Bike riding becomes urban culture war, LA world’s 14th best city, and CA Active Transportation requests dwarf funding`

December 9, 2024 / / No comments
Just 22 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But not one LA city leader seems to give a damn about it.
Or if they do, they’re not saying anything. 

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It’s Day 11 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Eric L, Andre V, Mary D, Robert K, Kathleen S, Jordan G, Liam W, James B, Robert L and John G for their generous donations over the weekend to keep SoCal’s best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Now it’s your turn.

So don’t wait. Take a moment, and donate now! 

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Good question.

Momentum wants to know why riding a bicycle in the city is turning into a culture war.

It’s hard to ride a bicycle to work on a regular basis, and not turn into a bike advocate. People want to be safe, and riding a bicycle for transportation currently comes with significant risks. But, years ago, even with critical mass movements, the world naked bike ride, and similar political actions, the bicycle vs. car debate had a tone similar to other civic debates. There were wins, there were losses, and a very slow, glacially slow, movement forward.

Something changed. Maybe there have been too many wins of late for some, but the fight for safe cycling infrastructure to protect bicycles is reaching a fever pitch.

There have been attacks on those campaigning for safe cycling. The rhetoric is unbearably predictable. In Montreal, often see as North America’s most European city with a progressive take on cycling and cycling infrastructure, thumbtacks were thrown onto bike lanes to get a rather stark point across.

Then again, these days it seems like everything is turning into a culture war.

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Los Angeles came in at a surprising 14th on a list of the world’s top 100 cities, based on broad definitions of “livability, lovability, and prosperity.”

After a series of recent centennials, including that of the Hollywood Sign and Warner Bros. Studios, L.A.’s focus is now on its “Decade of Sport.” The Memorial Coliseum and the newly built SoFi Stadium will host a slate of global events, from the 2026 FIFA World Cup to the Olympics and Paralympics in 2028, making L.A. the first U.S. city to host the Olympics three times.

The city of storytelling, already ranking #12 in our Lovability index, will only endear itself even more. Cultural investment is equally ambitious. The Hammer Museum reopened with expanded gallery space, while the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is captivating visitors with film history. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is reopening its east campus with 110,000 square feet of new gallery space, and the Natural History Museum’s NHM Commons and the Getty’s PST ART series are also contributing to the booming arts scene (and #10 Culture subcategory ranking).

Transportation efficiency is equally prioritized. The new $1.7-billion Regional Connector Transit Project offers direct rail travel across the county, and LAX’s $30-billion overhaul includes a people mover train and the world’s largest car rental facility. An even bolder move is the high-speed rail project Brightline West, connecting L.A. and Las Vegas by 2028.

Although that comment about transportation efficiency may come as a surprise to anyone who spends more time on our streets than on the rails.

Meanwhile, San Francisco came in at two notches higher than Los Angeles at 12th, while San Diego was 44th, and San Jose 62nd.

London topped the list, while New York was the top American city just one notch lower.

Of course, that high ranking probably came before Los Angeles kicked Gotham’s butt twice in two different sports this fall.

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No surprise here, as funding requests for California’s Active Transportation Program far outstripped available funding.

According to Streetsblog, the state received requests for a total of $2.5 billion worth of projects competing for the relatively paltry $85 million in available funds.

That works out to enough state funds on hand for just 3.4% of the requests. A number that seems especially minuscule when compared to the $15.3 billion Caltrans budget, making it equivalent to a lousy rounding error for highway funding.

But at least LA County received its share of funding, with projects in Pomona, Inglewood and Rancho Dominguez totaling $35.6 million.

On the other hand, the Inland Empire counties of Riverside and San Bernardino received exactly nothing.

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A basketball site reminds us that the late, great NBA star Bill Walton was one of us.

“I love my bike. My bike is everything to me. My bike is my gym, my church, and my wheelchair. My bike is everything that I believe in going on in the Biosphere. It’s science, it’s technology, it’s the future, engineering, metallurgy – you name it, it’s right there in my bike. My bike is the most important and valuable thing that I have,” remarked Wallton, per epicrides.

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‘Tis the season.

The San Diego Padres donated 250 bicycles to 3rd grade students at Rosa Parks Elementary School in the City Heights neighborhood.

A Louisiana personal injury attorney gave away hundreds of matching green bicycles to kids in six cities across the state.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website lists the “ultimate” holiday gift guide for women bicyclists.

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It’s now 354 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch December 18th, so get your application in.

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

A bike counter shows one of the Toronto bike lanes Ontario premier Doug Ford wants to rip out saw 308 bike riders on Thursday — despite freezing temperatures and snow on the ground. Thanks to Donna Samoyloff for the heads-up. 

A Toronto bike advocate says video of an ambulance driver using one of the city’s bike lanes to get around traffic proves the importance of keeping them, despite the plans of the Ontario provincial leaders

Bicyclists in Bristol, England are being randomly attacked by masked assailants on mopeds who are pushing them off their bicycles, then laughing as they ride off; at least one victim suffered a broken collarbone.

No bias here. A British police commissioner says she’s not anti-bicyclist, just “anti the full-Sky-replica-kit Sunday cyclists who ignore red lights and drive three or four abreast in front of me,” and “don’t contribute in vehicle taxes.” If she’d left it at complaining about riders who ignore red lights, she might have had a point, instead of making it clear she’s just annoyed by riders who inconvenience her personally. 

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Local  

Bike Walk Glendale recommends Option 1 to improve North Brand Blvd, and urges you to contact the city’s councilmembers before tomorrow’s vote.

 

State

Bike riders in San Carlos called for safer streets at a meeting of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, three weeks after a Stanford data scientist was killed by a driver while riding her bike.

If you were hoping to ride a mountain bike or a ped-assist ebike on Marin County’s Mt. Tamalpais, you may have to make other plans, after a judge extended a temporary injunction preventing the Marin Municipal Water District from opening the gates.

 

National

Electrek recommends the best ebikes at every price point to put under your Christmas tree. Or Chanukah bush. Or whatever.

A banking website offers the reasons you should opt for an ebike over an EV.

Seattle is trying to cut the rise in traffic deaths by teaching bike safety to little kids. Although they could do a lot more just by teaching traffic safety to the people in the big dangerous machines. 

Police in the Las Vegas area reminded drivers to pass safely, three months after bicycling deaths topped last year’s total; cops cited 84 drivers for violating the state’s safe passing law in just three hours on Thursday.

Sixty-seven-year old 1984 Women’s Tour de France champ Marianne Martin, the only American to win the grueling 675-mile race, talked with a Denver TV station about the challenges in recovering from a life-threatening solo bike crash that left her with a collapsed lung, 12 broken ribs, fractured clavicle, broken scapula and road rash, after losing control on a steep descent.

A Pennsylvania newspaper looks back to an internationally known local bicycling champ who won a 1896 six-day bike race on a bike he built himself, then ran a bike shop until he was run by a semi-truck in 1955, when he was 89-years old.

 

International

Cycling Weekly says bicyclists are no longer the cool kids, and the real glory goes to paddle boarders this year.

Momentum lists 20 “under the radar” bicycling routes around the world, from Estonia to Laos; New York’s Empire State Trail is the only US route to make the list.

A British man returned home after completing a nearly 4,000-mile bike tour across Europe, only to have his bike and belongings stolen when he stopped for a bowl of noodles in Brighton.

Irish operatic soprano Claudia Boyle is one of us, saying the cargo bike she bought to avoid congestion taking her kids to school is the best investment she ever made, adding “the chats, giggles and memories on the bike is something you can’t buy.”

A Scottish newspaper takes a two-day, 77-mile ride through the Dolomites to Lake Garda along Italy’s DoGa trail — short for Dolomites and Garda — offering some of the country’s best views.

A Ugandan company has developed a solar-powered ebike conversion kit to address the country’s mobility problem.

 

Competitive Cycling

British Olympic champ Katy Marchant suffered a broken arm when she collided with German cyclist Alessa-Catriona Pröpster at Saturday’s UCI Track Champions League in London, and went over the rail into the stands, injuring four spectators; Pröpster was able to walk away after ten minutes, while Marchant was on the floor for half an hour before she was carried out.

Triple Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar has joined the UN’s ‘Make a Safety Statement’ campaign, saying he lives “the reality of the danger of cycling in traffic almost every day.” Seriously, don’t we all?

 

Finally…

Anyone who doesn’t believe in Santa, try thousands of them on bicycles. And no, using a bicycle to weight down a body is not among the recommended uses.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

LA does squat on speed cams, bike lanes boost property values, and judge in DEA case rules running stop sign “reasonable”

December 6, 2024 / / One comment
Just 25 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But not one LA city leader seems to give a damn about it.
Or if they do, they’re not saying anything. 

………

It’s Day 8 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Ken S, Bonnie W, Mark J, Kent S and Mari L for their generous donations to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy your way every day.

So don’t wait. Take just a moment, and donate now! 

………

According to Streetsblog, not one of the six California cities allowed to use speed cams as part of a pilot program to reduce speeding — or seven, counting late addition Malibu — have actually installed any nearly a full year later.

San Jose, San Francisco, Glendale, and Oakland have publicly announced which locations they are considering for the cameras, while the ‘Bu has begun developing a policy and impact report, as required by law.

But is anyone really surprised that Los Angeles doesn’t appear to have done a damn thing so far?

And stop smirking, Long Beach, because you’re in the same sinking boat with us.

Making matters worse, the proposal for the program originated right here in LA as part of our Vision Zero program. You know, back when we actually had a Vision Zero program.

Maybe someday, our current elected leaders with actually give a damn about protecting human lives, at least as much as our previous leaders.

You know, the ones who were great at announcing new programs, without ever actually implementing them.

At least they’ve that last part down.

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No surprise here, as a new English study has confirmed that bike lanes improve property values, with home prices in Manchester increasing up to 8% after its bikeways went in.

And the closer homes were to a bike lane, the greater the increase, as people were willing to pay more to live close to a bicycle network.

Which could be the best argument yet to overcome the built-in resistance of homeowners to any changes to the local streets in their neighborhood — or to the loss of trees or parking spaces.

As in, “Yes, ma’am, you may have to start using your driveway for its intended purpose, but your home will probably be worth more.”

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An Oregon man expressed his displeasure after a judge dismissed charges against the DEA agent who killed his wife of 27 years as she rode her bicycle — while wearing a hi-viz vest, and with multiple flashers on her bike — accusing the agent of “playing Russian roulette with his vehicle pointed at the public.”

His comments came in response to the judge’s bizarre conclusion that the agent “reasonably” believed he could safely run a stop sign while pursuing a suspect at 12 mph over the posted speed limit, without lights and siren.

After all, what could possibly go wrong?

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‘Tis the season.

Cycling Weekly offers this year’s Cycling Christmas Gift Guide for the bike rider in your life. And yes, it’s perfectly acceptable to give yourself the perfect gift this year.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website offers “reasonable” Christmas gifts for bicyclists, because unreasonable gifts are just so passé.

One hundred and twelve Raleigh, North Carolina 3rd graders were surprised with new bicycles and helmets for the holidays, after being told they were just going to an assembly.

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It’s now 351 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, no bias here, as the New Santa Ana website calls the vouchers bad news for public safety, suggesting they’ll be used by “crazy and sometimes criminal juveniles on e-bikes” to further terrorize California residents.

Just wait until they learn about rebates for all those electric cars and Tesla trucks.

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

After posting letters in support of a recent badly misguided and misleading opinion piece attacking DC bike lanes, the Washington Post kept their promise to post letters supporting bike lanes and our basic right to survive on the streets. Although they seem to have ignored my suggestion to just link to my piece dismantling the writer’s arguments.

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Local  

Start the New Year right, or at least the Lunar New Year, with the 47th Annual L.A. Chinatown Firecracker, offering a wide range of runs, bike rides and other assorted activities to ring in the Year of the Snake.

 

State

The popular Cathedral Oaks Road bike path in western Goleta now has a shiny new surface, complete with smoother pavement and clearer markings for bicyclists and pedestrians alike.

Streetsblog takes The San Francisco Standard to task for suggesting that Vision Zero is some sort of unachievable utopian fantasy, arguing that other places have reduced traffic deaths to zero, even if San Francisco hasn’t done enough to get there. Actually, Vision Zero is a utopian fantasy as long as cities adopt it without implementing it, somehow expecting traffic deaths to magically go down. And yes, I’m looking at you, Los Angeles.

 

National

Bicycling explains how the wrong bike fit setup could be what’s making your hands go numb when you ride. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

Sheriff’s deputies in Houston, Texas arrested a 22-year old hit-and-run suspect as she was trying to board a plane to leave the state, just hours after she allegedly killed a man riding a bicycle, then abandoned her car a mile away.

Streetsblog Chicago offers a virtual ride down the city’s new protected bike lane, which was build in a converted parking lane.

 

International

Cycling Weekly explains the differences between the various flavors of gravel riders, even if the lines differentiating them are a little blurry.

Eleven inspirational stories of people who took transformative journeys on their bike. Or maybe twelve, counting the author, who sold her belongings and took a year-long global bike tour.

Momentum introduces the Toronto artist who developed a virtually unwinnable bicycling video game to demonstrate the need for safe bike lanes. And yes, spellcheck, unwinnable is a word, so stop changing the damn thing.

Recently retired Italian cycling champ Domenico Pozzovivo was fined the equivalent of slightly less than 20 bucks for riding side-by-side with another rider while training at Lake Como, which is against the law in the country — but said that after getting hit several times by drivers, “As long as I ride a bike, I will always ride in double file. I prefer to pay a fine than risk my life.”

 

Competitive Cycling

Snopes tracks down the truth about an apocryphal story of a 66-year old Swedish man who earned the nickname “Grandpa Steel” when he won an 1,100-mile bike race, despite being denied entry because he missed 40-year old age limit by a mere 26 years. And finds that yes, an elderly man actually was given the nickname “Stålfarfar,” — or “Steel Grandfather” in English — after finishing first in the 1951 Sverigeloppet race, despite being told he couldn’t compete because of his age. But he was 65, not 66, and wasn’t actually the winner, because you can’t win a race you haven’t entered.

Cycling Up To Date questions whether anything can be done to prevent collisions on training rides, after Remco Evenepoel joined the rapidly growing club of pro cyclists who’ve suffered nasty crashes. I mean, aside from building safer streets, requiring automotive warning and active braking systems, and getting drivers to put down their phones and pay attention to the road in front of them, that is. 

 

Finally…

Avoid the festive faux pas of giving the wrong bike stuff this holiday season. Now you, too, can build your own e-cargo bike using a discarded bike frame.

And seriously, anyone can cross a bridge the easy way.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Ebikes blamed in insurance CEO’s murder, and Riverside County deputy charged with killing Palm Desert bike rider last year

December 5, 2024 / / No comments
Just 26 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But not one LA city leader seems to give a damn about it.
Or if they do, they’re not saying anything. 

………

It’s Day 7 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Ross P and Tom M for their generous donations to bring all the best bike news and advocacy to your favorite screen every morning. 

So don’t wait. Give now!

And if you have anything left over, give a little to Streetsblog LA to support their vital work coving transportation in the Los Angeles area. 

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Yesterday morning, a masked gunman stepped out from behind a car on a New York street, and fatally shot the CEO of United HealthCare.

The shooter then walked away, before hopping on an ebike and riding off into the sunset to make his getaway. Or Central Park, anyway.

So what does the Daily Beast focus on?

The killer’s last known means of escape, obviously, terming the gunman the “E-Bike Assassin.”

Actually, almost all of the initial reports focused on a Citi Bike-riding killer, but most of the stories were revised after it turned out the ebike wasn’t a Citi Bike, after all.

Which seemed to take the fun out of it for them, since the stories downplayed the gunman’s means of escape after that bit of news broke.

Although it would have been better if he had been on a Citi Bike, since they have digital trackers that would allow the police to trace the route the shooter took on the bike, enabling them to look for cameras that might show his face, or where he went after docking the bike.

They would also have been able to identify the exact bike he used, allowing them to examine it for evidence.

Instead, they’ll just have to rely on the city’s massive number of public and private security cams, and hope for the best.

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Better late than never.

A Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy has been charged with vehicular manslaughter for killing a man riding a bicycle in Palm Desert last year.

Deputy Christian J. Lopez pled not guilty to the single count when he was arraigned October 16, a full year and six days after the collision that killed 33-year old Palm Desert resident Christopher Thomas.

Lopez was on duty and driving a marked patrol car when he drove into Thomas around 3:40 am near the intersection of Country Club and Eldorado drives.

Unfortunately, there’s no word at this time on why Lopez was charged, or whether he was charged with a felony or a misdemeanor.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon. If not, we may have to wait until his next court date on January 10th, although that is almost guaranteed to be delayed.

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After Russian generals banned soldiers from driving into battle in commandeered civilian vehicles, following a spate of drunk driving crashes, the soldiers have turned to bicycles to lead their armored vehicles.

Clearly, some Russian drone operators were unimpressed.

Actually, there’s a long history of bicycles used in warfare, leading all the way up to modern ebikes, as well as foldies designed for paratroopers and capable of carrying 500 pounds of gear.

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It’s now 350 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. Streetsblog says hundreds of people have signed a letter of support for an Evanston, Illinois bike lane, despite a local newspaper’s suggestion that most residents are against it.

Washington Post readers respond to the recent badly misguided and misleading opinion piece blaming the city’s traffic problems on bike lanes, with similarly misguided letters claiming we’re stealing their traffic lanes and parking spaces; the paper says they’ll post letters supporting the lanes tomorrow.  Or they could just link to my piece dismantling the writer’s arguments. 

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

Seriously? Police in Bournemouth, England are looking for a man in his 60s who was reportedly acting suspiciously, apparently because he was riding a bicycle while wearing hi-viz, and had a bike cam attached to his helmet.

Singaporean Redditors go berserk over video of a man on a bicycle riding slowly in front of a bus, forcing the driver to follow him for ten minutes. Or maybe the rider was just nervously waiting for the driver to go around him so he could change lanes. 

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Local  

More on Metro’s demand that Culver City repay the $435 million they gave the city for the now-removed MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes; the decision to collect the funds will be finalized at Monday’s Metro board meeting.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition has reached the 100-person cap for their third annual Holiday Lights Ride this Saturday. So if you haven’t signed up yet, you’re SOL. 

 

State

The CHP is giving away bike lights in Isla Vista in hopes of reducing the high number of bicycling collisions.

A San Francisco website wonders if the city has learned the lessons of its Covid-era Slow Streets, arguing they could form the backbone of its new bike plan.

Bad news from Santa Rosa, where a man riding a bicycle suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by the driver of a minivan, who actually stuck around and cooperated with investigators.

 

National

Bike Portland reports Oregon could finally reconsider the state’s regressive $15 Bicycle Excise Tax, charged on all new bicycle sales as a performative gesture to the people who falsely claim bike riders don’t pay their fair share for the roads we ride.

Police in Boulder, Colorado ruled no one was at fault in a fatal crash between a 34-year old man riding a gravel bike and a 74-year old man who died when he hit his head after they collided; the rider wasn’t speeding, neither person was under the influence, and both tried to avoid the crash.

Philadelphia just banned parking or stopping in bike lanes, increasing fines to a relatively paltry $125 in the city center, and just 75 bucks elsewhere. There’s something seriously wrong when cities have to belatedly ban something that should have been illegal all along. 

 

International

Momentum examines the world’s best bicycle parking garages. None of which are in Los Angeles. Obviously. 

A writer for The Guardian says there’s a Black bicycling revolution sweeping the globe, with the rise of grassroots groups breaking cultural barriers to entry (scroll down).

Toronto’s transit board banned lithium-ion batteries in buses, trains and stations during the winter months, apparently concerned about the risk of ebike and e-scooter fires, although that doesn’t seem to increase in cold weather; the motion was approved despite a report showing it would adversely affect low-income workers. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Here’s another reason why people keep dying on the streets. The daughter of a British man killed by an 82-year old driver with failing eyesight renewed her call for giving motorists mandatory eye tests, rather than just allowing them to tick a box. Seriously, mandatory eye tests for drivers should be, well, mandatory. For everyone.

Greece is now officially bike friendly, encouraging responsible bike tourism. As opposed to irresponsible car tourism, evidently. 

Israel opened a new bike path, built for the equivalent of $2 million, in honor of the 11 people riding bicycles who were killed in last year’s October 7th attack, and call for the safe return of two bike-riding hostages, as well as the other hostages taken in the attack.

The AP looks at Indonesia’s Starlings, the country’s bicycle-born coffee peddlers.

A 47-year old man in Perth, Australia will spend the next four years and three months behind bars for the hit-and-run death of an 86-year old man who was illegally riding his ebike on the freeway; the judge said the question of why the victim was on the freeway in the first place was “beside the point” and termed the driver’s failure to stop as “callous.”

 

Competitive Cycling

The Athletic offers more details about the dooring that put double Olympic champ and 2022 Vuelta winner Remco Evenepoel in the ER; he’ll spend the next two weeks immobilized after undergoing successful surgery.

The world’s longest single-staged mountain bike race kicks off in Namibia tomorrow, covering 250 miles in 24 hours.

 

Finally…

Maybe cycling teams should cover their new kits in tape, like carmakers do to road test new models. Now you, too, can just pedal your 10,000 daily steps.

And no. Just no, already.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Charlie Brown ready to kick ball as CA ebike voucher launch announced — again, and PCH Master Plan meeting next week

December 4, 2024 / / No comments
Just 27 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But not one LA city leader seems to give a damn about it.
Or if they do, they’re not saying anything. 

………

It’s Day 6 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

So join me in thanking Beverly F, James L, Mitchell G, Walter L and Lionel M for their generous donations to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

So what are you waiting for? Stop what you’re doing and donate now!

It’s okay, we’ll wait. 

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That chill you just felt was hell freezing over.

Streetsblog reports the California Air Resources Board, aka CARB, will finally launch the state’s long delayed ebike voucher program in just two weeks.

No, really, Charlie Brown. Go ahead and kick the football.

According to Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry, the program is now scheduled to launch on December 18th — 42 months after it was approved by the legislature, and almost exactly one year after the last promised launch date (see below).

Seriously, Charlie Brown, we won’t move it this time.

The income-qualified program is scheduled to go live at 6 pm on the 18th, and continue until all the vouchers have been claimed. Which will probably happen almost instantly, given the pent-up demand in a state of nearly 39 million.

According to Curry,

Eligible applicants must be at least 18 years old, with an income of 300 percent of the federal poverty level or less. That means, for example, a one-person household cannot make more than $45,180, and a four-person household no more than $93,600. More information on eligibility can be found here.

Applicants are encouraged to look at the Implementation Manual provided by CARB and ensure they have the proper documents ready to submit once applications go live. Income eligibility must be proven via any of the documents listed on page 16 of the manual (such as tax forms). Although the website encourages people to create a log-in now, before the launch window, it’s not clear how to do so.

Considering how well this program has been run up to this point — including choosing a program under criminal investigation by the state to manage it — they will undoubtedly clarify the process soon.

Right, Charlie Brown? Charlie Brown?

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It’s now 349 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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Caltrans is hosting yet another in-person community workshop to discuss the feasibility of safety changes on SoCal’s killer highway through the ‘Bu.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the City of Malibu invite you to the 7th public workshop for the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Master Plan Feasibility Study.

The first three public workshops (Round One) gathered input from residents, businesses, and other stakeholders to identify safety priorities for the highway. Based on that input, the 4th, 5th, and 6th workshops (Round Two) focused on presenting and soliciting feedback on design alternatives and other recommendations to improve safety on PCH. Following Round Two, Caltrans developed a draft of the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study. The upcoming 7th workshop (Round Three) will present the draft Study’s key findings and release the document for a 30-day public review period.

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It’s the last CicLAvia of the year.

Five miles of Sherman Way will be closed this Sunday from Lindley to Shoup for your riding, scooting, rolling and walking pleasure.

Or rather, closed to motor vehicles, and open to people.

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Don’t forget tomorrow’s public meeting to consider installing what passes for protected bike lanes in LA on Forest Lawn Drive.

You know, so you don’t become one of Forest Lawn’s customers.

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Metro is hosting a series of public meetings to gather input on the “transformative” Metro Vermont Transit Corridor Project.

  • Saturday, December 7, 2024, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM at Masjid Omar ibn Al-Khattab, 1025 W Exposition Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90007.
  • Monday, December 9, 2024 from 6:00PM to 8:00 PM at Crenshaw Christian Center, 7901 Vermont Av, Los Angeles, CA 90044
  • Wednesday, December 11, 2024, from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM, virtual via Zoom at https://tinyurl.com/MetroVTC1211.
  • Wednesday, December 11, 2024, from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at LA City College Student Union, Room A, 798 N. Heliotrope Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90029.
  • Monday, December 16, 2024 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM, virtual via Zoom at https://tinyurl.com/MetroVTC1216.

Which means it’s your chance to tell them the busway improvements are great, but they need to do more to protect people on bicycles.

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Works for me.

A Toronto advocacy group has hired to lawyer to explore their options, as a new provincial law allows Premier Doug Ford to overrule local officials and rip out popular bike lanes.

Meanwhile, a Hamilton, Ontario bike lane installed after a bike-riding kindergarten teacher was killed is among the 16 bike lanes being considered for removal under a new law sponsored by provincial leader Doug Ford, which removes local oversight of bike lanes.

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

Derbyshire Police arrested a 23-year-old man for murder in Mansfield, England, accused of being the driver who deliberately rammed two people riding an ebike off the road, killing a young mother and resulting in the man with her losing his leg below the knee.

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

Police in Wiltshire, England are looking for a man riding a bicycle who punctured another man in the face, apparently with a screwdriver, for no apparent reason. Or at least none the bothered to tell us.

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Local  

Glendale wants to know what you think about citywide traffic and mobility, which means it’s your chance to weigh in on how the city can protect your own safety. Meanwhile, dueling petitions call for “terminating” and preserving the temporary quick-build concrete barrier-protected bike lanes installed on the city’s Brand Blvd back in May.

Santa Clarita will install a pilot protected bike and pedestrian path on Orchard Village Road in the next few weeks.

This is who we share the road with. An LA County Sheriff’s deputy was canned after he was arrested in Long Beach for crashing into a wall and injuring the passenger in his car, while driving at nearly twice the legal alcohol limit.

 

State

They get it. The Santa Cruz Sentinel says California’s new daylighting law will improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians. It should be good for drivers, too. 

Oakland is delaying the promised cycle track it previously expedited following the death of a four-year old girl who was killed by a driver while riding with her father.

Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick wants to know if Caltrans engineers are intentionally trying to kill bicyclists with their design for the new Vallejo diverging diamond deathtrap interchange. I’d put my money on old fashioned motorhead incompetency. 

Sad news from Rohnert Park, where 69-year old bicycling booster and local cycling team manager Phil Heiman died in a freak accident, after swallowing a bee while warming up for a bike race; a 45-mile “scone ride” will be held in his honor this Friday.

 

National

Slate examines why it’s so darn hard to stop driving, finding that people tend to get stuck in their habits until something happens to make them find a better alternative. Gas shortage, anyone?

Outside named All Bodies on Bikes cofounder Marley Blonsky one of their 2024 Outsiders of the Year for her work to make bicycling more inclusive for riders of all sizes, one group ride at a time; another choice was Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay, the first Black rider to win a stage at the Tour de France.

Electrek looks at the best ebikes, scooters and accessories they saw at the recent Micromobility America show, including hydrogen-powered bikes and a tricycle bucket ebike.

Apparently, not even national parks are safe from hit-and-run drivers, as a 70-year old Hawaiian man was severely injured in a hit-and-run while riding his bike inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park.

The rich get richer, as bike and pedestrian friendly Tucson, Arizona gets more protected bike lanes in the downtown area.

Good idea. An Arizona foundation created by the father of a fallen bicyclist is working with software engineering faculty and students at Arizona State University to develop a “dashcam” for bikes, which attaches to your handlebars and connects to your cellphone to record the license number, images and data of any car that comes too close to your bike.

The Ukrainian immigrant charged with killing 17-year old national team cyclist Magnus White in Colorado last year will face trial in March, after the planned December trial date was delayed due to the absence of a key witness; Yeva Smilianska is charged with reckless vehicular homicide.

A 79-year old Ohio writer says “ebikes are a good choice for many aging riders who still have decent balance, reflexes and vision.” Sounds about right to me.

A 56-year old Texas woman was found a day after she was separated from her husband while riding in a state park; she abandoned her bike after suffering a flat, wandered five miles in a circle before ending up back in the same spot she left her bike, then walked with it until she stumbled on a ranger station 20 miles from where she was last seen.

A former employee of a Richmond, Virginia TV station is trying to find the Good Samaritan who helped him while he was unconscious following a mountain bike crash 16 long years ago, calling for help and even returning his bike to his workplace.

 

International

Momentum selects seven of the best new bike routes around the world to check out in the coming year, including New York’s Empire State Trail and The Great American Rail-Trail, a 3,700-mile continuous trail from Washington, D.C., to Washington State that’s still in the works.

More proof that life is cheap in the UK, where a 75-year old double-decker bus driver walked without a day behind bars for fleeing the scene after crashing into a 13-year old boy riding his bike, but at least he won’t be able to drive again until he’s 76. If you want to know why no one is safe on the streets, this is a good place to start.

A pair of British university educators examine why being located near a bicycle network can boost home property values. Something that holds true on this side of the Atlantic, too. 

A UK cancer charity is sponsoring a fundraising ride along the grueling 724 mile Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift route, riding each of the nine stages a day before the pros to raise money to fight cancer.

 

Competitive Cycling

Apparently, not even the world’s best cyclists are safe from careless drivers, as two-time Olympic and 2024 Vuelta champ Remco Evenepoel suffered a broken shoulder blade, hand and rib, along with bruised lungs and a dislocated collarbone when he was doored by the driver of a postal van while on a training ride in Belgium; witnesses say he was “completely hunched over and extremely pale” after the crash.

The head of New Zealand’s national cycling teams apologized to her family for the “appalling” treatment cyclist Olivia Podmore endured as part of the country’s national team, leading to her suspected suicide in 2021 just one day after the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games, after she was left off the team.

 

Finally…

If the city won’t change the signs to prevent parking in a bike lane, just change ’em yourself. When you’re already drunk and riding your bike with an open bottle of purloined wine, it’s not the best idea to threaten to bite the cops busting you.

And that feeling when your final wish for one last bike ride depends on whether the funeral home can find a tandem hearse.

Not that, you’d be feeling anything at that point. But still.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Where to give this Giving Tuesday, elderly bike rider run over by heartless hit-and-run driver, and taking The NY Times to task

December 3, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 28 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But not one LA city leader seems to give a damn about it. Or if they do, they’re not saying anything. 

………

It’s Day 5 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Michael B, the M’s, and Miriam H for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Now it’s your turn. Take just a few minutes, and donate now!

………

If you’re looking to put your money to good use this Giving Tuesday, consider giving to Streets For All, Streets Are For Everyone, Bike LA, Streetsblog LA, , Calbike, Orange County Bicycle Coalition, San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, Bike SD, or your local bike advocacy group, wherever you live.

And give a little extra Giving Tuesday consideration to Culver City-based Walk n’ Rollers, after the trailer and equipment they use to train kids on bike safety was stolen. Because they can use the help right now.

………

A 71-year old man is in critical but stable condition after he was run over by a heartless hit-and-run driver while lying helpless in the roadway, after apparently striking an object with his bicycle.

According to the Ventura Police Department, a motorist called 911 after spotting the man lying in the road near Foothill Road and La Fonda Drive in East Ventura.

But after pulling over, the caller watched as the driver of a white car, possibly a Lexus, drove over the incapacitated victim. The driver, described only as a woman who appeared to be in her 70s, and another woman in her 20s got out and walked over to the victim, but fled the scene before emergency personnel arrived — without assisting the victim or calling for help, as required by law.

We shouldn’t need to remind anyone that major injuries are far more serious and difficult to overcome in older people, compounding the outrageousness of their crime. Although, unfortunately, that’s not something California’s overly lenient hit-and-run laws take into account.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Ventura Police Traffic Division at 805/339-4437.

Let’s hope they find these two and get them both off the road.

Permanently.

Thanks to Joe Linton and Jeffrey Rusk for the heads-up.

………

Good for them.

Streetblog takes the New York Times to task for their recent piece that appeared to blame the recent murder of a Parisian bike rider by the driver of an SUV on the mythical “war on cars.”

Here’s how Streetsblog describes the paper’s reaction to the death of 27-year old bike advocate Paul Varry, who was intentionally run down by a 52-year old driver as he rode in a Paris bike lane.

The New York Times, though, suggested that another suspect deserved some of the blame: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who, the paper said, has been “ratcheting up tensions” in the City of Light by implementing policies that “limit the movement, speed and parking options of cars.”

In a stunningly misguided article “Death of Cyclist in Paris Lays Bare Divide in Mayor’s War Against Cars,” writers Richard Fausset and Ségolène Le Stradic devoted much of the first 1,000 words of a roughly 1,450-word story to those who would paint Varry’s death as the latest salvo in the battle against Paris motorists’ “liberty to circulate,” to quote just one of the many angered drivers the writers interviewed.

According to the same driver, Hidalgo “is putting a garrote around Paris” by building bike paths and reducing speed limits on many of the city’s most famous roads — an “anti-car stance” that the article seemingly implies is now driving motorists to lethal violence.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole story. Because the Times certainly didn’t give that to their readers.

………

Speaking of Streets For All, the transportation PAC is urging anyone who rides Forest Lawn Drive to turn out tomorrow to voice their support for protected bike lanes on the hazardous, high speed street.

………

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

An Athens, Ohio paper complains about “the world’s loneliest bike lanes,” which are “woefully bereft of bikers” riding on the city’s busiest commercial corridor, “negating their purpose.” Never mind that bike lanes are more efficient, often making them appear to be used less than they really are. Or that bike lanes are an effective tool to slow speeding drivers and improve safety for everyone, even if no one uses them.

A Florida man faces charges for allegedly shooting a passing bicyclist with a shotgun, as he got out of his car while the victim was riding past on his way to a friend’s house.

Separated bike lanes in Mysuru, India are under attack from roadside vendors, who are deliberately removing plastic bollards to create prime business real estate.

………

………

It’s now 348 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

Local  

A 61-year old Westlake Village man is in critical condition after he was struck by a minivan driver while riding on PCH near Sycamore Cove in Malibu.

SoCal bikemaker Linus Bike is closing their iconic Venice store on Abbot Kinney Blvd, and shifting to an online-only focus.

Santa Monica is cutting speed limits on over 30 miles of city streets to improve traffic safety; a revision in state law from a few years ago allows cities to drop speed limits by 5 mph under specific conditions.

Speaking of SaMo, the beachfront city is making the city’s dockless e-scooter micromobility program permanent, after years of operating on a trial basis.

 

State

A 100-year old, and still rideable, road bike will find a new home here in California, as a 96-year old Canadian man passed it down to his American son after moving into a retirement home.

San Diego’s newspaper of record uncovers an apparent non-scandal, reporting that La Mesa City Councilmember Colin Parent solicited donations to Circulae San Diego, the transportation advocacy nonprofit he works for; Parent says he was careful to adhere to the rules for behest donations even as he ran in a failed bid for the state Assembly.

A San Bernardino man learns the hard way that when you’re riding your bike with an outstanding felony warrant, while carrying meth, marijuana, a working scale and “additional paraphernalia suggestive of drug transport and sales,” it pays to follow city ordinances and state vehicle codes.

 

National

A Philadelphia injury epidemiologist calls on the city to slow drivers, better protect bike riders, and collect better data to improve safety.

 

International

Seriously? Bicycling examines how international nonprofit Best Buddies uses bikes to make the world a more inclusive place, assisting 200 million families around the world affected by intellectual and developmental disabilities. But even that story is hidden by their paywall, so you’re on your own if they block you. And unfortunately, so is the charity they’re ostensibly trying to help.

About damn time. British cops are going undercover on bicycles to bust dangerous drivers making unsafe passes. We tried, and failed, to talk the LAPD into doing the same thing, for reasons that were never explained to us.

Mint considers India’s best cities for bicycling, from Bengaluru to Mumbai, for your next trip to the subcontinent.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks back at French cycling great Jeannie Longo’s victory in the 1985 Coors Classic, which was America’s biggest bike race at the time. I was lucky enough to be standing on or near the finish line for several of her stage wins in the race.

Rare historic and collectors items will be on display at Italy’s Longarone Fiere Dolomiti during next year’s Giro d’Italia, if you happen to be hanging around for the race.

British cycling great Sir Bradley Wiggins says Lance Armstrong isn’t so bad once you get to know him, arguing that the ex-Tour de France champ “has got a heart under there somewhere” after he offered to pay for a week of special therapy in the US for Wiggins, even though Wiggins had termed the Texan a “lying bastard” in the wake of his doping charges. So, maybe a lying bastard with a heart of, well, certainly not gold. 

 

Finally…

If you want to bike through a fast food drive thru, you’re probably out of luck. How to leap from winning KOMs to the WorldTour.

And a bus so nice, he stole it twice — running down a bike rider in the process.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

US 2022 bicycling deaths jumped 13%, the best bike cities put people first, and ’tis the season for the best holiday bike deals

December 2, 2024 / / No comments
Just 29 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But no LA city leader has even mentioned the impending deadline. Let alone done anything about it. 

………

It’s that time of year again!

Your support helps keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

So take a few minutes, and give to the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today!

Thanks to Richard N, Michael L, the M’s, Cary N, Arthur B, Grace P, Loraine L and Ben Fulton for their generous support over the first three days of the fund drive. 

………

No surprise here, unfortunately.

It probably won’t come as a shock to anyone who’s been paying attention that bicycling deaths are continuing to rise in the US, despite a recent decline in deaths from traffic violence.

Cycling West reports the latest figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, shows bicycling deaths were up 13% in 2022, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Injuries were up 11% for the same year.

That comes at European bicycling deaths have remained flat since 2010, while deaths in the UK have declined.

Meanwhile, an op-ed from a University of Colorado professor argues that America’s traffic death epidemic is a public health emergency, and it’s about damn time the Surgeon General treated it like one.

Okay, I may have added a little emphasis to that last line.

………

A new report from Resonance Consultancy ranks the world’s best cities for bicyclists, questionably putting London first, followed by New York and Paris, as Momentum says what they all have in common is putting people ahead of cars.

Although Amsterdam and Copenhagen would like to have a word. As would New York bike riders, albeit for a far different reason.

………

‘Tis the season.

Forbes offers the year’s 12 best gifts for bicyclists — including the word’s fastest ebike, which is really just an 80 mph electric motorcycle.

CNET considers the 26 best ebike and scooter deals.

Velo offers the best Cyber Monday deals for roadies and gravel bicyclists.

And Road.cc recommends the best Christmas gifts for the “fastidious fussy” bicyclist in your life.

………

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

An Ontario man contemplates provincial leader Doug Ford’s decision to rip out bike lanes over the objections of city leaders, as he sits in the ER waiting for treatment after a driver cut him off at a stop sign as he riding his bike; a Toronto website terms it “the war on bike lanes.”

No bias here. The Daily Mail is shocked and outraged to discover that Scotland’s government paid active travel nonprofit Sustrans an “eye-watering £97.9 million for 2024, which works out at £268,300 every single day of the year” — or the equivalent of $122 million — to deliver “anti-car measures” like bike lanes and narrower, aka safer, roads and junctions.

No bias here, either. A 16-year old English boy was killed in a collision with a bus driver when drivers illegally blocked the bike lane he was riding in, but the coroner blamed the victim for riding on the sidewalk and being distracted by his earbuds.

British authorities identified a young mother killed by a hit-and-run driver who intentionally rammed off the road the ebike she was sharing with another man; he survived, but reportedly had one leg amputated below the knee.

Irish gravel cyclists taking part in an offroad race had to dive into a ditch for safety when a van driver allegedly drove directly at them, while shouting “watch this!”

Seriously? The New York Times, which should certainly know better, shows its windshield bias, arguing that the recent road rage death of a bike rider intentionally run down by a hit-and-run driver in Paris lays bare the divide over the city’s “war on cars.”

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

A New York man was injured when a bikeshare rider hit his bicycle head-on while riding on the wrong side of the bike path.

London’s Telegraph complains that a record number of people were killed or injured in crashes with bicyclists, with 19 people killed by bicyclists in the UK over the past seven years. Meanwhile, a whopping 86 times that many were killed by British drivers in 2023 alone.

A Singaporean man parked his bicycle in front of a public bus to keep it from moving after getting into a dispute with the driver, blocking the bus as he continued to argue.

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………

It’s now 347 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

Local  

Dozens of people joined a Saturday memorial ride for 16-year old Jonathan Flores, the bike rider murdered by a road raging hit-and-run driver outside BMO Stadium November 22nd.

 

State

Bad news from San Diego, where multiple sites are reporting that a 17-year old boy suffered a brain embolism and multiple fractures when he was left-hooked by a Mercedes driver while riding an ebike in the city’s Bay Park neighborhood. Even though the bike he was riding was really more of an electric off-road motorbike.

Riverside County officials rescued an injured mountain biker from a Lake Perris bike trail northwest of Lakeview Hotsprings on Wednesday, using a helicopter to hoist the rider to safety.

An op-ed from a UC Santa Barbara professor calls out the dangers bike riders face in the city, from right hooks and clueless pedestrians to uneven railroad tracks.

 

National

The founder of North Dakota-based Strider Bikes says he built a $30 million company, but worries about leaving too much money to his sons. I can suggest a good place for it. 

Well, no shit. Denver’s Westword says the city needs to commit to building the safe bike lanes they promised. Then again, so can Los Angeles.

A Chicago website recommends new biking books to serve up armchair adventures. Personally, I’d suggest Peter Flax’s Live to Ride, a beautifully written and illustrated tome that Amazon calls an “ode to cycling from one of the world’s most respected cycling journalists,” which sounds about right to me. 

 

International

Momentum recommends the ten best bike bicycling movies to watch over the holidays. Although any such list that doesn’t include Breaking Away is suspect in my book. 

Cycling Weekly says the Specialized Align MIPS bike helmet is one of the safest on the market, despite retailing for the equivalent of just $35.

Edmonton, Alberta tries to keep people riding through the winter by offering free studded bike tires. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A London anti-crime activist complains that his bicycle was stolen from outside Scotland Yard, in plan view of security cameras, yet the cops didn’t do anything to find it — even though he gave them the location thanks to an Air Tag.

Residents of London’s exclusive Kensington neighborhood complain that too many dockless ebike bikes are littering the sidewalks.

A British website recommends the 200-mile North Yorkshire Moors Ramble, a mixed-terrain pathway called the most beautiful bike route in the country.

The UK’s new Secretary of State for Transport is one of us, after the previous secretary resigned over reports she’d been convicted of fraud a decade ago.

Velo highlights the best custom bicycles from this year’s Bespoked Dresden bike show.

Police in Tokyo are confronting the low rate of helmet use head-on, working with the Muji brand to develop stylish and safe bike helmets.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news from South Africa, where Willie Englebrecht, one of the country’s all-time great cyclists, died at age 62.

More sad news, this time from Belgium, where a young student and amateur cyclist died from a sudden illness on his 19th birthday, just one day after being told he had the flu.

America’s only remaining Tour de France winner says someone should give today’s ultra-thing cyclists a sandwich, as teams place too much emphasis on weight. And yes, I may have rephrased that one a tad, too. 

Velo examines the retirement class of ’24, which includes “national icons, forgotten super-talents, and a grand tour warhorse.”

 

Finally…

Who needs a police bike when you can commandeer a kid’s bicycle to chase down a fleeing suspect on a scooter? Who needs comedians in cars when you’ve got talk on a tandem?

And if you leave your coffee on top of your car, just hope Phil Gaiman is riding by.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

It’s time for the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

November 28, 2024 / / One comment

Hard to believe, I know.

It’s been ten long years since a friend suggested holding a fund drive to help pay for this site, allowing me to turn pro.

It started as a joke, but quickly turned into an important source of funding, as people like you surprised me by opening their hearts and wallets to us.

And by us, I mean me and my four-legged assistant down there at the bottom.

It’s been ten years of good news and bad, happy and, yes, sad. Because I always try tell you the truth about what’s happening on our streets, to the best of my ability, so you know what’s going on out there.

I admit, it’s been a challenge this year, as my wife and I have both struggled with a litany of issues. It’s meant I haven’t been able to keep this up every day, though I’ve done my best to bring you the most important news, and catch up on anything we’ve missed.

Now it’s your turn.

If you think we bring something of value to your life, maybe you can share just a small part of your hard-earned income, and a kick a few bucks this way. Or more than a few, if the spirit moves you.

I won’t turn it down.

You can donate with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; just send your contribution to ted@bikinginla.com.

You can also use Venmo@BikinginLA now. Or at least I think you can. Let me know if it works.

As always, any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. And needed more than ever in this challenging year.

But either way, I hope you’ll keep coming back here, and keep reading in the days to come.

Because none of this matters without you.

 

Category: General / Tags:

Happy Thanksgiving from BikinginLA!

November 28, 2024 / / 2 comments

I won’t lie, it’s been a tough year.

Despite everything, though, I have a lot to be thankful for.

I have a good wife, and a good dog. I also have a great extended family, and even get along with all the in-laws and outlaws.

My wife and I are finally healing from our respective shoulder injuries. And I know how to ride a bike.

But most of all, I’m thankful for you.

Because without you, I couldn’t do what I do. And even if I did, it wouldn’t mean very much without someone to read it.

So thank you.

I hope you and all your loved ones have a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend, and I look forward to seeing you next week.

Check back on Friday, when we’ll launch the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Category: General / Tags:

US traffic deaths down but California deaths up, and worldwide bicycling rates flat but up significantly over 2019

November 27, 2024 / / No comments
Just 33 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But no LA city leader has even mentioned the impending deadline. Let alone done anything about it. 

………

We’ll be taking the next couple days off for the Thanksgiving holiday, and what used to be known as the day after Thanksgiving — better known these days as Black Friday. 

Which means you can spend your time haunting the malls and online retailers in search of the best bargains. Or you can get out on your bike and just be thankful for awhile. 

I know which one I’d choose. 

As always, we’ll be around in case of breaking news over the weekend — hopefully including an arrest in the road-rage murder of 16-year old bike rider Jonathan Flores. 

And come back on Friday, when we’ll kick off the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, so you can watch me grovel and beg for just a small part of your hard-earned funds to help keep this site going for awhile longer, and maintain the corgi kibble fund. 

………

At last, a little good news.

After years or rising rates, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, is reporting that early estimates show traffic fatalities actually declined in the US over the first six months of this year, including pedestrian deaths.

According to the NHTSA,

As compared to the first half of 2023, fatalities in key subcategories in 2024 decreased:

  • 12% during out-of-state travel
  • 9% in ejected passengers
  • 8% on urban interstates
  • 7% in passenger vehicle occupants less than 10 years old
  • 7% in unrestrained occupants of passenger vehicles
  • 7% in passengers
  • 6% in passenger vehicle rollover crashes
  • 6% in passenger vehicle occupants
  • 6% in speeding-related crashes
  • 5% in rural or urban collector roads/local roads
  • 5% involving roadway departure crashes
  • 4% at night
  • 4% during weekends
  • 3% in pedestrians

On the other hand, traffic deaths in California were up slightly over this time last year, climbing a statistically insignificant 0.03%. Although if your loved ones were part of the 0.03%, it’s not so insignificant at all.

Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on bicycling deaths this year.

………

A bicycling website asks if the rate of bicycling around the world is rising or stagnating.

Short answer, yes.

A new report from Eco-Counter, a French company founded just to count bicyclists and pedestrians across every continent, shows that bicycling traffic trends in 14 countries declined 1% last year, compared to 2022.

But that still represents an 11% jump over 2019.

And the news is good here in the US, especially when it comes to bike commuting.

For example, in the US, bicycle volumes went up by 1.7% between 2023 and 2022. Whereas counts on recreational bike facilities decreased by 2.1% during this period, counts on commuter paths increased by 6.9%. Bicycle usage is reverting to pre-pandemic profiles, meaning more weekday riding to work and school and less leisure activity.

Which suggests that if we really want bike commuting rates to grow, we need to invest in safe, convenient routes to major employment centers, rather than focusing on recreational paths.

Maybe someone can give LADOT the memo.

Meanwhile, this is what we could have. But don’t.

………

Our friends to the south are raising funds for safe routes to schools this holiday season.

https://twitter.com/sdbikecoalition/status/1861584562788409398

………

It’s now 343 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

Local  

The LA city council has finally voted to stop forcing most developers to needlessly widen streets in front of their projects, which UCLA urban planning professor Michael Manville called “probably the dumbest regulation” he has ever encountered; the brief street widenings were often incorrectly blamed on nonexistent plans for future bike lanes.

Westside Today offers more on Metro’s efforts to claw back $435,000 it awarded to fund the successful MOVE Culver City street safety project, after the city’s idiotic decision to rip out the protected bike lanes Metro helped pay for.

An e-scooter rider led South Pasadena police on a moderate speed pursuit, reportedly running multiple red lights at speeds up to 35 mph, which was what got their attention in the first place; the suspect was found carrying a replica handgun and an illegal butterfly knife

 

State

Plans for the permanent closure of San Francisco’s Great Highway are still in the concept state, but the early news is more bike lanes, and less parking.

A Sacramento op-ed explains why the city is converting the downtown area to two-way streets, noting that 100% of fatalities resulting from cars crashing into people occurred on one-way streets.

 

National

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton takes a look at the protected bike lanes and bike/walking paths in a pair of Southern Oregon cities.

A Florida bicyclist and triathlete offers her tips on how to stay safe on the road, but really doesn’t say much, except know and follow the rules for where you live. Which you already do, right?

 

International

Road.cc recommends splurge-worthing presents for bicyclists, for when money is no object. Most of which really aren’t that expensive. Key word: most.

Your prayers for an off-road Brompton have been answered at last.

Good news from Vancouver, where a 15-year old girl is emerging from a coma over a month after she was severely injured in a mountain biking crash, although she faces a very long road to recovery; a crowdfunding campaign to help defray her medical expenses has raised over $71,000 of the $75,000 goal.

Things are looking up on the ‘crash not accident’ front in the UK, where most police departments are now using “incident,” rather than the a-word.

Dockless ebike providers could face fines in London for “willful obstruction” of sidewalks due to “problematic” bike parking. Even though it’s usually their users who dump bikes everywhere but where they’re supposed to be.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling site considers seven wonders of bicycling infrastructure. None of which are in Los Angeles. Or North America, for that matter.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks back at the year’s “record-breaking and heartbreaking” pro cycling season.

The latest battle in pro cycling doesn’t involve people on bicycles, but people arguing about them, as Jonathan Vaughters, head of the EF Education-EasyPost team, blasted “fat cats who have never raced so much as a child’s tricycle” after the director of the Tour de France blamed recent crashes on riders “going too fast.”

Happy 146th birthday to the legendary Major Taylor.

 

Finally…

Maybe Bicycle Face is a thing, after all. When you’re fleeing your 13th arrest, at least do it on a bicycle.

And who says you can’t carry 330 pounds of flagstone on a bike?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Black Friday. And Putin. 

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

Cars — plural — seized in road rage murder of teen bike rider, and 21 bicyclists dead in LA this year as hit-and-runs rise

November 26, 2024 / / No comments
Just 34 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But so far, no LA city leader has even mentioned the impending deadline. Let alone done anything about it. 

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Let’s start with an update on yesterday’s lead story.

The CHP has identified, but not publicly named, a 28-year old Hispanic man as a person of interest (scroll down) in the intentional hit-and-run death of 16-year old Jonathan Flores in LA’s Exposition Park Friday night.

Investigators also seized two cars after serving a search warrant at a home in Los Angeles.

According to witnesses, a group of around forty teenage bike riders got into a verbal dispute with the driver of a blue BMW while riding south on Figueroa Street.

They rode into the parking lot at BMO Stadium to get away, but were followed by the driver of a second car, described as a Honda sedan. That driver plowed into Flores, who wasn’t involved in the initial confrontation, before fleeing the parking lot.

Flores died at the scene.

The cars seized by the CHP were a blue BMW, and a Honda Accord, corresponding with the witnesses description.

However, no arrest has been made, as the CHP is urging the person of interest to turn himself in.

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It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following this site that hit-and-run deaths in Los Angeles continue at near record levels, accounting for nearly a third of all traffic deaths in the city.

According to Crosstown LA, 345 people were killed as a result of traffic violence in Los Angeles last year, including 108 who died as a result of hit-and-run collisions.

And things aren’t not much better this year, with just five fewer people dying in hit-and-runs through the end of October, compared to last year.

Also not surprising, people in DTLA and South LA bore the brunt of the problem, without a single neighborhood in the wealthy Westside showing up on a list of the 13 worst neighborhoods for hit-and-run this year.

Then there’s this.

Also increasingly at risk are bicyclists. According to LAPD data, nine cyclists have died in hit-and-runs so far this year; the recent annual high for bicycle hit-and-run deaths was nine in 2019 and again in 2023.

Altogether this year, 21 bicyclists have been killed in collisions, according to Traffic Division Compstat data. Another 130 people suffered serious injuries.

Michael Schneider, founder and director of transportation-focused advocacy group Streets For All, said bicyclists are “being pushed to the margins” of the roads. With streets in the city being designed like freeways, with wide lanes and synchronized traffic lights, the result, he said, is more speeding, which endangers cyclists and pedestrians.

That’s a whopping 14 more than the seven bicycling deaths I’ve counted in the City of Fallen Angels so far this year — exactly three times as many bicyclists actually killed as have been mentioned by the local media.

Never mind that a total of 151 people have been killed or seriously injured riding a bicycle in LA this year.

And you wonder why I’ve been warning that my totals were probably an undercount.

I’ve long called for taking the crime more seriously, including revoking, not suspending, the license of any driver who flees the scene of a collision, regardless of severity.

Along with impounding their cars as evidence until their case is settled, then selling them upon conviction, with any proceeds going to the victims.

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Failure continues to stalk the bike industry, with three more bike-related companies going belly up or suspending sales.

British bike distributor The Martlet Group, owner of i-ride and its bike brand Orro, went into receivership — the equivalent of bankruptcy — earlier this year, due to heavy discounting of overstock merchandise.

French sportswear maker Le Coq Sportif also went into receivership; the firm made all the yellow jerseys for the Tour de France for more than four decades, noncontiguous though those decades may have been.

And Swiss bikemaker Stromer is immediately suspending sales of its Stromer and Desiknio bike brands in the US and Canada, after it was unable to find a North American distributor willing to take it over. Thanks to Ellectrek for the heads-up. 

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Black Friday is once again rearing its ugly head. Although now it’s a week, if not a month, instead of a single day, making it much harder to ignore.

Bike Rumor is first out of the gate with a roundup of the best Black Friday bike deals, while Momentum makes their picks for the best Black Friday deals on bikes, cargo bikes and ebikes.

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It’s now 342 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

More than 30 Evanston, Illinois business owners decided to shoot themselves in the foot by urging city officials to drop plans to expand a protected bike lane, apparently not wanting the increase in foot and bike traffic, and higher retail sales and property values, that usually come with such projects.

No surprise here, as Ontario, Canada passed controversial legislation allowing the province to go over the heads of city officials to remove local bike lanes; making matters worse, the legislation also allows construction of a highway through First Nations lands without consulting Indigenous leaders. Schmucks.

Momentum explains just what cities give up by giving in to car culture — starting with an increase in traffic congestion and a decline in business revenue — aptly calling the Ontario bike lane dispute “hogwash.”

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Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Coronado is hosting a family friendly bike ride on Sunday, December 8th.

Hundreds of San Jose residents turned out for a bike-only ride through an annual holiday light display usually reserved for motorists.

Velo examines why San Francisco is ripping out the city’s most controversial bike lane, as the centerline Valencia Street bike lane is being replace with a more conventional curbside lane.

More bad news from Northern California, after someone riding a bicycle was killed by the driver of a massive Yukon SUV in Concord on Sunday. Although a collision with a vehicle that big is unlikely to be survivable, anyway. Which is why drivers of large vehicles should have a greater responsibility to drive safely, but unfortunately don’t. 

 

National

Hawaii celebrated the opening of a new bike lane through Central Oahu that was decades in the making. Which demonstrates the needless and ridiculous delays we face nearly everywhere in the US in getting much needed safety improvements on the streets.

Our former president isn’t the only one skating on criminal charges, after an Oregon judge granted a DEI agent immunity from prosecution on charges of blowing through a stop sign and killing a woman riding a bicycle in Salem last year. Although you’ll have to figure out a way around the Oregonian’s paywall if you want to read about it. 

A New Mexico researcher is looking into why the number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed on American roads has nearly doubled in just the past 12 years. Hint: Tell him to look at the rise in distracted driving, and the massive bloat in motor vehicle size.

The legacy of the Fayetteville, Arkansas “Bicycle Man” lives on despite his passing in 2013, as the program prepares to give away more than 1,000 bikes to kids in need next month — although that’s just a fraction of the actual need, since they receive over 3,000 requests each year.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A friend gave a Knoxville, Tennessee Korean War vet a new bicycle to replace his worn out bike, so the 86-year old man can continue his daily 22-mile bike rides.

New York responded to complaints of double parked drivers and blocked bike and bus lanes by opening more than 500 new loading zones throughout the city. Although if New York drivers are anything like their SoCal counterparts, they’ll continue to block the bike lanes, rather than drive another 30 or so feet to get to an open loading zone.

My hero. A Huntsville, Alabama radio host is staying up on a 40-foot outdoor tower, exposed to the elements, until a local campaign receives enough bicycles to give every foster kid in the city a new bike for the holidays.

 

International

An English driver proves there are still good people in the world, giving stranded bike riders a lift across flood waters in his 4 x 4 pickup.

No bias here. A British man complains that police are “completely unwilling to prosecute drivers” who hit bicyclists, after getting knocked off his bike a couple weeks ago..

A Philadelphia op-ed writer says bicyclists are treated like traffic in Northern Europe, making it safer for everyone, unlike here in the US where bicycles are considered obstructions for drivers to squeeze by.

 

Competitive Cycling

Australia has banned 25-year old track cyclist Matt Richardson for life, after he switched teams and won three Olympic medals at the Paris Olympics competing for Great Britain. But he won’t be banned from international competition for his new team.

 

Finally…

Kick ass on a BMX bike, and maybe one day, you too can get your very own line of “Bike Air” Jordans. And if wanting to ban SUVs makes you a communist, just call me a pinko.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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