An Introduction to Andy Hanshaw and a History of Bike the Bay

In late June the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition announced the name of their new Executive Director, Andy Hanshaw. After months of searching, the Bike Coalition had finally found someone capable enough to take on the reins of a position that was built from scratch by the former Executive Director, Kathy Keehan. Keehan held the position for over 11 years and created a position that was both highly respected and extremely demanding. I sat down with Andy a few weeks ago to talk about his background and his vision for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. The article that follows stems from that discussion.

To most San Diegans, Andy Hanshaw’s name may be unfamiliar, but the ride he has organized and coordinated for the past four years, Bike the Bay, is not.  Bike the Bay for the past four years has been one of the largest fundraisers for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. Thus it may have no big surprise when the SDCBC announced the name of the new Executive Director based on his track record of bringing in valuable fundraising and outreach experience to the Coalition.

Until his move to San Diego over a decade ago, Hanshaw was primarily into long distance running. He focused a lot of his energy on running marathons. But he was inspired by Lance Armstrong and decided to try riding after he moved to San Diego with his wife.  Hanshaw had moved here from Portland and brought with him lessons learned from witnessing Portland’s growing bicycle culture. His first stop in San Diego was Adams Avenue Bicycle Shop, where he purchased his bicycle. He then proceeded to ride, and ride he did. He began to get into riding longer and longer distances such as century rides and then eventually, community rides around various neighborhoods to learn more about the city he had decided to call home.

Hanshaw credits Portland and the BTA for making a strong enough impression on him to get involved in bicycle advocacy. It was in Portland that Hanshaw got involved with the city’s first Bridge Pedal ride. It was the ride that Mia Birk, one of Portland’s most influential bike coordinators (now President of Alta Planning & Design), was instrumental in organizing. It was Bridge Pedal’s success that stuck with Hanshaw when he moved to San Diego, and it was a ride he decided to implement here in San Diego.

With that thought, Hanshaw approached the SDCBC’s then Executive Director, Kathy Keehan with the idea of creating a ride that would begin in San Diego, go over the Coronado Bridge and into Coronado, down to Imperial Beach and back up to San Diego having circled the San Diego Bay. It was during these initial talks that he learned about a similar ride called the Five Cities ride that had seen tremendous success but was then was shut down based on efforts by the City of Coronado.

The Five Cities Ride was a ride that began in 1979 with 1,500 cyclists attending the inaugural ride. It was organized by the American Youth Hostels, as the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition didn’t exist back then. The fee to ride around the bay back in 1979 was $7 per person. The route and ride logistics was not unlike the Bike the Bay in its current incarnation. The Five Cities ride began in San Diego, went over the Coronado Bridge giving riders spectacular views of the Laguna Mountains. The ride’s route then went down to Imperial Beach and then back up through the cities of Chula Vista and National City. In 1984, the last year of the ride, the ride drew its largest crowd yet, with over 10,000 cyclists, and was by all counts a tremendous success for bicycle advocacy.

However, the city of Coronado thought that 10,000 cyclists riding over the bridge and through the city in the early morning, once a year, was too much trouble. So the Coronado’s City Council voted unanimously to ban the Five Cities ride from the city just before the ride’s sixth anniversary in February 1985. Coronado’s City Council cited both their residents’ complaints, that the cyclists were causing too much noise and disturbing the peace and quiet of their community, and the possibility of lawsuits resulting from accidents, despite the $10 million accident liability insurance carried by the ride’s organizers, as reasons to ban the ride. However the bridge remained open for the one other non-motorized event that Caltrans allowed across the bridge, a walk benefiting the Quality of Life programs for the U.S. Navy.

But when Andy Hanshaw arrived in San Diego, he wasn’t aware of the history behind the Five Cities ride. He just started from scratch wanting to recreate Portland’s Bridge Pedal success in San Diego. It was while riding the Bayshore Bikeway and the Silver Strand Bikeway that the idea to turn this inspiration into an event occurred to him.

It took about a year after Hanshaw’s initial talks with Keehan before his idea gained any traction. The initial plan for the ride was to use the Coronado ferry to transport riders over to Coronado. But the City of Coronado, perhaps in an attempt to undo their past mistake, opened up to the idea of welcoming cyclists who would ride over the bridge. It was with the City of Coronado’s assistance, that Hanshaw was able to obtain a permit from Caltrans. However, perhaps in an attempt to prevent problems that had happened in the past, Caltrans limited the ride to only 2,500 riders – a quarter of the size of the Five Cities Ride before it was shut down over 20 years ago. In deciding to partner with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition who would benefit by receiving 50% of the proceeds, the SDCBC could use the ride as an outreach opportunity. Thus, in 2008, the Five Cities Ride was back again, this time renamed as Bike the Bay.

The ride was a tremendous success and guaranteed the region’s cyclists that an old tradition would be back to stay.

Bike the Bay’s success was not unusual for Andy Hanshaw, as his background in Public Administration allowed him to immerse himself in a career with non-profits, specifically in advocacy and fundraising.

I asked Hanshaw what he thought the SDCBC needed as an organization to move forward as an effective advocacy organization. He responded that the SDCBC  needed more engaged volunteers. He wanted the Coalition to be representative of all cyclists including, people who rode daily, and the daily commuters. His plans for the Coalition include growing the Coalition’s membership base, growing the Coalition’s outreach efforts and increasing the Coalition’s image and the residents’ awareness of the work that the Coalition does for the region’s cyclists. To that end, his goal is to create partnership with all sectors of the bicycling community and actively being a part of an effort to get more people on a bicycle.

What was most encouraging about our conversation was Hanshaw’s response to my question on what drew him to the position of the Executive Director at the SDCBC. Hanshaw responded that while he was passionate about bicycling, the  real opportunity to turn that passion to a career was most exciting.

“That is what initially drew me – to be involved and be a part of a bigger movement and be a part of San Diego’s future to be a dynamic bicycling community, for a worldwide audience. So we need to play a role in making things better for cyclists.” — Andy Hanshaw, Executive Director of the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition

I look forward to working with Andy and seeing San Diego grow under his leadership.