Archive for General

Riding random thoughts on a semi-rainy day

October 19, 2010 / / 5 comments

This is me climbing the walls.

Between today’s semi-threatening weather and an unrelenting workload — not that I’m complaining about having work in this economy, mind you — I find myself riding a wave of seemingly random thoughts rather than the bike I’d like to be on.

Partly because the bike I’d like to be on is finally ready to ride.

For some reason, I’ve never had the love for the 6-year old LeMond at the top of this page that I had for my now 30-year old Trek.

Maybe because it feels every little bump, and never felt nailed to the road like my old bike did. Or maybe because I’ve had my old bike longer than I’ve had my wife, and haven’t built the memories on the new one that I made on the old one — my bike, that is, not my wife.

Before

Although I’m sure the infamous beachfront bee encounter would certainly stand out, if only I could remember what happened.

Then again, that was before a broken wheel kept me off my bike for the last three weeks. Although I was happy to have the loan of a surprisingly lithe, plush and easy to ride red Urbana bike in the meantime.

After

But over the weekend, the kind folks at Trek and Beverly Hills Bike Shop — which isn’t actually in Beverly Hills, even though the sidewalk in front of it is — replaced my wheel under warranty, for which I thank both. So now I find myself jonesing to get out for a long ride on my own bike, and realizing just how much I’d missed it.

Especially since I got a report today that the virtually unridable sidewalk bike path along Sepulveda Blvd that we discussed yesterday may have finally seen a little improvement, along with the badly cracked Class 1 path through the Marina.

And unfortunately, that time off my bike is starting to show in the snugness of my waistband. And evidently, there’s a reason for that.

According to a formula in a recent issue of Bicycling, I burn about 1,000 calories an hour. (Weight divided by 2.2, multiplied by 12 if you ride between 16 –19 mph; my normal cruising speed is 18 – 20. Or multiply by 16 if you ride 20 mph or higher, by 10 if you ride 14 – 16, 8 for 12 – 14, 6 for 10 – 12, or by 4 if you ride less than 10 mph.)

So that’s somewhere around 10,000 –12,000 calories a week I haven’t been burning. And 3,500 calories plus or minus equals 1 pound of weight gained or lost.

The fun, not-so-little Urbana I borrowed — love those big, bouncy glow-in-the-dark tires

It also explains, in least in part, why a recent study suggested that biking on a regular basis could add up 14 months to your life. Although as far as I’m concerned, extending the quality of life is every bit as important as extending the length of it.

Which is why I plan to keep riding as long as my body will let me. That and the fact that there’s almost nothing I’d rather do.

And that could help explain yesterday’s article in the Times, which said that sales are down for electric bikes. While an e-bike may provide efficient, sweat-free transportation, it can’t provide the same health benefits or the sheer satisfaction and physical joy of pedaling a bike.

E-bikes can also cost every bit as much as, and sometimes more than, a Vespa-style scooter — even an electric one — while being more difficult for a beginner to ride. And you can’t always ride them everywhere bikes are allowed.

So I think I’ll stick with my bike, thank you. The one with the new wheel, tire and cycling computer.

And I plan to pedal its skinny GatorSkins Downtown for Tour de Fat this Saturday — and burn a few thousand calories in the process, which should just about make up for the calories I expect to consume there.*

* Biking under the influence is illegal in California, so limit your alcohol consumption just like you would if you were driving.

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Word broke Monday that a SoCal golfer died after being struck in the head with a golf ball; there’s no truth to the rumor that Mayor Villaraigosa may propose a mandatory helmet law for everyone on the links. Contrast the massive media coverage his death received with the minimal coverage given most biking fatalities; then again, golfing deaths a pretty rare, while a death on the streets just isn’t that usual. Thanks to Rex Reese for the heads-up.

And in a story that defies rational explanation — or rather, in which the explanation doesn’t seem rational — Witch on a Bicycle points out that authorities in a Massachusetts town blame a bicycle rider for plowing down two parking meters before crashing into a car. Call me crazy, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cyclist who could knock over a solid steel parking meter post. Let alone two.

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Next year’s Tour de France looks like one of the more challenging routes in years, with six high mountain stages and four summit finishes. As expected, a Spanish cyclist ends the year ranked #1 in the world — but it’s Rodriguez, not TdF winner and tainted meat eater Contador; Tyler Farrar is the top American at #9. And Lance is well on his way to fathering his own team as he becomes a dad for the fifth time.

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Streetsblog asks where the next CicLAvia should be. The Claremont Cyclist discusses the 2nd Annual Mike Nosco Memorial Bicycle Ride; this year’s ride will benefit Andreas Knickman, the son of former pro racer Roy Knickman, in his fight against cancer. Bikeside’s Mihai Peteu reports on last Friday’s memorial ride for Daniel Marin. A Long Beach cyclist is threatened with tickets in retaliation for questioning an officer. Gary continues to shine a light on the Santa Monica City Council race, as two more candidates respond to his questionnaire on biking and land use issues. Will questions just how much a bike is really worth. Bicycle Fixation takes an in-depth look at bike parking, comparing a well-designed rack with a modern relic from the best-forgotten past. San Francisco aims for a 20% bike share by 2020, and a bold path forward for Bay Area cyclists. The Sonoma County GranFondo hit-and-run is now being investigated as an intentional assault. Advice on what to do if you’re stopped for riding in the lane, in response to a sheriff’s deputy who just didn’t get it. Bike lawyer Bob Mionske is interviewed by a Cleveland radio station. A reminder to check your auto insurance, because the uninsured motorist coverage can protect you on a bike. A Kansas City cyclist known locally as the Bike Man is gunned down and left to die in the street. New York Critical Mass riders win a nearly $1 million settlement; half will go for legal fees. An NYC cyclist shoots a cop when they try to stop him for riding illegally on the sidewalk; seems like a bit of an overreaction to me. NFL quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel wife Gisele Bundchen ride bikes sans helmets. Why drivers should love Toronto’s new bike boxes. Eight months in jail for running down a cyclist and leaving the scene while driving with impaired vision. A 6-year old cyclist is clotheslined when he rides into an over-extended dog leash.

Finally, biking can do more than just get you from here to there, it can also lead you home to a family you’ve never known. Or it can provide the path to true love — or not, as the case may be — in one of the cutest short films I’ve seen in ages.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

A low-cost fix for a troubled West L.A. bikeway

October 18, 2010 / / One comment

Click for detailed map with description and photos

Earlier this year, I wrote about Westwood’s abandoned bikeway — a winding Class 1 route that leads from the intersection of Wilshire and Veteran to the southern edge of the VA Center along Ohio Ave.

It should be a pleasant off-road feeder route for UCLA students, especially since cyclists are no longer allowed to pass through the National Cemetery north of Wilshire. Unfortunately, a lack of maintenance has made it virtually unridable in places; yet it continues to remain on the city’s draft bike plan, for reasons only a bureaucrat could understand.

Recently Evan Garcia, a cyclist who works at UCLA, emailed me with a suggestion that could revive the route by allowing riders to bypass the worst sections and connect to Ohio without running the gantlet of traffic on narrow Veteran Blvd.

Not only is it a great idea, it could be accomplished right now at minimal cost. So I asked Evan to explain it in his own words.

.………

This site did a great service for all West LA and Westwood cyclists when it thoroughly dissected the problems with the Westwood Park bike path. As it currently stands, it’s a forgotten route. That isn’t to say that cyclists don’t ride through Westwood Park — I do, and I see others often — but right now it has been so neglected in parts (simply look at the photos of the path along Sepulveda) that its full length is not a viable route for cyclists. So, out of both wishful thinking and selfish reasons (it would make my bike commute between Santa Monica and Westwood Village much more enjoyable), I’m proposing some changes to the route that would extend its usefulness.

A simple change here could let bikes bypass heavily trafficked Westwood streets

If you aren’t familiar with the area, Ohio Ave. is a two lane east-west street between Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds used by many cyclists. Veteran Ave. runs north-south, and it is between Sepulveda and Westwood Blvds. Neither Ohio or Veteran have bike lanes. The “existing” bike path, as previously described on this site, runs on a crumbling sidewalk along Sepulveda. One could of course ride along Sepulveda in the street, but there is no bike lane and drivers seem to treat it as a mini-freeway. On the sidewalk on the east side of Sepulveda are many businesses with parking lots, leading to a risk of a car entering or exiting without looking for bikes traveling on the sidewalk.

Narrow Veteran Avenue isn’t safe or inviting even for experienced for cyclists

Currently when I bike to Westwood, I travel along Ohio and turn left onto Veteran heading north. The ride along Ohio is acceptable, though of course it could be better.  I feel a major problem is alongside Veteran, however. Veteran is a street with two lanes and parking for cars on both sides, as is Ohio, but it is much more narrow than Ohio.

As a result, riding along Veteran can be very intimidating and unpleasant. If there are cars coming in the opposite direction, cars behind a cyclist cannot pass. Of course, many drivers have honked at me (or at the car waiting to pass me) and the cars parked along Veteran ensure that a cyclist is in the door zone unless they take the full lane. What I propose is linking Ohio to the bike path through Westwood Park via Greenfield Avenue, a street one block west of Veteran that dead-ends at a parking lot for the park. This would allow cyclists to travel between Ohio and Veteran through the park and without the dangers of riding along narrow Veteran Ave.

Gate at the end of Greenfield Ave

Greenfield Ave. terminates at the far end of the parking lot. Access from the street to the parking lot is currently blocked off — I assume to prevent cars traveling south on Veteran from driving through the lot quickly as a shortcut to get to Ohio — by a large swinging gate. Along the sidewalk are two stationary poles. Replacing the gate with additional poles — which could be removed by park employees to allow park vehicles to get through — would let cyclists pass between Greenfield and the parking lot without going on the sidewalk, while still preventing cars from cutting through.

Curb blocking convenient bike access

Between the parking lot and the bike path is a curb, and a small incline with a dirt path. Removing the curb would let bikes connect to the path from the parking lot. Further north near where the path exits the park and runs alongside the Federal Building is a crosswalk across Veteran at Rochester Avenue.

Installing a wheelchair cutout on the west side of Veteran — there is already one on the east side — would let cyclists cross much more easily than trying to turn left onto Veteran from one of the Federal Building driveways.

Veteran Ave near exit from Westwood Park; even with a crosswalk, it can be difficult to get across

This may be a pipe dream, but also having a crosser-controlled light warning signal would alert drivers that someone — a cyclist or pedestrian — is waiting to cross (I know from personal experience that very few drivers will voluntarily stop to let someone waiting to cross; it usually takes going into the crosswalk when there is no traffic on the nearest side and hoping that drivers coming on the other side slow down).

I realize that this would not make for a perfect bike path — it does nothing to address the problems of the path along Sepulveda and Ohio — but I think it would make getting from Westwood to Ohio less stressful and dangerous.

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After challenging in the Vuelta, Philippe Gilbert won his second consecutive Tour of Lombardy. Just days after having his two-year ban for doping reduced for cooperating with investigators, Danilo di Luca is free to compete again. David Millar and the ageless Jeannie Longo win the final time trial of the European pro season. Katie Compton wins in the first round of the MTB World Cup.

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SoCal based Felt bikes rolled along with the rest of us at CicLAvia. The people behind CicLAvia are officially honored by the City Council, and deserve our thanks, as well. Examined Spoke compares biking infrastructure in the U.S. and Europe firsthand, and not surprisingly, finds us lacking. The Claremont Cyclist reports on the CORBA Fat Tire Festival — and encourages you to support the advocacy groups that work to keep us all safer. El Random Hero becomes yet another victim of bike theft. A look at Tucson Velo, that great bike website to our east. Building memories in a two-week family bike tour of the Rockies. Nearly 25% of bicyclists killed in the U.S. in 2008 were legally drunk; a BAC of .08 raises a cyclist’s risk of serious injury by 2,000%. Don’t just ride on sharrows, wear them. Building bike culture in the land of Elvis and Rev. Al Green. An 82-year old Destin FL man rides his first century just to see if he could. A Manhattan cyclists alleges an off-duty cop pulled a gun on him in a road rage incident. Taking a bike tour of the palace of Versailles. Biking for transportation means riding anytime, not just bike commuting. Kiwi cyclists can look forward to riding with Landis.

Finally, some good news over the weekend as pro BMX rider and MTV host TJ Lavin shows signs of improvement after being critically injured attempting a stunt in Las Vegas; is he’s.

And in non-bike related news, congratulations to my good friends at Altadenablog, who are now officially related to a saint, by blood or marriage, respectively. I have no idea how that would feel; most of my relatives lean the other way.

Category: Best of, General / Tags: , , , ,

Putting flesh on a traffic statistic — the life and tragic death of Daniel Marin

October 16, 2010 / / 14 comments

Maybe I shouldn’t let it get to me.

But the news reports that a cyclist has been killed or seriously injured. Then you never hear another word about it.

No follow-up. No ID of the victim. No effort to examine what happened or why. Or to look at the lifebehind the news, or the shattered lives left behind.

That’s the way it stood on October 2nd, when a barebones report broke that a 17-year old bicyclist had been killed on Laurel Canyon Blvd in Pacoima.

For days afterward, there was no other mention in the news; no name to put to the tragedy. But as too often happens, it seemed to be forgotten by the media the moment it was reported.

Just one of the 93 people who left home that day who would never return. One more statistic in the annual tsunami of traffic deaths.

Then a week ago, I stumbled on a story in a local Valley paper, the San Fernando Sun.

Daniel Marin.

A senior at Kennedy High School, a ‘”good kid from a religious family” with good grades, “mild-mannered” and a “great looking kid with a smile that would light up any room…”’ according to the paper.

Finally, the statistic had a name. And I assumed that was the end of the story.

But the Sun wasn’t done.

This week, they followed up with another story that went beyond the first to draw a portrait of who Daniel was, and why he was on the street so late that night. And why his death will leave such hole in the lives of those who loved him.

On the night he was killed, Marin said his son had gone to a football game at San Fernando High School with his uncle and cousins. His cousin is a cheerleader at the school. Afterward Daniel went back to his uncle’s house to eat and then he got a call from his friends to get together for an evening bike ride.

“Daniel got a flat tire earlier and we ended up at Ritchie Valens Skate Park, and we all spent time hanging out and talking,” said his friend Jorge Lopez.

Daniel’s best friend, Angel Lopez said it’s been very hard for him and all of his friends. “When I was told what happened, I didn’t believe it. I had to ask four different people before I believed it. I saw Daniel every day. His absence is noticeable for all of us and really hard for me because I’m used to seeing him everyday.

A regular rider on Critical Mass, Daniel had worked with his father to build his own bike, a fixed gear bike he rode everywhere.

“This has been very hard on us,” Marin said, “Daniel has younger brothers and sisters, and it’s hard for all of us. My son was always so respectful to me, he never argued with me. I took him to work with me, doing construction and he decided that he wanted to do something else. He wanted to work in health, giving dialysis treatments to people. You expect that your kids will bury you, not the other way around.

“He was on his way home,” Marin continued. “He was less than a half mile away from home when he was killed.”

I’ve read that last sentence a dozen times. And every time I feel the pain contained in those words.

And that’s exactly how it should be. Any traffic death is tragic; any loss should hurt like hell.

We shouldn’t hide behind minimal news coverage to mask the pain. Unless we feel it, we’ll never do anything about it.

The victims deserve to be remembered with more than just a tombstone and white bike. They should be carried with us in our hearts and in our memories.

Daniel Marin was not collateral damage.

He was a loved and loving son and friend. And as the Sun makes clear, he will be very missed.

I never met Daniel. But after reading about him, I feel like that was my loss. And that our entire community lost someone special that night.

It’s a story that’s definitely worth reading; thanks to the Sun’s Diana Martinez for caring enough to tell it.

Rest in peace, Daniel.

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The CicLAvia story just keeps on going.  LACBC looks back at Sunday and asks why CicLAvia can’t be every day. Rolling interviews with bike community leaders at CicLAvia, while This Girl’s Bike offers more photos of the day. The City Council commends CicLAvia for a job well done; think you can wait another 6 months for the next one?

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

Explore the effects of bicycles on art and culture at the Grand Opening of Re:Cycle — Bike Culture in Southern California, October 7th – 9th, at U.C. Riverside’s newly relocated Sweeney Art Gallery at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts, 3834 Main Street in downtown Riverside. A reception will be held from 6 – 10 pm Thursday, October 7th; the exhibition continues through December 31st.

Bike the Long Beach Marathon course starting at 6 am on Sunday the 17th.

Also on Sunday the 17th, the 2010 Fat Tire Fest takes place at Castaic Lake, featuring exhibitions, riding contests, food and cyclocross races.

Glendale will host meetings to get public feedback on the proposed Safe & Healthy Streets Plan on Monday, October 25 at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, and Wednesday, October 27 at the Sparr Heights Community Center; both meetings will run from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.

The city’s next big bike event take place in one more week, when New Belgium Brewery’s Tour de Fat makes its first L.A. stop on Saturday, October 23rd.

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The Times profiles UCLA parking meister Donald Shoup. More on the success of the LACBC’s City of Lights in getting bike parking for the city’s invisible cyclists. Streetsblog interview’s LACBC’s new Planning and Policy Director Alexis Lantz. The Claremont Cyclist rides to Crystal Lake, with photos. No Whip looks back on 508 merciless miles through the desert. LADOT Bike Blog looks at this weekend’s Fat Tire Fest, not to be confused with next weekend’s Tour de Fat. A Long Beach firefighter finds his life changed by the 525 mile Arthritis Foundation’s California Coast Classic. Riding in Riverside reports on our inland neighbor’s latest Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting. The hit-and-run epidemic strikes again the San Diego area. Plans for a bikeway in Santa Cruz’ Arana Gulch fall one vote short of success. San Francisco puts bike counters in bike lanes; hey, why didn’t anyone here think of that? Dealing with the trauma of killing a cyclist.

Peter Jacobsen explains his vision for zero traffic deaths. Calling all LAB member — Cyclelicious says it’s time to reform the board. Why is AAA picking on cyclists, when so many cyclists are drivers, too? Bicycling rates 16 essential bike tools. Riding a bike for perfectly selfish reasons. Evidently, there’s nothing suspicious about running down a cyclist from behind. The anti-bike backlash rears its ugly head in NYC. Buffalo Bills Safety Bryan Scott rides his bike to practice. Biking through the drive-through window. Dave Moulton encounters cyclists who seem to have no idea how to ride in traffic, or a bike path. Bob Mionske offers advice on riding in poor light conditions following the death of a popular cyclist. A Connecticut man pedals to the hospital after being shot in the ankle. Baltimore doubles its rate of bike commuting. An Army Major remains in critical condition more than two weeks after a distracted driver plowed down five riders on a group ride, saying he just didn’t see them.

So much for Omerta, as Danilo di Luca’s two-year ban for doping is cut to 15 months for cooperating with investigators. Pro riders plan to protest at Saturday’s Giro de Lombardia over the Italian anti-doping chiefs recent comments that all riders already dope; maybe it only seems that way. Stiffer sentences for crimes against cyclists in England than north of the border in Scotland. Brit cyclists are up in arms over a needless warning stripe marring a bikeway. Belfast cuts its cycling budget by 98%. Park your bike illegally in Copenhagen, and you could get your tires pumped and your chain oiled. Wellington, New Zealand’s new mayor says she’d rather ride her bike than trade it for the $70,000 official mayoral car. Good advice on riding in traffic; just remember it’s written for the UK, so substitute right side for left. Or you could just check out this American refresher on how to share the road.

Finally, a Bay Area dog earns a merit badge for bicycling.  No, really.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

Casting a critical eye on Times columnist Sandy Banks’ Wilbur Ave auto-centric bias

October 13, 2010 / / 8 comments

You didn’t really think I was going to forget about Sandy Banks, did you?

CicLAvia may have pushed her recent one-sided column about the Wilbur Avenue road diet to the back burner. But far from out of mind.

There it was on Saturday morning, on the second page of the L.A. Times — the same paper that recently flaunted their new journalistic standards by replacing their front page with an ad for Law & Order Los Angeles.

And don’t get me started on the entirely inappropriate photo that accompanied Banks column.

Maybe all the paper’s photographers had the weekend off. Or maybe they were stuck in Valley traffic and couldn’t make it back in time to meet the paper’s new early press deadline.

Still, I expected better from her.

Her column usually focuses on feel-good stories about her family life, or those of ordinary Angelenos trying to make it in this megalopolis we call home.

This time, though, it was all about her anger and frustration over the road diet that cut Wilbur from four through lanes to two, making room for a center turn lane with bike lanes on either side.

For years, Wilbur Avenue had been a free-flowing community secret, a commuter street that bypassed the congestion of Northridge’s main routes. Then a “street improvement” project last month turned our speedway into a parking lot.

It wouldn’t have taken much research to reveal that her speedway was never intended as a bypass to the Valley’s more crowded boulevards, as drivers turned what should have been a quiet, safe residential street into a cut-through throughway that only benefitted the people who don’t live there.

The road diet merely returned a little sanity to a single local street. And if that slightly inconveniences the people who don’t live on it, it’s a small price to pay to preserve the livability of the neighborhood.

Despite denials from the people who should actually know, she also suggests that the mayor’s recent Road to Damascus conversion to bike advocate may have had something to do with the sudden, unannounced striping of bike lanes — forgetting that we live in a dysfunctional city where bureaucrats seldom speak to one another, let alone the public. And even though she notes herself that bike lanes have been slated for that street since 1996.

Then again, she’s probably not the only one who was shocked that something from the ’96 bike plan actually made it onto the streets.

Despite talking to LADOT’s John Fisher and Bikeways Coordinator Michelle Mowery, she fails to mention that the actual purpose of the road diet was to slow high-speed drivers like herself and return a little sanity to Wilbur Avenue. Or that the bike lanes were added almost as an afterthought because there was finally room for them.

Instead, she based her entire column on the mistaken concept that her inconvenience was due to the city giving cyclists priority over drivers.

Like that would ever happened here.

Needless to say, she had 12th District City Councilmember Grieg Smith, who never met a speed limit he didn’t want to raise, firmly in her corner.

“Wilbur is the wrong street for this kind of improvement,” said Smith, his sarcasm clear. His district office is on Wilbur, at the bike lane’s southern terminus. “I’ve driven that street for 30 years, and I have probably seen a total of 30 bicycles on Wilbur in all that time.”

Maybe he really was blindsided by the unannounced road diet. On the other hand, you’d think a council member would be able to pick up the phone and find out what’s going on in his own district.

And why.

Instead, he responded in typical knee-jerk, car-centric, anti-bike fashion, saying that the 98% of the public who drives shouldn’t be inconvenienced for the 2% on two wheels.

Never mind that many of us do both. And a lot more might if they felt safer on the streets of the council member’s own district.

In fact, the city’s new bike plan suggests that up to half of L.A. adults ride a bike from time to time, and roughly 12% ride on at least a monthly basis.

Smith should also know, as the mayor and many of his peers on the City Council seem to have figured out, that this city can no longer afford the same failed focus on automotive throughput that has destroyed the livability of many parts of our city. By focusing all our efforts on moving more and more cars through our streets, we have created gridlocked streets, destroyed our air quality and blighted countless pass-through neighborhoods.

On the other hand, by providing effective alternatives to driving — like well-designed bike lanes, for instance — we can create a safer, more walkable, ridable and livable Los Angeles that will improve the quality of life for everyone.

What we need to do is increase our 1% share of bike commuters on the street to the nearly 6% in Portland — or even the 3% currently enjoyed by San Francisco — rather than mercilessly drive them off the streets as Smith would do.

And make it safer and more convenient for people to leave their cars at home for short errands around their own neighborhood, which currently account for nearly half of all car trips.

Then everyone would benefit from the reduced congestion.

Even drivers like Banks who feel hopelessly inconvenienced by the first baby steps to get there.

Damien Newton looks at the Wilbur Ave controversy, and embeds a report from KNBC-TV 4.

Reports indicate that last night’s Northridge West Neighborhood Council meeting did not go well for the cyclists in attendance. Word is that drivers are on the offensive, and ready to steamroll cyclists and local residents to regain their high-speed Wilbur Avenue throughway. Although how effective it would be now that they’ve told everyone about their secret speedway is another matter.

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Frequent Kiwi contributor the Trickster forwards a link to a fascinating Aussie study of the role of traffic violations in collisions reported to the police. In over 6,000 crashes between bikes and motor vehicles, the cyclist was found at fault in 44% of the time, while cyclists were held at fault in 66% of crashes between bikes and pedestrians. However, you may want to note that the results are based on police reports, without independent analysis of their investigations.

He also forwards a report on a study of cycling injuries in Australia that suggests efforts to improve road safety for drivers have done little to improve safety for cyclists, and that cyclists are over-represented in their share of traffic injuries and under-represented in efforts to prevent them.

.………

Still more cicLAvia news, with photos from This Girls’s Bike, a report of Grist and an out of town visitor’s view of our fair city, Metro and a car-free Sunday from Plan Bike. Meanwhile CicLAvia wants your ideas for the next one.

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The Source offers an update on Metro’s bike efforts. New bike racks at the CARECEN day labor center in MacArthur Park. Photo’s from San Diego’s Tour de Fat, which will be hitting L.A. on the 23rd. It’s back to Vegas after all for Interbike. Portland looks beyond cyclists to promote biking as an everyday means of transportation. Cycleliscious updates the Black Hawk bike ban, along with new rules for large rides in lieu of the proposed ban in St. Charles County MO. St. Louis blocks many streets already, so why not let bikes through? Crain’s New York Business asks if the city should give up on Manhattan bike lanes; so far, the vote is running 9 to 1 in favor of keeping them. It’s fall back in the midlands. After killing a cyclist, a London dump truck driver is fined £165 and forced to get new glasses.

Finally, Hermosa Beach officials want your input regarding the sharrows on Hermosa Avenue; if you’ve ridden them, you know how effective they are; if not, they’re the gold standard for what SoCal sharrows can and should be.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , ,

Wednesday links — more CicLAvia, memorial ride for Daniel Marin and a lot of bike news

October 13, 2010 / / 2 comments

I’ve got too many links for just one post. So click away, and come back later today for my take on Saturday’s auto-centric column by the Times’ Sandy Banks.

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More great videos from CicLAvia, including the first L.A. Streetfilm paid for by user donations, as well as EzraHome and Los Angeles Cycle Chic, and photo sets from L.A. Cycle Chic and the Koreatown Youth and Community Center. Chimatli catches a little rocker in one of those perfect vignettes that defined the day. Or spend a few hours catching up with the 101 and counting CicLAvia videos currently on YouTube. Mark Elliott writes why CicLAvia matters, while a writer in the Times says he enjoyed CicLAvia, but would rather have more bike paths, instead. The CSUN Daily Sundial says it was a lot of pros, with a few minor cons mixed in.

And while we’re at it, here’s Mayor Villaraigosa’s somewhat underwhelming bike safety video to go along with the Give Me 3 campaign created by the LACBC and Midnight Ridazz.

Note: Initially, I mistakenly called the mayor’s Give Me 3 campaign; while he was involved in the approval and unveiling, he was not involved in the creation of the poster campaign.

.………

There will be a memorial ride this Friday in honor of Daniel Marin, the 17-year old cyclist killed on Laurel Canyon Blvd on October 1st; link courtesy of Claremont Cyclist.

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A lawsuit has been filed in the case of four cyclists injured on PCH when Caltrans allegedly left unmarked hazards and debris on the shoulder for an entire weekend, despite warnings. After last week’s rain induced washout, Santa Monica students celebrate Bike It! Walk It! Day today. LADOT Bike Blog interviews the team behind the new SCAG Bike/Ped Wiki. Bikeside unveils the details behind the Life Before License campaign. L.A. County is about to have a new bike riding health services director. CNN offers a view of what L.A. could look like in the near future.

Long Beach makes Bicycling’s list of five up and coming bike cities. Clint Worthington, formerUltraMarathon record holder for biking from San Diego to Seattle in 4 days, 18 hours and 29 minutes, ison the ballot for city council in San Juan Capistrano. Thirty-one cyclists ride from Mammoth Lakes to Big Bear to raise funds for the U.S. Adaptive Recreation Center; sounds like a worthy cause to me. Cyclistsneed taming in Santa Cruz; to be honest, I ignore most “walk your bike” signs, too. The San Francisco cyclist killed by a Muni bus is remembered by his aunt. A Modesto college student recognizes her stolen bike, follows the rider and gets it back.

Attention male cyclists — just because a woman looks a lot better on a bike than you do does not mean she has any less knowledge or skills, capice? A new Portland store opens with more parking spaces for bikes than cars. Just days after getting fired, the former head of the 13,000 Cascade Bicycle Club willreturn for the next 6 months while they find a replacement; hey, I’m available. Then again, Maine’s Bicycle Coalition is looking for a new Executive Director, too. Colorado’s high school mountain bike racing league is taking off. An 89 year old Boulder CO man is injured in a collision with another cyclist. After sharrows are installed, Austin TX cyclists enjoy a 5.5 foot cushion from parked cars, compared to one foot before. Baton Rouge extends a bikeway on the Mississippi River levee, with plans to eventually extend it all the way to New Orleans; that was just a pipe dream for cyclists when I lived down there. A Philadelphia area woman is killed after being shot seven times while riding her bike. A memorial ridewill be held Sunday for Roger Grooters, the former USC athletic staffer killed last week on a cross country ride. A Tampa man hits a stranger eight times with his bike; no word on what caused the altercation.

A new ghost bike for a Canadian First Nation rider who died doing what he loved. Toronto cyclists and drivers don’t know what to make of the city’s new bike boxes, while the local branch of the Department of DIY installs bi-directional sharrows. Peugeot eyes a comeback to the world of biking. The UK’s Carbon Trust wants to get other people to reduce their carbon footprint, but won’t let their own employees ride bikes. Note to L.A. officials — London’s new bike share program is the city’s only transport system on its way to turning a profit. Australian cyclist Stephen Hines has been banned for two years for using clenbuterol, the same drug three-time Tour de France winner says he got by eating tainted meat. UsingPortland as a model for Melbourne, where cyclists will be able to get their next helmet from a vending machine — for just $5.

Finally, if you find yourself riding your bike past Paris Hilton’s house, don’t knock on the door.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

Calling all cyclists — NC meeting tonight to discuss Wilbur Ave road diet and bike lanes

October 12, 2010 / / 4 comments

Just days after the success of CicLAvia, L.A. cyclists once again have to defend the little bit of infrastructure progress we’ve made.

Drivers long used to using Wilbur Ave are up in arms about the recent road diet that reduced it from four lanes to two through lanes and a center turn lane, along with bike lanes on either side of the street — and they have one of the city’s most car-centric Council Members in their corner.

Angry drivers are blaming a cabal of bicyclists for imposing unwanted bike lanes on the street. The truth, though, is that the reduction was made to stop the all too frequent practice of using Wilbur — an otherwise quiet residential street — as a high-speed throughway to bypass backed-up Valley streets; the bike lanes were just an added benefit once street capacity was already reduced.

Tonight there’s going to be a neighborhood council meeting to discuss the situation on Wilbur Avenue. The meeting will take place at 7 pm at the Northridge West Neighborhood Council at Beckford Avenue Elementary School, 19130 Tulsa Street, Northridge, 91326; cyclists are encouraged to attend.

I know it’s short notice. But if you can make it, wiser voices than mine encourage you to focus your comments on the benefits of the road diet for the local residents of the Wilbur Ave area.

By reducing the traffic capacity, it will reduce the high rate of cut-through traffic and slow down speeding drivers, making the street safer for everyone. And resulting in a more pleasant, livable and walkable neighborhood for the people who live there.

And the fact that bikeways tend to increase property values can’t hurt, either.

Unfortunately, I’ll be home tending to a sick wife tonight. But if anyone who attends wants to share their thoughts afterwards, just let me know. You can find my email address on the About Bikinginla page.

Thanks to Patrick, aka Trickmilla, for the heads-up.

Category: General / Tags: , ,

¡Viva CicLAvia! Part 2, and why you need to know the law

October 12, 2010 / / 6 comments

photo from LADOT Bike Blog

I really had no intention of talking more CicLAvia today.

To be honest, I’ve been itching to get to the Time’s Sandy Banks’ misguided motorhead perspective on the Wilbur Avenue road diet.

But frankly, everyone is still talking about Sunday’s CicLAvia. I spent all day yesterday just trying to keep up with all the great coverage popping up online — and these are just the ones that crossed my radar, without looking for them.

Urban Adonia writes about CicLAvia from the perspective ofone of the key movers who helped make it a reality. LADOT Bike Blog recounts his day at CicLAvia, and offers my favorite photo of the day (see above) among others. LAist calls it 7.5 miles of 100,000 smiles. Curbed says it brought out the best of L.A. Blogdowntown offered photos and live updates throughout the morning. Where the Sidewalk Starts offers an overview of key reviews, while Neon Tommy suggests there were only 50,000 people there, not the 100,000 the Times reported. KPCC says thousandslived the fantasy of a car-free L.A. for a few hours. El Chavo says cyclists want three feet, but wouldn’t give CicLAvia walkers the same consideration. LA Loyalist calls it a unique and wonderful experience.Maddie looks at CicLAvia from an urban planning perspective.

Stephen & Enci Box interview a handful of leading CicLAvistas, and CD4 candidate Stephen offers his view on the day. Sunday featured biking, walking, skating — and marriage. Alex Thompson employs his usual great eye behind the camera. Bicycle Fixation isn’t too bad behind the lens, either. The Source’s Steve Hymon offers more great photos; that view leading to the First Congregational Church was my favorite vista of the day, but then, I’m a sucker for traditional religious architecture. And still more photos from Melissa F, Joel Epstein, Megan Hirsch and GTWODT. KCBC Channel 2 says there wasn’t a car in sight, and Ohai Joe posts a great video record of the day. Even the formerly alternative curmudgeons at the L.A. Weekly say maybe they got it wrong.

But maybe Unja sums it up best, by saying you just had to experience it for yourself. And you could have a chance as soon as next August, with the possibility of three more before the end of next year. Personally, I vote for another one next spring.

One suggestion for next time — put out some donation buckets at major intersections where everyone will see them, and ask people to drop in a dollar. I have a feeling if they’d done that this time, it would have more than paid for the next one.

In the meantime, maybe you can satisfy that bike urge at the Tour de Fat in two more weeks.

.………

Just a quick reminder why you need to know the law at least as well as the authorities.

A cyclist in San Anselmo CA was hit by a car while riding through a crosswalk last week, and the local police demonstrated their failure to keep up with the actions of the state legislature.

According to a local report, a spokeswoman for the San Anselmo police department said that “if a cyclist rides his or her bike from the sidewalk into the crosswalk, then the cyclist is legally at fault.”

So for any cyclists — or yes, law enforcement personnel — who are unclear on the concept, CVC 21650 (g), which took effect last year, specifically permits cyclists to ride in the crosswalk anywhere riding on the sidewalk is allowed.

This section does not prohibit the operation of bicycles on any shoulder of a highway, on any sidewalk, on any bicycle path within a highway, or along any crosswalk or bicycle path crossing, where the operation is not otherwise prohibited by this code or local ordinance.

Riding on the sidewalk may or may not be legal in San Anselmo. After scouring the city’s website and its 2008 bike plan, I couldn’t find anything that addressed the matter.

But if it isn’t prohibited, the victim was perfectly within his rights to ride in the crosswalk; if it is, the violation occurred long before he got to the intersection, which the police spokeswoman fails to note.

I hope he’s got a good lawyer.

.………

Reuters reports on an interesting study of 11 New York city bike lanes by Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, finding that the success of Gotham’s growing network of bikeways is being undermined by just about everyone. The most common violations include salmon and red-light running riders, as well as cars and pedestrians blocking bike lanes — and police using the lanes to bypass traffic even when there’s no emergency. But even with the problems, it’s evidently still a great way to see the city. Thanks to Matthew Spence for the heads-up.

.………

LACBC’s City of Lights program celebrates new bike parking in Pico-Union. Gary gets another response from a candidate of Santa Monica City Council. Becks and his boys bike along Venice Beach; hint to the $250 million man — your kids’ helmets would work better if they buckle the straps. If you haven’t OD’d on bike photos yet, the South Bay Bicycle Coalition offers shots of Sunday’s PedalPalooza. San Diego State University unbans bikes after building a separated bike and skateboard path; maybe USC should be taking notes. Evidently, the mean streets of San Francisco’s are that way because they’re full of potholes. Bike zombies invade Oakland; probably because potholes drove them out of Bagdad by the Bay. Levi Leipheimer leads 6,000 riders in Sonoma County’s King Ridge Grand Fondo; riders included TV star Patrick Dempsey, who seems to be on his bike everywhere but L.A. Unfortunately, one of the Grand Fondo riders remains in serious condition after a hit-and-run on the ride.

Portland bike maven Elly Blue says there’s bike safety in numbers, and offers the research to back it up.Biking infrastructure is all the rage throughout the U.S. AAA now offers bike coverage in Oregon and Idaho, but their policies still are anti-bike; competitor Better World Club — which offers bike coverage here — calls it greenwashing. Will a bike that makes you virtually lie forward make you a faster rider? The Virginia Bicycling Federation says same road, same rules, rights, and responsibilities. Charleston police crack down on salmon and sidewalk cyclists. An interview with cyclocross champ Katie Compton.

A popular Victoria bike and hike trail is reopened after people repeatedly tear down barricades blocking it. Dorset’s pedaling plumber takes to his bike to avoid pre-Olympic traffic jams. Attempting to set the world’s land speed record for wooden bikes. It was a deadly weekend on the roads for UK cyclists. A Scot schoolboy is impaled on his BMX bike when a stunt goes wrong. Riding on the Appian Way.

Finally, detectives are being driven ape dealing with the case of a teenage cyclist in Rocky Point NY who suffered minor injuries when he was punched by two people in gorilla suits, while a third suspect in a chicken suit rode off with his bike.

No, seriously.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

¡Viva CicLAvia!

October 11, 2010 / / 15 comments

I’m won’t waste your time talking a lot about yesterday’s first ever CicLAvia.

There’s already been a lot written on the subject — some of which you’ll find below — and there will be a lot more in the next few days.

Instead, I’ll let the pictures tell the story.

But I will say, this was one of the most successful events I’ve experienced in L.A. And one that has the potential to change the way we see and experience out city.

We owe a big thanks to the people behind it.

And like virtually everyone who was there, I can’t wait for the next one.

 

Obligations at home kept me from getting there until after 1 pm when things were well under way, so I didn't waste time joining in.

 

 

 

The LACBC hosted one of the pit stops; even though the crowd was estimated at up to 100,000, it never felt crowded.

 

 

My late arrival meant that I didn't time to stop for the best tamales Mexican-style mocha in town; but clearly, a lot of people did.

 

 

Contrary to what you may have read, not all of the Give Me 3 posters face away from oncoming traffic; this day, though, no one needed the reminder.

 

 

People made themselves at home on the streets; I saw a group enjoying a picnic in the middle of a normally bustling Downtown intersection.

 

 

People paused for various musicians and other performers along the way, a sitar performance ended before I could get a photo.

 

 

Everyone observed the few rules, although I did see a walker nearly step in front of oncoming traffic as he spoke on his cell phone.

 

 

The beautiful 4th Street Bridge was a popular gathering spot for riders; just imagine what it will be once the river is restored to a more natural state.

 

 

Some Angelenos used the opportunity to take a stand on a perfect SoCal day; I wish I'd been there early enough to see the mayor on his bike.

 

 

The bored looking police said a lot about how well-organized the event was; they seemed to appreciate the frequent thanks from people passing by.

 

 

Virtually every flavor of Angeleno represented a CicLAvia; even the four-legged variety joined in on the ride.

 

 

With my own bike out of commission, I was glad to have this Urbana bike on loan; everyone who tried it said it rode like a dream.

 

Just a few additional thoughts.

The overwhelming majority of people I saw were on bikes. While there were a relative handful of skaters, boarders and pedestrians, we need to find a way to get word out to the larger community beyond those of us on two wheels.

Especially the people who live in the area.

For me, the saddest moment of the day came when a couple of young boys stopped me as I was leaving to ask if it was a race or a bike ride. I watched their faces brighten as I told them no, it’s CicLAvia, and you can do anything you want. Bike, walk, play, even — taking note of the boards tucked under their arms — skateboard.

Then I watched those faces fall as I had to add that it was over now.

And suggesting that there should be another one in a few months and maybe they could come out for that one didn’t seem to help.

That’s a long way away when you’re about seven years old.

.………

Just a few of the many, many anticipated reports from CicAvia, from Bicycle Fixation, the Claremont Cyclist, Straight Out of Suburbia — who rates it awesome — and Orange 20 Bikes, along with a great timelapse video and panoramic shot from Will Campbell. This Girl’s Bike offers a great photo of Downtown as seen from the 4th Street Bridge. Gary called it life changing, while Ubrayj says the city looked the same afterwards, so it must be something inside him that changed. L.A. Cycle Chic provides unedited video of a friend’s ride, while L.A. Creek Freak offers a couple of videos, including one of the thousands of small children who rode the route. Damien delivers three stories from Sunday, but says the most important number was 0 — as in the number of incidents reported. The L.A. Times says an estimated 100,000 people were there; no wonder I couldn’t find most of the people I was looking for. KPCC’s Larry Mantle discussed it on his AirTalk program; a podcast should be online soon. And in perfect L.A. fashion, Green LA Girl starts her day Downtown and finishes up on the beach. Even the LA Weekly finally got on board just hours before the kickoff. CicLAvia wants your pictures and stories, while the Mayor says this was his favorite shot of the day.

.………

Alberto Contador says that’s his story and he’s sticking to it, or he’ll sue. The count in the Spanish doping scandal now stands at seven. Australia owns the biking events at the Commonwealth Games, while Uganda riders have to make do with old gear and Kiwi riders get slapped — literally. Bicycling explains why next year’s Amgen Tour of California should be a good race, even though it may never be a great one. The next great American cyclist could be starting his racing career right now.

.………

The Ride 2 Recovery to help wounded war vets reclaim their lives comes to a successful conclusion at the Santa Monica Pier; thanks to Stanley for the heads-up. Gary gets two more questionnaires back from candidates for Santa Monica City Council. The L.A. Time’s Sandy Banks looks at the Wilbur Ave road diet from a decidedly windshield perspective. At least some people in Orange County think it will take more than better manners to reduce to their one-a-month rate of bike deaths, as new sharrows hit the pavement in Newport Beach and a writer makes a suggestion to improve a dangerous intersection. Maybe you can’t ride the L.A. Marathon anymore, but you can ride the Long Beach Marathon next weekend. The C-Blog offers good advice on how to ride in a group; he may be doing a lot of that now he’s got a new bike. Long Beach’s cycling expats travel from Philly to New York, dodging a flood and a close call with a falling branch along the way.  Four people were arrested in Stockton after attempting to rob a cyclist and shooting at a witness who tried to intervene. It’s not cars that’s killing off bike messengers, it’s the economy.

As we’ve discussed before, being pro-bike doesn’t mean you have to be anti-car. A how-to video on safe bicycling for children, courtesy of Madison WI and the NHTSA, and a look at the man behind a plan for a 20% bike share in Mad City by 2020. A physician in my hometown uses exceptionally dubious statistics to suggest that the local paper should only show photos of people wearing helmets, while another couple argue that bike paths lower property values, contrary to all available evidence. The Wall Street Journal jumps heads-first into the great helmet debate, though they miss the point on when helmets offer protection — and when they don’t; link courtesy of San Diego bike lawyer Amanda Benedict. Good to know — 12 emergency bike fixes. Learn how to carve a corner. Nevada cyclists get a chance to break in the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge, but why can’t the media figure out the difference between a ride and a race? Don’t build a Maine casino, build a bike tourism industry instead. Biking is getting better in New Orleans, resulting in the nation’s 6th highest level of bike commuters for larger cities.

Bikes are the latest amenity for upscale boutique hotels. Maybe more people would ride to work if they didn’t face death traps along the way. London’s Guardian newspaper endorses the city’s new bike share program. Separate looks at biking in Rome, and the wine country of Tuscany. If you’re tired of driving your Mini Cooper, now you can ride one.

Finally, by far the best report I’ve seen on the death — and more importantly, the extraordinary life — of endurance great Jure Robic.

Category: General / Tags: , ,

In Southern California, eight biking deaths in three weeks may be tragic, but it isn’t news

October 8, 2010 / / 4 comments

Early last Saturday morning, Daniel Marin died at the bumper of an alleged drunk driver.

The 17-year old Sylmar cyclist was riding near San Fernando High School at the corner of Chamberlain Street and Laurel Canyon Blvd when he was struck and killed by a car driven by Shawn Fields.

Reports don’t indicate how the collision occurred. Police only say that they found him lying unresponsive in the street when they arrived at 2:11 am, with Fields sitting nearby in the driver’s seat of his car.

Fields was charged with Gross Vehicular Manslaughter while Driving Under the Influence (DUI), and released on $100,000; his next court date is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27th at the San Fernando Courthouse.

Some people call it murder, and I can’t — and won’t — argue that point. Anyone who gets behind the wheel after drinking is fully responsible for whatever follows, and should be held fully accountable.

I only wish that was the end of the story.

Because by my count, Danny Marin was just one of eight Southern California cyclists killed in the last three weeks alone.

Think about that.

That’s over 1% of all the bicycle related deaths in the entire U.S. for all of 2008. Or looking at it another way, that extends to a rate of 137 deaths over a full year — nearly 20% of the 718 cyclists killed nationwide in 2008.

Yet not one word from the local media.

Clearly, there’s no one cause, since those deaths run the gamut from a retired firefighter killed in a collision with a pedestrian, to hit-and-run and drunk driving cases, and collisions where the rider may have been responsible.

But just as clearly, there are too damn many riders dying on our streets.

It’s time to take notice. It’s time to get mad. And it’s long past time to do something about it.

So be careful this weekend. And ride as if your life depends on it.

Because it does.

………

On a related subject, Dj Wheels reports that a restitution hearing was held last month for Robert Sam Sanchez, convicted in the hit-and-run death of Rod Armas:

On Sept. 20, a restitution hearing was held to determine the amount of monetary damages suffered by the Armas family.  Rod Armas’ wife, Karen Michelle Armas testified regarding the ambulance and hospital bills for the night of the incident, funeral service expenses, loss of earnings for Rod Armas, a former L.A. County Probations Officer, her loss of earnings as a registered trauma nurse, counseling expenses and future medical expenses for Christian and psychological therapy for her and Rod’s three children.

Judge Lawrence Mira set restitution at $1,587,248 plus 10% interest as of 6/28/09.  He also reserved jurisdiction to modify restitution as to attorney fees, treatment for Christian’s knee and therapy for the family.

There were some issues that defense counsel brought up regarding the accuracy of all the figures, including the cost of the bicycles damaged for which Mrs. Armas’ could not provide the estimate from the shop at this hearing, and any off set Sanchez could receive as a result of his insurance company making a payment to Mrs. Armas as part of a settlement.

The restitution hearing was continued to Dec. 12.

He also reports that a plea bargain was reached in the case of William Keith Square in the hit-and-run death of an unnamed cyclist in Carson:

On Sept. 22, a plea bargain was entered between the District Attorney’s office and the Public Defender representing Mr. Square.

Felony hit and run charges, DUI charges and 2nd degree murder charges were dropped in exchange for a plea to Count 1 – gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated – PC 191.5(a), which carries a state prison sentence of 4, 6 or 10 years.  Judge John Cheroske sentenced Square to the max term of 10 years in state prison and ordered him to pay a $2000 restitution fee.  Square has been in custody since being arrested shortly after the incident, so he was given credit for 159 days in actual custody.

I believe this matter is now considered disposed of, and no mention is made of any other type of restitution to the family of the victim.

And according to the Orange County Register, Javier Rivera has entered a guilty plea in the hit-and-run death of Patrick Shannon — just one of the many cycling deaths in Orange County that was not caused by bad bicyclist behavior.

Rivera pled guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and felony hit-and-run with injury. He now faces up to four years in prison.

Four years for inflicting a self-imposed death penalty on another human being for the crime of riding a bicycle — despite multiple previous convictions for possession, as well as fleeing from a police officer with wanton disregard for public safety.

And in another four year — or less — he’ll be free to do it again.

………

Host cities are announced for the Amgen Tour of California; local stages include a Solvang time trial, Claremont to Mt. Baldy, and Santa Clarita to Thousand Oaks. Claremont celebrates their part with a kick-off event.

Not surprisingly, Italy’s top anti-doping prosecutor backtracks on his earlier statement that all cyclists are on drugs; I’m on antihistamines, does that count? Shane Perkins, the Aussie track cyclist who twice flipped off the judges following a penalty, penalizes himself by pulling out of the team sprint final.

Italy’s L’Eroica race is a throwback to the past, with wool jerseys, gravel roads and no bikes born after 1987.

………

People for Bikes tops 100,000 members. Good news, but we should have that many from here in SoCal alone. If you haven’t signed up yet, it’s free, there’s no obligation, they won’t spam you and it only takes a few seconds.

………

L.A.’s first CicLAvia takes place from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday, 10/10/10 along a free seven-plus mile route through Downtown, MacArthur Park and Hollywood; walk, bike, skate, dance or just hang out. Note: Santa Monica’s ciclovia, which had been planned for the same day has been postponed for now; thanks to Eric Weinstein for the heads-up.

All signs point to a good time, with yoga and Capoeira along the way, and you might even find Ellen Page. KNBC-4 invites you to go car free, then again, it might help if you know how to get there and it couldn’t hurt to make your plans in advance. Animals are welcome; in fact, they may be blessed. And the new Fixx Carlton powder coating boutique will open Sunday at the west end of CicLAvia.

………

In other events —

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

Explore the effects of bicycles on art and culture at the Grand Opening of Re:Cycle — Bike Culture in Southern California, October 7th – 9th, at U.C. Riverside’s newly relocated Sweeney Art Gallery at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts, 3834 Main Street in downtown Riverside. A reception will be held from 6 – 10 pm Thursday, October 7th; the exhibition continues through December 31st.

Flying Pigeon and the Bike Oven host the free Spoke(n) Art Ride on the 2nd Saturday of every month, starting at 3714 N. Figueroa St. in Highland Park on Saturday the 9th at 6:30 pm.

Tuesday, October 12th, there will be a community meeting to discuss the soon-to-open Elysian Valley section of the L.A. River Bike Path starting 6 pm at Allesandro Elementary School, 2210 Riverside Drive; parking is available off Gleneden and Riverside Drive.

Santa Monica’s Bike It! Day has been rescheduled from last week to Wednesday the 13th due to the heavy rains; students are encouraged to bike or walk to school.

Glendale will host two public meetings on the proposed Safe & Healthy Streets Plan on Monday, October 25 at the Glendale Central Library Auditorium, and Wednesday, October 27 at the Sparr Heights Community Center; both meetings will run from 7 pm to 8:30 pm.

New Belgium Brewery’s Tour de Fat makes its first L.A. stop on Saturday, October 23rd. The following day, Sony sponsors their bikeless, but probably still fun, Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon

.………

Gary submits a questionnaire to the candidates for Santa Monica City Council, and gets a response almost immediately. LADOT Bike Blog does a great job of reporting on Tuesday’s BAC meeting. The Southern California Assoc. of Governments invites you to join in the bike planning process with their new Bike Ped Planning Page, while the South Bay Bicycle Coalition now has its own website. Another great response to KABC-7’s recent lightweight report on bikes in traffic. The once and future Car-less Valley Girl is back on her bike, and she likes it. Even cops commit hit-and-run around here. A bike cozy spotted in Santa Monica, or would you’d rather have a U-lock cozy instead?

A 22-year old San Francisco cyclist was killed Thursday evening in a rush hour collision with a Muni bus. Watch out for bicycle extremists. EcoVelo says it would be nice if drivers just treated us like other road users. Making bike path pavement from plants, not oil. Does dropping a bundle on a bike mean you’re a better rider? Uh, that would be no. A former CIA officer and his wife are riding cross country to raise money for the CIA Officers memorial Foundation. Oregon residents insist on getting their lanes back. Bike Denver plans a 1,200 space bike corral for the Denver Bronco’s first ever ride to the game on Oct. 17th; think L.A could fill even a tenth of that for our NFL team? Oh wait, we don’t have one. Yet another cross-country cyclist is killed when a truck blows a tire when trying to pass safely. Zeke deals with a rash of confrontational drivers. The department of DIY spreads to Missoula as cyclists face charges for painting their own bike lane. An Augusta cyclist is left lying in the street after an assault by the occupants of a passing car.

Biking the French Wine Road. A Winnipeg cyclist is hit by a dirt biker, who pauses to laugh at her before riding off. Montreal redesigns a popular riding route to make it less safe for cyclists. London cycle stylists help women choose the right bikes and fashions. Five years for an uninsured and unlicensed drunk driver who killed an Edinburgh cyclist in a head-on collision; at least that more than Rivera will get.

Finally, if a cardboard bike helmet can exceed design standards, is the design that good or are the standards that bad? A study at NYU Medical Center shows that 76% of bike-related ER patients weren’t even wearing that much, but the cool kids do.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Breaking News: cross-country cyclist and blogger killed in Florida was former USC Athletic Dept staffer

October 8, 2010 / / 2 comments

Former USC staff member Roger Grooters; photo from LSU's Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes

An already heart-breaking story just hit closer to home.

Yesterday, I mentioned that a 66-year old cyclist was killed in Florida on Wednesday while on a cross-country bike ride to raise funds for Gulf oil spill victims; tragically, he had blogged about his ride just the night before he died.

Now it turns out that the victim, Roger Grooters, was the former Director of Student Athlete-Academic Services at USC before leaving to work at LSU.

I had mistakenly said he was living in Gulf Shores, Alabama at the time of his death; he was actually living in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and had visited his home and church the weekend before his death.

Funeral services will be held Monday in Gulf Breeze.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,
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