California Cycling HIGH GEAR No. 17, Jan. 1975, 25 Cents

 

Around Los Angeles With JO COOPER

Yelling "Go home you stupid mutt!" used to be my best defense against stray dogs. No more. I've found the greatest dog deterrent yet.      STOP 'UM looks like a pen gun. You load it with a 12 guage shot gun primer, but when fired nothing comes out except a LOUD noise. Don't practice with it too close though, I hear of a a friend who got slight powder burns on his bare leg about three feet away. I took mine to the local sheriff's office and they took it all apart and examined it carefully. At first one officer thought it came under Section #14 and was a felony to own. Luckily upon further investigation they found it would NOT accept a tear gas shell so is OK.      At least 20 Los Angeles Wheelman think it's mrore than OK On a scenic trip through the autumn leaves of New England lately they were attacked by dogs 42 times. Their STOP 'UM's stopped every one. Really great! $7.50pp ECM Company, 16624 Oakmont Ave., Gaithersburg, MD. 20760 -------      A free cycle workshop was held at Citrus College in Azusa. Mike Iannone, an international cyclist showed slides and gave a great talk on choosing a bike, equipment for camping and long distance touring. In the afternoon he and his mechanics repaired bicycles for some of the 60 people who attended the all day affair. Watch for this type of workshop in your area and participate. Even veteran riders can learn new tricks. -------

The Pasadena city fathers have accepted the Pasadena Transportation Program which includes a combination of bike routes, bike lanes, and bike paths. Actually this first stage consists of a grid work of 45 miles of corridors most commonly used by cyclists. It was proposed by a committee headed by City Traffic Engineer, Dave Barnhart. Last year the board of directors would hardly listen to the word "bike" so we were all overjoyed with their change of heart this year. -------      Romance wins out again on the bikeways. A member of the Los Angeles Wheelmen met a gal at the Pasadena Historical Ride in February. He brought his tandem, but his date didn't show up. Along the route he stopped to help a stranger. Her bike was broken so they loaded it onto the sag wagon and she rode the rest of the way on his tandem. Now they plan to be married. Do you suppose they'll play "Bicycle Built For Two" at the wedding?

COMMENT By Ralph Cooper, 4-23-08      This article was published in the January 1975 issue of High Gear. In order to combine our family's interest in biking with her interest in writing, Jo submitted several articles to the paper for approval and shortly was invited to act as their editor. She continued in that position for several years and was a frequent contributor.

 

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