The Light at the End of the Tunnel

I passed at man on the walking/biking bridge this morning. Unshaven and disheveled, his clothes in tatters, he carried his possessions in a large green trash bag, precariously balanced on the handlebars of an old battered bicycle.

Spotting Picasso, my sweet King Charles Cavalier Spaniel, the guy growled and spit, then out came a high-pitched sound. “Hi,” he said. “Hi. Hi. Hi.”  He greeted the dog with great joy, and then just kept talking and pushing his bicycle across the bridge.

It took the county almost two years to finish this little piece of the pathway, creating a concrete and white structure that rises up over Sir Frances Drake Boulevard near the Larkspur ferry, continuing to the other side of a mountain leading to San Rafael.

I had practically given up hope that they would ever complete the construction until one day the workers took down the fence gate blocking the entrance to the bridge and officially with no fanfare opened the crossing. When I followed the path it led to a tunnel marked with a plaque on the wall outside.

“When others only saw a mountain, Deb Hubsmith saw a light at the end of the tunnel.”  The Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) plaque thanks Deb for her vision and hard work navigating local, state, and national politics to get the infrastructure project funded.

Whenever I walk, I take time to notice my surroundings and think about the world. While I’ll never know the identity of that homeless bike guy, I was curious about Deb Hubsmith.

I discovered that Deb led the Marin bicycle lobby for years as its Executive Director. She worked to make safer street routes for walkers and bikers and advocated successfully for many projects and programs in Marin, across California, and nationwide.

Her mission: to create a healthier country of children and adults, by creating environments where being active could be the norm – for getting to school, work, or anywhere, as well as for recreation.

She piloted the Safe Routes to School program in Marin and statewide, then spearheaded a campaign to get Safe Routes included in the federal transportation bill. In 2005, Congress allocated $1.1 billion to implement this program in all 50 states. 

She founded the National Partnership, a coalition with more than 750 partners and a 30 person staff. In 2016, they secured $240 million for the Active Transportation Program to be implemented in California. This program awards grants that encourage bicycling and walking especially for children traveling to school and for residents of disadvantaged communities.

Deb Hubsmith was literally a mover and shaker – an avid bicyclist, a yoga instructor, a Reiki master, and a dancer, full of spirit, and interested in improving lives and bringing community people together to make change.  I never met her, in fact, until today, I had no idea such a person existed in my Marin backyard.

I would have liked to take a walk with Deb Hubsmith and thank her for her efforts, but sadly, she died about a year ago at age 46 of acute myeloid leukemia. I am certain that she moved her way directly into that light.