BikinginLA

Sorry for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

I was pretty out of it from the effects of my meds Tuesday night — don’t even ask me how many tranquilizing pharmaceutical I take on a daily basis — and facing an early medical appointment yesterday. 

So like Brave Sir Robin, I bravely gave up and ran away to get some sleep. 

I’m just glad I’m not driving these days. And so is everyone else, whether or not they know it. 

Today’s photo is a bike coral outside a building on 3rd Street in West Hollywood.

And while I appreciate the gesture, the racks are so close to the building they’re virtually useless, allowing you to lock up the wheel of your choice, while thieves make off with the rest of your bike. 

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Christopher Bryant was formally arraigned for the hit-and-run death of 54-year old occupational therapist Lori Ann Carreon as she rode bike back to her home in Long Beach’s Bluff Park neighborhood.

The 40-year old Bryant was charged with felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, hit-and-run resulting in death and reckless driving.

Prosecutors allege he ran a stop sign at Second Street and Redondo Avenue on Feb. 7, then sped away without stopping. Bryant turned himself in three days later, after calling the police dispatcher the next day to confess, giving himself plenty of time to sober up.

If he was under the influence, that is, which he hasn’t been accused of.

Bryant was released on a mere $50,000 bond. Once again demonstrating just how un-seriously the courts take traffic crime.

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That’s strike one in Joe Linton’s lawsuit against Metro and Los Angeles, alleging the transit agency violated Measure HLA by leaving out the bike lanes promised under the mobility plan from the semi-Complete Street makeover of the Vermont Ave corridor.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled against the administrative portion of Linton’s three-part lawsuit, dismissing the allegation that the city’s HLA ordinance undermines HLA as passed by voters.

However, that still leaves the main part of his suit standing, alleging that Past Vermont Avenue service road resurfacing should have triggered HLA, and that future Vermont Avenue bus (BRT) improvements should trigger HLA.

Here is how he explains it.

Chunks 1 and 2, if I win, will result in on-the-ground changes on Vermont Avenue. Chunk 3 is basically about the city’s ordinance (approved in 2025) that specifies the internal processes to administer HLA: who can appeal, when, how. When HLA was approved by voters it did not specify a deadline for when an individual could file an HLA lawsuit against the city, so people effectively had three years to file a lawsuit when a city project appears to not comply with HLA. Under the ordinance, people now have 30 days to file a city-level appeal, then if that appeal is denied (to date the city Board of Public Works has fully denied 22 of 24 appeals, and partially approved just two – conceding HLA was triggered but denying new bike and walk infrastructure), the appellant has only six months to file a lawsuit.

The city ordinance restricts HLA lawsuits; only people who appeal a project in the first 30 days can file a lawsuit later.

If the whole damn thing is hard to understand, I think that’s part of the point. The city process was written to make it hard to file an appeal, and even harder to file a lawsuit under the city’s interpretation of the measure.

So let’s all give Linton a round of thanks for undertaking this process, and fighting a process that most of us can’t even understand.

Or maybe it’s just me.

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A winded Cincinnati cop tries, and fails, to catch a scofflaw on a bicycle, in a battle royal caught on video.

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

San Diego’s mayor suggested balancing the budget on the backs of bike riders, cutting a number of proposed bike projects to address the city’s red ink.

A British letter writer calls for license plates and charging “road tax” — which no longer exists in the country — to “either moronic, uncaring or uneducated cyclists.” So if you don’t fit in any of those categories, carry on, evidently.

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

You’ve got to be kidding. A Florida woman was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for throwing a couple beer bottles at a toddler who kindly came over to check on her after she fell off her bike; she told sheriff’s deputies that she thought she was being attacked. Yes, by a toddler.

A Polish bike thief tried to make his getaway by joining a breakaway, attempting to escape the cops by blending in with the peloton in a local bike race — then standing out by catching, and briefly joining, the leaders.

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Local 

Los Angeles is considering a ban on ebikes on all equestrian, hiking and recreational trails, allowing them only on paths specifically intended for bicycling. And as usual, they seem to be lumping all ebikes together, from ped-assist bicycles to illegal dirt bikes.

West Hollywood Sheriff’s deputies will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian traffic safety operation from 5 am to 3 pm on Monday, ticketing any violation that could put anyone in either group at risk, regardless of who commits it. Which is the definition of a legal traffic operation, without biased enforcement. 

You may not be able to ride a bike with LA’s ostensibly bike-riding mayor, but Saturday you can ride with the mayor of Culver City to mark Earth Month.

A Portland, Oregon man is making a second attempt to complete a 1,320-mile ride down the Pacific Coast, five years after he was nearly killed by a Los Angeles driver, leaving him with a broken leg, shoulder, 10 broken ribs and punctured lungs; a crowdfunding campaign has raised less than $500 of the modest $1,300 goal to pay for expenses.

 

State

Calbike applauds California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s efforts to alert consumers to the difference between legal ebikes and faster, and somewhat less legal, e-motorbikes, but says now we need some actual enforcement.

A 14-year old boy was seriously injured when he was left-crossed by a driver in the Encanto area of San Diego, suffering a broken ankle, brain bleeds and other injuries. Although someone should tell San Diego’s Fox 5 News that a dirt bike is not a bicycle.

A 77-year old man was seriously injured when he fell off his ebike in San Diego’s Oak Park neighborhood, and struck his helmetless head on the pavement.

La Mesa will honor basketball Hall of Famer and noted bicyclist Bill Walton by naming an honorary street near his old high school after him. Because they certainly wouldn’t want to go to the trouble of actually renaming an actual street or anything. 

Fresno County residents turned in over 30,000 signatures to qualify the “Better Roads, Safe Streets” measure for the county ballot, which would increase the sales tax by half a percent, dedicating 65% to fixing local roads, 25% for public transit, 4% for innovative transportation and 5% to regional projects, including the Fresno airport; it would also commit to building 120 miles of bike lanes.

A San Francisco driver was caught on video pulling his Mercedes out from the curb cutting off a bike rider, then zooming to the corner and right-hooking a man riding a bicycle in the parking-protected bike lane — and then just keeps on going, leaving the victim lying in the street.

Scraper bikes are still a thing in Oakland. But apparently, only if you’re in Oakland.

Caltrans has lowered the speed limit from 55 mph to 45 mph on a five-mile stretch of PCH in Monterey County to improve safety. Which makes you wonder why they can’t do the same thing in Malibu, where the casualty count continues to rise. 

Sad news from ostensibly bike-friendly Davis, where a 20-year old UC Davis student was killed by a driver while riding his bicycle near campus.

 

National

Tune in, turn on and ride a “gorgeous” bike in honor of Albert Hoffman on Bicycle Day this Sunday.

Seattle will host an open streets event nearly every weekend this summer, banning cars from the city’s Lake Washington Blvd from Friday evening to Monday morning every weekend but one, from Memorial Day through Labor Day.

No, you don’t have to press the pedestrian button anymore at one Fayetteville, Arkansas intersection.

A Vanderbilt University survey shows that 71% of Nashville residents are in favor of more bike lanes.

Tragic news from Cape Cod, where an 86-year old man was killed by the driver of a box truck while riding a bicycle. Anyone still riding a bike at that age deserves better. Then again, so does anyone else. 

New York proposes a crosstown, river-to-rive protected bike lane, connecting key bikeways in Manhattan.

A New Orleans letter writer calls for curb-protected bike lanes to protect riders from dangerous drivers — and says people from outside the city can sue the city for more than $75,000 for dangerous roadway design if they’re injured biking on city streets, which could force the city to do something.

A Florida man is accused of driving over 80 mph with a BAC over twice the legal limit when he struck and killed a 31-year old man riding a bicycle last July; he faces a charge of DUI manslaughter.

 

International

This is who we share the road with. A 19-year old Ontario man offered a passenger in his truck $100,000 to lie for him, and claim they were behind the wheel when he killed someone on an ebike after drinking.

Almost 81,000 people went to the ER in the Netherlands due to bicycling crashes last year, up 25% from a decade ago.

A German writer gets pulled over in Switzerland for using his cellphone while riding and letting his nine-year old son ride a bike in the street, without actually ever getting pulled over.

Delhi, Dhaka and Accra, India are building bike lanes for the people they want to encourage to ride bicycles in wealthier areas, rather than protecting the low-income people who already do.

No more holding an umbrella while you ride in Japan, although it will only cost you the equivalent of 31 bucks.

South Australia’s top traffic cop is facing an internal police investigation for the crime of taking a selfie while riding on a suburban street, and posting it to his Strava account. Which is apparently a no-no Down Under. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-three-year old Spanish cyclist Jaume Guardeno remains in critical condition in intensive care, two weeks after he was struck by a driver while on a training ride following March’s Volta a Catalunya stage race; he had been on track to lead his Caja-Rural cycling team in the Tour de France.

Cycling scion Taylor Phinney may have been out of the game for a few years, but he’s planning to make a comeback in track cycling for the ’28 LA Olympics, aiming for team pursuit.

A 27-year old Utah special ed teacher has made the rare transition from Indiana University’s Little 500 to a wild card entry at this year’s Life Time Grand Prix series, starting with this week’s Sea Otter Classic gravel race.

 

Finally…

The surprising joys of getting ‘bent. Your next bike could be a Ralph Lauren — as long as you don’t mind riding downhill on level ground.

And now you, too, can have your very own slightly worn yellow jersey.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.