Welcome, from our New BSCC Board Chair
I’m excited to be stepping into the role of chair of Bike Santa Cruz County at a moment when biking and active transportation are rapidly changing across our county.
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on my old daily ride through Arana Gulch more than fourteen years ago, pulling two kids in a trailer on the way to preschool. The trail as we know it today didn’t exist. What we rode was a sketchy, muddy, bumpy path that eventually got us to Live Oak. My kids even made up a song just for it—“It’s the bumpy rooooooad… it’s the bumpy roooooad.” (In case you were wondering how it goes.)
Today, that same corridor is smooth, tranquil, and one of the most heavily biked and walked routes in Santa Cruz. Getting here wasn’t easy. Dedicated bike advocates put in years of work, often in the face of skepticism that the trail would see much use or offer real transportation value. Those advocates could envision a future where biking was a practical way to move through our community, and they laid the groundwork for the next generation.
Today, we’re in the middle of another major shift. The rapid adoption and evolution of e-bikes is changing who can ride, how far people can go, and who biking works for. This raises the bar for what our streets, trails, and crossings need to be. Our responsibility now is to make sure that the paths we build are safe, connected, and ready for the many more people who are choosing to bike rather than drive.
One of my core goals as chair is to help bring the broader bike community together – everyday riders, families, commuters, e-bike users, and people who want to bike but don’t yet feel safe. If we get this right, biking becomes a realistic option for many more people.
Our community also has real divides. The rail-and-trail conversation, in particular, has become deeply polarized. Emotions run high, and too often that polarization has kept us from moving forward together toward safer, more robust active transportation. I believe Bike Santa Cruz County can help be a catalyst for a different approach, one grounded in facts, data, lived experience, and a willingness to listen and work across differences.
The next few years will be pivotal. Major projects like the Santa Cruz Coastal Rail Trail are moving forward, alongside important efforts across the county, including the San Lorenzo Valley Multimodal Corridor, improvements and continued phases of the Soquel Drive protected bike lanes, and complete streets projects in Watsonville that are bringing protected bike lanes and safer crossings to South County. Together, these investments represent a real opportunity to advocate for infrastructure that allows people of all ages and abilities to move around Santa Cruz County. Getting it right will mean staying engaged, sharing perspectives, and working together to make sure these corridors are safe, welcoming, and ready for the next generation of riders.
I’m excited to work alongside our board, staff, volunteers, members, and partners to help ensure these investments deliver real, everyday safety and access. And I genuinely want to hear from you. If you have ideas, concerns, hopes with biking in Santa Cruz County, or how you want to contribute, please don’t hesitate to reach out at mikeycohen@gmail.com
–Mikey Cohen Chair, Bike Santa Cruz County