Up the Road: Those Local Bike Week Events

It is the middle of May now (already - another year speeding by) which means Bike Week is here, and accompanied by some events you might want to take note of:

This year the Bike to Work Pit Stop, sponsored by Metro and hosted by the Pomona Valley Bike Coalition is returning to its Claremont Depot location. There you will find a morning welcome, friendly faces, free handouts, free coffee, free donuts courtesy of Grizzly's Biscuits & Donuts, and free express tune-ups and bike checks courtesy of Sunset Cycles. The Pit Stop will be up and running from 7:00am to about 9:00am.

If, like me, you need to be half way to work by seven o'clock you can commiserate on missing the morning festivities with the thought of Handlebar Happy Hour on the way back home in the evening. Handlebar Happy Hour will, once again, take place at the Press from about 6:00pm to 8:00pm. There you can talk about your commute, plans for next year's local open streets event, or the nations' looming dictatorship, over dinner and a drink (keeping in mind that you still have to ride the rest of the way home).

On a more sombre note, Wednesday the 17th, will mark another Ride of Silence. The global event, remembering those riders who have lost their lives on our roads includes numerous rides in the Los Angeles area, including the San Fernando Valley, Pasadena, Irvine and, I believe, Fullerton, Orange and Huntington Beach. Our most local ride will once again be the Rancho Cucamonga ride from 6:00 to about 7:30. Bring your bike, bring your helmet, bring you silence, but leave the racing legs at home, that is not what this ride is about.