Evidently, it’s celebrity Tuesday on today’s BikinginLA.
Christina Milan is one of us, going for a bike ride on the Venice Beach bike path with her daughter and boyfriend.
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn ride among us, too, as they go for a spin on the Westside. Although judging by her frown, Goldie may not be a fan of riding in traffic. Then again, who is?
And Busy Phillips is no fan of e-scooters, especially after helping a woman who fell off one in WeHo on Sunday. Although it should be pointed out that the scooters are officially banned in West Hollywood, but good luck enforcing that.
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CiclaValley plays a guessing game with a careless driver.
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Sometimes, the dangers are people with guns instead of people in cars.
Two armed men bike-jacked a 19-year old man in New Orleans, one getting out of a Jeep with a handgun to demand the bike, while the other pointed a rifle at him from behind the wheel.
And a Florida man threatened three kids with a BB gun when they chased after him for stealing a bicycle. While the the TV report calls his weapon a toy, BBs can still cause serious injuries, as too many bike riders can attest.
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This is what Critical Mass looks like in Nairobi.
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Great Twitter thread calling out the ridiculously upscale Peloton ads and magazine placements.
Just click on the date and scroll down. And keep scrolling. And scrolling.
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Your next ebike foldie could come from Wham-O.
Yes, the same Carson-based people behind the Frisbee, Hula Hoop and Silly String.
And now, a new bike that looks like a very strange pair of eyeglasses.
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Local
If you ride in the San Fernando Valley, stop by tonight’s open house to discuss proposed bike lanes on Winnetka Blvd between Vanowen and Oxnard Streets.
Metro is attempting to solve the first mile/last mile problem with a new app that will allow users to hail a shared car ride to one of three Metro rail stations for just $1.75. I’d much rather see improved bus and bikeshare service that would get more cars off the roads. Including shared ones.
A West Hollywood writer says WeHo’s image as a walkable city is a myth, with pedestrians constantly endangered by distracted and speeding drivers.
State
In a study that should surprise absolutely no one who walks or rides a bike in California, researchers determined that cellphone use by drivers increased last year, with 4.5% of all drivers using their phones illegally at any given time. The only real surprise is that the figure is that low.
San Diego is honoring Somali immigrants in the City Heights neighborhood by installing a camel-shaped bike rack. Which hopefully isn’t as offensive at it sounds.
The San Diego Padre’s annual Pedal for the Cause bike ride donated nearly $3 million for cancer research.
A Santa Barbara man tells the story of how his handmade bike from a local builder was stolen. And how he got it back thanks to a Good Samaritan who spotted it in a pawn shop, and paid $200 to get it out of hock.
Sadly, San Francisco isn’t about to get invaded by three-wheeled e-assist dockless pedal pods.
The mayor of Richmond has written a scathing response to Marin officials who want to cut the pilot period for a new bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge from four years to just six months, reminding them which city the bridge is named after.
National
Inspired by the jerk driver who wrote a non-apology to the kid he crashed into, Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss pens his own non-apology letters to others on the street. Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.
The stoned driver who killed a Bend, Oregon bike rider had 11 different drugs in her system at the time of the crash — including Xanax prescribed for her dog. When you start stealing drugs from the dog, it’s time to get help..
Unbelievable. A Las Vegas driver fled the scene after killing a bike rider was fleeing the scene after causing another crash; he ran into a casino and changed his clothes twice in an attempt to get away before he was caught. Sadly, the victim’s family lives here in Los Angeles; my sympathy and prayers go out to them.
Albuquerque NM will start ticketing drivers who park in bike lanes. Setting a good example for nearly every other city in North America.
A weekly paper accuses the Chicago police of using racial profiling to catch bikeshare thieves.
A Minnesota town says narrowing streets will improve more than just safety and livability; it will also help improve water quality by reducing the amount of runoff from impervious street surfaces.
A Pittsburgh letter writer says the city needs a commuter bicycling network to overcome the harm caused by motor vehicles.
A Boston-area bike rider was the victim of sidewalk rage when she lost control of her bike and hit a pedestrian, who responded by repeatedly kicking her.
NYPD officers have arrested the bike rider who was caught on video going berserk on a driver’s car, repeatedly whacking it with his U-lock before stomping on the roof and screaming at the sky. He reportedly was weaving in and out of traffic before attacking the car and its driver. Seriously kids, don’t do this. Ever.
No irony here. Brooklyn residents claim a new parking-protected bike lane has made their street more dangerous than ever, citing an elderly man who “nearly” got killed when he “almost” got hit by a bike rider. Never mind that two kids actually got killed by a driver the year before, which is why the changes were made.
A writer for the New York Times recounts the tale of his $12,900 hosted bike tour from Casablanca to Ghana’s Cape Coast, covering nearly 4,000 miles through seven African countries.
This is why our streets stay deadly. A Maryland driver was sentenced to a lousy five years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider. Even though he already had five — count ’em, five — previous DUIs. Yet another example of officials keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.
Chattanooga TN residents are mourning the death of local fixture Sandy the Flower Man, who spent decades riding his bike through the downtown area festooned with streamers and flags, and handing out flowers to strangers.
A serial Florida bike thief was busted yet again for stealing two bicycles, following four previous convictions for the same offense.
International
In what may be a first, a bike site has a list of tips I actually agree with, as Bike Radar offers 14 tips for safer city cycling.
Police in Victoria, British Columbia recover two of a bike shop owner’s three bikes just hours after they were stolen, after shifting priorities to recover hot bikes; they recovered five bicycles worth $10,000 the first day alone. So it can be done — if police are willing to devote sufficient resources to fight bike theft.
A 71-year old sexual predator will spend the rest of his life in jail after he was convicted of abducting and murdering 12-year old Vancouver girl as she was riding her bicycle 40 years earlier.
Eight bike riders have been injured in “inexplicable” falls on a single roadway in York. No, the old one in the UK, not the new one across the pond.
A British paper makes the case for how bicycling can help transform cities and dramatically improve health and wellbeing.
Streetsblog talks with “The Cycling Professor” of Amsterdam about how the Netherlands developed its bicycling culture.
An Italian city plans to pay people to bike to work; trips between work and home will be compensated at 36¢ a mile.
Competitive Cycling
Pro cyclists will be subjected to testing for the opioid painkiller Tramadol starting at the Paris-Nice classic. Violators will get a spanking and be sent to be without their supper.
Finally…
If you’re going to steal a bike from an elementary school, try not to get caught on the security cam — especially if you have a bunch of other hot bikes at home. When your job is working as a bike shop mechanic, just read the instructions, already.
And if you’re an unregistered sex offender carrying coke on your bike, put a damn light on it.
On second thought, don’t.
