Morning Links: Smith vindicated for BWB, Beverly Hills Complete Streets meeting, and more e-scooter news

August 21, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Smith vindicated for BWB, Beverly Hills Complete Streets meeting, and more e-scooter news

Good news.

The Alameda County DA’s office has dropped the charges against Najari Smith, founder of the Richmond, CA bike co-op Rich City Rides.

Smith was arrested by Oakland police on August 3rd while leading a weekly social bike ride, ostensibly for illegally playing amplified music.

However, witnesses at the scene were convinced he was busted for Biking While Black.

A statement released by the Oakland Police Department in response to the public outcry over the arrest said Smith was “impeding traffic” and “refused to provide identification or any information that would assist the officers in identifying him.”

Even though Smith says he cooperated with the officers and provided them with two forms of ID.

Fortunately, he won’t face any serious consequences for the misguided arrest. Although no one can give him back the two days he spent locked behind bars before making bail.

………

Beverly Hills will hold a workshop to discuss Complete Streets in the former Biking Black Hole tomorrow night.

………

Long Beach’s first evening Beach Streets event takes place this Saturday. Let’s hope CicLAvia follows their lead and schedules a few evening or nighttime events.

………

Today’s common theme is yet another return to the e-scooter debate.

After a Cleveland woman was killed by a DUI driver while she was riding a scooter, the focus was on the dangers of scooters, rather than the dangers of drivers who admit snorting heroin before getting behind the wheel.

Streetsblog gets it, saying scooters aren’t a public safety hazard, but streets designed only for cars are.

He gets it, too. A Portland writer says if it makes sense to charge for scooters to use city streets, then it also makes sense to charge proportionately for cars to use them.

No bias here. The Philadelphia Inquirer says the e-scooter sky is falling, and it’s time for panic before they besmirch the city’s streets.

BuzzFeed says people with broken bones and missing teeth are turning up in ERs around the nation as a result of scooter crashes, although no hard data is available.

Bloomberg may have the smartest take, saying scooters pose a serious challenge to the reign of cars by providing convenient first and last mile solutions, as well as transportation for quick errands.

And Santa Monica is dealing with the problem of haphazardly parked scooters by providing designated scooter parking on the sidewalk. Although a better solution would be to replace a car parking spot with parking for the more efficient scooters.

https://twitter.com/SaMoCole/status/1031716664226672640

………

Local

Streetsblog offers a review of Sunday’s sparsely attended open streets event in Huntington Park and Vernon, which could have benefited from better promotion.

CiclaValley previews Bike Walk Burbank’s 4th Annual Midnight Ramble this Saturday.

Still no word on who is behind the rash of shootings at Malibu Creek State Park, or whether bike riders, hikers and campers are safe there after a camper was murdered earlier this year.

 

State

The California Sun lists seven must-see California destinations operated by the Bureau of Land Management.

The 11th Annual Bike the Bay rolls this Sunday across the iconic San Diego Coronado Bridge and around the San Diego Bay.

Stockton residents have installed a ghost bike for a rider who was killed in an unsolved 2016 hit-and-run.

This is who we share the roads with. A San Jose woman called the police after she got home at 2 am, and discovered a dead pedestrian lodged under her truck; she was not arrested, despite driving with a suspended license and an outstanding warrant for theft.

 

National

The Seattle Times applauds nearby Bellevue for a pilot bike lane project that uses a variety of separators, from bollards to planters, to determine what works best and how it’s accepted by the public and business owners.

An Albuquerque man offers an impassioned Op-Ed calling for drivers who hit bike riders to face justice and for the city to do more to protect bicyclists, after his friend who refused to own a car was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike.

Texas Senator John Cornyn welcomes riders to this week’s Hotter’n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, after helping out as a volunteer last year.

An Iowa bicyclist offers advice on how to avoid killing someone on a shared use path. Because someone recently did.

A Catholic monk stops in Oklahoma on an unsupported cross-country ride to promote religious unity; his indirect route has taken him over 4,000 miles to get just halfway across the US.

Video has been released of the crash involving the hit-and-run Kentucky mayor that sent a 16-year old girl to the hospital. It’s hard to see, but it appears to show the mayor’s SUV hit the girl’s bike without knocking her down, supporting his contention that she rode off without stopping.

A Detroit website examines the Motor City’s use of road diets to successfully remake its streets.

Pacific Standard magazine looks at ghost bikes, including a moving ghost bike prayer written by Pittsburgh minister.

New ped-assist bikeshare ebikes are the alternative transportation alternative for New Yorkers stranded by the shutdown of a major subway line. Not surprisingly, the mayor didn’t show up for his own widely promoted ride to promote them.

Oops. A New York cop admits on video that his supervisor ordered officers not to ticket people who park in bike lanes.

Pennsylvania police crack down on groups of teens who block traffic with their bikes and shout obscenities at drivers.

Now you, too, can own your very own dockless bikeshare bike, because Ofo may be no more in DC, but a local bike co-op is selling off some of their bikes for the low, low price of $100.

 

International

A writer for the New Republic says the modern automobile must die in order to fight climate change.

The Mother Nature Network provides photos of 18 spectacular pedestrian and bike bridges around the world.

A European website looks at Complete Streets design in Vancouver, where they’re busy doing it right.

A Toronto writer recommends having your bike tattooed with a registration number from Britain’s Bike Registry to prevent theft and help recover it if it is stolen. I recommend the free Bike Index registration, but whatever you do, register your bike somewhere. Now.

WTF? A Toronto newspaper asks if bikeshare users give “real” cyclists a bad name. Unless your bicycle is imaginary, you’re a real cyclist until the moment you step off it.

A Hamilton, Ontario website calls a newly resurfaced road design “deranged” after the city blocks off space where a curbside bike lane could go, then paints sharrows in the traffic lane.

An Irish mayor has turned his own reserved parking space into a bike corral.

A bill in the Israeli Knesset would require all ebike riders to wear a helmet any time they’re on their bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling tells you how to watch the Vuelta, if you’re willing to fork out the bucks; the race starts this Saturday, but won’t be carried on American TV. Let’s all send a big FU to NBC, which has decided to charge to stream the races they used to carry on cable.

No wonder women’s cycling is so exciting. A new study shows female cyclists race at a greater intensity than their male counterparts, who sustain more load and volume over longer courses.

Pro cyclist Lauren Hall retired after winning the final stage of the Colorado Classic, ending a career that included three national track cycling championships, and two second place finishes in the US road cycling championships.

The pros are going with snub nosed saddles.

 

Finally…

When your on-camera bike ride is only for the cameras. This is who we share the roads with, too; thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

And always try to look up from your phone before hitting a parked car.

………

Eid Mubarak to all observing Eid al-Adha today.

 

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

Morning Links: The press gets it, people still riding in their 80s and 90s, and reporting cab drivers via Twitter

August 20, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: The press gets it, people still riding in their 80s and 90s, and reporting cab drivers via Twitter

They get it.

A rabbi considers the complaints about e-scooters in the LA area, and the vandalism that has taken place as a result, and has this bit of advice: “The surest way to restore civil society is to act with civility, towards all people at all times.” That’s not so hard, is it?

Bike Snob continues his newfound advocacy, saying drivers should be held to a higher standard, because even seemingly minor infractions can turn fatal.

The New York Times says e-scooters could be a real help to people trying to get around the city — if the mayor gets more serious about protecting riders. Maybe we should all email that message to LA’s mayor, as well.

London will now charge drivers of higher polluting vehicles more money to park them. If Los Angeles is serious about fighting climate change — which seems pretty unlikely, based on recent experience — officials will be on the phone to the British capital before the day is out.

A British broadcaster deflates the myth of freeloading scofflaw bicyclists, and says the onus should be on drivers to look out for us.

………

I want to be like them when I grow up.

A retired UConn professor is still riding his age at 91 years old. Or 90, anyway.

An 82-year old British man beats intestinal cancer, and celebrates with a 311-mile ride from London to Paris to raise funds for the hospital that treated him.

Three generations of a British family go bike riding in the Austrian Alps, including an 88-year old grandfather on an ebike.

………

You can now report bike lane blocking taxi and car sharing drivers via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/taxicomisionado/status/1030574197708218370

………

Local

It’s too hot for a tweed ride, so Bike SGV is hosting a vintage Seersucker Slow Roll Bike Ride this Sunday.

Speaking of Bike SGV, they’re bringing back their free City Cycling Classes in Glendora this weekend.

 

State

San Jose will remove parking spaces to install bollards on bike lanes and build protected intersections.

City Lab says San Francisco’s sidewalks are the city’s last shred of public space, so it’s no wonder everyone is fighting over them. And the same goes virtually everywhere else, as well.

Caught on video: Sacramento police run down a 16-year old boy who was fleeing after being stopped for not having a light on his bike, then blame the crash on vehicle understeer.

 

National

A Kiwi writer recommends five bike trails to ride throughout the US. Although “trail” is stretching it, since one of the recommended routes is the coast highway through Big Sur.

A serial vandal has been cutting the brake cables on Seattle bikeshare bikes, putting the lives and safety of bike riders at risk; London’s Daily Mail gets it right, calling the perp sick and deranged.

A Utah man is building custom handmade bikes with unique designs from recycled parts, including one based on his son’s drawing of a dinosaur.

The rich get richer. My platinum level bike friendly hometown opens a 4.4-mile bike path connecting with the neighboring town, which used to be much further away.

New York Mayor de Blasio is planning to ride from city hall to Brooklyn on a ped-assist ebike to inaugurate the ped-assist bikes as part of the city’s bikeshare system.

Former world track cycling champ and Olympic medalist Marty Rothstein was booted from the board of a Pennsylvania velodrome after allegations of sexual misconduct, which he claims are merely an attempt to derail his run for Congress.

A trio of Rutgers University students have formed a group called Girls Do Bike to empower girls by teaching them how to ride bikes.

Philadelphia bike riders sue to force the installation of plastic delineators to keep hotel valets from parking cars in bike lanes, turning to the courts when they can’t make any progress with elected officials to improve bike infrastructure. Can we do that here? Pretty please?

Louisiana bike riders find out the hard way what happens when people who don’t ride bikes try to write laws for those who do. And then cherry pick the people they want to discuss it with.

Caught on video: A road raging Alabama driver faces charges after blowing through a group of bicyclists stopped for a stop sign.

 

International

If you build it, they will come. Vancouver, British Columbia sees a record number of riders on major bike routes after building out a connected bikeway network.

An Edmonton, Canada bike rider tells drivers “We come in peace.”

Police in Waterloo, Canada take bike cam video seriously, talking to drivers and writing tickets based on GoPro video a rider posts online and forwards to the police. California law currently requires that police witness an infraction to write a ticket, but is unclear on whether video evidence is sufficient; most departments say no. That needs to change.

Once again, two new European studies show bicycling is the healthiest way to get around, and can help you lose weight.

Huh? An English letter writer calls for putting bollards as close together as possible on a street to keep bike commuters from terrorizing residents. And says that will increase property values.

A British triathlete was killed when her bicycle hit a pothole, after the contractor hired to repair it mistakenly fixed one three miles away, instead.

Bike thieves in the UK are cutting bike racks, then returning to steal the bikes after riders lock up to them. That’s a common technique on this side of the Atlantic, as well. Always check the rack to make sure it’s secured to the ground, and doesn’t have any hidden cuts; thieves will often use stickers to hide a cut in the rack.

Berlin has a lot to learn from Münster when it comes to bicycling. And LA could learn from both.

Bikeshare comes to Tehran, with smart bikes based on the Internet of Things.

A Rwandan writer says bicycling has become embedded in the lives of his countrymen and women, from cyclists approaching the level of Tour de France riders, to the growing amount bike infrastructure remaking the streets of the country.

The number of bicyclists fined for not wearing a helmet under New Zealand’s mandatory helmet law has dropped 75% over the last five years. The question is whether the number of bike riders has dropped, as well.

Who says bike riders aren’t tough? A New Zealand government minister and her husband rode their bikes to the hospital to give birth.

An Aussie bike advocate says it’s time for everyone on the roads to take responsibility for their actions, and respect each other.

 

Competitive Cycling

The UnitedHealthcare team swept the Colorado Classic, finishing first and second in both the men’s and women’s races. But the team may not exist next year after the sponsor pulled out; in fact, three teams may go under.

Cycling scion Taylor Phinney won the most aggressive rider jersey, as well as the adoration of his hometown crowd, after finishing the race just two weeks after breaking his face in the final mountain stage of the Tour de France.

The Velorama festival accompanying the final stages of the Colorado Classic worked most of the bugs out in its second year, drawing up to 30,000 people.

French cyclist Geoffrey Soupe was lucky to escape with a badly slashed neck after crashing into barbed wire at the Tour de Limousin last week.

Former cycling great Jan Ullrich is in rehab following his recent arrests for attacking a neighbor, and an escort; no word on what he’s rehabbing for.

A writer for Bicycling learns that a famed Belgian climb that once defeated the great Eddy Merckx isn’t so easy, even on a modern bike.

Slate looks at the Zwift Academy, which gives you a chance to become a pro cyclist in the comfort of your own living room.

 

Finally…

It’s only been 122 years since the first driver crashed into someone on a bicycle — and clearly, nothing’s changed. The next time someone makes fun of your skintight bike shorts, tell them its this summer’s must-wear trend.

And Shakespeare as it was meant to be performed.

On bicycles.

 

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

Morning Links: Council splits on speed for scooters, cabs banned from bike lanes, and 10 years for Oceanside driver

August 17, 2018 / / 3 comments

The city council’s Public Works Committee recommended that e-scooters be allowed on LA streets with their current top speed of 15 mph, rather than the 12 mph limit recommended by the Transportation Committee.

The full city council will now have to make the final decision.

The committee also approved a lengthy laundry list of other proposed scooter requirements, while leaving the door open for other providers to step in, in addition to the current Bird and Lime.

You can thank bike-friendly Joe Buscaino if the higher speed limit gets approved.

https://twitter.com/JoeBuscaino/status/1029859925218930688

Today’s photo reflects a more subtle form of vandalism, spotted on the streets of Hollywood.

………

As long as we’re talking about scooters, we might as well keep going.

The Santa Monica Daily Press looks at Tuesday’s demonstration at SaMo City Hall in support of Lime and Bird scooters, and finds somewhat underwhelming. Although the 20,000 or so form emails city leaders received were just the opposite.

Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole reminds us that even though the process for legalizing scooters hasn’t been easy, few remember how the first motor cars turned cities upside down.

Streetsblog says the hyperventilating stories about scooters have been blown out of proportion, because the rollout is going well in most places.

And an Atlanta doctor gives a e-scooters a negative review, calling them dangerous to people on and off them, and recommends giving them the boot.

………

The Los Angeles Taxi Commission has officially barred cab drivers from parking or waiting in bike lanes for any reason, other than to pick up or drop off handicapped passengers.

https://twitter.com/taxicomisionado/status/1030249259419877376

………

The stoned driver who killed 70-year old endurance cyclist Paul Cornish in an Oceanside bike lane last year will spend 10 years behind bars after pleading guilty to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Twenty-six-year old Felix Ruiz Bazan was high on meth, and driving a stolen car without a license when he ran down Cornish, who once set the record for fastest crossing of the continental US by bicycle.

………

While we’re at it, let’s catch up on a few other updates on more recent crashes.

A young father of two has been identified as the victim of Monday’s collision in Bellflower; Timothy Maurice Lewis was allegedly riding against traffic when he was struck and killed. A GoFundMe page has been created to help pay his funeral expenses.

A GoFundMe page has also been created to raise funds for funeral expenses for Apolinar Venancio; the popular Glassell Park resident known as Don Polo was killed while riding his bike last week.

And the road cyclist killed in East San Diego County earlier this month has been identified as 61-year old Daniel Lusteg of La Mesa.

………

Forget the movie Gone in 60 Seconds. Security video shows a British bike thief making off with one in about four.

………

Local

Curbed suggests five ways to make isolated Dodger stadium more accessible that aren’t Boring, including improving bikeways and making Vin Scully Ave a pedestrianized street.

The Morning Ride Cycle Club presents photos from last weekend’s LA Handmade Bicycle Show.

Santa Monica-based Bird has established a global safety advisory board to help improve safety for e-scooter users — and presumably, those around them.

A Malibu program teaches kids how to be safe on PCH, where even adult bicyclists take their chances with drivers distracted by topless selfie takers.

 

State

Seriously, what’s the point of doing a story about a San Luis Obispo bike show if you’re not going to include photos?

The JUMP dockless e-bikeshare has been a success in Santa Cruz.

Sad news from San Francisco, where a 65-year old man was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding in the city’s Tenderloin district; the driver was later arrested on DUI, hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter charges.

San Francisco unveils plans for a protected bike lane along the Embarcadero, where a pedicab operator was killed earlier this year.

Richmond’s mayor and at least one councilmember decry the arrest of Rich City Rides founder Najari “Naj” Smith in neighboring Oakland for apparently Biking While Black.

 

National

No, the problem isn’t that self-driving cars can’t spot humans, on two wheels or two feet. It’s that human beings are too unpredictable. So autonomous car makers want to make us follow the rules, or else.

Strong Towns makes the case for why drivers should support bike lanes.

Bicycling offers five scientific reasons why riding a bike is the best way to get around. And why you get addicted to bicycling social media, and what to do about it.

Portland’s master bike thief is at it again, getting 25 months in prison for violating his probation with his 80th arrest in 20 years of stealing bicycles. Yes, eighty.

Reddit solved a Washington hit-and-run, as an online discussion helped identify a tiny part left behind by the driver who killed a bicycling grandmother.

The Seattle Times recommends adding a ferry to your rides.

If you have a little extra cash lying around — preferably in pounds — consider investing in a documentary about a 75-year old man’s attempt to break the record for a human powered vehicle at Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Three hundred fifty bike riders turned out for a 350-mile ride around the Yellowstone region.

Life is cheap in Kansas, where a speeding, allegedly stoned hit-and-run driver who killed a bike rider got seven years behind bars — but will probably only serve four months.

Illinois will now teach the Dutch Reach to all student drivers, as well as adding a question about it on the driver’s test to help reduce dooring.

Minneapolis is preparing to take the middle ground between docked and dockless bikeshare, while providing marked parking spaces for the latter.

A local paper talks with Massachusetts custom bikemaker Alex Meade, who took over an old factory for his business.

A Gettysburg PA bike rider explains for motorists why we do the things we do.

 

International

Fifteen cities around the world are fighting air pollution by curbing the use of cars. Needless to say, Los Angeles is not one of them.

A story in Outside tells how bikepacker Kate Harris saw more than Marco Polo ever did. On the other hand, no one’s ever played “Kate Harris” in the swimming pool.

Cycling Tips‘ Angry Asian says enough with the ebike hate. Couldn’t agree more. It’s a damn good rant, and damn well worth reading.

Can’t decide whether to buy a roadie, commuter or mountain bike? Then just get all three in one. Or maybe you’re tired of riding everywhere and want to go un-carfree.

A crowdfunding campaign for the five Edmonton, Canada bicyclists injured by a driver who couldn’t manage to see two lines of riders directly in front of her has raised over $10,000 of the $250,000 goal.

Forget whether it’s safer for Edmonton bicyclists to ride single file or two abreast; real safety requires separated bike lanes.

Winnipeg bans right turns on red lights to protect bike riders and pedestrians. But only in one district.

A Toronto city counselor and a Vision Zero advocate debate how to make the streets safer. Hint: Don’t do it the first guy’s way.

A Toronto man walked away from his MBA and law degree to co-found titanium bikemaker No. 22.

A Guardian writer goes fat biking on the beach.

Talk about blaming the victim. London’s Daily Mail urges the UK government to crack down on Ofo’s yellow dockless bikeshare bikes because people are vandalizing them and dumping them in lakes and trees. Because God knows, they wouldn’t want to go after the vandals who are destroying them or anything.

Not even people a heartbeat away from royalty are safe on the streets, as the Queen’s personal homeopath was killed in a crash while riding his bike just seconds from the hospital where he works.

Oxford, England shut down its docked bikeshare in the face of competition from dockless bikeshares.

A British man is riding 211 miles on his daughter’s little pink bicycle to raise money in her memory, after she died of a brain tumor at age seven.

The Chicago Tribune asks if Tajikistan is safe for American tourists after terrorists killed four bike tourists, including an American couple. And no, they weren’t trying to make a point by riding through ISIS-controlled territory — and no, they weren’t naive to try.

An Indian website talks with bike clubs across the country to take the temperature of India’s bike scene.

An Aussie website explains how riding two abreast improves safety. And why it’s good for drivers, too.

Life is cheap in Australia, where a judge tells a driver who smashed into a bike rider that driving with a windshield so frosted over he couldn’t see where he was going was a mistake anyone could make.

Forget a custom bike. What you really need are custom Kiwi bike shoes.

 

Competitive Cycling

The four-day Colorado Classic bike race kicked off on Thursday, as women cyclists wonder what they have to do to get a little attention, and one rider asks who you’d rather see in spandex. Good point.

Chris Froome and Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas will skip the Vuelta in favor of the Tour of Britain.

Ritchie Porte will ride for redemption at the Vuelta and the World Championships.

A New York cyclist got tired of bike races. So he created his own.

A 20-year old Israeli cycling champ was killed in a left cross when a turning driver cut her off.

A writer for VeloNews says Donald Trump’s alleged Russian connections date back to his sponsorship of the Tour de Trump bike race in the 1980s.

 

Finally…

Yes, you’re invited to ride on a new highway before it opens — just don’t bring your own bike. If you name your company Cycling Porn, don’t be surprised when it gets blocked on social media.

And your next bike helmet could text for help if you crash.

Note: We originally ended with a police report that turned out to be a hoax. Thanks to Sam for the correction.

 

 

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

Move along, nothing to see here

August 16, 2018 / / One comment

My apologies once again.

My diabetes kicked my ass last night. I’m just coming back to life after low blood sugar knocked me out for several hours.

And yes, the Corgi tried to warn me once again, but I didn’t get the message until it was too late.

As usual, we’ll be back on Friday with anything you missed.

Category: General /

Morning Links: City Atty says scrap Griffith Park Blvd bike lanes, and bike riders victim of London terrorist attack

August 15, 2018 / / 3 comments

LA City Attorney Mike Feuer has recommended removing the bike lanes on Griffith Park Blvd due to the crappy condition of the aging concrete pavement.

His recommendation comes after paying out a total of $700,000 following lawsuits from a pair of bike riders — only one of whom was actually injured on the section of Griffith Park that has bike lanes.

And even though it would increase the city’s liability the next time someone gets injured where the lanes used to be. Which is a given considering the condition of the street.

The obvious solution is to actually fix the crumbling pavement on Griffith Park, as the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee voted to recommend, which would solve the real problem.

That’s something we thought was in progress after the $200,000 settlement with Patrick Pascal, who was injured on the street beyond where the Griffith Park bike lanes end near Los Feliz Blvd, before they actually enter Griffith Park.

But they only fixed the section that took him down. And only after the city settled with him, despite countless calls to fix it prior to his injury.

Which is how it usually seems to work in the City of Angels.

In the photo, LA’s Bureau of Street Services repairs the section of pavement on Griffith Park Blvd where Patrick Pascal was injured. 

………

Once again, bike riders were the victims of a terrorist attack.

Last time it was New York, this time in London, where a man in his late 20s was arrested after driving into a group of bicyclists and pedestrians in what appeared to be a deliberate act.

Fortunately, no one was killed in the attack outside the British Houses of Parliament, though at least two people were injured, and a number of bikes mangled — a surprisingly good outcome considering the suspect drove an estimated 50 mph along the sidewalk for at least 130 feet.

And in typical British fashion, a bicyclist who chased the suspect until police intervened said “you just have a cup of tea and a biscuit and you carry on.”

………

Local

LAist offers a refresher on how to drive safely around kids headed back to school, including advice to watch for bicycles. And presumably, their riders. Speaking of which, remember that bike riders are required to stop for school buses, just like drivers, to avoid collisions with kids running across the road — or getting on or off the bus, if riders try to pass on the right. And yes, I’ve seen that.

The James Beard award-winning celebrity chef behind DTLA’s NoMad Hotel is one of us; Daniel Humm was a professional mountain biker before he won his first Michelin star at 24.

CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz wrote a letter to the LA Times explaining his call for a temporary ban on e-scooters in the name of pedestrian safety, something he never seemed to give a damn about before. A Streetsblog reader kindly fixed it for him to focus on the real threat.

Lime and Bird scooters were shut down yesterday in Santa Monica in advance of a protest that reportedly drew hundreds to SaMo city hall to call for the e-scooter providers to be allowed to remain in the city; a proposal under consideration would boot both in favor of new scooters from Uber and Lyft. You have two more days to voice your opinion before the city cuts off the comment period.

 

State

Police data reveals the most dangerous intersections in Mountain View.

San Francisco’s Masonic Ave remains a work in progress as safety measures are unveiled by the city, with the city’s new mayor promising protected bike lanes are on the way.

Bay Area bike advocates are calling on San Francisco to lift the restrictive caps that are preventing bikeshare from growing in the city. Meanwhile, the city apparently has no idea what to do about e-scooters, which are banned in the City by the Bay until it figures it out.

A Eureka physician displays a remarkable amount of windshield bias, saying bike riders don’t need to use a particular bike path if the wind blows because there are several others, even it they don’t go the same way. And that there are no reproducible studies showing bicycling prolongs life, or that road diets work (hint: there are, on both counts). The remarkable thing is how he can still treat patients when he can’t seem to see past his own dashboard.

A group of bicyclists stop in Humboldt County on a ride from Seattle to San Diego to promote the Dream Act.

 

National

A post on Bike Portland says sidewalk cycling can be a savior for family biking.

Public tips led to the arrest of a Washington man who left a grandmother dying in a ditch next to her crumpled bicycle.

A Boise ID woman says a speeding, spandexed bicyclist sent her to the hospital to have a one-pound blood clot removed after crashing into her on a park pathway.

As we mentioned yesterday, the driver who killed two German bike tourist in Kansas earlier this year won’t face charges; the county attorney explains that it’s because she wasn’t under the influence or otherwise operating the vehicle in a reckless or dangerous manner. Although you’d think running over two people directly in front of you would be prima facie evidence of the latter.

Caught on video: Onboard cameras catch an Austin TX bus driver sideswiping a bicyclist — and nearly running him over — as he rode in a bike lane. It’s hard to watch, so be sure you really want to see it before clicking on the link. Thanks to Stephen Katz for the heads-up.

Two air conditioned teepees await bike tourists in an Arkansas city, as long as you’re willing to pay the price of a regular hotel room.

Chicago police double down on claims that a crackdown on bike riders in predominately black and Hispanic neighborhoods is an effective tool to prevent violence.

A New York councilmember responds to the death of a bike-riding Australian tourist by calling for a two-way protected bike lane on Central Park West. Meanwhile, a New York radio station asks listeners to imagine safer streets where bike riders are protected from things like that.

A Baltimore firefighter has been sentenced to one year probation after pleading guilty to an off-duty assault on a bike advocate at a community meeting to discuss bike lanes. At least we can be grateful that the bikelash over LA bike lanes haven’t turned violent. Yet.

A writer for the Washington Post tries, and fails, to understand the rights of bicyclists through his decidedly windshield perspective, before concluding that maybe bikes just don’t belong on the road.

 

International

A Canadian university professor says it’s odd that Toronto officials espouse the same 100-year old approach to bike and pedestrian safety that failed so spectacularly in the past.

The shooter who killed four people in Fredericton, New Brunswick last Friday is also one of us.

France’s first lady is one of us, too.

Now that’s bike friendly. A vote in Switzerland next month could enshrine bicycling in the nation’s constitution, committing the country to promoting bike transport and building suitable infrastructure.

An Indian website recommends riding a bike to pedal your blues away.

New Zealand police conclude that the truck that critically injured a champion triathlete doesn’t exist.

A Malaysian website says riding a bicycle is the healthiest form of urban transport.

 

Competitive Cycling

Santa Rosa native and defending Leadville 100 champ Larissa Connors arrives at this year’s race mourning the damage done to Trabuco Canyon by the devastating Holy Fire.

A writer for The Guardian complains that women’s cyclists will compete on a watered-down road course at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, saying it shows the Olympic motto of “faster, higher, stronger” only applies to men. Seriously, we should be long past the days when women were considered the weaker sex, especially in athletic competition.

Vincenzo Nibali says pro cycling has become a circus due to the aggressive behavior of racing fans, following his fan-caused crash in the Tour de France.

America’s most famous ex-Tour de France champ says he’ll do anything in his power to help former rival Jan Ullrich recover from his downward spiral.

 

Finally…

When your GPS may not have your best interests at heart. Evidently, there’s a backspace button for bike corrals.

And biking across the US is no joke, even for a former pro cyclist turned comedian.

And neither is fighting domestic abuse.

 

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

Morning Links: It’s a Day Without a Scooter in SaMo, progress on Beverly Hills bike lanes, and NACTO visits LA

August 14, 2018 / / 2 comments

Still more news on the scooter beat.

Supporters of Lime and Bird e-scooters are urged to head to Santa Monica City Hall tonight to protest plans to boot the popular scooter providers out of town.

City staff has recommended using scooters provided by Lyft and Uber, instead, the latter of which clearly intends to monopolize every form of shared transportation humanly possible.

Call me crazy, but it makes far more sense to me to work with the scooter companies that have already established a solid foothold in the city, then bring in other companies to compete with them on an even basis.

Meanwhile, an Ohio city shows that it is in fact possible to take a common sense approach to scooters.

Twitter post

………

Patrick Pascal sends word that bike lane striping on the westbound side of Santa Monica Blvd is about one-third finished, currently stretching from Doheny to Palms in the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.

………

NACTO will be meeting in Los Angeles in two months.

The group, formally known as the National Association of City Transportation Officials, will be coming here the first week of October to discuss Designing Cities.

LA Mayor Eric Garcetti paints a glowing picture for attendees of a city transforming the way we get around.

Twitter post

Maybe we can get the mayor to take them on a tour of Temple Street, and 6th Street, and Lankershim Blvd, and Westwood Blvd, and Central Ave, and North Figueroa, and all the other streets where LA councilmembers have blocked that “transformation.”

Not to mention Rowena Ave, where Councilmember David Ryu apparently wants to rip out one that’s already been successfully transformed.

………

No bias here.

An Ohio TV station reports that a 60-year old bicyclist was killed in a collision after he ran a stop sign.

But what they fail to mention is that he was competing in a triathlon at the time.

………

Local

CiclaValley looks at how the North Hollywood Block Party I couldn’t talk my wife into going to claimed the streets, if only for one day.

Councilmember Jose Huizar officially opened the new and improved Alhambra Avenue, including 1.5 miles of lane reductions and door zone bike lanes. Proving that it is possible to implement a road diet in Los Angeles, as long as it doesn’t affect entitled Westside drivers.

Burbank opens far more appealing buffered bike lanes on Riverside Drive, with the buffer on the curb side to keep riders out of the door zone; it could be coming to 1st Street soon, as well.

Pasadena authorities are urging drivers to be cautious as thousands of children head back to school this week. That goes both ways for bikes — ride carefully around children, and ride defensively around their parents as they drop them off.

 

State

California’s record wildfires are having a negative effect on bicycle sales across the state.

A real estate website ranks the nation’s most affordable “outdoorsy” cities, with Bakersfield coming in number two on the list behind Spokane WA.

Berkeley is installing a hybrid traffic signal designed to automatically detect bicycles and trigger a flashing yellow light, followed by a red light.

A bike-riding Stockton minister led the installation of a ghost bike for a man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver two years ago; he also runs the bicycle ministry for a local Episcopal church.

That’s a safe bet. A Chico letter writer says the driver who struck and killed a bike-riding physician apparently didn’t give the victim a three-foot passing distance.

 

National

NFL legend Emmitt Smith is one of us, as the three-time Super Bowl champ has traded his running shoes for a bicycle. Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

Bicycling recounts 30 “insane” cycling records, including the world’s tallest rideable bike, Stoopidtaller built by LA’s own Richie Trimble.

Life is cheap in Kansas, where no charges will be filed against the driver who ran down and killed two German bike tourists last May. Apparently not noticing two people on bicycles directly in front of your car before you run them over is perfectly legal in Kansas.

A Texas bus driver blames a bike rider after sideswiping him, even though the rider was in the bike lane the bus driver kept drifting into.

A conservative writer calls a Chicago bike rider’s decision not to report a crash with elderly Latina driver who was in the country illegally “lefty compassion run amok,” even though she once did exactly the same thing. Except in her case, he was Irish. Which I’m sure had nothing to do with her change of heart. Right?

A 15-year old Kentucky girl says she’s not going to ride her bike again after she was hit by the town’s mayor while riding in a crosswalk; the mayor was cited for hit-and-run after he drove off, then returned later, claiming he had no idea he hit anyone despite knocking the girl off her bike.

A Vermont police chief survives the dreaded death wobble after crashing while descending at 45 mph. Thanks to Opus the Poet for the link.

He gets it. An Op-Ed in the New York Daily News says it’s time to stop blaming bicyclists for their deaths, adding “those of us who don’t drive SUVs everywhere are not just second-class citizens — we’re disposable.”

A Pennsylvania county adopts an ambitious bike plan calling for 800 miles of bike-friendly paths, even though it currently has just 19 miles of bike lanes. Although as we’ve learned the hard way in Los Angeles, a bike plan is meaningless until you can actually ride it.

Great idea. A coalition of bicycling organizations has released a subway-style map showing what an actual network of connected bikeways could do to better serve the DC area.

 

International

Canadian bicyclists are calling for the legalization of riding two abreast after five riders were run down and injured in Edmonton; a bike club was riding abreast when the driver somehow failed to see them right in front of him. One of the injured riders understandably says it’s heightened his fear of cars.

Speaking of Edmonton, local bicyclists say the proposed location of a protected bike lane is just an attempt to make drivers happy.

Police in the UK defend their actions after being criticized on social media for stopping 50 kids who were popping wheelies and riding their bikes in an “anti-social manner.”

Britain’s Conservative Party has deleted a tweet accused of demonizing bicyclists, as they attempt to crack down on the perceived threat of dangerous bicyclists. Cycling Weekly responds by noting that you’re more likely to be killed by cows than someone on a bike, while Chris Boadman says you’re more likely to be killed by Christmas decorations, and asks why they hate us. Good question.

In a sad commentary on the state of British roads, a 95-year old English couple is giving up riding their tandem after 78 years because of disrespectful drivers.

A Freedom of Information request shows Dublin’s city council is failing to meet demands for bicycling infrastructure. Which sounds like another city council we could name, in a city NACTO will be visiting soon.

Maybe you’d like to try a little Irish speed dating on two wheels.

A German vehicle association has developed a new standard for measuring the range of ebikes, promising to level the playing field in comparing one ebike to another.

Boston-based bikeshare startup Go Bike is focusing on Nigeria as the first step in their goal of becoming the leading bikeshare provider in Africa.

Chinese dockless bikeshare provider Mobike has developed their own ebike with a top speed of 12 mph. Which is the same slow speed a Los Angeles proposal would limit scooters to.

 

Competitive Cycling

The all-diabetic Team Novo Nordisk makes a Rwanda radio DJ eat his words after he said diabetics can’t compete and that the team was a joke, by coming back to win the Tour of Rwanda.

Cycling Tips admires the climbing ability of Tour of Utah winner Sepp Kuss. Then again, who doesn’t?

You may be seeing double at the Vuelta, as the Yates twins make late decisions to ride.

A 33-year old British man set a new record by running the entire course of the 2018 Tour de France, beating the cyclists to Paris, in the latest moving piece by Peter Flax.

 

Finally…

Your next Pashley could be a Morgan. Your next Yamaha could have pedals — and a battery.

And someone should tell the paper this sequence of events is highly unlikely.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee