Update: Bike rider killed on Winnetka Blvd in the San Fernando Valley

September 18, 2018 / / 2 comments

Word is just breaking that a man in his 60’s was killed yesterday while riding his bike in the Winnetka neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley.

The victim was reportedly riding his bike in the crosswalk on westbound Lanark Street crossing Winnetka Ave when he was struck by the driver of a 2001 Toyota Corolla around 6:30 pm.

He was taken to Northridge Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A street view shows a wide four lane roadway on Winnetka, with a center left turn lane and a bike lane in both directions, and an uncontrolled crosswalk on the west side.

No other details are available at this time.

This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 18th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

A ghost bike ceremony is tentatively scheduled for 9 pm tomorrow night. (Note: This originally said it would be held on Tuesday, but it will be Wednesday, instead.)

Update: According to a source with the LAPD, the victim is an unidentified, 72-year old ebike rider.

He was struck when he rode off the north sidewalk on Lanark into the crosswalk, and was struck by a driver headed north on Winnetka. 

This is yet another reminder of the dangers of sidewalk riding. Drivers often aren’t looking for you there, so you have to assume they don’t see you. Even if you have the right-of-way, it’s often safer to wait until cross traffic has passed. 

And always carry some form of ID. This crash is even more tragic knowing that the victim’s loved ones may have no idea he was killed.

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

Thanks to Zachary Rynew and Steve for the heads-up. Photo of the victim’s ghost bike from Steve.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: LA’s absent mayor leads to failing Vision Zero, and anti-Vision Zero widening of Magnolia Blvd

September 18, 2018 / / One comment

The Guardian’s Laura Laker questions whether Vision Zero has lost its way, describing the program as a success in New York.

And a failure in Los Angeles.

In January last year the city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced its first Vision Zero strategy, with a goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2025. Work would focus on 40 High Injury Network streets, particularly those near schools. Interventions included pedestrian scrambles, painted kerb extensions protected by bollards, and left turn safety improvements.

However, things started to unravel. On Temple Street, where 34 people were killed or severely injured within 2.3 miles in eight years, a “road diet” expected to reduce crashes by up to 47%met backlash from residents and drivers. Local city leaders downgradedlane removals to things that wouldn’t interfere with motor traffic: sidewalk repairs, new traffic signals and crosswalks.

She quotes Jon Orcutt, the former NYDOT director of policy who developed New York’s Vision Zero plan, as he points the finger exactly where it belongs by saying LA councilmembers who supported Vision Zero were left isolated and “hung out to dry” in the face of opposition.

The former policy director also explained who was responsible  for problems with New York’s plan after its initial success.

Orcutt also expresses his frustration at a lack of ongoing improvement in New York after those initial improvements.

“We need leaders to say, ‘This is what we are doing in the city, and you don’t get to say no, and you don’t get to come back on what our technical experts say,’” he says. “That is the power of the mayor – that’s the point of the megaphone you have.”

That’s exactly the problem in Los Angeles, with a mayor who’s too busy exploring a run for president to do the job he was elected to do. And who has repeatedly failed to support his own Vision Zero and Great Streets programs, let alone fight for them.

It was also Mayor Garcetti who pulled the rug out from under Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin, caving in the face of a backlash from angry drivers after Bonin took bold action to improve safety in Playa del Rey.

And yes, hanging him out to dry.

If Garcetti really wants to be president, maybe its time he stepped down as mayor to focus full-time on his run for the White House.

Then maybe someone will step in to take his place, and actually fight to stop the deaths on out streets, instead of just talking about it.

If not, it’s long past time to come back home and roll up his sleeves, put up his dukes, and start fighting for the safety plans he put in motion.

Because right now, his traffic safety legacy is just so many words.

Ghost bike photo by Matt Tinoco

………

More evidence that Vision Zero is failing in the mayor’s virtual absence.

CiclaValley reports on plans to widen Magnolia Blvd between Cahuenga Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, as the city claims to be improving safety by adding a traffic lane.

Never mind that reducing congestion and improving traffic flow will allow more drivers to speed through what once was a quiet two-lane street.

Which is the exact opposite of Vision Zero.

He urges you to send a version of the following email before the comment period ends at 5 pm next Monday.

And so do I.

To: Billy.Ho@lacity.org

CC: karo.torossian@lacity.org, jackie.keene@lacity.org, ciclavalley@gmail.com

Subject: Magnolia Boulevard Widening (N) Comments

I am writing because I am opposed to the widening of the north side of Magnolia Boulevard between Vineland and Cahuenga. This project does not improve safety conditions for those that use the roadway and puts vulnerable populations at increased risk of injury.

This is a growing and vibrant area that needs to serve everyone’s needs safely. Please prioritize projects that saves lives over seconds.

………

Local

Jonathan Weiss, whose son’s bike was recently stolen from the Westwood Rancho Park Expo Line station, calls for e-lockers to improve the security problems that can keep people from biking to the train. Or riding back home if they do.

Pasadena police will be conducting a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement program on Friday. Which means ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports on Sunday’s Pride of the Valley open streets event in Irwindale and Baldwin Park.

Santa Monica’s 16-month dockless bikeshare and e-scooter pilot program officially kicked off on Monday, including the introduction of Uber’s Jump dockless ebikes.

 

State

Former Elektra Records president Jeff Castelaz is preparing to embark on his tenth Pablove Across America Ride, traveling from San Raphael to Los Angeles. The annual ride, which is named after his late son Pablo, has raised over $3 million dollars for pediatric cancer research.

As we noted yesterday, San Diego resident Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest person on Earth, setting a new land speed record for human-powered vehicles. The Wall Street Journal offers on-bike video of the record-setting ride, if you can get past their paywall.

El Cajon is struggling to regulate dockless bikeshare, as both Ofo and Limebike set up shop in the city.

The San Francisco department of transportation’s Rapid Response Team is working with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to fix a deadly crosswalk where a bike rider was killed last week. That’s how Vision Zero is supposed to work, unlike Los Angeles, where traffic deaths just result in crickets.

 

National

Reader’s Digest — yes, it’s still around — explains how to use Google Maps to find safer bike routes.

An Iraq war vet is focusing on helping others after riding 4,300 miles across the US, saying she bought her bike to save her own life instead of ending it.

VeloNews considers the difference between long-term bike trends and passing fads.

A New York bus driver faces just 30 days in jail as he goes on trial on misdemeanor charges in the death of the first person killed riding one of New York’s Citi Bike docked bikeshare bikes.

Orlando FL moves towards allowing dockless bikeshare, despite complaints from the city’s docked bikeshare provider.

 

International

Venture capitalists say the future is bright. And comes on two wheels.

Treehugger says if you have trouble riding a bike, maybe you’re just using the wrong kind.

After writing a needlessly offensive column that made a good point — that some bike riders should cool it with aggressive cycling around pedestrians — a Vancouver writer ignores the complaints and pats himself on the back because older people agreed with him.

A Toronto columnist explains why bicycle licensing is a bad idea, saying that city abolished its licensing requirement in the 1950s.

Speaking of Toronto, advocates say political will is needed to solve the city’s bike infrastructure inequity.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a young woman gets off with community service and losing her license for 18 months for killing a bike rider after losing control of her car while speeding.

Dublin bicyclists are attaching cardboard wheel clamps — aka boots — to cars parked in bike lanes to protest the lack of police enforcement.

The Guardian offers a photographic look at Sunday’s carfree day in Paris and Brussels.

A writer sets off on a bike tour of Austria’s Tyrol region in search of the best food, in advance of next week’s road cycling world championships.

After arriving from Lithuania, a woman has created her own position as Malmö, Sweden’s Violinist on a Bike, between rehearsals with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A Bulgarian driver faces a murder charge for killing a bike-riding ballet dancer while high on coke and cannabis; he also faces a charge for his third offense for driving without a license.

Once again, an Australian study has found that drivers are responsible for the overwhelming majority of traffic collisions involving bike riders.

Fourteen percent of Australians have traded their car commutes for walking or bicycling, and 56% are open to leaving their cars at home.

Good question. An Op-Ed in the Guardian asks why bicycling deaths are rising in Australia when cars are significantly safer than they were 25 years ago, concluding that the problem rests with aggressive and entitled drivers.

Heartbreaking story from Japan, where a mother faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter after her umbrella got caught in her bike wheel, and her 18-month old son hit his head on the pavement when he fell to the street.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can ride a slightly used pro racing bike, or buy weed from a slightly used ex-yellow jersey winner.

And what’s the penalty for Scooting Under the Influence, anyway?

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Thanks to Hamid V for his generous donation to help support this site. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

And G’mar Tov to all our Jewish friends; may your fast be easy.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Update: Bike rider killed in early morning Torrance hit-and-run

September 17, 2018 / / One comment

Yet another person riding a bike has been murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver.

According to KTLA-5, police responded to a report of a crash involving a bicyclist in Torrance around 5 am today.

KCBS-2/KCAL-9 reports the victim wasn’t breathing when officers found him lying in the street at Hawthorne Boulevard and 227th Street. They attempted CPR, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

He has been identified only as an adult male.

Police are looking for a tan or light gold 2006 to 2009 Toyota 4-Runner with front-end damage and part of the bumper missing. A security camera may have captured video of the crash and could show the suspect vehicle.

No other information is available at this time.

A street view shows a two lane residential street controlled with a stop sign on 227th, while Hawthorne has four wide lanes in each direction with no traffic signals for several blocks, allowing drivers to go as fast as traffic will allow.

Which means he or she could have probably traveled as fast as he or she wanted at that hour.

Just to be clear, there is simply no excuse, ever, for hit-and-run.

Drivers who leave their victims to die in the street should face a charge of felony murder, because they made a conscious decision to let a human being die rather than make a simple call for help.

Maybe then this hit-and-run epidemic would finally stop.

This is at least the 34rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Update: KNBC-4 reports the victim, who still hasn’t been publicly identified, was a man in his 40s. 

They also say the speed limit on that stretch of Hawthorne is 45 mph. Chances are the driver was going faster. 

Update 2: The victim has been identified as 32-year old Jonathan Valbuena, who is described as being homeless. Which does not change tragedy or outrage in the slightest. 

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

Thanks to Brian McCarthy and Serena Grace for the heads-up.

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

September 17, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

New US Census estimates show fewer people are commuting by bicycle than in years past, while Los Angeles is stuck at a 0.9% bike mode share.

However, Census Bureau estimates have always been problematic, since they only include people who actually ride to to a job.

People who commute to school or other destinations aren’t counted in the census, and people who live in immigrant or lower income neighborhoods tend to be undercounted.

………

As if terrestrial drivers weren’t bad enough, now we have to worry about flying cars and their power lines.

Which brings up the question of whether the three-foot passing law applies to overhead, as well.

………

Local

LADOT summarizes the recent street improvement workshop for Winnetka Ave.

The LA Times reports that Bird has pockmarked Los Angeles with individual no fly zones where e-scooters are discouraged, if not prohibited.

CiclaValley discovers nice, smooth new pavement in Griffith Park.

 

State

San Diego police are looking for a pair of bat-wielding bike riders who attacked a man sitting on a bus bench, striking him in the head with a baseball bat before escaping on their bikes.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, has hired Hasan Ikhrata to be its next executive director; he’s leaving his post as head of the Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, after ten years.

San Jose drivers can’t seem to figure to the city’s new parking protected bike lane.

A Bay Area writer discusses his decision to go carfree ten years ago, with no regrets.

Sad news from San Francisco, where a bike rider was killed in a collision, just blocks from where advocates had formed a people-protected bike lane to call for safer streets. Note to drivers: No bike rider has ever “come out of nowhere.”

The US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis will induct four new members this year, including Jennie Reed (Modern Road & Track Competitor), Eric Rupe (Off-Road Competitor), Jerry Ash (Veteran Road & Track Competitor), and Richard DeGarmo (Contributor to the Sport).

 

National

NPR looks at the problem of counterfeit goods — in this case, fake Specialized bike helmets.

Utah bicyclists are warning that a new road design actually forces drivers into a bike lane.

This is how it should work. Two years after Denver installed a two-way bike lane along a busy roadway, it’s proven successful enough to expand to remove a lane of traffic to expand it another 1.5 miles along the street.

No bias here. A Wisconsin letter writer says streets are for cars, and drivers shouldn’t be impeded by bicyclists, joggers and dog walkers, because drivers are going places to do important things, while bike riders are “going nowhere, to do nothing.”

Chicago Cubs player Ben Zobrist is one of us, riding to Sunday’s game at Wrigley Field on his upright bike — wearing his uniform. So who says you have to wear special clothes to bike commute?

A 23-year old Michigan woman was arrested for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider on Saturday; she still had a BAC three times the legal limit hours after the crash. Her lawyer will undoubtedly argue that she only got drunk after the crash because she was so freaked out.

He gets it. Writing for the American Conservative, an Akron, Ohio planner looks at the problem of Baby Boomers aging in a car-dependent world. Although one solution would be to install protected bike lanes that would allow seniors to bike safely and conveniently, while improving their health.

People in Indianapolis IN are making a difference in the community by opening a bike shop. Although it sounds more like a bike co-op.

The Burrito Riders of Louisville takes to their bikes twice a month to feed the homeless in the Kentucky city.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. Someone has sabotaged a Massachusetts bike path with hundreds of thumb tacks.

A New York bike lawyer calls for a speed limit in bike lanes to combat speeding scooter riders.

A South Carolina letter writer makes the point that building bike lanes isn’t enough, cities have to maintain them, as well.

 

International

City Lab talks with Vancouver’s Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, authors of Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, who say bicycling is the key to healthier and more vibrant cities.

Road.cc offers money saving tips ranging from learning how to patch a tube to when to buy bikes and parts on sale. Unfortunately, we can’t use the first tip; British commuters can deduct 25% of the cost of a new bike and accessories, but the only small tax benefit for US bike commuters was lost in the recent tax reforms.

Nearing the end of a round-the-world bike tour, a woman sets off through Mexico on a search for a lost British Surrealist.

A group of Canadian mounties have set off on a ten-day, 621-mile ride to raise funds for kids.

A Canadian writer says he’s become completely and utterly addicted to bike commuting. Even after crashing into an illegally parked car.

A London letter-writer says bicyclists should be forced to wear license plates on their bike helmets. Sure. What could possibly go wrong with that? And what’s with the bizarre, yet common belief that police will track down scofflaw bike riders, when they don’t do that with drivers?

British drivers will now be required to give bike riders a nearly five foot passing distance, or pay the equivalent of a $130 fine.

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail says last week’s death of a pedestrian at the hands of an ebike rider could be just the first of many, calling ebikes “the silent killer on our streets.” Never mind that ebikes in the UK are limited to 15.5 mph, which is slower than the cruising speed of many non-powered road bike riders. Or that it’s entirely possible the rider wasn’t at fault.

They get it. France plans to triple the rate of transportation bicycling in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics through better bike infrastructure, financial incentives, and taking steps to fight bike theft.

A Delhi writer describes the daily humiliation faced by bike riders on the city’s streets, where they’re considered trespassers by drivers.

Tuesday marks the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It’s also a day many Israelis take to their bikes on streets empty of vehicular traffic.

Caught on video: After Emirates police post video of a speeding driver hitting a bike rider after cutting across several lanes of freeway traffic, the press blames the guy on the bike for just being there.

Police in the UAE have permanently seized 435 bicycles and motorcycles in a crackdown on scofflaw riders for violating basic traffic laws, as well as failing to wear helmets or hi-viz. Which is fine, as long as they also seize cars, trucks and SUV for the same violations.

We already knew Patrick Dempsey was one of us, as he discusses his life in front of the camera and on two wheels with a Kiwi news site.

A Canadian tourist goes bike riding in the land of Mickey Mao.

 

Competitive Cycling

Great Britain stakes its cycling supremacy with Simon Yates’ victory in the Vuelta; the country swept all three Grand Tours, thanks to Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France win and Chris Froome’s victory in the Giro.

Pro cyclist and gravel racing champ Allison Tetrick walked away from a career in molecular biology to compete on her bike.

Great story from Bicycling about Jim Nelson, who won an age group BMX national championship just days after his last chemo treatment for stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Two cyclists were disqualified at the end of a 206-mile race through Utah and Wyoming for taking selfies at the finish line; a third was DQ’d for flipping it off.

There’s a new women’s hour record, courtesy of Italian rider Vittoria Bussi.

Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest woman — no, make that human — on earth, after setting a new record for a human-powered vehicle at 183.93 mph, beating the old record by over 16 mph.

 

Finally…

It takes a rare candidate to unite weed users, bike riders and sex workers against her. Get that healthy nuclear glow on your next ride.

And don’t take someone else’s parking space in Texas.

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Thanks to John H and Tom S for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way every day. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Morning Links: Long list of bike events, a moving tale of a cross-country rider, and what the hell is Metro on?

September 14, 2018 / / 2 comments

We’ve got a long list of bike events to catch up on.

Explore the new MyFigueroa Complete Streets project this afternoon with the Bike on Fig Ride, hosted by BikeSafe USC and MyFigueroa.

Metro’s Bicycle Education Safety Training (BEST) Program is teaming with People for Mobility Justice and the Ride On! bike co-op to host the People Street Bike Rodeo in Leimert Park starting at 6 pm tonight.

Culver City, Go Human and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) are sponsoring Experience Elenda on Elenda Street in Culver City tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, BikeSGV and Metro BEST are holding the Sriracha Slow Roll through Duarte and Irwindale to the famed Sriracha factory, riding along a little-known off-road greenway.

Party for a good cause tomorrow night at the Pure Cycles HQ in Burbank, benefitting the Pablove Foundation to fight childhood cancer.

Metro is hosting the Pride of the Valley open streets event in Baldwin Park and Irwindale from 9 am to 2 pm this Sunday.

The LACBC and the Metro Best Program are hosting the BEST Ride: Forgotten History of Venice this Sunday.

Beverly Hills is hosting the formal dedication and ribbon cutting for the reconstructed Santa Monica Blvd at 1:30 pm this Monday, including the new green bike lanes. Maybe it’s also time to formally retire their designation as the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.

Go Human is sponsoring Connecting Chino on September 22nd to demonstrate temporary street improvements around the Chino Community Building.

Go Human and City of San Jacinto are sponsoring Envision San Jacinto on the 29th.

Wrapping up our events for this month, CicLAvia celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic with the massive Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia from DTLA to Hollywood. Which will also feature the first ever public appearance of the Militant Angeleno as he leads his first epic CicLAvia Tour.

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Today The Beauty of Cycling lives up to its name.

In a beautifully moving piece from Peter Flax, an Illinois college student describes his ride across the US, just 17 months after he barely survived what could have been a fatal car crash.

Seriously, if you can make it through this piece without tears in your eyes, you’re a stronger person than I am.

………

The San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of stories about bike tourism on Thursday, including —

Speaking of bike tourism, my brother is nearing the end of the first week of what has so far been a soggy ride through the Pacific Northwest, forwarding these photos from the Washington coast.

He also notes that on just the second day of his ride, a total stranger insisted on giving him $20 to buy lunch.

Another reminder that there’s real kindness in this world, if we stop arguing long enough to let it surface.

………

Someone needs to find out who is slipping acid into the water coolers in Metro’s marketing department.

And mind your manners with your bike, or get banished to a distant planet.

………

Local

Fast Company gets the story half right, saying Los Angeles is making a massive push towards zero emissions transportation, calling for 45% of cars and trucks to be electric within ten years. On the other hand, the city is backing away from its commitment to safer streets for bikes, ebikes, scooters and other forms of personal zero emissions vehicles.

LADOT has opened the semi-annual window to apply for speed humps. Which should be installed on every street until LA drivers learn how to take their foot off the gas pedal.

 

State

Governor Brown has signed an executive order requiring California to be carbon neutral by 2045, a goal the state is unlikely to meet without a dramatic drop in driving.

The San Francisco Business Journal says Prop 6, which would reverse California’s new gas tax, is a road back to the past that shouldn’t be taken.

E-scooters and app-based dockless bikeshare are behind San Diego’s plan to create a new Mobility Board focused on improving safety and re-thinking road and sidewalk designs

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 78-year old retired physician still rides 100 miles a week around his Carlsbad neighborhood. After which he returns his bike to his garage where he keeps his other 21 bicycles — down from the 50 he used to own.

Nice story from La Quinta, where police officers and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies pitched in to buy a new bike for a 6th grade girl after hers was stolen. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Nearly 100 bike riders opened the new on-road Peninsula Bikeway, providing a connection between Redwood City and Mountain View.

Streetsblog says San Francisco may be hosting the Global Climate Action Summit, but the city falls short on bicycling, walking and transit policies.

Bay Area bike riders call for change after the arrest of Rich City Rides founder Najari Smith for Biking While Black; black bike riders are six times more likely to be ticketed than white riders in Oakland.

 

National

The US House has passed the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which would provide every fourth grader with a free pass to enter US public lands by foot or bike, accompanied by up to three adults.

Reno warns drivers to watch out for more bikes on the road as Interbike comes to town.

This is who we share the roads with. After nearly running a bicyclist off the road, a Washington driver says he was taught that bike riders were supposed to yield to people in cars, and have an obligation to get the hell out of his way.

Wired considers what they call the “exquisite, intricate insanity” of Denise Mueller-Korenek’s attempt to set a new two-wheeled human-propelled speed record this weekend at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

A Minneapolis columnist wonders where bikes fit into the city’s updated transportation plan, while a city councilmember looks to the Netherlands for inspiration.

A Philadelphia trash company has settled with the family of a fallen bike rider for $6 million, as well as an agreement to improve driver training and fund local traffic safety organizations.

Evidently, they take traffic crime seriously in Louisiana, as a New Orleans driver gets 20 years for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider.

 

International

The United Nations is struggling to come up with crash avoidance strategies to keep autonomous cars from running over bicyclists.

Bike Radar offers a lucky 13 reasons to be a roadie.

Toronto bicyclists want to know why nothing has been done to fix death traps on the city’s west side.

A British writer tests Brompton’s new folding ebike, with an engine developed by an F1 team, to see if it’s worth the $4,000 price tag.

A team from Britain’s University of Liverpool has set new handcycle land speed records for both men and women, topping out at 51.86 and 41.86 mph, respectively.

After surviving a brutal hit-and-run, a bike rider says drivers in the UK show little respect for people on bicycles. Kind of like drivers everywhere else.

An Irish driver pens a letter to bike riders, insisting he doesn’t want to kill anyone, but if he does, it will be their fault for not wearing hi-viz and putting lights on their bikes. He’s right about the lights, but you shouldn’t have to dress like a clown just to ride a bike. You have an obligation to be seeable, while drivers have an obligation to see you.

A town in the Netherlands has opened a new 100-foot long bike path made of recycle plastic.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italy’s Fabio Aru apologized to famed bikemaker Ernesto Colnago for his comments after crashing when the derailleur locked up on his bike during the Vuelta; cameras picked him up yelling “cazzo di bici!”, which translates to “shit bike.”

Phillippe Gilbert unexpectedly returns to racing, two months after finishing a stage in the Tour de France with a broken kneecap.

Pro surfing is now offering equal prize money for men and women, but pro cycling has a long way to go, despite a few bright spots.

Former world track cycling champ Kristina Vogel says she’s ready to start her new life as a paraplegic after she was paralyzed in a training crash earlier this year; she hasn’t heard from the Dutch rider she collided with or the country’s cycling federation.

 

Finally…

This is what it looks like when 500 cyclists hit the wall. And if Google’s founder had his way, you could have been shot through a 35-mile tube at high speed, propelled from behind by a mixture of helium and oxygen.

Um, I don’t think so.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

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

Morning Links: Triathlete runs months after chainsaw attack, app-based bike lockers, and entitled drivers

September 13, 2018 / / One comment

Need a little inspiration?

Then stop whatever you’re doing, and read this story about South African triathlete Mhlengi Gwala, who was back running just four months after attackers nearly cut off one of his legs with a chainsaw.

And who somehow found the courage to forgive them.

Photo by Gratisography from Pexels.com

………

Yesterday we discussed the problem of bike thefts at Metro station bike corrals, and how Jonathan Weiss was pushing for short-term rental bike lockers to help solve the problem.

Like this rapidly growing Irish company that can provide an app-based bike locker system that fits twelve lockers in the space required for a single parking spot.

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Talk about not getting it. This is what a candidate for mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia had to say about the city’s bike lane network.

Twitter post

Never mind that many older people are able to ride bikes, and often use them for mobility after losing the ability to drive safely.

And countless moms, single and otherwise, take advantage to the health benefits of bicycling to ride with their kids.

………

These are the people who share the roads with. After all, why let a little thing like traffic cones get in your way?

Credit CiclaValley with this one.

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Local

LADOT will begin work on repairing the LA River Bike Path between Fletcher Drive and Barclay Street later this month; one side of the bike path will remain open while the work is underway.

 

State

Good piece from the Orange County Register’s David Whiting, who carefully considers both sides of the debate over whether to allow ebikes on mountain bike trails.

A San Diego lawyer crunches the numbers, and concludes three of the city’s four most dangerous intersections are in the Point Loma neighborhood.

San Diego considers dissolving the city’s Bicycle Advisory Board, along with the Parking Advisory Board, and replacing them with a new city mobility board to take a holistic approach to transportation.

Representatives from the Netherlands discuss policies for sustainable transportation at San Francisco’s Global Climate Action Summit. Needless to say, bicycles are a key part of the discussion.

In a case that doesn’t make sense, a San Francisco bicyclist was arrested for attempting to drag a passenger out of a car and steal her purse after he was doored. It seems far more likely that he was angry about being doored and tried to pull the woman out to confront her, and either inadvertently grabbed her purse, or tried to see her ID. Either way, he was in the wrong the moment he took the law into his own hands.

 

National

Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter reminds us that bikes are climate action.

Bikes also a tool for good, as a pair of riders are crossing the US to raise $1 million in cryptocurrency funds to support a Houston women’s shelter.

The Interbike trade show kicks off in Reno with a consumer festival this Saturday.

Pink Bike offers a complete guide to riding in Tucson.

Speaking of Tucson, ’84 Olympic medalist Nelson Vails will be honored at this year’s Tour of Tucson; the 58-year old silver medal winner overcame a bout with high blood pressure and congestive heart failure earlier this year.

A Tampa woman books her family on a week-long Montana bike tour with nonprofit Adventure Cycling Association. But forgets to read the fine print about a singletrack trail through bear country.

Fargo, North Dakota proposes quadrupling fines for some bike traffic violations — from $5 to a whopping twenty bucks.

A six-foot tall white bike sculpture has been installed in Michigan to honor the five bike-riding victims of the Kalamazoo massacre, who were allegedly murdered by an allegedly stoned driver;

A new parking protected bike lane in Boston is confusing drivers and bike riders due to a lack of signage saying who should go where.

The mother of an Australian tourist killed while riding a bike in New York called the city’s district attorney a coward for failing to file charges in the case; she was run down by a garbage truck after swerving to avoid a driver who cut into the bike lane she was riding in.

New Jersey police crack down on swerving, in which teenage bicyclists swerve in front of traffic while performing stunts.

The Virginia woman who infuriated some and became a hero to others by flipping off Donald Trump as his motorcade past her bicycle announced she’s running for her county board of supervisors.

 

International

A new documentary follows a 29-year old Canadian woman with MS as she rides 434 miles through California to get to a 143-mile ride to benefit an MS charity; she credits bicycling with helping her control her symptoms. Forget pro cyclists. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the people like this, and the South African triathlete above, that overcome genuine adversity who are the real bike heroes.

An Edmonton letter writer says a dawdling bike rider in a dedicated bike lane slows his drive because it means one less lane for traffic. And somehow, his solution to that is charge bike riders an annual licensing fee.

Icelanders come to the aid of a woman who was injured after the slipstream from a passing truck blew her off her bicycle. Which is why large vehicles need to give a greater passing distance when traveling at speed. As anyone who has ever been caught in a slipstream can attest.

Sad news from London, where a woman died two weeks after a collision with a man on a ped-assist ebike; the rider was booked on a charge of “injuring persons by furious driving” after turning himself in the next day. The news stories note this is the first time someone in the UK has been killed by an ebike; however, ebike speeds in the UK are capped at 15.5 mph, which is far slower than many roadies travel. And hardly “furious.”

Once again, bike riders are heroes, as three British men chased a man who terrorized bank customers with a machete and a can of gas.

Brit bicyclists and commuters are being terrorized by a band of dockless bikeshare-riding bandits.

Joe Seaward, drummer for the English rock band Glass Animals, says he’s lucky to be alive as he recovers from a serious head injury after he was hit a truck while bicycling in Dublin earlier this year. And that trucks are hard. Scroll down for the story. No, further.

Apparently, Belfast isn’t willing to commit to its annual ciclovía, closing the streets for just two and a half hours on a Sunday morning. 

Dutch bike blogger David Hembrow writes that a recent European study shows ebikes do nothing to improve health. However, that contradicts the findings of a number of other studies, which have concluded that riding a ped-assist ebike offers significant health benefits.

A new study looks at who bikes in Israel on Yom Kippur, when the streets are otherwise empty. And finds only 7% of adult Jews bike on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, compared to 40% on a normal weekday — but nearly half of the country’s children do. Maybe they have less to atone for.

 

Competitive Cycling

ESPN talks with Houston native Lawson Craddock about how he turned a last place finish in the Tour de France into a win.

VeloNews says it was fun while it lasted, and BMC cyclists can leave with their heads held high after the team folds at the end of this season.

Nice piece from Peloton Magazine about two-time Tour de France champ Ottavio Bottecchia, who died after falling on a training ride — whether from illness or an attack — in 1927.

 

Finally…

Apparently, even bomb-sniffing dogs can have a windshield bias. When you just accidentally end up riding around the world.

And security cam video catches a Mustang hitting a bicyclist.

No, literally.

https://twitter.com/Agha_Zadeh/status/1039971451036741632

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the link.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,
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