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And come back after 10:30 this morning for a guest post by Phillip Young that could improve your chances of being seen on the road.
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Unbelievable.
If a proposed Federal Highway Administration rule change goes into effect, you could be banned from riding on any street without bike lanes or signage.
Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland writes that a phrase explicitly stating that the absence of bike infrastructure doesn’t mean bikes aren’t allowed is in danger of being changed to say just the opposite.
Image from FHWA website via bikeportland.org
He writes that the change is buried in a major update to the massive Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices published by the Federal Highway Administration on Friday and posted to the Federal Register on Monday.
This change, which has proposed under the Trump administration but will be finalized in the Biden administration — has set off shockwaves in the bicycle advocacy world. It was first pointed out on Twitter this afternoon by League of American Bicyclists Policy Director Ken McLeod.
Reached on the phone from his office in Washington D.C. a few minutes ago, McLeod said the change is so surprising it “seems like a mistake”. “But at same time,” he added, “Why we you trust that it’s a typo? I think we need to treat this seriously and as real.”
Even if it were a mistake, if it wasn’t caught by McLeod it would have likely ended up as binding federal law. The MUTCD is supposed to be updated every 3-4 years, but it’s taken 10 years for this update to happen. That led McLeod to say, if this was done in error, “It could take a long time to fix.”
Let’s hope it really is a mistake.
And not one more last-minute rule change slipped in by the outgoing Trump administration.
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It’s going to be a long two years.
That’s how much time is left in LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s final term, after the mayor was apparently snubbed by the Biden administration, despite rumors he was a prime candidate for a cabinet-level position.
Because instead refocusing on the city’s long forgotten Mobility Plan, the failed Vision Zero program or the mayor’s own Green New Deal that promised to change how Angelenos get around, he’s shifted his attention to this shiny object — a proposed flying taxi service, which will benefit only those rich enough to use it.
And allow the wealthy to zoom over LA’s clogged and deadly streets, while the rest of us are forced to slog it out down here on the ground.
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Mike Wilkinson forward news that Lakewood is taking comments on a new master plan that would impact Rynerson Park, an important access point for the San Gabriel River Trail.
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Specialized is offering a $25,000 reward to recover the bicycles, many of them one of a kind, that were stolen from their Morgan Hill CA headquarters over the weekend.
The thieves made off with $160,000 dollars worth of prototypes, race-winning bikes and personal bicycles belonging to employees that were on display in the building.
Anyone with information can call Morgan Hill Police Department Cpl. Mindy Zen at 669/253-4917 or the department’s anonymous tip line at 408/947-7867.
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A virtual memorial ride will be held on Zwift tomorrow to honor the five Las Vegas bicyclists killed by an alleged meth-addled truck driver.
The ride is being hosted by a former Vegas police officer who was on the ride at the time of the crash.
You can read the story on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out.
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This is why you should register your bike with Bike Index.
It’s free. It lasts a lifetime. It’s transferable. It’s used by the LAPD.
And it works.
* Thanks to the owner's safeguards, PAC Detectives just recovered a "one of a kind", stolen bicycle that was for sale online. The owner had photographs and the serial number handy and, had it registered @BikeIndex.
* The vast majority of stolen bicycles are never recovered. pic.twitter.com/9qWMCq475n
— LAPD Pacific (@LAPDPacific) December 17, 2020
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Everyone needs a bike day every now and then.
Even him.
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Local
No news is good news, right?
State
Streetsblog explains what to do if you’ve been victimized by the driver of an illegally modified pickup rolling coal.
A San Jacinto bike rider suffered major trauma to both legs when he was struck by an alleged drunk driver early Thursday morning; he was hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
San Francisco considers dropping the speed limit to 20 mph in the city’s deadly Tenderloin District. Or better yet, why not the entire city?
Bay Area advocates complain that a new $6 million bike and pedestrian access tube in Alameda would be just as useless as the one it’s supposed to replace.
A planned Ripon bike path is being threatened by habitat for a rare threatened species of beetle.
National
Yes, there is haircare hope for Black bike riders. Again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out.
The Verge tries out Harley Davidson’s new ebikes, and likes just about everything but the price. Meanwhile, New Atlas looks at ebike makers who did things differently this year.
Moving piece from Singletracks, as an Idaho man takes to his mountain bike to ride through grief over the death of his sister. I did the same thing on my roadie after my dad’s death, and again with my mother and both my in-laws; there’s something about riding that allows you to process loss in ways you can’t otherwise. Or I couldn’t, anyway.
They get it. Missoula, Montana is considering a plan to reduce speed limits on residential streets to 20 mph to prevent crashes and reduce their severity. Meanwhile, Los Angeles and other California cities continue to let drivers push speed limits ever higher thanks to the deadly 85th Percentile Law.
Texas Monthly talks with Austin bespoke bikemaker Nao Tomli.
‘Tis the season. A Texas investigative reporter helps out a family in need with nearly $2,000 in gifts, including bikes for all the kids.
‘Tis the season too. An Ohio group donates 24 bicycles to boys victimized by domestic violence, despite being shut down most of this year.
New York bike advocates complain that many of the city’s bike lanes are too wide, inviting people to drive or park in them; the city’s sanitation department wants the wide widths to accommodate their garbage trucks and snow plows.
Streetsblog New York says the NYPD’s bike safety tweets would make a pretty good comedy routine. Except they’re not funny.
New York continues to experience Vision Zero in reverse, as the city’s streets keep getting deadlier, despite earlier progress.
The family of a Florida bike rider call for lights to be installed on a Jacksonville bridge after an 18-year old boy hit a wall when the sidewalk ended, flipping him over; sadly, his body wasn’t found until a week later.
International
This year’s bicycle shortage could just be foreshadowing even worse supply problems next year.
A writer for Treehugger says her only regret in trading the family car for a cargo bike was not doing it sooner.
The founder of British bikeshare firm Beryl writes that bikeshare can help drive gender parity in bicycling.
A UK bike nonprofit urges local councils to be brave in the face of angry opposition to active transportation projects.
A fact-checking site says not so fast about that survey showing Brits ready to dump the Conservatives in anger over bike lanes.
The British manufacturer of the illegally overpowered electric trail motorcycle Simon Cowell was riding when he broke his back says it’s not their fault he cranked the throttle too far.
Competitive Cycling
Belgium’s Woot van Aert won the Crystal Bicycle award as the country’s best cyclist.
Finally…
You gotta love a new high-end aero bike inspired by The Clash. Where to catch a draft in a bike race.
And that feeling when your latest object of lust was built in the ’90s.
No, the 1890s.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already.
The drafting issue is interesting. I have been told before that the person in front gets some benefit from the rider behind and it would be logical that a larger object behind would do the same.
Perhaps some of the moto crashes in these stage races are partially on the cyclist who is trying to take every advantage, like every racer does. The author has some solutions about increasing distances that are required to be kept and enforcing those distances. It is a bad combination when the riders take advantage and the moto drivers are trying to get the best position for the cameraperson. A mistake by either party leads to devastating results. The UCI does need to step in and make the changes required.