July 8, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bikeshare finally comes to DTLA, and bike-friendly LA city council candidate Jesse Creed
Just a short update today, as my diabetes seems compelled to knock me on my ass following a busy day.
I’ll try to be back tomorrow with a full report for the weekend.
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It’s true.
Los Angeles finally has a bikeshare system.
LA Downtown News takes an early Metro Bike test ride, and finds the bikes comfortable, but with a shortage of safe places to ride them.
A $75,000 grant, matched by $25,000 from Metro, will help make bike sharing more accessible to underserved communities. Note to LA Weekly: That photo from CicLAvia has nothing to do bikeshare; it’s like using a photo of private cars to illustrate a story about taxis.
The LA Times questions whether Los Angeles will embrace bikeshare, while Mayor Eric Garcetti mimics William Mulholland by saying “Here they are. Use them.”
The Daily News says Los Angeles has big plans for the bikeshare system to expand to nine regions, starting next year with Pasadena, Venice and the Port of LA.
LAist offers a full report from the kickoff event, while noting riders proceeding along Grand Avenue were greeted by multiple signs reading “Bike Lane Closed.”
KTLA-5 offers a video report, including a brief interview with the mayor, in which he says he looks forward to taking one of the bikes out to go for lunch.
KPCC explains how to use the bikeshare system, which is currently only available to pass holders; walk-up users can rent a bike using their TAP card beginning August 1st.
It’s (LA) Time(s) for bikeshare in Los Angeles
A massive fleet of Metro Bikes waiting to be deployed
A crowd of a few hundred people turned out for the event
Metro CEO Phillip Washington addresses the crowd of soon-to-be bike sharers.
LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis looks forward to eastward expansion
LADOT GM Seleta Reynolds helps lead the rideoff from Grand Park
Riders like this should be a common sight at LA City Hall and throughout the Downtown area
The loneliest little Metro Bike awaits in front of the Grand Central Market, with the Million Dollar Theater and the Bradbury Building in the background
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If you need a place to ride your new Metro Bike, the LAPD invites you to attend a People and Pets Safety Fair tomorrow at the still-unnamed LAPD Headquarters in DTLA.
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Following the Metro Bike event, I had the pleasure of meeting with Jesse Creed, who’s running against incumbent Councilmember Paul Koretz in LA’s 5th Council District.
Before I even met him, he had my qualified support under the “enemy of my enemy is my friend” doctrine.
But after talking with him, I can remove that “qualified” and say he now has my full support.
I found him to be youthful, energetic, personable and highly engaged, with a clear understanding of the problems facing Los Angeles, and the belief that we can and should do better.
A bike rider himself, his commitment to sustainable transportation goes beyond mere words, including riding his bike for short trips instead of taking the car. And working to represent the entire community to build Complete Streets that benefit everyone, as opposed to arbitrarily blocking them as his opponent has done.
He’s also open to new perspectives. When I recommended a book on how to make government work better, he pulled out his phone and bought it on the spot.
We still face four months of nasty campaigning leading up to this fall’s presidential election, and the inevitable voter fatigue that will follow before LA’s city election finally rolls around in the spring.
But we could do a lot worse than electing Creed to represent the people of the 5th District.
In fact, we already have. And we’re paying the price for it.
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On a related, and belated, note, I’ve been remiss in my failure to note that Josef Bray-Ali, owner of the Flying Pigeon LA bike shop in Northeast LA, now has a fundraising website set up.
If we can elect Creed and Bray-Ali next spring, we’ll be well on our way to making this the livable city it can and should be.
And if #bikeLA finally gets off its collective ass and gets out to vote, we will.
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Once again, construction closes a section of the LA River Bike Path. And for the next three years, no less.
But at least this time, they’re doing it for our benefit, in order to lengthen the path and improve access at Riverside Drive.
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The LAPD has captured a suspect in the string of bike-riding Hollywood parking lot robberies.
The celebration kicks off at 11 am at Grand Park, offering “snacks, live music and good vibes.” And lots of bikes that need to be moved to other locations.
Richard Risemberg questions some of the dock placements, as well as LA’s lack of a connected bikeway network anywhere outside of DTLA, but says, in the words of famed water maven Bill Mulholland, “There it is. Take it.”
Fortunately, given the lack of infrastructure, bikeshare riders have just half the rate of injury as other bicyclists.
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Nice to see Amoeba Music getting on the bike bandwagon.
That would make a perfect place for a bikeshare dock, if and when Metro Bike ever makes it out to Hollywood.
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You can’t spell Trump without rump.
Donald Trump once threatened to sue the organizers of Aspen’s Tour de Rump for trademark infringement for his short-lived Tour de Trump bike race.
Cycling Weekly offers five talking points from the fifth stage of the Tour de France, while the anticipated battle between Chris Froome and Nairo Quintana still looms ahead in the mountain stages.
Look for more doping revelations, as the World Anti-Doping Agency and cycling’s governing body now have over 200 bags of blood saved from the Spanish Operation Puerto case.
Monrovia unanimously approves a new bicycle master plan calling for 3.7 miles of bike paths, 4.2 miles of bike lanes and 18 miles of sharrows; an additional 7.1 miles will be studied for protected bike lanes. Boyonabike calls it an important step, but says much work still remains. Like making sure those sharrows do more than help drivers improve their aim.
A Woodland Hills couple starts their life together with a 55-mile wedding day ride through the Conejo Valley, complete with tux-print cycling jerseys.
This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. San Diego is making safety improvements to a street where a teenage skateboarder was killed by a hit-and-run driver while skating in a bike lane.
An Atascadero letter writer employs selective reading to insist that state law bars riding two abreast, citing CVC 21202 as proof. But like most drivers and law enforcement officers, neglects to consider that it does not apply on non-sharable lanes.
Clean Technica looks at People for Bikes’ plan to create a Big Jump in bicycling rates in ten select cities in just three years, while the aforementioned national advocacy group wants your help to fix a new Federal rule that could block protected bike lanes.
Outside says the proliferation of bike and helmet cams is demonstrating the dangers bicyclists face on the streets, though it may not make a difference in the courtroom.
Consumer Reports describes the anatomy of a bike crash, while somehow feeling the need to point out that your brain will probably slosh around inside your skull once you hit the pavement.
Bike racer Neil Bezdek describes the experience of going carless from a roadie’s perspective. Decent story, right up until the last sentence.
A 72-year old Iowa man is about to start a 4,000 mile bike tour across the US, after riding over 18,000 miles over the last four years.
An Iowa paper calls for a ban on texting while driving, after a distracted driver walks with just tickets and a license suspension for killing a cyclist. Of course, even if it is illegal, that doesn’t mean prosecutors will actually do anything about it.
Caught on video: A New York cyclist records what it’s like to be an UberRush bike messenger for a day.
After years of complaints, the NYPD finally gets serious about cracking down on drivers parking in bike lanes, issuing 1,757 tickets for blocking bike lanes over a five day period, as well as 810 summons for failing to yield to bicyclists and pedestrians.
London’s Telegraph asks if Majorca, Spain is the world’s greatest cycling destination. Actually, the best cycling destination is wherever you’re going. Especially if you’re not going anywhere.
The LAPD asks us to be on the lookout for a bike-riding robber victimizing Hollywood parking lot attendants.
Hollywood Bicyclist Robber Sought
Hollywood: The Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Area robbery detectives are asking for the public’s help in providing any information that will lead to the identification and arrest of an armed suspect that was involved in a series of parking lot robberies.
From June 11, 2016 through June 25, 2016, between the hours of 11:35 A.M. to 10:50 P.M., there have been multiple robberies in the Hollywood area involving parking lot attendants.
The suspect armed with a handgun confronted the victims and demanded money from each of them. The suspect then fled with the victims’ money on a mountain bike. The mountain bike is described red and/or black in color.
The suspect is described as a 40 to 60 year old male Black. He stands approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs between 130-150 pounds. He was seen wearing a ‘Flat Bill’ style baseball hat during the robberies. The suspect is to be considered armed and dangerous.
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Bikeshare officially comes to Downtown LA on July 7th.
For people who sign up in advance, anyway; walk-up users will have to wait until August to take advantage of the system.
According to Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, Metro is teaming up with the LACBC and Multicultural Communities for Mobility on a $100,000 program to make bikeshare services available to low-income riders, making it one of the first systems anywhere accessible to people with limited incomes and no credit cards.
Meanwhile, you’re invited to join Metro for a grand opening celebration and ride-off at Grand Park on the 7th. You can learn more and RSVP here.
Consumer Reports rates bike helmets for adults, including some with the relatively new MIPS technology to help reduce the risk of concussions.
A New York public health professor credits a bike helmet with saving his son’s life, and extrapolates that to mean every bike rider, everywhere, should be required to wear one — even on bikeshare systems, which have yet to experience a single fatality in the US. Of course, by that logic, everyone should wear a bulletproof vest, too.
And a Canadian coroner concludes that a helmet could have saved a cyclist’s life, even though the victim was hit by a car with enough force to throw him over 50 feet through the air. He fails to mention that stopping for the stop sign the rider ran would have done a lot more good.*
*Just a reminder for new readers: I’m a firm believer in bike helmets, and never ride without one. But I also recognize that they are designed to protect against slow speed falls, not high speed collisions, and should be seen a last resort when everything else fails.
The Tour de France isn’t the only major race kicking off this weekend, as the last remaining Grand Tour in women’s racing, the Giro Rosa, starts on Friday.
Canadian pro Mike Woods talks about the journey that brought him to the threshold of the Tour de France and the Rio Olympics, starting when he had to give up his running career due to injuries and took up cycling just four years ago.
LA resident, Olympic medalist and seven-time national champ Dotsie Bausch credits bicycling with saving her life as she recovered from an eating disorder.
Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson reveals that underneath his curmudgeonly façade, he’s a begrudging optimist when it comes to making Palos Verdes Estates a better, safer, more enjoyable place to ride a bike.
Shrink it, pink it and charge more for it. The so-called “pink tax” survives a challenge in the state legislature, allowing companies to continue overcharging charging women more for bicycles and other items that are virtually identical to less-expensive men’s models.
Legendary bike maker Masi will host screenings of Breaking Away in Carlsbad this weekend to celebrate its 90th anniversary.
A Boulder CO drunk driver faces charges after fleeing from a fatal cycling collision; despite a witness’ assertion that she was laughing hysterically following the collision, she was actually hysterically freaking out. Or so her lawyer says, anyway.
Instead of bikeshare, Golden CO opens a bike library offering two styles of American-made Jamis bikes in various sizes for adults and children.
A Michigan driver tries riding a bike to get a better perspective on what cyclists experience, and gain some insight into how to avoid more tragedies.
A cranky Ottawa, Canada writer pens the bicycling equivalent of “get off my lawn,” while somehow concluding that cyclists are responsible for avoiding collisions, even when drivers are at fault.
And hopefully, Pasadena, Hollywood and other areas throughout LA County in the not-too-distant future.
Although bicycling infrastructure has to catch up outside the Downtown area to provide a safe place to ride those bikes. Especially in Hollywood.
So who will be the first to come up with a good nickname for the system, like London’s Boris Bikes? Somehow, Eric Bikes just doesn’t have the same ring.
He fled on foot following the crash, but was arrested a short distance away. Police had received calls about his dangerous driving for nearly 30 minutes before the collision.
Initial reports indicated some of the victims may be children, but later stories suggested it was a group of adults that frequently ride together.
There simply are no words to express the gut-wrenching heartbreak and tragedy of this needless disaster.
Thanks to Brenda Miller, Al Williams and Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.
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Pro cyclist Tom Danielson says his positive drug test is consistent with a contaminated supplement. Of course, after similar denials from Lance, Lloyd and Alberto, et al, any explanation begs credibility, truthful or not.
A Santa Ana woman shakes off a bike crash that left her in the hospital for two days in order to cast her vote for Sanders; thanks to David Wolfberg for the link.
With the outrage over the lenient sentence given a Stanford student for the rape of an unconscious woman, it’s worth noting that the rape was stopped, and the fleeing rapist caught, by a pair of bicyclists.
A red bicycle festooned with ribbons hangs as a memorial to Muhammad Ali over the former Louisville auditorium where his bike was stolen as a 12-year old, which set him on the path that would eventually make him The Greatest.
A new London smartphone app automatically emails the city’s mayor whenever a cyclist presses a Bluetooth enabled button upon encountering a dangerous situation. We could use something like that here, but the sheer volume of emails would probably crash the City Hall server.
London’s Telegraph suggests ten cycling vacations that will make you a better bike rider.
New Zealand community members called for making Hi-Viz mandatory for bike-riding students after two were hit by cars six years ago. Because no one can expect drivers to actually pay attention to who might be on the road with them, right?
May 26, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: 15 to life for Oxnard DUI driver, reward for bike-toting dog killer, and bikeshare comes to DTLA July 7
We may not make the goal of 100 members by the end of this month. But I consider it a personal favor for everyone who signs up before I step down as an LACBC board member next month.
So thank you from the bottom of my heart to all who have joined as part of this drive.
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Sometimes, even a possible life sentence barely seems like enough.
The Ventura County Star reports an Oxnard man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years to life in state prison for the drunken hit-and-run death of a 43-year old bike rider in 2014.
Thirty-one year old Policarpio Bartolon Diaz may have been driving as fast as 62 mph when he plowed into Marco Flores as he rode with a friend in a marked bike lane. Diaz never even braked as he fled the scene with Flores’ bike still trapped under his car.
Garcia’s friend, Robert Patterson, said he was riding his bike alongside Garcia and also came close to being struck….
“I know for a fact he wasn’t remorseful because when he hit my friend, his brake lights never came on … he just shook him off the car,” Patterson said. “If you hit a human being, you think he would stop. To see him being tossed off the car was the hardest thing I’ve had to live through to this day.”
Diaz had a BAC of .22, nearly three times the legal limit, when he was arrested just a mile away. It was his third arrest for DUI, and would have been his second conviction if the DA hadn’t bargained the DUI charge away in exchange for a guilty plea to second degree murder.
The man chased down the dog after it jumped out of the car and tried to run away, then repeatedly punched and slammed it onto the sidewalk. As if any animal wouldn’t try to get away from someone capable of doing that.
According to KCBS-2 —
The suspect is described as a white male with balding gray hair, 50 to 60 years old, about 6 feet tall and weighing approximately 280 pounds.
The suspect was driving a 1996 to 2000 silver or gray Dodge Caravan with an off-color rear bumper. At the time of the incident, the van had two bicycles on a rear bike rack.
Judging by the photo, at least one of those bikes has been stripped, appearing to be missing both wheels.
By Davidson’s account, cyclists have done virtually all the work in tracking down the man who may be responsible, as well as uncovering numerous riders who were harassed by a truck driver matching the same description.
Let’s hope the department cares enough to figure out what really happened. And bring any charges that are warranted.
Register today for a bike share pass and receive a Limited Edition Metro Bike Share Kit featuring stickers, a Bikes on Metro guide and more. The first 1,000 people to sign up will also receive exclusive Metro Bike Share pins!
You can get a Metro Bike Share pass by the month or by the trip, similar to transit. If you ride a lot, a $20 Monthly pass might be for you, but if you just ride occasionally you should consider our $40 Flex pass. Remember through August 1st the system will be open for bike share pass holders only, so register for your Metro Bike Share pass today!
Members will be able to rent a bike for $1.75 per half hour — or free for the first half hour for monthly pass holders — while non-members can rent for $3.50 for each 30 minutes using a TAP card.
Only registered members will be able to rent a bike for the first month.
Meanwhile, the LA Weekly takes a sneak peak, finding the bikes smooth, sturdy and safe, if somewhat heavy, and “perfect for bar-hopping, grocery shopping or seeing the sights of DTLA.”
Although we have to come up with a much better nickname for the system than the unimaginative Metro Bike.
And on a related subject, you can now use your TAP card to rent one of the much better named Breeze Bikes in Santa Monica.
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A new Streetfilm celebrates Santa Monica’s savvy multimodalism.
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Last week we linked to a Facebook post from Arizona’s Brendan Lyons, in which he described meeting — and forgiving — the distracted driver who nearly killed him as he rode with his fiancé two years ago.
Now a local TV station picks up the story, describing a touching act of forgiveness for the horrifying wreck that ended Lyons’ firefighting career. And clearly driving home the dangers of using any electronic device behind the wheel, and taking your eyes off the road for even a moment.
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LA’s Phil Gaimon tells what it’s like to race in his home state in the Amgen Tour of California.
Bicycling explains the fine art of bike racing in the rain. Extra style points for belting out “Singing in the Rain” from the back of the peloton.
And what it’s like to be a soigneur for a professional racing team.
It’s been awhile since we’ve checked in with CLR Effect; Michael Wagner forwards news that the great I Can Bike program will be held at the Fairgrounds in Pomona at the end of next month to help people with disabilities gain greater independence by learning how to ride a bicycle.
Like business people in every other city, San Diego business owners worry about the loss of parking spots in the Uptown area after planned bike lanes are installed. As if people on bikes don’t spend money and potential customers don’t like calmer streets. Most likely, by this time next year, they’ll wonder what they were worried about.
A La Jolla paper goes for a bike ride through the city with the Executive Director of the San Diego Bicycle Coalition, and finds it needs a lot of improvement to meet San Diego’s Climate Action Plan.
Sad news from Tulare County, as a bike rider was killed in a hit-and-run on his way to work Tuesday. The CHP somehow felt the need to point out the victim wasn’t wearing a helmet, as if that would have protected him from an erratic, high-speed driver in large pickup.
Good Samaritans pitch in to rescue an Alaskan girl after she’s impaled by her bike handlebar in a remote village. Something that seems to happen far too often, suggesting a serious design flaw that needs to be corrected.
Forty-eight states later, a Topeka man is back home from a cross country bike ride he took because he feared he’d regret it later if he didn’t. Which is about as good a reason as any.
A suspect has been arrested in the apparently random beating death of a 65-year old Des Moines IA bike rider earlier this month.
BMX champ Dave Mirra was suffering from C.T.E. when he shot himself to death in Greenville NC in February; that’s the same disease resulting from repeated head trauma that has afflicted numerous football players.
International
Rio’s mayor says the elevated bike path that collapsed, killing three people, will be rebuilt and open again this year. Note to Rio Times Online: Ciclovía means bike path. So a headline referring to the ciclovía bike path is redundantly repetitive.
My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. It seems my body still feels the need to remind me that I’m not as healthy as I like to think I am, sometime suddenly, unexpectedly and with surprising force.
So who wants to be the next to sign up now or renew your membership and get it up to 20 today? It’s worth it just for the great LACBC gear you’ll get — let alone the difference you’ll help make on our streets and in our communities.
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Mike Wilkinson, who frequently forwards news tips — and graciously serves as my unpaid proofreader — came upon the immediate aftermath of what thankfully appears to have been a relatively minor bike collision on Monday.
Yesterday while out for my lunch time “blast” I came upon the scene of a collision just a minute after it happened. The photo shows what I saw as I arrived. Look carefully, and you may see that the car’s rear view mirror is broken, and there is a dent above the front wheel.
I’m not going to write about the details of what I saw and heard. I will say that the things I saw and heard reminded me of the importance of gathering information immediately after any kind of collision, even if the collision seems to be minor. The following items seem important to me:
Get a picture of the other party’s driver’s license.
Take a picture of the other party’s insurance ID.
Take pictures of all vehicles involved, including the licenses plates.
Get contact information from any potential witness.
Don’t say anything about who may be at fault for the crash.
I’m sure that more experienced minds have more comprehensive lists. Remember also that the state of California DMV requires notification for any crash that results in injury, no matter how minor, or damage exceeding $750.
Finally, be careful!
I’ve offered my thoughts on what to do if you’re in a collision here and here, based on my personal experience. And BikinginLA sponsor Jim Pocrassprovided expert advice from a bike lawyer’s perspective.
Correction: The original version of this story incorrectly said a crash must be reported to the DMV if there was property damage over $500, rather than $750, and failed to note that injuries must be reported, no matter how minor.
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Metro’s still unnamed bikeshare system is finally becoming a reality; thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.
Twenty-three-year old French rider Julian Alaphillipe won Stage 3 of the Amgen Tour of California on the slopes of the famed Gibraltar climb above Santa Barbara, dropping American Peter Stetina with an uphill sprint to take the leader’s jersey.
Cycling Tips has a preview of the four stage women’s tour, which starts Thursday in South Lake Tahoe. But good luck if you actually want to watch it if you can’t be there in person.
MyFigueroa offers an update on the long-delayed project which will result in what would have been DTLA’s first protected bike lane, if Los Angeles Street hadn’t jumped to the head of the line.
The LA Weekly provides a slide show from Sunday’s CicLAvia. Not bad for a publication that wrongly predicted the first one would create a traffic nightmare.
The head of CABO teaches a 14-hour bike safety class tailored to San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood.
The San Francisco cyclist hit by a police car last week says the city must do more to protect bike riders, and do it faster.
A Sacramento ER doc wants you to ride your bike, but put on a helmet when you do; he also says to follow the rules of the road and ride defensively. And a physician with the Cleveland Clinic says make sure it fits correctly.
National
Redfin ranks the nation’s most bikeable downtowns. But forget finding LA or any other SoCal city on the list.
Pennsylvania releases a new interactive mapping tool that combines detailed bike routes, traffic volumes and speed limits, and as well as state parks, forests and trails.
A New Orleans bike rider barely survives a robbery attempt, after a gun misfires when a trio of men force him off his bike and rifle through his pockets.
International
Thirteen cities around the world where bicycling is gaining modal share. None of which are named LA. Or anywhere else in North or South America, for that matter.
A Winnipeg woman gets back on a bike for the first time in 18 years, and likes it.
Paris ups the ante in its bid to host the 2024 Olympics, including cleaning up the Seine River and building a bike path linking venues for the games. Your move, Los Angeles.
Lawyers for an Australian woman argue she shouldn’t face jail for killing a cyclist while high on meth because she has a 10-month old baby, even though her actions left the victim’s three children without a mother.
So get comfortable. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
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Evidently, bikeshare is safer than other forms of bicycling.
According to a new study, not one person has been killed while using a bikeshare bike anywhere in the US, with over 35 million rides in at least 94 systems.
And despite the overwhelming lack of helmet use.
That compares with an estimated fatality rate of 21 deaths per 100 million bicycling trips. Which means statistically, we could have expected at least seven bikeshare deaths so far. And there hasn’t been.
Among other factors, the study credits the heavy, slow bikes typical of bikeshare, and the fact that bikeshare trips are usually taken in urban areas where traffic tends to move slower.
My take is that in addition to being heavy, most bikeshare bikes are made with a step-through design, which makes them easy to jump off of in the event of danger or a fall.
Hopefully that track record will continue as bikeshare begins to spread through the LA area.
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Maybe we need a tape measure.
Streetsblog discovers a one-block long bike lane in Pleasanton that they say may be the shortest bike lane in California; a city official admits that yes, it’s short, but it’s a little better than nothing.
Don’t send the trophy up to the Bay Area yet, though.
It was just eight years ago when Slate declared a one-block long bike lane on Galey in Westwood the Stupidest Bike Lane in America.
A title it should hold on to, even if Pleasanton’s measures out a little shorter.
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My spies tell me the lane markers have all been stripped out on Washington Blvd between the Marina and Sepulveda Blvd, apparently so the lanes can be realigned, with the existing bike lanes extended all the way to Sepulveda.
Let’s hope the lanes are being moved to make room for a buffer. Or better yet, protected lanes.
After all, the new protected lanes on Venice look pretty comfy. Maybe once LA drivers get used to the ide, we can turn those bollards into planters.
Thanks to Margaret for the tip.
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In a piece that should be mandatory reading for everyone in the bicycle industry, British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid says if bike makers and sellers want the bicycle market to grow, spending on advocacy is an investment, not an expense.
Many of the current crop of unpaid promoters of our products are burning the candle at both ends, working tirelessly in their free time to get more people on bicycles. With substantial financial and moral support these advocates could truly work wonders. It’s shocking, really, that the industry stays largely aloof from such a passionate and committed volunteer army. (Bikes Belong in the US, and the Cycling Industry Club initiative from the European Cyclists’ Federation are stand-out examples of how the worlds of advocacy and the industry can meet in the middle.)
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April Fools Day came and went. And as usual, it didn’t leave the bike world out.
Streetsblog says LA’s Great Streets will now be named after the councilmembers whose districts they’re in, which means Koretz and Cedillo will have their names permanently attached to failed streets they’ve made. We could only wish that one was true.
Meanwhile, a team mechanic became the latest person to be struck by a race vehicle when he was run down by an Etixx-QuickStep team car; no word on whether he was injured.
A writer for the Guardian says the death of Belgian pro cyclist Antoine Demoitié in a collision with a race moto — 66 years after a French rider suffered the same fate — should be a wake-up call for pro cycling’s overly crowded races. This crap is going to continue until race vehicles are required to remain behind the peloton. If a rider suffers a mechanical, he — or she — can wait until the peloton has passed, or just fix himself like the great riders of the past.
British world champ Lizzie Armitstead won the women’s Tour of Flanders in a photo-finish sprint to claim her fourth major victory of the year.
Eleven-time British world champ Anna Meares still suffers pain, eight years after she went from a wheelchair to the Olympic podium in just eight months following a bad fall while competing in Los Angeles.
A Taiwanese amateur cyclist feels the need, the need for speed, while an Aussie woman prepares to compete in triathlon at the Rio Paralympics just 18 months after taking up the sport — and despite being born with just one hand.
No bias here. A Santa Monica paper says a cyclist was arrested riding salmon while carrying burglary tools in a hot spot for break-ins. Chances are, they would never refer to the alleged thief as a motorist or pedestrian in the headline under similar circumstances.
The blog post may have come out on April 1st, but it’s no joke that Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare is ready for the opening of the Expo Line and all the people it will bring looking for a way to explore the city or travel the last few blocks to their destination.
A self-righteous Clovis letter writer says cyclists have to stop being self-righteous and “assume responsibility for the proper use of their toys.” Yes, toys.
San Francisco’s People Behaving Badly reporter goes looking for bicyclists with earbuds in both ears. Nice to know they’ve solved all the other safety problems in Bagdad by the Bay.
A writer from New Jersey outs himself and his family as a few of those tourists on rental bikes that people in Sausalito claim are ruining their fair city; no such objections seem to have arisen from their ride through Yosemite, though.
A Fairfield driver faces DUI charges for running down a drunk salmon cyclist; he told police he’d supported his two-gram-a-day habit by using meth 30 times that day before getting behind the wheel.
The Christian Science Monitor explains the benefits of bicycling attire, especially for long rides. Seriously, you don’t need spandex to enjoy your ride, but it does make a difference.
After high-stakes gambler Dan Bilzerian won his $1.2 million bet by riding from LA to Vegas in less than 48 hours, the New York post calls him the biggest jerk on Instagram. Judging by the little I’ve seen of his fascination for guns and boobs, you won’t get any argument from me.
A Colorado city will vote Tuesday on whether to require bicyclists to ride single file through town, despite a state law allowing cyclists to ride two abreast.
In a horrifying hit-and-run reminiscent of the crash that nearly took the life of Finish the Ride founder Damian Kevitt, a Texas woman survives after being dragged several blocks under a truck as the driver fled the scene. But unlike the jerk who ran down Kevitt, this driver was found and arrested, held on a $100,000 bond and an immigration detainer. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.
Great piece from the Washington Post refuting five myths about bicycling. Although I’d quibble with the suggestion that it wouldn’t make much of a dent in congestion even if more people rode bikes.
A North Carolina cyclist thanks the driver who said her tire was flat, and drove home to get an air compressor to fix it.
An Australian website says the risk of riding in large cities is extremely low, while the individual and social benefits are high.
Finally…
When you crash your car while driving under the influence with a suspended license while carrying drug paraphernalia and prescription meds, “borrowing” a bike to make your getaway may not be the best idea. Now you can print your own parts for an ugly ass ebike.
As we mentioned earlier, the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills is looking for people to test out their coming bikeshare system starting this week. Volunteers can check out the bikes and ride for free for up to one hour.
The abbreviated two-station pilot program, based on the same CycleHop system as Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare, is starting with stations at Beverly Hills City Hall and next to the Wells Fargo bank at Camden Dr. and Santa Monica Blvd.
The latter is where these photos were taken, proving that one of the least bike friendly cities in the LA area really is moving forward with bikeshare. And plans to have the full 10 station system up and running this April, even before Downtown LA’s long-promised bikeshare moves beyond the vaporware stage.
Of course, the question is what happens when up to 50 bike riders at a time, many of them most likely tourists with little or no knowledge of the area, hit the city’s overly crowded, auto-centric streets with their near-complete lack of bike lanes or any other bicycling infrastructure.
Santa Monica, Long Beach, and to a lesser extent DTLA, are ready for bikeshare.
Beverly Hills, not so much.
Meanwhile, Long Beach’s long delayed bikeshare system may finally be up and running this spring; it will be based on the same system as SaMo and the BBHBH.
The owners of the Sherman Oaks Vespa shop raise more than $4,000 to buy a new bike for a Burbank boy with cerebral palsy after his was stolen by a homeless man; his old bike was recovered after the new bike had been ordered, and will be fixed up and donated to charity.
A Redwood City man uses Tile to recover his stolen $2,400 bike in San Francisco; whoever stole it apparently put some serious miles, with an extra 300 miles on the odometer in just three days.
The judge who bent over backwards to give a San Ramon lawyer a slap on the wrist for the drunken hit-and-run death of a cyclist now threatens to give him a tougher sentence for lying about his wife’s health to delay sentencing in the case. Never mind that he already violated his probation by failing a drug test.
Only 18% of the residents in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district own cars, yet the streets are designed to funnel motor vehicles, with no plans for bike lanes.
In the latest study from the University of Duh, Michigan researchers figure out that skilled cyclists are better at controlling their bodies when they ride, and have to make fewer large corrective moves than less experienced riders.
A new report looks at protected bike lanes in New York City. Which will likely induce envy in bike riders most everywhere else.
The Bike Law website gets it. After their webmaster was critically injured in a North Carolina collision, they vow to never call crashes “accidents” again. Period.
International
The rate of bicycling has tripled in London over the last 15 years, while driving has dropped 50%, even though the city continues to lag behind other European cities in encouraging cycling.
Brit bicyclists are warned about bike thieves sawing through bike racks, then covering it up with gaffer’s tape. That’s a common bike theft technique here as well, with cuts often covered by bicycling stickers; always check the integrity of a rack before locking up if you see any stickers or tape on it.
The Guardian aptly observes that the draconian new bike laws in Australia’s New South Wales seem designed more to deter bicycling than protect riders from motor vehicles.
Metro is preparing to open a new pedestrian bridge linking the Universal City Metro stop to the Universal Studios across the street this April.
Because slowing traffic and fixing the street on busy Lankershim Blvd so it would be safe for pedestrians was apparently out of the question.
So if you take your bike on the subway to visit City Walk or take the studio tour, you’ll need to either cart it over the elevated walkway — if bikes are allowed on it — or risk your life crossing a street that city officials seemingly determined was too dangerous to fix.
Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini responds to complaints about riding without a helmet by donning one to ride on rollers. And doffing everything else.
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Local
The Biking Black Hole is looking for volunteers to test its new bikeshare program starting next Monday; there will be two stations with 50 bikes in Beverly Hills during the pilot phase, part of the promised expansion of Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare program. Although the question remains whether users will be able to find a safe place to ride in the notoriously bike-unfriendly city.
The San Diego Reader talks to local residents who accepted New Belgium Brewery’s challenge to live carfree for a full year, and finds they like it.
Tres shock! A planned road diet reducing the Coast Highway in Oceanside to two lanes, along with bike lanes on either side, is meeting resistance from some local residents. Not unlike virtually every proposed road diet, and most bike lanes, everywhere.
The CHP blames a Palo Alto cyclist for making an unsafe lane change in a fatal collision; he was riding in a bike lane that forces riders to cross high speed traffic merging right onto an on ramp. From the description, it sounds like the real person responsible the tragedy is whoever designed the bike lanes in the first place. Not to mention whoever approved a 55 mph speed limit on a surface street.
Dallas and Forth Worth plan a 64-mile bike trail connecting the two cities. Yet we can’t even manage to get a continuous bikeway connecting Downtown LA and Santa Monica.
Women bike messengers in Chicago call for an end to cat calls and harassment. Seriously, women should just be allowed to do their jobs, and ride a bike without being subjected to abuse.
A Brooklyn street gets an upgrade from sharrows to buffered bike lanes after overcoming previous opposition. Meanwhile, the head of a neighborhood group is trying to stir up a scandal, saying two members of a community board should have abstained from the vote that overwhelmingly approved bike lanes on another street, even though it wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference in the outcome.
Outside reports on the sad last days of BMX legend Dave Mirra, who took his own life in North Carolina earlier this month; friends say he was depressed and had lost direction, despite making plans for a comeback.
International
Caught on video: A British cyclist narrowly escapes being hit by a large truck in a dangerously close pass.
To cut down on congestion, Mumbai is proposing to ban all new car and motorcycle registrations after a yet-to-be-determined date; the city also plans 100 new cycle tracks, among other roadway improvements.
Give a little to help support LA’s best bike news site this holiday season.
Today’s common theme is the bikeshare boom.
Just three weeks after its official launch, Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare already has over 2,100 members who’ve traveled a total of nearly 18,000 miles.
And a new study shows bikeshare really does help get people out of their cars, while taking pressure off over-crowded transit systems.
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Great story from South Dakota.
A couple of 10 and 14-year old kids vandalized a South Dakota car dealership recently, causing $25,000 in damage.
But instead of prosecuting the boys, the owner talked to their parents. And once he learned how impoverished the families were, he dropped the charges, and dipped into his own pocket to find a better home for the older boy’s family, as well as buying him a bus pass and a bicycle to get to school.
The kid responded buy volunteering to help out at the dealership after school and on weekends on his own accord, without being asked.
If there’s a better example of how to make a difference in a child’s life, I don’t know what it is.
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Metro is hosting a series of workshops to develop their Active Transportation Strategic Plan, starting tonight in West Hollywood. Thanks to LADOT Bike Program for the heads-up.
Richard Risemberg writes that civic leaders may or may not be out to get us through their not-so-benign neglect of already deficient bike lanes.
CiclaValley invites you to join pro cyclist Phil Gaimon, the LACBC and Councilmember David Ryu’s office in cleaning up a stretch of Mulholland between Cahuenga and Runyon Canyon on the 12th. Maybe you can talk to Ryu’s people about the need for safe bicycling routes in his K-Town/Hollywood district.
Somehow, West Hollywood sneaks in at number 10 on People for Bike’s list of America’s best city’s for everyday biking. No offense to one of my favorite cities, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time WeHo has been rated for anything related to bicycling, let alone on a national stage.
Pasadena’s updated transit system will have bike racks on the front of their new natural gas buses.
Temple City chose the most complete and safest makeover of Las Tunas Drive in a non-binding straw vote, although the real decision will come in January.
State
California scores a 14.5% boost in transportation funds under the new federal transportation bill, including funding for bike and pedestrians projects which some members of the GOP tried to kill.
Three San Diego-area cyclists were injured when an apparently drunk or stoned driver plowed into them from behind while they were riding in a Carlsbad bike lane Wednesday morning. Nothing like being wasted behind the wheel barely after breakfast.
While some call for building walls, a Tijuana businessman is pushing for a transnational bike lane between the US and Mexico.
Chico police are getting in the Grinchly spirit by handing out $78 tickets to anyone who rides a bike on the sidewalk. Before ticketing people for riding on the sidewalk, they should make sure the street is safe for cycling, first.
Blame for a ban on protected bike lanes on state roads in Chicago rests with the deputy chief of staff for the former governor, apparently for political reasons. Isn’t it always, though?
An Indiana newspaper remembers native son Major Taylor, America’s first African-American cycling champ and the fastest rider of his time.
New York’s city council will consider a number of bike-related bills, including one to create a possibly needless bike safety committee, and another that would consider bikes abandoned and subject to removal after just 36 hours. Which means riders could risk seizure unless they move their bikes every day and a half.
A Staten Island website doesn’t get it, saying New York’s Vision Zero is just an excuse for ticketing motorists, while claiming that driving an extra five to ten miles over the speed limit won’t hurt anyone. Unless, of course, they happen to hit someone at that speed.
Heartbreaking story about a former North Carolina football player who slipped into mental illness, chemical dependency and homelessness before ending his life riding his bike the wrong way into oncoming traffic on a busy highway. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the heads-up.
International
While bicycling has boomed in Western countries in recent years, ridership has dropped 50% worldwide in the past three decades.
Here’s an update on those two Polish brothers pedaling their way down the full length of the Amazon. No, not next to the Amazon, on the Amazon.
Caught on video: A verbal dispute turns violent as a Brit van driver gets out of his cab to take on a bike rider in a two round non-title bout.
Caught on video 2: After a British cyclist is dangerously buzzed by a passing bus, the company says he had plenty of room. You might want to turn down the volume to avoid offending your kids or coworkers with the perfectly understandable, but nonetheless NSFW language.
Talk about trading up. A UK bike thief rides off on a $6,000 mountain bike after putting the equivalent of a $75 deposit on a children’s bike.
A Scottish letter writer opposes irrational calls to reign in cyclists, pointing out that drivers have killed over 45,000 people in the UK so far this century, while bike riders have been responsible for less than ten deaths. Although that’s still ten too many.
There once were some bike thieves in Limerick. No, really, Irish police busted a gang exporting hot bikes to Europe.
A South African writer says maybe the country’s president could improve his image if he rode a bike like the Dutch queen instead of riding in a motorized cavalcade.
A Kiwi writer calls on his fellow New Zealanders to get on their bikes after it’s named the most regressive country at the Paris climate talks.
