It’s the 7th day of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
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Give today!
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A new Brookings Institute report says creating urban activity centers combining “community institutions, tourism destinations, consumption amenities, major institutions, and jobs in traded sectors” are key to green commutes.
Which helps explain why Los Angeles ranks so low in transit use, despite its high density, since those activity centers are so widely dispersed, and lack many of the key components.
Thanks to Gordon Chaffin for the heads-up.
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Metro reports bike lockers are now available at five K Line stations, on what was formerly known as the Crenshaw Line.
The lockers can now be found at —
- Expo/Crenshaw
- MLK Jr.
- Leimart Park
- Fairview Heights
- Downtown Inglewood
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West Hollywood is partnering with Schwinn to give away 50 free bicycles to WeHo residents in an effort to reduce car dependency.
You have to be over 18, and commit to riding at least 20 miles a month.
Although that really should be 20 miles a week, but still.
You can apply for the program here.
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The last CicLAvia of the year rolls through historic South LA this Sunday, with an early 3 pm cutoff.
The latest weather forecast calls for showers ending late morning, leading to a cool and sunny afternoon.
So bundle up, and get out there for one last carfree celebration before the holidays.
CicLAvia-South LA is coming up this Sunday! Get all the details for the route, activities and more: https://t.co/fL7b6gTqCb @CicLAvia #CicLAvia #OpenStreets #Walk #Bike https://t.co/j0tsTK2HVf
— UC Berkeley SafeTREC (@UCBSafeTREC) November 30, 2022
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This is who we share the road with.
Police in San Luis Obispo responded to a report of a driver striking a curb before hitting a street sign and crashing into a bridge abutment.
When the driver failed to show signs of intoxication, they just wrote it off as an oopsie, and had the car towed.
And somehow missed the couple lying dead in a creak bed, along with their dog, hidden under thick brush.
It wasn’t until their bodies were found the next day that police realized the speeding driver had slammed into them as they were walking their dog.
Which led police to go back and “interview” the 24-year old driver.
Not interrogate. Not arrest. Not even ticket.
At least, not yet. And maybe never.
Thanks to How the West Was Saved for the link.
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Nothing like watching someone use bolt cutters to steal a bike in broad daylight.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A New York judge pointed a finger at the city’s “problem” with ebikes and motorized bicycles, as he sentenced a man to one to three years behind bars for killing Gone Girl and Broadway actor Lisa Banes as she was crossing the street — even though the careless, red light-running rider was on an e-scooter.
No bias here, either. A New York writer suggests combating the scourge of ebikes by picking up your takeout in person, claiming speeding ebike riders have made jaywalking a blood sport.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in Oxnard CA are on the lookout for a bike-riding bank robber who made his escape on two wheels after ripping off a Wells Fargo.
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Local
Urbanize LA offers more details on the $5.1 in Westside transportation improvements approved by the city council this week, in one of outgoing CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin’s final acts on the council.
State
Palo Alto is considering a ban on ebikes on unpaved trails in local nature preserves, apparently concluding that only strong, able-bodied people who don’t need a ped-assist should visit them.
A San Francisco op-ed says Slow Streets helped bring the city’s Noe Valley community together, and the city needs more of them.
Police in Rancho Cordova arrested a 42-year old homeless man in the apparent unprovoked attack with a machete on a 60-year old, recently retired ebike rider, whose injuries were described as “unsurvivable.”
National
Streetsblog looks at where bikes scored big in the recent election.
A podcast from Outside looks at what happens to drivers who hit bicyclists. Short answer: Not much, in most cases.
More harm caused by motor vehicles, as researchers blame rubber particulates from car tires for a massive die-off of coho salmon in the Pacific Northwest.
The head man at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas is one of us, using a bicycle to get around the massive event.
Axios says Transportation Secretary Pete is big on bikes, as he stops in Chicago to promote aviation workers.
A furious Chicago father demands safe routes to schools after drivers hit his bike-riding daughter, not once but twice. Although he seems a lot calmer than I would have been under the circumstances.
That’s more like it. An Ohio man was sentenced to eight to twelve years behind bars for the drugged, head-on crash that killed a man riding a bicycle; he also lost his driver’s license for life and prohibited from buying or owning a motor vehicle.
Massachusetts Hyundai dealers honored Springfield’s Bob the Bike Man for his efforts to get more kids on bicycles despite suffering from a terminal brain condition.
Life is cheap in New York, where a cab driver walked with just a lousy one-year license suspension after his passenger fatally doored a bike rider when he failed to pull up to the curb to let them out.
Baltimore residents and business owners sound a familiar refrain, claiming they weren’t told about plans for a lane reduction and protected bike lanes, even though they’d been in the works for years.
Life is cheap in Louisiana, where a 29-year old woman walked without a day behind bars for killing a man riding a bicycle, after a judge suspended her entire five-year sentence.
International
No surprise here, as a new study shows protected bike lane networks have “significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower transport costs, prevent road fatalities, and improve the quality of life for people” around the world, concluding that bike lanes “reduce emissions as effectively as highways create them.”
Cyclist offers tips on how to keep your bike from squeaking and creaking. Although a well-lubed bike won’t do anything to keep you from doing creaking.
Cycling Weekly recommends the best holiday sales on bikes and bicycle gear in the US and the UK.
The UK’s leading bike-building school is permanently shuttering its doors, battered by Covid, Brexit and unrelenting financial challenges.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson departed office with a number of gifts — included a secondhand, $4,800 bike from the president of Kurdistan.
The new SUB from Vienna-based Vello claims to be the world’s lightest e-cargo bike, checking in at a svelte 53 pounds for the titanium version.
Bicycling says Budapest residents are pedaling to power the city’s Christmas tree, which was jeopardized by the ongoing energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
More proof bicyclists face the same problems everywhere, as bike riders in Dwarka, India demand better bike infrastructure, arguing there’s currently nothing to protect them.
NPR reports more Afghans are using bikes to get around as the economy continues to decline following the Taliban’s takeover of the country, even though women and girls are now prohibited from riding, even if they had before.
An Israeli study shows 70% of ebike and e-scooter users who suffered facial injuries weren’t wearing helmets.
An Italian ultracyclist is attempting to bike across the bottom of the world, setting off on a record-setting effort to fat bike across Antarctica.
Competitive Cycling
Tragic news from Italy, where former Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Paris-Nice champ Davide Rebellin was killed when he was hit by a truck on a training ride; the Italian cyclist was still competing at age 51, despite a two-year doping ban that cost him an Olympic silver medal.
The Tour de France will depart from its traditional Paris finish for the first time in 2024, looking for a nice finish in Nice, instead.
Trans cyclist Emily Bridges says she still dreams of riding for Wales at the Commonwealth Games, even after the UK barred new trans cyclists from competition pending a review scheduled for next year.
Finally…
Charles Barkley is five grand poorer after losing a bet that he could ride a kid’s bike, even though Shaq could. San Diegans name their cute little street sweeper.
And look ma, no hands.
Or feet, for that matter.
Enjoy every moment ❤️ pic.twitter.com/sOujOxmEfD
— ज़िन्दगी गुलज़ार है ! (@Gulzar_sahab) November 29, 2022
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
