Morning Links: Uproar over dope-tinged Strava KOMS, a bike lane by any other name, and Nessie viewing by bike

No major stories today, so let’s just get right to it.

Local

The Times looks at the uproar over Strava KOMs held by convicted PED dealer Nicholas Brandt-Sorenson.

The NoHo Arts District is looking for participants for the Reseda Arts Walk this June, including the possibility of a bike ride if anyone wants to put one together.

CiclaValley rides up the old Mount Wilson Toll Road in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains.

 

State

Just Another Cyclist chats with US track sprinter, Team Novo Nordisk member and lifelong Type 1 diabetic Mandy Marquardt.

A champion Mixed Martial Arts fighter teams with a group of volunteers to give away 70 bicycles to needy families in Lucerne Valley, as well as feeding 200 people and providing complimentary haircuts.

Ebikes race for the first time at the Sea Otter Classic, for no apparent reason.

A Merced candidate for mother of the year flees the scene after running down a cyclist in front of multiple witnesses — including an off-duty cop — with her three-year old daughter in the car, sans child seat, of course.

Caught on video: A San Francisco bike thief uses power tools to steal a bike in broad daylight in front of multiple witnesses. And as usual, no one seems to notice or care.

Marin County attempts to bypass the usual bikelash by renaming bike lanes as “stripped shoulders” in a coming road reconfiguration.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Sonoma Valley triathlete is still training for the future at age 78. I mean, besides the whole running and swimming part.

Seriously? A Chico woman starts a petition to halt planned safety improvements on the city’s Esplanade in order to preserve the street’s “historic integrity.” Evidently, dangerously auto-centric streets are now cultural artifacts.

 

National

Portland researchers are attempting to establish standards for the safest intersection designs for bicyclists.

Seattle demonstrates the wisdom of building protected bike lanes quickly, going from temporary paint and bollards to permanent planter barriers in just four months.

My hometown continues to get better for bikes by sacrificing business parking to convert what was once a risky route through town into a bike friendly street. Sadly, it only comes a few decades too late for me. Although the story does mention the joint where my mandolin maestro brother plays bluegrass from time to time.

Wisconsin police bust an off-campus bike chop shop plundering students at a local university.

Boston bicyclists have their own equivalent of the Marathon Crash Ride in the dark hours before the Boston Marathon.

High-end hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai is one of us, fracturing his wrist when he fell off his bike not far from Poughkeepsie NY.

A staff columnist for the student newspaper at North Carolina State U, who apparently has never ridden one, says bicycling is the worst form of transportation, in part because he has personally seen two bike wrecks; apparently he’s never seen cars collide. Thanks to former Bicycling Magazine editor-in-chief Peter Flax for the link.

This is the cost of driving under the influence. An Atlanta driver was allegedly high when he hit a car, then jumped the curb and hit three young boys riding their bikes on the sidewalk, killing one and leaving the other two in critical condition.

 

International

An expert in office space and productivity advices businesses to prioritize walking and bicycling facilities and forget about cars to maintain a productive workspace.

Cycling Weekly offers six tips on how to properly wear a cycling cap. Or you could just wear one any way you damn well want, which is what style is all about.

The union representing pro cyclists calls for a lifetime ban for anyone caught motor doping, while bike racing’s governing body seems confident they can catch them. Even though they apparently haven’t done too well so far.

Cycling legend the Cannibal says allowing disc brakes in the peloton was irresponsible and life-threatening.

The forgiving husband of a fallen London cyclist makes a successful plea to keep the distracted truck driver who killed her out of prison; the driver didn’t see her because he was too busy “tidying up” his cab.

Madonna is one of us, as she takes her mountain bike for a paparazzi-plagued spin through the streets of London.

Scotland’s first bikeshare program is mothballed due to a lack of interest.

A $100 Swedish clip-on rechargeable motor converts any bike into an ebike.

Not surprisingly, the New Zealand hotel that banned Lycra at breakfast is facing backlash online. But not backing down.

Seven weeks after they took effect, no one really seems to know what impact the draconian new bike laws in Australia’s New South Wales have had.

 

Finally…

This pedal-powered minicar may be a lot of things, but a bicycle, it ain’t. If you’re going to take your ebike out for a spin, try to do it sober.

And you can see a lot of things on a bike you might not notice from a car. Like the Loch Ness monster, for instance.

………

Thanks to Patti Andre for her generous donation to support this site; Monday was the fourth anniversary of the collision that took her brother’s life as he waited at a Palm Springs traffic light.

 

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