revolutions

The Impending Exodus

2009-07-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

My exodus from Los Angeles, as I'm starting to call it, occurs in about two weeks now. I can hardly believe there are so many people to say goodbye to, I didn't know I had so many friends. There are many parties to be had as simultaneously I try to pack up my life. Sometimes I do get scared that I don't know anyone there, that I don't know the language, that I won't have all my bikes. Of all the things which are now uncertain as to how my new life will be, I cannot really get caught up in any of them. In my cases people prefer to stay in bad situations, simply cos the unknown is scarier. While I have a pretty good idea of what things would be like if I stayed here, I have no clue what they'll be like in France. But I can't just stay here and wait for something to happen to me, I've got to make something happen. When I think of all the night walks I have taken around Paris, and how perfect they are, how lonely, and wonderful, I can't help but know it will all be fine.

Tomorrow is the last Mosey.

Testing the Waters

2009-04-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

I truly cannot wait for it to be summer. After turning in today's paper on Pedophiles, next week's on MLK, Mandela, & Gandhi, Thursday's final thesis draft, and two finals, I'll be done with school, maybe forever. As much as humanly possible I'll be striving for a carefree summer in which I can do the following things: ride everyday and hopefully to the beach several times a week, write for fun, use sunscreen, try cooking with peanut oil, and read some of the things I managed to get through school without reading: Lolita, Reading Lolita in Tehran, Anna Karenina, Notes from the Underground, Family Happiness, Lord of the Flies, A Midsummer's Night Dream, some Hume, Death of Ivan Ilynch, The Jungle, Interpretation of Dreams. And perhaps, if I'm very lucky, figure out what the crap to do with the next few years of my life.

Will I end up going to culinary school?

To grad school? If it were for writing I'd want to wait a few years to get my MFA to find some things to write about. But otherwise, I'd probably do PolySci or History, and within those two there are infinite options.

Will I run out of money?

It is unknown. And for the reason that does not bother me, I can speculate. Virtually since kindergarten I've had a very certain, preconceived notion of what exactly my life would look like up until now. Things were very much planned out for me. I knew when I was six I would in school until twenty-two. In one month I'll be on my own: financially, academically. There is an enormous comfort here, in the not knowing, in the knowing that for the first time I'm not obligated to do any one thing (however much my Mother would appreciate my going to grad school).

If I stick to what I already know, hopefully they will be enough truths to go on.

1) Cable locks are useless

2) Good tuna and steak are never well-done

3) A library card is priceless

Back in the Saddle...

2009-04-21T14:09:00.000-07:00

After having not updated for months and months, and being on the brink of graduation with nothing on the immediate horizon, I've decided to get back into writing things down when they happen. And so much has happened. The Chill Chinatown Mosey had started to become unmanageable. Every week new gangs of unruly teenagers would show up, and despite our warnings, refuse to listen to us. Many of them would steal from the local stores we frequented, tag right on the fronts of bars or buildings, and leave trash when they were asked to clean up after themselves. Soon they were showing up in larger and larger numbers, to the point where we were outnumbered. Some regulars were deterred by the new company we were attracting, and stopped coming as often. Finally, after one night of futile scheming we were able to ditch them, and they seemed to finally be discouraged from trying to pursue us. This was after weeks of changing the start location all over; they'd merely scour downtown, find us, and call their friends to catch up. One night at Bogie's after having the cops called on them while they were tagging, they swore us off and vowed never to return, and since then, h

aven't. All these unnecessary theatrics have made me think about how easily the ride could have completely fall apart. We weren't united, and out of necessity I had to assert myself. There were some weeks when only six or seven people showed, and it didn't feel like a Mosey at all. But when we debated ending the ride entirely, people complained, and got upset at the prospect. So we hung in there and had a series of very small rides. Now, somehow we have successfully weeded out the kids who were causing trouble, gotten our core of about 20 or 25 back, and still manage to see a couple new, chill people every week. I don't even know how it happened, but dear God am I grateful it did. It was an easy decision to remove the ride from MidnightRidazz. It was too hard to control who was coming, and that's how we ended up with the problems that we did. The Mosey was never meant to be a huge, party ride. It was founded on some important principles: riding slowly, and having a good time.

All of these problems with the Mosey coincided with my reading Steve Sample's The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership for a class. The single most important thing he said in there was that to be a good leader you've got to withhold judgment. When someone says something to you, don't decide right away whether or not you agree. I thought this was the most sound advice I'd ever heard. Also, when you try to actually do it, it's very difficult. Think about how many hundreds of times a day you are confronted with opportunities for judgment. It is the easy thing to know what side you are on; it is a much harder thing to wait until you have all sides of the story. All the kids who came on the ride who ended up being problematic looked very very similar. Everyone had an equal chance not to tag, or steal, or litter. But we certainly didn't want anything to do with the ones who did. I don't understand these kids who come on rides: no tubes, no pump. Last week on the Mosey, a kid got a flat, we stopped, he, and none of his handful of friends had a tube or anything else to fix the flat luckily we loaned them the fixins. At the next stop he got another flat since his tire was probably fucked up, and asked to use my second and last tube. I said no, and he insisted that nobody else at Den Dinner had a tube. I told him they probably just didn't want to give it to him since they knew they'd never see him again, or at least that he'd never return the favor. I told him his options were to borrow a couple bucks from his friends and offer someone money if nobody would give him a spare tube, try to patch it (ended up being impossible), watch one block out to a main street to catch a bus, or call someone for a ride. He told me he had no money, and nobody to come and get him. So I asked him what the hell he was doing out here with us in Beverly Hills if he had no backup plan. I think he felt pretty silly, but who know if that will be enough to cause him to change in the future. His friends somehow got him home, because by the time we were ready to leave he was already gone. I must be missing something. Isn't the best part of riding a bike being self-sufficient, and efficient? If you are just going to get stranded somewhere, what is the point?

ON YOUR LEFT!!!!

2008-06-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

Ah, so much to catch up on! The AIDS Life Cycle ended a few weeks back and I still miss everything about that awesome week. Except for maybe the porta potty lines and the excessive Cliff bars. 545 miles, 7 days, San Francisco to LA, hot hot heat, strained tendons, and confused bowels. I don't even know where to begin. The rides varied daily from 60 to 100 miles. One day was only 40 miles, but that was Red Dress Day... An extraordinarily fun day where everyone wore red, and most wore dresses (see Jared, left). And one girl wore red stars over her nipples. The food was provided for us and it was probably about as good as it could have been considering it was catered. But we were so hungry, and consuming upwards of 4000 calories a day, so we really didn't care what the food was, we were eating it. I definitely miss being able to eat 3 guilt-free dinners. It sounds like a very difficult thing to get up at 5 am to ride almost a century, single file no less.

Most frustrating moment on the ride: 2 moments tied for this, and it's kind of hilarious that they're opposite feelings. THE QUADBUSTER, the hardest, longest hill on the ride. It may not have been so bad except for the 500 people I passed on the left each time wheezing, "On your left." So many people on the ride didn't know how to switch gears and were mashing down on their pedals so hard that it was painful to watch. Maybe the people running the ride should have put up signs that said use your low gears (they had signs on hills to remind us to shift down and use brakes). Some of the people on the ride had obviously not spent a whole ton of time on the bikes they were riding as well, which must have made it even harder. THE DAY I COULDN'T RIDE, I ignored an achilles injury for 2 days and by the third day I could barely walk. I couldn't once I went to the medical tent and they wrapped up my ankle. So I sat out, luckily it was probably the best day to miss since I got to spend the day next to the beach lying in the sun icing my ankle.

The last day I pushed through and we rode the last several miles after lunch together as a team passing everyone on the left since they were all riding smashed against the side of the road. The best part was showing up for closing ceremonies and seeing all of the midnight ridazz roll up on their freak bikes. They brought jump ropes and beer and once the police asked us all to leave they rode us home.

Rolling Victories: Flexing the Rights of Our Bikes

2008-04-14T10:48:00.000-07:00

The first blog post that I chose to respond to was on the blog Tree Hugger, written by Lloyd Alter from Toronto. The blog itself if very well put together in terms of its aesthetics. It also addresses a number of good points in its posts, so much so that I had some difficulty determining which post to respond to. The post I eventually decided upon was titled: In Bike vs Car, The Bike Sometimes Wins. Initially, I found this post on another website, that also found it to be important and quoted the entire thing in order to highlight it. I found the second post on the Bike Snob NYC blog. It was similarly stocked with relevant, innovative topics. This post in particular was titled: Don’t Tread On Me: Building a Nation of Cyclists. In this blog post, the author compares modern American cyclists to the English (especially as they are portrayed on the HBO series “John Adams”). Both posts are able to effectively address the issue of a cyclist’s role as a second class citizen on the road, at least in the eyes of drivers. One provides concrete examples as to how biker’s can behave to flex their rights, and the other reads more as the proposal of a bicycle nation, or even as a call to arms.

In Bike vs Car, The Bike Sometimes Wins

Comment: In your post, you first point out that when bikes and cars normally collide, bikes are generally the ones considered to be at fault, and cars can get away without any major losses. In the case of your article, however, the cyclists prevail. The post regales a story in which a woman was driving illegally through Nankai University in China and skimmed a cyclist. She then began demanding reparations for the scratch she had caused on her car, then became angered, in effect, causing a riot on the campus. The students who gathered became so angered that they caused far greater damage to the car than was done in the first place. I found this to be such an accurate portrayal of the common, angry driver. In my experience, people get very upset as soon as they figure out that they have committed an assault with their vehicle. Immediately they become defensive and even angrier than they originally were, which in turn incites cyclists to become concerned with their inherent right to the road, and to fight for it. However, I do disagree with this general school of thought that antagonizing drivers is the way to go. It is a tough line to straddle, certainly, but I still believe that speech is a better received by ignorant drivers than an angry car beating.

Your blog post did not really offer too much of a comment on this situation, although the tone in which it was reported seemed sufficient enough in this case to summarize your position. The second incident your post touches on reads like good justice on the road. I am particularly glad the driver was ticketed by bike cops. I decided to the post it since it seemed to be a good introductory article to show the context for the second post I found. I was very happy to come across it since it was a fine example of cyclist’s standing up for themselves to an irrationally upset driver and teaching the driver a lesson. Both posts could really help non-bikers to consider and appreciate the unfair circumstances imposed on bikers and the ways that bikers fight back to assert their equality.

Don’t Tread on Me: Building a Nation of Cyclists

Comment: I must commend you; Bike Snob NYC is always a great site to read, but this post is particular managed to be informative and still maintain a sense of humor. I definitely have found this to be true that biking permeates many communities and makes all of part of this cycling “nation” you refer to. The parallel you draw between bikers and Americans as baby nations really works well for the purposes of your blog post. I was laughing all the way through your article, simply because I completely agreed with it, but am able to recognize that any non-biker would find it utterly ridiculous. This does not stop me from agreeing with you on all counts. I would have liked to read your description of what exactly Cyclist’s Day would entail. Maybe nobody is allowed to use a car for the day, which would be difficult. Or perhaps people should be encouraged to find time to ride a bike at some point during the day. We could have bike parades! However the technicalities of the holiday work out, I see your point, that having a holiday makes a group nationally recognized. In terms of our own homeland, I think we may already be closer to this than you suggest here. I think the likely choice would be somewhere overseas where a vast numbers of the population ride bikes daily, but even here in Los Angeles we have a designated bicycle district on a block that was not taken that cyclists have somewhat hijacked.

I appreciated that you balanced out your post and prevented it from turning into a whiny rant, by also cataloging the progress cyclists have made so far because the things that we already have are what make the cycling community what it is right now. The industry is huge. Last week I wrote a post about hipsters and cyclists, differences, and referenced much of the garb people buy to distinguish themselves as bikers. Let me just say thank you. Thank you for comparing Sheldon Brown to Ben Franklin. That was perfect and made my day. I think it makes it much more sense to fight for out rights in this way, to celebrate what we have, than to allow ourselves to get upset by every car we see.

Hip to Irony: Avoiding a Subculture

2008-04-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

In a conversation with a fellow biker the other day, we approached the topic of the "hipster." He argued that the term and entire culture are made up, and that there are in fact no hipsters. But I believe if someone is identifying as a hipster, that is what makes it real. This moved me to look deeper into the word, and to analyze its role within the biking community. The term "hipster" originated in the 1940s. The group became associated with the less known jazz movement and later, the Beat poets and authors. Today, take a quick peek at UrbanDictionary to read a number of people's definitions of a hipster, and glean from it the general tone of negativity, although I suspect that many of them probably are hipsters.

How to Identify a Hipster in the Wild

An educated upper-middle class person with leftist values (see picture left). Must frequent thrift stores, coffee houses, small cafes, underground clubs and bars. Must listen to indie rock. And most importantly, must have purchased clothes than have already been worn, or been expertly sewn to look as though they have been. Must be politically active, or at the very least, informed. Must take an interest in supporting local businesses. Must consume organic and eclectic food, but also must stay lean. Showers not required. Traditional Hipster Garb includes very tight pants, especially for boys. Ironic tee-shirts are always a plus. Patterned Vans or Converse are common. For girls short hair is appropriate, even edgy. Chipped nail polish. Every boy should be in a band. Think emo, but hopeful.

People in the Los Angeles bike community observe many of these behaviors, yet do their very best not to be recognized as hipsters. They find themselves in a constant struggle against an overwhelming paradox: if they do not dress this way they may not be identified in passing as a biker, but if they submit, they run the risk of being seeing as a hipster.

So how did bikers get clumped with hipsters? And why is that fact so offensive? Although hipsters are thought to be liberally minded, they also retain a certain air of pretension. Also, I suppose because it means we are grouped with people who do not ride bikes. To solve this dilemma, the best we can hope to do is sport something that will distinguish us as bikers, in the hope that another biker will recognize our true status on the street as we ride by.

The thing is this, being a hipster (see picture below) can be very expensive. Even in a subculture so dedicated to living out a protest of the mainstream, commercialism is present and flourishing. Although, no one can argue the movement's success in influencing youngsters to go out and spring for overpriced tight black jeans and bandanas. The only way to secure an identity as a hipster or a biker is to own the products that all of the other hipsters or bikers own. Ultimately, however, bikers are redeemed by the fact that even owning all the paraphernalia popular among cyclists will not save you in the bike world. If you can not talk the talk and walk the walk, it does not matter how expensive your bike is, or what a cool bag you are wearing. If you do not know how to signal, or are dumb enough to ride without a light, pump, and extra tube, everyone will know you are merely a fake.

The Measure of Legitimacy

So how do you prove your legitimacy in the bike world? Know what you are talking about. Be able to point out every part on your bike, refer to local bike shops, legendary riders and groups, also know your brands. Have experience with a number of different bikes. Even if you only own one bike, you should be comfortable riding and comparing a fixed gear, a single speed, bikes made from different materials, to, god forbid, a beach cruiser. Track stands and tricks are always impressive, but here is the real question. Can you go the distance? This is one reason bike messengers can have instant respect. They have to have stamina, and be tough, because riding is their job. It is good to participate in some longer rides since what goes along with this is the experience of drafting and at some point, probably intense hill climbing. Then you have stories to tell. Are you able to avoid crashes? That may sound simple enough, but even seasoned riders crash sometimes, which is perfectly alright so long as they are not crashing because they are purposefully riding aggressively and putting other bikers in danger. On a similar note, when taking into account a biker's legitimacy, one must consider their ability to properly communicate with the cars around them. A good rider must find a happy medium in which they are neither being pushed around by the cars on the road, nor stirring up anger towards the biking community by antagonizing drivers without good reason. Bike aesthetics are, of course, a personal choice, but bearing that in mind, other riders will see your bike, and identify it with you.

Spoke Links: Websites for Bikes

2008-03-29T00:51:00.001-07:00

Once again I have placed a number of websites in my linkroll that may be of interest to cyclists. Some of them cover environmental issues, and others focus more on cycling itself. According to the critera outlined by the Webby Awards and IMSA, they are quite up to par in terms of both style and information. We begin with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy. It is well organized, easy to navigate, and though relatively simple, is a great way for street-travelers to stay informed about developing issues and news. I also came across the World Bicycle Relief site. It catches your attention immediately with its interactive front page. Also, its message, providing bicycles to the less fortunate to ease their lives, comes across right from the beginning. Streets Blog Los Angeles is also a fairly straightforward website on which Angelinos can post their issues with public transportation on a forum and the appearance of the site itself is very edgy and appealing.

Tree Hugger was definitely the website that offered the most fun. Although it was crowded with links, it gave many different options as to how one could integrate eco-friendly behavior into one's life. The home page is very enticing with a number of relevant stories for the avid cyclist. Eco-Beat is a similarly exciting page that is easy to navigate and brings up much broader issues than simply cycling. It extends to the politics of environmental crusades and includes a useful blog roll.

Bicycle.net says everything you need to know in its tagline: Attitude is Everything. This site is recommended more for extreme cyclists who are interested in racing. The aesthetics of the page are well-designed and while it mostly contains information about serious riders, it also has practical information like where to find local bike shops. C.I.C.L.E. is a joy to look at, but the website is almost too busy to actually be effective. The plethora of information is somewhat hidden by the effort it takes to locate it, but with a little patience this site is excellent for stirring excitement within the biking community.

Green Preferred is a website that I can appreciate for its simplicity. It tells of practical ways that people can participate in a sustainable lifestyle. The website mirrors the message it offers, and has a number of other resources for its visitors. Similarly, Global Warming is Real, uses icy colors to match its combative nature. It goes more on the offensive about global warming than other sites, but is able to support its message with several helpful links. The final link that I chose was quite unusual, but I found great merit in it. A fellow blogger started the site, An Urban Plot, in order to share their quest to produce organic food in an urban setting. Though the site could stand to be jazzed up a bit with more links or images, the radical idea managed to come through anyway.

The Changing Climate: Looking Ahead to a World of Problems

2008-03-09T22:31:00.001-07:00

This week I was reading Mike Davis’ Ecology of Fear: Los Angeles and the Imagination of Disaster. In the book, Davis examines the natural phenomena that have plagued the planet. Then he offers a historical analysis of Southern California’s development, which he uses to predict some of the problems we may face in the foreseeable future. Reading this caused me to ask myself a number of questions. How widespread is this type of information and how is it being spread? Why is it difficult to incite the change that could prevent environmental disasters? What will it take to cause this change? Lastly, what can people to everyday to reduce their carbon emissions, and do those numbers even matter?

What is going to happen to the earth? The disasters that are already happening are indicators of how the earth has been affected by climate change. Global temperatures are rising, and flooding is becoming a greater threat especially for coastal cities. Oceans are warming and glaciers are melting at faster and faster rates. Carol Auer, an oceanographer with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration says, “Because sea level rises have made everything a little higher, when a storm hits that makes for more vulnerability. The higher sea level gives a storm surge a boost to reach further inland.” Auer speaks to an unfortunate trend, that environmental problems tend to cause or fuel others. At Live Science I encountered a timeline that lists problems by the year that they emerged, and then predicts the slow, painful descent of the earth’s condition in detail over the next hundred years. While I do believe that eco-friendly lifestyles are on the rise, carbon emission numbers are still soaring. One has to wonder what it will take to inspire the kind of change that will truly alter the condition of the planet.

Whose responsibility is it to work to ensure a healthier earth? And who is doing their part? In recent years global warming has become a popular topic for discussion fueled in part by different forms of the media. The Internet is an important vehicle for accessing environmental programs and data. Celebrities, regardless of their reasons, have played a large role in popularizing and funding global issues. This type of endorsement is very important in terms of stimulating public interest in those who might not otherwise be interested. Like celebrities, politicians are another group of people with the power and money to significantly affect the cause. However, many of them are motivated by wealth rather than the health of the planet. Ultimately the government will shoulder the blame for neglecting to recognize climate change as a serious issue and taking more preventative measures. Even if political officials have the power to make large changes, the responsibility falls on everyone who contributes carbon emissions to educate themselves and do what they can.

Despite increased interest and availability of information on climate change, many people choose to remain uninformed on ways that they can help the environment. Perhaps they are merely set in their ways. Perhaps they believe that being environmentally conscious will be more costly. Maybe they do not know how simple it is to reduce emissions or they do not think that one person can make a difference. I suspect that for the average person, it is difficult to imagine or feel threatened by the potential disasters that could occur when the earth still seems mostly healthy on a day to day basis. However, this does not negate the continuing deterioration of the planet.

So can one person make a difference? What can they do and how much does it help? To delve further into this I visited a website called My Carbon Footprint. In quiz form you answer which changes you would be willing to make in your daily life, many of which would hardly be noticeable. Then it calculates how much you can realistically reduce your carbon emissions. I was surprised by the numerous options and their simplicity. Not allowing the water to run as your brush your teeth. Bringing your own grocery bags to the store. A willingness to use public transportation on longer trips rather than a car. These acts may seem insignificant, but in some small way each person can contribute to a much larger and necessary change. Oh, and of course, ride your bike!

Staying True: Helpful Links for Cyclists

2008-03-03T03:21:00.000-08:00

Browsing the Internet this week I sought a diverse range of resources for bikers, and in doing so discovered a number of websites that could be useful and interesting for all cyclists regardless of their level of involvement. The first, Bicycle Fixation, is a relatively small site, however, it contains several links to articles about bikes and sustainability as well as a unique section dedicated to photo essays about bicycles. The Bicycle Kitchen, along with the Bikerowave and Bike Oven, offer important information for cyclists in the Los Angeles community on how they can learn to fix their bikes from volunteers at these community wrenching spaces. The Bicycle Kitchen website is simple, easy to navigate, and aesthetically pleasing. A local bike legend of sorts who recently passed away, Sheldon Brown, operated a widely known website that is a veritable encyclopedia of bicycle information. Although informal, it is certainly credible, well organized, and I have found it helpful on many occasions. Street Heat is yet another great online tool for Angelinos. Its finest aspect is the extensive linkroll it features and the fact that it can always be counted on to be current with bicycle related issues. The Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition’s main focus on their website is to explain their mission, and to get others involved; however, I find the main page to be too busy to keep me focused. The Conservation Law Foundation’s website is also busy, but in that case it works to their advantage showcasing the multitude of information available on the site. The graphics are simple, and the site is easy to navigate since it is cleverly divided into five broad areas of conservation. In my mind Urban Futures is an overly complicated site, but an excellent source for information on urban planning. It also has a section for relevant headlines, which drew my attention.

The International Bicycle Fund website is extremely well-rounded. It provides several links, and is especially useful because it draws on the progress of so many different countries. I found Illuminate LA to be beneficial because it simultaneously gives its reader so much information and acts as a call to action for the community by listing rides and planning meetings. I am certainly biased in my designation of the Midnight Ridazz site as my favorite, but with a mere glance at the website it is easy to see why. This may be the least formal link on my list, but as its primary function is to serve as a communicative thread for riders in Los Angeles and beyond, it succeeds admirably at that. Its primary functions are a calendar, photo gallery, and forum. The site is functional and entertaining throughout.

Harassment on the Road: The Battle for a Cyclists’ Bill of Rights Rages On

2008-02-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

Currently, the portion of the vehicle code which addresses cyclists looks as if it must have certainly been drafted by someone who does not ride a bike. Where the vehicle code allows for certain ambiguities, the proposed Cyclists’ Bill of Rights leaves little to the imagination, although it is even more concise than the present code. Rather than merely covering what a bicycle is restricted to, the bill reassures cyclists of the safety and accommodations to which they are entitled. The new bill explicitly proposes that bicyclists have the same rights as cars have on the road including the right to adequate space on the road, the right to be considered during community planning, and the right to a supportive and protective law enforcement system. It also would hold cyclists responsible for ignoring roads laws; they would be ticketed just as if they were in a car.

While searching through a number of blogs, I encountered several which addressed the main themes addressed in the Bill of Rights. The first, Mass. Bike and the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, was posted by Damien Newton on Street Heat. His comment addresses the legislative history and struggles faced by the bill. Later, considering some of the problems which are caused by the lack of such legislation, I came upon another blog called Westside BikeSIDE! by Alex Thompson, which is dedicated to the culture of bicycles in West Los Angeles as well as local rides and activism. This post, Police: Ignorant of Bike Laws? Make Them Up! discusses some of the problems caused by the vague language in the vehicle code. It also led me to a number of other postings in which the safety of cyclists was compromised because of misunderstandings or a total lack of knowledge of the vehicle code.

“Mass. Bike and the Bill of Rights and Responsibilities”

Comment: However briefly, you quite effectively outlined for your readers what the Bicyclists’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities intended to do: create equality between bikes and cars, for better and for worse. Your post discusses the bill’s near success in 2006 by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, stating “Healey’s excuse for the veto showed a complete misunderstanding of what the legislation was about.” It seems that this is a common problem with trying to get bicycle legislation passed in our country: getting people to listen, and one we do, convincing them of its significance. This post made me think about what drivers ultimately stand to gain from the practical application of this bill, even though it seems few of them realize it. Especially in Los Angeles, a police officer will rarely stop to scold or ticket a cyclist unless they are doing something truly dangerous; they simply seem to have better things to worry about. With this bill of rights in effect, drivers could count on bikers being held accountable for running stop signs or red lights, which happens often since they know they can get away with it. You also mention “retraining” for police officers, which I would have liked to read more about. I think every officer has a different standard for what constitutes law-breaking on a bicycle. In my experience, most police will leave a well-lit, safely riding biker alone right up until someone in a car gets upset. You have more than likely heard about the Hollywood bus driver who blared her horn and passed a cyclist within inches then berated him at the next stoplight, later rolling over his bicycle when he pulled in front of the bus to stop her from leaving while he called to report her. This is yet another of so many examples of cyclists being treated like second-class citizens simply because the current vehicle code is insufficient to inform drivers and even cops of harmonious street etiquette. I completely agree that patience and continued efforts in a number of different “baskets” is the only way to ensure that in time the streets will be a safer place to ride.

“Police: Ignorant of Bike Laws? Make Them Up!”

Comment: I enjoyed your post on the ignorance of police officers as to the specifics ignored in the California Vehicle Code. By passing new laws about bikes we have an opportunity as a society to reeducate the public, drivers and police alike, as to how to interact on the road with cyclists. Most cyclists that I know have made it their business, their duty, to learn the ins and outs of the vehicle code in the name of protecting themselves against those who would harass them on the road. I appreciated these anecdotes of unfair treatment as I have often heard stories of this nature, but usually the perpetrators are angry car drivers rather than those who supposedly patrol the streets enforcing the law. Your reaction to these hypocrisies is understandable and admirable. Of the people I know who have experienced similar things, almost nobody has been able to properly complain about what has happened to them since usually the act is committed by an angry, uninformed driver or bus. In these situations, because it is difficult to file a formal complaint, bikers usually react by knocking against windows of the car or catching up to whoever has cut them off and enlightening them on the true rules of the road. It is simply unfortunate that many drivers choose to remain in this state of ignorance rather than inform themselves, and that the officers designated to protect cyclists often remain biased against them.

Taking a Hint: The Conversion to a Bike Friendly Nation

2008-02-11T10:23:00.000-08:00

Western Europe is leaps and bounds ahead of the United States in terms of committing to a healthier planet through the creation a bicycle friendly environment. Here in Los Angeles, a city that is flooded by cars as well as cyclists (see picture left), riders can be hesitant about taking to the streets since often road conditions are so poor they are hazardous. A concern for safety and bike theft are two of the greatest reasons why more people choose not to ride bicycles according to polls done in San Francisco and Philadelphia. Drivers who are reluctant to share the road are a result of poor public education about the California Vehicle Code. They often force cyclists to the side of the road which may cracked, lined with drains, or simply of lesser quality. Many drivers believe that bikes are to be ridden on the sidewalk or in the lane reserved for parked cars where drivers swing open their doors without so much as a glance into traffic. However, according to the Vehicle Code, bicyclists ought to ride as close to the right of the street as is “practicable,” meaning that a large pothole or broken glass is justifiable cause to momentarily ride nearer to the middle of the street. Public concern in California for environmental issues is nowhere near that of other parts of the world that have begun to take significant steps to enable their cyclists in an effort to become more eco-friendly.

Other states have begun to recognize the importance of protecting their cyclists by instating a law to protect them with a three-foot minimum for passing. In California, however, bicycle legislation is at a standstill. Could it be the excessive traffic burgeoning within an inadequate number of lanes? Or perhaps the refusal to admit that cycling is already quite prevalent in many cities, and would be even more so if it were safer? I will have to agree with K.C. Butler, Executive Director of the California Bicycle Coalition and say that “bicycling still isn’t seen as a serious mode of transportation by many policy- makers, organizations and a good portion of the public.” This is the inherent struggle of attempting to create a bike friendly city. In order to achieve this many roads must be repaved, greater transportation networks are needed in areas which otherwise are not bicycle accessible, and the general public should be provided an education as to how to drive with bikes when first learning to operate a car. The list goes on and on. While these changes would require an upheaval of the current methods, not to mention the political fuel and funds to carry them out, the benefits of creating a city in which cars and bikes can coexist are manifesting themselves in a number of cities.

Along with China, the United States tops the list of countries using the greatest quantities of oil; two thirds of that oil is used to fuel vehicles. In the past, politicians have cited economical reasons for their refusal to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which required participating countries to lower their emissions by 5.2% from their numbers during 1990 over the course of 4 years. All fifteen of the then current members of the European Union ratified the agreement.

Copenhagen is one of the most eco-friendly cities in the world. They have made environmental consciousness one of their greatest priorities. Over there, 36% of the population commute daily by bike (see picture, above). Their local government has been instrumental in creating accomdations for its cyclists. Some of the initiatives being debated in Copenhagen to encourage bikers might seem extremist or unnecessary to Americans. For example, one proposal is to close one of the city’s busiest streets, Nørrebrogade, to automobile traffic to make it safer for cyclists to travel along its relatively narrow lanes. This has been well- received among the people of Copenhagen. Since so many in Copenhagen rely on their bicycles as their sole means of transportation, safer conditions and an abundance of bike parking facilities have become a necessity.

A government that caters to its cyclists can make a number of positive changes for both its citizens and the greater world, and without political support these changes are next to impossible. In Copenhagen, for example, by increasing the number of everyday bicycle commuters in the city by 14%, officials anticipate that their citizens will be able to lower their carbon emissions another 80,000 tons every year. Although President Bush does sometimes address environmental issues, the trend is to focus legislation on what can be done for cars rather than what can be done to facilitate other less destructive means of transportation. This is simply Bush changing the rules to appear productive instead of designating the appropriate funds to actually invest in a solution. The recent signing of the energy bill is just another example of this as the bill raises the standard for fuel-efficiency for new cars from 25 to 35 miles per gallon. A Copenhagen-esque biker’s utopia may currently seem a bit futuristic or improbable to Californians, but in no way is the achievement of a bike-friendly society out of our reach. In order to acheive this kind of city, Los Angeles will have to foster greater public education and concern about the effect of our carbon emissions on the environment, and explore methods to improve our effect.