It’s a light news day in the big, wide, wonderful world of bikes, after yesterday’s DC shit show sucked up all the oxygen.
So let’s get right to it.
Photo by Maria Orlova from Pexels.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a man walks without a single day behind bars for reaching out of a car window to push a man off his bicycle.
A 27-year old British man remains in critical condition with a head injury after he was brutally attacked while riding his bike.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
An Ontario, Canada man faces charges for biking under the influence after cops observe him yelling and swearing at passing cars while struggling to stay upright.
A pair of young kids walking in a crosswalk were sent flying when a New Zealand bike rider slammed into them after blowing through a stop sign; fortunately, the brothers have been released from the hospital, but the youngest one is now afraid of bicycles. And understandably so.
………
Local
‘Tis still the season. A Santa Clarita landfill company built out 100 bikes and 70 scooters to donate to a pair of nonprofits for distribution to local kids for the holidays.
State
Visalia punts on plans to complete an offroad bike trail after property owners refuse to sell, and councilmembers balk at using eminent domain.
National
CityLab looks forward to the incoming Biden administration, saying it could take steps to make motor vehicles a lot safer, especially for bike riders and pedestrians. Let’s start by banning oversized private trucks and SUVs, and redesigning the high, flat grills on SUVs and pickups.
Despite initial opposition, the Slow Streets movement have proven its popularity, causing planners to rewrite their playbooks.
Fort Worth’s bike-riding mayor calls it a career after five full terms leading the Texas city.
Huh? Martha’s Vineyard rejects a proposal for a shared use path on a local roadway, because bicycles would be “detrimental to the bucolic nature of the road.” Because only cars and SUVs are bucolic, evidently.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Syracuse NY judge undercuts prosecutors by offering a hit-and-run driver a reduced sentence for killing a beloved local street musician as he was riding his bicycle — even though the driver, who was out on parole, was driving without a license.
Life is cheap in New York, where a truck driver gets to keep his license despite killing a teenaged bike rider with his erratic driving.
An NYPD commander throws in the towel, saying a deadly Brooklyn intersection should be redesigned to physically separate bike riders and pedestrians from reckless drivers, because nothing else will work.
In an unusual move, a New Jersey driver and his passenger will both face charges for the hit-and-run death of a 56-year old bike rider.
After a lifetime of bicycling, a Florida woman switches to a ‘bent in order to keep riding as she gets older.
International
Red Bull offers easy but awesome tricks to customize your mountain bike.
Life is cheap in Great Britain, where a drunk, speeding driver got a lousy 34 months behind bars for slamming into a bike rider while driving at three times the legal alcohol limit; the victim had to have a number of surgeries and skin grafts to repair his shattered knee and lower leg.
Cycling News goes shopping for the best bike deals in the US and the UK so you don’t have to.
More bike fallout from Brexit, as bicycle and accessory makers suspend shipments to the UK.
No surprise here, as an Irish bicycle advocacy group comes out against a mandatory helmet law, saying traffic cameras, separated cycle tracks and lower speed limits would be more effective in reducing bike injuries.
Why choose between a mountain bike and a city bike when a German ebike maker will give you both with a single shared engine and battery.
High-end Indian bikemakers are struggling to keep up, as import restrictions and supply chain disruptions result in a delay of up to four months to buy a new bike.
Bizarre story from Zimbabwe, where a 39-year old bike rider was killed in a collision with a donkey cart driven by a man with the same name.
Competitive Cycling
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome is spending his winter riding and rehabbing in Santa Monica in an effort to fully recover from the critical injuries he suffered in a high-speed training crash last summer.
Finally…
Who needs wheels when you can turn your bike into an e-snowbike? That feeling when they promise the best bike baskets to bring your dog along for the ride, but only deliver one barely big enough for a chihuahua.
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already.
