Safe & Healthy Streets

Damon Boyd, Colin Bogart, Nathalie Winiarski and the recumbent woody 4-wheeler

For Cruise Night 2010, Safe & Healthy Streets and a group of volunteers set up a collection of great bicycles for the crowd to look at. Guest Contributing writer Jen (No, the other Jen) inspired us to do this and dedicated her time and energy to corral the bikes. She summarizes the night’s activity this way.

My first (grown-up) bicycle was a white Sears Free Spirit 10-speed. I rode it to school every day and through the lemon groves every afternoon, aimlessly. Those lemon groves are now condos. That was when I fell for bikes, when autonomy, freedom, speed, light, scent and pedaling took hold of me and never let me go. And maybe I’m old fashioned, but I still like lemons better than condos.

I don’t know when cars became “better” than bikes, or why. I don’t know why bikes have been pushed aside, trivialized, demoted, reduced and snubbed. What a thing of beauty, this simple machine. They’re so pure. They’re so accessible. And endorphins are way better than gas fumes.

So my sincere thanks to you, my fellow crazy Glendalians or Glendalites or whatever you people call yourselves, for both staffing the Glendale Safe and Healthy Streets booth and for bringing your classic old bikes to this car-centric event. It’s necessary to occasionally remind people the scope of pleasant memories.

You can see all the bikes on Photobucket here. [There were also some really nice bikes at the Library booth which you can see here too – ED]

Kristen Shadburn and her Free Spirit 10-speed

Thanks to the good people whose bikes made this a successful evening! Kristen Shadburn brought the Sears Free Spirit, Phil and Bill brought five bikes, including a blue mini low-rider, a classic Schwinn and a tandem mountain bike, and Damon Boyd of Nomad Cruisers brought one of his amazing custom bikes, a recumbent woody. Erwin of Roadrunner Bikes in Atwater brought four bikes including a very popular-with-the-crowd chopper. Bill from as-seen-on-TV Bicycle Mart down Brand Boulevard brought two beautiful road bikes. (That sentence was sponsored by the letter “B.”) Also, thanks to Babz Rowe, resident cheerleader, Nathalie Winiarski, Matt Clark, and Hannah Lazarus who helped staff the booth.

Update for Two Cases Involving Cyclists

We have continued to stay in contact with the Glendale Police Department and the District Attorney’s office for updates on the arraignment of Naira Margaryan, the driver charged with the tragic death of cyclist Gerardo Ramos. The arraignment was set to take place on June 2, but was re-scheduled for July 14. The arraignment has again been re-scheduled, now for August 18. We’ve been told the defense has requested more time to collect information. As promised before, we will keep you informed of all important dates and developments in the case.

Some of you may have seen a recent Glendale News-Press article mentioning a cyclist who was the victim of a hit and run collision on July 1. We have confirmed with Glendale Police that they are investigating the case and fully intend to file hit and run charges against the motorist, whom they caught in Sun Valley. We will keep you informed about this case as well.

Mayor Villaraigosa’s Bicycle Crash

By now you’ve probably heard about Mayor Villaraigosa’s bicycle crash. A taxi driver pulled out in front of him on Venice Blvd., leading to a fall that broke the Mayor’s elbow. We at Safe and Healthy Streets and the LA County Bicycle Coalition saw this event as unfortunate (we wish the mayor a speedy recovery) and as an opportunity to encourage improved safety efforts for cyclists, as well as more and better bicycle infrastructure. You can read about the LACBC’s response at the LACBC blog here.

Sharrow on Dunsmore Ave.

More sharrows have been painted on Glendale streets! As part of a slurry seal project in North Glendale, Dunsmore Ave., New York Ave., and Markridge Rd. haven been painted. Dunsmore is in Glendale’s 1996 Bikeway Master Plan as a north/south bike route for the area and New York was suggested by residents during several community meetings in the fall of 2009. Markridge was added at the north end to connect the two streets and help with access to Deukmejian Wilderness Park. Foothill Blvd. and Santa Carlotta are slated to be striped with bike lanes. Combined together, the streets with bike lanes and sharrows will provide potential riding loops in the area as well as encouraging bike access to multiple schools and parks. At this time, there are five streets in Glendale with sharrows: Grandview Ave., Stocker St. (between Pacific and Louise), Dunsmore, New York, and Markridge. The Safe & Healthy Streets team is excited about the new sharrows and we look forward to seeing more of them on Glendale streets soon.

Special Meeting for LA County Bike Plan

We wanted to remind you that there will be a special meeting in Altadena on Monday, July 12 regarding the LA County Bike Plan update. The meeting will be held at the Altadena Community Center from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. A significant portion of North Glendale is bordered by LA County and this is your chance to discuss what and where bicycle infrastructure is to be planned for the area. You can click on the flyer for a larger view or you can visit the LA County Bike Plan website by clicking here.

Arraignment for Driver Charged with Killing Glendale Cyclist Re-scheduled for July 14

We have been in contact with the District Attorney’s office for updates on the arraignment of Naira Margaryan, the driver charged with the tragic death of cyclist Gerardo Ramos. The arraignment was set to take place on June 2, but is now scheduled for July 14. We will keep you informed of all important dates and developments in the case. In the meantime, one thing is clear: safety for cyclists will be ensured only where there is accountability on all sides and the rules of the road are clear and understood.

Cruise Night reminder

We’re still looking for classic, custom, or vintage bikes to display at Cruise Night on Saturday July 17, 2010. Cruise Night is a huge car show in Glendale that attracts about 35,000 visitors. We want to show those visitors that bikes are also beautiful, artistic, and collectible. If you or someone you know has a show-stopper bicycle that we can display, please contact Jen at glendalesahs@gmail.com Thank you.

Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey Reminder

Quick reminder that we still need more people to take the Glendale Bicyclist and Pedestrian Survey online. If you haven’t done it yet, please complete the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GlendaleBikePedSurvey . If you participated in the Safe & Healthy Streets Community Meetings in the Fall of 2009, we really need your survey! Thank you.

Thank you Mayor Najarian, Council Member Friedman, and Dan Evans

At a recent Glendale City Council meeting, Mayor Ara Najarian took time to announce that while in Vancouver, Canada, he rented a bicycle and went for a ride. We’re happy to learn from his comments that he had a great experience and that he’s seen first-hand how great a bike-friendly community can be. We thank Mayor Najarian for taking that ride and for telling us about it. You can watch video of his comments by going to the City of Glendale video archive here and fast forward to 32 minutes, 19 seconds.

At another recent City Council meeting, Glendale Council Member Laura Friedman talked about her participation in the 10th Annual L.A. River Ride which benefits the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition. We thank Ms. Friedman for her participation in the event, both as a speaker and a rider. You can watch a video of Ms. Friedman’s comments by going to the City of Glendale video archive here and skip to 21 minutes. We’d also like to thank the Glendale Community Services and Parks Department and the Glendale Management Association for their sponsorship of this year’s L.A. River Ride!

Finally, Glendale News-Press editor Dan Evans recently wrote a nice editorial about his experiences riding his bicycle to work in downtown Glendale. We enjoyed reading his positive account of riding from Burbank to Glendale in which he discussed the details of his route. He closed by inviting his readers to tell him about their routes by bicycle. You can read Dan’s editorial in the Glendale News-Press by clicking here and you can e-mail your favorite routes to Dan at Dan.Evans@latimes.com