Tag Archive for asinine bike studies

Morning Links: Why you’ll keep hitting potholes, and your bike-riding paleo ass is responsible for global warming

KPCC’s Sharon McNary nearly takes a tumble off her bike while examining LA’s street rating system, concluding that the city’s worst streets are expected to remain hazardous for bike riders and other human beings for some time to come.

Especially if cost savings from a new asphalt plant are put back into the general fund, instead of used for fixing streets as common sense would seem to dictate.

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In what may be one of the most ridiculous academic studies in human history, a Harvard researcher concludes that a bike rider on a paleo diet could be more harmful to the environment than say, a vegan in a Prius.

Because as we all know, no one who drives a fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicle would ever dream of eating meat. Never mind someone on a bicycle actually eating a healthy, environmentally sensitive diet.

But for the relative handful of you out there on your bikes who insist on eating bacon and pork rinds with a side of steak at every single meal, you — j’accuse! — are responsible for destroying our planet.

Not, say, all those people stuck on the 405 in their environmentally sensitive vehicles.

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Why carry a multi-tool in your bike bag when you can wear one on your belt? Assuming your favorite bike dress or spandex kit has belt loops, of course.

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After years of helping hide doping by Lance Armstrong and others, officials with cycling’s governing body are now accused of covering up evidence of motor doping at last year’s Tour de France. And the cheat beat goes on. And on.

The route is announced for this year’s 704-mile Tour of Utah in August, with over ten miles of vertical climbing.

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Local

CiclaValley takes a tour of the new protected bike lanes on Los Angeles Street in DTLA.

LA Weekly’s top rated coffee roaster began as a bicycle-based business.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton takes part in the LACBC’s annual Los Angeles River Ride with his son, not in tow, but riding on his own.

Streetsblog’s Doug Lewis reports on Sunday’s sparsely attended Viva SGV open event in El Monte and South El Monte. As noted last week, there were just too many other competing events going on this past weekend; it’s important to find an open date in the calendar when scheduling such things.

 

State

Five members of Ventura’s Channel Island Bicycle Club will ride across the country to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

A Santa Cruz area dog park has been named in honor of a hit-and-run victim. Josh Laven had been on a cross-country bike tour when his body was found hidden in bushes on the side of the road, his dog still by his side; his killer was never found.

A 19-year old Campbell man has been arrested for felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter in the death of a bike rider on Sunday.

A San Francisco bike rider was seriously injured when she fell after she was startled by a turning car while riding salmon.

 

National

Bicycling offers six easy steps to start bike touring.

A Reno writer makes his first awkward attempt at bike-skiing in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

A Chicago writer says she commutes to work by bike because she can.

Hundreds of bicyclists rode in honor of the five Kalamazoo MI cyclists killed in a collision last week, while the state’s governor showed up for a memorial service.

Ohio could become the 38th state to pass a minimum three-foot passing law.

A Massachusetts letter writer says it’s just as important to wear a bike helmet when riding on a bike trail as it is on the street. Actually, that’s what they’re designed for; bike helmets are made to protect against low speed falls, not high speed crashes.

When a road-raging off-duty cop pulls a gun on a NYC bike messenger, naturally, it’s the guy on the bike who goes to jail. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

The rate of bike riding surges in DC in response to cuts in the city’s Metro system for required maintenance.

A Florida bike rider is mauled by a police dog and ends up doing three months in jail for what began as a simple traffic stop for riding without a light.

 

International

A Napa writer visits Cuba for the first time, exploring rural back roads by bicycle after giving up on Havana’s potholed streets.

A Canadian man gets back on his bike to fight the disease that’s slowly taking his wife’s life.

Vancouver cyclists struggle with a bike theft rate two to four times higher than any other major city in Canada.

Reducing London speed limits to 20 mph in places has resulted in an estimated 24% reduction in fatalities and serious injuries.

A new study finds bicycling is not a preferred commuting option in India’s Bengaluru, better known in this country as Bangalore; nearly all respondents rode as a child, but most consider it uncool as adults.

Now that’s more like it. An Aussie state makes it a crime with up to two years in jail to throw something at a bike rider. Or a motor vehicle, for that matter.

No auto-centrism here. A Sydney cyclist and corporate CEO says don’t bike commute and stay the hell off your bike at rush hour, because it’s inconsiderate to motorists to hold up traffic. No really, that’s what he says.

 

Finally…

Um, no. Just… no. If you’re going to ride your bike to case cars to break into, make sure the cops aren’t watching.

And who says you can’t catch air on bikeshare? Any video that starts with a Corgi in the surf can’t be all bad.