Open Source bike mapping; ranking the top US and UK bike-friendly cities

April 5, 2010 / / 3 comments

Following up on last week’s post on mapping whether the L.A. areas bikeways actually exist in ridable condition, Tony writes in with a suggestion on how we could accomplish that on a DIY basis.

Have you thought of using the OpenStreetMap based OpenCycleMap and getting everyone to contribute their local data to build a map collectively as a community project? It looks like someone has already put in a few cycle paths and lanes for LA. (Ed. note: enter Los Angeles CA in the search window at lower left to get a usable map)

Scoot the map over to the UK to see what a cycling community working together can produce.

You can even make route planners from it such as this one from the Cambridge Cycling Campaign

I have to admit, that London map looks pretty damned impressive. And while I haven’t tried it yet, the route planner couldn’t work any worse than Google’s new bike route feature does right now.

………

Bicycling Magazine names its Top 50 Bike-Friendly Cities; the only SoCal city to make the list is Long Beach, at #23. Oddly, Portland is only #2, behind Minneapolis. The rest of the top 10 include Boulder CO at #3, followed by Seattle, Eugene OR, San Francisco, Madison WI, Janette Sadik-Khan’s New York, Tucson AZ, and Chicago.

Meanwhile, Bristol tops the UK’s list of top 20 bike-friendly cities, while Belfast lags behind at #12. London, which has recently seen a rash of biking deaths, lags even farther behind at #17, but at least they beat Glascow.

………

GOOD says well done whoever you are, for L.A.’s latest DIY bike signs. L.A. can’t seem to keep a dangerous pothole on the proposed 4th Street Bike Boulevard paved despite several crashes. LADOT says where you park your bike and what you lock it to matters. A Palm Desert driver says local cyclists area a danger to themselves; oddly, most cyclists tend to think that cars and trucks are the real danger.

Green LA Girl visits the newly bike and pedestrian – friendly plazas on New York’s Great White Way. A Washington city suggests a $25 per car fee to pay for sidewalks and bike lanes. A fire hydrant in the middle of a bike path seems like a problem. On a twist on bike sharing, low-income Minneapolis residents will soon be able to borrow a bike on long-term loan. A 17-year old Albany cyclist suffers minor injuries in an apparently intentional vehicular assault. This Wednesday marks the beginning of Circle Zydeco, a four-day tour through the Cajun food, music and bayous of Louisiana’s Acadiana region. Is the new belt-drive Trek District Carbon the ultimate road-going singlespeed?

Fabian Cancellara leaves Boonen — and Lance — in his wake to win the Tour of Flanders. Riding through parts of Cape Town is like driving through a war zone. Cardiff, Wales explains why they spent the equivalent of $3,000 to paint an 8 foot bike lane. A London newspaper catches a fourth Conservative politician breaking bike laws. In a rare attack of common sense following the death of a cyclist, a British county considers banning the large trucks that can kill people, rather than their potential victims bikes, who don’t. An Irish cyclist is killed by his own stalled car in a bizarre collision as he rode back to restart it. An Aussie cyclist rescues the driver of a sinking car from drowning. An Australian woman is seriously injured in an intentional assault after two men push her off her bike from a passing car, while a Chamber of Commerce group pushes for cyclist licensing and registration; frankly, it doesn’t sound like the riders are the problem.

Finally, a cyclist riding home from work through Boyle Heights witnesses the Crucifixion. Yes, that one.

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

Do L.A’s bikeways exist where they’re supposed to — and are they actually ridable?

April 2, 2010 / / 2 comments

Some of the most interesting ideas pop up in my inbox.

Those broken lines mean dodging traffic once the bike lane ends.

For instance, a rider named Noah emailed me last month asking about the stop and start nature of the city’s bike lanes — something virtually every rider in the city has complained at one time or another.

I wanted to raise a quick issue about bike lanes.  The city has a document online that purports to inventory Bike Plan Designated Class II bike lanes — I am not sure if this is the 1996 plan, if it is an inventory of proposed bike lanes or what it is .  . . but I used it to plot a route home on Monday and did not find bike lanes where I had hoped (based on the list) to find them.  For example, the document lists a lane on Devonshire from Topanga Canyon to Woodman — there was some bike lane in that area, but it was not continuous, and I was forced to ride in traffic (on a heavily traveled street) for part of the ride.  Same thing on Woodman itself, and on Laurel Canyon — a lane is listed from Roscoe to Moorpark . . .  Perhaps I am reading this wrong, perhaps these are planned lanes, but if these are supposed to be existing lanes (and if the claim is that we don’t need more lanes because we already have all these wonderful lanes) then someone (LACBC? volunteers through your blog?) should go an do an independent audit of the actual existing lanes in LA . . .

Part of the problem stems from turning to the wrong source for information. Which is actually easy to do, since searching for online biking information in Los Angeles can be a confusing process, leading to as many wrong turns and dead ends as the routes themselves.

A better source for planning a route is Metro’s L.A. bike map, which — unlike LADOT’s map, which seems to assume you do all your riding within the city of Los Angeles — crosses city limit lines to show a complete picture of local Class I, Class II and the generally useless and often dangerous Class III routes.

But don’t be surprised if your browser crashes; you’re better off downloading it to your desktop and using your pdf software to view it.

A quick look confirms that the route Noah used stops and starts without offering any alternative other than dumping the rider into often heavy traffic on busy Valley boulevards.

Someone who’s comfortable taking the lane in traffic might not think twice about it — though there’s no guarantee that the drivers you’re sharing the road with would understand the concept. And someone who knows the local area might use an alternative route to bypass the areas that lack the magical few inches of paint that are somehow supposed to create a virtually impermeable barrier to vehicular traffic.

Not that some drivers understand that, either.

But even if you map out your complete route using the best maps available — or try plotting your way with Google’s promising but buggy biking directions — it won’t tell you anything about traffic conditions, signalization or what hills you might face along your way. And if you knew those things, you wouldn’t need a map to begin with.

So you plot out the best route you can plan, only to end up dodging buses or riding jackhammer streets that jostle your internal organs to the point that you fear a kidney or bowel could pop loose any moment.

And those are the good streets.

Then there are others where the bike lanes and paths are so cracked and broken as to be virtually unridable on a skinny-tired bike. Or barely even exist anymore.

Of course, the obvious solution would be to require that LADOT and similar transportation departments in other cities ride these routes on a regular basis to monitor the conditions riders face. And report back for anything that needs repair or improvement.

But with the current budget issues, and the 40% cut in staffing that LADOT’s Bikeways department has reportedly suffered, that’s just not going to happen. Even if it did somehow manage to make their radar.

So as Noah suggested, it’s up to us.

We ride these streets everyday. No one has a better idea whether a line on a map actually translates to a ridable bikeway. Or if it actually exists in what passes for the real world around these parts.

I’ve suggested some sort of bikeway survey as a project the LACBC might want to take on, and I’ll bring it up again as time goes on — maybe in conjunction with the deep pockets at the newly bike-friendly Metro. Maybe it’s a project L.A.’s Bicycle Advisory Committee might want to consider. Or it could be something Bikeside might do as a natural outgrowth of their current efforts to map collisions, near misses and harassment — after all, those are places you might want to avoid, as well.

Or just email me — biking in la at hotmail dot com — and I’ll track things on my own until we have a better system for it.

And I’ll mention the worst areas on here, so you can plan a route to avoid them.

Because if we don’t do it, it’s pretty clear no one else will.

You can find links to most of the area’s bike maps on at the LADOT and LACBC (scroll down) websites. And thanks for the reminder from Timur that you find some fully vetted bike routes on his excellent, though recently neglected site; other local cyclist-designed routes are available at MapMyRide.

And after wishing everyone a happy Passover the other day, how could I have forgotten to wish the rest of you a happy Easter? Whatever you believe, best wishes this weekend. And for those of you with children, do not — repeat, do not — eat the ears off their chocolate bunnies.

That’s just so wrong.

………

Oddly, when I take a day off to attend to other matters — like earning a living, for instance — the stories still keep coming. So settle in for a long list o’links.

………

A San Francisco cop in an unmarked police car threatens a cyclist, saying “Shut your fucking mouth or I’ll knock you off your bike.” Meanwhile, a New York cyclist gets doored — which is against the law in New York, just like it is here — and police respond by ticketing the cyclist for not having a bell and wheel reflectors.

………

One of L.A.’s best biking routes reopens after repairs due to rain damage. Dr. Alex rips LADOT’s new bike blog, and suggest that Bikeways Coordinator Michelle Mowery fall on her sword. Will offers an exceptionally artistic photo of his bike, ad look who rolls through a stop into the path of his unblinking bike cam.  A Santa Monica writer and actor says the city could do a lot more to promote cycling. A Downtown street gets a mini-road diet, but oddly, no bike lanes. Gary argues that cyclists spend a lot of money in Santa Monica, so where is our bike parking? L.A.’s Anonymous Cyclist offers the story of a biking detention at LAX, and yes, one should bear yesterday’s date in mind. The 2.5 mile, LED-lit Elysian Valley Bike Path along the L.A. River Bike is coming soon, really. The Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association will hold its 21st annual Save the Trails pancake breakfast on Sunday, April 25th. Don’t forget Bike Night at the Hammer — featuring Pee Wee’s Big Adventure — April 8th. GOOD offers a video look at the Wolfpack Hustle’s roll through the L.A. Marathon course.

The California Bike Coalition pushes a vulnerable user law to protect all at risk road users. Mark Cavendish decides to break in his new dental work on the Tour of California, rather than the tougher Giro. NPR finds a grave problem with Google Bike Maps, literally. Is a bike a toy or a vehicle — or a device, as it’s defined here. Streetfilms looks at DC’s first Contraflow Cycle Track, while Portland releases a video explaining cycle tracks and buffered bike lanes. Consider the Better World Club sort of an auto club for bikes. Five cyclists win a $97,751 settlement in a 2007 New York Critical Mass excessive force and wrongful arrest case in which the arresting officer was caught lying under oath. Portland cyclists are asked to help get a road rage victim back on a bike. The New York Times asks what is bike culture? A Brooklyn cyclist cited for riding outside the bike lane in a police sting fought the law, and for once, the law didn’t win. A Holland, Michigan driver encounters a cyclist riding in the center of the lane on a multi-lane road “going about 5 mph” in a 45 mile zone, and despite honking several times, the bastard just wouldn’t get out of his way. Florida cyclists threaten legal action if bike lanes aren’t included in a major resurfacing project.

A team of Brit rowers teams up to compete in this year’s RAAM. A Royal Mail carrier says please don’t take my bike away. Constables charge a Leicestershire cyclist with murder following the death of a cyclist this week; British press restrictions mean no explanation for why he was charged. Get your bespoke Tweed Ride togs here. Finally, a bike lane even shorter than the one in Westwood.

Finally, take your pick:

1) A Team Sky cyclist lost the lead in the Tour of Oman due to a bizarre pre-planned pee experiment. 2) London’s biking mayor chases down a driver who threw something at his head; oddly, the press reports it as litter rather than an assault, while the driver responded, “Please Mr. Boris sir, this wasn’t meant to happen. We know you is the Mayor, man.” 3) Pearl Izumi tests their new chamois on Uranus.

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

A last unleavened look back at StreetSummit

March 31, 2010 / / Comments Off on A last unleavened look back at StreetSummit

A few random thoughts on StreetSummit before we move on to other topics.

Just a portion of those in attendance for StreetSummit

New York Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan credited her amazing success in transforming one of the nation’s most crowded and built-out cities to the support she’s received from the city’s highly motivated mayor.

In Los Angeles, where the traffic demands of a built-out city are often used as a reason for attempting little and accomplishing less, our transportation officials have yet to receive a level of support that would give LADOT leader Rita Robinson the political cover she needs to begin the long overdue transformation of L.A.’s transportation picture.

Whether she has the will or desire to take action is another question. As is whether L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa will move beyond his newfound support of CicLAvia and his bold 30/10 plan, and use the political freedom provided by his final term in office to truly transform the livability of this city. And in the process, effectively position himself for higher office.

Or we can continue to follow an unsustainable auto-centric traffic model until it kills us — literally and figuratively.

………

Meanwhile, Long Beach’s seemingly sudden transformation into SoCal’s most bike-friendly community followed a different pattern.

While the city’s Mobility Coordinator Charlie Gandy — the man once named America’s #1 Bike Advocate and the closest thing we may ever see to our own Sadik-Khan — gave credit to the support he’s received from elected officials and the business community, other members of his panel told a different story.

Professional cyclist and Long Beach Bike Ambassador Tony Cruz, BikeStation President and CEO Andrea White-Kjoss and Long Beach Bicycle Festival Director Mark Bixby talked about their 10-year struggle to change local attitudes that began long before Gandy arrived in the city. And refusing to give up despite the knee-jerk anti-bike opposition they initially faced.

When they failed to place a bike boulevard on one street, they simply moved to another street and got the support of local residents and business people before going forward. And kept plugging away until attitudes slowly shifted.

That’s the same model that has lead to whatever limited success we’ve had here in L.A. — and the one we’ll most likely have to follow in the absence of an unexpected turnaround from L.A.’s mayor and transportation officials.

………

As the photo to the right shows, one of N.Y.’s boldest moves has not only proven to be exceptionally popular, but extremely effective, as well.

Closing a long swath of Broadway to vehicular traffic didn’t result in the disastrous gridlock many people predicted. Instead, it actually improved traffic flow while reducing injuries.

We know that because the city tracked vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as well as accident and injury rates, both before and after the transformation.

So there’s no argument that it hasn’t been a success. And no one has to guess what effect it’s had. It’s all right there in black and white. Or sort of a bluish grey and green, anyway.

Their stat tracking ability has also allowed the city to set definitive goals going forward — like doubling bicycle commuting and cutting traffic deaths by 50%. That’s in addition to more concrete goals like continuing to stripe bike lanes at a rate of 50 miles a year.

And that is the key argument in transforming our own streets.

Do we want to continue to follow the L.A. model of moving ever more cars through our streets, with ever decreasing efficiency — while adding bike lanes at an annual rate less than 5% of New York’s? Or do we want to ensure that more of the people who use those streets get home safely, even if that means arriving at your destination a few minutes later?

………

That was something else Charlie Gandy addressed.

What has fueled Long Beach’s rapid transformation was a shift in transportation priorities from moving more cars to livable streets. And changing the city’s privileged class from motorists to pedestrians, bicyclists and businesses, along with a willingness to accept a certain level of congestion in order the achieve other goals.

And that seems like a reasonable trade-off to me.

………

Going back to Sadik-Khan’s discussion of the Broadway transformation, given the success of the project, it’s easy to forget that it started out as an experiment. Broadway was initially closed on a temporary basis; it was only a few weeks ago that the closure became permanent.

And that was something else she stressed.

Bike infrastructure is relatively inexpensive — especially compared to other forms of transportation projects. “You can do a lot with a paintbrush and a paint can,” she said.

And it doesn’t have to be permanent.

“You have to experiment, try things out,” she insisted. “If it doesn’t work, okay, you move on and try something else.”

“There’s no risk, except falling behind and not being imaginative.”

We can only hope that LADOT was paying attention.

………

One last thought before moving on to today’s linkage.

The panel I hosted on bikes and political action at StreetSummit resulted in a clear mandate for a Los Angeles branch of Austin’s successful League of Bicycling Voters. In fact, over 80% of the people who attended the workshop put their email addresses on an impromptu interest list.

More on that soon.

I also left with an invitation from Charlie Gandy to come down to Long Beach and take a look at what they’re doing down there.

And I plan to take him up on that.

………

Josef Bray-Ali may say he’s running out of ideas, but this last one’s brilliant — changing the laws that require parking spaces for residential or retail development to allow bike parking, instead.

………

L.A. is a bike Mecca — or at least it was, 113 years ago. The LACBC reports on the East L.A. meeting for the county bike plan, and will work with the South Bay Bicycle Coalition to develop a plan for the South Bay region. Dr. Alex is highly critical of LACBC’s leap into planning and LADOT’s new blog — and takes Damien to task for being too “balanced” in a story about LADOT’s new blog. Stephen Box takes Metro to task for the non-opening of the long unplanned Bike Room at Hollywood and Vine. Learning to ride in L.A. from the perspective of a veteran driver. Mark your calendar for Bike Night at the Hammer Museum on April 8th. Riders on San Francisco’s Wiggle wobble, but they don’t fall down. A 40-year old cyclist must have caught some serious air to cross onto the other side of the road and hit a car head on; thanks to Opus the Poet for the link. The California Bicycle Advisory Committee is scheduled to discuss bike boxes on April 8th. Road rash is a common — and painful — part of cycling. Tell me about it. Even in these Tea Party days, most Americans support safe walking and biking. If an attractive, cycle-chic woman can be invisible on a bike, there’s no hope for any of us. A busy Portland bridge gets a lovely 15-foot wide bike lane. Free bike use for hotel guests in DC. Contending with BPRs (Bike Path Racers) while riding at rush hour in Seattle. A follow-up to Sunday’s information-free story about a cyclist in my hometown critically injured in a left hook collision. The L.A. Times discusses bike sharing in Los Angeles Mexico City (sorry, from the description of car culture-crowded streets and rude, uncaring drivers, it’s hard to tell the difference). Lance, Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins all get invitations to this years Tour; Dutch teams get shut out despite the Netherlands start. AMEX demands compensation from a Dutch cyclist who damaged a rental car by allowing it to run into her. London’s long-planned bike sharing program — or scheme, as the Brits would say — becomes a reality July 30th. Britain’s pedaling posties are being phased out for safety reasons. Buy a home, get a bike. After surviving the war in Afghanistan, a British soldier dies trying to dodge a 15-foot pothole on his bike. Israeli cyclists protest a ban on riding in national parks. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority encourages people to ride bikes; Dubai Police respond by confiscating them.

Finally, more proof that bikes are entering the mainstream — a full-head helmet wearing bank robber makes his getaway on a red BMX bike, just days after a similar BMX getaway near Seattle; no report on whether they attempted to leap any cars as they fled.

Happy Passover!

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

Blessing of the Bicycles — because it can’t hurt to get God on your side

March 30, 2010 / / One comment

I confess, I didn’t participate in last year’s Bike to Work Week.

It’s not that I don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s just that for those of us who work at home, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to get on the bike to pedal from the bedroom to the living room.

Although I suppose I could have joined the squadrons of laptop-toting writers who commute to Starbucks or Coffee Bean every day.

And while I wouldn’t have minded grabbing some of the bike swag offered at places like REI, it was long gone before I could justify taking a break from my creative endeavors for a quick 30 miles in the saddle.

But there was one event I truly regretted missing.

Maybe it’s just my Catholic upbringing. Or maybe it was understanding that as safe as cycling actually is — despite common perceptions — anything can happen.

And sooner or later, it usually does.

So I did my best to find a way to get my butt out of bed, out of the house and on my bike in time to make it Downtown in time for Good Samaritan Hospital’s annual Blessing of the Bicycles. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t make it work with my schedule — let alone overcome my wife’s reluctance to let me ride the mean streets that lurk between the Westside and Downtown, especially at rush hour.

Because there’s just no good way to get there from here.

This year, though, I intend to make it one way or another.

Whether that means fighting my way through L.A. traffic, popping my bike on the front of a Metro bus, or throwing it on a rack and driving most of the way — and parking a few blocks off so everyone will think I rode the whole way.

Good Sam cites some pretty horrific safety stats to support the event, most of which I will spare you — though I am struck by the fact that biking deaths are most likely to occur in summer or fall between 6 – 9 pm on a Friday.

But honestly, it just sounds like fun.

And it couldn’t hurt to get a little support from the deity of your choice before your next ride.

Good Samaritan Hospital’s 7th Annual West Coast Blessing of the Bicycles

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

8 am to 9:30 am

Good Samaritan Hospital Entrance, 616 S. Witmer Street (intersection of Witmer and Wilshire)

The non-denominational event will feature religious leaders from different faiths who will impart blessings in the service for cyclists to continue their safe ride to and from work and/or school.

Commemorative lap around hospital campus saluting the healing and remembering those injured in bicycle accidents.

Free bicycle safety check.

Golden Spoke Award recipient

Los Angeles Police Department Bicycle Training Unit to participate.



………

The LACBC gives the LAPD a list of the city’s worst intersections. Last weekend’s Tweed Ride through Hollywood makes CNN’s website. LADOT’s new Bikeways blog offers advice on how to protect your bike from thieves. Burbank’s Verdugo Ave. goes on a road diet; trading a traffic lane for bike lanes wasn’t the end of the world after all. Bike corrals may soon be coming to L.A. The only thing different about a woman rider is, well, nothing actually. A Sacramento cyclist is cited for riding without a seat after his was stolen. Cyclelicious says the American Trucking Association is wrong — equal treatment for bikes does not equal economic catastrophe; Examiner cites knee-jerk reactions from car-centric legislators. AT&T’s anti-texting while driving PSAs could save lives, including yours. Turns out the witness in the hit-and-run death of an Illinois cyclist was the driver who killed him. A Denver-area cyclist dares last week’s blizzard to stop her from riding. Online tutoring to fix your Dutch bike. Aussie off-road champ James Williamson’s death was due to an undiagnosed heart condition. Belfast gets bike racks, while Dublin reaches its highest level of cycling in the past 10 years. A Toronto writer argues he isn’t anti-bike, he just opposes the bike lanes that could help ease congestion because the streets are too congested; meanwhile, a Toronto cop thinks cyclists would get more respect if they’d just wave politely. Evidently, the life of a cyclist in Canada is only worth 9 months probation — even if the cyclist killed by unsafe passing is an off duty cop. Singapore gets its first ghost bike after two riders are hit from behind by a suspected drunk driver.

Finally, the long hidden identity of New York’s Bike Snob is about to be unmasked.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

16-year old Orange County cyclist critically injured

March 28, 2010 / / 3 comments

This hasn’t been a good weekend for teenage cyclists in Southern California.

Just two days after a Pacoima rider was shot in an apparent gang-related attack, a 16-year old Orange County cyclist was critically injured after a collision with a car in Santa Ana Sunday afternoon. According to the Orange County Register, the cyclist was riding across Lacy Street between Fifth Street and Santa Ana Blvd when he collided with a vehicle traveling north on Lacy — the story subtly assigns blame to the cyclist while noting the accident is still under investigation.

Meanwhile, Gustavo Arellano of the Orange County Weekly, author of the popular Ask A Mexican column, was on the scene to witness the aftermath of the collision.

Arelleno said that the car hit the rider — rather than the other way around — with enough force to shatter the windshield, leaving a massive dent in the vehicle and breaking the bicycle in two. While no blood was visible, Arelleno did not see the rider move his hands or legs, and says “the teen’s tortured gasps for air were a sound I hope to never hear again.”

He credits police and fire personnel for arriving on the scene within minutes of the 1pm collision, and places blame on the conflict between the city’s “ambitious plans to remake its downtown core and the head-in-the-sand approach to the area’s actual needs.”

“This is already a neighborhood that’s way overcrowded,” said a lady who identified herself only as Yuri. She had no idea of the city’s plans for her neighborhood, which include squeezing in high-rise apartments. “We need parks, not more buildings–there’s already too many apartments! With more people and more cars on these small streets, there’s going to be more accidents!”

………

Even after everything, Murrieta’s Floyd Landis still loves cycling. San Diego’s San Louis Rey River Trail is extended three more miles. Get your free Ride a Fucking Bike sticker here. A Georgia insurance executive says bike riders face risks on the road, and there’s not much consolation in saying “it wasn’t my fault.” A 60-something cyclist in my home town is critically injured in a collision; no information on his name, direction or travel, whether the driver was distracted, wearing a seatbelt or whether charges might be filed. An 11-year old Iowa cyclist is critically injured in a hit-and-run; police say the driver may not even know she hit anything. Cell phone use while driving is even more dangerous than previously thought. Over 2300 riders roll the roads of New Zealand, despite warnings from police. Brisbane’s shared bike/pedestrian paths turn into danger zones as both users compete for space. Will a better water bottle holder revolutionize cycling? A 19-year old Brit cyclist hopes to raise £1 million to thank a hospital for saving his life. Instead of charging cyclists to use the roads, we should get tax cuts and the thanks of motorists.

Finally, a writer claims that most cars carrying two or more passengers have a smaller carbon footprint than the average man on a bike.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

Another bike shooting in Pacoima, a local cyclist DJs for clean drinking water

March 27, 2010 / / One comment

In a repeat of a recent incident, an 18-year old cyclist was shot and killed in Pacoima in an apparent gang-related attack. According to LAist, Sebastian Caldera was riding near Pierce Street and Laurel Canyon Boulevard around 7 pm Friday when he was shot several times and pronounced dead on the scene. Anyone with information is urged to contact LAPD homicide detectives at 818/834-3115.

KABC Channel 7 reports another shooting at virtually the same location just two hours earlier in which the shooter fled the scene by bike.

………

One of my favorite local bike bloggers, James Haygood, author of Bike Date Santa Monica, will be a guest DJ at TapRadio.org this Sunday.

In this country, we take clean water for granted. But too many people around the world lack access to safe drinking water — in fact, waterborne illness is the second leading cause of death for children under five. The UNICEF fundraiser will help provide clean drinking water for 900 million people in over 100 countries; half of those are children.

As James points, out, just $5 will get a kid clean water for 200 days.

He’ll be spinning online at 11 am, 5 pm, 11 pm and again at 5 am Monday. Other Sunday DJs include John Taylor of Duran Duran, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy and actor Kevin Durand of Lost and Robin Hood. Among the others contributing their time and skills throughout the two-week project are Tom Arnold, Lucy Liu, Elijah Wood, the Village People and Joey Santiago of the Pixies.

Tap Radio is scheduled to continue through April 5th; he will be online again on Sunday, April 4th. You can contribute via the Tap Radio website, or by texting “TAP” to UNICEF 864233 to make a $5 donation.

And be sure to check out Bike Date; while he’s been inactive lately, the archives are definitely worth scrolling through.

………

In honor of Dodger owner Frank McCourt’s planned bike race, Damien invites you to plan it for him; the first Streetsblog fundraiser is less than two weeks away. Courtney Cox rides a bike, at least when she’s filming; Miley Cyrus and boyfriend ride through Toluca Lake. San Francisco’s new police chief keeps his promise to ride a bike. The San Diego Custom Bicycle Show kicks off on April 9th. Just weeks after Albuquerque unveiled a new bike safety campaign, a ghost bike appears for a cyclist killed by a driver who didn’t see him riding on the bike path. A Memphis rider asks, if traffic flows at the speed of a bike, why not just ride one? The driver who hit and killed a Northern Irish cyclist while rushing to catch a flight is sentenced to five years; in proof that some people just don’t learn, he was also ticked for speeding twice after killing David McCall. Former TdF winner Stephen Roche says it’s no contest between Lance and Contador, with his vote going to the latter. The hit-and-run epidemic spreads to South Africa, where police say there’s safety in numbers. Finally, the fixie has officially jumped the shark — Walmart unveils its $150 Fixed-Speed Bike.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,
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