BikinginLA

Wednesday was a good day for the LA Times editorial department.

First up is a ringing endorsement of the seemingly troubled My Figueroa project, which would create the city’s first complete street if the local councilmember and various bike lane-hating businesses — hello Felix Chevrolet! — would just get out of the way.

Yes, they note, the project may result in some traffic congestion until motorists adjust their routes or adapt to other forms of transportation. But as they put it —

Mayor Eric Garcetti and the City Council should not let fears of traffic congestion turn this transformative project into another incomplete street.

Meanwhile, another writer for the Times notes that bicyclists are not the only ones who will benefit from the project.

But only if City Hall has the courage to say yes to a project that will benefit everyone. Including the people and businesses currently opposing it.

On a related subject, Times writer Paul Thornton correctly calls the city out for failing to patch the roadway before painting bike lanes.

Like the cracked and badly patched pavement the passes for a bike lane on 7th Street, which too often calls for an ice pack in a very private place by the time I get home. Over in the UK, they sue for that sort of thing.

And Cycling Unbound takes on Tuesday’s Times opinion piece that tacitly endorsed running down cyclists who have the audacity to complain about nearly getting run over.

Funny how bike riders’ instinct for self-preservation so often looks like self-righteousness to uncomprehending motorists.

……….

A high desert official says if cars can’t pass your bike safely and there’s no place to pull over, you have to get off and walk your bike.

Uh, no.

You are required to pull over and let cars pass if, and only if a) you are on road with only one lane in your direction, b) you are traveling at less than the speed of traffic, and c) there are at least five vehicles stuck behind you and unable to pass. If they can go around you, you aren’t impeding anything.

And there is absolutely nothing in the law that would require you to get off your bike.

However, that’s not to say you can’t be polite and pull over to let cars go by. Anytime I take the lane, I try to move right and wave trailing traffic around me when it’s safe to do so.

……….

Mentioned this one over the weekend, but it bears repeating, as Sheriff’s investigators prepare to turn the results of their investigation into the death of cyclist and former Napster exec Milt Olin over to the DA’s office for evaluation. Don’t hold your breath for criminal charges, though; I suspect this one would have been brushed under the carpet along time ago if it had just been you or me under that deputy’s car.

The LACBC calls on Metro and LA County to fight for our share of active transportation funds.

Outgoing County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky looks at Metro’s Bicycle Roundtable, and notes that bicyclists are no longer the squeaky wheel that gets ignored. Even if there is room for improvement.

Long Beach’s traffic calming dinosaurs go the way of the stegosaurus and non-speeding motorists.

San Diego’s Bicycle Film Festival starts this weekend.

Cyclelicious explains why the Fourth Power Rule means cyclists shouldn’t have to pay for the streets we ride on. Or if we do, SUV drivers should be prepared to write a very large check.

San Francisco okays a project to give unclaimed bikes to the poor, starting with low-income at-risk youths. Now that’s a program I can get behind.

When you’re raging against a driver, remember you’re the one who’ll come off looking like a jerk, no matter how much he or she may deserve it. Which explains why some of the videos I record will never see the light of day.

It’s a mixed bag in court for the fallen king of pro cycling, as Lance loses in Texas and wins in LA. But aside from his financial advisors, does anyone really care anymore?

The Canadian politician who killed cyclist Darcy Allen Sheppard is attempting to make a comeback five years later. Unfortunately, his victim won’t be making a comeback anytime soon. Or ever.

A South African bike commuter races for his life to escape armed robbers chasing him in a car, before finally giving up his bike at gunpoint.

A reminder from Tokyo to ride safely around pedestrians. And not just because it could be you that ends up going to the hospital.

Oh, so that’s the reason women don’t ride in greater numbers: it’s the helmets. Or maybe not.

Finally, a Jupiter FL cyclist gets a $3 million dollar settlement for a dooring — yes, million — and his wife gets over half a million for loss of consortium.

Don’t tell my wife, or she’ll ask me to start riding in the door zone. Something tells me she’d gladly trade consortium for a cool half mil.