BikinginLA

It’s the last six days of the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

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Two men have been charged the street racing death of bike rider William Campbell in Rancho Mirage last year.

Twenty-one-year old Luis Armando Castaneda was allegedly racing 23-year old Alex Isidro Quiroz when he cut into the bike lane Campbell was riding in.

He’s accused of speeding at nearly 100 miles per hour when he slammed into Campbell, in what was originally thought to be a road rage incident, then fleeing the scene.

And no, a crash at that speed is unlikely to be survivable for anyone outside of a tank.

Arrest warrants have been issued, but neither man has been taken into custody yet.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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In the latest chapter of the never-ending Peloton ad saga, the actress who played the Peloton Wife has won a one-day walk-on part on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful.

So maybe riding that indoor bike really did pay off for her, after all.

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Seriously, someone stole an ELF pedal bike?

What the hell are they going to do with it?

STOLEN – White Other ELF in Sherman Oaks, CA https://t.co/GPOJtKvMZF pic.twitter.com/VdkcK95u4z

— Bike Index (@bikeindexstolen) December 18, 2019

That’s going to be hard to sell. And harder still to break into parts at the local bike chop shop.

But at least an ELF is appropriate for this time of year.

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A London woman gets well-deserved revenge on an obnoxious van driver who harasses her — sexually and otherwise — and repeatedly reaches through his window to touch her as she’s on her bike.

I can’t bring myself to endorse violence or vandalism. But only a jury of obnoxious assholes like him would ever convict her.

Thanks to Mike Cane for the link.

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Who wants to get paid to ride a bike?

Get paid for cycling! Prototype app records your mileage and rewards you with vouchers to spend in shops. It's designed to tempt people out of cars and onto bikes and it'll be in #Exeter UK in April. See https://t.co/2FiVY8QK9o and https://t.co/AzqbuNJ8Ji #cycling @ExeterCycling pic.twitter.com/wXbWksHyFB

— Cycling Science (@CyclingScience1) December 17, 2019

I’m in.

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Who needs a back wheel when you can teach your bike to walk?

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Sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

An Orange County man has accepted a gift of a plea bargain, getting just one year for severely beating a woman walking on a bike path, after he crashed into her with his bike.

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‘Tis the Season.

The sanitation department of an Arizona county gave away 105 bicycles that were abandoned or found in the landfill and rebuilt by county inmates for 50¢ a hour.

Volunteers with an Ohio county sheriff’s department found and refurbished 37 bicycles and tricycles for a Salvation Army toy giveaway.

A Shreveport, Louisiana law firm gave 103 bicycles to local kids. But probably made them sign a waiver first.

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It’s the final days of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — and the late Corgi’s tenure as spokesdog for this site.

So let me offer my sincere thanks to John C for his generous donation to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

So what are are you waiting for, already?

Take just a minute to donate right now. Because time’s running out. 

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Local

LAUSD teacher Molly Jane Hoene was formally arraigned yesterday, pleading not guilty to two counts of felony hit-and-run in the crash that nearly killed a homeless bike rider in Silver Lake; she’s been released on $50,000 bond.

Thanks to CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew for forwarding word that the South Bay Beach Cities Cycling Club ranks as the number one bike club in the US. Again.

LA County is offering a $10,000 reward for whoever shot and killed 20-year-old Anthony Iniquez as the father of two was riding his bike in Harbor City two years ago.

 

State

Some people put boom boxes or Bluetooth speakers on their bikes; one San Diego man pedals with an entire piano on his.

A San Jose man has filed a civil suit against the police for intentionally ramming him off his bicycle to make a traffic stop, claiming he didn’t hear the officer yell at him to pull over.

A Berkeley op-ed says the future of the city’s Telegraph Ave should be as a Complete Street.

The question isn’t why did a member of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District ride his bike to the latest board meeting, but why didn’t the rest of them?

 

National

Scientific American says your brain needs physical exercise, too. Like riding a bike, for instance.

Lime is trying to one-up the competition with a new weekly pass that allows unlimited bike and scooter unlocks for just $5.

El Paso TX will invest over $1.8 million to improve bikeways across the city.

Eight years after a Houston man bought a used Raleigh bike for $150, he’s lost 50 pounds and credits it with changing his life.

An Iowa advocacy group flips sides in the ongoing RAGBRAI rivalry, after the entire staff of the longstanding ride across the state resigned earlier this year to start a competing ride.

New York bike thieves are physically assaulting bicycle delivery riders to steal their ebikes.

Gothamist tells the stories of New York’s fallen bike riders, where 28 people have lost their lives simply for riding a bicycle, compared to just ten last year. Go ahead, tell me again how distracted drivers and massive SUVs aren’t making the streets more dangerous for everyone. Except the people in them.

Streetsblog complains that New York police caught the driver who allegedly fled the scene after killing professional wrestler Matt Travis as he rode his bike in Harlem earlier this year, but only charged him with minor traffic infractions.

I want to be like her when I grow up. A 70-year old Virginia woman rode her bike 12,500 miles around the US to draw a peace symbol across the US

Sorry, Tampa. But white plastic poles do not a protected bike lane make.

When an elderly woman’s bike was stolen while she was shopping, kindhearted Florida deputies quickly recovered it. And got her a new one when they saw how old and worn her old bike was.

 

International

By the pricking of my thumbs, something Evil this way comes. With drop bars, no less.

Bike Radar attempts to predict the near future of road cycling with five top trends.

Who says bike tours have to be hard? Forbes recommends five European ebike tours.

You, too, could be the next editor of Road.cc and work in lovely Bath, England. Seriously, I loved that town, even if it was overrun with tourists. Like me.

London’s Evening Standard suggests the 30 best gifts for the bike rider in your life. Even if that bike rider is you. Or maybe, especially. 

Parisians have dealt with a massive transit strike by turning to bicycles and e-scooters. And have the injuries to prove it.

Indian bicyclists respond to the death of a bike rider with a We Too campaign to create awareness about the need to respect pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists.

An American soldier is still teaching spin classes, even while he’s deployed in Afghanistan.

Nice piece from Bicycling on American Shannon Galpin, who’s ready to move on to her next chapter after surviving blot clots in her brain, and the collapse of the Afghan women’s cycling team she helped found and fund.

Hong Kong commuters are forming bike trains to avoid the chaos caused by the ongoing protests in the city.

 

Competitive Cycling

Katie Compton’s incredible run of 15 straight national cyclocross championships finally came to an end, losing to Clara Honsinger, a competitor almost half Compton’s age competing in her first season at the elite level. Thanks to DQ for the gentle reminder.

Business Insider recalls our current president’s bizarre attempt to recreate the Tour de France on American soil. Only bigger and better, in typical Trump style. Except it never even came close.

Clearly, the best way to remove course tape in a ‘cross race is let someone else run into it — sets you free while taking taking out the competition. Without stopping, no less.

https://twitter.com/cyclocross24/status/1206598780503625733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1206598780503625733&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F269613-new-app-pays-you-cycling-35000-hand-painted-superbike-24-carat-gold-details

And evidently, pro cycling is now taking its fashion cues from Barney the Dinosaur.

Bardiani-CSF? More like Barneyiani-CSF, am I right?! pic.twitter.com/AUjIUL9ZG4

— Joseph Robinson (@joeprobinson) December 17, 2019

 

A fat tired all-wheel drive ebike was probably inevitable. No, you can’t have this hand-finished, porcelain-covered carbon fiber bike with 24k gold trim. Sorry.

And the easiest way to spot a Trump parody account is if he says he’s going to bike to work. Or ride a bike, period.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldtrodi/status/1206908927281119234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1206908927281119234&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F269613-new-app-pays-you-cycling-35000-hand-painted-superbike-24-carat-gold-details

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