They drive among us.
A couple of bizarre non-bike road rage incidents illustrate just who we share the roads with.
In a truly strange, tragic and confusing case in my own neighborhood, a 26-year old mother is dead after rear-ending a motorcyclist, then getting run over by her own passenger after she got out to argue with the man on the motorbike when he followed them home.
The passenger ran away after killing her friend. Literally.
And there’s a special place in hell for the road raging Corona resident who inexplicably went ballistic over the age-old Ding Dong Ditch prank, jumping into his car and ramming a car filled with six teenage boys as they tried to escape him.
Anurang Chandra could face multiple counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon after three of the boys were killed when their car went off the road and slammed into a tree.
Seriously, people, just chill already.
Motor vehicles bring out the worst in far too many people. Myself included.
One of the many reasons I quit driving was that I may be Bruce Banner on my bike or in a bus, but you wouldn’t like me behind the wheel.
And I didn’t, either.
Photo by Wendy Corniquet from Pixabay.
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A prison parolee will stand trial for the drunk and stoned crash that killed mountain biker Kevin Lentz in Escondido last November.
Jamison Connor faces ten charges, including vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and driving under the influence, as well as drug and weapons violations.
He also faces a single count of child endangerment for allowing his four-year old son to sit unrestrained in the car as he fled the scene after — allegedly — killing Lentz.
Never mind the meth and loaded semi-automatic police found in his pickup when they busted him.
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Unlike Los Angeles under current international Climate Mayor Eric Garcetti, the former Climate Mayor is making great strides in reimagining the streets of Paris and the city as a whole.
What does a “quarter hour city” mean? A #Paris that’s even more dense, mixed & connected. How? Wider sidewalks. New 100% bike streets. School yards become weekend gardens. Intersections reinvented as neighborhood squares. Car parking converted into bike parking. And MUCH more. pic.twitter.com/8wjLMdk9aG
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) January 22, 2020
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Call it Peloton’s revenge for the bikelash over the now-infamous Peloton Wife commercial.
So maybe FedEx is just trying to keep up.
What's worse about this @FedEx truck parked in a bike lane? Close to a school or too lazy just to park in the empty spot beside? @safebikelanes @bikinginla pic.twitter.com/OXqMlWyT7v
— Zachary Rynew (@Ciclavalley) January 21, 2020
Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the first link.
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Your next DIY ebike could be solar powered. As long as you don’t mind hauling a bigass bike trailer everywhere you go.
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Sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Florida police are looking for a bike-riding robber who holds-up people parking their cars in a Tampa parking garage, then makes his getaway on his bike.
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Local
New advocacy group Streets for All will meet this Tuesday to discuss a campaign for a Venice Blvd Complete Street.
A ghost bike will be placed in Arleta this Thursday in honor of fallen bike rider Jesus “Gallo” Urbina, who was killed while using his bike to deliver water to some homeless friends.
State
San Diego is still struggling to cut pedestrian deaths, despite a Vision Zero pledge to end all traffic-related deaths in the next five years. Judging by recent news, they’re not doing so good on the bike front, either.
A new poll shows San Diegans overwhelmingly oppose installing bike lanes at the expense of parking spaces, and want to keep e-scooters, but impose stricter regulations on them.
An Embarcadero restaurant is endangering San Francisco bike riders by continuing to place its valet stand directly in the bike lane, while a protected bike lane currently being built stops just short of the restaurant.
National
In a story that could be a ripped from the headlines look at LA’s own mayor, Fast Company says there’s a “big disconnect between what mayors want in terms of street design and what they’re actually willing to support to make it happen.” Except virtually no one in LA is writing headlines about the mayor’s failure to support his own Great Streets, Complete Streets and Vision Zero programs. Except yours truly, of course.
Terrano is offering a 25% discount on their cycling communications and bluetooth system, for hands-free communications with other riders on the road.
It takes a major schmuck to steal a Portland man’s bicycle on the one-year anniversary of his kayaking death on the Hood River. Then again, it takes a major schmuck to steal a bike, period.
A New York congressman swears he supports bike lanes, despite a racially charged King Day speech accusing them of causing gentrification. So he says bike lanes cause gentrification, and he supports bike lanes. Which would seem to suggest he supports gentrification, too.
Los Angeles Laker LeBron James announced he was teaming with Lyft to give free bikeshare memberships to kids at the Harlem YMCA; he also called for a better bike lane network in the Big Apple. Let’s hope someday he’ll address the lack of safe bike lanes in his new hometown, too.
Apparently, getting a driver’s license suspended in Florida is the end of life as we know it. While most of us can empathize with someone who can’t afford to pay a traffic fine, there are valid alternatives to driving that lots of people actually use in real life.
International
A 26-year old woman who campaigned to halt violence against women in Juarez, Mexico became the latest victim, when she was shot in the back of the head while riding her bike home in Downtown Juarez; nearly 180 women were murdered in the city last year.
A writer for the Daily Mail complains about the sexual harassment women like her face riding London’s Tube, and says women on bicycles don’t have it any better. Seriously guys, just knock it the fuck off, and start treating women like human beings for a change.
The bighearted English man who reunited a stolen bike with its original owner after buying it for the equivalent of around a hundred bucks has become an internet hero, earning a shoutout from rapper Stormzy.
If you’re looking for bike-friendly cities in the UK, skip Manchester and head straight to Lancaster.
Girls riding bikes isn’t news. Unless you’re in Karachi, Pakistan, where it’s discouraged, if not actually prohibited. But some brave girls are doing it anyway.
Competitive Cycling
Cycling Tips wants to know if gravel racing can maintain its renegade status, even as it moves to the mainstream.
Speaking of gravel, America’s Colin Strickland decides he’d rather keep racing — and winning — the Kansas Dirty Kanza than compete on the WorldTour and race Paris-Roubaix.
Next month’s Tour of Oman has been cancelled, after a year of mourning was declared following the death of Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said.
Australian Rohan Dennis says he walked away from last year’s Tour de France to save his marriage, afraid his deteriorating mental state due to conflicts within the Bahrain-Merida (now Bahrain McLaren) team would drive his wife away.
Congratulations to Guam’s first professional cycling team.
Former pro Phil Gaimon pens an understanding letter to a lower-level pro busted for doping, suggesting he skip the post-suspension hostility and just move on with his life.
Finally…
Police have better things to do than deal with fake theft report from a bike rider. Dockless bikeshare — the new getaway choice of bank robbers.
And it only takes three comments to blame bicycles for a crash that didn’t involve any.
