Things are finally starting to open up a little after nearly two months of coronavirus closures in Southern California.
Los Angeles is reopening parks and trails, except for popular Runyon Canyon and the beachfront bike path.
Long Beach is opening up trails this weekend, with the beach bike path through the city set to open on Monday.
Mountain bike advocacy group CORBA reports that LA County trails will be opening this weekend, after Ventura County trails opened earlier in the week.
While LA beaches remain closed, beaches in San Diego and Orange County are opening up for physical activities only; check to make sure the path or trail you want to ride is open before you go.
Remember to maintain social distancing when you ride, particularly on narrow trails. We’ve already seen how quickly things can be closed if we don’t.
And wear a mask if you’re likely to come near other people.
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This is who we share the roads with.
A Los Angeles traffic cop is suing Lyft, alleging that one of their drivers followed and menaced her, while blocking her car in for several minutes before police arrived.
All because she had the audacity to ticket him for parking in a bike lane.
And to make matters worse, he had a paying passenger in the car the whole time he was losing it and threatening her.
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A webinar later this month will teach advocates how to present a compelling story to help get the word out more effectively.
It's more important than ever to harness the power of #storytelling + successful media relations to educate about active mobility. Pls join us 5/21 for our next *free* online training: https://t.co/bzdQJL4QNE cc: @BikeLeague pic.twitter.com/Tq1p2iXOAC
— Pedal Love (@PedalLove) May 7, 2020
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.
A Portland bike rider was shot in the arm by a road raging driver after tapping on the window of the man’s SUV that was parked in a bike lane.
An Amarillo TX driver is under arrest for intentionally running down a bike rider who tried to intercede in an argument between the driver and a woman.
No bias here. An anonymous, 80-something British letter writer complains about “arrogant self-opinionated (bike) riders who seem to have no regard for others, laws of the Forest or common decency.” There’s no disputing that some bicyclists are jerks — just like any other form of humanity. But painting with such a broad brush doesn’t help anyone.
Someone deliberately sabotaged a British bike trail by burying several nail-spike boards, which could have caused severe injury if a kid walked on the trail or a bike rider fell on them after suffering a flat.
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Local
A former LA city planner says the city’s infrastructure continues to deteriorate, despite fast-tracking street repairs during the coronavirus lockdown.
DTLA’s dangerous 7th Street is set to get temporary protected bike lanes as an interim test for permanent, curb-protected bike lanes down the road. Let’s hope this one has enough barriers to keep drivers from parking in it, like they do in other downtown “protected” lanes.
Bike Walk Glendale calls for Slow Streets in LA’s neighbor to the north. Or east, depending on your perspective.
Let’s hope this report isn’t right. A Santa Clarita bicyclist was busted for riding under the influence, after blowing a red light with a BAC nearly twice the legal limit. An sheriff’s deputy says the bike rider was cited for driving under the influence, which does not apply to people on bicycles; California has a separate law (CVC 21200.5) prohibiting bicycling under the influence, with a maximum fine of $250 and no points against your driver’s license.
Santa Monica responds to Covid-19 budget cuts by slashing nearly 400 staff positions, as well as the city’s Vision Zero and Safe Routes to Schools programs.
State
Streetsblog is hosting a virtual walk-or-bike-athon to raise funds for Streetsblog California and the California Association of Foodbanks.
SoCal bicycling guidebook author Richard Fox expounds on the joys of having the pathways of Palm Desert’s closed Desert Willow golf course all to himself.
Once again, authorities have managed to keep a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late. A Porterville teenager is dead, after getting run down on his bike by a 23-year old hit-and-run driver who was already on probation for a previous DUI; the driver had apparently disabled a required interlock device on his car. A DUI arrest is usually the tip of the iceberg; it’s seldom the first time someone has driven drunk, just the first time they got caught. Which is why any DUI should lead to an automatic loss of license.
The executive director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition says the city is passing up on an opportunity by refusing to install Slow Streets for social distancing. Just like Los Angeles is.
Great idea. San Jose bicyclists will fan out across the city this weekend to distribute flats of seedlings to people in need, so they can begin a vegetable garden.
The San Francisco Ride of Silence scheduled for later this month has been postponed to an undetermined date; no word yet on the status of the LA, Orange and Ventura County rides.
A Vacaville man was busted for bike theft after a bike shop worker spotted him riding a customer’s stolen bicycle.
National
Popular Science — yes, it still exists — says Slow Streets not only allow for social distancing, but can prevent traffic surges when cities reopen, and could result in permanent bike-friendly changes. Except in Los Angeles, which is squandering yet another opportunity to improve safety and do something about the city’s crushing traffic and smog.
Lime buys out the competition, and is now the proud owner of Uber’s Jump dockless ebikes and scooters, after the rideshare provider unloaded them to offset a portion of their massive $2.9 billion in losses due to Covid-19.
Cycling Tips talks with the founders of Strava about how it got to be, well, Strava.
VeloNews considers when a bonk could be a sign of a more serious health problem.
Portland has installed the first one hundred traffic diverters for their Slow Streets program. Which is about one hundred more than Los Angeles.
Not only is Seattle installing Slow Streets, but the city is planning to make at least 20 miles of them permanent.
Slow Streets are proving successful in Salt Lake City, as they move forward with closing additional streets for bike and pedestrian traffic.
Bruce Willis’ six-year old daughter is now one of us, too, after learning how to ride from her half-sister Rumor while the mixed family isolates in Idaho.
They get it. The Houston Chronicle calls for more bike lanes for social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
St. Paul MN business owners lost a fight to delay installation of a new bike lane, arguing that the parking spaces that would be lost are needed for take-out customers and delivery drivers during the coronavirus crisis. For a change, they may have a point; while bikes are good for retail businesses — especially bars and restaurants — it helps if they’re actually open to the public.
An occasional bike rider discovers how helpful bicyclists can be, when not one, not two, but three separate Good Samaritans stop to help when he suffered double flats on a Missouri bike trail.
Seriously? A nine-year old Palm Beach kid gets the blame for the crash that killed him; authorities claimed he was momentarily distracted before riding his bike into a construction front loader — even though he managed to leave a five-foot skid mark on the sidewalk. After all, no tractor driver would ever miss a little kid on the sidewalk before turning in front of him, right?
International
The demand for bicycles has spiked around the world, both real and stationary. And yes, I did resist the temptation to say pretend.
Apparently, wealthy people are panic buying Pelotons. But don’t forget the indoor cycling shoes. Yes, that’s a thing now. Really.
For those of us with somewhat smaller budgets, Road.cc rates fourteen of the best indoor turbo trainers.
A British Columbia writer proposes paying people not to drive to keep traffic from roaring back once the lockdown ends.
An English cop has been suspended for punching a black bike rider after accusing him of stealing his own bicycle, even though it wasn’t the same color as the missing bike; the same cop kicked a boy in the head a day later.
British world heavyweight boxing champ Tyson Fury is one of us, too.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is proclaiming a new Golden Age of cycling, promising full details over the weekend.
A Korean bicyclist is sheltering in Guinea for the next several months after getting caught in the country during the coronavirus outbreak, two years into a round-the-world bike tour — and is shunned by hotels because he is Asian.
A stoned New Zealand driver was sentenced to a measly 26 months in jail for killing a bike rider, nine years after her own son was killed by a drunk driver. Apparently, she didn’t learn anything from her own experience.
A little Aussie boy escapes his dad’s grasp and rides out directly into the path of a roadie, taking them both out.
Finally…
Play a little virtual bike tag while you’re under lockdown. Do your next club ride on a rare mid-2000s Colnago time trial bike, or maybe a brand new 1995 BMX.
And nothing to see here. Just Spider-Man on a Penny Farthing.
On a daily FaceTime with my confined Mum, she mentioned she’d seen Spider-Man cycle past the house on a penny farthing a few times. I asked her to get pics. She did. Who is this superhero bringing happiness to Bolton residents? #Bolton #superhero pic.twitter.com/BP5fdqy0Hx
— Dave Flitcroft 🎨🚲 (@Artfrombikeshed) May 7, 2020
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A belated and heartfelt thank you to Mark J for his unexpected Giving Tuesday donation to help support this site. I honestly wasn’t expecting anything, so it came as major morale boosting surprise.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
