BikinginLA

Before we start, I want to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving, however you spend it.

There’s a lot I’m thankful for this year. But as always, at the top of my list is the gratitude I have for the readers of this site, and all those who support and contribute to it. It’s only because of you that I’m able to do what I love, and continue this conversation we started nearly nine years ago.

So thank you, sincerely.

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Local

LA’s Council District 7 celebrates the official unveiling of new buffered bike lanes on Van Nuys Blvd in Pacoima.

The principal of Hollywood High proposes paying for books by installing a digital billboard at one of the city’s most dangerous intersections, where 10 bike riders have already been struck by cars. After all, what’s one more distraction for LA drivers, right?

The LA River may not be the only local stream to be restored by the Army Corps of Engineers, as plans are announced to return the Arroyo Seco to a natural, free-flowing state.

Santa Monica will host the free Electric Bike Expo December 2nd through 4th at the Santa Monica Pier.

Next month’s LACBC Sunday Funday ride will celebrate LA’s remarkable religious diversity. A nice gesture in these troubled times.

 

State

OC cyclists are invited to burn off all that Thanksgiving stuffing at the 13th Tour de Tryptophan in Fullerton this Friday.

An accused distracted driver should learn her fate today for the death of a little girl and injuring another, after she drifted through a buffered San Diego bike lane and jumped the curb to strike them both earlier this year.

Santa Barbara’s Bike Monkeys keep 200 middle school students rolling on their school’s annual bike trips.

Bicycling Monterey reminds us that bike riders have a lot to be thankful for.

Palo Alto considers giving up police radar in order to avoid raising speed limits under the deadly 85th percentile rule.

Five-time Olympic swimming champ Katie Ledecky is one of us, as she learned to ride a bike before going to Stanford, where freshmen students are not allowed to have cars; she also assembled bicycles for Bikes for the World while in high school.

It takes a real jerk to steal nine bikes worth up to $2,000 each from the Napa High School Cycling Club.

The Davis bike and pedestrian coordinator offers tips on how to safely share a multi-use path.

 

National

The Vision Zero Network looks back at Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance for traffic victims. Speaking of which, the organization is looking for a new Policy & Communications Director.

Cyclelicious reminds us that your favorite bike kit may have contributed to help Make America Great Again, since many of the top performance fabrics are owned by the conservative Koch Brothers. Which means if you want to boycott them, you may have to ride naked.

No bias here. After a transgendered woman wins an Arizona bike race, a right wing website complains about how unfair it is to make women compete against a “biological male.”

A new Tucson AZ foundation is devoted to supporting low-income female professional cyclists. Which would be most of them, unfortunately.

A Wyoming cyclist raises over $20,000 for charity by riding from Cheyenne to Orlando, FL.

A Texas cyclist becomes the first woman to ride a penny-farthing across the US.

Bighearted Missouri residents band together to buy a new customized bike for a special needs boy after his was stolen, replacing it before he even knew it was missing.

Sad news from Detroit, where a police officer was shot by a bike rider after he stopped the cyclist; the five year veteran is in critical condition.

Upstate New York officials force the family of a fallen cyclist to move his ghost bike because it was a whole three feet too close to the roadway.

A Savannah GA website says the city is becoming a destination for high-end bike tourism, but it’s going the wrong way when it comes to bike friendliness. Meanwhile, when a cyclist was struck head-on by a hit-and-run driver who drifted onto the wrong side of the road, a local paper somehow felt the need to remind cyclists they have to obey the law, too.

 

International

A British Columbia letter writer says don’t lower speed limits when there’s no alternative to driving; build sidewalks and bike paths instead.

Caught on video: A Brit bike rider captures a first-hand view of crashing into the turning car that cut him off, with his bike spinning in the air as he falls to the ground and the driver speeds away. Yet the newspaper still asks readers who was to blame. Seriously?

London’s deputy mayor for transport says the city’s new mayor is on the side of cyclists, and is committed to being the most bicycle-friendly mayor the city has ever had. Then again, it’s not a cycle superhighway if no one bothers to maintain it.

A British investigative news site reports dozens of people convicted of dangerous driving have walked free, while no one in the UK has received the maximum sentence for the crime.

A 16-year old cyclist from the UK continues to rise despite being diagnosed with diabetes three years ago; he’s received an offer to ride for the all-type 1 Team Novo Nordisk next year.

More absurdly misdesigned bikeways from the United Kingdom.

Spend your next vacation on a wildlife bike safari in Tanzania.

An Aussie coroner calls for a safe-life limit on bike parts, after a cyclist died when the carbon fork on his bike collapsed due to an undetectable flaw in the steering tube, even though his $4,000 Trek was only nine years old.

 

Finally…

Why use your hand to draw a turkey when you can use a bike? It’s one thing to keep your eye on the ball; another to carry it on your head for 64 miles.

And instead of the usual call for bicyclists to have licenses, maybe we should insist drivers do.

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Come back over the holiday weekend, when we may have a guest post or two, and possibly a update for the weekend.

And save the spare change from all your shopping for the return of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive starting this Friday, to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news coming your way every day.

Now get out and ride your bike. And stay safe out there.