Teen bike rider murdered in deliberate hit-and-run, Canadian bike lane madness, and assess bike/ped safety in your town

November 25, 2024 / / Comments Off on Teen bike rider murdered in deliberate hit-and-run, Canadian bike lane madness, and assess bike/ped safety in your town
Just 35 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But so far, no LA city leader has even mentioned the impending deadline. Let alone done anything about it. 

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If you missed it over the weekend — and that was easy to do, given the relatively minimal press coverage — a 16-year old boy was murdered by a driver who deliberately ran down his bike in LA’s Exposition Park on Friday.

The boy was part of a group of around 40 kids who got into some sort of altercation with a road-raging driver while riding south Figueroa Street, just above Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, allegedly breaking the car’s mirror.

The teens rode through a gap in the fence surrounding BMO Stadium in an effort to get away from the driver. But the driver followed them into the parking lot and slammed into the victim, then fled afterwards.

The victim died at the scene.

To make this horrific, needless tragedy even worse — if that is even possible — the boy reportedly had nothing to do with the dispute on the roadway, making him an entirely innocent victim.

So far, teenaged victim has not been publicly named.

There is also no description of the driver or suspect vehicle, other than a four-door sedan, with a broken side mirror and likely front-end damage.

The CHP is investigating the killing, since it took place on state property. Anyone with information is urged to call the their Southern Division Major Crimes Unit at 323/644-9550, or the Los Angeles Communication Center at 323/259-3200.

Let’s hope they find this murderous jerk soon, and get him off the roads.

Permanently.

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No surprise here.

It turns out that ripping out Toronto bike lanes like Ontario Premier Doug Ford — brother of the city’s late crack-smoking mayor — is demanding would actually make the city’s traffic worse, not better.

Meanwhile, a Mastadon user says the hundreds of bicyclists participating in a Toronto protest received a hero’s welcome from both pedestrians and drivers.

And a former Winnipeg city counselor and Canadian cabinet member called for halting new bike lanes, arguing that “Bike lanes have become more symbolic than functional, and symbolism is not enough to justify millions in spending.”

Never mind that bike lanes have repeatedly been shown to boost local businesses and property values while improving safety and livability for everyone.

Which should more than justify the relatively small amount to build new bike lanes, here, there or anywhere.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

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Applications are now open for community groups to apply for two programs run by the UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) designed to train people how to assess bicycle and pedestrian safety in their communities, and recommend how to improve it.

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Be on the lookout for a stolen trailer full of hot bike gear taken from Culver City’s Walk ‘n Rollers.

Not to mention the lowlife schmuck who made off with it.

Twitter post

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It’s now 341 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

Is anyone really surprised that the leader of an Irish political party says he gets more abuse “week in, week out” while riding his bicycle than he does as a politician?

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Local  

Streetsblog talks with sustainability advocate, LA County transportation deputy and newly elected Culver City Councilmember Bubba Fish, who restores the city’s narrow progressive majority; losing that majority two years ago resulted in conservative councilmembers ripping out the successful MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes.

Streets For All is encouraging people to become supporting members for just $12 a month, looking to reach 200 members by their member event next month.

Eastern Ave in El Sereno will get a major makeover this fall to bring better bike paths, safer sidewalks, more trees and traffic calming.

 

State

Streetsblog San Francisco examines Emeryville’s nearly completed sidewalk-level Horton Street bike lane.

Sebastopol is looking into the viability of building a multi-use path bisecting the city.

 

National

Now you, too, can build your own ebike out of PVC pipe.

According to the former head of the Federal Highway Administration, barrier-protected bike lanes are a “proven safety countermeasure” that has been shown to reduce crashes “an average of exactly 49 percent on four-lane, undivided collector and local roads” in an urban area, and they have reams of federally compiled data to back it up.

You can find a lot of things while riding your bike, but no one wants to discover human remains along a Phoenix area bike path.

Bike helmets — they’re not just for surviving Oklahoma tornadoes anymore.

New York Magazine considers the best holiday gifts for bicyclists, chosen by bicyclists.

A lifelong Jersey City, New Jersey resident  says a recent op-ed saying plans for a new bike lane are hated by locals relied on cherry-picking opinions while “ignoring both data and the realities of traffic safety.”

The good news is the Pennsylvania legislature didn’t reject a bill legalizing protected bike lanes, but the bad news is they didn’t pass it, either.

Congratulations to workers at DC’s Washington Area Bicyclist Association, who are now officially unionized.

If you’re riding your bike from Delaware to Key West, it only makes sense to honor the late Jimmy Buffet along the way.

 

International

Cycling Weekly asks why cars, trucks and SUVs keep getting bigger, questioning whether it will ever end. And they say modern bikes are so good, they take the worry out of riding.

Bicycling offers advice on how to safely do an Idaho Stop. But you’ll need a subscription to read the story, because this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else. 

Momentum considers the “world’s coolest and most unique” bicycling infrastructure innovations. None of which can be found in Los Angeles. Or the US, even.

A British Columbia judge denied bail to a man accused of trying to use a stolen dump truck to break into an ebike store, after he failed to bust through the security gates despite multiple attempts, just four months after he was arrested for using a forklift to break into a different ebike dealer.

Strange case from Cornwall, England, where a man in his 60s died crashing his bicycle into a parked car, just hours after going missing from a local hospital.

Bike lane opponents in Coventry, England are upset that trees are being cut down to make room for one, but only because they chose saving parking over saving trees.

A writer for the Guardian goes ebiking through Britain’s New Forest National Park.

That’s more like it. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called for banning SUVs from the city, warning that they could become weapons against other citizens. Even if the conservative London Telegraph takes great pains to point out that she’s a Socialist — capital S — which has nothing to do with banning SUVs 

A French soccer website criticizes Lionel Messi for his “overpriced bicycle scandal,” after the Argentine superstar introduced his own very high-end bicycle selling for more than $15,000.

New Zealand officials found a 78-year old man safe and well after he failed to return home from a mountain bike ride.

An Aussie program is teaching older women the joys of riding a bicycle. Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

 

Competitive Cycling

Costa Rican pro Andrey Amador called it a career at 38 years old, after he’s been unable to compete since a truck driver ran over his foot and bike while training in Spain last May.

Cycling Up To Date considers five “magical” cycling records Tadej Pogačar could set this year.

American cyclist Neilson Powless, the first Native American to compete in the Tour de France, wants to inspire more Indigenous Americans to get on their bikes.

 

Finally…

Why wait for officials to do something about distracted drivers, when you can just post your own traffic signs saying “Get off your damn phone.” When you’re under house arrest, maybe don’t show up to vote riding a bicycle.

And no, you don’t have to send a thank you note to the driver who gave your kid a new bike after crashing into him and destroying his old one.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Update: Man riding bicycle killed by driver in San Diego’s Black Mountain Ranch; eighth SoCal bike death this month

November 23, 2024 / / One comment

This month just continues to go from bad to worse.

Multiple sources are reporting that a man was killed when he was apparently struck from behind by a driver as he was riding his bike in San Diego’s Black Mountain Ranch.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding in the bike lane on Camino Del Sur at Casey Glen around 6:50 pm Saturday, when a 50-year old woman headed west on Camino Del Sur drove into the bike lane shortly after crossing Casey Glen.

He died at the scene.

Police say alcohol was not a factor in the crash. However, there’s no word on why the driver went into the bike lane, whether she was distracted, or how fast she was going at the time of the crash.

Anyone with information is urged to call the San Diego Police Department at 858/495-7800, or cal Crime Stoppers at 888/580-8477.

This is at least the 53rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in San Diego County; it’s also the eighth in just the last 18 days.

The victim has been identified as 60-year old San Diego resident James Osmus.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for James Osmus and all his loved ones. 

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up. 

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

Update — 16-year old bike rider allegedly murdered by road-raging driver in BMO Stadium parking lot; police seize 2 vehicles

November 22, 2024 / / 2 comments

Once again, a bike rider has allegedly been murdered by an apparent road raging driver.

This time, right here in Los Angeles.

According to KCBS-2, a 16-year old boy was killed when he was deliberately run down by a driver who chased a large group of bike-riding teens into the parking lot at BMO Stadium in Exposition Park a little before 4:30 pm Friday.

The incident began when a group of around 40 kids were riding their bikes south on Figueroa Street, north of Martin Luther King Blvd, and an “altercation” began with the driver of an unidentified sedan.

The teens attempted to escape by going through a gap in the fencing around the BMO Stadium parking lot. They were followed by the driver in the sedan, who accelerated into the group and struck the victim, who has not been publicly identified.

The driver then fled the scene.

A report on KABC-7 differs on several key details, stating the victim was 17 years old, and riding a skateboard, rather than a bicycle. (Update: KABC has revised their story to indicate the victim was 16, and riding a bicycle.)

Police report several witnesses left before investigators could speak with them. Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP’s Southern Division Major Crimes Unit at 323/644-9550 or the Los Angeles Communication Center at 323/259-3200.

If the details are born out, it should result in a murder charge when the driver is ultimately identified and arrested. Anything less would be a travesty.

Assuming the victim was riding a bike, this is at least the 52nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the seventh that we know about in the City of Los Angeles, which is likely an undercount.

(Correction: According to Crosstown LA, the actual number of bicyclists killed in Los Angeles so far this year is 21, not the seven I’ve counted; nine of those have been victims of hit-and-run drivers.)

Eighteen of those SoCal deaths we know about have been hit-and-runs. And it’s the second time a bike rider has allegedly been murdered by a driver in just the past eight days.

Update: Fox 11 is reporting that one of the teenagers broke the car’s mirror during the altercation on the street, prior to the driver pursuing the group into the parking lot. 

He then intentionally drove his car into the victim, who reportedly wasn’t even involved in the initial confrontation. 

Read that last part again. The kid he killed had absolutely nothing to do with it. 

According to KABC-7, the victim was identified as John by some of the riders, who gathered at the site on Saturday to remember him. 

“It’s really hard to be honest, we’re just trying to ride and it’s really hard for the family too,” said Manuel Ramirez. “He didn’t deserve to die in the streets like that.”

Meanwhile, Fox spoke with a local pastor. and parent.

Pastor Mariela Madriz, whose own teenage son frequently bikes with friends in the area, described the tragedy as “heartbreaking and horrific.” She spoke to FOX 11 at her nearby church, Iglesia Jesucristo Fuente De Vida.

“As a mom, all I could think is — it could have been my son,” Madriz said…

“If you can get so angry over a broken mirror to your car to kill a child, you don’t deserve to be out and free,” Madriz said. “You deserve to be locked up for the rest of your life.”

The station also talked to a former detective, who said the car should be easy to identify. 

Retired LAPD Detective Moses Castillo echoed Madriz’s sentiments, calling the incident a “horrible tragedy” just days before Thanksgiving.

“This is the type of case that can be solved quickly with the public’s help,” Castillo said. “If you see a vehicle with a damaged side-view mirror and front-end collision damage, report it to authorities immediately. More than likely, that’s going to be our suspect.” 

Let’s hope someone spots it fast, before the driver can hide or repair it.

Because the pastor is right. This person shouldn’t be out on the streets, ever again. 

Update 2: We have a lot to catch up on in this case, starting with the identification of the victim as 16-year old Jonathan Flores. 

Not surprisingly, the LA County Medical Examiner ruled his death was a homicide caused by multiple blunt force injuries. 

Police have also identified, but not named, a person of interest in his killing, after serving a search warrant at a Los Angeles home Saturday night, and seizing two cars. 

The incident reportedly began with an altercation with the driver of a blue BMW, who argued with some of the teens on the street. 

They were then followed into the parking lot by the driver of second car, a Honda sedan, who slammed into the victim, killing him. 

It’s not clear at this time what the relationship was between the two motorists. However, the vehicles seized by the police were a blue BMW and the Honda Accord they believe was involved in the crash, suggesting that both cars were found at the same home. 

CHP investigators urged the driver of the Honda, identified only as a 28-year old Hispanic man, to turn himself in. However, no one has been arrested at this time. 

Update 3: CHP investigators have identified the suspect as 28-year old Jonathan Antonio Rodriguez, and issued a warrant for his arrest. 

Rodriguez is charged with murder, felony hit-and-run and use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony, and a $2 million bail has been set pending his arrest.

He remains a fugitive at this time.

However, no photo has been provided to help identify him.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jonathan Flores and his loved ones.

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

Not so much for safety as a shared responsibility, more or less on bike lanes, and just try surviving without one

November 22, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 38 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But sure, raise your hand if you’ve heard a single LA city leader so much as mention it. 

………

He gets it.

A writer for Fast Company says the common refrain of “safety is a shared responsibility” — or “a two-way street” in the parlance of too many newspaper editors — misses the point, absolving those who are really responsible for this country’s inexcusably high rate of traffic deaths.

Innocuous though it may seem, the refrain encapsulates much of what’s wrong with road safety in the U.S., where crash death rates are at least double other rich countries, from Japan to Finland to Canada.

In reality, the duty to prevent collisions should fall on the road engineers, car companies, and public officials who create the system in which people drive, bike, or walk—and not on road users themselves. By lumping everyone together, the phrase blurs that distinction, allowing those who can do the most to save lives to dodge accountability.

It’s worth giving it a quick read, because there are a lot of people to blame for the rising death toll on our streets.

Starting with the people who build and market oversized and over-powered vehicles virtually designed to kill. Not to mention the engineers and politicians who build the roads they speed on.

But the actual victims, not so much.

Graphic from Bike Santa Clarita. 

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Today’s common theme is bike lanes, And more bike lanes.

Or fewer bike lanes, even, in a few cases.

Velo says bike lanes make the road safer for everyone, not just bicyclists, citing a new study showing that adding bike lanes to a busy intersection makes drivers slow down, whether going straight or turning right.

No surprise here, as San Diego’s notoriously anti-bike lane OB Rag picked up the anti-bike lane screed from the Washington Post we debunked yesterday. And trust me, you don’t want to read the comments. 

A Petaluma op-ed considers the health benefits of the city’s bike lanes, including encouraging people to bike instead of driving.

You’ve got to be kidding. Quebec’s anti-bike provincial government covers its bases by amending the bill allowing them to overrule local governments to rip out bike lanes, by absolving themselves of any liability for anyone killed or injured after one is removed.

Seriously? City officials in Bangkok ripped out a new bike lane just one day after it was installed, reopening the lane to motor vehicles and apologizing for the traffic “chaos” it caused. Never mind that drivers likely would have adjusted to the change if they gave them half a chance.

And heading back to Quebec, a tongue-in-cheek new game clarifies the risks to riders once the lanes are removed. I lasted a whopping 51 seconds before dying in a dooring; thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

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The OC Wheelmen say it’s starting to look a lot like party time.

Twitter post

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Yes, that pretty much sums up the value of hi-viz.

Twitter post

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It’s now 338 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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Local  

You’re invited to attend the official opening of the new Bouquet Canyon Trail in Saugus this Monday.

 

State

Calbike is hosting a Zoom meeting December 3rd to unveil their priorities to make California’s streets safer and more sustainable.

More bad news from the Victorville area, where a man riding a bicycle was critically injured by a hit-and-run driver in nearby Apple Valley Thursday night.

Ventura nonprofit Bikes 4 a Cause will offer a free class to teach kids to ride a bicycle tomorrow.

Bad news from Northern California, where a man was killed while either riding or walking his bicycle in Del Norte County.

 

National

Singletraks offers 13 gifts for the “badass” modern mountain biking women in your life.

If you bought your kid a Nerf Barrage Bike Helmet from Walmart, it’s been recalled because they don’t meet mandatory federal safety regulations and could result in a head injury. Never mind why the hell you’d put your kid in a Nerf helmet to begin with. 

That’s more like it. A 27-year old Las Vegas man will spend up to ten years behind bars — and at least four — after copping a plea to killing an ebike rider while speeding and driving under the influence with a suspended license. Although maybe someone should tell the TV station the victim probably had a name, too. 

A writer in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown says the site of the old Colorado State University Rams football stadium would make the perfect site for a bike park to serve kids and adults. I once saw the Rams kicker set the NCAA record for the longest field goal there — which lasted about half an hour until someone else at another college broke it. 

Des Moines, Iowa opened a new bike and pedestrian bridge over the Racoon River.

A Texas man will spend the next 42 months behind bars after pleading guilty to stealing six bikes worth more than $100,000 from Lance Armstrong’s storage locker; no word on whether Lance ever got them back. Although if it makes you feel better, one of the bikes was only worth 500 bucks.

Tragic news, as it turns out the Mississippi woman killed in a dispute over a bicycle that we mentioned yesterday was shot multiple times by her own 29-year old daughter, who now faces a murder charge along with another man.

 

International

Road.cc recommends budget-friendly gifts under the equivalent of $68 for the bicyclist in your life. Hint: You’re probably the bicyclist in your life. Just saying. 

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as Momentum offers a guide to biking in Reykjavik, Iceland. Better yet, you’re only 40 miles or so from the active volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula. 

That’s more like it. A British driver with a history of speeding got a well-deserved eight years behind bars for killing a 12-year old boy riding a bicycle, after recklessly weaving while speeding through traffic and roaring his engine.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 90-year old Irishman — from Tipperary, no less — is keeping fit by riding his new ebike, after years riding a racing bike.

Aussie adventure cyclist Jimmy Ashby — named Australian Geographic’s Young Adventurer of the Year for 2019 — spent the last 11 months riding his bike from Asia to the Middle East to North America and home again. So what did you do this year?

 

Competitive Cycling

British road champion Pfeiffer Georgi still won’t watch video of her crash at the Tour de France Femmes, when she went over her handlebars in a mass crash and fractured her neck, but she says she’s ready to get off her sofa and back onto her bike — and hopefully make it back to the Tour next year.

Remco Evenepoel’s road to the 2025 Tour de France runs through an American wind tunnel.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be both recycled and recyclable. You can never have enough lights on your bike — or a jersey that says you’re packing.

And if the cops can catch a violent bikejacker less than a day after installing bike path security cams, maybe they should have done it just a tad sooner.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Washington Post meets windshield bias, break-in at Hollywood and Vine Bike Hub, and Metro wants their MOVE money back

November 21, 2024 / / Comments Off on Washington Post meets windshield bias, break-in at Hollywood and Vine Bike Hub, and Metro wants their MOVE money back
Just 39 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But sure, raise your hand if you’ve heard a single LA city leader so much as mention it. 

………

Washington Post, meet windshield bias.

Marc Fisher, a columnist and associate editor for the paper, penned an essay purporting to tell “the truth about bike lanes,” which largely doesn’t.

Rather, he suggests that traffic calming and bike lanes are more about intentionally gumming up traffic to discourage people from driving, and encourage gentrification to change the ethnic and economic demographics of the city.

In other words, he tells us he doesn’t understand traffic safety and urban planning without telling us.

The District’s planners are intent on putting many of the city’s most important streets on what’s called a “road diet,” which sounds healthy and nutritious but is actually a recipe for traffic constipation and commuter headaches — and maybe a stealth mechanism for encouraging a wholesale shift in race and class in certain neighborhoods…

Across town, on South Dakota Avenue NE, the fight is ongoing, and, as The Post’s Rachel Weiner reported, this squabble reveals an essential truth about bike lanes as weapons of civic planning: They are often installed not to satisfy the barely measurable trickle of residents who pedal to work but mainly to make car traffic worse enough that people will be discouraged from driving.

He goes on to site the reasons given by city officials for DC’s traffic calming efforts, before rejecting them.

“Just as the big, wide lanes we have now induce speeding and reckless driving” Kapur tells me, so too would bike lanes induce slower driving — and maybe more bike riding.

Not so fast he says, citing federal statistics showing the percentage of residents who bike to work has dropped every year since reaching a peak of 5% in 2017, down to 3% — in 2022.

Never mind that the proportion of DC residents who work from home jumped from just over 7% in 2017 to more than 33% just five years later. So of course the percentage of bike commuters dropped, along with every other form of transportation, as more workers stayed home.

Then he makes a quick pivot to the racial makeup of bike riders, citing a Virginia Tech study showing 88% of bike riders are white.

But as he says, not so fast.

The study he cites dates back to 2008, and involves both the urban and suburban jurisdictions of the greater Washington, DC area, including Alexandria, Arlington County, and Fairfax County in Virginia; and Montgomery County and Prince George’s County in Maryland.

In other words, the largely Black and relatively small population of DC is conflated with the largely white, affluent and much larger populations of the suburbs. So even if a higher proportion of Black DC residents biked to work than in other areas, their numbers would be swamped by all the white suburban residents.

Never mind that the numbers he cites are more than a decade and a half out of date.

But taking the time to uncover more recent data might not support his premise that the whole reason to install bike lanes is to gum up drivers commutes and change the racial makeup of the city.

Nope.

No bias there.

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If you keep your bike — or anything else — at the Hollywood and Vine Bike Hub, you might want to check on it tout suite.

Twitter post

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It’s now 337 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here, either. A Marin newspaper says the trial part-time removal of the bike lane on the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge makes it clear that the bridge should see a car-only future, in which bike commuters should be happy to be carted across in a shuttle van, climate crisis be damned.

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Local  

The Complete Streets makeover of Fountain Avenue was the clear winner in the recent West Hollywood election, even if it wasn’t on the ballot. And even if opponents don’t think so.

Metro wants its money back for the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes ripped out by the city’s recent conservative council majority, sending Culver City a bill for the full $435,000 grant.

 

State

A kindhearted California couple who lost their son to suicide drove across the county to give his bicycle to a young boy who lost his father the same way.

Irvine unveiled the city’s first physically separated, Class IV bikeway, a 1.25-mile route near the city’s Great Park.

Circulate San Diego offers an annual recap of the city’s bicycle and pedestrian OTS safety program.

 

National

Electrek shares ten things you really should know before buying an ebike.

Streetsblog explains everything you need to know about D-list reality TV star and new Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy, amid fears he’ll take an axe to anything that doesn’t burn fossil fuels.

Seattle bicyclists can now use an app to report anything from bike lane obstructions and street sweeping needs to missing bike lane signs and road markings.

A novice New York bike rider shares the insights she gained after being talked into a 79-mile fundraising ride to fight breast cancer.

New York’s Central Park Conservancy calls for a major makeover of the park, with a rendering showing separate running and walking paths, along with a bike lane next to a shared traffic lane, presumably for faster riders.

Finishing our New York trifecta, the NYPD has released a photo of the pickup driver who killed a bike-riding woman as he fled from police, who were responding to a burglary call; a witness says the victim rang her bike bell to warn him, saving his life before sacrificing hers.

A woman in Jackson, Mississippi was shot and killed in a dispute over a stolen bicycle; two people now face charges. As we’ve said before, no bike is worth a human life. Just give it up and live to ride another day.

 

International

Clean Technica recommends improving your safety with “unique” bar-end rear vier mirrors, unless you’d rather have one you can attach to your glasses.

A British startup is installing app-controlled smart bike parking docks, which appear to be standard U-racks with a heavy-ass chain attached.

Amsterdam continues to raise the bar for everyone and everywhere else, crafting a new state-of-the-art main bicycling route along the Amstel River.

Italian bikemaker Colnago goes retro with a Columbus steel framed road bike to celebrate their 70th anniversary.

The government of Hong Kong has postponed a requirement for bike helmets until next year, saying they need more time to work out the details.

China Digital Times offers a brief first-person account of the massive Zhengzhou to Kaifeng nighttime dumpling ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

Columbian cyclist Nairo Quintana took advantage of the opportunity after receiving the country’s Order of Democracy Simon Bolivar to warn that the country’s athletes face massive budget cuts.

Cycling Up To Date examines how Denmark produces such talented cyclists, from Bjarne Riis to Jonas Vingegaard. Although that’s a question that might be better directed towards Slovenia these days.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can carry your spare wheels in a bigass square backpack. If God is on your side, wouldn’t you actually finish the world championships?

And country star Dierks Bentley is one of us.

Twitter post

 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

41-year old man struck by two drivers, killed while riding bicycle on Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica early Sunday morning

November 20, 2024 / / 2 comments

Our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad November is showing no sign of letting up.

Now another bicyclist has been killed on the mean streets of Southern California, the sixth so far this month — an average of just over one every three days.

According to multiple sources, the victim was riding south on the 1800 block of Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica around 12:30 am Sunday, when he was struck by a driver, knocked off his bike, and hit by another driver.

The victim, identified as 41-year old Los Angeles resident Bradley Allen Proudfoot, died at the scene. The Santa Monica Daily Press reports he was believed to be homeless.

Both drivers remained at the scene, and neither showed signs of impairment, according to police investigators. There’s no word at this time on the cause of the collision, or who may have been at fault.

Anyone who with information is urged to call the Santa Monica Police Department at 310/458-8427.

However, this is more evidence that Lincoln remains one of Santa Monica’s deadliest corridors, despite a decades-long effort to fix it.

This is at least the 51st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Bradley Allen Proudfoot and his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,
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