It’s a blustery day in LA, and much of Southern California.
With makes it a great day to get that KOM, as long as you can keep the wind at your back. Otherwise, it could feel like riding with an anchor.
And as someone who used to deal with Colorado’s notorious Chinook winds, bear in mind that an ill-timed gust can literally blow you off your bike, or all the way across the roadway.
Or both.
So maybe you’re better off just staying home with a good book.
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No bias here.
Someone clearly isn’t a fan of the Slow Streets movement, at least not in Valley Village.
VIDEO: Vandals take down street signs calling on drivers to slow down and walkers to socially distance in #ValleyVillage. pic.twitter.com/RAcUnSTdPD
— Jeff Vaughn (@JeffVaughn) January 19, 2021
Or maybe they’re just a fan of speeding cars and keeping the streets the deadly domain of dangerous drivers.
Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.
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The family of fallen Ride for Black Lives bicyclist Branden Finley call for help finding the carjacker who killed him in a hit-and-run crash in Downtown Los Angeles, as a crowdfunding page for his family raises over $25,000 the first day.
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What do you call a bike lane when it’s not a bike lane?
A loading zone.
https://twitter.com/BenBiking/status/1351370501529112576
I tried fighting that same battle on San Vicente nearly a decade ago.
It wasn’t hard to get FedEx and UPS to agree that parking in a bike lane violated their internal policies, and pinky swear promise they wouldn’t do it anymore.
And while the Santa Monica police couldn’t grasp the concept that a bike lane is a legal lane of traffic reserved for bicycle, or that blocking one is a clear violation of state law, the chief agreed that double parking is illegal, at least.
But that was several SaMo PD chiefs ago. And nothing ever changed.
Delivery drivers kept parking there. Cops kept ignoring it.
And bike riders continued risking their lives mixing with impatient drivers who couldn’t comprehend that blocked bike lanes mean bike riders have to merge into the traffic lane.
Clearly, adding Amazon delivery vans to the mix hasn’t helped, either.
The only solution is to make it a protected bike lane, which it should be anyway.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes keeps going on.
Frightening bike theft in Stockton, where a man in a car pulled a gun on a 54-year old woman and demanded the bike she was riding, tossing it in his backseat before speeding away.
A Healdsburg CA driver lays on his horn to demand a man riding with his son get the hell out of his way. And when they don’t, he rams the father from behind.
Driver leans HARD on the car horn, then just drives straight into the back of the rider. Can't claim he didn't see him when he's honking at him first. Assault? GBH? Attempted Murder? Whatever you call it, it's intentional and worthy of punishment.https://t.co/CNlcmYaTHX pic.twitter.com/ut7DueZ5Wm
— Cycliq (@Cycliq) January 19, 2021
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in New Jersey are looking for a man who grabbed a woman’s butt before riding off on his bicycle. And no, that’s not cute or funny — it’s sexual assault.
A Singapore food delivery rider faces charges for crashing into an eight-year old girl as she walked home from school with her mother, breaking her glasses and seriously injuring her eye.
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Local
No surprise here. Los Angeles once again has the worst traffic of any major city in the US. Yet the city still isn’t taking any significant steps to provide alternatives to driving and get people out of their cars.
Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard is one of us, as he goes for a bike ride with his wife and daughter.
State
Good news from behind the Orange Curtain, as Caltrans agrees to remove the ill-conceived rumble strips on PCH through Bolsa Chica that posed a needless risk along the popular riding route. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.
A Bakersfield advocate calls for the city to establish a Vision Zero program to become a safer place for pedestrians and bicyclists.
National
There may be hope for all those many and varied bicycle-to-vehicle communication systems that are supposed to be the salvation bike riders and pedestrians, as a consortium of bicycle and automotive companies finally agree to set a common standard that will work across platforms.
Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean you can’t commute by bike.
An editor for Vice learns that riding a bicycle is just like riding a bike, even at the ripe old age of 29.
The Sierra Club offers suggestions on how to store your bike inside during the winter. Or better yet, let your bike sleep inside, and keep riding it outside, regardless of the season.
Who needs bikewear when you’ve got a $180 pair of denim overalls?
A new report shows Washington State needs to spend $5.7 billion to fix the state’s roads and improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, while advocates say the existing strategies clearly aren’t working. Which is pretty much the same story in California, and just about everywhere else.
A Boise, Idaho nonprofit hand-delivered nearly 60 bicycles to families in need to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s legacy of service.
Even in rural Kansas, a driver can turn his or her car into a lethal weapon to deliver a punishment pass, as a bicycling trio learned firsthand.
Chicago is considering what looks like a curb-protected two way bike lane through the city’s Fulton Market.
When a Virginia pastor had trouble finding a new bike after his was stolen, he responded by starting a new ministry to repair and refurbish bicycles for people in need.
International
The bike industry clearly has the gravel bug, as Road.cc rates 18 of the hottest new gravel bikes from some of the most popular bike brands. And while they’re at it, they also pick the year’s best commuter bike, with prices starting at the equivalent of just $500.
Bike Radar gets a jump on next year’s holidays with a guide to the best gifts for bicyclists in 2021, starting with a five buck DVD of Breaking Away.
An Oxford University professor says forget the WHO’s guidance, and wear a mask when you run or ride a bike.
You know there’s a problem when South African bike riders are warned away from a particular road because the risk of getting robbed is too high.
Cyclist examines how Taiwan’s Giant became the, well, giant of the bike world.
Competitive Cycling
Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome blamed an undiagnosed strength deficit and an inexplicably painful screw resulting from his horrific 2019 crash for a disappointing comeback season in 2020. But that may be behind him, as he takes a couple KOMs on a “Super Saturday” ride through the Malibu Hills as he rehabs in Los Angeles.
Twenty-two year old Tour de France winner Tadej Pogačar stands in the way of Froome’s search for a record-tying fifth Tour title, as he commits to defending his yellow jersey before tackling the Vuelta.
Finally…
Saying a boy’s bike is easy enough for a girl probably isn’t the best marketing idea. For 25 grand, they could at least give you more than one gear. It’s not a giant Ferris wheel, it’s a bike tire.
And since we started the day with Winnie the Pooh, we might as well end it with a little Tickety-Boo.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already.
