Due to this morning’s breaking news, Mr. CiclaValley’s interview with pro cyclist Phil Gaimon about next weekend’s inaugural Malibu Gran Cookie Fondo has been postponed.
It will appear on this site by noon tomorrow. My apologies for the delay.
Bike rider killed in Pacoima collision Wednesday night
The LAPD is reporting that a bike rider was killed in a collision in Pacoima late last night.
According to the press release, the victim was crossing Foothill Blvd mid-block between Van Nuys Blvd and Carl Street around 11:10 pm when a driver headed south on Foothill struck the back of his bike.
The rider, who has not been publicly identified, was thrown a considerable distance by the force of the impact, coming to rest in the center of the roadway. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with injuries to his head and upper torso, where he was pronounced dead at 11:36.
The Daily News reports police estimate he was 39 years old.
The driver remained at the scene and was cooperating with investigators. The force of the impact would suggest the driver may have been traveling faster than the posted 35 mph speed limit.
There’s no word on whether the victim had lights and reflectors on his bicycle, which should have made him visible as he crossed the street.
Anyone with information is urged to call Valley Traffic Division Office Martinez at 818/644-8032 or Det. III Bustos at 818/644-8021.
This is the 65th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, the 26th in LA County and the eighth in the City of Los Angeles. He also the third bicyclist killed on Foothill Blvd in the last three years, which suggests a need for significant safety improvements.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: bicycling fatality, County of Los Angeles, Foothill Blvd, Los Angeles, Pacoima, Vision Zero
Morning Links: Road rage assault in San Diego County, and LAPD looking for shooter of Echo Park bike rider
Come back later today when we’ll have a guest post from Mr. CiclaValley himself as he talks with Toluca Lake resident and pro cyclist Phil Gaimon about next weekend’s inaugural Malibu Gran Cookie Fondo.
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This is who we share the roads with.
San Diego’s 10News reports a road raging driver intentionally knocked a local radio host off his bicycle as he was escorting a disabled cyclist on the Coast Highway in Carlsbad, just a few miles from the end of the Challenged Athletes Foundation’s 620-mile Million Dollar Challenge.
As the rider worked to make it up a small hill, an impatient driver began honking his horn, despite a support van warning cyclists were ahead. So KOGO host Bob “Sully” Sullivan rode back to explain that his riding partner was a paraplegic using a handcycle to get up the hill.
“‘We’ve gone 590 miles, give me 90 seconds, I’ll have him up and over this grade, you can be on your way,'” Sullivan said he told the man. “Completely agitated, he says to me, ‘I don’t care if it’s f-ing God up there. Get out of the f-ing road.'”
Sullivan said that’s when he stopped talking to the man and got back on his bike. The truck’s driver accelerated and hit Sullivan’s bike, causing him to fall to the roadway.
Yet despite the presence of an off-duty Carlsbad cop riding in the opposite direction, no charges have been filed.
“I think he needs to be arrested,” Sullivan said. “Somebody who purposely hits somebody on a bicycle using his car is either assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, at the very least shouldn’t be driving a car right now.”
Seriously.
Thanks to Todd Munson for the heads-up.
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The LAPD is asking for the public’s help in finding the person who shot and killed a bike rider in Echo Park last week; 37-year old William Perea was hit with gunfire as he rode at Mohawk and Montana the night of October 17th.
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LADOT says safety remains the top priority on the LA River bike path, as they remind both walkers and bike riders about the statutes governing the pathway and the need to share it safely, in the wake of a collision with a bicyclist that sent an elderly woman to the hospital.
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Equity is the common theme of the day.
Momentum Magazine looks at the nationwide movement to build greater equity in bicycling.
People for Bikes says the massive racial wealth gap is a major barrier to bicycle use, noting that a bike can’t save you money if you don’t have enough to buy one.
And Curbed looks at the speech given by the LACBC’s Tamika Butler that brought down the house at last month’s NACTO conference.
The LACBC deserves a lot of credit for starting this conversation, even before Butler came on board, with its outreach to lower income immigrant communities in the last decade. Along with notable presentations at the National Bike Summit that marked the bike coalition as a national leader on the subject.
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Don’t forget to vote for LA Bike Trains and SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone) for this year’s LA2050 challenge grants; voting ends tomorrow.
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Local
KCET discovers the delicious marriage of bicycling and desserts that is Sweet Ride USA, with new episodes appearing online every Wednesday through November 16th.
KPCC discusses solutions to the first mile/last mile problem for transit users.
The Westwood Village Improvement Association discusses how to improve business and better serve the surrounding community. Oddly, making it safer to walk and bike there doesn’t seem to be an option, even though both would benefit the Village’s long suffering businesses.
Pasadena’s bikeshare system is expected to open next July as the Metro Bike system expands northward; the system is expected to have 400 bikes at 34 docking stations around the city.
The new and improved Agoura Road, complete with shiny new bike lanes, opens in Agoura Hills after a year of construction.
Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson recounts Tuesday’s civil obedience protest ride and lengthy council session in Palos Verdes Estates in his own inimitable style.
State
Hats off to OC’s Special Spokes and the San Clemente Rotary for providing special-needs kids with adaptive bicycles. With all the negativity this election year, it’s nice to see people working to make a real difference in kids lives.
A Clovis driver faces up to a year in jail for fatally rear-ending a bike rider last April.
An unidentified man was shot and killed as he rode his bike in Fresno Tuesday night; police are unsure if the shooting was gang-related.
National
There’s a special place in hell for someone who would steal a bicycle on loan to a vet from Ride 2 Recovery so he could ride across the US with his dog, who’s suffering from terminal cancer. And in my hometown, no less.
Bike lawyer Bob Mionske writes about a new Close Call Database allowing bike riders to report punishment passes from angry motorists to establish a paper trail in case the driver does it again. Or worse.
A Texas rider says learn to ride safely and obey the law, or don’t ride at all.
A Maine newspaper says the technology for today’s carbon fiber bicycles got its start in the state with Aegis Bicycle, but the company couldn’t hold out against increasing competition and the demand for ever lighter frames.
New York tells cyclists and pedestrians to make themselves more visible, and drivers to pay more attention, in advance of the end of daylight savings time next month. Meanwhile, a new proposal would allow bike riders to get a head start at traffic signals by going with the walk signal for the leading pedestrian interval.
Who was that masked man? A Bronx bike rider is a hero after retrieving a woman’s stolen purse, then riding off before she could thank him. No word on whether he left a silver bike chainlink behind.
Philadelphia police arrested a 17-year old boy in the shooting of a Good Samaritan who got off his bicycle to try to stop an armed robbery; he faces charges including attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Bikes and dogs are now officially banned from Arlington National Cemetery.
A Charleston writer says the city deserves the distinction of being called America’s worst city for bicycling.
International
You know Calgary has a lot of bike riders when the city’s bike counter gets maxed out with 68 days still left in the year.
Ella Cycling Tips offers advice on how to recover mentally from a bicycling crash.
Life is cheap in Belize, where champion cyclist Marlon Castillo is fined just $13,000 for the careless driving collision that killed his friend.
Ottawa police release a new PSA campaign explaining how to use and drive around the city’s new bike box and bi-directional bike lanes.
Caught on video: A British cabbie clips a cyclist with his mirror, then launches into a foul-mouthed temper tantrum claiming the rider somehow hit him. And yet some actually question who was in the right.
Tom Cruise is one of us, as he reportedly rides through the English countryside with his new girlfriend.
A Brit cyclist born with just one arm is raising funds to buy a prosthetic arm so he can compete in the Paralympic Games; a Go Fund Me account has raised a little more than half of the £7,500 goal, the equivalent of $9157.
A nine-year old cyclist may be a better climber than most of us, topping Italy’s famed Mt. Ventoux and Stelvio climbs in under 48 hours.
An Aussie writer says Sydney needs to focus less on fining bike riders and more on building some decent infrastructure for them.
A German cyclist survives a night in the snake and crocodile-infested Australian wilds after taking a header over his handlebars and dislocating is shoulder.
Finally…
If you’re going to use a bicycle to make your getaway after stealing a bag-full of booze, try not to ride into a lamppost. Why settle for a mere sag wagon when you can have your very own bike butler?
And in LA we have police chases; in London, it’s investment bankers biking away from bobbies.
Morning Links: Hit-and-run runs rampant throughout CA; video shows plans for Puente Hills Landfill park
If you think the hit-and-run epidemic is getting worse, you’re right.
Stats wonk Ed Ryder does a great job of mining the CHP’s SWITRS database; in the past, he’s created detailed charts to help us understand traffic collisions on PCH, as well as in LA and Orange Counties, and around the state.
So when I met with a state legislator to discuss the problem of hit-and-runs recently, I asked Ryder if he could delve into the database once again to show just how big a problem it really is.
And big is putting it mildly.
As his report shows, it’s goes way beyond bad, and it’s only getting worse. Not just here in LA, but nearly everywhere in California.
In fact, from 2004 to now, a driver fled the scene in nearly 20% of all crashes in the state.
After dropping to a low of 17.4% of all collisions in 2011, hit-and-run has made a big comeback, climbing to 19.5% in 2015, and 20% to date in 2016.
Note: It should be noted that the more recent figures are preliminary, since there’s a significant lag time in reporting statistics to SWITRS. And these stats only include death and serious injuries; adding property damage would boost the percentages significantly.
The sheer numbers are staggering, with nearly 300 deaths due to hit-and-run collisions in recent years, and over 20,000 injuries.
As the following chart shows, the costs are huge, not just in terms of human suffering, but in the economic loss to society, as well.
Not surprisingly, Los Angeles County is the state’s overwhelming leader in hit-and-run deaths, with San Diego, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties fighting it out for 2nd place.
Injuries paint an even more dramatic picture, with LA County accounting for over half of all hit-and-runs resulting in injuries.
However, that is partly a function of LA’s sheer size. When you look at hit-and-run collisions as a percentage of population, a much different picture appears.
While LA still leads in injury collisions, it drops to ninth in fatalities.
It’s possible that may be due to better access to emergency care compared to less urban counties like Kern and Tulare, where it could take significantly longer to get to a trauma center following a crash. As well as slower speeds resulting from traffic congestion and lower speed limits in urban areas.
Regardless, it’s clear that hit-and-run is a problem that affects the entire state.
And it’s not going to go away until we do something about it.
You can download Ed Ryder’s full report here.
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A new video explains the plan for the Puente Hills Landfill park, which was approved by the county supervisors yesterday.
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The route has been announced for next year’s 100th edition of the Giro d’Italia, once again with a focus on climbing.
A 46-year old British amateur cyclist has received a four year ban for using EPO, just months after being banned for using another substance. But cycling doesn’t have a cheating problem anymore. Right?
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Local
Today is the last day to weigh in on the proposed Rail-to-River bikeway connecting the Crenshaw Line to the LA River through the southeast cities.
New signs are being installed on the LA River bike path telling riders to slow down in areas where more people walk. CiclaValley prefers to look on the bright side, noting that part of the bike path closure is due to improvements, even though we may not see them for the foreseeable future.
Pasadena will discuss plans for the coming Metro Bike bikeshare system at a public meeting this Thursday.
Long Beach police receive a $400,000 grant to improve traffic safety, including DUI, distracted driving, and bike and pedestrian safety enforcement.
State
A San Diego cyclist is asking for help remembering what the hell happened to him; he found himself standing bloodied and confused in a Target parking lot two miles away with a cracked skull and multiple facial fractures after going for a bike ride, with no idea how he got there.
San Diego offers proposals to discourage driving without increasing density, including counting on autonomous vehicles to reduce the need for parking and room for bike lanes.
While we’re on the subject of our neighbor to the South, San Diego’s CicloSDias ciclovía is looking for volunteers for this Sunday’s 4th annual open streets event.
San Francisco will get its first parking protected, elevated bike lane in the Mission District, but only for one block.
The San Francisco Chronicle looks at the “pack of vigilantes” altering the city’s streets to improve safety for bicyclists; a new video shows how it’s done.
National
Streetsblog looks at how American cities can protect cyclists from deadly trucks. It shouldn’t be left to individual cities or states; the federal government should mandate new trucking standards to improve safety for everyone.
Evanston IL city leaders propose removing a new bike lane from one side of the street to improve safety for motorists. Yes, you read that right; they want to sacrifice the safety of people on bicycles to protect the ones surrounded by a few tons of glass and steel.
A Massachusetts blogger and mountain biker offers real world advice on bike commuting.
A 28-year old New York woman writes in Vogue about learning how to ride a bike as an adult to prepare for a trip to Copenhagen. Yes, Vogue. Evidently, we’ve become stylish.
Bike ridership continues to climb in New York, though lower income communities are being left behind as most protected lanes go into more affluent areas.
A 67-year old Virginia cyclist may be the oldest woman ride solo across the US.
ABC News reports on the South Carolina teacher who is raising funds to buy a bicycle for every student at her disadvantaged school.
International
Relatives of people killed on Toronto streets have formed their own traffic safety group to call for an end to road violence.
An Ottawa bike rider was hit by a car while riding in a new bike lane, just hours after it was officially opened. Which is a pretty good sign that a little paint may not be sufficient.
A Canadian city is being sued over an allegedly unsafe bike lane following a collision. Not by the rider who was paralyzed in the crash, but by the driver convicted of causing it by making an unsafe turn.
A UK website goes back 40 years to explain how Edinburgh became a bike-friendly city.
The creepy clown phenomenon continues to spread around the world, as a 15-year old New Zealand boy was frightened by a clown that threatened to kill him as he rode his bike. Although maybe it’s the clowns who should be scared.
Shanghai is offering ebike users a free electronic chip to track their bicycles if they’re stolen.
Finally…
Who needs carbon or Ti when you can have wood? It’s one thing to steal a boy’s bicycle; another to apparently steal the boy with it.
And it’s time to make bicycling great again, as a Trump supporter with a megaphone goes on an unexpected bike safety monologue.
Thanks to Cyclelicious for the link.
Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, California, Ed Ryder, hit-and-run, Los Angeles, traffic fatalities, traffic injuries
Morning Links: MyFig finally breaks ground, and another LA2050 bike proposal
Los Angeles city officials finally broke ground on the long-delayed MyFigueroa project on South Figueroa Street.
The three-mile long project connecting USC with Downtown LA will be the city’s first true Complete Street when it’s — hopefully — finished next summer.
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LA Bike Trains has a project competing for a grant from LA2050 to map out safe riding routes and provide wayfinding signs; we mentioned the proposal from SAFE (Streets Are For Everyone) yesterday.
Meanwhile, voting has been extended until Friday.
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Local
Vision Zero LA is asking community groups to apply $25,000 grants to help spread the message on ten of the city’s most dangerous transportation corridors. Or as most people would call them, streets.
A writer for the LA Times says the response of LA voters to Measure M will determine whether Angelenos are still an automotive people.
A USC student writes about her trip down the central California coast with a friend following their high school graduation.
State
Stanton hit-and-run victim Deborah Gresham was remembered with a dedication at the end of Sunday’s Walking Dead season premier, as well as on the fan show Talking Dead; Gresham had founded and ran a 21,000-member Facebook page dedicated to the show.
A pair of middle-school cyclists from the Corona del Mar High School Mountain Bike Team gave up their Saturday morning to rebuild a trail in the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park.
A San Diego writer urges a no vote on the county’s Measure A transportation tax, saying it doesn’t do enough for low-income communities reliant on bikes and walking, or to bring the transportation system into the 21st Century.
A 67-year old Sunnyvale woman is in critical condition following a hit-and-run while she was riding her bike.
San Francisco’s Department of DIY strikes again, building their own separated bike lane with $800 worth of safe-hit traffic bollards in an early morning raid.
National
A singletrack website lists the best beginner mountain bike trails in all 50 states; California’s is at Fort Ord.
A robotics engineer tells a Portland radio host that self-driving cars will make mass transit obsolete. Apparently forgetting that self-driving cars take up as much space on the roadways and do as much harm to the environment as any other cars.
In a rare burst of rationality, Tucson decides to lower speed limits on bike boulevards to 20 mph.
A Utah cyclist tells drivers a three-foot passing distance should be considered the bare minimum.
There’s a special place in hell for the bike-riding thief who snatched an 89-year old Oklahoma war vet’s wallet out of his pants.
International
A review of 14 international studies show lower socioeconomic status, rural locations and riding mostly on sidewalks are the most common factors leading to bicycling injuries among children.
A New Brunswick landlord is sentenced to seven years for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider; he also faces charges for allegedly beating a young man to death, and the alleged beating of one of his tenants.
The UK’s Daily Mail stages a race between bike riders and motorists to show how bike lanes are causing congestion, but only manages to prove once again that bikes are the faster option to get around a city.
Scottish police are looking for a road raging bike rider with a black dog and a prosthetic leg accused of shouting racial abuse at a driver. For better or worse, language like that is protected under the 1st Amendment in the US, not so much in many other countries.
An Irish writer complains that cycling may be the new golf, but golfers don’t get in her way on weekends like cyclists do when they should be having sex with their wives or mistresses. Never mind her reference to “the latent homosexuality that pervades all male activity.” No, really.
A 17-year old Kiwi cyclist looks forward to riding with his idol, a four-time champ twice his age.
Finally…
No, you wouldn’t want to smash a carbon bike by stamping a license number on it. Evidently, bike-riding zombies are a thing.
And not even brick and mortar business are safe on our streets.
Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: bicycling, civil obedience, LA2050, Los Angeles, MyFigueroa, Palos Verdes Estates
62-year old bike rider killed in early morning Perris hit-and-run
Yet another bike rider has been murdered by a careless and cowardly driver.
The Riverside Press-Enterprise is reporting that 62-year old Steven Marsh was killed by a hit-and-run driver at Navajo Road and Highway 74 in Perris at 3:30 Monday morning.
According to the paper, Marsh attempting to make a left turn from Navajo onto Highway 74 when a westbound car went through the red light and struck his bicycle; he died at the scene.
The driver sped off without stopping. The suspect vehicle is described only as a dark sedan with possible front-end damage to passenger side and windshield.
Navajo Road ends at Highway 74 with a double left turn lane controlled by a red light, while Highway 74 has two lanes in each direction with a painted center divider. The road has a 45 mph speed limit, but its straight-open design could encourage higher speeds, especially at that hour.
This is the 64th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the tenth in Riverside County; that compares with ten in the county for all of last year. Marsh is also the fifth bike rider to be killed in Perris in just the last three years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Steven Marsh and all his loved ones.
Category: Bicycle Safety, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: bicycling fatality, hit-and-run, Perris, Riverside County, Steven Marsh
Morning Links: Caltrans meeting Tues, driver chases cyclist onto bike path, and plants close LA River bike path
Bobby Peppey sends news of a couple bike-related developments from Caltrans.
First up is a short survey — available in English and Spanish — regarding the state transportation department’s shift from a strictly motor vehicle-focused agency to planning for an “integrated multi-modal transportation network (including walking, biking, transit and driving) that meets the needs of all users.”
Next, he reminds us that Caltrans will host a public meeting and webinar tomorrow afternoon to discuss the latest developments on SoCal projects and gather public input.
He notes that the last meeting was filled with government bureaucrats who showed little sympathy for bicyclists and other vulnerable road users; in fact, he says he was the only person in the room who wasn’t paid to be there.
As he puts it,
I brought up the intransigence of Los Angeles City Councilmember’s towards building a safe, comfortable system of bicycle infrastructure in our City at the last meeting and hope to not be the only one doing so at the October 25 the meeting.
Let’s hope he’s not.
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Speaking of Caltrans, Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious forwards news that bikes will be barred from Camp Pendleton for the coming week, although riders will still be allowed on the 5 Freeway.
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A rider connecting with the Rio Hondo trail in Rosemead was literally chased onto the trail by a road raging pickup driver, who was only stopped by the bollards at the entrance to the path.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebj1BzhUlDo
All, apparently, because the cyclist had the audacity to make a left turn into the crosswalk leading to the path by legally using the left turn lane, which did not delay the driver behind him by a fraction of a second.
The rider, identified only as Askeee, notes that he aggravated the situation by flipping off the driver after he honked at him, asking “since when is that an acceptable reason for vehicular assault?”
To which the answer would be, at least since police blamed me for the road raging driver who plowed into my rear wheel after I flipped her off when she angrily honked at me like that.
(Lesson #1: Never flip off the driver behind you.)
Even though that would never be considered an excuse for any other form of assault with a deadly weapon. No one would think it’s okay if someone pulled out a gun and shot the other person after being given the bird, yet the simple fact of being behind the wheel seems to make it okay.
Let’s hope he filed a police report. And that the police take it seriously this time.
Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up.
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At least now we know why the LA River bike path will be closed until the Ides of March; the Army Corps of Engineers will be using it as a staging area to remove non-native vegetation from the river channel.
Which does not explain why no notice was given, or why no one seems to give a damn about the needs of bike riders who use it.
At least the Corps promises LADOT has installed a detour path and signage. Which, based on what they offered last year, will likely be just as confusing, circuitous and impractical as ever.
CiclaValley urges everyone to turnout for a public workshop with the Army Corps on November 7th to express your outrage and demand a better solution, as well as emailing them and Congressman Adam Schiff; the LACBC offers some key talking points.
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Damian Kevitt, hit-and-run survivor and founder of both Finish the Ride and SAFE — Streets Are For Everyone — sends word that SAFE Support is up for one of this year’s LA2050 Challenge Grants.
You can cast your vote to support the project here.
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Local
Jesse Creed’s upstart campaign to oust anti-bike lane incumbent city councilmember Paul Koretz in LA’s 5th District has gained the support of some big names in Hollywood.
A Metro committee approves funding for expansion of the DTLA Metro Bike bikeshare into Pasadena, Venice and the port cities of San Pedro and Wilmington. Although the Venice and port city expansions are most likely an attempt to stave off expansion of the Santa Monica and Long Beach bikeshare systems into those areas.
Richard Risemberg writes about the impending departure of Michelle Mowery from LADOT to work on the LA River bike path. Maybe she could start by convincing the Army Corps of Engineers to keep it open a little more often.
The Pasadena city council will receive a report on the city’s bike safety efforts up to this point, along with plans for the future at tonight’s meeting. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.
Megan Lynch also forwards news that a cyclist was air rescued after crashing on Glendora Mountain Road; no word on the condition of the rider.
A new master plan including roughly 100 miles of multi-use trails in the Castaic area will go before the LA County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday; the plan also includes three proposed bike skills park amenities. Whatever the hell that means.
Cycling in the South Bay posts the honorees from last weekend’s Fourth Annual South Bay Cycling Awards, and offers a truly devastating first-hand report from the survivor of a life-changing cycling collision.
The California Supreme Court has ruled that killing a Long Beach bike rider with a screwdriver is still murder, even if you kill the wrong person by mistake.
State
Kids, don’t try this at home. An off-duty federal agent tried to stop thieves from taking his bicycle by jumping into the back of their pickup, and went on an unwanted seven mile ride through San Diego; both suspects were captured as they fled after crashing the truck.
A Redlands couple is nearing the end of a 10,000 mile tandem journey around the US.
Over 1,000 cyclists participate in Sunday’s Santa Barbara 100 cycling event to raise Cottage Children’s Medical Center Family Assistance Fund.
San Luis Obispo adopts a Vision Zero plan to eliminate traffic fatalities within 14 years.
Modesto police pitch in to buy a new bike for a junior high student after they were impressed by his detailed crime report.
San Francisco’s Bay Bridge Bike Trail finally opened Sunday, allowing bicyclists to ride from Emeryville to Yerba Buena Island. And back.
National
A pair of Minnesota cities are declaring their DIY bikeshare systems a success; the systems make refurbished bicycles available to anyone for free, no ID necessary; surprisingly, 85% of the bikes were returned last year.
New York Islanders goalie Thomas Greiss is one of us.
Gotham entrepreneurs are doing their best to cash in on the popularity of New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare.
The driver of a stolen car was arrested after deliberately trying to run down a Philadelphia bike cop; fortunately, the officer was uninjured, though his bike appears to have seen better days.
Bighearted Alabama cops dig into their own wallets to buy a bike for a teenager after his was stolen.
Now that’s more like it. A Florida driver got ten years for a drunken hit-and-run that killed a bike rider.
International
A Vancouver bike shop worker was sentenced to 18 years for shooting his boss two years ago following a dispute over a rental agreement.
Bicyclists are under attack by anti-bike terrorists around the world, as someone has tossed tacks on the roadway leading to London’s Regent Park twice in the last week; the site is the planned route for one of the city’s cycle superhighways.
A British woman missed her own mother’s funeral after a truck driver forced her bike off the road and into a ditch, leaving her too injured to attend.
A member of Britain’s Parliament says not enough is being done to protect bicyclists from injury and intimidation. No shit.
A former Catholic church in Belgium is now a shrine to the Cannibal.
How about taking your next bike vacation in Tanzania?
An Aussie cyclist has been fined the equivalent of $115 for passing a stopped car on the left — which would be our right; it violated the law because the car was signaling for a left turn.
New Zealand opens a beautiful new sculptural underpass for cyclists in Christchurch.
Sad news for manga lovers, as popular manga artist Hiroyuki Shoji was found dead next to his bicycle in Japan last week.
Finally…
Your next bike may not need you to keep it stable. From wrestling champ to BMX podium, before the age of eight.
And the best seat for a bike race is directly above the course. Especially when you’re a black bear.
Morning Links: Goodbye and thank you to Michelle Mowery, and improvements and closures on LA River bike path
Bittersweet news from LADOT, as longtime bicycle and active transportation coordinator Michelle Mowery announced today that she is leaving for a position with the mayor’s office, focusing on the LA River Bike Path.
On Monday, October 24th, I will be beginning a new assignment with Mayor Garcetti’s LA Riverworks Team to focus on the Los Angeles River Bicycle Path. While I am excited about working full-time on the River; it will be very, very difficult to leave my home at LADOT. I will miss working with all of you on projects that have, and continue, to make bicycling more accessible in the City of Los Angeles.
The last 22 years with the City have been the most exciting and fulfilling of my 39 years in public service. I can’t tell you all how wonderful it has been to see cycling established a real means of transportation in Los Angeles. I will miss many of you as I shift my focus in the City but expect to continue to see you in my efforts on behalf of the River. It has been my greatest pleasure to serve the City as a transportation professional on two wheels.
Thank you all for your cooperation and support over the years.
When I first got involved in bike advocacy efforts in Los Angeles, I found myself loosely allied with a group of advocates who blamed Mowery for the city’s decades of failure to do anything to protect the safety of bicyclists, and who made it their not-so-secret goal to have her fired.
I resisted those efforts, to the point that I found myself ostracized and attacked because I questioned whether she was really to blame.
And openly wondered what she could do with the actual backing of the city, instead of the old school, auto-centric senior LADOT engineers, who have since retired or otherwise moved on, squashing her every effort.
I think the last several years have more than answered those questions.
Since bicycling first received the attention and backing of the mayor’s office during the Villaraigosa administration, Los Angeles has installed hundreds of miles of bike lanes, including the city’s first parking and curb protected bike lanes, as well as an actual bike network in Downtown LA.
Under her tenure, Los Angeles was named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists for the first time in 2012. And made Bicycling Magazine’s biannual list of the country’s best cities for cycling, currently checking in at a lofty 24.
Which is not to say we don’t still have a long way to go. It only takes a few hours riding the mean streets of Los Angeles to realize just how inadequate LA’s bicycling infrastructure is for a car-centric city this size.
But it made huge leaps under Mowery’s guidance, once she was finally allowed to do her job.
We owe her a big round of thanks for sticking in there and doing the best she could when the job was impossible, and she was the focal point for every cyclist angry over everything that didn’t get done.
And showing us all what this city could be once she was given the chance.
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The LA Weekly takes a surprisingly even-handed look at the call for banning bikes on the LA River Bike Path through Elysian Valley, in the wake of an elderly woman who was seriously injured in a crash with a bike rider.
Not to mention they have the good taste to quote yours truly.
The story notes that that someone placed an illegal, DIY sign at the entrance to the path reading “Bike Path Closed,” which was largely and justifiably ignored.
Meanwhile, LA Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell says the city will be making safety improvements to the path to notify riders to slow down or dismount in areas with a high level of pedestrians.
As well as increasing police presence on the path. Which is something bike riders, as well as pedestrians, have long called for.
Although the call to dismount is highly questionable. Especially since people somehow seem to manage sharing the path on the far more crowded beachfront bike path.
And it should be noted, as we mentioned here yesterday, that the rider stopped and cooperated with police following the crash.
Although none of it may really matter now, since the bike path is once again being closed for the winter, for reasons that have yet to be explained.
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The LACBC’s Zachary Rynew, aka Mr. CiclaValley in his off-duty hours, sends word about the organization’s new team kit, which is available for preorder right now.
LACBC’s 2017 Kit is now for sale by preorder for a limited time until October 30th. To support the local cycling community, LACBC collaborated with L.A.-based collective superdomestik on design and California-based manufacturer Voler on production.
Go to LACBC’s Facebook Page to find out how you can win gear and go to the team store to purchase from the 2017 collection.
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USA Cycling announces the Pro Road Tour racing schedule for next year. The tour comes to California just twice, in April and May, for the Dana Point Gran Prix and the Redlands Bicycle Classic.
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Local
CD1 city council candidate Josef Bray-Ali writes about how to get the people who ride for fun to join forces with people who ride for transportation, and make the city more bike-friendly without additional funding.
Police are looking for a bike-riding gunman who shot and killed a man in San Fernando Thursday night.
The Santa Monica College student newspaper looks at last weekend’s CicLAvia in the Heart of Los Angeles.
Metro is sponsoring a free Bicycle 101 class at the El Monte bike Hub.
State
There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a four-wheel, surrey-style bike from a school for autistic children in San Diego.
Authorities are looking for the heartless coward who hit a young child in Victorville as he was riding his bike and left him lying in the street; the boy may have suffered serious head trauma in the hit-and-run collision.
The new bikeway over half of the San Francisco Bay is finally expected to open this Sunday.
Chico approves a free citywide bike registration system, while a 93-year old Chico man remains in critical condition eleven days after he was hit by SUV while driving his bike.
National
CityLab urges you to ride with a boombox on your bike instead of headphones, so you can annoy more people with your excellent taste in music. However, it may take some practice to develop the retro skills required ride your bike with a massive boombox perched on one shoulder, ‘70s style.
Eyewear maker Bollé introduces a mountain bike helmet with features that actually make sense for a change, including a detachable visor, slots to store your glasses and space for an embedded tail light.
Anti-bike terrorists have struck again, sabotaging a Colorado mountain bike trail with spike-embedded boards buried in the dirt. If you question the use of that term, consider what would happen to a rider who suffers a blowout while zipping down a trail.
The Michigan senate responds to the Kalamazoo massacre by passing bill requiring a five-foot passing distance, and another requiring three hours of bike and motorcycle safety training in all driver’s ed courses.
New York bike messengers form a union to fight for better treatment from Uber and other delivery firms.
A Philadelphia cyclist correctly resists police efforts to make him stop recording an arrest and to hand over his phone as evidence. You have a 1st Amendment right to record anything that occurs in a public place, and police have no right to stop you as long as you don’t interfere with their actions. And they can’t seize your phone without probable cause, or delete any of the contents. Which does not mean they won’t try.
International
A new report from the United Nations Environment Program calls for countries around the world to spend at least twenty percent of their transportation budget for safe bike lanes and sidewalks, noting that people on foot and two wheels, with or without motors, make up nearly half of the 1.3 million people killed in crashes worldwide each year.
A London hospital spent the equivalent of $12,000 to fight a protected bike lane in an apparent attempt to drum up business; 315 bike riders were killed or injured on the roads approaching the hospital over the last ten years, including some directly in front of their entrance.
A British man has been jailed for 28 months following a racist attack on a bike rider; he was one of three men who swerved at the victim in their car, doored him and forced him off his bike, then violently attacked him while screaming racial epithets.
Winston Churchill’s grandson is one of us.
A six-year old Irish boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy is able to ride a bike for the first time thanks to a new medication. Nice to finally see some hope for this cruel disease.
Caught on video: A British railway worker saves an apparently drunk bicyclist at the last minute after he had fallen on the tracks. Or maybe not.
The brother of a fallen cyclist begs a Dublin county council to reconsider its decision not to include safe routes to schools in their draft development plan.
Security camera footage shows thieves casually bicycling on their way to rob Kim Kardashian in Paris, then back again with her $10 million jewelry in tow.
Caught on video: An Aussie cyclist loses a piece of his ear when a Magpie swoops down and attacks without warning.
Justice and common sense prevailed in Australia, where a drugged-out driver will spend at least three years in jail for killing a bike rider, despite attempting to use her newborn baby as a Get Out of Jail Free card.
Finally…
Your next U-lock could raise a real stink. Does this bike really look like a Lamborghini to you?
And anyone can ride a bike the usual way. But how many can do it facing backwards?
Morning Links: No bike hit-and-run on LA River path, and famed racing engineer killed riding his bike in Mojave
Just a brief follow-up to the recent story about a woman who was seriously injured in a collision with a cyclist on the LA River Bike Path in Elysian Valley.
Still no details to explain what happened. However, the LACBC’s Colin Bogart forwards word that the rider did in fact stop after the wreck and cooperated with the police in their investigation.
So this was not a case of two-wheeled hit-and-run, as had been implied in earlier reports.
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Sad news from Kern County, as longtime racing and sports car engineer Ron Mathis died Tuesday, a little over a month after he was struck by a car while riding his bicycle home from work in Mojave.
His cars won multiple victories at the Daytona 24 Hours, as well as two podium finishes at Le Mans. I’m told he also partnered on a car that won a $10 million Progressive XPrize for building a lightweight 100 mph car.
A GoFundMe page has raised nearly $14,000 to help defray his medical expenses.
Thanks to Michael Hart of Racers Who Ride for the heads-up.
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A 19-year old woman is in critical condition after her bike was rear-ended by the driver of a pickup in Torrance Wednesday night; the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving while stoned.
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Now these are some pretty good Barcelona bike stunts.
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CyclingTips offers some great photos of America’s only remaining Tour de France winner from the new book Greg LeMond: Yellow Jersey Racer.
VeloNews gives retiring cycling great Evelyn Stevens her exit interview.
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Local
Yet another closure of the LA River Bike Path, as the section between Gilroy Street and Riverside Drive will be shut down until next March.
CiclaValley asks for your vote to support Measure M to help make this a more livable city for everyone, regardless of age.
It may finally be easier to get your bike onto the Expo Line, as trains will now run every six minutes.
The candidates for Santa Monica city council talk traffic, but only two of the ten even mention bicycles, while another touches on alternative transportation.
A Long Beach councilwoman has called a special meeting for next Tuesday to discuss a planned road diet on Ocean Blvd, in the face of unexpected opposition.
Long Beach announces events and activities planned for next month’s Beach Streets ciclovía.
State
A San Diego bicyclist was seriously injured when he was hit by an SUV in Mission Bay Park; the rider was making a left turn when he swerved in front of the oncoming vehicle, which police say had the right-of-way.
The Bay Area Bike Share system brings greater equity to bikeshare by reducing their first year annual membership to just five dollars for low income people, while allowing them to pay in cash instead of credit cards.
National
Interesting idea. A new taillight raising funds on Kickstarter includes a built-in radar to announce your presence to cars with collision avoidance systems.
Chinese electronics giant LeEco is bringing what they call the world’s first super bike to the US. The 30-speed bike with built-in lighting comes complete with an Android touchscreen and fingerprint scanner; no word on US prices yet. Thanks to Adam Ginsburgh for the tip.
Now that’s something to look forward to. A 100-year old Memphis bridge spanning the Mississippi River will be converted to a bike bridge, a key link in a planned bikeway running from Memphis to New Orleans. With any luck, I’ll be the first one in line with my bike when it opens; thanks to Bob Young for the link.
New York hit-and-run drivers are getting away with murder. Meanwhile, a cyclist in the city describes what it’s like to be the victim of one.
Sometimes, doing the right thing turns out wrong; a Philadelphia bike rider was shot when he tried to stop an armed robbery; he’s expected to survive despite being shot four or five times. Meanwhile, an 18-year old bike rider was fatally gunned down following an argument, and another man was seen walking off with his bicycle afterwards.
Caught on video: A Virginia driver decides to get around traffic by using a bike path.
You still can’t wear your clown mask in public in Virginia, but at least you can ride wearing a balaclava now.
Top Miami chefs come together to hold a benefit for a cyclist who’s fighting his way back after five-month coma following a traffic collision.
International
So much for thinking we know why bikes stay upright.
Belize cycling champ Marlon Castillo pled guilty to a reduced charge of causing death by careless conduct in the 2011 death of fellow cyclist Ariel Rosado in a traffic collision.
As Toronto builds more and safer bike lanes, support goes up among the general public; 70% of the Toronto residents now support bike lanes, with just 22% opposed.
A driver on Prince Edward Island insists that modern bike riders ride wherever the hell they want, jumping from one side of the road to another, then onto the sidewalk and through the crosswalk against the light.
High-end Italian bike maker Pinarello could be going the Rodeo Drive route.
A road raging Brit driver ran down a bike rider, knocking him into a tree and leaving him with serious injuries after he confronted her for using a cellphone behind the wheel.
A Chinese bikeshare system introduces a lighter, flat-proof, solar GPS-enabled bike that will rent for half the price of their earlier bikes.
Finally…
Either there are a lot of cyclists out there, or we’re not the only ones who shave their legs. If you’re carrying a sawed-off rifle in your purse; don’t ride your bike in an illegal and unsafe manner.
And if you’re going to ride drunk, try not to fall over after nearly crashing into a state trooper’s patrol car.
Morning Links: Leading San Diego bike advocate dies, CA bicycle car license plates, and 2017 Tour de France route
Heartbreaking news from San Diego, as one of the city’s leading bike advocates has passed away.
The news came this morning that Bill Davidson, a passionate fighter for the rights of bicyclists, had died earlier this month of undisclosed causes.
Bill was a reader of this site, and had contributed to it in the past. And he was quick to shoot me an email if there something he thought we should know, or to correct any perceived mistakes.
While I didn’t always agree with him, I always listened to him and respected his opinion. And more than once he managed to change my mind through his detailed and impassioned reasoning. Or at the very least, get me to see things in a different way.
The California bicycling community will be much poorer without him.
Services will be held at 4 pm today.
He was only 53.
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David Drexler forwards a photo of a bicycling automotive license plate from Oregon, and asks how we can get something like that here in California.
Actually, Calbike is already on it.
Even if their webpages aren’t loading properly, for some reason.
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The Tour de France unveils its route for next year’s edition of the race. The Telegraph says it’s designed to break the dominance of Chris Froome’s Team Sky, while the Guardian says it’s designed for sprinters like Froome. Reuters says it will favor aggressive riders.
Bike racing returns to Colorado following the collapse of the USA Pro Challenge, with the four-day Tour of Colorado stage race; the race is part of the UCI Americas Tour, along with another new four day race in Richmond VA.
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Local
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at Sunday’s CicLAvia, and the changes LA has seen in the six years since the first one.
In a rare moment of wisdom, the LA County Board of Supervisors votes to bring all the various interest groups together to craft a single, unified master plan for the LA River; hopefully, that will include bicyclists.
KNBC-4 reports on the call to ban bikes from the LA River bike path in Elysian Park. There’s almost no chance of an actual ban, but it’s yet another reminder to always ride safely around people who are walking.
Evidently, we have a budding bike racer in the making, as Pink’s five-year old daughter takes third in her first BMX race; her father is former motocross champ Corey Hart.
Pasadena’s Gooden Center will host their fourth annual Richard Selje Ride for Recovery on Saturday the 29th, with rides of 100, 62 and 25 miles benfitting Pasadena’s oldest non-profit recovery center.
Someone stole three bikes worth $1000 each in a smash and grab burglary from the ElectroBike store on Main Street in Santa Monica.
Serious Cycling in Agoura Hills is hosting a SoCalCross Happy Hour Tour this evening, ending with a few cold beers at Ladyface Ale after the ride.
State
A Costa Mesa man dropped his bike and fled onto the 405 Freeway to avoid a drug bust, shutting the freeway down for ten minutes early Tuesday morning.
Police seek witnesses after a 92-year old Newport Beach bike rider suffered major injuries in a crash Monday night.
Irvine’s ARB Cyclery is holding a shop ride, followed by a screening of a new documentary about Ride 2 Recovery a week from tonight.
San Diego beach communities continue to fight against bikeshare stations, while the owner of a bike rental business claims the city’s bikeshare system has cost him $120,000 over the past two years.
Apple Valley will begin work on a 2.75 mile multi-use path along the Mojave River next week.
Calbike honors the founder of Santa Barbara’s Bici Centro with the organization’s 2016 Dreamer Award.
Sad news from Kern County, where a bike rider was killed in California City Monday morning.
National
A new bike helmet will monitor your heart, signal your turns, allow you to communicate with other riders, and send a text alert if you fall off your bike; no word on whether it will actually protect your skull.
The historic Colorado casino town of Black Hawk, which famously — and unsuccessfully — tried to ban bicycles a few years back, is now trying to lure mountain bikers by building 12 miles of singletrack in the mountains above town. Which is not the same as welcoming bicyclists on the main street through town.
Once again, a bike was a getaway vehicle, as Kansas grocery store was robbed by a man with a mask who made his escape by bicycle.
A St. Louis man is alive today because his heart rate monitor warned he was having a heart attack while he rode. And the first person who came along after he got off his bike just happened to be a doctor.
A Chicago cyclist won the title as the fastest bike messenger at the North American Cycle Courier Championship last week.
Chicago advocates call for an unbroken, 27-mile long bikeway along both branches of the city’s eponymous river.
A road raging Connecticut driver faces charges for assaulting a bicyclist and throwing his bike across the road after he right hooked the rider, who had responded by yelling what “may” have been a swear word.
In a bizarre case from upstate New York, a woman committed suicide by handcuffing herself to a mountain bike and riding into a lake.
New York hopes more protected bike lanes will help the city close the cycling gender gap. Meanwhile, an editor for Gear Junkie takes a white-knuckle ride with a bike messenger through the city’s streets.
A South Carolina teacher starts a crowdfunding campaign to give all 650 students in her school a new bicycle for Christmas; GoFundMe tossed in another $10,000 for winning the company’s competition for the most successful school crowdfunding campaign.
International
Vancouver business leaders oppose construction of a permanent separated bike lane on a busy commercial street, citing stats saying only seven percent of shoppers arrive there by bike. Which is kind of like saying don’t build a bridge because only a handful of people currently swim across the river.
Many cyclists ask motorists to give them at least an arm’s length passing distance; a Montreal man will settle for a pool noodle. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.
Caught on video: A London bike rider is knocked on his ass when a scooter rider cuts directly into him.
A new short film from Apple shows Rapha designers crafting their new line on iPads.
The award for learning Gaelic goes to an Italian cyclist.
A Kiwi cyclist was saved by his fellow riders when he suffered a heart attack during a crit while medical staff were occupied with a crash.
Even in extremely auto-centric Australia, the city of Adelaide decides future streets will be built to favor pedestrians and cyclists while reducing vehicular traffic; naturally, one city councilor complains that it’s social engineering.
Finally…
Anyone can lead police on a car chase; it takes skill to lead police on a 20-minute bike chase because you don’t want a ticket for an open container. Clowns may be creepy, but they’re not bike thieves.
And once again, don’t ride your bike over another man’s Lamborghini.
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Thanks to everyone for your kind words yesterday. It’s been a rough 24 hours, but I’m glad to be back at work.
Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, Bill Davidson, Calbike, in memoriam, license plates, Los Angeles, San Diego, Tour de France
