BikinginLA

Mike Wilkinson sends word that you’re probably riding on the wrong tire pressure.

A lot of people do not have the right tire pressures on their bike. If your bicycle tire pressure is too low, your bike will handle poorly, you’re more likely to get a flat, and it will be harder to pedal. If it’s too high, the ride will be rough without really improving efficiency. What’s the sweet spot?

In 2007 Bicycle Quarterly published an article that recommended setting the pressure so the tire would compress 15% when loaded. That’s hard to measure, but never fear… an app is here!

The app (sorry, Android only) is available from Amazon and Google Play. The cost is $2.50. It has some handy preconfigured options and a custom option.

Entering the numbers for my go-fast road bike, I was surprised at how much the app wanted me to lower my tire pressure. I was happy to see that I had the recommended pressure in the front tire of our tandem, but the app said I should put a lot more air in the rear tire.

It’s great fun for bike geeks like me, and it might give you a better ride for less effort!

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Looking forward to reading this new book by former New York DOT Commissioner Samuel I. Schwartz, head of Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants and the man credited with coining the term gridlock.

So far, I’ve only made it through the prologue and first chapter as I rode home on the subway the other night, and already learned more than I knew before about how we got into this auto-centric mess we’re in, and how we can get out of it.

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Streetsblog’s Joe Linton recaps Thursday’s meeting of the Planning Commission, which voted unanimously to keep Westwood Blvd and Central Ave in the LA Mobility Plan.

Wrong though he may be, at least Paul Koretz had the guts to show up in person to argue against the bike lanes on Westwood; fellow Councilmembers Curren Price and Gil Cedillo sent their staff to do their dirty work.

And the Wave newspaper reports on the protest against Price’s attempts to kill the bike lanes on Central Ave.

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Next time you fly Delta, you can see their Sky Magazine’s report on LA’s efforts to shed its reputation as the car capital of the world and become bike and pedestrian friendly.

Or you could just read about it here.

Thanks to the LACBC for the link.

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Be careful riding on PCH in Malibu, where someone has reportedly been sabotaging the roadway with tacks.

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Just a few new events we haven’t mentioned yet.

Greg Laemmle is hosting a moderately paced President’s Day Ride to visit streets and sites named after them.

CiclaValey invites you to come out for the Connect the Dots Great Streets event on Van Nuys Blvd next weekend, where he’ll be talking bikes and taking part in the Tour de Van Nuys.

Registration is now open for the 2016 Honor Ride Bear Claw in Simi Valley this April to raise funds for Ride 2 Recovery to help rehabilitate wounded vets.

The Los Angeles Bike Festival has put out a call for artists to participate in the May event.

And don’t forget today’s 7th annual Ride For Love.

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Local

LA County opens the new Milton Street Park along the Ballona Creek bike path; the park will be a stop on a planned 13-mile trail connecting the Baldwin Hills to the beach.

Glendale approves a new 1.3-mile green bike lane on Sonora Avenue.

Long Beach’s Alamitos Ave will be getting a road diet and other improvements to make it safer for cyclists, pedestrians and other humans.

 

State

Laguna Beach votes to upgrade the Top of the World bike and pedestrian trail.

Irvine-based Pedego Electric Bikes introduces an e-foldie.

A San Diego woman who rides her bike to look for and paint over graffiti in Mission Beach was badly injured in a hit-and-run; police are questioning a person of interest in the case.

San Diego considers a proposal for a half-cent sales tax increase to raise $18 billion for road and transit projects — with less than $400 million set aside for bike and other active transportation projects.

A 67-year old bike rider was seriously injured in a collision in Ventura when he reportedly turned left into the path of a car traveling in the same direction. Thanks to Melissa Pamer for the heads-up.

Police find the badly damaged car they believe killed a San Jose cyclist in a hit-and-run early Friday, though the driver was nowhere to be found; a bottle in the back suggested he or she may have been drinking.

A Dublin lawyer who got a sweetheart deal from an overly lenient judge after killing a cyclist in a hit-and-run could face a year in jail after testing positive for coke while on probation.

A St. Helena council committee votes to move forward with a bike lane that will require the loss of 14 parking spaces in front of a senior center.

 

National

Bad news for racing fans, as Colorado’s USA Pro Challenge won’t take place this year; organizers hope to regroup under new ownership for 2017.

Corpus Christi TX recommends a 290-mile bike network, created in large part by moving cyclists onto widened sidewalks.

Elgin IL cops out by deciding to install sharrows to meet a requirement to include bike lanes in a street makeover so they can get a $2 million federal grant.

Akron OH proposes reimagining the city’s overbuilt streets as walkable, bikeable parkways. Be nice to see some of those approaches used here.

Chattanooga TN is named one of seven US cities where people can retire in “bicycling bliss.” My hometown is one of the other six.

 

International

A British Columbia man is suing his parents over a mountain bike crash that left him paralyzed as a teenager, in order to protect them from the muddled world of insurance law.

Someone continues to booby trap trails in a UK wood by placing camouflaged logs on blind corners to keep cyclists from using them; it may be the same person who has been attempting to poison dogs with adulterated food.

A London physician has ridden his bike through 73 countries on six continents to treat patients, surviving a broken leg, robbery, stabbing and dengue fever in the process.

A Manila bicyclist calls for protected bike lanes to save lives in a city that averages 125 bicycling fatalities a year, despite being less than half the size of Los Angeles.

 

Finally…

Yes, going carless can be sexy. According to this sign, keep the rubber side up.

And just what the Corgi needs, a Japanese bike designed solely to take your dog with you.