Credit: LA Metro.
As has become custom around the U.S., May is National Bike Month and a time to showcase the benefits of bicycling. Here are four:
•Biking is great exercise.
•Biking produces zero emissions and helps battle smog and climate change.
•Biking is low cost. No gas!
•Biking is city friendly because bikes take up little space compared to cars. Bikes are also blissfully quiet.
Metro is sponsoring or partnering with others to host events and bike-related activities throughout Bike Month. The full calendar is here. Among the highlights:
•THURSDAY, MAY 16: Metro and many other local transit agencies — including Metrolink commuter rail — are offering free rides as part of National Bike to Work Day. Show your bike or a helmet to claim your ride. More info on the Metro website.
Metro and dozens of organizations will host bicycle pit stops with refreshments and giveaways countywide. Click here for a map of pit stop locations.
•SUNDAY, MAY 19: the 626 Golden Streets event takes place in South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel, offering a great chance to bike, walk and skate on streets closed to auto traffic.
The route links the mission districts in South Pas and San Gabriel and runs through downtown Alhambra. The event will also be easy to reach via the Gold Line’s South Pasadena Station. More info on the 626 website or FB page.
•ALL MONTH: Metro is hosting a plethora of group rides and bike classes throughout L.A. County this month to help make biking as safe as possible and help you coexist with vehicular traffic. Please see this post for dates and times.
•MAY 6, 8 and 9: Three community meetings are being held in May to look at potential routes for the L.A. River Path Project, which aims to fill the eight-mile gap in the river path between Elysian Valley and Maywood. More info on dates and times in this post. And more about this vital Measure M project in this video:
•TUESDAY, MAY 14: The annual Blessing of the Bicycles will be held at Good Samaritan Hospital in L.A.’s Westlake neighborhood just west of DTLA. This event is held to promote bicycling and safety. Click here for more information.
•ALL MONTH: Metro is offering discounts for those who sign up this month to use Metro’s four Bike Hubs, which offer free, secured parking and bike maintenance facilities are are located at Union Station, Hollywood and Vine, Culver City and El Monte Station. (Two more hubs are coming soon to North Hollywood and Willowbrook/Rosa Parks stations, respectively). During Bike Month, you can get 20 percent off on a year pass and a 30-day pass for just $1. Sign up here.
•ALL MONTH: Metro Bike Share is also offering a special deal this month: Use the promo code MOREBIKES2019 for a 30-Day Pass for $1. All trips 30 minutes or less are free and $1.75 per 30 minutes thereafter. The offer is valid May 1 to May 31. Sign up here.
Finally, this: there are a ton of great online resources to help you learn more about biking. The L.A. County Bicycle Coalition has a page with many tips and links on their website. So does the LADOT. REI has a pretty good page devoted to bike repair and maintenance.
There’s a ton of other stuff online. Please feel free to offer links to other sites on the comments page and happy riding!
Categories: Bicycle, Policy & Funding, Projects