Tag Archive for DTLA

Bike the Vote today, DUI death of Master’s champ Boyes worth one lousy year, and LA approves $13m Mobility Hub contract

March 5, 2024 / / No comments
Just 301 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,006 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

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It was a busy weekend in the bike world, so we’ve got a lot to catch up on.

But before we start, if you haven’t done it yet, find the ballot you got in the mail, fill it out, and drop it off at your nearest drop box. Or hop on your bike, and ride to the nearest vote center to cast your vote in person.

You can also get fare-free rides on Metro trains, buses and Metro Bike bikeshare today.

And if you live in the City of Angels, don’t forget to vote yes on Measure HLA, which will require the city to build out the Mobility Plan they already agreed to, before letting it gather dust on the shelf.

Lives literally depend on it.

If you need a little more guidance, you can find voter guides here from Streets For All, the Los Angeles Times and LAist’s Guide to the Voter Guides.

It’s okay, we’ll wait.

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While we’re waiting for everyone to get back, my brother Eric is headed east from San Dimas on Adventure Cycling’s Bicycle Route 66 today on his way to Las Vegas, and eventually on to Savannah, Georgia, after starting from Santa Monica on Sunday.

Let me give a shoutout to the folks at Trek Bicycle Beverly Hills, the former I. Martin on Beverly Blvd, for giving him an emergency valve repair Saturday to help get him on the road — and not charging a cent.

And no, they didn’t know who I am before doing it.

Then again, who does?

And if you’re hankering to follow my brother’s lead, National Geographic highlights five “stress-free and sustainable” US bike trails to ease you into bike camping.

Eric thanking Camden at Trek Bicycle Beverly Hills for fixing his tire

Loading the bigass touring bike his daughter had custom built for him

A very sad corgi watching her new favorite human disappear up the sidewalk

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An “incredulous” federal judge questioned a proposed plea deal in the death of US Masters Champ Ethan Boyes.

Prosecutors said they were nearing a deal on a one-year misdemeanor sentence for the drunken crash that killed Boyes in San Francisco’s Presidio Park, reducing the charges to one count of unlawfully killing a human being without malice and without gross negligence.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle,

“Isn’t being intoxicated gross negligence in itself?” the judge said, incredulous.

That question, (Assistant U.S. Attorney George) Hageman said, was “up for interpretation.”

The judge replied that interpreting the severity of the alleged crime was Hageman’s job as federal prosecutor…

Eighty-one-year old Arnold Kinman Low is currently facing one count of vehicular manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol in the fatal crash.

Felony vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI causing death could result in a maximum sentence of 16 years behind bars, while dropping the DUI count could reduce it to just 12 months.

For killing someone while too drunk to drive in a straight line.

Allegedly.

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Los Angeles officials approved a five-year, $10 million contract with transit firm Tranzito to provide a series of integrated mobility hubs,

The firm will establish 13 of the centers throughout DTLA, Hollywood and Long Beach to provide “bike sharing, car sharing, secure bike parking and on-demand microtransit services” for first mile/last mile transportation from Metro  stations.

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This is who we share the road with.

This is who we share the road with, part two.

Missouri Governor Mike Parsons sent a clear message that driving drunk and severely injuring a little kid is just no big deal, celebrating the Kansas City Chief’s Super Bowl win by commuting the DUI sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs Assistant Coach Britt Reid, son of head coach Andy Reid.

So if you ever wonder why people keep dying on our streets, that’s Exhibit A.

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It’s now 76 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, Pasadena is already launching its own ebike rebate, offering residents up to $750 for an e-cargo bike, or $1,000 for income-qualified residents.

So why is it taking California so damn long?

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Momentum argues that anti-cycling zealots in Toronto would like to run over bicyclists just to save a little commuting time.

No bias here. An anonymous London school kid bemoans the “plagues of two-wheeled vermin” making them late for music lessons, but suggests the bright side to global warming is the torrential rains that free the road up for drivers.

And no bias here, either.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

When you’re riding your bike in Capitola, California with an outstanding warrant while carrying meth and fentanyl, put some damn lights on it — and don’t try to pass yourself off as your sister.

A Madison, Wisconsin man was arrested for riding a stolen bicycle while on his way to the courthouse to be sentenced for a series of other burglaries — after he had already been banned from riding a bike.

When you’re carrying coke and a crack pipe on your bike in Kentucky, put some damn lights on it, already — and don’t jump off a roof to escape the cops.

An English town dealt with “anti-social cyclists,” as police responded to complaints from the public for such horrendous activities as riding without lights. Which isn’t exactly what I would describe as antisocial, but still. 

A clinically blind bicyclist in the UK was fined the equivalent of $253 for riding on a highway while “extremely” drunk, less than a year after he crashed into a passing car while riding under the influence. And giving a whole new meaning to being blind drunk.

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Local 

A homeless man in DTLA learns the hard way it ain’t easy to steal a robocab.

Ride On! Bike Shop/Co-Op founder Adé Neff describes how he was repeatedly stopped for Riding While Black in Beverly Hills because he “fit” a description of someone who had committed a crime. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you.

The rich get richer, as Santa Monica pledges to improve its Vision Zero and Bike Action plans.

South Pasadena residents learn the hard way what happens when only seven people out of 104 bother to return a resident survey — and all of those ask for bike lanes on Grand Ave. And the city is apparently all out of temporary street paint. Thanks to Wesley for the heads-up.

Hermosa Beach is considering a proposal to geofence ebike rentals to prevent speeding on The Strand, as well as a proposal to ban ebikes entirely from the popular oceanfront walkway.

Long Beach plans to unveil a $60 million overhaul of Studebaker Road in East Long Beach to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and, yes, drivers.

 

State

Caltrans is teaming with the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) to offer a new tool to address the inequitable distribution of transportation benefits and burdens, including mapping out crash rates.

Calbike promotes their upcoming Bicycle Summit Plenary in San Diego next month, saying it will promote the city’s bike cultures.

A California man rode 625 miles around Taiwan in twelve days, despite never riding for more than half an hour before his trip.

 

National

Road & Track offers the year’s best ebikes, as rated by Bicycling and reposted by AOL. Raising the question of why the hell does Bicycling even have a paywall?

Discover says ebikes may be expensive, but worth it for their health, equity and clean air benefits.

The case against a Salem, Oregon DEA agent for killing a woman on a bicycle after running a stop sign remains in legal limbo, pending an appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court over a decision to transfer the case to federal court, which would likely result in dropping the case.

Actor Matthew Modine leads a “ragtag” bicycle krewe to the Grand Canyon in the new fact-based dramedy movie Hard Miles.

A Colorado woman switched gears after a serious mountain biking crash, leaving her marketing job to become a nomadic artist.

Hoboken NJ credits removing parking spaces as one key factor for the city’s remarkable lack of traffic deaths for the last seven years.

Now you, too, can have a new limited edition DC-only Cherry Blossom Brompton.

Meet Charlotte NC bike lane sweeper Sweepy McSweepface.

A Georgia man was charged with hit-and-run for driving away after driving onto a sidewalk and leaving a 78-year old man riding a bicycle with life-threatening injuries, apparently while driving distracted.

 

International

London’s Evening Standard rates the best road bikes below £2,000 — the equivalent of $2,500.

Over 800 bicyclists took to the streets of London to call for safer infrastructure and streets for women bike riders.

Completing our London trifecta, a London business site questions whether the UK’s bike riders are really any safer after bike-friendly changes to the country’s Highway Code.

A campaign by disabled bicyclists in the UK tackles Shedgate, arguing that disabled riders should be allowed to build a bike shed in their front garden if they don’t have a back one, after several people were fined or ordered to remove them.

Over 35 percent the residents of Dutch cities Groningen and Amsterdam, and Copenhagen, Denmark ride a bicycle on a daily basis, compared to just 5% of Rome residents. Yet most American cities would be overjoyed by even the latter rate. 

Mumbai bicyclists plan a mid-March silent protest to demand safer streets for bicyclists, runners and pedestrians, in response to the bicycling death of former Intel India chief Avtar Saini, who is credited with the development of the Pentium processor; meanwhile, an Indian columnist calls for making the bicycling safe, for everyone’s sake.

An Aussie bicyclist credits his Apple Watch’s fall detection feature for saving his life after crashing with a ‘roo.

 

Competitive Cycling

Paris-Nice is already upon us, with American Matteo Jorgenson in 4th place, behind Laurence Pithie, Mads Petersen and Olav Kooij after three stages; Dutch cyclist Arvid de Kleijn got his first WorldTour win Monday, as his Tudor Pro Cycling team “broke their duck for 2024.” Which has to be one of the strangest terms I’ve heard in pro cycling, or anywhere else.

Evidently, the cycling world forgot the 2022 Strade Bianche, because history repeated itself with winners Lotte Kopecky and Tadej Pogačar once again winning the event two years later.

Giro and Dutch Team Visma/Lease a Bike have teamed for what has to be the weirdest looking, bizarrely futuristic aero bike helmet, which looks more like an AI rendering error.

NBA legend Reggie Miller may, in fact, be better on a mountain bike than you are, winning his first two races of the year this past weekend.

 

Finally…

Just because you’re legally required to wear a bike helmet doesn’t mean it can’t look like a dorky hat. That feeling when your bicycle looks like a bigass custom motorcycle.

And that feeling when it’s just a tad windy out there.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Heart of LA CicLAvia Sunday, followed by Streets For All CicLAvia afterparty, and help clean up Venice Blvd Saturday

October 13, 2023 / / 2 comments

It should be an extra spooky Friday the 13th on the mean streets of LA today, coming just over two weeks before Halloween. 

While a little triskaidekaphobia never hurt anyone, it couldn’t hurt to use a little extra caution today, so your ride doesn’t turn into someone else’s bad luck.

And if you see someone in a hockey mask coming your way, maybe ride the other direction just to be safe.  

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CicLAvia returns to its DTLA roots this weekend, nearly 13 years to the day after the first one.

However, Sunday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia follows only portions of the original route, traveling 7.8 miles through downtown with stops in Chinatown and Little Tokyo, while adding extensions to South Park, and Boyle Heights and Mariachi Plaza across the new 6th Street bridge.

That will be followed by the year’s final CicLAvia, in South LA on December 3rd, offering a route stretching from Historic South Central to Leimert Park, primarily along Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I see a side trip to Harold and Belle’s in my future.

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Streets For All will follow Sunday’s CicLAvia with an afterparty at a super secret location in DTLA.

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Get in the mood for Sunday’s CicLAvia by helping clean up the neglected Venice Blvd bike lanes.

Which could definitely use it.

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If CicLAvia isn’t your thing, the Burbank Kiwanis club is hosting a bike rodeo on Sunday.

My favorite events are the roadie roping and ebike buck riding.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Police in Parma, Ohio are looking for a hit-and-run driver who used his SUV as a weapon to intentionally run down someone on a bicycle; no word on the condition of the victim or any reason for the attack.

No bias here. An Ottawa, Canada writer places tongue firmly in cheek, and announces that the country’s bike riders were mortified to learn they’re not “actually allowed to run every red light and stop sign they come across.” Just wait until someone tells him about all those entitled drivers who pick and choose what traffic laws they want to obey.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton lists eight things you probably don’t know about the first Arroyo Fest in 20 years, which walks and rolls on Sunday, October 29th on the 110 Freeway — and takes place early, starting at 7 am and ending a 11 am.

El Monte-based Addmotor is introducing a $2,700, dual battery longtail e-cargo bike with an exceptional 210 mile range.

Hermosa Beach moves forward with an effort to usurp the state’s authority over traffic laws by copying other SoCal cities attempts to write their own laws regulating ebikes, such as Manhattan Beach’s illegal ban on anyone — on an ebike or otherwise — riding two abreast, which is legal under state law.

 

State

Governor Gavin Newsom signed two bike bills authored by Burbank state senator and US House candidate Anthony Portantino to require landlords to allow tenants to store and charge ebikes and e-scooters in their apartments, and require Caltrans to appoint an active transportation safety czar. Although it doesn’t require the state transportation agency to actually, you know, listen to them.

A new study from San Bernardino County’s Loma Linda University shows that middle school bicycling programs can boost students’ mental health. Which should come as a surprise to no one.

 

National

The Strategist offers suggestions for the best gifts for bicyclists. And for a change, they actually suggest some decent stuff. 

Axios maps out where bicycling is growing in the US, including San Diego and Los Angeles, based on a recent report from mobility data firm StreetLight Data.

CleanTechnica says a new calculator can help cities quantify the “environmental and economic benefits of replacing short-distance vehicle trips with ebike trips.” Maybe someone should tell those ebike-averse beach cities about it. 

A proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against Shimano, Specialized and Trek following the massive Hollowtech crankset recall, alleging that by failing to recall all Hollowtech cranksets, the companies are attempting to limit costs at the expense of consumers. Or maybe the ones they recalled were just the only ones that were defective. 

The Stranger talks with Seattle Bike Blog author Tom Fucoloro about his new book exploring the history of bicycling in the city, Biking Uphill in the Rain: The Story of Seattle from Behind the Handlebars.

An Idaho law professor explains the state’s bike-friendly traffic laws, saying it’s hard not to feel embattled riding a bicycle when confronted by drivers who don’t know the law.

Security cam video shows a bike thief riding off with a woman’s bicycle at a Denver rail station, before a Good Samaritan steps up to stop him and get her bike back.

Colorado continues its efforts to get more residents riding ebikes, offering local communities part of a $2.5 million pot of cash to provide their own ebike rebates, in addition to the state’s rebate program. Meanwhile, California’s ebike rebate program remains in limbo after more than two years, so far just a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. 

Milwaukee officials hope adding more protected bike lanes will make the city safer for bicyclists, after seven people were killed in the county last year; it may be helping, because they’ve only suffered two deaths this year. Although two is still two too many.

Brooklyn drivers complain that a new parking-protected bike lane makes it impossible to pull out of their driveways, echoing the same complaint of every driver faced with every parking-protected bike lane everywhere. And everyone else seems to get used to it, so they probably will, too.

New York announced plans for another 40 miles of protected bike lanes, with two new bikeways in Queens and one each in Brooklyn and the Bronx, as well as a 10-mile protected bike lane on Staten Island between Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and the Goethals Bridge.

That’s more like it. A 29-year old Alabama woman was sentenced to six years behind bars for the criminally negligent, hit-and-run crash that killed a “beloved” retired veterinarian as he was riding his bicycle in 2021; the driver claimed she had hit a deer. Although there’s something wrong when negligently killing someone is just a misdemeanor, while driving away from it is a felony. 

 

International

The European Union Court of Justice has officially ruled that ebikes are bicycles, not motorcycles, because they are not exclusively motor driven and don’t require insurance to cover damages. Although that would seem to leave throttle-driven ebikes in question.

He gets it. Scotland’s new roadworks commissioner says bicyclists and pedestrians should be given priority at roadway projects, even if it delays motorist and takes up space. If he ever runs for office, I’m voting for him. Even if I have to move. 

Disturbing story from the UK, where officials knew about a deep roadway crack for months before it killed an 84-year old man whose bike tire got stuck in it, but the highway workers sent to examine it were only focused on potholes that could damage cars, not cracks that could kill bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling offers all the details on L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams’ new one-day Circuit Racing International Tour, aka CRIT, championship in St. Petersburg, Florida next weekend. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can ding! ding! your little heart away as you drop hapless foes in your next crit or club beer race.

And that feeling when you try to run away from your jailers, even though you just don’t look good in stripes.

Or maybe because you don’t look good in stripes.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Metro considers Alameda mobility options, 10th Anniversary of Finish The Ride this weekend, and writers bike the strike

June 9, 2023 / / Comments Off on Metro considers Alameda mobility options, 10th Anniversary of Finish The Ride this weekend, and writers bike the strike

Anyone who has tried to walk or bike Alameda Street south of Union Station in DTLA knows it’s just this side of a traffic choked living hell.

As I found out the hard way recently.

Now Metro is presenting three options to make the street safer and more inviting for humans between 1st and Cesar Chavez, as part of plans for a new esplanade leading to the station.

The options range from closing or moving offramps and widening sidewalks, to converting Arcadia Street to a pedestrian walkway and capping the 101 Freeway to create a new park.

Let’s hope our officials have the courage and foresight to make the choice that will most dramatically remake Downtown Los Angeles.

They can use some of that money they have budgeted to flush down the toilet on freeway widening projects.

Map from Metro Alameda Mobility Project website.

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This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of Finish The Ride, which began when Damian Kevitt invited the public to join him in finishing the Griffith Park ride that was interrupted by a hit-and-run driver, who has never been caught.

More than 2,000 “cyclists, runners, walkers, challenged athletes, veterans, first responders, civic and community leaders, and safe streets advocates from across Southern California” are expected to turn out to demand safer streets for everyone.

This year’s event has been divided into two parts, with Finish The Run on Saturday, and Finish The Ride on Sunday.

You’ll also have a chance to meet two highly qualified candidates to replace Adam Schiff in California’s 30th Congressional District, in Laura Friedman and Anthony Portantino.

I’ll let the folks at Finish The Ride take it from here.

Finish The Ride (www.FinishTheRide.org) was founded in the aftermath of a vicious hit-and-run crime in 2013 that saw cyclist Damian Kevitt lose his leg after being dragged under a car from the streets of Griffith Park onto and down Interstate 5 for nearly a quarter mile. A year later, Kevitt was accompanied by hundreds of cyclists, street safety advocates, and community leaders as part of a campaign to raise awareness of an epidemic of hit-and-run crimes in Los Angeles.

Last year participants in Finish The Ride and Finish The Run demanded that Griffith Park be made safer for the tens of thousands who use it weekly for recreation and exercise. As a result, only a couple of months later, a section of Griffith Park Drive was transformed from a road into a closed pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian path, and 4 million dollars of funding was approved for additional safety renovations across the park.

According to a report by the non-profit Streets Are For Everyone (known as SAFE), the City of Los Angeles saw a record 312 fatalities last year, most of them pedestrians, and tens of thousands more seriously injured. The primary factor in all these collisions was reckless speeding. SAFE has been involved in a massive state-wide campaign to educate about and advocate for the need to reign in reckless speeding to save lives. Part of this campaign has demanded that legislators pass AB 645, a pilot program that would allow the limited use of speed safety cameras in school zones and on the most dangerous roads in 6 cities across the state. Over 1800 have signed a petition to demand that legislators support AB 645. As a result of this campaign, AB 645 just passed the Assembly with overwhelming support (58 to 7).

This year’s Finish The Ride and Finish The Run event brings together people from all walks to continue the call to demand that roads be made safer and reckless speeding be addressed as the public health crisis that it is.

Finish The Ride and Finish The Run is now in its 10th year and will be held over two days – runners and walkers on Saturday and cyclists on Sunday. On Saturday, there will be the usual 5K/10K run/walk and half-marathon run. On Sunday will be the usual 15-mile, 25-mile, 35-mile, and 50 miles rides. New additions to this year’s event are the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council 1K Kids Run and a Puppy Run on Saturday and the Bahati Foundation Metric Century on Sunday.

Saturday, 10 June 2023 – Finish The Run

  • (1200 runners and walkers expected)
  • Time: 7:30 AM Griffith Park Half-Marathon starts
  • 8 AM Finish the Run Opening Ceremony with Civic Leaders and other Victims of Traffic Violence speaking (All other events depart following the opening ceremony)
  • Where: Griffith Park, Crystal Springs Area
  • 4663 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027
  • Who: Asm Laura Friedman
  • Councilmember Nithya Raman
  • Damian Kevitt, Founder of Finish The Ride/Finish The Run and Streets Are For Everyone
  • Cindi Enamorado, sister of Raymond Olivares, who lost his life in February 2023 at the hands of a driver engaged in street racing.

————

Sunday, 11 June 2023 – Finish The Ride

  • (800 cyclists expected)
  • Time: 7 AM Olympic Silver Medalist Nelson Nails leads the Bahati Foundation Metric Century and Andrew Jelmert Half Century Ride
  • 8 AM Finish the Ride Opening Ceremony with Civic Leaders and other Victims of Traffic Violence speaking (All other events depart following the opening ceremony)
  • Where: Griffith Park, Crystal Springs Area
  • 4663 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027
  • Who: Senator Anthony Portantino
  • Damian Kevitt, Founder of Finish The Ride and Streets Are For Everyone
  • Curtis Townsend Sr., who lost his wife, Trina Newman-Townsend, in a hit-and-run on Christmas Eve in 2022.

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Seen on the street: A WGA writer bikes the strike.

Meanwhile, striking writers took part in a 27-mile “Bike Strike” protest ride from Radford Studio to Amazon, with stops at Warners and Disney, then over the hill Netflix, with a stop for lunch at Swingers.

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David Drexler shares video showing the full length of the new Mark Bixby bike/ped path on the International Gateway Bridge, taken on last month’s opening day.

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Gravel Bike California accepts the challenge of biking the Desert X biennial art installation across the “vast & sandy” Coachella Valley in a single day.

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A UC Davis bike rider is on the hunt for a hit-and-run e-cart driver.

And yes, it’s legally hit-and-run if you just cause someone to fall, even without making contact.

Need help finding a worker driving one of those mini electric vehicle who ran a stop sign/didn’t yield, causing me to fall off bike
byu/Cars_are_my_life inUCDavis

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

No bias here. A South Bay writer decries plans to build a bike path on Flagler Alley connecting Redondo Beach and Torrance, which was recently blocked by the latter city. And repeats the myth that the $1.8 million price tag would cost more than building a mile of freeway. Actually, the Federal Highway Administration says it costs $2.8 million for a single lane-mile of freeway on flat, rural terrain, and $62.4 million in urban environments.

Violent assaults from passing cars continue in Oakland, where a bike rider was smacked on the head by a car passenger; that comes just months after at least 14 East Bay bike riders were intentionally doored in February.

Ocean City, New Jersey tabled plans to ban ebikes from the city’s boardwalk, instead creating a committee to study the issue. If they’re anything like Los Angeles, having a committee study something means no one will ever hear about it again. 

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

When you’re carrying a loaded gun and meth on your bike, and already wanted on outstanding warrants, try not to end a police chase on your bike at a Redding cemetery.

A Minnesota man wanted on drug and gun charges tried to make his getaway from police on a stolen bicycle. And failed.

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Local 

The Transportation Committee of the Los Angeles City Council held its first post-pandemic community meeting at the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex in Baldwin Hills to discuss bicycling, bicycle safety and bike equity.

No surprise here, as LA Times readers are divided on the possibility of congestion pricing, with responses ranging from exuberant support to an “unambiguous ‘F— NO.'”

Pasadena is launching its own ebike rebate program on July 1st, with rebates up to $1,000 for city residents. Meanwhile, Los Angeles hasn’t even discussed any program to get motor vehicles off the streets, with ebikes or otherwise.

A Santa Clarita woman explains how her love of bicycling led to a bike tour of Japan with her 13-year old daughter.

 

State

LA County Mobility PAC Streets For All celebrates their wins in the state legislature, where all of the bills they sponsored are still alive at the halfway point. 

Laguna Beach is requiring students to complete an ebike safety course in exchange for a permit to park their bike on campus. Which is a great way to discourage bike commuting, and force people without permits back into cars.

She gets it. A San Jose writer says automated speed cams could save lives.

 

National

Treehugger says it’s time for government officials to stop ignoring ebikes, as a new report on EVs barely acknowledges their existence.

The New Mexico-based, federally funded Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety is using AI in an effort to combat rising traffic fatalities.

Colorado officially announced their new program to provide ebike rebates for residents earning less than 80% to 100% of their county’s median income. Just the latest city, state or province to provide ebike rebates before California’s vastly underfunded, fomerly-first-in-the-nation program gets off the ground — which should finally happen soon.

A suicidal teenager credits the kindness of Oklahoma strangers with saving his life after he set out of Chicago on a bicycle he pulled out of the trash.

Huh? A Columbus, Ohio TV station says many people are priced out of bicycling by the high cost of bikes, even while mentioning a nonprofit shop that sells refurbished bikes for around a hundred bucks. Seriously, cost should never be a barrier to bicycling, when there are countless options for low cost bikes. Or even free ones like the one above.

An Indiana woman learns the hard way that sometimes that bump in the road is a bike rider, not a pothole.

After watching a man walk past their station on his way to work for nearly two years, kindhearted cops in an Ohio city gave him a new bicycles.

Good idea. A new Pittsburgh proposal would provide automatic bikeshare memberships to all city employees.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss returns to bike commuting in the Big Apple after 14 years, and notices just a few changes.

Raleigh, North Carolina will offer residents 150 ebike vouchers ranging from $500 to $1,500 in exchange for sharing data on their usage.

A New Orleans website considers clothing options for the clothing optional World Naked Bike Ride, including the classic Crown Royal bag to carry your, uh, marbles. Personally, I don’t care what you wear, as long as you cover the seat on any borrowed, rented or bikeshare bikes.

 

International

Sad news from Antigua, where a 35-year old man has passed away in a Houston hospital, 13 months after he was run down by a driver, along with three other bicyclists.

A free website tells you whether it’s safe to walk, bike or run in the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. A far simpler rule of thumb is if you can smell smoke, stay home. Your lungs and sinuses will thank you.

No surprise here, as a Vancouver bike rider claims the removal of a popular bike lane in the city’s Stanley Park has resulted in harassment and speeding drivers.

A London writer argues that bike theft has been effectively decriminalized in the city.

Police in Northern Ireland are taking to the road on unmarked bicycles to enforce laws against unsafe passing. The LAPD has repeatedly been urged to do the same thing, but have refused over fears of being accused of entrapment. 

Over half of the people killed in collisions in Finnish cities were walking or riding a bike.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website looks at what bicycling means to people around the world. Including those in the exotic land called USA. 

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s last remaining Tour de France winner is feeling better after turning the corner in his battle with leukemia, which he traces to the shotgun blast that nearly killed him after winning his first Tour.

Bicycling says the Tour de France will require cycling teams to mask up and remain in a team bubble to avoid spreading Covid, unlike the recent Giro. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Speaking of Bicycling, they say you can watch the Tour and the eight-stage Tour de France Femmes with a subscription to Peacock. Read it on AOL of the magazine blocks you. 

Outside says Netflix’ new series Tour de France: Unchained will turn you into a cycling fan. Unless you already are, of course.

A writer for Cycling Weekly rode the 351-mile Unbound XL gravel race, so you won’t have to. And writes about how her gear stood up to the test.

Scottish endurance cyclist Christina Mackenzie has qualified for a spot in the world road cycling championships, nine months after she was seriously injured and left for dead by a hit-and-run driver.

 

Finally…

Why drive to see Queen Bey when you can ride your bike? Your next bike could be made from recycled Nespesso capsules.

And seriously, many drivers are happy to do it for free.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Reynolds equates building bus lanes to bulldozing homes to build freeways, and input wanted on DTLA Mobility Plan

May 24, 2023 / / One comment

No wonder nothing ever seems to get done in Los Angeles.

As we’ve seen far too many times, even the most minor improvement can get bogged down in an endless series of public meetings, in which every resident and pass-through driver has an equal voice, no matter how misinformed.

And people who bike, walk or take transit usually don’t count.

Which brings us to former LADOT head and current LA Metro Chief Innovation Officer Seleta Reynolds, who seems to think removing a traffic lane to improve bus headways “without extensive community engagement and consent” is equivalent to bulldozing homes to build freeways.

Never mind that one destroys the residences of people living in underserved communities, while the other simply removes peak hour lanes or street parking to move more people more efficiently.

No wonder so little happened in Los Angeles under her leadership.

I wouldn’t count on a lot of innovation from the LA County transportation agency going forward, either.

Photo by Juanita Mulder from Pixabay.

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LADOT wants your input on the Downtown Mobility Plan, where pedestrians have long been second-class citizens on car-choked streets, and the city is just now forming an actual bike network to safely get you from here to there.

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Looks like work is well underway on Pasadena’s Union Street protected bike lane.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

No bias here. A Scottish driver left a polite note for a bike rider admonishing him for locking his bicycle to a railing instead of letting someone park a car there. Because evidently, bikes don’t count.

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Local 

Metro invites you on a multimodal art tour starting with an exhibition at Union Station, followed by a bike ride to meet one of the artists at Exposition Park, and ending by taking the train back to Union Station. The only thing they left out of their description is what day it is (Hint: It’s this Saturday, according to the RSVP page).

Hermosa Beach dedicated a new bike corral on Hermosa Ave at 10th Street in honor of bicyclist and environmental activist Julian Katz, who died in 2018; the street is also the site of the Julian Katz Memorial Bikeway.

Streetsblog offers photos from Saturday’s Beach Streets open streets event in Long Beach, showing busier scenes than we saw in yesterday’s photos.

 

State

Calbike wants you to voice your support for legalizing sidewalk riding anywhere there aren’t bike lanes.

Culver City-based Walk ‘n Rollers will host a Walk & Roll Festival for kids and their families in Costa Mesa this Saturday.

Temecula invites everyone to come explore the city’s bike trails for National Trails Day on Saturday, June 3rd.

A Palo Alto columnist says plans for a bike on El Camino Real connecting Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto and Mountain View are a bad idea, because the street is too dangerous for people on bicycles if it keeps parking, and too inconvenient for shoppers who might have to walk a little bit without it. Never mind that bike lanes — particularly protected bike lanes — improve safety for everyone.

 

National

They get it. Bicycling says the best bike is the one that brings you joy. Unfortunately, you won’t get any joy from reading it if the magazine blocks you, since this one isn’t available anywhere else.

A critically injured victim of the Goodyear, Arizona crash that killed two people and injured 19 others has finally returned home more than three months after they were run down on their bikes by a driver who claimed his steering locked; he underwent five surgeries for 12 different injuries, including a shattered pelvis, punctured bladder, broken collar bone, and fractured ribs, as well as spending two weeks in a medically induced coma. Meanwhile, the driver still has not been charged.

Boulder, Colorado is about to offer their own ebike rebates, even if they’re not as generous as nearby Denver’s successful program; meanwhile, Colorado is preparing a statewide ebike rebate plan.

Minnesota has become the latest state to adopt a Stop as Yield Law, aka Idaho Stop Law. California is once again considering a similar bill, despite previous vetos by Governor Newsom.

They get it, too. Streets Minnesota says people who bike are subsidizing the streets, not shirking their responsibility to pay their share.

Finishing our Minnesota trifecta, authorities are looking for a 14-year old girl who hasn’t been seen since leaving her home on her bike Friday morning.

Rhode Island is considering a bill to reclassify ebikes as bicycles; it’s the last remaining state to still consider ebikes something other than a bicycle.

Hats off to New York City, which will give donated and refurbished bicycles to recently arrived asylum seekers and people from underserved Staten Island communities.

This is who we share the road with. A 43-year old DC woman faces three second-degree murder charges for killing a Lyft driver and his passengers while driving drunk and under the influence of weed, at speeds up to 100 mph.

 

International

She gets it, too. Britain’s most decorated Paralympian complains about speeding drivers’ sense of entitlement, calling speeding an “utterly unacceptable” act.

A British teenager suffered life-changing injuries after being clinically dead for nearly an hour when he was brutally stabbed by gang members while test-riding his mother’s new bicycle.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website explains what bike buses are and why kids love them. Then again, a lot of parents do, too.

Thirty British bicyclists raised the equivalent of nearly $160,000 by following the 350-mile route of the Prophet Mohammed from Makkah to Madinah in Saudi Arabia, enough to pay for life-saving heart surgery for 60 Tanzanian children.

 

Competitive Cycling

Thirty-six-year old Geraint Thomas reclaimed the pink leader’s jersey with a commanding performance in stage 16 of the Giro, while Portugal’s João Almeida claimed the stage win.

 

Finally…

A TV station says always check your breaks before riding — no, really. Your next ebike could be a Hyundai.

And that feeling when you lose a wad of cash on a bike ride, and someone with the same name finds it and wires it back to you.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

South LA has city’s most dangerous intersections, DTLA worst neighborhood; self-driving cars aren’t out to kill us — yet

March 2, 2023 / / One comment

No surprise here.

A new study by personal finance site MoneyGeek, straying just a tad outside their lane, confirms what we already knew.

The most dangerous intersections in Los Angeles are in South LA.

LA’s Vision Zero High-Injury Network has already revealed that many of the city’s deadliest corridors were located in South LA.

Now, after examining nearly 14,000 collision reports from 2020 to 2022, MoneyGeek has counted 86 Los Angeles intersections which have had ten or more deaths or serious injuries over the three-year period.

Four of the top five were in South LA — including three on deadly Manchester Blvd.

  1. S. Vermont Avenue and W. Florence Avenue (19 injury crashes)
  2. W. Manchester Avenue and S. Normandie Avenue (18 injury crashes)
  3. Victory Boulevard and Lindley Avenue (18 injury crashes)
  4. W. Manchester Avenue and S. Vermont Avenue (18 injury crashes)
  5. E. Manchester Avenue and Avalon Boulevard (18 injury crashes)

Map courtesy of MoneyGeek

The company also crunched the numbers on the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, with DTLA coming out on top with over twice the number of intersection crashes of any other neighborhood.

Just more evidence of the failure of LA’s vastly underfunded and unimplemented Vision Zero program, which has just two years left to meet its goal of ending traffic deaths by 2025.

Which seems pretty damn unlikely, given last year’s record fatality count.

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Bicycling’s Joe Lindsey examines the tech industry’s insistence on beta testing of self-driving cars on American streets, using bike riders and pedestrians as unwitting guinea pigs. Or maybe crash test dummies.

Along with the lack of regulation that puts us all at risk.

An article of faith among proponents of autonomous vehicles is that the vast majority (94 percent is the figure often cited) of traffic crashes are caused by human error. Cyclists make up a relatively small portion of overall road deaths in the United States, but they’re killed at higher rates than vehicle occupants. Aside from a slight dip in 2020 when we drove less early in the pandemic, cyclist fatalities have risen for over a decade, and in 2021 the annual total jumped five percent to an all-time high of nearly 1,000, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

He goes on to look at the death of Elaine Hertzberg, who was walking her bike across a Phoenix street when she was run down by one of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles.

Although blame for the crash was put on the human operator, who was distracted watching videos on her phone, rather than the road ahead.

Zoom out more, and the data tells a similar story. Uber’s ATG test fleet had driven more than two million autonomous miles before Herzberg’s death. Waymo claims that it has surpassed 20 million miles total. Altogether, autonomous vehicles in California drove more than four million miles in 2021. That’s tens of millions of miles driven over years of testing, with one death. That may sound impressive, but the most recent fatality statistic for human driving in the U.S. is 1.33 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Autonomy literally has a long drive before it can show that it can match, let alone exceed, human safety performance, even such as it is.

And outside of those sporadic data disclosures and California’s reporting system, there are few ways to monitor progress. Without federal regulation, there’s not even a widely accepted benchmark for how safe autonomous vehicles should be to use as a target. “I understand there’s a balance between innovation and regulation, but right now that oversight isn’t happening,” says Homendy, herself a cyclist. “It’s disappointing.”

One point in favor of autonomous vehicles, though, is the complete and total lack of road raging drivers.

So at least if one of those runs you down, you’ll know they probably weren’t aiming for you.

As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A British driver walked without a single day behind bars for chasing a 16-year old boy with her car, then intentionally knocking him off his bike, all because one of the boy’s friends accidentally clipped the wing mirror on her car.

A driver on the island of Jersey is demanding that charges against her for crashing into a teenage bike rider be dropped, arguing that it will be impossible to get a fair trial because prosecutors failed to turn over evidence in a timely manner.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A British teenager could face charges for assaulting a cop who tried to stop him, after leading police on a high speed bicycle chase through the streets of town.

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Local 

Metro offers an update on Measure M projects, including closing the gaps in the LA River bike path in the Central Cities and San Fernando Valley.

Readers of the Los Angeles Times agree that LA drivers are getting worse, though one letter writer blames the paper for encouraging less enforcement of minor infractions.

 

State

Volunteers look back on five years of maintaining the La Jolla Bike Path. Which the city should do but doesn’t.

Builders in rural San Diego County could soon be required to fund bike lanes, sidewalks and transit as a condition for permitting.

An op-ed from a member of Fresno’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee argues that the city can reduce bicycling and pedestrian deaths, and Vision Zero is the way to do it.

Oakland’s Slow Streets program is making a comeback, after it was ended last year for a lack of funds.

Napa will get its first buffered bike lane later this year.

 

National

Amazon’s Woot outlet site is offering a one-day discount on mostly low-end ebikes, although there are a few midrange Schwinns in there, too.

PinkBike considers the relative benefits of buying your next bike from a bike shop versus buying online.

Forbes recommends what they consider essential gear for bike commuting, all of which would be helpful, and none actually essential. The only thing you really need to bike to work is a bike. 

Seattle’s “top-to-bottom” review of the city’s Vision Zero program received a lukewarm reception, as some advocates argued it lacks ambition and is short on details on how to actually fulfill the program’s mission to end traffic deaths.

A bill in the New Mexico legislature would require cities to consider adding space for bike riders when reworking roadways, and includes $5 million in funding for protected bike lanes. Wake me when they require bikeways, rather than just considering it. 

They get it. The Dallas Morning News calls for adopting the Idaho Stop Law in Texas, arguing that it would improve safety for bike riders, as well as drivers.

Texas is nearing completion of a 130-mile bike and pedestrian trail through the northeast section of the state, taking bicyclists within a short ride or a long walk of the Arkansas border.

Singletracks talks with an Arkansas man who uses his mountain bike to conduct outreach to homeless youths.

Christian singer Amy Grant says she leaned into her faith after suffering a significant traumatic brain injury going over her handlebars in a Nashville crash last year.

A Harvard Fulbright scholar sings the praises of foldies following his move to London.

A Saratoga, New York man describes surviving last weekend’s horrific Goodyear, Arizona crash that took the life of his friend; he avoided the crash by just feet as he attempted to reach the lead group.

New York is examining ways to bring peace to the drives in the city’s Central Park, as pedestrians, biker riders, runners and horse carriages compete for space.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says bikeshare ebikes are gaining popularity in Philadelphia’s low income communities of color, saying they’re not just for white guys in Lycra anymore.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana is planning to add 65 miles of bike paths in the coming years, committing to include a bike path with every new roadway project. More proof that places where I’ve lived only get better after I leave.

Tampa, Florida will offer 180 vouchers good for up to two grand off the price of an ebike, with eligible recipients selected through a lottery.

 

International

A writer for the Prince George Post questions whether traffic fines in British Columbia should be tied to the driver’s income, suggesting that a European-style progressive punishment program could be fairer and more effective.

National Geographic recommends eight European cities to discover by bicycle, starting with Stockholm and ending in Helsinki.

The CEO of British foldie maker Brompton says the company is fighting a war of attrition against copycat rivals that mimic its designs.

Vice examines how Dutch bikemaker VanMoof made ebikes cool. Except a) not everyone thinks ebikes are cool, and b) VanMoof is just one of literally hundreds of ebike makers with varying degrees of coolness. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The new Denver Disruptors cycling team participating in the newly formed National Cycling League will make their professional debut in Tucson this weekend.

Netflix has dropped the trailer for its upcoming series focused on the Tour de France. Read this one on Aol if Bicycling blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Professor by day, cargo bike momma by night. And your next cargo bike could have room for five.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Alleged Mammone killer pleads not guilty to murder, and 85-year old San Diego man critically injured in crash with bike rider

February 6, 2023 / / One comment

Let’s begin today with a not-so-brief update on the horrific murder of ER Dr. Michael John Mammone as he rode his bike in Dana Point last week.

If you’re not interested, or the subject understandably makes you uncomfortable, you may want to skip down to the next section.

Mammone was riding his mountain bike north on PCH when he stopped at the red light at Crown Valley Parkway around 3 pm Wednesday.

That’s when a white Lexus allegedly driven by 39-year old Long Beach resident Vanroy Evan Smith slammed into him from behind, traveling fast enough to blow through the red light, despite the impact with Mammone’s bike.

Smith then got out of his car, walked back to Mammone and repeatedly stabbed him as he lay injured in the street; Mammone died less than three hours later in the same Providence Mission Hospital ER where he sometimes worked.

Smith was disarmed by a pair of witnesses who detained him until police arrived.

Frighteningly, there is no known connection between the two men, and nothing to suggest it was a case of road rage — though that remains one of the most likely explanations — making the crash appear to be totally random at this time.

Smith faces 25 to life, plus one year, after he was arraigned Friday on a charge of felony murder, with a felony enhancement for the personal use of a knife. He pled not guilty, and is currently being held on $1 million bail.

There have been some reports that Smith was armed with a gun, or possibly a BB gun, and fired several shots either before or after stabbing Mammone; however, there is no mention of a gun of any kind in the OC DA’s press release.

There is also no mention of reports that Smith shouted “White privilege!” as he stabbed Mammone, which was originally reported by Fox News, and has been repeated by a number of conservative news sources. However, Fox appears to have removed any mention of that from their story.

That does not necessarily mean those things did not happen, but there is currently nothing to confirm either accusation. Although RssRyan relates in a lengthy Twitter conversation that a neighbor heard the alleged racist statement, and will be speaking with prosecutors.

Smith did reposted a video discussing white privilege nearly three years ago on what appears to be his Facebook page.

However, Smith’s’ ex-wife denied reports than he was violent or made racist comments during their marriage, noting that the mild-mannered native Jamaican accountant was mixed race, and over half white.

We need to be careful spreading rumors that may ultimately prove to be false.

There is a danger that these reports being spread on conservative media may lead to confirmation bias among some in their audience, incorrectly confirming their false beliefs about people of color.

They could also be used as justification by someone with racist views to retaliate against the next Black or brown bike rider they see.

Also troubling is a photo on Smith’s Facebook page suggesting that he may have been one of us.

How someone who rode a bicycle, even infrequently, could commit such a horrific act against a fellow bike rider is beyond me.

Then again, how any person could do it to anyone is, too.

Photo of Dr. Mammone ghost bike by Photo by Walt Arrrrr. Thanks to Good Citizen for the Facebook information.

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Awful news from San Diego, where an 85-year old man suffered life-threatening brain injuries when he was struck by a bike rider on North Torrey Pines Road near Torrey Pines State Beach.

The victim was reportedly standing in the bike lane when he was struck by a bicycle ridden by a 63-year-old man. He apparently hit his head on the pavement, suffering a skull fracture and brain bleed, while the bike rider suffered a cut above his left eye.

Anyone with information is urged to call the San Diego Police Department Traffic Division at 888/580-8477.

https://twitter.com/G8090Tom/status/1622141839188066304

Thanks to Steven Young for the link.

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Streetsblog looks at the newly unveiled semi-protected bike lanes on Central Ave in South LA. Correction: I originally mistakenly assumed they were on Alameda in DTLA. My apologies.

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Nice to see Jersey City NJ bicyclists aren’t taking the case of the hit-and-run councilwoman lying down.

DeGise was convicted after pleading guilty to hit-and-run for fleeing when she crashed into a bike rider last year; that alone should be an automatic disqualification for public office.

Instead, she walked with a slap on the wrist when the judge fined her five grand and suspended her license for a whole year.

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This video convincingly makes the case that if there weren’t any cars, we wouldn’t need traffic lights.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Bike riders in Edinburg, Scotland are ridiculing a new advisory lane that is literally narrower than a set of handlebars, calling it a “unicycle lane.”

Huh? After a London cabbie is filmed driving in a protected bike lane, rather than moving over into the taxi lane next to it, commenters claimed he’s not responsible for the lane markings. No, he’s just responsible for obeying them.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

No, tossing a bicycle on British railroad tracks is not one of the approved uses for one.

@cycling_in_london

Definitely did that ok purpose lol #london #fyp #cyclist #cycling #londonlife #cyclepath #bikepath #cyclelane #cyclingtiktok #londonstreets #bromptonbikes #ebike #taxi #londontaxi #cabbie #londoncabbie

♬ original sound – Cycling in London

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Local 

LAist looks at last week’s mobility debate for the candidates running to replace disgraced CD6 Councilmember Nury Martinez, sponsored by Streets For All. Unfortunately, video of the event doesn’t seem to be posted online yet.

No surprise that the former Governator was involved in a Brentwood bicycle collision, since Arnold Schwarzenegger rides an ebike nearly every day. Except this time, he was driving his massive GMC SUV — making it his second injury crash behind the wheel in a year — although police concluded it was just another “oopsie.” The victim was transported to a hospital with what appeared to be minor injuries, while Arnold took her bike into a shop to have it repaired. Thanks to mcderpy87 and Marcello Calicchio for the heads-up.

VeloNews looks at LA’s Bahati Foundation, founded by former national crit champ Rahsaan Bahati to help children of color succeed in life through bicycling.

 

State

A proposed bill would improve driver sightlines at crosswalks and intersections through daylighting, by removing parking next to the intersection.

Irvine-based electric truck maker Rivian could be entering the micromobility field, though it’s unclear whether they plan to build an ebike or an e-motorcycle.

San Diego has begun work on a Complete Streets makeover of Park Blvd, including painted bike and bus lanes.

A Santa Barbara writer credits her neighbor with turning a long-neglected tandem gathering dust in the garage into a remade ride for two worth $800.

San Francisco is beginning a long-planned makeover of iconic but deadly Market Street, although plans for sidewalk-level bike lanes have been axed, requiring bike riders to continue sharing the lane with taxis, paratransit and commercial vehicles.

Healdsburg is slated for a $11.8 million grant for a road diet and protected bike lanes on Healdsburg Ave.

 

National

The US Department of Transportation has issued a Call to Action campaign, asking stakeholders to commit to specific actions in the coming year to reduce serious injuries and deaths on American roadways.

Lyft plans to fight clutter by docking its bikeshare bikes and e-scooters. Which kind of eliminates the whole point of dockless mobility, doesn’t it?

CNN examines the problem of head injuries leading to suicides in female athletes, using the tragic case of US track cyclist Kelly Catlin as one example; Catlin took her own life in her Stanford dorm after suffering a dramatic personality change following a concussion.

People for Bikes ranks the best new bike lanes in the US. Guess how many are in Los Angeles. No, seriously, take a guess.

The Daily Beast says forget electric cars, ebikes are the future of transportation.

They get it. A Yakima, Washington paper says you don’t have to ride that far to catch up with the little kid inside you.

The party is over in Tempe, Arizona, where New Belgium Brewing has pulled the plug on the annual Tour de Fat fundraiser, a decade after the Fat Tire brewers halted the Los Angeles edition.

It may soon be legal to ride your bike drunk in North Dakota. Or your horse, for that matter.

Oklahoma City police released bodycam video of the arrest of a man who allegedly took his own life in jail, after he was originally stopped for riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the street.

Sad news from New York, where yet another ebike fire has left two children with critical injuries, and another child less seriously injured.

A Pennsylvania man has filed a lawsuit over a collision allegedly caused by an Ocean City police officer as both men were riding their bikes on the boardwalk, accusing the cop of riding “at a high, dangerous and unnecessary speed.”

DC now has two competing ebike rebate bills, one of which would provide up to two grand on the purchase of an e-cargo bike, or $1,500 off a standard ebike.

 

International

A website offers a questionable list of the world’s top 15 “most famous and best” bike brands, ranking Taiwan’s Merida over better know bike brands like Trek, Specialist and Schwinn.

Eddie Redmayne is one of us, as the Theory Of Everything actor had to get off his bike to ask for directions in London’s Notting Hill neighborhood.

PinkBike takes a mountain bike trip through Slovenia in the new short film Road to Trieste.

Your next bike ride could be 1,000 feet in the air above a Chinese theme park. I’ll pass, thank you.

 

Competitive Cycling

As expected, Sunday’s world ‘cross championship came down to a battle between Dutch pro Mathieu van der Poel and Belgian Wout van Aert, with van der Poel prevailing in a final sprint to the finish.

 

Finally…

That feeling when it’s time to put a beloved bike down. Why ride an ebike when you could ride a 10-foot-long electric dinosaur.

And meet the very tongue-in-cheek DC Nimbee.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

US traffic deaths down slightly, bike deaths up; CA not worst for bike riders; curb protected lanes coming to 7th Street

January 10, 2023 / / One comment

My apologies. 

I inadvertently posted this post and emailed it to subscribers before I had a chance to finish editing it.

So if you received a mistake-filled draft, I’m sorry for the mistake.

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The Washington Post is reporting that traffic deaths fell slightly in the US in the first nine months of last year.

According to the paper, traffic fatalities were down 0.2 percent compared to the same period last year, a welcome if modest drop after record increases during the pandemic.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, showed nearly 31,800 people were killed in crashes from January through September. That follows increases of 7 percent in 2020 and 10.5 percent in 2021.

However, the news isn’t as good for bike riders and pedestrians. Deaths continued to climb two percent for pedestrians and eight percent for people on bicycles in the first six months of 2022; nine month figures aren’t currently available.

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Hats off to Nebraska, which was named the nation’s safest state for people on bicycles, where just 15 people died in bicycle-related crashes over the past decade, even as the Bike League ranks it the second-least bike friendly state.

Neighboring South Dakota came in second in the NHTSA’s bike safety ranking, while placing fifth from the bottom in the Bike League’s assessment.

Not surprisingly, Florida and Louisiana ranked first and second from the bottom as the nation’s most dangerous states for bike riders.

California was apparently somewhere in the middle, since it doesn’t show up in the top ten states, or the bottom five.

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Work is proceeding on the long-promised curb protected bike lane on 7th Street between Figueroa and San Pedro streets in DTLA, which was one of the conditions for approving construction of the 62-story Wilshire Grand Center.

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LADWP is funding a half-million dollar program to rent out ebikes for up to nine months with a single $20 donation; however, the former Jump bikes used in the Pacoima program can’t be charged at home, and have to be taken to taken in to have the battery swapped.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. A Staten Island columnist complains about efforts to expand Vision Zero and speed cams throughout the state, taking away his God-given right to a) speed, and b) kill people with his car, apparently.

No bias here, either. North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is proposing a daytime ban on bikes at the beach this summer, with bikes prohibited from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Because apparently, beaches are only for people in cars.

After a German bike rider slammed into the trunk of a turning car after being right hooked, The Sun newspaper tries to stir up controversy by asking who was in the wrong.

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Local 

Let’s give a grateful thank you to Pasadena’s Lin Realty, whose staff built 150 bikes to donate to the city’s Boys and Girls Club.

The recently passed federal budget bill includes $22.6 million in earmarks for coastal cities, with $1 million of that budgeted to the Manhattan Beach Safe Cycling Project, which is intended to provide a safe bike route to the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail by way of Highland and 45th Street.

 

State

The nationwide Black Girls Do Bike organization is celebrating its first ten years with a meetup in San Diego at the end of August, coinciding with the annual Bike the Bay ride. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

A Folsom man is suing the city over dangerous road conditions after he was struck by a turning driver while riding in a bike lane.

 

National

NPR talks with Cycling Savvy bicycle safety instructor John Schubert about how to safely ride a bike in the city.

Momentum Magazine examines three more American cities that have embraced bicycling. And no, Los Angeles is not one of them.

Bike Portland compares advisory lanes in the Oregon city with the ones in Utrecht, the Netherlands, where they originated.

Last year was a bad one for Las Vegas area bike riders and pedestrians, with 14 bicyclists and 72 pedestrians killed in Clark County.

This is what Los Angeles bike riders have to look forward to. An Austin, Texas bike rider recorded a self-driving General Motors’ Cruise robotaxi veering dangerously into a bike lane; fortunately, no one was riding in the bike lane at the time. Waymo is testing its autonomous vehicles in LA in anticipation of rolling out its robotaxi service; no word on whether they’re programed to respond to an extended middle finger. 

Tragic news from Houston, where a man riding in a bike lane with his wife was struck by a motorcyclist traveling at highway speeds on the surface street, killing both men in what a police spokesperson termed a “very avoidable’ crash.

That’s more like it. The Texas Department of Transportation announced plans to invest $250 million in bike and pedestrian projects.

The accused terrorist who killed eight people with a speeding pickup on a Manhattan bike path five years ago reportedly smiled to an FBI agent as he proudly confessed to his murderous rampage.

A Chattanooga, Tennessee woman is suing the local bikeshare provider for nearly $900,000 after she was knocked unconscious when she was thrown from what she says was a defective or poorly maintained bike.

Horrible news from Georgia, where an 11-year old boy was hospitalized after he was attacked by dogs while riding with a friend.

 

International

Good idea. Alberta mounties are using billboards in an effort to find the hit-and-run driver who killed a 45-year old woman riding a bike last July.

English actor Mark Williams is one of us, as the star of the popular Father Brown murder mystery series fell off his bike while filming; fortunately, he only hurt his pride.

Britain’s anti-bike lawyer who calls himself Mr. Loophole shocked visitors to his website by suggesting that drivers make it their New Years resolution to give bike riders more space when passing.

Dublin artists are concerned that plans for a separated bike lane could destroy a 40-year old tradition of an open-air art gallery, since the bikeway would mean they couldn’t park right next to the park fence they use to display their works. Because apparently, it’s impossible to park further away and use a dolly or some other device to transport their paintings another few feet.

An Irish court heard a 54-year old father riding a bicycle was killed by a semi truck driver who attempted to pass him just 20 inches from the victim’s handlebars — or the length of three or four soup spoons, as the prosecutor described it.

Hanoi will mark this month’s Tet lunar new year celebration by rolling out the city’s first bikeshare system.

Chinese bikeshare company Mobike’s Australian branch has gone into liquidation following a second failed attempt to crack the Aussie market, leaving over 1600 bikes worth about $1.3 million abandoned on the streets and in warehouses.

 

Competitive Cycling

The trial continues for two men accused of the masked home invasion robbery of British cycling great Mark Cavendish and his family, as Cavendish describes getting punched by a robber and having a knife held to his throat.

Forty-seven-year old Cat 3 cyclist Noslen Ruiz-Gutierrez received a four-year doping ban (scroll down) after a urine test revealed six — count ’em, 6 — banned substances; Ruiz-Gutierrez argued that his doping didn’t matter because he races for recreation, not competition. Sure, try telling that to the other racers he’s not competing against.

 

Finally…

At last, an ebike designed to move your anvils. And repeat after me — when you’re carrying meth on your bike at 2 am, put a damn light on it, already.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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Update: Man killed getting off bike on Downtown LA freeway offramp in early morning crash; 4th SoCal bike death this week

December 9, 2022 / / Comments Off on Update: Man killed getting off bike on Downtown LA freeway offramp in early morning crash; 4th SoCal bike death this week

Then there was four.

For the fourth time this week, someone riding a bicycle was killed on the streets of Southern California.

This time in Downtown Los Angeles.

And once again, there’s very little information available.

According to KFI-AM, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was struck by a driver near the Third Street off-ramp from the northbound Harbor Freeway, aka Interstate 110, around 12:51 am Friday.

The victim was struck when he got off his bike after reportedly riding on the offramp, which suggests he may have been illegally riding on the freeway in the moments leading up the crash.

He died at the scene.

There’s no word on why the victim may have been on the freeway, especially at that hour, or how and why the crash occurred.

This is at least the 79th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 26th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; he’s also the 14th person killed riding a bike in the City of Los Angeles.

Update: A week later, the victim has finally been identified as 85-year old Charles Mullins; no city of residence was given.

And still no explanation for how the crash occurred, or why he may have been riding on the freeway offramp.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Charles Mullins and his loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Road cyclist Sergio Cordova killed riding bike near 6th Street Bridge in DTLA; few details available

October 29, 2022 / / 2 comments

When the new 6th Street Bridge opened in July, there were predictions that someone would be killed on or near the bridge, due to the limited protection for people on bicycles.

Sadly, those predictions have now come true. Unfortunately, though, we don’t have many details at this time.

All we know is that Sergio M. Cordova was killed Wednesday, October 26th, while riding his bike near 6th Street and Mateo, just two blocks west of the bridge.

No word yet on Cordova’s age or residence, or how the crash happened.

A crowdfunding page created by his family describes him this way.

If you knew Sergio, you knew he absolutely  loved cycling through all parts of LA, discovering new sights and routes as well as spending time with family. A fan of Batman, The Dodgers, and most recently the Packers. He loved his niece and nephews so much. He took great pride at his work and was beloved by so so many.

Photos from GoFundMe.

The campaign to pay Cordova’s funeral expenses has raised over $4,100 of the modest $5,000 goal in just one day.

Meanwhile, his death screams out the need for protected bike lanes in both directions leading to the popular bridge. Or we can expect this to keep happening in the days and years to come.

A ghost bike will be placed soon.

This is at least the 71st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 22nd that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Cordova is also the 12th person killed riding a bike in the City of Los Angeles in 2022.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Sergio M. Cordova and all his loved ones.

Thanks to Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Call for Martinez and De León to resign after racist rant, CicLAvia returns to DTLA, and vehicular murder in Griffith Park

October 10, 2022 / / 4 comments

Let’s start with a story that has nothing to do with bicycles.

And everything to do with all of us in Los Angeles.

A recording surfaced yesterday of City Council President Nury Martinez, Councilmembers Kevin De León and Gil Cedillo, and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, using racist language while breaking down redistricting arguments strictly along racial lines.

Never mind calling their gay fellow councilmembers a “bitch” and a “diva.” Or referring to Oaxacan immigrants as ugly little people.

I won’t get into all it. You can, and should, read it on your own. Because as ugly as I make it sound, the reality is far worse.

Suffice it to say that Martinez described the Black toddler son of fellow Councilmember Mike Bonin and his husband as a monkey and a fashion accessory, while De León compared him to a Louis Vuitton handbag.

Both Martinez and Kevin De León have supported bikes in recent years, and the bike community have supported them in kind. And both have apologized for their comments.

But that’s not good enough.

Which is why I’m joining with countless other Angelenos and LA organizations calling for their resignations.

There is no place for open racism in our government at any level. It is simply unacceptable, and beneath contempt.

And if they don’t have the integrity to quit, we’ll may have recall them to force them both out.

The only reason I’m not calling for Cedillo’s resignation is that he has already, and deservedly, lost his bid for re-election. But if he had any dignity, he’d leave on his own, right now.

Which in his case is a pretty damn big if, given what we already know about him.

Meanwhile, this is also more proof that it’s time to take redistricting entirely out of the council’s hands, and let a civilian commission have the final say.

Photo of our intern and mascot on the new 6th Street Bridge during yesterday’s CicLAvia.

………

In happier news, a good time was had by all at yesterday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia.

Or nearly all, anyway. A couple of firefighters indicated the day was mostly event free, despite a wave of injuries at the beginning of the day.

The route, which for the first time led to Echo Park and the new 6th Street Bridge, saw a massive turnout as Angelenos took advantage of the near perfect weather.

My wife and I, and corgi, included.

Here are a few photos to capture the day.

Nikita of the Real Rydaz poses with her bike.

Both award-winning bikes were built by Will of the Real Rydaz.

Frank Gehry’s new The Grand LA adds to the LA skyline.

………

This is who we share the road with.

What started out as yet another a hit-and-run in Griffith Park ended with a murder charge.

News broke Saturday evening that a pedestrian had been killed by a driver earlier in the day. The woman fled the scene, leaving her victim to die in the street on Fern Dell Drive.

The driver was arrested the following day, after investigators concluded that the 70-year old victim’s 32-year old girlfriend had intentionally run him over — using his own car — following an argument.

Sonia Sovereign reportedly confessed to the crime, and is being held on a murder charge on $1 million bail.

And it may not have been her first brush with the law, as a woman with the same name, and the right age, led Colorado police on a drunken chase half a decade earlier.

Just one more argument for why cars don’t belong in the park. Or any park, for that matter.

………

Michael Siegal of South Pas Active Streets forwards news of a successful first Walk and Roll at two South Pasadena elementary schools.

Local community organization South Pas Active Streets organized three “bike bus” rides to school on October 5th to Arroyo Vista and Marengo elementary schools. Coinciding with South Pasadena Walk or Bike to School Day, these chaperoned, safety-in-numbers bike rides created an active way to get to school for children who otherwise might not have the opportunity.

Over 30 children and 20 adults participated in one of three different routes to school.  With a core group of riders starting the ride at one end, participants would join the bike bus along its route as it wound its way toward school.  Besides parents, volunteers on these rides included members of DUDES South Pasadena and Mayor Michael Cacciotti.

South Pas Active Streets seeks to provide safe opportunities for active mobility, supporting our childrens’ health, independence, and well-being.  With the success of Wednesday’s first-ever South Pas Walk and Roll, the organization will be coordinating more bike buses and walking buses in the future.

More information on the event, the routes and photos are at southpasactive.org/home/south-pas-walk-and-roll

………

I’d be more impressed with the new protected bike lanes on San Vicente if they weren’t half in the gutter.

But at least the city is building something in the mobility plan, for a change.

………

As we mentioned last week, CSUN is hosting a family-friendly Bikefest in two weeks.

Thanks to Steven Hallett for the heads-up.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A failed candidate for state legislature took credit for throwing a red plastic cup full of cider at a Chicago alderman, as he rode past on his bike with about 50 other people to examine existing bike infrastructure and brainstorm improvements. If you can call it “credit,” that is.

No bias here. Louisville KY writer complains about “militant” bicyclists, who hide their anti-car agenda “behind code words like safety, health, vibrant and even equity.” Um, sure. Let’s go with that.

Someone is sabotaging a DC bike lane by repeatedly dumping construction nails into it.

In an apparent attempt to thin the herd, a separated bike lane in Manchester, England, is shared with truck drivers headed the opposite direction to a delivery bay, resulting in a bizarre game of chicken as drivers go head-on towards people on bikes.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Police in Santa Barbara are looking for a blond man who allegedly fled the scene by bicycle after beating a man to death, before possible stealing a car to complete his getaway.

An English man faces charges for mowing down two bicyclists while speeding downhill and riding salmon in a London park, and barely missing another rider.

………

Local

An op-ed in the LA Times looks at the new law decriminalizing jaywalking in most circumstances, and the historic automotive hegemony that led to jaywalking laws in the first place.

A man in his 50s was critically injured in a Westminster hit-and-run while riding his bike Thursday evening.

 

State 

Camarillo approved a proposal to authorize just over $910,000 to hire engineering and environmental consultants for a planned $6 million bike lane extension on Central Ave. Although that’s a hell of a lot of money for just a third of a mile of bike lanes, so let’s hope there’s more to it than that.

Sad news from San Jose, where a man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by two separate motorists, one of whom fled the scene.

The Stanford student paper examines the presence of roundabouts on campus, explaining that they serve to slow drivers below 25 mph.

Just days after Alameda’s mayor killed plans for a protected bike lane, he raised it back up from the dead.

A planned 47-mile bike trail through the Napa Valley wine country could turn it into a bicycling destination to rival Provence.

 

National

A writer for an RV site recommends ebikes for the RV life.

Seventy-seven years after the end of WWII, an Italian man is riding from Seattle to Phoenix to retrace his grandfather’s journey as an Italian prisoner of war.

A Utah truck driver bought a new bike for a five year old boy because he felt bad about the crash that sent the kid to the hospital.

A Denver writer applauds the city for moving quickly to expand its bike network while listening to feedback from the community.

My bike-friendly Colorado hometown is getting its first advisory lane on a street I grew up riding. Something tells me it will go a little better than a similar street design did in San Diego.

Life is cheap in Massachusetts, where a 91-year old driver walked with a lousy traffic ticket for right-hooking a bike rider, who was seriously injured when he landed in the car’s back seat after crashing through the closed rear window. But at least the police asked to have his driver’s license revoked.

A rescue swimmer used a borrowed beach cruiser to save an elderly Florida man and woman, and their dog, following Hurricane Ian.

 

International

Engadget proclaims this the age of the cargo bike. Thanks to Victor Bale for the tip.

The newest Roman Catholic saint was one of us. Italian Artedime Zatti was famed for riding his bicycle throughout the Argentine town of Viedma with a medical case to care for the sick.

She gets it. An op-ed by a Toronto advocate says if we want to get more people on bikes, we have to change our cultural and political deference to cars first.

Nice BBC report on an Indian man who has opened a museum to house his collection of over 150 bicycles, many of which he restored himself. And insists he’s not doing it for the money, but just wants to share them with the world. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

New Zealand’s Stuff says cycling clubs are disappearing because they can’t afford the onerous traffic management plans.

 

Competitive Cycling

Two-time Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar edged Enric Mas to defend his title at Il Lombardia, the year’s final Monument; the race also marked the last competitions for former Grand Tour champs Alejandro Valverde and Vincenzo Nibali, who care calling it a career.

Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert is also calling it a career after one last race in Sunday’s Paris-Tours, which was won in a sprint by defending champ Arnaud Démare.

France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won the inaugural women’s gravel World Championship, while Belgium’s Gianni Vermeersch upset Mathieu van der Poel to take the men’s title.

Italian time trial specialist Filippo Ganna shattered the hour record, traveling 56.792 kilometers in 60 minutes — 1.2 km further than the previous record, set by Britain’s Dan Bigham less than two months ago. That works out to a whopping 35.289 miles.

Ganna not only broke the record, he unified the title by also beating Chris Boardman’s 26-year old “superman” record.

Cycling Tips offers photos from Ganna’s record-setting ride.

Five weird ways cyclists bent, if not broke, the rules.

British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid profiles L39ion of Los Angeles co-founder and CEO Justin Williams.

 

Finally…

Britain’s wackiest bike race. That feeling when your competitor for a city council seat rescues your stolen ebike bike from a homeless camp, and you still have to run against him.

And now you, too, can race your own hologram.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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