At a special event Sunday, Bike Santa Cruz County will honor the 2024 winners of its Wheelie Awards, which recognize “excellent work toward expanding and improving safety and awareness of cycling in Santa Cruz County.”
Matt Miller will be honored in the Advocacy category.
The Watsonville Community Bike Ride program will be honored in the Community Building category.
Bay View Elementary School’s Bike Bus program will be honored in the Education category.
Moved by Bikes will be honored in the Business category.
And the Ocean Street-Plymouth Street repaving project will be honored in the Infrastructure category, which was added this year to recognize work completed after January 2023 that “best improves safety and functionality.”
The repaving project at Ocean Street, Plymouth Street and the Highway 17 terminus was selected for “its cycling-friendly design, which includes bike boxes, clearly delineated green lanes and [Americans With Disabilities-compliant] ramps for pedestrians.”
“In order to acknowledge the expanded interest in cycling as a healthy and environmentally-friendly way to move through our communities, we expanded the award categories we are recognizing this year,” Bike Santa Cruz County board chair Amelia Conlen said in a release.
Awards will be presented at the organization’s Wheels in Motion event from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, at Woodhouse Blending & Brewing, 119 Madrone St., Santa Cruz, which will include food, drink, raffle prizes and live music by Vintage Point. The community is welcome, but tickets are limited, and must be purchased in advance.
Miller is a senior program specialist with Ecology Action’s Modo team, where he has helped launch a municipal e-bike rebate program and designed innovative approaches to get more people on bikes more often. He built participation in the annual Biketober program from a few early adopters in 2017 to hundreds of employers and thousands of riders in 2024.
The Watsonville Community Bike Ride, held Aug. 24, was hosted by District 4 County Supervisor Felipe Hernandez and Watsonville Mayor Vanessa Quiroz-Carter and helped demonstrate the ease of using bicycles to move around town. The ride, which was cosponsored by the City of Watsonville, Santa Cruz County Public Health and the County of Santa Cruz, included a bike check and a helmet giveaway.
Bay View Elementary School’s Bike Bus program was developed with the assistance of Ecology Action’s Modo program. Established in 2023, it has included regular parent-led bike rides, attracting between 30 to 50 students per ride.
Moved by Bikes was founded in 2012 in Santa Cruz with the mission of creating simple, effective products that make it easier to “do more” with your bicycle. Its products include surfboard racks, trailers, valet racks and dog runners.
Bike Santa Cruz County, founded in 1991 as People Power, promotes bicycling through advocacy, education and community building.
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