Bike To Work Week
May 12 to May 16th is Bike To Work Week, with This Thursday, May 15th being Bike to Work Day! (Which begs the question as to why the day, and then the week, and why not the month, if not the year?)
Almost every work day is bike to work day for me. Although I don’t exlusively ride my bike to work, which would be totally awesome if I did. Instead I Gold Line it to East Pas, and then bike the last mile of my trip. Which is not only good for car traffic, and the planet, but also typically gets me to work quicker than driving there.
Except for the dad that commutes with his bike and two kids in tow, and the pack of PAACs that I see riding up from the Rosebowl, I’m typically the only bike I see on the way to work. But this week is different. I see bikes everywhere, at least 4 on each train, and several on the streets I cross on my way between home and work. Could it be after 14 years of Bike to Work Day, we are finally getting it, or is it just paying $4 for a gallon of petrol is just more ridiculous than being seen outside on two wheels?
One of my favorite NELA-based orginizations, C.I.C.L.E. is putting on a fantastic series of Bike Week events this week in Pasadena. Rides, tours, give-aways, and more can be had all week long in Pasadena. In Silverlake on Thursday, Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition is hosting breakfast at Site LA, located at 2522 Sunset Blvd, from 6AM -10AM, followed by a ride to work! (yay!) Lucky you. There’s also the 5 annual, Blessing of The Bicycles, at Good Samaritan hospital on Wilshire at 8AM (Free breakfast, free blessing, free photo-op with former mayor Richard Riordan.) And don’t forget our local volunteer-powered community bicycle repair workshop The Bike Oven, is opening up at 7AM to serve hot chocolate, and pan dulce to cyclist in what its calling: Bike to (not) Work Day.
The weather is expected to be warm, and the air will be just slightly less smoggy than typical Los Angeles Thursdays. So git on your bike! (Just be sure to stay out of CHAVO’s way if you’re riding down Monte Vista!)
