Tag Archive for AB 645

Newsom approves limited speed cam pilot, Israeli bicyclists victims of Hamas violence, and DOJ sues eBay for rolling coal

October 16, 2023 / / No comments

Newsom signed this one, anyway.

LAist reports speed cams could be coming to Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale after Governor Newsom signed a bill authorizing a pilot program in the three cities, as well as three cities in Northern California.

However, the program will be limited to streets in “school zones, highway segments most prone to injuries, and areas identified by local authorities as having high volumes of speeders and street racing.”

The pilot program continues California’s insistence on reinventing the wheel, since speed cams have already proven successful in 200 communities in 21 other states, including New York City, Chicago and DC.

……..

You knew the recent Hamas massacre in Israel wouldn’t spare the bicycling community.

According to Marca, the heartless violence took the lives of an entire family of triathletes, and at least four mountain bikers were killed on their way to a training ride.

Another group of bike riders survived by hiding under bushes for hours to escape the attack.

……..

Yes, please.

The US Department of Justice is suing eBay for selling more than 343,000 illegal “rolling coal” pollution devices through the platform, illegally enabling drivers to modify emissions controls on their cars and trucks — and bury bike riders and pedestrians in a cloud of exhaust smoke.

The platform could face a well-deserved $5,580 fine for each devise sold under the Clean Air Act, for a total of nearly $2 billion.

………

This is the future bike riders want.

Meanwhile, as today’s top photo demonstrates, the countless full bike racks at Sunday’s CicLAvia offered more proof that bikes mean business, with bars, restaurants and cafes jammed with happy participants.

Along with more than a few corgis.

And this one definitely won the most creative award at Sunday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia.

Although the LAPD responded to the end of Sunday’s CicLAvia with an illegal order telling bike riders to get off the street.

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

………

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

No bias here. A former British city counselor accused local advocates of planning a “deeply distasteful” protest ride to demand safe streets in the wake of two recent bicycling deaths, saying it would put people off bicycling.

No bias here, either. Business owners in a UK city protested what they called a “totally crazy, ridiculous” plan to remove a whole two — yes, two — parking spaces to make room for eight bikeshare bikes.

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

A 73-year old man in the UK walked without a day in jail for crashing his bicycle into a pedestrian, leaving the 88-year old victim fighting for his life; the man thought he could ride safely even though he was left partially sighted after a stroke.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. A Long Beach driver killed one woman and injured six other people when he drove into pedestrians and cars at Shoreline Drive and Aquarium Way Saturday evening.

 

State

An Orange County man was busted after completing a transportation theft trifecta, first stealing a car, followed by a bicycle, before being arrested while wearing the car owner’s shoes.

A Victorville woman was critically injured when her bicycle was struck by a motorcyclist while crossing a busy roadway Friday afternoon.

UC Santa Barbara Police recovered 18 purloined bicycles after busting an accused prolific bike thief.

A Bakersfield man suffered major injuries when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike, and left lying in the roadway Saturday evening.

Sad news from San Francisco, where bicyclist was killed in a collision while riding on a freeway; no word on why the rider was on the Interstate highway.

 

National

CleanTechnica calls ebikes a less-polluting option for commutes and errands as part of the new normal, while Momentum offers advice on what you need to know before buying one.

Gravel has officially gone mainstream, as CNN rates the year’s 12 best gravel bikes.

Gear Junkie offers tips on selecting the right bicycle helmet for the way you ride.

Hundreds of Las Vegas bicyclists turned out for the 10th Annual Ride to Remember, in honor of bike racer Pete Makowski, who was killed by a gravel truck driver while on a training ride in 2013, and all bike-riding victims of traffic violence.

Kindhearted Tucson, Arizona volunteers put together 1,200 bikes to donate to underserved kids.

A new Denver program is using heart rate data to identify bicycling danger zones before anyone gets hurt.

Life is cheap is Wisconsin, where a woman got just 18 months behind bars for killing a 29-year old man riding a bicycle, while driving at nearly twice the legal alcohol limit and nearly twice the posted speed limit.

Cincinnati Bengals punter Drue Christian stayed in shape by delivering meals for DoorDash on his bicycle during the off-season, then started buying meals himself and giving them to people in need.

Family members continue to call for justice two years after Pittsburgh police tased a homeless man up to ten times, even though he didn’t pose a threat to them or anyone else, just because he rode a bicycle that appeared to be abandoned around the block before returning it; the city has already paid an $8 million settlement in the case, but no officers have been charged in his death.

A South Carolina letter writer has a complaint bike riders everywhere can relate to, asking people to stop leaving yard waste and other trash in bike lanes.

 

International

Major bicycling brands, including Schwalbe, Rudy Project and Trek, are becoming more environmentally conscious and reducing their carbon footprint.

A Vancouver nonprofit calculates that switching from a car to a bicycle could save commuters over $9,000 a year.

Yes, please. A new Google Maps feature will allow London bike riders to consider current traffic conditions and the availability of high-quality cycling infrastructure in planning their route. Hopefully, that will roll out here in the US if it proves successful there. 

The Daily Mail complains that a Scottish ebike loan program has cost the country the equivalent of over $600,000, as people have purchased ebikes but failed to repay the cost.

A pair of British bike riders were the victims of a bikejacking by moped-riding muggers, who pulled up to them at a red light and ordered them off their bicycles.

A British man’s beloved bicycle was stolen outside his local pub, after it had taken him 22,500 miles around the world in just 430 days.

A Kenyon writer says it’s imperative that the country combine high-capacity buses and bicycling to “significantly reduce urban carbon emissions and foster cleaner, healthier cities for all.”

Police in South Australia said they have arrested the state’s infamous “Bicycle Bandit,” after DNA led them to a 73-year old man who allegedly robbed at least ten banks over a ten-year period beginning in 2004, using a bicycle as his primary getaway vehicle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch pro Milan Vader won his first WorldTour race at China’s Tour of Guangxi, a year after a bad crash during a Basque Country race last year left him in an induced coma with his spine fractured in eleven places, and doubts of ever riding again.

French cyclist Typhaine Laurance is walking away from pro cycling, retiring at just 25 due to the sports low pay; she was forced to continue living with her parents while earning the equivalent of just over $1,000 a month.

Conservative media was up in arms after two transgender cyclists took home gold and silver at a women’s ‘cross race in Chicago.

 

Finally…

Sometimes the best approach to slowing drivers is a mangled bike and a pair of legs sticking out of the hedge. Apparently, bike shorts aren’t used for bicycling anymore, even though they still are, except when they’re not.

And just blame Google Maps if you end up riding on a highway where bikes are banned.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Both sides rest in Solanga vehicular murder case, and Culver City bicyclists crowdfund to save protected bike lane

September 13, 2023 / / One comment

We could have a verdict before the end of this week.

Both sides rested Tuesday in the murder trial of 33-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez, who is accused of using his truck to run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga in Riverside two years ago.

Gutierrez allegedly flipped Solanga off as Solanga walked his bike with another person, then made a U-turn to come back to slam into Solanga, killing him.

Prosecutors have not said if the men knew each other, or why he attacked Solanga with his truck.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

………

No bias here.

A Culver City councilmember says kids are much better off riding on circuitous side streets than in the direct, protected bike lane he wants to rip out.

He’s got a point.

Studies have shown that bicyclists are exposed to higher particulate levels when riding next to busy roadways. But it’s unclear whether those particulates have a measurable effect on lung function.

Meanwhile, a new crowdfunding campaign has been established to fight the council’s blatantly illegal decision to replace the bike lane with another lane for motor vehicles, bizarrely claiming it would have no environmental impact and doesn’t require a CEQA review.

As of this writing, it’s raised nearly half of the modest $10,000 goal in less than 24 hours.

………

The California state legislature has approved the bill to establish a limited speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, as well as three NorCal cities — as long as they meet a number of preconditions.

The state Senate also passed a bill legalizing sidewalk riding everywhere in the state, overriding any local prohibitions.

Assuming the governor signs it, of course.

………

More proof that lane reductions and protected bike lanes work. Someone please tell the Culver City Council.

Oh wait, they already know.

………

Let’s pause our bike news for a moment for a couple of brief help wanted notices.

Los Angeles Walks is hiring an Incoming Executive Director to manage the pedestrian advocacy group; you have until the end of this month to apply.

And if any planners out there are looking for work, Oregon could be looking for you.

Statewide Recreation Trails Planner (Limited Duration)

In this capacity, your role will revolve around being a planner and fostering partnerships. This will involve the facilitation of high-level trail planning initiatives, requiring close coordination with various stakeholders, including state and local agencies, tribal governments, trail advocacy groups, and trail user constituencies. You will also be tasked with the development of comprehensive processes to manage all stages of trail project delivery effectively. Building internal and external partnerships will be key to ensuring the efficiency and success of these processes and systems, all while prioritizing the department’s Mission in your decision-making.

Thanks to Alan Thompson for the heads-up. 

………

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

Police in Downey are investigating after a man was captured on video randomly shoving a man off his bike while he rode with another man along the riverbed on Florence Ave, moments after attacking another bike rider.

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

San Diego is cracking down on ebikes and e-scooters on beach boardwalks, two years after an unenforced and universally ignored ban went into effect.

………

Local 

LA County broke ground on the 3 mile, $8.1 million Vincent Community Bikeway, which will combine a creekside bike path with on-street protected bike lanes through the unincorporated community.

Streetsblog looks at Pasadena’s new Union Street protected bike lane.

More on the effort of three Santa Monica city councilmembers to stop truck drivers from parking in the city’s bike lanes, which has been a problem as long as the city has had them.

 

State

Caltrans and the California Office of Traffic Safety are launching a new “Safety is Sharing. Safety is Caring.” public awareness campaign to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety. Probably because they couldn’t come up with anything more boring and less impactful, despite their best efforts. 

San Francisco bicyclists are taking to social media to complain about drivers illegally using the controversial new centerline protected bike lane on Valencia Street,

 

National

The bike industry’s ebike battery recycling program has collected 43,000 pounds of batteries since it began two years ago.

Direct marketing brand Canyon is having a sale on a number of their bikes, across the categories.

Popular Seattle-based ebike maker Rad Power Bikes is out with their updated new lineup, as the financially troubled company commits to using only UL certified lithium-ion batteries.

Once again, Burning Man attendees abandoned hundreds of slightly used, but very muddy, bicycles, which are going to the Reno Bike Project to find loving new homes.

Heartbreaking story about the death of Colorado endurance bicyclist Greg Bachman, who was killed by a Kansas driver the night before last years Unbound Gravel race; his widow calls out anti-bike bias from Kanas Highway Patrol, which destroyed evidence, failed to examine the driver’s phone or the victim’s GPS, and went out of their way to incorrectly blame the victim.

Omaha bike riders are calling for better “road awareness” from both bicyclists and motorists after a noted local cardiologist was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

A three-day Iowa Underground Railroad bike ride will explore 136 miles of the state’s abolitionist history.

Kindhearted Missouri cops surprised a man with a new bike after the one he used to get to work was stolen.

New York City councilmembers slammed the city’s transportation department for falling behind on building new bus and bike lanes, which are legally mandated by the city’s transportation master plan. Which is what happens when city leaders actually give a damn, and draft a plan with real teeth, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

 

International

Momentum explores the top styles of bicycles for active aging.

The annual, worldwide, women-only Fancy Women Bike Ride rolls this Sunday, though there doesn’t appear to be one scheduled for anywhere in Southern California.

A columnist for a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan newspaper says the road to safer bicycling in the city is sadly “paved with blood,” suggesting that despite deaths and injuries, the debate about safe bicycling always seems to come down to cost. Sadly, it seems to be the case everywhere that nothing happens until it’s too late.

Montreal, Quebec’s ghost bike group marked its tenth anniversary by filling a busy intersection with 645 pairs of white shoes, indicating the number of people killed while walking in the province over the past decade.

Britain’s Conservative government is considering new laws to confront dangerous bicycling, including a pledge to create a “death by dangerous cycling” law, after concluding the existing laws are old and inadequate.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian pro cyclist Nathan van Hooydonck was injured in a car crash after becoming unwell while driving with his pregnant wife on Tuesday; an update from his Jumbo-Visma team indicated his condition was “not critical,” despite earlier reports.

American race leader Sepp Kuss lost time to his own teammates in the Vuelta yesterday, after Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard attacked to win stage 16 and move just 29 seconds behind Kuss.

L39ION of Los Angeles co-founder Justin Williams has reportedly been suspended for a second time in consecutive years for causing a crash in last month’s Audi Denver Littleton Criterium; reports also indicate Thomas Gibbons was fined for swearing after Williams caused him to crash.

Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton overcame “trench foot, freezing rain, wildfire detours, mental demons and a busted derailleur” to record the fastest ever time on the Tour Divide bikepacking route, completing 2,670 miles and 192,000 feet of climbing in 12 days, 12 hours, and 21 minutes. But his time won’t go down as a new record, because the camera crew that accompanied him isn’t allowed under official rules.

Anyone betting the National Cycling League wouldn’t make it to their second season should collect your winnings, as the fledgling US bike racing league laid off two-thirds of the riders they had under contract.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can build your very own dream cargo bike.

And you think you’ve got bike skills?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

News conference drums up support for LA-area speed cam pilot program, and Spanish mayor nails parking debate

July 26, 2023 / / Comments Off on News conference drums up support for LA-area speed cam pilot program, and Spanish mayor nails parking debate

Speed cams could soon be coming your way.

At a press conference in Studio City Tuesday morning, city and state officials explained the reasoning behind AB 645, which would establish a speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale, along with three NorCal cities.

According to LADOT’s Makenzi Rasey,

“Too many people are dying on our streets and these crashes disproportionately impact low-income communities, people walking, people biking, our seniors, and our children.”

Like the 4,379 Californians killed in traffic collisions in 2021 alone, including 1,275 people walking and riding bikes.

Every one of them someone’s mother or father, son or daughter, sister or brother, leaving massive holes that can never be filled in the lives of their loved ones.

Rasey went on to add that LADOT is fighting the speeding crisis with “every street design tool available,” including lower speed limits on nearly 200 miles of streets, speed humps, signals and redesigned streets, along with more bike lanes.

Although as we can all testify, not nearly enough of those.

And the city still hasn’t moved forward with shovel-ready lane reductions planned for North Figueroa and Temple Street, which were blocked by councilmembers who are no longer in office.

Never mind the Westwood Blvd bike lanes blocked by then-Councilmember Paul Koretz, who has been replaced by the ostensibly more bike-friendly Katy Yaroslavsky.

The bill is also tailored to inflict minimal financial impact on, well, anyone, as Assembly Transportation Chair and congressional candidate Laura Friedman explained.

“Under our bill, unlike with getting a traditional speeding ticket, there’s no points on your license … Under this program, your first ticket, assuming that you aren’t egregiously speeding, is a warning. and after that, if you get a second ticket, that ticket starts at just $50. Now if you’re low-income that $50 is cut in half to just $25. And there’s a small escalator for every 10 mph over the limit you are going,” said Friedman.

Which doesn’t seem like nearly enough to get drivers to take their damn foot off the gas.

But that’s the compromise needed to get the bill through the legislature in a state where driving — and exceeding the speed limit — is considered a God-given right.

………

This may be the best answer to the incessant parking demands of drivers I’ve seen.

………

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

A Portland city commissioner is calling for rolling back requirements to install bike parking facilities in new residential buildings to increase affordability. Even though the costs are pretty damn negligible, especially compared to installing car parking. 

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

Seriously, don’t be a dick when riding your ebike at Burning Man.

A New Jersey teenager repeatedly punched a Target employee in the mouth when he was instructed to stop riding his bike. No, in the store.

A “thrill-seeking cyclist” was captured on video riding his bicycle on a busy Toronto freeway.

A middle-aged man in the UK, who should certainly know better, is accused of swearing at and threatening a young girl, and throwing her phone to the ground, after they collided while riding their bicycles. Schmuck.

………

Local 

ActiveSGV is hosting a family-friendly community bike ride this Saturday to demonstrate the Santa Anita Ave Complete Streets Project.

An LA-based writer for Velo is excited to encounter a man riding a custom Holland Cycles Titanium road bike on PCH in the ‘Bu.

 

State

Tragic news from San Diego, where a woman suffered life-threatening injuries when she was sideswiped by the driver of a massive pickup while riding her bike in the downtown Gaslamp District. Which should have at least been a prima facie violation of California’s three-foot passing law, but apparently wasn’t.

San Diego bike thieves are targeting ebikes as their popularity continues to grow. Ebikes, that is, not bike thieves, who continue to be unpopular in San Diego, and most everywhere else.

Bicycles — electric and otherwise — will now be banned from a five-block carfree section of downtown Ventura, along with skateboards and scooters. That would be illegal under state law if cars were allowed on the street, but apparently allowed since cars are banned.

SFist says San Francisco’s contentious Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane is causing confusion and chaos, with some people calling it the “Valencia Meatgrinder.”

Streetsblog talks with a 32-year old San Francisco man, seven years after he was severely injured by an inattentive driver while riding his bike, who argues that it would be easy to protect people on bicycles but the city won’t.

 

National

Apparently, rock and metal music tops the Spotify playlists for American bicyclists.

Bicycling offers tips on how to test-ride a bicycle before you buy. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Public comments submitted to the Consumer Product and Safety Commission calls for eliminating the requirement that kid’s bikes have coaster brakes, arguing the it keeps them from learning how to use handbrakes.

A lawsuit from the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argues that the National Park Service was wrong to allow ebikes into national parks, saying the NPS hadn’t adequately addressed their potential to disturb wildlife and create conflicts with other people on the trail. Because evidently, the wilderness is only for fit people who don’t need a little help riding a bike. 

Seriously? Alaska’s governor vetoed a bill regulating ebikes, arguing ”…it creates unnecessary bureaucracy by regulating recreational activity,” even though all it does is establish the same three-tiered classifications pioneered in California, and passed in many, if not most, other states. The sponsor says the legislature will override the veto of the bill, which passed with overwhelming support.

In a clear demonstration of bent-up demand for ebike rebates, Denver’s latest round of ebike rebate vouchers was completely snapped up just three minutes after they became available. Which does not bode well for California’s vastly underfunded program, whenever it finally goes online.

Even rural ski resort town Jackson, Wyoming could soon require bike parking in all future developments.

An AP sportswriter is one of the roughly 80,000 people riding across Iowa in this year’s 50th RAGBRAI, writing that the mantra of the participants is “The ride will provide.”

Um, okay. An Illinois man reportedly threw a kid’s bike into a pond because he thought the boys were fishing too close to some ducks.

A panicking Michigan father threw a bicycle at a second story window to wake his kids and alert them that their home was on fire; firefighters arrived shortly afterwards to pull the kids to safety.

Who needs a car to attend the legendary Rhode Island Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals when you have a bicycle?

Florida man strikes again — literally — after a 37-year old man whacked another man over the head with a bicycle kickstand, because the victim apparently refused to play a country song. Although it’s not clear if he refused to play a particular country song, or just country songs in general.

 

International

Police threw the book at a 17-year old Toronto girl after she crashed a stolen car into a female bike cop.

Oxford, England merchants are accusing the city council of being “hyper-woke” — whatever the hell that means — after refusing to close a bike lane for the city’s annual Christmas market. Because obviously, the lives and safety of bike riders are of no importance compared to selling holiday treats and trinkets.

A 55-year old Oxford, England man faces a charge of “‘wanton or furious cycling” for crashing into an 81-year old woman walking on a pathway, who died 12 days later.

Litium-ion ebike battery fires could eventually be a thing of the past, as Swiss bikemaker Stromer introduced the first solid-state ebike battery, which promises to cut charging times down to just 20 minutes or less, even for the largest batteries.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside talks with trans cyclist Austin Killips, who says she just wants to ride her bike, after becoming the poster child for excluding trans athletes from women’s sports.

Bicycling says Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky continues to hold the yellow jersey in the women’s Tour de France, but expects a shake-up in today’s mountainous stage four. The story doesn’t appear to be locked behind their usual paywall, but here’s the Yahoo link just in case.

The Guardian says the pay parity gulf between men’s and women’s cycling is continuing to widen, as all three Grand Tours now have women’s versions, but with significantly less prize money.

Colombian national time trial champ and former Tour de Suisse and Volta a Catalunya winner Miguel Angel Lopez has been provisionally suspended for a suspected doping violation. But bicycling is clean now, right?

 

Finally…

What bikes of the future could look like, if it wasn’t for rules and stuff. Your next e-mountain bike could be made of bamboo, other than, you know, the battery and all that metal and rubber stuff.

And this is what happens when you give an ebike to a Slopestyle cyclist.

https://www.tiktok.com/@canyon_bicycles/video/7254580546742045979?embed_source=%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.bikemag.com%2Fnews%2Fgravel-bike-slopestyle&referer_video_id=7254580546742045979

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LA columnist pans CA speed cam bill as “weirdly bitter hatred of cars,” and Metro — and Metro Bikes — free this weekend

June 16, 2023 / / One comment

Happy Father’s Day and Juneteenth weekend!

Three-day weekends and holidays mean more drunks on the road, and more distracted drivers rushing to get out of town. 

So practice the usual safety protocols. Ride defensively, and assume any driver you see on the road after noon today has been drinking, and that every driver is distracted in some way. 

Or both. 

Because I don’t want to write about you unless you leap from your bike to rescue puppies from a burning building, or return a little old lady’ lost life savings that you found while riding by in the street.

And I expect to see you here bright and early when we return on Tuesday.

Today’s photo of a smiling corgi on a Metro Bike is here just for the hell of it.

………

No bias here.

A columnist for the conservative Los Angeles News Group complains about AB 645, which would establish a speed cam pilot program in six California cities, including Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale.

For the first time, that is. Not “bring them back,” as the headline suggest.

Apparently suffering from a bad case of windshield bias, she worries what could possibly go wrong. And answers her own question, in her own mind, by noting that the revenue from the speed cams will go to traffic calming projects.

So this speed camera bill is actually an attempt to fund an incremental plan to make driving more and more difficult, less and less practical…

It’s our goal to have no one struck at all, and 20 mph is obviously not the answer. It’s a way of saying, “streets are for everybody except people who are driving to get somewhere.”

Road diets and other tricks to strangle vehicle transportation are not really about pedestrian safety. They’re just the latest expression of a weirdly bitter hatred of cars, a mode of transportation that gives people freedom and options.

She goes on to bizarrely conclude that the reason pedestrian deaths increased 53% from 2008 to 2018 was — wait for it — because streets became darker after Los Angeles and other cities began installing new energy-efficient LED streetlights.

Not, for instance, because the emergence of smartphones over the same period led to a dramatic increase in distracted driving.

Or that the ever-increasing size and popularity of massive SUVs and trucks have made even relatively minor collisions exponentially more dangerous for anyone not safely ensconced inside multiple tons of steel and glass.

And never mind that LED streetlights are actually whiter and brighter than traditional high pressure sodium lights.

But evidently, she’s too busy fretting about her imaginary war on cars to notice.

However, you may have to find a way past the LANG’s draconian paywall if you want to read it.

………

Metro will be free all weekend to celebrate today’s opening of the new Regional Connector Line and three new Metro stations in DTLA, through 3 am Monday.

That includes free Metro Bike rides. But you’ll need the promo code below to unlock them.

………

Today’s mountain bike break comes from Montana, courtesy of Rowdy Flow.

And yes, that’s a person.

………

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

A New York website complains that hundreds of bike lane opponents in the city’s Greenpoint neighborhood jammed into an unofficial meeting with the city’s transportation commissioner, while supporters of the proposed bike lane were locked out.

A British man suffered facial injuries when he was whacked in the face with a piece of wood, for no apparent reason, by a group of teenage boys who ran away after the attack without taking anything.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles edition of the clothing optional World Naked Bike Ride is set to roll next Saturday, encouraging riders to go as bare as you dare; the first 200 people to pre-register with a $5 donation will get a pull-string backpack to hold your clothes during the ride. Because officials may not be so forgiving if you don’t wear something on the way there and back. And if you use a bikeshare, rental or borrowed bike, bring something to put over the seat. Please.

LA’s new Sixth Street Viaduct was honored at the honored at the 57th Annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala as the year’s most outstanding engineering achievement.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton notes that Santa Monica’s concrete-barrier printing machine that built the new Ocean Ave protected bike lanes have gained worldwide fame.

Long Beach tourist and shopping destination Shoreline village is set to get a much-needed makeover, including new bike ramp access, and new bike parking and storage facilities, in time for the 2028 Olympics.

 

State

The Sierra Club considers the benefits of ebikes to create a revolution in sustainable transportation.

Teenage ebike riders in Encinitas who carry a passenger on their handlebars will now be required to attend a bicycle education class; no word on whether the law applies to adults, as well.

San Diego will install traffic-calming measures to create a more pedestrian-friendly space on Diamond Street in Pacific Beach, including painting sharrows on the roadway in an apparent attempt to use bike riders’ bodies to slow drivers.

An Air Force sergeant is back at work after he was airlifted to safety following a mountain bike crash in the hills above Menifee last month; he was able to call for help after regaining consciousness, despite suffering critical injuries.

Demonstrating a keen grasp of proper British etiquette, Montecito residents Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, sent a thank you note to the Santa Barbara bike shop owner who gave their son Prince Archie a new bike for his fourth birthday.

Governing says Sacramento’s poor street design is perfect for hit-and-runs, citing experts who blame aging roadways designed without pedestrians or bicyclists in mind. Just wait until they see the streets here in Los Angeles.

 

National

Right now, you can buy the belt-drive, VanMoof-knockoff BirdBike ebike for just a thousand bucks, less than half of the usual $2,300 price.

Bicycling looks at the indigenous women taking part in this years edition of the annual 950-mile Remember the Removal bike ride commemorating the infamous Trail of Tears, one of the most shameful events in American history. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you. 

Vermont Governor Phil Scott is one of us, as he plans to take a 93-mile ride to celebrate the opening of the state’s new rail-to-trail pathway.

She gets it. A public diplomacy professor at Massachusetts’ Tufts University is very diplomatic in asking how many Americans have to die before we do something about road safety, noting that residents of Canada, Australia and France were about three times less likely to die on roadways than U.S. residents, on a per capita basis.

He gets it. A father in West Hartford, Connecticut makes a plea for safer streets, saying all people deserve safety, even if they’re in the minority of road users.

Some bike shops serve coffee. A few serve craft beer. But a New Jersey bike shop will let you feast on ramen and soft serve while you wait.

In a tragic irony, a New Orleans man was struck and killed by a speeding hit-and-run driver while riding a bicycle, just a block from a roadside installation of several ghost bikes meant to call attention to the number of bike riders killed on the city’s streets.

 

International

Momentum Magazine argues that making room for bicycles can save cities money while boosting the local economy.

Momentum also offers 12 last-minute Father’s Day gifts for the bike-loving dad in your life.

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to develop the mindset of a pro cyclist, highlighting the mental traits inseparable from success — whatever that means to you.

Edinburgh officials will remake a zig-zagging bike lane because the current curves are too sharp for many riders, and don’t meet city standards.

The first, and apparently only, British citizen to ride one million lifetime miles on a bicycle has passed away following years of declining health; Russ Mantle completed the feat to great fanfare in 2019. He was 86.

Long-awaited changes to Britain’s Highway Code designed to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians are going into effect; the law creates a hierarchy of road users by giving priority to pedestrians, followed by bike riders, equestrians, motorcyclists, private cars, vans and minibuses, and finally, larger buses and trucks.

A Nigerian PhD student says the country needs to emulate the Netherlands and embrace bicycles as an alternative to cars, tricycles and motorbikes, after the country’s president increased gas prices by removing a key fuel subsidy.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-six-year old Swiss cyclist Gino Mäder was seriously injured when he went off the road, along with American Magnus Sheffield, on a fast descent during Thursday’s stage of the Tour de Suisse; Sheffield was treated at a local hospital for a concussion and bruises, while Mäder was flown to the hospital after being found motionless in the water at the base of a ravine, and resuscitated at the scene.

Reigning world champ Remco Evenepoel criticized race organizers for placing the stage finish line at the bottom of such a dangerous descent.

Unbelievable. More than 30 riders taking part in the the U-23 Giro d’Italia, which is being rebranded as the Giro Next Gen, were disqualified in a mass cheating event on the famed Passo dello Stelvio when they were caught on camera hanging onto team cars and motorbikes.

NBC Sports explains the meaning of the different colored — and polka dotted — Tour de France leaders jerseys.

 

Finally…

Frog wants his purloined ebike and joke books back. Now you, too, can be the proud owner of a Walmart mountain bike for under a Benjamin.

And that feeling when someone links to me saying sharrows suck.

Because they do.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

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

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

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

But it could have been so much more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

………

I still can’t seem to embed tweets.

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

………

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

………

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

………

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

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

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

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

………

Local 

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

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

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

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

 

State

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Finally…

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

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

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA Times calls for legalizing speed cams, mark your calendar for World Bike Day, and a bad day to ride near big trucks

May 25, 2023 / / One comment

They get it.

The Los Angeles Times calls for passing legislation to legalize speed cams, saying they could “quickly make some of the state’s most speed-prone and dangerous streets safer…”

…With traffic deaths on the rise in California, and particularly in cities, such as Los Angeles and San Jose, you’d think lawmakers would eagerly adopt a proven strategy for saving lives.

You would be wrong. In 2021 and 2022, state legislators killed bills that would override the state prohibition on automated speed enforcement and let some cities install speed cameras to catch and ticket motorists who egregiously exceed the speed limit.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole thing.

Then contact your state Assembly member and urge them to support Assembly Bill 645, which was introduced by Burbank Assemblymember, Transportation Committee Chair, and US Congressional candidate Laura Friedman.

We’re definitely going to miss her when she leaves the legislature.

………

Mark your calendar for World Bicycle Day on Saturday, June 3rd, while Tuesday, May 30th is the first National Ebike Day.

Neither of which have anything to do April’s LSD-themed Bicycle Day.

………

It was a bad time to bike around large trucks, as an Alabama bike rider was killed by a dump truck driver on Tuesday, while a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan woman was killed when her bike was struck by the driver of a cement truck, and a London bike rider was killed in a collision with a commercial truck driver.

Note the emphasis on drivers, since the trucks weren’t driving themselves, regardless of what the local press bothers to mention them.

Best advice is to always give large trucks as wide a berth as you can, including moving off the roadway if necessary to stay safe.

It’s better to bail and make it home in one piece, than wish you had.

………

An LA bike rider gets fed up with Google’s misleading and just plain wrong bike maps, so he makes his own more accurate version.

Thanks to Erik Griswold and Danny for the heads-up.

………

Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette forwards a discount for next month’s Giro di San Diego.

………

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

No bias here. A Pacific Beach website says residents expressed their displeasure over plans to build a bike boulevard on Diamond Street — even though just four people of the seven people commented at a town council meeting even mentioned it; although one resident correctly noted it would affect property values. Even though she meant they’d go down, while bikeways usually make them go up.

………

Local 

BikeLA, the former Los Angeles Count Bicycle Coalition, has partnered with autonomous carmaker Waymo to continue their Operation Firefly bike light distribution program this year, which has given out over 15,000 sets of lights over more than a decade. The program started back when I was still on the board of the nonprofit, not that I take any credit for it.

Pasadena is launching its own ebike rebate plan July 1st, with rebates starting at $500; if you qualify for the California ebike rebate prgram, which should launch by then, you could be looking at $1,500 off the price a standard ebike, and significantly more for an e-cargo bike.

The Altadena Bicycle Club and Altadena Heritage will host their 3rd Annual Altadena Golden Poppy Bicycle Ride this Sunday. Which is a lot of damn Altadenas if you ask me.

Santa Monica will conduct road work around the pier to install concrete medians separating the bike lane from motor vehicle traffic on Ocean Ave.

Streetsblog takes a detailed tour of the new Mark Bixby bike and pedestrian path along the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge.

 

State

A 57-year-old road bike rider suffered a compound fracture to his left leg when he was struck by a 61-year old man riding a Harley Davidson in San Diego’s Kearny Mesa neighborhood; the motorcyclist suffered road rash in the crash.

Santa Barbara residents can now check out an ebike from the local library.

A Bakersfield man is on trial for fleeing the scene after running down two people riding bikes, leaving one in a coma, while driving with a blood alcohol level over three times the legal limit; naturally, the defense lawyer blamed the victims for wearing dark clothes and riding without reflectors after dark, instead of his allegedly drunk client.

Sad news from San Jose, where a man riding an e-scooter died days after he crashed into brush piled in a bike lane. Which is exactly why bike lanes should be cleaned on a regular basis, but usually aren’t.

Palo Alto is planning to build bike underpasses before construction begins on reconfiguring its rail crossings, so bike riders and pedestrians can continue to use them while work continues.

Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick says a report from a local TV station that that San Francisco streets are safer is counterfactual. Which is a polite way of saying it’s BS.

San Francisco News takes a closer look at the city’s “impressive” Slow Streets program.

 

National

Outdoor recommends the best bike helmets.

How to demonstrate you don’t ride a bike, without saying it. Money recommends the best bike racks, starting with a pair of typical wheel-bender racks.

The Scottsdale, Arizona city council is split down the middle regarding the city’s recent road diets, with the mayor and three councilmembers supporting them, and three councilmembers opposed.

This is who we share the road with. An Arizona man faces charges for drifting into a bike lane and killing a bike rider while high on meth and weed; the 46-year old man tried to claim the bike rider swerved in front of his SUV.

Denver has exceeded the city’s goal of building 125 miles of new bike lanes in five years, with 137 miles since 2018.

A Chicago man says if you can’t find a plexiglass covered e-cargo trike, just build your own. Then offer to build some for other people, too.

A legal site examines why people in Wisconsin drive recklessly, blaming a number of factors including the state’s unique laws and driving culture. Although a much shorter explanation is because they can.

Cleveland, Ohio is pushing proposals to change zoning laws and incentives for transit-oriented development with limited parking in an effort to become a 15-minute city.

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus, teamed with a DC advocacy group to lead a bike ride around the city to demand policies to protect bike riders. Maybe next time they could convince our bike-riding president to join them.

No surprise here, as Miami is one of the nation’s most dangerous places to ride a bike, ranking fifth in the US for bicycling deaths.

 

International

Momentum readers consider the world’s worst bike lanes, including one on PCH in San Diego.

They get it. A Toronto website debunks three common myths about bike lanes, including that they cause congestion and are bad for business; meanwhile a bent bike rack has a Toronto writer bent out of shape.

Mixed results in London, where bicycling fatalities dropped last year, but serious injuries rose sharply.

An English website explains the benefits of Low Traffic Neighborhoods, the British equivalent of our Slow Streets, while debunking the “evil plot” to give people cleaner air and safer streets.

Welsh police face an investigation over the crash that killed two ebike-riding teenagers, who may or may not have been chased by the cops at the time of their crash; security video shows a police van following them just one minute before the fatal crash.

Talk about two countries divided by a common language. Cycling Weekly says Britain’s bike nonprofit “gives you the chance to loan an ebike for a month for free.” Although we’d say “borrow” on this side of the Atlantic. 

An Italian craftsman builds bespoke wooden bike wheel rims, just down the road from the shrine to the Madonna del Ghisallo, patron saint of bicyclists.

A Kiwi website says ebike commuting can be quicker than driving, and healthier, too. The same also holds true up here where drains circle clockwise.

An Aussie bike site asks if road rage is worth getting riled up about.

 

Competitive Cycling

Welshman Geraint Thomas continues to lead the Giro, while Italy’s Alberto Dainese bounced back from a stomach illness to win Wednesday’s stage 17. Anyone who can continue with a bike race while battling stomach issues definitely has my respect.

Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar has worked his way into the top five, with just five stages left in the Giro.

Cyclist examines the businesses behind pro cycling’s biggest sponsors.

 

Finally…

Chances are, Johnny Appleseed would ride a bike these days, just like his Indian counterpart. That feeling when your bike has its own mailbox. And gets love letters.

And when a cat has probably biked through more states than you have.

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA ties for deadliest city for US bike riders, Beach Streets and Watts CicLAmini this weekend, and speed cam bill moves on

May 19, 2023 / / 2 comments

Apparently, things are better than they seem here in the City of Angels for people on two wheels.

And worse.

According to the League of American Bicyclists, Los Angeles tied with Houston for the most bike deaths in the US in 2021. (Figure 3.4.6) 

They also report on pedestrian deaths, which we won’t get into here for lack of time and space. But suffice it to say Los Angeles doesn’t fare any better there, leading the nation with 142 walking deaths, compared to 115 for second place New York, despite Los Angeles having less than half the population of its East Coast counterpart. 

But the 12 bicycling deaths the Bike League shows is a huge improvement over the carnage of just five short years ago, when 21 people lost their lives riding their bikes on the mean streets of LA.

Then again, only five people were killed riding bikes in the city in 2005. “Only” being a relative term, since one death is one too many.

New York showed the biggest improvement, though, with just five deaths in 2021, compared to a whopping 24 people killed riding bikes in the city just two years earlier.

Meanwhile, average LA bicycling deaths showed a relatively modest 18% increase for the five-year period from 2017 to 2021, compared to 2012 to 2016. (Figure 3.4.7)

On the other hand, Long Beach saw a whopping 167% increase for the same period. Although that number shrinks in significance when you consider that it reflects an average of just one additional death per year, from 0.6 to 1.6.

However, both cities fared better than Colorado Springs, Colorado and Little Rock, Arkansas, which saw massive jumps of 700% and 600%, respectively.

The good news, if there is good news for a subject like this, is that Los Angeles saw the same relatively modest 18% increase when looking at bicycling deaths on a per capita basis over the same five year periods. (Figure 3.4.9)

Once again, though, the numbers for Long Beach jumped 169%, which reflects an average of just over two additional deaths per capita per year.

Finally, bicycling deaths were 5.2% of all traffic deaths in Los Angeles, and 4.8% in Long Beach. (Figure 3.4.10)

When those numbers get closer to zero, we’ll know we’re finally doing something right.

………

Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson gives you a “shameless” invitation to attend Saturday’s Beach Streets open streets event in downtown Long Beach.

Nice to see the Militant Angeleno back with his epic CicLAvia tour for Sunday’s Watts CicLAmini, as he calls out highlights on or near the open streets route. He’s been doing this work for free for over ten years now, so toss him a few bucks if you’ve got some extra cash lying around. 

………

We may actually have a chance to see speed cams on California streets, at least in a handful of test cities including Los Angeles and Long Beach.

………

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

Apparently having nothing better to do, police in Britain staged a special operation targeting bicycles illegally modified into ebikes, as one fleeing rider led them on a chase through the back alleys of town.

………

Local 

Nonprofit group Investing in Place is out with LA’s first comprehensive list of every public right-of-way, from sidewalks to streets.

Streets For All punts on their endorsement for councilmember in the special election to replace disgraced Councilmember Nury Martinez in CD6, saying either Imelda Padilla or Marisa Alcaraz “would be a positive step forward in building a safer CD6 for all road users.” You can read both women’s responses to the group’s candidate survey here.

Burbank state Senator Anthony Portantino introduced a resolution proclaiming May as National Bike Month in California. Which it already is, regardless. But still. 

Somehow, we missed ActiveSGV’s African American History bike ride, with NAACP Pasadena Chapter President Allen Edson highlighting the rich Black history of Pasadena last weekend.

Metro has extended the deadline to respond to their survey about the Redondo Beach Blvd Active Transportation Corridor Project; Redondo Beach resident Dr. Grace Peng offers her thoughts on how to complete the questionnaire.

 

State

This is who we share the road with. NBC-4 reports the suspected drunk driver driver who killed a mother and her two kids in a wrong-way freeway crash in Hesperia has an extensive record of driving under the influence in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Which means this would be at least his fifth DUI if he ends up being charged with driving under the influence, in addition to murder and other charges — just one more example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.

Thousands of people took part in San Diego’s Bike Anywhere Day yesterday, with one hundred pit stops providing t-shirts, refreshments and snacks. Wait, aren’t snacks refreshments? And vice versa?

Victorville’s new $47 million Green Tree Bridge includes bike lanes in each direction, completing a nearly seven-mile bike loop connecting the Mojave Riverwalk to Hesperia Road and Seventh Street.

A Streetsblog op-ed from a soon-to-be former Berkeley resident questions why even the most progressive cities are failing their carfree residents. Looking at you, ostensibly progressive Los Angeles. 

Oakland bike riders took advantage of the city’s 30th annual Bike to Work/Wherever Day to create their own DIY crosswalk and road diet in front of a local high school, which has been the scene of numerous crashes and near misses.

 

National

The AP says the push for transit and walkable communities is growing across the US. The problem is drivers push back if it ends up inconveniencing them even a little bit. And they’re the ones most elected leaders listen to.

They get it. Ideastream Public Media says if you want to improve the planet and your health, ride a bike.

A writer for Outside argues that the true purpose of ebikes is to save the planet.

Bicycling insists the best bike is a step-through, saying the universal design allows anyone to ride one in almost any circumstance. But you have to pay if you want to read it. 

The mountain resort of Breckinridge, Colorado is placing 75 ebikes around town to encourage free, one-way travel between neighborhoods, businesses and other points of interest.

Seriously? A Houston doctor was hit by a driver while participating in a Ride of Silence organized by the group Houston Ghost Bike Wednesday night; fortunately, he was not seriously injured. The story also notes a bike rider in Austin, Texas was also struck by a driver during their Ride of Silence.

In an all-too common story, a 31-year old British man moved to the US, only to get killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike near his Chicago home; he declined medical treatment following the crash, only to suffer a fatal brain hemorrhage after he went home. A tragic reminder to always see a doctor if you hit your head in a crash or fall, even if you’re wearing a helmet. 

It may be illegal in other states, but feel free to ride a bike under the influence in Illinois.

An apparently English-challenged Chicopee MA TV station says “Massachusetts infrastructure continues to create bicycling in roadways safer.” Seriously, even AI generated text would be better than that. 

The attorney for the white woman seen trying to wrest a New York bikeshare bike from a Black teenager in a viral video says she’s been unfairly called a Karen, insisting the dispute had nothing to do with race, and that she had paid for the bike first. Meanwhile, London’s Independent says she claims the video was taken out of context, even if the story wasn’t written by Trent Crimm.

Researchers from the University of Alabama-Birmingham are developing an app that will interrupt whatever you’re listening to on your phone to warn you when you’re approaching an intersection where warning beacons have been installed. Because most people walk with their eyes closed, evidently.

A Tampa, Florida bike advocate considers the road to fear-free biking in the city.

A Florida state trooper gets it right, stating a bicyclist going straight in a bike lane has the right-of-way over a driver turning right. Then again, the bike rider would still have the right-of-way even without a bike lane.

 

International

Momentum Magazine considers the best bike gear for spring riding.

In the understatement of the year, a British Columbia bike rider thought to himself “This is not going to be good” as he took flight after crashing into a black bear that darted into the roadway in front of him.

A British railway engineer says vertical bike storage on trains is discriminatory and should be banned, because it wrecks expensive bikes and not everyone has the physical ability to use it.

Your next ebike could be a trike designed by German carmaker BMW, complete with a built-in fully covered kid carrier in the back. Or in my case, a corgi carrier. 

Ten thousand bike riders from across Korea will descend on the country’s capitol this weekend for the 2023 Seoul Bike Festival.

A New Zealand bike lane recognized as one of the worst on the planet is finally getting a makeover, with plans to build a protected biking and walking path separated from the roadway.

 

Competitive Cycling

German pro Nico Dent won Thursday’s 12th stage of the Giro, as Geraint Thomas defends the leader’s pink jersey, insisting that as someone from the Isle of Man, he’s used to bad weather. I recently learned the Isle of Man is my ancestral home, and my great, great grandfather on my father’s side did time for his role in a notorious bank collapse. Good times. 

You’ve got five more days to sign up for Colorado’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, with both road and mountain bike races still available.

A new study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition says you’ll ride faster if you take a dump before the race. In other words, if you want to be number one, you gotta do number two first.

 

Finally…

Why fork over the big bucks for bike gear, when you’ve got effective substitutes just lying around your house? That feeling when you fly 5,600 miles to steal back your stolen bike — on your birthday, no less.

And nice to see at least someone is getting good use out of a stationary bike.

https://www.tiktok.com/@olliecuddless/video/7233897621587250474?embed_source=71223855%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.newsweek.com%2Fcat-napping-exercise-bike-internet-stitches-i-felt-that-1801238&referer_video_id=7233897621587250474

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
 
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee
%d