BikinginLA

Once again, we have a very busy calendar crammed full of biking events, followed by a long list of links for your weekend reading pleasure.

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Bike Talk airs every Saturday at 10 am; listen to it live or download the podcast from KPFK; this week’s scheduled guests include yours truly.

Sustainable Streets presents a free bike skills workshop for all ages from 10 am – 12:30 pm on Saturday, May 21st in the North Parking Lot at Santa Monica High School, 601 Pico Blvd.

Also on Saturday the 21st, learn how to leave your car behind when C.I.C.L.E. hosts Shopping By Bike and A Taste of Fair Trade Ride, with snacks, raffle prizes, and display bikes and gear from Incycle; the event takes place from 10 am to 1 pm at the Shops on South Lake Courtyard, 345 South Lake Avenue in Pasadena.

Beverly Hills advocacy group Better Bike Beverly Hills will meet at 2 pm on Saturday, May 21st at Peets Coffee, 258 S. Beverly Drive. Topics include Santa Monica Boulevard reconstruction timeline, update on Westside-area coordinated bike planning (just now taking shape), Bike routes for a BH-area bike network and opportunities to get involved.

C.I.C.L.E. wraps up Bike Week with an Arroyo Seco Ride and Pedal Party; experience a spectacular sunset ride bike tour followed by a party with DJ, food from Whole Foods and New Belgium beers, as well as a raffle prize from REI. Meet for the ride at One Colorado Courtyard, at the intersection of De Lacey Ave and Colorado Blvd at 6:30 pm on Saturday the 21st; party begins at 9 pm.

The San Diego Century ride takes place on Saturday, May 21st with rides of 37, 66 or 103 miles, starting in Encinitas, along with free admission to an expo featuring sports, local cuisine and live music.

The Amgen Tour of California continues with Stage 7 from Claremont to Mt. Baldy on Saturday the 21st; the Source suggests taking Metrolink to Claremont to view the race. Assuming the Apocalypse passes us by, the final stage from Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks takes place on Sunday the 22nd. Daily TV coverage on Versus; check your local listings for time and station.

Tuesday, May 25th, Sustainable Streets and Grand Masters Cycling host a fundraising event and raffle featuring bikes, beer, food, fabulous raffle prizes and complimentary bike valet, from 11:30 am to midnight at the Library Alehouse, 2911 Main Street in Santa Monica.

Saturday, June 4th, the Palms Neighborhood Council and the LAPD’s Pacific Division is sponsoring the 2011 Bike Rodeo from 10 am to 2 pm at Palms Elementary School, 3520 Motor Ave; events include a bike safety course, safety inspection, radar speed test and a bike giveaway, as well as live entertainment and free food.

Folk Art Everywhere explores the historic West Adams District on their next bike tour on Saturday, June 4th; expect an easy, fun and fascinating ride perfect for beginning to moderate cyclists. Meet at Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S. Grand Avenue in Los Angeles, at 11 am, with the ride starting at 11:15.

Flying Pigeon hosts their monthly Brewery Ride on Saturday, June 4th from 3 to 5:30 pm, followed by the Spoke(n) Art Ride on Saturday, June 11 and the Get Sum Dim Sum Ride on Sunday, June 19th. All rides meet at Flying Pigeon Bike Shop, 3714 North Figueroa Street in Highland Park.

Join me, and thousands of other cyclists at L.A.’s favorite fundraiser ride on Sunday, June 5th with the 11th Annual River Ride; advance registration is open now. Volunteers are still needed — and trust me, as a volunteer last year, it’s about as much fun as you can have without actually riding; email RRvolunteer@la-bike.org for more info and to sign up.

If you can make it up to Sacramento on Sunday, June 12th, Ride4Matt is sponsoring a charity ride to benefit Matthew Wietrick, who was seriously injured while riding last February. Choose from routes of 10, 35 and 70 miles, with a $7 BBQ lunch after the ride; donations gratefully accepted.

Flying Pigeon Bike Shop will host a fundraising bike ride and party to benefit Streetsblog LA on Friday, June 17th, beginning and ending at Flying Pigeon, 3714 North Figueroa Street in Highland Park; ride meets at 6 pm, with party to follow at 8 pm.

Unofficial word is that the July 10th CicLAvia has been cancelled, but the October 9th event is a definite go, with an expanded route taking participants another 2.5 miles into Boyle Heights.

Tuesday, August 30th, Santa Monica’s Library Alehouse will host a benefit night for Streetsblog LA; 5% of all food and drink purchases will benefit Streetsblog; 2911 Main Street.

And mark your calendar for the 2011 L.A. edition of the Tour de Fat on October 9th; you’d think someone in the scheduling department would have noticed that the 9th is Yom Kippur this year. And L.A. has more than a few Jewish cyclists.

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Former Lance Armstrong friend and teammate George Hincapie is reportedly the latest to testify against Lance, but denies talking with 60 Minutes; why is it that the people who admit cheating are always the ones who insist their sport needs to be saved from people like them?

And if you have at least eight grand, you could own a slightly used Team RadioShack AToC bike.

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Report your favorite road divot for Round 2 of L.A.’s Operation Pothole; problem is, most of the streets in my neighborhood don’t have potholes.

They are potholes.

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Former national Crit champ Rahsaan Bahati asks your help to raise just $1,500 to help the Major Motion Junior Development Team go to the Nationals. It would be hard to think of anything else where so little could do so much for such a good cause.

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Neon Tommy looks at the proposed anti-harassment ordinance and the city’s complicated relationship with cyclists. Streetsblog’s excellent series of reports from the far corners of L.A.’s cycling world continues with Brigham Yen’s review of Pasadena’s lack of bike parking, and Wesley Reutimann reports on the San Gabriel Valley’s vibrant cycling scene. The Bikerowave gives Sony Studios a tune-up. Damien Newton experiences an uneven Bike to Work Day commute with his mom. KABC-7’s Jovana Lara bikes to work. C.I.C.L.E. looks at the first four days of Pasadena’s Bike Week. The Source offers photos of Bike to Work Day, while Steve Hymon asks what kind of bike he should buy for commuting. Rick Risemberg visits the new Caltrans bike exhibit; Flying Pigeon contributes Dutch bikes to Caltrans Bike to Work Fair. The Westwood Expo station could get a greenway and bike path. KCET looks at the Westside’s Taco Tuesday rides. Criminal Minds star Shemar Moore files suit against the driver who broke his leg in a cycling collision. Nicole Honda, fiancé of fallen cyclist Jim Swarzman, addresses the Thousand Oaks Ride of Silence. Riding the wrong way on a one-way street, even when you know better.

San Diego celebrates Bike to Work Day with two serious cycling collisions in just half an hour. Seventy-five percent of Petaluma residents don’t ride regularly — which means of course that 25% do. Sacramento seniors are at risk from rampant sidewalk riders. Bike advocates want representation on Caltrans’ California Traffic Control Devices Committee. The Give Me 3 campaign advances through the state Senate, with the bizarre 15 mph exemption still attached; Nevada passes a three foot law, without a 15 mph exemption.

Kiplinger offers a simple online calculator to figure out how much you can save by biking to work; thanks to Horst Simon for the heads-up. A new on-bike box could make wind tunnel testing obsolete. NPR asks who’s at fault when bikes and cars collide; thanks to Steve Herbert for forwarding the link. The Wall Street Journal looks at chic styles for bike riders. Five great ways to get people to bike to work. The Seattle Times asks what’s with all the bike bitterness?; thanks to Eric Bruins for the tip. Denver bike commuters leave their cars at home. Tulsa officials deny plans to ban bikes from the city’s streets. Maybe the way to calm bike lane haters is to build more bike lanes, stat. Zeke successfully celebrates his town’s first Bike to Work Day.

Unhealthy neighborhoods lead to unhealthy people. The Independent asks what your bike says about you. A UK zoo offers a discount to anyone who arrives by bike. A first person look at the long road back from a near fatal cycling collision. Electric cars may not solve congestion, but more bikes might help. The British Automobile Association urges its members to share the road safely. Copenhagen looks to clean up their bike parking mess.

Finally, Flying Pigeon makes the cutest argument ever for more bike racks.