Results tagged “bicycles”

Some exciting news, if it comes true, via Damien Newton at StreetsblogLA. The Mayor's office has indicated that Ciclovia may be coming to Los Angeles in early 2010. What is that? "For the uninitiated, the city of Bogota put on the first Ciclovia decades ago by closing several of its main streets to cars and opening them to pedestrians and cyclists on Sundays," explains Newton. "Over the years, a culture developed around these gigantic street parties. Citizens literally pack the streets taking their bikes, joining group exercises and dances or just taking a walk free from the interference of the automobile."

UCLA Live presents Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis tonight at 8 pm at Royce Hall. Under Music Director Wynton Marsalis, the 15-piece resident orchestra at Jazz at Lincoln Center in NYC will perform rare historic compositions to modern jazz, including compositions and arrangements by members of the band. Tickets: $38-$85. ($15 UCLA students).

Either way, it's feeling like the Los Angeles Department of Transportation is heading back to the days of General Manager Gloria Jeff when employee morale was low and the traffic engineers with real skills were caught up in a bureaucracy that dictated they serve cars, not people. Current General Manager Rita Robinson ran a tight and responsible ship at the Bureau of Sanitation before being appointed to LADOT, so why can't she control her own bikeways and district offices?

Some people go green by driving Priuses. Others brag about their bio-diesel conversions. Don't get me wrong. These are both admirable attempts at meaningful earth friendliness, but when you really want hardcore bragging rights, nothing beats abandoning the auto altogether. For their first West coast tour, The folk-pop duo known as Blind Pilot decided to head from Vancouver to San Diego by...bicycle.

            

Before a recent trip to Tokyo, the LA Times published Steve Lopez's column entitled "L.A. could learn some lessons from Tokyo". In his piece he praises Tokyo for its clean taxis, beautiful parks, and bike commuters.

Crossing the campus from your Econ lecture to your Geology lab can be a pain in the ass, especially when time is tight and you're navigating a sea of student bodies plugged into iPods and hunched over text messages. For some, the solution is as easy as the four wheels of a skateboard.

Last night's 13th Annual Griffith Park Holiday Light Festival community meeting opened with the DWP reps explaining to the public that the Festival is off limits to cyclists because "these aren't public streets." Protests from the audience elicited a response from Councilmember Tom LaBonge to have the lawyers take a look at it.

Last night, one of Los Angeles' best locally focused radio programs, Which Way, L.A.? focused in on the Mandeville Canyon "road rage" motorist vs. bicyclist incident among other bicycle issues around Los Angeles.

It's been about a month since the loyal LAist readers sounded off on the meaning of "Metroquette" and its various rules and recommendations. We heard opinions from those transplanted from more mass transit friendly cities, and also from long time Metro riders here in Los Angeles. With the unstoppable surge in fuel prices and summer here, we have seen a substantial increase in hand rail holders just over this last month. With plans to extend the Gold Line into East LA, and also westward to take us all the way to the beach, it's important that everyone has a clue when they decide to ride.

Here's a sign of the times. This bike rack at the Variety/E Channel Meridian Club building on Wilshire normally has three or four bikes on it. This day, bikes (including mine) had to be locked to parking meters because the rack was full.

Remember this video? NBC picked up on it and aired it on Mother's Day.

Via GOOD Magazine's blog, we find Andy Bower's video report for Slate.com on the "stupidest bike lane in America," which happens to be in the same neighborhood as one of the most respected schools in the nation -- UCLA. The 275 ft. class II bike lane runs on Gayley between Levering and Weyburn Avenues (interactive map below, lane marked in orange, try finding it!)

San Francisco based photographer Matt Cohen reports from yesterday's Tour of California with photos and explanations of what happened:

This weekend, the AMGEN Tour of California hit two Los Angeles area cities, Santa Clarita, yesterday, and Pasadena, today. Photographer Scott Groller was kind enough to share some photos from the finish line of Stage 6 in the Valencia neighborhood of Santa Clarita. The cyclists traveled 105.4 miles from Santa Barbara for a ride that lasted over four hours.

The most exciting thing about this primary campaign is the fact that it is reinvigorating in the public an interest in the direction of our nation, our state and even our communities.

Dedicated bike paths, more bike lanes, and bike rental programs, oh my!

Los Angeles CityBeat's Greg Katz asks Tom LaBonge why cyclists can't ride through the Griffith Park DWP Light Festival and Tom almost completes a sentence before simply dodging and deflecting and offering more hollow promises for the future. Greg asks "You’re a bike advocate, a Griffith Park advocate, and you want to fix gridlock. Why can’t you bike through the Griffith Park DWP Light Festival while there are cars there?" Tom responds "The impact they...

Michelle Mowery is the Bicycle Program's Sr. Project Coordinator for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. As Spring is basically here, we think it's a good time to ride your bicycle around town. It's much better than in the heat. Michelle is extremely busy serving this city with bicycle love. We are happy to get a few moments with her and hope to visit her again for some more bike fun. Here, we learn...

Tonight is National Night Out. Do you know where your neighborhood night out is taking place? Bugs! Mosquitoes with West Nile at the Sepulveda Basin. A Japanese man is arrested at LAX for trying to sneak in rare butterflies. Black Widows are charged with killing homeless men. But these are no typical widows and LA's Homeless Blog is not happy. It's all about ordinances over at blogging.la: New Spay/Neuter Ordinance for Dogs & Fixed-Gear...