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How is our local Bike Culture? Rated & Reviewed

Justin Ancheta — Wed, 19 May 2021 01:48:45 +0000

*Local learning series written by Justin Ancheta, owner of Soul Graffiti Productions

How is our local Bike Culture? Rated & Reviewed

-Justin Ancheta & Family, biking to Briar Patch, April 2021.

Here at Soul Graffiti, we have been a part of many world wide Bicycle & Music trips focusing on the Bicycle Revolution. With trips over the Pyrenees Mountains – France to Spain, to doing a cross country Bike and Train tour from California to New York, we gather our resources and experience to drop into how Grass Valley and Nevada City rate for bike culture. Specifically, we are focusing on electric bikes (Ebikes) and how we may create a more safe and prosperous bike culture in our neck of the woods.

After both experiencing first hand, and hearing from others about how it is for them riding Ebikes in our community, we have summarized a few highlights and ratings that can help bridge the gap for the transition families and communities can make to bike more locally and creating a smaller carbon footprint.

Here is the criteria using in our ratings:

Safety
Routes
Ease, Legality and Etiquette

Each category will be ranked from a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best. We’d be happy to hear your thoughts and experiences with these as well, so please comment and let us know how it is for you.

Ideally, with more momentum from the adoption of Ebikes in the area, it will help motivate safer bike routes and infrastructure to be built while also helping to increase our knowledge around safety, legalities and etiquette for both vehicles and bikers. The idea of “how we share the road” will take everyone’s collaboration.

Ebike Safety in Grass Valley/Nevada City – Rating: 6.5

You can’t go wrong with safety where there aren’t cars and you have a two laned bike throughways. The Litton Trail offers a glimpse of this safety and infrastructure maturity, yet it doesn’t last very long. Most EBikers need to share the side of the road or take a lane in some circumstances to get from point A to point B. Although this does create for some risky situations, the EBike allows for more safety because you have the ability to match speeds of traffic and take lanes with more ease. Overall, I’d rate the area for Ebikes around a 6.5. A regular bike rates closer to 3.5.

*Sign and trail picture from www.bylt.org/trail/litton-trail

Regular biking in the area is rated less in safety due to the inability to match speeds up hills when in a traffic area, plus the many mountain bike trails that so many folks enjoy can also be a bit treacherous. Definitely wear your helmets! As stated, Ebikes are a bit higher in rating locally due to the ability to match speeds better and take lanes. However, a good way for EBikes to increase in safety locally is to have increased bike awareness through marked lanes to “share the road” with bikes, and also more knowledge of how to signal in traffic.

Drivers locally are notorious for getting angry at bikers and showing this attitude when bikers take a lane, and then passing on blind turns or sometimes pushing bikers off the road. A way to keep safe is to fully take a lane if you feel the edge isn’t large enough to bike safely with cars flying by. Ideally, all you bike advocates and environmentalist can set the stage for compassionate communication and empathy for those drivers that don’t know about the ease, fun, and excitement of getting around by bike.

The largest steps toward safety is educating the community, making yourself visible (lights and bright colors), knowing your hand signals and use them, and taking the lane when necessary. Definitely watch out for ice in the winter and stay clear of snow patches. The spring, summer, and fall season is pretty ideal and more safe than winters for sure, but winter is not ruled out as a mode of operation if you keep to safer routes.

Ebike Routes in Grass Valley/Nevada City – Rating: 3.5

With countless off-road mountain biking in the area, there are plenty of enjoyable nature trails to get your Ebike onto with safety, ease, and joy! As stated before, the idea of more connecting trails like the Litton Two Way Bike Lane, is a great example of where we can go when we choose to add more routes. Updating even further with road signs with Ebike and Bike sharing markers. After being carless for almost a decade in the Bay Area Ebiking around, I can’t say enough about how important it was to organize and support local Bike Coalitions and Advocates that support this infrastructure.

After lots of research online and talking to locals, I find that the mountain biking community is highly visible and organized, allowing for easy access to many free amazing resources and trails throughout the county and surrounding areas. That said, road biking and EBiking is pretty M.I.A. (Missing-In-Action) both online and from what I see in the connected area. There are many Ebike shops popping up locally and I do see a rise in ridership coming soon, but in regards to advocacy and leadership, you have to look at the larger organizations such as CalBike.org that is working to create incentives for Ebike purchases in California, plus adding infrastructure improvements. The only things I see visible in our local area are for mountain bike support such as www.bonc.org (Bicycles of Nevada City). This rating is low at 3.5 due to the comparison to mountain bikes locally, plus how many connection points and road awareness could be put up to support riders feeling safe and cared for. The more people feel Ebiking is safe, the more riders and support there will be!

Lastly, here is an Ebike group that has doubled in size just in the past week: Nevada County eBike Riders Facebook group.

Ebike: Ease, Legality & Etiquette – Rating: Ease: 8.5, Legality: 6.5; Etiquette: 2.5

We had to rate each of these categories separately, as they differ in ratings based on our understanding of Ebiking locally.

Lets start with ease! This is the highest rating yet of 8.5 because Ebikes allow you to power up those steep inclines and charge on the declining hills with your rechargeable braking system (if you have that option). Riders don’t have to be afraid of the hills anymore when you have an Ebike with pedal assist and throttle options.

My favorite is the throttle because you can more easily support how much pedal assist you want, or completely take over at times with the electric motor and cruise as if you are on a motor bike, which you are!

For all you older folk that still want to get out and ride but are afraid the hills are too much in our area, get an Ebike and that will solve it. And for you young folk that want to support a more green and carbon neutral future, plus have a more enjoyable mode of transportation – get an Ebike! As for the heat, cold, snow, rain, and ice – you can solve lots of this by getting the right gear for the season. Rain ponchos and foot and pant-wear that is rainproof, plus gloves, will allow you to ride in rain and not get wet. Maybe even bring a change of clothes in a backpack to assure your dryness upon arrival.

Legality is a 6.5 rating due to how our culture can be more aware of the improvements in our legal system, and how cops can be more knowledgeable about Ebikes safety and use.

Currently in California, EBikes are supposed to stay under 20 MPH, under a 750 Watt maximum, and can have 2-3 wheels with fully operational pedals.

My experience of Ebikes is that it is easy to get carried away and find yourself going up to 45 MPH and having systems that are 1000+ Watts of power (not to encourage this, but 48V to 72V power systems allow for this). Even with the extra power, I’ve found that it helps me match traffic and allows for more safety in merging situations. You can always stay under 20 MPH by setting your bike to do this and watching your speedometer.

Etiquette rating is 2.5 due to the capacity for more knowledge and awareness of the biking community at large. I’d be so happy to hear of a local chapter or bike coalition formed to advocate for the safety, knowledge, and ease of Ebikes and road biking in the area. As much as bikers need to have proper hand signals, marked clothing and gear (lights), the driving community needs to share the road with bikes. It’s potentially one of the easiest ways for our society to cut back on our fossil fuel addiction and increase more walkable and bikeable locations in our county. I can’t stress enough to share the road both ways. If someone barks at you, do your best to give bikers a good rap by keeping your cool. There is already too much hate and violence in our world and the more we can be the change we wish to see, the more we will feel it.

In summary, even though our community isn’t the most bike friendly area in California for a mode of transportation, Ebikes and the awareness of this radical transformation in local transportation could revolutionize the fabric of our culture.

Try it sometime! Go to your local Ebike dealer and rent a an Ebike for a day and take it around town, the Litton Trail, go to downtown Grass Valley and Nevada City and see how it feels to you to power up those hills without any struggle. I have a hybrid SUV and I can’t stress enough how the smaller and lighter the vehicle, the better the battery powered system works. I’m a bit disappointed in the Hybrid modeled SUV’s due to the inability to have good gas mileage in our area due to hills, hot, and cool weather. That said, the hybrid model of an Ebike using your leg power and electric power is phenomenal and can save you hundreds of dollars annually, up to thousands if you use it enough instead of your vehicle.

So let’s get on the same page here… whether you make the transition to an EBike yourself, or you see more of them on the road, remember to smile and be courteous, giving ample room to pass bikers waiting for clear marked road areas for passing and most of all practice “Patience.” If someone is on a bike they are doing something good for the environment, our community, and themselves all at once. Try it out and you will feel amazing!

Justin Ancheta : Owner of Soul Graffiti Productions (Music Lessons, Events, Audio & Video)

& Director of Walk Oakland Bike Oaklands Open Street Festival – Love Our Neigborhood Day

Ancheta is a bike touring musician, born in California and raised in the Sierra Foothills of California, has toured Europe and across the United States raising awareness around Bicycles in the past decade of his life.

He now resides in Grass Valley, California and is the owner of Soul Graffiti Productions, SF Garnish Music, and performs regularly regionally with his partner, Maren Metke, mother to their daughter, Juniper.

www.soulgraffiti.info

Music at: www.justinanchetaband.com & www.honeyoftheheart.com

For information, music lessons, bookings and more contact Justin at 510.463.4769

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The Magic of Mushrooms – Mushroom Barn

Stephanie Manara — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 02:09:32 +0000

*Local Learning Series written by Stephanie Manara of The Mushroom Barn in Nevada City & Grass Valley, CA

The Magic of Mushrooms

Mushrooms are an amazing thing. We often think of plant kingdoms, animal kingdoms (which we are a part of), but we leave out the Fungal kingdom (a.k.a. Queendom).

In the Sierra Foothills, one of our biggest challenges to a sustainable future is the fact that a lot of our food comes from really far away, large farms. Especially in the winter when we cannot grow as much. If these supply chains become disrupted, like we noticed during Covid, we could be up the creek without a paddle in the winter, when we are not producing enough food locally to feed our community.

Mushrooms – are the missing link in having a sustainable nutrition-dense food system in the Sierra Foothills.

Mushrooms play a huge role in our local resiliency to changes that impact our food system. Here are some reasons why.

Let’s begin with how we grow. Have you heard of vertical farming? This is essentially a technique that aims to reduce the footprint of a given agricultural practice. We grow mushrooms in vertical containers that allow us to maximize a very small amount of space for a very large amount of organic food.

Growing mushrooms on a small scale like this also means we are ‘Decentralized’ from the mainstream of mono-cropped food.

The most fascinating part about incorporating small mushroom farms into our local food system is how regenerative mushrooms can turn the system as a whole, since they can be grown on our agricultural waste such as horse manure and cereal grain husks.

Mushroom mycelia are the “original regenerators” as I like to call them.

And the “byproduct” of organic mushroom farming is actually living nutrient-rich mushroom compost great for garden and livestock fertility. In addition to vertically farming, we can use the power of the four seasons here in the foothills, by switching our mushroom cultivars each season to work with nature. Most of our cultivars are actually native to this area, including the legendary Lions Mane mushroom, the honorable Reishi mushroom, and the generous Oyster Mushroom varieties.

Food as medicine: Consuming locally grown, mouth-watering mushrooms is a meaningful way to steward the planet, and the nutritional and medicinal value you get in return is unsurpassed. The mushrooms we’re growing have a lengthy list of health benefits too vast to consolidate in one paragraph, but all of them are rich in protein, minerals, vitamins, beta-glucans, and anti-inflammatory life-enhancing compounds. All mushrooms are high in Vitamin-D, essentially Superhuman food, to be precise.

Because we are operating local and care so much about the resiliency of our community, we want to empower you to grow your own mushrooms too. We produce “farm on table” grow kits to get you started! We are like the fruit farms that additionally sells fruit trees, as we believe the more mushroom mycelium we can grow as a community, the more resilient we become. Like native plant nurseries, we are preserving a spore bank of local strains of fungi for future generations.

This is why we believe mushroom growing is the missing link in our community and we want to invite you to join us.

—

The contributor to this article is Stephanie Manara, Director of Mycology at The Mushroom Barn. Mush Barn is a local female-run farm sporting small-scale regenerative business in Ag, while stewarding the health of the planet. Stephanie is an applied Mycologist from the sunny shores of the Gulf of Mexico.

She began dedicating her life’s work to the fungal queendom nine years ago, on the search to discovering soil sciences and the mysteries of where humans interface with the biosphere. Her Undergraduate focused on applying regenerative mycology principles to modern day industrial drawbacks, followed up with research in China and Colombia, as well as working in the largest medicinal mushroom laboratory in the world.

She recently established The Mushroom Barn LLC in Grass Valley, where her team is growing 1,300 lb of ecologically-beneficial mushroom mycelium each week, with plans to expand this Spring. Beyond education and fresh mushrooms, their Mission is to provide the community with ‘bucketloads’ of mushroom mycelium that can be “fruited” right off the sides of the buckets, or simply spread in the garden, for perennial mushroom patches season after season! If you grow more mushroom abundance than you can eat, The MushBarn will buy the fresh mushrooms back from you, to marinate for their ridiculously delicious line of Mushroom Jerky. They believe their farms products can have a courageously beneficial impact on the local ecology, meanwhile leaving a microscopic footprint in the making.

We love our people & plant neighbors, and want to encourage greater wellness with mushroom consumption and cultivation. Our Fresh Mushroom CSA program is a super simple way to get your hands on our fresh mush-varieties each week (or monthly pick). If you’re interested in bulk quantities of mushroom magic, reach out to us at hello.mycelia@gmail.com.

Year-round we’re cultivating fresh Lions Mane, Blue Oysters, King Trumpets, Pearl Oysters, Black Pearl Oysters, Garden Giants, and Chestnut mushrooms each week at the barn, in the heart of Grass Valley. We have Reishi and Cordyceps mushrooms on the way to fruiting, and maybe even some morel mycelium available for the community this Spring too. We’ve also developed an expanding product line of shelf-stable mushroom treats that we’re excited to share.

As far as growing your own mushrooms, we’ve got you covered. Our grow kits are high-performing protein-machines that will fruit mushrooms right out of the bag.. on your countertop! Something truly unforgettable to experience for the first time. We have a half dozen or so varieties to choose from, and will also have *re-usable* bucket grow kit containers available this Spring, where you bring back the bucket and we *re-fill* it with mushroom mycelium for you! This type of conscious exchange is novel and has us jumping with joy for how ecologically sound and sustainable it is.

Each week we produce bundles of fresh mushrooms on our farm, and we’re inviting you behind the scenes to get your hands dirty with us! Internship Applications, Pre-orders, Wholesale inquiries, and any questions you may have can be answered at hello.mycelia@gmail.com

Find us on our website www.mushbarn.com or instagram @mushbarn.

We’re The Mushroom Barn you’ve been looking for :)

Sign-up for our CSA today at MushBarn.com

May the spores be with you, as we rebuild a brighter future with food sovereignty, healthier immune systems, and a collective willingness to take better care of our communities, and our earthly home.

Stephanie Manara

Mycelia Movement

S.mycelia@gmail.com

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Photo Scavenger Hunt – Permaculture

Harry O'Rourke — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 01:09:31 +0000

Local Photo Scavenger Hunt and more…

Theme: Rain Capture

Have you ever heard of the advice to “Keep the water on the landscape?” No? Before this hunt is over you’ll understand what it means.

In this local photo scavenger hunt big kids (aka adults) and little kids are called to photograph and share via Facebook or Email, how we deal with water in a sustainable way in our community. In this season’s photo hunt we are focusing on rain & snow melt and how (and why) we capture it.

Step 1: Photo Scavenger Hunt

Find the types of signs you see below which talk about water capture and sustainability around Nevada City and Grass Valley. Take a picture of each sign and take a picture of the feature it explains. Share them on our Facebook Page or email them with a description to info@seg.energy.

Here are a few examples, now get out there and hunt! – some hints of where to find these are at the bottom of this article

Step 2: Observe and Record

During the next rain or snow melt observe your own property, house, nearby park and neighborhood. Do you notice erosion or other water damage? Standing water or ponds where there should not be?

Observe and record, aka take pictures, of what the water is doing as we will use these pictures later on in other seasons.

Is the water being captured and utilized or is it running off the land? Where the water going?

Imagine if we covered the land in non-permeable concrete and asphalt, what do you think would happen to the living soil below when it never receives water? What do you think would happen to the water wells and water table in that area? Where do the pipes drain and why is that important? Add this to you report when you upload your pictures.

Step 3 – Bonus Round:

Take pictures of sustainable and eco-friendly features around your home and our town and label them for what they are and how they work. Can you implement some of these at your home?

Need ideas for what to look for? See below.

Food for thought: Do any of these topics below interest you? Is anyone doing them in your area? Search online or ask around to find out. If you find someone interesting, let us know and maybe they can write an article in our next newsletter!

Topics to look for:

Sustainable Energy
Waste Management
Human Waste Management
Water Management
Natural Building
Natural/ Eco Clothing
Sustainable Growing
Insects
Animals
Food Processing & Preservation
Sustainable Building Certifications
Sustainable Communities
Social Sustainability & Aid
Earth Sciences
Marine Sciences
Horticulture & Preservation
Herbalism & Medicinal Plants
Primitive, Wild, Survival
Permaculture Design Course – PDC 72hr
Organic Agriculture
Biodynamic Methods
Permaculture Methods
Solar Energy
Water Energy
Wind Energy
Solar Water Heating
Geo-thermal Energy
Other Energy: tidal, bio-gas, etc
Plastic Solutions
Recycling
Air Cleaning
Water Cleaning
Land Reviving
Pollution Control
Composting & Alternative toilets
Septic, Reed Beds etc
Other Human Waste Processing
Rainwater Catchment, Harvesting
Earthworks: Swales, dams, etc
Drinking Water Filtering
Irrigation
Surveying, Mapping and GIS
Keyline Technique
Other Water Management
Indigenous Building Methods
Using Earth (cob, rammed, adobe,+)
Using Wood (timber, bamboo, +)
Other Natural Building Techniques
Natural/ Eco Clothing
Solar cookers
Chicken Tractors, etc
Biochar
Naturally Derived Cleaning
Bike & People Powered
Other DYI Projects
Companion Planting
Perennial Planting
Natural Pest Management
Natural Fungus, Disease Control
Soil Building, Mulching, Hugelkultur
Compost Tea
Composting
Vermicomposting
Mushroom Cultivation
Bioremediation
Urban Gardening & Ag
Vertical Gardening
Korean Natural Farming
Indigenous Methods
Hoop Houses, Greenhouses
Native Gardens & Spaces
Tree Care, Planting
Food Forests & Agroforestry
Hydroponics
Aquaculture
Aquaponics
Ocean Fish Farming
Algae and Water Plants
Indoor Growing
Polycultures & Crop Rotation
Other Gardening Methods
Beekeeping
Insects For food
Butterfly Sanctuary
Other Insect Projects
Grazing
Clothing
Milk
Egg Production
Micro livestock
Large Livestock for Meat (sustainable)
Habitat Creation
Canning & Preservation
Food Processing Methods
Fermented Foods
Brewing
Other Food Processing
Sustainability Consultant
Corporate Sustainable Responsibility (CSR)
LEED
BREEAM
DGNB
Other Building Certification
People Planning Urban & Suburban
Bicycle Infrastructure
Parks / Green Spaces
Other People Planning
CSA
Food Coops
Running a Farm
Other Business Models
Innovative Responsible Technology
Gadgets: Sustainability, Growing
Large Indoor Growing
Software, Apps for Sustainability
Other Innovative Tech
Land Conservation
Park & Trail Management
Building Sustainable Communities
Eco Villages
Other Community Models
Social Sustainability & Justice
Aid Work w/ Sustainability, Permaculture
Biology
Botany
Ecology
Plant Identification
Soil Science
Biotech & Agronomy
Other Earth Sciences
Marine Biology
Reef Restoration
Marine Life Preservation
Animal & Plant Preservation
Botanical Gardens
Landscape Restoration
Other Preservation
Planetary Research
Permaculture – Teacher
Other Teacher Training
Herbalism & Medicinal Plants
Other Earth Based Healing
Primitive & Survival Skills
Wild & Local Foraging

Photo Scavenger Hunt Hints: Nevada County Rood Center in Nevada City, California. Permeable Pavement in Grass Valley, California. Rain Gardens, Nevada City, CA. American Rivers. School Street Grass Valley.

Parents and Teachers: Did you like photo hunt idea and would like to work with us to bring this to your children as a school project? Reach out to us and let us know.

The next photo hunt will be looking at the same places in Spring and seeing how the water has affected those areas and how water could have been used better.

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