BikinginLA

It’s official.

CicLAvia has released the route of September’s Disney Hall to Hollywood Bowl open streets event, which should be epic in every sense, with dozens of performances along the way.

Curbed offers a preview of the CicLAvia event, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, culminating in a free concert at the Hollywood Bowl.

………

CiclaValley provides a 45-second update on the parking problems on the new MyFigueroa bike lane.

CiclaValley gives an update on @MyFigueroa over the contested Convention Center section two weeks ago.@bikinginla @LADOTofficial pic.twitter.com/ECxLvi0vs3

— Zachary Rynew (@Ciclavalley) July 11, 2018

CiclaValley also reminds us about this Nike ad, with new LA Laker LeBron James playing a bike-born Pied Piper to kids in Miami.

Isn't this the #LeBronJames LA video we dream about?@bikinginla @awalkerinLA https://t.co/WPmYp8cO6y

— Zachary Rynew (@Ciclavalley) July 12, 2018

And no, it’s not the least bit confusing to go from typing CicLAvia to CiclaValley and back.

No, really.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. And online.

A Tennessee man assumes he’s an expert on bike safety because he rode his into the side of a truck as a child, and criticizes a recumbent rider for riding in the center of a traffic lane — even though he clearly doesn’t know that word.

Apparently speaking from beyond the grave after being run over by bike riders three times, a New Jersey letter writer says his town shouldn’t encourage more bicycling because of the “mayhem” caused by “psycho” cyclists, even though he swears he rides one himself.

No windshield bias here. A DC writer complains about five types of “smug-ass” people who need to “cut the shit.” Needless to say, bike riders are number one on his list, for the apparently unforgivable crime of acting like bikes are cars, which is exactly what bike riders are supposed to do; number two are pedestrians in crosswalks who don’t get the hell out of his way fast enough.

A Saskatoon cyclist records a confrontation with an angry driver who followed him honking, then wanted to fight when the rider tried to explain his right to the road. Meanwhile, Saskatoon police say yes, bikes have a right to the road, but don’t try to educate the driver who harassed you, because that could be demeaning.

……..

A video from Slate’s Spokes Man says it’s fine to slap a car while riding.

Then again, he also seems to be okay with undertaking a semi while it’s making a right turn, which should tell you something.

I confess to slapping a few fenders when drivers drifted into my lane, or right hooked me without appearing to even know I was there.

But I stopped several years ago, after a driver got out of his car and beat a pianist to death in Hollywood when the victim slapped the hood of his car for encroaching on the crosswalk.

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Local

LAist gets it. A piece by KPCC’s Meghan McCarthy Carino says nothing can fix LA traffic, so deal with it. The simple fact is, traffic in Los Angeles right now is as good as it will ever be; the only option is to provide safe, efficient alternatives to convince people to leave their cars at home.

Good piece from Streetsblog’s Damien Newton looking at the lessons learned from the failed attempt to recall LA Councilmember Mike Bonin over the equally failed Playa del Rey road diets. And the stifling effect it’s had on street safety projects.

For everyone who missed out on Metro’s free Bike Hub membership during Bike Month, the LACBC is offering a second chance at a free one-year Bike Hub membership through the end of the month.

The Santa Monica Daily Press complains about e-scooters on the beachfront bike path, saying users are scooting through a loophole in the law.

 

State

A Bakersfield mother and bike advocate makes the case for why you should wear a helmet.

San Jose business owners become just the latest to fight a proposed bikeway, fearing it will be bad for business. Even though study after study shows just the opposite.

A San Mateo doctor is suing the other participants in a regular fast group ride for $1 million for injuries he received when another rider crashed into him. Something tells me he may not be welcome on the next one.

Sad news from Concord, where a 60-year old man was killed when his bicycle was rear-ended by a driver.

 

National

Your next power meter could fit on a valve stem.

An ebike helps a woman get back on a bicycle for the first time since she was eleven.

A Spokane writer suggests putting sharrows on a freeway, with bike pool lanes for two or more people on a bike. And no, he’s not serious.

Nevada’s indigenous tribes are welcoming Lime dockless bikeshare to their community to provide a transportation option that improves health and protects the environment.

A Montana man loses nearly half his 500 pound weight after taking up bicycling.

An Omaha bike co-op saved an eight-year old boy from a life of crime on the streets; ten years later he’s a high school graduate with a scholarship from Adventure Cycling.

A Minneapolis bike columnist says it’s time to take a pledge of civility.

A New Jersey woman — and the daughter of Holocaust survivors — discovers riding her bicycle in the recent ride from Auschwitz to Krakow, Poland is cleansing for the soul.

Friends pitch in to rebuild a custom bike belonging to a New Jersey Lakers fan — and Wilt Chamberlain’s second cousin — painting it in the colors of the LA Lakers.

 

International

Designing better ultra-aerodynamic bicycles through artificial intelligence.

That bike bucket list just keeps getting longer, as Forbes recommends five bicycling vacations around the world.

A writer for the Guardian considers the best books on bicycling.

A British Columbia bike rider is using shadows on a straight, flat highway in Saskatchewan to prove the Earth isn’t flat. Because one more proof should be enough to convince all the flat Earthers, even though all the many others haven’t done the job yet.

Caught on video: A British bus driver passes a bicyclist way too close for comfort, coming so close it looks like it may have brushed the rider.

More proof life is cheap in the UK, where a woman gets a year behind bars for running down a bike rider while high on coke and driving without her glasses — with her kids in the car.

A Welsh judge has ordered a new trial in the death of British Olympic hero Chris Boardman’s bike-riding mother; in addition to the crash, the driver and his wife are accused of deleting cellphone data to cover up their actions.

Don’t count on seeing Irish band Glass Animals anytime soon, after the band’s drummer was seriously injured when he was hit by a truck while riding in Dublin.

A Dublin teenager has been jailed for one year for terrorizing bike riders on a canal pathway; he was part of a group that chased riders and strung rope across the trail in an effort to knock people off their bikes.

Helsinki, Finland is using artificial intelligence to position and manage their bikeshare system.

Mobility Lab says Danes bike for the same reason Americans drive — because they’re lazy and it’s easy.

Rome residents are painting potholes to warn bike riders and hopefully shame the city into fixing them.

The Prague, Czechoslovakia bike ban goes into effect at the end of this month; bike riders will be prohibited from pedestrian areas in the city center.

India’s Hero Cycles is reviving 110-year old British Viking bikes after a 40-year absence. So doesn’t that mean it’s really a 70-year old brand?

An Aussie man is attempting to record and preserve all the surviving bikes made by custom bikemaker Milton “Spike” Jones.

Dockless bikeshare company Obike has abandoned thousands of bikes across Europe after filing bankruptcy in Singapore.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wednesday was a good day for the world champ, and Thursday was good for Ireland and Team UAE Emirates at the Tour de France, even though broken spokes set a couple of riders back.

An Aussie writer says Sunday’s cobbled stage will be hell on wheels.

No, it probably wasn’t good taste to hope that a Croatian rider’s crash in the Tour boded well for England’s failed World Cup bid.

It takes a team effort to keep injured cyclist Lawson “Crash” Craddock riding in the Tour de France; by continuing in the race, he’s already raised over three times his original $21,000 goal to support a Texas Velodrome.

Virtually ignored in all the attention gained by the Tour de France, the women’s Gira Rosa stage race goes on, with Australia’s Mitchelton-Scott team threatening to break the recent dominance of Dutch teams.

A new study shows riding in the back of a peloton is even easier than previously thought; riders in the right position face 95% less wind resistance than riders up front.

 

Finally…

Touring the Rockies by bike, and playing the rocks along the way.  When your bike is stolen by the police so Meghan and Harry can have lunch.

And no, telling a woman you want to be her bike saddle is not a compliment.

And not cool. Period.