Thread started by OverTheHill at 02.9.07 - 6:53 am

Sad news here. Anyone know the intersection? Scant facts, unclear what happend, but certainly sad. Any thoughts, recommendations?



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That's horrible. Our sport/transportation is in serious danger of being marginalized to the point that we won't have anywhere to do it safely.

It reminds me of skateboarding. Creating artificial environments and banning human-powered vehicles from using the actual urban environment for leisure, fun and transport does not and will not solve our problem.

I'd love to hear some new ideas about how to bring together our balnkanized, politics-ridden cliques and work with everyone (that includes the thousands of people in lycra that most people in the ridazz scene totally write off. . .why? they ride bikes on the street, too, and they have the same interest in being safe) to put bikes where they belong--on the streets.



Bruce Steel
02.9.07 - 9:30 am

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cross promoting and thread watching. spread the word, if an issue gets discussed on here that references important cycling issues then hit your other forum hangouts with links and vice versa.

ridazz dont write off spandex cyclists anymore than they write off us as "not serious" cyclists...it would be good for them to be as organized as we are becoming.... ;)



Roadblock
02.9.07 - 10:01 am

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i know that intersection

lambert is an e/w road, painter a n/s road. people tend to speed on lambert. a good stretch of it east of painter has an abandonded rr track running along one side and the back of houses on the other (just the brick walls face the street).

one block from the intersection is an elementary school

this intersection is LOADED with cameras

-side note........the old rr track is being converted to a pedestrian/bike path that cuts diagonally through most of whittier



bicigol
02.9.07 - 11:45 am

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ACTION TAKEN, MORE ACTION NEEDED

I passed along this information to an old racing buddy who has been doing hardcore advocacy work for a while and is now on the Caltrans advisory panel. This was his response, which asks us to take action as well:

I have forwarded the complaint to a boardmember, Stephen Box, of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition that lives near that part of town. We need complaints like this so they can be forwarded to political leadership. Bicyclists typically don't complain enough in an effective manner.

For the hear and now: CAVC 21202 a(3) if the lane isn't wide enough to share with a auto, then ride in the middle of the lane to discourage unsafe over taking - it sounds crazy but it works! Just make double darn sure you have lightsreflectors if it's dark, dusk or dawn. Oh, do keep an eye on the cars behind you because every once in a great while a motorist will mow you over (usually drunks/sleepy drivers or old people).

Lastly, I'm now on an advisory panel to Caltrans so if you have Caltrans related issues please send them my way.

Regards,
Chris




Bruce Steel
02.9.07 - 4:02 pm

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"that includes the thousands of people in lycra that most people in the ridazz scene totally write off"

What an ignorant generalization.



Jeronimo
02.9.07 - 4:34 pm

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Actually that statement is right on, and believe me, I wish it wasn't. Ex. I tried to support one of the local hipster bike shops and was basically run out of there for not being part of their desired hipster demographic. As a professional with a functioning Visa card, I simply went back to iMartin where I am treated well. I love the Midnight Ridazz, and part of that is to responsibly look into what we might do better as part of the community. Why? Because community acceptance = less cops and more awareness for the things ALL cyclists stand for.



Samhain
02.9.07 - 7:39 pm

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So, one "hipster" bike shop represents Ridazz as a whole somehow? Tell me that on a Ridazz ride which features over 1000 riders that the majority are some kind of self-styled "hipster" who really cares what someone else is riding. Again, it's generalizations that are causing these apparent rifts in the cycling community as a whole.



Jeronimo
02.10.07 - 12:57 pm

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Your responses illustrate the crux of the problem: It's far easier to sit back and snipe at someone who calls for proctive behavior than to take responsibility and DO something.

While I was on the ride last night I was fortunate to ride with a great group of people - the ones who hang back and help downed ridazz. As a group we must have changed 15 flats - we had to cut the ride short due to all the stops (our total distance? about 3 miles) but I wouldn't have missed that part of the ride for anything.

I think we can all ask ourselves "What can I do?" Can you volunteer at the Kitchen? Donate a bike? Kick in some cash to help pay the expenses for someone who was hit by a car? Volunteer for the Aids ride? What about activism? Help plan a ride? Hang in the back and miss the ride so no Ridazz get left behind?

I thought both of the posts by "Bruce" were dead on and he was offering to help be of service; an offer that was noticably absent from both of YOUR posts... You took one line of that and blew it up out of context to play victim. I think the Midnight Ridazz has the opportunity to be worldwide and that with that, we have a responsibility to the bicycle community at large to be positive.

Jude





Samhain
02.10.07 - 4:12 pm

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I love that yuppie buzzword "procative".

You have no idea what I may or may not have done for cycling and the "crux" of that matter is that I don't sit back and crow about it.

I'm nobody's victim. All I did was point out the gross generalizations made. Your feeding those pointless notions with some kind of "proactive recognition" or whatever is just another tap dance.

I am positive...positive that I'm going to ride my bike tomorrow.



Jeronimo
02.10.07 - 8:20 pm

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Bruce Steel made those "gross generalizations", here they are:

"I'd love to hear some new ideas about how to bring together our balnkanized, politics-ridden cliques and work with everyone (that includes the thousands of people in lycra that most people in the ridazz scene totally write off. . .why? they ride bikes on the street, too, and they have the same interest in being safe) to put bikes where they belong--on the streets."


and with the way you sling accusations of yuppiedom at other people on this site you're merely proving that he's correct. Oh, well. That's life in Hollywood...



Samhain
02.11.07 - 6:08 pm

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Typical victicrat spinning there samhain.

I didn't quote what you quoted above, I quoted this gross generalization:

"that includes the thousands of people in lycra that most people in the ridazz scene totally write off"

Spin it any way you want to, it's actually quite entertaining.



Jeronimo
02.12.07 - 12:40 pm

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