The Marin County Bicycle Coalition's
Spoke Society
MCBC’s Amazing ROR
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition’s Spoke Society contributions earn a truly amazing Rate of Return. Over the past 11 years our Spoke members have contributed $240,000 to MCBC and with those resources MCBC has helped secure over $65,000,000 for bicycle projects in Marin County! And those are federal transportation dollars that create great Green Business jobs right here in Marin.
The funding that we get from our Spoke Society members also helps us launch model programs like Safe Routes to Schools. This program started in Marin and is now a national program with over $600,000,000 in funding, and is getting more kids riding their bikes safely to school, like you and I did when we were kids.
Your contribution allows us to deliver on our goal to make Marin County a model bicycle community and it is 100% tax deductable. Become a Spoke Society member today.
Why Spoke Society Members support MCBC
Shana Chrisman
Vice President, Wells Fargo
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Oddly enough, every time I get in my car, I’m reminded of why I support MCBC. I am at best an intermittent road biker (read: when the sun is shining, I have the time, and can drum up some pals to ride with); my preferred bike recreation is always on the trail. My husband Rob, however, is a constant road user. He isn’t one of those guys who goes out and rides 100 miles in a weekend; rather he is out daily, rain or shine, preferring to run his errands on his bike and get some exercise while he’s at it. As I pen this, it’s a dreary, stormy, day, and Rob is riding up Wolfe Grade, coming home from a meeting down in Larkspur.
So, as I use our roads for my own errands, I often find my thoughts wandering to Rob, and to all of the bike users in Marin. And I think about the positive difference that MCBC has made to our collective safe use of our streets, boulevards, and byways. I pass the “Share the Road” stamps recently painted on Wolfe Grade; I pull up to a green light which has magically changed from red because a new bike sensor was tripped by a waiting rider; I hear about the Street Skills classes from friends who are learning how best to coexist with cars; and I see Bike Route number signs everywhere I drive, making our county that much nicer for visiting cyclists.
Then, when I am able to get out on my bike, I marvel at the bike lanes and fluid connections that MCBC has worked hard to establish. I look at the MCBC map and appreciate that not only does it help me get to my favorite trails, but it’s done a pretty decent job of representing the off-road trails as well. I drive over the “Greenbrae Hump” on Hwy. 101 next to the Cal Park Tunnel, and think about long weekend bike escapes that we will soon be taking along that corridor.
Every single day, I’m reminded in small and big ways of the difference that MCBC makes for the safety of those who are closest to me, and to us all. Every single day I appreciate that we have this unique group who works so hard at making our cycling worlds better and more accessible.
Matt Barger
Secretary and Treasurer of the Board, USA Cycling Development Foundation
My most recent Saturday ride reminded me of some reasons why I support MBC. I was out early riding toward Olema on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. with my brother in law. As I am sure many of you have experienced, the road just before Samuel P. Taylor Park is in poor repair and generally lacks any shoulder. A driver came up next to me and “helpfully” advised me that I wasn’t supposed to be on the road but on the bike path. I told him that he was actually wrong on two counts: (i) the bike path doesn’t start until you get to the entrance to the park and (ii) I had just as much right to be on the road as he did. He shook his fist at me (well actually, he did worse, but you get the idea) and sped away.
The incident, unfortunately not an isolated event in my experience, illustrated some relevant points. Bicyclists need an advocate who speaks up for bike safety in Marin, works to get bike route signage, bike lanes and shared paths installed, and pushes for the re-paving of popular roads like Sir Francis Drake Blvd. – MCBC does all of this. More generally, the whole concept of bicycling needs to be promoted so that large parts of the population do not view us as trespassing on “their” roads – again, MCBC does this through its Share the Road campaign.
I am an active bicyclist and triathlete. My children learned to ride at early ages and are capable road and mountain bikers. I support cycling on the national level through my position as a Director on the Board of the USA Cycling Development Foundation. Locally, I think it is important for Marin cyclists to give voice to our common interests, and we can do this particularly effectively by supporting our local bike advocates, MCBC. My principal focus is to support safe biking on Marin’s roads due to our very car-centric world. In addition, supporting bicycle transportation serves a common ecological purpose of reducing green house gas emissions which benefits us all.
Tom Hale
Founder and President, Backroads
From work to play to raising kids along with personal sanity, fitness, and commuting, biking has played a major role in my life for several decades. Biking has been a cornerstone of my business (Backroads) for 30 years. I still love to bike and rate the Alpine Dam loop as one of my all time favorite loops ANYWHERE in the world. We are so lucky to have that in our backyard. All three of my kids have travelled the world by bike, have commuted to school by bike (on there own bike, on a trail-a-bike and on a converted tandem). There is nothing like rolling along with the kids to bring out the best in familial rapport. It is so much fun - we seem to always find something to hoot and holler about. I love the chance to get out on the bike as far as clearing my mind and focusing my thoughts. Jumping on the mountain bike or cross bike and hitting Mount Tam is guaranteed to clear my mind of stuff that needs clearing. I like to stay in shape and along with trail running and skate skiing I rely on all types of biking to keep the body together. And I'll have to say, biking is a lot easier on the body than running.
Because of all of the above and more, I've supported bicycle advocacy in our community and beyond for a long time. Now, if they could open up the Richmond-San Rafael bridge to bikes I could personally add work commuting by bike to my list. There is something about throwing my bike on a bus in the middle of my ride that just doesn't work for me.
