Bicycle Fixation's Classic Wool Knickers are finally back in stock, after the usual delays in our capable but overworked downtown factory.

The price went up slightly, to $119.00, as we bit the bullet and went with a higher grade of gabardine than was strictly necessary--just because it was so beautiful. Still a bargain for elegant knickers of this quality.

Two colors, again: what we call Soft Black, a charcoal without any hint of harshness in color, weave, or drape, and our trademark burgundy gusset, and Olive Brown, with a black gusset. We've run Olive Brown before--the photo with a leg in it is an earlier version--but none we've seen before is as visually pleasing as this one.

The likelihood of our finding these fabrics again is low, so don't hesitate. The Olive Brown in particular is in short supply--we could get enough cloth to make only twenty pair, and only in the sizes shown.

You bigger folk take heed as well: we have sizes 40 and 42 in stock in Soft Black only.

Details on our shopping cart here.

Richard Risemberg on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:36:25 -0800 [link]  

Still harping on bike parking at orange 20, with a post on the unexpected potential of LA's new bus benches as supplementary racks in Don't Knock This Opportunity.

And I muse on bike trailers, bakfietsen, longtails, and life in LA in Know When to Fold 'Em on Flying Pigeon LA's website.

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:37:49 -0800 [link]  

Another small victory, though one that involved considerable negotiation and even a bit of infighting in LA's fractured cycling advocacy world. Yes, some of our own were bitterly against the facility pictured in the snap I took yesterday:



This is a rare example of interjurisdictional coordination, even if it basically involved shouting between civic silos. Main Street spans both Santa Monica and Venice, the latter being not a city of its own but a distinct, and distinctive, neighborhood of Los Angeles. Santa Monica has had bike lanes on its portion of Main Street for several years now. That city's portion of the street swarms with cyclists of all sorts, and particularly everyday-cyclist types, who ride for pleasure and transportation, not fitness and competition. The numerous bike racks are always crowded, as are the adjacent restaurants, bars, coffeehouses, and shops.

Likewise on Abbott Kinney, Venice's own little main drag, which feeds into Main Street near the border between the two towns. LA recently added sharrows there, and greatly increased the number of racks, with the result that you can barely wedge yourself into Intelligentsia (my own fave coffeehouse on the strip).

But LA's share of Main Street, though it has shops and a number of bike racks, just hasn't had the scene yet. It is far to walk to, tedious to park on, and dreary to ride through--but that has just changed, and I suspect we'll see a jump in street life as cyclists discover the new bike lanes that went in last week.

LA's new stripes run from the Santa Monica border south to Venice Circle, a much-needed addition to the network.

Now I hope the city will eventually see fit to extend them past the traffic circle to Venice Way, Mildred, and eventually Washington Boulevard, where they would take riders through the Marina to points south, including the Ballona Creek bike path and the South Bay beach cities.

Richard Risemberg on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:19:17 -0800 [link]  

Last week I snagged a picture of bikepath buddy Dennis and his 85-year-old President bicycle, his daily ride, and wrote them up at Orange 20; read the story at Time and the Pedals Turning.

And today I filled Flying Pigeon's blog with chatter about an unexpected possibility for siting bike racks in What the Center Holds.

And while you're here, don't forget the previous post on my own blog--just scroll down a bit--about Whittier's "Mystery Bridge."

Richard Risemberg on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:15:32 -0800 [link]  

The bridge in the image below is not a railroad bridge, though it used to be one. At first glance I thought it still was, but then I noticed little figures walking and cycling across it, and wind sculptures along the right-of-way--not an enhancement typical of freight railways by any means!

But, though it was obviously part of a bikeway, and one that seemed to be going in my direction (I was pedaling to Fullerton for a meeting), there was nary a sign to indicate what it was, where it went, or how to get onto it.



This is all too typical of Los Angeles and its environs. In the same city--Whittier--I passed several signs pointing right or left from Whittier Bouelvard itself, where I was riding, and indicating "Bike Route." But no indication of where said bike route might lead--just the sign and a lonely arrow.

Well, I keep grousing about wayfinding both publicly and behind the scenes at various government agencies concerned with such things; maybe they'll figure it out one of these days. (There's supposedly a wayfinding project underway in LA County, but no one I've asked yet seems to have details.)

Meanwhile, if you're in or near Whittier, you might check out the Whittier Greenway--I had to go online to discover its name. Looks like a pretty useful local route, and that bridge does get you over a complex and poorly-signed intersection with grace and ease. Here's the trail's webpage.

Richard Risemberg on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:27:30 -0800 [link]  

This week's maunderings:

At Orange 20, I hammer once more on my favorite theme of wayfinding, in Lost in LA, while on Flying Pigeon LA's blog I eke out a bit of enthusiasm for El Monte: Crossroads of Progress?--which really ain't so bad!

Richard Risemberg on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 13:29:57 -0800 [link]  

I saw this handsome bike rack by the Santa Monica Pier on Friday, right by where Cirque du Soleil was setting up. I don't know whether it belongs to Cirque or to the City of Santa Monica, but I hope the latter, and I hope we see more of them.



With two mounting points it is as easy to install as a wave rack, but with the clever bend it provides as much support to parked bikes as a row of inverted-U or staple racks. And it looks a bit less utilitarian than either, while actually being more so.

Note the crappy "wheelbendeer" racks sulking in the shadows behind it!

Richard Risemberg on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:28:21 -0800 [link]  

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