Trek’s John Burke Knows How to Save the World

Santa Barbara Resident and Bicycling Guru Has Big Plans Locally and Globally

By Nick Welsh | August 26, 2021

Not Rocket Science: “People need to feel safe on the road,” said John Burke about cycle-friendly changes Santa Barbara ought to make to encourage more riding. “It’s pretty simple.” Credit: Jeff Kennel

Spend a few minutes with John Burke, and you’ll hear how cycling can save the world: how the bike can drastically reduce the greenhouse-gas emissions stoking the raging inferno of climate change, and how it can un-choke urban arteries now strangled by automobile congestion.

You’ll hear from Burke how the bicycle can help fight heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, and how during the pandemic, bike riding has offered the sanctuary of safe and socially distanced exercise. In the context of the Black Lives Matter movement, you’ll hear how the bicycle offers law enforcement a tool to connect more meaningfully with the communities they’re charged with serving.

And all that’s aside from moments of random joy the bicycle can inject into the mundane passages of daily living.