Sunnyvale cyclist named county's Bike Champion

Commuting by bicycle from his Sunnyvale home to classes at Mission College in Santa Clara, Ari Feinsmith witnessed firsthand the lack of safe bicycle infrastructure along his route. His efforts to improve that situation led organizers of Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days to name the 21-yearold as Bike Champion of the Year for Santa Clara County.

Feinsmith is the youngest winner to date of the award, which recognizes individuals in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties for their commitment to bicycling as the primary mode of transport. Bay Area Bike to Work/Wherever Days were May 20-22.

In his effort to make cycling safer in his city and get more people riding, Feinsmith joined the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and became the leader of the coalition's Sunnyvale team, also known as Bike Sunnyvale.

In the last two years, Feinsmith led 11 successful advocacy campaigns to lobby the Sunnyvale City Council to improve street design for bicyclists and implement bicycle-friendly city policies. These campaigns included getting council approval to have a traffic lane on his street temporarily converted to a pedestrian/bicyclist pathway and investigate making it permanent. He also successfully lobbied for improvements to Sunnyvale's bicycle plan.

During the pandemic, Feinsmith realized that many potential cyclists weren't riding because their bikes were sitting in their garages in disrepair. He led eight free bicycle repair events in Sunnyvale; to date, he and his team of volunteers have fixed 328 bicycles.

Feinsmith also organizes community bike rides and sets up tables at events where he educates people about the importance of stress-free bicycle infrastructure and encourages them to become members of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.

His bicycle advocacy has inspired him to major in civil engineering and pursue a career in transportation, with an emphasis on street safety. He plans to transfer to UC Davis in the fall.

For more information on Bike Sunnyvale, visit bikesunnyvale.org.