BikinginLA

Today’s common theme is stolen bikes and the thieves who take them.

Bike thieves in Moab UT aren’t bothering to break bike locks, but stealing the entire bike rack along with the bicycle. Only use bike racks that are embedded in the concrete. And make sure there are no cuts in the rack, which thieves often hide under stickers.

Edmonton, Alberta police bust a prolific bike thief, recovering 83 bikes worth up to $20,000. Which is a good reminder to register your bikes now, so you’ll be protected if it someone like that comes to visit your bike.

A British cop out rides a suspected bike thief in a high-speed bike chase caught on first-person bodycam video.

Police in Dublin, Ireland are starting a “Lock it or lose it” campaign, after bike thieves make off with nearly 10,000 bicycles in two and a half years; nationwide, the total is at least 14,000, with more thefts unreported.

As today’s photo shows, bike thieves don’t always take the whole bike at once. Which means you need to secure as much of your bike as possible

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Local

CiclaValley rides the newly redesigned bike lanes on Burbank’s Riverside Drive, and finds them lacking.

KABC-7 discovers the Cycling Savvy program from the nonprofit American Cycling Education Association, including their instructions to take the lane.

Speaking of KABC-7, they talk with the Dream Riders bicycling down the Pacific Coast on the 37-day “Journey to Justice” tour from Seattle to San Diego as they stop in Long Beach.

 

State

A San Clemente letter writer says the greatest risk in allowing bikes on the beach path is that pedestrians may get startled.

An overweight, 68-year old Bakersfield bike rider hears a shouted request to put on a shirt, and politely but firmly says no.

The bike path paralleling Mission Road, aka State Route 246, will be closed for repairs east of Solvang for three weeks, starting September 17th.

A writer for Streetsblog says it’s time to stop hiding behind studies and process, and install a protected bike lane on San Francisco’s Valencia Street.

 

National

Bike Snob says give kids bikes, not helmets, arguing that helmet giveaways are an act of surrender to our dangerous streets.

Streetsblog reports a handful of states are throwing away millions of dollars in transportation funds that could go to build desperately needed sidewalks, bike lanes or trails.

A standup comic is riding down the left coast on a tour of open mic nights, while raising funds to buy 20 bikes through Bicycle Relief.

Nice gesture from the US Air Force, which sent members of the Air Force Cycling Team to assist fellow riders at this year’s RAGBRAI, calling them Guardian Angels of the Road.

One Chicago bicyclist was killed, and another critically injured, in separate dooring incidents.

In a study from Boston, researcher conclude what we already knew — local planning and zoning board meetings are dominated by older, wealthier NIMBYs. Which can be confirmed by virtually anyone who has attended a public meeting to argue for safer streets.

A Harvard research scientist makes the case for designing greener streets, starting with making room for bicycles and trees.

A writer for New York Streetsblog says the state needs to stop treating drivers and bike riders the same, subject to the same $190 fine for running a red light. Even though bike riders pose significantly less risk to others.

A Louisiana grand jury has declined to return a negligent homicide charge against the driver who killed a Baton Rouge city councilman as he rode with a friend, settling instead for a charge of reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

Tampa city leaders express concern that the police are still unfairly ticketing black bike riders when the new police chief shows up without any stats to address it.

 

International

Toronto bicyclists are riding with pool noodles to demonstrate the one-meter passing distance required by law, and often ignored.

A London driver — and a tabloid paper — freaks out over a man in a suit talking on a cellphone as he rides down the street, even though that’s not illegal for bike riders. Unfortunately, the video won’t play in this country.

An actor from the Game of Thrones is riding 980 miles across the UK on a tandem with his father, who suffers for Parkinson’s, to raise funds for a Parkinson’s charity.

The bike mayor of Bangaluru, aka Bangalore, says there’s no denying that bicycling is essential in the city.

The African Cycling Foundation has donated six bicycles to students in Nigeria to help them get to school — and stay in it.

An Australian government conference asks the same question everyone else keeps asking, how can we get more women back on their bikes.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. A road raging Chinese driver gets out of his car and attacks a bike rider with a machete. Until the rider turns the tables and kills the driver with his own knife.

 

Competitive Cycling

The winner of Thursday’s stage of the Vuelta was lucky to escape injury when a boneheaded race official stepped in front of his bike shortly after the end of the race, bringing down several riders.

You may never win a grand tour, but you can live like it, as the sprawling Georgian-style Minnesota estate belonging America’s last remaining Tour de France winner can be yours for a mere $4.9 million.

More proof that it’s not just cyclists who dope, as a professional darts player — yes, darts — has been banned for two years after testing showed a metabolite of cocaine in his system; he blamed it on a night of excess partying.

 

Finally…

Your next bike shorts could cost $300 — without a chamois. It’s one thing to win a KOM, another to beat a horse.

And you can relax now that autonomous cars have giant fake eyes to look at you with.

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If you want to join the Militant Angeleno and me for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour on September 30th, RSVP by emailing MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. 

We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.