Hollywood meets Koreatown CicLAvia, help provide bikes for fire victims, and 2 boys arrested in mob driver beatdown

February 28, 2025 / / Comments Off on Hollywood meets Koreatown CicLAvia, help provide bikes for fire victims, and 2 boys arrested in mob driver beatdown
Day 59 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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CicLAvia returns to Koreatown and Hollywood on the first Sunday in April, with a semi-new route traversing Wilshire, Western, Santa Monica and Highland.

Which makes it one of the easiest CicLAvia’s to get to, with Metro subway stops at either end.

Not to mention the semi-protected bike lanes on Hollywood Blvd, although they dump you off three blocks from the Hollywood and Vine Hub, leaving you to deal with the Amoeba Records and Funko traffic on your own.

https://twitter.com/CicLAvia/status/1895172175625097495

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The Los Angeles Times’ outdoor newsletter The Wild calls out a pair of bike events this weekend we touched on earlier this week, both helping to provide bicycles to people and families affected by the recent firestorms in the LA area.

1. Walk and bike for a good cause in Culver City
Walk ‘n Rollers will host its annual Walk More Bike More Festival from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Ivy Station in Culver City. The event raises money for Walk ‘n Rollers’ adopt-a-bike program, which has refurbished and donated more than 350 bikes to families in need. This year, bikes will be primarily donated to families affected by recent wildfires. At the festival, guests can participate in free bike repairs, a scavenger hunt and a prize raffle. There will also be e-bike and skateboard demos. The event is free, but registration is requested, with the option to donate. Register at walkmorebikemore.org…

3. Build bikes in Mar Vista to help Eaton fire survivors
Bikerowave Co-op needs volunteers with bike wrenching experience to prep bikes that will be donated to people affected by the Eaton fire. The repair event will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday at its shop (12255 Venice Blvd.). The shop has several bikes to repair but welcomes donations. All bikes will be checked by a head mechanic before they’re distributed. Learn more at the shop’s Instagram page.

You can sign up for the email newsletter here.

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Two arrests have been made in Saturday’s violent mob attack on a driver at San Vicente Blvd and McCarthy Vista by a group of teens riding bicycles.

Both boys have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon, but aren’t likely to be publicly identified unless they are tried as adults. Although it’s questionable what the deadly weapons may have been, unless the DA is counting the shoes they kicked him with.

Hopefully, these two can help identify some of the other kids, who deserve to be grounded until they’re 30, at the very least.

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Local  

Jalopnik looks at that violent mob attack, and apparently concludes there’s a gang of teens riding around the city just randomly attacking drivers. Which unfortunately may not be that far off the mark.

 

State

Mountain View will attempt to tame one of the city’s “diciest” bicycling routes with new protected bike lanes.

Life is cheap in Fremont, where a 31-year old man was sentenced to a lousy year of home vacation detention — and will likely do less than half of that —  for the 2019 hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bicycle, after swerving to strike the victim for no apparent reason while doing 25 mph over the posted speed limit.

A new study shows San Francisco’s Slow Streets program has been successful in improving safety for all road users, and could be a key tool to reduce traffic deaths.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The 47-year old Vallejo man killed this week while riding his bike on a deadly Napa County highway has been identified as a beloved nurse and humanitarian, as well as a Tahitian dancer.

 

National

Women’s online magazine Redbook recommends the 17 best ebikes on the market. Which probably aren’t, but still.

Portlanders will join bicyclists in 74 other cities in a Tesla Takedown ride this weekend to protest Elon Musk in absentia. And yes, there are several rides planned for the LA and Orange County areas.

A writer for the University of Arizona student newspaper says the school needs better bike safety on campus. Just like pretty much every other university campus in the US. 

Bike riders in Boise, Idaho fear a new bill in the state legislature to add two new members to a county commission is intended to stack the board with opponents of bike safety projects.

An Arkansas cycling startup accelerator has selected its first ten participants, in an effort to help bicycle companies from Bentonville and around the world get a jumpstart in the industry.

A 57-year old New York man was killed by the driver of a city bus in the Bronx, which was being used as a replacement shuttle for an out-of-service subway; the crash occurred on a “killer corridor” known for traffic deaths.

Atlanta’s “massively successful” ebike rebate could see another round of funding, after already helping 800 city residents get a new ebike, many of whom might not have been able to afford one otherwise. Which is exactly what California’s designed to fail program should be doing.

A 78-year old hit-and-run driver critically injured a 78-year old Florida bike rider while fleeing from an earlier hit-and-run crash, while on his way to yet another crash before finally stopping. Once again raising the eternal question of how old is too old to drive, and why the hell we can’t get people off the road before this kind of crap happens. 

Police in Buena Vista, Florida arrested a fake “homeland security officer” for impersonating an officer, after he tucked a loaded gun inside his jacket and rode his bicycle to an apartment complex to look for “Mexicans” in the country illegally — and handing the cops a blue ID card, which was actually his application to become a licensed security officer.

 

International

Momentum recommends the best solutions to store your bikes.

If you’re planning to escape head to Canada anytime soon, don’t walk or ride in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga, which has been the deadliest city north of the border for both over the last ten years, on a per capita basis; then again, Toronto isn’t much better.

A pair of hammer-armed bikejackers on a motorbike forced a man off his bike in London’s Regent Park, stealing his $5,200 bicycle in a crime captured on security cam.

Life is cheap in Scotland, where a woman walked without a single day behind bars for killing a “legendary” Glasgow bicyclist, despite falsely telling investigators that her vision was impaired.

Distracted drivers killed 32 people in Japan last year, while causing 164 serious crashes; that compares to one person killed by a distracted bike rider, despite the massive new penalty for using a cellphone while biking.

You may be freezing your ass off this winter, but Down Under they’re spontaneously stripping off their clothes and joining a naked bike ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s going to cost you more to watch cycling on the Max streaming service after they discontinued bike racing on the ad-supported level.

 

Finally….

There’s just nothing like riding a dilapidated bike surrounded by ghosts and ancient cycling spirits. If you’re riding your bike with a gun, illegal drugs and an explosive-filled backpack, put a damn light on it, already.

And watch the Bob Ross off mountain biking shredding on a hundred buck bike.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Will Chalamet #biketheOscars Sunday?, LADOT ignores HLA on Hyperion Ave, and beach bike path bridge totally collapses

February 27, 2025 / / Comments Off on Will Chalamet #biketheOscars Sunday?, LADOT ignores HLA on Hyperion Ave, and beach bike path bridge totally collapses
Day 58 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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There’s one question that’s on everyone’s lips in advance of Sunday’s Oscar ceremony.

Will Timothée Chalamet bike the Oscars?

Back in the heady pre-pandemic days, there was an active campaign to get someone, anyone, to arrive at the Oscar red carpet on a bicycle.

As I recall, the only star to take us up on it was actor and environmentalist Ed Begley, Jr.

Unless you want to confer stardom on Laemmle Theaters owner Greg Laemmle, who rode to the ceremony with his wife Tish and a small entourage as recently as last year.

But there may be hope, since Best Actor nominee Chalamet rode this bike to the London premier of the Oscar nominated Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, famously getting a ticket for illegally parking his bikeshare bike.

So if you know Mr. Chalamet, or know anyone who knows him — or even if you’re just within the proverbial five degrees of separation — encourage him to leave the gas-guzzling limo at home.

And hop on a bike, even if it’s just for the final few blocks.

Today’s photo shows Tish and Greg Laemmle preparing to #biketheOscars last year.

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My city councilmember took to Twitter/X yesterday to give LADOT a little pat on the head for improving safety on Hyperion Avenue, which has long been a virtual freeway for speeding drivers.

But as Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports, the work on Hyperion should have triggered Measure HLA, requiring the city to build out the already-approved mobility plan.

Mobility Plan 2035, so called because it provided what has been a largely-ignored roadmap to transportation improvements through that year, calls for bike lanes on the decidedly bike-unfriendly street, as well as handicap curb cuts and crosswalks.

Instead, Linton says the work has made the street even less safe and inviting for people on bicycles, while doing little for pedestrians other than slowing drivers.

Which, as I understand the provision of HLA, means you or anyone else are now free to sue the city to force compliance, on their dime.

So what are you waiting for, already?

This also gives provides an opportunity to remind you what a great resource Streetsblog LA is for this city, and for all of us who care about traffic safety, and how we get from here to there. 

So show them a little love, if you haven’t already. Or if you have, show ’em a little more for me. 

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It’s enough to make you cry.

According to Westside Current, a $6 million bike bridge on the Marvin Braude bike path through Will Rogers State Beach has collapsed.

Again.

Just a year after heavy rains washed out the bridge, causing a partial collapse, last week’s atmospheric river finished the job.

Which might be more of a problem, if much of the pathway wasn’t already virtually impassable in places due to sand obscuring the pavement — despite nearly $5 million in City and County funds allocated for bike path repairs and maintenance for the current fiscal year.

Even though this site called attention to that very problem 15 years ago, eventually touring the bike path with the former LA County Bikeway Coordinator and the late, great advocate George Wolfberg.

At that time, the county was very responsive, sending out crews with miniature bulldozers — and some not so miniature — to clear it off, while committing to keeping it clear.

So much for that.

Now the internationally recognized crown jewel of LA bikeways lies in ruins, collapsed and buried. A sad metaphor, perhaps, for what has happened to so much of the city and county we call home.

But one that doesn’t need to be. And shouldn’t.

Thanks to David Drexler for the heads-up.

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Thanks to Todd Edelman for reminding us that while the media was obsessing over Tuesday’s near-miss between a Southwest Airlines plane and a private jet at Chicago’s Midway Airport, countless people riding bicycles throughout the US had their own near misses with people in the big, dangerous machines.

And more than a few probably didn’t. Miss, that is.

But there were no breathless news reports. No endless analysis of what might have gone wrong.

Just a lot of bike riding people thanking whatever power they may favor for making it home in one piece, even as the person driving probably forgot the whole thing seconds later.

If they even noticed at all.

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As we discussed last week, Pasadena-based nonprofit Day One is collecting bicycles that can be refurbished and donated to victims of the Eaton Fire in Altadena.

And now there are a lot more places where you can drop them off.

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Sounds like fun.

Gravel Bike California will host a “Cargopalooza” bike picnic and family meetup in Griffith Park next weekend.

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This is what rush hour in looks like in Copenhagen, in the middle of winter, with hardly a car in sight.

Instagram post

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

No bias here. Cycling Utah calls out a group pushing a bill in the state legislature by using falsehoods — aka lies — claiming that traffic calming is somehow bad for local neighborhoods.

And yes, there’s more, so click through for the full thread.

Twitter post

No bias here, either. A group of Toronto business owners filed a $10 million lawsuit over the city’s popular Bloor Street bike lanes, asking a judge to order their removal and return the street to its previous car-centric configuration. Meanwhile, Canadian advocate Lloyd Alter calls for tossing pro car, anti-bike lane Ontario Premier Doug Ford out of office “before he kills us all.”

Or here. Advocates justifiably accused The London Times of hypocrisy over the paper’s call for car-free streets where children can play, after persistently opposing Low Traffic Neighborhoods, the equivalent of our Slow Streets. Never mind the column they just published from a writer who praised violent masked bikejackers for doing the city a favor.

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Local  

No news is good news, right? 

 

State

Costa Mesa-based ebike maker Electric Bike Company has merged with Integral Electrics, a bikemaker specializing in ebikes for women and other short statured riders.

A 36-year old man suffered a broken arm and leg when he allegedly rode his bicycle through a red light and into the path of an SUV in San Diego’s Midway District Tuesday night; fortunately, his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.

Bad news from Modesto, where a man was killed when he was hit by a driver while riding his bike through an intersection Tuesday evening.

More bad news, this time from Fremont, where a 73-year old man died a week after he hit a curb while riding in a bike, striking his head.

 

National

Streetsblog examines what little we know in this country about drivers who kill.

Bicycling looks at five of the fastest, most interesting and unique — and dare they say, coolest — bicycles that aren’t raced on the WorldTour. But you’ll need a subscription if you want to read it. 

 

International

Momentum considers ten “amazing examples” of bicycling solutions from cities around the world. None of which are Los Angeles, of course.

A writer for Bicycling Australia calls Canada’s Quebec province a stunning “bicycling heaven.”

Beloved British bike brand Nukeproof could be back from the dead, after it was bought out of bankruptcy by Belgian Cycling Factory, the parent company of Ridley.

A groundbreaking report from the UK shows that the bicycling gender gap starts early, with twice as many boys as girls considering themselves frequent bike riders, even though there’s just a 5% difference between boys and girls in perceived bicycle safety in their neighborhoods.

Be careful on your next trip to Japan, where using a cellphone while riding can cost you the equivalent of up to $1,340 or a year behind bars, and bicycling under the influence will get you a fine up to $3,350.

 

Competitive Cycling

A new video details the remarkable comeback of teenage mountain biker Robbie Seaman, who returned to competition just one year after losing his right arm in an ATV crash; then again, he was back playing lacrosse with his high school team just four months later.

The World Economic Forum calls out the courage and resilience of Olympic cyclist Masomah Ali Zada, who escaped Afghanistan to compete on the Refugee Olympic Team at last summer’s Paris Olympics.

 

Finally….

Someone apparently thought it was a good idea to have a busy bike lane stop without warning in the middle of a busy sidewalk.

And anyone can ride a bike with no hands. But try cooking a hands-free three-course meal on one.

@andrew_the_park_rat

⚠️I’m a professional don’t try this at home! #mtb #mtblife #fyp #CapCut

♬ original sound – Andrew Atnip

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Calbike lists legislative agenda, ignores hit-and-run (again); and LA council committees belatedly consider HLA

February 26, 2025 / / Comments Off on Calbike lists legislative agenda, ignores hit-and-run (again); and LA council committees belatedly consider HLA
Day 57 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Calbike updated their legislative agenda for the coming year, calling for better and faster bike infrastructure, while reclassifying electric motorcycles and mopeds that are illegally marketed as ebikes.

Which, as we’ve repeatedly pointed out, are what are driving most of the complaints mistakenly directed towards electric bicycles.

Which they ain’t.

Other priorities include safe routes to schools, assessing the vulnerability of California cities to climate change, and removing roadblocks to bikeways and sustainable transportation projects.

Calbike also called for a halt to the recent rash of bikeway removals in the state, specifically in Culver City and San Mateo.

Although I keep hoping that someone, somewhere, will finally decide that hit-and-run drivers, who cause roughly a third of SoCal bicycling deaths, and are involved in up to half of all crashes in the City of Angels, are a problem, and actually do something about it.

Maybe someday.

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Streetsblog reports the LA Transportation and Public Works Committees will belatedly get around to considering two Measure HLA measure they put off earlier this month, ’cause they just didn’t have time to get around to them after dealing with constituents angry over another matter.

And that’s after failing to consider it in any of the previous 11 months following the measure’s overwhelming victory last March, of course.

Wednesday 2/26 – The L.A. City Council will host a joint meeting of its Transportation and Public Works Committees at 8:30 a.m. at L.A. City Hall room 401. The agenda includes two Measure HLA items postponed from earlier this month (see earlier SBLA coverage previewing HLA items and recapping the meeting when they were postponed

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Walk ‘n Rollers will host a Walk More Bike More Festival at Ivy Station in Culver City this Saturday, as Bike Culver City looks for bike valets.

Twitter post

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

Detroit cops demonstrate their windshield bias by ticketing bicyclists for riding in the roadway, incorrectly insisting they have to stay in the bike lane — even if it’s full of snow. And asking to see their licenses, which people who ride bikes don’t need.

You’ve got to be kidding. A so-called London “journalist” says that violent armed bikejackers “are doing society a favor” by targeting people whose only crime is riding a bicycle in the early morning hours, saying bicyclists have turned Regent’s Park into a circle of hell. Maybe he’d feel a little differently if they were mugging newspaper columnists, instead.

No bias here. Bicyclists complained about the BBC’s claim of “a war on our roads,” calling out the false equivalency of framing it as a battle when only one side suffers most of the losses.

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Local  

They get it. The Los Angeles Times also calls on Culver City not to backslide on their ambitious safe street redesign, arguing that we will “never have safe streets and quality transit if the region’s political leaders scrap or scale back projects when there is opposition to change.”

This is who we share the road with. A 33-year old social media influencer faces DUI and manslaughter charges after allegedly leaving a Malibu 4th of July party after drinking, and killing a rideshare driver in a head-on crash after jumping the center divider on PCH.

 

State

Costa Mesa will present a comprehensive bicycle safety education class, developed in consultation with Culver City nonprofit Walk ‘n Rollers.

Santa Barbara approved an amendment to the city code to provide more enforcement tools to rein in “excessive” ebike riders, even though excessive bicycling isn’t a crime, electric or otherwise. And even though it was inspired by a close call with a pocket bike, which is a mini motorbike governed by the state vehicle code, and not a bicycle subject to city regulations.

A long-delayed, one-and-a-quarter mile, $12 million bike trail connecting Morro Bay and Cayucos along the coast in San Luis Obispo County is now nearly funded and could break ground soon, providing a safer alternative to riding on PCH.

The Napa Valley Transportation Authority is looking for public input as they belatedly develop the county’s first active transportation plan.

The CHP is looking for a hit-and-run driver who left a Sacramento bike rider with major injuries earlier this month.

 

National

American bikemakers are facing yet another economic challenge thanks to Trump’s new tariffs on steel and aluminum, amid fears it will price out some customers and hurt demand.

Cycling Weekly takes an angle grinder to angle grinder-resistant bike locks to rate their resistance to, yes, angle grinders.

DoorDash says that San Francisco is the nation’s biggest market for bicycle deliveries, with 76% of the company’s deliveries done on bikes, ebikes and scooters, compared to 58% in New York and 57% in DC. Although my understanding is a lot of New York deliveries are made directly through the restaurant, without relying on a third-party service. 

My bike-friendly Colorado hometown is considering building a bike park on the site of the former college football stadium, where I used to smuggle booze for the marching band inside my tuba.

The governor of Arkansas signed a new bill allowing lift-access downhill mountain bike parks to help boost bicycle tourism, in a state where that is actually a priority. Unlike a certain populous Left Coast state I could name, although we seem to do okay attracting bike tourism, anyway.

 

International

Cyclist looks at the game-changing tech that has transformed bicycling over the past ten years.

Yanko Design recommends the top five “essential” bike gear upgrades for every bicyclist. None of which actually is. Essential, that is. 

A 33-year old beginning driver will spend the next two years behind bars for killing a 55-year old English man when he drifted onto the wrong side of the road for no apparent reason, and crashed head-on into the victim’s bicycle.

A British pro cycling site says semiconductors are even improving singlespeed bikes, despite their simplicity.

Momentum recommends four “fantastic” bike routes that showcase the best of Paris, for your next trip to the City of Lights, which is rapidly becoming the City of Bikes.

A Punjabi official insists that no government funds were expended on a Lahore, Pakistan bike lane that is already fading after less than a year, and will be repainted under warranty.

 

Finally….

That feeling when your pro cycling diet is a “hate crime against food.” Your new handlebar tape could look like a horned owl.

And for everyone who dreamed of riding a Raleigh Chopper through the Alps back in the day, someone has finally done it for you.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Teen bike riders again attack LA motorist, 3 fatal South LA hit-and-runs in 24 hours, and ATL ebike vouchers reduce driving

February 25, 2025 / / 3 comments
Day 56 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

My pancreas decided to remind me Sunday night that I’m still diabetic, and it’s still in charge. 

Good times. 

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For the second time in two months — and at least the third in six months — a Los Angeles driver has been attacked by a mob of angry young bicycle riders.

And yes, mob is the right word in this case.

According to witnesses, the kids set upon the victim after he got out of his car following an argument, and were shown on video hitting and kicking the man until he appeared to lose consciousness lying on the street.

Instagram post

The attack occurred around 4:30 pm Saturday at San Vicente Boulevard and McCarthy Vista.

KCAL News reports the attackers were around 16 to 18 years old, although other sources suggested they may have been younger.

It occurred just seven weeks and a few miles from where a man was attacked and his car severely vandalized after driving aggressively through a teen rideout on Olympic Blvd just seven weeks earlier.

And another driver was the victim of a similar attack in DTLA last August.

But no matter what the motorists may have done, or how justified these kids may have felt, there is never an excuse for this kind of mob violence.

Period.

Let’s hope someone recognizes the kids involved, so we can put a stop to this crap.

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Police in South LA are looking for a hit-and-run driver who killed a 16-year old boy riding a pocket bike — aka a mini-motorbike — early Sunday morning, despite some reports that mistakenly said the victim was on a bicycle.

The driver fled on foot, leaving the victim’s bike still wedged in the car’s grill.

As always, there is a $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles. Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD’s South Traffic Division at 323/421-2577.

The boy was just one of three people killed by hit-and-run drivers in South LA in just 24 hours.

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More proof that ebike vouchers are effective in reducing driving.

A new report shows recipients of Atlanta’s $1 million voucher program are riding more frequently and driving less, while boosting sales at local bike shops.

The recipients represent roughly two percent of the city’s population, from nearly every neighborhood, while serving mostly low and moderate income residents; one woman says she’s saving money on gas while enjoying riding through the city with her daughter on her new e-cargo bike.

Which is exactly what California’s ebike voucher program could and should be doing, if it had actual leadership, and wasn’t focused solely on providing transportation to low income residents who may not even own cars.

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Former LA-based pro cyclist Phil Gaimon, of Worst Retirement Ever fame, provides a tongue-in-cheek look at 10 facts about bicyclists that haters get wrong.

And my apologies to whoever sent this one to me after I lost track of who did it, but thank you, anyway!

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

No bias here. The Encinitas city council replaced two members of the city’s Mobility & Traffic Safety Commission, as the mayor called for a “course correction” from the previous focus on bicycles and pedestrians, to “make sure vehicles and their drivers aren’t forgotten in the roadway planning process.” Because because cars and drivers must have somehow been left out in the newly 40 years of auto-centric traffic planning since the city’s founding. 

Drivers in the UK say they’re being treated like extremist groups, accusing city counselors of being “snowflakes” for cancelling a meeting to discuss bicycling infrastructure, even though police had urged the cancellation over safety concerns from angry drivers.

The BBC remembers Paul Varry, the 27-year old Parisian bike advocate and father who dreamed of a bicycling revolution in the City of Lights, until he was run over — allegedly on purpose — by an SUV driver after Varry became understandably upset when the driver ran over his foot in a designated bike lane.

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

A Jersey City writer blames bad behavior by scofflaw bicyclists for jeopardizing plans for a protected bike lane, while arguing that calling drivers selfish for being unwilling to give up an inch of roadway is just a great strategy to lose.

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Local  

No surprise here, as Trump’s funding freeze could jeopardize efforts to revitalize the Los Angeles River; meanwhile, LA released the latest update of plans for completing the LA River bike path, which stands little chance of completion unless the feds unlock funding.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers his typically great photos from Sunday’s CicLAvia.

A man was arrested in Baldwin Park for vandalizing a church, resulting in $19,000 damage, following a brief bicycle chase.

The Broxton Plaza pedestrian plaza is now officially open in Westwood Village.

A Torrance driver faces charges after he was arrested for the hit-and-run crash that left an ebike rider hospitalized with serious injuries shortly after midnight Saturday; neither the driver or the victim were publicly identified.

 

State

The Voice of OC updates the current state of anti-ebike regulations in Orange County, with new ordinances in Buena Park and Laguna Hills. However, the cities continue to conflate relatively slow speed ped-assist bikes with higher speed Class 3 ebikes, and illegally modified virtual electric motorcycles.

In an opinion piece we can only hope is tongue-in-cheek, a writer for the UC San Diego student newspaper makes the case for giving bikes, scooters and skateboards undisputed right-of-way over pedestrians, even in crosswalks. Which is no different than drivers who insist they are entitled to the road, and people on bicycles should get the hell out of their way. 

Police in Contra Costa County have finally arrested a suspect for killing a man riding a bicycle over a year ago, leaving the victim lying the road next to his bicycle after midnight in December, 2023.

Sad news from Napa County, where a person riding a bicycle was killed by a hit-and-run driver Sunday afternoon, on the same highway where an Oregon couple was killed riding their bikes two years ago.

 

National

People For Bikes has launched a data-driven tool, developed with funding from REI, to help guide investment in recreational bicycling facilities.

A writer for Forbes asks if this will be the year the bike industry will bounce back, after yet another prolonged bust in 2024.

CyclingSavvy offers strategies to navigate a green light on your bicycle, which apparently isn’t as simple as it seems.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Las Vegas man faces charges for the allegedly drunken crash that killed 62-year old man riding an ebike — while he was already facing charges for another DUI, as well as ten previous charges for failing to appear.

The Northwestern University student newspaper profiles a 24-year old “campus enigma” known for performing stunts on his bike for hours on end, while blasting disco and funk classics through a speaker.

A 72-year old Connecticut woman walked without a day behind bars for killing a 47-year old woman as she was riding her bicycle, after the victim’s family asked the court for leniency. But at least she voluntarily gave up her driver’s license.

In a hard-hitting op-ed, a Black ex-con who has turned his life around to become a Connecticut lawyer and Harvard professor discusses how it felt to go to a bike shop, where he had been a customer six times before, to buy a bicycle, only to have the manager call cops after mistaking him for a vagrant. Yet he somehow went back a week later to buy a high-end Trek anyway.

A Tampa, Florida Catholic church gave away their 1,500th refurbished bicycle for people in need.

 

International

Momentum belatedly gets it, arguing that “sharrows used to make sense in theory, but are now mostly useless and possibly dangerous.”

A writer for Road.cc describes the tools he carries with him on his bike to fix just about anything on the road. I always made sure I had enough tools to get myself back if my bike broke down 50 miles from home in the middle of nowhere. And it did, more than once. 

Cycling Weekly considers how bicyclists can reduce their carbon footprint, when riding for recreation is far from a green activity as too few “hobby” riders use their bikes to replace car trips.

After traversing the continent by bike and train, a writer for Bike Radar lists his favorite European bicycling experiences.

London bike clubs are begging police to begin early morning patrols in the city’s Regent’s Park, where bike riders have been targeted by masked knife and hammer-wielding bikejackers. But donut shops must open later there, because the cops say it’s just too darn early for them.

A Welsh startup’s “ingenious” bicycle storage rack earned the equivalent of a $126,000 investment on the British equivalent of Shark Tank.

That’s more like it. A British man will spend the next eight years behind bars for killing a 16-year old kid riding a bicycle, while doing 70 mph in a 30 mph zone stoned on coke and weed; he initially left the scene, but came back shortly afterwards and called the cops to report the crash.

A writer from the Netherlands calls cul-de-sacs the enemy of ebikes, because they force people to ride next to high-speed traffic on overly wide boulevards.

A Dutch website considers whether the country’s roundabouts are really that safe, concluding they improve safety for bicyclists and drivers, though there’s still room for improvement.

A German company wants you to hide an AirTag in your bike bell.

How to go from selling soap from a bicycle to becoming a detergent mogul and one of the richest people in India.

The Washington Post remembers “inveterate adventurer” Shirley Duncan, who died just shy of her 100th birthday; Duncan was just 21 when she set off with a friend and a dog to ride across Australia in the days after WWII, a nearly three-year journey recounted in her 1957 book, “Two Wheels to Adventure,” now out of print.

 

Competitive Cycling

Ultra-endurance cyclist Lachlan Morton has done it again, setting yet another world record by riding 402 miles across New Zealand in just 18-and-a-half hours.

America’s only seven-time ex-Tour de France champ offers his tips for how to stay safe while riding a bicycle, including riding a gravel bike and going where cars can’t go. And waiting for self-driving cars to take over, which could take awhile.

What will likely be Chris Froome’s final year on the pro tour is on hold, after the four-time Tour de France champ broke his collarbone during the final stage of the UAE Tour.

 

Finally….

You can now be replaced by a robot. No, a bike basket is not a dumpster. Who needs a hearse when you’ve got a cargo bike?

And forget the dating apps; if you really want to find lasting love, get run over by a speeding driver while riding your bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Update: Road cyclist killed on PCH near Thornhill Broome Beach in Ventura County, another victim of SoCal’s killer highway

February 22, 2025 / / 5 comments

Southern California’s deadliest roadway has claimed another life.

This time in Ventura County. And once again, the victim appears to be a road cyclist.

According to the Ventura County Star, the victim was struck by a motorist while riding in the northbound lanes of Pacific Coast Highway shortly before 11:15 this morning.

They place the crash in Ventura County near the sand dunes south of Thornhill Broome Beach, about 2.4 miles south of Mugu Rock.

Meanwhile, KVTA 1590 places the collision on PCH north of Sycamore Canyon Road at 11:13 am.

The station reports the victim was leading a group of eight other bicyclists on the shoulder of the highway when the rider allegedly made an abrupt turn into the northbound traffic lane, and was hit by a driver traveling at 55 mph.

Ventura County firefighters said someone was performing CPR on the victim when they arrived. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene, and additional units were called off.

There’s no information yet on the identity of the victim or the driver. And no word on why the victim may have swerved into the traffic lane, or what group the riders may have been associated with, if any.

Despite recent efforts to improve safety, too many people have died, and continue to die, on PCH as a result of traffic violence. And too many of those have been riding bicycles.

This was at least the seventh bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in Ventura County.

Update: The victim has been identified only as a 66-year old Los Angeles man, though he has still not been publicly named, while the driver was a 37-year old woman from Malibu, also unnamed.

Update 2: The victim has been identified as 66-year old Los Angeles resident John C. McLaughlin. A comment from Damian Kevitt below says McLaughlin was on a training ride with LA Tri Club when he was killed.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for John C. McLaughlin and all his loved ones.

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

Banning non-existent 39 mph ebikes from sidewalks, the year’s first CicLAvia on Sunday, and riding to remember civil rights

February 21, 2025 / / Comments Off on Banning non-existent 39 mph ebikes from sidewalks, the year’s first CicLAvia on Sunday, and riding to remember civil rights
Day 52 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

No bias here.

Los Alamitos will join the list of Orange County cities enacting local restrictions on ebikes, introducing a new ordinance allowing cops to cite riders for “unsafe” conduct, while intentionally keeping the ordinance “broad.”

Although leaving it too broad could make the ordinance unenforceable if it leave it up to officers to decide on the fly what’s legal and what isn’t.

Then there’s this.

The city’s mayor pro-tem demonstrated from the dais just how little research and preparation went into the promised ordinance.

Mayor Pro-tem Tanya Doby said she read that e-bikes can travel at nearly 39 miles per hour on a sidewalk. “So my question is, what, if anything, is within the realm of possibility to limit or restrict e-bikes or just no e-bikes on the sidewalk,” she asked.

“Is there anything that can be added for that,” she wondered?

Never mind that anything capable of doing 39 mph would be considered an electric motorbike under California law, requiring a motorcycle helmet, driver’s license and license plate.

And as a police captain explained to her, Class 3 ebikes capable of exceeding 20 mph are already prohibited from being ridden on sidewalks.

Let alone 39 mph motorbikes.

But other than that, it’s nice to see a city official so well versed on the subject she’s attempting to legislate.

And yes, that’s a little sarcasm.

Okay, a lot.

………

Don’t forget Sunday’s first-of-the-year CicLAvia, on a first-ever route from University Park to LA’s historic West Adams.

And if you see someone with a corgi walking or riding a pedicab, say hi. Because that just might be me.

The person, that is. Not the corgi.

………

Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Business owners are “concerned” about a new bikeway project on San Diego’s Imperial Ave, which will remove the center lane they use to unload trucks, even though it will provide bike access for underserved communities. And even though studies have repeatedly shown that bike lanes are good for business.

Ride through the Paso Robles wine country to raise funds for local cancer patients, survivors, and their families on April 6th.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Oakland will name a new two-way cycle track next to Lake Merritt for Maia Correia, the four-year old killed when she was doored while riding with her father on the same roadway.

The Los Angeles Post-Examiner offers a guide to the best bicycling routes in the East Bay, for your next trip to the Bay Area.

 

National

Bicycling considers common household items that could come in handy for cleaning and maintenance on your bike. And for a change, this one is available on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

No surprise here. Consumer Reports tested 21 cheap bike helmets purchased online, and found eight failed to meet minimum federal standards.

The Guardian traces the history of how bike buses revived riding to school.

A Portland father describes how bicycling led him to a job in the mayor’s office.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An Elyria, Ohio police employee hit a homeless man riding a bicycle after rolling her car through a stop sign, then just drove away, later claiming she didn’t know she’d hit anyone — and still ended up only paying a lousy $50 fine. Fortunately, Good Samaritans are stepping up to help the victim, whose bike was destroyed in the crash.

A group of 35 people rode 31 miles from Marion to Selma, Alabama to remember civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was shot and killed 60 years ago on Feb. 18, 1965. And a bicycle ride this Saturday will follow the 51-mile route from the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to to the Alabama State Capitol steps Montgomery taken by civil rights marchers led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in 1965. 

 

International

A writer for Road.cc says sometimes, souplesse is more, longing for the days when effortless pedaling and the love of bicycling mattered more than ‘watts,’ ‘aero’ and ‘epic.’

Awhile back, we mentioned a father and son in the UK who were injured when a driver plowed into the bike they were sharing; now bicyclists and community members are calling for a complete redesign of the intersection, while civic leaders agreed to reconsider the ridiculous 50 mph speed limit.

Swiss bikemaker BMC issued a voluntary recall for its Kaius 01 gravel bike, telling users to “immediately stop riding” it due to a risk of fork steerer tubes coming loose under heavy riding conditions.

A pair of Dutch men embarked on a bike ride to “the other side of the world” last year, arriving in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam 343 days later — and offered to host anyone who wants to do the same ride in reverse.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An Aussie man celebrated his 86th birthday by bicycling with his friends in the local bike club, which has a growing chapter hosting twice weekly rides for people over 80.

Ebike and e-scooter injuries have “skyrocketed” a “whopping” 300 percent in a single year at an Australian children’s hospital — although that reflects a jump from just six to 24. And in all likelihood, has more to do with the increase in ebike ridership than an increase in risk. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Levi Leipheimer’s Levi’s Gran Fondo will offer live streaming of The Growler, its professional race with both on and off-road cyclists competing for a $156,000 purse.

Yeti Cycles offered a heartfelt tribute to American expat and Yeti/Shimano EP Enduro Team Mechanic Matt Opperman, who was found dead next to his mountain bike in the mountains above Siles, Spain.

 

Finally….

Apparently, it takes a major screwup for lesser known bike races to make CNN. That feeling when calling an ebike an ebike is an insult to the ebike.

And seriously, if you’re going to Mardi Gras, just leave your car at home.

And take me with you.

Please.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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