BikinginLA

Day 141 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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The California legislature continues to make the sausage this year.

Or maybe not.

Momentum says California remains on-track for a “game-changing” new bike highways program.

Ventura Assemblymember Steve Bennett’s AB 954 would create a Caltrans pilot program in two parts of the state, instructing the agency to connect existing bikeways into bicycle highways.

If it passes, that is. Which is a big “if” right now, since it remains in the Appropriation Committee’s Suspense File.

Unfortunately, there’s no suspense about what happens if it doesn’t get out. Calbike has a quick email format to urge the committee chair to bring it up for a vote before it dies for this year.

Meanwhile, Calbike put out an urgent call to help get the Quick-Build Project Pilot Program out of committee before Friday, when it must either advance or die for the year.

Santa Monica Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur’s AB 891 instructs Caltrans to develop quick-build bike lane and intersection projects on state roadways to improve safety for people walking and on bicycles.

If it’s passed into law, Zbur’s bill would require that Caltrans speed up its glacial planning process, which can easily take years from inception to construction, no matter how desperately it’s needed.

Case in point, PCH, where we’re just now seeing a draft of possible improvements.

And possible improvements have never saved a single life.

Photo by Ján Števonka from Pixabay.

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He gets it.

Responding to the Boulder County, Colorado hit-and-run we mentioned yesterday, Velo’s Alvin Holbrook quotes The White Line Foundation in stressing that bicycling deaths are preventable.

Then he goes on to add,

Still, cyclists doing everything right can still be hit by a car. Reflective gear isn’t enough to prevent cyclists from being hit by cars, either.

Bike lanes are proven to make streets safer for everyone, and ensuring cyclists have proper infrastructure that protects them is the bare minimum.

Problem is, that’s exactly what too many places do, Los Angeles included.

The bare minimum.

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The annual Ride of Silence to remember fallen bicyclists will roll tonight, with local rides at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (scroll down) and in Koreatown.

You can find other locations on the Ride of Silence website, though not every ride leader registers with the site, so there may be other rides in your area.

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Streets For All is hosting their monthly virtual happy hour tonight, with City Attorney candidate Marissa Roy.

Personally, I’m voting for ABHFS — anyone but current LA CA Hydee Feldstein Soto.

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

Despite pleading poverty, San Francisco wasted no time in ripping out DIY neighborhood-installed safety improvements along the city’s popular Wiggle bike route, including benches, bike racks and planters installed less than a month ago.

Hats off to New York Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, who is doing her best to keep the streets of Brooklyn deadly by personally blocking new bike lanes in the borough, despite the high rate of bicyclists killed or seriously injured in the district.

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

Sad news from the UK, where a man in his 60s died over a month after he was struck by an ebike rider after stepping out from in front of a bus while crossing the street.

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Local 

He gets it. Colin Bogart, Active Transportation Director at Pasadena nonprofit Day One, says if you saw an ebike going any faster than 28 mph, it’s not an ebike — even if it had pedals.

You’re invited to celebrate the grand opening of Long Beach’s Artesia Great Boulevard Project on the last day of this month, featuring “family-friendly activities, a ceremonial ribbon cutting and a community bike ride.” Although you wouldn’t think they’d make it so hard to find the damn date. 

Streetsblog examines the new sidewalk-level curb-protected bike lanes on Long Beach Blvd in the eponymously named city.

 

State

Newport Beach gave the boot to bicycles, ebikes, pedicabs and motorized bikes from the sand on the beach, as well as any other assorted bikes, boards and scooters.

New protected bike lanes in Vista are just the latest to cause controversy in San Diego County, where the media seems to search high and low for people hating on any new bicycling improvements.

Bakersfield’s triathlete-favorite Finish Line bike shop is just the latest in the state to go belly-up.

Both a sidewalk memorial and a crowdfunding page are growing for the Santa Barbara man killed by an alleged drunk driver while riding his ebike home from work Sunday night; 29-year old Joel Gonzalez leaves behind a nine-year old daughter.

Showing an unusual degree of spine, Caltrans put its foot down and is adamant that new protected bike lanes will remain part of the repaving project for the Bay Area’s Tiburon Blvd, despite predictable opposition from the Belvedere city council.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a 76-year old man died in the hospital, eight days after he was struck by a heartless, cowardly hit-and-run driver while riding his bike; a 29-year old suspect was booked and released following the crash.

 

National

The famed Mayo Clinic offers moderately useful tips on how to avoid injuries on your bike, including all-time favorites like wear a helmet and don’t fall off.

US Senate Republicans are prepared to ignore the chamber’s parliamentarian to overturn waivers granted to California by the EPA, which enable the state to regulate emissions and fuel efficiency for gas-powered cars, and could cause chaos for carmakers if they were cancelled.

A Chattanooga, Tennessee man faces attempted murder charges after he came to a woman’s apartment to return her bicycle, then stabbed her in the chest, palm and thigh when he refused to leave.

 

International

Sarah Ruggins, a Canadian woman living in England, succeeded in her attempt to set a new record for biking up and down the full length of the UK, riding 1,677 miles from John O’Groats to Land’s End and back in five days, 11 hours and 14 minutes, despite suffering from a rare neurological disorder that left her unable to walk as a teen.

Anyone know good lawyer in the UK? A British doctor reportedly gave “false, outdated and misleading” information to a colleague just days before a 13-year-old girl died of sepsis, more than a month after the girl fell off her bike, injuring her pancreas.

Heartbreaking news from Palestine, where a beloved member of the Gaza Sunbirds paracycling team was killed in an Israeli strike on Khan Younis, ten years after losing his leg in another Israeli bombing.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mexico’s Isaac del Toro spent a second day in the pink Giro leader’s jersey, as Dutch cyclist Daan Hoole upset overwhelming favorite Josh Tarling to win the stage 10 time trial. Something tells me I’ll smile just as big every other day del Toro leads the race, too.

The Tour de France’s final stage ascent of Paris’ famed Montmartre promises plenty of spectacle, if nothing else.

Watch the elite classes of this year’s 2025 Unbound Gravel for free on the Life Time Grand Prix YouTube channel.

 

Finally…

That feeling when Wired rates bike helmets, which is kinda like Bicycling rating rack servers. Or when you set off on a fundraising ride around the world with only the most essential gear — like your pickleball paddle.

And how to ride a bike with your dogs — and how not to.

I tried to ride a bike with our corgi, but her feet didn’t reach the stoker’s pedals.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.