• 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.

WOBO is on the lookout for a dynamic, motivated person to become our Membership & Volunteer Intern. Working alongside the Executive Director and Board of Directors, the Membership & Volunteer Intern will assist WOBO in strengthening our outreach efforts, increasing our visibility, refining our membership and volunteer programs, and building our grassroots membership base.

Interested? Join the team! Get more information on the unpaid internship here.

To inject a little more fun into this month's WOBO meeting, we've decided to hold it at Pacific Coast Brewery. Join us to socialize and sign up for one of our Bike to Work Day volunteer opportunities. We'll supply the finger food!

WOBO will be organizing three energizer stations and participating in the Pancake Breakfast at City Hall for Bike to Work Day on May 13, 2010 – help us make it a huge success! Volunteer needs include: stuffing BTWD bags, putting up posters, participating in pedal pools with City Council members, and recruiting new WOBO members at our energizer stations. See you Thursday!

DETAILS: Pacific Coast Brewery - 906 Washington Street, Oakland (map). Thursday, March 25 from 6:30-8pm.

WOBO is seeking individuals to join our Board of Directors. Board members are actively involved in WOBO's campaigns and day-to-day operations. In particular, we're eager for applicants with the following skills:

• Non-profit administration, including HR and accounting
• Financial oversight and planning
• Fundraising

Experience with walking and biking issues, and/or successful advocacy within the City of Oakland is a plus. People of color and residents of Districts 4, 5, and 6 are encouraged to apply. Learn more about what WOBO Board members do by reading the Board job description. To apply, send a statement of interest and a resume to carli@walkoaklandbikeoakland.org.

On March 10 and 11, over 700 bicycling advocates from around the country descended on Washington, DC for the 10th Annual National Bike Summit. Among them was WOBO's own Shannon Tracey, who participated in a panel where she shared the story of WOBO's beginnings and helped encourage other young advocacy organizations. (It seems that allies from Miami to Montana are following WOBO online – the Executive Director of the South Florida Bike Coalition is a Facebook Fan and many other groups are cheering us on in getting Oaklavía up and running.) During her visit, Shannon also got to accept the Alliance for Biking & Walking's 2010 Winning Campaign Award on WOBO's behalf for our Bike Broadway Campaign.

Along with seeing local allies from the East Bay Bicycle Coalition, Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition, and Clif Bar, Shannon visited a few Congressional offices during the Summit as part of an organized lobby day. One of the key policies advocates were seeking support for was H.R. 4722, the Active Community Transportation Act, which would provide funding for local communities to complete bicycle and walking networks for transportation. Oakland's own Representative Barbara Lee signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill within 24 hours of our meeting with her staff, and we like to think that our presence in her office had something to do with it.

Contact Rep. Lee to thank her for co-sponsoring the Active Community Transportation Act! Call her Oakland office (510-763-0370) or her Washington, DC office (202-225-2661). Find out more about the National Bike Summit here, and see pictures from this year's Summit at bikeportland.org.

Celebrate springtime with an excursion north to the Albany Bulb! This former landfill turned unofficial dog park is a great place to get a view of the Bay, check out Burning Man-esque art installations, and relax after a ride along the Bay Trail. Participants should bring a snack to share, and possibly binoculars for checking out the birds. Any and all female-identified people are invited to participate.

Please RSVP to shannon@walkoaklandbikeoakland.org by Wednesday, April 7 with your name, email, and phone number (in case there are any last-minute updates). All participants must sign a waiver and wear a helmet – no exceptions!

DETAILS: Sunday, April 11 from 10am-1pm. Starts and ends at Mosswood Park, near the corner of Macarthur Blvd and Webster Street (nearest BART: Macarthur). Traveling via the Bay Trail. Approximately 14 miles and pretty darn flat. Route map (subject to change).

Want to get reminders about Women of WOBO events? Click here to join our announcements list to receive 2-3 emails per month about upcoming outings and other women-related biking and walking news.

This October, the Alliance for Biking and Walking is coming to Oakland to do their incredible advocacy training called "Winning Campaigns." Many of WOBO's leaders have traveled to attend this training, and we loved it so much we wanted to bring it to Oakland. The training will be offered the weekend of October 15-17, and is an excellent opportunity to gain tools for bike and pedestrian advocacy and campaign strategy, not to mention the chance to get to know other advocates and learn about efforts to improve biking and walking in their communities.

Some of the participants in the Oakland training will be coming in from out of town, so as part of our hosting role WOBO is hoping to offer homestays for our allies (so they can spend their precious dollars on campaigns, not hotels). Can you provide lodging for one or more traveling advocates during the weekend of October 15-17? Hosts should be able to provide comfortable sleeping space, but are not required to provide meals. The training will be located in a central, transit-accessible location, so proximity to transit connections and/or a bike to lend would also be helpful.

Please contact shannon@walkoaklandbikeoakland.org or call 510-338-2937 if you can take in a traveling bike/ped advocate, want more information, or have other ideas about getting involved. Stay tuned – details on registering for "Winning Campaigns" training are coming soon!

When a pothole is scary enough for a concerned citizen to take a chair and drop it in as a warning, you know it's a monster. This (formerly) furnished pothole lives on Perkins Street, between Belmont and Van Buren. It probably won't be there too much longer, as we just reported it to the City of Oakland; our experience has been that they complete requests in a day or two. Last month's Potholes of Shame... both gone. The City had them filled within 18 hours of our first (and only) request.

What does this mean? Two things – you should watch out for the pothole on Perkins Street, and definitely report any and all potholes that vex you to the City. Since they have the capacity to turn them around quickly, take advantage of this and get those road cavities filled! Let the City know about road hazards here: http://www.oaklandpw.com/Page808.aspx.

On March 30, WOBO will be joining our allies in the Oakland Climate Action Coalition to rally for the City to adopt an ambitious local Energy and Climate Action Plan that promotes environmental sustainability and social justice. City staff will be presenting an overview of the draft plan to the City Council on March 31, so we're gathering the day before to show that there's broad and strong support throughout Oakland.

Learn more about the OCAC here. Show the Oakland City Council that there's broad support for a strong Climate Action Plan! Join us at the Rally (details here and here)! We also suggest you email your City Council member today and consider signing the OCAC petition.

DETAILS: Tuesday, March 30 @ 4:15 PM - Frank Ogawa Plaza (14th & Washington).

Last week, at the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC., Google unveiled the newest addition to Google Maps: biking directions. With 57 million Americans riding bikes, it's no surprise that it was the most requested addition to Google Maps. According to Google:

"This new feature includes: step-by-step bicycling directions; bike trails outlined directly on the map; and a new "Bicycling" layer that indicates bike trails, bike lanes, and bike-friendly roads."

Public Hearing: Central Estuary Plan

The City of Oakland is creating a Specific Plan and environmental document to determine a common vision for the Oakland Central Estuary. This plan will provide a framework to support development while balancing land-use goals with environmental and economic interests. Building upon previous visioning efforts, the City of Oakland will be convening several community workshops to gather public input throughout the planning process. Your participation is essential!

Oakland Running Festival

The Inaugural Oakland Running Festival will feature the city's first marathon in more than 25 years, a half-marathon, team relay, 5k and kids' fun run as well as a Health and Fitness Expo and Celebration Village!

Free Repair Class

Join Manifesto from 10-11 am for Conversions: General Q & A + The enigmatic chainline! Sign up in the shop or email: badcop@wearemanifesto.com.

Tip Top Bike Shop Turns 3!

We are 3 years old! Come celebrate 3 wonderful years in Temescal with us on Friday, April 2nd. We'll be here from 6pm until later. There will be delicious beverages courtesy of the Linden Street Brewery, cake, live music by The Vultures, and good times to be had.

Sunday Streets: Great Highway

Come play in the streets! Sunday Streets provides car-free recreational space for everyone. This Sunday Streets will coincide with World Health Day's "1,000 Cities, 1,000 Lives" international event, as one of thousands of cities hosting simultaneous car-free events worldwide.

Oakland Earth Day Expo

Oakland is consistently named one of the nation's greenest cities (go figure!). Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, the 2010 Oakland EarthExpo will showcase how all of us, working together, continue to make Oakland more sustainable.

Oakland Yellow Jackets Kickoff Ride

Celebrate the start of the Oakland Yellowjackets riding season with a leisurely ride from Lake Merritt to Bay Farm Island on Alameda and back. Bike tech inspections, rest stop facilities, SAG wagon and potluck picnic following the ride sponsored by Yellowjackets members. Registration opens at 8:00 AM and the ride begins at 9:00 AM.

If you bike at night, you know that front and rear lights are great (and mandatory), but the addition of lights or reflectors visible from the side can help ensure motorists see you from every angle. We've covered some side-visibility options in past newsletters, including an EL wire kit for your helmet, retroreflective vinyl tape, and the Down Low Glow. Now we've got a product that is cheap, easy to see and takes seconds (and no tools) to install. It's the SpokeLit from Nite Ize. And, according to their product description: "When you're riding at medium speed or faster, it creates the attention-getting effect of a moving circle of light." This photo reminds me of the lightcycles from Tron Legacy.

I'm not sure if it's the future of cycling transport or the future of pedal-powered theme parks, but there's a prototype pedal-powered monorail with one-person cars that will blow your mind:

I also got word this week that the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP) needs volunteers for their Tandem Program for blind and visually impaired cyclists. If you're a safe, experienced, confident rider, volunteering time to pilot a tandem will make it possible for blind cyclists (who otherwise wouldn't have the chance) to experience the fun and health benefits of cycling.

BORP has a tandem training program, meaning you don't need to have previous experience with two-seaters. The volunteer time commitment is minimal, so consider piloting for some of the most bike-positive people you'll ever encounter – some truly stoked stokers! For more information please contact Greg Milano (cycling@borp.org, 510-849-4663 ex. 306).