Safe & Healthy Streets

The fifth in a series of five Community Meetings for the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan will be held on Wednesday November 18, 2009 in the Central Library Auditorium, 222 E. Harvard St., 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm. We will be summarizing the information gathered at the first four meetings, requesting confirmation of that information, and asking follow-up questions from the participants. We especially want those who attended one or more of the first four meetings to attend, but anyone who lives or works in Glendale is encouraged to attend. Business owners/merchants are also encouraged to attend. We’re interested in the ideas of people who walk or bike often as well as people who don’t walk or bike much (or at all). Please invite your friends, family, or co-workers to join you. The information provided by the public will help shape the Safe & Healthy Streets Plan, a set of bicycle and pedestrian policy recommendations for the City to adopt. RSVP is requested but not required to colin@la-bike.org Translation into Spanish or Armenian will be provided upon request by calling (818) 548-2000 at least 72 hours prior to the meeting date. Click here if you’d like to see the flyer for all five meetings.

Thanks to everyone who attended any of the first four meetings. Detailed notes from all four meetings can be found by clicking here. We will post a summary of the notes from the November 4 meeting soon.

Gene Galindo Memorial Turkey Trot Cyclocross Race

Sunday November 29th, 2009 at Verdugo Park will mark the 6th edition of the Gene Galindo Memorial Turkey Trot Cyclocross race. What is Cyclocross? It’s a discipline of bicycle racing that combines the fast, short-course, pack-style of road criterium racing with the skills of mountain bike racing. The bikes most people race look like road bikes with skinny knobby tires. The race takes place on a twisty course approximately 1.8 miles in length which includes pavement, fire roads, sand, and grass. There are also “barriers” and short hills (“runups”) that force riders to dismount and carry their bikes up or over the obstacles. Racers in different categories (junior boys and girls aged 10-18, masters men and women aged up to 55+, to elite men and women) race multiple laps of the course. And because the course is short, tight and twisty, spectators can stand in one place and see over half the course.

The popularity and growth of this race coincides with the popularity and growth of Cyclocross both in southern California and nationally. When the Gene Galindo Memorial Turkey Trot Cross first took place in 2004, there were very few high quality Cyclocross races in the area. Now there is a large and avid series called the SoCal Prestige Series (www.socalcross.org). The Glendale race is number thirteen of fifteen in the series. According to most Cyclocross racers in SoCal, the course at Verdugo Park is the best and their favorite.

Most of the races in the Prestige Series have some type of a gimmick that makes them unique. The Turkey Trot Cross theme is FOOD! For the second year in a row, ReMax Elite Realtors of San Marino is providing everyone who shows up in the early morning hours with freshly cooked waffles and coffee. For the 6th year in a row the race will be providing freshly grilled “Verdugo” Dogs and drinks at lunch!

So if you’re looking for something to do with the family on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, come on down to Verdugo Park and watch the race! Entrance is free for spectators and the racing is a blast to watch! And make sure you bring any kids under 10 who want to take part in one of the kids’ races (at no cost). Bring a helmet and be at the park by 12:30 in order to get your number for the 1:00 PM kids’ race! The whole day starts with a free Cyclocross clinic at 8:30 am, the first race starts at 9:30 am. For more details, go to http://www.socalcross.org/calendar/flyers/TTCX.09.Flyer.pdf

Thanks to Matt Gunnell for this article.

Mountain Bike Team for Glendale High School Students

The newest sport offered to High School students in Glendale is Cross-country Mountain biking. There is now an entire Southern California League organizing races, coaching, and skills camps for high school boys and girls (http://www.socaldirt.org ). The SoCal League started last year with Glendale as one of the first cities taking part, and this year it is growing with more students, more high schools and more coaches.

So far, students from CV and Clark High Schools make up the team, though it is a Glendale Unified School District team and students from elsewhere in Glendale can join the team and come to practice. Young cyclists with any level of skill are welcome; all that is needed is a motivation and interest in getting better at mountain biking. The volunteer coaches are experienced and have been trained how to improve any cyclist’s skill and fitness. All it takes is coming to practice regularly, and in no time students will be able to navigate the dirt roads, trails and hills we ride on. There are both boys and girls on the team and there are female coaches too.

The mountain biking season starts in January, goes till June, and there will be 3 practices per week including a Saturday workout. There will be four races in the Southern California area and then a State Championship in Monterey which will include the Northern California schools. The races are Cross-country Mountain biking which emphasize fitness and endurance and do NOT involve the high speeds or dangerous stunts some other types of race have. Competition is not required for any students not interested in racing, but the racing events are so much fun that most students take part.

The Glendale team has a web page on the internet at http://gusdcycling.blogspot.com  The GUSD Composite club is completely self-funded and volunteer driven. They get no money from the school or state. Instead, funding comes from a combination of club dues, sponsorships, and fundraisers. Anyone who is interested in joining this sport or learning more, or supporting the team can contact Coach Banner Moffat at bannermoffat@earthlink.net  , Coach Jan Babington (CV) at JPeterson-Babington@gusd.net  , or Coach Carol Pettigrew (Clark) at CPettegrew@gusd.net .

Thanks to Banner Moffat and Matt Gunnell for this article.

Dangerous by Design

National Public Radio recently aired a story about “Dangerous by Design: Solving the Epidemic of Preventable Deaths (and Making Great Neighborhoods)”, a report issued by Transportation for America and the Surface Transportation Policy Project. You can read or listen to the NPR story here and you can download the actual report from Transportation for American here.

While the NPR story focuses on Florida as the worst state for pedestrians, southern California also ranks very low in pedestrian safety. Streetsblog Los Angeles summarizes the Los Angeles area perspective here. Transportation for America and the National Complete Streets Coalition are both calling for the adoption of a National Complete Streets Policy. You can find the Complete Streets Coalition’s call for action here and the Transportation for America petition here.

The Safe & Healthy Streets project strives for the same goals of improving safety for pedestrians and cyclists as well as addressing public health problems such as obesity through increased physical activity – walking and biking. Your support and participation will help foster change here in Glendale.

More Bike Amenities in Glendale

Continuing on the theme of better conditions for walking or biking, the Glendale NewsPress has published an article about bicycle amenities in Glendale as compared to other communities including Long Beach and Pasadena. The data cited by the NewsPress comes from the new Glendale Quality of Life Indicators report which was recently posted online. The online report also includes data showing that a high percentage of Glendale residents are overweight or obese, one of the many reasons why Glendale is the focus of the PLACE Grant: Safe & Healthy Streets project. You can read the NewsPress article here and find the Quality of Life Indicators data for bicycle amenities here. For more information about the PLACE Grant: Safe & Healthy Streets project, click here.