A busy bike weekend, the world championships and enough links for a full weekend

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Another busy weekend in the world of bikes —

The final hearing for the proposed bike plan is scheduled for 10 am Saturday, October 2, in Van Nuys.

The Long Beach Green Port Fest takes place on Saturday, October 2, with bike valet and guided rides to the event departing every 45 minutes, as well as a guided pre-event bike tour beginning at 9 am.

The free AltCar Expo continues Saturday the 2nd at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium from 10 am to 5 pm.

Free bike skills workshop for parents, teachers and students at 1 pm on Saturday, October 2nd at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica. Also Saturday, Linwood E. Howe Elementary School in Culver City will host a bike repair and education workshop from 10 am to 1 pm.

The second Folk Art Bike Ride rolls on Sunday, October 3rd at 12:30 pm, starting and ending at the Craft and Folk Art Museum at 5814 Wilshire Blvd. The easy, 6.5 mile route stops at several restaurants, galleries and cultural centers along the way; the first one got rave reviews, so don’t miss out.

A very full agenda as the L.A. Bicycle Advisory Committee meets on Tuesday, October 5th at 7 pm at the Community Room of the Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall.

Explore the effects of bicycles on art and culture at the Grand Opening of Re:Cycle — Bike Culture in Southern California, October 7th – 9th, at U.C. Riverside’s newly relocated Sweeney Art Gallery at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts3834 Main Street in downtown Riverside. A reception will be held from 6 – 10 pm Thursday, October 7th; the exhibition continues through December 31st.

L.A.’s first CicLAvia takes place from 10 am to 3 pm on Sunday, 10/10/10 along a free seven-plus mile route through Downtown, MacArthur Park and Hollywood; walk, bike, skate, dance or just hang out. Note: Santa Monica’s ciclovia, which had been planned for the same day has been postponed for now; thanks to Eric Weinstein for the heads-up.

New Belgium Brewery’s Tour de Fat makes its first L.A. stop on Saturday, October 23rd.

………

Italian racer Giorgia Bronzini wins the women’s world elite road race championship, defeating Marianne Vos and Emma Johansson in a final sprint. Australian — and new Rabobank — rider Michael Mathews wins the under-23 world road race championship over John Degenkolb of Germany; Taylor Phinney ties for third in a dead heat with Canadian Guillaume Boivin.

European journalists say the evidence in Contador’s doping case points to an illegal blood transfusion. Next up in the seemingly endless parade of banned bike racers is Spain’s Margarita Fullana after testing positive for EPO; even Ivan Basso’s sister is banned for dealing in prohibited substances. Armstrong’s teammates say if he doped, they didn’t see it.

………

The LACBC has several volunteer opportunities coming up this month. Gary says if you belong to AAA, you’re part of the problem. Evidently, cyclists aren’t the only ones who want to reclaim the streets. The Ballona Bike Path gets a facelift through Culver City. It isn’t illegal to smoke while walking on the bike path in Santa Monica — but isn’t it illegal to walk on it? Authorities plan a crackdown on distracted driving this Tuesday, while Claremont Cyclist looks at what can happen as a result; amazingly, police consider the death of one of their own an accident, even though it occurred off the actual roadway. Those mobile billboards blocking the bike lane may soon be a thing of the past. Learn how to ride fast — like No Whip, who explains what it’s like to compete in this weekend’s Furnace Creek 508 mile race through Death Valley and environs.

Cycling lawyer Bob Mionske looks at the hit-and-run epidemic. The average award in bicycle injury cases is $279,970, but before you cut in front of that SUV, bear in mind that the plaintiffs prevail in just 41% of court cases. Home buyers are looking for bike accessible properties. A Phoenix cyclist says he doesn’t like to undertake cars in the bike lane, even if that’s what the signs suggest. A New Mexico writer calls for greater democracy at the League of American Bicyclists. The Texas driver responsible for killing a married couple as they rode their tandem — as well as one of the most heartbreaking photos I’ve ever seen — faces trial for two counts of criminally negligent homicide. Dallas authorities are urged to ban bikes from a popular bike trail after a jogger is critically injured in a collision with a cyclist. Before and after photos of protected bike lanes on a major Missouri River bridge. An Indiana police officer was officially on duty when he was killed by a driver while riding just minutes after the end of his shift. As of Friday, Maryland is the latest state to have a three foot passing law, while Norman OK considers one of its own; isn’t it time that California was next? A cyclist waiting for the light to change dies in a pinball collision, becoming the sixth Tampa Bay cyclist killed in just weeks; could Florida’s no-fault insurance law be a contributing factor in that state’s high rate of bike and pedestrian deaths? An introduction to bike boxes, which Seattle drivers seem to hate.

Ten bad riding habits and how to break them. Northern Ireland plans a state-of-the-art world mountain biking center. British police crack a one-man bike theft ring responsible for snatching at least 70 bicycles. A London writer claims to have sort-of invented the hybrid bike. A UK cyclist moves from Paralympic swimmer to Commonwealth Games cyclist. Biking from London to Paris without getting lost — or wet, presumably. Cambridge faces a rash of road raging cyclists ramming their bikes and fists into cars; I suppose it’s not possible that drivers are simply hitting them.

Finally, the Wall Street Journal says foldies are officially cool. But wouldn’t the ideal commuting bike have a built-in briefcase?

Of course it would.

7 comments

  1. Eric Weinstein says:

    Sorry Ted – RE: “Santa Monica holds its first ciclovía the same day along Main Street south of Downtown Santa Monica.”

    Nope – not yet.

    We’re going to the LA one though!

    • bikinginla says:

      Hey Eric — does that mean the Santa Monica ciclovía isn’t going to happen next week? And if so, is it going to be rescheduled, or is it dead for now?

      • Eric Weinstein says:

        The Santa Monica ciclovia is in the reasoning, planning, fund raising stages. The committee counldn’t get it signed off by the many depts of the City of Snata Monica, (nor do we have the estimated 30K cash) by 10.10.10. It will happen in the reasonable future. Interested in helping?

        • bikinginla says:

          Thanks for the info, Eric. These days, I’m overcommitted as it is, but keep me in the loop and I’ll be happy to do what I can.

  2. The Trickster says:

    We got a bronze in the World TT’s with Linda “I’m a Kiwi even though I don’t look or sound like one but NZ’ers will love me anyway for doing well” Villumsen but my coach had a bit of a crap ride sadly. Then again the TT course wasn’t his kind of course.

    I was hoping for bigger things from Michael Vink but then again not sure how his season went in Belgium this year.

    • bikinginla says:

      The worlds are tough because it’s one race, one day. If you’re having a bad day or it’s not your kind of course, that’s it — no chance to make up for it the next day, or the next race.

      Congrats on the bronze for Villumsen, though. But just what does a Kiwi look like?

      • The Trickster says:

        Yeah, my coach was always going to be up against it seeing he’s not riding Pro-tour or anything. While he’s fricking quick its another step up again.

        Bike riders? No different to elsewhere except a bit more pasty.

        I won’t post what I was going to say about our attractiveness as a nation. All I’ll say is that we probably tend to look a bike like Yorkshiremen.

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