Archive for August 16, 2023

Bike lanes as next big US infrastructure program, why we love cars more than children, and banning GOP reps from bikes

August 16, 2023 / / Comments Off on Bike lanes as next big US infrastructure program, why we love cars more than children, and banning GOP reps from bikes

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

As of this week, I’m now on insulin four times a day, and riding a wild blood sugar rollercoaster as I adjust to the new regimen.

I’ll get used to it eventually.

But I ain’t there yet.

………

Streetsblog asks if building bike lanes could become America’s next big infrastructure project, as a new online portal positions them as “key components of a national effort to end climate change.”

Nonprofit PeopleForBikes’ recently launched the Great Bike Infrastructure Project, a new advocacy portal which aims to map all the “protected bike lanes, off-street trails, pump tracks, bike parks, and more” that U.S. communities are poised to build — particularly following the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which multiplied the amount of federal funding for cycling by roughly six.

Rather than treating those efforts as disconnected, though, the group says advocates need to start thinking of their hyper-local bike projects as part of one massive, national effort to combat climate change, cure traffic violence, and end universal car dependence — and do the urgent work of bringing transportation decision-makers together in a unified front.

………

In a hard-hitting Streetsblog op-ed, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition volunteer Liz Schiller considers the recent $8.9 million makeover of Pasadena’s Huntington Drive.

And asks why we love our cars more than our children.

Huntington is a wide, wide road. Eight lanes widening to eleven at intersections, plus on-street parking, and a landscaped median. An average of 15,000 cars travel on it every day. Drivers on Huntington routinely exceed the posted speed limit of 45 mph. On that brand new piece of bicycle infrastructure, only paint separates a person on a bicycle from exactly the type of hazard that killed the Encinitas teen. A pedestrian or cyclist interacting with a motor vehicle at a speed of 40 mph or above is very likely to be killed.

What if we had given up a lane to create a place for bicycles that is physically separated from all those speeding cars?

It’s a damn good question.

………

You’ve got to be kidding.

The House majority whip told members of the Republican caucus not to take any chances so they don’t risk losing their slim majority in Congress.

Including riding a bike.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Republicans on a caucus conference call, “Please take care of yourselves. We do not need to lose anybody else.”

He went on to explain that he saw Rep. James Comer (R-KY) biking over the weekend.

“Stay off the damn bike,” Emmer said.

………

ActiveSGV needs your help to slow South Pas down.

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They’ve got a point.

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Pour one out for the late rapper and community organizer Nipsey Hustle, who was one of us.

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This is what we could have in Los Angeles.

Here’s what the Mayor of Paris says the tweet below.

Our streets are changing to offer ever more space and nature to Parisians! The proof by example with the rue de la Presentation in the 11th.

………

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

No bias here. A multi-ton pickup rolls a stop sign, but all a reporters sees are ebike riders observing the letter of the law, with one rider even putting their foot down at the stop.

https://twitter.com/KNXBaird/status/1691193282309799936

No bias here, either. A San Diego TV station reports that residents of the East County neighborhood of Jamacha are worried about their safety after a parking-protected bike lane was installed. It’s not as if that’s the first parking protected bike installed anywhere; the station could have pointed out that they have improved safety for people throughout the US, including in Los Angeles. But they didn’t. 

A Sacramento bike advocate can’t remember the crash that left her with four broken ribs, a fractured clavicle and a partial collapsed lung, after police arrested the alleged road raging driver accused of deliberately running her down as she rode with a small group.

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

There’s a special place in hell for the man who rode up behind a Millbrae woman on a mountain bike and groped her as she walked on a trail.

Boston transit cops are looking for a man who used his bike to smash a bus windshield, after drinking on board and spitting on the floor.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Times calls on the state to ban traffic stops for minor violations that are too often used as pretext stops to target people of color.

The new bus and bike lanes on LA Brea Avenue are officially open, but have been reduced to around two and a half miles as appointed CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt continues to block them below Olympic Blvd.

LA County is offering rewards in four cold case homicides, including the murder of 70-year old Luis Sandoval, who died three months after he was shot while riding a bike on on Olympic Boulevard in East Los Angeles in 2007.

Pomona is developing a bike park for all skills levels, driven by a homegrown BMX rider and police detective.

The Santa Monica Daily Press looks at last weekend’s Open Main Street open streets event in the city; if you missed it, like I did, you’ll have two more chances in the coming months.

 

State

The president of the Bay Area’s BART transit system was fined more than five grand for lobbying local officials on behalf of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition over 200 times without registering as a lobbyist.

 

National

Bicycling debates whether the bike industry is in trouble, or if it’s poised for another comeback. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus goes on a local podcast to offer an introduction to bike safety.

Heartbreaking news from Las Vegas, where a 64-year old man riding a bike was killed in a hit-and-run by an underage driver in a stolen car.

Tour de Fat may have abandoned the rest of us, but it’s still going strong in my Colorado hometown.

Colorado will start their statewide ebike rebate program tomorrow, less than a year after approving the program. Meanwhile, California’s program remains vaporware, despite being the first ebike rebate program approved in the US. 

A Minnesota man is in the midst of an 11,000-mile, year-long bike ride throughout the US to raise awareness and funds to fight prostate cancer and schizophrenia, despite suffering from stage four prostate cancer himself.

Boston will launch a pilot program offering cargo bike delivery services in the city’s Allston neighborhood next month.

New York is allowing wider cargo bikes following a pilot program, while a local advocacy group calls for wider bike lanes to accommodate them; a local TV station accuses their drivers of speeding down sidewalks, running red lights and going the wrong way against traffic.

Once again, an innocent person was the victim of a police chase, as a 54-year old New York woman is in critical condition after she was struck by a driver fleeing from the cops while riding her bike.

The New Yorker talks with cover artist Kadir Nelson about his illustration depicting teenagers participating in a rideout on the Williamsburg Bridge.

 

International

A writer for Momentum shares what she calls the empowering path to bike commuting.

That’s more like it. A 24-year old English man will spend the next 13 years behind bars for the reckless, drunken hit-and-run that killed a 53-year old man riding his bike home from work.

An Edinburgh city councilor complains about “extremely light” bike racks that can be easily unscrewed to steal any bike locked to them.

A woman in the Netherlands got her bike back thanks to a hidden AirTag, after she found it locked to a light post.

Police in Dubai seized 8,786 bicycles, ebikes and e-scooters in the first six months of a new law allowing seizures for anyone over 16 riding an e-scooter or ebike without a driver’s license, or anyone under 16, period.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from Italy, where 17-year old Italian junior cyclist Jacopo Venzo died following a crash while racing on Friday.

Utah mountain bike pro Keegan Swenson took his third consecutive win at the Leadville Trail 100, shattering the men’s record in the process; Argentina’s Sofia Gomez Villafañe took the women’s race.

A Virginia paper explains how five local teenagers became Team USA for the the Quad Tandem World Championships in British Colombia, competing four to a single bike.

The former doctor for British Cycling and Team Sky was banned from all sports for four years for violating anti-doping rules. But the doping era is over, right?

Twenty-six-year old Iranian cyclist Mohammad Ganjkhanlou has disappeared after finishing 66th in the time trial at the world championships in Glasgow.

 

Finally…

Don’t bother asking a cat about bike lanes. Your next bike could look like a Transformer — and act like one, too.

And we may have to deal with jumpy LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about kangaroo crashes.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Bike-riding man killed in Quartz Hill collision Monday night; seventh LA County bike death this year

August 15, 2023 / / Comments Off on Bike-riding man killed in Quartz Hill collision Monday night; seventh LA County bike death this year

A man was killed riding a bicycle in northern Los Angeles County Monday night.

According to KFI radio, the victim was riding east on Avenue L near 42nd Street West in Quartz Hill when he was rear-ended by a 24-year old driver around 10:50 pm Monday.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

The driver remained at the scene, and was not suspected of being under the influence. He was not charged, even though police could not explain why he struck the victim’s bike.

There is a bike lane in both directions on Avenue L, but there’s no word on whether the victim was in the bike lane when he was hit.

Anyone with information is urged to call Officer M. Averbeck at the CHP’s Antelope Valley Area office at 661/948-8541, or the CHP Los Angeles Traffic Management Center at 323/259-3200.

This is at least the 32nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

East Side Riders help send kids back to school, bikes to the rescue in Maui fires, and The Wire creator’s speed cam rant

August 14, 2023 / / One comment

Anyone need a top tube bag?

Orange County bike advocate and tandem pilot — or maybe stoker — Mike Wilkinson says he has a brand new ROCKBROS Waterproof Top Tube Bag he’s not going to use.

And he’ll send it to the first person who donates $20 or more to BikinginLA. 

The bag, with a clear top screen for your cellphone, retails for $19.99 on Amazon. Which means you’ll save taxes and shipping charges, if any.

On the other hand, if you’re the second person to donate, at least you’ll enjoy the warm feeling of knowing you’re helping bring all the best bike news and advocacy to your fellow SoCal bike riders every day. 

And that ain’t nothing. 

Photo by Keenan Constance from Pexels.

………

Once again, a SoCal bike club goes well beyond bicycling to benefit the community.

And once again, it’s Compton’s East Side Riders Bike Club.

According to KTLA-5,

A lucky group of 30 kids were selected by their school districts to receive the ultimate back to school package on Sunday in an event hosted by the East Side Riders Bike Club and the Hey Leche Foundation in Huntington Park.

Attendees from Compton, Watts, Willbrook and the Huntington Park communities turned out for the event, with families receiving a laptop, $100 grocery gift card and kids getting a free backpack, new shoes and a haircut.

As East Side Riders president and founder John Jones III said, it’s just a drop in the bucket to meet the community’s needs.

But for these kids, it could be life changing.

………

Bicycles are emergency vehicles.

Our friend Joni responded on Friday to forward a brief mention of the bike riders who rode through Lahaina in the face of onrushing flames to shout a warning for people to evacuate, as the island’s emergency system remained silent.

Although it was actually from the New York Times, not the Washington Post.

Meanwhile, CNN reports some of the city’s residents escaped the flames by bicycle, while others sprinted away or used skateboards.

As many of us have experienced in city traffic, there is no better way to bypass stalled traffic than with a bicycle — something that becomes even more urgent in an emergency, when roads inevitably become clogged by evacuees in motor vehicles.

And there is no better way to navigate city streets to shout a warning, traveling at a human pace to alert people of danger.

………

Maybe the writers strike should apply to tweets, or x’s, or whatever the hell Elon insists on calling them these days.

Take The Wire creator David Simon.

Please.

The Emmy-winning author, journalist, screenwriter and producer took to Twitter, uh, X, to complain about getting a speed cam ticket in a New York school zone.

He might have a point if it was his first ticket — never mind that school employees get there long before sunrise at times, including in the summer.

But according to New York Streetsblog, he has a whopping 16 prior school zone speed cam tickets.

Count ’em, sixteen.

Given his apparent history of speeding, his rant makes a better argument for why we need to legalize speed cams in California.

………

Good question.

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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 drunk driver plowed into a parked car in San Diego’s Lisbon Street, so naturally the local TV station blamed a new bike lane through the Jamacha-Lomita and Skyline neighborhoods, not the alleged jackass who got behind the wheel after getting loaded.

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

No bias here. A British journalist says angry motorists and scofflaw bicyclists are nothing compared to “the menace of the electric bike and the e-scooter” and the people who ride them. No, really.

A Shanghai paper calls out reckless bicyclists who congregate on local streets for “lively” Thursday night gatherings, accusing them of disregarding traffic rules and disturbing the public while filing the entire road with bicycles and people. Sounds good to me. 

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Local 

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and Los Angeles County Public Works led a community bike ride to celebrate a new bike lane and other improvements at the intersection of Pasadena’s Huntington Drive and Madre Street/Muscatel Ave. But the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition says it should have been a protected bike lane, and we can do better.

Speaking of Pasadena, the aforementioned PCSC wants you to sign their petition calling for an “All Ages and Abilities” safety standard for the El Molino, Wilson, Sierra Bonita and Craig Avenue greenways.

 

State

Encinitas named a longtime employee as the city’s new mobility manager, in the wake of the city’s ebike state of emergency; Nick Buck has served as recreation coordinator in the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department, and as the city’s events and special projects supervisor.

Police in San Diego are looking for bike thief who violently assaulted another man in a failed attempt to steal the victim’s ebike in the city’s South Park neighborhood.

It takes a real schmuck to assault a nine-year old Santa Barbara kid to steal his bicycle; police made an arrest a short time later.

A father and son were run over by a driver at a Fremont classic car show while riding their bikes; fortunately, they don’t seem to have been seriously injured.

The Frisc says the urgency expressed by San Francisco officials after the death of champion bicyclist Ethan Boyes appears to have waned, as fixes to the street where he was killed have slipped into next year.

A writer for SF Gate says the lack of a bike path on the west span of the Bay Bridge means it takes “uncompromising quadriceps and a willpower to rival Thomas the Tank Engine” just to ride a bike from San Francisco to Oakland.

 

National

CNN rates the year’s best ebikes, starting at just $1499 for an REI cargo bike.

Elektrek explains why ebike makers and PeopleForBikes are fighting right-to-repair laws that would allow you to fix your own ebike — or have it fixed by someone other than the manufacturer — over fears of starting fires by damaging the lithium-ion batteries. Then again, where would we be if you could only have your car serviced by the dealer?

An Oregon writer responds to a question asking why bike riders don’t have to pay for a license if paddleboarders do, and says similar programs have failed in cities throughout the west — including Los Angeles. And bike riders already pay their share when they buy a bike.

An Alaska bicyclist takes the contrarian view, arguing that the recent moves by Anchorage to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians will only benefit a few people, and that safety would improve more if the city enforced existing laws.

It’s not unusual for someone to ride their bike across the US these days, but not many do it diagonally; two men are nearly a third of the way into a 5,000 mile ride from Anchorage AK to Jacksonville FL to raise awareness and funds to fight childhood cancer.

Evidently, they do things differently in Alaska, as an Alaskan man seeks official recognition from the Guinness World Records for riding his bike backwards across 500 miles of Iowa during RAGBRAI.

Houston’s Vision Zero program says it’s building bike and walk paths as fast as they can, as bicycling deaths are on track to double over last year.

San Antonio, Texas says “oops” about raised bumps on a protected bike lane that were inadvertently extended into an intersection, making right turns difficult, at best.

Chicago bicyclists cheered when authorities towed a car parked in a bike lane, saying they’ve never seen it happen before.

A Minneapolis letter writer says drivers may think they’re being polite when they randomly stop for bike riders and pedestrians, but everyone is safer when they observe the right-of-way.

Once again, President Biden rode his bike in Rehoboth Beach, Delware without falling off.

The family of a North Carolina woman unveiled a new mural painted by one of her close friends, next to where she was killed riding her bike.

 

International

Forbes says the bicycling industry is in financial collapse after the pandemic bike boom officially ended this year.

A Glasgow writer says closing the city’s streets down for the cycling world championships shows real possibilities for what could be done.

An architecture firm in Glasgow has begun a campaign calling for safer intersections in the city, after a 22-year old staffer was killed while riding her bike.

According to a Scottish writer, the future of bicycling in Scotland looks bright  well beyond the world championships in Glasgow, including in the southern borderlands he describes as “the St Andrews of cycling.”

A Welsh bicycle delivery rider was beaten unconscious when he tried to resist a group of bike thieves who attempted to steal his ebike at knifepoint, after he had stopped to pray.

Heartbreaking news from Italy, where a 27-year old British woman was killed in front of her husband as they rode together on a mountain bike trail; the victim was an expert on Covid-19 who advised the British government during the pandemic.

A 70-year old French doctor rode his bike 2,500 miles to Ukraine to raise funds to generators and first-aid kits for the Russian invasion.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel became the youngest person to win the individual time trial at the world championships at age 23.

Lotte Kopecky became the first Belgian to wear the rainbow jersey for road cycling in 50 years by winning the women’s world road cycling championship on Sunday, topping the Netherlands Demi Vollering and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig of Denmark; no American finished in the top ten.

British WorldTour cyclist Tom Pidcock delighted the local fans by winning the world cross-country mountain bike title, beating ten-time champ Nino Schurter in the process; French cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prevot won the women’s rainbow jersey.

Evidently things were pretty peaceful at the worlds, as Scottish police made just nine arrests during the ten day event — five of them during a climate change protest during the men’s road race.

A cartoonist screatively ays maybe riders in the pro peloton could do a little more to resist the bicycle greenwashing that runs rampant in team sponsorships.

Peter Sagan called an end to his legendary road cycling career, as he transitions to professional mountain biking.

 

Finally…

Oh, nothing, just the world’s best cyclists grabbing a pint down at the local. That feeling when your half-million dollar Rolls Royce plows into an Amsterdam bike rack, and you’re not even in it.

And why just ride a bike when you can ride your own ass?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvdC3e-gKhr/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=40b41a64-e69a-4e66-86a4-536afd7b907d

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Bicycles aid in Maui inferno; and California organizations say deadly roads are the real problem, not ebikes

August 11, 2023 / / 2 comments

Sometimes I feel like I’m beating a dead diabetic horse. 

But the physical problems I’ve had for the past few years — from debilitating neuropathy and carpal/ulnar nerve problems to possible damage to my vagus nerve — don’t stem from diabetes, but rather, from going undiagnosed with the disease for over two decades. 

Which is why I keep harping on the need to get tested. 

Despite having diabetes on both sides of my family, my doctors insisted a healthy diet, lean physique and riding over 300 miles a week meant I had nothing to worry about. 

Instead, all that did was hide my symptoms when I could have done something about it, and maybe prevented some of the problems I’m having now. 

Or maybe not.

But if you’re overweight or have a family history, or have any of these symptoms — including unexplained weight loss, which is how I finally found it — go to your doctor and demand to be tested.

No, now.

My doctor insisted I couldn’t have diabetes, and only gave in when I put my foot down. Then asked me why I wasn’t dead yet when he saw the results.

So call me a nag if you want. But I don’t want you to have to go through this if you don’t have to. 

Because diabetes sucks.  

Now let’s talk bikes. 

Photo by Cole Keister from Pexels.

………

In a brief comment, the governor of Hawaii mentions seeing people escape by bicycle from the infernos on Maui.

Another reminder that your bicycle may be the most reliable form of transportation in an emergency.

Unfortunately, I can’t find it online, but I’ve also heard some of the survivors mention in news reports that they first learned of the fire in Lahaina from people riding their bicycles through the city shouting warnings to evacuate.

There’s no way of knowing how many lives they might have saved. Or even if they were able to make it out safely.

But it’s one more example of bike riders as heroes.

………

They get it.

Calbike is joining with a very long list of California bicycle and street safety advocacy groups to say the real problem on our roadways isn’t ebikes, but deadly street designs.

However, this is not an “e-bike emergency” that can be solved by limiting or over-regulating people who use e-bikes. An elite bike racer was killed in San Francisco earlier this year, and an experienced teenage cyclist — a Junior Men’s National Champion— was killed by a driver in Colorado just this week while riding a regular bike; no amount of skill or education can save a person on a bike from a careless driver or our outdated and unsafe infrastructure.

Pinning the blame on e-bikes obscures the real problem. For example, 2022 was Oakland’s worst year for road fatalities in over 10 years, with 35 deaths. That included 15 people killed while walking and at least three people killed while riding bikes. None of the people riding bikes  was on an e-bike, yet Oakland, like most California communities, is suffering from a surge in traffic violence.

They go on to counteract anecdotal arguments, however tragic, with the facts regarding ebikes and street safety.

  • NHTSA data show California highway fatalities trending upward since 2010, long before e-bikes became popular.
  • Deaths of people riding bikes declined 8% between 2020 and 2021, as the number of people riding e-bikes increased, according to the Office of Traffic Safety. During that same period, OTS reports pedestrian deaths increased by 9.4%.
  • Many more pedestrians die in traffic collisions than bike riders (1,108 vs. 125 in 2021, according to OTS). Safety for vulnerable road users is an emergency that won’t be solved by regulating e-bikes.
  • IIHS data show a 55% increase in people on bikes dying in traffic collisions from 2010 to 2021. Despite recent hysteria about teens on e-bikes, most of those who died (90%) were aged 20 or older. During this period, deaths of bike riders under 20 decreased by 90%, while fatalities among those over 20 increased by 400%.

The groups — which include Streets For All, BikeLA, Active SGV, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition and the San Diego Bicycle Coalition, among several others — call on the state to increase funding for the Active Transportation Program, and support the expansion of quick-build bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

Which beats the hell out of victim blaming and a knee-jerk call for ebike licenses — let alone snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by pulling California’s Stop As Yield bill from consideration by the legislature.

Meanwhile, Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer writes to correct the New York Times, saying roadway design, not bicycles, determines the safety of our communities, and that ebikes aren’t motorcycles and shouldn’t be treated as such.

………

I’ve seen similar stats from all over the US, including right here in Los Angeles.

………

Sounds like fun. Ride with the OC Wheelmen in two weeks.

………

This is what we could — and should — have here in Los Angeles.

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

No bias here. After a 73-year old Illinois woman was killed in a collision while riding her bike, the local paper blames “a vehicle” for her death, without ever mentioning that said vehicle may have had a driver.

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

A Santa Cruz letter writer says an ebike almost killed his friend, who ended up with his knee fractured in three places, and asks why an ebike was on a crowded sidewalk — never mind that the rider fled the scene. Aside from the fact that no one ever died from a fractured knee, the problem wasn’t the type of bike, but rather why it was being ridden on the sidewalk. Although it’s probably a safe bet that there wasn’t a safe bike lane next to it. 

Police in Philadelphia busted man for allegedly grabbing the butts of at least seven women as he rode by on a bicycle over a two day period. Or as a local paper calls him, the notorious South Philly bicyclist butt grabber.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. A pair of men are facing murder charges for the street racing death of an innocent woman in South LA last month, who was just crossing the street when they slammed into her.

Streetsblog examines the proposal to protect the existing painted bike lane on Forrest Lawn Drive, while reducing traffic lanes from four to two. Which is the real protection, rather than LADOT’s flimsy, car-tickler plastic bendy posts.

Downtown El Monte could soon be transformed by Complete Streets.

Metro Bike wants your opinion for their 2023 user survey.

Speaking of Metro Bike, the county bikeshare is hosting an easy 3-mile community ride to the California African American Museum tomorrow morning, followed by a day at the Exposition Park museum.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition will host an 11-mile evening ride in West Pasadena tomorrow night — for “bike enthusiasts” according to the local paper.

 

State

Anaheim is investing $100 million to create a family-friendly two-mile OC Riverwalk along the Santa Ana River near the Honda Center, including a 350-foot bike and pedestrian bridge connecting Anaheim and Orange.

San Diego recommends seven of the city’s most scenic bike routes. It’s been a long time since I lived and rode down there, but as I recall, “scenic” is putting it mildly.

This is who we share the road with, part two. A 13-year old boy was arrested for leading police on a motorcycle chase through San Bernardino, racing head-on into oncoming traffic at speeds up to 65 mph.

Sad news from Berkeley, where bike shop owner Peter “Pete” Starke Rich passed away last week at 83 years old; Rich is credited with organizing the original Tour of California, the first American stage race in modern times.

San Francisco is considering an appeal after the California Public Utilities Commission voted to allow robotaxis to operate 24/7, continuing to use all of us as unwitting guinea pigs; WaPo — whose owner is also in the autonomous car business — calls it a pivotal moment for the autonomous car industry.

The connected Sacramento River Rail Trail and Sacramento River Trail, which form the backbone of a 250-mile trail system, will be inducted into Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Hall of Fame.

 

National

Slate says Lyft wants to get out of the bikeshare business, which could mean big trouble for American bikeshare systems.

Cosmo recommends the best gifts for bike riders.

Triathlete considers the new art and science of finding the perfect women’s bike saddle.

Life is cheap in New Mexico, where a 33-year old man will spend just six years behind bars after copping a plea for fatally stabbing a 70-year old man in a dispute over a bicycle. As we’ve said many times before, no bicycle is worth a human life.

Following on the heels of Denver’s highly successful ebike rebate program, Colorado will begin a statewide ebike voucher program on Wednesday. Meanwhile, California’s ever-gestating ebike rebate program remains vaporware. 

An Illinois man received a record $9 million jury verdict after he suffered a brain injury from going over his handlebars, while riding on a bike path that had been inadvertently torn up by trucks from the local utility.

A Detroit man faces up to 30 years behind bars on a pair of felony charges for the alleged drunken crash that killed a man riding an ebike; police found “full and empty alcohol bottles as well as a cooler filled with ice and full beer bottles” in the driver’s truck. But once again, the type of bike the victim was riding had nothing to do with the crash.

Evidently, those flimsy, car-tickler plastic bendy posts don’t work any better in Indianapolis.

Baltimore residents argue against plans for bike lanes along a roadway, saying there’s not enough room and they’d rather have parking, anyway. Maybe a better question is would they rather have a bike lane, or a funeral?

More proof there are still good people in this world. After a West Virginia man’s bike was trashed in a collision, a bystander reached out to a local bike shop to replace the bike the victim used as his only form of transportation.

They get it, too. After a man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding an ebike, “angry and frustrated” Bronx bicyclists demanded more protected bike lanes, arguing that paint is not protection.

A New York driver faces 8-1/3 to 25 years behind bars after the Manhattan DA threw the book at him for killing a man riding a bicycle, then careening into another bicyclist and two pedestrians after a “day of boozing” at multiple locations.

Huh? A man from New York state was killed when his bike was struck by a driver on a Florida causeway, who somehow hit the right side of the victim’s bike as they were both traveling in the same direction on the two-lane bridge.

 

International

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 80-year old American man hopes to ride for at least another decade, after winning the hearts of Scottish spectators by finishing first in his age group in a Glasgow fondo.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a bike-riding father of three while high on weed, because the judge feared jail would be hard on his elderly mother. Never mind how hard it will be for the victim’s wife and kids to live without him. 

Amen, brother. Or maybe sister. An anonymous Irish bike columnist argues that we need safe, secure bike parking at the end of a trip, and we need to keep asking, pestering and reminding venues to install it.

An Indian woman went viral for riding her bike with a water bottle balanced on her head. Then again, you’ve got to put it somewhere.

Philippine transportation advocates decried the “non-priority” of bicyclists and pedestrians in the country’s budget for next year, in a country where 94% of the people don’t own a motor vehicle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Instead of cheering for 17-year old Colorado cyclist Magnus White at the Junior Mountain Bike World Championships in Scotland, his family rode their bikes to his funeral on Thursday; they want to know “why Magnus was killed while riding his bike on a designated bike route, on a straight road with a wide shoulder, in broad daylight.”

American pro Chloé Dygert finally made it all the way back from a devastating leg injury by winning the world championship in the road time trial on Thursday, and cementing her status as one of the most decorated US cyclists in history, despite multiple setbacks.

Twenty-eight-year old Jennifer Valente won world title in omnium, adding to her record as the most decorated American track cyclist in history.

The Olympics website says Britain’s Tom Pidcock, Switzerland’s Nino Schurter and Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel are all aiming for victory in Saturday’s mountain bike cross country race at the worlds, even though Pidcock says he has “zero to no expectations.”

Outside takes a detailed look at new world champion Mathieu van der Poel’s poopgate.

Twenty-year old Sebastopol cycling star Luke Lamperti is joining the WorldTour after signing a two-year contract with Belgium’s Soudal-Quick-Step.

British cyclist Ben Wiggins says he’s a lot better than his dad Bradley, as the 18-year old son of the cycling legend sets his sights on the 2028 LA Olympics.

Apparently, Julian Alaphilippe can’t even beat a three-year old. Although to be fair, the kid did have a massive head start. 

 

Finally…

Oh, sure, anyone can ride RAGBRAI facing forward. Maybe a cyclist shouldn’t be promoting his massive SUV — let alone owning one.

And that feeling when you befriend a cow while training for the worlds.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

More along, nothing to see here — diabetes edition

August 10, 2023 / / Comments Off on More along, nothing to see here — diabetes edition

My apologies.

I didn’t bounce back after a trip to the doctor in today’s heat and humidity, and wrangling the corgi for her first official outing as a diabetic alert dog.

Yet more of the myriad joys of diabetes — little things take a lot out of me, and it takes me longer to recover from a simple bus trip than it used to take for a century.

So get tested if you’re at risk or have a family history of diabetes, and do whatever it takes to avoid getting it, because diabetes sucks in more ways than you can count.

As usual, we’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on anything we missed today.

Category: General / Tags:

LA overrated in new bikeability survey, San Diego strong-arm bike theft caught on video, and e-scooter murdered for battery

August 9, 2023 / / One comment

Yet another survey ranks the best bike cities in the US, with Minneapolis passing Portland for first place.

San Francisco comes in third, with San Jose seventh, both of which will undoubtedly shock many Bay Area bike riders.

In fact, California placed three cities in the top 15, none of which are Los Angeles — or anywhere else in Southern California, for that matter.

San Diego is the highest ranked SoCal city at 27th among major cities, while Los Angeles checks in at a vastly overrated 29th.

Meanwhile, Riverside barely cracks the top 50 at 48th. But at least they made the list.

………

A TikTok video appears to show a San Diego man stealing a bicycle by yanking it out of the hands of a woman who lays sprawled on the street, before walking off with it as she cries for help.

https://www.tiktok.com/@onlyonexbox/video/7263896107984407854?embed_source=121355058%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-12385227%2FSan-Diego-bike-victim-help-cries.html&referer_video_id=7263896107984407854

………

Frequent contributor David Drexler woke this morning to the painful death throes of a e-scooter being murdered by a battery thief for its metaphorically still-beating heart yesterday morning.

Here’s how he describes it.

At the VEO scooter corner cross from my place, I heard the sit-down scooter chirping for a long time—went to the window and recorded this video.

He used a crowbar to crack open the battery compartment and removed the battery and then pushed the poor thing to the ground.

To me this was like ripping someone’s heart out and then kicking them to the ground.

He had some remorse and picks the scooter back up, but it’s officially dead as he walks off with the battery!

I have been sad all day about this.

That scooter did not deserve to die like that!

………

Comedian Trae Crowder rode his bike to record a podcast at a new studio near his home, and can’t figure out how and where to stay safe on the way. 

Which isn’t the least bit funny, really.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

………

Active SGV is hosting a South El Monte walking tour on Santa Anita Ave this evening to identify ways to improve safety for all road users, including people on foot or bikes.

………

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

A Novato man has been arrested for the second time in four days, charged with stalking, making threats, hate crime offenses and committing a crime while on bail, which followed an earlier racially charged incident in which he allegedly tried to ram a man riding a bicycle while shouting racial slurs.

A Toronto driver faces charges after he was caught on dashcam intentionally slamming his car into a bike rider following an argument between the two men; fortunately, the victim escaped without life-threatening injuries.

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

A man riding a bicycle frightened motorists by riding alongside bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 101 Freeway in Hollywood last week, but appears to have survived his risky ride.

Police in Philadelphia are investigating a series of sexual assaults committed by a middle-aged, bald man riding a bicycle.

………

Local 

People for Mobility Justice is hosting a 14-mile bike ride this Saturday to gather input for quick build projects to improve several South LA corridors for pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and transit users.

The Burbank Leader says the community is mourning the death of professional trumpet player and bicyclist Roy Wiegand, who was killed in Monterey County while on the final leg of a fundraising ride to bring running water to the Navajo Nation.

 

State

Maybe they get it, after all. Caltrans’ carbon reduction strategy says that switching to electric vehicles may be important and necessary, but it is clearly not enough to achieve carbon neutrality, and that Californians will need to drive less.

The Carlsbad Unified School District describes the new ebike education and permitting process required to ride an ebike to a Carlsbad school and park it on campus. Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for the heads-up. 

A 27-year old bike rider suffered serious injuries in a collision on Sycamore Canyon Road in Montecito Tuesday morning.

A San Francisco man got his missing bike back five years after it was stolen from his building’s bike storage room, when a new buyer tried to register it with Bike Index, and spotted the stolen bike listing. Which is yet another reminder to register your bike for free with Bike Index before anything happens to it.

 

National

Bike Magazine offers the “ultimate” guide to choosing the right mountain bike, and says you need your local bike shop for more than you think.

A Montana woman is credited with saving a kid’s summer by confronting a bike thief at a gas station, and stealing back the boy’s stolen bicycle.

A Kansas bike club says parts of a Topeka bike path are unsafe due to an encroaching homeless camp. Something bike riders across the country can relate to these days.

This is who we share the road with. A 33-year old Illinois driver faces hit-and-run and DUI charges for fleeing after he struck a light pole, then veered into the opposite lane and killed a 64-year old man riding a bicycle, while driving with a BAC nearly three times the legal limit.

A writer for Streetsblog responds to the New York Times one-sided, fear mongering series attacking ebikes and their teenaged riders with four guidelines for spotting a bad ebike article, starting with blaming ebikes and/or their riders for the drivers that hit them.

Despite the fears of opponents, the installation of a road diet and buffered bike lanes on a Maryland roadway resulted in virtually no change in driving times, while tripling of bicycle traffic and dramatically reducing traffic deaths. Then again, that’s usually how it works.

Heartbreaking news from Virginia, where a 17-year old boy was killed in a police pursuit while riding his bike home from work, when he was struck with a stolen car driven by a teenage carjacker.

 

International

Windsor, Ontario snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, cancelling plans for a temporary bike lane in favor of a redesign of the street that will take ten years longer and cost over 50 times more.

The manager of the Mercedes-Benz Formula One team is one of us, breaking his arm mountain biking on a family vacation.

 

Competitive Cycling

SoCal native Coryn Labecki approvingly describes the course for Sunday’s world championship women’s road race as a crit on steroids.

Italian cyclist Simone Consonni is out of the remainder of the worlds after colliding with an ebike rider on a Glasgow bike path.

Dutch paracyclist Daniel Abraham Gebru won his first world track title, just hours after taking a secret six-hour training ride without even telling his coach.

Sad news from Toledo, Spain, where the mayor declared two days of mourning for 95-year old Federico Bahamontes; Bahamontes, who died Tuesday, was the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France, as well as the first cyclist to win “King of the Mountains” in all three Grand Tours.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the local paper publishes advance notice of your bike safety event two days after it happened. Or when your bike lane is somehow blocked by a hot grill.

And forget ebikes — your next weird-ass, ultra-futuristic bike could run on hydrogen.

………

Thanks to Michael W for an unexpected donation to help keep all the best and brightest bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

Donations of any amount, and for any reason, are always welcome and deeply appreciated.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Bicyclist killed in early morning Moreno Valley crash; few details available

August 8, 2023 / / Comments Off on Bicyclist killed in early morning Moreno Valley crash; few details available

Once again, a bike rider has been killed in Riverside County.

And once again, we know next to nothing.

According to My News LA, someone riding a bicycle was struck by a driver on eastbound Alessandro Boulevard at Graham Street in Moreno Valley around 5:20 am Tuesday.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to nearby Riverside University Medical Center suffering from severe injuries, and died shortly later.

The driver of a Kia Optima remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.

Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.

A street view shows a painted bike lane on Alessandro, running between the two through lanes and a right turn bay. However, we have no way of knowing at this time if that may have contributed to the crash in any way.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Riverside County Sheriff’s Moreno Valley station at 951/486-6700.

This is at least the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and their loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

LA mired in scenic bike mediocrity, PeopleForBikes fights ebike right-to-repair, and driving SF’s new protected bike path

August 8, 2023 / / 4 comments

Apparently, we’re not that scenic, either.

Ebikes.org ranked the nation’s 100 most scenic cities to see by bicycle, by combining Instagram hashtags and bike-related Google search volume with bikeability ratings, the number of road biking trails, and average yearly sunshine.

And Los Angeles came in at a remarkably mediocre 52. Then again, even our weather barely made the top 25, as far as they’re concerned.

Not surprisingly, Seattle, San Francisco, and Miami came out on top, with North Las Vegas, and Garland and Irving, Texas all tying for the bottom.

So start tagging those Instagram posts from the City of Angels. Because it may not improve the weather, LA’s scenic beauty or make this city any more bikeable.

But at least we can boost our Insta rank.

………

Maybe PeopleForBikes isn’t completely on our side, after all.

The organization, the advocacy arm of the national trade organization representing bicycle manufacturers, is lobbying officials in several states to exempt ebikes from right-to-repair bills.

In other words, they want to keep forcing you to send your ebike back to the manufacturer — or at least your local dealer — rather than allowing you to fix it yourself.

The group says it’s a matter of safety, and recommends recycling ebike batteries instead.

Never mind that it would be a simple matter to require bike owners to recycle spent batteries, and that batteries aren’t the only thing on an ebike that might need fixing.

Maybe they should stick to ranking bikeability.

………

Evidently, the many critics of San Francisco’s new Valencia Street bike path were right.

Drivers took to the ostensibly protected centerline bike path when a driverless car unexpectedly froze in the traffic lane, forcing drivers to use the bike path to go around it.

Never mind that keeping cars out is the very definition of a protected bike lane, and they should never have been able to use it as a bypass lane.

Fortunately, no one appears to actually have been using it for its intended purpose at the time.

………

Um, no.

The Sacramento Bee misses the mark in answering a reader’s question about whether helmets are required to ride a motorcycle, e-scooter to bicycle in California.

The paper implies — whether mistakenly or through inartful editing — that bike helmets are required to ride on sidewalks, trails, parks and bike paths. And fails to mention that helmets are required for all Class 3 ebikes and mopeds.

………

This is what a catastrophic frame failure looks and sounds like during a competition, as Alex Anderson goes up a jump on a mountain bike, and lands on a pile of crumpled and broken carbon fiber.

Seriously, his painful moans were loud enough to wake the corgi from a sound sleep, and make her stare to see what the problem was.

………

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

No bias here. A 76-year old Montana columnist says young people shouldn’t ride ebikes if they can ride a regular bike, and that if he can ride his bike up the local pass, you should be able to, too.

No bias here, either. After a Bath NY man became just the latest bike rider run down by police, the local sheriff reminds bicyclists they have to use lights and reflectors after dark, rather than consider the deputy who rear-ended the victim might be at fault.

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

A Wyoming man known for giving away thousands of bicycles to children through a local bike project is facing a felony count of first-degree abuse of a minor for allegedly sexually abusing a child under the age of 13.

………

Local 

Metro is looking for input on first mile/last mile active transportation connections within a half-mile of Western and Slauson.

 

State

Oops. A Westminster man was busted for carrying a large amount of narcotics and a loaded gun while already on probation, after being stopped for a traffic violation while riding a bicycle.

Carlsbad is taking a proactive approach to teenage ebike riders, teaming with the local school district to offer an ebike safety course in exchange for a free permit park their bikes on campus.

Police in Redwood City have arrested two men for the June 1st bike shop burglary that netted several high-end bikes worth a combined fifty grand.

San Francisco Streetsblog says the question shouldn’t be why are bike riders on the Bay Bridge, but why are they banned in the first place, in the wake of last weekend’s takeover of the lower span by hundreds of mostly teen bike riders.

 

National

Consumer Reports says bicycling can be a great and safe way to exercise as you get older. And for once, the safety recommendations don’t start and end with wearing a helmet.

This is the cost of traffic violence. After news broke that an Oregon bike rider was killed by a 71-year old driver in a left-cross crash, it didn’t take long to learn the victim was the popular manager of a Mt. Hood ski area.

Ten people who were injured riding their bikes on the “missing link” gap on a Seattle bike path have filed a claim against the city, demanding that Seattle act quickly to make the trail safe for riders, as well as seeking unspecified monetary damages.

Colorado Public Radio answers a listener’s question about the proper etiquette for driving behind a bicyclist on narrow, twisting mountain roads. Short answer, be patient, follow at a safe distance, and only pass when it’s safe to do so, giving a minimum three-foot passing distance. Besides, there’s a good chance the person on the bike can navigate curves better than someone in a car, anyway. 

A Colorado woman calculates she’s saved nearly $1,900 by commuting on her ebike for the past five years, rather than driving her 2010 Toyota, putting 11,500 miles on her bike in the process.

Indianapolis has named the cop who killed a bike rider after swerving around a car while responding to a call last week. Contrast that with the LAPD and LA County Sheriff’s Department, who go out of their way to keep officers from being named. 

An Ohio boxer is riding his bike across the state to raise funds to keep his gym open and fund scholarships for low-income participants, in memory of his nephew killed by gun violence. Which is a very passive way of saying someone was shot to death. 

A New York website tracks the cost of traffic violence in the city, both in terms of lives and financial costs.

 

International

Bike Radar considers how gravel biking is changing the way we think about road bike design as road bikes become more capable of riding more varied terrain.

A Bristol, England advocacy group calls for more protected and segregated bike paths, after 81% of local bike rider complain of aggressive motorists.

An international team of eight bicyclists is riding 2,175 miles from the British Museum to Greece’s Acropolis Museum to demand the return of the Parthenon sculptures, known in the UK as the Elgin Marbles.

A New Zealand woman says her husband was a careful, experienced cyclist who felt invisible on the road following a number of near misses, until one truck driver tragically didn’t miss.

 

Competitive Cycling

Apparently, not everyone objects to the “dizzying, dangerous and designed by a drunk person” world’s road course, as bronze medalist Tadej Pogačar said he enjoyed the fast and technical Glasgow circuit, adding he “really likes city street racing.”

Not only did Mathieu Van der Poel have to overcome a late crash on his way claiming the world road cycling title, he also had to knock on a stranger’s door to poop.

Eleventh place finisher Neilson Powless says he could have had a top five finish in the road race, if not for a crash that separated the peloton and created a gap the American couldn’t close.

The head of the pro cyclists’ union issued a scathing condemnation of the environmental protesters who halted the worlds road race for an hour, calling it the opposite of helping the environment.

Team USA star Jennifer Valente became America’s most decorated track cyclist with a third place finish in Sunday’s elimination race, adding to the 15 medals she won prior to this year’s world’s.

The BBC looks back at the maverick life and mysterious death of the late, great Marco Pantini; the Italian cycling star’s death was officially blamed on acute cocaine poisoning, though questions remain over whether the mafia somehow helped him ingest it.

Cycling Weekly profiles Spain’s remarkable para-athlete Ricardo Ten, as the one-limbed swimmer aims for his seventh Paralympics, this time as a cyclist — despite having no hands and just one leg.

 

Finally…

When you already have nine outstanding warrants, maybe riding a bicycle out in the open isn’t the best choice. Not only are bike paths not safe from DUI drivers, now they’re not even waiting until they’re finished.

And probably not the best idea to try to ride your bike atop a wrought iron fence.

At least not if you ever want to have children.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuw_-IuRZ9s/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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. 

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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

………

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. 

………

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.

………

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.

https://twitter.com/CoolBikeArt1/status/1687583494984138752

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Bike lanes as parking lots, BikeLA hosts Florence Firestone Community Ride, and riding a bike with a sofa on your head

August 4, 2023 / / Comments Off on Bike lanes as parking lots, BikeLA hosts Florence Firestone Community Ride, and riding a bike with a sofa on your head

The good news is, there’s not much bad news today. 

After a week’s worth of news about crashes and fallen bicyclists, today offers a welcome and much needed emotional respite. 

So kick back with a steaming cuppa coffee or a nice cold drink.

And enjoy some happier bike news heading into the weekend. 

………

That feeling when your new protected bike lane becomes a parking lane.

https://twitter.com/chiyclist/status/1687166768098291712

Speaking of which, the new La Brea bus and bike lanes apparently make great idling spots.

………

BikeLA is hosting a community bike ride in the Florence Firestone neighborhood this Sunday, as part of the Department of Public Health Vision Zero project.

………

A New York man rides a bike with a sofa balanced on his head.

 

And yes, he looks to be the same guy who recently rode a bikeshare bike with a flatscreen TV on his head.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z0NqNqoUaP8

………

Pro mountain biker Alex Rudeau demonstrates what you can do with an e-mountain bike.

Okay, maybe not you. Or me, for that matter.

Especially not me.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvU_TATtfkW/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0124c64f-60d0-4600-9c1c-5c9df8a8722f

………

Anyone old enough to learn the ins and outs of physical intimacy from The Joy of Sex may wish this one had been approved.

………

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

A Portland cop, apparently ignorant on bike law, admonished a woman riding with her kids for taking the lane, telling her to ride to the right by weaving around parked cars. Just to be clear, you are far safer riding in a straight line in the traffic lane, than weaving around parked cars to ride next to the curb. And any cop who doesn’t know that needs retraining.

A New Orleans area letter writer says he’s all for protecting bike riders, but a three-block protected bike lane doesn’t seem worth the effort.

It doesn’t help matters when traffic lights on a British protected bike lane are permanently stuck on red.

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

Seriously, don’t leave your bike lying directly in front of the train car doors.

Your periodic reminder that people on bicycles have the same responsibility to stop after a collision that anyone in a motor vehicle does.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Times recommends riding on the “breezy” seven-mile Elysian Valley Bicycle & Pedestrian Path to find a safe haven away from cars. Which is just a fancy name for the LA River bike path through the Glendale Narrows.

 

State

San Francisco’s controversial new Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane officially opened on Tuesday, even if it isn’t completely complete.

 

National

Bicycling offers advice on how to stay safe riding your bike in bad weather. More than once I’ve found myself riding out a thunderstorm or the occasional tornado lying in a wet ditch. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

A new study says sixty percent of bike riders would move to a new city if they were offered a new ebike. Although if that were true, we’d all live in Denver by now. Or maybe Arkansas. 

Bicycle Colorado is offering a free, 75-minute interactive course for motorists to improve their ability to drive safely around pedestrians and bicyclists. Now we just need that to spread to the other 49 states, and get insurance companies to offer incentives for taking it.

A new report from the Michigan State Police says someone is most likely to be killed riding a bike in the evening or on Friday, as bicycling fatalities rise 63% in the state.

Former NFL QB Alex Smith plans to take part in a 200-mile bike ride across Massachusetts to raise money for cancer research, just a year after his young daughter was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor.

J-Lo’s daughter Emme is one of us, as she joined her mom and stepdad Ben Affleck for a family bike ride in the Hamptons.

Good advice. A Long Island community group responded to a collision that seriously injured a bike rider with a radio PSA urging everyone to “Take a deep breath, slow down, and don’t be distracted.”

Yes, please. A New York proposal would require the city to create a searchable, real-time bike lane map showing up-to-the-minute obstructions and closures.

President Biden ignored Thursday’s drama with his predecessor in DC, and drew a crowd on another Delaware bike ride. Although apparently, only presidents are allowed to wear bike helmets.

 

International

Rouleur looks at the physiological benefits of bicycling, regardless of your ability level.

Cycling Weekly considers whether SRAM’s patent for voice-operated shifting solves an invented problem, or breaks down barriers to bicycling. I can’t wait for the day you tell your bike to downshift, and it responds “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Even though your name isn’t Dave.

A new rooftop bike rack from a German company does the heavy lifting for you, using a hydraulic lift to effortlessly move your bike up to the roof of your car.

Forget the local Marriott. Now you can stay in a Peter Sagan-owned and themed hotel in his native Slovakia.

Japan plans to approve traffic fines for bike riders who run red lights; bike riders currently either receive a warning, or an indictment that can lead to criminal prosecution.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo looks forward to the sprawling, 13-event “Super Worlds,” as the all-discipline cycling world championships gets underway.

America’s Chloe Dygert overcame three years lost to major injuries and other travails to win gold in the individual pursuit at the world championships; she’s just one of the 150 Americans across all age groups and disciplines competing at the worlds.

Belgium is a heavy favorite to win the men’s cycling championship if Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, and defending champion Remco Evenepoel can’t keep their egos in check and work together.

 

Finally…

How can we expect drivers to avoid people walking and riding bikes when they can’t even avoid apartment buildings? Who needs a bottle opener when you have a passing mountain bike?

And even a Maserati enjoys a good bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,
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