BikinginLA

I’m a firm believer in supporting local bike businesses.

That’s why I was pleased to learn about NoHo-based Stashers, designed to safely secure your belongings, on or off your bike.

The company, founded by Julie Pusateri, currently has a Kickstarter campaign for a stackable, waterproof bike tube cooler and storage system capable of keeping up to four cans hot or cold, as well as stashing other items while you ride.

Unfortunately, the project still has a way to go, currently over $4,000 short of the $5,000 goal with just under a week left.

Then again, that’s not too much to make up in a short period of time.

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Another Kickstarter campaign promises to replace ankle straps to keep your pants legs and shoe laces from getting caught in your chain, while increasing visibility at night.

The waterproof Commuter Gaiter offers 77” of durable, dual-sided reflective material that wraps around your ankle when you ride.

That project has a little more time left, but still needs over $3,000 of the $4,000 goal.

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The latest ranking of the nation’s most bikeable cities places Long Beach number three among cities with over 300,000 population.

Surprisingly, though, the Bike Score ranking from Redfin, the online real estate company behind the popular Walk Score, places Santa Monica sixth among cities of any size — a full 30 spots ahead of Long Beach.

Even Pasadena — yes, Pasadena — checks in at number 20.

Meanwhile, San Diego, which USA Today listed as one of the nation’s 10 most bike friendly cities, comes in at an embarrassingly low 115. Far below moderately bike friendly LA, which ranked 72nd.

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In the Amgen Tour of California, Cavendish took his third win in five stages on Thursday, riding from Santa Barbara to Santa Clarita in the rain.

Late season snow in Big Bear forced the race to relocate the time trial to Magic Mountain; the short course helps Sagan take the overall lead. Saturday’s stage runs from Ontario to Mt. Baldy, while Sunday’s finale starts at LA Live and ends in Pasadena.

The first African team competing in the race is in it to get more bikes for people who need them. And the Inland Empire Biking Alliance will multi-modal it from points east to see Sunday’s race.

Update: The great Evelyn Stevens won the women’s time trial.

Over in Italy, the Guardian offers a great look at the Giro d’Italia in pictures over the years, while Contador slipped back into the pink on Wednesday. He may be tougher than we thought, keeping the leader’s jersey a day after dislocating his shoulder; the question is whether he can survive the mountain stages.

And he swears he doesn’t have any little motors hidden on his bike.

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Local

The LA Public Works Commission votes for cars over people, refusing to even consider anything but Option 1 for rebuilding the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge. While the plan includes bike lanes, placing a sidewalk on just one side just guarantees that pedestrians will walk in the bike lane on the other.

In a Q&A with the Times, USDOT Secretary Anthony Foxx says LA needs to be creative about bike and pedestrian facilities in light of the city’s constrained road network. Evidently, the Public Works Commission failed to read the interview before voting.

A coalition of over 30 organizations calls for 10% of any funds raised through the proposed R2 transportation sales tax extension be set aside for biking and walking.

Good piece from Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman, who says we shouldn’t forget those who bike out of necessity in our Bike Week celebrations.

Just in time for Bike Week, the first .1 mile of bike lanes for the Expo Line bikeway appears. Meanwhile, El Monte gets its first bike lane, period.

DT News reports on Tuesday’s Blessing of the Bicycles. And hey, thanks for the shout out.

The Westwood Neighborhood Council decides to put bike lanes on side streets to avoid conflicts with buses. But fails to address which of those streets, if any, are wide enough, with signalized crossing points, to support them.

Santa Monica Next revisits the history of bicycling in the city; evidently, it’s been illegal to ride on the sidewalk there for 123 years.

CiclaValley rides the Whittier Greenway Trail.

Flying Pigeon and the Living Museum host a bike ride Sunday afternoon to raise funds to restore a prized Eastside mural.

Long Beach’s annual Bike Fest returns on the 30th; meanwhile, the city is looking for volunteers for next month’s ciclovía.

 

State

Santa Ana offers OC’s first secure, covered bike parking — for a fee.

San Diego’s Bike to Work Day was rescheduled for the 29th due to Friday’s rain.

Santa Barbara becomes the latest California city to adopt Vision Zero. The question is whether any of the cities have the courage to make the hard choices necessary to improve safety. Especially Los Angeles (see Glendale-Hyperion Bridge above).

A San Francisco public health consultant calls for cyclists to be licensed and registered. Evidently, he doesn’t have a clue how discouraging bicycling would affect public health.

Sausalito continues to look for ways to reign in bike riding in the town. Evidently, 1,000 rental bikes visiting the city each day is a problem, but an unlimited number of cars is just fine.

 

National

CNN reports on cyclists using cameras to document reckless and threatening drivers; bike cam video leads to charges for a Georgia driver. Thanks to sponsor Michael Rubinstein for the links.

Red Kite Prayer looks at pro downhill racer and Pinkbike contributor Amanda Batty’s announcement that she would no longer be writing for the site. Seriously, we should be long past the days when a woman gets chased off a website for speaking her mind.

A Presbyterian pastor lists five spiritual lessons gained from breaking his collarbone and nine ribs after colliding with other riders during a century ride. Although it must have been divine intervention that prevented a concussion, because bike helmets don’t protect against that.

City Lab is the latest to debunk the myth that drivers pay for the roads.

Bike riders can get roadside assistance from AAA in more places. And no, California is not one of them.

A Portland bike rider plans to get back on his bike by August after losing his leg in a collision on Sunday.

A writer lists the six scariest things about riding in Las Vegas. Which, coincidentally, are pretty much the same as anywhere else.

A writer with the Boston Globe explains what it’s like to get hit by a car and walk away with minor injuries. Meanwhile, a Massachusetts minister says most collisions — not accidents, please — could be avoided if we’d just be civil to one another.

A New Jersey website takes a detailed look at what — or who — stands in the way of improving safety for the state’s bike riders.

 

International

In what reads like cleverly disguised unbridled sarcasm, a 50-year veteran of Toronto’s streets recommends breaking all the rules.

according to the Globe and Mail, London’s cycling cafes are a sign the city has reached peak hipster; Sir Wiggo tells riders in the city to wear their helmets, which may be safer but certainly isn’t hip.

A rider moves back to The Netherlands after getting hit by a car in London.

A US lawyer rides the length of Africa to support gay and lesbian rights, on a continent where homosexuality can result in the death penalty.

A New Zealand cop teams with construction workers to rescue a cyclist who fell into floodwaters, riding in the bucket of a digging machine to pull the rider and his bike to safety.

Kiwi riders say build roads for bikes, not just cars.

Roadways in Thailand are being littered with tacks in the latest attack on bike riders.

 

Finally…

A Chinese cyclist plans to ride the Olympic rings around the country. After a several cyclists have been killed by drunk and hit-and-run drivers on Thai roads in weeks, the country naturally responds with a proposal to license… bike riders

And an Aussie Facebook page attacking the “Cockhead Cyclists of Perth” gains 3,000 likes in two week. No, seriously, what do they really think of us?