Pedaling Paradise Lost

EXHAUSTED FROM PEDALING along the LA River for Bike to Work Week? You probably didn't do much of it south of Atwater Village. Blog-LA-sphere friend Will Campbell scores an op-ed commentary in this morning's LA Times: "To experience the full dysfunction of Los Angeles cycling, there's no better place than the Los Angeles River Bikeway. Its northernmost four miles, from Griffith Park to Atwater Village, are a pedaling paradise: smooth pavement, lighting, a dedicated bridge over Los Feliz Boulevard. But cross Fletcher Avenue and the riding gets rough..." Will argues that the "Fletcher Divide," the vanishing bike lane on Santa Monica Boulevard and other planning missteps continue to show that LA cyclists are a "transportation afterthought." Or as this handwritten Fletcher Divide warning sign so eloquently puts it, "dangerous slippy slide slime."