Tag Archive for Uber

Only you can prevent coronavirus, Lime pulls out of California and Washington, and Lundquist catching up to Lee in CD12

Okay, so it’s not about bicycling.

But Curbed’s Alissa Walker has penned a very good, and very important, call to fight the Covid-19 coronavirus in your own home, saying the choices we make today will help those closest to us.

And everyone else, too.

Meanwhile, a Portland writer says it’s time to make some streets mostly carfree during the pandemic, to create the space necessary to allow people to practice the social distancing that’s impossible on narrow sidewalks.

Or you could just settle for a few Zwift doodles while you cycle inside, if you prefer.

Even though Calbike says riding your bike outside is risk-free.

From Covid-19, anyway.

Photo by Korhan Erdol from Pexels.

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Those ubiquitous e-scooters could soon be a lot harder to find, as Lime is suspending service in California and Washington State to avoid spreading the coronavirus, while Bird is cutting back but not quitting.

Meanwhile, Uber faced a Sunday deadline to get their Jump bikes and e-scooters off the streets of Los Angeles after refusing to comply with the city’s requirement to provide realtime user data.

The company swears it will file suit in federal court over the requirement this week, though that could be complicated if the feds join the county in closing courthouses.

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It looks like Loraine Lundquist is catching up in her bid to unseat City Staffer B, better known as CD12 Councilmember John Lee.

Just after the vote, it was revealed that Lee allegedly accompanied previous councilmember Mitch Englander on a $30,000-plus bribery and escort filled weekend in Las Vegas.

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I’m not the only one concerned about the survival of local bike shops and other bike businesses during the pandemic and resulting closures and economic slowdown.

Cycling Industry News offers their help to any bike business that needs assistance, or who has a story they want to share.

Maybe they could start with San Jose bike co-op Community Cycles of California, which sent out an email saying it’s being forced to shut down, except to help those for whom riding a bike is an essential service.

And they could use your help to survive the shutdown.

With that said, as you can imagine, we have financial uncertainties ahead. Therefore, we ask for your help to endure what is going to be a difficult start to a cycling season. Since shopping with us won’t be an option for a few weeks, your tax-deductible donation can provide relief for missed revenue during that time.  Here are some ways your donation helps:

  • $50      Sponsor one bicycle for an adult in need
  • $100    Sponsor one bicycle with safety package (lock, lights, helmet) to an adult in need
  • $300   Sponsor one mechanic-in-training
  • $500   Sponsor one mobile repair clinic providing 20 free repairs
  • Or please consider making a recurring donation. Thank you.

Thanks to Robert Leone for forwarding the email.

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Speaking of Leone, he also forwards word of the latest road closures in Camp Pendleton.

CLOSURE UPDATE as of MARCH 16, 2020:

  • Stuart Mesa Road – Northbound and Southbound lanes CLOSED from Las Flores (41 Area) to Las Pulgas Road.  *Open for Emergency Traffic only.
  • Beach Club Road – CLOSED to the public in both directions.  *No Emergency Traffic
  • Basilone Road – OPEN to the public in both directions.
  • Vandegrift Blvd – OPEN to the public in both directions.  *Right-hand eastbound lane CLOSED in Box Canyon.
  • Del Mar Gate – CLOSED inbound and outbound until further.

Please check Facebook for updates.

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Clearly, stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill is not a weight weenie, or non-electric bike purist.

And can do the same stunts he’s famous for on a 50 pound ebike.

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Finally found someone who shares my daily bike commute.

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Local

If you were going to participate in May’s Herbalife24 Triathlon Los Angeles, 5k and Bike Tour, you can start making other plans.

Santa Monica is suspending all user fees related to the city’s Breeze bikeshare.

 

State

Tragic news from San Jose, where an 82-year old woman was murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver as she was trying to cross the street. I’d like to say older people deserve better. But everyone does.

A spokesperson for San Francisco’s mayor says yes, you can still ride your bike, despite the shelter in place order for seven Bay Area counties. And bike mechanics can continue to provide an essential service.

On the other hand, no one is going to go to jail for breaking the Bay Area ban.

Redwood City police busted an alleged 18-year old perv who grabbed the breast of a 13-year old girl as he was riding his bike.

 

National

Heartbreaking news, as an Idaho woman survived for some time after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bike; it’s possible she might have survived if the heartless coward had just called 911 instead of leaving her lying in a ravine until her body was discovered three days later. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough for someone who could do that.

If you need a job to tide you through the pandemic, Whole Foods in New York is hiring bicycle delivery workers.

New York’s DOT is still dithering over how to accommodate Gotham’s coronavirus bike boom, as commuters flee crowded transit in favor of bicycles.

Police in New Jersey thank a dozen or so Good Samaritans who spilled out of nearby buildings to help officers lift a car off a bike rider, who was trapped underneath after a crash. Fortunately, he only suffered minor injuries.

Another reminder that bike riders are far tougher than many people think, as a Pennsylvania man rode his bike several blocks to get help after he was beaten and stabbed by a pair of robbers; thankfully, he’s expected to be okay. Note to Williamsport Sun-Gazette — the past tense of ride is rode, not road.

A DC website looks at the first women’s bicycle, which was invented in the city and currently resides in the Smithsonian. Even if it does look a little worse for wear. And unlike modern bikemakers, they didn’t just pink it and shrink it.

The bike-riding backup quarterback for the New Orleans Saints is packing his bicycle and moving to Carolina, where he will presumably continue riding it to home games.

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske takes a look at the recent bust of a Florida bike rider for allegedly fleeing from police and resisting arrest for the heinous crime of…wait for it…rolling a stop sign, and not responding to a police command he couldn’t hear.

 

International

Cycling Weekly recommends eleven bicycling books you can read while you shelter in place.

Road.cc offers helpful advice on how to choose the right tyre width for your bike and how you ride. The same advice should hold for tires over here, too.

Now that’s more like it. Bogota is fighting the coronavirus by expanding their bikeway network, adding 72 miles of new bike routes in an effort to reduce crowding on the city’s transit system.

The British bike industry teamed with advocates and academics to urge Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to ban bicycling in response to the Covid-19 coronavirus, and exempt bike shops from any imminent retail closures.

E-scooters may finally become legal in the UK. Just in time to be severely restricted or banned as the pandemic spreads.

 

Competitive Cycling

After an Oregon town was forced to cancel an annual mountain bike race, they responded by turning it into a virtual competition.

Organizers have pulled the plug on next month’s Paris-Roubaix classic, as well as the Tour of Yorkshire, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

 

Finally…

Your next bicycle could be a BMW, assuming you have a spare $5,500 lying around. Nothing like riding over 30,000 miles without leaving your living room — and no, I don’t want to be like him when I grow up.

And there’s more than one way to create social distance.

https://twitter.com/paulkirwan/status/1239269867833954310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1239810592606748672&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F271989-cancel-all-group-rides-poll-how-social-distancing-affecting-your-riding-french

 

 

Morning Links: LA boots Uber bikes & scooters, Sarah Kate Levy kickoff party, and at least DTLA getting bike lanes

In a showdown of Old West proportions, Los Angeles has given Uber until high noon to get out of town.

Okay, Friday.

That’s because the company has balked on sharing dockless scooter and bikeshare usage data as required in their contract with the city.

And that’s usage, not user, data, the latter of which is supposedly kept hidden.

However, that ultimatum does not include their ride hailing service.

So feel free to keep those Uber gas guzzlers guzzling next week.

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Bike and transit friendly Sarah Kate Levy is hosting a party to kick off the signature gathering phase of her campaign to unseat CD4 Councilmember David Ryu in Hollywood on this Saturday.

I’ll try to drop by to get my name on one, even if that means tearing my wife away from our so far unsuccessful search to replace the Corgi.

Because how can you replace an irreplaceable dog anyway?

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Downtown Los Angeles is moving forward with bike lanes, even as the rest of the city stagnates.

Maybe if we could clone CD14 Councilmember José Huizar, the rest of us might finally see some, too.

Or at least him to teach the other councilmembers how it’s done.

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Sometimes its the people on bikes behaving badly.

A prelim is under way for San Diego man accused of being the bike-riding serial killer who attacked a number of homeless people with knives and railroad spikes, and set two men on fire; he allegedly killed five people and injured ten more. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough for someone capable of that.

A New York man was caught on video riding his bike onto a sidewalk, pulling out a gun and opening fire on a group of people in broad daylight; his intended victims can be glad he seems to be a bad shot.

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Local

A writer for Los Angeles Magazine questions whether eliminating parking minimums will be good for DTLA, and says it’s unlikely residents would see lower rents as a result.

Bike Mag profiles LA-based street artist turned mountain biker Caché.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is one of us, going for a Santa Monica bike ride with the former Governator; she’s been traveling the US by train and in Schwarzenegger’s Tesla.

This is who we share the roads with. An entire Long Beach family was tragically wiped out by a 20-year old drunk driver who failed to navigate a turn on Halloween, and ended up on the sidewalk they were trick or treating on.

 

State

An Encinitas bike rider politely points out that yes, there are more than 400 bike riders in the city.

A new controversy erupted when the husband of the mayor of Encinitas was rejected for board membership on the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, allegedly because he supports protected bike lanes, rather than vehicular cycling.

A San Diego woman suffered a compound leg fracture when she was hit by a driver while riding her bike in the city’s Mira Mesa neighborhood.

Apparently, it takes awhile for news to move south, as the San Diego Union-Tribune is just now catching up with the story that e-scooters aren’t as green as you might think; they’re only three months behind their own sister publication and the rest of the country.

A Bakersfield bike rider is in critical condition after yet another hit-and-run by yet another heartless California driver.

San Francisco bike riders fan out to document 259 drivers violating bike lanes in an eight hour period — one third of them on a single nine-block stretch of Valencia Street.

 

National

HuffPost says Democrats have a baffling blind spot when it comes to cars, wondering why the 2020 candidates won’t mention motor vehicles’ contribution to greenhouse gasses.

Now you, too, can be a real superhero when you ride your very own Captain Marvel Schwinn fixie.

A Washington letter writer calls for banning skateboards everywhere but skate parks. And probably wants to ban those, too.

Colorado leaders are discovering that when it comes to ebikes, resistance is futile.

Police in Missoula MT are carrying bike lights in their patrol cars so they can give bike riders without them a free set — and a ticket. We tried to get LAPD to do that for years, but with a warning instead of a ticket. But couldn’t find a deep enough pocket to pay for them. 

Wichita, Kansas considers adding a bike valet program for a new minor league ballpark currently under constriction. Which the Dodgers should have done years ago. And the Kings. And the Galaxy. And the LAFC. And the Lakers. And the Clippers. And the Rams. And the San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles…

Dallas considers reducing a dangerous six-lane virtual highway down to a four-lane boulevard as part of the city’s Complete Streets program. Hopefully they’ll get a little less backlash than Los Angeles officials did on the Venice Blvd road diet.

A Cleveland letter writer says there are good reasons why bicyclists might ride in a narrow roadway, rather than a nearby path.

A Boston paper says whoa, whoa, let’s not go too fast on installing bike lanes, despite arguments that they could be good for local businesses; right now, the city has a whopping 68 miles of bike lanes on its 880 miles of streets.

The New York Daily News applauds a new law requiring the city to update its street master plan every five years — and include an actual connected bike lane network.

 

International

Actor Henry Golding is one of us, at least on the big screen.

A London family is happy to get their bicycle built for three back after someone took it several weeks ago; a couple of local residents turned down a reward for finding it.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 85-year old English great-grandfather now holds seven age-group world records, after adding two more to his portfolio.

A Guardian podcast considers why more and more pedestrians are getting killed on our streets, and whether Silicon Valley really has the answers.

A BBC TV series makes the case that bicycles are the most popular form of transportation on the planet. And the most efficient, too.

A new Irish bike light automatically adjust brightness to road conditions, senses nearby traffic to switch to flasher mode when cars are nearby, and records that data to crowdsource a map of cycling conditions.

If you build it, they will come. Paris saw a 54% jump in bicycling rates in just one year after investing in new bikeways and bikeshare.

When you’re a high-ranking Delhi official, and can’t drive because of the city’s even and odd traffic days, just ride your bicycle.

Authorities in Kuala Lumpur threatened to use a law intended to assure parents supervise their children to prosecute those whose kids are ride basikal lajak, bicycles illegally modified with no brakes and chopped handlebars that allow riders to take the “superman” position. Note to Malay Mail — removing the frame might make a bike just a tad difficult to ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling says it may not be traditional road racing, but something new and interesting could rise from the ashes of the Amgen Tour of California.

 

Finally…

If you really want to sell your “well-established premium bike shop,” it might help to mention where it is. First there is a bike lane, then there is not bike lane, then there is.

And no, the middle of a sidewalk isn’t the right place to park your scooter. A bike lane isn’t, either.

 

Morning Links: The bikes that won the war, CA projects anti-Vision Zero jump in traffic deaths, and Jump Bike rates jump

Seventy-five years ago today, my dad was on his fifth day in France, after landing in Normandy on D-Day+3.

That is, three days after the bloody landing on Normandy Beach that marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.

He was lucky that, as an MP, he was stationed mostly behind the front lines.

Mostly being the key word.

No so for the men of the 390th Bomber Group stationed in Suffolk, England.

David Drexler reports how they relied on bikes when they weren’t in the skies over Germany.

I am recently back from my trip to Tucson, Arizona.

In Tucson is the Pima Air and Space Museum — a phenomenal place — the Smithsonian of the West for Air History.

There is a special Hanger for the 390th Bombing Group who are alleged to have been instrumental in winning WWII:

“In the spring of 1943, the 390th Bomb Group was activated in Blythe, California with four squadrons: the 568th, 569th, 570th, and 571st. In July, the Group’s air and ground troops were assigned to the 8th Air Force and dispatched to Suffolk, England for missions over Europe. The 390th’s B-17 Flying Fortresses bombed aircraft factories, bridges and oil refineries. A total of 714 airmen sacrificed their lives in the cause of freedom.”

Part of the 390th Museum is a tribute to the importance of the bicycle in WWII along with an actual bicycle that was used in England during the War.

I like the Brooks Seat — not a lot has changed in 75 years for Brooks.

I’m always struck by just how young the men and women we sent to war were, a bunch of kids who literally saved the world.

And just how many never returned.

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So much for Vision Zero.

Streetsblog reports that states are responding to a new federal government program to cut traffic deaths by projecting an increase instead.

Including right here in the late, great Golden State, where state officials say efforts to improve safety will result in an increase of 412 deaths a year, on top of the state’s already too high carnage on the streets.

Never mind that the projections are supposed to be aspirational, and attainable.

In that case, why stop at 412? California can easily attain even more blood on the streets just by doing what we’re already doing right now.

That’s something to aspire to, right?

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Prices just jumped for one leading brand of dockless ebikes and scooters.

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Brandi DAmore forwards Bike Index’s take on that stolen bike they helped recover 12 years after it went missing.

recovery

BIKE INDEX RECOVERS A BIKE STOLEN 12 YEARS AGO

“No one knows what use the bike performed during the years it was missing but, 12 years later, its new mission is to transport my son to perform some very important work.”

This might be a new record. 12 years after its theft in Iowa City, a bike has returned to its owner thanks to Bike Index. Picking up right where he left off, the bike’s owner now uses it to commute around Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago where he works. Bike Index has recovered over $8 million in stolen bikes. Make sure your bike has the best chance of returning to you if it’s stolen – register your bike on BIke Index right now.

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Local

Metro hosts another of their BEST Rides tomorrow, along with People for Mobility Justice and TRUST South LA, as they celebrate Juneteenth by visiting venues along Central Ave from the legendary Green Book, which lists motels and other sites where blacks were welcome during America’s more openly racist past.

The Long Beach Post profiles the owner of the New York-based Propel ebike shop, which is opening its second location on Broadway in Long Beach. Someone tell him they need to advertise here on BikinginLA. No, go ahead, I’ll wait.

 

State

The California Senate Transportation Committee met to discuss a number of bills, including improving bike lane guidance at intersections. Meanwhile, Active SGV offers an update on the bills they currently support in the legislature.

San Diego’s Blind Stoker’s Club enables visually impaired bike riders to pedal throughout the county on the back of a tandem, with a sighted rider up front.

Sports Illustrated says we never really knew NFL star Kellen Winslow II, following his conviction for rape and indecent exposure in San Diego; he was caught in part by Strava data that put his bike near one of the assaults.

Sad news from Lake Elsinore, where a 19-year old man was killed riding his skateboard in a Lake Elsinore bike lane. Evidently, painted bike lanes aren’t any safer for people on skateboards than they are for people on bikes.

An 81-year old ‘bent rider has filed suit against the San Luis Obispo County, the county airport, Caltrans and the FAA after a gust of jet blast allegedly knocked him off his bike and into traffic, resulting in severe injuries and damage to his bike.

San Raphael has opened a new bike and pedestrian bridge across a canal.

A local paper offers more on the life and death of famed Petaluma bespoke framebuilder Bruce Gordon.

A Redding woman repeatedly stabbed a man, leaving him with life-threatening injuries, then calmly rode off on her cruiser bike.

 

National

Bike Snob confesses to riding on the sidewalk with his kids. And says if your city is “plagued by those pesky sidewalk cyclists,” it means its bike infrastructure totally sucks.

Tesla’s new Enhanced Summon feature allows the car to maneuver out of parking spots and come to the driver, instead of the other way around. So who cares if it can’t recognize narrow objects like people on bicycles?

Three groups of riders from my college fraternity will set out from Santa Monica, San Francisco and Seattle to ride across the US this summer, and raise three-quarter of a million dollars for disability awareness.

Bicycling’s Selene Yeager offers tips to build up the strength you need to ride hills. I learned to conquer hills by riding up the steepest one I could find as far as I could go, then coming back the next day and doing it again, going a little further each time until I could ride it without stopping.

Your next ebike could charge itself as you ride, giving you almost unlimited range.

Oregon is moving forward with their version of an Idaho Stop law, allowing riders to treat stop signs as yields, but still stopping for red lights.

Seattle sort of responds to complaints from bicyclists about cuts to the city’s new bike plan, but not really.

Once ski season is over, Aspen CO turns to thoughts of singletrack.

A Denver bike shop gave a new bicycle to a little girl, after a TV station aired a story about the girl selling lemonade to replace her stolen bike.

That’s more like it. A new ordinance in Wichita Falls TX requires drivers to change lanes to pass vulnerable road users, including bike riders, or slow 20 mph below the speed limit to pass.

Sounds like fun. An annual Milwaukee bike ride celebrates both Mexican and Polish culture with a rolling norteña and polka party.

After St. Paul MN police were unable to recover a teenage boy’s stolen bike, despite arresting the thief, they replaced it through a program designed to do exactly that.

A local paper says a South Bend IN bike delivery rider for Jimmy John’s isn’t about to put on the brakes. Not that his bike has any.

That’s more like it too. A Maine bike coalition reminds drivers that state law allows bicyclists to ride anywhere in the traffic lane where they feel safest.

If you’re going to build a bike path that ends at the airport, you might want to inform the FAA — as a Massachusetts town learned the hard way.

New York’s police commissioner remains trapped in the last century, saying he opposes attempts to legalize ebikes and e-scooters because he’s not sure they’re safe. If that’s the criteria he’s going to use, he probably supports banning cars, too.

 

International

An English bike rider says after a car driver apologized for a near collision, a bus driver traveling in the opposite direction pulled up next to them and blamed her for the close call, calling her a homophobic slur in the process.

The UK’s Cycle to Work program now offers commuters up to 39% of the cost of any new bicycle, including ebikes, to get more people riding to work. We need something like this in the US, let alone in Los Angeles – as long as it comes with safe infrastructure so people with actually use it.

A British lawyer explains why a bike rider didn’t get a farthing after he was injured hitting a pothole during a closed road sportive.

An Australian researcher says a lack of safe streets is a big reason why many people in the country don’t ride bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Chris Froome underwent six hours of surgery to repair multiple broken bones, after the four-time Tour de France winner crashed into a house at 34 mph when a gust of wind caught the wheel of his time trial bike just as he took his hand off his handlebars to blow his nose. Froome was reportedly on a reconnaissance ride for Wednesday’s time-trial stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné; he’ll now miss that, as well as next month’s Tour de France. And probably everything else this year.

Speaking of Froome, he’ll win the 2011 Vuelta from his room in the ICU, because erstwhile champ Juan Jose Cobo was retroactively busted for doping.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal a bike in Canada, put on a helmet first. Even drivers think drivers are being more aggressive abound bike riders.

And now you can help clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by wearing a piece of it on your head when you ride.

 

Morning Links: Uber scoots into Hollywood, anachronistic bikes, and Nov. closure of San Gabriel River path

So this happened yesterday.

Uber has apparently made the long migration east from their new Santa Monica base to the wilds of Hollywood.

Or maybe someone just took a long ride and left one here on the sidewalk near my home.

The tag on the e-scooter, which you can read by clicking the photo below, promises up to five free one-half hour rides per day through October 28th using the Uber app.

Hopefully, if the Uber scooters really have finally made their long-promised entry into the LA scooter wars, that means Uber’s popular JUMP ebike bikeshare will soon follow.

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Last Friday, we mentioned the frozen antique bicycle which had unexpectedly emerged from the snowy slopes of the Italian Alps. Not far from where Ötzi, the 5,000-year old frozen caveman, had emerged from his own glacial grave in 1991.

Leading to the obvious and inescapable conclusion that it might be his bike.

If obvious and inescapable can be read to mean ludicrous and anachronistic.

Yet Marvin Davis has forwarded proof, of a sort, that it may be possible after all.

Which leads us to today’s discovery of what happens when you abbreviate the year in a multi-day Google Search.

Only to discover the odd fact that not one story about bicycles was published online on Tuesday or Wednesday’s date in 18 AD.

Go figure.

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Long Beach Mobility & Healthy Living Programs Officer Michelle Mowery sends word of yet another one-day closure of the San Gabriel River Bike Path next month.

The path will be closed from 8 am to 5 pm on Wednesday, November 14th between 2nd Street and 7th Street (California State Highway 22) for additional work by the LA Department of Public Works.

So mark your calendar, and plan on another route that day.

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No bias here.

An indignorant writer for a Kiwi website complains about the “massive amounts of taxpayer and ratepayer money” to give supposedly freeloading bike riders “an advantage over motorists who have to pay their own way in life.”

Don’t get me wrong, recreational cycling on purpose-built cycleways, especially out in the country, is an admirable pursuit, but cycling is not a practical means of transport, and the amount of other people’s money thrown at cycling infrastructure is totally disproportionate to the number of cyclists using it.

If the cost of cycleways and special cycle lanes was reflected in a tax on new bicycles each one would cost its purchaser at least $50,000.

Never mind that the total cost of a painted bike lane runs around $50,000 a mile in the US. So evidently, he’s assuming that every bike lane will be used by just one person per mile.

Period.

He goes on to complain about a planned walkway over the Aukland harbor, insisting it will become a death trap for people on foot as spandex-clad bike riders hit speeds of 55 mph on the downhill slope.

Because that’s just what we all do.

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Local

Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery shares a photo of a bike thief who made off with a bike from a Norwalk shop.

 

State

San Francisco bike riders will be wearing wigs and sensible heels this weekend to protest Prop 6. And those are just the men, including State Sen. Scott Wiener.

Modesto is planning a new road diet to calm traffic on one of the city’s most dangerous streets; previous road diets have actually improved traffic flow for drivers. Which is probably why Modesto NIMBYs and traffic safety deniers aren’t rising up in revolt, unlike the privileged drivers in a certain SoCal city we could name.

 

National

Bicycling offers tips on how to dress for cold winter weather, including LA’s frigid 60° temps. And explains how riding a bike can give you a healthier gut.

Meanwhile, the great bike helmet debate goes on, as a writer for Bicycling says it’s okay to not wear a helmet, adding they can help protect against some injuries, but safer streets and drivers help more.

Good idea. A Colorado Springs CO advocacy group is offering classes for people who want to learn how to drive safely around bike riders.

An Estes Park writer suggests bicycling as a practical solution to the Colorado tourist town’s chronic traffic and parking problems.

Anyone can ride across the country. A Texas man is riding in a heart shape through 13 states to show his love for the US, and see for himself how divided the country is.

A Louisville KY woman explains how mansplainers nearly made her quit bicycling, until she gave up on the trails and started riding in the local cemetery. Seriously, when it comes to advice, be a well, not a fountain; if people want advice, they’ll usually ask for it. Although someone should tell her that calling out “on your left” is a courtesy to help avoid confusion and crashes, even if some riders treat it like more of a command. 

Still more from Bicycling, as they explain how a sub-seven-mile Memphis bike lane helped transform the city, which preceded Los Angeles as a two-time loser as America’s worst city for bicycling. So maybe there’s hope for us yet.

A Pittsburgh website profiles a paraplegic rockstar, author and record-setting handcyclist.

At a time when it seems like no one is behind the wheel in Washington, it could soon be literally true.

DC will try slow zones and banning right turns at some red lights to improve safety, as the mayor attempts to reset the city’s Vision Zero; traffic deaths have already exceeded the total for all of last year.

 

International

An automotive website considers when carmakers make bikes. I’ll take the Pashley Morgan, thank you.

Seriously, don’t be that guy. A bike raging London bicyclist caused nearly $2,000 in damage by slamming his bike onto the hood of a chauffeured limo. No matter what a driver might have done, violence is never the answer, tempting though it may be.

No bias here, either. A British radio host takes London’s DOT-equivalent to task for not implementing a harebrained plan to let drivers use one of the city’s cycle superhighways at non-peak hours. It should come as no surprise that his last name is Ferrari.

An English town saw a 200% increase in bicycling after they banned cars from the city center.

The war on cars may be a myth, but but the war on bikes goes on. An Irish farmer was convicted of pushing two men off their bikes, complaining they were passing too close to where he was walking.

NPR considers how a disastrous change in service providers nearly killed the famed Paris Vélib’ bikeshare.

A new Danish study shows bicycling in your 50s and 60s can cut your risk of early death by 23%. Then again, any death before you’re ready is early.

Switch to biking, walking or taking transit in Bologna, Italy and the city will buy you a beer. Which is why this site may soon be called BikinginBologna.

An advocacy group in Malta is urging employers to fight traffic by buying bicycles for their workers — then taking it out of their salaries.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 71-year old Indian man is on his seventh ride around the world.

An Israeli professional soccer player has been indicted for the drunken hit-and-run that killed an ebike rider.

An Aussie woman is furious that she got stuck behind a group of bicyclists for awhile, complaining that they didn’t move over to let her pass. Never mind that the lane was clearly to narrow to safely share.

A Kiwi writer describes a rainy bike commute to work, which she started doing when her car’s radiator blew up six years ago. And says if someone offered her a new car today, she wouldn’t take it.

He gets it. A New Zealand writer says don’t panic, they’re only scooters.

Brisbane, Australia bike advocates call for a connected bikeway grid in the central business district after bike riders identify a mere 2,850 traffic safety problem areas.

Heartbreaking story from Thailand, where a Philippine randonneur was killed by a hit-and-run driver who ran a red light, just 31 miles from the end of a 1,250-mile race.

A short German-made film examines how Beijing is turning back to bicycles in an attempt to ease traffic and smog in the city of 21 million.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former US Postal team director Johan Bruyneel, who helped Lance win — and lose — a record-setting seven Tour de France titles, has received a well-deserved lifetime ban from cycling.

America’s other ex-Tour de France winner and current CBD peddler says cycling’s post-doping era ain’t so clean, either.

Cycling Tips says the pro cycling calendar is bloated and anti-climactic.

Good news, as 21-year old Californian former pro cyclist Adrien Costa is back on his bike, just three months after losing a leg in a Mono County climbing accident.

 

Finally…

How to not mispronounce common bike brands. Just what every bicyclist needs — $200 cherry red vinyl bike shorts with a bejeweled buckle.

And proof not all distracted drivers are drivers. Even if it was probably staged.

Morning Links: CicLAvia and the Militant’s Epic Tour, riding a JUMP Bike up Mandeville, and Metro bike motions

Have you made your plans for Sunday’s CicLAvia yet?

Curbed provides details for Celebrate LA!the epic Disney Hall-to-Hollywood Bowl CicLAvia, sponsored by the Los Angeles Philharmonic to celebrate its 100th anniversary.

LA Phil has more info on performances scheduled for throughout the day on their website. And it can’t hurt to download the app to make sure you don’t miss anything.

However, they both forgot to mention the first-ever public appearance of the Militant Angeleno, author of the popular Militant’s Epic CicLAvia Guides, as he co-hosts the Militant’s Epic CicLAvia Tour with yours truly.

You can find details at the end of this piece.

I’m planning to do more listening than talking, since I’ve been trying to talk the Militant into doing a tour like this for some time.

But if you’re aware of safety problems or anything in need of improvement along the CicLAvia route, let me know, and I’ll be happy to discuss it on Sunday.

………

It’s one thing to ride a dockless bikeshare bike on level ground.

It’s another to take one up Mandeville Canyon.

But that’s exactly what David Drexler did over the weekend. Here’s what he had to say about the experience.

UBER’s JUMP Bike Company Social Cycles dumped a ton of these glowing red electric bicycles on the streets of Santa Monica this past week, so I could not help jumping on one and putting it through some tests.

See my stats here.

I wanted to see if these 3 speed HEAVY monsters — and they are Heavy — have what it takes (the torque) to make it 5 miles straight up to the top of Mandeville Canyon Road. I do it all the time on my road bike, but what about JUMP?

Anyone that thinks these things with only 3 gears! can’t make it up a hill, think again — in 30% less time than self-powered.

And the constant demand for power only drained the battery from 96% full at the start to 56% from Montana at 9th Street in SM and Back over the course of 1 hour.  I could have done it again.

Here are some photos of the bike and me at the top gate at the end of Mandeville most cyclists are familiar with.

And I would also mention that the bike had excellent stability and control at fast downhill speeds, more stable than my road bike.

 

………

Metro will consider two motions involving bikes at their board meeting this Thursday. One would provide full funding for 14 open streets events and partial funding for one more, while another would authorize a report on options to provide more secure bike parking at Metro stations.

………

Local

The LA Times urges a no vote on Prop 6, the ballot measure to revoke the recent gas tax increase, saying it’s hard to overstate how destructive it would be.

An ebike website reviews the Cero One e-cargo bike from LA’s three-year old ebike maker Cero.

 

State

A 19-year old man was shot and killed in unincorporated Anaheim Monday afternoon; later reports indicated he was shot while riding his bike, and you can see his abandoned bicycle on the sidewalk in the background of the video.

A San Diego advocacy group has developed a comic book hero called Captain VZ to promote Vision Zero to school kids.

 

National

Bicycling looks at the history of your bike shorts. And says every bike community needs the riders who don’t fit in.

Streetsblog says the recent e-scooter deaths point out the need for safer streets, while a DC website puts the blame on car-centric streets, not scooters.

A Seattle writer says the best way to visit a nearby island is on two wheels.

Moots bicycles brings together Colorado ranchers and gravel cyclists to try to find common ground.

This is who we share the roads with. A pair of motorcycle riders punched out a Chicago bike rider with a hard-shell glove when he caught up to them after one of the motorcyclists grabbed his wife’s ass as she rode in a bike lane.

A Detroit man saved his own life by taking up bicycling after being diagnosed with diabetes five years ago; he lost 45 pounds in the first two months, and is now in the pre-diabetic range.

The Providence Journal questions whether Rhode Island’s bikeway system is safe for children after a six-year old was killed earlier this summer; warning signs and crossings blocked by vegetation doesn’t help.

New York urges people to ride bicycles instead of driving to avoid gridlock caused by the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, while the NYPD responds by blocking key bike lanes for security purposes. Streetsblog says it’s an argument for a carfree city.

A local historical society looks back at a six-day women’s bike race held 118 years ago in Elmira NY. Thanks to Ted Faber for the link.

A Philadelphia program brings bicycling to students who might not otherwise have a chance to ride.

DC advocates plan to install a ghost scooter for the e-scooter rider who was killed in a collision on Friday.

A South Carolina bike shop owner warns that bicycles are about to get a lot more expensive, thanks to Trump’s tariffs.

This is what real heroes look like. An Alabama couple opened a coffee shop as a side business, with 100% of the profits going to buy bikes for people with MS.

 

International

A British letter writer gets it, saying bicycling is fun and should be encouraged.

Over 25,000 people took part in Cycle to Work Day in the UK and Ireland last month.

Ireland is considering a plan to cut speed limits to 20 mph in built-up areas around the country, with support from Mark Beaumont, who set the record for the fastest trip around the world by bicycle.

Fifteen thousand woman took part in last weekend’s Fancy Women Bike Ride in 60 cities in Turkey and throughout Europe to celebrate World Car Free Day.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real, as a South African bike rider suffered serious injuries when someone sabotaged a bike trail with a wire strung at neck level.

Sydney, Australia agrees to conduct a lane reduction on a four lane bridge, converting it to three motor vehicle lanes and a two-way protected bike lane.

Australia is conducting a three-day inquest into the death of famed endurance cyclist Mike Hall, who was killed in a collision last year while competing in the inaugural Indian Pacific Wheel Race; authorities say he was virtually “indistinguishable” in the dark, despite a red taillight and reflective stripe. Needless to say, no charges are expected against the driver.

Seoul, Korea averages ten collisions involving a bike rider every day; bicycling fatalities were up 25% last year.

 

Competitive Cycling

Next year’s Giro will start with a short uphill time trial in Bologna.

A former columnist for the New York Times looks at the startling descent of once-feared cyclist Jan Ullrich, who won the Tour de France in 1996 when he was just 23, and little or nothing since. He admitted to doping in 2013, and was briefly admitted to a psychiatric facility earlier this year after attacking a prostitute, as well as a neighbor.

 

Finally…

Who needs drugs when you’ve got bikes? A new bike rack could let you keep going if you flip your car.

And you’ve gotta have fuel to ride, which means some serious donuts.

Although they should have included the amazing peanut butter and jelly donuts from Stan’s Donuts in Westwood.

I’m just saying.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia this Sunday!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Morning Links: Griffith Park Blvd gets new concrete, self-driving Uber fallout, and Twitter justifies its existence

Squeaky wheel, meet grease.

Just seven weeks ago, the Los Angeles Times reported that Patrick Pascal had received a $200,000 settlement from City of LA after he was injured when his bike hit a pothole on Griffith Park Blvd.

Now he reports the city has begun pouring new concrete to patch the crumbling stretch of concrete that took him down.

As usual, despite years of complaints, they only got around to it after it was too late. And after being embarrassed with a front page story.

But at least it should help prevent the next one.

Photos by Patrick Pascal.

……..

More fallout from the crash of a self-driving Uber car that killed an Arizona woman as she walked her bike across an overly wide street.

Arizona’s governor has suspended testing of self-driving cars in the state, after previously welcoming them with open arms when California installed safety restrictions on them.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has called on the state to pull the plug on driverless cars.

Uber has won’t renew their permit to operate driverless cars in California when it expires at the end of this month.

A Pittsburgh PA bike advocacy group is calling for greater regulation of driverless cars.

No surprise here, as former Uber employees said the crash that killed Elaine Herzberg was entirely foreseeable.

The Smithsonian considers the ethical quandaries self-driving cars will face every day.

And an American historian warns that requiring bike riders to wear beacons to avoid getting run down by autonomous autos could kill bicycling.

……..

Local

The LA Times looks at the Los Angeles River Greenway Trail bike path-adjacent Frogtown neighborhood.

Speaking of the LA River bike path, it’s about to be shut down once again, this time for construction of a long-planned bike and pedestrian bridge connecting Atwater Village and Griffith Park.

CiclaValley previews Saturday’s San Fernando Street Festival; think of it as a mini-CicLAvia with four streets closed to motor vehicle traffic.

Santa Monica is holding a couple of open houses to discuss safety improvements planned for 17th Street & Michigan Avenue.

 

State

Caltrans has released a biannual report listing their active transportation achievements over the past two years, including SoCal’s Go Human campaign in conjunction with the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).

San Diego’s Little Italy Association is scooping up dockless bikeshare bikes, and depositing them outside the business district. Which is strange, because these are the same people who fought planned bike lanes, insisting that all their customers come by cars. Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up.

Sacramento is removing nearly 200 hi-tech parking meters to make way for a parking-protected bike lane.

 

National

A new study shows ebikes are actually getting people out of their cars. Imagine what they could do if people actually had safe places to ride them.

Blocked bike lanes are becoming a problem in Denver. And everywhere else, for that matter.

How to bike the 75-miles of developed, multi-use trails in San Antonio TX.

A periodic reminder that cars are banned on Michigan’s Mackinac Island. And no, the world didn’t come to an end.

A pilot program will allow New York bicyclists in three boroughs to ride through red lights on the leading pedestrian intervals. Something that is currently illegal in California, but shouldn’t be.

A new documentary play tells the real-life story of a Virginia bike rider who was killed in a collision.

Mobile is about to become more mobile, as LimeBike is poised to bring dockless bikeshare to the Alabama city.

 

International

Cycling Tips rates the best fast, inexpensive chain lubes.

The mayor of Hamilton, Quebec learned about the need for safer streets the hard way, nearly getting hit by a car just seconds into a ride to promote the city’s bike infrastructure.

A proposed Toronto ordinance would prohibited assembling and disassembling bicycles in parks to ban bicycle chop shops.

The British Cycling Federation is due to go on trial, along with a race official and a course marshal, in the death of a mountain bike spectator who had gone to watch her boyfriend compete.

Bike Radar visits Belgium’s Roeselare cycling museum.

A group of “cheeky” urban activists are trying to reclaim car-centric Rotterdam for people.

A Kiwi sociologist says the bikelash over the new bikeways stems from “a sort of initial adjustment stress” from people who are unable to handle the change to the street.

Caught on video: An Australian bike rider demonstrates exactly what you shouldn’t do by weaving through a line of cars while riding against the red light in a crosswalk.

An Aussie research fellow says drivers cause the overwhelming majority of collisions with bike riders, and the law should reflect that.

The Sidney Morning Herald says it’s time to design the streets of Perth for bikes to help increase kids’ independence.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside asks if the Tour de France will really ban reigning champ Chris Froome, who is under investigation for possible doping with an asthma drug.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can live like Lance for a mere $7.5 million. When the new local bike shop blows — no, literally.

And every now and then, Twitter justifies its existence.

 

 

Morning Links: O’Farrell caves to Temple St. drivers, Mobility Plan under attack, and reward in LB hit-and-run

In a decision that shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention lately, yet another LA council member has caved to the demands of the city’s entitled motorists.

This time on Temple Street.

Despite the city’s lip service to Vision Zero, it’s clear, to paraphrase Casablanca, that the deaths of a few innocent people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy town.

The latest example came on the other end of Temple, after Councilmember Gil Cedillo had already killed plans for a lane reduction in his district.

Now neighboring Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell has joined him, citing a lack of significant, widespread support for the vital safety project.

If that’s going to be the standard, we might as well toss Vision Zero in the scrapheap of Los Angeles history right now. Because we may never get a majority of Angelenos to believe that saving lives trumps saving a few minutes on their commute.

City officials are elected to do the right thing, not the popular thing. And make the difficult choices that they know will prove correct down the road, even if they initially lack “significant, widespread support.”

Like saving lives, for instance.

Instead, O’Farrell became just the latest LA councilmember to back down in the face of organized opposition from angry motoring activists, settling for a number of incremental improvements to the street that may make it a little safer and slightly more pleasant, but likely do nothing to stop speeding drivers from running down more innocent people.

In part, because of attitudes like this from Rachael Luckey, a member of the Rampart Village Neighborhood Council.

A road diet on Temple, Luckey says, would have been too extreme.

“I hate to use the words ‘acceptable loss,’ but we do live in a metropolitan city, and it’s a dangerous world we live in,” she says. “As far as Temple Street is concerned, I don’t know that it is a crisis per-se. If we were seeing 20, 30, 50 people run over, I would be a lot more alarmed.”

A California Highway Patrol collisions database shows that from 2009 to 2017 on the stretch of Temple Street between Beverly and Beaudry, 34 people have been severely injured and five people have died in traffic crashes.

I wonder if she’d still consider it an acceptable loss if one of those victims was a member of her own family.

And once again, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti was too busy running for president to weigh in on one of his own signature programs, exchanging pledged commitment to Vision Zero for zero involvement.

When Vision Zero was first announced in Los Angeles, I questioned whether the city’s leaders had the courage to made the tough choices necessary to save lives, and help make this a healthier, more vibrant and livable city.

The answer, sadly, is no.

………

On a related subject, a new journal article from Chapman University assistant law professor Ernesto Hernandez Lopez examines the legal aspects of the LA Mobility Plan.

And the auto-centric bikelash that threatens to derail it.

Here’s how he summarizes the paper, titled Bike Lanes, Not Cars: Mobility and the Legal Fight for Future Los Angeles:

  • Examines LA’s Mobility Plan 2035
  • Summarizes lessons from biking scholarship
  • Uses these lessons to make sense of the litigation on the Mobility Plan 2035
  • Suggests how law and politics can help city bike lane policies and advocacy and policy making for these
  • Relates bike lanes to Vision Zero (safety), “first and last mile” (intermodal), and mobility (de-car)
  • Correlates the litigation and LA experiences with Vehicular Cycling and Automobility theories

………

The family of Cole Micek have called on the public to help identify the two drivers who smashed into him as he rode his bike in Long Beach earlier this month, leaving him to die in the street.

Los Angeles County is now offering a $25,000 reward to help bring his killers to justice.

………

The San Gabriel River trail will be closed at Carson Street in Long Beach today for an emergency repair due to water damage. Riders will be detoured to Town Center Drive.

The path should be reopened on Saturday, unless they run into unexpected problems.

………

By now, you’ve probably seen the dashcam video of the first fatal crash caused by a self-driving car, which occurred earlier this week in Tempe AZ.

If not, take a few minutes to see if you can reconcile what you see with the local police chief’s insistence that the victim, a homeless woman walking her bicycle across the street, darted out of nowhere into the car’s path.

Right.

Then look closely at the interior view, which shows the clearly distracted emergency human driver looking down the whole time, until just before the moment of impact.

The car should have been able to detect the victim; the fact that it didn’t indicates a major flaw in the system. And the woman behind the wheel definitely should have, if she’d been paying the slighted bit of attention.

Correction: The initial stories identified the driver as a man, Raphael Vasquez. However, it appears that Vasquez has been living as woman, Raphaela Vasquez, since being released from prison in 2005. Thanks to Andy Stow for the correction

Writing for Outside, Peter Flax says something like this was just a matter of time and shows that autonomous cars aren’t ready for cyclists. Or pedestrians, evidently.

A motoring website insists that Elaine Herzberg’s death isn’t just Uber’s problem, it’s everyone’s.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker observes this is the moment we decide that human lives matter more than cars. If only.

Streetsblog says if self-driving cars aren’t safer than human drivers, they don’t belong on the streets.

According to Treehugger, the fatal crash shows we need to fix our cities, not our cars.

The head of a European bike industry trade group responds that bike riders will have to wear beacons to identify themselves to autonomous vehicles. Why stop there? Why not implant all newborns with transponders so self-driving cars can see them regardless of how they travel, and choose to kill the one person crossing the street rather than the three people in a car.

The Wall Street Journal reports the human behind the wheel — it’s hard to call her the driver — was a convicted felon with a history of traffic violations.

The AP says it raises questions about Uber’s self-driving system. Gee, you think?

Just hours later, another self-driving Uber car was caught running a red light in San Francisco. So apparently, they do operate just like human drivers.

On the other hand, a Florida writer says he’ll worry about autonomous vehicles the first time a robot flips the bird and runs him off the road.

………

Local

Great piece from Peter Flax on the short-lived and sadly lamented Wolfpack Marathon Crash Race, which he calls the most captivating, inclusive and deliciously bat-shit crazy bike race in the history of the sport.

Bike the Vote LA has released their voter guide for next month’s elections in LA County.

A former Los Angeles Times staff writer calls LA streets a contested space where no improvement — such as the Venice Blvd Great Streets project — goes unpunished.

Caught on video: CiclaValley captures a red light-running driver who checks most scofflaw motorist boxes.

Another from CiclaValley, as he notices the unwelcome addition of another traffic lane in Griffith Park.

The LA Daily News examines the bikelash against dockless LimeBike bikeshare bikes scattered around the CSUN campus.

Bicycling talks with the founder of LA-based women’s bikewear maker Machines for Freedom.

Monrovia partners with Lyft and dockless bikeshare provider LimeBike to improve mobility options for residents.

Forbes talks with Harvey Mudd College Professor Paul Steinberg about his bike-based course that takes students on a two-wheeled tour of the LA region to explore the challenges of creating bicycle-friendly cities.

 

State

A San Francisco writer describes the bike ride that hooked him for life.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in Yolo County, where a garbage truck driver walked in a plea deal in the death of a bike-riding college professor after pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter. And was rewarded with a deferred judgement and a lousy 80 hours of community service.

 

National

We missed this one from last week. If you have a Louis Garneau Course helmet, it could be subject to a safety recall.

Writing for Outside, Joe Lindsey says the Vista Outdoors boycott was doomed from the start, despite media attention.

Eugene, OR decides to make a six-block test road diet permanent, concluding it was worth the effort despite initial concerns. Sort of what might happen here if more city officials had the guts to actually try it.

Traffic delays caused by highway construction enticed an El Paso, Texas man to sell his truck and buy a motorized bicycle, improving his health and saving at least $800 a month.

A Milwaukee newspaper reminds us that we’re just a week away from 30 days of cycling.

The Michigan state legislature moves forward with a three-foot passing law.

Another one we missed: A New York professor who doesn’t ride a bike explains why he still supports bike lanes, and why he feels safer on streets with them.

The Wall Street Journal looks at cycling attire that doubles as office wear. If you can get past their paywall.

A tragic story from North Carolina, where a hit-and-run driver left the rider of a motorized bicycle lying in the road, where he was subsequently struck by four other drivers.

 

International

Cycling Weekly considers the symptoms, tests and recovery for concussions. Sooner or later, everyone comes off their bike, and chances are, you can’t count on your helmet to protect you from TBIs, because that’s not what most helmets are designed to do.

CNBC examines the increasingly green future of public transportation, including bicycles.

A new reports says 43% of the Ontario, Canada bike riders killed between 2010 and 2015 were struck from behind. And 25% were under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

Montreal bike riders are about to get their first bike boulevard, aka a velorue. Which LA riders can only look upon with envy from afar.

Wired says London may have reached peak cycling unless they can get more women and non-white men on two wheels.

They get it. A British website says yes, the country’s road rules need to be modernized, but adding offenses for riding a bike is no place to start.

A 30-year old man is bicycling across India to collect stories.

South Korean bike paths are now officially open to ped-assist ebikes, and riders will no longer need a drivers license.

The president of Air Asia has apologized after video of airline employees recklessly damaging bicycles in Kuala Lumpur goes viral; to make up for it, they’re letting bikes fly free next month.

 

Competitive Cycling

After years of denying it was even a problem, cycling’s governing body announced plans to use a mobile X-ray machine to catch motor dopers, who may have a drone hidden inside their bikes.

A young Canadian cyclist looks at the problem of sexism in cycling.

A pharmacist says it’s time to finally ban the pain killer tramadol in cycling. No shit.

 

Finally…

Nothing like putting a few miles on your bike every year. At least we have the socialists on our side.

And a brief look at Toronto, where the Idaho Stop Law already applies to drivers.

Just like LA. And everywhere else.