Archive for bikinginla

Driver backs over Brit bike rider, Bay Area bicyclist erases BLM message, and Willis, Hart and Usher are one of us, too

August 4, 2020 / / Comments Off on Driver backs over Brit bike rider, Bay Area bicyclist erases BLM message, and Willis, Hart and Usher are one of us, too

The joys of puppyhood.

Our teething new corgi puppy jumped up to give me a kiss, then snatched my glasses off my face and ran off with them before I could stop her Monday night.

So if I miss any major typos in today’s post, blame trying to see through a badly chewed lens.

That said, it’s a light news day, so let’s jump right in.

Today’s photo, the new intern discovers how it must feel when Godzilla destroys Tokyo.

And my glasses. 

………

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

A British bike rider suffered significant injuries when a road raging driver backed over him in a deliberate attack.

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

A Concorde man stopped his bike to repeatedly erase a chalk sidewalk message in support of Black Lives Matter, telling the woman who wrote it not to “deface” the sidewalks of his neighborhood. Even though it’s her neighborhood, too. And in front of her house.

……..

Local

Bruce Willis is one of us, and back in Brentwood after isolating in Idaho with his family.

Kevin Hart and very pregnant wife Eniko are both one of us, too. And so is their yet-to-be-born kid.

Usher is one of us, as he buys a bike rack for his Tesla. And has it mounted in front of a WeHo fetish shop that should be familiar to anyone who rides Santa Monica Blvd.

South Pasadena will vote on the city’s draft bike plan at tomorrow’s council meeting; comments are due by noon Wednesday.

Take an augmented reality tour of the LA River.

 

State

A San Francisco family financed their dream of moving to Washington’s Whidbey Island by riding bikes, walking and taking public transit.

 

National

Bicycling talks to several long-distance bike tourers about what gear they take along for the ride. And offers advice on bicycling through National Parks. You can read the full story without Bicycling’s draconian new paywall on Yahoo.

Bicycling also offers a refresher course on how to use hand signals while riding a bike. No, not that one.

An Air Force squadron commander was killed, and two others wounded, when they were somehow run over by the driver of their own support vehicle while on a 155-mile Alaskan bike tour. Yet a local radio station doesn’t even mention there was a driver.

It takes a major asshole — and I use that term advisedly — to paint racist white power phrases on a bike path near a Las Vegas high school. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

A pair of BYU football coaches offer inspirational tidbits while riding their bikes to work.

The former president of Smartwool died of a heart attack while riding his mountain bike near Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Riding Arkansas’ High Country Route though a bikepacker’s paradise.

No longer the “mistake by the lake,” a rejuvenated Cleveland now offers a 58-mile Emerald Necklace bike loop from the shore of Lake Erie to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

Boston put out a call for proposals to see how e-cargo bikes could fit into the city’s delivery landscape.

A 14-year old New Jersey boy with cerebral palsy is more than halfway to his goal of raising $18,000 for a Kosher retreat and hospital for children with cancer and physical or developmental disabilities by riding his recumbent 80 miles in a charity ride.

 

International

British sales figures put a number on the coronavirus bike boom, with a 63% increase in bike sales during the lockdown period. Meanwhile, British farmers are being warned to watch out for an unusual plethora of bikes on the roads.

Business Insider goes inside the world’s largest bicycle garage in The Netherlands.

Talk about taking the scenic route. A Moroccan man traveled four years through 26 African countries to attend the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, starting on foot before buying a bicycle along the way.

A Ghanan woman is working to empower women and help children get an education by building low-cost, environmentally sustainable bamboo bicycles, planting ten new bamboo stalks for every one she cuts down.

Competitive Cycling

Chris Froome hopes the delay in this year’s Tour de France will aid his hopes for that elusive record-tying fifth yellow jersey. Even though he who must not be mentioned won seven, before he didn’t.

 

Finally…

If you don’t have work to commute to these days, just turn your foldie into a fishing bike. And when you’re white, riding a bike while falling down drunk and carrying a loaded gun, chances are, white cops probably aren’t being racist by arresting your ass.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Climate mayors call for 15 minute cities, thief ransacks Anaheim bike room, and trade your privacy for Road ID discount

August 3, 2020 / / One comment

A report from the C40 Cities group promotes the new Paris model of putting all necessities within a 15 minute biking or walking distance.

The climate group, currently led by LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, encourages the model as a response to municipal budgets ravaged by Covid-19.

Which makes it worth noting that the “world’s climate mayor” is doing nothing of the sort in his own city, except for encouraging greater density.

Which is problematic in itself, after a number of current and former city officials have been implicated in a bribery scheme to approve building projects.

As we’ve noted before, cities around the world have taken advantage of the lighter traffic brought on by the pandemic to make temporary, and sometimes permanent, changes to encourage more biking and walking.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, has done absolutely nothing outside of the Downtown area, where Councilmember Jose Huizar has been a driving force behind a move to Complete Streets.

He is also charged with being the ringleader behind the bribery scheme.

Which pretty much sums up the current state of the city.

………

A bike thief was caught on video ransacking an Anaheim building’s bike room. Which is exactly why I don’t recommend using them.

Bike rooms give the illusion of security while providing an enticing target for thieves. Better to find space in your home to keep your bikes inside.

And register your damn bike already.

https://twitter.com/lemusss29/status/1287897963927281664

………

Road ID is offering half off to VIP members starting tomorrow — if you’re willing to sacrifice your privacy to become one by signing up for texts.

I wear mine every time I ride my bike. And any other time I leave home.

But I also prefer to maintain a little privacy, and not get spammed with commercial messages every time I look at my phone.

………

Kiss guitarist Paul Stanley is one of us.

Orlando Bloom is one of us, too.

………

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

No surprise here, as Oregon bike riders report a rising tide of road rage incidents in recent months. Everyone is stressed because of the coronavirus and the resulting restrictions, which means too many drivers will end up taking it out on us.

Seriously? A moonlighting Arizona cop says he felt his life was threatened by a mountain biker who ignored no trespassing signs at a golf course while looking for a formerly accessible trailhead — so he tackled the rider off his bike and pulled a loaded gun on him during the scuffle, while insisting the victim somehow lunged off his bike at him.

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

Chicago police appear stumped about why a man on a bike shot and killed a Rastafarian community activist, though conservatives are quick to blame his surprising support for Donald Trump for his murder.

A New York bike rider went on a racist and homophobic obscenity-laced rant after an Asian driver honked at him, then faked an injury claiming the driver hit his “$11,000 bike.”

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CDTvX1UhjFe/?utm_source=ig_embed

……..

Local

Metro Bike is offering a bikeshare relief program through this month, with discounted passes ranging from a single $1 ride or 24-hour pass, to a $100 pass for a full year.

LA-area streets are being reimagined as outdoor dining spaces; the question is whether it will last post-pandemic. Actually, the real question is why we can find street space for restaurant patrons, but we can’t manage to find any for bike lanes.

KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis talks with Lex Roman, author of a guide to where to vote and how government works, about how you can become a more civically engaged Angeleno. Because most of us need to.

 

State

Encinitas has finished work on protected bike lanes and other infrastructure improvements, including mosaic art panels designed by local students and artists

Groups of wheelie-popping teens are ignoring the dismount signs on Santa Barbara’s newly pedestrianized State Street.

The Bay Area’s East Bay Times recommends more than a dozen “great, scenic bike trails” crisscrossing the region.

Yreka’s Leslie Burley-Cobb has been nominated for the BMX Hall of Fame; she was one of the first women in the sport in the late ’70s, collecting 268 trophies before she retired in 1985. Raise your hand if you knew there even was a BMX Hall of Fame. And yes, mine are firmly in my pockets. 

 

National

A Harvard professor is nearing the end of his cross-country bike ride to call attention to Black Lives Matter and Black Birders Week.

A writer for Gizmodo says riding an ebike has changed her entire perspective on how we get around.

Yahoo Life! says you don’t need bike shorts or clip-in shoes for these “cute” commuter bikes. Then again, you don’t need them for any other bikes, either.

“Beloved” international security expert and self-defense trainer Dave Acosta was killed in a Utah mountain biking crash last week.

Beloit, Wisconsin’s Bike Elves program has refurbished and given away 5,380 bicycles over the last nine years, after being founded by a man suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s.

An Illinois driver is being held on $1 million bail for reckless homicide after killing one bike rider and critically injuring another while fleeing from police.

Minnesota has found a used for abandoned mine pits by converting them to 30 miles of mountain bike trails.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A well-known Memphis minister died after being taken off life support following a bicycling collision last week.

The worldwide bike boom continues, as Boston bike shops are running out of bicycles.

Now that’s more like it. The New York Times offers tips on how to stay safe on mass transit — and includes bikeshare as a recommended alternative.

Drive-in movies are popping up all over New York; bike-in movies, not so much.

A New York novelist says riding through the pandemic has changed her perspective of the city.

 

International

Road.cc previews the bike tech trends for next year.

Rapha was justifiably criticized for water bottles printed with a message that could lead to eating disorders if anyone actually followed it.

After a London cabbie posted photos of Dutch parents riding their kids to school on cargo bikes, sarcastically asking if that’s really the kind of morning school run people want to see, the public responded with a resounding “Yes.”

A Croatian expat living in London says helmets, Lycra and flashing lights have become part of his new reality exploring the city by bike in the wake of the coronavirus lockdown.

Five Northern England bicycle trails to add to your bike bucket list. Unless maybe you’d rather combine beer and bikes on five trails surrounding Prague in the Czech Republic. I’ll take both, thank you. And they make some pretty decent beer in the UK, too.

The Irish Times recounts 12 reasons to start riding a bike, almost all of which apply equally well on this side of the Atlantic.

Take a nearly 1,250 mile ride over trees and beneath the water on the trails of the Belgian home of stinky cheese.

Bicyclists have been unofficially banned from the highways of Jalandhar, India, even though it’s legal to ride there; despite the law, riders are being told to stay off the roads following the death of a bike rider.

A Philippines foundation is changing lives one bicycle at a time by donating mountain bikes to people struggling to hold onto their jobs in the face of the pandemic.

Red Bull Australia picks their ten favorite gravel bike shoes, as well as eleven cycling jerseys that apparently don’t care where you wear them.

Competitive Cycling

Dutch cyclist Ellen Van Dijk won the Strade Bianche gravel race on a bike borrowed from a teammate, after her Trek-Segafredo team was struck by thieves the night before the race. Meanwhile, Wout van Aert won on the men’s side.

Former Tour de France winner Vincenzo Nibali suffered an injured hand in the Strade Bianche, just one of the 124 cyclists who abandoned the race in 104° temperatures out of the 166 who started; only 45 cyclists finished the women’s race.

 

Finally…

High-end bike options for people who have more dollars than sense, and are willing to part with a lot of the former.

And don’t dare ride a whole six miles below the speed limit after lunch with you mom.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Father seeks witness in Irvine bike crash, powerful look at race and bicycling, and more on the lack of UC accessibility

July 31, 2020 / / Comments Off on Father seeks witness in Irvine bike crash, powerful look at race and bicycling, and more on the lack of UC accessibility

The father of Barbora Kabatova, the 26-year old woman killed riding her bike near the Jeffrey Road connection to the 405 Freeway is begging anyone with information to come forward to help find justice for her.

I am trying to find any witness of this tragic accident.
Any camera on the ground or on the car, anyone biking, driving, walking around when this has happen.
Are there any witnesses do you know someone who witnessed this?
This is big intersection there must have been many people around.
I am desperate. Please help.
Juraj Kabat
Barbora’s dad

Seriously, if you know anything, share it with the police.

Before they find a way to blame the victim for causing her own death.

……..

Biking While Black seems to be the ongoing theme of the week, as a familiar LA face took over Bicycling for a much-needed conversation about race.

And the magazine has lowered its new paywall on these important stories so everyone can read them.

The founder of Atlanta’s Civil Bikes says there’s a tremendous untold story of Black people on bikes.

A product development quality engineer at SRAM describes growing up surrounded by bias, which didn’t change when he started winning races, saying the more he won, the bigger barriers he faced.

The cofounder of Pedal 2 the People describes what it’s like, and what it means, to never see Black people like her riding bicycles.

A pro cyclist for B&B Hotels–Vital Concept argues that racism in pro cycling should be treated like doping violations, saying no one ever faced consequences for the slurs he encountered from competitors in the peloton.

The founder of Black Girls Do Bike says if you love bicycling, you need to have uncomfortable conversations about race.

The Director of Mobility for the Oakland Mayor’s Office dreams of a day when he can just stick to bicycling without having to worry about anything else, noting there are challenges Black people face riding through any space that others don’t. Seriously, anyone who poses for a national bike magazine holding a corgi is more than okay in my book.

The owner of LA’s Ride On! Bike Shop/Co-op describes being stopped by Beverly Hills cops because he “fit a description;” in other words, he was Black and on a bike.

According to the co-director of PGM ONE Summit, claiming bicycling is colorblind doesn’t help anyone because bikes may not discriminate, but the people on them do.

LA’s own Nelson Vails, the first African American to medal in Olympic cycling, tells a somewhat different story, saying he never felt discrimination in his racing career, but Black Lives Matter opened his eyes to the need to rase the bar on equality.

Ayesha McGowan, America’s first Black women’s pro cyclist, says it’s exhausting making people in white spaces comfortable with her blackness.

The founder of the Level Up Cycling Movement questions how something as innocent as riding a bicycle can make another human being feel discarded, saying she was treated like she didn’t exist when she started riding.

Former LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler offers advice on how to become anti-racist, on or off your bike. And explains on her own site how this extraordinary edition came together, and why it was necessary.

At this point, it shouldn’t surprise anyone to know that Black bike riders are stopped by police far more often than white riders, and face a much higher risk when they are.

Meanwhile, PeopleForBikes shares their commitment to rooting out racism in the bicycling industry. Maybe they can tackle the industry’s blatant sexism while they’re at it.

………

Another reminder that the UC system isn’t accessible until it’s accessible to all.

https://twitter.com/AccessUc/status/1288904877628772353

………

Regardless of politics, some things just aren’t right. In Portland, New York, or anywhere else.

………

We missed this one earlier in the week, as we lost the last living link to old Hollywood. Along with a truly iconic bike rider.

………

Evidently, motorized scooters are nothing new.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for forwarding the tweet.

………

Thanks to Adam Ginsberg for sending what instantly became my favorite email of the week.

I’ll look forward to trying the same thing with our new four-footed intern.

After all, if she’s going to work for a bike site, she needs to know what it’s like, right?

………

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

A Coachella man will face charges for jumping out of his car and shooting at a group of bike riders, for unknown reasons. Thankfully, his aim seems to suck. Thanks to Victor Bale and Phillip Young for the heads-up. 

A Utah man faces a murder charge for allegedly running over his roommate as the other man was riding his bicycle. Maybe next time, don’t leave your license plate behind at the crash scene. Just a suggestion.

Anti-bike vigilantes are accused of ripping out the plastic ballards protecting a British bike lane. Although a thin, bendable plastic post doesn’t offer much protection anyway.

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

Riverside County deputies busted a cruiser bike-riding man for sexually assaulting a woman on a Temecula bike path.

……..

Local

LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds worries that LA traffic may be worse than ever post-pandemic. Or maybe not, because an economic collapse could mean fewer people can afford to drive. Although both of those problems could be helped with the sort of bikeways other cities are building, but LA isn’t.

Yelp maps out all things bicycle in the City of Angels. As long as your idea of Los Angeles doesn’t extend more than a few blocks south of I-10, or east of the LA River. Thanks to Brandi D’Amore for the tip. 

The Glendale City Council will discuss plans for the Verdugo Wash in an online meeting starting at 6 pm this Tuesday; if you live or ride in the city, let them know what you think.

Pasadena police are planning yet another bike and pedestrian safety operation next Friday, ticketing any violations that endanger bike riders or pedestrians, regardless of who does it. As always, plan to ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

 

State

Seriously? San Diego business owners worry about plans for a socially distanced bicycle scavenger hunt that promises to bring more customers to their community, because they’re unsure about coronavirus protocols. But people coming in cars are perfectly fine, apparently.

The kindhearted members of an Oxnard hip hop organization raised $750 to replace a bike stolen from a 15-year old member of the group.

A pair of coastal bike paths north of Ventura will close for construction this weekend; one will close during the day, while the other will just see overnight closures.

San Francisco opens a new one-third mile, two-way protected cycle track across the Lefty O’Doul Bridge, improving connections with a nearby protected bikeway. Which is exactly what Los Angeles should be doing, but isn’t.

 

National

Essence explains why everyone on your timeline is riding a bike right now. Hint: It’s fun. And good for you. 

Business is thriving for the owner of a Denver coffee bike, after he lost his other job to the pandemic.

A Colorado mountain biker recommends criding — crying while riding a bike — to maintain your sanity in these trying times. Which may just be my new favorite word. Although indignorant is still pretty hard to top.

A Pittsburgh writer says slowing traffic and improving safety on city streets will actually make them more dangerous for kids. No, really.

Former New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin is one of us. Although he may wish he wasn’t right now, after another rider clipped his wheel, leaving him with four fractured ribs, a punctured lung and a bleeding head wound.

New York’s Westchester County considers mandating bike helmets for all bike riders. Apparently attempting to drive down bicycling rates while doing little to actually improve safety. Or at least that’s been the experience in other places that have done it.

 

International

A British Columbia woman is looking for two Good Samaritans and a cop who helped save her life following a crash just days into a cross-country bike tour.

Now there’s a first. London police are asking bike riders to wear helmet cams to help them catch and prosecute dangerous drivers.

The UK’s new focus on bicycling gives local residents the power to close streets to through traffic, as well as prohibiting local governments from building substandard bike lanes. Thanks to Ralph Durham for the link.

Nearly a hundred bike riders died on the streets of Great Britain last year, which represents an improvement of exactly one, as the fatality rate dropped from 99 to 98.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to drive drunk through a drive through, at least secure your bike and fix your flat tire — and maybe leave the machete at home. It may not the best idea to take a shortcut by riding through a shooting range.

And always practice good social distancing when dining.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Biking While Black: Violently arrested buying bike in Walmart, kid manhandled by cops, and man detains bike-riding teen

July 30, 2020 / / 2 comments

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.

You know I’m having a bad night when I can’t even manage to post something to say I won’t be posting anything. 

………

A preliminary hearing has been postponed in the case of the Pennsylvania man violently wrestled to the ground and arrested for the crime of…wait for it…Biking While Black.

In Walmart.

And legally paying for the bike he’d been test riding as a gift for his kid.

In the video, you can hear him repeatedly asking why he was being arrested, and insisting that he had paid for the bike.

Security camera video shows him riding up and down the aisles without posing a danger to anyone; the only visible risk in the video comes from a woman who pushed her shopping cart into a man.

He was also accused of shouting obscenities at other shoppers, though witnesses at the scene reported that he was simply exuberantly wishing them a good day.

Apparently, that’s a crime now.

If you’re black, anyway.

………

Speaking of Biking While Black, a pair of New Jersey cops are under fire for manhandling a 15-year old kid during a bicycle flash mob, apparently for the crime of riding a bike in an annoying manner.

………

And while we’re on the subject, a Florida man faces charges for illegally detaining a 15-year old Black teenager who was just riding his bike to basketball practice.

………

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

Milwaukee police are looking for a bike-riding man who fatally shot a Black Rastafarian Trump supporter.

A group of Chicago bikeshare riders were caught on security cam carjacking an 82-year old man.

A British hit-and-run bike rider will face charges of manslaughter and causing bodily harm by wanton and furious driving for a collision with a pedestrian.

Cyclists in Ghana are keeping fit by riding in the midst of Covid-19.

……..

Local

Construction is underway on the new Elysian Valley walk/bike bridge connecting Frogtown to the upcoming Taylor Yards project.

Cal Matters says no, Los Angeles and other cities aren’t playing Big Brother by tracking dockless ebikes and scooters.

 

State

The national president of insurance brokerage firm Hub International died of a heart attack while riding his bike, apparently in San Diego; David Reich was just 50 years old.

It’s not unusual to find things while riding a bicycle, although a driver’s severed foot following a violent collision in Templeton is another matter.

Tragic news from the Bay Area, where a ten-year old boy was killed by an Amazon delivery driver while riding his bike in Lafayette.

 

National

A competition to design better protected bike lane barriers resulted in a number of innovative designs; the winning entry converts recycled car tires into planters to create an effective barrier any city can afford.

Gear Junkie explains how to pump up a bike tire in nine easy steps. Or you could just get a pump that matches your valve stem, and fill the damn thing. 

After spending the last five months indoors, a writer for Vox says maybe Peloton isn’t so bad.

Now that’s more like it. Portland is fining the feds $500 for every 15 minutes they illegally keep unpermitted fencing blocking a bike lane.

A Montana columnist says maybe bad drivers should get a time out.

After some jerk stole a seven-year old boy’s bicycle, kindhearted Arkansas cops stepped up to give him a new one, along with a birthday parade.

Hundreds of Chicago bike riders turned out for a Ride Against Racism.

Tragic news from a Chicago suburb, where one bike rider was killed and another critically injured when a driver fleeing police slammed into them.

They get it. A New Hampshire letter writer says don’t blame the new bike lane for a bike rider getting doored, blame the driver.

A group of unruly Long Island teenagers are accused to harassing people at a gym, before riding their bikes to Wendy’s and throwing drinks at other customers.

New York’s dockless moped company Revel shut down after a second rider was killed in just ten days.

 

International

They get it, too. The UK is creating a new government agency with a five-year budget equivalent to $2.57 billion to promote active transportation and improve cycle and pedestrian infrastructure across the country; the agency is as much about improving health as it is curbing pollution.

No surprise here, as a British program offering vouchers worth the equivalent of $65 to get bikes repaired proved so popular it crashed the website on the first day.

British bikemaker Raleigh is introducing a line of bakfiets-style e-cargo bikes.

A pair of women from Great Britain now officially hold the record for the fastest circumnavigation of the world by tandem bike.

A British paper asks who was in the right when a turning driver left crossed a Boston bike rider, even though they both had the green light — forgetting that a vehicle going straight always has the right-of-way over a turning vehicle.

The family behind Ferrari is getting into the ebike business by investing in Belgian bikemaker Cowboy.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Bike League introduced the new Kittie Knox award for equity, diversity and inclusion in bicycling, with the award going to Ayesha McGowan, the first Black American woman’s pro cyclist. Although someone should tell them it won’t be an annual award until they do it again next year.

Three-time Austrian Olympic cyclist Johann Lienhart got a ten-year ban for helping his triathlete son dope. Evidently, the family that dopes together stays together. But seriously, the era of doping is over, right?

 

Finally…

Your next Yamaha could have pedals and climb hills. Why buy a bike when you can buy the entire company?

And stealing a lousy $72 from Burger King seems like a waste of a perfectly good getaway bike.

………

Meet the newest member of the BikinginLA team.

Our new intern is taking awhile to get up to speed after joining us on Monday. But she should be able to contribute more once she learns to stop pooping inside. 

You can follow her new adventures in Hollywood, if you’re so inclined. 

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

59-year old man killed riding bike in Fontana collision; Adolph “Ray” Trujillo was the 9th SoCal bike death this month

July 30, 2020 / / 2 comments

This has got to stop.

Southern California streets keep claiming more victims, as traffic rebounds to pre-lockdown levels with little or no accommodation for the jump in bike riding in recent months.

The latest victim was a popular Fontana barber who was killed by a driver late Sunday night.

According to a notice from the San Bernardino County Coroner, 59-year old Fontana resident Adolph “Ray” Trujillo was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike in 1600 block of Baseline Ave around 11:50 pm.

He died at the scene less than 15 minutes later.

The Fontana Herald News offers a little more detail, placing the crash near the intersection of Baseline and Juniper Avenues in Fontana.

According to the paper, Trujillo was riding east on Baseline when he was somehow run down by an 18-year old driver.

There’s no word on which direction the driver was going, or just how the crash may have occurred.

Baseline is a six-lane divided roadway with bike lanes in both directions, with wide, straight highway-like lanes where drivers could easily exceed the 45 mph speed limit, particularly at that late hour.

This is at least the 37th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County. It’s also the ninth SoCal bicycling death this month alone, and the 13th in the last two months.

Something has to be done now to stop this rising tide of traffic violence.

Because Ray Trujillo deserved better.

And do we all.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Adolph “Ray” Trujillo and all his loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Enough! A fight for full accessibility and inclusive bicycling at UC Davis and the University of California system

July 28, 2020 / / 2 comments

Recently I’ve been trading messages with former South Pasadena resident Megan Lynch, as she struggles with the challenges of being a disabled bike rider attending grad school at an ostensibly bike-friendly university.

Or maybe, bike-friendly as long as you’re physically abled.

She’s struggled with everything ranging from finding safe and affordable handicapped-accessible housing, to simply finding a bike rack that can accommodate her adaptive recumbent bicycle.

Both of which could easily be corrected if someone actually gave a damn.

Big if, evidently.

Because this past weekend, I received this heartbreaking email indicating she’s had enough.

I have barely survived this first year of grad school because UC Davis is so ableist. Grad school is hard for abled 20-somethings in the prime of their lives. It is so much worse for anyone who is not in this society’s hegemonic class.

I went to the Disabled Students Center – they didn’t care.

I went to others at UC Davis – they didn’t care.

I went to my union – they didn’t care.

I went to the wildcat strikers – they didn’t care.

Finally, I saw that no matter how much this place was hurting my health, no one cared. Once more, I was the only person that was going to save me. So I looked around for other disabled students who wanted to work on this. They gave input, but no one made the time. I did this by myself until just the beginning of July when I finally found disability activists at UC Berkeley, UCSD, and potentially at UC Santa Cruz.

It shouldn’t have to be like this.

This past Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, mandating access for people with disabilities in every aspect of American life, from employment and housing to education.

And yes, bicycling.

It’s a law that has literally been life changing for countless people. Yet one that is too easily ignored when it becomes just a little too inconvenient.

Which is why she’s joined with UC Access Now to release a manifesto demanding change.

Because they’ve been ignored for far too long.

And it’s long past time someone listened.

ADA Is a Floor Not a Ceiling

“Do you know what it means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss is trying to say? It’s like ‘Hey, if I could pay you less, I would, but it’s against the law.’” – Chris Rock

Attempting to meet ADA and no further is admitting that you’d do less if you could get away with it. In 30 years of ADA, UC still hasn’t fully met ADA conditions. But meeting ADA isn’t enough. For example, accessible cycle racks & lockers are important for transportation to those disabled people that can cycle, especially on a majority cycle campus like UC Davis. But when asked, abled transportation & parking services workers say “Bike racks aren’t covered under ADA”. This is not likely true, but even if it were ruled so, it’s just another argument for exceeding ADA to achieve an inclusive and accessible campus environment.

Here are a few more entirely reasonable quotes pulled from their list of demands.

• Cycling racks & cycling lockers must be U-racks that will accommodate the types of cycles disabled people are more likely to ride such as handcycles, tricycles and quadracycles (both upright and recumbent). Racks must be far enough away from each other and from obstacles like curbs, hedges, and walls for a large cycle (including cargo cycles) to fit and for a large person to be alongside the cycle locking it without being too close to the next person over also locking their cycle at a rack.

• Campus cycling facilities should have staff trained in the maintenance and repair of cycle frames disabled cyclists use like handcycles, recumbents, tricycles, quadracycles, and e-assist cycles of all types.

• Each campus should have a hub for wheelchair and mobility aid repair. In addition to carrying parts and executing repairs, specialized wheelchairs for outdoor recreation on trails and at the beach should be available to rent by disabled students who use wheelchairs.

If there’s anything there that’s unreasonable, outrageously expensive, or too difficult to implement, I can’t see it.

You can follow UC Access Now on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And contact the administrators at UC Davis and the UC Board of Regents to demand change.

Because people don’t stop riding bikes because they’re disabled.

They stop riding because no one cares enough to accommodate them.

And the same goes for higher education.

………

Come back tomorrow for our usual Morning Links to catch up on anything we missed today. 

And meet the furry new BikinginLA intern. 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Paralyzed Long Beach man’s handcycle stolen, dangerous Circle K parking lots, and carrying a kid across China on a bike

July 27, 2020 / / 2 comments

Seriously, what kind of schmuck would steal a disabled man’s handcycle?

Long Beach’s Richard Dahl was paralyzed two years ago, just a month after graduating from college, and used the recumbent bike to take him places his legs no longer can.

According to KABC-7,

Dahl had received the bike through a $6,000 grant.

He says the thief didn’t just steal his bike, but also took part of his independence.

“What this individual stole wasn’t just a bike, it wasn’t just a handcycle, it wasn’t just a $6,000 object, it was my independence. It was my ability to ride,” Dahl said.

Hopefully someone will spot the bike before it gets sold or dismantled.

If not, if anyone wants to start a crowdfunding campaign to buy him a new one, I’ll be happy to feature it here.

………

Apparently, shopping at a Circle K convenience store can be bad for your health.

A Colorado man faces a murder charge for a fight that began with a dispute over a gold bicycle in a Circle K parking lot.

And two Florida men are charged with attempted murder for attempting to smash their car into a man on a bicycle after spotting him shopping at Circle K, then shooing him when they caught up with him again.

………

Think your cross-country ride was tough?

A Chinese dad took a 71-day bike ride across the country with his young daughter in a child seat.

………

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

British police are investigating an alleged hate crime where a group of teenagers verbally abused a man riding a bicycle and threw rocks at his bike. Although in typical British fashion, they fail to mention what racial, ethnic, religious and/or sexual group he was being targeted for.

Police in Perth, Australia are looking for a pair of moped riders who pushed a man off his bike on a local bike path.

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

Not every violent assault starts in a convenience store parking lot, though; a British Columbia man got a measly five years for killing another man, stopping his bike to kick the victim in the head with steel-toed boots, in a dispute over encroaching on his preferred panhandling spot.

………

Local

Call it yet another LADOT fail. At a time when new bike riders are begging for safe bikeways, the city gives them these sad North Hollywood sharrows — even though there’s more than enough room for a protected bike lane instead. As we’ve noted before, sharrows appear to exist only to help drivers improve their aim.

The Malibu Times wants to introduce you to the wealthy beachside city’s mountain bike-riding mayor.

Long Beach’s Studebaker Road is getting a five-mile long protected bike lane, thanks to funding from Metro.

 

State

The Canyon News looks at California’s bike boom, and says hopefully it won’t take another crisis to get people riding. Although maybe they shouldn’t illustrate a story about LA collisions rising with a photo of a mangled New York police cruiser.

A Bakersfield op-ed says the San Joaquin Valley city benefits from having more people on bicycles, and is lucky to have a robust bicycle network.

Mammoth Mountain wants you to come there to ride your new offroad ebike, opening a new trail for ped-assist mountain bikes.

 

National

At last, a Segway you might actually want to ride. Even if it doesn’t have pedals.

Livestrong offers a step-by-step guide to start riding a bike for people over 50. Although a writer for the Wall Street Journal says it can be hazardous to your dignity. If you can get past the Journal’s paywall, that is. And as if I had any left.

Refinery 29 wants to keep you looking your best on your bike, with eight cool and comfy women’s outfits without a shred of Lycra.

This is why you should always carry ID on your bike. Police in Lone Peak, Utah are struggling to identify a man who was struck by a driver while riding his bike on Saturday.

Gear Patrol recommends buying a premium used bike from Colorado’s online Pro’s Closet marketplace.

That’s more like it. A Montana drunk driver will spend the next eight years behind bars for killing a woman riding her bike while driving home from a Christmas party.

A Montana food distributors organization teamed with the local Rotary club to build and donate 195 bicycles for members of the Crow Nation.

Once again, bike riders are heroes, after a San Antonio TX couple jumped off their bikes to help rescue victims from a burning plane crash.

A 61-year old Minnesota man is riding 6,000 miles from LA to New York to raise funds for breast cancer research.

They get it. A Michigan town is offering residents a $150 rebate on the purchase of an ebike to help the city achieve carbon-neutrality in the next ten years.

A bighearted stranger gave a seven-year old Ohio girl a new bicycle after someone stole hers.

A bike-riding New York priest is planning his first century ride to inspire people and raise funds for a Catholic food pantry.

Probably not the best idea to try to steal a bike cop’s bicycle during dueling pro and anti-police protests in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Kindhearted Savannah, Georgia cops gave a seven-year old boy a new bicycle after Covid-19 cancelled his birthday party.

No, “anger issues” is not an excuse to fight a cop who tried to stop a Florida man for riding his bike into traffic.

 

International

Pez Cycling News looks at the brief rise and fall of spine bikes, made in the early years after the turn of the century with half-carbon/half steel frames. Like my 2004 LeMond, for instance.

How to get the best stopping power from your rim brakes.

Bike Radar makes the case for why you only need a gravel bike.

Four people have been arrested for a hit-and-run crash that injured an off-duty British cop as he was riding his bike, though police say he wasn’t targeted.

A Glasgow paper takes a ride through the city to see what’s changed thanks to the city’s the new bicycling measures.

A massive e-cargo bike is patrolling the streets of The Hague on a mission to collect abandoned plastic products.

Hundreds of Turkish bicyclists rode to call for safer streets after a 19-year old bike rider was killed by a drunk driver.

Bollywood star Sara Ali Khan is one of us. 

Bicycling is up in Delhi, as people respond to the coronavirus crisis by taking to their bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Tips offers an on-the-ground perspective of how the coronavirus crisis affected bike racing.

The BBC retells the tale of how the Flying Scotsman Graeme Obree became a world record holder on his own homemade bicycle.

 

Finally…

Forget parked cars, now we have to deal with giant saw blades in the bike lane. Your next bike could have a built-in wine cooler and charcuterie board.

And we may have to deal with angry LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about hungry bike-seat eating bears.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Update: Man killed riding his bike in early morning Long Beach hit-and-run; 3rd LA County bike rider killed in hit-and-run in 4 days

July 27, 2020 / / 2 comments

It’s not an epidemic anymore.

It’s a SoCal pandemic.

According to multiple sources, yet another Southern California bike rider lost his life early Sunday morning.

And yet another heartless coward fled the scene, leaving an innocent victim to die in the street.

The Long Beach Police Department reports the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding south on Orange Ave, north of Del Amo Blvd, when he was run down from behind by a southbound driver around 3:20 am.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, he died at the scene, his body coming to rest in the bike lane he was most likely riding in.

There’s no information about the driver or the suspect vehicle at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Kelsey Myers or Detective Shawn Loughlin of the LBPD Collision Investigation Detail at 562/570-7355.

This is at least the 36th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third fatal bicycling hit-and-run in the county in four days.

Exactly one third of those SoCal bike deaths have involved hit-and-run drivers, including five in less than the last two weeks, and eight in the past two months as more people have begun driving again.

This has got to stop.

Now.

Update: The victim has been identified as 30-year old Long Beach resident Dannon Santiago.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Dannon Santiago and his loved ones.

Category: Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

37-year old father killed riding bike in South Los Angeles hit-and-run; once again, public not informed for weeks

July 25, 2020 / / 3 comments

Once again, a man has died following a violent hit-and-run while riding his bike in South Los Angeles.

And once again, the LAPD doesn’t seem to think the public needed to know about it.

According to KCBS-2/KCAL-9, 37-year old South LA resident Jorge Guerra was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding home from the park with his two young children on July 8th.

Fortunately, his two-year old son Nathan and four-year old daughter Madelyn weren’t seriously injured; their father wasn’t so lucky.

Guerra was rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, but lapsed into a coma after arriving; he died of organ failure on July 16th.

The LAPD places the crash on northbound Wadsworth Ave north of 88th Street at 8:40 pm, when a speeding driver slammed into the bike they were riding after turning onto the narrow residential street.

The driver continued north on Wadsworth, crashing into several parked cars before stopping just south of Manchester Blvd. He ran off, leaving the damaged car behind.

Police are still looking for the suspect, who hasn’t been identified; unsurprisingly, the car he was driving was stolen. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver.

Now Guerra’s wife is faced with raising her kids as a grieving single mother while in the middle of a pandemic.

A crowdfunding campaign to help defray Guerra’s funeral expenses has raised just under $6,000, far short of the $25,000 goal.

Unfortunately, like the death of Melvin “Peanut” Frye last month, the LAPD apparently failed to inform the public at the time of the crash — or alert them to a dangerous car thief hiding in their midst. Even though both Los Angeles and California have Yellow Alert systems to get the word out as quickly as possible.

There’s no explanation for why the LAPD continually refuses to use them; evidently, they’d rather wait until the trail goes cold and people have forgotten key details before asking for their help. Which could be one reason why hit-and-run drivers continue to get away with it here.

Even though similar systems have been used successfully in other cities to bring hit-and-run drivers to justice.

This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. Over half of those deaths in the county have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jorge Guerra and all his family and loved ones.

Category: Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Bike riders under attack around the world, pickup-driving Torrance racists, and PCH bike path closure above Ventura

July 24, 2020 / / Comments Off on Bike riders under attack around the world, pickup-driving Torrance racists, and PCH bike path closure above Ventura

This is who we share the road with.

A Utah driver faces a murder charge for deliberately killing a bike rider, smashing into him and dragging him down the road, then turning around and doing it again; his rage appeared to stem from living in the same building with the victim.

No surprise here, as a Cleveland man who tried to run over a group of bike-riding Black teenagers while hurling racial slurs has been indicted on charges of felonious assault and ethnic intimidation; he also robbed his own brother at knife point.

Unbelievable. A British driver who used his car as a weapon to attack a bike rider walks without a single day behind bars, because the judge doesn’t want to send anyone to jail during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Then there is this stunning attack stemming from the ongoing protests in Seattle.

https://twitter.com/capang9555/status/1286464045185249280

………

Closer to home, the danger comes from hate.

https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1286441313429266435

 

………

Congress finally got around to approving the Great American Outdoors Act.

The bill creates an ongoing $900 million annual fund for conservation and address the massive backlog of maintenance projects in American National Parks and other public lands.

………

Caltrans has announced a nighttime closure of the PCH bike path above Ventura.

………

That cycling KOM you’ve been gunning for may be a goner, thanks to bored pros waiting for the season to gear back up.

Although some pros may be looking for something a little more challenging.

………

Good point.

………

No. Just…no.

https://twitter.com/LkCycleDesign/status/1286320588911501312

………

Bikes are good for soccer careers, too.

………

Pink Bike looks at easy ways to tuneup your mountain bike.

………

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

See above.

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

A Texas man told a Target employee he could take whatever he wanted as he stuffed a pair of shoes and shorts into his backpack; police stopped him as he rode his bike nearby to tell him “No, you can’t.”

A road-raging British bike rider punched a 78-year old driver in the mouth, knocking out a tooth, after the driver stopped his car when the man made rude gestures and shouted at him as he passed him and his two kids. Violence is never the answer. But that kind of response from a man riding with his kids just might imply that the guy earned it.

………

Local

Essential workers can get a free 30-day Metro Bike pass.

Pasadena is introducing Project Wheelie to bring a bike-matching service and basic bike repairs to low income residents who might not otherwise be able to ride a bike right now; it’s presented by public health nonprofit Day One in conjunction with the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Active SGV and the LACBC.

Speaking of Pasadena, the Rose City received a $150,000 state grant for a bicycle safety outreach program.

Construction has started on a new bike park in Santa Clarita.

 

State

Calbike and Streets for All are urging you to contact your state senator to support AB 3153, which would extend an LA-style bike parking law to the entire state, allowing developers to substitute bike parking for car parking minimums.

Electrek reviews the latest 28 mph offering from Newport Beach’s Electric Bicycle Company.

In another sign the coronavirus hasn’t made our streets any safer, San Francisco authorities say they’ve seen a significant uptick in bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.

An Oakland councilmember calls for ripping out the protected bike lanes on iconic Telegraph Avenue. Apparently, increased retail sales and a 40% reduction in collisions is a bad thing now.

Volunteer members of the American Ski Patrol have traded slats for wheels, and will be patrolling the 32-mile American River Parkway multi-use trail in the Sacramento area. Maybe we can talk them into patrolling a few trails down this way, too. Because no one else is doing it.

 

National

Market Watch says cannabis, whiskey and mobile bike repair businesses are thriving during the pandemic. Now if someone would just combine the three they might really be onto something.

A Portland State University study says no, bike riders don’t slow down drivers on most urban roads without bike lanes. But try telling that to the next impatient driver who gets on your ass.

Ebike sales will continue to drive the bike boom through the end of this year.

Colorado bike rack and lock maker Rocky Mount barely survived the pandemic, thanks to a loan from the Payroll Protection Program, but the owner realizes it’s not over yet. Just to be clear, the pandemic is barely getting started; it’s going to be a rough ride for all of us before things get better.

After someone stole a three-wheel adaptive bike from an Iowa man suffering from non-verbal autism, an anonymous, kindhearted stranger took it upon themselves to replace it.

Three burglars broke into a Texas bike shop and cleaned it out, stealing 19 bikes worth at least $45,000. Schmucks.

An Arkansas woman describes how she kept mountain biking, even if her first ride ended up in the back of an ambulance.

A Wisconsin nonprofit has managed to donate 100 bicycles to people in need, despite reopening from the coronavirus lockdown just one month ago.

Dozens of Louisville residents took to their bikes to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, who was mistakenly shot by cops busting into her apartment on a no knock warrant.

Calls for bikemakers to stop making police bikes after they were used as shields and weapons by cops during the Black Lives Matter protests is putting a Massachusetts Black-owned police bike startup in an awkward position.

After bikeshare user Sarah Jessica Parker intervened on behalf of a 100-year old New York restaurant, New York’s mayor agreed to move a bikeshare dock so they could set up outside dining.

Philadelphia bicyclists will ride this weekend to honor three young men killed by drivers while riding their bikes, and send a message that “We are not expendable;” meanwhile, an op-ed from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia asks how many preventable deaths will it to make the city care about bicycle safety.

When life gives you a pandemic-induced Florida school closure, take a cross-country bike ride with your twin brother to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

 

International

Google Maps now offers live bikeshare availability for 24 cities around the world, including Los Angeles.

No surprise here, as Streetsblog says the most important traffic safety technology is street design.

Heartbreaking news, as an experienced bike tourist was killed in a collision just as she was starting a two-month bike ride across Canada. Although it would be nice if the story didn’t wait until the next-to-last paragraph to mention that the pickup that hit her had a driver.

Turns out the Mounties don’t always get their man, particularly when the suspect is one of their own, who ran down a bike rider with his car.

Dooring a bike rider will now cost British Columbia drivers $368, after the province quadrupled the previous $81 fine. Which is still way too low, but at least it’s going in the right direction.

An Ontario bike rider was just nine miles from the finish of a 472-mile fundraising bike ride when he was attacked by hornets while crossing a bridge, nearly dying before paramedics could get to him. So naturally, he went back and finished the ride as soon as he was released from the ER.

They may be considered safe enough for US streets, but Great Britain says American SUVs are too dangerous for their roads. Those killing machines shouldn’t be allowed here, either.

British filmmaker and Madonna ex Guy Ritchie apparently isn’t one of us. Although he may be soon, after losing his license for six months after a bicyclist caught him on camera driving distracted.

An Irish cycling organization was upset they weren’t allowed to compete in the ’72 Olympics, so they just crashed the race and did it anyway.

When the US Army challenged soldiers stationed in Europe to ride a bike 1,000 kilometers — 621 miles — they probably weren’t expecting anyone to do it in 19 days, on a mountain bike.

Even in France, demand for bicycles is outstripping supply.

This Dutch bike may be the world’s longest functional bicycle. But just try finding a place to lock it up.

More on Germany’s new safety standards for e-cargo bikes, which should be expanded worldwide — including here.

Six-time Formula 1 world champ Lewis Hamilton is one of us, enjoying a shirtless and well-tatted mountain bike ride just days after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.

A bike rider in Kyiv, Ukraine says bike ridership has probably seen a ten times increase during the pandemic, even though riding in the city remains a deadly business.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada’s WorldTour races are the latest to bite the dust due to Covid-19.

Britain’s erstwhile Team Sky, which changed its name to Team Ineos after a sponsorship change, will now be the the erstwhile Team Ineos, as it changes once again to Ineos Grenadiers to promote an upcoming brand of SUV.

Former WorldTour cyclist Peter Stetina’s shift to gravel racing is on the rocks after everything was cancelled due to coronavirus.

Austrian cyclist Georg Preilder got a one-year suspended sentence for his role in a German doping scandal uncovered last year. But cycling is clean now, right?

 

Finally…

No, turning a bicycle into a monochrome planter is not upcycling, in any sense. On the other hand, turning it into a mobile washing machine might be.

And don’t use gasoline to disinfect your cloth face masks.

And don’t smoke if you do.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee