Metro considers Alameda mobility options, 10th Anniversary of Finish The Ride this weekend, and writers bike the strike

June 9, 2023 / / Comments Off on Metro considers Alameda mobility options, 10th Anniversary of Finish The Ride this weekend, and writers bike the strike

Anyone who has tried to walk or bike Alameda Street south of Union Station in DTLA knows it’s just this side of a traffic choked living hell.

As I found out the hard way recently.

Now Metro is presenting three options to make the street safer and more inviting for humans between 1st and Cesar Chavez, as part of plans for a new esplanade leading to the station.

The options range from closing or moving offramps and widening sidewalks, to converting Arcadia Street to a pedestrian walkway and capping the 101 Freeway to create a new park.

Let’s hope our officials have the courage and foresight to make the choice that will most dramatically remake Downtown Los Angeles.

They can use some of that money they have budgeted to flush down the toilet on freeway widening projects.

Map from Metro Alameda Mobility Project website.

………

This weekend marks the tenth anniversary of Finish The Ride, which began when Damian Kevitt invited the public to join him in finishing the Griffith Park ride that was interrupted by a hit-and-run driver, who has never been caught.

More than 2,000 “cyclists, runners, walkers, challenged athletes, veterans, first responders, civic and community leaders, and safe streets advocates from across Southern California” are expected to turn out to demand safer streets for everyone.

This year’s event has been divided into two parts, with Finish The Run on Saturday, and Finish The Ride on Sunday.

You’ll also have a chance to meet two highly qualified candidates to replace Adam Schiff in California’s 30th Congressional District, in Laura Friedman and Anthony Portantino.

I’ll let the folks at Finish The Ride take it from here.

Finish The Ride (www.FinishTheRide.org) was founded in the aftermath of a vicious hit-and-run crime in 2013 that saw cyclist Damian Kevitt lose his leg after being dragged under a car from the streets of Griffith Park onto and down Interstate 5 for nearly a quarter mile. A year later, Kevitt was accompanied by hundreds of cyclists, street safety advocates, and community leaders as part of a campaign to raise awareness of an epidemic of hit-and-run crimes in Los Angeles.

Last year participants in Finish The Ride and Finish The Run demanded that Griffith Park be made safer for the tens of thousands who use it weekly for recreation and exercise. As a result, only a couple of months later, a section of Griffith Park Drive was transformed from a road into a closed pedestrian, bicycle, and equestrian path, and 4 million dollars of funding was approved for additional safety renovations across the park.

According to a report by the non-profit Streets Are For Everyone (known as SAFE), the City of Los Angeles saw a record 312 fatalities last year, most of them pedestrians, and tens of thousands more seriously injured. The primary factor in all these collisions was reckless speeding. SAFE has been involved in a massive state-wide campaign to educate about and advocate for the need to reign in reckless speeding to save lives. Part of this campaign has demanded that legislators pass AB 645, a pilot program that would allow the limited use of speed safety cameras in school zones and on the most dangerous roads in 6 cities across the state. Over 1800 have signed a petition to demand that legislators support AB 645. As a result of this campaign, AB 645 just passed the Assembly with overwhelming support (58 to 7).

This year’s Finish The Ride and Finish The Run event brings together people from all walks to continue the call to demand that roads be made safer and reckless speeding be addressed as the public health crisis that it is.

Finish The Ride and Finish The Run is now in its 10th year and will be held over two days – runners and walkers on Saturday and cyclists on Sunday. On Saturday, there will be the usual 5K/10K run/walk and half-marathon run. On Sunday will be the usual 15-mile, 25-mile, 35-mile, and 50 miles rides. New additions to this year’s event are the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council 1K Kids Run and a Puppy Run on Saturday and the Bahati Foundation Metric Century on Sunday.

Saturday, 10 June 2023 – Finish The Run

  • (1200 runners and walkers expected)
  • Time: 7:30 AM Griffith Park Half-Marathon starts
  • 8 AM Finish the Run Opening Ceremony with Civic Leaders and other Victims of Traffic Violence speaking (All other events depart following the opening ceremony)
  • Where: Griffith Park, Crystal Springs Area
  • 4663 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027
  • Who: Asm Laura Friedman
  • Councilmember Nithya Raman
  • Damian Kevitt, Founder of Finish The Ride/Finish The Run and Streets Are For Everyone
  • Cindi Enamorado, sister of Raymond Olivares, who lost his life in February 2023 at the hands of a driver engaged in street racing.

————

Sunday, 11 June 2023 – Finish The Ride

  • (800 cyclists expected)
  • Time: 7 AM Olympic Silver Medalist Nelson Nails leads the Bahati Foundation Metric Century and Andrew Jelmert Half Century Ride
  • 8 AM Finish the Ride Opening Ceremony with Civic Leaders and other Victims of Traffic Violence speaking (All other events depart following the opening ceremony)
  • Where: Griffith Park, Crystal Springs Area
  • 4663 Crystal Springs Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027
  • Who: Senator Anthony Portantino
  • Damian Kevitt, Founder of Finish The Ride and Streets Are For Everyone
  • Curtis Townsend Sr., who lost his wife, Trina Newman-Townsend, in a hit-and-run on Christmas Eve in 2022.

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Seen on the street: A WGA writer bikes the strike.

Meanwhile, striking writers took part in a 27-mile “Bike Strike” protest ride from Radford Studio to Amazon, with stops at Warners and Disney, then over the hill Netflix, with a stop for lunch at Swingers.

………

David Drexler shares video showing the full length of the new Mark Bixby bike/ped path on the International Gateway Bridge, taken on last month’s opening day.

………

Gravel Bike California accepts the challenge of biking the Desert X biennial art installation across the “vast & sandy” Coachella Valley in a single day.

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A UC Davis bike rider is on the hunt for a hit-and-run e-cart driver.

And yes, it’s legally hit-and-run if you just cause someone to fall, even without making contact.

Need help finding a worker driving one of those mini electric vehicle who ran a stop sign/didn’t yield, causing me to fall off bike
byu/Cars_are_my_life inUCDavis

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

………

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

No bias here. A South Bay writer decries plans to build a bike path on Flagler Alley connecting Redondo Beach and Torrance, which was recently blocked by the latter city. And repeats the myth that the $1.8 million price tag would cost more than building a mile of freeway. Actually, the Federal Highway Administration says it costs $2.8 million for a single lane-mile of freeway on flat, rural terrain, and $62.4 million in urban environments.

Violent assaults from passing cars continue in Oakland, where a bike rider was smacked on the head by a car passenger; that comes just months after at least 14 East Bay bike riders were intentionally doored in February.

Ocean City, New Jersey tabled plans to ban ebikes from the city’s boardwalk, instead creating a committee to study the issue. If they’re anything like Los Angeles, having a committee study something means no one will ever hear about it again. 

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

When you’re carrying a loaded gun and meth on your bike, and already wanted on outstanding warrants, try not to end a police chase on your bike at a Redding cemetery.

A Minnesota man wanted on drug and gun charges tried to make his getaway from police on a stolen bicycle. And failed.

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Local 

The Transportation Committee of the Los Angeles City Council held its first post-pandemic community meeting at the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex in Baldwin Hills to discuss bicycling, bicycle safety and bike equity.

No surprise here, as LA Times readers are divided on the possibility of congestion pricing, with responses ranging from exuberant support to an “unambiguous ‘F— NO.'”

Pasadena is launching its own ebike rebate program on July 1st, with rebates up to $1,000 for city residents. Meanwhile, Los Angeles hasn’t even discussed any program to get motor vehicles off the streets, with ebikes or otherwise.

A Santa Clarita woman explains how her love of bicycling led to a bike tour of Japan with her 13-year old daughter.

 

State

LA County Mobility PAC Streets For All celebrates their wins in the state legislature, where all of the bills they sponsored are still alive at the halfway point. 

Laguna Beach is requiring students to complete an ebike safety course in exchange for a permit to park their bike on campus. Which is a great way to discourage bike commuting, and force people without permits back into cars.

She gets it. A San Jose writer says automated speed cams could save lives.

 

National

Treehugger says it’s time for government officials to stop ignoring ebikes, as a new report on EVs barely acknowledges their existence.

The New Mexico-based, federally funded Center for Pedestrian and Bicyclist Safety is using AI in an effort to combat rising traffic fatalities.

Colorado officially announced their new program to provide ebike rebates for residents earning less than 80% to 100% of their county’s median income. Just the latest city, state or province to provide ebike rebates before California’s vastly underfunded, fomerly-first-in-the-nation program gets off the ground — which should finally happen soon.

A suicidal teenager credits the kindness of Oklahoma strangers with saving his life after he set out of Chicago on a bicycle he pulled out of the trash.

Huh? A Columbus, Ohio TV station says many people are priced out of bicycling by the high cost of bikes, even while mentioning a nonprofit shop that sells refurbished bikes for around a hundred bucks. Seriously, cost should never be a barrier to bicycling, when there are countless options for low cost bikes. Or even free ones like the one above.

An Indiana woman learns the hard way that sometimes that bump in the road is a bike rider, not a pothole.

After watching a man walk past their station on his way to work for nearly two years, kindhearted cops in an Ohio city gave him a new bicycles.

Good idea. A new Pittsburgh proposal would provide automatic bikeshare memberships to all city employees.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss returns to bike commuting in the Big Apple after 14 years, and notices just a few changes.

Raleigh, North Carolina will offer residents 150 ebike vouchers ranging from $500 to $1,500 in exchange for sharing data on their usage.

A New Orleans website considers clothing options for the clothing optional World Naked Bike Ride, including the classic Crown Royal bag to carry your, uh, marbles. Personally, I don’t care what you wear, as long as you cover the seat on any borrowed, rented or bikeshare bikes.

 

International

Sad news from Antigua, where a 35-year old man has passed away in a Houston hospital, 13 months after he was run down by a driver, along with three other bicyclists.

A free website tells you whether it’s safe to walk, bike or run in the smoke from the Canadian wildfires. A far simpler rule of thumb is if you can smell smoke, stay home. Your lungs and sinuses will thank you.

No surprise here, as a Vancouver bike rider claims the removal of a popular bike lane in the city’s Stanley Park has resulted in harassment and speeding drivers.

A London writer argues that bike theft has been effectively decriminalized in the city.

Police in Northern Ireland are taking to the road on unmarked bicycles to enforce laws against unsafe passing. The LAPD has repeatedly been urged to do the same thing, but have refused over fears of being accused of entrapment. 

Over half of the people killed in collisions in Finnish cities were walking or riding a bike.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website looks at what bicycling means to people around the world. Including those in the exotic land called USA. 

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s last remaining Tour de France winner is feeling better after turning the corner in his battle with leukemia, which he traces to the shotgun blast that nearly killed him after winning his first Tour.

Bicycling says the Tour de France will require cycling teams to mask up and remain in a team bubble to avoid spreading Covid, unlike the recent Giro. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Speaking of Bicycling, they say you can watch the Tour and the eight-stage Tour de France Femmes with a subscription to Peacock. Read it on AOL of the magazine blocks you. 

Outside says Netflix’ new series Tour de France: Unchained will turn you into a cycling fan. Unless you already are, of course.

A writer for Cycling Weekly rode the 351-mile Unbound XL gravel race, so you won’t have to. And writes about how her gear stood up to the test.

Scottish endurance cyclist Christina Mackenzie has qualified for a spot in the world road cycling championships, nine months after she was seriously injured and left for dead by a hit-and-run driver.

 

Finally…

Why drive to see Queen Bey when you can ride your bike? Your next bike could be made from recycled Nespesso capsules.

And seriously, many drivers are happy to do it for free.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Former BMX champ Pat Casey killed in motocross crash, and driver charged for killing ebike-riding Carlsbad mom

June 8, 2023 / / Comments Off on Former BMX champ Pat Casey killed in motocross crash, and driver charged for killing ebike-riding Carlsbad mom

Tragic news from Ramona, California, where former BMX champ Pat Casey was killed performing a motocross stunt.

Multiple sources are reporting that Casey died after attempting a jump Tuesday afternoon at the Slayground Motocross Park in the San Diego County city.

The 29-year old Riverside resident won medals at the 2012 and 2013 X Games, and Casey was the first rider to successfully execute the “decade backflip” and “double decade backflip” in competition.

He leaves behind his wife Chase Casey, along with their eight-year old son and seven-year old daughter.

Photo by Rodolfo Clix on Pexels.

………

The driver who killed an ebike-riding mom in Carlsbad last year has finally been charged in her death.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports 42-year old Lindsey Turmelle pled not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular homicide at her arraignment on May 26th in the death of 35-year old Christine Embree.

Embree was run down by Turnelle’s massive SUV while she was riding with her 16-month old daughter, who was miraculously uninjured

Turnelle faces just one year in county jail if she’s convicted.

Meanwhile, she sentenced Embree’s daughter, who turned two in April, to life without her mother.

………

A San Diego man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was trapped under a dump truck for nearly an hour.

The victim was riding at an offramp to the 905 Freeway near Airway Road and Britannia Blvd in Otay Mesa when he was run down by the driver around 4:33 am Tuesday.

There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or the identity or condition of the victim.

………

Calbike reports on the bills that are moving forward in the state legislature this year that could affect active transportation, including —

  • SB 50, which would halt police stops for minor traffic violations to stop pretextual policing
  • SB 712 requires landlords to allow at least one micromobility device — bicycles, scooters, etc — per unit.
  • AB 6 would give Gov. Gavin Newsom another chance to sign a bill putting his climate money where his mouth is by requiring regional transportation agencies to prioritize and fund transportation projects that significantly contribute to meeting regional and state climate goals.
  • AB 7 mandates climate-first transportation planning.
  • AB 73 would give Newsom yet another opportunity to sign a bicycle safety stop bill, aka stop as yield or Idaho Stop.
  • AB 361 allows public agencies to enforce parking violations by taking photographs of vehicles blocking bike lanes, although it would not allow individuals to submit photos.
  • AB 413 would require daylighting at intersections by prohibiting parking, standing or stopping within 20 feet of a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
  • AB 645 creates a speed cam pilot program for three cities each in Northern and Southern California, including Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale.
  • AB 825 legalizes sidewalk riding on any street without a marked bikeway, while requiring bike riders to share the space responsibly and limiting speeds to 10 mph.
  • AB 1266 eliminates bench warrants for minor traffic violations, including for bicyclists and pedestrians.

………

Nice to see more progress being made in the San Gabriel Valley.

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

Clearly, we’re not even safe from motorists on separated bikeways, as a 50-year old woman had to be medevaced to the hospital when she was run down in by a pickup driver while walking on a Sitka, Alaska bike path.

Northern Ireland’s former Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams used to be one of us, but he’s given up bicycling after drivers repeatedly shouted sectarian abuse and tried to run him off the road.

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

A British man died when he crashed his modified ebike into a 16-year old boy, who suffered a broken leg and internal injuries.

Police in the UK are looking for a coupe ebike riders who allegedly chased bicyclists in two “concerning” incidents.

………

Local 

While the state legislature considers legalizing sidewalk riding, the LA County Board of Supervisors moved on their own to make it legal to ride your bike on the sidewalk in unincorporated areas of the county.

Actor, humorist, author and woodworker Nick Offerman is one of us, as he talks with The War on Cars podcast about riding a bike in Los Angeles and New York, and “why the best way to explore an unfamiliar city is at the speed of a good walk.”

Culver City police have arrested a 27-year old man who rode off on a bicycle after stealing a man’s cellphone at knifepoint near the Ballona Creek bike path west of Overland, Ave.

Santa Monica has unveiled a new protected intersection at 17th Street and Ocean Ave, part of the surprisingly controversial 17th Street protected bike lane.

 

State

Huntington Beach is conducting a survey for the city’s new active mobility plan. Thanks to James for the heads-up. 

The San Luis Obispo Tribune questions whether the head of the local Libertarian Party belongs on the county Bicycle Advisory Committee, when he wants to abolish bike lanes and treat bicycles like motorcycles; then again, he doesn’t want to make people pay their taxes, either. Sounds like he doesn’t belong on any board, period.

Streetsblog talks with bike-riding San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who shows up to demand safer bikeways in and out of her district.

 

National

PeopleForBikes concludes their series of the 15 best arguments to advocate for bicycling; click here to read part one and part two.

Bicycling offers advice on the ebike skills you need to learn before your first road or trail ride. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bicycling also recommends the nine best bikes you can buy right now, electric and otherwise. Again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

According to a women’s website, you should ride 12-14 miles per day at a moderate pace in order to lose a substantial amount of weight by next month, at a rate of 1 to 2 pounds per week

Portland is questioning whether “bike-friendly speed bumps are worth the trouble and treasure.”

Two 17-year old boys have been busted for a series of violent armed robberies on a Houston bike path, as police look for at least one other suspect.

A Michigan high school student thanks the community for helping him get his new bike back hours after it was stolen, just one day after he was given it by the local police.

A Michigan TV station marks yesterday’s 7th anniversary of the Kalamazoo massacre, when a stoned driver plowed into nine members of a local bike club, killing five people and seriously injuring the others; Charles Pickett Jr, was convicted on 14 charges, and will be 90 years old before he’s eligible for parole. Which is still too damn soon.

Speaking of Bicycling, the magazine calls New Bremen, Ohio’s Bicycling Museum of America, with its collection of over 8,000 bikes, a bucket list item for hardcore bike nerds and casual fans alike. Once again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

A Massachusetts man is riding 1,000 miles from Oxford, Ohio to Boxford, Mass, four years after doctors diagnosed him with terminal Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, giving him just two to five years to live.

The New York Times says make way for the bike bus, as more families are commuting to school on two wheels.

This is who we share the road with. A 26-year old New York man faces charges for killing a pedestrian and injuring four other people, including an 18-year old ebike rider, after allegedly drinking all day, and getting behind the wheel with a BAC nearly twice the legal limit.

A North Carolina pastor is 2,300 miles into a 3,400-mile bike ride across the US; his ride has helped raise $600,000 for an anti-abortion group.

A car-hating Tampa, Florida man replaces his with an ebike after being selected in the city’s ebike voucher lottery.

 

International

Momentum Magazine makes the case for why cruiser bikes are perfect for city riding, as well as how to build a 15-minute city centered on bicycles.

Bike Radar has advice on how to make your components last longer to prolong the lifespan of your bike. Take good care of your frame and it can last longer than you do, because everything else is replaceable.

The Week argues the pros and cons of Britain’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods, the equivalent of this country’s Slow Streets.

Life is cheap in England, where a woman calls for drivers to pay attention after the driver who her down from behind while she rode her bike, leaving her with life-changing injuries, wasn’t even charged.

No surprise here, as nearly 90% of bike thefts in the UK go unsolved, with thieves facing charges in just 2% of thefts. I’d be very surprised if the US numbers are even that high. 

Kenya’s First Lady is one of us, as Rachel Ruto says riding her bike takes her back to her happiest memories as a young girl pedaling down dusty roads with her friends.

 

Competitive Cycling

Danish pro Mikkel Bjerg took the lead in the eight stage Critérium du Dauphiné after winning the time trial.

You could win a Cannondale SuperSix Evo that was ridden by Ecuador’s Jonathan Caicedo in last month’s Giro for just 25 bucks a pop in a raffle benefitting the Los Angeles Bike Academy.

Russian cyclist Savelii Laptev has been suspended from the Astana development team for supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on social media.

 

Finally…

Who needs bikewear when — and where — you can ride naked? That feeling when a thief compliments your bike before stealing it.

And how to go viral riding your grandson’s BMX.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Move along, nothing to see hear — bad med edition

June 7, 2023 / / 2 comments

My apologies.

I’ve spent most of Tuesday flat on my back after an apparent bad reaction to one of my diabetes meds.

I’ll do my best to be back on Thursday, assuming my head and stomach settle down.

Category: General /

Secrecy in Ethan Boyes death, DEA agent killed Oregon bike rider, and dangerous conditions on new SaMo bike lanes

June 6, 2023 / / 2 comments

My apologies if you received an incomplete, premature version of this post, after I inadvertently hit the Post button.

………

Two month’s later, the driver who killed Master’s cycling champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes in San Francisco’s Presidio National Park has still not been identified.

And federal officials are being unusually tight-lipped about the case.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a medical examiner’s report obtained through a public records request shows officials suspected his killer was under the influence at the time of the crash.

But there’s no word on whether the driver was tested, or whether he or she has been or will be charged with a crime.

The story also confirms that Boyes was wearing a helmet, which was shattered by the force of the impact, and that he died of multiple head and body injuries, suggesting he was hit at a high rate of speed.

Yet the ongoing secrecy raises inevitable questions of just who the driver was, and why the government is taking so long to release any information.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

………

Speaking of federal coverups, officials in Salem, Oregon kept in close contact with officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration after one of their agents killed Salem, Oregon woman as she rode her bike in March.

The local police went so far as to allow officials with the DEA to review a press release before it was given to the media, and secretly forwarded photographic evidence to the DEA.

Yet officials kept information about the crash from the public, despite appearing to be an open book to the feds, even though it was their own employee who was under investigation.

While there’s a case to be made for allowing the DEA to keep the identity of an agent under wraps, any further involvement in the investigation would in inappropriate under any circumstances.

………

Mitchell Guzik writes to warn bike riders of dangerous conditions on Ocean Ave in Santa Monica, after he took a bad fall when he struck a newly installed curb, saying construction work that closed the bike lane means there’s no safe place to ride.

The street recently received a new curb protecting the two-way bike lane, but it doesn’t do any good if the bike lane is closed.

Although Guzik reports some people were riding in the closed bike lane anyway.

………

The West Hollywood Bike Coalition will hold its monthly meeting tomorrow.

………

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

No bias here. A news site lists the dangers of ebikes, including a lack of licensing and registration, implying that they somehow should be.

No bias here, either. A La Jolla website suggests Encinitas residents are up in arms over the removal of parking spaces near Swami’s Beach to build bike paths and a walkway on the Coast Highway — even though the project actually adds 50 spaces a short walk away.

Australian bicyclists aren’t the least bike surprised by new research showing drivers see people wearing bike helmets and spandex as less than human. Thanks to Geri for the heads-up.

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

A London bike rider needed extensive surgery for a broken jaw after he crashed into a young girl walking in a crosswalk — not because he was injured in the crash, but because someone walked up to him afterwards and punched him in the face.

Several British bike riders were charged the equivalent of $625 in fines and fees after illegally riding their bikes through a pedestrian zone.

………

Local 

Torrance has backed out of an agreement with Redondo Beach to build a network of bike paths throughout South Bay, after receiving opposition to a plan for a short connector bike path on Diamond Street, which will now stop at the city limit between the two cities.

 

State

Sadly, no surprise here, as Black residents of San Diego are four times more likely to be stopped by police while walking or biking as white people.

San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties are looking forward to the arrival of over 2,000 bicyclists later this week participating in the annual AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles; the ride is raising $11.7 million for HIV and AIDS services in the two cities.

This is who we share the road with. A Bay Area man faces multiple charges for a South Bay crime rampage that included a series of carjackings, stabbings and deadly collisions across several cities and neighborhoods, leaving three people dead and five others injured.

 

National

PeopleForBikes offers the second part of a three-part series on the 15 best arguments to advocate for bikes and counteract anti-bike lane activists at your next public meeting; you can read part one here, while part three will be released tomorrow.

It could be a good time to shop for a bike, as American bike shops face a glut of bicycles as demand softens, except for gravel bikes and ebikes. Meanwhile, Axios offers advice on how to pick the right ebike with your rebate, assuming you can get one.

It turns out it was kindhearted Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Terron Armstead who donated a $5,500 ebike to a 14-year old St. Louis boy who walked two hours to attend his middle school graduation; the boy’s grandfather, who is raising the boy and his five siblings after their mother died, also received a new minivan from a local car dealer.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Missouri woman faces charges for the stoned crash that killed four motorcyclists on Saturday, including a 17-year old girl, when she jumped the center line and hit a group of ten motorcycle riders head-on after taking several anti-psychotic meds just hours before the crash.

A 15-year old Chicago boy took the stand to testify against a former police sergeant accused of pinning him down after falsely accusing him of stealing a bicycle.

A 26-year old man faces charges after swerving into a group of pedestrians and bike riders in New York’s Gramercy Park while allegedly under the influence, killing a 23-year old man and injuring three other people, one critically, while destroying two ebikes; the driver had a blood alcohol level of .08, just over the legal limit.

After Raleigh, North Carolina’s self-proclaimed “No-Hands King” disappeared from the streets, a reporter discovers he was busted for selling a half ounce of crack cocaine out of the back of his SUV; he was famed locally for riding shirtless, with nor hands, on one wheel of a cruiser bike festooned with American flags.

 

International

British Columbia’s new ebike rebate program received 12,000 applications within the first 24 hours; only the first 4,000 people with get a rebate now, while the other 8,000 will be waitlisted.

Unbelievable. Life is cheap in New Brunswick, Canada, where a 25-year old woman was sentenced to one year home vacation detention for the hit-and-run death of a 62-year old man — but she can leave home for work or school, to care for her daughter or go to medical appointments, or just run errands for four hours every Saturday. Meanwhile, her victim received the death penalty for the crime of riding a bicycle.

English bicyclists planned to take over all lanes of a major highway to demand a separate bikeway between two towns, while asking participants to leave their Lycra at home to demonstrate that the purpose of the bikeway would be for transportation, not for sport.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 26-year old driver won’t spend a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that left a 10-year old girl with serious injuries when he jumped a red light, and slammed into her as she rode her bike home — and faced the equivalent of just over $1,100 in restitution.

Britain bikemaker and online retailer Planet X is going belly up, and will be dissolved in the country’s equivalent to bankruptcy court.

A British three-time cycling world record holder plans a 3,000-mile ride around the circumference of the country on a handmade bamboo bike to call attention to the climate crisis.

Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety agency recommended that residents of the country cope with rising gas prices by taking to their bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Danish triathlete relates what happened in the crash that killed a race moto driver during a German Ironman last weekend, explaining the victim hit a triathlete head-on in a section where competitors where riding in both directions on the roadway at speeds up to 30 mph.

The Netherland’s Mathieu van der Poel returns to racing after a two-month layoff, with plans to compete in the Tour de France, and both road and mountain biking at the world championships.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to lead cops on a bike chase when you’re already wanted to failing to appear. When you’re riding your ebike carrying a meth pipe, it may not be the best idea to lead cops on a chase after threatening people with a knife.

And it’s definitely not the best idea to lead police on a wild two-and-a-half minute bicycle chase, before dropping your bike and violently confronting officers.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Person riding bike killed in a possible South LA hit-and-run Sunday night; few details available

June 5, 2023 / / Comments Off on Person riding bike killed in a possible South LA hit-and-run Sunday night; few details available

Once again, a bike rider may have been killed in a hit-and-run.

And once again, we know almost nothing.

KTLA-5 reported late last night that someone riding a bicycle appeared to have been struck by a driver at South Central and East Florence Avenues in South LA around 8 pm Sunday.

The victim, described only as a possible minor, died at the scene. The station reports a bicycle was lying on the sidewalk afterwards, next to a tent in the street covering the victim’s body.

Unfortunately, that’s about all we know.

There’s no word on how he may have been killed, or any description of a possible suspect.

Assuming this was a hit-and-run, there is a standing $50,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the driver for any hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

This is at least the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; four of those have been in the City of Los Angeles.

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

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

No Chatsworth COLT ride this year, a mea culpa on Friday’s SB 50 post, and Los Angeles Times goes gravel grinding

June 5, 2023 / / Comments Off on No Chatsworth COLT ride this year, a mea culpa on Friday’s SB 50 post, and Los Angeles Times goes gravel grinding

Let’s start with something that’s not happening.

For the last several years, the Chatsworth Neighborhood Council has held a community ride celebrating the Orange Line Bike Path, called Ride the COLT — aka Chatsworth Orange Line Tour.

It usually happens right around now; last year, on June 12th.

But this year, not so much.

In response to a question from J. Barrios, I reached out to the Chatsworth NC to ask about this year’s ride, and was told there was nothing planned at this time.

I was also told that could change, so there may be hope.

But I wouldn’t hold your breathe.

Photo by Michael Gaida from Pixabay.

………

Sometimes I get it wrong.

That may have been the case Friday when I wrote about SB 50, which would ban police from stopping motorists and bike riders for minor offenses, in an effort to prevent pretext stops.

But a comment from someone calling themselves An Observer suggests my understanding of the bill was off base.

Your presumption that SB 50, if enacted, would prohibit “stops for failing to register a bicycle, or rolling through a stop sign or riding salmon” isn’t correct.

The former is already prohibited; Cal. Veh. Code § 39002, as amended by last year’s AB 1909, says that cities or counties “shall not prohibit the operation of an unlicensed bicycle.”

The latter two wouldn’t be affected by SB 50, in which the definition of “low-level infraction” is limited by reference to two sections of the Vehicle Code relating to bicycle equipment and helmets; it wouldn’t cover violations related to bicycle operation in general:

“(E) A violation related to bicycle equipment or operation in Sections 21201 and 21212.”

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB50

Peace officers would still be allowed to stop bicyclists for other violations, including Cal. Veh. Code § 22450 (stop signs), § 21202 (right-hand curb or edge), or for that matter, §§ 22107–22111 (hand signals for turning and stopping).

So it may offer much less protection to bike riders, particularly people of color, than I thought.

Mea culpa.

………

The Los Angeles Times writes about gravel cycling, with 11 spots for grinding it out around the LA area.

And they talk with our old friend Zachary Rynew, the voice behind the Gravel Bike California videos we frequently share on here.

Zachary Rynew is a longtime Los Angeles cycling advocate who runs the website Gravel Bike California, which details numerous gravel rides in the region. He has been pedaling two-wheelers since he was in grade school and says riding on gravel roads takes him back to when he was a kid. It also makes navigating L.A. more efficient. “I was commuting from the San Fernando Valley to UCLA and cut my driving time in half by doing gravel and going through Fryman Canyon Park, then Franklin Canyon,” he said.

Southern California, Rynew believes, has a ton of off-road opportunities. “You can make your own adventure on gravel in the Santa Monica Mountains to the San Gabriels and in the hills above Redlands and Chino,” he said. “I love the versatility around here.”

………

The East Side Riders are hosting a community meeting in Watts tonight.

………

Turn out next Sunday to help make Ballona Creek more rideable.

 

………

Caltrans is conducting a survey on road safety; Streets For All offers suggested responses to demand safer streets.

Meanwhile, the California state transportation agency has launched a new traffic safety campaign for the state, where someone is killed on our streets every two hours.

………

More proof that plastic car-tickler bendie-posts don’t really protect anything.

………

Bicycling says the trailer for the new Netflix docuseries about the Tour de France just dropped, “and it’s intense.” Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you. 

………

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

No bias here. Slate interviews Oregon Representative Earl Blumenauer, calling him the “biggest bike dork in Congress.”

Police in Cincinnati cited a bike rider for riding salmon after he was struck by a driver, even though he was only riding in the bike lane on the wrong side of the street because the other side was blocked by a construction project.

A half dozen pro-car protestors blocked a Toronto bike lane to demand its removal, forcing riders out into rush hour traffic

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

A 29-year old man was shot by police and arrested after engaging in a running gun battle as he fled a traffic stop on his bicycle; he was booked on charges of attempted murder of a peace officer, several weapons-related charges and outstanding warrants after being released from the hospital.

A London writer complains about dockless bikeshare bikes carelessly strewn across the sidewalks by unthinking riders, calling them Lime Slime.

………

Local 

Speaking of Streets For All, the transportation PAC reminds us to comment on the LA County Master Bicycle Plan.

Streetsblog says LA’s BLAST initiative to quickly build bike lanes has failed to launch. Which really shouldn’t surprise anyone, since it was started under the Garcetti administration, similar to other failed projects like Vision Zero and the mayor’s Green New Deal.

Los Angeles firefighters used a helicopter to rescue a 47-year old mountain biker who suffered a severe ankle fracture when he fell from a remote section of the Haines Canyon Motorway in the San Gabriel Mountain foothills Sunday afternoon.

 

State

A San Diego bike rider was hospitalized with a head injury after they were run down by a hit-and-run driver; fortunately, the injuries weren’t considered serious, and police located the driver shortly after the crash. No word on whether the driver was arrested, however.

CalFire used a helicopter to rescue a mountain biker who fell in a remote area while riding Chula Vista’s Sweetwater River trail.

The Fresno Dollar General worker caught on security cam video running down an alleged shoplifter as he made his getaway on a bike says she has been fired, insisting she didn’t mean to hit him with her car. Even though that’s exactly what she did. 

A Palo Alto editor says adding protected bike lanes to El Camino Real is a bad idea, questioning whether they would protect school kids from getting hit by motor vehicles, and whether removing parking spaces would hurt small businesses. Studies have repeatedly shown that protected bike lanes improve safety for everyone on the street, including pedestrians. And that bike lanes, particularly protected bike lanes, are good for businesses, large or small.

Over 2,000 bicyclists set off Sunday on the seven day, 545-mile AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising ride from San Francisco to LA; the ride will end in Los Angeles this Saturday.

A pair of Lodi men are headed across the US on a fundraising ride, three decades after one of the men, a high school geography teacher and track coach, made the same trip on a whim with two friends.

 

National

The best Apple Watch features to try on your next bike ride. Assuming you have one, that is. 

Architectural Digest says a few simple design changes — like safe bike lanes and bicycle garages — can radically cut travel emissions in the US.

Honolulu bike riders offer suggestions to improve the city’s sketchy intersections.

A Portland bike rider commends the kindness and caring he experienced from bystanders and medical personnel when he crashed his bike riding through an intersection, dislocating his shoulder.

Flagstaff, Arizona bike advocates accuse the city of slow walking bike safety improvements.

A 62-year old e-mountain biker died after being found unresponsive on a Utah golf course, where he apparently crashed while riding through a bunker.

Nice story from St. Louis, where a 14-year old boy with sickle cell anemia was given a new ebike after he walked six miles to attend his 8th grade graduation, while his grandfather, who takes care of him and his six brothers and sisters after their mother died, was given a new $40,000 minivan by a local car dealer.

A member of a Chicago-area school board was killed when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bike in Highland Park.

She gets it. A Boston University instructor says bike-friendly cities should be designed for everyone, not just wealthy white riders.

Brompton has fittingly opened a micro-bike shop in Brooklyn, at just 70 square feet. Apparently they couldn’t figure out how to make a folding one. 

An Alabama writer complains about a recent report that ranked four cities in the state near the bottom for bikeability for the nation’s 200 biggest cities, with Mobile in the penultimate worst position, just ahead of Jackson, Mississippi.

 

International

The Guardian offers advice on how to score a good deal on a new or used bike.

Wallpaper looks at the year’s best designed ebikes, ranging in price from around $1,600 to nearly $18,000.

Vancouver bike riders held a funeral procession, complete with hearse and coffin, to mourn the recently removed bike lane through the city’s Stanley Park.

British Columbia is the latest city, state or province to introduce an ebike rebate program, with income-based rebates between $300 and $1,400; over 8,000 people signed up for the waitlist in the first 24 hours.

The Havana Times offers a sepia-toned photo essay of bicycling in the city.

A London man needed multiple surgeries after he was severely beaten by a hooded gang that bikejacked his $15,000 Specialized bicycle, leaving him with a broken jaw, collarbone and scapula, and several missing teeth.

Cycling Weekly admires a 1980s British-made Allin roadie, which is absolutely gorgeous.

A bicycle played a key role in the first 24-Hours of Le Mans when a Bentley suffered a punctured gas tank; after the driver ran three miles to the pits, his co-driver borrowed a bike from a gendarme, rode salmon back to the stalled car and plugged the hole with a wooden bung, before eventually finishing fourth.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo is one of us, briefly losing consciousness when he fell off his bike while riding with his son. And yes, he was wearing a helmet.

An Indian writer marks last Saturday’s World Bicycle Day with detailed advice on how to ride a bike with diabetes. You, that is, not the bike.

Don’t try this at home. An Austrian judo Olympian will attempt to scale K2 on a bicycle; she’ll be riding up the world’s second highest mountain at 28251 feet.

An Australian couple have been together for over 30 years after meeting during a long-distance bike ride.

Popular Aussie bicycling photographer David Blucher is learning to walk again, six months after a mountain biker lost control at the bottom of a run, hitting him at full speed in a crash he can’t even remember.

 

Competitive Cycling

American pro Keegan Swenson outsprinted Czech rider Petr Vakoč to win this year’s Unbound Gravel, with Lachlan Morton third; Swenson’s win made up for last year, when he was out sprinted for the win.

Carolin Schiff dropped the competition like freshman English, sweeping to a mud-soaked 60-mile solo breakaway to win the women’s Unbound Gravel by a remarkable 15-minutes over second place finisher Sofia Gomez Villafane, with Sarah Sturm in third.

France’s Arnaud Demare won the 103rd Brussels Cycling Classic in a close sprint, following a 23-man breakaway that managed to stay ahead of the remainder of the peloton.

A 70-year old man was killed when his race motorcycle collided head-on with a competitor in a German triathlon, while the bicycle rider suffered severe injuries, and a camera operator on the back of the motorcycle was treated for shock. Yet another example of why race motos should be banned from bike races.

Road.cc says pro cycling needs to ditch its obsession with “hardness.”

 

Finally…

Who needs pedals when you have solar power? Your next roadie could retail for north of fifteen grand.

And where to shop when you’re in the market for “Strappy Cycling Culottes.” Or maybe just one of the world’s most expensive bikes.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Man may have died from medical emergency riding bike in Griffith Park Friday morning, or possibly while hiking

June 2, 2023 / / Comments Off on Man may have died from medical emergency riding bike in Griffith Park Friday morning, or possibly while hiking

A man died from an apparent medical emergency while riding his bike in Griffith Park Friday morning.

Or maybe not.

The victim was riding, or possibly hiking, on or near a trail at Vista Del Valley Drive around 8:40 am when he went into severe medical distress.

Paramedics responding to the 2600 block of North Commonwealth attempted to revive him, providing “intensive, advanced life-saving care.” But he was already beyond medical help and died at the scene.

The victim was identified only as a man around 50 years old.

One way or the other, it’s tragic news,  whether or not he was riding a bike.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Bill banning pretext police bike stops passes state Senate, Pride Rides roll this weekend, and happy National Donut Day

June 2, 2023 / / One comment

Pretext stops could soon be a thing of the past.

The California Globe is reporting that SB 50, which would prevent police from issuing tickets for low-level violations, has narrowly passed the California state Senate.

The bill would ban police stops for a number of violations, such as vehicle registration or wrongly positioned license plates.

It would also prohibit stops for bicycle equipment or operations — which presumably means no more stops for failing to register a bicycle, or rolling through a stop sign or riding salmon.

While the safety effects of that can be argued, the idea is to prevent minor violations from being used as a pretext to stop motorists or bike riders to search for evidence of more serious infractions, which have unfairly targeted Black and brown bike riders in the past.

Los Angeles revoked its bike licensing law after city officials learned it was being used by the LAPD as an excuse to stop and search people of color as they rode their bikes.

And the Los Angeles Times has reported that seven out of every ten bike riders stopped by LA County Sheriff’s deputies were Latinos, who complained of police harassment that prevented some from riding their bikes.

Then there was the killing of South LA bike rider Dijon Kizzee, who was shot 15 times by sheriff’s deputies after he dropped a gun while attempting to flee from a traffic stop for riding salmon.

………

A couple of Pride Rides will roll this weekend, with one in Culver City tomorrow, and and another heading to the WeHo Pride Parade on Sunday.

………

Streets For All is hosting a fundraiser and community ride in Venice this Sunday.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A 21-year old Florida woman was lucky to survive with serious injuries when she drove up the ramp of a tow truck stopped for another crash, then went airborne for over 100 feet before her car tumbled end-over-end.

But by all means, tell me again about that bike rider who rolled a stop sign.

………

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

Police in Turlock are looking for whoever is responsible for a series of drive-by paintball attacks targeting bike riders and pedestrians; the mother of one of the victims alleges the paintballs are being frozen to inflict more serious injuries.

A 39-year old Albuquerque man faces murder and hit-and-run charges, accused of intentionally running down a man riding a bicycle following an argument between the two men; he was already on pretrial release for a pair of drug charges.

A Scottish driver faces charges for allegedly flipping off a 60-year old man before pushing him off his bicycle, apparently for the crime of riding in the street, or maybe just being on the planet; the defense tried to claim the victim intentionally swerved his bike into the car, evidently assuming we all enjoy pain.

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

A London bike rider calls for the hit-and-run “MAMIL” — aka Middle Aged Man In Lycra — who left him unconscious following a bike-on-bike crash to be arrested, named and shamed.

………

Local 

Streets For All reminds us to take the SCAG survey we mentioned recently — that’s the Southern California Association of Governments, representing the six SoCal counties north of San Diego County — to set priorities for regional governments.

Speaking of Streets For All, the transportation safety PAC urges you to tell LADOT you’re on board with extending the LA River bike path to the edge of Griffith Park, which would provide the first legal way to exit the pathway at Forrest Lawn Drive. And presumably enter it there, as well.

 

State

The Bike League is out with their latest list of 45 new and renewing Bicycle Friendly Communities; the only California cities on the list are Coronado, Solano Beach and Chula Vista, each of which renewed their previous status.

Santa Cruz County officials approved plans to encourage more bike riding with a voucher program offering $800 off the purchase price of an ebike, and $1,200 for a cargo or adaptive e-bike; the program also includes a $300 voucher for regular bicycles.

Police in Concord are looking for the hit-and-run driver who critically injured a 39-year old man riding a bicycle Wednesday night.

Two couples were injured when they were trapped under a construction fence while riding on a Berkeley bike path, after the fence was apparently toppled by the wind.

 

National

Outside launched their new Velo website yesterday, with a focus on roadies, gravel, ebikes, urban bicycling and the catchall, news.

They get it. The Atlantic writes that President Biden is ignoring the dangers of “Mega-EVs,” adding that environmental hype is crowding out any concern for people outside the vehicle. However, you won’t be able to read more than a few paragraphs without a subscription.

German bike tire brand Schwalbe has opened a program to recycle inner tubes at select bike shops around the US.

If you miss your childhood Beatles lunchbox, you can slake your Fab Four urge with a new line of Beatles-themed State bikes and gear — including an Abbey Roadie.

In a refreshing change, an Idaho sheriff reminds bike riders they don’t have to stop for stop signs, and don’t need to wear a helmet, even if it is a good idea.

An Iowa woman facing charges for the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed two women walking on a bike path — yes, a bike path — and seriously injuring another man now faces additional charges for assaulting another woman in a jail brawl.

A Michigan court has postponed the trial of a woman accused of the drugged-driving crash that killed two people and injured three others; 43-year old Mandy Marie Benn allegedly plowed her car into a group of bicyclists participating in a charity ride last summer.

A Richmond, Kentucky woman has been hosting bikepackers riding the 4,200-mile Transamerican Bike Trail for the last nine years through the Warm Showers website.

New York apparently caved to drivers who didn’t want to be inconvenienced by a planned bike boulevard, backing off the most aggressive plan to remake the street.

A Tallahassee, Florida man who uses his bike as his only form of transportation after suffering a TBI 25 years ago has topped 405,143 other bicyclists using the Strava app by riding 5,000 miles during May’s National Bike Month.

 

International

Don’t forget that Saturday is World Bicycle Day.

Fortune cites experts warning that we’re only seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to ebike injuries, as riders reach speeds they wouldn’t be able to on a regular bike. Although at least some of the rise in bike injury rates can be attributed to the rapid rise in ebike use; it would be far more accurate and useful to compare ebike injury rates to injury rates on regular bikes.

Someone stole a Vancouver ghost bike, then returned it two weeks later with no explanation following a public outcry.

In an unusually intelligent move, an English active travel organization will now be consulted on any housing development consisting of more than 150 units.

He gets it. A Glasgow writer says no one owns the roads, and we all pay for them whether we walk, bike or drive.

This is who we share the road with, too. A music producer and heiress to the banking Rothschild fortune will have to find another way to get around for awhile, after being banned from driving for six months because a woman on a bicycle spotted her illegally using her phone while driving. Although she can probably afford an Uber. Or a chauffeured limo, for that matter.

Bike-friendly Amsterdam announced a winner in the city’s Tunnelvisionair competition to create ways to make the city’s “scary, drab and sinister” bike tunnels more inviting.

A Nigerian professor writes that bicycling could be a boon for densely populated Lagos, but it’s being held back by a lack of safe infrastructure, personal fears over safety, and an attitude that rich people drive and poor people ride bikes.

Australia’s Tasmania state announced a $1.2 million incentive plan to encourage people to buy ebikes, e-scooters or EVs, though they still have to determine what form it will take.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-five-year old Belgian pro Julian Mertens has been placed in an artificial coma following successful spinal surgery, after he suffered multiple injuries in a serious crash while training in Belgium Wednesday.

Bicycling says you can stream the Critérium du Dauphiné, which they term the Mini Tour de France, by subscribing to the Peacock network for $4.99 a month, or $9.99 for ad-free service. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Volunteers from a US Army base helped out with the penultimate stage of Japan’s largest international bicycle race, the Tour of Japan.

The Gravel Cycling Hall of Fame introduced its latest class of inductees, including California gravel race organizer Miguel Crawford, and former pro cyclist and TBI researcher Allison Tetrick.

Shamefully, WorldTour Team Bahrain Victorious has signed 21-year old Italian cyclist Antonio Tiberi, the former Trek-Segafredo rider who was let go after he tested his new rifle by shooting a neighbor’s cat, claiming he somehow didn’t think shooting it would kill it.

No surprise here, as fake accounts are popping up on Twitter purporting to represent bike races, attempting to scam you out of your money and personal information.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can buy your very own ebike conversion kit for the price of some ebikes. Your next bike could be painted in liquid gold — but presumably not the wood care product.

And happy National Donut Day, which should be considered a religious holiday for bicyclists.

………

Thanks again to Matthew R for his generous monthly donation to support this site, and keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Donations of any amount are always welcome and appreciated, regardless of reason. Or frequency. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

County completes work to expand beachfront bike path to Palisades, and speed cam pilot passes state Assembly

June 1, 2023 / / Comments Off on County completes work to expand beachfront bike path to Palisades, and speed cam pilot passes state Assembly

County officials celebrated the completion of separated bike and pedestrian pathways on the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail.

But it could have been so much more.

The project extended the parallel walking and biking pathways through Will Rogers State Park, creating a continuous 22-mile separated pathway along the beach from Pacific Palisades to Torrance.

As long as you don’t count the section that was bizarrely routed through a Redondo Beach parking garage, where bike riders are expected to dismount and walk their bikes.

But it didn’t have to end in Pacific Palisades.

Thirteen years ago, Los Angeles officials revived a proposal to extend the bike path two miles north to Malibu, where separate bike and pedestrian paths would be built into the rip rock along the coast to get around the private tennis club at the north end of the state beach.

The proposal would have allowed safe bike access to and from Malibu for beach visitors and tourists alike. Along with the added benefit of allowing bike riders to bypass the dangerously narrow section of PCH leading into Malibu.

Unfortunately, it was killed by opposition from a group of influential LA bike activists who balked at the project’s $30 million price tag, worried the optics of spending that much on a bike path would increase opposition to other bike projects.

Even though the city officials would have sought state and federal grants to pay for it, so it would cost the city little or nothing.

And even though it would take considerably more to build it today, with the price tag increasing with every passing year.

But it would have been done by now. And it would have been wonderful.

………

I still can’t seem to embed tweets.

So you’ll have to settle for a screenshot of this announcement from Walk San Francisco celebrating the passage of AB 645, which will allow a speed cam pilot program in six California cities, including Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach.

………

The World Cycling Alliance reminds us to celebrate World Bicycle Day this Saturday.

………

A new documentary about America’s only remaining Tour de France winner opens in theaters June 23rd, setting out the cyclist’s “setbacks and triumphant comeback.”

………

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

More proof we’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t, as a road raging British driver loses it because the bike rider in front of him stopped at a red light.

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

A British man is calling for the hit-and-run salmon bike rider who knocked him unconscious in a bicyclist-on-bicyclist crash to turn himself in; the victim gained fame as the owner of an uninhabited Scottish island featured by the BBC.

………

Local 

CicLAvia returns to South Los Angeles on Father’s Day, June 18th, with a 6.2-mile route along Vermont Ave between Exposition and Century Blvds; the route is easily accessible via the Metro Expo (E) Line.

An unscientific survey of over 4,300 Angelenos from LAist shows concerns over homelessness and housing affordability dwarfs everything else, including infrastructure and transportation. 

The Eastsider reports work is back on track for the highly flawed $80 million redesign of the landmark Glendale-Hyperion bridge, which will include bike lanes, but forces pedestrians to cross four lanes of traffic to get to the single sidewalk; work was supposed to begin in 2020, but was delayed by the pandemic.

Streetsblog visits the dangerously substandard, three-foot wide De Soto Avenue bike lane, two-thirds of which is in the gutter.

 

State

California Streetsblog says Smart Growth America’s new Complete Streets report raises the bar with strong and effective policies that lay the groundwork for safer streets for everyone.

Both drivers and bike riders are complaining about a construction project to add bike lanes and reverse-angled parking along PCH in Encinitas; the city’s mayor encourages everyone to wait until it’s done, when he says it will become a very popular destination.

Plans for a pedestrian promenade and bikeway on San Diego’s Normal Street have been delayed for eight years in a dispute over a driveway, which has now been condemned by the city.

A Kern County man faces up to ten years behind bars after he was convicted of the drunken hit-and-run that seriously injured two people riding bikes, leaving one with a brain injury; the defense attorney had tried to blame the victims for riding on the roadway without lights or reflectors. Even though neither of them forced the driver to get drunk, or get behind the wheel afterwards. 

An op-ed from a Santa Cruz writer says a proposal for a 12-foot wide bike and pedestrian trail next to a rail line fails the safety test because it would be too popular, and wouldn’t allow users to escape in an emergency, due to fencing on one side and a retaining wall on the other.

Sad news from Clovis, where a 36-year old man faces charges for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a bike rider; he had a BAC over three times the legal blood alcohol level when he was arrested after someone in his home turned him in.

Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick says visiting the Netherlands wasn’t a shock, but returning to the Bay Area afterwards was.

A Lewiston bike shop owner was lucky to survive after “a swell of humanity” rushed to his aid after suffering a heart attack while riding across the Golden Gate Bridge.

A 29-year old Shasta County woman has been sentenced to three years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a 65-year old man riding his bike. She reported the victim lying on the side of the road, but didn’t say she was the one who hit him; she could have faced a total of five years on the two charges.

 

National

Portland’s summer-long Pedalpalooza bike festival kicked off its 21st season this week.

This year’s Cycle Oregon Classic bike tour through rural Oregon will be its last, a victim of rising production costs, rider preferences, volunteer capacity and extended fire seasons after 32 years.

A kindhearted 11-year old Arizona boy bought two mountain bikes after his bike was stolen, one for himself and one to give to someone else, after a TV station reported on the lemonade stand he was using to raise the money.

Residents of Houston’s Third Ward are demanding greater protection from a gang of teenagers who have been terrorizing bike riders on a local trail; five bicyclists have been brutally beaten and robbed in recent weeks, and another victim was shot.

Members of a St. Louis bike group are calling for the return of a green bike that was installed as a memorial to one of the group’s founders, after it disappeared just before the second anniversary of his unexpected death.

Massachusetts is considering a proposal for ebike rebates up to $750.

A free six-week Brooklyn bike repair course helps formerly incarcerated people get back on their feet, as well as others who have had run-ins with the law.

French startup Upway has opened their first US location in Brooklyn, selling refurbished and overstock ebikes at a discount.

The libertarian Cato Institute says the racially charged conflict over a New York bikeshare bike illustrates the growing popularity of shared ebikes.

Curbed considers the pitfalls of congestion pricing and how to avoid them, which is addressed to New York’s upcoming congestion pricing program. But it should be required reading for LA Metro and Los Angeles County officials.

A ten-mile bike ride around the National Mall by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and and chief GOP negotiator Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana played a roll in working out a deal with White House officials on raising the national debt limit.

 

International

Momentum Magazine recommends easy ways to incorporate bicycling into your urban lifestyle.

Canadian cargo bike owners say park the car, and use a cargo bike instead.

An estimated three hundred people turned out for a memorial bike ride in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to honor a 33-year old mother and wrester who represented Canada for over a decade, after she was run down by a garbage truck driver.

The news from Montreal just keeps getting better, as the Quebec city attempts to revitalize commercial districts by closing ten streets for the summer.

As we noted yesterday, a modestly updated version of the classic, British-made Raleigh Chopper bike is back, complete with its oversized gear shifts, albeit at a whopping 2,970% markup.

Bicyclists in Oxford, England have launched their own DIY, crowdsourced online bike map showing low-traffic routes throughout the city.

A self-proclaimed liberal London bike rider made headlines for accusing Just Stop Oil activists, who were blocking a street in protest, of “harming the cause” and “fucking it up for all of us.” I’ve long argued that blocking streets may garner headlines, but you don’t win people over to your cause by making their commutes miserable. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Celebrate the Giro with pink sidewalls on your Italian-made Vittoria tires.

Primož Roglič’s former ski-jumping teammate appeared out of nowhere to give him a key push right when he needed it following a Giro mechanical.

Cycling Weekly offers a detailed analysis of every stage of next month’s Tour de France.

Bicycling profiles 2022 Unbound Gravel champ Sofia Gomez Villafañe, explaining how the Argentine mountain biker became a gravel superstar. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Two Russian Olympic track cycling medalists have been barred from competing for failing to adopt a neutral status due to the country’s war in Ukraine.

Tragic news from Tennessee, where a 58-year old lifelong athlete and longtime Ironman competitor has died over a week after he was injured crashing his bike in a Chattanooga triathlon.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re the former world champ, and still have to train for the Tour de France with your kid in tow — literally. Your next foldie could have a magnesium frame.

And your new Porsche could have two wheels instead of four, at far less than half the price.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Congestion pricing rears its not-so-ugly head, NYT talks with LA’s Entitled Cyclist, and Long Beach bike rider critically injured

May 31, 2023 / / 5 comments

On a personal note, my 75-year old adventure cycling, ex-Iditarod mushing brother is setting out today on yet another cross-country bike ride. 

He’s taking a train to Oregon, then riding down the coast before turning east, and riding to Minnesota, up into Canada, and possibly on to Buffalo and New York City if conditions allow. 

And yes, I want to be like him when I grow up.

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Congestion pricing could be back on the table for Los Angeles County.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Metro’s long-awaited study into the feasibility of instituting a congestion pricing scheme on local highways is expected to be released this summer, after it was allegedly delayed by Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins because she didn’t want it to become an issue in last year’s election season.

Years in the works, the plan promises cleaner air, smoother rides and more funds to the agency’s coffers in the future. Studies show it could reduce harmful air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by pushing more commuters to use public transit, while making roads less hellish for those who pay to use them…

The pilot program is part of a larger push among major cities to rethink how to deal with traffic that eats up commuters’ lives and pollutes communities as vehicles creep along. California has been quietly setting the stage for road pricing for years.

The good news is that Metro is restoring its pre-pandemic route schedules, which should make transit marginally more attractive to current non-transit users, though the steady drumbeat of new of crime, homelessness and drug use on county trains could have the opposite effect.

The bad news is, with a few notable exceptions like DTLA, Santa Monica and Long Beach, the LA-area bike networks necessary to get defecting motorists on two wheels don’t currently exist.

And they’re not likely to be coming in the near future without a massive and unexpected investment in our streets.

Photo by Jeff Weese from Pexels.

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The New York Times talks with Tom Morash, aka the Entitled Cyclist of Twitter, Instagram and YouTube fame.

Morash is a 41-year-old lighting programmer who works in the film and TV industry in Los Angeles, where he has lived for some 16 years. When he first arrived, he used to take his car everywhere, like most Angelenos. But the city’s traffic jams soon crushed any desire to drive.

After talking to a co-worker who cycled to work, he decided to try it. He never looked back. Now he always cycles the 12 miles or so that take him to most of his jobs.

Yes, cycling can be scary, he acknowledges. Drivers cut him off, text at the wheel, exceed the speed limit, open their doors without looking and park in the bike lane. “But I can’t imagine choosing to be in a car,” he said.

It’s worth investing a few minutes of your day to get to know someone who uses his bike and social media voice to make a difference.

And whose bike makes one in his own life.

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Bad news from Long Beach, where a woman was critically injured in a collision while riding her bike on Pacific Coast Highway near Long Beach City College Monday night.

The eastbound victim allegedly swerved onto the opposite side of the roadway, where she was struck by the westbound driver, who remained at the scene.

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You have one more day to sign up for a month of bikeshare for a single buck.

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

Houston police are looking for a group of young men who have been brutally attacking and robbing bike riders on a city bike trail, with five riders viciously beaten and another shot in the past two weeks; one man was tackled from his bike, pistol whipped and robbed of his wallet and phone, while another had his bicycle stolen after getting hit with a shovel.

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

The LAPD had arrested an alleged bike-riding serial arsonist for setting up to 30 cars on fire in the Sunland-Tujunga area. Demonstrating once again that bicycles are the most efficient choice for whatever crime spree you have in mind. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the heads-up.

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Local 

Streets For All reminds us to tell the federal government to make auto makers consider pedestrian safety in crash testing. And add bike riders while they’re at it. 

This is who we share the road with. A road raging Tesla driver and a motorcyclist got into fist fight in a Pasadena street, following a verbal confrontation between the two men, as well as the driver’s mom.

A Redondo Beach letter writer complains that a planned 200-foot long bike path extension in Long Beach will cost $6,000 per foot, compared to adding a freeway lane, which he says would cost just $500 a foot. Actually, the California Policy Institute says adding a freeway lane in an urban environment costs $62.4 million per lane mile, or about $11,800 a foot. Correction, Jim Lyle points out it’s actually $118,000 per foot, not $11,800 as I wrote. My only excuse is I was an English major. 

 

State

Calbike is urging you to contact your state legislators to support a series of bills they term the Biking Is Not a Crime slate for 2023, including bills that would legalize sidewalk riding, ban police pretext stops, and decriminalize transit fare evasion. Although the best solution for that one is to adequately fund transit and make it free.

The Fullerton Observer says the Orange County city refused to improve bike safety in the face of opposition from motorists, rejecting a proposal to remove a traffic lane and improve bike lanes when Associated Road is repaved for water main work.

A project to widen El Camino Real in Del Mar from two lanes to four, while adding concrete median, sidewalks and bike lanes has been put on hold, after a judge ordered an additional environmental review.

Closing arguments began Tuesday in the hit-and-run trial of a 43-year old Bakersfield driver accused of seriously injuring two people as they rode their bikes, while driving with a blood alcohol level over three times the legal limit; the defense attorney blamed the victims for riding in the traffic lane without the required lights and reflectors.

Sonoma bicyclists say the city has a lot more work to do if they want to get more people out of cars and onto bikes.

 

National

Yesterday was National E-Bike Day, officially registered as such by Lectric eBikes to mark their fourth anniversary.

Mobility justice groups are working to reverse decades of disinvestment to make Black neighborhoods better for biking and walking; the story begins with the killing of South LA bike rider Dijon Kizzee, who was shot 19 times by LA County Sheriff’s deputies for what began as a traffic stop for riding salmon.

Tragic news from Las Vegas, where a motorcyclist is dead, and a bicycle rider critically injured, following a high speed collision between the two.

Outside rides Utah’s new 190-mile Aquarius Trail bikepacking path, sandwiched amid the state’s “spectacular wilderness” between Bryce and Zion national parks.

The Idaho Stop Law is slowly spreading across the US, as nine other states and Washington DC have adopted the law, although only three have adopted the full law allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and red lights as stop signs. California is once again considering a bill to legalize the Stop as Yield portion of the law; Governor Newsom vetoed a previous version of the bill.

A crowdfunding campaign for the Black teenager involved in New York’s Citi Bike Karen incident has now raised over $91,000 of the $120,000 goal to pay legal expenses. Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign for the hospital worker accused of trying to wrest a bikeshare bike out of his hands has raised more than $132,000, far exceeding the $120,000 goal.

Crashes involving bike riders are rising in Virginia, with twice as many bicyclists killed on state roads so far this year, compared to last year.

Medical authorities in Florida have concluded that the man accused of brutally stabbing a Daytona Beach couple as they rode their bicycles home from the city’s motorcycle Bike Week festivities has regained his mental competency, and is now fit to stand trial for the March, 2022 murders.

 

International

Go ahead and be jealous. Montreal is investing $30 million to expand and improve its bikeway network, with 53 projects spanning 14 boroughs and four other municipalities.

London road deaths were down to their lowest level of any non-Covid year last year, evidence that the city’s extensive Complete Streets and bicycle superhighway efforts are working.

A London paper complains about an “idiot driver” who parked blocking a crosswalk and bike lane to nip into the market.

Britain has approved the use of longer semi-truck trailers on the country’s roads, despite fears they could increase the risk to bike riders and pedestrians.

Belgium-based Cowboy and Grenoble, France’s eBikeLabs are involved in a messy divorce, with eBikeLabs suing the ebike maker for patent infringement and stealing its software, after the two companies had been partnering together.

Sydney, Australia will extend the life of a popular popup bike lane for at least another three years.

 

Competitive Cycling

British budget cuts could endanger the rise of the next generation of cyclists, as the country cuts spending for its under-23 program, potentially removing young Brits from the Nations Cup, the Tour of Britain and the Tour de l’Avenir.

Britain has banned transgender women from competing in women’s cycling events, restricting trans cyclists to the country’s “Open” classification. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you from their site. 

More tragic news, this time from Ireland, where Gabriele Glodenyte was killed by a driver while on a lunchtime training ride; the 24-year old cyclist was a rising star in women’s racing in the country.

Cycling News considers the top contenders for this weekend’s Unbound Gravel 200.

Cyclist offers their 21 best photos from the recently concluded Giro d’Italia, including a close-up view of Mark Cavendish’ crash in stage 5.

 

Finally…

When you’re already a suspect in at least ten bike thefts, maybe don’t ride salmon on an ebike that may or may not be yours. Your next bike could be a new and improved recreation of your first one.

And a paean to Campy’s late, lamented thumb shifter.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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