Comments on: Westwood has the stupidest bike lane in the U.S. http://greenlagirl.com/westwood-has-the-stupidest-bike-lane-in-the-us/ Urban environmental lifestyle blog in Los Angeles Tue, 22 May 2012 01:46:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Kim http://greenlagirl.com/westwood-has-the-stupidest-bike-lane-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-405358 Kim Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:22:17 +0000 http://greenlagirl.com/?p=6326#comment-405358 People do bike in the snow...at least up here, I would imagine they do elsewhere also. I don't do it a whole lot anymore because I'm terrified enough of the driversin this city in the summer...it's ridiculous in the winter. But yes...plenty of bikers. People put studs on their bike tires just like they do with car tires in cold/snowy climates. There is also all kinds of gear you can get to combat the cold my favorite being <a href="http://commutebybike.com/2008/01/18/pogies/" rel="nofollow"> pogies </a> It definitely takes some adaptation, but biking in the snow is totally possible! People do bike in the snow…at least up here, I would imagine they do elsewhere also. I don’t do it a whole lot anymore because I’m terrified enough of the driversin this city in the summer…it’s ridiculous in the winter. But yes…plenty of bikers. People put studs on their bike tires just like they do with car tires in cold/snowy climates. There is also all kinds of gear you can get to combat the cold my favorite being pogies

It definitely takes some adaptation, but biking in the snow is totally possible!

]]> By: Gary Kavanagh http://greenlagirl.com/westwood-has-the-stupidest-bike-lane-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-405356 Gary Kavanagh Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:17:24 +0000 http://greenlagirl.com/?p=6326#comment-405356 Women in Copenhagen bike in the snow sometimes with nothing but a jacket skirt and some wool leggings. You would be surprised how not cold freezing conditions are when you have the right materials for trapping the body heat produced by cycling. Snow is actually better then rain for cycling comfort because you don't get saturated so quickly. The really hardcore cyclists in snowy places don't wait for the ice and snow to be cleared from the road, they roll with steel spiked studded tires for traction. All that being said, I'll take SoCal weather for cycling over anywhere else in the world. Los Angeles may not be designed well for cycling but you couldn't ask for a better climate. Women in Copenhagen bike in the snow sometimes with nothing but a jacket skirt and some wool leggings. You would be surprised how not cold freezing conditions are when you have the right materials for trapping the body heat produced by cycling. Snow is actually better then rain for cycling comfort because you don’t get saturated so quickly. The really hardcore cyclists in snowy places don’t wait for the ice and snow to be cleared from the road, they roll with steel spiked studded tires for traction.

All that being said, I’ll take SoCal weather for cycling over anywhere else in the world. Los Angeles may not be designed well for cycling but you couldn’t ask for a better climate.

]]> By: Siel http://greenlagirl.com/westwood-has-the-stupidest-bike-lane-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-405353 Siel Fri, 23 Jan 2009 22:08:01 +0000 http://greenlagirl.com/?p=6326#comment-405353 Hearing about all this snow's making me shudder! It's actually raining here today, and yesterday we had a lil quake, so natural conditions are not at their optimal in SoCal either :P Do people bike in the snow? Hearing about all this snow’s making me shudder! It’s actually raining here today, and yesterday we had a lil quake, so natural conditions are not at their optimal in SoCal either :P Do people bike in the snow?

]]> By: Kim http://greenlagirl.com/westwood-has-the-stupidest-bike-lane-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-405211 Kim Fri, 23 Jan 2009 02:57:06 +0000 http://greenlagirl.com/?p=6326#comment-405211 We have no more than 4 bike lanes (of which I'm aware) here in Anchorage, AK. And every one of them is shorter than the one he is showing you. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. Each starts and stops with ZERO warning, they are quite ridiculous. Although, this is generally one of the least bike friendly places ever if you want to ride on the streets. (We do have a VERY nice trail system, but it basically runs through the center of the city, and along the coast...so anyone who uses their bike for transportation has to venture of the trail.) I would go take a video of each of these lanes...but they are all covered under snow and ice right now...making it even more frustrating that there are no signs. (People DO bike commute all winter long up here!) We have no more than 4 bike lanes (of which I’m aware) here in Anchorage, AK. And every one of them is shorter than the one he is showing you. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE. Each starts and stops with ZERO warning, they are quite ridiculous. Although, this is generally one of the least bike friendly places ever if you want to ride on the streets. (We do have a VERY nice trail system, but it basically runs through the center of the city, and along the coast…so anyone who uses their bike for transportation has to venture of the trail.)

I would go take a video of each of these lanes…but they are all covered under snow and ice right now…making it even more frustrating that there are no signs. (People DO bike commute all winter long up here!)

]]> By: Gary Kavanagh http://greenlagirl.com/westwood-has-the-stupidest-bike-lane-in-the-us/comment-page-1/#comment-405186 Gary Kavanagh Thu, 22 Jan 2009 23:51:26 +0000 http://greenlagirl.com/?p=6326#comment-405186 This video was around the bike blogosphere for a while, but I think there are dumber and shorter ones then that. The one that comes to mind right away for me is between North and South Venice Blvd. on Pacific Ave and only on the Northbound side. That bike lane is one block long, a very short block at that, I think shorter then the one in the video, and it's only on the north bound side. There is no point to such a thing, and as soon as you leave that block where the bike lane was it dumps right into street parking, so you either have to change lane position before or during going through the intersection if you actually ride in that bike lane, which you can get through with one solid pedal stroke on a freewheel. Dumb dumb and extra dumb for good measure. This video was around the bike blogosphere for a while, but I think there are dumber and shorter ones then that. The one that comes to mind right away for me is between North and South Venice Blvd. on Pacific Ave and only on the Northbound side. That bike lane is one block long, a very short block at that, I think shorter then the one in the video, and it’s only on the north bound side. There is no point to such a thing, and as soon as you leave that block where the bike lane was it dumps right into street parking, so you either have to change lane position before or during going through the intersection if you actually ride in that bike lane, which you can get through with one solid pedal stroke on a freewheel. Dumb dumb and extra dumb for good measure.

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