BikinginLA

Still waiting for official confirmation, but it doesn’t look good.

A Gofundme page is raising funds to help pay burial expenses for a bike rider named Steven. The page says he was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike home from work near Whittier Blvd and Bluff Road in Montebello.

A Facebook post identifies him as Steven Garcia, and says a ghost bike dedication and vigil will be held in his honor at 8 pm tonight.

Hopefully we’ll get more information soon.

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A heatbreaking story in the Desert Sun recounts the rise and tragic fall of Scott Breithaupt, revered as the Godfather of BMX racing. And tells how addiction eventually led to his death under a tent in a vacant lot.

Meanwhile, his mother describes his final months.

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As expected, Wednesday’s Tour de France leader Tony Martin crashed out with a broken collarbone just before the finish line on Thursday. Then again, Alberto Contador hit the pavement before he even made it to Friday’s starting line, when Mark Cavendish rode to his 26th career Tour win.

Chris Froome inherited the yellow jersey, but didn’t wear it Friday out of respect for Martin; American Tejay van Garderen sits a surprising third. Daniel Teklehaimanot donned the polka dot jersey as the first black African to lead the competition for King of the Mountain.

The doping era still casts a shadow over this year’s TdF, as Italian rider Luca Paolini was bounced from the tour after testing positive for coke. And not the bottled kind.

Legendary photographer Frank Capa turned his lens towards the Tour de France in 1939, while Bicycling continues the tale of the man who punched the great Eddy Merckx in the ’75 Tour. And Business Insider recommends 10 can’t-miss movies to watch when the day’s racing is over, even if you think you don’t care.

Evidently, an apology and a donation to charity is enough to make up for a racist slur uttered by a cyclist “in the heat of battle.” In the US, that would be followed by a stint in rehab.

Checking in on stage six of the Gira Rosa, the only women’s Grand Tour stage race, as American Megan Guarnier still holds the leaders pink jersey; just 14 seconds separate the top three riders. Meanwhile, American time trial specialist Carmen Small had her custom Cervelo stolen, along with other bikes belonging to her teammates.

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Local

The Times looks at the lawsuit over the single-sidewalk redesign of the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge.

Richard Risemberg says a road diet isn’t worth the pavement it’s painted on if the city doesn’t bother to maintain it.

CiclaValley looks at bicycling improvements that may be coming to the Valley as part of Metro’s biennial Call for Projects.

LA Street Services addresses the problem of how to keep protected bike lanes clean with a petite new street sweeper.

Santa Monica police bust a homeless bike thief on Pico Blvd.

Apparently not grasping the irony, Westside Councilmember Paul Koretz will officially name the intersection of Westwood Blvd and La Grange Ave for the man who started LA’s leading riding group this Sunday, labeling it as Raymond Fouquet Square in honor of the late Velo Club La Grange founder. Even though, thanks to Koretz, Westwood remains unfriendly to bike riders, officially and otherwise.

Help the East Side Riders Bike Club build bikes for children this Christmas on the 18th.

Also on the 18th, Long Beach is hosting a bike-in screening of the Wizard of Oz; not the least bit ironic since the only bike rider in the movie turns out to be a wicked witch.

The San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments discusses transportation funding on the 23rd.

 

State

Orange County bike riders get the shaft when NIMBYs pressure a county supervisor and parks staff to unexpectedly oppose a long-planned bike trail in Peters Canyon.

A San Diego Amazon delivery driver is out of a job after being mistaken for a bike thief.

An 18-year old San Diego cyclist is expected to be okay after breaking his lower back in collision. Naturally, the driver claimed she never saw him riding his bike in the crosswalk, and needless to say, no charges have been filed.

A Coronado letter writer complains about visual pollution caused by bike lanes, and suggests that unused bike racks should be removed. Good idea; let’s do the same with excess parking spaces.

Cyclelicious points out some cyclists have opposed separated bikeways since 1898.

A Berkeley-based HuffPo writer says maybe it’s time for bike licenses to curb all that scofflaw riding.

 

National

Bill Nye the Science Guy is one of us, too.

A new series of videos will help you improve those mad mountain biking skills.

Caught on video (sort of): A road raging Chicago driver jumps out of his car to pummel a cyclist, after trying to squeeze the rider out of the bike lane to bypass stalled traffic, then punches another rider who tried to intervene.

A Minnesota cyclist offers advice on how to avoid a right hook. Although he failed to mention moving out into the traffic lane at intersections to avoid being overtaken and cut off by turning vehicles.

Minneapolis approves plans for 30 miles of new protected bike lanes.

Times are good for Boston’s high-end custom bike makers.

New York’s Citi Bike employees become the nation’s first bikeshare employees protected by a union contract.

Caught on video: A passing bike rider reaches out and snatches a smartphone from the hands of a New York woman crossing the street.

Blocking motor vehicle access around the White House is bad enough; a local pol says blocking bike and pedestrian access has got to stop. Meanwhile, DC cyclists form a human shield to press for a protected bike lane.

New bike racks in Richmond VA would honor Union soldiers held prisoner in the Civil War.

The hit-and-run driver who nearly killed a bike-riding three-year old Florida boy was only 14-years old and driving a van he borrowed from his mother without permission; a kind-hearted vet bought the victim a new bike.

 

International

Vancouver’s Chris Bruntlett says expecting drivers and cyclists to play by the same rules is like equating shotguns and water pistols.

A Canadian cyclist injured in the First Responders race that took the life of a Brazilian investigator earlier this month has been released from the hospital.

The Guardian looks at the gender imbalance on London streets, and asks if the city can make them safe for everyone.

The Brits threaten to bring back the Road Tax, just as cyclists were finally starting to convince drivers it doesn’t exist; a bike rider says he’d gladly pay if the numbers just added up.

A UK site asks if cyclists should be allowed to jump red lights, saying tests show it reduces collisions, while noting Paris has virtually eliminated cycling fatalities. So yes, it can be done.

A British letter writer says cyclists should rein it in on the Promenade or else ride in the road, rather than people just, you know, reining in their dogs. Another urges cyclists to slow down after her kitten is killed on a pathway by a rider who didn’t stop.

A Brit cyclist thinks he didn’t do anything wrong in spitting at and racially abusing a motorist; the judge disagreed to the tune of £1,500 — the equivalent of $2,300.

A British cyclist’s planned seven-week tour of the UK with his dog is still ongoing a full year later, and he sees no reason to stop now.

Sixteen months and 14,000 miles later, an Irish rider completes his journey around the world to raise attention for suicide prevention; he was the only one of four cyclists who set out on the World Cycle Race last year who actually finished.

In Denmark, even royals ride cargo bikes.

A Malaysian writer questions if cyclist safety is being taken seriously enough, after witnessing the aftermath of a fatal hit-and-run. Even there, some drivers refuse to take responsibility for their actions.

 

Finally…

Cyclists on a San Jose area bike trail will now ride past a mammoth sculpture, and not just in the big sense. Lots of criminals make their getaway by bike these day, although not many flee from New Hampshire to Florida.

And who knew bikes had steering wheels? Let alone that they could fall off?