Happy virtual Bike Week, Bike the Vote makes Culver City endorsements, and the time to reimagine public transport is now

September 21, 2020 / / One comment

Welcome to the long-delayed Bike Week for the Age of Covid-19, where not much is going on, and like everything else in this plague infested year, what does will be mostly virtual.

The one actual semi-activity to hit the streets will be tomorrow’s Ride A Bike Day, on what is otherwise known as Worldwide Car Free Day, in which you’re encouraged to ride your bike somewhere.

Or anywhere.

The Bike League simply calls it Bike There Day, wherever there happens to be.

So do what you’d probably do anyway, and get out on your bike to enjoy what passes for relatively smoke-free fall weather here in Southern California.

But give yourself a pat on the back for it.

Meanwhile, Ventura County has a number of eco-friendly activities to get you involved.

And enjoy this from Pedal Love.

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Photo by Lina Kivaka from Pexels.

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With the upcoming election is just over a month away, Bike the Vote LA is offering their endorsements in the Culver City race.

There are three out of five council seats on the ballot. Only one incumbent is running (Mayor Goran Erickson), as Bike The Vote L.A.-endorsed Meghan Sahli-Wells is termed out and bike-friendly Councilmember Thomas Small decided not to seek re-election. Five of the eight candidates running responded to Bike The Vote’s questionnaire. Each of the responses were promising, but Bike The Vote’s Cuvler City committee determined that these three candidates stood out as worthy of endorsements.

Meanwhile, San Diego’s BikeSD offers their own endorsements in local races.

And consider this my endorsement for Downey’s bike friendly Alexandria Contreras for city council in District One.

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The NRDC says the moment to reimagine public transportation is right now.

The environmental organization lists three key themes, including —

  • Streets are not just for cars
  • Public transportation infrastructure needs and deserves investment
  • Access to safe, effective transit is very much a racial justice issue

That’s exactly what’s being done in cities around the world, particularly when it comes to bicycle access during the coronavirus pandemic.

And exactly what we need to do here in Los Angeles.

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They get it.

Lyft has partnered with several New York advocacy groups to pen a white paper calling on New York City to create resilient streets for transit, biking and walking.

(You can find an edited version of the piece on New York Streetsblog if you’ve used up all your free Medium visits for the month.)

At the risk of repeating myself, that’s exactly what we need to do here in Los Angeles, where the need may be even greater than in Gotham.

And exactly what the city has been pledging, and failing, to do for the past decade.

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Speaking of which, when is a bike lane not a bike lane?

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Some people are seriously effed up.

Drivers in London’s upscale Hackney borough compare limited access Low Traffic Neighborhood with Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip — and the Holocaust.

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Malaysian are aghast at the sight of a bike rider drafting a truck.

https://twitter.com/Aweeff/status/1307172043171872770

The tweet awkwardly translates to this, which appears to be saying that all bike riders get blamed for one rider’s actions.

Because a drop of tilapia spoils the milk of an orange. Deck because of a cyclist’s suicide act exhausted all cyclists are beaten equally.

Which, sadly, is all too true.

And seriously, kids. Don’t do that.

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

Canadian authorities are looking for a man who yelled at a pair of bike-riding women, then used a telescoping camera pole to knock them off their bicycles.

No bias here. When the Queensland, Australia Department of Transportation asked online about the minimum passing distance on a road with a 43 mph speed limit, readers insisted the bike rider shouldn’t be on the road to begin with.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Philadelphia bike rider opened fire on three plainclothes cops when they slowed down to ask if he was okay; another man joined the firefight after the officers got out of their car to exchange fire. Fortunately, none of the cops were seriously injured.

A road raging Irish bike rider was bitten in the nose by a passenger in a car, after the passenger got out and attacked the bicyclist for shattering the car’s windshield with his bike; both men face well-deserved charges.

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Local

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman offers a frame-by-frame analysis of the video the LA Sheriff’s Department says is proof that their deputies were justified in shooting Compton bike rider Dijon Kizzee, and says bullshit.

A Silver Lake gym owner and social justice advocate is riding his bike across the US, accompanied by a documentary crew, to explore American’s attitudes and show we’re stronger together than apart. Yahoo mirrored the story in case you can’t access the Times site. 

 

State

An ad hoc group of Bakersfield bicyclists are turning out for weekly half century rides on a local bike path to keep in shape during the coronavirus lockdown.

 

National

Former basketball player Damen Bell and professional skier Connor Ryan moved their Break the (Bi)cycle” ride from the left coast to the Rocky Mountain states after fires in Washington and Oregon forced them to change their route; they’re riding to call attention to mental health for Black and Indigenous men.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Montana man celebrated his 84th birthday by riding 84 miles along the Bitterroot Trail.

A former Michigan college student was reunited with her stolen bicycle when it unexpectedly turned up four years later. Which probably means it was taken by a fellow student.

They get it, too, Michigan’s Department of Transportation says most crashes aren’t accidents.

A New York bike commuter says the laws have to be changed to better protect people on bikes from road raging drivers.

The New York Times examines the anatomy of a protest, including the role of bike blockers to protect protesters.

Leftovers star Justine Theroux is one of us, taking an apparently chilly ride through New York, a day after speaking in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

New Orleans police release a video they say proves a bike rider ran a red light before being struck by the driver of a police cruiser. Except the video doesn’t show traffic signal, which could have changed before the rider went through.

A drunken hit-and-run driver in Florida faces charges for killing a bike rider, then driving another two and a half miles down the highway dragging the victim’s bike beneath his car before police pulled him over.

 

International

Yet another study shows that both drivers and bike riders break the law. But drivers do it to save time, while people on bicycles do it to save lives.

Cycling Weekly considers the best comfort hybrid bikes, and offers advice on how to buy a bike on a budget without needing an upgrade six months later.

A Montreal bikemaker uses recycled steel, ethical suppliers and local labor to build high-end bikes.

The New York Times asks whether Canada’s bike boom will last through the winter.

Scottish cyclist Josh Quigley set a new world’s record by riding the 516-mile North Coast 500 route through the Scottish Highlands in just 31 hours and 17 minutes, less than a year after he barely survived being struck by a Texas driver doing 70 mph while attempting to ride across the US.

Seventy-three-year old former Tour de France winner Joop Zoetemelk broke both his legs when a driver knocked him off his bike, 40 years after he wore the yellow jersey in Paris.

A European court ruled that Barcelona soccer star Messi clearly ain’t Spanish bikemaker Massi.

After news got out about an Indian boy who made a bicycle for his younger sister out of newspaper, a kindhearted local business owner gave him a real one.

Hundreds of Nairobi, Kenya residents rode to protest harassment of people on bicycles, after a bike rider was killed when the driver of a private minibus cut him off.

A group of Chinese bike riders are using their bikes for good, riding up to 1,200 miles to buy agricultural products to support poor villagers, and delivering food and milk to those in need.

Indonesian bike riders are now required to wear a helmet and ride a bicycle certified to meet the country’s safety standards.

Ebike sales are projected to surpass car sales in New Zealand in the next three years.

 

Competitive Cycling

The biggest surprise in this year’s Tour de France is that they actually made it to the finish in Paris in the midst of a pandemic. The second biggest surprise came in Saturday’s time trial, where 21-year-old Tadej Pogačar upset everyone to became the youngest winner of the Tour de France in 116 years, following an epic collapse by leader Primož Roglič.

Cycling News calls Tadej Pogačar a shark in sheep’s clothing, while Cycling Tips asks what do you say to someone who just lost the Tour de France.

Nice move from the pro peloton, which came together on Sunday’s final stage to condemn racism, after Kévin Reza, the only Black rider in this year’s Tour, was subjected to racist abuse from at least one rider.

More on Oneida Tribe member Neilson Powless, the only Native American to compete in this year’s Tour de France, or any other year for that matter — including a couple of near-podium finishes.

Business Insider ranks the bikes ridden in the Tour this year, giving the win to Astana’s Wilier Zero SLR, even if the team didn’t.

Bicycling recounts the biggest and craziest comeback victories in the Tour de France; here’s the Yahoo link for the firewall deprived. Greg LeMond certainly belongs there, although I’m not sure I’d include Floyd Landis’ pyrrhic victory.

The Tour of Luxembourg took place at the same time as the other, better known Tour.

Cycling Tips catches up with everything you missed in this year’s Giro Rosa — which is probably everything, since the most important stage race in women’s cycling was nowhere to be found on TV, as usual. Italy’s Longo Borghini got the win, her first after six previous top ten finishes.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could have an Apple logo. Or maybe be spokeless.

And forget a Covid mask. Just put your bike helmet on under this.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

LASD exonerates itself in Kizzee shooting amid calls for sheriff to resign, and e-scooters just ain’t the problem

September 18, 2020 / / Comments Off on LASD exonerates itself in Kizzee shooting amid calls for sheriff to resign, and e-scooters just ain’t the problem

No surprise here.

Nearly three weeks after LA County Sheriff’s Deputies shot and killed Compton bike rider Dijon Kizzee, the department held it’s first press conference.

Not surprisingly, it exonerated itself completely, even while multiple investigations are still ongoing.

And even as community activist Najee Ali accused the Sheriff’s Department of trying to “blame a Black man unjustly shot … for his own murder by his deputies” while speaking on behalf of family members.

According to a department spokesperson, deputies originally attempted to stop Kizzee for riding salmon, a crime that does not normally carry the death penalty.

Kizzee reportedly was carrying a gun that had been stolen in Las Vegas, which he was not legally allowed to have due to a prior felony conviction and a restraining order.

Deputies fired at least 15 shots after spotting the weapon when he dropped it, along with some clothes he’d been carrying.

However, after giving the deputies over two weeks to get their stories straight talk to investigators, the gun somehow went from the ground, as the sheriff’s department originally stated, into Kizzee’s hand as claimed in the new report.

Never mind that security video appears to show the deputies shooting at Kizzee as he ran away.

Unfortunately, we may never know for sure what happened, since LA County Sheriff’s Deputies aren’t currently required to wear body cams.

But the shooting does raise questions, especially in a department where gang-like groups wear matching tattoos and call themselves names like the Executioners.

It doesn’t matter who Kizzee was, or whether he had a record. It also doesn’t matter that he ran from the deputies, or briefly tussled with one when they tried to tackle him.

For the crime of riding on the wrong side of the street.

What matters is whether the deputies had a legitimate reason to fear for their own lives, or that of the public, before opening fire.

Let alone whether the department can, or will, conduct an honest investigation of its own deputies. Especially under the current administration.

Because this one doesn’t begin to pass the smell test.

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On a closely related subject, the LA Times says LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who has repeatedly ignored subpoenas and attempted to dodge civilian oversight, is the best advisement for the need for “muscular” oversight.

In addition, several city and county officials are calling on Villanueva to resign, including LA Councilmember David Ryu and county supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl.

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Yeah, that’ll happen.

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CBS News says micromobility is proving increasingly deadly, citing 41 deaths linked to e-scooters, ebikes and hoverboards over a three-year period.

Which compares to roughly 112,500 people killed in motor vehicle collisions over the same period.

Admittedly, I’ve never been very good at math, but I’m pretty sure 41 is less that 112,500.

A lot less.

So which one is really the problem on our streets?

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Something is seriously wrong when you’re not even safe from cars and their drivers in your own home.

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Here’s one for weight weenies, as GCN investigates whether bike weight really matters in the Tour de France.

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

Police in San Diego busted a bike-riding arsonist who used “molotov cocktail-like devices” to repeatedly set shrubs on fire outside a police station.

Chicago authorities are on the lookout for a masked bike-riding groper who has assaulted several women.

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Local

The LA Times catches up with the founder of the magical Venice Electric Light Parade weekly bike ride.

A former LA city planner accuses Los Angeles officials of being closet climate change deniers in environmentalist clothing.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a temporary halt to the Long Beach State Cycling Club, which is unable to keep riding under current university restrictions

 

State

Seriously? San Diego washed away a series of children’s chalk drawings supporting Black Lives Matter on a La Jolla bike path just days after they were finished, citing complaints that they were “hate speech.”

Santa Barbara is looking for a way for bike riders to coexist with pedestrians after the city closed a popular street to make room for shopping and dining while social distancing, which was also the spine of the city’s bike network.

 

National

The Idaho Stop Law is slowly spreading across the US, allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields.

A writer for Bicycling says never mind the cliche about never forgetting to ride a bike, because the truth is, you never forget how good it feels to ride one. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out. 

Good question. Wired wonders why Uber wasn’t charged in the death of an Arizona bike rider who was killed by one of their driverless cars, instead of the admittedly distracted human behind the wheel.

A new study from Portland’s Alta Planning and Design says don’t cut corners on corner design to prevent unsafe turns by drivers.

A kindhearted Texas cop replaced a nine-year old boy’s bike after it was stolen.

An Arlington Texas police detective was released from the hospital following a crash that killed a fellow bicyclist when a driver plowed into the group they were riding with. But since the driver remained at the scene, it’s evidently okay.

A Houston reverend will bike 500 mies through Michigan to raise funds to fight hunger in Guatemala.

Martha Stewart is one of us, enjoying the coronavirus quarantine while popping her new line of CBD-infused fruit pate and riding her ebike around her 153-acre New York state farm.

He gets it. A New York assembly member says the state should subsidize ebike purchases to wean people off of cars. We need to start hearing that from California officials, too.

 

International

A Scottish bicyclist who was nearly killed in a Texas collision while riding across the US will attempt to set a new record for riding nonstop over 500 miles through the Scottish Highlands, taking aim at the existing record of 31 hours and 23 minutes.

Paris is the latest major city to announce that 31 miles of popup bike lanes that were installed at the beginning of the coronavirus lockdown will be made permanent. That compares favorably to Los Angeles, which will make zero lanes permanent, out of the zero popup bike lanes that were installed. 

Here’s something you won’t see in the US. The king and queen of the Netherlands took a casual bike ride while meeting with local officials, wearing a suit, gown and practical pumps.

A Singapore letter writer says licensing drivers doesn’t seem to make them any safer, so maybe it’s not the answer for bike riders, either.

 

Competitive Cycling

The 600 pound gorilla that is Team Ineos finally performs as expected in the Tour de France, at least for one stage.

The president of Slovenia is pretty pumped that two of his countrymen could be standing on the final podium when the Tour gets to Paris.

The director for leading team Jumbo-Visma got the boot from the Tour after losing his cool when inspectors allegedly damaged leader Primož Roglič’s bike checking for signs of motor doping.

Defending champ Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands is out of next week’s worlds after crashing while leading the Giro Rosa. 

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be made of wood. Seriously, don’t bite the guy whose bike you just stole.

And don’t put dog poop in Trump supporters mailboxes.

On a bike or otherwise.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

Bike rider killed in Compton collision Wednesday night; first SoCal bike death in five weeks

September 17, 2020 / / Comments Off on Bike rider killed in Compton collision Wednesday night; first SoCal bike death in five weeks

You knew it wouldn’t last.

After a rash of bicycling deaths in July and early August, we somehow managed to go over a month without a fatality in Southern California.

Or at least, none that managed to make the news.

That came to an end last night, when a man was killed as he rode his bike in Compton.

According to the City News Service, he was riding on a dark section of Rosecrans Ave, west of Aprilia Ave, around 11:15 pm when he was rear-ended by a driver changing lanes.

The victim, identified only as a 40-year old man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

No word on whether he had lights on his bike, or if there was some other reason why the driver failed to see him. And no word on how fast the driver was going.

But at least he stayed at the scene.

A street view shows six lanes with a center turn lane on Rosecrans, with a frontage road on the south side. That suggests the victim may have been riding west on Rosecrans, if he was on the main roadway at the time of the crash.

This is at least the 39th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

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

Thanks to Sindy for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

LADOT wants input on deadly Lincoln Blvd, Koretz recall effort announced, and wear your damn golf helmet

September 17, 2020 / / Comments Off on LADOT wants input on deadly Lincoln Blvd, Koretz recall effort announced, and wear your damn golf helmet

LADOT wants your input on a proposal to install rush hour bus lanes and other safety improvements on deadly Lincoln Blvd south of the Santa Monica border, which could be used for parking and biking at other hours.

Since this one is in Councilmember Mike Bonin’s district, it might actually happen; he’s one of the few friends traffic safety advocates have left on the city council.

Although maybe we’d be better served by a shared bus and bike lane during rush hour that converts to a floating bike lane during off hours.

Thanks to Kent Strumpell for the heads-up.

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Anger is boiling over in LA’s fifth council district, as a new effort to recall Paul Koretz gets underway.

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If I still lived in the district I called home for a quarter of a century, I’d be the first to sign the petition.

The only real question is what took so long?

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Maybe they should wear helmets.

A new survey says you’re more likely to get hurt playing golf than you are riding a bike. (Scroll down if the story doesn’t load correctly.)

Unless, like me, you wouldn’t be caught dead on a golf course.

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When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it’s filled with patrol cars from cops grabbing lunch.

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Thanks to Erik Griswold for the tip.

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Bike Angeles takes you riding on Latigo Canyon, calling it the most essential climb in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Thanks to Zachary Rynew for the heads-up.

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The only thing worse than a near miss is a pass that doesn’t.

Miss, that is.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a road raging English farmer walked without a single day behind bars for intentionally slamming into a bike rider in reverse.

No bias here. British business owners insist that popup bike lanes are a pain in the backside and an accident waiting to happen.

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Local

London and Long Beach based Zwift is now a one billion dollar company.

The replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge in the Port of Long Beach is set to open next month, including the long awaited Mark Bixby bike lanes.

 

State

San Jose develops an innovative plan to improve safety on a pair of three lane one-way streets by installing a frontage lane to keep cars out of a curb protected bike lane, along with protected intersections.

Sunnyvale is dropping the speed limit on El Camino Real to 35 mph to match the speed in other nearby cities, while considering a plan to add bike lanes.

The US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis unveils this year’s inductees.

 

National

Next City calls freight delivery the forgotten part of Vision Zero, saying streets need to be designed so delivery vehicles can operate safely in mixed traffic. Or better yet, replace delivery trucks and vans with more efficient ebikes. Although in Los Angeles, it’s Vision Zero itself that’s been forgotten.

Spin looks at the success of Slow Streets programs around the US.

Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club maps out routes into the city from West Seattle. Something we could use here in LA to navigate the city’s fractured bikeways.

Bike riders are discovering the joys of biking on gravel in Texas, where there’s lots of it.

Busted for Biking While Black at just ten years old. Michelle Obama — yes, that Michelle Obama — tells the story of how her own brother was stopped by a pair of Chicago cops who refused to believe the bike he was riding belonged him.

Speaking of Chicago, the police are finally releasing bicycles that were seized during the Black Lives Matter protests earlier this year. But not in the same condition they were in when they seized.

Bike trails to check out the fall foliage for your next trip to the Big Apple.

The brother of a Brooklyn assistant DA who was killed in a collision while riding her bike last week says the city failed her, and all new bike riders.

Nice story about a writer’s friendship with a noted Florida chef, and tracking down the bespoke bike he passed along. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if you’re blocked out by Bicycling’s paywall.

 

International

Axios traces the timeline of the coronavirus bike boom, saying it remains to be seen if it’s a long-term trend that will outlive the virus itself.

Cycling News offers advice on how to safely lock-up your bike to help ensure it’s still there when you get back.

Cycling Weekly says it’s time to up your sock game.

A 155-year old British sports publication talks with American mom Denise Mueller-Korenek, the world’s fastest assisted bicyclist, clocked at just this side of an incredible 184 mph.

A woman in the UK credits the Busby app with saving her life when she was knocked unconscious after a driver forced her bike off the road.

Dutch bikemaker Van Moof raises $40 million to further expand worldwide, as it sets its sites on an IPO.

Turkey wants to integrate bicycles into the country’s transportation network.

 

Competitive Cycling

Yesterday’s stage of the Tour de France ended with a nail-biting attack on the on the Col de la Loze.

Team USA profiles Sepp Kuss as he works to keep Slovenian cyclist Primož Roglič in yellow.

Fans aren’t exactly social distancing at the Tour, as fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogačar had to push a fan out of the way as he neared the summit.

The only Black bike rider in this year’s Tour says he hasn’t seen a lot of solidarity and support on the pro tour.

Somehow, cycling is never far from doping in the news, as the leaders of a massive blood doping ring involving pro cyclists and Nordic athletes went on trial yesterday.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you design a bike that shouldn’t work, yet somehow it does. Still shaving his legs after 29 years and 1,450 twin blade cartridges.

And who doesn’t want to see a bunny on a bicycle?

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Thanks to Megan Lynch for this one.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

Virtual Sea Otter Classic opens tomorrow, lasting Covid heart damage in athletes, and Madrid builds greenbelt bikeway

September 16, 2020 / / Comments Off on Virtual Sea Otter Classic opens tomorrow, lasting Covid heart damage in athletes, and Madrid builds greenbelt bikeway

One quick thought before we leave the Uplift Melrose project behind us, which we’ve been discussing the past few days.

Whether you supported or opposed the project, or something in between, you had a right to be heard.

By unilaterally killing the project at the beginning of the public comment process, CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz took that away from you.

And all of us.

Never mind that actions like that inevitably lead to suspicions of undue influence, if not outright corruption, on a city council tarred by the Englander and Huizar bribery scandals.

We all deserve open, honest and democratic government from our elected leaders.

Not crap like this.

Photo by Visually Us from Pexels.

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A new Sea Otter Classic for the Covid Age opens online tomorrow, with over 250 brands participating.

The event is free for consumers.

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You might want to pass on the hard rides for awhile if you’ve had Covid-19.

Studies are showing that even if you’ve recovered from the virus, it can cause long-lasting heart damage. And not just in serious cases, but in people who’ve had just mild or no symptoms, as well.

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This is what can be done if you really want to make a difference fighting pollution.

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Now that’s how you introduce your eponymous new mountain bike helmet line.

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Local

Thirteen things to know about Dijon Kizzee, the Black bike rider fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies in South LA last week — including that he loved riding anything with two wheels.

You can now find LA’s Slow Streets on Google Maps.

Eastside LA bike repairs are booming, too.

Pasadena police will be conducting another bicycle and pedestrian safety crackdown on Friday. The usual protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

 

State

Santa Barbara police bust a 19-year old bike thief who rode off from a local bike shop on a $12,500 Specialized S-Works bike, then came back to take another; he was in the process of painting over the serial number when he was arrested.

Tragic news from Oakland, where a 67-year old woman was killed in a left hook collision while riding her bike. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

 

National

CleanTechnica reviews the new Lumos Ultra smart helmet with built-in lighting and turn signals.

GQ gets recommendations for the best gear for the pandemic bike boom from seven riders, including LA’s own Phil Gaimon. Meanwhile, demand is so high for certified used bikes right now that some are selling for more than the sticker price.

Forbes considers whether you need insurance for your bike in case of theft or damage. Yes, unless you ride a cheap bike you can easily afford to replace.

Market Watch considers where to retire to a bike and beer friendly city, if you can’t afford to live in my hometown.

Now you, too, can ride with actor Patrick Dempsey’s Dempsey Challenge. Virtually, anyway.

The person behind the wheel in the self-driving Uber car crash that killed 49-year-old bike rider Elaine Herzberg in Tempe AZ last year has been charged with negligent homicide for watching The Voice on her phone when she should have been watching traffic.

Streetsblog says South Dakota AG Jason Ravnsborg will probably get away with the hit-and-run death of a bike rider.

Where to ride your bike to see spectacular fall colors in the Chicago area in the Age of Covid-19.

Build leg strength and lung capacity like a Chicago bike messenger.

Great idea. A Marquette, Michigan project titled Words to Live and Bike By is enlisting local artists to paint murals along a bike path, each revolving around a single word, like hope, dream, respect, gratitude and remember.

They get it. As the nation literally burns, a Cleveland website suggests commuting with something other that a single occupancy vehicle once in awhile.

A Lancaster NY driver faces multiple felony charges for the drunken hit-and-run crash that killed one teenage boy and seriously injured another as they were riding their bikes last month.

North Carolina is launching their Watch for Me NC campaign urging drivers to make space for bike riders and pedestrians.

 

International

How to figure out what size bike you really need.

CNN considers how cargo bikes went from novelty to practicality, calling them the Swiss Army knife of bicycles

Cycling News looks at the best ebikes for under a grand or so, along with their picks for the best bike mirrors.

British Columbia’s Pacific Rim National Park on Vancouver Island is building a $51 million, 25 mile bike path along the coast connecting two surfing towns.

You’ve got to be kidding. A British delivery driver removed his license plate in order to get away with driving on the UK equivalent of a Slow Street.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where a careless driver walks without a single day behind bars for killing a bike rider.

Outside rides along with Italian two-wheeled heartthrob, stunt cyclist and bicycle vigilante Vittorio Brumotti.

Seoul, South Korea proves it can be done, opening a new bicycle-only road next year as part of a planned 750-mile bicycle road network, along with a 14-mile network of bicycle highways completely separated from motor vehicles.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Tour de France is entering the final week, in one of the closest races in recent memory.

No need to worry about spoilers here, as Marianne Vox sprints to victory in Tuesday’s stage 5 of the women’s Giro Rosa. Since no one caries women’s cycling anyway.

Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Tinker Juarez shares his secret for beating cyclists half his age.

 

Finally…

Nothing like setting a new hour record for riding a wheelie long distance.  The Mounties always get their man. Or bike, anyway.

And who doesn’t need a tire sealant that is literally bulletproof?

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Alleged San Diego hit-and-run driver pleads not guilty, and more on NIMBY Koretz killing Melrose project

September 15, 2020 / / 5 comments

Twentynine-year old Mauricio Flores pled not guilty to felony hit-and-run in San Diego on Monday.

Flores is the minivan driver who allegedly slammed into a 66-year old bike rider near the city’s airport last month, leaving the victim with a life-threatening head injury.

In actions captured on video, he allegedly got out of his van, along with a passenger identified as 50-year old Jessica Bailey, examined the victim lying in the roadway, then calmly removed his bike from under their van and drove away.

They were captured in Kern County less than two weeks later.

There’s no word on whether Bailey is in custody, or if she will face any charges.

And no word on the identity or condition of the victim.

There are several stories from other news outlets, like this one, but they’re all virtually identical. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

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Streets For All founder Michael Schneider lays out in painful, step-by-step detail just what went wrong with the Uplift Melrose plan to improve the iconic, if deadly, LA street.

And how the environmentally friendly project was killed by a single LA councilmember, acting on behalf of a notorious NIMBY group.

Just after the Mid City West meeting, the NIMBYs sprang into action. They viewed Uplift Melrose as a threat to the sacred space of vehicles in this city, and were outraged that a project would even be considered that would rellocate space from cars for a bike lane. Those bike lane thieves, trying to take away sacred car space! And while the project was so much more than a bike lane — it was wider sidewalks, new trees, raised crosswalks, new lighting… all they could see was the bike lane.

Jim O’Sullivan, co-founder of Fix The City — a litigious organization that sues over nearly every bike lane and high density housing project using money from questionable funding sources — started sending threatening emails to Councilmember Koretz and eventually to the entire city council. They also posted misinformation on Next Door. When NIMBYs can’t win on the merits of something, then they simply resort to the tired and true “there wasn’t enough outreach” argument.

It’s worth taking a few minutes — okay, nine, according to the article — to read the whole thing.

Because this is what we’re up against.

And what we will continue to confront — and too often, lose — as long as we continue to elect regressive leaders in environmentalist sheep’s clothing.

Speaking of which, Bike the Vote LA is encouraging you to phonebank for CD4 candidate Nithya Raman this Sunday to support an actual environmentalist.

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Something is seriously wrong when the person charged with enforcing a state’s laws doesn’t obey them himself.

South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg killed a man riding his bike Saturday night, then continued driving home without bothering to stop, later claiming he thought he’d hit a deer.

An excuse used by countless other hit-and-run drivers, in a usually failed attempt to avoid responsibility for their crimes.

It remains to be seen whether Ravnsborg, who has a long record of speeding and other traffic violations, will be held accountable. Or if his position will shield him from blame.

Although it doesn’t bode well that the state’s Department of Public Safety is withholding key details of the investigation.

Ravnsborg was reportedly driving home from a Republican fundraising dinner, where he swears he didn’t drink.

Even though any rational and sober person would stop to see what they hit after an impact like that.

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Still more proof you can literally carry anything on a bicycle.

Twitter post

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

An American marine biologist in the Philippines with a bad case of windshield bias questions why road space is being given to bike riders when motor vehicles bring in much more “revinue” for the government. He may be many things, but an environmentalist clearly ain’t one of them, regardless of what the headline says.

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Local

Bruce Willis is one of us, riding his Trek ebike through the streets of LA, even if the story somehow comes by way of Islamabad. Yippie-ki-yay, indeed.

Olympic boarder Shaun White and Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev are two of us. Or make that three, as they went for a bike ride through the ‘Bu with her dog in his arms.

 

State

A recovering Newport Beach stroke victim reached his goal of swimming 100 miles Labor Day weekend, then walked a couple miles to where he’d left his bicycle to ride back home.

A San Diego letter writer questions the city’s 42 percent increase in bike ridership, saying it’s meaningless without knowing how many riders there were before. Hate to say it, but he’s got a point.

 

National

Washington state is adopting the Idaho Stop Law next month, allowing bike riders to treat stops as yields — but not treat red lights like stop signs, as is legal in Idaho.

This is how it works in other places. Austin, Texas is going to make permanent a popup bike lane installed during the coronavirus crisis after it proved successful. Unfortunately, unlike countless other cities around the world, auto-centric Los Angeles never bothered to install any temporary bike lanes during the lockdown period to begin with.

Dozens of Louisville KY residents rode to apartment where Breonna Taylor was fatally shot by police, who were looking for her former boyfriend, to see where it happened and demand justice for her.

Chicago is responding to the increase in bike riders by installing a curb and post protected bike lane on a busy street, removing 100 parking spaces to make room.

Boston is raising Austin’s ante by making an entire Downtown popup bike network permanent. Although Boston’s bike boom has also been reflected in a corresponding jump in bike thefts.

Now that’s how to campaign. A New York state assemblyman is riding his bike 116 miles across the state’s 116th Assembly District to raise funds for his campaign.

A 73-year old Franciscan friar in Pennsylvania is riding nearly 400 miles along the Erie Canal to raise funds for an outreach center serving people struggling with rural poverty; it’s the stage-4 colon cancer survivor’s tenth annual ride.

Billy Connolly is one of us, too. The Scottish comic, who suffers from Parkinsons, suffered an eye injury falling off his ebike near his home in Key West.

Unbelievable. Authorities dropped aggravated assault charges against a Florida driver who aggressively drove into a crowd of protesters, then pulled a gun on them when they surrounded his car.

Police in Florida have arrested four men for the January, 2019 shooting death of a man riding his bike, who was apparently collateral damage in a shootout between the occupants of two cars.

 

International

The World Resources Institute says 80 percent of urban freight begins or ends in cities, and it’s time to take it seriously — including using e-cargo bikes to make deliveries.

A bike rider goes skitching, hanging on to a semi-truck trailer on a Toronto highway. Although someone should tell Narcity that there’s no need to pedal when you’re being pulled by a truck.

A Canadian woman explains how Covid-19 finally encouraged her to learn how to ride a bike at the ripe old age of 33.

Financial Times profiles famed British bike rider and designer Paul Smith, calling him the most loved man in fashion.

He gets it. An English cycling instructor says a new protected bike lane isn’t intended to make it easier to drive, but to improve safety for people on bicycles and in cars.

France ie encouraging more people to ride bikes by paying them the equivalent of nearly $60 to get their bikes repaired.

 

Competitive Cycling

Defending Tour de France champ Egan Bernal dropped out after Sunday’s 15th stage, complaining that he just didn’t have any power.

Cyclist looks at Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogačar, calling him cycling’s newest sensation.

An excerpt from a new book examines the troubled legacy of cycling great Marco Pantani; the 1998 Tour de France winner died of a coke overdose just six years later.

Women’s cycling is still going strong, despite the media’s best efforts to ignore it, including the longest ever stage of the Giro Rosa.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the disabled parking is in the middle of the street. Your next bike could be a folding mountain ebike for just 600 bucks.

And what does it say when the streets aren’t safe enough for police to conduct a bike safety sting?

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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