Morning Links: Anti-road diet NIMBYs boycott businesses, road safety in LA & Houston, and New Yorker bike covers

November 20, 2017 / / 26 comments

Last month, the road diets in Playa del Rey were ripped out before they had a chance to prove whether they were working.

Now we know why.

A must-read tweetstorm from writer Peter Flax, who served on Councilmember Mike Bonin’s ill-fated committee to re-examine the lane reductions, reveals that the primary reason behind their removal was the negative effect they were having on local business.

Which wasn’t coincidental.

He offers a number of social media posts in which opponents of the road diets call for a boycott of businesses in the area to force them to oppose the safety measures. Which were then echoed by anti-road diet forces like Keep LA Moving — whose leader actually lives in Manhattan Beach — Recall Bonin, and conservative radio hosts John and Ken.

And now the same tactics are being used in Mar Vista, where the owner of Louie’s restaurant blamed the lane reductions in the Venice Blvd Great Streets Project for the failure of his restaurant.

Even though it had just reopened after being closed for a vermin infestation. And even though it had a meager 2.5 Yelp rating. And even though a new chef insisted on making much hated changes to the place, including a new upscale menu, that drove longtime customers away.

But sure, let’s blame the removal of excess lane capacity, which didn’t result in the loss of a single parking space.

Despite, as Peter notes, numerous studies from around the country showing that Complete Streets projects like the one on Venice are good for business — including one on LA’s York Blvd, which has thrived since a road diet went in.

Of course, that doesn’t fit with the NIMBY narrative that Vision Zero and road diets are the work of Satan himself.

………

A powerful piece from Los Angeles resident and Houston native Colleen Corcoran compares the traffic safety problems and struggle to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians in the two cities.

Corcoran, a co-founder of CicLAvia, says no one should die as a result of thoughtless street design — after her own mother was killed riding her bike through a dangerous Houston intersection earlier this year.

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We’ve mentioned this one before, but it’s worth mentioning again. An online petition opposes a proposal allowing a private school to take over a public road in Calabasas, which is a popular route allowing bicyclists to bypass traffic on busy Mulholland Highway. Thanks to Steve S. for the reminder.

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A new Flickr page offers an exceptional collection of bicycling covers from the New Yorker dating back to the 1920s.

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An Irish pundit apologized for calling bike riders Nazis, and swore he would never give a Nazi salute again.

Of course, his apology was to a local Jewish organization, not to the people he accused of being a brown-shirt uniformed, two-wheeled cult.

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Local

Construction for the MyFigueroa project is getting blamed for some of the parking problems in South Park, even though it has the support of local businesses.

A December 2nd exhibition at the LA Central Library in DTLA will feature makers, including an LA man who explores “unique bicycle shapes and designs.”

The Daily News reports on Saturday’s Finish the Ride event in Sunland-Tujunga in honor of fallen bicyclist Jeff Knopp.

 

State

Advocates for the homeless insist that the 1,000 bikes found after a homeless camp along the Santa Ana River Trail was cleared out had nothing to do with the people who had been living there, since they were found in a tunnel over two miles away.

A Huntington Beach man gets six years behind bars for attacking a police officer who stopped his son for a traffic violation while they were riding their bikes; the younger man had already been sentenced to seven years after pleading guilty last year.

Apple is donating $1.8 million to build a protected bike lane in Cupertino.

Two thousand Bay Area cyclists, joggers, skaters and strollers gear up for Thanksgiving with a 2.5 mile carfree Sunday.

 

National

Denver voted for $431 million in transportation bonds, including $18 million for bicycle projects.

Plans are underway for a program that could link Wyoming’s bike trails into a statewide network.

Sad news, as the 88-year old founder of Iowa’s legendary RAGBRAI passed away last week.

A 21-mile Ohio bike path connects local four breweries and a cider house.

Now that’s more like it. A Kentucky driver gets 35 years for the drunk and stoned hit-and-run death of a bike rider; he drove three miles after the crash with his dying victim still in the bed of his truck.

Evidently Los Angeles isn’t the only place where NIMBYs want to rip out recently installed bike lanes; outraged Cambridge, Mass residents working under the misnomer Safe Streets for All are demanding that the lanes be redesigned and parking restored, and want bike riders to be required to carry ID.

A New Jersey paper says the state’s new governor should embrace multi-use bike and pedestrian trails.

 

International

A Mexican TV executive was shot to death on Sunday when a group of thieves attempted to steal his bicycle on the outskirts of Mexico City.

Forget Everesting. A Vancouver bicyclist climbed one million feet by riding up a local mountain every day for a year to raise funds to fight pancreatic cancer.

Toronto drivers appear to be adjusting to the presence of bike lanes after initial anger. Which is usually what happens if authorities can resist the urge to rip them out before they have a chance to succeed.

A new survey shows four out of five people in the UK want protected bike lanes in cities.

Good question. The Guardian’s Peter Walker asks why cyclists are the one minority the BBC is okay with demonizing. Although there’s no point in limiting it to the Beeb, as media outlets around the world are perfectly okay with attacking people who ride bikes in ways they wouldn’t anyone else. Including right here in LA.

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson says Britain’s streets aren’t big enough for buses and bikes, and one of them has to go.

The Guardian asks if Copenhagen has hit peak bicycle, as ridership dips and more drivers take to the roads.

Not surprisingly, the best way to tour Soweto, South Africa is by bicycle. Like pretty much any other city you could name.

An Aussie cyclist was deliberately run off the road by a road raging driver after attempting to intervene in his dispute with another motorist. Meanwhile, an Australian councilor calls for an ad hoc committee to find solutions to road rage between motorists and cyclists. Never mind that most of the anger comes from the people in the cars. And they’re the ones with the four-wheeled weapons.

A new Australian study confirms that people who ride bikes are better drivers.

Singapore’s largest organized bike ride draws 6,500 riders, including many dressed as superheroes.

An industrial design student wins an Asian award for his wooden children’s bicycle that converts from a balance bike to a pedal bike as the kids get older.

 

Competitive Cycling

Britain’s Team Sky is accused of gaming the system for therapeutic exemptions that allow riders to use otherwise banned medications.

Fabian Cancellara challenges fellow retired pro Phil Gaimon to beat him in one of Fabian’s fondos, after Gaimon’s new book repeated accusations that Cancellara was motor doping, somehow thinking it would be no big deal. And no, this isn’t beginning to sound the least like a cycling soap opera.

The Daily Beast remembers Italian cycling legend Gino Bartali and his top secret work to save Jews in WWII, as the Giro make plans to start in Jerusalem next year.

VeloNews calls 16-year old Katie Clouse the next star of US cyclocross.

 

Finally…

If you’re riding while already on probation, probably best to leave the meth and dope at home. Your next bike helmet could have an airbag.

And this is why you don’t Instagram while riding.

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Man riding motorized bicycle killed in San Bernardino collision; 12th bike death in county this year

November 18, 2017 / / 3 comments

A San Bernardino man has been killed in a crash while riding his bike.

According to the Fontana Herald News, 24-year old Michael Brian Brownstein died after he was struck by a vehicle where North E Street turns into Kendall Drive in San Bernardino around 5:49 pm on Thursday. 

He was taken to a local hospital, then transferred to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 7:50 pm.

The San Bernardino Sun fills in some of the missing details, reporting that Brownstein was riding north on E Street when he was struck from behind by a vehicle driven by a 70-year old woman, who remained at the scene.

She was not suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The Sun also reports that Brownstein was riding a motorized bicycle, though it doesn’t clarify whether he was on an ebike or a gas powered bike.

A street view shows an undivided roadway with two lanes in each direction, with no shoulder or parking lane, forcing bicyclists to ride in the traffic lane.

This is the 58th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th in San Bernardino County. That compares with seven in the county for all of last year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Michael Brian Brownstein and all his loved ones.

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

Morning Links: Stumbling on a Compton bike crash, bike events, and fixing a bike path with duct tape

November 17, 2017 / / 6 comments

Mike Wilkinson forwards a reminder to always ride safely.

About 10:30 Thursday morning my wife saw the aftermath of a crash involving a bicyclist near Alameda and Alondra in Compton. Such a scene would be hard for most people to stomach, but it was especially tough for her, because we are both avid riders.

The bike was broken in half, which may indicate the force of the collision, but what really got to my wife was the rider’s screams as the first responders tried to help him. The whole scene is going to haunt her for a while.

Despite her shock, she felt it was important to note that most riders she sees in this area ride terribly. They run stop lights, ride on the wrong side of the road, cross from one side to the other in the middle of the block and worse. That makes it hard for even careful drivers like her to avoid collisions. It’s a reminder that following the rules of the road at least means that you are more likely to be where drivers expect you to be.

Be careful out there!

It’s important to note that there is nothing to suggest that the victim in this crash broke the law or rode recklessly in any way.

But it’s valid to say that our safety as bicyclists depends on riding in such a way that drivers know what to expect. Which means riding with traffic, observing traffic signals, and signaling turns. Even if they don’t.

In other words, ride like your life depends on it.

Because it does.

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This weekend marks the World Day of Remembrance to honor the victims of traffic violence.

Finish the Ride is marking the occasion with a memorial ride in honor of Jeff Knopp this Saturday; Knopp was killed while riding on Foothill Blvd in Sunland last November. Meanwhile, Streetsblog talks with Finish the Ride and S.A.F.E. founder Damian Kevitt.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, SoCal Families for Safe Streets, Day One, Streets are For Everyone, and Los Angeles Walks will hold a late afternoon ceremony at Pasadena city hall on Sunday.

In other events,

LACBC is hosting a ride marshal orientation on Saturday.

Also on Saturday, Walk ‘n Rollers is kicking off their Fall Fundraising campaign with their first CycleGiving ride in Culver City.

Bike SGV is leading an SGV Greenways bike train ride this Sunday.

Helen’s Cycles is hosting a number of rides over the next three days.

Los Angeles Bike Rebels is (are?) hosting a solo art show by Carolin Keweer on the 25th.

And CicLAvia returns to Wilshire Blvd on December 10th.

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It’s often said that if you can’t fix it with duct tape, it ain’t broken.

Which is amply demonstrated by this video, where people in the Dutch city of Nijmegen fixed a dangerous intersection on a bike path with a simple application of the aforementioned adhesive.

Thanks to David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

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An Irish pundit loses it on a live TV show, accusing bike riders of being actual brown shirt-wearing Nazis, and giving the Nazi salute to drive the point home.

Unfortunately, most of the story is hidden behind a paywall. However, British bike scribe Carlton Reid comes through with the full stomach-turning story.

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Local

A Mar Vista restaurant owner says the road diet implemented as part of the Venice Blvd Great Streets project put him out of business. If reducing a six lane street down to four lanes, with no loss of parking, is enough to kill your business, your problems go a lot deeper than that.

Speaking of Mar Vista, a dermatologist and Mar Vista Community Council member says Vision Zero is a great idea, but the Venice Blvd road diet was rammed down their throats and won’t save a single life. Because everyone knows that dermatologists are experts in traffic safety, unlike the people who actually get paid to do it. Never mind that it was the result of a two-year, community-driven process, and wasn’t rammed up or down any part of anyone’s anatomy. 

Emmy-winning Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany is one of us; you have to respect someone who rides her bike to an interview with the LA Times. Colin Farrell’s kid is now one of us, too.

Maybe things will get a little safer in Pasadena, which received $112,000 grant from the state to improve bicycle safety. And the Santa Monica police received a $300,000 traffic safety grant of their own.

 

State

One thousand bikes were found in a hand-built dirt bunker after a homeless camp was evicted from the Santa Ana River. If you had a bike stolen anywhere in the Fountain Valley area, now would be a good time to check in with the OC Sheriff’s Department.

A handful of Thousand Oaks residents object to a proposed road diet, while the majority who attended a meeting apparently didn’t have an opinion.

Amgen does more than just sponsor a bike race. They’re also helping to give new bikes to kids in the Conejo Valley.

A Santa Barbara woman says yes, you can go grocery shopping by bike. Although riding to class at the local university appears to have its issues. Note: As Andy S points out below, the shopping piece is a rerun of an article that appeared earlier this year.

Bakersfield received a $30,000 grant from the state for bicycle and pedestrian safety education programs, as well as distributing bike helmets.

Caltrans held a public workshop to discuss their nine-county Bay Area bike plan.

 

National

Trek is getting sued for trademark infringement, accused of stealing the name of the late plus-sized comedian Chris Farley for its popular Farley fat bike. And no, I don’t even want to consider that implication.

Now that you’ve mastered all the other bike skills, learn how to do an upside down flip over an open loop.

Bicycling explains how to survive your next attack by a wild boar or wildebeest. Or an angry dog.

The Aspen CO sheriff has recovered the stolen bike Lance Armstrong gave him, after it was found chained to a tree. Maybe now he’ll have enough sense to lock his bike up like everyone else.

It takes a real schmuck to steal a ghost bike; fortunately, it was recovered at a Kansas scrap yard.

Can he give it back? A 19-year old Michigan man rode his bike to work every day, regardless of the weather, so his coworkers pitched in to buy him a car for his birthday.

New York officials knew the bike path where eight people were killed recently was vulnerable to a terrorist attack, but did nothing to prevent it. Just like LA officials know the risk of a similar attack on Hollywood Blvd, but haven’t done anything about it.

WaPo invites six triathletes to race DC’s bikeshare bikes.

A Virginia Navy vet plans to ride a stationary bike until he’s raised enough money to buy 100 bikes and helmets for local kids.

 

International

Rouleur takes a look at the concept collaborations between bike and auto makers.

A Toronto cyclist says bike lanes aren’t for experienced riders like him; they’re for people who might not otherwise get on a bike.

I want to be like her. An 11-year old girl raised the equivalent of nearly $8,000 for a mental health charity by riding the length of the UK, inspired by a cousin with anorexia.

A bike-riding British purse snatcher is behind bars after grabbing nine purses from elderly women as he rode by, including one theft caught on security cam.

Brit cyclists say software developers and owners of autonomous cars should be held criminally responsible for any crashes.

After a 79-year old English rider was pushed off his bike by a group of teenagers, he refused to press charges because he doesn’t want them to have a criminal record.

A grieving Irish woman says “selfish drivers are oblivious to the huge devastation they could cause,” after losing her entire family in a crash with a suicidal cab driver.

Why bother with water bottles when you can strap a couple half liters of Spanish wine to your bike?

An Indian woman is riding solo across the country to prove that the nation’s roads are safe for women.

Life is cheap in Australia, where the negligent death of a bike-riding doctor isn’t worth a single day in jail.

One of China’s leading bikeshare companies is on the verge of going belly up; Quartz says China’s bikeshare startups will have to merge or die.

 

Competitive Cycling

Now that the Fabian Cancellara motor doping controversy has died down a little, Road.cc reviews Phil Gaimon’s new book Draft Animals.

A British Parliament member says Bradley Wiggins and British Cycling weren’t exonerated by the end of the recent doping investigation.

 

Finally…

Maybe cut back on the meth a bit if you want to outrun a 74-year old man on his stolen bike. Why fly the coop — literally — when you can ride a bike?

And if you’re dismantling a pair of bikes in an alley, while in possession of burglary tools — and already on probation for grand theft — you might want to have an explanation ready in case the cops show up.

Just saying.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Don’t take your right-of-way for granted, Union Station Bike Hub opens, and give a bike thief a hug

November 16, 2017 / / One comment

It’s a pretty light news day. Which means you should be able to read all of today’s post, and still get out to enjoy a ride in this beautiful LA weather.

Unless you live in Northern California, in which case you’re screwed.

Today’s photo shows the WeHo Pedals bikeshare dock outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where I’ve been spending way too much time lately. 

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Eric Fleetwood forwards this video reminding riders not to take their right-of-way for granted.

Here’s how he describes it,

As I approached the curve to the left, I signaled left to alert the driver of the Mini Cooper, even though I had the right of way and a pulsing amber headlight.  Early in the video it became apparent that he was not going to yield (you can see the back of the Yield sign and the graphic on the pavement), I veered to the right side of the road and let him pass by on my left. It appeared that he might be on a cell phone.

Incidentally, many riders down here feel that San Clemente has the worst drivers in South Orange County. I have many experiences with errant drivers, not all of which are on video. From last year: Picture the letter K with the bike route being the backbone of the K. A driver wanting to go from the right arm to the right leg of the K did so by turning left down the wrong side of the main street and then left onto the leg of the K, looking right at me and my Dinotte 400A pulsing 400 lumen amber light.

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Local

Metro has officially opened a $2.5 million, 3,000 square foot Bike Hub at Union Station, providing space for nearly 200 bicycles. Bike SGV offers photos from the event.

Los Angeles Walks is joining with the LA Vision Zero Alliance, and SoCal Families for Safe Streets to remember the victims of traffic violence at City Hall this Friday.

The president of the Eagle Rock Association pens an open letter calling for safety improvements, including bike lanes, on Yosemite Drive. Thanks to Walk Eagle Rock for the heads-up.

 

State

California Streetsblog looks at the recent report The Surprising Promise of Bicycling in America, calling it a brief history of recent advocacy gains, with a look at the future.

After a thief rode off on a San Diego man’s bamboo bike, he tracked the thief down, gave him a hug, and took his bike back. And felt so good, he started a crowdfunding campaign to buy bikes for kids whose bicycles were stolen.

San Francisco pledges nearly $150,000 to figure out how to fix a popular bike lane that’s frequently blocked by delivery vehicles.

 

National

Cycliq has updated their popular Fly 6 and Fly 12 bike cam/light combos.

A Chicago weekly asks if dockless bikeshare could disrupt the city.

Good read from a New York cyclist who complains about the chaos on the streets, saying cars — and road-raging drivers — scare the shit out of him.

 

International

A men’s website lists four of the best international cycling trips for foodies.

A Toronto writer says the permanent adoption of a trial bike lane means bicycling is finally getting recognized as a legitimate form of transportation in the city. Even if the photo shows the same sort of wheel-busting crappy pavement we have here.

A columnist rightfully ridicules a proposal to fine pedestrians for distracted walking, noting that all of the pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in the city were killed by crashes with motorists, not texting walkers.

A British car thief gets a well-deserved nine and a half years after smashing into a bicyclist while fleeing from police; fortunately, his victim is recovering.

An Irish schoolgirl left a nice, polite note asking the person who “borrowed” her bike to bring it back.

Celebrity chef Mario Bartali’s Eataly may have just opened in Century City, but it’s just a fraction of the size of the one opening in Bologna, Italy; so big that Bianchi stocked it with adult tricycles just to get around the 20-acre food complex.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson tries riding in ostensibly bike-friendly Vienna, Austria, and finds it not to his liking. At all. And says that does not bode well for Los Angeles.

There’s a special place in hell for someone who’d try to get away with a hit-and-run by pretending to be a Good Samaritan helping the victim, rather than the heartless driver who ran him down, like this jerk in India.

Caught on video: A Vietnamese boy just barely avoids a far too close call after he topples over on his bike directly in front of a truck.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bradley Wiggins complained about a “malicious witch hunt” after the doping investigation into British Cycling ends with no charges, but without completely clearing Wiggins or anyone else involved.

UCI’s new president says there’s no place in professional cycling for former dopers. Which as Lance and others point out, doesn’t leave too many people with sparkling clean resumes who’ve been around the sport very long.

 

Finally…

Who needs a plot of land when you can have your own bike farm? Don’t bother with traffic when you can just pedal your way down the river.

And prevent bike crashes by just buying a car like a normal person.

Yes, it’s a joke.

But you’ll find the same thoughts in the comment section virtually anytime bicycling gets mentioned online.

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Thanks to David Veloz for his generous contribution to help support this site, and bring you SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy every morning my laptop is working.

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

Morning Links: Union Station Bike Hub opens today, and LA wastes millions earmarked to fix crumbling streets

November 15, 2017 / / 10 comments

I hope you’ll forgive my unexcused absences for the past few days.

The good news is, my wife is doing well, and should be back home from the hospital before the week is over.

And my beleaguered laptop is up and running again, leaving me somewhat poorer, but back on the job. Let’s hope it stays that way.

We’ll just assume that nothing important happened while we were gone.

Right?

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LA’s biggest Bike Hub is opening today at Union Station. The new Metro site will offer secure parking for up to 200 bikes for $5 a week, or $60 a year.

Photo by Metro’s Julia Salinas, taken from The Source website.

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KCET examines the crumbling state of LA’s streets, and the risks it poses to people on two wheels.

Not to mention the needless expense to the city, as the Bureau of Street Services has returned tens of millions of dollars to the city, rather than making desperately needed street repairs, even as the city pays out millions in legal settlements to injured riders.

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It’s been a heartbreaking few days for elderly bike riders.

A 76-year old man was killed in a collision while riding his bike in Bakersfield; John Rous was a well-known and longtime member of the local riding community.

An 80-year old British bike rider was killed in a collision with Tesla, which may or may not have been driving itself.

An 83-year old man in the UK was killed when his bike apparently hit a pothole; new rules could mean that more British potholes won’t get fixed.

An 86-year old Indian man was killed in a collision with a truck as he was riding his bike to an outdoor gym.

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Rest easy, folks. Ed Sheeran is playing guitar again, and promises he’ll keep riding his bicycle, despite injuring both arm in a recent crash.

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Let’s catch up with a couple of stories we missed from last week.

Manhattan Beach voted to install sharrows and bike route signs throughout the city. Even though one councilmember is afraid they’ll just embolden cyclists to ride exactly where they’re supposed to.

UCLA students plan to form their own neighborhood council, and split with the “NIMBY and obstructionist” Westwood Neighborhood Council. While the story is about housing, the Westwood NC has also been active in blocking much needed bike lanes in the area.

Mobility advocates gathered in Leimert Park for Untokening California to discuss creating greater equity in transportation.

Next year’s CicLAvias will include a seven-and-a-half-mile route from Disney Hall to the Hollywood Bowl on September 30th, with performances by the LA Philharmonic orchestra along the way. And ending with a free performance by the orchestra at the Bowl.

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Local

A writer in the UCLA paper calls for an awareness campaign to get students to walk and bike more safely.

Bike SGV names Doug Strange their Community Advocate of the Year; the founder of the reborn La Verne Bicycle Coalition will be honored at their 2017 “Noche de las Luminarias” awards dinner next month.

Pasadena-area Rotarians will meet this weekend to assemble 300 bicycles for underprivileged children.

Santa Monica is moving forward with plans for a “radical” transformation of traffic-choked Lincoln Blvd into a more human-scale Complete Street.

 

State

Newport Beach police are looking for man riding a red cruiser bike who was seen following a San Bernardino County prosecutor before she was severely beaten while jogging in a park this past August.

A Riverside bike rider was shot in the leg as the result of an attempted robbery.

In a bizarre story, a Bakersfield man died in police custody shortly after using a fake gun to threaten a woman riding her horse on a bike path.

Sad news from the Sacramento area, where a 19-year old North Highlands man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike.

Sacramento State University is now a silver-level BFU. And no, that does not stand for Big Effing University.

A Marysville woman has been arrested in last week’s hit-and-run that left a bike rider seriously injured; she was taken into custody after calling the police to claim her car was stolen before the crash. An excuse that never seems to work in real life.

 

National

The GOP Senate wants to take away your measly $20 monthly benefit for riding your bike to work; the Bike League has more information on what you may be about to lose.

Architectural Digest examines how the threat of vehicular terrorism will change our cities in the wake of the New York bike path attack.

Bicycling offers tips on how to wash your bike.

A Seattle grandfather is suing after being left a paraplegic when he crashed into an unmarked bollard on a bike trail, which probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

An Iowa bicyclist says no, really, it’s much safer if she doesn’t give you any warning as she glides past on the sidewalk. That is what is technically known as a load of crap.

Evidently, flipping off the president pays. A Virginia woman who was fired from her job after her employers learned she was the bike rider who was photographed flipping off the presidential motorcade will receive at least $77,000 from a crowdfunding campaign. She says she did it because he wouldn’t have heard her through the glass.

 

International

A new crowdfunding campaign promises to turn your bike into an ebike for just $299, with an extra eight pounds of weight.

The Cuban record holder for the world’s tallest tall bike is working in tandem with the previous record holder, LA’s Richie Trimble, on a 20-foot tall tandem.

A Montreal website offers tips on how to stay safe and warm on your bike this winter. Which is especially good advice here in Los Angeles, where it sometimes gets down to a frigid 60 degrees.

Actor Robert Pattinson is one of us, as a gossip site freaks out when he’s spotted riding his bike in London without a helmet. Which is perfectly legal there, just as it is here.

A new UK survey shows 78% of people support protected bike lanes, even if the politicians don’t.

Three people were injured when a French driver with “psychiatric problems” deliberately plowed his car into a group of students.

Lithuanian students illustrate how much space cars take up, and how little bikes need.

A Mumbai website says everyone has a right to be safe when they ride a bike, from milkmen to champion cyclists.

………

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews reminisces about the great Bernard Hinault on his birthday.

Cyclist magazine explores why Chris Froome isn’t considered a legend.

Phil Gaimon released a statement about repeating the rumor that Fabian Cancellara was a known motor doper in his new book, after the Swiss rider’s lawyers demand the removal of the book.

 

Finally…

It’s a sad day when a dog has better form on an upright bike than I do — even if he does need training wheels. No matter how threatened you feel by drivers, riding with an AR-15 is probably not the answer; neither is claiming you just found it in the street and were taking it to the police station.

And if you’re going to ride your bike with a stolen Glock in your pants, put a damn light on it.

The bike, that is, not the gun.

………

Thanks to John P. Lynch for his generous contribution to support this site, as well as his kind wishes for my wife and laptop.

 

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

Move along, nothing to see here. Again.

November 13, 2017 / / 2 comments

Unbelievable.

I promised last week to catch up on the news we missed when I was too exhausted to write anything following my wife’s surgery.

Only to see my laptop fail yet again yet again over the weekend.

So instead of spending the day at the hospital with my wife, I’ll be at the computer repair shop for what seems like the millionth time this year, hoping that they can once again get it up and running. And keep it that way for a change.

With a little luck — or maybe a lot of luck, the way this has been going — we’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on some of what we’ve missed.

Update: Or maybe not.

No luck yet; keep your fingers crossed that we’ll be back on Wednesday.

Category: General /

No Morning Links today

November 10, 2017 / / 3 comments

The good news is, my wife had her surgery yesterday; everything went well, and she’s resting more or less comfortably.

Hopefully, this will resolve the serious health problems she’s faced for the last several years.

However, the long day has left me physically and emotionally exhausted. Especially after coming home to find this.

So please forgive me for not updating this site today. We should be back on Monday, and I’ll do my best to catch you up on any important news we may have missed.

And thanks for all the kind words and wishes; I may not have a lot of use for Facebook, but it brings a lot of comfort on days like this.

Meanwhile, if you live or work in the Inland Empire, keep your eyes open for this heartless coward who left a bike rider lying critically injured in the street.

Category: General /

Update: Two young bike riders struck in Long Beach crosswalk; teenage boy killed

November 9, 2017 / / 14 comments

It’s tragic enough when anyone is needlessly killed in a crash.

Worse when it’s a child. Especially one who doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong.

The Long Beach Post reports that a boy in his early teens was killed while riding his bike in the city Thursday afternoon.

According to the paper, the boy was riding with a preteen girl, headed east in the crosswalk on Conant Street at Woodruff Ave at 3:55 pm, when they were both struck by a driver turning left off westbound Conant onto Woodruff Ave.

They were taken to a local hospital, where the boy passed away. The girl remains hospitalized in stable condition with non-life threatening injuries.

Neither victim has been publicly identified.

The driver stayed at the scene.

This is the 57th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 25th in Los Angeles County.

It’s also the third bicycling death in Long Beach this year, and at least the 13th since 2011.

Update: According to the Long Beach Report, the two victims were  waiting on the sidewalk to cross Woodruff on their bikes, and didn’t enter the crosswalk until the light turned green. The driver turned into them as they were riding across the street.

Anyone with information is urged to call LBPD Collision Investigation Detail Detective Brian Watt at 562/570-7355.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

 

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

Morning Links: 1.3 million mile Breeze, Will Ferrell is one of us, and Gaimon accuses Cancellara of motor doping

November 9, 2017 / / 2 comments

Today we’re trying something slightly different by moving news about bike racing and pro cycling into its own section at the bottom, which seems to work better for quiet news days like today.

………

Local

KPCC looks at the LACBC’s annual Operation Firefly bike light distribution program, which kicked off in Van Nuys Tuesday night.

CiclaValley takes part in the annual Mike Nosco Memorial Ride.

In the two years that Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare has been in operation, users have taken over 628,000 trips covering more than 1.3 million miles.

Long Beach votes to move forward with a road diet and protected bike lanes on Alamitos Ave to improve bike and pedestrian safety, even though it will increase peak hour traffic times by slightly more than a minute.

The Elks club is hosting a family Bike & Car Black Jack Toy Run for Veterans Children, starting in Burbank and finishing in Santa Clarita this Saturday.

 

State

After a San Diego grand jury called for more bikeshare stations at the beach, the city naturally responds by removing them instead.

Murrieta has plans to build a BMX bike park. Someday.

A Moreno Valley bike rider was critically injured in a collision Wednesday afternoon, after allegedly swerving out of the bike lane into the driver’s path. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

Sad news from Porterville, where a bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver, who faces charges for DUI and fleeing the scene.

Will Ferrell is one of us, completing what a Washington news station calls an “amazing” “marathon” bike ride with four friends, going 147 miles down the California coast from Monterey to Santa Barbara over several days. Although the station can’t seem to grasp the concept that he might have done it just because he wanted to.

More on San Francisco’s new, smaller Vision Zero fire trucks designed to fit in reduced traffic lanes.

People for Bikes looks at San Francisco’s plans to use traffic diverters to create a neighborhood bikeway, noting that reducing automobile traffic on one street does not necessarily mean an increase in traffic on surrounding streets. LA’s bike plan calls for a network of similar streets, none of which have been built, or seem likely to at this point.

Volunteers are distributing hundreds of new and refurbished bicycles to kids who lost theirs in the recent fires in Sonoma County. Meanwhile, Specialized is donating 250 bikes to kids affected by the fires.

Some schmuck is leaving anti-Islamic and anti-fraternity/sorority flyers in bike baskets and on bike seats at UC Davis.

 

National

Las Vegas is installing 800 steel bollards to along the Las Vegas strip to protect pedestrians from terrorist attacks, as well as plain, old fashioned careless drivers. Which is exactly what Los Angeles needs to do, but doesn’t seem to have any interest in, along Hollywood Blvd.

A pair of Boise, Idaho brothers design their own plans for a protected bike lane.

A Wisconsin city moves to block a planned bike path; one official calls it a financial boondoggle, even though it’s being funded by the feds.

Chicago bike path users are more worried about reckless drivers than homicidal ones.

Pfizer employees in Michigan are building bicycles as gifts for military families.

Former Tennessee Titans linebacker Eddie Robinson is one of us too, riding roughly 200 miles a week. And dropping 25 to 30 pounds from his playing days in the process.

UPS will now make deliveries in downtown Pittsburgh by ebike.

An Atlanta cyber security expert was killed when his bike was struck by a driver fleeing from the police in a stolen car.

 

International

The case of the disappearing bike racks.

An Ontario, Canadia city hopes a new bike network will convert drivers to bike riders.

A fashion magazine is wowed by royal-in-law Pippa Middleton’s choice of a cardigan for a bike ride, though she seems somewhat displeased at being ambushed by the paparazzi.

A scum bucket British taxi company sues a bike rider for the equivalent of over $6,300 after one of their cabbies ran him down, apparently for getting blood on their cab.

An Irish endurance cyclist set a new record by riding 735 miles up and down the length of the county in less than 49 hours.

The mother of a fallen Australian bike rider says bicyclists just want to feel safe on the streets, while an Adelaide paper says state, federal and local governments need to work together more effectively to counter a 20% drop in bicycling rates over the last six years.

The war on bikes continues, as someone has been booby-trapping mountain bike trails in Western Australia.

Australian authorities are blocking the ports to keep a hit-and-run driver from fleeing the country after she left a 13-year old bike-riding girl to die in the street. There’s something seriously wrong with anyone who would drive off and leave another human behind to die, let alone a child.

As LA enters the world of dockless bikeshare, more Chinese cities are saying enough is enough.

………

Competitive Cycling

Former LA pro cyclist Phil Gaimon accuses cycling legend Fabian Cancellara of motor doping in Gaimon’s new book.

The brother of fallen pro cyclist Michele Scarponi makes an impassioned plea for better road safety; the Italian rider was killed in a collision while training in April.

 

Finally…

Car makers love to dabble in bicycle design, so why not a motorcycle maker? Your next Levis jacket could be Android and iOS compatible, for a mere 350 bucks.

And once again, if you’re using your bicycle as a weapon, you’re doing it wrong.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Specialized ebike recovered in Hollywood, and dangerous left cross caught on cam

November 8, 2017 / / 2 comments

The LAPD Hollywood Division is looking for the owner of a black Specialized Turbo X ebike.

Another reminder to register your bike now. And if it’s ever stolen, report it to the police right away, then list it with Bike Index’s free stolen bike database.

The police can’t press charges if they can’t prove it’s stolen.

And they can’t return it t the owner if they don’t know who it belongs to.

………

Something that’s familiar to way too many bike riders, as CiclaValley caught a close call on his bike cam, courtesy of a left crossing driver.

………

The 168-mile road cycling course for 2020 Tokyo Olympics will pass by the base of iconic Mt. Fuji.

A British website talks post-retirement life with Fabian Cancellara.

………

Local

KNBC-4 reports on the new ofo bikeshare available in Griffith Park for one dollar an hour. The question is whether the bikes will remain in the park as intended, which seems pretty unlikely.

The Santa Monica Mirror looks back at the city’s Halloween-themed Kidical Mass.

The Taste of South Pasadena bike ride rolls on Thursday.

Heal the Bay is hosting an Explore Ballona! bike ride along the Ballona Creek bike path this Saturday.

Also this Saturday, CICLE is sponsoring their BEST Ride: The Flowing Power Ride, while giving participants a chance to win a free Sole bike.

 

State

A San Joaquin Valley public radio station talks with a Kern County Vision Zero group about their efforts to reduce traffic fatalities in Bakersfield.

Two teenage gang members face charges for shooting a 67-year old Lenmoore man when he tried to ride his bicycle around them. And no, I’ve never heard of Lenmoore before, either.

A Templeton man is due to be sentenced at the end of this month for the death of a bicyclist while making an unsafe pass, after pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter.

San Francisco advocates pen an open letter to the mayor calling for improvements to the city’s Vision Zero program, including making immediate improvements at the site of any death.

A San Francisco supervisor tells Uber and Lyft to stay out of bike lanes.

 

National

A CNN Op-Ed says Juli Briskman shouldn’t have gotten fired for flipping off the president while riding her bike, which was unrelated to her work.

Bicycling offers drivers advice on how to safely pass bike riders, and tips for bike riders on how to ride clipless.

A Bernie Sanders — and soon Trump — biographer says last week’s New York terrorist attack is another reason why bicyclists and pedestrians must be protected from motor vehicles.

Once again, New York shows LA how it’s done, unveiling plans that would create protected bike lanes and improved intersections stretching eight miles across the city.

 

International

The parents of a fallen Canadian bicyclist are outraged that the driver won’t face serious charges, even though he hit a group of six riders head-on.

The Toronto city council votes to make a controversial protected bike lane on a major street permanent. Meanwhile, a pair of Toronto doctors write that protected bike lanes have a positive impact on public health by providing safe, healthy and accessible travel for people of all ages and abilities.

London’s former bike czar calls a proposal from the mayor to ban bikes on busy Oxford Street, which currently sees 5,000 riders a day, an unqualified disaster.

A pair of British bicyclists set a new record by riding through 14 countries in seven days.

Glasgow, Scotland is planning its first protected intersection. Which will be one more than you’ll find in Los Angeles.

Sixteen South African cyclists, including a 16-year old girl, rode 373 miles in 72 hours to raise awareness of diabetes.

 

Finally…

A cycling to English dictionary. And say it ain’t so, JuJu.

 

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