Morning Links: New VR bike lets you pretend to pedal a pony; SoCal group named America’s Best New Bike Club

It’s said that nothing kills a bad product like good advertising.

But the question is, what effect does excruciatingly bad advertising have on a new product? Like this virtual reality stationary bike that lets you pretend you’re pedaling a race car. Or a pony.

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up; my apologies to Mike for misspelling his name earlier.

………

Congratulations to SoCal juniors and adult bike club GS Andiamo, which was named the country’s Best New Bike Club of the Year by USA Cycling. Thanks to David Huntsman for the news.

………

‘Tis the season.

San Diego school police give bikes, helmets and locks to 29 elementary students, while 143 needy kids get bikes at a National City school.

San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies will give bikes refurbished by honor farm inmates to kids in need for the 26th year; last year they donated 175 bikes and helmets.

Four Oklahoma and Missouri area businesses band together to donate 200 bikes to kids in need.

A Tampa bike giveaway goes on despite the death of the program’s founder; 515 kids will get new bikes this year.

………

Help keep LA's best source for bike news and advocacy coming to you every morning.

Support BikinginLA. Because the next step is performing as a spandex-clad bicycling superhero on Hollywood Blvd. And no one wants to see that.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says the death of a 17-year old pedestrian on Wednesday shows the need for safety improvements on North Figueroa.

Work is underway to widen Agoura Road in Agoura Hills, including sidewalks and bike lanes.

 

State

San Francisco’s take on an Idaho Stop law barely passes, but without the votes to overcome the mayor’s threatened veto.

Sad news from Sacramento, as a lightless bike rider was killed shortly after dark on Tuesday. Always carry lights with you this time of year, even if you don’t expect to be out after dark; even a slight delay or a flat can mean riding home later than planned.

The Sacramento Bee takes a look at bikepacking in the backcountry.

Davis cyclists will present new bikes to two teenage racers who were deliberately run down by a crazed driver in a stolen car last summer.

A Davis bike thief is busted with meth, two loaded guns and a large quantity of stolen mail, along with five high-end stolen bikes. There’s got to be a punchline in there somewhere.

 

National

A new medical study offers advice for parents of children with ADHD, who are more likely to have collisions and close calls when riding their bikes across the street.

Apparently, there’s a reason bicyclists don’t seem to get sick as often as other people.

Bicycling offers advice on how to stay safer on every ride, and honors a woman who broke sex and racial barriers by taking to two wheels in the 1890s.

Evidently, if you want to stop bike theft in Portland, it takes an intern.

After tackling the man who just stole his bike, a Texas rider talks it out and lets him go with a fist bump instead of calling police.

The Missouri mayor charged with deliberately ramming a cyclist before fleeing the scene insists the rider blew a stop and swore at him before grabbing the car and falling down on his own.

DC vows to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.

 

International

A London man faces charges for stabbing three people in the back as he rode by them in a series of separate incidents.

Bad enough we have to deal with drunk drivers. A Welsh cyclist was seriously injured when a drunk woman kicked his bike as he rode past her.

A UK website asks if your bike could be a fake.

A British man is about to complete a 12,000 mile ride from Australia to the UK to raise money for a children’s hospice.

A Facebook post tells the story of an Indian man who spent four months riding through eight countries to be reunited with his Swedish wife in the 1970s, only to learn he had married into the royal family. True or not, it’s a nice enough story to wish it is.

The seven best places to ride a bike the next time you’re in the United Arab Emirates.

Australia tries out a glow-in-the-dark bike path, which is expected to replace electric lights with over eight hours of illumination.

Representatives of a Thai airline ride through the country in matching yellow jerseys. “We all ride in a yellow peloton, a yellow peloton, a yellow peloton…”

 

Finally…

A cherubic-looking bicycle-riding car thief is busted for the 20th time, which is an impressive rap sheet for a 12-year old. When you’re running away from home, making your escape by riding your bike on a busy freeway probably isn’t the best choice.

And caught on video: Sometimes the debris in the road is just trash, sometimes it’s an alligator.

One comment

  1. David Wolfberg says:

    Now Cedillo is talking up adding a couple of stop lights and “beacons” and extending crosswalk time. We should welcome these changes, but it also feels like his tone for North Fig going forward is the same one set to date: “Anything but bike lanes.”

Discover more from BikinginLA

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading