Measure HLA leads in early voting, NY Vision Zero goes wrong, and possible driver shenanigans on Reseda Blvd

Just 300 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,007 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

………

It’s very early, and returns are still coming in. But so far, things are looking good for safer streets in the City of Angels.

Then again, why bother counting the ballots, when you can just follow KNBC-4’s lead and declare the winner when the first votes come in?

………

New York’s Vision Zero is clearly going the wrong way.

According to figures released by the city, bicycling deaths in New York reached a record high last year, with 30 people killed riding bikes in 2023. Another 395 bike riders suffered severe injuries.

Over three-quarters of those killed were riding ebikes, while 80% of people suffering severe injuries were on traditional pedal bikes.

Which seems significant, but probably isn’t.

Then again, at least New York released their Vision Zero figures, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis we could name.

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LADOT and CicLAvia will officially unveil the new Reseda Blvd Complete Streets corridor on Sunday, March 17th — aka St. Patrick’s Day — from 1 pm to 5 pm.

However, unlike most CicLAvia events, this will not be an open streets event, so you may still have to deal with some driver shenanigans.

………

It’s now 77 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. A British man was fined the equivalent of $635 just for riding his bicycle through a town center in violation of a bicycling ban, which is more than many killer drivers a fined; an 82-year old man told city leaders to “stick it up your arse” after being fined the equivalent of $127 for the same offense in 2022.

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

Scofflaw Japanese bicyclists will now be able to pay traffic fines up to the equivalent of $80, rather than face criminal prosecution for most traffic violations, although “malicious violations” including drunk biking and obstructing traffic will still be subject to criminal punishment.

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Local 

Authorities have identified a 44-year old homeless woman who was found dead on a Long Beach bike path near El Dorado Park Friday morning, saying her death is being investigated as a possible homicide.

 

State

San Diego Magazine recommends the best backcountry mountain bike route to the “surging watefalls (sic) and bubbling creeks” of Mildred Falls.

If you’re missing a bicycle, look north to Santa Cruz County, where sheriff’s deputies recovered dozens of apparently stolen bicycles while serving a warrant in Watsonville.

Petaluma residents broke out the torches and pitchforks over a proposal for a quick-build bike lane to replace a worn and aging one, over concerns about losing — you guessed it — parking spaces, albeit on just one side of the street. Because as we all know, a free place to store your car is far more important than human lives.

 

National

A US engineer living in the Netherlands argues that the root problem with American DOTs lies with the education and licensing of engineers, who are taught to build deadly infrastructure.

A writer for CNET offers his favorite bicycling gadgets, accessories, apparel and services for the coming year, while NBC News recommends the top rated bike helmets of 2024.

A Portland man was allegedly run down by a rampaging driver while standing with his bicycle, after the driver became enraged because he couldn’t score any fentanyl from a homeless encampment.

The widow of a Seattle bike rider is urging prosecutors to reconsider a decision to let the 53-year old driver who killed him with a slap on the wrist, despite striking him in a left cross crash while driving with a suspended license; police also failed to test the driver for drug or alcohol use.

A Denver private school chef won’t be cooking for the kids anytime soon, after fracturing his hand, ribs and sternum when he was struck by a driver while biking to work; a crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses has nearly met the modest $2,500 goal.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an adaptive tricycle custom-made for a disabled little boy in Mad City, Wisconsin.

If you build it, they will come. A new protected bike lane in Philadelphia has resulted in a 181% increase in ridership rates, while also leading to an 81% jump in drivers parking on the sidewalk.

Five years after the New Orleans mass casualty crash that killed two people and injured seven others riding their bikes near a Mardi Gras parade, a survivor of the crash is calling on the city to do more to protect bike riders, following a recent report that it has the highest rate of fatal bicyclist crashes per capita among major U.S. metro areas.

A bill that would have given Florida cities more power to restrict ebikes and e-scooters has failed in the state legislature, though the sponsor says it will be reintroduced next year.

 

International

Women make up just 23% of the bicyclists in the English city of Milton Keynes, although a greater concern might be that they counted just 163 people riding bicycles on the city’s shared mobility lanes over a ten-day period in January.

You have less than two months to dig out your finest Scottish woolens and vintage bicycle for London’s annual Tweed Ride next month.

You’re welcome. People walking and biking account for over 680,00 fewer cars and trucks on the streets of Ireland’s five largest cities.

As if dangerous drivers weren’t enough to worry about, a 60-year old Singapore man died of organ failure after he was repeatedly stung by a swarm of angry hornets as he rode his bike.

Former two-time world time trial champ Rohan Dennis will face a judge next week over charges he drove in a “culpably negligent manner” causing the death of his wife, Australian Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins, who reportedly fell from the hood of his SUV while attempting to open the passenger door. Maybe after the hearing we’ll finally learn why she was on the hood to begin with.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Visma-Lease a Bike cycling team is defending their use of their new Giro Aerohead II helmets that make the riders look like weir yellow mushrooms, despite a belief that UCI will ban their use in the near future; GCN says they should just hurry up and do it, already.

Good question. Pez Cycling News examines what can be done to promote better mental health among pro cyclists.

More than 400 cyclists competed in Costa Mesa’s Taylor Elizabeth Clifford Memorial Grand Prix, named in honor of a Huntington Beach teenager who died from an overdose in 2005.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you have to wait for the end of a belated Mardi Gras parade to start building a bikeway. Who says you need a front wheel to bike to Kashmir, anyway?

And evidently, they’re called Waymo because they’re way mo’ dangerous than non-autonomous vehicles.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Bike the Vote today, DUI death of Master’s champ Boyes worth one lousy year, and LA approves $13m Mobility Hub contract

Just 301 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,006 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

………

It was a busy weekend in the bike world, so we’ve got a lot to catch up on.

But before we start, if you haven’t done it yet, find the ballot you got in the mail, fill it out, and drop it off at your nearest drop box. Or hop on your bike, and ride to the nearest vote center to cast your vote in person.

You can also get fare-free rides on Metro trains, buses and Metro Bike bikeshare today.

And if you live in the City of Angels, don’t forget to vote yes on Measure HLA, which will require the city to build out the Mobility Plan they already agreed to, before letting it gather dust on the shelf.

Lives literally depend on it.

If you need a little more guidance, you can find voter guides here from Streets For All, the Los Angeles Times and LAist’s Guide to the Voter Guides.

It’s okay, we’ll wait.

………

While we’re waiting for everyone to get back, my brother Eric is headed east from San Dimas on Adventure Cycling’s Bicycle Route 66 today on his way to Las Vegas, and eventually on to Savannah, Georgia, after starting from Santa Monica on Sunday.

Let me give a shoutout to the folks at Trek Bicycle Beverly Hills, the former I. Martin on Beverly Blvd, for giving him an emergency valve repair Saturday to help get him on the road — and not charging a cent.

And no, they didn’t know who I am before doing it.

Then again, who does?

And if you’re hankering to follow my brother’s lead, National Geographic highlights five “stress-free and sustainable” US bike trails to ease you into bike camping.

Eric thanking Camden at Trek Bicycle Beverly Hills for fixing his tire

Loading the bigass touring bike his daughter had custom built for him

A very sad corgi watching her new favorite human disappear up the sidewalk

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An “incredulous” federal judge questioned a proposed plea deal in the death of US Masters Champ Ethan Boyes.

Prosecutors said they were nearing a deal on a one-year misdemeanor sentence for the drunken crash that killed Boyes in San Francisco’s Presidio Park, reducing the charges to one count of unlawfully killing a human being without malice and without gross negligence.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle,

“Isn’t being intoxicated gross negligence in itself?” the judge said, incredulous.

That question, (Assistant U.S. Attorney George) Hageman said, was “up for interpretation.”

The judge replied that interpreting the severity of the alleged crime was Hageman’s job as federal prosecutor…

Eighty-one-year old Arnold Kinman Low is currently facing one count of vehicular manslaughter and one count of driving under the influence of alcohol in the fatal crash.

Felony vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI causing death could result in a maximum sentence of 16 years behind bars, while dropping the DUI count could reduce it to just 12 months.

For killing someone while too drunk to drive in a straight line.

Allegedly.

………

Los Angeles officials approved a five-year, $10 million contract with transit firm Tranzito to provide a series of integrated mobility hubs,

The firm will establish 13 of the centers throughout DTLA, Hollywood and Long Beach to provide “bike sharing, car sharing, secure bike parking and on-demand microtransit services” for first mile/last mile transportation from Metro  stations.

………

This is who we share the road with.

This is who we share the road with, part two.

Missouri Governor Mike Parsons sent a clear message that driving drunk and severely injuring a little kid is just no big deal, celebrating the Kansas City Chief’s Super Bowl win by commuting the DUI sentence of former Kansas City Chiefs Assistant Coach Britt Reid, son of head coach Andy Reid.

So if you ever wonder why people keep dying on our streets, that’s Exhibit A.

………

It’s now 76 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, Pasadena is already launching its own ebike rebate, offering residents up to $750 for an e-cargo bike, or $1,000 for income-qualified residents.

So why is it taking California so damn long?

………

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

Momentum argues that anti-cycling zealots in Toronto would like to run over bicyclists just to save a little commuting time.

No bias here. An anonymous London school kid bemoans the “plagues of two-wheeled vermin” making them late for music lessons, but suggests the bright side to global warming is the torrential rains that free the road up for drivers.

And no bias here, either.

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

When you’re riding your bike in Capitola, California with an outstanding warrant while carrying meth and fentanyl, put some damn lights on it — and don’t try to pass yourself off as your sister.

A Madison, Wisconsin man was arrested for riding a stolen bicycle while on his way to the courthouse to be sentenced for a series of other burglaries — after he had already been banned from riding a bike.

When you’re carrying coke and a crack pipe on your bike in Kentucky, put some damn lights on it, already — and don’t jump off a roof to escape the cops.

An English town dealt with “anti-social cyclists,” as police responded to complaints from the public for such horrendous activities as riding without lights. Which isn’t exactly what I would describe as antisocial, but still. 

A clinically blind bicyclist in the UK was fined the equivalent of $253 for riding on a highway while “extremely” drunk, less than a year after he crashed into a passing car while riding under the influence. And giving a whole new meaning to being blind drunk.

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Local 

A homeless man in DTLA learns the hard way it ain’t easy to steal a robocab.

Ride On! Bike Shop/Co-Op founder Adé Neff describes how he was repeatedly stopped for Riding While Black in Beverly Hills because he “fit” a description of someone who had committed a crime. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you.

The rich get richer, as Santa Monica pledges to improve its Vision Zero and Bike Action plans.

South Pasadena residents learn the hard way what happens when only seven people out of 104 bother to return a resident survey — and all of those ask for bike lanes on Grand Ave. And the city is apparently all out of temporary street paint. Thanks to Wesley for the heads-up.

Hermosa Beach is considering a proposal to geofence ebike rentals to prevent speeding on The Strand, as well as a proposal to ban ebikes entirely from the popular oceanfront walkway.

Long Beach plans to unveil a $60 million overhaul of Studebaker Road in East Long Beach to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and, yes, drivers.

 

State

Caltrans is teaming with the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) to offer a new tool to address the inequitable distribution of transportation benefits and burdens, including mapping out crash rates.

Calbike promotes their upcoming Bicycle Summit Plenary in San Diego next month, saying it will promote the city’s bike cultures.

A California man rode 625 miles around Taiwan in twelve days, despite never riding for more than half an hour before his trip.

 

National

Road & Track offers the year’s best ebikes, as rated by Bicycling and reposted by AOL. Raising the question of why the hell does Bicycling even have a paywall?

Discover says ebikes may be expensive, but worth it for their health, equity and clean air benefits.

The case against a Salem, Oregon DEA agent for killing a woman on a bicycle after running a stop sign remains in legal limbo, pending an appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court over a decision to transfer the case to federal court, which would likely result in dropping the case.

Actor Matthew Modine leads a “ragtag” bicycle krewe to the Grand Canyon in the new fact-based dramedy movie Hard Miles.

A Colorado woman switched gears after a serious mountain biking crash, leaving her marketing job to become a nomadic artist.

Hoboken NJ credits removing parking spaces as one key factor for the city’s remarkable lack of traffic deaths for the last seven years.

Now you, too, can have a new limited edition DC-only Cherry Blossom Brompton.

Meet Charlotte NC bike lane sweeper Sweepy McSweepface.

A Georgia man was charged with hit-and-run for driving away after driving onto a sidewalk and leaving a 78-year old man riding a bicycle with life-threatening injuries, apparently while driving distracted.

 

International

London’s Evening Standard rates the best road bikes below £2,000 — the equivalent of $2,500.

Over 800 bicyclists took to the streets of London to call for safer infrastructure and streets for women bike riders.

Completing our London trifecta, a London business site questions whether the UK’s bike riders are really any safer after bike-friendly changes to the country’s Highway Code.

A campaign by disabled bicyclists in the UK tackles Shedgate, arguing that disabled riders should be allowed to build a bike shed in their front garden if they don’t have a back one, after several people were fined or ordered to remove them.

Over 35 percent the residents of Dutch cities Groningen and Amsterdam, and Copenhagen, Denmark ride a bicycle on a daily basis, compared to just 5% of Rome residents. Yet most American cities would be overjoyed by even the latter rate. 

Mumbai bicyclists plan a mid-March silent protest to demand safer streets for bicyclists, runners and pedestrians, in response to the bicycling death of former Intel India chief Avtar Saini, who is credited with the development of the Pentium processor; meanwhile, an Indian columnist calls for making the bicycling safe, for everyone’s sake.

An Aussie bicyclist credits his Apple Watch’s fall detection feature for saving his life after crashing with a ‘roo.

 

Competitive Cycling

Paris-Nice is already upon us, with American Matteo Jorgenson in 4th place, behind Laurence Pithie, Mads Petersen and Olav Kooij after three stages; Dutch cyclist Arvid de Kleijn got his first WorldTour win Monday, as his Tudor Pro Cycling team “broke their duck for 2024.” Which has to be one of the strangest terms I’ve heard in pro cycling, or anywhere else.

Evidently, the cycling world forgot the 2022 Strade Bianche, because history repeated itself with winners Lotte Kopecky and Tadej Pogačar once again winning the event two years later.

Giro and Dutch Team Visma/Lease a Bike have teamed for what has to be the weirdest looking, bizarrely futuristic aero bike helmet, which looks more like an AI rendering error.

NBA legend Reggie Miller may, in fact, be better on a mountain bike than you are, winning his first two races of the year this past weekend.

 

Finally…

Just because you’re legally required to wear a bike helmet doesn’t mean it can’t look like a dorky hat. That feeling when your bicycle looks like a bigass custom motorcycle.

And that feeling when it’s just a tad windy out there.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Woman killed riding ebike in Westminster collision, no details on the cause

You knew it wouldn’t last.

We made it nearly two weeks since we’ve had had a bicycling death in Southern California.

Key word being “nearly.”

That ended on Thursday evening in Westminster, when a woman riding an ebike was killed in a collision.

According to the Orange County Tribune, the victim, identified only as an Asian woman in her 60s, was riding on Bolsa Ave just west of Brookhurst Street when she was struck by a driver around 5:59 pm.

She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver remained after the crash, and reportedly cooperated with investigators.

Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to call the watch commander of the Westminster Police Department at 714/548-3767.

This is at least the sixth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Orange County.

Although there have probably been others we haven’t learned about.

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

Hero bike rider battles brush fire, LA falsely blames HLA for sidewalk costs, and Parthenon Place gutter bike lane opens

Just 305 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re stuck at 1,005 signatures, so keep it going, and urge your friends, family and coworkers to keep signing the petition until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

And we can use some video endorsements, if anyone wants to post a video to the petition page explaining why you signed. 

Photo by Adonyi Gábor for Pexels

………

I’ll be taking Monday off, because my adventure cycling, formerly Iditarod mushing, brother will be town this weekend, before setting out on the first leg of a planned ride across the US. 

As usual, I’ll see you on Tuesday to catch up on anything we missed.

So stay safe out there, because I don’t have to write about you. Unless maybe you jumped off your bike to beat back a brush fire, or something.

You know, like the guy below. 

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Once again, a bike rider is a hero.

Literally.

Los Angeles news radio station KNX honored Benjamin Levy as their Hero of the Week for halting a ride with his wife on the Westside to battle a brush fire near some railroad tracks.

Levy flagged down an oncoming train to request the engineer’s fire extinguisher, then used it to knock down the flames until firefighters arrived, preventing the fire from spreading.

………

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offered a fact check on the city’s absurd $2 billion price tag for sidewalk work under Measure HLA.

The city estimated that if the measure passes, Los Angeles would be on the hook for $200 million a year for ten years to fix its crumbling, buckling and non-ADA compliant sidewalks.

Except the city is committed to spending that anyway, regardless of whether HLA passes.

According to Linton,

So, right now L.A. City street resurfacing is apparently triggering ADA work – whether HLA passes or not.

If HLA passes, street resurfacing will trigger that very same ADA work, plus bus lanes and bike lanes.

The CAO is saying $200 million worth of annual ADA work is “included in the cost” of Measure HLA. But if right now the city is already on the hook for all that ADA work anyway, none of it should be included as HLA costs.

It appears that city leaders are making HLA into a scapegoat. The CAO is exaggerating estimates, pitting bus/bike against walk/wheelchair, all of which the city has neglected for decades. If HLA passes, city leaders can blame HLA (instead of decades of city neglect) for increased budgets for ADA compliance.

Nothing like our city leaders putting their thumb on the scale.

Or maybe putting their whole ass into it.

Meanwhile, USC’s Daily Trojan student newspaper endorsed Measure HLA, arguing it will force the city to follow through on its Mobility Plan, while easily dismissing the usual arguments against it.

In fact, improving systems of non-automobile transportation would take more cars off the street as drivers switch to carless transportation, decreasing traffic in high-congestion areas. More efficient and safer streets benefit people without cars and drivers alike.

Additionally, gridlock delays affect emergency vehicles: If there’s bumper-to-bumper traffic, ambulances and firetrucks can’t move through. But, on roads with bus lanes, emergency vehicles are allowed to use these lanes to respond in an emergency. Separate lanes that can only be used by buses and emergency vehicles would improve response times, not delay them.

And Westside public radio station KCRW frames the debate from a driver’s perspective, saying Measure HLA promises safer, but slower, streets.

Which is kind of the point, yes.

Improving safety requires slowing LA”s speeding drivers by designing roadways to discourage, if not prevent, excess speeds.

The station also quotes the president of the firefighters union as saying “If we pass HLA, we’re going to see chaos all over this city.”

Um, no.

Chaos is what we already have, as traffic congestion builds and drivers slam into one another — and bike riders and pedestrians — with ever increasing, and ever deadlier, frequency.

The whole point of the Mobility Plan 2035 — and Measure HLA, which would force the city to implement it — is to bring order to that chaos by improving traffic safety and providing safe and efficient alternatives to driving.

Finally, the California Planning & Development Report examines why the Los Angeles firefighters union opposes Measure HLA.

And highlights the absurdity of their argument that HLA will slow response times for the crashes it’s designed to prevent.

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LADOT says it’s finished work on the new Parthenia Place bikeway.

Although the first thing I notice is that half of the curb side runs through the gutter, which will force people to ride close to the center divider, and needlessly increase the risk of head-on bike-on-bike collisions.

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The Partnership for Active Travel and Health sent out a save the date notice for their second annual online symposium in September.

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We shared this one last year, but it’s worth repeating, as an interventional radiologist at Loma Linda University Heath shares how the hospital saved his life twice — figuratively and literally — following a horrible bicycling collision.

Thanks to Eric Lewis for the heads-up.

………

It’s now 72 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 32 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

The ironically named Cambridge Streets for All lost a second “frivolous” lawsuit fighting a local law requiring construction of a 25-mile separated bike lane network in the Boston suburb. And making it clear that their definition of “Streets for All” just means all of the people in cars.

A Glasgow city councilor threatened to impose licensing and insurance requirements on all bicyclists unless bike delivery riders start observing the UK’s traffic regulations, warning it could have a detrimental impact on bicycling

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

When you’re carrying eight grams of meth on your ebike, stop for the damn stop signs, already.

………

Local 

Metro explains what’s in their Draft Long Beach – East Los Angeles Corridor Mobility Investment Plan, including $90 million in active transportation seed money, and $188 million for arterial roadways and Complete Streets. Although something tells me more of the $188 million will go to the former than the latter.

The East Side Riders Bike Club wants your feedback on an incredibly short survey.

The Los Angeles Times recommends three scenic paved trails to avoid riding in a muddy mess after the current round of rains.

 

State

Calbike is hosting an online preview session for the annual California Bike Summit next week, discussing state Senator Scott Wiener’s bill to require Complete Streets on Caltrans roadways.

 

National

Apparently, Utah drivers can’t figure out how to drive next to a bike lane, and find the green paint very confusing.

New York finally opened the first of the city’s long-promised ebike charging station for delivery riders, in an attempt to reduce the risk of lithium-ion battery fires.

Atlanta’s Magnet Man has given himself the under-appreciated task of riding his bike around the city towing a powerful magnet to attract roadway detritus that could pose a risk to the tires of motorists.

 

International

Momentum writes in praise of bike commuting on a humble beater bike.

Winter bicycling is on the rise in the frigid Canadian cities of Whitehorse, Saskatoon and Montreal, driven by a “robust camaraderie…and the delight of navigating winter landscapes on two wheels.” Yet people insist no one will ever ride a bike in LA’s mild winters. Even though countless people do it every day.

Hamilton, Ontario is making a $60 million commitment to building 74 miles of bike lanes by 2028. That compares favorably with LA’s commitment to not make a commitment to building bike lanes.

“Terrified” London bicyclists are reportedly ditching their Bromptons and other high-end bikes to avoid attracting violent, moped-riding bike theft gangs.

A Conservative Member of Parliament says pedicabs have turned parts of London into the Wild West. Because we all remember those classic westerns where the outlaws lay in wait to rob the pedicab as it rode through a blind gulch.

The UK’s Conservative government has proposed doubling the power allowed for ebikes under the previous European Union regulations, and removing the prohibition against throttle-controlled bikes; London’s walking and bicycling commissioner called the plan “madness.”

The European Union wants to get more people on bicycles.

Australia’s leading bicycling safety, awareness and advocacy organization is shutting down after two decades, due to a lack of government funding.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from Spain, where yet another a young cyclist has been killed in a training ride. Although there’s no word yet whether 18-year old Spanish cyclist Juan Pujalte, a member of the Valverde U-23 cycling team, was killed in a fall or a collision.

Velo wraps up Black History Month with a profile of Butch Martin, the first Black American Olympic cyclist to compete in both track and road cycling.

Dutch police want to have a little chat with the bike racing “fan” who threw their drink on the legendary Marianne Vos as she rode to victory at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.

 

Finally…

Trading in your old bike on a new model is a thing now. That feeling when the bicycling Pied Piper is a drum and bass DJ.

And that feeling when an impatient driver honks at you to get out of his way — while cruising down a protected bike lane.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Elderly driver plows into 7 mountain bikers, and NTSB says AZ driver’s steering worked in crash that killed 2 and injured 17

Just 306 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re still at 1,005 signatures, so let’s keep it going, and urge your friends, family and coworkers to keep signing the petition until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

………

Yet another bicycling mass casualty event, after a driver plowed into a group of seven mountain bikers in Felton, California, north of Santa Cruz.

The victims were allegedly riding on the wrong side of the road when an 85-year-old woman coming from the opposite direction crashed into them. Although other reports indicate the driver veered across the roadway to hit them head on.

Four of the group were injured, two critically, with another in moderate condition.

At this time, there’s no word on why they might have been riding against traffic, or if they were in the traffic lane or on the shoulder of the roadway.

The crash once again raises the question of how old is too old to drive, and how to take away the keys from drivers who shouldn’t have them.

………

While we’re on the subject, the National Transportation Safety Board has released a report on last year’s mass casualty crash in Goodyear, Arizona, that killed two road bicyclists and injured 17 others taking part in a group ride.

The driver — identified as Pedro Quintana-Lujan — had claimed that the steering on his pickup had locked, causing him to plow through the mass of bicyclists riding in a bike lane alongside the highway, sparing just one of the 20 riders.

Yet tests by both the NTSB and the Arizona Department of Public Safety found nothing wrong with the steering after the crash.

Quintana-Lujan was originally booked on suspicion of two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment and two counts of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation.

But the bicycling community was outraged when the Maricopa County DA released Quintana-Lujan without charges, kicking the case down to the city prosecutor for possible misdemeanor charges.

Just another, you know, “oopsie.”

There’s no word on whether the DA will reconsider filing felony charges now that Quintana-Lujan’s excuse been disproven.

………

No surprise here, as a new study shows that drivers tend to be blamed for crashes with pedestrians in pedestrianized areas, like urban downtowns. And pedestrians tend to get the blame when they’re struck by drivers in areas built to facilitate drivers zooming down the road.

And there are a lot more of those.

Here’s how the State Smart Transportation Initiative, aka SSTI, described it — and feel free to substitute “bicyclist” for “pedestrian.”

One of the authors noted 

“What we’re seeing in this research is that the built environment is a key factor. People make errors in judgment, but no one deserves to die or get injured for such errors. And they would be less likely to make these choices if there were more pedestrian infrastructure.” 

Roads that are designed for driving put pedestrians at an added risk. Not only are they more likely to be hit but they are more likely to take the blame for it. This puts an added burden on those without vehicles or the ability to drive. 

………

No surprise here, either, as Streetsblog reports that business improved after a controversial Queens bike lane was installed, despite warnings of near-apocalyptic business failures if it was built.

When New York City proposed installing a protected bike lane on Skillman Avenue in Queens in 2017, the impact it would have on local businesses was certain — at least according to the plan’s critics.

A devastating loss of customers. Revenue falling by 20 percent. Beloved shops forced to close their doors for good.

Those predictions were wrong.

Data obtained by Streetsblog through a Freedom of Information request shows the economy of Skillman Avenue grew after the city built the new lane in the fall of 2018, with revenue increasing and new businesses setting up shop.

Sales in the stores, bars and restaurants on Skillman’s main seven-block commercial stretch collectively rose by 12 percent after the lane went in, according to the data, which was provided by the city Department of Finance. There was also a net increase of three new businesses on the strip, a jump of 10 percent.

………

More on LA’s Measure HLA on next week’s primary ballot, which would require the city to build out the already-approved Mobility Plan 2035 whenever a street in the plan is resurfaced.

The Los Angeles Times considers the dispute between traffic safety advocates and the LA firefighters union over the measure, with the firefighters taking a bizarre stand against safer streets, which they argue wouldn’t be. On the other hand, there’s no question where the Begley family stands.

Letter writers to the Times call for passing HLA, arguing that CicLAvia is proof Angelenos are hungry for alternatives to driving, and that we need safer streets, and not just added law enforcement.

KNBC-4 examines what HLA would do and whether it will improve safety. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, hell yes, despite the misguided opposition from some first responders.

………

Bike Culver City is hosting a Leap Year, craft beer, Handlebar Happy Hour tonight.

………

CicLAvia is gearing up for a full blown April open streets event on Venice Blvd, and the year’s first CicLAmini in Wilmington in May.

………

GCN wants to teach you what may be the most important bike handling skill, how to pop a wheelie on a road bike.

………

It’s now 71 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

After an Oregon teenager was killed in a right hook by a van driver while riding his ebike on the sidewalk, state legislators naturally responded by unanimously passing a bill restricting ebikes, and named it for him.

A pair of British mayors are claiming credit — if that’s the right word — for getting a controversial bike lane removed.

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

When you’re carrying a loaded gun and $60,000 worth of fentanyl, meth and crack cocaine on a stolen ebike, don’t run any red lights or ride on the sidewalk without a damn helmet if it’s legally required.

………

Local 

A Santa Monica letter writer complains about a new affordable housing development on Santa Monica Blvd, because it has 146 bicycle parking spots, and none for cars. Never mind that at an average cost of $10,000 per vehicle parking spot, the builder reduced costs by $1.46 million.

 

State

The Carlsbad city council has walked away from plans to improve safety on Tamarack Ave, saying the improvements they’ve already made are good enough.

The Santa Barbara council similarly nixed a proposal to improve a one-block section of State Street after complaining it was too complicated.

A Goleta bike path is finally reopened after it was flooded in last week’s storm.

Fresno police busted a 59-year old unlicensed driver for the hit-and-run death of a 33-year old man riding a bicycle earlier this month.

Back up the Brinks truck to San Francisco, which just approved a whopping $9 million settlement for a bike rider injured by a bad patch job on a city Slow Street, with at least four other suits from riders injured by the same bump waiting in the wings.

 

National

Popular Science makes some shocking picks for the best electric commuter bikes. No, not their picks; what’s shocking is that Popular Science is somehow still a thing.

That’s more like it. A Eugene, Oregon man was sentenced to six years behind bars and had his driver’s license permanently revoked for the hit-and-run death of a 19-year old man riding a bicycle. Permanent revocation of the driver’s license should be automatic for any hit-and-run.

A newly released documentary examining mountain biking on the Navajo Nation recently screened for 100 people in Cortez, Colorado. Which, as I recall, is nearly the entire population of the town. Okay, it’s actually a little more that one percent. But still. 

In a demonstration of just how wrong they can be, the Queens city council is considering a proposal to ban ebikes and e-scooters from city parks. But apparently, drivers and their cars are still welcome.

New York commissioners unanimously passed a pair of bills aimed at reigning in the city’s rising death tolls from lithium-ion battery fires, including one restricting sales of non-UL certified batteries.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on how to avoid commuting mistakes for a hassle-free ride to and from work. Meanwhile, Momentum recommends the lightest ebikes for easy urban riding.

A Canadian site says Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, are investing heavily in bicycling, thanks to a couple of pro-bike mayors.

A married couple is stepping away from their longtime careers as broadcast journalists, and opening a company offering bicycle tours of Wales.

A thousand women will take to their bikes in London this weekend for the city’s second Women’s Freedom Ride, including presenting a petition to the Mayor’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner demanding an end to sexual harassment of bike riding women.

The UN is celebrating International Women’s Day with a screening of Women Don’t Cycle. As long as you’re up for a quick trip to Brussels, Belgium.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The man who led the development of Intel’s groundbreaking Pentium processor was killed when a speeding taxi driver plowed into his as he rode his bike in Mumbai yesterday; Avtar Singh Saini was 68.

An Aussie site for seniors says bicycling is good for older people, but it’s also dangerous, with much of the recent increase in bicycling deaths for people over 60 involving solo falls, not collisions with drivers.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canadian Cycling Magazine makes the case for why this weekend’s Strade Bianche will never be a Monument, one of the five historic one-day cycling classics.

Bicycling explains how to watch Strade Bianche this Saturday, as long as you subscribe to GCN+. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

American cyclist and double world champ Chloe Dygert has thrown down the gantlet, stating she doesn’t train as hard as she does to settle for second place.

British bike races are being cancelled, as rising fees cut the number of cyclists willing to pay them.

And seriously, I hate when this happens.

 

 

Finally…

That feeling when more parking is a good thing. Nothing like drawing a giant GPS shoe across Oklahoma. Now you, too, can go mountain biking on your phone.

And you may have skills, but can you make Turkish coffee while you ride?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C25FvOjifH6/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=1c2ecec8-a66a-49ab-acc8-4e403b1999c7

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

LA-based swrve shuts down, ebike riders could face bans and restrictions, and ebike incentives costly but effective

Just 307 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We made it!

As of this writing, we’re at 1,005 signatures! So let’s keep it going, and urge your friends, family and coworkers to sign the petition until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

Photo from swrve website.

………

Disappointing news, as Los Angeles-based bikewear brand swrve is set to close after 20 years of making comfortable clothing for urban bicyclists and bike commuters.

The company plans to remain in operation for the next few months as it sells off existing inventory, but won’t place any further orders with suppliers.

There is some small hope, however, with swrve’s owners putting it on the market in hopes of attracting a new buyer.

Fingers crossed.

………

A new video dissects the recent ebike ban in Key Biscayne, Florida, that followed the death of an elderly woman riding a bicycle who collided with a teenaged ebike rider.

According to CleanTechnica, it demonstrates “how one thing leads to another to lead from tragedy to bigger tragedies.”

The ban also offers a stark reminder that your right to ride the bicycle of your choice could easily be taken away.

Meanwhile, an Oregon ebike bill is likely to pass following a last minute compromise, after the Bike League and PeopleForBikes came out against an earlier version of the bill.

The new version narrows the definition of a bicycle to being equipped with pedals, to prevent throttle-controlled bikes from being classified as ebikes.

Which could be a reasonable compromise to Encinitas Assembly Member Tasha Boerner’s bill to ban ebike use for kids under 12, and require online training to buy or ride an ebike for anyone without a driver’s license.

Defining an ebike as having operable pedals would continue to permit ped-assist ebikes, while reclassifying throttle-controlled bikes as subject added regulation.

………

A new report from a trio of US university professors says bike incentive programs are an expensive way for state and local governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

However, they also single out the programs for promoting health, equity and cleaner air. Not to mention improving traffic congestion by reducing the number of vehicles on the road.

Something that California’s dramatically underfunded ebike voucher program could have been doing for the past two years — if the state had gotten its shit together and actually launched the damn thing.

………

If you ever thought there was a lot going on in the LA area bicycling community, you’re right.

Courtesy of Mobility For Who and Trash Panda Cycling, a calendar of local bike events offers a crowded schedule of daily rides and races for anyone looking for more two-wheeled fun to fill your time.

………

GCN asks the burning question of whether an ebike makes you fast enough to train with hang with the pros.

………

It’s now 70 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

A new video captures a British Columbia hiker standing in the middle of a mountain biking trail to berate bikers for using it, apparently a tad confused over the concept of a bike-specific trail.

No surprise here, as video of a bike-riding Toronto traffic enforcement officer ticketing drivers blocking a protected bike lane draws exactly the kind of comments you’d expect from the typically aggrieved driving community.

@tps_bikehart

When I am assigned a special detail for bike lane enforcement. It is ZERO tolerance. Doesnt matter if you’re “only stopped for 2 mins” “but i have a pickup” “but i have a delivery” but,but,but …..no excuse. Park legally. These parking offences are zero tolerance and more restrictive for a reason. Bike lanes keep cyclist safe. This happened to be an area where there is no protection curb as its a driveway to a PARKING gargage. And a driver still shanelessly pulls in, turns their hazards. Guess whats the hazard? THE CAR. $150 tag to be served in the mail and other served to windshield #fyp #toronto #bikeTO #cycleto #cycletoronto #bikelanes #parkingticket #cyclist #parkingenforcement #parkingofficer #torontopolice #cars #biketok #downtown #parkingticket

♬ original sound – erin.urquhart

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

A bike-riding bandit has snatched at least seven cellphones from the hands of unsuspecting Manhattanites in recent weeks.

A pedalling perp was pinched by the police after a series of bike-born Virginia purse snatchings. I think “Pedaling Perp” will be the name of my new band.

………

Local 

Santa Monica police will conduct yet another Bike & Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation today, ticketing any traffic violation that could endanger bike riders or pedestrians, regardless of who commits it. So once again, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line today, so you’re not the one who gets fined. 

 

State

Canyon News reports California is working to improve safety for bicyclists, but more bike safety legislation is needed. Although how hard the state is actually working on it is subject to debate. 

Laguna Nigel became the latest Orange County city to tighten ebike regulations, banning handheld cellphone use while riding a bike, prohibiting wheelies by ebike riders, and requiring a helmet for any ebike riders under 18. Even though state law already requires bike helmets for anyone under 18, and the other provisions are of questionable legality, since only the state has the authority to regulate bicycle use on public roads.

Seriously? Over 1,000 bicyclists are expected for Saturday’s annual Solvang Century Bike Ride, even if the local paper describes it as a “non-competitive race,” which is a complete contradiction of terms. Apparently, they don’t know any other words to describe multiple people on bicycles riding at the same time. 

Sad news from Fresno, where a 53-year old homeless woman was killed when she allegedly made an abrupt left turn on her bike in front of an SUV; meanwhile, the driver was arrested on the spot for DUI.

A lawsuit has been filed over another Fresno bicycling death, alleging a popular university lecturer was killed last October when at least five drivers of high-powered sports cars were racing one another, before one hit her head-on after rounding a curve on the wrong side of the road.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 38-year old woman killed in a Los Altos collision while riding her bike earlier this month was described as a having a brilliant technical mind and a compassionate, personable nature; she was engaged to be married just two months from today.

 

National

Forbes recommends the year’s best road bikes that cater to every type of bicyclist. Unless you’re one of the millions of American bike riders who’s not a roadie, of course.

A University of Washington worker puts a new spin on the term professional cyclist, delivering letters and packages by ebike for the campus mail service.

A kindhearted Oklahoma sheriff’s deputy took it on himself to put a new tube in a student’s bicycle while they were in class, after the kid apparently suffered a flat on the way to school.

In a story that shouldn’t surprise anyone, the Chicago Tribune reports that serious crashes involving bicyclists and pedestrians seldom lead to charges, or even tickets, which advocates say is a sign they aren’t taken seriously enough. That same story could be written for virtually any American city, as traffic violence is usually just considered an “oopsie,” even when there’s clear evidence of reckless behavior. 

In another sign that New York’s Vision Zero still has a long way to go, a 64-year old man riding a bikeshare bike was killed when he was doored while riding on a street which has been identified as a Vision Zero corridor, but where nothing has been done.

Despite promises by New York officials to build ebike charging stations for workers after a fatal ebike battery fire last year, not one dime of the promised funding has been spent.

Tampa, Florida traffic engineers report there have been zero fatalities at intersections where bike boxes have been installed.

 

International

Who needs a bike bell when you could have a mini car horn capable of an ear-blasting 125 decibels of annoying honking, just like the people ensconced in a couple tons of glass and steel.

Dutch ebike maker VanMoof took a step toward returning to life following a near-fatal bankruptcy, as the company’s new owners provided access to repair manuals, guides, and technical drawings for their ebikes built prior to 2019, which were previously available only to certified bike shops.

swrThe 16-year old boy accused of intentionally running down two Melbourne, Australia bike riders with a stolen car will have to stay behind bars until his trial, after the judge denied bail in the case; the victims continue to suffer from brain and spinal injuries.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-one-year old American “crit king” Luke Lamperti made an impressive spring classics debut with a 7th place finish at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

The legendary Marianne Vos outsprinted world champ Lotte Kopecky to win the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, one of the most important one-day classics on the Belgian cycling calendar.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the countryside is haunted by miles of ghost bike paths. Or when you need hip waders for your next ride.

And we may have to deal with drivers parking in bike lanes, but at least they’re not blocked by bigass bales of hay.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Urge SaMo council to expand bike network, LA’s bad drivers nowhere near worst, and Measure HLA tops the news

Just 308 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. Just 6 signatures to go to reach 1,000! 

………

BikeLA Chapter Santa Monica Spoke is calling on you to reach out to the Santa Monica City Council before their meeting tonight, to urge them to support safer streets and Vision Zero.

Tuesday Feb 27th Santa Monica City Council will hear the City Manager Report – on the Bike Action Plan and a Vision Zero Update — Special Item 3B on the Agenda.

Please join us with an email to Council TODAY voicing your support for more protected bike lanes (support the Bike Action Plan Amendment) and to support our city’s commitment to Vision Zero — to protect vulnerable road users, like people walking and biking, with streets designed to be safer for everyone.

Easy one click email please do add your comments and personal stories if you can!

Or use this “copy and paste / template” send to:

Re: Item 3B City Manager Report – Bike Action Plan and Vision Zero Update.

Dear Santa Monica Mayor, City Council and City Manager:

I support the City’s commitment to safer streets and more protected bike lanes. Please prioritize improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure and Vision Zero. The City must continue the overwhelming community supported commitment to prioritize and protect vulnerable road users, like people walking and biking, with more protected bike lanes and streets designed to be safer for everyone.

Please support and prioritize safer streets!

Then if you’re not doing anything tonight, show up at the meeting to show your support.

Or if you are, even.

https://twitter.com/MobilityForWho/status/1762275772419768650

………

Shockingly, Los Angeles barely makes the American Top 40 of the nation’s worst drivers, a list topped by Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Clearly, the experts at Forbes have never driven the streets of LA.

In fact, nowhere in California ranked near the top, despite the state’s notoriously bad drivers.

  • 22. Fresno
  • 34. Long Beach
  • 37. Los Angeles
  • 42. San Diego
  • 49. San Francisco

No, really.

Clearly, we all need to email them to demand a recount, or send in a fake slate of electors. Or something.

Because on any list of America’s worst drivers, Los Angeles should be #1 with a bullet.

Literally, sometimes.

………

Measure HLA continues to dominate Los Angeles news, as LA Times Letter’s Editor Paul Thornton says the hysteria over bike lanes shows exactly why Measure HLA is needed.

But a letter writer in the Times insists that if you build it, they won’t come, because she somehow doesn’t see any bike riders or buses on the newly expanded Venice Blvd bus and bikeways.

Meanwhile, a Los Angeles-based composer bizarrely urges a vote against HLA because it would “only” implement 300 miles of bus lanes, even though the mobility plan it’s based on features bus lanes on nearly every major street.

And a writer for LA Progressive insists HLA somehow won’t work because of US military spending in Ukraine and Gaza, and because HLA ignores connectivity — even though it’s based on LA’s nine-year old Mobility Plan 2035, which contains three separate but interconnected bike networks, which the city would be forced to build out as streets are resurfaced.

………

I want to be like them when I grow up.

Used bike retailer The Pro’s Closet talks with soon-to-be 80-year old Wendy Skean, who raced wheel-to-wheel against much younger riders at the “outrageously cold and muddy” Old Man Winter Rally, where she finished 50th out of 237 women in the 50K event. And in her first-ever race, no less.

Cycling Weekly talks with 76-year old Brit Geoff Nelder, who still averages riding 100 miles a week in winter and 200 in summer, helping him overcome three coronary stents ten years ago.

Or maybe not, as a 73-year old man was killed while riding his bike in a Thai hit-and-run.

………

It’s now 69 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

Good question. Escape Collective takes up the burning question of how to get drivers to finally recognize that people on bicycles are human, too.

Someone working with the Department of DIY took matters into their own hands, and added traffic diverters to finally fulfill the New York mayor’s promise to finish work on the street.

A UK sociologist considers why so many people are so triggered by the simple act of riding a bicycle.

After a British bike rider reported a driver for using his cellphone behind the wheel, police took immediate action — threatening to charge the guy on the bicycle after incorrectly concluding the helmet cam video he submitted to them showed him riding on the wrong side of the road.

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

A Wisconsin petition calls off-trail mountain biking a threat to the red headed woodpecker population.

A New York thief took advantage of the added mobility of the city’s Citi Bike bikeshare to rob four people in Central Park in just under an hour, telling one victim “I rob people for a living.” I mean, you’d hate to see an amateur who doesn’t know what he’s doing attempting a feat like that.

Apparently, bike theft is just an “oopsie” now, after a Korean high school student admitted to “mistakenly” stealing a bicycle to support his siblings, after his mother’s illness.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. Wealthy socialite and Grossman Burn Center co-founder Rebecca Grossman faces 34 to life after she was convicted of murder in the high-speed hit-and-run deaths of two young brothers crossing a Westlake Village street with their family in 2020.

LADOT is teaming with CicLAvia to highlight the new protected bike lanes and safety features on Reseda Blvd for four short hours on St. Paddy’s Day. And to prove just how well they work, they’ll still let drivers and their cars use the street.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers his typically great photos capturing the essence of Sunday’s Melrose CicLAvia.

 

State

More on Costa Mesa’s $7.9 million grant from the Orange County Transportation Authority’s Complete Streets program, which will fund Class I bike trail, and two Class IV fully separated bike lanes. Thanks to Richard Duquette for the heads-up. 

San Diego belatedly begins work on a two-way protected bikeway on Balboa Park’s Pershing Drive, nearly three years after noted architect Laura Shinn was killed by a stoned driver.

The Toronto Star tours Santa Barbara’s American Riviera, where everything is a “quick walk, bike or public transit ride” away.

Bakersfield residents get new ebikes through the city’s loan-to-own ebike program.

Velo examines why everyone is freaking out about San Francisco’s center-running Valencia Street bike lane.

A Redwood City site compares university towns Davis and Palo Alto, proclaiming there can only be self-proclaimed California “Bicycle Capital.” Although fellow university city Long Beach would like to have a word.

 

National

A Portland man faces charges for the alleged DUI death of a homeless man on a bicycle; the driver ran away on foot, but was detained by community members after someone fired a shot.

Bicyclists in Goodyear, Arizona turned out for a rally to remember the victims of last year’s crash that killed two people and hospitalized 17 others when a pickup driver plowed into — or rather, through — a group ride; no charges have been filed after the local DA said it was just an “oopsie.”

Elderly Denver residents say a new protected bike lane is an accident waiting to happen, after an 82-year old man broke his hip tripping over a bike lane bumper getting out of a friend’s truck.

That’s more like it. Wichita, Kansas will host a bike ride for city council members to examine the condition of the city’s bikeways, after complaints they have become unrideable due to homeless encampments and broken glass.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole $5,000 worth of ebike and gear from an Oklahoma City bike nonprofit.

Just because you’re a disgraced, seven-times ex-Tour de France champ doesn’t mean you can’t get honored by a bikeway in your Austin, Texas hometown.

A Tallahassee, Florida man is back on his bike and filing suit against the city cop who hit him last year, leaving him with a broken femur and jaw, and multiple fractured ribs and vertebrae.

 

International

The Robb Report highlights luxury biking tours where you can ride alongside your favorite cycling stars. Before they drop you like Freshman English, that is.

A Vancouver Lime Bike only appears to roll on water.

That’s more like it. A British driver will spend the next 12 and a half years behind bars, after he was convicted of hitting a bike rider head-on while racing another driver.

Momentum offers a look at Europe’s best spring cycling destinations for nature-loving bicyclists. Which is not the same as naturist-loving bicyclists.

In other case of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, an unlicensed driver in Ghent, Belgium faces charges for the alleged drunken crash that killed two people riding their bikes and injured three others, when he plowed into a group riding together; the driver had the equivalent of 14 cocktails in his blood, despite two previous drunk driving bans.

The Netherlands has ordered a recall of Babboe cargo bikes, alleging the company has not provided the necessary safety information.

In a surprise to no one, China’s Xinhua says access to bicycles improves the lives of women and girls in rural Zambia.

The Philippines’ Bike Scouts are pushing the nation towards a bottom-up approach to natural disasters.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo says Jonas Vingegaard Hansen could win this year’s Tour de France, after the Danish two-time Tour champ added his wife’s surname, sans hyphen; Vingegaard swept all three stages of Spain’s O Gran Camino to win the GC.

The magazine also celebrates Butch Martin, who became the first Black American Olympic cyclist in both road cycling and track at the Tokyo and Mexico City Olympic Games.

In a Velo trifecta, the magazine relates the “most insane bike change in pro cycling history” when Aussie Michael Rogers swapped his bike for a fan’s nearly identical bike after his derailleur broke off midrace in the Tour Down Under.

US women’s cycling team Cynisca was suspended for illegally dressing a bike mechanic in the team kit to pose as a cyclist, because they didn’t have enough riders to complete in Belgium’s Argenta Classic last year.

Retired major league baseball All Star Carlos Gómez is on track to become the first indoor track cyclist to represent the Dominican Republic in the summer Olympics.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you have no idea you just crashed a Belgian bike race. Or when a winter bike ride means coming home sheathed in ice.

And Finish the Ride is finally getting serious, adding a corgi-endorsed puppy run to April’s two-day Griffith Park event.

Our corg sez she’s all in, as long as there are treats involved. And she doesn’t actually have to, you know, run.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Highlights from Sunday’s Melrose CorgLAvia

The good news is, we enjoyed a great CicLAvia on Sunday.

The bad news is, yet another of the many joys of diabetes is that I just don’t bounce back afterwards anymore. Or maybe I’m just getting old.

One way or another, I’m way too wiped out to work.

So enjoy a few pictures from our Sunday CicLAvia experience, highlighting lowriders both wheeled and otherwise, Melrose murals, pedicab rides, and Queen’s Best Stumpy Dog Rescue.

So in our case, maybe it was more of a CorgLAvia.

We’ll be back tomorrow to catch up with everything we missed, after I get a little sleep.

Okay, a lot of sleep.

CA ebike voucher program sets next failure to launch deadline, and Times calls out fear-mongering over Measure HLA

Just 312 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. Only 19 signatures to go to reach 1,000! 

………

Good news, maybe.

But don’t hold your breath.

San Diego’s inewsource reports that the next soon-to-be-missed deadline for California’s moribund ebike rebate program is now scheduled for sometime this spring.

That comes after self-imposed deadlines of January 1st, 2023, and the significantly more vague deadlines of second quarter, 2023, then last fall, which is the most recently missed deadline.

Not that we weren’t all expecting it to launch in 2022, after it passed the state legislature and was signed into law all the way back in those heady pandemic days of 2021.

So if anyone feels like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football, you’re in good company.

The story begins with a focus on San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, which has been tasked with operating the program for the California Air Resources Board.

The nonprofit plans to operate a similar program statewide under a $10 million grant it received from the California Air Resources Board, or CARB. But roughly a year after its originally planned launch date, the program has yet to officially start.

CARB spokesperson Lys Mendez told inewsource that the state’s E-Bike Incentive Project is now expected to begin in the spring, as officials need more time for “infrastructure building” — essentially, making sure Pedal Ahead runs smoothly statewide. That includes organizing with e-bike retailers and community groups that can help get the word out and educate the public about the program, she said.

In other words, the same bullshit they’ve been feeding us for the last year.

The only real news in the story is that the soft launch that was supposed to take place last year actually did happen, despite the complete and total news blackout up to this point.

But as inewsource previously reported, Pedal Ahead suffered from low participation when it launched its San Diego program in 2020, with just a fraction of local participants logging enough miles to keep their bikes — and some reporting far fewer miles than what’s required, or none at all. The program also didn’t use an income requirement, allowing people who didn’t qualify as low income to receive a bike.

Despite that, Pedal Ahead beat two other applicants to administer the state program, with CARB citing the nonprofit’s “proven, on-the-ground experience” in San Diego.

Some money has been spent ahead of the program officially opening statewide. A preliminary “soft launch” is already happening in San Diego, the East Bay in Northern California, Fresno and in tribal communities, Mendez said. In those locations, she said the state is “currently testing key aspects” of the program.

Some, as in a quarter of the original $10 million in state funding has already gone to overhead, leaving just $7.5 million available for rebates.

Of that, $5 million is reserved for the lowest income applicants, with just $2.5 million for everyone else who qualifies with an income less than 300% of the federal poverty level.

Never mind that I would have qualified if the program had launched on time a year ago, and won’t now.

So I hope someone enjoys riding my ebike.

Maybe I can get Tern to sponsor me with one of these, instead. It could happen.

The other news in the story is that even after the moribund program finally crawls its way through the earth to launch, like Dracula after dark, it could take a full three months to be approved for a voucher once you apply.

Residents must also be at least 18 years old to apply for a voucher to get a free e-bike from a program-selected retailer, such as a local bike shop. Participants will need to own the e-bike for at least a year and complete surveys about the experience.

The approval process may take up to three months.

Yes, three months.

And if that’s not a sign of the sheer incompetency behind this program, I don’t know what is.

Frankly, I’m ready to give up on the whole damn thing and ask my state legislators to fire both CARB and Pedal Ahead, and start over from scratch.

Because the thing that other cities and states have seemed to find so easy to do — get ebike rebate programs up and running through multiple rounds of funding — seems to be impossible here.

Meanwhile, if Tasha Boerner’s AB 2234 passes, even adults will be required to pass an online test in order to be able to legally buy one, let alone actually ride it, if they don’t already have a driver’s license.

Because living in poverty isn’t humbling enough, evidently.

Thanks to Ellectrek for the heads-up.

………

They get it.

The Los Angeles Times writes that all the fear-mongering over Measure HLA — the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure — ignores that what’s really scary is LA’s deadly streets.

According to the paper, some of the city’s most powerful officials have been trying to sabotage the measure, rather than actually doing something to reduce deaths and injuries resulting from traffic violence.

Never mind actually eliminating them, which was supposed to happen by next year. But won’t.

But even though the projects have been on the books for years, last week the city’s top budget official released a questionable new $3.1-billion estimate for the plan, while the union that represents city firefighters claimed that making the streets safer will slow emergency response times.

It’s fear-mongering designed to scare Angelenos into voting against the measure. But what’s really frightening is that L.A. leaders could have started building a more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly sustainable city years ago and perhaps averted some of the recent deaths. They had the blueprint to make streets safer but didn’t make it a priority. That’s why Measure HLA is necessary.

It’s worth reading the whole thing to see just how much your life is — or more accurately, isn’t — worth to many of those leading this city.

Let alone the people responsible for saving it.

………

Bike Long Beach will host a murals and coffee ride tomorrow, to avoid conflicting with Sunday’s CicLAvia, along with a virtual monthly meeting on Monday.

Bike Long Beach Feb Meeting

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Don’t forget Saturday’s 46th Annual LA Chinatown bike ride tomorrow, and Sunday’s Melrose Ave CicLAvia.

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It’s now 64 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

No bias here. Streetsblog says Oakland complains about a lack of resources to build bike lanes, but they somehow had the resources to rip one out along the city’s Embarcadero.

Britain’s CyclingMikey, scorned among the motoring crowd for recording scofflaw drivers with his bike cam, says bicyclists “are seen as the cockroaches of the road.” Well, tell us something we don’t know.

Berlin’s rightwing mayor is fulfilling a campaign promise to make more room for cars by ripping out bike lanes. Which is more proof that we’re never more than one election from losing all the gains we make.

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

Apparently, someone has our back, but not in a good way. After a 19-year old driver hit a bike rider in San Antonio, Texas, someone opened fire, riddling the car with bullets.

………

Local 

The Beverly Press says Measure HLA could pave the future for mobility in Los Angeles.

 

State

Calbike calls on California to divest from wasteful, induced demand-inducing highway projects, and invest in Complete Streets and the state’s transportation future.

Calbike also introduced a slate of 16 bills they’re backing for the current legislative session, including bills that would mandate Complete Streets following Caltrans resurfacing projects, similar to Measure HLA, as well as mandating motor vehicle speed limiters and truck sideguards.

An Orange County mother has made it her mission to preach ebike safety in the face of rising ebike injury rates. Although I’ve yet to see a study that shows ebike injury rates in relation to ebike ridership, without which claims of rising or worsening injuries are merely anecdotal.

San Diego will pay nearly $3 million to the family of Hossein Samadi, who was killed in a 2020 collision with a city truck parked in a bike lane Carmel Valley Road without warning cones or flashers.

San Francisco Streetsblog attempts to cut through the latest misinformation regarding the city’s Valencia Street centerline bike lane.

Bike Magazine examines how Davis became “Bike City, USA.”

 

National

Vehicle-to-everything technology, aka V2X, rears its ugly head once again, as a writer for Streetsblog says we could improve safety for bicyclists by allowing cars and bikes to talk to one another. As long as you’re willing to wear a transponder every time you ride, or be held accountable anytime you don’t.

Velo marks Black History Month with a look at eight groups making bicycling more inclusive across the US.

NPR reports bike helmet use declined almost 6% each year for the last five years, while ebike head injuries saw a 49-fold increase, with just 44% of injured ebike riders wearing helmets. Although as noted above, those numbers are virtually meaningless without a comparison to increasing ebike ridership rates, and comparing helmet use by ebike riders who suffered head trauma with similarly injured riders of regular bikes.

An Oʻahu bike club uses two wheels to explore Honolulu’s Kalihi Valley, one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods.

This is why you let the police handle it. A Portland woman was nearly killed when she went with friends to a homeless camp to help recover a stolen bicycle, and was shot by a man with a high-powered air rifle.

Denver opened a new $14 million, 1.5-mile protected bike lane that bike riders have been waiting on for more than eight years.

Cleveland’s Vision Zero program is called into question after 550 people were struck by drivers while walking or biking in the city.

The husband of fallen US diplomat and bicyclist Sarah Debbink Langenkamp says littering can get you up to five years behind bars in Maryland, but the driver who right hooked his wife with a 50,000 pound truck walked with a traffic ticket that carried a lousy $2,000 and 150 hours of community service.

 

International

More on the “clever policing” that London cops used to bust a $165,000 bike theft ring by using a bait bike. Something that remains off-limits for the LAPD, over misplaced fears of entrapment, thanks to a singularly uninformed opinion from former City Attorney Mike Feuer, who wants to be my next Congress Person; yeah, good luck with that. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link. 

Meanwhile, bikejacking victims call for more cops around London’s Regent’s Park, where gangs of moped-riding thieves are reportedly targeting a list of high-end bicycles, including Pinarello, Bianchi, S-Works and Brompton, which are then shipped to Russia to evade sanctions.

A British letter writer says excuse me, but 1 million bicyclists a year, 2,739 cyclists every day and 114 an hour does not a low number using a bike lane make.

Paris is now officially the most bike-friendly city in France.

Over a quarter of Belgians rode an ebike last year, as electric bicycles continue to gain in popularity. That’s a figure we may never see here, as long as officials continue to drag their feet on an underfunded rebate program, and fight against safer, more livable streets.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling site looks forward to this year’s trends in bicycle fashions. Which are pretty much the same as last year, and every other year.

 

Competitive Cycling

British cyclist Adam Yates was forced to retire from the UAE Tour following a concussion protocol fail, when he continued riding after a crash, until he radioed the crew to ask what happened since he didn’t remember anything.

A writer for Cycling Weekly knows just how it feels when Phil Gaimon steals your hard-won KOM.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get hit with a bicycle during a pro wrestling street fight. Or when even an Aggie understands we’re second-class road users.

And presenting the driver psychology course for bicycling safety.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Firefighters campaign to keep streets deadly amid HLA disinformation campaign, and Feds single out better LA bikeway

Just 314 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. Only 28 signatures to go to reach 1,000!

………

One quick non-bike note before we get started. 

You may recall that my wife and I took in a corgi for a homeless man just before the pandemic to give him a chance to get back on his feet, in a story that was told beautifully by then Los Angeles Times City Beat Editor Nita Lelyveld.

For a time, they both thrived; Lelyveld’s followup piece seemed like the perfect Hollywood ending. 

But celluloid isn’t reality, and here in the real Hollywood, people and dogs don’t always live happily ever after. 

So yesterday, the Times published my op-ed detailing the tragic end of the story. You may want to have a tissue on hand before you read it.

Or maybe a box.

………

Gotta admit, it’s pretty remarkable to see firefighters, of all people, arguing for keeping our streets deadly.

What’s next, ER docs telling people not to wear bike helmets?

Meanwhile, David Drexler offers a reminder that you can order HLA yard signs here. I would, if I only had a yard.

And retired LA City Councilmember Mike Bonin offered a thread about Measure HLA, aka the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure, on Twitter/X that’s worth repeating here.

………

Nice to see LA bike infrastructure used as a good example, for a change.

………

The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition is hosting a CicLAvia feeder ride this Sunday, assembling in front of the Hollywood & Highland Metro Station at 9 am, and departing at 9:15 am.

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is hosting an interactive community meeting on Saturday with County Supervisor Holly Mitchell to stop illegal street takeovers; advance registration required.

Speaking of SAFE, you only have through this Sunday to get advance registration for April’s Finish the Ride and Finish the Run in Griffith Park, prices go up after midnight.

………

Los Angeles Walks is celebrating their 25th Anniversary with a Sidewalk Soirée fundraiser on Saturday, March 16th.

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GCN debunks the myths and misconceptions behind hi-viz clothing for bicyclists, saying if it really made you safe, the results would be obvious.

And they’re not.

………

It’s now 62 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

The San Diego Reader considers the love and hate for the city’s expanding bike network, including the many people illegally using and parking in the well-marked bike lanes.

No bias here. A Conservative member of the British Parliament is opposing plans to improve safety at a dangerous roundabout, because “the main cycling beneficiaries will be those out of borough looking to cycle in a straight line.” If only pass-through drivers were subject to the same standard. 

No bias here, either. Just a month after two Melbourne bicyclists were targeted in deliberate hit-and-runs, Aussie police warned bicyclists to stay off the roads when a TV news network runs a show asking “Are cyclists annoying us?”

………

Local 

A 44-year old man living in Pico Rivera was shot to death while riding his bicycle on Rosemead Blvd shortly after midnight Saturday, though no one seems to have seen the shooter, or have a motive for the murder.

Santa Monica is looking for a Senior Transportation Planner for the city’s Bicycle Program, offering a great opportunity to make a difference in a city that seems to be committed to making a difference for people on bicycles. Thanks to Kent Strumpell for the link.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition makes the case that Complete Streets are an accessibility issue.

Pasadena police will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian safety traffic enforcement operation tomorrow, targeting dangerous behavior that put vulnerable road users at risk. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets a ticket.

Walk Bike Glendale invites you to weigh in on a proposal to install bike lanes on a little over a half mile of Glenoaks Blvd between Brand and Geneva, either through an online survey or a public open house tomorrow evening; you can learn more about the proposal on the project website.

 

State

Calbike will host a free online panel discussion on the need for Complete Streets on Caltrans Corridors on March 6th, in advance of April’s California Bicycle Summit in San Diego, though advance registration is required. Unfortunately, it will be over before I usually get up.

Sad news from Palo Alto, where a woman in her 20s was killed when her bike was rear-ended as she waited for a left turn arrow, and knocked into the intersection where she was struck by two other drivers, neither of whom bothered to stop. And for once, we know exactly what happened because the entire crash was captured on the first driver’s dashcam.

A new report showing San Francisco’s controversial Valencia Street centerline bike lane improved safety received applause from some bicyclists, and a legal challenge from local merchants.

A Manteca bicyclist relates getting pulled over by a Nevada state cop while doing 44 on a steep descent in a 45 mph zone, as a reminder that bike riders can get speeding and other tickets, too. It’s been one of my lifetime goals to get stopped for speeding on a bicycle, but I never seem to be going that fast when there’s anyone around who gives a damn.

 

National

Electrek makes the case that ebike riders actually get more exercise than riders of traditional pedal bikes, because a) ebike riders generally ride longer, b) ebike riders tend to ride more often, and c) tough terrain is easier on an ebike. Remember, though, they’re talking generalities; your mileage may vary. Sometimes literally.

A new study from the University of Duh uncovers the shocking news that recreational downhill mountain bikers suffer a high rate of upper extremity fractures and soft tissue injuries. Which anyone who has ever done it, or ever spoken with anyone who has ever done it, can likely attest to.

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to complete your first gravel race, courtesy of someone who’s finished dead last; meanwhile, the magazine questions whether the new “gravel race bike” category is just a con.

Velo recommends the six best bicycling weekend getaways for the whole family, without having to leave the friendly confines of the US.

Denver prepares for a new round of the city’s highly successful ebike voucher program, with simplified rules to make it easier to apply; since the program began in 2022, the city has funded over 8,000 ebike rebates. Which serves as a good reminder that California’s moribund and modestly funded ebike rebate program passed the legislature in 2021, and has yet to issue a single voucher. And most retailers who are supposed to participate don’t even know about it yet.

Contemporary Christian star Amy Grant says she had to learn how to sing again after suffering serious injuries falling off her bike in Nashville.

Columbia SC bicyclists complain about a new bike lane, arguing the lack of connecting lanes means a “perilous” journey just to get there. And contending with the risk of dooring from parked cars once you do.

A pair of kindhearted Tampa, Florida retirees have founded a church charity dedicated to refurbishing bikes to donate to homeless people.

 

International

If they build it, we will come. A new European study confirms what we already knew — bike lanes get more people on their bikes, and improve perceptions of public spaces. Because it’s easier to say the city sucks when you drive through it in your hermetically sealed vehicle, then when you are actively experiencing it on a bicycle.

Gangs of moped riders are pushing Londoners off their bicycles and making off with them. The bikes, that is, not the riders.

A semi-truck driver will spend the next four years and nine months behind bars for killing a doctor riding her bike to the London hospital she worked at, after failing to use his turn signal before making a “highly dangerous maneuver at a dangerous gyrator intersection.

British historian and bike scribe Carlton Reid describes his discovery of over 100 bikeways built in the 1930s hiding in plain site, many of which could be brought back to useful purpose.

Dublin, Ireland plans to double bicycling rates over the next four years, while developing a 15 minute city by diverting motor vehicles from traveling through the city center. Or centre, if you prefer.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s greatest early Black bike hero — or perhaps America’s greatest early bike hero, period — is back in the news, with a new documentary about Marshall “Major” Taylor, and a new biographical novel about him by three-time Olympic cyclist John Howard and research scientist Rene Maurer.

British cyclist Emily Bridges will take her fight to compete in the Paris Olympics to the courts, after British Cycling banned transgender women from competing in female cycling events.

 

Finally…

Nothing like posting the full access benefits of your magazine — then hiding it behind a paywall so non-subscribers can’t even see it.

And that feeling when the lessons learned from a short dooring video don’t include “It hurts.”

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin