December 8, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Safety crackdown in Mission Viejo, Shimano parts may be built by slave labor, and bike book wins non-fiction award
Colorado Congresswoman and pistol-packing grandma Lauren Boebert is accused of dipping into campaign funds to cheer her boyfriend to a 774th place finish in the prestigious Leadville 100 mountain bike race, a month before they were caught fondling one another during a performance of Beetlejuice in a Denver theater; no word on whether she’s paid back the funds.
According to the paper, the Fountain Ave proposal is planned for two phases.
The first phase of the study, known as Phase 1 PS&E (Planning, Specifications, and Estimates), focuses on the design of protected bike lanes, with specific plans to reduce travel lanes from four to two and remove approximately 150 on-street parking spaces on the north side of Fountain Avenue. This phase includes an 11-month timeline, with an expected conclusion in July 2024. The construction phase is anticipated to begin in early 2025, taking another 4-6 months. The preliminary construction cost for Phase 1 is estimated to be between $5 million and $10 million…
As the study progresses to Phase 2, the focus shifts to the permanent installation of protected bike lanes and the redesign of sidewalks along Fountain Avenue. The timeline for Phase 2 spans 16 months, starting in January 2024, with potential construction beginning in Q1 or Q2 of 2026. The construction of Phase 2 is estimated to be between $30 million and $35 million.
Meanwhile, the council directed the city to study the feasibility of upgrading the existing painted bike lanes on the western portion of Santa Monica Blvd to protected bike lanes.
City staff were also told to conduct a block-by-block analysis of the feasibility of installing painted bike lanes on the narrower eastern segment of the boulevard, which would likely involve narrowing traffic lanes and the removal of parking spaces.
On Sunday, August 20; between 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., CicLAvia – Koreatown meets Hollywood, presented by Metro, and in partnership with LADOT, welcomes everyone of all ages and abilities to its 47th car-free open streets event connecting Hollywood and Koreatown along Vine St, Melrose Ave, Western Ave, and Wilshire Blvd, for participants to jog, ride, bike, skate, run, walk, skateboard, spectate, play, to enjoy the 5-mile route. Always free, CicLAvia participants just show up anywhere along the route at any time to enjoy the open streets and to take the time to explore two of L.A.’s iconic communities. Participants are encouraged to take Metro.
There are many local gems, activities, and businesses to check out near and along the route – discover them through CicLAvia’s new Interactive Digital Map. Hubs have family-friendly activities, restrooms, free water refilling stations, free basic bike repair, bike parking, and first aid. In addition, free pedicab rides, sponsored by AARP, are available at each information booth. Activities along the route can be found here.
A press conference kicking off the event will be held starting at 8:30 am on Sunday, August 20th, at 1750 Vine Street, at the Hollywood Hub next to Capitol Records.
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Adventure Cycling announced the launch of their Short Routes Program, featuring shorter bike touring routes designed to break down barriers accessibility and make bike travel more approachable, regardless of experience level or how much time someone has available.
The program launches with routes starting from Los Angeles, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Boston, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Austin and Seattle.
Anyone can submit a route in the US that a beginner can bike in two to five days, with approximately 20-50 miles of riding each day.
According to the group, there are three short routes currently available in the Los Angeles area:
Carpinteria to Refugio
Created by tour leader, Johnny Lam, this route has camping available at both ends, in Carpinteria — where riders can easily get to by Amtrak or car with many amenities including a great coffee shop and various restaurants — and Refugio, where the hiker biker site is given the best plot of land looking over a beach and the Pacific Ocean.
LA to Catalina Island
Created by local transportation planner Danielle Parnes, this is a fun bikepacking trip full of beautiful beaches, mountains, and wildlife. It’s relatively easy to get to from L.A. via a ferry departing near Long Beach but feels like a faraway destination. Campsites on this route are only accessible by hiking or biking, making for calm, quiet evenings, and the dirt roads have few cars.
Santa Monicas Overnight
Also created by Danielle Parnes, the Santa Monicas Overnight route leaves from West LA and goes up fire roads into the Santa Monica Mountains, camping in Topanga State Park, and then down to the beach, with a mix of city, desert mountains, and ocean views and swims. This route starts and ends at Expo line light rail stations in West LA, for easy access from downtown or other parts of the city.
Lol @LADOTofficial . If you’re going to use social media to brag about a stripe of paint, at least move the trash cans out of the way for it. Sh*t, maybe go talk to the residents about it. You know, so that your “bike lane” is at least sort of usable. Sorry, am I asking too much? pic.twitter.com/kg4IlgQDMz
A Scottish man is called the “unluckiest cyclist in Scotland” when he was run down by a driver for the third time in two years, but at least this driver stopped, unlike the first two. Although considering he survived all three, I’d call him pretty damn lucky.
Former Syracuse basketball player Terrence Roberts suffered three broken ribs and a collapsed lung after crashing with another bicyclist on a June training ride, just three days after the 6’10” former forward completed in his first crit with LA’s Major Motion Cycling team.
October 2, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: A Linton family bike tour, Arroyo Seco Bike Path sort-of reopens, and a different way to walk your bike
Today is National Walk to School Day.
So if you see kids walking to or from class today, give ’em a figurative pat on the back.
Because actual touching is a big no no. For obvious reasons.
And it’s California Clean Air Day, with free rides on LADOT buses. Not to be confused with Metro buses, which aren’t.
Then again, riding a bike is always free, and even cleaner.
Our Weehoo trailer works for longer and less bike-friendly trips. It looks and works like a recumbent bike, and she has pedals but most of the time she doesn’t help much in propelling the bike. She needs to balance, as well – although with her relatively light weight, even if she’s off balance, it hardly affects my balance…
For our three-day weekend trip, we took the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner to Santa Barbara on Saturday morning, and explored a bit there. Then, over the course of Sunday and Monday, we biked back to Los Angeles, riding about fifty miles each day. We didn’t carry camping gear; instead we stayed at a hotel in Santa Barbara and an Airbnb in Oxnard. When we arrived in Santa Monica, we loaded our bikes onto the Expo Line and took Metro home. For what it’s worth, we rode between fifteen and twenty miles in Santa Barbara/Goleta on day 1, 53 miles from Santa Barbara to Oxnard on day 2, and finished the last day after completing 46 miles from Oxnard to Santa Monica.
It’s a nice read, with several good photos.
Maybe it will inspire a two-wheeled road trip for your family.
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Good news, as the Arroyo Seco Bike Path has finally been reopened.
More or less, anyway, as one segment remains closed due to storm damage.
A Sydney, Australia man confesses that at 37, he’s never learned to drive. But in today’s world, that’s a good thing. And once again, Los Angeles is used as the poster child for what cities don’t want to be.
After moving down to the lower 48 a few years ago, he started bikepacking along local trails and backroads, before moving on to short bike touring trips.
This past fall, he set out on an epic solo bike tour from the Pacific Northwest back to his western Colorado home.
And took the scenic route.
Here’s his story, followed by photos from his tour.
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Why would anyone want to ride their bicycle 2,500 miles? The answer is I didn’t.
What I did do was get up in the morning, ride for 50 to 60 miles, stop to set up camp, have dinner and relax before going to bed. The next morning I repeated the process. Add some rest days, lather, rinse, and repeat until you get back home and then look at your odometer and by golly I guess maybe I did do it after all.
So why this route? I like the Oregon Coast, North Cascades, Glacier, and Yellowstone National Parks, have family in Portland and Idaho Falls and have always wanted to explore the Olympic Peninsula. Connect the dots and there you have it.
From Grand Junction you can take the train to Sacramento and change trains to Portland. Large comfortable seats, friendly staff, no TSA, and for $20 / train you can get roll on / roll off service for your bike. The staff are not cyclists and don’t know drive side from non-drive side so they ask you to take the bike to the baggage car where they put it in a rack, and pick it up there at the end of the ride (or to change trains) but it is a simple process. Much easier than boxing your bike to fly or take the bus. The fires in Northern California did complicate things some, but it all worked out.
So why do it by bicycle? Besides the fact that I enjoy riding, on a bicycle you are an interesting, and non-threating, person. People come up to say “hi” and ask what you are doing. You can meet some of the best folks this way.
Ready to ride, with kitty litter panniers
In the Olympic National Forest I put a 3 inch nail through the rear tire. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but riding up Rainy Pass in North Cascades National Park several days later, the bike just didn’t feel right. I could see ripples in the shoulder pavement and convinced myself that was what I was feeling. I finally stopped to check the bike, and the rear tire was worn completely through an area the size of a quarter and riding on the Rhino Liner and the nearest bike shop was over 30 miles away.
Luckily Rainy Pass is where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses WA Hwy 20 and a gentleman was doing trail magic there. Another gentleman going west who had stopped there took me 37 miles east to Winthrop to get a new tire and then 37 miles back to Rainy Pass so I didn’t miss riding through any of the scenery. Those are the kind of folks I met on the whole trip.
Then how many time have you been driving and seen some incredible sight, but there is nowhere to stop and enjoy it? On a bicycle you can move to the side, put your foot down and stay as long as you would like.
And there are the hiker / biker campsites. Oregon State Parks are $8 / person, Washington State Parks are $10 / campsite, Glacier and Yellowstone are $5 (and an Old Fart Pass makes that $2.50!) with no turn away policies. What a deal!
It was an incredible trip, but if I did it again I’d like to go 2 weeks earlier. I was leaving Bozeman and intending to ride Hwy 191 through Big Sky to West Yellowstone when I checked the Weather Forecast just for grins – Big Sky (the night’s destination) was supposed to hit 6 degrees for a low. OOPS! Changed plans and took MT 84 to HWY 287. Good Choice. I fought headwinds to the point I really wanted relief. I found a three sided shelter with its back to the wind in the only campground enroute and spent the whole next day waiting out a snowstorm :-). Luckily the second morning dawned clear and a little warmer and the trip continued.
Then riding home from Idaho Falls at about 7,000 feet elevation in late October got more than a little cold sometimes. I was riding south 20 miles north of Vernal Utah looking for a place to camp on public land when I spotted a roadside rest area on a ridge in the National Forest overlooking private land in the valley below. Pretty much exposed to traffic, but having an outhouse is a plus. I set up camp and called my wife to check in. Sunset comes early in late October and as the sun went down the temperature dropped dramatically. The breeze picked up and I sat beside my tent shivering while trying to eat. Dang! Right beside me sat a windproof brick outhouse, still a little warm from the setting sun. Culture be danged, into the outhouse, out of the wind, and ignore any odors! Luckily it had recently been cleaned and wasn’t near as bad as it could have been – it was supposed to be an adventure, right? The next morning it was still cold and windy and breakfast was in my unique shelter too.
Then there was Wyoming. I was going to resupply in Sage WY, but Sage only exists on the map ☺. There was a train siding there, but nothing else was left. Not a problem, I always have a day’s food with me. I wild camped in Fossil Butte National Monument and intended to resupply (now only lunch left) in Kemmerer, but it was 3 miles out of the way and downhill – not a problem I would go right through Carter WY – except Carter was another town that was not there. The railroad doesn’t stop anymore and there are only 3 house and a couple abandoned buildings left. OK I’ll resupply in Urie just after I cross I-80. Urie had a restaurant, but no store. Luckily Mountain View had a Family Dollar, but I was getting a little concerned. I learned that in Wyoming, just because the town is on the map doesn’t mean it exists! ☺
There is much more to tell, but space is limited. Great people, fabulous scenery, doing things I never thought I would do, and burning enough calories to eat anything I wanted. Life just doesn’t get much better than that!
Eric O Rogers
Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast
Oregon Coast
Rain Forest
Rain Forest
Rain Forest
North Cascades
Coming into Winthrop WA
Eastern WA
Western Montana
Whitefish MT
Whitefish MT
Hiker Biker Site Glacier NP
Swan River Valley MT
Coming into Helena MT
Coming into Helena MT
Before snow – after Bozeman
Before snow – after Bozeman
Madison River – Yellowstone
Madison River – Yellowstone.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone
Lewis River Yellowstone
Grand Teton NP
Grand Teton NP
Grand Teton NP
Western WY
Western WY
Western WY – the town that was not there
Western WY
Flaming Gorge
Local Politicians (Turkeys)
Almost Home
Classy Colorado Motel – the Best Western it is not
Classy Colorado Motel – the Best Western it is not
Multiple press reports indicate that a motorist plowed into a group of 13 bike riders from behind, injuring seven — three seriously enough to require helicopter evacuation to nearby hospitals.
News reports indicate they were on an organized tour riding from Charleston SC to Santa Monica. Now one of my regular contributors has dug a little deeper to get the full story.
That group of thirteen cyclists that was hit from behind are high school kids on an epic summer vacation! The tour company, Overland Summers, provides all sorts of adventures, including cross-country bike trips.
Several kids are still in the hospital, and one is in ICU, as of 7am this morning. According to Evan at the head office, parents of most of the injured are with them, having arrived by chartered plane late last night. The uninjured ones haven’t yet decided whether they’ll continue to Santa Monica. There’s another group of Overlanders two days behind, and they’ll probably make the determination whether to join with this second group once it arrives.
If the kids in this party are brave enough to push on, I totally want to meet them.
There’s no word yet on how this tragedy occurred. Distracted or drunk driving would be an obvious guess; however, we’ll have to wait for more details before we know for sure. So let’s hold off on organizing an online lynching party. It’s always possible, though unlikely, that a medical crisis or some other factor may have caused this collision.
But one thing is certain. With 13 riders on the roadway, the driver can’t make a legitimate claim he didn’t see them. If he — or she — didn’t, he certainly should have.
Meanwhile, I can’t imagine parents allowing their kids to continue on following something like this. But if they do, I hope the company lets us know.
Like my source, I want to meet them when they get to Santa Monica.
And give them a round of applause they’ll hear back in Charleston.
Let alone Arkansas.
Update: Overland Summers has issued an official statement in response to the collision, and promises to provide updates as things progress.
Newport, Arkansas – On July 2, 2013 seven individuals on an Overland bicycle touring program were injured when a car traveling on Route 17 struck the group. Police and paramedics responded to the scene. Three of the individuals were airlifted from the scene, including one individual who is in critical condition. The remaining four individuals were transported by ambulance and were being treated at local hospitals. Of these four individuals, two have been released. At this time, we at Overland would like to express our deepest concern for those injured and our gratitude to the emergency response teams.
The victims were participants in a Williamstown MA summer camp, when they travelled down to Charleston to begin the ride. The riders were hit from behind around 4:35 pm on a straight section of State Highway 17 offering clear visibility just two miles north of McCrory, Arkansas.
And there won’t be any welcoming party in Santa Monica for the surviving riders; perhaps understandingly, the company has cancelled the remainder of the tour.
