Pedal Power

by Ethan Stewart

The results of the second annual Santa Barbara Team Bike
Challenge are in, with the Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) Chain Gang
(Bryan Kean, Andy Gin, Mindy Stark, Amanda Kirby, and captain
Cherie Topper) taking home top honors. The earth-friendly,
feel-good event, sponsored by SBCAG’s Traffic Solutions, inspired
1,100 participants to leave their car keys behind and take to their
bicycles for the entire month of June; all riders combined logged a
total of 129,685 miles. Two hundred and thirty teams of as many as
five riders each competed in the event, earning a point for every
day one of their riders chose to ride a bike rather than drive a
car for a utilitarian purpose, such as commuting or grocery
shopping. “Infrequent riders” (those who typically ride fewer than
three times per month) earned double points for their rides. The
RVS Chain Gang — technically composed of five infrequent riders,
though Captain Topper acknowledged being a triathlete — earned
themselves $100 gift certificates to the bike store of their choice
by garnering 236 points. Clipper Wind Power’s rider Stan Tehee won
the award for most trips by an infrequent rider by saddling up for
a whopping 133 roundtrips, while Citrix Online’s rider Jeff
Alexander took home the prestigious most-miles-logged award with an
impressive 1,113 miles in 30 days. Additionally, Goleta Mayor Jonny
Wallis earned this year’s bragging rights as the number-one elected
official bike rider. With her total of 24 trips, she beat out the
likes of Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum, Santa Barbara
Councilmember Brian Barnwell, and Carpinteria Councilmember Donna
Jordan. According to figures provided by Traffic Solutions,
participants made 41,318 trips, saving 5,188 gallons of gasoline
and preventing 295 pounds of nitrous oxide, 2,601 pounds of carbon
monoxide, and 109,201 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released
into the air above the South Coast.