Living in Santa Rosa, Calif.

Our first weekend in our new apartment in Santa Rosa, Calif.! Having secured a home in the same community where I work and where we like to hang out, we really enjoy our recovered ability to walk, ride our bikes, and take public transit.

‘Walk and Roll,’ school gates close each Wednesday

School is out this week, in observance of Thanksgiving, but I want to reinforce “Walk and Roll” each Wednesday at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts.

Vycle, pedal-powered alternative to elevator

Vycle - urban vertical movement from Elena Larriba on Vimeo.

Check out this great space-saving alternative to stairs or elevators that promotes personal health. The Vycle, invented by Royal College of Art graduate Elena Larriba, looks like a bicycle with a vertical rail attached to it. Passengers use pedals to ascend or descend the rail; the speed of pedaling controls the rate of travel.

Bike give-away for fire victims, Saturday, Nov. 11

Event flier, ‘Bikes for Firestorm 2017 Victims’

As a cyclist myself, here’s an especially meaningful benefit for victims of the North Bay fires. Southern Marin Fire District is hosting a bicycle giveaway for the victims of “Firestorm 2017,” 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, in the front parking lot of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, 2796 Ventura Ave. in Santa Rosa. (Giveaways are also planned in Sonoma, Napa and Glen Ellen.) Please bring some proof of the residence address where you lost your house to the fire to receive a free replacement bicycle, complete with helmet. (And if you’d like to help, SMFD is accepting donations of new or slightly-used bicycles at any of its fire stations with the goal of securing 1,000 bicycles).

‘Walk and Roll to School’ Wednesdays at SRCSA

Wednesdays are “Walk and Roll to School” days at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts! For the first time this week, we closed the yellow gates to the school parking lot on Wednesday; I was out in my bright yellow-green, reflective vest helping to redirect motorists.

Sacramento Regional Transit’s ‘Gold Line’

Mid-October found my family in the Sacramento area; we settled here to escape fires in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, and Mendocino counties.

While here, we rode the “Gold Line” light-rail, Sacramento Regional Transit District​.

Having previewed passenger-rail in my home community only a few months earlier (aboard Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit​), I was intrigued to make use of a mature passenger-rail system.

My impression of Sacramento Regional Transit is that it is extremely well-coordinated between light-rail and buses; we made connections within minutes between riding a train or bus.

Additionally, I was impressed by very affordable prices: $2.75 for basic adult fare or $7 for a day-long pass aboard Sacramento Regional Transit.

Sacramento River pedestrian trail

To escape the fires in Sonoma and Napa counties, we’ve been staying in the Sacramento area. When we checked in to a local hotel, we discovered an unexpected amenity: access by gate to a pedestrian trail along the Sacramento River. Walking along the trail, it took only a few minutes to reach Old Sacramento and the downtown. I could envision us returning, under less-stressful circumstances, and maybe bicycling the length of the trail from one end of Sacramento to the other.