Archive for bikinginla

Guest post: Support your local ebike dealer or local bike shop on Small Business Saturday

November 25, 2016 / / One comment
It's the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today to help keep SoCal's best source for bike news coming your way every day.

It’s the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news coming your way every day.

These days, a lot of people are considering ebikes, for obvious reasons. They’re a great way for beginners to get into bicycling, to ride without fear of hills or going too far, or commute to work without breaking a sweat.

Not to mention they’re a lot of fun.

But where you buy your bike matters, as Linda Coburn of Pedego 101 in Westlake Village explains.

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At least once a week we receive a call from someone asking if we can help fix the e-bike they bought online. “It was a really good deal,” they say. “Their website has excellent reviews,” they continue. “But they don’t respond to phone calls or emails now that I have the bike.”

This is exactly why you buy a technologically-advanced machine from a local bike shop, preferably one that specializes in e-bikes. You certainly can’t test-ride a bike online. Many times a customer comes in after doing a lot of Internet research thinking they know exactly what they want but after trying a variety of styles, sizes and power options they often fall in love with something very different.

The staff of your local e-bike shop have likely ridden in the neighborhood. They know how each bike will perform on that monster hill and in the riding conditions that you will encounter. Most local bike shops host group rides and will be happy to give you directions to great ride locations. You may even end up making some new friends!

And of course, when you buy local you meet the actual people who will be there for you in case a problem should arise. Most local shops handle warranty repairs and will get your e-bike set-up just right. They will make sure the accessories you choose will fit and even install them for you.

So support your small and local business owner on Saturday, and every day. It’s good for you and it’s great for the community.

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I’m a firm believer in supporting your local bike shop, because they’re the ones who will take the time to ensure you buy the right bike or gear for the way you ride, and be there to support you long after they take your credit card.

I’m told some shops even accept cash.

So take a few minutes out of your frenzied Black Friday, or tomorrow’s Small Business Saturday, to stop by your favorite LBS and buy something. Anything.

They’ll appreciate the business.

And if you’re new there, take the time to introduce yourself and get to know them, so you won’t be a stranger the next time you come in.

 

Category: Guest Columns / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Buffered bike lanes on Van Nuys, Arroyo Seco goes au naturel, and Bike Monkeys in Santa Barbara

November 23, 2016 / / 2 comments

Before we start, I want to wish you a very happy Thanksgiving, however you spend it.

There’s a lot I’m thankful for this year. But as always, at the top of my list is the gratitude I have for the readers of this site, and all those who support and contribute to it. It’s only because of you that I’m able to do what I love, and continue this conversation we started nearly nine years ago.

So thank you, sincerely.

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Local

LA’s Council District 7 celebrates the official unveiling of new buffered bike lanes on Van Nuys Blvd in Pacoima.

The principal of Hollywood High proposes paying for books by installing a digital billboard at one of the city’s most dangerous intersections, where 10 bike riders have already been struck by cars. After all, what’s one more distraction for LA drivers, right?

The LA River may not be the only local stream to be restored by the Army Corps of Engineers, as plans are announced to return the Arroyo Seco to a natural, free-flowing state.

Santa Monica will host the free Electric Bike Expo December 2nd through 4th at the Santa Monica Pier.

Next month’s LACBC Sunday Funday ride will celebrate LA’s remarkable religious diversity. A nice gesture in these troubled times.

 

State

OC cyclists are invited to burn off all that Thanksgiving stuffing at the 13th Tour de Tryptophan in Fullerton this Friday.

An accused distracted driver should learn her fate today for the death of a little girl and injuring another, after she drifted through a buffered San Diego bike lane and jumped the curb to strike them both earlier this year.

Santa Barbara’s Bike Monkeys keep 200 middle school students rolling on their school’s annual bike trips.

Bicycling Monterey reminds us that bike riders have a lot to be thankful for.

Palo Alto considers giving up police radar in order to avoid raising speed limits under the deadly 85th percentile rule.

Five-time Olympic swimming champ Katie Ledecky is one of us, as she learned to ride a bike before going to Stanford, where freshmen students are not allowed to have cars; she also assembled bicycles for Bikes for the World while in high school.

It takes a real jerk to steal nine bikes worth up to $2,000 each from the Napa High School Cycling Club.

The Davis bike and pedestrian coordinator offers tips on how to safely share a multi-use path.

 

National

The Vision Zero Network looks back at Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance for traffic victims. Speaking of which, the organization is looking for a new Policy & Communications Director.

Cyclelicious reminds us that your favorite bike kit may have contributed to help Make America Great Again, since many of the top performance fabrics are owned by the conservative Koch Brothers. Which means if you want to boycott them, you may have to ride naked.

No bias here. After a transgendered woman wins an Arizona bike race, a right wing website complains about how unfair it is to make women compete against a “biological male.”

A new Tucson AZ foundation is devoted to supporting low-income female professional cyclists. Which would be most of them, unfortunately.

A Wyoming cyclist raises over $20,000 for charity by riding from Cheyenne to Orlando, FL.

A Texas cyclist becomes the first woman to ride a penny-farthing across the US.

Bighearted Missouri residents band together to buy a new customized bike for a special needs boy after his was stolen, replacing it before he even knew it was missing.

Sad news from Detroit, where a police officer was shot by a bike rider after he stopped the cyclist; the five year veteran is in critical condition.

Upstate New York officials force the family of a fallen cyclist to move his ghost bike because it was a whole three feet too close to the roadway.

A Savannah GA website says the city is becoming a destination for high-end bike tourism, but it’s going the wrong way when it comes to bike friendliness. Meanwhile, when a cyclist was struck head-on by a hit-and-run driver who drifted onto the wrong side of the road, a local paper somehow felt the need to remind cyclists they have to obey the law, too.

 

International

A British Columbia letter writer says don’t lower speed limits when there’s no alternative to driving; build sidewalks and bike paths instead.

Caught on video: A Brit bike rider captures a first-hand view of crashing into the turning car that cut him off, with his bike spinning in the air as he falls to the ground and the driver speeds away. Yet the newspaper still asks readers who was to blame. Seriously?

London’s deputy mayor for transport says the city’s new mayor is on the side of cyclists, and is committed to being the most bicycle-friendly mayor the city has ever had. Then again, it’s not a cycle superhighway if no one bothers to maintain it.

A British investigative news site reports dozens of people convicted of dangerous driving have walked free, while no one in the UK has received the maximum sentence for the crime.

A 16-year old cyclist from the UK continues to rise despite being diagnosed with diabetes three years ago; he’s received an offer to ride for the all-type 1 Team Novo Nordisk next year.

More absurdly misdesigned bikeways from the United Kingdom.

Spend your next vacation on a wildlife bike safari in Tanzania.

An Aussie coroner calls for a safe-life limit on bike parts, after a cyclist died when the carbon fork on his bike collapsed due to an undetectable flaw in the steering tube, even though his $4,000 Trek was only nine years old.

 

Finally…

Why use your hand to draw a turkey when you can use a bike? It’s one thing to keep your eye on the ball; another to carry it on your head for 64 miles.

And instead of the usual call for bicyclists to have licenses, maybe we should insist drivers do.

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holiday-fund-drive-with-type-2Come back over the holiday weekend, when we may have a guest post or two, and possibly a update for the weekend.

And save the spare change from all your shopping for the return of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive starting this Friday, to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news coming your way every day.

Now get out and ride your bike. And stay safe out there.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: New signs for unclear cops, a Lankershim Great Streets pop-up, and Paris Seine traffic goes “poof”

November 22, 2016 / / 4 comments

Thankfully, we have a little lighter news day today after yesterday’s massive post. So put your feet up, relax a little, then get out on your bike.

Or better yet, get out again, if you already did.

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Local

LA tries out a new sign on the Sunset Blvd/Cesar Chavez Ave bus lane reading Buses Bikes & Right Turns Only, after an LA Country sheriff’s deputy told a bike rider he couldn’t use a bus only lane on Wilshire Blvd despite being directly under a sign reading “Bikes Okay.”

A new movie refutes the myth that nobody walks, bikes or uses transit in LA.

CiclaValley asks you to come out for the Lankershim Blvd Community Pop Up and bike ride on December 3rd, part of the mayor’s Great Streets initiative. The street was supposed to have bike lanes by now, but they were blocked by former councilmember Tom LaBonge, who preferred to keep the street less than great.

Despite the misleading headline, Burbank expects to finish construction of a new bikeway along the Western Flood Channel by summer of 2018; work won’t even begin until the end of next year.

 

State

Hesperia residents tell the city what they want, which includes bike lanes.

More bad news from Central California, as the CHP is looking for a hit-and-run driver after a cyclist was found lying in the roadway.

Kern County plans to use a $25,000 grant to educate people on bike and pedestrian safety. The question is whether they will use that money to tell the people how to avoid getting hit by cars, or tell the operators of the big, dangerous machines how to not run over innocent people.

A new Menlo Park program encourages residents to bike to shop through the end of the year.

San Francisco may allow ghosts bikes to remain for up to one year; meanwhile, the city plans to install parking protected bike lanes in the SoMa district. Which will hopefully result in fewer of the former.

 

National

According to the LA Times, infrastructure isn’t infrastructure in Trump’s new stimulus plan. And good luck getting bike paths built.

An Ohio driver will spend the next four years behind bars after killing a bike rider while high on coke, Fentanyl and morphine.

The 15-year old Baltimore boy who fatally stabbed a bike rider eleven times during a botched bike-jacking and robbery will be tried as a juvenile, while his slightly older co-defendants who didn’t hold the knife will face more time after being tried as adults.

 

International

Cycling Tips catches up with former world mountain bike champ Roland Green; the Canadian rider mysteriously disappeared in 2005 after a six-month suspension.

Canadian police bust eight bike thieves in just three days using a bait bike.

Ottawa, Canada went against the consultant’s recommendation in choosing a less-safe option for bike lanes in order to avoid inconveniencing motorists; three riders have already been hit by cars in the three weeks since they opened.

Toronto considers new rules allowing drivers to stop in separated bike lanes to load or unload someone with a disability.

London’s Evening Standard recommends the best nighttime views of the city as seen from a bicycle. Most of which I’m happy to say I’ve seen, though on foot rather than two wheels.

Britain’s treasurer reportedly offered to pay London’s mayor to rip out one of the city’s popular cycle superhighways that runs past the Parliament building. Apparently it’s not as popular with lawmakers and government officials as it is with people on bikes.

A writer for the Guardian says that maintaining the status quo on British streets may work great for motorists, but can force people to give up on riding and walking.

A member of an Irish cycling club will spend nine months behind bars after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at the hotel they were staying in. Which hardly seems sufficient, but is better than his original sentence of nothing.

New Dutch rules will reclassify ebikes that can go up to 28 mph as mopeds, and require users to wear a special cross between a bike helmet and a motorcycle helmet. And since the new helmets won’t be available until February, owners will have to park their bikes until they are.

Berlin becomes the latest city to ban private cars from a major street; when Paris banned cars from the Right Bank of the Seine, half of the traffic simply disappeared instead of moving onto other streets.

Egyptian girls start a bicycling equality campaign to protest widespread intolerance and harassment of female riders.

According to the Guardian, Australia’s New South Wales government is winning its war on bicyclists, as draconian fines for minor offenses have driven riders back to their cars.

A 71-year old American cruise ship passenger has been killed in a collision with a truck while riding a bike in New Zealand.

 

Finally…

Squirrels don’t get mad, they get even. Yes, sometimes even Campy and Shimano get it wrong.

And if a Wisconsin thief had just stayed on his bike, he might still be robbing banks today.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Riding from LAX to DTLA, bike helmets may be bad for jaws, and biking through blobs

November 21, 2016 / / 4 comments

I know it’s just Monday. And a short, holiday week at that.

But we’ve got a lot of ground to cover here. So grab the beverage of your choice, and let’s get started.

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Gary Cziko offers bike cam video proof that it is possible to ride from LAX to DTLA without dying.

No, really.

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Your helmet may protect your skull, but your jaw is another matter. A new research study shows that bike helmets can significantly increase the risk of mandibular fractures (pdf).

In other science news, silkworms fed graphene and carbon nanotubes produce a new fiber that is super strong, lightweight and conducts electricity, opening the door for a whole new class of high performance clothing that could prevent road rash or light up on its own.

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Seattle advocates placed 240 white silhouettes on the streets to remember victims of traffic violence on Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance; members of the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition did the same in Boston.

New York bike advocates ride to honor fallen cyclists and call for better safety.

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In a truly heartbreaking story, an Ohio Marine sergeant died last month from wounds he suffered eleven years earlier in Iraq; after his return he learned to ride a bike, despite being paralyzed and unable to speak.

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Who’s faster? The mountain biker or the dog?

Then again, that depends on the mountain biker. And the dog.

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Peloton tells the story of American Davis Phinney’s first stage win in the Tour de France in 1986.

A smashed face at last year’s Paris-Roubaix classic isn’t enough to keep Aussie cyclist Mitch Docker from trying again next year.

Evidently, quitting pro cycling is harder than it seems, as Ireland’s Martyn Irvine un-retires to compete again.

Nice gesture from Team Novo Nordisk’s Phil Sutherland by reaching out to a 12-year old Japanese boy with type 1 diabetes and riding with him the day before the all-diabetic team competed in the Japanese Cup.

Transgender cyclist Jillian Bearden took the women’s title at El Tour de Tucson, where the world’s fastest woman competed, as well.

Santa Cruz cyclists are excited to find Dutch pro cyclist Laurens ten Dam has moved to town, and turns out to be a regular, if somewhat superhuman, guy.

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Local

Los Angeles will hold meetings on December 6th and 13th to discuss plans for the LA River Valley Bikeway and Greenway Design Completion project, to fill in the missing 12.5 miles of the LA bike path in the San Fernando Valley between Vanalden Ave and Forest Lawn/Zoo Drive.

KPCC reports on the LACBC bike count showing a jump in bicycling on streets with new bike lanes, but an overall decline as the city has largely halted bike lane expansion.

Writing for Streetsblog, Jonathan Weiss says CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz is quick to take credit for the Expo Line, but blames its problems on everyone else, including the needless one-mile gap in the Expo Line bikeway through Cheviot Hills.

CiclaValley writes about placing the ghost bike for 15-year old Saul Lopez in Pacoima last week.

 

State

Calbike petitions Caltrans to live up to changes in state law to eliminate Level of Service guidelines and make it easier to build better streets.

It was a bad weekend for cyclists in Central California; a bike rider was killed in Bakersfield when he allegedly rode into the side of a car, and a Santa Barbara rider was found dead after apparently suffering a medical emergency.

A Palo Alto man was arrested for using a circular saw to cut through a pair of Kryptonite bike locks to steal a bike from a train station in broad daylight.

Family members of traffic victims form a new Bay Area traffic safety group.

Sacramento tames a high speed, auto-centric street with a road diet, turning it into a more human-focused Complete Street.

 

National

It looks like conservative Fox News is getting on the road safety bandwagon, reporting that cyclists are at higher risk when intersections aren’t at right angles.

A Portland bike rider has started a petition to require all bikeshare users in the city to wear a helmet. Even though only one bikeshare rider has ever been killed in the US. And even though cities like Seattle, and Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia, that require helmet use have failing bikeshare systems.

A New Mexico father finally gets justice six years after his son was killed while riding his bicycle on a tribal reservation, as he was traveling across country to raise money for breast cancer research.

A new study shows bicycling contributes $1.6 billion to the Colorado economy, while nearly half of the state’s residents rode a bicycle last year. Which is a hell of a lot more than the highly touted revenue the state generates from legalizing dope.

Kindhearted Texas TV viewers pitch in to buy a disabled vet a new and better three-wheeled ebike after his was stolen last week.

Once again, a bike rider comes to the rescue, spotting a Wisconsin driver passed out on coke and Fentanyl with her four-year old in the car.

A Chicago alderman was seriously injured when debris got caught in his bike wheel and threw him over his handlebars. Correction: Make that a squirrel. 

A very forgiving Minneapolis bike rider feels sorry for the suicidal driver who ran him down after attempting to hang a toddler at a daycare center.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette checks in with Danny Chew, the city’s iconic cyclist who’s dream of riding one million miles came to an abrupt end when he was paralyzed from the waste down in a solo fall.

It’s not just LA. A New York Daily News editorial says that city is suffering from a hit-and-run epidemic, too.

A writer for the Washington Post says Trump’s trillion dollar infrastructure plan is a trap.

 

International

How to ride on dirt and gravel.

A writer for Bike Radar says the world is a mess, but it’s also a beautiful place to explore on a bike.

London’s Telegraph takes a surprisingly even-handed look at how to improve bicycle safety.

No bias here. A British paper reports a bike rider rode up out of the blue to verbally abuse a driver and pound on her car for no apparent reason. Violence is never justified, except in self-defense. But chances are, the driver may have had something to do with the rider’s anger, valid or not.

A UK cyclist may admit to riding through red lights, but swears he won’t ride without lights at night.

Caught on video: a Brit thief lurks in the shadows before snatching a 14-year old paperboy’s bike.

Life is cheap in Scotland, where the death of a bike rider at the hands of a careless driver who claimed he didn’t even see the victim only merits the equivalent of an $800 fine — and not even the loss of his license. Saying you didn’t see the victim should be a confession, not an excuse.

Brussels takes the Idaho stop law a step further by allowing cyclists to ride through red and amber lights.

Spend your next vacation bikepacking in Mongolia.

Caught on video: Australians are calling for a car passenger to be prosecuted for smacking a cyclist on the ass. One more reason to have a rear-facing camera on your bike. So to speak.

You know your city sucks when a Tour de France winner in afraid to ride there; Cadel Evans says riding in Sydney, Australia is too intimidating.

A Bloomberg columnist says bikes are back in China due to worsening air pollution and road congestion.

A writer tries one of China’s bikesharing apps for a day, and concludes that people are assholes.

Singapore attempts to improve safety by recruiting 200 bicycle ambassadors to teach safe cycling and bike etiquette in local neighborhoods.

 

Finally…

It’s not usual to encounter obstacles in a time trial; a full-blown police chase on the other hand, not so much. LA drivers are bad enough; but at least we don’t have to worry about emu attacks. Or coyotes, for that matter.

And when there’s a potentially toxic foam spill, the obvious thing is to ride your bike through it.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bike Cam Video, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: BOLO alert in SaMo, 2015 bike/ped count released, and construction on Marina bike path

November 18, 2016 / / 4 comments

Santa Monica police are asking for the public’s help in finding the cowardly jerk who ran down a woman as she walked Tuesday evening and left her lying in the street with serious head injuries.

Be on the lookout for a possible 2000-2006 silver, four-door Nissan Sentra, which could have damage to the bumper, hood and windshield on the right front.

Anyone with information is urged to call investigator Jason Olson at 310/458-8954 or the SMPD at 310/458-8491.

Thanks to Damien Newton for the heads-up.

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The LACBC, in conjunction with AARP, released the findings of last year’s annual Los Angeles Bicycle and Pedestrian Count, which for the first time show a decrease in bike ridership as the city largely stopped building new bike lanes.

The report includes a number of key findings, including:

  • The most popular streets for walking and biking are also the most unsafe: All of the top 30 count locations for people walking are located on the High Injury Network, along with 24 of the top 30 locations for people biking. These top 30 locations accounted for 65% of all people walking who were counted and 55% of all people biking who were counted. All of these locations are located in high-density neighborhoods, near major destinations, or in low-income communities of color. Almost all of the top 30 locations were in neighborhoods with median household incomes below the rest of the city.
  • As bike lane installation has slowed, new ridership has decreased: In 2015, riders continued to gravitate towards bike lanes; however the count shows an overall 9% year-by-year decline in same location ridership from 2013 to 2015. In the last two years, bike lane installation has decreased significantly from a high of 101 miles in fiscal year 2013 to only 11 miles in fiscal year 2015. Many of these new lanes have been installations where bike lanes could be included in other road resurfacing or safety projects, rather than installations along high priority corridors identified in the Bicycle Plan. Of the initial 183 miles of bike lanes prioritized in the 5-year Bicycle Plan Implementation Strategy, only 45 miles (25%) have been installed. As a result, the bike network in Los Angeles remains fragmented with large gaps in bike lanes along most riders’ trips. This lack of connectivity continues to be the greatest barrier reported by many people who bike or would like to.
  • Women want safer biking options: In Los Angeles, women make up just 16% of cyclists overall, but the gender disparity is lowest on streets with quality bikeways (bike paths at 22% and bike lanes at 17%) and highest on streets with no bicycling infrastructure. Cities with safer streets for bicycling in general tend to have smaller gender disparities in bicycling, such as Portland, Oregon (35%), and Copenhagen, Denmark (50%).
  • Bike lanes have made streets safer, but more work needs to be done: On the new bike lanes studied, bike ridership increased by 62% after installation. After accounting for increases in bike ridership, new bike lanes reduced bicycle crash risk by an average of 42%.

la-bike-ped-count-16-sheet

The full report is available for download here.

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Steve Herbert forwards news that the Marvin Braude bike path will soon be rerouted and improved where it currently twists awkwardly, and dangerously, through a parking lot around Pier 44 in Marina del Rey.

But riders will have to detour along Admiralty Way in the meantime.

Here’s what he had to say.

The Marvin Braude bike path snakes through Marina Del Rey connecting Ballona Creek & parts south to Washington Blvd. where cyclists can ride to Venice boardwalk or other parts of the region. Pier 44 is about to undergo renovation with the existing tenants, boats and trailers all cleared out. Pier 44 is at the end of Basin G of the marina which is bound by Bali Way on the north, Admiralty Way on the east and Mindanao Way on the south.

The bike path winds through this facility which is about to be closed and I asked Anthea Raymond, a Beaches and Harbors Department Commissioner I know, what plans there are to accommodate cyclists and the path while it’s under construction. Below are the answers and diagrams I got.

She didn’t provide any specific dates, but the pier is now a ghost town and I expect to see fencing and demolition equipment any day now just based on what I observe riding through the site as one of my commute routes.

And here is Ms. Raymond’s response.

Here’s what I learned about the Marina bike path, both during renovations on Pier 44 and going forward:

The Pier 44 project includes significant improvements to the bike path. Whereas the current bike bath snakes across the parcel, forcing riders to navigate around buildings and boat storage, the new bike path will have a straight alignment along the waterfront, next to the new 20’-wide pedestrian promenade.  Additionally, the project includes two public restrooms along the bike path, and bicycle racks that can accommodate 68 bikes.  This project also includes a WaterBus stop, because early on we wanted it to be a destination that people could visit by foot, by boat, by car, or by bike.  While the parcel is under construction, the bike path will temporarily be routed along the eastern portion of the parcel, adjacent to Admiralty Way.

Attached are site plans that show the existing and proposed paths.

Thanks for your concern.

Anthea

ps: While the parcel is under construction, the bike path will temporarily be routed along the eastern portion of the parcel, adjacent to Admiralty Way.

pier-44-current-conditions

pier-44-approved-plan

It looks to be a significant improvement to one of the worst sections of the popular beachfront bike path.

Let’s just hope the construction doesn’t take too long, and they provide an adequate alternative in the meantime.

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It’s time to catch up with upcoming bike events.

BikeSGV is hosting a pet and family-friendly Pet-acular Bike Train tomorrow. But neither you or your pet are allowed to use training wheels.

Sunday marks the World Day of Remembrance to honor victims of traffic fatalities; 40 artists will participate in the event with LA Road Concerts in Downtown LA.

Malibu is hosting a community outreach meeting on November 29th to discuss the problems with parking along PCH; anyone who’s ridden the coast highway through the city knows the dangers poorly parked cars can pose.

Metro’s El Monte Bike Hub will host a Commute 101 Clinic on November 30th to help you get more comfortable riding your bike to work or school.

San Bernardino will hold 14-mile Inland Regional Center Memorial Ride on December 2nd, riding one kilometer for each of the 22 people injured in last December’s terrorist attack, which is equal to 14 miles for each person killed. A similar ride will start out from Redlands, with 22 turns to honor the wounded and 14 miles to remember those killed.

Milestone Rides is hosting their annual holiday toy ride to Camp Pendleton on December 3rd.

As noted yesterday, the LACBC will host their annual open house on December 7th.

Recently retired pro cyclist Phil Gaimon is teaming up with the LACBC for the second annual Mulholland Clean Up on December 10th.

Finish the Ride will hold their Ride, Run, Walk N’ Roll Holliday Challenge in Van Nuys on December 11th.

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Members of Team Novo Nordisk discuss how to compete while managing your diabetes; each of the 18 riders has Type 1 diabetes.

Yes, you can win a national hill-climb championship on a bike assembled from parts purchased on eBay.

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Local

Congratulations, Los Angeles. You win the prize for the most dangerous city for speed-related traffic fatalities.

The co-founder of Burbank based Pure Cycles — formerly Pure Fix — talks about what’s it’s like to found a business with his best friend.

Pasadena, Altadena and San Marino Rotary Clubs will team together to build and donate 200 bicycles for underprivileged children this holiday season. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

The LA Times says bike paths along the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel Rivers offer a glimpse of what Pico Rivera looked like before LA’s eastward expansion steamrolled the area.

Santa Monica wants to know what you think about transportation options in the beach city, but only if you live or work there.

Long Beach creates a protected bike lane by installing green bollards on Studebaker Road, even though local residents call them distracting eyesores.

CiclaValley concludes his three-part Veteran’s Day journey with a family ride through Berkeley.

 

State

The afore mentioned Damien Newton discusses the effects of the recent election with Calbike’s Jeanie Ward-Waller.

UC San Diego officers remove over 700 apparently abandoned bicycles from campus; if they go unclaimed for 90 days, they’ll be donated to charity organizations.

Menlo Park considers a grade separation that would create a 1.6 mile bike boulevard along the Caltrain railroad tracks.

Alameda wants to build a 600 foot bike and pedestrian drawbridge connecting it with Oakland.

Nevada City middle school students — yes, middle school — learn frame building by building their own from scratch as part of a program that refurbishes bikes for homeless people.

 

National

Several bike-related businesses make Outside Magazine’s list of the top 100 places to work, including bike-friendly, employee owned New Belgium Brewery in my hometown. Do I really need to say that the town didn’t become bike friendly or open its first craft brewery until after I left?

Bicycling discusses the joys of riding at night.

Seattle’s failing bikeshare system gets a March 31st deadline to get its merde together.

Life is cheap in Oklahoma, where a distracted driver will serve just 10 months of a 15 year sentence for killing on cyclist riding across the country for Bike and Build, and critically injuring another; she’ll also have to speak publicly about what she did.

Apparently, not even Secret Service agents are safe on our streets. A uniformed agent was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver while riding near the White House.

In a remarkable move, a New York city is moving forward with plans to convert a parkway near Niagara Falls into a multi-use bike path.

 

International

A Toronto paper traces the 40-year fight for safety and acceptance of bicyclists through the life of a man who was photographed on the back of his father’s bike as a five-year old in 1976. Yet oddly, they don’t bother to show the photo.

British authorities arrest three teenage suspects for the murder of a recently released convict who was kicked off his bicycle by a group of young men last month.

A British town gets it, saying if close passes make people too afraid to ride a bike, it’s a police matter.

Now that’s more like it. Drivers in a North London borough could have their cars crushed if they’re caught passing bike riders too closely twice in a single year. And yes, bike cam video counts. Now if we could only get California to do that for hit-and-runs.

Like LA, advocates blame stalled bike path plans, as well as draconian fines, for a drop in the number of bicyclists in Sydney, Australia; last year the state government gave up on plans to double the rate of cycling.

 

Finally…

You can carry anything by bicycle; even lemonade, cookies and a polar bear.

And you’ll be happy to know that drinking beer is good for your cholesterol levels. So ride to your nearest bike-friendly microbrewery, and salute!

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On a personal note, it was a pleasure to meet St. Louis-based Cycling Savvy instructor and BikinginLA contributor Karen Karabell and LA-based Cycling Savvy instructor Gary Cziko yesterday.

It’s great to talk with fellow advocates who don’t let differences in approaches to bicycle safety get in the way of finding common ground in their efforts to make bicycling safer and more enjoyable for everyone who rides.

Not to mention just spending some time with a couple of very nice people.

First rule of photography: Never stand so your shadow falls on your subjects

First rule of photography: Never stand so your shadow falls on your subjects

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Crowdsourcing the fight against distracted driving, and a new look at the murder of Ronni Chasen

November 17, 2016 / / 4 comments

This one is worth your money.

The Milt Olin Foundation, named after the music executive killed by a distracted LA County sheriff’s deputy while riding his bike on Mulholland Highway, has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the fight against distracted driving.

In just two days, it’s raised over $15,000 of the $20,000 goal for their #HandsOff movement to end Distracted Driving.

Send the link to everyone you know. And let’s see if we can push this over the top before today is over.

………

The Hollywood Reporter offers an extended follow-up on the shooting death of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen, alleging Beverly Hills police conducted a sloppy investigation before concluding that a bike-riding ex-con pulled the trigger, then shot himself two weeks later as police closed in.

It’s worth a read.

Because that was one case that never passed the smell test, even from the beginning.

………

No bias here. New York’s Daily News absolves the driver responsible for the death of 15-year old bike rider Saul Lopez in Pacoima Tuesday morning by saying “police believe one driver did not adhere to a traffic stop.”

Which is about as mild a way possible of saying someone killed him by running a red light.

………

Norwegian cycling officials say one of their junior riders was deliberately rammed by a Qatari policeman after winning a medal at the recent world championships, presumably because of her “inappropriate” clothing.

………

Local

Pulitzer Prize-winning transit expert Edward Humes discusses the plusses and minuses of Measure M, including support for bikeways and bikeshare among the former; highways, trains and carpool lanes in the latter.

The LACBC will host their annual open house on December 7th.

The Santa Monica Bike Center is celebrating its fifth birthday tomorrow evening.

Burbank’s formerly fixie-focused Pure Cycles is entering the road bike market.

Lake Arrowhead’s long-defunct Santa’s Village will reopen soon for the holidays, including a bicycle-themed Pedals Pub serving craft beers from area breweries. Which sounds like a good reason to stop on your next ride along the Rim of the World.

 

State

California’s proposed transportation bill would boost bike and pedestrian funding by $80 to $150 million, but doesn’t include a requirement for Complete Streets, or align with the state’s climate goals.

San Diego approves a new growth and development plan for the city’s uptown district, including a request to identify funding to complete a bike lane connecting the Hillcrest and North Park neighborhoods along University Ave.

Nice essay from a Stanford student about riding through campus, in which she concludes, “When you unlock your bike each morning you are entering into conversation with the world and those who populate it.”

 

National

Another reminder that bikes help those in need. A 19-year old Afghan refugee tells the story of her family’s long, arduous journey to the US, where her father rode his bike to work in construction every day after discovering his Russian engineering degree was useless in this country.

A Wichita KS Whole Foods puts its money where its mouth is, donating a $1,200 bike repair station to the city.

New York considers giving bicyclists a head start at red lights by allowing riders to go during the advance walk phase before the green light.

North Carolina’s governor challenges residents to hike, walk, bike, paddle or skate 100 miles. Not in a day, a week or even a month, but over the course of a full year. Seriously? If that’s a challenge, it’s no wonder most Americans are out of shape.

 

International

Sunday marks the World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Traffic Violence.

A cyclist and author offers advice on how to keep your lady parts happy when you ride. Assuming you have them, of course.

A Winnipeg city councilor calls for a Vision Zero plan for the Canadian city.

Talk about burying the lead. London’s Daily Mail reports a woman denied seriously injuring a bike rider when she rear-ended his bike. But fails to mention she’s accused of intentionally chasing and running him down in a road rage dispute that began when he complained about her cellphone use, and escalated when he kicked off her side mirror.

London’s former cycling minister suggests five things he says will determine if the city’s new mayor is serious about keeping his bike-friendly campaign promises.

We’re winning. Copenhagen now has more bike traffic than car traffic.

The Guardian looks at the opening of Africa’s first bikeshare system in Marrakech, Morocco, asking if it could be the launchpad for spreading the movement across the continent.

An Aussie paper reviews the new Ikea bicycle, and decides you could get a better value at your local bike shop. Or a cheaper bike at Kmart.

Three Zimbabwean soldiers face murder charges for beating a man to death in a dispute over a bicycle.

 

Finally…

Maybe cycling really is the new golf. Your next helmet could be an award-winning, banana-shaped piece of paper.

And note to thieves: If you drop your bike and run as soon as a police car approaches, it only calls attention to your probation violation and burglary tools.

Just a hint.

 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: A reminder to register your bike for free, ranking the cyclists, and does Metro bike cost too much?

November 16, 2016 / / 6 comments

I received the following email from David Drexler after he sent the photos of the sadly stripped bike at the Expo Line Bundy Station earlier this week.

I registered my bikes today at BikeIndex with pics. I had them always registered somewhere else.

You know — more people should register with pics on BikeIndex.

It was a sobering experience when I took 30 minutes to peruse the listings of bikes stolen.  Keeping in mind that the ones listed are not all that have been stolen — many don’t register at Bike Index — and there were a ton.  And when I put in my LA zip code and just using a 1 mile radius or 1 mile of Santa Monica beach zip code — the results were staggering.

I took the time to study what folks wrote about where the bike was when stolen and what kind of lock and basically all different locks and places and times of day. There was no safe haven lock or place from what I could see.  And it was insignificant if there were cameras around. It is almost as if there are professional bike thieves just on a constant roam of Southern California ready with tools and portable saws at all times.  Bikes have been stolen from every imaginable location including one guy that reports that he turned his back on a bike he brought into a convenience store for safety and someone ran out with it, from cars, from bike racks where a person cable and u-locked it to the rack.  Thieves just tore apart the rack to get at the bike.

As a matter of fact, there are professional bike thieves roaming SoCal communities on a constant basis. Along with people stealing to support drug habits, homeless encampment bicycle chop shops, and people willing to steal your ride just because the opportunity presents itself.

And quite frankly, the odds of ever seeing your bike again once it’s gone are somewhere on a continuum between slim and none.

But you can raise those odd considerably by taking his advice and registering your bike for free with Bike Index right here on this site, and reporting it to the police if your bike is stolen.

And yes, police do check those listings when they find a stolen bike, and have returned bikes to their owners as a result.

Lots of bikes.

So don’t wait. Take a few minutes to register your bike right now.

You have nothing to lose. Except maybe your bike if you don’t.

Full disclosure: This site does not receive any compensation, financial or otherwise, from Bike Index for hosting their registration and stolen bike listings. We just want to help you fight back against bike theft.

………

Cycling Weekly ranks the year’s 100 top cyclists; the top ranked American is Megan Guarnier at #6, while the highest ranked American man is Andrew Talansky down at #84.

Belgian cyclist Greg Van Avermaet describes the mountain bike accident that left him with a broken ankle.

………

Local

An editorial in the LA Daily News says the Metro bikeshare system is a good idea, but it costs too darn much.

CiclaValley tells the tale of his Veteran’s Day bike excursion into the Sierra foothills, while Milestone Ride’s Johnny Lam goes deeper into the Sierras for Adventure Cycling.

Long Beach gets a $50,000 grant to put on bike and pedestrian safety workshops.

 

State

The Orange County Transportation Authority will produce two videos focusing on the leading causes of bike and pedestrian injuries and deaths, once they figure out what they are.

Evidently, craft beer and bike lanes aren’t enough to get Millennials to move to San Diego. Then again, they don’t seem to be sticking around LA, either.

Plans are moving forward for the 50-mile CV Link bike path around the Coachella Valley, though bike riders and wheelchair users could be forced to use the dangerous Hwy 111 in places after two cities refuse to participate.

Ventura County cyclists are invited to take a survey on regional bicycle wayfinding.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. San Francisco will install a protected bike lane on a street where a woman was killed riding her bicycle earlier this year.

 

National

People for Bikes says Americans voted for bicycles in a big way, including passage of LA’s own Measure M.

The Guardian asks if Chicago’s proposed floating bikeway could overcome the doubters and reconnect the city.

The New York Times says blame mobile apps for the largest spike in traffic fatalities in 50 years.

New York police finally arrested a killer hit-and-run driver for deliberately running down a bicyclist as he rode in a bike lane.

An 83-year old Virginia man fought, and failed, to get a red light at an intersection near his home; it cost him his life this past weekend as he walked his bicycle in the crosswalk.

A New Orleans woman writes about ghost bikes in the city following the death of her friend. Yet the website oddly files it under “The Lighter Side.”

 

International

A writer for Bike Radar says the world may be a mess, but it’s still a beautiful place to explore on a bike.

London’s Mirror says the answer to the question of whether an ebike is worth buying is not quite yet.

London’s mayor kills plans for one of the city’s cycle superhighways, meaning the city probably won’t have any segregated bikeway from central to west London anytime soon.

A British mother is looking for an apology from the hit-and-run cyclist who knocked down her five-year old daughter and just kept going.

A man in the UK says cyclists should be required to carry liability insurance if they insist on riding in the roadway; his petition has garnered nearly 30,000 signatures.

Irish prisoners have refurbished 2,000 bicycles to give to school children in Africa; meanwhile, bikeshare has come to the continent despite a near total lack of infrastructure.

A TV host in Zimbabwe faces charges in the death of a bicyclist who was riding in a cycle track.

Even when a bike lane doesn’t work out, it only cost an Aussie city a total of $20,000 to paint it and rip it out again.

As internet-based bikeshare gains popularity in China, providers struggle for a share of public space.

 

Finally…

Now you can ride the famed Little 500 on a board when you’re bored. The impetuous, alcoholic and bushy-bearded inventor of the Pedersen bike.

And rising from the dead to ride nearly 2,000 miles, minus an arm and a leg.

 

Category: Morning Links, Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime / Tags: , , , ,

Update: Teenage bike rider killed in collision between 2 vehicles; 2nd bicyclist killed in Pacoima in 3 weeks

November 15, 2016 / / 4 comments

Another bike rider has been killed in Pacoima, the second in less than a month.

Just three weeks after a still-publicly unidentified rider was killed crossing Foothill Blvd, a teenage boy has lost his life as a result of a collision between two motorists.

The victim was riding near the intersection of Glenoaks Boulevard and Vaughn Street around 7:30 am when a pickup and SUV collided, and he became trapped under the truck.

He died at the scene shortly after being freed from the truck by LA firefighters.

A woman driving one of the vehicles was transported to a local hospital in good condition after suffering a minor injury.

Unfortunately, no other details are available at this time. There’s no word on how the collision occurred or where the victim was riding at the time of the crash. However, given the hour, it’s likely he was riding to school; the crash occurred just one block from a charter school.

A street view shows two lanes in both direction on Glenoaks, with a center left turn lane and bike lanes in both directions; Vaughn is a two lane residential street with the intersection controlled with a red light.

This is the 69th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 29th in Los Angeles County; it’s also the 10th in the City of Los Angeles.

Update: The LAPD reports the collision occurred when one of the vehicles allegedly ran the red light on Glenoaks and crashed into the other as it traveled west on Vaughn with the green light.

The force of the impact knocked them into the south crosswalk, where they crashed into the victim as he was riding west with the light.

Update 2: The victim has been identified as 15-year old San Fernando resident Samuel Lopez; as suspected, he was a 10th grade student on his way to school at Vaughn Next Century Learning Center.

Update 3: As a comment from Meliss points out, his name has been corrected to Saul Lopez.

KNBC-4 offers a touching report on Saul and his death, while a GoFundMe account has raised nearly $27,000 in just one day, far surpassing the $15,000 goal. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Saul Lopez and all his loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: License captured in E. Hollywood hit-and-run, Metro may replace sheriff’s deputies with LAPD

November 15, 2016 / / One comment

If you were the victim of a hit-and-run in East Hollywood yesterday, a commenter on Reddit may be looking for you.

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So for once, there may be a little justice here. But only if the victim turns up to file a complaint.

Thanks to Evan G for the heads-up.

………

Metro is considering transferring responsibility for policing buses and train lines from the sheriff’s department to the LAPD in some areas.

This comes after years of complaints from bike riders about biased enforcement or unfair treatment from sheriff’s deputies involving collisions with buses, unsafe driving or harassment by drivers.

So this may end up being good for LA bicyclists. Or not.

………

We have a guess on who makes the screaming yellow bike lock that beat the thieves in yesterday’s photos from David Drexler, as both Mark B and J. Patrick Lynch suggest it’s The Club Bicycle/Motorcycle Utility Lock.

It certainly looks like it.

………

UCI finally comes to the realization that women cyclists aren’t delicate little things, and can actually handle distances up to 100 miles.

What a schmuck. Former Dutch cyclist Teo Muis received a lifetime ban for injecting his own son with steroids without his knowledge; his 18-year old son’s four year ban has been reduced to two years since he did not know about the doping.

Meanwhile, a South African track cyclist has been suspended for a year for doping.

………

Local

KPCC looks at how the new Trump administration could affect federal funding for LA transportation projects, including bikeways currently funded by TIGER grants. And no, it ain’t pretty.

Los Angeles has expanded its cycle hoop bike rack pilot program from Westwood Village to the Hollywood Walk of Fame district, installing 49 racks each capable of holding two bikes on parking meters in the area around Hollywood, Cahuenga and Sunset. However, it’s still illegal to lock your bike to a parking meter without the racks, though that’s rarely enforced. Thanks to LA Great Streets for the link.

A meeting will be held tonight to discuss the feasibility of restoring ten miles of the Arroyo Seco, which could impact the Arroyo Seco bike path.

Pasadena officials try to explain to uncomprehending motorists how bike lanes work and what all that green paint on the street means. Which should be a requirement for getting or keeping a driver’s license.

California’s only international cyclocross competition returns to the Whittier Narrows this weekend.

Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare celebrated its first anniversary over the weekend, logging 285,000 trips covering over 618,000 miles over the first year..

 

State

An Orange County writer discovers that riding a bicycle for the first time in 40 years is not just like riding a bike.

A new six-minute documentary from the Oxnard Fire Department tells the story of 12-year old Joey Johnson, who was killed in a collision while riding without a helmet on Father’s Day in 2013.

A new Atascadero bikeway offers a pleasant ride along the creek. Although someone should tell the local paper the difference between a bike lane and a bike path.

Long Beach wasn’t the only city to hold a ciclovía this weekend; San Franciscans enjoyed their final Sunday Streets event of the year.

Forty years later, Lake Tahoe finally completes the last segment of the West Shore Bike Trail.

 

National

Hawaiian Airlines misplaced former UCLA and NBA star Bill Walton’s extremely big bike; he tweeted last night that it had been recovered.

Houston is in the process of getting protected intersections to keep sidewalk cyclists safe along the city’s notoriously auto-centric streets.

It will cost Chicago $2.5 million in damages after a cop crashed into a commuter train while chasing a bike rider last year for the crime of riding a bike on the sidewalk; the city had argued that the law prohibiting dangerous pursuits only applied to chases involving motor vehicles. My apologies, I lost my record of who sent this one to me. But thank you, anyway.

Racist and anti-Semitic graffiti was painted on a New York area bike path.

Once again, a bad bike crash may have saved a rider’s life, as doctors discovered a stage three lung cancer when a Pennsylvania cyclist was being treated for injuries suffered in a collision.

A North Carolina city uses a Christmas tree made of bicycles to encourage people to donate a new bike for local kids.

 

International

Anti-bike terrorists strike again in the UK, where a Welsh mountain biker barely escaped serious injury when he ran into barbed wire strung at neck level over a trail. Whoever did this should face an attempted murder charge, since this could easily have killed someone.

A British driver is asking for a reduction in his nine-year sentence for killing a bike rider while texting behind the wheel, even though he had deleted his last three texts in an attempt to cover up his crime, and dispite eight previous convictions for distracted driving.

Great idea. A British report calls for giving a tax break to businesses that promote bike commuting.

It sounds like snake oil, but a Brit triathlete is standing again after suffering multiple fractures in a collision last year, thanks to an “innovative, ground-breaking treatment” that reportedly allows paraplegics to walk again by retraining the nervous system. Thanks to Opus the Poet for the tip.

The Guardian catches up with the young, Lycra-clad members of the Congo’s Goma Cycling Club.

Once again, a cyclist is a hero, as an Aussie rider drags a homeowner to safety from his burning house, then goes on a 40 mile ride despite suffering smoke inhalation.

 

Finally…

Nothing like sharing your ride with a ‘roo on the roadway. You can carry anything on a bicycle, even a body; they’re also good for disposing unwanted body parts.

And be on the lookout for a turquoise-faced, armed and dangerous, bike-riding anti-Trump vandalism suspect.

 

Category: Hit-and-Run, Law Enforcement, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Photos from Saturday’s Beach Streets in Long Beach, LA bike thefts, and BMUFL wars in PVE

November 14, 2016 / / 4 comments

Mike Wilkinson and his wife Angela took in Saturday’s Beach Streets event in Long Beach.

This past Saturday Metro and the City of Long Beach presented Beach Streets Midtown, a 2.5 mile open streets event along Anaheim Street from PCH to Orange Avenue. My wife and I put the doggies in their trailer, saddled up on our tandem bike and hit the road at the eastern end of the route. The four of us were quite a sight, but we were just one among many unique conveyances along the way.

Whether they were on foot, bike, skateboard or something almost indescribable, the participants were relaxed and friendly. We said “hi” to a wider variety of people in two hours than we have in the past year. Everyone seemed to be having fun, and riding right down the middle of what is usually a big, busy street was liberating and almost joyful.

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All photos by Angela Wilkinson

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You can download these photos, and a few others, from his Google Drive account.

The Cal State Long Beach paper took in the day, as well.

………

LA bike thieves strike again, this time snatching a beautiful Geekhouse Woodville touring bike from one of the authors of the Radavist. Thanks to Bryan Hance of Bike Index for the heads-up.

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Meanwhile, David Drexler noticed the aftermath of another semi-successful bike theft at the Bundy station on the Expo Line, which was stripped after the thieves were able to cut through one U-lock, but not the other.

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And no, to answer the question we’re all asking, he didn’t get the make of the yellow lock.

………

Local

The Daily Breeze looks at the nasty battle over the proposed installation of Bikes May Use Full Lane signs in Palos Verdes Estates, which has refused to post the signs despite the recommendation of their own Traffic Safety Committee, at least for now. Although you’d think three cyclists killed on the peninsula in the last year, and another critically injured, would create some sense of urgency. But apparently, you’d be wrong.

 

State

An OC man was stabbed and his bicycle stolen after two men challenged him over gang affiliations in the parking lot of the Santa Ana zoo.

Laguna Beach is improving access to the Top of the World singletrack trail from the Top of the World Drive in the Top of the World neighborhood to make it accessible to a wider range of non-Top of the World people.

Sunnyvale police are looking for witnesses to a wreck that sent a bike rider to the hospital with multiple skull fractures.

 

National

Road.cc says Donald Trump’s promise to rebuild America’s infrastructure could be an opportunity to convince him to support building more bikeways.

Nearly one thousand Las Vegas cyclists took part in Sunday’s ride to benefit Ride 2 Recovery.

Gary Johnson, New Mexico resident and distant third place finisher in last week’s election, will now dedicate himself to health and fitness, riding the 2,768 Great Divide Mountain from Banff to Antelope Wells NM next June.

The Guardian looks at a proposal for a floating bike path along the Chicago River.

Can we vote for him here? The vice mayor of Cambridge MA says the city’s bicycle safety efforts are the difference between life and death, even if that means drivers will be inconvenienced and parking will be lost.

The operator of a New Orleans bike tour company wants to know why a woman wasn’t given a sobriety test after doing a slow roll over several bikes being ridden by his patrons. Which is a damn good question.

 

International

Canadian traffic safety advocates are focusing on distracted driving and lowering speed limits as public health issues.

A British bike rider died after he was kicked off his bike by a group of youths, not long after he was released from prison after 24 years behind bars.

A jazz musician in the UK performed seven shows in a single day, towing his keyboard behind his bike between gigs as he rode to each one.

A Belfast councilor was kicked off his bike by a group of young men after he tried to stop one from taking a dump on a memorial to a Northern Irish politician while the others filmed it.

Call it a reverse dooring. A Dublin councilor was knocked out by a hit-and-run salmon cyclist who ran into his car door as he was getting out.

Pakistani cyclists ride to raise awareness of breast cancer, while Islamabad restores a network of cycle tracks that had fallen into disrepair.

Cyclists from around India turn out for a nationwide event to promote bicycling.

A new Australian study shows biking or walking can improve artery health in people with Type-2 diabetes.

A Malaysian cyclist returns home after spending the last 16 months riding through 22 countries, losing 22 pounds in the process.

A Jakarta paper asks if wooden bikes can prevent global warming.

 

Finally…

Nothing like auctioning a cow to raise funds for bicycling. Crash your mountain bike, and wake up to a new career as a competitive beard growing champion.

And if you’re going to ride drunk, try not to run into any police cars.

 

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime / Tags: , , , ,
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