BikinginLA

This one’s hard to watch, but sends a hard-hitting message.

A bike rider left his bike cam running as a driver drifted into him, from the actual crash all the way through to the emergency room, which has now been turned into a public service announcement by Sasquatch Films.

You can see the car start to drift into his lane while the rider is distracted by the car on his right; watching his fingers twitch as he lies on pavement post crash is one of the most haunting images I’ve seen.

Thanks to Tony K of Black Kids on Bikes for the link.

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Sometimes common sense needs to prevail.

A rider who goes by the Twitter handle of Cloud Rider writes that he and his 5-year old son were denied service on a Santa Monica Big Blue Bus during Saturday’s rain storm.

According to his complaint, the driver wouldn’t let him put the boy’s bike with a 16” wheel on the front rack, even though it fit. And wouldn’t let them bring the bike on board the bus, either, leaving them stranded in the rain.

Metro drivers are allowed to use their discretion on whether to allow bikes onboard if the racks are full and there’s room on the bus. If Santa Monica drivers don’t have that authority, they should.

And anyone who would leave a five-year old standing in the rain, regulations or not, doesn’t belong behind the wheel of a public bus.

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‘Tis the season.

Seventy needy Jurupa Valley kids get new bikes and helmets courtesy of Santa Claus.

A Palm Spring restaurant and bar donates 100 bicycles for needy children.

Lompoc riders give 120 bikes and helmets to children of military families.

Soledad police give out 100 bikes to local children, while Hollister police give 103 bikes.

Texas cyclists rode to deliver 500 teddy bears to sick kids at a children’s hospital.

Twenty-seven Chattanooga children received bikes from a local co-op.

Florida’s legendary Jack the Bike Man gave out around a thousand bikes and helmets in a single day this weekend.

But the gold medal goes to the widow of North Carolina’s Bicycle Man, who carried on his work two years after his death by giving away 1,300 bikes.

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Local

Burbank compromises on a proposed ban on riding bikes on a bridge over the LA River used by equestrians, allowing bicyclists to walk their bicycles over the dirt covered span.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson learns a lesson in pre-holiday compassion post injury.

 

State

Mark your calendar for next April, when you can join former pros Jens Voigt and Freddie Rodriguez in riding the course for the third stage of the Amgen Tour of California at the L’Etape California.

 

National

A bike-riding Colorado busboy returns an envelope with $3,000 in cash that someone left behind; he got a $300 reward for his honesty.

The judge declares a mistrial in the case of a Missouri mayor accused of intentionally running down a bike rider in a dispute; witnesses said they saw the mayor turn his wheel into the rider.

A pair of bike thieves simply walked out with a $7,000 mountain bike from a Chicago bike shop.

Blue Bloods star Bridget Moynahan is one of us, riding her bike around the Big Apple to stay fit and spend time with her son.

An Atlanta columnist gets his knickers in a twist when bike riders object to his road raging anger directed at a cyclist he somehow concluded was riding slowly just to antagonize driver. Evidently, like many angry drivers, he thinks he has the ability to read minds to determine why people on bikes do what they do, usually incorrectly.

A local paper urges Savannah GA officials to go slow in contemplating a ban on bikes in a popular park, which is a key link in a major bike route.

 

International

A new study shows eating just one and a half ounces of dark chocolate every day can improve your cycling performance. Now they just need to prove beer makes you a better rider, too.

Over 80% of bike thefts in one English town go unsolved.

A British bike rider was seriously injured when someone shoved him from behind into a tree; it wasn’t clear whether his assailant was in a car or on foot.

A Welsh stunt cyclist who was paralyzed in a failed trick tried to sell his bike to raise funds to make his home more accessible; fans pitched in to raise four times the £7,000 — over $10,000 — he had asked for, in just 24 hours.

An Indian Paralympics cycling champion rides 900 miles with just one leg to support wounded vets, and says losing his leg was a blessing in disguise.

Authorities blame aggressive drivers for a dramatic increase in cycling collisions.

 

Finally…

Yarn bombing Down Under. Bike parts hardly ever blow up, but evidently, they can shut a freeway down.

And a bike rider rescues an adorable puppy on the side of the road.

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Thanks to TheBigBlueFish for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, which is now entering it’s final few days.