Word broke today that Nobel Prize-winning UC San Diego researcher Roger Tsien died last week while on a bike trail in Eugene OR.
He won the prize in 2008 for his work in identifying a green fluorescent protein found in jellyfish that could be used as a biological marker to help illuminate diseases such as cancer and HIV.
No word on how he died, or if he was biking at the time.
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A 31-year old homeless man has died a month after he was shot by Santa Ana police.
Richard Gene Swihart was riding his bicycle near the Santa Ana Civic Center on August 1st when police tried to stop him and he began struggling with the officers. Swihart was shot after allegedly attempting to grab an officer’s gun.
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This is why people continue to die on our streets.
A Cincinnati woman gets 13 years for the hit-and-run death of a popular cyclist; at the time of her arrest, she had ten drugs in her system, a bra full of prescription pills, and a purse filled with syringes and a tourniquet. And was driving on a suspended license, with two previous convictions for driving while suspended. Ohio Bike Lawyer Steve Magas, a friend of this site, questions whether justice was done by the harsh sentence, even though he represented the victim’s family in the case.
And the family of a Detroit traffic victim wants to know why a 12-time drunk driver was still on the streets.
Which is a damn good question.
Both of these drivers had already shown themselves unable, or unwilling, to get sober and obey the law, and therefore unfit to drive. Yet they were on the roads anyway.
It’s clear that innocent victims will keep dying until authorities finally start to give a damn. And find a way to keep people like this from ever getting behind the wheel.
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Today’s debate is over whether power meters should be banned from professional cycling; VeloNews looks five other things that could have ruined cycling, but didn’t.
Chris Froome finally made his move in the Vuelta on Wednesday.
The first all-African women’s team will begin competition next year.
Sad news from Columbia, as a 22-year old cyclist was killed after loosing control on a descent during the country’s under-23 tour.
And if a cyclist continues to race despite being banned, the obvious solution is to extend his suspension so he can keep doing it.
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Local
Metro is exploring various rail-to-trail options to connect a coming bike path through the Southeast Cities with the LA River.
West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals bikeshare is now officially a go, though virtually all of the docking stations are centered on the Santa Monica Blvd corridor, ignoring the popular Sunset Strip and other parts of the city.
Today is the official grand opening of the new and improved California Incline leading from PCH up the bluff to Santa Monica — now with walkways and protected bike lanes.
Finish the Ride and Velo Studios are hosting the free community ride Tour de Griffith Park: An Introduction to Safe and Fun Riding this Sunday.
State
Newport Beach police are gearing up to increase enforcement and improve safety measures around schools following the death of eight-year old Brock McCann as he rode home from school last May.
A self-described longtime San Diego cyclist says he hasn’t seen any increase in bicycling, and the city should stop stealing traffic lanes and parking spaces from those poor, oppressed drivers. He also complains about how awful downtown is to drive in, and how expensive it is to park, never seeming to grasp the obvious solution to both of those problems.
Los Altos prepares for their annual bicycling Tour de (chicken) Coop.
Sad news from San Mateo County, as a mountain biker was killed riding on an offroad trail.
The local paper warns drivers that some Sonoma County cyclists are armed with bike cams to record their actions. Meanwhile, the BBC asks if bike cams actually make the roads any safer. Which kind of misses the point.
More bad news from Sacramento, as a bike rider was struck and killed by the driver of a garbage truck Wednesday morning.
National
GQ concludes that yes, bicycling can be sexy, sort of.
The AP says police are losing the battle to get drivers to put down their phones.
Paris Hilton is one of us, as she rides a colorfully lighted bike at Burning Man.
The Denver bike cop who was nearly killed when he was struck by an out-of-control driver finally return to work after nearly 21 months; the driver who hit him was convicted of lying about suffering from seizures on his driver’s license application.
Albuquerque installs, then removes, a bizarre bike lane running across the middle of a street and into a guard rail.
The driver responsible for the drug-fueled Kalamazoo massacre has been found competent to stand trial; he faces up to life in prison if convicted on the most serious charges.
When is a bike lane not a bike lane? When it’s been blocked by an unused NYPD light tower for three days.
The Wall Street Journal offers advice for the descent challenged.
A DC designer is creating bike frame bags intended to look as good on your back as they do on your bike.
It’s true, bike riders really do run red lights. DC’s red light camera’s caught 1,557 cyclists running reds over a 16 month period — compared to over 60,000 drivers. So who are the real scofflaws?
A North Carolina driver films a bike rider skitching — grabbing ahold of a car and holding on to hitch a tow — on wet streets for five nearly minutes.
International
Vancouver will remove a median to install protected bike lanes, even though that means removing a popular hedge creature.
Great Britain’s successful Olympic cycling team says the best way to honor them is for the government to invest heavily in creating a legacy of everyday bike riding.
Caught on video: If you’re looking for the definition of a punishment pass, this is it.
Another day, another road raging British driver screaming at a cyclist and using his car to threaten him. Seriously, what is it about cars that brings out the asshole in people?
It took 14 years to reach a settlement in a case where a road raging driver ran over a then-four-year old girl she rode in a bike trailer pulled by her father. Shockingly, the murderous driver got just two years, despite revving over 200 yards in reverse to asault his victims.
The Guardian’s Peter Walker says all cyclists fear bad drivers.
Then again, it’s not just drivers; a bike rider in the UK was punched by a pedestrian in a seemingly random assault; surprisingly, the attacker chose not to hang around until the police to arrived.
A Kiwi website insists e-bikes are fashion forward.
Finally…
Call him a bike riding, hooligan Johnny Appleseed. Your next bike could complain about your riding position.
Or maybe you’d prefer the bicycling equivalent of a luxury car.
No, really.
