Cycling Upland: A Fine Driveway

This is for everyone who, whether on foot, bike, or horse, get some of their weekly miles on Ye Bridle Path through Upland - that extra-wide median, shaded by old pepper trees along Euclid Avenue. From the Los Angeles Herald in July 1894:

"Between the central rows of shade trees on Euclid avenue our bicycle club has made a fine driveway which the boys intend to grade for a distance of nearly five miles towards the mountains."

You read that right, Ye Olde Bridle Path owes its beginnings to the earliest bicycle riders of Ontario - remember Upland was part of Ontario until 1906. My initial surprise when I read that one short passage quickly gave way to understanding when I realized that it was perfectly natural that bicyclists would be behind such an endeavor:

Less than a month later, a continent away, in New York City to be exact, Justice Quigley found Teamster Otto Schruma guilty of deliberately running down bicyclist S. A. Smith, injuring him and destroying his bike. In making his decision, Justice Quigley said: "Too much liberty is being taken with bicycle riders by drivers, and it must be stopped. Bicycle riders have rights which must be respected. They are human beings and must be treated as such." Schruma, unable to pay his fine, was sentenced to fifty days in jail. The first bicycle boom was in full swing in the 1890s and conflicts between drivers of carriages and wagons, and bicyclists were commonplace around the country. The drive to create separate paths naturally grew out of this conflict (and yes, continues to this day). Dedicated paths for bicycles were being created all around the country at the time, the most notable locals ones being the path between Los Angeles and Santa Monica, and the elevated path between Pasadena and Los Angeles.

There you go another bit of local history, little known, with ties to the regions' earliest bicyclists. I guess the city should consider changing the sign - "Ye Old Cycle Path", perhaps.