BikinginLA

Just 292 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.

So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,016 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

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Before we start, let’s all welcome Beverly Hills Bike Law, the newest advertiser on here. 

So take a moment to click on the ad over there and check out their site, and let ’em see attention advertising here will get them. 

Then tell your favorite local bike shop, so maybe they’ll get the message, too. 

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It’s now 85 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A British driver walked without a single day behind bars after parking in a bike lane, then backing into a man on a bicycle — and accusing the bike rider of trying to “break” his car by slapping his trunk as a warning.

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Local 

Politico considers the hurdles LA will have to surmount to fulfill its ambitious climate claims for the 2028 Olympics. Getting a jump on building the bus and bike infrastructure required under HLA would go a long way towards getting there.

Westside Congressman Ted Lieu pats himself on the back for securing $2 million for a trio of Santa Monica projects, including a half million for safety enhancement along the Lincoln Blvd corridor, which won’t include bike lanes.

 

State

Calbike says hundreds attended their online seminar with San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener, who discussed SB 960, the Complete Streets Bill currently under consideration in the state legislature.

 

National

A new AAA study suggests drowsy driving deaths may be ten times more common than official stats show, contributing to nearly 18 percent of fatal crashes between 2017 and 2021.

U.S. News & World Report somehow still exist, and ranks the year’s best balance bikes for your favorite wannabe bicycling toddler.

A Bellingham, Washington paper rides along with the city’s underground network of “recovery artists” who track down stolen bikes.

A new study from my bike-friendly Colorado hometown shows that when the city installed parking spaces for dockless bikeshare bikes and e-scooters, and imposed penalties for improper parking, scooters and bikes blocking sidewalks dropped by 12%.

Contrasting with the recent dire predictions from Los Angeles firefighters about Measure HLA, the Chicago Fire Department says new bike lanes haven’t caused any problems, while the improved safety means there will be less need for emergency response.

Houston has followed the deadly record-setting trends set by Los Angeles and New York, as traffic deaths in America’s 4th largest city hit a ten-year high.

Vermont has opened the nation’s first fully adaptive, off-road ebike trail system.

 

International

Bicyclists around the world will ride for Palestine this Saturday. Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces admitted to an oopsie when they bombed the shit out of two Palestinian men wheeling a bicycle, which they somehow mistook for a rocket-propelled grenade. Because lots of rocket-propelled grenades have handlebars and pedals, evidently.

An editor for Cyclist says there’s no point in being a weight weenie, taking the contrarian view that bike weight doesn’t matter. I never thought so when I kept up with bicyclists on high-end bikes while riding my old steel-framed Trek.  But changed my mind when I started dropping them after switching to a much lighter and faster LeMond. 

Oxford, England is accused of being anti-car, as the city council considers a proposal to increase parking charges for heavier and more polluting vehicles, following the lead of Paris, which voted last month to triple parking fees for SUVs.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A “gifted” Welsh dressage rider was killed in a collision while training for a triathlon on her bike; the driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Momentum visits the Netherlands stunning new Ede-Wageningen train station, offering secure parking for 5,000 bicycles.

Momentum discusses what we touched on yesterday, as the Paris Olympics will showcase what a real bicycling city looks like — never mind that it wasn’t one just a few short years ago. Let’s just hope LA Mayor Bass is paying attention on her trip over there right now. 

Velo says the Taipei Cycle Show demonstrates that despite the doom and gloom in the bike industry, it’s really just a changing of the guard.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — South Korea’s “heart-pounding” Seorak Granfondo, described as a “thrilling journey through some of the most captivating terrain Asia has to offer…against the backdrop of the stunning Seoraksan National Park.”

Former Aussie pro cyclist Rohan Dennis will remain out on bail through August, after prosecutors requested time to reconstruct the crash that killed his wife, Olympic gold medalist and former world champ Melissa Hoskins.

 

Competitive Cycling

Organizers have canceled Japan’s UCI-sanctioned Tour de Hokkaido bicycle race, after a 21-year old cyclist was killed in a head-on collision when a driver somehow entered the course during last year’s race.

Australia’s national cycling team plans to compete riding Factor Bike’s $98,000 Hanzo track bike, in hopes that its advanced aerodynamics will lead to Olympic gold in August.

Canadian Cycling Magazine offers a quick lesson in French cycling terms.

The head of Ghana’s Cycling Federation says that despite the recent comments from the country’s sports minister, they’ve received just two bikes for the national cycling team since 2012, leading to the country’s cyclists competing the Africa Games on their own well-worn training gear.

 

Finally…

There’s never been a better time to see the Northern Lights by bike. Who needs weapons when you can steal a bike with big a wooden log.

And bouncing back from a bicycling-induced broken collarbone may not be the best idea, after all.

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month today. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin