Bicycling

One day after Long Beach had their Bike Fest, it was Los Angeles' turn. Missing the backing of an organization similar to Downtown Long Beach, the Bicycle Culture Institute, led by powerhouse Nona Varnado, mustered the volunteers and resources to put on a bicycle-themed party worthy of Los Angeles' legendary bike culture. The overcast skies and scheduling quirk may have kept the crowd in the hundreds instead of thousands, but the crowd of cyclists had plenty to do, with events varying from creating yarn art on bike spokes to BMX demonstrations.

Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Huizar is excited about the future of bicycling in downtown Los Angeles. At a press event yesterday, Huizar took a test spin on one of Metro's bike-share bikes. SBLA Streetsie-winner Huizar sees bike-share as one key feature of "a snowball effect" virtuous cycle for central Los Angeles: more bikes on the street will trigger more safety-in-numbers, which will prompt more city investment in bikeways, which will lead to even more bicycling.

Have you ever wondered what will happen to you when you are too old to bicycle on your own? There is an organization called Cycling Without Age that pushes for "the right to wind in your hair" for people of all ages. Cycling Without Age links volunteers with elders for trips on board "trishaws" - essentially a rear-steering tandem tricycle.

The Los Angeles Bicycle Culture Institute is seeking your help, through a Kickstarter campaign, to bring back the popular Los Angeles Bicycle Fest this Mother's Day, on Sunday, May 8. The campaign just crossed the $1,000 line, but needs another $2,500 to make its goal.

At a kick-off event this morning, the city of Long Beach celebrated a soft launch of its new bike-share system, called Long Beach Bike Share. There are currently two stations in operation, with a dozen bikes. The system will fully publicly open at the Saturday March 19 Beach Streets open streets event.

Next week, bike activists will gather in Washington D.C. for the National Bike Summit convened by the League of American Bicyclists. On Monday March 7, the national Alliance for Biking and Walking will be hosting their 2016 Advocacy Awards for excellence in the walk and bike advocacy.

Today, #DamienTalks to Habib Balian, the CEO of the Gold Line Foothills Construction Authority and Amy Wong with Women on Wheels a project of Bike SGV.

The Ovarian Psyco-Cycles have been a game-changer in the Los Angeles cycling landscape. And now, with a documentary featuring the stories of three of their members set to debut at South by Southwest (SXSW) this year, they are essentially announcing that they are here to stay. Y con ganas.*

Due to this year's El Niño storms, the federal Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is clearing vegetation (arguably illegally according to a similar regional water board lawsuit) in the most natural areas of the L.A. River. USACE is also adding temporary flood barriers along the river in the middle of the central stretch of L.A. River bike path. The flood barriers have closed the river bike path between the 134 Freeway and Fletcher Drive. The closures apply not just to bicycling, but also to the equestrian crossing from Atwater Village to Griffith Park.