Archive for Morning Links

Morning Links: Still more big hearts to celebrate the season, and how to ride a bike in Amsterdam

December 9, 2015 / / One comment
Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

Donating to BikinginLA ensures your name will move to the top of Santa’s Good List. Or maybe Hannukah Harry’s.

In case you missed it, we started a new feature yesterday in which everyday riders describe their rides, starting with Adra Graves’ commute along the beach in Venice and Santa Monica.

If you want to tell us about your ride, good, bad or otherwise, just send it to the address on the About page.

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‘Tis the season for bighearted people.

Hats off to Long Beach’s Velo Allegro Cycling Club for donating 197 new bicycles, one for every kid in the third grade at the city’s Roosevelt Elementary School. Thanks to Allyson Vought for the heads-up.

The LAPD Foothill Division helped donate over 100 bikes and 1,500 toys to Pacoima families.

The Southern California Velo Cycling Club is collecting toys in conjunction with Incycle Bicycle Stores, and will host a Toy Ride on the 19th to deliver them to the San Dimas Sheriff’s station.

Midnight Ridazz is hosting the annual All City Toy Ride this Friday, with feeder rides starting throughout the city (scroll down).

Menlo Park police and city officials will join with cyclists for a bike ride with Santa Claus to deliver gifts to children at the Boys and Girls Club this Saturday.

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Trust me, it’s worth three minutes and 44 seconds of your day to watch ‪The Bike Instructor’s Guide to Cycling in Amsterdam. Especially since it explains why you should always ride with a potato in your pants.

Thanks to LA Streetsblog for the link.

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Local

LADOT Bike Blog asks riders and pedestrians to to safely and politely share the LA River Bike Path at the Glendale Narrows.

An Aussie website looks at LA artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga, who turns junk bike parts into high-end chandeliers. As much as I admire the art, my preference remains turning bike parts into bicycles.

Santa Monica Spoke is hosting an evening with the Adventure Cycling Association this Saturday.

A Manhattan Beach attorney gives kind of a weak response to a question about whether bicyclists should be licensed and insured, though he more or less gets it right about where we can ride.

 

State

Oceanside votes for temporary safety improvements where a 12-year old bike rider was killed on his way to school — but still has the boy’s father ejected from council chambers.

Modesto is building an additional two miles of curb-protected bike lanes. Which is about two miles more than LA has.

San Francisco’s proposed Idaho stop law moves towards a threatened mayoral veto. But despite what a local TV station says, it wouldn’t be the first city to have such a rule, since treating stop signs as yields has been legal in Idaho since 1982.

A Vacaville teen is convicted of assault with a deadly weapon for stabbing another boy who laughed when he fell off his bicycle; he was acquitted on a more serious charge of attempted murder.

 

National

Adventure Journal looks at why it’s standard to mount a bike from the left.

HuffPo talks with the director of Bikes vs Cars about how cities worldwide are rethinking bike safety.

Visually impaired New Yorkers naturally fear reckless bike riders, just like they are undoubtedly afraid of reckless drivers and careless pedestrians. Which has absolutely nothing to do with allowing cyclists to roll stops when it’s safe to do so, despite the breathless fear mongering of the local press.

A Florida killer hit-and-run driver gets a sweetheart deal from the DA; instead of facing 40 years, he gets off with a sentence of just two. On the other hand, Florida courts weren’t so generous with a 21-year old woman, who will spend the next 30 years of her life behind bars for killing a cyclist while fleeing from police in a stolen car.

 

International

A Brazilian cyclist plans to attempt a new world record for drafting a car on a public highway at the equivalent of 124 mph. Which is only about 90 mph better than my best.

The BBC says those bike parts you bought may be counterfeit.

A UK woman hugs and forgives the driver who cost her one of her legs in a bicycling collision.

A Brit writer explores the linguistic Babel that divides the world of bicycling.

A bike cam catches a near collision between runners and a mountain biker on an Australian trail. A good reminder to always be prepared and on the lookout for, and considerate of, others.

Domino’s has switched to e-bikes in an Australian city to increase delivery efficiency with a lower environmental footprint.

About damn time. An Aussie coroner says trucks should not be allowed on the roads without appropriate technology to eliminate their blind spots. Now we just have to get authorities to come to the same conclusion here and everywhere else.

A successful Chinese entrepreneur walks away from the global business he built to found a new smart bike company; the $390 bike includes GPS tracking, puncture-resistant tires and a self-powered, battery-less electric system.

These days, it seems like wealthy Chinese are buying everything. Including, possibly, the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.

 

Finally…

There’s nothing like a multimodal police chase. Or riding your bike with 129 pounds of millstones balanced on your helmetless head.

And if you’re going to flee the scene after hitting a cyclist, make sure you take your license plate with you.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Bike traffic up in Santa Monica, and more bighearted people for the season of giving

December 8, 2015 / / One comment

Today we’re starting a new feature, Describe Your Ride, in which normal, everyday bike riders tell us how and where they ride, good, bad or otherwise.

So come back later this morning, when Santa Monica bike commuter Adra Graves will describe her usually pleasant, and in places, challenging ride to work.

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Big news from Santa Monica, as bike traffic continues to rise, up 4.4% from 2013, while bike crashes are down 10% over last year.

Bicycling now has a 5% mode share, far beyond any other city in the area, even that’s still just one third of the city’s goal of a 15% share by next year.

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‘Tis the season.

For the 20th year in a row, a Portland group gives bicycles to kids, along with a helmet and safety lesson; 300 kids were able to pick out their own bikes this year.

A Billings MT group donates 50 bikes to elementary school children, including 26 unclaimed bikes from the local police department.

Atlanta cyclists will dress up like Santa Claus to raise funds to fight leukemia and get a free beer.

And if anyone needs a stocking stuffer, GoPro has slashed the cost of their ice cube-sized Hero4 Session cam to just $199, less than half the original $399.

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Local

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) wants your input on a draft regional transportation plan covering the next 24 years; the proposal includes regional greenway and bikeway networks, as well as a plan for continuous trails along the coast.

CiclaValley goes cyclocross racing in Griffith Park.

Santa Monica considers changing vehicular access to the pier, and converting the existing bridge to pedestrian and bike use as an extension of the coming Colorado Esplanade.

Santa Monicans freak out about parklets approved last week for Main Street, fearing that people using them will be sitting ducks for out of control cars. Because that’s been such a problem everywhere else they’ve been installed, right?

Multicultural Communities for Mobility hosts a year-end fundraiser this Friday; the suggested $25 donation includes vegan food and custom brews.

 

State

Just Another Cyclist’s Ross Del Duca expounds on the difference between pedaling and riding.

A Newport Beach bike shop suffered half a million dollars in damages in a Friday fire.

Not surprisingly, the proposed 50-mile bikeway circling the Coachella Valley will do little to improve air quality, though it could have lasting health benefits.

San Francisco’s proposed Idaho stop law passes it’s first committee test, even though members of the disability community somehow feel it would adversely affect them. However, the law would be strictly advisory, requesting that the SFPD make bicyclists rolling stops their lowest priority.

Megan Lynch sends word of a planned environmentally friendly grad school building in Berkeley, including 250 bike lockers, as well as showers and dressing rooms.

Caltrans big idea to improve safety for NorCal cyclists will require riders to push a beg button before crossing a narrow Fernbridge bridge, which will then cue flashing lights to warn drivers that there’s a bike on the bridge. How about making drivers get out and push a button before they’re allowed to cross, instead?

 

National

The best thing you can do for the environment is to leave your car at home.

People for Bikes says the latest trend in protected bikeways is getting them done fast. Let’s hope LA lives up to its trendy reputation, then.

Go ahead and have that drink. A new study shows a positive relationship between exercise and moderate drinking. As W.C. Fields said, “A woman once drove me to drink, and I didn’t even have the decency to thank her.” But I will thank Richard Risemberg for the heads-up.

Only in Portland. A bike-riding, sweater-wearing hipster Santa with a man bun.

Seriously? After a bike-riding Seattle radio host nearly hits a ninja cyclist while driving to work, he says that drivers have the deck stacked against them and bike riders should have to pay for their share of the roads, just like drivers — except we already do, and drivers actually don’t, as an Austin TX writer patiently explains. Thanks to Steve Katz for the latter link.

Denver advocates form a Vision Zero coalition to help the city live up to its commitment to safer streets.

KC cyclists get a shiny new bike box.

A former critic of New York’s Citi bike bikeshare becomes a frequent-riding convert.

Most bike riders have trouble getting service at drive-through windows; a West Virginia man gets 60 years for robbing a bank on one.

Richmond VA’s person of the year isn’t one, as a local magazine proclaims this the year of the bicycle.

 

International

Must be nice. Bike friendly Vancouver plans for 12 new bike lanes over the next five years, which will require a substantial loss of on-street parking. That would make it a non-starter just about anywhere else.

Caught on video: An angry London motorist drives over a cyclist’s bike during last month’s Critical Mass, apparently on purpose, after honking and shouting abuse.

Bike Magazine asks if mountain bike tourism could aid in Nepal’s recovery from a devastating earthquake.

Manila reopens a limited bikeshare program, with just 40 mountain bikes that can only be used along established bike lanes.

Heartbreaking story from Australia, as a bike rider was killed just hours before his surprise 60th birthday party.

Aussie multi-hyphen actor-director-producer-screenwriter Joel Edgerton is one of us, going for a ride with his baseball cap and silver Schwinn.

An Aussie cyclist is riding 2,300 miles across the county to raise funds to fight motor neuron disease.

New Zealand opens a world class, magenta-hued bikeway along the Auckland coast through the downtown area.

 

Finally…

Just like most cyclists, GPS often exaggerates how far you ride. If you’re going to wave at the speed camera, maybe you should keep one hand on your handlebars, just in case.

And if you’re wondering how to park in a bike lane, don’t.

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Thanks to Alice Strong for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

And a semi-belated Happy Hanukkah to all.

Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

A single donation could put you on Santa’s Good List, and keep the Krampus from your door this holiday season.

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

Weekend Links: Deplorable Gold Line bike locker, distracted beach biking, and a 17-mile non-CicLAvia ciclovía

December 7, 2015 / / Comments Off on Weekend Links: Deplorable Gold Line bike locker, distracted beach biking, and a 17-mile non-CicLAvia ciclovía

Del Mar 1What good is a bike room if it’s not clean, not maintained and not secure?

Sean B forwards these photos of the bike locker at the Pasadena Del Mar Metro Station, noting that the floor is filthy, half the racks are broken and one appears to have been sawed through to steal the bike that was presumably in it.

I’m told this isn’t actually part of Metro’s bike locker program, but rather, just a set of racks with walls and a roof, where a sign tells riders to lock up there at your own risk.

Del Mar 2Seriously?

If Metro really wants to encourage people to use their own bikes to solve the first mile/last mile problem, they’ve got to do a lot better than this.

Deplorable conditions like this only serve to encourage bike thieves, making it clear that no one is paying attention and they aren’t likely to be interrupted.

Del Mar 3Sean also notes that he’s tried contacting Metro about these conditions on numerous occasions, with no luck.

Let’s hope someone there sees this and makes fixing this room a priority. Or better yet, does whatever it takes to replace it with a secure bike locker.

Because bike riders deserve a hell of a lot better than this.

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Clearly, distracted drivers aren’t the only ones we have to worry about.

Thanks to David Wolfberg and Tony K. for the heads-up.

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Now that’s what I call a ciclovía — seventeen miles through seven San Gabriel cities.

626 Golden Streets

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Maybe the solution to hit-and-run is more cars that turn their drivers in. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

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Pro cyclist Peter Sagan and wife light up the holidays in this Euro commercial, no translation necessary.

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Local

Richard Risemberg says the new bus and bike only lanes on Wilshire Blvd seem to have increased ridership, though dangerous gaps remain on the Westside thanks to wealthy, short-sighted residents.

Boyonabike says driverless cars aren’t the answer; transit and walkable, bikeable communities are.

Santa Monica approves a pilot program to place three parklets on Main Street.

A Santa Monica letter writer says public officials have a duty to cater to car users, who apparently have a God-given right to free parking.

Bike SGV offers an analysis of the new Duarte draft bike plan.

 

State

A mountain biker was rescued after getting lost in Beaumont; she called a friend to say she was cold, exhausted and thought she was going to die.

Be careful riding in Napa, which now officially the most inebriated city in California.

 

National

A Honolulu man faces up to 15 years for killing a bike rider while high on meth.

Caught on video: A Portland thief shows how easy it is to snatch a bike off the front of a bus. Always lock or disable your bike in some way before you put it on a bus rack to discourage potential thieves.

A bighearted Washington cop buys a stolen tandem from a homeless man, and fixes it up before returning it to its owners, who met while riding bikes 66 years earlier.

Not surprisingly, a Flagstaff crackdown on scofflaw cyclists does nothing to improve safety.

A Denver driver gets six years in a halfway house for seriously injuring a bike cop after lying about having a seizure-inducing medical condition. Although you have to wonder how long that sentence would be if his victim hadn’t been a cop.

Austin TX considers removing a bike lane to provide more parking, while local residents fight to keep it. Meanwhile, police in Austin bust a bike thief responsible for stealing 97 bikes, valued up to $12,000.

After an Ohio cyclist is rear-ended, he gets yelled at by the driver and lectured by a cop for riding in the traffic lane. Until he points out the sharrows he was riding on.

A Maine writer offers seven ways to improve bicycling in the state, most of which would make sense anywhere. Let’s face it, there are very few politicians I’d want to see naked, on a bike or otherwise. Even if the idea of voting for someone who has nothing to hide is appealing.

Turns out it’s legal for a woman to ride a bike topless in Philadelphia, even if it is a challenge to get the local police on board.

 

International

This is how you get more women on bikes. After Calgary builds out an entire network of protected bike lanes seemingly overnight, the percentage of female riders jumps.

A Toronto woman has started a petition to require cyclists to be licensed, even though the city has rejected that four times in the last 30 years. Although riders may not have to worry too much; the petition had just 15 supporters so far.

Brit pro cyclist Bradley Wiggins was bullied growing up and called a gay slur for having the audacity to wear spandex in public.

If your headphones are so loud you can’t even hear a London train coming, maybe you should turn them down a little. And don’t ride around the damn crossing barriers.

London police are treating an apparent road rage hit-and-run as attempted murder; the same driver who ran down a cyclist may have tried to crash into a cop who responded to the incident.

A Glasgow taxi driver suffered a broken nose and cheekbone when he was punched by a bike rider, after the rider had fought with the cab’s passenger. Violence is never the answer, no matter how angry you are or how much you think they deserve it. It only makes a bad situation worse.

A trio of British cyclists riding a single bike made for three survive a collision on US Route 66 when the sun gets in a driver’s eye; needless to say, he wasn’t charged.

Probably not the best idea to punch a Dubai cop for trying to stop a cyclist from riding on a jogging path.

A pair of apparent German tourists came to the aid of a Kiwi bike rider when she was assaulted by a man who punched her several times before throwing her to the ground.

 

Finally…

Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

If you’re riding a bike while carrying burglary tools and stolen car radios, put a light on it already — and stay off the damn sidewalk. We may have to deal with LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to dodge invisible turkeys.

And hopefully, we don’t have to deal with drivers who kill bike riders while getting a blowjob behind the wheel.

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Thanks to Erik Griswold for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

An ancient Norse tradition I just made up says giving to an underfunded bike website ensures the wind will always be at your back in the coming year, and your tires will be impervious to thorns.

Category: Bike Cam Video, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Weekend Links: CicLAvia videos, safer VA passage, more Coronado madness, and a busy bike weekend

December 5, 2015 / / One comment

Let’s start the weekend with a few videos.

First up is a moving piece about a legally blind photographer experiencing his first CicLAvia. Bruce Hall not only rode a bike, accompanied by professional cyclist Damon Roberson, but captured the day in a series of beautiful photos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rfWGTo7s6g

Which brings up this this short film that captures the magic of the Culver City Meets Venice CicLAvia earlier this year.

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If you ever wondered why some people think cyclists are crazy, semi-suicidal scofflaws, this should answer the question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Padm05-xHVM

Of course, the problem comes when they witness the actions of one rider, or even a few, and decide that all people on bikes are like that.

Which is a pretty good metaphor for a lot of what’s going on in the world these days.

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You only have until Monday to offer comments on the draft master plan for Veterans Administration campus in West LA.

While that may not seem like something that would affect cyclists, many riders use the VA grounds as a safe alternative to virtually unridable Wilshire Blvd; for decades, it was my preferred passageway on the way to the coast.

And as others have pointed out, safety could be dramatically improved for both bicyclists and pedestrians by reopening the gates to the Los Angeles National Cemetery just across the street, and allowing non-motorized traffic to use the roadway that passes between Westwood and the VA, just as they did prior to 9/11.

Here’s my take on it from a few years back.

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The collective madness continues in Coronado, where a letter writer somehow manages to tie the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, KPBS public radio and the Late, Late Show’s James Corden into a single grand conspiracy to besmirch their isthmus with bike lanes.

Note to Coronado: It doesn’t take a conspiracy to make you look like fools; you’re doing a damn good job of it on your own.

At least there’s one voice of sanity.

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Today is Global Fat Tire Day. So what are you doing to celebrate?

Here’s one suggestion.

fattire_l

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Get him to the Greek, where the SoCalCross Prestige Series brings the CACX District Championship Weekend to the Greek Theater in Griffith Park this weekend for two full days of fun and cyclcocross racing action. No word on whether Russell Brand will make it there in time.

The award-winning documentary Bikes vs. Cars opens at the Laemmle NoHo 7 this weekend; check out reviews from the LA Times, OC Weekly, Bicycling Magazine and the New York Times.

Unless you’re a very early riser, you may not have time to catch the December edition of Helen’s Cycles Monthly Group Ride with Tour de France stage winner Eros Poli. But you can still catch the Cannondale Saturday Demo at the Santa Monica store on Saturday, and the Cannondale Demo Sunday Nichols Ride on, uh, Sunday.

If you read this early enough, you may still be able to make it to the Culver City Bicycle Coalition’s Holiday Ride, kicking off at 9:30 this morning.

Santa Monica’s Cynergy Cycles will teach you how to fix a flat at 11 am today. Seriously, If you’re going to ride a bike, you need to know how to keep air in your tires.

The LACBC joins with local chapter West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition this month’s edition of their popular Sunday Funday Ride tomorrow, with the 14-mile family friendly We Go WeHo Ride.

Downtown’s Just Ride LA bike shop is taking to trip up La Tuna Canyon on Sunday.

Figueroa for All invites you to join their crew for the 2015 NELA Holiday Parade on Sunday, whether you choose to ride, walk or roll.

Join pro cyclist Phil Gaimon, the LACBC and Councilmember David Ryu’s office in cleaning up a stretch of Mulholland between Cahuenga and Runyon Canyon on the 12th.

Also on the 12th, the Southern California Toy Drive Ride will deliver toys to Camp Pendleton for the Toys 4 Tots program.

Finish the Ride will host their first ride, run, walk and roll across the San Fernando Valley on the 27th.

And mark your calendar for the first Los Angeles Bicycle Festival next May.

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Local

In non-breaking news, Metro has officially adopted the fare structure for the still-unnamed bikeshare system, which is pretty much what it was before.

CiclaValley looks at bicycling and pedestrian equity in South LA, or the lack thereof. As he puts it, “A bike network is only as good as your weakest link. It’s about time someone at least bought a chain.”

LA Times’ architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne calls for a series of parks and bikeways along the planned corridor for the un-built 710 Freeway extension through Pasadena and South Pas.

Actor/Director Chad Michael Collins had his bike stolen recently while he was watching the new Hunger Games movie. If you see him, tell him to list it on here with Bike Index to increase his chances of getting it back.

A cyclist will arrive in LA on Sunday after riding fixed 2,451 miles from Chicago along Route 66.

The Pasadena Star News reports a man was punched and the mountain bike he was riding was stolen while on a test ride from a local bike shop.

 

State

San Clemente plans two-way protected bike lanes along PCH.

Following the death of a 12-year old bike rider, Oceanside plans to improve safety for cyclists by installing more speed limit signs and speed monitors. Neither of which would have done anything to prevent the collision that killed Logan Lipton.

It takes a real schmuck to hit a bike-riding kid and leave him lying in the street like this Moreno Valley hit-and-run driver; fortunately, his victim wasn’t badly hurt.

A cyclist and author has his custom titanium tandem stolen in Watsonville, after 50,000 miles of touring the world and picking up riders on his empty back seat. And not for the first time.

So much for that. San Francisco police resume their crackdown on bike riders after earlier assurances it had ended.

Shaq gets an early Christmas present with an oversized 36” wheel bike made for taller riders by San Francisco’s DirtySixer Bicycles.

We all fall off our bikes sooner or later; slashing the neck of a Vacaville kid who laughed at another boy for doing probably wasn’t the best response.

 

National

It looks like that folding cargo bike collaboration between Tern and Xtracycle is a thing now.

Speaking of being a thing now, a new Kickstarter has kicked off for Invincible, which claims to be the world’s first city-proof bike; their new protection plan promises to replace your bike within 24 hours if it’s stolen while using the U-lock that comes with it. If anyone has me on their Secret Santa list, I’ll take the eight-speed version, thank you.

Finally a sentence that fits the crime. After being convicted of driving under the influence, followed by a drunken jailhouse tirade, a former Snowmass city councilman is sentenced to ride his bike 13 miles through the Colorado snow to deliver urine samples to prove he’s not drinking.

Nice thought from a writer from my hometown, who says we all share the same roads and face the same issues, and need to stand together as one, no matter how you ride.

Chicagoist offers five mistakes to avoid after a bike crash.

To improve safety on New York streets, focus on the cars, trucks and SUVs that cause 97.6% of deaths and injuries, not the bikes that cause the rest.

Crash into a cyclist, attack him and throw his tire into the woods before fleeing the scene, and a Maryland judge will let you walk with just 16 lousy hours of community service. Nice to see they take road rage seriously there. And yes, that’s sarcasm of the dripping variety.

Eighteen months after controversial bike lanes were installed in Alexandria VA, they’ve calmed traffic, reduced collisions and increased the number of bike riders on the street, despite the fears of local residents.

 

International

What to get for the bike riding women in your life.

Toronto considers allowing their parking officers to take a photo of cars parked illegally in bike lanes, then follow up with a written ticket later.

Not surprising that the founder of Britain’s Motorists Association would call for cyclists to “pay their way,” just like motorists, who actually don’t; even then, the equivalent of $75 a year seems excessive.

Good news from France, as a gendarme who was critically injured by an out-of-control race moto at this year’s Tour de France is making a miraculous recovery from his injuries.

A new Dutch program promises to take elderly Kiwi residents on rickshaw bike cab rides, while a Dutch bicycle engineer says sharrows aren’t necessarily a bad thing — as long as they’re used on streets with a speed limit under 19 mph.

Fund-Drive-With-Type-2

Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

The Department of DIY strikes in Jerusalem, where residents paint their own bike lanes to protest the city’s delays in building bike paths.

 

Finally…

Sometimes, a bike theft isn’t a bike theft. If you’re doping to win an age-group Masters race, you have a serious problem.

And stealing a car, hitting a cyclist and fleeing the scene while five months pregnant probably isn’t the best way to win Mother of the Year.

 

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

Morning Links: Bikeshare success stories, turning the other cheek and Metro Active Transpo workshops

December 3, 2015 / / 3 comments
Fund-Drive-With-Type-2

Give a little to help support LA’s best bike news site this holiday season.

Today’s common theme is the bikeshare boom.

Just three weeks after its official launch, Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare already has over 2,100 members who’ve traveled a total of nearly 18,000 miles.

After two and a half years, there hasn’t been a single fatality while using New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare system. Although stolen bikes with bad paint jobs are another matter.

And a new study shows bikeshare really does help get people out of their cars, while taking pressure off over-crowded transit systems.

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Great story from South Dakota.

A couple of 10 and 14-year old kids vandalized a South Dakota car dealership recently, causing $25,000 in damage.

But instead of prosecuting the boys, the owner talked to their parents. And once he learned how impoverished the families were, he dropped the charges, and dipped into his own pocket to find a better home for the older boy’s family, as well as buying him a bus pass and a bicycle to get to school.

The kid responded buy volunteering to help out at the dealership after school and on weekends on his own accord, without being asked.

If there’s a better example of how to make a difference in a child’s life, I don’t know what it is.

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Metro is hosting a series of workshops to develop their Active Transportation Strategic Plan, starting tonight in West Hollywood. Thanks to LADOT Bike Program for the heads-up.

Metro workshops

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Local

A writer for the Times says driverless cars have the potential reduce the need for curbside parking spaces, freeing up space for bike lanes and wider sidewalks. As it stands, 14% of LA County land is devoted to parking, although some drivers don’t seem to think that’s enough.

Richard Risemberg writes that civic leaders may or may not be out to get us through their not-so-benign neglect of already deficient bike lanes.

CiclaValley invites you to join pro cyclist Phil Gaimon, the LACBC and Councilmember David Ryu’s office in cleaning up a stretch of Mulholland between Cahuenga and Runyon Canyon on the 12th. Maybe you can talk to Ryu’s people about the need for safe bicycling routes in his K-Town/Hollywood district.

Somehow, West Hollywood sneaks in at number 10 on People for Bike’s list of America’s best city’s for everyday biking. No offense to one of my favorite cities, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first time WeHo has been rated for anything related to bicycling, let alone on a national stage.

Pasadena’s updated transit system will have bike racks on the front of their new natural gas buses.

Temple City chose the most complete and safest makeover of Las Tunas Drive in a non-binding straw vote, although the real decision will come in January.

 

State

California scores a 14.5% boost in transportation funds under the new federal transportation bill, including funding for bike and pedestrians projects which some members of the GOP tried to kill.

Three San Diego-area cyclists were injured when an apparently drunk or stoned driver plowed into them from behind while they were riding in a Carlsbad bike lane Wednesday morning. Nothing like being wasted behind the wheel barely after breakfast.

While some call for building walls, a Tijuana businessman is pushing for a transnational bike lane between the US and Mexico.

Chico police are getting in the Grinchly spirit by handing out $78 tickets to anyone who rides a bike on the sidewalk. Before ticketing people for riding on the sidewalk, they should make sure the street is safe for cycling, first.

 

National

US bicycling fatalities declined 2.3% last year, outpacing a miniscule .1% drop in overall traffic fatalities.

Grist offers advice on how to be seen at night.

Grand Junction CO reverses field and votes to host the start of next year’s USA Pro Challenge after all.

A Texas soldier uses cycling to help her fellow soldiers recover from injuries suffered in battle.

Blame for a ban on protected bike lanes on state roads in Chicago rests with the deputy chief of staff for the former governor, apparently for political reasons. Isn’t it always, though?

An Indiana newspaper remembers native son Major Taylor, America’s first African-American cycling champ and the fastest rider of his time.

A Bloomington IN traffic study shows sidewalks are among the most dangerous places to ride a bike.

New York’s city council will consider a number of bike-related bills, including one to create a possibly needless bike safety committee, and another that would consider bikes abandoned and subject to removal after just 36 hours. Which means riders could risk seizure unless they move their bikes every day and a half.

A Staten Island website doesn’t get it, saying New York’s Vision Zero is just an excuse for ticketing motorists, while claiming that driving an extra five to ten miles over the speed limit won’t hurt anyone. Unless, of course, they happen to hit someone at that speed.

Heartbreaking story about a former North Carolina football player who slipped into mental illness, chemical dependency and homelessness before ending his life riding his bike the wrong way into oncoming traffic on a busy highway. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the heads-up.

 

International

While bicycling has boomed in Western countries in recent years, ridership has dropped 50% worldwide in the past three decades.

Here’s an update on those two Polish brothers pedaling their way down the full length of the Amazon. No, not next to the Amazon, on the Amazon.

Evidently, Canadian bike paths welcome riders of all types, human or otherwise.

Caught on video: A verbal dispute turns violent as a Brit van driver gets out of his cab to take on a bike rider in a two round non-title bout.

Caught on video 2: After a British cyclist is dangerously buzzed by a passing bus, the company says he had plenty of room. You might want to turn down the volume to avoid offending your kids or coworkers with the perfectly understandable, but nonetheless NSFW language.

Talk about trading up. A UK bike thief rides off on a $6,000 mountain bike after putting the equivalent of a $75 deposit on a children’s bike.

A Scottish letter writer opposes irrational calls to reign in cyclists, pointing out that drivers have killed over 45,000 people in the UK so far this century, while bike riders have been responsible for less than ten deaths. Although that’s still ten too many.

There once were some bike thieves in Limerick. No, really, Irish police busted a gang exporting hot bikes to Europe.

A South African writer says maybe the country’s president could improve his image if he rode a bike like the Dutch queen instead of riding in a motorized cavalcade.

A Kiwi writer calls on his fellow New Zealanders to get on their bikes after it’s named the most regressive country at the Paris climate talks.

Singapore police have given out over 50,000 free U-locks over the past four years to fight bike theft.

 

Finally…

If it doesn’t have pedals or wheels, it may fly, but it’s not a bicycle. If you’re going to plow into a group of pedestrians while riding under the influence, make sure one of them isn’t a cop.

And thanks to Los Angeles BAC member David Wolfberg for forwarding a steampunk ‘bent rider’s dream come true.

 

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

Morning Links: Good news for Silver Lake TraJoe’s cyclist, LACBC Open House, and more bighearted people

December 2, 2015 / / 4 comments

Finally, a little good news about Egee Marbolis, the Silver Lake Trader Joe’s parking lot manager severely injured on the Ride With No Name last month.

According to the LA Weekly, the fork on his bike bent backwards when he tried to brake, causing the wheel to lock up and flip his bike, throwing Marbolis straight up into the air. He came back down feet up, landing directly on his head.

A witness says there was no blood and he looked okay. He even said he was good afterwards, but had no feeling when another rider squeezed his hand.

He’s reportedly regained some movement in his hands and feet following spinal surgery, and friends say he will eventually walk again, though rehab will take years.

As of last night, the gofundme account to help defray his medical expenses had raised nearly $20,000, while the goal had been increased to $45,000.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles Magazine focuses on Marbolis’ popularity and his cool temperament under pressure at the lot.

………

Don’t miss the LACBC’s annual Open House tomorrow night; admission is free for members, which is a good incentive to join at the door.

Open-House-15

………

‘Tis the season for bighearted people.

A Syracuse NY funeral director plans to give away 2,500 bikes to area kids and teens; his organization has donated an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 bicycles to children over the past 20 years.

Bighearted English kids pitch in to buy a new bicycle for a fellow student after he loses his new birthday bike in a fire.

And Palms Springs Life tells the story of how Frank Sinatra once bought a bike for boy on welfare, then disguised himself to delivered it in person along with a bag of groceries, as well as other examples of Ol’ Blue Eyes’ anonymous generosity.

………

Local

More than 600 people of all ages attended Santa Monica’s recent Family Bike Festival.

A Long Beach family is raising funds to pay funeral expenses after two men related by marriage die just days apart; one from natural causes and one killed while riding on the Vincent Thomas Bridge last month.

The man accused of being the bike-riding Western Bandit, who terrorized LA’s Western Avenue over a three-year period, pleads not guilty to 53 felony charges, including two counts of murder and 26 counts of attempted murder.

Good idea. Cycling in the South Bay recommends adding MedPay to your auto insurance coverage, in addition to the uninsured motorist coverage we’ve discussed before, so they pay directly if you’re injured while riding, regardless of fault.

 

State

San Diego-area police are on the lookout for yet another hit-and-run driver after a cyclist suffers minor injuries in a National City collision.

A Carlsbad woman reunites with the hero bike rider who saved her life, a year after she collapsed with a heart attack while jogging along the beach.

Palm Springs police bust three bike thieves in two separate incidents.

Fillmore police will hold a bike and skateboard safety rodeo on the 9th.

Turmoil by the Bay? The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition faces a contested board election just weeks after the unexpected resignation of their new Executive Director; SFist offers more information than you’d want to know about the situation.

A last-minute agreement promises to save a bike and pedestrian project promised when voters approved a construction of a commuter rail line.

 

National

Streetsblog says bad street design kills.

Arizona police recover and return a three-wheeled recumbent bike that was stolen from a partially paralyzed teenager.

A writer for the Grand Junction CO paper says hosting the first stage of next years USA Pro Challenge is marketing, not economic development.

Progress is slow in improving safety for Houston cyclists; one candidate to replace the current mayor want to get bikes off the streets instead of making them safer.

Life is cheap in Chicago, as a drunk driver gets a whopping 100 days for killing a cyclist. On the other hand, a Michigan driver faces 15 years for allegedly killing a three-year old kid out riding his bike while she was high on coke.

Pittsburgh is the latest city to consider adopting a Complete Streets policy.

A Boston writer takes a test ride on a prototype bike that promises to be virtually indestructible and theft proof. Full disclosure: I turned down a sponsorship to promote that bike through social media; if I mention it — or anything else — on here, it’s because it’s worth discussing, not because I’m getting something for it.

No bias here. Boston-area police blame a bike rider for a collision because a driver apparently didn’t see his signal for a left turn.

New York considers forming a bike safety task force, as a councilwoman’s office naturally focuses on seniors’ complaints about scofflaw cyclists instead of keeping riders safe from cars.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A little girl will grow up without a father after political pundit Mary Katharine Ham gave birth this weekend, two months after her husband, a technology advisor to the White House, was killed in a collision while riding his bike.

A DC-area study shows neighborhoods with access to bikeways have higher property values than those without, using two neighboring communities as examples. Of course, it could be a case of a chicken/egg conundrum, since more desirable communities may get bikeways first, rather than the other way around.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to deal with those embarrassing problems on a bike, from smelly feet to big boobs. However, they fail to offer advice on what to do when you get dropped by the neighborhood kid fresh off his training wheels.

Mounties bust a British Columbia bike thief after he jumped in a frigid harbor to avoid capture; he was taken into custody after a hot shower for hypothermia.

You know it’s a small Canadian town when ticketing a cyclist for riding on the sidewalk makes the news.

A deadly UK truck driver loses his commercial license for 10 years for running down a pair of cyclists two years ago, in addition to the eight and a half year sentence he received last year. Since those run concurrently, he’s really just banned for two and a half years after he gets out of prison, since he’s not likely to do a lot of driving before that.

A Chinese company is fined £63,000 by a UK court because their hi-viz jackets weren’t; they were found to be 97.6% less reflective than they should have been.

The Guardian considers how bicycling could significantly cut emissions and help the Paris climate talks change the world.

Even in the Netherlands, the government is criticized for not paying enough attention to cycling policies, especially for e-bikes.

A cyclist offers five lessons gained from riding in Pakistan.

 

Finally…

Fund-Drive-With-Type-2Lock your bike up to the wrong signpost, and get slimed. We all hate bike thieves, but hacking one with a rusted machete is not the answer.

And throwing your bike out the window is probably not the best way to deal with the situation, whatever it may be.

………

Thanks to Serena Liu for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. And a special thanks for her note saying my worked helped inspire her to get involved in bike advocacy; that made my day.

Or maybe even my month.

 

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

Morning Links: Curmudgeonly SaMo writers, LABAC meets tonight, and giving on Giving Tuesday

December 1, 2015 / / 4 comments

Apparently tired of telling kids to get off his lawn, a curmudgeonly SaMo writer complains about a whopping four — yes, four — Main Street parking spaces that are being converted into parklets, which will evidently prevent anyone from parking anywhere in the neighborhood ever again; he similarly bemoans the parklets and loss of traffic lanes on Broadway in DTLA.

As an aside, the story mentions that the Santa Monica Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday to consider the city’s bike and pedestrian plans, which he’s clearly not in favor of, either.

………

Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Cahn forwards this letter copied from the Santa Monica Observer, in which a driver is offended when his attempt to educate and/or enforce bike traffic laws from behind the wheel of his car is met with a predictable response.

TaylorLetterSMObserver

………

LA’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, the city’s only official voice for bicyclists, meets tonight in the LAPD Hollywood Division Community Room, 6501 Fountain Ave.

BAC-Agenda

………

The story of popular Silver Lake Trader Joe’s parking lot attendant Egee Mabolis is picked up by LAist and the Eastsider, following the bicycling injury that left him with no feeling in his arms and legs.

A gofundme account to help defray his medical costs has raised 3/5 of the $25,000 goal.

After all, it is Giving Tuesday.

………

Speaking of Giving Tuesday, you can bid on a Silca SuperPista Ultimate Bicycle Pump hand-painted by cycling scion Taylor Phinney, with 100% of the proceeds going to support the Davis Phinney Foundation to fight Parkinson’s Disease. Phinney — Taylor, not Davis — is putting off additional surgery on his badly injured left knee in hopes of competing in next year’s Rio Olympics.

And with a little luck, a $10 donation to the (RED) campaign to fight HIV/AIDS could get you ice cream and ride through Central Park with U2’s Bono.

………

Take a few minutes out of your day for this must-read piece from CiclaValley, in which he surprises a driver by saying he was lucky he got in a collision, even with his kids in the car, and even if the red light-running driver who hit him seemed to think it was no big deal.

………

Next City offers a much better take on the documentary Bikes vs. Cars than yesterday’s Daily Beast hatchet job; the film opens at the Laemmle NoHo 7 this Friday.

………

Local

Bicycling takes a very brief look at LA artist cycling tour guide and bike salesman Adam K. Masters, and how he got hooked on track racing.

Former DC and Chicago DOT chief and current author Gabe Klein calls for creative solutions like protected bike lanes and bikeshare stations to improve transportation in LA, along with a switch to self-driving cars.

A new video from Metro explains how to use the Metro Bike Hub at El Monte Station, which promises to be just the first of several throughout the LA area.

Temple City will consider a proposed redesign of Las Tunas Drive into a more vibrant, safe and people-friendly business district at tonight’s city council meeting; supporters of a more livable, walkable and bikeable street are urged to attend to counter expected opposition.

 

State

Good read from a cyclist who offers seven lessons he learned from riding 673 miles from San Francisco to San Diego with no idea what he was doing.

Oceanside residents are calling for safety improvements to the city’s main drag following the death of 12-year old Logan Lipton while he was riding his bike to school last month.

The Coronado bike lane madness goes on, as a letter writer says the town doesn’t need bike lanes because they didn’t slow traffic on a street where average speeds were only 28 mph to begin with.

Two local businesses come to the rescue after a burglar steals 26 bikes from a San Francisco middle school.

A San Francisco bike deliveryman comes to the rescue after a women gives birth to a premature baby on the sidewalk.

Stockton is holding a number of public workshops to update their Bicycle Master Plan. Let’s hope they don’t have to deal with lawsuits and recalcitrant councilmembers trying to overturn the public process, like some cities we could name.

 

National

The Pew Charitable Trusts says bike tourism means business, as cities and states are warming to the economic benefits of bicycling.

Seriously? Oahu residents suggest ticketing bike rental shops when their customers break the law. Which makes no more sense than holding car rental firms accountable when their customers speed or run red lights.

Indianapolis drivers are apparently confused by the city’s first parking protected bike lane.

City Lab says laws prohibiting bicyclists from wearing headphones, like one under consideration in Massachusetts, miss the point. Several writers, including frequent contributor Megan Lynch, beg to differ.

Brooklyn bike riders call for a statewide Idaho stop law.

The Wall Street Journal belatedly discovers that retirees are getting on their bikes. Note to the Journal: 50 ain’t exactly old.

A Philadelphia conference calls for Vision Zero to protect the lives of bicyclists and pedestrians; Toronto discusses the idea, as well.

A Delaware driver faces up to seven years for killing his bike-riding friend in a drunken hit-and-run.

Interesting idea from Florida, as a proposed law would require in-ground safety lights where bike paths cross roadways to alert drivers to the presence of bicycles.

Bighearted Tampa police officers chip in to buy a five-year old a new tricycle after his brand-new birthday bike was stolen in a car burglary.

 

International

Vancouver, which has made a massive investment in protected bike lanes, is rated Canada’s safest major city in which to ride a bike.

The Yukon tourism board wants you to explore the Great White North by fat-tire bike.

Brit bike riders are being offered a better deal on car insurance because they’re better drivers. Thanks to joninsocal for the link.

‘Tis the season. A bighearted four-year old British girl donates her new birthday bike so someone else can wake up to a new bike Christmas morning.

UK cyclists are being criticized for excessive speeds after single rider is clocked on Strava approaching 30 mph.

It’s a dream come true. Bike riders in one Danish town can outfit their bikes with special RFID tags that turn traffic lights green as they approach so they never have to stop for red lights.

Aljazeera says carless cities are the future of Europe. Maybe the idea will cross over to this country before we’re all old and grey.

A South African cyclist says the way to deal with dangerous roads is to stay off them when you can, and ride facing traffic when you can’t. Which is exactly the wrong thing to do.

Life is cheap in Melbourne, as an Aussie driver is fined a lousy grand for a fatal dooring.

‘Tis the season, too. An Australian town responds to complaints that it has the world’s worst Christmas tree by creating one made out of bicycles.

 

Finally…

Fund-Drive-With-Type-2If you’re trying to make your getaway by bike with a meth pipe and stolen guitar, make sure you can ride with it first. Or if you’re going to steal a bike, make sure the owner isn’t still attached to it.

And here’s your chance to ensure the Star Wars fan in your life ride gets to ride with his or her very own R2D2 bike helmet.

………

Thanks to Todd Munson for supporting this site by contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday fund Drive.

 

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

Morning Links: Daily News spins bike news badly, not getting it San Pedro, and a local bike rider needs your help

November 30, 2015 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Daily News spins bike news badly, not getting it San Pedro, and a local bike rider needs your help

Fund-Drive-With-Type-2Sometimes, good news is bad news, depending on how you spin it.

The LA Daily News looks at the LA city council’s re-adoption of the new Mobility Plan last week, and the promise to consider proposed amendments after the first of the year.

Except they give it a very negative spin.

The story focuses on the possibility that bike lanes could be removed from the plan, likely or not. Along opposition to the plan from Councilmembers Paul Koretz and, disappointingly, David Ryu.

Koretz focuses his opposition to removing bike lanes planned for Westwood Blvd in and near Westwood Village, just outside the UCLA campus, claiming it’s too dangerous for bike riders. Yet somehow, refuses to consider any plans to make it safer or propose any viable alternative.

His only solution is to keep it dangerous, while his search for a long-promised alternative route is seeming more and more like OJ’s search for the real killer.

Meanwhile Ryu, who promised to reconsider the decisions made by his predecessor Tom LaBonge, instead appears to be following in his anti-bike footsteps.

Writing for Orange 20 Bikes, Richard Risemberg says at least the city isn’t stabbing us in the back anymore.

They’re aiming their knives directly at us.

………

Apparently, parking causes less congestion than bike lanes.

A San Pedro letter writer complains that replacing parking spaces with bike lanes on Western Avenue would increase congestion and make it harder for emergency vehicles to get through.

Which seems highly unlikely, unless cars are currently able to pass through parked vehicles, which would appear to violate the laws of physics. And emergency vehicles usually find it easier to drive through bike lanes than parked cars.

He also complains that the Measure R funds that would be used to pay for the lanes weren’t supposed to be used for bike lanes, suggesting they should instead be funded by supporters of Calbike and CABO, neither of whom had anything whatsoever to do with them. And that funds should be raised by registering and taxing bicyclists, and imposing fines on law-breaking cyclists.

The first of which is impractical for many reasons, and the latter already happens, despite his protestations. And those fines go to the state, just like the fines paid by scofflaw drivers.

Never mind that bike riders already pay more than their share for the roads we ride.

Then again, that letter has nothing on this absurdly auto-centric writer from Santa Barbara.

Thanks to Margaret for the heads-up.

………

If you’re looking for a good cause this holiday season, you can’t do much better than World Bicycle Relief, which is using donated bicycles to change lives in less developed countries.

………

Another good cause a lot closer to home.

Popular cyclist Egee Mabolis was badly injured during the monthly Ride With No Name, leaving him with no feeling in his arms and legs. A gofundme account established to help cover his medical costs has raised nearly $11,000 of the $25,000 goal — even though that won’t begin to cover the cost of his hospital care and rehabilitation, since he doesn’t have insurance.

If the name sounds familiar, it may be because Mabolis was profiled by the LA Weekly last year for his work taming the notorious Trader Joe’s parking lot in Silver Lake.

………

Film fans take note.

The first film from famed British director Ridley Scott, the auteur responsible for Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, was about a boy and bicycle, starring his late brother and future Top Gun director Tony.

The 27-minute student film is now available online.

While we’re on the subject of films, a writer for the Daily Beast kind of misses the point of the new documentary Bikes vs. Cars, which doesn’t really call for replacing all cars with bicycles, as tempting as that may seem at times.

If you want to see for yourself, Bikes vs. Cars opens this Friday at the Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood.

………

Local

CicLAvia staffer and LADOT commissioner Tafarai Bayne discusses what it’s like to grow up carless in LA and the perils of biking while black.

A cyclist in his 40s suffered moderate injuries when he was hit by a sheriff’s deputy in Carson Thursday night.

Just one problem with LA’s 2024 Olympic bid: The BMX and mountain biking events projected for Griffith Park could be illegal.

Evidently, people really do walk in LA and Pasadena. And ride bikes, too.

 

State

An Escondido cyclist suffered life-threatening injuries when she was the victim of a hit-and-run Saturday night; police are looking for the driver of a black Toyota Corolla.

A local hiking group voices their support for the planned 50-mile CV Link bike and pedestrian pathway around the Coachella Valley.

San Francisco follows an all-too-familiar pattern of fixing dangerous streets only after it’s too late. But at least they fix them, unlike some LA council districts we could name.

A transportation expert from UC Davis will make a presentation at this week’s Paris climate change conference touting the benefits of bicycling as a climate-friendly measure.

Family members and witnesses question the CHP’s investigation of a cyclist killed by a Sacramento judge, leading them to wonder if it’s just sloppy work or a cover-up.

 

National

America may not have hit peak car after all. Or maybe it did.

HuffPo says bikeshare is having a positive impact on city life throughout the US.

Life is cheap in Portland, where a truck driver faces a maximum $260 fine for dangerous left turn that took the life of a bike rider.

A Detroit man raised $15,000 to buy a new car for a man who rode a bike to work every day to save money to care for his sick wife.

The bike-hating New York Post blames scofflaw cyclists for the 4,463 bicyclists injured in the city last year, not the people in the big dangerous machines. And insists an Idaho stop law will only make things worse.

 

International

England’s last Plantagenet king is helping to lead the reclamation of Leicester from automobiles, over 500 years after Richard III famously failed to trade his kingdom for a horse.

British bike thieves get 12 years apiece for stabbing a man who was trying to reclaim his stolen bike.

Police in an English town are on the lookout for a cyclist — to thank her for lending them her hi-viz jacket so they could direct traffic.

A British man rides 400 miles to honor his late bike-riding mother.

Brit riders hold their third annual die-in to call for a stop to killing cyclists.

Caught on video: Apparently, being pregnant and wearing glasses is the latest excuse for left-hooking a British cyclist.

An injured cyclist says Maltese authorities are always on the driver’s side, concluding that his recent collision somehow broke the laws of physics.

Vogue says stylish cyclists are taking over Moscow.

Selling bikes by Bollywood.

A gold medal-winning Thai-American BMX rider is just as happy working in the rice paddy as competing against Asia’s best. No, really, that’s what it says.

 

Finally…

The beauty of a bicycle is its simplicity, until designers get their hands on it. Why clutter your home with bikes when you can park them on the ceiling? Evidently, the color of his bike is enough to make a man a suspect in the UK — accurately, as it turned out.

And shirtless cyclist and actor Russell Crowe goes riding with his mates in the “middle of f**king nowhere.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKdHWH8XQFA

 

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

Morning Links: A little pre-turkey safety advice, wishing Seth a speedy return, and British Lords go bike batty

November 25, 2015 / / One comment

Fund-Drive-With-Type-2Just a quick note before we get started.

Today is the busiest travel day of the year, and not just in the skies. Starting this afternoon, the streets will be filled with crazed drivers trying to fight their way out of town, or rushing to get the last of their pre-holiday errands out of the way.

So be careful out there.

That doesn’t mean stay home, or bundle yourself in your car and leave your bike behind.

It does mean use extra caution and ride defensively, positioning yourself to be seen yet still assuming that no one will, and preparing yourself to react when some driver does exactly the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time.

Because chances are, someone will.

And that goes double for Black Friday.

………

Best wishes to Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson, who got a ride to the hospital after taking a spill last week, but clearly kept his sense of humor intact. He blames the new mismatched tires, though sabotage from the Trump camp can’t be ruled out.

………

Let’s take a quick peer at Great Britain’s peerage.

England’s Lord Sugar is a big supporter of dedicated cycle paths, except when they happen to inconvenience him. And is given a high-end Union Jack Pinarello racing bike co-engineered by Jaguar to smooth out the bumps in the road, lest they bruise the noble bum.

Meanwhile, another Lord — who happens to be the UK’s Under Secretary of State for Transport — says with a straight face that cyclists pose a greater danger to commuters than cars and trucks; bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid points out he’s just slightly off base.

………

Local

LA County has approved a redevelopment of Marina del Rey’s Pier 44 along Admiralty Way, including improvements to the Marina bike path; 18% of the project’s parking spaces will be reserved for bicycles.

CiclaValley goes back to San Francisco’s East Bay.

 

State

A section of Orange County’s Quail Hill Trail has been renamed in honor of Irvine bike advocate Juanita Moe.

An OC bike activist says it’s time to get rolling on safe streets in the aftermath of the county’s recent Active Transportation Forum at UC Irvine.

As long as Caltrans has to replace a couple of Carpinteria overpasses, they plan to widen them to include bike lanes and sidewalks in both directions.

A writer for Wired says San Francisco’s new raised bike lanes won’t keep bicyclists safe, and says what we really need is something like the largely ridiculed British plan to build elevated limited access bikeways over train lines. Never mind that it would force riders into industrial areas, and prevent them from having access to the local market, or anything else anyone would actually want to ride to. But other than that, it’s brilliant, right?

A Chico bike thief gets six months for stealing a bait bike.

 

National

A new bill in Congress would allow bikeshare commuters to use a pre-tax transit benefit to pay for their memberships and user fees.

A Minnesota county plans to install rumble strips on county roads that have significant bike and pedestrian traffic, even though they’re opposed by cyclists and have been removed elsewhere in the state.

Cleveland will be getting a second bikeshare program, provided by the company behind Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare, just in time for next year’s Republican National Convention.

A New York councilmember calls for an Idaho stop law in the city, saying it doesn’t make sense to treat vehicles and bikes the same way; needless to say, the Post calls it “extreme,” saying it would allow riders to blow through red lights. They’re right, if coming to a full stop at red lights and proceeding only when it’s safe can be called blowing through.

For a change, New York neighborhood groups say a proposed street overhaul isn’t bold enough, and actually call for the removal of a traffic lane to make room for bike lanes and other improvements.

Redesigning New York’s streets to provide dedicated space for bikes has resulted in a remarkable 72% decrease in the risk of serious cycling injuries.

 

International

A women’s cycling website profiles ten inspiring women who are doing awesome things for the development of women’s cycling.

A new backpack includes what may be the world’s largest bicycle taillight.

Former British cycling champ Chris Boardman says the UK’s cycling revolution won’t take off without proper funding. Which goes for this country, as well.

A road raging Brit driver gets a year behind bars for pushing a 74-year old man off his bike, resulting in a broken leg, because he couldn’t tell a wave to go around from an obscene gesture.

A British writer questions why the focus is on what women bike riders wear instead of improving safety and encouraging more women to ride.

Busy night. A teenage Belfast bike rider gets community service after shouting a cheer for the IRA when police try to stop him for reckless riding, then sparks a 50-person fight.

Pro cyclist Guillaume Bonnafond wears a facemask to ride one of cycling’s most famous climbs to call attention to the problems of Chronic Pulmonary Lung Disorder (COPD).

No irony here. A prominent Kiwi architect who designs bikeways somehow avoids prison for dragging a cyclist under his Porsche; he claimed he thought he hit a traffic cone and kept going in an attempt to dislodge it. Because the best way to get anything out from under an expensive sports car is to drag it beneath the undercarriage, rather than stop to see what the hell you hit, right?

A trio of Nepalese cyclists have reached Myanmar on a world tour to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.

Over half of Singaporeans say they’re willing to share foot paths and road space with bicyclists.

 

Finally…

Once again, repeat after me: If you’re carrying meth on your bike, put a damn light on it — and don’t tell the cops to meet you at a someone’s apartment when they try to stop you.

And caught on video: Amsterdam wins the 2015 European Bike Stealing Championships with a time of just under 23 minutes.

 

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

Morning Links: LAPD still looking for hit-and-run cyclist, and a bike rider critically injured in SoLA hit-and-run

November 24, 2015 / / One comment

The hunt is still on for the bicyclist who left the scene after colliding with an elderly man on Glendale Blvd last month.

That’s the gist of the following email I received from LAPD Det. Felix Padilla on Monday.

On October 15, 2015, around 8:20 am, Levon Avetisyan, 77 years old and a resident of Los Angeles, was crossing Glendale Blvd just north of 1st Street when he was struck by a bicyclist riding northbound on Glendale Blvd.  Mr. Avetisyan suffered severe head trauma and was taken to LAC+USC Medical Center by paramedics from LAFD.  He was later transported to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center.  Despite lifesaving efforts, Mr. Avetisyan succumbed to his injuries on November 1, 2015. The unknown bicyclist left the area before he was identified by police.  The investigation is being conducted as a hit and run, however, I believe the bicyclist had no other option other than to leave once the scene was cleared by the paramedics.

The bicyclist was described as a male, White, in his 40’s and was attired with a cycling jersey and shorts. Anyone with information concerning the bicyclist is asked to contact the LAPD Central Traffic Division Detectives at (213) 833-3713 or Central Traffic Division Watch Commander at (213) 833-3746.  During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).

Padilla notes that the collision appears to be an unfortunate accident, and the rider involved is not likely to face charges.

However, the police still need to talk to him, and the family of the victim is asking the bicyclist involved to come forward.

So if you’re the rider in question, contact the police. Or if you know who it was, urge him to come forward so this case can be resolved, and Avetisyan’s family get the peace and closure they need.

It’s the right thing to do.

………

Yet another bicyclist has been critically injured by a heartless hit-and-run driver.

According to KNBC-4, the victim, described only as a man in his 30s, suffered severe head trauma when he was struck by an unidentified vehicle around 3 am Monday at Vernon Avenue and Broadway in South LA.

Bystanders reportedly moved construction barricades to protect him until help arrived.

………

Bicyclists aren’t the only two-wheeled riders endangered by road raging drivers, as a San Diego-area woman is charged with second degree murder for running down a motorcyclist she’d argued with while driving on a freeway.

………

If we can build self-driving cars, it shouldn’t be that hard to develop a system to detect cyclists and keep car doors from opening until the rider has passed to prevent doorings.

At least, that’s what a new German study suggests.

………

Local

No one really wanted those buffered bike lanes on Vineland, which were supposed to give riders safe alternative route on a quiet street, instead of the long-promised bike lanes on Lankershim that were killed by former Councilmember Tom LaBonge. Well, so much for that.

Writing on LinkedIn, urban planner Nathan S. Holmes says we’ve allowed the media to frame the LA Mobility Plan incorrectly; it’s not bikes vs. cars, but rather, all about choices.

A former LA city planner says every LA street should be a Great Street, not just one little pocket in each council district.

Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare reaches 1,000 members in just two weeks.

SoCalCycling reports on last Sunday’s UCI pro cyclocross race in Long Beach.

LA Bike Trains is trying out a new route from Koreatown to UCLA tomorrow.

Celebrate Small Business Saturday this weekend with pop-up protected bike lanes, bike rides led by the LACBC and Calbike’s Charlie Gandy, and all-day events along Venice Blvd in Mar Vista. Unlike some of his fellow councilmembers, the Westside’s Mike Bonin clearly takes the mayor’s Great Streets program seriously.

Join the LACBC and pro cyclist Phil Gaimon in cleaning up Mulholland Drive between Runyon Canyon and the 101 Freeway on December 12th; there’s a free cookie from Sweetsalt Food Shop in it for you.

 

State

Irvine residents remember Kevin Jiang, the nine-year old boy killed while riding his bike Friday afternoon; they urge drivers to slow down.

San Francisco will transform half of a busy four-lane street into bike lanes and pedestrians pathways. The mere suggestion of which would undoubtedly cause rioting and lawsuits down here.

A Berkeley cyclist became collateral damage when two women fled from police following an earlier collision; fortunately, he doesn’t seem to be too badly banged up.

 

National

The new federal transportation budget not only keeps the popular TIGER grants that have helped build bike and pedestrian projects across the US, but expands it by $100 million.

This could come in handy. A handlebar-mounted external battery will recharge your USB headlight, cam or other electronic devices if they go dead while you ride.

After Grand Junction CO officials cited costs in turning down hosting a stage of next year’s USA Pro Challenge, local residents pitch in $63,000, and counting, out of their own pockets. Speaking of which, my formerly sled dog-running Alaskan brother will be moving to Grand Junction next month, for reasons that escape me.

Chicago’s Deaf Velo Alliance shows hearing loss doesn’t have to be a hindrance to bicycling.

An Atlanta coalition opposes plans to add bike lanes to the city’s iconic Peachtree Blvd for now because not enough Millennials live there yet. No, seriously, that’s what it says.

 

International

Bike collisions and fatalities have gone up in Mexico City, even as it works to become friendlier for cyclists. It’s possible that increased ridership could have something to do with it, however.

A Windsor, Ontario letter writer complains about “useless” bike lanes, since he thinks bicycles belong on the sidewalk. Although I’m sure most pedestrians would beg to differ.

A British delivery driver gets 44 months in prison for hiding his diabetes from his employer; he killed a bicyclist when he blacked out after his blood sugar crashed.

Caught on video: A London rider gets left hooked — the equivalent of a right hook on this side of the Atlantic — when he undertakes a cab. If you’re looking to assign blame, I vote for both; the cab driver should have checked his blind spot before turning, but the rider should have held up until he knew what the driver was going to do.

Brompton wants your 15-second videos of unexplored parts of your city, to be judged by Brit filmmaker Guy Ritchie, among others.

Alberto Contador says he gets that his signature gun gesture might not be appropriate at next year’s Tour de France in light of the Paris attacks. Meanwhile, the manager of the women’s Canyon/SRAM team says women’s cycling is stronger than ever.

A new Italian e-bike comes with built-in GPS anti-theft system so you always know where your bike is, even if it rides off without you.

It’s a good problem to have. Amsterdam is building 40,000 new bicycle parking spaces to relieve overcrowded bike lots.

An Aussie writer considers the effect of topography on bicycle mode share, suggesting that bicycling is successful in Copenhagen because it’s so flat.

 

Finally…

Evidently, if you choose to ride in a traffic lane at the same speed as the relatively light traffic around you, you’re a cockroach on wheels. That’s one way to compete with the internet — an LBS that serves a good beer while you wait.

And it’s hard for a bike lane to protect cyclists from large trucks when they use it for garbage collection.

 

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Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,
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