This is so wrong in so many ways.
An infuriating video shows San Diego sanitation workers cleaning up a homeless camp — and mindlessly tossing a pair of bicycles in a garbage truck to be crushed. Destroying what was likely someone’s only form of transportation.
Let alone failing to check if the bikes were stolen, or if someone else could have used them.
Or considering that even homeless people have to be somewhere. And should be allowed to keep what meager possessions they have.
Perfectly good bikes being crushed by the @CityofSanDiego. pic.twitter.com/HFxfu41cyE
— Michael McConnell (@HomelessnessSD) April 14, 2022
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
Photo by Mart Production from Pexels.
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Ride to honor five-time US ‘cross champ and US Bicycling Hall of Fame member Laurence Malone, to mark the first anniversary of his death in an head-on car crash near Lancaster.
Please spread the word: May 15th in Ojai, California there'll be a memorial ride for the late Laurence Malone, superstar cyclocrosser, Hall of Famer, writer and cycling legend. This free event is a fundraiser for his 9-year-old son Ikal. https://t.co/44IMD8E4VQ pic.twitter.com/N0P3m03TIP
— Jim Langley (@jimlangley) April 17, 2022
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Who needs fenders when your bike has a tail?
https://twitter.com/AmericanFietser/status/1515484615095595013
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. Houston-area police refuse to do anything about a road raging driver, despite video proof of a near head-on attack. “He said, she said” my ass.
Deer Park police, after seeing this video of a Jeep driver barreling the wrong-way toward a cyclist in an apparent fit of road rage, determined this was a case of "he said, she said"
More: https://t.co/WDC5nSodT6 pic.twitter.com/hLOjOsTQ3u
— Jay R. Jordan (@jayrjordan) April 15, 2022
A Manitoba-based architect and bike podcaster was slapped by a pedestrian for not riding in the bike lane, which she had just moved out of to make a left turn.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
British radio host Jeremy Vine was metaphorically spanked on social media after he complained about a woman of walking in front of him without looking, and people responded by accusing him of riding too fast. Although he doesn’t look that speedy to me.
I know there are bad drivers and bad cyclists, but is there any such thing as bad pedestrians? pic.twitter.com/42HG51dzVe
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) April 14, 2022
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Local
The author of Very LA is clearly no fan of LA’s Metro Bike app, describing it as a “heaping dumpster fire that requires a lot of consistent human intervention to make right.” Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.
State
Palm Desert promises to buy and install bike racks on request for up to 20 business.
A 37-year old Burlingame man suffered major injuries when he struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding hear Santa Barbara’s Lake Cuchama on Saturday.
There’s a special place in hell for the armed thieves who carjacked the Berkeley High School mountain bike team, ordering three coaches and two students out of their minivan to steal the bikes inside and on the rear rack.
A 20-year old Marin County man faces murder and hit-and-run charges for jumping the curb with his Jeep, and killing a 33-year old man walking his bike on the sidewalk.
National
Sort of good news but not really, as California is only the sixth most dangerous state for bike riders on a per capita basis, following Florida, Louisiana, Arizona, Delaware and South Carolina. Not exactly good company we’re keeping.
A Tucson AZ columnist thanks the Good Samaritans who came to his rescue after he misjudged a path and “kissed the asphalt” falling from his bike.
That’s more like it. A Texas man was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a 68-year old woman as she rode her bike through a park crosswalk with six other people.
A Minneapolis bike rider discovers the risks of ignoring physical symptoms and not seeing a doctor, when his girlfriend talks him into his first medical examination in at least seven years, revealing a rare form if thyroid cancer. As I’ve learned the hard way, bicycling doesn’t keep you from experiencing serious medical problems, and can mask symptoms that could otherwise point to danger.
Kentucky roads aren’t being kind to Afghan refugees, with at least three recent arrivals from the country injured riding bikes in the state; over 200 Afghan refugees are working with a nonprofit resettlement group, which provides them with bikes as their primary form of transportation.
This is who we share the road with. A road raging New Jersey driver faces an attempted murder charge for chasing a woman onto a lawn after she attempted to take pictures of his car following a minor collision, and running over her, then backing up and doing it again.
Ebikes are becoming the new SUV, as parents chauffeur their kids to school and soccer practice on two, or sometimes three, wheels.
A kindhearted Florida teacher bought a new bicycle for the school’s custodian, after learning he was riding 12 miles to work on a rickety old bike.
International
A Swedish university professor explains the problems caused by our current automotive hegemony, and lists the 12 best ways to get cars out of cities, including congestion pricing and swapping curbside parking for bike lanes. So why choose? Let’s just try all of them, at the same time.
Contradicting the country’s efforts to promote bicycling, A Spanish government ministry is calling for mandatory liability insurance for ebike riders, a proposal one bike advocacy leader blamed on insurance company lobbying.
Horrible news from India, where a young woman hung herself after her mother refused to buy her a bicycle.
An Australian development company is deservedly catching heat for spending nearly three-quarter of a million dollars to build a bay front bike path, only to rip a large segment out to conduct soil remediation underneath — even though they knew it was necessary before the path was built.
Competitive Cycling
Twenty-nine-year old Dutch cyclist Dylan van Baarle captured an unexpected victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix classic, finishing the 159-mile Monument in 5 hours, 37 minutes to set a record pace of 28.4 mph. His victory came just six months after finishing outside the time limit in last year’s pandemic-delayed edition of the race.
Wout van Aert was happy with his second place finish at Paris-Roubaix in his first race after a recent Covid-19 infection.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team manager Patrick Lefever was livid following Paris-Roubaix, after spectators knocked two of his riders out of the race.
Surprise Olympic gold medalist and math Ph.D Anna Kiesenhofer now has part of her doctorate thesis etched into her racing bike frame.
Carson’s Velo Sports Center offers a full calendar of upcoming events. Thanks to LA Velodrome Racing for the tip.
Finally…
Bike cops aren’t safe from drunk drivers either. Evidently, Bambi is out to get us, too.
And this is who we share the road with.
Not to mention a pretty good example of instant karma in action.
https://twitter.com/DaddyWarpig/status/1515334815964282884
Thanks to Ted Faber for the tweet.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
