Los Angeles continues to nibble at the edges of bike safety, as the city touts the installation or improvement of 61 miles of bike lanes in 2020.
That includes nearly 13 miles of new bike lanes on South LA’s Avalon Blvd.
However, it’s important to remember that LADOT measures bike lanes in lane miles, which means that each side of the roadway is counted separately. So that 61 miles really means bike lanes were added or improved on just 30 miles of streets.
That’s a big step up from the ten lane miles installed in the 2017-18 fiscal year, but still just a fraction of the annual totals built during Antonio Villaraigosa’s tenure as mayor — although the city is installing more protected and separated bike lanes now.
However, it still neglects large segments of the city, and makes no attempt to create a connected bike lane network crossing Los Angeles — let alone the three interconnected networks called for in the city’s mobility plan.
Bike lane construction for 2021 is expected to concentrate on Figueroa Blvd in DTLA and Broadway in South LA.
So who knows?
Maybe someday the city will finally get around to building bike lanes where you ride while you’re still young enough to use them.
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Losing a loved one is hard enough under any conditions.
Let alone losing someone you love to traffic violence.
That’s why Southern California Families for Safe Streets, a project of pedestrian advocacy group Los Angeles Walks, is offering a free resource guide for people who have experienced a sudden, unexpected loss.
The guide was prepared by people who have gone through it themselves, including tips on how to turn your grief into effective action.
Let’s hope you never need it.
But roughly 3,500 California families did in 2019. And probably will this year.
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Why wait for local leaders to rip out a bike lane, when you can just turn an offroad bike path into your own personal car lane?
Not every day you find a car on Hyde Park's cycle path. But of course this is Kensington in @RBKC, where the council is ripping out cycle lanes — so some drivers think they can go wherever the hell they want pic.twitter.com/7HRIZ4rTA7
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) January 7, 2021
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It’s not new, but this video offers a recumbent tour of a unique California neighborhood where homes have hangers instead of garages, and taxiways in place of streets.
Thanks to the free, daily California Sun newsletter for the link.
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Forget the latest high-end, high-tech wonders. Pink Bike takes a look at what everyday bike riders are riding.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Someone has been removing bollards from a protected bike lane in the UK and just tossing them across the surrounding area, creating a hazard for people riding bicycles, as well as others who might trip or drive over them.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
An Aussie bike rider unloads on a motorist after the car’s passenger threw litter at him. Seriously, don’t do this, kids. Violence is never the answer. Although I may have been known to toss trash back through the driver’s window.
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Local
The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition reminds the city — and everyone else — that protected bike lanes improve safety for everyone, not just people on bikes.
State
Six women will set out to break three world records on Saturday by riding elliptical bikes up San Diego’s steep Mt. Palomar, with a 5,000 foot elevation gain in just 12.5 miles.
Santa Barbara has embarked on a stunning remake of Los Positas Road to add a 2.6-mile multi-use path connecting to the beach.
National
Maybe there’s hope yet. Streetsblog says the victories by Democratic Senate candidates in Georgia opens the way for a long-delayed revamp of the national transportation bill to create greater sustainability, with an emphasis on public transit and active transportation.
A new lawsuit accuses Trek of falsely claiming its Bontrager WaveCel helmets are up to 48 times more effective than traditional foam bike helmets in order to command a higher price.
The Drive recommends their picks for the best ebike conversion kits.
Anyone can build up an existing frame, so learn how to weld your own, instead.
Las Vegas bike advocates are responding to the recent death of five experienced bicyclists at the hands of a meth-using truck driver by pushing for greater safety for people on two wheels, including a call for a presumed liability law that would shift the burden of proof to the person in the more dangerous vehicle.
A Nyack NY bike shop is shutting down after nearly 50 years, after long days due to the pandemic bike boom took all the fun out of it for the owner, and emptied all the shop’s inventory, anyway.
New York suffered its first bicycling death of 2021 when an ebike rider inexplicably rode into the back of a parked SUV, the same day Southern California saw the year’s first first bike rider killed in a Riverside hit-and-run.
Great idea. A New Jersey business district is offering shoppers free twice-weekly delivery by cargo bike.
International
Road.cc rates 15 aluminum disk brake bikes, calling them today’s best value bikes.
More evidence of the worldwide bike boom, as London’s bikeshare system saw a record-setting 157% increase in registrations during the pandemic.
Two Irish cousins will spend at least a couple decades behind bars for murdering another man in a case of mistaken identity after falsely accusing him of stealing a bicycle; one man got a life sentence while the other received a minimum of 26 years in prison.
A Dutch university has developed a tool to wirelessly recharge ebikes through the kickstand.
Admitting to mistakes in the early days of the pandemic, Milan’s mayor is committed to changing how people get around the formerly auto-centric city, including plans for 185 miles of new bike lanes, with 21 miles already installed during the initial lockdown.
A horrifying crime, as Indian vigilantes kidnapped 30 women and children because they suspected men in the nomadic tribe of stealing bikes. Although they may have accused them of stealing motorcycles, rather than bicycles, since the Indian press uses the same term for both.
Malaysian bicyclists say new bike riders inspired by the pandemic bike boom are giving the rest of them a bad name.
Competitive Cycling
Yes, the pros do care what you say about them. So be nice.
Former doper and current gelati maker Riccardo Riccò just says no to the Covid-19 vaccine, thanks to a newfound concern over what he puts in his body.
Finally…
Just what every aspiring fashionista needs — a $27,000 haute couture bicycle. Your lifelong wait for bike shorts with built-in artificial intelligence and stimulating electrodes is finally over.
And if you’re using your bike to burglarize motor vehicles, just put a damn light on it, already.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already.
