Whatever the hell illness I’ve been dealing with appears to have broken finally, so let’s ease back into things by catching up on a few stories we’ve missed, along with today’s news.
And please forgive me for not keeping track of who sent me links this time. Under the circumstances, I was happy just to keep track of my meals.
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While we were gone, Redondo Beach police were searching for the hit-and-run driver who ran over a 15-year old boy riding an ebike, dragging the boy and his bike underneath for half a block.
When the kid somehow managed to free himself from under the truck, he demanded that the driver stop his truck and get out.
Instead the jerk — which is the mildest term we can use here — backed up his pickup, freeing the boy’s bicycle, before zooming off.
Thankfully, the victim wasn’t seriously injured, though he did suffer severe road rash.
Let’s hope the driver is feeling his pain.
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This is why people keep dying on our streets.
An elected member of the Mar Vista Community Council explains why she opposes extending the Venice Blvd protected bike lanes and bus lanes.
And no, she doesn’t just sound callous.
Meanwhile, Streetsblog discovers newly protected bike lanes on Venice Blvd in the opposite direction, in front of the Helms Bakery complex.
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The new half-mile long 3rd Street protected bike lane through DTLA is a thing now.
https://twitter.com/multimodalLA/status/1574949966824452096
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The East Side Riders Bike Club continues to give back by feeding the community on a weekly basis.
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The Los Angeles Times offers a guide for the bike-curious, starting with what they describe as eight breezy bike trails that will teach you about LA as you ride.
As long as you take a very expansive view of what’s LA, that is.
Not so forgivable is their framing of a story on “nine bike clubs to cruise LA with” for people who are afraid to ride alone. Not all of which are actually clubs.
And none of which require joining out of fear; you can also participate if you want to give back to the community, or just enjoy riding with like-minded people.
Seriously, they should know better.
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The governor finally signed Assemblymember Laura Friedman’s parking reform bill, no thanks to our “climate mayor.”
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The US men’s soccer team is one of us.
Or 28 of us, anyway.
https://twitter.com/USMNT/status/1573961105554145281
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Infuriating story from Redlands, where doctor and semi-pro cyclist Kyle Cooper was seriously injured in an apparent hit-and-run. Yet the local cops refused to believe him, somehow convinced it was just an “oopsie.”
A 28-year old Michigan woman faces charges for attacking a 19-year old man with a machete for no apparent reason as he rode his bike to work; fortunately, the victim survived his wounds.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in San Diego are looking for gunman who escaped by bicycle after shooting a 35-year old man in an aqueduct near westbound state Route 94; the victim was expected to survive, despite multiple gunshot wounds.
An English e-scooter rider faces charges for allegedly threatening a van driver with a meat cleaver for passing too closely.
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Local
Talk about throwing your life away. Twenty-three-year old Long Beach driver Carlo Navarro was sentenced to a very well-deserved 25 to life for wiping out an entire family; Navarro was convicted on three counts of murder for killing a mother, father and young child in a drunken, high-speed crash as they walked home from Trick-or-Treating on Halloween three years earlier.
Streets For All is hosting a meet-and-greet in Venice tomorrow night with Eric Darling, who is running to replace Mike Bonin in CD11.
Metro is hosting a virtual meeting tomorrow evening to discuss extending the LA River Bike Path through DTLA, as well as a virtual and in-person meeting on Saturday.
Pasadena approved 19 projects to replace the now-cancelled $230 million Gold Line grade separation, including a number of active transportation projects.
State
Governor Newsom has signed a bill giving pedestrians priority at traffic lights by requiring leading pedestrian intervals; the recently signed Bicycle Omnibus Bill extends them to bicyclists, as well.
A 22-year old man got a well-deserved nine years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run crash that killed 75-year old Allen Hunter II in Solano Beach last year; Lucas Beau Morgans had a BAC over twice the legal limit when he was arrested an hour and a half after the fatal crash.
Sad news from Sunnyvale, where a man riding a bicycle was killed in a collision Monday evening.
Oakland announced plans for a 16-mile protected greenway, providing the first walkable, bikeable path from Oakland’s Lake Merritt to the South Hayward BART station.
National
A new book examines how suburban vigilantes and NIMBYs took over in the latter part of the last century. Hint: It’s not just suburban NIMBYs and vigilantes.
Something is seriously wrong when an award-winning children’s book about a homemade bicycle assembled from scraps is banned thanks to thin-skinned cops.
A mother argues that rather than being dangerous, riding a bike on the road is one of the best things she does with her kids.
Pink Bike offers a guide to your dream job in the bike industry, with 17 high-level bike jobs that are open right now.
Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes is asking owners to park their RadWagon 4 bikes over fears the tires could pop while you’re riding. Which is probably a bad thing.
Ruth Orkin, the then 29-year old daughter of silent film star Mary Ruby, took the first unposed, color photograph to appear on a magazine cover — after riding her bicycle to New York when she was just 17.
A 71-year old New York man is using his megaphone — literally — to demand “Tour de France guys” in Central Park slow down. Never mind that he’s been convicted of election fraud.
Bicycling examines the nation’s most dangerous road for bicyclists, running eastward from Queens in New York State. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
I want to be like him when I grow up. A Boston money manager still rides his bike to work at 95-years old.
International
Cycling Weekly talks with a sports psychologist about how to overcome the six most common bicycling fears. Yet somehow, they don’t even mention my biggest fear — getting run down by a distracted driver.
Bike riders in London, Ontario call for safer streets after a student was killed in a hit-and-run, saying it feels like life or death on the roads.
A British driver faces charges for the alleged stoned-driving death of a popular club cyclist participating in a time trial.
Thirty-year old Scottish twin brothers will stand trial for murdering a 63-year old man taking part in a fundraising ride; the men allegedly beat the victim to death after crashing into him while driving drunk.
Runners may have the bulls, but bike riders in Pamplona, Spain had to overcome the hills.
Taking a cue from Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, Italy’s Bianchi goes electric. And yes, you have to be pretty damn old to get that reference.
Competitive Cycling
UCI announced a second Super Worlds, with all cycling events — including road, track, BMX, mountain bike and paracycling — taking place in the same week in Haute-Savoie, France, four years after next year’s Super Worlds in Glasgow.
This year’s Worlds were marked with drama when race favorite Mathieu van der Poel abandoned during the race, later revealing that he’d been arrested after confronting teenagers who repeatedly knocked on his door the night before the race, keeping him up all night. He was fined the equivalent of nearly $1,000 after being convicted on common assault.
Finally…
What if cities had driving and non-driving sections? Sure, you may be champion of the world, but your socks are too damn long.
And that feeling when you can buy a state-of-the-art hubless ebike for less than a concert ticket.
With free shipping, too.
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A belated l’shanah tovah to everyone celebrating this week!
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
