Morning Links: Upcoming bike events, possible Topanga Canyon closure, and bike boulevards coming to East LA

Let’s start by catching up with a few bike events coming in the next few weeks.

The LACBC will be hosting a ride along the lower LA River in Paramount this Saturday. That will be followed the next day by the monthly Sunday Funday ride in Elysian Park.

Walk Bike Burbank is holding their Burbank Bike Festival this Sunday.

Warm up for next week’s CicLAvia when Santa Monica’s COAST Open Streets Festival returns for a second year this Sunday.

This Wednesday is National Walk/Bike to School Day.

SoCal cyclocross season starts next weekend in Irvine.

CicLAvia returns to the Heart of LA on October 8th.

With the Olympics coming back to LA, this is a great time to meet legendary ’84 LA Olympic cyclist Nelson “The Cheetah” Vails at Stan’s Bike Shop on October 14th.

Long Beach is bringing back an expanded edition of their popular Beach Streets ciclovía on October 28th.

………

If your weekend plans included riding Topanga Canyon, you might want to consider another route.

The road will be closed overnight on Saturday and Sunday from PCH to Grand View Drive; the article is unclear whether it will be closed entirely to bikes and pedestrians, or just until 5 am.

………

Local

In a remarkably one-sided report, the Los Feliz Ledger says opponents of the successful Rowena road diet are awaiting the results of a safety study in hopes of reversing the lane reductions, and are feeling empowered by the reversal of the Vista del Mar road diet.

Metro will be installing a pilot bikeshare kiosk in Echo Park in time for next week’s CicLAvia in an effort to gauge demand for bikeshare in the area.

The anti-road diet mania in Los Angeles apparently hasn’t cowed county officials, who are moving forward with plans for at least one on the Eastside, as well as several other bike safety projects, including a pair of bike boulevards.

A cyclist helped come to the rescue when a car went off the road on Glendora Mountain Road yesterday.

The LA Times says greater density is the solution to California’s environmental and affordable housing crises, not sprawl-inducing developments like Newhall Ranch, however environmentally friendly they may strive to be.

 

State

A 21-year old plan to improve downtown Del Mar is finally moving forward, including widened sidewalks and bike lanes on Camino del Mar.

San Francisco police are looking for a bike-born dog-napper who threatened the dog’s owner with a golf club.

San Francisco Streetsblog asks whatever happened to the word “allegedly,” as the press is quick to blame the person on two wheels in any crash. I’d like to know the answer to that one myself.

Sports Illustrated takes in a San Francisco hill climb competition with inclines up to 21%. Which would elicit yawns from anyone who’s competed in LA’s own Feel My Legs I’m A Racer seven hill climb. (Correction: It’s a ten hill climb; thanks to CiclaValley for the tip.)

Thirteen bicyclists are riding from Reno NV to San Francisco to honor EMS workers who have died recently.

Horrifying story from Stockton, where three boys forced an eight-year old kid into a house and beat him severely, before stealing his bicycle and $16 — then posted the video on Instagram.

Evidently, San Jose hasn’t gotten the memo that road diets are evil, either.

Great article from Sacramento, where Sactown Magazine makes a call for tactical urbanism, from filling potholes with daisies to DIY protected bike lanes.

 

National

The new GoPro promises to unshake your bike cam videos.

A Navajo Nations cop has been charged with murder for crashing into a bicyclist after drinking all night while attending a conference in Arizona; his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.

A long-time Iowa radio DJ and a member of the state’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was killed when he allegedly turned his bike into the path of an oncoming car.

Life is cheap in New York, where a negligent driver, whose boat detached from the car pulling it and killed a 21-year old woman riding her bike, will serve just 60 days behind bars.

A new interactive New York map will tell you when bikeshare is your fastest travel option. And it usually is.

Philadelphia adopts a Vision Zero plan, vowing to end traffic deaths by 2030.

 

International

If you own a Brompton made in the last four years, take it back to the dealer; the company is recalling all models made between 2014 and 2017 due to a problem with the bottom bracket.

A new London play was inspired by a ghost bike installed for the victim of a 2009 bicycling crash.

The British press is in an uproar over brakeless fixies, even though a fixie is a brake in the hands of a skilled rider. The problem comes when inexperienced cyclists try to ride brakeless, without the skills or leg strength to stop their bikes.

A British woman complains that her husband loves his bike more than her.

The Italian supreme court has officially ruled that cycling legend Marco Pantani wasn’t murdered.

 

Finally…

Before you ride 7,500 miles to pedal your bike around a famed racetrack, make sure they allow bicycles. Go ahead and pedal your bike while drunk, but don’t paddle your canoe.

And maybe the problem is too many American drivers are selfish assholes.

 

4 comments

  1. I posted a comment to the Los Feliz Ledger. I don’t know how long it will be “awaiting moderation” before it is publicly visible.

    I am disappointed that this article quoted a road diet opponent, but the author did not quote and therefore did not appear to interview a road diet supporter. That’s bias. Is this a news article or an opinion piece? As president of Different Spokes Bicycling Club of Southern California and as a Los Feliz resident who rides a bicycle along Rowena Avenue, I appreciate being safer when I have the opportunity to ride in a bike lane. Los Feliz Blvd and Hyperion Ave both lack bike lanes. When I plan a bicycle ride east from Los Feliz to Pasadena, Highland Park or Eagle Rock, I use Rowena Avenue. The bike lane ends at Glendale Blvd and does not start up again on Fletcher Drive until east of San Fernando Road. I would like to see the City of Los Angeles finish one continuous bike lane from Los Feliz all the way to the South Pasadena City Limits. There is more to life than getting to and from your office a few minutes faster in your automobile. Making Los Angeles safe for all of its citizens – even those who don’t pollute – should take priority.

    • Bryan – your comment regarding the Los Feliz Ledger article is good. Thanks!

      I don’t know what time it got through moderation, but I read it without trouble at 5:00 pm on Friday.

  2. David says:

    Thanks for letting us know about Beach Streets in Long Beach. I skipped the last one when I saw where it was–I usually just stay along Ocean when on the bike in LB because they have so much crime in LB once you get away from the Coast, but maybe I will try this event in October.

  3. Mark says:

    Though a fixie is isn’t brakeless, British regulations require both rear _and_ front brakes on bicycles.

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