Christopher White can be found riding through the Presidio, on stage in a new play, leading a bicycle education class or at his desk at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. We welcome Christopher, the new Program Coordinator for our adult Bicycle Education programs who is working to make biking more accessible to all through education and advocacy. Meet Christopher and learn more about biking in the city at one of our upcoming workshops!
SF Bicycle Coalition: Tell us a little bit about your new role.
Christopher: I manage the adult Bicycle Education programs. The majority of our public classes are funded by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, making them free and open to the public. These include our Traffic Skills 101 classes (both the Classroom and the On-Road) and Adult Learn to Ride. I’m also going to be developing a new course, Intermediate Urban Biking — look for it in August! And for the littler ones, we have Freedom From Training Wheels, a learn-to-ride class for kids at Sunday Streets. We also teach classes to professional drivers, such as anyone getting their taxi license, and to people interested in using bike share through Ford GoBike.
How long have you been a regular bike-rider?
I started getting seriously into biking the summer after I graduated from college, when I biked from New Haven, Conn. to Vancouver, British Columbia as part of a ride to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. After those 4,000-plus miles, I was hooked! I’ve ridden as my primary transportation in most places I’ve lived, including Dublin, Ireland; Boulder, Colo.; and here in SF and Oakland for the past 14 years.
What is your favorite aspect of biking in SF?
The variety of landscapes and views we have! I love that in a single ride, I can see ocean and bay views, be in the woods in the Presidio, visit bison in Golden Gate Park, stop and get delicious food or coffee, or even get out onto the Golden Gate Bridge and see the whole bay spread out below me!
Is there anything else you’d like our members to know about you?
My background is in theater and performance — bike advocacy is something of a second (or third) career. I have an MFA in Actor-Created Physical Theater, and I founded and directed the SF experimental ensemble Mugwumpin for 12 years. Mugwumpin is still going strong, and everyone should check out the awesome work they’re making. And I’m going to be acting in the fall in A Tale of Autumn, a new play by Christopher Chen, produced by Crowded Fire Theater.
Looking to learn more about urban biking? Would you like to freshen up on your traffic skills? Are you ready to start biking for the first time? Sign up today to join Christopher at one of our upcoming Bicycle Education workshops!