Category Archives: Press

1st CicLAvia 2012 is on April 15th, come with us!

Whether you ride down 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!
CicLAvia is coming on Sunday, April 15th, and we know you’re all excited for the fourth event that opens up 10 miles of Los Angles streets to people. We’re excited too (you can read more about the beginnings of CicLAvia)! Below we have a few resources up for you to prepare for the big event and more as they become available.

Ride to CicLAvia with us!!

We will once again do a feeder ride to CicLAvia this Sunday. We meet at the top of the Santa Monica Pier at 8:00am and roll out at 8:30am sharp. Ride is 13.6 miles, mostly flat on streets with bike lanes or low traffic volume at our time of travel. Facebook event here

Meet           8:00am
Roll out      8:30am (sharp)
Route         Here     (link repaired)
Join us anywhere on the route but be early as we will only stop to regroup. No riders left behind.

More info on bus routes to or from CicLAvia
Bus Info:
Big Blue Bus Rapid 10 (my favorite) takes the frwy and gets you downtown FAST!
Metro 733 travels from Santa Monica on Wilshire Blvd to downtown
Metro 720 travels from DT Santa Monica south, Venice Blvd to downtown Union Station

Stuff to bring:

  • helmut (for feeder ride)
  • sun screen
  • cash
  • spare tube/ patch kit
  • hydration
  • AND A BIG SMILE – Because you are going to have FUN!
CicLAvia 10/10/10

Check Your Bike
Before you hop on your bike and head for the CicLAvia route, we recommends you check your bike to make sure it’s in good working condition before the big day. With less than a week to go, now is the perfect time. Here’s a few things you can do. Read about it on the LACBC blog.

Find a Bike
Don’t have a bike? Don’t fret. You can walk, roller skate, scooter, segway, jump rope, pogo stick, or just dance during CicLAvia. But if you really want a bike, the first 100 people to sign up can rent a bike from Bike Nation USA for free.

Volunteer
Did you know that over 700 volunteers are needed to make each CicLAvia possible? Be one of them as we gear up for the next CicLAvia on April 15, 2012.

LACBC is assisting with the volunteer coordination this time around, and we’d love for you to join us both on the April 15th and for volunteer opporunties beforehand.
Check out the schedule at ciclavia.org/volunteer and email Martin Lopez-Iu at ciclaviavolunteer@gmail.com to volunteer!

Adopt an Intersection
Looking for a fun new way to volunteer with your friends for CicLAvia 4.15.12? Get a group together and adopt an intersection (like LA Walks is doing)! Dress up, make signs, let people know about your group: the possibilities are endless. This opportunity is great for organizations. Learn more on the CicLAvia website.

For more information about the event you can go to CicLAvia.org

Buy Local Festival this Saturday

Originally scheduled on March 17th it was rescheduled due to rain.

Santa Monica Buy Local Festival:
11am to 4pm at the 3rd Street Promenade

We’ll be there sharing a booth with Santa Monica Bike Center near 3rd and Broadway. Come by and say hi!

Unofficial Grand Opening of Santa Monica’s first on street Bike Corrals!

Saturday we celebrated an important and visible piece of the New Bike Action Plan.

SMDP 3/26/12

Since we couldn’t let such a grand event go “un” celebrated we decided that an UNOFFICIAL GRAND OPENING / RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY WAS IN ORDER!

We started the morning at the Santa Monica Bike Center, gathering on bikes we rode down Main Street to Edgemar to join a waiting crowd for the festivities. We had lots of bikes, balloons, cookies, muffins, coffee donated by Peet’s, speeches and a red ribbon to cut. The event was well attended by an enthusiastic crowd and the local press. We were happy to have Santa Monica City Mayor Richard Bloom officially help preside over our “Unofficial Ceremony” along with Planning Commissioner and co-organizing conspirator Richard McKinnon shown here with the traffic cone megaphone.
View our image gallery on flickr

 

Bikes can mean big business, and businesses are beginning to realize it.”

Far and away, the biggest reason business owners resist the addition of bike infrastructure is that they’re afraid it will limit parking. Once they realize they can get 12 bike parking spaces for each car spot, sometimes they begin to change their tune. Even better, they begin to discover that cyclists can be their best customers. “We tend to shop closer to home and shop more often,” said April Economides, a consultant who helped the city of Long Beach, build bicycle-friendly business districts.
quote from DC Streetsblog article, National Bike Summit

These bike corrals represent a wonderful collaboration between the community, the city and local business to provide more secure bike parking at key locations here on Main Street.

Click image to view our gallery on flikcr

“We at Santa Monica Spoke have strongly advocated the importance of abundant, convenient and safe parking for bicycles.  Good bike parking is an essential feature of a bikeable urban landscape and a crucial component in encouraging and enabling people to ride. It’s an important and valuable investment for cities to make.” Cynthia Rose said to the crowd.

click for video

A typical bike corral uses one car parking space and can accommodate 10 to 14 bikes. In a space one car would park, a bike corral can provide parking for 14 or more customers to patronize local business. The corrals we celebrated Saturday are unique in that they were installed without removing any car parking but instead are utilizing previously red buffer zones that have now been repurposed to provide secure parking for an additional 36 bikes on Main Street.

Parking for an additional 36 bikes without adding congestion to sidewalks or removing any car parking. These corrals will provide parking for visitors who can now enjoy restaurants and shopping, while actively experiencing and connecting with local businesses.

Images:
Top ©GaryRidesBikes
SMDP Kibiwot Limo news@smdp.com
Flickr stream and all others: ©BikeBrunch.com, ©SantaMonicaSpoke, taken by Bryan Beretta

 

Grand Unofficial opening of Santa Monica’s first on-street bike corrals

You are cordially invited to the Grand Unofficial opening of Santa Monica’s first on-street bike corrals.

Part of  Santa Monica’s big new Bike Plan the corrals were installed last week. No good turn should ever go unannounced or un-celebrated. Its time the corrals were unofficially opened by bike riders, community representatives, political types and the general public.

So, join in on Saturday morning at the bike corrals between 11 and 12 for coffee, muffins, balloons, music, ribbon cutting, speeches, politicians, drum rolls, bike type activities, media coverage, lights, cameras. And more. Much more! It’s a party! Be there.

Santa Monica Spoke, a sponsor of the Opening will lead a group bike ride from the Bike Center at 10.30am to the event in front of Peet’s Coffee.

Santa Monica Bike Corrals
Grand Unofficial Opening Saturday March 24 
Bike Ride from Bike Center  at 10:30, roll out at 10:45 sharp
(2nd and Colorado)
Ribbion Cutting Ceremony 11 am
2439 Main Street
Outside Peets at the Edgemar Center
(on the Main Street bike lanes)

 

Tweet your Congress members to Save Cycling TODAY!

 

As you may have heard (ok, definitely heard!), the League of American Bicyclist  is currently hosting the 2012 National Bike Summit in Washington, DC

You can make your voice heard in DC from here in California or wherever you are. If you weren’t able to make it – but you still want to be involved. Make sure Congress hears bicyclists’ voices loud and clear today.

Find your elected officials’ Twitter handle at www.tweetcongress.org, and tell them that you bike and you vote!

Here are some sample tweets you can use:

Hey [@RepresentativeX]: #ibikeivote, Support a clean extension of the transpo bill and Petri amend #nbs12

Hey [@SenatorX]: #ibikeivote, Pls support clean extension of the transportation bill #nbs12

Hey [@RepresentativeX]: Remember the freedom of ur first #bike? Support bike funding in the #transportation bill! #ibikeivote #nbs12

It may feel like one tweet to you, but it makes a big difference. Thank you for your help to Save Cycling!