My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.
You know I’m having a bad night when I can’t even manage to post something to say I won’t be posting anything.
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A preliminary hearing has been postponed in the case of the Pennsylvania man violently wrestled to the ground and arrested for the crime of…wait for it…Biking While Black.
In Walmart.
And legally paying for the bike he’d been test riding as a gift for his kid.
In the video, you can hear him repeatedly asking why he was being arrested, and insisting that he had paid for the bike.
1/2) Police often respond to a report of disorderly conduct & immediately arrest the accused w/o talking to witnesses to gather all the facts. That seems to be what happened in Wyomissing, PA, when this man was arrested after allegedly riding a bike in Walmart (before buying it). pic.twitter.com/jJ5ZEHVrjx
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) July 21, 2020
Security camera video shows him riding up and down the aisles without posing a danger to anyone; the only visible risk in the video comes from a woman who pushed her shopping cart into a man.
He was also accused of shouting obscenities at other shoppers, though witnesses at the scene reported that he was simply exuberantly wishing them a good day.
Apparently, that’s a crime now.
If you’re black, anyway.
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Speaking of Biking While Black, a pair of New Jersey cops are under fire for manhandling a 15-year old kid during a bicycle flash mob, apparently for the crime of riding a bike in an annoying manner.
We keep saying: “not in our town…” “not our police…” but living while black or brown is dangerous everywhere in America.
This happened today in Ridgewood NJ. pic.twitter.com/CBD5VmW8Ru— Arati Kreibich (@AratiKreibich) July 27, 2020
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And while we’re on the subject, a Florida man faces charges for illegally detaining a 15-year old Black teenager who was just riding his bike to basketball practice.
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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Milwaukee police are looking for a bike-riding man who fatally shot a Black Rastafarian Trump supporter.
A group of Chicago bikeshare riders were caught on security cam carjacking an 82-year old man.
A British hit-and-run bike rider will face charges of manslaughter and causing bodily harm by wanton and furious driving for a collision with a pedestrian.
Cyclists in Ghana are keeping fit by riding in the midst of Covid-19.
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Local
Construction is underway on the new Elysian Valley walk/bike bridge connecting Frogtown to the upcoming Taylor Yards project.
Cal Matters says no, Los Angeles and other cities aren’t playing Big Brother by tracking dockless ebikes and scooters.
State
The national president of insurance brokerage firm Hub International died of a heart attack while riding his bike, apparently in San Diego; David Reich was just 50 years old.
It’s not unusual to find things while riding a bicycle, although a driver’s severed foot following a violent collision in Templeton is another matter.
Tragic news from the Bay Area, where a ten-year old boy was killed by an Amazon delivery driver while riding his bike in Lafayette.
National
A competition to design better protected bike lane barriers resulted in a number of innovative designs; the winning entry converts recycled car tires into planters to create an effective barrier any city can afford.
Gear Junkie explains how to pump up a bike tire in nine easy steps. Or you could just get a pump that matches your valve stem, and fill the damn thing.
After spending the last five months indoors, a writer for Vox says maybe Peloton isn’t so bad.
Now that’s more like it. Portland is fining the feds $500 for every 15 minutes they illegally keep unpermitted fencing blocking a bike lane.
A Montana columnist says maybe bad drivers should get a time out.
After some jerk stole a seven-year old boy’s bicycle, kindhearted Arkansas cops stepped up to give him a new one, along with a birthday parade.
Hundreds of Chicago bike riders turned out for a Ride Against Racism.
Tragic news from a Chicago suburb, where one bike rider was killed and another critically injured when a driver fleeing police slammed into them.
They get it. A New Hampshire letter writer says don’t blame the new bike lane for a bike rider getting doored, blame the driver.
A group of unruly Long Island teenagers are accused to harassing people at a gym, before riding their bikes to Wendy’s and throwing drinks at other customers.
New York’s dockless moped company Revel shut down after a second rider was killed in just ten days.
International
They get it, too. The UK is creating a new government agency with a five-year budget equivalent to $2.57 billion to promote active transportation and improve cycle and pedestrian infrastructure across the country; the agency is as much about improving health as it is curbing pollution.
No surprise here, as a British program offering vouchers worth the equivalent of $65 to get bikes repaired proved so popular it crashed the website on the first day.
British bikemaker Raleigh is introducing a line of bakfiets-style e-cargo bikes.
A pair of women from Great Britain now officially hold the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by tandem bike.
A British paper asks who was in the right when a turning driver left crossed a Boston bike rider, even though they both had the green light — forgetting that a vehicle going straight always has the right-of-way over a turning vehicle.
The family behind Ferrari is getting into the ebike business by investing in Belgian bikemaker Cowboy.
Competitive Cycling
The Bike League introduced the new Kittie Knox award for equity, diversity and inclusion in bicycling, with the award going to Ayesha McGowan, the first Black American woman’s pro cyclist. Although someone should tell them it won’t be an annual award until they do it again next year.
Three-time Austrian Olympic cyclist Johann Lienhart got a ten-year ban for helping his triathlete son dope. Evidently, the family that dopes together stays together. But seriously, the era of doping is over, right?
Finally…
Your next Yamaha could have pedals and climb hills. Why buy a bike when you can buy the entire company?
And stealing a lousy $72 from Burger King seems like a waste of a perfectly good getaway bike.
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Meet the newest member of the BikinginLA team.
Our new intern is taking awhile to get up to speed after joining us on Monday. But she should be able to contribute more once she learns to stop pooping inside.
You can follow her new adventures in Hollywood, if you’re so inclined.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
Hooray! There’s a new doggie in your life! Congratulations, and good luck with the pooping in the house thing.
Your new intern is adorable. I’m happy you have a corgi in your life again. Best wishes to all of you.