At Orange 20 Bikes this week, I present a nice Bike Corral Roundup covering the good, the bad, and the ugly of bike parking in LA.

Meanwhile, over at Flying Pigeon LA< it's time to look at The Two Figueroas, as separate sections of this long, long street face disparate fates, with the glitzier MyFigueroa project looking as though it will sail ahead, while workaday Fig4All still founders.

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 26 Mar 2014 22:06:13 -0800 [link]  

Yesterday, as I rode the three or so miles of Fourth Street between LA's Miracle Mile and eh Larchmont area, where I turned north towards my eventual goal of South Pasadena, I again noted that, as usual, there were more cyclists than motorists on that road.

On the way back I had to stop in Downtown to drop off a kitchen knife at Ross Cutlery, and heading west form there I decided to take busy Wilshire Boulevard from around Vermont back to my home turf. And despite Wilshire being presently rather unfriendly to bicyclists—narrow lanes, heavy traffic, impatient drivers—nearly every sidewalk bike rack along those four or five miles was full. Not a few parking meter poles hosted bikes as well.

And Wilshire will become a little more friendly to velos, at least during rush hour, when the BRT lanes open soon. These will be rush-hour-only bus lanes (Metro's Rapids carry 25% more people along the corridor morning and evening than all the private cars combined)—and they will be open to cyclists.

As it was, the construction zones, where a lane or two was dug up or occupied by heavy equipment, sported "Bicycles May Use Full Lane" signs, a definite step forward that the city decided to take only a short while ago.

Looks as though cycling in LA is becoming normal, in spite of difficult conditions and a half-hearted officialdom.

Feels pretty good!

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 26 Mar 2014 18:37:25 -0800 [link]  

After dealing with boneheaded drivers and cyclists both on the streets this week, I used Orange 20's blog to remind riders that The Deck Is Shuffled After Every Hand, so don't take road or traffic conditions for granted.

While at Flying Pigeon LA, I note with glee that The Infection Is Spreading—good news indeed when it's an "infection" of bike corrals!

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 19 Mar 2014 19:34:43 -0800 [link]  

Here we go again! This time, on Orange 20's blog, I look at the kerfuffle surrounding LA's sudden opposition to the longstanding Marathon Crash Ride put on by Wolfpack Hustle, in The Race Is Not to the Swift…the ride went on, by the way, but the race did not.

And at Flying Pigeon LA I opine about the Infrastructure Envy LA feels when it looks at neighboring cities (Beverly Hills, as always, excepted).

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 12 Mar 2014 18:15:42 -0800 [link]  

On Orange 20 this week we cover rain riding, which is required rarely enough in Los Angeles that riders need a refresher course each year. But it's great to be able to ride Weather or Not, so check it out.

Meanwhile, back at Flying Pigeon LA, we wonder whether LA is Backsliding in its civic duty towards bike-riding residents, as the new administration seems to be seeing through a windshield, darkly….

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 05 Mar 2014 19:25:31 -0800 [link]  

Indulged in only the third rain ride of the season here in droughtstruck SoCal—and a short ride at that, only a mile and half back from the Farmers Market on Third. (It was my birthday yesterday, and Gina needed some frech basil for the pizza she will make us tonight. Those of you who know Gina's cooling know that "extraordinary" falls short in describing her cuisine, even something as casual as pizza.)

It wasn't raining when I rode to the market, but we are in the middle of a very large storm—not a drought-buster, but still a wet and fierce one—so I took my rain cape along in the pannier.

And sure enough, it was raining when I emerged from the market. But it was a normal rain, not a gullywasher yet, though I figured ti would become on soon, as the storm is carrying along embedded thunderstorms that dump streams of rain periodically for a half or or so, then taper off.

I decided not to bother with the rain gear for a mile and a half ride, especially as I was wearing wool top and bottom, including my own wool gabardine pants.

And yes, I got wet, though you barely feel it in proper wool. But I didn't bother changing when I got home and delivered the goods, because I've been this route before.

Within seven minutes, my wool had already dried from "wet" to "damp," and now, after half an hour, I can scarcely feel the moisture. The apartment's heat was not on, and we keep the balcony door open most of the year, so no climate-control system donated mechanical aid to my (or rather my pants') recovery to dryness.

Now, of course, if it had been raining as hard as it is now, I would definitely have put on the raincape—I have ridden through intense torrents in rain capes, and they work quite well—though only if your bike wears fenders, as all of Gina's and mine do. I did the five miles to or from work (when I still had a day job) in such conditions many a time, in our long-gone wet years.

Well, no point in changing now that the experiment is over; the pants are dry enough to lounge in, so I'm going to pull up a book and a chair by the big front windows and enjoy the rain some more.

Richard Risemberg on Sat, 01 Mar 2014 00:32:44 -0800 [link]  

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