Archive for General

Semi-bike-friendly Santa Monica FedEx fail; LAPD ride-along for Critical Mass

June 16, 2010 / / 6 comments

Notice how it's parked directly in the bike lane, despite a row of empty meters.

Tuesday afternoon found me riding along 7th Street in Santa Monica.

I was on my way home from a quick jaunt to the South Bay, and stopped at a bike shop in SoCal’s city by the bay — or one of them, anyway — to pick up a new light.

So afterwards, I decided to take the bike lane along 7th Street that turns into a bike route above Wilshire to get back to San Vicente and home. It’s not a great bike lane, positioning riders directly in the door zone, but in my book it’s better than nothing and usually a decent street to ride.

It may be a crappy bike lane, but it's a bike lane — not a loading zone.

At least, when it’s not blocked by a needlessly double parked FedEx truck.

As you can see from the photos, there are no cars at the curb — and clearly hadn’t been when the truck parked, since there’s not enough room between the truck and the curb for anything bigger than a clown car. And it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of those around here.

Instead, the diver intentionally blocked the bike lane, as well as two parking spaces, for no apparent reason, forcing me to take the lane to get around a multi-ton example of why Santa Monica continues to merely aspire to bike-friendliness — despite what the League of American Bicyclists insists.

When service drivers like this start getting tickets, or city officials contact delivery services to insist that they leave bike lanes clear for the people they were intended for, then Santa Monica may finally begin to earn its award.

You can just make out the license if any city or company officials care; click on the photo to enlarge.

………

In response to the now infamous Critical Mass Takedown, the LAPD announced that they will attend the next Critical Mass. While acknowledging cyclists right to ride, as well as a “1st Amendment Right to call attention to issues affecting their community” — and hopefully, to document what happens on the street without getting your iPhone smashed — they make clear they will also be enforcing the law.

So fair warning. You have a right to ride in Critical Mass.

But you also have a right to be ticketed or arrested if you don’t ride right.

Click to enlarge.

………

RAAM riders have reached the hallucination zone, as exertion and sleep depravation have some riders seeing things; I once spoke with a top RAAM finisher who described seeing dinosaurs along the roadway through Missouri at 4 am.

In other racing news, Tony Martin of Team HTC – Columbia leads the Tour of Switzerland after four stages, with Fabian Cancellara one second back, as Mark Cavendish takes down several top riders in a sprint to the finish. And Lance’s Team Radioshack is disinvited to this year’s Spanish Vuelta, despite their current 8th ranking; Team Director Johan Bruyneel calls BS.

………

The hit-and-run trail for the woman who severely injured Louis “Birdman” Deliz is delayed again. More from Stephen Box about the new sharrows on Fountain Ave; Streetsblog notes that they’re now starting to appear on 4th St — hopefully his one will make people happier. Plans for bus-only lanes on Wilshire Blvd move forward; these could easily be shared with bikes as other cities have done. Proposed cuts to the Safe Routes to School Program have been postponed for now; Santa Monica Spoke encourages you to contact your representative, which is a damn good idea anyway. The Spoke also invites one and all to tonight’s meeting, and offers a schedule for the upcoming meetings for the city’s proposed Land Use and Circulation Element. Green LA Girl forwards your invitation to the Squirt! Bike Race and Scavenger Hunt. Biking the path of least resistance from Burbank to Glendale; Silverlake, not so much. The Claremont Cyclist — who has one of the best headers in blogdom — notes a big problem with local infrastructure and offers alternative, long and short term. Long Beach’s biking expats cycle through the historic Natchez Trace. More Americans are traveling sans motor. Zeke survives to prove the point of yesterday’s post, that drivers don’t see bikes unless they care enough to look — and does it while riding at 55 mph, at least according to his bike computer. Dottie survives, barely, a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad commute from hell; the Chicago Tribune says she could use a little help. Traffic meister Tom Vanderbilt looks at the curious economics of bike parking. Scientific American says American cities are moving away from car-only thoroughfares; thanks to Metro’s Transportation Library for the link. A Portland bus forces a bicyclist into a parked car. A Hartford cyclist scares a kid biking past a supposedly haunted hospital. Six ways to boost your city’s bike mojo. EcoVelo confesses to being a bike clothing agnostic. Colorado cyclists try to derail the Black Hawk bike ban. Another bike bear attack, this time in Anchorage. Thirty days is not enough for recklessly killing a bike rider. Maybe you’re better off with a cow’s eye than a bike reflector; well at least the drivers would notice you. More on labeling riders as cyclists rather than just people who ride bikes; another non-cyclist agrees. London could take a hint from Bogotá’s Ciclovía. A teenage hit-and-run driver curls up and cries after his conviction. Another London bike death offers fair warning to L.A. against trying to squeeze bikes in with substandard infrastructure.

Finally, starting next month, you could be at just a little less risk from drunk drivers — like this guy, allegedly — on the streets of L.A.

Category: General /

Bikes aren’t hard to see if drivers pay attention

June 14, 2010 / / 13 comments

When my father had his heart attack, one of the last things he said was that if he didn’t make it, he wanted me to have his car.

He didn’t.

So about a week later, I found myself driving back home from Colorado in a 1983 Olds Delta 88. Not exactly my kind of car; but when your Dad’s dying wish is for you to have something, you take it. And you treasure it.

Whenever I got behind the wheel, I felt a little closer to him, and that awful pain eased up just a bit. Until finally after a few years, I was able to let the sadness, and the car, go.

Maybe my old man knew what he was doing after all.

It was huge car, seemingly the size of a small tuna boat, with a curb weight of over three-and-a-half tons. And with its baby blue paint job and white vinyl top, it was kind of hard to miss.

Yet somehow, the woman who rear-ended it while I was stopped at a red light did just that, saying she just didn’t see my car sitting directly in front of her, despite two working brake lights. Or at least, they were working before she hit me.

So how can we expect drivers to see something nearly 20 times smaller?

Like a cyclist, for instance.

Oddly, though, I never seem to have any trouble spotting riders on the road, whether I’m on my bike or behind the wheel.

Yet drivers are constantly told to watch carefully for bikes and pedestrians, because we’re so hard to see. And frankly, I’m getting pretty fed up with it.

Because the simple fact is, bikes aren’t hard to see. In fact, we’re everywhere. You just have to look.

All drivers have to do is stay sober, put down their phones, stop texting or fixing their makeup. And pay attention to the road in front of them as if their life — or someone else’s — depends on it.

Because it does.

We get that. As bicyclists, we know that we have to pay attention to every person and vehicle on the road, and it’s long past time that we started holding drivers to that same standard.

Drivers must be held accountable for failure to see something or someone directly in front of them. Or failing to use their mirrors or check their blind spots to see riders off to the side or behind them.

A reader recently emailed a story of barely avoiding a collision as he rode in the bike lane on Venice, when the driver of a pickup nearly turned into him without bothering to check his mirrors before suddenly lurching to the right.

The part that really bothers me is, why is the refrain “I didn’t see you” so easily accepted as a legitimate excuse, not only by the drivers involved, but by the cops and other outsiders.  The subtext of this statement is, “I didn’t bother looking, you are just some person on a bike, and I really don’t owe you anything.”  Would these following excuses fly? “I didn’t know the gun was loaded.”  “I didn’t realize the four cocktails made me too drunk to drive.”  All of these indicate a lack of any responsibility on the part of the person making the excuse.   That’s all they are, excuses.  Being a driver and saying “I didn’t see you” means you didn’t do what you should have done, which is to look, to pay attention.  I was driving down the freeway the other day and was about to change lanes into another car because, although I checked my mirrors, I didn’t check my blind spot.  If I had hit the car, would “I didn’t see you” work to absolve me of any fault?  Probably not.

This morning, if this guy driving the truck would have glanced in his big truck mirrors, he would have seen me coming down the bike bath for hundreds of feet behind him, easily.  You will never see a thing when you aren’t looking.  It’s a very simple request, always be looking, with eyes open for all possibilities.

The Brits call it SMIDSY — Sorry Mate, I Didn’t See You. We need to start calling it what it is.

An admission of guilt.

And stop telling drivers that bikes are hard to see, because we’re not.

They just have to care enough to look.

………

Flying Pigeon looks forward to next weekend’s Streetsblog fundraising ride. Neon Tommy offers a great look at the Bicycle Kitchen. LAist looks at the new Fountain Ave sharrows, while Damien Newton offers a great summation of the celebration and controversy. KPCC says it’s time for Critical Mass riders to Harden The F*** Up, ‘cause things could have been a lot worse. Streetsblog looks at Saturday’s Bike and Pedestrian Workshop in Culver City. Taking a M*A*S*H ride through the sets at Malibu Creek State Park. A San Diego pedestrian suffers a fractured skull when she’s struck by a hit-and-run bicyclist. Why Modesto should not be part of next year’s Tour of California. The RAAM riders contend with wicked weather through the West. The sky’s the limit for a 14-year old Arizona bike racer. Tucson Bike Lawyer discovers the joys of a separated bike path, while his Chicago counterpart looks at the joys and risks of alleycat racing. Should police crack down on illegal cyclist behavior or focus on the big machines that can kill people? Slow riding on separated bikeways means sucking in less smog. Michigan may follow California’s lead and ban texting while biking. Pondering empathy for everyone on the road. Slovenian rider Janez Brajkovic breaks through to win the Dauphine for Lance’s Team Radioshack. A British rider is killed during a time trail when he’s struck from behind by a car. A Paralympian’s perspective on riding the length of Great Britain. English soccer fans ride 8,000 miles to support the Three Lions in the World Cup; that’s a long way to go to watch a draw, not that I’m rubbing it in or anything. Irish riders may get numbered license plates even though the law doesn’t require it. Ottawa businesses say parking is preferable to bike lanes. A Canadian cyclist says bike paths are for bikes, period; I dare him to say that on the beachfront bike path through Santa Monica. Arabs, Jews and Bedouins bike for peace in the Mid East. Maybe you should be snacking on cherries after your next ride.

Finally, three Florida cyclists are injured when a driver swerves into a group of riders, then throws a beer out his window. There are no words that even begin to address the sheer needless stupidity.

Seriously.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

Today’s post, in which I’m blindsided by a former friend

June 14, 2010 / / 27 comments

Alex Thompson makes his feelings clear.

Wow.

You’ll have to excuse me, but for once, I don’t even know what to say. Until recently, I considered Alex Thompson a friend and an ally in making the city’s streets safer for cyclists.

I say until recently, because he’s made it clear that’s no longer the case.

His choice, not mine.

I respect Alex. I liked Alex. I’ve supported his efforts at Bikeside and linked to his commentary; even when on those rare occasions when I’ve personally disagreed with his comments, I felt they were worth wider consideration.

And I’m linking to him today, as he unveils the first in what he promises will be a five part attack on some of the things I’ve written, as well as on me personally.

I don’t intend to get into an online flame war; that’s one of the things I hate most about the internet. And while I disagree with much of what he has to say this morning, I don’t think you’re interested in a point-by-point rebuttal.

So I wish Alex well.

If he really wants to attack me, then fire away.

………

Stephen Box criticizes LADOT’s new sharrows for placing cyclists in the door zone, and allowing drivers to pass too closely; oddly, he seems to hold the LACBC somehow accountable for LADOT’s engineering. Meanwhile, BAC Chair Glenn Bailey notes in an email that LADOT didn’t bother to inform the city’s own Bicycle Advisory Committee about the sharrows, and that, for now at least, they only stretch for about half a mile and on just one side of Fountain.

Oh, and watch out for those potholes.

………

Graduation cycle chic at Caltech. New York cyclists envy our newfound relationship with the LAPD. The RAAM leaders hit Trinidad CO three days into the race, one-third of the way across the country. Instead of just fighting a new law, some Florida cyclists want to ban bike lanes all together. Two thousand riders will spend the next week riding the Rockies. $2.4 million settlement for cyclist killed after hitting a lane divider that shouldn’t have been used. After a cyclist is killed, local residents demand that the speed limit be cut in half — even though her death had nothing to do with cars or speed. Riding in style in Savannah. A mother questions whether bicycling is too dangerous for her kids. Dave Moulton looks at the bicycling, reiki practicing road-rage driver who intentionally struck four cyclists in San Francisco. Alberto Contador studies Lance and Pantani to see how it’s done, then rides out to conquer Alpe d’Huez in the Dauphine. While other cities get parking protected bike lanes, Copenhagen gets bike-parking protected bike lanes. After a Swedish cyclist is intentionally struck by a driver, the rider faces charges for riding in the roadway. A law-abiding Critical Mass comes to Moose Jaw. Dubai plans to empty the roads of inattentive and unsafe drivers.

Finally, a look at World Naked Bike Ride around the globe, including London, Ottawa, Toronto and Halifax.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

Sharrows hit the streets of LA; Bicycle Kitchen’s epic 5th Anniversary benefit concert

June 11, 2010 / / 3 comments

Aurisha Smolarski of the LACBC rides the city's first sharrows; photo courtesy of LACBC

Evidently, LADOT finally figured out what kind of paint to put on the street.

In an event as unlikely and seemingly miraculous as Moses parting the Red Sea, L.A. saw its initial sharrows hit the pavement on Fountain Ave. in Hollywood today — the first in what is promised to be six test sites, as Los Angeles gingerly explores a concept that has already been proven in cities around the world.

And despite LADOT’s expressed concerns over what kind of paint to use so cyclists wouldn’t sue after slipping on wet paint, they ended up using the same thermoplastic paint usually used for lane markings.

LADOT workers prepare to put well-researched paint on the pavement; photo courtesy of LACBC

Go figure, huh?

Others have already reported the story in detail; Joe Linton offers the full long, sad history of the cycling community’s fight for shared lane markings.

Suffice it to say that today’s pilot project marks a rare victory for local cyclists, for which much of the credit goes to City Council President Eric Garcetti, who championed the project, and the LACBC, which has unrelentingly led the fight for the last five years.

Of course, the fight’s not over.

L.A. cyclists — and drivers — need to prove that these projects are successful before we’re likely to see another drop of paint in our lifetimes.

………

Click to enlarge

In upcoming bike events, Bicycle Kitchen celebrates their fifth anniversary with an Epic Benefit Concert and Silent Auction Saturday night.

Santa Monica Spoke invites one and all to their next meeting on Wednesday, featuring special guest Santa Monica City Council Member Terry O’Day.

Next weekend, Streetsblog holds it’s first fundraising ride on Friday, June 18, following the routes of L.A.’s old Yellow Car train lines through NELA. The next day, Saturday, June 19th, explore art and culture with the Folk Art is Everywhere Bike Tour, an easy 3.5 mile ride through Echo Park and historic Filipinotown.

And the second round of public workshops for the County Bicycle Master Plan continue throughout this month; next up is a meeting in Newhall on Thursday the 17th.

………

No objections on the Transportation Committee to a motion requiring developers to count bikes and pedestrians as well as cars; even LADOT supported it. Flying Pigeon makes the scene at the SoCal premier of Riding Bikes with the Dutch. LACBC recaps last Sunday’s River Ride, with a link to another great Flickr set of photos. California cyclists get pelted by passing motorists in a pickup. Local bicyclists plan to fight the bike ban in Blackhawk CO. The joys of cycling include giving random strangers a high five as they hail a cab. A teenage driver kills a cyclist while untangling his flip flops and walks away without charges. DC’s DOT Director asks local cyclists to just take a breath. Your summer reading list: 10 great books about bicycling. RAAM is on the road, making good time through the western U.S.; India’s top endurance rider aims for a top five finish. Lance calls a proposal for even more drug testing at the Tour de France “bullshit.” Six-hundred riders prepare to roll across Britain. A grown man shouldn’t be afraid to ride a bike in the street. Pink rides through Deutschland sans skidlid. Germany’s Defense Minister rides das fahrrad. Polite police warnings in Copenhagen. Protect your pedals, ‘cause there’s few things worse than an insecure bike. A 15-year old pseudo cop jacks 14 bikes before getting caught. A Canadian bike rider gets bit in the butt by a grizzly bear.

Finally, LA Eastside’s El Random Hero outs himself as a new member of the cycling community. Glad to have you on board, but seriously, get a light if you’re going to ride after dark; after all, it’s only your life we’re talking about.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Who’s the man behind the curtain of L.A. bicycling?

June 11, 2010 / / 13 comments

Sometimes it seems like the standard mantra of L.A. cyclists.

Ask the city’s bike riders who’s responsible for miserable state of L.A. cycling and the horrible lack of infrastructure in what should be one of the world’s best cities for biking, and chances are, you’ll hear one name come up far more than once.

Michelle Mowery.

After all, it’s an easy case to make. As LADOT’s Senior Bicycle Coordinator, she’s the highest-ranking bike official in the city bureaucracy. And she’s been on the job since the adoption of the still unimplemented 1996 bike plan.

A period during which the city striped a grand total of 46 miles of bike lanes — a whopping average of just 3.3 miles a year — only 28 miles of which were included in the ’96 plan. That compares to New York, which has created 200 miles of bike lanes in the last two years alone, and continues to stripe at a rate of 50 miles a year.

Just one problem, though. Love her or hate her — and I’ve heard from a number of people in both camps — she’s not the one responsible for the city’s continued failure to make room on the streets for bikes.

I dare you to find the Bikeways Department on this chart; click to enlarge.

The simple fact is, even though she’s the city’s top bike official, her position just isn’t that important in the LADOT hierarchy. She has no authority over the engineers who design the city’s streets and no real power to move any project forward.

In fact, LADOT considers the Bikeways Department she heads so unimportant that it doesn’t even show up on their own flowchart. It took master bike wonk Josef Bray-Ali to ferret out just how far down it truly ranks in the department’s structure.

Any project she recommends has to be planned and designed by the department’s notoriously car-centric engineering staff, and approved — or more likely, modified or killed — by someone higher up the food chain.

The simple fact is, even New York DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan or Long Beach Mobility Coordinator Charlie Gandy would probably be unable to accomplish anything within LADOT as it currently stands. Especially in the same low-level position Mowery holds.

From the outside, it’s impossible to tell if she’s the anti-bike obstructionist some people think she is. Or if she’s been fighting a 14-year losing battle on behalf of bikeways as others contend.

But considering that she was the driving force behind the City Council’s all-but-forgotten anti-harassment ordinance — remember that one? — it might be the latter.

Or at least somewhere in between.

So if Mowery’s not the one ultimately responsible for the city’s failure to support cycling, who is?

Meet John Fisher.

It would be easy to point the finger at LADOT General Manager Rita Robinson. As head of the department for nearly three years, she’s the one in charge.

In theory, at least.

Despite rave reviews for her role in reforming the Bureau of Sanitation before coming to LADOT, she has, by all indications, been unable to bring much needed change to the Department of Transportation.

Robinson’s problem, it would appear, is the same one Mowery faces.

She’s not an engineer.

So while she can give all the direction she wants, it’s ultimately up to the engineering staff to design the streets, and tell her what is — and isn’t — possible.

And the top engineer, and second in charge at LADOT, is John Fisher.

Now, don’t misunderstand. By all accounts, Fisher is a highly respected traffic engineer, recently featured in an interview with the Atlantic. But you only have to look at the streets of the L.A. to detect a significant pro-car bias in the 11 years he’s held his position, despite his protests to the contrary.

Why did my name become associated with this issue as Umberto Brayj suggests? To what did I respond “no”? I do not supervise the Bikeway Section. But I certainly support a bikeway network and well-developed bikeway amenities. I was the one who sponsored San Francisco’s experiment with sharrows and pushed to have it adopted by the California Traffic Control Devices Committee. I also supported Long Beach’s experiment with the green lane. Further, I was also personally involved in developing State guidelines to ensure that bicycles can be detected at intersections and that there is sufficient signal timing to accommodate them.–John Fisher

Of course, it’s one thing to support sharrows in San Francisco and quite another to paint them on the streets of his own city. I also haven’t seen any green lanes in Los Angeles; but then, it’s a big city, right?

Though I’d have to suspect that if Fisher really supported a bikeways network like he claims, we’d have one by now. And L.A. cyclists wouldn’t feel like they had to beat their heads against the wall just to get a few sharrows painted.

As Joe Linton, one of the city’s leading bike activists, put it in a response to Fisher’s comments:

It’s laughable that you’re suggesting that you’ve shown bike leadership by stating your role in projects located in San Francisco and Long Beach. If you’re into these sorts of projects, then implement them in the city where you work – Los Angeles.

It’s also telling that you call bikeways “amenities.” Amenities are things that are nice to have, but not really necessary. Bike and pedestrian facilities need to be treated as an integral part of a safe transportation system… not as amenities.

Most deceptive of all is your implication that you’re not responsible for bikeway projects because you “do not supervise the Bikeway [sic] Section.” Do you really think that Streetsblog readers are so unsophisticated that we don’t know that to implement on-street bike lanes, the Bikeways Section must get approvals from the operations folks that you supervise? It’s your operations engineers who say “no” to implementing on-street bike projects. This includes your staffer Ken Firoozmand who last year lied about LADOT’s plans to kill the Reseda Boulevard bike lanes. You have ultimate say over bikeways on L.A.’s roads, and for your tenure at LADOT, you’ve failed to create streets that are safe and convenient for bicycling and walking.

Or as the previously mentioned Mr. Bray-Ali put it:

When it comes time to install bike lanes by narrowing lanes, removing travel lanes, traffic calming, you guys jump around with “CEQA lawsuits” and “crosswalks are dangerous” talk. Menacing council staff with “policies” that don’t even exist…

The “Department of No”, the “Department of Yes, We Can’t” – these are nicknames you guys have earned through your actions. Why fight with the citizens you serve? Does the Institute for Transportation Engineers swear you guys into some sort of brotherhood from which there is no escape?

Then there’s this comment from Ramonchu in response to the Streetsblog article about Fisher’s Atlantic interview:

…The city has not a single street standard that reflects anything other than how much traffic to move through it. If Fisher were serious about any of this, which he absolutely is not, he’d be moving even half as fast as the NYCDOT, who painted 200 miles of bike facilities in 2 years…LADOT did just under 2 miles last year.

Fisher is the one name every bicyclists should learn and use; he’s the man who keeps your wife, sister, girlfriend and mother absolutely shocked that you ride a bike every day, as he regularly stonewalls bike-friendly projects that would get large numbers of people on their bikes. And, as someone who has a senior role, and has had a senior role for a long, long time, in an organization that controls streets that kill a number of people nearly equal to the homicide rate, I’d go so far as to say he’s a man with a large amount of blood on his hands.

So is John Fisher the one responsible for the department’s overwhelming focus on automotive throughput and the massive failure to implement the 1996 bike plan — let alone virtually anything else to support bicycling in Los Angeles, including the woefully watered-down first draft of the new bike plan intended to replace it?

The jury’s still out.

But it doesn’t look good.

If Mr. Fisher really supports bicycling, this would be a good time to step up and prove it. And get some paint on the street, pronto.

And if not, it’s long past time for the mayor to step in and do something about it.

Correction: As I have long said, if anyone finds an error in anything I’ve written, I am happy to correct it. As Alex Thompson points out, LADOT does not have an official #2 position — they have two. In the newly revised proposed L.A. bike plan, both Amir Sedadi and John E. Fisher are listed as Assistant General Manager, directly below Rita Robinson. However, as Thompson points, Sedadi is in charge of parking in the City of Los Angeles, and therefore unlikely to have any authority over biking infrastructure; Fisher is and remains the highest-ranking engineer within the department.

………

Speaking of sharrows, LADOT’s blog explains the what and why’s. LAPD will soon give higher priority to car vs. bike collisions. How to lock your bike to keep all or part of it from being stolen. Culver City’s two-year bike and pedestrian plan outreach ends this weekend. LAist says cyclists want action, not words, from the mayor. Pasadena’s famed Fork in the Road is finito. Green LA Girl tells you how to trade in your old bike on a new ride and turn an old jogging stroller into a bike trailer. The AIDS/LifeCycle ride will arrive in L.A. on Saturday. Some cyclists stop for red lights, and maybe the rest should. The Race Across America — a non-stop competitive ride across the continent — kicked off on Tuesday for women, Wednesday for men. Tucson police offer a free, voluntary website to register your bike in case of theft; not a bad idea for the LAPD to consider. D.C.’s new Pennsylvania Ave. bike lanes take space from cyclists to give back to angry drivers. Scotland needs to increase spending on bicycling projects, or risk missing their target of a 10% boost in ridership. Volunteer speed gun operators in the UK are startled by a naked cyclist; maybe he was just a few days early. A Canadian cyclist gets clotheslined by fishing line strung over a mountain bike path. An Aussie study shows that investing in a new bicycle network would deliver $3.88 for every dollar invested; thanks to the Trickster for the heads-up.

Finally, courtesy of our friends at Cyclelicious, having an angry dog on your wheel is bad enough, now imagine being chased by a bear — which can probably run faster than you can ride. Also from Cyclelicious, a look at former L.A. D.A. Gil Garcetti’s new book Paris: Women and Bicycles; you might know his son Eric.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

They drive among us: an astounding display of far right anti-bike bias

June 9, 2010 / / 7 comments

Honestly, I thought anti-bike stupidity reached it’s peak in the ‘80s.

That’s when Denver sportswriter Woody Paige, then writing for the late Rocky Mountain News, unfavorably compared professional cyclists competing in the Coors Classic — including Greg LeMond and the legendary Bernard Hinault — to children riding with playing cards stuck in their spokes.

Tony Kornheiser’s misguided rant not withstanding.

Yet in an online edition of the Waterbury, CT Republican-American, which — despite an obvious conservative bent — has nothing to do with the political party of the same name, D. Dowd Muska does his best to trump them all.

Starting with his headline: 4 wheels are good; two wheels are bad. (Note: The Republican-American has blocked access to the column, but you can find it online by searching for the author’s name).

Seriously, I should have stopped reading right then. But then, I’ve always been one to rush in where wise men fear to tread, to wit:

There is something profoundly wrong with a nation where more adults ride bicycles than children.

America might now be such a nation.

Yeah, seriously. Denmark, and much of Europe, should be ashamed to place such a high priority on two-wheeled transport over man’s God-given right to drive a Hummer whenever and wherever he damn well pleases.

While kids sit at home texting their friends and slaying computer-generated monsters, a growing number of their parents and grandparents are clogging the roads atop a contraption that once was considered a child’s toy.

Amazingly, it goes downhill from there.

Two odious ideologies fuel the popularity of bicycling: anti-obesity extremism and eco-lunacy. Pedal power, we are told, will not only make you thinner, it will reduce your “carbon footprint.” (It’s a nanny-state twofer.)

Already slim, or pursuing other means to lose weight? Like your SUV, and don’t swallow the discredited theory that man is baking the planet? Then obviously you’re an idiot.

Well, if the shoe fits.

Of course, he goes on to spout the usual nonsense about scofflaw cyclists, since no drivers ever speed, fail to come to complete stops or forget to use turns signals. And describes the industry trade group Bikes Belong as an “agitprop shop,” citing their clearly insidious goal of “putting more people on bikes more often.”

There’s more, of course.

Isn’t there always?

Rants about “dubious bike schemes” and “Big Bicycle” dipping its toe into federal gas tax funds and the bank bailout. And quoting a self-hating cyclist and Cato Institute scholar as saying:

“There really is very little evidence that any of (these efforts) are reducing the amount of driving. They’re just making it more annoying to drivers.”

Then again, Muska had already refuted that himself in the third paragraph, where he noted the recent rapid rise in ridership, as exemplified by Philadelphia’s 97% increase in bike commuters over just three years.

Or maybe those people formerly commuted by flying carpet before switching to bikes.

But then, I suppose you can’t expect someone like that to confuse himself with something as trivial as the facts.

Or rational thought, for that matter.

………

The Art Theater of Long Beach is screening Riding Bikes with the Dutch tonight (Thursday) at 7 pm.

………

More coverage of the Critical Mass Takedown, as the Times reports on Mayor Villaraigosa’s letter to the LACBC, yet oddly, has nothing to add to the story. L.A. Weekly goes into far more depth to cover the story, but doesn’t quite grasp the concept of Critical Mass, or that a lot of cyclists who don’t ride Critical Mass still care very deeply about the problem of hit-and-runs.

………

Cyclelicious offers a couple of great looks at the Blackhawk, Colorado bike ban, which was supposedly done for safety reasons — even though there were no cyclist or pedestrian deaths in the entire county in the last four years for which records are available. Meanwhile, the Denver bus driver who ran over a 72-year old cyclist, leading to a possible bike ban on the city’s 16th Street Mall, didn’t brake because he “had passengers” on board; thanks to George Wolfberg for the link.

………

Transportation Committee members reconsider plans to widen the historic North Spring Street bridge, supposedly for the benefit of cyclists and pedestrians. Gary gets credit for better Broadway bike lanes. LADOT’s bike blogger offers a recap of last Sunday’s River Ride. Forty percent of Claremont car trips are short enough for a 6-year old to bike, while local authorities want to pave the Wilderness Park to put in more parking; maybe they don’t understand the meaning of Park in this context. The scum bucket suspect accused of attacking four cyclists in San Francisco appears in court. Good advice on how to share the road with cyclists. The Chicago Sun-Times talks to bike blogger Dottie Brackett of Let’s Go Ride a Bike. A two-inch crack in a New York bridge results in 40 stitches and a fractured hand. Sharrows are popping up everywhere in Portland — and soon here, we hope? How lawyers and legislators devalue your life. Georgia is the latest state to consider a three-foot passing law. UCI warned Floyd Landis not to go public with his doping allegations against one of their officials. Carlos Sastre, 2008 Tour de France winner, is doubtful for this year’s Tour due to a back injury. A Belgian biking Olympian finally gets his gold 62 years later. A Lycra-free London guide to cycle chic; then again, who needs bike shorts when you can ride naked? There’s enough crap in the bike lane without having to deal with crap in the bike lane. You could be riding on your recycled printer cartridge on the newest Aussie bikeway; just another reason to continue those “discredited” eco policies anyway.

Finally, why you should always wear a helmet, tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek edition.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

More Critical Mass fallout: the mayor speaks out, LAPD steps up

June 9, 2010 / / 6 comments

Sometimes it only takes a videotape of an assault under color of authority to get a little attention.

Just a few days after the LACBC called on L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa to step up and unequivocally voice his support for cycling in the City of Angeles following the now infamous Critical Mass Takedown, he did.

Sort of.

The next business day after the letter was hand-delivered to his office, he offered his response to the LACBC.

Bicyclists have every right to use our City streets and to be treated with courtesy and respect—both by drivers and law enforcement.

I fully support LAPD Chief Charlie Beck’s efforts to improve the relationship between cyclists and police officers, and I was very   disappointed  to hear about the confrontation in Hollywood on May 28.

The video from that night is disturbing. The LAPD is conducting a full investigation of this incident, and I have complete confidence in Chief Beck’s commitment to making the City’s streets safe for everyone.

—Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

It’s a great message, as far as it goes. Which isn’t nearly far enough.

As Damien Newton points out, it’s a baby step, but one that goes far beyond anything we’ve heard from the mayor before.

But baby steps aren’t good enough. Not anymore.

Mayor Villaraigosa needs to take this opportunity to make it clear to all city departments and employees that bikes have a vital role to play in L.A.’s transportation future, and that cyclists deserve the same respect and consideration given to any other users of the city’s streets. And that the bureaucratic obstructionism that’s prevented implementation of the 1996 bike plan needs to end.

Now.

It’s also long past time for the mayor to meet with cyclists.

The Transportation Committee has done it. The full City Council has heard us. Even the new Chief and Asst. Chief of the LAPD sat down with cyclists — and made real changes as a result.

Now the mayor needs to come forward to meet with cyclists to share his thoughts, answer our questions and really listen to the concerns of the cycling community.

Anything less would be a failure of leadership. And yet another failure to communicate.

………

On the other hand, the LAPD seems to have gotten the message.

In response to the bungled Critical Mass response — which is far from the first time the LAPD has used force against cyclists — Commander Jorge Villegas, the Assistant Director of Operations, has ordered the Training Division to develop new tactics that would allow all officers to safely and effectively deal with riders on an individual and group basis, including:

  • stopping a single moving bicyclist
  • stopping bicyclists riding in a group
  • managing large bicycle rides and events
  • developing a pursuit policy for bicyclists who refuse to yield
  • any other bicycle-related tactical issues that may arise

That doesn’t mean things are going to change overnight. Or that the next time a police officer feels overwhelmed by cyclists, he won’t resort to the sort of use of force that would never be employed against a motorist under similar circumstances.

But it does mean that the department has gotten the message.

And that they are committed to finding a better way to deal with us.

A special thanks to Sgt. David Krumer of the LAPD’s Office of Operations, the department’s point man on biking issues, who has gone out of his way to address the concerns of bicyclists and improve communications between the department and the cycling community.

………

Alex Trujillo is scheduled to go on trial Wednesday for felony murder in the drunk driving death of Catherine Busse in Seal Beach two years ago. According to the Orange County Register, Trujillo was on multiple prescription drugs and had a blood alcohol level of 0.11 when he swerved onto the sidewalk and hit Busse at a speed of 45 mph. Trujillo had also been convicted of DUI in 2002.

………

Attack of the killer cyclists: The suspect in the vicious hit-and-run attacks that targeted four cyclists in San Francisco is described as an “avid cyclist,” while a bike-riding Wisconsin driver gets 30 months in jail for killing a cyclist while driving drunk.

………

Travelin’ Local ask why LA isn’t more bike friendly than NYC; two words: Bloomberg and Sadik-Khan. Or is that three? San Francisco takes space from the traffic lane to reduce the door zone. The mayor of Aspen, CO is seriously injured in a solo bike accident; that’s why you don’t wrap anything around your handles bars. A group of Critical Mass riders are captured on film actually stopping for a red light. Floyd “Seriously, I’m Telling the Truth Now, Even Though I was Lying Before” Landis lawyers up with LeMond’s attorneys; probably a damn good idea. NBA star Caron Butler teams with Denmark’s crown prince and a couple of Congressmen to promote cycling. The bamboo bike makers visit the Bay Area. Bad things can happen when you pass on the right; then again, the left isn’t always so great, either. Actually, there is a safe way for delivery trucks to double park without blocking the bike lane. Chicago gets artistic new bike racks. A bike wedding in Tucson. Tips on how to ride in a group without becoming roadkill. My idea of heaven: fly fishing by bike. What’s your carbon footprint when you ride? Manchester UK recruits cyclists for a new bicycle ballet. A BBC broadcaster would rather travel by bike than limo. Britain considers lowering the blood alcohol limit for drivers from .08 to .05. A British program doubles the percentage of children who bike to school. Courtesy of Witch on a Bicycle comes word of an intentional road-rage assault in the UK.

Finally, after a bus hits a cyclist on Denver’s 16th Mall, the driver gets a ticket; yet instead of improving driver training, Denver transportation officials consider banning bikes entirely in response. And just west of Denver, the small town of Blackhawk bans bikes entirely from most streets; you know, for our own safety.

God forbid they should actually focus on the big, dangerous vehicles that can kill people.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Yesterday’s ride, in which I didn’t

June 7, 2010 / / 6 comments

Sunday afternoon was spent watching other people ride their bikes.

Or more precisely, working in the LACBC’s booth at the River Ride, sending a number of riders home with souvenir jerseys, and helping enroll more than a few new members into the area’s largest and most effective bicycling organization.

As much as I would have enjoyed rolling down the river myself, I had a great time meeting cyclists of all ages and every possible type. And watching an absolutely amazing group of volunteers work their collective tush off to help make the ride a huge success.

From my little corner of the booth, I only saw a small part of the work involved. And only met a tiny fraction of the people who gave up their day — and in some cases, months of their life — to pull this event off.

So I won’t even try to list all those who did the hard work that let everyone else enjoy the day.

But as a board member, and a member of cycling community, I would like to personally thank JJ Hoffman and Erica Yoshimoto for doing the impossible by making this all happen. Along with everyone else who had a part, large or small, in pulling it off.

Without them, this ride would not have happened — let alone been the success that it was.

And I’m sure there are several thousand cyclists who’d agree today.

Update: One of those riders I met yesterday, Kim West, sent a link to a great photo set from yesterday’s ride — definitely worth checking out for a reminder of what you experienced.

Or what you missed.

………

Could a biotech firm fight cancer by building a bike path in Santa Monica? The annual AIDS/LifeCycle takes off from the Bay Area Sunday, on it’s way to an L.A. arrival next Saturday. A first person account from victim #3 in last week’s hit-and-run attacks in San Francisco. The Bahati Foundation racing team reorganizes under new management following the death of Jorge Alvarado and the Floyd Landis disaster. Just because you can legally pass on the right doesn’t mean the police won’t find you at fault if you do. After the court repeatedly let a bus driver off the hook, a cyclist ends up like “a bug on a steamroller’s wheel.” Bicycling in Memphis shouldn’t be so dangerous. Over 13% of commuters in my old hometown get to work by bike; that’s probably about 12% more than in my new hometown. Some days it’s a bike, others it thinks it’s a truck. Instead of worrying about cars, maybe we need to be worried about the air we breathe. Ride cross country to raise money and build houses along the way. Maybe it’s time for Britain’s government ministers to get out of their Jags and onto a Brompton. Roll the streets of London on a bicycling architecture tour. Organs from a 15-year old cyclist save 6 lives after he’s struck and killed by a double-decker bus. The mini Tour de France runs through the French countryside this week. Naked Greeks on bikes roam the streets of Thessaloniki. Rome plans to transform into a cyclists utopia in just 10 years; imagine what L.A. could do with that kind of commitment.

Finally, L.A. considers taking another small step forward by requiring developers to count all forms of traffic, rather than just cars.


Category: General / Tags: , , ,

Today’s ride, in which I decide to emulate my new role model

June 5, 2010 / / One comment

It was towards the end of a 44 mile ride down the coast.

I’d planned on a half century, but got tired of riding on sand where bike path was supposed to be, and turned back short of my destination.

And yes, Manhattan Beach, I’m talking to you.

Despite that, it was a good ride, aside from multiple motorhead jerks who looked me right in the eye before pulling out directly in front of me or turning too closely across my path.

Somehow, though, I managed to resist temptation and kept my fingers wrapped firmly around my handlebars, other than to give one driver the classic school teacher “oh no you don’t” finger wag as she passed after left-crossing me. She slowed down just a moment, as if to verify exactly which finger I extended, then sped off with a small smile visible in her rear-view mirror.

In fact, it was a good enough ride that I added an extra, completely unnecessary and only slightly out of my way climb about 35 miles in.

But it was near the end of my ride as I was sitting at an intersection in Brentwood, waiting for the light to change, that I discovered my new role model.

A young man, maybe high school age, was riding a fixie up the cross street and positioned about three feet from the parked cars, exactly where he should have been.

Cars going forward were able to easily go around him; unfortunately, that wasn’t good enough for a woman who found her path to the right turn lane blocked by the rider. She was too close to the intersection to go around him and still make her turn, so she blared her horn at the sheer audacity of someone blocking her way for even a few seconds.

He looked back to see who had honked, then did something absolutely amazing.

Nothing.

No response, no gestures, not even a change in expression or riding position. It was almost like he didn’t care, as if the driver’s impatience and anger meant absolutely nothing to him.

He simply kept riding exactly as he had before, making his right at the intersection and getting on with his life, as she had no choice but to follow patiently behind him.

Maybe he was a teenage Zen master, maybe just unusually calm.

Or maybe he really didn’t care.

All I know is, when I grow up, I want to be just like him.

………

This Sunday marks the return of the LACBC’s 10th Annual River Ride, with rides of 100, 70, 50 and 35 miles, along with a 15 mile family ride and a free kid’s ride. While online registration is closed, you can still sign up the day of the event in Griffith Park.

I won’t be riding this year; instead, you can find me at the LACBC’s booth at the Autry Center, where I’ll be working as a volunteer Sunday afternoon.

Stop by and say hello if you get the chance. Or bring your computer with you and maybe I’ll autograph my blog for you.

You can warm up for River Ride with something a little more casual on Saturday, as Flying Pigeon rides to the Eagle Rock Brewery to share a pint or two.

And on Saturday, June 19th, explore art and culture with the Folk Art is Everywhere Bike Tour, an easy 3.5 mile ride through Echo Park and historic Filipinotown.

………

As forecast earlier Friday, a claim was filed against the city by Manny Gallegos, who recorded the now infamous You Tube video of the LAPD’s Critical Mass Takedown — before allegedly being beaten by police and having his iPhone stomped by officers in an apparent attempt to destroy the evidence.

If the claim is dismissed, as expected, his attorneys will file suit in Federal court alleging violations of his 1st, 4th and 14th Amendment rights. Reports indicate that his lawyers, the law firm of Moreno & Perez, have heard from several other cyclists claiming to be victims of the police during last week’s Critical Mass ride.

A word of advice to the city. You’re holding a losing hand — settle this case while you can, before we all end up on the hook for a lot more.

………

The LACBC submits a letter calling on Mayor Villaraigosa to step up and support cycling in Los Angeles in light of the Critical Mass mess:

  1. We urge the Mayor to work with the LAPD to actively support the bicycling community by partnering to sponsor bicycle events, including the street opening event CicLAvia.
  2. We urge the Mayor to work with the LADOT to immediately implement multiple high-profile bicycle lane projects already approved in the city’s 1996 Bicycle Master Plan and the 2009 Downtown Street Standards.
  3. We urge the Mayor to step forward and publicly voice City support for bicycling as a valid means of transportation in the City of Los Angeles.

………

The San Francisco police arrest a suspect accused of running down four cyclists in a deliberate hit-and-run assault after the owner of the SUV involved walked into a police station to report a carjacking; police say significant evidence points to the vehicle’s owner.

And there’s a not guilty plea in the case of a Bay Area hiking advocate charged with slashing cyclists with a hacksaw.

………

The LAPD offers tips to keep your bike from getting stolen. A bill to ban cell phones and texting while biking advances in the state legislature. Santa Monica High School suggests leaving the car at home, while the Santa Monica Library doubles its bike parking by removing space for just two cars. L.A. Cycle Chic offers a look at a Seersucker Social; and they say no one looks good in spandex? A Riverside rider gets dangerously buzzed — by a cop. San Diego cyclists are ordered to keep their clothes on during the Naked Bike Ride. NBC Sports looks at the upcoming Race Across America, which kicks off in Oceanside this Tuesday. Oakland has an exhibit on bikes in the airport. A rolling stone gathers no moss, but no one said anything about bikes. Evidently, we’re facing a spreading epidemic of jerk drivers. Riding from Austin to Anchorage to beat cancer, while a priest rides cross county to fight poverty. A Tucson rider gets his bike back over a month after it was stolen. Springfield Cyclist encounters a foolish rider desperately in need of an education in safe cycling. Rap stars and racers converge at the Harlem Cycling Classic. Advice on what not to do when you’re hit by a car, by someone who just went through it. What you get when you cross a bike seat with a sex toy. Portraits of everyday cyclists in South Africa. An Oxford student demonstrates how to steal a bike in broad daylight as unconcerned bystanders look on. A new British study shows that spending for cycling returns a minimum of three dollars (or pounds) for every $1 invested. German scientists invent a helmet that smells like stinky cheese when it needs to be replaced.

Finally, in non-biking news, the Westside’s long-planned Subway to the Sea and other L.A. are rail projects may actually be built in our lifetime finally become a reality, as the Obama administration officially endorses the Mayor’s 30/10 plan.

Category: General / Tags: , ,

You’re the next victim of the Critical Mass Takedown; mass bike assault in San Francisco

June 4, 2010 / / Comments Off on You’re the next victim of the Critical Mass Takedown; mass bike assault in San Francisco

Not surprisingly, the first lawsuit over last week’s LAPD Critical Mass Takedown is about to be filed.

I received an email last night indicating that a press conference will be held Downtown this afternoon to announce the filing on behalf of Manny Gallegos. You may know him as the cyclist who recorded the now infamous YouTube video showing an officer apparently kicking a passing bike, only to be taken down himself by officers who seemed to understand the first amendment about as well s they did rights of cyclists.

Which is to say, not at all. Then again, that seems to be an ongoing problem for them.

And that makes it your problem, too.

Even though you’ve never assaulted a cyclist or denied a photographer his rights, you’re going to end up picking up the tab, once the financially strapped city eventually reaches a settlement with the victims.

A settlement that will come out of your taxes, just as it did when the police clashed with May Day protesters in MacArthur Park in 2007.

It’s not that the victims in these cases don’t deserve something. From what I’ve seen, the city might as well open its checkbook right now.

But we’d all be better off if the LAPD learned to avoid incidents like this in the first place. Because we’re all about to pay for their misguided actions.

………

If you ever wondered if drivers were out to get you, the answer may be yes.

In a horrific attack on apparently random riders, four San Francisco cyclists were struck — apparently intentionally — by a hit-and-run driver in four separate assaults over a six minute period. The driver then fled the scene after crashing his car, leaving broken bikes and bodies strewn in his wake.

Fortunately, no one was killed. Yet the injuries ran the gamut, with three riders hospitalized — one in critical condition, one serious and one fair — with the fourth treated and released at the scene. Injuries included two broken legs and a head injury that left the victim floating in and out of consciousness; fortunately, all are expected to survive.

Police Lt. Lyn Tomioka said all the victims “do appear to be targeted. We don’t know if they were known victims, or if it’s because they were on bicycles or what the issue was.”

The SUV involved, a blue Nissan Rogue, was left at the scene of the final assault after colliding with two other vehicles, then hitting a pole. The car does not appear to be stolen, and as of Friday morning, the police were still looking for the suspect.

………

LAist reminds readers that the 10th Annual River Ride takes place this Sunday, starting at Griffith Park. The LACBC meets with representatives of several regional bike groups. If you’re going to look cool pooping your pants, you definitely need a bike in the background. A look at some of the less tangible benefits of biking. A San Francisco cyclist says church goers who park in the bike lane are worshipping the wrong God. A report from yet another Tweed ride. It only takes one jerk to ruin a ride. Now you can charge your Nokia cell phone while you ride. The misguided bill requiring Florida cyclists to stay in the damn bike lane now awaits the governor’s signature; does he sign it and piss off cyclists, or veto it and risk his chances in the upcoming Senatorial race? DC area park police urge drivers to share the road, which might not be necessary if they weren’t blocking the bike lane. A road-raging senior citizen cyclist smashes a car that infringed on the crosswalk. Greg “Everyone Dopes But Me” LeMond says he feels vindicated by Floyd Landis’ unsubstantiated charges. Bike lawyer Bob Mionske offers his take on the inexplicable dropping of charges against Toronto cyclist killer Michael Bryant. Cyclists get no respect in British Columbia. Pro cyclist Fabian Cancellara laughs off charges that he cheated with an electric boost; Copenhagenize says real bikes don’t have motors. A UK motorist apologizes for carelessly killing a bike riding father, which evidently makes it okay as the driver walks away with a suspended sentence and community service. After a London cyclist is hit by a taxi, he’s strangled to unconsciousness with his own scarf by the angry driver; he goes on trial next week — the cyclist that is, not the driver.

Finally, France’s new Street Code offers common-sense solutions to sharing the road in the truest sense. If anyone at LADOT or the Department of Planning is listening, there’s your new blueprint to really revitalize Downtown.

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