Archive for Morning Links

Morning Links: Thanks for a successful fund drive, a perfect Peloton Wife sendup, and wide bike lanes on Forest Lawn

December 24, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Thanks for a successful fund drive, a perfect Peloton Wife sendup, and wide bike lanes on Forest Lawn

That’s a wrap.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

While we fell a little short of last year’s total, you helped set a new record for the most donations with 57.

So please accept my personal and heartfelt gratitude for each and every donation, regardless of size; $5 from someone struggling to give means every bit as much as a larger donation from someone more comfortable. 

Your generosity will help fund this site for the next few months, while ensuring I can pay for the medications I need to keep working, and keep riding. 

As usual, I’ll be taking off between the holidays to rest and recharge from the stress and carnage on our streets — unless there’s breaking news, of course. 

So ride safely and defensively, and have a warm and happy holiday season. And we’ll see you back here after New Years.

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LA journalist Alissa Walker nails it with her response to the recent Peloton Wife ad, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog calls it “pitch perfect.”

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CiclaValley experiences firsthand the newly widened bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive.

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‘Tis the Season.

A kindhearted Virginia cop bought a new bike for a nine year old boy after his was stolen, and the officer saw him walking next to his bike-riding friend a few days later.

Bighearted Massachusetts police gave toys and a new bicycle to a four-year old boy after his mother was killed recently, delivering them in a police parade featuring cops from 11 different departments across the state.

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Local

Our fund drive may be over, but LA Streetsblog’s isn’t. And deserves your support, too. They were my university when I got started in advocacy, and taught me much of what I know about equity and Complete Streets.

A newly released restoration plan for the Ballona Westlands included ten miles of new bike paths and foot trails, though opponents fear the restoration work will cause too much harm to fragile species.

CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew provides an update on plans for Phase III of the LA Riverfront Park connecting the western section of the LA River bike path to White Oak and Lake Balboa Park.

 

State

A new report says Joy Covey, Amazon’s first CEO, was killed by one of the company’s own delivery vans while riding her bike in California six years ago.

A Huntington Beach bike rider suffered moderate injuries when he was the victim of an alleged drunk driver who slammed into him after losing control following a high speed turn, then crashed into two other drivers.

The San Francisco Examiner says a lot of work remains to be done on the city’s Vision Zero plan, as traffic deaths in the City by the Bay have only gone down by four in the five years since the plan was adopted.

 

National

Electrek reviews every ebike they reviewed this year. Meanwhile, Gear Patrol ranks the best non-electrified handmade bikes of 2019.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss nails it once again, insisting there’s no such thing as the wrong bike.

A Bellingham, Washington bike rider is suing the city after he was arrested simply for asking a parking enforcement officer not to park in a bike lane.

It’s a minor holiday miracle in Colorado, where a woman begged thieves to bring back a bicycle belonging to her late son. And they did.

Omaha NE artists are protesting the recent removal of a bike corral by placing ghost bikes around the city — including in view of the mayor’s office.

An Iowa cop hit a fleeing domestic violence suspect with his car as the man was trying to make his escape by riding his bike on the sidewalk. `

Life is cheap in Michigan, where authorities once again bargain away a stiff sentence to get a guilty plea, ordering a driver to serve just one year in jail and five years probation for fleeing the scene after killing a man on a bicycle.

A Vermont anthropologist explains the state’s bike culture in cartoon form. But not the fully kind.

The NYPD is belatedly cracking down on truck drivers, after four of the six pedestrians killed in collisions over a 48 hour period last week were killed in collisions with trucks. But if the victims had been riding bicycles, they’d be cracking down on the people on two wheels, instead.

 

International

Tragic news from the UK, where a 79-year old man died two days after he was hit by a bike rider earlier this year. Unfortunately, British privacy laws mean it can take a very long time for news to filter out.

Horrifying crime from Great Britain, where a 21-year old bike rider was knocked off his bicycle by three men and dragged into a car, were he was robbed at knifepoint.

Russian scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov — yes, the man famed for Pavlov’s dog — was one of us.

 

Competitive Cycling

American cyclist Alex Howes says people forget that pro cyclists are people, too.

Speculation is building about two unnamed WorldTour cyclists linked to the latest blood doping scandal. But seriously, the era of doping is over, right?

 

Finally…

Your next bike could cost a measly $100,000. Don’t leave your shoe at a crash site as you attempt to escape on a girl’s bike unless you want a fairy tale ending.

And nothing like making everyone else responsible for your inability to drive safely.

 

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

Morning Links: Brits say no immunity for killer driver, Iowa racist runs over girl, and round-the-world rider nearly killed in Texas

December 23, 2019 / / One comment

It’s the last day of the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

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The wife of an American intelligence officer has finally been charged with killing a British motorcyclist.

Even though the US and Britain can’t even decide if she has diplomatic immunity.

Anne Sacoolas allegedly fled the scene after crashing into the 19-year old motorcyclist while driving on the wrong side of the road. Then promised to cooperate with investigators before fleeing the country under cover of darkness, claiming diplomatic immunity.

And has refused to return to the UK to face charges, despite still more promises to do so.

In other words, using her questionable immunity to avoid taking responsibility for killing a young man. And making her no better than any other hit-and-run driver.

Needless to say, our president has tried to turn the whole mess into a particularly messy episode of reality TV.

And written the whole thing off by saying “American drivers often get confused because motorists in Britain drive on the left side of the road.”

Thanks to Chris Buonomo for the heads-up.

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This is who we share the roads with.

A racist Iowa woman says she drove her car up onto a sidewalk to run over 14-year old girl simply because she thought she was Mexican.

And followed that up by hurling racial epithets, as well as objets, towards a convenience store clerk and the store’s customers just 90 minutes later.

Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough.

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Once again, a bicycle tourist visiting the US has been brutally run down by an American driver.

This time, it’s a Scottish man whose around the world journey ended abruptly when a Texas driver smashed into him from behind at 70 mph. Remarkably, he somehow survived with a fractured skull, ankle, heel, pelvis and ribs, as well as a punctured a lung.

There’s something seriously wrong when people from other countries can’t ride a bicycle here in the US without taking their lives in their hands.

And just as wrong that the story isn’t even considered newsworthy on this side of the Atlantic.

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Robert Leone forwards news that San Diego has started work on a bikeway project which promises to mess up commutes for the next two years.

On the other hand, unlike some much larger cities to the north — okay, one in particular — they’re actually doing something to improve the streets.

And warning people in advance about the road work.

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The founder of Fairdale Bikes offers a slightly strange look at one of the great moments in BMX history.

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

A Riverside man was arrested for carrying meth and car burglary tools, along with violating his probation for car theft. But at least he was riding a bike, right?

If you’re going to ride your bike to illegally poach elk literally in Colorado residents’ backyards, at least take your backpack and phone with you when you flee from the game wardens. Schmuck.

A “nasty” bicyclist broke the arm and shoulder of a British woman in her 70s by dragging her as she fought to hold onto the purse he was trying to steal. Double schmuck.

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‘Tis the Season.

Santa brought new bicycles to 26 Redding families as part of a CHP kids’ program.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Office gave more than 80 bicycles to Oroville-area children on Friday.

A Missouri church made sure 150 kids celebrated a happy Christmas with a new bicycle.

After a Virginia boy’s bike was stolen, a local cop bought him a new one. And threw in one for the boy’s sister so they could ride together.

A Hollywood women’s club teams with the local police to buy bikes and helmets for 25 kids. No, the other Hollywood.

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It’s the final day of this year’s BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

And you though we’d never get here. 

Thanks to John M, Tim Z, Robert L, Risers Music, John H, Anne K and Brian N for their very generous donations. In fact, we’ve already set a new record for the greatest number of donations, and we’re just a few hundred dollars short of our goal for this year. 

So don’t let this last day — and the Corgi’s last days as this site’s official spokesdog — pass by unnoticed.

Give today to help to keep SoCal’s best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Because the time to wait is over. 

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Local

Wolfpack Hustle’s Don Ward, aka Roadblock, talks with vegan dietician, LA bike scene OG and founder of the famed Feel My Legs, I’m a Racer hillclimb Matt Ruscigno, as well as CD14 city council candidate Cyndi Otteson on this week’s Bike Talk podcast.

Teachers at a Pasadena school have started a crowdfunding page for a 9th grade student who was critically injured in a hit-and-run last month, as well as his father, who has been at his son’s side and unable to work for over a month.  It’s currently less than $2,000 short of the $15,000 goal.

Long Beach business owners continue to complain about the Broadway road diet, saying the protected bike lanes are driving customers away.

 

State

A new statewide nonprofit is working to build more off-road trails; founders include the head of LA-based CORBA.

The popular Buck Gully Trail in Newport Beach is now one-way, to the chagrin of some area mountain bikers.

An Oxnard man was rushed to the hospital after he was stabbed while apparently riding his bicycle; police believe he was homeless.

 

National

A new book tells the horrifying story of a Hawaiian woman who was apparently intentionally run down while riding her bike in 1991, then raped, beaten and murdered. Nearly a decade later, two men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison, though some still believe they’re innocent.

An Oregon bike rider will get a $350,000 settlement after he was struck in a bike lane that passed in front of a freeway offramp.

Supporters of a Colorado velodrome are making one last push to save it before the track is sold to a developer.

Heartbreaking news from Missouri, where a pair of kids died when they somehow drowned in a pond while riding their bikes.

Brooklyn residents demand the redesign of a dangerous street where four people who weren’t in cars have been killed this year.

The New York Post calls a Bronx man a superhero for recording driver indiscretions and posting them to his Twitter feed.

 

International

Newly re-elected British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants a bike for Christmas. But evidently, no one likes him enough to give him one. And he hasn’t been good enough to get one from Santa Claus.

A coroner in the UK questions whether posted speed limits should apply to bicyclists, after a 79-year old man was killed when he stepped in front of a bike rider doing 38 in a 30 mph zone. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, absolutely. It’s up to you to ride safely when pedestrians are around. And your responsibility if you if you don’t. 

Parisians are keeping cool and carrying on by riding their bikes in the face of a three-week transit strike, as well as e-scooters, mopeds, walking, and yes, cars.

An Israeli strategic plan calls for getting more people on bicycles.

Nepal’s bike-riding Kung Fu Buddhist Nuns are back in the news, organizing bi-yearly bike tours to combat human trafficking.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly ranks the top ten pro cyclists of the past decade. And for once, a man doesn’t come out on top.

Cycling News looks at the most dramatic moments in pro cycling this year.

 

Finally…

Evidently, you can’t get a new bike if your name is Seinfeld. Your next handlebars could spin to make parking and storage easier.

And who says it’s a happy ending when they give someone new car so he doesn’t have to bike to work anymore?

Sounds more like a curse to me.

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Hanukkah Sameach to all those celebrating the Festival of Lights this week!

I’m no expert. But I don’t think this is how it’s supposed to look on the first night.

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

Morning Links: Bike journalist Frank Berto dead at 90, BMC bike recall, and Pasadena hit-and-run vic needs your help

December 20, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike journalist Frank Berto dead at 90, BMC bike recall, and Pasadena hit-and-run vic needs your help

Just four days left in the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

Sad news from Bike Biz, which reports that bicycling journalist Frank Berto has passed away.

The longtime author, and Bicycling and Bicycle Quarterly contributor was 90 years old.

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If you’re riding a BMC Teammachine SLR01 DISC bike or frame, stop.

The bikes have been recalled for a possibly defective fork steerer tube that can fracture during use.

Definitely not a good thing.

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A 9th grade Pasadena hit-and-run victim and his family need your help.

If you still haven’t given to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, give me a little less, and send some of it his way.

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CiclaValley says hi to Mr. Peanut.

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It may not be a sleigh ride, but maybe a slow ride along the river will do.

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

Kansas police busted a bike-riding porch pirate who tried to make off with a full-size printer tucked under his arm.

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‘Tis the Season.

In by far the best story of the day, a six-year old Modesto boy — yes, just six years old — started his own business making and selling over 1,000 candy canes to raise money to give bicycles and helmets to 20 kids at a nearby elementary school.

A nonprofit group founded by an entrepreneur in Dallas TX is giving away 25 bikes and helmets to kids this weekend.

Eighty Ohio kids will get new bikes thanks to donations to an annual bike drive established by a financial representative.

A Syracuse NY program gave away 2,000 bicycles to kids, including one boy who was on life support after being hit by a driver just two months earlier.

A Virginia church is giving away hundreds of bikes to kids this weekend as part of their Bikes for Christ program. He could probably use one. And it is his birthday next week. 

Bighearted Florida sheriff’s deputies bought new toys and a bicycle for a mother who lost her wallet at IHOP with all her money for her kids’ Christmas presents tucked inside.

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Time is rapidly running out on this year’s BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

So don’t put it off any more. Donate today to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Not to mention the occasional corgi pics as we say goodbye to our late, great fund drive spokesdog.

My heartfelt thanks to Gabrielle M and David S, and everyone else who shared their hard earned funds this year, for their generous contributions to help keep this fund drive going strong in its final days. 

So what are are you waiting for, already?

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Local

Streetsblog explains where all of LA’s 18.2 lane miles of protected bike lanes are located. Which would be a pretty pathetic number for my Colorado hometown, let alone America’s second largest city.

LAist lists everyone who qualified for next year’s city council and school board races. In the 4th District, where I live, Nithya Ramam and Sarah Kate Levy will take on David Ryu, while the 12th district will see a rerun of this year’s race between John Lee and Loraine Lundquist.

Metro Bike will offer free 30 minute rides between the holidays.

 

State

The Voice of San Diego describes the city’s race for mayor as a battle between the NIMBY and the YIMBY, even if those titles don’t always fit.

That new protected bike lane can’t come soon enough for a North Park bike shop, which lost an estimated $10,000 worth of bikes when it was burglarized for the second time this year.

San Francisco bike riders are telling e-scooter renters this bike rack’s not big enough for both of us.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a $3,000 adaptive bicycle from a Sacramento Middle School, where it was used by students with disabilities including blindness and cerebral palsy.

 

National

Trump’s tariffs will mean higher prices for bikes this holiday season, but you can bypass the tariffs by ordering directly from a foreign site. Which kind of defeats the purpose of tariffs, doesn’t it?

Bike looks at the most influential bicycles of the past decade.

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske is back with advice on what to do if you’re hit by an Uber or Lyft driver. My take — make sure whoever hits you has a passenger onboard or is on the way to pick one up, since liability coverage increases ten fold.

Bicycling recommends their favorite gravel bikes, as long as you’re willing to fork out at least $2,200 — or nearly $6,000 for their top choice. But believe it or not, they actually found nine great road bikes for under a grand. Proof you don’t have to spend a bazillion dollars for a decent roadie.

Bicycling also suggest essentials for the “perfect” bikepacking weekend. I don’t care who you are, a nearly $10,000 bicycle isn’t essential for anyone.

A new Portland study says skip the mixing zones at intersections.

Omaha NE bike riders continue to protest the removal of a bike corral in order to restore just one parking space, including one rack that was ripped out with a bicycle still locked to it.

Vermont’s Kingdom Trails system, one of the biggest mountain bike networks in the US, is getting a little smaller, thanks to three recalcitrant property owners.

New York’s Department of Transportation is looking for seven “apprentice highway and sewer inspectors” to check the condition of the city’s bikeways. Although it’s the second part of that job title I’d worry about.

The NYPD plans to reclassify ebike riders as bicycle riders when they get injured, rather than bizarrely listing them as motor vehicle occupants. Which will make bike injury stats jump around 10%.

 

International

Road Bike Action Magazine looks back at former Canadian pro Steve Bauer’s 1993 Eddy Merx low ride bike developed specifically for the Paris-Roubaix race.  Check out the shocks on the front end.

A new London study says the city’s protected bikeways have resulted in a big boost in ridership.

A 14-year old English boy has been convicted of manslaughter for stabbing an adult man to death in a dispute over a bicycle; the victim was riding a bikeshare bike that the teenager somehow claimed was his.

A British man gets slammed in the tabloids for riding his bike without a helmet while carrying a toddler in one arm. Although something tells me it’s not really the helmet thing they’re worried about.

A design website compares the virtues of Swedish vs Danish bicycle rest stops.

After first laughing at the sight of bike cops on ebikes, a New Zealand newspaper ridicules proposed fines for bike riders who don’t use required bike paths.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pink Bike looks at the successful Ride Like a Girl program to mentor young womens cyclists.

 

Finally…

No, it’s not a Nice Bridge if it doesn’t have bike and walkways. Your next bike could come from the world’s oldest bikemaker.

And this may be the best argument so far to just put down your phone and drive.

https://twitter.com/AwardsDarwin/status/1207277069752840194

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Morning Links: Adult trike needed for Whittier ghost bike, and Ventura wants to hide death records from you

December 19, 2019 / / One comment

Just five days left in the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

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A three-wheeled adult bike is needed to install a ghost bike for fallen bike rider Danny Martin, aka Whittier’s beloved Tricycle Man, who was killed in Whittier on Monday.

And speaking of Danny, there will be a ride in his honor this Sunday. 

Thanks to everyone who sent me this one.

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Ventura County officials want to block your right to know about bicycling and other fatalities, calling for a new law banning the disclosure of death records to both the general public and the media.

Thanks to Steven Hansen for the heads-up.

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Here’s your chance to help improve bike connections in the San Gabriel Valley.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1207390576263360512

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A homeless German man who wanted to go to jail for free meals and a warm place to sleep got his wish when he was sentenced to life in prison for intentionally ramming a bike rider with the car he’d been sleeping in, seriously injuring the victim as well as inflicting long-lasting psychological trauma.

In a road rage incident seen ’round the world, a Singapore truck driver was convicted of deliberately swerving into a bicyclist and failing to report the crash.

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‘Tis the Season.

The San Luis Obispo sheriff’s department donated 250 bikes refurbished by honor farm inmates to kids in need.

The widow of North Carolina’s Bicycle Man is continuing his legacy, donating a whopping 1,500 bicycles and helmets to local children.

A Louisiana sheriff’s department gave away 100 bicycles to local kids in their 26th annual bike giveaway.

A Jacksonville FL foundation gave nearly 100 bikes to children from the local Police Athletic League and Big Brothers Big Sisters.

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Don’t make her suffer this indignity for nothing. Give to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today.

You can now count the last days of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive on one hand.

That’s right. Just five days left to show your support for SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy. Along with the late Corgi’s last days as spokesdog for this site.

So let me offer my sincere thanks to Andrew G, Joel S, Janice H and Thuan V for their generous donations to help keep this fund drive going strong in its final days. 

So what are are you waiting for?

Stop take just a minute to give something right now. Because time’s running out. 

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Local

Brooks McKinney interviews LADOT transportation planner Severin Martinez about his work creating a “safe, comprehensive and well-connected bicycle network.”

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at the three bike, pedestrian and equestrian bridges nearing completion over the LA River. Although it’s probably just a matter of time before the horse people try to get us kicked off those, too.

Long Beach’s “whimsical” bike racks are celebrating their 10th anniversary on the streets of the bayfront city; designs include a yoga stick figure, skeletal fish and a cupcake, among others.

 

State

A member of San Diego’s Mobility Board questions if the city is doing more harm than good by removing 430 parking spaces to make room for protected bike lanes in the North Park neighborhood. Short answer, no.

Santa Barbara is preparing to roll out a traditional 250-bike docked bikeshare system aimed at local workers, rather than tourists.

Nice story. When someone stole a bike belonging to a high school student in Half Moon Bay, he soon spotted someone riding it and confronted the thief, but decided to let him keep it because the other kid probably needed it more that he did. When the local sheriff’s department heard about it, they found an abandoned bike, refurbished it and gave it to him as a reward for his selfless act.

 

National

Unbelievable. Omaha, Nebraska ripped out a bike corral after the bike shop it fronted closed down, preferring to regain one lousy car parking space instead of parking for a dozen bicycles; bike riders tried to halt the removal by rushing to lock their bikes to the racks, but the city took them out anyway.

Missouri works out a land transfer to build a 144-mile bike trail through the state — assuming supporters raise nearly $10 million to pay for it.

Kindhearted Wisconsin cops work with a local bike foundation to replace an autistic man’s three-wheeled bike after noticing the frame was broken.

Kinda sucks when your own aunt turns you in for stealing a bike, like this Minnesota man.

Life is cheap in Michigan, where a reckless hit-and-run driver got a whole year behind bars for killing a man riding a bike. With good behavior, he’ll probably get out in half that time.

A somewhat strange New Hampshire letter writer says only give your wife a Peloton bike if you’re a man’s man; otherwise, be a girly man and go to a jewelry store.

An upstate New York letter writer complains about a bike and walkway on a bridge over the Hudson River, somehow blaming it for the potholes caused by cars.

New York is looking for robbers who have stolen 22 ebikes after pepper spraying the victims.

The death toll just keeps going up in NYC, after the city notched its 29th bicycling fatality this year when a man on a bike fell on some ice, and was hit by the driver of a loaded school bus. That’s still better than Los Angeles, which has suffered 17 bicycling deaths this year, in a city half the size.

A Florida bike rider was lucky to escape with minor injuries when a 12-foot sinkhole caused by a broken stormwater pipe opened up under the roadway, which collapsed underneath him. Or maybe not; his boss says he’ll need facial reconstruction surgery.

 

International

Road.cc tells you how to avoid the pitfalls of bike commuting. Like skip the Strava KOMS and don’t wear your heavy jeans for more than a few miles.

The Guardian asks the burning question of what will British Prime Minister Boris Johnson do for bicyclists. Assuming the country survives Brexit, or course.

A three-year old girl from the UK born with a severe birth defect is now walking and riding a bike, after doctors had given her zero chance of ever walking.

Maybe they’ll take requests. London’s electric buses will now play music to warn bike riders and pedestrians they’re coming.

Life is cheap — and grossly unfair — in Australia, where a 20-year old Iranian refugee got just 10 months in a youth facility for falling asleep at the wheel and killing a 49-year old father riding his bike to work; his short sentence means he won’t be deported. His victim’s family won’t be so lucky; after losing their husband and father, they face deportation because they were in the country on his employment visa.

An Aussie website says the country’s road rules should be rewritten to put pedestrians first, with bike riders second.

Taipei, Taiwan will allow foreign expats to use its bikeshare system after all.

 

Finally…

No, throwing one at a passing cab whose driver won’t stop to pick you up is not the proper use of a bikeshare bike. Probably not the best idea to steal a bike from the local police.

And if you’re using a distinctive pink and purple kid’s bike as your getaway vehicle following an armed robbery, you probably don’t want to ride it back past the scene of the crime a few minutes later.

Seriously.

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

Morning Links: Two charged with Rancho Mirage street racing death, Peloton Wife gets a part, and someone stole an ELF

December 18, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Two charged with Rancho Mirage street racing death, Peloton Wife gets a part, and someone stole an ELF

It’s the last six days of the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

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Two men have been charged the street racing death of bike rider William Campbell in Rancho Mirage last year.

Twenty-one-year old Luis Armando Castaneda was allegedly racing 23-year old Alex Isidro Quiroz when he cut into the bike lane Campbell was riding in.

He’s accused of speeding at nearly 100 miles per hour when he slammed into Campbell, in what was originally thought to be a road rage incident, then fleeing the scene.

And no, a crash at that speed is unlikely to be survivable for anyone outside of a tank.

Arrest warrants have been issued, but neither man has been taken into custody yet.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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In the latest chapter of the never-ending Peloton ad saga, the actress who played the Peloton Wife has won a one-day walk-on part on the CBS soap The Bold and the Beautiful.

So maybe riding that indoor bike really did pay off for her, after all.

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Seriously, someone stole an ELF pedal bike?

What the hell are they going to do with it?

That’s going to be hard to sell. And harder still to break into parts at the local bike chop shop.

But at least an ELF is appropriate for this time of year.

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A London woman gets well-deserved revenge on an obnoxious van driver who harasses her — sexually and otherwise — and repeatedly reaches through his window to touch her as she’s on her bike.

I can’t bring myself to endorse violence or vandalism. But only a jury of obnoxious assholes like him would ever convict her.

Thanks to Mike Cane for the link.

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Who wants to get paid to ride a bike?

I’m in.

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Who needs a back wheel when you can teach your bike to walk?

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

An Orange County man has accepted a gift of a plea bargain, getting just one year for severely beating a woman walking on a bike path, after he crashed into her with his bike.

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‘Tis the Season.

The sanitation department of an Arizona county gave away 105 bicycles that were abandoned or found in the landfill and rebuilt by county inmates for 50¢ a hour.

Volunteers with an Ohio county sheriff’s department found and refurbished 37 bicycles and tricycles for a Salvation Army toy giveaway.

A Shreveport, Louisiana law firm gave 103 bicycles to local kids. But probably made them sign a waiver first.

………

Don’t make her suffer this indignity for nothing. Give to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today.

It’s the final days of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — and the late Corgi’s tenure as spokesdog for this site.

So let me offer my sincere thanks to John C for his generous donation to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

So what are are you waiting for, already?

Take just a minute to donate right now. Because time’s running out. 

………

Local

LAUSD teacher Molly Jane Hoene was formally arraigned yesterday, pleading not guilty to two counts of felony hit-and-run in the crash that nearly killed a homeless bike rider in Silver Lake; she’s been released on $50,000 bond.

Thanks to CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew for forwarding word that the South Bay Beach Cities Cycling Club ranks as the number one bike club in the US. Again.

LA County is offering a $10,000 reward for whoever shot and killed 20-year-old Anthony Iniquez as the father of two was riding his bike in Harbor City two years ago.

 

State

Some people put boom boxes or Bluetooth speakers on their bikes; one San Diego man pedals with an entire piano on his.

A San Jose man has filed a civil suit against the police for intentionally ramming him off his bicycle to make a traffic stop, claiming he didn’t hear the officer yell at him to pull over.

A Berkeley op-ed says the future of the city’s Telegraph Ave should be as a Complete Street.

The question isn’t why did a member of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District ride his bike to the latest board meeting, but why didn’t the rest of them?

 

National

Scientific American says your brain needs physical exercise, too. Like riding a bike, for instance.

Lime is trying to one-up the competition with a new weekly pass that allows unlimited bike and scooter unlocks for just $5.

El Paso TX will invest over $1.8 million to improve bikeways across the city.

Eight years after a Houston man bought a used Raleigh bike for $150, he’s lost 50 pounds and credits it with changing his life.

An Iowa advocacy group flips sides in the ongoing RAGBRAI rivalry, after the entire staff of the longstanding ride across the state resigned earlier this year to start a competing ride.

New York bike thieves are physically assaulting bicycle delivery riders to steal their ebikes.

Gothamist tells the stories of New York’s fallen bike riders, where 28 people have lost their lives simply for riding a bicycle, compared to just ten last year. Go ahead, tell me again how distracted drivers and massive SUVs aren’t making the streets more dangerous for everyone. Except the people in them.

Streetsblog complains that New York police caught the driver who allegedly fled the scene after killing professional wrestler Matt Travis as he rode his bike in Harlem earlier this year, but only charged him with minor traffic infractions.

I want to be like her when I grow up. A 70-year old Virginia woman rode her bike 12,500 miles around the US to draw a peace symbol across the US

Sorry, Tampa. But white plastic poles do not a protected bike lane make.

When an elderly woman’s bike was stolen while she was shopping, kindhearted Florida deputies quickly recovered it. And got her a new one when they saw how old and worn her old bike was.

 

International

By the pricking of my thumbs, something Evil this way comes. With drop bars, no less.

Bike Radar attempts to predict the near future of road cycling with five top trends.

Who says bike tours have to be hard? Forbes recommends five European ebike tours.

You, too, could be the next editor of Road.cc and work in lovely Bath, England. Seriously, I loved that town, even if it was overrun with tourists. Like me.

London’s Evening Standard suggests the 30 best gifts for the bike rider in your life. Even if that bike rider is you. Or maybe, especially. 

Parisians have dealt with a massive transit strike by turning to bicycles and e-scooters. And have the injuries to prove it.

Indian bicyclists respond to the death of a bike rider with a We Too campaign to create awareness about the need to respect pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists.

An American soldier is still teaching spin classes, even while he’s deployed in Afghanistan.

Nice piece from Bicycling on American Shannon Galpin, who’s ready to move on to her next chapter after surviving blot clots in her brain, and the collapse of the Afghan women’s cycling team she helped found and fund.

Hong Kong commuters are forming bike trains to avoid the chaos caused by the ongoing protests in the city.

 

Competitive Cycling

Katie Compton’s incredible run of 15 straight national cyclocross championships finally came to an end, losing to Clara Honsinger, a competitor almost half Compton’s age competing in her first season at the elite level. Thanks to DQ for the gentle reminder.

Business Insider recalls our current president’s bizarre attempt to recreate the Tour de France on American soil. Only bigger and better, in typical Trump style. Except it never even came close.

Clearly, the best way to remove course tape in a ‘cross race is let someone else run into it — sets you free while taking taking out the competition. Without stopping, no less.

https://twitter.com/cyclocross24/status/1206598780503625733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1206598780503625733&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F269613-new-app-pays-you-cycling-35000-hand-painted-superbike-24-carat-gold-details

And evidently, pro cycling is now taking its fashion cues from Barney the Dinosaur.

 

Finally…

A fat tired all-wheel drive ebike was probably inevitable. No, you can’t have this hand-finished, porcelain-covered carbon fiber bike with 24k gold trim. Sorry.

And the easiest way to spot a Trump parody account is if he says he’s going to bike to work. Or ride a bike, period.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldtrodi/status/1206908927281119234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1206908927281119234&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F269613-new-app-pays-you-cycling-35000-hand-painted-superbike-24-carat-gold-details

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

Morning Links: Upper LA River draft plan released, an anti-ADA bike rack, and a cycling seat you don’t want to know about

December 17, 2019 / / 2 comments

Just seven days left in the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

………

You’ll have to excuse me if today’s post lacks a little something. 

I’m still shaken by the needless death of Danny Martin, Whittier’s beloved Tricycle Man.

While I never knew him or saw him, or even been to Whittier, I’ve often heard and read about Martin. And even wrote about him on here a few times.

Every life lost to traffic violence hurts. But this one hurts just a little more.

………

Advocacy group Bike Walk Glendale wants you to take a look at the draft plan to revitalize the Upper Los Angeles River and its tributaries, and get your comments in.

………

Saw this at my neighborhood Ralph’s — Kroger for those of you in the rest of the country.

And wondered just how an older or disabled person was supposed to get through there, even though the bike rider used this rack exactly as intended.

Never mind that it’s almost as secure as tying your bike to a tree; it would take a thief with bolt cutters just a few seconds to snap that rack and make off with the bike.

Thanks to Meghan Lynch and my time on a cane earlier this year for the ADA consciousness raising, aka the Americans with Disabilities Act.

………

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

A bike-riding Modesto thief pedaled off with an entire Salvation Army kettle filled with hundreds of dollars in donations.

If you’re going to burglarize a Long Island restaurant, make sure you pump up the tires on your getaway bike.

………

‘Tis the Season.

Hats off to the Pasadena Rotary Club for donating 200 bicycles to kids as part of their “Bikes for Christmas” program.

A Lansing, Michigan bike co-op refurbished 49 bikes to donate to kids for the holidays. But they’ll have one less protected bike lane to ride them on.

………

Don’t make her suffer this indignity for nothing. Give to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today.

It’s not just the last full week of the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, it’s also the last seven days of the late Corgi’s tenure as spokesdog.

Let me offer my sincere thanks to Todd R, Joel F, and Fred D Design for their generous donations to support this site. And help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Seriously, what are are you waiting for, already?

………

Local

Three candidates running to replace CD14 Councilmember José Huizar debated in DTLA last week. But only one appeared to mention bike lanes.

Friends, family and supporters of fallen bicyclist Frederick “Woon” Frazier marched to demand justice and an end to hit-and-runs — including the young son Woon never knew, and who will never know him.

It’s getting easier to leave your car at home in Long Beach.

CiclaValley rides the new Nichols Canyon Ride. Which is like the old Nichols Canyon Ride, but different.

 

State

A new study from the University of Duh says Orange County mountain bikers who use the KOM feature on Strava say it makes them ride faster. The study also shows that water is wet, and bears really do poop in the woods.

The San Diego City Council voted to ban dockless e-scooters from the city’s beachfront boardwalks. Is there even such a thing as docked e-scooters? I didn’t think so.

A Santa Cruz cancer patient got his stolen bike back after police tracked him down when a local resident found it abandoned behind a building. Just one more reminder to register your bike for free right now.

 

National

The Bike League wants to to contact your Congressperson, and ask him or her to co-sponsor a bill that would increase federal spending for biking and walking networks.

Fox Business asks if kids bikes will now drop in price, thanks to promised tariff relief in the Trump administration’s apparent deal in the trade war with China.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker says US bikeshare is the decade’s biggest transportation success story. Which is good news and bad news, since so little progress has been made on other fronts.

Ride a bike indoors in February to fight Parkinson’s disease. Preferably without the special seat mentioned down there at the bottom of the page.

A speeding Montana driver capped off a night of drinking at his office Christmas by killing a woman on her bike, then blamed the victim for just appearing in front of his car. Yet another reminder of the dangers of sharing the road with drinking drivers this the holiday season, as if anyone really needed it.

A Michigan nonprofit bought a new bike for a 12-year old boy after his was stolen as he was buying flowers for his mother, who had just gotten out of the hospital.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a Michigan woman’s electric wheelchair and adaptive bike from her garage.

Another young girl has been attacked by a pit bull while riding her bike, this time in Charlotte, NC; a neighbor used a trashed can and a bicycle to beat it off her.

A New York councilmember says the city can legalize ebikes even if the governor allows a bill that would do it to die without his signature. Meanwhile, another councilmember from the Big Apple calls out politicians who ride in bigass SUVs instead of on bicycle seats. And deservedly so.

A Gotham website wants to know what’s behind New York’s mounting death toll for bicyclists. Start with massive SUVs and distracted drivers, and go from there.

A Florida woman plans to bike the route her grandfather marched across Europe in World War II, covering 1,000 miles in 70 days from Normandy, France to Oldenburg, Germany — ending on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

 

International

The Verge says ebikes will be the top-selling form of electric vehicle sold in the US over the next decade.

Good question. A writer for Road.cc asks if you’re riding to enjoy it, or to prove yourself. Well?

Red Bull tells you what you need for your first cyclocross. And they’re right, you will need a bike. And tires. And yes, pedals would come in handy, too.

Montreal bicyclists protest plans to close a key bike path, calling for it be kept open all year.

Oops. After an English city councillor complained that a bicyclist riding at 30 mph was more alarming than a driver doing 50 mph, he was caught speeding by the traffic monitoring group he set up.

More proof life is cheap in the UK, where a driver walked with a suspended sentence for killing a bike rider despite reducing his speed to 30 mph, after playing the Universal Get Out of Jail Free card and claiming the sun was in his eyes. Even though another driver dropped his speed to 5 mph under the same circumstances, and somehow managed not to kill anyone.

A Dutch bike canal cruise is sort like any other river cruise. But instead to riding the boat to the next port, you’ll ride your bike.

Brussels, Belgium will be placing 3,000 bike racks next to pedestrian crossings over the next few years.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from Columbia, where national and Pan-Am cycling champ Miguel Londono died when he fell into rocks on a training ride in Medellín.

German cyclist Robert Forstemann made the news for his freakishly large nearly 30″ thighs.

 

Finally…

Don’t even try to drive your Tesla truck in the EU. Yes, a vibrating seat is one way to relieve the boredom of indoor cycling — and maybe why the Peloton Wife enjoys it so much.

And watch Belgian kids re-enact a recent bizarre road standoff, with words their mamas probably didn’t teach them.

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

Morning Links: Possible West LA bike crash, and Chase Richard to be tried in fatal Ramona hit-and-run

December 13, 2019 / / One comment

I’ve received reports about a possible bicycling fatality on Barrington Ave in West LA Monday night. 

According to a post on Nextdoor, a bike rider was hit by a driver around 10 pm, between Olympic and Pico Blvds.

Meanwhile, a report on the Citizen app showed police investigating a fatal collision at Barrington and Exposition around the same time. 

So far, I haven’t been able to find any confirmation of the crash, or that someone was killed. The county medical examiner’s website shows just two people killed on the streets somewhere in LA County, but doesn’t indicate where or how they were traveling. 

I’ll keep looking, and tell you if I learn more. Or if you have any information about this, please let me know. 

And in the meantime, let’s just hope it turns out to be a mistake. Which isn’t uncommon where Nextdoor is concerned.

Thanks to Howard Valai and Nick Hooper for the tips.

………

A San Diego judge ruled that Chase Richard will stand trial for the hit-and-run death of Ramona resident Michelle Scott as she rode her bike to work October 2nd; he continues to be held on $2 million bond.

………

Not all superheroes wear capes.

Although something tells me a bicyclist wouldn’t be seen in the same light if we tried the same thing.

………

Ride your bike to deliver cookies to Costa Mesa first responders this Sunday; hopefully, you can manage to deliver more than you eat.

Unlike, say, me.

https://twitter.com/arlis4costamesa/status/1204867078177509376

………

Peloton is the news story that just keeps on giving these day.

The actress who played the Peloton Wife blames the expression on her face for the outsized response. Uh, no.

The company has angered some of its customers by cutting prices for digital subscribers, but keeping the more expensive subscriptions for people who use one of their bikes the same.

C|net says Peloton’s $2,245 purchase price and $39 monthly subscription is worth it if you’re a dedicated indoor cyclist.

But who needs Peloton when you can just shove a pair of pedals under your desk?

………

‘Tis the Season.

The Salvation Army and Pasadena Rotary Club teamed to give 200 new bicycles and tricycles to local kids as part of their Bikes For Christmas program.

More on the San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles giving new bicycles to one hundred Inglewood elementary school kids.

Carlsbad’s Bikes for the Barrio program donated 110 bikes to underserved children at a local Elementary School.

Over 300 volunteers showed up to build 800 bicycles for kids in San Francisco’s East Bay.

Sixty-seven kids at a Cedar Rapids, Iowa neighborhood mission got new bikes, thanks to a local charity.

An entire North Carolina 3rd grade class got new bicycles thanks to Bikes for Kids.

Florida’s Jack the Bike Man is planning to give away thousands of new and refurbished kids bikes this weekend.

………

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

The owner of a Grover Beach bike shop could be going away for a long time — and deservedly so — after he was charged with sexually abusing a girl younger than 14 years old on several occasions.

Police in Palo Alto are looking for a bike-riding purse snatcher who dragged a woman several feet as she fought to hang onto her bag.

………

Still more people are giving to 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

So let me offer my sincere thanks to Anne F and Shrak Racing for their generous donations to the fund drive.

Your support helps ensure all the best bike news and advocacy will keep coming your way every day!

And helps keep our elected officials accountable, too. 

………

Local

Evidently, supercars are disposable now. The CHP found an upside down fire-engine-red Lamborghini abandoned on Angeles Crest Highway above Altadena, after the driver flipped it and walked away.

I’m not sure what it means when a bigass SUV gets its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, except that Chevrolet paid someone a shitload of money. Thanks to Evan Burbridge for the heads-up. 

 

State

A San Diego writer stumbles onto a New Zealand man who just finished a 1,750-mile ride from Canada to Mexico in 27 days.

San Diego broke ground on a pair of bikeways through the North Park and Mid-City neighborhoods that will eventually connect with planed protected bike lanes on 30th Street, where some business owners and residents seem to think maintaining parking spaces outweighs protecting human lives.

A San Jose letter writer says she suffers the effects of fossil fuels in the form of pollution when she rides her bike.

A San Francisco woman got a $1,200 bill for failing to return a Lyft bikeshare bike, even though she had gotten a confirmation for its return.

San Francisco is putting bike and pedestrian safety projects on the fast track, but Streetsblog says the new bike lanes still rely on dangerous mixing zones at the intersections.

The North Bay Area is spending $726 million for more induced demand by widening Highway 101 between Petaluma and the Marin County Line. But at least they threw in a bike path.

 

National

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss has your new style guide for all things bikes, insisting espresso and aero are out, and pour-overs and flannel are in.

Makes sense to me. A writer for Singletracks says don’t spend your money on a new bike, spend it on new experiences.

Year-to-date wholesale bike orders were down in every category except ebikes for the first two months of this year, while bike riding continues to drop among kids, as well. Thanks to Brent Bigler for the links.

A new offroad wheelchair is made from mountain bike parts for lower costs and greater durability.

A new documentary follows five Aussie friends on a 2,600 mile, 30 day ride across the Western US following the route of John Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath, with a budget of just $420 for the entire journey.

Add this one to your bike bucket list — a 280-mile loop through Oregon forests and California redwoods.

On January 1st, Oregon will become the fourth state to allow some form of the Idaho Stop Law, allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields; however, unlike Idaho, they’ll still have to remain for red lights.

Somehow, my frozen Colorado hometown manages to have a Winter Bike to Work Day, even if it is a week early. But Los Angeles, where it sometimes gets all the way down to the 60s, can’t manage to pull it off.

Chicago will keep a bike lane next the median to avoid doorings, after beating back an alderman’s attempt to move them or replace them with part-time parking.

He gets it. A Rhode Island letter writer says no one is trying to force drivers to ride a bike, just pushing for bike lanes to give people a choice.

An Albany NY writer says buying a bike online after trying it out at the local bike shop, aka showrooming, may not be illegal but it definitely isn’t nice.

This is who — or what — we share the roads with. A New York man was killed when he was pinned between two cars after a Lexus owner used the remote starter to start his car.

A New Jersey op-ed says the state has the money to improve safety on the streets, but what’s lacking is the political will. Which Los Angeles can certainly relate to.

A Richmond VA councilmember says giving up his car for a month inspired a new Streets for All bill, including speed limit cuts, banning parking in bike lanes, and an Idaho Stop Law.

Mississippi bicyclists explain why putting rumble strips along the edge line on the Natchez Trace Parkway is a very bad idea. Actually, it’s a bad idea anywhere people ride bikes.

 

International

Lots of people ride their bikes to college. In Bogotá, Columbia, you can ride your bike for college to study the effects of the city’s sprawl on surrounding environmental zones.

This is who we share the roads with, part dois. A Brazilian man was busted for dressing up like a matronly woman to take the driver’s test for his mother, after she failed three times. Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the tip.

Seriously? A Canadian writer says bicycles — electric or otherwise — are not viable alternatives to cars, but velomobiles are. There are a lot of Dutch and Danish riders who might beg to differ.

Bike Biz looks at the bicycling platforms of each of Britain’s political parties in yesterday’s election, won by the Conservatives.

An ambulance arrived 90 minutes earlier than promised for an English bicyclist who broke his hip after clipping a curb. And still took three and a half hours to get there.

A new British survey shows an across the board decline in bicycling for leisure, sport and travel.

Berlin is planning to build eleven Bicycle Expressways connecting the outskirts of the city to the city center. But shouldn’t they be called fahrradbahns?

This is the cost of traffic violence. A New Zealand woman describes the immense loss when her 19-year old daughter was killed riding her bike to work.

Shanghai is automating enforcement, with ebikes required to carry license plates with an embedded RFID chip to automatically ticket riders if traffic cams capture a violation; the system has resulted in 49,000 tickets since July 1st.

 

Competitive Cycling

Heartbreaking. A Rwandan woman describes how her dreams of bike racing were shattered when she got pregnant after being raped by her coach.

LA-based retired pro cyclist Phil Gaimon says being fast is pointless, because there are more important things in life for most bike riders.

American cyclist Tejay van Garderen says he’s aiming for back-to-back Giro and Tour de France races next year.

 

Finally…

If you’re riding your bike with an outstanding arrest warrant, maybe carrying a coffee table on your handlebars isn’t the best idea.

And everyone can use a little help pedaling.

 

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

Morning Links: LA misses newest list of US bike-friendly cities, best bike helmets, and All City Toy Ride on Friday the 13th

December 11, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA misses newest list of US bike-friendly cities, best bike helmets, and All City Toy Ride on Friday the 13th

No surprise here.

A day after Los Angeles — which was named America’s worst bike city just one year ago — was inexplicably ranked 20th on a list of the world’s most bike-friendly cities, it didn’t even make the top ten American cities in another.

But Long Beach did.

According to real estate site Redfin, Minneapolis lead the list of the most bikeable cities in the US, followed by Portland, Chicago, Denver and San Francisco.

All of which have been busy building connected bikeway networks.

Then again, so have the others on the list. Including Long Beach, which checked in at number ten.

So while it hasn’t yet accomplished its goal of being America’s most bike-friendly city, Long Beach — by far the smallest city on the list — is getting there, at least by some standards.

And continues to lap its much larger neighbor to the north.

………

Let’s talk bike helmets in the news.

LA-based Wheels e-scooters will now come with a bike helmet built into the frame, complete with a disposable liner to theoretically protect from whatever the previous user had in his or her hair. I’ll pass, thanks.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech has come out with their latest list of the top ten bike helmets, based on rigorous testing. And finds that MIPS rules the roost, but Bontrager’s WaveCel isn’t far behind.

Dr. Oz jumps on the bike helmet bandwagon, saying 541,000 bicyclists were treated for head injuries between 2014 and 2017.

Just to clarify, I always wear a helmet when I ride. But I never forget that bike helmets are designed to protect against slow-speed falls, not getting hit by a speeding driver in an SUV. And should always be seen as the last line of defense when all else fails.

Not the first.

………

LA’s annual Midnight Ridazz toy ride will roll this weekend, making Friday the 13th a lucky day for kids who might not otherwise get a toy for the holidays.

………

Forget the impeachment.

Clearly, the biggest year-end news remains that infamous Peloton ad. Which just won’t go away, no matter how much we close our eyes and click our heels together.

The actress who will forever be known as the Peloton Wife says she feels very lucky, and people have been so nice since the whole ad controversy broke. Unlike the way the Peloton Husband has been treated, who just hopes it won’t kill his acting career.

A CNN writer, and “hooked” Peloton user, considers it just a faux controversy.

The company’s stock dropped 6% yesterday to $32.55 after a short-selling analyst said it’s only worth $5 a share.

And with tongue placed firmly in cheek, Elle says the biggest snub in Monday’s Golden Globes nominations was the lack of noms for the entire Peloton Wife Cinematic Universe.

Now, can this all just please go away? Pretty please?

………

Who says Contador has lost it?

Although his win may be given to Schleck in a few years pending dope tests.

………

‘Tis the Season.

An unknown urbanist guerrilla secretly decorated a Chicago protected bike for the holidays.

The “Bike Man” of Springfield MA has dedicated whatever time he has left to building bikes for kids after being diagnosed with a degenerative brain disease from his work as a bouncer; he’s given away over 1,400 bicycles, including a custom-made bike for a girl with dwarfism.

A North Carolina woman will give away nearly 1,500 bikes, continuing the tradition her late husband started 30 years ago.

An Alabama rural health association will team with a bank to give away 100 bikes to kids next week.

Runner’s World considers the best gifts for the bike rider in your life. Which means Bicycling will probably be out with a gift list for runners any day.

And the San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles once again played bike Santa for some LA kids.

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

A Wichita KS bike rider hopped off his bike to write a racial slur in the middle of a residential street before riding off. But at least the racist jerk did it in chalk.

………

Looks like the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive is still going strong.

So let me offer a heartfelt thank you to Paul F, Nina M and Dennis E for their generous donations to the fund drive.

Your support helps ensure all the best bike news and advocacy will keep coming your way every day!

………

Local

A ghost bike will be placed Thursday night for the man killed in a collision while riding his bike at Victory and Kester in Van Nuys last week.

The mother of fallen bicyclist Frederick “Woon” Frazier will host a protest walk on Saturday to remember her son and demand solutions to hit-and-runs.

A new interactive map shows LA’s most dangerous areas for pedestrians, with pedestrian injuries and deaths skyrocketing in the five years since Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Vision Zero, but failed to implement it. The same streets usually correspond with the most dangerous places for bike riders, as well.

CiclaValley takes a video ride along DTLA’s new Main Street protected bike lanes.

Los Angeles is handing the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority responsibility for maintaining and patrolling the LA River Bike Path through the West San Fernando Valley, replacing a jumble of jurisdictions as part of a pilot program.

A Long Beach man was hospitalized in stable condition after his bike was struck by a hit-and-run driver in a stolen car; police found the vehicle after the driver ditched it in an alley and walked away.

 

State

The LA Times says maybe the reason Californians can’t drive is because they can’t decipher the DMV’s confusing driver’s handbook.

Caltrans new executive director says his primary goal is improving safety, followed by a switch to multimodalism.

Donate just five bucks to support San Diego trails, and you would win a free Canyon Strive mountain bike courtesy of Canyon, the Belgian Waffle Ride, and the San Diego Mountain Biking Association.

Opening a new front in the never-ending battle against induced demand, a Lake Elsinore freeway interchange will get a $45 million expansion. But at least they’ve got the good sense to improve walkways and bike lanes as part of the work.

Who says bike riders aren’t tough? After a Sunnyvale man suffered a non-life threatening injury in a drive-by shooting, police found him half a mile from the crime scene because he kept riding, despite the injury.

A Palo Alto columnist says Idaho Stop or not, you’re putting your life at risk by riding through stop signs or red lights — especially without lights on your bike.

A San Francisco bike shop plans to reopen in a week or so after it was damaged in a strip mall fire early Friday morning, along with another shop.

Sad news from Empire, where a 27-year old man was killed when he rode around railroad crossing arms in the fog and was struck by an Amtrak train. One more tragic reminder to never go around lowered crossing arms, even if you don’t see a train. They’re down for a reason.

 

National

City Lab says carfree streets will soon be the norm. We can only hope.

Paul Reubens — aka Pee-wee Herman — is going on tour next year to mark the 35th anniversary of Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, including stops at the Wiltern in Los Angeles next February, as well as in San Diego and San Francisco.

Outside honors their Outsiders of the Year, including teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg and American world mountain biking champ Kate Courtney.

The late Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volker was one of us, riding his bike across Europe instead of writing his doctoral thesis while attending the London School of Economics in the 1950s.

Condo shoppers in Chicago, Minneapolis and Portland are considering the building’s bikeability as the determining factor before buying.

Boise, Idaho mountain bikers got a shiny new bike park for Christmas this year, complete with double black diamond trails.

A Milwaukee bike burglar was busted for multiple break-ins to steal bicycles, including hitting a bike co-op dedicated to providing repairs and jobs for youths four times.

Seriously? An apparently well-meaning Minnesota college student says it’s time to study the problem of distracted bicycling. Trust me, that’s not what’s killing them.

No surprise here, as a new study from Queens NY shows that women are more likely to bike if there’s a protected bike lane.

A writer for Patch in Pennsylvania confirms the site’s lack of veracity, by saying Vision Zero isn’t working because its primary goal is to increase daytime traffic congestion. Um, no. And Los Angeles and Chicago weren’t the first cities to adopt it, either.

 

International

A writer for London’s Independent newspaper says Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative party claims to support bicycling, but their platform suggests just the opposite.

Stranded in London overnight, a tourist rented a bikeshare bike and rode it 67 miles around the city, visiting 25 landmarks in eight hours.

An English bike rider says he survived a sudden heart attack while riding thanks to some Good Samaritans and a nearby defibrillator.

A British rider rented a three-geared bikeshare bike, drove 680 miles to France, rode it up the legendary Alpe d’Huez and returned it to the docking station, all within 24 hours.

Thieves backed a truck up to a UK bike shop and made off with 60 new bikes, many still in the box.

She gets it. A Dublin, Ireland writer says the city has to make alternatives to driving into the city more attractive to commuters. More proof that the problems, and the solutions, are the same all over the world.

Your next custom bicycle could come from a 100-year old Parisian bespoke bikemaker. I mean, just in case anyone has me on their Secret Santa list this year.

Amsterdam’s bike mayor says bicycling can save the world.

An Aussie mom-to-be says she’s still biking to work while eight months pregnant, despite the comments of concerned onlookers.

Fortune considers the rapid rise and fall of China’s bikeshare companies. And says you might want to consider those lessons before investing in the country’s artificial intelligence startups.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sprinting great Mark Cavendish will be looking to regain his former speed with the newly-unveiled Bahrain-McLaren cycling team, after the famed sports car builder took half ownership of the team. Maybe this will help.

Oregon’s Bicycle Racing Association will allow a board member accused of “pervasive transphobia” to keep his position.

 

Finally…

Once again, if you’re carrying coke, meth and weed in your coat, put a damn light on your bike. No, really, if you’re carrying meth, pain killers and a metal club in your backpack, don’t hand your bicycle to someone fleeing the police on foot.

And it appears the well-dressed manatee will not be wearing a bicycle tire this holiday season.

 

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

Morning Links: Bike rider murdered on LA River path, Westwood NIMBYs rise again, and LA makes bad list of best bike cities

December 10, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike rider murdered on LA River path, Westwood NIMBYs rise again, and LA makes bad list of best bike cities

I’m not usually one to leave a job half done. 

But evidently, I’m okay with knocking off when it’s just two-thirds finished.

Especially when I don’t have any choice. 

I’ve been struggling with low blood sugar most of the night, ranging from dangerously low to just extremely nauseatingly low. 

Despite which, I’ve somehow managed to get this far with today’s post. But I can’t make it any further. 

At least not tonight. 

But don’t fret.

I promise to catch up on the rest tomorrow, when I’ll (hopefully) be feeling better.

………

Evidently, nowhere is safe for LA County bike riders.

The LA Times reports that a man was found shot to death next to his bicycle on the LA River bike path just before 11 pm Sunday night.

The vicim was discovered suffering from a single gunshot wound to the upper body on the pathway near Clara Street and River Road in Cudahy.

There are no known suspects.

Anyone with information is urged to call the LA County Sheriff’s Department at 323/890-5500.

Thanks to Eban Lehrer for the heads-up.

………

The decidedly bike-unfriendly Westwood Neighborhood Council is raising its ugly NIMBY head once again.

The group, which is dominated by wealthy homeowners in the area, is calling for a motion to block proposed bike lanes on Westwood Blvd from just below Wilshire Blvd to the UCLA campus.

Even though the North Westwood Neighborhood Council, where the lanes would actually be located, overwhelmingly favors them.

And even though they could help revitalize the rapidly dying Westwood Village, while improving safety for UCLA students, staff and employees, along with what few shoppers, diners and movie goers remain.

New LA advocacy group Streets For All is calling for everyone to contact area Councilmember Paul Koretz. Though it’s questionable what good that will do, since Koretz is the one who singlehandedly blocked bike lanes along the lower portion of the street below Santa Monica Blvd at the behest of a handful of homeowners.

More effective could be their final suggestion.

3 – Show up at Westwood Neighborhood Council’s meeting – and encourage any friends that live in Westwood to join you. We will be passing out signs to hold up. Give public comment supporting Metro’s bike lanes on Westwood Bl. and opposing their interference in part of Westwood that isn’t even in their neighborhood council district.

When: Wednesday, December 11, 2019. 7pm.

Where: Belmont Village Senior Living, 10475 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90024

………

I don’t want to frighten you.

But before you read this next item, you need to sit down.

Now set down your coffee, tea or whatever you’re drinking. You don’t want you to ruin your laptop, phone or any other device with an unplanned spit take.

Because what I’m about to say may come as a shock. Or maybe a laugh.

Or in my case, a damn good guffaw.

Because Los Angeles finally made a list of the most bike-friendly cities.

No, in the world.

Seriously.

Even though we can’t even make a list of the most bike-friendly cities in California. Or barely in LA County, for that matter.

Let alone with criteria like this.

For this edition of the ranking, we have evaluated and ranked over 60 cities from around the world using 7 factors including biking infrastructure, bike safety, roadside rentals, bike-share index, friendliness (designated bike lanes), road connectivity, and bicycle culture (the shops, routes, and attributes that make each city a great place to ride). These are the best cycling cities in the world. Did your city make the list?

Clearly, they didn’t deduct for LA’s angry, aggressive and distracted drivers. Or elected leaders who seem to like the way Vision Zero looks on LADOT’s website, as long as they don’t actually have to do anything.

Never mind the steadily rising toll of fallen bicyclists that disprove the city’s meager efforts to date.

But not only did LA make the list, we apparently made it twice.

Magazine placed Oslo in sixth on the list ahead of Bremen, and Antwerp. San Francisco and Helsinki round out the list at nine and ten, respectively. Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Portland, Boulder, and Seattle came out as the top five most bike-friendly cities in the United States.

CEO Magazine, which created this list, may or may not be legit.

But LA’s inclusion on it is total bull.

The Onion, on the other hand, get it right with a story saying Los Angeles is now adding lanes for bike riders to recover from getting hit by drivers.

………

Yesterday we posted video of a road raging Texas truck driver blocking both lanes of a narrow highway to tell off a group of bicyclists, which made it look like the riders may have been taking up both sides of the road.

Today we get additional video from another angle, making it clear they weren’t. And that she was going way too fast.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

………

‘Tis the Season.

Four hundred Coachella Valley 4th graders got new bikes and helmets courtesy of Variety of the Desert.

Around a hundred volunteers pitched in to build 123 bikes for a Pennsylvania nonprofit, marking more than one thousand bikes the group has given away since 2008.

Even Fox News is getting in on the bike building act.

Meanwhile, Bike Radar has eco-friendly gift ideas for the bike rider in your life. Or maybe something for the bike-riding lesbian on your list.

And the New York Post has advice on gifts to avoid so you don’t end up like the Peloton husband.

………

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

A bike-riding Grinch made off with a San Jose family’s Christmas decorations.

An Illinois man was busted for pedaling his bike up behind a woman to steal her purse in a Walmart parking lot. Even if the headline suggests he was trying to sell his bike, instead.

………

It looked for awhile like Monday would be the first day with no donations to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

But appearances can be deceiving. 

So let me offer a heartfelt thank you to William S for coming through at the last minute with his generous donation help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos from Sunday’s West Valley CicLAvia, while CiclaValley offers a video recap. And no, my fumble fingers never gotten used to typing CicLAvia and CiclaValley in the same sentence, and probably never will.

Yet another reminder that Los Angeles will close Hollywood Blvd at the drop of a hat for a movie premier. But somehow can’t create a pedestrian plaza to improve business and save human lives.

 

State

California planners are already telling LOS to get lost.

San Diego’s popular Rose Canyon bike path will be closed this week to pave the final segment.

San Francisco will close a section of Octavia Street in the Hayes Valley neighborhood to cars, and fling it open for people on bicycles. Permanently. Maybe Los Angeles can take the hint.

 

National

Bicycling lists the ten most popular Strava segments from across the US, with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast.

The magazine also looks at Utah’s shrinking Bears Ears National Monument, warning that oil wells could soon replace a bikepacking paradise.

A coalition of conservation groups have filed suit against new federal rules opening National Park trails to ebikes if other bikes are allowed. Evidently, the wilderness is only for the fit and able bodied, as far as they’re concerned.

Trek recalled their 2017-19 Super Commuter+ 8S ebikes because, as the Miami Herald points out, nobody expects the wheels to come of a $5,200 bike. Actually, no one expects the wheels to come off any bike, regardless of price.

A Colorado bike advocate is blown away by biking in Portland. Just imagine how blown away she’d be by Los Angeles, which scored 15 places higher on that list up above.

Life is cheap in Texas, where you can kill a seven-year old little girl in front of her school and walk without even a ticket.

With no apparent sense of irony, a Providence, Rhode Island letter writer says bike advocates should have a more inclusive vision for the city, while insisting there’s no room for bike lanes on the city’s streets.

Streetsblog accuses New York Mayor Bill De Blasio of hypocrisy for encouraging corporate ebike deliveries while banning ebike food deliveries. Meanwhile, the state’s governor is sitting on a bill that would legalize ebikes throughout the state because of an unrelated dispute with the bill’s sponsor.

New York doormen are worried about conflicts between customers and people on bicycles as bike lanes expand throughout the city. Or they could just assume that bike lanes are meant for people on bicycles. Not tourists with suitcases.

 

International

British six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy offers tips on how to teach your child to ride a bike. Because everyone knows Olympic track cycling is the ideal background for the best sidewalk bike coaches.

Get your next H&M order delivered by bicycle. But only if you live in the Netherlands, of course.

 

Finally…

Now you can gravel grind and ride epic singletrack without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. It’s not a bicycle, it’s an artist’s brush.

And it’s one thing to attack the leader of Britain’s Labour Party. But making fun of his bike is going too damn far.

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

Morning Links: Speeding across the US at 123 mph, the once and future CicLAvia, and more post-Peloton ad hysteria

December 9, 2019 / / 7 comments

Before we start, let me take a moment to thank every who’s given to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive so far.

Since we started ten days ago, not a single day has gone by without at least one donation. And often, more than that.

So let me offer my heartfelt thanks to Mike W, Ilya G, Philippa M, Gregory S and Glen S for their generous donations to since we saw you last.

Because their open hearts, and open wallets, is what helps keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Which means the only question is, who’s going to join them today?

And will it be you?

………

This is who we share the roads with.

Writing for Bicycling, Joe Lindsey criticizes a culture that allows motorists to break the law with seeming impunity. And chuckle when someone gets away with it.

Like drivers in a highly modified Mercedes using every trick known to man to evade the police while speeding across the US at an average of 123 mph.

And a top speed of 193 mph.

Speeds which would be instantly fatal to anyone outside of the car in the event of a crash. And probably in it, too.

All to win an illegal, unauthorized race across the country, speeding 2,800 miles across the US in less than 27 and a half hours. And putting the lives of everyone else on the roadway at risk, in every city, county and state they drove through.

Maybe it’s here where I point out that all of this is patently insane.

It’s insane to shift-drive across the country on open roads at triple-digit speeds. It’s insane to have such arrogant disregard for the law that you heavily modify a vehicle specifically to evade the police, using technologies that are themselves illegal in many states—laser jammers are illegal in California, Colorado, and Illinois, to name three states on the route, and it’s illegal in every state not to have functioning brake and taillights. It’s insane to try to pass this off as both a bold adventure AND a paragon of driving skill and discretion. And it’s insane for the media to accept that narrative so credulously and uncritically…

Cars are the apex predator in a transportation ecosystem where menace and aggression are literally built into the grilles, and where drivers can hit and kill cyclists and pedestrians and walk away without charges, or receive laughably minimal punishment when they are brought to court. Our devotion to cars is a stuck parking brake on the economy, a pox on public health, and is killing the planet.

It’s today’s must read.

And well worth the few minutes it will take to speed through it.

………

The Los Angeles Daily News says the final CicLAvia of the year opened people’s eyes to “the sights, scenery (and) shops” in Canoga Park, Winnetka and Reseda yesterday.

But don’t worry.

CicLAvia will be back next year with a return to South LA and a first foray into Watts in February.

………

It’s worth clicking on the tweet below just to read the long list of witty responses.

………

San Diego is moving forward with the long-debated protected bike lanes in North Park, removing 450 parking spaces to make room for them.

At the same time, however, it’s also beginning work on a pipeline under the street, which could mess up your bike commutes for the next month.

Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.

………

Leone also forwards news that parts of Camp Pendleton were closed due to flooding as of this past weekend.

Please be aware of the following closures due to flooding:

  1. BEACH CLUB ROAD REMAINS CLOSED
  2. RAMP TO WIRE MOUNTAIN ROAD FROM VANDEGRIFT BLVD  ENTERING FROM MAIN GATE CLOSED
  3. LAS PULGAS GATE IS NOW CLOSED
  4. STUART MESA RD, 41 AREA TO LAS PULGAS IS NOW CLOSED.

Roads and gates above will re-open once water subsides.

For additional information regarding these closures, please contact Mr. Sam Jammal.

Sam Jammal, Community Plans Liaison, Camp Pendleton

Osamah.jammal@usmc.mil

………

Nothing like a leisurely bike ride along the Nile.

No, on it.

………

Just when you thought discussion of the much-loathed Peloton ad had beaten the subject into the ground…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShKu2icEYw

…actor and gin meister Ryan Reynolds takes a swing at it.

https://twitter.com/VancityReynolds/status/1203118775815622664

Meanwhile, a Fox News host insists the whole controversy stems from the actress’ expressive eyebrows. No, really, he’s serious.

Apparently failing to understand what actors do for a living, some very stupid people have been sending death threats to the man who plays the husband in the spots. And a writer for the Guardian says the actor’s attempts to prove he’s not sexist misses the point.

And not surprisingly, Saturday Night Live got in on the action, not once but twice. Although you have to watch the first one all the way through.

Unfortunately, the actor in the ad isn’t an SNL fan, either.

At least not in this case.

………

‘Tis the Season.

Inmates in an Iowa county jail refurbished 25 bicycles for local kids.

A western Pennsylvania bike drive resulted in 1,245 bike for Toys for Tots; the founder says he wants to make sure every kid has the chance to ride one like he did.

Twenty-six Long Island NY kids got new bikes and helmets thanks to a local nonprofit.

A Tampa Bay nonprofit built 900 bicycles for local kids in need.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes keeps gaining speed.

No, people on bikes don’t think they own the road. But evidently, the woman in this Texas truck thinks she does.

………

Local

Los Angeles got a pair of state grants totaling $3.5 million to build 2.2 miles of multi-use pathways along the LA River in North Atwater Village, as well as improving habitat along the river.

If you’re carrying a garage door opener, crack pipe and several change purses on what’s probably a $5,000 stolen bike, stay off the sidewalk — and put a damn light on it.

 

State

San Diego bicyclists rode Friday to celebrate the completion of new bus and bike lanes along El Cajon Blvd.

Mind your turn signals and stop signs in Oxnard tomorrow, when the police conduct a bike and pedestrian safety sting, calling it an educational operation. The usual protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you get outside their jurisdiction.

San Jose pedestrian fatalities are at an all time high, with other traffic deaths not far behind.

A somewhat incredulous Sacramento reporter follows a Christmas tree delivery in three parts to prove it can be done by bicycle.

 

National

A writer for Quartz questions why women don’t ride to work when they love bikes so much.

Life is cheap in Colorado, where a dump truck driver walks with community service for killing a new mother on her first bike ride after giving birth. And apparently gets to keep his license, too.

Conservative Texas aims to eliminate traffic deaths in the entire state by 2050. Unlike progressive California, which hasn’t even discussed Vision Zero.

A Chicago alderman (alderperson?) backed down on plans to dangerously reconfigure bike lanes to make room for more parking.

He gets it. An Illinois writer says you “meet the most interesting people, see what most drivers rarely notice, and discover places you wish you had known years ago” when you ride a bike.

No surprise here, as Pittsburg drivers make like a quarterback avoiding a blitz by using bike lanes to swerve around speed humps without slowing down.

Gothamist wants to know why ebikes are okay for Amazon and UPS deliveries in NYC, but remain illegal for immigrants delivering food. And why the governor hasn’t signed a bill to rectify that.

New York’s Port Authority makes La Guardia Airport virtually off limits to people on bikes, suggesting it’s your fault for making drivers feel bad when they have to hit you.

 

International

Stats show most Toronto bicycling and walking deaths occur during the day, suggesting the free reflective armbands offered by police won’t help very much.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver will serve less than two years behind bars for killing a bike rider when he couldn’t even see her because of the tray table he built onto his dashboard.

A British woman says she’s lucky to be alive after the brakes on her bike failed during a steep descent on a 114-mile charity ride, sending her crashing into a rock.

British Prime Minister and Captain of the H.M.S. Brexit Boris Johnson says the naughtiest thing he’s ever done was ride a bike on the sidewalk. But London’s Mirror begs to differ, insisting Boris has done much worse — like using highly offensive racial slurs, for instance.

A new Austrian inner tube offers lower rolling resistance, combined with the kind of savings weight weenies could only dream of — if you’re wiling to pay the price.

An African photographer focuses his lens on Burundi’s bicycle taxi culture.

The best way to visit the Cypriot city of Nicosia is by bicycle, according to a local paper. Then again, that’s usually the best way to visit any city.

A visually impaired Japanese man can finally live his dream of racing with his wife after friends and family hand-built a lacquered bamboo and beech wood tandem they can ride together.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist picks the cycling team of the decade; three of their eight picks are women — with Marianne Vos topping the list.

Eurosport considers the most controversial moments in the 2019 bike racing season.

Although maybe you’d prefer watching the top riders and their crazy bike handling skills seen below.

https://twitter.com/VelonCC/status/1202302881224896513?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1202302881224896513&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cyclingweekly.com%2Fnews%2Fracing%2Fwatch-velon-recap-shows-amazing-bike-handling-skills-pro-riders-443996

 

Finally…

When your stolen bike — and subsequently stealing it back — becomes the topic of a children’s book. If you spot a tempting bicycle sitting outside the sheriff’s office, just leave it alone, already.

And if you want to avoid ripping the skin off your penis, put some damn grips on your handlebars.

Assuming you have one, of course.

………

 

 

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