Archive for Morning Links

Paying people to ride a bike works, LA Natural History Museum talks Biking While Black, and where avid cyclists drive

February 7, 2025 / / No comments
Day 38 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.

Whether it’s diabetes, a migraine, my meds, all of the above or something else, I’ve been so dizzy past two days I can’t keep my eyes open without feeling sick.

Good times.

But thanks to the wonders of modern pharmaceuticals, I should be okay to work now, as long as I keep my laptop at arm’s length and don’t mind a little double vision. Okay, a lot of double vision. 

So let’s give this a shot, and see if I make it through.

Photo by Kaboompics.com from Pexels. 

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Paying people to bike works.

Denver, Colorado conducted “a fascinating psychological experiment” by paying people to ride a bicycle instead of driving.

Not only did they ride more, they kept riding after the experiment ended, offering hope for reducing traffic congestion and fighting climate change.

And demand for the program far exceeded availability, with 1,400 people applying for just 101 slots, demonstrating significant room for growth going forward.

The city invested $442,000 in incentives, paid for through a Climate Protection Fund sales tax approved by voters, while breaking participants into three groups:

  • The first group was paid $1 for every mile they rode, as tracked by an app
  • The second group received subsidies to buy a bike or accessories, plus training and coaching
  • The third group was paid $1 per mile, along with receiving training

According to the Denverite website,

Of the three groups, those paid $1 per mile ended up biking the most number of miles. Those who received both training and $1 per mile experienced the most long-term changes in commuting behavior. The program ran from April through June.

The question is how that compares to the cost of subsidizing motor vehicle use, and the benefit to society and public health of getting people out of their cars.

At the very least, it’s worth trying on a larger and longer basis.

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The Los Angeles Natural History Museum talks with Yolanda Davis-Overstreet, founder of Biking While Black, as part of their online series L.A. on Wheels, “celebrating the diversity of Los Angeles and its people through the lens of creative modes of transportation.”

Thanks to BikeLA Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman for the heads-up.

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Apparently, when you’re an avid cyclist, you even drive in the bike lane.

Avid cyclist @carsnbikelane.bsky.social

— CrosswalkCrusader (@crosswalkcrusader.bsky.social) 2025-02-04T15:01:06.451Z

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

San Mateo is planning to spend as much as two million dollars to rip out the city’s longest bike lanes to restore parking spaces, prioritizing the convenience of drivers over the safety of people riding bicycles — but they promise to replace them with a bicycle boulevard on a nearby street, which one person said amounts to nothing more than a couple signs and bike symbols painted on the pavement.

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

A London writer wants to know how this became the new normal, after he stepped out of a soccer stadium and was hit by a speeding, if apologetic, ebike rider.

No bias here. The BBC reports that a man in his 50s was killed when a car and a bike “hit each other” — even though police arrested three people on suspicion of dangerous driving. Which would kinda suggest the driver hit the bike rider, instead.

You’ve got to be kidding. A British cop testified that he made “light,” “tactical contact” with an ebike shared by two people while driving at 30 mph, “because of the risk they posed to themselves and the public,” resulting in significant injuries to one of the victims. As if it’s possible to make light contact with someone at that speed. Or with a moving car, period. 

An Aussie woman is no closer to getting compensation, two years after she suffered multiple broken bones when she was struck by someone on a Lime bike while she was three months pregnant.

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Local  

CicLAvia made international news, as Momentum says LA’s “open streets party” has huge plans for this year, starting with West Adams meets University Park in two weeks.

 

State

Calbike’s next virtual summit session will discuss “Creative Approaches to Funding Active Transportation Infrastructure” on Thursday, February 20th.

A 27-year old San Diego man suffered a broken leg and pelvis when he reportedly rode his ebike off a sidewalk, and into the path of a truck driver in Otay Mesa.

A local TV station offers tips on bike safety ahead of this weekend’s Tour de Palm Springs.

A Palm Springs bike tour takes you through the city’s celebrity and midcentury neighborhoods, including the Frank Sinatra estate and Elvis Presley’s Honeymoon Hideaway.

Palo Alto is looking for comments on a new 173-page plan calling for safer streets for all road users, starting with slowing down drivers for the benefit of everyone.

After a 50-year career in high tech sales and marketing, a San Jose man started a second act by founding a nonprofit offering life-changing work for people in need of a second chance, refurbishing and donating over 2,000 bicycles and repairing thousands more at its free mobile clinics.

A San Francisco bike shop owner says he’s just trying to keep up with the price increases caused by Trump’s tariffs on Chinese-made bicycles.

 

National

Cycling Weekly considers the eternal question of how, or whether, to warn the others on a group ride about an oncoming car.

A writer for progressive news site the Daily Kos revisits the story of the bike-riding Buffalo Soldiers who demonstrated the viability of bicycles by riding 800 miles from Missouri to Yellowstone and back in 1892.

Ann Arbor, Michigan is using AI-equipped cams mounted on the seat posts of bike commuters to map where bike lanes are needed.

When a pair of Missouri towns refused to build mountain bike trails, a couple bought the land and built the trails themselves.

Police in Richmond, Virginia are trying to identify a mask-wearing man on bicycle who they say has crucial evidence in a cold case murder.

That’s more like it. A Georgia man will spend the next 20 years behind bars after he was sentenced for a road rage attack on a bike rider; he deliberately rammed the victim with his pickup after they had exchanged words, then stood over him yelling and flipping the bird — and even chest bumped a bystander who came over to help.

This is what a hit-and-run that left an Orlando, Florida bike rider with significant injuries looks like. Just be sure it’s something you want to see, because you can’t unsee it afterwards.

 

International

An Ottawa man launched a nonprofit group intended to help people understand invisible brain injuries, 15 years after he was nearly killed when a sleeping driver ran him down, along with four other people riding in a marked bike lane.

A group of bicyclists will be riding the London’s most dangerous streets to protest a new report showing many of the city’s bicycling routes aren’t safe for women to ride after dark.

Violent bikejackings are creating a climate of fear around London’s Regent Park, with many people now avoiding the popular riding spot.

Former Spanish world champ Óscar Freire has been found safe after he went missing for two days following a fight with family members.

A desperate search is underway for an American competitive cyclist working for Yeti Cycles, who disappeared in Spain’s Andalusia region two weeks ago; his empty van was found, suggesting he was riding his ebike when he went missing.

An Italian ultra-cyclist and former Continental level pro plans to ride more than 1,800 miles through the Himalayas, complete with over 31 miles of elevation gain, to call attention to the role that bicycling can play in reducing global warming.

Travel + Leisure says the “blazing fall colors and picturesque villages” of the Japanese island of Kyushu makes it a perfect spot for touring by bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Introducing the new and improved Paris-Roubaix, aka the Hell of the North, now with even more cobbles.

An oblivious driver somehow found themselves on a side road leading directly into an oncoming pro peloton during France’s Étoile de Bessège, causing a crash that made Belgium’s Maxim van Gils abandon the race.

The Vietnamese national cycling team will have to use bicycles loaned to them by Thailand when they compete in the Asian Road Cycling Championships after all their bikes and equipment were destroyed when their truck went up in flames.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can have a genuine 1970s Evel Knievel spec’d bike, even if you can’t jump 14 Greyhound buses with it. Your next ebike could come from the same people who made your childhood little red wagon.

And just another Heisman Trophy-winning NFL quarterback pedaling a pedicab while singing like a Venice gondolier.

https://twitter.com/NFL_DovKleiman/status/1887565994920493416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1887565994920493416%7Ctwgr%5E9155e1ff83aa43330994081f4cf75710dca7b3d8%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F247sports.com%2Farticle%2Fwatch-jameis-winston-is-giving-fans-a-ride-in-new-orleans-on-a-bike-cab-and-singing-to-them-245341828%2F

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Los Angeles belatedly rolls out draft HLA standards, mountain biking ode to LA, and environmentally unfriendly burn scar ride

February 5, 2025 / / No comments
Day 36 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Um, okay.

Streetsblog reports that after nine months of slow walking the legally required implementation of Measure HLA — which requires building out the mobility plan when streets get resurfaced — the Los Angeles City Planning Department has finally released its draft HLA Standard Elements Table.

The HLA SET sets out the minimum standards for each tier in the plan, from the Transit Enhanced Network and Pedestrian Enhanced Network, to three tiers of bikeway networks.

Which makes sense, since the bare minimum is all they’ve done so far.

You’ll have your chance to weigh in when the Planning Department hosts a virtual information session on its proposed HLA Standard Elements Table a week from tomorrow, from 6-7 pm.

Click here to register for the session.

Graphic for Healthy Streets LA, as Measure HLA was originally known, from Streets for All website.

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Mountain biker Eliot Jackson celebrates the City of Angels with his Ode To LA, shredding on his bike and guitar.

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Freeride mountain biker Dylan Stark is joined by “freeride legend” Josh Bender as they carve up the burn scar from 2024 Macy Fire near Lake Elsinore.

Never mind the environmental damage to nascent vegetation and animal life as the hillside struggles to recover from the fire damage.

Schmucks.

 

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

A Philadelphia woman tried to get out of paying after her car was towed for parking in a parking protected bike lane by claiming the four-year old bike lane didn’t exist, because the signs and symbols normally denoting a bike lane were missing due to construction. Never mind that it looks pretty damn obvious even without them. 

No bias here. Drivers in Oxford, England complain about Schrödinger’s bike lanes, of which there are simultaneously too many blocking the roads and causing congestion,  and too few, forcing drivers to somehow cope with people legally riding in the traffic lanes.

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

Only in Florida. A 67-year old Lake City man kidnapped a woman at knifepoint after she struck him with her car as he rode his bike in a crosswalk, demanding that she drive him home — then called police and her employer to report the crash when she didn’t return with a promised payment, and refused to have a relationship with him.

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Local  

Once again, an LAPD officer has been arrested for a fatal hit-and-run. Sgt. Carlos Gonzalo Coronel is charged with killing a 19-year old man in Tustin early Saturday morning; he’s currently accused of violating probation for a 2011 DUI conviction after he failed to complete his court ordered community service.

Oops. KCBS-2 says former US National Crit champ Rahsaan Bahati partnered with “Costa Mesa nonprofit” Walk ‘n Rollers after someone stole the trailer with all their gear. Except the group dedicated to teaching kids how to ride their bikes safely is based about 45 miles north in Culver City.

 

State

Calbike is working to get the California MUTCD, aka Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, updated to reflect a new law banning sharrows on streets with speed limits above 30 mph.

San Diego is looking for your input on the draft of its revised Street Design Manual outlining how roads and walkways should be designed to accommodate  all users.

Now you, too, can be a star. Or at least make a cool grand demonstrating your bike skills for a healthcare ad shooting in the Bay Area (scroll down).

A San Francisco website says the city’s new bike plan is full of ideas and goals, but short on details, a departure from the its usual approach of ambitious plans that never get built.

 

National

A clickbait slideshow highlights the top ten US bike towns every bicyclist should visit. None of which is Los Angeles, of course. 

A new Utah bill could eliminate mountain bike and gravel racing in the state by imposing a 20 mph speed limit on all trails and pathways, while also revising the definitions of electric motorcycles, e-scooters, mini-bikes and ebikes, and requiring helmets for anyone under 21.

People riding bikes in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown on the Winter Bike to Work Day will enjoy coffee, food, drinks and giveaways, both morning and afternoon. Which compares favorably to LA’s most recent Bike to Work Day, when bike commuters got squat. 

In today’s best story, a family of Ukrainian refugees are living proof of the power bicycles to change lives, assuming ownership of a Boulder, Colorado bike shop from the people who became their substitute parents and benefactors when they arrived here with nothing, despite never riding a bicycle before the war started.

Once again, someone on a bicycle has been killed by a cop, as a 68-year old Norwalk, Connecticut man riding in a crosswalk was hit and killed by an on-duty police detective in an unmarked car.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would finally legalize parking protected bike lanes, sending it on to the state senate for consideration.

This is why people hate defense lawyers. Attorneys for the man accused of killing the hockey-playing Gaudreau brothers the night before their sister’s New Jersey wedding allege they were both over the legal alcohol limit as they rode their bikes, as if that had anything to do with the driver running them down from behind while passing a slower car on the shoulder of the highway.

 

International

Momentum offers 33 reasons to start bike commuting now. Which isn’t quite as catchy as “I got 99 problems but…”, but it will have to do.

A Nova Scotia city councilmember says the city needs a 2,000 percent increase in bicycling rates if they want to have any hope of meeting their climate goals. On the other hand, at least they have climate goals, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name, which tossed the last mayor’s Green New Deal out the window before the new mayor even came in. 

Not Just Bikes says the reason Canadians can’t bike in the winter and Finns can has nothing to do with weather, and everything to do with safe bicycle infrastructure. Then proceeds to refute their own argument by showing Canadians bicycling in, yes, winter, albeit less comfortably than their Finnish counterparts.

Seriously? A 32-year old British man is facing ten years behind bars for killing a 75-year old Finnish man with an axe as he lay in his bed, bizarrely claiming it was self-defense after the older man tied him down and raped him — yet the press somehow insists on identifying him as a “cyclist” because he arrived in Finland on a bike tour.

Evidently, the wheels of justice turn slowly in India, where a man was acquitted eight years after his arrest for stealing a bike.

An Aussie website says Bangkok is better for bicycling than they expected. Which doesn’t exactly sound like high praise. 

A Melbourne, Australia woman is called a Karen after she lost her temper during a rideout in the Central Business District, getting out of her car to repeatedly point her finger in the faces of the teen bicyclists stopping traffic with their two-wheeled antics.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wout van Aert says it was just meant to be, after failing to overtake Mathieu van der Poel for the ‘cross world championship.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website examines the post pro racing careers of a handful of cycling legends, ranging from The Cannibal to Contador.

Thanks to indoor cycling gear supplied by Zwift and Wahoo, a Congolese cyclist says he’s still able to train, even as armed conflict rages outside, making it too dangerous to ride a bicycle.

 

Finally…

Ethan Hunt has apparently gone rogue and is now raiding Brit bike shops. Your next bike could have two chains — and no, not the rapper. Who says you need to stop pedaling to play the drums?

And surfing, like bicycling, evidently leaves little to the imagination as to the outline of your, um, male appendage.

Assuming you have one, of course.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Civil rights complaint filed against administrator of CA ebike incentive; loophole closed on Chinese imports

February 4, 2025 / / No comments
Day 35 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Nope. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas abruptly resigned, despite winning re-election to a second term in November, citing fears for her personal safety over her support for a sanctuary city.

Or maybe it had something to do with a civil rights complaint filed with the EPA citing close ties to Ed Clancy, head of the San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, which administers the California ebike incentive program.

The complaint alleges the ebike voucher program discriminates against Black people, making their vouchers harder to redeem and charging additional fees, along with a number of other allegations.

Just one more example of the total shitshow this program has devolved into.

The only question here is whether the DOJ investigation Reichert mentions is the state investigation we already knew about, or whether a federal investigation has been launched as well.

Thanks to Malcolm Watson for the heads-up.

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Despite lifting the new tariffs on Mexico and Canada yesterday, at least temporarily, Trump allowed the additional 10% punitive tariff on goods imported from to go into effect, as we discussed yesterday.

Adding insult to financial injury, he is also reportedly closing the de minimis loophole, which allows goods from China valued below $800 to be shipped directly to the consumer, bypassing import duties and regulatory scrutiny.

That’s what allows Chinese websites such as Shein and Temu to offer such low prices.

It’s also what has allowed low-end Chinese ebikes sold through Amazon and Walmart to flood the market.

So it may not necessarily be a bad thing. Even if it means you could pay more for components.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

San Mateo, California is taking a page from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s playbook, with a vote last night to consider ripping out the two-year old Humboldt Street bike lanes because drivers are whining about a loss of parking.

No bias here. An English town is benevolently lifting a ban on bicycles on the city’s main shopping street after four years — but only permitting bicycles restricted to the same hours as delivery trucks, rather than allowing the access other shoppers and employees enjoy.

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Local  

Long Beach will hold a public town hall meeting to discus the city’s Orange Avenue Backbone Bikeway Project a week from Thursday.

 

State

Calbike asks, not unreasonably, why there’s still no new bill in the state legislature to legalize Stop As Yield, aka the California Safety Stop, aka the Idaho Stop Law, after two new studies showed it works, improving safety for bicyclists while reducing conflicts at intersections.

The award-winning Arthritis Foundation California Coast Classic Bike Tour is returning for the 25th consecutive year this September.

San Diego continues to fall short of its Vision Zero goals, with 19 people killed by traffic violence in the county last month — including one riding a bicycle that we weren’t previously aware of.

 

National

My bike-friendly Colorado hometown will join other cities across the state in celebrating Valentines Day with a Winter Bike to Work Day, allowing bike riders to spend the day with their one true love — their bicycles. Yet somehow, no one marks the day to encourage people here in Southern California to bike to work in winter, despite having nearly ideal weather for it. Then again, the summer Bike to Work Day has been nearly moribund here post-pandemic, so why should a winter one be any different?

A Florida couple are now both facing charges after investigators concluded the husband lied about being behind the wheel in a deadly hit-and-run that killed an eight-year old girl as she was riding a bicycle, after they discovered he was at work at the time of the crash, and it was the wife who was actually driving.

 

International

Cycling Weekly considers the burning question of when should you replace your bicycle.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An Irish parliament member is calling for a public inquiry into the death of a 23-year old man riding a bicycle, after it was revealed the driver of the car had 42 previous convictions, including convictions for traffic violations, theft and possession of heroin, and was was on bail at the time of the crash.

Bicyclists in Melbourne, Australia are complaining about new bike lanes that they say is make things more dangerous, because the concrete dividers do nothing to keep drivers from pulling out into the bike lane, keep taxis stopping in them or prevent pedestrians from using them as sidewalks.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mountain Bike Action says Tom Pidcock And Mathieu Van Der Poel could give Switzerland’s Nino Schurter a run for his money as the world’s top cross-country mountain bike racer. 

Pez Cycling News considers the most shocking moments in cycling history, starting with Lance the doper. And Landis the Mennonite doper, too.

A San Luis Obispo website says a secretive, underground, unsanctioned and arguably illegal bike race known as the SLO Little 500 “puts the fun in dysfunction.”

 

Finally…

Celebrate Black History Month by riding brakeless. That feeling when you race through the muck and mud with a $300,000 Swiss watch on your wrist.

And now you, too, can have a built-in handlebar dashboard on your bike. Because there just aren’t enough ways to suck the fun out of bicycling already.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

New tariffs could mean higher prices on bikes and parts, and accused road-raging Fresno driver runs down 3 bike riders

February 3, 2025 / / No comments
Day 34 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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If you were thinking about buying a bicycle, ebike or parts for your bike, you should do it now, before Trump’s new tariffs kick in.

Or be prepared to fork over more money for it.

The overwhelming majority of bicycles, ebikes and components come from China, which will now be subject to a new 10% tariff, in addition to the previous tariffs.

Those previous tariffs already amount to 36%, according to Bicycle Retailer, with the 25% punitive tariff imposed by Trump in his first term, and continued by Biden, added to the previously existing 11% protective tariff approved by Congress.

Which means that with the new 10% punitive tariff Trump imposed over the weekend, the rate will be 46% added to the cost of anything coming in from China.

And despite Trump’s repeated insistence that it will be a tax on and paid for by China, the added costs cost are likely to passed on to the consumer, amounting to a nearly 50% tax on bikes and components that will have to be paid by someone.

In other words, you.

It could also result in shortages if importers balk at the higher taxes, after bike shop are just getting back to full inventory after the pandemic-fueled shortages.

So don’t wait.

Peddle yourself down to your favorite local bike shop now. Or you could be the one who pays the higher prices, or find yourself unable to buy anything at all.

Photo by Kaboompics.com via Pexels.

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A 23-year old Fresno man faces three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, accused of intentionally running down two teenaged bike riders, as well as another man on a bicycle.

The incident started when the driver got out of his SUV to fight with a group of bike riders on the side of the road, after they had argued on the street.

But following the brawl, the man allegedly drove onto the sidewalk to purposely hit the two teenagers as they tried to ride away.

He then backed off the sidewalk and continued down the street, before swerving into a bike lane to deliberately ram the older man, who does not appear to have any connection to the other group.

Not surprisingly, the driver was assaulted by a group of bike riders following his vehicular attacks. And no, that doesn’t mean it was justified, just understandable given the circumstances.

He was hospitalized with minor injuries, apparently stemming from the assault following the crashes

All three victims were taken to a local hospital, but there’s no word on their condition.

The article from the Fresno Bee appears to be hidden by a paywall, but I was able to click through to read it. 

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The Transit Guy is on this week’s Bike Talk, along with LA bike lawyer and BikinginLA title sponsor Jim Pocrass.

Hayden Clarkin is on this week. AKA the Transit Guy. @bikinginla.bsky.social @bikelanesla.bsky.social @bikelaneuprising.bsky.social

— (@taylor-biketalk.bsky.social) 2025-02-01T15:45:12.819Z

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Streets For All will host their monthly virtual happy hour next Wednesday, featuring newly elected Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish.

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Gravel Bike California returns with a ride across the rolling foothills of Bakersfield with Grizzly Cycles.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

No bias here. Citing insufficient evidence, Florida prosecutors refused to charge a road raging 76-year old woman for attempting to run down a man riding a bicycle, after the two argued when she cut him off in a roundabout — even though the whole thing was captured on the victim’s bike cam, as well as two security cams. Which makes you wonder just what they would consider sufficient.

He gets it. The CEO of Lime Bikes chides Londoners for complaining about a single dockless bikeshare bike parked on the sidewalk, when there are hundreds of parked cars cluttering the streets.

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Local  

Friends and fellow cops held a 37-mile memorial ride for LAPD officer Paul Jordan, who was killed in an off-duty crash on the 118 Freeway while driving home from work last week; Jordan was a frequent road cyclist who reportedly loved bicycling.

West Hollywood may be jumping the gun just a tad, as the city is planning first and last mile connections to the K Line subway, which could be decades away since it hasn’t yet been approved, let alone funded; it also may never even reach the city, with three routes remaining under consideration, two of which would bypass WeHo all or in part. But I do applaud the effort. 

South El Monte decided not to decide between two options for a 1.4-mile bike and pedestrian project on Tyler Ave/Santa Anita Ave, tabling the motion for two months after councilmembers balked at the loss of 99 parking spaces. Once again prioritizing the convenience of motorists over the safety of people on bicycles.

 

State

Calbike will host a webinar on February 20th to discuss creative approaches to funding active transportation funding. Which is even more important now, in light of the freezing of federal funding. 

Now you, too, can see Santa Barbara by bike through the eyes of a longtime local.

 

National

Sigh. A writer for Streetsblog says Trump is putting safety last and politics first by freezing the federally funded “Road to Zero” program, in an apparent attempt to undo anything approved by the Biden administration, even though the funds were intended to improve traffic safety in both red and blue states.

An automotive website says there is no truth to the rumor that Tesla is building an ebike, revealing it was dreamed up by a freelance industrial designer and the internet ran with it. But would you really want an electric bicycle made by the manufacturer of the “the polarizing and fault-ridden Cybertruck,” anyway?

Once again, an innocent bike rider was collateral damage for a driver fleeing from the cops, this time in Las Vegas, where police were chasing a juvenile and allegedly unlicensed DUI driver accused of sideswiping an SUV at a high rate of speed, then crashing into another SUV before both vehicles spun onto the sidewalk, killing a 41-year old man riding a bicycle; a St. Louis bike rider was also injured by a driver fleeing from the cops.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A middle school teacher in my Colorado hometown was convicted of misdemeanor careless driving for killing a bike-riding 10-year-old boy while driving distracted, after previously pleading guilty to another lousy misdemeanor for deleting texts and tampering with physical evidence. Because evidently, killing a little boy and trying to hide the evidence just isn’t a big enough deal to warrant a single felony count. Or at least that’s the message drivers will take from this kind of chronic undercharging. 

A Cary, Illinois man is suing the local village after he was right hooked by an on-duty cop while riding in the crosswalk with the light.

The kindness and generosity of the bicycle community is on display once again, as West Springfield, Massachusetts’ Bob “The Bike Man” worked with local boy and girl scout troops to package gear to get the city’s homeless people through the worst of the winter; he’s best known for refurbishing bicycles to give to people in need.

Charlottesville, Virginia is the latest city to offer ebike vouchers, distributing $100,000 to 100 residents this year in the form of $1,000 “mini-grants” intended to encourage ebike use; the grants are available to any resident over the age of 18.

A Tampa, Florida woman marked her 50th birthday by riding 50 three-mile laps around a local island in honor of her father, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, while raising funds  fight to Parkinson’s through Team Fox and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

 

International

An Ontario bike rider responds to the provincial plan to rip out Toronto’s bike lanes by saying “I don’t want to be in this province anymore.” Which is a feeling a lot of us can relate to when government actions — or inaction — threaten our safety.

A new Toronto study shows that a full ten percent of the city’s bicycle traffic consists of delivery riders delivering food.

Cycling Weekly takes up the burning question of why bike lanes in the US and Great Britain end abruptly without connecting to other bikeways . Which pretty much describes most of the bike lanes in the LA area. 

The Guardian’s Laura Laker recommends the best panniers and handlebar bags.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a delivery driver was fined the equivalent of a lousy $1,200 and banned from driving for an equally lousy 12 months, after leaving a woman with a broken neck when he cut across the bike the victim was riding in

Bicyclists in Chennai, India — formerly known as Madras — call for more bike lanes and better infrastructure, and government action to “sensitize” drivers of heavy vehicles to traffic safety. Showing once again that we all face the same issues, regardless of where you ride.

Le Monde Diplomatique reports that Taiwan’s bicycle industry relies on migrant labour and “dodgy employment practices.” But you’ll have to find a way around their paywall if you want to read more than the first few paragraphs.

 

Competitive Cycling

Once again, a promising young cyclist has been killed, this time in the UK, where 18-year old national junior champ Aidan Worden was struck by a driver while on a training ride in Lancashire, England.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says maybe we need more unpredictability in pro cycling, and really don’t want the top riders to compete against each other more often.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you need new-age bike accessories, apparently so you can burn sandalwood incense while you meditate while riding. Evidently, French bike riders can fly over the heads of horses and pedestrians.

And please dismount before breaking your neck riding down the stairs to the Bike Hub at the bottom.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

CicLAvia unveils 2025 schedule, starting next month; Waymo says it’s safer than human drivers, which isn’t saying much

January 31, 2025 / / No comments
Day 31 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 
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CicLAvia announced the dates for eight open streets events for the coming year, starting with the West Adams meets University Park route on February 23rd.

Highlights include Koreatown meets Hollywood in April, Historic South Central meets Watts in June, a return to the popular Culver City meets Venice route in August, and a comeback to last year’s Melrose CicLAvia in December.

We’ll also see CicLAminis — shorter routes better suited to walking than bicycling — in Pico Union and San Pedro in May and September, respectively.

Along with the annual return of the ever-popular Heart of LA in October, just in time for another Dodgers playoff run.

Just saying.

………

Maybe it’s no surprise that driverless vehicles are safer than the kind with an actual human behind the wheel.

But that doesn’t mean you should let down your guard around them.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

Based on data collected by Waymo, their driverless vehicles had 81% fewer airbag deployment crashes, 78% fewer injury-causing crashes and 62% fewer police-reported crashes than traditional vehicles driving the same distance. Waymo vehicles rely on cameras, sensors and a type of laser radar called lidar to operate autonomously…

A Waymo taxi collided with a cyclist in San Francisco last year and another vehicle crashed into a pole in Phoenix in May. Customers have reported various glitches on social media, including one Reddit user who posted a video of a Waymo driving the wrong direction into oncoming traffic.

And that’s not counting the guy who filmed himself locked inside a Waymo cab as it drove in circles for five minutes, before it finally straightened out and took him to his destination. Let alone the well-documented problems with Tesla and Cruise.

So maybe, just maybe you might be safer sharing the road with a motor vehicle if there’s no one behind the wheel.

But don’t count on it just yet.

………

Local  

Nonprofit organization All Kids Bike is helping build the next generation of bicyclists by teaching Long Beach kindergarten students how to ride a bike.

 

State

She gets it. A San Diego high school student says she’s learned how dangerous bicycling can be, despite growing up riding bikes with her adventure cycling father, and as an ambassador with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, she’s working to ensure her fellow students stay safe on their ebikes.

Bay Area mountain bikers finally got the okay to ride 6.6 miles of trails on 2,579-foot Mount Tamalpais overlooking San Francisco after six years of community outreach and lobbying, only to be stopped in their singletracks by a court order.

 

National

Forbes examines the Bike League’s latest list of Bicycle Friendly Communities.

Police in Boulder, Colorado have finally arrested a suspect in the death of a 19-year old woman, 200 days after her body was found stuffed into a bike trailer and left on the street in the hot summer sun, delaying identification of the victim.

Strong Towns podcast The Bottom-Up Revolution talks with a San Antonio, Texas mom and bike advocate about her path to advocacy and her work improving the city’s bike infrastructure; the city unanimously approved a 25-year bike plan yesterday that could cost up to $8 billion to completely build out. But as we’ve learned the hard way in LA, it’s one thing to approve an ambitious bike plan, but another to actually fund it and approve the work.

A Minneapolis bicyclist explains what you can to keep your bike from being stolen. And yes, he recommends registering your bike.

An Indianapolis paper offers a photo essay of the city’s bike messengers at work despite the frigid temperatures.

This is the cost of doing nothing. An Ohio mayor brings back the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee after it was left unstaffed for several years, in response to the death of a nine-year old boy killed by a driver while riding his bicycle. Although just maybe the kid might still be here if they hadn’t disbanded the damn thing for so long. 

New York got a reminder of the dangers of substandard ebike batteries when the impound yard where they’ve been storing seized and returned ebikes caught fire, covering parts of Red Hook and Brooklyn with toxic smoke; it was the third ebike battery fire at the compound in as many years.

Jamie Foxx is one of us, as the 57-year old actor flashed a smile at the paparazzi as he rode an ebike in Miami.

 

International

Cycling Weekly considers how to cope with seemingly inevitable headwinds. Especially on those days when it seems like there’s a headwind in every direction. 

I want to be like her when I grow up. A Toronto paper examines the stouthearted bike riders who brave the city’s frozen streets on two wheels, including a 78-year old retired school teacher and Viking biker.

This is the cost of traffic violence. An English bike shop owner and advocate was honored as a bicycling organization’s regional campaigner of the year — nine months after he was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

The UK cancels plans to allow bikemakers to double the power of ebikes, after an understandable pushback from the public.

Het gets it, too. Ireland’s former Green Party leader and Transport Minister says there’s “compelling” evidence that building more bike lanes will make the country’s roads less dangerous — especially in the cities, where most of the serious injuries occur.

A Kiwi man confronted a retired, uninsured driver at her home to demand payment for over twelve grand in repair costs to his custom-made bicycle, after she pulled into his path during a group ride, flipping him 180 degrees through the air — and posted video of the confrontation online.

Singletracks highlights five “stunning” gravel trails around Queensland, New Zealand for your next trip Down Under-adjacent.

 

Competitive Cycling

Danish pro cyclist Johan Price-Pejtersen got his national time trial title back, seven months after the country’s governing body stripped it for the crime of riding on a bike path next to the roadway.

Qatar announced a new “groundbreaking” initiative to transform women’s cycling in the Persian Gulf country, with a goal of fast-tracking the next generation of women cyclists to success at the 2030 Asian Games.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the new record for endurance cycling is still 52,000 miles short of the actual record. Your next foldie could be a fashion-forward designer Brompton.

And seriously, just stop saying this, uh, stuff, already.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Chinatown Firecracker run/bike/walk rescheduled for March 8th & 9th, and Bike Index says bike rustling on the rise

January 30, 2025 / / No comments
Day 30 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 
……..

I neglected to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year/Spring Festival in yesterday’s post.

So 新年快乐, 恭喜发财, 설날, Chúc Mừng Năm Mới, 旧正月おめでとう, Tahun Baru Cina, and Tahun Baru Imlek!

And my apologies if I didn’t get all that right, since my mostly monolingual mind means I have to rely on translation apps. 

………

The 47th Annual Chinatown Firecracker run, walk, bike, dog walk and festival has been rescheduled for March 8th and 9th in Los Angeles Chinatown Plaza.

Usually timed to coincide with Lunar New Year, the popular event was postponed in the wake of the devastating wildfires earlier this month.

WHAT:  L.A. Chinatown Firecracker 5K Fun & Timed Run, 10K Timed Run, 1K Kiddie Run, 2K PAW’er Dog Walk & 17th Annual 20/50-Mile Bike Rides — Celebrating 47 years, the L.A. Chinatown Firecracker is one of the largest and oldest running races in the U.S. with its upcoming Lunar New Year run, walk, cycling and dog walk events takes place over the weekend of March 8-9, 2025, at the historic Los Angeles Chinatown Plaza.

March 8-9 are the new dates for the 2025 Firecracker L.A. Year of the Snake Chinatown events with a choice to participate in-person or virtually. Each registered participant receives a commemorative 2025 Firecracker race bib, exclusive collectible finisher’s medal, limited edition t-shirt (even for registered kids and dogs), goody bag, and much more. In addition, participants and their guests will enjoy the Lunar New Year Celebration in the heart of historic Chinatown with an opening ceremony filled with lion dancers and the traditional lighting of 100,000 firecrackers. The Firecracker post events festival is a two-day expo including exhibitors, beer garden, vendors, activities for children, plenty of live entertainment, and free to the public. The 47th Annual Firecracker runs are approved 2025 USATF Sanctioned Events.

The 47th Annual L.A. Chinatown Firecracker is produced by the nonprofit L.A. Chinatown Firecracker Run Committee (LACFRC), a group of volunteers who donate their time and energy to organize and stage events and programs promoting healthy lifestyles, fitness, cultural awareness, supports education and encourages community participation. LACFRC continues to give back with proceeds reinvested in the community providing service and programs benefiting elementary schools and local nonprofit organizations.

WHEN: March 8-9, 2025

  • Sat, March 8: 50-mile Bike Ride; 8:00 a.m. – via Chinatown, LA River Bike Trail, Griffith Park, Glendale, Eagle Rock, El Sereno and Lincoln Heights
  • Sat, March 8: 20-mile Bike Ride; 8:20 a.m. – via Chinatown, LA River Bike Trail, Griffith Park
  • Sat, March 8: 2K PAW’er Dog Walk; 9:00 a.m.
  • Sun, March 9: 5K Run/Walk; 8:00 a.m. Run / 8:20 a.m. Walk
  • Sun, March 9: 10K Run/Walk; 8:20 a.m. Run / 8:40 a.m. Walk
  • Sun, March 9: 1K Kiddie Run: 9:00 a.m.; includes Kiddie Fun Zone
  • (Carnival Games, Face Painting, Petting Zoo, Arts & Crafts activities, Puppet Shows, and much more…)

WHERE: Los Angeles Chinatown Central Plaza, 943 N Broadway, Downtown Los Angeles 90012

REGISTRATION: $28 – $65

………

No surprise here.

Bike Index reports its numbers show bike theft in the US jumped 15% in the US last year, while a recent survey shows thieves snatch an average of 2.4 million bikes each year, with a value of $1.4 billion.

Yes, with a b.

Bikes are also two-and-a-half times more likely to be stolen than a car, while 59% of bike thefts occur in residential areas.

Which is why your bike shouldn’t sleep outside at night. Or even in the relative protection of a garage, which is far easier to break into and get out undetected than your home.

And while you can report a stolen bike to Bike Index after it’s taken — right here on this website, in fact — it should be registered before anything happens to it, which offers your best hope of actually getting it back.

Which is something else you can do right here, right now, with their free, transferable lifetime bike registration service.

Full disclosure, there’s no need for any disclosure, full or otherwise, because I don’t get anything out of hosting their registration service, other than the satisfaction of helping protect your bike and maybe stick it to a few bicycle rustlers.

Because the law won’t let us string ’em up anymore, dammit.

………

A North Carolina TV station talks with Michael White, co-founder of bike & pedestrian safety organization The White Line Foundation.

White is the father of 17-year old US National Team Cyclist Magnus White, who was killed by a driver while training outside of Boulder, Colorado.

A 24-year old Ukrainian immigrant isn charged with his death. Her trial on a single count of felony vehicular homicide after allegedly falling asleep at the wheel has been delayed until March.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

No surprise here. San Francisco Streetsblog reports a new neck-down, or traffic pinch point, on Kirkham Street in San Francisco is slowing traffic speeds exactly as it was designed to do, even as the local press insists it’s is “causing confusion,” “driving motorists crazy” and even making “the street more dangerous.”

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

Santa Barbara will continue their pedestrian friendly makeover of iconic State Street, despite concerns over reckless, speeding ebike riders.

The Mayor of Honolulu is considering the merits of a recently passed bill aimed at reigning in reckless ebike riders hellbent on scoring wheelie-popping TikTok likes; the measure would require helmets for all ebike riders under 18, while requiring that both wheels must remain on the ground at all times.

………

Local  

This is how you do it. Less than two months after losing most of their bikes and gear when some asshole someone stole their equipment trailer, Culver City’s Walk ‘n Rollers is donating newly refurbished bikes, helmets, locks and lights to families affected by the recent fires.

 

State

A 16-year old boy was lucky to escape with a fractured leg when he was left crossed by a driver while riding his ebike in University City Wednesday evening; a 16-year old girl riding with him was treated for multiple abrasions.

A Fresno columnist says there’s a way to stop that rash of post-pandemic traffic deaths, but it will require the public to buy into the Vision Zero program. Unlike Los Angeles, where even the slightest opposition is enough to kill any and all traffic safety projects.

San Francisco Supervisors made a final decision on the much-maligned Valencia Street bike lanes, voting to move the protected lanes from the center to the right curb in each direction.

The Urban Cycling Institute calls Davis a “pioneering cycling town” and the Amsterdam of America. Although something tells me that Davis bike safety critic and frequent BikinginLA contributor Megan Lynch might have something to say about that. 

 

National

Your next new car could be an e-velomobile.

National Parks Traveler considers what’s in the recently passed EXPLORE Act for adventure bicyclists and mountain bikers, like ten new federally funded long-distance bike routes; the bill was signed by Biden before he left office, which presumably compels the new Trump administration to build it out.

The rich get richer, as Colorado Spring, Colorado is building 75 miles of new and newly-legal mountain bike trails, and may construct a lift-served mountain bike park in an abandoned quarry.

Colorado is defying national trends, as overall traffic deaths have dropped in both of the last two years after peaking in 2022, although the news isn’t so good for people on motorcycles.

Dallas bike advocates say the city needs to giddyup in building out its bike plan, as it lags behind other Texas cities when it comes building bikeways. Something their peers in Los Angeles can more than relate to. You know, other than that “giddyup” part. 

A suburban Chicago writer compares the state’s unofficial bicycling death stats with the national trends.

 

International

Momentum highlights a dozen “amazing” cities to explore by bike this year, from the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen to Taiwan’s oldest city; only one American city made the cut. Needless to say, it isn’t Los Angeles.

Tragic story from Glasgow, Scotland, where a 22-year old architecture student told her parents there was just one “tricky bit” on her otherwise safe bike commuting route — the same place where she was killed in a collision a few months later.

Garmin users in the UK now have expensive paperweights attached to their bikes and wrists, as the devises are caught in an endless rebooting loop resulting in the dreaded “triangle of death;” no word on whether the problem is effecting users in this country.

A British bike tourist learns the real value of the Warmshowers website when a virtual stranger took him in and nursed him until he could fly home, after he was struck by a driver while riding in Turkey, with no insurance or other local contacts to call upon his release from the hospital, once again demonstrating the kindness of strangers in the bicycling community.

How to legally ride your bike in Kyiv, for your next trip to Ukraine. Dodging Russian missiles optional.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bad news for cycling and tri fans in the UK, as Warner Bros. Discovery shuts down the cable channel carrying the races, telling sports fans they’ll now need to pay 343% more to subscribe to another Warner channel; a British cycling official says it’s the beginning of the end of pro cycling in the country.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to carry meth, crack, coke and hydrocodone on your bike, put a damn light on it. No, you probably won’t have to scrape the rainbow bands off your bike.

And if you’re going to ride your bike falling down drunk, and without lights, don’t.

Seriously, just order an Uber, already.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Altadena gets post-fire Bicycle Friendly Community mention, CA car-dependency, and a bizarre anti-bike blvd rant

January 29, 2025 / / 4 comments
Day 29 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

……..

Well, that was fun. 

We ended up taking the corgi to the vet yesterday for emergency treatment, after we pulled a grape stem out of her mouth Monday night.

That’s because grapes are highly toxic for dogs; even a single grape can be fatal a dog many times her size.

Five hours, $1200 and a shit ton of fluids later, she came back home with a clean bill of health, aside from a little inflammation that should resolve in a few days.  

Good times. 

So you’ll excuse me if I’m a little distracted and emotionally frazzled while I work on this tonight. 

………

Great timing. No, really.

The League of American Bicyclists, aka the Bike League, announced their latest list of new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities yesterday, along with eight Honorable Mentions.

And only one of those was in Southern California.

Altadena.

Yes, that Altadena. The one that was left devastated and largely destroyed by the Eaton Fire earlier this month.

The city earned an Honorable Mention citation in their first attempt, in recognition of its efforts to improve safety and bikeability on their streets.

Of course, an honorable mention is like a pat on the head saying nice try, but keep working at it, even as much of the city will need to be rebuild from the ground up.

Meanwhile, Cheyenne, Wyoming was named a Bronze Level Bicycle Friendly Community, something that would have been unthinkable back in the day, when I feared for my life dodging pickups and cowboy Cadillacs the few times I had the temerity to even try riding north from my Colorado hometown.

Then again, Los Angeles has been a Bronze Level BFC for over a dozen years, so that may not be saying much.

………

No surprise here. Okay, maybe a little.

A new report from auto-parts retailer Motointegrator finds that California is the most car-dependent state, and New Jersey the least, based on the number of motor vehicles compared to how many could be expected given the relative population.

Santa Ana was the most car-dependent city, not just in California but nationwide, followed by ostensibly bike-friendly Long Beach and Chula Vista in San Diego County, with Riverside and Anaheim coming in at 5th and 6th, respectively.

Although the only real surprise is that Los Angeles somehow didn’t make the top ten.

………

Um, okay.

A writer from Redwood City, California went on a rant against bicycle boulevards and taking the lane.

And, um, fire trucks. Or something.

He somehow conflates bicycle boulevards, aka neighborhood greenways, with bike routes and sharrows, insisting that actual bike lanes are always preferable.

“Bicycle Boulevards” are one big part of the Big Bikeway Bluff. That is what city managers do when they update the marketing material about “Transportation, Children, and Youth” but accidentally forget to do the real thing. As far as bicycle con-jobs go, “Bicycle Boulevards” play one league above “Bike Routes”, “Slow Streets”, and “Sharrows”. And mainly because the name has a nicer ring to it. “Boulevard” sounds like a quiet, tree-lined street without air pollution. Portland calls the same thing “Neighborhood Greenway” to play with the tree theme as well. I have to admit, it is a very clever and sophisticated con, and it runs very deep. It is running for over 40 years now and counting.

But in the end, all these different names stand for the exact same result: no bike lanes for children, no space for older citizens, and no safety for people with disabilities. Instead, they are just mixed in with 4,000 lbs. vehicles on 30 mph, car-lined streets. So the big question still remains: could “sharing the road” ever be made safe?

Except bicycle boulevards are usually considered a big step above bike lanes, and a key component in a low-stress bike network by giving bicycle priority over motor vehicles.

Yes, the streets are shared, but they are usually designed to physically slow drivers, and often include diverters to prevent drivers from going more than a few blocks without turning, while allowing bicyclists to pass through.

He goes on to accuse the Bike League of offering a false promise of safety by advising bicyclists to take the lane and dress like a clown.

No, literally.

And yet it’s US bicycle advocacy groups – like The League of American Bicyclists(LAB) – that will tell people on bicycles that they are safe as long as they follow these rules:

  • Ride like a vehicle
  • “Take The Lane”
  • Dress like a Clown
  • Always wear a bicycle helmet

Statistically, this kind of advice is killing several hundred Americans each year. And since any real bicycle advocacy group will recognize this as bad advice, we can say something seems very off with LAB. Organizations like these have money, people and resources to develop better policies. In fact, much better information is available for free through many research projects done by different universities.

Granted, it’s been a minute since I’ve been involved with the Bike League, but my understanding from their Bicycle Friendly Communities program is that they are big proponents of bike lanes, and especially protected bike lanes, as well as other safe bicycle infrastructure.

And yes, that includes bike boulevards.

Taking the lane is a strategy for when that bike infrastructure isn’t available, and riders are forced to mix it up with motor vehicles.

That’s opposed to riding in the door zone or hugging the curb like a gutter bunny, encouraging drivers to squeeze by in an unsafe manner. Taking the lane simply forces them to move left to go around you.

Never mind that the number of bicyclists killed while taking the lane pales compared to riders killed at intersections.

Then there’s this.

In case of emergencies, fire departments would use their fire trucks as a way to block off the street. Basically, the fire trucks are “Taking the Lane” to secure the firefighters and others. In the transportation world there is nothing bigger, brighter, and more visible than a bright yellow or red fire truck with its flashing lights on. And yet, in 2019, an estimated 2,500 vehicles crashed into these “blockers” that are “taking the lane” to protect fire crews. That is 6.8 crashes daily or 16% of all fire truck collisions. Tesla’s vehicles seem to have an especially bad relationship with fire engines. They constantly run into them. Who would want children riding in front of such technology?…

So if “Taking the Lane” and “Sharing The Road” are demolishing 2,500 parked fire trucks and countless more emergency vehicles, why would any city manager in San Mateo County assume this to be safe for children? Why would any respectable bicycle coalition recommend “sharing the road” experiments?

Well, if you put it that way.

No, there’s nothing to guarantee that drivers will see you in the road directly in front of them, no matter how garish your outfit. And yes, too many drivers can’t manage to avoid people, objects and vehicles in the roadway.

But the point of taking the lane and wearing bright or reflective clothing — or using ultra-bright lights — is to improve your chances of being seen, and force drivers to go around you.

It’s not preferable to having safe bike infrastructure, however, and only the most passionate John Forester disciples would argue otherwise.

And no, sharrows and bike routes are not safe infrastructure, and can actually increase the risk for riders, while too many painted bike lanes offer little better protection.

And don’t get me started on LADOT’s favored little white plastic car-tickler bendie posts.

………

Caltrans announced they are postponing the release of the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study due to the recent fires along the highway.

In light of the recent fires and the ongoing recovery efforts, we have temporarily postponed the release of the draft Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Master Plan Feasibility Study and the 45-day public comment period. The Round Three Community Workshop to present the draft Study’s key findings will also be postponed.

Our hearts are with the residents of Malibu and all those affected during this challenging time. Please be assured that our District is actively collaborating with the City of Malibu to determine the most appropriate time to restart the Study’s engagement activities. We encourage you to continue providing comments through the project’s portal site, as we will monitor it closely. Your input is invaluable to us.

………

Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette is co-sponsoring next month’s Tri Club San Diego February Duathlon, and urging people with better legs than me to sign up for the trail run sandwiched around a 10.5-mile bike race.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

A Phoenix, Arizona man says he was intentionally run down by a road-raging driver after he slapped the man’s truck to alert him to his presence following an overly close pass. Too many drivers somehow consider touching any part of their car, for any reason, as akin to spitting in their face. Just another example of Driver Derangement Syndrome.

A Toronto website examines how a few miles of bike lanes on the city’s deadly Bloor Street turned into a battlefield in the war against bikes; one local pub even distributed t-shirts reading “Fuck Bike Lanes.” Because evidently, people who ride bikes in bike lanes prefer pubs that go out of their way to make them feel unwelcome. 

England’s Norfolk County scrapped plans for a short bikeway connecting two quiet, bikeable streets over complaints about “anti-social” bicycling behavior, forcing riders onto a dangerous, traffic-choked street in an apparent attempt to thin the herd.

………

Local  

No shock here, as traffic fatalities exceed murders in the City of Angels for the second consecutive year; the sort-of-good news is that traffic deaths last year dropped 12.5% over 2023, to a still obscene 302 people killed on the mean streets of LA.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports that newly released documents show Forest Lawn Cemetery argued against safety improvements on deadly Forest Lawn Drive because they “have not observed substantial bicycle use” on it. Because people will usually rush out to ride streets where they don’t feel safe. And where they aren’t. Right?

Streetsblog looks at the progress for the coming Sixth Street PARC (Park, Arts, River & Connectivity) Project under the monumental — and somewhat lightless — Sixth Street Viaduct over the Los Angeles River.

The Santa Monica Daily Press announced the voting categories for their Most Loved competition, including the city’s best bike shop; you can find the rules and how to vote here.

 

State

It will now cost you twice as much to park at a meter in San Diego. Unless you ride a bicycle, in which case you can park for free.

Danville is looking for two new members for the city’s Bicycle Advisory Commission, after councilmembers tossed a couple well-known bicycle advocates out on their asses over “personality differences,” which appears to translate to getting on a councilmember’s nerves for advocating a little too strongly.

 

National

Now you, too, can be a bike influencer.

Bike Mag recommends ten gifts your mountain-biking Valentine will love more than chocolate.

Chicago Streetsblog remembers a local artist and bike advocate who literally flipped his way through life on his handmade chopped bicycle with a circular roll bar attached, allowing him to roll over on the roadway; Arthur Travis Duffey, better known as “Flip Bike Travis,” was 54 when he died in San Diego last year after a long battle with cancer.

A Pittsburgh news site examines the Dirty Dozen bike race, featuring a baker’s dozen of the city’s steepest hills, even though this year’s race isn’t scheduled until October.

 

International

Road.cc’s ebiketips rates the year’s best e-cargo bikes, from kid-hauling bucket bikes to an e-longtail.

If you build it, they will come. A new report says a ten-month old protected bikeway through the heart of Edinburgh, Scotland has increased bike riding rates, while making people feel safer, cutting pollution and boosting local businesses

The British government finally followed through on threats promises to pass a law against dangerous bicyclists by adding ten new laws concerning bike riders, including “cycling on a road dangerously” and “cycling on a road without due care and attention,” as well as belatedly requiring bike lights after dark.

Momentum looks at Bergen, Norway’s new Fyllingsdalen, the world’s longest bicycle tunnel actually built for bikes, which runs under a mountain dividing the city.

A Polish adventurer is making plans to ride a fat bike across Mongolia’s frigid Gobi Desert next month, covering 870 miles from the Altai region in Western Mongolia to Sainshand in the East, in temperatures that can exceed -20° Fahrenheit.

 

Competitive Cycling

American Marco “Randy” Osborne and Scotland’s Ella Conolly won the Pro Men’s and Women’s categories in the four day Andes Pacifico enduro race through the Nuble region of Chile; the race is a blind event, meaning the competitors see the course for the first time as it unfolds in front of them.

Ireland’s 28-year old Megan Armitage proved it’s possible to go from beginner to Olympic cyclist in just three years, after her partner, Australian pro rider Cyrus Monk, challenged her while watching the road cycling in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

 

Finally…

Your next bicycle could be made entirely of recycled ocean plastic. Your next bike bell could be an AirTag-equivalent anti-theft bike tracker.

And these bike race fans are really getting out of control.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Man who escaped Palisades Fire by bike gets his paintings back, Berkeley builds bike lanes, and Forest Lawn fights ’em

January 28, 2025 / / One comment
Day 28 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

……..

The good news is, I don’t seem to have suffered any lasting effects from that knock on the head. 

The bad, our corgi ate a grape off the ground, which are highly toxic for dogs, before we could stop her. Although the poison control center tells us up to three grapes “should” be okay for a dog her size. 

So now we’re facing 48 hours of watchful waiting looking for any sign of toxicity. 

Good times. 

Like I said yesterday, it’s just one damn thing after another these days. 

………

A legal website reports someone riding a bicycle was killed in a collision at SR 78 and Idaho Ave in Escondido Thursday morning.

However, I have been unable to find any confirmation on the crash, let alone the death of the victim. So if you’ve heard anything, let me know.

………

NBC4’s Robert Kovacik returned a pair of paintings to a man who had to leave them behind when he evacuated the Palisades Fire by bicycle.

Francois Auroux was clutching the large oil paintings on his bicycle as he escaped the fire, which began three weeks ago today, when he encountered Kovacik doing a live remote broadcast.

Kovacik offered to hold the paintings for him — which ironically included Man on a Bicycle by Greek artist Alekos Fassianos — promising to return them at a later date, as the falling ash and embers surrounded them.

The two men met again Thursday as Kovacik kept his promise and returned the paintings, which is all that Auroux has left of his home of 39 years, other than the bicycle he escaped on.

However, lost in that story is another, more important story.

Because as residents struggled to get out with their belongings packed in their cars on the gridlocked streets, Auroux was able to quickly pedal to safety.

Yes, he had to leave most of his things behind, and struggled to ride with the awkward artwork. But he was able to get out when many others couldn’t.

I’ve been told by a number of people, including some who barely escaped other major fires in the state, that no one would ever use a bicycle to flee a raging wildfire.

Yet Auroux did, as did several other people who have lived to tell the tale.

A bicycle may not be the best way to take everything with you. But when you have to get out fast, it may be your best choice.

………

Last week, we mentioned that Berkley is looking for feedback on the city’s 2017 bike plan, as they prepare to develop a new one. And asked the obvious question, in light of LA’s failure to build out its plan, of just how much of the old plan was actually built.

But for a change, we actually got an answer. In the comment below, we heard from our old friend Christopher Kidd, who is in now charge of the project.

Ted – thank you so much for picking up coverage of the Berkeley Bike Plan Update! I’m serving as the project manager for the update.

Since the old Plan’s adoption in 2017, the City of Berkeley has implemented almost 11 miles of network facilities (include 3.5 miles of separated bikeways) and upgraded 20 intersection crossings on the low-stress network.

More than that, the City has in queue 4-5 more miles of Bicycle Boulevards going into construction in the next 24 months.

And while we’re on the subject, congratulations to Kidd on being named to the board of the California Bicycle Coalition, aka Calbike. He brings a passionate, and very knowledgeable, voice for bike and traffic safety.

Which means we should be in good hands.

And Berkeley, too.

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Streetsblog posts a lengthy thread of public record documents showing Forest Lawn’s efforts to drum up business by fighting bike lanes on dangerous and deadly Forest Lawn Drive.

Received some L.A. City public records today regarding the mortuaries' fight against Forest Lawn Drive safety improvements – a thread. See background at SBLA coverage in December la.streetsblog.org/2024/12/19/c…

— Streetsblog L.A. (@streetsblogla.bsky.social) 2025-01-28T00:57:48.742Z

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The host of the LA in a Minute podcast talks with Streets For All founder Michael Schneider about whether Los Angeles can really become bike and transit friendly.

………

Bike Talk talks about SUVs as the new cigarettes.

If we could get smoking out of bars we can make safe places to ride a bike. Check this out @bikelaneuprising.bsky.social @bikelanesla.bsky.social @bikinginla.bsky.social

— (@taylor-biketalk.bsky.social) 2025-01-26T18:20:00.843Z

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In case you wonder why New York bicyclists don’t use the snow-free protected bike lanes, maybe it’s because there’s a school bus driver sleeping in them.

And yes, I can now embed BlueSky posts. 

Love to take a nap in my bus that’s illegally parked in a jersey barrier protected bike lane and force a cyclist to use the sidewalk

— Boba Cyclist 정 (@bobacyclist.bsky.social) 2025-01-23T18:29:12.330Z

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That feeling when your smooth, paved bike path comes to a sudden and weedy end.

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A prewar photo of an early British bicycle, and the man who built it.

Cool is right.

A.L. Whale, 82, riding his 'boneshaker' bicycle with iron wheels. He built the bicycle himself in 1871; it was believed to be the second such machine built in England.Tewkesbury, UK16 May 1935

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-01-27T19:37:07.905Z

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

The condition of a Eureka bike rider is unknown, after the bicyclist was the victim of an apparent intentional hit-and-run as a woman in a minivan ran them down, backed over the victim’s bicycle, then fled the scene before causing a number of other crashes; she was finally stopped when two men open the minivan’s doors and pulled her out, holding her for the police. Although it took until the last paragraphs before the story even mentioned that the seemingly sentient minivan actually had someone behind the wheel. 

A 21-year old Michigan man was the victim of an apparent road rage attack when he was run down on his bicycle by a couple in their late teens; both the 19-year old driver and the 18-year old woman he was with were arrested on charges of felonious assault.

Um, okay. An Indianapolis man faces charges for pushing a 14-year old boy off his “motorized” bike and threatening to kill him if he didn’t stop riding it in the street — never mind that the man was infamous in the neighborhood for yelling at kids to stop riding on the sidewalk, too. Which raises the question of where the hell did he want them to ride. 

He gets it. A British Columbia letter writer responds to a driver’s call to tax bicyclists to pay for bike lanes and paths by patiently explaining that it’s the people who ride bikes and buses who subsidize motorists, not the other way around.

A pair of English bike riders had to sweep up a popular bike path themselves to protect other riders, after several bicyclists suffered flat tires when whoever trimmed a hedge lining the path couldn’t be bothered to clean up all the thorns and spikes they left behind.

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

A New York writer complains that she was knocked down by a red light-running bicyclist who blew through the crosswalk she was in, but the police didn’t care because she didn’t get killed.

The good residents of Birmingham, England seem to be fed up with “inconsiderate and dangerous” bicycling and skateboarding, as the city prepares a new public space protection order to address the numerous “near misses and accidents that cause alarm and distress to pedestrians.”

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Local  

A Los Angeles social worker shares the insights she gained about the Holocaust by riding a bike across Poland, where her father, who survived 11 different concentration camps, was born.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son Pax was involved in another bike crash last week when he “barreled” his BMX into the side of car in Los Feliz, six months after he was seriously injured crashing his ebike. Although it’s unclear from the description if he crashed into the side of the car, or if he was doored by the occupants. 

Now you, too, can be the proud owner of an 1890s cast iron stationary bike for sale for just $600 from someone in Pasadena.

 

State

Your next ebike could be solar powered, thanks to San Diego’s JackRabbit — as long as you don’t want to go very far.

No bias here. A San Diego letter writer, and the former chair of the City Heights Planning Committee, complains about the neighborhood’s empty bike lanes, describing them as “miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles,” while a road project goes unfinished. Never mind that bike lanes are far cheaper and easier to install than road work, and significantly more efficient. Or that drivers still enjoy the lion’s share of the streets.

No bias here, either. A Santa Cruz website declares a proposed lane reduction and protected bike lane project “Carmageddon,” because it would result in the loss of “some” parking spaces. Never mind that the original Carmegeddon, when the 405 Freeway in West Los Angeles was shut down for a whole weekend in 2012 to widen an overpass, failed to materialize when Los Angeles drivers just stayed home. 

Kindhearted cops in Mendota bought a new bike and lock for a young boy, after he called 911 to report someone had stolen his bike from the back of his dad’s pickup.

 

National

A writer for Clean Technica says a single brown wire is all that separates a class two ebike from an illegally overpowered one, which she says proves the idiocy of US ebike laws.

Gear Patrol wants to know why every new bicycle doesn’t come with a built-in phone/bike computer mount.

Sadly, no surprise here, after someone scrawled offensive, racist Nazi graffiti on an Issaquah, Washington bike path. There’s never been a shortage of racists and Neo-Nazis anywhere in the US — including right here in Southern California — but the Pacific Northwest has long been a hotbed. 

Over 200 people turned out for a memorial bike ride to honor an Albuquerque, New Mexico bike advocate and city worker, after he was killed by a hit-and-run driver last week. I can’t recall 200 people ever turning out to honor any fallen bicyclist here in Los Angeles, or any other bike-related cause, even though we have nearly six times as many people. 

More proof that bikes are good for business, as a new report shows bicycling has a $1.4 billion impact — yes, with a b — on the state of Iowa.

New York has opened its trade-in program for delivery riders to take uncertified e-bikes, mopeds and their dangerous batteries off the streets, and replace them with safer, certified ebikes.

A new study from a New York university suggests that people-protected bike lanes, which originated in San Francisco, have made a difference in getting better bike infrastructure built in the US.

Philadelphia is getting the city’s second set of speed cams, after the first one proved successful.

A Florida man was collateral damage when a woman ran a red light and her car was struck by an SUV, sending it barrel-rolling off the roadway and over the victim as he walked his bicycle on the ride of the road.

Florida county commissioners balk at the $40 million price tag to improve safety by building a pair of bicycle underpasses below a dangerous roadway. But no one seems to think twice about a $300 million highway widening job.

 

International

Cyclist recommends the best bike podcasts.

Momentum recommends the top eight bicycle friendly bars and breweries in North America, including one in my bike friendly Colorado hometown. But none in Los Angeles, or anywhere else in SoCal, unfortunately. 

A new Toronto study shows that bike lane placement can be optimized by a scientific approach based on traffic patterns and commuter mobility.

A London writer learns first-hand what it’s like to become a victim of the city’s masked, machete-wielding bikejacking gangs.

Despite numerous studies showing that people who ride bicycles are less likely to die prematurely, a new Scottish study shows the opposite, suggesting that certain sports do prolong life, but riding a bike isn’t one of them.

The European Union has extended its anti-dumping tariffs on Chinese ebikes for another five years to protect the local market.

Despite the Scottish study we just mentioned, a new Scandinavian study says people who bike to work need fewer sick days — yet another reason why employers should encourage bicycle commuting, as well as advocating for safe bike routes.

A Finnish city is called the “winter bicycling capital of the world” for its fabulous cold-weather infrastructure.

Pez Cycling News offers tips on where and how to ride a bike in Florence, for your next trip to Italy.

Evidently, if you want safe, separated bikeways, all you have to do is move to Abu Dhabi.

Must be nice. The newly elected governor of Jakarta, Indonesia is making fixing the capital city’s “suboptimal” bike lanes his first priority.

An Aussie woman set a new world record for the most vertical distance descended on a mountain bike in 24 hours, at 182,831 feet. Although presumably, she had to ascend that much before descending, too.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from Trentino, Italy, where 19-year old U23 cyclist Sara Piffer was killed when her bike was struck head-on by a 70-year old man, who claimed he couldn’t see her because the sun was in his eyes, yet her father somehow had the grace to forgive the man who killed her; bicyclists responded by calling for an end to the “massacre” on the streets.

In yet another mass casualty event, six members of the German national cycling team — including former European U23 champ Tobias Buck-Gramcko and World Championship bronze medalists Benjamin Boos and Bruno Kessler — were injured, some seriously, when they were run down by an 89-year old man while on a training ride; fortunately, none of the injuries were life threatening. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive, and how the hell can we know before something like this happens.

Gravel greats Ted King, LeLan Dains, John Hobbs and Amanda Nauman-Sheek have been inducted into the Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame. Raise your hand if you even knew it was even a thing.

The mother of 16-year old SoCal pro mountain biker Cash Shaleen says he’s home from the hospital and slowly healing, though sill unable to walk, after he was struck by the driver of an off-road vehicle while he was working on his own in Glamis, California, last month, badly compressing his spine.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be omnidirectional, with big balls instead of wheels. Your next two-wheeled micro-lending library could look like a beetle. Your next ebike could be a Ford Mustang — even if it bears little resemblance to the four-wheeled original, aside from the paint job.

And even tandem riders sometimes had to deal backseat drivers.

No, literally.

The Tally-Ho Tandem, in which the rider in back gets to control the steering and the wheelies.

— Cool Bike Art (@coolbikeart1.bsky.social) 2025-01-26T19:07:55.965Z

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

New book examines past, present and future of Black bicycling; and bike to clean up Angeles National Forest trail tomorrow

January 24, 2025 / / No comments
Day 24 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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An upcoming new book takes a look at the past, present and future of Black bicyclists in the US and around the world.

According to the Los Angeles Sentinel, New Black Cyclones: Racism, Representation and Revolutions of Power in Cycling by Marlon Lee Moncrieffe examines “several cycling communities throughout America and several countries in Africa, highlighting their perspectives on racial issues and general experiences.”

“I’m using the past to understand the present,” (Moncrieffe) said. “And taking the voices of current Black cyclists to understand what might be the future of our representation in the sport.”

The book will be available from all the usual source — yes, including that one — next month.

………

The Wild newsletter from the Los Angeles Times reports you can ride your bike to help clean up the Valley Forge Trail in the Angeles National Forest (scroll down).

2. Bike to trail clean-up in Angeles National Forest
The Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association will host a bike-in trail cleanup from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday on the Valley Forge Trail. Volunteers will park at Redbox Picnic Area and are responsible for getting themselves to Valley Forge Trail Camp by bike. The group will meet at 8 a.m. for a safety briefing before riding to the trail. The organization will provide lunch to volunteers. Participants should bring water and snacks and wear long sleeves and pants to protect themselves from poodle-dog bush and other irritants in the area. Register at eventbrite.com.

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Gravel Bike California takes one fond look back to their favorite rides of the past year.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

No bias here. Readers of an Oxford, England newspaper say the best way to improve safety for bicyclists is to ban bicycling in the city.

A British city scrapped a controversial bicycling ban on a pedestrianized Main Street — or High Street in the Brit vernacular — despite claiming it had widespread support just last April.

………

Local  

Torched takes an in-depth look at the smoke fouling air in the Los Angeles area, as fires continue to burn throughout the region. So go ahead and ride your bike this weekend — just try not to breathe.

At least 54 hiking trails were burned in Eaton and Palisades fires, let alone what may have gone up in this week’s Hughes Fire above Castaic. Which raises the troubling question of whether your favorite mountain biking or gravel trails will still be around when all the flames are extinguished.

Santa Monica Next takes the beachside city to task for failing to adequately enforce the state vehicle code, in the wake of a deadly hit-and-run crash last month.

 

State

A group of 61 local, state and national advocacy groups signed onto a letter to Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission urging them to speed up action to meet the state’s transportation-related climate goals, as they continue to build dirty freeways instead of bikeways.

Police in Huntington Beach recovered a stolen ebike and arrested the alleged thief after the victim’s mom tracked it down herself.

Streetsblog takes a look at Irvine’s first curb-protected bike lane — or protected bike lane, period.

 

National

Bicycling recommends the gear you need for riding in all types of cold weather this winter. Although here in Los Angeles, that usually just ranges from drought weather to fire weather to earthquake weather. Read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

People For Bikes highlights last year’s best new US bikeways, including San Diego’s Pershing Bikeway. But as usual, none are in Los Angeles.

A new bike mapping app promises to rate every street in the US on a scale of one to five for bike-friendliness.

An Oregon Marine Corps vet got his stolen custom-made ti bike back after a sharp-eyed sheriff’s detective spotted it while serving a search warrant, even though it had been partially disassembled and some of the parts used to create a Frankenbike.

The new Arkansas Global Cycling Accelerator is taking applications from bicycling-related startups and innovators hoping to jumpstart their business, as Bentonville strives to become a hub for the mountain biking industry, as well as a world-class mountain biking destination.

In today’s most touching story, councilmembers in Schenectady, New York joined a caravan of police, fire and public works vehicles to honor a local man famed for simply riding his bike throug the city while bringing warmth and cheer to everyone he met, after 56-year old Ronnie “Rondon” Cridelle lost his battle with cancer. Although when my time comes, I’ll be lucky if I get someone pulling a corgi in a wagon around the block.

A not too surprising side benefit of New York’s new congestion pricing program is that less traffic also means fewer collisions, and fewer injuries, as a result.

Bad news from North Carolina, where bicycling deaths jumped 50% last year, despite an overall drop in traffic fatalities.

 

International

Rouleur talks with Phil Cavell, author of The Midlife Cyclist, about how to ride a bike after 40 while staying healthy.

Despite the recommendations of an independent investigation office, a Canadian Mountie in British Columbia won’t face charges for using his police cruiser as a weapon to knock a 15-year-old robbery suspect off his bicycle; prosecutors say there isn’t enough evidence to support the recommended charges of aggravated assault, dangerous driving and dangerous driving causing bodily harm. All of which seems pretty self-evident, given the circumstances. 

London bicyclists are avoiding the popular riding route around the outer circle of the city’s Regent Park, after a rash of violent high-end bike thefts.

Riders of London’s Lime dockless ebikes discover the hard way that “break a leg!” isn’t just a way to avoid jinxing theater performers.

A Scottish driver pled guilty to killing a “legendary” local bicyclist, despite playing the universal Get Our Of Jail Free card, as the woman claimed she didn’t see the 64-year old man riding his bike because the sun was in her eyes.

A historic Cardiff, Wales outdoor velodrome lives to fight another day, after plans to build a new replacement fell through.

A British man was found guilty of manslaughter for fatally stabbing another man in a dispute over an allegedly stolen ebike, after the purported thief continued to send threatening voice mail messages.

Retro bike collector and head of British Cycling Bob Howden invites Cycling Weekly into his trove of classic bikes.

You can add adventure bicycling around Taiwan to your bike bucket list.

A writer for Streetsblog sends a postcard from Shanghai, saying “the Chinese mega-city provides an example of great urban mobility, albeit with a side of authoritarianism.” Because as we all know, a side of authoritarianism goes great with Peking duck and stinky tofu. 

Life is cheap in Australia, as former cycling champ Rohan Dennis formally entered a guilty plea in the death of his wife, former Olympic cyclist Melissa Hopkins, copping to a single aggravated count of creating likelihood of harm, with a maximum sentence of seven years behind bars and a five-year loss of his driver’s license; Hopkins died after falling off the hood of Dennis’ SUV as she clung to it for dear life as he sped off.

 

Competitive Cycling

The United State’s only remaining one-day men’s UCI bike race is coming back this September, as the Maryland Cycling Classic adds a long-awaited women’s race to go with it.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can finally own that ’73 Schwinn Stingray you always wanted, for less than it will probably cost you to have it shipped. Nothing like a nice, brisk 20 below fat bike ride.

And that feeling when your editor tells you to write about bike memes, but neglects to explain there’s a difference between bicycles and motorcycles.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Walk ‘n Rollers hosts bicycle safety workshop and pizza party, and “powerful force” for N.M. bike community killed

January 23, 2025 / / No comments
Day 23 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s our third light bike news day in a row, as some guy in Washington seems to be sucking up all the news space. Which just means I can get to bed that much earlier. 

Although it’s questionable how much sleep I’ll get, as smoke from yet another not-too-distant LA fire infiltrates our apartment once again. 

Today’s photo: apropos of nothing, a bike hanging on a wall of a defunct coffee shop. 

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

No bias here. British drivers complain about bikeshare bikes, calling them a “blight” on the sidewalks, but parking cars on said sidewalks appears to be just fine.

A road-raging UK driver will spend the next 18 months behind bars after being convicted for using his car as a weapon by deliberately ramming a bike rider following a punishment pass, then getting out of his car and yelling at the victim as he lay helpless on the street.

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

A 73-yer old Dublin, Ireland woman died of a head injury after she was struck by a man riding a bicycle, while she was putting up political campaign posters last year.

………

Local  

Walk ‘n Rollers is teaming with the YMCA and Culver City to host a free bicycle safety workshop and pizza party this Sunday to “help keep commuters and recreational cyclists safe.”

 

State

Calbike considers a number of policy changes to protect vulnerable road users.

Orange County’s most bike-friendly city just got its first protected bike lane, with a new 1.25-mile curb protected lane to go with Irvine’s 300 miles of painted bike lanes and 100 miles of off-street bikeways.

The Imperial County DA’s office says they’ll be cracking down on riders of ebikes and electric motorcycles for unspecified violations. Which seems like illegal selective enforcement, unless they crack down on violations by other road users to the same degree.

Bad news from Bakersfield, where a 14-year old boy was critically injured by a driver while riding his bicycle against traffic.

A 44-year old Oregon woman pled not guilty to charges including vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and DUI for allegedly just driving off after hitting two men riding bicycles in San Luis Obispo, killing an 87-year old Avila Beach man and injuring his 74-year old companion.

Sad news from Walnut Creek, where a woman was killed by a driver while riding her bike Wednesday morning — or rather, by a vehicle, since the story doesn’t even mention that it had a driver until the last paragraph.

A suspect has been arrested in Amarillo, Texas for a deadly hit-and-run that took the life of a 49-year old Tulare County man riding a bicycle last August.

 

National

This is the cost of traffic violence. A man describe as a “powerful pedaling force” for the Albuquerque, New Mexico bicycling community was killed by a driver while riding his bike home after spending the day refurbishing bicycles for children in need; 64-year old Chuck Malagodi, who led bike tours around the world before moving to the city, was just a mile from his home when he was killed, after he had refused a ride from a friend.

I want to be like them when I grow up. Three men in their 70s from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, along with a fourth man in his late 60s, completed a bike-touring trip down the 3,000 mile East Coast Greenway trail.

 

International

Vancouver, British Columbia is shutting down some popular DIY bike trails, arguing that they pose a risk to bike riders and the environment.

A Toronto woman thanks the “stranger angel” who came to her aid after she was seriously injured when one of her tires got stuck in a streetcar track. Although what makes one angel stranger than another is beyond me. 

A London bikeshare provider will now offer ebikes with a basket in front and a child seat in the back — or maybe another adult seat.

A writer for Cycling Weekly celebrates the joys of cafe stops after a long ride — in her case “stinking up” British tea rooms.

The BBC insists that a TV show attacking ebikes and lumping low-speed ped-assist ebikes together illegally modified electric motorbikes was “fair and impartial and clearly not an attack on the e-bike industry,” despite complaints by viewers and a trade association that it was exactly that.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada is trying to level the playing field by banning time trial bikes in junior cycling events.

Wind tunnel simulations suggest your water bottle may be in the wrong place — as long as you don’t actually use a bicycle, since they didn’t use one in the tests.

 

Finally…

Your next electric scooter could come disguised as a telecom utility box that magically transforms into an ebike. Your old brake levers could be reborn as door handles.

And that feeling when the real sprinters aren’t even in the peloton

https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1881882165828346210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1881882165828346210%7Ctwgr%5E2517ed17769547aae86b204e10ffde7b36f76ccc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-22-january-2025-312235

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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