Pasadena May Be More Bike Friendly Than L.A., But It Needs More Parking!

(This is the last part of our Bike Week 2011 Series on people's biking experiences in different corners of L.A. County.  Our last entrant is from our "Pasadena Correspondent" Brigham Yen, who is a little different than our other writers this week in that he doesn't represent a formal biking organization but still brings a wealth of information to his writings. - DN)

I rode my bike over to US Bank, located at Colorado and Oak Knoll, the other day and found myself scrambling to find a place to lock my bike as there were no bike racks on the block. I wasn't alone. There were numerous other bikes haphazardly locked against anything resembling something solid, such as tree trunks and lamp posts. I assume most of these bikes belonged to people who were patronizing Sabor² Cafe adjacent to US Bank.

I eventually found a bike rack inconveniently around the corner in the back on Oak Knoll (by the entrance to a parking garage) and had to walk back to the bank, which made me wonder why there weren't bike racks in front of the building to begin with (where the businesses were located).

Obviously as you can see from the pictures I took that there is definitely a demand for bike racks to be installed. Pasadena prides itself on being a place that is forward thinking (relative to the rest of the San Gabriel Valley) when it comes to serving alternative modes of transit (anything that isn't driving basically). I would like to see Pasadena do what the City of LA has done in Highland Park by installing "bike corrals" in busy commercial districts to promote bike usage.