More on the tragic death of Dr. Michael Mammone.
Mammone was murdered two weeks ago by a man suffering from mental illness, who first ran the emergency room physician down with his car on SoCal’s killer highway as he waited at a Dana Point traffic light on his mountain bike, then got out of his car and stabbed the injured bike rider to death.
Mammone was remembered at a memorial service at the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach yesterday as someone who devoted his life to helping others, and always seemed calm and collected, even in the face of crisis.
His sister described him as the life of the party, calling him “intelligent, funny, adventurous, curious, easy to be with, loved card games and genuinely cared about everyone.”
Mammone leaves behind his wife and two sons; the couple was about to celebrate their 30 years of marriage with a trip to Italy.
His death was just a needless waste of a precious human life, all because his killer was allowed to fall through the cracks of America’s failed system for treating the mentally ill.
And because Vanroy Evan Smith was allowed to keep driving, despite his apparently untreated paranoid schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Photo of ghost bike for Dr. Michael Mammones by Walt Arrrrr.
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Ted Faber sends photographic proof the Jackson Street gate to the Ballona Creek Bike Path is now open.
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Streets For All is clearly not a fan of flimsy plastic bollards, even when they look chunky.
It looks nice but provides no real protection. It’s time for at least one of the following:
1 — metal bollards
2 — concrete curbs
3 — K rail
4 — Jersey barriersSomething that would actually stop a car intruding. https://t.co/DHs7rlVhuL
— Streets For All (@streetsforall) February 16, 2023
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This is the first feeder ride I’m aware of for next weekend’s San Fernando Valley CicLAvia.
🚲 Our community partners @LADOTofficial, @heybikela, and @cd4losangeles are organizing a group bike ride starting from the Balboa Orange Line Station at 9AM and ending at the Reseda Hub on the CicLAvia—The Valley route on February 26. 🗺️ Feeder ride map: https://t.co/6sXTU5hXcB pic.twitter.com/5GrobMdyII
— CicLAvia (@CicLAvia) February 16, 2023
Thanks to Ravener for the heads-up.
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The Bike League will host a webinar next month on how to write a strongly worded letter to the local paper.
On Friday, March 3rd, at 2 pm ET, we will host the first of several FREE bike advocacy training webinars in 2023! Learn about the essential elements of writing a letter to the editor so that you can publicize the voice of people #biking and #walking ➡️ https://t.co/eKimPG65Ck pic.twitter.com/hRkIR21iIi
— League of American Bicyclists (@BikeLeague) February 16, 2023
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A London website comes to the defense of bike-riding British broadcast personality Jeremy Vine, saying the country’s Highway Code is on his side, after he was unfairly criticized for a near collision when he was left hooked by a driver cutting across a protected bike lane.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
After a Washington state bike rider was the victim of a hit-and-run driver, sheriff’s deputies discovered he was struck while he was loading stolen merchandise onto his bicycle.
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Local
They get it. LA’s new 45,000-square-foot, 1,600 seat Bellwether nightclub and concert hall will come complete with guarded rooftop bicycle parking.
A 19-year old mountain biker was helicoptered out from Mandeville Canyon, after suffering a “substantial” leg injury.
More on Liam Garner, the LA teenager who recently became the youngest person to bike from Alaska to the tip of Argentina, despite tearing off his right ear going over his handlebars along the way.
State
Spectrum News 1 highlights five SoCal bike paths, from Ventura’s Rincon Bike Trail to the Mount Rubidoux Trail in Riverside, and down to San Diego’s Bayshore Bikeway.
Orange County advocates are calling for greater investments in public bus operations, and pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, despite the country transportation authority’s insistence on flushing $2 billion on an induced demand inducing project on the 405 Freeway.
Carlsbad cops teamed with city staffers to talk with elementary and middle school parents about traffic safety, as part of the state of emergency the city declared to fight a rise in bike-related injuries.
They get it, too. Santa Cruz is moving forward with a long-delayed bike lane project on Soquel Drive, calling them buffered bike lanes with flex posts. Unlike Los Angeles, which insists on calling them protected bike lanes, even though the flimsy plastic posts won’t stop anything.
National
People For Bikes says local governments now have unprecedented access to billions of dollars for safe, connected bike networks and trails, thanks to a variety of federal government programs.
A new book relates the author’s journey by bike, along with two friends, following Harriet Tubman’s road to freedom on the Underground Railroad; he was inspired to take the trip because one of his ancestors was a ship’s captain in the Atlantic slave trade.
Linus has recalled their Cesta 500 ebike due to risk of a cracked front fork, posing a crash risk.
Seattle is beginning work on a new bikeway connecting Capital Hill with the iconic Pike Place Market; the work is being overseen by former LA Bureau of Streets Services head Greg Spotts, now director of the Seattle Department of Transportation.
A San Antonio, Texas bike rider used his skills as an urban planner to develop his own cohesive bike map, showing how to comfortably ride between disconnected bike lanes and paths.
Two men are dead in Garland, Texas, after a bike shop worker was murdered before the store opened, then a police SWAT team found the 58-year old suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound; it turned out both victims were employees of the shop.
Grunge remembers Orville and Wilbur Wright’s younger sister Katherine, who kept their Ohio bike shop running while they were learning to fly.
Kindhearted Kentucky organizations pitched in to buy a new adaptive trike for an eight-year-old boy with a previously unheard of medical condition. The look on the kid’s face when he was given the bike is priceless.
A small Rhode Island community doesn’t want visitors to leave their dockless bikes behind, announcing plans to impound any bikeshare bikes or e-scooters that spill over the city limit from nearby Providence.
Residents of New York’s upscale Upper West Side are opposing plans for an outdoor ebike hub for food delivery workers, arguing it will increase congestion and block access to the nearby subway. Apparently confusing bicycles, which relieve congestion, with the cars that cause it.
A reminder that bike-riding women face risks that most men don’t, as a Florida woman was lucky to escape when a man attempted to force her into his van as she rode her bike.
There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the Florida man who attacked a passing bike rider, knocking him off his bicycle while hurling antisemitic comments, apparently enraged because the victim was speaking Hebrew on his phone as he rode.
International
Bike Radar wants to teach you to bunny hop in five simple jumps.
Off-Road.cc explains everything you need to know to start mountain biking.
Vancouver’s Critical Mass will return at the end of the month after a three-month hiatus, to protest a decision to rip out a bike lane through the city’s Stanley Park so angry drivers can more easily use it as a cut-through route.
A Sikh woman in Ontario developed her own bike helmet so her sons could safely ride their bikes, with a special space on top to accommodate the faith’s traditional hair topknot.
Residents of Cardiff, Wales are mourning the death of a bike shop owner who ran his shop for more than 65 years — despite being told 20 years ago that he had just two weeks to live when doctors discovered cancer during an operation.
A new study from MIT concludes that most stolen bikes remain in the local area, where they are resold and remain part of the local bike fleet. At least in Amsterdam, anyway. Thanks to Tim Rutt for the link.
Japanese bicycle component maker Shimano had a record year in 2022, topping their previous best sales year by over 16% despite a slowing down of the pandemic bike boom.
Philippine bike riders and pedestrians continue to protest plans to convert a protected bike lane in Manilla to sharrows.
Competitive Cycling
Two-time Tour de France champ Tadej Pogacar added another double to his resume, winning the first two stages of the Vuelta a Andalucia.
The BBC remembers trailblazing women’s cyclist Eileen Sheridan, who died this week at 99-years old; she still holds five of the 21 records she set during her career.
Now you, too, can ride the famed Mont Ventoux and other French mountains with the legendary Jan Ullrich, for the low, low price of 20,000 euros — that’s $21,270 for those of us on this side of the Atlantic. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.
Finally…
Bad enough to return home to find someone burglarizing it, worse when they escape on your own bicycle. That feeling when you intend to set the bike world on its head by inventing the e-cargo bike, which is already a thing.
And your next bike tires could be made from your last bike tires.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
Open but not open to anyone with a tricycle or cargo bike with wide box.
The Garland bike shop is near me, and the guy who wasn’t found dead in the shop was the owner of the shop, which was doing great last I saw it.
Living at the foot of Mt. Rubidoux, it’s not a great biking trail. It’s the most popular hiking/walking destination in the city and while bikes are allowed, unless you can ride it midday during the week, it’s just to crowded.
But, hey, we have our portion of the SART, beautiful tree lined Victoria Ave, the Lake Perris loop, the wonder Sunset loop in Redlands, the Pacific Electric trail… Basically the Inland Empire is a hidden gem for cycling.
What’s the story behind the growing number of corners with bollards installed making it harder to turn right at many intersections? I can’t figure out why they are in specific places, and then their installation doesn’t seem consistent–some places they’re very evident, and some places I’ve started to turn before I’m fully aware of them. That doesn’t seem great, no matter the intention.
It may be confusing at times, but get used to it because the purpose is to save lives. Those bollards reduce excess road space and increase the turning angle, forcing drivers to slow down to make their turns.