Los Angeles leaders are focused on fighting the coronavirus.
But that doesn’t mean they can’t provide safer transportation and exercise options for LA residents during the shutdown.
That’s the case nonprofit group Streets for All has been making with city councilmembers and the mayor’s office in recent days.
Here’s what they have to say.
COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on Los Angeles; tens of thousands are out of work, hundreds of thousands are working from home, and millions have been ordered to only leave their homes if absolutely necessary.
Because of these changes, our road space far exceeds the required amount for vehicle traffic. At the same time, for their own physical and mental health, many Angelenos need to get to/from work if they are an essential employee, need to go to the market or a doctor’s office, or perhaps just need to go for a run, bike ride, or go play with their kids. It isn’t possible to do this and maintain 6’ of space on our current transit, sidewalk, and bike lane infrastructure.
Proposals to enhance mobility and open space access in Los Angeles during COVID-19:
Pilot a temporary emergency safe streets network to slow down speeding cars and give residents a safe 6’ distanced option for active transportation while reinforcing connections to grocery stores, hospitals, LAUSD food centers, delivery services, parks, and other essential resources. View our potential network.
Create an accelerated path for street closure requests to increase local access to open space, especially in neighborhoods with limited park access. Potentially using the framework studied with Play Streets. These could be hard closures block by block, or maintaining local access for parking.
Specifically we suggest:
Waiving fees and insurance requirements
Giving Neighborhood Councils the same request exception as council offices
Under the new orders, customers can’t enter the bicycle shops, retail sales are banned, payments are to be made by credit card or debit card remotely; customers must leave and pick up bicycles outside the store; and the bikes have to be disinfected before being brought inside. Staff must also wear protective equipment and the stores have to be routinely disinfected.
Here’s your chance to work in SoCal transportation social justice.
PMJ is hiring a Bicycle Education Program Manager! PMJ is closely monitoring COVID-19 & its effects that it has on our work. For the time being, this position will be remote/work from home until it is safe to being programming. If you’re interested in applying, LINK IN BIO⬆️ pic.twitter.com/P3joj9K7mx
— People for Mobility Justice (@peopleforMJ) April 1, 2020
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This should get your heart going if you can’t get out for a ride.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
The president of an Illinois advocacy group says it’s time to get back on your bike and shift the perception of bicycling from a sport to transportation.
Bicycling says Covid-19 will deal a serious blow to pro cycling, as teams fold and the sport may never be the same. Pro cycling never recovered from the doping scandals, and many teams have for been circling the drain for years now; this will only speed the process.
Thanks to Matthew R for his very generous donation to help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way every day. Contributions of any amount are always appreciated, especially in times like this.
Very disappointing news today, as the coronavirus shutdown claimed another victim.
This is part of an email that was forwarded to me today.
…I’m writing to tell you that this will be the last email you get from me at LACBC. As of Friday March 27, my time as an employee of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition officially came to a close.
As you probably know, LACBC has been struggling financially for over a year now. Thanks to the tremendous work of Eli Akira Kaufman, the Board of Directors, and my fellow staff, we were on a path to recovery, until recently. Unfortunately, the current pandemic has effectively put a hold on the contracts I’ve been managing, our annual LA River Ride is hanging in the balance, and our finances are even tighter than before. Eli and the board have had to make some difficult decisions for the sake of keeping LACBC rolling.
That message comes from Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Education Director Colin Bogart, the coalition’s longest serving staff member, and the last remaining link to the group’s founding.
I also want you to know that it’s been a great joy and a pleasure to work at LACBC and with all of you. I’ve always considered myself lucky to be doing this work and to be able to work with so many great people. And I’m forever grateful to those of you who have volunteered your time or supported LACBC through various fundraising efforts. I hope that you will continue to do so. LACBC still needs all of you.
Lastly, this is not good-bye. Instead, it’s more like “see you later.” As many of you know, I truly believe in bicycling as a means to make our world a better place. I’m not going anywhere and I intend to stay engaged. (Some of you may recall that I myself was a volunteer and a board member for years before I was hired)…
If you believed, like me, that Colin would be the one turning out the lights if the worst ever came for LA County’s leading bicycle advocacy group, this day brings special sadness.
It marks an end of an era stretching back two full decades, and the final, last loss of institutional memory for the LACBC. Thanks to board term limits and staff turnover, no one is left who has been with the coalition more than four years.
And trying to tell people they can’t ride bikes on a bikeway. Or let their kids ride legally on a sidewalk.
Someone on Nextdoor tried slamming sidewalk cycling as illegal by omitting important details. I'm glad to report other neighbors were all over her before I got to it.@bikinginla@StreetsblogLApic.twitter.com/iifXcKf8Xg
Actually, that section of the Municipal Code reads,
No person shall ride, operate or use a bicycle, unicycle, skateboard, cart, wagon, wheelchair, roller skates, or any other device moved exclusively by human power, on a sidewalk, bikeway or boardwalk in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.
Which kinda changes the whole meaning.
So you and your kids can feel free to ride any bikeways, boardwalks or sidewalks that are still open right now.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
March 31, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on US gives up everything for Lent, tactical techniques to slow speeding drivers, and sharing the road with driving dogs
As we noted yesterday, this site will not observe April Fools Day.
With everything that’s going on in the world right now, you need to be able to trust what you read. Especially here.
It was rewarding to see dozens of people riding bikes in the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills as I passed through with my wife over the weekend, ranging from spandexed roadies to families with small kids.
More evidence that people will return to the streets if they feel safe, and bring their kids with them.
Notably, there were no large groups of riders; the largest non-family group I saw was just three people riding together, and staying widely spaced from others on the street.
Which is exactly what we need to do for the foreseeable future.
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David Drexler reports that the beachfront Marvin Braude bike path through Santa Monica was shut down over the weekend, as announced, after people ignored social distancing requirements to pack it the previous weekend.
He also says the newly widened bike path was open north of the pier, though very few people were taking advantage of it.
And with the other closures in place, the primary route people were taking to get down to the beach appeared to be the steep California Incline, below.
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This is what an everyday hero looks in the age of Covid-19.
A nurse in the UK felt like she’d been targeted after someone broke into her car and stole her bicycle, uniform and other items, then used a stolen key fob to break into her partner’s home. But the joke may be on the thief because the dirty uniform could be infected with Covid-19.
Learn about rebalancing the streets for people this Thursday.
Join us for a free, one-hour webinar on Thursday, April 2nd at 2 pm Eastern. We'll share techniques for rapid street redesigns that can provide more safe places for people to walk, bike, and run while maintaining a safe physical distance from each other. https://t.co/G6UQEHB5g2
I want to be like him when I grow up. An 80-year old Portland man continues to ride a bike, 15 years after he rode every street in the city — then set out to ride every street in the suburbs, too.
The wife of a 40-year old British man is telling the world to take Covid-19 seriously, as the “young, fit” British bike rider recovers following a terrifying seven-day struggle for his life.
A Brit triathlete flaunted the country’s coronavirus lockdown by taking a nine hour, 200 mile ride he termed the Tour of Norfolk, saying if it’s okay to go out for a one-hour ride, it’s okay to go out for five or six. Even though he exceeded that by 50%.
The Tour de France could be held without spectators this year, if it’s held at all. Although it would be virtually impossible to clear spectators from the 100+ mile stage routes, and would do nothing to prevent transmission of Covid-19 between the cyclists and crews; the best hope is that the virus simply recedes by then and allows the race to go on.
One the other hand, South African cyclist Nic Dlamini finally got the all clear from his doctors after national park rangers broke his arm last year while trying to seize his bike for the crime of not paying the entrance fee on a training ride. But now there are no races to ride, and the entire country is under a total lockdown.
March 27, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Coronavirus closures in Redondo Beach, bike thieves target frontline med workers, and China blames US cyclist for virus
If you just can’t get enough BikinginLA, I’ll be talking about bikes in the age of the Covid-19 coronavirus with Leo Duran on KPCC’s Take Two this afternoon.
If you’re in the LA area, tune in to 89.3 between 2 pm and 3 pm — Duran’s segment should come on around 2:45 pm — or listen live online wherever you are.
And David Drexler sends photographic proof that the popular Santa Monica stairs are closed for the foreseeable future.
Thanks to Jim Lyle for Redondo Beach links. Photo of Redondo Beach bike path by Ted Faber.
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As we’ve said too many timesalready this week, there’s a special place in hell for anyone who’d steal a bike from a medical professional anytime, let alone someone treating patients during the coronavirus crisis.
Yet there seems to be a worldwide rash of bike thieves targeting busy doctors and nurses.
Thanks to Philippa Moore for the heads-up about the Nottingham doctor, who just happens to be her brother-in-law.
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Bike business is booming throughout the US, despite the calls for social distancing.
Or maybe because of it.
People all around the country are dusting off their bikes or buying new ones, and enjoying one of the few outdoor activities still available to most people while keeping them safely separated from others.
Speaking of a special place in hell, there is something seriously wrong with anyone who would steal a wheelchair bike from an Oakland family.
In the midst of everything else going on this might not get much attention, but please contact stolenwheelchairbike@gmail.com if you see this bike in the Bay Area. The owner’s family crowdfunded $6k to purchase it for him. pic.twitter.com/80vvtpjbMw
Bicycling tells the unexpected tale of American and British bike riders who met by chance in a lonely teahouse in the middle of a Kazakh desert, as they were both riding around the world from opposite directions.
March 26, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LA not ticketing stay-at-home violations, but SaMo might; Dockweiler quarantine zone; and dropped by bionic runners
Authorities recommend avoiding the area entirely, for reasons that should be obvious.
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You could get dropped by a runner in the not-too-distant future.
A new paper published in the journal Science Advances suggests a mechanical exoskeleton based on bicycle mechanics could propel a runner as fast as 46 mph, just a hair below the speed where bike riders max out.
And no, I can’t ride that on my best day.
Which is long behind me, anyway.
Now if they can figure out how to apply that to a bike rider’s legs, we might be on to something.
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Here’s your chance to weigh in on first mile-last mile connections to the coming L Line station, for the train formerly known as the Gold Line.
Newport Beach confirms that Back Bay Drive remains open to people traveling by foot or bicycle.
Hi David, On March 23, the City closed Back Bay Drive to vehicular traffic, providing more room for recreational users to maintain at least six feet of separation from others. Cycling is still allowed, but not in groups of people who are not part of your household.
— City of Newport Beach (@newportbeachgov) March 25, 2020
As promised, Uber has filed suit against Los Angeles over the requirement to provide realtime user data for their Jump dockless ebikes and e-scooters. The only surprise is that they managed to find a court that’s still open.
Tahoe’s 29th annual America’s Most Beautiful Bike Ride has been pushed from this June to September, on the hope this crap will be over by then. Let’s hope so, but don’t hold your breath.
Maybe keep it to yourself next time. A South Carolina man interrupted his bike ride to take a phone call from someone who wanted to know where he was. After telling him, the acquaintance drove up and shot him in the leg.
A Florida woman was busted for a hit-and-run that left a bike rider with minor injuries when she stopped to buy a couple beers, with a BAC nearly twice the legal limit; she was already on probation for ripping off an 81-year old patient at the rehab facility where she worked.
Pro cyclist Alex Pavon is on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, working as a Tucson, Arizona EMT when she’s not racing. Unfortunately, though, it’s a reminder of the inequity in the pro cycling world, where women cyclists have to hold a full-time job in addition to racing.
I got that very interesting question from reader Maruta Taube yesterday, who was wondering how to maintain social distancing from another bike rider.
As she points out, the usual advice to maintain six feet of separation between yourself and others doesn’t work on a bike.
Assuming the experts are correct that Covid-19 droplets linger in the air up for to three seconds, you’d ride right through their viral-loaded expectorations if the rider in front of you sneezes or coughs.
Unfortunately, though, algebra and I took an instant dislike to one another back in the day. And haven’t made up since.
So I put the question to the Twitterverse last night, and it didn’t take long for people much smarter than me on the subject to come back with the answers.
Since relative distance is tricky to work out when you’re stationary, let alone moving, my take would be to follow three seconds behind another rider, which is easy to gauge by counting the seconds between when you each pass a stationary point.
Then give the other person as much space as possible when passing.
Just like you wish SUV drivers would give you.
As someone else pointed out, however, some reports indicate that the virus can linger in the air for hours, rather than mere seconds.
That refers to aerosolized particles, which occur under relatively rare circumstances in public spaces, as opposed to the heavier droplets expelled when someone coughs or sneezes.
Photo by Burst from Pexels. You can easily judge the usual six-foot social distancing space by the length of a standard bicycle.
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Evidently, the fishing line strung across a Seal Beach bike path we mentioned yesterday is nothing new.
Richard Rosenthal writes to say another rider was attacked on the San Gabriel River Trail in a similar fashion last month, and forwards this comment from Nextdoor.
Again, this kind of sabotage is not just a harmless prank, but a violent assault intend to harm innocent victims, in an apparent attempt to frighten people off the path.
Like several other comments I received, Rosenthal points the finger at a nearby homeless camp.
Let’s just hope the police take this seriously.
And catch the people responsible — and hold them accountable — whoever it turns out to be.
We salute those essential workers who have to travel — health care workers, delivery staff, maintenance people, and everyone else who is keeping society going — and we want them to be able to bicycle for their essential trips.
Biking at a safe distance from others is also one of the outdoor activities allowed while we try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Now more than ever, a bicycle ride is important for our physical and mental health.
If biking is essential, bike shops are, too.
That’s why we are sending a letter to the California State Public Health Officer, Dr. Sonia Angell, asking her to affirm that bike repair shops are essential services.
Al Williams forwarded news that iconic parts maker Campagnolo was forced to shut down by the Italian government until at least April 6th as part of the country’s coronavirus clampdown.
So any orders received before that date won’t be processed until after they reopen.
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Beach parking falls like dominos as people up and down the SoCal coast continue to ignore calls for social distancing.
Long Island communities now have a new excuse to crack down on groups of bike riding teenagers, saying they’re putting themselves at risk of contracting coronavirus. Which may be true, but follows months of heavy-handed attempts to make the bike-riding kids go away. Even if the kids do act like jerks way too often.
Our anonymous correspondent reports two more victims in the ongoing war on bikes.
As if we all didn’t have enough to worry about.
Sunday afternoon in Seal Beach, two cyclists got nailed by fishing line pulled across the river path.
One of them was my landlord, who suffered an abrasion across his cheek and a busted knee when he slammed down onto the embankment. A cyclist who stopped to help him said the same thing had just happened to him about 15 minutes prior. This happened in view of a homeless encampment.
I’ll get more info when I get home in the morning (I’m “essential,” lol). My landlord is okay, no concussion or anything, but his wife and I are nagging him to report it. Again, I’ll have more details in the morning, and hopefully confirmation that it’s been reported.
Yes, attacks like this can and should be reported to the police.
It’s not just a prank. It’s an assault a deadly weapon, which can result in serious injury — or worse — to an unsuspecting victim.
And should be treated like the serious crime it is.
Ventura County officials are reviving efforts to build a five-mile rail-to-trail bike path through the farmlands leading to Santa Paula; farmers have successfully halted it in the past by claiming bike riders and their pets will pee on crops and could be harmed by pesticides.
Bicycling manufacturers throughout the US are switching gears to make face masks and other medical gear to fight coronavirus. Which means it might be harder to find your next bike shorts or gloves, but you’ll be more likely to still be here to use them.
A writer for Gear Patrol says daytime running lights could save your life. Anecdotally, I noticed a drop in dangerous passing and angry drivers after I started using extra bright daytime lights a few years ago.
March 23, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Why we can’t have nice things — Ballona Creek, other LA area trails close because Angelenos won’t practice social distancing
Angelenos couldn’t manage to keep away from each other over the weekend.
Think of it as akin to closing the nearby 10 Freeway, which would be unthinkable for most Angelenos. But is, apparently, all too easily done when it involves people on bicycles.
Not to mention several sightings of spandexed idiots riding closely in pacelines, as if they and everyone they know or encounter were somehow immune to the disease.
Have seen the same in LA. What the fuck is wrong with these roadies? Do they think the rules of virology don't apply to their weekly group ride? Not care about getting other people sick? Do they want cycling to get banned for the rest of us? C'mon dudes, you can do better. https://t.co/qsVXvfMqyv
Go out for necessities and essential services only. Which doesn’t mean shopping at Target, Costco or anywhere else because you’re bored.
Get what you need and go home. Because every stop you make, and every moment you spend out, increases the risk that you could catch Covid-19 or spread it to those you love.
Or to total strangers, some of whom may not survive it.
As a diabetic, my risk of death from coronavirus is much higher than most. And my wife, who suffers from a number of medical issues, is almost guaranteed to suffer serious complications if she is exposed.
And we’ll both lose our medical insurance at the end of next month if she can’t get back to work by then.
Our lives, and those of countless others, are literally in your hands.
So wash them, already.
Yes, you can go out to exercise and get some air. Walking and bicycling are highly recommended.
But when you do, practice social distancing by staying at least six feet away from anyone you don’t live with.
If not for us, then because they’ll take that away too if you don’t.
Bike helmets aren’t Vision Zero. Bike lights aren’t Vision Zero. And neither are traffic tickets.
Yes, they all may help. But Vision Zero is recognizing that people will always make mistakes, and redesigning streets so those mistakes don’t become fatal.
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If you have a few extra bucks lying around, you can’t ask for a better cause.
That feeling when a 10-year old can ride rings around you. Or over you.
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Most people would just settle for a helmet cam.
This rig was designed and envisioned to document the car sewer that was Los Angeles, but now, the first time I’ve had time to build it up and use it, I’m documenting the desolate streets of Los Angeles. #bikeLA#filmmakingpic.twitter.com/sSkOztAfIa
Yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late. A Minnesota man faces charges for allegedly being under the influence when he struck and killed a 16-year old boy; he has two previous DUIs, as well as at least six convictions for driving without a valid license, and a handful of criminal convictions.
