Tag Archive for Santa Monica

Urge SaMo council to expand bike network, LA’s bad drivers nowhere near worst, and Measure HLA tops the news

Just 308 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. Just 6 signatures to go to reach 1,000! 

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BikeLA Chapter Santa Monica Spoke is calling on you to reach out to the Santa Monica City Council before their meeting tonight, to urge them to support safer streets and Vision Zero.

Tuesday Feb 27th Santa Monica City Council will hear the City Manager Report – on the Bike Action Plan and a Vision Zero Update — Special Item 3B on the Agenda.

Please join us with an email to Council TODAY voicing your support for more protected bike lanes (support the Bike Action Plan Amendment) and to support our city’s commitment to Vision Zero — to protect vulnerable road users, like people walking and biking, with streets designed to be safer for everyone.

Easy one click email please do add your comments and personal stories if you can!

Or use this “copy and paste / template” send to:

Re: Item 3B City Manager Report – Bike Action Plan and Vision Zero Update.

Dear Santa Monica Mayor, City Council and City Manager:

I support the City’s commitment to safer streets and more protected bike lanes. Please prioritize improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure and Vision Zero. The City must continue the overwhelming community supported commitment to prioritize and protect vulnerable road users, like people walking and biking, with more protected bike lanes and streets designed to be safer for everyone.

Please support and prioritize safer streets!

Then if you’re not doing anything tonight, show up at the meeting to show your support.

Or if you are, even.

https://twitter.com/MobilityForWho/status/1762275772419768650

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Shockingly, Los Angeles barely makes the American Top 40 of the nation’s worst drivers, a list topped by Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Clearly, the experts at Forbes have never driven the streets of LA.

In fact, nowhere in California ranked near the top, despite the state’s notoriously bad drivers.

  • 22. Fresno
  • 34. Long Beach
  • 37. Los Angeles
  • 42. San Diego
  • 49. San Francisco

No, really.

Clearly, we all need to email them to demand a recount, or send in a fake slate of electors. Or something.

Because on any list of America’s worst drivers, Los Angeles should be #1 with a bullet.

Literally, sometimes.

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Measure HLA continues to dominate Los Angeles news, as LA Times Letter’s Editor Paul Thornton says the hysteria over bike lanes shows exactly why Measure HLA is needed.

But a letter writer in the Times insists that if you build it, they won’t come, because she somehow doesn’t see any bike riders or buses on the newly expanded Venice Blvd bus and bikeways.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles-based composer bizarrely urges a vote against HLA because it would “only” implement 300 miles of bus lanes, even though the mobility plan it’s based on features bus lanes on nearly every major street.

And a writer for LA Progressive insists HLA somehow won’t work because of US military spending in Ukraine and Gaza, and because HLA ignores connectivity — even though it’s based on LA’s nine-year old Mobility Plan 2035, which contains three separate but interconnected bike networks, which the city would be forced to build out as streets are resurfaced.

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I want to be like them when I grow up.

Used bike retailer The Pro’s Closet talks with soon-to-be 80-year old Wendy Skean, who raced wheel-to-wheel against much younger riders at the “outrageously cold and muddy” Old Man Winter Rally, where she finished 50th out of 237 women in the 50K event. And in her first-ever race, no less.

Cycling Weekly talks with 76-year old Brit Geoff Nelder, who still averages riding 100 miles a week in winter and 200 in summer, helping him overcome three coronary stents ten years ago.

Or maybe not, as a 73-year old man was killed while riding his bike in a Thai hit-and-run.

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It’s now 69 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

Good question. Escape Collective takes up the burning question of how to get drivers to finally recognize that people on bicycles are human, too.

Someone working with the Department of DIY took matters into their own hands, and added traffic diverters to finally fulfill the New York mayor’s promise to finish work on the street.

A UK sociologist considers why so many people are so triggered by the simple act of riding a bicycle.

After a British bike rider reported a driver for using his cellphone behind the wheel, police took immediate action — threatening to charge the guy on the bicycle after incorrectly concluding the helmet cam video he submitted to them showed him riding on the wrong side of the road.

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

A Wisconsin petition calls off-trail mountain biking a threat to the red headed woodpecker population.

A New York thief took advantage of the added mobility of the city’s Citi Bike bikeshare to rob four people in Central Park in just under an hour, telling one victim “I rob people for a living.” I mean, you’d hate to see an amateur who doesn’t know what he’s doing attempting a feat like that.

Apparently, bike theft is just an “oopsie” now, after a Korean high school student admitted to “mistakenly” stealing a bicycle to support his siblings, after his mother’s illness.

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Local 

This is who we share the road with. Wealthy socialite and Grossman Burn Center co-founder Rebecca Grossman faces 34 to life after she was convicted of murder in the high-speed hit-and-run deaths of two young brothers crossing a Westlake Village street with their family in 2020.

LADOT is teaming with CicLAvia to highlight the new protected bike lanes and safety features on Reseda Blvd for four short hours on St. Paddy’s Day. And to prove just how well they work, they’ll still let drivers and their cars use the street.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers his typically great photos capturing the essence of Sunday’s Melrose CicLAvia.

 

State

More on Costa Mesa’s $7.9 million grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Complete Streets program, which will fund Class I bike trail, and two Class IV fully separated bike lanes. Thanks to Richard Duquette for the heads-up. 

San Diego belatedly begins work on a two-way protected bikeway on Balboa Park’s Pershing Drive, nearly three years after noted architect Laura Shinn was killed by a stoned driver.

The Toronto Star tours Santa Barbara’s American Riviera, where everything is a “quick walk, bike or public transit ride” away.

Bakersfield residents get new ebikes through the city’s loan-to-own ebike program.

Velo examines why everyone is freaking out about San Francisco’s center-running Valencia Street bike lane.

A Redwood City site compares university towns Davis and Palo Alto, proclaiming there can only be self-proclaimed California “Bicycle Capital.” Although fellow university city Long Beach would like to have a word.

 

National

A Portland man faces charges for the alleged DUI death of a homeless man on a bicycle; the driver ran away on foot, but was detained by community members after someone fired a shot.

Bicyclists in Goodyear, Arizona turned out for a rally to remember the victims of last year’s crash that killed two people and hospitalized 17 others when a pickup driver plowed into — or rather, through — a group ride; no charges have been filed after the local DA said it was just an “oopsie.”

Elderly Denver residents say a new protected bike lane is an accident waiting to happen, after an 82-year old man broke his hip tripping over a bike lane bumper getting out of a friend’s truck.

That’s more like it. Wichita, Kansas will host a bike ride for city council members to examine the condition of the city’s bikeways, after complaints they have become unrideable due to homeless encampments and broken glass.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole $5,000 worth of ebike and gear from an Oklahoma City bike nonprofit.

Just because you’re a disgraced, seven-times ex-Tour de France champ doesn’t mean you can’t get honored by a bikeway in your Austin, Texas hometown.

A Tallahassee, Florida man is back on his bike and filing suit against the city cop who hit him last year, leaving him with a broken femur and jaw, and multiple fractured ribs and vertebrae.

 

International

The Robb Report highlights luxury biking tours where you can ride alongside your favorite cycling stars. Before they drop you like Freshman English, that is.

A Vancouver Lime Bike only appears to roll on water.

That’s more like it. A British driver will spend the next 12 and a half years behind bars, after he was convicted of hitting a bike rider head-on while racing another driver.

Momentum offers a look at Europe’s best spring cycling destinations for nature-loving bicyclists. Which is not the same as naturist-loving bicyclists.

In other case of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, an unlicensed driver in Ghent, Belgium faces charges for the alleged drunken crash that killed two people riding their bikes and injured three others, when he plowed into a group riding together; the driver had the equivalent of 14 cocktails in his blood, despite two previous drunk driving bans.

The Netherlands has ordered a recall of Babboe cargo bikes, alleging the company has not provided the necessary safety information.

In a surprise to no one, China’s Xinhua says access to bicycles improves the lives of women and girls in rural Zambia.

The Philippines’ Bike Scouts are pushing the nation towards a bottom-up approach to natural disasters.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo says Jonas Vingegaard Hansen could win this year’s Tour de France, after the Danish two-time Tour champ added his wife’s surname, sans hyphen; Vingegaard swept all three stages of Spain’s O Gran Camino to win the GC.

The magazine also celebrates Butch Martin, who became the first Black American Olympic cyclist in both road cycling and track at the Tokyo and Mexico City Olympic Games.

In a Velo trifecta, the magazine relates the “most insane bike change in pro cycling history” when Aussie Michael Rogers swapped his bike for a fan’s nearly identical bike after his derailleur broke off midrace in the Tour Down Under.

US women’s cycling team Cynisca was suspended for illegally dressing a bike mechanic in the team kit to pose as a cyclist, because they didn’t have enough riders to complete in Belgium’s Argenta Classic last year.

Retired major league baseball All Star Carlos Gómez is on track to become the first indoor track cyclist to represent the Dominican Republic in the summer Olympics.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you have no idea you just crashed a Belgian bike race. Or when a winter bike ride means coming home sheathed in ice.

And Finish the Ride is finally getting serious, adding a corgi-endorsed puppy run to April’s two-day Griffith Park event.

Our corg sez she’s all in, as long as there are treats involved. And she doesn’t actually have to, you know, run.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

26 to life for Riverside vehicular killer, SaMo bike network cuts crashes by 52%, and Ghost Tire placed for 15-year old boy

It’s the final week of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just seven days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy.

Thanks to Alfred D, Jim W and Lilly L for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way every day. 

So don’t wait — give now!

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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program as promised this fall: 3

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Two quick reminders.

The WeHo City Council is scheduled to consider the city’s first Vision Zero Action Plan at tonight’s 6 pm council meeting, in the council chambers at the new West Hollywood City Hall, 625 N. San Vicente Boulevard. It’s Item 5C on the Council agenda.

And if you haven’t already, sign the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, and city’s ongoing failure to build the safer, more livable transportation system they promised.

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That’s more like it.

A Riverside man was sentenced to 26 to life behind bars for intentionally killing a man walking a bicycle in 2021.

Thirty-three-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez was driving his pickup when he saw 46-year old Benedicto Solanga walking his bike with a friend on the other side of the road, and flipped the men off.

Then he made a U-turn, came back and intentionally drove into Solanga, running him down from behind.

Solana died three days later.

Riverside police arrested Gutierrez three weeks later, after he had run a red light to shake witnesses who attempted to follow him after the crash.

He was convicted in September of first-degree murder with a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

No motive was ever given for the attack.

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Bike riders in Santa Monica were ruled at fault in 26 of the city’s 72 crashes resulting in death or serious injury since 2010, while drivers were at fault in 31; the remaining 15 investigators were unable to assess blame.

That works out to 36% and 43%, respectively, which a local paper somehow thinks is almost even.

And let’s not forget that blame is usually assigned by cops suffering from a windshield bias and a lack of training in bike law and investigating bicycle crashes.

However, the good news is that crashes involving bike riders has dropped by more than half — 52% — since the city began building a safe bike network over a decade ago.

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, placed another ghost tire memorial yesterday, this time for a 15-year old boy killed by a driver while walking home from school in October.

This is from the press release for the event, which arrived too late for advance notice.

On 27 October 2023, 15-year-old Felipe Manuel Infante-Avalos (affectionately known as Pipé) was crossing the road at 110th and Main St in the crosswalk, on his way home from school, when he was hit by 34-year-old Arturo Mercado Garcia. Pipé was hospitalized and died from his injuries on 8 November 2023. Arturo, who fled from the scene of the collision, was later caught and arrested and is awaiting trial. Per the judge for the case, evidence was found that Arturo was watching TikTok videos while driving.

Pipé, who was autistic, was sweet and gentle and his family loved him dearly. He loved school and was part of the ROTC. He loved playing with his siblings and going on their many family outings.

Pipé’s death is part of a worsening public health crisis on the roads of Los Angeles that has been skyrocketing since 2020. Per LAPD reports (as of 9 December 2023) the total number of traffic fatalities is higher than this time last year by 7% at 307 lives lost. Keeping in mind that the 312 fatalities in 2022 were the highest in well over 20 years. What’s worse is the number of pedestrian fatalities is up by 11% (162 lives lost) compared to this time last year, the number of hit-and-run fatalities is up by 26%, and the number of DUI-related fatalities is up by 32%.

A Ghost Tire Memorial will be placed to remember Pipé by the non-profit Streets Are For Everyone. Pipé’s parents, friends, and family along with other community members affected by traffic violence will be present.

Over 30 family members and friends, many of whom have flown in from out of town, are expected to attend. Adriana, Pipe’s mother, will be demanding that Arturo Mercado Garcia be given the maximum penalties allowable by law for killing her son. She’ll also be calling for the Mayor of Los Angeles to do more to protect the lives of our communities.

The Ghost Tire Memorial was inspired by the Ghost Bike: a bicycle roadside memorial placed where a cyclist has been killed or severely injured by the driver of a motor vehicle. Ghost Tires are tires painted white and placed on the side of a road with the name and date of the person killed. Ghost Tires were created by the road safety advocacy organization Streets Are For Everyone, sometimes called by its acronym, SAFE.

You can do your part by signing the petition to demand a public forum with the mayor to hear our complaints about the dangers Pipé and the rest of us face just walking and biking in Los Angeles.

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Unbelievable.

Life is cheap in Hilo, Hawaii, where a 70-year old man faces a maximum of a 15 years behind bars for negligent homicide and hit-and-run — even though prosecutors say he intentionally killed a woman riding a recumbent bike because she was “going too slow all the time.”

The judge ordered him to undergo a mental health exam, which is probably a good idea under the circumstances.

They should also give one to the prosecutors who undercharged what should have been a murder case.

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Fallen standup comic Kenny DeForest continued to make an impact after his death riding an ebike near Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, donating seven of his organs to five people, to give them a second chance at life.

DeForest died a week after he reportedly rode his ebike into a parked car, suffering serious head injuries.

That could have happened for a number of reasons, from distraction to excess speed resulting from the ebike, or being crowded out by a driver’s too-close pass.

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‘Tis the season.

Electrek suggests last minute stocking stuffers and gear for ebike enthusiasts. I’d settle for getting the ebike vouchers we were promised, and that California taxpayers have already paid for. 

Slate offers a gift guide for bike riders, saying no drivers allowed.

‘Sweet’ Alice Harris continued a 40-year tradition of giving for the holidays, helping ensure 300 students from Watts and Compton area got new bicycles, toys and backpacks filled with school supplies and other essential items.

A Maui bicycling group teamed with a “grassroots movement dedicated to bringing joy to children and families impacted by the Maui wildfires” to bring holiday gifts and entertainment to local families, and distribute 80 bicycles to kids who had requested one.

Fayetteville, Arkansas revived the city’s long-running “Bicycle Man” bicycle giveaway program for underprivileged kids, which gave away over 60,000 bicycles over a 33-year period.

A local website says don’t let anyone tell you New Bedford, Massachusetts sucks, after a nine-year old boy gets his stolen bike back in what they call a Christmas miracle.

London bike riders brought Christmas shopping on the city’s iconic Oxford Circle to a standstill with their annual Santa ride.

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If anyone really has any question who is at fault here, they probably shouldn’t be allowed to drive.

https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1735342319069696457

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A powerful British short film attempts to humanize “bloody cyclists” after they were run down by motorists.

And yes, they mean that literally.

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GCN considers the bike upgrades that just aren’t worth it, but bicyclists insist on doing anyway. Along with how to avoid “getting a numb penis” while riding a bike.

They said it, not me.

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

No bias here. The Port of San Diego is now banning all ebikes, e-scooters, hoverboards and most pedicabs, even though non-electric versions of all of the above are still allowed.

It takes a major schmuck to vandalize the ghost bike for a Colorado triathlete and soon-to-be father — not once, but twice.

No bias here, either. An elderly man in Glasgow, Scotland man says he’s afraid to leave his house due to busy and confusing streets, construction barriers, trash everywhere and people biking on the sidewalks — but a British tabloid only frames it in terms of irresponsible ebike-riding food delivery workers blighting the neighborhood.

Someone has been deliberately sabotaging a London bike lane for over a year, repeatedly spreading drawing pins in an apparent attempt to puncture riders’ tires. While it may sound like a harmless prank, a sudden flat could lead to serious injury, as well as needless expense and inconvenience. 

Police in Birmingham, England insist they’re really trying to arrest the people responsible for violent robbery attacks on bike riders, after coming under fire for merely advising a crime victim to ride somewhere else.

But sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Clean Technica says let’s not overreact to the dark side of ebikes, after her bike is somehow blamed for the actions of a Canadian porch pirate.

A Singapore bicyclist risked an S$500 fine by riding inside a Metro station.

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Local 

Bike Talk discusses the departure of Santa Monica’s bike-friendly mayor, along with Maryland’s “Come By Bike Farm” — as well as discussing some of the latest headlines from BikinginLA.

 

State

San Diego adopted its first-ever Complete Streets policy.

Police arrested four men in Lemon Grove after tracking down a BMW that was used in an ebike theft spree.

Bad news from Moorpark, where a man riding a bike suffered major injuries when he was struck by a driver. But at least the woman who hit him stuck around afterwards.

Napa County opened the area’s first bike skills park.

A Napa County paper lists 20-year old pro cyclist and Sebastopol native Luke Lamperti among their 24 people to watch in 2024.

 

National

Men’s Journal says yes, you can run in the bike lane. Except where you can’t.

A kindhearted cop in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown worked with a local used bike shop to give a 13-year old boy a new bike after his was stolen in a burglary.

Police in Golden, Colorado are looking for two people who ran away from their abandoned car after running down three people riding bicycles, and injuring two of the victims — one seriously. No word on whether the crash may have been intentional.

A Texas bicyclist is able to fight the insurance company and win after he got right hooked, in part because he had front and rear bike cams.

This is who we share the road with. A Texas hit-and-run driver slammed into a pedestrian, then drove 38 miles to a Jack in the Box with the victim’s dead body in his car, after he went through the driver’s windshield; the man claimed he though he hit an animal. Sure, let’s go with that.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a three-wheeled bike an Indianapolis mom bought for her autistic son for Christmas, before she could even give it to him.

Speaking of a special place in hell, that’s where whoever threatened a 13-year old New York girl with physical harm and stole her bike in a strong-arm robbery belongs.

The Washington Post looks at the effort in Congress to belatedly honor Black cycling legend Major Taylor, 124 years after he became world champion.

A Florida man shot a neighbor in the leg with a shotgun after the victim strayed onto his property looking for his stolen bicycle; the man said he shot him because he tried to break into his RV — even though police found the shotgun shell 150 yards away.

 

International

Three men responsible for robbing a number of South African bike riders have been arrested; the gang is accused of stealing their bikes and belongings, and fatally stabbing one man.

Interesting idea. Singapore hopes to promote bicycling by creating a “bike village” under a viaduct next to a transit station, in an area already popular with bicyclists, where they can shop for bicycle gear, grab a bite or meetup for rides.

This is why elections matter. The new Transport Minister for the newly conservative government in New Zealand has slammed the brakes on dozens of bike, pedestrian and public transit projects across the country.

 

Competitive Cycling

Congratulations to Palo Alto third-grader Mia Reyna, the new BMX national champ for her age group.

As if being a two-time Tour de France champ and double runner-up wasn’t enough, now Tadej Pogačar plans to go for a double by competing in the Giro, too.

 

Finally…

Your next bike tires could use NASA’s airless Mars Rover tech. Full-floating suspension for your butt.

And it’s just like the hubless, motorized Penny Farthing great-granddad used to ride.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Give a little for bikes on Giving Tuesday, windshield bias in Santa Monica, and the case of the doubly purloined Pinarellos

It’s Day 5 of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

So take just a moment before we get started to open your heart and wallet in support for our humble little bike blog.

And let’s thank Paul F and Grace P for their generous donations yesterday to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

So don’t wait! Donate today!

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It’s also Giving Tuesday.

So if you have anything left after giving to our holiday fund drive — or maybe the other way around — send a little love to some of the groups out there working to keep you safe and informed.

Thanks to Valley Duke, Chris Thomas and Gary J. Templeton for their suggestions.

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Santa Monica is celebrating the official unveiling of the bike and pedestrian friendly improvements on 17th Street and Michigan Ave, which have already survived the slings and arrows of local residents angry over changes to their streets.

Or should I say, “their” streets.

17th Street Bikeway Ribbon Cutting

9 a.m. Donuts, coffee and hot chocolate (while supplies last)

9:30 a.m.  Ribbon cutting ceremony

Confirmed Speakers:

  • Mayor Gleam Davis
  • Director of Transportation Anuj Gupta
  • Chief of Police Ramon Batista
  • Santa Monica Spoke Director Cynthia Rose

10 a.m. Santa Monica High School Marching Band

11:15 a.m. Academia de Danza Ballet Folklorico Flor de Mayo

10 a.m. – noon Guided bike tours

Thanks to David Drexler for the heads-up.

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Speaking of Santa Monica, a local writer offers a word salad of windshield bias and entitlement, along with support for what she says is Santa Monica’s near non-existent public transit system.

Evidently, she’s not a fan of the city’s Big Blue Bus. Or the continuous rumble of Metro buses on the coastal boulevards.

She starts with the story of her ex-husband’s bicycling crash, when he was run down from behind by a driver who questioned why he failed to see him as he rode home from dinner on Pico Blvd.

Because it was dark? Because the lights there are dim? Because it was late and maybe he was tired?

Because accidents happen. No one need be at fault. And yet, the city bears some responsibility for promoting biking before it’s truly safe, for making it ever-more-maddening to drive a car, and for absolutely refusing to create any realistic public transportation options.

I’ve been horrified to since read about two more recent bike accidents, one fatal. The city council’s solutions are all about increasing safety and visibility — and adding more fines. Safety is a good thing, certainly. But better biking is not a full-scale transportation option. And the current practice of incessantly writing parking tickets is already anti-resident, punitive, and un-Santa Monican. The real problem is that it is nearly impossible to drive a car peaceably anywhere in Santa Monica and it is only getting worse. The city has not invested in public transportation. We need safe, reliable, cheap public transportation, not more rules and more fines.

Except that “accidents happen” shouldn’t be an excuse for carelessness.

Cars are big, dangerous machines, and it’s not unreasonable to expect their operators to pay attention to the road directly ahead of them, and stop before hitting people or objects directly in their path.

Is that really too much to ask?

As for promoting bicycling before it’s truly safe, she’s got a point.

But that’s how you make it safe, by making improvements to the streets and encouraging people to use them, and using that increase in ridership to justify the next round of improvements.

Which shouldn’t be necessary, but it is. Because people like her inevitably complain about the inconveniences they face from each little incremental change on the streets.

That’s followed with more talk about the dangers of riding a bicycle, and holding onto one, along with the usual litany of all the reasons why bicycling is impractical.

Except that people do it every day, under exactly the conditions she complains about.

Also, it can be hard to keep a bike in Santa Monica. I, too, had been regularly biking until my electric bike got stolen from behind my house, and then my beach cruiser. And a biking-first policy isn’t inclusive. Plenty of people can’t rely on a bike — like parents of young children, the elderly or disabled, grocery shoppers, those needing to take important meetings free of sweat and errant hair, anyone who has to get anywhere else in LA.

Never mind that bikes, especially ebikes like the one she used to own, serve as effective mobility devices for the elderly and disabled, while cargo bikes are surprisingly efficient for grocery shopping and transporting young kids.

And as a former ebike owner, she should know as well as anyone how well they work for getting you places virtually sweat-free, especially in Santa Monica’s cool coastal climate.

She’s not wrong about the need to improve public transit, in Santa Monica and throughout Southern California.

But she is wrong about the practical benefits of bicycling, and the need for a virtually carbon-free form of inexpensive transportation as we confront a looming climate crisis.

Not to mention that bikes are fun.

Maybe a little lingering resentment towards her bike-riding ex is tainting her thinking.

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A team of well-rehearsed Italian bike thieves celebrated the American Thanksgiving Day with a professional heist at the headquarters of Pinarello, stealing 12 bikes worth over $164,000 in just 3 minutes.

The theft was so successful, they staged an encore just 20 hours later, returning to snatch another seven Pinarellos worth more than $109,000.

So if you happen to see a struggling bike team riding brand new Pinarellos next year, it may be more evidence that the cycling financial model really is in trouble.

Or maybe that’s just how they haze rookie riders these days.

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‘Tis the season.

Forbes offers a holiday gift guide recommending ebikes for every time of riding. Except for people who prefer standard bikes, of course.

And either there was an issue with translation, or Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling blog has written a gift guide for the cyclist band Queen.

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YouTuber Daily MTB Rider explains why the bike industry is failing.

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

Maybe there’s hope. A British writer who confesses to pouring gasoline on an inferno with her 2015 call to ban the “menace of bicycles” from the roads says she’s given up her car, taken to public transit and revised her low opinion of men in Lycra.

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Local 

Streetsblog examines the new bike lanes, green pavement treatments and a new bike path in Artesia.

LAist offers tips on how to achieve a more walkable, bikeable city.

Long Beach is on the path to getting speed cams.

 

State

Caltrans is moving forward with plans to extend San Diego County’s SR-56 bike path, with construction expected to be finished next year.

Bike-unfriendly Coronado, which famously banned all future bike lanes after residents complained about their dizzying, vertigo-inducing visual effects, is planning a festive Ride the Lights nighttime cycling party for December 10th.

The high desert community of Tehachapi unveiled 1.5 miles of new bike lanes in the Old Town district in an effort to improve air quality and traffic safety, as well as safety for cyclists who train in the area during the off-season.

Bicycling says San Francisco-based subscription service Friiyay is changing the business model of ebike rentals and ownership. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

More NorCal traffic violence, after someone riding a bicycle was killed by a driver in Stockton on Sunday.

 

National

Velo explains why banning right turns on red lights remains a challenge despite rising bicycling and pedestrian deaths, and numerous studies demonstrating the risk.

In the wake of bicyclists killed intentionally by murderous teenagers, extreme speeding motorists and drunk municipal bus drivers, Las Vegas police attempted to improve safety by instructing drivers on bike safety laws, including Nevada’s three-foot passing law. Which wouldn’t have helped with any of those cases. Or the truck driver high on meth who killed five bike riders in 2020, for that matter. But hey, baby steps, right?

While the interminable wait for California’s ebike voucher program to finally launch continues, Denver is wrapping yet another round of the city’s highly successful ebike voucher program with the final launch of the year, with all available vouchers expected to be claimed in less than 10 minutes.

A package of bills in the New York State legislature addresses the exploding risk of ebike fires, with bills mandating safer batteries and fire control equipment at ebike shops. Which raises the question of why any business wouldn’t be required to take the most basic steps to prevent fires.

 

International

Despite the government announcing a more than $10 billion fund to repair England’s notorious potholes, the country’s leading bicycling charity says it’s still not enough to keep bike riders safe.

A British doctor is suing Sheffield, England-based bike designers, builders and sellers Planet X for the equivalent of $12.63 million, after his gravel bike shattered underneath him as he rode, leaving him paralyzed with a broken spine.

Toyota is getting into the e-bikeshare business in Copenhagen.

More proof that bikes are built for disasters, as a Palestinian rides a bicycle past the rubble of a bombed out home, after gasoline has become unobtainable in Gaza.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling says cycling great and former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich confessed to doping and his crumbling life after his career ended, including “cocaine and alcohol abuseassault charges, and arguably even more drama than Lance.” Although he still has a long way to go to match getting stripped of seven Tour titles. Once again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bicycling also says Peter Sagan coulda been a contender. Or at least even greater than he was. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

Your all-new Holocene aero roadie could be made from your old one. And that feeling when you steal a bike from the bike thief who stole it from the bike shop.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

The bike-sized loophole in US crosswalk laws, MLK Blvd Complete Streets meeting, and Black Friday bike deals

Can’t you just feel the excitement?

We’re now just four days from the official kickoff of the Ninth Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — and we’ve already got our first donations before the campaign even starts!

So let’s give a special thanks to Jim L and David R for their generous donations to help keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. 

Be sure to come back here on Friday when the fund drive starts for real, because this is your chance to support SoCal’s bike source for bike news and advocacy.

And help keep the corgi in new shoes. 

So let’s get to it before this migraine makes my head explode all over the inside of your screen. 

………

The Des Moines Register considers what they call the glaring loophole posed by American crosswalk laws.

According to the paper, most crosswalk laws protect pedestrians, but do nothing to protect people riding bicycles, as well as wheelchairs, scooters or any other personal conveyance.

However, California is the exception, sort of.

The state amended its crosswalk law a few years ago to make it clear that bicyclists are allowed to ride along crosswalks — but neglected to clarify whether “along” means in or next to.

………

Despite being under indictment for embezzlement, CD9 Councilmember Curren Price, Jr. continues to work towards a bike and pedestrian friendly makeover of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, with a public meeting next Tuesday.

………

They had me at donuts.

……..

‘Tis the season.

Bicycling offers a list of all the best Black Friday bike deals, along with the best sales on ebikes. As usual, you can read the first story on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you, but the ebike story doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else.

Momentum offers Black Friday bike deals, heavy on ebikes.

And Road.cc provides a high-end bicycling holiday gift guide for when money is no object.

………

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

No bias here. After a Houston bike rider was critically injured by a hit-and-run driver, a local TV station can’t resist framing the headline to blame the victim, while making it sound like he could fly like Superman.

No bias here, either, as a New York Councilmember forgets that some of her constituents are bike riders, and that people who ride bicycles vote, too.

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

The San Clemente City Council voted unanimously to consider an ordinance banning people from riding bicycles on the city golf course, after ebike riders damaged some of the greens and landscaping.

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run New York delivery rider who took off after blowing through a red light on his ebike and crashing into a toddler being pushed on a stroller in the crosswalk.

A multitasking Florida man faces charges for allegedly shooting his shot while riding his bike, after a woman reported seeing him pleasuring himself while pedaling during a 5 am bike ride.

………

Local 

LAist considers the negative effect that parking minimums have on the climate by encouraging people to drive everywhere.

The LA Fire Department airlifted a 31-year old man from Tujunga’s remote Haines Canyon, after he suffered severe injuries while mountain biking in the area.

 

State

Ebikes are currently allowed on all University of California campuses, but banned at California State University schools, including CSU Los Angeles, CSU Northridge and CSU Long Beach, as well as both Cal Poly campuses.

The San Diego Association of Governments introduced a new interactive map allowing you to indicate areas in need of pedestrian or bicycle safety improvements, which will be considered in the upcoming county Active Transportation Plan.

A Santa Cruz high school student won a full-ride scholarship to any college he wants for creating a nonprofit to refurbish and distribute bicycles, giving away 70 bikes to people in need so far.

A San Francisco letter writer takes issue with a recent news story saying the Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane is killing local businesses, arguing that it is slowing traffic down and improving safety for bike riders and pedestrians.

 

National

The founder of traffic safety nonprofit It Could Be Me writes about her own bicycling collision and the windshield bias that followed, from the driver who hit her to the cops that investigated, and the media that reported the story without ever getting her side.

REI staffers have filed 80 labor complaints across the US alleging the co-op has failed to negotiate in good faith with their union; however, the only unionized locations on the Left Coast appear to be in Berkeley and Bellingham, Washington.

A Fort Lauderdale, Florida law firm considers liability regarding bikeshare collisions — but bizarrely illustrates the story with a crashed motorcycle.

Men’s Journal says these are not your dad’s panniers. Which is definitely true in my case, since my dad didn’t have any. 

Speaking of windshield bias, police in Louisville, Kentucky report a man riding a bicycle was killed in an apparent SWSS — Single Witness Suicide Swerve — after allegedly swerving in front of an oncoming driver for no apparent reason. Yes, it’s possible the victim really did swerve in front of the car. But it’s more likely the driver drifted to the right and was startled to suddenly see a bike rider directly in front of them, and assumed the rider swerved, with no witnesses to contradict it.

A Boston TV station examines the dangers bike riders face from car doors and the careless people who fling them open without looking.

Speaking of Boston, Streetsblog explores a new parking and plastic car-tickler bendie post protected bike lane through the Back Bay Area.

Build it and they will come. After the city invested heavily in new bike lanes, The Daily News reports New Yorkers are riding bicycles at record levels for the second year in a row. The same can’t be said for Los Angeles, which hasn’t. Read it on Yahoo to get past the paper’s paywall. 

 

International

EF Pro Cycling explains how to lube your chain like a pro. That’s easy — just have someone else do it, just like they do. 

The Havana Times photo of the day depicts a fisherman riding his bicycle along the shore.

A new survey shows London bike riders are changing their riding habits in response to rising rates of violent bikejackings, leaving them overwhelmed with fear.

Students at Dublin, Ireland’s Trinity College are walking and biking less than they did before the pandemic, with bicycling rates down a whopping 59%. But at least they’re using public transport rather than driving.

Dutch e-bikemaker VanMoof could be back in business soon, as McLaren Applied-backed new owner Lavoie is working to simplify service and resume retail sales after buying the company out of bankruptcy.

New guided bicycle tours are revolutionizing cultural tourism in Istanbul.

Queensland state officials sought to reassure bike riders that a “draconian” new law against reckless riding won’t criminalize everyday riding activities, like drinking from a water bottle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Peter Sagan might be rethinking his decision to focus on mountain biking after eating dirt in a recent race.

Pez Cycling News looks back on the careers of Chris Froome and Sir Bradley Wiggins, calling them two of Britain’s greatest ever cyclists. Although fans of Beryl Burton might beg to differ.

 

Finally…

Honda’s new throttle-controlled scooter is also the box it comes in. Your next Italian gravel bike could be a woodie.

And this is what a Chilean bike park looks like.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Why killer drivers seldom get charged, and SaMo considers speeding needed traffic safety improvements tomorrow

My apologies for another unexcused absence on Friday. 

One of the many insidious effects of diabetes is a dramatic decline in stamina; busing to a couple of medical appointments was enough to knock me out all night, and most of the next morning. 

On the plus side, at least I’m starting the week well rested. 

………

Ryan Fonseca of the Los Angeles Times takes a look at why killer drivers are so rarely charged with murder in California.

Which is something we’ve probably all asked at one time or another.

Although to be fair, it’s not just here. From what I’ve seen, most drivers walk with just a slap on the wrist, no matter where it happens.

If they get charged at all.

Here’s how he explains it.

First off, killing someone with a vehicle is simply viewed differently under the law. That difference is codified in California’s criminal law, where manslaughter — “the unlawful killing of a human being without malice” — is divided into three kinds: Voluntary, involuntary and vehicular.

The key difference between murder and manslaughter is intention. There’s also the idea of implied malice, or what’s sometimes called a depraved heart — when someone should have reasonably known that an act was potentially deadly, but they did it anyway.

Like driving 104 mph in a 45 mile zone, for instance. Or weaving in and out of traffic at speeds up to 100 mph with a suspended license while stoned .

Or dragging someone under your car for nearly a mile while trying to flee the scene; police are still looking for the heartless coward in that one.

Let alone the rash of recent cases where crashes appeared to be intentional.

But perhaps the chief limiting factor, according to former prosecutors, is what a jury made up of 12 people who drive is willing to convict on, combined with prosecutors well-founded fear of losing.

Which is why you see so many killer drivers plead out for a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Or a lousy traffic ticket, for that matter.

And that means drivers get away with things they wouldn’t if they killed someone using any other means.

Damian Kevitt, executive director of the advocacy nonprofit Streets Are For Everyone, often meets with families who have lost a loved one to traffic violence. He told me the focus on a driver’s intent in a fatal crash creates a level of protection that doesn’t exist outside their cars.

“Instead of assuming that you have a responsibility and you have an obligation to drive safely, it’s more… ‘we’re going to assume that you have the best of intentions,’” he said. “That’s not right — not when you’re [operating] a two-ton vehicle that has just as much ability to kill someone as a gun.”

It’s worth reading the whole thing.

Because public pressure, or the lack thereof, can be the deciding factor on how serious the charges are that a driver could face.

And how much time they might end up serving.

……..

Santa Monica will consider a motion to speed up traffic safety improvements at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

According to an email from Streets For All,

This item will direct the city manager to expedite requests for stop signs, update the city’s guidelines to upgrade unsignalized intersections, update the process through which residents can report dangerous intersections, improve communication between SMPD and the Department of Transportation, update the Take The Friendly Road campaign, develop a proposal to allocate funding towards infrastructure in daylighting zones to address dangerous illegal parking, and more.

It can’t come fast enough.

Because a man riding a bicycle was lucky to escape with minor injuries when he was struck by a driver, at the exact intersection where Tania Mooser was killed in a collision while riding her bike just two weeks earlier.

And where local residents have spent years demanding safety improvements, with no one at SaMo City Hall seeming to give a damn.

……..

Don’t forget to voice your opinion on the LA County bike plan.

………

Nice to see a good turnout for the ghost bike ceremony honoring fallen Hollywood producer Bob George.

Maybe someday, things like this won’t be necessary anymore.

………

Because of course he was one of us.

………

GCN considers the true cost of bicycling, including buying all the gear.

Never mind that you can get a used bike for a couple hundred bucks, and just start riding.

………

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

No bias here. Writing for the Orange County Register, the western director of a conservative think tank says sorry, but bicycling isn’t going to change the world, and only bicyclists demand “the world be rebuilt to cater to (their) somewhat-dangerous hobby.” He also compares bike lanes to social engineering, and insists, without evidence, that closing streets to cars destroys cities. Just wait until someone tells him about the social engineering that forces everyone into cars.

No bias here, either. A Marin paper says everyone has to accept that few people want to ride their bikes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge compared to the 80,000 daily drivers. But fails to mention that drivers have connecting roadways leading to and from the bridge, while bike riders are still waiting for safe connections to get on and off. The paper’s editorial cartoonist weighs in, as well.

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

A Florida man is back behind bars for running down a pedestrian on his ebike while stinking of booze, after previously serving ten years for a DUI manslaughter.

A Scottish bike rider confesses to being one of those demon cyclists who jump red lights and ride on the sidewalk, sometimes putting his own life over the “the irritation of motorists and occasionally pedestrians.”

………

Local 

Streetsblog reports the LA City Council has taken the first steps to implement an automated speed cam program, and officially committed to using “crash,” “collision” or “incident,” rather than “accident” to describe two drivers trying to defy the laws of physics by occupying the same space at the same time. Although I’m more impressed that the LA Times is now using the term “traffic violence.”

 

State

Readers of the San Diego Reader compiled a list of the city’s most dangerous spots for bike riders, including Friars Road, Nimitz Blvd and University Ave. Which shows some things haven’t changed since I lived down there over 30 year ago. 

A bike-riding Santa Barbara boy suffered minor injuries when he was struck by a driver, although he apparently broke his guitar — unless the website meant a broken fender, not Fender. The story also suggests the driver may have been blinded by the sunset, which seems somewhat unlikely at three in the afternoon. 

A Santa Cruz website considers the ripple effects of one free bicycle given to a kid nearly two decades ago.

Who was that masked man? An unidentified San Francisco bike rider saved the day when burglars tried to break into a van belonging to Minneapolis-based indie band Yam Haus, apparently smacking one of the thieves to disrupt the break-in before riding off into the sunset.

Sad news from Oakland, where someone riding a bicycle was killed in a collision Friday night; the driver either did or didn’t remain at the scene.

A couple of men were busted after a man tracked his stolen bike to their car, then they drove into him when he tried to get it back; police tracked the suspects to their home, and arrested them on a raft of theft and drug charges.

Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village is banning scofflaw ebike riders from city sidewalks, adding ebikes to a current prohibition on sidewalk riding, although a spokesperson for the sheriff swears it’s only enforced when people ride recklessly.

 

National

Electrek explains why drivers should love seeing more people on ebikes — or any other bicycles, for that matter — from more bikes means less traffic and more parking, to better roads and more money in your pocket. Maybe someone should tell that guy from the Orange County Register.

Clean Technica looks at the “slow, painful process” of eliminating the sale of dangerous ebike batteries.

Bicycling reports the annual Cranksgiving food-drive ride is back after a three-year Covid hiatus, with over 100 rides currently scheduled in 35 states, although the nearest one to Los Angeles/Orange County appears to be in Redlands. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you; however, the second link works, regardless.

An Oregon state legislator responded to the death of a 16-year old boy riding an ebike by introducing legislation to ban throttle-controlled ebikes for anyone under 16, limiting younger riders to ped-assist ebikes.

NPR conducts an exit interview with Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who has been bicycling’s biggest champion in Congress in recent years.

A Washington bike rider urges drivers to please respect the city’s new purple bike lanes. Apparently painted in an effort to make Barney feel at home.

Apparently, killing a 13-year old Denver-area boy as he rode his bike to school last month is just a minor traffic violation, after the driver who killed him got a lousy ticket for careless driving resulting in death.

Former President George W. Bush hosted his annual Warrior Ride for America’s veterans at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, expressing his gratitude and support for vets.

New York’s Transportation Commissioner considers how to safely integrate ebikes into the city’s traffic system.

Life is cheap in Pennsylvania, where intentionally trying to back over a bike rider while threatening to “smoke” the victim will get you two months of home vacation, followed by just two lousy days behind bars each week for 15 whole weeks.

Birds are bad enough. A South Carolina bike rider was startled when a deer literally jumped over him as he took part in a club ride.

 

International

Momentum readers nominate the world’s worst bike lanes.

Bike Radar suggests five areas of training that will make you a better roadie. None of which are better roadway courtesy or yielding to pedestrians, however.

Police in Ontario — no, the one in Canada — are searching a cornfield for a missing 34-year old man after his ebike was found in the middle of the field with a flat tire, and the wires leading to the battery dangling down.

This is who we share the road with. A London bike rider’s helmet cam captured video of a security van driver watching porn on his phone and masturbating while he was driving. Wanker.

That’s more like it. A British truck driver got eight-and-a-half years behind bars for killing a 53-year old woman riding a bike, and seriously injuring her 19-year old son, while using a social media app on his phone.

Finland addressed a smattering of people illegally crossing from Russia on bicycles by banning anyone from riding a bike across the border, months after a similar ban on people arriving in motor vehicles.

Over 35,000 people turned out for the fourth annual Dubai Ride, the region’s largest bike ride.

Don’t obscure your license plate with your trunk-mounted bike rack in Abu Dhabi.

 

Competitive Cycling

There may not be a 38th edition of Japan’s Tour de Hokkaido next year, after a cyclist was killed in a head-on collision that resulted in the immediate cancellation of this year’s event.

Up to 15 riders were injured in a mass pile-up in the final stage of Australia’s Tour of Tasmania.

One of the four climate activists on trial for disrupting the road Worlds by gluing their hands to the roadway claims the cycling community is complicit in the climate crisis through ignorance of the “oil and gas companies sponsoring their races.” Trust me, they know.

 

Finally…

Your next titanium road bike could be worth its weight in gold — or painted with it, anyway. Who needs 29 inch wheels when you can ride 36ers?

And Red Bull says it gives you wings, but maybe they should hand you floaties, instead.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Update: 69-year old woman taken off life support after Santa Monica bicycling collision; 12th SoCal bike rider killed in 3 weeks

It just keeps getting worse.

For the 12th time in 22 days, someone riding a bicycle has been killed on the mean streets of Southern California.

This time in ostensibly bike-friendly Santa Monica.

According to surf publication Shacked Mag, a 69-year old woman was riding at 19th Street and Idaho Ave around 8:45 am yesterday when she was struck by a driver.

She was taken to a local hospital. Sadly, Phil Gaimon reports the victim, a friend of his, was taken off life support this morning. She has not been publicly identified.

The driver remained at the scene, and reportedly cooperated with investigators.

A street view shows an intersection of two residential streets without lane markings. While it’s been awhile since I’ve ridden through there, I’ve occasionally used Idaho as a quieter alternative to busy Montana a block away.

Twitter/X user Mobility For Who offers a little more information about the crash site.

This is a 2-way stop, that the victim apparently rode through, but it’s also a neighborhood residential street with schools nearby. People have been asking the city for traffic calming measures there for years, from what I hear from residents. Drivers use 19th to cut through the neighborhood to get to/from San Vicente, so I guess the street is just setup to let them do that.

If you’re riding Idaho and crossing there, you’re basically just hoping that a speeding car isn’t coming hidden behind parked cars, so rolling through that stop sign often feels safer, just to get out of there as quickly as possible.

California recently passed a new law requiring daylighting at intersections, which might improve the visibility problem there. But sadly, it comes too late to help the victim of this crash.

This is at least the 47th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 13th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Update: The Santa Monica Mirror reports the victim was apparently riding west on Idaho, when she was struck by the southbound driver, who didn’t have a stop sign.

Update 2: A Nextdoor post identified the victim as Tania Mooser. A vigil will be held in her honor this Friday.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Tania Mooser and her loved ones. 

Thanks to bikematic, Mobility For Who and Diana Williams for the heads-up. 

Las Vegas teen filmed vehicular murder of former Bell police chief, and “car-owning” WeHo bicyclist decries Fountain plans

Now we know why it’s murder.

It took about two weeks after the crash for Las Vegas police to determine that the killing of retired Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst in an August hit-and-run was intentional.

The reason became evident this weekend when horrifying video of the collision surfaced and quickly went viral.

In the video, which was AirDropped to students at a local high school at the end of last month, the teenage driver and his passenger(s) can be seen cursing at passing cars, before spotting Probst riding his mountain bike in a bike lane.

This is how TMZ described the lead-up to the crash.

The 17-year-old driver and his passenger were cruising down a street in Las Vegas on August 14, coming up behind Andreas Probst as he rode his cycle in the bike lane. Filming with his cell phone, the passenger was chuckling with the driver as they plotted to run over Probst. You can hear them say, “Ready?” and “Yeah, hit his ass.”

So much for any question of intent.

According to The Daily Mirror,

The vehicle is seen in the footage coming up behind a red-clad man riding a bicycle alongside the road. The motorist pulls into the bike lane behind him, honks his horn, and purposefully strikes the cyclist’s back tire, sending him flying with the encouragement of his buddies.

The passenger records Andreas lying helplessly on the side of the road behind the vehicle. “Damn that n* got knocked out!” the passenger says as the driver can be heard stepping on the gas.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal says, despite attacks from rightwing sources including Elon Musk, James Woods and Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld, not only were they aware of the video within hours of the crash, they were instrumental in getting it to the police.

The Review-Journal’s coverage of the incident was also heavily criticized by readers who posted screenshots of a news obituary that ran in the Review-Journal on Aug. 18 — more than a week before the video surfaced — with a headline describing the incident as a “bike crash” and not an intentional killing.

In fact, a source had contacted the Review-Journal about the existence of the video more than two weeks ago, and a reporter had instructed the caller on how to forward the video to Metropolitan Police Department detectives investigating the case. Nine hours later, police announced that the incident had been deemed a homicide.

The Review-Journal also reports the passenger has not been charged, which seems inexplicable unless they were captured on the video screaming in horror at the deliberate carnage.

Hint: they weren’t.

At the very least, such a heinous crime would seem to call for a felony conspiracy charge, since both the driver and the passenger appear to have been planning the fatal assault.

It also calls into question whether the teenaged driver arrested for last week’s vehicular rampage in Huntington Beach that killed one man riding a bicycle and injured two others was a copycat attack.

It’s possible he may have seen video of the Las Vegas murder, or one of the other similar video circulating online, and attempted to copy them.

Or he may have simply lashed out on his own, for reasons known only to him.

………

No bias here.

Writing for WeHoVille, a “car-owning bicyclist” rides his bike down the sidewalk along Fountain Ave, to demonstrate that few people currently ride bicycles along the deadly thoroughfare, and insist that two years of construction to install a protected bike lane will devastate the businesses along the half block that actually has them.

Never mind that his own decision to ride on the sidewalk, rather than risk riding in the street, makes the case for building the bike lanes.

Let’s be clear: While WeHo talks a big game about “uplifting” marginalized people and “amplifying” their voices, the city’s pedestrians — those blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about — are silently struggling just to get from Point A to Point B every day, as they’ve done for decades.

But fixing sidewalks isn’t glamorous, and that’s why WeHo hasn’t given a fuck thus far.

Even now, the impetus for reconstructing Fountain Avenue wasn’t to benefit pedestrians or disabled people. They were an afterthought.

Installing bike lanes, the cause celebre of every young politician and hip urban planner, was the point of this project.

Never mind that many of the “blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about” are forced to ride their bikes to work along busy, dangerous corridors choked with traffic.

And not many use the sidewalks, because they can’t afford to live there.

………

When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it’s a parking lot.

………

Streetsblog celebrates yesterday’s NoHo CicLAmini.

………

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

A St. Louis moonlight bike ride was cancelled at the last minute as people were gathering at the start line, because drivers had moved the barricades blocking roadways along the route, and a third-party company hadn’t secured it.

An English bike rider is left waiting in vain for the police to do something after he catches a punishment pass on his bike cam, as the driver yells at him to “Get off the fucking road.”

No bias here. A Singapore website accuses an ebike rider and a motorist of road rage for engaging in a heated dispute in the middle of the roadway. Never mind that the bike rider was minding his own business until the impatient driver started honking at him for no apparent reason.

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

Tragic news from New York, where police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who killed a 69-year old woman as she was crossing a “chaotic” intersection. Since the bicyclist was on a bikeshare bike, police should be able to access user and GPS data to determine who was using a bike at that time and location. Which raises the question of why they apparently haven’t yet.

An ebike-riding man is recovering from injuries and faces sexual assault charges, after a Virginia woman flagged down a passing car when the man groped her on a bike path, then smiled as he rode away; she was able to catch up with him and apparently kicked his ass, knocking him off his bike and placing him in a chokehold until police arrived.

A Toronto cop was hospitalized, and a bike rider faces charges, after the cop was hit by someone who was allegedly riding his bicycle erratically and weaving between pedestrians in the city’s Entertainment District.

………

Local 

Metro’s new rush hour bus and bike lanes on La Brea Blvd are officially open for business. But that hasn’t stopped anyone from using them — and loving them — already.

Streetsblog says Metro has installed new plastic bollards to protect the First Street bike lanes, which could be the first step in meeting their commitment to on bike/walk connections the promised for Metro’s new subway stations. However, it’s worth noting that the new bollards are spaced too far apart to keep motorists from driving or parking in the bike lanes, and won’t actually protect anyone from anything.

West Hollywood will consider a program to implement a bicycle repair station pilot program at tonight’s city council meeting.

Culver City is moving forward with plans for both painted and protected bike lanes along the southern section of Overland Blvd, at the same time the city is trying to rip out the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes through downtown.

Santa Monica’s ebike voucher program for low-income residents is set to begin next year; qualified people could receive up to $2,000 to purchase an ebike and accessories.

 

State

Huntington Beach will consider new ebike regulations at tomorrow’s city council meeting; the proposed ordinance would create different classes of electric bikes — which the state has already done — while providing for criminal or civil citations, and adding a section for unsafe riding. However, all of that may be moot and illegal, since regulating ebikes falls under the authority of the state, along will all other traffic regulations. 

A La Jolla father calls for action on traffic safety measures after his 14-year old son suffered broken bones in his hand and foot when he was struck by a driver in a left cross crash, as he rode his ebike in a marked bike lane; the driver was waved through the intersection by another motorist, and failed to see the kid on his bike.

San Diego faces concerns about meeting the city’s climate goals, after a crackdown on e-scooter providers dropped ridership 80%.

The days of having The Snake to yourself could be coming to an end, with plans in place to reopen the curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road in the Santa Monica Mountains to motor vehicles next year.

A San Jose councilmember denies striking a bike-riding man with his car, despite three witnesses who say he gave the man money after running him down; he claims it was a near miss, and he only gave money to help the victim, who appeared to be homeless.

San Francisco Streetsblog says bicyclists are furious that protected bike lanes are no longer on the table for Arguello in the Presidio, when champion cyclist Ethan Boyes was killed earlier this year.

 

National

The Manual says don’t bother buying an e-mountain bike because government regulations limit where you can ride it. However, a travel website disagrees, listing ten of the best trails around the US where ebikes are welcome.

A Park City, Utah columnist says “Bike thieves suck” after her ebike and foldie are stolen from her building’s garage, apparently because she locked them together rather than to a fixed object. Although even that wouldn’t stop a determined thief with enough time. 

The local community came through for a five-year old Texas boy after his bike was stolen; within minutes of his father posting news of the theft online, he had offers for two bikes.

An 80-year old New York man was murdered by a black-clad man on a bicycle who circled the area apparently waiting for the victim to return home from a party, then rode up and shot him two times point blank in front of the victim’s horrified wife, in a killing caught on video; using a bike allowed the killer to approach his victim quickly and silently, without drawing undue attention.

A reminder that Hugh Jackman is one of us, after he’s spotted riding bikeshare bike through New York’s Tribeca neighborhood a day after announcing his separation from his wife of 27 years.

More proof bike riders are tough, as a man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana walked himself to the hospital, despite three stab wounds in his back, after three people stabbed him and stole his bike and wallet, then left him bleeding on the sidewalk.

 

International

Residents of a Toronto neighborhood jeered the borough mayor when he said a new bike path had nothing to do with the traffic death of a woman as she walked along the newly narrowed roadway.

Montreal’s mayor is demonstrating the political courage to close a popular park roadway to motor vehicles, and reclaim Mount Royal Park for bike riders and pedestrians. In other words, the kind of courage we seldom see in Southern California. Let alone Los Angeles.

The murder bug has apparently spread across the pond, as two men face attempted murder charges for deliberately running down a bike rider on the streets of Glasgow.

Nineties pop icon Jason Orange is one of us, as the tabloids say the Take That star is virtually unrecognizable riding a bikeshare bike through the streets of London. Even though all of them seem to have spotted him.

A radio station remembers the day 65 nude women rode bicycles around London’s Wembley Stadium to film the video for Queen’s iconic hit Bicycle Races. 

Wales has become the first country in the UK to drop speed limits from 30 mph to 20 mph. Because 20 is plenty in urban areas.

After courts awarded her the equivalent of over $620,000 for the death of her husband, a British woman decried the “inhuman” response of city leaders, who blamed him 100% for his own death after he was killed by a garbage truck driver as he rode his bike.

A French consortium pans to build a nearly 3,000 foot, 900 kilowatt solar panel bike path along the Rhône River capable of powering over 700 homes. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

A Belgian bicyclist shown on video kneeing a five-year old girl in a viral video from Christmas Day 2020 has now won a defamation suit against the girl’s father, after a court fined the bike rider the equivalent of a dollar, concluding he didn’t intend to hurt her.

Heartbreaking story from India, where a 17-year old girl was killed when someone on a passing motorbike grabbed the traditional stole she was wearing as she biked home from school with a friend, causing her to fall into the path of another motorbike rider; two suspects were shot by police after they attempted to escape following their arrest, stealing a rifle and firing on the cops as they fled.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, as a Singaporean bicyclist jumped off his bike to save someone who had fallen into a canal, along with members of the country’s civil defense force.

Helmet use has tripled among Japanese bike riders in the wake of a new law requiring them, although the lack of punishment for violating the law means it’s still only up to 13.5%.

An Aussie man warns bike riders to beware of swooping magpies, after he nearly lost an eye when one attacked him two year ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s official. Twentynine-year old Colorado resident Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta on Sunday, days after his own teammates attacked in an apparent attempt to wrest the red leader’s jersey from his shoulders.

Kuss is the first American to win a grand tour since Chris Horner won the Vuelta in 2013, and just the second person to win one grand tour after riding in all three.

Guyana’s junior cycling team was left standing at the airport, instead of flying to the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships, because someone apparently forgot to check the airline’s strict no baggage policy, which includes racing bikes.

 

Finally…

A mountain biker demonstrates why actual wheels usually work best. Yes, you can get a DUI while riding a horse in California.

And there may be bicycle-riding ghosts out there, but this probably ain’t one of ’em.

Especially since that video seems awfully familiar.

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A special thanks to Steve Fujinaka for a very unexpected and generous donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way that lifted my spirits over the weekend. 

Donations are always welcome and appreciated, whatever the reason.  

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

A call to keep drivers out of SaMo bike lanes, drop in CA traffic deaths, and today-only deal on select CicLAvia merch

When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it becomes a parking lot. Or a traffic lane for motor vehicles.

A coalition of bike and safety advocacy groups has written an open letter to Santa Monica leaders praising their work building safer bikeways, but complaining about daily intrusions from motorists that put bike riders at needless risk.

To:  Santa Monica City Council, Santa Monica Planning Commission, City Manager David White, Mobility Manager Jason Kligier, Director of Public Works Rick Valte,  

Subject: Protecting our bikeways from motor vehicle incursions

Dear Council Members and City Leaders:

Santa Monica has become an exemplar of far-sighted bikeway design and implementation in our region.  Recent innovations seen on Ocean Ave. and 17th St. have raised the bar for creating protected bike facilities that provide the safety and comfort to allow many more people to bike for their everyday mobility. Additional protected bikeways planned in Santa Monica’s Bicycle Action Plan will bring us ever closer to realizing a citywide bikeway network that will be a game-changer for mobility, traffic reduction and meeting our Vision Zero and climate goals.   

Unfortunately, some motorists are undermining the benefits of recently-installed protected bike lanes (and standard, striped bike lanes) by parking in them and sometimes even driving in them. This behavior is photo-documented almost daily in social media posts (see examples: https://youtu.be/yYtqlHnEVVM). 

 

When motor vehicles block these lanes it forces cyclists to divert into traffic lanes, sabotaging the safety and utility of these facilities, spoiling their potential to provide safe, equitable mobility choices for greater numbers of people.  Further, when cyclists need to divert around vehicles blocking bikeways, this induces unsafe cycling behavior that might expose the city to liability as a result of negligence in maintaining proper bikeway access.

Therefore we, the undersigned organizations strongly urge the city to take steps to address this epidemic of bikeway incursions.  There appear to be several strategies that could be explored:

– Physical barriers where they are safe and appropriate to prevent or discourage drivers from entering bikeways, such as bollards at entrance points, concrete separators and modular curb elements (like seen on Broadway).

– Additional signage and pavement markings to make it blatantly clear that bikeways are off limits to cars at all times.

– Signs that stipulate substantial fines for violations.

– Enforcement by parking and traffic officers, especially where vehicles park on the sidewalk or driveway aprons. But as a general rule, officer enforcement is sporadic and therefore less effective than physical elements. 

– Perhaps photo enforcement, using something like the Automotus camera technology recently deployed in the Zero Emission Delivery Zone program.  

– A literature search to explore best practices being used by other municipalities.

Clearly, physical barriers that prevent motor vehicle incursions 24-7 without the need for enforcement personnel is the superior and likely most cost-effective choice.  And it makes sense to implement effective solutions to this problem before new bikeways are installed, so that this problem is not perpetuated and to save from having to make costly retrofits.  

Please direct staff to find effective solutions to this vexing problem so that we can fully realize the many benefits of our growing bikeway network, especially public safety, and prevent this critical investment from being compromised.

Thank you,

Kent Strumpell, Laurene von Klan, Co-chairs Climate Action Santa Monica  https://climateactionsantamonica.org/

Santa Monica Safe Streets Alliance  https://samosafestreets.org/

Santa Monica Spoke  https://www.smspoke.org/

Santa Monica Families for Safe Streets  https://www.santamonicafamilies.org/

Streets For All  https://www.streetsforall.org/

BikeLA (formerly Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition)  https://www.la-bike.org/

Santa Monica Forward  https://www.santamonicaforward.org/

Let’s hope they listen. And do something about it.

Video by Caro Vilain.

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The National Safety Council is out with preliminary stats on traffic deaths for the first six months of the year, showing a slight decline nationwide.

California is one of nine states where traffic fatalities decreased more than 15% compared to last year, with a 17% drop. Maine showed the greatest improvement, with a 48% decrease.

Nine states and the District of Columbia increased more than 10%, led by Rhode Island with a horrifying 164% increase.

Meanwhile, new research examines a public health approach to road safety, considering transportation engineers as part of the public health workforce, while arguing that they should emphasize strategies that reduce risk for greater proportions of the population.

Then again, if we can’t even get the country to agree that a deadly worldwide pandemic was a public health issue, I wouldn’t hold you breathe on finding any agreement on ending traffic violence.

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CicLAvia is offering a special deal today only on the unsold t-shirts and buttons from last weekend’s cancelled Koreatown Meets Hollywood event.

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There is nothing in California even close to this, despite having the perfect environment for lengthy bikeways.

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Local 

Bicycle centric Pedaler’s Fork restaurant in Calabasas is hosting Femmes en Motion, a “film & photo gallery honoring seven prolific female photographers at the forefront of capturing women’s professional cycling.”

 

State

San Francisco Streetsblog asks why unpaid advocates can install safety infrastructure faster than the city, concluding it’s a question of leadership. Actually, they can move faster because they are unpaid advocates, with no rules to follow and no one to answer to.

A Marin op-ed argues that officials need to learn the difference between ped-assist and throttle-controlled ebikes, with kids allowed to ride the latter everywhere, while adults on a former are banned from local fire roads. I agree. We need stricter regulation of throttle-controlled ebikes, without restricting ped-assist bikes. 

A Sacramento TV station recommends pedaling to bike-friendly Davis, aka Bike City USA, to visit the US Bicycling Hall of Fame.

 

National

The Consumer Products Safety Commission is recalling Ecnup all-purpose kid’s bike helmets sold only on Amazon for failing to meet minimum safety standards.

Cycling Weekly recommends the year’s best pannier racks and bags, while Bike Rumor rates the best road bike pedals.

Schwinn scion Richard Schwinn reflects on his family’s legendary history in the bike business after shutting down his Wisconsin-based Waterford Precision Cycles; the family lost their eponymous company in bankruptcy court back in the ’90s.

A Pittsburgh company is producing an AI-powered bicycle taillight that watches for motor vehicles coming from behind you, and calculates whether they pose a risk.

Bike riders in Somerville, Massachusetts, are calling a police crackdown on bicyclists riding through red lights misguided, arguing police resources could be better spent on other matters — and at least one city councilmember agrees.

Security cam video captured a frightening Staten Island hit-and-run crash, where a 22-year old man riding a bike was nearly run over by a 26-year old woman, who briefly got out of her car before fleeing the scene.

This is who we share the road with. A New York motorcyclist is dead after a plain clothes cop threw a loaded ice chest at him as he fled from a drug bust, knocking him off balance and into a metal barricade.

There’s a special place in hell for a New Jersey man who was arrested for trafficking in kiddie porn, two years after he was busted for a failed attempt to ride his bike up to a woman dining at an outdoor table and steal her wallet.

 

International

Writing for The Conversation, a group of European researchers and professors examine how social movements are leading to the return of child-friendly urban spaces.

London bicyclists complain about a new bike lane that ends suddenly, dumping riders into bumper-to-bumper traffic.

Scottish drivers who kill bike riders or pedestrians will now be subject to tougher sentences, with the death of a vulnerable road user considered an “aggravating factor,” along with additional penalties if the death resulted from aggressive driving, such as tailgating.

A British woman just completed an epic ride around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland despite battling Multiple Sclerosis, while raising thousands of pounds to fight the disease.

An Irish coroner warns about the dangers of combining ebikes and booze.

Momentum talks with Rebecca Lowe, author of The Slow Road to Tehran, about her meandering solo bike ride from her home in the UK to the capital of Iran.

 

Competitive Cycling

Remco Evenepoel will begin his title defense as the Vuelta kicks off tomorrow, going up against the Jumbo-Visma juggernaut of two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and thee-time Vuelta champ Primoz Roglic.

Nineteen-year old Brit Joshua Tarling became the youngest cyclist to win a WorldTour race, capturing the time trial in the 115th running of the Renewi Tour, nee Eneco Tour, then the BinckBank Tour.

USA Cycling is investigating a crash involving L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams and AUTOMATIC Racing’s Thomas Gibbons in a Denver crit earlier this month, when Williams appeared to deviate from his line on a curve; Gibbons was investigated for appearing to cause a 2019 crash, while Williams was suspended last year following a fight with another cyclist.

Forget the Vuelta, the real action action takes place in Copenhagen, where the “historic and hilarious” annual Svajerløbet street cargo bike races will roll this weekend.

More on 22-year old Welsh transgender cyclist Emily Bridges vow to fight the UK’s ban on trans athletes competing in women’s cycling “in the courts and on the streets,” while some advocates for women’s sports complain there are “thousands of fabulous athletes Vogue could have chosen” to represent women athletes instead of Bridges.

 

Finally…

Why tour with a tent when you can tow your own cabin. You shouldn’t have to be told to treat other bike riders with courtesy and respect.

And they may have SUVs, but we have saxophones.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

One quick note: I am now on Bluesky, in response to the increasing toxicity on Twitter/X, thanks to an invite from Todd R.

If you’re on there, you can follow me @bikinginla.bsky.social. And I’m still on Twitter, at least for now, @bikinginla

Photo by Luana Bento from Pexels

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The Los Angeles Times remembers the life and philanthropy of Burbank bicyclist and professional trumpet player Roy Wiegand, who was killed when a driver turned into him as he road his bike near Prunedale in Monterey County.

The 60-year-old ultra marathoner and cyclist was refueling after traversing 2,500 miles on his bicycle in 25 days and in the process raising $26,000 to help improve access to clean drinking water for the Navajo Nation.

Wiegand ventured through San Francisco and Yosemite and braved 110-plus degree heat in Death Valley and Las Vegas. He enjoyed stunning vistas in Arizona and New Mexico and stayed at the homes of friends and strangers alike, his posts showed…

Wiegand, a trumpet player who performed with the Who, Wayne Newton and Mel Torme among others, is survived by his wife, Angela, son Dillon, daughter Sophie and father Roy Sr.

In the last few years, he had dedicated much of his time to philanthropic causes, most recently working with the water advocacy group DigDeep to raise money for the more than 700,000 American Indian and Alaskan Native people who lack access to clean, reliable water in the United States.

Funny how killer drivers always seem to take the best of us.

………

Los Angeles wants your input on whether to protect the bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive, which seems like a no brainer on the dangerous street.

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This is a phenomenon I’ve long observed riding from Los Angeles into Santa Monica, and vice versa.

One city clearly thinsk people on bikes actually matter.

And the other is Los Angeles.

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Who’s a good boy?

A San Diego bike thief stops to play with a golden retriever who only wants a belly rub before he goes — with the $1,300 bike belonging to the dog’s owner.

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Hundreds, if not thousands, of Bay Area bike riders, mostly in their teens, marked the first anniversary of a mass ride that took over the lower span of the Bay Bridge by doing it again.

Whether because of the sentiment expressed below, or because bikes still are only allowed to ride halfway across, before being forced to turn back.

Legally, anyway.

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Let’s share a little Seattle bike joy from my friends at West Seattle Blog, as a huge mass of people take off on two wheels for a questionably named ride.

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Well, that’s one way to stay safe on the road. Although I’m sure we all understand his reasoning.

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The question is, how and why do they get there?

Is this the result of people tossing unloved and abandoned bikes into the water, or drunk tourists not watching where they’re riding?

Thanks to the incomparable Patt Morrison for the heads-up. 

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

This is who we share the road with. After someone apparently riding a bicycle was injured in a collision at LA’s West Grand Ave and Vista Del Mar, the couple posting the video to Citizen observe the aftermath of the crash, and you can hear the man say “This is why you stay in the bike lane.” Never mind that he apparently has no idea what caused the crash, or why the victim may or may not have been in a bike lane, but automatically assumes the bike rider was at fault. I’m not sure if the link will work; unfortunately, I can’t embed the video. Thanks to Margaret W for the link. 

A 28-year old Toronto man faces charges for allegedly deliberately slamming his car into a bike rider after the two men argued at a red light. A reminder once again that motor vehicles are ready, locked and loaded weapons in the hands of the wrong people. 

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

A bicycling Montreal columnist says he’s had it with shadow-hidden potholes, and scofflaw ebike and e-scooter riders with little or no experience.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who understands these things a lot better than I do, takes a deep dive into the complicated, wonky subject of freeway mitigation, which requires Metro to take active steps to offset any increase in driving on future freeway, under California law. And hopefully, he’ll correct me if I didn’t explain that right. 

Burbank bike rider Doug Weiskopf once again calls on the city to allow people to walk bicycles on the Mariposa foot bridge leading to Griffith Park, seven years after the city caved to equestrians by banning bikes entirely.

More on Manhattan Beach’s decision to crack down on teenage ebike riders who violate traffic laws, instituting a zero-tolerance approach to scofflaw ebike riders. Although that sounds like illegally biased enforcement, unless the same zero-tolerance applies to motorists and pedestrians, as well as regular bike riders; if not, that could get all the tickets tossed if the kids get a good lawyer.

 

State

An East Bay bike ride demanded justice for the death of an unarmed, 20-year old Hayward man killed by CHP officers and Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies responding to an alleged stolen car.

 

National

A writer for The Verge says it’s not hard to convert a cargo bike to an ebike, as long as you have the right tools and expect the unexpected.

Apple Insider likes the design and features of the new Lumos Ultra ebike helmet, if not the $200+ price.

An RV writer gets a good life lesson from learning to ride her ebike, discovering that you need to look where you want to go, not at the obstacles you want to avoid.

Anchorage, Alaska took a number of steps to become more bike friendly, approving measures to allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, as well as eliminating requirements for lights and brakes and noise signals, and for children 16 to wear helmets; the city also eliminated penalties for jaywalking.

The Colorado highway where 17-year old cycling star Magnus White was killed is slated to get a 12-foot-wide separated bike path next year, a year too late to save his life.

A writer likes the new bike path over Colorado’s Vail Pass, despite — or maybe because of — a section known as The Wall, with its 14% incline.

A Dallas, Texas youth soccer coach is raffling off tickets to see soccer legend Lionel Messi to benefit the family of a 12-year old girl killed in a right hook as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.

A Corpus Christi, Texas woman got the feeling that city council members weren’t listening to a woman of color making the case for protected bike lanes, so she used AI to create a white male avatar to make her case, instead.

After a Chicago man used his bike to fight boredom and find solace during the pandemic, he honored it by having it tattooed on his thigh.

When a ten-year old Michigan boy won a new bike in a raffle, he raised funds to buy one for his friend so they can ride together.

The Michigan woman accused in the DUI killing of two people participating in a fundraising bike ride across the state has had her trial postponed until October; it had been scheduled to begin today.

Gear Patrol raves about TriBeCa-based Priority Bicycles new 16-pound, $1,299 “speed demon” fixie.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on how to beat the cost of living crisis, and feel healthier and happier, by riding your bike to work.

How to tell when a city actually gives a damn about people on bicycles. Montreal now has a 24/7 hotline to report vehicles blocking bike lanes.

There’s a special place in hell for the British teens who threatened a 13-year old boy with a machete to steal his bike.

The Verge looks are who’s in the bidding to buy what remains of bankrupt Dutch ebike maker VanMoof.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as Mathieu van der Poel overcame a late crash to win the world road cycling championship, becoming the first Dutch world champ since 1985; Belgian Wout Van Aert finished second, and Solvenia’s Tadej Pogačar beat out Denmark’s Mads Pedersen for third. No surprise here, either, as no American made the top ten. 

A French cyclist described the Glasgow road course for the worlds as “dizzying, dangerous and designed by a drunk person.”

The race was halted for a full hour as protesters blocked the roadway on a remote climb just 48-miles into the race, with environmental group This is Rigged taking the credit and/or blame for the incident to oppose new fossil fuel projects in Scotland.

Katie Archibald overcame grief over the death of her romantic partner, mountain biker Rab Wardell, to lead Britain to gold in the team pursuit, dedicating the win to Wardell.

Aside from Chloe Dygert’s victory in Thursday’s women’s individual pursuit, the US has failed to podium in any other race so far.

 

Finally…

Meet the training wheel “Bike Whisperer.” Although Britain’s PM probably didn’t need them for an indoor, Taylor Swift-themed LA cycling class.

And it’s hard to imagine these kids would be in their 80s by now.

https://twitter.com/CoolBikeArt1/status/1687583494984138752

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Bike riders feel like #2 as PeopleForBikes ranks LA 821st in US, and Sunset For All hosts ice cream social next month

PeopleForBikes is out with its latest ranking of the bikeability of nearly 1,500 American cities.

And needless to say, Southern California has a long, long way to go.

The national bike advocacy group rates cities according to the quality of each city’s bike network, assigning a Bicycle Network Analysis score, or BNA, on a scale of 0 to 100.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that no US city scored lower than a 2.

Provincetown, Massachusetts and Crested Butte, Colorado ranked #1 and #2 overall, respectively, with BNA scores of 88 and 87.

Although I’m sure many LA residents think riding here is #2. And sadly, PeopleForBikes seems to agree.

In fact, you have to scroll past 820 other American cities to find LA in a 39-way tie for 821st, with a pitiful BNA score of 19.

Which puts us in a class with such bicycling nirvanas as Santa Ana, Las Vegas, Laguna Niguel, Raleigh NC, and Krugerville, Texas.

Which probably wasn’t named after Freddy, even if it should be.

Bike-friendly Sacramento suburb Davis ranked #1 among medium-sized cities with a BNA score of 77, while Minneapolis, Minnesota ranked atop the large city listings with a score of 68.

Here in SoCal, Ventura received a BNA of 32, with San Diego 30, Riverside at 21, and San Bernardino an awful 12.

Among other cities in LA County, relatively bike-friendly Santa Monica scored a respectable 52, Burbank checked in at 29, and Pasadena was a sad 16.

Meanwhile, PeopleForBikes highlights Long Beach’s efforts to build a true 15-minute city, with protected bike lanes on every arterial street, and bikeshare docks in every neighborhood. Although the city still has a long way to go, checking in with a BNA score of 37.

But that’s nearly twice as high as its much larger neighbor to the north.

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Sunset For All is teaming with BikeLA — the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — to host an ice cream social starting at 3 pm on July 8th, with a bike ride to follow at 4 pm.

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Outside+ is on sale for $1.99 a month for the next year, including the Outside digital network and the new Velo site. No guarantee what happens to your rate after that, however.

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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 San Diego TV station gets the story backwards in a report on the growing memorial to 15-year old Brodee Champlain-Kingman, who died last weekend after a collision in Encinitas; the station warns about the dangers of ebikes, but neglects to consider the risks posed by people in the big, dangerous machines.

No bias here, either. A Maine letter writer opposes plans for a rail-to-trail conversion, bizarrely arguing that “active transportation” is a vague term at best, and that a trail is likely to be too crowded on weekends.

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

Police in New York are looking for an ebike rider who punched a 72-year old Manhattan man in the face after the victim told him to get off the sidewalk.

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Local 

New stories from Urbanize and Streetsblog examine Monday’s opening of the Venice Blvd Safety and Mobility Project, which upgrades 2.5 miles of existing bike lanes and adds 2.1 miles of dedicated busways, while leaving a few notable gaps. Correction: Originally I had written that the project added four miles of protected bike lanes, and 2.5 miles of bus lanes, which was a misstatement. Thanks to Joe Linton for the correction.

 

State

OC Parks will host an intermediate-level bike ride exploring the newest trails in the recently opened Saddleback Wilderness on July 9th.

The Goleta city council approved plans to use eminent domain to acquire the land for a planned multiuse path, as negotiations continue with landowners to buy the necessary easements.

Montecito bike shop Mad Dogs & Englishmen raised funds to donate 75 bicycles to underprivileged kids, after the bicycle they gave to British Prince Archie sparked an unexpected backlash.

A Bay Area TV station discusses how people taking part in the recent AIDS/LifeCycle ride bonded on the 450-mile, seven-day ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Streetsblog says a new physically separated bike lane on the extreme western end of Alameda Island is the first in the Bay Area to get bike lanes right, using a European model.

 

National

An ebike-maker lists ten tips to help you ride your ebike safely. All of which apply to regular bikes, as well. And most of which you probably already know.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says yes, your kid should ride an ebike, saying the right setup can bring joy to your family.

Teams of women participating in the Pedal the Pacific bike rides down the Pacific Coast have raised over $860,000 to fight human trafficking.

The family of a Texas bike rider have filed suit after he was killed by material falling from a construction project while riding in winds up to 40 mph this past March.

Bicycling examines plans to build an advisory lane in Kalamazoo, Michigan, referring to it as an edge lane, which creates a single traffic lane in the center of the street while allowing drivers to move into the bike lanes on either side to pass another vehicle. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you. 

New York has cleared the final federal hurdle preventing congestion pricing; the city is now expected to begin charging drivers to enter midtown Manhattan sometime next year. Which should clear the way for Los Angeles to institute its much discussed congestion pricing plan, as well.

Art-pop musician Anohni is one of us, as the 51-year old singer with an eight-octave range rode her bike to talk with a reporter from the New York Times.

Savannah, Georgia multi-disciplined visual artist, jazz vocalist and bassist, full-time professor and elite cyclist Maggie Evans is making a comeback after she was nearly killed last year when a pickup driver slammed into her on a training ride at 64 mph.

 

International

Now you, too, can have your very own solar powered mini-travel trailer designed to be pulled by an ebike, for less than seven grand.

Hundreds of naked and partially clad bike riders rode through the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico to raise awareness of bike safety in the city’s edition of the World Naked Bike Ride.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is practicing Vision Zero in reverse, cancelling plans to improve safety at the intersection where a bike-riding woman was killed by the driver of a cement truck nearly a decade ago.

A bike rider in the UK was lucky to escape without serious injuries when he was robbed at knife point and beaten by a passenger who got out of a passing car to attack him.

Britain’s Parliament will once again consider whether bike riders should be required to wear a helmet, after a Member of Parliament from Rugby introduced the latest attempt.

A new Australian report lists 50 distinct contributory factors leading to bike riders being struck by drivers, along with another 50 leading to near misses; the leading factors are drivers pulling out in front of bicyclists, driver non-compliance with road rules, and drivers failing to give way. Note the key word with all of those is “drivers,” not bicyclists. 

Aussie researchers will examine the prevalence and impact of structural damage in carbon fiber bicycles currently in use by the general public.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist talks with James Gay-Rees, producer of the Netflix eight-episode docuseries Tour de France: Unchained.

WaPo asks the burning question of whether Tadej Pogacar can win the Tour de France after training for the race in his kitchen, a result of breaking his hand in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race.

Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Induráin says people who think time trials are boring should find another sport to watch.

Australian GQ considers the biggest scandals in Tour de France history, including a certain ex-seven time doper winner who seems to think trans cyclist are cheating.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new ebike has a built-in chatbot for no discernible reason. If you can’t steal a bike from your own family, who can you steal from?

And who really needs bike wheels, anyway?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.