Photo by autumnlight, via Flickr creative commons

Let’s face the facts. The road conditions around much of Los Angeles County STINK.

When it comes to cycling in the region, there’s nothing worse than knowing you’ll inevitably be encountering one of the many potholes, bumps, cracks, and cratered manholes scattered throughout the area. Too often, they tend to ruin a perfectly good ride. Don’t believe me? Try speeding down Wilshire Boulevard on a bicycle, it’ll feel like you’re sitting on a massage chair … from hell.

In my opinion, potholes and cracks are a cyclist’s worst enemy. Not only do they make it dangerous to ride, but they make it stressful as well. They slow us down, force us to swerve left and right in traffic, and can lead to serious injuries and expensive bike repairs.

Imagine such a scenario: One moment you’re riding down a street with nothing but smiles, then KA-BAM! A wide enough crack on the road sucks your front wheel in and the next thing you realize, you’re flapping your arms like a distorted seagull having been launched into the air like a human cannonball. Then, impact. Ouch.

Fellow cyclist Lynn shows the injuries she received (right) after crashing from a pothole (left) on a night group ride.

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A car parked on the new Los Angeles St. bike lane. Taken on a Friday morning.

It’s been a little over a week since the installation of the new bike lanes on Los Angeles Street in downtown L.A.

Riding in from Echo Park, I usually take Los Angeles Street to get to work and back home every weekday, and so far the addition of these bike lanes have made my commute slightly more relaxing as I’m not competing for road space with drivers. However, when approaching Union Station before hitting Temple St., there seems to always be a slew of cars parked and stopped right on the bike lane in front of the Police Department building, red curb or not. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this section of the new bike lane clear, as cars are even parked on the lane overnight.

A car parked on the new Los Angeles St. bike lane. Taken on a Friday morning.

Police car parked on bike lane.

Police car parked on bike lane.

Car parked on bike lane.

Two men unloading cargo with their vehicle parked on the bike lane.

Within the span of three days, I sat in front of the Police Department building for a few hours each day to study how this obstruction was affecting cyclists who were using the new bike lane. During my observation, most cyclists were able to merge back safely into the normal traffic lane with the exception of one cyclist who was almost doored by the owner of one of the parked vehicles, and two cyclists who were almost hit by approaching traffic.

Concerned with cyclists’ safety and frustrated at the parked cars, I had approached an officer a few days ago, who was just walking out from his car to ask why he had parked on a bike lane, to which he responded, “You can go around it. I can park there if I need to.” Was he right? Later that afternoon, I went home to fact-check his statement. According to California’s Department of Motor Vehicle’s website, it states, “You may park in a bicycle lane if your vehicle does not block a bicyclist and/or there is not a “No Parking” sign posted.”

Was the officer in a sense not “blocking” a cyclist from continuing on the bike lane? What exactly is “blocking” a cyclist? Does that mean cars can park in bike lanes as long as they leave space for cyclists to turn and continue ahead?

What do you think readers?

Photo by marcel maia, via Flickr creative commons

Does the thought of riding a bicycle on city streets during rush hour traffic seem horrifyingly dangerous to you? If so, you’re definitely not alone.

For many Americans today, the fear of riding a bike in traffic is one of the top reasons for choosing not to commute by one. Many first time bike commuters initially have the idea that riding a bike in traffic is more dangerous than driving a car, and find it to be a daunting task. Even I had moments when I would get butterflies in my stomach at the thought of cycling to work, and end up taking the bus instead by talking myself out of it.

“What if a car hits me? It’s much safer to just drive or take the bus, why risk it? The roads are really narrow, and the cars go super fast! Cycling is just too dangerous for me! There’s really no safe place for me to bike around my area.”

A lot of us become paralyzed as we think about such questions and statements as above. And, to make matters worse, we always seem to hear from news outlets about confrontations between cyclists and drivers. Then there are those hit-and-run stories we frequently hear about as well, which further encourages most of us to keep the bikes stored and collecting dust in our garages.

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