BikinginLA

Just 54 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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I hope you’ll forgive yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

After writing about the man killed riding his bicycle in Victorville, I just wasn’t in a good space, mentally or emotionally.

And I’m still not. 

To be honest, this week’s election feels like a repudiation of everything I have believed and work for my entire life. While I understand you may think differently, that’s just where I am right now, until I get a chance to work through it. 

Which could take a little time. 

Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels.

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One reason for my disappointment is that the election of Donald Trump and a GOP majority in the Senate does not bode well for active transportation, which has frequently been targeted for cuts by Republicans.

But as bad as the national news is for some of us, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider says the news locally was much better.

Incredible contradictions last night.

Locally, @streetsforall candidates swept in Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and Culver City. Our candidates also won in CD10 and CD14. Incredible mandate for change and progress.

Nationally, I don’t have words. Many of our major regional…

— Michael Schneider (@schneider) November 6, 2024

I’m also pleased to report that former Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman will be my new representative in Congress, replacing newly elected California Senator Adam Schiff.

I am so grateful for the support of my community. Although we will inevitably disagree on some things, I will serve LA, CA & the US to the very best of my ability. I will listen to all voices & try to do the most good for the greatest number of people. This is my promise to you.

— Laura Friedman (@LauraFriedmanCA) November 6, 2024

Although Schiff was named as one of those “enemies within” that Trump has promised to go after, so things could get rocky going forward.

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Don’t plan on riding the full LA River bike path anytime soon.

Closing the eight-mile long gap through DTLA is now expected to cost a hefty $1 billion, with an anticipated completion date of sometime in your lifetime.

Or maybe the next.

November 2024 LA Metro update on LA River Path project. Draft EIR release in 2025 (previous plan was 2022). Estimated cost now $1b, built in phases. Complicated project with many government stakeholders and property owners. 46% of path will be elevated.https://t.co/mQDh6UQ54q https://t.co/ZlIhCtBu9P pic.twitter.com/vahXJtEbhN

— numble (@numble) November 7, 2024

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The Partnership For Active Travel and Health released an open letter calling on governments around the world to include walking and biking in their next round of climate commitments.

And they invite you to sign on.

The Partnership for Active Travel and Health (PATH) calls on national governments to commit to walking and cycling in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to reach climate goals and improve people’s health and lives.

Enabling more people to walk and cycle safely and to access public transport by foot and by bicycle can help cut transport emissions in half by 2030 and is a fast-track way to achieve progress on urgent climate goals and the Paris Agreement. Yet PATH’s groundbreaking research shows that walking and cycling are significantly undervalued in countries’ NDCs. Despite two-thirds of nations having active travel policies in place, there remains a pressing need for increased ambition, action, and investment in their climate commitments to fully unlock the benefits of walking and cycling.

PATH has launched a new set of knowledge tools and guidance to support national policymakers to compare and benchmark existing policies, build capacity, and adopt walking and cycling as part of their country’s climate commitments.

• The PATH’s Active Travel NDC Template offers a step-by-step guide with 20 actions to create effective policies, including interventions to create safe and accessible places to walk and cycle, public campaigns to shift mobility habits and embed walking and cycling into policy processes.
• The PATH Dashboard visualises data from PATH’s 2023 report National Policies for Walking and Cycling in all 197 UNFCCC countries. It offers an overview of the progress made by countries in integrating walking and cycling strategies into their policy frameworks and NDCs. It also facilitates direct comparisons between countries and pinpoints areas requiring additional investment and ambition.
• The PATH Walking and Cycling Regional Fact Sheets feature a comprehensive set of infographics analysing NDCs and walking and cycling policies across the six WHO- defined regions, detailing their objectives, actions, investments, and evaluations.

We urge countries to take full advantage of these tools to build walking and cycling into their climate commitments through the next round of NDCs submissions between November 2024 to February 2025, ahead of COP30 in Brazil.

PATH and its over 400 supporters stand ready to support national governments in this process.

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Apparently, ‘cross ain’t as new as we thought.

Mlle. Billot after winning a cyclocross race
February 14, 1925. pic.twitter.com/ydpPQJcTea

— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) November 5, 2024

 

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It’s now 322 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 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.   

An English writer says he set a personal best on a recent gravel ride — despite getting punched by a motorbike rider — but says the real lesson is why aggression shouldn’t be countered.

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

A Washington woman has filed a $10 million lawsuit against a bike rider who collided with her while doing the trail’s 15 mph speed limit.

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Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Calbike explains how to fight the ebike bikelash, while Kendra Ramsey explains why she’s a bike advocate. I could have answered that question last week; now I’m not so sure. 

Santa Barbara reached an agreement to build a 4,000-foot bike lane to complete a missing link in the city’s bike network; the plan will trade land for an easement, while sparing over half the trees originally planned for removal.

Santa Cruz shares the county’s best bike trails, for your next trip up at that way.

Seriously, who hasn’t gone bike surfing down a steep San Francisco street? Besides me, I mean. 

 

National

Bicycling says the jury is still out on whether biking will affect your sperm count. But they apparently don’t want you to know about it, since this one’s not available elsewhere if the magazine blocks you.

Momentum explains what makes a great bicycling city, while an unrelated slideshow rates the country’s best bike cities, with Portland predictably #1, followed by Washington DC and Philadelphia; San Diego rates 12th, while Los Angeles comes in at a very respectable 17th. Which is how you know it’s bs.

Next City says new research shows bike lanes save lives by slowing drivers at intersections.

An ambulance took an injured 71-year old Oregon man to the hospital — after the driver right-hooked him — then stuck him with an $1,862 bill for the ride; now he’s suing them for a cool million bucks.

More proof Americans want safer streets, as Seattle is on the verge of approving a transportation levy to provide nearly a half-billion dollars for Vision Zero, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements, by the same two-thirds margin that LA’s Measure HLA passed with.

I want to be like her when I grow up. An 80-year old Massachusetts woman says she’s not ready to give up bicycling 80 miles a week, despite her doctor’s advice following a fall.

Influencer Matt Choi has been banned for life from the New York Marathon, after finishing the course in under three hours while flanked by two riders on ebikes recording his run; they were accused of blocking other people competing in the race.

 

International

Bike Magazine lists the top ten North American cities for mountain biking.

A London writer goes from budding bike theft reporter to tracking down his own stolen bike, thanks to an Air Tag.

An editor for Cycling Weekly says banning bicycles from city centers, like Birmingham, England is doing, won’t stop illegal ebike use, but it will make it harder for everyone else.

Finally a reasonable sentence from the UK, where a stoned hit-and-run driver who killed a 59-year old man riding a bicycle was sentenced to a well-deserved six years and eight months behind bars.

Britain’s National Health Service will review its guidelines for prostate cancer testing, after Olympic cycling champ Sir Chris Hoy said younger men should be tested to prevent cases like his terminal cancer diagnosis.

A couple reporters for NPR visit Beijing from a seat of their bicycles.

Australia’s National Territory wants to tell you about five great bike rides in Canberra, for your next visit Down Under.

 

Competitive Cycling

Forty-year old four-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome says he’s coming back next year to give it one more try.

 

Finally…

If you’re carrying meth and drug paraphernalia on your bike, put a damn light on it — the bike, not the meth. Now you, too, can build your own pointlessly long mountain bike requiring rope reins to ride.

And nothing like a bridge designed to “enable sustainable transport and reduce car use,” which bans bicycles anyway.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin