Before we get started, the LA Times City Beat column about the corgi we’ve been fostering, and the homeless man who wanted him to have a better life while he got back on his feet, is online now.
It’s the story of a traumatized dog who slowly got his smile back, and made friends out of three people who probably would have never met under other circumstances.
And helped all of us get to a better place, while we thought we were helping him.
There’s also an unmentioned bike angle to the story. The corgi’s owner is one of us, and commuted by bike by choice for years before it turned into his only form of transportation.
Take a few minutes to read it, because it’s probably the most moving thing you’ll see today. Or this week, even.
After you read the story, if you want to help, you can donate to the foster corgi and his owner here.
And thanks to Nita Lelyveld for telling it so well.
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No bias here.
A San Diego writer complains about an uphill bike lane that apparently doesn’t inconvenience anyone, because he can’t imagine anyone but a “colony of fit Europeans preparing for the Alps leg of the Tour de France” ever using it.
As if it’s possible to go very far in San Diego without going uphill.
And he considers it a poor substitute for the jet packs his generation was promised.
Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the link.
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This is who we share the road with.
A Washington state driver reportedly drifted onto the shoulder of a roadway when she took her eyes off the road to light a cigarette. And when she looked up, saw she was about to hit a man riding a bicycle.
So rather than do the sensible thing and jerk her car back to the left to avoid him, she jerked the wheel directly towards him, apparently preferring to slam into the squishy person on a bike over maybe hitting something hard, like another car.
Then kept going until she crashed into a sign and a barrier, without ever touching her brakes.
Let’s say that again. In this entire process, she never put her foot on the brake pedal to maybe avoid hitting another human being.
The 56-year old man on the bike suffered a broken leg and hand, a concussion and facial cuts. But can probably count himself lucky that he’s still be here with us.
Meanwhile, the 19-year old unlicensed driver faces a well-deserved charge of vehicular assault, for showing a disregard for the safety of others.
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This is who we share the road with, too.
Omeed Adibi, 18, rammed into 4 boys, ages 12 to 13, thinking they had dumped dog feces into his Mercedes SUV – but it was his own friends who did it, say @BurlingamePD. 5:10, 6:10, 7:15 p.m. @KTVU pic.twitter.com/Q4SMXn4Ryc
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) March 3, 2020
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Great piece from the UK, where a Welsh writer offers ten things drivers will never understand about people on bicycles.
Flip the road references from left to right, and it applies just as well right here in the states.
I particularly like this simple, but effective, explanation for why we sometimes wear spandex. Or Lycra, as the rest of the English-speaking world calls it.
7. I’m not trying to be all ‘Tour de France’
Please don’t make fun of my lycra – I know you don’t have to wear lycra to ride a bike. But when I’m doing 50-100 miles, lycra and padded shorts really are essential.
Cycling jerseys, cycling shorts and cycling shoes are actually functional – they’re not about looking like you think you’re in the “Tour de France” (because, firstly, there isn’t a women’s one) – they just make the rider more comfortable, and thus more capable, and safer.quick-build project
The rest is just as good, and worth a few minutes from your day.
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A reminder to get yourself a good lock — and always use it.
And register your bike, already.
@bikinginla @bike_los @PureCycles @LAPDHQ @EntitledCycling @fixedgearbikes @lafixies
Folks! Invest in a bike lock, a secure one. Caught this piece of shit trying to steal this bike in front of Ralph's in Thai Town. pic.twitter.com/QEJrxkSSYa— Angela Sue. (@LaLoba_666) March 9, 2020
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So you think you’re talented on a bike?
I wrote this song to be performed on drums & sax…
…on a bike. pic.twitter.com/PYAmNLtTok
— Ali Spagnola (@alispagnola) March 5, 2020
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Why indeed?
Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for forwarding what he calls a “cheeky” Cape Town, South African wayfinding sign.
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Local
Not only is Christian Bale one of us, he can ride the mean streets of Brentwood with one hand, while balancing a tray of hot coffee in the other.
Santa Monica stats show that the number of bike and pedestrian crashes are going down in the coastal city, even though deaths are up slightly.
State
A change to the state’s Active Transportation Program may shift funds to more quick-build projects that can transform streets simply and inexpensively.
UC San Diego finally completes a long promised bike and pedestrian bridge connecting grad students with the rest of the university. Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up. Also for the correction, after I misplaced the bridge as being at San Diego State. But at least I got the city right, right?
The CEO of Morgan Hill-based bike brand Specialized discusses his promotion of ecstasy, psilocybin and other psychedelic drugs to treat depression, trauma and addiction, as well as using bicycles to relieve ADHD. Or you could just combine them to celebrate next month’s Bicycle Day.
Sad news from Palo Alto, where a middle school student was killed in a collision while riding his bike on Friday.
Sunnyvale wants your input on the city’s draft active transportation plan. Thanks again to Robert Leone.
Apparently having never heard of induced demand, a Marin paper calls for allowing drivers to use the new protected bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge during peak traffic hours, saying an average of 116 bikes per weekday doesn’t compare to 80,000 motorists. Even if those 116 people are riding in the middle of winter, on a bridge with no connecting bikeways yet.
A Sacramento woman has filed suit claiming a bike cop broke her leg by inexplicably ramming his bicycle into her during a protest over a police shooting.
National
Bicycling says NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson could become bicycling’s biggest advocate as he nears retirement, after becoming a two-wheel evangelist among his fellow drivers and mechanics.
Pickups and SUVs are getting so big, they’re outgrowing the spaces to park them in. As every bike ride who’s had to go around one, or felt the implied threat of a massive truck revving behind them, can attest.
A 13-year old Oregon boy and his friends have refurbished and donated more than 600 bicycles in the past five years, starting when he was just eight years old.
No bias here, either. An Arizona letter writer says he hates California expats because he can’t stand their politics, and blames them for a curb-protected bike lane he doesn’t like, either.
The death of professional mountain biker Benjamin Sonntag last Wednesday sent shockwaves through the southern Colorado bicycling community, causing other riders to recall their own close calls.
Now here’s the kind of hard-hitting investigative reporting we all can benefit from, as a Dallas writer explores the city’s best breweries for bike riders.
A Minnesota hospital gave children with disabilities a chance to sample adaptive bikes, and experience what it’s like to ride a bicycle.
A University of Michigan lecturer says America’s aging population needs walkable, bikeable cities. And not just the people running for president.
Good Samaritans in Brooklyn chased down and tackled a van driver who fled the scene on foot after running down a woman on her bike.
A New York woman is suing a New Jersey heliport operator, alleging a rising helicopter blew her off her bike and into a wall.
Awful news from Maryland, where a driver plowed into a group of seven bicyclists, including the president of a local bike advocacy group, injuring two riders and killing one.
A pair of kindhearted Louisiana sheriff’s deputies dipped into their own pockets to buy a new bicycle for a young boy after his bike was stolen, along with his mom’s bike.
He gets it. A Florida columnist says don’t accept and shrug off bicycle and pedestrian deaths, because the status quo is unacceptable. Or obscene.
A Florida man became a suspect in the burglary of a 97-year old woman’s home when his fitness app showed he was frequently in the area. Because he, you know, lived there.
International
A writer for Pinkbike marks International Women’s Day by considering how to get more women to work in the bicycle industry.
An urban governmental website wonders if Great Britain needs stronger regulations for ebikes, while e-scooters are still prohibited.
Convictions for dangerous driving are soaring in the UK, thanks to videos submitted to police by bike riders and others. That’s currently illegal in California, where police officers are required to witness a violation themselves before they can ticket a driver or file a misdemeanor charge. Just one more law we need to change.
Apparently, British social media runs slow, as a driver just now posts video of a young woman on a bike drifting across a busy highway back in September.
A Nigerian man is biking across the width of Africa to perform the lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia, after repeatedly dreaming of routes across the continent.
The streets were dotted with naked Kiwis on wheels as the 2020 World Naked Bike Ride kicked off in New Zealand. Cape Town, South Africa joined in on taking it off, as well.
Competitive Cycling
Despite rising fears over coronavirus, the eight-stage Paris-Nice race kicked off from the outskirts of Paris on Sunday. If you had Maximilian Schachmann in a sprint for the first stage, you win. And so did he.
Meanwhile, French cyclist Warren Barguil got the boot from the race for drafting on his team car following a spill. Proving that doping isn’t the only way to cheat.
https://twitter.com/RenaudB31/status/1236686402093551616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1236686402093551616&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cyclingweekly.com%2Fnews%2Fracing%2Fwarren-barguil-disqualified-from-paris-nice-for-drafting-team-car-451114
Finally
What 007 would ride if he rode an ebike. Clearly, bike theft is nothing new.
And seriously, if you’re carrying weed and ecstasy on your bike, stop for the damn stop sign.
