Welcome to Bike Week LA, Tour de Palm Springs jury deliberating, and longtime LA County official Gloria Molina dies

May 15, 2023 / / 2 comments

If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. 

Just when I got my doctor to get more aggressive in treating my diabetes, something else came up to knock me on my ass. 

Wednesday night I went out to walk the dog, and by the time I got back, I was feeling the full effects of what was apparently a sudden-onset stomach virus, or maybe an adverse reaction to a new med. 

We’ll find that part out when I take it again on Tuesday. 

I’m not saying I was sick. But I lost a full eight pounds literally overnight, and was completely out of it until late Friday. 

So my apologies once again for yet another unexcused absence — something I’ve written so many times that my laptop is now autosuggesting the phrase for me. 

Honestly, I do my best to be here for you every morning. But after a lifetime of pushing my body to respond to ever-increasing demands, on and off the bike, it’s now saying “fuck you” on an ever more frequent basis.

Which is about the best way I can describe diabetes and all its multitude of complications. 

Seriously, you don’t want this shit. 

So if you’re at risk, whether from weight, family history or any other factor, get yourself tested. 

No, now. 

And do whatever it takes to turn your health around so you don’t get it. 

Now I’ll get off my damn soapbox and catch up with the news, because we have a lot to catch up on. 

Photo by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay.

………

Welcome to Bike Week, the one week of the year when elected officials, government bureaucrats and the news media join in one voice to celebrate all things bikes.

As opposed to the other 51 weeks of the year, when they either ignore us, or actively try to kill us.

Santa Clarita is conducting their annual Bike to Work Challenge this week, encouraging business employees to commute by bike for the full week.

Long Beach is hosting the return of its “beloved” Beach Streets Open Streets event to the downtown area on Saturday.

Metro has unveiled their new line of bikewear and accessories. If anyone has me on their Christmas in July Secret Santa list, I’ll take the Every Lane Is A Bike Lane backpack, thank you. 

Other Metro highlights for Bike Week include —

  • May 18 is Bike to Work Day and we’re offering free 30 minute rides all day long. Simply choose 1-Ride in the app, online or at a kiosk and use code 051823. Metro Bus and Rail are also free- no tapping required. Code can be used multiple times throughout the day. Usage fees apply over 30 minutes.
  • There are two opportunities to join us on your commute. The first 10 Metro Bike Share Passholders at each event will receive a limited-edition mug! May 18 – North Hollywood Station, 8 -11 am and May 19 – Downtown Santa Monica Station, 8-11 am.
  • May 18 and 19, the 365-Day Pass is just $75. That’s a 50% savings! To purchase, select 365-Day Pass in the app or online and enter code BIKETOWORK23.Offer valid for first time 365-Day Passholders, 5/18/23 – 5/19/23 only. Code valid for Full Fare and Reduced Fare Passes.
  • May 21– CicLAmini Watts, presented by Metro will be a more pedestrian-oriented event than the typical CicLAvia, but sure to be just as special. Metro Bikes will be available to check out on a first come, first served basis from 9am-2pm. If you wish to check out a bike, get prepared by downloading the app. See you there!

Meanwhile, Glendale is jumping the gun by hosting their Bike to Work Day a day earlier on Wednesday. Go Glendale and Walk Bike Glendale will host a pitstop at 800 N Brand from 8 am to 10 am on Wednesday, with another pit stop hosted by the City of Glendale at the Glendale City Hall from 8 am to 10 am, .

………

Jury deliberations are set to resume today in the trial of Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr. for killing Washington resident Mark Kristofferson, and severely injuring Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers, in an alleged high-speed DUI crash in the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs.

Huerta was allegedly high on weed and driving without a license when he ran down Kristofferson at speeds up to 100 mph; he was arrested after being detained by witnesses in a nearby field as he attempted to run away on foot.

The jury halted their work Friday evening after two days of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

Huerta is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

………

Sad news this morning, as groundbreaking populist LA political lead Gloria Molina has passed away at age 74, following a three-year battle with cancer.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Molina was California’s first Latina Assembly member, the first Latina to serve on the LA City Council, and the first Latina on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.

I honestly can’t tell you what Molina’s record on bikes was.

But she spent her entire career fighting for undeserved communities, particularly on the East Side of Los Angeles.

And that’s good enough for me.

………

Streets For All is hosting a volunteer meet-up and bike ride tomorrow at Union Station night.

………

This has got to be me from a prior life. Unless maybe it’s you.

But it’s got to be one of us, right?

………

Okay, I’m moving there.

But where is Ghent, anyway? Oh, who cares, I’m going.

https://twitter.com/_dmoser/status/1657261388878970885

………

Remarkable — and questionable — story, as a specially abled Indian man claims to have ridden 2,300 miles in just four and a half days, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Questionable because that works out to 511 miles a day, or 21 miles an hour, every hour for 108 hours — without rest stops.

Stopping to rest or sleep would push that hourly figure even higher. Even just six hours of daily rest time would require averaging 28 mph for the other 18 hours straight, which seems unlikely.

But maybe some randonneurs out there can tell us how likely it really is.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

No surprise here, as bike groups join with Democrats to call on Utah Senator Mitt Romney to rethink his comments calling bike lanes “the height of stupidity.” Actually, a lot of them are, but not for the reasons he thinks.

Road.cc deconstructs the so-called war on motorists, concluding it’s nothing more than encouraging people to drive less and consider alternative forms of transportation — despite the ongoing backlash.

A British Member of Parliament dismissed bicyclists’ concerns over new regulations allowing longer trucks on the country’s roads, bizarrely suggesting that they were “good for road safety.”

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Demonstrating that some people just don’t get it, a Lycra-clad English bike rider stopped several cops who were targeting speeding drivers, asking if they didn’t have anything better to do. He should have thanked them for trying to save his life, and everyone else on the roadway, instead. 

………

Local 

Yes, please. The LA City Council is considering a proposal to turn some peak-hour traffic lanes into bus lanes, which could also be used by people on bicycles; they’ve instructed LADOT to report back on converting lanes on Alvarado Street, Vermont Blvd, and La Brea and Roscoe avenues.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton say nice try LADOT, but the new plans to curb illegal street racing in Angelino Heights by Fast & Furious fans doesn’t go nearly far enough, as the city’s first round of changes are nearly complete.

Pasadena is nearing completion of the Union Street protected bikeway project, with a two-way bike lane on Union from Hill Ave to Arroyo Parkway, and a bike boulevard on Holliston Ave between Union and Cordova streets.

Writing on her Good Mom, Bad Mom blog, Redondo Beach resident Dr. Grace Peng urges you to respond to the Metro Active Transportation Corridor survey about remaking Redondo Beach Blvd, and offers a local’s perspective on how to answer those questions to help turn the current car sewer into something that safely serves all of us.

Kourtney Kardashian is one of us, as the British tabloids freak out when she rode a bike with her shirtless, shoeless and helmet-less eight-year old son standing on the rear wheel pegs.

 

State

Calbike is calling on California to boost its relatively meager $10 million funding for ebike tax credits to a more reasonable $50 million; California’s current funding is $2 million less than Colorado’s new ebike rebate program, despite having almost seven times the population.

Calbike also offers a tutorial intended to demystify California’s arcane budget process.

Patch considers six California bike laws you probably don’t know. All of which you probably do know, although some drivers may not. Okay, a lot of drivers.

Streets For All says state Assemblymember Chris Holden holds the key committee vote on legislation to approve speed cams, and study the impact of vehicle weight fees on pedestrians deaths; the group urges you to contact his office to urge their passage, even if you don’t live in his district.

A 47-year old San Diego man was rushed into surgery for a broken wrist and other non-life-threatening injuries suffered when he allegedly rear-ended a car stopped at a red light while riding an ebike at a high rate of speed.

That’s more like it. Bike riders in San Mateo County can now use a website to report violations of the state’s three-foot passing law online.

He gets it. A Palo Alto op-ed writer says safer streets, rail crossings and bike paths are key to a better community.

A San Francisco bike shop is shutting down, saying it’s a victim of repeated thefts and break-ins, a slow economy and a seemingly unending series of storms that kept customers away.

Megan Lynch forwards news that UC Davis is getting a new bike counter, after a reckless driver killed the last one.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers advice on the highly underrated skill of looking back to check traffic or riders behind you while maintaining your line.

Seventy-four-year old Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer has been pushing for bike legislation for nearly 30 years, as advocates gathered for a Friday bike ride through DC to call for more money and safer streets.

She gets it. An Albuquerque columnist suggests New Mexico should adopt a statewide Vision Zero program, comparing their more than 150 traffic deaths last year to Jersey City, New Jersey’s zero.

Denver residents enjoyed the city’s first Viva Streets open streets event, closing 3.5 miles of downtown streets to cars while opening them up for people.

It’s now been three years since a Colorado woman vanished with a trace on a Mother’s Day bike ride; Suzanne Morphew’s husband was arrested in her disappearance nearly a year after searchers found her helmet and mountain bike, but charges were dropped in a pre-trial hearing because her body still hasn’t been found.

Lincoln, Nebraska’s chief deputy swears he only looked down for a moment to switch the radio station when he ran down a nine-year old girl riding her bike, leaving her with multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed, fractured shoulder, injured knee and road rash. Any bets on how long it will take them to blame the victim?

Ten years and 180 million rides later, New York officials look back at the improbable success of the city’s bikeshare system.

President Joe Biden continues to be one of us, talking to the press about the calmer-than-expected US-Mexico border during a bike ride through Delaware’s Gordons Pond State Park.

 

International

Residents of North Montreal rallied to demand more bikeways after living with just one protected bike lane for the last 40 years, as the city backed out of a promise to build four bike paths in the neighborhood this year, instead committing to just three.

A Montreal bike shop has kept it in the family since 1948.

He gets it, too. A Toronto columnist calls for residents who use food delivery services to fight to keep bike lanes, saying they should be concerned for the safety for the bike couriers who deliver their food.

Heartbreaking news from the UK, where a 56-year old English man died of a heart attack while riding his bike, just an hour after snapping a smiling selfie. Although someone should tell the Daily Record that seemingly healthy people sometimes suffer from undetected health problems, which is why everyone who rides a bike should see a doctor on a regular basis. Then again, so should everyone else. 

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 43-year old former soccer player got just two years and four months behind bars for the horrifying, drunken hit-and-run that left a bike-riding woman in her 70s with life-changing injuries; he was four times the legal limit when he knocked her off her bike, then slowly drove over her with all four wheels. There’s video of the crash, but consider whether you really want to watch it, because you can’t unsee it if you do.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, will have some penance to do after he was fined the equivalent of $625 for driving 25 mph in a 20 mph zone.

A Dublin, Ireland city official warns of inevitable conflicts between bike riders, pedestrians and e-scooter users in the city parks — despite just eleven such incidents in the last eight years.

The European Cyclists’ Federation name Helsingborg, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; and both Essen and Heidelberg, Germany best in class cities at this year’s Velo-city conference.

In a study that should put questions about the health benefits of ebikes to rest, German researchers find that regularly riding an ebike can cut the risk of a heart attack by 40%.

The Malta Times calls for putting the brakes on road anarchy in the island nation, saying traffic enforcement has moved from essential to critical.

 

Competitive Cycling

Big plot twist in the Giro, where race leader Remco Evenepoel was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid, just after regaining the pink leader’s jersey with a victory in the time trial.

 

Finally…

Your Peloton bike could go somewhere after all, after 2 million of the stationary bikes were recalled. Never bring a knife to a bike theft gunfight.

And what do you call a marching band that rides bikes, instead?

……….

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA study suggests replacing traffic cops with safer streets, and closing arguments today in Tour de Palm Springs murder trial

May 10, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA study suggests replacing traffic cops with safer streets, and closing arguments today in Tour de Palm Springs murder trial

It took awhile, but Los Angeles is finally back with a study suggesting the city should take cops out of traffic stops.

First proposed nearly three years ago in the wake of the George Floyd protests, the results of the study would turn traffic enforcement over to unarmed civilians, as well as remaking streets to prevent aggressive and reckless driving in the first place.

LA, meet your underfunded Vision Zero program.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

Among the recommendations put forth by the city report is investing in so-called “self-enforcing infrastructure,” such as narrower streets, dedicated bike lanes and more clearly marked pedestrian crosswalks.

Such measures naturally slow the flow of traffic and discourage drivers from speeding or breaking other road laws. Much like the Vision Zero initiative — unveiled in 2015 by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti to end traffic deaths within a decade — they would increase safety and reduce the need for active enforcement in “high-injury network corridors, low-income communities, and communities of color,” the report said.

While the city could build on the existing Vision Zero model, the report said, it should be less reliant on law enforcement.

Then again, Vision Zero supporters have stressed that last part since the program was adopted.

The program — at least as envisioned in the original European approach — is based on re-envisioning infrastructure to prevent behavior that too often leads to traffic deaths, rather than the Americanized approach of increased enforcement and education.

Which may be cheaper, but it’s a lot less effective, as countless failed Vision Zero programs across the US attest.

Including right here in Los Angeles.

The study goes on to address the rising rates of traffic violence — as well as other forms of violence from motorists — directed at people outside of cars, whether they’re walking, biking or living on the streets.

From the chronic problem of people running stop signs to a rise in sideshows that occasionally lead to injuries — such as street takeovers or drag racing — the work group found that the “aggressiveness of drivers towards nondrivers, including the unhoused, is a growing problem in Los Angeles.”

Headlines describing road violence involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists have piled up in recent months, including one case last month in which police say a possibly impaired driver barreled into a mother and her 6-year-old daughter as they walked to school in Mid-Wilshire. The mother was killed and the girl was critically injured…

The city’s streets remain particularly deadly for pedestrians and bicyclists, with 159 people killed in collisions involving pedestrians and motorists last year. This is a 19% rise compared with 2021, LAPD data show. An additional 20 people died in collisions involving bicyclists and motorists, an 11% rise.

The report also calls for further reducing the kind of pretextual stops we’ve too often seen directed against people on bicycles — particularly people of color — who may be stopped for a minor traffic violation, only to find themselves handcuffed and searched.

Or in some cases, shot.

The question is whether the LAPD’s powerful police union will be willing to give up responsibility for traffic enforcement, which is anything but a given at this point.

Particularly since they haven’t even been willing to embrace automated speed cams.

Other questions involve what happens when drivers flee a traffic stop, or when the unarmed civilians are confronted by armed motorists.

But it’s worth pursuing to see if we can make it work.

Especially if it means finally embracing the changes to our streets we’ve already agreed are needed.

………

Closing arguments are scheduled for today, after the defense rested in the murder trial of Desert Hot Springs resident Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr, for the high speed death of Washington resident Mark Kristofferson during the 2018 Tour de Palm Spring.

Huerta was allegedly driving stoned and without a license when he ran down Kristofferson at speeds up to 100 mph; he was arrested after being detained by witnesses in a nearby field as he attempted to run away on foot.

He also faces charges for leaving Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers with lasting injuries, in a crash just seconds from the brutal impact that killed Kristofferson.

The case could go to the jury as early as this afternoon.

………

A new bill could be the first step in ushering out parking minimums nationwide.

The bill, co-sponsored by four Democratic Representatives, including Long Beach Congressman Robert Garcia, would extend California’s approach to eliminating parking minimums near transit hubs to the federal level.

It’s a start, anyway.

Although the chances of getting the bill through the Republican-controlled House seem pretty minimal, at best.

………

Speaking of which, the Los Angeles Times reviews Slate columnist Henry Grabar’s new book, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, describing it as “a romp, packed with tales of anger, violence, theft, lust, greed, political chicanery and transportation policy gone wrong.”

If you own a car, you’ve got to park it somewhere. If you live in or near a city — most of us do — the consequences are all around you. Everyone already knows how fundamentally the automobile has shaped our physical environment, the residents of Los Angeles County perhaps most of all. Roads and highways are only part of it.

“Paved Paradise” sensitized me to just how profoundly parking itself has contributed to the uglification of urban life, creating, as one of Grabar’s sources puts it, “a super-mundane environment that people just want to move through.” He notes a sad fact about “The Sims,” the popular reality-cloning video game, which tried to simulate the world as accurately as possible but had to cut back dramatically on the overwhelming presence of parking lots for its simulated city. The visual result would have been too grim…

California, inevitably, figures heavily in “Paved Paradise.” The paradise line from the famous Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” that gives Grabar his title may have been inspired by Hawaii, but Los Angeles is its truest manifestation. In the 1920s, as those newfangled private motor cars gummed up traffic, street-side parking downtown was banned. The result: comfortably smooth traffic flow and a revenue decline for downtown merchants of 50%.

It’s a good read, about what sounds like a surprisingly good read about parking, and how too much emphasis on cars can destroy cities.

It’s going on my reading list, anyway.

………

LA street safety PAC Streets For All is hosting their virtual happy hour this evening, featuring CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.

………

Metro is celebrating bike month in Los Angeles County with free rides on Bike Day — formerly known as Bike to Work Day — as well as $1 bikeshare passes and a long list of bicycle classes.

Although here’s a link to the Metro Shop to replace the broken link on the page above, in case anyone else wants the backpack in the photo, which doesn’t seem to actually exist.

https://twitter.com/metrolosangeles/status/1655996701767761922

However, the real peak to this year’s Bike Month may come the following weekend, when Long Beach hosts their latest Beach Streets open streets event on Saturday, May 20th, followed by CicLAvia’s first Ciclamini in Watts the next day.

………

San Diego’s BikeSD reminds us about next week’s annual Ride of Silence to remember bike riders killed in traffic violence.

So far, there are two rides scheduled for the Los Angeles area, with the usual Rose Bowl ride joined by another in East Hollywood.

Pasadena

Contact: Thomas Cassidy    <–Send email
Distance: 12 mi.

Los Angeles

Contact: Rafael Hernandez   <–Send email
Distance: 10 mi
Notes: Location is tentatively scheduled to start and end at Reciclos pending confirmation from the venue

………

The San Diego County Bike Coalition wants to know where you want to see the city’s upcoming open streets events.

https://twitter.com/sdbikecoalition/status/1655997210738429952

………

Works for people on bicycles, too.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

Proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished, a New Haven, Connecticut bike rider was shot after arguing with a second motorist when he tried to help a driver who’d fallen asleep at the wheel.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Florida man was busted for being a bike-riding porch pirate.

Actor James Norton is one of us, although he might regret that after London’s Daily Mail goes ballistic when he’s seen jumping a red light in the city.

Two friends were “viciously” attacked when a London man deliberately rode his bikeshare bike into one of them, then punched the other in the face, breaking his glasses. Although I’d think a truly vicious attack would result in more than just broken spectacles. But what the hell do I know?

………

Local 

LA County wants your input on how to update the county bike plan, and improve conditions for people on bikes in unincorporated areas of the county. Thanks to Dr. Grace Peng for the heads-up, who reminds us to request completion of the LA River and Ballona Creek bike paths, which are under county control.

Former UFC interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson was busted on suspicion of DUI after his truck hit at least two other cars and flipped over in Hollywood early Sunday; fortunately, no one was injured.

Santa Clarita wants you to Hit the Trail this Saturday, with an informal, self-guided community bike ride exploring the city’s bike trail system.

 

State

Streetsblog says the pandemic kind of increased street space allocation for California bike riders, but more is needed.

California’s Equity-First Transportation Funding Act (AB 1525) would require that 60% of the state’s transportation funds would have to directly benefit “priority populations” in historically marginalized communities.

A 23-year old San Diego man was hospitalized with an open fracture to his right ankle after failing to land a bike stunt.

Two 57-year old men were seriously injured when their bikes collided as they were riding together in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood last Friday.

Fresno is marking Bike Month with a Ride With the Mayor event. Meanwhile, Los Angeles isn’t.

Sad news from Hayward, where a 29-year old Salinas man was killed in a collision while riding his bike Sunday night. But the driver wasn’t drunk or stoned, so apparently it’s okay. 

Five people were injured when an ebike battery caught fire in a San Francisco apartment Tuesday morning.

 

National

Every city in Oregon can now use speed cams, after the state’s governor signed a bill expanding the current ten-city pilot program. Meanwhile, speed cams continue to be illegal in California, for reasons no one seems able to adequately explain. 

A Salt Lake City public radio station says it will take more than reducing costs to establish an ebike society in the region.

Denver is working with nonprofit bike registration program 529 Garage to replace the city’s existing bike registration system. Meanwhile, the LAPD is using Bike Index to register and recover bikes. Although bike registration does more to recover bikes after they’re stolen than to prevent thefts in the first place. 

Colorado is set to offer a $12 million income-based e-bike incentive program, building on the successful Denver ebike rebate program. It’s also $2 million more than California’s long delayed program, despite having just 14% of California’s population. 

Oops. A Wisconsin man will spend another six months behind bars after a judge revoked his deferred sentencing agreement for noncompliance, after he originally spent just two months in jail for seriously injuring a bike rider; he will also be required to maintain absolute sobriety for the next five years.

The Federal Highway Administration has approved New York City’s proposed congestion pricing plan, after an environmental review resulted in a “Finding of No Significant Impact” on the surrounding region.

The star of TLC’s Welcome to Plathville is taking a sabbatical from social media after her 15-year old brother was killed in a collision while riding his bike in Franklin County, Virginia.

Florida bike riders could soon get that healthy radioactive glow, after the state legislature passed a law mandating a study of using radioactive phosphogypsum as a paving material, although using the agricultural byproduct would require EPA approval.

 

International

No bias here. A couple of candidates for mayor of Toronto clashed over whether bike lanes help or hurt traffic congestion, even as one insists he’s not anti-bike lanes while promising to rip them out anyway.

That’s more like it. A British appeals court increased the sentence of a “callous,” speeding driver, resentencing him to six years behind bars for killing a man on a bicycle while driving at 82mph, after concluding the original sentence of four years and eight months was too lenient.

Ebike sales are booming throughout Europe — except in the UK, where they actually shrank last year. But that may have more to do with the UK deciding it’s not part of Europe anymore.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with the new Seine à Vélo bike route that follows the river from Paris to the Normandy coast.

Bicycling reports one man is dead, and two other people injured, after a stoned Spanish motorcyclist plowed into a group of Polish bike riders vacationing in Mallorca. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

After a South African bike rider was killed when he fell off his bike and was struck by a driver, the local press somehow feels the need to note that his bike was undamaged. As if it’s okay as long as his bike survived.

 

Competitive Cycling

In a surprising turn, Norway’s Andreas Leknessund took the leader’s jersey from pre-race favorite Remco Evenepoel in Tuesday’s 4th stage of the Giro, becoming just the second Norwegian to wear the pink jersey, and the first in 42 years.

American Sepp Kuss successfully pulled off a high risk, high speed battery swap in Monday’s Stage 3 of the Giro.

Bicycling offers a calendar of amateur bike races and events for the next two years. This one isn’t available on other sites, however, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Your next e-cargo bike could be grown, not made. Now you, too, can use your new e-truck to charge your ebike.

And that feeling when the internet really loves your new bike fest logo.

[deleted by user]
by inDesignPorn

……….

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Beverly Hills marks bike month, bike/ped bridge plans safe for now, and prosecution rests in Tour de Palm Springs murder case

May 9, 2023 / / Comments Off on Beverly Hills marks bike month, bike/ped bridge plans safe for now, and prosecution rests in Tour de Palm Springs murder case

Chances are, if you’ve been here awhile, you’ll recall how I used to call Beverly Hills the Biking Black Hole for its complete lack of biking infrastructure.

Not to mention what was, at best, an antagonistic attitude towards bikes on the city’s behalf.

But clearly, things have changed.

They may still have work to do — hello, BHPD! — but Beverly Hills has made a number of improvements on the streets.

And on the city calendar.

………

I’ve heard from a number of people with insider knowledge of the situation with the new George Wolfberg Park, and the proposed bike/ped bridge over PCH, in the past 24 hours.

It looks like funding for the bridge is secure for now, and officials are moving forward with a required feasibility study, a relative handful of anti-bike NIMBYs notwithstanding .

So I’m told the best course of action, for now, is to hold off on contacting the state senators we listed yesterday.

Or if you still want to reach out, thank them for securing funding for the project.

Maybe George is still busy guiding things and stirring the post from the afterlife.

………

The prosecution has rested in the trial of Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr.

Huerta is facing a murder charge for the alleged stoned driving death of Mark Kristofferson during the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs, while driving at speeds up to 100 mph.

Without a driver’s license.

He also faces charges for severely injuring Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers in the same crash, who has been left with lasting injuries.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

Virginia bike advocates are panning a plan to allow bikes on a bridge over the Potomac, labeling it “ludicrous,” “unconscionable” and “malpractice,” and predicting no one would use it if it goes forward. Then again, maybe that’s the point. 

No bias here. A British pub owner says he’s being punished by “unreasonable demands” to stop blocking a shared bike/ped path in front of his establishment with his advertising signs.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Scottish forestry officials say people who ride mountain bikes, kayak or camp outside of approved areas are a menace to wildlife.

Ireland’s rail authority says people who ride bicycles, skate or scoot on train platforms are showing a “disregard for everyone else.”

………

Local 

LA’s KABC-7 takes a deep dive into the problem of how to make car-centric Southern California safer for people on bicycles, including the ever-popular problem of disconnected bike lanes to nowhere.

The Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle and Pedestrian Path on the new Long Beach International Gateway Bridge will officially open on Saturday, May 20th. Maybe we can just unofficial shorten that unwieldy title to “the Bixby.”

 

State

Visit California takes a Power Trip to NorCal for some “surf, mountain bike and culinary shenanigans.” They must have lost my invitation, because I’m usually all in on shenanigans of any sort.

San Diego’s Port commission is considering a proposal to ban pedicabs, ebikes and e-scooters from the city’s Embarcadero and Seaport Village.

Santa Barbara bike riders discuss how to improve safety and courtesy on the city’s State Street promenade, where bike allegedly reach speeds up to 30 mph. Seriously?

Streetsblog’s Roger Rudick says viewing the incredible Paris bike boom makes it clear the Bay Area’s relatively meager efforts are full of merde. Then again, that means Los Angeles os more full of merde than either one.

 

National

Governing says the federal Safe Streets and Roads for All program is accepting applications from cities to improve streets and infrastructure to improve safety.

Consumer Reports considers how to make your ebike last longer. Hint: Stay the hell away from SUVs.

The author of The Art of Cycling recommends seven books that “transcend cycling as mere sport,” and make you want to get out and ride your bike.

Forbes considers the best bike pumps.

Kaitlin Armstrong’s Austin, Texas murder trial for allegedly killing pro gravel cyclist Moriah Wilson has been delayed until October, with no explanation; it had been scheduled for next month.

Employees in a Vermont market went far beyond their usual duties to track down the bicycle stolen from a customer while she was shopping.

A Cambridge, Massachusetts letter writer says getting doored demonstrates why the city needs a bike network and mass transit.

A NY Streetsblog op-ed says center-running bike lanes aren’t as good as proponents suggest. Which may be the understatement of the year.

No, Orlando, Florida is not banning Critical Mass, despite a misunderstanding between organizers and city officials.

 

International

Segway introduces a new line of mopeds and ebikes for women.

A new survey lists the world’s seven best bike cities. Guess how many are in the US?

An Ontario man is inviting the public to peruse his personal collection or antique bikes dating back to the 1800s, including an exhibition showing the evolution of the bicycle from the 1860s to the 1930s.

Tragic news from New Brunswick, where the CEO of the Canadian province’s Energy and Utilities Board died suddenly while riding his bike.

London introduces a plan to boost the use of e-cargo bikes. They could have used one on Saturday for the coronation of King Chuck instead of that ornate gilded coach.

Dublin, Ireland is launching an e-cargo bike rental service targeted to people who don’t drive.

No bias here. Critics are blasting an Oakley ad campaign featuring a French downhill mountain bike champion, who is modestly naked except for his sunglasses, bizarrely comparing it to the Bud Light campaign featuring a transgender influencer that has infuriated some on the right.

An Indian man has been sentenced to a year behind bars for killing a 64-year old Singapore man riding a bicycle, after failing to give way at an intersection, and somehow convincing his passenger to take the blame.

The Daily Mail debates whether drivers in Queensland, Australia are allowed to cross a double yellow line to pass someone on a bicycle. Yet they oddly fail to ask anyone in a position to actually, you know, know.

 

Competitive Cycling

Australia’s Michael Matthews edged out Mads Pedersen and Kaden Groves in a mad sprint to the finish in Monday’s 3rd stage of the Giro, while pre-race favorite Remco Evenepoel extended the overall lead he’s expected to hold for the next three weeks.

US military cyclists will complete in the 25th annual Armed Forces Cycling Classic in Arlington, Virginia next month, with events ranging from kids races to an invitational pro-am race.

No bias here. Retired Olympic cyclist Inga Thompson wants pro cyclists to adopt the anti-racist gesture of taking a knee to “save women’s sports” from trans athletes. In other words, she wants to use a gesture intended to support oppressed minorities to further oppress another oppressed minority. Which is just wrong, regardless of whether or not you approve of trans women competing in women’s sports.

 

Finally…

You know your bike lanes suck when they have to be pre-cleaned to avoid breaking the street sweeper. When you’re reporting from the Netherlands, it only makes sense to build your broadcast studio on a cargo bike.

And feel free to celebrate National Masturbation Month this month, along with National Bike Month.

But preferably not at the same time.

……….

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Guns versus cars, NIMBYs want to ban beach bike bridge in park named for late bike advocate, and SaMo anti-bike bias

May 8, 2023 / / Comments Off on Guns versus cars, NIMBYs want to ban beach bike bridge in park named for late bike advocate, and SaMo anti-bike bias

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me. 

I’d like to say I’m better now, but my blood sugar is still more reminiscent of a ballistic missile than a placid stream. And my mental state is still swirling around the drain, in part due to my health issues, and in part due too many stories like the ones below. 

The former should get a boost when I see my doctor this week, and impress on her the need for more urgent and aggressive action; the latter should improve once the former does.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t count on the health of our streets getting better anytime soon. Or our society, for that matter.

Now let’s catch up on a little news. 

I’ve lost track of who sent me what over the last week, so let me just apologize in advance and thank everyone who sent me something.

And I’ll try to do better next time. 

………

This is who we share the road with.

On Saturday, an alleged rightwing extremist stepped out of a car in Allen, Texas armed with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing eight people and injuring at least seven others, before he was killed by a police officer.

The next day, a speeding driver plowed into a crowd of migrants standing outside a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people and injuring at least eleven others, in a crash witnesses allege was intentional.

If there is a difference between these two events, it appears to be one without distinction.

The body count is remarkably similar; the only difference is the choice of weapon, and the only question is one of intent. Which something tells me matters not one wit to the victims or their loved ones.

We will continue to fail as a nation, and a society, until we take comprehensive action to rein in guns and cars, and the out-of-control people in possession of both.

………

George Wolfberg, right, talks with LA County’s Kristofor Norberg.

I received an email from a friend who lives in the Pacific Palisades area while I was out of commission last week.

She writes that a new park in Potrero Canyon has been named after our mutual friend George Wolfberg, a lifelong civic advocate and volunteer who fought for better beach bike paths, bike lanes and other safety facilities to help Angelenos bike more and drive less, both for cleaner air and to combat climate change, and just for the sheer joy of riding a bike.

George worked on what will now be known as George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon for over 30 years, part of his larger vision of an interconnected Los Angeles.

What he envisioned was a park that would be open to all of the public, an oasis for recreation and beauty, in a fully sustainable environment of coastal native plants, while a restored riparian water capture system would protect the canyon.

Sadly, though, George didn’t live to see the park he worked for decades to build, passing away three years ago at age 82.

And taking nearly eight decades of civic pride and advocacy with him.

But more than just a park, George envisioned a bikeway that would safely allow average people to ride from downtown Pacific Palisades, through the park and across a bridge to the beach, as well as connecting to the bike path to take riders south to the Metro Expo (E) Line in Santa Monica, or even further to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes.

The final step seemed to be when Senator Ben Allen and others earmarked $11 million for the bridge and bikeway,

But as we’ve seen too often in the past, someone always seems to step in at the last minute to throw a wrench in the whole thing.

In this case, it’s a group of wealthy NIMBY homeowners who bizarrely don’t want bikes of any kind to besmirch a park honoring a lifelong bike advocate.

Here’s how she described it.

HOWEVER, there is a group of homeowners in the Palisades with homes on or near the rim of the park who have been very vocal about not wanting any bicycles or any type or e-bikes to be allowed in the park (which goes against what the community came to agreement upon years ago). They are making a lot of noise and asking to return the funds and cancel the bridge.

  • Even though the Coastal Development Permit for the Potrero Canyon Park requires access to the beach;
  • The Recreation and Park Board of Commissioners’ approval for the George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon envisions a bridge access across PCH to the beach parking lot;
  • A bridge would provide safe passage across PCH rather than the danger of people trying to cross through the traffic on foot;
  • The bridge is also something that Caltrans supports (and it does not support adding a crosswalk or light at that location).

Yes, they want to cancel an already funded, and potentially life-saving, bike project.

Where have we heard that before?

But here’s the problem.

Because it was assumed that this was moving forward and funds were set aside, elected officials are only hearing from people opposed to the project, and not from anyone advocating FOR the bridge.

To complicate matters, supporters of the project only learned about the opposition last Wednesday, while the vote is set for this Wednesday, May 10.

Which means if you want a bike path and connectivity to the beach via a safe bridge over PCH, you need to speak up now.

No, now.

Email your support to the following California state senators today —

I’m counting on you.

Because banishing bikes from a park named for one of their biggest advocates would be this city’s ultimate bike fail.

………

Speaking of NIMBYs, a group of motorists are once again raising their anti-bike heads to demand the removal of a SoCal bikeway, this time Santa Monica’s new 17th Street bikeway project.

And once again, they are arguing that a Complete Streets project designed to improve safety for everyone somehow makes them less safe for people in motor vehicles.

Which is just a socially acceptable way of saying they don’t want to be inconvenienced, and are willing to risk sacrificing human lives for their God-given right to go zoom! zoom! to their hearts content.

You can sign a free petition thanking the Santa Monica City Council and Mobility Division for the project, and expressing your appreciation for their work to make our streets safer.

Meanwhile, a new video explains how Santa Monica is turning into Amsterdam. And as you’d expect, drawing more people on bikes.

………

Streetsblog spots new and improved bike infrastructure in Silver Lake, after motorists managed to destructively dismantle the previous effort.

………

Streets For All will host a virtual happy hour with special guest CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez on Wednesday.

After all, anyone who could get “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo off the city council deserves all the support she can get.

………

Mark your calendars for SoCal’s largest Pride ride on June 3rd.

https://twitter.com/CulverCityPride/status/1653863048577445888

………

Speaking of Culver City, drop in for a Bike Month Handlebar Happy Hour this Friday.

https://twitter.com/Atticuz85/status/1653991731980034049

Meanwhile, LA’s Bike Week is next week, while Bike Day — formerly known as Bike to Work Day — will be Thursday, May 18th; Streetsblog offers an overview of Bike Month in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

And Santa Clarita is hosting its annual Bike to Work Challenge next week, as well.

………

Gravel Bike California grinds it out in the Cleveland National Forest. Which, oddly, is nowhere near Cleveland, thankfully.

………

Count on former Talking Heads frontman and bike advocate David Byrne to make a statement in white at the Met Gala.

………

God only knows how many times I’ve been tempted to do exactly this.

………

Who needs bike shorts, when you can just ride naked like Aquaman star Jason Momoa?

Although most bike riders don’t have that little bottle to follow us around.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

Good question. A Montana writer wants to know when bicycle safety became a partisan issue.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

There’s a special place in hell for the British hit-and-run bicyclist who left a two-year old boy lying in the street, after hitting him hard enough to knock the kid out of his shoes.

A Nairobi man faces charges after he was stopped while riding the bicycle he allegedly stole during a violent robbery of the bike’s original owner; his alleged accomplices are still at large.

………

Local 

LA Times Letters Editor Paul Thornton writes about the whiplash of Culver City caving to car culture, while other cities, like Alhambra, are resisting it; he also said Culver City’s ill-advised move made it a horrible week for ‘climate friendly’ cities. 

LAist explains how you can get involved in reshaping the size and structure of the Los Angeles City Council.

 

State

Calbike is asking you to email the California State Senate and the Senate Budget Committee to demand that California policymakers to “divest from regressive road-building” and invest $10 billion in Complete Streets and California’s transportation future. Works for me.

California saw a whopping 10% increase in pedestrian deaths last year, with a pedestrian fatality rate of 1.29 deaths per 100,000 people — a full 25% above the national average.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Corona man was found guilty of killing three teenagers, and critically injuring three others, when he ran their car off the road and into a tree, for the crime of playing Ding Dong Ditch and speeding off after mooning him.

The executive director of Bike SD says San Diego’s decision to widen SR-56 simply prioritizes short-term convenience over long-term sustainability.

San Diego’s Vision Zero is going the wrong way, as bicycling and pedestrian deaths spike on the city’s streets.

Arguello Boulevard in San Francisco’s Presidio will get a protected bike lane, after world masters champ Ethan Boyes was killed there last month. Although as usual, the decision to improve a dangerous street only came after it was too late. 

Hundreds of people rode their bikes in the annual Davis Loopalooza, as residents tried to reclaim their city in the wake of a serial stabber who killed two people, including one who was killed as he rode his bike through a local park.

 

National

If your favorite cyclist or bike advocate now has a blue check on Twitter, there’s a good chance they didn’t ask for it, let alone want it.

American men are three times more likely to ride a bike as American women, unlike many other countries.

Pinkbike’s editors explain what bike saddles they use on their own bikes and why.

A Spokane, Washington woman is — allegedly — a two-time hit-and-run loser, charged with killing two people after getting drunk and falling asleep behind the wheel, a decade after she was convicted of fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider. Which is precisely why drivers should lose their license for life after a single hit-and-run, because they’ve shown themselves to be unwilling to obey even the most basic requirement for driving. Let alone human decency. 

The definition of chutzpah. An Arizona driver, apparently dissatisfied with the gentle caress on the wrist he received for the hit-and-run crash that killed a bike rider, appealed his conviction and sentence of less than six months behind bars and five years probation; thankfully, the appeals court politely told him to pipe down and do his time.

A Salt Lake City TV station takes advantage of Yellowstone’s annual carfree soft-opening for a bike ride through the snowy Wyoming national park.

A Pittsburgh columnist argues the city should commit to zero traffic deaths by 2035. Although as we’ve learned the hard way, it’s one thing to commit to no traffic deaths, but it’s another to get elected leaders to actually invest the money and make the hard choices to make it happen.

If you build it they will come. No surprise here, as a controversial Staten Island lane reduction and bike lanes is seeing more two-wheel traffic as the weather warms.

There’s something wrong when a longtime advocate for bikes and improving New York’s deadly streets becomes a victim of them.

New York’s annual Five Boro Bike Tour brought 32,000 bike riders out for a 40-mile carfree ride through the city.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. The Washington Post looks at DC’s failure to rein in dangerous drivers, as one motorist manages to run up $186,000 in unpaid traffic fines. Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until its too late.

WaPo also examines the dirty underbelly of “clean” electric vehicles, and explains why free street parking could cost you thousands more in rent.

 

International

Tragic news from the UK, where former track champ and Tour of Britain director Tony Doyle died after a brief battle with cancer; he was just 64.

An Irish columnist feels unsafe on the street after arriving at her office, then returns to find her bike missing.

They get it. France will spend the equivalent of $2.21 billion to boost bicycle use over the next five years.

More proof you can carry anything on a bicycle, as a Pakistani photographer catches a street vendor with his bike overloaded with garlic.

That’s more like it. A Johannesburg taxi driver has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed a bike rider, after driving nearly one thousand feet — more than three football fields — with the victim trapped under his van.

 

Competitive Cycling

The home side was victorious in Sunday’s stage 2 of the Giro, as Italy’s Jonathan Milan took the day, and reigning world champ Remco Evenepoel held onto the leader’s jersey.

Dutch cyclist Martijn Tusveld survived a dramatic crash late in Sunday’s stage 2, but his bike didn’t, snapping in two when he was sent flying into a roadside barrier.

Cycling Weekly profiles four-time world champ Annemiek van Vleuten, saying Remco Evenepoel isn’t the only former soccer player to win the cycling worlds.

Conservative media was up in arms over a “biological man” winning the women’s Tour of the Gila, saying it renewed calls to ban trans women from competitive cycling. Which would only seem to matter if you ignore all the other times a trans woman didn’t win.

An Ohio woman finished the 2022 Race Across America, aka RAAM, in 11 months and seven days, completing the final 262 miles ten months after a crash into a wooden bridge left her with a broken hip.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you visit a Marin bike museum, and find your mother’s seatless bike on display. Your next bike could have brake levers poking out of the handlebars, even before you crash it.

And fortunately, this helped mitigate the trauma caused when Britain’s new figurehead not only failed to include a regiment of royal corgis in the coronation parade, but didn’t even his loyal four-foot soldiers a shoutout.

……….

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Move along, nothing to see here — diabetes edition

May 4, 2023 / / 4 comments

I give up.

After struggling, and failing, to control my blood sugar this week, I’m throwing in the towel.

If by struggling you mean feeling sick 24/7, and passing out every night and most of each day.

And to be honest, I’m not in the best space mentally or emotionally right now.

So I’m giving up on posting this week. Hopefully a few more days rest will help turn things around.

One way or the other, I’ll be back next week to bring you all the best bike news, and catch up on some of the things we’ve missed.

And I’ll be seeing my doctor next week, who’s going to get an earful.

Category: General /

Bicyclist killed in Hawthorne hit-and-run, 21-year old driver arrested; 6th SoCal bike rider killed by hit-and-run drivers this year

April 29, 2023 / / One comment

Once again, a heartless coward has left an innocent victim riding a bicycle to die on a SoCal street.

CBS Los Angeles reports the victim was struck by a westbound driver on Rosecrans Ave at Cerise Ave around 8:45 Thursday night.

The victim died at the scene, despite the efforts of paramedics, and has not been publicly identified.

An anonymous caller alerted the police to the location of the driver’s car, a black late model Nissan SUV, less than a block away in an underground parking garage in the 14100 block of Cerise Avenue.

A street view shows a large apartment complex at that location, suggesting the 21-year old driver, who also has not been publicly identified, may have been arrested at his home, or visiting another person.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Hawthorne Police Traffic Bureau at 310/349-2701.

This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

It’s also the sixth fatal hit-and-run involving a SoCal bike rider this year.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Deliberate vehicular assault in Point Loma hit-and-run, CA ebike rebates, and comment on Redondo Beach Blvd plan

April 28, 2023 / / Comments Off on Deliberate vehicular assault in Point Loma hit-and-run, CA ebike rebates, and comment on Redondo Beach Blvd plan

Now we know what happened.

This past Monday, we called attention to a bicyclist seriously injured in a hit-and-run in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood last week.

Tristan Gonzalez, a former San Diego police helicopter pilot and a high school mountain bike league board member — and, I’m told, a really nice guy — was riding on Catalina Blvd near Bernice Drive when he was run down by the driver around 4:50 pm.

He posted about the crash from his hospital bed, describing the suspect as a white male around 35-45 years old, wearing a lighter colored baseball cap, and driving a smaller white pickup truck with an extended cab and non-tinted windows.

According to San Diego’s CBS8,

He said he first encountered the driver of a white Toyota Tacoma a block earlier near Catalina Boulevard and Narragansett Avenue. He said he sensed the driver was getting dangerously close to him. At one point, he said the driver hit the handlebars of Gonzalez’s bike.

Gonzalez said he approached the truck and looked into the window. He said the driver stared straight ahead and didn’t acknowledge him.

As they both continued down Catalina toward Bernice, he sensed he was about to be hit.

“All of a sudden, I hear honking. I hear a car speed up, and sure enough, the same white truck came up alongside me,” said Gonzalez. “I just had time to look over and to see it was the same truck and to see the driver steer and turn the truck and speed right into me. I went flying and landed in the street with several injuries.”

To make matters worse, I’m told a witness pulled over to help, but accidentally left her car in drive, only stopping when Gonzolez’ helmet was wedged between the front tire, fender and bumper as a wheel chock.

He was hospitalized with a broken hip, clavicle and punctured lung. The good news is, he was scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

Police are reportedly taking the incident seriously, investigating the crash as an assault with a deadly weapon. Although it should be considered attempted murder.

A still photo taken from a doorbell video shows the white extended cab pickup.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the San Diego Police Department.

Photo depicts Tristan Gonzalez from his hospital bed. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

………

Streetsblog has more information about California’s ebike rebate program, which we mentioned yesterday, saying it’s on track for a soft launch in June, and full operation in the third quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Bicycling examines the growing list of ebike incentives offered by cities and states across the US. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

………

Here’s your chance to comment on plans for the Redondo Beach Blvd Active Transportation Corridor Project.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

No bias here. A Vancouver, Washington letter writer can’t comprehend why the city has so many bike lanes when it rains eight months out of the year, suggesting no one is going to ride their bike to work in the rain. To paraphrase a famous quote of unknown origin, the person who says no one will do it shouldn’t interrupt those who are doing it. 

Shades of Culver City. A Toronto mayoral candidate swears he’s not anti-bike lane, even as he threatens to rip out a busy bike lane on a major street.

An anti-bike member of the British Parliament called for removing a bike lane where 59 people have been injured in the past year as a result of a pale line painted the same color as a curb, creating an optical illusion; he has also used racist terms in the past in criticizing bike lanes. Or they could just paint one or the other a different color, and solve the whole problem.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Frequent British tabloid target Jeremy Vine was criticized for not stopping to help while riding his bike past a crash scene. Even though dashcam video shows the BBC presenter stopping to talk with someone before riding on.

Bike riders in the UK are warned against the increasingly common practice of bike commuters “half-wheeling” by riding with half a wheel’s length in front of another bicyclist.

………

Local 

The LA Times gets it, saying walking to school shouldn’t be deadly, in the wake of the crash that killed a mom and critically injured her daughter as they crossed the street to get to the girl’s school. Then again, biking to school shouldn’t mean risking life and limb, either.

Metro says this year’s Bike Week is scheduled for May 15-19 and Bike Day, formerly known as Bike To Work Day, will be Thursday, May 18. Let’s just hope it doesn’t fizzle out for lack of interest like it did last year.

Speaking of Metro, the Los Angeles County transportation agency says upgrades will be rolling out for their bike locker program in the coming months, starting with the Culver City Expo Line Station.

Finishing our Metro trifecta, the agency invites you to join their commissioned artist Geoff McFetridge and Ride-On! Bike Shop/Co-Op on a 5-mile community bike ride from the Ride-On! Bike Shop in Leimert Park to the K Line’s Westchester/Veterans Station. 

 

State

The family of fallen Encinitas bicyclist Jennings Worley have begun settlement talks in a lawsuit against Shea Homes, three years after Worley, a leading scientist working on a cure cystic fibrosis, was killed when moving truck driver right hooked him turning into one of the builder’s developments. Which raises the question of how many CF patients will needlessly suffer because he isn’t there to develop a treatment for the devastating disease. 

A California website calls the bike and pedestrian Redding Sundial Bridge an architectural marvel promoting art, culture, and environmental sustainability.

A San Diego letter writer says cutting parking in the city’s Balboa Park for new bus and bike lanes doesn’t help the environment. Apparently confusing smog-belching cars for some cleaner form of transportation — like buses and bikes, for instance. 

 

National

Writing for the New Yorker, novelist Joyce Carol Oates offers a novella centering on a bicycle crash.

Prolific author Judy Blume is one of us, shown riding bicycles with her husband in a new documentary.

Bike Rumor looks at 3D-printed banana holders.

Writing for Outside, Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss offers a defense for biking in the suburbs. You can read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bike Portland says a relatively minor shift in how the city will regulate a few parking spaces is being “framed as a sinister scheme by PBOT to ban trucks across a swath of downtown Portland,” while hurting local businesses at the same time.

Seattle’s Rad Power Bikes continues to hemorrhage employees, undergoing its fourth round of layoffs.

A Spokane, Washington website says 750 bike riders have been struck by drivers in the city since 2014, along with 1,500 pedestrians, and examines what can be done to stop the carnage.

A 23-year old Illinois woman was sentenced to four years behind bars for killing a man riding an ebike while she was high on weed.

New York is deploying streetlight-mounted artificial intelligence-enabled sensors to “collect anonymized data on modes of transportation such as cars, buses, trucks, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians and others and the paths they take,” and how they interact on the streets.

Grubhub will provide free use of ebikes to at least 500 New York delivery workers, along with access to over 50 hubs where workers can store bikes, exchange batteries and collect delivery rider gear.

 

International

Road.cc explains what all-road bikes are, describing them as “drop-bar bikes that are fast and capable on any kind of road surface from smooth asphalt all the way to light gravel tracks.” In other words, what we used to call a “bicycle.”

Canadian ebike maker Velec announced an “innovative” anti-theft protection program offering replacement bikes and unlimited roadside assistance anywhere in Canada. Which is pretty much what VanMoof innovated five years ago. 

Two-time Tour de France champ Gino Bartali is the subject of a new musical premiering in London’s West End theater district for his heroism saving Jews under the nose of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini during WWII.

The truck driver who killed a 74-year old British man as he rode his bike was spared prison time when the victim’s wife pleaded with the court to show him mercy.

Bike riders in Hyderabad, India are pleased with progress being made on a long-awaited, three-lane, 15 mile cycle track.

No surprise here. Danish Crown Princess Mary is one of us, as she’s spotted riding a bike on a royal visit to her native Australia.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mathieu Van Der Poel plans to skip major mountain bike races to focus on road racing until after this year’s Road World Championships.

Seventeen-year-old Coronado High School Junior Eddie “Shreddie” Reynolds is officially turning pro, and will henceforth ride for the Kona Bikes Factory Team. When I was a junior in high school, I was just happy to ride my bike carrying a Sousaphone without falling.

LA-based L39ION of Los Angeles is launching three new cycling kits designed by Rapha, while L39ION founder Justin Williams announced the formation of the new Circuit Racing International Tour, or CRIT, bike racing league, calling it the future of cycling.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and fentanyl on your bike, with four outstanding warrants, try not to almost fall off in front of the cops. Fall of your bike, and your jeans turn into airbags, even if they make you look like a old-time motorcycle cop.

And your next new cranks could cost more than most people’s bikes.

……….

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Update: Bicyclist killed north of Lancaster Wednesday night

April 28, 2023 / / Comments Off on Update: Bicyclist killed north of Lancaster Wednesday night

Someone was killed riding a bike somewhere near Gorman Wednesday night.

Or maybe not.

According to My News LA, the CHP responded after the victim was struck around 11:06 pm Wednesday, finding the victim’s body lying on side of the roadway.

Struck by what is unclear, though, since there’s no mention of a driver. Or even a motor vehicle.

We also don’t know if the driver stuck around or fled the scene, nor is there any description of the victim.

The site places the crash on the northbound Antelope Valley Freeway (CA 14) and West Avenue C. However, the Antelope Valley Freeway goes nowhere near Gorman, which is around 40 miles west on the 5 Freeway.

There also does not appear to be a West Avenue C anywhere near Gorman, though there is a W Ave C 14 in Lancaster. But it doesn’t appear to intersect with the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Hopefully someone will clarify things soon.

This is, presumably, at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

But even that is unclear right now.

Update: Now it makes a little more sense. 

The Antelope Valley Press reports the victim was killed on the Antelope Valley Freeway north of Lancaster. 

Not, as the earlier report indicate, near Gorman. Although I still can’t find the location on a map. 

And there’s still no word on how it happened, or whether the driver stuck around afterwards. 

 

 

 

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

Huerta on trial for Tour de Palm Springs death, examining the racial gap in traffic deaths, and too little too late for LA mom

April 27, 2023 / / Comments Off on Huerta on trial for Tour de Palm Springs death, examining the racial gap in traffic deaths, and too little too late for LA mom

We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today, so settle in and let’s get to it. 

……..

Jury selection has begun in the trial of Ronnie Ramon Huerta for the death of 56-year old bicyclist Mark Kristofferson during the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs.

Huerta was allegedly stoned and driving at up to 100 mph when he lost control of his car and plowed into the Lake Stevens, Washington man and 48-year-old Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers as they were riding their bikes.

Kristofferson died at the scene, while Akers miraculously survived the impact despite suffering significant head trauma, resulting in lasting injuries.

Huerta was arrested after he was detained by witnesses as he tried to escape into the desert.

He faces charges of second-degree murder, driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

NBC Palm Springs had this to say about Huerta’s driving history prior to the crash.

According to a trial brief filed by the District Attorney’s Office, Huerta was a repeat traffic offender, racking up seven citations over a two- year span for speeding, failing to obey traffic signals and signs, making unsafe lane changes and driving while distracted due to use of a cellular telephone.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles suspended his driving privileges in 2017 because he had accumulated so many points on his record that he was deemed a “negligent operator” of a vehicle and unsafe to be on the road, the brief said.

Huerta had been suspected of driving under the influence of marijuana during a Desert Hot Springs police investigation in January 2017 stemming from his plowing through a stop sign on Palm Drive. However, no charges were filed due to a lack of conclusive results in blood screenings that were done after his arrest, according to court papers.

Despite that, he still retained possession of his car, so he able to get behind the wheel despite his horrendous driving record and lack of a valid license.

And Kristofferson and Akers paid the price.

Allegedly.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova for Pexels.

………

He gets it.

In an op-ed in the New York Times, Adam Paul Susaneck, founder of Segregation by Design, examines the alarming racial gap in American traffic deaths.

Across the US — and right here in Los Angeles — your risk of dying in a traffic collision increases exponentially if you live in a community populated primarily by people of color, as well as lower income neighborhoods.

Which are too often the same thing.

The design of our cities is partly to blame for these troubling disparities. Pedestrian and cyclist injuries tend to be concentratedin poorer neighborhoods that have a larger share of Black and Hispanic residents. These neighborhoods share a history of under-investment in basic traffic safety measures such as streetlights, crosswalks and sidewalks, and an over-investment in automobile infrastructure meant to speed through people who do not live there. Recent research from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, found that formerly redlined neighborhoods — often the targets of mid-century “slum clearance” projects that destroyed residences and businesses to allow for new arterial roads and highways — had a strong statistical association with increased pedestrian deaths. The neighborhoods graded D for lending risk by the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation had more than double the pedestrian fatality rate than neighborhoods graded A.

He writes that on a per mile basis, Black people are more than twice as likely to be struck and killed by a vehicle as white pedestrians, while fatality rates for Black bicyclists are a whopping 4.5 times higher than white cyclists.

For Hispanic walkers and bikers, the death rates were 1.5 and 1.7 times higher, respectively, than they are for white Americans using the same modes of transportation.

Then he brings it home for those of us living here in LA.

In Los Angeles, for instance, a 2020 analysis by U.C.L.A. researchers found that although Black residents made up 8.6 percent of the city’s population, they represented more than 18 percent of all pedestrians killed and around 15 percent of all cyclists. From 2016 to 2020, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had more pedestrian deaths than any other metro area in the United States and a pedestrian death rate higher than the metropolitan areas around New York, Philadelphia or Washington…

Last year, 312 people died in traffic accidents in Los Angeles, the majority of them pedestrians and cyclists. “If 300 people died of something in the city, whether it was something violent or whether it was something else like Covid, the resources were put behind it to try to prevent those things, to respond to those things,” said Eunisses Hernandez, a member of the Los Angeles City Council. “We have not seen that same urgency with people dying in traffic accidents as pedestrians and as cyclists.”

Shameful doesn’t begin to describe it.

The solution, he says, is investing in safer road design with proven interventions like “narrowing streets, reducing the amount of space devoted to cars, enforcing speed limits and adding trees to provide visual cues for drivers to slow down.”

And he adds,

City planners must recognize that we all should be able to walk or ride a bicycle through our own neighborhood without fearing for our life.

It’s well worth a few minutes of your day to read the whole thing.

Go ahead, we’ll wait.

………

Call it yet another example to too little, too late.

A mom walking her 6-year old daughter in a crosswalk was fatally run down by a driver, and her daughter critically injured, as they crossed the street in front of the girl’s school Tuesday morning.

The driver may or may not have been intoxicated, or could have been suffering a medical emergency.

So the LA city council has responded with a plan to install speed bumps near every elementary school in the city.

Which raises the obvious question of what the hell took them so long — particularly since the city has ostensibly had a Safe Routes to Schools program for the past several years?

And why the hell do we always have to wait until someone is needlessly killed before making even the smallest safety improvements?

At least they’re doing something now. Too late for an innocent mother and her equally innocent child.

But still.

………

They get it, too.

A podcast from The New Republic examines America’s unhealthful addiction to motor vehicles.

Americans are in a toxic relationship with their automobiles. They’re bad for us—polluting, noisy, and increasingly dangerous to pedestrians—yet we remain fully committed to them. They’re also bad at their primary function: transport.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet.

But this week’s fiasco with the gutting of the MOVE Culver City project to add a traffic lane certainly makes their case for them.

………

Spectrum News 1 reports California’s long-delayed $7.5 million ebike rebate program will finally launch sometime in the second quarter of this year.

Which is, like, now.

The program will be limited to California residents 18 or older, with a gross annual household income less than 300% of the federal poverty level.

The station reports that the standard tax credit will be $1,000, with an additional $750 for cargo or adaptive ebikes.

You can also receive another $250 if you live in a a disadvantaged or low-income community, or have a gross income 225% of the federal poverty level, or less.

Meanwhile, Tuesday’s meeting of the Pasadena Municipal Committee was cancelled, delaying approval of a proposed ebike rebate program for residents of that city.

Thanks to Atticuz the Freelance Activist for the heads-up.

………

Things are starting to take shape on 7th Street in DTLA.

https://twitter.com/multimodalLA/status/1651053122276720641

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

San Diego’s infamously bike hating Ocean Beach columnist calls on the neighborhood to secede from the city, in part because of bike lanes allegedly foisted upon them without local input.

No bias here. A Toronto mayoral candidate has taken aim at the city’s bike lanes, catering his campaign to bike lane haters.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Three women were assaulted in separate incidents in New York’s Central Park after being surrounded by bikeshare-riding teenagers.

………

Local 

Who knew you could checkout a bike pump at your local library?

Streets For All reminds you to take the survey about changes to Eagle Rock Blvd between Colorado and York boulevards, and select Option 2, which they say is “safest for cyclists, widens sidewalks, adds more sidewalk trees and preserves the most parking (ie. less likely to experience community pushback).”

Streetsblog offers photos from Sunday’s 626 Golden Streets through four San Gabriel Valley communities, and reports that new bike lanes have been installed on Foothill Boulevard in Sylmar and San Fernando Road in Cypress Park.

Michael Siegel forwards news that South Pas Active Streets will host a bike valet at Saturday’s The Eclectic community music and art festival in South Pasadena; the event will be held on Mission Street, which will be closed to cars for the day.

 

State

Streetsblog offers more details on AB 73 passing out of the Assembly Transportation Committee; the bill would allow adult bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, but must survive Gavin Newsom’s veto pen if it passes the legislature.

San Diego continues to make massive payouts to settle personal injury lawsuits, with the latest example a $2.95 million settlement for a man who suffered a traumatic brain injury when he was thrown off his bike after hitting sunken pavement in the city’s Bay Ho neighborhood, and now suffers permanent disabilities. Thanks to Phillip Young for the link.

This is who we share the road with. A Temescal Valley man is on trial for murder in the hit-and-run death of three teenagers, and critically injuring three others, when he allegedly ran them off the road in a fit of rage after one of the teens rang his doorbell and mooned him before speeding off in their car; he also claims he seldom drinks, but somehow chugged two six-packs of beer in two and a half hours before the crash, yet was miraculously driving under control, “even using his turn signals” as he pursued their car. Sure, that’s credible.

Friends of fallen San Francisco masters cycling champ Ethan Boyes want to know why the details of his death remains shrouded in mystery, while the lawyer for his family calls for patience.

Sad news from Fremont, where a man riding an ebike was killed in a collision with a Tesla driver.

A group of bicyclists including former pros Alison Tetrick and Rebecca Rusch rode their bikes from Marin County to Monterey’s Sea Otter Classic, while Cycling Weekly highlights the top ten things chosen from the 900 brands on display at the show.

The Kelly Clarkson Show features Sacramento’s Mercy Pedalers, a religious nonprofit that uses bikes to distribute water, food and other vital resources to the city’s homeless residents.

A kindhearted Merced school principal bought a new bike for a teenage student after his was stolen.

 

National

Road Bike Rider considers the difference between biking and cycling, even though they mean exactly the same thing.

Vice recommends the best city bikes, going beyond the usual suspects to include bikes from REI, Linus and State.

A bill in the Oregon legislature targeting civil disorder has bike advocates worried that it could ensnare people protesting while riding a bike or corking an intersection on charges of engaging in paramilitary activity.

The Coast Guard had to rescue a man in Galveston, Texas after he spent nearly a day trapped in mud when his bike got stuck.

A Texas man rode eighty miles on what he calls the frontage road from hell, just so you don’t have to.

The editor of Chicago Streetsblog is recovering after he was seriously injured when a piece of unsecured construction material fell off a pickup truck and struck him as he was on a bike tour of southern Illinois.

A Minnesota man was named Advocate of the Year by the League of American Bicyclists.

A bighearted Indiana man is on a mission to ensure every kid can have a bike, by refurbishing used bikes and donating them to children in need.

The family of a Pittsburgh man tased to death by cops for the crime of test riding a bicycle he thought was abandoned has reached a super secret settlement with the city; five officers were fired over the incident, while three others were disciplined.

A bighearted man in Maine has spent the last three years rebuilding 400 bikes for asylum seekers coming to the state.

Bicycling calls BS on a Cambridge, Massachusetts group whose highly-flawed study purports to show bike lanes are more dangerous than simply sharing the road. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

If you build it, they will come. New York City’s transportation commissioner says bike ridership in the city had has reached an all-time high, with 24,000 daily weekday trips on on the East River Bridges alone.

The chair of New York’s city council transportation committee insists local community boards should have veto power over street safety projects. Which would turn New York’s successful traffic safety work into the same failed system we suffer with in Los Angeles, where councilmembers overrule any and every project in their districts.

Two new bike lanes across the Mississippi River from New Orleans are causing confusing among apparently easily confused drivers and local officials, with contradictory complaints that one lacks protective barriers, and the other one doesn’t.

Miami officials have approved plans for a 20-mile long, fully separated pedestrian and bicycle trail.

A teenager vacationing in Florida with his family suffered serious injuries when a 19-year old unlicensed driver fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into his bike.

 

International

Brompton foldies go electric, as Momentum considers the benefits of owning a folding bicycle.

Bike riders in Ottawa, Canada complain that new bike lanes abruptly end to make room for right turn lanes, arguing that the design is too dangerous. To which SoCal bike riders say welcome to our world.

Add this one to your bike bucket list — an ebike tour of lighthouses in southwest Scotland.

A British company has introduced rear-view bicycling glasses with built-in mirrors.

A man in the UK denies having anything to do with the hundreds of stolen bikes found in his garden. Apparently, they were all place there by the bike fairies without his knowledge.

Apparently fascinated by countries starting with the 21st and 11th letters of the alphabet, an English man rode his bike nearly 2,000 miles from the UK to Ukraine in three weeks to raise funds for charity.

An Aussie broadcast network examines desire lines, and what they can tell us about how to design safer, better public spaces.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgium’s Sanne Cant is back in action after receiving 60 stitches to close severe facial cuts suffered in a mass crash in the women’s Paris-Roubaix.

Tragic news from Colombia, where a 17-year old cyclist died of a heart attack during the second stage of the Vuelta a Anapoima.

A local cycling team in Sierra Leone is riding in Great Britain’s national team kit, after the outdated uniforms were donated by the father of Britain’s Ethan and Leo Hayter.

Alpecin Cycling previews next months 106th Giro d’Italia.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your final project for welding school is an 8.5-foot high tall bike. When you’re carrying meth on your bike, obey the damn traffic laws — and don’t head butt the cop car after you get busted.

And when you’re riding your bike with an outstanding arrest warrant, stop for the damn stop sign, already — and don’t fight with the cops after leading them on a bicycle chase.

……….

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Culver City to bike and bus riders: drop dead — CC council votes to rip out MOVE Culver City Complete Streets project

April 26, 2023 / / 2 comments

Today’s Morning Links have been cancelled in favor of an unbridled rant regarding the sheer recalcitrant idiocy demonstrated by the Culver City Council Tuesday night. 

Or make that early Wednesday morning, since treachery usually occurs in the early morning hours, long after most people with any common sense have gone to bed.

Which leaves out three-fifths of Culver City’s elected leadership.

We’ll be back tomorrow with our regularly scheduled programming.

………

It really shouldn’t surprise anyone.

As expected, the newly conservative Culver City Council voted to gut the MOVE Culver City project.

The highly successful Complete Streets project received overwhelming public support going late into the night at Tuesday’s council session.

Yet they still voted 3 to 2 to remove the protected bike lanes in favor of a shared bus and bike lane, in order to add another traffic lane so more drivers can go zoom, zoom to their hearts content.

At least that’s the theory.

In reality, it’s likely to result in more congestion, as the added lane will just encourage more drivers to clog the city’s downtown area, with the added noise, smog and safety risks they’ll bring with them.

It will also mean reduced bike traffic, as fewer riders will be willing to use the newly shared bus and bike lanes, with the risk of an inattentive or impatient bus driver running up their ass.

Then again, that appears to be purely intentional.

https://twitter.com/BikeCulverCity/status/1651055143616643076

And it means slower bus traffic, as buses will now have to follow behind people on bicycles, making it a less attractive transportation option and resulting reduced ridership.

Never mind this logical disconnect.

https://twitter.com/wiscottcurtis/status/1650779709238841347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1650779709238841347%7Ctwgr%5E52547c9f1d257dba9e318fb7c7de7e4a9aad5b6e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxla.com%2Fnews%2Fculver-city-council-votes-eliminate-protected-bike-bus-lanes

Call it a lose/lose/lose.

Because the city is giving a big FU to anyone not safely ensconced in a couple tons of dangerous, polluting glass and steel.

And you can add another lose to that, since the move to rip out the project will inevitably result in a CEQA violation unless the city manages to conduct an environmental impact study that somehow miraculously shows little or no environmental damage from the project’s removal.

Sure, that will happen.

In reality, the city will likely try to rip out the bike lanes without conducting the required study, resulting in a CEQA lawsuit, followed by a likely court judgement requiring them to put them back.

Making the entire effort a performative exercise designed to placate the angry conservative voters who elected the new reactionary councilmembers.

While everyone else who lives, works or moves through the city just gets shafted.

Pitiful.

Needless to say, the condemnation following the vote was fast and furious.

https://twitter.com/SunriseMvmtLA/status/1650909387144429568

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