Bike Girl Loves Plans

Bike Girl loves plans. There is nothing more elegant than a well laid, and well executed plan. She also loves bicycles. In fact, she even named herself after bicycles (BIKE Girl people, BIKE Girl).
Because of those dual loves, and her current address in Los Angeles, one would think Bike Girl would be ecstatic about the Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan. It has a good name. It has bikes, plans, Los Angeles, and it's the Master of all plans. Bike Girl would love to peruse the plan and participate in the debate about the plan.

But unfortunately, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation does not want Bike Girl to comment on the plan.

The LADOT even went so far as to make sure that not a single meeting is in Bike Girl's area. It is no secret that Bike Girl has her base of operations in City Councilman Tom LaBonge's district. One would think that the "Bicycle Councilman's" constituents would want some say. But no meetings are in Hollywood. Plus, there are none in the hipster-cycling meccas of Echo Park and Silverlake. Nor is there a meeting in cyclist-dense East L.A.

Bike Girl could also submit comments online, but oh! only until November 6th. Bike Girl has a very busy schedule of bike riding, bike racing, bike wrenching, bike blogging, oh, and working. How could she possibly get through 212 pages, with 351 pages of appendices by then?

Our beloved protagonist is not the only one the LADOT does not want to comment on the Bicycle Master Plan. It has strategically timed the 6 month late release of the plan so that Neighborhood Councils cannot review the plan. Bicycling Activist Dr. Alex Thompson says the short deadline for comments makes it nearly impossible for his NC to react.

Bike Girl may even go so far as to say the deadline makes participation "infeasible."
Cyclists who want to participate in debate on the Master of all Los Angeles Bicycle Plans can e-mail West LA Councilman and City Council Transportation Committee Chair Bill Rosendahl at Councilman.Rosendahl@lacity.org. Ask for the deadline be pushed to January 4th, 2010.

Bike Girl Wears A Helmet...Usually

Bike Girl does not think Mandatory Helmet Wearing laws are a good idea. When convincing many people riding is a good idea, both Girls and Boys often ask if they'll have to wear a helmet. By the tone of their voice, Bike Girl can tell they're not keen on the idea. After all, helmets do not look cool on anyone.

But Bike Girl is certainly not anti-helmet. In fact, there are some situations in which Bike Girl thinks helmet wearing is important. Following are some situations our fair protagonist has recently found herself in, where the decision to, or not to, wear a helmet was made.

1. Helmet: Bike Girl spends a lot of time riding on poorly maintained streets. (Bike Girl is looking at you Tom LaBonge) These poorly maintained, busy, narrow streets are somewhat treacherous. Bike Girl has wiped out numerous times by catching a wheel in a pot-hole, sliding out in a turn on gravel, or avoiding obstacles. There's also always the off chance that a careless driver will bump her. For most trips on these roads, Bike Girl wears a helmet.

2. No Helmet: On a particularly good hair day, Bike Girl dolled herself up in ribbons and curls and took her Girl Bike to work.She also was planning to take her bike on the bus for part of the trip to avoid getting sweaty. Even though her route to the bus stop was over busy, poorly-paved streets, she determined she would be visible enough in her dress, curls waving wildly in the breeze, for the 1 mile trip, she chose not to wear a helmet.

3. Helmet: In order to maintain her Girlish figure, and because she's game for a challenge, Bike Girl regularly takes her Go-Fast bike on training rides. As she pictured herself screaming down hills, weaving through traffic, and head-down sprinting, she decided a helmet was a good idea.

4. No Helmet: Bike Girl, while fiercely independent, enjoys special time with her Significant Other. Lucky for Bike Girl, her Significant Other happens to own a tandem bicycle. When she rides the tandem with her Significant Other along low-traffic roads to the beach path for a romantic sunset make-out session, Bike Girl is protected by a Love Bubble. This bubble is impervious to cars. Seriously, when was the last time anyone heard of a disgustingly cute tandem couple being hit by a car or wiping out? Bike Girl chose not to wear a helmet.

So in conclusion, should people be required to wear helmets? Bike Girl thinks not. But should people wear them anyway? Bike Girl, 90% of the time, says yes.

Bike Girl Gets Stood Up

Councilman LaBonge is the one in the tie. Image from Metro

Bike Girl loves bike commuting. But she does not love that the only route between the Universal City/Burbank/Toluca Lake area and Hollywood is via the Cahuenga Pass. At night, the only other road over the mountain that goes through Griffith Park is closed. During the Griffith Park Light Festival, that road is completely closed to cyclists. Metro service stops around 1 a.m. This leaves the Pass as the only option.

Bike Girl has blogged several times about the dangers of this particular road. It's poorly paved, cars routinely exceed the speed limit as they use it as an alternative to the adjacent 101 freeway, and now, Bike Girl counts 34 dead streetlights, creating a black abyss between Barham and the Hollywood Bowl.

Ever the optimist, Bike Girl invited her city councilman to join her on a ride over this pass to see the urgent need for repair of the existing infrastructure. Her councilman, Tom LaBonge, even responded to her request saying he'd be down. He said she only had to name the date.
Bike Girl excitedly named a date, but received no further response from Councilman LaBonge. Just in case, she stood, bicycle leaning against her hip, at the appointed place at the appointed time. But Councilman LaBonge has effectively stood her up.

Thinking her email may have just been buried in his inbox, Bike Girl followed up. But alas, she has received no further correspondence from her councilman.

This was very discouraging to Bike Girl. She truly believed that on some level, Councilman LaBonge really did care about cycling issues. She understands if he feels too unsafe to travel that road. Bike Girl herself is intimidated by it. But since he said he would ride, she feels lied to.

While it should be no surprise to Bike Girl that politicians make promises they do not keep, she genuinely thought in this case, with this supposedly bike-friendly councilman, she could get through. Councilman LaBonge has routinely positioned himself as the Bicycle Councilman. He has even thrown rides with LAPD escorts through his district and purchased ice cream for all who attended.

Councilman LaBonge, if you read this, please note that the invitation is still open. If you still don't want to ride, please at least push repairs and speed enforcement on this stretch of road higher on the priority list. The safety of cyclists in your district depends on it.

Readers, please call and report the street light outages on the stretch of Southbound Cahuenga Boulevard between Barham and the Hollywood Bowl by calling 3-1-1 in the city of L.A., or 1-866-4LACITY outside city limits.

The articles of the Cyclists Bill of Rights that apply to this stretch of road are numbers 1, 5, and 7.

Bike Girl Vs The Cahuenga Pass Pt 2

Bike Girl has to apologize for a factual inaccuracy in a previous post. She had said in this post that between 13 and 20 streetlights were out on Cahuenga West between Barham and the Hollywood Bowl.

That's not quite true.

Bike Girl made another count and found that, in fact, there are 28 streetlights out on that stretch.

Now for the nit-pickers, Bike Girl will admit that two of those 28 are right in front of the Hollywood Bowl, so the number could be argued down to 26.

But on her commute to work today, Bike Girl noticed that the DWP is doing something to make up for the blackness in the Cahuenga Pass. In the middle of the day, half the streetlights were on.

So if 28 lights are out at night, but 28 others are left on in the day, does that cancel out? Bike Girl's Math says no.

Bike Girl Vs The Cahuenga Pass

Bike Girl has a roughly 6 mile commute to work. This would ordinarily be extremely do-able. But as fate would have it, the commute has a mountain in the middle. This would ordinarily be only a mild deterrent to the physically-fit Bike Girl. But as fate would have it, the only way over that mountain, is via the Cahuenga Pass.

For those unfamiliar with the Cahuenga Pass, It connects Hollywood to Universal City/Burbank. Cahuenga Blvd is split in two by the 101 freeway, so the northbound side of Cahuenga is on the east side of the freeway, and the southbound side on the west.

Cahuenga West may be the most dangerous street for cyclists in the entire city. It runs along the 101 and is often treated as another lane of that freeway by speeding motorists. The right lane is full of potholes, grates, and manhole covers that are not flush with the roadway. It's also a hill.

If it wasn't the ONLY way to get from Universal City/Burbank to Hollywood, Bike Girl would absolutely avoid it at all costs. However, since it is the only option, Bike Girl says a small prayer and holds on to her handlebars with white knuckles and numb fingertips.

Adding to that danger is the fact that Bike Girl has to ride this stretch in the middle of the night on her way home from the evening shift at her Place Of Employment. Oh, and did Bike Girl mention that at least 13-20 of the streetlights on the most dangerous part of this stretch are out. So Bike Girl has to traverse this stretch of road in literal blackness. (The above photo of the blackness was snapped by Bike Girl in front of the building that says Alternative on Cahuenga West)

Bike Girl considers herself pretty brave. After all, she rides the mean streets of Los Angeles. But she has been brought nearly to tears more than once while talking about this terrifying leg of her commute and has required multiple pep-talks from her significant other.

Bike Girl even invested in a Road ID so that when she is inevitably hit or killed on this stretch of road, her Significant Other and Mom can be notified to identify her body. Bike Girl's Significant Other was so worried about her; he purchased an extremely expensive, extremely powerful Nightrider light for her trusty cycle.

Bike Girl notified the city of this horribly dangerous streetlight outage in early August, but weeks later, it hasn't been corrected.

Bike Girl is more concerned because with the path through Griffith Park closed to cyclists during the Griffith Park Light (irony?) Festival, it will be absolutely the only option for more cyclists (Bike Girl gets off work after the park is closed and cannot utilize that way home.)

This stretch of Cahuenga is in Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge's district. Since Mr. LaBonge purports to be a friend to cyclists, Bike Girl would like to invite him to make this bike commute with her one evening to see how dangerous it is.

Bike Girl is calling for

1. Adequate Lighting (starting with fixing existing street lights)

2. Enforcement of existing speed limits to calm traffic and increase safety for all travelers

3. Repaving of this road, especially the right side

4. Opening Griffith Park to cyclists, not only during the Light Festival, but year round through the night so that there is more than one option for travel over the Hill.

Cyclists have the right to traffic signals, signage and maintenance standards that enable and support safe cycling according to Article 7 of the Cyclists Bill of Rights which is supported by Council Members Wendy Gruel, Bill Rosendahl, and Eric Garcetti.

Bike Girl cordially invites Tom LaBonge to drop her an email at bikegirlblog (at) gmail (dot) com and check out L.A.'s most dangerous street.

Related Posts:

Bike Girl Vs The Cahuenga Pass Pt 2

Bike GIrl Gets Stood Up