Thousand Oaks Named to BICYCLING Magazine List of Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities

BICYCLING Magazine recently published a list of the top 50 bike-friendly cities in the United States for 2012. The list was completed based on cities with populations of 95,000 or more (roughly 300 U.S. cities are in this category) based on input from various sources, including the League of American Bicyclists. To make the list, BICYCLING indicates the city must also possess a robust cycling infrastructure and vibrant bike culture.

Congratulations goes out to the City of Thousand Oaks for placing 38th on this list! Thousand Oaks was one of only 3 Southern California cities to make the list, which included Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The top 10 cities named on the list were: Portland, Oregon, Minneapolis, Boulder, Colorado, Washington, DC, Chicago, Madison, Wisconsin, New York City, San Francisco, Eugene, Oregon and Seattle.

BICYCLING noted the 2011 addition of the 1.2 mile Conejo Creek Bike Path and the Conejo Valley Cyclists' recruitment of 300 cyclists for the 2011 Ride of Silence as factors in the City's ranking. The Conejo Creek Path connects Gainborough Road to Conejo Creek Park, Thousand Oaks Library and Thousand Oaks Teen Center.

Conejo Creek Bike Path

The City of Thousand Oaks maintains approximately 80 miles of bikeways, including about 3 miles of bike paths, roughly 54 miles of bike lanes and other 20 miles or so of bike routes. The City takes bicycling very seriously...the City Council adopted a comprehensive Bicycle Facilities Master Plan in November 2010 to help prioritize future improvement projects around town.

Conejo Valley Cyclists is a popular local bicycling club offering beginning to advanced recreational rides as well as race paced training rides. The club organizes the extremely popular annual Cruisin' the Conejo bike ride in the spring of each year. Visit www.cvcbike.org to learn more.

Other local cycling clubs/groups in and around Ventura County at THIS LINK.

And of course, since its launch in 2006, the Amgen Tour of California is the biggest bike race in the United States. Learn more at www.amgentourofcalifornia.com. In 2011, the final stage of the tour was right here in Thousand Oaks.

Amgen Tour of California 2011 (Photo Credit: Marcella Ketelhut of Thousand Oaks)

And finally, check out the City of Thousand Oaks "Bikesafe" website at www.toaks.org/government/depts/public_works/streets/bicycle/home.asp for tips and information to ensure safe bicycling around town.

Thousand Oaks Police Department Bicycle Safety Enforcement Announcement

What is a “sharrow”? (From City of Thousand Oaks Website)
A sharrow is a road lane marking that shows a stencil of a bicycle with two chevron markings above it. The purpose of a sharrow is to remind residents to share the road when driving or riding in Thousand Oaks. It's designed for use in areas too narrow for a separate bike lane. Sharrows are about 3 feet wide and 10 feet long. The California Department of Transportation officially adopted the design in 2005. Thousand Oaks will begin stenciling sharrows in September 2008.

Sharrows have several applications in improving safety for cyclists and motorists:

• Sharrows tend to keep bicyclists from riding too close to parked vehicles,
  which puts them at risk for unexpected opening car doors.
• With sharrows on the road, motorists tend to give more space to bicyclists
  that they pass.
• Sharrows help reduce wrong-way riding by bicyclists.
• They help decrease aggressive bicycle-car interactions.
• They can help reduce the level of pedestrian-to-bicycle conflicts on sidewalks.

Visit the New City of Thousand Oaks "BikeSafe" Website!

BikeSafe is a new bicycle safety campaign launched in April 2008 designed to educate the Thousand Oaks community about good riding and driving practices that help keep everyone safe on the road. The campaign focuses on youth and adult cyclists, with an emphasis on the importance of riding with the traffic not against it.

BikeSafe has tips for local bicyclists and drivers, a great local area bike map, bicycling brochures for adults and children (in both English and Spanish), links to other bicycling website, information about local events and other information.

Check it out at www.toaks.org/bike or call the Thousand Oaks Public Works Department at 805.449.2400 for more information.