The next time someone says bicyclists need to pay their share of the road, ask them to give you $1,100 instead.
That’s the amount a new report says every household pays to subsidize car ownership, whether or not they drive.
Which means, instead of not paying our share, bike riders are dramatically overpaying. Especially those who don’t own cars.
………
Bike advocacy group Bike SGV officially opened the new San Gabriel Valley Bicycle Education Center on Sunday.
Plans are for the center to offer classes for bike riders of all levels, along with bicycle repair courses.
They also intend to go beyond education by offering bike repairs and rentals of donated bicycles. Along with serving as a central point for bike advocacy in the San Gabriel Valley.
The SGVBEC is open Saturdays from 9 am to 1 pm inside El Monte’s Jeff Seymour Family Center, 10900 Mulhall St.
………
A paddle out was held Sunday for Logan Lipton, the 12-year old Oceanside surfer killed in a collision while riding his bike to school on Thursday.
………
In a heartbreaking piece, the tragic and needless death of a local rider makes a Pittsburgh woman examine her own mortality, and the real-world costs of our dangerous streets.
Thanks to Matt Ruscigno for the heads-up.
………
Local
A Vancouver website looks at six ways LA is looking beyond the automobile.
A Long Beach cyclist is finishing a seven-month, 3,000-mile trip to the other Long Beach in New York to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research.
State
The Victorville city council agrees to cover a $274,000 shortfall to construct a key connector in a proposed regional bike path network.
Oxnard police will conduct a bike and pedestrian safety operation Monday afternoon. Someone should tell them that bicyclists aren’t required to wear helmets unless they’re under 18, though.
Police decide a Milpitas high school student was somehow at fault for a minor collision, even though he was in a crosswalk and the driver admitted he didn’t see him.
The US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis is preparing to induct its newest class of honorees next month.
A San Francisco writer insists on pitting Millennials against Baby Boomers, saying the city does not consider the needs of older people, and that it’s hard to ride a bike safely when you get older. Even though countless older people do exactly that every day, and if they can’t manage to pedal uphill, an e-bike provides an effective alternative.
National
A Portland bike rider finds a hit-and-run driver who injured another cyclist. This is why police need to release information even on hit-and-runs that don’t qualify for a Yellow Alert; we have a lot more eyes on the street than they do.
Casper WY responded to the death of a bicyclist by creating a new bike master plan calling for over 100 miles of street improvements; the city’s first road diet, with bike lanes on either side, opens this week.
More bighearted people, as community members pitch in to replace a bike stolen from an Ohio special needs girl.
A writer for the Nashville paper takes a six-day, 150-mile bike tour through the Great Allegany Passage.
Negotiations have hung up on acquiring a railroad right-of-way that will be part of a Maine to Massachusetts bikeway, eventually lead to a coastal pathway stretching from Maine to the Florida Keys.
A man was critically injured in a collision with a bike rider on the University of Delaware campus. Ride carefully around pedestrians; they’re the only one more vulnerable on the streets than we are, and less predictable.
International
Bikes are making a comeback on the crowded streets of Central America. So is bike-friendly former Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa, who was re-elected to the post after 14 years in the politcal wilderness.
The CBC investigates whether cyclists should be required to have licenses. Must have touched a nerve; at last count, there were over 450 comments in less than 24 hours. Although being Canadian, many were excruciatingly polite.
Once again, cyclists are heroes, as an Ottawa man jumps into a river to save the life of an 83-year old man who had fallen in.
Caught on video: A British bike rider captures a helmet-cam view as he’s hit by a right-turning car. Although rather than slowing down as he approaches the intersection, he forces a couple of jaywalking pedestrians to run out of his way. And he probably wouldn’t have been hit by the car if he had waited for them to cross.
A 71-year old English woman has died after going over her handlebars in a collision with another cyclist while riding on a bike path. Another tragic reminder that bike paths can be dangerous places, even if there aren’t any cars.
Dutch racer Theo Bos expresses his gratitude to the United Arab Emirates woman who not only paid for his medication after a fall, but drove him back to his hotel, and stopped at a restaurant to buy him food on the way; she said any Emirati woman would do the same.
A new video from Australia’s Tasmania state puts the1.5 meter passing distance — the equivalent of a five-foot passing law — into perspective.
A new one meter, or three foot, passing law goes into effect in South Australia, so police naturally warn cyclists instead of drivers. Meanwhile, an Aussie rider tests it out and gives drivers a passing grade.
A Kiwi writer says do like the Dutch and get on your bike, even if it could be safer.
A 28-year old man is riding across India to spread a message of cleanliness, hygiene and sanitation.
An elderly Chinese man publicly beats and humiliates a bike-riding boy who accidentally ran into him on his way to school.
Finally…
Palm Spring seems shocked to see local homeowner Leonardo DiCaprio riding a bike around the city. Probably not the best idea to post a photo of yourself flipping off the cops while standing over a stolen police bike on your Facebook page.
And why bother riding your bike when you can use it to clean up before bed?
