This is who we share the road with.
A Utah driver faces a murder charge for deliberately killing a bike rider, smashing into him and dragging him down the road, then turning around and doing it again; his rage appeared to stem from living in the same building with the victim.
No surprise here, as a Cleveland man who tried to run over a group of bike-riding Black teenagers while hurling racial slurs has been indicted on charges of felonious assault and ethnic intimidation; he also robbed his own brother at knife point.
Unbelievable. A British driver who used his car as a weapon to attack a bike rider walks without a single day behind bars, because the judge doesn’t want to send anyone to jail during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Then there is this stunning attack stemming from the ongoing protests in Seattle.
https://twitter.com/capang9555/status/1286464045185249280
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Closer to home, the danger comes from hate.
https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1286441313429266435
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Congress finally got around to approving the Great American Outdoors Act.
The bill creates an ongoing $900 million annual fund for conservation and address the massive backlog of maintenance projects in American National Parks and other public lands.
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Caltrans has announced a nighttime closure of the PCH bike path above Ventura.
Bike path on #PCH State Route 1 north of #Ventura will be closed two nights for construction, starting at 7 PM on July 30 & 31. Will open at 6 AM each morning. Work is between Ventura River and Emma Wood State Beach. @GoVCTC @CalBike @bikinginla #Ojai #SantaBarbara pic.twitter.com/NjGtXmLaZ0
— Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) July 22, 2020
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That cycling KOM you’ve been gunning for may be a goner, thanks to bored pros waiting for the season to gear back up.
20.07.19 Como Street https://t.co/dn0AbfXCZt
Strava QOM’s/KOM’s are being placed out of reach by racers training at home mid-season, due to no races, due to COVID. @bikinginla #comostreet #trainingride #cycling #santiagocanyon #trackiesontheroad #cookscorner #CestLaGuerre
— West Side Wheelmen (@WWheelmen) July 22, 2020
Although some pros may be looking for something a little more challenging.
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Good point.
FWIW you'll notice in my coverage I specifically reference to the blockage being in a "lane" not a "bike lane".
once ppl hear it's a bike lane they think it's somehow less important.
It's a lane. A travel lane, w just as much value/importance as any other lane. https://t.co/pUAlpP0yqc
— Jonathan Maus (@Jonathan_Maus) July 24, 2020
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No. Just…no.
https://twitter.com/LkCycleDesign/status/1286320588911501312
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Bikes are good for soccer careers, too.
@bikinginla Naby Keira went on to be a top international soccer player and joined Liverpool FC for $61m. https://t.co/pjHQticaO5
— W Corylus (@CorylusW) July 24, 2020
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Pink Bike looks at easy ways to tuneup your mountain bike.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
See above.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Texas man told a Target employee he could take whatever he wanted as he stuffed a pair of shoes and shorts into his backpack; police stopped him as he rode his bike nearby to tell him “No, you can’t.”
A road-raging British bike rider punched a 78-year old driver in the mouth, knocking out a tooth, after the driver stopped his car when the man made rude gestures and shouted at him as he passed him and his two kids. Violence is never the answer. But that kind of response from a man riding with his kids just might imply that the guy earned it.
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Local
Essential workers can get a free 30-day Metro Bike pass.
Pasadena is introducing Project Wheelie to bring a bike-matching service and basic bike repairs to low income residents who might not otherwise be able to ride a bike right now; it’s presented by public health nonprofit Day One in conjunction with the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Active SGV and the LACBC.
Speaking of Pasadena, the Rose City received a $150,000 state grant for a bicycle safety outreach program.
Construction has started on a new bike park in Santa Clarita.
State
Calbike and Streets for All are urging you to contact your state senator to support AB 3153, which would extend an LA-style bike parking law to the entire state, allowing developers to substitute bike parking for car parking minimums.
Electrek reviews the latest 28 mph offering from Newport Beach’s Electric Bicycle Company.
In another sign the coronavirus hasn’t made our streets any safer, San Francisco authorities say they’ve seen a significant uptick in bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.
An Oakland councilmember calls for ripping out the protected bike lanes on iconic Telegraph Avenue. Apparently, increased retail sales and a 40% reduction in collisions is a bad thing now.
Volunteer members of the American Ski Patrol have traded slats for wheels, and will be patrolling the 32-mile American River Parkway multi-use trail in the Sacramento area. Maybe we can talk them into patrolling a few trails down this way, too. Because no one else is doing it.
National
Market Watch says cannabis, whiskey and mobile bike repair businesses are thriving during the pandemic. Now if someone would just combine the three they might really be onto something.
A Portland State University study says no, bike riders don’t slow down drivers on most urban roads without bike lanes. But try telling that to the next impatient driver who gets on your ass.
Ebike sales will continue to drive the bike boom through the end of this year.
Colorado bike rack and lock maker Rocky Mount barely survived the pandemic, thanks to a loan from the Payroll Protection Program, but the owner realizes it’s not over yet. Just to be clear, the pandemic is barely getting started; it’s going to be a rough ride for all of us before things get better.
After someone stole a three-wheel adaptive bike from an Iowa man suffering from non-verbal autism, an anonymous, kindhearted stranger took it upon themselves to replace it.
Three burglars broke into a Texas bike shop and cleaned it out, stealing 19 bikes worth at least $45,000. Schmucks.
An Arkansas woman describes how she kept mountain biking, even if her first ride ended up in the back of an ambulance.
A Wisconsin nonprofit has managed to donate 100 bicycles to people in need, despite reopening from the coronavirus lockdown just one month ago.
Dozens of Louisville residents took to their bikes to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, who was mistakenly shot by cops busting into her apartment on a no knock warrant.
Calls for bikemakers to stop making police bikes after they were used as shields and weapons by cops during the Black Lives Matter protests is putting a Massachusetts Black-owned police bike startup in an awkward position.
After bikeshare user Sarah Jessica Parker intervened on behalf of a 100-year old New York restaurant, New York’s mayor agreed to move a bikeshare dock so they could set up outside dining.
Philadelphia bicyclists will ride this weekend to honor three young men killed by drivers while riding their bikes, and send a message that “We are not expendable;” meanwhile, an op-ed from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia asks how many preventable deaths will it to make the city care about bicycle safety.
When life gives you a pandemic-induced Florida school closure, take a cross-country bike ride with your twin brother to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters.
International
Google Maps now offers live bikeshare availability for 24 cities around the world, including Los Angeles.
No surprise here, as Streetsblog says the most important traffic safety technology is street design.
Heartbreaking news, as an experienced bike tourist was killed in a collision just as she was starting a two-month bike ride across Canada. Although it would be nice if the story didn’t wait until the next-to-last paragraph to mention that the pickup that hit her had a driver.
Turns out the Mounties don’t always get their man, particularly when the suspect is one of their own, who ran down a bike rider with his car.
Dooring a bike rider will now cost British Columbia drivers $368, after the province quadrupled the previous $81 fine. Which is still way too low, but at least it’s going in the right direction.
An Ontario bike rider was just nine miles from the finish of a 472-mile fundraising bike ride when he was attacked by hornets while crossing a bridge, nearly dying before paramedics could get to him. So naturally, he went back and finished the ride as soon as he was released from the ER.
They may be considered safe enough for US streets, but Great Britain says American SUVs are too dangerous for their roads. Those killing machines shouldn’t be allowed here, either.
British filmmaker and Madonna ex Guy Ritchie apparently isn’t one of us. Although he may be soon, after losing his license for six months after a bicyclist caught him on camera driving distracted.
An Irish cycling organization was upset they weren’t allowed to compete in the ’72 Olympics, so they just crashed the race and did it anyway.
When the US Army challenged soldiers stationed in Europe to ride a bike 1,000 kilometers — 621 miles — they probably weren’t expecting anyone to do it in 19 days, on a mountain bike.
Even in France, demand for bicycles is outstripping supply.
This Dutch bike may be the world’s longest functional bicycle. But just try finding a place to lock it up.
More on Germany’s new safety standards for e-cargo bikes, which should be expanded worldwide — including here.
Six-time Formula 1 world champ Lewis Hamilton is one of us, enjoying a shirtless and well-tatted mountain bike ride just days after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A bike rider in Kyiv, Ukraine says bike ridership has probably seen a ten times increase during the pandemic, even though riding in the city remains a deadly business.
Competitive Cycling
Canada’s WorldTour races are the latest to bite the dust due to Covid-19.
Britain’s erstwhile Team Sky, which changed its name to Team Ineos after a sponsorship change, will now be the the erstwhile Team Ineos, as it changes once again to Ineos Grenadiers to promote an upcoming brand of SUV.
Former WorldTour cyclist Peter Stetina’s shift to gravel racing is on the rocks after everything was cancelled due to coronavirus.
Austrian cyclist Georg Preilder got a one-year suspended sentence for his role in a German doping scandal uncovered last year. But cycling is clean now, right?
Finally…
No, turning a bicycle into a monochrome planter is not upcycling, in any sense. On the other hand, turning it into a mobile washing machine might be.
And don’t use gasoline to disinfect your cloth face masks.
And don’t smoke if you do.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
