The good news in Tuesday’s election was the victory of most bike-friendly proposals and candidates in the LA area.
Metro’s Measure M passed with overwhelming support, increasing the sale tax by ½ cent indefinitely to fund transportation projects throughout the county; the measure is expected to raise roughly $120 billion over the next 40 years, including at least $4 billion for walking and biking. The measure promises to help reshape the city into what LA Times Architecture Critic Christopher Hawthorne calls the Third Los Angeles.
LA County’s Measure A also passed with far more than the required 2/3 majority to provide funds for parks, open space and recreational facilities; hopefully, some of that will go towards completing the missing links in the LA River bike path through DTLA and points south.
In addition, nine of the ten candidates endorsed by Bike the Vote LA were on their way to victory, including Laura Friedman and Stephen Bradford, both of whom were endorsed here.
The good news extended to Santa Monica, where all three of the city council candidates endorsed by the group won, while the city’s draconian anti-growth Measure LV failed.
Meanwhile, the LACBC’s Tamika Butler writes about the organization’s success with the passage of the measures they supported, while movingly noting the fear among the LACBC’s highly diverse staff over the outcome of the national vote.
Further south, San Diego’s transportation issue Measure A failed, and Republican Rep. Darrel Issa, the richest man in Congress, barely survived his Democratic challenger after campaigning by bicycle.
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Nationally, the news is good for drivers, not so much for everyone else.
Our soon to be president Donald Trump promises to rebuild America’s roads to make them second-to-none; however, the GOP platform calls for eliminating funding for rail, mass transit and bicycling.
Meanwhile, an industry site looks at how a Trump presidency will affect the bike trade.
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Bike Radar takes a ride along the route of the iconic Paris-Roubaix classic.
Cycling News talks with former cycling great Jan Ullrich, who retired before he could be banned for doping.
A pair of North Carolina twins born one minute apart both podiumed at the recent Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, their first and third place finishes separated by just 120 seconds.
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Local
No bias here. The Pasadena Star-News reports on the city’s decision to move forward with the Union Street road diet and protected bike lanes. But instead of discussing how the project will improve safety for everyone on the street, they focus on the possible loss of parking and fears of business owners. And illustrate the story with a photo of a salmon cyclist using the new Marengo Ave bike lane.
State
La Jolla officials propose a road diet on Gilman Drive to make room for a separated bike lane connecting segments of the San Diego Coastal Rail Trail; naturally, members of a local planning association fear massive traffic backups.
Sad news from Los Banos, as a bike rider was killed in a collision with two other vehicles.
Palo Alto officials support a less expensive design for a bike and pedestrian bridge; the city scrapped a previous design over rising costs.
National
Cycling Weekly asks what lessons can be learned from president-elect Donald Trump’s ill-fated attempt at starting a bike race to rival the Tour d France back in the ‘80s.
Tragic news as a 71-year old Phoenix man was collateral damage in the city’s drug wars, after a group of teenagers fatally shot him in the eye while trying to hit another man in a drive-by shooting.
A creepy mystery in Arizona, as skeletal remains were found near clothing and a bicycle close to a freeway interchange in the desert north of Lake Havasu City.
A Colorado Springs CO letter writer is shocked to learn the city has a bicycle planner and demands the removal of a new bike lane, saying city officials couldn’t care less what area residents want. Because people who live in the city and prefer not to drive don’t qualify as residents, evidently.
Chicago Streetsblog approves of a new Illinois bike park, even though it’s hard to get to by bicycle.
A new Indiana bike park was built to honor a soldier killed in Afghanistan; the park features 300 acres of bike trails, including some that float on water.
Dayton, Ohio bicyclists will ride for respect this Saturday to educate motorists and raise awareness of cyclists’ rights on the roadway.
Three Florida cyclists finish a cross country ride, even though one started the ride while still recovering from a crash earlier this year.
International
As we’ve mentioned before, an environmental philosopher will travel the length of South America on a bamboo bike she built herself to study the effects of biodiversity loss starting this December.
Caught on video: An Ottawa, Canada bicyclist is hit in a left hook while riding in a new cycle track, at least the third collision involving a cyclist since the lane opened.
The board governing British cycling proposes giving bike commuters a £250 annual tax break — the equivalent of $310. Something like that should be done here to encourage more people to leave their cars behind.
This has got to stop. A bike rider in the UK pleads guilty to manslaughter after pushing a pedestrian to the ground in a road rage dispute. Never resort to violence, no matter how justified you may feel at the time; the unintended consequences could haunt you for life.
An English town is pioneering a project using cargo bikes to collect rotting food and turn it into green energy.
Scotland’s tourism board hopes Danny MacAskill’s latest stunt video will translate into more people visiting the Scottish Highlands.
A French cyclist is gearing up for his 400th climb up famed Mont Ventoux.
An Indian man has been riding around the world for the last 12 years to call attention to HIV/AIDS, traveling over 80,000 miles through 126 countries, and being held captive by the Taliban in Afghanistan.
An Asian travel website helps you plan your next bicycle tour of scenic, bike-friendly Taiwan.
Finally…
You can’t play Pokémon Go while driving anymore. You may soon be able to take your bicycle to the mobile bike wash.
And if you want to ride harder, chomp down on that Hershey bar.
I was part of a study to determine if dark chocolate reduces high blood pressure. My dose for my (then)220 lb body was just over 5 oz a day. Best. Drug. Study. Ever. They are still trying to figure out if the reduction in BP was from the chemicals in the chocolate or from eating the equivalent of 5 candy bars after breakfast every morning.