Time to start digging for spare change under the sofa cushions. The 8th Annual BikinginLA holiday fund drive starts this Friday!
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This is who will lead us for the next two years.
LAist offers a look at the new and improved Los Angeles City Council, marked by an unusually large number of departures, and subsequent additions
The long list includes the recently defeated Mitch O’Farrell and “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, retiring Mike Bonin, termed-out faux environmentalist Paul Koretz and resigned in-disgrace Nury Martinez, as well as Mark Ridley-Thomas, who is currently suspended while under indictment for bribery.
Taking their place will be progressives Hugo Soto-Martinez and Eunisses Hernandez, moderate, if not conservative, Traci Park and Tim McOsker, and heir to the Yaroslavsky mantle Katy Young Yaroslavsky, respectively; Martinez’ seat sits vacant pending an election, while Heather Hutt has been appointed to replace Ridley-Thomas.
However, the council is still home to disgraced Councilmember Kevin de León, who refuses to resign despite being caught on the infamous racist recording, and Mike Lee, identified as the infamous City Staffer B implicated in the bribery scandal that brought down Mitch Englander, if only by association.
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Yep.
Thank you @PeteButtigieg for saying these things. What we need most is dramatic incentives (and maybe penalties) so cities actually make the hard changes on the ground to get to Vision Zero. Right now too many cities — LA included — prioritize driver convenience over vision zero. https://t.co/hzmEQl0xAQ
— Streets For All (@streetsforall) November 21, 2022
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There’s a special place in hell for anyone who’d end a special evening by beating the crap out of an older couple after breaking their mirror.
But at least someone has been arrested for the crime.
An elderly couple was beaten at the Elton John concert at Dodger Stadium after a fender bender https://t.co/QJCyGyYdih
— Los Angeles Scanner (@LosAngeles_Scan) November 20, 2022
Thanks to HowTheWestWS for the head-up.
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You gotta fight for your right to bike!
No?
Born on this day, November 20, 1965:
Mike D, founding member of the Beastie Boys.
Happy #BicycleBirthday, Mike D!#BOTD #nomoa pic.twitter.com/GfyrUL2CS3— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) November 20, 2022
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
The OB Rag continues to live down to its name, accusing a council member of “kowtowing” to the “not-so-shadowy hand of the cycling community” by saying that plastic bollards don’t offer protection against the actions of distracted, impaired or malicious drivers. Apparently, he’s never encountered a road raging driver attempting to run someone off the road. Or done it himself, evidently. Never mind that kowtow is considered an offensive, racist term when used out of its religious and cultural context.
Talk about not getting it. A Maryland letter writer says a roadway doesn’t need bike lanes in each direction, because the two bicyclists killed riding there had been riding on the sidewalk before an obstacle forced them to ride into the street. Except they wouldn’t have had to ride on the sidewalk if they had safe bike lanes on the street.
British authorities are still looking for a hit-and-run driver, nearly a year after he got out of his car and laughed at the seriously injured bike rider he left lying on the roadway.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
No bias here. A self-described Santa Barbara bicyclist says ebikes are motor vehicles and should be regulated as such, because they’re heavier and faster than regular bikes, so they don’t belong in bike lanes. Except most experienced roadies can ride a lot faster than many ped-assist ebikes, which are capped by law at 20 mph; even the fastest ped-assist ebikes are limited to 28 mph.
An English man was lucky to escape with minor injuries when someone in a passing car pushed him off his bicycle and into some bushes on the side of the road.
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Local
Urbanize looks forward to next month’s South LA CicLAvia, which will have an early 3 pm end time.
Advocacy group SAFE needs your input on where to prioritize safety improvements on MLK, Avalon and Gage in South LA. And if you take the brief survey, you’ll have a chance to win a free bike or a $200 gift card.
A homeless man is being held on charges of attempted robbery and attempted murder for using a long knife stab a man in a failed robbery attempt in Santa Monica, then stabbing a man on a bicycle for no apparent reason.
State
San Diego advocates mark the World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence by placing 294 pair of shoes on the steps of city hall, one pair for each person killed on city streets last year.
A Cathedral City man was the victim of a drive-by shooting, after a car pulled up next to him as he rode his bike and a passenger fired out the window; fortunately, the victim is expected to survive despite being shot twice.
Sad news from San Luis Obispo County, where a 58-year old man was killed when he allegedly swerved out of a bike lane in front of a car in the next lane.
Palo Alto bike riders offer advice on how to keep yourself safe riding after dark.
Pleasanton is installing a new popup protected bike lane to help evaluate plans for the complete reconstruction of the thoroughfare.
A San Francisco bicyclist went viral internationally with his Strava art spelling out the name of Mahsa Amini in Persian script; Aminim was murdered by Iranian morality police.
Streetsblog looks at a family of four who get around the Bay Area without a car, calling cargo bikes the happiest transportation mode on Earth.
National
The new special counsel for the January 6 and Mar-A-Lago documents cases is one of us, as war crimes prosecutor Jack Smith will remain in The Hague for the time being as he recovers from a bicycling crash.
Vision Zero Network founder
Portland bike riders delivered a lawsuit to the city, alleging that city officials have removed some bike lanes while failing to build others; dozens of riders showed up in the cold to help serve the suit.
Here’s a hidden benefit to large bike tours, as Arizona’s El Tour de Tucson brings a rush of repair work to local bike shops in the weeks leading up to the ride.
‘Tis the season. A St. Louis charity gave away 200 standard and adaptive bicycles to allow children with disabilities to ride bikes with their brothers and sisters.
They get it. An editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times says drivers may see bike lanes as a convenient place to stop, but it’s a dangerous practice that has to stop.
Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — riding the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, where “drivers are more polite than anywhere else in the world.”
Hoboken, New Jersey is considering banning biking under the influence, since state law is unclear on whether its prohibited.
An estimated 1,500 people turned out for Saturday’s Ride for Your Life to honor fallen bicyclist and US diplomat Sarah Langenkamp, who was killed by a DC truck driver in August as she rode with her husband, just months after fleeing the Russian invasion of Ukraine; the ride followed their route, then continued on to the US capital to demand safer streets. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.
A South Carolina paper tells the tragic tale of a gifted athlete and artist from one of Hilton Head’s oldest and most prominent families, who apparently became homeless, and was killed in a hit-and-run while riding the bicycle he “seemed to live on.”
‘Tis the season, too. A Florida police department gave away 31 bikes to local kids, including a new tricycle for a one-year old girl.
International
Life is cheap in the UK, where an army vet got a lousy two-years for tracking down a 13-year old kid who had a falling out with his daughter, and deliberately knocked the boy off his bike.
Yes, please. Cambridge, England is considering a congestion charge for drivers entering the city center; the $6 fee would benefit local transit, while the predicted reduction in motor vehicle traffic would provide more road space for bike riders and bike lanes.
A British van driver got a well-deserved five years behind bars for the distracted driving crash that killed an off-duty police officer as he was riding his bike; the man was reportedly using Facebook and Instagram as he was driving.
Taiwan moves the wrong direction by requiring license plates for ebikes, as well as requiring approval from employers before migrant workers can buy one. It doesn’t do anyone any good to place obstacles in the way getting more people on bikes, electric or otherwise, and out of their cars.
A new Aussie documentary looks at two-time world BMX champ and Olympic silver medallist Sam Willoughby, six years after he was paralyzed from the waist down, along with a bumpy recovery aided by his wife, American BMX champ Alise Post.
Competitive Cycling
Twenty-five-year old American track and road cycling star Chloé Dygert is making a return to the hardwood after losing two years to injury and illness.
Remco Evanepoel became the first Belgian to win a grand tour in 44 years when he crossed the finish line in first place in this year’s Vuelta — twice as long as he’s been on the Earth
Finally…
Now you, too, can recharge your ebike just by parking it on the right paving stones. That feeling when your Brompton somehow make you a security risk.
And apparently, Superman was on our side.
https://twitter.com/ComicContext/status/1593635958888755200
Thanks to Ted Faber for forwarding the tweet.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
