When Europe shut down due to the coronavirus, a Scottish college student couldn’t get a flight back to Greece. So he bought a bike, and spent the next 48 days riding 2,175 back home.
Let’s start with this note from frequent link contributor Victor Bale.
I needed a break from the heat of the Coachella Valley so I spent Thursday thru today at the Balboa Peninsula of Newport Beach. I rode the length of the boardwalk all the way to Sunset Beach and other bike trails every day and I was struck by how many ebikes I saw. They were everywhere and here’s a couple of thoughts.
I love that ebikes are bringing new blood to the sport but I was bothered by the recklessness of “some” of the cyclists.
Many were traveling at speeds totally inappropriate (the speed limit on the boardwalk is 8 MPH) to a narrow boardwalk full of families walking, cyclists on beach cruisers, very young kids cycling or on scooters and seniors out for a lesurely stroll.
I watched as a young man knocked over a woman riding a beach cruiser. No harm to her other than road rash but she was lucky. When he passed me he was using throttle only and exceeding 20 MPH. I watched as people were cut off. I watched as ebikes rode on the boardwalk paperboy style at high speeds just to show off. It was crazy. I’m surprised high profile accidents haven’t happened yet.
Nobody likes onerous regulations and enforcement but I worry about what the future will bring if something isn’t done now about regulating ebikes and ebike usage. It’s only a matter of time before an ebike rider kills a pedestrian (if it hasn’t happened already).
Take that as a warning.
Coastal cities have cracked down on bike riders exceeding the admittedly exceedingly low speed limits on the beachfront boardwalks. And will undoubtedly do it again if they think things are getting out of control.
Never mind that it takes a major jerk to zip blithely along while putting everyone else at risk.
And while I’m not aware of anyone being killed or seriously injured by an ebike rider in Southern California, it has happened in other cities.
There’s something seriously wrong when a movie critic for the LA Times equates an “[expletive], entitled bicyclist who scuffs Buggin’ Out’s pristine Jordans,” with cops killing Black men with chokeholds.
Maybe someone should tell him there’s a difference between being an obnoxious jerk and, you know, actually killing someone.
Or maybe the Times should just do the right thing and remove this one.
Thanks to Sean Meredith for the heads-up.
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If you can’t afford to fix your bike, Pasadena wants to help.
Twitter post
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The Black Lives Matter movement isn’t stopping, with at least two bike rides to honor Breonna Taylor this weekend, in Richmond VA and Grand Rapids MI.
There was a similar ride in Los Angeles over the weekend, but it doesn’t seem to be online yet.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An ugly incident caught on video, as a couple of bicyclists confronted a Florida driver who passed too close, and told them to stay the fuck off the road — and brandished a gun as he got out of his SUV. Or maybe not; it’s possible he was just putting it in his pocket as he got out, as he claimed.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Caltrans and Malibu will host a Zoom meeting Wednesday evening to discuss replacing the narrow bridge over Trancas Creek on PCH, including bike lanes and shoulders in both directions, as well as a westbound right turn lane onto Trancas Canyon Road.
Forbessuggests the best bikewear and accessories for women, apparently based on the mistaken assumption that everyone wants to sport spandex and ride roadies. And despite what the caption says, a bicycle is all you really need to start riding. So don’t let that other crap get in your way; you can always get it later if you want.
A New Zealand woman tells drivers an extra minute won’t kill them, but it could kill someone else — like it did her late husband, who died five days after he was run down by a truck driver. They’d been riding together ever since they met while bicycling across Canada 23 years ago; now she doesn’t know how she can ride again without him.
Which makes it the fourth fatal SoCal bike crash in just the last five days.
The victim apparently died at the scene, with the coroner called 43 minutes after the crash.
There’s no description yet on the victim, or just how or where the crash happened. Although it appears to have been near the northbound offramp, since Jeffrey changes names south of the 405.
Meanwhile, someone was transported to the hospital with a leg injury. But again, there’s no word on whether that person was in the car, or if the driver may have struck someone else, as well.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.
This is at least the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Even though the coroner was called to the scene, Kabatova actually died Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo nearly 30 minutes after the crash.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Barbora Kabatova and all her loved ones.
July 10, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Hard-hitting Vision Zero ad, foldie-riding VeloBarber, and your own personal helmet-mounted air scoop air filter
Thanks for your patience with yesterday’s diabetes issues, which resulted in a somewhat truncated Morning Links.
We’re back today to catch up on what we missed, as well as today’s news. And a whole lot of videos.
For those keeping score at home, my bout with low blood sugar was followed by a spike in morning, followed by high blood sugar all day.
Which I suppose means it all evened out in the long run.
Road.ccrecommends the year’s best bicycling sunglasses (multiply the UK price by 1.26 to get an approximate US price); some form of eye protection is vital to keep your eyes safe from rocks, flies and other road debris, as well as harmful UV light.
After losing his leadership position with Team Ineos — aka the former Team Sky — after eleven years, former Tour de France winner Chris Froome is jumping to the Israel Start Up Nation team for a shot at a record-tying fifth Tour win. Even though Lance won seven, but, you know.
I’ve been battling low blood sugar for over four hours now, as I’ve struggled to finish today’s post. Despite my best efforts, I’ve finally reached the point where I have to throw in the towel.
Unfortunately, I’ve only gotten about halfway through today’s news, so let’s just call this Morning Links lite.
And we’ll catch up with the rest tomorrow.
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In today’s photo, Patrick Pascal sends proof that DTLA’s Olive Street bike lane is becoming a reality, looking south from 8th Street.
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This may be the most important video you see today.
Or maybe this year.
Tuesday evening, LA’s Velo Club La Grange hosted a two hour online discussion of racism, and what it’s like to be a Black bicyclist in the City of Angels.
This is how they describe it.
On Tuesday, July 7, 2020, Velo Club La Grange hosted a virtual Town Hall where a number of local Black cyclists shared their perspective and experiences and engaged in an interactive question and answer session. We invite you to watch this critically important conversation.
But that doesn’t begin to do it justice.
The panelists — a group of successful Black professionals — didn’t say anything I haven’t heard before from other people.
Yet hearing so many variations of the same hateful story, calmly told by so many people, was absolutely devastating.
Seriously, block out some time, and watch it. It may change the way you view race forever.
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When is a bike lane not a bike lane?
When its a parking lot.
Twitter post
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Help BikeSD raise funds for the Climate Ride this weekend.
