BikinginLA

Bike Talk airs every Saturday at 10 am; listen to it live or download the podcast from KPFK.

Bike Long Beach hosts Bike Saturdays every weekend; ride your bike to participating local shops and business throughout the city to get special offers and discounts.

Culver City’s Sports for Eve female-focused athletics shop is holding a going out of business sale now through March 31st. Stop by their store at 3849 Main Street for great closeout deals on biking, running and athletic gear and apparel. And don’t feel left out, guys; they have a lot of unisex bike gear and accessories, too.

Saturday, March 24th marks the “unofficial” grand opening of Santa Monica’s first on-street bike corral at 2439 Main Street, events take place from 11 am to noon, with free coffee, muffins, balloons and more. Santa Monica Spoke will lead a group ride from the Bike Center at 2nd and Colorado at 10:30 am sharp.

The Eastside Bike Club invites you to join them for Taco Night to raise funds for Tour de Cure to call attention to diabetes in the East L.A. community. Get three tacos, rice and beans and a beverage for just $10. It takes place from 5 pm to 10 pm at Stan’s Monrovia Bike Shop, 880 South Myrtle Avenue in Monrovia.

The 28th Annual Redlands Bicycle Classic will take place on March 22nd through 25th in Redlands, offering one of the state’s most intense cycling competitions, as well as a joyful celebration of bicycling for cyclists of all ages.

The 7th Annual Feel My Legs, I’m a Racer one-day bike stage race rolls on Sunday, March 25th; participants will tackle the 10 toughest hills in Los Angeles in a single day. Meet at the new pedestrian plaza at the intersection of Sunset and Griffith Park Blvds at 7:45 am, and rolling out at 8:30 sharp.

Update: This Sunday’s ride with the USC Cycling Team has been rescheduled due to predicted rain; the new date is Sunday, April 29th. Your choice of three rides of increasing speed and difficulty, all starting at 9:30 am at Bike Effect, 910 W. Broadway in Santa Monica. Suggested $20 donation supports the 2012 USC Cycling race program.

Update: The first meeting of the newly formed LACBC Civics Committee has been postponed until Wednesday, April 18th at the Downtown Pitfire Pizza, at 2nd and Main across from the new police headquarters. The committee will serve to give the LACBC a voice in the local political process to help ensure the election of bike-friendly candidates; Efren Moreno Jr and yours truly will serve as Co-Chairs.

Streetsblog LA hosts another fundraiser at the Library Ale House on Tuesday, March 27th, 2911 Main Street in Santa Monica. Streetsblog events are always fun and the money goes to keeping us all informed about local transportation issues; great food and beer just makes it that much better.

Also on Tuesday, March 27th, the Glendale City Council will review the city’s new Draft Bicycle Transportation Plan starting at 3 pm at Glendale City Hall, 613 East Broadway. Opposition to the plan is expected, so cyclists are urged to attend to voice your support.

If you’re looking for a serious challenge, consider the CORPScamp Death Valley, five days of biking in Death Valley National Park featuring 300 miles or more of riding, including the Hell’s Gate Hundred, March 27th through 31st.

Help plan for future expansion of CicLAvia into the San Fernando Valley from 6:30 pm to 9:30 pm on Thursday, March 29th at the San Fernando Regional Pool Facility, 208 Park Ave in San Fernando.

Malibu takes the next step in their surprising turnaround to becoming bike friendly with a pair of meetings to discuss design work to improve the existing bike route west of the city limit on PCH. The meetings are scheduled for 10 am to noon on Saturday, March 31st, and 6 pm to 8 pm on Wednesday, April 4th at Malibu City Hall, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road.

Saturday, March 31st, the Eastside Bike Club joins with the Salesian Boys & Girls Club to host a fun, family friendly bike ride to explore community gardens in Boyle Heights and El Sereno as part of Mayor Villaraigosa’s Day of Service. The ride meets at 8 am at Salesian Family Youth Center, 2228 East 4th Street.

The next LACBC Sunday Funday ride rolls on April 1st, hosted by Bici Libre Program Coordinator Brenda Yancor. The ride starts at Bici Libre, 1205 W. 6th Street, and rides 17 miles (34 miles roundtrip) to a little fun in the sun at Dockweiler State Beach, retuning in the late afternoon or early evening.

Bike Long Beach will celebrate April Fool’s Day with a Bike for Art Scavenger Hunt and after party on Sunday, April 1st from 9 am to 4 pm at the Museum of Latin American Art, 628 Alamitos Ave in Long Beach.

The 2012 SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments) Regional Conference will take place April 4th through 5th at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown L.A., with the theme of “Towards a Sustainable Future in Transportation.”

The 10th Annual Laurel Foundation’s Ride for AIDS will take place with a two-day century ride from San Diego to Santa Monica on April 14th and 15th, and a one day ride from Santa Monica to Redondo Beach and back on April 15th.

If you enjoyed the last CicLAvia, you’ll love the next one on Tax Day, April 15th from 10 am to 3 pm; the route will follow the same expanded course as last October’s. You can still support this year’s CicLAvia by contributing on Kickstarter.

While you’re enjoying CicLAvia, stop by Orange 20 Bikes at the west end of the route, at the intersection of Heliotrope and Melrose, for a book signing with Eben Weiss, aka BikeSnobNYC, starting at 10:30 am.

Shifting Gears Cycling sponsors the 17th (or possibly 16th) Annual Santa Barbara Double Century on Saturday, April 28th and Sunday, April 29th. The two-day supported ride will travel 100 miles from Santa Monica to Santa Barbara, returning the next day.

It might be worth the long drive to Davis CA for the first ever Legends Gran Fondo sponsored by the United States Bicycling Hall of Fame on May 6th, featuring America’s first Tour de France winner Greg LeMond — the man whose name is on my bike —  as well as former World Champion Ruthie Mathes, Olympic silver medalist Nelson Vails, and other members of the Hall of Fame.

May is Bike Month. The first National Bike to School Day is scheduled for May 9th, with National Bike to Work Week taking place on May 14th through 18th, and National Bike to Work Day on Friday the 18th.

Good Samaritan Hospital’s annual Blessing of the Bicycles will take place on Tuesday, May 15th from 8 am to 9:30 am in front of the hospital at 1225 Wilshire Blvd. Expect a great breakfast and bike swag, with non-sectarian bike blessings from virtually every faith found in L.A.

L.A.’s favorite fundraising bike ride rolls out on Sunday, June 10th with the 12th Annual L.A. River Ride; this one just keeps getting bigger and better every year. Six different rides, from an easy family ride to a fast, flat century. Funds go to support the LACBC in building a better, more bikeable L.A. County; save $10 if you register by May 15th.

Bikes are normally banned from the famed San Diego – Coronado Bay Bridge, but you can ride it on Sunday, August 26th, during the 5th Annual Bike the Bay, to benefit the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. Get an early registration discount through April 30th.

Early registration has opened for the national Pro Walk/Pro Bike® conference to be held September 10th through 13th in Long Beach. The 17th annual conference is sponsored by the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, and Project for Public Spaces.