Let’s catch up with a few events.
A memorial ride will be held tonight to remember Frederick “Woon” Frazier, who was killed in a hit-and-run in South LA’s Manchester Square on Tuesday.
CICLE is co-hosting the family friendly BEST Ride: Pacific Electric Donuts to Daisies Ride this Saturday in conjunction with Bike Metro, SoCal Cross and ELP Advisors.
Third District Councilmember Bob Blumenfield is holding his rescheduled 5th Annual Blumenfield Bike Ride through Warner Center and Woodland Hills on April 21st; the original March date was postponed due to rain. This is your chance to meet the councilmember and discuss issues regarding bike safety and Vision Zero.
Also on the 21st, Orange County residents can explore a temporary pop-up bike lane and other safety and livability improvements on Merrimac Way in Costa Mesa.
CicLAvia returns from its winter hiatus with The Heart of the Foothills, a special Earth Day edition stretching from San Dimas to Claremont on April 22nd.
Bike SGV is hosting a ride through the Eaton Wash on April 29th, part of their series of SGVgreenways Exploratory Rides.
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Former LA pro cyclist Phil Gaimon continues his Worst Retirement Ever series with the Taiwan KOM Challenge, Part 2: THE RACE.
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Local
News of South LA’s two hit-and-runs, including the fatal crash that killed Frederick “Woon” Frazier, has gone international.
The NRDC has teamed with LADOT to issue a set of recommendations to flip the script on commuting, and “help L.A. use shared mobility as a tool to address climate change and make transportation more accessible for all.” Los Angeles has never had a problem setting goals; it’s in turning those goals into action where the city traditionally fails.
State
BikeSD announces Judi Tentor as just their second Executive Director, replacing irreplaceable founder Sam Ollinger.
Santa Barbara police conduct a bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement day tomorrow. So ride to the letter of the law if you’re riding through the city.
A YIMBY (Yes In My Back Yard) San Francisco supervisor and mayoral candidate goes full on NIMBY in having a bikeshare dock removed from her block.
NorCal’s Caltrain will attempt to improve efficiency by allowing bicyclists to board first.
National
An architecture website says placing room for bicyclists and pedestrians next to autonomous cars will allow neighborhoods to reclaim even the busiest streets.
LimeBike claims their dockless bikeshare bikes and scooters have saved 540,000 pounds of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere, the equivalent of 28,000 gallons of unburned gas, in just the first three months of this year.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Wyoming man gets five years for his tenth DUI conviction after he was stopped leaving an Oregon strip club; his other nine convictions were in Wyoming. At least this time they managed to get him off the road before he killed someone, for a change.
Seattle considers a plan that would allow ebikes on five multi-use trails.
No logical disconnect here. A Colorado TV station says bicyclists run stop signs all the time, but allowing them to treat stops as yields would result in a big increase in collisions. Uh, sure. Let’s go with that.
Utah students will get a visit from competitors in the upcoming Tour of the Gila.
Kansas City residents have responded positively to road diets, as the city moves forward with plans for bikeways, including a 10-mile long bike lane. And without the near riots seen and threats to tar and feather elected officials like we’ve seen in the City of Angels.
A local TV station profiles the founder of a weekly San Antonio bike parade.
Lance Armstrong talks cycling, including the failure to build bike infrastructure in Texas and former Governor Rick Perry’s veto of a three-foot passing law. And what it feels like to have the feds closing in.
A New York nonprofit starts a weekly bike train from Brooklyn to Manhattan to ease the pain for commuters when a subway line shuts down for repairs next year.
Here’s your chance to cover New York and national transportation issues for Streetsblog as their new editor-in-chief. The only downside is you’d have to move to the Big Apple.
In one of the most wrong-headed commentaries in recent memory, a Staten Island writer says they should declare themselves a traffic sanctuary, and refuse to obey any traffic laws that inconvenience them in the slightest, from the new 25 mph speed limit to speed and red light enforcement, and parking in bike lanes whenever they damn well feel like it.
A Florida bicyclist gets a $113 ticket just for taking the lane.
International
A Canadian letter writer fails to grasp that not everyone has to ride a bike to see major traffic and community benefits, and those who do don’t have to do it all the time, or on every trip.
Momentum Magazine profiles Canada’s nationwide bike advocacy organization.
Cardiff, Wales is proposing a network of five fully separated cycle superhighways.
You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in New Zealand, where a careless truck careless truck driver gets off with just 80 hours of community service for running down two bicyclists, killing a man visiting from Japan and injuring another from the UK.
A New Zealand writer wonders if ebikes could solve Auckland’s traffic problems, although lower prices and more sizing options would help.
An Aussie radio station apparently believes that bike helmets prevent nose, mouth and jaw injuries.
City Metric considers how China fell in love with dockless bikeshare. Although considering the number of abandoned and vandalized bikes blocking city sidewalks, I’m not sure love is the right word.
Competitive Cycling
Just a week after winning Paris-Roubaix, Peter Sagan will be back in action at Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race.
Peloton talks with Silvan Diller, the unsung Swiss cyclist who became the hero of Paris-Roubaix by finishing an unexpected second to Sagan.
Big step forward for Saudi Arabia, which held its first women’s bike race, even if some people felt women sweating on bikes were just too seductive.
Hopefully Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin won’t have to take another dump on the side of the road at this year’s Tour of Italy, after being diagnosed with problems tolerating lactose and fructose.
You can watch this year’s Giro in the US and Canada, as well as the Amstel Gold, as long as you’re willing to fork over $30 a month, or $150 a year.
Finally…
Here’s the real cause of traffic — no dogs on trains. Sometimes Last is first.
And yes, it’s still illegal to pay kids to steal bikes for you, even if you don’t steal them yourself.
