Morning Links: An inspiring and horrifying interview, outrageous bike news, and send a guy on Climate Ride.

April 24, 2014 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: An inspiring and horrifying interview, outrageous bike news, and send a guy on Climate Ride.
Send this boy to camp. Or rather, Climate Ride.

Send this boy to camp. Or rather, Climate Ride.

Lots of news to catch up on before the weekend. So let’s jump right in.

……..

Sweet Ride USA’s Steve Isaacs offers an amazing, horrifying and ultimately inspiring interview with hit-and-run survivor Damian Kevitt in advance of Sunday’s Finish the Ride. Choose between the short 4:15 minute version and the full 16 minute one.

Unfortunately, it looks like illness is going to keep me from attending on Sunday, despite my best intentions. So if you’re planning to attend and would like to share your thoughts or photos, let me know.

……..

Here’s an intriguing invitation.

Inventor Eric F. has come up with what he describes as a “revolutionary bicycle safety device (US and international patent pending) that will save lives and visibly change the urban landscape.”

He’s looking for volunteers to participate in a focus group at Helen’s Cycles’ Santa Monica location, 2501 Broadway, on Monday, May 5th from 7 – 8 pm.

You can start your Cinco de Mayo celebration a little later. And it’s a good chance to check out the new green bike lanes in front of the shop.

Just watch out for drunks on your ride home.

……..

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition’s Team LACBC on exceeding their fundraising goal for this year’s California Climate Ride.

But several of the team members are still short of the money they need to raise to participate in the ride.

I can personally vouch for everyone on the list, all of whom deserve to go on the bike adventure of a lifetime. And each of whom deserves your support for all they do to support your right to ride safely and enjoyably in the City and County of Angels.

In fact, I have never known a more committed and hardworking group of staff and volunteers, and as a board member for the past five years, I’m honored for the small part I play in supporting their work. Which is something I don’t say nearly enough.

But I’d like to call your attention to just one of those potential riders, and ask you to help him get from the California Wine Country to Sacramento next month.

Alex Amerri, President of the LACBC Board of Directors, has done an incredible job of guiding the organization through some turbulent times — often at the expense of his own career and personal life.

I’ve watched as he’s often put in more than full-time work in an unpaid, volunteer position. When he leaves the board — which hopefully won’t be anytime soon — he’ll leave the LACBC a far stronger, more stable and successful organization than he found it, positioned for even greater growth and influence in the years to come.

And you can’t ask any more than that of anyone.

However, the time he’s put in solving problems and creating opportunities for the coalition lately has meant he hasn’t had time to raise the funds he needs to participate in the Climate Ride. In fact, he’s less than a third of the way to his $3,500 goal.

So let’s send a boy to camp.

Or rather, a man to ride.

If you’ve got a little extra money laying around, make a donation to a good cause to support sustainability and improve our environment. And do it in the name of someone who truly deserves a few uninterrupted days on his bike.

And if not Alex, then help one of the other team members who do so much to help you.

Note: Alex has no idea I’m writing this. So let’s not tell him. Just let him be surprised when the donations start coming in, with no idea where they’re coming from or why.

……..

Prepare to be outraged.

It’s not unusual to find a story or two that makes a mockery of justice, and reminds us all that cyclists are still second-class citizens on our streets.

But today’s news carried three examples of just how far we have to go. And how self-centered, heartless and cruel some people can be.

First up, a Massachusetts woman is convicted of a reduced charge in a fatal hit-and-run when the judge rules that a second vehicle that hit the victim afterwards could have caused the fatal injuries. Never mind that the trailing vehicle would never have hit the rider in the first place if the hit-and-run driver hadn’t plowed into her and left her lying in the street.

Or there’s this, as Pennsylvania authorities refuse to file charges against a driver who killed a teenage cyclist — even though she was under the influence of cocaine and prescription drugs at the time. Nice to see them taking DUI so seriously.

And in a truly disgusting demonstration of genuine overly entitled, self-absorbed heartlessness, an Ontario — Canada, not California — driver sues the family of the teenage cyclist she killed for the emotional turmoil that taking his life has caused her. Evidently, she’s the real victim here, not the kid who lost his life, the parents who lost a child or the brother who OD’d because he couldn’t deal with the loss.

I never to wish ill on anyone. But I’m sorely tempted to make an exception in her case.

……..

Local

UCLA’s Herbie Huff and Madeline Brozen offer a rebuttal to the recent report showing bike lanes don’t cause traffic congestion if they’re put in the right place.

Cultural Weekly explains why CicLAvia has struck a chord with Angelenos. Although I’m not really sure that’s it.

Variety promotes this weekend’s first-of-the-year bike-in movie in Reseda Park.

KCRW’s DnA will host Reinventing the Wheel, a discussion on the future of mobility at the Helms Bakery complex on May 18.

Santa Monica police use a bait bike to get two bike thieves off the streets.

Long Beach offers a bike map of six downtown routes.

Santa Clarita plans a number of events around hosting a pair of stages in next month’s Amgen Tour of California.

 

State

The Idyllwild man who created the Stagecoach 400 mountain bike race finally finishes the route he designed after three failed attempts.

Streetsblog looks at last week’s California Transportation Choices Summit.

VeloNews rides the Amgen Tour of California route in reverse with the Rapha Women’s Ambassadors.

 

National

A new Strava map offers a detailed look at where people who use Strava run and ride bikes, which seems to be pretty much where people live. Then again, people who don’t use Strava ride everywhere.

A proposed MiniBrake promises to let parents stop their children’s bikes by remote control. Seems a little dangerous to stop a kid’s bike without warning, but it could keep them from riding into danger.

Treehugger lists five ways bicycling is getting better in the US. And one way it’s not.

A severely auto-focused Texas jerk letter writer says “You ‘need’ a car for business, shopping and taking your kids to Burger King. You only ‘want’ to ride your bike…” which places “an unreasonable safety burden on drivers of other vehicles.” Right. And maybe if those kids walked or rode to Burger King they might be healthier now, and as adults.

 

International

After a Brit thief steals a $4,200 e-bike, he calls the local dealer for advice on how to charge it. Which turns out to be the same guy he stole it from.

Lance says he’s still the winner of all those Tours de France, regardless of what anyone else says, while former Armstrong lieutenant George Hincapie promises an unvarnished look at pro cycling’s doping era in a new book.

Osaka police crack down on reckless cyclists — or any, for that matter — at the urging of local merchants.

 

Finally…

A cute 30-second video suggests the more you ride, the more calories you can take in. Not necessarily true, though, as I’ve learned the hard way.

 

Category: Bike Events, Bikes & the Law, Car vs Bike, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Born in West LA — LABAC member traces the beginnings of BMX to a Westside park

April 23, 2014 / / 10 comments
The Palms neighborhood has a long bike history dating back to the 1890s; click and zoom in to read. Thanks to Jonathan Weiss for the image.

The Palms neighborhood has a long bike history dating back to the 1890s; click and zoom in to read. Thanks to Jonathan Weiss for the image.

Let’s give notoriously auto-centric Los Angeles the credit it deserves.

Santa Monica’s Z-Boys have long been credited as the fathers modern skateboarding, and the city’s self-proclaimed Dogtown neighborhood its birthplace.

But who knew BMX — aka Bicycle Motocross — racing was born right here in the City of Angels? And that a city employee gets credit for turning a kid’s pastime into one of the most exciting events in the X Games and Summer Olympics.

At least, that’s what a new history from Jonathan Weiss, chair of the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee’s Advocacy & Education subcommittee asserts.

The official history of BMX racing dates the beginning of the sport to the late 1960s or early ‘70s when kids took to their Schwinn Stingrays on a vacant lot somewhere in Southern California. But according to Weiss, the first organized race took place right here in 1969 at the Westside’s Palms Park before evolving to a full-fledged racing season a few years later.

By 1973, BMX racing was thriving. Los Angeles Recreation and Parks youth counselor Ronald (Ron) Mackler, who had planted the seeds for its success with the initial race in ’69, organized a full 10-week Thursday-night racing season. Mackler, who passed away in 2010, is remembered as someone whose “main thing was getting kids on the right track.” Palms Park was the “right track” for pioneering BMX champion Perry Kramer, who had been racing around the park’s sandbox and trees and up a hill on his own modified Stingray. Perry became one of BMX racing’s earliest stars. His namesake PK Ripper bike is still in production, and Perry’s now a Giant Bicycle sales representative and mountain biker.

Meanwhile, racing continued on what Perry described as the ‘prehistoric’ Palms Park track through the ‘70s and into the 1980s.

When Weiss found a nugget about BMX racing and Palms Park, he contacted Kramer to get a first-hand history from one of the sports founders, and started a Palms Park BMXers Facebook Page, which now connects BMX fans from around the world.

Some of what he put together on BMX racing’s birth can be found the History section of the ExpoGreeway.org website. He started that website to support the new water-cleaning, sustainability-demonstrating, open-space preserving Westwood Neighborhood Greenway about a quarter mile west of Palms Park and adjacent to Expo’s Westwood/Rancho Park station, expected to open in 2015/16.

And of course, there’s a Facebook page for the Greenway, too.

According to Weiss, Palms is already one of the most bike and pedestrian friendly neighborhoods in the City, and he sees it being even more so when the Expo bike path opens.

Once it does, he plans to bring BMX royalty and fans together to mark the birthplace of BMX where the bike path connects to Palms Park. And hopes publicity from the BMX connection will encourage school kids to take the new bike path to Hamilton High, Palms Elementary and Overland Avenue Elementary schools.

In addition, Weiss wants to help Angelenos appreciate their city’s history – something that can be missed by those speeding past Palms Park at the northeast corner of the Santa Monica Freeway at Overland Avenue.

Then again, that’s not the area’s only page in LA bike history.

Weiss also notes that “The Palms,” which was subdivided in unincorporated Los Angeles County in 1886 and annexed to the City of Los Angeles in 1915, played an important part in late-Nineteenth Century bike racing.

Palms was the midpoint of the Los Angeles to Santa Monica bicycle races, and its depot — now relocated to Heritage Square — provided convenient access to those who wanted to watch early racers barreling down Palms Hill.

That, too, can and should be marked on the Expo Bike path, though there are currently no plans in place.

Thanks to Jonathan Weiss for sharing his research with us, and his help in putting this together.

Look for the red arrow marking reference to Palms; image courtesy of Jonathan Weiss.

Look for the red arrow marking reference to Palms; image courtesy of Jonathan Weiss.

Ditto.

Ditto.

.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: BOLO alert for Brentwood hit-and-run driver

April 23, 2014 / / 5 comments

The LAPD wants your help in tracking down the hit-and-run driver who seriously injured a bike rider in Brentwood last November.

Brentwood BOLO

Then again, they might have better luck if they didn’t wait five months to ask for help next time.

Just a suggestion.

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Local

The LA Times offers the latest reminder about this weekend’s Finish the Ride to call attention to the problem of hit-and-run.

Wrap up next month’s Bike Week with the first Bike Night at Union Station.

KCRW’s beginning LA bike rider takes a Confident City Cycling course and concludes that drivers need bike education, too.

The Bike League looks at the Santa Monica Bike Center, now a Platinum-level Bike Friendly Business. And managed by the instructor of the afore mentioned CCC course.

Long Beach police are on the lookout for a bike riding groper.

 

State

Mark your calendar for the Honor Ride Irvine this August.

San Francisco motorists demand the restoration of balance in the city’s transportation planning; in other words, a return to all cars all the time.

I like it. San Francisco police virtually dare thieves to steal a bait bike. And pass out “Is this a bait bike?” stickers to post on your bike to make thieves think twice.

San Francisco’s bike share program expands to the East Bay despite the Bixi bankruptcy.

California’s proposed bike tax becomes a potential $5 fee on cars to repair and maintain bike paths in regional parks. Although I wonder how many voters, aka drivers, will be willing to tax themselves to fund bikes — especially when it requires a two-thirds majority.

 

National

This should be fun, as recently retired pro Dave Zabriskie commits to riding this year’s RAAM to promote Yield to Life as part of the Legends of the Road team.

A petition asks online fences websites Craigslist and EBay to require serial numbers on all bike ads. Of course, sellers could just lie about them, but still.

USA Today names Davis CA the best cycling town in America; my hometown comes in at number two.

Portland teens injure two people by throwing bricks at passing bike riders; one victim nearly loses an eye.

Ottumwa, Iowa Shriners are expecting 70 – 80 riders for a 30-mile Ride With the Clowns. Something like that could draw hundreds here; just don’t sniff any flowers.

Submitted without comment. North Carolina’s 21-time national champ admits to doping with amphetamines, synthetic testosterone and EPO. At age 62.

 

International

A Vancouver company plans bicycling sunglasses with a heads-up display.

A new World Health Organization report says if London achieved Copenhagen-like riding levels, it could save 500 lives a year and create 8,000 jobs.

David Hembrow looks at the good, the bad and the ugly of on-road bike lanes.

This time the tainted meat excuse actually works, as former Aussie world time trial champ Michael Rogers is cleared of doping charges after blaming Chinese meat.

 

Finally…

For the English-challenged members of the media, there is a big difference between “watch out for bike riders” and “beware of bicyclist.”

Seriously.

 

Category: Hit-and-Run, Law Enforcement, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Wrist slap for drunken hit-and-run killer; Breaking Away’s Dave Stoller was sort-of real

April 22, 2014 / / One comment

As expected, Wendy Villegas was sentenced to three years and eight months in an overly generous plea deal for the drunken hit-and-run death of Andy Garcia that left two other riders seriously injured, and robbed his fiancé of both her heart and future.

Yes, justice may have been served. But the time does not begin to suit the crime.

Especially for a driver who left Garcia laying in the road to be run over by a second vehicle, and was reportedly still drunk when she was arrested the next morning.

Had she stopped after the collision, it’s likely that the van that followed might have seen her and her victims, and managed to stop in time to avoid them. And Andy Garcia might — might — still be alive today.

We’ll never know.

Meanwhile, the judge made it clear that if Villegas did it again after she’s released, she’d face a minimum 15-years for murder.

So let’s get this clear.

You have to get drunk and kill a second person before the legal system takes it seriously. But you get a virtual pass on the first one.

Even if you don’t show any sign of giving a rat’s ass that you took the life of another human being, and shattered countless others.

Good to know.

If that pisses you off as much as it does me, join Damian Kevitt on Sunday as he finishes the ride interrupted by a hit-and-run driver last year.

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A preliminary hearing reveals 18-year old Sommer Gonzales had failed two drug tests while on probation for undisclosed crimes. And yet somehow, she was still allowed on the road to kill 21-year old cyclist Joe Robinson while driving under the influence.

Nice.

Gonzales has additional court hearings scheduled for May 19th and June 6th.

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Who knew?

Turns out there was a real Italian-obsessed, bike prodigy, Little 500-winning inspiration for the Dave Stoller character in Breaking Away, the movie that inspired my own lifelong obsession with bicycling. And Steve Tesich, who won an Academy Award for the screenplay, was his teammate in the winning race.

On the other hand, it looks like the hometown Cutters team was fictional, dammit. Although in a case of life imitating art, one was formed in response to the movie.

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Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at the city’s Second Year bike lane implementation list, offering the kind of detailed analysis only he can. And says there’s more low-hanging fruit out there, despite official denials.

Flying Pigeon looks at the real victims of Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s inaction on Figueroa bike lanes, and calls on riders to Bike the Vote for Saturday’s Neighborhood Council elections.

A new petition calls for passage of AB 1922 to promote California greenways, particularly along the LA River.

Another reminder that Kidical Mass is coming to Santa Monica on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Annenberg Community Beach House along SaMo’s beachfront bike path celebrates its fifth anniversary this weekend; bike valet will be provided.

 

State

The Daily Pilot says don’t force OC cyclists onto dangerous Jamboree Road — ban cars from the Back Bay Drive, instead. I like the way they think.

Orange County cities are urged to compete for new funding for bike and pedestrian projects, while OCTA officials argue that bikes aren’t just for recreation. Thanks to Nick Gerda for the heads-up.

An HIV positive hemophiliac cyclist is setting of from Newport Beach on his third cross-country ride to raise funds for people with bleeding disorders.

A Sacramento man uses his bike to bypass heavy traffic from a major highway repair project.

 

National

Train for your next — or first — century in just seven weeks. Probably a better approach than my first century, which came when I misread a map and rode about 60 miles further than I intended.

The Alliance for Biking and Walking looks back at the National Open Streets Summit held recently in Los Angeles. And check out their great GIF from the Wilshire CicLAvia.

A Las Vegas cyclist learns the hard way that bike riders have to stop for emergency vehicles, too.

Detroit isn’t the exclusively auto-centric hellhole it used to be.

The body of an upstate New York man has been found nearly four years after he disappeared while riding his bike.

The NYPD says screw you to owners of impounded bikes, including the family of a fallen cyclist.

 

International

One of two surviving ex-Beatles rides a rental bike. The cute one. The Beatle, not the bike.

London’s transport authority apologizes after a driver cuts off a cyclist and calls him a knob; I know a lot of cyclists who’ve complained to LA’s Metro, but none who ever got a mea culpa in return.

A road raging UK motorist is given 10 months in jail and called a danger to cyclists after knocking a rider off his bike because they were riding two abreast. He also loses his license for three years.

Behavioral Science could help motorists drive more safely around bike riders. Maybe it could help them decide if this is a pill or a 90 mph bicycle.

Even Abu Dhabi is getting a new walking and cycling master plan.

A Sydney paper lists the world’s top 10 bicycling cities. Shocked! Shocked! I am that not a single US city made the list.

 

Finally…

Chicago doctor declares fast cyclists unfit for military service due to “bicycle heart.” In 1898.

And repeat after me. If you’re riding your bike at 5 am with five outstanding warrants while carrying meth and a Billy club, put a damn light on it already. The bike that is, not the Billy club.

 

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

Morning Links: Torrance father rides for his daughter, and court hearings for Wendy Villegas and Jose Gonzales

April 21, 2014 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Torrance father rides for his daughter, and court hearings for Wendy Villegas and Jose Gonzales
Metro unveils their new Bike Week flyers. So what do you think?

Metro unveils their new Bike Week flyers. So what do you think?

A Torrance father is going the extra mile for his daughter.

Or rather, 300 miles.

On May 3rd, Joel Elliot will ride his bike 24-hours straight, with a goal of riding 300 miles in that time, to call attention to the rare disease that renders his daughter unable to speak.

The purpose of my ride is to bring attention to Hannah, to Selective Mutism, and to the failure of Torrance Unified to properly address Hannah’s needs.

My ride will take place on the 1-mile industrial loop just outside of the Strand Brewing Co tap room. I invite you all to come do the first few laps with me to kick off my 24 hours. After a few laps, I will continue solo and the group will move into the tap room to celebrate and prepare to help support my long ride. We will do something similar on Sunday when I finish. I would love to have a large group of riders as there is a good chance local news will be there.

Thanks to Lynn Ingram for the heads-up.

……..

A couple of important court hearings today.

First up, cyclists will ride to attend the sentencing of Wendy Villegas for the drunken hit-and-run death of Andy Garcia.

And riders are encouraged to attend the pre-trial hearing for Jose Gonzales, charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of Pasadena cyclist Phillip O’Neill.

Sometimes it seems like justice moves slowly. And it doesn’t often seem sufficient in cases involving bike riders.

But at least prosecutors seem to be paying attention these days, in part because cyclists are turning out for cases like this.

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I plan to spend a lot of time checking out this website about Vintage Trek bikes.

My 33-year old steel-frame Trek is still parked in my office, waiting for the funds to fix it up and get it back out on the streets where it belongs. It may not be as fast as my LeMond, but it hugs the road like it’s on rails, and you won’t find a smoother ride anywhere.

My wife has suggested selling it more than once. But after roughly 130,000 miles stretching from LA to LA — Louisiana to Los Angeles — I’d no more get rid of it than I would her.

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Local

West LA Councilmember Mike Bonin helps a city work crew prepare for Backbone bike lanes on Manchester Ave.

Flying Pigeon says South Pasadena’s Public Works Commissioners should be sued for refusing to close a dangerous 528 foot gap connecting with LA’s new bike lanes on York Blvd.

The Hollywood Reporter reviews the new women’s cycling documentary Half the World, and finds it not to their taste.

The Eastside’s Ovarian Psychos Brigade will screen the Saudi Arabian bike-themed movie Wadjda as a fundraiser this Wednesday.

CICLE is looking for volunteers for next month’s Bike Week Pasadena.

The local mountain bike racing season starts at the end of next month.

 

State

Mad props to the 75 fifth graders — yes, I said 5th graders — who rode their bikes 267 miles from Yuma AZ to Carlsbad CA over spring break, riding up to 53 miles a day and up a five-mile climb. At that age, I was happy to ride to the other side of my own neighborhood without falling over much.

A new San Diego River bike path allows cyclists to ride from Ocean Beach to the 805 Freeway.

Frequent contributor and ghost bike documentarian Danny Gamboa will be curating the Bike Love Art Show next month in Ventura. Knowing Danny, I’d highly recommend checking it out.

Cyclelicious looks at the need to develop a traffic safety culture.

UC Berkeley student with Crohn’s Disease will ride to LA to raise funds for a cure.

A San Francisco cyclist is understandably critical of the way the city’s police deal with cyclists after they let the driver who rear-ended her and her son drive away without even a ticket.

Tiny Arcata CA — population 17,726 — could soon have one more bike boulevard than massive Los Angeles, which currently has none for its over 3.8 million residents. Correction: Richard Risemberg writes to remind me that LA does actually have a bike boulevard, aka bicycle friendly street on Yucca Street in Hollywood, though it doesn’t actually connect to anything.

 

National

The national traffic fatality toll is bad enough; now it turns out it doesn’t include motor vehicle deaths that don’t occur in traffic situations. So add another 6,483 deaths and 91,000 injuries from 2008 to 2011, 39% of whom weren’t in cars.

The publishers of Momentum Magazine says it’s time to move the conversation beyond helmets. I couldn’t agree more; there are lots of good reasons to wear one, but no adult should ever be compelled to.

Bicycling’s Heidi Swift says riding through a cemetery isn’t disrespectful, it’s showing respect for life. Someone should explain that to the director of the Los Angeles National Cemetery, which continues to ban bikes for reasons I will never understand.

A Texas woman gets a well-deserved 10 years for killing a bike rider while drinking, using her cellphone and falling asleep at the wheel.

Cincinnati proposes killing trees to preserve parking while making way for a protected bike lane.

A writer for the Times rides along with Boston’s equivalent of LA’s Marathon Crash Race.

 

International

Great Britain is opening a memorial to bicyclists killed in war; turns out the first British soldier killed in WWI was a 15-year old bike rider who lied about his age — and may have been killed by friendly fire.

The reward for recovering a stolen Brit bike is home-made banana bread.

Once again, a cyclist is caught on video narrowly avoiding getting hit by a train, this time in India; the rider had to abandon his bike on the tracks to get away.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal a bike, don’t park it at the local Walmart, then go inside and fall asleep on a bean bag chair.

And Gothamist totally freaks out over a helmetless Orthodox father riding a Citi Bike with his helmetless daughter on his hip.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Eleven years in drunken Victorville hit-and-run, great Arizona three-foot law video

April 20, 2014 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Eleven years in drunken Victorville hit-and-run, great Arizona three-foot law video

Now that’s more like it.

According to the Victorville Daily Press, 28-year old Jason Thomas Scott of Victorville was sentenced to 11 years for the — allegedly — drunken hit-and-run that took the life of a cyclist two years ago.

Apple Valley resident David Epperson was walking his bike along Ridgecrest Road just east of Victorville when he was plowed down from behind by Scott’s vehicle, which dragged him over 60 feet before leaving Epperson to die on the side of the road.

Scott was reportedly driving with a suspended license due to a previous DUI conviction at the time of the collision. He’s been behind bars since his arrest in June, 2012; the paper reports he could be out in another three-and-a-half years with good behavior following his plea deal.

Five-and-a-half years behind bars barely seems sufficient. But it’s far more than many other drivers have served under similar circumstances.

And it’s nice to see the life of a bike rider taken seriously for a change.

……..

Great short video from Arizona looks at the state’s three-foot passing law. And clearly demonstrates just what three-feet looks like on the road.

……..

Local

Note to David Shaffer of Woodland Hills: It is perfectly legal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in Los Angeles, as long as it’s done in a safe and non-aggressive manner.

Streetsblog looks at the highlights from Thursday’s LADOT and City Planning webinar on the second year study corridors for the LA bike plan.

You could be the next director of LA2050.

A series of Hermosa Beach workshops could determine the future of bicycling in the city, among other things.

Something is seriously wrong when a cyclist gets run down from behind in Palos Verdes Estates, and sheriff’s deputies write it off as “just an accident” before the investigation is even complete.

 

State

An Orange County cyclist has to be recued from the Santa Ana River bed when he’s thrown 15 feet off a Katella Ave overpass after hitting an object in the roadway.

I like it. Silicon Valley bike riders are challenged to Bike to Shop during next month’s Bike Week.

Oakland’s famed Telegraph Avenue could soon sport parking protected bike lanes.

 

National

Arizona officials are trying to determine who killed a cyclist and how after the victim is found on the side of the road covered by a blanket, with his “unique” bike missing.

Boulder County CO officials tweak those ubiquitous black-tube vehicle counters to distinguish between bikes and other vehicles, which could revolutionize bike counts.

Cincinnati cyclists and business owners are engaged in a classic battle over protected bike lanes versus lost parking and reduced road capacity.

Not only is Beyonce one of us, she gives a shout out to a Chicago bike shop.

The Washington Post says more cyclists really does make for safer streets.

Turns out the Archbishop of New Orleans is one of us, too. Then again, he’s just following the Pope’s advice.

 

International

Bicycling is booming in Santiago, Chile even though bad road design forces many riders onto the sidewalk.

The Ottawa Bicycle Club offers a great decision matrix for deciding when to take the lane and ride abreast, and when to hug the shoulder single file.

British cycling legend Beryl Burton is finally getting the attention she deserves prior to the UK start of the Tour de France, with an amazing 122 national titles over five decades.

The UK’s Emma Pooley discovers winning a women’s world championship barely pays enough to pay the bills.

A road raging Brit van driver loses his job and gets convicted of assault after getting caught on helmet cam head-butting a cyclist.

Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert wins the Amstel Gold classic for the third time. No word on who won the Amstel Light.

An Aussie website asks if cyclists are fair game. Game, yes; fair, no.

 

Finally…

This is why you don’t spit in the face of a truck driver, even if he did almost hit you. Aside from the fact that it’s rude and disgusting — and illegal — and the driver will get away with stomping on your bike.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,
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