BikinginLA

Just 246 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 all face on the mean streets of LA.

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

We’re now up to 1,128 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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We’re back!

Kind of, anyway.

It’s been a rough ten days, but I’m finally doing a little better after my unplanned visit to the ER. I’m still struggling with pain and a loss of mobility, but at least I can lift my arm again and hold my laptop without too much discomfort. 

I’ll try to keep bringing you the all latest bike news every day, but no promises until I can put this damn thing behind me.

And my apologies to everyone who sent me something while I was out last week. I’m just too worn out after writing this to go back and see who sent what, so please just accept my thanks, and I’ll try to do better going forward.  

Meanwhile, my adventure cycling, former Iditarod-mushing brother has made it to the Arkansas River on his cross-country bike tour, after riding out Saturday’s Oklahoma tornadoes in a cement restroom in a deserted roadside campground. 

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A new Strava report shows Los Angeles is a surprising ninth on a list of the top ten bike commuting cities in the US, behind Boston and above Denver.

We also have the longest average commuting distance of any of the cities on the list, at a whopping 9.5 miles per commute. Which suggests that people are actually replacing their lengthy car trips with their bikes.

It’s also worth remembering that Strava only tracks people who have the app installed on their phones, and misses a lot of casual and low-income riders. Which means LA probably has even more bike commuters than what shows up in their stats.

Just imagine what that could look like if we actually had safe streets to ride on.

Here’s the full list, courtesy of Momentum Magazine.

Riding the Green Wave: Top 10 Commuting Cities

1. Portland, OR: Leading the charge with 36% of cyclists choosing the green commute.
2. Chicago, IL: A close second at 37%, boasting efficient and compact commutes.
3. Seattle, WA: Rain or shine, 35% of Seattle’s cyclists opt for pedal power.
4. Washington, DC: The nation’s capital follows closely with 34% of cyclists commuting.
5. New York, NY: The Big Apple’s cyclists alone have saved over 2.3 million kilograms of carbon.
6. San Francisco Bay Area, CA: Sharing the same 36% commute rate as New York, the Bay Area stands tall.
7. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MI: A robust 32% of cyclists in this region choose green commutes.
8. Boston, MA: Boston boasts a 33% commute rate among its cyclists.
9. Los Angeles, CA: Surprising many, LA cyclists average a significant 9.5 miles per commute.
10. Denver, CO: With a 33% commute rate, the Mile High City is reaching new heights in sustainability.

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Hats off to ActiveSGV, aka Active San Gabriel Valley, named 2024 California Nonprofit of the Year for District 49 by Assemblymember Mike Fong.

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Good question.

https://twitter.com/gatodejazz/status/1783954841280331924

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It’s now 131 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 34 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.

A Singapore crash devolves into an ugly racist road rage incident, after a bike rider and a driver argue over who hit who in a crosswalk, before attacking the other’s ethnicity.

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Local 

I wouldn’t plan on riding Topanga Canyon above PCH anytime soon, after the recent rains caused a landslide that may not be cleared until fall.

Auto-centric WeHoVille calls on West Hollywood city leaders to share the pain of local residents whose parking spaces could be displaced by new bike lanes by giving up their own parking privileges.

Speaking of WeHo, the LA County Sheriff’s Department will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian traffic safety operation on Wednesday, ticketing anyone who commits a traffic violation that could put either group at risk, regardless of who does it. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets written up.

 

State

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on Calbike’s recent 2024 California Bicycle Summit, with advocates calling for speed cams, speed limiters on city-owned vehicles, and revising state law to allow for lower speed limits; Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry says there were just too many sessions, conversations and highlights to cover them all.

A 13-year old Ramona boy flipped himself onto GoPro’s elite team of professional athletes by nailing a triple backflip on his BMX and sticking the landing.

Thousand Oaks wants your input on proposed new bike lanes and pedestrian improvements on Hillcrest Drive.

Santa Barbara County is hosting their 15th annual “CycleMAYnia” next month, offering over 40 community bike events under the theme of “Spring is here. Bikes are in bloom.”

A Santa Barbara op-ed calls for bigger and better bike lanes to accommodate bigger and better ebikes in the years to come.

Paso Robles officially opened a new bicycle pump track yesterday.

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a bike rider was killed by a semi-truck driver who drove off afterwards, before returning to the scene after a short time.

A Marin state Assembly Member has scaled back his proposal for a statewide ban on anyone under 16 riding a throttle-controlled ebike, instead proposing a pilot program just in Marin County.

 

National

A writer for Outside says he never thought he’d own a cruiser bike, until he discovered the joys of riding with his kids.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever just kept going after running down a ten-year old boy riding his bike in Reading, Massachusetts. Seriously, what the hell kind of person could just take off and leave a little kid bleeding in the street?

New York is on track for its deadliest year in a decade, with 60 people killed by traffic violence in the first quarter of 2024.

A weekly New Orleans social ride is providing bicycle therapy for the mostly Black participants, who celebrate the joyful, healing space on two wheels.

A Decatur, Georgia man was sentenced to life plus 15 years behind bars for fatally shooting his neighbor for leaving his bicycle in the hallway — and bizarrely claiming the victim was spying on him through his smoke detector. Apparently, the state plans to prop him up an extra decade and a half to finish his sentence. Unless he gets time off for good behavior, since dead men seldom cause trouble. 

Just days after a bike-riding Colombian man was killed by a driver fleeing from police in South LA, the same thing happened in Florida, where a 20-year old Pompano Beach man was killed while riding his bike home from work by a driver fleeing from deputies attempting to break up a street takeover.

 

International

That’s more like it. City leaders in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan have had a major change in attitude, now more focused on improving safety for people on bicycles than worrying about the cost.

You may be able to legally ride through a red light on the leading pedestrian interval signal in California now, but don’t try it in Ontario, Canada, where it remains against the law.

A blind man is offering a warning about a new curb-protected bike lane in Manchester, England, suggesting the floating bus stop and high curbs pose a risk to anyone with limited eyesight.

A UK coffee connoisseur conducts a deep dive into the “mysterious” relationship between bikes and coffee, calling it the original energy drink.

A new study from a British bike subscription service finds just 5% of women bike to work in the country, compared to 20% of men, with nine out of ten women citing concerns of getting hit by a driver, road rage and feeling vulnerable bicycling at night.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with the “stunning” La Seine à Vélo bicycle route following the banks of the Seine River through the Île-de-France and Normandy regions from Paris to the coast.

 

Competitive Cycling

Transgender cyclist Austin Killips discusses the heartbreak of confronting UCI’s ban on transgender women competing in elite women’s races, just days after the ride of her life in winning last year’s Tour of the Gila.

Rising 21-year old American pro Luke Lamperti is scheduled to make his Grand Tour debut at next month’s Giro d’Italia.

Spanish pro Carlos Rodríguez won the GC at this year’s Tour de Romandie.

Twenty-three-year old Dutch cyclist Frank van den Broek claimed his first career stage victory in the Tour of Türkiye, the country formerly known as Turkey, after the final stage was neutralized due to rain.

The Lidl-Trek women’s cycling team won the opening team time trial for Spain’s La Vuelta Femenina, followed by Visma-Lease a Bike and SD Worx-ProTime.

Velo says the revival of South Carolina’s Greenville Cycling Classic after eight years is proof that enthusiastic bike racing fans are still around.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and weed on your bike, just put a damn taillight on it, already. That feeling when the new bike lane reminds people of a crime scene.

And no, this isn’t a photo.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin