Tag Archive for bicycling

Fiesta La Ballona, Pasadena Complete Streets, Active Streets LA, and Kidical and Clitoral Masses

August 24, 2013 / / Comments Off on Fiesta La Ballona, Pasadena Complete Streets, Active Streets LA, and Kidical and Clitoral Masses

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.

Metro continues to sponsor a series of free bike safety classes throughout the LA area, including classes this weekend in Hawthorne, Downey and Sante Fe Springs.

The annual Fiesta La Ballona takes place this weekend in Culver City, featuring food trucks, live music and carnival rides. The free bike friendly event will offer secure bike valet courtesy of Palms Cycle, and a bike repair demonstration from Chubby’s Cruisers on Saturday at 1:30 pm.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition holds their first official meeting on Saturday, August 24th, starting at 8:45 am, followed by a walk/bike ride starting at 9 am; 175 N. Euclid Ave, just north of Pasadena City Hall.

Saturday, August 24th, you’re invited to attend the launch of Active Streets LA, a partnership of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, TRUST South LA, and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation with funding through the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The family friendly festivities run from 10 am to 2 pm, with a bike/walk at 11:30 am, at Angeles Mesa Elementary School, 2611 W 52nd St.

The second annual Clitoral Mass — yes, you read that right — women’s ride rolls on Saturday, August 24th from 4 pm to midnight. Riders assemble at Watts Towers, 1765 E. 107th Street.

This Sunday, August 25th will see a 7.4 mile, family friendly Kidical Mass ride from Chinatown to MacArthur Park, departing from the Chinatown Gold Line Station at 2:30 pm.

Your yearly opportunity to ride San Diego’s iconic Coronado Bay Bridge comes on Sunday, August 25th with the annual 25-mile Bike the Bay ride through the cities surrounding the San Diego Bay.

New location — The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Civic Engagement Committee meets at 6:45 pm on the last Tuesday of each month to discuss how to elect and influence bike-friendly politicians. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, August 27th, at LACBC headquarters, 634 South Spring Street. The meetings are open to everyone, and you don’t have to be an LACBC member to participate; email bikinginla at hotmail dot com to be added to the discussion list.

The next edition of the LACBC’s popular Sunday Funday Rides is scheduled for Sunday, September 1st; the ride is free for LACBC members and a guest. This month will feature the Filipino Pride Ride, a slow-paced, 20-mile family friendly ride through Historic Filipinotown and Eagle Rock, led by board member Herbie Huff. Meet at United Bread and Pastry, 1515 Griffith Park Blvd at 9:30 am, rolling at 10 am.

The Eastside Bike Club is hosting the first Los Angeles City Birthday Celebration Bike Ride to commemorate the 1781 founding of the City of Angels on Saturday, August 31st. The slow paced, family friendly ride will include a Blessing of the Bike Riders. Meet at the San Gabriel Mission, 428 South Mission Drive in San Gabriel no later than 7:15 am.

Wolfpack Hustle hosts the final event in their Unified Title Race Series with the Midnight Drag Race on Downtown LA’s Sixth Street Bridge on Saturday, September 7th; qualifiers start at 6 pm with the finals at 8 pm.

Saturday, September 7th, County Supervisor Gloria Molina joins with the LACBC and the County Parks and Recreation to host a free East LA Bike Ride, with a four mile route for children and families, and an eight mile route for adults and advanced bike riders, as well as a bike decorating contest. Check in at the East Los Angeles Civic Center, 4801 E 3rd Street, at 9:30 am, rolling at 10 am.

Red5 Yellow7 hosts a free discussion of what bike is best for you on Monday, September 9th, starting at 7 pm; 4357 Melrose Avenue.

The LACBC and Los Angeles Walks are looking for volunteers for the 2013 Los Angeles Bicycle and Pedestrian Count on Tuesday, September 10th from 7 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 6 pm, and Saturday, September 14th from 11 am to 1 pm.

Santa Monica will host a four hour Pop-Up MANGo street festival on Saturday, September 21st to preview the planned Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway.

Metro is sponsoring a series of monthly bike rides in conjunction with CICLE. First up is the Made in LA III: LA River Edition on Saturday, September 21st. Meet at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens, 570 W Avenue 26, at 10:30am (near Metro Gold Line Lincoln/Cypress Station).

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.

Streetsblog is hosting a fundraiser to celebrate their new SaMo edition, Santa Monica Next, on Sunday, September 22nd, from noon to 2:30 pm. The party, including food, drink and a raffle, takes place on the rooftop at 11th and Wilshire in Santa Monica; $35 donation, $15 for students.

Bike SGV invites you to join them for their 2013 Awards Ceremony and Fundraiser on Saturday, September 28th from 5 pm to 11 pm at the San Gabriel Mission Grapevine Arbor, 320 South Mission Drive in San Gabriel.

New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat will bypass Los Angeles this year; the nearest stop will be at San Diego’s Golden Hill Park on Saturday, September 28th, from 10 am to 5 pm. Join or renew your membership with the LACBC by September 12th and you could win a free two night trip to our neighbor to the south for Tour de Fat.

The Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee meets at 7 pm on the first Tuesday of each even-numbered month; the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 1st at the Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall Community Room, 6501 Fountain Ave.

CicLAvia returns with an expanded version of the original Heart of LA route on Sunday, October 6th.

The Pablove Foundation hosts the Ride Pablove Across America in LA, a 22-mile fundraising ride from Sylmar to Silver Lake on Saturday, October 12th. The ride will accompany cyclists on the final stage of the Pablove Across America Bay to LA ride, starting at approximately 11 am at the intersection of San Fernando Road and Bleeker Street.

It’s not a bike ride, but the Loco Motion 10K Los Angeles run will benefit the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition in honor of fallen cyclist Marisela Echeverria, killed while riding on PCH last year. It takes place on Sunday, October 20th.

The second in Metro’s series of monthly bike rides in conjunction with CICLE takes place on Sunday, October 20th with The Pomona Pumpkin Patch Pedal. Meet at Thomas Plaza, 201 W 2nd Street in Pomona at 10:30am.

Metro’s series of monthly bike rides in conjunction with CICLE concludes on Sunday, November 16th with The Northridge Diners & Delis Ride; meet at the Northridge Metrolink Station, 8775 Wilbur Ave, at 10:30am.

Category: Bike Events / Tags: , ,

Malibu study suggests PCH safety improvements; a NELA paranoid bike lane conspiracy theory

August 23, 2013 / / 5 comments

Lots of news to wrap up the work week.

No, seriously, don’t take note of the perfect summer weather that finally arrived in LA this week. You’ve got important things to do. And you can live without riding your bike for another day.

Right?

………

UCLA professor Donald Shoup would be proud.

The nation’s parking meister has long argued against the high cost of free parking. Now a new Malibu safety study seems to be taking him seriously, suggesting parking meters along PCH could improve safety by reducing the problems with drivers looking for free parking.

I like it.

The study also recommends putting east/west bike lanes along the full length of the 21-mile city to get cyclists out of the way of high-speed traffic. Although someone should tell them that sharrows are not bike lanes.

You can read the study here, and weigh in with your own thoughts online through September 17th; thanks to Paiwei Wei for the link.

………

Anti-NELA bike lane activist Tom Topping writes in his Boulevard Sentinel newspaper that he’s being smeared by bike advocates — and oddly, KPCC’s Larry Mantle. I listened to the Airtalk program he refers to when it aired last month; actually, I though Larry was going easy on him. And having appeared on Larry’s program, I can’t say I detected a bit of pro or anti-bike bias, though word is he’s a car guy at heart.

Then again, it does make for a damn good paranoid conspiracy theory if bike shop owners and public radio hosts are all on the city payroll to ram through “vehicle removal plans” for a fast buck.

Though I’m not exactly sure who profits from road diets and bike lanes. Except, of course, for the businesses and residents who reside alongside them.

………

Evidently, I wasn’t the only one to host a Bike Talk program on Tuesday. Flying Pigeon’s Josef Bray-Ali — the unnamed bike shop owner in the above conspiracy theory — hosted a discussion touching anti-bike UN paranoia, billionaires and bikes, and measuring the success of bike projects, among other topics.

………

ABC’s 20/20 program takes a look at LA’s hit-and-run epidemic, which the LA Weekly takes sole credit for uncovering; I seem to recall a long list of bike advocates who have been raising the alarm for years, but what do I know? Culver City hosts the annual bike-friendly Fiesta La Ballona this weekend. The comment period for the new Union Station master plan has been extended through the end of this month. Santa Monica will hold a free festival next month to preview the planned MANGo Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway; for the sake of fairness, I hope they also have a WOMANGo greenway in the works. Santa Monica’s Bike Center will try to help the city’s businesses become more bike friendly. Sunday will see a Kidical Mass ride in Chinatown. Metro and CICLE team up to offer three free community bike rides in the LA area in the next three months. County Supervisor Gloria Molina joins with the LACBC and LA County Parks and Recreation to hold a free East LA Bicycle Ride on Saturday, Sept. 7th. Ride Pablove Across America will hold an LA fundraising ride in the Valley on October 12th. Okay, so it’s not a bike race, but proceeds from the October 20th Loco Motion 10K Run will benefit the LACBC in honor of fallen cyclist Marisela Echeverria, killed while riding on PCH last year. Red5 Yellow7 will host a workshop on how to choose the right bike on September 9th. The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition will hold its first official meeting Saturday. Incycle Bike Shop says they’re having their biggest sale of the year. Bike Long Beach explains when you can really take the lane.

Laguna Beach moves towards complete streets while trying to move bike riders off PCH; maybe the city should consider a Roman role model. Irvine is now officially bike-friendly, but that’s about all you’ll learn thanks to the OC Register’s draconian paywall. A San Diego writer proposes using the city’s unpaved canyons for bike superhighways. A bicyclist gets her bike back, thanks to a door-to-door wildfire evacuation; thanks to murphstahoe for the heads-up. Yet another holier-than-thou Napa bike rider says she obeys the law and rides courteously, but those damn speeding spandex-clad cyclists should stay the hell off the streets.

AAA says American drivers are growing less concerned about behaviors that could kill you. Biking improves employee productivity. The firing of Serotta’s founder takes some of the soul out of American framebuilding. I’ve been to Maui’s Haleakala volcano, and would not want to ride a bike off the edge of it. A sidewalk riding Las Vegas cyclist is killed in an apparent SWSS. Bicycle tourists are a major source of revenue in Arizona. It takes a village to capture a Longmont CO bike thief. BMC’s Tejay van Garderen takes the leader’s jersey in the USA Pro Challenge. A 74-year old MA pastor was murdered with a hammer while riding home on his bike. Needless to say, the New York cabbie who severed the leg of a British tourist earlier this week blames the bike rider who tried to warn him, as well as the city’s bike lanes; the Daily News reveals the bike rider may not be a nice person, but fails to note what the hell does that has to do with the wreck. Those NYC bike lanes may be key to outgoing Mayor Bloomberg’s legacy. Citi Bike rides the subway; New York bike share riders may ride drunk, but at least they don’t black out. Even a Philly bike cop can be a victim of hit-and-run. Is it time to end the longtime Share the Road campaign in Delaware — and everywhere else, for that matter?

British cycling star Bradley Wiggins calls for making helmet use mandatory; how about making it mandatory for cars to not hit bicyclists, instead? Volvo’s new cyclist detection system wins the UK’s award for best car safety system. Edinburgh is the latest city to drop speed limits to 20 mph to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians. Queensland, Australia cyclists could get a minimum 1-meter passing distance, maybe more in high speed areas.

Finally, repeat after me: If you have two bags of meth stuffed in the tubes of your bike, stop for the damn stop signs, already. And a car crashes into a San Fernando Valley post office; witnesses report the building swerved into the car’s path and wasn’t wearing a helmet.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Bike rider injured in Tarzana collision earlier this month has died; 11th LA bike death this year

August 22, 2013 / / 3 comments

More bad news.

Earlier this month I reported on a collision in Tarzana in which several people passing by saw a bike rider down with severe head injuries. Now I’ve gotten word from the LAPD that the victim has died.

Unfortunately, details are still sparse.

The collision occurred at the intersection of Reseda Blvd and Collins Street around 5:50 pm on Saturday, August 10th. The male victim, who has not been publicly identified, was presumably riding in one of the bike lanes on Reseda when he was struck by a turning car; whether it was turning onto or off of Collins is unknown.

A comment from a reader indicated he was wearing a helmet, but it was knocked off during the collision. He was transported to a local hospital, and died of his injuries sometime last week.

Unfortunately, this was not unexpected.

Whenever a victim is described as suffering from severe head injuries, the outcome is unlikely to be good. Too often, it means he or she has been put on life support until family members can make a decision on organ donation. Even in the best cases, it’s likely to result in life changing injuries.

I’ve put in a request for more information. Hopefully we’ll know more soon.

This is the 60th fatal bicycling collision in Southern California this year, and the 27th in Los Angeles County. It’s also the 11th fatal bike collision in the City of LA since the first of the year.

That exceeds the total for both the city and county for each of the last two years, with over four months left to go.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Stupid human tricks: Hit-and-run triathlete, assault on a cyclist, and confused SF and NYC cops and DAs

August 22, 2013 / / 7 comments

Maybe it’s just me, but there seems to be a common theme to much of this week’s news.

………

A Chicago cyclist is injured in a deliberate assault, as a passenger in a passing SUV reaches out and grabs her messenger bag, dragging her alongside the vehicle until her bike crashed into a parked car.

Evidently, just for the heck it, as she reported that the occupants were laughing as they risked her life.

Fortunately, she wasn’t badly hurt. But it’s another argument for protected bike lanes as she was quick to point out.

………

Following the death of a San Francisco bicyclist, members of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition held a rally calling for improved safety and a separated bike lane on the street where she was right hooked by a truck driver who illegally turned across the bike lane she was riding in.

Evidently, one of San Francisco’s finest didn’t get the memo.

He illegally parked his patrol car in the middle of the bike lane, in the middle of the rally — despite an empty parking space to his right — forcing riders to leave the bike lane to go around his car. All to make a point that bike riders are supposed to pass on the left, just like anyone else.

Except they aren’t. Bikes are allowed to split lanes in California. And cyclists using a bike lane are in a separate lane from automotive traffic, and are no more required to stop for traffic in the lane next to them than a driver in the right lane would be expected to stop for one in the left.

Which isn’t to say it’s not the smartest move in response to clueless drivers sometimes.

Better to come to a full stop even though the law doesn’t require it than end up under the wheels of a car or truck.

And he blamed the death of Amelie Le Moullac, and two other bike riders killed by trucks in the same area this year, strictly on the victims. Even though the truck driver who killed Le Moullac was most likely overtaking her, rather than the other way around.

So he took the law into his own hands, apparently making the law up as he went along and needlessly risking the safety of anyone using that bike lane, just to blame the victim of a collision that’s still under investigation and attempting to bully bike riders into seeing the world through his own windshield perspective.

Sound about right?

If he’s not working a desk and worrying about his pension today, there’s something seriously wrong in Baghdad by the Bay.

Thanks to murphstahoe and Bike Soup USA for the heads-up.

………

Thankfully, not all San Francisco cops have their heads so far up their own badges, as the department responded to a tweet from a tipster to bust a bike chop shop.

And speaking of bike thieves, a San Francisco resident noticed one riding off on a stolen bike. And promptly nailed him with an ice cube from his third floor apartment.

………

In a case of someone who really should have known better, a well-known San Francisco triathlete has been arrested for the hit-and-run that left a Bay Area business suffering from the after effects of a severe brain injury.

Ironman champion Meredith Kessler was allegedly driving the SUV that ran into Soren Krogh-Jensen as he walked in a crosswalk last March, tossing him into the air before crashing back down ob his head. Security video shows her remaining at the scene for several minutes, reportedly checking the victim before getting back in her car and running away like just another heartless coward.

You’d expect better behavior from someone who rides a bike, especially at that level.

At least, I would.

Then again, instant karma seems to have played a role, as Kessler suffered a head injury herself in a collision with another rider while competing in a triathlon that followed the hit-and-run.

And yes, I know karma doesn’t really work that way.

But still.

………

On the opposite coast, a New York City cop decides to ticket a bike rider for going through a red light by knocking her off her bike, apparently failing to realize — or perhaps not caring — that any fall from a bike can result in serious injury.

Or worse.

That’s like deliberately crashing into a driver’s vehicle in order to make a simple traffic stop. Or pistol whipping a pedestrian for jaywalking.

………

Update: Thanks to Joe B for pointing out that the case below actually dates to 2009. For some reason it popped up in a web search for stories posted online in the previous 24 hours, and I neglected to check the date before writing this. So the good news is, maybe today’s New York isn’t as bad as it seems; or maybe the bad news is, this sort of thing has been going on longer than we thought. 

Or maybe I just need to avoid posting my own stories after 1 am. My apologies.

In another example of the sheer idiocy of officials in supposedly bike-friendly New York, a rider faces a charge of criminal mischief after he was deliberately doored by the driver of a massive SUV.

The vehicle was stopped partially blocking a protected bike lane with no indication of why it was stopped; but when the rider attempted to go around it, it started moving again.

So the cyclist responded by slapping the side of the SUV to warn the driver he was there; I’ve done the same thing more than once, and seen other cyclists do it as well.

It usually scares the crap out of the driver, but it’s better than getting run over by someone who doesn’t even know you’re there.

But I’ve never seen anyone respond the way this driver did, flinging open his door into the victim and knocking him off his bike. Then standing over him threateningly before picking up the man’s bike and setting it on the kickstand and driving away.

Leave it to the New York DA’s office to victimize the victim all over again, apparently for that potentially life-saving tap on the driver’s door.

According to the story, criminal mischief requires property damage in excess of $250 — which is far more likely to have been caused by the door hitting the rider than the other way around.

And this from the city Bicycling ranks as the 7th most bike-friendly community in the US.

Maybe the New York DA’s office didn’t get the memo, either.

………

In another horrifying case from Gotham City, a taxi driver took the leg — or possibly legs — of an English tourist after an apparent dispute with a bike rider.

And Dr. Oz came running to the rescue.

The bike rider, who was injured in the incident, was next to the cab when the driver allegedly became impatient while attempting to make a left turn. When the rider attempted to tell him to stop, the cabbie reportedly became angry and stepped on the gas, tossing the cyclist onto his hood before slamming into the woman who was sitting on a piece of concrete street furniture.

Her life was apparently saved by a bystander who had the presence of mind to use his belt as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding on her severed leg, while another put the amputated limb on ice. Reports are her other foot was crushed and may not be able to be saved.

TV’s Dr. Oz reportedly saw the collision from his studio window, and came down to help, followed by a camera crew.

Needless to say, the NYPD seems to have ignored everything leading up to the crash and quickly determined there was no criminality involved. Not an impatient, careless or road raging driver, but just another tragic oops.

Fortunately, the city’s DA — yes, the same ones who charged the cyclist in the previous story — is taking another look at it. And the agency responsible for licensing cab drivers is taking steps to revoke the driver’s taxi license for a whopping 30 days; although under the circumstances, life would seem more appropriate.

Meanwhile, advocates are trying to get the NYPD to take traffic crime seriously, instead of just targeting bike riders while ignoring speeding motorists.

………

A Florida detective makes a U-turn without checking his mirror, and collides with a driver in the next lane. But of course, it’s the stop sign-running bike rider who gets the blame.

………

A British mom gives her hockey playing son a new BMW because she thought it was too dangerous to ride his bike to work.

Forty-two days later, he was killed driving his new car.

………

Newport Beach’s highway-style right turn lanes put cyclists and pedestrians at needless risk. Actually, these are far too common throughout Orange County as well as San Diego County; another example of well-meaning but outdated planning gone dangerously amuck.

………

But at least the Tour de France was dope-free this year. Right?

Although now that I think about it, I remember the same being said about Lance in the not too distant past.

………

Finally, here’s the story I wrote for LA Streetsblog as guest editor yesterday, reporting on the new Save Our Streets LA proposal to repave the city’s crumbling streets.

And hopefully fix the sidewalks and install bikeways and build complete streets in the process.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Car vs Bike, Hit-and-Run, Law Enforcement, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Friday’s ride, in which I met another bike rider the hard way

August 19, 2013 / / 8 comments

Okay, so I’m moving a little slow today.

August just hasn’t been my month as far as bike riding is concerned. Normally, I try to put in 100 to 150 miles a week this time of year, when increased fitness and summer weather usually combine for the year’s most enjoyable riding.

But various distractions have kept me off my bike much of the summer, to the point that I’ve averaged less than 30 miles a week for the past three weeks.

Part of that is due to last Friday’s limited ride, interrupted by a bike on bike collision on the bike path in Santa Monica, followed by a slow ride home with blood trickling down my leg.

Somehow, I failed to remember the alcohol swabs and bandages stashed in my seat bag. Or that the reason I shave my legs is precisely so bandages will adhere to them.

But that’s what happens when I break my own rules. 

First rule of thumb is to never ride the beachfront bike during the summer. And if I do, to do it in the morning when traffic on the pathway is at its lightest. 

But a late start meant a shorter ride than I had planned, while a lingering migraine suggested an easier route than the hill-filled one I’d penciled in earlier. Which led to the conclusion that an easy coast along the coast would be the best option to get at least a few miles in.

Then there’s my rule about avoiding the most crowded section of the pathway between the Venice and Santa Monica piers on Friday afternoons, when newly arrived tourists head straight to the beach, joining with locals who don’t appear to have been on a bike in years to form a rolling blockade and human obstacle course.

Don’t get me wrong. 

It’s not that they don’t have a right to be there, other than the chronically unenforced and inadequately marked bike-only sections. State law gives pedestrians a right to share the bike path — any bike path — anywhere there isn’t an alternative pedestrian walkway, such as the famed Venice Boardwalk, within a relatively few feet.

In fact, the newly restriped Santa Monica sections of the pathway include pedestrian walkways on either side of the bike path, though they aren’t adequately indicated as such.

It was a funny, but telling, moment at the most recent meeting of the LAPD’s bike task force when the subject of the beachfront Marvin Braude bikeway through Santa Monica and Venice came up. And the experienced bike cop next to me and I both said in unison that it was the single most dangerous place we ride.

Evidently, something about the presence of sand and sea air seems to disconnect the standard safety centers of the brain.

Or maybe it’s just the absence of sobriety that seems to go hand-in-hand with weekends at the beach.

Either way, it’s a risk I usually try to avoid. Except this time I didn’t.

Then there’s my third rule of thumb, which exceeds the standard allotment of opposable digits by roughly 50%, and forces me to use a finger in place of a thumb. Or borrow one from a total stranger, which seldom seems to be a good idea.

As an old school rider, I was taught to call it out whenever I pass another rider or pedestrian, with a simple “on your left” or “passing right” in the rare instance that the other person’s position makes that the safer option.

And yes, I know some people prefer bike bells. But a bell can only tell you a bike is present. Or an angel just got its wings.

Using my voice, I can tell them not only that I’m there, but that I am passing and which side I’m passing on.

On the other hand, I’ve learned that some people tend to get lost in their own world once they get to the beach. And even the most polite announcement can startle them.

So I’ll sometimes save my breath if I don’t think there’s any risk that they might move in front of me, or if I can give them at least the three-foot passing distance I’d expect from a motorist. Or if they’re wearing ear buds and aren’t likely to hear me anyway.

In this case, the bike path was just as crowded as you’d expect for a sunny summer Friday afternoon. And I was taking my time, both because of the crowds and my still aching head.

But even rolling far below my usual speed, I was still faster than the assorted beach cruisers and motley mountain bikes crowding the bikeway. So I’d wait patiently until there was a break in traffic coming the other way, then slide around the walkers and riders ahead of me, either calling it out as I passed or giving them as much room as I could.

And if the situation didn’t allow it, such as slowly working my way through the great mass of humanity jumbled before the skate park in Venice, I just didn’t pass until it was safe to do so.

It was an approach that got me safely, if slowly, through Venice Beach and well into Santa Monica, when I came upon a pair of casual cyclists riding slowly ahead.

So I moved onto the other side of the bike path, and was just deciding whether to call it out when the rider closest to me suddenly swung left, making a 90-degree turn directly in front of me.

I grabbed my brakes and swung left with him, but a collision was unavoidable.

We hit hard, my right impacting his left. Fortunately, we both managed to remain upright; somehow, though, I seemed to take the brunt of the impact. He was next to me in seconds, asking if I was okay and apologizing profusely, though he did say I should have called out that I was passing.

In retrospect, he was right. Although he turned before I had a chance to say something.

He and his bike seemed fine. Mine looked okay, other than a dropped chain.

On the other hand, I was pretty badly shaken, and both wrists hurt from holding the handlebars tightly at the moment of impact, but nothing seemed broken. Then there was a roughly two-square-inch abrasion inside my left knee, apparently from hitting the air pump I keep strapped to my frame.

The one I often find myself loaning to other riders after they run out of air cartridges or their cartridges fail to get the job done.

He seemed to expect me to be angry, but it was just one of those things. His failure to look before turning made a collision inevitable, but I could have done things differently, as well.

So we shook hands, and went our separate ways.

I probably shouldn’t have, though. My failure to even remember I had a first aid kit, let alone actually use it, was a pretty good indication I wasn’t thinking clearly.

I briefly debated continuing on my way before accepting that it probably wouldn’t be the best idea. Fortunately, I remembered yet another rule of thumb — after any collision or fall, you’re probably hurt more than you realize at the time, since injuries have a way of revealing themselves hours after the impact.

I have no idea how the other guy felt the next morning.

But I spent the weekend nursing a pair of jammed wrists and a stiff back. Not to mention a patch of knee missing its epidermis.

I’ll live.

All in all, I limped away — figuratively, anyway — in about as good a shape as I could have hoped under the circumstances. Had either of us hit the pavement, it might have been a different story.

But it serves as a reminder that the seeming safety of the bike path is an illusion. And you need to ride defensively every moment, because you never know when someone will do exactly the wrong thing at the wrong time.

I did almost everything right.

And this time, it wasn’t nearly good enough.

Category: Bicycle Safety / Tags: , , , ,

Bike classes, SaMo MANGo meeting, Bike Learn & Celebrate in Watts, and 5th Annual Tour de Arts

August 17, 2013 / / Comments Off on Bike classes, SaMo MANGo meeting, Bike Learn & Celebrate in Watts, and 5th Annual Tour de Arts

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.

Metro continues to offer a series of free bike safety classes throughout the LA area, including classes this weekend in Rosemead and La Verne, as well as a Spanish language classes in Hawthorne and Pomona.

This Saturday, August 17th, the Santa Monica Spoke hosts a discussion of the city’s planned Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greenway (MANGo) from 11 am to 2:30 pm at 502 Colorado Ave. The meeting will also include updates on the Expo Line, the city’s Bike Action Plan and bike parking, as well as other projects.

Good LA hosts Bike | Learn | Celebrate in Watts, a free bike ride and discussion with community leaders on Saturday, August 17th. The ride starts at 3 pm at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC), 10950 S. Central Ave.

The Santa Monica Museum of Art is hosting their fifth annual Tour de Arts this Sunday, August 18th from 11 am to 5 pm. Admission is free, but registration is required; 2525 Michigan Ave.

San Marino is holding a meeting of the city’s Traffic Advisory Commission at 8 pm Monday, August 19th in the Barth Room of the Crowell Library, 1890 Huntington Drive; the meeting will include discussion of the proposed Lorain and Del Mar bikeways.

Formerly bike-unfriendly Malibu has made great strides in recent years. See just how far they’ve come in their efforts to re-envision the deadly PCH corridor with twin public meetings to review the draft Alternatives Analysis Report for the city’s PCH Safety Study on Tuesday, August 20th and Thursday, August 22nd. Both meetings will run from 6 pm to 8 pm at Malibu City Hall, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road.

The Planning Committee of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition hosts a panel discussion on What Do Elected Officials Want to Hear on Thursday, August 22nd at 7 pm in the Edison Room on the 1st Floor of LACBC Headquarters, 634 S. Spring Street. Free for LACBC members, $10 for non-members.

Saturday, August 24th, you’re invited to attend the launch of Active Streets LA, a partnership of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, TRUST South LA, and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation with funding through the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. The family friendly festivities run from 10 am to 2 pm, with a bike/walk at 11:30 am, at Angeles Mesa Elementary School, 2611 W 52nd St.

The second annual Clitoral Mass — yes, you read that right — women’s ride rolls on Saturday, August 24th from 4 pm to midnight. Riders assemble at Watts Towers, 1765 E. 107th Street.

Your yearly opportunity to ride San Diego’s iconic Coronado Bay Bridge comes on Sunday, August 25th with the annual 25-mile Bike the Bay ride through the cities surrounding the San Diego Bay.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s Civic Engagement Committee meets at 6:45 pm on the last Tuesday of each month to discuss how to elect and influence bike-friendly politicians. The next meeting will take place on Tuesday, August 27th, at the Johnnie’s Pizza at 5757 Wilshire Blvd in Museum Square. The meetings are open to everyone, and you don’t have to be an LACBC member to participate; email bikinginla at hotmail dot com to be added to the discussion list.

The next edition of the LACBC’s popular Sunday Funday Rides is scheduled for Sunday, September 1st; the ride is free for LACBC members and a guest. Details TBD.

Wolfpack Hustle hosts the final event in their Unified Title Race Series with the Midnight Drag Race on Downtown LA’s Sixth Street Bridge on Saturday, September 7th; qualifiers start at 6 pm with the finals at 8 pm.

The LACBC and Los Angeles Walks are looking for volunteers for the 2013 Los Angeles Bicycle and Pedestrian Count on Tuesday, September 10th from 7 am to 9 am and 4 pm to 6 pm, and Saturday, September 14th from 11 am to 1 pm.

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.

Streetsblog is hosting a fundraiser to celebrate their new SaMo edition, Santa Monica Next, on Sunday, September 22nd, from noon to 2:30 pm. The party, including food, drink and a raffle, takes place on the rooftop at 11th and Wilshire in Santa Monica; $35 donation, $15 for students.

Bike SGV invites you to join them for their 2013 Awards Ceremony and Fundraiser on Saturday, September 28th from 5 pm to 11 pm at the San Gabriel Mission Grapevine Arbor, 320 South Mission Drive in San Gabriel.

New Belgium Brewing’s Tour de Fat will bypass Los Angeles this year; the nearest stop will be at San Diego’s Golden Hill Park on Saturday, September 28th, from 10 am to 5 pm. Join or renew your membership with the LACBC by September 12th and you could win a free two night trip to our neighbor to the south for Tour de Fat.

The Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee meets at 7 pm on the first Tuesday of each even-numbered month; the next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, October 1st at the Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall Community Room, 6501 Fountain Ave.

CicLAvia returns with an expanded version of the original Heart of LA route on Sunday, October 6th.

Category: Bike Events / Tags: , ,

Major bike linkage to make up for a couple dead days

August 13, 2013 / / 3 comments

Let’s catch up with the latest news from the big wide wonderful world of bikes.

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The LACBC is looking for volunteers for next month’s bike count. The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition wants your opinion for their Complete Our Streets survey; seriously, if you live or ride in WeHo, tell ‘em what you think, then join ‘em, already. A San Francisco writer explores the new and improved DTLA by bike. KNBC-4 reminds you to RSVP for Sunday’s Tour de Arts, but can’t figure out whether it should be SMMOA or SMMoA; I kinda like the  latter, but just pick one already. Don’t forget next week’s public meetings to review Malibu’s PCH Safety Study; anyone who rides the Coast Highway should make plans to attend; your personal safety could depend on it.

In the wake of a successful first — but undoubtedly not last — CicloSDias, support is growing for bicycling in San Diego. Temecula cyclists are staging the city’s first Gran Prix. Napa Bike says educated drivers make the streets safer for everyone; “It is astonishing to think that some people feel collisions between cars and bikes are unavoidable collateral damage…” The Sonoma County Bicycle Expo returns to Santa Rosa this Sunday.

The president of People for Bikes says when people ride bikes, great things happen. Bicycling says lose the spandex, though. The Bike League is seeking an Equity Initiative Manager. Pro cycling vet Tom Danielson captures the Tour of Utah. Boulder CO will experiment with bike infrastructure through the fall; a Boulder County rider is killed when he’s left crossed by a truck driver. Dallas may require bike racks at businesses; yes, the one in not-so-bike-friendly Texas. Cedar Rapids drivers can’t seem to figure out how bike lanes work; seriously guys, it’s not that hard. A leading Chicago businessman is killed riding his bike in Michigan. A Wisconsin drunk driver denies being behind the wheel despite driving the length of a football field after plowing through a cyclist; not surprisingly, it was not his first offense. New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner can’t seem to decide whether he supports bikes or not, as his campaign and pants sink slowly in the east. Naomi Watts and son bike in the Hamptons. Red Kite Prayer looks at the inexplicable firing of Serotta’s eponymous founder.

British bike advocates back the Prime Minister’s cycling revolution, or maybe not so much given that the PM’s giving so little. A London writer asks why riding a bike has to be so lethal; one death is one too many, but let’s not forget almost all of those 570,000 daily London bike trips end safely, just as they do here. UK prosecutors appeal an overly lenient sentence for killing a cyclist; yes, they can do that there. Biking to work cuts your risk of developing diabetes in half. A Brit bike thief is caught on camera moments after stealing a bike at a London bike event. English riders are under attack by drivers — or maybe just one. Two Welsh motorists are in custody following the death of a bike rider. You’re invited to sign an open letter complaining about Scotland’s feeble and ineffective Nice Way Code road safety campaign. Malta bike riders demand presumed liability. The vice chancellor of an Indian University suffers grievous injuries when his bike is hit by a speeding car. Kenyan women are welcome to ride a bike, as long as they can do it with their legs held tightly together. An Aussie rider gets punched in the face after confronting an angry driver; I’ve learned the hard way it’s better to just let the jerks go — especially if you can catch them on video first.

Finally, a UK website chronicles the 14 best bike scenes in cinematic history. Hollywood director Werner Hertzog offers a powerful look at distracted driving.

And if this wasn’t enough links for you, you can kill another few hours here.

Category: General / Tags: , ,

Gardena BWB tickets dropped, bike rider shooting caught on video, York road diet improves safety

August 8, 2013 / / Comments Off on Gardena BWB tickets dropped, bike rider shooting caught on video, York road diet improves safety

Good news from Gardena for a change.

Streetsblog reports that the LACBC, along with a number of outraged letter writers, have been instrumental in getting the Gardena police to drop the tickets issued to a group of riders stopped for apparently riding while brown.

The riders, mostly members of the East Side Riders and Los Ryderz, had just replaced a ghost bike for fallen hit-and-run victim Benjamin Torres, which had been removed by the city. And which was removed a second time just hours later.

They were on their way meet with city officials when they were stopped, frisked, and — after much delay and debate among the many officers present — ticket for obstructing traffic, in violation of state law.

I doubt that members of La Grange, or any other spandex-clad Westside riding group, would have been stopped under the same circumstance. Let alone frisked.

Then again, it’s not like you can hide much in Spandex. Or anything, for that matter.

Fortunately, justice and rationality has finally reigned in Gardena.

Now if they can just keep their cops from killing crime victims.

The story notes that another memorial ride will be held this weekend. And this time, Gardena police have been invited to take part.

Now, the United Riders of South L.A. are asking for you to show your support for them, for victims of hit-and-runs, and for cycling in Gardena in general by joining them on this weekend’s memorial ride.

The group will meet this Saturday, August 10, at Rowley Park (13220 Van Ness Ave) at 3:30 p.m. to do a loop through Gardena and stop to pay their respects at the site where Torres was killed. If you have any questions, please see here or contact the East Side Riders or Los Ryderz.

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The LAPD offers security video showing two gunmen targeting a bike rider in what would have been a drive-by, except the shooters got out of their SUV to fire their guns repeatedly.

Not surprisingly, police think the shooting, which occurred in El Sereno late last month, was gang related. The victim was treated and released for non-life-threatening injuries.

And just to clarify, gang-related does not necessarily mean the person getting shot at is a gang member; just that the people shooting at him may have been, or thought he was.

Anyone with information about this crime is asked to contact Hollenbeck Detective Donna Cornejo at 323-224-0104.

However, someone should tell the LAPD that bike riders, even ones getting shot at, are not pedestrians.

Mistaking the two could explain a lot when it comes to why some cops seem confused about the rights of riders.

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Analysis of the 2006 York Blvd road diet shows it cut collisions by 23%, and injuries by 27%. And reduced felony hit-and-runs by a whopping 47%. However, collisions involving bicyclists continue to rise, perhaps due to increased ridership.

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LA’s proposed street repair bond is revived by the city council; with reports due back to the council on the feasibility of including fixing sidewalks and complete streets serving all road users — including bicyclists — in the bond issue.

Of course, there’s a difference between mandating a complete streets approach and requesting a feasibility study. So we’ll want to keep an eye on this one.

………

Free three-hour bicycling skills courses will be offered by Metro and the LACBC over the next two months. The Culver City Bicycle Coalition hosts a family ride this Friday. The next Wolfpack Hustle midnight drag race gears up on September 7th; registration opens August 10th. Santa Monica’s new Streetsblog edition is coming next month. Formerly bike-unfriendly Malibu will show just how much they’ve changed with two PCH Safety Study Meetings later this month, on the 20th and 22nd. Oh the horror of it all, as Glendale streets are losing lanes and gaining signs to accommodate non-motorized road users. Long Beach looks into funding for their own ciclovia.

The Huntington Beach bike shop looted in the recent surf riot now offers T-shirts proclaiming it Riot Proof, as locals pitch in to pay for the damage. San Diego’s Qualcomm is working on a portable system to help drivers avoid bikes and pedestrians; thank goodness, because eyes and ears don’t seem to do the job. The fourth annual Ventura Share the Road Ride is scheduled for October 5th. Cyclelicious looks at the bike section of the updated 2013 California Drivers Handbook; not perfect, but it’s getting better, even if it does still say you can park in a bike lane. This is the guy behind many of the recent innovations in bike design. A San Francisco bike rider is killed in a Calistoga SWSS — Single Witness Suicide Swerve. A Red Bluff man says bicyclists don’t belong on local highways unless they pay to put bike lanes on them, neglecting to consider who pays for the traffic lanes he drives in — or that most cars come equipped with brakes to help them avoid slower traffic. Downtown Chico sports new green bike lanes, thus ruining their chance to pass for LA’s Spring Street in any Hollywood production.

The Federal Highway Administration moves to back separated cycle tracks. AAA’s own stats say high speeds kill, yet the Auto Club consistently opposes attempts to lower them. Not surprisingly, bike riders gravitate towards protected bikeways. The Bike League offers an in-depth report on women’s bicycling, and how to get more women on bikes. New flash cards help assess concussion in cycling falls; every racing team and riding club should have a set. No one really knows why your bike doesn’t just fall over; then again, maybe they do. Now that’s sad, as a barking dog leads strangers to the body of his master, who was killed in a fall from his bike. Seattle newspaper calls for more and better bicycling infrastructure. A Las Vegas bike rider is slashed by a double meat cleaver wielding Juggalo; my worst nightmare — homicidal, probably insane and horrific taste in music. The Denver public library goes mobile with a WiFi equipped book bike. Bike share generates more foot traffic than car parking in Chicago. How to not bike like a dickweed. New York mayoral candidate calls for a Vision Zero plan — aka no traffic deaths — for the city; long past time for one of our own here in the City of Angeles. Beyoncé bikes across the Brooklyn Bridge to perform at the Barclays Center; no one recognized her, proving that bikes really do make you invisible. Boston guards bikes in a subway station with a cardboard cutout of a cop — and it works; thanks to D.D. Syrdal for the link. In a heartbreaking case, the family of a cyclist riding near his home witnesses the hit-and-run that killed him. Mass insanity strikes Cobb County GA as they reject a grant because it reeks of a UN Agenda 21 plot to take away their cars. Louisiana bike rider tries to outrun a patrol car after stealing soda and beer.

Toronto cops are ordered to track doorings, while a local writer says let the city’s bike share system die a slow and painful death. In a hard-hitting piece, a Brit blogger says it’s really not funny when someone claims they were only joking about killing a cyclist or raping a woman, and the two have more in common than you might think. Britain’s Liberal Democrats call for proportionate liability to hold the larger vehicle responsible in a collision; something I’ve long called for (#10) here. Bike riders don’t deserve the abuse they receive on Twitter. Eight in ten British cyclists fear for their safety on the country’s roads; evidently, the rest don’t read online comments. Or maybe it’s because the courts send 95-year old drivers who kill cyclists after fainting back out to do it again. Advice on how to stay safe on your bike, and what to do if that advice doesn’t work. Aussie shock jocks are blamed for a bike lane backlash. Australian police crack down on rogue cyclists. A search for the best biking city Down Under. A Yokohama bike lane is a real obstacle course. A Japanese construction crane operator is arrested for hit-and-run in the death of an 11-year old bike rider; yes, a construction crane.

Finally, you can now protect yourself from the sun while you turn your helmet into a giant sombrero, but would it block the view from your built-in cam? Here’s the perfect bluegrass-flavored soundtrack for your next ride.

And if you haven’t seen it yet, just try to keep your jaw from hitting the floor when a mountain bike racer goes horizontal off a billboard to take the win.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bikes & the Law, Law Enforcement, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Update: LA’s bloody hit-and-run epidemic goes on, as bike rider killed in Northridge Monday night

August 6, 2013 / / 23 comments

It’s happened again.

According to KNBC-4, a bike rider has died after being hit by a car in the San Fernando Valley last night.

The victim, publicly identified only as a man in his 20s or 30s, was riding near the intersection of Plummer Street and Winnetka Ave in Northridge when he was struck by a silver Mustang convertible around 9 pm. No word on which street he was on or what direction he or the car that hit him was going.

The site a typical Valley intersection, offering the sort of wide, multi-lane streets that encourage speeding and aggressive driving.

The driver fled the scene, abandoning the car on the 10100 block of Oso Ave. Don’t be surprised if the car ends up being reported stolen; even with the vehicle in hand, the police must place the driver behind the wheel before they can make an arrest.

This is the 58th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 25th in Los Angeles County, exceeding the county’s total for each of the last two years. It’s also the 10th bicycling fatality in Los Angeles this year, doubling the total of five in both 2011 and 2012.

And it’s the 14th fatal hit-and-run involving a bike rider in Southern California since the first of the year, and the ninth in LA County — eight of which have occurred in the City of Los Angeles.

Update: I’m told this intersection is actually in Chatsworth, rather than Northridge. 

Update 2: Northridge-Chatsworth Patch identifies the victim as 39-year old Victor Awad of Canoga Park. Awad west riding west on Plummer when he was hit by the Mustang headed north on Winnetka. He was taken to Northridge Hospital, where he died early this morning.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Laurino at 818/644-8115.

Thanks to Jeshizaemon and LAPD Sgt. Stephen Egan for the heads-up.

Update 3: The LAPD has announced the arrest of 51-year old John Bracamonte for the hit-and-run death of Victor Awad. Hopefully, more details soon.

My sympathy and prayers for Victor Awad and his family. 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Catching up on all the latest links, Tuesday edition

August 6, 2013 / / 2 comments

It’s time to catch up on all the latest news.

So grab a cup and put your feet up. Then slip out the back when no one’s looking and go for a ride, already.

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KCET explains why LA has clashing street grids. The Santa Monica Museum of Art’s 5th Annual Tour de Arts rolls on Sunday, August 18. SoCal Cycling has results and photos from Sunday’s Brentwood Gran Prix, along with video of the women’s sprint from the Cat 1 – 3 race. Ten things you probably don’t know about bicycling at UCLA; okay, I knew about seven of ’em. You could become part of the mayor’s Crisis Response Team. The Dailey News, et al, continues their Summer of Cycling with a commute from South Pasadena to DTLA; I’ll believe they’re serious when they talk to any of the many established bike advocates in LA. Registered Dietitian Matt Ruscigno offers advice on nutrition for athletes. Boy on a Bike experiments with an e-bike; or his wife does, anyway. More new sharrows sprout up in Long Beach. Cycling in the South Bay, soon to be available almost wherever e-books are sold.

A Newport Beach woman suffers a head injury when she falls from her bike on PCH. A memorial will be held Friday for Duane Roth, the fallen bike rider and non-profit CEO who died on Saturday after nearly two weeks in a coma. San Diego will host their first ciclovia — or CicloSDias — on Sunday. A letter-writing bike rider says La Jolla isn’t safe for bike share. A new video explains the updated Moreno Valley bike master plan.

USDOT says transportation can play a role in promoting active transportation; but you knew that, right? The rise of the protected North American bike lane. A newly arrived — and apparently angry — Salem OR letter writer says ticket cyclists who don’t use the bike lane. A little more empathy from drivers could save a life. Springfield Cyclist rides through my old Colorado stomping grounds; jealous, I am. Laramie WY works to become more bike-friendly; last time I rode through Laramie I swore it would be that last time I rode through Laramie. After a Wisconsin driver walks with a measly 90 day sentence for killing a bike rider while drunk, a legislator calls for a minimum 10-year for fatal drunk driving cases; thanks to Michael Byerts for the heads-up. The city famous for it’s Brickyard turns to bicycling. A Fort Worth civil rights group is angry that the truck driver who killed a 14-year old bike rider won’t face charges. Unlicensed New Jersey driver leaps from his car just before it hits two boys riding with their mother on a bike path; nice, dude. Anthony Weiner goes from threatening to rip out New York’s bike lanes to calling for expanding bike share throughout the city; too bad he can’t keep his shortcomings off the internet. Tony winning Pippin star bikes 60 blocks to the theater for most shows. Confessions of a new womens’-centric bike shop owner. A Louisiana bike rider barely survives a brush with an 18-wheeler.

Vancouver traffic goes down even as the population goes up. A cross-country cyclist riding through British Columbia with an oxygen tank meets another rider with 540,000 miles on the figurative odometer. An indignorant BC letter writer complains about paying for unused bike lanes, apparently not realizing the public subsidizes the lanes he drives in. Another UK rocket scientist tweets about driving off after hitting a cyclist while drunk, then complains that bike riders are abusing her in response; gee, could it have been something she said? Women’s racing finally gets parity with the men, at least in the Tour of Britain. An estimated 16,000 Brit cyclists ride 100 miles along last year’s Olympic routes, with another 50,000 on Saturday. One-quarter of Scot bike riders have run into road rage. A New Zealand pedestrian comes out of a coma over a week after she was hit by a cyclist. A Kiwi researcher concludes helmet cams only antagonize drivers by catching them driving dangerously; here’s a solution — don’t drive like an idiot when the red light is on.

Finally, no wonder A-Rod got banned for doping — evidently, he’s a cyclist. If you want to understand what motorists really mean, you’ll need this dead-on drivers dictionary.

And yes, for anyone wondering, they stop bikes when the presidential motorcade rolls through, too; I got stuck at a Santa Monica intersection for over half an hour the last time Obama came to town, even though it should have been clear I wasn’t hiding anything in my spandex.

So Valleyites, plan your route accordingly.

Category: General / Tags: , ,
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