Category Archives: LACBC

Two feeder rides from Santa Monica to CicLAvia The Valley, Go MULTIMODAL!

This Sunday all new CicLAvia – The Valley!
Two Feeder Ride options from Santa Monica, Tongva Park

This first CicLAvia of 2015 represents the inaugural visit of LA’s renowned open streets event to the San Fernando Valley. For this CicLAvia participants will be able to travel between North Hollywood and Studio City on car-free streets, using foot, pedal and non-motorized wheel power. CicLAvia – The Valley March 22, from 9am–4pm

Whether you ride with us or get there on your own – don’t miss it! CicLAvia celebrates the streets of Los Angeles for everyone!  Temporarily limiting the access of motor vehicles and opening the streets to all users – walking, wheelchairs, skates, bikes, scooters, skate boards, strollers – you name it! Helpful suggestion on participation at CicLAvia

We will host two feeder ride options to CicLAvia this Sunday, March 22nd.
PLEASE NOTE: NEW MEETNG LOCATION AND TIME FOR SANTA MONCIA FEEDER RIDES. Both Ride options meet in Tongva Park, 7:30am


Start           Tongva Park, center of park grass area near restrooms
Address      1615 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Meet           7:30am
Roll out      8:00am (sharp)

Option 1 - Multimodal
Bike it to Culver City and EXPO LINE to RED LINE together
THIS ROUTE WAS UPDATED 3/21 DUE TO EXPO CONSTRUCTION

route-7243818-map-fullThis UPDATED Route is 8.2 miles and mostly flat with bike lanes or low traffic volume streets at our time of travel. We will be traveling at an easy pace but do ask you “stay with the pace” so we can all get there together. No rider is left behind.
For feeder ride all young children should be on tag-a-long or in trailers. Want to ride yourself to Expo here’s a simple route on Venice Blvd

Option 2 – Advanced
Bike from Santa Monica to CicLAvia – The Valley

(bail out option at Metro Station Hollywood and Highland)

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This Route is for more advance riders – slightly faster paced with more elevation gain (click map).
The group will still stay together with no rider left behind – you do have the option if you choose to jump on the Metro Red Line if you run out of steam or prefer not to ride over the hill on Cahuenga Blvd.

Want to ride to Red Line on your own? Here is that route

Click here to download map

Stuff to bring:

  • helmut (for feeder ride or children under 18)
  • sun screen
  • cash –
  • spare tube/ patch kit
  • hydration
  • any special tools your bike requires!
  • SMILES

Info on light rail & bus routes to or from CicLAvia

Big Blue Bus Rapid 10 takes the frwy downtown LA from Santa Monica FAST!
Catch the Red Line at the 7th Street Metro Hub . 

Light Rail: Connect to the Expo Line Culver City Station (timetable) then 
Big Blue Bus Rapid 20 to DT SM, Rapid 12 (to Westwood) or Route 12 (Westwood and Palms)
The Metro trip planner can be found here: 

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Beverly Hills Greenway: 62-feet for a World-Class Street

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Click image for more background on the campaign

“62-feet for a World-Class Street”

A world-class Santa Monica Boulevard is possible in Beverly Hills. The boulevard’s future has been the subject of much angst, but Beverly Hills can have it all:

  • A complete street for people driving, taking transit, walking AND biking;
  • A beautiful boulevard with the very best in street design;
  • A safe roadway of uniform width; and
  • A green boulevard that maintains the same amount of green space.

A coalition of Beverly Hills residents, business owners and other stakeholders is supporting the “Beverly Hills Greenway”–a compromise design that achieves all of the project’s objectives without the controversial impacts. Will you join us?

For background on the Santa Monica Boulevard reconstruction project, visit our friends at Better Bike Bevery Hills: SM Blvd Greenway.
Facebook campaign here


Click here to sign the petition

I support a green vision for Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills that both respects Beverly Gardens Park and provides sustainable transportation choices. The Beverly Hills Greenway would maintain the current amount of green space, add bike lanes and keep traffic moving safely–all in a uniform 62-foot roadway.

62 feet for a world-class street!


 

This has been a long campaign – Thank you LACBC, Mark Elliot our friends at Better Bike Beverly Hills for staying on top of this. Here is some of the previous support we’ve posted on the issue.

ACTION ALERT: Santa Monica Blvd Reconstruction Project, Beverly Hills
ACTION ALERT: Support Bike Lanes on Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills, Tuesday March 4th, 2013

short overview, read more here 

About the ‘Beverly Hills Greenway’ Proposal

Developed with the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, our proposal envisions a boulevard 62′ wide that exacts no cost to the adjacent park. That’s because today’s corridor is irregular and measures as much as 63′ wide in some sections – wider than we need. So we actually add green space to the boulevard in order to compensate for any that might be used to include bicycle lanes for safer two-wheeled travel along a short Wilshire-Canon segment.

Indeed this proposal is a no-net-loss concept: grass needed to make this street ‘complete’ is replaced by grass where today there is blacktop. That is, two feet is added to boulevard’s width on that single segment while we reduce the width of the boulevard by one foot on two other segments. Voila! No net loss of green space.

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The resulting boulevard profile accommodates the same traffic volume for motorists while bike riders can use state-approved bicycle lanes. On tomorrow’s Santa Monica Boulevard, everybody will benefit! If drivers dread sharing a lane with bicyclists today, the Greenway will separate non-motor traffic to maximize traffic flow while mooting the required three-foot buffer under the state’s new safe-passing law. And bicyclists who ride the corridor will feel safer outside of the vehicle flow. We have found that’s the #1 reason people cite for not biking in Beverly Hills. As we see it, 62 feet is just perfect for a world-class street!

Support the Beverly Hills Greenway!

 

Introducing, the new Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition

Introducing LACBC’s new Executive Director, Tamika Butler!

Screen Shot 2014-12-17 at 11.50.10 PMAfter an extensive national search, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has selected Tamika Butler to lead LACBC into the next phase of continued growth as we further our mission to make the Los Angeles region a healthy, safe and fun place to ride a bike.

“I’m really proud of the process and results of the search and couldn’t be more excited about Tamika as our next Executive Director,” says LACBC Board President Steve Boyd. “Tamika is the ideal leader to write LACBC’s next chapter.”

Tamika brings to LACBC a proven track record of sustainably expanding and running programs and organizations, as well as a policy and advocacy background. She spent three years as an employment lawyer at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center and most recently comes from Liberty Hill Foundation, where she was the Director of Social Change Strategies. She first made her mark in Los Angeles as the California Director at the startup policy and advocacy organization Young Invincibles, where she managed the west coast regional staff, was the media and policy spokesperson, organized and led coalitions, developed curriculum and trainings, and fundraised to expand the organization’s presence on the west coast. She also developed relationships with community leaders and state and local lawmakers to advance the organization’s policy goals.

“I am thrilled to have the privilege to become the next Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and look forward to continuing the success, growth and cutting edge Screen Shot 2014-12-17 at 11.50.27 PMwork of the organization. Biking in Los Angeles County has personally changed my life and deepens my love of the region every time I go for a ride. We’re lucky to live and bike in a county full of diverse communities that motivate this talented staff and me to push towards building a healthier, more vibrant Los Angeles County. I am excited to start pedaling, dig deep, and get to work with our members and partners, within and across sectors, as we race to the front lines of the nationwide movement to create bikeable, safe and sustainable neighborhoods.” One of Tamika’s top priorities is to grow the diversity of LACBC staff and coalition membership.

When Jen Klausner started as Executive Director in 2007, there was only one other employee at headquarters and it was a real struggle to keep doors open. Jen and the organization faced an uphill battle at City Hall to pass the Los Angeles Bicycle Plan and get pavement striped with room for bikes. Seven years later, under her leadership, there are now twelve employees working on your behalf with a LOT of successes! Our growing roster of twelve local chapters will extend that reach even further as we strive to more fully represent the diversity of those who bicycle and want to bicycle in all neighborhoods across Los Angeles County. Tamika brings deep experience in social justice work and looks forward to working with the full range of communities across the county. We couldn’t be more excited.

Jen says, “Our new Executive Director Tamika Butler brings a fresh perspective to the leadership of LACBC, and one that is so relevant to the growth of the bike-ped movement and to important dialogues happening here and in cities across the nation. I am confident in Tamika’s ability to take LACBC to the next level, and I, for one, will be staying tuned and keeping my membership current, because this organization is poised to do great things in the coming years. Please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Tamika!”

Jen Mishory, Executive Director of Young Invincibles, agrees that Tamika will make a great Executive Director: “Tamika is a dynamic, innovative leader who will be a huge asset to the LACBC team. She brought Young Invincibles to new heights and I know that she’ll do the same in her new role!”

We look forward to introducing Tamika to our members, partners and supporters at the first available opportunity in January. Look for announcements of those opportunities in our weekly newsletter, on the website, and through Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget—as part of our end of year campaign, any donation at the $250 level and above will get you an invitation to our January 22nd Donor Thank You Party—an intimate gathering with our brand new Executive Director, Tamika Butler, in attendance. Hope to see you there!

A View in the Rear View Mirror, Santa Monica Spoke

At this year’s LACBC Holiday Open House we had a slide show instead of the vision boards we assembled last year. LACBC and each Local Chapter contributed slides from this year along with a few of our favorite images. Each chapter was asked to contribute 5 slides.

Our 5 slides from the LACBC Open House Slide Show.

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top: Community event SMMoA, right: Community Meeting with city staff & SMPD, bottom: Walk & Bike Audit gathering input for MANGo
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Youth Bike Skills Festival at Mc Kinnley for Bike it Walk it Week
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top: LACBC Sunday Funday Santa Monica up PCH to meet CalBike Surf & Turf Tour, right: Road side assistance at Tour da Arts Bike Event, bottom: Santa Monica Festival at Clover Park
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top: new bike corrals on Main Street, right: Santa Monica’s first greet lanes on Ocean Park Blvd, bottom: Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community national designation by League of American Bicyclist
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Kidical Mass is more than just a bike ride. A city that seeks to build safer streets to encourage families on bikes is safer for all road users.

#GivingTuesday: Consider donating to Santa Monica Spoke

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#GIVINGTUESDAY‬!
As we gather this holiday season with friends and family, we give thanks for the health and safety of those we hold most dear and look forward to sharing and creating cherished memories with family, friends and neighbors like you!  
We hope you will also take a moment to consider a year end donation to us at Santa Monica Spoke / LACBC! 
With your support we can expand our adult and child education programs and classes, outreach and more! More success and continued work toward more equitable and safer policies and infrastructure for people walking and biking in Santa Monica and the Los Angeles region.

Gift a MEMBERSHIP
50% of
 your membership dollars stay local / 50% help support region efforts through LACBC,
or you can Donate 
via LACBC on our behalf to Santa Monica Spoke
Donations are tax deductible!
Questions? let us know. 


DONTATE TODAY: ONLINE FORM HERE 

Thank you from all of us at Santa Monica Spoke!