BikinginLA

Call it the first full day of LeBron bike mania.

It seems like the only ones more excited about LeBron James joining the LA Lakers are his fellow bike riders.

Take the newly resurrected LAist, now operated by Pasadena public radio station KPCC, which offers advice on how the Lakers new star can stay alive while biking in LA.

Curbed imagines LeBron James as the newly crowned Bike King of Los Angeles, making the case for better bike infrastructure so he can ride safely from his Brentwood homes to Staples Center in DTLA or the Laker’s practice facility in El Segundo.

Too bad he didn’t make that a condition of signing with the team.

The LA Times warns LeBron that bicycling can be rough here in the City of Angels — thanks in part to an “ineffectual” mayor. And asks drivers to please not run him over.

Actually, knowing LeBron James may be on a bicycle could go a long way towards improving safety for people on bikes in Los Angeles.

As long as you’re a tall black man, since no one wants to be responsible for sidelining the new hope of franchise.

As for the rest of us, we’re on our own.

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn, Steve and Stefan Mayer for the heads-ups.

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Maybe there’s hope yet for the Balboa bike path parking problem.

Danger D writes to say he’s been contacted by Councilmember Nury Martinez’ office, and told they’re looking into just what department has jurisdiction for enforcement on the bike path through Balboa Park.

Which is a problem on a lot of LA’s off-road trails, where even the various police and sheriff’s departments often aren’t entirely sure who’s responsible for policing any given section.

Then again, that hasn’t prevented parking in the new South Figueroa bike lanes by Staples Center, even though the LAPD has unquestioned jurisdiction there.

He suggests posting no parking signs, which seems like a pretty obvious and relatively low cost solution. And maybe put a red stripe along the edge of the pathway.

Let’s hope something gets done soon. Because LA needs safe bikeways a lot more than it needs more parking.

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Holy horse trailer, Batman.

This has got to be one of the closest near misses ever — it would have been a crash if the rider had his elbows out.

Even closer than this one, in fact.

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Always interesting to see what our community looks like to people on the outside. Streetfilms visits the Expo Line’s Culver City Station, and finds little consideration for anyone outside of a car.

Which anyone who has ever tried to catch a train there can attest to.

https://twitter.com/TransitCenter/status/1013478778075516928

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Local

Mrs. CiclaValley catches a red light running fender bender on dashcam, countering the guilty driver’s knee-jerk denial.

A travel writer for the New York Times discovers Long Beach, and wisely decides to tour the city by bicycle.

A Metro Bike day pass will set you back just $4 on the 4th. And you might win a free T-shirt.

 

State

A San Francisco architect makes the case that new residential buildings really don’t need parking. Or at least as much as currently required.

Streetsblog says a ten-year delay in building out a makeover of San Francisco’s Masonic Avenue has resulted in construction that is already out of date.

A mobile bike shop owner in the Bay Area is working to change the face of bicycling by offering free workshops to people who are often overlooked in the bicycling world.

Sacramento is planning street improvements to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians — including a proposal to reduce speed limits.

A Novato driver has been sentenced to a well-deserved three years in prison for fleeing the scene after plowing into four bike riders during a Marin County charity ride last October; witnesses said he appeared to intentionally aim for the riders, though his mother swears he would never do that.

 

National

Giro put a helmet inside a helmet to improve comfort while protecting your head from concussions. Which may come in handy once you consider what you paid for it.

No surprise here, as Lyft has followed Uber into the wonderful world of bikeshare.

An American Japanese Buddhist monk is just $52 short of his goal of raising $5,000 for the Children’s Hospital Foundation by riding his bike across the US.

Streetsblog lists six times the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has blamed pedestrians when it knew the deadly design of SUVs was most likely behind the jump in pedestrian deaths.

Tour de Fat returns to Chicago, as its 2018 tour once again bypasses Los Angeles.

A Detroit public radio station explains why some local streets are paved with bricks, crediting the bicycling Good Roads movement of the 1890s.

A bicycling physician at the famed Cleveland Clinic recommends eight “must haves” to ride a bike safely and comfortably.  Good advice, but the only must have you really need is a bike.

The Cambridge MA fire department will be putting their new paramedic bike team to work at tomorrow’s 4th of July celebrations.

WaPo says theft and destruction of dockless bikeshare bikes is a growing problem. And in other news, the Pope is Catholic and bears really do shit in the woods.

In a remarkably weak response to the bicycling death of a Baton Rouge LA city councilmember, the local newspaper calls on drivers to give riders a safe passing distance and follow the rules of common sense.

 

International

In a hard-hitting piece, a Toronto bike rider says the city’s leaders have blood on their hands for their failure to protect bicyclists and pedestrians on the streets. Change the names and a few other details, and he could be writing about Los Angeles.

A Canadian woman waxes lyrically about discovering a broken road bike in her parents garage, and letting it take her back to the person she used to be.

A writer for a Canadian driving website criticizes her hometown for yanking out a road diet because it added 16 seconds to drivers’ trips off peak. And notes that geese get better PR than bike riders.

London’s former bike czar says Oxford and Cambridge can and should become Britain’s first true cycling cities, since bikes offer the most practical solution to their congested city centers.

A British mother gets a year behind bars for running down a bike rider while high on coke — with her kids in the car. Then again, she wasn’t wearing her glasses, either.

You can now ride your ped-assist ebike up to 28 mph without getting booted out of a Danish bike lane.

A Brisbane, Australia bikeway is one of the most popular in the world, according to a bike counter maker, with nearly 950,000 riders so far this year.

 

Competitive Cycling

Peter Sagan says he loves to win, but really, he just wants to have fun. Which is easy to say when you’re Peter Sagan.

The Associated Press offers an overview of this year’s Tour de France course, which kicks off on Saturday.

Chris Froome is taking an early victory lap, saying he knew he would be exonerated in his doping case. Meanwhile, cycling fans around the world are left to wonder if anything has really changed.

A four-person team of sightless riders riding stoker on tandem bikes became the first blind team to finish the Race Across America.

 

Finally…

Dig under your cushions for some old gummy bears and Halloween candy, and you too can eat like a pro. As if dodging cars wasn’t enough, now we have to evade grocery crates falling like depth charges.

Once again, you can pedal your way to a pro cycling contract without actually having to go outside. Or anywhere else.

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Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Remember that bikes are the best way to get to and from fireworks displays. But watch out for drivers making their way through traffic, because they’re not likely to be looking out for you.

I’ll see you back here bright and early on Thursday.