Morning Links: Cyclist threatened by Metro driver, SD DUI hearing, and Phoenix scares kids off their bikes

April 21, 2016 / / 2 comments

Did a Metro employee try to run down a cyclist while on duty?

That’s what carfree bike rider Randall Fleming says happened to him last week as he rode on South Hope Street in Downtown LA.

He tells his story in the following press release.

Metro-Van-Attempts-to-Run-Down-Bicyclist-Page-1

As noted in the release, Fleming did forward photos of the driver and the van, however, I’ve chosen not to publish them at this time pending further action in this case.

………

In a preliminary hearing for Jonathan Domingo Garcia, witnesses report the 23-year old man drove past popular San Diego neighborhood activist Maruta Gardner twice without stopping as she lay dying in the street after he allegedly ran her down while she was cleaning off graffiti.

According to her husband, she had just taken a photo and was putting her Kindle back in the basket of her adult tricycle when Garcia’s car slammed into her.

He faces charges including gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run driving after he admitting to drinking and smoking dope before getting into his car.

………

Episode 1Let’s give credit to Phoenix AZ, for producing what may be the single most distasteful and off-putting series of bike safety graphic novels ever.

They may actually prove effective in improving safety, however, by scaring kids and their parents off their bikes forever.

………

Local

A writer for the New York Times discovers you can actually visit LA without a car, and even participate in CicLAvia while you’re at it. Just don’t pick the watercress downstream from a horse crossing.

Richard Risemberg says LA doesn’t need a test cycle track near the government offices on Los Angeles Street.

Santa Monica is preparing for the arrival of the Expo Line by improving bike and pedestrian facilities in hopes of getting people out of their cars.

A Valencia bike trail was shut down Wednesday, along with two lanes of traffic, when someone left a leaky canister near the curb; about a gallon of the unknown substance leaked into the gutter. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up; she also sends word of Indonesia’s bicycle rickshaw karaoke pedicabs.

Long Beach is looking for public input to refine the city’s 15-year old bike plan; current efforts include a bike/ped bridge over the San Gabriel River, connecting the Atherton Street bikeway to the San Gabriel Bike Trail.

CiclaValley talks with members of Walk Bike Burbank about the city’s first open streets event this Saturday. But don’t oversleep or you’ll miss the hour-long ciclovía from 8:30 to 9:30 am.

Santa Monica Spoke invites you to participate in the local edition of the worldwide Brompton Urban Challenge scavenger hunt on April 30th; they have a limited number of folding bikes you can borrow for the event.

Team LACBC will host a training ride for next month’s Climate Ride on La Tuna Canyon Road this Saturday; everyone is invited to join in, whether or not you’re participating in Climate Ride yourself.

The May edition of the LACBC’s Sunday Funday ride will visit local landmarks in an 18-mile journey through Northeast LA on Sunday, May 1st.

 

State

Police at UC Irvine use a bait bike to bust a pair of bike thieves; one of the men was already on probation for a previous bike theft. Prison overcrowding and an increase in the threshold for felony theft means few bike thieves ever face serious consequences, even if they do get arrested.

Cal Poly SLO won a national challenge to develop a pedal-less fluid-drive bicycle, thanks to a unique clutch design that enabled the bike to coast more efficiently.

An 85-year old Burlingame recumbent rider was injured in a collision with a garbage truck; fortunately, he’s expected to survive. The news wasn’t as good in Clovis, as a 40-something man was killed when he was hit by a car while riding in a bike lane.

Cars have been banned from one of two roadways up San Francisco’s Twin Peaks for a two-year trial period; only bikes and pedestrians will be allowed on the western loop offering the best views of the city.

San Francisco will host the city’s third annual Walk & Bike to Worship Week next month.

Oakland’s famed Telegraph Avenue is getting a green separated bike lane.

 

National

A writer for Popsugar says biking is the best, despite the silly clothes. Seriously, can we get over this whole thing about the ugly cycling attire? You don’t need spandex to ride a bike. And it can actually look pretty damn good on some people.

Assuming it’s stolen, a Salt Lake City man buys a $5,000 bike from a guy at a 7-11 for $300 in hopes of returning it to its owner.

Apparently, a Kansas State University research and extension agent assumes bicycle helmets are the only thing needed for bike safety. Helmets are a last resort for when all else fails; it’s far better to prevent any need for them by avoiding collisions and falls through safer infrastructure, teaching and obeying bike laws and riding defensively.

Over 15,000 bicycles have been stolen in Chicago since 2010. And only 62 recovered.

The Wall Street Journal says ex-UCLA basketball star and famed Dead Head Bill Walton is all about the bicycle these days.

What may be the oldest continuously operated bike shop in the country is still going strong in Queens NY after 98 years.

 

International

A Canadian sous chef chased down a bike thief and recovered a bike stolen from his restaurant after spotting something suspicious; the owner got her bike back after he a note left on the street.

Yesterday we mentioned a story about British thugs stealing a boy’s bike the day before his bar mitzvah in a strong arm robbery; today’s news is better, as kindhearted strangers raise £1,000 to replace it in less than 24 hours.

Bicycling is up 46% over the last decade, though the country’s notorious weather is keeping many off their bikes. Although someone should tell the writer the phrase is “put a damper on,” not “put a dampener on” it. Even if that seems appropriate for the soggy climate.

 

Finally…

Bike corrals can’t stop speeding drivers from running stop signs. Your next BMW could be a $1,590 Long Beach Blue bicycle.

And a new study from the UK shows that eating just 1.4 ounces of dark chocolate boosts endurance as much as beet juice.

And tastes a lot better.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Legal Cases, Morning Links, Road Rage / Tags: , , , , , ,

Update: 54-year old salmon cyclist killed in Perris collision

April 20, 2016 / / One comment

Sad news from Perris, as a bike rider was killed in a wrong-way collision on Wednesday.

According to the Press-Enterprise, the victim, identified only as a 54-year old man, was riding against traffic on the 300 block of Fourth Street when he was struck by a work truck around 4:43 pm.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died sometime later.

No other information is available at this time.

A street view shows a wide four lane roadway with a center turn lane, with sidewalks and a wide concrete gutter on either side. No word on why he would have been riding on the wrong side of the roadway, rather than with traffic or on the sidewalk.

Anyone with information is urged to call Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Kiebach at 951/210-1000.

This is the 33rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second in Riverside County; it’s also the fourth bicycling fatality in Perris in less than three years.

Update: The Press-Enterprise reports the victim has been identified as Perris resident Roger Villegas. He died at Menifee Valley Medical Center before 5:30 pm, roughly 45 minutes after the collision. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Roger Villegas and his loved ones.

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

Morning Links: Cyclist critically injured in Malibu, May’s Ride of Silence, and an in-depth Irish look at cycling

April 20, 2016 / / 2 comments

Bad news from the ‘Bu.

I had received reports of a cyclist down on PCH, but hadn’t been able to get any information over the weekend.

Tuesday, the answer came in the form of a gofundme account asking for donations to help defray the medical expenses for Steve Striver, who was hit by a car while riding in Malibu on Saturday.

Here’s what Edie Raff Pratt, author of the page, had to say.

After being airlifted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Steve underwent 6 hours of surgery to begin to repair the damage. The surgery went well however Steve remains in critical condition in the Neuro ICU unit at the hospital.

Steve’s injuries are extensive and severe. Trauma and bleeding in his head, a bruised heart, a punctured lung, fractured ribs, left wrist fracture, right hip fracture, pelvis fracture, left femur fracture, scapula fracture, lower broken back, extensive wounds on his body and face from road rash.  Honestly, there is hardly an unbroken or contusion free area on his body.

Once Steve gets past the initial hurdles in the hospital, he will have extensive and challenging rehabilitation and a long road for recovery ahead.  We appreciate any prayers of healing you can provide for Steve as well as prayers of comfort for his wife Marianne and their four children Claire, Tim, Sam and Jeffrey.

Steve Shriver is a husband, father, son, brother, friend to many, artist, musician, cyclist, surfer, gentle soul and one of the best people to ever know.

As you can imagine, the medical bills ahead will be mounting.  This page and fundraiser is set up by friends of Steve & Marianne Shriver and family, so that we may raise money for the medical bills and expenses related to them. All monies will go directly to the Shriver family.

As of this writing, the fund has raised a little more that $15,000 of the $250,000 goal in the first 18 hours.

Thanks to Adam Ginsberg for the heads-up.

………

We’re less than one month away from the annual Ride of Silence to remember bike riders who’ve lost their lives in the past year.

This year’s ride will take place on Wednesday, May 18th, the evening before LA’s Bike to Work Day.

The Pasadena ride around the Rose Bowl will be held as usual, while CiclaValley writes that he will be leading a first-time Ride of Silence through the San Fernando Valley.

And for the fifth year in a row, the Anthony Martinez Jr. Memorial Bike Ride will be held in Oxnard to remember victims of traffic violence. The ride is named for a six-year old boy who was tragically killed while riding his bike on Thanksgiving Day in 2011; his father is now a tireless advocate for bike safety.

………

The Irish Times goes all in on bicycling, with a series of stories looking at riding from almost every conceivable angle.

………

As long as we’re doing bullet points, let’s keep it going with a look at bikes in the news.

………

Local

Not only will we be getting a protected bike lane on Los Angeles Street, it will also be LA’s first curb-protected bike lane. Maybe that will actually be enough to keep the LAPD from parking their patrol cars in it. We can hope, right?

Taylor Swift may be one of us, as she keeps what looks like a three-wheeled pedicab stashed outside her Beverly Hills home.

Santa Clarita is hosting an open house tonight to discuss the future of pedestrian and bicycle trails between Saugus and the Santa Clara River trail.

Long Beach photographer John Montich opens a new exhibit looking at unrideable bicycles.

Unbelievable. The multiple cities in southeast LA County that make up the Gateway Council of Governments propose spending exactly zero on active transportation projects if the planned transportation sales tax measure passes. Yes, nothing.

You’re invited to a costumed Tour de Phat People bike ride visiting some of their favorite Highland Park watering holes this Saturday.

 

State

So much for equity on our streets. Two bills in the California legislature calling for equity in transportation funding and accessibility for low-income communities die lonely deaths for lack of support.

A San Diego cyclist is injured in a collision with a homemade three-wheeled “Star Trike” motorcycle; the driver naturally puts all the blame on the bicyclist, even while an on-screen graphic notes the trike — and presumably, the man riding it — has been involved in eight previous wrecks.

Murrieta police bust three transients and recover several stolen bicycles after responding to a burglary at a bike shop and spotting a man ghost riding another bike.

Santa Barbara planners approve plans for a 2.6 mile bike path. Or maybe it’s a bike lane; the story isn’t clear.

A 19-year old Napa man is busted after being spotted riding a $9,000 stolen bike.

 

National

People for Bikes says protected bike lanes can actually reduce the cost of building new roadways by lowering the cost to manage storm runoff.

Chicago cyclists can finally take their bikes on commuter trains, though few turn out to take advantage of it.

Streetsblog says everyone loses in the ridiculous bikeshare fight between Hoboken and Jersey City.

Caught on video: A New York cyclist offers a high-speed look at his ride to work, catching nine traffic violations by motorists on a single 12-minute commute.

Aussie model Elyse Taylor is one of us, as she rides her retro-style bike through the streets of Gotham in her high-waisted jeans.

A DC church is hosting a bicycle blessing next month to try to mend fences between cyclists and churches that fought over bike lanes.

 

International

Turns out pro cycling’s Dr. Dope was caught up in the Panama Papers scandal, hiding over $1 million in offshore accounts.

The Oxford Mail asks if we’re all riding the wrong bike, except for maybe for roadies, closet and otherwise.

The Telegraph asks why British courts show remarkable leniency to drivers who kill bike riders.

A new British study says nearly half of all hit-and-run drivers wouldn’t have fled if they only knew it was illegal. To which I politely respond, bullshit.

Caught on video 2: A pair of Brit thugs wrench a bike from the arms of a 13-year old special needs kid the day before his bar mitzvah.

Caught on video 3: An Edinburgh cyclist posts video of the taxi driver who attacked him last year after they exchanged words following a too-close pass; the driver was fined after pleading guilty to careless driving and assault.

A new photo book captures the agony and the ecstasy of the Tour de France dating back to 1939; one of the photographers involved calls Lance an arrogant prick.

Former heavyweight champ and current mayor of Kiev is now one of us as he rides his folding bike to work, to the ambivalent reactions of his constituents.

Ride your ebike on the sidewalk in Tel Aviv, and face a $70 fine.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can build a better bicycling body by eating nothing but pizza every two hours. Not even the Dawgfather can block a planned bike lane whose time has come.

And if you put a statue of Johnny Cash next to a bike trail named for the late singer, tourists will park in your driveway.

No, really.

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Uproar over dope-tinged Strava KOMS, a bike lane by any other name, and Nessie viewing by bike

April 19, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Uproar over dope-tinged Strava KOMS, a bike lane by any other name, and Nessie viewing by bike

No major stories today, so let’s just get right to it.

Local

The Times looks at the uproar over Strava KOMs held by convicted PED dealer Nicholas Brandt-Sorenson.

The NoHo Arts District is looking for participants for the Reseda Arts Walk this June, including the possibility of a bike ride if anyone wants to put one together.

CiclaValley rides up the old Mount Wilson Toll Road in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains.

 

State

Just Another Cyclist chats with US track sprinter, Team Novo Nordisk member and lifelong Type 1 diabetic Mandy Marquardt.

A champion Mixed Martial Arts fighter teams with a group of volunteers to give away 70 bicycles to needy families in Lucerne Valley, as well as feeding 200 people and providing complimentary haircuts.

Ebikes race for the first time at the Sea Otter Classic, for no apparent reason.

A Merced candidate for mother of the year flees the scene after running down a cyclist in front of multiple witnesses — including an off-duty cop — with her three-year old daughter in the car, sans child seat, of course.

Caught on video: A San Francisco bike thief uses power tools to steal a bike in broad daylight in front of multiple witnesses. And as usual, no one seems to notice or care.

Marin County attempts to bypass the usual bikelash by renaming bike lanes as “stripped shoulders” in a coming road reconfiguration.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Sonoma Valley triathlete is still training for the future at age 78. I mean, besides the whole running and swimming part.

Seriously? A Chico woman starts a petition to halt planned safety improvements on the city’s Esplanade in order to preserve the street’s “historic integrity.” Evidently, dangerously auto-centric streets are now cultural artifacts.

 

National

Portland researchers are attempting to establish standards for the safest intersection designs for bicyclists.

Seattle demonstrates the wisdom of building protected bike lanes quickly, going from temporary paint and bollards to permanent planter barriers in just four months.

My hometown continues to get better for bikes by sacrificing business parking to convert what was once a risky route through town into a bike friendly street. Sadly, it only comes a few decades too late for me. Although the story does mention the joint where my mandolin maestro brother plays bluegrass from time to time.

Wisconsin police bust an off-campus bike chop shop plundering students at a local university.

Boston bicyclists have their own equivalent of the Marathon Crash Ride in the dark hours before the Boston Marathon.

High-end hair stylist Frédéric Fekkai is one of us, fracturing his wrist when he fell off his bike not far from Poughkeepsie NY.

A staff columnist for the student newspaper at North Carolina State U, who apparently has never ridden one, says bicycling is the worst form of transportation, in part because he has personally seen two bike wrecks; apparently he’s never seen cars collide. Thanks to former Bicycling Magazine editor-in-chief Peter Flax for the link.

This is the cost of driving under the influence. An Atlanta driver was allegedly high when he hit a car, then jumped the curb and hit three young boys riding their bikes on the sidewalk, killing one and leaving the other two in critical condition.

 

International

An expert in office space and productivity advices businesses to prioritize walking and bicycling facilities and forget about cars to maintain a productive workspace.

Cycling Weekly offers six tips on how to properly wear a cycling cap. Or you could just wear one any way you damn well want, which is what style is all about.

The union representing pro cyclists calls for a lifetime ban for anyone caught motor doping, while bike racing’s governing body seems confident they can catch them. Even though they apparently haven’t done too well so far.

Cycling legend the Cannibal says allowing disc brakes in the peloton was irresponsible and life-threatening.

The forgiving husband of a fallen London cyclist makes a successful plea to keep the distracted truck driver who killed her out of prison; the driver didn’t see her because he was too busy “tidying up” his cab.

Madonna is one of us, as she takes her mountain bike for a paparazzi-plagued spin through the streets of London.

Scotland’s first bikeshare program is mothballed due to a lack of interest.

A $100 Swedish clip-on rechargeable motor converts any bike into an ebike.

Not surprisingly, the New Zealand hotel that banned Lycra at breakfast is facing backlash online. But not backing down.

Seven weeks after they took effect, no one really seems to know what impact the draconian new bike laws in Australia’s New South Wales have had.

 

Finally…

This pedal-powered minicar may be a lot of things, but a bicycle, it ain’t. If you’re going to take your ebike out for a spin, try to do it sober.

And you can see a lot of things on a bike you might not notice from a car. Like the Loch Ness monster, for instance.

………

Thanks to Patti Andre for her generous donation to support this site; Monday was the fourth anniversary of the collision that took her brother’s life as he waited at a Palm Springs traffic light.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Drunk hit-and-run driver encourages safer cycling, and an in-depth look at counterfeit bikes

April 17, 2016 / / One comment

Nothing like encouraging responsibility on the roads.

An English driver was so concerned about the safety of others, she started a petition calling for all bicyclists to be required to wear a helmet and fluorescent clothing, mentioning in passing that she’d been involved in a collision with a cyclist who died.

Of course, she failed to mention that she was drunk at the time. Or that she fled the scene, leaving her critically injured victim lying alone in the street.

But sure, let’s blame the victims.

Maybe a better petition would require drivers to put fluorescent lights on their cars to warn us if they’ve been drinking, since we can’t seem to keep drunks off the roads.

Or get them to take responsibility for their own actions.

Link courtesy of Matthew Hardy.

………

Brit bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid takes an in-depth look at the problem of counterfeit bikes and parts, with chapters including:

………

Caught on video: Italian cyclist Fabio Felline pulls an endo just seconds after the start of Sunday’s Amstel Gold Race, suffering a broken nose and fractured skull; Enrico Gasparotto took the victory in the Dutch race.

Motor doping may be more common than we might think, as the European press use a heat detector to discover what appears to be seven hidden motors in two different races.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 100-year old man crossed the finish line in this year’s Tour de Yorkshire on an assisted bicycle, 63 years after he founded a British bike club.

And Wolfpack Hustles’ annual Short Line Crit is less than three weeks away.

………

Local

Van Nuys MeetingA Tuesday meeting in Pacoima will discuss a bike and pedestrian friendly makeover of Van Nuys Blvd in a bid to improve safety on one of the city’s more dangerous streets.

One of the best things about bicycling is the people you meet. CiclaValley encounters a Korean couple taking a break in LA on their 10-year journey around the world.

A writer for the Gazettes takes a free adult cycling class as part of the efforts of Danny Gamboa and Empact Communities to make Long Beach safer for cyclists.

Lawndale will host its first, albeit very brief, open streets event from 8 am to 10 am this Saturday, followed by a kids ride from 10 am to 12:30 pm.

 

State

A San Diego man receives a life sentence for fatally shooting a bike-riding 46-year old father of six for no apparent reason last year.

Now that the Chargers plan to abandoned their stadium in Mission Valley one way or another, a San Diego city council candidate calls for building a bike path along the river.

San Bernardino police are looking for a driver who allegedly intentionally ran down a cyclist, circling around him before reversing and pinning him to a wall.

A Fresno letter writer says parents should be charged with child abuse for allowing their teenage children to ride their bikes on a busy street. I think he means child endangerment, which is still an absurdly myopic windshield perspective.

Bicycling is booming by the Bay, with an 8.5% increase in San Francisco bike trips in the last year, and an increase of 184% since 2006.

A Monterey CHP officer calls on drivers to share the road with cyclists during this past weekend’s Sea Otter Classic. But mistakenly says bike riders can be cited for impeding traffic for riding too slowly or failing to move over so cars can pass; the latter only applies on two lane roadways when five or more vehicles are following behind and unable to pass. Unfortunately, the CHP frequently misinterprets this law, as well as the requirement that cyclists ride as far right as practicable. Which puts cyclists at risk of underserved tickets, and retaliation from angry drivers who’ve been misinformed about the law.

A Sacramento artist finds new life for old bike chains, turning them into dog sculptures. Meanwhile, both major candidates for mayor of Sacramento pledge to make the city a vibrant place people can safely navigate without a car.

 

National

NACTO’s new Transit Street Design Guide offers a blueprint for how to incorporate transit and protected bikeways on city streets. Let’s hope LA officials read it.

Wired says putting down temporary bike lanes is the best first step to eventually getting permanent protected lanes in place.

Utah could see a future with free transit, along with a bike superhighway on the I-15 corridor.

The Purple One is one of us, as Prince rides his bike just one day after his plane made an emergency landing in Illinois so he could be hospitalized with flu-like symptoms.

Boston boosts funding for their Vision Zero program, budgeting more than $12 million over the next three years.

Federal authorities question whether Baton Rouge LA officials misspent $2.2 million, including $400,000 used to build a bike path along the Mississippi River.

 

International

Caught on video 2: A road raging British driver repeatedly brake checks and swerves at a cyclist, apparently incensed that the bike rider had filtered past a line of cars at a red light.

Seriously? The Guardian says don’t wear your bike shorts in public, especially not in front of children. So presumably, you’ll need to throw on a pair of pants or a skirt before you dismount.

The grammatically challenged Telegraph asks what cycling tribe are you? Because evidently, it’s not possible to just ride a bike without being some sort of stereotype. Or to get that whole singular/plural thing right.

Apparently, life is cheap in Britain, where an 80-year old British man gets a suspended prison sentence and lifetime driving ban for killing a cyclist. Not that it will likely keep him off the road, since he was already driving without a license — and his glasses — after failing previous eye tests.

In the US, drivers are allowed to turn right on most red lights; in Denmark, bike riders just got approval to do the same at 33 intersections.

The United Arab Emirates considers locking dangerous drivers up for 24 hours; that’s in addition to a fine, 12 points on their license, and having their cars impounded for 30 days. Nice to see someone take traffic crime seriously, anyway.

A New Zealand railroad tunnel is repurposed as the Southern Hemisphere’s longest bicycle tunnel after lying dormant for over 60 years.

 

Finally…

Now that’s what I call a scary mug shot. Apparently, James Joyce’s Ulysses was about bicycling.

And it turns out there’s science behind spitting instead of swallowing.

Sports drinks, of course.

Why, what did you think I meant?

Category: Bicycle Safety, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Hit-and-run in Harvard Heights, protected bike lane coming to 1st St, and 10-Freeway victim ID’d

April 15, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Hit-and-run in Harvard Heights, protected bike lane coming to 1st St, and 10-Freeway victim ID’d

Police are looking for the cowardly schmuck who took off after running down a bike rider in LA’s Harvard Heights on Wednesday.

The collision occurred around 3 pm at the corner of Venice and Hobart Blvds as the cyclist reported he was blindsided by the collision. Fortunately, he suffered just cuts and bruises, along with a head wound that required six staples.

The driver was caught on a security camera stopping several blocks away to remove the mangled bike from underneath his minivan before getting back in and driving away.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the LAPD’s West Traffic Division at 213/473-0222.

………

Good news for LA bike riders.

LADOT reports construction has begun on a protected bike lane on Los Angeles Street from First Street to Union Station in DTLA — including LA’s first bicycle-specific traffic signals.

Hopefully, this will finally stop LAPD officers from parking in the bike lane. Though I wouldn’t hold your breath.

Maybe they can have it ready for an official unveiling during next month’s Bike Week.

………

The victim in Sunday’s inexplicable bicycling fatality on the 10 Freeway in Alhambra has been identified as a 40-year old transient named Eduardo Castillo.

………

If you hurry, you may still have time to make it up to the Sea Otter Classic in time to race your Brompton this evening. Coat and tie or dresses are required, although nothing says your attire must be gender appropriate.

Meanwhile, Bicycle Retailer says ebikes abound at this year’s event. And Richard Masoner of Cyclelicious offers his always great photographs of the Classic.

………

Just months after approving them for racing, pro cycling’s governing body has suspended the use of disk brakes following a couple of serious cuts caused by the sharp blades.

Russian cyclist Eduard Vorganov can unretire now that doping officials say he gets a do-over. On the other hand, Italian rider Luca Paolini got an 18 month ban for doing coke during last year’s Tour de France, apparently mistaking the French countryside for Studio 54 in the ’80s.

An Aussie writer says organized teams of weekend warrior MAMILS are ruining amateur bike racing.

A Malay cyclist says there’s more to bike racing than the prize money.

………

Local

Richard Risemberg employs his best WTF! in an attempt to comprehend why the Second Street bike lanes simply stop at Beverly Blvd, dumping riders into a complicated intersection with unforgiving traffic. Not unlike, say, most bike lanes in LA’s disconnected and discombobulated non-network.

LA considers returning a portion of parking revenue to the neighborhoods where it was collected, and where it could be used to fix sidewalks or stripe bike lanes.

CiclaValley takes a ride up upper Los Virgenes Canyon.

How does wehogo sound for the name of West Hollywood’s new bikeshare system?

Two of Bike the Vote LA’s top ranked candidates win in Culver City, with endorsee Meghan Sahli-Wells coming in first by a wide margin.

The LA Sheriff’s Department has made an arrest in the hit-and-run that injured a woman in her 70s riding her bike in Agoura Hills last month; the detective said the juvenile driver was sorry, but he screwed up. Gee, you think?

 

State

Oceanside will study a proposal for a road diet on the Coast Highway, narrowing the roadway from four lanes to two while adding buffered bike lanes.

A Sacramento woman helps recover her own stolen bike after spotting it on Craigslist.

 

National

People for Bikes explains how to raise a bike rider.

A Montana paper looks back on 133 years of bicycling in Yellowstone National Park; the first riders to visit the park were three men from Laramie whose sag wagon actually was one.

The Houston Chronicle says the city’s dangerous road design is killing people.

Caught on video: An Omaha driver claims she was the victim of bike rage, as a man on a bike goes off on her for blocking a bike path.

A Wisconsin woman faces a homicide charge with up to 10 years behind bars for running down a bike rider while texting; she allegedly deleted her texts in an attempt to cover-up her crime.

Good news from Tennessee, as the controversial bill that would have barred the use of gas taxes for parks and bike lanes has been pulled by it sponsor.

Rather than develop compatible systems, Jersey City votes to limit commercial bikes from using city bike racks for more than two hours to keep Hoboken bikeshare users from hogging them. This could offer a hint to LA’s future, as Metro’s coming system won’t compatible with Santa Monica’s or systems planned for Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and Westwood.

Security video proves NY cops hit a cyclist as he rode in a bike lane, after which they accused him of riding on the sidewalk, then lied on the accident report to shift the blame to him. Thanks to Michael Byerts for the heads-up.

New York considers a bill that would allow cops to use a device to scan drivers’ cell phones after a crash, and automatically suspend their licenses if they refuse. Checking cell phone use should be standard practice after any injury collision, anywhere.

Bike trails have unexpectedly become Philadelphia’s must-have real estate amenity, as developers are opting for bike paths instead of parking lots.

President Obama uses an air horn to kick off this year’s Wounded Warrior Ride to raise awareness of military vets suffering from physical and psychological disabilities as a result of their service.

Now that’s more like it. Washington DC lowers the cost of an annual membership for their bikeshare program to just $5 for low income residents.

 

International

A Canadian paper offers advice from bike messengers on how to keep yours from being stolen; a teenage Brit bike thief says get a better lock.

The Guardian considers who’s the best bike-friendly candidate for London mayor.

British director and Madonna ex Guy Ritchie is one of us.

A deaf London bicyclist says he grew up with cycling in his veins, and prefers the tranquility of riding without sound.

A British study shows 85% of the growth in bike use over a four year period was due to improved infrastructure.

Caught on video 2: A Brit driver stops and lashes out at a cyclist for flipping him off after an apparent punishment pass.

 

Finally…

When does it stop being a step-through frame and become a step-on? Evidently, Kiwis don’t like bumps and bulges at breakfast; thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

And a motorcycle rider takes exception to the elderly man he spotted riding a Penny Farthing through a red light.

Apparently he’s never considered what happens when you stop one of those things.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee