Morning Links: Is Los Angeles America’s most dangerous city for bike riders, and near road kill on Texas hwy

July 5, 2018 / / 2 comments

A new report ranks Los Angeles as the nation’s most dangerous city for people on bicycles.

But take it with a grain of salt.

Or maybe even a bag.

First, because LA can be expected to rank high in bicycling fatalities — which are weighted heavily in the report — simply because it’s the nation’s second largest city. The only accurate measure would be to consider such deaths on a per capita basis.

Which is not to say too many people aren’t dying on our streets, due to the city’s failure to build the safe streets and bike infrastructure we were promised. Or to tame the toxic entitlement expressed by too many LA drivers.

Second, because this study is nothing more than click bait to get you to visit their site. It’s put out by a home security company that has absolutely nothing to do with bicycling or dangerous streets.

Unless you count the risk posed to bike riders by their own private security cops.

Yes, Los Angeles may be a dangerous place for people on bikes — and one that has done far to little to fix the situation.

But is it really the most dangerous place in the nation to ride one?

Probably not.

And probably not even the most dangerous place in Southern California.

Meanwhile, Davis is the anti-LA according to the study, ranking as the safest city for bike riders in the US.

And Iowa is ranked as the most dangerous state, which will probably come as a surprise to anyone who’s ever ridden there.

………

Thanks to F Lehnerz for forwarding the following trio of outrageous links.

A San Jose man says pedestrians have too much freedom already, apparently wanting people on foot to be herded and channeled so as to pose less of an inconvenience when he zooms down the streets.

A Boulder CO woman says out-of-control bicyclists and pedestrians have made it one of the most dangerous cities in the US for drivers. Which probably explains why there are so many ghost cars to honor all those drivers who were almost killed when they had to slow down or tap the brakes to a avoid a human being.

And a Texas woman was inches from becoming road kill when a pickup driver passed her at high speed with two wheels on — or over — the white line. Yet the response from the local police was, literally, “So what do you want us to do about it?“

………

Local

The LA city council’s Transportation Committee has approved regulations for dockless bikeshare, ebikes and e-scooters, allowing up to 3,000 devices in the initial rollout, plus another 7,500 in disadvantaged communities. And they’ve eliminated the absurd prohibition in areas served by Metro Bike.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says the lawsuit we mentioned last week to halt road diets on five Westside streets is just a tad off base, since no road diets are actually planned for those streets.

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman reports on last week’s rally and press conference to demand justice for fallen hit-and-run victim Frederick “Woon” Frazier, and the suspiciously timed South LA safe streets meeting that was scheduled at the last minute — and at the exact same time.

 

State

Hundreds of bike riders circumnavigate Coronado Island in an annual pre-4th of July tradition.

Palm Springs is getting several new bike lanes and a road diet.

There’s a new bike shop in Thousand Oaks.

 

National

The Daily Beast says forget the car, and ride a bike if you really want to see your state.

Dockless ebikes and regular bikes are coming to New York, where the traditional Citi Bike docked bikeshare has been exceptionally successful.

 

International

Cycling Industry News says the next big thing in bicycling is smarter bikes.

One more for your bike bucket list — riding the premier wine regions of Chile.

Vancouver’s former chief planner says cities are literally wasting public money by not investing in smart bike infrastructure, noting that the costs amount to a rounding error in most city transportation budgets.

A 17-year old Saskatoon, Canada high school graduate will be spending his gap year on a 19,000-mile bike tour around the world.

An Estonian bicyclist on an around the world trip should have skipped Winnipeg, Canada, where thieves broke the garage door where he was staying and made off with his tent and bicycle.

Elderly pedestrians say they’re being scared off a Nova Scotia multi-use trail by bike riders who speed and don’t signal. Seriously, it’s not that hard to slow down and show a little courtesy around other people. Although it’s hard to see how signaling would help when passing pedestrians from behind.

Record numbers of people are taking advantage of London’s heatwave to get out on their bicycles.

A UK court has cleared organizers for the death of a spectator who was killed by an out of control mountain bike racer.

Over half of British parents want bike eduction to be taught in the schools.

Just like London, half the traffic in Dublin, Ireland at rush hour is on bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

A creative website ranks the top ten prints inspired by the Tour de France. I only want all of them. But I’d settle for number eight.

Chris Froome asks cycling fans to just let him ride in peace, and no more urine, please. Meanwhile, ESPN says it’s time to take a deep breath and reassess doping regulations that benefit wealthy riders.

New Zealand Ironman champion Terenzo Bozzone is in stable condition after being run down by a hit-and-run truck driver.

Now that the feds have settled with Lance, they’re suing former US Postal Service team manager Johan Bruyneel to recoup $1.2 million.

Toxicology reports appear to indicate that 23-year old cyclist Michael Goolaerts had no drugs, alcohol or other medications in his system when he collapsed and died during the Paris-Roubaix race earlier this year.

 

Finally…

Giving your bike a bath could make you faster. Your Children At Play sign is stupid and ineffective

And no, red light running will never be cool.

 

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Morning Links: First day of LA LeBron bike mania, hope for Balboa bike path parkers, and a scary too-close pass

July 3, 2018 / / 2 comments

Call it the first full day of LeBron bike mania.

It seems like the only ones more excited about LeBron James joining the LA Lakers are his fellow bike riders.

Take the newly resurrected LAist, now operated by Pasadena public radio station KPCC, which offers advice on how the Lakers new star can stay alive while biking in LA.

Curbed imagines LeBron James as the newly crowned Bike King of Los Angeles, making the case for better bike infrastructure so he can ride safely from his Brentwood homes to Staples Center in DTLA or the Laker’s practice facility in El Segundo.

Too bad he didn’t make that a condition of signing with the team.

The LA Times warns LeBron that bicycling can be rough here in the City of Angels — thanks in part to an “ineffectual” mayor. And asks drivers to please not run him over.

Actually, knowing LeBron James may be on a bicycle could go a long way towards improving safety for people on bikes in Los Angeles.

As long as you’re a tall black man, since no one wants to be responsible for sidelining the new hope of franchise.

As for the rest of us, we’re on our own.

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn, Steve and Stefan Mayer for the heads-ups.

………

Maybe there’s hope yet for the Balboa bike path parking problem.

Danger D writes to say he’s been contacted by Councilmember Nury Martinez’ office, and told they’re looking into just what department has jurisdiction for enforcement on the bike path through Balboa Park.

Which is a problem on a lot of LA’s off-road trails, where even the various police and sheriff’s departments often aren’t entirely sure who’s responsible for policing any given section.

Then again, that hasn’t prevented parking in the new South Figueroa bike lanes by Staples Center, even though the LAPD has unquestioned jurisdiction there.

He suggests posting no parking signs, which seems like a pretty obvious and relatively low cost solution. And maybe put a red stripe along the edge of the pathway.

Let’s hope something gets done soon. Because LA needs safe bikeways a lot more than it needs more parking.

………

Holy horse trailer, Batman.

This has got to be one of the closest near misses ever — it would have been a crash if the rider had his elbows out.

Even closer than this one, in fact.

………

Always interesting to see what our community looks like to people on the outside. Streetfilms visits the Expo Line’s Culver City Station, and finds little consideration for anyone outside of a car.

Which anyone who has ever tried to catch a train there can attest to.

https://twitter.com/TransitCenter/status/1013478778075516928

………

Local

Mrs. CiclaValley catches a red light running fender bender on dashcam, countering the guilty driver’s knee-jerk denial.

A travel writer for the New York Times discovers Long Beach, and wisely decides to tour the city by bicycle.

A Metro Bike day pass will set you back just $4 on the 4th. And you might win a free T-shirt.

 

State

A San Francisco architect makes the case that new residential buildings really don’t need parking. Or at least as much as currently required.

Streetsblog says a ten-year delay in building out a makeover of San Francisco’s Masonic Avenue has resulted in construction that is already out of date.

A mobile bike shop owner in the Bay Area is working to change the face of bicycling by offering free workshops to people who are often overlooked in the bicycling world.

Sacramento is planning street improvements to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians — including a proposal to reduce speed limits.

A Novato driver has been sentenced to a well-deserved three years in prison for fleeing the scene after plowing into four bike riders during a Marin County charity ride last October; witnesses said he appeared to intentionally aim for the riders, though his mother swears he would never do that.

 

National

Giro put a helmet inside a helmet to improve comfort while protecting your head from concussions. Which may come in handy once you consider what you paid for it.

No surprise here, as Lyft has followed Uber into the wonderful world of bikeshare.

An American Japanese Buddhist monk is just $52 short of his goal of raising $5,000 for the Children’s Hospital Foundation by riding his bike across the US.

Streetsblog lists six times the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has blamed pedestrians when it knew the deadly design of SUVs was most likely behind the jump in pedestrian deaths.

Tour de Fat returns to Chicago, as its 2018 tour once again bypasses Los Angeles.

A Detroit public radio station explains why some local streets are paved with bricks, crediting the bicycling Good Roads movement of the 1890s.

A bicycling physician at the famed Cleveland Clinic recommends eight “must haves” to ride a bike safely and comfortably.  Good advice, but the only must have you really need is a bike.

The Cambridge MA fire department will be putting their new paramedic bike team to work at tomorrow’s 4th of July celebrations.

WaPo says theft and destruction of dockless bikeshare bikes is a growing problem. And in other news, the Pope is Catholic and bears really do shit in the woods.

In a remarkably weak response to the bicycling death of a Baton Rouge LA city councilmember, the local newspaper calls on drivers to give riders a safe passing distance and follow the rules of common sense.

 

International

In a hard-hitting piece, a Toronto bike rider says the city’s leaders have blood on their hands for their failure to protect bicyclists and pedestrians on the streets. Change the names and a few other details, and he could be writing about Los Angeles.

A Canadian woman waxes lyrically about discovering a broken road bike in her parents garage, and letting it take her back to the person she used to be.

A writer for a Canadian driving website criticizes her hometown for yanking out a road diet because it added 16 seconds to drivers’ trips off peak. And notes that geese get better PR than bike riders.

London’s former bike czar says Oxford and Cambridge can and should become Britain’s first true cycling cities, since bikes offer the most practical solution to their congested city centers.

A British mother gets a year behind bars for running down a bike rider while high on coke — with her kids in the car. Then again, she wasn’t wearing her glasses, either.

You can now ride your ped-assist ebike up to 28 mph without getting booted out of a Danish bike lane.

A Brisbane, Australia bikeway is one of the most popular in the world, according to a bike counter maker, with nearly 950,000 riders so far this year.

 

Competitive Cycling

Peter Sagan says he loves to win, but really, he just wants to have fun. Which is easy to say when you’re Peter Sagan.

The Associated Press offers an overview of this year’s Tour de France course, which kicks off on Saturday.

Chris Froome is taking an early victory lap, saying he knew he would be exonerated in his doping case. Meanwhile, cycling fans around the world are left to wonder if anything has really changed.

A four-person team of sightless riders riding stoker on tandem bikes became the first blind team to finish the Race Across America.

 

Finally…

Dig under your cushions for some old gummy bears and Halloween candy, and you too can eat like a pro. As if dodging cars wasn’t enough, now we have to evade grocery crates falling like depth charges.

Once again, you can pedal your way to a pro cycling contract without actually having to go outside. Or anywhere else.

………

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Remember that bikes are the best way to get to and from fireworks displays. But watch out for drivers making their way through traffic, because they’re not likely to be looking out for you.

I’ll see you back here bright and early on Thursday.

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Morning Links: Killer SUVs blamed for rise in traffic deaths, and road raging Brit driver blames victim for crash

July 2, 2018 / / One comment

So much for the myth of the texting pedestrian.

The Detroit Free Press says it’s not people walking while distracted that’s responsible for the 46% jump in pedestrian fatalities in recent years.

Or even the huge increase in distracted driving.

It’s the popularity of SUVs.

Or more precisely, the design of the popular vehicles, which have higher, flatter grills than cars that knock people forward and down to the pavement, rather than onto the hood of a car.

And making it more likely that the victim will be run over by the driver who hit them, or other vehicles on the road.

To make matters worse, federal safety regulators have known about the danger for years, but buried the news while people continued to die.

The same undoubtedly holds true for collisions with people on bicycles, which could help explain the rise in bike deaths, as well.

………

Or it could be due to people like this.

After a British driver hits a bike rider with his wing mirror, he and his passenger get out to scream at the victim, blaming him for hitting their van.

Which would be pretty much impossible, since the driver was passing him and clearly failed to give a safe passing distance.

Although I suppose it is possible that the victim might have suddenly started riding in reverse, and swerved out of his lane to hit the van. Though you’d think that might have show up on the video.

But still.

No driver would lie about something like that.

Right?

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton questions how Metro’s Bus and Bike Only Lanes can be improved, especially on Sunset Blvd leading to Dodger Stadium, where Michael MacDonald was ordered out of the lane by an LAPD officer despite signs saying bikes are permitted.

CiclaValley goes riding in the new South Figueroa bike lane, and finds parked cabs and other cars.

The LA Lakers signed a pretty good bike rider to a four year contract. Someone should tell LeBron he needs to start reading BikinginLA now that he’s one of us.

This is what the lower LA River could look like if and when restoration efforts are completed.

They get it. A South Pasadena paper explains what sharrows are, and notes that bike riders have the same rights on any street, with or without those funny markings on the street.

 

State

No shit. The first-ever joint meeting between the California Air Resources Board and the California Transportation Commission ends with an agreement that people in the state have to drive less. But not, unfortunately, on how to make that happen.

Bicyclists say a stalled bike lane on San Francisco’s Embarcadero could have prevented a collision that left a pedicab driver critically injured.

A father falls in with his young daughter to ride with NFL star Marshawn Lynch and his cousin Josh Johnson as they bring the joy of riding bikes to over a thousand kids in Oakland, with professional BMX riders acting as ride marshals.

 

National

Bloomberg says e-scooters are changing the landscape of urban transport.

Las Vegas has earned a Silver level Bicycle Friendly Community status, in part because of road diets that have created space for bike lanes. Yet oddly, you don’t hear of Vegas residents rising up to fight them, right wing shock jocks railing against them, or city councilmembers cancelling them in fear of angry drivers.

A local writer discusses the joys of riding a bicycle around Las Cruces, New Mexico. All of which apply virtually anywhere, including here in Los Angeles.

The brother of a hit-and-run driver who killed a Texas bike rider was busted for aiding in the coverup afterwards, even though police have been unable to find the driver or his car. Thanks to Stephen Katz for the heads-up.

Yes, Black Girls Do Bike, even in Milwaukee.

A bike rider was injured in a collision with a garbage truck in New York’s Central Park, even though cars were banned from it two days earlier.

Challenged by city leaders to show why it needs a minimum width requirement for streets that has been blocking protected bike lanes, Baltimore’s fire department responds by making a video with one of their largest trucks showing it doesn’t fit in the lane. Not that it would ever actually be sent to a narrow street like that, according to a city councilmember.

Tragic news from Baton Rouge LA, where a city councilmember and long-time community advocate was killed when he and his riding partner were run down from behind by a 21-year old SUV driver, who was arrested on several charges, including negligent homicide; the other rider was hospitalized in serious condition. Bicyclists gathered last night for a ride of silence to honor the victim.

A Georgia driver ran down a pair of bicyclists from behind, injuring a mother and killing her 18-year old daughter.

 

International

Road.cc considers the whys and wheres of buying a bespoke bicycle.

Great idea. A network of six hundred bike owners have banded together to fight bike theft in Edmonton, Canada.

Sounding like bike riders in Los Angeles — and most other places — bicyclists in Winnipeg complain about gaps and odd designs in the city’s bike network; 75% of city residents say separated bike lanes are a good thing.

Toronto has seen a 1,500% increase in bicycling in the city’s urban core after bike lanes were installed in 2013, jumping from a few hundred to over 6,000 a day.

Good question. An Oxford, England columnist wants to know why bicyclists are always seen as the bad guys.

You’ve got to be kidding. A road raging Scottish driver was fined the equivalent of less than $1,000 for deliberately forcing a bike rider off the road after he was stuck behind a group of riders; he also lost his driver’s license for two years.

Cute piece from a writer in the UK, who wants to know why bicyclists aren’t accepted as normal people, as he wakes up “at the crack of dawn to slide into (his) tight-fitting lycra mankini.”

Over half of British drivers are unaware of the country’s safe passing distance. The government has announced the equivalent of $1.32 million to crack down on unsafe passing, though the Guardian says the country needs to significantly boost funding to reap the benefits of the current bike boom.

Nice gesture. America’s only remaining Tour de France winner joins with two Holocaust survivors and a few hundred other people to bike 55 miles from Auschwitz-Birkenau to a Jewish cultural center in Poland.

A Philippine writer goes bicycling and beer drinking in Berlin.

A Moroccan man is making his Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca by bicycle, traveling over 18,000 miles and through every city in Morocco to promote peace.

Seventy Saudi bicyclists will join the 500-mile Global Biking Initiative, riding from Gutenberg, Sweden to Hamburg, Germany to raise funds for charity.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Guardian talks with Fabian Cancellara, who says he wants to inspire people to get on their bikes.

Four time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has been disinvited from this year’s race, though a final decision won’t be known until later this week. Which may not matter, since he was just cleared of doping charges, despite a failed drug test.

Former women’s road cyclist Allison Tetrick tells the story of how she rebounded from a serious traumatic brain injury to winning this year’s Dirty Kanza 200-mile gravel race.

 

Finally…

The grudge race of the century — or maybe just the week — ends with a drop and a cookie. When you need an all-terrain vehicle to tow your surfboard, but still want to ride a bike.

And she’s still bringing home cycling medals at age 77.

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Morning Links: Closer to ID of Twitter driver pushing cyclist, Justice for Woon, and new bike lanes on La Tuna

June 29, 2018 / / 2 comments

Maybe we’re just a little closer to identifying one of the road raging drivers we linked to on Twitter yesterday.

The violent attack shown below, where a driver tweeted video of himself pushing a bicyclist off his bike from a passing car, probably occurred in Northern Ireland’s Londonderry County.

No word on the identity or condition of the rider.

And video of the attack still hasn’t been taken down by Twitter, nor has the person responsible been banned from the site.

Preferably for life.

Let’s at least hope Twitter has informed the authorities about his real ID and location.

Because this video is both evidence of a crime. And a confession.

https://twitter.com/DarkestJedi/status/1011620566422441988

Hopefully there’s a new set of bracelets waiting for this jerk.

………

Local

KCAL-9 reports from last night’s memorial for fallen rider Frederick “Woon” Frazier, as his mother and friends demand justice for the driver who ran his down and left him to die on a South LA street; 23-year old Mariah Kandise Banks still hasn’t been charged despite turning herself in May 11th as police were closing in.

CiclaValley takes a look at the desperately needed new semi-buffered bike lane on deadly La Tuna Canyon.

 

State

A San Francisco pedicab driver suffered life-threatening injuries when his bike was hit by a driver on the Embarcadero, where plans call for an as yet unbuilt protected bike lane. A GoFundMe account has been set up for the victim.

Sacramento is installing a new painted bike lane, but advocates are angry it’s not protected.

 

National

Curbed considers the potential boost bikeshares can receive from ebikes.

Bicycling looks at how mindfulness can help make you a better bicyclist. I’ve often used riding as a form of moving meditation to find peace and insight, on and off the bike.

An Iowa newspaper says the public deserves answers to what happened when a 79-year old woman was killed in a collision with a hit-and-run bike rider, even if no charges are warranted. Although the police later said they were looking into it after all.

Nashville is investing in wayfinding signs, complete with distance and estimated riding time to popular destinations. Needless to say, in LA you’re on your own.

It’s life behind bars after all for the Tennessee driver who fled the scene after knocking a man off his bike on the Natchez Trace; he’s on his way to jail after violating his probation by swilling a half pint of vodka every day.

Family members and New York politicians demand justice for a four-year old hit-and-run victim, after police said the driver didn’t know he or she had just run over the girl and her mother was they walked on the sidewalk. Seriously, you have to be pretty damned drunk or distracted to not know you hit two people hard enough to kill one of them.

The former track star who ran down a Florida father as he rode on a bike path with his sons had turned himself in at a police station two weeks earlier, threatening to hurt someone if he was allowed to leave — then attacked his public defender after he was detained on a mental health hold.

 

International

A new Canadian survey says bike riders are responsible for most of the conflict on the roads, even though a British study shows just the opposite; people in Winnipeg bucked the trend by blaming the people on four wheels.

The same survey suggests how Canadians feel about bike lanes depends on what city they live in. Speaking of which, women in Hamilton, Ontario rode to city hall in sundresses to demand bike lanes.

Toronto has approved an additional $22 million in Vision Zero funds to go with $13 million approved earlier in the year, after the fail of the program up to this point.

A Toronto paper watched a busy intersection for an hour at rush hour, as drivers blocked the intersection or the crosswalk on nearly every red light cycle. An experiment that would probably have exactly the same results here in Los Angeles.

A Toronto op-ed says life-saving traffic solutions already exist, and it’s time to use them.

Britain’s Cyclist magazine looks at the best small and lightweight bike locks. The best bike lock is the one you’ll actually take with you and use.

Cyclist also visits Italy’s legendary Colnago factory, maker of some of the world’s most beautiful and historic performance bicycles.

Denmark has approved the use of “super” ebikes capable of doing 27 mph, which would require a helmet and motorcycle license in California.

 

Competitive Cycling

Eleven-time world track cycling champ Kristina Vogel is in stable condition after undergoing spinal surgery following a crash with another rider at nearly 40 mph; no word on her prognosis.

Writing for Cycling Tips, Peter Flax looks forward to the greatest race between now and next week’s Tour de France, with the not-so-grudging grudge match between Fabian Cancellara and LA’s own Phil Gaimon. This all started when Gaimon accused Cancellara of motor doping in one of his books, so maybe the race will look something like this.

Business Insider takes a ride on a $13,000 Tour de France bike.

Cycling scion Taylor Phinney will ride his second Tour de France in support of Columbian Rigoberto Uran.

 

Finally…

Canadian ‘bent riders were run off the road by an apparently driverless SUV. Someone tell Geico they should have settled.

And if the gate is always locked, how are alarmed pedestrians supposed to get out?

Photo from Beverly Press

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Morning Links: Lawsuit filed over Venice Blvd road diet, and road raging drivers around the world

June 28, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Lawsuit filed over Venice Blvd road diet, and road raging drivers around the world

Traffic safety deniers Restore Venice Boulevard has become just the latest group to abuse California’s CEQA laws in an effort to keep our streets dangerous and unlivable.

The organization has filed suit under the banner of a newly formed nonprofit group, Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network.

The group is attempting to halt expansion of the Venice Blvd Great Streets project to Lincoln Blvd, as well as what it says are similar projects on Pico Blvd, Motor Ave and Centinela Ave adopted under the Livable Boulevards Streetscapes Plan recently passed by the city council.

The Venice lawsuit, and others like it that were filed in response to the since reversed road diets in Playa del Rey, point out the desperate need for CEQA reform, which was never intended to block non-polluting bikeway projects, or other efforts to cut smog-belching automobile traffic.

They may like Venice Blvd just the way it used to be.

But the city will never survive if we don’t take steps to provide viable alternatives to driving now.

As well as undoing the damage done to our neighborhoods by decades of auto-centric policies on Venice, and countless other streets through LA.

………

Today’s common theme is road raging drivers.

Or more precisely, road raging drivers attacking people on bicycles.

In a five-part Twitter story, a Sacramento cyclist records a driver who buzzed him, then pulled over to threaten to cut his throat. Only to discover that the CHP didn’t really care.

But to her credit, Burbank state Assemblywoman Laura Friedman does.

Witnesses report that a North Carolina driver appeared to accelerate as he drifted off the roadway and slammed into a bike rider, before fleeing the scene.

A British Columbia bike rider was followed by a horn-blaring driver who pulled over and attempted to intentionally door her.

It’s hard to catch at first, but the rider of a possibly stolen motorcycle swerved onto the wrong side of the road to attempt to kick a British man off his bicycle.

………

Jerry Seinfeld is one of us, as he goes bike shopping with Zach Galifianakisz.

………

CicLAvia’s Tafari Bayne demonstrates how to get to the California African American Museum by bike and train.

………

Local

A group of Ukrainian military vets set out from Los Angeles last month on a 6,200-mile ride across North America to call attention to the ongoing conflict.

Apparently not grasping the concept, Pasadena residents call for more free parking, fewer e-scooters and moving bike lanes to a side street at a meeting to update the General Plan for the town’s central business district, conflicting with requirements for sustainability and improved carfree circulation.

Good piece by Curbed’s Alissa Walker, who says people are not defined by what they use to get around, and that transportation stereotypes can make the streets more dangerous.

CiclaValley makes an escape to Mount Baldy.

 

State

Sure, tell us again about those entitled cyclists. California voters appear poised to repeal the state’s recent gas tax increase, imperiling plans to repair the states roads and bridges, as well as funding alternative forms of transportation. Seriously, anyone who votes against the gas tax should be permanently prohibited from ever complaining about bad roads or traffic.

San Diego’s mayor, former police chief and a radio host will team together for a 760-mile bike ride down the California coast to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.

More proof there are still good people in the world. A triathlete competing in the Big Bear Triathlon dropped out of the race to perform CPR on a runner who had stopped breathing, even though he was in second place in the race.

An extreme athlete known as the Bionic Woman stopped in Apple Valley on her attempt to become the first woman with a prosthetic leg to ride unsupported across the US.

Folsom is working to complete the city’s first Class IV protected bike lane, which will be colored red to call drivers’ attention to it.

San Francisco discusses how to bring the Bay Area’s docked bikeshare system to the Bayview/Hunter’s Point neighborhood.

Sad news from Eureka, where a bike rider died a week after he was struck by the driver of a truck. Note to CHP: If the victim was struck by the rear wheels of a timber truck doing up to 35 mph, it really doesn’t matter if he was wearing a helmet. Seriously.

 

National

A writer for VeloNews says ebikes can be life-changing for bicyclists with a medical condition.

Bicycling talks with famed stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill, and learns the secret to learning backflips.

Writing for Cycling Savvy, a bike rider says it’s safer to get off your bike and walk for a few minutes when drivers are blinded by the sun’s glare.

The rich get richer. Portland bicyclists will get new protected corners and bike lanes at a complicated multi-angle intersection.

A Colorado town is conducting a trial project to determine the effectiveness of sharrows, as well as buffered and separated bike lanes. Because they can’t just look at the results of projects just like those already in use around the world.

Drivers are convinced that plastic bollards along a bike lane in Jackson Hole WY have narrowed the nearly 11-foot traffic lanes and made it impossible to move wide loads, even though officials insist the lanes haven’t been narrowed an inch. A local columnist doesn’t like them one bit.

An Iowa bike rider is dead, and his wife and four-year old son injured, because an 83-year old driver picked the wrong time to adjust his mirror.

An Irish man visits a crash site to call for safe streets, five years after he was nearly killed when a driver hit his bike while riding to work in Cape Cod, leaving him confined to a wheel chair; his father called the police investigation biased after they concluded his son turned in front of the truck. Which is what police investigations usually conclude when they don’t — or can’t — talk to the victim first.

For once, a fallen New York bike rider gets justice, as a drunk driver gets 15 years for slamming into a group of riders participating in a bike tour, killing one and injuring three others; he was fleeing at a high rate of speed after crashing into a car while trying to park.

 

International

Vancouver bike rental shops are complaining about unfair competition from a Chinese dockless bikeshare system. Which is something SoCal bike rental companies are starting to complain about, as well.

He gets it. A Vancouver writer says there are no winners in the inevitable social media fights over bicycles, but bicyclists are the losers when it spills onto the streets.

An Ottawa news story describes shoaling as sexism in the bike lane. Which is probably true in many cases, even though it happens to men, as well.

Quebec bike riders are now prohibited from wearing earbuds or using an electronic device while riding, while drivers face an automatic license suspension for a second offense within a two-year period for even handling any electronic device.

A Toronto columnist says good intersection design makes it easier for everyone to navigate, whether by two wheels or four. Meanwhile, a Toronto councilor wants the city to investigate using cargo bikes instead of trucks to ship freight.

Unbelievable. An English police chief apologizes to the widow of a fallen bike rider for bungling the investigation into his death; officers never examined the car of the person who claimed to have found him, even though he could be heard over the phone arguing with a woman over whether their car had struck the victim.

An English Premier League referee and his friend rode their bikes 1,700 miles through seven countries to watch England play in the World Cup.

Lime is bringing its e-scooters to Paris with the blessing of city officials.

A new study shows 30% of the people who took part in an Indian ciclovía bought bicycles afterwards.

A South African official warns bike riders to stay off freeways and toll roads that have seen a “dangerous influx of bicycles.” However, given the country’s high rate of violent crime and reports of bike riders being attacked for their bikes and other belongings, it’s understandable that some might prefer to take their chances with high-speed drivers, legally or otherwise.

Kiwi cyclists are applauding $1.1 billion in funding for bike and pedestrian projects.

 

Competitive Cycling

A new book about America’s only remaining Tour de France winner includes his role in the divorce between Lance and Nike.

 

Finally…

LA bike riders were lucky to score CLIF Bars; Denver bicyclists get fresh pancakes and breakfast burritos. If you can’t ban cars, just remove their parking spaces.

And where to turn when you feel the need for $5,000 bike socks spun by a rare olden silk orb weaver spider.

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

Morning Links: South LA safer streets meeting moved to tomorrow, and this is who we share the roads with

June 27, 2018 / / 3 comments

On a personal note, today marks the 10th anniversary of BikinginLA, which started with a single blog post complaining about the sad state of bicycling in Los Angeles. 

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Thank you for ten years of reading, and allowing me to do what I love.

And what I can to help make biking in LA just a little safer and more enjoyable for all of us.

………

That public meeting to discuss safer streets in South LA has been moved to tomorrow night, rather than tonight as we mentioned yesterday.

The change in date seem suspicious, since it’s now scheduled for the same time as the march and press conference to demand justice for fallen cyclist and hit-and-run victim Frederick “Woon” Frazier.

However, I’ve been assured by Councilmember Marqueece Harris- Dawson’s office that the original date was a typo, and the meeting was always scheduled for Thursday.

But still.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

An unidentified Twitter user responded to getting cut off by a bike rider by pulling alongside the rider, and pushing him off his bike from a moving car.

He seems very proud of himself, pinning the tweet even though it’s evidence of a crime.

https://twitter.com/DarkestJedi/status/1011620566422441988

Hopefully this tweet will be removed by the time you read this, since it would appear to violate their terms of service.

Let alone an admission of guilt.

………

Local

CiclaValley offers before and after video from a repaving project on Forest Lawn Drive, suggesting the new improvements left bicyclists worse off than before, with a bike lane that narrows to less than a foot in some place.

A webinar will be held to discuss the proposed Hollywood Community Plan, which includes proposed bikeways, from 5:30 to 6:30 pm tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, LA County Commissioner Hilda Solis will host a public meeting to discuss how to make Eastside streets more accessible for pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, and rail users.

The coming Taylor Yard bike and pedestrian bridge is up for an international design award at the World Architecture Festival.

Burbank state assemblywoman Laura Friedman discusses why safe speed limits matter.

 

State

A Fresno couple on a tandem were seriously injured when their wheel disintegrated after hitting a pothole while they were descending at 47 mph.

Lime makes its data-based case for why their e-scooters belong in San Francisco, noting that 60% of users said their ride replaced a car trip.

 

National

Vice offers a list of five things cities can do right now to reduce cyclist deaths. Make that four, since the bicycle-to-vehicle sensor systems they mentioned aren’t available yet.

Save this list of bike-friendly Tucson cafes for the next time you’re riding through town.

Heartbreaking story from Iowa, where a 79-year old woman walking on a bike path with her son was killed in a collision with a speeding bicyclist; the police declined to investigate, and the riders didn’t identify themselves. If that happened anywhere else, it would be considered a fatal hit-and-run.

Oops. Ohio police call off a search for a bike rider who was reportedly struck by a truck on a highway, knocked over a guardrail and into a waterway, when the bike’s owner came back and said the bike had merely fallen off his truck.

A Dallas magazine asks if the city will ever favor neighborhoods over freeways, saying it falls further behind world cities with every mile of asphalt.

Life is cheap in New York, where police refuse to pursue charges against a killer hit-and-run driver, who somehow claimed she had no idea she hit anyone — despite crashing into a mother and daughter with enough force to kill the little girl.

Bicycles ruled DC back in the ’90s. The 1890s.

New Orleans police throw the book at a lightless salmon cyclist who went out for a pack of cigarettes at 4 am, apparently writing up violations for everything they could think of and resulting in a whopping $920 in fines.

 

International

Mounties in British Columbia are on the lookout for a bike rider who sprayed a dog with a chemical irritant after arguing with the dog’s owner.

Police in Edmonton, Canada swarm an intersection to issue warnings when drivers can’t seem to figure out what No Right on Red signs next to bike lanes mean.

A Toronto newspaper spends an hour watching traffic bike and motor vehicle traffic at an intersection, observing 609 traffic infractions and noting that most went through incorrectly, on two wheels or four.

A new study shows that the Mini-Holland bikeways installed in London’s outer boroughs have succeeded in boosting bicycling and walking rates.

Manchester, England begins work on a $661 million plan to install 74 miles of Amsterdam-style segregated cycle lanes crisscrossing the city. Yet the Daily Mail can only envision traffic chaos.

A UK paper looks at British cycling champ Victoria Pendleton, and the bikes she’s designed for the Halfords retail chain.

Caught on video: A group of men described by the local newspaper as “thugs” chased down a pair of 12-year British bike riders, and stole a new mountain bike one of the boys had received as a birthday present just one day earlier.

This is why people continue to die in the UK, as a killer driver walks with just community service after running down a pedestrian while doing 70 mph in a 40 mph zone.

Police in Jerusalem can’t seem to decide if people can or can’t ride their bikes on a street that’s been closed to cars, some telling people they can ride on the sidewalk, and others saying they have to ride in the street. And ticketing riders for both.

An Aussie advocacy group complains about a report linking 15 bicycle and pedestrian deaths to headphone use, noting that studies have shown “bike riders using headphones at a reasonable volume hear much more outside noise than a car driver, even when that car driver has no music playing.”

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news, as German world sprint and Olympic champion Kristina Vogel is in intensive care after colliding with another rider while training at a velodrome.

 

Finally…

Maybe your bike really is a work of art. Evidently they couldn’t figure out how to install Swedes, so they settled for poles.

And a Los Angeles-based company claims to be the leader in incorporating AI technology into bicycles.

Which will inevitably lead to something like this.

 

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

Morning Links: Cyclist’s sister says don’t look away, march for Woon, and cops still don’t get bus & bike lanes

June 26, 2018 / / 2 comments

In a truly heartbreaking essay, the sister of a fallen LA bike rider calls on all of us to look squarely at the crisis of traffic fatalities.

In 2016 my brother Tom was biking home in Los Angeles. He took a street that I would learn is quiet for LA, but statistically deadly for bicyclists and pedestrians. At about 6 p.m. on this particular Saturday, a drunk driver in a box truck careened down a side street, hitting parked cars before killing my brother at an intersection. He was 26.

That first night after I got the call I was shocked and frightened. My brother was already dead, yet I was scared of what was to come. We had few details that first night, and my recollection is fuzzy. Trauma affects your memory.

Tomas Brewer was killed while riding on Temple Street in Echo Park, where Councilembers Mitch O’Farrell and Gil Cedillo recently blocked plans for a desperately needed road diet on one of the city’s most dangerous streets.

An LAPD officer had noticed 22-year old Cruz Tzoc speeding up Burlington Ave just moments before the crash, but was unable to catch up to him before Tzoc smashed into Brewer’s bike.

He was driving at twice the legal alcohol limit.

His sister went on to put her own grief in context, and ask that you look at the problem without looking away.

I do, however, judge the facts and the broader context of the loss imposed by traffic collisions. We made tremendous progress in the 1960s and 1970s reducing traffic fatalities and cutting drunk driving deaths. Policy changes, automobile safety features, and awareness building through advocacy have helped to save, many, many lives. But now that progress has petered out and started to reverse. Impaired drivers and speeding drivers are still killing us. There are new threats, like distracted driving. Meanwhile, cars are still designed to go very fast, development is sprawling and demands a car-centric lifestyle, bike infrastructure is an afterthought, bars are built in the middle of parking lots, and people protest against changes intended to save human lives.

It is frightening, but please try to look squarely at this crisis. Respect and be gentle with us, the surviving family members. We may be on the edge, or somewhere in the pit of grief. Please allow yourself to feel those ripples of impact, and let them move you to do something, anything to start saving lives.

 

As for the photo, maybe if we had more signs like this, we’d have fewer stories like these.

………

There will be a meeting tomorrow night to discuss safety solutions for the long-neglected streets of South LA, where Frederick “Woon” Frazier was killed by a hit-and-run driver last April.

And the LACBC has announced a public march and press conference will be held this Thursday to demand justice for Frazier.

His alleged killer turned herself in last month as police were closing in, but has yet to be formally charged.

………

The rights of bicyclists to ride in LA’s Bus and Bike Only Lanes remains under assault by misinformed police officers, who seem incapable of reading the posted signs saying bikes are allowed in the lanes.

Then again, that’s nothing new.

https://twitter.com/topomodesto/status/1011426189129314304

And no, Darth Vader has no begun working with LAPD Traffic; Michael blurred the photo of the officer to protect his identity.

………

Once again, a motor vehicle has been used as a weapon.

According to police in Tampa, Florida, a former US track star intentionally drove his car off a highway and onto a separated bike path, killing a father as he rode his bike with his small children.

Thirty-year old Mikese Morse fled the scene, leaving Pedro Aguerreberry’s two kids to watch him die in front of them.

Police arrested Morse a few hours later on a charge of first degree murder — a charge that requires premeditation.

Morse’s parents said he was suffering from a debilitating mental illness, and he had posted a series of “increasingly angry and unhinged” videos on Instagram, saying that he was going to kill someone.

And yet he was still legally allowed behind the wheel of a two-ton machine capable of killing another human being.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

………

Local

REI has raised $1.6 million to “rewild” five urban projects in cities across the US, including LA’s San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

CiclaValley and Streetsblog both look back at yesterday’s successful San Fernando Valley CicLAvia.

An open house will be held at 6 pm tonight at the Palms-Rancho Park Branch Library to discuss closing the ridiculous Northvale Gap in the Expo Line Bike Path. Local homeowners successfully fought the bike path through the area when the Expo Line was built, claiming thieves would use it to burglarize their homes; now it will cost exponentially more to build what could and should have already been finished.

The LACBC’s next Sunday Funday ride will take a tour of bike-friendly Santa Monica.

 

State

A La Jolla cancer research center has been awarded four grants from the $2.4 million raised by San Diego Padres annual Pedal the Cause fundraising ride.

A teenage San Diego girl was struck by a car while riding her bike when the driver went off the road after apparently suffering a medical emergency.

Monterey is about to break ground on an $8.5 million project to install separated bike lanes along the median on a major roadway. However, without improved signalization, a bike lane in the center of a roadway is likely to result in increased conflict points at intersections, which is why the one on Culver Blvd in Culver City has never been successful.

 

National

Maybe you should take another look at your helmet. A new study shows shows that unvented “urban style” helmets and helmets without the new MIPS anti-concussion technology are twice as likely to result in injuries in a crash.

Bicycling looks at the best tandem bikes, with prices starting at just $430.

A Seattle writer says the only downside to ebikes is the battery dying while climbing a hill.

A Phoenix TV station discovers where LimeBikes go to die.

Authorities in New Mexico believe they’re closing in on a suspect in the cold case death of an 19-year old woman who disappeared while riding her bike in 1988; a Polaroid photo found lying on the ground the next year 1,600 miles away may show her and a young boy lying on a bed bound and gagged.

A Chicago weekly worries that e-scooters will clog the city’s sidewalks and bike lanes.

A Chicago writer says the most direct routes aren’t always the safest or most enjoyable, suggesting that side streets are better for low-stress riding with kids. That’s something that too often gets lost in the debate over bike lanes — different riders have different needs. Some may want a low stress route, while others need to ride busier streets for their commute. That was the beauty of the 2010 Los Angeles Bike Plan, which contained three separate but connected networks ranging from quiet bikeways to protected bike lanes on busy streets. Maybe we can still get LA leaders to pull it off the shelf. Or out of the trash bin. 

The anti-bike lane screed from the publisher of Crain’s is still reverberating through Detroit, as a local advocacy group offers a calm response.

New York bicyclists protest the ICE detention center by riding their bicycles around it and blocking access.

In a very brief letter to the editor, a Pennsylvania bike rider reminds drivers that honking their horns accomplishes nothing but startling someone on a bike.

Caught on video: A bike rider was spotted riding in the middle of a major Virginia highway at rush hour, even though state law bans bikes from limited access highways. Don’t let LA drivers see what rush hour traffic looks like in Virginia, though, or they’ll all want to move to there. Or better yet, show them. Please.

 

International

As Pirelli re-enters the bike tire market, Rouleur takes a look back at the classic Pirelli posters of the last century, which set the standard for graphic design.

Once again, riding a bike proves to be the fastest way to cross a major city, as a bike rider wins a race between a motorcycle, bike bus, car and walking through central London.

A 70-year old British man says he just got out of the hospital with broken ribs and a fractured skull after he was hit by a speeding bicyclist riding illegally on the sidewalk. Seriously, don’t do that. Whether or not riding on the sidewalk is legal where you live, pedestrians should always receive the right-of-way there or in a crosswalk.

Dublin officials have called for greater enforcement of laws banning parking in bike lanes. Which is already proving to be a problem on the new My Figueroa semi-Complete Street in DTLA, where Central Division bike cops cracked down yesterday after receiving complaints.

In an inspired protest, German rabbis and imams rode tandem bikes through the streets of Berlin to fight antisemitism and Islamophobia.

A Tanzanian newspaper says people don’t run or ride bikes in Dar es Salaam because too many roadways lack the required service roads, and those that don’t are often blocked by traders.

A second dockless bikeshare company has closed up shop in Singapore, citing difficulties in meeting licensing requirements.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian rider Victor Campenaerts was knocked off his bike after colliding with a drunken fan at the country’s national championships; he managed to finish the race despite a mild concussion.

 

Finally…

If you think you can ride fast, try pedaling at 134 mph. It’s a battle of the Jeremys over moms biking to school.

And if you really need a name for two-wheeled conveyances that aren’t ebikes, here’s one.

Bicycles.

 

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

Morning Links: NYT shines national spotlight on LA’s deadly car culture, and open season for open streets

June 25, 2018 / / 6 comments

Los Angeles’ hit-and-run car culture and deadly streets takes their bow in the national spotlight.

And the picture isn’t pretty.

The New York Times, in an article by LA-based reporter Jose A. Del Real, examines the problems on our streets and the rising toll among bike riders, through the tragic death of Frederick “Woon” Frazier in South LA.

Cyclists have long risked danger in Los Angeles, where a loose and lackluster network of bike lanes means they often ride alongside speeding cars. Today, cyclists draw a special kind of vitriol from drivers in America’s car capital, where traffic congestion is increasingly intolerable as the region’s population grows by an estimated 50,000 people a year.

In poor areas of the city, where people are more likely to depend on walking and cycling as the sole means of transportation, residents complain of a disregard for their well-being by drivers who treat their neighborhood streets like highways. City data shows that the dangers to pedestrians and cyclists are particularly acute in South Los Angeles — where Mr. Frazier was killed — which lags the rest of the city in safety infrastructure.

He note that the mayor has promised to ramp up advertising to fight the carnage on our streets.

That’s right, advertising.

“I am confident that without our efforts, things would be even worse,” Mr. Garcetti said earlier this year. He said the city’s transportation department would ramp up advertising related to road safety.

The purpose of Vision Zero is to remake our streets so that human mistakes don’t result in fatal crashes.

It’s hard to see how even the most hard-hitting ad can equal the life-saving effectiveness of a single road diet.

It’s an important read.

One that even quotes me couple times, along with the newfound advocates who’ve risen in the wake of Woon’s death.

And Del Real did me the favor of not quoting most of the things I said, as he caught me in one of my more pissed off moods at the inaction of city officials in the face of the rising bike and pedestrian deaths and lawlessness on our streets.

Then again, I don’t think they could print most of that in the Times, anyway.

Maybe that national spotlight will embarrass our mayor as he angles for higher office.

And make him realize he has a lot more work to do right here in the City of Angels first. Along with a few city council butts to kick.

We can hope.

………

The streets are officially open.

The Los Angeles Daily News looks at another successful CicLAvia in the North San Fernando Valley, and contrasts it with the dangers riders face on LA streets. KCBS-2 reports from earlier in the day.

Los Angeles wasn’t the only city celebrating open streets on Sunday, as thousands turned out for the fifth CycLOUvia in Louisville KY.

And just a tad further north, Winnipeg, Canada celebrated its ninth annual Ciclovia.

………

The Ad Council has posted the winners of their annual student film contest focusing on the dangers of texting while driving.

Hopefully they’ll show these to the sheriff’s department.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvGsLisGUM4&list=PLdSSKSOSBh4n2coRK0U8kjcFvJf_N4v82

………

Local

The city council’s Transportation Committee has voted to approve protected bike lanes on 5th and 6th Streets in LA’s Skid Row. That should make it almost a done deal, since the full council usually rubber stamps decisions made in committee. Update: Joe Linton informs me that the full council has already approved the motion, voting 11 to 0 on Friday to install the lanes.

The LA Times travel section offers tips on how to choose a car bike rack for your next road trip. Best advice: Whatever rack you choose, make sure your can lock it to your car, then lock the bikes to the rack. And take them inside when you stop for the night or leave your car for any length of time.

Calabasas-based 10 Speed Coffee is opening a new bike-themed outpost in Santa Monica.

 

State

San Juan Capistrano police give a six-year old boy a new bicycle to replace the one he managed to jump off of, saving his own life just before it was crunched by a red light-running driver. However, it’s strange that the driver was booked on a felony hit-and-run charge, which requires serious injuries under California law; otherwise, it should be a misdemeanor.

The new captain of the Chino Hills police department is one of us, and a long-time member of Redland’s Citrus Valley Velo cycling club. 

Cycling legend and commentator Bob Roll takes a low-tech roll through Silicon Valley.

 

National

Trump’s tariff’s as he ramps up a trade war with China could come at the expense of the booming growth of ebikes, most of which are made in the Middle Kingdom.

A new study refutes the myth that more and wider roadways are necessary for regional economic success, showing that the cities that don’t have traffic congestion are the ones that are dying.

Bicycling takes a look at the new old Harley Davidson bicycle, which can be yours for a mere $4,200.

Popular Mechanics rates the best multi-tools, and says every kind of bike is going electric, from motor scooters to cargo bikes. Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

An Anchorage AK bike shop suffered $75,000 in losses during a late night burglary, as thieves appear to be targeting high-end bicycles in the city.

Taking distracted driving to a new extreme, the backup driver responsible for overseeing the self-driving Uber car — and preventing the crash that took the life of Elaine Herzberg as she walked her bike across a Tempe AZ street — was watching The Voice on Hulu, instead of the road. Police had initially blamed Herzberg, calling the crash unavoidable before realizing it was anything but.

Three Utah bicyclists participating in a charity ride were seriously injured when they were run down from behind by a “drowsy” driver coming home from working a night shift; fortunately, their injuries were not life-threatening.

While the rest of the country is just discovering protected bike lanes, Boise ID had them in the ’70s, but let them fade away.

This is why you should always question police investigations following a crash. Colorado police reversed themselves after initially blaming the victim for a serious crash after they were finally able to talk to her in the hospital; she refuted the driver’s claim that she was riding her bike on the shoulder and illegally turned in front of him.

Emotions run high as 18 bike riders return home to Oklahoma after a three-week ride through seven states, retracing the steps of the Cherokee tribe during the infamous Trail of Tears.

LimeBike is threatening to walk away from Chicago’s pilot dockless bikeshare program over a clause that requires bikes to be locked to a stationary object when not in use.

A Massachusetts town celebrates its history as a bicycle factory town by giving new bikes to 19 kids.

An op-ed in the New York Times says if we want to build a sustainable future, cities and people must take priority over cars.

Sad news from Pennsylvania, where a woman was killed riding her bike home from her new job because she didn’t want to bother anyone by asking for a ride; her relatives didn’t even know she owned a bike. Naturally, police blamed her for the rear-end crash for riding in the traffic lane on a 45 mph road, rather than on the shoulder.

 

International

City Journal examines the worldwide problem of vandalism and destruction that’s causing a major retreat by bikeshare providers, docked and otherwise.

Road.cc reviews five of the best foldies, and considers 26 of the best books in bicycling. As if anyone has time to read when you could be out on your bike.

Bike Radar recaps the week’s best new bike gear.

A 29-year old Belgian man stopped in Winnipeg on a 30-month bike trip from the tundra of far northern Canada to the tip of southern Argentina.

Caught on video: A Toronto bike rider catches a crash on a bike cam when he’s hit head-on by a driver making an illegal U-turn, who drove off after giving him a fake name and phone number. Amazingly, police don’t consider it hit-and-run since he didn’t need immediate medical attention.

A commentator on a conservative website says a call for banning right turns on red lights in Toronto is based on junk science, saying that stats showing 13% of crashes occurred when drivers were turning right just means that 87% didn’t, and that drivers aren’t always at fault. By that measure, running red lights should be legal too, since it doesn’t always result in a wreck, either.

A London writer says putting signs on the back of large trucks isn’t enough to protect bike riders and pedestrians from getting killed in their drivers’ blind spots. But ads will stop deadly crashes in Los Angeles, right?

A English minister says he understands the benefits of bicycling, but may get rid of the bikes in his garage because of the dangers posed by motorists. Although he says “militant cyclists” don’t help the cause of bicycling by trying to impose their rights. Which is another way of saying people who want to legally ride their bikes without getting run off the road.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A South African driver’s mother suffered a heart attack and his father has suffered from depression after he was sentenced to ten years for killing two bike riders. Then again, if you think that’s bad, imagine the suffering of his victims’ families.

Nepal paid tribute to the country’s national cycling champion after he was killed falling into a river while competing in Sri Lanka.

Aussie police warn of an “epidemic” of headphone-wearing cyclists and pedestrians killed in traffic collisions. If you can call an average of two a year an epidemic — and if the headphones were actually what caused the crashes. After all, if headphones cause crashes, car sound systems and hermetically sealed, soundproof vehicles should, too. 

Touching story as a Japanese man flew to Taiwan to thank the man who cared for his son when he was fatally injured by falling rocks while mountain biking.

Now you can tour Vietnam and Sri Lanka by ebike.

 

Competitive Cycling

The fourth time is the charm, as SoCal’s Coryn Rivera nips Megan Guarnier to win her first US Pro national road race championship. Tennessee’s Emma White dominated the women’s U-23 races.

An Idaho man was part of an eight-person team that set a new record of just under five days, four hours in the Race Across America.

Bicycling explains how to watch the Tour de France this year. And no, streaming it live on your handlebars while you ride probably isn’t the best idea.

Seriously? Team Sky’s coach says Chris Froome’s safety is at risk after five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault calls Froome a cheat over his failed drug test.

The race of the century — or at least the next few weeks — will roll on July 1st as the grudge match between LA’s own Phil Gaimon and alleged motor doper Fabian Cancellara will charge up Switzerland’s Col du Pillon. You can cheer Gaimon on with your own cookie-themed kit.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you miss your train, and end up beating it to your destination. Even Transylvania is becoming bike friendly.

And presenting the Uniform Manual of Traffic Engineer Excuses.

 

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

Morning Links: CicLAvia rolls through the Valley, Whittier bicyclist threatened, and never lock your bike to a tree

June 22, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: CicLAvia rolls through the Valley, Whittier bicyclist threatened, and never lock your bike to a tree

CicLAvia is here.

The LA Daily News looks forward to Sunday’s Valley CicLAvia, which will roll, walk skate and scoot along Van Nuys Blvd through Pacoima, Panorama City and Arleta from 9 am to 4 pm.

This is the 25th CicLAvia, which began in Downtown Los Angeles on 10-10-10.

And yes, I still have the shirt.

It’s also the second CicLAvia in the North San Fernando Valley, following the first in 2016.

CiclaValley offers part two of his CicLAvia preview; we linked to part one on Wednesday.

And the Militant Angeleno is back with his Epic CicLAvia XXV guide, with highlights including the homes of the fictional Marty McFly and the very real Ritchie Valens.

Meanwhile, Long Beach’s CicLAvia equivalent will be back with a more walkable twilight version of Beach Streets this August.

………

A Whittier bike rider reports being threatened by a pickup driver in a racist attack.

https://twitter.com/_ashleykatie/status/1009546297991262208

Thanks to Felicia G for the heads up.

………

This is why you never lock your bike to a tree.

Megan Lynch forwards news of a German bike rider who locked his $2,500 bike to a tree over the weekend.

When he came back, his bike was missing.

And so was the tree, which had been cut down by the determined thief.

………

A new study reports that the myth of the distracted pedestrian is exactly that.

A myth.

Less than 15% of walkers using crosswalks in New York and Flagstaff AZ were walking distracted.

And distracted or not, only a relative handful committed dangerous infractions while crossing the street.

………

Local

Nice piece from Los Angeles Magazine offering mostly good advice for drivers on how to share the with bicyclists. Although if you roll down the window to talk to me at a red light, you’d better be asking for directions or complimenting my bike.

An editor for the Advocate has been skipping brunch to get out on her bike, saying climbing hills keeps her grounded.

As it finally nears completion, the My Figueroa Complete Streets project looks at its own beginnings with Prop 1C funding and new housing along the South Figueroa corridor.

LAist is finally back, with a report on a nine-mile bike taco tour of Boyle Heights.

In an incredibly short-sighted decision for such a progressive city, West Hollywood has voted to ban e-scooters entirely, encouraging users of the devices which have exploded in popularity to get back in their cars and make the city’s chronic traffic and parking problems worse.

 

State

Great idea. The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is holding a three-day regional bike summit, with a goal of breaking down common barriers to get more people on bikes.

A San Diego council committee has approved a $312 million program to build out and maintain the city’s 2013 bike plan over the next 20 years. Unlike most cities, where a bike plan gets put on the shelf and forgotten as soon as it’s adopted, Los Angeles included.

A new study reveals the most dangerous spots for bicyclists in the San Diego area, most of which are exactly where you might think.

San Luis Obispo backs down on plans for a protected bike lane in the face of angry residents, after transportation officials say the post road diet layout isn’t wide enough for it. Although it is wide enough for wide buffered bike lanes, which take up more space.

Here’s your chance to ride your bike on the famed Laguna Seca Raceway.

San Francisco has approved plans for the city’s first neighborway, which are streets designed to improved pedestrian access and bike safety. Which sounds like yet another way of not offending anyone by saying bike boulevard.

 

National

Bike Snob says sports with balls are overrated, and you should encourage your kids to ride a bike instead.

If you prefer to do your bicycling inside, Peloton has expanded its app to include over 10,000 classes.

Red Bull offers seven yoga moves that will make you a better bicyclist.

The Wall Street Journal says group bike rides are the new boardroom where deals are made. And they still couldn’t manage to get through the piece without saying cycling is the new golf.

Bloomberg says new ebikes are getting to be as smart as phones. And stupid fun to ride.

Outside says Bikepacking.com is revolutionizing the sport, making it perhaps too easy to pack up, pick a route and get out the door.

Three-quarters US states now mandate a minimum passing distance, as of Hawaii becomes the 37th state to require at least a three-foot margin for motorists passing people on bicycles.

Tragic news from Kansas, where a Minnesota man has been paralyzed from the chest down after he was run down from behind while participating in the cross-country Trans-Am Bike Race; a crowdfunding page has raised over $24,000, $4,000 more than the $20,000 goal.

A Dallas magazine says if you want to make the city bike-friendly, the best way to start is to get everyone on a bicycle with an earn-a-bike program.

Unbelievable. A 26-year old Arkansas woman has been charged with intentionally running down a bike rider, then trying to hit him again with her car — even as she was already facing capital murder charges in the death of her own grandmother.

A Chicago writer recalls how two boys from Belgium became the youngest kids to bike across the US in 1935; one of them his father grew up to be his father.

A Chicago woman says she loathes wearing a bike helmet because it’s hot and ugly and messes up her hair, and takes all the joy out of riding.

A bike-riding doctor with the famed Cleveland Clinic offers advice on how to stay safe while riding at night — and for a change, does not even mention bike helmets. Although his first recommendation is just don’t do it.

No bias here. A Queens community paper blames bicycle zealots for unreasonably demanding safer streets, suggesting that it’s their own damn fault if they get doored or run over. Someone should tell them that protected bikeways improve safety for everyone, as well as encouraging better behavior from bike riders.

A Queens councilmember says she’s being harassed by bike riders who might possibly have planned to sabotage a rally in opposition to a bike lane if she had actually bothered to hold it. Never mind that the bike lane has eliminated fatalities on what was formerly known as the Boulevard of Death.

Philadelphia councilmembers get an earful from bike riders demanding the city adopt a Vision Zero plan. Or at least the handful of councilmembers who bothered to show up and listen.

A Virginia man dispenses rehabbed bicycles along with anti-smoking advocacy.

According to the local business journal, Tampa, Florida business owners want fewer bike lanes on a roadway scheduled for a road diet. Which begs the question of just how much fewer they want. A single lane in just direction? Or more likely, none at all?

 

International

The Economist says ebikes and e-scooters are “flummoxing regulators while exciting consumers and venture capitalists,” as they weave their way into urban transport. Except, apparently, in West Hollywood.

Cycling Weekly explains why you might want to ti one on.

Columbian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar reputedly was one of us, while his brother actually was.

A Florida writer takes a Backroads bike tour of the Cuban countryside. But maybe you’d rather tour Amsterdam by bike.

No surprise here, as a new study shows Edmonton’s protected bike lanes reduce stress and travel times for riders.

Caught on video: A Toronto man has pled guilty to jumping out of a car, running up to a bicyclist and pushing him off his bike; no word on what led up to the attack.

It took five police squad cars to ticket a Toronto man for riding his bicycle in the street instead of in a bike lane — something the officers later had to backtrack on, since that isn’t actually illegal. The whole nearly 14 minute incident was caught on video.

Andrew Ridgeley appeared with the UK’s Piers Morgan to promote an 1,100-mile charity ride across Europe, but all Morgan wanted to talk about was the death of Ridgeley’s former Wham! bandmate George Michael.

More on the Netherlands’ plan to pay working adults 19 cents to kilometer to bike to their jobs. Which could be one of the least costly ways to get more people out of their cars.

Belgium bike riders strip down for the latest edition of the World Naked Bike Ride. Although evidently, not everyone likes seeing naked people on bicycles.

No, it’s not a cemetery, it’s an Italian monument to cycling greats.

An Indian man flew to Dubai and bought a bicycle to ride 2,600 miles to see Messi play for Argentina in the World Cup.

Cycling Tips says distracted driving is a bigger problem than ever in Australia, which is terrifying for bike riders in the country. And pretty much everywhere else.

According to the Korea Herald, bike deaths are up 11.5% in South Korea. Remarkably, the paper blames it on elderly riders and a lack of protective gear, rather than on a dramatic increase in distracted driving, like pretty much everywhere else.

 

Competitive Cycling

Teams have been announced for the men’s four-day Colorado Classic bike race, including four WorldTour teams and five Pro Continental teams.

UCI is finally getting around to banning the opioid pain killer Tramadol, which has been widely used during races in the pro peloton.

VeloNews says BMC’s financial collapse is just the same old crisis in a financially unstable sport.

 

Finally…

Nothing like getting your stolen bike back because the thief was too drunk to ride it naked. Who wants a boring bike when you can have an e-wheel?

And when you’re a lord, bike bells apparently matter more than safe streets.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Move along, nothing to see here

June 21, 2018 / / 3 comments

My apologies.

My diabetes knocked me out last night. We’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on anything we missed.

Category: General /
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