BikinginLA

Someone you know needs a new bicycle.

Just click here to read about our first bike giveaway and nominate someone who deserves to win a free bike from Beachbikes.net.

………

Is there such a thing as too much tech?

Like maybe a bike helmet with a built-in brake light, turn signals and a Bluetooth speaker, that calls for help if you crash. Pick it up if you drop it, or you may find paramedics knocking on your door.

Uni-directional bike cams are so passé. New helmets from Giro and Bell will feature a 360° video camera, though there doesn’t seem to be a road bike version planned for the near future. Then again, maybe what you need is a mini-bike cam that wraps around your wrist.

And Garmin unveils a new heads-up display that projects turn-by-turn GPS directions, texts and notifications directly onto your glasses, as well as radar alerts of traffic approaching from behind. Or you could learn to look behind you, or get a mirror, and leave all that crap behind and just enjoy the ride.

………

The amazing Katie Compton discusses battling depression, an antibiotic-resistant staph infection and a rare, cramp-causing genetic disorder, none of which has prevented her from reigning as America’s greatest cyclocross racer.

Meanwhile, North Carolina expects to see a boost in tourism from this week’s USA Cycling Cyclo-Cross National Championships, while VeloNews offers a video preview of the course. Note to press: You can call it the Nationals, Nats or the National Championships, but please don’t call it the Nationals Championships.

………

Local

LADOT Bike Blog offers timely advice on how to ride your bike through an LA El Niño, although speeding up the red lights for cyclists would be nice, too. Or you could take my approach, and just pull the covers over your head until next week.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks forward to what 2016 could bring for livable streets, including bikeshare in DTLA, protected bike lanes on Venice Blvd and showdowns over the Mobility Plan.

LA gets new bike lanes on Edgemont Street near LA Community College.

The Weekly looks on as LA’s underground bike racing culture says goodbye to the iconic Sixth Street Bridge, which will be replaced by a more modern, bike and pedestrian friendly one.

Nice piece from Jessica Langlois about acquiring her first fixie, even if the name of the bike was a tad unusual.

The Wheelhouse, a bike-centric coffee and pastry shop, comes to Downtown’s Arts District next week.

Metro’s one and only Bike Hub will be hosting a free flat tire clinic in El Monte on the 27th.

 

State

It took just five minutes for someone to get out of a car and steal a teenager’s unlocked bike outside a San Diego Target.

The annual Tour de Palm Springs rolls on the 23rd; if your legs have anything left the next day, you can stick around for a half marathon.

That planned 50-mile bikeway circling the Coachella Valley will now be subject to a vote in Rancho Mirage.

A Santa Barbara writer says trading your car for a bike can save you thousands while still allowing you to live comfortably.

HBO is looking for bike riding extras for a new series filming in Monterey.

 

National

A barely intelligible rant from an anonymous Portland woman accuses a bicyclist of “secretly incubating a veliciraptor’s (sic) egg inside (her) womb” for defending her right to the road, before she hauled off and hit the writer’s boyfriend when he confronted her for hogging it. Boy, would I like to hear the other side of this one.

Seattle residents — and a ranting writer — think a new cycle track designed to improve safety will actually make things worse for pedestrians, and ask the city to impose a 10 mph speed limit and force cyclists to stop at each of the 18 pedestrian crossings along the way. Which would be the best way to ensure riders won’t use it; besides, studies show protected bikeways improve safety for everyone, not just the people on bikes.

Now that’s more like it. A Fargo bike thief faces up to ten years in prison for stealing a $10,000 bike. I’d settle for seeing thieves serve just one year for stealing a bike worth up to a tenth of that.

Double good news from Illinois, as a pair of business owners pitch in to get a wounded vet a new adaptive bike after his was stolen; meanwhile, police recovered his bike, which will be repaired and sent to someone else with disabilities.

An unlicensed teen is charged with fleeing the scene on foot after killing a cyclist while driving a stolen car; as an 18-year old, he will likely charged as an adult. Which means he should be going away for a long time.

 

International

As most cyclists already know, beer and exercise go together. Though not always at the same time.

A famed cycling photographer is being forced to sell the barely-ridden dream bike that won best in class at last year’s UK hand-built bike show, due to a degenerative bone disorder.

A road raging London cabbie is charged with using his taxi as a weapon to ram a bike rider off the road after a dispute over parking in a bike lane.

French bicycle mechanics no longer have to be certified by the government.

A video compilation shows a series of close calls for cyclists on the streets of Malta. Which doesn’t look a lot different than riding the sometimes mean streets of LA.

Leave it to the Dutch to develop the Boncho, a stiff-front bicycle poncho. Which would certainly come in handy in LA this week; then again, so would pontoons.

A Jordanian man who wears a suit as he rides to work in Abu Dhabi says he’s never seen another Arab commute by bike.

A Namibian man rides to work in style on his self-customized bike, complete with handlebar-mounted radio and two rearview mirrors.

 

Finally…

Speaking of pontoons, why ride next to the bay when you can ride on it? Next time, try riding the bike to make a getaway instead of throwing it at the security guard.

And why settle for cowboy dreams when you can turn your bike into your very own pony?