A little this, a little that. And not much bad news, for a change.
So let’s dig right in.
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A real transportation rock star visits the city as former DC and Chicago DOT chief Gabe Klein will talk bike share at City Hall Friday afternoon. Maybe our esteemed mayor can convince him to stick around for a job interview afterwards.
Or even before. Or during, for that matter.
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I’ve gotten a report that a Huntington Beach patrol car struck a bicyclist around 11 pm last Tuesday; no word on how the collision occurred, the officer involved or the condition of the rider.
Not that they’re being tight lipped about it or anything.
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The investigation into the death of former Napster exec Milt Olin continues over a month after his death, while the Times notes that the slow pace raises questions of a cover-up.
You think?
I’ve only heard fears of that from, lets see, everyone I’ve heard from about this tragedy.
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Nine ways LA is ditching its auto-centric reputation, while Salon says the City of Angeles is experiencing a renaissance for biking and walking. But maybe not so fast, as Metro decides cyclists and pedestrians deserve only one lousy vote on their Technical Advisory Committee; God forbid they should let the hoi polloi have a say. Another meeting added to discuss the reconstruction of Santa Monica Blvd — and possible bike lanes — in Beverly Hills; Better Bike recaps the last meeting. Join Stan’s Bike Shop and the Eastside Bike Club on Saturday, the 25th to kick off April’s Tour de Cure. Manhattan Beach approves new bike lanes on Rosecrans and Manhattan Avenues. Long Beach gets to keep its green sharrows even though the Feds have pulled the plug on the popular super sharrows and green-backed sharrows. Bike Long Beach invites you to hear the Bike League’s Steve Clark talk about what we can learn from the best bike infrastructure from around the world this Thursday. Share your thoughts about the proposed San Gabriel Valley bike master plan before the end of the month. Hopefully, bicycling at Cal Poly Pomona is now a little safer, as the campus gets its first bike path; they still need to fix the streets leading to campus, though.
Here’s a bill to keep an eye on, as AB 1193 encouraging the use of cycle tracks in California passes its first committee test with flying colors. Newport Beach plans a community bike ride on Saturday. No surprise, as the accused road raging San Diego driver who seriously injured a cyclist pleads not guilty. A 71-year old cyclist is critically injured after allegedly riding into the path of a Riverside bus. Mark your calendar for the Thousand Oaks Ride 2 Recovery ride on May 3rd. Bay Area bike riders reject the idea of licensing fees. Is San Francisco America’s most bike-friendly city? Maybe so, as SF supervisors call for the city to adopt a Vision Zero, two words I have never heard escape the lips of an LA politician. The Bay Area Bike Share hits 100,000 trips in less than four months.
Should doctors do more to prevent traffic fatalities? Seven predictions that could drive the bike industry in 2014; is the youth bike boom going bust already? More curb-protected bike lanes are coming to America. A case before the Supreme Court could affect the viability of the Rails to Trails movement. Bicycling offers advice on how to break wind; a couple burritos usually do the trick for me. The incomparable Katie Compton wins her 10th national cyclocross title; VeloNews looks at the highlights of this year’s championships. A new Portland housing project will have nearly two long-term bike parking spaces for every unit, the most in the US. Arizona driver gets a whopping seven days — seven whole days! — in jail for first harassing, then crashing into, a group of pro cyclists before fleeing the scene; clearly, any expectation of justice for cyclists in the Grand Canyon State is just an illusion. Three Houston cyclists have been killed in hit-and-runs in the last 45 days. Walkers and runners are invading Austin TX bike lanes. The most impressive vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show have just two wheels. Drunken Michigan man busted for driving on a bike path. Someone is tossing tacks on a Tampa bike path; if anyone put something on a roadway that could cause drivers to crash, they’d call it a terrorist attack. Oddly, the solution to drunk drivers hitting cyclists on a Miami-area causeway isn’t banning bikes.
A London rider says drivers are out to kill him, perhaps literally; another responds — reasonably — that we shouldn’t exaggerate the risks of bike riding. Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson clearly doesn’t get the need to take the lane. A UK rider says few people are injured by bikes, and motorists who disagree should try riding one, while another says there is no we in bicycling. A Brit cyclist rides 1,350 miles to visit Auschwitz. Eighty-three-year old British man flees the scene after killing a bike rider in Spain; hit-and-run is clearly not just an American problem as another driver drives off after killing a Romanian rider in Cyprus. A UK paper says Spain’s Majorca is a bike rider’s paradise. Touring India by bike. A New Zealand cyclist denies he fled the scene after striking a 12-year old bike rider. New Zealand drivers don’t see cyclists because they aren’t looking for us; so would I be out of line suggesting that maybe they should start? Kiwi cyclists account for 60% of red light runners at four key intersections. The British woman who survived brutal conditions to set a record riding her bike to the South Pole tells her story.
Finally, the effects of texting and driving caught on camera; thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up. You don’t want this on video, as an Irish mountain biker suffers a seven week erection after crash landing on the top bar.
And talk about taking the high road, as Calexico border guards stop a bike rider with nine pounds of marijuana stuffed in his rear tire.
Thanks to John Hall for the generous donation!
