Morning Links: A prediction LA’s Vision Zero will fail, and CicLAvia comes to Glendale and Atwater Village

June 9, 2017 / / One comment

A writer for City Lab cites his 50 years of experience with the LAPD’s Traffic Safety Field for his belief that Vision Zero will fail in Los Angeles.

He blames the poor driving habits and rule violations of the city’s drivers, as well as LADOTs inability to transform the streets on their limited budget.

Both of which are legitimate, if not insurmountable, obstacles.

The whole point of Vision Zero is to recognize that drivers are human, and will make mistakes. Streets need to be designed in ways that keep those mistakes from turning into catastrophes. Which LADOT certainly knows how to do, if our city leaders will actually let them.

But we agree on one thing, at least.

The $24 million currently budgeted for Vision Zero is just a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions that will be required make a serious dent in traffic deaths, let alone end them by 2025, as the mayor’s plan calls for.

Unless the leaders of this city gets serious about funding the program, it will fail. Spectacularly.

And the blood that results from that failure will be on their hands.

………

The long, cold winter of our discontent is finally drawing to a close.

Or spring, anyway.

Because the year’s second CicLAvia — and the first in Glendale and Atwater Village — is here.

The Eastsider looks at CicLAvia from the Atwater perspective, while Parksify considers how it can change the way we think about street design.

CicLAvia offers an interactive route map, along with a list of specials along the way.

And you can’t truly get the most out of CicLAvia without committing the Militant Angeleno’s epic guide to memory. Or your smartphone, anyway.

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Local

The LA city council has approved plans to reduce vehicular traffic and congestion at LAX, including improvements to increase bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

A new hotel-centric plan for Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station reduces the planned bike center by a whopping 4,000 square feet, from 4,600 to just 600. Which is not exactly the way to encourage people to leave their cars at home.

Burbank gives approval to a massive new development after getting a number of concessions from the builder, including $50,000 for an elevated bike lane on 1st Street.

A new report calls for LA County’s southeast cities — Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park and Maywood — to invest Measure M return funds to make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.

A Long Beach resident writes a semi-literate letter saying the city is pampering bicyclists with all those road diets and bike lanes, and shouldn’t build anymore until bike riders obey the law. Oh, and drivers need to obey the law, too.

 

State

A mom and pop Auburn bike shop fixes a young man’s bike for free at the request of their firefighter son after it was damaged in a crash, and tosses in a free helmet and lights, when they learn it was his only form of transportation.

Emeryville police are on the lookout for a bike-riding arsonist who allegedly burned down a $35 million complex under construction in the city. And not for the first time.

Davis unveils new wayfinding signs for bicyclists and pedestrians.

 

National

Over 300 people rode their bikes in honor of the victims of last year’s Kalamazoo massacre.

More information on the Indiana bike rage case we linked to yesterday; a women says a male bicyclist broke the mirror of her car after getting angry over her driving, then physically attacked her when she stopped to examine the damage.

A writer for the Daily News says New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare system has stopped growing, and points the finger at the city’s mayor.

After a New Jersey teenager steals a bicycle to get to school on time, the local police suggest setting your alarm, and putting out your clothes and packing a lunch the night before to avoid running late. No, really.

Riders in the New Orleans edition of the World Naked Bike Ride will avoid Bourbon Street this year, after people couldn’t keep their hands and comments to themselves on last year’s ride.

The South Carolina teacher who raised enough money to buy every kid in her school a new bike has quit her job, after deciding her true calling is to raise enough money to buy one for every kid in the county school district.

Apparently, running a stop sign and killing a ten-year old girl riding her bike to school is no big deal in Florida.

 

International

So much for the Hippocratic Oath. A Good Samaritan ran inside for help following a collision directly in front of a British hospital, only to be told they couldn’t spare anyone to save the life of a dying bike rider.

Bicyclists in a British town are threatened with possible jail sentences for running red lights, after a bike rider receives a four-figure fine for knocking down a 90-year old woman when he blew through a light. Maybe they should move to Florida, where that doesn’t seem to matter.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a careless driver walks without a single day behind bars for killing a 67-year old man riding his bike.

A member of India’s parliament was arrested for circumventing police barricades by bicycle and on foot in a failed attempt to reach the site of a fatal police shooting during a protest. Yet all a government minister can do is criticize him for not wearing a helmet.

 

Finally…

Who gets the ticket if you’re brake-checked by a self-driving car? If you’re going to shoot someone with a flare gun loaded with Rice Krispies, a bicycle makes a great getaway vehicle.

And you’re not truly a hipster until you have your own wooden e-dandy horse.

 

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

Morning Links: Angry drivers and bikelash in Playa del Mar, sinkhole on Angeles Crest, and Bike Life in DTLA

June 8, 2017 / / 2 comments

A little bikelash and road diet rage were to be expected.

This is LA, after all.

Which is why it should come as no surprise that drivers are angry they can no longer speed on deadly Vista del Mar, or use the beachfront street as a virtual highway on their cut-through commutes from South Bay cities.

Streetsblog examines Monday’s angry backlash over the changes designed to slow speeds and improve bike and pedestrian safety in Playa del Rey — including one bighearted person who shouted that people killed crossing the deadly street had it coming.

Just in case you wondered what kind of person would oppose desperately needed traffic safety improvements.

After all, who really cares about saving the lives of a few total strangers if it means your commute gets a few minutes longer? Although one person says traffic on his Vista del Mar commute is actually lighter than usual.

Once again, there are dueling petitions both opposing and supporting the changes. And once again, the nays are winning in a landslide.

Meanwhile, The Argonaut considers the resistance of some drivers to the road diet and bike lanes just completed on Venice Blvd in Mar Vista, where over 48 bicyclists and pedestrians have been injured since 2011.

Including one truly bizarre statement that it took someone 45 minutes to drive the half mile from Beethoven to Centinela. Which would only seem possible if s/he stopped for coffee and donuts along the way. And had to wait while they made them.

Because really, why wait a few weeks to see if the changes will actually work when you can just demand they rip ‘em out before the paint is even dry?

And yet people wonder why it’s so hard to change anything in LA.

………

If you were planning to ride Angeles Crest this weekend, start making other plans. Caltrans reports the highway is closed until further notice between Grassy Hollow and SR-39 due to a sinkhole in the roadway. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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Since you can’t ride Angeles Crest, head over to Grand Park this Saturday for a one-hour beer and taco-free gathering of the LA bicycling community.

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Once again, a cyclist competing in an open course time trial has been killed in a collision with a motor vehicle; this time the victim was a 69-year old man in the UK.

More bad news, as a French cyclist was killed in a car crash, and another injured, shortly after taking first and third in a criterium last Thursday; both riders were veterans of the popular Red Hook Crit series.

The New York Times looks at the rise of Columbian cyclists, saying some compete for their county, and some in spite of it.

The Des Moines Register profiles a competitor in next week’s RAAM, saying don’t call her Wonder Woman.

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Local

LA Times columnist Robin Abcarian celebrates how a chain reaction hit-and-run crash brought an unlikely group of Angelenos together. And a bike rider walked away thanks to the falling skills he learned riding a skateboard.

Helen’s Cycles will host their monthly mountain bike ride this Saturday.

Also on Saturday, learn how to advocate for Complete Streets at The Tripping Point, a free conference sponsored by Investing in Place, AARP California, Los Angeles Aging Advocacy Coalition, Los Angeles Walks, Pacoima Beautiful and Tree People.

 

State

Anticipating an increase in funding, the California Active Transportation Program is looking for shovel-ready bike and pedestrian projects. Like LA’s North Figueroa and Lankershim Blvd road diets, and the bike lanes on Westwood Blvd, for instance. Oh, wait.

Newport Beach police will be focusing on bike and pedestrian safety enforcement this month, with extra officers on duty June 14th and 26th. You know the drill; ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

Riverside will host the Santa Ana River Trail Bike Ride & Festival this Sunday.

The Pleasanton city council votes unanimously to adopt a new bicycle and pedestrian master plan.

San Mateo plans to double the size of its bikeshare program, the only one in the Bay Area not part of Ford’s 7,000 bike system.

 

National

NACTO is sponsoring a year-long initiative to identify problems that “slow the implementation of transformative transportation projects in cities across the country.” I can save them the trouble: blame NIMBYs who value parking spaces and faster commutes over lives and livability.

Streetsblog says algorithms to improve dangerous intersections are great, but we already know what needs to be done to improve safety.

A new study shows even regular coffee drinkers can get a performance boost from caffeine.

Not surprisingly, Oregon bike retailers are trying to stop plans for a tax on bicycles over $500.

An online travel service ranks Denver the tenth most bike-friendly city for tourists. Not surprisingly, Minneapolis ranks number one; more surprising is Los Angeles getting a nod on the Most Improved list.

Texas finally gets around to banning texting while driving, six years after then governor and now US Energy Secretary Rick Perry vetoed it.

Kindhearted Arkansas cops take the time to help a kid fix his bike.

Life is cheap in Illinois, where a driver charged with reckless homicide in the death of a 16-year old bike rider walks with nothing but probation following a plea deal. Seriously, whoever agreed to this should be ashamed.

After a Chicago boy’s bike was stolen while he was at work, his friends mowed lawns, did chores and donated their allowances to buy him a new one.

Michigan Live offers a complete wrap-up of their extensive coverage of the one-year anniversary of the drug-fueled Kalamazoo massacre.

Indiana police are looking for a road-raging bike rider, though they won’t say what happened or why.

Baltimore’s mayor pledges to look into charges from some residents that bike lanes would make some streets too narrow for fire equipment. Even though parking spaces already do.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers 15 reasons why you should ride your bike this summer. Or maybe ten, they’re not really sure.

A London advocacy group calls on the city to modify safety barriers that have been placed in bike lanes on three of the city’s bridges.

A Scottish newspaper says the silence was deafening during a minute of quiet to protest the death of a young woman on her bike.

A new Dublin study shows enormous health benefits to bicycling, while noting that the risk to male riders between 20 to 29 increases with every mile, and may outweigh the benefits for some.

Coke is turning to e-cargo bikes to make deliveries. In the Netherlands, naturally.

A cyclist on a French river cruise takes a bicycling tour of the historic city of Rouen, where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.

An Aussie judge calls a driver a moronic bogan — the rough equivalent of trailer trash in the US — after the man pled guilty to beating and demanding an apology from the bike rider he’d just crashed into. But still let him off with just a fine.

 

Finally…

Training bike cops for the coming zombie apocalypse. If you really want to encourage bike commuting, free donuts and bacon should do the trick.

And nothing like a phalanx of school kids on unicycles unexpectedly rolling past your window.

Twitter post

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

Update: Man killed in San Jacinto bicycling collision; no details available

June 7, 2017 / / 2 comments

A man has been killed riding his bike in San Jacinto, with few details available at this time.

According to the Press-Enterprise, the man was hit by a vehicle around 9:30 last night at the intersection of San Jacinto Avenue and Shaver Street.

He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:36 this morning, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s office.

He has not yet been identified as of this writing.

No other information is available. However, it appears the driver may have remained at the scene, since a sheriff’s official reports it’s unknown if drugs or alcohol were involved.

A street view shows a T-intersection with a four lane highway on San Jacinto Avenue, with a dirt shoulder on one side and a sidewalk on the other, and a two lane street on Shaver.

It’s yet another tragic reminder to always carry ID when you ride.

This is the 25th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in Riverside County.

Update: The Valley News reports the victim was hit when he was traveling west across San Jacinto, and was hit by the driver of a northbound Toyota Camry, then again by the driver of a pickup as he was laying on the ground. 

The paper notes the dark roadway has been the scene of several recent major and fatal collisions. Which could make the city responsible for failing to correct the situation.

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

 

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

Morning Links: Bike Index partners with VerifiR embedded chip maker; theft victim buys his own bike back

June 7, 2017 / / 6 comments

Let’s digress for a moment.

Although whether you can digress before you start might be questionable.

Veterinarians and animal rescue groups have long recommended having a small microchip embedded under the skin of your pet to identify it if it ever gets lost of stolen.

And there’s no shortage of stories about dogs and cats who’ve found their way back home after months, or even years, when a simple scan by a vet or shelter revealed where they belonged.

The Corgi has one.

As a rescue, she came with a chip in her shoulder, courtesy of her original owners. As well as one on her shoulder, after being unceremoniously booted from the only home she’d ever known.

Now your bike can have one, too.

Because Bike Index announced yesterday that they are partnering with VerifiR to add an extra level of security to their free bike registration program.

According to their press release,

VerifiR’s groundbreaking security tags let anyone with a smart phone quickly ‘scan’ a bike to check origin and verify ownership. Once molded into a bike’s frame or concealed under paint during manufacture, VerifiR’s technology is nearly impossible to remove or deface and much easier to scan than a traditional bicycle serial number.

Bike Index – the world’s largest and most successful bike registration and recovery system – will add VerifiR-protected bikes into its database of over 115,000 bicycles when the purchaser of a participating brand registers the bike through a scan. Stolen bikes embedded with VerifiR tags will also cross-list into the Bike Index upon theft, making the bike’s information immediately available to the thousands of partners who identify and recover stolen bikes every day.

Which means that your next bike could come with a VerifiR tag embedded in it. Or maybe you already have one, if you’ve purchased a new bike recently.

And you can add that information to any new or existing Bike Index registration to help ensure that your bike, like a lost puppy, can find its way back home.

Now let’s hope they’ll develop an aftermarket tag we can all add to our current bikes.

Full disclosure: While this site hosts the Bike Index bike registration and stolen bike reports, as well as a listing of bikes reported stolen in the LA area, neither it or its operators receive any form of compensation from Bike Index. Bicycle registration and reporting is offered as a free service to BikinginLA readers because we effing hate bike thieves, and look forward to the day when they have to find another line of work.

………

Speaking of Bike Index, I was forwarded this good news/bad news online posting.

Good news, because they helped the owner get his bike back. Bad news, because the owner couldn’t get the time of day from the LAPD.

And frankly, we all deserve better than that.*

(Note: I’ve remove the name of the person who posted this since I haven’t been able to contact him.)

*Pro tip: When you report a stolen bike, include the value of everything you’ve added to it, including wheels, tires, racks, locks or bike computers. The higher the value, the more likely the police are to take it seriously — especially if the total exceeds the $1,000 threshold for felony theft.

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A new book remembers British cyclist Tom Simpson, who died on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France.

Love strikes out, as the Belgian cyclist who asked his dream date out by writing it on his chest at the start of this year’s Giro d’Italia time trial ends up in the dreaded friend zone.

A nationally ranked junior cyclist from Philadelphia is fighting back after surviving a rare form of bone cancer, discovered when he walked with a limp after finishing 18th at last year’s junior nationals.

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Local

KNBC-4 looks forward to this Sunday’s Glendale Meets Atwater Village CicLAvia. But it wouldn’t be a CicLAvia without the Militant’s guide.

If there’s more pressure on Long Beach bike thieves these days, it’s because they stole a city councilwoman’s bike.

A Long Beach letter writer says forget the bollards, because she seldom sees anyone using the green bike lanes they protect. Which is kind of like saying stop building sidewalks because there’s no one walking on them when you drive by.

 

State

A California bike rider waiting for X-rays describes being harassed and chased by a driver, while the driver ends up getting arrested.

A 69-year old Laguna Woods resident rode across the US this spring as part of a group ride, because he finds it relaxing. Bicycling has always been a form of moving meditation for me. Except when bad drivers intrude.

Santa Ana’s Bicycle Tree bike co-op will reopen in a new location this weekend.

Santa Barbara bicyclists can look forward to smoother riding in a couple weeks.

A San Francisco reporter says no, bikes aren’t express lanes for drivers trying to get around backed-up traffic — even if you’re driving a bus.

San Francisco approves parking protected bike lanes on upper Market Street.

Sad news from Siskiyou County, where a 61-year old woman died after she lost control of her bike on a descent and crashed into a tree.

 

National

Mobility Lab says businesses can’t afford to ignore customers on two wheels.

Curbed writes that ebikes could be the key to getting drivers out of their cars.

Streetsblog suggests male cyclists need to stop the “macho nonsense” directed at female riders.

Plan your vacation around where to ride through this summer’s total solar eclipse. And no, we won’t see it here in LA, dammit.

Bicycling offers quotes about cycling they think every rider should know. Although there’s a lot more where that came from.

For the second time this week, a woman riding a bike in Chicago’s South Loop district has been attacked by someone trying to steal her bag.

A memorial mass and ride will be held today to honor the victims of the Kalamazoo crash, a year after an alleged drugged driver killed five cyclists and injured four others. The woman who led that ride says she can’t let evil take her joy away.

Five Cleveland bike riders were injured when they were struck by a car this past weekend; the driver was arrested on the scene for aggravated vehicular assault and operating a vehicle under the influence.

A Boston survey says there are racial and cultural differences in how people see bikeways that should be taken into account in designing them.

A Connecticut town threatens to confiscate the bikes of scofflaw middle school students who have been terrorizing — or perhaps just infuriating — the populace.

 

International

An Op-Ed in the Toronto paper says unlike other disasters, traffic deaths have become normalized, with grave consequences.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour candidate for British prime minister in this week’s election, says owning more than one bicycle is extravagant.

Once again, a bike rider is hero. A London doctor was riding his bike home from work when he saw emergency vehicles rushing towards London Bridge, so he turned around and rode back to the Royal London Hospital, where he operated through the night trying to save 12 victims.

Statistically speaking, Britain’s roads are as safe today as they were a decade ago, despite a 23% increase in miles traveled by bicycle.

A writer for the Guardian says there’s something to be said for taking your time riding around the world.

 

Finally…

If you’re riding with coke and a concealed gun on your bike, stay off the damn sidewalk, and don’t make any illegal turns. Nothing like stealing own daughter’s bicycle, then recording her frantic search for it.

And was he blocked because he criticized the president, or because he rides a bike?

 

Category: Morning Links, Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: New bike lanes coming to South LA, and lawyer gets sidewalk riding law wrong, at least in CA

June 6, 2017 / / 2 comments

Los Angeles continues to rediscover — or maybe just discover, as in for the first time — that there’s life south of the 10 Freeway.

After years of not-so-benign neglect of the city’s Southside, it’s become a focus of LA’s Vision Zero efforts.

And now LADOT has submitted plans four road diets and bike lanes on four major north-south streets in South LA.

………

Maybe the law’s different in Colorado.

A lawyer answers the question of who’s at fault when a driver pulls out of a driveway and hits a bike rider on the sidewalk, saying the rider could share some of the blame for a) riding on the sidewalk, and b) riding against traffic.

Except here in California, it’s legal to ride on the sidewalk in many cities, though seldom advised. And sidewalks are bi-directional; bicyclists aren’t required to ride with traffic anymore than people are expected to walk that way.

Despite a misguided and very outdated opinion by the then-state attorney general.

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Bicycling considers the crazy things that happen to a cyclist’s body while competing in the Race Across America. I remember one of the early RAAM competitor warning his crew about the dinosaurs along the roadway in Missouri.

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Local

The Eastsider looks at the new and improved Spoke Bicycle Café in Frogtown.

If Sunday’s CicLAvia is too tame for you, Helen’s Cycling is hosting a women-only mountain bike ride the same day.

The West Covina city council will consider the city’s possible participation in the San Gabriel Valley Greenway Network tomorrow.

Police stats show bike theft is down in Long Beach, but that may not really be the case.

The Long Beach Bikes bikeshare is offering free ride time for Friday’s Moonlight Mash Long Beach Mad Max Ride.

 

State

A curmudgeonly San Diego sports columnist has taken to calling Kevin Faulconer the city’s Bicycle Mayor. Funny thing is, he seems to think it’s an insult.

The Fish and Wildlife Department is kicking mountain bikers off trails near Carlsbad, where riding was apparently always illegal but no one knew it.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition prepares for the next round in the fight for parking-protected bike lanes in the SoMa district.

 

National

Things could get a little safer on the streets, as Apple introduces a “do not disturb while driving” setting for the iPhone. But probably not a lot, since its use is voluntary.

Boing Boing offers a video look at how bicycles boosted the women’s rights movement. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

A new Kickstarter project promises to turn any bicycle into a cargo bike, complete with removable two-wheeled trolley.

It slowly dawned on a Seattle writer that he’s been riding less after moving to a part of town with less safe bike infrastructure. Something I can relate to after moving to Hollywood.

Now you’ll be able to ride at least a portion of the infamous Trail of Tears as it follows through Arkansas, tracing the steps of the Cherokee Nation on their forced march to Oklahoma.

A year after five bike riders were killed by an alleged drugged driver in Kalamazoo MI, his trial is still at least three months off. The family of one of the Kalamazoo victims says life is uncertain, so enjoy the ride.

Baltimore’s mayor scratches plans for a protected bike lane as it was being built, settling for a narrow two-way door zone bikeway to appease local NIMBYs.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 70-year old Florida man is tackling the 2,745-mile Tour Divide down the full length of the Rockies; it’s his third attempt after failing when he was 63, and succeeding four years later.

 

International

You’ve got to be kidding. A Canadian coroner blames a bike rider’s death on not wearing a helmet. Never mind that she wouldn’t have needed one if a massive truck hadn’t made an illegal right hook directly into her.

Canada’s automobile association says the cost of treating bike injuries is probably going up there, too. But they don’t really know.

Toronto bicyclists complain the city is spending too much money on building out the easy parts of the city’s new bike plan, rather than the ones that would make riders safe.

Speaking of Toronto, 75% of city residents support what had been a controversial protected bike lane, and want it to be made permanent.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a cab driver was fined the equivalent of $387 for allowing a passenger to fatally door a bike rider, plus another $845 in fines. Which he can pay off in low installments of less than $26 a week.

Not surprisingly, new security barriers installed in bike lanes to protect pedestrians on London bridges may increase the risk for bike riders.

No, Taiwan’s Giant bike maker is not being purchased by a Chinese bikeshare company.

 

Finally…

Not only we do we pay way, but bikes can help keep the tax rate down, too.

And seriously, don’t be that guy.

Just don’t.

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Killer road rage driver cops plea for up to 12 years, and the war on bikes goes on. And on…

June 5, 2017 / / 5 comments

Maybe they’ll get it right this time.

In a case that horrified LA’s cycling community, a Los Angeles man could spend the next 12 years behind bars for the 2015 road rage murder of a man on a bike following an argument near USC.

According to KTLA-5, 33-year old Andrew Williams pled no contest on Friday to felony voluntary manslaughter and felony hit-and-run driving resulting in death for intentionally running down 35-year old Ruben Wharton Vanegas.

The District Attorney’s office finally explained what happened in a case where very few details were released at the time.

On Oct. 15, 2015, Williams was driving his SUV in the 3900 block of South Vermont Avenue when he came across Ruben Wharton Vanegas, 35, who was on a bicycle, the prosecutor said.

The two men got into an argument over the cyclist being on the road and after exchanging words, Vanegas hit the defendant’s side view mirror and rode in front of the vehicle, according to court testimony. Williams then ran over the victim and dragged him for about 50 feet, the prosecutor added. Vanegas died at the scene.

Sentencing will take place on the 20th of this month.

Too many killer drivers get off with little or no significant jail time in LA County. Let’s hope that changes in a case where the driver clearly murdered his victim.

………

The war cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.

A Northern Irish bike rider was lucky to walk away after someone sabotaged a Belfast bikeshare bike by loosening the lug holding the front wheel in place.

A nine-year old Aussie boy was nearly decapitated when someone strung a rope across a pathway at neck level.

Horrifying story from Australia, where a driver deliberately mowed down a man on his bike, and shouted at him to get out of the road before driving away and critically injuring a pedestrian in a second crash. He later told police saying he only intended to knock the man off his bike, not hurt him, while claiming the pedestrian he hit was the devil.

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Thanks to Tim Rutt for forwarding this really cool collection of antique bicycle headbadges.

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The seven-stage Critérium du Dauphiné opened Sunday, serving largely as a tune-up for next month’s Tour de France; Napa’s Andrew Talansky will lead the Cannondale-Drapac team, while Alberto Contador has a new bike for the race.

The Vail CO paper talks with cyclocross legend Katie Compton, in town to give mountain biking a try.

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Local

LA’s Vision Zero is focusing on high rate of crashes in South LA. Nice to see city officials have finally ventured into the undiscovered country south of the 10 Freeway.

Los Angeles has opened the latest segment of the LA River Greenway Trail in Studio City, forming a four-mile trail along the river.

KPCC previews yesterday’s River Ride benefitting the LACBC; the Daily News says over 2,000 riders participated.

Bicycling profiles Silver Lake new and used bicycle emporium Coco’s Variety, which started as a variety shop before bicycles sales and studio rentals took over.

A writer for UCLA’s Daily Bruin says teach students about bike regulations before they get a ticket, not after.

LA Bike Dad rides with the kids to a free art class at the Barnsdall Art Park — and his four-year old rides the two mile distance on his own bike.

Pasadena could see another 400 bikes on the streets when Metro Bike comes to town on Bastille Day.

A 13-year old South Carolina boy set off from Santa Monica Saturday on a 3,000 mile bike trip across the US; before he even set off, he’d raised $300,000 in donations for clean water and hopes to raise half a million by the time he gets back home. At his age, I was happy just to ride to band practice.

 

State

Orange County will conduct a bike and pedestrian safety enforcement operation tomorrow. You know the drill; ride to the letter of the law so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

Coronado adds bicycle maintenance stations along the city’s Bayshore Bikeway.

Caught on video: A security camera captures a man burglarizing an El Cajon bike shop after shooting out a window.

Bixby, the dog who’s spent the last several years riding across country to promote pet adoption, will be staying in San Luis Obispo for the next few weeks after having emergency surgery.

A trans woman in San Francisco used a settlement she received after getting hit by a car while riding her bike to go from homeless to starting two successful businesses, including a bike shop.

Around 2,200 AIDS/LifeCycle riders left San Francisco yesterday for a 545-mile along the coast to Los Angeles; the riders have already raised $15.1 million for the fight against HIV.

 

National

A Las Vegas bike shop owner is riding across the state to campaign for the Republican nomination for governor of Nevada. More proof that traveling on two wheels does not automatically make you a liberal.

As bike sales slump, Boulder CO bike shop employees are being trained not to be jerks.

A Wisconsin man shares what he’s learned after vowing to run or bike through all 72 of the state’s counties.

Chicago Streetsblog sets out on a Black Power Ride through the city’s South Side.

The Akron, Ohio paper remembers a hospital administrator who endured stares riding his bike to work in the 1950s and 60s.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 84-year old upstate New York man still rides 30 or more miles three times a week.

A curmudgeonly New York columnist follows-up on his video rant insisting bike riders suck by taking offense that anyone would take offense at what he now says was a tongue-in-cheek comment. Because really, who doesn’t bust up laughing when someone says you suck?

Caught on video: A group of North Carolina cyclists can thank a bad driver for making the right choice, pulling onto the grass next to the left shoulder after getting caught in a bad pass, rather than pulling back into the soft and squishy people on bikes as so many other drivers have done. A local TV station asks why so many drivers lose their minds around cyclists. Good question.

The Charlotte Observer talks with NASCAR champ Dale Earnhardt Jr about his newfound love of bicycling. Even if he does refuse to wear spandex on the track.

 

International

Mexico City is the latest major city to have a bike mayor.

A Canadian man ties a pool noodle to the back of his bike to show the legal one-meter safe passing distance — the equivalent of a three-foot passing law — and gets hit anyway.

Toronto finally installs barriers separating a bikeway from a major roadway after a five-year old boy was killed after falling in front of traffic. Yes, this is the way Vision Zero is supposed to work, but why do authorities always seem to wait until it’s too late to fix problems they already know about?

English police told a former cycling champ to go away when he tried to report a dangerous near-miss by a driver.

The Telegraph says middle aged men are trading in their roadie Lycra for mountain bike baggies.

A bike-born British acting troupe has traveled over 6,000 miles performing Shakespeare across the UK.

A Philadelphia writer goes walking amid the bikes of Copenhagen.

A new report finds drivers are at fault in most crashes with bike riders in Adelaide, Australia.

 

Finally…

If you build it, they won’t come if the bike lane is only 27 inches wide. If you’re going to ride home drunk, put a damn light on your bike and try to hold your line.

And you no longer have to struggle to carry your bicycles on your private helicopter.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,
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