Let’s start today by amplifying a message sent by our old friend John Lloyd to the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition.
If you know anyone who lives, attends school, works, or bikes in Sierra Madre please help spread the word that the city has removed a portion of the bike lane on eastbound Sierra Madre Blvd. between Grove and Lima, so they could replace parallel parking with angled parking in front of the public library. Mind you the library has ample parking in a lot behind the building, but it’s a few more steps to the front door. They also already have handicapped parking spaces right in front along the library driveway. The city has replaced the bike lane with sharrows that now require a stressful merge into the travel lane with 35mph traffic when the bike lane abruptly ends, and creates an additional hazard from drivers backing out of the angled parking. This creates a danger for drivers and particularly for cyclists. The city has thus created a hazardous and stressful situation for people on bikes. They have traded safety for a couple of unnecessary parking spaces.
I will be giving public comment and asking the city to RESTORE THE LIBRARY BIKE LANE at next week’s city council meeting. I would love it if folks could help spread the word if you know anyone who cares about this issue. They need to know this isn’t okay. Public comments are at the beginning of the meeting and are limited to 3 min each.
- Where: Sierra Madre City Hall 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd.
- When: Tuesday, Sept. 13, 5:30 PM.
By removing the bike lanes, not only has the city increased the risk for people on bicycles, but they’ve also assumed full liability for any bike rider who gets injured there, from this day forward.
Whether or not they intended to.
And I know some damn good lawyers who would be more than happy to make that painfully clear to them.
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Join Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell to discuss street safety in LA County tomorrow night.
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The long awaited 7th Street protected bike lanes are finally taking shape in DTLA.
Check out the progress on the 7th Street Improvement Project! Construction of the curb-protected bike lanes is mostly complete between San Pedro and Wall Street. The final project will add cycle tracks and other upgrades to 7th from San Pedro to Figueroa. pic.twitter.com/xW106Ce7ch
— LADOT (@LADOTofficial) September 6, 2022
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The National Safety Council is kicking off a series of Roadway Safety webinars next Tuesday, starting with the author of There Are No Accidents.
With over 40,000 lives lost each year on U.S. roadways, #RoadwaySafety is a national crisis. Starting on Sept. 13, we will kick off a new webinar series with the first event led by @JessieSingerNYC. Register for the webinar and submit your questions: https://t.co/C5eBs1Qm7n. pic.twitter.com/iZeNug9ePs
— National Safety Council (@NSCsafety) September 7, 2022
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Legendary Hollywood star Humphrey Bogart was one of us, as he talks with the only actor who could ever upstage him, the equally legendary Lauren Bacall.
Or at least he knew the value of posing with a bike and a beautiful woman for a good publicity photo.
#VintageRiders Publicamos una foto protagonizada por Humphrey Bogart y Lauren Bacall 😁🚲🤗 La estrella de cine mira muy atentamente a su compañera quien luego sería su esposa. ¡Qué viva el amor ❤!
¿Te gustan estas fotos de la época dorada de Hollywood?
(📷 Vizpópuli) pic.twitter.com/3kNYATloll
— bicicletasokan (@bicicletasokan) September 7, 2022
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A New Orleans city councilmember responds to the usual complaints from motorists about a new protected bike lane by proposing to make it more dangerous, while a representative of the firefighter’s union is apparently unaware that big, heavy firetrucks are capable of driving over flimsy plastic car-tickler bendy posts.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
After a cobra bit an Indian man as he was working in the fields, he killed the offending snake by biting it back — then rode his bike home with the dead snake draped over his shoulders.
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Local
Two men reportedly broke into the Raleigh New Company Store in Santa Monica on Monday, stealing six bicycles and e-mountain bikes retailing for approximately $5,000 each; a day earlier, police arrested a 60-year old man for the theft of multiple ebikes locked together near the beach, including one with the AirTag that led to his capture.
South Bay letter writers argue over ebikes, infrastructure and bicycle education in response to a fallen 13-year old ebike rider, with predictable results — including the mistaken comment that ebikes are motorcycles, and require a drivers license. Only throttle-controlled bikes and ebikes capable of traveling over 28 mph require a motorcycle license and helmet.
State
A Cardiff man is still looking for answers, 43 years after a bike rider found his murdered twin brother’s lifeless body on the sand at Torrey Pines State Beach, on what would have been their 15th birthday.
Streetsblog says San Jose has lost its way, retreating to victim blaming and shared responsibility in the face of rising traffic deaths, rather than expanding the bold, Dutch-style, quick-build infrastructure the city pioneered just a few years earlier.
Sad news from Northern California, where a mountain biker was found dead 200 feet below the Downieville Downhill Trail outside of Downieville; the victim’s wife had contacted the local sheriff’s department when he didn’t return home from his ride.
National
NACTO, aka the National Association of City Transportation, calls for reforming bike law to decriminalize urban bicycling, after finding current laws disproportionately punish people of color.
Gear Patrol considers the year’s best gravel bikes.
If you’re having trouble unloading your used Peloton bike, it could be because you’re competing with the company’s own efforts to dump their bikes.
It took less than ten minutes for Denver residents to claim the city’s latest round of ebike rebates, as data shows the program really is replacing some car trips.
A Denver couple learns the hard way that insurance companies may bizarrely conclude that ebikes aren’t bicycles, so they don’t have to pay for them.
There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a 16-year old autistic Texas boy’s bike, but hats off to the bighearted strangers who bought him a new one.
Kansas City bicyclists feared a section of the city’s Longview Lake loop long before a popular father of ten was killed riding his bike there last month.
A retired nurse was killed by an on-duty Burbank, Illinois cop who ran down her bicycle; the officer was placed on administrative duty while the case is under review.
New York’s Central Park Raccoons gather for impromptu nighttime races on anything with two wheels, ebikes excluded.
Take your gravel bike for a run on the 185-mile long Chesapeake & Ohio Cana pathl through DC, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
A Mississippi man faces murder charges for shooting his cousin following a heated argument over a fight between their sons about an allegedly stolen bicycle. We’ve said it before — no bicycle is worth taking a life. or losing one.
Tampa Bay bicyclists say the local infrastructure may not be great, but it could be worse.
International
An Ontario, Canada First Nation man faces multiple charges in the alleged DUI death of two women as they were riding their bikes on the first nation this past June.
The World Wide Web Foundation is hosting a two-part ride from Oxford, England to CERN in Geneva to raise funds and call attention to their mission to make the internet safe, trusted and empowering for everyone, with the first three-day stage from Oxford to Paris this week; you can donate here. Thanks to Glenn Crider for the heads-up.
A Dutch expat was acquitted of killing a 56-year old pedestrian in the UK after he asked the court why bike riders couldn’t ride 30 mph if drivers are allowed to, concluding that the 23 mph he was actually riding at was an appropriate speed.
Olympic track cycling gold medalist Katie Archibald paid an emotional tribute to her partner Rob Wardell, as the 36-year old Scottish mountain bike champ was laid to rest following his fatal heart attack last month.
Competitive Cycling
Colombian Rigoberto Urán claimed Wednesday’s stage 17 of the Vuelta, while Remco Evenepoel was virtually assured of victory when three-time defending champ Primož Roglič withdrew following his hard crash near the finish line of Tuesday’s stage.
Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini jumped to an early 23 second lead in the five stage Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta after the opening time trial, with Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten close behind.
Cycling News introduces New Zealand’s Corbin Strong, calling the neo-pro the surprise leader of the Tour of Britain.
There’s more than one way to cheat, as a 73-year old man was busted for motor doping at a French hillclimb; officials became suspicious when he finished just three minutes behind his much younger competitors.
VeloNews talks with gravel champ and freshman race director Amanda Nauman as she prepares to launch the inaugural Mammoth Tuff in California’s Eastern Sierras next weekend.
Finally…
Your kid’s next balance bike could be sculpted from wood, with an uncomfortable looking bench for a seat. That feeling when Stupid Bike Night isn’t, but it is intentionally weird.
And using your bicycle to break down the door of a mom and pop smoke shop is not an approved use for it.
Then again, ripping your arm open crawling inside isn’t the best idea, either.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
