Brit Sharon / Round Up
Pierce College continues to grow with the addition of The Los Angeles Pierce College Bicycle Club a new club on campus that meets every Monday at the Student Community Center from 1-2 p.m.
The Pierce Bike Club, as it is known, is a baby project of the Valley Bikery, which is a bicycle co-op started last year in the San Fernando Valley that promotes cycling as a sustainable, healthy, and fun method of transportation.
The Valley Bikery has already helped set up bike clubs at both Valley College and CSUN and is happy to have their volunteers that attend Pierce start one here, too.
Alya Stein, one of the founders of the Valley Bikery says, “We created the Valley Bikery after seeing the necessity of biking options in the Valley. Los Angeles, Hollywood—they are all improving their bicycle infrastructure but the Valley hasn’t and it really isn’t safe.”
“I like it, I really like it. It’s definitely meeting the needs of the valley,” Justin Enerson, 24, points out, “since starting the co-op the bike community has really come together.”
The Los Angeles Pierce College Bicycle Club’s mission aims to promote safe cycling at and around Pierce College as well as the San Fernando Valley. As well as provide a social and educational environment for students cyclist and the “bike-curious”.
Hannah Bower, 19, a Linguistics Major and President of The Pierce Bike Club explains, ” Cycling can be dangerous if you don’t know what your doing and that’s why we’re here. To educate.”
Some of the plan for The Pierce Bike Club are to bringing a mobile bike clinic to Pierce in order to educating students about bicycle safety and give student the opportunity to fix any basic problems one might come across while cycling.
The Pierce Bike Club also plans on being an advocacy for cycling in the San Fernando Valley area. Right now The Pierce Bike Club is working to fight for bike lanes on Desoto Avenue from the 118 to Pierce in order to help students use their bikes as a form of transportation to school and be safe at the same time.
Justino Garcia, 23, a Business Ethics Major says, “The infrastructure needs to be set in order to give people the opportunity to ride. Without bike lanes using bikes as a form of transportation is useless.”
“It’s illegal to ride bikes on the sidewalks, and there are no bike lanes, so where are we to ride?” Bower adds.
The Valley Bikery along with The Pierce Bike Club hold Expeditions every month which are rides to help people get comfortable with riding on the streets as well as other actives that sponsors bring in.
“We try to provide resources to all types of riders, from beginner to the experienced,” explains Stein
The Valley Bikery can be found in a section of Valley Bicycles located at 21112 Devonshire St. in Chatsworth.
Next month the Valley Bikery will be holding a workshop at CSUN in mid April and hopes to bring some to Pierce later in the semester.
For more information visit www.valleybikery.com.
Justino Garcia, a member of he Pierce Bike Club, works on a bike at the Valley Bikery (Brit Sharon / Roundup)