I just got Councilmember Tom LaBonge’s email about the next in the series of evening bike rides he is leading through Los Angeles this summer. The third ride in Tour LaBonge is tomorrow, Wednesday evening, August 6th.

The plan: Meet at City Halls steps by 6:15 PM; 10-mile ride commences. The ride will include a stop for ice cream and end by about 8:00 PM.

Fifty cyclists showed up for the last one, a ride along Los Angeles River Bike Path and through Griffith Park on July 30th. And LA Metblogs’ own Will Campbell participated.

This time, the ride will wind through Downtown.

Route map after the jump. (more…)

You remember that pair of cyclists on July 4 who ended up hospitalized with serious injuries, victims of what officials called an incident of road rage in which a Mandeville Canyon resident is alleged to have intentionally slammed on his brakes in front of them? If not, refresh yourself with LAist who was all over the story, and its developments in which the suspect, 58-year-old Dr. Christopher Thompson, was arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon. He was later charged with two felony counts each of reckless driving causing injury and battery with serious bodily injury.

Thompson, who is free on $30,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned August 1 at the L.A. Superior Courthouse near the airport (11701 S. La Cienega Blvd, 90045; map). If convicted on all counts he can reportedly be facing more than seven years in state prison.

I’m planning on participating in a group bike ride Friday being organized that will originate at Heliotrope and Melrose in East Hollywood departing for the courthouse at 7 a.m. If that isn’t too early for you, join in. More info is here on the Midnight Ridazz site.

Get your bikes or hiking shoes ready to enjoy the free flowing river this weekend.

On Monday on my bi-weekly run to Costco I noticed the powers that be have turned the San Gabriel River on again.  It is flowing hard and fast, probably the best it has been in well over a year.  Lord knows 2 weeks ago it was bone dry through there.

Tuesday was too nice a day to not go down to the river and check it out.  Camera in tow I spent the better part of the morning hiking along the San Gabriel River Bike Path ducking down the various trails to the river itself.  I shot alot, mostly I just enjoyed seeing the river flow again.

 Already ducks are back in the river swimming about.  Some small fish, snail darters or some variation of pupfish were visible in the slower moving sections.  Hundreds of lizards were all over the place.  There were even a few bunnies at waters edge in spot taking a drink.  Who’da thought you’d see so much wildlife so fast just by turning on the river.

I’d highly recommend you take the time and visit the river while it is running so hard and clear.   My favorite access point is from Duarte’s Encanto Park and use the old Rail Road bridge to cross over when I walk. 

The other point, and the one most used by bicyclists is from the otherside of the river at Lario Park.  The entrance to that park is 1/3 mile west of the junction of Foothill and Irwindale Avenues.  It has ample parking and restrooms available.

Now for the real reason hikers need to pay a visit this week you need to make the jump. (more…)

District No. 4 Councilman Tom LaBonge isn’t the only civic leader around town to trumpet the benefits of bicycling, but as a city official he definitely does more than talk the talk; his elected butt is damn sure seen in the saddle more than anyone past or present, perhaps with the exception of Mayor Richard Riordan.

The last time I saw LaBonge he was pedaling up to be a part of the 5th-annual Blessing of the Bikes at Good Samaritan Hospital during Bike To Work Week in May. And there he was again last night leading a group of about 50 riders on 4th Street (4SBB Live The Dream!) from Shatto Park east of Vermont  west to its end at the Park La Brea compound. With a stop at L.A. City Fire Station No. 61 at 3rd and Cochran, followed by free ice cream at the Larchmont Village Baskin-Robbins, last night’s ride was a virtual repeat of the one LaBonge hosted last August (Flickr set here), and the first this summer of a total of five Wednesday nighters he has planned:

• Jul. 30: Silver Lake & Griffith Park
• Aug . 06: City Hall & Downtown
• Aug. 13: Toluca Lake & North Hollywood
• Aug. 20: Hollywood & Hancock Park

The scheduled start times are 6:15, with about a two-hour duration. Routes will reportedly be posted in advance on the councilman’s website at: www.tomlabonge.com. I believe the start point for next week’s ride is Mulholland Fountain at Riverside Drive and Los Feliz Boulevard. Hope to see you out there.

Flickr set from last night’s ride, here. 

This one seen on the Fletcher LA River Bridge heading east. There’s signage too, these seem to have been added by a new city department called “DIY” - I’m not sure what that stands for exactly, perhaps Department of Intertransit Youth or Department of Icycle Youtreach. Something like that I’m sure. Another pic of the signs after the jump.
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Last night I ran into the folks who’d just returned from the Atwood Neighborhood Council meeting where the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights was being proposed. They approved it 10 to 2 (with one abstaining) and today it was passed up the chain even further. The interesting thing to me about this whole thing is that if you read the actual document it basically just affirms that people on bikes are entitled to the same rights and protections that people who aren’t on bikes. That’s the beauty of it really, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could be against something that says “this group of people deserves the same thing as that group” but still there are dissenting voices. While chatting with the folks last night they mentioned some of the arguments brought up by the two “against” voters in last nights meetings. One was insistent that this would require a bike lane to be put on the road in front of his business and thus keep customers away, and the other apparently asked something like “I can’t support this, can you imagine what would happen if this kind of thing caused more people to start riding bikes around the city?!” I’m sure that’s not an exact quote, but that was the gist apparently. You might ask why something like this is even needed, if it’s just pointing out rights that people already have, well when things like this keep happening it’s important to have something to point to and remind city government and law enforcement that just because I want to get some exercise and save some money on gas by riding a bike doesn’t mean that suddenly some kind of second class citizen.

Update: Mikey Wally was there and has more details…

“Only Lenore Solis, Church/Religious Representative and local realty agent, and Luis Lopez, Community Group/Non-profit Representative and owner of Luis Lopez Automotive, voted against the motion. During the member comments section Solis expressed concerned that the CBoR would give cyclists the right to ride on the freeway and she argued that the CBoR was too broad, specifically 5, “the right to routine accommodations in all roadway projects and improvements,” and 9, “the right to full access for themselves and their bicycles on all mass transit with no limitations.” Lopez argued that the Bill would give cyclists “too much leverage” on future Council decisions…”

As it thrummmmmmmmed past, I was barely able to unholster my cam and trigger the shutter at this unique and fancy motorized bicycle with training wheels on front. Ooooooo. I Can Haz!? Trike rhymes with Like (click to triplify):

Upon entering the Ballona Creek Bikeway this morning I was surprised to find signage being installed indicating its impending closure for construction — and just in time for summer! — until February 2009.

So just a heads-up to anyone who rides this route: the bikeway will be purportedly off limits between Duquesne Street in Culver City and its northern terminus by McManus Park at National Boulevard.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles Times published an article about the surge in bicycle commuters in the city. It’s a fine article and for those who haven’t read it, it’s about bicycle commuters. And how there’s a surge. But what’s cool about the article, aside from the spellbinding photo of bike repair in action, is they included the LA Metro map for cyclists in the article. I did not know this map existed. Check it out here.

Confusing? I should say so. Look at all those squiggly lines! But don’t fret. I’ll take a moment to help disambigu-fy things for you. Soon, you’ll be zipping around the city as if it were the back of your hand. Check out the legend after the jump.

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The L.A. Times reports that West Hollywood is struggling with what to do with bikers who have no bike lanes to ride in, or where the congestion is so dangerous that they prefer to ride on sidewalks.

WeHo is thinking is that the bikers share the sidewalk with pedestrians.

Bicyclists sharing walkways with pedestrians will be required to be careful — and courteous to senior citizens and others who have long walked to Santa Monica and Sunset boulevards to shop and dine.

Local traffic laws and the state’s vehicle code have traditionally lumped bicycles into the same category as motorized vehicles, meaning they must be ridden on streets, not sidewalks. An exception is Los Angeles, where only willfully careless bike riding is prohibited on sidewalks.

But bicyclists in West Hollywood have complained that traffic congestion and narrow roadways in some areas make it dangerous to ride in the street. [full story]

I’m sure that bikers and pedestrians alike will have plenty to say about this.