The month of May is Bike Month in Napa County and across the Bay Area.
Each year, the Napa County Bicycle Coalition honors one or two individuals as Bike Commuter/Champion of the Year for their dedication to riding a bike for everyday transportation and/or inspiring others to take on life on two wheels.
We hope that the stories of this year’s winners inspire you as much as they’ve inspired us!
Terry Tracy
While Terry Tracy has been a longtime recreational cyclist and mountain biker, it wasn’t until late in 2020 that he bought an electric-assist bike and became a dedicated bike commuter. “That was a game changer because I no longer had the excuses of ‘I’m running late’ or ‘I don’t want to show up to my meeting sweaty’ as reasons to drive my car. I can get to most locations in town in about the same amount of time with my electric bike as a car when you consider looking for a parking spot.”
Terry, an architect who lives in the city of Napa, fastened a custom designed box to his bike rack to carry prints and architectural drawings without wrinkling them – as well as groceries and other items. “I now use the bike about 95% of the time in town when I’m not carrying a large load. I use it all the time to pick up prints, visit the building department, go to meetings, go to the gym, or meet friends to play tennis.”
He continued to ride his e-bike through a recent back injury and actually used it to assist his recovery. “Biking was the only exercise that didn’t hurt my back, but I couldn’t bend over to reach my drop handlebars on my road bike and I couldn’t push hard on hills. I normally don’t use my e-bike on recreational rides for exercise but it came in really handy and allowed me to ride with my hurt back.”
Terry now logs around 30-40 miles each week commuting and running errands. “I like doing my part to cut down on pollution, greenhouse gases, and energy consumption. I recently filled up my car with gas for just the second time in six months.” His favorite commute paths are the river trails between Lincoln and Trancas or south of Third Street.
Tammy Wong
Tammy Wong began riding later in life, motivated by her growing awareness of the climate crisis and wanting to be healthier. “I’d been thinking for awhile to replace car trips with bicycle trips for short errands. After all, I do live in American Canyon and our city is like five miles wide.”
She had been riding her bike sporadically until last May when she participated in a Bike to Wherever Days event and decided then to bike regularly. “I replaced my 3x/week car trips to my community garden plot with bicycling trips.” In total, she biked 147 miles last year, the majority of which would have been fossil-fuel car trips.
Tammy is also an advocate for making the streets of American Canyon safer. After her neighbor was nearly struck and his dog was struck and killed by a speeding motorist, she worked with another neighbor on a traffic calming project, tracking speeds of over 70 mph in a 25-mph zone and installing pilot traffic calming measures. She then worked with the Fire Department and the Public Works Department, and they agreed to install speed cushions in her neighborhood—the first in American Canyon on a public street! That success has not slowed her advocacy, though. She and another local resident have since launched a Change.org petition to stop speeding throughout her hometown.
Tammy likes how biking allows her to pedal fast or slow, depending on her mood or the weather, and enjoy the fresh air. “There’s just some aspect of pedaling really fast, feeling the rush of air on your face, that reminds me, just for a moment, of being a young and carefree kid.” Her favorite spot for a recreational ride is the American Canyon Wetlands out to the Brazos bridge.
