The Great Symbolic Power of the Intersection.

Stuck like a bus on Baxter Street.

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After running into the Feel my Legs crew in my neighborhood this past weekend, I ran home to get my camera.

I sat waiting atop Fargo street, met a goat.

On my walk there, I saw a bus that had gotten stuck on Baxter.

Hysterical.

 

Goat atop the Fargo Hill.

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Here comes the crew of “Feel my Legs – I’m a Racer” 

Charging up Fargo St.

 

A quick recap how much fun I’ve had recently in
Los Angeles BIKE LAND-

This week in BIKES (4) –The Bicycle Librarian

LA Bike Summit Keynotes — LA Streetsblog.

LA Bike Summit Headrush — Brayj against the Machine.

Selling Bike Safety and Infrastructure to a Suspicious Public
–BikinginLA. 

Lance Armstrong and me and several hundred of his biggest fans go for a ride/party — Will Campbell for LA Metblogs.

Midnight Ridazz- Revenge of the Nerds — Photoset by Marino Pascal.

Feel my Legs – I’m a Racer! — Photoset by Ingrid Peterson.

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What started last weekend with the LA Bike Summit had already swirled into a sea of yellow shirts riding down Sunset Blvd by that same evening.  

Hope Rides Again!  Photo by Will Campbell.

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I had so much fun in the morning at Bike Summit that I could barely set myself down for a nap before the Lance Armstrong (LIVESTRONG) infused activities of the evening were set to begin.

My one recurring thought of the day…. Why was there not a more formal connection between LA Bike Summit and the much famed Lance Armstrong in town leading a ride down Sunset Blvd? Doesn’t there appear to be a natural link there?

There to introduce Lance were the ever bike-friendly LA City Councilmembers Eric Gargetti and Tom LaBonge, who could barely contain their enthusiasm to be riding the with celebrated Tour de France Champion.

When our much photographed Mayor Tony showed up, I thought – “Wow, now here is an opportunity for cyclists to exercise real political power”….sadly this thought soon passed as I realized that not only was the crowd booing the Mayor, but that his introductory remarks included no reference whatsoever to bicycles, urban cycling or the role the City of Los Angeles might play in advancing the awareness of these sorts of things.

Dude, you are introducing LANCE ARMSTONG and you are the MAYOR of LOS ANGELES. Maybe think of something bicycle related to say for the event.

All venting aside, I was so inspired by the people and presenters I had encountered at the Bike Summit that I found myself wishing for some real measurable progress here in Los Angeles.

The common theme of all the presenters from either Portland , Mexico City, or New York City was that each of these cities has a Mayor who is willing to push for a progressive vision of transportation that included bicycles, busses, cars, trains and the ever useful feet.   Without that kind of leadership at the top, bicycle infrastructure improvements stall and lag.

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Which all somehow brings me back to intersections.

The intersections of lives, ideas, roadways and cultures.

Yes, if I learned anything this week it was to pay close attention to intersections.  

Safety and Livability can be improved on a roadway by focusing on the intersections. Of this I am sure.

With that in mind, I propose that we direct our attention to the INTERSECTION and asks ourselves,

“What makes for a safe intersection?”  

Apply a sort of “Safety-section” treatment to notorious dangerous hotspots across town.  

Since every single intersection qualifies as a dangerous hotspot here in LA, we will have jobs to keep people employed for decades to come.

Speaking of Intersections, anyone want to crash the upcoming   ”Volkswagen City of Angels Fun Ride” (April 26th, 2009) ???

Because I sure do.

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Feeding the Dream: Bike Blvds in Los Angeles

In anticipation of this weekends LA Bike Summit, I have begun to reflect – again- on just how fabulous, practical and possible it would be to have an interconnected network of bike blvds all across Los Angeles.

Why do I say this?

Because, quite simply, they already exist. Yes, the conditions for bike blvds in Los Angeles are the ripe, low-hanging fruit that somehow has yet to be picked by the LADOT. Although they certainly know about roads like the much traversed 4th Street Bicycle Blvd (4SBB) —- do they fully realize that any quiet street running parallel to a busy street is essentially a prime candidate?

Think about it: Planetizen – Bike Blvds —Embracing Free Bicycle Infrastructure – Rethinking Quiet streets as bicycle boulevards.

Alta Planning certainly has thought this stuff through. As does seemingly everyone in Portland. Yes, Portland. That paragon of bike friendliness – that small city to the North.  Let us now count the ways in which you are so fabulous:

BTA Alliance Portland – Bike Blvds

IBPI (Initiative for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation) is offering a course in May at Portland state called “Bike Blvd Fundamentals”

BikePortland.org

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There is also an unmistakable enthusiasm for bike blvds in Los Angeles, and not just coming from me. Although you can (of course) visit  The Bicycle Library for more information. The classic Streetfilms about bike boulevards may be found there as well.

Bike Blvds – I want to go there pined Bike Date Santa Monica.

Wiki-Wednesday: Bike Blvd recently passed through LA Streetsblog.

And wouldn’t you know it, the same Alta Planning involved in those bike blvds in Portland, are working on the Update to the LA Bike Master Plan.

Their public input session last year generated a lot of interest in bike boulevards, as you can see in  THIS PDF (download).

4th Street  received a worthy nod, as the street itself, in my view, is the ideal symbolic representation of the bike boulevard and why they should be widely implemented here in Los Angeles.

Others still have called for the liberation of 4th Street or continued with clever and creative DIY signage efforts, like those of 4th Street Bikeway.

Despite its potholes, spotty night lighting and dangerous intersection or two, 4th Street will always remain my symbolic refuge.

AND – despite the occasional freak traffic jam, as Rick points out in his liberation idea:

Blocking the street to through car traffic, but not to through bicycle traffic, would not only encourage more folks to start riding at rush hour–it would also make driving more pleasant for the folks that live there, who don’t need to traverse 4th in its entirety.

I say – 4SBB! LIVE THE DREAM!!

LA Bike Summit – March 7th, 2009 (9am-4pm)

LA Bike Summit, Los Angeles CA

March 7th 2009, 9am-4pm

Location:
Los Angeles Trade Tech College
Address:
400 West Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90011

View Google Map

In Southern California, the growth and interest in bike riding and bike advocacy has increased to the point that the movement could significantly benefit from the formation of a common agenda. Bike organizations, including policy and grass roots groups, could present a stronger, more unified front and a shared vision by combining communication, outreach, research and educational resources. This partnership would help to not only strengthen the presence of biking as an alternative to driving and a source of physical activity, but would help to create a more livable and sustainable region.

The Bike Summit will bring together bicycle advocates, advocates for healthy communities, and others to network and to plan a bikable healthy future for Southern California. Among the Bike Summit’s goals are:

- Getting bicyclists involved in advocacy for more bike friendly cities
- Strengthening ties between bicycle organizations
- Growing the capacity of bicycle organizations
- Strengthening ties between bicycle organizations and the broader movements for the environment, environmental justice, health, and urban livability.

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Join the LA BIKE SUMMIT on March 7th
9am-4pm at Los Angeles Trade Tech College

More questions? Contact –
info@labikesummit.org

Here is the AGENDA with much more info about workshops and guest speakers.

What was that Officer?

Now you may not believe me when I tell you this, but I am quite sure the following little tid-bit will make you smile:

Yesterday as I was riding my bicycle through the Sunset Corridor from Echo Park to Silverlake, I arrived at a red light at Sunset Junction.   I was in the bike lane and had thankfully decided to obey the law to the fullest extent by not only stopping for the red light, but stopping behind the pedestrian crosswalk.  I even had one foot down on the ground.

Just then, two motorcycle cops ride up to me in the lane adjacent to the bike lane.  They stop for the still red light.  Then one of the officers literally leans over to me and says,

“Wanna race?”

I’m sorry, what was that Officer?  Do I want to — RACE?

I let out a huge guffaw, laughing heartily at the surprise suggestion.    Has this ever happened to anyone else while riding?  Motorcycle cop pulls up along side you and says, “Hey, wanna race?”

Wanna race?!

I actually have little else to add to this other than –  

RAD.  That cop just asked me to race. WOW. That is so weird.

All I could say after I finally finished laughing was,

“Yeah, if you get on a bike!!”

Adding, as the light turned green and he sped off, 

“I love bike cops!”

*!*

Update – Bicycles and the LAW

Next week I plan to begin a librarians quest to understand the legal literature relevant to bicycles in Los Angeles.

The LA County Law Library is an excellent resource to begin with.
UCLA, USC Loyola, Southwestern all have good law libraries.

I will, of course, share any and all relevant information here and over at The Bicycle Librarian.

Speaking of which – Here are the latest quite lengthy reading lists:
This Week in BIKES (2)
This Week in BIKES (3)

If you have any references, websites, relevant knowledge or most importantly, an intriguing question or two for me to research:

Send them along here!

I’m going to go in person to research, since I remember how helpful law librarians can be (in fact, I even worked for a law library as my first job back in LA)

Also, since I know what a fabulous job the Metro Librarian does, I will make sure to explore that collection as well!

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The next step, or a parallel step rather, will be to identify some local lawyers who are interested in legal issues relevant to cyclists and pedestrians.

Has anyone heard of The Reeves Law Group – California Bike Accident Lawyers or Lederer and Nojima – Los Angeles Bicycle Accidents Attorney

Here is what Attorney Reeves had to say about the Los Angeles Doctor in Road Rage Bicycle Accident to Stand Trial

“Road rage may be defined as the aggressive use of a vehicle to cause harm to another motorist, pedestrian or bicyclist. That road rage was the factor at play here seems to be accepted, with Thompson’s remarks after the accident proving this. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to find people like Thompson who seem to think that streets are made only for motorists, and should be kept clear of pesky bicyclists. There is a lack of acceptance of the fact that bicyclists deserve to be on the same street with motorists that’s behind many road rage incidents involving motorists and bicyclists”

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Los Angeles Police Officers Bicycling Past Broadway Storefronts.

The Bicycle Librarian

You could have seen this one coming, so here it is…another blog:

The Bicycle Librarian

The Bicycle Librarian is yet another blog. It is a blog born from a blog (rearviewrider) and a section of a website called 4SBB…destined to link to still other websites and blogs.

Collection Development Goals include but are certainly not limited to:

1. Collecting Legal Information

2. Links to Bike Culture both in LA and Elsewhere

3. Focus on Livable Streets/Complete Streets taking into account the safety of cyclists and pedestrians alike.

4. Online Photo Exhibits

5. Any and all research of interest on the subject of bicycles, especially as used in urban space.

Suggestions, comments and links are all welcome and appreciated.

In the meantime, check out The Bicycle Library over at 4SBB.
Scroll down!

Rules of the Road

If  Brayj suggests an idea it is usually excellent.  His latest post brings up a key question:

• Is it possible to sue the MTA for more bikeways money?

This one simple question opens the door to a whole host of related  issues about the legal rights of cyclists on the road. There are certainly laws on the books to protect cyclists, as well as rules that stipulate how bikeways projects are to be funded.

Perhaps it is time to set up an informal legal collective of interested cyclists and lawyers to push  for some of the change we would like to see. By drawing on examples from NYC and Portland and reworking them for the challenges we face in Los Angeles, we could quickly begin to coalesce into a powerhouse of legal nerds, ready to challenge the City to step up to the task of creating more bike-friendly streets…  (more “Livable Streets”… more “Complete Streets”)

NYC has many examples to draw from. Here is one:

FreeWheels Bicycle Defense Fund

The cleverly fabulous folks at Bikeportland.org have pointed to a free PDF download called:

Pedal Power – A legal guide for Oregon Bicyclists

My current favorite initiative they’ve got going is the idea of bringing the Idaho Stop Law to the streets in Oregon.

How about Los Angeles? I can readily admit that I practice the Idaho Stop Law with great regularity.  Here is some more history of the ISL and some thoughts on if Oregon is ready or not for such a step.

Portland seems to have a veritable gulag of bicycle incident lawyers.  How about my namesake, Peterson’s Law Offices

For my part, I say :  Let’s do this here in Los Angeles.

A legal collective of some sort designed to inform and educate riders, law makers and law enforcers alike (read: LAPD). Where necessary we would take the fight to court and win those “small victories” like securing more funding for bikeways projects, or successfully prosecuting those motorists who choose to harass, intimidate or assault cyclists.

Other victories like the recent decision to suspend bike licensing requirements or GaryRidesBikes recent win over his bogus bicycle citation and should help provide some inspiration. los angeles rides gives us some additional perspectives of cycling and the law.

For the record,  it would be excellent to try to bring the sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrians into this legal battle, since ultimately we are all out there wanting safer streets.

Tightening the Grip

Last weeks horrific DASH bus accident whose path I crossed, has had me ever so slightly traumatized for the past few days.  To address this, today I plan to reflect on the benefits of the bicycle, in order to re-tighten my grip on urban cycling…..

Let’s get right to it:

What are the benefits of the bicycle?

1. Self generated power (can induce feeling of liberation or “empowerment”)
2. Provides an immediate escape from a traffic jam
3. Extends range of ways to travel through the city including the full use of the lane on the road (alleyways, sidewalks, bicycle boulevards, river paths etc.)
4. Good for my health, good exercise, sun on the skin, wind in the hair sort of a thing
5. Don’t need to worry about a parking space in quite the same way as a motorist would

I think this is working….

Yes, it is coming back to me now.  Almost three years ago, I gave my dying old car away to charity for the purpose of living as a cyclist in Los Angeles.   I had been using the car less and less and the bicycle more and more, so I was pretty ready to make the switch.   I had already begun to suffer the strange back-lash that all cyclists in LA feel at one point or another…I like to call it the “you rode your WHAT?!”  complex.   Whether it was co-workers, old friends or the motorists on the streets, it seemed like everyone had one simple message for me -

“You rode your WHAT?!”

The questions would often evolve into “How?” and “Why??”  and,

“Aren’t you scared?!”

Although I will report that as of  now exactly NO motorists have slowed down when passing me and asked, “Hey, are you scared to be riding your bicycle on the same road as I’m driving on?”

They typically speed up, honk, yell, or Slap your ASS.

Ever since I started reading Tom Vanderbilt’s blog and his fabulous book “Traffic: The way we drive”, I have been wanting to write more and more about the experience of riding a bicycle through traffic.  Of late, I have begun to imagine the road as a sort of dance-space where moving through traffic becomes the dance. I’ve been telling myself in the morning —  “Dance your way to work, on your bike.”    Although I have noticed that it is actually the commute home that I need to practice this the most.  It is one thing to be up early, feeling fresh and zipping to work…it is quite another to feel tired and drained at the end of the day, just wanting to get home.

Thoughts like these will eventually compel me to finish (and post here) the following essay I started last month entitled:

Traffic and Equanimity: Los Angeles by Bicycle

(equanimity: n. composure, calm, calmness, the steadiness of mind under stress.)

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In the meantime, might I suggest you check out this royally awesome series from KCET:

The Science of Traffic (KCET-SoCal Connected)

While your at it, check out the 4SBB love on their new installment about Your Commute.

Add your own pictures and videos to the growing Google Map!

Dance your way to work!  On your bike!

Shiny Red near the Rose Bowl.

by ingipet

I love my bicycle(s).  I really do.

Yesterday, after hooking Shiny Red up with some clever new Continental Gatorskin tires, I took the rest of the afternoon to ride around the Rose Bowl.

The sun was setting, the moon was already bright in the blue sky.

No one tried to kill me and I felt free.  Footloose.  Fancy, even.

However, the experience itself was not quite enough to shake the horrible image in my mind stuck there from Wednesday morning’s commute to Downtown L.A.

I had just left Figueroa for Flower street, at the little cut-through on 3rd. Traffic was absolutely gnarly…. backed up in every direction as I approached 5th street. Upon entering the intersection of 5th and Flower, I immediately realized why… an LADOT Dash bus had struck and killed a woman as she was walking in the crosswalk towards the LA Public Library. The scene was gruesome and the air felt very heavy.

The police had blocked off the intersection for cars, but I was able to scoot past the horror on my wee bicycle.

I asked a guard if someone had been killed and he confirmed it. I looked all day for media attention on the incident but found none…

By the next day we got some talk going online about it over at LA Streetsblog then LAist and blogdowntown and L.A. Now helped us to learn more information, including woman’s name – Gwendolyn Coleman, 58.

Best wishes to her family and friends.

LAist also added The Kindness of Strangers memorial photo gallery.

In this Moment of Silence, Anonymous Cyclist speaks to how this incident is reverberating within the cycling community.

If anything can be learned from this horrific experience, I hope it will be.   If you are crossing the street, be very alert about oncoming traffic.  Whether or not this particular bus ran the red light does not change the fact that many bus drivers run reds and drive aggressively.     If you are a bus driver – please — PLEASE — for the love of god watch the road for human beings.   Cyclists and pedestrians alike have much to fear if reckless driving habits go unchecked.  Is is really worth it to stick to your schedule that closely? To take away a human life?

As for LADOT, this sort of accident (of which I am sure there are many) should serve as a stern wake-up call. What are the agencies priorities for insuring the safety and well-being of the many people who share the road? Will bus drivers be required to attend additional training?  I’m sure the driver in this case feels incredibly guilty, but the question still remains – Could this all have been avoided?

Today on my commute, I did choose to ride down Flower again, but still felt spooked by the buses.  Given the overwhelming amount of anecdotal evidence that suggests bus drivers have much to learn in the fine art of safe driving, it is no surprise I felt this way.

Outrage, in this case, is completely understandable.

Peace in the streets!!

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Finding the focus

4th and Vermont

Originally uploaded by Wildbell

Old photos are my favorite.

They capture moments in our lives and suggest potential stories to be told. They are wonderful tools for reflection.

Thanks to Wildbell’s excellent eye as a narrative photographer, and his willingness to maintain an online archive over at Flickr, I am able to have these encounters.

The helpful annotations on the photograph remind me of the excitement contained in this moment. Hundreds of cyclists all lurching forward on 4SBB. Moving towards the last remaining symbolic gesture of the idea campaign that is and was 4SBB. A yellow sign with the phrase “4th Street Bicycle Boulevard” spray painted in black. Marking the route and claiming the space for those who cycle on it.

This was one of the first times (of a few) that a Midnight Ridazz ride travelled on the ole 4SBB.

A place where dreams were lived and memories were made. Sunny days, sweepin’ the clouds away (cue Sesame Street music…)  On my way to where the air is sweet… Can you tell me how to get…how to get to 4SBB

how to get to…

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Now to start combing through the photo archives of other bike culture photographing greats like Mr. Rollers, Red RidingHood, and Garyse7en for more sweet little moments!

Old photos are my favorite.