It was a relatively light news weekend, so let’s get right to it.
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For a change, a number of newspapers actually seem to get it.
The Ventura County Star says use the state’s increased gas tax to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The San Luis Obispo newspaper says fear is what’s keeping people from riding to work. And protected bike lanes are the answer.
The Denver Post says they support the idea of bicycling, and are keeping an open mind on a new two-way cycle track, even if they hate the ugly bollards.
And a writer for the Boston Globe says the city is too focused on the needs of drivers, and not enough on the people around them.
But then there’s this North Carolina newspaper, which insists on calling it an accident after the driver is charged in the death of a bicyclist.
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By now, you probably know who won the Amgen Tour of California in Pasadena on Saturday. And what a surprise it was, becoming the first person from his country to win a WorldTour event. How’s that for a spoiler free wrap-up?
Once again, a rider has been injured in a crash caused by a race motorcycle, and Britain’s Geraint Thomas is forced to withdraw from the Giro. Here’s where the race stands after Sunday’s stage.
Former pros Alexander Vinokourov and Alexander Kolobnev will stand trial in Belgium on charges of corruption after Vinokourov was accused of paying Kolobnev 150,000 euros to let him win the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
One of Ireland’s top amateur cyclists says the country is making races easier because riders aren’t “hard” enough to handle hard training or racing.
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Local
The LA Times says newly re-elected CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s close call should send a message to City Hall that Angelenos are tired of business as usual. They focus on the city’s broken planning process, but the same message holds true for our dangerous streets.
The Source takes stock of the state of bicycling in the LA area, suggesting we have a good future ahead.
Streetsblog’s Joe offers images from LA’s Bike Week 2017.
A letter to the Burbank Leader explains how bike corrals will benefit the entire community.
A Long Beach bike rider was rammed by a car in what may have been a gang-related attack.
State
Caught on video: A tutor at Santa Ana College catches a bike thief in the act, who apparently doesn’t care.
Around 100 cyclists turned out for Saturday’s Tour de OC to raise funds for abused and neglected children in the county.
A group of 40 special needs kids in San Diego learned to ride a bike in a five-day “I Can Bike” camp.
NFL running back Marshawn Lynch is one of us, taking an impromptu BMX bike ride from Oakland to Berkeley and back with a few hundred friends. And a police escort.
Community members pull together to replace a Vallejo boy’s bicycle after it was stolen for the second time.
National
Adam Samberg is taking on the world of doping, uh, cycling, in an upcoming mockumentary for HBO.
City Lab asks not if, but when bicycles will rule the city.
A writer for Glamour proves that you actually can forget how to ride a bicycle, as she relearns how to ride at age 30.
An intern will be riding all 600 miles of Central Iowa’s off-road bike paths with a bike specially equipped to detect potholes and other problems with the pavement.
An Ohio driver gets two years behind bars and loses his license for five years for brake-checking a cyclist after an obscenity-filled punishment pass.
The rich get richer. New York plans six miles of protected bike lanes to connect bikeways in Eastern Queens. Which is how you make an actual bike network. And actually encourage more people to ride.
Treehugger says it’s time to stop traffic terrorism in the wake of the deadly drug-fueled attack in Times Square. Thanks to Fred Davis for the heads-up.
The war on bike riders goes on. A Florida man was shot in the ass multiple times from a passing car as he was riding his bike.
International
Bike Radar tells you how to get your bike project crowdfunded.
A Canadian doctor asks how can he recommend bicycling to his patients when the streets are still dangerous.
Now this is taking Vision Zero seriously. London banning all motor vehicle traffic in a crowded junction in the financial district during daylight hours in response to the death of a woman riding her bike.
An Irish bike rider says she thinks cyclists are a death wish on wheels.
A Japanese prefecture opens a nearly 700 mile bikeway around Shikoku island in an attempt to make it a “holy land for cyclists.”
Myanmar has a thriving BMX culture, with riders saving up to pay as much as $2,500 for a bike, despite a minimum wage of just $2.65 a day.
Finally…
Dumping raw sewage from the team van is a crappy move. Seriously, don’t punch people in cars, even if they are driving on a bike path.
And why wait for the driver to stop when you can just steal a bike off a moving car?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7V45ZbiY6E
