It’s Monday. Or it soon will be, by the time I get this online.
Which means you can hit the ground running and get the week off to a great start. Or settle in, click a few links and put the week off for awhile.
I know which one I’d choose.
……..
Once again, no one arrived at the Oscars by bike. Roadblock says it’s time to end the epidemic of hit-and-runs in Los Angeles; I couldn’t agree more. KCET looks at the Arroyo Seco Bike Path. The L.A. Times suggests bicycling as an alternative to $4 gas; CNN says that’s already happening. Silver Lake gets a new, apparently Dr. Seuss-designed pedestrian plaza. Better Bike correctly calls for a traffic culture change in Beverly Hills. Now that’s what I call a bike lane. Pro tip: If you’re going to steal a bike after dark, bring lights with you so you don’t get stopped by police. Walk Eagle Rock offers a safer and saner alternative to traffic-heavy Colorado Blvd. A South Pasadena police officer plans to ride 300 miles to honor a fallen comrade. The Claremont Cyclist offers a look at the Fortune 700 Fixed-Gear Stage Race at the Rose Bowl. The Santa Clarita Valley will get 158 miles of bikeways under the county’s new bike plan. Long Beach cyclists could soon get a ciclovia of their own. You can now nominate your favorite Long Beach bike shop.
The California Bicycle Coalition and City of Los Angeles are co-sponsoring a reintroduction of the state’s proposed three-foot passing law; hopefully the governor will sign it this time. Bike Newport Beach offer their endorsements — and the opposite — for the city’s Bike Safety Committee. San Diego authorities ask for help solving the murder of cyclist Jordan Hickey; his brother calls the killer a coward. Ventura County cyclists have a new free smartphone app to map out the county’s bikeways. In yet another incredibly wrong-headed move, the anti-bike folks at Caltrans plan to place rumble strips on coastal Highway 1, one of the state’s most popular and scenic riding routes. Family members want to honor the 80th birthday of a man noted for giving away bikes by giving him 80 more to give away. Cyclelicious honors the woman behind Palo Alto’s bikeway system. Facebook has their own Menlo Park bike plan.
Sports Illustrated remembers the 7-Eleven Racing Team that lead the U.S. into the world of bike racing. The Atlantic Cities asks if bike paths really promote bike riding. In a remarkable attack on bicycling, officials in Colorado’s Larimer County propose relaxing restrictions on everything but cycling events; evidently, blocking streets by running, walking or driving is okay, but not by pedaling. Could this be the first bike musical? The Spanish rider paralyzed in a Kansas collision during the 201 Race Across America is riding again, using a hand-crank bike. The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin says riding in traffic can be scary, but if you obey the law, bicycling is safe. An Ohio woman gets 9-1/2 years for running down a judge while drunk. A former military base commander dies nine months after being injured in a bike accident. A new book looks at the history of fast bikes. Miami cyclists issue a call for safer streets for everyone. Orlando streets are getting safer for everyone except cyclists and pedestrians. Jacksonville area residents oppose a plan for sidewalks because it could keep streets from being expanded from three lanes to four; no wonder the state leads the nation in bike and pedestrian deaths.
Canadians are urged to stop resisting bike lanes and start embracing them. Canadian Mounties blame a cyclist’s death on the lack of a helmet — never mind that he ran a red light or got hit by a truck. The debate on bicycling by the UK Parliament shows that bike safety has crossed the Rubicon, while another writer says talk is cheap. A UK rider says hi-viz and helmets aren’t the solution to bike safety, they’re what you have to wear when you don’t have one. Brits are actually more likely to die on a motorcycle — or on their feet — than on a bike; improving safety means increasing investment. “You must be this old to ride a Brisbane bike share bike.”
Finally, a Georgia legislator introduced a bill to ban side-by-side riding because of concerns about bicycle traffic on the “curvy and increasingly mountainous roads in the state;” evidently, they must be becoming less mountainous, since he’s reached a compromise with cyclists.
And leading Dutch bike blogger David Hembrow says that’s it, I quit and I’m taking my blog with me.
I was a little disappointed with how David ended his blog…. it seemed almost like his decision was hate filled rather than due to exhaustion. I mean, I don’t have much authority or insight into his perspective but it seems he didn’t have to delete it all like that suddenly. He even says he has 6 months worth of content which nobody will ever see! Ouch! I think he should have appealed to his readers or attempted to make his blog for-profit if that’s what he wanted or would motivate him. Again, I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but I’m really just shocked at how it ended.
Oh, and thanks for linking to me 😉
I can certainly understand Hembrow’s frustration. This is hard work; I spend upwards of 30 – 40 hours a week on this blog, and his was at a level far above mine. But what I can’t understand is taken all of his work offline — that comes off more as an F-you to all his many readers.
Re: CalTrans: I personally find this disappointing, since the nonprofit I work for, Adventure Cycling Association along with America Bikes et al, worked so hard with the Federal Highway Association (FHWA) on the newest technical advisory about rumble strips and considerations for cyclists and cycling areas. I have alerted my colleagues to the story too. I will definitely be keeping an eye on how this develops.
This is random, but the multiple posts about my neighborhood (Highland Park/Pasadena/Alhambra) is inspiring me to complain about a riders in the area I often (don’t) see at night with no lights, no helmets, and invariably dark clothing. Riders so equipped are very difficult to see, even for hyper-vigilant drivers like me. Not only is it obnoxious in its senseless defiance, it give cyclists a bad reputation. I know that anyone frequents this blog is probably not an offender, but I see it all too often and far more often on my side of town than on the Westside, where I work.
Ok. That is all my ranting for the day.
Thanks for a polite rant, Karen. Ninja riders are a problem in every area, and there’s no excuse for it.
You can get a good light for $15 to $20, and get rear blinkies and reflector strips for free from LADOT and Metro. And seriously, don’t wear dark clothes after dark unless you light yourself up so you can be seen.
It’s a two-way responsibility. Drivers need to look for cyclists, but riders need to make sure they can be seen.
I’m almost tempted to hand out blinkies or reflectors (inspired by that kind story you posted months ago about a pickup driver that gave a PCH bike commuter a reflective vest) but I’m not sure how that would be received by the image-driven kids I see out at night dressed like that.