LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

August 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

One quick note: I am now on Bluesky, in response to the increasing toxicity on Twitter/X, thanks to an invite from Todd R.

If you’re on there, you can follow me @bikinginla.bsky.social. And I’m still on Twitter, at least for now, @bikinginla. 

Photo by Luana Bento from Pexels. 

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The Los Angeles Times remembers the life and philanthropy of Burbank bicyclist and professional trumpet player Roy Wiegand, who was killed when a driver turned into him as he road his bike near Prunedale in Monterey County.

The 60-year-old ultra marathoner and cyclist was refueling after traversing 2,500 miles on his bicycle in 25 days and in the process raising $26,000 to help improve access to clean drinking water for the Navajo Nation.

Wiegand ventured through San Francisco and Yosemite and braved 110-plus degree heat in Death Valley and Las Vegas. He enjoyed stunning vistas in Arizona and New Mexico and stayed at the homes of friends and strangers alike, his posts showed…

Wiegand, a trumpet player who performed with the Who, Wayne Newton and Mel Torme among others, is survived by his wife, Angela, son Dillon, daughter Sophie and father Roy Sr.

In the last few years, he had dedicated much of his time to philanthropic causes, most recently working with the water advocacy group DigDeep to raise money for the more than 700,000 American Indian and Alaskan Native people who lack access to clean, reliable water in the United States.

Funny how killer drivers always seem to take the best of us.

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Los Angeles wants your input on whether to protect the bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive, which seems like a no brainer on the dangerous street.

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This is a phenomenon I’ve long observed riding from Los Angeles into Santa Monica, and vice versa.

One city clearly thinsk people on bikes actually matter.

And the other is Los Angeles.

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Who’s a good boy?

A San Diego bike thief stops to play with a golden retriever who only wants a belly rub before he goes — with the $1,300 bike belonging to the dog’s owner.

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Hundreds, if not thousands, of Bay Area bike riders, mostly in their teens, marked the first anniversary of a mass ride that took over the lower span of the Bay Bridge by doing it again.

Whether because of the sentiment expressed below, or because bikes still are only allowed to ride halfway across, before being forced to turn back.

Legally, anyway.

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Let’s share a little Seattle bike joy from my friends at West Seattle Blog, as a huge mass of people take off on two wheels for a questionably named ride.

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Well, that’s one way to stay safe on the road. Although I’m sure we all understand his reasoning.

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The question is, how and why do they get there?

Is this the result of people tossing unloved and abandoned bikes into the water, or drunk tourists not watching where they’re riding?

Thanks to the incomparable Patt Morrison for the heads-up. 

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

This is who we share the road with. After someone apparently riding a bicycle was injured in a collision at LA’s West Grand Ave and Vista Del Mar, the couple posting the video to Citizen observe the aftermath of the crash, and you can hear the man say “This is why you stay in the bike lane.” Never mind that he apparently has no idea what caused the crash, or why the victim may or may not have been in a bike lane, but automatically assumes the bike rider was at fault. I’m not sure if the link will work; unfortunately, I can’t embed the video. Thanks to Margaret W for the link. 

A 28-year old Toronto man faces charges for allegedly deliberately slamming his car into a bike rider after the two men argued at a red light. A reminder once again that motor vehicles are ready, locked and loaded weapons in the hands of the wrong people. 

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A bicycling Montreal columnist says he’s had it with shadow-hidden potholes, and scofflaw ebike and e-scooter riders with little or no experience.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who understands these things a lot better than I do, takes a deep dive into the complicated, wonky subject of freeway mitigation, which requires Metro to take active steps to offset any increase in driving on future freeway, under California law. And hopefully, he’ll correct me if I didn’t explain that right. 

Burbank bike rider Doug Weiskopf once again calls on the city to allow people to walk bicycles on the Mariposa foot bridge leading to Griffith Park, seven years after the city caved to equestrians by banning bikes entirely.

More on Manhattan Beach’s decision to crack down on teenage ebike riders who violate traffic laws, instituting a zero-tolerance approach to scofflaw ebike riders. Although that sounds like illegally biased enforcement, unless the same zero-tolerance applies to motorists and pedestrians, as well as regular bike riders; if not, that could get all the tickets tossed if the kids get a good lawyer.

 

State

An East Bay bike ride demanded justice for the death of an unarmed, 20-year old Hayward man killed by CHP officers and Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies responding to an alleged stolen car.

 

National

A writer for The Verge says it’s not hard to convert a cargo bike to an ebike, as long as you have the right tools and expect the unexpected.

Apple Insider likes the design and features of the new Lumos Ultra ebike helmet, if not the $200+ price.

An RV writer gets a good life lesson from learning to ride her ebike, discovering that you need to look where you want to go, not at the obstacles you want to avoid.

Anchorage, Alaska took a number of steps to become more bike friendly, approving measures to allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, as well as eliminating requirements for lights and brakes and noise signals, and for children 16 to wear helmets; the city also eliminated penalties for jaywalking.

The Colorado highway where 17-year old cycling star Magnus White was killed is slated to get a 12-foot-wide separated bike path next year, a year too late to save his life.

A writer likes the new bike path over Colorado’s Vail Pass, despite — or maybe because of — a section known as The Wall, with its 14% incline.

A Dallas, Texas youth soccer coach is raffling off tickets to see soccer legend Lionel Messi to benefit the family of a 12-year old girl killed in a right hook as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.

A Corpus Christi, Texas woman got the feeling that city council members weren’t listening to a woman of color making the case for protected bike lanes, so she used AI to create a white male avatar to make her case, instead.

After a Chicago man used his bike to fight boredom and find solace during the pandemic, he honored it by having it tattooed on his thigh.

When a ten-year old Michigan boy won a new bike in a raffle, he raised funds to buy one for his friend so they can ride together.

The Michigan woman accused in the DUI killing of two people participating in a fundraising bike ride across the state has had her trial postponed until October; it had been scheduled to begin today.

Gear Patrol raves about TriBeCa-based Priority Bicycles new 16-pound, $1,299 “speed demon” fixie.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on how to beat the cost of living crisis, and feel healthier and happier, by riding your bike to work.

How to tell when a city actually gives a damn about people on bicycles. Montreal now has a 24/7 hotline to report vehicles blocking bike lanes.

There’s a special place in hell for the British teens who threatened a 13-year old boy with a machete to steal his bike.

The Verge looks are who’s in the bidding to buy what remains of bankrupt Dutch ebike maker VanMoof.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as Mathieu van der Poel overcame a late crash to win the world road cycling championship, becoming the first Dutch world champ since 1985; Belgian Wout Van Aert finished second, and Solvenia’s Tadej Pogačar beat out Denmark’s Mads Pedersen for third. No surprise here, either, as no American made the top ten. 

A French cyclist described the Glasgow road course for the worlds as “dizzying, dangerous and designed by a drunk person.”

The race was halted for a full hour as protesters blocked the roadway on a remote climb just 48-miles into the race, with environmental group This is Rigged taking the credit and/or blame for the incident to oppose new fossil fuel projects in Scotland.

Katie Archibald overcame grief over the death of her romantic partner, mountain biker Rab Wardell, to lead Britain to gold in the team pursuit, dedicating the win to Wardell.

Aside from Chloe Dygert’s victory in Thursday’s women’s individual pursuit, the US has failed to podium in any other race so far.

 

Finally…

Meet the training wheel “Bike Whisperer.” Although Britain’s PM probably didn’t need them for an indoor, Taylor Swift-themed LA cycling class.

And it’s hard to imagine these kids would be in their 80s by now.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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