May 26, 2014 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: A local bike shop worker moves up, a cycling triple crown, and a bad break for Phinney
Congratulations are in order for one of my favorite bike people.
Chris Klibowitz of the Santa Monica Helen’s Cycles, and former manager at the Westwood location, is leaving the bike shop after six years for a new job as editor at ROAD Magazine.
You’ll never meet a nicer guy. Or anyone more knowledgeable or passionate about bicycling, or more deserving of the opportunity.
And now that I think about it, maybe it’s ROAD that deserves the congratulations.
Meanwhile, newly crowned national time trial champ Taylor Phinney sees his season come to an unexpected end as he breaks his lower left leg in two places and damages the same knee after apparently crashing into a roadside barrier on a steep descent. Best wishes for a full and fast recovery from what sounds like a very nasty injury.
An agreement with state parks officials will allow the Santa Ana River trail to pass through Chino Hills State Park, eventually creating a continuous 110-mile pathway from the Pacific Coast Trail to the beach.
A Wall Street website lists the top six American bicycling cities. For a change, Portland isn’t at the top of the list, and as usual, San Francisco is the only California city on it.
When intersections are designed for cars, bike riders break the law; when they’re designed for everyone, most people follow the rules — cyclists included.
International
A Canadian bike rider spots his recently stolen bike going the other way on a bus rack, and steals it back at a red light.
A UK cyclist goes out for a ride in the country and ends up in a rave. And no bias here, as a Virginia TV station not only claims a cyclist collided with a car, but that authorities found him “passed out” on the median. Or maybe he was just unconscious because he’s just been in a collision.
My father fought in World War II, in both Europe and the Pacific.
In fact, he was training for the invasion of Japan when the war ended; his unit had been told to expect a 100% casualty rate. If Japan hadn’t surrendered when it did, I probably wouldn’t be here today.
Or be, period.
My grandfather was a doughboy in World War I; exposure to poison gasses probably contributed to the emphysema that eventually took his life, along with a lifetime of smoking.
My brother served in Vietnam, thankfully without serious incident.
They all made it back home. A lot of the men and women they served with didn’t. Along with countless others who fought in earlier and later wars.
Several of the kids just few years ahead of me in school went to Vietnam and never came back, while a Marine friend of mine — the husband of a co-worker — was one of the few Americans to die in the first Gulf War.
And we’ve lost too damn many good men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So please, take just a moment amid the bike rides and barbeques and sales going on today to remember what Memorial Day is really all about. And say a prayer for all those who have given their lives for their country, if you’re so inclined.
San Jose’s Mr. Roadshow tells drivers how to avoid right-hooking cyclists. And offers the heartbreaking tale of a priest who comforted a teenage cyclist as she lay dying following a traffic collision, only to lose his own life in a cycling collision years later.
Palo Alto residents agree changes to a contentious roadway should include measures to alter human behavior.
After a Toronto cyclist is screwed over by the insurance company of the driver who hit him, the local paper rides to his rescue.
A new French 360-degree helmet cam can take immersive video of your ride. Or capture dangerous drivers on video no matter what direction they come from.
Several cyclists riding with the bicycling Australian prime minister are taken out by an oil slick. Somehow, I can’t imagine any American president riding in a peloton.
It’s standard practice in public relations that when you want to hide something bad news, you release it on a Friday afternoon where it can get lost on the weekend news cycle. And when you really want to hide something, you release it on a Friday just before a three-day holiday weekend.
That’s exactly what the LA County Sheriff’s Department did today.
The department has been highly criticized for investigating their own deputy in the December death of cyclist Milt Olin, rather than turn it over to independent investigators from the CHP, which usually handles traffic fatalities for the LASD.
Now, after sitting on the news for over a week, they finally announced that the results of their foot-dragging investigation into the former Napster executive and entertainment lawyer’s death were turned over to the DA’s office for evaluation on May 15th.
Why it took over five months to conduct an investigation that probably wouldn’t have taken five days if it was an average citizen behind the wheel is anyone’s guess. Let alone why the announcement wasn’t made last week, unless they were deliberately attempting to time it for the holiday weekend.
The incredibly cryptic announcement doesn’t offer a clue as to the results of the investigation, leading many in the cycling community to suspect the department may be attempting to cover-up its own culpability in Olin’s death. And hoping we won’t notice.
Good luck with that.
I’ve heard from a number of riders since the news broke late Friday afternoon, all of whom suspect something fishy is going on. And virtually all of whom question why the LASD chose to investigate itself, knowing the results would be held in doubt unless they unexpectedly come down hard on the department itself.
And yes, I’m told the CHP was more than willing to step in to assist or take over the investigation, but were never asked.
Meanwhile, the Times cites the coroner’s report as saying Olin appeared to be wearing earphones connected to an iPhone, which would be in violation of state law permitting an earpiece to be used in one ear only.
What bearing that could possibly have in the investigation is highly questionable, unless they’re trying to make a case that Olin should have somehow been able to avoid the patrol car that drifted into the bike lane and ran him down from behind.
Even eyes in the back of his head, let alone perfect hearing, probably wouldn’t have helped in that case.
The paper also notes that the Sheriff’s Department has publicly apologized to Olin’s family. As well they should.
But what they really owe them, and us, is an open and honest investigation, rather than a five month cone of silence followed by deliberately trying to bury the press release when it was most likely to go unnoticed.
On the later, they failed miserably.
On the former, the jury is still out. If it ever gets to one.
Thanks to everyone who reached out to me about this story.
Great news on the Westside, as the popular San Vicente bike lanes are being extended through Brentwood. I rode through there myself on Friday, and even unfinished, it feels a lot more comfortable than the usual Friday traffic madhouse.
A speeding New Orleans driver is indicted on negligent homicide and negligent injury charges for killing an Atlanta firefighter in town for an Ironman competition and injuring another rider. Apparently they’re taking this case seriously, since he was taken into custody on a total of $600,000 bond.
After a North Carolina bike rider confronts a cop to deny running a red light, the officer takes him down, breaking his arm in the process.
A UK motorcyclist riding in a bike lane knocks down a bicyclist, then blames the victim before posting video of the incident online — which clearly shows his mirror clipping the rider’s arm.
A Sydney newspaper calls a study showing bike lanes carried the same amount of traffic as the lanes next to them a two-wheeled fraud.
A Thai driver walks with a one year probation and a 10,000 Bhat fine — the equivalent of just $307 — for killing two bike riding British tourists on an around the world tour. I’d like to say life is cheap there, but I’ve seen just as bad right here in the US.
This is why people continue to die on our streets.
An Olympia WA man gets work-release despite his seventh — yes, seventh — DUI arrest; he’ll spend nights and weekends in jail, but be released every day to run his business. Odd that they don’t offer bank robbers and drug dealers the same consideration. And no word on how he plans to get there; let’s hope he won’t be driving.
And an Illinois lawmaker proposes a new bill to help keep more drunks on the road. Because it’s too inconvenient for them to find some other way to get around without killing someone.
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More on the League of American Bicyclists’ 12-month study of bicycling fatalities across the US, as USA Streetsblog offers eight takeaways from the study released Wednesday, including:
Most fatalities occur on urban arterial roads
Hit-from-behind collisions were the most frequent cause of bicycling fatalities
Intersections are the most dangerous place for urban riders
Most victims were wearing helmets
The more people who ride in your state, the less risk you face
A moving new documentary profiles Damian Kevitt and Ghost Bikes LA to call attention to the dangers cyclists face, especially from hit-and-run drivers. At only eight minutes long, it’s definitely worth watching.
Both Milestone Rides and Boyonabike offer reviews of last week’s LA Bike Week, most of which I missed.
Santa Monica considers dropping speed limits to 15 mph near schools; then again, it doesn’t matter what the speed limit is if they don’t adequately enforce it.
Specialized finally puts their wind tunnel to good use by determining the aerodynamics of beards on bikes. Now if they’d just figure out if shaving your legs really makes you faster.
A Virginia lawyer offers advice on the eight things you should do right away if you’ve been injured in a bike collision. Seriously, though, you’d think an attorney would know not to call them accidents.
International
An Ottawa writer says the city doesn’t need any more bike lanes because they can’t make the climate bike friendly. Oddly, he doesn’t suggest they stop building roads due to adverse winter driving conditions.
A Melbourne bike rider is injured when she crashes into a police vehicle hidden by a blind curve on a bike path. The cops were targeting motorbikes and other motorized vehicles illegally using the trail, like… uh, them.
Aussie cyclists protest the country’s mandatory helmet law; ridership in Tel Aviv jumped 54% in just two years after the Israeli city revoked theirs.
The Memorial Day weekend means heavy traffic this afternoon as people get off work early and rush to get home and get out of town. So ride defensively and watch out for drivers today, because chances are, they won’t be watching for you.
I expect to see you all back here safe and sound on Tuesday.
I’m just getting word of a dangerous situation on the Coyote Creek Trail in Los Alamitos.
Orange County cyclist Bob Masuzumi writes that he was riding south on the trail with a small group of riders between Wardlow Road and Los Alamitos Blvd, just before a bridge that crosses a secondary creek next to the high school.
As he tells it,
The rider in the lead didn’t realize the trail, which is poorly marked, curved away from the creek and that you had to cross the creek using the bridge. Unfortunately, he rode off the trail and ended up at the bottom of Coyote Creek, sustaining a serious concussion resulting in 3 days in the ICU. He was then transferred to their rehab facility from which he should be released tomorrow. However, he will continue to receive therapy as an out-patient for an unknown length of time.
I believe that not only does it need proper markings, but there should be a fence extending from the bridge past the curve, so that other riders do not make the same mistake. Also, a fence needs to be added on the other side of the bridge. Currently, a rider, after crossing the bridge, needs to make a 90 degree right turn, otherwise they will end up going down the embankment toward the high school. This area does not seem to be very safe for cyclists at all & we believe should be corrected to prevent anything similar happening to another cyclist.
I can’t say I’m familiar with the area, even though we’ve discussed problems on the trail before. Including the fact that Los Alamitos has failed to adequately maintain its section of the pathway.
But if you know the part of the trail he’s talking about, what do you think?
Is this as dangerous as it sounds, and does it need corrective measures — or at least a warning sign to comply with state law regarding known dangers on off-road trails?
And is anyone familiar with any other riders who may have been hurt there?
We learned, for example, that a much higher percentage of fatal crashes than expected — 40% of fatal crashes with a reported collision type — were “hit from behind” incidents — that’s important to know for our education program. Not surprisingly, high-speed urban and suburban arterial streets with no provisions for bicyclists are an over-represented location — representing 56% of all bicyclist fatalities — that’s good information to share with our Bicycle Friendly Community partners.
We found important new information about why crashes happen, how they are reported, and the scope of enforcement actions taken against motorists — including common felonies charged and average sentences for 77 convictions related to bicyclist fatalities
Overwhelmingly, however, we were struck by the lack of information, the lack of action, and the lack of a sense of outrage over these deaths, even in communities where this kind of tragedy is relatively common.
It’s something I plan to dive into over the next few days. Because the better we understand how and why these tragedies occur, the more we can do to prevent them.
As they say in asking us all to call on the US Department of Transportation to demand action — and as I’ve argued many times before — there’s only one acceptable number of traffic fatalities when it comes to cyclists and pedestrians. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Zero.
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Local
Metro honors Sweeyoke Ooi for their monthly Why We Ride series. Because, as they say, Bike Week never ends for many Angelenos. And they offer photos from their Bike Week Guided Ride Day, which evidently did. End, that is.
The Times astutely notes that it’s time to retire the myth that Los Angeles has a love affair with cars, despite what our state’s senior Senator says.
Rick Risemberg attends Sunday’s Reinventing the Wheel: the Future of Mobility in LA sponsored by Santa Monica public radio station KCRW and finds it sadly auto-focused. And out of beer.
Caught on video: A British Columbia cop goes on trial for punching a handcuffed cyclist in the face. Since when do bike riders get arrested — let alone punched — for not wearing a helmet and allegedly running a red light?
In a brilliant experiment, a Swedish city gives residents free bikes for six months as long as they promise not to drive three days a week; thanks to Daniel Blazquez for the link.
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich injures two people in a three car crash while driving drunk at 20 kilometers over the speed limit. Then tries to pass it off by saying it could happen to anyone. Uh, no. Only someone stupid and careless enough to get behind the wheel after drinking.
With everything going on in the bike world and my own life, the annual worldwide memorial to fallen riders completely slipped my mind this year.
It takes place at 7 pm tomorrow at a number of locations throughout Southern California, including Fullerton, Gardena, Irvine, three separate rides in Long Beach, Oxnard, Pasadena, San Clemente, Temecula, Thousand Oaks and Ventura.
Unfortunately, once again, there’s no ride in Los Angeles.
There may be other SoCal Rides of Silence planned that aren’t on the website; if you know of any not listed above, let me know.
The cyclist and the driver were both headed west on East Coast Highway at 3:12 pm when the driver — who wasn’t publicly identified — hit the rider, then fled on Newport Coast. A witness followed the car, and the 23-year old suspect was taken into custody two miles away and an hour and 14 minutes later.
He faces possible charges of making an unsafe lane change, DUI causing bodily injury and hit-and-run with bodily injury, and is being held on $100,000 bond. No word on why it took so long after the collision to make the arrest.
A salmon cyclist is in critical condition after getting hit by a driver who apparently turned into him on Hollywood Way in Burbank Sunday night. Fortunately, the victim is expected to survive, despite suffering significant head trauma.
The driver was arrested for possession of cocaine, though he was not suspected of being under the influence at the time of the collision.
The closest I’ve ever come to hitting a bike rider while driving was when I turned a blind corner and unexpectedly found a ninja salmon rider just feet from my front bumper.
There may be all kinds of reasons why it may seem to make sense to ride against traffic, but it is seldom a good idea.
If ever.
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Local
Evidently, if you support road diets, you are an extremist elitist giving the middle finger to motorists and ignoring the overwhelming will of the majority. Uh, right. Nothing like demonizing anyone who might possible disagree with you before they ever get the chance.
Celebrate Bike Month with a rare weekend bike train examining the history of the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River Trails this Sunday.
State
A new bill by Assembly Member Steve Bradford will prevent misdemeanor hit-and-run charges from being dismissed if the victim reaches a civil settlement with the driver before the case gets to court. The law, passed by the state Assembly, would ensure drivers face justice but could remove a powerful incentive to reach a civil settlement with the victim.
The eight most common beginner bicycling mistakes. Actually, signaling for a stop is a pretty big one, too, if it means taking your hand off the brake.
Not exactly the frat boy image you might have, as Western Kentucky fraternity brothers are riding across the country to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research.
A Florida driver gets 11 years for an allegedly drunken hit-and-run that took the life of two bike riders; as often happens when drivers flee the scene, prosecutors were forced to drop DUI charges since they couldn’t prove how drunk he was at the time of the collision.
A new warning system promises to alert motorists to the presence of bike riders. As long as the driver has the $672 dollar monitor installed, and every bike rider on the road has a compatible tag on his or her bike. Otherwise, you’re on your own.
So grab some coffee and settle in for some serious reading. Then get out on your bike; it looks like a perfect weekend for riding.
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CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s apparent attempt to torpedo the North Figueroa road diet, for reasons known only to him, has resulted in significant blowback from the bicycling and transportation communities.
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says there may be political reasons to oppose the road diet. But calls BS on the fears of delayed emergency response cited by police and fire officials, who were apparently talking off the cuff and not officially representing their departments. According to Linton, the issue has previously been studied extensively by the city and found to pose no significant impact.
Meanwhile, in an open letter to Cedillo, BAC Chair Jeff Jacobberger questions what authority the city has to replace previously approved bike lanes with less-safe sharrows, and whether we can now expect the same wrench to be thrown into other planned bike projects.
Apparently Cedillo is betting the damage done to his reputation in his first year as a council member will be long forgotten by the time he has to stand for re-election in another three years.
He may be right.
But I wouldn’t bet on it. Bike riders have long memories.
Peloton says to expect the unexpected in this year’s Giro, which still has two weeks to go after the ToC wraps up on Sunday; Frenchman Nacer Bouhanni wins his second Giro stage in four days.
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Now this is a great idea. A new lockable bike stem makes your bike unsteerable if it’s stolen. Just don’t lose the key.
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Looks like cab companies are fighting back against Uber, Lyft, et al. Download the Taxi Magic LA app and enter the code BIKEMAGIC before 5 pm Monday the 19th, and you’ll be entered to win one of five new Linus bikes.
So you only have a few hours to bid on a pair of bike rides with one of the city’s top political reporters. Submit the winning bid, and you can enjoy a coastal bike tour along PCH or a beach cruiser bike tour from Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach with reporter, cyclist and triathlete Sharon McNary.
With current bids of just $60 and $100, respectively, at the time of this writing, both are seriously undervalued. Which gives you a chance to step in and snap up a great ride with a fascinating and friendly guide for a just fraction of what it’s really worth.
San Diego is sitting on 200 racks for their planned bike share system as the city debates where to put them.
The Visalia paper offers tips to keep you safe on your bike. And unlike most newspapers, gets it right.
The Tesla driver who blamed that new car smell for making him fall asleep and kill a Santa Cruz cyclist faces up to one year in jail after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge. Note to motorists: if you feel sleepy, pull over, dammit.
National
Five ways bicycling can make or save you money that goes way beyond the usual suspects — including raising the value of your home and giving you a tax break.
Vox says it’s time to stop forcing bike riders to wear helmets. Personally, I’m a firm believer in wearing a helmet; I credit mine with saving my life and brain in a solo fall seven years ago. But too many people — especially non-riders — don’t realize they’re only designed to protect against impacts up to 12.5 mph.
A local website offers an anti-bike hatchet job in honor of Seattle’s Bike to Work Day. Note to MyNorthwest: motorists have been known to run red lights, fail to signal and act with a sense of entitlement, too.
A Colorado driver faces anywhere from two to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a cyclist. Prosecutors dropped charges that she was allegedly drunk when she fell asleep at the wheel while on her way to a court hearing for a previous DUI case.
This is why you need to shift your hand position frequently, as a British cyclist loses her life after crashing into a house when cyclist’s palsy leaves her unable to squeeze her brakes.
And chances are, she’ll be in Downtown LA tonight, along with just about everyone else but me for the first ever Metro Bike Night at Union Station.
The event runs from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, with a full schedule of activities for the bicycling community.
This free event will feature special guests, live music, food trucks, outdoor booths, free bike valet, bike short films, trivia, bike portraits and a fashion show. There will also be a raffle for a chance to win a Tern folding bike, a one year supply of Clif Bar products, Abus U-locks, 30-Day Metro passes, Bike Week LA special edition t-shirts and more!
And did I mention it’s free?
It’s not that I don’t want to be there. But the wife is keeping me on a shorter leash than the Corgi until this diabetes thing gets more under control.
So let me know how it goes.
And have one for me.
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Aussie Michael Matthews wins Stage 6 of the Giro d’Italia as a massive crash delays the peloton. He leads the overall standings, with Cadel Evans just 21 seconds behind.
Cycling scion Taylor Phinney takes Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California in a thrilling solo breakaway; bike prodigy Peter Sagan is second. Between the two of them, you could be looking at the future of bike racing. Wiggins leads overall.
Figueroa For All looks at last week’s highly staged public meeting about the North Figueroa road diet and bike lanes, which appears to have been so slanted against the proposal it’s a wonder the speakers didn’t slide right off.
A writer for City Watch is apparently competing to see how many things he can get wrong in a single article politely decrying LA bike lanes. For one, there is no law requiring bike riders over 18 to wear a helmet. And who can legally use a bike lane has long been defined, even if it’s often ignored, just like every other traffic regulation.
The Daily News profiles a physician who planned to ride his bike 60 miles from his Ventura home to Cal State Northridge for Bike to Work Day, then take the train back home. Yet they somehow file the story under Recreational Cycling.
A Vancouver writer offers advice on how to enjoy biking to work. As I’ve said before, though, the hardest thing about bike commuting is just deciding to do it.
Sad news, as legendary British long-distance cyclist Billie Fleming passed away just days after her 100th birthday.
Richard Risemberg doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the North Figueroa fiasco.
Writing for Flying Pigeon, he accuses CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo of bait and switch in supporting bike lanes when he was running for office, and seemingly opposing them now that he’s in office.
North Figueroa has been shown to be overdesigned for the level of traffic that it sees, resulting in scofflaw drivers speeding down the wide lanes, killing and maiming residents and visitors alike and creating a bleak and harrowing ambience that diminishes the curb appeal of local businesses. The road diet and its accompanying bike lanes would restrain the speed demons, and the bike lanes themselves would allow neighbors the option to get about without cars, which so many of them do not own anyway. This would improve job access and bring more customers to local stores…
Yet Cedillo, who in the video above enthusiastically speaks of the city’s need to install “real bike lanes” such as he studied in Denmark, now is sitting on the project, and in fact giving the appearance of orchestrating the new community meetings he’s set up to make the opposition looks bigger than it is. Of course the video was taken when he was fishing for the votes of the cycling community prior to the last election….
And he cites the Councilmember’s actions as a perfect example of how to subvert the democratic process in a piece for Orange 20.
Yes, in the name of the spurious concept of “balance” employed by Faux News, the number of people speaking for the road diet was held down to match the number speaking against—a principle that, if applied to elections, would result in a tie every time.
In other words, democracy be damned.
They’re both good reads.
And if it doesn’t piss you off than an elected official is blatantly ignoring both the will of the people and the safety of cyclists and pedestrians, for reasons known only to him, maybe it should.
The LA Times says San Francisco’s failure to prosecute a truck driver caught on video right hooking the bike rider he killed is a reminder we still have a long way to go. Meanwhile, SF Streetsblog says the legal system failed Amelie. No shit.
Bike to School Day flops in Calistoga, as only 28 students in two schools participate.
National
Speeding Seattle cyclist kills a leashed dog being walked in a crosswalk. Seriously people, if you can’t stop for pedestrians and dogs in a legally marked crossing, you’re the problem.
New York’s new mayor looks to Sweden for inspiration for the city’s Vision Zero plan. Here in LA, no one in city government seems to have even heard of Vision Zero. Or Sweden, for that matter.
Under the heading of they really should know better, the EPA is closing its bike room, which means a number of employees may stop riding to work. And that can’t be good for the environment.
Now that sounds like fun. A New Orleans bike group is hosting a second line bike ride, with cyclists following a jazz band on a flatbed truck.
A Sydney columnist looks at the culture war on the roads Down Under, and calls for more to be done to make cycling safer without pushing riders off the roads.
Aussie brothers use fake charity as an excuse to bike door to door and beg for booze. Works for me.
And Joe Linton catches me getting blessed at the Blessing of the Bicycles on Tuesday, albeit from an unflattering angle. Then again, I don’t think my boney ass has a flattering angle these days.
Photo by Joe Linton; shamelessly stolen from LA Streetsblog.
Thanks to Good Samaritan Hospital, LA Metro, Incycle Bicycles and the LACBC for another great Blessing of the Bicycles on Tuesday.
A few hundred riders turned out the annual event offering free food and drinks, t-shirts and a non-sectarian blessing; after all, it never hurts to have a little divine support on your side as you navigate the mean streets of Southern California.
The event honored Ghost Bikes LA for their work in memorializing fallen riders and calling attention to the need for everyone to ride and drive safely.
Because the primary goal in placing ghost bikes is to eliminate the need for them.
On a personal note, I set just one goal when I was diagnosed with diabetes five weeks ago. And that was to get back on my bike in time for the Blessing of the Bicycles.
Twenty-three round trip miles later, mission accomplished.
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Volunteers are still needed for next month’s AIDS Lifecycle Ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Incentives in the new parking requirement ordinance passed in LA last year means some buildings are being built with more bike than car parking.
Over 3,000 cyclists raise $2,000 for pediatric cancer research in the Tour of Long Beach.
State
A Newport Beach councilmember says removing cars from the Back Bay Trail is a non-starter. After all, why would you want to improve safety for everyone else if it means inconveniencing people in the big, dangerous machines?
Someone booby-trapped a Colorado bike and hiking trail with an improvised spike strip; when they catch the schmuck, he/she should face domestic terrorism charges.
Toyko’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper calls on the city to become more bike-friendly and reduce the real estate given over to cars in advance of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Finally…
Police arrest Alec Baldwin for riding salmon on 5th Avenue, then going ballistic after officers ask for his ID. But is it really news when he has yet another meltdown, on a bike or otherwise? Then again, the Times says he has a point.
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A special thank you to the anonymous woman who brought a donation to support this blog to the Blessing of the Bicycles. It was very generous, and very appreciated. And the card that accompanied it thanking me for my work here touched my heart and brought a tear to my eye.
