BikinginLA

Don’t give up yet.

Despite the election night gloating of incumbent Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the race in CD1 is not over yet. In fact, it may just be getting started.

According to the latest count of outstanding absentee and provisional ballots from the County Clerk’s office, Cedillo’s vote total has dipped below the 50% required to avoid a runoff.

Which means that if the totals stand as they are now, challenger Joe Bray-Ali will face Cedillo in the May 16th general election.

Of course, things could still change. There are more ballots to count, with the next update due on Friday.

And even if Bray-Ali does qualify for a runoff, it will be an uphill battle against the entrenched city hall establishment and massive piles of special interest money that inevitably flow in to support any LA incumbent.

But he has a chance. And that means, so do we.

Thanks to Matt Ruscigno and Todd Munson for their help.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A San Francisco driver punched a bike rider in the eye, knocking her off her bike and into traffic, for the crime of complaining that he was illegally stopped in a bike lane — even though there was nothing to his right and he could have easily pulled over to the curb.

A Ross CA man is charged with misdemeanor reckless driving after allegedly attempting to run a bike rider off the road, and threatening to come back with a shotgun and blow his head off. So evidently, the driver’s own words aren’t enough to prove he was threatening the rider.

A Chicago bicyclist was attacked by a road raging driver who threw his bike into the curb, damaging both wheels.

Caught on video: After a London driver barely misses a cyclist in a way too close pass, the rider has it out with the driver, who tries to door him, then barely misses with a second punishment pass.

A British bike rider was lucky to escape with superficial injuries when someone strung a wire at neck level across a promenade; fortunately, the police are investigating it as the assault that it is, rather than a prank.

A New Zealand bike trail was booby trapped with logs and branches that could have knocked a rider off his bike or impaled someone.

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A sports site talks with former pro cyclist Rebecca Rush, as a new movie documents her 1,200-mile journey along Ho Chi Minh Trail to find where her father’s plane crashed in the Vietnam war, when she was just three years old.

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Local

CiclaValley suggests the city may have changed it’s mind about installing paid diagonal parking on the road leading up to the Griffith Park Observatory. Meanwhile, plans were announced to close the popular hiking trailhead on Beachwood Canyon leading to the Hollywood sign, following years of incessant lobbying from Beachwood residents — essentially converting a public park into the private property of a few privileged homeowners.

The Culver City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee will discuss several options for the city’s proposed bikeshare system at its meeting tomorrow night; the plan could serve adjacent areas such as Palms and Playa Vista, as well as Culver City.

 

State

A Carlsbad cyclist’s legacy lives on five years after he died of ALS; the annual Bike4Mike Coastal Ride he founded has raised over $1 million to fight the disease, and hopes to bring in another $100,000 this Sunday.

The San Diego Association of Governments is offering a number of $1,500 grants to encourage kids to walk or bike to school. So why not just use one of the grants to offer 150 kids ten bucks if they get out of Mom’s, or the nanny’s, SUV and walk or bike it to class instead?

A Palm Springs bicyclist suffered major injuries in a crash that involved two motor vehicles.

The Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition writes to demand protected bike lanes on upper Market Street, saying a decision to delay implementing them is incompatible with Vision Zero.

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Marin is now accepting nominations for this year’s class.

 

National

Streetsblog asks when the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the overly conservative national guide to traffic signal, signs and pavement markings, will finally catch up to the 21st Century; they just got around to approving Bike Lane Ends signs. Even though American bike lanes have been ending — without warning in most cases — for 50 years.

A new study shows millions of people could switch from driving to autonomous ride-sharing services, presumably opening up curbside parking for bike lanes, while doing nothing about traffic congestion. Which means drivers will likely rise up and demand those curbside lanes be used for vehicular traffic, instead.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gives America’s roads a D grade, saying they are “often crowded, frequently in poor condition, chronically underfunded, and are becoming more dangerous.”

Justice denied, as a Michigan man died after pleading guilty in the death of a bicyclist last year, but before he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

A man is under arrest for breaking the window of a Pittsburgh bike shop and making off with a $4,000 mountain bike; he also threatened to shoot one of the arresting officers in the head and kill his family when he gets out of jail. Hopefully, that will be a very long time off.

A New York newsman takes his fat tire bike out for a blizzard bike tour in the middle of yesterday’s storm.

 

International

No, you can’t throw your bike backwards. At least not while you’re on it.

Vancouver residents are upset that a row of cherry trees along a seawall were removed to make room for a bike lane, although the city promises to plant new, and healthier, trees in their place.

Not all guerilla DIY efforts are beneficial to bike riders; an English town promises to remove the No Cycling signs someone had illegally placed along a pathway, where bicycling is in fact allowed.

A British court rules a killer motorist’s driving ban should have started the day he was sentenced. Which means he would have been prohibited from driving while he was in prison, where cars are seldom allowed, anyway.

A Brit podcast discusses a forthcoming BBC documentary on the history of Raleigh bicycles. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Cycling Industry News has a list of bike jobs in the UK, if you’re ready to give up on the US.

Even in Copenhagen, bikeshare can be a tough sell, as the company behind the city’s e-bikeshare system goes belly up.

Frightening story from Berlin, where a man riding a bicycle has sprayed six women in the face with what appears to be battery acid.

An Aussie radio station discusses what parents can do to make riding to school safer for their kids.

An Australian grandfather explains what it was like to be the victim of an apparently random shooing as he rode his bike last month.

 

Finally…

Just what every rider needs — a $350 Levi/Google smart jacket. Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs taller socks.

And if you attend Cedarville University, it’s only natural you’d build a wooden ebike.