BikinginLA

Less than one week to nominate someone you know to win a new bicycle.

Read more about our first-ever bike giveaway, and tell us who you think deserves to win a free bike from Beachbikes.net today!

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Don’t forget tonight’s meeting to discuss closing the nearly one-mile gap in the new Expo Line bike path through the NIMBY Northvale wasteland.

I’ve got another commitment that will keep me from attending, so feel free to forward your thoughts on the meeting.

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Riders making their way between Orange County and San Diego may soon have to find a new way to get there.

Or maybe not.

Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious forwards news that as of February 1st, Camp Pendleton will be closed to anyone without a sponsor and a valid reason to enter the base.

But whether that will include bike riders remains to be seen, despite the anti-bike hysteria in the comments.

The base is currently the only approved route for bicyclists connecting OC with North San Diego County, since riders are banned from the 5 Freeway. Its scenic views and relatively low, though sometimes heavily armed, traffic also makes it a very popular route for recreational riders and group rides.

Closing the base to riders would almost certainly force the state to open the freeway to bicyclists, which is the case in other areas where there is no alternate riding route. Although I can’t imagine anyone willingly trading the quiet roads of Camp Pendleton for a rock and glass-strewn shoulder with semis buzzing by at 70 mph or more.

It may turn out to be much ado about nothing, as a message from the base indicates that no decision has been made regarding bicycle access after the 1st. There have been similar scares in the past with no action taken restricting riders.

However, it does serve as a reminder that, like with the VA grounds in West LA, bicyclists are guests on federal property, and expected to act accordingly; Pendleton has their own rules that riders are expected to observe.

And while one commenter worries about bike-borne ISIS terrorists sneaking in to attack the base, it’s the people on two wheels who have faced the greatest danger.

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Just a touch of schadenfreude yesterday, as I watched a car driving in a bike lane nearly get doored by a driver who didn’t bother to look before throwing his door open.

And no, neither of them seemed to have a clue what just happened.

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Local

CiclaValley questions the necessity of closing a large portion of the LA River bike path to put up flood control barriers, and the effect it will have on businesses in Frogtown and Elysian Valley.

Bikabout offers a 12-city bucket list of where they want to wander by bike this year, including the City of Angels and our own CicLAvia.

The LA Times wonders which NFL stadium plan would screw up traffic the least; the Inglewood site got the nod from the NFL. The owner of the stadium should be required to pay for a rail extension to serve the site, as well as safe cycling infrastructure and bike parking facilities to provide an alternative to driving to the games and other events.

Santa Monica police will once again be on the lookout for traffic violations that put bicyclists and pedestrians at risk this Saturday, regardless of who commits them. So be on your best behavior while riding through the city this weekend.

Long Beach will host its second Beach Streets ciclovía on a still-secret route through the Downtown area on Saturday, March 19th, less than two weeks after the next Valley CicLAvia.

 

State

People for Bikes quotes the reactions of six Californians on Caltrans’ new guidelines for protected bike lanes, including LADOT maven Seleta Reynolds and BikeSD’s Sam Ollinger.

Bicycling says to give hoverboards a wide berth now that they’re banished to the bike lanes, since you never know when they’ll burst into flames. The magazine also talks to the amazing Jo Celso, the San Diego pro cyclist who beat Hodgkin’s to come back stronger than ever.

There’s a special place in hell for anyone who’d steal a truckload of bikes and helmets from an Oakland nonprofit serving East Bay children.

 

National

A new survey says one in ten Americans would steal a bike for $10,000; for a billion, 12% of men would be willing to kill you. Then again, I’ve run into some drivers who seem willing to do it for free.

A Portland writer panics over plans to allow mountain bikers into city parklands.

Cheyenne WY considers eliminating the city’s largely ignored bicycle licensing requirement; only one person bothered to register a bike under the current law last year.

A New York writer says a Vision Zero law protecting pedestrians and bicyclists isn’t necessary because, you know, accidents happen and drivers just can’t be held responsible for killing someone.

A Baltimore bicyclist tried to use his bike to defend himself from a group of attacking teenagers.

Horrific testimony from an Alabama cyclist in the trial of the driver who ran down her two riding partners; the driver claims the sun was in his eyes, though she disputes that.

More evidence that bicycling benefits Parkinson’s patients, as a patients’ symptoms disappear during a Maryland spin class.

 

International

A university professor is riding across Canada virtually. Which isn’t the same thing.

A Toronto driver will serve the next three months behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider, weekends only. This has got to be a joke, right?

A Brit bike shop owner laughs at some of the absurd gear the industry tries to push on us.

Now that’s more like it. A prolific British bike thief has been given a lifetime ban from even coming within 13 feet of bicycle unless he can prove he owns it.

A road raging driver from the UK gets nearly five years for the death of a 69-year old bike advocate following an argument; the Afghan vet, who suffers from severe depression and PTSD following his service, says he doesn’t even remember making contact with the victim’s bike.

Madonna’s ex is one of us, too.

Copenhagenize says yawning bike riders are the best sign of a bicycle-friendly city.

India plans to build smart cities to address the country’s many urban ills; a writer says smart thinking about bicycles needs to be part of the process.

Caught on video: A dashcam view catches a truck driver fleeing the scene after toppling a bike rider; fortunately, the cyclist bounces back up to his feet.

 

Finally…

It’s one thing to get pissed off at a driver; spitting and hurling racial abuse is another matter. Seriously, if you’re going to ride your bike to a friend’s house when it’s 8° outside, put some damn gloves on.

And that’s one way to do it, as two boys each take a pedal to share a single bike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfNndLkhF6s