BikinginLA

A San Diego man received a “generous” six-figure settlement, two and a half years after suffering a broken leg while riding to get coffee.

Dave Nicolai was injured in a fall when his bike slid out from under him in a pool a standing water, algae and debris caused by a defective irrigation system and a clogged storm drain.

Nicolai was represented by Oceanside lawyer Richard Duquette, a longtime friend of this site, along with co-counsels Daniel Petrov and Michael Norton.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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The abandoned 710 Extension project could provide the backbone for a much-needed north-south bikeway between Los Angeles and Alhambra.

An SGV resident and transportation engineer who commutes by bike to MPK recently shared with us this very cool concept to improve bike/ped access through #Alhambra and #LA via part of the 710 stub. Check it out here: https://t.co/dEIFFaZCMN #Sustainable710 @StreetsblogLA @lacbc

— ActiveSGV (@ActiveSGV) June 30, 2021

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Hats off to 45-year old Shawn Cheshire, who’s riding the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail across the US in an effort to become the first blind woman to ride across the United States, guided by another rider on a separate bike.

Then there’s adventure athlete Brendan Walsh, who has raised over $2,300 for the Alzheimer’s Association by climbing the highest summit in all six New England states, then riding his bicycle in-between to get from site one to another, in just four days, 15 hours, 34 minutes — beating his goal by more than 30 hours.

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A British bike rider set out to create the hardest 100 kilometer — 62 mile — bicycling route he could, featuring 20 steep climbs in and around Bath, England.

GCN also answers the eternal question of whether you can mountain bike in roadie togs.

You can ride naked if you really want to. Which doesn’t mean it’s necessary a good idea.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Santa Cruz County residents have been sabotaging a popup bike safety demonstration project in Pleasure Point every morning since it opened last Friday, as well as yelling at workers when they come to repair the damage.

A road raging Ohio driver faces charges for assaulting a bike rider who inadvertently brushed against the man’s car.

Pennsylvania police are looking for the driver of a 2009 Ford Edge who whacked five bicyclists with the SUV’s wing mirror after crossing over the fog line, intentionally putting real punishment in a punishment pass.

No one has been charged nearly a year after a North Carolina grandfather was ambushed and killed while riding on a secluded bike trail.

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Local

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg announced $905 million in infrastructure grants on Wednesday, including $18 million for traffic lights, bike lanes and other safety improvements in South LA.

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider makes the case for why bus and bike lanes are good for drivers.

Streetsblog is starting the annual summer fund drive for SoCal’s leading nonprofit transportation website. And make a solid case for why you should open your wallet and give what you can.

 

State

Encinitas approved a long-planned streetscape plan for the Coast Highway in Leucadia, including dedicated bike lanes along every segment of the project.

 

National

BestReviews offers tips on how to tune your bike.

Trek says the first full year of their green packaging program removed a whopping 433,600 pounds of plastic from bike boxes and Bontrager accessory packaging.

MarketWatch recommends three towns where you can bike, hike and kayak after you retire. I’d take their recommendation for Pagosa Springs in Southwestern Colorado. Except my only retirement plan is dying early.

Even the nation’s most bike-friendly cities can be deadly for someone on a bicycle, as a man was killed in a collision with a pickup driver in my Colorado hometown, one of just five Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Communities in the US.

Former two-time Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was one of us, although his pedal-powered vehicle of choice was a unicycle; Rumsfeld died Tuesday at age 88.

Ohio’s 2.2 thousand-member Bike Snoop Facebook group is dedicated to tracking down and recovering stolen bicycles.

The New Jersey legislature approved a new law requiring drivers to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle, scooter or on foot.

A Delaware church deacon and trans activist has spent every weekend of Pride Month on her bicycle, raising funds for LGBTQIA charities.

The battle over DC bike lanes goes on, as local residents fight the loss of street parking to make way for them, while accusing the DC Department of Transportation of “trying to shove this cycle track down the throats of residents and business owners.”

No bias here. A Virginia newspaper says it’s up to bike riders to “do their best to prevent traffic jams that could trigger road-rage incidents” from drivers incensed by the state’s new law requiring them to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle — even though the law allows drivers to briefly cross the yellow line to do so.

Florida’s Republican governor signed a new three-foot passing law, which also mandates educational campaigns and questions about bicycling on the driver’s exam.

 

International

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a bicycle a Scottish man had customized for his 29-year old wife, who died recently of a heart attack while hiking.

An 82-year old Scottish woman got off with a slap on the wrist for running down a bike rider in a roundabout, merely losing her license for breaking the victim’s leg. Which she probably should have lost years earlier.

Life is cheap in Japan, where 74-year old former pro wrestler Killer Khan will avoid prosecution for the hit-and-run crash that injured a young woman riding a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

French police arrested the woman accused of taking out half the peloton with a sign giving a shoutout to her grandparents on the first stage of the Tour de France; despite reports she’d fled the country, they found her in Brittany.

Back to our relatively spoiler-free Tour de France updates. The Tour’s defending champion made a statement in Wednesday’s individual time trial, while just eight seconds separated the yellow jersey from fast-charging competitors.

The AP offers an advance look at the cycling events in the Tokyo Olympics.

 

Busting a bike thief with a pint-sized self-deputized posse.

And this is who we share the bike lane with.

On the False Creek sea wall: Technically, they’re in the bike lane. But, to their credit, they’re trying to walk single file. pic.twitter.com/JcFSdTDkcg

— Ian Hanomansing (@ianhanomansing) June 30, 2021

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.