Just six days left in the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
Time’s running out to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy. Donate in just minutes via PayPal, or through Zelle with the banking app that’s already on your phone, using the email address you’ll find on this link.
Any amount will help, and is truly and deeply appreciated, no matter how large or small.
Or if you own a business, consider buying an ad on BikinginLA to show your support for this site, while you spread your message to thousands of bike riders in Southern California and around the world.
Not to mention you can write off the full cost as an advertising expense on next year’s taxes.
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If you’ve had your bike stolen, the new 24-hour Spectrum 1 News channel wants to talk to you.
Reporter Jada Montemarano is looking to talk to current and former victims for a possible story on the bike theft epidemic.
You can email her at jada.montemarano@charter.com if you’ve got a stolen bike story to tell.
Maybe shining a little light on bike theft will get the city to actually do something about it.
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LA Curbed offers everything you need to know to use bikeshare, e-scooters and dockless bikes in the City of Angels, but probably hadn’t thought to ask.
The field has gotten more crowded in the past weeks, as Jump has dumped both ebikes and e-scooters onto the streets, while Lyft and Razor — yes, that Razor — have jumped into the LA scooter wars.
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Cycling Savvy has released a new video just for California bike riders spelling out our legal right to take the lane under most circumstances.
As instructor Gary Cziko explains,
“The exceptions to the far-to-the-right requirement of CVC 21202 provide clear recognition by the vehicle code that bicycling far to the right often exposes bicyclists to unnecessaryrisk, and makes it legal to avoid this risk by controlling the lane.”
Thanks to Cziko and our old friend Karen Karabell for the heads-up.
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The LACBC is hosting their last Operation Firefly event to provide free bike lights in Pasadena tonight.
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‘Tis the season.
Canadians are taking their Christmas trees home by bike.
Thirty Santas, elves and other assorted holiday types turned out for a Santa ride in the unlikely location of Fethiye, Turkey.
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Local
An op-ed in the LA Times says Los Angeles doesn’t have to be a city of parking lots, in part thanks to bicycles, bike lanes and the growth of micromobility. UCLA parking meister Donald Shoup has said DTLA has more parking per acre than anywhere else on Earth. So why are we wasting valuable curb space to provide car storage at the city’s expense when it could be put to better use?
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from the LA Daily News, which takes a look at the safety improvements, including separate bike lanes, along La Tuna Canyon in the San Fernando Valley.
How the popular Rock Store survived the Woolsey Fire that scorched the section of Mulholland Highway known as The Snake.
State
The CHP highlights changes in traffic laws on January 1st, including one that removes any doubt that bike riders are subject to hit-and-run laws on Class 1 bikeways. In addition, bike riders under 18 will now get fix-it tickets if they’re caught riding without a helmet, while adults will no longer need one to ride an e-scooter. But you still can if you want.
Great offer from the San Diego Bicycle Coalition. They’ll give the first 100 people who donate $50 to the group a free Boomerang CycloTrac GPS anti-theft system.
National
A writer for Boing Boing sums up his experience commuting by ebike, calling it a total game changer for non-cyclists.
Smart Cities Dive gazes deep into its crystal ball to look far into the future, and predicts what’s in store for dockless bikes and scooters in the year to come.
A Hawaiian woman celebrates her 40th birthday with a 40-mile uphill ride into the wind from the ocean to the top of Maunakea on the Big Island, finishing in a not-so-speedy eight hours.
Seattle questions whether the city’s water taxi service should charge extra to bring bicycles onboard.
Uber executives were warned in advance that its self-driving cars were too dangerous not long before one hit and killed Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona. That jackpot sound you hear is her lawyers calculating just how much that bit of information will cost Uber in the inevitable settlement.
La Crosse WI will remove bike lane markers along one of the city’s busiest streets to avoid confusion caused by new bulb-outs. Which, of course, will probably cause more confusion.
The vice mayor of Cambridge MA calls for lowering speed limits to 20 mph throughout the city, while bike riders would be happy just to get cars out of the bike lanes.
International
The Conversation says Toronto history proves that induced demand works for bicycles, too.
A rose by any other name. London will rebrand their cycle superhighways to “detoxify” the image that they’re nothing more than motorways for Lycra louts.
London announces a five-year plan to triple the amount of protected bike lanes to form a single, unified bike network across the city to get more people onto their bikes. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has its own 25-year bike plan to get more people riding, which is currently on the shelf gathering dust, and likely to stay there for the foreseeable future.
A Welsh driver admits to running over the 75-year old mother of British cycling hero Chris Boardman after she fell off her bike in a roundabout.
British insurers are surprised to learn they’re going to be offering a discount to bicyclists who pass the country’s Bikeability class.
A Polish radio station is holding an on-air auction today to benefit 72-year old former Olympic cycling medalist Ryszard Szurkowski, who was paralyzed after crashing in a masters race in Germany last June.
Over 5,000 people have signed up to use the 300 ebikes in New Delhi’s new bikeshare system.
Competitive Cycling
The toughest rider in this year’s Tour de France tells his story firsthand for the first time, as American Lawson Craddock describes what it was like to ride the entire race with a broken collarbone.
VeloNews talks with the incredible Katie Compton about her 15th consecutive national cyclocross title. Next year they should just hand her the trophy, and let everyone else fight it out for second place.
Finally…
That feeling when your endo goes viral in a friend’s selfie. And the perfect bicycle for when you have an extra ten grand burning a hole in your bike budget.
Or you could just buy five to ten pretty damn good bikes, instead.
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Thanks to Anne F, Dennis E and George W for their generous donations to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive to keep this site coming to your favorite screen every morning!
Cycling Savvy’s video about CVC 21202 was really good, BUT it did not mention anything about how CVC 21202 determines when it is required to ride single file or when bicycles may ride side-by-side on the roadway.
In my opinion, single file is only required during those rare occasions that 21202 requires one to ride as close to the right as practicable. During any other times side-by-side cycling is permitted. Am I correct?
You’re absolutely right. California law doesn’t even mention riding side-by-side, so anything that isn’t addressed by law is legal by default. Some police agencies have argued that the outside rider is violating CVC 21202 by failing to ride as close to the right as practicable, but that should only apply in the rare instances when the right lane is wide enough to safely share with a motor vehicle.
Although the best argument I’ve heard was the guy who said “I can’t ride any closer to the right, officer, there’s another bike there.”
Some cops have also tried to ticket bicyclists riding abreast for impeding traffic. However, that only applies if there are five or more vehicles stuck behind and unable to pass. And doesn’t apply at all if there is a second lane to your left that drivers could use to go around you.
That said, while it may be perfectly legal, there are many poorly trained officers out there who don’t understand the nuances of 21202, and might stop you anyway. Best advice is to clearly and politely explain why it’s legal, then shut the hell up. If the cop insists, move to the right until he or she is gone. If you get a ticket, fight it, because you’re right.