Last week’s experiment in opening this space up for your comments worked reasonably well — especially for a holiday weekend — so we’ll try it again this week.
Feel free to start a thread on any subject, as long as it’s even remotely bike related. Bitch about traffic or infrastructure. Pitch an upcoming ride. Sell some parts. Or even complain about yours truly — a perfect for any LADOT or LACBC readers.
Think of it as your own little miniblog. Just be respectful of other users and keep it reasonably family friendly, or your comments will get the boot.
Got it?
Then get to it.
……….
Damien Newton examines the agenda for next week’s bike-only TranspoComm meeting, while LAist unveils the motion calling for a cycling anti-harassment law. L.A. cyclists could crash the first car-only Festival of Lights night (bail money is highly recommended). Hermosa Beach gets Sharrows ahead of schedule, while L.A. still talks about them. The Anonymous Cyclist offers to make your very own hand-crafted spoke-based bike tool. LA Cycle Chic offers a great photo of biking on the beach — in December, no less, in case any non-Angelenos wonder why we live here. Even the Sheriff’s Department suffers from the rash of bike thefts. And in case you were wondering, this is what a bike thief looks like. Police in San Francisco go out of their way to blame the victim. Evidently, drivers in New Jersey just don’t get it. New Yorkers who walk or bike are healthier and saner than those who don’t, while a Hunter College study confirms that Gotham drivers disregard bike lanes. Washington cyclists call for a vulnerable user law, while Missouri considers a three-foot passing law. If you’re going Down Under, be sure to pack your bike. Bob Mionske — aka the Cycling Lawyer — has some competition from this bicycling barrister. Also from Her Majesty’s Realm comes this social network for UK cyclists. The University of Surrey finds cyclists are 20 times more likely to be killed or injured than motorists. Finally, speaking of England, I’m clearing my calendar for Rooney v. Donovan on June 12th.
Two discussion points:
1. I was supposed to have ridden through the Dandenongs a couple of times when I was in Melbourne in May, but due to issues with the hire bike, it didn’t happen. However I’ll be back in March and have a hack at some of the climbing in there like 1 in 20 and the climb up from Olinda. Just have to avoid anything that looks like a flame at that time of year in there.
2. Had a shocking weekend for bike related stuff. Went out on a bunch ride on Saturday (bunch of 5 it turned out) and got two punctures (1 front, one rear) and the bike computer went on the fritz in a big way. Saturday night when planning a 4hr ride the next day I picked up a peice of malware from MapMyRide (some douchebag looks to have put a peice of script on it) and it took 3hrs to get rid of a fake ‘anti-virus’ program. Then Sunday heading out on my ride with a replaced rear tire I get about 15k into it and blow the sidewall out of tire and have to nurse it home. 🙁