Southern California - Marymount goes cyclist-unfriendly

Cyclists who frequent PV are familiar with Marymount College at the base of Crest Drive. The front parking lot is popular with cyclists as a place for rest and regrouping. There's lots of space, shade trees and a faucet for water. Some have ventured down to the office to request bathroom privleidges.

Well, folks, all that is over now. Marymount has posted notices at the front gate prohibiting cyclists from entering the campus. I find that very disappointing. Apparently the management of Marymount is not as friendly as the campus looks. Marymount has denied itself this oppourtnity to "give back" to the commuinity.

I wonder about the students there, and why they don't protest this. Are they all too fat and lazy to do the climb up to the campus?

Does the restriction apply to the students? I notice that in the FAQ concerning variances sought for their building project they indicate:
"While most of the parking needed to support the residence halls will be within 150 feet, some of the parking will be beyond 150 feet. Since this is a campus environment, it is not unusual for students to walk or ride bicycles around the campus."

methinks the powers that be are tired of dealing with the large (read 40+ peeps in lycra w/ bikes) groups double parking on their
private religious college campus. bathroom situations/trash/vomit/more. there is a nice turnout lane /protected area just south of the campus
entrance approx 150 yards away on the same side of the street if ya need to regroup. no bathrooms though or places to sit unless you
grab some curb. the miraleste deli area w/ benches & shade is a mile down pv drive east as well.

regarding the students there, many live in "pee-dro" and don't plan far enough ahead to leave 45 minutes before class for cycling. it's much
more convenient to bomb up the switchbacks or from western 15 minutes before class.

most of the cyclists i've encountered on the peninsula ride 4k+ machines as they can (generally) clearly afford them. the 4
cities that make up the peninsula (rh, rhe, rpv, pve) don't exactly "welcome" cycling on their turf. the streets are usually smooth,
the speed limits are low and the scenery is great. the most telling local governmental attitude regarding cycling is the sign at the base
of pv drive east below the marymount switchbacks. loosely paraphrasing, the sign says bicycles not recommended (on this stretch of road)
even though the visibility/road quality is good, the road width is decent and the speed limit is low. do not recall a similar sign on the other end
of pv drive east which i consider to be way more dangerous because of heavier traffic & auto speeds.

the most telling local governmental attitude regarding cycling is the sign at the base
of pv drive east below the marymount switchbacks. loosely paraphrasing, the sign says bicycles not recommended (on this stretch of road)
even though the visibility/road quality is good, the road width is decent and the speed limit is low.

Really? I've ridden along here and never noticed such a sign. I guess it isn't extremely visible?

We got chased out of there 2 weeks ago after using it for years. I suspect there was an 'incident' of some kind which brought on the decision.
A local store stopped welcoming us after a cyclist sued them when he slipped and fell in the store while wearing cleats.
The store we switched to is growing tired of us making a mess at the fountain when 10 of us get ice and water and don't buy anything.

:notamused:WTF ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions. If some idiot rider is going into a store that has a hard floor without taking his shoes off, and then falls on his ass, it sounds like it is his fault, not the store owners. The rider is the one that should be paying for his own stupidity, not the store.

And it sounds like you will be looking for yet another store soon, " when 10 of us get ice and water and don't buy anything.", is not a way they will welcome you back. Don't be so damn cheap and drop a few dollars. I will assume you guys can all aford it.

When things happen like the parking lot at the school no longer being available, it is usually the riders own fault for that. No one to blame but themselves.:cry:

Really? I've ridden along here and never noticed such a sign. I guess it isn't extremely visible?

as of 6 months ago, it was there on the right hand side about 50-75 yards after turning onto the west (marymount) end of pv drive east.
don't think many cyclists see it as we are likely focusing on the grade ahead and adjusting our effort/gearing/cadence right at that point...
or looking at the view. it's smaller than a "stop" sign but bigger than a "no parking" sign.

We got chased out of there 2 weeks ago after using it for years. I suspect there was an 'incident' of some kind which brought on the decision.
A local store stopped welcoming us after a cyclist sued them when he slipped and fell in the store while wearing cleats.
The store we switched to is growing tired of us making a mess at the fountain when 10 of us get ice and water and don't buy anything.

I talked to one of the guards there a while ago. He said that a cyclist mouthed off to a motorist trying to get into the driveway and refused to move his bike from blocking it. The guy in the car happened to be the school president (or was it principle?). In other words, one jerk cyclist pisses off pretty much the worst guy possible and everyone suffers. It sucks, but I can't say I blame Marymount. Lesson here? Don't be a jackass.

:notamused:WTF ever happened to people being responsible for their own actions. If some idiot rider is going into a store that has a hard floor without taking his shoes off, and then falls on his ass, it sounds like it is his fault, not the store owners. The rider is the one that should be paying for his own stupidity, not the store.

And it sounds like you will be looking for yet another store soon, " when 10 of us get ice and water and don't buy anything.", is not a way they will welcome you back. Don't be so damn cheap and drop a few dollars. I will assume you guys can all aford it.

When things happen like the parking lot at the school no longer being available, it is usually the riders own fault for that. No one to blame but themselves.:cry:

I always buy something there. I was trying to make a point about how inconsiderate some of us are. I have seen the store owner watch and shake his head as cyclists make a huge mess.
btw, the guy that sued the Rock Store didn't get anything, but still ruined the stop for us.


I talked to one of the guards there a while ago. He said that a cyclist mouthed off to a motorist trying to get into the driveway and refused to move his bike from blocking it. The guy in the car happened to be the school president (or was it principle?). In other words, one jerk cyclist pisses off pretty much the worst guy possible and everyone suffers. It sucks, but I can't say I blame Marymount. Lesson here? Don't be a jackass.

Figures.

Hello,

I am not happy to hear the news about Marymount College. Our club has a ride in our Sunday ride rotation that almost always stops there. The funny thing is that the last time we went there three weeks ago, we skipped the stop at the college. We usually get water from a faucet on the side of one of the buildings. I am very confident that we have not ever littered or damaged the grounds. Now we'll have to make an interim water stop elsewhere on hot days. :(

I really agree with Hillbasher about people taking responsibility for their actions, and for acting responsibly. Mouthing off to drivers, abusing priveliges at stores or other businesses -- that kind of irresponsibility eventually effects us all.
Anyway, the signs at Marymount are down now. I guess we're welcome again, despite the actions of the irresponsible one amongst our ranks.
Next gripe: At the entrance to RPV Estates at the top of Crest Drive, the guard shack has a faucet behind it that has been popular with cyclists. Now there's a sign there saying "Private Property, cyclists do not use faucet". That's the only guard shack that I've ever known to be unwelcoming to cyclists.

whatever happened to people taking all the water/drinks they needed on a ride or stopping
at the local corner store during the ride to procure adequate hydration? would it kill us to
drop a couple of bucks here and there vs. mooching? there are plenty of little liquor/market stores,
7-11's, starsux, et al on the peninsula. if we're only talking about dunking our heads or washing
our faces off, there are plenty of horse troughs around but methinks the mtb'ers have dibs.:p
i'm pretty sure the roadies have dibs on the pacific tho and it is a peninsula...
wherever you are on crest, it's only a couple of downhill/false flat miles to pedro/miraleste/
peninsula center/golden cove and the stores.

As to the sign for "bicycles not recommended", they cannon legally close the road to bicycles without closing the roadway to motor vehicles. Sign be damned, just ride. Is Marymount a public facility? If not, they can do what they please for access. Bring your own water. An extra bottle isn't going to hurt.

yea, the bicycles not recommended at the base of the hill is weird; kind of a passive-aggressive thing from the rpv city council.
must have gotten complaints from a non-riding fellow council member/council member's friend or city benefactor. don't recall
ever hearing about a cycling fatality in that area. proly just covering their assets knowing that we riders will ride where we wanna
and that plenty of attorneys live/ride in the area. the city's legal representation may have recommended some sort of "warning."
that stretch from malaga cove through palos verdes, into rpv and the slide area (way better than it used to be!) then up to
marymount and/or straight to the royal palms/korean bell/pt. fermin lighthouse area is the most trafficked area by cyclists on the
peninsula. it's scenic and relatively low speeds/traffic. plus there aren't many hills in the immediate torrance/beach areas
to tackle except the prospect/190th area and pedro side. way more traffic/speed and roads are generally worse.

i remember when the inaugural tour of california finished in the redondo beach area. thought it would be
excellent if they incorporated part of the peninsula temporarily forgetting pv/rh/rhe/rpv love their nimby
livestyle. they like that geographic/financial isolationism and the just far enuff from l.a. feeling. i'm not
holding my breath for the toc to roll thru there or for palos verdes to install those badly
needed stoplights by the malaga cove police/fire station in my lifetime...