There seems to be a common theme today, as at least five bike riders are attacked or robbed in news stories from around the world.
Fortunately, there’s also a story on how to use your bike for self defense. Let’s hope it works.
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Just because paint goes on the street doesn’t it will stay there.
Boise prepares to remove bike lanes even though they don’t slow traffic and haven’t caused any wrecks, while San Antonio riders protest a vote to remove lanes there.
Meanwhile, bicycling explodes on streets with two-way cycle tracks, even though they may not be a good idea. And People for Bikes says intersections on protected bikeways are jaw-droppingly safe.
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LocalNo surprise here, as Los Angeles commuters face the nation’s worst traffic. Or at least, the ones who don’t ride bikes or take transit do.
The BAC gives Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s rep a well-deserved earful on North Figueroa.
If you need a new job, CicLAvia needs a new Director of Community Engagement. And CalBike is looking for a Development and Communications Director, which would seem to require two distinct and unrelated job skills.
You’re invited to Ride Around Pomona this Saturday.
State
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about from motorists, a Fontana bike rider is robbed at gunpoint by occupants of a passing car.
This year’s San Francisco to LA AIDS LifeCycle ride raises $15 million for HIV/AIDS-related services.
The CHP is searching for a truck driver who fled the scene after hitting a Sonoma cyclist.
National
Yahoo Finance says if you want to save money, buy a bike or transit pass.
A new gyroscope-equipped bike takes the falls out of learning to ride, but will kids who learn that way be able to balance a regular bike on their own later?
Seriously, if Anchorage can be one of the nation’s top cities for bike commuting, what the hell is our problem? I mean, besides elected officials who single-handedly block much needed bike lanes?
A Tucson cyclist is used for target practice by a thankfully aim-challenged gunman.
Denver’s mayor calls attention to the hit-and-run epidemic, which clearly knows no boundaries.
Dallas police use the city’s misguided helmet law to target poor and minority riders, rather than enforce safety.
An Ohio man is riding cross-country on an ebike. At age 80, I think we can cut him some slack.
Stylish New Yorkers pose with their bikes; clearly, they have a different definition of stylish than I do.
An Atlanta runner attacks a bike rider after shouting anti-gay slurs.
International
I now qualify for Team Novo Nordisk, which is competing in Canada this week. Or I would if I was a lot faster these days.
An English writer does his best to suck all the joy out of riding with his 17 rules to not be a “fish and chips” cyclist, whatever the hell that means.
A UK driver gets away with killing a cyclist while speeding because authorities used the wrong kind of speed limit sign.
An Oxford, England rider is dragged off his bike by a scissor-wielding attacker.
Caught on video: A South African cyclist is bike jacked at gunpoint, and catches the theft — and thief — on his GoPro. Note to would-be thieves: always take the camera.
A different kind of bicycling injury, as a Singapore woman is in a coma after being hit by a bike wheel thrown from an apartment.
Finally…
How to use your bike for self-defense; yes, a similar piece ran last year, but this one has cool animated GIFs. A news columnist admits to parking — and driving a race car — in Toronto bike lanes, but insists the riders who complain about it are the real problem.
But would he still try to block you if you were riding a solid gold, jewel encrusted mountain bike?
Probably.
