Morning Links: Better Biking on SM Blvd, an East Coast view of West Coast bike paths, and busted for bike sex

Local

Mayor Garcetti officially unveils LA’s first Great Streets.

However, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton questions whether just $800,000 worth of improvements on 15 streets will really make a difference.

Better Bike offers suggestions on what can be done right now to improve safety for bike riders on Santa Monica Blvd through Beverly Hills, which could be a great street if officials in the Biking Black Hole cared enough to do anything about it.

 

State

Former LADOT Bike Blogger Christopher Kidd looks at the murky truth behind California sidewalk riding laws, which only serve to confuse virtually everyone, everywhere.

Meet champion cyclist and coach Connie Paraskevin in Corona del Mar next Tuesday.

An Ontario cyclist is in critical but stable condition after being dragged 1,000 feet under a car when the driver failed to stop. The 70-year old motorist thought he hit something, but didn’t know what — so naturally, he just kept going. He was not cited at the scene, since there appears to be no obligation to stop if you only think you hit something.

Three women riders are honored with Santa Barbara’s Velo Wing awards.

The Bike Hut offers a refuge for Bay Area cyclists riding south of Half Moon Bay. Do we have anything like that here in SoCal? If not, maybe we should.

 

National

Seriously? Bicycling magazine offers a very East Coast-centric look at the best boardwalks for bicycling; only the misnamed Marvin Braude bike trail and San Diego’s Mission Beach to PB path make the cut here on the Left Coast.

More on the protected bike lane study we discussed yesterday, as they appear to increase ridership wherever they go in.

A Minnesota writer says if Vehicular Cycling actually succeeded, it wouldn’t. Some things I might quibble with there, but an interesting read.

The sad thing is that a new law is even necessary to force New York police to prosecute drivers who hit pedestrians or cyclists that have the right-of-way.

 

International

A new study shows caffeinated carb gels really do improve performance.

Want. A British artist crafts die-cast bicycling figurines, including Breaking Away’s Cutter Dave Stoller.

A UK student develops the world’s most cut-proof bike lock.

The winner of the Giro, Columbia’s Nairo Quintana, receives a pink jersey blessed by the pope.

 

Finally…

A dog rides an invisible inverse bicycle.

Which makes far more sense than this story about a Scotsman convicted of having sex with his bicycle, which presumably was incapable of giving consent. And no, I don’t even know how you’d do that — and don’t want to. Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

 

3 comments

  1. The reason they had to pass a law forcing NYPD to file charges is NY has this stupid case law standard that unless you violate 3 or more traffic codes at the time of the collision or are chemically impaired (drunk or drugs) then you can’t be prosecuted for killing with your vehicle. They had to make it statutory that killing a pedestrian in a sidewalk is a separate crime in order to get around that. And yes I’m pissed about it every time I visit my in-laws in the state.

  2. PatrickGSR94 says:

    Interesting article on VC. I consider myself a VC’er because there are zero bike facilities in my area. I have to ride mostly 2-lane roads between home and work, but I take roads that have relatively little traffic. I avoid the 2-lane roads with more traffic like the plague.

    The problem I have with separate facilities is their (usually) poor treatment at crossings, be they roads or driveways off the main road. The few separated facilities I’ve been on are pretty bad in that regard, which is why I generally continue to use the traffic lanes in those areas.

  3. […] daily Ted. Morning Links: Better Biking on SM Blvd, an East Coast view of West Coast bike paths, and busted for… And for the record, none of my bikes had a personality that would make me want to have sex with […]

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