Today’s edition of bike riders behaving badly.
A Houston cyclist spit on a driver, with her two kids in the car, after allegedly darting out in front of her car from a bike path crossing the road. Never mind that she was on the phone at the time.
Police in St. Petersburg FL are looking for the bicyclist who leaned over a woman sitting in the passenger seat of a convertible, and spit into her husband’s face. Of course, the driver swears he did absolutely nothing to antagonize him.
Funny how drivers always seem to be the innocent party, victimized by crazed cyclists who lash out against total strangers for no reason at all.
And while we’ve said this before, it can’t be stressed enough. Never get physical, no matter what a driver may have done to provoke you.
Any questions of morality aside — and yes, it is wrong, not to mention disgusting — it makes you the bad guy, and could leave you open to criminal, as well as civil, charges.
Better to get whatever they did on video if you have a cam, and let the police deal with it. Or just post it online, and let the court of public opinion have its way.
And if you don’t have one, get one.
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Bicycling’s Joe Lindsay asks if the new Colorado Classic is the race that will save American Pro Cycling.
Meanwhile, the magazine talks with the team of high school mountain bikers who beat Lance and his fellow ex-dopers.
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Local
There will be a kickoff event for the planned protected bike lanes on Spring and Main streets, now known as Main & Spring Forward, in DTLA this Sunday for anyone not attending the 626 Golden Streets.
A UCLA lecturer says bike riders will continue to be put at risk in Westwood if CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz is re-elected.
UCLA researcher and lecturer Herbie Huff says the solution to overcrowded roads isn’t tunneling under the city, it’s putting a price on them.
The Daily Breeze talks with candidates for the Manhattan Beach city council, only one of whom even mentions bicycling.
Once again, Long Beach will open the Toyota Grand Prix course to the public for an open streets event. And once again, it will only last for an hour and a half. And it will be on a weekday when most people can’t attend.
State
Don’t plan on riding the bike path at Bolsa Chica State Beach on the 25th, unless you want to ride through a pro-Trump rally.
San Francisco manages to get the cars out of its new Valencia Street protected bike lane in time for the official opening.
National
A dog website says don’t bring your bike into the dog park unless you want to risk wiping out in a pile of poop.
A new four-wheeled e-scooter prototype promises to be a cross between an ebike and an ATV, with a 16.5 mph top speed to allow it to be used in bike lanes.
A writer for Strong Towns says it’s time to move beyond open streets events, and consider closing some streets the other 364 days of the year.
A Wisconsin appeals court reinstates a road rage charge after ruling a county judge had erroneously dismissed the case.
No, seriously. If they can put a protected bike lane on New York’s busy Fifth Avenue, they can do it just about anywhere. Even on some of LA’s busier streets.
The new director of a Charleston SC advocacy group will have the unenviable task of turning around the nation’s worst city for bicycling.
International
DHL is testing last-mile delivery by cargo bike in 13 European counties.
Royal-in-law Pippa Middleton offers her tips on how to dress for riding.
Life is cheap in the UK, where fatally dooring a bike rider is only worth a $98 fine.
The rich get richer, as bike-friendly Sweden and Denmark open the world’s first cross-border bike ferry.
Caught on video: An Aussie cyclist just barely avoids getting run down by a speeding, out of control driver who flipped his SUV after apparently suffering a medical episode.
China’s once-ubiquitous Flying Pigeon is once again flying high, churning out bikes for the country’s app-based bikeshare programs.
Finally…
The perfect tri bike for everyone who wants to rock and roll all night, and party every day. Who needs energy gel when you’ve got gummy bears?
And if you’re going to get physical with a Paris bicyclist, put some damn boxers on first.
The Long Beach grand prix is one reason why I would never live in dowontown LB. The noise and emissions can be heard and tasted for a significant distance away.
The barriers are up for an extended period of time making walking even more difficult in the area, though there is little reason to walk in the area as it is a classic example of a failed autocentric pedestrian unfriendly lifeless urban renewal district. I don’t see why they can’t have another event at a more convenient time when the barriers stay up for what seems like a couple of weeks. Even worse the sweeping highway scale street network in the area seems to have been designed with the grand prix in mind and I believe there are year round grand prix specific road markings. In other words they could have bicycle grand prix every month because the area is a (boring and simple) racetrack not a network of urban roads appropriate for a downtown.