BikinginLA

It looks like bikeshare is finally coming to Los Angeles.

According to Streetsblog, Metro’s Planning and Programming Committee approved a contract for the first phase of the program, starting with 1,000 bikes in Downtown Los Angeles before hopefully spreading to other parts of the city.

Metro selected Bicycle Transit Systems, operator of Philadelphia’s Indego system. And they pinkie swear the system will be interoperable with the bikeshares in Santa Monica and Long Beach.

The LADOT Bike Blog says Metro’s goal is to allow rentals using a TAP card, so it becomes an extension of the transit system. And calls bikeshare an ideal fit for LA.

Which is true, as long as we have the infrastructure network in place to keep riders safe. And that currently exists only in DTLA.

Then again, this isn’t the first time it’s been promised.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica has announced their proposed rate structure, ranging from $6 for a one-hour rental to $25 a month for one hour per day of riding. Annual passes start at $119, or $79 for SaMo residents; Santa Monica College students get a discount at just $47 a year.

Looks like I may have to go back to college.

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Mobility Lab says if we want people to like bicyclists, we all need to slow down, lose our helmets and spandex and buy cruiser bikes.

Screw that.

Despite what some have to say, we won’t win any battles if we turn on ourselves, and say one way to ride a bike is right and every other way is wrong.

We should expect everyone to ride courteously and safely.

Beyond that, there is nothing inherently wrong with riding fast for sport, just as there is nothing wrong with a moderately paced ride to work or a leisurely cruise along the beach.

And there is nothing wrong with dressing for the kind of riding you do, whether that means Lycra, jeans, shorts or a dress.

Our strength comes from working together to support all forms of bicycling, by every kind of rider. Demonizing one form of riding and dividing bicycling into various camps is the best way to ensure we conquer ourselves.

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Long Beach-based bike advocate extraordinaire Charlie Gandy goes car free after his trusty Jeep dies.

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The National Brotherhood of Cyclists is attempting to band bike advocacy groups together to bring equity to the front of the movement.

Speaking of which, there will be a Ghost Bike Ride for Justice in South LA Saturday evening.

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The US amateur and junior cycling championships will come to Truckee and North Lake Tahoe next week.

VeloNews talks with Ian Crane, the pro rider who nearly died after a gut-wrenching crash through the window of a race vehicle during last year’s USA Pro Challenge.

Pro cyclist John Degenkolb says dopers are still thriving, and bike racing will never be 100% clean.

Or any other sport, for that matter.

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Local

Los Angeles residents continue to drive less.

LA’s Topanga Creek Bicycles is honored as the small business of the year for California’s 27th Senate District.

A Santa Monica traffic safety group says an analysis of traffic collisions over a 10-year period shows bikes aren’t to blame for road injuries, cars are.

A Manhattan Beach man plans to ride 3,800 miles from one Manhattan Beach to another,

 

State

San Diego cyclists may be down but not out after a kick in the pants by the local Association of Governments.

An Indio cop says he fatally shot a bike rider who hadn’t threatened him because he was mourning the death of a fellow officer. Oh, well okay, then.

Wealthy Rancho Mirage once again votes to block a planned 50-mile bike path around the Coachella Valley.

A hit-and-run cyclist flees the scene after crashing into an 81-year old woman in a San Francisco intersection. Jerk.

A Sacramento columnist calls for a ban on sidewalk riding after she and her husband are nearly hit by the sort of rider who probably wouldn’t obey it anyway. Meanwhile, a DC sidewalk rider asks why all the hate?

Davis is installing solar powered bike lockers to encourage cyclists to leave their bikes at the station.

 

National

ESPN discovers women’s bike polo. And yes, it is a badass sport.

Seven people suffering from Parkinson’s are riding 464 miles across the Rockies as part of a 30-member Davis Phinney Foundation team.

A Montana fixie-riding bike commuter experiences firsthand what it’s like to be hit by a stop sign-running driver.

A new Texas mom on her first outing after giving birth saves the life of a bike rider after noticing him slumped on the side of the road with a massive heart attack.

A local website asks how bike-friendly Louisville KY really is after the city gets bumped up to Silver status.

Evidently, aggressive cyclists are the biggest problem in the Twin Cities, as a writer offers up six ways to tell you’re a bike jerk. And London, too.

The family of a bike rider who was killed in a New Jersey amateur race settles a lawsuit against the organizers for $7.1 million; the victim collided with a race referee while riding at 30 mph.

Cute story from Philadelphia, as a young kid on a bike joins a couple of bike cops out on parole, then gets a tour of a fire station.

A bike rider once again beats a driver and a bus rider in a race to see who can commute faster in Savannah GA.

An LSU fan site says a football player should be banished from the program for beating a man and punching his girlfriend. But evidently, stealing a bike was okay.

 

International

McDonald’s introduces to-go packaging specially designed for use on bikes overseas. So what are we, chopped liver?

A Canadian boy suffering from a brain tumor gets a new bike after his was stolen.

Calgary’s new bike network comes in under budget after engineers scrap plans for bike signal lights; even so, ridership is already 25% above projections.

Caught on video: Sniggering Brit hooligans film themselves pushing a cyclist off his bike from a passing car. Hopefully authorities will show them just how stupid they were to post it online — let alone do it.

A London cyclist suffers a broken leg when he’s mugged for his bike.

An English TV presenter says bike riding is London is too dangerous, and cars should be banned from the city center. Getting rid of the blind spot on large trucks could help, too.

A Brit rider making a comeback in racing after 16 years off the bike offers advice on how to stay married and ride your bike, too.

A 19-year old British bike rider is two-thirds of the way through his attempt to become the youngest person to ride around the world.

A Dublin bike rider is searching for the Good Samaritan who drove her in search of a bike shop after she double flatted in a fall.

 

Finally…

Caught on video: A bike-riding London mayor tells an angry cabbie to “fuck off and die.” The London Press freaks out over a texting cyclist riding with no hands in relative safely.

And London’s Telegraph offers a tongue-in-cheek test to see just how much of a cycling psycho you really are.

Apparently, if I’m not a bike messenger, I should be.