Today’s submission comes from Harv, who relates a quick ride through LA’s Highland Park neighborhood for groceries on the day before Christmas Eve.
He describes himself as a long time LA resident of who began riding for transportation at the tender age of 12, and has been active in the resurgence of bicycle activism since the bike boom of the early 1970s.
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Since I am no longer commuting to my former job in DTLA or my volunteer job in Highland Park, my most frequent repeated ride is for food shopping. A round trip of 5 miles, all hilly, with tricky freeway feeders and a dangerous intersection at Figueroa and Avenue 50. I have been car-free for three years, before then I was car very light for several years. My bike is my only transportation from home, if I want to eat, I have to ride. So let’s get started for an Xmas eve-eve run to the Food for Less in Highland Park.
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It will start with my bolting on my cut-down milk crate to the rack of my grocery bike built for the purpose. A frame low enough to step over when my crate is stacked high with groceries, 1.5 inch street tyres for stability and load bearing, a low enough bottom gear to lug up my moderate hill with 20 pounds of food, 5 pounds of rack/crate, a 5 or 6 pound back pack, and, of course, me. Without the added cargo, I can fly up my hill on one of my single speed bikes with less effort.
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OK, we descend the hill and get within a mile of the market without having to pedal at all. A short run along Griffin Avenue takes us past the playing fields of Montecito Park, which are empty today, but frequently have several ball games going. Continue past the Audubon Center and the north gate of Debs Park which usually has several homeless camps going on behind it, and then the Avenue 52 freeway feeder looms up disturbing the tranquility of the trip thus far. Here, there are I-110 on and off ramps on either side of the parkway. As I pass the first set, I glance to my left to see how many cars are backed up at the end of the off ramp stop sign. All these cars will be turning left into my path. I adjust my speed and position to minimize the conflict and sprint up the short distance to get across the bridge and duck into the residential area which provides refuge. When the I-110 was put in, about 1940, all streets in the grid across the Arroyo to Figueroa were dead-ended except for the freeway feeders such as Avenue 43, 52, and 57. So there is no way I can get across without hitting this feeder traffic.
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To avoid Figueroa and Ave 52, I wiggle through the residential area alluded to and approach the market on Ave 50 but hop onto the sidewalk before the corner to avoid the dreaded right hooking cars into the Mickey Dee’s parking lot. Finally rolling into the F4L lot after clearing the bus passengers and Big Mac gobblers, now only to dodge cars backing out of spaces and errant shopping carts rolling down the slight incline. But finally making it to the front door, I dismount and walk the bike into market, up and down the aisles, putting my purchases into the crate. My bike is my shopping cart. Every store employee knows me (after shopping there for over 20 years) and no one bats an eye.
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The return trip is the reverse, except I have to handle the downhill traffic rushing toward the on ramps on the narrow 2 lane street. I wait patiently for a break in the traffic and bounce down the broken pavement with a glance over my shoulder every few seconds. Most drivers cut me enough slack, but I still have to time myself to not be at the on ramp entrance when someone might right hook me. Then I have to cross the off ramp with similar timing, eye contact, and negotiation. Finally clear of this mayhem, I speed up on the downhill section of Griffin past the homeless encampments, the Audubon, the playing fields and turn left up my hill for the grind to the top. I eat for another week.
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If you’d like to share your ride with us, just send it to the email address on the About BikinginLA page. It can be a rant, rave or anything in between, from a few sentences to a detailed description. Or any other format you think tells the story best, however and wherever you ride.
January 5, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bicycle traffic diversion schools, record-setting rides and a bike friendly LA Planning chief
And come back later in the day when we’ll have the next installment in our new Describe Your Ride feature.
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One story that’s gotten lost in the shuffle in all the year-end discussion of new bike laws is California’s approval of bike traffic diversion programs last year. Which means if you get a ticket, you could see the fine waived or reduced once you successfully complete a bike training class.
To the best of my knowledge, none have been established in SoCal yet, though I understand the LACBC is interested in getting one going in the LA area.
Three riders set out to set a new record for most miles traveled by bicycle in a single year last year; in the end, it was the lone American, Kurt Searvogel, who broke the 75-year old mark by finishing in Florida with 75,066 miles.
Meanwhile, a team of elite cyclists set a new record for riding the length of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town in just 38 days.
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Local
Los Angeles raids Pasadena, as Mayor Garcetti nominates Pasadena Planning and Community Development Director Vince Bertoni to head up the LA planning department. Bertoni was formerly a deputy planning director in Los Angeles, where he oversaw the creation of the city’s 2010 bike plan, now part of the recently re-adopted Mobility Plan 2035.
Streetsblog CA says Caltrans new design guidelines for protected bike lanes really are a big deal.
Oceanside police are investigating a suspicious death on a bike path near Buena Vista lagoon; it does not appear to be bicycling related, however.
Streetsblog SF talks to the San Francisco supervisor behind the city’s proposed Idaho Stop Law, while the police captain who inspired the effort by cracking down on cyclists says it would create chaos on the streets. Kind of like all those drivers who roll stops without getting stopped.
How to keep your hands warm on cold and wet winter days. Could be useful information if you’re riding through the rain this week; my advice is to find an attractive riding partner to warm them for you.
Portland spends just $2,000 to improve a dangerous intersection for cyclists. Demonstrating that not every situation demands a complex or expensive solution; small improvements can make a difference.
Phoenix says it’s making progress on bike lanes, even if not everyone agrees. Change the name of the city, and that same story could be written just about anywhere. Especially here.
Months of negotiations have left cyclists and local residents no closer to an agreement over a contested Baton Rouge bike lane.
International
Europe is investing in bicycling to cut carbon emissions; better health and reduced congestion are just added benefits.
Great piece from the Guardian’s Peter Walker offering advice to anyone planning to write an anti-bike screed. Which they will undoubtedly ignore.
A British driver is charged with deliberately striking a bike rider who gave him an obscene gesture after he yelled at her to get out of the way. Rule #1 — never flip off the driver behind you. No matter how much he or she deserves it.
Caught on video: A Brit bicyclist is rescued from flood waters after clinging to a tree for 40 minutes. Take that as fair warning — bike paths along SoCal rivers, and other low-lying areas, will be prone to flooding with this week’s rains. Assuming they actually pan out as promised.
Indian women ride through the darkness to claim their share of the night space and call for an end to atrocities against women. We should all add our voices to that.
If you make it down to Australia, here are ten Sydney bike paths offering stunning views of the city.
A Florida writer bicycles through Myanmar to observe its tentative transition to democracy. Or maybe you’d prefer to tour Vietnam by bike. The latter looks a lot more inviting than when the government threatened to send me there.
Finally…
If you’re riding home after a night of drinking, try to keep your pants on — along with the rest of your clothes. Go out and build your own bike, says the record setting Flying Scotsman who made his from a washing machine.
And evidently, women make bad safety advocates — and heads of police chief councils — because they rely on emotion instead of facts; especially ones who rudely insist on riding bikes instead of bungee jumping.
Just four days into the new year, a cyclist has lost his life, the first bicycling fatality of 2016 in the seven-county Southern California region.
According to the Press-Enterprise, 33-year old Loma Linda resident Steven Ortiz was hit by a car while riding at Bryn Mawr Avenue and George Street at 12:07 pm today. He was pronounced dead at Loma Linda University Medical Center half an hour later.
A street view shows a two-lane, three-way intersection with a stop sign on George.
Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time.
This is the first bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first in San Bernardino County; there were three cyclists killed in the county last year.
Update: The Press-Enterprise reports that the wreck was caused when Ortiz was apparently left-crossed by the 92-year old driver.
According to the brief description, both Ortiz and the unidentified driver were traveling south on Bryn Mawr. However, the only way they could collide under those circumstances would be Ortiz was riding on the wrong side of the road, which is not mentioned in the story.
It’s also possible that the paper may have gotten Ortiz’ direction wrong.
Update 2: Mark Friis forwards a press release from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department that indicates the Press-Enterprise did get it wrong.
The release says that Ortiz was riding north on Bryn Mawr, rather than south, and was unable to stop when the southbound driver turned left in front of him onto George.
Which raises the question of whether a 92-year old driver still belonged behind the wheel.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Steven Ortiz and his family.
Thanks to Erik Griswold and Mark Friis for the heads-up.
Beachbikes.net is a company based out of Hermosa Beach, California, that specializes in custom-made beach cruiser bikes.
Design your bike exactly the way you want it; choosing everything from the frame (Men’s or Women’s), to the speeds (1, 3 or 7), fenders, rims, seat, and even adding custom decals, among other options! With the customizer, the possibilities are endless.
The winner of the contest will receive a $350 coupon to the site, where you’ll be able to order your brand new bike and get it shipped straight to your door.
Read on for the contest details:
Click for full details.
So here are the rules.
I want you to nominate someone who deserves a new bike.
It could be anyone. You, or anyone you know. Even someone you don’t.
Maybe you want to lose weight or have a little fun in the sun. Or know someone who wants to learn to ride. Maybe someone needs a way to get to work or school, or had their own bike stolen.
It could be an individual, a family, a group or organization.
It could be anyone, for any reason.
Just email your entry, in 150 words or less, to contest @ bikinginla dot com. (Just remove the spaces, of course.)
All entries are due by midnight, January 18th — two weeks from today. Judging will be entirely subjective, so try to impress me.
That’s it.
Now let’s have some fun. And put someone on a new bike.
It was already illegal for bike riders, as well as drivers, to use headphones or earpieces in both ears; the new law only removes some loopholes by prohibiting any kind of earpiece on or in both ears, whether or not they’re actually in use.
Similarly, bikes were already covered under the existing requirement for slow moving vehicles to pull over to allow others to pass. The only change is explicitly adding the word bicycles to the law.
(Or maybe not; see correction below.)
However, the law only applies on two-lane roadways when five or more vehicles are trapped behind and unable to pass; if cars can safely go around, the law doesn’t apply. And you’re not required to pull over until it’s safe to do so.
You also don’t have to move over for speeding drivers if you’re riding at or near the speed limit.
The problem is most of the news stories fail to give adequate context or explain the limitations of the law, or point out that nothing has changed other than adding bicycles to the wording.
Which means we’re likely to see a jump in angry drivers demanding that bike riders get the hell out of their way, regardless of how many lanes there are or whether they can actually go around.
According to Serge, not only has the story been blown out of proportion, it isn’t even a story to begin with. And he should know, since he provided the wording that was adopted, without changes, by the legislature.
See if you can spot it anywhere in the revised law.
21656.
On a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe because of traffic in the opposite direction or other conditions, any vehicle proceeding upon the highway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time, behind which five or more vehicles are formed in line, shall turn off the roadway at the nearest place designated as a turnout by signs erected by the authority having jurisdiction over the highway, or wherever sufficient area for a safe turnout exists, in order to permit the vehicles following it to proceed.
I apologize for my error. Unfortunately, with all the madness over the holidays, personal and otherwise, I’m not sure where I got the information I used; regardless, it’s my fault for relying on a single source rather than verifying what I was told.
A Hermosa Beach bike rider is looking for the hit-and-run driver who left him with a broken arm in Rolling Hills Estates on Christmas Eve; unfortunately, there’s not much of a description to go on.
Then again, not even ghost bikes are safe from hit-and-run drivers; this one was at the site where Reynaldo Barajas was killed in Oxnard.
Photos courtesy of Danny Gamboa
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While we were gone, the Internet blew up over this video of bicyclists behaving badly on the popular Nichols Canyon Ride.
If you want my take, just don’t ride like a jerk. Ever.
Period.
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Ride faster. A new British study shows that slower bicyclists are more likely to be in a collision; people who ride at eight mph or less are three times more likely to get hit by a car than those who ride 12 mph or faster.
A powerful Australian ad uses a purposely misaligned bicycle as a metaphor to demonstrate what it’s like to have MS.
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Local
The LA Times’ Christopher Hawkins calls for converting the end of the 2 Freeway into an elevated park and solar arrays, along with a bikeway offering spectacular views. Meanwhile, an OpEd in the Times calls for closing a stretch of Hollywood Blvd at Hollywood and Highland to cars to create a much needed pedestrian plaza. Yes, to both.
A San Antonio website offers an in-depth analysis of the road conditions that led to a $5.8 million judgment the death of an Indian Wells bicyclist, concluding that 94% of traffic fatalities in the city are due to poor road design. And says the solution is slower speeds resulting from narrowing lanes and building more intersections.
The Jewish Journal takes an “epic” 29-mile bike ride from Ventura to Santa Barbara. Epic being a relative term; your epic ride might be someone else’s easy day. Or vice versa.
Also from San Jose, a man calls for bikes to be banned on a local highway; cyclists say they aren’t the problem, while a columnist fails to grasp that we all pay for the roads, whether or not we drive a car.
A Sacramento cyclist gets his stolen cargo bike back a week after it disappeared, after another rider spotted the distinctive bicycle across the river.
A bighearted Napa man sets out “karma kits” with tubes, air pump, energy bars and trash bags along popular riding trails for cyclists in need.
National
City Lab lists 10 traffic myths that should have gone away in 2015, but didn’t, including that bikeways slow traffic and drivers pay for the roads. See San Jose above.
The NFL is discovering what we already know. If you really want to get in shape, ride a bike; evidently, it works for the other kind of football, too.
Okay, it’s a little late for New Year’s, but it still helps to know how to ride with a hangover. Which is one of those key cycling skills every imbibing bike rider should master.
A noncom officer with the Oregon National Guard during the week, rising pro cyclist on the weekend.
Evidently, streets are no-fun zones limited to transport only, so bicyclists need to ride sedately. And after a whopping 125 London cyclists are convicted of blowing stops — in a city of 8.5 million — the same paper calls it a crackdown on “bully boys on bikes.” No, seriously.
The BBC traces the British bike boom back to the 2005 London subway bombing; over two million people in the country ride at least once a week.
Once again, someone has sabotaged an English bike path; a man riding with his toddler in a trailer was nearly garroted by a wire strung at neck height across the trail. Acts like this aren’t pranks — they’re deliberate attempts to seriously injure or intimidate riders to frighten them off trails they’re legally entitled to use.
The best way to promote bicycling in Abu Dhabi — or anywhere else, for that matter — is to teach it in schools and instill a passion for riding in families.
Try not to fall off your bike while riding Down Under when you’re four sheets to the wind, or over six times the legal limit. And try to keep breathing, while you’re at it.
Who needs an e-bike when your car’s rear wheel can convert to an electric unicycle? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em; if someone steals your bike for the third time, just go out and steal a replacement.
And despite what the press says, having an erection in public while wearing spandex makes you an exhibitionist, not a cyclist. But maybe he really did have a banana in his pocket.
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Thanks to Mark Jones for making 2015’s last donation to BikinginLA. While the Holiday Fund Drive is over, you can still contribute anytime.
Let me take just a moment to thank everyone who contributed to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive over the last month.
Thanks to your support, what had started as joke became a real thing. And what had looked like a bleak holiday season became much brighter.
And for that, I couldn’t be more grateful.
So please accept my most humble thanks, and my best wishes for a very merry Christmas. Or the happiest of holidays, whatever you may observe.
BikinginLA will be taking the next week off, as I plan to do a little work under the hood and make some long-delayed changes.
So unless there’s breaking news, we’ll see you bright and early next year.
We have a big January planned for you, with more people ready to describe their rides. And a first-ever contest to give away a new bicycle, courtesy of Hermosa Beach’s Beachbikes.net.
So enjoy the holidays.
Ride safe and ride happy.
And don’t forget Sunday’s Valley Finish the Ride.
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Special thanks to David Aretsky for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.
