Thousand Oaks Ranks #49 on 2016 BICYCLING Magazine List of Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities

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The Amgen Tour came by so fast in 2016 that it was just a blur!

The Amgen Tour came by so fast in 2016 that it was just a blur!

Today, BICYCLING Magazine published its biennial list of the top 50 bike-friendly cities in the United States. The list is updated every other year based on data from over 100 cities and factors in miles of bike lanes and other information.

The City of Thousand Oaks made the cut at #49 this time, down from #33 on the 2014 list. The article mentions that the City gave bicycle safety education to 5,500 K-8 students over the last year, upgraded paths by providing separate facilities for bicyclists and equestrians and added green paint to bike lane intersections. However, the write-up notes that "much of Thousand Oaks' bike lanes remain far too narrow" and that only 3 out of the city's 157 miles of bike lanes contain a striped buffer to allow extra space between cars and cyclists.

Other Southern California cities on the list include Los Angeles (#24, up from #28 in 2014) and Long Beach (#28, down from #23 in 2014). The top 3 cities on this biennial list are Chicago, San Francisco and Portland.

For Class I Bike Paths in and around Ventura County, click THIS LINK.

Other local cycling clubs/groups in and around Ventura County at THIS LINK.

Thousand Oaks Ranked #33 on 2014 BICYCLING Magazine List of Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities

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Amgen Tour of California 2016

Amgen Tour of California 2016

In August 2014, BICYCLING Magazine published its biennial list of the top 50 bike-friendly cities in the United States. The list was completed based on cities with populations of 95,000 or more (roughly 300 U.S. cities are in this category) based on input from various sources, including the League of American Bicyclists.

Congratulations goes out once again to the City of Thousand Oaks for placing 33rd on this list, up from 38th on the 2012 list. Thousand Oaks was one of three Southern California cities to make the list, which included Los Angeles (28th) and Long Beach (23rd).

Keep in mind that this list was based on cities with populations of about 100,000+, which represents about 300 of the 20,000 or so cities in the U.S.

For Class I Bike Paths in and around Ventura County, click THIS LINK.

Other local cycling clubs/groups in and around Ventura County at THIS LINK.

Ventura County Area Schools in U.S. News 2016 Ranking of Nation's Top High Schools

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U.S. News & World Report has published its 2016 ranking of the nation's best public high schools. The rankings were based on data from 28,561 public high schools and from that total, 19,908 schools with high enough enrollment and sufficient data to be ranked.

The methodology for the ranking process was to 1) identify schools that best serve students' needs, including disadvantaged subgroups, based on academic performance in reading and math and 2) evaluate college preparedness based on graduation rates and participating and performance on Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) exams.

The median College Readiness Index (CRI) for 2016, measured on a scale of 0 to 100, was 20.17. A CRI of 100 means that all 12th graders took and passed at least 1 Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test.

Among other factors, to be ranked, a high school had to perform better than expected on state accountability assessments, factoring in the proportion of economically disadvantaged students.  In other words, to receive a ranking, a school had to perform higher than other schools in the state with similar proportions of economically disadvantaged students.

To be ranked in California, schools must receive either a gold (top 500 nationally) or silver (top 501 to 2,673 nationally) medal, representing schools with CRI values at or above the 20.17 median.

Learn more at www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/national-rankings.

2015 survey summary is at THIS LINK.

Ventura County Area Schools in Newsweek's 2016 Ranking of the Nation's Top High Schools

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Newsweek has published its 2016 ranking of the nation's "top 500 public high schools." The rankings were based on data from 16,285 public high schools from the National Center for Education Statistics.

Researchers determined the ranking by selecting schools at perform in the 70th percentile or higher in standardized state testing. From there, the ranking was done using the following criteria:

  • 10% of ranking based on "Holding Power," or the proportion of 9th graders that stay enrolled through 12th grade.
  • 10% based on the ratio of school counselors to students.
  • 17.5% based on SAT/ACT test score performance.
  • 17.5% based on AP/IB dual enrollment composite.
  • 20% based on graduation rate
  • 25% based on college enrollment rate.

Based on the above methodology, four local area schools made the top 500:

Oak Park High School ranked 51st overall and 7th in California

Westlake High School ranked 119th overall and 15th in California

Foothill Technology High School in Ventura ranked 393rd overall and 45th in California

Missing from this year's list that were on the 2015 list were Thousand Oaks High School (215th overall last year) and Calabasas High School (339th overall last year).

See more at www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2016.

January to June 2016 Restaurants New and Restaurants Adieu in Ventura County

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Here's the latest compilation of restaurants in the Conejo Valley and throughout Greater Ventura County that opened, announced plans to open or closed during the period January through June 2016.

(Click here for previous July through December 2015 activity.) Let us know of any we missed!

Restaurants That Have Opened Since December 2015

Restaurants That Are Planning to Open Soon

Registering to Vote in California Takes Just a Couple of Minutes Online

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The 2016 primary election took place this past Tuesday, June 7th. The U.S. Presidential election is Tuesday, November 8, 2016.

There are currently 412,924 registered voters in Ventura County, consisting of 138,663 Republicans, 169,759 Democrats, 84,615 Non Partisan and 19,887 Other. Turnout for the primary election was 47.76% (updated), which is actually a significant improvement over the Presidential primary in 2012 at 32.9%. But inversely, of course, it means that a majority of registered voters in Ventura County still did NOT vote in the primary.

The estimated 2015 population of Ventura County was just over 850,000, with roughly 70% age 18 and older. This translates into roughly 600,000 residents eligible to vote in Ventura County, This means that for every two registered voters in Ventura County, there is one unregistered voter. It also means that for every voter in the primary, there were two eligible citizens who did not take part in the voting process.

With all that said, it certainly is EASY to register to vote in California. You can register in less than five minutes online at registertovote.ca.gov. And you can also, as I did, re-register if you would like to change political affiliation, or perhaps change to "No Party Preference."

The screenshots below show you the process. You of course must be an 18+ year old U.S. Citizen on election day, a California resident, and not be deemed incompetent to vote nor happen to be a convicted felon in jail or on parole.

California Online Voter Registration - Home Page

California Online Voter Registration - Home Page

Eligibility (1 of 3)

Eligibility (1 of 3)

Eligibility (2 of 3)

Eligibility (2 of 3)

Eligibility (3 of 3) - If you want no party preference, click the "No" box.

Eligibility (3 of 3) - If you want no party preference, click the "No" box.

You're done! Easy peasy!

You're done! Easy peasy!

11th Amgen Tour of California Returns to Thousand Oaks at Stage 3 on May 17, 2016

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The 2016 Amgen Tour of California, presented by AEG, will kick off this spring in the heart of San Diego for the first time in its 11-year history and conclude in Sacramento for the first time. Competing across nearly 800 miles of quintessential California terrain from May 15-22, the course will lead World Champions, Olympic Medalists, top Tour de France competitors and other elite professional cyclists south to north for only the second time since the race began in 2006, with 12 cities to host starts and finishes along the way.

The 2016 Amgen Tour will return to Thousand Oaks for a fifth time. Thousand Oaks will host the start of Stage 3 at Amgen’s campus on May 17, 2016. This stage will finish in Santa Barbara, up Gibraltar Road to the finish at 3,997 foot La Cumbre Peak.

The starting line of Stage 3 is at 1 Amgen Center Drive. It starts at 11:15 am. After a small loop at the start of the race, it will follow Rancho Conejo Blvd south and continue to Borchard Road west until the cyclists reach South Reino Road, where they turn left (south) to Potrero Road east towards Hidden Valley. Then on to Westlake Boulevard/Decker Canyon southbound to Mulholland Highway down to PCH north. From there, PCH to Las Posas Road north to  Hueneme Road westbound to Ventura Road north, then West Channel Islands Blvd. Then, North Harbor Blvd to Sanjon Road, then East Thompson Blvd to North Ventura Ave, around Lake Casitas, then onwards to the finish on Gibraltar Road to La Cumbre Peak in Santa Barbara at an anticipated time of 3:48 pm.

In addition to the men’s event, top professional women cyclists from around the world will converge during the latter half of the race to compete in the Amgen Tour of California Women’s Race, the most expansive women’s event in race history. The race will be the first U.S. event on the first-ever UCI Women's WorldTour (WWT).

The Amgen Tour of California is regarded as the most internationally respected and esteemed stage race in the U.S. and one of the largest sporting events in the country.

The 2016 Host Cities for the Amgen Tour of California include:

Stage 1 (5/15/16) – San Diego
Stage 2 (5/16/16) – South Pasadena to Santa Clarita
Stage 3 (5/17/16) – Thousand Oaks to Santa Barbara County
Stage 4 (5/18/16) – Morro Bay to Monterey County
Stage 5 (5/19/16) – Lodi to South Lake Tahoe
Stage 6 (5/20/16) – Folsom Individual Time Trial & Women’s Team Time Trial
Stage 7 (5/21/16) – Santa Rosa
Stage 8 (5/22/16) – Sacramento

More details at www.amgentourofcalifornia.com.

Amgen has been the title sponsor of the race since its first year as a platform for Breakaway from Cancer®, its national initiative to increase awareness of important resources available to people affected by cancer – from prevention through survivorship. To learn more, visit breakawayfromcancer.com. 

About the Amgen Tour of California

The Amgen Tour of California is a Tour de France-style cycling road race created and presented by AEG that challenges the world's top professional cycling teams to compete along a demanding course that traverses hundreds of miles of California's iconic highways, byways and coastlines each spring. The teams chosen to participate have included Olympic medalists, Tour de France contenders and World Champions. Amgen Tour of California is listed on the international professional cycling calendar (2 HC, meaning "beyond category"), awarding important, world-ranking points to the top finishers. More information is available at amgentourofcalifornia.com.