Do you know how, when you hear a word for the first time all of a sudden you hear it all over the place? That’s exactly what happened to me with the word Ciclovia. What a great word. With Colombian origins it has morphed into a word to describe the closing of a street to automobiles and designating a bicycle route. It is an event, perhaps in right minds a way of life!
Wikikpedia describes it in this way:
Each Sunday and holiday the main streets of Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and other municipalities, …

1) Did you get a DUI?
2) Do you pick up your date on that?
3) Big Lance Armstrong fan?
4) But you own a car, right?
5) Must suck when it rains, huh?
6) Do you know my friend? He does Critical Mass.
7) Aren’t you terrified in traffic?
Does it take you a long time to get to work?
9) Do you ride with all those hipsters at night?
10) Do you know my friend? He does that triathlon stuff.
11) Do you think Lance will win the Tour de France?
12) Are you a big environmentalist
13) …

A new traffic help line has launched, and if it plays out as good as it is described to be -it will be great new way to check the traffic and then some.
A new telephone and web service, which will debut in a “test mode” on Monday, will include an automated 511 telephone number and a website, Go511.com, said Jose Ubaldo of Metro.
During testing, users can give feedback to improve the system. Both the telephone and the Internet connections have prompts for feedback, …

I received this information from Babara Filet this morning. Tonight’s community meeting is very important if you want the Bergamot Bike Path.
Action
Attend the community meeting on June 9 at Virginia Park at 7 p.m. Speak up or submit comments in support of the Bergamot-Agensys Bike Path.
Date: Wednesday, June 9, 7 p.m.
Location: Virginia Park community room, on Pico Blvd. just south of Cloverfield
If you can’t attend, send emails to the Santa Monica City Council: <council@smgov.net>

Sharrows coming to 20th Street in Santa Monica soon. …

One of my favorite sayings, and an axiom for most of my decision-making, comes from Gore Vidal: “Never turn down an opportunity to have sex or be on television.” About a year and a half ago, I had one of the rare opportunities to put this heuristic to work. Days before the financial system melted down, I was going to get to play the part of “bicycle geek” in KCET’s “SoCal Connected” episode about LA traffic. Granted, KCET isn’t exactly Lopez Tonight, but one has a better chance of maintaining …

How goes the fight for the right for the road? The battle continues, but some locations in LA make it perfectly clear with Sharrows!

Bicycle Sharrows Expected to be on L.A. Streets by Summer
Plans to pilot bicycle sharrows on Los Angeles streets are beginning to solidify, a city bicycle official said today.
LAist one of my favorite blogs scores again with putting out the kind of  information I want to know. Thanks Zach!
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This is very exciting! “Google it” just took on a whole new meaning for a whole lot of cyclists today. Google Maps launched a “bike directions” application. It took place today at the National Bike Summit in Washington.  The New York Times reports:
Much like the driving and walking directions on Google Maps, the service selects a route and calculates estimated cycling times after a user provides start and end points. The routing algorithm attempts to select optimal directions that avoid freeways and busy roads …

How can cyclists ever be safe when the authorities play fast and loose with the term “hit and run” vs. a “traffic accident” or just don’t “serve and protect” people who ride bycicles? Ed Magos was hit by a car:
…..From the corner of his eye, he saw the woman walk toward him. He yelled “I can’t move! Call 911!”
He remained motionless and continued to call for help, then heard the sound of car door closing, then the sound of an engine starting. He craned his head and caught the license …

Doctor sentenced to 5 years in prison for assaulting bicyclists in Brentwood
Are you a bicyclist? Who antagonized whom? Doesn’t really matter once you use your vehicle as a weapon.Talk about a hot button issue. Bicyclists have had a “tough road (row) to hoe” since bicycles started to take off in the late nineteenth century.
What and whom the road is for has been a question ever since humans decided to do anything but walk. Once humans became “traffic”, people had to figure out a whole new way to get around and get along. …