Danville resident Alan Kalin among Bay Area 2023 Bike Champion of the Year Winners

Bike Month begins May 1, Bike to Wherever Days all month, Bike to Work Day is May 18

Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days (BTWD) organizers have named the winners of the 2023 Bike Champion of the Year (BCOY) awards. Given to individuals for inspiring bicycling in their Bay Area communities, this award recognizes riders in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties for their commitment to cycling as the primary mode of transport.

Here are the 2023 Bike Champion of the Year award winners:

• Contra Costa County: Alan Kalin, who almost single handedly made bicycling on Mount Diablo safer through a first-of-its-kind project that has become a model for biking safety across the nation.
• Alameda County: Demorea “Truckie” Evans, part of Oakland’s Roll Out Crew, believes that “It’s going to take all of us to see the change that we desire to see.”
• Marin County: Dave Rhoads actively volunteers with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) and advocated for safer bicycle infrastructure and the use of bicycles as a means of transportation.
• Napa County (co-winners): Violet Grove, our youngest champions ever at age 13 and a great inspiration for the future, and Donal O’Briain, who started riding his bike for transportation just about the age of Violet and has never stopped pedaling or advocating for bicycles.
• San Francisco County: Hansel Palarca-Reiva, who learned to bike as an adult during the pandemic. “I know that learning to ride as an adult can be terrifying, embarrassing, and intimidating,” he said. “But the joy that awaits you is truly worth the struggle, and I say all this from personal experience.”
• San Mateo County: Marin Holt founded Coastside on Bikes, connecting people who need bikes to people who have bikes that need a new home – over 200 bikes to date!
• Santa Clara County: April Beyersdorf is this year’s second youngest rider as a junior in high school, and the founder of her school’s Sustainable Commuting Club. The club’s mission is to encourage other students to feel confident biking and taking public transit, with a goal of reducing traffic congestion and protecting the environment.
• Solano County: Robert “Bob” Haran, who was inspired by the kids in “Spanky and Our Gang” at age 10 to start riding and hasn’t looked back since.
• Sonoma County: Bill Petty says his morning bike commute is better than coffee, and he brings that enthusiasm to his participation as a Climate Rider with Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition’s Green Fondo fundraising team and weekly rider with the Santa Rosa Taco Tuesday Ride.

About the Contra Costa County Winner

Alan Kalin’s passion for cycling isn’t just about the ride. “My story is one of dogged determination to prevent collisions and save lives on the roads of Mount Diablo,” says Alan. A Danville resident and Bay Area native, he started riding Mount Diablo three days a week in 2010 after he retired. He grew alarmed by the ambulances and medivac helicopters that were too often seen transporting cyclists off the mountain. Seeing that little was being done to prevent bike vs. car collisions, he set to work.

Alan started by first establishing the Mount Diablo Cyclists and analyzing hundreds of traffic reports.

Using the data and his own experiences on the mountain, he recognized that the accidents were largely occurring on or near blind curves. Picturing an old county road with car turnouts, Alan envisioned a solution that would separate cyclists from the cars with bike turnouts. He became a driving force behind the now 45 turnouts that give bicyclists safe harbor as they ride the 11-mile Summit Road on Mount Diablo. With its resulting 80% reduction in collisions, the first-of-its-kind project has become a model for biking safety across the nation.

But he isn’t done yet. Alan continues his advocacy and fundraising efforts to finish Phase II of the Bike Turnout Project in honor of friend and fellow cyclist Joe Shami who was killed in a collision in 2021. This phase will add the final 43 turnouts called for in the safety plan. He’s also working to redesign the Lafayette roundabout that was the site of his friend’s death and is involved in numerous projects as the Chairman of the Bike Danville Bicycle Advisory Commission.

“Cycling is about the people you meet and the journey,” Alan says. He loves that every ride is different, and that he is part of an ever-growing community of cyclists in Contra Costa County that take care of each other. He still loves riding today as much as he did when he was a kid, remembering fondly that back then “Mount Diablo felt like just a big hill,” and a train still ran on the Iron Horse Trail.

Full details about the winners can be found here.

Each winner will receive a Public Bikes handlebar bag from Mike’s Bikes, a $50 gift card from Sports Basement, a laminated, boxed set of San Francisco Bay Trail map cards from the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)/Bay Trail, and a picnic/stadium blanket from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC).

Don’t miss Bike to Wherever Days during the entire month of May, as well as Bike to Work Day on May 18! Details can be found online at Bayareabiketowork.com. Follow us on Facebook at @biketoworkday, Twitter @BikeToWorkSFBay, and Instagram @biketoworkday_bayarea.

Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days is presented by MTC (the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area), 511 (the region’s traveler information system), Amazon, and Stanford Medicine. BTWD 2022 also receives regional support from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), as well as from many sponsors at the local level. Prizes for the Bike Champion of the Year winners were donated by the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), MTC, Sports Basement, and Mike’s Bikes.