December 2004, #27


Walkers & Bicyclists Gift Ideas

Though the temperature has dropped and the air moisture has risen, December is a great time to walk or bicycle. With the sparkling holiday displays, nighttime is perfect for hoofing it.

With all the end of the year festivities and celebrations, we thought we’d take a moment to address gifts that are perfect for those walkers and bikers in your life. These items can all be found in Alameda.

Shoes. For a frequent walker or cyclist, nothing makes as much of a difference as a good pair of shoes.

Clothing. Bike shorts and shirts can be extremely useful for cyclists who take long rides (commute or recreation).

Rain gear, especially a coat, is a perfect gift for almost anyone. Make sure that you get gear with reflective strips on it, which makes you more visible to motorists.

It’s easy to think that you are visible standing in a crosswalk at night with all the bright headlights and streetlights, but you’re really not! Light colors work best at any time of year.

For regular bikers, consider a reflective vest for nighttime riding. Vests can be easily stored in bike bags or a back pack and brought out for the night ride home from work or shopping. This vest would also be great for walkers.

Local bike shops sell reflective tape and wristbands for both cyclists and pedestrians. These inexpensive items can make a huge difference. Other suggestions: fanny pack with a water bottle, helmet, walking stick, or a bicycle maintenance tool kit.

As we have discussed in articles past, walking and biking support local community businesses by encouraging people to shop Alameda. So in this spirit, we encourage you to support your local bike shops and shoe/clothing stores.

Don’t want to spend any money on gifts? Easy! For a special pedestrian in your life, promise to stop for people waiting to cross the street at the crosswalk, even if you’re late for work. And for the bicycling love of your life, vow not to cut around people making a left-hand turn by swerving to the right and cutting into the bike lane (not only is it safer for cyclists, it’s against the law to use the bike lane as a through lane).

Both of these gifts are the ones that keep on giving. They add to the overall community spirit of Alameda while making life safer for your fellow citizens.

This is Audrey and John’s last article and we are passing on the torch in January to two new writers. We have enjoyed our time working on this column and thank you, our readers, and Julia and the Alameda Sun staff for the opportunity to write on biking and walking issues.

Have a very healthy and happy new year.

John Knox White and Audrey Lord-Hausman work with BikeAlameda (www.bikealameda.org) and Pedestrian Friendly Alameda (www.pedfriendly.org).

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