Despite my best efforts to get back to work, I’m still struggling with my health this week.
So I’m throwing in the towel, and taking the next few days to rest and try to feel better.
I’ll see you bright and early on July 5th.
Woman riding on bike trail killed by alleged DUI driver in Rancho Cucamonga collision
Yet another bike rider has needlessly lost their life to an alleged drunk driver.
The Daily Bulletin is reporting that someone on a bicycle was struck by a driver while riding on the Pacific Electric Trail in Rancho Cucamonga Saturday evening.
According to the paper, 19-year old San Bernardino resident Jessica Carrillo allegedly ran a red light on Archibald Ave while the victim was crossing on the trail around 6:50 pm.
The Rancho Cucamonga Police Department reports the victim was riding west on the Pacific Electric Trail when she was run down as Carillo drove south on Archibald.
She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Facebook post identifies her as Debbie Morgan-Alam, a longtime member of the Ride Yourself Fit group.
Carillo remained at the scene, and was booked on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter, DUI causing injury and DUI causing injury with a blood alcohol content over .08 percent.
And proving once again that people on bicycles are at risk anywhere cars are present, even when riding on a fully separated pathway.
Anyone with information is urged to call San Bernardino Sheriff’s Deputies E. Rebollar or V. Peterson at 909/477-2800.
This is at least the 47th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Debbie Morgan-Alam and her loved ones.
Thanks to Victor Bale and Michael Wagner for the heads-up.
Move along, nothing to see here
My apologies. I’m significantly under the weather tonight. I’ll try to be back tomorrow to catch up on anything we’ve missed.
Category: General /
South Dakota AG impeached over fatal hit-and-run, win a Metro Bike membership, and cam-enforced blocked bike lanes
The South Dakota state senate convicted Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg on impeachment charges, removing him from office.
And demonstrating to their counterparts in Washington DC that is it is, in fact, possible, despite all appearances to the contrary.
The Army reserve officer had received a slap on the wrist for the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian two years ago, after pleading no contest to making an illegal lane change and using a phone while driving, claiming he thought he had hit a deer.
Never mind that he never stopped to find out.
The senate’s action made it clear they found his story questionable, at best. As did virtually everyone else who heard it.
Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving jerk.
Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels. Thanks to Nina Moskol for the heads-up.
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Metro is offering a chance to win a free one-year bikeshare membership just for completing their Metro Bike user survey.
There are a few weeks left to take our Annual Metro Bike Share User Survey. This survey is open to everyone and should take less than 15 minutes to complete. All feedback is welcome, even if you haven’t used Metro Bike Share before.
Everyone who completes the survey will be entered in a raffle for a chance to win a 365-Day Metro Bike Share Pass ($150 value) and some sweet Metro Bike Share gear.
Take the survey today! This survey will be accepting responses until June 30, 2022.
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About damn time.
London will start using camera enforcement to ticket drivers who block bike lanes. Now the rest of the world just has to catch up.
You can't drive on a sidewalk. You can't drive in a bike lane either. London's camera enforcement of cycle lanes adds a missing layer of safety to streets and challenges other cities to do more. https://t.co/BqsKaYseAc
— Janette Sadik-Khan (@JSadikKhan) June 23, 2022
Not surprisingly, at least one London tabloid considers it an attack on those poor, beleaguered drivers.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No shit. A Toronto lawyer and bike advocate says cracking down on bike riders for speeding in a park is a waste of resources.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Demonstrating a keen grasp of the obvious, a Portland serial bank robber who made his getaway by bicycle admits what he did was wrong. Gee, you think?
An Oxford, England man was sprayed with what appears to be pepper spray by a bike-riding teenaged boy after an argument on a shared-use path.
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Local
Bicycling talks with Finish the Ride and Streets Are For Everyone founder Damian Kevitt about how a near-fatal hit-and-run motivated him to make Los Angeles a better place for people on bicycles. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
UCLA Bicycle Academy Secretary Dr. Michael Cahn takes the university to task for removing a bike lane during construction of the new Rosenfeld Hall, and replacing it with a dumpster. Which is an apt metaphor if I’ve ever seen one.
The former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills continues its ongoing efforts to become more bike friendly, approving plans for bike lanes and sharrows on Doheny Blvd, from Burton Way to Whitworth Dr. Although someone should tell them that sharrows are literally worse than nothing.
Santa Monica-based micromobility startup Veo is expanding the footprint of their sit-down, moped-style scooters into LA’s Westside.
State
Fullerton officials voted to rip out the Walk on Wilshire bike lane, concluding that it was little used, and the removal would improve traffic flow. Although if a bike lane isn’t used, it’s usually a sign it should be improved, not removed.
Oakland approved plans for a long-delayed Complete Streets remake of 14th Street, too late to save the life of a bike-riding father who was killed by a speeding hit-and-run driver in front of his kids.
National
Forbes offers their picks for the best bike helmets for every kind of rider, while Engadget recommends what they consider the best bike accessories you can buy.
An architecture website considers how to store your bike in small spaces.
Colorado sheriff’s deputies finally busted the driver who witnesses allege intentionally ran down a pair of women riding bicycles, leaving one woman in a coma.
CNN offers a timeline of the events leading up to and following the shooting of gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson, after the car belonging to her alleged killer was found at a Texas car dealership.
They get it. A Milwaukee public radio station says improving street design could help curb reckless driving in the city.
Police in Wisconsin busted a pouting, 62-year old man for the hit-and-run death of a bike-riding man, once again claiming he thought he hit a deer. Which seems to be the universal Get Out of Jail Free card for hit-and-run drivers in northern states.
Life is cheap in Massachusetts, where a driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a 69-year old man on a bicycle while she was FaceTiming with a friend — but at least she lost her driver’s license for 15 years. Not that losing a license seems to stop anyone from getting behind the wheel anyway, though.
New York is investing $178.8 million for improving active transportation in the state.
New York-based FEND will launch the first folding bike helmet with built-in front and rear lights, after a crowdfunding page raised nearly four times the $20,000 goal.
The mass carnage on the streets continues, as three people in their 60s were seriously injured when a 16-year old driver left-crossed them as they rode in a Florida bike lane, turning her car directly in front of a couple on a tandem and a man on his own bike. Proving once again you can’t spell “carnage” without “car.”
International
Bike Radar offers a complete buyers guide to adaptive bicycles.
Hong Kong may move to require helmets for all bike riders, citing an increase in crashes involving bicyclists. Never mind that helmets are designed to protect against slow speed falls, not collisions with cars and their drivers.
Competitive Cycling
Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini faces two and a half years behind bars on charges of domestic abuse for stalking and threatening his ex-wife, both before and after their marriage, including breaking her bicycle in half so she couldn’t ride it without him.
Lawson Craddock defended his title in the elite men’s time trial title at USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships, edging 20-year old Magnus Sheffield.
Leah Thomas won the women’s time trial title, beating four-time US time trial champ Amber Neben by a whopping 44 seconds.
A Knoxville, Tennessee news site suggests five cyclists to watch at the national championships this weekend.
Finally…
That feeling when your big, clunky plastic bike comes sans chain. Everything Google says you always wanted to know about the Tour de France and weren’t afraid to ask.
And strip down and saddle up for tomorrow’s Los Angeles edition of the World Naked Bike Ride.
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Thanks to David E for his generous donation to help support this site, and keep SoCal’s best source for bike news coming your way every day. Your generosity, and the support of our sponsors, is what keeps this site going.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
Create true multimodal networks for vibrant cities, Griffith Park Drive closes to cars next week, and ticketing speeding bicyclists
They get it.
The World Resources Institute says the secret to creating vibrant US cities — and meeting US climate goals — is to invest in true multimodal transportation.
The group calls for a coordinated system of various modes of transportation that work for the entire community.
Transportation emits more climate-warming greenhouse gases than any other sector in the United States, so cutting carbon from transport is also essential to achieving the ambitious goal of reducing emissions 50%-52% by 2030. Recent modeling from America Is All In, a coalition of state and local climate leaders, shows that emissions reductions in the transportation sector can contribute more than one-third of what’s needed to reach the 2030 U.S. climate goal.
The key is to go multi-modal: not just cars, buses, rail, bicycles or walking, but a coordinated system of various modes of transportation. States, tribes, cities, universities and businesses have vital roles to play in developing clean multi-modal transportation systems that work for the entire community while fostering health, safety and economic prosperity.
Photo by Blue Bird from Pexels.
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About damn time.
Griffith Park Drive will be closed to cars between Travel Town and Mount Hollywood Drive starting next week, part of a pilot program to “reduce cut-through traffic and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and wildlife.”
Now do the rest of the streets in Griffith Park. Because parks are for people, not cars.
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Bicycling questions whether bicyclists should be subject to speeding tickets in Toronto’s High Park, where police are using speed guns to enforce a 13 mph speed limit. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available on Yahoo, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.
I’ve long questioned whether speed limits, like the 8 mph limit on the boardwalk in Hermosa Beach, are enforceable for people on bicycles without cycling computers or other forms of speedometers.
After all, how can you be punished for breaking a law if you have no viable way of knowing you’re breaking it?
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Even a deaf cat knows ice cream trucks don’t belong in the bike lanes on London’s Westminster Bridge.
A Scottish national time trial champ said she wanted to quit the sport after men on motorcycles leered at her and tried to knock her off her bike on two separate occasions. Seriously, guys. Give that Neanderthal crap a rest.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Jamaican truck driver refused to stop after a man rolled a bicycle into his path, in what may have been a robbery attempt.
A man in Donnybrook, Ireland was the victim of a real donnybrook when he was severely beaten by a man riding on a bike path, after reflexively putting out an elbow to protect himself from the distracted rider.
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Local
Streetsblog reports the long-promised bike lanes on the North Spring Street Bridge connecting Lincoln Heights and Chinatown should finally be striped in the coming months, after nearby street resurfacing is finished.
A woman and her dogs were killed by lightening while walking on the San Gabriel River bike trail in Pico Rivera yesterday. A tragic reminder to always seek shelter anytime you see lightening or hear thunder, and get away from your bike if it has a metal frame.
State
The head of Caltrans District 7, which covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties, got a promotion to become the new leader of the state transportation agency.
Encinitas opened the newest segment of the North Coast Bike Trail, offering bike riders and pedestrians a view of the San Elijo Lagoon from a giant concrete jellyfish.
A UC Santa Barbara geography professor is crowdsourcing data for Bike Maps to identify the city’s best bike routes and worst hot spots.
The co-owners of Emeryville-based Clif Bar are now billionaires, after walking away from a $120 million buyout offer 22 years ago.
A Chico man faces seven years to life behind bars after pleading guilty to the random, senseless shooting of a man riding on a bike path two years ago, when he was just 17.
National
No, The Atlantic didn’t call Biden’s bike crash heroic.
Bike Hacks helps you plan what to bring on an overnight bikepacking trip. I’d add bug spray to that list. And a bike.
A Seattle man was been charged with assault and theft for stealing someone’s bicycle in a strong-arm robbery and illegally riding it onto a freeway; that came after he shattered a bus door when the driver wouldn’t let him on at an intersection.
My former home state of Colorado has the second-highest rate of bike commuters in the US, behind only Oregon, although it’s still a relatively paltry 1.1%.
Speaking of Colorado, the state held its Bike to Work Day yesterday, although most of the news stories are hidden behind paywalls; here’s one from Colorado Springs that isn’t. However, the day was marred when a bike rider was killed when he was run down by a pickup driver.
A 60-something Black stroke survivor is riding from Maine to Florida to call attention to stroke awareness, as well as her nonprofit Heels on Wheels; she’s already completed rides from Florida to California, and down the West Coast.
Local readers crowdsource the best places to ride a bike in Massachusetts.
A group of MIT students are riding across the US to conduct STEM workshops — science, technology, engineering and math — for students along the way.
A Pennsylvania driver faces DUI and drug charges for running down a woman on a bicycle while attempting to pass another car on the right.
International
Cycling News offers a guide to selling your old bike, while Road.cc goes deep on how to choose a bike helmet.
They get it, too. Toronto’s Globe and Mail calls for Vision Zero to end the 2,000 traffic deaths in the country each year, saying road deaths are never really accidents.
An 83-year old English man says he’s lucky to be alive after falling down a set of steps while attempting to walk his bike down a steep hill while wearing cycling cleats; the stairs were installed as an alternative for people unable, or unwilling, to ride the steep descent.
Credit British acting legend Dame Judy Dench with providing a full 10% — the equivalent of $2,334 — of the $24,333 goal for a man riding his bike across the US to raise funds to fight MS.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a driver high on ecstasy and coke got three years for killing a man riding a bicycle; he was five times over the legal limit for ecstasy and six times the limit for cocaine. Which bizarrely means there’s actually a legal amount of illegal drugs you can have in your system.
Police in Dubai have seized 400 bicycles and mopeds in a crackdown on scofflaw riders.
A Sydney, Australia paper says bike riders and pedestrians want separate trails, not shared paths.
Competitive Cycling
VeloNews offers a preview of today’s men’s and women’s elite time trials at the US Professional Road National Championships.
Nineteen-year old Luke Lamperti wants to prove last year’s US crit title was no fluke, setting his sights on the national road race championship to improve his chances of making the World Tour next year.
Finally…
That feeling when Strava reveals the location of secret military installations. Or when you get a settlement for getting busted for twerking in a bike lane.
And something tells me there’s a story here.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, bikeway networks, bus lanes, carfree streets, climate emergency, Griffith Park Drive, Los Angeles, multimodal, speeding
US Army vet from Belize killed in March bike crash in Carson, only makes the news now
Too often, someone can be killed in a bicycling crash, and it never makes the news.
Or if it does, it may show up somewhere far away.
That was the case this March, when a 20-year veteran of the US Army was killed, without making a blip in the local media until the story popped up in his home country of Belize yesterday.
According to the Breaking Belize News website, 49-year old Sergeant Brian George Martinez was killed in an early morning collision while training for the Holy Saturday Cross Country Cycling Class, a one day amateur bike race held annually in the country since 1928.
The news surfaced in a story about his mother donating his bicycling gear to the Cycling Federation of Belize following his death.
An April Facebook post from the organization said Martinez was killed in Los Angeles on March 17th, just one week after he sent in his registration for the race.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office confirms his death.
Meanwhile, a website for a Los Angeles law firm places the collision at the intersection of East Victoria Street and South Avalon Boulevard in Carson.
He died at the scene.
There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or if the driver was ticketed or charged. Or even stopped following the crash, for that matter.
In addition to his military career, Martinez worked as a Licensed Clinical Health and Mental Health Therapist in Los Angeles.
This is at least the 46th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Brian George Martinez and all his loved ones.
Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: Belize, bicycling fatality, Carson, Los Angles County, US Army
Worrying about what we don’t know, Los Angeles earns modest rank in bike city ratings, and LA bans bike chop shops
This is what keeps me up at night.
As bad as things are on our streets, I worry about the crashes we don’t hear about, wondering how many bike riders are seriously injured, or worse, without ever making the news.
And just how many more victims there are that we may never know about.
That this fatal crash from March, which only now made the news in the foreign press.
According to a Belizean website, 49-year old Sgt. Brian Martinez, a native of the country living in Los Angeles, was killed while training for a Holy Saturday bicycling classic; a lawyer’s website puts the location of the crash in Carson.
The story only came to light when his mother donated bike gear belonging to the 20-year US Army vet to the country’s cycling federation.
I’ll try to write about it later today.
This isn’t the only case like this, though. I’ve heard of at least three other bicycling fatalities that I haven’t been able to document already this year.
Like the woman who was injured when a driver in a street takeover slammed into her bike; a recent news story mentioned her death in passing, but didn’t give any information. And without her name or date of birth, it’s almost impossible to verify her death with the coroner’s nearly useless website.
So I continue to dread stories like this, where we find out about it long after the fact. And worry even more about the ones we may never hear about.
While wondering if our roads are even more dangerous than we think.
Photo by Ted McDonald from Pixabay.
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People For Bikes unveiled their latest ranking of North American cities, bikeable and otherwise, topped by Provincetown, Massachusetts; Davis, California; and Fayette, Missouri.
Los Angeles scored a modest 31 city rating, placing it 313th out of 1105 cities.
Which sounds about right for a city that has failed to build out it’s bike plan, let alone fund Vision Zero or the transportation segment of mayor’s Green New Deal.
Non-Angelenos can look up your city here.
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As expected, Los Angeles has banned bike chop shops, at least in theory, after the city council voted for an ordinance to prohibit working on bicycles on public property.
According to KNBC-4,
The ordinance is modeled after one already in effect in Long Beach to prohibit the assembly, disassembly, sale, offer of sale, distribution of bicycles and bicycle parts on public property or within the public right-of- way.
It includes a provision allowing people to repair their own bikes to make them ready to ride, although people have questioned whether that provision offers strong enough protections for everyday riders.
The new law is designed to target the open air bicycle chop shops that have sprouted up around the city, usually in conjunction with homeless camps.
Police have complained that there’s little they could do to target them, since most stolen bikes are never reported to the police, and the value of the bikes seldom reach the $950 threshold for felony theft. Even if they happen to catch them before the bikes are dismantled and sold for parts.
This law gives police a tool to go after them, although it also offers a high potential for abuse.
Whether it actually ends up reducing bike theft, or just leads to harassment of people living on the streets remains to be seen.
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Must be nice.
Qualified Contra Costa County residents can get rebates up to $500 on a new ebike.
If you live in Concord*, Pittsburg, Richmond, or Bay Point and are income-qualified, Charge Up Contra Costa is offering a $500 e-bike rebate. Contra Costans not eligible for the new rebate can still apply for 511CC's $150 and $300 e-bike rebates. Visit https://t.co/VBOAnjOy68. pic.twitter.com/q1JijIjPjt
— 511 Contra Costa (@511CC) June 16, 2022
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
The Colorado driver accused of intentionally running down a pair of bike riders remains at large, three days after fleeing the scene and abandoning his truck, leaving one woman with life-threatening injuries.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
English police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who “rammed into” another man riding his bike, sending the victim over his handlebars.
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Local
West Hollywood dockless e-scooter provider Wheels has sold itself to New York-based micromobility firm Helbiz for an undisclosed sum.
Construction work has begun on Pasadena’s Union Street Cycle Track Project, a 1.5 mile, two-way curb-protected bike lane on Union Street from Hill Ave to Arroyo Parkway.
The owners of Velo Pasadena hosted a fundraising ride last weekend, raising over $10,000 to support a pair of Armenian Paralympic cyclists competing in July’s European Youth Summer Olympic Festival in Slovakia.
Santa Clarita is looking for volunteers to help maintain tracks at the city’s Trek Bike Park.
LA Taco goes biking for street food in Long Beach.
State
Calbike shares an open letter from a coalition of 20 bike advocacy organizations opposing AB 371, which could kill bikeshare and e-scooters in California by requiring providers to carry liability insurance for all their devices and users.
A pair of Idaho women were seriously injured riding rented ebikes on a Balboa Island nature trail, with neither one having any idea what happened; a crowdfunding page to help pay their medical bills has raised more than double the modest $2,000 goal.
National
No surprise here. American drivers crashed into buildings an average of 100 times per day, every day. Most of which seem to happen right here in the LA area.
Best Reviews considers the top options for indoor bike storage, while Cycling News rates the best bike trailers to bring your kids with you on your rides.
An editor for Bicycling rides his first gravel grinder, and leaves hungry for more. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss says Hollywood once again got bicycling wrong, in its first foray into celluloid gravel biking.
That’s more like it. A new camper van from a Portland company comes complete with its own bicycle repair shop and room for six bicycles.
Low-end ebike prices continue to fall, with Washington-based bikemaker Gen3 discounting their existing stock to $899.
A Chicago alderman wants to add signage and step up towing of drivers stopped in bike lanes. Or just let bike riders submit photos of drivers blocking bike lanes, and mail out fines. Big fines.
This is why people continue to die on our streets. The taxi that crashed into a bike rider before careening into a group of pedestrians on a New York sidewalk, sending six people to the hospital, had 18 moving violations in just the last 18 months, although it’s unknown if the same driver was behind the wheel for all of them.
Once again, authorities are struggling to identify a fallen bicyclist, this time in Harrisburg PA, where a woman was killed when she was cut off by a driver making a U-turn, while riding without identification. Seriously, never ride without some form of ID, even if that means writing your effing name and contact info on your ass with a Sharpie.
Once again, Florida is the deadliest state for bicyclists in the US, topping California despite having roughly half the population.
International
Unbelievable. Canadian mounties blame the victim in a right hook collision, ruling that a bike rider’s speed was the cause of a crash with a water truck, not the fact that the truck driver turned across the multi-use path he was riding on.
Toronto police are cracking down on bike riders ignoring the speed limit in a city park, although they’re just issuing warnings for now.
Brussels bikeshare service Billy Bikes has gone belly up, blaming the pandemic for a slowdown that forced it into receivership. Which means you, too, could be the proud owner of a turnkey European bikeshare system.
Your next German ebike could be made entirely from recyclable plastic, right down to the one-piece wheels.
Competitive Cycling
Cycling Weekly looks forward to this week’s US road cycling nationals in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Dutch national road champ Amy Pieters continues her painfully slow recovery from a near-fatal traumatic brain injury while training with the Dutch national team just before Christmas; Pieters can now communicate nonverbally, but is still unable to move her right arm and leg.
Irish cyclist Stephen Clancy is out to show he can still compete, riding for the all-diabetic Team Novo Nordisk ten years after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
A new documentary is in the works about 1890s Black cycling legend Major Taylor, assuming the director can raise $1 million to fund the film; so far, he’s just $989,440 short.
Finally…
Your new Colnago could match your shoes, if you happen to wear Tod’s and have an extra 18 grand lying around. And that feeling when you pat yourself on the back for blocking an annual bike ride.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
Update: Ebike rider killed in collision in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood, police quick to blame the victim
The bad news just keeps on coming.
The San Diego Union-Tribune is reporting that a 63-year old man riding a “battery-assisted bicycle” has been killed in a collision in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood.
Evidently, they’ve never heard of an ebike.
According to police, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding west on Harbor Drive near Beardsley Street around 9:30 this morning when he swerved to go around a box truck.
He reportedly struck the right front fender of a Dodge Charger traveling in the left lane, and was thrown across the car’s hood.
He died at the scene.
Police say there’s no evidence of intoxication, even though there’s not a single mention of a driver, as if the Charger was driving itself.
There’s also no word on how fast the driver was going; it seems unlikely that simply crashing into the side of the car would throw the victim over the hood.
There’s also no word on whether the truck was parked in the bike lane on Harbor or traveling in the right lane. And no explanation where the victim was riding prior to the crash.
This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
He is also the seventh bike rider to die on SoCal streets just this month.
Update: Raw video from the scene shows the car, with a shattered windshield, but no visible damage on the right front side where police say the victim’s bike struck the car.
I’m not embedding the video because it shows the victim’s body in the roadway covered by a tarp, as well as his broken bicycle. So be sure you really want to see that before you click the link.
Thanks to T for the link.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: Barrio Logan, bicycling fatality, San Diego, San Diego County, self-driving cars
Updating traffic violence news, Healthy Streets LA turns in 120,000 signatures, and OC applies for bikeway grant
Happy first day of summer! And belated Juneteenth and Father’s Day greetings!
Maybe one of these days I’ll actually catch up to the calendar.
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Let’s start by updating a pair of tragedies we mentioned yesterday.
First is an Illinois county judge who was killed when he was rear-ended by a 73-year old driver. Today brought news that he had been riding with his wife on a roadway rated by the state as unfriendly for bikes, yet which was inexplicably recommended by Google Maps; he was also a board member for a statewide bike advocacy group.
We had also mentioned that a Buffalo, NY woman was killed when a driver plowed into a group of three bike-riding women; today we learned the victim was popular singer-songwriter in the area. Police believe the crash occurred when the driver suffered some sort of medical emergency.
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This is just a fraction of the 120,000 signatures they’re ready to turn in for the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposition.
We’re getting ready for the city clerk!! https://t.co/BMDMFXdMko
— Streets For All (@streetsforall) June 21, 2022
Don’t forget tomorrow’s 2:15 pm special public meeting of the LA City Council’s Public Works and Transportation Committees to discuss a proposal to adopt the wording of the ballot proposition before it goes to a public vote this November.
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This could be a big plus for OC bike riders.
https://twitter.com/mikeocbike/status/1539032871440027648
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The estimable Will Campbell struck out in an effort to bike to the new Sandy Koufax statue at Dodger Stadium.
https://twitter.com/wildbell/status/1539032190868000768
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Lionel Mares forwards photos from Saturday’s ride along the LA River with LACBC and California Sate Senator Maria Elena Durazo and LACBC Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman.
Speaking of the LACBC, any donations to the bike advocacy group will be matched dollar for dollar by Warner Bros. Discovery for the next month, up to a total of $25,000.
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An inspiring new video demonstrates how an adaptive athlete helped Jackson Hole, Wyoming’s “deepest, darkest” mountain bike trail welcome adaptive bike riders.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Denver area sheriff’s deputies are looking for a man with a long criminal record who allegedly swerved his pickup onto the shoulder of a highway to attack a group of bicyclists Sunday morning, critically injuring one woman; deputies found his abandoned truck that night, after he had stopped briefly to dislodge a bicycle stuck underneath it.
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Local
Former LACBC board member and Laemmle Theaters owner Greg Laemmle is hosting his popular Tour de Laemmle this Sunday, welcoming anyone who wants to join him in riding to the recently sold Laemmle Playhouse 7 one last time.
The star of the documentary Q Ball was released from prison after 24 long years; he had been sentenced to life behind bars for his third strike conviction after Long Beach police found him in possession of a gun when they stopped him for riding his bike without a light. Otherwise known as a pretext stop, giving cops an excuse to stop and search someone.
State
Food giant Mondelēz International got the munchies, and gobbled up Emeryville-based maker of Clif Bars for a whopping $2.9 billion. Yes, that’s billions with a B.
National
File this one under bad ideas. President Biden is considering a temporary pause in the already too low federal gas tax, which hasn’t been raised in 29 years. There are better ways to address the pain of high gas taxes than cutting funds that support transportation spending. Like tax rebates funded by a windfall profits tax on oil companies.
No, that wasn’t former White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki making fun of Donald Trump after Biden fell off his bike.
Bike Hacks offers tips on how to feel safe and confident on the road while riding at night.
A Portland man has filed suit against the city, alleging he was injured by a flashbang grenade and beaten by police during the 2020 racial justice protests, and unable to reclaim his bicycle after it was seized by officers.
A new entry-level, retro-style cruiser ebike from Seattle bikemaker E-Velo is specifically designed for riders under 5’10” tall. Although I would hardly call $3,500 “entry-level.”
Pittsburgh has installed the city’s first advisory bike lane, which channels drivers into a shared center lane, while allowing them to briefly move into the bike and pedestrian lanes on either side — just like the one that was unceremoniously ripped out in San Diego.
This is who we share the road with. Six people were injured, three critically, when a New York cabbie hit a bike rider after rounding a corner, then jumped the curb, slamming into several pedestrians and pinning two women against a wall; once again, police suspect the driver may have suffered some sort of medical episode.
Police in Tupelo, Mississippi struggled to identify a man who was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike Friday, before members of the public came up with his name several hours later. One more reminder to always carry ID with you when you ride — preferably something that won’t get stolen if you’re incapacitated.
International
A new Colombian law named for a 13-year old victim of traffic violence killed riding his bike commits the country to improving traffic safety through the safe systems approach, while reducing speed limits and adopting UN regulations for vehicle standards and licensing.
Canadian musician DJ JaBig is entering the final leg of a 10,000-mile ride through the US to raise funds for World Bicycle Relief; he’s less than $1,000 short of his $16,500 goal.
Bath, England decides to trade up, replacing two golf courses with a new bike park.
Angry bike riders complain about ice cream trucks illegally parked in the protected bike lanes on London’s Westminster Bridge.
Israeli approved plans to crack down on bike and e-scooter riders for crimes like riding distracted and not wearing a helmet.
Competitive Cycling
Cycling Weekly talks with Alexey Vermeulen, who bailed on a brief road cycling career to earn six figures as a gravel privateer.
Win a bike race, celebrate with a dip in the pool in full kit.
And avoid that awkward sprint to the finish with a spirited round of Rochambeau.
https://twitter.com/eurosport/status/1538145608309084160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1538145608309084160%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cyclingweekly.com%2Fnews%2Ftweets-of-the-week-rock-paper-scissors-at-a-bike-race-the-other-geraint-thomas-and-quinten-hermans-makes-a-splash
Finally…
Why wait for bikes to hit the road when you can run them down in the shop? That feeling when a stray bike wheel shuts down the entire subway.
And once again, a bike rider is a hero. If only to our feathered friends.
This little pigeon walked right up to me as I was getting my bike out of the car and jumped up on to my arm. Seemed to be seeking shade and since it’s hot I filled a cap from my WD-40 can with my mix of water and cranberry juice I drink on rides, and now he’s a happy avian! pic.twitter.com/JaUOJZtVui
— Michael Shermer (@michaelshermer) June 20, 2022
But wait, there’s more!
And more @bikinginla https://t.co/4SHtSjyeek
— Gnostic Frypan ن (@TRutt4601) June 21, 2022
Thanks to TEOTWAWKI, aka TRutt, for the heads-up.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
BOLO alert for hit-and-run driver, council committee meeting considers Healthy Streets LA, and Biden takes a fall
Be on the lookout for a hit-and-run driver who left a bike-riding man with serious injuries last week.
According to the LAPD, the victim was struck by the driver of a 2006 burgundy Toyota Highlander around noon Wednesday, at the at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Mateo Street in DTLA.
The driver was described as a Hispanic male in his early 20s.
There is a standing $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious injuries in the City of Los Angeles.
Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Juan Campos, Central Traffic Detectives, at 213/833-3713, or email 31480@lapd.online.
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Mark your calendar for this Wednesday, when a joint session of the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Works and Transportation Committees will consider advancing Council President Nury Martinez’s motion to adopt the principles of the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposal.
The proposal calls for building out the previously approved Mobility Plan 2035 whenever a street in the plan gets resurfaced; the city has currently built out just 3% of the plan in the seven years since it was adopted.
At that rate, they should call it Mobility Plan 2268, since that’s how long it would take the city to finish it.
If they actually did.
This proposal probably won’t have the teeth of the ballot proposal, which would require the city to carry it out.
But it’s still a big step forward, and would serve as a strong backup if the ballot measure fails at the ballot box this fall.
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President Joe Biden took a tumble off his bike Saturday when his foot got caught in a toe clip — something that’s happened to virtually anyone who has ever used them.
Fortunately, nothing but his pride was injured, although social media had a field day with it.
Surprisingly, even former President Donald Trump expressed his concern, while repeating his vow to never ride a bicycle.
Although the second part of that should surprise exactly no one.
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
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Robert Leone forwards word that Camp Pendleton will be doing construction work affecting the bike path through the base.
1. From 22 June to 8 July, there will be constructions on Vandegrift near the intersection of Stuart Mesa Rd/Ash St. This construction will impact the bike path due to lane closure so cyclists need to be extra careful and maintain single file, per Base requirement.
2. From 9 July to 22 July, Vandengrift Rd west of the Stuart Mesa/Ash St intersection will be closed to inbound and outbound traffic 24/7 and that forces us to close the bike path from the Main gate to the Las Pulgas gate.
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Evidently, he did more than just play Auld Lang Syne every New Years.
Born on this day, June 19:
Guy Lombardo (1902-1977), bandleader, violinist, and hydroplane racer (wha…!?), shown here with actress Joan Marsh in Many Happy Returns (1934).
Happy #bicyclebirthday, Guy!#botd pic.twitter.com/sN1mrJjXRs— Cool Bike Art (@CoolBikeArt1) June 19, 2022
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Once again, bike riders are heroes. A group of Forth Worth bicyclists paused in the middle of their weekly ride to rescue a dog who had been abandoned on a bridge support.
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This may be the best, if not strangest, 11 minutes of your day.
I mean, after all, who wouldn’t fall for someone with a flying bicycle?
Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link.
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If you’re going to use an axel grinder to steal a bicycle in broad daylight, maybe make sure it doesn’t belong to a British Member of Parliament first.
https://twitter.com/helenhayes_/status/1537331125776941059
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This is who we share the schoolyard with.
An enraged man tried to run over schoolkids in Hayes, West London today. Crazy. pic.twitter.com/O1WPthukkZ
— UB1UB2 West London (Southall) (@UB1UB2) June 17, 2022
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We may have to deal with aggressive SoCal drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about leopard attacks.
That cyclist not able to believe on his luck !! @Independent pic.twitter.com/WVbDCMEpX6
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) June 15, 2022
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. San Diego’s CBS8 continues their steady drumbeat of negative stories about the city’s new bike lanes, this time citing confusion over the reverse angled parking protecting bike lanes on Park Blvd in University Heights.
British drivers are up in arms over bicyclists with helmet and bike cams capturing their bad driving and reporting them to the police. Or maybe it’s just the British tabloids trying to stir up trouble to sell more papers.
Meanwhile, a London columnist says blame bicyclists for “stoking the flames of the road culture war” with their bike cams. Evidently, because drivers don’t like to get caught breaking the law, let alone held accountable for it.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Fairfield, California ex-con was arrested after using bear spray on a cop who tried to stop him; police found a nail gun converted to fire .22 caliber bullets in his backpack.
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Local
An adjunct professor from Pacific Oaks College makes the case for the Arroyo Link, which would be the city’s first protected bike and pedestrian path, connecting Old Town Pasadena with the Arroyo Seco.
A West Hollywood man found healing on his first AIDS/LifeCycle ride following the death of his twin brother from the disease.
State
Unbelievable. San Diego continues to destroy bicycles as part of their homeless camp cleanups. Never mind that they might need them for transportation, or that the bikes might actually belong to someone else.
A 27-year old former UCLA soccer player is riding a bike again thanks to San Diego’s Blind Stoker’s Club, after a stage 3 malignant brain melanoma left him blind, and with cognitive, memory and speech issues.
Sad news from Oakland, where a 42-year old father was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding bikes with his two young sons, who were uninjured; the city received funding for a protected bike lane on the street six years ago, but never moved forward with it.
National
The National Transportation Safety Board, aka NTSB, examines how Helsinki, Finland achieved zero pedestrian deaths — along with Hoboken, New Jersey. Apparently, something that can only be achieved by cities starting with H.
Outside says plan to spend around $100 to $160 on your next mountain bike helmet.
Sad news from Illinois, where a Schuyler County judge was killed when his bike was rear-ended by a 73-year old driver in a bigass pickup.
A 32-year old Detroit man remains missing, three years after he disappeared while riding his bike.
Hundreds of Boston women are learning to ride bikes, as the city builds more protected bike lanes.
Yet another motoring mass casualty event, when a driver in Buffalo, New York plowed into a group of three women riding bicycles, killing one and seriously injuring the other two; the driver kept going until she crashed into a pair of parked cars.
Actress Julia Fox is one of us, riding an ebike in her revealing red carpet outfit to get to a friend’s screening at the Tribeca Film Festival.
A 34-year old Florida woman faces charges for killing a man riding bikes with his father outside Key West while she was high on meth.
International
Bike Radar offers a buyer’s guide to balance bikes for discerning toddlers.
More bad news, this time from Mexico City, where a 22-year old Mormon missionary was killed when he crashed his bike falling on a steep, slippery hill.
A new $1,200 British ebike conversion kit uses a disc brake rotor to power your bike.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a woman received just 15 months behind bars for killing a bike rider while illegally using her cellphone.
A shortage of nighttime taxis has led to a 41% increase in drunk bicycling in Seoul, Korea, as people turn to the city’s bikeshare system instead.
Competitive Cycling
VeloNews anoints 20-year old Brit Leo Hayter the next big thing, following his win at the Giro d’Italia Giovani Under 23, otherwise known as the Baby Giro. Raise your hand if you even knew that was a thing.
Fears rise that Covid could put this year’s Tour de France at risk after the disease tore through the peloton at the Tour de Suisse, causing around 30 riders to abandon the race.
Cycling Weekly looks at the early adopters who are carving out a career in gravel racing.
Pro cyclist Colin Strickland says he’s shellshocked to find himself in the middle of a fatal love triangle, as police allege his girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong, killed gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson in a fit of jealousy.
Finally…
Who needs pedals when you have a drone to power your bike? Your next ebike could transform into a kick scooter, as long as you’re willing to do without pedals.
And let’s see you do this while pedaling.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, BOLO alert, DTLA, Healthy Streets LA, hit-and-run, Joe Biden, Los Angeles, Los Angeles City Council, Nury Martinez, stupid bicyclist tricks
