Let’s start off today with a pair of truly horrific road raging stories from the Boston area that once again drive home just who we share the roads with.
In the first, a tow truck driver is in critical condition following a fatal collision.
Just not from the crash.
After he struck and killed a woman as she was crossing the street, her son pulled out a knife and stabbed him five times, shouting “You killed my mom!”
The driver swore he didn’t see her as he ran around the truck trying to escape.
In the second, a road raging driver intentionally ran down a pair of scooter riders for the crime of not using the bike lane.
The victims can be seen clinging to the hood of the driver’s car as she flees after running over their scooters.
Fortunately, they only suffered minor injuries, and the driver was quickly captured, according to a Boston news site.
Pires, of Cambridge, was arrested and brought back to the Everett Police Department, where she was charged with four counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon; leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury and driving to endanger.
Steve forwards a photo of the ghost bike that was installed last night for the victim in Monday’s fatal crash in the San Fernando Valley; the victim still has not been publicly identified.
Let that be another reminder to ride — and drive — safely and defensively at all times.
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Evidently, he was telling the truth.
A road raging London driver who told several bike riders he was driving a stolen car as he deliberately swerved at them, and threatened to run them over, has pled guilty to auto theft and dangerous driving, as well as a number of other charges.
Here’s the video of the assault to refresh your memory.
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Local
Montrose cyclist Sean Hall has started the No Braques movement to reward riders who push the limits, with cash out of his own pocket.
State
A map prepared by UC Davis shows where in California animals are most likely to end up as roadkill. Make sure the roads you ride aren’t on there. Because you don’t want to end up as roadkill, either.
The California Coastal Commission has approved plans to add a 10-foot wide multi-use path to an existing train trestle over the San Lorenzo River in Santa Cruz.
National
Bicycling looks at the problem of cultural appropriation in the bike industry, and four companies that are doing it right. The story they cite of Czech brand Apache Bicycles is seriously cringe inducing.
Caught on video: A Portland bike rider is nearly run down by someone driving in a two-way plastic-post protected bike lane without headlights.
A local Reno NV website visits the Interbike bike industry trade show to look at the latest products, including a stop at ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis’ cannabis-infused Floyd’s of Leadville booth. Am I the only one who continues to be amused by a former cyclist who was stripped of his title for doping getting into the pot business?
A Mashable writer joins in on a 600-mile ride from Irvine to Interbike on an ebike. But no, Irvine’s Brian Sarmiento was far from the first person to bike to the Vegas-based Interbike from out of town; I’ve known a number of people who rode from LA to Vegas for the show over the years.
Speaking of Reno, the city will dedicate a new bike path alongside a highway in honor of a woman who was killed on her way to a California bike race three years ago.
Santa Fe police have purchased a bike sonar device to enforce the city’s five-foot passing law; the device goes on an officer’s handlebars, and measures the distance to a passing car. We’ve tried to talk the LAPD into trying the same device, without any success so far.
A Colorado Springs CO newspaper displays its windshield bias with an editorial that calls on the city to stop impeding traffic by building bike lanes; readers have mixed opinions on their success. Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up.
A Texas teenager refused to give up when her local city council wouldn’t listen, and went back a second time to demand safer streets after her friend was killed as he was riding his bike.
A Minneapolis woman fulfills a promise to herself by biking to work for the first time, and discovers she actually likes it.
A Detroit clothing store is teaming with a bike co-op to conduct a third annual bike drive; the drive has collected 400 bikes for local kids in its first two years.
Indianapolis sheriff’s deputies stopped a fleeing bike rider who failed to register as a sex offender by crashing into him head-on; bystanders accused the deputies of doing it on purpose.
A writer for Bicycle Times describes how the 275-mile Boston to New York Cycle for the Cause ride gave him hope during the AIDS crisis.
The owners of a mom-and-pop bike shop in Tennessee will lead a fundraising ride to fight human trafficking.
A Concord, New Hampshire paper calls for ticketing delivery vehicles blocking bike lanes.
International
No bias here. Bike Radar asks if shaved legs are hot or not. Never mind that some of their readers might be women who shave their legs for reasons that have nothing to do with bicycling.
The Conservative party leaders in Quebec intend to cut the size of Toronto’s city council, because “All (the) city council wants to do is build bicycle lanes.” Which seems like a pretty good reason to keep it just the way it is.
The Sun explains what’s going on with Saturday’s World Car Free Day. Which will be observed in Los Angeles by most people continuing to drive everywhere, as usual.
An Irish woman turned to bicycling to quit smoking, cut back on drinking and revamp her lifestyle.
Cyclist examines noteworthy classic bikes from Italian bikemaker Bianchi in words and pictures.
Photos of Israeli highways on Yom Kippur that look like CicLAvia.
Caught on video too: An Aussie bike rider is nearly run down by a motorist in an SUV who was driving in a bike lane.
Verge says Trump’s trade war with China could put the brakes on American bike riders.
Competitive Cycling
Cycling News takes a deep dive into whether women could handle racing a three-week Grand Tour.
It’s been a year since study abroad company EF Education First rescued America’s longest-running WorldTour squad from extinction.
Bicycling profiles Rwanda’s first women’s pro cyclist.
Finally…
If you’ve been drinking underage, put a damn light on your bike — and don’t resist arrest. Yes, it’s against the law to run over people on bikes. No, really.
And if your local velodrome is closing, just buy it, dismantle it, move it and rebuild it.
Easy, right?
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The surprising generosity of BikinginLA readers this week continues to blow me away. So let me thank Steven K, Tyrone C and Gold Leaf Films for their generous donations to help support this site.
As we’ve been saying all week, if everyone who visits this site today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep it going for a full year.
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Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!
Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.
