BikinginLA

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

No bias here. The mayor of Alameda CA joined with a pair of council members to kill plans for protected bike lanes on the street that she lives on. Even though she should have recused herself for exactly that reason.

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Local

KCRW’s Greater LA program talks with CicLAvia executive director Romel Pascual about how Sunday’s people-powered event can help you see Los Angeles differently.

A former LA city planner says the city isn’t doing enough to combat climate change, noting that Mayor Garcetti’s LA Green New Deal will be circling the drain the minute he leaves office; he calls for a number of changes, including bike and scooter lanes throughout the city.

The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Cal State Northridge will host the “first annual” BikeFest on Sunday, October 23 to promote bicycling to and on campus, along with a job fair promoting jobs in the bike industry. Although you’d think a university would know it’s not annual event until you have the second one.

 

State 

An 18-year old Vacaville woman owes her life to a crew of inmates on cleanup duty on a local bike path, after they stopped a man who they saw stabbing her in what appears to be a random attack; the 18-year old man was booked on suspicion of attempted homicide.

There’s a special place in hell for the women ran down a couple of bike-riding kids in a pair of separate hit-and-runs in San Francisco’s Rohnert Park on Wednesday. Seriously, what kind of person could just drive off and leave a little kid bleeding in the street?

 

National

Swift Bicycle Bags with nine-inch rubber straps are being recalled because the straps could break, causing them to come loose and fall. And likely causing the rider to do the same.

An urban developer website argues for reclaiming streets for humans by building a series of Barcelona-style superblocks.

A Seattle photographer created a Twitter account to post photos of cars blocking bike lanes in an effort to shame the drivers. Good luck with that; it’s hard to shame someone who feels that entitled.

Ebikes aren’t cheating, according to a Colorado writer, who notes that banning ped-assist bikes from natural-surface trails just penalizes people for their physical limitations.

Theft and vandalism are depleting Chicago’s bikeshare fleet, making it harder to find a bike when people need one.

Nice move from Amazon, which donated $50,000 to provide every kid at a Cleveland elementary school with a new bike helmet. Let’s hope someone follows up with a new bicycle for each of the kids, too.

A Harvard student survived being run off the road by more than one reckless driver while riding across the US from his Orange County CA home to the university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

This is who we share the road with. Ten people were injured, including two children, when a pair of NYPD cops responding to a report of a stolen car hit another vehicle after crossing onto the wrong side of the street, then careened onto the sidewalk into a crowd of bystanders. Yet somehow, the New York Times blames the patrol car, and not the cop behind the wheel.

A former history teacher is helping kids in Baton Rouge, Louisiana learn skills like mechanics, welding and bicycling safety by building their own bicycles, while also providing them with mentoring, academic support and job training opportunities.

 

International

A British Columbia writer talks with seven disabled people to get their thoughts on how to make urban walking and bicycling more inclusive and accessible.

Life is cheap in the UK, where two men were sentenced to 18 and 14 months behind bars, respectively, after hitting a man riding a bike with his family, while racing along roadway at speeds up to 100 mph in a 40 mph zone, and leaving the victim with life-changing injuries.

Interesting study from a German university, which reversed the usual planning process of adding bike lanes one at a time to meet demand; instead, the authors created a virtual model with bike lanes on every street, then gradually removed less used streets from the network, showing how to meet demand at minimal cost.

A writer for Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website lists ten bicycling products she can’t live without. All of which are good ideas, but none of which you can’t live or ride without.

An Aussie bike rider credits the driver who knocked him off his bicycle with saving his life, after doctors discovered a potentially fatal heart blockage when he was taken to the hospital.

 

Competitive Cycling

Who needs a gravel bike? Dutch pro Mathieu van der Poel is tackling the inaugural Gravel World Championships on a road bike. Meanwhile, Off-Road.cc examines what’s a gravel bike, anyway?

 

Finally…

That feeling when there’s a bounty on your head for building illegal mountain bike trails. And your favorite former newsstand could soon be an ebike charging station.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.