Unfortunately, that’s all the information we have at this time. No word on how the crash happened, or whether the victim had lights on his bike after dark.
However, an email from Lois adds a few more thoughts.
This is a super dangerous crossing where a downhill proceeds to a right turn on a busy road with no clearance. Mountain bikers with no road riding experience frequently cross to the far side and ride salmon style to make the next left back to the Fullerton Loop. There’s a much safer but slightly longer and less exciting route to get to the same place. It has a light at the crossing. Maybe the city should have a sign to direct the Loop riders in that direction but many still won’t take it.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Accident Investigator H. Barclay of the Fullerton Police Department at 714/738-6815.
This is at least the 60th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th that I’m aware of in Orange County, which has seen an already too-high average of 12 bicycling deaths in recent years.
That puts it neck-and-neck with Los Angeles County, which has also seen 16 bike deaths this year, with over three times the population.
Update: The victim has been identified as 33-year old Joshua Pumphrey, who was killed just two weeks after he’d gotten married.
The Fullerton Observer explains how the crash happened.
Pumphrey was in a group of 11 riders on the “Fullerton Loop,” a popular series of interconnected local bike trails that sometimes cross major streets. According to witnesses, as the group of riders headed westbound on Valley View to Bastanchury, they turned right and hugged the right curb as cars were coming their same direction, northbound. The cars passed and the group merged across northbound traffic to the left turn lane which would put them westbound on Lancer Way. It was then that Pumphrey was struck by the car.
Never mind that, as his father is quick to point out, the sidewalks are the only playground kids in the neighborhood have.
Or that the alternative is for a little kid to ride his bike in the city’s dangerous streets, in a neighborhood that hasn’t seen the city’s bike lane expansion. And probably won’t for the foreseeable future.
Let alone that the kid is just eight effing years old.
Seriously, use a little common sense.
And if you don’t want the world to think you’re a racist, stop acting like one.
Opponents of a bike lane on San Diego’s 30th Street accuse the city council of playing a shell game by giving less than 24 hours notice of a vote to approve the plan, which will trade 500 parking spaces for protected bike lanes, under the guise of a construction change.
The CHP actually gets bike law right for a change, telling a Fresno questioner that bicycles are allowed on highways, while banned on many limited-access freeways. Correction: They got that part right, but failed in saying bicyclists have to stick to “the rightmost portion of the roadway” and ride single file — neither of which is accurate. Thanks to Andy Stowe for the catch.
A San Jose writer explains to a letter writer what to do if a dog chases your bike. Most dogs are trained to obey commands, so I’ve had good luck giving a firm order to sit or go home. Never mind that ebikes that can go 23 mph, like the letter writer claims, aren’t allowed on California bike paths.
We’ve seen countless stories that bike thefts have jumped during the pandemic. Yet somehow a Chicago stolen bike registry has shown a 50% spike in stolen bikes, while the Chicago PD only reports a measly 6% increase.
English actress Michelle Keegan is sort of one of us, looking good in her Lycra bikewear while confessing she only took up bicycling for about three weeks during the pandemic.
November 23, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Hard-hitting look at race in cycling, South LA teen killed in drive-by while riding bike, and a deep dive into SoCal bike deaths
Note: I’m not censoring his language, even though it includes a word I would never use.
I’ve had several people – even a “teammate” – call me nigger. I’ve had racists shout it from their cars as they pass me on my bike. I sat there as a white man criticized my Mom, who looks white, but is Hispanic, for being with a monkey, my father – a Black man. I had a woman tell me at the Redlands Classic she would never even think about dating a black man because “they’re too much trouble.” A girl I was dating told me she had racist grandparents. This came up only as they were potentially going to be joining us on a trip, a problem I’m sure many Black folks have run into.
After quoting LA’s former national crit champ Rahsaan Bahati saying he feels like a raisin in a bowl of milk in the overwhelmingly white world of pro cycling, he finishes this way.
If you’ve gotten to the end of the article and you haven’t clicked any of the links, shared this message, or taken it upon yourself to educate yourself more, then the problem is lack of self-education in society and dismissal of stories like this. It’s the continued silence and lack of discussion from common people that supports racism and still propagates the idea that silence is safe.
Well, safe for whom? Clearly, not for people like me. If this struck a chord, please share this and begin the talks. It starts at the table with friends and family.
Seriously, take a few minutes and read it.
And if it makes you uncomfortable, that’s the point.
This is why people keep dying on the streets. A Spanish woman faces a maximum of just four years behind bars — and could walk free — despite killing three bike riders and maiming two others while driving high on coke and at four times the legal alcohol limit in a 2017 crash.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Usually when a bike rider is involved in a collision with a motor vehicle, it’s the person on the bicycle who bears the brunt of the crash; this time, it was a Danville motorcyclist who was tragically killed when a bike rider somehow fell into the traffic lane and the victim crashed into the bicycle lying in the roadway.
Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss concludes that 20 miles is the ideal length for a bike ride. That used to be when I felt like I was just warming up; these days, I’d be happy just to get that far.
Bighearted coworkers bought a new bike for an Indianapolis man after the bicycle he rode to work to support his three kids was stolen; kindhearted security guards at the courthouse where he works replaced it the first time.
USA Cycling introduces the new Olympic Development Academy to help young cyclists develop Gold Medal skills. Thanks to David Huntsman for the tip, who calls it a sea change in their approach to Junior/U23 racer development.
November 20, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LACBC virtual holiday celebration, Calbike agenda reveal, and this is who we share the road — and the bike path — with
The LAPD is looking for a woman who abandoned her vehicle after slamming into another car in a fiery crash while participating in a speed contest, as well as a second driver who helped her flee.
He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was described only as male, which could be an indication that police weren’t able to immediately identify him.
The driver continued north on Main without stopping; the suspect vehicle is described only as a dark-colored sedan.
There’s no other information available at this time. No word on how the crash happened, or whether the victim had lights on after dark.
Or if the driver did, for that matter.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Flannery or Officer Mitchell at 323/421-2500.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles, despite mention of just half that amount in the KTLA report.
This is at least the 59th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
At least seven of those deaths in LA County have been hit-and-runs.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his love ones.
If you live in the San Gabriel Vally or the South Bay, the LACBC is urging you to ask your local Council of Government representatives to support a proposal allowing Metro to repurpose highway funds for active transportation projects.
Instead of just flushing it down the toilet on more projects that will just induce more induced demand.
As we shared in our recent News Cycle, Metro has proposed a change that would open up the funding available for the highway program to be used by local jurisdictions for active transportation projects. We have been made aware that despite there being support from members of the Metro Board of Directors, they will not push to support this change so long as the Council of Governments, which represent the nine sub-regions, offer strong pushback.
If you live, work, or play in the San Gabriel Valley or the South Bay Cities, we are calling on you to take action now!
To show a groundswell of support for the motion, which would make funds more flexible and increase availability of funding for city active transportation projects, LACBC is asking you to reach out to your local COG representatives and share your support for the motion during each meeting’s public comment period.
This urgent action tomorrow could make all the difference in reducing pushback from COG leaders and help to make it possible for this change to be made.
We will have additional information for other COG meetings taking place in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on your email or our social media to recieve those updates.
In solidarity,
Team LACBC
………
Zachary Rynew, aka CiclaValley, declares victory in a long running battle to halt a dangerous street widening project on Magnolia Blvd.
Bicyclingoffers tips on how to clean your chain like a pro. You can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling’s site blocks you. Seriously is it just me, or is it a tad absurd for the magazine to hide their stories behind a paywall, while allowing another site to repost them with no restrictions?
A missing Colorado mother who reportedly disappeared during a Mother’s Day bike ride is listed as presumed dead in her father’s obituary, who died of cancer following her disappearance.
Bicyclists in a Delaware town are accused of riding like it’s the Wild West by flouting traffic laws. Seriously, have they ever observed how people drive? It makes bike riders seem positively tame by comparison. And it’s not the people on two wheels who pose a real risk to others.
