Beverly Hills police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a bike-riding sexual assault suspect who attempted to rape a woman early Sunday morning near the Beverly Hilton at Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds.
He is described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, around 5’6″ with black hair pulled back in a ponytail and facial hair, riding a red single speed bicycle.
Police think someone in the bike community may know him due to his riding skills.
Anyone with information is urged to call BHPD detectives at 310/285-2158.
Security cam photos from Beverly Hills Police Department.
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Today’s common theme: road rage and bike rage rears their ugly head.
This is who we share the roads with. A driver in DTLA intentionally ran down four pedestrians because he was mad that they woke him up from a nap in his car.
A DC bike advocacy group discusses trail etiquette after a man was deliberately knocked off his bike by a rider passing in the opposite direction.
Bike anger rages even in the Netherlands, where a mountain biker pushed an 80-year old man off his bicycle after the older man complained about getting cut off. Seriously, it takes a special kind of jerk to attack an 80-year old man.
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Local
You can now use bikeshare systems in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and UCLA interchangeably with a single membership, and ride from one system to another without penalties.
Interesting piece from a part-time wrench in an LA bike shop, explaining to a Middle Eastern audience the business model of fixing bikes sold by big box stores so people can actually ride them.
A writer for City Watch calls LA Mayor Eric Garcetti a bully for doubling down on Vision Zero “based on lousy science, lousy presumptions, and a lousy narrative that somehow Angelenos don’t care or do enough for pedestrians and bicyclists.” Even though a) most bike riders can tell you Angelenos don’t car or do enough for pedestrians and bicyclists, and b) city leaders don’t seem to take Vision Zero seriously.
Streetsblog reports on Sunday’s CicLAvia in the San Gabriel Valley. Meanwhile, CicLAvia gears up for a return to the northern San Fernando Valley June 24th.
State
Auto-centric opponents of a plan to reconfigure the Coast Highway in Leucadia have appealed to the state Coastal Commission to stop the project, saying that the plan to make it safer to visit the coast without a car “fails to consider public access to the coastline, that fails to adequately consider public safety, and fails to give adequate consideration to environmental concerns.” Sure, let’s go with that.
San Diego’s University Avenue is one of the nation’s most dangerous streets for bicyclists.
Mountain bike legends Tom Richey and Thomas Frischknecht have teamed with a Carmel couple to open a bike-themed coffee shop.
Sad news from Manteca, where a bike rider was killed when he crashed into the rear of a pickup and fell under the wheels of the boat trailer it was pulling; witnesses said the victim didn’t appear to even see the truck and trailer in front of him until it was too late.
Sacramento begins installing the city’s first parking-protected bike lanes.
National
Honolulu honors a bike rider who was killed in a 2010 hit-and-run by naming a new bike path after him.
While Seattle fights over every inch of bike lanes, opposition has melted away in nearby Vancouver, where bicycling numbers are up and driving rates down after the city built a network of protected bike lanes. Vancouver faced the same sort of bikelash we’ve seen in Los Angeles, but city officials had the courage to move forward anyway.
The murder trial is set to begin in the case of the stoned driver who killed five bike riders in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, and injured four more; he faces life in prison if he’s convicted.
Bicycling catches up with five New York bicyclists to discuss their plans for getting to work when the city shuts down a major subway line for maintenance next year.
In a very tongue-in-cheek piece, a Virginia writer says he hates the Amish, farmers, equestrians and especially cyclists for startling him when he looks up from his phone while driving, and forcing him to slow down for a few seconds. But commenters don’t get the joke.
International
Next City offers an excerpt from Copenhagenize author Mikael Colville-Andersen’s new book explaining how design can reclaim our life-sized cities.
The Guardian looks at the international Warmshowers network, giving bike tourists a floor to sleep on, a place to clean up, and someone to listen to your tales of life on the road.
A pair of Hamilton, Ontario bike riders were struck by a 72-year old driver when they stopped in the curb lane to fix a bike trailer. Another reminder to move your bike out of the roadway if you need to stop for any reason, because too many drivers won’t be looking for you.
Road.cc looks at the highlights of Britain’s only handmade bicycle show.
The Beeb asks if ebikes are the future, while a travel website questions whether they’re the best or worst thing to happen to bike tours.
Dublin bicyclists will hold a die-in on the government steps tomorrow. Something we desperately need to do here in Los Angeles if we could get enough people to show up.
Italian cycling legend Gino Bartali will be awarded honorary Israeli citizenship prior to next month’s start of the Giro d’Italia for his role in saving Jews during World War II, 18 years after his death.
A Kiwi adventurer is stranded in South America after riding from Philadelphia to Alaska, then down the Pacific Coast, when a merger between shipping companies costs him his planned ride on a container ship.
There’s always another side to the story. A New Zealand mountain biker insists the trail crash that left another rider paralyzed from the neck down wasn’t his fault. On the other hand, he’s not the one who ended up in a wheelchair.
China’s Mobike dockless bikeshare company promises to stop putting more bikes in oversaturated cities, and to share their data with local governments.
Competitive Cycling
A Monterey County weekly catches up on the action with photos from last weekend’s Sea Otter Classic.
Bicycling reports on Saudi Arabia’s first-ever women’s bike race.
No surprise here: World champ Peter Sagan is cycling’s most valuable social media persona; one Facebook post alone generated $330,000 worth of exposure for his sponsors.
Efforts to revive the women’s La Route de France Féminine have failed after the withdrawal of a host city.
Finally…
Bad bike infrastructure doesn’t speak, but it does tweet. Pedal your way across the Greek islands from above.
And sometimes, riding a bike is poetry.
In regards to LA’s Vision Zero. There is an old saying that applies.
“Money talks, and bullshit walks.”
Unless the City of Los Angeles finds the Financial will to support (implements) the Vision Zero plan it is nothing but vapor wear.
In cities that financially Vision Zero, it works. In cities that don’t, it doesn’t.
Last Sunday’s CICLAVIA was one of the Best. Great support from the 4 cities involved. The police for all cities really turned out to help along with a tremendous number of volunteers. Some beautiful communities out there. They had every intersection and driveway covered/protected for all 6.5 miles. It went through the downtowns of all except Pomona. Some of those businesses really cleaned up and were packed all day I saw. I could not get into 3 restaurants it was so crazy with cyclists. One brewery in a warehouse had so many cyclists partying inside and out in the patio it looked like college spring break.
One thing I did notice is that much of the 6.5 mile cycle route did not have bike lanes so not sure it would be so safe without a road closure. I would like to see more bike partitions. Clairmont in particular has few bike lanes and 7 colleges. Instead of bike lanes they hang signs that say Bike Priority Street. I rather have a lane.