Wheelman & Co Spring/ Summer 2012 Collection is on it’s way to Orange 20 bikes! Check with us soon to see what we got in stock.

Last week on this blog, I complained about the narrow slip of bike path provided along the eastern portion of the new Expo Line light rail corridor. This week I’ll give you a sneak peek at something better, along the very same light rail line. It isn’t open yet, but I and a few others sneaked onto the luxurious bikepath below for a few hours last week…till they moved the gates back and hardened the target:

Crews are still working on the tracks, stations, and right of way between La Cienega and the last two stops, which aren’t open yet, so there’s construction debris and equipment staged along the path. But it still looks pretty nice–wide and smooth, with visually-peasing soundwalls on the neighborhood side, pleasant landscaping, and the sweet odor of bark chips keeping you company. I don’t know how far this path will extend before reverting to the usual dismal stripe, but it seemed to go fairly far west. I’d expect (okay, I hope) it will take us all the way to Culver City at least. Ultimately, the line will reach Santa Monica, which wonderful town has already begun constructing a transit plaza for the terminal–one that will be designed largely for bike and foot access, with only one car lane allocated to it so far. It will tie in with SaMo’s excellent and growing network of bike facilities and be only a block or so from its new Bike Center.

That’s all a few years away, though not too many. Meanwhile, the new line runs from Downtown past USC and many of LA’s richly-historic Black neighborhoods to the edge of west LA, and will soon reach Culver City, with a bikeway of some sort along its entire length. (Here’s a map, though as of today it runs only to La Cienega.)

And if you get tired, of course, all Metro trains let you bring your bike on board at any time.

So grab your wheels, head west, and check out what’s happening!
 

The ‘Nissan Ride Before the Pros’, taking place in downtown Los Angeles
on Sunday May 20, 2012 from 8:00-9:30 AM, will allow cyclists of all
levels to ride on a 5-mile closed circuit course which will be part of
the 2012 Amgen Tour of California’s eighth and final stage taking place
that same day. FREE to participants of all experience levels, the Nissan
Ride Before the Pros will begin and end at the official finish line
where the professional riders competing in the 2012 Amgen Tour of
California will cross to complete the 42.6-mile stage they started in
Beverly Hills on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills earlier that day.

Riders taking part in the event, which begins at L.A. LIVE at the foot
of STAPLES Center, will head up Olive Street passing Pershing Square
before a “sprint” past the historic Biltmore Hotel, up a challenging
incline while heading towards Disney Hall and the Los Angeles County
Music Center. The riders will ultimately reach City Hall and City Hall
Park before making a loop back towards the iconic Jewelry District prior
to arriving back at the L.A. LIVE district.

Along the way, riders will also pass hundreds of iconic downtown
restaurants, businesses, museums and other landmarks with thousands of
residents and fans lining the streets cheering them on while waiting for
the best professional riders in the world to pass by shortly thereafter
along the eight and final stage of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California.

REGISTER HERE