Forget the frozen caveman.
Scientists may have just discovered his bicycle.
An antique bike was discovered emerging from a glacier in the Ötztal region of the Italian Alps, the same area where Ötzi the frozen caveman was locked in ice a mere 5,000 or so years earlier.
Authorities speculate the bike may have been frozen in the glacier as a result of the bustling smuggling trade in the years following WWII.
Photo from Berghasen Facebook post.
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Los Angeles was among the next round of winning cities chosen for the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge, along with San Diego, San Jose and Portland.
The $70 million program provides resources and access to cutting-edge support to meet or beat its carbon reduction goals.
Which sounds great, but won’t happen until LA finally gets serious about getting more cars off the roads.
The city can do it in a positive manner, by building out safe bike lanes, crosswalks and other options for non-polluting alternative transportation to entice drivers to leave their cars at home. Or in a punitive manner, through congestion pricing or alternate day driving.
But one way or another, they’re going to have to do something. And fast.
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Martha Stewart is one of us.
https://twitter.com/BicycleLobby/status/1053446199020269568
But more impressive, so was the legendary Eartha Kitt.
https://twitter.com/Jay_Pitter/status/1053709464392495104
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Local
If you didn’t get to hear KPCC’s Leo Duran explain why he thinks Los Angeles earned its ranking as America’s worst city for bicycling, now you can read the full report it on LAist.
The long-delayed Arroyo Seco Bicycle & Pedestrian Trail finally opened on Saturday; the 3/4 mile path links three bikeways to connect Pasadena with DTLA.
State
San Diego’s Bike Garage reopens in a new location after nearly going out of business following a devastating fire.
A three-mile section of San Diego’s Ocean Beach went carfree on Sunday, with an open streets event called CiclOBias. Although it’s time to stop torturing the word ciclovia in every way possible in an attempt to copy CicLAvia.
I want to be like them when I grow up. Cambria’s Old Folks Bicycle Club — aka “Old Farts — rides three times a week, with the oldest member in his upper 90s; the story explains how you can join. Hint: 1) ride a bike, and 2) get old.
San Francisco advocates are trying to talk merchants into a couple of block-long carfree zones, saying they could be extended along the entire street if it proves successful.
No bias here. A Ukiah columnist complains that a) no one rides Amtrak, b) a proposal for a bike path paralleling railroad tracks will somehow cost billions, c) your daughter will break her leg and fall off a cliff if she uses this “trail to nowhere,” and d) no one will ride it other than wealthy spandex-clad riders on $9,000 bicycles who don’t spend a dime in road taxes. Evidently because wealthy people who ride bikes don’t own cars or pay taxes.
National
Trek rode to the rescue when the University of Vermont’s bikes went up in flames just days before the collegiate mountain bike nationals.
Cycling Tips‘ James Huang takes a gravel ride through Idaho looking for a little inspiration. And finding it.
A new study from the Cleveland Clinic shows that sitting around and not exercising is worse for your health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease.
Bike riders in Cambridge MA place 160 bicycles on the city hall lawn to represent the number of crashes between bicyclists and motorists each year. If we tried that in LA, we’d need a hell of a lot more bikes. Let alone lawn space at city hall.
In a story that should sound familiar to Angelenos, New Orleans business owners insist they’re living through a hell on earth and traffic is gridlocked. All because a bike lane was moved from the door zone to the curb, resulting a two-way parking protected lane.
A three-day, 170-mile Louisiana ride travels from New Orleans to the state penitentiary in Angola to raise funds to help keep inmates connected with their families.
International
British bike scribe and new Forbes transportation writer Carlton Reid says he doesn’t wear a helmet when he rides. And that what’s really dangerous is driving a car.
Road.cc takes a detailed deep dive into how to choose a bike light, before offering their recommendations.
NPR looks at Jenny Graham’s record breaking ride around the world.
A Costa Rican website gets into the spirit of the season with a pair of very short tales giving a new meaning to ghost bikes.
A Swiss non-profit has shipped 500 bicycles to St. Lucia to fight diabetes on the Caribbean island.
No bias here, either. London’s Daily Mail shows no reticence in calling a young black man a thug after he gets off his bicycle and pulls a knife to chase off a couple of angry motorists who’d gotten out of their car to argue with bystanders. Let’s be clear — pulling a weapon of any kind is a crime. But so is getting out of your car to threaten others.
An English bike rider explains what it’s like to share the road with people who drive like idiots.
You’ve got to be kidding. A British driver brake-checked a bike rider who complained he passed too close, slamming on his brakes and sending the victim flying through his rear windshield, resulting in multiple hip and knee surgeries. And walks with a lousy six month driving ban, after the judge calls it an accident and says he didn’t intend to hurt anyone.
A British court dismissed a $2.6 million lawsuit in the death of a bike rider, who drowned after he slipped off a pathway into a canal; the judge ruled there was adequate signage warning riders of the danger.
Changes to the UK’s Highway Code explaining how to pass people on bicycles safely and giving bicyclists and pedestrians the right-of-way in all cases are a good start, says the Guardian’s Laura Laker. But much more needs to be done to improve safety.
Friends of an Irish man have raised the equivalent of over $62,000 in just two days to bring him back home after he suffered a serious brain injury when he was hit by a driver in France, as he and his girlfriend neared the end of an epic ride home from China.
Belgium’s federal mobility minister overrules a ruling that would have kept bicycles off the country’s trains at rush hour.
German car rental company Sixt learns the hard way that jokes about running over people on bicycles aren’t funny.
An Aussie bike rider was seriously injured in a crash with a kangaroo.
Competitive Cycling
VeloNews has a good talk with ex-Tour de France champ Floyd Landis about his new Continental level cycling team and the dark side of bike racing.
Speaking of VeloNews, the magazine questions whether reckless fans, controversy and disappointing ratings means the Tour de France is in trouble.
World track masters bronze medalist Jen Wagner-Assali walks back her comments questioning the fairness of transsexual cyclist Dr. Rachel McKinnon’s victory in the race.
Finally…
The perfect bikes for when you’re tired of using the elliptical trainer at the gym and not going anywhere. Speaking of not going anywhere, now you can ride the streets of New York from the comfort of your living room.
And why take responsibility when it’s your bike that was reckless?
