California Bicycle Summit Plenary to Highlight San Diego’s Bike Cultures
The 2024 California Bicycle Summit will be held in San Diego, which is home to a diverse array of home-grown bicycle groups, each with its own flavor. On the second day of the Summit, Friday, April 19, Chloé Lauer, Executive Director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, will moderate a lunchtime plenary session bringing together representatives from several San Diego bike groups to talk about what makes the city’s cycling culture vibrant and unique.
CalBike spoke with one of the people from that panel, Vic Tello, who founded the ride group Nice N Easy two years ago, combining his love of biking and art to organize group rides. All the artwork in this post is by Tello.
Art + bikes = culture
Tello’s day job is electrical planning for General Dynamics, but he’s also been a competitive endurance athlete for over 20 years, and art is another hobby. “I have a thing for bicycle art,” he said.
About eight years ago, Tello started sharing his bike art on Instagram and got a positive response. “Art is a very powerful tool for communication,” he said. “Art is used for propaganda, flyers, advertising.” So, when he wanted to create a cycling club, he used his art as a way to catch people’s interest and bring attention to what he was doing.
“There’s many different bicycle tribes,” Tello says, listing road, mountain, BMX, and commuters. Each has its own culture, but they share more commonalities than differences. “I like to capture in the art how similar we are,” he said. “The art can relate to all bicycle tribes.”
Infrastructure facilitates bike culture
“San Diego has been putting millions of dollars into bike infrastructure,” Tello said, and that is what gave him the confidence to start Nice N Easy. Since 2010, the San Diego region has added nearly 400 miles of bikeways.
Nice N Easy meets for monthly rides that Tello says are accessible for all levels of cycling ability, including complete beginner. The rides often include stops for coffee or beer, and a recent outing gave riders a chance to experience San Diego’s Velodrome, yet another facet of local bicycle culture.
All the bike cultures at the California Bicycle Summit
The plenary will include several other groups, including the Awarewolves, and an exhibit of bike art. It’s one of over 30 sessions at the Summit, which will also include bike tours and social events. Many different bike cultures will be represented, from passionate advocates to dedicated urban planners. We hope you can join us. Register today.
