BikinginLA

Just a quick visual reminder that an new Metro Bike Hub really is coming to Hollywood and Vine. And hopefully, soon.

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Let’s talk about some of the coming events we haven’t discussed yet.

Pasadena’s Trike Squadron is hosting their annual ride at the Rose Bowl tomorrow for recumbent users and those who love them. Or at least, don’t mind riding with them.

Bike SGV is hosting Bike the Gold Line 2017, a preview of the March 5th 626 Golden Streets open streets event.

El Monte residents will rally for safer streets this Tuesday as the city council considers adopting a Vision Zero plan. Thanks to Vesley Reutimann for the heads-up.

Ride with the Santa Monica Spoke and the mayor of Santa Monica next Saturday when the city unveils a group of new and improved parks.

Celebrate the grand opening of Stan’s Bike Shop in their new Azusa location on March 5th.

The semi-official, more-or-less annual Marathon Crash Ride is back before the LA Marathon on March 19th. Thanks to BikinginLA sponsor Josh Cohen for the link.

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In an update on the fatal shooting of a bike rider in Redding Wednesday night, police now report that it wasn’t road rage, as initially reported; they now say it was an apparent case of self-defense. But they say that doesn’t mean the shooter has been cleared.

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For the first time, cycling’s governing body enforces the new safety rules designed to keep race motos from coming too close to riders in the peloton at the Tour of Oman.

The Tour of Turkey has been postponed from its planned April date to a date to be determined due to a crowded racing calendar. Admit it, you didn’t even know there was a Tour of Turkey. Or a Tour of Oman.

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Local

The Cycle Feed podcast talks with CD1 candidate Joe Bray-Ali about how he leveraged bicycling to run for office. By most accounts, Bray-Ali made a very good impression at last night’s CD1 candidate forum; incumbent Gil Cedillo, not so much.

Bike-friendly CD15 Councilmember Joe Buscaino says CicLAvia will be coming to San Pedro and Wilmington next year. The former LAPD cop is up for re-election this year; he’s been endorsed by Bike the Vote LA. He has my support, as well. Buscaino is one of the few councilmembers who’s shown the backbone to stand up to NIMBYs to defend safer streets.

The Electric Bike Expo will kick of its national tour in Long Beach next weekend.

 

State

The Santa Cruz paper profiles David Folch, the founder of DirtySixer, who makes hand built bikes for tall people, including Shaq.

A Fresno driver says it was just an accident when he fell asleep at the wheel and killed a man on his bike after being awake for at least 48 hours doing meth. The judge apparently agreed, giving him a whole 316 days in a treatment facility, even though the victim got the death penalty.

San Francisco Streetsblog looks at planning for this year’s Ride of Silence in the city, which, unlike previous years, won’t be able to visit all the sites of bicycling fatalities because there’s just too many, too far apart.

Residents in San Francisco’s Castro district are tired of seeing bike riders injured on their streets, and they want the city to do something about it.

 

National

Wired says texting while driving isn’t just a Millennial problem, and the solution may lay in engineering streets that make it too uncomfortable to multitask. Or just not driving.

Dirt Rag recounts the story of the Buffalo Soldiers who attempted to prove the military value of bicycles by riding 1900 miles from Montana to St. Louis in 1897; despite successfully completing the journey, the bicycle corps was eliminated a year later.

PeopleForBikes is teaming with Walgreens to present two four-day, “professional grade” bike tours to raise funds for the drugstore chain’s Red Nose Day to end child poverty.

A Maryland cyclist says it’s up to runners and riders be the primary advocates for safer streets.

A Baton Rouge LA bike advocacy group is asking for people to recount their own experiences riding in the city to dispel the image that it’s dangerous and difficult. It wasn’t a picnic when I lived there, but that was a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

 

International

Cycling Tips explains everything you need to know about daytime running lights.

The New Brunswick legislature is moving forward with the equivalent of a three-foot passing law with what one rider called “lightening speed.”

A Nova Scotia Gran Fondo has become a favorite with bike riding tourists in just two years.

London’s cycling czar wants to reduce driving in the city by 25% by eliminating unnecessary, short trips.

A British woman spent two months riding through Iran, and found the people “extraordinarily welcoming.”

The Netherlands continues to evolve the design of intersections to protect bicyclists from cars.

 

Finally…

Pedal your way to victory in the America’s Cup. Government bike mangling in Kuala Lumpur.

And sure, they can play in the Premier League, but can they ride a bike?