We came to California chasing the dream and ended up in West Oakland.
Actually, we come down here a couple times a year to visit friends, table at big book and zine events, and generally enjoy a working vacation away from the distractions of home.
In a few days we’ll get on the train again and ride to the southern parts of the state for a busy week of events and multi-modal exploration. We’ll be reuniting with Chef Joshua to do two Dinner & Bikes events — one in San Diego and one in Santa Monica. If you’re in the area, it’d be great to see you! (On a side note, Joshua usually lets his food speak for him at our events — yum — but to get a true flavor of what it’s like to hang out with this wise guy, check out the DIY webisodes he’s just put out. Here and here. Ha! No extra charge for the vegan freestyling.)
In between, I’ll be participating in a couple of conferences in Long Beach, which with winning optimism has set its sights on becoming “The Most Bicycle-Friendly City in America.” It’ll have a chance to strut its stuff next week as bike advocates converge from all over the nation for the big annual Pro Walk / Pro Bike conference. I’ll be there on Wednesday, speaking about Bikenomics in the morning along with April Economides, who spearheads Long Beach’s Bike Friendly Business District program. In the afternoon I’m part of a team putting on a fun, interactive workshop aimed at actualizing the vision of doubling the number of women on bikes. Find us in the program!
On Thursday afternoon, the big conference segues into another exciting event — the first ever National Women’s Bicycling Summit. The event will build on the huge energy created at a similar forum this spring in DC. I’m really looking forward to the chance to be part of this event as an attendee and presenter — you can find me either roaming around trying to meet everyone in sight or standing up and (finally!) putting my college education to practical use at the “media and messaging” panel, showing you a selection of hilarious photos and discussing different ways to deconstruct them.