Samantha Ollinger recently quit her job as an accountant to focus full-time on advocating for bicyclists in San Diego. | Photo Credit: Sam Hodgson
By Adrian Florido
In 2008, Samantha Ollinger and her husband mounted their bicycles in Philadelphia and pushed off toward a new home in San Diego.
They pedaled about 2,000 miles before renting a U-Haul in Texas to take them the rest of the way. Though they cut their cycling short, it was during that trip, Ollinger said, “that I really fell in love with riding.”
Here, she and two friends launched a website called BikeSD.org. In the two years since, it’s become a favorite for the city’s cycling community.
What’s your favorite bike ride in San Diego?
The international ride — Paseo de Todos. A group of us ride down to Tijuana, ride around, and then come back. It’s the first Friday of every month. There’s also a Tuesday Taco ride. We meet at Balboa Park at 5:45, ride at a brisk pace, find a place to get tacos, drink some beer.
Would you call San Diego a bike-friendly city?
It’s just OK. It could do much, much, much better. One of the reasons I’m a bike advocate is because I think it has tremendous potential and could exceed bike friendly cities like Portland, Davis, New York City.