Tag Archive for Keith Jackson

Morning Links: Woman bike rider critically injured in Long Beach, and Pure Cycles rescues Bike to Work bike theft victim

A woman was critically injured riding her bike in the Belmont Shores neighborhood of Long Beach early yesterday morning, after she allegedly went through a red light and was struck by a driver.

As always, the question is whether there were any independent witnesses who actually saw who had the green light.

Or if Long Beach police relied strictly on the driver’s account, since the victim would have been unable to share her side of the story.

Either way, it’s a reminder to always stop for red lights and observe the right-of-way.

Because the consequences can be life changing. Or ending.

Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

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At least one rider made it out for yesterday’s soggy Bike to Work Day.

And on a very cool Pedersen bike, no less.

And hats off to Michael Fishman and Pure Cycles for saving the day when the unthinkable, but all too common, happened to a rider in DTLA.

Meanwhile, LADOT hosted a pair of pop-up traffic safety installations, despite the wet Bike to Work Day weather.

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Lots of news coverage from around the US for Wednesday’s Ride of Silence to honor injured and fallen bike riders.

Including right here in Pasadena, though the LA ride seems to merit nary a whisper.

Like Rides of Silence in Philadelphia, and a small Nebraska town. Lubbock and Houston, Texas. Ridgeland, Mississippi. Lansing, Michigan, where billboards also called out the dangers of distracted driving.

Not to mention San Francisco, where riders confronted winds and rain to go with the usual tears.

Meanwhile, Denver responded to the 88 people killed on the city’s streets last year by putting up signs marking the site of each needless death; the city’s mayor confessed to an inadequate response to the deadly streets.

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Spectrum New 1 catches up with Keith Jackson, the bike rider who was nearly killed when he was run down riding on La Tuna Canyon last year.

Jackson has had to relearn how to walk, eat and talk after spending two months in a coma.

And as happens all too often, the driver who hit him sped off and hasn’t been seen since.

But at least his crash resulted in narrowing the wide traffic lanes on La Tuna and installation of a buffered bike lane. One of the rare instances of city officials responding to a near-tragedy by actually fixing the street where it happened.

Jackson will be at Sunday’s Finish the Ride in Griffith Park to spread the need for safer streets if you want to wish him well in his recovery; registration ends at 6 pm tomorrow.

And give him my best wishes while you’re at it.

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It’s not just drivers who give in to road rage.

Police in a Denver suburb are looking for a bike rider who yelled at a woman for blocking a bike lane, after she pulled her car over because her mother, who was in the passenger seat, wasn’t feeling well.

When the driver caught up to him at a red light, he allegedly kicked and punched the car, then reached in to grab her mother, before spitting on both women and riding away.

Let’s hope the woman he was riding with saw all that, and took it as fair warning before he turns that violent temper her way some day.

Although it does make you wonder what the driver said when she caught up to him.

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Local

Today is the last day to submit comments on the shamefully inadequate Beverly Hills Complete Streets plan.

Popular offroad route Sullivan Canyon will close for maintenance for six weeks starting June 3rd. Thanks to Steve Messer for the tip.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker says LA’s future is on foot, even though the city is still designing the streets for cars.

Metro is considering three alternatives for extending the LA River Bike Path.

WeHoVille looks forward to the August CicLAvia connecting Hollywood and West Hollywood. And so an I, since I should finally be back on my bike by then.

KNBC-4 says keep your eyes peeled for Gabe the Sasquatch at Sunday’s Mission to Mission edition of 626 Golden Streets.

The fight over moving a row of palm trees to make room for a Complete Street makeover of Long Beach’s Marina Drive goes on, despite a Coastal Commission ruling giving the okay for the move.

Long Beach will celebrate Bike Month with a three-mile Pedal & Picnic ride for all ages on Saturday.

 

State

OCTA has rescheduled the Orange County Bike Rally for next Thursday, following yesterday’s rainout.

Carlsbad pulled the plug on its planned bikeshare system, even though it would have been operated with no risk to the city.

A 63-year old Ramona man took a cross-country bike tour to ride himself into better health, and raise funds for a local museum; so far he’s raised just $640 of the $5,000 goal.

A bighearted high school freshman from Santa Ynez organized her second annual fundraising bike ride to provide bicycles and tools to girls in rural Cambodia, to help ensure they can get to school to receive an education.

A Fresno driver relies on the built-in cameras in his Tesla to prove a hit-and-run bike rider really did run into him, and not the other way around.

Sad news from Oakland, where an 83-year old man was killed attempting to ride his bike across a busy state highway.

Police arrest 30 homeless people in a warrant sweep along a Sacramento bike path.

 

National

Bike Snob says ignoring bike riders won’t make us go away.

Now both Uber and Lyft are encouraging their drivers and passenger to look for bicyclists to avoid doorings.

Outside offers advice on how to buy a mountain bike. And says softails are back, except now they’re on high-end roadies and gravel bikes.

That’s more like it. El Paso, Texas authorities say they know they screwed up by striping a bike lane that’s half gutter and so narrow the bike lane symbol won’t even fit in it. And are considering removing a traffic lane to fix it.

A Minneapolis newspaper offers a belated obituary of a longtime local bike advocate, who was found dead in his home last month due to complications from a lifelong struggle with alcohol.

Chicago bike riders are losing access to a popular shared use pathway along the riverfront after reconstruction partially blocked it, and private security guards have begun illegally enforcing a non-existent ban on bikes.

Police in Fort Wayne, Indiana are looking for a bike-riding man who shot an employee of a property management company before riding away in a full-face helmet, presumably to hide his identity.

Vermont ebike buyers can get a $200 rebate from their utility company. Which they’ll probably need once Trump’s tariff’s kick in.

A Massachusetts woman decides to take advantage of a beautiful spring day to ride her bike to the bank, and ends up at a dumpster. And then a dumpster fire of a car-choked intersection.

New York’s Vision Zero is going the wrong way where bikes are concerned, as the ten people killed riding bicycles so far this year already equal the total for all of 2018.

Maybe city leaders will listen to them now. Seventy DC bike riders fanned out across the city to count drivers blocking bike lanes, logging nearly 500 violations by early afternoon.

A DC writer offers advices on how to bike to work while spending as little as possible on it. People for Bikes offers their tips, as well.

A four-man troupe of bike-riding British Shakespearean actors made their US debut in Virginia this week; the performers have ridden their bikes between performances in 12 countries.

This is why people continue to die on our streets. A drunk driver in South Carolina walked with a lousy 24 hours of community service after she was caught on video crashing into a pedicab, then telling police she had no idea she’d hit anything; fortunately, the pedicab driver didn’t appear to have been injured.

The former chief accountant for the SEC won a whopping $41 million judgement against his Florida homeowners association after crashing his bike into a stanchion they erected on a bike trail.

 

International

Here’s something to look forward to. A writer for Forbes says distracted driving will increase exponentially on the path to self-driving cars.

Canadian Cycling Magazine offers eight tips to bike commute like a pro.

An Ottawa, Canada traffic safety expert calls a painted bike lane “complete lunacy,” saying bicyclists will never be safe on the street as long as they have to share the same flat surface with cars and trucks.

A British MP says he’s going to keep claiming mileage expenses for riding his bicycle on official business, complaints be damned.

Video from an English bus shows the exact moment the driver swerved directly into a bicyclist, knocking the man off his bike; fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.

An Iranian prosecutor has decided that it’s sinful for women to ride bicycles and prohibited by Islamic law; police have been told to give women bicyclists a polite reprimand, then impound their bikes if they don’t have ID on them. Or they can use the equivalent of a bike burka so no one can see what they’re riding. No, seriously.

 

Competitive Cycling

If you still haven’t seen Wednesday’s stage of the Amgen Tour of California, what the hell are you waiting for, already?

But you might want to skip this next section.

American Tejay van Garderen lost his lead in the AToC, and then he didn’t, after race officials decided a massive crash near the end of the race unfairly delayed him and other riders. A writer for VeloNews says the jury made the wrong call.

Meanwhile, NBC catches you up with Thursday’s men’s and women’s races.

Bicycling wants to know who’s the 21-year old American kicking ass in the Tour of California.

A pair of women are fighting for greater equality in the race, instead of the lousy three stages — and no live TV time — women cyclists are now offered.

There was a lead change in the Giro, while much of the peloton went down in a massive crash on wet roads.

Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay calls Ben King the humble king of American cycling. Unfortunately, the article is hidden behind the Journal’s paywall, so you may not get past the first few paragraphs.

Texas pro Lawson Craddock discusses his road back after riding the entire Tour de France with a broken collarbone last year, and refusing to give up despite finishing dead last as a result.

And last but not least, bike racing returns to LA — or Carson, anyway — with the newly revived La Grange Grand Prix on June 2nd.

 

Finally…

Six times around the world, and his bike its stolen in Californiaon the seventh. We may have to worry about LA drivers crashing into us, but at least we don’t have to worry about crashing into sheep.

And that’s one way to prevent a close pass.

 

Morning Links: Fix deadly La Tuna Canyon, LimeBike off to a fast start, and ‘tis the season for bike giveaways

Well that was a major pain in the tukus.

Please forgive the extended unplanned and unexcused absence this week. Sometime between Friday night and early Monday morning, a problem developed that prevented me from posting anything or saving any changes to this site.

After extended troubleshooting, the problem was tracked down to an invisible folder hidden on the webhost’s site. We still don’t know why it was acting up, but the problem finally seems to have cleared up, at least for now.

The good news is, you haven’t missed anything. You’ll find all the news from the last five days included in today’s massive post.

So make yourself comfortable. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.

Thanks to Steve S, without who’s invaluable help we’d still down for the count.

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A new petition calls on LADOT to immediately implement long-delayed safety improvements on La Tuna Canyon to reign in speeding drivers and improve safety for bike riders and equestrians.

There’s no way to know if that would have prevented the hit-and-run crash that has left Keith Jackson in a coma for the past week.

But it may help prevent the next one.

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Dockless bikeshare provider LimeBike released a year-end report detailing its impact in cities across the US, from DC to Seattle.

As well as a pilot project in LA’s CD15.

Although those figures pale compared to the 103,000 active riders and 220,000 miles traveled on their bikes in Seattle in just the last five months.

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‘Tis the season.

Note: There’s so much bad news out there, it helps to take a few moments to realize that there are a lot of bighearted people trying to do a little good in this world.

A Santa Clarita landfill company donates 60 bicycles and helmets to kids through a pair of local groups, part of a nationwide effort to donate 2,000 bikes across the US.

Fontana police gave nearly 200 bicycles to local kids.

Eighteen Adelanto students got new bicycles after winning a drawing for bringing non-perishable food items to their schools.

A group of Lompoc mountain bikers have given 120 bicycles and helmets to children of military personnel stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The San Luis Obispo sheriff’s office donated 150 kids bicycles that were refurbished by inmates at a local honor farm.

A local property company donated 50 bikes to kids at a Fresno elementary school.

Fifty kids in Coarsegold CA received new bicycles thanks to donations from people throughout the Central Valley.

An Idaho group gave 400 bicycles to kids in need; no one was turned away, even if they weren’t registered for the program.

Hundreds of people in Austin TX volunteered their time to distribute thousands of bikes and other gifts for families who struggle to put presents under their tree.

GM employees donated 260 bicycles, along with toys for 30,000 North Texas children.

An Arkansas church bought and built over 400 bicycles for struggling families.

A thousand Michigan volunteers helped build bikes to be given to kids in need.

A Kentucky Audi dealer has donated 262 bikes through the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program; a local bike club gave funds to include bike helmets and locks for each kid.

The son of a late Pennsylvania school nurse has continued the woman’s bike giveaway drive, donating 150 refurbished bicycles to local school kids.

Eight Pittsburgh-area special needs kids received new adaptive bicycles, enabling them to ride for the first time.

The wife of North Carolina’s late Bicycle Man is carrying on his tradition by giving 1,200 bikes to kids.

Seventy kids in Savannah GA received new bicycles thanks to a pair of local nonprofits.

Florida’s Jack the Bike Man continued a 26-year tradition by giving 1,500 bikes and helmets to kids in need.

A Florida artist is teaching 24 kids how to build their own bicycles that reflect their personalities.

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It’s the last four days of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

Thanks to Steven F and Dennis F for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way!

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Local

More theater of the absurd in the fight against road diets by overly entitled LA drivers, as Keep LA Moving is continuing their lawsuit against Los Angeles — even though they’ve already won by getting the Playa del Rey road diets ripped out. All because some of the traffic lanes are narrower than they were before, and a few small sections of bike lanes still remain on the streets where there was enough room for them after the traffic lanes were reinstalled.

No surprise here. Our old friend Richard Lee Abrams once again confuses the cure with the disease, insisting densification is killing Los Angeles. What’s really killing the city are the NIMBYs who fight growth, creating more sprawl and forcing people live miles from their jobs. The solution is more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods served by adequate transit, so people don’t have to drive to get to work or shopping.

No surprise here. The British tourist who was accidently shot by an LAPD cop last year as she was riding on the Venice beach bike path has filed a suit against the city; the bullet passed through the dog the cop was trying to shoot and hit her in the calf. The city might as well just open the treasury and let her walk out with as much as she wants; it will still be less than a jury is likely to give her.

A Georgia man will arrive at the Santa Monica pier at the end of this month, completing a 10,000 mile ride around the perimeter of the US that he began 17 years ago; he’s raised $75,000 to fight childhood cancer along the way.

A Long Beach letter writer says bike lanes need to be maintained, and trash and broken glass removed. It doesn’t do any good to build bike lanes if they’re not kept in a safe and ridable condition.

Ofo is bringing their bright yellow dockless bikeshare bikes to Bellflower.

Monterey Park’s vote on its first protected bike lane has been put off until next month.

CLR Effect discovers that basketball great Reggie Miller is one of us, too.

 

State

The LA Times says the car can no longer be king of the road if California is serious about climate change, as proposed new CEQA guidelines will make it easier to build bike lanes and transit oriented development projects.

Chula Vista was honored by the San Diego Bicycle Coalition for their efforts to make the city’s streets safer for people on bikes.

Riding to the Coachella festival should be a little easier in 2019, as plans are underway for bike lanes in Indio leading to the festival site.

A San Luis Obispo Op-Ed points out that not only do bike riders pay for the roads, bicyclists were responsible for paved roads in the first place.

Even the trees are out to get us. A Palo Alto man was severely injured when a tree fell on him as he was riding his bicycle during high winds.

Sacramento bicyclists complain that the closure of a bridge leaves no safe route into the city.

 

National

If the GOP tax plan passes today, you can kiss your paltry $20 a month bike commuting benefit goodbye. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

The LA Times examines Rep. Tom McClintock’s bill to allow mountain bikes in wilderness areas, which has split the offroad community.

Slate says the dockless bikeshare invasion is going to be messy, but worth it.

A writer for Road and Track says traffic calming just makes drivers angry. And that Vision Zero won’t work without a scientific approach to reducing fatalities. Which is exactly what Vision Zero is supposed to be, anyway.

A new study says the pollution you suck in on your bike commute may be killing you after all.

A singletrack site offers advice on how to buy a new bike without your significant other catching on.

Bicycling offers advice on what to do if your bike breaks down in the middle of nowhere. I always carried wire, a bandana and a roll of duct tape in my seat pack when I rode far from civilization, which was usually enough to patch it up — or stop the bleeding — long enough to get home.

Bike-friendly Portland is going the wrong way, tearing out a popular bike route to widen a freeway.

Seattle will continue with dockless bikeshare through at least the middle of next year, even though the pilot program technically ends this month. And decides to install bike racks where they’re not needed to discourage homeless camps.

Arizona police are looking for an elderly woman who right hooked a bike rider, then drove off after giving him $100 for a new bike.

A Santa Fe NM writer says the way to make bicycling safer is to build more separated bike paths, and improve the ones they have.

No bias here. An Indianapolis radio host says people complaining about the plot of The Last Jedi are the worst people in the world — even worse than people who ride in bike lanes.

Memphis will remove the bollards from a protected bike lane in front of a 72-year woman’s home, because she wants to be able to “twirl” into her driveway.

A Syracuse NY scumbag asshole cycling coach gets seven years for sexually abusing a girl under the age of 15 who he was training.

New York considers proposals for dockless bikeshare to serve areas where the city’s successful Citi Bike system doesn’t reach.

Over 200 New York delivery people protest the city’s absurd ban on ebikes, which are legal to own as long as you don’t use them on city streets.

New York appears to be practicing Vision Zero in reverse, with bicycling deaths up nearly 50% this year. But all the mayor wants to talk about is busting delivery people for riding ebikes.

No bias here, either. The NYPD bends over backwards to blame a bike rider in a fatal crash, saying he just happened to fall over as he was trying to pass a truck. A more likely explanation is the driver didn’t see the rider, and passed him close enough to knock him off his bike.

A proposed DC rail bridge could include a parallel crossing for bikes and pedestrians.

Louisiana’s West Baton Rouge Parrish is prepared to meet a court challenge over plans to build a five-mile recreational bike path atop the Mississippi River levee; they’re being sued by four landowners who have refused to grant access to construction crews.

 

International

The researcher following the migration of the Monarch Butterflies finally finished her journey in Mexico, after over nine months and 10,000 miles.

A British Columbia columnist says separated bike lanes squeeze buses and other drivers. But a letter writer says that’s why we need protected bike lanes, because there are enough angry drivers out there already.

Nice piece from the Guardian, where a writer says bicycling helped him overcome depression and panic attacks.

If you build it, they will come. Bicycling has surged another 15% in central London after the city built a network of protected bikeways. Which suggests what could happen here, where the distances may be longer, but the weather is a hell of a lot better.

An English community concludes that reducing speed limits to 20 mph in some areas has actually resulted in an increase in fatalities, but it would cost too much to roll it back; a nationwide study shows lowering speed limits is more effective when done in conjunction with other traffic calming measures.

A British man has refurbished roughly 1,000 bikes a year for the last 18 years, donating them to local charities or selling them for the equivalent of $13 to pay for parts.

British black box driving data shows women are safer drivers than men, and speed is the single biggest risk factor.

Authorities are looking for a UK mountain bike rider who allegedly went berserk after a driver accused him of preparing to run a red light, by attacking her car and threatening her with a knife.

A new movie will tell the story of Scottish BMX star John Buultjens, who rose from a battered childhood to portraying his own abusive father on film.

An Australian writer says drivers and bicyclists break the rules of the road in equal proportions, that there are aggressive drivers as well as cyclists, and that no motorists have been killed by anyone on a bicycle. So don’t hate us because we wear Lycra.

A test of bicycling paramedics on Australia’s Gold Coast has proven so successful that it’s spreading to other cities.

Former Aussie pro Adam Phelan writes movingly about the healing power of riding a bicycle. Something I think most of us have experienced at one time or another.

Over 120,000 people voted to name Seoul’s bikeshare system the Korean city’s favorite public service. Personally, I’d vote for indoor plumbing, but that’s just me.

A Japanese ebike rider is accused of gross negligence in the death of a 77-year old woman while using a smartphone in one hand and holding a drink in the other.

 

Competitive Cycling

Let’s just get all the Chris Froome news out of the way first.

Lance’s invitation to speak before next year’s Tour of Flanders is called “absolutely reprehensible.”

Former pro Alexander Vinokourov faces charges for paying a competitor to take a dive in the 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The women’s pro peloton has formed a union to fight for better treatment and a living wage.

Britain’s Tour de Yorkshire has set an example for the rest of the cycling world by replacing podium girls with successful local businesswomen.

Sad news from the UK, where former British national champ Sharon Laws died of cervical cancer; she was just 43.

 

Finally…

No, the shoulder of a roadway is not a bike lane, even if it has a bike route sign. Your next bike could be a classic seat tube-less mountain bike worth $6,500. If you’re going to sell a hot bike, try taking the sticker with the owner’s name on it off first.

And an Italian bicyclist fulfills every rider’s fantasy to shoot down threatening motorists.

And yes, I know that last one is probably fake. But still. Thanks to Erik Griswold and Ed Rubinstein for the heads-up.

Morning Links: A busy weekend for bike events, more bike giveaways for the holidays, and more doping news

Let’s start with a long list of bike events on a very busy weekend.

Beginning with a vintage bike ride in the San Fernando Valley.

Earlier this summer, local vintage bike enthusiast Peter Glenn started a vintage bike ride in the Valley. The final vintage ride for this Sunday rolls from 19600 Plummer St in Northridge at 9am, with a 20 mile loop, and free coffee and pastries afterwards. Peter describes it as a rolling bike show, with a mixture of beautifully restored American and European bikes from the 70’s and 80’s.

Everyone is welcome, even if you don’t own a vintage bike. And unlike Eroica, there’s no anti-Lycra brigade.

Thanks to Steve S for the heads-up.

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Finish the Ride and Safe Streets for Everyone will hold a ride to support hit-and-run victim Keith Jackson, who remains in a coma after he was struck from behind on La Tuna Canyon last weekend.

Meanwhile, CiclaValley writes about the search for his killer. And a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $1,100 in the first 24 hours to help pay Jackson’s medical bills.

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Still more events:

Bike SGV is holding a Cycling Santas Holiday Lights Ride on Saturday.

The final SoCal Cross races of the year take place Saturday and Sunday in Moreno Valley.

Bike Walk Glendale and the LACBC are hosting a Holiday Lights Ride on Sunday, with a stop in Gauchos Village for a hot cocoa treat.

SC Velo and Incycle Bike Stores are holding a Toy Ride in San Dimas on Sunday.

One of the nation’s most challenging hill climb competitions rolls Sunday with the 12th edition of Feel My Legs, I’m a Racer.

The Bikerowave will host a talk on getting more women bicycling with London Bike Kitchen founder Jenni Gwiazdowski next Friday; she’ll sign copies of her new book afterwards.

Bike SGV will ride the streets of Glendora January 6th to gather data the city can use to “make more informed decisions about their bike and walking infrastructure.”

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‘Tis the season.

LA Chargers running back Melvin Gordon has teamed with the Rally Cycling Pro Continental team to build 150 bikes for SoCal kids.

Burbank’s appropriately named Bike Angels have refurbished 150 bicycles to a nearly new condition for kids who might not otherwise be able to afford one.

The Cameron Park Rotary Club will be distributing over 200 bicycles refurbished by a single inmate at Folsom State Prison.

Fifty Fresno kids received new bicycles courtesy of a local property company.

Singer, songwriter and Broadway star Sara Bareilles is teaming with bikemaker Priority Bicycles and Santa Rosa’s North Bay Bike Project to provide bicycles for kids affected by the recent North Bay fires.

A Newport RI advocacy group has restored 30 bicycles for local kids.

The widow of North Carolina’s Bicycle Man has kept up his holiday tradition, refurbishing 1,200 bikes for children whose families couldn’t afford one.

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It’s the last day of the penultimate week of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

………

Local

It looks like the long-promised protected bike lanes on 7th Street may finally be moving forward, after the LA City Council voted to approve funding for the 7th Street Streetscape Improvements Project; they were promised as part of the approval process for the Wilshire Grand Center.

The Monterey Park City Council will vote on city’s first protected bike lanes on Monterey Pass Road at their meeting this Wednesday.

LA County is looking for input on a planned Complete Streets project on Rosemead Blvd in Pico Rivera and the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.

Long Beach has received a $150,000 state grant for bicycle and pedestrian safety education. Although the money would be much better spent educating drivers, since they’re the ones who pose a risk to others.

 

State

The Orange County Register talks with a San Clemente cruiser ebike maker who started the company after getting bad customer service when he bought an ebike.

Riverside sheriff’s deputies are searching for whoever who beat a Menifee man to death, shortly after he was seen riding a bicycle towing a trailer to collect recycling.

No surprise here. The CHP and Alameda County District Attorney decided not to file charges against a driver who swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid a bike rider signaling a left turn, hit his outstretched arm, and kept going. Thanks to F. Lehnerz for the tip.

 

National

Bellingham, Washington police have busted nine people for bike theft using a GPS-equipped bait bike.

The Colorado man who killed mountain bike legend Mike Rust has been sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, as well as concurrent sentences of 12 years for burglary, 18 months for tampering with evidence and 12 months each for theft and abuse of a corpse. Rust had disappeared in 2009 after setting out to track a burglar; his body was discovered early this year.

A Michigan driver got three to 15 years for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider. Another example of keeping dangerous drivers on the road until they kill someone; she had five crashes in the previous eight years, as well as citations for careless driving and hit-and-run.

An allegedly drunk driver killed a bike rider while cutting donuts with his car. Yet another case of keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late; it was his third drunk driving arrest, yet somehow, he was still allowed behind the wheel.

The New York Times looks at a bike rider’s confrontation with a state senator who blocked a bike lane, then allegedly pretended to be a cop when the rider approached him.

More proof that bikes are good for business, as a new study using data from MasterCard shows higher receipts at New York restaurants near bikeshare locations.

A Louisiana bike rider says before you call an angry cyclist a nuisance, consider what made them so angry in the first place. And build better infrastructure, already.

 

International

Your 2018 Specialized Allez may be being recalled because of a bad fork.

Bike thefts are continuing to spike in Calgary, as riders are feeling ignored by the police.

Good idea. A proposed bill in Ontario, Canada would require anyone who killed a bicyclist or pedestrian to undergo renewed driver training, perform community service and appear in court to hear victim impact statements.

Here’s a surprise. A Toronto bike advocacy group has disbanded after nearly 25 years, saying conditions had improved enough in the city that they were no longer needed.

A British city has received the equivalent of $7,600 from a Chinese city to teach lower-income residents how to fix their bikes.

A Dutch consortium has developed an ebike designed to improve stability for elderly riders.

A study from the Netherlands shows GPS equipped decoy bikes cut bike theft up to 50% in areas where’s they’ve been used. Maybe that will be enough to finally convince the LAPD to give them a try.

Germany’s national bike industry trade association warns about the dangers of unsafe dockless bikeshare bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Chris Froome continues to insist he’s innocent of doping accusations, as Germany’s Tony Martin decries the double standard, questioning why Froome wasn’t immediately suspended.

Belgium authorities aren’t pleased Lance has been invited to attend next year’s Tour of Flanders as a special guest.

Italian cyclist Nicola Ruffoni will be 30 years old before he can compete again after getting a four-year ban for doping.

Dutch team LottoNL-Jumbo has sent three riders home for possessing a legal sleep aid that had not been approved by the team.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be powered by hydrogen. Forget three feet; how about a 20-foot passing distance and a 6 mph speed limit? Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

And if you’re going to unveil the new national team, it might help if you actually named them.

Just saying.

Morning Links: Father fighting for his life after La Tuna hit-and-run; NC member attacks “cycling zealots”

Earlier in the week, we mentioned the La Tuna Canyon hit-and-run that left a bicyclist in a coma.

Today the news media caught up, as KNBC-4 offered a report on the crash that has Keith Jackson fighting for his life; KTLA-5 had a similar report.

The father of three was riding with his son and daughter-in-law when the driver of a black Mazda plowed into him, then fled the scene without so much as slowing down. His son says the driver was veering all over the road, possibly driving distracted, before slamming into Jackson as he rode on the shoulder.

He remains unconscious in the ICU, four days after the crash.

A ride will be held this Sunday to finish the La Tuna Canyon ride Jackson started, but was unable to complete, departing from the LA Zoo parking lot at 8:30 am.

CiclaValley says the deadly street is slated to have bike lanes under the city’s mobility plan; however, that would be little protection against an out-of-control driver.

Meanwhile, the person who left him bleeding in the middle of La Tuna remains free. LA’s hit-and-run reward program means there’s an automatic $25,000 bounty for information leading to the arrest and conviction of this heartless coward.

Let’s hope someone collects it soon.

………

Mar Vista’s self-appointed traffic expert is at it again.

Dermatologist and Mar Vista Community Council member Kenneth S. Alpern offers a remarkably biased attack on “cycling zealots” who “eschew scientific data,” while doing exactly the same thing himself.

There’s a reason or five why myself and others have decried the Venice Blvd. “road diet”.  Not only does it hurt motorists, it got in the way of a better, safer solution for both bicyclists and pedestrians and motorists, and safety problems have gone up, not down. (Ed. note: That does not appear to be true; the most recent stats from LADOT show just the opposite.)

Bicyclists want safety and respect, but reconfiguring roads in a way that purportedly help a few but tell the majority to go pound sand (the ones who are otherwise very pro-transit, and happy to pay for it) isn’t helpful.  That road diet interferes with Micro Transit, bus operations, and the ability for small businesses to thrive on what should be Great Streets.

However, the studies he conveniently ignores contradict his attacks.

According to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), road diets have been shown to reduce crashes from 19% to 47%. Other studies have shown that bike lanes reduce injuries and deaths up to 40%, while protected bike lanes, like the ones on Venice, reduce injuries and deaths up to 90% — and not just for people on bikes.

In addition, projects like the one on Venice have been repeatedly shown in cities across the US to improve retail sales, reduce business vacancies, and increase property values in the surrounding neighborhood.

But who would want any of that, right?

It’s far better to pretend the science is on his side, and engage in character assassination of hard working and dedicated city employees.

As well as his fellow Angelenos who are simply fighting for safer, more vibrant and livable streets, and the basic human right to be able to travel safely, and get home to their families in one piece.

Regardless of how or where they choose to travel.

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

………

‘Tis the season.

Caught on video: Bighearted LA Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth had a surprise for the students of Grape Street Elementary School in Watts when he showed up to award new bicycles to a few outstanding students — giving new bikes and helmets to each of the nearly 600 students in the school, which he paid for out of his own pocket. Watch the video below if you want to see a lot of really happy kids. And remind yourself what really matters.

A Michigan cop was honored for saving the life of a 12-year old girl who was being attacked by a dog; his department gave the girl a new bicycle and a gift card as early Christmas presents.

………

It’s Day 20 of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

Thanks to Paul F for his generous contribution to help keep bringing you the best bike news and advocacy, from around the corner and around the world.

………

Local

The city council Transportation Committee will consider rules for dockless bikeshare today, proposing the establishment of a pilot program to develop regulations — even though at least three bikeshare providers are already on the city streets.

East Hollywood’s bike trailer-delivered Bicycle Coffee will open a second location in Little Tokyo next year.

The UCLA Bicycle Academy reviews the school’s new strategic plan, and likes the call for better civic engagement.

Curbed says Burbank is leading the way to a more affordable, walkable — and bikeable — future.

 

State

The Moreno Valley Unified School District is looking for volunteers to help contest-winning kids build the bicycle of their dreams.

Former pro cyclist Roy Knickman returned to his hometown as a Paso Robles firefighter to fight the ongoing fires in Ventura County; Knickman won bronze in team time trial in the ’84 Olympics, and had a long pro career before joining the fire department.

A kindhearted Sacramento bike rider is raising funds for a woman who lost her legs when she was hit by a driver after she pulled her car over to help another motorist.

 

National

A recent high school graduate has set out to talk to one veteran of WWII every day, beginning by riding his bike to retirement homes to talk to vets; he estimates it will take 10 years to complete the task. You can see his website here, and contribute to his efforts.

HuffPo offers 12 reasons why bicycling will continue to grow.

Forty-two bike shops in 23 states — and one in Russia — observed the first Bike Shop Day on Saturday.

A long-planned Oklahoma City bike lane somehow disappeared during a series of secret meetings, and no one seems to know who was responsible.

A Tucson running coach traded her car for an ebike for a month. And liked it.

Austin, Texas is transforming a major auto-centric roadway into a bike, pedestrian and transit focused corridor, leaving just one lane for motor vehicles in each direction. Hopefully, Texans will have better sense than to revolt over positive changes to the street, unlike overly entitled drivers in some SoCal cities we could name.

A Boston woman has dropped 55 pounds and quit drinking after taking up bicycling.

When a New York bike rider complained about a state senator’s limo blocking a bike lane, the politician responded by impersonating a cop and trying to pull the rider over. Then his driver floored it, driving on the wrong side of the road and running red lights to get away when bicyclist tried to take his photo.

A Brooklyn bicyclist is preparing to sue the NYPD for wrongful arrest after a judge threw out a ticket he received for arguing with the cop that nearly ran him over.

Florida residents complain that new bike lanes will mean they can’t park in front of their own homes; the state DOT responds saying they can park in their own driveways, and the space in front of their houses was never intended for parking anyway.

 

International

A Canadian ebike rider says sorry he’s not sorry for being happy.

A British driver tells the court he should have slowed down before hitting and killing a man on his bike. You think?

Yesterday we mentioned that a Brit bike rider was facing jail for crashing his bike into a couple of pedestrians; it turns out that the victims were his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend, and the crash was anything but accidental.

A UK advocacy group says stop making it so hard to ride a bike to school.

Dublin bike riders protest new signs telling them to dismount at a rail line by doing exactly that. Meanwhile, a Dublin cyclist chases down and confronts a man he sees stealing a bike, causing the thief to drop the bike and run off.

Bike sales in Poland are shifting from mountain bikes to urban cycling, and bucking international trends by going from the internet back to brick-and-motor bike shops.

Australian police are looking for a road raging bicyclist who hit a woman’s car several times before reaching in and throwing her car keys down an embankment. And scaring her Down Syndrome daughter.

Caught on video: An Aussie bicyclist riding in a crosswalk with the light is hit by a right-turning driver; fortunately, he appears to bounce back up. But even though the video clearly shows the red light stopping cross traffic, a Kiwi website blames him for ignoring the traffic signal. Maybe red means go Down Under.

It was a deadly year for bicyclists in New Zealand, as cycling traffic fatalities were triple last year’s total.

American cycling great Rebecca Rusch writes about bicycling the 1,200 mile Ho Chi Minh Trail in search of the place where her late father’s plane went down during the Vietnam war.

 

Competitive Cycling

UCI announces the 18 teams that will compete on this year’s WorldTour.

The Giro may have to move the start of next year’s race from Jerusalem in light of the tension caused by Trump’s decision to move the US embassy to the city.

Transgender former cyclist Philippa York says cycling’s conservative culture suppresses LGTBQ issues, pointing out there’s not one openly gay cyclist in the men’s peloton.

 

Finally…

If you’re already out on bail while you appeal your conviction for hitting a bike rider while high, try not to get busted in an underage prostitution sting. At last, a cure for helmet hair, also known as a headband.

And it may not be the best idea to crash a holiday boat parade by riding your bike through the crowd and loudly asking if anyone wants to buy heroin.

………

Please accept my best wishes to all celebrating the Festival of Lights this week.

Chag Urim Sameach!