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The holiday season made for a light news weekend in the bike world.
With the exception of over a dozen bike giveaways totaling over 7,400 bicycles, that is. Including two from a generous cop, and a bighearted boy giving away his own bike to someone who needs it more.
Oddly though, not a single non-giveaway story made the radar on the local front.
But that’s good, right?
And if you missed it, you’ll find a lot more news, local and otherwise, on Saturday’s Weekend Links.
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‘Tis the season.
The charity foundation started by Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner donated 2,000 bicycles, which were given away through an LA church.
Santa Barbara County inmates refurbished 25 bicycles collected by the sheriff’s department to distribute through local charities.
Forty-eight Adelanto elementary school students get new bikes, along with an adult bike for the mother of two of the children, whose husband died earlier this year.
A program founded by a Redding man 13 years ago gave away 275 bicycles last year; this year they have 125 bikes to donate, but are hoping for more.
Two Oregon boys will have bicycles this Christmas thanks to a bighearted cop who bought them new bikes after theirs were stolen.
Over 300 people pitched in to build 1,400 bicycles, which will be given as surprise gifts to residents of an unsuspecting Michigan neighborhood.
A New Jersey bike shop has repaired over 250 bicycles and donated them to local organizations.
Fayetteville NC’s Bicycle Man gave 1,500 bikes and helmets to local children, along with clothes and school supplies; the charity program has continued under his wife’s leadership after Bicycle Man Moses Mathis passed away in 2013.
The Charleston SC transportation authority gives away 16 unclaimed bikes that had been left on buses.
More than 1,000 Columbus GA children got new bicycles thanks to a program started by a local man.
A Georgia church gives away 26 bikes and 40 coats to struggling families.
Florida’s Jack the Bike Man gave away over 900 refurbished bikes on Sunday.
A bighearted Aussie six-year old boy offers to give his own bike to another child who needs it.
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Former pro Marijn de Vries has raised allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in the Dutch cycling program.
A Bloomington IL ultra-distance cyclist is preparing to compete in next year’s 5,700 mile Red Bull Trans-Siberian Extreme race across Russia.
A 12-time Kiwi triathlon champ ignores Lance Armstrong’s past, and screaming headlines about drug cheating, to go for bike ride with the ex-Tour de France champ who’s in the country to film a commercial. Meanwhile, one writer calls him a sociopath and says no one should care if he’s in the country.
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Local
No news is good news. Right?
State
A Santa Ana bike rider was the victim of a suspected gang shooting; he was hospitalized in critical condition.
Golden State Warriors Guard Shaun Livingston is a fan of Oakland’s Original Scraper Bike Team.
A Marin County town is putting bike lanes on a nearby connector road to ease congestion on a multi-use pathway, which has been the scene of a number of collisions between bicyclists and pedestrians.
National
After an Everett WA cyclist is hit by a car, several Good Samaritans help a police officer lift the car off him; thanks in part to their swift action, he’s expected to survive.
A Seattle bike columnist points out the need to be seen at night.
A Colorado man donates 40 acres of his own property to the public through a conservation easement that will protect the singletrack bike and hiking park he built.
The Omaha NE bikeshare program is set to double in size by 2019.
The Charleston SC newspaper says it’s time to stop stalling and build a bike lane on a key bridge over the Ashley River.
International
A 22-year old Irish man completes a 3,000 mile journey across the southern US from California to Florida.
British truckers fight for their right to continue cutting off bike riders.
In search of adventure, a British cyclist rides the entire 6,000 mile Iron Curtain Trail on a vintage East German shopping bike, deliberately unprepared to trace the route marking the former border between capitalist west and communist east.
Two advocacy groups merge to avoid working at cross purposes and holding back progress in a Pakistani state.
Twenty-three Indian bicyclists are riding over 900 miles from Delhi to Mumbai to call attention to human trafficking and child labor.
China’s app-based bikeshare systems are facing a problem with theft and sabotage.
The 82-year old founder of the world’s largest bike maker is stepping down after 44 years, passing the reigns of Taiwan’s Giant Manufacturing to his son and niece.
Finally…
It’s not a bike, it’s a born again billboard hogging the bike rack.
And if you’re going to break into a bike shop, don’t get run over by your own getaway van. And don’t drive on the damn bike path.
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Special thanks to Mark Ganzer, Tai Wan Kim, and Michael Young for their generous donations to support this site and help bring the area’s best bike news your way every morning.
