A driver headed in the opposite direction lost control attempting to pass another vehicle and skidded across the roadway, hitting the victim head-on.
She was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, where she died.
Thirty-eight-year old Claremont resident Cheryl Becker was arrested for vehicular manslaughter. She also faces a charge of child endangerment because her children were in the car with her at the time of the crash.
Not surprisingly, police say speed may have been a factor.
A street view shows a two lane roadway on Mills, with a center turn lane and bike lanes in each direction. Police say there’s been an increase in unsafe driving on the street in recent months, including drivers exceeding the 40 mph speed limit.
This is at least the 56th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Update: The victim has been identified as long-time Claremont resident Terri Wolfe Ingalls, who was killed less than a week after her 62nd birthday.
According to the Claremont Courier, she was run down just moments after leaving her home. Her final act may have been waving to her neighbor as she set out on her bike.
The paper describes her as a “thoughtful, lovely” mother of four, and grandmother of seven, who checked in on her elderly parents every day.
They’ll all have to find a way to get along without her now.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Terri Wolfe Ingalls and her loved ones.
It’s hard to call 16 years in state prison a slap on the wrist. But this one feels wrong for a couple reasons.
If Wicksted really was suffering from psychiatric problems, she need treatment, not jail; too often we warehouse the mentally ill in jail, which doesn’t benefit anyone.
If not, a 16-year sentence for what amounts to first degree murder is ridiculously low. She could easily be out in half that time, or possibly less under current circumstances.
Either way, it’s yet another example of the outgoing DA’s repeated failure to take traffic crimes seriously.
A 49-year old mother of two remains missing six months after she reportedly rode her bike away from her Southern Colorado home last Mother’s Day, despite massive search efforts.
After a Kansas appeals court threw out his original two-year sentence as too lenient, a driver convicted of using his car to murder a bike-riding man following an argument between the two was resentenced to a still too low ten years and a month behind bars.
This is why people keep dying on the streets. A Toronto-area man got a slap on the wrist for jumping the curb and killing a woman as she rode her bike on the sidewalk, while he was allegedly street racing with another driver who fled the scene; the judge said he hoped the paltry 26-month sentence would serve as a deterrent. Not bloody likely.
Something that would have been easy for the former motorcycle racer better known as Pinkyracer, but nearly impossible under the circumstances on her bicycle — especially since her bike computer showed a more modest 18 mph.
We got to know each other as she underwent a painful rehab program to rebuild her shattered body, and resumed her fierce advocacy for safer streets for everyone on two wheels.
She fought for the environment and social welfare, working with homeless children, people suffering from addiction, and the down and out on Skid Row.
She had recently moved to Barcelona with her boyfriend, reveling in the city’s newfound bikeability. Yet even from that distance, continued to argue online for street safety in the City of Angels.
According to her obituary, Susanna “Pinkyracer” Schick died of heart failure in Barcelona less than two weeks ago, on October 30th.
A motorcycle racing magazine adds a little more detail, explaining that she was hospitalized with a bacterial infection, then contracted pneumonia. She was finally released after several weeks in the hospital, but collapsed and stopped breathing just a day later.
She was just 50 years old.
To say I’m stunned and heartbroken is putting it mildly. And judging from the reaction I’ve seen online, I’m not alone.
Schick was one of those rare people who lived life to the fullest, and made this world a little better and brighter for everyone around her.
Photo from the obituary for Susanna “Pinkyracer” Schick.
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Los Angeles unveiled a cute little electric street sweeper for protected bike lanes.
Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenewegen got a nine month ban for forcing Fabio Jakobsen into a horrific crash with a roadside barrier in the final sprint on the first stage of the Tour of Poland, resulting in a medically induced coma and reconstructive surgery on Jakobsen’s face and jaw. But at least Jakobsen was given the stage win.
Sixty-three-year old Sandra Marie Wicksted agreed to a deal to plead no contest after prosecutors took a murder charge off the table for intentionally running down 54-year old Leslie Pray as she was riding her bike in Claremont two years ago.
She was also charged with swerving her car at two other people riding bikes in separate incidents before slamming into Pray.
Wicksted copped to one count each of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon, along with two counts of attempted murder.
What remains unanswered, however, is the most basic question of all.
Why?
What could possibly have convinced Wicksted to try to kill not one, not two, but three total strangers for no other reason than they were riding bicycles?
We’ll probably never know.
But now an innocent woman is dead because of it.
And Wicksted has thrown away what’s left of her own life.
San Diego adopts a new Complete Communities plan, including fees for developers in the city’s most car-dependent areas, which will be used to build bike and pedestrian projects in denser urban areas.
Next time you’re in Seattle, hop the ferry to the Bainbridge Island Cycle Museum, where you can see exhibits like a rare three-wheeled lawnmower bike and a signed yellow jersey worn by He Who Must Not Be Named.
Primož Roglič’s victory in the Vuelta has pulled it out at the wire, beating Tour de France champ and fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogačar for the #1 spot in the UCI World Ranking for 2020, while Anna van der Breggen topped the women’s list. No American made the top ten on either list.
Seriously, just slow the hell down around slower or less experienced bicyclists and pedestrians. Never a good idea to punch a traffic cop, even if they did just door you.
What’s more surprising is that’s also reflected in the dramatic drop in bicycling deaths in LA County this year, at less than half of last year’s total — 14 so far this year, compared to 34 for all of last year.
Now if we could just keep it that way, as traffic creeps back up to pre-pandemic levels.
Today’s photo comes courtesy of David Drexler, combining two of my favorite things — bikes and coffee.
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Your periodic reminder that some people can live forever, and still be gone too soon.
The Bike League is looking for speakers for their upcoming virtual Bike Summit.
Our virtual #BikeSummit21 in March will celebrate the power of bicycling to move us forward, even in the most challenging of times. For the next week, we're accepting proposals from individuals and organizations who want to present at our virtual Summit. https://t.co/MNHilhFZpMpic.twitter.com/NPC7MROvbU
November 9, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Photo released in Long Beach hit-and-run, Biden endorses bike/ped infrastructure, and no end to bike shortage soon
The good news is, my new carpal tunnel wrist braces are helping with the pain.
The bad news is, they’re really slowing down my workflow by restricting my usually flying fingers.
Both retailers and manufacturers say they haven’t seen such demand for bikes in several decades. Revard said that despite manufacturers significantly ramping up production, his industry contacts estimate the pandemic-fueled bike and part shortage will continue into 2021 and—based on what brands are quietly telling their retailers—may even last until 2022.
The magazine adds the lower-end bikes are in higher demand, so you may have better luck if you’re willing to spend more. Or consider buying a used bike.
Just be sure to check with Bike Index and 529 Garage to make sure you aren’t buying someone else’s stolen wheels.
No bias here. The same London paper that hosted Farage’s diatribe insists it’s time to end the bike lane madness, accusing bike infrastructure of being the cause of traffic congestion, while ignoring the role played by all those people in cars, trucks and SUVs.
When Canadian musician Adrian House’s car-based tour of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in support of his latest album was blocked by Covid-19, he bought a special pannier for his guitar and did it by bike. And no, you can’t find his music on iTunes, I tried.
Chris Froome pulled the plug on his career with Team Ineos, nee Team Sky, after 11 years and four Tour de France titles; he’ll ride for Israel Start-Up Nation as he seeks a record-tying fifth win next year. Even though He Who Must Not Be Named won seven, but everyone is pretending he didn’t. So there’s that.
November 6, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Bicycle memorial to French Resistance, Sierra Madre cops recover hot Schwinn Continental, and bike cops behaving badly
Using his spare time during the coronavirus lockdown to indulge his interest in history, Special Forces Cpt. Joseph Ivanov discovered there’s no memorial at Normandy Beach to the roughly 400,000 men, women and youths who risked, and often lost, their lives fighting the Nazis and preparing for the D-Day invasion.
Working with the designer of the site’s Navy memorial, he set out to rectify that with a design that also pays silent tribute to the bicycles that served as a primary means of transportation in the fight.
The pre-invasion shaping operations of the French Resistance, Ivanov says, were crucial to success on D-Day. He noted that French patriots reported German defense positions, produced and smuggled to England a massive map of the beachhead and cut enemy communications lines in advance of the landings. An estimated 1,000 German factories were sabotaged by the French Resistance during the war. Trains were derailed. Intelligence was passed along from children and women to Allied personnel in England and later in France. Around the D-Day window alone – June 4-6, 1944 – the French Resistance is credited for hundreds more acts of sabotage that enabled the Allies to storm the continent.
He hopes to have the memorial, which was initially funded out of his own pocket, installed next year.
Sierra Madre police busted an apparently stoned burglar who allegedly stole a shotgun and a very cool Schwinn Continental ten speed — though not the one shown in the photo.
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Today’s common theme is bike cops apparently behaving badly.
#SeattleProtest – Lawyers from Protesters vs. City of Seattle sent an email describing the arrest of a protester who was injured last night while being arrested by @SeattlePD and is currently hospitalized at Harborview. They are demanding answers from the City & seeking witnesses pic.twitter.com/fJQWgun9P2
GCN wants to teach you how to brake hard without crashing your bike or pulling an endo.
Which I may have done myself once or twice.
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Congratulations to BikinginLA title sponsor Jim Pocrass and the team at Pocrass & De Los Reyes.
But after getting to know them for the past several years, I never had any doubt.
Awards like this are the result of the hard work and dedication of an entire team. That's why I want to thank every single one of my team at Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP. You deserve this! pic.twitter.com/k0SlZrePHf
This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. Edinburgh is working to install emergency infrastructure to protect bike riders at an intersection where a woman was killed riding her bike this week, the second bike death there in less than two years.
November 5, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on San Diego riders fight theft with Bike Index, bike-friendly Raman wins LA’s CD4, and Pendleton path closed this weekend
“There’s a large uptick in apartment building break-ins,” Bryan Hance of BikeIndex.org said to me. “So many new apartment buildings make residents park in their ‘secure’ bike parking areas, which aren’t that secure, and we are seeing so many instances of thieves forcing their way into these at night and then just robbing them blind. Often the bike anchors and racks in these spaces are quite weak, so once they’re inside, it’s like a bike buffet for these thieves. There’s an uptick in bike shop break-ins. With covid-19, job loss, and a pullback by law enforcement, we’ve seen enormous numbers of bike shops get robbed.”
And no, I don’t get a dime for hosting them on this site.
Except for the satisfaction of giving you a fighting chance against bike thieves.
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After opposing bike and pedestrian safety projects for most of his first term — and apparently only — term, it looks like you can now append ex-LA City Councilmember to David Ryu’s resume.
We could not be more excited that @nithyavraman defeated incumbent @davideryu in Council District 4.
– Only the third woman on the 15 person City Council – First time since 2003 that an incumbent loses
The Union Street Protected Bike Lane Project design is approaching finalization to prepare for construction in 2021. Review the design presentation videos and provide your feedback @ https://t.co/gotGxLG3PP. Comments are due FRIDAY, NOV. 13, 2020. pic.twitter.com/pmpDJzfYGJ
Once again, bike riders will face a temporary ban on riding through Camp Pendleton.
Please note that a portion of the bike route within the San Onofre Beach State Park (see attached photo) will be closed for military training during the night/early morning. This closure will only interrupt bicycle travel at night time or early morning (prior to 7 AM). During the time of the bike path closure, cyclists may ride on the I-5 shoulder if needed.
Closure Date and Time
Date: November 7 to November 8
Time: 7 PM from November 8 to 8 7 AM on November 8
Heartbreaking news from San Diego, where a three-year old boy had both legs amputated despite several attempts to save them, after developing a MRSA staff infection when he fell off his bike and scraped his knee; now doctor’s are just hoping to save his hands and arms.
November 3, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Free bikeshare on Election Day, traffic violence scares kid off bikes, and Mexico adds safe mobility to constitution
It’s a light news day as today’s election apparently sucked up all the attention of the news media, so let’s get right to it.
We’ve got a lot of ground to cover after missing the final two days of last week.
Thanks for your patience while I dealt with a seemingly endless string of medical tests and exams, which is finally drawing to a close today, just in time for tomorrow’s Election Day.
So let’s get right to it.
And remember, if it society devolves into complete and utter chaos after the polls close, a bicycle is your best way of bugging hell out of here.
Wherever here happens to be.
Today’s photo comes courtesy of David Drexler, who spotted this bike wheel table in a high-end WeHo furniture store.
Just in case anyone has me on their Secret Santa list after this is all over.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was standing with his bike on the corner of Victoria Ave and Beethoven Street around 1:45 pm Wednesday, when a man identified as 33-year old Dylan Brumley tried to wrestle the bicycle out of his grasp.
The victim fell to the ground as he clung to his bike, hitting his head on the pavement; he died at a hospital early Saturday morning.
Brumley only held his ill-gotten prize half an hour before he was busted by sheriff’s deputies.
No word on what he’s charged with. But murder sounds good to me.
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We may finally see justice for a Whittier bike rider, nearly three years after he was killed in a hit-and-run.
Investigators located Reyes’ car in Idaho, with other evidence found in Las Vegas. The FBI tracked her first to Hong Kong, before she moved on to Australia.
She faces felony counts of hit-and-run resulting in death and vehicular manslaughter; charges will likely be added for fleeing the country.
Thanks to John Damman and my friends at Mumford Brewing, as well as an anonymous source, for the heads-up.
Needless to say, the driver didn’t bother to stick around afterwards.
Here’s another view.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI7Kg3McFAw
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If you had a bike stolen near Tilt Coffee in DTLA recently, you may be in luck.
Thanks to Jojo for the tip.
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Old Pacific Highway will be closed through Camp Pendleton during daylight hours this week, from 7 am to 6 pm; bicycles are allowed on the shoulder of I-5 during the closure.
Thanks to Robert Leone for forwarding the news.
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Take a moment to voice your support for protected bike lanes on San Vicente Blvd in the Pico neighborhood.
@bikinginla If you live in the area: even if you have already taken another survey, please take this new survey – If you SUPPORT the protected bike lane, we recommend: 1 (YES), 2 (NO), 3 (YES), 4 (NO), 5 (NO), 6 (NO), 7 (NO), 8 (NO)https://t.co/17JK9z22Tg
@bikinginla We distributed a survey that to date has received 278 responses (88% in favor). Wilshire Vista Neighborhood Association distributed a survey and the results showed 142 responses (73% in favor). pic.twitter.com/twfVOk4fLS
Mountain bike legend Gary Fisher says we should all check out his son’s El Prado bar in Echo Park.
Please support my sons bar 1805 Sunset Blvd. in LA. Cozy, wood-paneled watering hole lures locals with craft beers, select wines & vinyl music. https://t.co/mKVUICSoEY
After some coldhearted schmuck stole a trailer containing 18 bikes and helmets used by students at a Colorado middle school, the community pitched in to replace them — donating nearly 50 bicycles and helmets to the school.
A Colorado man is facing a pair of vehicular homicide charges for the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle. The 18-year old driver was allegedly drunk and stoned on weed, speeding, weaving in and out of traffic, and driving on the shoulder when he slammed into the victim.
