Just a quick update on yesterday’s photo of the badly faded barrio bike boulevard markings at Hubbard and Simmons in East LA.
According to Aurelio Jose Barrera, who took the photo, he got a response from County Supervisor Hilda Solis’ office that the report is being passed on to the LA County Department of Public Works.
Hopefully we’ll have some good news soon.
And I’m told you can report any problems on county roads yourself using LA County’s The Work’s app.
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More there are still some bighearted people in the world.
A group of San Diego-area kids donated 23 bicycles for disadvantaged children in Haiti.
The Ashley Furniture company donated 42 bicycles, helmets and locks for kids in Wisconsin.
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Local
Way to bury the lead. DTLA bike shop pop-up Tokyobike now has a permanent location in the former American Apparel building in the Fashion District.
Santa Monica passes an e-scooter and ebike sharing pilot program, without the hard caps on the number of bikes and scooters that was originally proposed, although it retains the $20,000 annual fee and a charge of $130 per device.
Somehow we missed this one earlier in the week, as Gary Kavanagh write on Medium that e-scooters are good, and we should cap the number of cars in Santa Monica instead.
Curbed looks at the SaMo e-scooter debate, and says it’s time cities learned the value of the curb.
CiclaValley once again proves the value of a bike, as he rides through the downfall and leaves all the cars far behind.
State
Ventura County sheriff’s deputies busted three bike burglars who stole $30,000 worth of bicycles from a Newbury Park bike shop.
No bias here. The local paper says Palo Alto residents criticize a new roundabout and plans for a bicycle boulevard. Then mention that half the people who spoke at a meeting opposed it — which suggests that half didn’t.
Just like everywhere else, the debate over bike lanes on a Los Altos street comes down to safety versus the convenience of motorists.
San Francisco is open to closing JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park to cars. Which means opening it up to everyone else.
The City by the Bay adopts a litter of “adorable” little protected bike lane sweepers.
Former pro Levi Leipheimer has teamed with the Russian River Brewing Co to raise $400,000 to replace homes destroyed in last year’s fires.
Yosemite re-opens the fabled Mariposa Grove after a three-year ecological restoration. But don’t try to ride your bike there; bicycles are banned from the road in favor of the much more ecological, smog-spewing tour buses. Sarcasm intended.
Much respect to a pair of Nevada City kids, who responded to the racial harassment they receive while riding their bikes by organizing a Ride Against Racism this weekend.
National
Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss continues his transition from pundit to hard-hitting advocate, as he says bikeshare can save our cities if we let it.
Fortune looks back at how we got to peak e-scooter mania. Something tells me we’re nowhere near peak anything yet, mania or otherwise.
Bicycling suggests eight hills you have to ride before you die, one of which is in California. Which apparently means that if you only ride seven, you’ll live forever.
Your next carbon-fiber bike could be 3D printed. And cheaper.
Thanks to Ford, your next bike jacket could tell you where to go. And tell everyone else that you are.
If you have to break in and steal a couple of bikes, maybe it’s not the best idea to take them from a Hawaiian police station.
Bike riders Glenwood Springs CO are noticing a wave of driver courtesy and safe driving. Unlike, say, virtually everywhere else.
A Denver weekly maps the best bike routes through the biggest neighborhoods.
A Michigan man is leaving Friday on a 2,500-mile ride along Route 66 to raise funds to fight pediatric cancer in honor of his son, who died five years ago after battling pediatric cancer and neuroblastoma.
The war on cars is a myth, but the war on bikes goes on, as someone sabotaged a Boston bike lane with thumbtacks arranged point up. How about sentencing the perp to work with the victims of bike crashes caused by assholes like him — or her?
The NYPD is on the lookout for a bike-riding bandit who swoops in to snatch cellphones from unsuspecting New Yorkers.
International
An Ontario driver solves the problem of masses of bicyclists clogging the highways on group rides — just send them off in packs of ten, riding single file, ten minutes apart. Which means it would take about one and a half days just to start a typical 2,000 rider charity ride. Let alone finish.
Ottawa commuters are furious over parking tickets they got when they drove partway to work, parked all day in a local park, then biked the rest of the way.
Toronto’s former chief planner says it’s time to declare a state of emergency, as bike and pedestrian deaths continue to climb in the city, despite the two-year old Vision Zero. Advocates respond by demanding a reduction in speed limits.
Caught on video: An impatient Brit driver gets out of her car to accuse a bike rider of hogging the road after she drives over a traffic island. Although judging by the dents in her car, she’s just a crappy driver.
Sorry Pashley-riding English posties, you’ll have to show your support for The Three Lions on your own time.
Fred Davis forwards news of a German pedal-powered knitting machine that can make a knit hat while you wait.
Scotland is investing the equivalent of nearly $2 million dollars to provide interest-free loans of up to $4,000 to ebike buyers.
Competitive Cycling
Peter Flax relates the story of the first family of American cycling. And no, probably it’s not who you think it is.
Deadspin says the great Marco Pantini may have been the victim of a doctored blood test when he got kicked out of the ’99 Giro, and began the downward spiral that cost him his life. Even though he probably raced his entire career on EPO, like most of the peloton in those days.
Forget doping. The real scandal in pro cycling is sock length.
Finally…
If you don’t want a wet bike ride, maybe you shouldn’t call it the Water Carnival. Put those playing cards back in your spokes.
And no, ringing your bell doesn’t give you the right-of-way.
