Let’s hope they’re barking up the wrong tree.
The latest controversy dogging plans to complete the long-delayed LA River bike path comes from pooch owners in the lower San Fernando Valley, who are loathe to give up a sliver of the Sepulveda Basin dog park to make room for the pathway.
Never mind that the entire basin is due for a makeover in the coming years.
The dog owners are demanding that the planned three-mile pathway extension be moved to the south side of the river, away from the existing dog parks.
Other groups and neighborhood councils have joined the dogpile, adding their own voices to complaints over the location and $58 million cost.
The city is also planning a 6′ to 8′ fence to keep bike riders from “agitating” the dogs.
To be honest, it would seem to make more sense to build it on the south bank of the LA River if they can work it out, rather than the current plan to have the path start on the south side, switch to the north bank, then move back to the south bank.
But frankly, all I want is for the city to finally complete the damn thing.
She’d never complain about a bike path encroaching on her dog park.
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Sadly, the seemingly endless series of ghost bike ceremonies goes on in the City of Angels.
Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will install a ghost bike this Thursday at 7 pm at the corner of Edgemont and Fountain in East Hollywood for Bob George, the Hollywood producer killed in a dooring while riding in the bike lane on Fountain last month.
I’m told his widow, artist Yasmine Nasser Diaz, and his sister Jennifer will be in attendance.
SAFE is the nonprofit advocacy group founded by hit-and-run survivor Damian Kevitt with a goal of improving “the quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike by reducing traffic fatalities to zero,” according to their website.
Meanwhile, another ghost bike will be installed tomorrow for 57-year old Los Angeles resident Samuel Tessier, who was found dead near the entrance to Universal Studios early Sunday.
Tessier appeared to be the victim of a hit-and-run at first, but police now believe he was killed in a high-speed fall when his bike hit the curb on the steep descent.
Thanks Stotts Bicycles for donating this for a ghost bike placement. Meeting on Ventura & Lankershim Tuesday night at 8pm.@bikinginla @ghostbikeorg @streetsforall pic.twitter.com/AjLPqtXvGi
— Zachary Rynew (@Ciclavalley) November 7, 2023
UPDATE: Tonight's 8pm ghost bike will take place on Lankershim across from Campo de Cahuenga by the entrance of universal.@bikinginla @ghostbikeorg pic.twitter.com/WpCwEEsW71
— Zachary Rynew (@Ciclavalley) November 7, 2023
Let’s just hope the day finally gets here when these damn things aren’t needed anymore.
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CBS News catches you up on everything you need to know about the murder trial of Kaitlin Armstrong for killing rising gravel champ Moriah “Mo” Wilson, but were afraid to ask.
Meanwhile, Armstrong’s former boyfriend, pro cyclist Colin Strickland, testified about their tumultuous relationship and her jealously of Wilson, before attempting to knock a camera out of a photographer’s hand and step on a photog’s foot.
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Nothing like legendary NFL running back Marshawn Lynch to get hundreds of Oakland kids out on their bikes.
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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 WeHo website reposts comments from the West Hollywood City Council’s discussion of requiring only protected bike lanes in the city, which passed unanimously; however, it only takes three paragraphs before someone says “we’re not the Netherlands.”
The New York Post’s bike-hating columnist says good riddance to the city’s Revel motor-scooter rental program, while lamenting an increase in bikeshare ebikes due to hit the streets next year, extending the “tyranny of its two-wheelers.”
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A San Francisco man went on trial Monday for an armed standoff with police that began when he was ghost riding another bicycle, leading the cops to fire 15 shots, although it turned out his weapon was a replica handgun loaded with blanks; it also turned out he actually owned both bikes.
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Local
No news is good news, right?
State
Calbike considers who will benefit from California’s ebike incentive program, suggesting it could help older adults and people with disabilities. If it ever actually launches, anyway.
An Anaheim bike rider suffered moderate injuries when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver at South Euclid Street and West Katella Ave, in a crash captured on dashcam video shortly after midnight yesterday.
San Francisco bike riders were suitably appalled when the city’s transportation department released a video explaining how to use the much-maligned, unprotected Valencia Street centerline bike lane.
National
According to the New York Times, commute times are down nationwide — including a 6.3% drop in Los Angeles — due to the lingering effects of the pandemic and work from home, although transit use has declined precipitously. Thanks to HombeDeBicycle for the heads-up.
They get it. Bike Magazine asks if the debate over analog versus electric bikes is a real fight or a discussion, while asking if we can all just get along.
Tom’s Guide looks at nine early Black Friday ebike deals.
Men’s Journal asks if banning right turns on red lights could save bicyclists. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, hell yes.
Velo considers the Portland bike advocacy group literally standing in the way of workers attempting to rip out a “mistakenly installed” bike lane.
A bike-riding trauma surgeon at the University of New Mexico Hospital is credited with saving the life of another bicyclist who had a heart attack while they were both riding on an Albuquerque trail; four other hospital workers who just happened to be nearby helped with CPR and chest compressions until paramedics arrived 20 minutes later.
A Kansas City lowrider bike club is helping teens develop skills by earning parts to build their own lowrider bikes, through things like good behavior, attendance and grades.
She gets it. The mother of a fallen 16-year old Chicago bike rider says we all need to care about other people’s lives on the roads.
Brooklyn bystanders stopped a driver from fleeing the scene, physically holding her down and taking her keys, after she jumped the curb and hit a bike rider and a pedestrian, critically injuring the latter.
New York bicyclists rip a page from LA long-running Marathon Crash Race/Ride, by riding the closed course for the city’s marathon before runners take to the streets.
Palm Beach is using a two-year old Florida law to crackdown on bicyclists riding two or more abreast on single-lane roads.
International
A new international study show four in ten people around the world lack the necessary skills to transition to a climate friendly, bike-first future.
Speaking of lacking the necessary skills, GCN says you’re probably cleaning your bicycle all wrong.
A British psychologist shares what she learned about recovering from a bicycling injury, after suffering a radial head fracture. I did one of those in a bike crash myself. Major ows.
Competitive Cycling
Tragic news from Mexico, where 30-year old pro cyclist Orlando Garibay was killed in a collision with a garbage truck driver while driving home after winning a race in San Francisco del Rincón, Guanajuato; both Garibay and his brother had previously raced with the SoCalCycling team. A crowdfunding campaign to help pay his funeral expenses has raised $1,700 of the $10,000 goal.
Swiss prosecutors closed the investigation into the death of 26-year-old Gino Mäder during this year’s Tour de Suisse, concluding no one was criminally responsible for his death.
Finally…
You know the whippersnappers are in charge when a bike magazine is overly impressed with a 50-year old mountain biker shredding despite his advanced age. Evidently, pro cyclists are pretty fast on foot, too.
And never let a shopping mall get in the way of a good bike lane.
Never seen anything like this before! A bike lane that continues into, and through, a shopping mall (Singapore). pic.twitter.com/SI1znHtnmj
— Jason Thorne (@JasonThorne_RPP) November 6, 2023
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
I got lucky the couple of times I snapped a pedal off and landed on the back of my head. Only knocked out for a bit. The helmets paid for themselves by protecting me from what they were designed to do.
Exactly what they’re intended for. The pedals, on the other hand…