BikinginLA

Lots of pro cycling news today.

Once again, cycling fans’ attention will be divided as this weekend’s kickoff to the Amgen Tour of California goes head-to-head against the Irish start of the legendary Giro d’Italia; always disappointing that these two great tours have to run at the same time.

The inaugural Women’s Tour of Britain starts today; meanwhile, one of Canada’s biggest bike events offers equal prize money for men and women. Nice to finally see women cyclists finally get the attention and support they deserve.

And Colorado’s USA Pro Challenge announces the routes for this summer’s race, including its first-ever mountaintop finish.

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Nice video for today’s Culver City’s Bike to School Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbzMszGbNWA&feature=youtu.be

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A writer for KCET calls for transportation equity and just growth.

Just Ride LA hosts a free Street Cycling Skills Workshop next Wednesday.

After showing off his pantsless posterior, the Bieb takes a pedacab on Venice Beach as his bodyguard is forced to run along behind.

Metro teams with CICLE and the Eastside Bike Club to host the Old Roots, New Routes ride to visit the new Rosemead Blvd cycle tracks.

Pasadena’s Colorado Blvd goes car-free for two hours on Saturday the 17th in advance of the finish of Stage 7 of the Amgen Tour of California at Pasadena City Hall.

A Laguna Beach mountain bike rider is airlifted out of El Moro Canyon with a broken leg; a reminder to ride with a companion and always carry a cell phone and water when you go off road.

A minor miracle in Rancho Cordova, as a bike rider survives a collision with a train.

Freakonomics says what so many cyclists have said before — if you want to get away with killing someone, use a car.

Esquire offers advice on how men can ride to work in style. Or you could try this $730 bike commuter suit.

Bazaar captures 10 women celebrities who bike in style. And yes, they do.

Evidently America’s bike paradise still has some work to do. Is bike-friendly Portland resting on its laurels?

Connecticut passes a bill calling for a $1,000 fine for motorists who fail to operate their vehicles and cause injury or death. It may help hold dangerous drivers accountable after the fact, but will the threat of a fine really make people drive more safely?

A North Carolina bike lawyer says bicycle crashes aren’t accidents.

British Olympic and Paralympic stars call on the country to make the roads safer for cyclists.

Less than bike-friendly Madrid is about to get an e-bike share program. Electric bikes make a lot of sense for a bike share system due to users widely varied skills and fitness levels.

Buy an apartment in Melbourne, get a $1,000 bike and a place to fix it. Not that the price of the free bike hasn’t already been added in to the cost of the apartment, of course.

Caught on camera — road raging Brit six-year olds come to blows after colliding on their bikes. And when you’re carrying an ounce of dope, it’s probably a good idea to listen to the cops when they tell you to stop popping wheelies.

Streetsblog reports on the consensus agreement for the MyFigueroa project; work may start next January and take about a year. And says there’s a rising tide for biking and walking in California.

KPPC finishes the ride with Damien Kevitt.

Santa Monica Spoke calls your attention Bike Month this month.

Dana Point hosts one of the largest single-day crits in the US this Sunday.

An OC mountain bike rider is airlifted out of a Laguna Beach trail after breaking his leg.

A San Diego writer says the recent Belgium Waffle Ride was one hell of a ride.

How to get your stolen bike back in San Francisco.

Cool looking new sensor-laden smart bike is built with safety in mind; the Kickstarter project is just $3,000 short of their $100,000 goal with four weeks to go.

Somehow, I can’t imagine the LAPD painting a bike safety message directly on their patrol cars like this one from Boise, Idaho.

A new study shows more helmet use hasn’t resulted in a decrease in injuries.

A new short video looks at bicycle culture in Cuba.

A Brit cyclist says there’s no point in obeying the rules because riding in London is always Death Race 2000. On the other hand, Olympic champ Chris Hoy is really angry at scofflaw cyclists.

Almost caught on video: A UK bike rider narrowly avoids injury when a construction crew drops a lamppost on him.

NPR looks at the risks and obstacles facing women cyclists in Afghanistan. And the drive to overcome them.

Australia’s New South Wales traffic minister says bike riders should be licensed and banned from certain roads for their own good, while a Sydney writer says not so fast.

Meanwhile, a new study shows separated bike lanes in Sydney resulted in a doubling in ridership and a reduction in overall injuries — and carry as many people on bikes as the traffic lanes next to them do in cars.

Aussie pro cyclist Travis Meyer has been released from the hospital following an April 12th training collision in Andorra that left him with a fractured skull, broken jaw, broken arm and bruised lung; surprisingly, the driver stepped-up and admitted responsibility. Thanks to Bobby Close for the heads-up.

Sure, Lance and LeMond can change a tire in less than three minutes. But can they do it in a dress? A very cool new Italian bike has no spokes, hubless direct drive and folds down to the size of an umbrella. And apparently, the Queen is no fan of cyclists.

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Thanks to Mark Goodley for the very generous donation to help support this site.

Hit-and-run survivor Damian Kevitt speaks at Finish the Ride. Photo courtesy of Joni Yung.

By the sound of it, Sunday’s Finish the Ride turned out to be a very successful event.

Even if I couldn’t be there, much to my regret (more on that later).

The Times takes an early look at the ride intended to call attention to the problem of hit-and-runs, while ride creator Damian Kevitt says they’re a sign of “the moral decay of America.”

Unfortunately, he’s right.

There’s something seriously wrong with any society where it’s become commonplace — if not socially acceptable — to run away like a coward and leave a stranger bleeding in the streets.

A rider who arrived later in the day emailed this brief description.

Finish the Ride was a huge success. The ride was over but the party was still in full swing when I rolled up, and the sheer diversity of booths was impressive. Poor Damian was still playing meet-and-greet and posing for photos with a variety of well-wishers. He was in his usual good cheer but he’s probably exhausted.

There were at least 638 riders, judging by the highest bib number I saw. The organizer couldn’t provide a total or guess at the number of “day-of registrants” since they were still tallying all the participants.

LAPD had eight bike officers for the escort, and several weren’t just on duty, they were sporting bibs too! The CHP had a booth so I spoke to an officer (who recognized me from the task force meeting), and there’s still no solid leads, but they’ll take tips til the statute of limitations runs out.

Riding back through Chinatown, I spoke with two riders who had done the hilly route, and weren’t about to return to start the same way, but were happy to do it once, “for Damian.”

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Local

Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell will dedicate at new bike repair station at Polka Dot Plaza Monday morning.

Richard Risemberg points the finger at South Pass for blocking a road diet on the York Blvd bridge. And directs your attention to an in-depth examination of the unloved and unneeded 710 Freeway extension and more viable alternative.

Neon Tommy looks at Santa Monica’s upcoming MANGo Greenway, which promises to protect SaMoHi students from dooring.

Pico Rivera awaits a grant to fund a planned 8,000 square foot bike hub.

Streetsblog offers their weekly update of transportation-related bills before the state legislature; and yes, good things are happening on the bike and hit-and-run fronts.

San Diego cyclists take on a grueling 136 mile course to raise funds for the Challenged Athletes Foundation, which also benefitted from Finish the Ride.

San Francisco prepares to double down on bikeways to improve safety and ease of riding.

A writer for Bicycling tracks down America’s first international bicycling champion. From 1870. Meanwhile, Elly Blue is pretty sure she could outrun a Portland bike cop.

When nearly every street is over capacity, bikeways can go in anywhere. Which makes this a great time to be a bike rider in Detroit. Yes, Detroit.

Lowell MA’s motorhead mayor wants to undo a road diet and remove its bike lanes to move as many cars as possible in and out of the city. Oh, and parking revenues are down.

Interesting idea, as a New York lawyer sues Honda for failing to put a light or audible device on its vehicles to prevent dooring (last line).

The new poster child for distracted driving? A North Carolina woman is killed when she posts to Facebook while driving about how happy Pharrell’s Happy makes her.

A Calgary paper offers an in-depth look at the debate over proposed protected bike lanes, which is pretty much the same debate that goes on everywhere else. Meanwhile, a motorhead columnist takes issue with the whole damn thing.

The London Guardian looks at the best of the worst bikeways around the world.

Pee in public, get banned from Brit rides.

Thousands of Scottish cyclists Pedal on Parliament to demand safer streets. With good reason, since only 10% of Scot drivers who hit cyclists are ever prosecuted.

A Chinese company is now offering one day bike tours to North Korea. Though you might want to think twice about it unless you’re Dennis Rodman.

When a spectator offers to take an injured mountain bike rider’s bike down the course for him, they both end up in the same ambulance.

And an Agenda 21 conspiracy nut claims bike paths are part of a plot to ban cars. Except if we banned cars, we wouldn’t need bike lanes, would we?

First up, one last reminder about Sunday’s Finish the Ride, as the Glendale News-Press interviews hit-and-run survivor Damian Kevitt.

Meanwhile, KNBC-4 says four of five Los Angeles hit-and-runs are never solved; half are never even investigated due to a lack of evidence or witnesses.

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A Marin County tech exec faces charges for severely beating a motorist earlier this month in a dispute over whether the truck’s mirror had hit his bike.

No matter who you are or what’s happened, there’s never any justification for violence. If you feel your anger boiling over, do whatever it takes to remove yourself from the situation. Then call 911 and let the police handle it.

The question is, why did the local police sit on the story for over a week?

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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This could be a big step forward. New traffic signs in San Diego’s North County ban right turns on red lights when bikes or pedestrians are present.

Note: Alex Hirsch says there’s been a similar signal on southbound Galey in Westwood for the past couple years. The question is whether it bans rights on red at certain hours due to traffic conditions, or if it functions on demand to protect vulnerable road users.

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Metro agrees to create a level paying field for bike and pedestrian projects seeking funding from the state.

One of Hollywood’s seven most powerful women is a cyclist, which means we’ve only got six more to go.

CICLE unveils the full schedule for next month’s Bike Week Pasadena.

A 46-year old Whittier cyclist is critically injured in a Friday morning collision in Downey.

Huntington Park City Council approves a new bike plan with 23 miles of new bikeways, which compares favorably to the current zero.

San Diego rider is named the city’s bike Commuter of the Year.

This is why you don’t try to recover your stolen bike by yourself. A San Francisco woman is assaulted and pepper sprayed trying to steal hers back.

Elk Grove gets its first bike and pedestrian bridge.

Keep your eyes on Craigslist and Ebay for 36 Trek demo bikes stolen from behind a Folsom bike shop. To help recover them, that is, not score a hot bike.

Park your bike, bang a gong, get it on.

Intriguing new urban bike offers six great features, a very cool frame and a wait list to buy it.

The Furnace Creek 508 ultra-marathon bike race moves to the Silver State for 2014.

When even cowboy-centric Cheyenne, Wyoming gets a new bike plan, it’s a pretty good indication bikes are booming everywhere. And here to stay.

A survivor of 28 cancer surgeries has been cycling around the world for the last 26 years.

A Pepperdine research paper looks at who supports New York bike lanes and why.

A Toronto cyclist uses Craigslist to explain safe cycling to the driver who yelled at her to get the f*** out of the way.

A Brit driver gets a measly three months for deliberately ramming a cyclist into a guard rail. Then again, it’s never a good idea to assault a lawyer.

Evidently, in Scotland strong-arm bike thieves wear hi-viz, too.

Bike-on-bike collisions are on the rise in the Netherlands, leading to concern about anti-social cycling in the world’s bike paradise. Seems like you’ll find jerks everywhere, regardless of transportation mode.

After getting caught riding drunk twice in two months, a judge suggests a cyclist get rid of his bike for his own good. Especially if he happens to be riding this very cool 1991 Lotus track bike.