Today’s common theme?
Metro is celebrating with a 30 day Metro Bike Pass for just one dollar this month.
LA Downtown News looks forward to tomorrow’s multi-denominational Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital. Unfortunately, you won’t see me there this year as I continue to rehab my knee, even though the Blessing of the Bicycles is my favorite Bike Week event.
The annual Ride of Silence will take place on Wednesday, and for the first time, will travel from the Vermont and Wilshire Metro Station to Los Angeles City Hall. Maybe then our city leaders will get the message.
This is what Zachary Rynew, aka CiclaValley, had to say about it.
This Wednesday evening, there are a number of events across the Southland for the Ride of Silence and if you’re part of this community, I hope you take part.
Commemorating those that have been lost or injured riding in the roadway isn’t an experience we wish for, but it does provide a moment of inspiration. We all share these streets and each Ride of Silence has brought out all factions of our community. While we are blessed to be a part of this group, there’s an obligation to honor those no longer with us. I know from the number of ghost bikes I’ve placed, providing support to even complete strangers gives comfort to us all.
There will be hundreds of rides taking place across the globe, but if you’re in the Los Angeles area, please take the time Wednesday evening to take place in one of the rides at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, or the one I’m hosting from the Vermont / Wilshire Station to City Hall.You can also find a number of other rides across California or the nation by going here. We ride for each other because these roads connect us not just point to point, but person to person.
Thursday is Bike to Work Day, which is the Bike Week equivalent of trick or treating for bike commuters. You’ll find pit stops with treats and other assorted goodies all over LA County; though not all are on the map. Metro will also offer free rides for anyone with a bike or helmet.
The LACBC will have their own Bike to Work Day pit stop on Spring Street in DTLA.
Pasadena and CICLE will bring you a full week of Rose City Bike Week events, ranging from a Taste of Pasadena and Women’s Bike Night, to a Bike from Work Happy Hour and a Bike-In Movie.
Santa Clarita will mark Bike Week with Bike to Work Day and the final stage of this year’s Amgen Tour of California.
Ride with Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole on Saturday to explore the city’s 19 miles of new green bike lanes. Santa Monica Spoke has more Bike Month and Bike Week activities, including a Bike From Work Handlebar Happy Hour.
LA County Bike Week wraps up with the 626 Golden Streets: Mission to Mission ride on Sunday; the Alhambra Source tells you everything you need to know.
OCTA, aka the Orange County Transportation Authority, is hosting a ride on Thursday, plus a chance to win a Trek 2 bicycle or Fitbit Charge 2 if you pledge to ride to work at least one day this month.
San Diego will celebrate Bike to Work Day on Thursday, as well.
Ventura County celebrates Bike Week with a full week of biking to work, instead of a single day, including “entertainment, opportunities and prizes.”
Photo by Ali Arapoğlu from Pexels.
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On the other hand, hats off to the Riverside Police Department for celebrating National Bike Month and attempting to improve bike safety by — wait for it — cracking down on the vulnerable people on two wheels, and giving the ones in the big, dangerous machines a pass.
If the goal is to get more people on their bikes, that’s the wrong way to go about it.
Let alone improve safety.
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Powerful piece by Orange County Register columnist David Whiting, who calls out distracted and aggressive drivers for far too many OC bicycling deaths.
He also quotes longtime Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin extensively.
Except things are even worse than Whiting says. With the death of a man in Santa Ana last week, there have now been four people killed while riding bikes in OC this year, not the three he cites in the article.
Thanks to John McBreaty for the heads-up.
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New Orange County Bicycle Coalition board member Mike Wilkinson wonders why downhill riders should have all the fun.
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Taylor Nichols says if you see this guy riding around the Hollywood Hills, say hi and maybe pass him a few bucks.
Reaching out to all the bikers who frequent the Hollywood Hills. This fashionable cyclist is Jeff. Great guy who has hit some hard times. If you pass him on a ride maybe you can spare this brother a dime. @lacbc @midcitywest @Pflax1 @bikinginla pic.twitter.com/H6j8s9eUfY
— Taylor Nichols (@Taylor_Nichols7) May 12, 2019
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
An Aussie driver is accused of running down a man on a bike, intentionally backing over him, and fleeing the scene. Then gets released on a ridiculously low $10,000 bond, and claims she thought she just ran over a piece of metal. Sure. A piece of metal with wheels and a human being attached.
Life is cheap in New Zealand, where a violent road raging driver got ten months home vacation, uh, detention and community service for intentionally swerving at a man riding his bike, forcing him up on the sidewalk, then making a U-turn to come back and slam into him. Then when the victim came to in the street with a severely broken leg, the driver stood over him and said “Serves you right.”
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Local
Police in South Pasadena are warning about an increase in bicycle thefts.
A new survey shows most Santa Monica bikeshare and e-scooter users are young, affluent and live outside the city. And over half are using them to replace motor vehicle trips.
State
Speaking of OCTA, they want your input on how to improve the Beach Boulevard La Habra and Huntington Beach; options include enhanced sidewalks and bicycle paths.
The Orange County Sheriffs Department will conduct a pair of safety enforcement operations today, with a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement in San Clemente, and cracking down on motorcycle safety violations in Stanton. Standard protocols apply; ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city limits. Thanks to Rock Kendall for the tip.
San Diego County has broken ground on what will be the county’s first bike park, scheduled to open later this year.
Los Angeles is known for car chases; in San Diego, they flee on bikes.
Too scary. Someone apparently took a few shots at Oxnard bike rider from a passing car for no apparent reason.
People for Bikes says Santa Barbara is the best bike city in California.
San Francisco’s Timbuk2 is keeping up with the times by shifting its emphasis from messenger bags to backpacks and products designed for women.
Sad news from Stockton, where a hit-and-run driver left a man who was either riding or walking his bike to die alone in the street.
National
Open your wallet wide. Because bicyclists will get to pay for Trump’s trade war with China. Especially people in the market for entry level and kids bikes.
Good piece from Curbed’s Alissa Walker, saying bike lanes need barriers instead of just paint, because cities shouldn’t let people on bicycles get run over.
City Lab explores what it will take to finish America’s first coast-to-coast bike trail.
A new app from a pair of Oregon professors promises to give you a green light 80% of the time.
An Idaho letter writer calls for the law to be changed to allow bicyclists to ride facing traffic, on the assumption it will improve safety. Hint: It won’t. Riding salmon dramatically increases your risk of a serious crash.
Nice work. A pair of bicycling Colorado grandmas are hanging it up after riding 20,000 miles on multiple trips across the US, raising nearly three-quarter of a million dollars to fight Huntington’s Disease.
Kindhearted North Dakota firefighters buy a new bike for a boy whose bike was stolen, after seeing a Facebook post about the theft.
A retired Kansas trauma surgeon is planning to ride 1,000 miles from Wichita to Winnipeg, Canada to honor his daughter and raise funds to fight eating disorders, following her death from anorexia and depression.
Not even bike cops are safe from hit-and-run drivers, as a Dallas police officer learned the hard way; fortunately, he was not seriously injured.
Minneapolis police busted a bike rider for smashing the windows on a school bus, though they’re not sure if it’s the same person who vandalized two previous school buses for parking in a bike lane.
Now that’s more like it. A Michigan century ride is providing bicyclists with food stops offering cherry pie along the way, and a hot buffet, live music and cocktails at the end.
Now that’s more like it too. An Indiana bike park has opened an adaptive use trail for kids and adults with disabilities.
Great video of kids from a Massachusetts Boys and Girls Club being surprised with 25 new bicycles.
A biking Buffalo bishop plans to ride 3,000 miles through 600 cities on four continents to raise funds for homeless people and the less fortunate.
A Brooklyn bike path is not the place for a swastika; nowhere else is, either.
A New York letter writer tells the red light-running bicyclist who cursed him out for almost hitting him, “If you ever wonder why arrogant cyclists are so reviled by law-abiding motorists like myself” just look in the mirror. Something tells me there’s another side to this, but still.
You gotta respect a successful Hollywood actor who rides the streets of New York with a wooden crate instead of a basket. And takes his rescue dog with him.
The son of a Pennsylvania police officer who was killed in the line of duty will join in on the 250-mile national police memorial ride to Washington DC to honor fallen officers.
He gets it. A Virginia coffee shop owner has started a petition calling for safer streets for people on bicycles, based on personal experience.
They get it too. A South Carolina newspaper says safety education and increased enforcement won’t reverse the longstanding neglect that kills too many bike riders and pedestrians. And the only way to get truly safe roads is to build them that way.
A Tampa, Florida TV station says putting your garbage can out in the bike lane is a serious problem.
International
No more dirty bikes. Now you can buy your own pressure washer made just for washing bicycles for the equivalent of less than $120.
The makers of the new Xtracycle ebike promise it never become obsolete, changing along with the rider through all stages of life.
Riding across Canada with two good legs is hard. Riding 4,500 miles across the country on a handcycle after losing the use of his legs is another thing entirely.
Canadian Cycling Magazine offers tips for beginning riders.
A Toronto newspaper says six years and $2.59 million dollars is a lot for bike parking, even if it does come with showers; they’ve got a point, the project was originally supposed to be done two years ago for less than half of that.
No bias here. A writer for a driving website accuses Montreal’s leaders of having an anti-car agenda, after the city responded to the death of a bike rider by closing a roadway through a park that drivers had been using as a freeway to avoid traffic, and favoring high-speed “racing bike scofflaws.” Just like LA’s Playa del Rey, the action was reversed after angry drivers got out their torches and pitchforks.
A New Brunswick, Canada teenager has developed a bike light designed to show drivers the equivalent of a three-foot passing distance.
British blogger Velo City Girl is working to make bicycling more socially inclusive, while dumping the Lycra.
The New York Times considers the Welsh program allowing doctors to prescribe bikeshare to their patients, saying “take two bike rides and call me in the morning.”
If you build it, they will obey the law. A new study shows that just 5% of Dutch bike riders break the law, compared to 66% of drivers; that rose to 14% of bicyclists when there was no bike infrastructure present.
Just in time for Bike Week, an Aussie columnist describes his journey from timid beginning bike commuter to peak MAMIL.
Competitive Cycling
As usual, we’re going to avoid spoilers for this year’s Amgen Tour of California, as well as the Giro d’Italia, for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to catch up on the most recent stages. Which is why we’ll just say Sunday’s first stage of the AToC offered a very dramatic sprint to the finish with a surprising competitor.
The Tour of California continues to grow in international stature, with lots of stars, but no clear favorite. Although it’s questionable what this headline from the LA Times preview even means.
CiclaValley offers his own take on the action about to unfold this week.
VeloNews says the penultimate Mount Baldy queen stage could overshadowed by four potential breakaway stages.
The Santa Clarita Signal looks forward to Saturday’s final stage of the AToC.
And in non-ATOC news, apparently bike racing is the perfect cure for the stress of working with dolphins.
Finally…
Now you can own your very own Bird scooter for the low, low price of just $1,299; thanks to David Drexler for the link. When your bike becomes a moveable kinetic sculpture. Real FBI agents hardly ever ride bikes on the job, and they seldom dump live catfish on your lawn.
And apparently, my name has an entirely different meaning north of the border.
Somehow, I prefer the second meaning.
Thanks to Chris Klibowitz for finding that one.
I think.
