It’s one of the most frustrating things about riding in Los Angeles.
One of the city’s crown jewels, the L.A. River bike path may be a joy to ride where it goes. But it has too many gaps its way to the coast.
Now the LACBC is working to complete the path in just seven years, providing a single, continuous pathway from Canoga Park to Long Beach.
And you can help by signing up to raise funds. Or just contributing to one of the fundraising teams.
You could even win a bike trip to Tuscany, a bike from DTLA bikes or other prizes.
The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has long been fighting for a safer, cleaner, quieter form of transportation for all Angelenos whether they bike, walk, or drive. The Annual Los Angeles River Ride provides much of the funds LACBC needs in order to transform the face of Los Angeles County and give future generations the option of enjoying Los Angeles by bike! This year’s Annual Los Angeles River Ride also incorporates a campaign to complete all 51 miles of LA River Bikeway. Imagine it: a completely car-free uninterrupted bike highway running right through the middle of Los Angeles, from Canoga Park to Long Beach!
When you raise funds for the River Ride you are contributing to this campaign. What a legacy to leave, the knowledge that you helped make such an enormous and positive change to the landscape of the 5th largest economy in the world. In addition to helping LACBC do such great work, high fundraisers win great prizes.
The top prize for the highest fundraiser is a bike trip to Tuscany, courtesy of VBT. We also have a prize for the fundraiser who gets the most people to donate to the cause: a bike from DTLA Bikes. Runner-up prizes include a New Belgium Brewing Cruiser Bike and signed copies of Where to Bike Los Angeles. Prizes are guaranteed for meeting fundraising minimums at the $100 (LACBC socks), $250 (River Ride jersey), $500 (access to the River Ride VIP tent and beer garden), $1000 (recognition at LACBC donor and supporter party), and $5000 (custom vintage cocktail mixology, tea ceremony, or dinner with our Executive Director and Board President) levels. Go to www.la-bike.org/riverride for more information.
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You, too, could wake up to a face like this.
Okay, so it’s not bike related.
But as someone who adopted a rescue dog a couple years ago, I can attest it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. You don’t rescue a rescue animal, they rescue you.
And here’s your perfect chance to get rescued at the city’s largest annual dog and cat adoption event, at the La Brea Tar Pits on Wilshire Blvd this Saturday and Sunday.
Ride your bike there, and spend an afternoon petting some cute furry friends who could use the love.
Or better yet, pedal home with a new best friend.
You won’t regret it.
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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.
Photo courtesy of Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious
Caltrans is hosting Bike Local! Bicycles as Everyday Transportation (pdf), a month-long exhibition highlighting “a wide variety of affordable commuting and recreational bikes, classic bikes, materials on biking safely, illustrations of bike-friendly street-design, videos of bike commutes, a wall-size map of bike routes in Los Angeles County, and displays of biking accessories that make riding safer and easier.” The exhibit takes place in the Transportation Museum at District 7 Headquarters, 100 South Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012. Hours are Monday through Friday, from 8 am to 5 pm through June 1.
Saturday, May 4, The LACBC Civic Engagement Committee is invites you to Bike the Vote with an informal Meet and Greet with the candidates for L.A.’s 13th City Council District to replace outgoing councilmember and mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti; both candidates have promised to attend. The event takes place at Golden Road Brewing, 5410 West San Fernando Road, from 1 pm to 4 pm; Golden Road Brewing is promising participants $4 pint specials of their Point the Way IPA, GR Hefeweizen, and Get Up Offa that Brown beers. The event will be preceded by a short bike ride starting at Sunset Triangle Plaza at noon, departing for Golden Road Brewing at 12:15 pm.
Flying Pigeon LA hosts their monthly Brewery Ride on Saturday, May 4th; this month’s ride will visit some of the business in Northeast Los Angeles to show bikes mean business, and that proposed bike lanes on Colorado Blvd and North Figueroa are nothing to be afraid of. Meet at Flying Pigeon, 3404 North Figueroa, at 3 pm, departing at 3:30. Highly recommended for a very smart cause.
The next ride in the LACBC’s popular series of Sunday Funday Rides takes place on Sunday, May 5th with the L.A. State Historic Park Out ‘n’ Back ride. The ride meets at L.A. Historic Park, 1245 N. Spring Street in Chinatown at 10:30 am, rolling at 11 am for a fun, family-friendly 12-mile ride through the Arroyo Seco hosted by Board Member Trent Strong, followed by a BBQ with options for vegans and carnivores.
Warm up for Bike Week and River Ride with the Tour of Long Beach 2013 on Saturday, May 11th, featuring a bike fest and rides ranging from a 5-mile Family Fun Ride to 31 and 62 milers through the bike-friendly streets of Long Beach, along with a full century through Long Beach and down the SoCal coast to Laguna Beach. Proceeds go to support pediatric cancer research at Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach.
Ventura County and West Valley riders can take part in the 28th Annual Cruisin’ the Conejo Bike Ride on Saturday, May 11th. Rides range from a 12-mile children’s junior tour and 35-mile fun tour, to a 68-mile metric century and a 100-mile full century; all rides start and finish at 649 Lawrence Drive in Thousand Oaks.
The Amgen Tour of California rolls through the state starting in Escondido on Sunday, May 12th and ending in Santa Rosa on the 18th. This year’s race bypasses L.A.; the nearest stages are Stage 3 from Palmdale to Santa Clarita, and Stage 4 from Santa Clarita to Santa Barbara.
This year’s Bike Week will take place May 13th – 19th, starting with Fix Your Bike Day on Monday the 13th, Guided Ride Day on Wednesday, May 15th, Bike to Work Day on Thursday the 15th, and Bike Local Weekend from Friday, May 17th to Sunday the 19th, offering discounts to bicyclists who mention Bike Week. Pledge to ride your bike on Bike to Work Day and you could win a free bike from REI.
The 10th Annual Blessing of the Bicycles is scheduled for 8 am to 9:30 am on Tuesday, May 14th at Good Samaritan Hospital, 616 Witmer Street, between 6th and Wilshire. The multi-faith event is always one of the high points of Bike Week. And it never hurts to have a little divine protection when you ride.
Pasadena celebrates Bike Week as well, including Ladies Night on Wednesday, May 15th from 6:30 to 9:30 pm at Paseo Pasadena, 280 East Colorado Blvd.
Culver City-based Walk ‘n’ Rollers invites you to a family-friendly Bike Week Group Ride on Wednesday, May 15th from 2:30 to 3:30 pm. Meet at the pedestrian bridge over Ballona Creek.
Also on the 15th, the Antelope Valley’s High Desert Cyclists will screen the award-winning documentary Bicycle Dreams at 7 pm, at 1031 West Ave M-14, Suite A in Palmdale.
The annual Ride of Silence falls in the middle of Bike Week, on Wednesday, May 15th, honoring fallen cyclists and calling attention to the need for safety. The biggest ride in the Los Angeles area will take place at the Rose Bowl starting at 6:30 pm and rolling at 7; I also hear there may be a ride in Downtown L.A., details to follow. Other Southern California rides take place in Gardena, San Clemente, Temecula, Rancho Cucamonga, Thousand Oaks and Ventura, as well as the 2nd Annual Anthony Martinez Jr. Ride of Silence in Oxnard. Highly recommended to send an important message, as well as a little emotional healing.
The Education Committee of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council will host a Bike Rodeo at 10 am on Saturday, May 18th at Micheltorena Elementary School, 1511 Micheltorena Street. Children from 5 to 12 are invited to participate; free bikes and helmets will be available for those who need them.
Also on the 18th, the Eastside Bike Club is collaborating with the El Sereno Healthy Star Collaborative on a family-friendly slow is cool community ride starting at 12:30 pm at El Sereno Middle School, 2839 N Eastern Ave, departing at 1 pm.
The Plain Wrap Ride rolls through the Inland Empire on Saturday, May 18th starting at 8 am at Coates Cyclery, 760 East Foothill Blvd in Pomona. Online registration for a very affordable $25 ends May 15th; day of event registration is $35. Thanks to CLR Effect for the link.
The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Civic Engagement Committee usually meets at 6:45 pm on the last Tuesday of each month. However, the May meeting has been cancelled to give members a chance to recover from the long, long campaign season; the next meeting will take place June 25th to discuss where we go from here, location TBD. You don’t have to be an LACBC member to participate; email bikinginla at hotmail dot com to be added to the discussion list.
Sunday, June 1st, women riders of all abilities are invited to take part in La Bella Preme. The event starts and finishes at the Triunfo Creek Vineyards, near the corner of Triunfo Canyon and Kanan Roads, with rides of 11, 31 and 63 miles along the Malibu coast. Click here to learn more.
Caltech Bike Lab teams with C.I.C.L.E. to offer a series of free defensive cycling classes; the next one take place on Saturday, June 8th at Caltech Y, 505 S. Wilson Ave in Pasadena. RSVP to bike@cicle.org with the date you want to attend.
Registration has opened for this year’s LA River Ride, to be held Sunday, June 9th, starting and ending in Griffith Park. If you haven’t done the River Ride, I highly recommend it; if you have, then why haven’t you registered already?
Now that you’ve had a taste of CicLAvia to the Sea, mark your calendar for the next edition when CicLAvia rolls down L.A.’s iconic Wilshire Blvd on Sunday, June 23rd. The ride rolls, walks, scoots and skates from Downtown to Fairfax — on both sides this time, I’m told — from 10 am to 3 pm with a focus on exploring the city’s art and architecture. CicLAvia returns to an extended Downtown route on Sunday, October 6th.
Here’s your chance to bike the famed Las Vegas strip and the surrounding Las Vegas Valley, with the 6th Annual RTC Viva Bike Vegas Gran Fondo Pinarello on Saturday, September 21st. The event will offer routes for riders of all levels, from a 17-mile ride to 60-mile Metric Century and a 103-mile Gran Fondo; the longer rides will visit the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and Lake Mead.
For all the short-comings of the LA River bike path (not safe at night, kinda ugly in parts, lack of lighting)– the idea of having the entire bike path completed got me pretty excited. In fact, if the major bike lane opposition grows this may be a good way to pursue bike infrastructure implementation. Then connect some bike boulevards to the LA River… who knows, maybe biking can become more safe and enjoyable than it is today.
I would also like to see the green space under many of the power lines used for bike paths. Combine those with the rivers and we could have a bike “freeway” system that could connect to bike blvds, and bikeways towards major destinations.
Cute dog!
Has anyone made a serious proposal—with enough preliminary engineering to estimate the cost and to show that the flood control functions of the channel are unlikely to be impaired—for the sections from Figueroa Street to Washington Boulevard and from Downey Road to Atlantic Boulevard, where railroads occupy the levees on both the east and west banks of the Los Angeles River?
As much as I’d like to see the river path completed, it strikes me that neither BNSF nor Union Pacific, which retained trackage rights and common carrier obligations when their predecessors sold the lines to LACTC in the early 1990s, is likely to give up these rights-of-way voluntarily. They can’t be compelled to do so, not even through eminent domain, except in an adverse abandonment proceeding before the Surface Transportation Board, which is unlikely to approve the closure of an active main line, especially one that is part of STRACNET, the Strategic Rail Corridor Network identified by the Department of Defense.
I like seeing posts on here about cycling rather than cyclists being killed. Let’s pray for a good month and safety for cyclists.