BikinginLA

Yes, I’ve been busy this week.

But no, I haven’t neglected your insatiable need for the latest breaking bike news; it just took me awhile to clear the decks and get around to it.

So fire up a cup of Joe and kick back for little light reading; it’s supposed to be too cold and damp for all but the hardiest riders to venture forth today, anyway.

And check out LA Streetsblog later today when I should have a report on double-parked trucks and otherwise blocked bike lanes in Santa Monica, as I continue to pitch hit for SaMo correspondent Gary Kavanagh.

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Lots of bike and other related events scheduled for the coming weeks:

UCLA will host an L.A. mayoral debate at Royce Hall on the 22nd; meanwhile, Streetsblog challenges the candidates to a virtual video debate. SCAG invites you to discuss Bicycle Planning and Facilities Implementation on the 22nd, as well. Bicycle Kitchen is holding a fix-a-flat workshop on the 27th. Caltech Bike Lab teams with C.I.C.L.E. to offer defensive cycling classes; seriously, learning to ride defensively is probably the most important skill you can develop as a rider.

Registration is open for the 2013 UCLA Complete Streets Conference next month. And LACBC will host the city’s first Bike Prom on February 23rd; I think my tux still fits.

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Only 90 more signatures are needed to support bike lanes on North Figueroa; I was number 410 out of the 500 required.

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Do we really have to discuss Lance? Alright, let’s get it over with.

As you must know by now, Lance Armstrong will sit down for a 90 minute interview with Oprah — yes, Oprah. Patt Morrison looks at Lance Armstrong and America’s questionable taste in heroes. Ten questions Oprah should ask Lance. Lance still claims those Tour de France victories, on Strava anyway. One key to survival is selecting the right enemies; Lance evidently erred badly in taking on fellow ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis. And Lance reportedly offered the US Anti Doping Agency a $250,000 bribe donation in 2004.

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L.A.’s proposed bike parking ordinance is on it’s way back to the full city council. The city offers FAQs for the proposed street resurfacing bond we discussed yesterday; a vote is put off until next week after advocates take a stand. Bicycle Fixation reports progress at this week’s BPIT (Bicycle Plan Implementation Team) meeting. Metro offers advice on taking your bike on the train. Subtle successes in efforts to take back Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock.  Over 300 cyclists ride to remember PV Bicycle Center owner Steve Bowen, who died while riding shortly before Christmas. Hermosa Beach bike thieves don’t just steal a bike, they take the whole bike rack.

Orange County tries to get drugged drivers off the road. Newport Beach bike advocates and city officials discuss how to spend $300,000 in bike improvement funds raised recently; evidently, delivery trucks block bike lanes in Newport Beach, too. BikeSD finds a friendly reception when cyclists storm the San Diego City Council to protest recent biking deaths. Presenting San Diego’s bike advocate of the year. A new bikeway will connect San Diego’s Imperial Beach with the Bayshore Bikeway. Cyclists accuse Caltrans of ruining the roadway on Hwy 1 above of Cambria; then again, isn’t that what Caltrans does? The Times says Yosemite would be better off with fewer cars and more bikes; pretty much the opposite of the Park Service’s new management plan. An East Palo Alto man with eight prior felony convictions faces charges after hitting a cyclist last October, then getting out of his car to look at him before driving off. San Francisco’s most dangerous intersection will get a new red light camera to stop illegal right turns after more than 50 cyclists and pedestrians are injured over the last decade. East Bay bicyclists can now attend traffic school instead of paying a fine. A San Ramon lawyer who faces charges for the hit-and-run death of a cyclist last May claims he didn’t know he hit a human being; then again, he didn’t stop to find out, either. In a tragic turn of events, a Sonoma County cyclist survives a hit-and-run, only to be killed by a second car as he tried to get up.

How to teach a kid to ride a bike. Fifty places to ride before you die. Free People features girls — and boys — on bikes. Fewer Americans are buying their bikes at their local bike shop. Oregon leads the nation in bike-centric traffic signals; I’ve never actually seen one in the wild. A Seattle driver deliberately Jerry Browns a cyclist following a dispute over whether the rider stopped for a stop sign. L.A. transplants come to the aid of a Vancouver WA couple who had their tandem bike stolen. Six bike brands team to create a biking hotspot in Denver. A Minnesota writer takes the contrarian view that maybe bicycling isn’t that good for you after all. New York is about to provide parking for 24,000 bikes by converting 12,000 parking meters into bike racks. Bike riders haven’t been forgotten in plans for the upcoming presidential inauguration. A Virginia man is, understandably, upset that a planned bike path will go through his back yard.

A Canadian physician opposes bike lanes because they could slow his return to the hospital in an emergency; never mind that better fitness for his patients could make those emergencies less frequent, as could safer streets. Great infographic on who rides through London red lights. The Guardian says biking in hi-viz may not be as safe as you think; or at least they will, once they get their shit act together — wait, there it is now! A five-step guide to the un-stealable bike. Two UK street racers face four years in jail for killing a cyclist; too bad for them they didn’t do it in San Bernardino County. A Brit rider gets hit with the equivalent of a $1600 fine for riding salmon. Evidently, there’s a pecking order to Brisbane bike riders. Now that’s what I call a woman — an Aussie woman passes away 66 years after she and a companion set out on a three year bike tour of the continent.

Finally, I’m not impressed with the new Dutch heated, glow-in-the-dark cycle tracks; we could do the same thing if Caltrans would just approve paving bikeways with uranium tailings.