Morning Links: Los Angeles media ignores para-cyling world champs, and apologies from the pro peloton

The Para-cycling Track World Championships were held in Carson this past week.

Although you’d never know it from the local press, which evidently had more important stories to cover.

The only real news of the event came from 5,000 miles away, as BBC reports Britain’s Jody Cundy won the time trial for the 13th consecutive time; he hasn’t lost a race in eleven years. And the country took multiple medals on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Marie-Claude Molnar took three silver medals, losing to American Shawn Morelli in the 3,000-metre individual pursuit.

It’s embarrassing when the world comes to our city, with brave athletes overcoming disabilities to compete at the highest levels, and the local press doesn’t even care enough to mention it.

Let alone actually cover it.

………

Team Sky’s Michal Kwiatkowski took his second Strade Bianche with a long range solo breakaway, despite accusations of interference from a race moto. Cycling Weekly recaps what they call a brutal day of racing, while Cycling Tips offers photos from the race. Peter Sagan was apologetic after dropping out due to illness and a crash.

The British Parliament will look into the use and/or abuse of the painkiller tramadol by Team Sky and British Cycling. Meanwhile, the Guardian says the real crime in the unfolding doping scandal would be if it derails Britain’s boom in recreational cycling.

Speaking of British Cycling, they swear a shipment of banned testosterone patches to their headquarters was just an administrative error. Sure, let’s go with that.

Second place Tour de France finisher Romain Bardet was disqualified from the weeklong Paris – Nice after being towed by the team car following a crash. And he says he’s sorry, too.

………

Local

An estimated 100,000 people defied afternoon rains to make the 626 Golden Streets open streets event a success, on a route stretching from South Pasadena to Azusa.

A 33-year old Whittier bike rider was critically injured in a collision with a Foothill Transit Bus in Azusa on Friday.

The fate of a new plan to totally remake the Redondo Beach waterfront hinges on a citywide vote this Tuesday.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson continues his discussion on why you have to produce ID when a cop asks for it even when you’re riding your bike, and cites relevant case law to back it up.

 

State

San Jose bike riders go on a tour of the city’s murals and culture in neighborhoods that could be hurt by Trump’s policies.

San Francisco’s bikeshare program is about to embark on a major expansion thanks to a $49 million cash infusion from Ford, as it attempts to fight off competition from app-based programs.

 

National

An Arizona man faces up to 25 years for the murder of a bike rider following an argument, in what looks to be a road rage killing.

Aspen CO considers creating new corridors for bikes and pedestrians to go with a 25-year old bike boulevard through the city.

A new Illinois nonprofit is helping addicts recover through bicycling.

Despite the bikelash, the mayor of Pittsburg PA stands firm in his call for a citywide network of neighborhood bike lanes.

Kindhearted North Carolina cops raise money to replace the bikes stolen from a couple of little kids.

If building bike paths along former railroad right-of-ways is called rails-to-trails, what do you call a bike path built over a North Carolina sewer line?

Savannah GA acknowledges it has a lot of work to do to raise its bike-friendly status to the next level.

The open streets movement is spreading to Pensacola FL, with a five mile downtown ciclovía later this month.

A Florida man lost 165 pounds after getting on his bike, and learned to love competing on a mountain bike in Leadville, despite failing his first time out.

 

International

The things roadies lie about, including whether they can see through your shorts.

A British writer discusses the in and outs and ups and downs of riding in London.

A Brit rider is trying to track down and thank the women who came to his aid after he was knocked off his bike in a collision.

A UK think tank considers what London and Manchester, England could look like if the country prioritized cycling. Although once again, they propose elevating riders above traffic instead of actually fixing the streets.

Britain’s Daily Mail accuses police of turning a blind eye to bad cyclists after fines drop by two-thirds, despite an increase in ridership. Or maybe people on bikes are just riding more safely and obeying the law.

Cyclist Magazine visits the famed Moulton bicycle factory.

The head of Australia’s Mineral Council is taking up cycling, and says her ideal riding partner would be the Dalai Lama to help overcome her fear of falling. I’d hardly call a $2200 bike entry level, however.

A program to donate bicycles helps keep Kenyan girls in school.

Shanghai is struggling to keep up with the bike boom brought on by the Chinese app-based bikeshare systems, and considering naming and shaming those who abuse the system.

 

Finally…

Come for the bike clothes, stay for the bunny museum next door. It’s easy to say put a light on your bike if you’re carrying meth and drug paraphernalia, but harder to do when the bike isn’t yours.

And the US Postal Service is demanding $100 million from Lance — and nine cents.

 

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