For the second day of fall, it was surely HOT in San Gabriel Valley.  But, it didn’t stop the forty-five person bike train from riding on such a beautiful day.  The group slowly gathered at the usual meeting point along Legg Lake and the train departed at approximately 10:45am.  The ride began with an easy loop around Whittier Narrows Park and made its way to the Rio Hondo River bike path.  On most occasions the riders regroup at Pioneer Park in El Monte, but this time we made our first stop at the El Monte Airport Air Show. 

Although aerobatics were not allowed due to the close proximity to neighboring communities, the air show put on display an array of unique aircrafts, historic military planes, police helicopters and the rare Rutan Boomerang and a Percival Prentice - of the British Royal Air Force.  Many of our riders split ways to attend the free event while others continued to Peck Road Park with flight formations above head.

Unlike the traditional Bike Train, we did not crossover to the San Gabriel River path. Instead we took cover under trees at Peck Road Park to escape the near 100 degree heat.  After hydrating, snacking and snapping some photos, we headed back South along Rio Hondo to catch a bit more air show action.  Despite the record breaking five flat tires and a split group, we made it back safe and sound to enjoy ice cream from our local paletero.

We would like to thank everyone for participating, especially the new-comers.  We hope to see you for the bigger and better Bike Train BBQ on Sunday, October 28, 2012.

The City of Pasadena became a little bike-friendlier this month as new Class II bike lanes and “sharrows” (share the road arrows) were added to a short but important section of Marengo Avenue north of the 210 freeway.  

Paralleled by two high speed arterials that are generally unwelcoming and unsafe for cyclists – Fair Oaks and Los Robles – Marengo has long been a favored north-south corridor for cyclists, thanks to work done years ago to restrict cut-through, north-south automobile traffic that limited half block sections of Marengo north of Orange Grove and south of Washington to one-way traffic.  

The new Class II bike lanes on the south and north sides of Orange Grove Ave. allow for contra-flow bicycle access north on Marengo for the first time. To do so, a centerline was painted north of Marengo for bi-directional bicycle traffic, a major step towards transforming this corridor into a "neighborhood greenway" or "bicycle boulevard” as envisioned in the bike plan.

Although the City's updated Bicycle Master Plan has yet to be approved – it has been included in the Mobility Element of the City’s General Plan update, which is being finalized and awaiting Council approval – the project moved forward in conjunction with road resurfacing work along this section of Marengo.

The project, especially the Marengo/Orange Grove intersection, realized a number of firsts for the City: 

• First intersection with a bike lane that clearly designates where automobiles and cyclists should position themselves (all other lanes in the City end before intersections). 
• First intersection that utilizes striped lines to highlight where autos/bicycles intersect paths. 
• First one-way street that permits bi-directional bicycle travel.
  

As anyone who rides a bike in the City knows, this is a huge step forward, and a project that raises the bar for bicycle infrastructure in the San Gabriel Valley. Our congratulations to all the City staff, planners, public works employees, residents and local cyclists who helped make this project a reality.  

The CA Endowment's Changing the Mechanics brought together a diverse crowd of leaders, advocates, educators, and community members to parle on the future of Los Angele's bicycle & pedestrian culture.  

Manal J. Abolata, Managing Director of the Prevention Institute moderated a well versed panel discussion about bicycles as a realistic and contending solution to many environmental, health, transportation and economic woes currently challenging many Los Angelenos.  Panelist Allison Mannos of Multicultural Communities for Mobility drove home a strong message focusing on grass root mobilizing to leverage resources and shift funding priorities to improve bike/walk-ability in low-income communities of color.  Eric Bruins, the new Policy and Planning Director for the LA County Bicycle Coalition engaged thought provoking conversation by asserting that Metro can figuratively paint bike lanes on every street in Los Angeles at a fraction of the $8,000,000,000.00 it's proposing to spend on the 710 Freeway. Also on panel, Dr. Richard J. Jackson, a Professor and Chair of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA's School of Public Health made a clear argument that a united front between the biking and walking communities will ultimately yield results for infrastructure retrofits that lend to a healthy and more vibrant Los Angeles.

The underlying theme that stemmed from this evening was that our environment shapes our behaviors but we the people have the ability to shape our environment through a well organized movement and united advocacy.