A breakup letter with 6th Street Viaduct, CalBike ED moves to People For Bikes, and CA ebike rebates fail to launch

July 20, 2022 / / One comment

He gets it.

Well, of course he does.

Michael Schneider, founder of the transformational transportation Political Action Committee Streets For All, is the latest to accuse Caltrans and LADOT failing to protect bike riders on the new $588 million 6th Street Viaduct.

Los Angeles’ Bureau of Engineering, LADOT, and Caltrans have sent a “love letter” that is actually a breakup letter to people on bikes. Whether intentional or not, it signals that the city doesn’t really care about the safety for people on bikes (or they do, unless the space is needed for cars). Spending $600M of our taxpayer dollars on a substandard multi modal bridge in 2022 isn’t acceptable. The striping should be changed ASAP to accommodate broken down cars and emergency vehicles in the center while physically protecting people on bikes with concrete and extending the lane for the full length of the bridge.

We’ve already discussed that failure several times in recent days. So take a moment to read Schneider’s Medium piece.

Then get mad.

Damn mad.

Because as much as we want to love the new bridge, city and state officials have made it clear that your life and safety is worth less to them than a broken-down car.

And it should come as no surprise to anyone that drivers on the bridge are already behaving badly.

Rendering from From 6th Street Viaduct Twitter account.

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CalBike Executive Director Dave Snyder is leaving the statewide bicycle advocacy group.

Snyder has led the California Bicycle Coalition, better known as Calbike, nearly half of its existence, joining the 26-year old organization in 2010.

According to a press release posted by Bicycle Retailer and Industry News,

Under Snyder’s leadership, CalBike’s tenacious, hardworking team has passed model e-bike legislation, pushed through Complete Streets reform at Caltrans, defeated a helmet mandate, legalized protected bike lanes, and gotten several bills passed to protect bicyclists, including the Three Feet for Safety Law requiring motorists to give bicyclists 3 feet of space when passing. They have gotten more funding for bicycling as well, securing an increase in state-level funding for biking and walking from around $100M to over $1 billion, and winning $10M for e-bike purchase incentives.

CalBike has helped to coordinate more than twenty local advocacy organizations with a combined membership of over 100,000, influencing elections for the California State Assembly and Senate and building support for ballot measures such as the successful defeat in 2018 of a proposed repeal of the gas tax.

He’s leaving to take a position as Senior Director of Local Innovation with Colorado-based People For Bikes.

He’ll be missed.

Current CalBike Operations Manager Kevin Claxton will step in as Interim Director while the group conducts a search for new leadership.

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Streetsblog continues to stay on top of California’s continued failure to launch a promised and fully funded ebike rebate program.

Despite the overwhelming success of Denver’s ebike rebate program, California’s minimally funded $10 million program, which was supposed to launch this month, has been dead on arrival, apparently due to the state’s inability to select anyone to administer it.

Putting off a decision adds delay to an already slow-moving process, and could push the program start date out until after the end of the year. Other sources of e-bike incentives, including under the Clean Cars for All program being handled by regional air districts, have been just as slow to get going.

It almost feels as if CARB is more than reluctant to offer these incentives, even though it is increasingly clear that e-bikes can be excellent replacements for private cars. Their carbon footprints, costs, parking requirements, and the space they take up on roads is also considerably less than that of electric cars, and CARB doesn’t seem to have much trouble pushing EVs as a climate solution.

Never mind that California provides $425 million to purchasers of electric vehicles, which offer far fewer public benefits than electric bicycles.

You’d think that a cost of just 2.3% of the EV program while getting more cars off the road would be enough of an incentive for the state to get its shit together.

But apparently, you’d be wrong.

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Just 136,000 of the reasons I’m a fan of the East Side Riders.

https://twitter.com/LA2050/status/1549488034445496320

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The LA area’s biggest bike race of the year is coming to the South Bay on Sunday.

Twitter post

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This is what can happen when a country’s leaders actually give a damn about ending traffic deaths.

Unlike a certain North American country we could name.

Twitter post

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A Rhode Island man faces multiple charges for intentionally backing his car into a 12-year old boy’s bike, then following the kid and knocking him off his bike, all because he took offense at comments the boy made to his friends.

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Local

You see a lot of things riding a bike.  Like a cackling arsonist starting a brush fire, and a bike rider with a bleeding head injury who insists on riding off rather than waiting for paramedics. Seriously, if someone insists you need medical help, listen to them.

 

State 

Bad news from Oxnard, where a 14-year old boy was critically injured when he was struck by a 19-year old van driver while riding his bike.

The writer of a Santa Barbara op-ed, who apparently doesn’t know the difference between a Class 1 bike path and Class 2 bike lanes, opposes the former because it could mean the loss of trees on a street that already has the latter.

Santa Rosa bike riders are complaining about the unexpected closure of a bike path due to a small homeless encampment that officials said was “impeding safe public use of the trail.”

 

National

Bicycling offers expert advice on how to lead a group ride, in an article that’s exclusive to subscribers. And apparently anyone who has access to Yahoo.

A writer for The Oregonian suggests leaving your car at home, and taking your bike on an Amtrak train if you’re headed to the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.

Sheriff’s deputies in Pocatello, Idaho are increasing bike and foot patrols to cope with high gas prices.

A kindhearted stranger stepped up to buy a nine-year old Michigan boy a new bicycle, after the bike he got for his birthday was stolen the first night he had it.

Political pranksters have added a faux historical marker denoting Brandon Falls, the coastal Delaware location where Joe Biden fell off his bike last month; the name is a play on the “Let’s go Brandon” chant that stands in for a much cruder epithet. Meanwhile, the former Mayor Pete — now Transportation Secretary Pete — says he’s just “glad to have a president who can ride a bicycle.”

 

International

A British Columbia farm region is offering a free bicycle lending program, allowing local residents, refugees and migrant workers to simply take one when they need it and return in good working order it when they’re done.

South London is being plagued by knife-armed bike thieves on motorcycles.

London’s Independent tries out the Brompton’s nee $4,400 ebike foldie for a month, and likes it.

This is who we share the road with. An English police commissioner was caught speeding five times in just three months, after vowing to crack down on heavy-footed drivers.

UK bike riders argue that slowing down due to the country’s extreme heat leads to more aggressive passing from overheated and sleep deprived drivers; it was a record-setting 104° in London yesterday.

Swedish mobility company Vässla is switching to e-cargo bikes to deliver their mopeds through crushing Parisian traffic.

Taiwan is now allowing bicyclists and scooter riders to forgo their face masks.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada’s Hugo Houle captured the biggest win of his career yesterday, topping the podium as the Tour de France entered the Pyrenees for the final week of racing; Houle dedicated the win to his little brother, who was murdered by a hit-and-run driver ten years ago.

NBC offers a beginner’s guide to the Tour’s various leaders jerseys.

Twenty-four-year old Italian pro Marta Cavalli hopes to build on her second place finish in the Giro d’Italia Donne, as the inaugural eight-stage Tour de France Femmes prepares to rollout on Sunday.

L39ion of Los Angeles pulled its men’s and women’s teams out of Sunday’s Salt Lake Criterium after an incident of the final lap led to an exchange of blows following Saturday’s race; US pro crit champ Kendall Ryan says she’s astonished by the disrespect she gets as a member of the team.

 

Finally…

How to carry three on a tandem. Few things suck more than getting your new ebike stolen just an hour after you bought it.

And that feeling when you walk away from a promising cycling career to run the local post office.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

More on unsafe 6th Street Viaduct bike lanes, missing South Bay bike lanes amid climate crisis, and the joy of bike riding

July 19, 2022 / / Comments Off on More on unsafe 6th Street Viaduct bike lanes, missing South Bay bike lanes amid climate crisis, and the joy of bike riding

Hats off to LAist for exploring the “now you se ’em, now you don’t” bike lanes on the nifty new $600 million 6th Street Viaduct.

Okay, just a mere $588 million.

Which surely could have bought better bike lanes than these.

As you’ll recall, the bridge, which pays homage to the classic but crumbling 1930s original, was built with a safe, barrier-protected walkway. And unsafe, Class IV semi-protected bike lanes on the other side of the barrier, protected only by easy-to-drive-over rubber curbs with big, squishy white bollards on bendy posts that wouldn’t stop anything.

Apparently, that was intentional.

LADOT was tasked with striping the pavement on the bridge and also worked with the construction contractor on the design and installation of the bike lanes, according to spokesperson Colin Sweeney. He said the decision to place the bike lanes outside the concrete walls that protect the pedestrian walkways came from Caltrans.

“Since there are no shoulders on the viaduct, Caltrans requested that the bike lanes be ‘permeable’ to act as an emergency lane,” Sweeney told LAist, saying the bike lanes offer “the highest level of protection that could be accommodated by the width of the bridge while also allowing emergency vehicles to enter if needed.”

Never mind that it’s also permeable for out-of-control truckers and distracted drivers, who will only feel a little jolt before slamming into someone on a bicycle.

And never mind the east end of the bridge, where’s there’s no protection at all — forcing riders to mix it up with usually speeding, and too often uncaring motorists.

Let alone the lack of safe connections leading to or from the bridge.

To call it a fail from a bike rider’s perspective is a massive understatement. Like maybe a $588 million understatement.

But this quote from the story sums the sad situation up as well as anything else.

Twitter post

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Never mind the iffy bike lanes.

It was nice of Caltrans and the 6th Street Viaduct designers to include these nifty viewing grandstands for the inevitable burnouts and sideshows.

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What if they threw a climate crisis and nobody came?

Or cared.

Bad Mom, Good Mom takes a deep dive into the confluence of the ambitious South Bay Bicycle Master Plan and global atmospheric CO2 levels, which were 392 ppm when the plan was adopted in 2011.

And now stand 36 ppm higher.

Yet just like LA’s bike and mobility plans, the South Bay plan has been largely forgotten by the cities it was supposed to save, and has now been downgraded even further with a Local Traffic Network replacing the promised bike lanes, as CO2 levels — and the risk to bike riders — continue to climb.

Many of them children on their way to school, as the piece points out. Kids who should have had a safe route there by now.

But now won’t. And won’t have cleaner air to breathe.

Or a livable planet to do it on.

Go ahead and read the whole piece. We’ll wait.

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The best piece you’ll read today comes from a reporter for NPR, who manages to capture the sheer peace and joy of riding a bicycle better than I’ve ever done.

As well as the inherent contradiction of being a serious cyclist when riding is so much fun.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. Someone asks about a large group of bike riders in downtown Santa Barbara, and the online conversation quickly devolves into accusations of wealthy white recreational bike riders running stop signs. Sort of like any other online discussion of bikes.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

The man who infamously rode his bicycle down the aisle to loot a San Francisco drug store has been arrested for shoplifting again, after serving just half of a 16 month sentence.

A 28-year old Toronto woman faces carjacking charges for allegedly riding up to a car on a bicycle, before pulling out the 70-year old woman driving and taking off with her car.

An Aussie bike rider is accused of repeatedly hitting a woman he says cut him off with her car; police say there’s nothing they can do without knowing who he is. Unfortunately, video of the incident doesn’t appear to work in this country.

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Local

CicLAvia is teaming with Motional to host a free panel discussion titled Talking Innovation and Safe Streets at the LA Cleantech Incubator tomorrow evening.

A bicyclist was hospitalized in unknown condition after being struck by a driver in Canyon Country Monday afternoon.

 

State 

San Diego’s Rouleur Brewing Company will donate all the proceeds from the sale of their new hazy New England-style IPA to the Moriah Wilson Foundation in honor of the late cyclist.

A pair of Twentynine Palms residents suffered serious injuries when the bicycle they were sharing was struck by a hit-and-run driver Saturday night.

 

National

Livestrong recommends their picks for the best bike mirrors, which aren’t just for old guys on ‘bents anymore.

Bicycling recommend the best rear bike lights you can buy on Amazon. Although these are pretty damn good for just 13 bucks and change, too. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Triathlete offers advice on how to make your pedals go round more efficiently.

Evidently, city officials in Pueblo, Colorado don’t think there’s room in the planned 20-foot wide sidewalks on each side of a redesigned street to make space for the existing 5-foot wide bike lanes.

Wyoming considers charging mountain bike user fees to fund essential trail work.

A Chico, California woman was the victim of a predatory attack by a food-conditioned grizzly bear last year along the banks of Montana’s Blackfoot River, made famous by A River Runs Through It.

An Iowa man will spend up to ten years behind bars for killing a bike rider in South Dakota while driving under the influence; he claims he never saw the victim, who was riding in broad daylight wearing high-vis with a flashing red taillight.

Spectrum News 1 discovers the volunteer-driven ghost bike project in Austin, Texas to memorialize people killed riding bicycles in Central Texas.

Thirteen fraternity members from my alma mater are riding 3,400 miles across the US to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research. So far they’ve raised $96,000 of the $150,000 goal, according to the story, although their website shows just half of that.

Once again, a bicyclist on a cross-country tour has been killed. A rider with a group riding to California from Savannah, Georgia died in an apparent collision outside Norman, Oklahoma. Although the only mention of a driver was to say they weren’t at fault.

Lonely Planet recommends the seven best bike rides if you ever find yourself riding on Cape Cod.

 

International

An 80-year old Edmonton, Alberta man is riding his ebike over 8,000 miles from Alaska to Panama City, accompanied by his relatively youthful 69-year old friend.

Toronto bicyclists took over the city’s High Park, riding laps around the roadway to protest police targeting bike riders breaking the low 12 mph speed limit.

James Corden, host of The Late Late Show, was in a heated altercation with another London bike rider who cut across his path and caused Corden to come off his bike, narrowly avoiding falling in front of traffic. However, the other guy did apologize.

A London newspaper offers advice on riding in the city’s current 100° heatwave. All of which you could probably come up with yourself with a little thought.

Finishing our London trifecta, bicycling rates are up 25% in the city over pre-pandemic levels.

Students at a Kochi, India high school have formed a 150-member bicycle brigade to promote bicycling to city residents and cut traffic to the school.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgium’s Yves Lampaert was left fuming after losing a chunk of flesh from his leg when a dog wandered in front of the peloton during Friday’s 12th stage of the Tour de France; no word on whether the dog was injured.

https://twitter.com/cyclingtips/status/1547914174411317251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1547914174411317251%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au%2Fsport%2Fcycling%2Frider-still-furious-after-tour-de-france-dog-crash-chaos%2Fnews-story%2F5590e5ddf90e496988adf4f9758b4f22

Welsh cyclist Owain Doull hit the pavement after riding over a stray water bottle in Sunday’s 15th stage.

Cycling News looks back on how the Tour overcame man-eating bears and walls of snow to conquer the Pyrenees.

Rapha offers a short film examining the brother and sister duos anchoring the L39ion of Los Angeles cycling team.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re looking for a big, heavy bike trailer with a hard to use brake. Uncool bicycling accessories due for a comeback.

And this is why the pros are in the Tour de France, and you’re not.

Although in my case, I’m just too damn old and falling apart.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

LA Times says prioritize people not cars, hit-and-run cop hits bike-riding teen, and racial profiling getting worse in traffic stops

July 18, 2022 / / Comments Off on LA Times says prioritize people not cars, hit-and-run cop hits bike-riding teen, and racial profiling getting worse in traffic stops

They get it.

The Los Angeles Times says it’s time for California to prioritize people, not cars, by eliminating parking requirements in new developments near transit.

Or maybe they could just eliminate parking requirements, period.

Most cities require new residential and commercial developments to be built with lots of on-site parking, no matter if the spots are needed or desired. Typically, cities mandate one to two parking spaces per unit in a residential development. It can cost $55,000 per parking spot in a midsize apartment project in Los Angeles, according to one analysis. That drives up the cost of construction and makes it difficult for smaller or less pricey projects to pencil out. The expense of building parking is passed along to tenants and buyers, whether they want the spots or not…

Is all that parking really necessary? Oftentimes, no. A 2019 review of parking requirements examined 10 developments in Southern California built with just the minimum number of spots required by local laws and found that peak parking utilization was 56% to 72% at each development. Localities were demanding more parking than needed.

A pair of bills in the state legislature, AB 2097 and SB 1067 take different approaches to problem, one significantly stronger than the other.

But either one could provide a necessary first step in decoupling parking from housing, and reducing the stranglehold cars have on our streets.

And our wallets.

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It’s hard enough to get the cops to take hit-and-run seriously.

But what do you do when the driver is a cop?

Reddit post

These three Chicago kids might have an attitude when it comes to cops, not unlike a lot kids these days.

But in this case, it seems to be well deserved.

The incident starts with a police SUV following three teens as they ride their bikes, before pulling up next to them to challenge one of the boys for using his phone while he rides.

They then hit one of the boys with their police cruiser before backing off, and fleeing the scene without stopping.

There’s little argument that the officers screwed up, and should have stopped their vehicle and called in a supervisor.

But they didn’t.

Which makes them no better than any other hit-and-run driver.

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Naturally, the Chronicle hides the story behind their draconian paywall, which blocks even casual readers.

But the problem of biased police stops appears to just be getting worse. And recent history tells us it’s just as bad, if not worse, for people on bikes.

Twitter post

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San Diego had an impressive turnout for this year’s Pride Ride.

Twitter post

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It looks like Premier League soccer team Newcastle United is one of us.

Okay, maybe just three of them.

https://twitter.com/NUFC/status/1547561139604598790

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. A writer for the Robb Report says keep your Lycra bikewear on the bike, and out of cafes and the office.

A Michigan driver got out of his pickup and pushed a woman into traffic, apparently for the crime of accidentally hitting his truck bed with her handlebar after he blocked the crosswalk and forced her to go around him.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

An 82-year old San Diego pedestrian and an ebike rider in his 50s both suffered serous brain injuries when the lightless bicyclist slammed into the older man at a high rate of speed; fortunately, neither injury was considered life-threatening.

A Houston man was arrested by sheriff’s deputies after shooting another man multiple times following an argument at a gas station, despite trying to make his getaway on a bicycle.

New York police are looking for an ebike-riding man who sexually assaulted two women about an hour apart, threatening both with a knife.

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Local

The daughter of actress Gabrielle Union and former NBA star Dwayne Wade is one of us, as Union teaches the three-year old how to ride a bike with training wheels.

Kylie Jenner showed off her new $24,000 Louis Vuitton bicycle. The perfect bike for anyone with too many dollars and not enough sense.

 

State 

San Diego continues to pay for broken sidewalks and dilapidated bike lanes, forking out a total of over $333,000 in legal settlements in just 30 days.

Fresno police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who left a bike-riding man bleeding in the street; the victim was hospitalized in stable condition.

Two hundred volunteers turned out to help build bicycles with the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, with a goal of giving away 500 bikes to kids in the community (scroll down, if you can get past the paywall). Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.

One more example of officials keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late, as a 78-year old Berkeley driver crashed into a couple in their 70s walking in a crosswalk — just four days after he crashed his car into an 83-year-old woman in another crosswalk; one of his victims remains in the ICU.

Contra Costa County’s Mount Diablo State Park will have 30 bike turnouts installed today to allow drivers to safely pass bicyclists, who make up 60% of all vehicular traffic on the roadway.

 

National

Newsweek considers the best ebikes to buy and ride this year, ranging from a $899 SWFT commuter to a $3,100 Cannondale.

She gets it. An op-ed from a Honolulu writer says Hawaii has a flat tire when it comes to bikeways, making little progress since the 1980s; this comes after several students filed suit against the state for operating a transportation system that harms the climate, prioritizing highways over more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.

Speaking of Hawaii, the island state is now offering rebates up to $500 on the purchase of an ebike; however, the program is limited to students, non-car owners and low-income buyers.

A Japanese man who recently moved to California with his family writes about the racist assault where a Portland man attacked him and his daughter while yelling anti-Japanese slurs; his five-year old daughter now wants to leave the US.

Around 5,500 people completed a 206-mile ride from Seattle to Portland, with roughly 1,000 finishing the ride in a single day, and the rest riding in the next day.

A Phoenix man is recovering in the hospital after he was shot by a gunman who stole his bike; no word on whether he was riding it at the time.

Missouri residents are honoring the 125th anniversary of the famed Buffalo Soldiers 1897 bike ride covering 1,900 miles from Missoula, Montana to St. Louis.

A Chicago columnist says he didn’t take wearing a bike helmet seriously, until he was hit by a 70-something, possibly distracted, driver who said she just didn’t see him.

A Louisville KY TV station asks if things are getting worse for pedestrians and bike riders on the city’s streets. You can probably guess the answer without ever riding there.

Pittsburgh Magazine credits local advocacy group BikePGH with a successful 20-year battle to make the city more bike friendly.

Yes, please. New York will now require new drivers to take a bike and pedestrian safety course before getting a license. Thanks to Victor Bale for the link.

Hundreds of Atlanta bike riders turned out to honor Congressman and civil right icon John Lewis, on the two-year anniversary of his death.

A Florida lawyer won an $8.2 million settlement over the death of a 79-year old woman who fell off a drawbridge when the operator opened it as she was walking her bike across.

 

International

Big news in the race for mayor of Toronto, as famed international urbanist Gil Penalosa tossed his chapeau into the ring.

A Toronto writer explores the proper way to make a left turn on your bike. Actually, the best way to make a left is whatever you feel comfortable with that won’t get you killed.

Devon, England’s 18-year old Piano Bike Girl has become one of the most recognizable buskers in the coastal city, performing on a piano mounted on a three-wheeled bike.

Good news for Welsh bicyclists. The country’s new 20 mph speed applies to cars but not bicycles. So feel free to blithely ride past puttering drivers, nose-thumbing optional.

An ebike conversion kit from the UK’s Swytch now comes with a battery that can fit in a large pocket.

British bikewear maker Fat Lad at the Back unveils an attention getting outdoor ad campaign reading Fat C*n’t, and continuing on the next line, Actually Fat Can, suggesting it’s actually an “a” that’s missing.

Pink Bike looks at the most exciting new products from this year’s Eurobike trade show in Frankfurt, Germany, while Cyclist shares five weird and wonderful things for the show. I could totally rock that mirrored disco ball bike helmet, myself.

More proof of the everyday utility of bicycles, as Ukrainian refugees flee to the southern village of Zelenodolsk, most arriving by bikes or wheelchairs.

PETA, aka People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, hired bike riders to tow anti-wool billboards in front of an Aussie wool and sheep trade show.

 

Competitive Cycling

Australia’s Michael Matthews soloed to victory in Saturday’s 14th stage of the Tour de France, as Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar continued their battle for the yellow jersey.

Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen won the sprint for Sunday’s stage 15, while Vingegaard held onto the lead by a 2 minute 22 second margin, despite crashing 36 miles from the finish, in 100° temperatures.

L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams was DQ’d, along with Best Buddies’ Michael Hernandez, following a dust-up on the final lap of the Salt Lake Criterium; L39ion swept the podium in both the men’s and women’s races.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to try to sell a bike back to the person you stole it from. Now you, too, can own your very own wooden bicycle for the low, low price of just — wait for it — nearly 24 grand.

And how else would you transport a tree?

https://twitter.com/JCB_Journo/status/1548370364354310145

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Update: 48-year old Riverside man riding bike killed in alleged drunken hit-and run; driver followed and arrested

July 17, 2022 / / 2 comments

Once again, a Southern California bike rider has been murdered by a drunken hit-and-run driver.

Allegedly.

According to My News LA, the driver fled the scene after running down the victim in Riverside Saturday night.

But for a change, the driver was captured a short time later.

The victim, identified only as a 48-year old Riverside man, was crossing Indiana Ave on La Sierra Ave on his bike when he was run down by a speeding driver traveling east on Indiana; there’s no word on what time the crash happened

He was taken to a local hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Witnesses followed the driver, who was arrested on suspicion of DUI. He was identified as a 40-year old man from Corona, but no name was given.

This is at least the 49th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

Sixteen of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Update: KCBS-2 puts the time of the crash as around 10:10 pm.

Update 2: The victim has been identified as Riverside resident Jerry Hodges. The driver has still not been identified. 

Update 3: The Riverside Police Department has identified the alleged driver as 40-year old Corona resident Jose Luis Cacho Jr. He was released on $75,000 bond after being booked on vehicular homicide, hit-and-run and DUI charges.

Cacho was also charged with violating probation on a previous DUI conviction. That raises the question of why he hasn’t been charged with murder, since he would have received a Watson notice informing him that would be possible if he killed someone while driving drunk anytime in the future. 

Maybe that’s a question we should ask Riverside County DA Michael Hestrin. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jerry Hodges and his loved ones. 

Thanks to Accident News Now and Eric Lewis for the heads-up. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Koretz gas ban called election gimmick, 6th Street Viaduct values cars above people, and Metro Bike wants your opinion

July 15, 2022 / / Comments Off on Koretz gas ban called election gimmick, 6th Street Viaduct values cars above people, and Metro Bike wants your opinion

My apologies once again for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

I’m still dealing with bouts of disabling dizziness and queasiness that can stop me in my tracks, as it did Wednesday night. 

My doctors continue to assure me that it’s a form of migraine. Even if it hasn’t responded to diet, medication or any of the other treatments they were just darn sure would work. 

Which means this probably won’t be the last time it happens. 

And the next time won’t, either. 

Photo by Harrison Haines from Pexels.

………

He gets it.

Rick Cole has lead a handful of SoCal cities, including Ventura and Santa Monica, as well as serving as a deputy mayor in Los Angeles.

Which is to say, he knows what he’s talking about. And can spot a cheap political stunt a mile away.

Sorry, Paul Koretz.

The tweet may be hidden behind a sensitive content warning, for reasons that will forever escape me. Just click the View link to display it, or you can read it here. 

https://twitter.com/urbanistcole/status/1547228947489775616

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More proof that the designers of the new 6th Street Viaduct put cars ahead of people.

Especially people on two wheels.

https://twitter.com/multimodalLA/status/1547453551613444096

Speaking of which, the Bicycle Advisory Committee’s Planning and Bikeways Engineering Subcommittees will discuss the bridge’s “bikeway shortcomings” at Tuesday’s Virtual meeting.

The committees will also discuss the Northvale Gap on the Expo bike path, and bike safety in Griffith Park, among other issues.

………

Someone tell LADOT it would help if they put a link to the survey in their tweets.

Twitter post

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Metro is teaming with Active SGV to host a ride in Pomona tomorrow.

Twitter post

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Gravel Bike California takes a ride through the redwoods of Santa Cruz.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A naked Scottish couple riding a tandem were attacked by a driver, who made a U-turn to come back and hurl abuse at them — calling them prostitutes — before swerving his car into the couple; they’re continuing on their 837-mile fundraising ride despite suffering minor injuries.

British bike riders were quick to point out to a local police department why urging people to Cycle Like You Drive is a very, very bad idea.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Heartbreaking story from the UK, where a hit-and-run bicyclist will spend the next year behind bars for killing a 79-year old woman after rounding a corner while riding on the sidewalk.

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Local

A writer for the LA Times recommends exploring Griffith Park on your bike, particularly since Griffith Park Drive has been closed to cars through Monday. And hopefully longer.

CicLAvia is hosting a CivSalon panel discussion on Wednesday to discuss how innovation can make our streets safer and more equitable.

 

State 

Calbike joins with 17 other agencies to call for and end to freeway expansion in the Golden State.

Streetsblog says Caltran’s Complete Streets Action plan is basically a list of specific actions the agency will take to encourage a shift towards equitable and safer transportation. Let’s hope so, anyway.

Call it a win-win. San Diego’s new 2.3-mile bike lane on Pershing Drive through Balboa Park will improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians, as well as including a project to replace aging stormwater lines to prevent flooding and reduce water pollution.

A 58-year Rancho Bernardo man completed a 3,300-mile ride across the US, raising over $20,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to fight type 1 diabetes.

Berkeley’s new 12-block parking and barrier protected bike lane connects the north and south sections of the city’s downtown.

Sonoma Magazine offers the ultimate guide to riding in the wine country county.

 

National

They get it. A retail business website says retailers usually fight new bike lanes, arguing they will hurt their business — but usually end up with higher sales after they’re built.

A British man completed his 4,000-mile bike ride across the US, raising nearly $30,000 for charity in the process — including the equivalent of over $2,300 from Dame Judy Dench.

The Pro’s Closet and The Radavist’s John Watson have teamed up on a special-edition gravel bike inspired by a Toyota Land Cruiser; only eight will be made, selling for just under nine grand.

Walmart is recalling a bike helmet that was a replacement for a recalled bike helmet.

It’s the 125th anniversary of the legendary Buffalo Soldier’s 41-day, 1,900 mile bike ride, proving bicycles could efficiently move troops. Until those damn cars and trucks took their place.

Pay full freight for a bike from Colorado bikemaker Alchemy Bikes, and they’ll put you up in a Golden CO hotel, and spring for beer and a breakfast burrito.

Tragic news from Colorado, whee a six-year old boy died days after he was bitten by a rattlesnake while riding bikes with his family.

Cars are still banned from the Northern entrances to Yellowstone due to flooding damage, but bikes are being allowed in for short rides; bicyclists call the carefree carfree experience “magical.”

It’s illegal to stand on the pedals while you ride your bike in Indiana.

Sad news from Missouri, where a 44-year old man was killed when a sheriff’s deputy rear-ended his bicycle; no word on why the deputy couldn’t see a grown man on a bike directly in front of him.

The alleged DUI driver who hit three pedestrians standing on an Illinois bike path, killing two young men, saw half the charges against her dismissed, but will face trial on the seven remaining counts.

A self-described “avid cyclist” says there has to be a better use for St. Paul, Minnesota’s money than removing parking spaces to build a two-way bikeway. There are no more chilling words than those that begin with “I’m an avid cyclist, but…”

There’s a special place in hell for whoever attacked a popular New York restaurant worker to steal his ebike as the man ride home from work, putting him in a coma he never recovered from.

Once again, a driver ran down a bike rider, then got out of his car to remove the victim’s bicycle from underneath before fleeing the scene, this time in North Carolina. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

A Florida woman was lucky to survive after a driver hit her and a friend as they were riding their bikes, dragging the woman 50 feet beneath the car as the driver fled the scene; her friend escaped with just minor injuries.

 

International

London’s Evening Standard takes a look at the city’s bikeshare tribes, with tongue placed firmly in cheek.

Police in Britain’s New Forest urge drivers to slow down so they don’t crash into the donkeys. Or the people on bicycles .

That feeling when you fly to London, but your $16,500 bike and luggage fly to Naples.

Former pro cyclist and Rwandan genocide survivor Adrien Niyonshuti beat the pro peloton to the top of France’s legendary Alpe d’Huez, despite riding a 40 pound, single speed Qhubeka bike built for use in Africa.

Bike Radar looks at the best “weird and wonderful” tech from Germany’s Eurobike trade show.

The head of Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency reportedly is in intensive care after suffering multiple injuries falling off his bicycle; as usual, the country denies anything even happened. Although his injuries suggest something more serious than a simple fall off a bike.

A 36-year old Indian man has been riding throughout the country for the past three years to call attention to organic farming and the problem of single-use plastics.

CNN looks at how Abu Dhabi became the world’s hottest bicycling city. No, literally.

Hong Kong is considering requiring a helmet for anyone riding a bicycle, tricycle or multi-wheeled bike. Evidently, they have a lot of five, six and seven wheeled bikes. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Yellow jersey bearer Tadej Pogačar cracked on Wednesday’s 11th stage of the Tour de France, allowing Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard to slip into the lead.

He wasn’t the only Slovenian to crack. Primož Roglič followed suit the next day after a series of attacks by his Jumbo-Visma team, in an effort to widen Vingegaard’s lead; Vingegaard ended the day 2:22 ahead of Pogačar, who was unable to successfully attack on Thursday’s ride up Alpe d’Huez.

Twenty-two-year old Brit Tom Piddock won Thursday’s stage, besting veteran Chris Froome on the mountain top finish.

The top American is now Sepp Kuss, nearly 25 minutes behind the leader in 17th place, and one notch above Nielson Powless in 18th. Meanwhile, 21-year old Tour rookie Quinn Simmons vows to keep attacking.

Atlas Obscura dives into the chaos of the Tour’s Fast and Furious Feed Zone.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be good for 125 miles. Why stop riding at the water’s edge?

And let your bike be your tent pole on your next bikepacking trip.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Streets For All virtual happy hour tonight, SoCal’s killer highway getting bike lanes in OC, and Prime Day bike deals

July 13, 2022 / / Comments Off on Streets For All virtual happy hour tonight, SoCal’s killer highway getting bike lanes in OC, and Prime Day bike deals

Let’s start with a reminder that Streets For All is hosting their latest virtual happy hour this evening, featuring Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis.

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Southern California’s killer highway could be getting a little safer in Orange County.

According to the Daily Pilot, the stretch of PCH that runs through Huntington Beach is scheduled for a number of improvements, as part of a $14.8-million Caltrans project.

Among the scheduled improvements are rehabilitating the pavement — whatever that means — replacing traffic loop detectors and guardrails, and upgrading facilities to Americans with Disabilities Act standards.

In addition, the plans call for adding Class II painted bike lanes, although they will be downgraded to a mere bike route in some areas, forcing riders to fight for road space with impatient drivers.

That could mean relying on the dreaded sharrows, which studies show could be worse than nothing. And which appear to exist only to help drivers improve their aim and thin the herd.

Additional plans call for $21.2 million to be spent on two projects in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach and Seal Beach, including unspecified pedestrian and bicycle upgrades.

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Today’s common theme is Prime Day bike deals.

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A Twitter user responds to Governor Newsom’s call to sue gunmakers by suggesting we should be able to sue the makers of killer cars.

Especially since the news media insists on holding their drivers blameless.

Twitter post

Not just cars that kill, but cars, trucks and SUVs that are literally built to kill, with no thought to the survival of anyone outside the vehicle.

And which are too often sold in a way that actually encourages the most extreme and dangerous behavior.

Thanks to How The West Was Saved for the heads-up. 

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A new crowdsourced book says it’s not too late to stave off a carbon-fueled climate disaster.

Let’s hope they’r right.

Thanks to Pedal Love for the tip.

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A lifelong car enthusiast explains why he’s starting to hate cars, and why owning multiple cars is an insanely bad idea.

And “why car dependency is terrible and why car enthusiasts should care about reducing traffic fatalities.”

Took the words right out of my mouth.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever painted swastikas along a Rhode Island bike path.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Palo Alto police arrested a 34-year old Mountain View man for robbing a 16-year old bike-riding boy; he was arrested riding a bike while carrying meth and drug paraphernalia, as well as the knife he threatened the teenager with.

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Local

Streetsblog reports on last week’s groundbreaking for the Rail-to-Rail active transportation project through South LA and Inglewood.

Heartbreaking story from the LA Times about a young Black man who lived alone and worked remotely, whose body was found five days after he logged off from work, after apparently dying in his sleep from an undetected heart condition; among his possessions was a new bicycle with just four miles on the odometer.

 

State 

A pair of projects in the Coachella and Imperial Valleys have received grants from the Southern California Association of Governments, part of 26 grants up to $15,000 for active transportation projects in the six-county SCAG region.

More sad news from Northern California, where a Visalia bike rider was killed in a rear-end collision.

San Jose received a $10 million grant to install street lights and build out bike lanes on a nearly five-mile stretch of one of the city’s most dangerous roads.

The recent decision to permanently ban cars from a portion of JFK Drive through San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park could go to the voters, after opponents turned in enough signatures to get the question on the November ballot. Or opponent, actually, as the signature gathering effort was funded entirely by an heiress to the Dow Chemical fortune, who’s family apparently hasn’t done enough environmental damage yet.

A speeding hit-and-run driver ran down a man riding a bicycle in San Francisco’s Mission District, driving off with the bike’s front wheel still stuck to their grill; fortunately, the victim is expected to survive. Although the driver may regret leaving the car’s license plate behind.

 

National

Muscle and Fitness recommends bicycling as a low-impact exercise in the great outdoors that provides something for everyone from elite athletes to people battling serious illnesses, focusing on a survivor of stage 4 pancreatic cancer who rides 50 to 100 miles a week.

Money Inc lists ten jobs that often require using a bicycle.

Peloton is outsourcing its stationary bike manufacturing, shutting down its bikemaking subsidiary and laying off 570 people; the layoffs follow more than 3,000 earlier job cuts.

Gear Junkie rates the year’s best mountain bike helmets.

Las Cruces, New Mexico is using special green paint to lower the surface temperature of bike lanes, while making them more visible to drivers.

A carfree Portland Millennial is spreading her “glorious bike propaganda” to her 16,000-plus Tik Tok followers.

Wisconsin’s 32 foot high fiberglass sculpture of an 1890’s man riding a Penny Farthing has been designated as the world’s biggest bicycling statue.

Unbelievable. A 40-year old Florida man faces vehicular homicide and hit-and-run charges for killing a 74-year old man who wasn’t even riding his bike at the time — or anywhere near the roadway; the speeding driver hit a mailbox on the wrong side of road before losing control, driving off the road and hitting the victim, then crashing into a building.

 

International

Streetsblog’s podcast The Brake talks with British environmental psychology expert Dr. Ian Walker about why high gas prices and other disincentives don’t get people out of their cars, and why even incentivizing other modes doesn’t always work.

British bike scribe and bicycling historian Carlton Reid examines how Milan, Italy tamed its streets with bikeways, ping pong and polka dot plazas, a move that proved so popular that the mayor was re-elected with nearly two-thirds of the vote — 20 points more than he received in 2016.

Electrek previews ebikes expected to make their debut at the Eurobike 2022 trade show, starting today in Frankfurt, Germany.

An Emirati website examines why Middle Eastern countries are lagging in the fight to reduce traffic deaths. Just wait until they see the US, which is going the wrong way entirely.

 

Competitive Cycling

Yesterday’s stage ten of the Tour de France came to a sudden and unexpected halt when a group of protesters blocked the roadway. A statement from the group Dernière Rénovation — aka Last Renovation — says they interrupted the stage to “stop the mad race towards the annihilation of our society,” adding they “can no longer remain spectators of the ongoing climate disaster.”

Twitter post

Former Tour de France champ Bradley Wiggins, who won the race a decade ago, was criticized for calling the protesters imbeciles.

Yes, there was actually a race after the road was cleared of protesters, with Danish rider Magnus Cort winning in a mountain top finish; Germany’s Lennard Kämna missed taking the yellow jersey by just 11 seconds.

Covid reared its ugly face in the Tour after all, with two riders dismissed after testing positive and another allowed to continue, just 24 hours after the peloton had gotten a premature all clear.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a 20-foot long, two way bike lane, with arrows directing you to crash into a pole. That feeling when you’re still waiting for your bike and luggage to arrive, ten days into a two-week Icelandic bicycling vacation.

And that feeling when you run into your idol while riding your bike, then perform with him at a sold out concert.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
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