• We're efficient and effective and 100% of donations go into public outreach materials and programs to make Oakland more walkable and bikeable.
• Help us do more by making a donation or purchasing a WOBO annual membership (Individual - $35, Household - $50, Individual w/WOBO t-shirt - $50). To contribute or discover member benefits, visit our Donation Page.

Join us Thursday, August 26th for the monthly meeting at WOBO HQ (436 14th St, 2nd floor conference room). The one-hour meeting starts at 6:30pm, and this month we'll be joined by guest speaker Jason Patton, Director of the City's Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program. 

Jason will give us an update on the City's Bicycle Master Plan - what's in it, what's been accomplished, and what's getting implemented in the next 12 months and beyond.  After his talk (and the Q&A period which follows), we'll adjourn to a local watering hole to kick back, relax and socialize.

DETAILS: Thursday, August 26th, 6:30-7:30pm, WOBO HQ (436 14th St) - 2nd Floor Conference Room.

Sistahs Steppin' in Pride is an annual event celebrating queer women of the East Bay.  This year's march and festival at Lake Merritt will be led by a contingent of bicycles – as a symbol of health, fitness and a sustainable lifestyle. 

Cyclists, drummers, dancers, and marchers will parade together around Lake Merritt and end at the festival at Snow Park.  All lesbian and bisexual women and their friends & families are invited to come out and ride with the cyclists on Saturday the 28th, especially as this will be our Women of WOBO (WOW) ride for August.

DETAILS: Saturday, August 28th at noon. Ride starts at the Lake Merritt Pillars (map) and finishes at Snow Park.  Ride will be at parade pace.  Helmets recommended.

For reminders about Women of WOBO events, click here to join our announcements list – you'll receive 2-3 emails per month about upcoming outings and other women-related biking and walking news. 

When is a parking space not a parking space?  When it's a park!  PARK(ing) Day is an annual, worldwide event that inspires city-dwellers everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks (a.k.a. parklets) for the public good.  Started in 2005 by Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, PARK(ing) Day is now an international phenomenon, happening on 6 continents and in over 140 cities.  

WOBO and the EBBC have joined forces to make Oakland's 2010 PARK(ing) Day truly spectacular.  We want to create lots of temporary parklets, so we're seeking business partners in the main commercial districts of Oakland (to provide spaces for the parklets) and individual volunteers to help build and spread the good word on PARK(ing) Day.  

This day-long celebration is also a great opportunity to help promote the WOBO/EBBC Parklets for People Campaign - advocating for permanent parklets throughout Oakland. Look for an email in the coming weeks with information on where to find WOBO's parklets on PARK(ing) Day. If you'd like to help out with PARK(ing) Day 2010, contact Danny@wobo.org.

The Alliance for Biking and Walking is coming to Oakland to do their amazing advocacy training called "Winning Campaigns." The training has proven incredibly helpful to people developing biking, walking and transit advocacy campaigns. Many of WOBO's leaders have traveled to attend this training, and we loved it so much we brought it to Oakland!

The training will be offered the weekend of October 15-17 in downtown Oakland.  It's an excellent opportunity to gain tools for bike and pedestrian advocacy and campaign strategy, not to mention the chance to meet other advocates and learn about efforts to improve biking and walking in our communities.

The training is specifically designed to workshop your fabulous ideas for improving walking and biking in your community, with topics including:

At the end of the training, participants will emerge with draft campaign plans they can take to the streets to start making change in their neighborhoods.  Please join us and learn how you can turn your ideas into action for a better Oakland!  You register online – and find more information – here.

As a bike/pedestrian organization, we do as many things as possible – including hauling gear to and from events – without using a car.  Since a cargo bike makes moving stuff super-simple (and we didn't have one of our own), we reached out to our friends at Xtracycle about a loaner bike and they agreed!  Not only did they send us the sweet Xtracycle Radish, complete with all the racks and bags needed to haul heavy and bulky loads, but they threw in a surprise... a kit to let us carry a passenger in comfort and style! 

Check out the stoker (passenger) bars and comfy padded seat.  This means we can not only haul gear, but people!  If we're at an event with our (yet-to-be-named) Xtracycle, we'll give any person who purchases a WOBO Membership (or makes a donation) a free ride on it (a.k.a. the "victory lap")!

We also need your help in naming our new Xtracycle! Please give us your suggestions ( G-rated only, please) by leaving a comment on this Facebook page or by sending an email to xcname@wobo.org. The deadline for entries is Friday, September 10th, after which we'll sort through the entries and start the voting in next month's newsletter.  The winner will get a prize as well as a victory lap on the no-longer-nameless Xtracycle.  Could it be you?  Send us your name ideas and find out!

Did you have a good time at Oaklavía?  Feel like the event was well-staffed, volunteers were friendly and knowledgeable, and the weather was perfect?  Well, maybe they can't take credit for the weather, but Blair Miller and Eliet Henderson definitely had a lot to do with the rest of it, and so they take home (belated) Volunteer of the Month honors for their hard work in planning Oaklavía.

Blair – who was job-searching when she came to WOBO and is now working for our fair City of Oakland – put in countless hours talking to businesses, meeting with potential sponsors, and strategizing about the route beginning in late 2009.  While we selfishly miss her wide-open unemployment schedule, we fully appreciate her ongoing commitment to Oaklavía even when knee surgery and that pesky "paid job" thing started to eat into her volunteering time.  Thank you Blair!

Eliet came on board with no less enthusiasm, leading teams of "reconnaissance volunteers" to staff SF's Sunday Streets and take notes on how they did it.  From the observations and input generated by the cross-Bay mission, Eliet was able to create the training materials for Oaklavía volunteers, help plan where we needed the most help along the route, and coordinate volunteer placement on the big day.  Oh, and when we realized that we needed to do a mite bit more business outreach on Broadway, Eliet was game to jump in with last-minute outreach.  Thank you Eliet!

Do you want to be a Volunteer of the Month?  There are many, many pathways to this award – email volunteer@wobo.org to get involved in WOBO today!

The Bay Area Bicycle Coalition is seeking an experienced professional with experience in developing, leading and managing a non-profit advocacy organization to join their team as Executive Director.  Candidates should have experience with event coordination, corporate sponsorship, organizational development, advocacy, and transportation policy.  Deadline for applications is September 17, 2010.  For a full job description and application instructions visit http://bit.ly/BABCED.

August Monthly WOBO Meeting w/Guest Speaker Jason Patton

Thu. Aug. 26th | 6:30pm - 7:30pm | 436 14th St, 2nd Floor Conference Room

Jason Patton, Director of the City of Oakland's Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Program will be our guest speaker, and he's agreed to give us an update on the Bicycle Master Plan – what's happened, what's in the works, and what improvements to expect on the streets in the coming months.  After the meeting, we'll head to a local watering hole to socialize.

Sistahs Steppin' in Pride

Sat. Aug. 28th | noon - 6pm | Lake Merritt Pillars (parade) & Snow Park (festival)

An annual event celebrating queer women of the East Bay.  This year's march and festival will be led by a contingent of bicycles, and you're invited to join in.  All lesbian an bisexual women and their friends & families are invited to come ride with the cyclists – this parade ride is also our monthly Women of WOBO Ride. Cyclists, drummers, marchers and dancers will parade around the lake to the festival at Snow Park.

Back-to-School Scraper Bike Ride

Sat. Aug. 28th | 11am - 6pm | Frank Ogawa Plaza/Arroyo Viejo Park

Back-To-School Scraper Bike Ride and Festival featuring food, music and (of course) the Original Scraper Bike Crew!

East Bay Evolution Bike Tours: Eat Real Bike Tour

Sat. Aug 28th | 12pm - 4:30pm | Jack London Square

Join East Bay Evolution Bike Tour's ride for two-wheeled foodies! Begin and end at the Eat Real Festival at Jack London Square. You'll pedal along Oakland's waterfront and meet local culinary artisans, learn their specialties and taste their creations.  Members of East Bay Bike Coalition or Walk Oakland Bike Oakland receive $10 off cost.

Oakland Pride

Sun. Sept. 5th | 12 - 6pm | 19th & Franklin St.

Diversity in Action! Oakland Pride celebrates the cultures and diversity of the LGBTQ community in Oakland the the East Bay.