There seems to be a common thread to today’s news.
LA Magazine looks at the long and winding road to bike share in LA County; in the meantime, private bike share programs are stepping in to fill the gap.
San Diego’s bike share system plans to expand to the popular Pacific Beach nightlife and tourist zone by summer.
And plans are already in the works to expand the Phoenix bike share program after a successful first three months; Cincinnati’s program is in a growth phase, too.
……..
Local
KTLA-5 profiles Finish the Ride’s Damian Kevitt as he prepares to run the LA Marathon this Sunday, despite losing his leg to a hit-and-run driver just two years ago.
Flying Pigeon discovers signs of hope in the form of bike racks adorning the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills. Unfortunately, none are within walking distance of the many doctors I see in the city.
The president of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce says the city must choose between a bikeable, walkable and livable future or a return to the dangerous plans of the past at the city’s Planning Commission meeting on Thursday the 18th.
State
KNBC-4 looks at the ill-advised legislation to require all California bike riders to wear a helmet, while a new Tumblr site offers photos of people on bikes who would become criminals under the law. Just to be clear: I never ride without a helmet, but they are not the bicycling equivalent of seat belts or air bags; bike helmets are designed to protect against low speed falls, not high speed collisions; mandating their use in all situations will do more harm than good.
The Tour of Murietta continues to grow as it reaches it’s 10th year.
Grist cites an advocate from San Bernardino County to say building bike lanes provides a path to social equity.
San Francisco’s Oak Street Bike Lane is now attractively protected, proving that neither bike lanes nor traffic dividers have to be ugly.
National
The 15th annual National Bike Summit opens in Washington DC.
A Portland bike thief is in custody after a friend of the victim spotted the purloined bike. Meanwhile, a Port Angeles WA bike thief reportedly said nothing as he pointed a gun at his intended victim; then again, I’d think the gun spoke volumes.
Now that’s more like it. Chattanooga police start efforts to improve bicycle safety — including a radar and camera equipped bike to catch drivers violating the three-foot passing law.
A Florida cyclist is critically injured during a police chase after a woman steals a Cadillac from a car wash. And another bike rider from the same state suffered life-threatening injuries in a hit-and-run collision with yet another stolen car.
International
Cycling legend Jeannie Longo was not among the French athletes killed in a tragic helicopter collision that took the lives of ten of her countrymen in Argentina Monday.
Your old bike parts could be powering a green economy in Guatemala.
A Brit cyclist is “nudged” off her bike by a hit-and-run double decker bus.
British bike scribe Carlton Reid says it’s time for the formerly bike riding country to go Dutch.
Speaking of which, Amsterdam has everything but enough bike parking.
Finally…
Tampa is getting a new green bike lane, which will look a lot like this one in LA, which doesn’t look like that anymore. But at least the local press recognizes where the danger comes from.
And one of my life’s goals has always been to get a speeding ticket on my bike; a British rider succeeded, doing more than twice the 20 mph speed limit in a London park.
