BikinginLA

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of publications from the DMV about bicycling and sharing the road with cyclists.

But this is the first one I’ve seen that really gets it right — even if it is a tad light on instructions for motorists.

It even answers the question the LAPD has struggled with for the past year, explaining that bike riders can, in fact, ride in the crosswalk. Although it doesn’t say anything about whether riders have to cross with traffic, or if crosswalks are bi-directional for cyclists just as they are for pedestrians.

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A preliminary hearing is scheduled Monday for Jason Cox, charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run resulting in death or injury for the death of cyclist Michael Vega in Rancho Cucamonga last August.

Unfortunately, this case will be held in Bernardino County, where the lives of cyclists seem to have little value.

Update: I had originally misplaced Rancho Cucamonga in Riverside County, rather than San Bernardino. Thanks to JG for the correction.

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The London Guardian says you can, in fact, look good on your bike. And they’re right, epecially if you invest in the Pee-Wee Herman skin suit.

Meanwhile, Bicycling offers their sartorial advice on dressing for cold weather.

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L.A. City Councilmembers Joe Buscaino and Mitch Englander take up the city’s hit-and-run epidemic; Englander calls for impounding vehicles of drivers who flee, maybe he’s been reading my blog? The Times looks at Gil Garcetti, bike-friendly photographer and former DA — and father of current mayoral candidate Eric Garcetti. Long Beach’s biking expats are back in SoCal after returning to the scene of a beautifully challenging ride near Solvang.

There was actually a time when Riverside was a center for cycling. Plans are underway to remake Orange County’s Moulton Parkway to add sidewalks and bike lanes, and unfortunately, widen the roadway, which will undoubtedly increase speeds. Coronado ignores Caltrans and approves bike corrals throughout the city. Oceanside plans to rebuild PCH on a more human scale, making it bike and pedestrian friendly. When a reader asks why Los Gatos is so unfriendly to cyclists, a town official swears it ain’t necessarily so. A popular 90-year old Livermore resident struggles to recover from a December collision with a 70-year old cyclist. San Francisco plans to spend $200 million on bike projects over the next five years.

60 Minutes discovered something fishy was going on in cycling back in 2001; but don’t forget cycling is just people on bikes. Bicycling says now Greg LeMond can be the American hero he always should have been; it didn’t hurt that his name was on the bike ended up buying when I was shopping. Colorado Springs depends on bikes for freaky fast delivery. Memphis officials discuss the benefits of bike lanes. It shouldn’t take the tragic deaths of two teenage cyclists to bring their families together. Bikes are good for business, but how can cyclists make their presence known? Bicycles and Mack Trucks have exactly the same rights to the roads.

A Vancouver cyclist responds to his stolen bike by inventing a new cable lock hidden in the seat post; here’s the link to the Kickstarter page, courtesy of Bill. A UK driver flees the scene on foot after killing a couple riding their recently purchased tandem. A British mother wants to thank the driver who hit her bike-riding son for exposing the tumor that could have killed him. Another Brit hit-and-run driver faces jail for claiming his car was stolen, but not for the cyclist he killed. As usual, the Cycling Embassy of Great Britain offers a long list of mostly, but not exclusively, UK-centric bike links. Touring the Loire Valley by bike. Now that’s scary, as an Australian cyclist is critically injured after riding into a downed power line. The internet is killing Aussie bike shops. A Singapore physician is charged with five counts in the hit-and-run death of one cyclist and seriously injuring another; are you starting to notice a theme here? Bangkok cyclists put pressure on candidates for governor to improve the city for bicycling.

Finally, having evidently solved the problem of distracted drivers maiming and killing people with their multi-ton vehicles, the biggest traffic problem in New Zealand is now texting cyclists. And another Kiwi writer politely says these roads are mine, so keep your damn Lycra-clad asses off it.

Loosely translated, of course.