Morning Links: CicLAvia rolls through the Valley, Whittier bicyclist threatened, and never lock your bike to a tree

CicLAvia is here.

The LA Daily News looks forward to Sunday’s Valley CicLAvia, which will roll, walk skate and scoot along Van Nuys Blvd through Pacoima, Panorama City and Arleta from 9 am to 4 pm.

This is the 25th CicLAvia, which began in Downtown Los Angeles on 10-10-10.

And yes, I still have the shirt.

It’s also the second CicLAvia in the North San Fernando Valley, following the first in 2016.

CiclaValley offers part two of his CicLAvia preview; we linked to part one on Wednesday.

And the Militant Angeleno is back with his Epic CicLAvia XXV guide, with highlights including the homes of the fictional Marty McFly and the very real Ritchie Valens.

Meanwhile, Long Beach’s CicLAvia equivalent will be back with a more walkable twilight version of Beach Streets this August.

………

A Whittier bike rider reports being threatened by a pickup driver in a racist attack.

Thanks to Felicia G for the heads up.

………

This is why you never lock your bike to a tree.

Megan Lynch forwards news of a German bike rider who locked his $2,500 bike to a tree over the weekend.

When he came back, his bike was missing.

And so was the tree, which had been cut down by the determined thief.

………

A new study reports that the myth of the distracted pedestrian is exactly that.

A myth.

Less than 15% of walkers using crosswalks in New York and Flagstaff AZ were walking distracted.

And distracted or not, only a relative handful committed dangerous infractions while crossing the street.

………

Local

Nice piece from Los Angeles Magazine offering mostly good advice for drivers on how to share the with bicyclists. Although if you roll down the window to talk to me at a red light, you’d better be asking for directions or complimenting my bike.

An editor for the Advocate has been skipping brunch to get out on her bike, saying climbing hills keeps her grounded.

As it finally nears completion, the My Figueroa Complete Streets project looks at its own beginnings with Prop 1C funding and new housing along the South Figueroa corridor.

LAist is finally back, with a report on a nine-mile bike taco tour of Boyle Heights.

In an incredibly short-sighted decision for such a progressive city, West Hollywood has voted to ban e-scooters entirely, encouraging users of the devices which have exploded in popularity to get back in their cars and make the city’s chronic traffic and parking problems worse.

 

State

Great idea. The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is holding a three-day regional bike summit, with a goal of breaking down common barriers to get more people on bikes.

A San Diego council committee has approved a $312 million program to build out and maintain the city’s 2013 bike plan over the next 20 years. Unlike most cities, where a bike plan gets put on the shelf and forgotten as soon as it’s adopted, Los Angeles included.

A new study reveals the most dangerous spots for bicyclists in the San Diego area, most of which are exactly where you might think.

San Luis Obispo backs down on plans for a protected bike lane in the face of angry residents, after transportation officials say the post road diet layout isn’t wide enough for it. Although it is wide enough for wide buffered bike lanes, which take up more space.

Here’s your chance to ride your bike on the famed Laguna Seca Raceway.

San Francisco has approved plans for the city’s first neighborway, which are streets designed to improved pedestrian access and bike safety. Which sounds like yet another way of not offending anyone by saying bike boulevard.

 

National

Bike Snob says sports with balls are overrated, and you should encourage your kids to ride a bike instead.

If you prefer to do your bicycling inside, Peloton has expanded its app to include over 10,000 classes.

Red Bull offers seven yoga moves that will make you a better bicyclist.

The Wall Street Journal says group bike rides are the new boardroom where deals are made. And they still couldn’t manage to get through the piece without saying cycling is the new golf.

Bloomberg says new ebikes are getting to be as smart as phones. And stupid fun to ride.

Outside says Bikepacking.com is revolutionizing the sport, making it perhaps too easy to pack up, pick a route and get out the door.

Three-quarters US states now mandate a minimum passing distance, as of Hawaii becomes the 37th state to require at least a three-foot margin for motorists passing people on bicycles.

Tragic news from Kansas, where a Minnesota man has been paralyzed from the chest down after he was run down from behind while participating in the cross-country Trans-Am Bike Race; a crowdfunding page has raised over $24,000, $4,000 more than the $20,000 goal.

A Dallas magazine says if you want to make the city bike-friendly, the best way to start is to get everyone on a bicycle with an earn-a-bike program.

Unbelievable. A 26-year old Arkansas woman has been charged with intentionally running down a bike rider, then trying to hit him again with her car — even as she was already facing capital murder charges in the death of her own grandmother.

A Chicago writer recalls how two boys from Belgium became the youngest kids to bike across the US in 1935; one of them his father grew up to be his father.

A Chicago woman says she loathes wearing a bike helmet because it’s hot and ugly and messes up her hair, and takes all the joy out of riding.

A bike-riding doctor with the famed Cleveland Clinic offers advice on how to stay safe while riding at night — and for a change, does not even mention bike helmets. Although his first recommendation is just don’t do it.

No bias here. A Queens community paper blames bicycle zealots for unreasonably demanding safer streets, suggesting that it’s their own damn fault if they get doored or run over. Someone should tell them that protected bikeways improve safety for everyone, as well as encouraging better behavior from bike riders.

A Queens councilmember says she’s being harassed by bike riders who might possibly have planned to sabotage a rally in opposition to a bike lane if she had actually bothered to hold it. Never mind that the bike lane has eliminated fatalities on what was formerly known as the Boulevard of Death.

Philadelphia councilmembers get an earful from bike riders demanding the city adopt a Vision Zero plan. Or at least the handful of councilmembers who bothered to show up and listen.

A Virginia man dispenses rehabbed bicycles along with anti-smoking advocacy.

According to the local business journal, Tampa, Florida business owners want fewer bike lanes on a roadway scheduled for a road diet. Which begs the question of just how much fewer they want. A single lane in just direction? Or more likely, none at all?

 

International

The Economist says ebikes and e-scooters are “flummoxing regulators while exciting consumers and venture capitalists,” as they weave their way into urban transport. Except, apparently, in West Hollywood.

Cycling Weekly explains why you might want to ti one on.

Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar reputedly was one of us, while his brother actually was.

A Florida writer takes a Backroads bike tour of the Cuban countryside. But maybe you’d rather tour Amsterdam by bike.

No surprise here, as a new study shows Edmonton’s protected bike lanes reduce stress and travel times for riders.

Caught on video: A Toronto man has pled guilty to jumping out of a car, running up to a bicyclist and pushing him off his bike; no word on what led up to the attack.

It took five police squad cars to ticket a Toronto man for riding his bicycle in the street instead of in a bike lane — something the officers later had to backtrack on, since that isn’t actually illegal. The whole nearly 14 minute incident was caught on video.

Andrew Ridgeley appeared with the UK’s Piers Morgan to promote an 1,100-mile charity ride across Europe, but all Morgan wanted to talk about was the death of Ridgeley’s former Wham! bandmate George Michael.

More on the Netherlands’ plan to pay working adults 19 cents to kilometer to bike to their jobs. Which could be one of the least costly ways to get more people out of their cars.

Belgium bike riders strip down for the latest edition of the World Naked Bike Ride. Although evidently, not everyone likes seeing naked people on bicycles.

No, it’s not a cemetery, it’s an Italian monument to cycling greats.

An Indian man flew to Dubai and bought a bicycle to ride 2,600 miles to see Messi play for Argentina in the World Cup.

Cycling Tips says distracted driving is a bigger problem than ever in Australia, which is terrifying for bike riders in the country. And pretty much everywhere else.

According to the Korea Herald, bike deaths are up 11.5% in South Korea. Remarkably, the paper blames it on elderly riders and a lack of protective gear, rather than on a dramatic increase in distracted driving, like pretty much everywhere else.

 

Competitive Cycling

Teams have been announced for the men’s four-day Colorado Classic bike race, including four WorldTour teams and five Pro Continental teams.

UCI is finally getting around to banning the opioid pain killer Tramadol, which has been widely used during races in the pro peloton.

VeloNews says BMC’s financial collapse is just the same old crisis in a financially unstable sport.

 

Finally…

Nothing like getting your stolen bike back because the thief was too drunk to ride it naked. Who wants a boring bike when you can have an e-wheel?

And when you’re a lord, bike bells apparently matter more than safe streets.

 

Comments are closed.

Discover more from BikinginLA

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading