Weekend Links: Risk of rain puts off Resolution Ride for another month, and legal dope may make roads safer

Cancel those plans for today’s Resolution Ride. This message came in yesterday’s email:

The Resolution Ride has been postponed due to inclement weather! But don’t worry, you’ll still get a chance to continue your resolutions on our rescheduled date of February 12th! Same time, same place – and with the added bonus of happening alongside our annual Expo! This means more chances to win, more fun, more resolutions, and even more reason to come out and ride with us.

If you can’t attend the rescheduled date and would like a refund, please contact Gonzalo Garcia (gogarcia@aidslifecycle.org) to do so. Keep those resolutions going in the new year and come ride with us February 12th!

On the other hand, it should be great weather for the LACBC’s Sunday Funday ride through the historic San Fernando Valley.

………

Maybe legalization will be safer than people think.

According to a new study, states that allow medical marijuana use average 11% fewer traffic collisions and 26% fewer traffic fatalities, possibly due to a reduction in the rate of drunk driving.

………

Local

The election of Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia to the Metro Board should be good news for bike riders, as well as the entire South Bay area.

An LA-area cyclist explains everything you need to know to Everest.

Congratulations to SCAG, whose Go Human Campaign was featured in the newsletter of the Federal Highway Association.

 

State

No news is good news, right?

 

National

A new drop-in e-wheel promises to turn your existing bike into an ebike with a 100 mile range, while doubling as an indoor trainer. Meanwhile, a new wheel hub for fat bikes is designed to keep your tires inflated to the ideal level.

All bike thieves suck. But especially the thief who stole an Arizona boy’s Christmas bike on Christmas Day.

The Wall Street Journal profiles Denise Mueller as she attempts to set a new speed record for an auto-assisted bicycle on Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, and finds peace at 140 mph.

A graduate student from my home town is the only American man selected to this year’s 5,700-mile Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme Race across Russia.

Des Moines IA bike riders are flexing their political muscle to fight plans to reroute a popular rural bike trail.

An Iowa City IA volunteer has refurbished and distributed over 400 bicycles for people in need.

A Pittsburgh paper reminds bike lane opponents that they can actually reduce traffic congestion, but bicycles only improve traffic flow when they have actual bike lanes to ride in.

 

International

A Montreal Uber food messenger is posting his mileage and earnings online to open a window on the delivery industry.

A Brit bicycle courier wins a court case reclassifying her as an employee of the company she works for, which could have implications for other members of the gig economy.

Life is cheap in the UK, where an 83-year old British lord was fined just £5,000 — the equivalent of $6150 — for seriously injuring a bike rider by driving his Jaguar carelessly.

Madrid follows the lead of Paris, and makes plans to ban cars from its main street within three years. Does that mean we could actually see a carfree Wilshire Blvd someday?

 

Finally…

Road bikes are slowly turning into mountain bikes. Finally, scientific proof bicycling is better than running.

And we only have to deal with LA drivers; German bicyclists have to worry about unexploded WWII bombs.

 

2 comments

  1. keith says:

    Re: LACBC’s Sunday Funday ride – I went on one awhile back & it’s a great group to explore the city with. One I went on went from downtown to the LA River bike path north to an art installation where the artist gave a talk about his project. And the organization continues to good things for us cyclists too.

  2. Bill says:

    “According to a new study”

    As if the same people that drive drunk wouldn’t also break the law regarding pot.

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