This could be good news for cycling, as Bloom has been a passionate and organized implementer of progressive bicycle infrastructure throughout the City of Santa Monica. Sharrows, bike lanes, bike corrals, an extensive sidewalk bike rack program, and traffic signal sensor markings for cyclists abound in SaMo, and the new Bike Center at Colorado and Second is the largest in the country, even without counting its annex a few blocks away. The city has even added sharrows to left turn lanes, doing everything it can to remind motorists that the raods are not theirs alone (as they never have been…but we know how those scofflaw motorists behave, don’t we?).

Mr. Bloom’s efforts (which were not, of course, his alone) have led to a bloom of cycling in the city, with Main Street and Downtown SaMo streets vibrant with bicycles and bicyclists, flitting gently in their slips of lanes and locking to the hundreds of new bike racks. While motorists crowd each other on their own acres of asphalt, cyclists are crowding the shops, cafés, and pubs of the city, enjoying themselves while merchants enjoy the ringing of cash registers.

If you’re new to this blog, here are links to some of my blurbs on SaMo’s evolution into the Bicycle Capital of Southern California:

I think we ought to take a good look at the fellow who was on watch when all this happened. It might be really useful to have him up in Sacramento, bringing some sense to California’s outdated transportation policies.

Here’s his Facebook page.

And here’s his official “vote for me” page: Mayor Richard Bloom For California State Assembly.

What do you think?
 

Sunday June 10th, enjoy a memorable day of sun with family and friends while riding along the scenic L.A. River from Griffith Park to Long Beach. Don’t miss one of L.A.’s most loved events. Rides for all skill levels, live music, goodie bags, raffle, games and prizes, medical and tech support, rest stops, and food along the way. 

All rides start and finish at the Autry National Center at Griffith park (4700 Western Heritage Way) for more information click here!

The Annual Blesing of The Bikes will be held May 15th at the Good Samaritan Hospital. Blessings to begin at 8 am.

For more information about this event call Good Samaritan Hospital at (213) 977 2911 or visit www.blessingofthebicycles.com

Photo By John Watson

Red Bull Ride & Style is an event that Red bull organizes every year commemorating every aspect of Fixed Gear Culture; racing, tricks and art. This is the second year this event happened in San Francisco, California. The top ten racers from the 2011 Red Bull ride & style automatically qualified to participate again, lucky for me I got 10th place last year. It was a weekend full of racing, parties, friends and lots of fun. I had a race in my schedule for every night I was there. Thursday Night, Red Bull Minidrome; Friday Night; Tic Tac Toe Alley Cat; Saturday, Red Bull Ride & Style Race; Sunday, MASH SF Twin Peaks Race.

We left Los Angeles Wednesday late night and arrived to San Francisco early in the morning on Thursday. We wanted to to have enough time to set camp in Steve Tortorelli’s basement (or the Party Dungeon), meet up with teammate Bud Abille so he can get his custom Predator Mojor bars on, eat and get enough rest for the race qualifier at the Minidrome. Even though I already qualified to race in the main race, they asked us to put our time in for seeding in the Ride & Style Race. I’ve been looking forward to riding the Minidrome so i had no problem putting time in. Riders from all over the country came  to give the minidrome a shot for a chance at racing the main race. The structure was tight and very steep. Officials gave the riders up to 4 laps to get used to this tiny velodrome, then riders got up to 10 laps to set their best time. I put on my skin suit and transformed into a super hero, I gave it all I had. Top 32 times advance to the main race, to 16 got to compete head to head in an eliminatory bracket. Orange 20 rider Sean Spaulding qualified in 32nd making the cut for the main race, and i qualified in 4th. Addison Zawada from Jacksonville, Florida Killed it on the Minidrome, takes 1st place and $250 home.

Friday I participated in the Tic Tac Toe Alley Cat, organized by Chris “Six” Nguyen. The Alley Cat consisted in of 8 checkpoints placed in a grid, there was a big “X” in the middle. Racers didn’t have to go to all the checkpoints as long as they completed three “Xs” or three “Os” in a straight line. Simple, right? I decided to cut my race short after going to six checkpoints, two of which didn’t have any volunteers. I didn’t get the winning combination and I didn’t want to do laps around San Francisco when I had to save my legs for the big race the next day. The Chubby Boob team showcased their new kits in came in strong in the top ten. Frustrated and a little bit angry I headed to the Finish line, handed my manifest and went to the Chrome Bag store where the registration party was occurring. Met up with all my friends from all over the country, picked up my Athlete credentials, my goodie bag and called it a night.

Saturday was the day we were all waiting for. The big race was upon us. This year officials changed the course, This year the course was wider, shorter and a whole lot faster and more entertaining for the audience. Starting head to head from an elevated platform about 100 meters from a massive berm going to the left, followed by a hip style jump, up and down the platform again into the finish line. First eliminatory round was one lap, the rest were two laps. I won all my races until I got paired up in the semi finals with and old team mate, Walton Brush. I got 3rd place after my victory versus Jason Clary, defending Red Bull Ride & Style Champion. Walton Brush finish 2nd after his match against Addison Zawada, Ride & Style 2012 winner, who dominated all weekend.

Sunday was rough, after a long night of partying and celebrating, racers had to get ready for the most brutal race of the weekend, The MASH SF Twin Peaks Race. Last year the race consisted of a there and back race from the MASH SF store to Buena Vista park up a 14th street (And when I mean “up” I mean steep and painful in every sense of the word) as many times as we could hit them in 30 minutes. And if that wasn’t enough, top 10 from that race advanced to the final race. Another there and back race, but this time from the MASH store all the way to the top of Twin Peaks (the highest point in San Francisco). This year they changed the first qualifier race to a good old fashion San Francisco Alley Cat, I was very happy they did. The main race was another alley cat heading out of the MASH Store up to some of the steepest and highest streets in San Francisco. I followed last years winner around as my tour guide hoping he would get me a decent placement. Last year I got 5th place on a bike much different than the one I’m riding these days, my expectations to do better this year were not there. I was happy hoping I could do as well as last year. Walton Brush from the MASH SF team won the MASH SF twin Peaks race; representing Predator Cycling, Orange 20 Bikes, Wolfpack Hustle and Brooklyn Machine Works, Hernan Montenegro (me!) got second and Kyle from MASH SF in 3rd. The MASH SF Twin Peaks Alley Cat race is no joke, on a brakeless Fixed Gear or on a road bike. It’s a very challenging race, physically and mentally. Even though I didn’t win, I feel like 2nd place was a huge accomplishment.

It was an absolute treat to make it out to this event and do my best to represent Los Angeles and all the people who support me. I wanna give special thanks to Aram at Predator Cycling, Austin and Joe at Brooklyn Machine Works, TJ and all the Orange 20 Bikes Staff, Steve Tortorelli, Mike Martin at MASH SF, all the Red Bull people who set up this awesome weekend, Sean Spaulding and all my friends who made this weekend so amazing. Thank you all.

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.

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!
 

All City Cycles send us a package for the Orange 20 Omnium Race this summer at the Encino Velodrome.

The long awaited Wolfpack Hustle: Midnight Drag race 4 has been announced last night. Saturday July

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