Archive for Morning Links

Morning Links: Shooting on LA River bike path, Emerald Necklace opens, and write your own anti-bike screed

September 12, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Shooting on LA River bike path, Emerald Necklace opens, and write your own anti-bike screed

In case you missed it over the weekend, two bike riders were shot on the LA River bike path Friday night when they refused to give up their bikes to suspected gang bangers.

Let that be a reminder to always be careful riding through unlit areas after dark, especially when you’re out of view from the street and can’t be seen by other people.

And it can’t stressed it enough. If someone tries to take your bike, let them have it — especially if they’re armed.

No bike is worth your life, no matter what it cost or how much you need it.

………

The first phase of the San Gabriel Valley’s Emerald Necklace bike path officially opens this Thursday.

emerald-neckace

………

Great interactive piece from Chicago magazine on how to write an anti-bike diatribe without the inconvenience of actual thought.

It’s more than worth a few seconds of your time to write one of your own.

Here’s mine.

screen-shot-2016-09-12-at-12-59-25-am

………

Speaking of great pieces, a British cop explains the real problems on the roads — hint, it ain’t the people on two wheels. And offers advice that includes don’t bother looking drivers in the eye and don’t count on hi-viz to make you seen.

Although it can be challenging to muddle through for those of us on this side of the Atlantic, where English isn’t the English the English use.

………

A 56-year old man went out for a bike ride, and accidently ended up leading the fourth stage of the Tour of Britain.

Caught on video: A fan steps out in front of the Peloton at the Vuelta, knocking a rider off his bike.

The head of the International Cycling Union swears that cycling is on top of the doping problem, unlike other sports. Maybe they should be checking the fans, too.

Semi-banned Lance Armstrong is keeping a hand in cycling anyway by creating a new Aspen CO mountain bike event.

………

Local

Los Angeles unveils a vision of the city’s transportation future that relies heavily on self-driving vehicles, making street parking obsolete and opening space for bicycles. Before you hold your breath, make sure you have an oxygen tank on hand.

Caught on video: CiclaValley captures the bumpy pavement on the 7th Street bike lane in DTLA. Having ridden that one several times, I can attest that it was one of the most desperately needed bike lanes in town, yet is usually blocked by cars and delivery trucks, with pavement that would be rejected in most third-world countries.

The wife of fallen cyclist Rod Bennett has sued LA Fitness, alleging that they knew or should have known that hit-and-run driver Lucas James Guidroz was addicted to heroin; he was sent home from work early on the day he killed Bennett because he appeared to be under the influence, putting him behind the wheel without a chance to come down first.

Good news from Playa Vista, as Councilmember Mike Bonin announces a bike plan for the area, including a new bridge on Lincoln and a bike bridge over Ballona Creek; Bonin was one of just two councilmembers to vote against removing Westwood Blvd and Central Ave from the LA Mobility Plan.

Cycling in the South Bay says, to paraphrase in as few words as possible, don’t be such a dick when you ride.

The contribution page is now up for city council candidate and bike shop owner Josef Bray-Ali, who is running to unseat anti-bike incumbent Gil Cedillo. Bray-Ali is hosting a fundraiser at the Good Girl Dinette Tuesday evening.

 

State

San Francisco bike riders continue to push for safer infrastructure.

Ford is looking beyond the private car by buying a San Francisco crowdsourced shuttle bus company and investing in the city’s bikeshare system.

The Bay Area’s BART system comes up with a brilliantly simple idea, installing straps on train cars to help keep bicycles upright.

Napa is working to improve plans for roundabouts to make them safer for bicyclists.

A Sebastopol cyclist was killed during a police fundraising ride when the driver of an oversized pickup allegedly insisted on passing without room to get by, sideswiping her boyfriend before killing her.

More kind hearts, as a Lodi pub gives away 13 bicycles to children under 13.

A Davis columnist says the solution to dropping gas tax revenues is to raise the gas tax, rather than charge a vehicle mileage fee, then complains that cyclists don’t pay for the roads they ride. By that standard, neither do the owners of $75,000 Teslas or other e-cars, who still won’t pay a gas tax no matter how much you increase it.

 

National

The Christian Science Monitor says a bicycle is one of the things you should never go too cheap on, but says you can get a decent commuter bike for $300 to $400 — pretty good savings over the $8,698 average cost of operating a car.

Now that’s more like it. An Iowa driver gets 35 years — yes, three and a half decades — for the drunken crash that killed two motorists while driving over twice the speed limit. Now if we could just get them to take crashes involving bike riders seriously. Or better yet, keep people like this off the roads to prevent them in the first place.

Evanston IL officials respond to complaints about a new protected bike lane by saying it would cost nearly $1 million to rip them out, while noting that the lane is improving safety just like it’s supposed to.

NPR looks at bicycling in Reading PA, where it says most people ride out of necessity, despite a lack of infrastructure.

A North Carolina columnist gets it, saying drivers need to by hyper-vigilant on the roads, and expect to see cyclists any time of the day.

 

International

Ten laughably bad bikeways from around the world.

I want to be like her when I grow up. Reuters talks with a 90-year old Chilean grandmother who still rides regularly, calling her bike her compadre and the reason for her longevity.

A Canadian bicyclist gets a speeding ticket for riding too fast in a school zone.

An editor for London’s Express gets it, saying all hit-and-run cases should be treated as manslaughter.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, as a Brit bicyclist saves the life of another rider who was trapped up to her waist in mud after falling into a ditch.

Someone is sabotaging Welsh mountain bike trails, yet a regional land manager just says they’re aware of a dispute between riders and local residents. More like an act of terrorism that could get someone seriously hurt. Or worse.

Nice piece from Ireland’s Lovely Bicycle on the many different meanings of cycling and cyclists.

A news columnist takes to the streets of Berlin, where he says everyone rides a bike, but the dangers on the streets demand more and better bike lanes. Which sounds a lot like LA, except for the first part.

A New Zealand bike shop chain got busted for charging full freight for bikes that were supposed to be on a half price clearance.

Singapore residents still view bicycling as a leisurely pursuit rather than a means of transportation, complicating government efforts to create a car-lite society.

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with LA drivers, but at least we don’t get mistaken for road kill. Another reason to wear a helmet — it protects against getting bashed in the head with a skateboard.

And your next bike could be a shapeshifter, which you could ride in your lovely new glow-in-the-dark knitted vest.

………

On a personal note, today is the anniversary of the worst bike wreck of my life, when a massive swarm of bees didn’t lay a stinger on me, but I ended up in the ICU with a tube up my you-know-what and a massive blood bump on my hip anyway. 

I may have my problems these days, but I’m glad as hell to still be here. 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bike Events, Bikes & the Law, Morning Links, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Torrance tri canceled, Riverside carnage continues, and bike advocate ponders if it’s time to quit

September 9, 2016 / / 5 comments

If you haven’t read it yet, don’t miss yesterday’s guest post Letter From St. Louis, from CyclingSavvy’s Karen Karabell.

Go ahead. We’ll wait.

Then buckle in. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.

………

Don’t bother showing up for this weekend’s triathlon in Torrance.

Word comes from Todd Munson that the race has been called on account of apparent greed and billing irregularities from the cities involved, and not involved.

This is what the organizers had to say.

Yesterday, the city of Torrance canceled the 2016 LA Triathlon at Torrance Beach.  With much regret, we are forced to announce this cancellation to our participants and sponsors only 4 days prior to race day.  We understand that the cancellation will come with great disappointment to those of you who have worked hard and prepared for months toward this year’s triathlon.  We are disappointed by the unexpected and unprecedented circumstances and demands that have unfolded to cause this cancellation.

We have listed the key points that led to the city’s cancellation of our event in an effort to offer some immediate transparency to all participants:

  1. On August 31st, the City of Torrance sent to Pacific Sports an email demanding advanced payment, in full, to the city, prior to the event, for city services.  There was no detail of the charges, simply amounts in total and the requirement to bring two cashier’s checks by 5pm.   This is not standard practice in other municipalities and certainly not in those where all previous invoices had been paid in a timely fashion.
  2. In the same email on August  31st, we were informed that a significant separate payment was also required to be paid to the neighboring City of Palos Verdes, a city in which we have no footprint, no permit, no participants enter their city as part of our course, no liability coverage, and no relationship of any kind.  This demand is unprecedented in our 36 year history as an event production company, and to our knowledge unprecedented in the event industry in the United States.    This payment is demanded by Torrance (to be paid to Palos Verdes) although we have never been made aware of the apparent business relationship (although it has been requested) between Torrance (where we do have permits) and the city of Palos Verdes.
  3. Also in this email, it was finally revealed by the City of Torrance, after an audit requested by Pacific Sports, the city had significantly overbilled us by an amount in excess of 30% to the total in 2015 for city services.   We have strong evidence that the 2014 invoice may have been overbilled as well.   Importantly, we have no reliability that the advance payment demanded for 2016 (without detail of its calculation) is backed up by verifiable charges which will only be available after the event has occurred.
  4. Since August 31st, we have worked tirelessly with all levels of the city government including the city council and Mayor’s office in an attempt to bring resolution.  We offered a structured and fair written compromise on these issues in attempt to  insure the event went on as planned on September 11th.  Ultimately, the city offered no compromise or proposed solution and informed us they had unilaterally canceled the event.

We are upset and deeply disappointed by the cancellation, but the requirements were unreasonable and excessive.  Accepting the terms would have compromised the entire event and were untenable for us to continue at the current site for the LA Triathlon.

………

Yet another teenager has been injured riding her bicycle in Riverside, where it’s apparently open season on bike-riding school kids.

A 14-year old girl is in stable condition after being hit by a pickup while riding in a crosswalk just 100 feet from her school Wednesday morning. The driver fled the scene after stopping briefly; she was taken into custody on a nearby highway about 10 minutes later.

Although despite what the story says, it’s hard to imagine the driver was “fully cooperative” with police when she tried to make a getaway before being caught.

………

Lucas James Guidroz pled not guilty to in the hit-and-run death of math and music teacher, musician and cyclist Rod Bennett as he was riding on Placerita Canyon Road last May. Guidroz faces felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury.

Note to Santa Clarita Valley Signal: Show a little respect, and get the victim’s name right in the caption.

………

In the wake of yesterday’s blog post from Surly’s Skip Bernet, in which he said he’s done riding on streets due to the dangers posed by cars, long-time LA bike advocate Examined Spoke questions whether he wants to keep riding his bike.

Is cycling in traffic safe? I can find statistical support for any answer I want: yes, no, who knows. My own experiences suggest the answer should be no, not safe. In 2009 I was rear-ended while riding on Los Feliz Boulevard; last year I was brushed (side-swiped) on Fountain Avenue. I can recount several other close passes, terrifying moments — the usual stuff that you will hear from almost any cyclist. I shrugged off these experiences when they happened, but they still haunt me. They’ve also made me into a poor advocate; I cannot argue for cycling’s essential safety, I am a personal testament to its dangers. As much as I want to believe the opposite, little by little I’ve had to admit to myself that I don’t feel safe on the road. I never feel safe out there.

It’s a very well-written and challenging piece, and one that poses some very difficult questions.

If anyone wants to respond to it, let me know. I’ll be happy to share your thoughts here.

………

The bus carrying Britain’s Team Sky pro cycling team nearly made mince pie out of a cyclist on a narrow country road.

The team contacted him a few hours after the video went online to apologize.

They should give him an autographed team bike, at the very least. And a new pair of shorts, since he probably needs them after that.

Meanwhile, Lance’s doping ban has been partially lifted, so he is now free to compete in non-bike related Olympic sports, like ski jumping, pole vaulting and synchronized swimming.

………

Local

Props to CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo for beginning work to create a pedestrian plaza, including bike racks, on the Hoover Triangle in University Park. Now if he could just do something to make it safer to bike or walk there.

More honorees at the LACBC’s upcoming Firefly Ball include Culver City Council Member Meghan Sahli-Wells and The Walt Disney Company.

CiclaValley shares video of the new Spring Street bike lane between 1st and 2nd Streets in DTLA.

Damien Newton talks with Marisa Creter of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments about plans for a 200 mile bike superhighway crisscrossing the entire valley.

WeHoVille examines the 18-month timeline to reconstruct Santa Monica Blvd through Beverly Hills; the street will be widened, providing enough room for the bike lanes that won’t be installed. Increased costs and the objections of residents to widening one narrow section of the street was given as the reason not to install much-needed bike lanes on the boulevard. So why won’t they commit to adding them now that the street is being widened anyway?

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson reports on Wednesday’s meeting of the Palos Verdes Estates Traffic Safety Committee as only he can.

 

State

A Canadian man is riding over 1,500 miles to attend next month’s Desert Trip music festival in Indio on his Pedego ebike.

Pismo Beach votes to move a bike path into a busy parking lot to keep it from besmirching a coastal subdivision for wealthy homeowners.

Fresno jurors find an accused career criminal not guilty of attempted murder of a police officer in a struggle that began when the cops tried to stop him for riding without a light.

 

National

Streetsblog says the US has the worst per capita traffic fatality rate in the developed world because we drive too damn much. Not to mention too damn fast, too damn drunk and too damn distracted.

Zocolo Public Square says modern roads resulted from a coalition of early bicyclists and rural farmers banding together to demand better streets, only to see cyclists squeezed out with the advent of the automobile.

Build your own DIY ebike that looks like it would probably alert the bomb squad.

Bicycling offers advice on how to ride through your pregnancy.

Exploring Hawaii’s Lanai island by bicycle, where only 3,200 people live and there are no traffic lights.

The Tacoma teenager tackled by police as she rode her bicycle through a mall parking lot is suing the police department, as well as the officer in question, the mall and its security company.

American Denise Mueller hopes to set a new motor-paced bicycle land speed record of over 168 mph at Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats this weekend.

A Chicago area writer can’t seem to figure out if he’s pro or anti bike, saying allowing bicycles in wilderness areas is a bad idea, but giving bicyclists the same rights as drivers is a good one — especially if it means more riders get tickets.

An Op-Ed writer in the Chicago Tribune complains about a parking protected bike lane, and insists that bike riders can’t be ticketed — or pay fees — because they don’t have operators licenses. Never mind that most bicyclists have driver’s licenses, like most other human beings in this country, and can be ticketed even without them.

Cleveland officials say the bike lane that was removed to provide parking for the Hilton hotel wasn’t really removed because it was never really a bike lane to begin with.

A retired Boston doctor encourages drivers to open their doors with their right hands to avoid dooring cyclists.

New York protected the security of the presidential candidates from bike riders by forcing the riders onto a busy highway at rush hour.

A Pennsylvania website says bicyclists face a life and death struggle for space on the state’s roads.

 

International

Ottawa officials say it’s okay that bike lanes on a newly opened bridge are too narrow to meet official guidelines, because they’re not really bike lanes. Evidently, they’ve been talking with the people in Cleveland.

It only took 120 years to get a bike lane on one Toronto street.

The Guardian looks at the Rails to Trails movement in the UK, where abandoned rail lines are being turned into world class biking and walking trails.

Curbed introduces Amsterdam’s first Bike Mayor, elected as an unofficial representative for the city’s bicyclists.

Apparently Belgrade, Serbia fails to make the grade when it comes to being bike friendly.

A new report says Adelaide, Australia isn’t ready for bikeshare because of its immature bikeway network, mandatory helmet law and crushing car culture. Los Angeles can cop to two out of three.

An Aussie writer calls for a network of segregated cycle routes to replace painted bike lanes, augmented by a network of shared quietways where cars don’t own the roads. Which sounds a lot like the apparently forgotten Bicycle Friendly Streets called for in LA’s Mobility Plan.

 

Finally…

Bicycling may be good for your health, but good sex may kill you. Seriously, if you’re already on probation for drug charges and carrying an “unknown white substance” on your bike, don’t ride on the damn sidewalk.

And just in time to beat the Halloween rush, a bicycle on a kickstand pedals itself, both forward and back, with no one but the camera around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIViMYv8pGI

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Hit-and-Run, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Westwood & Central out of LA Mobility Plan, SD bike lanes are no sweat, and more family biking

September 8, 2016 / / One comment

No surprise here.

The LACBC reports the LA City Council passed amendments removing Westwood Blvd and Central Avenue from the city Mobility Plan adopted earlier this year, as expected.

Photo from LACBC

Photo from LACBC

Rumors have circulated for some time that the removal was assured, as a result of a backroom deal of the sort we’re assured doesn’t happen here.

The only surprise is that two councilmembers voted against it, as opposed to the council’s near-constant unanimous agreements, which would seem to be virtually impossible without some sort of deal making going on behind closed doors.

So now Westwood and South LA cyclists can take comfort in knowing that the dangerous streets they ride are assured of remaining that way, at least as long as their current councilmembers are in office.

And here in Los Angeles, Vision Zero is just two meaningless words.

………

You’ve got to be kidding.

The San Diego Reader continues to post responses to their recent misguided Op-Ed calling for sacrificing planned bike lanes to continue the automotive hegemony on their streets.

Including this truly bizarre missive from Robert Burns of Ocean Beach, who should give one of the world’s great poets his name back.

I used to bike everywhere, and was known as “the bicycling barrister.” But, I eventually realized in my bicycling and in my representation of bicycling-accident victims, that it is unreasonably dangerous to bicycle with or without motor vehicles and that the workplace could not afford or appreciate generating profuse sweating.

In a colder climate like Great Britain or San Francisco, bicycling has a greater chance of factoring into the workplace, but definitely not in Southern California. This is a frivolity seemingly perpetuated by brainwashed true-believers.

So evidently, bike lanes are a bad idea because you might sweat.

Got it.

………

Good news from Riverside, as the 16-year old girl hit by a Dial-A-Ride bus remains in critical condition, but is expected to survive.

………

Today’s common theme is biking with your family.

LA Bike Dad discovers the joys of the LACMA Jazz Night, where adults can enjoy the music while kids look at the cement mixers.

And Streetsblog’s Joe Linton takes a family bike tour along the central coast, and offers advice on how to do the same yourself.

………

A challenging read from Surly’s Skip Bernet, who says he’s done riding his bike on the streets, where drivers have to be reminded that people on bikes are human, too. Thanks to Michael from Racers Who Ride for the heads-up.

………

When Laugh Out Loud says don’t touch my car, it’s clearly a joke. Even though the commenters seem a tad touchy themselves.

………

Local

Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren is one of us, riding 15 miles from his home in Pasadena to Dodger stadium before every home game.

The Ovarian Psychos will be honored with the Alex Baum Excellence in Advocacy Award at the LACBC’s Firefly Ball on October 27th. And speaking of the LACBC, Next City talks with the coalition’s Executive Director Tamika Butler.

A ride through Westlake Village reminds a writer to slow down and admire the Lantanas.

Southern California Bicyclist guides you on a 41 mile pier-to-pier ride from Santa Monica to Seal Beach.

Bike SGV invites you to ride to the LA County Fair tomorrow, with free tickets included.

 

State

The Advocacy Director of Bike East Bay says Berkeley’s draft bike plan may be good, but it’s not good enough.

Two San Francisco cyclists were the victims of brazen bike jackings, one a strong arm robbery and the other after being shown a gun.

People in Oakland’s Lake Merritt have been leaving tributes to a street salesman who disappeared without a trace in July and was feared dead; it turns out he was in a hospital after being beaten by two men who jumped him while he was riding his bike and stole his belongings.

A 67-year old bike rider was badly beaten when he asked a group of people to turn down their radio after he stopped to rest at Folsom’s Lake Natoma.

 

National

A real estate website looks at the next big-city meccas for cycling. None of which are Los Angeles, for reasons which should be painfully obvious given yesterday’s council vote.

An e-bike entrepreneur says once you get used to one, you won’t want to go back to a regular bicycle again.

A Portland bicyclist reports being attacked by a driver who got out of his car to punch him, yelling “I won’t have you impose your will on me with that fucking bike, I’m sick of you people.” Although how you can impose your will on someone in a car with your bike is a skill many of us would like to know.

An Idaho mountain biker learns he’s tougher than he thinks after competing in the 2,704 mile Tour Divide.

Denver plans to fill in the gaps on the city’s High Line Canal trail to create a bikeway 71 miles long through four counties.

A Cleveland bike lane is truncated to preserve parking for the downtown Hilton after being painted for the GOP convention.

A Florida letter writer insists Boston is, was and always shall be a city dominated by motor vehicles, and says he won’t “even touch on the pervasive arrogance and rule-bending of so many bicycle riders.” Which is, of course, is doing exactly that.

A New York cyclist says there are simply too many cars driven by stressed out, impatient drivers, putting cyclists in peril every time they push off from the curb.

A writer in the New York Times argues for keeping bikes out of wilderness areas, insisting that if they get in, it’s only a matter of time before ATV enthusiasts will push to let their motorized vehicles in. Even though there seems to be quite a difference between a human-powered bicycle and a gas-powered motor vehicle.

Evidently, bikes are a security risk when it comes to NYC presidential forums, but cars aren’t.

A Philadelphia writer says the best way to ensure you’re hated on every street in the city is to ride a bicycle, which seems to be personal affront to many drivers.

More anti-bike terrorism, as a Virginia university student was shot at close range with a BB gun by the passenger in a passing car as she was riding her bike home. Lets hope the police treat it like the crime it is, instead of writing it off as just a prank.

 

International

Caught on video: A Brit bike rider crashes into a road closure sign blocking a pathway with no warning.

Caught on video too: A Brit driver threatens to knock a bike rider off his effing bike after nearly doing exactly that.

The Telegraph travels Britain’s most beautiful bike route.

An Aussie-American TV producer quit her job to bike around Ireland, and wants a date to an Irish wedding.

It’s official. The world’s largest rideable bicycle is this 1.08 ton German behemoth.

 

Finally…

When you’re already awaiting sentencing on a previous burglary conviction, probably not the best idea to bust a bike lock with a hammer in public. If you’re going to crash your car while fleeing from the police after slapping a bike rider on the ass, at least try to dress more presentably.

And who needs backup musicians when you can perform Sia’s #1 hit on a bicycle?

No, literally on the bike.

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

Morning Links: Rough days for SoCal cyclists, RAAM champ critically injured, and Pokémon goes Ovarian Psychos

September 7, 2016 / / One comment

It’s been a rough few days for SoCal cyclists.

A bike rider was hospitalized after being struck by a car in Pomona Monday night; no word on the victim’s condition. Thanks to Joe Linton for the heads-up.

A 16-year old girl is in critical condition after being hit by a Dial-A-Ride Bus while riding in Riverside with her mother; KABC-7 shows her mangled bike.

………

Sad news from Ohio, as Danny Chew, two-time winner of the Race Across America, was paralyzed from the waist down after a solo fall while riding with a friend near Lodi, Ohio.

Chew was riding around 20 to 25 mph when he drifted off the road as the result of a dizzy spell, and broke his neck crashing into a drainage ditch. His long-term prognosis following emergency surgery won’t be known for several days.

A crowdfunding site has raised over $37,000 to help pay his medical bills.

He is an eight-time RAAM finisher, once crossing the US in eight days, seven hours, and 14 minutes as a solo competitor, and just 200,000 miles from his goal of riding one million miles on his bike.

………

Three-time Vuelta winner Alberto Contador predicts Columbia’s Nairo Quintana will win this year’s race, though second place Chris Froome still has his hopes up.

Froome insists over half of the peloton should have been eliminated for missing the time cut-off, which would have left just 71 riders to finish the race.

………

Local

Former LA City Controller Laura Chick endorses Jesse Creed in his race to oust incumbent Paul “No Bikes On Westwood” Koretz from the city council. Meanwhile, Josef-Bray Ali is hosting a fundraiser this Monday in his race to unseat Gil “No Bikes Anywhere” Cedillo.

Curbed races to Dodger Stadium to find the fastest way to get there from Union Station; the bicycle finished a close second to the car. But didn’t have to pay those parking fees, either.

Harrison Ford may be one of us, but doesn’t seem to have the hang of roof racks yet. Thanks to Steve Herbert for the link.

CiclaValley feels the call of the Great White North.

Pasadena’s Public Health Director will tell the city’s Complete Streets Coalition that their work aligns with public health efforts at the coalition’s monthly meeting tonight.

That didn’t take long. Just weeks after the Raleigh bike store opened in Santa Monica, thieves broke in early Monday and stole five e-bikes worth nearly $20,000.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson urges everyone to come out to support bike safety efforts in NIMBY haven Palos Verdes Estates at tonight’s Traffic Safety Committee meeting.

 

State

An Anaheim man has ridden across the country 64 times to raise funds to fight multiple sclerosis.

Santa Ana is offering eight hour Confident Cycling classes the next two weekends.

A writer for a North San Diego County paper calls for curb protected bike lanes to replace the painted lanes in the wake of a hit-and-run that left a cyclist seriously injured.

Sacramento police make their 41st bait bike arrest of the year to fight back against bike theft. Los Angeles doesn’t even have a bait bike program.

 

National

A health website attempts to raise a panic about the harmful effects of bicycling, which turns out to be nothing more than the old discredited fears that too much riding may make you a candidate for those ED commercials.

CNET recommends a $45 waterproof, 1080p action cam.

A new $250 smartphone attachment will allow you to control your phone and answer calls without taking your hands off your handlebars. Or you can get all that built into your helmet.

A Boulder CO designer has created a simplified bikeway map that includes ratings for difficulty.

Wichita KS changes the law to make biking under the influence a less serious offense than DUI.

A Dallas cyclist nearly gets into a fight with an aggressive driver who tells him to get on the sidewalk.

An Arkansas mountain bike park draws 1,000 cyclists a week; it will be the site of the International Mountain Bicycling World Summit in November.

An Ohio man gets four years in prison for blinding a 72-year old bike rider in one eye with a paint gun; however, he could be out in as little as six months with good behavior. Another reminder to always wear some form of eye protection while you ride. And have a good lawyer on speed dial.

New York’s Vision Zero is too ambitious, according to a writer the Post, who proposes making it Vision 123 instead.

The New York Times discovers the Rolling Coal movement, and drivers who think they have a God-given right to belch soot and smoke in the face of bike riders and pedestrians.

Solange Knowles is one of us, as she takes Ed Droste on a bike tour of her adopted hometown of New Orleans.

 

International

Yahoo offers typo-filled advice on how to ride your bike around the world.

Bike Radar lists the ten best movies about roadies. No, not those roadies.

City Lab takes up the issue of whether traffic dangers and population outweighs the benefits of bicycling, after the recent report from the Financial Times, and concludes the real danger is sitting on your ass. Thanks to Jon and Patrick Murray for the FT link.

An Ottawa columnist says separated bike lanes aren’t enough to protect cyclists, while another urges the city to embrace Vision Zero and consider all traffic deaths preventable.

Montreal considers improving safety for bicyclists by narrowing lanes, reducing speed limits and moving stop lines back to make room for bike riders at traffic lights.

A London bike lawyer says the police response to the recent Jeremy Vine case offers hope that they might finally take incidents involving other riders seriously.

Caught on video: A London cyclist catches a bus driver using his phone to place bets on soccer while driving.

A recent Polish immigrant tells the horrifying story of the vicious gay bashing he suffered while riding his bike in a Dublin park, and the suggestion from the investigating officer that he somehow provoked it. And what the hell difference would it make if he did?

Welsh cyclists — and anyone else — now have the legal right to propose new biking and walking routes, and local leaders are required to listen.

Apparently, road rage is no different in Mumbai than anywhere else.

 

Finally…

That’s not a bike, it’s a pedal-powered seismograph. Throwing your bike at police officers after stealing hash browns from McDonalds is not a generally accepted usage.

And let’s all go for a musical Pokémon bike ride.

Especially since the video seems to feature LA’s Ovarian Psychos.

Pokemon

Ovarian Psychos

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Update: 22-year old Jurupa Valley bike rider killed in early morning hit-and-run

September 6, 2016 / / One comment

A Riverside County became the latest bicyclist to be murdered by a hit-and-run driver, in what is becoming an epidemic in Southern California.

According to the Press-Enterprise, 22-year old Jurupa Valley resident Forrest Holmes was killed in a collision at the intersection of Limonite Ave and Lucretia Ave in Jurupa Valley around 2 am today.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

No information is available on how the wreck occurred, and there’s no description of the driver or the suspect vehicle.

A street view shows a wide, four lane roadway on Limonite, with a an un-striped residential street on Lucretia; they meet at a T-intersection controlled by a traffic light. None of which means anything without knowing what happened.

This is 57th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Riverside County.

It’s also the third fatal hit-and-run involving a SoCal bike rider in the past week, and the fifth in just the last five weeks.

Update: KABC-7 reports Holmes was an aspiring minister, and had gotten up early to minister to day laborers at a local Home Depot. 

The station places the site of the collision on Limonite, less than a half mile west of Lucretia, rather than at the intersection itself. After he was struck from behind, other drivers comforted him as he lay dying after the driver fled the scene. 

A gofundme page has been established to help pay for his funeral expenses; as of this time, it has raised a little over $1,100 of the $5,000 goal. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Forrest Holmes and his family and friends.

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

Morning Links: Stolen bike recovered through Bike Index; OC rider critically injured; cyclist jailed for riding in traffic

September 6, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Stolen bike recovered through Bike Index; OC rider critically injured; cyclist jailed for riding in traffic

LA may have seen its first stolen bike recovered through Bike Index.

According to the Beverly Press, when LAPD detectives arrested a suspect on weapons charges last month, they recovered a bicycle they believed to be stolen.

After checking the Bike Index stolen bike registry — the same one you’ll find right here on this site — they were able to identify the owner and return the bike.

The story also notes the department recommends Bike Index as “a valuable tool for reuniting owners with stolen bicycles.”

It’s good the see the LAPD is checking the listings, and recommending it. And even better that a hot bike has finally made its way back home because of it.

But don’t wait until it’s too late.

Register your bike for free with Bike Index now, so you’ll have all the information available in an instant if anything should ever happen to it.

Think of it as the cheapest anti-bike theft insurance you can get.

And as this shows, one of the most effective.

Just to be clear, this site receives no compensation for hosting or promoting the Bike Index registry, financial or otherwise. Just the satisfaction of helping stolen bikes get back to their rightful owners.

………

Prayers are needed for an Orange County woman after she and her husband were hit by a car while riding in San Juan Capistrano.

Leonie Mckenna reportedly was in critical condition with major trauma, including head injuries, after a driver rear-ended the couple as they rode together on newly opened La Pata Avenue Saturday morning; her husband, Kevin B. Mckenna, was less seriously injured.

………

Authorities are attempting to revoke the bond of a Pittsburgh PA area man for the crime of riding a bicycle.

The 57-year old cyclist is charged with delaying traffic by riding in the middle of a traffic lane, preventing drivers from passing, not once, not twice, but eight times since 2012.

He was released from jail after posting bond in February, after apparently spending seven months behind bars without being convicted of a crime — for a damn traffic violation, no less — on the condition that he not ride a bicycle.

Never mind that bike riders are taught to ride in the traffic lane to avoid the door zone and debris on the shoulder, while increasing visibility and preventing unsafe passes.

Whether he was riding safely and legally, or took taking the lane to a dangerous extreme remains to be determined. But there is something seriously wrong when a simple traffic violation results in a single day in jail, let alone months.

And let alone without a conviction.

Although he’s clearly no saint; he also faces charges for threatening the staff of the DA’s office with a rock and several knives last year.

………

Like any good serial, some bike stories keep revealing new twists and turns as they go on. And on.

Eighty-nine-year old former New York Mayor David Dinkins insists he had no idea he hit a bike rider as he rushed his wife to the hospital, and returned to the scene as soon as someone told him about it. He swears the rider hit him, rather than the other way around. Which seems strange; if he didn’t even know it happened, how could he know how it happened?

The Toronto cyclist who was run off the road by a cab driver faces charges himself for allegedly reaching into the car to assault the driver before the attack caught on viral video.

The road raging driver who repeatedly attacked bike-riding BBC personality Jeremy Vine last week says he provoked her; police evidently disagree, arresting the woman on an assault charge.

Meanwhile, former Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson says it was extremely rude of Vine to selfishly ride safely outside of the door zone, blocking the poor angry driver from whatever imaginary emergency she most likely wasn’t rushing to.

………

It shouldn’t be a spoiler at this point to say Nairo Quintana may have put the Vuelta away over the weekend, as long as he can stay upright the rest of the way.

A man is caught on video pulling down a barrier in a French bike race, causing six riders to crash.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=489luAvLY50

Worse, it was the father of one of the competitors who did it; Jonathan Boyer’s dad reportedly did it in anger because the peloton failed to wait for his son after he fell earlier in the race.

And an Aussie Paralympian apologizes for doping after he’s sent home for using EPO. Funny how people only seem to apologize after they get caught.

………

Local

A 17-mile July bike ride explored environmental injustice along the LA River.

Santa Monica police say to prevent theft by locking your bike in a well-lit and populated area, and secure it with a U-lock. Although that didn’t help one guy, even though he was able to buy it back after it was stolen.

A new rest stop on the San Gabriel River Bike Trail in Pico Rivera features a Fixit station with tools and an air pump for minor bike repairs.

 

State

A new poll shows 83% of San Franciscans think bicycling is good for the city, and over half report riding a bike occasionally themselves.

Heartbreaking news from Oakley, where a 14-year old boy was killed in a traffic collision, just a month before he was scheduled to receive a kidney transplant from his mother after a lifetime of kidney disease.

 

National

As we all know, good beer and bicycling go together; a beer publication offers advice on where to plan your next brewery ride in the US.

Two injured vets in my hometown credit bicycling with saving them from depression and disability.

Nebraska revises the law to give cyclists the right-of-way in a crosswalk where a bike path crosses a roadway.

Columbus OH is the latest city to ditch Share the Road signs for the much clearer Bikes May Use Full Lane signs. Although drivers are often confused when the signs go up, thinking they give riders new rights, rather simply clarifying the rights we already have.

More kindhearted people, as a New Jersey paramedic went to Walmart to buy a new bicycle for a 10-year girl who had been impaled by the brake handle of her bicycle; the Walmart manager donated a bicycle after hearing the story. This sort of injury happens far too often; there’s clearly a major design defect when children are put at risk by their own bikes.

An 89-year old man now faces up to 30 years behind bars after being convicted in the hit-and-run death of a former pro football player as he rode in a Florida bike lane. Even with good behavior, he could be well over 100 years old before he gets out.

 

International

A British cyclist discusses the 16,000 mile ride around North America he took after learning he had early onset Alzheimer’s at age 39.

Bicyclists say some of the existing portions of the nearly finished 15,000 mile bike path across Canada are better on paper than in reality.

A British driver gets nine years for killing a cyclist while texting — after eight previous convictions for using his phone while driving. You’d think that after three or four convictions, someone would have taken his phone away. Or maybe his car. Or both.

Dublin is ordered to stop work on bicycle projects, after funding is pulled and resources diverted in favor of a massive traffic project. Proving once again that cyclists are second-class citizens virtually everywhere.

A 22-year old Namibian man hung himself following an argument with his brothers over who could use the family bicycle.

A New Zealand teen is building a prosthetic hand so his younger brother with cerebral palsy can ride a bike two-handed for the first time.

Maybe you could wear a disguise. Not only do magpies Down Under attack bike riders they perceive as a threat, they also remember and attack again the next time they see you. And every time after that.

A new bicycling jacket from New Zealand can automatically signal your turns. Manufacturers continue their attempts to improve bike safety by turning us all into cars, instead of expecting people in cars to operate them safely.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to use your bike as a getaway vehicle after torching your ex’s car, make sure it’s the right car first. Your next bike could be a treadmill.

And everything you need to know before letting a helicopter drop you off for your next downhill ride.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Law Enforcement, Morning Links, Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Weekend Links: WaPo’s anti-bike drivel, hit-and-run reward fund, and don’t invite cops to see your dope

September 3, 2016 / / Comments Off on Weekend Links: WaPo’s anti-bike drivel, hit-and-run reward fund, and don’t invite cops to see your dope

Got to hand it to the Washington Post.

This is one of the single most biased pieces of anti-bike drivel I’ve read.

Somehow, as they see it, the 1,557 bike riders caught running stop lights on DC’s red light cameras equates to the 84,000 drivers who did the same thing.

Never mind that the risk posed by a law-breaking driver outweighs the risk from a scofflaw cyclist by about two tons.

Let alone the sheer absurdity of painting all bicyclists as aggressive and entitled militants based on the misperceived attitudes of a few, projected from behind the windshield. Sort of like accusing every mom driving her kids to soccer practice of being no different than this guy.

It shouldn’t need to be said that everyone should obey the law. And that the safety of everyone on the road depends on the give and take codified in the vehicle code.

Which means stopping for red lights.

Period.

But if you can’t manage that, at least observe the right-of-way so you don’t end up a bug on someone’s windshield, or force drivers to take dangerous evasive actions to avoid you.

The Post used to be a great paper.

But crap like this is just more evidence that Woodward, Bernstein and Graham have left the building.

………

David Drexler forwards a reminder from Surf City Cyclery in Huntington Beach about the gofundme account for injured Encinitas cyclist John Abate; the account has raised over $6,400 for a reward to find the hit-and-run driver who ran him down last month.

………

No leadership changes in the Vuelta, despite a breakaway that finished half an hour before the peloton, who must have stopped for tea along the way.

Bicycle design could get a lot more interesting as UCI scraps a key rule limiting the shape of frames.

Clearly, it’s not just the pros who dope. A gold medal-winning Aussie Paralympic cyclist has been sent home from Rio after testing positive for EPO.

………

Local

Caught on video: Evidently, bike riders aren’t the only victims of road raging drivers.

Richard Risemberg attends a meet-and-greet for city council candidate Jesse Creed, and comes away convinced Creed deserves your vote if you live in CD5. Then again, considering the alternative is re-electing career politician Paul Koretz, it’s an easy choice.

Smorgasbord LA is now offering a bike valet every Sunday for the gourmet food fest at the Alameda Produce Market in Downtown LA.

Nice move from the Sheriff’s Youth Foundation of the LA County Sheriff’s Department, which donated 69 refurbished bicycles to ministers in Watts area to help kids get to school safely.

Bicyclists say the bike lanes on Santa Monica’s new and improved California Incline are indeed a big improvement, though they could be a little wider.

Speaking of SaMo, the Bike League wants to know what you think, as the city applies for an upgrade in its bike friendly city status. Thanks to Kent Strumpell for the heads-up.

 

State

Caught on video too: A bicyclist passes, then drops, a group of motorcyclists on a 50 mph descent somewhere in California. Then again, it’s not the first time that’s happened.

Oceanside responds to residents complaints about a dark underpass on the San Luis Rey Trail with promises to install solar powered lights to help protect nighttime riders.

Freemont traffic engineers somehow believe placing a green bike lane in between two right turn lanes, so right-turning drivers in the left one have to cut across the bike lane, is better than no bike lane at all.

Napa is seeing a rash of bike thefts, with 24 bikes stolen in three months. Or as we call that in LA, Wednesday.

More heartbreak in the UC system, as a second faculty member lost his life when a UC Davis professor was killed after he was right hooked by a garbage truck while riding in a bike lane. A Nobel Prize winning UC San Diego researcher died last week on an Oregon bike trail. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

 

National

Consumer Reports lists ten ways to avoid a car crash. None of which include remaining sober, paying attention to the road or putting your damn phone down.

A cyclist in one Utah county can credit his life following a heart attack to a requirement that sheriff’s deputies must also be trained as paramedics.

Only five percent of incoming freshmen at Colorado State University know the difference between a bike lane and a walking path.

Chicagoist says the recent Tribune editorial calling on bicyclists and motorists to obey the law and share the road safely creates a false equivalence dressed up as diplomacy.

A lawsuit accuses 89-year old former New York Mayor David Dinkins of hit-and-run after he apparently sideswiped a bicycle delivery man; however, the mayor sees it the other way around.

A New York couple ditches the limo and rides away from their wedding on matching bicycles. Although judging by the photos, matching may be a relative term.

 

International

The Financial Times examines whether urban cycling is worth the risk in a series of articles.

The daughter of a Bangladeshi diplomat was killed in a right hook on what was considered one of Ottawa’s safest bikeways.

Caught on video three: A Toronto bicyclist is doored by the passenger of a transport truck in what is supposed to be a protected bike lane; fortunately, she’s not badly injured.

Somehow, the bicycle Virgin owner Richard Branson crashed has magically become a motorbike. Maybe it’s just too shocking to believe a billionaire adventurer would actually ride a bicycle.

Welcome to Bizarro World. Bicyclists in Seville, Spain are fighting bike lanes, but welcome sharrows.

A Romanian minister promises any new roads built in the country will now have bike lanes, and existing roads will be made bike friendly.

 

Finally…

Before the crash, a mountain biker; afterwards, a competitive beard champion. A shirtless, feuding Rhode Island man opens fire on his neighbor’s house with a corncob-shooting potato gun, nearly taking out a girl on a bicycle in the process.

And if you’re riding your bike under the influence while carrying a machete, maybe you shouldn’t give police permission to go into your home, where the marijuana plants are, to get the ID you forgot to bring with you.

I’m just saying.

………

Barring any breaking news, BikinginLA will be taking the rest of the holiday weekend off. So enjoy the weekend, ride your bike, spend time with family and friends, and try to remember this is the one holiday established to honor America’s much maligned working men and women.

And stay safe out there. We’ll see you back here bright and early Tuesday morning.

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

Morning Links: Reactions to the jump in traffic deaths, NIMBYs don’t give a rat’s ass, and hanging out with JT

September 2, 2016 / / One comment

Today’s common theme: the spike in traffic fatalities, and what to do about it.

NACTO says the spike in traffic deaths last year is a call to action.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker says traffic deaths will continue to rise until cities prioritize humans over cars. Which is exactly the argument I’ve been making.

City Lab writes the problem with Vision Zero is the need for increased enforcement while communities of color are already reeling from it; the story cites the LACBC’s Tamika Butler as an example of being stopped for driving while black.

………

Local

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson says, despite their protestations, Palos Verdes NIMBYs don’t give a rat’s ass about the safety of cyclists. But they’re welcome to prove him wrong by attending the free Cycling Savvy course next month.

Santa Monica’s California Incline is now officially open; pedestrians and bicyclists had full use of the roadway for four hours before it officially opened.

CiclaValley goes riding in the Sierras and hangs out with Justin Timberlake. Best wishes to his mom; good to know she’s going to be okay.

 

State

More Coronado madness, as a woman is revolted by the idea of a bike/ped path on the Coronado Bridge, and expects little kids to hold their line when biking to school.

The area’s first separated bike lanes come to Palo Alto and Menlo Park, with others coming soon.

San Francisco’s new protected intersection will be just the fifth in the US.

A Petaluma man donates 23 bicycles to help victims of the recent Clayton fire in Lake County.

Chico police recover four suspected stolen bikes from homeless camps; two that had been reported stolen were returned to their owners on the spot, while the others were booked as unclaimed property. Always report a stolen bike to the police; one of their biggest complaints is the number of bikes that can’t be returned to their owners because they were ever reported stolen.

 

National

Outside takes an in-depth look at the real life Seattle anti-bike theft non-caped crusader.

A writer says riding a bicycle has made him a better runner.

Prohibited from driving due to poor eyesight, a BYU instructor is able to get around thanks to his e-bike.

Bad news struck close to home at the Denver Post, as a reporter with the paper was killed by a suspected drunk driver while riding or walking her bike in a crosswalk.

The Chicago Tribune urges cyclists to ride defensively, and drivers to be watchful and slow down, because the city’s streets aren’t a motorist vs. bicyclist Thunderdome.

A 99-year old member of the Bicycling Hall of Fame passed away in a Chicago suburb last week, five years after her last ride, and 87 years after she bought her first bicycle.

A Connecticut community comes together to replace a boy’s stolen bike.

The NYPD blames a salmon cyclist for a fatal collision, even though the driver was speeding. Yes the cyclist was in the wrong, but the driver should share the blame; if he hadn’t been speeding it’s possible he could have avoided the crash or the victim might have survived the impact.

 

International

Sales of MIPS helmets are booming; they’re designed to reduce the risk of concussion and rotational injuries in a crash.

Canada is nearing completion of a nearly 13,000 mile-long bike path crossing from Nova Scotia to Vancouver and up to the Yukon.

London’s mayor gives the okay to complete a north – south cycle superhighway through the city.

A bike-riding writer for London’s Evening Standard wonders why bicyclists make some drivers boil with rage. Good question; I suspect we’re just easy targets for people who are already pissed off.

A British website offers a complete guide to biking to work.

Horrifying assault in the UK, as a gang of bike-riding teenage hooligans beat a Polish immigrant to death after hearing him speak in his native tongue. This is the legacy of all the hate spilled in the recent Brexit campaign.

Police urge people to report “antisocial behavior” after a Brit mountain bike was badly injured when someone booby trapped a popular offroad trail. If someone caused a wreck by sabotaging a traffic lane, they’d call him a terrorist, not merely antisocial.

A Scottish company is introducing a device to automatically lube your chain while you ride, claiming it can result in a net gain of 12 watts.

Japanese authorities credit new laws requiring scofflaw cyclists to take three hour safety lectures with a 14.7% drop in bicycling fatalities.

 

Finally…

Once the machete comes out, it’s time to give up your bike. Evidently, the loss of just four parking spaces in exchange for a bikeshare dock constitutes a disaster of unmitigated proportions.

And now you can own your very own two-wheeled Aston Martin, as long as you have a spare $17,007 lying around.

 

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

Morning Links: SD Nobel Prize winner dies on Oregon bike path, homeless bicyclist shot by Santa Ana police dies

September 1, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: SD Nobel Prize winner dies on Oregon bike path, homeless bicyclist shot by Santa Ana police dies

Word broke today that Nobel Prize-winning UC San Diego researcher Roger Tsien died last week while on a bike trail in Eugene OR.

He won the prize in 2008 for his work in identifying a green fluorescent protein found in jellyfish that could be used as a biological marker to help illuminate diseases such as cancer and HIV.

No word on how he died, or if he was biking at the time.

………

A 31-year old homeless man has died a month after he was shot by Santa Ana police.

Richard Gene Swihart was riding his bicycle near the Santa Ana Civic Center on August 1st when police tried to stop him and he began struggling with the officers. Swihart was shot after allegedly attempting to grab an officer’s gun.

………

This is why people continue to die on our streets.

A Cincinnati woman gets 13 years for the hit-and-run death of a popular cyclist; at the time of her arrest, she had ten drugs in her system, a bra full of prescription pills, and a purse filled with syringes and a tourniquet. And was driving on a suspended license, with two previous convictions for driving while suspended. Ohio Bike Lawyer Steve Magas, a friend of this site, questions whether justice was done by the harsh sentence, even though he represented the victim’s family in the case.

And the family of a Detroit traffic victim wants to know why a 12-time drunk driver was still on the streets.

Which is a damn good question.

Both of these drivers had already shown themselves unable, or unwilling, to get sober and obey the law, and therefore unfit to drive. Yet they were on the roads anyway.

It’s clear that innocent victims will keep dying until authorities finally start to give a damn. And find a way to keep people like this from ever getting behind the wheel.

………

Today’s debate is over whether power meters should be banned from professional cycling; VeloNews looks five other things that could have ruined cycling, but didn’t.

Chris Froome finally made his move in the Vuelta on Wednesday.

The first all-African women’s team will begin competition next year.

Sad news from Columbia, as a 22-year old cyclist was killed after loosing control on a descent during the country’s under-23 tour.

And if a cyclist continues to race despite being banned, the obvious solution is to extend his suspension so he can keep doing it.

………

Local

Metro is exploring various rail-to-trail options to connect a coming bike path through the Southeast Cities with the LA River.

West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals bikeshare is now officially a go, though virtually all of the docking stations are centered on the Santa Monica Blvd corridor, ignoring the popular Sunset Strip and other parts of the city.

Today is the official grand opening of the new and improved California Incline leading from PCH up the bluff to Santa Monica — now with walkways and protected bike lanes.

Finish the Ride and Velo Studios are hosting the free community ride Tour de Griffith Park: An Introduction to Safe and Fun Riding this Sunday.

 

State

Newport Beach police are gearing up to increase enforcement and improve safety measures around schools following the death of eight-year old Brock McCann as he rode home from school last May.

A self-described longtime San Diego cyclist says he hasn’t seen any increase in bicycling, and the city should stop stealing traffic lanes and parking spaces from those poor, oppressed drivers. He also complains about how awful downtown is to drive in, and how expensive it is to park, never seeming to grasp the obvious solution to both of those problems.

Los Altos prepares for their annual bicycling Tour de (chicken) Coop.

Sad news from San Mateo County, as a mountain biker was killed riding on an offroad trail.

The local paper warns drivers that some Sonoma County cyclists are armed with bike cams to record their actions. Meanwhile, the BBC asks if bike cams actually make the roads any safer. Which kind of misses the point.

More bad news from Sacramento, as a bike rider was struck and killed by the driver of a garbage truck Wednesday morning.

 

National

GQ concludes that yes, bicycling can be sexy, sort of.

The AP says police are losing the battle to get drivers to put down their phones.

Paris Hilton is one of us, as she rides a colorfully lighted bike at Burning Man.

The Denver bike cop who was nearly killed when he was struck by an out-of-control driver finally return to work after nearly 21 months; the driver who hit him was convicted of lying about suffering from seizures on his driver’s license application.

Albuquerque installs, then removes, a bizarre bike lane running across the middle of a street and into a guard rail.

The driver responsible for the drug-fueled Kalamazoo massacre has been found competent to stand trial; he faces up to life in prison if convicted on the most serious charges.

When is a bike lane not a bike lane? When it’s been blocked by an unused NYPD light tower for three days.

The Wall Street Journal offers advice for the descent challenged.

A DC designer is creating bike frame bags intended to look as good on your back as they do on your bike.

It’s true, bike riders really do run red lights. DC’s red light camera’s caught 1,557 cyclists running reds over a 16 month period — compared to over 60,000 drivers. So who are the real scofflaws?

A North Carolina driver films a bike rider skitching — grabbing ahold of a car and holding on to hitch a tow — on wet streets for five nearly minutes.

 

International

Vancouver will remove a median to install protected bike lanes, even though that means removing a popular hedge creature.

Great Britain’s successful Olympic cycling team says the best way to honor them is for the government to invest heavily in creating a legacy of everyday bike riding.

Caught on video: If you’re looking for the definition of a punishment pass, this is it.

Another day, another road raging British driver screaming at a cyclist and using his car to threaten him. Seriously, what is it about cars that brings out the asshole in people?

It took 14 years to reach a settlement in a case where a road raging driver ran over a then-four-year old girl she rode in a bike trailer pulled by her father. Shockingly, the murderous driver got just two years, despite revving over 200 yards in reverse to asault his victims.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker says all cyclists fear bad drivers.

Then again, it’s not just drivers; a bike rider in the UK was punched by a pedestrian in a seemingly random assault; surprisingly, the attacker chose not to hang around until the police to arrived.

A Kiwi website insists e-bikes are fashion forward.

 

Finally…

Call him a bike riding, hooligan Johnny Appleseed. Your next bike could complain about your riding position.

Or maybe you’d prefer the bicycling equivalent of a luxury car.

No, really.

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities, Law Enforcement, Morning Links, Road Rage, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Reverse hit-and-run — driver found, victim missing; and cyclist buzzed and told to “get a car, bitch!”

August 31, 2016 / / One comment

Usually police look for the driver following a hit-and-run.

This time, they’re looking for a victim.

Azusa police acted on a tip to find a driver who admitted to hitting a bike rider, even though his story seems to have bigger holes than the one in his windshield.

Damaged-car-2

A press release from the Azusa Police Department says the driver doesn’t even know when he hit the cyclist, telling the police it happened at an unknown time and location, sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning.

The driver reportedly said the victim’s friends laughed about it, and that he drove off after talking with the rider he hit, who also left the scene. Which seems improbable, given the major damage to his windshield, suggesting a significant impact.

Never mind that someone would have to be pretty wasted to crash into someone and not even know when it happened, let alone where.

Police don’t know if a crime actually occurred, but are asking anyone with information to call the Azusa Police Department at 626/812-3200.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

Bike commuter weshigh was the victim of not one, but two dangerous passes from the same driver — the last one just a foot away, in clear violation of California’s three foot passing law.

And adding insult to injury, the driver yelled at him to “get a car, bitch!” when he caught up to him at a red light.

A better solution would be if the driver wasn’t allowed to use one anymore.

………

Congratulations to the LACBC’s Tamika Butler on her well-deserved award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals for 2016 Professional of the Year – Nonprofit Sector.

Streeetsblog quotes Alta Planning’s Jessica Roberts, chair of the APBP’s awards committee, explaining why she was chosen.

“Los Angeles and the entire region are really important right now, not just to the many people that live there but as a national example,” Roberts explained. “What is in the city’s Mobility Plan demonstrates where our nation needs to go, where active transportation is not an after-thought, but a core strategy…LACBC and Tamika are part of writing that important story.”

Then there’s this from another committee member.

“Tamika has challenged the pedestrian and bicycle professional community to grapple with the ways that privilege and structural inequality are embedded in our transportation system and our profession,” wrote Sarah Fine, a member of the APBP awards committee and a planner with the City of Oakland. “We’re all better for it.”

………

Caught on video: Cycling Weekly offers a bike cam perspective of the Vuelta’s crash-filled stage 10.

Trailing by nearly three minutes, Alberto Contador says his chances of winning the Vuelta are close to nil, although third place Chris Froome thinks he still has a shot.

………

Local

The LACBC talks with 11-year old bike advocate Matlock Grossman, who impressed everyone with his insightful comments about the Rowena road diet.

The Hollywood Reporter offers a detailed look at the terrifying attack on a Beverly Hills surgeon, which started when three people in Venice claimed he damaged a bicycle and demanded $150 on the spot.

KPCC reports on the launch of West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals bikeshare, with UCLA up on deck.

Pasadena Star-News columnist Larry Wilson gets it, saying despite the fears of merchants — one in particular — over lost parking, it’s time to give bikes a chance. On the other hand, Susan Shelley of the Daily News apparently doesn’t, insisting that free parking and avoiding poetry readings is fundamental right.

CiclaValley continues his tale of a recent Napa wine tasting bike tour.

 

State

Only a few months after confiscating the bikes of off-road riders for trespassing on the base, the Marines’ MCAS Miramar, the former home of Top Gun — yes, that Top Gun —  may open a trail to cyclists.

Five members of Ventura’s Channel Islands Bike Club finish a 3,400 mile ride across the US.

Apparently, it’s not just Coronado. San Jose residents complain about the sharrows “defacing” their neighborhood, describing them as blight and graffiti. On the other hand, it’s nice to know they don’t like sharrows, either.

San Francisco breaks ground on the city’s first protected intersection to reduce conflicts between people driving, walking and biking.

 

National

The federal case against Lance Armstrong reaches a critical phase as both sides request a summary judgment.

The Federal Highway Administration addresses several common misperceptions about bicycle and pedestrian funding.

That’s more like it. An Oregon man gets six years and loses his driver’s license for life for killing a teenage bike rider while visibly drunk. Any conviction for killing another human being while driving should result in the automatic loss of license. Period.

The Detroit News writes about fallen cyclist Karen McKeachie, saying the champion triathlete died doing what she loved. Seriously, if anyone says that about me, I’ll come back and haunt them and their descendants for all eternity.

A Pennsylvania man says he shouldn’t have been driving after using heroin, cocaine and marijuana before getting behind the wheel; unfortunately, it came a little too late for the bicyclist he killed.

Buried in the 3,721 page records of Hillary Clinton’s schedules at the State Department is news that she dedicated a basement shower for employees who wanted to bike or run to work.

 

International

A Vancouver cyclist says a new bike lane is completely terrifying, dumping riders into a shared lane with right-turning drivers.

That super-rich Canadian senator deleted her Twitter account after comparing Toronto’s bike lanes to a third-world country.

A writer for the Montreal Gazette says ghost bikes contradict the city’s myth of shared roads.

Caught on video too: Celebrity is clearly no protection from road raging drivers, as a BBC presenter suffers the wrath of a driver who assaults him and threatens to knock him out for the crime of riding his bike outside the door zone.

A South African mountain biker could face murder charges for fatally stabbing two men he says were trying to steal his bike.

Aussie cyclists call for repealing the country’s mandatory bike helmet law, while physicians warn the rate of head injuries could go up. Of course, the only way to find out is repeal, or at least suspend, the law and study the outcome.

Turns out the Aussie truck driver we mentioned yesterday who buzzed a cyclist, then got out of his truck to repeatedly threaten him is a member of a neo-Nazi group. Which doesn’t seem that surprising in retrospect.

A former soccer player and cancer survivor is planning a 750 mile ride across Japan to encourage people suffering from the disease.

A Beijing blog list 16 things that need banning more than the just banned e-scooters, including cyclists who ignore road regulations, and elderly riders who kick their legs over their bikes without looking first to see if other riders are passing.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to celebrate your victory, wait until you actually do. If you’re already on probation and riding a stolen bike at 3:30 am, don’t attract attention by nearly getting run over trying to cross the street.

And if you can’t sleep, you may be overtraining. But at least you should be happy.

 

Category: Bike Cam Video, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links, Road Rage / Tags: , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee