Once again, bikeshare was the common theme in today’s news.
LA officials debate proposed regulations for dockless bikeshare programs that allow them to expand beyond a handful of test programs currently underway.
The San Diego Reader reports that dockless bikeshare companies are pouring money into the city to lobby for favorable regulations.
Coronado took a pass on a pilot dockless bikeshare program after residents argued that the community already has too many bikes. But sure, just keep bringing in more cars.
Video shows New Yorkers swarming a bikeshare station while cars sit parked idly at the curb, suggesting that the 150,000 acres of curbside parking in the city could be put to better use.
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‘Tis the season.
Ninety-two San Diego third graders go crazy when they’re given new bicycles by the Padres, the last remaining major league sports team in the city that hasn’t yet bolted for Los Angeles.
San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System gave new bikes to 100 elementary students in the Logan Heights neighborhood.
A pair of San Diego-area organizations gave new bicycles to all 187 second and third graders at a Spring Valley elementary schools.
Corona firefighters are taking time between emergency calls to build 72 bicycles donated by a local businessman for disadvantaged kids.
Over 100 Georgia students will receive new bicycles donated for needy families.
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It’s Day 21 of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.
You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).
Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.
As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.
Thanks to Mike W and Plurabelle Books for their generous contributions to help keep bringing the best bike news and advocacy to your screen every morning, from around the corner and around the world.
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Local
A new pop-up museum in DTLA celebrates notable failures, from the Edsel and a Donald Trump board game to a plastic bicycle that melted on hot days.
CiclaValley looks at this weekend’s holiday ride sponsored by the LACBC and Bike Walk Glendale.
Bicycle Retailer looks at LA-based Team Dream Team and their new San Marino Cub House.
Bike Talk chats with custom bike maker Art Ramirez.
State
A Fallbrook man was seriously injured when his bike was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver; police are looking for a charcoal grey vehicle with damage to the right front. Best euphemism of the day: the driver “failed to safely maneuver” around the victim’s bike, which is another way of saying the cowardly jerk plowed into him from behind.
Take a 10-mile bike tour of life-like metal sculptures representing the Pleistocene age in Borrego Springs.
Indio will add a pair of bike lanes this spring, including a separated bike lane.
Ventura County sheriff’s deputies are asking for the public’s help in identifying a Camarillo bike thief.
A Fresno man took revenge on a suspected early morning car burglar by cutting his bike in half and nailing it to a tree. Although it’s entirely possible that the bike he cut in half may have been stolen from someone else.
Yes, you can take your Christmas tree home by bike, as these photos of Bay Area bike riders prove. Or a Chanukah bush, for that matter.
A San Raphael man was busted for stealing a cheap guitar after smashing a music store window, when police spotted him riding a bicycle carrying the purloined instrument a few hours later.
National
Treehugger says it’s time to start thinking about driving like we do smoking.
Bicyclists in Tucson are angry over the city’s ranking as the second most dangerous city for people on bikes in the US. Meanwhile, no one really seems to care that LA was ranked as the tenth most dangerous city.
A Minneapolis columnist is angry over an LA letter writer’s suggestion that the city shouldn’t go backwards on bike lanes, saying maybe we should put bike lanes on Sepulveda Blvd so we can understand what it’s like. Maybe someone should tell her that we already have bike lanes on Sepulveda, crappy though they may be in places.
Turns out the New York state senator who attempted to impersonate a police officer after illegally blocking a bike lane has a long history of dangerous driving, including speeding through a school zone — three times.
Philadelphia is responding to a recent cycling death by upgrading six blocks of bike lanes in the downtown area. Although I have a hard time calling a few plastic posts a protected bike lane.
International
An Instagram account documents a man’s unique collection of classic stamped, forged and cast steel dropouts.
Caught on video: A Vancouver cab company apologizes after one of its drivers was caught on dashcam driving in a bike lane before running a red light with people in the crosswalk.
The human-protected bike lane movement has spread to London.
Bloomberg visits the UK’s Sven Cycles to discover what goes into making a handmade bespoke bike.
A British driver was acquitted of killing a bike rider after saying he just didn’t see her. Which should be seen as an admission of guilt instead of an alibi.
An Australian radio station asks how the country can change drivers’ open hostility towards people on bicycles. Easy. Just make them all ride bikes for a month.
Five people were killed in China when ebike batteries caught fire after being plugged into a homemade recharging system.
A Bangkok writer explores one of the few places where people can ride their bikes free from motor vehicles or joggers, thanks to monks who agreed to abandon the land after moving to a new temple.
Competitive Cycling
Does it really surprise anyone to learn that four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome failed a drug test at last year’s Vuelta? Froome had a controversial Therapeutic Use Exemption, or TUE, for salbutamol to treat his asthma, but tested at twice the allowed level. Which he quickly explained away. Just like everyone else who’s gotten caught.
Finally…
Once again, throwing a bicycle in front of a train is not a recommended usage. If you’re going to get drunk and ride your bike on the wrong side of the road, at least put a damn light on it.
And always keep a bell on your bike in case you’re ever attacked by a Bengal tiger.
