BikinginLA

The madness goes on.

In an attempt to offer an auto-centric alternative to the LA Mobility Plan, a libertarian group has submitted a proposal that hardly seems libertarian.

Instead of bike lanes and bus ways, the Reason Foundation offers a big budget, big government plan to tunnel under the streets and houses of LA County to make more room for cars. The $700 billion — with a B — plan would be partially offset by tolls, presumably allowing the wealthy to zoom home while our local sans-culottes struggle through traffic on surface streets.

Although their budget does toss bikes a bone with $7.7 billion — a whopping 1% — allocated for active transportation.

But answer me one question.

Has any city, anywhere, managed to build its way out of traffic congestion?

I didn’t think so.

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Local

CiclaValley looks forward to this weekend, when professional cyclocross comes to SoCal, preceded by a ride along the San Gabriel River.

Santa Monica gets a $1 million grant to build a ramp connecting the beachfront bike path to the pier, which should improve access to the path from downtown SaMo.

A student at La Mirada’s Biola University says bikes deserve their popularity and cities like LA should invest in public transportation and bike-friendly infrastructure. He also says his professors can thank his 27-speed bike for getting him to class on time.

Efforts are finally moving forward to improve the lower stretch of the LA River south of Vernon, where the bike path has been badly neglected in places.

 

State

A 70-year old bicyclist suffered life-threatening injuries in an Anaheim collision. Let’s hope — and pray, if you’re so inclined — he pulls through.

Costa Mesa’s Orange Coast College is creating separated pathways on campus for biking and skating.

Tiny Indian Wells, population 5,100, has been ordered to pay $6 million dollars for the death of neurosurgeon who was killed while riding his bike, allegedly due to inadequate bike lanes and street lighting; the city argued that no reasonable person would ever ride a bike on that street after dark.

A Vacaville woman will stand trial for fleeing the scene after running down a disabled cyclist while she was on her way to the liquor store to replace the bottle of cheap-ass vodka she’d finished off before getting behind the wheel.

 

National

A tech writer explains why everyone in cities hates bicyclists. Start with a faulty premise, get a faulty conclusion; it’s true that some people hate cyclists, but many, probably most, don’t.

Bans on distracted cycling may be a law in search of a problem, as no evidence exists that using electronic devices while riding has resulted in deaths or serious injuries.

The Federal Highway Administration wants your input on a proposal to allow greater flexibility in designing roadways, rather than turning them all into mini-freeways.

Portland advocates place 135 life-sized white silhouettes around the city to represent traffic victims, whether they were killed while walking, biking or in a motor vehicle.

Donations are being sought to build a memorial to the decorated military dog killed by a pistol-toting Wyoming cyclist.

Fort Worth TX bike riders drop seed bombs to build bee and butterfly habitat. Just one more way bicycling is good for the environment.

 

International

It’s not often a bicycling collision can be called lucky, but a wreck while riding prevented a Canadian woman living in Paris from keeping dinner reservations at one of the restaurants hit by terrorists last week.

A cycling website looks at the ten most successful British bike racers of all time. The lower you go down the list, the more interesting it gets.

More bike rage in the UK, as an unidentified cyclist is accused of punching a driver, apparently in a dispute over a pass. Seriously, never resort to violence, no matter how mad you are or how much you think they deserve it; no good ever comes from turning anger into a crime.

A British mom is terrified when a cyclist holds his bike over her baby carriage on a crowded train.

A Brit cyclist rides 53.6 miles to raise £1,100 — the equivalent of $1672 — to aid a terminally ill Boxer puppy.

Caught on video: A rider in the UK is nearly felled by an invisible dog leash. It may be hard to see, but the woman is clearly holding something in her hand leading to the dog.

Inspirational story, as a Scottish woman gets back on her bike with her new baby, after he was born nearly two and a half months early and struggled to survive.

An Israeli startup wants to replace your cycling computer with smartglasses offering a heads-up display; the company is a spinoff from a military drone maker.

 

Finally…

Apparently, that inflatable Hövding Airbag bike helmet also protects against putting on your jacket; although it might come in handy as a flotation device when you Strava your fall into a canal. More people might ride to work if someone paid you to do it; which might be a better use of the Reason Foundation’s $700 billion.

And pro cyclists dope to get an edge; Paralympic cyclists just squash their scrotums.

………

Thanks to Todd Rowell for his generous donation to start the first ever BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive; as he put it, if there wasn’t one before, there is now.