BikinginLA

A few random images from Sunday’s CicLAvia.

 

All in all, it was another great day in LA.

But was it my imagination, or was attendance off a little this year?

………

Caught on video.

After a New York cyclist is bumped by a passing car, the driver gets out, claiming to be a cop, and tells the rider that bikes don’t belong in the streets before threatening to arrest him.

But he doesn’t look or act like a cop to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g479bH9h8JM&feature=youtu.be

Just to clarify, bikes are allowed on virtually every street, everywhere in the US.

And driving on after bumping a bike rider with your mirror is hit-and-run — and impersonating an officer is a felony.

………

Local

USC students bike to CicLAvia to promote the coming MyFig project.

Southeast LA residents come to the LA River bike path to reclaim their part of the river.

Evidently, voter apathy is nothing new in LA.

 

State

A transportation policy analyst with a libertarian non-profit group says Orange County should encourage bike commuting, and the best way do that without slowing traffic is to narrow traffic lanes to create two and a half to three foot wide bike lanes. Which is barely wider than the bikes and riders that would use them; the Federal Highway Administration says bike lanes should be a minimum of four to five feet.

Thirty cyclists ride the streets and bikeways of Coronado to protest the city’s decision to cancel plans to paint those vertigo-inducing bike lanes.

A 72-year old cyclist suffered life-threatening injuries in a collision in San Diego’s Miramar neighborhood; he allegedly attempted to cross the street against the light.

Two hundred wounded vets are making their way from Palo Alto to LA with Ride 2 Recovery.

San Francisco cyclists will soon get the city’s first raised bike lane, for two whole blocks.

A 9-year old Sacramento boy is recovering after one and a half months in an induced coma, following the July collision that took his father’s life as they rode their bikes; the driver was reportedly reading a text message when he plowed into them from behind.

 

National

A new rear-view right hand camera system developed by Honda promises to eliminate right hooks. Unfortunately, it’s activated when the driver puts on the right turn signal, so if the driver doesn’t signal, you’re screwed.

An armed Wyoming bike rider killed a hero bomb-sniffing dog who had won two Bronze Stars with his handler during two tours in Iraq; the bicyclist claimed the dog attacked him, even though no one heard it bark and the dog was shot from behind.

Kansas designates 487 miles of roadway as part of US Bicycle Route 76, which is planned to stretch from Oregon to Virginia.

Louisville bike riders enjoy the fourth yearly CycLOUvia open streets event.

A Maine driver is under arrest after fleeing a collision that left a 14-year old bike rider with critical injuries.

An Atlanta musician is expected to accept a 15-year sentence for attempted murder and a long list of other charges after he allegedly ran down a bike rider he’d argued with; his victim appears to have suffered permanent brain damage.

A Florida cyclist doesn’t seem to have been seriously injured after he was hit by a drunk driver who was over 2.5 times the legal limit when police tracked her down after fleeing the scene; it was her second DUI. Another example of authorities keeping drunks on the road until they injure or kill someone.

 

International

A Vancouver city counselor calls for licensing bikes to identify cyclists after a pregnant woman had a run-in with a bike rider. Never mind that a license large enough to be read at a distance would be too large to put on a bike.

A Brit Tour de France TV host says the conversation about cycling needs to move past lazy stereotypes about red light-running maniacs.

Cyclists are going to Goa to compete in the Indian region’s first International Mountain Bike Challenge.

New Zealand completes a soaring elevated bikeway over a complex interchange.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and drug paraphernalia on your bike and have an outstanding warrant, don’t ride salmon — let alone flee from police when they try to stop you.