Category Archives: LACBC

Close out Bike Month: Events this Week, Plus LA River Ride Sunday!

Bicyclists’ Rights And Responsibilities — Know the Law

Road safety and equity is everyone’s concern and responsibility:

Join Bicycle Lawyer Jim Pocrass of Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP, representatives from the Santa Monica Police Department*, and SM Mobility Manager Francie Stefan to discuss Bicycle Law and knowing how your Rights and Responsibilities can protect you and make our roads safer and more equitable for everyone.

Please bring your questions for discussion or click here to send us your questions, concerns or comments in advance and we will collate them for discussion at the event.

Wednesday, May 30th
Reception 6:30pm (refreshments will be served)
Program begins at 7:00pm
Performance Bicycles 1314 Wilshire Blvd
FREE: Please click here to RSVP to help ensure we order enough food
* LAPD has also been invited to attend but is unconfirmed.


CalBike Chipotle Chowdown
Thursday, May 31st - 
all day!
All that #BikeMonthSM, #BTWD & #HBHH riding must be making you hungry, right? On the last day of #BikeMonth, May 31st, chow down at any Chipotle Mexican Grill & support CalBike!

*Just mention CalBike, The California Bicycle Coalition, or even ‘the Bike Fundraiser’ before you pay*, and 50% of the sale supports CalBike’s work advocating for equitable, inclusive, and prosperous communities where bicycling helps to enable all Californians to lead healthy and joyful lives.

So…how many miles per burrito do you get?


Week #5
Last #BikeMonthSM weekly* HandleBar Happy Hour is at

We close out May, Bike Month with the last of our weekly #BikeMonthSM HandleBar Happy Hours with a visit to West 4th and Jane – West 4th and Jane is one of the very first venues we visited when we launched our #BikeFromWork  #HBHH’s years ago! We can’t wait for Thursday!

This year West 4th and Jane was
VOTED MOST LOVED SANTA MONICA BAR/PUB
– WINNER for 2018!
CONGRATULATIONS!!

West 4th and Jane is a combo of a bar, local  tavern, beer + wine bar, neighborhood pub, with a locally driven menu, and private room.

Date:   Thursday, May 31st
Place:  West 4th and Jane, 1432A 4th Street
Time:   5:30pm – 7:30pm (at least)

* In June we return to Monthly #HBHH’s – every last Wednesday or Thursday of the month.
Check the Event Calendar for all the updates!


18th Annual LA River Ride: June 3rd

Join over 2,000 other riders, and enjoy a great day of bicycling along the LA River and through DTLA to Long Beach. With five rides to choose from, ranging from 2 to 100 miles, there’s an experience for everyone at the LA River Ride. Bring out the little ones for a free 2-mile Kids’ Ride, or pedal with the whole family at our 15-mile Family Ride (one registration covers a family of 5!). Want a bigger challenge? Train up with our 36-mile Ride or dig into the Metric Century Plus, covering 68 miles. For those wanting to push it to the limit, the Century Ride will go from Griffith Park to Long Beach – and back – and is a great, flat route for first-time Century riders!

More info is listed HERE

LACBC OPEN HOUSE 2017

Celebrate LACBC as we reflect back and look forward to the 20th anniversary in 2018!

Join your fellow cyclists from all over LA County for a great evening with food, drinks, music, and fun! Every attendee will be entered into a free drawing for a chance at great prizes!

OpenHouse17Sq.jpg

Entry is free for all LACBC & Chapter members. Not a member?  Purchase a membership at the door.

No one will be turned away at the door!


Thank you to our Open House Sponsors!

Pocrass_Logo.jpg

Angel_City.png

Operation Firefly!

The New Season Begins!

Join us – volunteer today for local distribution Operation Firefly.

Operation Firefly’s season officially begins when the days get shorter and the clock rolls back  and goes until Spring”forward” – we join LACBC’s and their regional partner distributions by giving away bicycle lights and educational information locally for FREE in Santa Monica.

Scheduling is in progress – Sign up today: Volunteer@SMSpoke.org

Action Alert: Safer Streets LA

CallToAction6thStreetSq.jpgSanta Monica Spoke joins LACBC and Los Angeles Safe Streets Advocates to call on Councilmember Ryu to Make 6th Street Safety Improvements

Walking or biking on 6th street between Fairfax and LaBrea feels like walking next to a highway. Cars, encouraged by the design of the roadway, consistently speed, and crashes are a frequent occurrence. Children and families who walk and bike to school, work, museums, and health centers must traverse broken glass and metal detritus left behind by vehicle collisions.

In 2012, a 74-year-old woman was hit by a car and killed while walking near the intersection of 6th and Hauser. Since then, two more of our neighbors’ lives have been taken by dangerous roadway conditions on 6th street between Fairfax and La Brea. The time for redesigning this section of 6th street is now.

If you don’t already know bike and pedestrian initiatives and projects are being opposed by organized groups of influence like https://keeplamoving.com/ and http://fixthecity.org/
We need to show our human power, rally support for improvement that will help our city connections. Some of you may be familiar with the deplorable conditions that the 4th street “Bike Route” in Los Angels is currently in, 6th street has the potential to be a safer alternative. If nothing else we need to show our power in numbers in support for road diets and for councilmembers who support them.

For the past five years, community leaders have been focused on this problem, completing community walks, town halls, and meetings to work out a traffic design solution that would make the street safe for all to use. This ultimately led to the September 2016 unanimous vote by the Mid City West Council’s Board of Directors to implement a reconfiguration of 6th street between Cochran and Fairfax.

Safer6th.jpg

This would slow traffic by reducing the road to one lane in each direction, and allow for bike lanes and enhanced pedestrian crossings. Despite this vote, and the fact that the project is shovel-ready, Councilmember Ryu has consistently delayed taking action.  He has now proposed an alternative plan for 6th street, which would merely install left-turn pockets at certain intersections, leaving other dangerous intersections untouched.  

Please call, tweet or send a letter to David Ryu asking him to take action on safety and infrastructure improvements on 6th Street. On Saturday, October 21, we encourage folks to attend a community meeting about the project to make your voice heard. 

Action Alert: Mar Vista Great Street Initiative on Venice Blvd still under attack

September 12th Meeting update HERE: 

Update on this past Wednesday’s Mar Vista Community Council Transportation & Infrastructure committee meeting and a request for this Tuesday’s board meeting.

Wednesday night there was a strong turn out from the Restore Venice supporters and this motion was passed.

  • POLICY MOTION: The Mar Vista Community Council asks that Councilmember Mike Bonin immediately reverse the lane reductions on Venice Blvd. and implement other strategies to improve the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of our roads for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles. As representatives of your constituents and your elected advisory body, we believe strongly that this is the only remedy that addresses the constant, voluminous, community outcry on this issue.

Restore Venice is planning a huge turn out (again) to the board of directors meeting this Tuesday night, September 12th. They have also put two other related motions on the agenda.

It is very important that we:
– Attend the meeting and speak in support of the pilot (details below)
– Email the MVCC board to express our support of the pilot project and our concern regarding the lack of notification of the 9/6/17 T&I meeting (sample email below)

Even for pro-Great Streets MVCC board members, it is difficult to vote their personal convictions if those convictions do not appear to support the community will. We must show the board that residents and stakeholders have their backs if they stand with us on voting to continue the pilot.

These meetings are upsetting and exhausting – We understand not wanting to go. If not show up at the meeting to visibly demonstrate that they are not the majority, send in letters to protest.

The letters help enormously! We can take issue with the lack of notification. We were given less than 24 hours notification of these motions by email. The lack of public notification pretty much guaranteed that they would have the votes to pass their motion last Wednesday.

Note that the board is only an advisory council and its vote will not force the lane restoration, but it will put a lot of pressure on Councilmember Bonin. 

Scroll down for all the information you need. Thank you for your continued commitment and support around this issue!


MEETING INFORMATION:

Attend the BOD meeting to speak during Public Comment and ask board members to vote NO on this motion.

MVCC Monthly Board of Directors Meeting
Tuesday
, Sep 12, 2017 7:00 PM (they always arrive early)
Location:
Mar Vista Recreation Center, Small Gymnasium
11430 Woodbine Street, Los Angeles, CA 90066


EMAIL INFORMATION:

Email messages help enormously! Sample is below, please personalize.

Let the board know that you support the Great Streets pilot project and support the MVCC board’s July 11 decision to keep the pilot in place while the City conducts its evaluations. Another concern is the lack of notification. According to one community member, people were given less than 24 hours notification of these motions by email. A member of Restore Venice drafted one of the motions, so the group technically had at least the required 72 hour notice, probably more. The lack of public notification pretty much guaranteed that the group would have the votes to pass their motion.

Emails should go to board@marvista.org and cc councilmember.bonin@lacity.org.


SAMPLE EMAIL:
To: MVCC@EmpowerLA.org, board@marvista.org
CC: councilmember.bonin@lacity.org
BCC: Cynthia.Rose@SMSpoke.org  lyndsey@la-bike.org

RE: Support for Venice Blvd Great Streets Safety Improvements

Dear Members of the Mar Vista Community Council:

I strongly encourage the Mar Vista Community Council to continue to support the project on Venice Blvd. as part of the Mar Vista Great Streets Initiative. The motion to reverse the safety improvements on Venice Blvd. contradicts the votes made by the Council on July 11, 2017 to not reverse the project and to allow for full and continued evaluation of it. Impatience of drivers shouldn’t stop the community from building safer streets and more vibrant neighborhoods. These safety improvements will prevent future injuries and can save lives.

As a [student, older adult, mom, cyclist, person with a disability, business owner, etc], I firmly support the street safety improvements on Venice Blvd. This project was designed through community dialogue throughout a year-long open process and is meant to make all residents and visitors safer. Similar to how the farmers market has improved our community, we believe the “small town feel” of this Great Streets initiative will do the same for Mar Vista and will further improve community culture.

We must continue to improve our streets with rigorous and informed evaluations, and I urge you to remain committed to creating vibrant and safer streets in Mar Vista. Please vote NO on the motion to reverse the safety improvements on Venice Boulevard so that the project may continue to be studied and evaluated.

Sincerely,

[Your name]
[Your address]


ONGOING

SHARE on social media! Tweet and post your support or photos of your ride through Venice, Jefferson, and Culver Boulevards, and Pershing Drive in the new bike lanes! Use #SaferVeniceBlvd, #SaferJeffersonBlvd, #SaferCulverBlvd, and #SaferPershingDr or #SaferVistaDelMar, to build momentum and share your message with fellow safe streets advocates.