BikinginLA

Hell has officially frozen over.

As we mentioned earlier, the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills is looking for people to test out their coming bikeshare system starting this week. Volunteers can check out the bikes and ride for free for up to one hour.

The abbreviated two-station pilot program, based on the same CycleHop system as Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare, is starting with stations at Beverly Hills City Hall and next to the Wells Fargo bank at Camden Dr. and Santa Monica Blvd.

The latter is where these photos were taken, proving that one of the least bike friendly cities in the LA area really is moving forward with bikeshare. And plans to have the full 10 station system up and running this April, even before Downtown LA’s long-promised bikeshare moves beyond the vaporware stage.

Of course, the question is what happens when up to 50 bike riders at a time, many of them most likely tourists with little or no knowledge of the area, hit the city’s overly crowded, auto-centric streets with their near-complete lack of bike lanes or any other bicycling infrastructure.

Santa Monica, Long Beach, and to a lesser extent DTLA, are ready for bikeshare.

Beverly Hills, not so much.

Meanwhile, Long Beach’s long delayed bikeshare system may finally be up and running this spring; it will be based on the same system as SaMo and the BBHBH.

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Cyclelicious says changes to California’s CEQA regulations could boost active transportation; the outdated, auto-centric Level of Service will be replaced by a more flexible Vehicle Miles Traveled standard.

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Local

The owners of the Sherman Oaks Vespa shop raise more than $4,000 to buy a new bike for a Burbank boy with cerebral palsy after his was stolen by a homeless man; his old bike was recovered after the new bike had been ordered, and will be fixed up and donated to charity.

CiclaValley looks at his riding buddy and pro cyclist Phil Gaimon’s Malibu Gran Cookie Dough ride in November.

 

State

A 68-year old Gilroy man suffered life-threatening injuries in a collision.

A Redwood City man uses Tile to recover his stolen $2,400 bike in San Francisco; whoever stole it apparently put some serious miles, with an extra 300 miles on the odometer in just three days.

The judge who bent over backwards to give a San Ramon lawyer a slap on the wrist for the drunken hit-and-run death of a cyclist now threatens to give him a tougher sentence for lying about his wife’s health to delay sentencing in the case. Never mind that he already violated his probation by failing a drug test.

Only 18% of the residents in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district own cars, yet the streets are designed to funnel motor vehicles, with no plans for bike lanes.

The Sacramento Bee makes the case for why the city needs a bikeshare system.

Chico cyclists erect a new bike-related artwork in honor of a long-time local advocate.

 

National

A woman was inspired to ride across the US by her grandfather’s death when she was just 16, carrying his ashes in a locket.

More proof that bike commuting is good for you, as a Provo UT man loses 100 pounds in just one year of riding to work.

Evidently, police in Austin TX think the way to achieve Vision Zero is to chase people off the sidewalk.

In the latest study from the University of Duh, Michigan researchers figure out that skilled cyclists are better at controlling their bodies when they ride, and have to make fewer large corrective moves than less experienced riders.

A new report looks at protected bike lanes in New York City. Which will likely induce envy in bike riders most everywhere else.

The Bike Law website gets it. After their webmaster was critically injured in a North Carolina collision, they vow to never call crashes “accidents” again. Period.

 

International

The rate of bicycling has tripled in London over the last 15 years, while driving has dropped 50%, even though the city continues to lag behind other European cities in encouraging cycling.

Brit bicyclists are warned about bike thieves sawing through bike racks, then covering it up with gaffer’s tape. That’s a common bike theft technique here as well, with cuts often covered by bicycling stickers; always check the integrity of a rack before locking up if you see any stickers or tape on it.

Study bicycling and bike infrastructure in Copenhagen with People for Bikes this June for just $5,000, plus airfare.

The Guardian aptly observes that the draconian new bike laws in Australia’s New South Wales seem designed more to deter bicycling than protect riders from motor vehicles.

 

Finally…

Your next bike may be printed instead of built, whether you prefer a titanium roadie or a foldie. A homeless man’s claim to fame is stealing Bruce Springsteen’s bike back in the ‘60s.

And you know your proposal to allow motor vehicles on a 243-mile bike and pedestrian trail really sucks when even bike haters think it’s a bad idea.