Tag Archive for The Cannibal

Morning Links: Bike the Vote rates county sups, email for Active Trans funding, and The Cannibal comes to CC

We ended the first-ever May BikinginLA LACBC Membership Drive with 35 new or renewing members of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — beating our revised goal of signing up an average of one new member a day!

Thank you to everyone who joined as part of the drive to help make this a more bikeable and livable community. And if you missed out on the membership drive, you can still join any time.

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Bike the Vote LA grades candidates for county supervisor in next week’s California primary election.

BTVLA County Sup

You are planning to vote — and cast your ballot to support bicycling — right?

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Calbike is asking you to email your state legislators to support a proposal to add $100 million dollars for active transportation funding to the state budget.

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The long-promised Culver City branch of the bike-friendly, meat-themed New York restaurant The Cannibal — named after cycling legend Eddy Merckx — has finally opened; where else can you grab some cochinita pibil pig head and chain lube after your ride? And according to LA Magazine, you’ll get a free beer if you ride your bike there.

Speaking of Merckx, things aren’t looking good for the restaurant’s namesake, as he could be facing kickback charges to supply bicycles to Belgian police.

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As long as we’re on the topic of restaurants, Adam Ginsberg reminds us about the No Kid Hungry program to end childhood hunger in America and ensure every kid has enough to eat. Over 200 chefs and restaurant professionals will ride from Carmel to Santa Barbara at the end of this month to raise funds for the charity and call attention to the problem of childhood hunger; so far they’ve raised just over 40% of the $1 million goal.

Meanwhile, members of my college fraternity will be departing from Long Beach on the 17th on one of three cross-country bike rides to raise funds for people with disabilities; the annual ride typically brings in over half a million dollars for charity.

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Local

Richard Risemberg says there was substantial community support for a road diet on dangerous Sixth Street, from Fairfax to La Brea, at last week’s community meeting; in fact, one speaker was upset the plan didn’t extend east of La Brea.

The LAPD is adding extra patrols on five of the city’s most dangerous intersections, including two each on Alvarado and Broadway.

Santa Clarita junior high students performed a concert on Tuesday to remember fallen Santa Clarita cyclist Rod Bennett; when cyclists arrived to place a ghost bike for Bennett Tuesday evening, they found one was already there. Meanwhile, a memorial will be held for the popular music and math teacher on June 9th, with a Ride of Silence in his honor on the 11th.

Santa Monica elementary school students rode to class as part of the city’s Bike It Walk It campaign. Thanks to Evan G. for the link.

Adam Sandler is one of us, as he bikes the ‘Bu with his feline helmeted daughter.

 

State

A 22-year old San Diego man is under arrest for the drunken hit-and-run that left a 13-year old bike rider with serious, but thankfully non-life threatening, injuries. Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

San Diego Magazine recommends four area group rides to check out.

 

National

Bicycling lists five group rides that are all about having fun.

Consumer Reports rates kids bike helmets.

A financial website offers five ways your bike can make you richer. They forgot #6 — use your bike as a getaway vehicle. Or maybe that comes under commuting to work.

The Car Connection is the latest site to call for an end to using accident to describe car crashes. Nice to see the movement has spread to the automotive world.

A North Dakota woman says it should be a felony to kill someone with your car, after her husband was killed while riding his bike.

A Michigan motorist says bikes don’t belong on roads because we have other places to ride. And apparently, because cars don’t have brakes.

A Buffalo NY letter writer says if the city is stuck with bike lanes, then riders should be licensed, forced to wear reflective gear, and police must crack down on all those law-flouting cyclists. Because evidently, every driver in the city now obeys the letter of the law.

God apparently needs those New York bike lanes for church parking more than the people on bikes do for riding.

Who has the right of way when a DC bike rider calls dibs on passing?

A Maryland pastor has written a book sharing the insights he’s gained while riding his bike.

New Orleans says it’s done talking, and should be ready for bikeshare next year.

 

International

A Toronto columnist says never mind all the vehicles parked in bike lanes, it’s those damn scofflaw cyclists that are the problem.

A British writer projects that at the country’s current rate of spending on bicycle projects, it will only take another 2,297 years to catch up to the Dutch.

Apparently unconcerned with claims of sexism and bullying women riders, Britain’s Chris Boardman says the country’s cycling director was forced out by a lynch mob. Because as long as you’re winning medals, it doesn’t really matter how you treat women cyclists, right?

Romania plans to promote bike commuting by providing vouchers to purchase a bike to ride to work.

Tragic news from Cameroon, as one of the nation’s top cyclists was killed when the peloton crashed into a security official escorting a mentally disturbed woman off the race course.

A South African court uncovers a price fixing scheme that caused the price of bicycles and accessories to shoot up since 2008.

Melbourne, Australia is the latest city to propose building a network of elevated bikeways to get cyclists off the streets. Which is what happens when bike riders are seen as a problem to be solved, rather than people to accommodate.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you fall off your bike when a cop tries to stop you, don’t get up and pull a gun after the paramedics treat you. Nothing mends a celebrity marriage like a bike ride on a tropical island.

And evidently, nothing stops a bike thief like a smoke bomb.

 

Morning Links: The Cannibal comes to Culver City, San Fran debates stop signs, and ride the coast with Calbike

Los Angeles is getting another bike-friendly restaurant.

Following in the footsteps — or pedal strokes, perhaps — of Pedalers Fork in Calabasas and Frogtown’s Spoke Bicycle Café, New York-based The Cannibal is opening a West Coast outpost in Culver City.

According to the LA Times, bike racing co-owner Christian Pappanicholas promises a meat-forward beer and butcher-focused menu, as well as rice-based energy bars and musette bags for riders on the go.

There’s even a bike valet. And if you show up in your full riding kit, your second beer is free.

So expect to see a few wobbly spandex-clad riders making their way past Sony Studios.

Although we may have to talk to him about showing people who ride in street clothes a little love, too.

And the name is not a not to Hannibal Lector or the Donner Party, but rather, a reference to the great Eddy Merckx .

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The debate goes on over bikes vs stop signs in Bagdad by the Bay.

A columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle says no one understands the city’s proposed Idaho stop ordinance. Including him, apparently, since it would require riders to observe the right-of-way and only go through a stop when it’s safe to do so.

According to Streetsblog SF, San Francisco police have a bias against bike riders, including a demonstrated lack of knowledge regarding bike laws. Few cops ever get more than a cursory introduction to the laws governing bicyclists.

And Bicycling takes up the question of whether or not to stop, ending with the most important rule — don’t be a dick.

Which seems to be what Chronicle columnist C.W. Nevius was trying to say, as well.

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Filmmakers are invited to participate in the Urbanism Filmmaking Challenge, where you’ll be paired with a noted urban designer, planner or architect to make a two-to-five minute film, with the possibility of a $300 prize.

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Registration has been extended to tomorrow for Calbike’s fundraising ride along the coast from Santa Barbara to San Diego, according to an email from the California Bicycle Coalition’s Debbie Brubaker.

I just wanted to let you know that we decided to extend the registration deadline for the California Dream Ride to this Friday. The ride is going to be a lot of fun — I hope you can join us! We’ll be riding for 5 days along gorgeous bikeways from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and we’ll have several fun parties along the way: a Halloween party, a happy hour in Santa Monica, a special lunch with the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition, and a cool auction and party at MADE in Long Beach (a maker space).

The ride runs five days, from October 30th to November 4th, and promises “comfortable hotels, great food, fun people, and a behind-the-scenes look into the world of bicycle advocacy.”

You might want to pack your Halloween costume. Unless, like many of us, you look scary enough in spandex.

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Peloton Magazine says Peter Sagan is a new-style champion with old-style panache.

The route for next year’s Giro d’Italia was leaked online in advance Monday’s official announcement.

Maybe it’s good news, as the owners of Colorado’s USA Pro Challenge pull out after years of financial losses, enabling the state to seek more varied and stable investors. Although if new ownership doesn’t emerge, it could mean the end of the popular race. Maybe the Amgen Tour of California can step in and create a two week Colorado to California grand tour. We can dream, right?

And a Belgian prosecutor plans to go after pro cyclists Alexandre Vinokourov and Alexandr Kolobnev after Kolobnev allegedly threw the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic in favor of his fellow Russian for a $167,000 payoff.

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Local

Caught on video: The frustration of angry drivers cutting through side streets surrounding the Rowena road diet boils over. But does that mean the problem is with the road diet, or a lack of traffic mitigation in the surrounding are?

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton talks bikeshare, bike safety and Idaho stop laws with KCRW’s Madeline Brand and WeHo Mayor Lindsey Horvath.

Free bike pumps will be installed by the USC student government around the traditionally bike-unfriendly university.

A new Cypress Park bike courier service promises to deliver food, flowers, artwork and more; delivery within a two-mile radius costs just five bucks.

The rebuilt California Incline is on track for completion next spring, including a separated bike lane and sidewalk leading to and from the beach.

October’s edition of the LACBC’s Sunday Funday Ride rolls 22 miles through Pasadena on the 4th.

 

State

Three-hundred kids got free helmets and bike safety training at a pair of OC bike rodeos.

Sad news from San Luis Obispo, as a bike rider was killed in a collision with a pickup Wednesday afternoon.

A problematic Los Altos intersection gets a new intelligent traffic signal that promises to recognize bicycles and treat them like any other vehicle. Which makes it smarter than most drivers and public officials.

San Francisco police are looking for a Caddy driver who gave a cyclist an unwanted hood ride when he tried to take a photo of the car’s license after it sideswiped him; naturally, police stress that there may be another side to the story.

Cyclelicious explains how police got it wrong in that time trial death in Yolo County, going out of their way to find a new way to blame the bike-riding victim.

Lakeport police arrested the 28-year old driver who fled the scene after seriously injuring two bike riders, as well as booking his mother as an accessory. The family that flees together stays together, albeit behind bars.

 

National

A new report raises red flags over drug-impaired driving as a result of the legalization, or near legalization, of marijuana in 23 states, including California. Although in most cases, it doesn’t seem to be a problem unless it’s combined with other drugs or alcohol.

A new Indiegogo project promises to take the popular MonkeyLectric wheel lights a step further with 376 full color LED lights forming patterns while you ride; lights for one wheel will set you back $99.

Seriously? A Portland man was driving carelessly, had no insurance and violated a cyclist’s right-of-way in the collision that cost a rider his leg earlier this year. But won’t face charges because prosecutors can’t prove he did it on purpose.

A Seattle area man discovers his stolen bike being sold on eBay by a 70-year old Idaho domestic violence victim associated with a known bike thief. Police are trying to help him get it back.

Even though people in the Southwest are driving less and using transit more, transportation spending continues to follow the same old auto-centric patterns.

Smart idea. Phoenix places new signs warning salmon cyclists to ride with traffic on the back of existing street signs.

Denver’s Westword provides an in-depth look at Boulder’s decision to scrap a road diet and protected bike lanes, even though it was proven successful through the first eight weeks.

Grand Rapids MI just passed it’s own five — yes, five — foot passing law.

Yet another bighearted cop digs into his own pocket to buy a little girl a new bike after hers was stolen, this time in Indiana.

 

International

England announces what may be the first national e-bike bikeshare system to entice people who don’t normally ride or who live in hilly areas; a Brit paper says any kind of bicycling should be encouraged. Agreed.

Interesting debate at the Guardian, as one writer says plans for bikeways must reach beyond “two-wheel boy racers in Wiggo kits,” while another says we should leave class out of discussions of bicycling. One of the great things about bicycling is it’s very democratic; anyone can ride a bike, and we should consider all riders when making plans and improvements.

Two of the first black African riders to compete in the Tour de France discuss efforts to transform Africa by using bikes to provide better access to education.

 

Finally…

It may be a tad late, but it’s still pretty impressive when Al Roker — or at least his bike — gives Steve Isaacs’ Sweet Ride a shout out. Don’t threaten a pair of women walking on a trail, let alone return to hit one with your bike.

And oh, the places you’ll go! as a man discovers his foldie can take him more places than he thought.

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, of course.