Alameda Bike Festival Brought Sunshine on Two Wheels

The sound of whistles filled the air as kids followed the loops and turns of the Bike Rodeo, and other workshops on the grounds of Ruby Bridges Elementary School. Although the weather was overcast, gloomy skies couldn’t overshadow the joy at this year’s Alameda Bike Festival.

Safety first

The festival — organized each year by Transform, in partnership with the City of Alameda, and with help from many others — offers education, freebies, and a variety of fun activities all in the pursuit of bike safety and encouraging cyclists of all ages and proficiency to get around Alameda.

This year, the festival featured a helmet giveaway, helmet decorating, face painting, and bike repair. There were safe riding classes for riders of all ages, and the Bike Rodeo course helped the youngest riders learn to pay attention to the road while having a blast.

Community support makes a festival

This year, the event was co-hosted with the city’s Electrification Faire, where residents could learn about switching to electric appliances and vehicles. AC Transit brought out a bus bike rack, which people could use to practice loading and unloading their bikes. BORP came through with an adaptive cycling display, and many other community booths featured games and prizes. Alameda’s mayor, Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft, also came out to join the fun!

Launching the West Alameda Mobility for All project

The Alameda Bike Festival is one of the ways Transform has grown deep roots in Alameda, building relationships with community and governmental organizations and working together with Alamedans to make their island city more bikeable, walkable, and transit-rich. 

So the festival was the perfect place to launch our new project, funded by the California Air Resources Board, to assess community needs for better transportation options in West Alameda. We had a station staffed by Site Level Team members, stipended West Alameda residents who inform the project plan and support with outreach, to collect input on people’s transit modes and mark unsafe spots on the street grid.

Thank you to everyone who made the Alameda Bike Festival a huge success. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with the community in the West Alameda Project and beyond.