Who We Are - Community Members Spotlight One Family’s Road to Advocacy in Novato

At MCBC, we love connecting with community members and hearing about their experiences, everything from how a daily bike commute turned their health around to epic bike tours across the States. Everyone has a story to tell. Imee Harsuvanakit and Alejandro Reyes are MCBC members and parents living in Novato, where they have been co-organizers of a new Local Team, Safe Streets Novato. Read about their journey into advocacy and how they and their community members are pushing for better infrastructure! If you want to get involved with their outstanding work in Novato, click here.

One Family’s Road To Advocacy in Novato

by Imee Harsuvanakit and Alejandro Reyes 

To be honest, We had never heard of Novato until we did an organized bike ride with AIDS/Lifecycle from San Francisco to Point Reyes. The ride leaders navigated about 75 riders out of San Francisco, and we meandered through all of Marin County to reach our destination. After a hearty lunch, we made our way back to SF and passed through the city of Novato. While it was charming, compared to other cities in Marin County, it didn’t feel as bike-friendly. We distinctly remember how wide the roads were, how fast the cars drove, and how flat some areas were with very little bike lanes. Cars drove alongside cyclists without any consideration that a fellow human would be only a couple of feet away from them.  

Fast-forward 10 years, and here we are with our family, living, working, and biking in Novato, California. Nothing screams lack of safety and infrastructure until you have school-aged children trying to walk or bike to school. This is the catalyst that drove us to look for ways to create more bike safety awareness and find other people in our town who shared the same passion. 

We’re long-time members of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, but recently, we gained a new appreciation for it. MCBC helped connect us with other community members (and parents) who felt the same way and wanted to work toward positive change in our community. The MCBC local advocacy team for Novato was created last year, and through it, we met our newest friends and cycling community.  

We had our first meeting in April 2024 and slowly grew our group of like-minded community members from 10 to 60 (to date). We had a kick-off party to identify key areas we wanted to focus on in Novato regarding bike infrastructure, traffic calming measures, bike parking, bike valet at annual Novato events, and (most importantly!) fun social rides and meet-ups to build more cycling community. This is where “Safe Streets Novato” was born.  

Our first project was to make a public comment at a city council meeting regarding “Daylighting” certain intersections/crosswalks in Novato. Daylighting is a statewide mandate effective January 2025 to prohibit parking 15 feet before the crosswalk to increase visibility to those about to cross the street and encourage drivers to slow down. Through our in-person public comments and many e-comments from our Safe Streets Novato members, the Novato Public Works Department agreed to use our list of high-priority intersections and paint red curbs there by the summer of 2025.  Huge win! 

Similarly, we have an upcoming city council meeting regarding the annual repaving of streets in Novato. This is an excellent opportunity to make a big change with very little cost to the city; they have to repave the road anyway, so why not throw a bike lane in there as well? Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

In an effort to build more members and a sense of community among cyclists in Novato, we have regular meetups and monthly rides. Our coffee shop socials have been successful among new members and give everyone an opportunity to get together with other members who are just as passionate about cycling and making change as we are. In addition, we have a monthly “Kidical Mass”  where “no rider gets left behind,” and all are welcome. Our last “Kidical Mass” had 25 participants, 50% of whom were under 8 years old, and we got to meet so many new faces! 

Our meetups and social rides are our favorite way to get to know members. Many are parents, former bike commuters, gravel/mountain bike bikers looking to get their kids involved more, or new to the area looking to connect with other bicyclists. However, regardless of everyone’s cycling journey, we all have the same goal of making Novato safer for people walking and biking alike.

It’s a long road ahead of us, but we feel hopeful that Safe Streets Novato is making incremental change that could have positive outcomes for all. Through regular meetups and a few monthly emails, we are helping people feel more connected to the city they live in and empowering them to take action toward making Novato safer for all. 

~Imee Harsuvanakit and Alejandro Reyes 

Have A STORY TO SHARE?

Email info@marinbike.org if we should feature you or someone you know!

MEMBERS MAKE IT HAPPEN

Join Imee and Alejandro in supporting the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. Become a member today!