Alexa Forrester and Chris Guenther, founders and organizers of Bikeable Santa Rosa, have worked tirelessly to steer Santa Rosa toward a low-stress, bikeable city. As young parents struggling to find safe routes to ride with their kids, they saw the critical need to organize for a more bikeable city.
They have invested hundreds of hours in monitoring city meetings and organizing testimony to support solutions for a protected mobility network connecting all parts of Santa Rosa. Building on the groundwork laid by the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, their collective vision and energy have shifted the relationship between the city and the bicycling community to a positive, productive, and collaborative one.
This year they raised over ten thousand dollars to bring City Thread to Santa Rosa to assess the bike/ped mobility network and to come up with an action plan (and inspired Petaluma to do the same). They have organized community rides in each sector of Santa Rosa and distribute a monthly email to over four hundred residents, summarizing actions taken and priorities to focus on as well as community events in Santa Rosa and beyond. This dynamic duo and amazing champions of Bikeable Santa Rosa will not stop until Santa Rosa is the best place to ride a bicycle.