Meet the 2023 Bike Champions of the Year
Given to individuals for inspiring bicycling in their Bay Area communities, this award recognizes individuals in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties for their commitment to bicycling as the primary mode of transport. This year’s winners are incredibly inspiring. Our youngest 2023 BCOY is 13 – a new record for this award! – followed closely by a high school junior. They range from an adult who learned to ride a bike during the pandemic, to a dedicated commuter who started riding as a child in Ireland. All of this year’s winners are involved in their communities to address bike infrastructure, climate impact, and more. And of course, they all share a love of pedaling, the desire to make a difference, and the ability to inspire others.
Demorea “Truckie” Evans, Alameda County
Oakland resident Demorea “Truckie” Evans has been riding bikes consistently for the past 15 years. Truckie was nominated to receive the BCOY award by Carter Lavin, who knows Truckie through the Roll Out Crew and being in solidarity to promote safer streets for bicyclists. As the leader of the Roll Out Crew, a Black-led bike education group in Oakland, Truckie was named as an amazing advocate in the community helping encourage West Oaklanders to bike by organizing joyous rides for people of all ages.
Truckie’s favorite part about riding is that it gives him peace of mind and a particular appreciation for the natural world. “Riding my bike, including during the pandemic, has helped me a lot. It allows me to exercise and have social gatherings with others. My hopes and dreams for biking in the Bay Area are for more riders and safer streets.”
He also reflected on a favorite moment during a recent solidarity ride named “We Ride as One,” organized by the Roll Out Crew standing together with several victims of dooring attacks. Over 800 Bay Area bicyclists gathered at the West Oakland BART station and rode around Oakland. During the gathering, Truckie shared that he wants all types of bike communities in one place to become neighbors and start advocating together for improved road conditions.
“The more of us together, the stronger we are,” he said during the gathering. “It’s going to take all of us to see the change that we desire to see. Supporting those who are victimized and saying, ‘You cannot get us off our bikes.’”
Truckie believes in making Oakland and the East Bay a bike-friendly place for all.es, and promote safe cycling practices. Their membership is open to all. They are dedicated to creating an open marketplace environment for both budding and seasoned cyclists to train together and cross-pollinate for the betterment of the community as a whole.
Alan Kalin, Contra Costa County
Alan Kalin’s passion for cycling isn’t just about the ride. “My story is one of dogged determination to prevent collisions and save lives on the roads of Mount Diablo,” says Alan. A Danville resident and Bay Area native, he started riding Mount Diablo three days a week in 2010 after he retired. He grew alarmed by the ambulances and medivac helicopters that were too often seen transporting cyclists off the mountain. Seeing that little was being done to prevent bike vs. car collisions, he set to work.
Alan started by first establishing the Mount Diablo Cyclists and analyzing hundreds of traffic reports.
Using the data and his own experiences on the mountain, he recognized that the accidents were largely occurring on or near blind curves. Picturing an old county road with car turnouts, Alan envisioned a solution that would separate cyclists from the cars with bike turnouts. He became a driving force behind the now 45 turnouts that give bicyclists safe harbor as they ride the 11-mile Summit Road on Mount Diablo. With its resulting 80% reduction in collisions, the first-of-its-kind project has become a model for biking safety across the nation.
But he isn’t done yet. Alan continues his advocacy and fundraising efforts to finish Phase II of the Bike Turnout Project in honor of friend and fellow cyclist Joe Shami who was killed in a collision in 2021. This phase will add the final 43 turnouts called for in the safety plan. He’s also working to redesign the Lafayette roundabout that was the site of his friend’s death and is involved in numerous projects as the Chairman of the Bike Danville Bicycle Advisory Commission.
“Cycling is about the people you meet and the journey,” Alan says. He loves that every ride is different, and that he is part of an ever-growing community of cyclists in Contra Costa County that take care of each other. He still loves riding today as much as he did when he was a kid, remembering fondly that back then “Mount Diablo felt like just a big hill,” and a train still ran on the Iron Horse Trail.
Dave Rhoads, Marin County
Dave Rhoads is an excellent example of how a person's passion for bicycling can create a positive impact on the community. Since relocating from San Francisco to Marin in 2019, he has actively volunteered with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition (MCBC) and advocated for safer bicycle infrastructure and the use of bicycles as a means of transportation. Initially, Dave volunteered at Slow and Say Hello outposts, promoting shared use of Marin's trails and respect for the environment when recreating.
Dave now co-chairs the Walk/Bike San Rafael MCBC Local Team, which advocates for safe walking and biking in that city. Current campaigns include traffic calming in downtown and bicycle parking at the Sunday Marin Farmers Market, where people currently have to lock their bikes to stop signs and other informal racks. The group has already made progress by arranging for two valet parking dates at the farmers market on May 21 and June 4.
Dave is known among his local team members for inspiring others to use bicycles as a means of transportation. His enthusiasm for cycling is infectious, and he consistently participates in city meetings and organizes numerous community rides. He, his wife, Amy, and their 15-month-old frequently ride their e-bike instead of using the family car. They bike to daycare, to the ferry, and for most local errands, promoting a sustainable and healthy lifestyle while reducing traffic congestion and carbon emissions.
In 2022, Dave participated in Climate Ride’s Northern California Green Fondo with Team MCBC, raising over $6000 to support local programs. He is excited to join the team again this year and continue his fundraising efforts.
Dave is an inspiration to those around him and a shining example of how one person can make a difference in the community. If you see Dave around town, be sure to thank him for his hard work and dedication to making Marin a better and safer place for biking.
Violet Grove and Donal O’Briain, Napa County
Violet Grove clearly remembers the first day she learned to ride a bike – she was a child, camping with family, and befriended a girl she met at the campsite. She saw that her new friend could ride a bike confidently without training wheels, and asked her uncle to remove the training wheels from her own bike. She fell a couple of times but got back up and was soon riding “all over the place.” Violet’s journey as a bike champion began through the strong but subtle inspiration she felt watching a peer experience bicycle joy – and now she champions bicycling in her own community by providing that very same inspiration.
When she was in 3rd grade, Violet began using her bike for transportation – and has continued that practice to get to school, around town, and to meet up with friends. She bikes five to seven days a week and, as her nominator highlighted “Violet could easily get a ride in the car from her parents, but chooses to ride her bike each day,” demonstrating a conscious commitment to cycling even as a busy student.
At just 13 years old, Violet acts as a bicycling role model for youth in her community. She understands the myriad benefits that bicycling for transportation provides individuals and communities and notes the “good [bicycling] does for your body, and how it doesn’t pollute the air like riding in a car does. It also saves a lot of time, and you can get places quicker than you could walking.” Violet shares her enthusiasm for bicycling with her peers, regularly referring to riding around downtown with her friends – a practice simple in concept, but a powerful reminder to her community of the joy and connection that bicycling creates. She also models bicycle safety to youth in her community, demonstrating safe bike riding by wearing a helmet and riding in the bike lanes.
When asked what advice she would give to someone new to biking for transportation, Violet recommends “[making] sure to lock your bike, because even if you think it’s safe, there’s always a chance that it could be taken.”
Donal O’Briain’s first memory of riding a bike is learning to ride his Raleigh Blaster in his parents’ backyard in Dublin, Ireland and subsequently falling off. He has biked for transportation since those early days, riding as part of his school’s cycling club – the Willow Wheelers – at age 12, when he realized he could get around the city faster than by other modes of transportation. Today, Donal remains a dedicated bicycle commuter, riding to work most weekdays, to other locations like downtown Napa businesses, and along a 7-mile round trip ride to pick up his three children from school. As his nominator describes, Donal serves “as a role model for other working parents who want to make healthy, climate-aware transportation choices.”
In addition to his commitment to riding, Donal serves on the City of Napa’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission (BPAC), a group of appointed Napa residents who advise city council and staff on matters regarding bicycle transportation and pedestrian issues. As a member of the BPAC, he dedicates time to making Napa a more bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly place for all residents, addressing topics such as inclusion of bicycle and pedestrian facilities in street designs and ideas for improving Napa’s Bicycle Friendly Community designation.
Beyond a method of transportation, Donal appreciates bicycling as a way to explore and connect, noting that “on a bicycle, one can find “places that you otherwise wouldn’t even have known were places. I’ve found shortcuts and scenic routes and hidden corners all riding my bike, and made some great friends along the way.”
When asked what advice he would give to someone new to biking for transportation, Donal suggests, “Make sure your bike is in good working order, and plan a route you’re comfortable with, be it on quiet streets, or on a good bike path. Almost everything in Napa is closer than you realize by bike.”
Hansel Palarca-Reiva, San Francisco County
Hansel Palarca-Reiva learned to ride a bike as an adult, and thanks the SF Bicycle Coalition's Adult-Learn-To-Ride class for helping him get started just over a year ago. He was so inspired that he immediately bought a bike to commit himself to learning how to ride, and has enjoyed seeing how his skills have grown and car-free spaces like the JFK Promenade. “I know that learning to ride as an adult can be terrifying, embarrassing, and intimidating,” he adds. “But the joy that awaits you is truly worth the struggle, and I say all this from personal experience.
“Growing up in San Francisco, I thought I already knew a lot about the city,” Hansel says, “but riding a bike around town is a totally different experience that has helped me discover new layers of an already vibrant and complex urban landscape. However, I lived on Church and Market at that time, and there was really nowhere for someone at my skill level to practice easily and safely. It was not until the pandemic and the advent of Slow Streets/car-free streets that my skill level really took off.” Hansel also stays engaged with local activism so that San Francisco can continue to make progress towards becoming a more bikeable place to live for all types of people.
In addition to leisure rides, Hansel loves doing simple things by bike that he used to do by car, such as picking up groceries or commuting to homes all over the city for his job as a visiting social worker. He does say that it would be very helpful to have a connected, safe, protected biking infrastructure throughout the city to ensure that he could reach all parts of town safely and without fear. He credits Slow Streets with helping him expand his safe routes map with making it possible for him to ride a bike as often as he does, which is nearly daily.
“When I was a public school teacher,” Hansel shares, “one of the strategies I learned and employed is "modeling," which basically just means showing by doing. One of the challenges I faced when I was first learning to ride a bike was is feeling embarrassed or like an impostor. Today, I'd like to think that I spread the joy of biking in my own small way by doing it often and having a lot of fun while doing it, so that someone like me may be inspired to give it a shot despite their trepidation and fear.
Marin Holt, San Mateo County
Several experiences shaped Marin Holt’s journey toward being a bike champion. When she was in the Peace Corp in the Philippines, she learned the importance of “capacity building” – connecting people who might need to know one another to solve community challenges. And when she was riding across Central America and Mexico on a months-long bike tour with a friend, she felt the freedom of movement and saw how much of the world relies on bikes. Finally, as a teacher at Woodside High School, an idea started to grow when a student entered her classroom and asked “Are you the lady with the bike on your roof?” and he said that they we’re starting a cycling club which led to the establishment of Coastside on Bikes.
Raised in Redwood City and a longtime resident of Half Moon Bay, Marin founded Coastside, a non-profit organization to expand bicycle access for those in coastal San Mateo County who most rely on bikes for transportation, including farmworkers, the unhoused, and overlooked people living on the margins. Since 2020, the organization has created partnerships with local social services agencies – including Abundant Grace Coastside Worker, Coastside Hope, Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS), and local schools – and has provided bike repair and bicycle donations to clients who are in need of transportation.
“I saw that there was this need of people in our community for bikes. And then I saw that there are a lot of people in our community who have bikes sitting in their garages and are needing to get rid of them,” Marin says, recalling the organization’s start. At the same time, she was aware of the social services agencies working to help farmworkers, the unhoused and others. “And I saw that there is a link to be made. I saw them and thought wow, those are the populations that are using bikes and need bikes in our community.” To date, Coastside has given out about 200 bikes. With a recent merger with Coastside Mountain Bikers, the organization is now expanding to provide advocacy for cycling safety and access, on pavement and trails.
Marin continues to set an active pace as a community catalyst, riding enthusiast, mother of 9- and 11-year-old avid cyclists, and teacher of government and economics in a program for high-school students at Cañada College.
April Beyersdorf, Santa Clara County
April Beyersdorf, a junior at Saint Francis High School, has a passion for sustainable commuting that was founded at a very young age when she began riding wither father to preschool on the VTA bus. Her interest only grew from there, and she is now the founder of her school’s Sustainable Commuting Club, whose mission is to encourage other students to feel confident biking and taking public transit, with a goal of reducing traffic congestion and protecting the environment.
Her long-term goal is to become an urban planner and improve the current South Bay public transportation system by following the path of the old Peninsular Railway. But for now, April is focusing on making her school safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. She is currently organizing a Bike to School Day on April 28th, which she hopes will encourage more students to choose sustainable commuting options.
According to her nominator, "April founded the Sustainable Commuting Club at school to educate and encourage fellow students to make informed choices about how they commute to school, and advocate for additional support for students who bike or take public transportation to school. She has helped friends purchase bikes, find bike friendly routes to schools and purchase youth Clipper Cards, too."
April says that her passion for inspiring her peers to explore sustainable forms of transportation is rooted in a frustration with the current system that seeks to make us dependent on cars. She feels rebellious when biking through neighborhoods with little to no bicycle-forward infrastructure, knowing that her presence and persistence has the power to transform her community. April envisions a total reimagining of the roads leading up to her high school where cars are directed to a designated car entrance, bike lanes run directly to the building, and the main road is closed off to traffic so cyclists and pedestrians can get to school without fear.
In addition to her work with the Sustainable Commuting Club, April also embraces biking in her free time. She volunteers on the weekends at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s Eastside Connect Farm Box Delivery program and challenges herself to pursue rides that take her 10+ miles away from home.became the Team Leader of the Sunnyvale Team of SVBC, AKA Bike Sunnyvale (bikesunnyvale.org).
Robert “Bob” Haran, Solano County
Even though he’s retired, Vacaville resident Robert “Bob” Haran rides his bike daily to run errands, volunteer, visit the hardware store, socialize and shop. He takes day trips around Solano, Yolo and Marin Counties and has vacationed on his bike. Bob says “I can’t duplicate the freedom I feel when I’m riding my bike with any other form of transportation.” When riding, he is able to connect with people he wouldn’t be to connect with if he was in a car.
Bob has a long history of biking. He started riding daily as a teenager and, in 2004, started commuting 30 miles one-way by bike to work in West Sacramento. According to Bob’s friend Steve Chun, Bob rode to work in the cold and dark, and rode home into the headwinds for almost two decades. Steve says Bob also cycles for the environment. His friend’s mantra: “We all gotta breathe clean air.”
When he commuted to his job at the California Fuel Cell Partnership, Bob says, “I wanted [to] start using an e-bike, but I found there weren’t any options for an extended range e-bike, so [I] built one and named it “super commuter.” During the wetter months, Bob would ride Solano Transportation FAST route #30. “After the Fairfield-Vacaville Amtrak station was built, I would ride my bike one way and take the Capitol Corridor back home.”
“I enjoy the idea of not having to depend on a car for transportation. With all the options— Fairfield-Vacaville Amtrak Station, the Solano Transportation FAST bus system, BART, Vallejo Ferry terminal, three international airports, I just need a bike for the short distance to connect to home,” Bob says.
Not only does Bob inspire friends like Steve, but he was also previously awarded a grant through the Yolo Solano Air Quality Management District to teach the American League of Cycling “Cycling 101” class, helping riders learn to pedal safely and repair their bikes. Bob has participated in the Solano Transportation Authority’s Safe Routes to School Bike Rodeos and hopes to continue to teach cycling during his retirement.
“My inspiration [to bike] came from watching the television show “Spanky & Our Gang” in 1965.” Bob says, “The kids—Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, and the others – loaded their bikes down with pots and pans and rode off on adventures. I was 10 years old and went on my first weekend overnight as a result. My parents weren’t really happy with me when I didn’t come home that night.” With that first trip, Bob’s lifelong love of cycling was born.
Bill Petty, Sonoma County
Bill Petty is a dedicated bike commuter, Climate Rider with Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition’s Green Fondo fundraising team, and weekly rider with the Santa Rosa Taco Tuesday Ride. When you meet him, you soon discover that Bill’s one of the most joyful people you will ever meet and that he will go out of his way to help anyone who wants to start cycling.
Bill’s bike commuting journey began in 2010. Prior to that he was an occasional mountain bike rider. Then Jack Hartnett, Len Hirshi, and Ron Van de Kraats of the Santa Rosa Cycling Club convinced him he needed to give road cycling a try. As a result, for the past 11 years Bill has made bike commuting a passion that has led to one-of-a-kind experiences, including bike voyages to 49ers football games.
And he put his passion to work. A Service Advisor at Hansel Subaru, Bill rallies a team of coworkers to participate in Bike to Work Day every year. In 2017, he rode to Windsor to meet up with coworkers and then picked up more along the route; a total of 17 joined him. Then in 2018, he formed the team Sonoma Strong for the Bay Area Bike Challenge, which placed first in Sonoma County for the most daily rides and miles accrued. Not to rest on those laurels, in 2019, Bill brought back team Sonoma Strong to take first place once again. Bill showed his dedication to supporting new riders for Bike Month as their team captain.
“Biking is my morning coffee!” says Bill, who does not actually drink coffee. Instead, he uses his morning bike commute to energize him for the day. Bike commuting gives him time to enjoy the early morning and evening hours. Mornings are when he reflects on his goals for the day and prioritizes what he needs to accomplish. The ride home is time to relax and reflect on how the day went; by the time Bill has pedaled home, the work day is far behind him.
Bill is part of the 49er faithful, with a tradition of biking to night games all the way from Sonoma County. On game day, he leaves between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. and then rides the entire 127.5 mile to the stadium – almost 9 hours of traveling through 5 counties! When Bill gets asked how it’s possible to bike all the way to Levi’s Stadium, his answer is “If you want to do something then, set a goal and achieve it. Nothing is impossible. If you put your mind to it then you will find a way to accomplish that goal.”
Along with inspiring coworkers, training friends for their first century ride, and helping new riders embrace bike life, one of Bill’s biggest accomplishments was encouraging his wife Stephanie to start biking with him this past year. He says it has been one of the most rewarding journeys he’s ever experienced.
“A big accomplishment was the day that I finally got Stephanie bitten by the cycling bug. In years past she was always worried about slowing me down, even though I assured her that I enjoy riding fast or slow. But she never seemed to enjoy riding. Then out of nowhere it clicked, she hopped on my e-bike and came back smiling. I think one of the key factors that allowed her to enjoy the ride was that I got a cart to tow the dogs. She loves taking the dogs out for rides and our dogs love it too. I know I spend a lot of time riding. I am thankful that she understands how much cycling means to me and I am so glad she joins me on rides frequently now.”bike parade that fills the streets with music, laughter, and joy.