycling Team where we participated in their 100 Mile Century ride touring Solvang County. It was a very challenging ride with very high winds, steep climbs and free range cows in the distance. It was a difficult ride and I almost quit during the end of it. If it wasn't for the out-pour of support I had from my teammates, the most incredible views from the surrounding area and unlimited supply of peanut butter sandwiches, I don't think I could have survived it. For this ride, it was the combination of people and beautiful scenery  that made it a such a unique experience that I will never forget.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

My vision of a more sustainable SGV will include a state funded rebate program that will grant low-income families (if not all) the ability to own their own bicycle. California residents has seen an increase in adult obesity cases and diabetes between 2001 and 2012 and is still a current issue today. In the recent efforts to reduce drought in California, the Department of Water Resources offered a rebate for replacing inefficient toilets using more than 1.6 gallons per flush for high efficiency toilets to single family residents. I'm sure this program did not fix the drought issue in California but efforts to try was present from the state. If there is an ongoing health issue in California where signs of obesity and diabetes cases could be reduced by simply getting kids and adults more active, why not try, right? 

[activesgv]

Elizabeth Perez

59, Unemployed (selling cactus right now), Monterey Park

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

My relationship with my bike is my life. It’s my car, it’s my truck. And without my bike, I don’t go very far. I could walk but I’d rather go from Point A to Point B and have a good time doing it, ya know? I do not know how to drive a car because the bicycle gives me more freedom: no parking problems, never gotten a ticket (yet, I probably will a little later on because I tend to get a little crazy) but other than that, I’ve never fallen off my bike or been hit by a car. I’m extremely cautious of my surroundings wherever I go. I ride it at night and of course I’ll put my light on. 

I have a collection of about 15 bikes, all different sizes. This one, I found at a yard sale last weekend and they were so desperate to get rid of them (ya  know, so they don’t have to carry stuff). And they gave me this bike, two bikes actually, for a dollar. 50 cents each bike! How could I say no? For 50 cents, you can’t go wrong. And it’s a Schwinn. 

This is my second time going on this bike ride (Monterey Park Earth Day Ride), and I truly love it, even if it’s just going super slow or fast or going down a hill. It is SO MUCH FUN. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

My main motivation behind riding my bike is to keep my pollution conservation. There is no gasoline exhaust or pollution that goes out so I believe I’m helping others by doing that. We can breathe a lot easier too. They make those cartoons of Los Angeles with those big black clouds. 

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

That would be when I received my very first bike, my banana bolt bike. It was blue, it had a white seat with a lightning shape on it. I was so excited, I fell off that bike a million times, I was determined to ride it. Once I had learned how to ride it, I would tie my Maltese, and my little dog would encourage me to go even faster. We’d go down the hills. Monterey Park is basically hills. The dog would go faster, I would try to keep up with the dog, and luckily I never fell off that bike with the dog. With that experience, I became a biker from that day. I must have been 7 years old. I also had one of those pedal cars. It had weird white arrows on the sides and I didn’t like it. That tells ya, from the beginning I didn’t like cars, I like bikes!

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

I love to ride up and down Atlantic Square. There’s a lot of cars there but if you go through the alleys and you know exactly where those areas are, you can avoid the cars altogether. Go through the alleys, around the block of the stores, the houses that are right next to it. So that to me is an open lane, why not? 

I like to go to East Los Angeles, Obregon Park, I ride over there. It’s definitely on a hill, I like to go to the very top and let myself go down. It’s very fun, I love it. 

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

I’m hoping the pollution goes cleaner, and we have better breathing air. We have it now but we need to clean it up a little more. It’s for our future, because of our little ones. We are probably the ones with the lung problems we don’t know about yet, but children don’t deserve that. We need clean air so they can really pump their little hearts and souls out on their bikes.  

[activesgv]

Richard Yan

24, Tutor at El Monte High School, Monterey Park

1) Describe your relationship with your bike. 

I don’t really bike that often, only usually with my family. It’s our family thing that we do, twice a month on the weekends. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations? 

My main motivation is to spend time with family and also keep myself in shape, to not get too out of control with junk food. It keeps me in check and makes me feel better about myself. 

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started? 

My earliest biking memory is with my dad, who taught me how to ride a bike in the elementary school parking lot. I was just getting off training wheels. I would look back and he wasn’t holding onto the seat anymore. But he was still running behind me.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere? 

This (Monterey Park Earth Day Ride) is the first time I’ve biked in the San Gabriel Valley. I haven’t biked much in the San Gabriel Valley. I usually do bike rides along the LA River.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

I would like to see motivation to start composting. Because that’s one way that the San Gabriel Valley hasn’t advertised as much. I’ve seen it mainly in the Bay Area, since I have a lot of friends there. They always have one trash can for recycling, trash, and compost. 

[activesgv]

Peter Rinde

47, IT Manager, La Canada

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

I feel my bikes are an extension of me.  They have allowed me to go farther, see farther, experience more than I could ever have otherwise.  Riding on a road is different than driving on a road.  Cycling allows me to experience every bump, attribute, and character of the surface.  You become numb to your surroundings in a car.  While I do some trail running as well, a gravel or MTB bike takes me to areas I would have never imagined experiencing, and a beautiful sunrise as a part of the morning is unparalleled. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

Cycling hits the trifecta for me.  First, it keeps me in shape.  Despite my age, I've never been more fit since becoming a serious cyclist.  Second, it's good for Earth.  I commute to work to JPL as often as I can each week.  While I live close by the Lab, I get my morning workout early in the morning through the hills of Pasadena/La Canada areas.  Bonus is that my co-workers that must drive in has 1 less car to compete for a parking spot (this is another whole story lol).  Finally, I've met great friends and teammates. Through Pasadena Athletic Association Cycling Club, JPL cycling friends, etc., I've been great people that I will value our relationship for the rest of my life.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I borrowed a road bike from a friend for the Pasadena sprint triathlon.  I remember one of the first times at the Rose Bowl during training when...you guessed it, I couldn't unclip and fell over.  Luckily, I was stopped on a grass area but still a bit embarrassed.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

Anywhere in the mountains!  Not exaggerating...living in the SGV provides access to such great biking areas, it is difficult to pick one.  We have such variety that it's difficult to pick one.  Otherwise, Mt. Lemmon in Tucson, Arizona. My ride up there allowed me to experience about 5 or 6 micro-climates on the way to the summit.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?  

The obvious hope is more bike lanes and safer signage, markings, etc.  But what I really hope for is generally an increase in awareness of the benefits of cycling, coupled with nice courteous drivers AND cyclists AND pedestrians. These will result in greater adoption of cycling for commuting, health and fitness, and general well-being.

[activesgv]

Lea Rogers (pictured here with her younger sister, Ava Rogers)

Lea: 7, Student (City Terrace Elementary, 2nd Grade), Monterey Park

1) Why do you like to bike?

I like that it’s fun, hehe. That’s it. I like being outside.

2) Who taught you how to bike? 

My mommy taught me how to bike. 

3) What was your first bike?

My first bike is her bike (Ava’s) now.

4) Where do you like to ride? Do you ride with friends or family? 

I like riding when I’m camping in Washington. I like to ride with my friends into the woods. I want more of my friends to ride their bikes so they can hang out with me. 

[activesgv]

Gautam Raja

43, Freelance Writer and Editor, Azusa

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

I started out as a roadie, I used to train with a group. I’ve always wanted to go on rides with my dog. As soon as I heard about Larry vs. Harry, I decided to get one. I have a lot of fun going out with him on the bike.

I was looking and there was Splendid Cycles in Oregon--- they’re a dealer. I was looking for cargo bikes and I stumbled upon it. I really like how the Larry vs Harry Bullit cargo bike looks. I also wanted the cargo area on the front. I had these plans of being more car-free and doing groceries and all that but frankly, the only thing I’ve been doing is going on rides with him. He loves it so much.

He’s 6 years old and he actually came out with us from Bangalore, India. When we lived there, he was abandoned by a highway. We think he’s a Labrador but he’s basically a mix with Rottweiler. He was just pushed out of an SUV and when we heard about this story we adopted him. He was about a year old. We got the chance to come back to the U.S., so he essentially came from India. He got on a plane and they basically had him as excess baggage on the plane. They zip-tied him in. We just got a second dog who won’t get on the bike. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

It used to be for training, going fast, Strava, heart rate, and all of that. But now, I’m just really having fun connecting more, and I love the mountains. I try and get up there as much as I can. I just love being on the bike train and I do want to use the car as little as possible. I am slowly using the cargo bike for other things.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I remember I had one of those banana seat bikes when I was young in India. The first bike I remember being really excited about was when mountain bikes first reached India and there was this bike called the Hero Ranger. I asked my parents and I saw them whispering so I knew I was going to get it. I lived on a farm outside of Bangalore, so we used to ride quite a bit. Not huge distances but we spent days, whole days on the bike. The rule was come back before the sun sets.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

I always end up on Glendora Mountain Road. I really, really love it. But frankly, my favorite ride which I haven’t done in a while is to just go up to Crystal Lake. I really like the climb from the East Fork onward. It’s just a brutal climb. I haven’t done it since I’ve put on a bit of weight. I call myself, post-roadie now but I really enjoy that trail. I love the mountains.

I’m always on the river trails; the San Gabriel River trail just going to the dam. Again, I haven’t done it in a while, but just going down to Seal Beach. That’s another favorite of mine.

5) What do you envision biking in the SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

Traffic density isn’t high here but when I ride around, the roads are just so geared to cars and high speeds. For example, I took this cargo bike to Home Depot across that way and the area around there is so dangerous. I’m not shy about riding in traffic since I spend a lot of time on the road but I actually hesitated to go down there. I really want to see both infrastructure and a lot more people on the road.

I’m on NextDoor and there are really strong anti-cycling people. People are so upset about the Montrose ride that comes through for a minute every Saturday morning. The rest of the day, your kids can’t even get on the streets. Essentially the street is a race track.

When I first moved here I thought I was hearing the Irwindale Race Track but then I realized it was just Highway 39. People drive like crazy over here. Everyone and all the sports cars and bikes are basically heading up Highway 39. So to be so upset to be held back by a cyclist for 15 seconds at a stop sign versus people being run over in residential areas: that really needs to change.

Weirdly, you’d think that the traffic in India is horrendous but drivers there are used to seeing all sorts of traffic on the road. You see fewer of them now, but you’ll see carts, animals, bicyclists, and all sorts of things going on. Though the traffic is bad, you actually get a little bit of space. I often feel more unsafe here because of the speeds, people going pass you with 2 feet, and angry people. On the whole, at the same time people are really nice at stop signs and wave you through so it’s a bit of a mix.

In India, I was part of a racing team so there is a roadie type of culture. It’s really hard to be out with kids on the road but it’s cycling has become more popular. There’s a lot of bicyclists.

[activesgv]

Erika Jimenez & Ariana Pallares

Erika: Mother, 37, Customer Service

Ariana: Daughter, 10, Student

El Monte

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

Our bikes are like our friends, our partners in crime.  

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations? 

We ride our bikes to help the environment, and to spend some bonding time between mother and daughter. We feel so much freedom.   

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

We got started at Women on Wheels. I saw a Girls’ Bike Night announcement and thought, “This is a good opportunity to go out and explore the streets and release some stress”.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere? 

Our favorite place has been to the Arboretum with the WoW team.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years? 

I envision safer roads for bikes in the next 5 years.

[activesgv]

Chris Stratton

38, Green Home Renovator and Energy Nerd, Temple City

1) Describe your relationship with your bike.

It's certainly a reciprocal relationship. I've found it empowering to learn to maintain my bike and tweak its setup over time. The ability to propel yourself at speed over long distances is amazing. Traveling by bike is infinitely more fulfilling than traveling via automobile.  

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

Climate change is perhaps the greatest atrocity humans have ever committed. The scope and time scale of the suffering caused by our pollution is almost incomprehensible (https://go.nature.com/2Fzuly9). Reducing my emissions and trying to help others find ways to get around, run errands, move goods etc. without driving is my main motivation for riding my bike.  

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I learned to ride a bike on an isolated cul-de-sac residential 'subdivision' off a rural highway in central Kentucky. If memory serves, my first bike was blue with training wheels. I recall feeling very grown up upon graduating to my brother's BMX hand-me-down. We were surrounded by acres of farmland and separated from the main town of Lawrenceburg by several miles of impassible highway. Macland Road was two hills with a flat bit in the middle. Because of our isolation, I could only ride up and down our road with the neighbor kids. Still it was a modicum of autonomy. To a child, chugging up that seemingly endless hill was an accomplishment. Flying down, a thrill.  

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

a) Maybe the Arroyo Seco path or the Rio Hondo path? 

b) Places where I felt respected and empowered as a cyclist. Some places that come to mind: Portland, OR; Eugene, OR along the Willamette River; Kyoto, Japan; Oakland and Berkeley in the Bay Area; Madison, WI; Taitung City, Taiwan.  

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

There's a long way to go and this is a huge question. Regarding transportation, progress seems largely contingent upon whether or not our local elected officials can muster the courage to do the right thing even when it's not popular. It's time to begin implementing agreed-upon city and regional plans to systematically improve bike and ped infrastructure in the SGV. Our infrastructure reflects our values. One informs the other. Right now the infrastructure in the SGV sends the unequivocal message that cars matter and other forms of transportation do not. We are systematically trading cyclists' lives for shorter car commute times. Until those values -- and the culture -- change, I fear progress will be limited.   

[activesgv]

Elaine Ramirez

40-something, Pharmacy, Monterey Park

1) Describe your relationship with your bike. 

Ooh, I love my bike! It’s part of me, I have my seat that goes with me. I lock it up. I haven’t named it but I take care of it. And I clean it and I shine it and I’m happy with it. I got it about 5 years ago, a Giant women’s bike.

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations? 

It’s my sport, not my exercise. My motivation is just to get to the place and have lunch or dinner or breakfast.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

I first started biking when I was about 10. I got a bike and went to the park. I was not familiar with bike riding. My first experience with riding was falling into a bush and almost hitting a rock. That was one of my first rides. Another early ride after that- I got cut off by a car and fell, hit my head but I had my helmet. I fell in the gutter. But luckily after that, I kept biking and biking. I just kept going. And now I don’t fall in the gutter anymore, or the bushes. But that was my first experience on a bike.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

Up and down in Monterey Park. Up Graves Ave. and mostly around the City. I like the City of Monterey Park and the City of Montebello.

Seal Beach, to eat breakfast there at a cafe.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years? 

More bike lanes would be awesome. Just more of a bike-friendly neighborhood, if the City were to provide for us if we are so lucky.

[activesgv]

Bin Lee

38, Writer, Pasadena

1) Describe your relationship with your bike. 

I own two bikes, and for some reason I named them after Sailor Moon characters. I mainly depend on my e-bike for shopping, getting to Metro stations, and visiting friends/family. It gives me the freedom to live car-free with relatively minimal inconveniences in Pasadena/Los Angeles area. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?  

I just want to do my part to reduce our use of fossil fuels, reduce traffic congestion, and take one easily-distracted driver off the road. The e-bike's speed and power enables me to treat it as my "car" for the majority of my transportation needs.

Unintentionally, I've been saving money and gotten more opportunities to say "hi" to strangers and get to better know my neighbors.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

Er... my first cycling memory is my mom falling off the bike with me in the child seat... In spite of that nightmare, I think my first bike was given to me by my uncle, who owned a bicycle assembly factory in Rosemead. I biked a lot as a child and junior high schooler in SoCal.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

Pretty much any of the river bike trails. I enjoy the peacefulness, especially places where they've added local vegetation/restorations.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years? 

Better connected bike lanes to encourage more folks to use their bike as a transportation option for local destinations. More improved and inviting river trails/greenways that can be incorporated in our biking network. Making progress in curtailing the car culture that causes too much speeding and collisions and endangering drivers/bikers/pedestrians/Metro users/children/vulnerable people alike.

[activesgv]

Patrice Kelly

Almost 60, Teacher, West Covina

1) Describe your relationship with your bike. 

I miss my bike. I look at it lovingly hanging in my garage every morning as I get in my car to go to work. It’s been waiting for me patiently through the school year, expecting to go for a ride on the weekends, but for one reason or another it hasn’t happened. My bike knows soon I will take her down, dust her off and go for a spin.

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations?

I ride my bike for fun and exercise. I like to ride around my city in the early morning when it’s cool and quiet. Even though i’ve lived in West Covina for 35 years my bike has taken me down streets and neighborhoods I’ve never been. Did I already say I love my bike?

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

There were 5 of us kids and one bike. I remember learning how to ride it when I was 6 or 7 years old. I would race down our street and feel free as a bird.

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

I’ve biked up in Azusa Canyon on our tandem bike with my husband. It was beautiful but not easy because that bike is heavy.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

More bike lanes! I’m very timid about biking on streets filled with traffic. I need designated space for bikes to feel comfortable riding with cars.

[activesgv]

Austin Phung

22, Student, El Monte

1) Describe your relationship with your bike. 

My bike fills the void of not owning an automobile. My primary mode of transportation is public transit and I see my bike as a tool that I use to get places that are not practical/accessible by transit, or to fill in the first/ last mile gap to transit.

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations? 

I ride my bike primarily to commute to school and work. My bike is just one mode in my multi-modal commute. Although I do have access to a family vehicle, I rarely drive and prefer to bike and use transit to limit my ecological footprint and protect the environment.

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started?

Shortly after learning to walk, I started to learn how to ride a bicycle. I remember vividly the moments when my mother removed my training wheels and gave me a gentle push. I pedaled slowly towards the grass with poor balance and successfully completed my first ride without training wheels. As time moved on, I joined my siblings and my friends in the neighborhood on rides around the block.

4) Favorite place you've ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere?

My favorite place to bike in the SGV is the Emerald Necklace bike path. The path provides a safe connection between my house and the Duarte Gold Line Station. I've also lived in Washington D.C. for a period of time and enjoyed biking along the Capital Crescent trail and Mount Vernon Trail. I also enjoyed my daily commute into the office which entailed biking on a two-way cycle track in Downtown D.C. and through the Capital Building grounds.  

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years?

As bicycle infrastructure in the SGV becomes more prevalent in the next 5 years, I envision that we will see an increase in bicycle commute mode share.

[activesgv]

Han Li (mother of Bryant Zhang)

40, Social Worker, Monterey Park

1) Describe your relationship with your bike. 

This bike is the first bike we bought when we moved out here to Monterey Park, about 11, 12 years ago. We used to live on the West Side. When we first moved here, me and my husband, we were active and wanted to do more exercise so we bought a bike. I went on one ride I remember very well, that we went up and down the Monterey Pass Road area. We climbed over the hill-- it was a strenuous ride. That was my only ride after I bought the bike. 

After that, it went to the garage. We started a family, work, we got really busy. We didn’t have time to bike until he (her son) was born and more grown. He’s my older one. Since we started teaching him biking when he was around 4, we started biking together. 

2) Why do you ride your bike? What are your main motivations? 

Biking with family to exercise. It’s something we used to do in China. In China, we used bikes as transportation. It was a daily thing for me, I would ride my bike to work, to shops, to whatever-- it was my transportation. And I stopped doing it when I came to this country. So it’s also lifestyle. Biking for me is a memory, a lifestyle I miss, when I had that experience in China. That’s why I want to be able to bike when we are able to. So when we go to events like this (Monterey Park Earth Day Ride 2018), it’s safe, the roads are blocked, kids are safe, and we bike together with different people. It’s enjoyable. Other than that, we don’t bike on the street because it’s just not safe. 

3) Describe one of your earliest cycling memories- how did you get started? 

I started biking in the 2nd, 3rd grade. Back in China, everybody bikes, it’s a lifestyle. And kids start early too. 

I was one of the late ones, most of my classmates started around 1st, 2nd grade because they were taller than me. I was one of the shortest in my class. And we didn’t have those kids’ bikes back then, we only had adult bikes. So we learned to bike on the adult bikes, in an odd way. We had to ride with one foot on the pedal and another on the frame, so we rode sideways without sitting on the seat. So we started with gliding with the bike, that’s how we started learning. 

We pretty much taught ourselves, out there together, a bunch of kids with our parent’s bikes on our own. No helmets, no protection, you fall and you get up. We learned on our own. I was lucky enough, because I was so short and I couldn’t manipulate the adult bikes, to have my parents buy me a junior bike. I was the slowest one because of the way the bike was set up. When going downhill, my friends would go faster than me. That’s my earliest memory, I was the slowest one. 

4) Favorite place you’ve ever biked- a) in the SGV? b) elsewhere? 

I enjoy CicLAvia in Downtown and the San Gabriel River.

5) What do you envision a more sustainable SGV to look like and include in the next 5 years? 

I’d love to see bike routes on the road! I even see it in East LA. But we don’t have it here in Monterey Park, San Gabriel. I don’t ever see them in Chinese neighborhoods like Temple City, Alhambra. I think that’d be a good thing to have. That would encourage more people to bike.