Archive for Morning Links

Morning Links: More on Vision Zero plan, call for killer driver to turn herself in, and OC man has 9 DUIs in 6 years

February 1, 2017 / / 2 comments

As we noted last week, the City of Los Angeles has finally released its Vision Zero Action Plan, explaining in detail how it plans to reduce traffic deaths by 20% this year, and eliminate them entirely by 2025 — just eight years away.

Comments to the plan continue to roll in.

Today, Vision Zero Alliance member Bobby Peppey is sharing a letter he wrote in response to the plan.

Note: While Peppey is a member of the VZA, he want to make it clear that these are his opinions, and do not necessarily reflect those of the alliance. 

………

There is a serious problem with LADOT’s Vision Zero Action Plan (VZAP) that wasn’t mentioned in LACBC’s excellent letter.

The lack of mention of lowering speed limits from the deadly 35/45mph to safer speed limits of 25/15 mph on Los Angeles HIN or other City streets in the VZAP.

Safer, slower top speed limits have been instituted by New York City, Seattle, Boston and in other North American cities.

Yes there is the California Speed Trap law and its 85 percentile rule that  supposedly forces City’s to raise limits as Joe Linton mentions in his article last spring. There are exceptions in the law to this rule that are manifest on all of the HIN streets that can easily be implemented to lower the speed limits on these streets.

On page 15 is the only mention of lowering speed limits in the plan, “A speed-limit reduction may be more appropriate on streets where children walk to school.” In my experience children walk on all sorts of streets and not only to get to school.

There is some amorphous language on page 36 as follows, “Vision Zero for Los Angeles will pursue local, state, and federal legislation that strengthens traffic safety policy…”, but the VZAP doesn’t go on to then state what policy changes will be pursued by the City.

More ominous in VZAP are the BENCHMARKS on page 37. The second row concerns finishing speed surveys conducted by LADOT but does not state what the results of these surveys will be.

In Joe Linton’s June 9th article in StreetsblogLA concerning the City Council Transportation Committee meeting of June 8th, he states that “LADOT General Manager Reynolds stressed that speed surveys and resultant speed limit increases are needed.”

Earlier at the same meeting Ms. Reynolds stated “IF WE COULD GET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY TO SLOW DOWN TO A SAFE SPEED, WE COULD SAVE HUNDREDS OF LIVES EVERY YEAR.” This quote is verbatim from the printed minutes of the meeting.

We live in a City (second largest in the US) that is now facing down the full brunt of the power of an arch-conservative unified federal government on the issue of immigrants rights, one of the most significant human rights battles of this century for our Country.

That the City of Los Angeles is not willing to deal with the same vigor towards Caltrans, and the State of California’s terribly inequitable Speed Trap Law; when our City is suffering from an epidemic of Kills and Serious Injury (KSI) of persons who walk, ride a bike or use transit on its sidewalks, crosswalks and streets is stunning.

Sincerely,

Bobby Peppey

Vision Zero Alliance member

Advisory and Policy Committee

Enforcement Committee

………

Meanwhile, a governing website explains what Vision Zero is, and says the hardest part for cities is making the long-term commitment necessary to make it work.

………

KCBS-2 reports that relatives of Agustin Rodriguez, the bike rider killed in a hit-and-run in Whittier Monday morning, call on the driver to turn herself in while describing her as a monster who murdered the father of three.

Considering that she dragged him the length of two football fields, they’re probably right. Anything less than a murder charge would be an abject failure of justice.

………

This is why people continue to die on our streets. An Orange County man was arrested for DUI on Sunday after crashing into a utility box in Placentia and attempting to run away.

Police quickly discovered that the driver, 52-year-old Derek Stacy Haskayne, was already on probation for a previous felony DUI conviction.

In fact, he’s had eight DUI convictions since 2011.

Read that again. Eight DUI convictions — not just arrests — in the last six years. And yet he somehow still manages to remain behind the wheel, placing every other human being on the roads at risk.

We can talk all we want about Vision Zero. But as long as people like this are allowed own, buy, rent or borrow a motor vehicle of any kind, innocent people will continue to die.

Thanks to John Damman for the heads-up.

………

The route was announced for this year’s edition of the Amgen Tour of California, as well as the separate but unequal four-stage Breakaway from Heart Disease women’s race. The last three stages will be set in SoCal, including a Mt. Baldy finish in stage 5, a Big Bear time trial, and a Pasadena finish for the final stage, while the women won’t get any closer than Sacramento.

Deadspin says if motor doping exists, the 60 Minutes report didn’t prove it. Of course it exists; the only question is whether it’s actually being used in the pro peloton.

………

Local

A bike rider was one of three victims stabbed in an apparent random attack on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood before police shot the attacker inside a Jack in the Box.

A bike-riding homeless man was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for the unprovoked fatal stabbing of a AAA tow truck driver in Pico Rivera last year.

Los Angeles now has the largest bicycle paramedic corps in the US, allowing rescuers to quickly navigate crowded streets and sidewalks.

The East Side Riders Bike Club and Los Ryderz BC invite you to join them for the annual Ride for Love on February 12th.

Actress Bella Thorne is one of us, going for a beachfront bike ride in Santa Monica.

The former Governator goes for a bike ride in Venice after calling out Trump for making the US look stupid.

LA Downtown News looks at former bike shop owner Josef Bray-Ali and his uphill battle to unseat anti-bike incumbent Gil Cedillo in LA’s 1st Council District.

 

State

Streetsblog talks with BikeSD founder Sam Olinger, who’s helping to reshape San Diego into one of California’s safest city’s for bicyclists.

Bad enough an Escondido man got carjacked at knifepoint; they also got away with his bike.

Hop on your bike later this month for a tour of the doors of Palm Springs.

Santa Cruz police bust five bike thieves using a bait bike.

It looks like Monterey’s Sea Otter Classic will be around for awhile, after inking a contract extension with the Laguna Seca racetrack for the next 15 years.

A San Jose columnist defends a local road diet, calling it a proven safety measure even if some people don’t like it. Speaking of which, Streetsblog reports on Oakland’s successful Telegraph Avenue road diet, which cut all crashes by 40%.

 

National

A new study shows that physically active children are less likely to be depressed, just like teens and adults. Which is as good a reason as any to get them started riding a bicycle as early as possible.

Bicycling offers beginners tips on how to ride every day, and why you should.

Women’s Day tells drivers to use the Dutch Reach, aka opening a car door with your right hand to avoid dooring bicyclists.

The Denver Post calls on the state to pass the proposed Idaho Stop Law, while noting it’s probably a bill before its time. Meanwhile, a Colorado woman isn’t sure about the proposed law after she was seriously injured by a red light-running bike rider. Even though running a red light would remain illegal; the law would require riders to come to a full stop, then proceed only when it was safe to do so.

Nebraska introduces a new bike-themed license plate.

Life is cheap in Iowa, where killing a bike rider taking part in the state’s annual RAGBRAI ride only merits a misdemeanor charge.

A Houston writer looks at her great uncle’s bike tour of Europe in 1939, culminating in a photo of the Fuhrer as the continent geared up for war.

 

International

Once again, the bike rider wins in a race across a city, this time in London where a cyclist beat someone traveling by the tube by 17 minutes. Apparently driving was so hopeless it wasn’t even worth trying.

Kindhearted UK cops pitch in to buy a boy a new bike after his was stolen, not once, but twice as he travelled to see his sister at a children’s hospital.

A British writer says, contrary to what the country’s transportation secretary says, cyclists are not part of the problem.

A Brit driver faces charges for driving onto a pathway to run down a bike rider after hearing rumors the man may have been the one who stole his bike.

A British government inquiry hears that London’s bicyclists are being failed by the justice system, and vows to investigate the problem. Chances of that ever happening with the US Congress are somewhere south of zero.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a hit-and-run driver is fined the equivalent of just $471, after claiming he had no idea he hit a bike rider because his music was too loud. Or maybe he just turned it up so he couldn’t hear the screams of his victims.

Riding a bike in Johannesburg can be a matter of life and death — not from distracted drivers, but because of armed bikejackers.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. You should have a flasher on your bike, not be one. Actually, the biggest mistake you’re making at SoulCycle is not getting outside on a real bicycle.

And what’s next, mandatory ladder helmet laws?

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Morning Links, Vision Zero / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Help make Union Station bikeable, donate used tubes in Ventura, and motor doping on CBS

January 30, 2017 / / 3 comments

Through the end of this month, BikinginLA is supporting local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry by offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.

………

You have just two days left to comment on Metro’s plans to make the entrance to LA’s Union Station more walkable and bikeable.

Although there’s some concern about the removal of a bike lane on Los Angeles St, and dismount zones where riders will be required to walk their bikes.

………

If you’re in the Ventura area, stop by BikeVentura at 1150 N Ventura Ave to drop off your old inner tubes; they’ll patch them and pass them on to people in need.

………

Now that 60 Minutes has taken up the case, it seems like the whole world is talking about motor doping. The original designer of the hidden motors says he thinks pro cyclists have been using them to cheat since he sold the first one for $2 million in 1998, while America’s only remaining Tour de France winner says he can’t trust cycling victories as a result.

Dutch great Marianne Vos slipped on a wet corner, creating an opening for Belgian Sanne Cant to win her first World cyclocross championship, while denying Vos her eighth.

Deadspin offers a history cyclists taking wrong turns or getting lost in the middle of a race.

A 30-year old Philadelphia bike race has been canceled due to a lack of sponsors.

Lance is still around and kicking, finishing second in a Texas gravel bike race after his ban on cycling was partially lifted last year.

Former Spanish pro and U-23 world road champ Iván Gutiérrez says he tried to hurt himself eleven times as a result of depression. Pro teams focus a lot of attention on physical condition of their riders; maybe more needs to be paid to their mental and emotional health.

………

Local

Los Angeles agreed to purchase a large property on the LA River, which should help revitalize the river while making space for parks and bike trails.

Pure Cycles looks at the recent Draft: a People for Bikes Meetup that they hosted.

Work continues on the Ocean Blvd road diet in Long Beach, which will include bike lanes once it’s finished.

Multicultural Communities for Mobility is hosting a bikeshare ride to next Saturday’s 118th Golden Dragon Parade in LA’s Chinatown.

The LACBC’s next Sunday Funday ride will explore LA’s Super Bowl history on Super Bowl Sunday.

 

State

Ventura police are looking for a 60-something, bike-riding arsonist.

Streetsblog looks at a soon-to-be unveiled protected bike lane through the city’s McLaren Park.

A Marin County equestrian says conflicts on trails are caused by a small percentage of aggressive cyclists, and never happened before mountain bikes were invented. Funny, I’ve been run off trails by horseback riders while hiking more than once, before and after mountain bikes came into widespread use.

Sad news from Northern California, where an Oroville bike rider was killed in a hit-and-run.

A Chico man lost $15,000 worth of bicycles and parts when a burglar broke into his garage and stole six bikes.

 

National

If you have a Pro-Tec City Life bike helmet, send it back; they’re being recalled after failing routine tests by Consumer Reports.

Fast Coexist looks at a simple fix that could keep bike riders’ tires from getting caught in streetcar tracks.

A writer for Strong Towns says she’s not a cyclist, she’s just someone who rides a bike. While I understand the sentiment, I have to respectfully disagree; saying cyclists are only people who wear spandex and ride for sport, as opposed to others who ride casually or for transportation, just creates an us vs. them mentality, instead of standing up for the rights of everyone who rides a bicycle.

An Op-Ed in the Austin TX paper says it’s time to respect cyclists humanity and rightful place on the road.

A suspect turned himself in for the hit-and-run death of a young Texas bike racer, whose mother found his body the next day when he didn’t return home from a ride; the driver turned himself in on Friday, following the collision last Monday. Which gave him plenty of time to sober up and come up with a good excuse. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.

Bike advocates and friends of a fallen Chicago bike rider express their outrage over the ten day sentence given a killer drunk driver. Streetsblog says the politically connected driver was twice charged with DUI in high school, but had the charges dismissed. This is why people continue to die on our streets; too often there are no consequences for dangerous behavior, even when someone gets hurt — or worse. Especially if they can afford a good lawyer.

A Minnesota TV station looks at the intersection of bicycling and President Trump, who hasn’t been on one since he was a kid. Which probably explains a lot.

Not surprisingly, bike riders aren’t reacting well to a Minnesota legislator’s proposal to require bicyclists to pay a $5 fee and pass a road safety course before they’re allowed to use the state’s bike lanes. Which would just push riders into the traffic lanes, defeating the whole purpose.

The New York co-founder of the CycloFemme movement offers her advice on commuting by bike year-round in city traffic.

The New York Times says innovations in the cycling world, including mobile bike shops and online ordering, are threatening local bike shops. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the link.

 

International

If you’re going to get into bicycling, the first thing you’ll need is a bicycle. Just about everything else the story mentions is optional to a greater or lesser degree; yes, you should have a spare tube and patch kit, but countless riders somehow manage to get along without a bike computer, as useful as they may be.

A 230 mile long abandoned railroad in Paraguay could soon be the longest bike path in South America.

Bike parking sheds are fine on the streets of London’s Westminster district, as long as they look like luxury cars.

Caught on video, sort of: It takes a real schmuck to punch a disabled London cyclist, knocking him out, after blocking the rider’s path with his double-parked Uber car.

Hero Cycles, which claims to be the world’s largest bike maker, is opening an R&D center in Manchester, England. Except it isn’t the biggest.

Antonio Banderas is one of us, riding through the woods behind his English home; he made the news after suffering a heart scare.

Seriously, how oblivious do you have to be to not even know you hit someone with your car? A British driver claims his had his music turned up so loud he didn’t even know he’d hit a bike rider until he got home and saw the damage to his car. But how is it that he didn’t even feel the impact?

A Scottish lawyer says the country has to make bicycling safer, as too many people are afraid to get out on their bikes, resulting in a public health crisis.

PeopleForBikes says the latest edition of the Netherland’s bikeway design manual, which they call the world’s best, is available now. And in English.

An Indian bus driver rode his bike nearly 700 miles to call for the expansion of a two lane highway.

 

Finally…

Your next helmet could signal your turns for you. LA riders may have gotten caught in the rain lately, but that’s better than frostbite and burned bronchial tubes.

And you may be able to outsprint the other riders, but can you drop a giraffe?

………

Thanks to an anonymous giver for a generous donation to support this site. The kindness and generosity of BikinginLA readers is always welcome.

And appreciated.

 

Category: Bike Access, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: New Colorado pro race, bikes and microbrews coming to Echo Park, and riding 30 days the wrong way

January 26, 2017 / / 2 comments

Through the end of this month, BikinginLA is supporting local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry by offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.

………

Colorado’s USA Pro Challenge is dead and buried. Now the four-stage Colorado Classic pro race, which will include a two-stage women’s race, will rise from the ashes to take its place. Although they still seem to think women are too fragile to compete on an equal basis with the men.

Evidently, former pro Frank Schleck still likes to go fast; he’ll lose his driver’s license for a month and face five year’s probation for driving 52 mph in a 31 mph zone.

Former British world road champ Nicole Cook says the problem with pro cycling is the sport in run “by men, for men” and doping is being fought by “the wrong people, in the wrong way, with the wrong tools.”

………

Local

Echo Park could be soon home to LA’s first microbrewery/bike shop.

The Radical Optimism series is hosting a panel discussion on How We Move: Getting Around the “Shrinking” City of Los Angeles tonight in Culver City.

Santa Monica’s Cynergy Cycles hosts a discussion on bikepacking tonight.

Hermosa Beach will start using bike cops in an effort to control late night partying in the downtown area.

 

State

Ventura police bust a man who jacked a bicycle at knifepoint after he’d removed it from the back of vehicle while the driver slept inside.

A San Francisco bicyclist was the victim of a hit-and-run near the city’s Pier 39 following a failed pass.

Just days after San Francisco officials stared down Chinese app-based bikeshare company Bluegogo, a US-based startup wants to bring their dock-less, app-based bikeshare system to the city.

A San Francisco native says no, cyclists, pedestrians and drivers have not always hated one another, but we should all come together to hate the people on hoverboards.

 

National

The CEO of Affirm and co-founder of PayPal is one of us, taking his bike with him wherever he travels.

Popular Mechanics gets it, saying it’s time to rethink our roads so they work for everyone, including bicyclists.

Next City talks to Motivate CEO Jay Walder, head of the nation’s largest bikeshare company, who says Donald Trump should look to America’s transit revolution for guidance on how to overhaul the nation’s infrastructure through public-private partnerships.

No bias here. Colorado considers adopting the Idaho Stop law, but one TV station says it allows bicyclists to run red lights and stop signs. Actually, it just lets bike riders treat stop signs as yields, and treat red light like stop signs. Big difference.

A Victoria TX newspaper says all it would take is a little paint to bring the city into the 21st Century by putting in some bike lanes.

Detroit police are still looking for the bicycle-riding killer of a university police officer, releasing a photo of the bike he was riding.

A Northwestern University professor says cyclists, pedestrians and drivers all have to work together to ensure safety.

Note to Boston Globe: A “suspicious device” made from a beer bottle half filled with gasoline with a rag sticking out of it, like the one found on a bike trail, is called a Molotov cocktail.

New York-based BMX pro Nigel Sylvester makes Forbes Magazine’s 30 Under 30, to go along with his 200,000 Instagram followers and seven million YouTube views.

A Virginia columnist says the state doesn’t need a proposed law banning bicycling while drunk, calling it a legal solution in search of a problem.

Before you detain a teenager for stealing your son’s bike, make sure it really is. A Florida man faces felony kidnapping and robbery charges because he didn’t. And it wasn’t.

 

International

James May, host of Amazon’s The Grand Tour, is one of us, but says most bike riders are a bit hopeless, awkwardly peddling badly adjusted bikes with no idea how to use their gears.

Cycling Weekly patiently explains why cyclists ride in the middle of the road. But they neglected to mention that it makes riders more visible to drivers, which is why taking the lane is taught by both the League of American Bicyclists and CyclingSavvy.

London’s Independent says forget riding down Bolivia’s Death Road; if you want a real challenge, try riding Peru’s Pichu Pichu volcano.

Bike riders are donning facemasks to deal with London’s crushing smog.

Now that’s a close call. A Brit driver just misses a bicyclist riding in a bike lane before plowing into a street sign.

 

Finally…

Breaking News: Riding at night isn’t like riding during the day because it’s dark. If you’re trying to make it home for the holidays, make sure you don’t ride for 30 days in the wrong direction.

And if NASCAR is going to be more like bike racing, does that mean the drivers will start shaving their legs?

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Active Trans grants approved for LA County, and fight goes on for carfree Mt. Hollywood Drive

January 24, 2017 / / 2 comments

Through the end of this month, BikinginLA will support local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry by offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.

………

It looks like change is finally coming to LA area streets.

Streetsblog reports that thirteen new bike and pedestrian projects totaling $33.6 million have been funded through California’s Active Transportation Program, with another eight grants worth $28.78 million scheduled to be approved by SCAG — the Southern California Association of Governments — next month.

You can find a full listing of the projects, scattered throughout LA County, on the Streetsblog story.

But don’t hold your breath. As they note, the funding won’t actually be available for another two to three years.

………

CiclaValley asks you to turn out for today’s special meeting of the LA City Council’s Arts, Parks, and River Committee to demand that Mount Hollywood Drive in Griffith Park be kept carfree.

The committee meets at 3 pm in room 1060 of City Hall in DTLA; if you can’t make it, he has a sample email and email addresses to send it to.

………

Still more tragedy in the cycling world, as Ukrainian former U-23 world champ Dmitry Grabovskyy died of a suspected heart attack at 31. Meanwhile, tributes have flowed in for the 15-year old British cyclocross champ who died in his sleep over the weekend.

Now that’s more like it. Britain will offer equal prize money to both the men’s and women’s winners of the country’s national racing series.

………

Local

As we noted yesterday, it wasn’t just Coyote Creek that was flooded by the recent rains; the LA River wasn’t exactly the safest place to ride, either.

Metro is holding a meeting this Thursday to discuss plans to improve access to Downtown’s Union Station, including a bike and pedestrian esplanade on Alameda Street.

The LACBC’s Ask An Officer panel discussion has been rescheduled for this coming Monday.

An editor with the USC paper says there’s a silver lining to having her bike stolen, forcing her to slow down and notice things she used to ride past. Although you’d think a fine university like USC would teach the difference between breaks and brakes before the senior year.

 

State

A Stanford physician and casual cyclist raised $10,000 to fight breast cancer by surviving the 2016 Death Ride, a 129-mile timed endurance ride with 15,000 feet of climbing over five mountain passes.

Speaking of Stanford, a professor there is looking for more participants for a study of bike saddles; currently over 1,000 cyclists are enrolled, but they’d like to have 10,000.

Streetsblog tries out the new dockless, app-based bikeshare bikes from Bluegogo; the company is making a soft launch with a few hundred bikes in San Francisco by locating them on private parking spaces to get around city regulations and objecting officials. Thanks to Eric Weinstein for the heads-up.

San Francisco leads the state as the most dangerous place to drive a car, and ranks second in the nation for pedestrian injuries and fatalities. None of which suggests it’s exactly a great place to ride a bike, either.

A mudslide caused by Sunday’s storm in Northern California has blocked, if not destroyed, a popular bike trail at Lake Natoma.

 

National

The new PlacesForBikes project from PeopleForBikes — who have evidently decided to save money by removing the spaces from their names — will encourage bike-friendly cities by providing an alternative to the Bike League’s rating system.

The last remaining founder of Adventure Cycling will turn 71 on Sunday and retire from the organization; Greg Siple also helped inspire the 1976 Bikecentennial cross-country ride.

A bill that would ban bike riders from most of Montana’s two-lane highways is being rewritten in committee following an outcry from advocates, but no word on exactly what changes are being made.

A proposed Iowa bill would require bike riders to have a red LED taillight on their bikes, apparently even during daylight hours; the law was suggested by a blame-shifting driver who crashed into five — count ‘em, five — bicyclists with his motorcycle as the sun was setting, insisting he would have seen them if only they’d had flashing lights on their bikes. Sure, let’s go with that.

A new study shows Minnesota residents took 96 million bike trips totaling 139 million miles last year, and generated nearly $800 million throughout the state.

University of Michigan researchers have developed a way to make materials change from hard to soft, which would allow bike tires to automatically adjust to different surface conditions, among other applications. Yes, there’s an obvious joke there, and no, I’m not going to make it.

A group of bicyclist will follow a mostly offroad route on a ride from Seattle to Boston later this year to raise funds for a local alternative high school.

New York deployed 50 bike cops to control crowds at Saturday’s peaceful Women’s March, with one source saying a single officer on a bike can do the job of three cops.

 

International

Bike-powered machines made from discarded parts are changing lives in Guatemala.

Bike Biz talks with the CEO of Zwift about whether virtual reality is the future of indoor cycling. A Scottish man used a similar system to virtually bike the length of Britain.

Life is cheap in British Columbia, where an off-duty Mounty walks with just a $1,500 fine for killing a five-year old bike rider with his jacked-up pickup; he claimed he couldn’t see the boy, who was riding with the light in a marked crosswalk with his father and brother, as he turned right. If you can’t see a little boy directly in front of your truck, it doesn’t belong on the damn roads.

Caught on video: A British newspaper seems to take great glee in watching a bike rider flip over a curb after flipping off a motorist.

A bike advocate on the Isle of Man calls for reforming traffic laws, claiming drivers cause 90% of all collisions with bicyclists.

A former assistant professor is riding over 6,200 miles across India to raise awareness of climate change and encourage people and organizations to take responsibility for reducing their carbon footprint.

A Johannesburg mountain biker nearly lost an eye when he ran into an unmarked wire that had been left across the entrance to a pathway, despite verifying that the trail was open to bicycles.

China has completed construction on a 4.7 mile elevated bikeway in the city of Xiamen, a first for the country.

 

Finally…

No, a Holocaust memorial is not the place to hop about on your bike. It wasn’t easy going onstage after a bike-riding Robin Williams.

And you don’t want to risk offending the tweeter-in-chief.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Flooded waterway bike paths, sampling new lighted bike safety backpack, and #peaceontheroad

January 23, 2017 / / One comment

As you may know, this site has long been a supporter of local bike shops.

So starting today, we’re putting a dollar figure on that support, with our first-ever sale on ad space.

Through the end of this month, BikinginLA will be offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates just for local bike shops, or other small businesses in the bike industry. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.

………

Mike Wilkinson forwards a reminder of the primary purpose of the popular Coyote Creek bike path.

Similar views can be found today on the Ballona Creek and the LA River pathways, as well as virtually any bike path along one of Southern California’s usually arid riverbeds.

Just in case you need a reminder of why local authorities sometimes seem to overreact by closing the paths whenever rain seems imminent.

………

Look what came from India last week.

As the Onion once put it, “Visibility is crucial when biking. Ride with a lit highway flare in each hand.”

Since that’s not always practical, the Aster backpack from Lumos comes complete with built-in reflectors, front lights, tail lights, turn signals and brake lights.

I’m not normally a fan of the visibility arms race — any driver actually paying attention to the road should be able to see a cyclist without making us dress up like brilliantly lit dystopian clowns — it does promise to combine practicality with safety.

And while I’m more of a messenger bag guy, I’ll look forward trying this out and letting you know what I think.

………

Nice piece from the Racers Who Ride Foundation, as pro racer Ozz Negri, Jr. discusses his love of bicycling and what #peaceontheroad is all about.

………

Sad news from the world of cyclocross, as a Belgian coach apparently committed suicide after one of his junior cyclists failed a dope test, and a 15-year old British U-16 national champ unexpectedly died in his sleep Friday night.

World Champion Peter Sagan discusses the loss of anonymity that come with his cycling success.

Irish cycling great Sean Kelly says a chance encounter with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on their South African honeymoon helped launch his pro career.

An Aussie paper talks with retired pro Cadel Evans, crediting him with sparking a Lycra revolution in the country.

………

Local

Metro is holding a meeting this Thursday to discuss the first segment of the planned Rail to River trail through South LA.

Bike-friendly Santa Monica doubles down on plans for a sustainable future. Meanwhile, the city council will vote to approve a contract to study bicycle intersection treatments, including bike boxes and detection devices to help traffic signals identify bike riders.

 

State

Organizers of Saturday’s Tour de Palm Springs had to work through the night to plan an alternate route after several streets were flooded by Friday’s rain.

Marin County officials use speed guns to measure how fast mountain bikes ride on county trails. And learn the overwhelming majority of riders obey regulations.

Stockton’s interim police chief started on the road to becoming a cop when a pair of bullies stole his Schwinn back in sixth grade.

 

National

This year’s RAGBRAI will take an easier route across northern Iowa.

Winter bicycling is spiking in popularity in the Chicago area, despite the cold.

An Illinois family has given up their car and taken to their bikes as their primary form of transportation, and are documenting the experience to help others understand how to be less reliant on cars.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 80-year old New Hampshire man still rides 1,000 miles a year.

A Staten Island website says bicyclists and pedestrians bear responsibility for avoiding crashes under Vision Zero, too.

DC area planners are measuring cycling level of stress to plan lower stress routes that would encourage more people to ride bikes. Although now stress is good for you.

A Norfolk VA paper asks if the city council is crazy for going forward with a 10 mile, $62 million bike path. They have a point; according to a road builders association, they could build a four lane highway for the same price. However, the price tag also includes prep work for future high speed transit, even though voters recently killed plans for light rail.

 

International

Bikeshare is credited with getting more women on bikes.

The executive director of a Winnipeg, Canada bike advocacy group calls on the city to adopt Vision Zero, for reason that should be obvious.

North London police get it, saying bicyclists will no longer be fined for riding on the sidewalk, and they’ll look into the reasons why people would feel the need to choose sidewalks over riding on the road.

A British councilor gets it, too, saying “Cyclists should not be expected to take their lives in their hands every time they set out on the roads.”

A new survey shows a fifth of Brits haven’t ridden a bike in over ten years, and one and ten can’t even remember how. Evidently, not even riding a bike is just like riding a bike.

This is the cost of traffic violence. After a UK musician was killed in crash while riding his bike, his band mates release the final recording he made just days before his death as a free download in his honor.

Way to kill a burgeoning bike movement. Sales for pedal-assist ebikes have plummeted in Malta after the country required helmets and registration. That should serve as fair warning for those of us here in the US.

A Malaysian city councilor calls for making Penang the cycling capital of the island nation.

A team of self-appointed bike vigilantes hunt through the streets and alleys of Guangzhou, China for bikeshare bikes that have been appropriated for private use.

Chinese-made bikes are taking over the world; 93.5% of bikes sold in the US last year were made in China.

 

Finally…

It takes a major scumbag to drag a dog behind his bike. And anyone can ride a bike, but how many can say they’ve been felicitated?

………

On a personal note, it was six years ago today we took a chance on a very pissed off adult dog with major abandonment issues. 

Which turned out to be one of smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

Rescue dogs are the best.

Category: Morning Links, Product Reviews / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: SMMC benefits Milt Olin #HandsOff, Draft meet-up tonight, and LACBC Climate Ride diversity program

January 19, 2017 / / One comment

Late last year, David Kooi, the owner of Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery in Woodland Hills penned a great guest post for this site about the importance of supporting your local bike shop.

Now they’re showing their support for others, with a fundraiser for the Milt Olin Foundation’s #HandsOff Movement to celebrate the shop’s sixth anniversary. Donations of just five or ten dollars will enter you to win prizes ranging from lights and helmets, to a new $2,500 ebike.

I can’t think of a better cause.

The Milt Olin Foundation was born from the tragic death of entertainment executive Milt Olin, who was run down by a sheriff’s deputy as he was riding on Mulholland Highway; the deputy was distracted by his cellphone and onboard computer, and never saw Olin riding in the bike lane. Remarkably, no charges were ever filed.

His family channeled their grief into forming the foundation, which unveiled the #HandsOff app and program last year, urging drivers to pledge to keep their hands off their phones while driving and encouraging others to join them.

By supporting them, you can help save lives. And maybe even get some great bike gear while you’re at it.

………

Tonight marks the second LA edition of Draft: A PeopleForBikes meet-up at Pure Cycles in Burbank, 713 N. Victory Blvd.

The free event, which runs from 7 to 9 pm, will feature several luminaries of the local bicycling community, along with food and craft beer from Golden Road Brewing.

  • Michelle Mowery, senior project coordinator for LA RiverWorks
  • Don Ward, founder of Wolfpack Hustle
  • Dorothy Wong, director of SoCalCross PRESTIGE SERIES
  • Naomi Iwasaki, director of neighborhood services at the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Great Street Initiative
  • Members of the Zwift team.

The beer alone is worth the price of admission. Even though there isn’t any.

………

Here’s what CiclaValley had to say about the Draft meet-up, as well as the SMMC anniversary celebration.

………

The LACBC is looking for applicants for its Team LACBC Diversity Program, which is designed to help riders who might not have the resources to participate in a multi-day ride take part in this year’s Climate Ride.

Team LACBC participates annually in Climate Ride California (June 9-13), providing LA cyclists with an opportunity to support the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and raise awareness of sustainability, active transportation, and environmental causes. The annual group charity ride features an all-new route this year, exploring the stunning California Central Coast, departing from San Francisco on June 9 and winding up 300 miles later in San Luis Obispo on June 13.

Riders chosen as a result of the nominating process will receive $2500 toward the minimum Climate Ride fundraising requirement of $2800. In addition, they will receive:

• Free Climate Ride registration ($100 value)

• Equipment support of up to $1000 (cycling and camping gear, as needed)

• Transportation assistance to and from the Ride (as needed)

………

Pro cyclist Mikel Landa gets it, saying that the decision by Australia’s Tour Down Under not to have podium girls sets an example other pro tours should follow/

Now that’s a crash. Spanish pro Joaquim Rodríguez goes over a guard rail on a training ride and flies down a steep ditch. Then just gets back on his bike and rides off.

A women’s pro cyclist explains what it’s like to go to boarding school with your cycling heroes.

………

Local

The student government at traditionally bike-unfriendly USC discusses making the campus even more unfriendly to bicyclists by banishing bike riders to the periphery of the campus. Oddly, their rivals across town at bike-friendly UCLA don’t seem to have any problem welcoming bike-riding students and faculty on campus.

A Long Beach columnist writes a tongue-in-cheek piece about first-world problems, like bollards on a protected bike lane.

 

State

The Guardian looks at fat biking in California, as more ski areas take up the sport.

Placentia is asking for input on plans to revitalize the downtown area, which could include curb-protected bike lanes, judging by the drawing.

Costa Mesa will study the impact of a possible bike trail through Talbert Regional Park.

An Irvine police lieutenant is honored as one of America’s 40 under 40; he got started on his career path in high school when he was ticketed for riding his bike while wearing headphones.

Advisory groups in exclusive La Jolla continue fighting to keep bikeshare from besmirching their fair city, preferring one car parking space over a handful of bikes, and insisting the town’s “topography is not conducive to more bicycles.” Oddly, I didn’t have any problem with the topography when I lived and rode down that way.

Sad news from Bakersfield, as a woman has died after the bike she was riding was struck by a drunken hit-and-run driver; the driver may be the senior VP of a vineyards operation.

San Francisco’s supervisors vote to disrupt the disruptors, as writer for Forbes considers what the city’s backlash against a Chinese app-based bikeshare company says about East-West cultural differences.

America’s first protected bike lane was built 50 years ago in Davis.

A Davis columnist complains that killing a cyclist doesn’t seem to be against the law in California, as a woman walks when the DA decides there’s not enough evidence to get a conviction in the death of a cyclist competing in a time trial — even though she may have been on her phone at the time of the crash. And even though no one bothered to test her for drugs or alcohol.

 

National

Bike Biz worries that forcing American bike makers to actually build bicycles in the US will make them more expensive, both here and overseas, resulting in lower value as the price goes up.

Police recover a bicycle stolen in a Washington bike shop break-in, but it will cost more to repair the damage to the shop than the bike is worth.

Adventure Cycling Association is hiring a Digital Production Specialist for their Missoula MT headquarters.

Bicycling picks up the story of proposed North Dakota legislation that would legalize running over bicyclists and pedestrians.

Austin TX will install bicycle traffic signals; meanwhile, the six county region around the Texas capital is working on its first long range regional active transportation plan.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A Michigan woman discovers she’s pregnant weeks after her bike-riding boyfriend was killed in a hit-and-run.

Life is cheap in Ohio, where a 76-year old driver walks with a $500 fine for killing a bicyclist. But at least he won’t have a driver’s license until he’s 81.

A Greenwich Village website says bikes will save the community when New York shuts down a major subway line for a year and a half for maintenance work.

Incoming Vice President Mike Pence says he’s not planning to leave his bicycle at home when he takes office in DC.

 

International

London appoints it’s first full-time Walking and Cycling Commissioner.

Caught on video: A speeding, wrong way British driver nearly hits a cyclist after he mounted emergency lights and a siren on his car to avoid traffic jams.

A cyclist in the UK was forced to crawl off a busy highway when he fell off his bike and broke his hip — then had to wait two hours to be flown to a hospital.

An Indian TV network asks if riding a bike is worth the risk, and concludes that the country’s bad roads and lack of protections for vulnerable road users don’t help.

A pair of cyclists are riding over 1,300 miles across India to raise funds for a school that teaches differently abled children.

A Dubai developer will build 65 miles of cycle tracks around the emirate.

Cape Town, South Africa is working on transforming itself to become a “bicycling super city,” as it seeks to boost cycling by a whopping 800%.

An Australian cyclist writes about the five worst habits too many drivers have.

Add this to your bucket list. A Kiwi newspaper lists five of the world’s best bike trips, from skirting the North Sea to riding from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh on Vietnam’s Highway 1.

 

Finally…

If you fall off your bike, they may not ask you who the president is. Who needs a bike lane when you can ride down a vertical wall?

And Lamar Odom gets just six months for plowing into a group of bike riders; no, not that Lamar Odom.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bike the Vote endorses Creed, possible SaMo heartbreak, and San Fran fights Chinese bikeshare

January 18, 2017 / / 5 comments

The first shoe has dropped in the race for city council in CD5.

Typical of LA’s gerrymandered council districts, the sprawling Westside district stretches east from Sepulveda to nearly encircle Beverly Hills, before reaching north to the San Fernando Valley west of Sepulveda.

For the past eight years it’s been represented by career politician Paul Koretz, who moved into the district once he was termed out of the state assembly, after serving on the West Hollywood city council.

It was Koretz who single-handedly killed the fully funded and shovel ready bike lanes on Westwood Blvd at the behest of a small group of wealthy homeowners, followed by inciting a council vote to remove the lanes from the city’s mobility plan. And stating there would be no bike lanes as part of the Great Streets program in Westwood Village.

Yet he oddly still claims to support bicycling.

His reasoning is that Westwood, which is included in LA’s High Injury Network under the Vision Zero plan, is too dangerous for bike riders. So his solution is to keep it dangerous, and shunt all those riders who currently use it as the most direct route between the Expo Line and the UCLA campus onto other less practical alternatives.

And with the exception of Motor Blvd, he has failed to implement any of the major bike lanes called for in the city’s Mobility Plan.

So it should come as no surprise that Bike the Vote LA has endorsed his challenger, Jesse Creed, in the March election over the incumbent Koretz.

You can read Creed’s responses to Bike the Vote’s candidate survey at the above link, and find Koretz’ responses here, along with that of a third candidate, Mark Herd.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newtown offers a good analysis of both the candidates, and Bike the Vote’s endorsement.

But the bottom line is that Koretz has had eight years to prove his support for bicycling is more than just talk. But his actions, particularly on Westwood Blvd, have proven otherwise.

………

Heartbreaking news, as there’s an unconfirmed report that the owner of Santa Monica’s Bicycle Ambulance shop was killed while riding to work recently. I’m working on getting official confirmation; if anyone has any information, please let me know.

Update: A comment from Chris, along with an email from Brian Nilsen, confirms that a GoFundMe page raising funds to defray funeral expenses has been set up by the son of Tony Barnes, the owner of Bicycle Ambulance. There is also a ghost bike in Barnes honor at South Centinela Ave and Jefferson Blvd in Playa Vista. I’ve reached to the LAPD for more information.

Thanks to Stanley E. Goldich for the heads-up.

………

San Francisco is threatening legal action to stop a Chinese app-based bikeshare provider from “dumping” thousands of rental bikes on the city’s streets without the proper planning or permits.

In other words, doing exactly what Uber did in moving into new markets, by establishing their ride hailing service first and dealing with the paperwork later.

But then, Uber was cars. And wasn’t Chinese.

And wasn’t threatening to disrupt the city’s existing dock-based bikeshare.

On the other hand, the problem with China’s app-based bikeshare model is that people are abandoning the bikes, resulting in a 500-bike pile in the city of Shenzhen.

………

Calbike will host a webinar at 11 am today to discuss a grant program which could expand the use of ebikes to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

………

An LGBT website says trans cyclist Jillian Bearden is receiving both praise and uninformed criticism as she continues to break barriers.

Cycling Weekly says fewer, but bigger races could save cycling in France.

………

Local

The LA Rams may need some help, but at least the new head coach rides his bike to work. Thanks to Josh for the link.

The LACBC is calling for bike riders to submit comments on a proposed redesign of Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills by this Friday; the section under consideration currently has painted bike lanes, which the coalition would like to see upgraded to parking protected lanes.

Speaking of the LACBC, they’re in the market for a new Planning & Policy Director.

The latest Bike Talk features former bike shop owners Josef Bray-Ali and TJ Flexer discussing the demise of the local bike shop.

 

State

Westminster police are on the lookout for a bike-riding burglar.

A San Diego Navy vet got a new $3,000 bike for Christmas after his was totaled when he did a face plant last September. Then someone stole off his car it after his first ride.

San Diego has secured funding to begin design work on a crucial link between the Chollas Creek bike path and the planned 24-mile Bayshore Bikeway; the path would allow residents of lower-income areas to safely cross the I-5 and I-15 interchange and get to jobs in the downtown area.

No bias here. A Bakersfield bike rider gets hit by a drunk driver who flees the scene. Yet police still blame the victim for wearing dark clothing and not riding in a crosswalk — even though there was no reason for her to even be in crosswalk.

A Menlo Park cyclist says a new bike project would only benefit a small number of bike riders at the expense of most bicyclists and the rest of the city.

Caught on video: An East Bay cyclist leaves his bike cam going when he stops for mid-ride coffee, and catches a high-end bike thief red-handed.

 

National

Bicycling says riding inside doesn’t have to suck anymore. But it’s still inside, and the bikes still don’t move.

A Seattle website says the city owes residents an apology and their $1.4 million back after buying the city’s troubled bikeshare program, then unceremoniously killing it just before the long weekend. But there’s still a desire for bikeshare if it’s done right.

A French company rode their 3D-printed bike over 600 miles from Las Vegas to San Francisco to prove it works.

The war on bikes continues, as an Arizona bicyclist was shot repeatedly with BB guns by a man and woman in a passing car, with the couple’s child in the backseat. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough for people like that.

A homeless man says refurbishing bikes at a Utah collective to give to others has given purpose to his life.

A Colorado letter writer says “stupid is as stupid does” in deciding whether to ride on the roadways with motor vehicle traffic, suggesting — or rather, outright stating — that bikes don’t belong on public streets. I’d apply that same aphorism to people who can’t resist the urge to share their particular anti-bike bias with the rest of the world; saying it’s not safe to share the roads with motor vehicles is really just saying that people are incapable of driving safely, which I refuse to believe.

Wisconsin police bust a pair of bike thieves and reclaim a stolen bike that was being sold on Craigslist; the victim had been given the bike by her grandmother.

Chicago bike riders continue to ride through the winter as part of a two-week challenge. Oddly, no one seem to consider doing something like that here in Southern California, where the weather is much more conducive to year-round riding.

Blocked bike lanes remain a big problem in Brooklyn and Manhattan. And pretty much everywhere else.

President-elect Trump’s traditional inaugural walk will be on a DC bike path.

 

International

Now that a Canadian reporter has recovered from a near-fatal bike crash, she says it was one of the best experiences of her life, because it changed her for the better. And yes, she plans to ride again.

Toronto is studying near-miss incidents, as well as actual collisions, before and after bike lanes were installed on a major street, in order to get a more complete look at how safety has changed.

London cabbies bring traffic to a standstill to protest plans to close a key junction to motor vehicles; cyclists argue that taxis are one of the biggest causes of congestion and drivers are just supporting “the right to poison Londoners.”

A self-described bike lane-skeptic member of the British parliament questions whether bike lanes are the reason London traffic congestion has gotten worse, and if they are causing an increase in pollution as a result.

Scotland promises a more ambitious and innovative approach to cycling, as council leaders promise to play a huge role in encouraging ridership; the country plans to have 10% of journeys made by bike by 2020.

 

Finally…

Filming yourself riding a bike on a Buddhist temple is probably not the best way to win friends in a foreign country. And not even wheelie-popping former Super Bowl winners are safe on a bike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz8ZMEi9ThU

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Bikeshare, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: BMUFL protest in PVE, Ottowa rider say au contraire, and Chinese cyclist says go full Superman

January 17, 2017 / / 2 comments

Welcome back from what was a three-day weekend for some, and just another Monday for others. Either way, I hope you took advantage of the weather, maybe took in the parade, and spent a little time on your bike.

Or maybe a lot.

………

Local

KPCC reports on plans for a protected bike lane in Culver City; there will be a meeting to discuss the plan at 8 pm Thursday in the City Hall Patacchia Conference Room, 9770 Culver Blvd.

The LAPD is looking for whoever who rode a bike up to a man in a Panorama City parking lot and shot him multiple times.

Cycling in the South Bay reports on the weekend protest in Palos Verdes Estates where bicyclists held the same Bikes May Use Full Lane signs the city refuses to post.

 

State

Work starts today on improvements to the I-5 corridor through Solano Beach, including ten miles of new bike and pedestrians trails.

A man in Antelope is known for riding his motorized bike with Russian music booming from the speakers mounted on his handlebars.

 

National

Yes, Dr. Martin Luther King was one of us.

Bicycling Magazine tells you how to make a left turn.

Maui’s mayor demonstrates he sort of understands bike law, explaining that there are exemptions to the law requiring bicyclists to ride to the right, but leaving out the right to take the lane on streets too narrow to safely share with a motor vehicle, even if you do have to ride single file there.

Volunteers pitch in to bring an Oklahoma mountain bike trail back to life after it had fallen into disrepair.

A Minnesota man competed in the 200-mile Fat Pursuit fat bike race through Eastern Idaho, in whiteout conditions with temperatures down to 39 degrees below zero.

The head of Detroit’s Planning Department wants to make bicycling an important consideration in the Motor City’s infrastructure.

An Ohio woman rode 1,000 miles around Oahu to honor twelve Marines who were killed in a helicopter crash off last year, despite being born with just one hand.

The wife of a New Jersey chef has filed suit after he was killed riding his bike into a sewer excavation trench that was left unmarked and uncovered by workers.

It’s now illegal to park in a Massachusetts bike lane, although stopping in one is still legal. So the question is when does stopping becomes parking?

A Philly writer says bike lanes are key to the city’s plans for safer streets, even if some residents don’t like them. Although a spokesman for a motorist group says people are going to drive at whatever speeds they feel comfortable with, regardless of any efforts to slow them down.

A Baton Rouge LA bike rider says he feels like an urban archeologist as he sifts through the litter on the side of the road, saying “what is deplorable is countered by what is captivating.”

A Florida county has to decide whether to cancel plans for a $100 million, 75 miles bike path from Naples to Miami.

 

International

The Biking Expert website lists their ranking of the 75 most bike friendly cities in the world; San Francisco and Davis are the only California cities on the list.

Why settle for three must-have cycling apps, like we linked to yesterday, when you could have ten? And not just for iPhones, either.

Yesterday we linked to video of an Ottawa bike rider blocking a driver who kept lurching into him; the rider says the incident started when the driver kept tailgating him. And yes, he wants the driver prosecuted, despite what the police said.

You’ve got to be kidding. Police in England’s South Yorkshire say it’s not worth the effort to enforce the law against passing bicyclists too closely because not enough riders get killed to justify the cost.

The girlfriend of the bike rider doored by Britain’s transportation minister says yes, cyclists do count as road users.

Starting in March, you’ll have to wear a helmet when you ride in France — if you’re under 12, anyway.

Mannheim, Germany is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the forerunner to the bicycle.

A Chinese cyclist wants to get you out of the saddle and go full Superman on a frame-mounted fitness ball instead.

The 62-year old chief information officer of a global electronics firm is working to make Singapore more bikeable; he says the island nation needs another five years to catch up to Japan’s bicycling culture.

 

Finally…

Post-EPO Lance is still pretty good on a bike. Don’t bother riding your bike to Friday’s presidential inauguration.

And yes, we may have to deal with too many red lights and stop signs, but we hardly ever have to stop to help a pregnant cow deliver a calf.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: The joys of winter riding, no jail for French motor dopers, and a $150 Bluetooth bike coffee cup

January 16, 2017 / / 3 comments

It was a slow weekend on the local front, but there’s plenty of bike news from around the world for your entertainment and edification.

But before we start, let’s take a moment to remember the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, with words as appropriate now as they were fifty years ago.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

A message as meaningful for our streets as for our nation, and our world.

………

Local

Once again, no news is good news. Right?

 

State

High desert cities are working to keep up with road repair on their crumbling streets; a new project in Victorville will add bike lanes along with pavement improvements — whatever that means — on La Mesa Road.

Santa Rosa lost its battle to allow people to ride their bikes on a popular pathway through a private subdivision.

 

National

Vogue discusses the joys of wintertime riding and the problems of dressing for it.

Bicycling introduces you to the only female mechanic on the US pro cycling tour.

An app website lists the three best cycling apps all cyclists must have on their iPhones. Assuming they have iPhones. And for some reason, they filed it under “Hobby.”

In an update to the story of the homeless man who rode his bike from California to Wichita to build planes, because he said God told him to, a local bike shop talked him into letting them fix his bike and gave him new tires so he can ride on ice this winter.

A Madison WI columnist is surprised that motorists accept pedestrian-crossing improvements, but get mad about improvements for bike riders.

Florida’s Space Coast is working to encourage bicycle tourism through the area.

 

International

How to throw a rooster dirt spray for the camera.

A former Canadian pro cyclist is lucky to be alive after suffering sudden paralysis from the neck down when a blood vessel burst between two vertebrae; he was able to drag himself to his phone using only his chin, then had Siri call 911.

A Vancouver letter writer says there’s no need for business owners to worry about the loss of parking spaces to make room for bike lanes, because people on bikes will more than make up for it.

Caught on video: Ottawa police say no charges will be filed after video surfaces of a bike rider using his bicycle as a shield to block the path of a driver, who continually lurches into it. No word on what triggered the confrontation.

London’s mayor clarifies his recent remarks, saying he didn’t mean cycle superhighways cause pollution, but that badly planned construction of them causes congestion, which does cause pollution. That clears up everything, right?

A London cyclist discovers the joys of track cycling.

Cardiff, Wales releases a plan to double the number of bike riders on the city’s streets.

Motor doping may get you disqualified, but it won’t get you thrown into a French jail.

Donations are pouring in to buy new hearing aids for 105-year old, age-group hour record holder Robert Marchand.

A group of 21 male and female randonneurs ride 900 miles across India in five days in a spirit of junoon, which translates to an all immersive passion. Which should be something most bike riders can relate to.

The state of South Australia will pick up the tab for medical expenses after a 15-year old cyclist hits a pothole caused by a leaky fire hydrant.

A Singapore cyclist says he actually wants to pay registration and display a set of license plates just so he can get a little respect on the roads — and so they’ll know who his is when he gets run over by a truck.

China’s ongoing app-based bikeshare boom may result in oversupply, as two leading companies battle for dominance. Not to mention the bikes are getting in the way.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you’re carrying a loaded handgun in your waistband, don’t ride recklessly — and put some damn lights on your bike. Don’t be surprised when a road bike website chooses a road bike as their commuter bike of the year.

And honestly, who doesn’t need a $150 Bluetooth-enabled coffee cup for your bike?

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Weekend Links: North Dakota could legalize killing peds, kid antichrist from The Omen convicted of road rage

January 14, 2017 / / Comments Off on Weekend Links: North Dakota could legalize killing peds, kid antichrist from The Omen convicted of road rage

Unbelievable.

In response to the ongoing pipeline protests, a North Dakota lawmaker introduces legislation making it legal for drivers to injure or kill a pedestrian blocking the roadway.

Yes, you read that right.

The bill would create an exemption under state law for drivers who crash into people in the roadway, whether they’re holding protest signs or, presumably, standing in a deserted roadway after their car breaks down.

It’s not hard to imagine the law being applied to bike riders who have the audacity to take the lane or ride two abreast, if someone concludes they were in the way.

Hopefully, the rest of the legislators will have a little more sense.

Credit Gary Kavanagh with the link.

………

Maybe the Devil made him do it.

The road-raging former child star of The Omen walked on a charge of assaulting cyclists. And on Friday the 13th, no less.

A British court sentenced Harvey Spencer Stephens, now 46, to a suspended 12-month sentence for getting out of his car and repeatedly punching two cyclists; he was also fined the equivalent of $2,500.

………

That’s one way to guarantee a legendary bike race — make it part of the name.

Singapore forms its first-ever road cycling team.

………

Local

The LA County Coroner ruled that mountain biker Evan Bruce Sisson died of heart disease, rather than crashing, after being found with injuries consistent with a fall above Altadena last January; results of the autopsy were delayed nearly a full year for additional forensic testing.

If you hurry, you may still have time to join Walk Bike Burbank’s New Year’s Ride today. Or you could join the LACBC Team at next month’s Chinatown Firecracker Ride and Run.

Santa Monica votes to convert unused tarmac at the Santa Monica Airport into a six-acre park suitable for bicycling, among other uses.

 

State

San Diego’s latest plan for bike lanes in the popular Hillcrest nightclub district will actually result in more parking, not the loss of parking business owners had feared, although the lanes will now be unprotected.

An apparent ninja cyclist was hit by a car shortly after dark in San Jacinto Friday.

Ventura will install bike lanes and other traffic calming measures to improve safety on dangerous Ventura Avenue, where most collisions involve a bicyclist or pedestrian.

San Francisco police are looking for a bike-riding mugger who attacked a 79-year old man.

Here’s another reason to do your riding outside. Patrons of a Marin County SoulCycle were placed on antibiotics after one of the regular customers died of meningitis.

It’s more like bad karma, as Willow Glen’s Good Karma Bikes suffers two break-ins in just two hours, losing at least $3,000 worth of merchandise.

 

National

Seattle drives a stake through the heart of its troubled bikeshare system, reallocating the last $3 million budgeted for the program to pay for other bike and pedestrian safety improvements.

The Fort Wayne IN newspaper says drivers need to stop for red lights. Clearly, it’s not just bike riders who go through traffic signals, despite what some drivers seem to think.

Ohio’s Bike Lady has raised over $600,000 to buy nearly 8,200 bicycles for at-risk kids across the state; last year, every kid who asked for a bike got one.

 

International

Three London teenagers face prison terms up to 13 years for fatally stabbing an aspiring rapper in a dispute over a stolen bicycle.

After BBC presenter Jeremy Vine recorded a road-raging driver attempting to run her down, her lawyer claims he exaggerated the whole thing to boost his online presence; she reportedly made a gun gesture pointed at his head.

Welsh ambulance authorities were forced to apologize after leaving an injured bike rider lying in the street for two hours; they blamed people needlessly calling the UK’s equivalent of 911.

A British radio station says the Dutch reach is the one thing we can all do to save cyclists lives. Other than slowing down and driving safely, of course.

Britain’s Cyclist magazine offers fifty tips to make you a better one. A cyclist, that is, not a magazine.

A study in a Malta medical journal calls for mandatory bike helmets for kids under 18, but not for adults, in order to avoid discouraging potential cyclists.

An Aussie writer goes on a half-day ride through Johannesburg’s Soweto district.

 

Finally…

No pandas for Peter Sagan in Australia. If you try to assault an elderly man, at least keep your wheels under you.

And seriously, don’t throw volleyballs at bike cops.

 

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