CD15 mobility debate, SGV state Senator Anthony Portantino is one of us, and Bullard crowdfund passes $73,00

Streets For All continues to take the lead vetting candidates for the upcoming city election by hosting yet another virtual candidate debate.

This time the group is hosting three of the four candidates to replace CD15 Councilmember Joe Buscaino in LA’s oddly drawn 15th council district, which stretches from San Pedro to Watts.

Not participating is self-described businessman and community advocate Anthony Santich.

Meanwhile, Buscaino’s mayoral campaign is languishing at the bottom of the pack with just 1% of support from likely voters, after billionaire Rick Caruso’s massively self-financed campaign outflanked him to the right of the city’s otherwise liberal field.

Caruso and Karen Bass lead the field, with 24% and 23%, respectively.

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Speaking of Streets For All, the transportation PAC talks with California state Senator Anthony Portantino, who represents the San Gabriel Valley’s 25th district.

And yes, he’s one of us now.

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The crowdfunding campaign to benefit the families of Whittier’s fallen Bullard brothers, who were killed by an alleged DUI driver in Saturday’s Tour of St. George, Utah, has now exceeded $73,000 of the $100,000 goal in just two days, driven in part by members of Utah’s bicycling community.

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Maybe hi-viz isn’t the answer after all.

https://twitter.com/DurhamRPU/status/1514170915512274944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1514170915512274944%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-13-april-2022-291903

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

Four Pennsylvania teens are accused of riding around town threatening people with a replica AK-47-style gun, shooting someone on a bicycle with airsoft pellets.

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Local

The route and the final environmental study for the new 19-mile NoHo to Pasadena rapid bus line will go before the Metro Board later this month; the plan appears to incorporate many of the elements from the resident-designed Beautiful Boulevard plan.

Hats off to Santa Monica-based Bird for piloting a free, first-of-its-kind program to provide motorized attachments for New York wheelchair users.

 

State 

Despite San Diego’s avowed commitment to long-term climate goals, the city’s nonprofit Climate Action Campaign says area cities aren’t doing enough, and moving too slowly in the face of the climate emergency. On the other hand, they’re moving a lot faster than a certain megalopolis to the north we could name.

A group of Ventura middle school students have created a new kind of tote bag for a local food bank, making it easier to carry on a bicycle.

Road.cc highlights 12 “show stopping” bikes from Monterey’s annual Sea Otter Classic.

Arcata explains their new two-stage bike boxes, which eliminates the need for bike riders to filer across three lanes of a one-way street to make a left turn. Although it does mean waiting through up to two light cycles.

 

National

Beware of a recent nationwide jump in road raging drivers, many of whom may be armed after a surge in gun sales during the pandemic.

Bullshit. Forbes considers what types of bikes are best for seniors, which they seem to define as anyone over 55, including ebikes, cruisers and adult trikes. Never mind that many people ride road and mountain bikes well into their 70s, and sometimes 80s. The right bike for you depends entirely on your relative fitness and the kind of riding you want to do, regardless of your age.

The List examines what happens to your body when you ride a bike every day. Hint: It’s all good.

The Cherokee Nation introduced the six young women who will participate in this year’s Remember the Removal Bike Ride, which follows the northern route of the infamous Trail of Tears for 950 miles through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma; this is the first time the participants have been made up entirely of Cherokee women.

It’s official in Colorado, where the governor signed a bill allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields and red lights like stop signs; the law, which takes effect immediately, also applies to other “slow speed” conveyances, including ebikes, e-scooters, skateboards and wheelchairs.

A St. Paul MN writer recalls the “scorcher” menace of the 1890’s, which marked the beginning of the anti-bike bias we still enjoy today.

Streetsblog concludes there’s a little truth — very little — in an article criticizing a new protected bike lane for a drop in local retail sales, rather than poor business practices or right-wing politics.

Georgia police investigators are criticized for not knowing the state’s bike laws, blaming a young woman for her own death because she didn’t have a rear light on her bike or hi-vis clothing, even though neither are require in the state. And even though she was run down by a woman stoned on meth and valium, as well as two other drugs.

 

International

Cycling News rates the best helmets for ebike riders. Which are evidently different than the best helmets for non-electric bikes, for some reason.

A 19-year old British bike rider blames a local housing association after he collided with a collapsed fence and was impaled through the chest by a fence pole.

A new Dutch study offers some much-needed perspective on the relative dangers of ebikes, revealing that ebike riders are 1.6 times more likely to end up in the emergency room than people on traditional bikes — compared to two times more likely for people on racing bikes, and three times more likely for mountain bikers. Which kind of refutes many of the panicked reports we’ve been seeing about the dangers posed by ebikes.

Vision Zero is apparently working in the Netherlands, where traffic deaths are half what they were 20 years ago, although more people were killed riding bikes than in cars. Meanwhile, a road safety group calls for mandatory helmets for anyone over 60, who account for half of the country’s bicycling fatalities.

A Malaysian lawyer called for people to pray for the woman convicted of killing eight teens riding the popular basikal lajak modified bicycles, after she was sentenced to a well-deserved six ears behind bars, along with a fine of a little more that $1,400.

An Aussie tow truck driver was allegedly high on crystal meth when he ran a stop sign and killed a 43-year old man riding a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling star Peter Sagan has temporarily stepped away from racing to deal with lingering health problems following his second bout with Covid. He’s not calling it long Covid, but others are. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

https://twitter.com/elisaperego78/status/1514309883197284355

French world champion Julian Alaphilippe was taken down by his own team car during Belgium’s one-day Brabantse Pijl classic.

https://twitter.com/CiclismoInter/status/1514260334319603719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1514260334319603719%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-13-april-2022-291903

 

Finally…

That feeling when the cops responsible for catching bike thieves are the ones stealing them. Or when a bicycle-themed NFT group decides they’re not about NFTs after all.

And it’s probably a bad thing when your ebike foldie has a tendency to break in half.

Or maybe that’s just me.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

One comment

  1. Ralph says:

    Electric foldie coming apart. I’ve always wanted a swing bike.

    The article about requiring helmets for over 60 year old riders is more low information drivel. Yes, some people have issues with balance when they age. What percentage and how much affect does it have on riders. Will I need a helmet on a trike? Accidents are still happening. No information about the number of deaths by age group or if that includes head injuries. Basically a safety group trying a backdoor helmet law.

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