Morning Links: Iconic LA interchange condemned Angelenos to car hell, and 2nd US e-scooter death in DC crash

September 24, 2018 / / No comments

Nice piece in The Guardian from LA’s Nate Berg, who says one of the most famous — and infamous — buildings in LA is a freeway interchange.

He singles out 1948’s groundbreaking four-level freeway interchange in DTLA, which set the standard for cities around the world.

For better or worse.

And helped condemn the city’s residents to a life dependent on cars; an unwilling addiction we’re still fighting to overcome.

………

Sadly, it was almost inevitable.

The nation’s second e-scooter death was announced over the weekend, as a man riding one was killed in a DC collision, just weeks after a Dallas man died after falling off a scooter — a crash his family blamed on a hit-and-run.

And no bias here, as a tech website unfairly puts the blame on Lime for the deaths.

………

Brandi D’Amore forwards news that Bike Index is rapidly nearing their 5,000th stolen bicycle recovery. Just one more reason to register your bike right now.

And if you want to donate to Bike Index, here’s the link.

………

Local

Nice gesture from 3rd District LA Councilmember Bill Blumenfield, who introduced a motion in the council (scroll down to the ninth page) that would allow permanent memorial signs calling for safer driving where bike riders were killed. If they did the same for pedestrians, there’d be a sign on nearly every corner. Thanks to TJ Knight for the heads-up.

CiclaValley offers his thoughts on placing a ghost bike for the victim of last week’s bicycling crash in Winnetka, saying it didn’t have to happen.

Loyola Marymount University held its own Bike Week last week to introduce students to bicycling on campus.

Writing for the Pasadena Star-News, Steve Scauzillo offers lessons learned from Pasadena’s failed Metro Bike bikeshare program, placing the blame on a lack of sponsorship and safe streets.

 

State

San Diego’s Bike IB rolled from Imperial Beach yesterday to encourage women to be more comfortable riding a bike.

Thousand Oaks opened a new park offering six miles of trails and a bicycle skills park.

San Jose residents turned out in force to celebrate the city’s fourth annual open streets event.

 

National

Wired considers the nation’s stubborn bicycling gap, saying American cities are either cycling cities, or hardly one at all.

The conservative AASHTO guide has finally added design standards for protected bike lanes.

The Electrek website looks at the new ebikes introduced at last weekend’s Interbike bike show in Reno, while a writer for Singletrack compares the show with earlier editions in Las Vegas.

Bicyclists in a St. Louis suburb have started a petition calling for a Complete Streets ordinance that would require it to consider bike riders and pedestrians in any street project.

Milwaukee bike riders are worried about the city’s new streetcar after a number of riders have been injured on the tracks, months before it actually opens.

A Wisconsin letter writer says, contrary to common perceptions, bike riders already pay more than their fair share.

A new Minnesota study shows drivers are less likely to buzz bicyclists in bike lanes, especially in protected bike lanes.

No bias here, either. A Detroit writer complains about a growing sense of entitlement and invulnerability among pedestrians, blaming the victims for the rising rate of pedestrian deaths. If she thinks pedestrians are entitled, just wait until someone tells her about drivers. Or just hands her a mirror.

An Ohio bike shop owner says yes, riding a bike on the sidewalk is dangerous, but sometimes it’s the best choice.

Streetsblog says charging a New York bus driver who killed a bicyclist with a misdemeanor for violating the victim’s right-of-way is like “letting Jack the Ripper off with a misdemeanor for soliciting a prostitute.” Yet somehow, a British tabloid still finds a way to blame the victim. A video showing the crash was released last week. However, I wouldn’t recommend watching it; there are some things you just can’t unsee.

Definitely no bias here, as an Annapolis, Maryland newspaper asks if a new downtown bike lane broke the city.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 85-year old Virginia man still rides his age on his birthday.

A New Orleans website says the city is literally walking and biking away from their cars.

 

International

Sony introduces a set of wireless earbuds that are designed to enhance environmental sounds, allowing you to hear both your music and the noises around you.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A British expert in human and molecular genetics who was researching hearing and sight loss in children was killed in a collision with a London black cab driver.

An English woman still has her bike because a bystander intervened to stop a young thief as he was riding off with it.

A man in the UK is riding 200 miles on his seven-year old daughter’s pink bicycle to raise awareness of the brain tumor that killed her three years ago.

Britain is planning to connect a network of existing horse trails to create a 1,000-mile offroad bikeway running the entire length of the country.

A British high school has ordered students to place numbered license plates on their bikes so people can report any antisocial behavior to the school. However, anyone who arrives on foot or by car is apparently welcome to carry on, antisocial or otherwise.

A road raging Irish cab driver intentionally brake checked a man, knocking him off his bicycle after arguing with him moments earlier; the whole incident was caught on video.

Oslo, Norway is taking a number of steps to actively discourage driving in the city center to “give the city back to the people.” Which drivers naturally see as a war on cars.

Three-quarters of Swiss voters agreed to enshrine bicycling in the country’s constitution to protect the rights of bike riders, forty years after voters protected hiking and walking. And no, that’s not likely to happen here in the US anytime soon.

A Venice, Italy design exhibition features the work of British bespoke bicycle maker Hartley Cycles, founded by a former artist and jewelry maker.

A bicycle ambulance program is saving the lives of people suffering from malaria in Zambia, and could be rolled out across Africa.

Collisions between bike riders and kangaroos are on the rise in Australia, and expected to double the normal annual total as a drought brings the wild animals out of the bush.

An Aussie mom has forbidden her teen children from bicycling after concluding the country’s drivers are too aggressive behind the wheel.

 

Competitive Cycling

British Cycling officials have approved adding a sixth day to the women’s Tour of Britain, which already offers prize money equal to the eight-day men’s race.

 

Finally…

Seriously, stealing a kid’s bike is bad enough without taking a dump on their lawn. How to lie and beg your way into a new bike.

And Trump ordering the removal of bike lanes is just a bad joke.

For now, anyway.

………

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 [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Court sticks LA and Caltrans for $9.1 million in PCH crash, and Brown signs e-scooter helmet bill

September 21, 2018 / / 4 comments

In the latest massive court case against the City of Los Angeles, a jury awarded $9.1 million to a man injured while riding his bike on PCH.

The Los Angeles Times reports Robert Jeffrey Watts suffered a severe brain injury four year ago, when he swerved his bike to go around rocks and debris on PCH in Pacific Palisades, and was struck by the wing mirror of a passing truck.

Watts came across a pile of sand and rocks on the pavement, and steered into the travel lane to avoid the debris. He was struck by a truck’s side mirror and lost control of his bicycle, resulting in a crash that left him with a “significant amount of brain damage,” according to a complaint filed in 2015 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Watts was an experienced bicyclist who rode to his office in Culver City for years to keep fit, said his attorney, Boris Treyzon. Watts, who ran a successful freelance camera company, was left unable to work.

The jury split blame for the case, finding Caltrans 40% liable for the crash, with Los Angeles responsible for the rest.

Caltrans, which owns the highway, had hired Los Angeles to sweep the pavement at least once a month and keep it free of debris, but jury testimony and records left it unclear how often the work was performed, Treyzon said.

During the trial, he said, two city street sweepers testified that at the Tramonto slide, “they would simply swing around … and ignore it,” rather than remove the sand, gravel and rocks from the roadway.

No surprise there to anyone who has watched LA City street sweepers in action. Or had to ride through the debris they left behind.

The size of these awards keep climbing. And those payments come out of your taxes.

Money that would be much better spent to fund quality bike infrastructure and safer streets to keep bike riders and pedestrians from getting injured.

Instead of paying out massive legal judgements after they do.

………

Go ahead and scoot without a skid lid.

To the surprise of some — okay, me — Governor Brown signed AB 2989, allowing adult users of e-scooters to ride without a helmet.

In addition, the law allows scooters on streets with speed limits up to 35 mph; current law limits scooters to streets with speed limits up to 25 mph unless they have bike lanes.

No word on when the law takes effect.

………

CiclaValley wants to know whether Decker Canyon or Westlake Blvd offers the scarier descent.

Although Phil Gaiman might vote for Tuna Canyon.

………

Cheetahs don’t pedal.

Just saying.

 

………

Local

Ride Metro Bike bikeshare free tomorrow for World Car Free Day.

A writer for City Watch takes a miserable walk down Fairfax Blvd, followed by a harrowing bike ride. And says Metro could fund trees, sidewalk improvements and bike lanes on Fairfax, as well as on Wilshire Blvd and all the major streets in the area that connect to Wilshire, for less than $50 million. Let’s hope someone is listening to him.

Downtowners weigh in on plans to remake LA’s Civic Center, calling for protected bike lanes and trails with bike and scooter parking.

Bicycling profiles the founder of LA-based women’s bikewear brand Machines for Freedom.

The third annual Gran Fondo Santa Clarita rolls next Saturday.

 

State

The Tahoe-Pyramid Trail is nearing completion, following the Truckee River 116 miles from the north shore of Lake Tahoe to Nevada’s Pyramid Lake.

 

National

A writer for Forbes explains in detail why you have a greater right to ride a bicycle than to drive a car, and proposes a Micromobility Bill of Rights giving you the same entitlement on smaller devices like e-scooters.

Bicycling looks at the “newest and coolest gear” from this year’s Interbike show.

Your next bike could be made of Super Magnesium.

No bias here. A Colorado columnist complains about “Bicyclist Entitlement Syndrome,” saying courteous bike riders are so rare you never see them. And the rest park their bikes on handicap ramps and run over kittens.

Omaha police agree to keep patrolling the city’s paved trails in response to bike riders’ concerns about “wrongdoers.”

A Chicago city alderman has proposed requiring bike riders to dismount and walk their bikes on the popular downtown Riverwalk, saying it’s a disaster waiting to happen.

The administrators of the bike-hating Northern Kentucky Facebook group we linked to earlier this week have turned it into a closed group after it got public attention, and changed the name to “Share the Road;” local bicyclists are worried it could incite violence against bike riders.

Police in Knoxville TN are the latest department to use an ultrasonic radar device to enforce the three-foot passing law. The LAPD, not so much.

A pair of Cleveland bike riders were brutally attacked and robbed in separate early morning attacks.

New York is closing a pair of key bike lanes, apparently for security reasons, in preparation for next week’s United Nations General Assembly meeting — but leaving open a car tunnel that runs directly underneath.

A DC Twitter bot instantly uncovers the unpaid traffic tickets for any license plate, including one driver with 84 tickets totaling $10,700. Can we get that here in LA? Pretty please?

 

International

The co-founder of Zipcar warns the changes autonomous vehicles will bring could be paradise, or it could be hell.

Bike Radar offers tips on how to take inexperienced bike riders out for their first road ride.

Now that it’s legal north of the border, Canada’s military says don’t drive for 24 hours after you toke.

The Guardian looks at the colorful reinvention of city intersections.

Now that’s more like it. After a driver in the UK tweets that she should have run over a bike rider, police tell her to return her license because she’s clearly not fit to have one.

A British ebike maker says restricting ebikes to 15.5 mph in the UK and European Union is too slow for riders to be safe in traffic.

A Brit bike rider blames Strava for leading thieves to his home, where they stole five bikes worth nearly $16,000.

Heartbreaking news from the Netherlands, where four children were killed when the daycare cargo bike they were riding in was hit by a train.

VeloNews takes a tour of Italian bicycle factories.

 

Competitive Cycling

Forty-three-year old Amber Neben continues to defy the calendar as she prepares to compete for her third road world championship.

But maybe you’d rather watch bike racers about 40 years younger.

 

Finally…

Forget bike polo, it’s Cycleball season. Now you can own your very own British bike chain; no, not that kind.

And maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think those are bike racks.

………

Thanks David D, and everyone who has contributed this week, for their generous donations to help support this site. 

One final reminder, if everyone who visits this site today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep it going for a full year.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Road raging drivers and pedestrians around the world, and a Montrose movement to reward riders

September 20, 2018 / / No comments

Let’s start off today with a pair of truly horrific road raging stories from the Boston area that once again drive home just who we share the roads with.

In the first, a tow truck driver is in critical condition following a fatal collision.

Just not from the crash.

After he struck and killed a woman as she was crossing the street, her son pulled out a knife and stabbed him five times, shouting “You killed my mom!”

The driver swore he didn’t see her as he ran around the truck trying to escape.

In the second, a road raging driver intentionally ran down a pair of scooter riders for the crime of not using the bike lane.

The victims can be seen clinging to the hood of the driver’s car as she flees after running over their scooters.

Fortunately, they only suffered minor injuries, and the driver was quickly captured, according to a Boston news site.

Pires, of Cambridge, was arrested and brought back to the Everett Police Department, where she was charged with four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and driving to endanger.

Steve Spence forwards a photo of the ghost bike that was installed last night for the victim in Monday’s fatal crash in the San Fernando Valley; the victim still has not been publicly identified. 

Let that be another reminder to ride — and drive — safely and defensively at all times.

………

Evidently, he was telling the truth.

A road raging London driver who told several bike riders he was driving a stolen car as he deliberately swerved at them, and threatened to run them over, has pled guilty to auto theft and dangerous driving, as well as a number of other charges.

Here’s the video of the assault to refresh your memory.

………

Local

Montrose cyclist Sean Hall has started the No Braques movement to reward riders who push the limits, with cash out of his own pocket.

 

State

A map prepared by UC Davis shows where in California animals are most likely to end up as roadkill. Make sure the roads you ride aren’t on there. Because you don’t want to end up as roadkill, either.

The California Coastal Commission has approved plans to add a 10-foot wide multi-use path to an existing train trestle over the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz.

 

National

Bicycling looks at the problem of cultural appropriation in the bike industry, and four companies that are doing it right. The story they cite of Czech brand Apache Bicycles is seriously cringe inducing.

Caught on video: A Portland bike rider is nearly run down by someone driving in a two-way plastic-post protected bike lane without headlights.

A local Reno NV website visits the Interbike bike industry trade show to look at the latest products, including a stop at ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis’ cannabis-infused Floyd’s of Leadville booth. Am I the only one who continues to be amused by a former cyclist who was stripped of his title for doping getting into the pot business?

A Mashable writer joins in on a 600-mile ride from Irvine to Interbike on an ebike. But no, Irvine’s Brian Sarmiento was far from the first person to bike to the Vegas-based Interbike from out of town; I’ve known a number of people who rode from LA to Vegas for the show over the years.

Speaking of Reno, the city will dedicate a new bike path alongside a highway in honor of a woman who was killed on her way to a California bike race three years ago.

Santa Fe police have purchased a bike sonar device to enforce the city’s five-foot passing law; the device goes on an officer’s handlebars, and measures the distance to a passing car. We’ve tried to talk the LAPD into trying the same device, without any success so far.

A Colorado Springs CO newspaper displays its windshield bias with an editorial that calls on the city to stop impeding traffic by building bike lanes; readers have mixed opinions on their success. Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up.

A Texas teenager refused to give up when her local city council wouldn’t listen, and went back a second time to demand safer streets after her friend was killed as he was riding his bike.

A Minneapolis woman fulfills a promise to herself by biking to work for the first time, and discovers she actually likes it.

A Detroit clothing store is teaming with a bike co-op to conduct a third annual bike drive; the drive has collected 400 bikes for local kids in its first two years.

Indianapolis sheriff’s deputies stopped a fleeing bike rider who failed to register as a sex offender by crashing into him head-on; bystanders accused the deputies of doing it on purpose.

A writer for Bicycle Times describes how the 275-mile Boston to New York Cycle for the Cause ride gave him hope during the AIDS crisis.

The owners of a mom-and-pop bike shop in Tennessee will lead a fundraising ride to fight human trafficking.

A Concord, New Hampshire paper calls for ticketing delivery vehicles blocking bike lanes.

 

International

No bias here. Bike Radar asks if shaved legs are hot or not. Never mind that some of their readers might be women who shave their legs for reasons that have nothing to do with bicycling.

The Conservative party leaders in Quebec intend to cut the size of Toronto’s city council, because “All (the) city council wants to do is build bicycle lanes.” Which seems like a pretty good reason to keep it just the way it is.

The Sun explains what’s going on with Saturday’s World Car Free Day. Which will be observed in Los Angeles by most people continuing to drive everywhere, as usual.

An Irish woman turned to bicycling to quit smoking, cut back on drinking and revamp her lifestyle.

Cyclist examines noteworthy classic bikes from Italian bikemaker Bianchi in words and pictures.

Photos of Israeli highways on Yom Kippur that look like CicLAvia.

Caught on video too: An Aussie bike rider is nearly run down by a motorist in an SUV who was driving in a bike lane.

Verge says Trump’s trade war with China could put the brakes on American bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News takes a deep dive into whether women could handle racing a three-week Grand Tour.

It’s been a year since study abroad company EF Education First rescued America’s longest-running WorldTour squad from extinction.

Bicycling profiles Rwanda’s first women’s pro cyclist.

 

Finally…

If you’ve been drinking underage, put a damn light on your bike — and don’t resist arrest. Yes, it’s against the law to run over people on bikes. No, really.

And if your local velodrome is closing, just buy it, dismantle it, move it and rebuild it.

Easy, right?

………

The surprising generosity of BikinginLA readers this week continues to blow me away. So let me thank Steven K, Tyrone C and Gold Leaf Films for their generous donations to help support this site. 

As we’ve been saying all week, if everyone who visits this site today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep it going for a full year.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

San Diego bike rider killed after going through red light; third SoCal bicyclist killed this week

September 19, 2018 / / One comment

A San Diego-area man has been killed while riding his bike, the third bicycling fatality in Southern California this week.

According to the Union-Tribune, the 44-year old victim was struck by the driver of a pickup truck in Chula Vista around 10 pm last night.

The paper reports the collision occurred at Second Avenue and Palomar Street, where witnesses say the victim, who has not been publicly identified, went through the red light on southbound Second.

However, San Diego’s NBC-7 says he was traveling east on Palomar, which would mean the driver was on Second.

He suffered severe head and injuries, and died after being taken to a local hospital.

The 22-year old driver stayed at the scene; police don’t believe drugs or alcohol use was a factor.

A street view shows a four lane road with left turn bays on Palomar, and a two lane street on Second. Palomar has a 35 mph speed limit, while residential Second should have a 25 mph limit.

The severity of the victim’s injuries, despite wearing a helmet, would suggest that the driver may have been traveling faster than that.

This is at least the 36th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 7th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

It comes after a bicyclist was killed in LA’s San Fernando Valley on Monday, and another was the victim of a fatal hit-and-run in Torrance yesterday.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Another bike hating Facebook group, 95-years old and still riding, and LA worst city for walkers

September 19, 2018 / / One comment

This is who we share the roads with.

According to the founders of a Northern Kentucky Facebook group, throwing quarters and lit cigarettes at bicyclists, directing homophobic slurs at bike riders, and saying “exterminate these assholes” is just good, clean American fun.

One of the group’s administrators — a candidate for the local school board, had this to say.

“I see both sides but people need to realize we are just fucking around,” he wrote in a comment on a post in the group. “I hope no one from this group would ever intentionally hurt someone.”

Despite comments like this from others in the group.

“It’s going to look real bad when one of us accidentally run over one of these bicyclist lol,” reads one post a group member wrote Sunday. That post seems to have since been deleted.

” ‘Accidentally’ lol” another member comments.

“What body?” Heim replied.

“You need an alibi I got you,” a fourth group member wrote.

A post by another group administrator, David Andriot, shows a car plowing into a group of cyclists, with several flying into the air.

“I’ll get even with those cyclist (sic) one way or another…” Andriot wrote above the photo.

Evidently I don’t have a very good sense of humor.

Because harassing and assaulting other people — let alone threatening their lives — because you don’t like their chosen means of transportation doesn’t seem very funny to me.

But what the hell do I know?

………

I want to be like him when I grow up.

A 95-year old Iowa man still rides 10 miles a day using an adult tricycle, even though he can barely walk.

More proof that just about anyone can bike. And that bike lanes benefit the elderly and disabled, despite what bike lane opponents and traffic safety deniers insist.

………

Local

Is anyone really surprised that Los Angeles is the most dangerous city in the US for pedestrians, with more than twice as many fatalities as the next highest city?

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says the positives about the $20 million, ten-year MyFigueroa Complete Streets project are undermined by scofflaw drivers.

Curbed writes about nine cities throughout the US with smart ideas to improve transportation — including LA’s commitment to electric buses and Santa Monica’s Scooter City USA.

KABC-7 offers advice on how to deal with neck and back pain caused by riding, while Red Bull gives tips on how to stay comfortable on endurance rides.

 

State

The last fatal mountain lion attack in California came 14 years ago, when a mountain biker fixing a broken chain was killed in Orange County’s Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park. Note: Thanks to Mike Wilkinson and J. Patrick Lynch for pointing out that I originally wrote “mountain bike attack,” rather than “mountain lion.” It should be noted that mountain bikes seldom attack. And when they do, it’s usually their owners.

San Diego approved plans for dense housing and commercial projects around the city’s sports arena, including 30 acres of parks, bike lanes and a bay-to-bay trail.

A writer from the University of California says the problem isn’t the scooters on our streets, it’s the streets themselves.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker says representatives of more than 400 cities around the world attending the recent climate summit in San Francisco were obsessed with electric cars, rather than biking and walking, which have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions faster.

 

National

An architecture and design site questions whether e-scooters are bad for the environment.

After a series of bicycling fatalities in Chicago, the city council opened the floor to bike riders to vent their anger. And more importantly, actually listened to them. Unlike a certain SoCal city we could name.

Life is cheap in Ohio, where a driver will serve 16 days home confinement, followed by a whopping 14 days behind bars after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide in the death of a bike rider.

Indiana second graders learn the meaning of a ghost bike near their school, and decide that everyone should know about it.

A bikeshare rider goes for a ride, partly against traffic, in a Boston highway tunnel.

A planned expansion of Arlington National Cemetery could be good news for local bike riders.

A Florida woman woman rides 50 miles a day after surviving a stroke five years ago, riding primarily through black communities so they can see an African American woman on a bike; she’s planning to ride 2,200 miles across the US to Burbank.

 

International

Keep riding your bike. Greenhouse gas emissions have started to decline in 27 cities around the world — including car-choked Los Angeles.

Five cities around the world that made their streets safer through urban design. Any guesses on whether LA is one of them? Anyone?

Cycling Weekly tells you what to look for in energy gels. How about one that comes with a wet wipe to clean your hands afterwards?

The Guardian asks what a truly walkable city would look like. And looks at life in the Spanish city of Pontevedra, where cars are banned from the central city. We could only dream. Thanks to Stephen Katz for the heads-up.

Vancouver’s aggressively auto-centric mayoral candidate, who’s running on a platform attacking lawless bike riders and pedestrians, while promising to rip out the city’s bike lanes, failed to show up for a court hearing on a distracted driving ticket; she claims the officer mistook her makeup compact for a cellphone. Sure, let’s go with that.

Monday was a rough day for Toronto bike riders, with three injured, and a 72-year old man killed, in just a single four-hour period. Thanks again to Stephen Katz.

Fifty London streets will be closed to motor vehicle traffic on Saturday for World Car Free Day.

A new survey shows Glasgow bicyclists and drivers hold a dim view of one another.

The Jerusalem Post celebrates Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, by relating the history of bicycling in Israel and Palestine.

The next round of Trump’s tariffs going into effect next week will include Chinese-made bicycles, frames and components, potentially making your next bike or parts 25% more expensive; bike safety equipment like helmets and lights were removed from the list.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling profiles Mike Wood, the Canadian cyclist who made the WorldTour just three years after he started racing. And made cycling fans cry by revealing he dedicated his stage win in the Vuelta to his stillborn son.

2016 Paris-Roubaix champion Mathew Hayman will retire after 20 years in the pro peloton.

 

Finally…

Now you can go electric on gravel. When you’re carrying meth on your bike, don’t ride salmon without lights and run red lights — or flee from the police.

And if you’re going to spend ten years riding your bike around the world, don’t wait until you’re already 60 miles away to tell your wife.

………

I’ve been blown away by the generosity of BikinginLA readers this week. So let me thank Kevin G and Alan C for their generous donations to help support this site. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year.

And G’mar Tov to all our Jewish friends; may your fast be easy.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Update: Bike rider killed on Winnetka Blvd in the San Fernando Valley

September 18, 2018 / / 2 comments

Word is just breaking that a man in his 60’s was killed yesterday while riding his bike in the Winnetka neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

The victim was reportedly riding his bike in the crosswalk on westbound Lanark Street crossing Winnetka Ave when he was struck by the driver of a 2001 Toyota Corolla around 6:30 pm.

He was taken to Northridge Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A street view shows a wide four lane roadway on Winnetka, with a center left turn lane and a bike lane in both directions, and an uncontrolled crosswalk on the west side.

No other details are available at this time.

This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 18th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

A ghost bike ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 9 pm tomorrow night. (Note: This originally said it would be held on Tuesday, but it will be Wednesday, instead.)

Update: According to a source with the LAPD, the victim is an unidentified, 72-year old ebike rider.

He was struck when he rode off the north sidewalk on Lanark into the crosswalk, and was struck by a driver headed north on Winnetka. 

This is yet another reminder of the dangers of sidewalk riding. Drivers often aren’t looking for you there, so you have to assume they don’t see you. Even if you have the right-of-way, it’s often safer to wait until cross traffic has passed. 

And always carry some form of ID. This crash is even more tragic knowing that the victim’s loved ones may have no idea he was killed.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones. 

Thanks to Zachary Rynew and Steve Spence for the heads-up. Photo of the victim’s ghost bike from Steve Spence.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: LA’s absent mayor leads to failing Vision Zero, and anti-Vision Zero widening of Magnolia Blvd

September 18, 2018 / / One comment

The Guardian’s Laura Laker questions whether Vision Zero has lost its way, describing the program as a success in New York.

And a failure in Los Angeles.

In January last year the city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced its first Vision Zero strategy, with a goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2025. Work would focus on 40 High Injury Network streets, particularly those near schools. Interventions included pedestrian scrambles, painted kerb extensions protected by bollards, and left turn safety improvements.

However, things started to unravel. On Temple Street, where 34 people were killed or severely injured within 2.3 miles in eight years, a “road diet” expected to reduce crashes by up to 47%met backlash from residents and drivers. Local city leaders downgradedlane removals to things that wouldn’t interfere with motor traffic: sidewalk repairs, new traffic signals and crosswalks.

She quotes Jon Orcutt, the former NYDOT director of policy who developed New York’s Vision Zero plan, as he points the finger exactly where it belongs by saying LA councilmembers who supported Vision Zero were left isolated and “hung out to dry” in the face of opposition.

The former policy director also explained who was responsible  for problems with New York’s plan after its initial success.

Orcutt also expresses his frustration at a lack of ongoing improvement in New York after those initial improvements.

“We need leaders to say, ‘This is what we are doing in the city, and you don’t get to say no, and you don’t get to come back on what our technical experts say,’” he says. “That is the power of the mayor – that’s the point of the megaphone you have.”

That’s exactly the problem in Los Angeles, with a mayor who’s too busy exploring a run for president to do the job he was elected to do. And who has repeatedly failed to support his own Vision Zero and Great Streets programs, let alone fight for them.

It was also Mayor Garcetti who pulled the rug out from under Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin, caving in the face of a backlash from angry drivers after Bonin took bold action to improve safety in Playa del Rey.

And yes, hanging him out to dry.

If Garcetti really wants to be president, maybe its time he stepped down as mayor to focus full-time on his run for the White House.

Then maybe someone will step in to take his place, and actually fight to stop the deaths on out streets, instead of just talking about it.

If not, it’s long past time to come back home and roll up his sleeves, put up his dukes, and start fighting for the safety plans he put in motion.

Because right now, his traffic safety legacy is just so many words.

Ghost bike photo by Matt Tinoco

………

More evidence that Vision Zero is failing in the mayor’s virtual absence.

CiclaValley reports on plans to widen Magnolia Blvd between Cahuenga Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, as the city claims to be improving safety by adding a traffic lane.

Never mind that reducing congestion and improving traffic flow will allow more drivers to speed through what once was a quiet two-lane street.

Which is the exact opposite of Vision Zero.

He urges you to send a version of the following email before the comment period ends at 5 pm next Monday.

And so do I.

To: [email protected]

CC: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Subject: Magnolia Boulevard Widening (N) Comments

I am writing because I am opposed to the widening of the north side of Magnolia Boulevard between Vineland and Cahuenga. This project does not improve safety conditions for those that use the roadway and puts vulnerable populations at increased risk of injury.

This is a growing and vibrant area that needs to serve everyone’s needs safely. Please prioritize projects that saves lives over seconds.

………

Local

Jonathan Weiss, whose son’s bike was recently stolen from the Westwood Rancho Park Expo Line station, calls for e-lockers to improve the security problems that can keep people from biking to the train. Or riding back home if they do.

Pasadena police will be conducting a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement program on Friday. Which means ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports on Sunday’s Pride of the Valley open streets event in Irwindale and Baldwin Park.

Santa Monica’s 16-month dockless bikeshare and e-scooter pilot program officially kicked off on Monday, including the introduction of Uber’s Jump dockless ebikes.

 

State

Former Elektra Records president Jeff Castelaz is preparing to embark on his tenth Pablove Across America Ride, traveling from San Raphael to Los Angeles. The annual ride, which is named after his late son Pablo, has raised over $3 million dollars for pediatric cancer research.

As we noted yesterday, San Diego resident Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest person on Earth, setting a new land speed record for human-powered vehicles. The Wall Street Journal offers on-bike video of the record-setting ride, if you can get past their paywall.

El Cajon is struggling to regulate dockless bikeshare, as both Ofo and Limebike set up shop in the city.

The San Francisco department of transportation’s Rapid Response Team is working with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to fix a deadly crosswalk where a bike rider was killed last week. That’s how Vision Zero is supposed to work, unlike Los Angeles, where traffic deaths just result in crickets.

 

National

Reader’s Digest — yes, it’s still around — explains how to use Google Maps to find safer bike routes.

An Iraq war vet is focusing on helping others after riding 4,300 miles across the US, saying she bought her bike to save her own life instead of ending it.

VeloNews considers the difference between long-term bike trends and passing fads.

A New York bus driver faces just 30 days in jail as he goes on trial on misdemeanor charges in the death of the first person killed riding one of New York’s Citi Bike docked bikeshare bikes.

Orlando FL moves towards allowing dockless bikeshare, despite complaints from the city’s docked bikeshare provider.

 

International

Venture capitalists say the future is bright. And comes on two wheels.

Treehugger says if you have trouble riding a bike, maybe you’re just using the wrong kind.

After writing a needlessly offensive column that made a good point — that some bike riders should cool it with aggressive cycling around pedestrians — a Vancouver writer ignores the complaints and pats himself on the back because older people agreed with him.

A Toronto columnist explains why bicycle licensing is a bad idea, saying that city abolished its licensing requirement in the 1950s.

Speaking of Toronto, advocates say political will is needed to solve the city’s bike infrastructure inequity.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a young woman gets off with community service and losing her license for 18 months for killing a bike rider after losing control of her car while speeding.

Dublin bicyclists are attaching cardboard wheel clamps — aka boots — to cars parked in bike lanes to protest the lack of police enforcement.

The Guardian offers a photographic look at Sunday’s carfree day in Paris and Brussels.

A writer sets off on a bike tour of Austria’s Tyrol region in search of the best food, in advance of next week’s road cycling world championships.

After arriving from Lithuania, a woman has created her own position as Malmö, Sweden’s Violinist on a Bike, between rehearsals with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A Bulgarian driver faces a murder charge for killing a bike-riding ballet dancer while high on coke and cannabis; he also faces a charge for his third offense for driving without a license.

Once again, an Australian study has found that drivers are responsible for the overwhelming majority of traffic collisions involving bike riders.

Fourteen percent of Australians have traded their car commutes for walking or bicycling, and 56% are open to leaving their cars at home.

Good question. An Op-Ed in the Guardian asks why bicycling deaths are rising in Australia when cars are significantly safer than they were 25 years ago, concluding that the problem rests with aggressive and entitled drivers.

Heartbreaking story from Japan, where a mother faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter after her umbrella got caught in her bike wheel, and her 18-month old son hit his head on the pavement when he fell to the street.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can ride a slightly used pro racing bike, or buy weed from a slightly used ex-yellow jersey winner.

And what’s the penalty for Scooting Under the Influence, anyway?

………

Thanks to Hamid V for his generous donation to help support this site. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

And G’mar Tov to all our Jewish friends; may your fast be easy.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Update: Bike rider killed in early morning Torrance hit-and-run

September 17, 2018 / / One comment

Yet another person riding a bike has been murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver.

According to KTLA-5, police responded to a report of a crash involving a bicyclist in Torrance around 5 am today.

KCBS-2/KCAL-9 reports the victim wasn’t breathing when officers found him lying in the street at Hawthorne Boulevard and 227th Street. They attempted CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

He has been identified only as an adult male.

Police are looking for a tan or light gold 2006 to 2009 Toyota 4-Runner with front-end damage and part of the bumper missing. A security camera may have captured video of the crash and could show the suspect vehicle.

No other information is available at this time.

A street view shows a two lane residential street controlled with a stop sign on 227th, while Hawthorne has four wide lanes in each direction with no traffic signals for several blocks, allowing drivers to go as fast as traffic will allow.

Which means he or she could have probably traveled as fast as he or she wanted at that hour.

Just to be clear, there is simply no excuse, ever, for hit-and-run.

Drivers who leave their victims to die in the street should face a charge of felony murder, because they made a conscious decision to let a human being die rather than make a simple call for help.

Maybe then this hit-and-run epidemic would finally stop.

This is at least the 34rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Update: KNBC-4 reports the victim, who still hasn’t been publicly identified, was a man in his 40s. 

They also say the speed limit on that stretch of Hawthorne is 45 mph. Chances are the driver was going faster. 

Update 2: The victim has been identified as 32-year old Jonathan Valbuena, who is described as being homeless. Which does not change tragedy or outrage in the slightest. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones. 

Thanks to Brian McCarthy and Serena Grace for the heads-up.

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

September 17, 2018 / / No comments

New US Census estimates show fewer people are commuting by bicycle than in years past, while Los Angeles is stuck at a 0.9% bike mode share.

However, Census Bureau estimates have always been problematic, since they only include people who actually ride to to a job.

People who commute to school or other destinations aren’t counted in the census, and people who live in immigrant or lower income neighborhoods tend to be undercounted.

………

As if terrestrial drivers weren’t bad enough, now we have to worry about flying cars and their power lines.

Which brings up the question of whether the three-foot passing law applies to overhead, as well.

………

Local

LADOT summarizes the recent street improvement workshop for Winnetka Ave.

The LA Times reports that Bird has pockmarked Los Angeles with individual no fly zones where e-scooters are discouraged, if not prohibited.

CiclaValley discovers nice, smooth new pavement in Griffith Park.

 

State

San Diego police are looking for a pair of bat-wielding bike riders who attacked a man sitting on a bus bench, striking him in the head with a baseball bat before escaping on their bikes.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, has hired Hasan Ikhrata to be its next executive director; he’s leaving his post as head of the Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, after ten years.

San Jose drivers can’t seem to figure to the city’s new parking protected bike lane.

A Bay Area writer discusses his decision to go carfree ten years ago, with no regrets.

Sad news from San Francisco, where a bike rider was killed in a collision, just blocks from where advocates had formed a people-protected bike lane to call for safer streets. Note to drivers: No bike rider has ever “come out of nowhere.”

The US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis will induct four new members this year, including Jennie Reed (Modern Road & Track Competitor), Eric Rupe (Off-Road Competitor), Jerry Ash (Veteran Road & Track Competitor), and Richard DeGarmo (Contributor to the Sport).

 

National

NPR looks at the problem of counterfeit goods — in this case, fake Specialized bike helmets.

Utah bicyclists are warning that a new road design actually forces drivers into a bike lane.

This is how it should work. Two years after Denver installed a two-way bike lane along a busy roadway, it’s proven successful enough to expand to remove a lane of traffic to expand it another 1.5 miles along the street.

No bias here. A Wisconsin letter writer says streets are for cars, and drivers shouldn’t be impeded by bicyclists, joggers and dog walkers, because drivers are going places to do important things, while bike riders are “going nowhere, to do nothing.”

Chicago Cubs player Ben Zobrist is one of us, riding to Sunday’s game at Wrigley Field on his upright bike — wearing his uniform. So who says you have to wear special clothes to bike commute?

A 23-year old Michigan woman was arrested for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider on Saturday; she still had a BAC three times the legal limit hours after the crash. Her lawyer will undoubtedly argue that she only got drunk after the crash because she was so freaked out.

He gets it. Writing for the American Conservative, an Akron, Ohio planner looks at the problem of Baby Boomers aging in a car-dependent world. Although one solution would be to install protected bike lanes that would allow seniors to bike safely and conveniently, while improving their health.

People in Indianapolis IN are making a difference in the community by opening a bike shop. Although it sounds more like a bike co-op.

The Burrito Riders of Louisville takes to their bikes twice a month to feed the homeless in the Kentucky city.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. Someone has sabotaged a Massachusetts bike path with hundreds of thumb tacks.

A New York bike lawyer calls for a speed limit in bike lanes to combat speeding scooter riders.

A South Carolina letter writer makes the point that building bike lanes isn’t enough, cities have to maintain them, as well.

 

International

City Lab talks with Vancouver’s Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, authors of Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, who say bicycling is the key to healthier and more vibrant cities.

Road.cc offers money saving tips ranging from learning how to patch a tube to when to buy bikes and parts on sale. Unfortunately, we can’t use the first tip; British commuters can deduct 25% of the cost of a new bike and accessories, but the only small tax benefit for US bike commuters was lost in the recent tax reforms.

Nearing the end of a round-the-world bike tour, a woman sets off through Mexico on a search for a lost British Surrealist.

A group of Canadian mounties have set off on a ten-day, 621-mile ride to raise funds for kids.

A Canadian writer says he’s become completely and utterly addicted to bike commuting. Even after crashing into an illegally parked car.

A London letter-writer says bicyclists should be forced to wear license plates on their bike helmets. Sure. What could possibly go wrong with that? And what’s with the bizarre, yet common belief that police will track down scofflaw bike riders, when they don’t do that with drivers?

British drivers will now be required to give bike riders a nearly five foot passing distance, or pay the equivalent of a $130 fine.

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail says last week’s death of a pedestrian at the hands of an ebike rider could be just the first of many, calling ebikes “the silent killer on our streets.” Never mind that ebikes in the UK are limited to 15.5 mph, which is slower than the cruising speed of many non-powered road bike riders. Or that it’s entirely possible the rider wasn’t at fault.

They get it. France plans to triple the rate of transportation bicycling in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics through better bike infrastructure, financial incentives, and taking steps to fight bike theft.

A Delhi writer describes the daily humiliation faced by bike riders on the city’s streets, where they’re considered trespassers by drivers.

Tuesday marks the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It’s also a day many Israelis take to their bikes on streets empty of vehicular traffic.

Caught on video: After Emirates police post video of a speeding driver hitting a bike rider after cutting across several lanes of freeway traffic, the press blames the guy on the bike for just being there.

Police in the UAE have permanently seized 435 bicycles and motorcycles in a crackdown on scofflaw riders for violating basic traffic laws, as well as failing to wear helmets or hi-viz. Which is fine, as long as they also seize cars, trucks and SUV for the same violations.

We already knew Patrick Dempsey was one of us, as he discusses his life in front of the camera and on two wheels with a Kiwi news site.

A Canadian tourist goes bike riding in the land of Mickey Mao.

 

Competitive Cycling

Great Britain stakes its cycling supremacy with Simon Yates’ victory in the Vuelta; the country swept all three Grand Tours, thanks to Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France win and Chris Froome’s victory in the Giro.

Pro cyclist and gravel racing champ Allison Tetrick walked away from a career in molecular biology to compete on her bike.

Great story from Bicycling about Jim Nelson, who won an age group BMX national championship just days after his last chemo treatment for stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Two cyclists were disqualified at the end of a 206-mile race through Utah and Wyoming for taking selfies at the finish line; a third was DQ’d for flipping it off.

There’s a new women’s hour record, courtesy of Italian rider Vittoria Bussi.

Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest woman — no, make that human — on earth, after setting a new record for a human-powered vehicle at 183.93 mph, beating the old record by over 16 mph.

 

Finally…

It takes a rare candidate to unite weed users, bike riders and sex workers against her. Get that healthy nuclear glow on your next ride.

And don’t take someone else’s parking space in Texas.

………

Thanks to John H and Tom S for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way every day. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Long list of bike events, a moving tale of a cross-country rider, and what the hell is Metro on?

September 14, 2018 / / 2 comments

We’ve got a long list of bike events to catch up on.

Explore the new MyFigueroa Complete Streets project this afternoon with the Bike on Fig Ride, hosted by BikeSafe USC and MyFigueroa.

Metro’s Bicycle Education Safety Training (BEST) Program is teaming with People for Mobility Justice and the Ride On! bike co-op to host the People Street Bike Rodeo in Leimert Park starting at 6 pm tonight.

Culver City, Go Human and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) are sponsoring Experience Elenda on Elenda Street in Culver City tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, BikeSGV and Metro BEST are holding the Sriracha Slow Roll through Duarte and Irwindale to the famed Sriracha factory, riding along a little-known off-road greenway.

Party for a good cause tomorrow night at the Pure Cycles HQ in Burbank, benefitting the Pablove Foundation to fight childhood cancer.

Metro is hosting the Pride of the Valley open streets event in Baldwin Park and Irwindale from 9 am to 2 pm this Sunday.

The LACBC and the Metro Best Program are hosting the BEST Ride: Forgotten History of Venice this Sunday.

Beverly Hills is hosting the formal dedication and ribbon cutting for the reconstructed Santa Monica Blvd at 1:30 pm this Monday, including the new green bike lanes. Maybe it’s also time to formally retire their designation as the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.

Go Human is sponsoring Connecting Chino on September 22nd to demonstrate temporary street improvements around the Chino Community Building.

Go Human and City of San Jacinto are sponsoring Envision San Jacinto on the 29th.

Wrapping up our events for this month, CicLAvia celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic with the massive Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia from DTLA to Hollywood. Which will also feature the first ever public appearance of the Militant Angeleno as he leads his first epic CicLAvia Tour.

………

Today The Beauty of Cycling lives up to its name.

In a beautifully moving piece from Peter Flax, an Illinois college student describes his ride across the US, just 17 months after he barely survived what could have been a fatal car crash.

Seriously, if you can make it through this piece without tears in your eyes, you’re a stronger person than I am.

………

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of stories about bike tourism on Thursday, including —

Speaking of bike tourism, my brother is nearing the end of the first week of what has so far been a soggy ride through the Pacific Northwest, forwarding these photos from the Washington coast.

He also notes that on just the second day of his ride, a total stranger insisted on giving him $20 to buy lunch.

Another reminder that there’s real kindness in this world, if we stop arguing long enough to let it surface.

………

Someone needs to find out who is slipping acid into the water coolers in Metro’s marketing department.

And mind your manners with your bike, or get banished to a distant planet.

………

Local

Fast Company gets the story half right, saying Los Angeles is making a massive push towards zero emissions transportation, calling for 45% of cars and trucks to be electric within ten years. On the other hand, the city is backing away from its commitment to safer streets for bikes, ebikes, scooters and other forms of personal zero emissions vehicles.

LADOT has opened the semi-annual window to apply for speed humps. Which should be installed on every street until LA drivers learn how to take their foot off the gas pedal.

 

State

Governor Brown has signed an executive order requiring California to be carbon neutral by 2045, a goal the state is unlikely to meet without a dramatic drop in driving.

The San Francisco Business Journal says Prop 6, which would reverse California’s new gas tax, is a road back to the past that shouldn’t be taken.

E-scooters and app-based dockless bikeshare are behind San Diego’s plan to create a new Mobility Board focused on improving safety and re-thinking road and sidewalk designs

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 78-year old retired physician still rides 100 miles a week around his Carlsbad neighborhood. After which he returns his bike to his garage where he keeps his other 21 bicycles — down from the 50 he used to own.

Nice story from La Quinta, where police officers and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies pitched in to buy a new bike for a 6th grade girl after hers was stolen. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Nearly 100 bike riders opened the new on-road Peninsula Bikeway, providing a connection between Redwood City and Mountain View.

Streetsblog says San Francisco may be hosting the Global Climate Action Summit, but the city falls short on bicycling, walking and transit policies.

Bay Area bike riders call for change after the arrest of Rich City Rides founder Najari Smith for Biking While Black; black bike riders are six times more likely to be ticketed than white riders in Oakland.

 

National

The US House has passed the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which would provide every fourth grader with a free pass to enter US public lands by foot or bike, accompanied by up to three adults.

Reno warns drivers to watch out for more bikes on the road as Interbike comes to town.

This is who we share the roads with. After nearly running a bicyclist off the road, a Washington driver says he was taught that bike riders were supposed to yield to people in cars, and have an obligation to get the hell out of his way.

Wired considers what they call the “exquisite, intricate insanity” of Denise Mueller-Korenek’s attempt to set a new two-wheeled human-propelled speed record this weekend at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

A Minneapolis columnist wonders where bikes fit into the city’s updated transportation plan, while a city councilmember looks to the Netherlands for inspiration.

A Philadelphia trash company has settled with the family of a fallen bike rider for $6 million, as well as an agreement to improve driver training and fund local traffic safety organizations.

Evidently, they take traffic crime seriously in Louisiana, as a New Orleans driver gets 20 years for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider.

 

International

The United Nations is struggling to come up with crash avoidance strategies to keep autonomous cars from running over bicyclists.

Bike Radar offers a lucky 13 reasons to be a roadie.

Toronto bicyclists want to know why nothing has been done to fix death traps on the city’s west side.

A British writer tests Brompton’s new folding ebike, with an engine developed by an F1 team, to see if it’s worth the $4,000 price tag.

A team from Britain’s University of Liverpool has set new handcycle land speed records for both men and women, topping out at 51.86 and 41.86 mph, respectively.

After surviving a brutal hit-and-run, a bike rider says drivers in the UK show little respect for people on bicycles. Kind of like drivers everywhere else.

An Irish driver pens a letter to bike riders, insisting he doesn’t want to kill anyone, but if he does, it will be their fault for not wearing hi-viz and putting lights on their bikes. He’s right about the lights, but you shouldn’t have to dress like a clown just to ride a bike. You have an obligation to be seeable, while drivers have an obligation to see you.

A town in the Netherlands has opened a new 100-foot long bike path made of recycle plastic.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italy’s Fabio Aru apologized to famed bikemaker Ernesto Colnago for his comments after crashing when the derailleur locked up on his bike during the Vuelta; cameras picked him up yelling “cazzo di bici!”, which translates to “shit bike.”

Phillippe Gilbert unexpectedly returns to racing, two months after finishing a stage in the Tour de France with a broken kneecap.

Pro surfing is now offering equal prize money for men and women, but pro cycling has a long way to go, despite a few bright spots.

Former world track cycling champ Kristina Vogel says she’s ready to start her new life as a paraplegic after she was paralyzed in a training crash earlier this year; she hasn’t heard from the Dutch rider she collided with or the country’s cycling federation.

 

Finally…

This is what it looks like when 500 cyclists hit the wall. And if Google’s founder had his way, you could have been shot through a 35-mile tube at high speed, propelled from behind by a mixture of helium and oxygen.

Um, I don’t think so.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to [email protected] We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,
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