Fugitive driver cops plea for 7 years in 2017 hit-and-run, and drugged driver busted in Moorpark hit-and-run

Seven years.

That’s the sentence Andrea Dorothy Chan got after finally pleading guilty to the 2017 hit-and-run death of Agustin Rodriguez as he rode his bike in Whittier.

Chan had to be extradited from Australia to face charges after originally fleeing to Hong Kong, and having her badly damaged car repaired and stored in Idaho in an attempted coverup.

Rodriguez died at the scene after he was dragged 600 feet — the length of two city blocks — underneath Chan’s car.

Seven years isn’t anywhere near enough for a cruel and heartless crime like that. Especially since she’ll likely do less than half of that before being released.

But it’s the max she could get under California’s weak hit-and-run laws.

So it will have to do.

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A 38-year old Palm Springs man was busted for an allegedly drugged hit-and-run that left a Moorpark bike rider hospitalized with minor injuries.

Marco Martinez was being held in Ventura County jail on suspicion of felony hit and run, and DUI, as well as possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia.

Although the unnamed victim may have been more seriously injured than the story suggests, since minor injuries would only merit a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge under California’s weak hit-and-run laws.

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If you’ve never had the chance to meet, or at least listen to, CicLAvia’s Tafarai Bayne, you’re missing out on one of Southern California’s leading voices for bicycle and social equity.

So don’t miss this one.

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A SoCal startup is promising a new 33 pound ped-assist ebike capable of doing 33 mph, with a 33-mile range. Although the price is a tad more than $33.

However, a bike that fast exceeds California standards, which max out at 28 mph for a ped-assist bike.

And even that requires a driver’s license, license plate and a motorcycle helmet, and can’t legally be ridden on bike paths or in bike lanes.

Meanwhile, ebike prices are going up as manufacturers are being squeezed by higher costs.

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

A pair of Scottish bike riders were assaulted by three men for no apparent reason, when they stopped to fix one of their bikes on a footbridge; one of the men was injured badly enough to require medical treatment.

Sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

One of America’s most wanted men is one of us. US Marshals believe Lester Eubanks, aka Victor Young, may still be living in Los Angeles nearly 50 years after the convicted child killer escaped from an Ohio penitentiary; his ex-boss says he rode his bike to work every day when he worked at a Gardena waterbed factory.

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Local

Pez Cycling News talks with LA’s Phil Gaimon, whose cycling career has flourished after he retired from the pro tour. Which is usually not the way it works.

 

State

Here’s your chance to run the California branch of the Sierra Club, as the not-always bike and urbanist-friendly organization looks for a new director.

Bakersfield is considering giving the green light to ebike riders on the city’s bike paths.

San Luis Obispo County unveils plans for an $18 million, 4.5-mile extension of the Bob Jones City-to-Sea Bike Trail.

A Palo Alto bike rider says yes, distracted drivers deserve to get tickets, like the one who ran him down by jumping on the green light before he could get across an intersection.

Nearly 50 Sonoma County residents are suing the SMART rail authority for allegedly building bike and walking trails through their properties without permission.

They get it. A new regional transportation plan for the Lake Tahoe area says the region can’t build its way out of mounting gridlock by building more roads, calling for improved public transportation and building more bike paths. Now they just need to find a spare $1 billion under the cushions.

 

National

Transportation advocates and organizations, including NACTO and the League of America of American Bicyclists, are calling for a rewrite of the auto-centric Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices; the head of the signals committee for the MUTCD’s parent organization bizarrely calls the campaign an example of “cancel culture.”

Heavy rates the 15 best balance bikes for the toddler in your life.

No bias here. If an Arizona bike rider can simply fall over and get run over by the rear wheels of a passing semi, the truck driver was too damn too close. Which is probably why the poor guy on the bike fell over in the first place.

Unbelievable. A Kansas woman with a long criminal record faces a murder charge for allegedly running down a man who was riding a bike across an intersection — then reportedly getting out of her van to shoot him while he lay in the road.

Sioux City, Iowa bike riders celebrate the city’s first bike lane, which opened just six months ago. Welcome to the 20th Century.

Life is really cheap in Milwaukee, where a killer driver walked with two years probation for taking the life of a man riding his bike — while driving with a suspended license, no less. What the hell is wrong with the judge and prosecutor when they can’t even manage a slap on the wrist for someone who wasn’t even supposed to be on the damn road in the first place?

More on the Montauk NY woman who faces up to 25 years behind bars after pleading guilty to running down a man riding his bike home from work, while she was drunk and speeding at nearly twice the legal limit, with coke in her system.

A Florida TV station showed an incredible lack of basic human decency by posting security cam video of a bike rider getting run over a driver, which left the victim severely injured. I’m only linking to this to condemn the station for showing the full video without editing or blurring out the crash. I can’t recommend watching the video because you can’t unsee it; I wish I hadn’t. And I can only imagine the pain it will cause friends and family members of the victim.

 

International

A new book from record-setting endurance cyclist Mark Beaumont promises to teach you how to ride further than your current limits, whether that means a half century or riding around the world.

The Men in Kilts are one, uh, two of us, as they bike the Scottish Highlands in their latest episode. No word on whether they had to use a penny to keep their skirts down

Life is cheap in the UK, where a killer driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a 17-year old boy as he was riding his bike; the driver told police he hit a deer.

A 94-year old British man also walked without a day in jail for killing a bike rider, the only punishment was a four year driving ban, and having to retake the test to get his license back when he’s 98.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 100-year old English veteran of World War II has been raising funds for charity by riding his exercise bike 15 minutes every day. Even if he is doing his riding inside.

The capitol of India’s Jharkhand state is encouraging residents to go carfree every Saturday to reduce air pollution.

A new study shows a program in India’s Bengaluru state to give students new bicycles led to improvements in enrollment, retention of students and academic performance.

Cycling Weekly tells the tale of Josh Reid — son of British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid — who picked up his new bike off the Chinese production line and rode it 9,300 miles home to the UK, relying on strangers along the way.

A rear-view camera captures an Aussie bicyclist getting rear-ended by a distracted driver; you can actually see the cell phone she’s holding.

 

Competitive Cycling

Next year’s Tour de France will kick off with two stages in Bilbao, Spain. Which is not the Spanish name for the main character in the Hobbit.

The entire board of cycling’s drug testing agency resigned en masse in anticipation of a transfer of responsibility to the independent International Testing Agency, which controls drug testing for over 40 other organizations worldwide.

Two-thirds of the Bora-Hansgrohe team was quarantined when British cyclist Matt Walls was diagnosed with Covid-19, meaning the team will miss out on both the Ghent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen one-day classics; needless to say, the team manager was not pleased.

Powerhouse British cycling team Ineos-Grenadiers swept the podium at the week-long Tour of Catalunya stage race, with Adam Yates finishing ahead of teammates Richie Porte and Geraint Thomas.

Cycling Tips remembers Belgian pro Antoine Demoitié five years after he was killed in a collision with a motorbike rider, just six months after he married a woman he’d known since they were both 14.

VeloNews talks with Belgian cycling legend Freddy Maertens, who they call the greatest classics rider who never won one of the Monuments.

A writer for Road.cc explains why he decided to pull out of Europe’s Transcontinental race. Although it sound like he’s still trying to convince himself.

Pugilistic French pro Nacer Bouhanni was DQ’d in Sunday’s one-day Cholet-Pays de la Loire classic after bodychecking another cyclist during the final sprint; Italian Elia Viviani won the race.

 

Finally…

This track cycling ebike prototype may be thrilling, but a commuter bike it ain’t.

And that feeling when you get knocked off your bike by a passing UFO.

Even if the bike in question was a motorbike.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask

Update: Unidentified man killed riding bike in Indio collision Sunday morning; second fatal Indio bike crash in two months

Then there were three.

A bad weekend for Southern California bike riders got worse, when an unidentified man was killed riding a bike in Indio Sunday morning.

According to the Desert Sun, the victim was struck around 11:45 am on Avenue 48 east of Jefferson Street.

He apparently died at the scene.

The driver, identified only as man, remained after the crash and cooperated with investigators.

Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time; even the police spokesman had to speculate that the crash occurred in the middle of the road, because police shut down in both directions.

And yes, this serves as yet another reminder to always carry ID with you when you ride.

This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Riverside County; he’s also the second person killed riding a bike in Indio in just the last two months.

His death comes after two other people were killed riding bicycles in SoCal crashes this weekend, in Irwindale on Saturday and Escondido Friday night.

Update: The victim has been identified as 73-year old Indio resident William Mohan

My deepest sympathy and prayers for William Mohan and all his loved ones.

Update: Irwindale woman killed in drunken hit-and-run early Saturday; 8th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year

Yet another Southern California bike rider has been killed by a cowardly drunken driver who lacked the basic human decency to stick around after the crash.

Allegedly.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports a woman was discovered lying in the roadway on Huntington Drive near Foothill Boulevard in Irwindale early Saturday morning.

Police found the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, on the 2900 block of Huntington Drive shortly after 1:21 am, surrounded by parts from her shattered bicycle.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

There’s no word on how the crash happened, or whether she had lights or reflectors on her bike in the late night darkness.

Twenty-one-year-old La Puente resident Adrian Ortega was arrested by West Covina cops shortly afterwards in the area of Francisquito and Sunset Avenues, after officers spotted evidence connecting him to the crime.

At last report, he was still being held on $100,000 bond, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, drunk driving and hit-and-run.

A street view shows a four lane roadway with no bike lanes or shoulder, with the San Gabriel River Trail visible in the background.

At that hour, it’s unlikely there would have been anything to keep drivers from exceeding the posted speed limit.

This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Shamefully, over half of those deaths have been hit-and-runs — as have all three bicycling deaths in LA County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 22-year old Antonia Ramirez; no city of residence was given.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Antonia Ramirez and all her loved ones.

 

Update: 33-year old man killed riding bike in Escondido collision Friday night

It’s already been a bad weekend for SoCal bike riders.

Starting with a fatal collision in Escondido Friday night.

According to the Union-Tribune, a 33-year old man, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was struck by the driver of a Nissan Altima just after 7 pm at the intersection of West Ninth Avenue and South Spruce Street.

The paper reports that paramedics responding to the crash arrived to find the victim unconscious and bleeding from head injuries; he was taken to Palomar Medical Center, where he died.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on how the collision occurred. However, visibility may have been an issue since the crash occurred sometime around sundown.

A street view shows a bike lane with a brief separation on Ninth, beginning west of Spruce, on a three lane street with a 35 mph speed limit; the intersection is controlled only by a stop sign on Spruce. The street has two lanes in each direction with sharrows east of Spruce.

The driver, who also hasn’t been identified, was taken to a hospital with undisclosed medical issues after initially remaining at the scene.

This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

Although someone should tell the U-T that the car did not hit the victim by itself; the story doesn’t even mention the driver until the final paragraph.

Update: The victim has been identified as 33-year old Escondido resident Diego Mateo.

Mateo was riding west on Ninth when he was rear-ended by a driver following in the same direction, after allegedly swerving in front of the car.

However, it’s important to remember that, unless there were independent witnesses, we only have the driver’s word on how the crash occurred, since the victim isn’t around to share their side of the story.

A motorist can easily drift right, then assume the bike rider who suddenly appeared in front of them somehow darted into their path. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Diego Mateo and his loved ones. 

 

US bike sales spike during pandemic, California bill would legalize jaywalking, and thick thighs really do save lives

Looks like NPR has discovered the bike boom.

According to the public radio network, bike sales shot up 65% last year as the pandemic encouraged more people to get outside, and find safer ways to get to work, while ebikes sales jumped a whopping 145%.

Both figures would undoubtedly be higher if the unexpected boom hadn’t emptied many shops of bikes to sell — and even higher if factories could have kept up with the demand, as the pandemic affected all aspects of the supply chain.

The question is whether all those new bike buyers will keep riding once the country opens back up.

Or if bad roads, unwelcoming drivers and a lack of decent bike infrastructure will drive them back inside and into their cars.

Photo by Michael Gaida from Pixabay.

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San Francisco Assemblymember Phil Ting wants to toss out the law against jaywalking.

Ting has proposed a bill that would make it legal to cross a street outside of a crosswalk or against a traffic light when safe to do so, saying the current law is arbitrarily enforced and disproportionately affects people of color.

The existing, largely misunderstood statue already allows people to cross mid-block in most areas, only applying on streets controlled by a traffic signal on both ends.

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A new UCLA study shows thick thighs really do save lives, especially in women.

You can thank the higher muscle mass from bicycling for reducing your risk of death from cardiovascular disease, while higher body fat also serves to protect women, but not men.

As usual, you can read the story on Yahoo if the Bicycling site blocks you.

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Go gravel grinding back to the Cold War with Gravel Bike California.

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Give ’em a hand today. Because the streets you ride will depend on them tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/MarisaMangan/status/1375333572773507075

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Maybe it’s just me.

But this new five and a half minute “conspiratorial” short film for Specialized’s Turbo Levo e-mountain bike kind of misses the mark.

In part because it feels like it might have made a much better three minute ad.

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Help promote the country’s longest bikeway for a living.

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

No bias here. A British city councilor refuses to apologize for agreeing with an off-color tweet about cyclists “wanking off the Dutch.”

The Guardian questions whether “radical” plans to remake the streets will be shut down before the results are in, due to driver outrage and legal challenges, while a London site examines the “fire and fury” ignited by a popup protected bike lane in Kensington.

Sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Nothing like nearly getting killed during a live Brazilian remote news broadcast. Fortunately, only her bike paid the price this time.

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Local

The LACBC’s annual River Ride is being turned into a free virtual event this year. Which won’t help them raise funds, since the River Ride usually brings in a large portion of the nonprofit organization’s operating budget. So maybe send ’em a few bucks when you’re done.

Shia LaBeouf is one of us, riding his bike in Pasadena, while facing a lawsuit from his former girlfriend alleging “sexual battery, assault and infliction of emotional distress.”

 

State

Riverside County received a $3.74 million grant to add bike lanes and roundabouts on a mile-long stretch of County Line Road in Calimesa.

If you’re missing a bike in the Thousand Oaks area, check in with the local police, who recovered seven apparently hot bikes when they busted a couple on drug charges; two of the bikes have already been reunited with their owners.

Bakersfield police are looking for a bike thief who was caught on video lifting a Trek from a bus station.

A mountain biker was helicoptered out of a remote location near Orcutt Hills in Santa Barbara County after suffering a possible head injury in a fall.

Central California’s Moro Bay will finally get a new beachfront bike path, on land formerly claimed by Chevron.

San Francisco unveils a new protected bike lane and other safety improvements on Second Street in the South of Market district, otherwise known as SoMa. Although as usual, the “protection” consists of just green paint and flimsy plastic bendy posts.

 

National

The physics of how to pump your bike.

The Wall Street Journal calls gravel bikes the SUVs of the bike world. Which sounds interesting, even if most of the piece is hidden behind their infamous paywall.

Fascinating story from MIT on the history of ‘bents, which date back to at least 1896.

Today picks the best bike helmets for men, women and children. And manages to keep the price tag down to a Benjamin or less.

There’s something terribly wrong when a former NBA star ends up paralyzed while riding his bike, and no one is held accountable. Then again, it would be just as wrong if it happened to anyone else, too.

The bighearted owners of a Kansas miniature golf and go cart park raised $2,500 to replace the bicycle a deaf employee relied on for transportation, after his bike was stolen while he was at work.

Life is cheap in Illinois, where a killer driver got a lousy $250 fine for failing to slow down because he somehow couldn’t see two teens riding their bikes directly in front of him, slamming into one boy and sideswiping his brother. Maybe the problem is a prosecutor who thinks killing one kid and injuring the other is only worth a 25 buck fine; at least the judge disagreed.

A Montauk NY woman faces 8 to 25 years behind bars for the drunken, high speed crash that took the life of a bike rider; she was doing twice the speed limit at the time of the crash, and registered twice the legal BAC hours afterwards. Not to mention the baggies of coke cops found on the floor of her pickup.

 

International

Surprisingly, the inflatable, crash-activated airbag from Hövding outperformed more traditional bike helmets in an independent safety test.

Canada commits to spending $400 million on bike lanes, trails and pedestrian bridges over the next five years, although that’s just over 2.5% of the county’s $14.9 billion transportation fund. That works out to the equivalent of $318 million in US dollars.

Canada’s capitol city throws in the towel on its bikeshare system, choosing e-scooters as the favored microtransit option going forward.

Once again, bike riders are heroes, as a pair of men riding their bikes along a UK canal towpath rescued a woman who had attempted to kill herself by jumping into the water.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the bike given to a British boy after he learned to ride again despite losing a leg to cancer; a family friend has raised the equivalent of $2,200 to replace it. The bike, that is, not his leg. Although that would be even better.

A coalition of 33 Scottish organizations have called on the police to create a system to submit dash and bike cam video to make it quicker and easier to report and prosecute traffic crimes. In most, if not all, US states — including California — the problem is it’s currently illegal to use video evidence for traffic infractions and many misdemeanors, which must be directly observed by police officers. Something that has to change to hold drivers accountable and keep up with the rapidly expanding technology.

He gets it. A Cork, Ireland columnist admits that while he doesn’t ride, “cycling benefits the entire city, not just its particular practitioners, in all sorts of ways.” And urges the city to find ways to overcome its hilly terrain to encourage more of it.

In a less desirable effect of the bike boom, serious bicycling injuries jumped 4% in Switzerland last year.

Pink Bike says the pandemic and subsequent bike boom have made it clear the bicycle supply chain is susceptible to bottlenecks. Like maybe a giant cargo ship blocking the Suez Canal, for instance.

New Zealand bike riders form their own people protected bike lane to protest the local. government’s lack of action.

 

Finally…

Who knew you could have gotten an eight-year jump on the latest ebike designs? The next time you ring your bell crashing your bike, a simple spit test could determine how hard.

And I get tired of saying it. So let’s let Streets For All have the last word on LA’s failing bike plan

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask

Pasadena driver faces murder charge, LADOT proposes bike lane-free Lincoln Blvd, and protected parking lanes in DTLA

This is who we share the road with.

Police arrested 36-year old Anthony Marcus Houston on murder and reckless driving charges for a Pasadena crash last December.

He’s accused of blowing through a red light at twice the posted speed limit, and slamming into a car driven by 49-year old Pasadena resident Juanita Lucinda Johnson, killing her and injuring three other people.

Houston, who has a lengthy criminal record dating back to his teens, had been wanted since an arrest warrant was issued last month.

He also faces charges for assaulting and threatening two people earlier this month.

It’s just too bad that’s what it seems to take to get prosecutors to take traffic crimes seriously.

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LADOT wants your opinion on proposed changes to Lincoln Blvd south of Santa Monica.

None of which involves building a bike lane.

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Then again, it’s not like even a “protected” bike lane means much in the City of Angels these days.

https://twitter.com/TheWarhorseSux/status/1374755987773562886

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This is what could be happening in Los Angeles.

But isn’t.

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

A driver jumped out of his car and tried to fight a woman riding her bike in New York.

Something that happens too damned often, and for no good reason.

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Local

Los Angeles has received a $30.7 million grant for transportation projects in the Canoga Park area, including protected bike lanes on Owensmouth Avenue and Sherman Way, and a protected connection between the Orange Line and the LA River bike path.

 

State

A teenage Indio bike rider was hospitalized with moderate injuries after getting struck by a driver Wednesday evening.

The Santa Barbara city council voted unanimously to build the new crosstown Sola Street bicycle boulevard, over loud objections from the city’s Historic Landmarks Commission, who somehow felt traffic diverters would destroy the historic ambiance of the Mission District.

Northern California’s Caltrain is installing new bike lockers at most stations, available on a first come, first served basis for just five cents an hour.

This is who we share the road with, too. Police are looking for a Santa Rosa man who deliberately slammed his car into a homeless camp, injuring a man he’d been arguing with and killing nearby a woman; he’ll face murder and attempted murder charges once he’s arrested.

 

National

Men’s Journal offers their picks for the best bike helmets to keep your head in one piece, however you ride. Although you can protect your head just as well for a fraction of the cost of some of their choices.

Cycling Weekly recommends clothing and accessories for on or off your bike.

A new online bicycling community promises to bring together cycling content, resources, perks and discounts into a single resource, with annual memberships starting at just $10.

A former Portland bike shop owner is urging his erstwhile peers to band together to support an industry climate change declaration. Seriously, bicycles could — and should — be one of the most important tools in fighting climate change, yet the industry has done virtually nothing to encourage it.

In an extreme example of failing to share the trail, a Washington hiker stabbed a mountain biker who asked his group to move over so he could get by. Predictably, both sides disagree on whose fault it was.

Residents of College Station, Texas rally around an 81-year old lawyer after someone stole the beat-up cruiser bike he’d ridden to work every day for the last 12 years.

Minneapolis introduces new artistically designed bike racks. Although I suspect most bike riders are more concerned with keeping their bike safe than how whimsical the rack is.

New York is poised to make a big move by shifting responsibility for crash investigations from the NYPD to the city’s department of transportation, although the police would still be responsible for any criminal investigation that results. However, that raises questions over the need to hire and train hundreds of crash investigators for a department that has never investigated anything more serious than a parking violation.

As California considers legalizing speed cams, New Yorkers voice overwhelming support for automated traffic enforcement, with 78% of New York City voters approving, along with 73% of motorists.

A New York Streetsblog op-ed argues for the role bike co-ops play in promoting equity on the city’s streets, enabling cash strapped people to get a good bike without falling into the trap of dysfunctional used bikes or low quality mass market bicycles.

Speaking of Streetsblog, they note that booming bike use means there’s now an average of just 1.9 cars for every bike on New York’s Second Avenue, yet drivers get roughly 12 times the space.

There’s a special place in hell for anyone who could flee the scene after killing a 10-year old boy riding his bike; a 27-year old Georgia woman faces a charge of vehicular homicide.

 

International

The bikewear market took a nosedive last year, dropping 25% despite the bike boom.

An Edinburgh bus driver is out of work after colliding with a drunken bike rider; he was fired for reckless conduct, even though police cleared him of misconduct.

An 84-year old Limerick, Ireland woman beamed when she was given a new bicycle by the kindhearted owner of a local bike shop, after he discovered the bike she rides around the city was too far gone to be repaired.

A group of around 20 Singapore bicyclists are accused of hogging the road — not to mention violating Covid protocols — even though they courteously moved out of the driver’s way after he honked.

 

Competitive Cycling

Leading French newspaper Le Parisien reports next month’s single-day Paris-Roubaix, aka the Hell of the North, has been postponed until fall due to the pandemic; it comes after last year’s race was postponed, before being cancelled.

Bicycling hops into the Wayback Machine for a look back at the pioneering women bicyclists who forced their way into the sport, paving the way for today’s women’s cyclists. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to ride your bike through a closed Burger King drive-thru looking for change, with an open beer in hand, maybe leave the meth pipe at home. Florida police are looking for an electric bicycle thief; no word on whether he runs on a cord or batteries.

And yes, please.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask