Yesterday was an odd day.
From encountering, for the first ever, a relative of a hit-and-run who didn’t want the incident publicized and attempted to censor my work — and no, I’m not the least bit sure I made the right choice. To a Hollywood tour bus scaring the crap out of me in Santa Monica by buzzing past at far less than arm’s reach.
And I’m not sure which one pissed me off most.
No, actually, I am.
Meanwhile, here’s the other one.
Update: I have deleted this entire post at the request of the victim’s wife.
While I stand behind the original story, with virtually every word I wrote based on information had already been tweeted and retweeted around the world — and which remains readily available from numerous other sources online — I am sympathetic to her situation and will honor her request, as much as I disagree with it.
I will note only that the victim was injured in a hit-and-run collision at or near the intersection of North Topanga Canyon Blvd and Viewridge Road in Topanga Canyon, and was reported to the CHP at 12:13 pm on Saturday. Authorities continue to look for a Land Rover with a missing headlight; no word on color and model year. Anyone with information should contact the West Valley CHP station at 818-888-0980.
Best wishes to the victim for a full and fast recovery.
Update 2: The CHP has identified the victim as 60-year old Gary Morris of Van Nuys; no word on his condition.
Authorities are looking for a 1996 to 2000 Range Rover — not a Land Rover as previously stated — with possible damage to the right front end. Anyone with information should call CHP Investigator Brooke Covington at 818-888-0980, ext. 228.
Update 3: I’m told that the Daily News story I linked to above is incorrect, and the suspect vehicle is actually Land Rover, not a Range Rover.
……..
On a related note, I recently received an email from John Bisnar about HitAndRunReward.com, which provides a $1000 for information leading to the arrest of any hit-and-run driver.
We have a standing offer of $1,000 reward for information leading to a felony conviction of a hit and run driver. Information on a hit and run driver is given to WeTip, a non-profit crime fighting organization. WeTip has a process that ensures the anonymity of people providing information so that no one, not WeTip, not me, not anyone knows who provided the information. WeTip then passes the information on to the appropriate law enforcement agency. When a reward is due, WeTip has an anonymous method of paying the reward in cash.
Personally, I’d gladly settle for the feeling of relief that would come from putting one of these murderous, uncaring bastards behind bars. But a cool thousand bucks in your pocket couldn’t hurt, either.
………
Speaking of Lance, maybe you missed our contest to give away some CLIF Mojo bars over the weekend.
Between the tragic breaking news and usual mass exodus of L.A. that takes place on any three-day weekend, the contest may have gotten a little lost. So I’m extending the deadline one more day.
Just leave a comment on the original post with your favorite means of performance enhancement before or during a ride, and why — whether it’s something you eat, drink, do, listen to or meditate on — no later than 8 am Wednesday.
The winners — and yes, there will be more than one — will get a box of Mojo bars directly from CLIF Bar.
But be sure to use a valid, working email address, or I won’t be able to let you know you’ve won and get an address to send them to.
And no, they can’t just send them as an attachment.
……..
Finally, let Monday morning’s Beverly Hills earthquake serve as a reminder that when the Big One hits — or the zombie apocalypse starts — cars and transit systems will be useless. Your best, and perhaps only, choice for transportation will be a strong bike with flat-resistant tires.
And I’d like to know how the hell the biking black hole can give us an earthshaking 3:30 am wake-up call, but can’t manage to give us a single bike lane.
God, I hate this.
According to a report from Koreatown311, a cyclist on Friday night’s LA Critical Mass ride has died as a result of a mass fall while riding through the UCLA campus.
Details are sketchy, but reports are a group of riders fell while going downhill on Charles E. Young Drive, leaving several riders injured; at least one suffering critical head injuries.
The only significant hill I know in that area would be the one leading down from the residence halls, past Drake Field.
LA Scanner reports that the victims were taken to Cedar Sinai as well as nearby UCLA hospital. Reportedly, no cars were involved, but there may have been an obstacle in the roadway.
Several reports have said that the victim was not wearing a helmet.
Koreatown311 reports the ride was halted following the collision at the order of the LAPD Incident Commander, with the riders sent back to the starting point at Western and Wilshire.
More details as they become available.
This is the 51st cycling fatality in Southern California this year, the 12th in Los Angeles County, and the third (correction: 4th) in the City of Los Angeles. It is also, to the best of my knowledge, the first to occur on the L.A. Critical Mass ride.
My heartfelt prayers for the victim and his or her family.
Update: A comment from Gina suggests that the police may have been at fault (Update: other witness reports contradict Gina’s statement, and suggest she may have seen a different wreck; see below).
I was there. The police caused the crash. The “obstacle” in the road was an unmarked police car, some wise-ass decided to slow the riders down by pulling out into the middle of the road and parking with one little nark-light on the hood. The family should sue the LAPD. The police need to leave LACM alone, it was fine before they started ‘escorting’ the ride.
More information on the Critical Mass Facebook page, including the name of the victim. However, I won’t post it on here until I know the net-of-kin have been notified. No one should ever find out a loved one has died by reading it here.
Update 2: In an inflammatory report, KNBC-4 has identified the victim as 18-year old Jerico Culata of Los Angeles, who is not the person who was named on the Facebook page in the link above. They place the location as Charles E. Young Drive and De Neve Drive, around 9:50 pm, which places it west of Drake Field, rather than north as I had guessed.
According to the report, Culata lost control of his bike on a downhill curve, and slammed into a masonry wall; despite Gina’s comment above, there is no mention of a police car involved.
A comment from Kryzstov adds additional information, saying Culata may have died instantly. He also clarifies Gina’s comment, suggesting she may have witnessed a different collision.
I witnessed the whole thing. He was right in front of me when he crashed and hit the wall. He unfortunately couldn’t stop because he was riding a fixie and we were coming down a steep hill. Myself and another cyclist were the first two to approach him to see if he was ok. The other cyclist turned him over from being on his stomach and it was clear that he had died instantly. Regarding the other two crashes, the police car that the boy hit was not unmarked and it was parked on the side of the road.
I know that road well, as it’s part of my regular ride when UCLA is out of session. There is a relatively steep downhill with a minor curve, combined with rough pavement in places; I usually have to brake in that section to control my speed.
Update 3: KTLA-5 reports that there may have been as few as 100 cyclists who ride through the UCLA campus, rather than the main group of around 2,500 riders who often participate in L.A. Critical Mass on a nice night.
Both the KNBC and a report from KCBS-2 contain an inappropriate reference about run-ins with the police during Critical Mass rides; while both reference a minor altercation that occurred on the San Diego ride, there is no suggestion that Culata’s death had anything to do with a confrontation between police and the riders. In fact, all indications are that the ride was peaceful from start to finish.
It should also be noted that solo falls like this are exactly what bike helmets were designed to protect against. Whether wearing one last night would have kept Culata alive, we’ll probably never know.
Update 4: According to Krystov, the main body of the Critical Mass ride went through the UCLA campus, rather than an offshoot, which would have put the number of riders at many times the 100 riders cited by KTLA.
And despite the inflammatory news reports linking Culata’s death with an incident on the San Diego Critical Mass ride, it turns out the screwdriver that injured the San Diego police officer was thrown from a balcony along the ride route, rather than by one of the riders.
Meanwhile, Sgt. Krumer urges anyone who witnessed Culata’s fall to contact police investigators.
It would be really great if those who stated that they witnessed the whole thing…please contact West Traffic Division and provide an official statement. 213-473-0220.
Get your Mojo on and tell use your favorite performance enhancers.
Let’s have a little fun.
It’s been awhile since we’ve done a contest on here. But I was recently approached by the makers of CLIF Bars with an offer to give away some of their Mojo Bars in honor of national Trail Mix Day.
And yes, there really is such a thing.
Not only that, as it turns out, Friday was it.
And as it happens, Mojo Bars are made from… wait for it… trail mix.
Or as they put it, a crunchy, chewy, sweet and salty mostly organic blend of nuts, pretzel pieces and other healthy things, with no processed sugars or trans fats.
Works for me.
The question is, who to give them to?
And that’s where our old buddy Lance comes in.
As you may recall, Lance was recently stripped of his titles for using performance-enhancing drugs. And yet, as cyclists, we all use performance enhancers of some sort.
Though most of them are legal.
Mine run the gamut from broccoli, spinach, berry and banana smoothies — and yes, it takes a lot of berries to kill the taste of the first two — to blasting just the right song before setting out.
Oddly, the one that seems to work best for me is the Theme from the Magnificent Seven. Maybe I still want to be a cowboy when I grow up.
And yes, I am partial to CLIF Bars, though I lean more towards the White Chocolate Macadamia and Peanut Toffee Buzz flavors. And their Peanut Butter Crunch bars are like crack to me.
So what’s your favorite performance enhancer?
Just leave a comment below, or email me at bikinginla at hotmail dot com. Or tweet me, for that matter, @bikinginla.
Just tell me what you use to enhance your performance before or during a ride, and why. And be sure to include a valid email address or Twitter account so I can contact you if you win.
I’ll pick the winners Monday night, so you have a few days to think it over. And I’ll post the best entries on here next week.
Maybe it was something in the water.
Or maybe it was a little lunar lunacy in anticipation of tomorrow’s Blue Moon.
But Thursday’s ride to Manhattan Beach and back was marked with more Stupid Driver Tricks — and not just drivers, as a few cyclists and pedestrians insisted on getting into the act — than I usually see in a month.
But this one takes the cake.
All this woman had to do was wait a few seconds until the light changed, and she could have easily gotten out of that parking lot with her dry cleaning.
Instead, she pulled out directly towards the car in front of her. When that didn’t work, as he failed to magically disappear from her way, she backed up, pausing as I pulled up next to her. Then looked directly at me, and cut me off anyway — as the driver next to me and I both shook our heads, arms extended in the universal WTF gesture.
And yes, I may have made another gesture that didn’t show up on camera as I pulled up next to her.
No, not that one.
………
Streetsblog offers a good look at what you should do if you encounter my pet peeve — bike lanes needlessly blocked by Hollywood production crews.
Even though experience has taught me that Corgis make much better pets than peeves.
As they note, film crews are required to have a permit before they’re allowed to block a bike lane, or any other traffic lane, for that matter.
And yes, a bike lane is a legal traffic lane, albeit one reserved for bikes, just as HOV lanes are reserved for vehicles with more than one occupant. Or people willing to pay for the privilege of driving alone.
Which means that, without a permit from the city — which is remarkably easy to get — film crews have no more right to block a bike lane than they do the center lane on Wilshire Blvd. Though that never seems to stop them from doing it anyway.
The story also notes, correctly, that you have every right to demand to see that permit, whether they like it or not. And that if they don’t have one, you’re entitled to call the police — or Film LA — and demand that they move the offending cones to reopen the bike lane.
Although getting someone to actually care enough to do something about it can be another matter.
Then there are the seemingly inevitable comments from film crew workers unwilling to even attempt to obey the law.
Including this one from a self-described Assistant Location Manager who threatens to have anyone who asks to see the permit arrested on false charges.
As an Assistant Location Manager, the guy whom you will probably be approaching for a film permit, which will then be followed by your venting hippie diatribe about why my working trucks are blocking your bike lane here’s what I am going to do….Ask to see my permit, which I will produce for you. Then it will be I who will call the cops and claim that you threatened my production company with extortion, which I will be able to produce witnesses for. I will also suggest to the officer who responds that we spotted you taking illicit drugs not far away from my set, which I will also produce witnesses for. Being that most bikers I know engage in the occasional to regular use of drugs, I will most likely be right. When your being cuffed and taken to jail, I will then sell your bike on ebay….I may even use the funds to put gas in my Ford F-150 (not a Prius). You guys want a fight, your going to get one…
Point is, we are losing production jobs everyday to other states and cities because of BS like this. My methodology may seem machiavellian but I will do whatever it takes to keep filming in Los Angeles, keep food on my family’s table, and not be forced to move to keep working in film industry which provides a much needed paycheck and health benefits to family and I. Be warned, if the working trucks are parked in a bike lane, bike around us and go on your merry way…
Nice way to put a good face on Hollywood, dude.
And summing up exactly why many people in this town are fed up with self-entitled production crews, regardless of the jobs they create.
Yes, we all want to put an end to runaway productions, and keep those high-paying jobs right here at home.
But Hollywood needs to take a long, hard look at itself, and accept that other people in this city have rights, as well.
………
Joe Devito forwards a photo of the ghost bike for Michael Vega, the 25-year old cyclist killed by a hit-and-run driver earlier this week in Rancho Cucamonga.
And judging by the comments, it sounds like we’ve lost a great guy.
………
A few other quick notes:
Flying Pigeon looks at Tuesday’s meeting of the LACBC Civic Engagement Committee. Downtown is rapidly being redrawn to support bicycling. Glendale letter writer doesn’t seem to grasp the concept that bike lanes make streets safer, not the other way around. Three San Diego firefighters are on trial for beating the crap out of two bike riding brothers after calling one a bicycle faggot. A rocket scientist Ventura motorcyclist hates on California’s new three-foot passing law, missing the concept that it is actually possible to drive safely; and that emergency vehicles get an entire lane, while bicyclists only get three feet.
Trial has begun in the case of the driver who killed tandem cyclists Greg and Alexandra Bruehler, resulting in the single saddest photo I’ve ever seen. Here’s a good reason not the be an idiot, as a road-raging Detroit cyclist runs a red light, hits a truck, punches the driver — and gets fatally shot as a result. A PA cyclist is the victim of an early season drive-by pumpkining. Maybe cyclists should be licensed — and paid to ride. Ex-framebuilder Dave Moulton notes that doping has been around as long as competitive cycling.
Finally, I’ve always like fast women, as Bikeyface nails it once again. And it’s so hot, Flying Pigeon’s Josef Bray-Ali is fixing bikes in his tightie whities reds.
Come back a little later in the day Friday, when we’ll have a giveaway contest to celebrate National Trail Mix Day. No, really, there actually is one. And I’ll see if the video came out on some of those other Stupid Driver Tricks over the next few days.