Morning Links: Bikes aid Paris healing, Calbike wants to know what you want, and Wilshire bus/bike lanes open

A nice moment amid all the tragedy, as a German musician towed his piano behind his bike to the Bataclan Theater following Friday’s Paris attacks, where he played John Lennon’s Imagine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfbph4VCVtk

Initial reports also indicated that that many Parisians used the city’s Vélib’ bikeshare system to get home following the attacks, though those stories seem to have disappeared.

Pro cyclists respond to the attacks, while former world time trial champ Michael Rogers worries that bike races could be vulnerable to terrorist attacks because of the close proximity of fans, who don’t undergo any security checks. Anyone who watched last year’s races where riders were punched and splashed with urine by spectators knows it’s only a matter of time before something more serious happens.

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Calbike wants to know what you think they should address in the coming legislative session.

I’m asking for bikes to have unquestioned right-of-way in bike lanes, and clarification on whether bicyclists can ride in crosswalks. Even if it does feel like I’m sending my letter to Santa.

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The final section of the Wilshire Blvd bus lanes opens today in West LA. Cars aren’t allowed to use the lanes during rush hour, but bikes can.

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I’ve long been a fan of Ride 2 Recovery and their efforts to help wounded veterans overcome the trauma of war. I’m even more a fan now, after learning they also help female vets overcome abuse.

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Local

A warrant has been issued for the man accused of pushing a young boy off the bike he’d just won at Ted Watkins Park and riding away with it; he’s considered armed and dangerous. And not above attacking a little kid.

UCLA’s Daily Bruin profiles engineering student Philippe Videau, who helped develop a unique foldable bike helmet made from mushrooms.

The CSUN student paper talks with a professor who bikes 25-miles from Pasadena to the Northridge campus twice a week.

Richard Risemberg wishes NIMBY’s would just try riding a bike to work instead of claiming people like him can’t do it.

Santa Monica authorities consider whether to explicitly ban all motorized vehicles from the beachfront bike path, including Segways and hoverboards, while possibly lifting the ban on pedicabs.

EcoVillage is hosting a Carfree Chat Tuesday night with Streetsblog Editor Joe Linton, and anthropologist and editor Adonia Lugo.

 

State

The Orange County Register looks back at the recent Tour de Coop in Laguna Beach.

National City drivers have to figure out how to back into angled parking spaces designed to increase the number of parking spaces and improve safety for bicyclists.

A Chula Vista man is found safe on Friday after somehow suffering a head injury while riding his bike; he had failed to return home after going for a ride the night before.

A Santa Maria family is looking for donations to provide new bikes to needy children for the holidays in honor of their son, who died 10 years ago. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

The driver of a San Francisco tour bus somehow lost control on Friday, hitting virtually everything in its path for nearly two blocks, including a bicyclist; four people were critically injured.

San Francisco cyclists get their first raised cycle track. And needless to say, want more.

Even though the investigation is officially ongoing, the CHP is quick to blame the victim in a fatal bike wreck when the driver is a Superior Court judge.

 

National

Even in Missoula MT, the transportation planning manager understands that crashes aren’t accidents.

The newly formed Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition calls for safer roads; they urge an end to referring to crashes as accidents, as well.

New York’s Mayor De Blasio recommits to Vision Zero, noting that speed limits have been lowered to 25 mph, and 130 streets have been redesigned to improve safety. We’ve got a long way to go to catch up, and lawsuits trying to block LA’s Vision Zero-based Mobility Plan don’t help.

 

International

Clearly, winter cycling means something entirely different for riders in the Great White North than it does here in LA.

A British man rode 5,334 miles around the coast of England and Wales to raise money for a children’s hospice.

The BBC looks at the year’s most beautiful bicycles in 10 separate categories. Not one of which is a hi-tech carbon road bike.

Eurostar backs off on a requirement that cyclists dismantle their bikes before using the London-to-Paris train beneath the English Channel.

A planned Copenhagen bike bridge will carry riders and pedestrians more than 200 feet over the harbor.

Russians are becoming more physically active, including loosely organized rides called pokatushki, similar to LA’s own Midnight Ridazz.

Add this one to your bucket list. A new 37 mile dirt bike trail circles the Thimphu Valley in Bhutan.

Over 10,000 Philippine cyclists took to the streets of Manila to support bicycling as alternative transportation and support the coming climate talks in Paris.

A Thai bike shop serves food and drinks for potential customers. Although the name of the shop seems better suited for Colorado or Washington.

Over 3,000 people attend a Taiwanese bicycling festival at Sun Moon Lake, with riders from 13 foreign countries, including the US; CNN declared the trail around the lake one of the world’s 10 Breathtaking Cycling Routes.

 

Finally…

If you’re feeling particularly fierce, how about a women’s bike inspired by The Hunger Games? Caught on video: a baby buggy attaches to a bike to form a sidecar, although the baby in it would be in his or her 60s by now; thanks to Michael Eisenberg for the heads-up.

And who needs a golf cart when you can ride a bike?

 

One comment

  1. Ralph says:

    Sent in my desires for Cal Bike to push. Implied responsibility for drivers included.

    The Sacto Judge, Wow, just wow. She was riding on the through street and he ran into her from behind of even the side. Cyclist’s fault…

    The first bike in the top 10 is a carbon fiber road bike… Just don’t think the UCI would like it for the TdF.

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