In the Lane
Bike Santa Cruz County Newsletter
May 2026 - Issue #15
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In this Issue:
- Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities
- Take Our County-Wide Bike Survey
- BSCC Introduces Two New Board Members
- Santa Cruz City Schools Launches E-bike Safety Program
- May is National Bike Month!
- Project Focus: The Great Redwood Trail
| | | | Happy May! Read on for the latest Santa Cruz County bike advocacy updates, upcoming events, and ways you can help support our mission to make our streets safer and more bike-friendly. | | |
Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities
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Take Our County-Wide Bike Survey
Bike Santa Cruz County’s second annual bike survey is open now until the end of June, and we’d love your help spreading the word and getting as many voices into it as possible.
This survey is one of the most important tools we have for taking a data-driven approach to improving biking across all of Santa Cruz County. It helps us understand what people who bike are experiencing; which roads feel unsafe, where better connections are needed, how people are feeling about e-bikes, the coastal rail trail corridor, and what changes would make biking safer, easier, and more joyful for everyone.
We use this information in meetings with city and county leaders, County staff, Public Works, transportation agencies, and nonprofit partners to advocate for better decisions and stronger investments in bike safety and infrastructure backed by data from people who use our biking infrastructure. The more responses we get, the stronger and more representative that picture becomes. Even if you just occasionally bike, or want to bike more than you do your feedback is important.
This year, the survey is available in both English and Spanish, so we can hear from a broader cross-section of people who bike in Santa Cruz County. We’re especially hoping to reach people from communities and neighborhoods that are too often underrepresented in public input. To reach a broader group of people we've been fortunate to get some help spreading the word, including coverage in Lookout Santa Cruz and KSBW, and the Santa Cruz Sentinel, but the best outreach still comes from people sharing it directly with friends, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow riders.
And as a thank-you, 10 randomly selected participants will receive prizes after the survey closes at the end of June.
Please take a few minutes to fill it out and share it with others. Click here for English and here for Spanish.
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BSCC Introduces Two New Board Members
Bike Santa Cruz County is delighted to introduce our two newest board members: Anthony Duran and Nairi Azaryan. Read more about Ant and Nairi here:
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Ant is frequently found on two wheels, whether he’s riding for sport, touring internationally on a bike, running errands near his home in Live Oak/Pleasure Point, or - most importantly - responding to his 22-month-old son’s request for a "bike ride" by hooking up the adventure trailer for a trip to The Village. Watching his son develop this early connection to bikes sparked a realization for Ant: looking back at his own childhood, the bike was far more than a machine; it was a friend, a confidant, and a safe space.
Drawing on 15 years of creative experience in animated content at Pixar Animation Studios and Netflix, Ant is eager to find new "lanes" for storytelling that inspire the young and the young at heart to discover everything a pedal can provide: fun, health, and an intimate connection to communities. As a board member, Ant is dedicated to ensuring that Santa Cruz County offers the safest and most welcoming environment for every rider, at every age.
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Nairi has lived in Santa Cruz and the Bay Area for more than a decade, and currently works as the Marketing and Communications Manager at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Over the past five years, she has supported major street and bike advocacy campaigns through strategic marketing and communications across various channels, as well as community programs and events. She is passionate about street infrastructure that prioritizes the safety and ease of people biking, taking public transit, or moving around using active modes of transportation. You can find Nairi riding a bike around town or in the woods, and if you do, say hi!
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Santa Cruz City Schools Launches E-bike Safety Program
Santa Cruz City Schools is launching a new e-bike safety training for middle school students, and we think it is a smart and timely step. Starting next year, these Safety Training Classes will be required for all Middle School students to park an e-bike on campus.
E-bikes are giving more young people freedom to get around town without always depending on a parent, a car ride, or a complicated drop-off schedule. That kind of mobility gives kids more independence, makes it easier to get to school and activities, and helps families rely less on driving, especially around the critical traffic hours around school drop-off and pick-ups.
But, that freedom comes with real risks. A fast e-bike in traffic is not the same as a traditional bike ride around the block, and many middle schoolers are still learning judgment, bike handling, and the rules of the road. This pilot program recognizes that e-bikes are already here and that the right response is practical safety education.
The program asks for parent involvement, too. A parent and student pledge in the training frames e-bike riding as a form of independence that has to be earned and maintained through safe, honest, and responsible behavior. The pledge asks students to ride only within agreed upon areas and times, stay on safer routes, obey traffic laws, keep their speed under 20 mph, use lights and a properly fitted helmet, and only carry a passenger if the bike is designed for it. It also emphasizes regular bike checks, good judgment in bad weather, and full honesty with parents about any crash or fall. Parents, in turn, are positioned as partners supporting that independence and trust.
We are also happy to see the community partnerships behind this effort, with Santa Cruz City Schools working alongside the City of Santa Cruz, Ecology Action, and Santa Cruz Police. This collaboration is important because schools, cities, families, law enforcement, and community organizations all have a role to play in helping young riders stay safe.
Programs and education are needed, and an important piece of the puzzle. With more and more kids using our roads, we really need to make sure that streets are safer. Calmer traffic, safer crossings, and better bike infrastructure is needed, especially around our routes to schools. If we want kids to enjoy the freedom that bikes and e-bikes can offer, we also have to continue to build a county where that freedom feels safe.
You can learn more about the program here.
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May is National Bike Month!
Promoted by the League of American Bicyclists and celebrated in communities from coast to coast, National Bike Month is a chance to showcase the many benefits of bicycling — and encourage more folks to giving biking a try.
There are so many days to celebrate Bike Month: with a commute during Walk and Roll to Wherever Day, biking to coffee or around the block, or riding on May 3 for National Ride A Bike Day. There are numerous official events in Santa Cruz County where you can join with the community to celebrate cycling. Check our calendar here.
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Project Focus: The Great Redwood Trail
Ever dream of riding on a car-free trail through miles of redwood forest from San Francisco to Eureka? Well, you are in luck. The Great Redwood Trail Agency, a joint-powers government body made up of Mendocino, Humboldt, and Trinity counties has just approved what has been called the most ambitious rail-to-trail projects in the United States. When complete, cyclists will enjoy an unrivaled outdoor experience by riding through five counties, through vineyards, redwoods, and salmon-laden river courses. Already, sections around the Humboldt Bay communities of Eureka and Arcata are completed.
Read more about the Great Redwood Rail here.
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