Archive for Bike Access

Morning Links: Lawyer says mayor criminally liable for bike lanes, and meetings on Venice and Temple

Try to read this one without laughing.

I dare you.

A lawyer and regular contributor to City Watch insists that Mayor Garcetti could face criminal liability for a Mobility Plan that places bike lanes on city streets. Where riders are forced to suck in the air pollution from passing cars in what he describes as a violation of California’s CEQA laws.

He even says city officials may be held criminally liable for battery and homicide, comparing the situation to the tainted water in Flint, Michigan.

Which almost sounds sort-of semi-reasonable, until you consider just how far off base it really is.

Starting with the fact that it was the City Council, not Garcetti, which was responsible for the city’s Mobility Plan and the bike lanes proposed therein.

And that several studies have shown that the air inside motor vehicles is dirtier than the air bike riders breathe. Or that the health benefits of bicycling far outweigh the risk posed by bad air.

Not to mention that bike lanes are found on busy city streets in virtually every major city around the world, with no apparent mass die-off of bike riders gasping their last due to auto exhaust.

And never mind that Los Angeles already conducted an environmental review of the city’s bike plan following the debacle in San Francisco, where a single disgruntled man held up implantation of the city’s bike plan for years using a CEQA challenge, until a judge finally threw the case out.

Or that bike lanes were exempted from CEQA review four years ago when Governor Brown signed AB 417 as a result of that case.

Although you’d think a decent lawyer might have looked that up.

But if you ever need someone to file a writ ordering kids to get off your lawn, he may be your guy.

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If you’re not completely burned out after tonight’s argument over friendly discussion of the Venice Great Streets project at the Mar Vista Community Council meeting, you can do it all over again tomorrow when the Palms Neighborhood Council takes up the subject.

And a public safety meeting will be held tomorrow to discuss a planned road diet on Temple Street in Echo Park and Historic Filipinotown; the Vision Zero project would reduce the street to one lane in each direction, with bike lanes and a center turn lane.

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The 2018 Giro d’Italia will start just slightly outside the county — in Jerusalem.

Only a handful of riders can still challenge Chris Froome in the Tour de France. And he denies barging into one of them.

Polish rider Rafal Majka abandoned the Tour de France after falling in Sunday’s ninth stage.

Italian cyclist Adriano Malori announced his retirement from racing on Monday, nearly two years after being placed in a medically coma following a crash in Argentina’s Tour de San Luis.

Cycling industry insiders set up a fake motor doping website to see who’d be interested; cycling team managers, industry publications and individual cyclists who wanted to cheat their fellow racers took the bait.

Scottish track cyclist Katie Ford set new records for the greatest distance covered in both six and eight hours, despite suffering from epilepsy.

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Local

LA County has agreed to settle the case of an unarmed man killed by sheriff’s deputies for $2.9 million; 23-year old Noel Aguilar was shot when he fled after deputies tried to stop him for riding his bike on the sidewalk.

LA Downtown News looks at the first anniversary of the Metro Bike bikeshare program, noting it costs more than similar programs in other cities and doesn’t have a discount program for low-income users.

Architects present plans to revitalize the LA River.

 

State

Solano Beach will raise funds for bike lanes and pedestrian paths by adding a $15,714 fee to the cost of every new single-family home and $11,206 for each new apartment. Which means improving alternative transportation at the expense of desperately needed new affordable housing.

San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies are on the lookout for a BMX-riding booze shoplifter who punched a Rite Aid employee in the face to make his getaway.

Bakersfield police somehow mistake a 5’2”, 115 pound, 19-year old bike-riding black woman for a bald, 5’10”, 170 pound machete-wielding man. So they pulled a gun on her, punched her in the mouth and set a police dog on her.

Santa Cruz installs its first bike box to improve visibility and safety for bicyclists.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition opposes a proposed ordinance that would ban bike chop shops in an effort to reduce bicycle theft, saying it doesn’t get to the root of the problem. The roots of the problem are addiction and homelessness, which are much more difficult to solve. And neither of which are helped by looking the other way while addicts deal in stolen bicycles.

Sacramento is preparing to boot bikes off some sidewalks in the downtown area. But not all of them, since they don’t have money to build bike lanes. Which means, unless they post it on every block, people will have no idea whether or not they can legally ride on any given sidewalk.

The Lake Tahoe basin is transforming itself with 50 miles of existing shared-use trails and another 6.5 miles currently under construction, with plans for nearly 26 miles more over the next five years.

 

National

Ford patents a retractable bike rack that would actually be built into your vehicle. Or you could just forget the car and ride your bike.

A woman is riding from California to Maine to collect stories from inspiring women.

A group of cops and other first responders will ride 500 miles from Dallas to Baton Rouge to honor the eight officers killed in the two cities last year.

Caught on video: This is why you don’t lock your bike to a street sign; a thief simply removes the bolts holding a sign in place and lifts it up to steal an expensive ebike.

A candidate for governor of Massachusetts is one of us, suffering minor injuries when he was thrown from his bike after hitting a pothole.

She gets it. A writer from Massachusetts says the car is not king, and instead of stenciling sidewalks to ban riding bikes, the city should improve bike lanes so people don’t feel compelled to use them.

New York bicyclists are banned from a popular bike path so electric cars can race, instead.

Virginia officials decide to squeeze a bike trail between an expanded freeway and a sound wall, since neighbors won’t allow the bikeway on their side of the wall.

 

International

A poignant story, as a bike-riding former Ottawa, Canada heroin addict who saved the lives of 130 drug overdose victims has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer; a crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $12,000 to send him home to see his parents one last time.

Caught on video too: A pair of British riders are taken down by “yobs” who rolled an old bike into their path. Warning: You may have to sit through an interminable movie trailer to get to it.

A UK police inspector sticks up for officers who intentionally doored a bike-riding theft suspect to make an arrest, even though the helmetless rider could have been seriously injured.

 

Finally…

Either a Virginia newspaper is in desperate need of punctuation, or a bicyclist crashed into a disregarded stop sign. If you’re going to ride drunk, try not to pee on the cop who busts you for it.

And seriously, don’t try this at home, especially not at 62 mph.

In flip-flops.

 

Morning Links: Petition to ban bikes on Mandeville, Mowery moves on, and LA leaders keep our streets dangerous

They just don’t get it.

Todd Munson forwards news of an online petition calling for a ban on bicycles on Mandeville Canyon and Westridge Roads in West LA.

Which as of early Thursday morning, had managed to collect a whopping 70 signatures — 44 of them anonymous.

Maybe someone should point out that an anonymous signature is the same as no signature at all. Which leaves just 26 people brave, and mistaken, enough to put their name where their mouth is.

Mistaken, because California law allows bicycles on any public roadway where motor vehicles are allowed, with the exception of some limited access highways.

Which means that the only ways to ban bicycles from those roads is to —

A) Change the state law;

B) Start a crowdsourcing campaign to raise the several million dollars it would take to buy the roadways from the city, and convert them into private streets; or

C) Ban all motor vehicles from the streets, requiring residents to walk up the steep hillsides to get to their homes.

Personally, I’m all in favor of the last option; if they want to get rid of bikes, they can give up their expensive cars and massive SUVs. At which point they’d complain about all the damn hikers clogging the streets.

Then again, there is one other option.

They could accept that the public roadways belong to the public, and that anyone who wants to use them is entitled to do so, for any reason, using any form of street legal conveyance. And then slow the hell down and learn to drive safely.

But that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

Which is not to say the people on bikes aren’t part of the problem.

We can all make a point to be more courteous and ride safely, and make room for others on the road to get by when it’s safe to do so.

Even if we’re the only ones who do it.

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Congratulations to Michelle Mowery on her new job with the City of Long Beach.

It was under her leadership as Senior Bicycle Coordinator for LADOT that Los Angeles was named a Bicycle Friendly Community in 2012.

She spent years struggling with LADOT’s notoriously auto-centric senior engineers — and often, the city’s more vocal bike advocates. But showed what she could do when she finally got the chance under former Mayor Villaraigosa.

Too bad the progress they made has come to a screeching halt since then.

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Here’s a must read from Curbed’s Alissa Walker, who asks why city leaders want to keep LA streets dangerous.

Meanwhile, LA transportation advocates call on Mayor Garcetti to keep his promise to use Measure M funds to improve safety on LA streets, accusing the city of backpedalling on Vision Zero.

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Bring a bike — or a helmet — and ride free on Metro buses and trains today.

And don’t forget tonight’s Bike from Work Handlebar Happy Hours, in Claremont, Downtown LA and Santa Monica, just to name a few. Just try not to be like the beer-toting guy at the bottom of this post.

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The highlight of the Giro so far: Belgian cyclist Victor Campenaerts asked out the woman of his dreams by writing a message on his chest before competing in Wednesday’s time trial; fortunately, she said yes, especially since he was fined the equivalent of $87 for “damaging the image of the sport.

Cycling Weekly asks if Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin can hold the leader’s pink jersey all the way to the Giro’s finish in Milan.

Wednesday’s fourth stage of the Amgen Tour of California finished with a five man breakaway in Santa Clarita. The Daily News says today’s fifth stage Mt. Baldy finish will be a contest to see who has the best legs.

Heartbreaking news from San Jose, where a cyclist was killed just hours after posting a video from the Tour of California as he was riding on the same descent where Toms Skujins crashed during Monday’s stage 2; he went over his handlebars trying to stop when he encountered a fire truck coming uphill as he was descending on a narrow road.

Bicycling says pro cycling has to address the risk of concussion, like pro football is just beginning to do.

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Local

The LACBC offers advice on what to do if you get a ticket riding your bike. Which is timely advice, since the tone-deaf LA County Sheriff’s Department celebrated Bike Week by cracking down on bike riders in Malibu yesterday.

This is all it takes to commute to UCLA from Santa Monica by bicycle.

Damien Newton talks with Bike SGV education director Jose Jimenez about the county’s first bike traffic school.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever robbed a 72-year old Irwindale man at gunpoint as he rode his bicycle home from a doctor’s appointment, after cutting him off with their car.

Writing for the International Journal of Transportation Innovation, the LACBC’s Tamika Butler asks uneasy questions about the role of Vision Zero in a racist society, and whether the engineers and policy makers responsible for implementing it have the skills to rectify inequity in city planning.

 

State

Thousands are expected to take part in San Diego’s Bike to Work Day.

Two dozen riders turn out for the Ride of Silence in Riverside, joining riders from around the world.

KTLA-5 talks Bike Week with Jenson USA in Riverside.

Bike-friendly Redlands ups the ante by making plans for another 26 miles of bike lanes.

Caltrans plans to install green bike lanes on both sides of the exceptionally wide five lane main street through Joshua Tree. Not just to improve safety for bike riders, but to save the lives of pedestrians.

Bad news from Turlock, where a man on a bike was run down from behind by a pickup driver. Note to Turlock Journal: When someone is hit by a truck doing nearly 60 mph, it really doesn’t matter if he was wearing a helmet. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

 

National

A real estate website says yes, it is possible to live in the suburbs without a car.

A new nationwide insurance policy promises to provide liability coverage for bike riders anywhere in the US. Although here in California, your car insurance should cover you on your bike.

Blind Paralympic cyclist and Iditarod musher Rachael Scdoris-Salerno announces plans to run for Congress as an Oregon Democrat.

In yet another example of allowing dangerous drivers to remain on the road until they kill someone, an Oregon driver gets three and a half years for killing a bike rider, by driving with bald tires that caused his truck to fishtail in wet weather. He admitted to receiving somewhere between 30 to 40 tickets for driving with a suspended license, but would just buy another cheap used car when his got impounded.

Colorado passes a bill that will allow the state to suspend driver’s licenses drivers who flee the scene of an injury collision, regardless of whether they’re convicted. Which is something I’ve been advocating for years.

Slap, meet wrist. A Wisconsin woman was sentenced to 11 months behind bars for killing a bicyclist while texting — to be served one week a year on the anniversary of his death, apparently for the next 50 years.

Revenge is a dish best served cold when a squirrel makes you do a faceplant off your bike, as long as you’re a Chicago alderman.

Surprising no one, the NTSB concludes that the Kalamazoo crash that resulted in the death of five cyclists was due to a drugged driver, as a judge rules the driver’s prior DUI arrest can’t be used as evidence. The victims were remembered during Wednesday’s Ride of Silence.

Boston’s mayor says cyclists and pedestrians need to take more responsibility to avoid crashes, and “be more cognizant that a car is a car.” Because so many people who walk or ride bikes have no idea that getting hit by a car can hurt, apparently.

A Florida writer tells drivers to thank a cyclist. Or if they can’t manage that, at least put down their phones.

 

International

We missed Global Bike to Work Day by one week; riders logged 276,818 commutes on Strava, breaking the previous record by nearly 200,000.

Maybe there’s a forgotten network of 1930s separated bikeways here in the US, too.

Volvo’s LifePaint ad has been banned in the UK for misleading imagery; the reflective spray, which the company said works on any surface, was designed to work on dry textiles and fibrous materials, not bike frames, as the ad suggests.

Caught on video: Evidently, things are no different on the Emerald Isle than anywhere else, as an Irish cyclist records a 52-second highlight reel of punishment passes.

It took a bike thief just three seconds to make off with a Dublin bikeshare bike using a technique posted online.

Motorcycle legend Nicky Hayden was seriously injured in a bicycling collision in Italy on Wednesday, reportedly suffering severe head and chest trauma.

Adding insult to injury, a road-raging Kiwi driver tried to punch a bike rider and spit in his face after trying to ram him into a fence.

 

Finally…

If you have to get run down by an 80-something hit-and-run driver, at least make it a Rolls Royce. If you’re riding drunk and carrying a beer on your bike, try to avoid people driving at nearly four times the legal alcohol limit.

And our own Phil Gaimon reaches new heights in his Clif Bar commercial debut on Kimmel.

Morning Links: No Expo Line bike path in Cheviot Hills anytime soon, and Griffith heirs fight park trail closure

Don’t hold your breath if you’re waiting for completion of the Trousdale Gap in the Expo bike path through Cheviot Hills; Metro reports construction isn’t due to be finished until 2021.

A lengthy gap was left in the path due to threatened lawsuits from wealthy homeowners in the area, who were convinced bike riding thieves would use the pathway to ride off with their silverware and flatscreen TVs. Metro concluded it was easier to avoid dealing with them and the engineering issues, and just skip that section.

Now it will take much longer to close the gap, and at a significantly higher cost.

Thanks to Henry Fung for the link.

Correction: I mistakenly wrote the path would be finished in 2017, rather that the actual 2021. My apologies for the mistake. 

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The heirs to the Griffith in Griffith Park say not so fast to the city’s closure of the closest hiking trail to the Hollywood sign, joining in a lawsuit to keep the trail open.

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California’s proposed Idaho Stop Law is currently awaiting a vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee, where it faces opposition from law enforcement and automobile groups.

The bill’s author says the current widespread civil disobedience demonstrated by riders blowing stop signs is an indication the law either needs to be changed or enforcement needs to be stepped up.

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The LA Weekly chimed in about Joe Bray-Ali Monday, describing what they termed his campaign’s strange downfall, and saying his Facebook mea culpa was more of a public meltdown.

Meanwhile, a blogger reports overhearing Cedillo campaign staffers at the next table discussing campaign tactics awhile back, and concluding they needed to attack Bray-Ali, since Cedillo was too unlikeable and had too many negatives. Which they have clearly done.

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The Dana Point Times provides photos from Sunday’s Dana Point Grand Prix, along with a complete list of winners.

The Redlands Daily Facts offers a preview of this week’s 33rd annual Redlands Bicycle Classic.

Chad Young, the 21-year old cyclist killed during a descent in New Mexico’s Tour of the Gila was studying mechanical engineering at a Colorado college.

A new competition for the best descender in the Giro d’Italia is met with criticism from the pro ranks for needlessly increasing risk in the race that starts on Friday, particularly in light of Young’s death.

The Amgen Tour of California will bring world class athletes to Southern California; a writer for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune calls it a big money maker for the region.

A rider for Team Sky gets a six week ban for racist language directed at a French cyclist during a race last week.

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Local

The LACBC urges the city to save lives by investing in Vision Zero, calling traffic violence the greatest health problem facing children in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the city will host a Vision Zero open house in Southeast LA tonight.

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman looks at USC’s plans to boot a popular bike mechanic from campus, after offering to move him to an isolated spot with no street access.

A Reddit user reports having a pair of bicycles stolen from a Burbank balcony. Another reminder that your bike isn’t safe just because it’s above ground or in a garage; they need to be securely locked to something solid, even if they’re out of view.

A member of the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition calls on the city to adopt a more ambitious Pedestrian and Bicycle Mobility Plan. And actually implement it this time.

Santa Monica’s GoSaMo campaign is reportedly a success as it moves into a second year of encouraging residents to travel by bus, train, bike or on foot.

The SCV News digs into their bag of clichés to say safety is a two-way street for bicyclists and motorists during Bicycle Safety Month. Then illustrates the story with a motorcycle, of course.

 

State

Proposed new rules for California’s medical marijuana industry bizarrely ban bicycle deliveries, requiring all transportation or marijuana to be done by motor vehicles with a human driver.

Five bicycles worth a total of $30,000 were stolen from a Costa Mesa bike shop during a burglary.

Laguna Beach hosts Orange County’s largest Bike Rodeo and Safety Expo to help keep bike riders safe; the city credits their safety efforts for the lack of bicycle fatalities last year.

Two dozen riders left Santa Barbara on Sunday for the four-day Ride On for Red Nose Day ride to Las Vegas; as of this writing, it had raised over $79,000 to help end child poverty.

A kindhearted San Luis Obispo physician bought 82 bikes from the annual Cal Poly bicycle auction, and donates them to the sheriff’s department to refurbish and give to local kids for the holidays.

The San Francisco Weekly says the city’s Vision Zero failed this weekend, as two pedestrians and a man on a bicycle were killed in collisions.

Despite the weekend’s setback, San Francisco is moving forward with Vision Zero, voting on plans to install a two-block protected bike lane on Market Street tomorrow. Meanwhile, bike safety advocates form a human chain next to one bike lane to call attention to the need for protected lanes.

 

National

People for Bikes issued their annual report.

Surprisingly, the new stop gap budget agreement reached in Congress retains funding for the popular TIGER grants, as well as increasing funding for the National Park Service.

A Las Vegas bike shop owner is planning a 1,400-mile ride around the state to kickoff his run — or maybe ride — for the GOP nomination for governor.

Ohio bike riders can go through red lights that don’t function; drivers, not so fast.

A Buffalo NY writer tackles his first double century.

A group of Pennsylvania kids go viral after riding their bikes near Trump’s big weekend rally with a handwritten sign reading “Fuck Trump.”

 

International

A Canadian bike group says mandating bicycle helmets would do more harm then good.

A British bike rider suffered a broken nose and two black eyes when he was pushed off his bike by the passenger of a passing car.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 81-year old man teamed with a ten-year old boy for a 110-mile ride through Wales to raise funds for a hospice.

A British study confirms what we already knew, saying the courts fail bicyclists when it comes to prosecuting dangerous drivers, who are likely to be allowed to stay on the roads to do it again to someone else.

A renowned Swiss climber was killed in a mountaineering accident near Mount Everest; in 2015, he ascended all 82 peaks over 13,100 feet in 62 days, travelling by foot, bike and paraglider.

A man from Nepal stopped in Qatar on his around the world bike tour, the 55th country he’s visited despite losing a leg to polio as a child.

 

Finally…

Apparently, dangerous drivers don’t respect cops on bikes, either. Nothing like a hopefully gentle push from behind when you get tired.

And don’t piss off your girlfriend, or she might give away your bike.

 

 

Morning Links: Trade your bike or bag at Timbuk2, O’Farrell endorses Bray-Ali, and Montana bike tax an unfunny joke

Here’s your chance to get a new bike or bike bag and support a good cause at the same time, as Timbuk2 and Pure Cycles host a special trade-in event this weekend at the Timbuk2 store on Abbott Kinney in Venice.

During store hours, visitors will have the chance to bring in any worn bag or bike in exchange for a 30% off discount on any Timbuk2 product or Pure Cycles Bike. On top of that, all donated items will go to Bikerowave, a Los Angeles-based non-profit that will be on-site to discuss with donators on how their contributions will help the community of Los Angeles.

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Big news in the CD1 race, as 13th District Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell has endorsed challenger Joe Bray-Ali over incumbent Gil Cedillo. According to the LA Times,

“Joe Bray-Ali understands the issues facing Los Angeles and demonstrates a sense of urgency in addressing the affordable housing crises, safety in our neighborhoods, and responsiveness to constituent needs,” O’Farrell said in a prepared statement. “His positive grassroots campaign has motivated more people to participate in the democratic process at the local level and become engaged in the pressing issues that affect Angelenos. This city faces daunting challenges and we need someone like Joe to bring a fresh perspective, new ideas, and an open mind to decision making for our city.”

It’s almost unheard of for a sitting councilmember to endorse a challenger, especially one in the adjoining district.

Although, as several people reminded me today, Cedillo endorsed termed-out county Supervisor Gloria Molina over Jose Huizar just two years ago. In other words, LA’s most anti-bike councilmember was opposing one of the city’s best in the district next door.

It will be interesting to see if Huizar returns the favor.

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The City of Vernon wants your input on filling a major gap in the LA River bike path through the city.

And Metro wants your input on three proposed Long Beach bike paths within the I-710 corridor.

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It turns out that proposal to charge a $25 fee for out-of-state bike riders using Montana roadways was just a very big, and very bad, April Fools joke.

I’m glad they think it was funny, even though it brought an incredible amount of bad publicity to the state, and caused bike riders around the world to rethink their plans to visit there.

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More remembrances of the late great Steve Tilford, who was killed in a Utah car crash early Wednesday morning:

Meanwhile, VeloNews offers a guide to the cobbles of this weekend’s Paris – Roubaix. And Cycling Weekly says you don’t need a rule book for cycling, because you should just know all this stuff already.

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Local

Horrible news from Firestone Park in unincorporated South LA County, where the occupants of a car got out and swarmed a man on a bike before stabbing him several times; he died at a nearby hospital.

Former Glendale state Assembly Member Mike Gatto is one of us, penning a great Op-Ed in the Times about the carfree lifestyle he’s maintained since 2012.

Los Angeles Magazine’s Neal Broverman calls out four LA area streets in desperate need of a pedestrian-friendly makeover. What’s good for pedestrians is usually good for bike riders, too.

Metro is now offering discounted Metro Bike memberships to businesses to encourage their employees to use the bikeshare service, in hopes of doubling its ridership rates by the end of next year.

Bike SGV takes issue with a recent story that blamed a Glendale bike rider for a crash.

We already knew chef Gordon Ramsay was one of us, getting up at 4 am every Sunday to put in 112 miles on his bike.

 

State

Calbike still has concerns following the passage of the state transportation bill that would double spending on active transportation projects, while significantly boosting funding for public transportation.

Streetsblog looks back favorably on last weekend’s successful Garden Grove open streets event.

San Diego’s Campagnolo GranFondo rolls this Sunday.

There’s something seriously wrong when a bike path becomes the most divisive issue in a community, as the proposed and long argued CV Link through the Coachella Valley appears to have become.

A Santa Barbara man is recovering from serious injuries after his bike was hit head-on while descending the famed Gibralter climb.

Bakersfield police recommend DUI and hit-and-run charges against a member of a prominent local family in the death of a bike rider earlier this year, even though he could have been charged with second degree murder due to a pervious DUI conviction.

A San Luis Obispo elementary school has been named the most bike friendly school in the US by the League of American Bicyclists.

 

National

While the rest of the country envies bike friendly Portland, Portland bicyclists push for more safety improvements.

Las Vegas police are looking for a suspect who rode his bicycle up to man outside a liquor store and shot him twice in the chest before riding away.

Colorado becomes the fourth state to pass a law classifying ebikes used on the roadways; California led the way by creating three classes of ebikes, based on their maximum speed, that took effect in 2016.

Family members have filed suit against the Ohio man accused of murdering a 20-year old college student after she went for a bike ride.

Arkansas rejects a bill that would have allowed children to play outside — and ride their bikes — without the supervision of a parent or guardian. Thanks to Ed Ryder for the heads-up.

Shreveport LA promises cyclists they’re getting a real bike plan, but gives them sharrows instead.

New Orleans delays consideration of an ordinance that would update existing bike laws, some of which haven’t been changed since the 1950s; the delay is so they can add penalties to the prohibition against drivers harassing bicyclists. Most of the changes make sense, except for a requirement that every bike have a bell; apparently there’s a backlog of Angels in need of wings.

The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition offers to help drivers hack their commutes by taking to bicycles following the collapse of the I-85 freeway through the city.

Former NYDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan tells an appreciative Charlotte NC audience it’s time the city stopped focusing on cars.

There’s a new world record for the most miles ridden in a single year, as 24-year old Florida resident Amanda Coker shattered the old record of 76,076 with over five weeks left to go, averaging over 288 miles a day on her bike.

 

International

The Cuban cyclist attempting to build the world’s tallest ridable bike with the help of LA’s Ritchie Trimble, builder of the current record holder, has his attempt halted by the police. Literally.

London’s former cycling commissioner is keeping tabs on his successor, and doesn’t seem too happy about the lack of progress.

It only took a London jury 17 minutes to acquit a driver who killed a 70-year old man on a bicycle in Britain’s first crowdfunded private prosecution. So maybe there was a reason why the police declined to file, after all.

A Malaysian newspaper calls for providing safe places for kids to ride their bikes, and emulating a program from a neighboring state that guided teenagers away from illegally modified bikes and onto regular bicycles, while providing the training to become professional cyclists.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you’re riding your bike with an outstanding warrant, don’t ride on the damn sidewalk. Seriously, if you’re going to steal a bike, at least know why you did it.

And apparently, a British driver really didn’t want to know his brake light wasn’t working.

Morning Links: LA River bike path reopens, and app-based bikeshare could pose a challenge for Metro

Today’s big news is the reopening of the LA River bike path.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, the bike path was finally reopened following months of repair and maintenance on the stretch below Griffith Park, after it was closed to install needless flood barricades for the storms that never came last winter.

Now weekday riders can finally stop following that circuitous and bike-unfriendly detour that was put in place to get around the construction work. Or more likely, start riding the path again after finding other routes or modes of transportation for the past several months.

Here’s the link to the Corps LA River page that was included in the above tweet.

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Another Chinese-style app-based bikeshare system is coming to the US, as San Mateo’s LimeBike has raised over $12 million in venture capital funding. The company says its bikes will rent for $1 for 30 minutes, and can be picked up and left anywhere, rather than at a dock.

That could pose a significant challenge to the more traditional bikeshare programs — if you can call something that only gained significant US acceptance in this decade “traditional.”

Programs like LA’s Metro Bike, which costs nearly three times as much if you don’t have a membership while offering less flexibility, could struggle to compete against cheaper competition that will inevitably arrive within the next few years — at a significant cost to the taxpayers footing the bill.

If Metro Bike, and others like Santa Monica’s Breeze and West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals, are to succeed, they will have to expand quickly into currently unserved areas, while somehow addressing the issue of affordability.

Because, as the taxi industry has learned the hard way, it’s a lot more convenient to just pick up your phone to find and pay for a ride.

Whether you’re on four wheels. Or soon, two.

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Local

Los Angeles Magazine offers advice on how to keep ridership surging on the Expo Line, including a call for better pedestrian access. The same could be said for bicycles, as Westside bikeways leading to and from the Expo Line aren’t just bad, they’re virtually nonexistent.

Santa Monica will have four bike valets for the LA Marathon on Sunday; however, three Breeze bikeshare stations will be disabled for the day.

Grab your bike, hop on Metro and hit the bars.

CiclaValley is starting a campaign to bring a former LACBC intern from the Netherlands back to compete in the Amgen Tour of California.

The Street Librarians will hold their monthly ride to restock street libraries on the 26th, while reading selections from the poet Rumi.

 

State

Speaking of app-based bikeshare, San Francisco approves rules for the dock-less systems, which seem more like an attempt to regulate them out of business.

A San Francisco driver faces charges for attempting to flee the scene after hitting a bike rider; fortunately, the victim is expected to recover.

 

National

Bicycling, the magazine, gets it right, as contributors say bicycling, the sport/transportation/activity, is the key to a lifetime of pure, unadulterated joy. Although my personal joy has been adulterated on numerous occasions by angry drivers, bad roads and bees on the beach. Not to mention my own damn carelessness from time to time.

Speaking of Bicycling, after the magazine offered seven reasons why bicycling was better than running, Running, the magazine, responds with a whopping 37 reasons why they think their sport is better.

A writer for a design site says building the new Ikea bike was the worst hour of his life. Besides dental work and real emotional loss, that is.

A new Portland bicycling collective composed of women of color is attempting to crack the city’s overwhelmingly white and male cycling scene. And doing it with a donut ride, which is always a smart move.

WaPo belatedly discovers the glowing Texas bikeway everyone was talking about last month. Or last year, even.

Instant karma strikes hard in Little Rock AR, where a wrong way truck driver fleeing a previous hit-and-run was killed in a collision with a bike rider, who also died in the crash.

Caught on video: A Minnesota driver faces charges after brake checking a bike rider, then threatening to kill him before nearly running over his foot. All for the crime of being in the driver’s way at a red light.

Life is cheap in Michigan, where a judge refuses to reconsider her original sentence of just one year in county jail for a killer drunk driver who was over twice the legal limit when he ran down a bike rider; sentencing guidelines called for a minimum of nearly two and a half years in state prison, with a max of 15 years.

Indiana homeowners — and passing bike riders — have to literally dodge bullets escaping from a nearby gun range.

Courses were unveiled for the US national road cycling championships in Knoxville KY this June.

An Ohio letter writer says it’s unfair to segregate bike riders onto bike paths, because people on bikes have to get to businesses and residences just like anyone else.

New York releases plans to make bicycling safer for commuters looking for an alternative after the L train shuts down for 18 months of repair work.

 

International

A new study shows bicycling really does improve your memory.

A Philippine actor tells fans he’s okay after he was injured in a bicycling crash.

Don’t bother biking to the airport in Bangkok for the next seven months.

 

Finally…

If you don’t want the cops to shoot at you, put a damn light on your bike — and don’t flee when they try to stop you. If you have to pee while you ride, try not to do it in view of the breathless British press.

And why settle for a time trial when you can have a six-legged obstacle course?

Morning Links: Koretz calls for banning bikes from Westwood, and protected bike lanes are coming to Lankershim

Yes, he really said that.

Speaking at a candidate forum Tuesday night, incumbent CD5 city councilmember Paul Koretz called for banning bicycles from Westwood Blvd.

Never mind actually building the bike lanes he’s personally blocked from being installed on the boulevard.

And never mind that it’s against state law to ban bikes from any public street where cars are allowed. Which he should know, as a former state Assembly member.

But then, nothing seems to get in the way of his apparent desire to keep Westwood dangerous, and filled with failing businesses and empty storefronts, as he strives to maintain automotive hegemony over the street.

Which could be, but isn’t, why the LA Daily News endorsed his opponent Jesse Creed over career politician Koretz. Although you’d think they might have mentioned the obvious hypocrisy of blocking bike lanes while claiming to be an environmentalist.

You can do something about it by joining Bike the Vote LA in their get out the vote effort from 12 to 4 pm this Sunday, at 109 S Robertson Blvd, between 3rd Street and Alden Drive.

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Local

Great news, as Los Angeles will undo a small portion of the damage wrought by former Councilmember Tom LaBonge by installing 2.2 miles of protected bike lanes on Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood, from Magnolia to Vanowen; like Kortez, LaBonge had blocked a previous shovel-ready plan for bike lanes on the boulevard in an apparent attempt to keep the street dangerously auto-focused.

CiclaValley writes about Monday’s North Hollywood death of a bike rider identified, as Stanley Martin Digerose, who was killed when he stopped to retrieve a ball that had rolled into the street from a nearby park.

Loyola Marymount will open a free bikeshare system on campus; the center will eventually offer seminars teaching students how to fix, tune, and repair their bikes, as well.

Pasadena installs a combination bike repair and hydration station near the rose Bowl.

 

State

A new bill in the state legislature would require Caltrans to improve safety on state highways that run through urban areas and neighborhoods by installing safer sidewalks, crosswalks and bike infrastructure — and more importantly, by providing the funding to pay for it. Streetsblog says it would force Caltrans to follow its own Complete Streets guidelines.

Needless to say, reaction to a proposed bill to allow the Idaho Stop Law in California hasn’t been entirely positive.

Speaking of Idaho Stops, the Union-Tribune shows where bike riders are most likely to get a ticket for stop sign violations. Thanks to Frank Shunkan for the heads-up.

San Diego’s already bad roads are getting worse after the winter rains, leading to lawsuits from drivers and injured bicyclists. Potholes and cracks may be an expensive annoyance to drivers, but can be dangerous for bike riders.

 

National

A new study of male athletes suggests riding too long and hard could affect your sex drive and fertility. Previous studies have shown a similar affect on women.

A bicycling website ranks the top ten bike-friendly cities in the US. Guess which one isn’t on the list?

Lifehacker offers advice on how to buy a bike off eBay without getting hosed.

Your next fat bike could be half scooter.

A Washington high school offers a bike academy to train students for jobs in the bicycle industry.

A popular Tucson bike path is closed down for construction without adequate notice or a detour around the project site. Not that there’s anything unusual about that.

An Op-Ed in the Denver Post says Colorado faces a $2 billion transportation shortfall, and the state must invest in multimodal transportation, including bicycling, instead of building more roads.

The hit-and-run driver who dragged a Las Vegas teenager’s bike under his truck for two and a half miles before tossing it in a dumpster is a convicted felon, though the story doesn’t say what he was convicted of; thankfully, his victim is slowly recovering from his injuries.

A new Chicago plan calls for wetlands and bike bridges leading to a massive industrial area.

No, seriously. Who could have possible imagined that a killer drunk driver would lie to a Chicago courtroom to save his own skin? Thanks to Matt Ruscigno for the link.

Teenage Staten Island bike riders get busted for performing stunts while weaving in and out of traffic and riding salmon. So in their infinite wisdom, authorities filed criminal charges against them. Seriously. For riding bikes.

A Virginia deputy isn’t angry at the 19-year old girl who stole his bike to get home after she was stranded following the Super Bowl. Especially since she brought it back the next day with a note asking for forgiveness.

It’s the cover-up that gets you caught. A Florida woman is caught using a bike to cover her tracks after skipping 1.5 miles of a Ft. Lauderdale half marathon.

 

International

Now you can get Strava on your iWatch, assuming you have one. Or want one.

Toronto considers new rules to keep bike lanes from being used as parking and loading zones for construction sites.

London is the latest city to get the subway-style bike map treatment. Which would just show a bunch of disconnected lines if they tried it here.

Caught on video: This is why drivers have to give a safe passing distance, as a Brit cyclist is clipped by a passing driver who apparently didn’t see him, despite his hi-viz. Or maybe just didn’t care.

A UK paper is shocked and appalled that someone would ride in a bike lane with no hands and no helmet. Although he does seem to have his bike under control, even making a hands-free left — and signaling, though I initially missed that.

After video of a woman bike rider ripping off the wing mirror of a van goes viral, the Guardian says the race for clicks is undermining the credibility of the press. Although a HuffPo writer says she wishes she had the courage to do it.

Irish drivers could face a the equivalent of an $84 fine for passing a bike rider with less than five feet distance on roads with a speed limit over 31 mph, and 3 feet on streets with lower speeds, under a “radical” plan under consideration.

Nice story of an Indian man who rode his bike 7,000 miles to Sweden in the 1970s to be with the woman he loved; they’ve now been married 40 years.

One of China’s app-based bikeshare systems is about to drop 500 bicycles on the streets of Cambridge, England.

A lawyer says the Malaysian driver who killed eight teenage bike riders in a collision over the weekend deserves the blame for hitting them from behind, not her victims or their parents.

 

Finally…

If you get pulled over for DUI, probably best not to do cartwheels when the cop asks you to walk a straight line. What to say to those foul-mouthed, bell-happy cyclists when you innocently park in their bike lane.

And someone really needs to give this dog a dope test. Seriously.

Morning Links: Help make Union Station bikeable, donate used tubes in Ventura, and motor doping on CBS

Through the end of this month, BikinginLA is supporting local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry by offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.

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You have just two days left to comment on Metro’s plans to make the entrance to LA’s Union Station more walkable and bikeable.

Although there’s some concern about the removal of a bike lane on Los Angeles St, and dismount zones where riders will be required to walk their bikes.

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If you’re in the Ventura area, stop by BikeVentura at 1150 N Ventura Ave to drop off your old inner tubes; they’ll patch them and pass them on to people in need.

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Now that 60 Minutes has taken up the case, it seems like the whole world is talking about motor doping. The original designer of the hidden motors says he thinks pro cyclists have been using them to cheat since he sold the first one for $2 million in 1998, while America’s only remaining Tour de France winner says he can’t trust cycling victories as a result.

Dutch great Marianne Vos slipped on a wet corner, creating an opening for Belgian Sanne Cant to win her first World cyclocross championship, while denying Vos her eighth.

Deadspin offers a history cyclists taking wrong turns or getting lost in the middle of a race.

A 30-year old Philadelphia bike race has been canceled due to a lack of sponsors.

Lance is still around and kicking, finishing second in a Texas gravel bike race after his ban on cycling was partially lifted last year.

Former Spanish pro and U-23 world road champ Iván Gutiérrez says he tried to hurt himself eleven times as a result of depression. Pro teams focus a lot of attention on physical condition of their riders; maybe more needs to be paid to their mental and emotional health.

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Local

Los Angeles agreed to purchase a large property on the LA River, which should help revitalize the river while making space for parks and bike trails.

Pure Cycles looks at the recent Draft: a People for Bikes Meetup that they hosted.

Work continues on the Ocean Blvd road diet in Long Beach, which will include bike lanes once it’s finished.

Multicultural Communities for Mobility is hosting a bikeshare ride to next Saturday’s 118th Golden Dragon Parade in LA’s Chinatown.

The LACBC’s next Sunday Funday ride will explore LA’s Super Bowl history on Super Bowl Sunday.

 

State

Ventura police are looking for a 60-something, bike-riding arsonist.

Streetsblog looks at a soon-to-be unveiled protected bike lane through the city’s McLaren Park.

A Marin County equestrian says conflicts on trails are caused by a small percentage of aggressive cyclists, and never happened before mountain bikes were invented. Funny, I’ve been run off trails by horseback riders while hiking more than once, before and after mountain bikes came into widespread use.

Sad news from Northern California, where an Oroville bike rider was killed in a hit-and-run.

A Chico man lost $15,000 worth of bicycles and parts when a burglar broke into his garage and stole six bikes.

 

National

If you have a Pro-Tec City Life bike helmet, send it back; they’re being recalled after failing routine tests by Consumer Reports.

Fast Coexist looks at a simple fix that could keep bike riders’ tires from getting caught in streetcar tracks.

A writer for Strong Towns says she’s not a cyclist, she’s just someone who rides a bike. While I understand the sentiment, I have to respectfully disagree; saying cyclists are only people who wear spandex and ride for sport, as opposed to others who ride casually or for transportation, just creates an us vs. them mentality, instead of standing up for the rights of everyone who rides a bicycle.

An Op-Ed in the Austin TX paper says it’s time to respect cyclists humanity and rightful place on the road.

A suspect turned himself in for the hit-and-run death of a young Texas bike racer, whose mother found his body the next day when he didn’t return home from a ride; the driver turned himself in on Friday, following the collision last Monday. Which gave him plenty of time to sober up and come up with a good excuse. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.

Bike advocates and friends of a fallen Chicago bike rider express their outrage over the ten day sentence given a killer drunk driver. Streetsblog says the politically connected driver was twice charged with DUI in high school, but had the charges dismissed. This is why people continue to die on our streets; too often there are no consequences for dangerous behavior, even when someone gets hurt — or worse. Especially if they can afford a good lawyer.

A Minnesota TV station looks at the intersection of bicycling and President Trump, who hasn’t been on one since he was a kid. Which probably explains a lot.

Not surprisingly, bike riders aren’t reacting well to a Minnesota legislator’s proposal to require bicyclists to pay a $5 fee and pass a road safety course before they’re allowed to use the state’s bike lanes. Which would just push riders into the traffic lanes, defeating the whole purpose.

The New York co-founder of the CycloFemme movement offers her advice on commuting by bike year-round in city traffic.

The New York Times says innovations in the cycling world, including mobile bike shops and online ordering, are threatening local bike shops. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the link.

 

International

If you’re going to get into bicycling, the first thing you’ll need is a bicycle. Just about everything else the story mentions is optional to a greater or lesser degree; yes, you should have a spare tube and patch kit, but countless riders somehow manage to get along without a bike computer, as useful as they may be.

A 230 mile long abandoned railroad in Paraguay could soon be the longest bike path in South America.

Bike parking sheds are fine on the streets of London’s Westminster district, as long as they look like luxury cars.

Caught on video, sort of: It takes a real schmuck to punch a disabled London cyclist, knocking him out, after blocking the rider’s path with his double-parked Uber car.

Hero Cycles, which claims to be the world’s largest bike maker, is opening an R&D center in Manchester, England. Except it isn’t the biggest.

Antonio Banderas is one of us, riding through the woods behind his English home; he made the news after suffering a heart scare.

Seriously, how oblivious do you have to be to not even know you hit someone with your car? A British driver claims his had his music turned up so loud he didn’t even know he’d hit a bike rider until he got home and saw the damage to his car. But how is it that he didn’t even feel the impact?

A Scottish lawyer says the country has to make bicycling safer, as too many people are afraid to get out on their bikes, resulting in a public health crisis.

PeopleForBikes says the latest edition of the Netherland’s bikeway design manual, which they call the world’s best, is available now. And in English.

An Indian bus driver rode his bike nearly 700 miles to call for the expansion of a two lane highway.

 

Finally…

Your next helmet could signal your turns for you. LA riders may have gotten caught in the rain lately, but that’s better than frostbite and burned bronchial tubes.

And you may be able to outsprint the other riders, but can you drop a giraffe?

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Thanks to an anonymous giver for a generous donation to support this site. The kindness and generosity of BikinginLA readers is always welcome.

And appreciated.

 

Breaking News: Los Angeles selected as part of new PeopleForBikes initiative to boost bike ridership

News has just come in that Los Angeles has been selected as one of ten cities to participate in the Big Jump Project.

The new initiative from PeopleForBikes is aimed at doubling or tripling bike ridership in specific neighborhoods by improving bike infrastructure.

As part of the Big Jump Project, Los Angeles will focus on improving bike infrastructure in downtown LA and University Park, the city’s business core. As a participant in the program, Los Angeles will annually receive the equivalent of $200,000 in technical support from PeopleForBikes, as well as an additional $50,000 in matching funds or financial commitments from local organizations….

Over the course of the next three years, the Big Jump Project cities will be laboratories for innovation, ultimately illustrating the ways in which U.S. cities and towns can tap into bicycles to radically improve the health and vitality of their communities.

The project is part of PeopleForBikes’ new PlacesForBikes program, a three-part plan including an easy-to-understand, data-driven system for rating bike-friendly cities; how-to resources for communities and businesses; and an annual conference for city and business leaders.

Los Angeles was selected along with New York City, Baltimore MD, Portland OR, Memphis TN, Providence RI, New Orleans LA,  Austin TX, Tucson AZ and my hometown of Fort Collins, CO.

While it’s great that Los Angeles has been selected as one of the initial cities, it’s unfortunate that it is limited to the Downtown area, which has already seen a jump in ridership, and the area north of USC, which could definitely use the help.

It would have been nice to see infrastructure-starved areas like South LA, Highland Park and Hollywood included in the program, as well as other often ignored regions of the city.

However, as always, the problem in Los Angeles is political will, and the courage of local councilmembers to stand up to the inevitable NIMBY anti-bike backlash.

Or more precisely, the lack thereof.

Hopefully, when people see what can be done to make our streets safer and more inviting for everyone, they’ll demand improvements in their own neighborhoods, as well. And elect representatives who will respond to that demand.

The other concern is whether LA will finally provide adequate staffing and funding for LADOT to meet the requirements of our streets, so this doesn’t result in ignoring the urgent needs of other areas while attention is focused on just two neighborhoods.

As former NYDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan stresses in her book Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution, cities must be able to respond quickly to needs and opportunities on the streets, rather than taking years to design — and redesign in response to local opposition and lack of leadership backbone — before even thinking about implementation.

Something Los Angeles sadly lacks, and seems unlikely to change.

Maybe this will be the kick in the ass the city so desperately needs.

You can see the full press release here.

 

Morning Links: LA bike path meeting Saturday, bike licensing is a bad idea, and ‘tis the season for giving bikes

If you ride the LA River bike path, make plans to be at a meeting to discuss safety on the popular shared-use pathway this Saturday.

la-river-meeting

There have been calls ban bikes or force riders to dismount from the pathway in Elysian Valley after a woman was critically injured in a collision with a bicyclist. Although it should be noted that the rider did remain at the scene and try to help.

The people opposed to bicycles will undoubtedly be out in force, so it’s vital that the other side be heard, as well.

Meanwhile, there will be meetings tomorrow and the following Tuesday to discuss extending the pathway into the San Fernando Valley.

Welcome to Day 7 of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

It’s Week Two of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and keep Southern California’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

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Returning to the bike licensing discussion we had last week, a Canadian website says licensing bikes is just a bad idea.

The article correctly points out that the purpose of licensing, whether it’s drivers or businesses, is to regulate them, not raise revenue — despite licensing proponents claims that bike riders need to pay for the lanes we use.

It also makes the point that the cost of licensing bikes, and/or riders, would outweigh any revenue it might raise.

And that it takes 810,000 people riding bicycles to do as much damage to the streets as one person driving an SUV.

So maybe it’s not the bicycles that should be regulated off the roads.

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That image of Shaq and Amanda Sykes on a tandem bike that circulated last week came from an American Express small business ad, filmed in part at a Berkeley bike shop.

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‘Tis the season of giving.

Dublin CA high school students partner with the local Rotary Club to build bicycles for needy children.

The Lodi Rotary Club donates 100 bicycles for underprivileged children.

A Chattanooga church is hosting a 36-hour holiday bike drive to get bikes for economically disadvantaged children.

Volunteers in Tampa FL build nearly 800 bicycles to donate to underprivileged kids.

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Pro cycling’s top level WorldTour is headed back to China, courtesy of the world’s richest man. Although some people are complaining that it’s not clear what the WorldTour is anymore.

And yes, even para-cyclists dope.

But no, really, the doping era is over, right?

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Local

A community meeting will be held this Thursday to discuss the proposed Rail-to-River shared pathway, as a route through Huntington Park and Bell emerges as the favorite.

LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler will host a meeting to discuss bike advocacy in Northeast LA on Thursday, including the status of the long-delayed road diet and bike lanes on North Figueroa.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton calls out NIMBYs for opposing reduced parking requirements for granny flats, including replacing car parking with bike parking.

A bicyclist in his 20s was critically injured in a collision with a motorcyclist near the entrance to Granada Park in Alhambra Saturday afternoon.

The Canyon News looks at this past weekend’s Electric Bike Expo in Santa Monica.

 

State

The keyboardist for the band Faith No More has written a new opera about the annual San Francisco to Los Angeles AIDS ride.

San Diego begins work on a 2.25-mile stretch of what will eventually be a 24-mile loop around the San Diego Bay.

Sad news from Cayucos, as a 47-year old San Luis Obispo man was killed when a driver crossed double yellow lines to pass another vehicle, and hit his bicycle head-on; oddly, no arrest has been made despite the illegal pass.

San Franciscans are divided on plan to remove a traffic lane on two streets in the city’s panhandle to install protected bike lanes.

Police are looking for the driver who ran down a San Francisco cyclist and left her lying in the street last week; fortunately, she’s recovering from her injuries.

 

National

A long read from the former science editor for National Geographic says mountain bikers are saving the world by mapping it.

The Bureau of Land Management is looking for whoever dismantled a Colorado mountain bike trail less than two hours after it was repaired.

A New Mexico man calls his own actions reckless and irresponsible as he’s sentenced to four and a half years for killing a cyclist while driving at three times the legal alcohol limit.

The rich get richer. Missouri officials open a new 47.5-mile link in the 238-mile Katy Trail crossing the state; meanwhile, a 74-year old woman rides the full length of the trail on her $89 Walmart bike.

Famed law professor Alan Dershowitz calls on New York bike riders to stop at red lights after ten close calls while crossing the street. Meanwhile, the invariably hysterical New York Post posits a citywide conspiracy to jam up traffic and force people to leave their cars at home and take bikes or transit.

It takes a world class jerk to pretend to call the police after hitting a teenage North Carolina bike rider.

Retired boxing champ Floyd Mayweather is one of us, riding his fat bike around Miami with his friends.

After a Florida bicyclist breaks his leg in a collision with a car, he asks the driver to take him to the hospital to avoid paying for an ambulance ride.

A Florida woman gets seven years in the DUI death of a teenage bike rider.

 

International

A Calgary columnist complains that a network of downtown cycle tracks is about to be approved by the city council even though only a small majority of drivers like them. And makes it very clear that the opinion of anyone who doesn’t drive doesn’t matter.

A London bike advocacy group is crowdfunding a campaign to fight the damage done by taxi drivers, anti-bike groups and NIMBYs.

London’s Telegraph blames bike riders and people on cell phones for turning the country’s canal towpaths into crowded collision zones.

In a dramatic move to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians, London plans to ban vehicular traffic from a dangerous junction during daylight hours.

Bike theft isn’t just an American problem; nearly 82,000 bicycles were stolen in England and Wales over a 12-month period.

Great Britain is getting tough on traffic crimes; dangerous drivers who kill could now face up to life in prison.

This is why people continue to die on the streets. A Brit man has been convicted of drunk driving ten times, along with 61 — yes, you read that right — convictions for driving with a suspended license. And keeps driving anyway, despite being jailed four times this year alone.

Evidently, some bike thieves actually have a heart. Thieves returned a mountain bike they’d stolen from a Northern Irish boy just before the anniversary of his father’s death, following an appeal from the boy’s mother; the bike was his father’s last gift to him before his sudden death.

A Dutch study shows it’s five times more efficient to evacuate a city by bicycle than by motor vehicle. Something that will be worth remembering when it’s time to flee Los Angeles. And it will be, sooner or later.

A new Spanish study says even a five-foot passing distance is not enough, depending on the vehicle type and speed.

A “speeding” Aussie cyclist gets all the blame for running over and killing a small dog, even though the owner admits letting her dog stray onto the wrong side of a pathway next to a blind curve. You should always ride carefully around any living thing, especially kids and animals, who can be impulsive and unpredictable. But the people responsible for those kids and dogs need to be exactly that, as well.

The parable of the Good Samaritan comes to life when a Singaporean bike rider falls hard after his chain breaks; the locals leave him lying injured in the street, while it takes a group of migrant construction workers come to his aid.

 

Finally…

Yes, you may be a big important government official, but you can’t ride your bike anymore. Organizing a bike race is more fun when you don’t end up in jail.

And yes, you can carry a refrigerator on your bicycle.

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BikinginLA exists because of the generosity of people like you. So if you haven’t already, please take a moment to contribute to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive to help keep it coming your way every day.

And a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has given to help support this site.

Morning Links: Feds adopt bike/ped Vision Zero; Emerald Necklace Gateway opens; partial Ballona Creek closure

One quick note.

It’s come to my attention that the email notification informing subscribers about new posts on this site has stopped working for some reason. So if you’re not getting emails when new posts go up, we’re working on it.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll just keep coming back every day until we can get it fixed.

Thanks to Marvin Davis for the heads-up.

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Big news from DC, as the Federal Highway Administration has adopted Vision Zero.

At least for people on foot or two wheels.

The FHWA’s new strategic plan calls for reducing bicycling and pedestrian deaths by 80% by 2031, and eliminating them entirely in the next 20 to 30 years.

It also calls for a 50% increase in trips under five miles for bicyclists and one mile for pedestrians by 2025.

All by promoting better design standards, better data collection and reducing traffic speeds on urban streets.

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Thursday marked the opening of the first phase of the Emerald Necklace Gateway.

The 1.1 mile bike path connects the Metro Duarte/City of Hope Gold Line station with the existing San Gabriel River Bike Trail to form a 28-mile long route linking the upper part of the San Gabriel Valley to Seal Beach.

However, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports the bikeway is only half finished, despite being in the works for more than a decade; the full path is not scheduled to be completed until 2021 at best.

Bike SGV offers photos from yesterday’s opening.

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Speaking of bikeways, don’t plan on riding the eastern section of the Ballona Creek bike path during the day next week.

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Today’s common theme is cross-country bike riding.

Hats off to Ivan Schmidt; the 16-year old Long Beach teen rode 1,800 miles from British Columbia to Tijuana, raising $2,500 to fight rheumatoid arthritis.

A 67-year old man rode 2,400 miles from Chicago to San Bernardino, after surviving two open heart surgeries, six bypasses and an aortic valve replacement.

A retired fighter pilot is riding from Maine to Key West to honor fallen and disabled service members and their families.

A Canadian cyclist has raised over $150,000 for cancer research, traveling more than 3,500 miles since beginning a trans-Canada ride in June.

And 41 cyclists set off on a 1,325-mile self-supported ride down the length of Sweden, beginning 200 miles above the Arctic Circle.

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VeloNews talks with cycling legend Eddy Merckx about bike design, his favorite riders and the evolving standards of cool in the bike world.

Wired looks at the dramatic evolution in handcycles used by Paralympic athletes, leading to today’s $10,000 carbon fiber bikes.

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Local

According to the Census Bureau, bike commuting in LA County has finally reached a full 1%. Just imagine what it could be if we had safe places to ride.

CiclaValley can barely control his excitement over two Valley CicLAvias in 2017.

Santa Monica police will conduct another of their bicycle and pedestrian enforcement days today, followed a second one on Monday. Standard rules apply; obey the letter of the law while riding in the city so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

Long Beach’s unnamed bikeshare program has seen 3,500 people ride 35,000 miles in its first six months; it will eventually have 500 bikes at 50 stations.

Cycling in the South Bay calls for cyclists to turn out in support of Bikes May Use Full Lane signs at the Palos Verdes Estates city council meeting on Sept. 27th, even though it may require a lot of sitting.

 

State

Pink’s five-year old daughter is one of us.

Work has begun on two bridge widening projects in Carpinteria required to widen Highway 101, which will eventually include two new coastal bike lanes. Isn’t it cute how officials pretend widening highways will actually solve their traffic problems?

Holy one-man crime wave, Batman! A Ventura man is under arrest after stealing two crucifixes from the San Buenaventura Mission, then using them as weapons to attack people, before busting the window of a thrift shop and stealing a bicycle.

Other football programs get in trouble with the NCAA because their players tool around in Escalades and sports cars someone bought for them; at Stanford, it was a $3,500 bicycle.

A San Francisco woman was beaten and robbed by three bike riders when she approached them at an intersection to talk. Seriously, 3:24 am is probably not the best time to engage strangers in conversation, whether or not they’re on bikes.

Pleasanton officials approve safety changes to an intersection where a 72-year old bike rider was killed in June.

Marin drivers break out the torches and pitchforks over fears a proposed road diet will snarl traffic, even though studies show they often improve traffic flow.

A Chico letter writer calls on local cycling clubs to take the lead on cleaning up a bike path and reclaiming it from homeless squatters.

 

National

Bicycling explains how to sneak in a midweek overnight bikepacking trip. And enjoy your new women on bikes emojis.

NPR looks at how tactical urbanism is making a difference with small, incremental DIY changes throughout the US.

Bike rooms are the latest must-have amenity for any well-turned out luxury apartment building or condos.

Portland Police are looking for a spandex-clad road cyclist who yelled racial slurs and pepper sprayed a family of black kids. There is simply no excuse for crap like that. Ever. Period.

A 74-year old resident of a Wyoming senior home made his escape by bicycle after shooting three people before taking his own life.

The Wall Street Journal says it can be a struggle to find a bikeshare bicycle in New York at rush hour, as people are often greeted with empty racks. Probably because they’re being used to practice operatic arias.

It takes a real lowlife to steal a Mobile AL bicycle coffee cart used to raise funds and awareness for human trafficking victims.

The distracted driver accused of killing a Georgia bike rider while high on prescription drugs had two other DUIs in the last three months, and had a severe drug dependency problem for at least four years. And yet she was allowed to keep driving until she actually killed someone.

 

International

What’s the point of building what may be the world’s tallest bicycle if you can’t get the bike chains you need to ride it through the Cuban embargo? At 33 feet, it’s 13 feet taller than the current record holder, LA’s STOOPIDTALLER, which is even taller than the famous STOOPIDTALL.

Bicycles donated through World Vision and World Bicycle Relief can be key to reducing teen pregnancy and keeping girls in school in Kenya.

A Masai elder is one of us, as he leads a group of bicyclists through Tanzania as part of the 7,500 mile Tour d’Afrique.

 

Finally…

Just because no one needs a VCR anymore, don’t stuff it in a briefcase and drop it off in front of a federal courthouse while riding your bike. Mooning rush hour traffic in China.

And if you already have an outstanding felony warrant on a weapons charge, don’t ride your bike with an open booze container.

And whatever you do, don’t tell the other inmates you were subdued by an 81-year old man.