No ebike rebates in federal spending bill, San Diego ebike loan-to-own program goes statewide, and reading the signs

December 23, 2022 / / One comment

It’s the last two days of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just 48 short hours — or less, depending on when you read this — to get your donation in before we wrap things up, toss out the party hats, change the sheets, and get back to work after the 1st. 

As things stand right now, we’re just $62 off last year’s record total — and less than $200 from breaking the seemingly impenetrable $5,000 barrier, after getting tantalizingly close last year.

So thanks to James S, Alexander H and James Z for their generous donations yesterday keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

I can’t begin to express my gratitude to them, and everyone who has given so much to support this site this year. 

If you haven’t donated yet, take a moment to give right now via PayPal or Zelle. Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated.

And please accept my sincere hope that you and all your loved ones find peace and joy this holiday season, with a very healthy, happy and prosperous year to come. 

And one filled with bikes.

Lots of bikes. 

………

Today’s common theme is ebike rebate programs, or the lack thereof.

The $1.7 trillion federal new federal spending bill includes $45 million for active transportation projects, including funding for the new Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. But not the ebike rebates we were promised last year, which were cut from the earlier bill to appease a certain West Virginia senator.

Bend, Oregon will offer ebike rebates up to two grand to 75 low-income households.

Banff, Alberta is removing the budget cap on that city’s rebate program to allow more people to participate, with rebates up to $750 on ebikes costing up to five grand.

………

San Diego’s Pedal Ahead ebike loan-to-own program is set to see a $10 million statewide expansion in the coming year.

The program loans ebikes to lower income residents on the condition that they commit to riding a minimum of 150 miles a month for two years, at the end of which they can own the bike.

However, inewsource reports only 50 of the original 400 participants met the conditions to keep the bike, with 35% exceeding the program’s $50,000 maximum income.

………

Okay, I seem to see a problem here.

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1606046106277666816

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1606088894440607748

………

The LAPD reminds you that if you’re going to street race, do it on a bicycle.

Okay, so maybe I added that last part.

………

‘Tis the season.

LA’s Bahati Foundation, founded by ten-time national cycling champ Rahsaan Bahati, held their 5th Annual Motion Equals Healthy Bike Giveaway at Carson’s Dignity Health Stadium Sports Park last Saturday.

The Pechanga tribe teamed with the San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles to distribute 150 bike to second and third grade students at Mayo Elementary School.

A Las Vegas county commissioner hosted a giveaway that saw 200 kids from ten elementary schools receive new bikes and toys.

Rapper A$AP Ferg demonstrated his bike-building skills by personally assembling the new bikes he donated to a Harlem toy giveaway.

………

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

Horrific story from Puerto Rico, where a police officer was convicted of assaulting a juvenile, as well as the resulting coverup, after shooting the victim in the back as he fled from police on his bike, then pistol whipping the boy while he lay with his hands bound after surrendering, and repeatedly punching the boy in the face as he sat handcuffed in the back of a patrol car.

There’s not a pit deep enough for the English man who yanked a 14-year old boy off his bike before stomping on it for the crime of coming too close to him while riding salmon.

Small hearted Brits take glee in an apparent bikepacker taking a spill after he took the full lane, calling it instant karma. Although it wouldn’t hurt if he learned to ride in a straight line.

https://twitter.com/FabulousEmmaLou/status/1498296448659693571

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

Police in Cambridge

………

 

………

Local 

Los Angeles has secured funding for the $47.5-million Skid Row Connectivity & Safety Project along San Pedro Street in DTLA, between Temple Street in the north and the I-10 Freeway to the south, including 2.4 miles of buffered and protected bike lanes. Although whether the project serves the current residents of Skid Row, or ends up pushing them out and gentrifying the community, remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman — not Suleiman, as I mistakenly wrote it yesterday — critiques disgraced councilmember Kevin de León’s video giving himself credit for securing the funding. Hint: It did not go over well.

Bicycle-themed 10 Speed Coffee is opening a new location on Sawtelle Blvd in West LA, following previous locations in Santa Monica and Calabasas.

Pasadena’s latest crackdown on traffic violations that could endanger bike riders and pedestrians resulted in 63 drivers receiving citations, along with seven pedestrians and four people on bicycles. Which means at least four bicyclists didn’t follow our advice to ride to the letter of the law during the crackdown.

Urbanize wants you to vote on LA County’s best “small” transportation project. Although I wouldn’t call starchitect Frank Gehry’s plan to cap the Los Angeles River small, in any sense.

 

State

Streestblog’s Joe Linton explores tiny Arcata on the NorCal coast by bike, which looks surprisingly welcoming to people on bicycles.

Like Linton, Streetsblog California’s Melanie Curry has just returned from a trip, though this one took her a little further afield, as she observes the bicycle culture in Zimbabwe and Rwanda, saying their tenacity makes Californians look like wimps.

California Conservation Corps crews are nearing completion of a new biking and walking trail through San Diego’s Balboa Park.

This is who we share the road with. A 39-year old Fresno driver faces a murder charge for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a high school student as he was crossing the street in front of the school; she had been given a Watson notice indicating she could be charged with murder if she killed someone while driving under the influence, following a 2008 DUI conviction.

The San Francisco Chronicle examines why New York is making more progress on its Vision Zero program than the fabled City by the Bay. Although any New York bike rider is likely to tell you the city isn’t making enough progress, let alone fast enough.

 

National

Make Use Of examines ebike automatic shifting, and whether you really want it. Meanwhile, Electrek considers the year’s weirdest and wildest ebikes and other EVs.

More on the Tucson bike rider killed by an ambulance driver yesterday; the victim was on a gas-powered bike without functioning brakes, and allegedly cut off the ambulance after cutting through a hospital parking lot.

Curbed hangs out with New York’s Citi Bike Boyz, performing jumps and stunts on clunky 45-pound bikeshare bikes.

 

International

Bike Rumor finds out what international bike mechanics really think about internal cable headsets. Hint: Not much.

Police in Bristol, England are looking for three armed men who attacked a man with machetes in an effort to steal his bicycle; fortunately, he was not seriously injured, but the thieves got away with his bike. Just to be clear, that’s three armed men, not three-armed men, which would be something completely different.

Men’s Journal says the ultimate way to explore Norway’s fjords is by bicycle. Read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

The booming popularity of ebikes is demonstrated in the Netherland’s crime statistics, as thieves pilfered three times as many ebike batteries this year, compared to 2021, jumping from 1,500 to 4,500.

Two separate Indian bike riders recount the “horror” of Hyderabad hit-and-runs.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former American junior, U23 and elite ‘cross champ Gage Hecht reflects on his first European cycling campaign, which didn’t go as planned, and finding a purpose outside of cycling.

The National Cycling League introduced the Miami Nights and Denver Disruptors, the first two teams to join the fledgling crit series.

 

Finally…

When you build your one millionth foldie, you naturally take it on a world tour. The difference between scofflaw bicyclists and recalcitrant Amish buggy drivers.

And why let the pros have all the fun, when you can rig your very own DIY cargo bike snowplow?

Although it would take a helluva storm before we’re likely to need one here.

Thanks to Eric C. Lewis for the link.

………

As usual, we’ll be off next week for our regularly scheduled end-of-year mental, physical and emotional collapse. 

But I’ll be around if there’s any breaking news that can’t wait until we get back. So sign up for email alerts up there on the right to make sure you don’t miss anything, if you haven’t already.

And stay safe over the holidays. 

I want to see you back here bright and early when we return on the 3rd. 

………

Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating today.

Chag Urim Sameach!

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

La Brea Ave bus/bike lanes on hold, new bill would mandate bikeways next to light rail, and more proof speed cams work

December 22, 2022 / / One comment

Just three days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Seventy-two short hours to open your heart and wallet to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming to your favorite screen every morning. 

The week before Christmas is always one of my most challenging times of year, as preparations for the holiday collide with the pressures of preparing the next day’s post every night. Add to that my wife’s insistence on cleaning every inch of our apartment before guests arrive for Christmas, while dealing with the effects of my varied and sundry health issues — all of which seem to spring from my diabetes in one way or another. 

Never mind coping with the inevitable tragedies made exponentially more tragic by the time of year. 

I always point to the coming holiday, if only for the opportunity it presents for a well-deserved collapse before we return after the first of the year.

But it’s your support that gets me there, lifting my spirits when I need it the most. Whether in the form of the donations that demonstrate appreciation for the work we do here, or the kind words that so often accompany them. 

So let’s thank Brandon H and Kirsten B for coming through late yesterday when it looked like no one would. And everyone else who has given from their hearts to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Thank you, sincerely, from my heart to yours. 

If you have donated yet, take a moment to give right now via PayPal or Zelle. Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated.

And needed.

………

Metro put the installation of new bus lanes on La Brea Blvd on hold for the holidays; the work, which was supposed to begin last week, will now begin sometime after the first of the year.

Bicyclists are allowed to use bus lanes in Los Angeles County, as long as you don’t mind having a multi-ton vehicle run up your ass while you ride. Although the bus lanes are usually enforced only during rush hour, and open to cars and/or parking at other times.

However, some other areas interpret the law differently, and may ban bikes from bus lanes some or all of the time, so be sure to read the signs wherever you ride.

………

A new Congressional light rail bill introduced in the House would mandate bikeways along most light rail lines, along with bikeshare and secure bike parking.

Although the current political divide make the chance of actual passage minimal, at best.

Thanks to Akber Khan for the heads-up.

………

No surprise here, as New York demonstrates once again that speed cams are effective in reducing speeding by drivers.

And even more effective when they’re enforced 24/7.

Unfortunately, automated speed cams are currently illegal under California law; attempts to change that have gone nowhere in the legislature in recent years.

Because apparently, it’s just not fair to punish drivers for dangerously breaking the law.

………

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is also raising funds this holiday season; the organization helped lead the successful fight to close roads in LA’s Griffith Park in the wake of recent bicycling deaths.

………

‘Tis the season.

More than 40 Texas kids got new bikes, courtesy of a College Station civic group.

A 77-year old North Carolina woman is gearing up for her last bike giveaway, with at least 1,000 bikes ready for local kids, nine years after she took over for her late husband.

A Georgia group has cleaned, repaired and donated over 400 bicycles for local kids.

………

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

No bias here. A writer of a car website travels the byways of the Boston area looking for bike riders on the legally mandated bike lanes, and is shocked when he fails to see many at the exact time and place when he happens to drive by. Never mind the disconnect that he was forced to use byroads because the highways were choked with rush hour traffic.

No bias here, either. A Nova Scotia letter writer trots out the standard bromide “We are not Amsterdam or Copenhagen” to argue against bike lanes, which they insist are never used. But without building more bike lanes, it never will be, either.

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

Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts are looking for a road raging bicyclist who circled back and deliberately rammed a woman who asked him to watch where he was going as she was crossing the street. The suspect was described as a man in his 50s, who certainly should have known better at his age.

………

………

Local 

A British writer samples bikeshare systems in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and finds the City of Angels not at all to his liking, though he does have nice things to say about Metro Bike. Which is okay. Not everyone has to like LA just because we call it home. Although there’s a large enough British expat community here to show his complaints aren’t universally shared. 

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman digs in on LA Councilmember Kevin de León and his refusal to do the right thing and just resign, already.

 

State

Appropriately for the season, construction is ongoing on the Santa Claus Lane bike path, which will connect bike lanes in Santa Barbara and Carpinteria when its completed next year.

Bay Area bike riders will be able to ride from Berkeley to San Francisco by 2030, when a dedicated bike and pedestrian trail is expected to open on the Bay Bridge.

A 65-year old Sacramento bike rider was lucky to survive when he became collateral damage in a police chase, after the driver of a stolen car bailed from the vehicle and it rolled over the man, trapping him underneath; he was freed when police lifted the car off him with the help of bystanders.

 

National

A new study shows bicycling injuries have decreased over the last ten years, even as ridership — and deaths — have gone up. As usual, read the story on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

Wired reviews the new book Cyclettes by Tree Abraham, which recaps her “delicately composed biographical vignettes” through the lens of bicycling.

New Seattle DOT Director Greg Spotts went on a walking tour with members of a local transportation advocacy group; Spotts led LA’s Bureau of Street Services before he left to take the Seattle post.

Tragic news from Arizona, where a man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by a Tucson ambulance driver; no word on whether the ambulance was on an emergency call or using red lights and siren. Then again, there’s also no mention at all that the ambulance even had a driver, although I think we can safely assume it. 

A Pueblo, Colorado teenager received a new bike just one day after his was stolen, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign and a partnership between the police and a local Walmart.

Chicago gave away 500 bicycles to local residents in the first year of a new program to increase affordable, climate-friendly mobility options; the city plans to give away a total of 5,000 bikes over the next five years.

Three Brooklyn council members demand that ebikes be allowed to return to Prospect Park; ebikes are banned from New York parks, even though they are legal on the streets outside them. Oddly, cars aren’t banned from most of the parks where ebikes are, even though one does much more harm than the other.

Advocates are holding back on their approval for New York’s planned human-scale redesign of iconic 5th Avenue, saying they’ve heard the promises before.  Sort of like Los Angeles bike riders and pedestrians, who long ago stopped chasing after the latest shiny object elected officials dangled in front of us, without following through.

Maryland officials announced no criminal charges will be filed against the truck driver who killed US diplomat Sarah Langenkamp as she rode her bike last August, despite three traffic citations and a lawsuit filed by her husband alleging negligence by the driver, and the company he worked for. Just in case you were wondering why people keep dying on our streets.

An admitted serial killer was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to killing a Florida woman, who disappeared while riding her bike home from work in 1991.

 

International

Kindhearted members of a British Columbia coffee ride dug into their own pockets to buy a new bike for an eight-year old girl, after noting her bike was too small for her, and being impressed that she was riding her bike in conditions they wouldn’t even brave.

A rider for Tom’s Guide rode a Brompton ebike foldie for a month, and liked it. Even if the bike was a tad heavy.

A new study from the UK shows contraflow bike lanes don’t increase crash rates, regardless of the direction of travel, and should be considered on all one-way streets to extend bicycling networks.

Two British men pled guilty to manslaughter in the death of a teenager who tried to stop them from stealing a bike; a third man, the stepfather of one of the men, was acquitted on the same charges.

 

Competitive Cycling

Florence, Italy will host the first three stages of the 2024 Tour de France.

 

Finally…

Your periodic reminder that bike seats are best used for sitting on while riding a bike, not wielding as a weapon. If you have an outstanding felony warrant, maybe don’t ride salmon.

And more proof you can carry anything on a bike.

couch and spare bike moving service
byu/National-Fox9168 inbikecommuting

 

………

Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating today.

Chag Urim Sameach!

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Bolo Alert for Mid-Wilshire hit-and-run, NTSB ebike and e-scooter report a bust, and LAPD impaired driving holiday PSA

December 21, 2022 / / Comments Off on Bolo Alert for Mid-Wilshire hit-and-run, NTSB ebike and e-scooter report a bust, and LAPD impaired driving holiday PSA

It’s the last four days of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just 96 short hours to show your love for this site, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Or even less, depending on when you read this. Never mind when I finally get it posted online. 

So let’s all thank James S, Brian N and Robert L for doing their part to ensure this site is here for you today, and every day!

Don’t waste another minute. Let alone another hour. 

Take a moment to donate right now via PayPal or Zelle. Then pat yourself on the back for doing a good thing. 

Because every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. And needed. 

And seriously, I mean it. Our spokesdog and chief fundraiser is going to keep staring until you give in and give something.

Trust me, you don’t want that.

………

The LAPD is looking for a hit-and-run driver who seriously injured a bike rider in the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood earlier this month.

The victim was struck by the driver of a 2012 to 2017 Toyota Camry at the intersection of Venice and Hauser around 9 am December 7th.

No information has been given about the victim, who suffered serious, but thankfully, non-life threatening injuries.

As always, there is a standing $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious injuries in the City of Los Angeles. Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD detectives at 213/473-0234, or 877/527-3247 after hours.

………

The first NTSB report on ebike and e-scooter crashes is a bust, as the agency concludes they just don’t have the data they need to reach any conclusions, after finding just 117 deaths on electric micromobility devices over a four-year period.

………

A new holiday PSA from the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division sends a pretty clear message about the dangers of impaired driving.

………

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

Japan will become the fifth country to mandate bike helmets for adults, after Argentina, Cyprus, Australia, and New Zealand, in an apparent attempt to reduce ridership right when we need it most; however, there’s no penalty for failing to comply.

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

There’s a special place in hell for the Florida man who tried to use his bicycle to abduct a 14-year old girl who was walking with her friends. And hopefully, behind bars, soon. 

………

………

Local 

California Senator Alex Padilla announced $80 million in funding for projects in the Los Angeles area; the list includes $5 million for Glendora’s ten-mile active transportation People Movement project, $4 million for Metro’s Rail to River Active Transportation Corridor, and $3 million for El Monte’s Merced Avenue Greenway. His office also announced $69 million in funding for the Bay Area, and $48 million for the Sacramento area.

 

State

Orange County cities are struggling to regulate e-bikes, with restrictions — such as a 10 mph speed limit on public streets in Lake Forest — that may be illegal under state law.

Fifty San Jose kids could win free bicycles and helmets if they pledge to reduce waste and be more environmentally aware.

A Michelin-starred San Francisco chef examines the parallels between riding a bike and running a restaurant. Although no one ever got a Michelin star for riding a bike, though some of us do use Michelin tires.

 

National

VeloNews talks pinch flats and how to fight them, while Road Bike Action wants to know why bike events are so damn long.

PinkBike considers whether elite bicyclists are at higher risk of heart problems and premature death, concluding there’s a slightly elevated risk, but it’s still significantly less than not riding at all.

The NYT’s Wirecutter recommends the best gifts for bike riders, ranging from olive soap to an otter-shaped water bottle and cage, as well as summer weight women’s jerseys from LA-based Machines for Freedom.

Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus asks if officials really care about record traffic deaths when they don’t do anything to solve the problem.

Kindhearted Seattle residents have raised over $1,600 to buy a new e-cargo bike for a young girl after someone stole the bike she used to ride with her father on Sundays.

Utah is suffering through a record number of bike and pedestrian deaths; bicycling fatalities are at least 50% higher than any year since record keeping began in 1994.

A bike path along a Nantucket roadway is wanted by virtually everyone except the homeowners who live alongside it, who call it a bike path to nowhere and fear bike riders “wandering around private property.” They also suspect people won’t be able to control their bladders after a modest ten-mile bike ride.

Some Cambridge, Massachusetts city councillors want to rip out a new lane reduction and separated bike lanes, rather than give it time for traffic patterns to settle in.

A New York man says riding outside is still better than riding in his basement, even after getting hit by an elderly driver, and that surviving the crash made him feel invincible. Oddly, getting hit by a road raging driver had the opposite effect on me. 

The Washington Post offers advice on how to stay safe while biking through the dark winter months. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have their usual option to share it, so your ability to read it may vary.

A 91-year old Florida woman will spend what could be the last years of her life behind bars after running down a couple riding their bikes, then getting out to look at them, and just getting back in her car despite their serious injuries, and driving away to have it repaired at the local dealership; one of the victims called her “a heartless monster who only thinks of herself.”

 

International

Great idea. An English market district is using ebike-riding volunteers to make Christmas deliveries.

Cyclist talks with the British couple who just set a new world’s record for riding around the world on a tandem.

Ikea is experimenting with three-wheeled, solar powered e-cargo bikes to make deliveries in the Netherlands.

You could go for a Christmas bike ride through the streets of Cyprus tonight. Except it will probably be over by the time you read this, thanks to a ten-hour time differential between Cyprus and Los Angeles.  

Autoevolution considers a vaporware slap bike lock developed by a Korean inventor, designed to be easy to use and carry, but which currently exists only as trademark renderings.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling’s governing body will expand the Mountain Bike World Cup even further next year, with the introduction of enduro and E-enduro racing, which comes on the heels of adding cross-country marathon racing to the Cup.

No surprise here, as VeloNews names Annemiek van Vleuten their female cyclist of the year.

 

Finally…

Nothing like turning your e-cargo bike into a heavy duty snowplow. That feeling when your kid’s new Christmas bike was built by prison labor.

And don’t lie to your mom about wearing a helmet.

Seriously.

………

Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating today.

Chag Urim Sameach!

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Ramona resident Michelle Scott dies, 3 years after she was severely injured in a hit-and-run while riding her bike to work

December 21, 2022 / / 3 comments

This is a story I hoped I’d never have to write.

And to be honest, I’m struggling to write it now.

Because a Ramona woman has died, three years after she was severely injured in a hit-and-run.

Michelle Scott was 53 when she was the victim of a horrific collision while riding her bike to work on October 2nd, 2019.

She was struck by the driver of a Ford SUV at 6:30 am while riding on the right shoulder of northbound State Route 67, north of Dye Road.

The driver fled without stopping, with her bicycle still stuck in his grill for more than a mile before it finally fell off.

Police arrested then 34-year-old Ramona resident Chase Edward Richard six days later, holding him on $1 million bail on suspicion of felony hit-and-run, after a neighbor spotted his damaged SUV hidden under cardboard in his garage and painted another color.

Richard served two years of a 44-month sentence after accepting a plea, and is now free on supervised probation, and still must serve 200 hours of community service.

Scott was initially hospitalized with a severe brain injury, and spent the next three years in various long-term care facilities. At best he was able to gesture with her thumb, and struggled to say the name of her husband of 35 years.

She died November 27 when she was disconnected from life support after developing an infection.

Michelle Scott will be buried at Miramar National Cemetery, thanks to her husband Don’s military service; a celebration of life is planned for January 4th.

This is at least the 81st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

Scott is also at least the 26th bike rider to die as a result of a hit-and-run in Southern California since the first of the year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Michelle Scott and all her family and loved ones. 

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

Screens impair drivers more than alcohol or drugs, famed LA cougar victim of traffic violence, and snow gravel biking above LA

December 20, 2022 / / Comments Off on Screens impair drivers more than alcohol or drugs, famed LA cougar victim of traffic violence, and snow gravel biking above LA

Just five days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Time is running out to show your love for this site, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

So let’s all thank John M, Thomas K and John C for doing their part to keep this site coming to your favorite screen today, and every day. 

Now it’s your turn. 

Your support is very needed, so don’t wait. Take a moment to donate right now via PayPal or Zelle, before you forget!

Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. 

It’s okay. We’ll wait. 

No, seriously, she’s going to keep staring until you give something.

………

A writer for Streetsblog suggests there’s a lot more to impaired driving than driving under the influence, noting that drivers using Apple CarPlay’s touchscreen are five times more impaired than someone who is legally drunk.

Last week, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released what seems, at first, to be a shocking statistic: a sample of more than 7,000 road users who were killed or injured in car crashes across America, 56 percent of them tested positive for impairing substances when they arrived at the hospital…

To be abundantly clear: none of this is to say that impaired driving, and especially drunk driving, isn’t extraordinarily dangerous. A motorist’s odds of getting into a car crash double at a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.05, which is the legal limit only in Utah, and they roughly triple at 0.08, the limit in most other states. The universe of potential effects from the universe of impairing substances a U.S. driver might consume include decreased muscle coordination, distorted perceptions, increased risk taking, and so much more. The correct number of drinks, or pills, or other delivery mechanisms for impairing substances that a driver should take before she gets behind the wheel is always zero.

A lot of those deadly effects, though, are also present in people who are sleep-deprived, or stressed, or fiddling with a NHTSA-approved “infotainment” screen embedded in the dashboard of their car — and in some cases, those effects can be as bad or worse than knocking back a couple of beers. One UK study found that using Apple’s CarPlay system slowed drivers’ reaction times nearly five times as much as driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 — but CarPlay is legal on U.S. vehicles, even as U.S. regulators spend millions on anti-distracted driving campaigns to politely request drivers not use it.

It’s definitely worth taking a few minutes to read the whole story. And maybe change your mind on who and what poses the biggest risks on the roads.

………

It turns out LA’s celebrity mountain lion P-22 was a victim of traffic violence, suffering from a fractured skull, an eye injury, herniated organs and a torn diaphragm, all apparently the result of being struck by a motorist.

He was put down on Saturday after being captured due to concerns over his health.

………

Evidently, you don’t have to ride far to find snow above LA right now.

………

Good question from Reddit.

I hate driving in Los Angeles.
byu/MadToothFairy inLosAngeles

Thanks to How the West WS for the heads-up. 

………

This brief UK thread may be the best bike Twitter exchange this year.

https://twitter.com/clovereater/status/1604847830618849281

………

Bikepacking offers advice on how to secure your bike on a bikepacking trip.

………

‘Tis the season.

A National City, California group plans on giving out 200 bicycles and a thousand toys on Christmas morning, continuing a 50-year tradition.

Touching story from West Jordan, Utah, where the family of a 13-year old boy killed by a drunk driver while riding his bike earlier this year were given a huge Harry Potter-themed Christmas tree that had been designed in his honor and sold to benefit a local children’s hospital; the buyer bought it just to give it back to them.

A Texas law firm donate 140 bicycles to local kids in their second annual bike giveaway, saying it reminds them of how much they enjoyed riding bicycles as kids.

The kindhearted owner of a Cicero, Illinois bike shop is fixing up old bikes, and placing them outside for anyone who wants one to simply take it, no questions asked.

A Michigan girl whose heart is definitely in the right place collected cans all year to buy 50 bicycles to donate to local kids.

Twenty-eight kids at at Bloomington, Indiana Boys & Girls Club got new bicycles in a Christmas tradition funded by a local attorney.

Kindhearted students at a Tupelo, Mississippi high school built bikes to give to local kids in need, as part of an annual Christmas bike giveaway.

A Hilton Head, South Carolina real estate agent donated 300 bicycles and helmets for local kids and teens for the 25th consecutive year.

A Georgia sheriff’s department teamed with a local bike shop to donate 13 bikes to local kids who might not otherwise get one. Then again, they also gave away a couple mini-motorized Ford Broncos, because its never too early to instill some motor mania in the kids.

………

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

No bias here. A San Diego letter writer insists that local residents just aren’t interested in riding bikes and protected bike lanes go unused, wasting money and road space. Although another letter writer insists on patience, comparing bike lanes to the centuries-long delay before indoor toilets gained popularity. Let’s hope it doesn’t take quite that long.

Edmonton, Alberta is ripping out a new bike lane because local residents preferred restoring curbside parking to keeping bike riders safe.

A Scottish judge allowed a road raging hit-and-run driver to walk without a single day behind bars for intentionally swerving into a bike rider, leaving the bike riding man seriously injured with multiple fractures, and sentencing the driver to an overnight curfew, instead. Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the streets.

………

………

Local 

Metro continues to flush money down the induced demand toilet by approving a zombie project to widen the 57 and 60 freeway interchange at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars, despite the damage it will do the the climate; the project was originally conceived to serve a proposed football stadium that was never built.

Urbanize LA wants you to vote for LA’s biggest transportation story of 2022.

Apparently, it’s not just bikes, as Crosstown LA warns that e-scooter thefts are on the rise, too.

 

State

Yes please. A state committee calls for ending pretext stops by police, which have long been used to harass bike riders while fishing for criminal violations.

The Lightning Velo Cycling Club will host a pair of holiday lights bike tours in Rossmore on Thursday and Friday. (Scroll down)

San Francisco advocates used artificial intelligence to quantify how many bike riders used a local Slow Street, and saving it from being returned to drivers.

 

National

Bike shops across the country are coping with a post-pandemic glut of bikes, parts and accessories that were ordered during the bike boom, but delivered long after sales have tapered off. Which means it might be a great time to get great deal at your favorite local bike shop, who would undoubtedly appreciate the business. Thanks to Victor Bale for the link. 

Road Bike Rider explains the term “hold your line,” which you’re likely to hear on any group ride or road race. Someone once wanted to fight me because I failed to hold my line on a corner when I was a) riding alone, and b) riding despite a broken arm; the dispute only ended when I used my good arm to threaten to put an air pump through his spokes.

Seattle is replacing the car-tickler plastic bendie posts on a downtown protected bike lane with actual concrete barriers to keep drivers from parking in them, but leaving out a known conflict zone. (Scroll down. No, keep scrolling.)

The Washington Post examines Denver’s ebike rebate program, suggesting it could be a national model to cut emissions and traffic congestion. Then again, it could have been California serving as a national model, if the state’s fully funded $10 million ebike rebate hadn’t suffered a years-long failure to launch.

A Cleveland bike shop has been in business since 1883.

New York’s iconic 5th Avenue is about to get a Complete Streets makeover, transforming the car-choked boulevard into a safer, human scale “pedestrian-centered area that also prioritizes mass transit and cyclists.” Maybe we can talk our new mayor into doing the same thing with Wilshire Blvd. Thanks again to Victor Bale. 

A Harlem magazine offers tips on how to pick a new bike. Which actually make sense for a change, even if they are a little simplistic. 

Philadelphia is closing in 30 miles of protected bike lanes. No mention of whether those are centerline miles or lane miles; the latter counts bike lanes on both sides of the road separately, effectively doubling the actual miles of protected roadway. 

A DC site celebrates a decade of getting their Christmas tree home by bike.

She gets it. The vice mayor of Manassas, Virginia says streets have to be remade to protect all road users, and it’s up to all of us to improve traffic safety.

 

International

Canadian Cycling Magazine questions whether a cop parked in a bike lane in front of a Toronto hospital was on an emergency call, or just getting coffee.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling offers a short list of very practical gifts to keep your family bicycling.

Power may be out in most of Ukraine, thanks to Russian bombing of civilian infrastructure, but residents of Kiev are keeping the Christmas lights on at a train station through sheer pedal power and determination.

A Manilla writer calls for converting the city’s pandemic-era popup bike lanes into motorcycle lanes, because they aren’t safe enough for bicyclists to use.

 

Finally…

Turn your bicycle into a winter-friendly snowbike. Why it matters if your frame has a stiffie. Or is one.

And that feeling when you spend a month’s salary on a new bike, then disappear without a trace while riding it around the world.

………

Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating today.

Chag Urim Sameach!

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

High desert man busted for 2nd DUI in 3 months, this is who we share the road with, and lots more ‘Tis the Season

December 19, 2022 / / Comments Off on High desert man busted for 2nd DUI in 3 months, this is who we share the road with, and lots more ‘Tis the Season

It’s the final week of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just six more days to support this site, and help keep all the best and brightest bike news coming your way every day!

Sadly, though, not one single person donated to the fund drive yesterday; just the second time that’s happened this year. 

So let’s all thank Douglas M, Devin D and Steven F for their generous donations on Friday and Saturday to bring you the latest bike news and advocacy every morning. 

So don’t wait. Donate today via PayPal or Zelle! 

Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. And very needed. 

Today’s photo: A very sad fund drive spokesdog and chief fundraiser vows to keep staring until you give in and make a donation today. 

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

A Victorville man was busted for DUI while he was already out on bail for another DUI arrest in October.

This is how the Victorville Daily Press described the arrest.

While speaking with Woodward, the deputy said the suspect was “uncooperative,” and several liquor bottles were seen inside the suspect’s vehicle. The deputy determined that Woodward was driving under the influence of alcohol…

Woodward was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol over .08%, reckless driving, and obstructing a peace officer. He was cited and released on Thursday.

Because of the reckless driving charge, Woodward’s vehicle was impounded for 30 days.

Go back and read that again.

The driver’s vehicle was impounded after his arrest — not because he was driving drunk, but because he was driving recklessly.

After his first drunk driving arrest, they apparently just handed his license back to him, and sent him home to do it again.

And chances are, this was just the first time he got caught again.

So if you’ve ever wondered why people keep dying on our streets, you can start with lawmakers who think it’s too dangerous to let reckless drivers keep their cars, but perfectly okay for drunks to keep driving.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

………

This is who we share the road with.

………

‘Tis the season.

A Madera, California Ford Dealership gave away 300 bikes, tricycle and mountain bikes assembled by volunteers earlier this month.

The Butte County, California sheriff’s department is giving away 50 donated or refurbished bikes to local children.

An Albuquerque bike shop teamed with nonprofit group More Butts on Bikes  to give away a free balance bike every day this month.

The Texas A&M women’s basketball team held their first ever bike build, assembling 53 bikes for kids in need before their latest game.

An Oklahoma City TV station gave away over 200 bikes to kids, thanks to help from donors and Walmart.

An Ohio nonprofit gave away four truckloads of bikes to kids up to 17 years old; they’ve distributed over 20,000 bikes in the past 17 years.

Over 200 people turned out, many dressed as Santa or other holiday characters, for a 5.5-mile Ohio bike ride to benefit the victim of a dog attack earlier this year.

Continuing our Ohio trifecta, a local church donated 550 new bikes and 600 toys to families in need for the holidays.

A pair of Louisville, Kentucky women worked though the nonprofits they founded to donate bikes to kids who didn’t have one.

A Pennsylvania Toys for Tots program thanked the local community for coming through for them after thieves stole 25 bicycles that were schedule to go to local kids in need; Dick’s Sporting Goods alone donated 25 bicycles to the program.

Former Washington Commanders pro football receiver Charlie Brown gave away more than 100 bicycles to kids in need through his charitable foundation.

A Baton Rouge, Louisiana attorney handed out 430 bikes and helmets to kids in need for the holidays.

Hats off to the owners and employees of a Dublin, Ireland bike shop, who have donated 1,500 bicycles to Ukrainian refugees.

An Aussie couple turned their own living room into a workshop to refurbish eleven bikes for kids in need.

………

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

Italian bicyclists are up in arms after a judge ruled that hate speech directed at them is not a crime, after someone wrote “Hit one cyclist to educate a hundred” in response to a Facebook post. Although that wouldn’t even be a consideration in the US, where the 1st Amendment protects the right to make stupid and hateful comments.

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

There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the bike-riding man who attacked a 63-year old man in New York’s Central Park while shouting antisemitic comments and “Kanye 2024.”

Police in Belfast, Northern Ireland are looking for a pair of killers who rode their bicycles to assassinate two different men just under a year apart; investigators have connected the cases, but are still looking for a motive.

………

………

Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Police in Newport Beach gave in to the cliches, and gave coffee and donuts to the adults to improve community relations, and bike helmets for their kids.

San Jose leads the Silicon Valley in bicycle crashes, injuries and deaths, with 3.5 times as many bike crashes as second place Palo Alto. Then again, it also has almost 15 times the population.

Sad news from Sacramento, where an Ohio man was killed in a collision while riding his bike.

 

National

Bad news from Oregon, where pedestrian and bike deaths have topped last year with a month to go.

The author of the Seattle Bike Blog has a new book coming out titled Biking Uphill in the Rain: The Story of Seattle from behind the Handlebars, available for preorder for $29.95.

Heartbreaking news from Denver, where a woman battling leukemia lost her husband the same day she received a stem cell transplant, when a hit-and-run driver ran a red light and smashed into him as he rode his bike; a crowdfunding page has raised over $78,000.

A group of Minnesota bike riders aims to prove that people do ride bikes in the snow.

A band of vigilantes is riding and walking around New York, clandestinely fixing license plates intentionally damaged or obscured by their owners to avoid traffic cams and toll scanners.

Frank Sinatra’s namesake Hoboken street is getting a Complete Streets makeover, complete with raised sidewalks and protected bike lanes, although drivers will have to sacrifice 126 parking spaces.

A Virginia man is under arrest for sexually assaulting a 13-year old girl and stealing her bicycle, after the victim managed to take a photo of his truck as he drove away. See pit, deep enough.

That’s still more like it. A New Orleans man had his sentence reduced for the drunk driving crash that killed two people when he plowed into nine bike riders at a 2019 Mardi Gras parade; Tashonty Toney’s sentence was lowered from 91 years to 65 years behind bars after the appellate court rejected the original sentence.

Hats off to Mississippi history teacher Ed Abdella, who rode his bike for 24 straight hours to raise funds for the school’s band program, covering 343 miles in the process.

Ivanka Trump is one of us, as she took her two sons to a Miami bike park.

A Florida sheriff’s deputy dressed as the Grinch and handed out onions to drivers speeding in a school zone. Although speeding tickets would have been more appropriate, but less fun.

 

International

Three friends from Argentina rode their bikes 6,200 miles through 15 countries in hopes of securing tickets to the World Cup final, won by Argentina in penalty kicks; no word on whether they actually got in.

Canadian Cycling Magazine offers inspiration for when your Christmas Tree has to reflect your passion for bikes.

It’s going to take five months and $400,000 to rip out a popular bike lane through a Vancouver park. Popular with bike riders, anyway; angry drivers, not so much. 

Police in the UK are defending the people installing new bike hangers, after conservative politician complained about the approval process.

A British husband and wife team set a new record for biking around the world on a tandem bike, passing through Berlin’s famed Brandenburg Gate — in a blizzard, no less — just 180 days after setting off from the same spot, presumably in better weather. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the link, who assures us he and his wife will not be challenging the new record.

In yet another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the streets, an 81-year old English driver walked without a single day behind bars and got to keep his driver’s license, despite hitting a bike rider during a failed pass attempt — then doing it again moments later.

No surprise here, as bike riders in the Netherlands ride their bikes twice as much as Germans do doing the winter.

Famed Italian bikemaker Ernesto Colnago’s greatest bikes will go on display in a permanent museum.

 

Competitive Cycling

UCI is making sweeping rule changes to World Cup mountain bike racing.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a stand of cottonwoods explodes next to the bike trail you’re riding. A two-mile bike ride could pay for your next hotel stay.

And someone out there definitely knows how to get my attention.

https://twitter.com/LisaNSanders1/status/1604356361323974663

………

Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating tonight. Or a happy Hanukkah, if you prefer.

Chag Urim Sameach!

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Update: 71-year old man riding bike killed by hit-and-run driver in San Diego’s Valley Center neighborhood Saturday

December 19, 2022 / / Comments Off on Update: 71-year old man riding bike killed by hit-and-run driver in San Diego’s Valley Center neighborhood Saturday

Go ahead and call it murder.

Because once again, a heartless coward has left an innocent victim to die alone in the street.

This time in San Diego.

According to multiple sources, the victim was riding north on the shoulder of Cole Grade Road above Horse Creek Trail in the city’s Valley Center neighborhood when he was apparently run down from behind by the driver of a northbound pickup or SUV around 5:34 Saturday evening.

The victim, identified only as a 71-year old Valley Center man, died at the scene.

The driver fled, leaving behind their right front headlight; police are looking for a Ford Expedition SUV or F Series pickup, no model year or color given.

There’s no word on how fast the killer driver was going at the time of the crash, or how long the victim lay in the street before paramedics arrived. Or whether he could have been saved if the driver had called for help after the crash.

But clearly, whoever was behind the wheel didn’t care enough find out.

A street view shows one lane in each direction, with left and right turn bays leading west to Horse Creek Road. Sadly, there is a bike lane on the recently repaved southbound side of Cole Grade, but not on the northbound side where the victim was riding.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Oceanside Area CHP office at 760/643-3400.

This is at least the 80th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

At least 25 of those have been killed hit-and-run drivers.

Update: The victim has been identified as 71-year old Mario Lucero of Valley Center; community members described him as a beloved grandfather, landscaper and friend.

The Oaxaca, Mexico native leaves behind his son and daughter, as well as six grandchildren. Family members are trying to return his body to Oaxaca for burial. 

Lucero was killed on his way home, shortly after stopping at his favorite restaurant after work. 

His 20-year old granddaughter wonders if he could have survived if the driver had stopped and called for help. 

Good question. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Mario Lucero and all his family and loved ones.

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

LA city officials back off “aspirational” mobility plan, CD13’s Hugo Soto-Martinez talks bikes, and still more bike giveaways

December 16, 2022 / / Comments Off on LA city officials back off “aspirational” mobility plan, CD13’s Hugo Soto-Martinez talks bikes, and still more bike giveaways

Just nine days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

We’re on the cusp of the last full weekend of the fund drive, just slightly ahead of last year’s record pace. But we need your help to push it over the top, and best last year’s total for the 8th consecutive year!

So thanks to Matthew L and Tom C for their generous donations to keep all the latest bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Now it’s your turn, so donate today via PayPal or Zelle! 

Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated, and gets us that much closer to our goal.

………

Before we get started, thanks to Paul Jamason for this tweet that took me by surprise yesterday. 

https://twitter.com/sdurban/status/1603544746118373376

But that’s what I do, all day and every day, confronting misinformation and disinformation about bikes and the people who ride them. And working to shine a light on the problems we face just trying to get from here to there in one piece. 

So if you value that work, and have a few extra bucks to spare, ask yourself what it’s worth to you, and donate now to help keep this vital work going.

………

Today’s must read comes from Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who calls out Los Angeles city officials for their mealymouthed support of the city’s Mobility Plan 2035, which we are once again told is merely “aspirational,” despite its overwhelming approval by the city council.

But what has been disturbing has been the city’s wholesale backing off of the Mobility Plan as a plan. Instead city staff – from the Planning Department, Chief Legislative Analyst, Department of Transportation, and others – are casting doubt on the city’s approved plan. This occurred repeatedly in an October 6 CLA memo and a November 30 City Council Public Works Committee meeting [audio] discussing the city council’s alternative version of HSLA.

CLA staff repeatedly characterized MP2035 as just “a policy foundation,” “a working guide,” “not an implementation tool with specific projects,” and “street segments indicated on the network concept maps represent potential opportunities.” (emphasis added).

He goes on to add this.

At the committee meeting, (Department of City Planning) Planner Emily Gable stated that MP2035 is “guidance” for a “general vision.” MP2035 network maps are “guides for decision-makers.” She called the plan “aspirational” and emphasized its “flexibility.”

It’s instructive to note the pernicious double standard of how the city is treating other aspects of the Mobility Plan.

Bus lanes? Guidance.

Bike lanes? Policy foundation.

Safe walking? Aspirational.

Car capacity? Build it exactly as the plan specifies.

Then again, that’s nothing new.

Just weeks after the 2010 Bike Plan was approved, which was later subsumed into the mobility plan, we were told by an LADOT official that it was merely, yes, aspirational.

But here’s the thing.

While the city may consider the mobility plan aspirational, people who ride bikes just aspire to do so without fear.

We aspire to have safe routes allowing us to ride across the city, and through our own neighborhoods.

We aspire to be treated as equals on the road.

We aspire to have secure places to park our bikes when we get to our destination.

And we aspire to have city officials who actually give a damn whether we live or die.

It’s a good piece. So take a few minutes to give it a read.

Then get mad as hell.

Because your safety and right to ride should never be just aspirational.

………

If, like me, you missed Streets For All’s virtual happy hour with newly installed CD13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez on Wednesday, the transportation PAC has posted a recording online so we can all catch up.

This is how they describe it.

In this month’s happy hour we give an update on Venice Bl and our state efforts, talk about upcoming neighborhood council elections, and go over some wins and fails. Our special guest is Hugo Soto-Martinez, newly elected Councilmember for District 13, City of Los Angeles. We discussed many possible bike, bus, and pedestrian projects, including Fountain Ave, Santa Monica Bl, Hollywood Bl, Vermont, and capping the 101 freeway.

………

Speaking of Streets For All, the group wants you to request a ballot for the Democratic Party’s ADEM representatives to help elect pro-transit delegates.

………

‘Tis the season.

A religious group will donate a total of 500 bicycles to kids in need in Madera and Fresno, California this weekend.

A Bozeman, Montana bike shop is conducting their ninth annual children’s bike giveaway, hoping to donate at least 110 bikes to break last year’s record.

Kids in Sioux Falls, South Dakota will build a sense of pride and generosity by building 120 bicycles tomorrow, which will be given to less fortunate children as Christmas gifts.

………

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

There’s not a pit deep enough for the middle-aged British dog walker who chased down and attacked a teenage girl as she rode her bike, after shouting threats at her. Nothing justifies violence, whatever the reason for his anger.

………

………

Local 

New CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez filed a motion instructing city officials to report back on the condition of the streets in her district, which had been neglected under former Councilmember “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, while directing that construction of bicycle infrastructure simultaneously coordinated with street repairs.

New LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has been seated on the Metro board, giving it a fresh voice with a track record of supporting bikes, walking and transit.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, better known as the LACBC, announced their official name change to BikeLA.

 

State

San Francisco Streetsblog says the removal of traditional parking meters in the city means fewer places to park your bike. LADOT was supposed to conduct a study a few years ago about whether bikes could be safely locked up to parking meters here in Los Angeles, but as far as I know, the practice remains technically illegal, though seldom enforced. 

A Napa Valley paper examines the work of the Napa County Bicycle Coalition.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a woman was killed in a collision while riding her bike Thursday evening.

A Rancho Cordova man will be charged with murder after ambushing a 60-year old ebike rider with a machete, for no apparent reason.

 

National

Equitable Cities is conducting a survey of bicycling in the Black and Hispanic communities; you could be entered to win one of ten $200 gift cards for completing the survey.

The Bike League wants you to contact your Congress members to push for a return of the Bicycle Commuter Benefit in any year-end tax or spending legislation. Maybe they could also push for the ebike rebate the feds teased us with earlier this year.

Bicycling recommends eight “hilarious” Insta reel creators they say you have to follow. Even though you don’t. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Gear Junkie explains the myriad joys of the derailleur.

Red Bull considers whether you really want a BMX or a mountain bike.

There’s a special place in hell — and hopefully behind bars — for whoever sexually assaulted a 12-year old Virginia girl before stealing her bicycle.

A newly completed Complete Street in Sarasota, Florida, complete with a lane reduction and sort-of protected bike lanes, is part of the planned 336-mile Florida Gulf Coast Trail. But as usual, local business owners are complaining.

 

International

Cycling Weekly considers what to eat and drink before, during and after a long bike ride, which they define as lasting longer than three and a half hours.

Frightening story from Wales, where a 14-year old boy’s heart suddenly stopped while on a group ride with his stepdad, even though he was an experienced mountain biker; he survived, despite four days in a coma, because one member of the group performed CPR while others raced for a defibrillator.

Belgian ebike brand Cowboy is dealing with the problem of recycling ebike batteries by recycling the entire bike instead, refurbishing and reselling them at a reduced price.

The most popular electric vehicle in Deutschland isn’t a car, as Germans are 2.5 times more likely to ride an ebike than drive an EV.

 

Competitive Cycling

The nascent National Cycling League announced $7.5 million in startup funding from a diverse group of investors, including NBA All-Star Bradley Beal; the league will consist of teams made up of eight men and eight women, who will compete for a slice of the $1 million purse in closed course crits in cities across the US. Although it’s kind of sad that a relatively paltry $7.5 million reflects the largest ever investment in US bike racing, when it’s just a rounding error on Beal’s annual salary. 

Track cycling fans should head down to the Velo Sports Center in Carson for a full weekend of racing, starting tonight.

 

Finally…

Your bike can be an electric generator contributing to the power grid. And now you, too, can own newly Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s used $7,900 tri bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

San Diego woman on life support after ebike hits shopping cart, a carfree Embarcadero, and holiday bike rides

December 15, 2022 / / Comments Off on San Diego woman on life support after ebike hits shopping cart, a carfree Embarcadero, and holiday bike rides

Just ten days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

We’re entering into the home stretch just slightly ahead of last year’s record-setting pace. But we’ll need to raise almost $1,000 over the next week and a half to make it happen.

So thanks to Miriam H and Phillip Y for their generous donations to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day, and ensure it will always be there, ready and waiting when you need it. 

So now it’s your turn.

Just stop whatever you’re doing, and donate today via PayPal or Zelle! Every donation, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated!

………

Tragic news from San Diego, where a 56-year old woman is on life support with a brain bleed after crashing her ebike into a shopping cart someone carelessly left in a bike lane Tuesday evening.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding in the westbound bike lane on the 5100 block of Friars Road shortly after dark, which would have made the cart that much more difficult to see.

And no, she was not wearing a helmet.

Which matters in this case, since she suffered a head injury, and this is exactly the kind of low speed crash bike helmets are designed to protect against.

Let’s all hope she makes a full and fast recovery.

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

………

A small group of San Francisco community organizers is calling for kicking cars out of the city’s Embarcadero.

Advocates Stacey Randecker and Alex Soble suggest converting the waterfront into a vibrant, walkable Grand Embarcadero that “could match or surpass comparable destinations like Chicago’s Lakefront Trail, San Antonio’s Riverwalk and Paris’ Seine waterfront.”

Not to mention easily exceed anything found here in Southern California.

Which would be a big improvement from the Embarcadero’s current deadly and dangerous car-choked environment.

………

A pair of holiday rides are on tap this weekend, with rides on Saturday in Costa Mesa and Sunday in Glendale.

………

Good question.

Is it the scooter or the cars that are really blocking the sidewalk?

………

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

No surprise here, as San Diego’s bike hating Ocean Beach Rag jumps on yesterday’s anti-bike lane hit piece in the San Diego Union Tribune. If you missed it, you can read my takedown on the piece here. 

Its a sad commentary when a Chicago ghost bike isn’t even safe from traffic violence.

………

………

Local 

‘Tis the season. The San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles partnered with the Bikes for Kids Foundation and Pechanga Resort Casino to surprise about 150 Compton second and third-graders with a new bicycle.

 

State 

The Bike League announced their latest list of Bicycle Friendly Communities, with several NorCal cities renewed or promoted; the only city named in Southern California is Beverly Hills with an honorable mention.

CalBike looks back at the past year’s wins in the state legislature, including new bike laws, more funding for bikes and walking, and the state ebike rebates, which remain sadly theoretical at this point.

Streetsblog takes a very early look at the transportation bills expected to be considered in the next legislative session, including a requirement to consider the climate emergency in transportation funding, and another bite at the apple for Stop As Yield.

The Voice of OC says the death of 8-year-old Bradley Rofer as he rode his bike through an Orange County intersection this past September is “prompting a tough debate about whether civic leaders are doing enough to protect kids at dangerous intersections.” Short answer, no. Longer answer, oh hell no.

The Coast News Group looks forward to next month’s Cyclovia Encinitas open streets event.

Agoura Hills officially unveiled a new, wider bridge on Roadside Drive as the first project in implementing the city’s bicycle master plan — yet somehow, they don’t seem to have included any bike lanes in the project.

Heartbreaking news from San Francisco, where a 16-year old boy rode his bike halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge before jumping to his death, as a project to install mesh suicide barriers on both sides of the bridge has stalled amid soaring costs.

‘Tis the season. A Castro Valley man has fixed up and given away over 700 bicycles to people who can’t afford one for work, school or fun, calling the money-losing program Bad Business Model Bikes.

 

National

No surprise here, as researchers have concluded that 55% of people involved in serious or fatal crashes had drugs or alcohol in their systems — whether drivers, passengers or people outside the vehicle — with nearly 25% each testing positive for weed or alcohol.

Forbes recommends their picks for the best balance bikes for your favorite toddler — including a $1,000 carbon framed Specialized for your future pro. Junior doper kit sold separately.

House Digest recommends the five best American cities to live in if you don’t have a car. Shockingly, Los Angeles was not included among them. And yes, that’s sarcasm.

Bicycling considers the meaning of the massive, and completely unrecoverable, $353 million judgement against the drunk and stoned hit-and-run driver who killed master’s cyclist Gwen Inglis as she rode with her husband in Lakewood, Colorado — not Boulder, as the magazine says. For a change, read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

The owner of San Antonio’s oldest bike shop is asking for support from the community, as nearby construction could force it to close before it can reach its 103rd year.

Chicago drivers will now face a $250 fine for blocking a bike lane, as well as running the risk they could be towed; the move stems at least in part from the deaths of four little kids this past summer.

The Boston Globe says we need to make traffic jams a thing of the past if we’re going to curb emissions by 2030, calling for congestion pricing and better transit. And more biking and walking would help, too.

Grocery chain Safeway teamed with a local nonprofit to give a new adaptive bicycle to a young Baltimore girl suffering from a form of childhood dementia.

 

International

Bike Radar offers five reasons why you don’t need a new bicycle, including N+1 is dead. Which should come as a surprise to many of us.

Canadian Cycling Magazine is surprised to find Gwyneth Paltrow’s luxury Goop gift guide suggests a trio of relatively reasonably priced bikes.

Past and present English city officials protest the poor quality of a Hereford bike lane before it even opens to the public.

German manufacturer Bosch is pushing the US to adopt the tighter ebike regulations that allowed the company to dominate the European market.

An Aussie truck driver will have to spend four years behind bars for the drunken, distracted crash that killed a 21-year old man who was riding throughout the country to call attention to climate change.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling offers a photo essay from the recent ‘cross Nats. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new e-cargo bike is based on a Japanese bento box.

And bike touring down the East Coast on one wheel.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Soto-Martinez calls for new bus and bike lanes in CD13, San Diego op-ed calls bike lanes a rip-off, and drivers behaving badly

December 14, 2022 / / One comment

Less than 12 days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Which means time is running out to show your support for SoCal’s best source for all the latest bike news and advocacy, delivered fresh to your favorite screen every morning!

So let’s all thank Nina M and Todd T for their generous donations to ensure the bike news you need is ready and waiting when you need it. 

Don’t wait. Donate today via PayPal or Zelle.

Or better yet, stop what you’re doing and donate right now to keep all the bike bike news coming your way every day!

………

You can’t say things aren’t changing in Los Angeles these days.

And Hollywood in particular.

In his first council session after replacing the recently ousted Mitch O’Farrell in LA’s 13th Council District, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a motion calling for LADOT to report back with a list of bus lanes, bike infrastructure and pedestrian safety improvements that can be implemented within the next 18 months, as well as calling for placing shelters at every bus stop in the district.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1602864863667101697

Quite a change from O’Farrell, who spent eight years slow walking most safety projects, if not outright blocking them.

You can ask Soto-Martinez about his plans for the district at this evening’s Streets For All virtual happy hour; RSVP here.

………

No bias here.

A retired university professor suggests that San Diego’s commitment to building bike infrastructure, with a goal of achieving a 10% bike commuting rate, is just another special interest rip-off.

Is this a joke? Or is it a monumental rip-off perpetrated by a very small but clearly well-organized special interest group of biking enthusiasts?

And then there is a safety issue. To date, there seemingly has not been any effort by the city or the state to either educate or enforce the multiple safety issues that are important for a mutual use of roadways by bicycles and automobiles. Few bikes on the road after dark have reflectors or lights; it is very rare to see a bicyclist signal to turn. And bicyclists blow through red lights and stop signs consistently — usually as they fly down one of the hills.

Just wait until he sees how people drive, in their big, smelly, two-ton death-dealing machines as they text on their phones, roll stop sighs and race to the next red light.

Of course, his proof that it’s a rip-off is that he and his husband don’t see bikes in the exact bike lane they’re watching, at the exact moment they’re watching it.

And never mind that the well-funded advocacy groups he complains about are in fact dramatically underfunded nonprofits who have to beg for money to continue their work every year.

It would be of interest to know which consultant arrived at this 10 percent number — and how. Special interest groups are focused, connected, well-organized and funded. My guess is that they were heavily involved in the planning for the pathways. And while clearly their prerogative, their influence seems to have outweighed the broader public good.

In reality, the broader public good includes getting people out of their cars — electric or otherwise — before we succeed in our so far successful efforts to destroy our planet, unless and until the erstwhile world’s richest man manages to find another one to move us all to.

And, of course, he can’t manage to make his case without the stunning revelation that “San Diego is not Copenhagen, Stockholm or Amsterdam.”

No, it isn’t. San Diego has much better weather for much of the year. And none of those cities were bike-friendly until they made the commitment and difficult transition to become that way.

But there is one thing he gets right.

San Diego is hilly, built around numerous canyons and hillsides. Yet I somehow managed to find relatively flat routes to get wherever I was going when I lived down there decades ago.

I doubt it’s gotten any hillier since.

Then there’s the ability of ebikes to flatten that terrain, and let anyone ride up and down them with minimal effort.

And if you’re to believe the local media and panicked seaside city officials, the entire place is already being overrun by ebike-riding social terrorists.

It’s possible that the city’s efforts to increase bicycling rates may fail, with too many people clinging to their steering wheels like Charleston Heston to his guns.

But it’s far too soon to give up, when the city’s bike network is still in its nascent stage. Let alone when its success is the only way the city can meet its climate goals.

So give it time, and keep building bikeways.

The worst thing that will happen is that the city will continue to get safer and more livable.

And maybe someday, someone in Copenhagen or Amsterdam will insist that they’re not San Diego.

………

This is who we share the road with.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, except for the driver of the suspected stolen truck.

And a Laguna Beach hardware store was forced to close when a woman somehow drove her Tesla through the outer wall. Luckily, no one was injured.

………

You only have until the end of this month to offer your input on how to make Redondo Beach Blvd and Ripley Ave safer and more comfortable spaces to bike and walk.

………

After yesterday’s item about the brief flight of a pedal-powered plane, Steven Hallett reminds us about the Gossamer Albatross, the human-powered plane that successfully crossed the English Channel all the way back in 1979.

………

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

New York building owners are banning ebikes and e-scooters over concerns about battery fires, even though the problem is largely limited to refurbished batteries and mismatched chargers.

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

The people have spoken. People commenting here have all said we should stop linking to articles here where bike use is just incidental to some crime, rather than central to the story. So from here on, this section will be reserved for bike riders who fuck up big time. Let’s just make sure it’s not you, k?

Or me, for that matter.

………

………

Local 

A Los Angeles actor and producer makes a pilgrimage to the great bicycling meccas of Europe.

In what should be must-see viewing for local and state officials, the new documentary 21 Miles in Malibu examines LA County’s killer highway, calling it one of the deadliest stretches of roadway in California.

 

State 

Caltrans is holding a webinar on Friday to present a progress report on the the Statewide Bike and Pedestrian Plan, with public comment extended to January 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th.

Streetsblog examines the worthy active transportation projects that didn’t get funded by the California Transportation Commission under a one-time, $1 billion state funding boost, demonstrating just how much demand there is for better bike and walking infrastructure.

‘Tis the season. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office held their annual Christmas Bike Giveaway for the 33rd straight year, donating 300 bicycles refurbished by county jail inmates to kids in need.

San Francisco Streetsblog checks the progress on the new curb-protected bike lanes on Oakland’s iconic Telegraph Ave.

 

National

A writer for Planetizen argues active transportation and micromobility can do far more to provide cost-effective cuts in emissions than most current emission reduction plans. Meanwhile, Government Technology suggests micromobility has rebounded from its pandemic-induced downturn.

A Streetsblog podcast talks with historian and author Peter Norton about the history of roadside memorials to the victims of traffic violence.

Bike Portland reports the city is working with the FHA to build several advisory lanes, where bike riders get a lane on both sides, and drivers share a single center lane.

Kindhearted Texas cops worked with a nonprofit group to give a boy with special needs a new bike after his was stolen. Don’t get me started on what kind of schmuck would steal a bike from a special needs kid, though.

More on the Michigan bike shop owner killed in a Florida collision while delivering bikes to children affected by Hurricane Ian; 57-year old Steven Pringle was a grandfather and Army vet who founded a nonprofit providing “bicycle therapy” to veterans by repairing bikes to give to children in need.

The bike lanes on New York’s Roosevelt Island Bridge got a new weather-resistant surface, replacing the metal grate that was prone to causing tire punctures.

New York building owners are banning ebike and e-scooters over fears of battery fires.

 

International

CityLab sees a big opportunity in tiny electric minicars.

Quebec rules that a bike rider who was grazed, but not hit, by a passing motorist is entitled to compensation for her injuries. Although someone should tell them that getting “grazed” is getting hit. And so is getting sucked in or blown off the road by a passing vehicle. 

A London micromobiity company is placing a cognitive function test within their app, which will require ebike and e-scooter users to prove they’re not intoxicated before they’re allowed to rent one. So why can’t we do the same thing for motorists?

Portugal is the first country to reduce the value-added tax, or VAT, on bicycles in an effort to encourage increased ridership.

A Norwegian student praises the kindness of people in India’s Uttar Pradesh province, after thieves stole his phone, credit card, ID and other documents while on an around the world bike tour.

Bizarre story from Australia, where a young woman pled guilty to manslaughter in the death of a 7-foot tall man who was last scene riding his bike, after arguing that she only thought her boyfriend and another man were going to “kick the shit out of him,” not kill him.

 

Competitive Cycling

Colombian cyclist Miguel Ángel López was unceremoniously fired from his Astana-Qazaqstan cycling team, after the team found “probable” connections to a Spanish doctor being investigated for suspected drug trafficking and money laundering. But the era of doping is over, right? Or did they just get better at hiding it?

A Burbank website profiles a 16-year old mountain biker who competes in competitions throughout the US.

 

Finally…

Your bike could soon tell you when it needs new shoes. Why reinvent the wheel when you can just build a better kickstand?

And that feeling when bikes get squeezed out by pickleball.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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