My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.
After surviving through hours of pouring rain, I lost my internet connection just as the storm was letting up — and just as I was about to put Monday’s post online.
Then waited nearly 19 hours to get it back again.
So here’s the post you were supposed to get yesterday. We’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on Monday’s news after I have a chance to catch up myself.
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I hope everyone came through this weekend’s hurriquake in one piece.
If you’re riding anywhere in Southern California today, try to avoid going through any standing water.
As much fun as it might be to relive your splash-filled youth by riding through puddles, there’s usually no way to know how deep it is, or what may be hidden underneath.
The result could be anything from a broken wheel to a broken collarbone. So it’s just not worth the risk.
Image from From Streets For All/SWA Group.
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Urbanize examines the call from Streets For All and landscape architecture firm SWA Group to remove the underused Marina Freeway stub, and replace it with a linear park.
The concept unveiled yesterday, dubbed Marina Central Park, calls for converting the roughly 128-acre right-of-way lined with nearly 4,000 new homes, as well as roadway with space for vehicles, bus rapid transit, and bikeways. Renderings show low-rise structures located throughout the park, standing five stories in height with commercial uses located at the first floor.
Likewise, the proposal calls for reconnecting the freeway corridor surrounding ecological resources such as the Ballona Wetlands and Centinela Creek, which is shown with new terrace decks lining the concrete channel.
It’s worth considering, even if the prospect of removing a freeway —even one as useless as the Marina Freeway — in car-addled LA seems unlikely, at best.
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According to Joni Yung, aka ayogist, if you want to know why more people don’t bike in the LA area, consider the quality of our roads.
Or the lack thereof.
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This is why LADOT’s favorite form of bike lane “protection” doesn’t protect a damn thing.
We’ve told you a thousand times before…flex posts are shit. Oh how we’d love just one concrete bollard to be hidden in this…#WorldBollardAssociation
https://t.co/gKm8aWJLpa— World Bollard Association™ (@WorldBollard) August 20, 2023
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The East Side Riders Bike Club forwards news of Saturday’s Non-Profit Day in Watts.
Hope in the Community! / Esperanza en la Comunidad!
Watts Non-Profit Day!
This Saturday August 26th
10:00am-3:00pm
Watts Civic Center
1513 E. 103rd St, Los Angeles, 90002
It’s an opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate our triumphs in our amazing City!
Non-Profit Day with East Side Riders Bike Club is not just a one-time event, it’s a steppingstone toward lasting Community Transformation, Empowerment, and Unity. The purpose of the day is to bring all non-profits in Watts and surrounding areas together so we can get to know one another, showcase their work to the community and bring Government Departments together so non-profits can interact and learn from their local government on policies and procedures. It’s a STEPPINGSTONE toward lasting community transformation.
As the organization’s email says, they’re more than just a bike club.
A lot more.
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Once again, a someone riding a bike was a hero, and a bicycle was the difference between life and death in an emergency, as a man in Maui borrowed a bike to get past a long line of stalled traffic and warn his grandmother in time to escape the flames of the Lahaina fire.
Meanwhile, a Kona bike shop owner is collecting “gently used” bikes to donate to victims of the Lahaina fire to meet their needs for transportation and recreation.
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Today’s best story comes from the UK, where an English man sold his bikes to pay for an operation for his dog.
When his dog, named for the bikewear brand Rapha, needed a lifesaving operation costing over $7,600, he put his four bicycles up for sale to pay for it.
So he was surprised when one of the buyers turned out to be a friend of his, who gave the bike back to him.
And when word got out about what he’d done, a local bike shop gave him another bike so he could keep riding.
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The recent world championships in Glasgow included competition in cycle-ball.
Seriously, raise your hand if you even knew that was a thing.
And don’t watch the next two videos if you want to remain proud of your ability to track stand or bunny hop.
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Alpha Romeo F1 driver Valtteri Bottas is one of us, competing in a Colorado hillclimb dressed as Duffman, the iconic Duff Beer mascot from the Simpsons.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Utah columnist says the local government tries to appease bike haters by randomly chip sealing the most popular riding routes, even if it forced them to repaint all the bike lanes. With tongue firmly in cheek, I hope.
No bias here. An Irish paper asks why Mike van Erp, aka Cycling Mikey, is Britain’s most hated bicyclist, just because he films drivers breaking the law.
A New Zealand paper says “bike lane bullies” are putting bike riders at risk, with road raging repeat offenders and bike lane-encroaching drivers needlessly increasing the danger for people on bikes.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A 40-year old man has been arrested for a string of sexual assaults in San Mateo County, accused of riding his mountain bike on local trails and assaulting women as he rode by.
There’s a special place in hell for the Portland man who allowed his dog to attack a beloved 17-year old cat outside its owner’s home, then stomped on the wounded animal and rode his bike over it to finish it off, before riding off with the cat’s lifeless body.
Police in New York are looking for the couple who attacked a pair of Orthodox Jews when a woman passenger on a bikeshare bike slapped a man on the back of the head as they rode by, then attacked an Orthodox woman; another Orthodox man was attacked when a man got off his e-scooter to knock the victim’s yarmulke off his head.
North Carolina cops are looking for the spandex-clad bike rider who tried to kick over a political sign saying “Trump won,” before returning at night to set the sign on fire.
British bike riders competing in a wildcat race — aka “thugs” in tabloid parlance — were accused of plowing into an elderly woman and a tourist, and nearly striking a little boy, although only the latter can be seen on video.
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Local
Long Beach wants to know how you use bikeshare and dockless e-scooter programs in the city.
Sixty-four-year old former Bell police chief Andreas Probst was killed while riding his bike near his northwest Las Vegas home last Monday when he was struck by an alleged speeding, underaged driver; his daughter learned about the crash through a notification from Probst’s Apple Watch moments after it happened.
State
Police in La Mesa are looking for the hit-and-run driver who seriously injured a 51-year old man riding a bicycle on Wednesday; the driver of the pickup is described as a Hispanic male in a white T-shirt, black shorts and white shoes.
Good question. The San Francisco Standard wants to know why you can’t ride your bike across the Bay Bridge, with bike riders currently required to turn around halfway.
Megan Lynch forwards word that UC Davis is now offering accessible bikeshare, although with no recumbents or trikes, it may not be accessible for everyone.
National
The maker of a cargo bike designed to transport kids saw a big jump in sales after a successful 2021 Shark Tank appearance, although they faced a recent recall for exceeding federal lead paint guidelines.
A writer for Electrek argues that we need more kids on e-balance bikes, not fewer, even though The New York Times calls them motorcycles for kids.
After biking 3,000 miles across the US, a German man is now attempting to run all the way back, running more than a marathon distance every day.
The Cherokee Nation is accepting applications for next year’s Remember the Removal Bike Ride, which retraces the northern route of the Trail of Tears through seven states over a span of three weeks and 950 miles; applicants must be between 16 and 24 years old, and members of the Cherokee Nation.
A Chicago man is riding across the city bearing signs calling for 10% of the city’s streets to have bike lanes, instead of the current 2%.
Minneapolis-based All-City Cycles is on the way out, after its parent company announced the bikemaker won’t be releasing any new models after next year, despite its cult-like following.
In what may be a dangerous prank gone wrong, a Buffalo, New York man faces up to 25 years behind bars for fatally shooting a 38-year old man riding a bike with a BB gun.
New York’s recent Vision Zero progress has come completely undone this year, as the city sees its deadliest year for bike riders in decades, and with no one but the victims paying the price.
A 28-year old Philadelphia man faces life behind bars after he was convicted of the fatal driveby shooting of a 67-year old man riding a bike in Camden, New Jersey.
International
A Whistler, British Columbia pro mountain biker returned home to conduct her own anti-racism mountain biking clinics, teaching bike riders to be not only better mountain bikers, but better humans, as well.
Life is cheap in Ontario, Canada, where a 22-year old man will spend six years behind bars for killing two First Nation’s women out for an early morning bike ride, while driving under the influence.
Fed up with drivers blocking bike lanes, a Toronto bike advocate is dressing up as a World Cup referee and handing out yellow cards to offending motorists.
A Glasgow university professor has created a music map of the city to encourage people to ride their bikes or walk between music venues.
The British manufacturer of a new anti-theft smart bike light claims it’s more secure than most relationships. Which is probably true, sadly.
Bundesliga star Kevin Behrens is one of us, as the German soccer player rode his bike home after scoring a hat trick in a recent game.
A young man from Malta rode his bike over 2,700 miles from the Mediterranean island through Europe, traveling from the boot of Italy through Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark and Sweden, while carrying just his tent, sleeping bag, four changes of clothes and a phone charger.
An Indian paper says bike riders struggle for space on the roads in Chennai at the risk to their own safety, as the city of nearly 12 million has lost its love for bikes over the past 90 years.
A Nigerian man rode his bicycle for 15 days and 500 miles just to meet afrobeats star Davido in Lagos.
That’s more like it. Motorcyclists in the Philippines will face arrest if they continue to use a bike lane on a major roadway, although the fine converts to less than $18.
Competitive Cycling
Newly crowned world road champ Mathieu van der Poel may extend his WorldTour season to train for mountain biking.
Finally…
That feeling when the highly touted new bike route just leads to a pair of locked gates. When you’re trying to escape from the cops, try not to ride your bike into a stopped police van.
And now you, too, can own a bicycle custom made for the legendary Fausto Coppi, for the low, low price of nearly $132,000.
So who wants to start a crowdfunding campaign so I can buy it?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
