Meet Sonoma County's Bike Champion Of The Year

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Cotati resident Sherry Adams saw a need: upon release, most jail inmates lack transportation, a job, possibly even a driver’s license. Many lacked vehicles even before their incarceration.

Her vision was to teach classes in bicycle safety, basic maintenance and repairs to local jail inmates, then create a bike shop where inmates could learn bike repair and fix donated bikes that once restored would be given to inmates upon their release.

She spent over a year working with Sonoma County Jail corrections staff, going through the required background checks and training, and soliciting donations of bikes, tools and parts. She had the bike shop set up and had run a couple of class series when the coronavirus pandemic started, ending volunteer programs for the time being.

Her passion for social justice and for serving those in the community who are unseen, despised and disadvantaged did not go unnoticed.

Bay Area transportation officials named Adams the 2021 Bike Champion of the Year for Sonoma County, it was announced this week.

"Given to individuals for inspiring bicycling in their Bay Area communities, this award recognizes an individual (or in one case, a whole family) from each of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties for their commitment to bicycling as the primary mode of transport," said organizers with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and local transportation agencies who put on the annual Bay Area Bike to Work Day, which during the pandemic was changed to Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days.

Organizers of the event also launched the annual Bike Champion of the Year awards, with many of this year's honorees being veteran bike-cruisers who started initiatives to increase the use of bikes as a mode of transportation or have spent years leading by example.

Changing Gears

Adams works as a senior ecologist at the Marin Municipal Water District, is a cycling instructor certified by the League of American Bicyclists, and is a self-taught bike mechanic. While she is a fit and expert cyclist — she once road all the way from Berkeley to Denali National Park in Alaska! — it isn’t the miles she's covered, but her service to others that has earned her this award.

Diving into the local cycling community when she moved to Sonoma County in 2007, she served four years on the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition’s Board of Directors. She volunteered at local nonprofit Community Bikes, a reuse-and-repair training program, and worked as a bike mechanic at the ReCyclery Bike Thrift Shop operated by Trips for Kids. Her biggest and most recent achievement has been the creation of Changing Gears, an educational program for inmates at the Sonoma County jail.

Adams remains in contact with corrections staff and continues to prepare for the day when she’s allowed back in the jail again.

With typical humility, Adams demurred when told of her award, naming other people she thought were more deserving. That selflessness and dedication to service exemplifies the very definition of Bike Champion.

Bay Area Bike Champions Of The Year

In addition to Adams, winners this year include Sonia Elkes, from San Mateo County, who founded advocacy group San Carlos Bikes; and David Wood and his three daughters, who ride their bikes to school every day in Santa Clara County.

Hilary Noll, the winner from Marin County, hopes for a future where bike riding is normalized and more accessible.

"People from ages 8 to 80 feeling more comfortable biking for everyday needs," Noll said. "More women riding, especially as commuters. More women- and minority-owned bike shops. A cycling culture in which everyone from elite riders to everyday folks getting started and are welcomed and empowered."

Recipients of the award receive a Tailgator brake light and water bottle from Mike's Bikes, a bicycle-only membership for 24/7 roadside assistance from Better World Club, a laminated set of San Francisco map cards from the Association of Bay Area Governments, and a cycling jersey from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

Read more about this year's nine winners at Bayareabiketowork.com/bike-champions-of-the-year/.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.