Welcome to the worldwide A Week Without Driving.
Or as I call it, Thursday.
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After ignoring bicycles since the last election cycle — pun intended — Los Angeles Mayor and Metro Board Chair Karen Bass made a theatrical production of signing a resolution dedicating a whopping $1 million for CicLAvia and other open streets events.
According to LA Magazine,
“As a lifelong biker and native Angeleno, I know how important open and slow streets events like CicLAvia are to our city and the L.A. region. These events connect communities, bring people together, support local businesses, and help us reimagine public spaces in the second-largest city in the country,” said Mayor Bass.
Which is enough to fund two — count ’em, two — CicLAvias. But it’s better than nothing, which is what Metro’s budget originally included.
And speaking of which, CicCLAvia returns to the Heart of Downtown on October 11th, celebrating 16 years and one day since the first one on 10-10-10.
And yes, I still have the T-shirt. But either it shrank, or I didn’t.
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On the last possible day for California bill signings, Gavin Newsom signed Encinitas Senator Catherine Blakespear’s SB 1167, defining the difference between ebikes and e-motos.
Which Streetsblog’s Damien Newton called the best of all the many ebike bills debated by the legislature this year.
Here’s how PeopleForBikes explained it.
SB 1167 establishes a clearer distinction between legal electric bicycles and higher-powered vehicles that are not e-bikes under California law. The legislation reinforces the state’s existing 750-watt and maximum speed limits for e-bikes while strengthening requirements for how e-bikes and other electric vehicles are labeled, marketed, sold, and operated.
Now let’s hope the cops and press read it, and stop confusing the two every chance they get.
Meanwhile, another bill signed by the governor places a 10 mph speed limit on sidewalks — presumably for ebikes and e-scooters, as well as regular bicycles — and allows local authorities to set speed limits on bike paths and trails.
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Fox News considers what sets America’s greenest cities apart, as WalletHub ranks Oakland, San Jose and San Francisco as the top three in a Bay Area sweep.
San Diego is the top SoCal city at six, followed by Irvine at eight. Meanwhile, Los Angeles checks in at a relatively lowly, and overrated, 24, with green Long Beach just two notches higher.
And what sets the greenest cities apart is they’re all in blue states, which probably isn’t what Fox News had in mind.
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Thanks to Megan for forwarding a flyer for a rally in memory of two bike riders killed on the same street on or near UC Davis, as she says the university “punts” on safety measures, as well as responsibility.
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And credit the very prolific Megan again with forwarding video of a student-led ride in Kragujevac, Serbia as they launch an anti-corruption campaign in advance of elections later this month.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here, as a TikTok user complains about being momentarily stuck behind two Colorado bicyclists riding in the roadway next to a “perfectly good” pathway, even though the bike riders aren’t doing a damn thing wrong, and he’s illegally filming them with a handheld phone.
@motorfeed Cyclists are so annoying. 🤡
No bias here, either, as Megan again forwards video of New York residents alarmed by a block completely taken over by ebikes, while failing to even notice the line of cars parked across the street.
Two real rocket scientists sharing an ebike in York, England recorded themselves assaulting a bike rider by trying to push him off his bicycle as they passed — apparently not realizing they were just creating evidence for their own prosecution.
But sometimes, it’s the person on two wheels behaving badly.
The woman hit by a bike rider near Boston University on Tuesday remains in critical condition, but is expended to survive with non-life-threatening injuries.
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Local
Nice to see our old friend Kent Strumpell in the pages of the Los Angeles Times, arguing that the best approach to bike networks is building them out as quickly as possible.
State
San Francisco Streetsblog reports a driver killed a pedestrian at an intersection where a fully funded safety project was supposed to be finished three years ago.
National
The bike counter on Seattle’s Fremont Bridge just hit 1 million trips so far this year.
A Washington State bike rider was found badly injured in the bushes next to the roadway, with “at least” six broken ribs, broken jaw, a broken eye socket, broken clavicle, several abrasions and a brain bleed, but the cops don’t think he was a hit-and-run victim, insisting he said there wasn’t a car involved, even though all he remembers is waking up in the hospital. Which is pretty fucked up for just falling at less than 12 mph.
Bicyclists want safer streets and expanded bike lanes in Louisville, Kentucky. Just like bike riders pretty much everywhere else.
New York’s city council considers a ridiculous 23 separate bills to rein in ebike riders, or “the scourge of lawless riders” plaguing the city, according to the Post. However, New York’s delivery riders just fear the bills will result in more police stops and racial profiling.
Around 60 bicyclists occupied one lane of DC’s Connecticut Ave during the morning rush hour to call for the protected bike lanes they were promised, until the mayor dropped the plan two years ago citing parking and access for emergency vehicles — even though an ambulance didn’t have any problem passing the protestors.
Speaking of DC, Trump’s plans to turn a popular public golf course into upscale PGA-caliber links could jeopardize a beachfront roadway popular with bicyclists and runners by extending the course to the water’s edge.
New Orleans will offer rebates up to $1,000 on ebike purchases, with the first round limited to 100 people.
International
A London bicyclist records a taxi driver squeezing past him on busy Oxford Street, which is set to be pedestrianized later this month.
A British pro cycling site offers a guide to Nova Scotia’s nearly 200-mile Cabot Trail, saying it appears to be ideal for bicycling until you consider the steep grades. Which is the same problem I had with freshman algebra.
Taiwan’s Minister of Transportation and Communications biked a part of the island’s 633-mile Cycling Route No. 2 with other government officials, which differs from Cycling Route No. 1 in allowing people to ride at their own pace. No shit.
Road.cc considers why the West wants Chinese mountain bikes, and the Chinese want Western ones.
Competitive Cycling
Slovakian National Team masseur Vladimir Kovacik evidently rubbed pros the right way, saying many top cyclists came up to congratulate him for making it through the first 100 kilometers of the men’s elite road race at the recent World Championships, after he was pressed into service when none of the team members was able to make it to the starting line.
What do WorldTour cyclists think of Artificial Intelli…excuse me, Super Intelligence? We may never know, since I refuse to pay extra on top of my NY Times subscription to get The Athletic, otherwise known as the Time’s sports section.
Finally…
Now you, too, can bid on an actual replica bike owned by the late, great Pee-Wee Herman and his adult theater-wanking alter-ego, Paul Ruebens. New York’s plan to stop homeless people from cycling between the streets and hospitals apparently has nothing to do with transportation.
And shaming the Eveready Bunny by signing a new pro contract at 50.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
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