Tag Archive for anti-bike bias

Nothing like bad bike news to bring out the worst in people, bicycling makes your brain ripple, and add iron to make your bike go

April 1, 2026 / / No comments

He gets it.

A writer for Road.cc lives in rural Warwickshire, England, just outside of Stratford-upon-Avon, which he calls a beautiful part of the world.

One that he says is repeatedly voted as one of the best places to live, as well as a great place to ride a bike.

The cycling here is also amazing. You can find miles of quiet country roads, there’s plenty of mountain biking trails around, and there’s even a disused railway nearby where hundreds of children learn to ride every week.

But it only took the death of someone riding a bicycle to “reveal how sickeningly awful some people in your local community can be.”

Regardless of circumstances and fault, the overwhelming feeling I have is of sadness and loss – somebody lost their life while out on their bike. There is never a reasonable explanation for this, it’s always a tragedy.

However, when I look at the local Facebook group, you wouldn’t think somebody had died, because on posts about it people are instead focused on the person being a cyclist, so it was probably their fault…

It shows how publications like the Daily Mail, Daily Express, and the Telegraph have done their job. Cyclists are dehumanised, and the people in my community demonstrate this better than any study or focus group ever could. If you’re killed on a bike, you deserve it.

Looking at the comments section, there are 19 direct comments at the time of writing. 15 of them are the standard bingo card comments about cyclists’ behaviour with no sympathy for somebody being killed. It’s sickening.

It’s a phenomenon I’ve encountered hundreds of times in writing this site, as has anyone else who has dared venture into the comment section following a news story that even mentions someone on a bicycle. Or who has had the temerity to venture into social media.

If the victim of a crash was on a bicycle, it had to be their fault, because the commenter once saw someone run a stop sign or a red light. Or maybe it’s everyone on two wheels, because none of us ever obey the law.

It’s an automatic case of collective guilt, painting us with the same broad brush used to disparage any group somehow considered “other.”

Even when it comes to people who simply disagree about some simple civic or political matter.

I’ve had my stomach turned by what I’ve seen, heard and read so many times it feels like a washing machine on spin cycle, discovering once again just how truly awful people can be.

Just as it has when I’ve heard hateful comments from people who seemed decent enough until they opened their mouths, apparently assuming that their distasteful opinion is so obvious everyone must share it.

Too often I’ve just kept my mouth shut and turned away to avoid an ugly fight.

I wish I had an answer, some sort of magical solution that would show them just how wrong they are, and shame them for their lack of compassion.

But that seldom seems to work in the real world.

And almost never in the virtual one.

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Bicycling makes your brain grow.

And ripple, apparently.

A new study published in the journal Brain Communications builds on a Chinese study release last year that showed even brief periods of bicycling can cause growth in the hippocampus.

The research, recently published in Brain Communications, was conducted on a much smaller test group, but the people involved all had a specific disorder, drug-resistant epilepsy, that the scientists were examining when they made their discovery.

So go out and ride hard.

And maybe someday you, too, can pass a whole bunch of cognitive tests just like our president.

………

Staying on the subject of health, a medical specialist in iron deficiency and anemia suggests that an iron deficiency could affect your performance long before you actually develop anemia.

So stop by your neighborhood bar and toss back a few rusty nails every now and then.

It’s for your health, after all.

………

Local 

Santa Monica is building a new curb-protected bike lane on Colorado Ave.

 

State

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton says the recent road rage incident in Newport Beach demonstrates the limits of painted bike lanes.

Irvine-based Rivian makes the obvious transition from electric truck builder to ebike maker to autonomous DoorDash delivery bot.

 

National

Surprisingly, the US Department of Transportation is making $1 billion available through the Safe Streets and Roads for All program, despite recent government cutbacks in active transportation funding.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an adaptive ebike from a Las Vegas teenager with cystic fibrosis.

The traffic “expert” for a Denver TV station just can’t seem to figure out what the lines marking buffered bike lane are for — especially since he didn’t see anyone using it at the exact time he happened to be watching.

 

International

Cyclist looks at the year’s best insulated bicycling water bottles.

Bike Radar says anti-lock brakes could revolutionize mountain biking, even if they’re not quite ready for mass consumption.

It’s time to don your best tweed and hie thee to Saville Row for London’s most stylish bike ride.

A British bikeshare company is being investigated for false advertising for claiming to give you ten minutes free — but only after you pay to unlock their bikes.

A writer for Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website examines how to make bikeshare even better, starting with connected, physically separated bike lanes and more stations in under-served areas.

A 72-year old man was killed when he hit a low tree branch over an Australian bike path, even though officials had been warned about it a week earlier.

 

Competitive Cycling

IDL Pro Cycling says British cyclist Lorena Wiebes can still be beaten, despite achieving “Pogačar-like status in the women’s peloton.”

 

Finally…

If you left your bike on a US military base, get it from the MPs. Who needs a living room when you can have a fully equipped bike workshop?

And now you, too, can have your very own Cookie Monster bike. As long as you don’t need a seat, or pedals or anything.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

73-year old man busted for fatal WeHo hit-and-run, new CicLAvia maps revealed, and we all need a pro-bike guidebook

July 17, 2025 / / Comments Off on 73-year old man busted for fatal WeHo hit-and-run, new CicLAvia maps revealed, and we all need a pro-bike guidebook
Day 198 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

They got him, for once.

Allegedly, anyway.

Multiple sources are reporting that Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 73-year old man for last week’s hit-and-run death of fallen bicyclist Blake Ackerman.

Douglas Morton Adams was arrested Tuesday on a charge of hit-and-run causing death, and released latter that same day on $50,000 bond.

Adams is accused of running Ackerman down from behind as on Fountain Ave near Gardner, and continuing west on Fountain without stopping.

Authorities said he was arrested after witnesses and tipsters helped identify his car. WeHo Times credits Florida resident Shanna Meade with giving investigators a video of Adams’ car and license plate.

Despite the arrest, the case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call LA County Sheriff’s traffic investigators at the West Hollywood station at 310/855-8850.

Unless additional charges are filed, Adams faces a maximum of four years behind bars under California’s lenient hit-and-run laws.

Meanwhile, more than 60 people turned out for a ghost bike installation honoring Blake Ackerman near the site of the crash Wednesday morning.

Matt Parker, one of Ackerman’s closest friends, gave a moving statement, while his fiancé and friends wrote personal messages on the freshly painted white bike.

Ackerman had recently returned to Los Angeles to work as associate at DTLA law firm Morgan Lewis. He was likely returning home from a late day at work when he was killed, have just taken up bike commuting and transit use rather than driving.

The ghost bike ceremony was organized by the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition with assistance from Streets Are For Everyone.

A larger vigil will be held Friday starting at 6 pm at Fountain and Gardner, followed by a short march to West Hollywood City Hall for a rally and press conference.

Everyone is urged to attend to call for safer streets in WeHo, and throughout the area.

And yes, I mean everyone.

Today’s photos show the newly installed ghost bike for Blake Ackerman, along with the installation ceremony.

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CicLAvia unveiled the map for October’s Heart of LA CicLAvia, marking the 15th anniversary of America’s largest open streets event.

Although someone should tell NBC4 that if you’re going to do a story about a new CicLAvia map, you should at least include it.

However, there are two events preceding it, in August and September.

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Good question.

Having seen the congestion, safety, and emergency access arguments deployed against bike lanes in literally hundreds of places, why have we not developed a little guidebook or something on how to deal with them?

— Bike Talk (@biketalk.bsky.social) 2025-07-17T00:52:51.247Z

As I recall, back in the dark ages when I served on the board, staffers at the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — now BikeLA — developed a short guide on how to respond to common objections.

But it really would make sense for someone to pen a handbook with effective arguments against the most common complaints, which would undoubtedly become an instant best seller.

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Call it elder abuse.

Anyone who is still riding a bicycle at 85 deserves better than to be killed by an alleged drunk driver, like this man in Portland, Oregon.

The same goes for an 83-year of British Columbia woman killed by the driver of a semi truck, who played the international Get Out of Jail Free card by claiming he didn’t see her.

………

People For Bikes says there are six things any city can do to improve bicycling, using the acronym SPRINT:

  • safe speeds
  • protected bike lanes
  • reallocated space
  • intersection improvements
  • network connections
  • trusted data

………

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

No bias here. London’s walking and cycling commissioner decries the “antagonism” between bicyclists and motorists on social media, saying it’s “not representative of real life.” But all the Evening Standard wants to talk about is his statement that some bike riders “are idiots” — even though he included motorists in that statement, too.

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

An English bicyclist calls for building a pump track so kids will stop digging up woodlands and damaging ancient archaeological artifacts in search of somewhere to ride.

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Local 

Los Angeles Magazine offers an oral history of Pee-wee Herman’s iconic bike from Pee-wee’s Big Adventure; six bikes were made for the 1985 movie by the Pedal Pusher bike shop in Newport Beach, one of which will soon find a well-deserved home at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

 

State

A California political newsletter consider’s Vista’s move to remove the protection from the city’s protected bike lanes, after “overwhelming feedback” from bicyclists. Thanks to Phillip for the heads-up.

Chico breaks ground on a new bike track that will bring state-of-the-art amenities for riders. Presumably without damaging any ancient archaeological artifacts. 

 

National

Walmart has issued a recall of 200 children’s bikes that pose a risk of illness or death due to excessive levels of lead; parents are urged to destroy the bikes sold under the SPPTTY brand.

National Guard service members and Air Force reservists have joined the search for a 52-year old Oregon man who disappeared after leaving for a mountain bike ride last Friday.

Two men from Grand Rapids, Michigan are way ahead of schedule on their fundraising ride to Los Angeles to benefit Pedal to the Rescue, a nonprofit on a mission to support the heroes who fought LA’s wildfires, on track to finish the ride in half of the 82 days originally estimated.

No surprise here, as four of New York’s five boroughs rank at the top of a new analysis of active transportation in the US, led by Manhattan, where 60% of all trips are taken on foot or bike. Needless to say, auto-centric Los Angeles didn’t even make the list.

 

International

Momentum recommends international alternatives to Airbnb for your next bike tour.

Road.cc suggest ten things you really shouldn’t copy from the pros. Although I could add an 11th, like doping, for instance. 

Cycling Weekly tests four of the best road bikes for under $2,400, and says you can get a lot more for your money than you could ten years ago. Tell me about it. I spent about that much for a 2014 LeMond, which doesn’t hold a candle to today’s bikes. Although putting a candle on a bike doesn’t make a lot of sense. 

Um, okay. Dame Joan Collins — yes, that Joan Collins — pens a confusing “diary” post that starts with complaints about the British prime minister, even though it’s about the invasion of Lime Bikes, or maybe an invasion of immigrants on Lime Bikes, before moving on in truly Trumpian fashion to talk about hard working movie people and telling Ingrid Bergman’s daughter to bugger off.

German direct-to-consumer mountain bike brand YT declares financial insolvency and enters a “self-administered legal restructure,” meaning they will continue to run the company with outside oversight.

Um, okay, too. A new Chinese study examines “The nonlinear relationship between built environment and cycling propensity for different travel purposes − based on extreme gradient boosting decision tree.”

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from Italy’s Giro della Valle d’Aosta, where 19-year old Italian cyclist Samuele Privitera died following a crash on Wednesday’s stage 1; Privitera was a member of the Jayco AlUla World Tour team, owned and managed by Alex Merckx, son of the legendary Eddy Merckx. Stage 2 was cancelled following Privitera’s death.

Velo says Wednesday’s stage 11 of the Tour de France was the “wildest day of racing yet” amid “wire to wire chaos,” as Norwegian cyclist Jonas Abrahamsen won in what ended as a day-long two man breakaway.

Tadej Pogačar crashed in the closing moments Wednesday, but say’s he’s “quite ok” after “losing a bit of skin;” his crash came with around 4km — 2.5 miles — to go, outside of the 3km safety zone. However, race leader Ben Healy slowed the pace to allow Pogačar to catch up to the leaders.

Norway’s Tobias Johannessen admitting causing Pogačar’s crash, saying he was “terrified” by the online abuse he received afterwards.

An anti-Israel protester attempted to disrupt the final sprint of the stage, jumping over the barricade and running opposite the cyclists wearing a T-shirt reading “Israel Out of the Tour” while waving a black and white keffiyeh, before he was tackled by a security official.

Bike Radar goes “in search of the truth” about how clean pro cycling really is, 12 years after Lance came clean about not riding clean.

Easy Reader presents a recap of Sunday’s 62nd Annual Chevron Manhattan Beach Grand Prix.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to ride a stolen scooter to your appointment at the police station. It may not be the best idea to ride a bike with a live cobra around your neck, either.

And that feeling when you get overnight delivery by Porsche for your newly painted yellow bike.

You know, to match that new yellow jersey.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

This town ain’t big enough for anti-bike lane columnists, welcome to Bike Month, and the annual Pasadena Ride of Silence

May 1, 2025 / / Comments Off on This town ain’t big enough for anti-bike lane columnists, welcome to Bike Month, and the annual Pasadena Ride of Silence
Day 121 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No bias here.

A columnist for the Los Angeles News Group says the situation on LA streets is best described as a Western, spaghetti or otherwise.

It wouldn’t be about cowboys versus Indians. It wouldn’t be about ranchers versus homesteaders. It wouldn’t be about gold miners versus general store operators.

It would be about drivers versus bicyclists.

“Mister, this road ain’t big enough for both of us” could replace “Eureka” as the official motto of California.

According to writer Susan Shelly, it would pit all those good townsfolk who drive cars, delivery vans, ambulances “and other motor vehicles relied upon for timely transportation,” against a group that “apparently is not in a hurry to get anywhere.”

And the group that is not in a hurry — aka the people on bicycles, joined by transit users — have somehow made it their mission to slow down traffic, something the people who have “to be somewhere quickly” don’t appreciate.

So guess who the bad guys are in this scenario?

Never mind that slowing down traffic improves safety and saves lives for everyone. And it’s not the people on two wheels who are out there killing people like a drunken gunslinger shooting up the town saloon.

She goes on to examine the Measure HLA lawsuit filed by Streetsblog editor Joe Linton over the lack of bike lanes in Metro’s semi-Complete Streets makeover of the Vermont Ave corridor, while misrepresenting the debate over the adoption of the city’s mobility plan in 2015.

There was resistance from some council members to adopting a plan that aimed to slow city traffic on major arteries. But advocates said it was simply “a vision statement” and “an aspirational document.” Bonin said it would “help us get active transportation funds from the state.” Council President Herb Wesson reassuringly told reluctant colleagues, “This is a concept. If you choose to vote on this today, it will not be put in place tomorrow.”

It was actually an LADOT official blindsiding advocates when she described the 2010 Bike Plan — which was subsumed into the mobility plan — as merely “aspirational,” just days after a successful fight to get it approved by the city council, who passed it with unanimous support.

And Wesson’s comment was a reference to the plan’s 20-year timeline, which meant that it would not have to be put in place right away. But that never meant it wouldn’t be put in place at all.

Shelley ends with a return to the lawsuit over the city’s failure to enforce the requirements of Measure HLA on Vermont, after describing the measure as something put on the ballot by “fuming-mad bicyclists.”

And never mentioning that it passed with overwhelming support from a broad spectrum of voters.

The city disputes that it is obligated to make these changes, but meanwhile, Metro, a countywide agency, is removing a traffic lane on Vermont Avenue to build a dedicated bus lane, enraging the bike-lane people and causing the movie to have an exciting but complicated subplot.

In the final scene, everyone realizes there’s no money for any of it, and the drivers win.

It’s not the bus lanes “enraging the bike-lane people,” as Shelley says. The “bike-lane people” I know are all in favor of a dedicated bus lane.

Instead, it’s the fact that Metro isn’t also building the bike lane that’s called for in the mobility plan, and so required by law under the terms of HLA.

It’s also not true that the money isn’t there.

In fact, the Vermont Ave project is budgeted at a whopping $425 million. And it will cost a lot less to install bike lanes now while the whole street is under construction, rather that going back and installing them after this project is finished.

But why let a couple inconvenient facts like that ruin a good metaphorical screed?

Never mind that the drivers are already winning.

But then, the cowboys in the black hats usually do win until just before the hero saves the town and rides off into the sunset, to beat her metaphor like the dead horse it is.

Photo by Ahmet Çığşar from Pexels. Think of it as a metaphorical columnist suffering from windshield bias driving ever more car traffic.

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Welcome to National Bike Month.

………

Bike Month also means it’s time for the annual Pasadena Ride of Silence at the Rose Bowl on May 21st to honor fallen bicyclists.

PASADENA, CA, April 28, 2025 – The cycling community of Pasadena invites the public to join in for the annual Ride of Silence on Wednesday, May 21st, at 6 p.m. This solemn event, now in its 23rd year, honors cyclists who have been injured or killed on public roadways and raises awareness about sharing the road safely.

  The Pasadena Ride of Silence will begin at the Rose Bowl in the north end of Lot I, with registration and check-ins beginning at 6:15 p.m., announcements at 6:30 p.m., and white doves from White Dove Release will be sent off individually to honor the cyclists lost during the last year at 6:50 p.m. At 7 p.m., a police escort will lead cyclists en masse on a slow and silent 7-mile route to Pasadena City Hall, where attendees will observe a moment of silence to honor friends and family lost to traffic violence. The ride will finish at the Rose Bowl with free tacos for all registered participants. 

 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 1,105 cyclists were killed by drivers of motor vehicles in 2022, the highest number ever recorded since the federal government started collecting data in 1975. Experts believe the increase in fatalities is due to several factors: inadequate street designs to include safe lanes for cycling, larger vehicles such as pickups and SUVs, which are deadlier in size and shape, higher horsepower in vehicles, and distracted driving. 

The NHTSA has finalized a new Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard to make automatic emergency braking (AEB), including pedestrian AEB, standard on all passenger cars and light trucks by September 2029. Making this safety feature standard (previously, it was bundled with expensive tech packages) is part of the Department’s National Roadway Safety Strategy to address the crisis of deaths on the roads and hopes to make U.S. roads dramatically safer for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists alike.

“We ride in silence to honor those we’ve lost, to raise awareness for the safety of all cyclists, and to remind the world that we belong on the road too,” said Thomas Cassidy, Pasadena Ride of Silence organizer. 

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Yep.

That pretty well sums it up.

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

A town in Illinois voted to make things more dangerous by requiring anyone on any type of bicycle to ride single file, reducing visibility of bike riders and encouraging unsafe passing, in a misguided effort to reign in teens on ebikes.

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Local 

NPR picks up the story of DTLA’s bike-riding, chainsaw-wielding tree assassin, and the effect his crimes had on the local community.

 

State

Calbike says bills creating a quick-build bike lane program and creating a bike highways are likely to end up in the Appropriations Committee’s Suspense File, which could lead to an eventual floor vote, or could just provide a way for opponents to quietly kill them.

Streetsblog argues that the California Ebike Incentive Program needed a win after endless delays and the total disaster of the first round of vouchers, and instead ended up with more egg on their face when the website crashed during yesterday’s second round of voucher applications, leading them to cancel the application window.

A new report analyzing state-by-state bike theft data shows California has the nation’s highest rate of stolen bicycles, almost double that of number two Texas.

Irvine is hosting the Orange County city’s second annual CicloIrvine open streets event this Saturday.

New stats have reignited the debate over the curb protected bike lanes on Coast Highway 101 through Cardiff, as a member of the Encinitas Mobility and Traffic Safety Commission reports the 42 crashes since 2020 represent a 400% increase compared to the 14 years prior; however, the chair of BikeWalk Encinitas says there’s no way to know how many lives may have been saved by the barriers.

Life is cheap in San Diego County, where a woman who killed a 71-year old man riding a bicycle while she was fleeing from the Border Patrol with a car full of undocumented immigrants, and driving at twice the speed limit on the wrong side of the road, was sentenced to just three years and five months behind bars — even though she had faced up to 20 years behind bars.

A new volunteer Bakersfield bike patrol trained by the National Ski Patrol will provide security and help to people in need on the Kern River Bike Path.

A Sacramento letter writer says yes, cops should ticket all those dangerous scofflaw bike riders. Never mind that people in cars, trucks and SUVs pose a much greater risk to everyone.

 

National

A new study published in the journal PLOS One demonstrated that both seniors riding ebikes and regular bikes showed improved cognitive function compared to a non-bicycling control group, while the ebike group had more confidence in completing the assigned rides.

Seattle bike riders protested a dangerous bikeway design where a protected bike lane ends suddenly and dumps riders into dangerous traffic, prompting the city to install temporary barriers to protect riders.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Residents of Pleasant Grove, Utah are remembering a nine-year old boy was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he was just trying to cross the street on his bicycle; police later took a man in his 80s in for questioning.

Women behind bars in Idaho are being trained to repair bicycles to donate to people on the outside, and will get a bicycle upon their release.

Sad news from my ostensibly bike-friendly Colorado hometown, where a longtime local bike advocate and the leader of a weekly no-drop ride was killed when he was struck head-on by a motorcyclist who made an ill-advised pass of another motorbike rider close to a curve.

Indianapolis just opened a new bridge with two-thirds of the surface devoted to bicyclists and pedestrians, and just one lane in each direction for cars.

Maine’s Acadia National Park offers 45 miles of forested scenic gravel roads that are closed to cars.

A Boston TV station examines the city’s “simmering debate” over bike lanes, after the mayor ripped out protective barriers on a number of bike lanes because angry drivers found them inconvenient.

 

International

No surprise here. A new study shows that pedestrians and bicyclists are far more likely to be killed by today’s massive, flat-grilled pickups and SUVs, with a 44% higher fatality risk overall, and 82% higher for children.

Road.cc examines the pros and cons of hiding an AirTag or other electronic trackers on your bike to help find it if it gets stolen.

A slideshow features bizarre bicycle designs the writers didn’t think were possible. Thanks to an anonymous source for the link.

Canada’s Banff National Park is extending a spring and fall ban on cars on a section of the Bow Valley Parkway through the park, after a successful three-year pilot program.

A writer for The Guardian says it’s no wonder BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine has stopped posting bike cam videos, because the rage directed towards bike riders is off the scale — and comments from politicians deliberately stirring up anger to troll for votes don’t help.

A Scottish website recommends eight of the best bike paths in Glasgow, for your next trip to the land of Bobby Burns.

A Greek travel website recommends riding your bike around the Aegean island of Spetses.

Great idea. Our German correspondent Ralph Durham reports seeing traffic lights with the poles illuminated by LED lights on a visit to Izmir, Turkiye, turning the poles red, yellow and green to match the traffic signal.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as Momentum offers everything you need to know about Japan’s Shimanami Kaidō bike route, calling it a paradise for bicyclists.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s only remaining Tour de France winner confirmed that he’s running for president of UCI, the umbrella organization in charge of bike racing around the world.

Cyclist recounts the complete history of the Pinarello Dogma, calling it the most dominant race bike in modern cycling history.

 

Finally…

Evidently, a sidewalk-level bike lane without noticeable markings is just a sidewalk. Beating your 75-year old neighbor because of where he put his garbage is not an approved use of an ebike wheel.

And now even shopping cart drivers are out to get us.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Rancho Palos Verdes tries to ban ebikes, ebike looting follows Mountain Fire, and protected bike lanes south of the border

November 11, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 49 days until LA fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Happy Veterans Day to everyone who has served our country at home and abroad!

Get out for a good ride today to celebrate. And thank you.

Photo from Lime Micromobility.

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Rancho Palos Verdes extends its usual unwelcome mat for bicyclists to e-bike riders, with new restrictions and fines to make you feel as unwanted as possible.

Of course, the Daily Breeze feels compelled to hide the story behind their paywall for subscribers only, so they evidently don’t want you to know about it.

However, this excerpt from the article suggests that they intend to ban ebikes entirely from city streets and sidewalks; the last part is legal, the first not so much.

Expanded e-bike restrictions

The city council recently expanded the ordinance to ban e-bikes on city streets and sidewalks, while allowing them on bicycle paths.

California state law allows bicycles on any street where cars are allowed, and ebikes are allowed under state law. So unless they’re planning to ban cars from city streets, they can’t ban ebikes, either.

But it could mean going to court to fight a ticket and convince a judge if you want to challenge it.

Thanks to Jim Lyle for the heads-up.

………

A worker on a Camarillo landscaping crew was arrested for looting an ebike Friday in the wake of the Mountain Fire.

After a homeowner parked his ebike in his driveway to check on his property, he returned to find the bike missing. He confronted a landscaping crew working in the area, and one of the men admitted to taking the bike, and gave it back to him.

The homeowner reported the incident to the police the next day, resulting in Ramon Avila Pacheco being booked on suspicion of looting in an evacuation order area.

Apparently, returning the ebike had no effect on the charge.

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Streets For All founder Michael Schneider visits Mexico City, and discovers what Los Angeles could do with a little more political will.

Okay, a lot more.

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MSNBC political commentator Chris Hayes is one of us, too. Thanks to Glenn with 2 Ns for the heads-up. 

Best way to commute before a big night.

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes.bsky.social) 2024-11-05T22:24:25.118Z

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It’s now 327 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

Seriously? The Marin County Supervisors are backing what the local newspaper calls a “bike-lane experiment,” which amounts to ripping out the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge four days a week, on a trial basis. Although it’s questionable whether they could do it without a CEQA review on anything but a trial basis. 

That’s more like it. Thousands of people on bicycles jammed the streets to protest the removal of Toronto bike lanes, which were ordered taken out by the anti-bike provincial government. Maybe someday, we’ll be able to get a turnout like that here in Los Angeles. Click through if the video below appears truncated on your screen, like it is on mine.

Thousands turn out for protest to save bike lanes
byu/ICanGetLoudTooWTF intoronto

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Local  

Streetsblog looks at new bike lanes and safety improvements around the city, stretching from DTLA to Leimert Park and the San Fernando Valley.

Metro Bike wants to know what you think; complete the survey and you could win a raffle prize.

An op-ed writer in the Los Angeles Times says he thought he had his bike commute down, until a bike-riding German man pointed out the obvious flaw in his route, which needlessly bypassed the beachfront bike path.

Sally Struthers is one of us, as the 77-year old former All in the Family star went for a casual bike ride in Los Angeles last week; a London paper uncharitably calls her “unrecognizable,” yet somehow the paparazzi managed to spot her.

 

State

Calbike says budget cuts have left California’s Active Transportation Program in dire straits, leaving just $100 million on hand, enough to fund just 4% of the $2.5 billion in requests.

Just days after a Victorville man was killed by a driver while riding his bike, another person riding a bicycle was critically injured by a pickup driver Friday evening; unfortunately, there’s no information about the victim at this time.

Good news from the Bay Area, where Prop K is leading with 54% of the vote, although it’s still too early to call; the ballot measure would permanently close San Francisco’s Upper Great Highway to motor vehicles and turn it into a linear park, bikeway and walkway.

 

National

No surprise here, as a new buffered bike lane in Bellingham, Washington is popular with bicyclists, and hated by motorists; ridership increased a third, while motor vehicle use on the street dropped by 14%. Which sounds like a win-win to me. 

Tragic news from Utah, where a county employee was killed when he rode his ebike off the side of the road during the ceremonial opening of a paved bike trail.

Former President Bush — that’s W, not his late dad — held his annual mountain bike ride for veterans on his sprawling Texas ranch.

 

International

Momentum offers the complete guide to cargo bikes, calling them the next big thing.

Momentum also highlights eight of the leading bike advocacy groups on both sides of the border; the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Santa Barbara’s Bici Centro make the cut, but none of the Los Angeles-based organizations did.

More proof that bicycles make the best emergency vehicles, as two men share a bike to get through floodwaters left behind by Hurricane Rafael in western Cuba.

Bike-friendly Canadian cities to consider if you’re already packing your bags to leave the US after last week’s election.

A London writer said she’s swearing off the Tube, aka the city’s subway system, after ebiking to work for a month, and pledges to never go back.

A golfer took an epic 47-day, 1,700-mile bike ride around Ireland to play golf and raise the equivalent of nearly $8,000 for a cancer charity.

Dutch ebike maker Stella is just the latest casualty in the bike industry.

Cycling Weekly explores how a bike trail along the former border between East and West Germany helped rewrite the history of the Berlin Wall.

A South African bicycle mayor is evangelizing bike riders in a Cape Town township, and throughout the city.

Hong Kong discovers that cracking down on illegal ebikes could spark a crisis for the city’s food delivery services.

Speaking of stories hidden behind paywalls, Kaifeng, China learned to be careful what they wish for when they encouraged night-time bike riding, and the streets became gridlocked with bicycles. Seriously, if the photo is legit, we’re talking wall-to-wall bikes. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Record-holding sprinter Mark Cavendish called it a career with a win in Singapore’s Tour de France Criterium; Cav raced wearing bib number 35, the record-setting number of Tour de France stage wins he set this year.

 

Finally…

No, fleeing police on a bicycle is not “driving away.” Your next ebike could have a sidecar.

And it could be a throwback to the original bicycles made by the Dodge brothers, before they got into the car biz.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Bass cuts red tape and consolidates road work, LA once again a traffic punch line, and bike helmets don’t prevent “accidents”

October 17, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 74 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

My apologies for yesterday’s unexplained absence. Let’s just say it was a rough night, health wise. 

Meanwhile, my neurologist followed up on last week’s test with the dreaded “you need to come into the office” call. 

Good times. 

Take it from me, kid.

Getting older is like riding an uphill double century with a flat tire, and no spare tube. 

………

About damn time.

Los Angeles Mayor Bass issued an executive order intended to cut through the endless road repair red tape, requiring the many myriad city agencies involved in road work to actually work together, for a change.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

More than a dozen different departments and bureaus deal with the concrete, asphalt, street lighting, bike lanes, storm water drains and parks that Angelenos rely on. For years, the city has made unsuccessful attempts to untangle the byzantine bureaucracy that maintains the streetscape, in which a seemingly simple fix like repaving a corner can conjure up a web of departments, timelines, requirements, studies and objectives.

This directive aims to get everyone on the same page. It disbands a myriad of existing working groups and replaces them with a centralized system.

The order will create a working group composed of the general managers from nine different city divisions to actually coordinate and streamline street and sidewalk work, for the first time.

This replaces the current system where one city department is charged with fixing sidewalks, while another does repaving and a third paints stripes on it, with little or no coordination between the two.

And finally ending our blindfolded road management where the right hand literally doesn’t know what the left is doing.

In theory, at least.

We’ll have to see if and how well it actually works.

But how many times have we been told that bike lanes weren’t painted after street work, because no one told the appropriate agency they were supposed to go in?

Short answer, too many.

Longer answer, too damn many.

This is not the vertical reorganization that bike and street safety advocates have long called for, to move every agency involved in street work into a single agency, with one department head accountable for everything.

But it’s a start.

Let’s hope it ends up being more than that, for a change.

………

Ouch.

Momentum responds to a proposal from “car-loving (Ontario) Premier Doug Ford” to make the province the final arbiter on bike lanes, which should go in “only where it makes sense.”

It is a massive overreach to tell individual cities how to build roads in their communities. It’s also just plain dumb.

The first lesson for anyone planning traffic is that the single-occupancy vehicle is the most expensive and least efficient way of moving people. Ever. Roads cost billions. More roads create more cars. What more road construction fails to accomplish is reducing traffic congestion. See: Los Angeles et al.

Maybe some day, we won’t be the punchline when it comes to traffic failures.

But today is not that day.

Meanwhile, an Ottawa city councillor warns of a looming culture war between motorists and bicyclists if they can’t build any more safe streets.

And Canada’s “Biking Lawyer” claps back at Ford, pointing out problems with the legislation, as well as with the media coverage.

And yet, somehow manages to avoid asking “Are they effing nuts, or what?”

………

Um, no.

A legal website says wearing bike helmets and protective gear while bicycling is crucial to prevent accidents.

Where to even start?

First of all, crashes and collisions aren’t accidents. Somewhere along the line, someone broke the law and/or did something stupid to cause it.

Second, depending on the circumstances, a bike helmet may or may not help in the event of a crash. But it sure as hell won’t prevent one.

Not even this helmet.

And third, what the actual heck do they mean by protective gear? Are we supposed to wear flack jackets with embedded flashers? Or maybe put hi-viz bumpers on our bikes?

Seriously, this appears to have originated with a St. Louis lawyer, which raises the question of why the people who should know better too often don’t.

And makes clear once again the importance of getting — and vetting — a good lawyer if you ever need help.

I can vouch for the ones over there on the left, and would trust any one of them with my case, if I had to.

But do your own research, and choose someone who knows bikes and knows the law, and who you can count on.

………

It’s now 302 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

A bike rider in Edinburgh, Scotland was shocked to find a driver literally parked on top of his bicycle, which had been locked to light post on the sidewalk. Which raises the obvious question of why the driver didn’t notice the bike when they rolled over it. Or care.

Horrible news from Paris, where the road-raging driver of a luxury Mercedes SUV is being investigated for murder after apparently deliberately running down, then running over, a 27-year old man riding in a marked bike lane, after an argument between the men; the driver appeared to hit him twice, before backing up and driving over him — with the driver’s teenaged daughter in the car. A French news site says conflicts between bicyclists and drivers are becoming increasingly common.

………

Local  

LAist has all the information you need to develop your voting game. Except for how to bike the vote.

The planned Complete Streets makeover of Fountain Ave through West Hollywood has become a dividing line between warring factions in the upcoming election for WeHo city council contest, while a new petition calls for saving parking on the street, not lives.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers his photos of Sunday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia, where a good time was once again had by all.

Pre-registration for the Santa Clarita Finish the Ride ends in just nine days, with the various rides rolling on October 27th.

 

State

There may be hope for San Diego-based Juiced Bikes yet, after the company’s intellectual property, branding, and existing inventory and assets were sold to a mystery buyer at a bankruptcy auction.

Santa Barbara’s police chief says potential changes to the city charter aren’t intended to criminalize bicycling, but to instead curb bad actors. Although well-meaning changes to the law meant to address one group too often end up affecting everyone else.

San Francisco mayoral candidates insist the city’s deadly streets can be fixed.

Over 160 Bay Area candidates for local, state and federal officials responded to a sustainable transportation questionnaire with their stands on issues regarding transit, bikes, traffic violence, climate change and accessibility.

 

National

The AP looks at the worldwide boom in lowrider culture, including low and slow rides on custom bikes.

The Washington Post explains how to plan a family bicycling vacation and actually enjoy it.

Women’s magazine Redbook recommends the 17 best ebikes on the market. Because evidently, there must be some unexplained drop-off once you get to number 18, as least for women. 

A Las Vegas woman faces up to 11 years behind bars after pleading guilty to the Christmas Eve hit-and-run that killed a 33-year old bike rider last year.

New York is calling a halt to their version of the Marathon Crash Ride, after a bicyclist riding the closed course before the city’s marathon hit a pedestrian last year.

The owners of a new North Carolina business planned to shuttle mountain bikers to local trails, but have shifted their focus to repairing local trails damaged by Hurricane Helene.

Drivers in Abbeville, Louisiana, like drivers everywhere, can’t seem to figure out what sharrows mean.

No surprise here, as Florida once again ranks as the nation’s most dangerous state for bike riders, with 8.4 deaths per million people; California checks in at a relatively low number six, with less that half that.

 

International

Cyclist recommends the best bike socks to keep your tootsies toasty.

Toronto researchers are using machine learning to determine the best places to put protected bike lanes. Um, like everywhere?

Evidently, things aren’t any better in Cuba, either.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list. A new bike route along both sides of the border between England and Wales links eight heritage sites, ranging from Welsh castles to Roman ruins.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a stoned driver walked without a day behind bars for running down a bicyclist riding on the sidewalk, leaving the man with lifelong injuries — and somehow wasn’t charged with DUI, despite driving at twice the country’s legal cannabis limit. And if you ever wonder why people keep dying on the streets, you can start right there. 

Ninety percent of British residents are afraid to ride in the country’s cities, put off by fear of crashes, road raging drivers and bike thieves.

About damn time, part two. The British agency responsible for operating, maintaining and improving the country’s highways will stop using the term “accident” to describe crashes, concluding “they’re not random events, but preventable incidents caused by human actions.” Now if we could just get someone to admit that on this side of the pond. 

Thousands of Dutch bicyclists are unable to reclaim their bikes, after a bike garage was closed “with immediate effect” when cracks were found in the concrete.

A travel writer spends three days biking around the Japanese island of Kyushu, and calls it an incredible way to see it.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wout van Aert is back in the saddle and pedaling toward ‘cross season after his devastating crash.

Former pro Michael Rasmussen calls the signing of four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome “a fantastic pension plan” and “the worst signing in cycling history,” branding Froome a “half-time clown” after his “undignified, meager” season. Sure, but how does he really feel? 

A horrible solo crash on a steep descent outside of Boulder, Colorado put 1984 Tour de France Feminin winner Marianne Martin in the hospital suffering from a concussion and collapsed lung, with a clavicle fractured in two places, 12 broken ribs — some more than once — and road rash; a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $16,000 of the relatively modest $30,000 for her medical care.

The Belgian Waffle Ride announced a new “unroad” race in Montana for next year, as the California edition moves to Del Mar.

Polish track cyclist Mateusz Rudyk says nothing is impossible with diabetes after winning multiple individual medals at both the world and European championships, despite being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 12.

About damn time, part three. Women were finally allowed to backflip their way to equality with the men at this year’s Red Bull Rampage.

 

Finally…

Seriously, who’d want to be a nuclear engineer when you can build bespoke bikes? Repeat after me — when you’re a ex-con carrying illegal drugs, paraphernalia and a loaded stolen gun on your bike, maybe try not riding salmon and running stop signs.

And that feeling when a bike lane is accused of turning a roadway into an open-air gas chamber.

Nope, no bias there.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LA on track for massive Vision Zero fail, Glendale bike haters go berserk, and CA ebike incentive plan “screws the pooch”

August 2, 2024 / / One comment

This week certainly didn’t go as planned.

First this site went down for two full days, then I spent too much time researching and writing about the tragedy in Camarillo Wednesday night to write anything else — only to get a complaint from a member of the victim’s family that was probably better directed somewhere else.

On the other hand, I can understand the need to lash out at someone, after something like that. 

Which leaves us with a lot to catch up on. So let’s see how much we can get to before I have to pack it in for the night.

And it’s a sad commentary that I’m looking forward to shoulder surgery next week just so I can get a couple good hours of sleep.  

………

Photo shows former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signing the city’s soon-forgotten Vision Zero plan behind his massive outdoor desk, courtesy of Streetsblog.

………

Just 151 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

Crosstown LA reports the city is on track to once again record more than 300 deaths from traffic violence — a truly obscene total that should shame every city official into taking immediate and far-reaching action to halt it.

But if past is prologue, it probably won’t.

In fact, it’s most likely to be noticed as nothing more than just a blip in their busy schedules, if they notice at all.

Move along, nothing to see here.

Maybe we should replace the current city seal with one bearing the “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” monkeys. Although, now that I think about it, trained monkeys could probably do a better job building a safer city.

The site also reports that drivers in Los Angeles continue to flee from fatal crashes in ever-rising numbers, with 62 hit-and-run deaths in the the just first six months of this year alone — more than double the total of two last pre-pandemic years, with 28 in 2018, and 29 in 2019.

Meanwhile, Helsinki, Finland, with a population of 675,000, has managed to reduce traffic deaths to a number that can usually be counted on one hand (scroll down), with fingers left over.

Which would equate to roughly 10 to 12 deaths from traffic violence in a city of LA’s size, with nearly four million people.

And that’s a hell of a lot fewer than we’re likely to endure this year.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A commenter at a Glendale City Council meeting freely admits that he thinks his time is more important than the life of someone riding a bicycle, and will gladly speed to cut you off.

Maybe someone should have cut him off.

Then again, they would have had to do a lot of cutting, because an Instagram page compiled the comments in opposition to Glendale’s proposed bike plan, showing the sheer numbers and ugliness of it.

You can see the full city council discussion below, beginning at item B. You know, in case you want to fast-forward through the other stuff.

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the links.

………

This is who we share the road with, part two.

Family members are demanding justice, two months after a road-raging off-duty LAPD cop shot Hugo Cachua to death in a dispute that started with a fender bender.

Forty-five-year old Rigoberto R. Reyes was sentenced to 14 years and four months behind bars for the Temecula, California road rage stabbing that killed another man.

And topping this week’s Tour de Road Rage, two men in Highland, California pulled out guns and shot each other to death — in front of one victim’s kids, no less — after one man clipped the other driver’s car mirror while lane splitting on his motorcycle.

Which is all probably fair warning before you lose your top the next time a driver cuts you off or passes too close, because they may be armed and dangerous.

Then again, they’re already driving a multi-ton lethal weapon, anyway.

………

People for Mobility Justice will host a “scenic bike ride highlighting local landmarks and celebrating the new bike/ped path on Slauson” from 6 to 8 pm this evening.

………

Gravel Bike California marks this weekend’s Tour de Big Bear with a series of single-track jewels guided by local host and Dirty Bear organizer Robin Brown.

 

………

It’s now 225 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 38 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, Electrek examines how California “screwed the pooch so badly” in developing its own $30 million ebike incentive program.

A large part of the problem seems to come from issues with the program’s administrator, a program known as Pedal Ahead. It was selected under raised eyebrows by CARB back in 2022 and tasked with managing the program. However, (Streetsblog’s Melanie) Curr) insinuates that personal connections between a former CARB board member and the founder of Pedal Ahead may have led to its application being granted extra weight despite proposing a significantly different incentive program than that envisioned by the state…

But a slew of complicated issues still needed to be solved, ranging from how the vouchers would be distributed to what types of e-bikes would be eligible and whether online retailers would be allowed to participate, just to name a few.

Over a year was spent trying to work out answers to these questions and many more, often complicated by rethinking earlier decisions and creating new project proposals.

All in favor of just scrapping the damn thing and starting over say “aye!”

After a good criminal investigation or two, that is.

………

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

A Phoenix, Arizona man faces a second-degree murder charge after he was allegedly caught on video beating a homeless man to death and stealing his bicycle.

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

A Bend, Oregon family discovered the hard way that the law isn’t always clear-cut when it comes to ebikes, after a middle school student suffered a fractured collarbone and elbow when she was struck by a 17-year old boy riding one — and the cops said there’s nothing they could do.

………

Local 

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, asks if the new bike lanes mean formerly unsafe Hollywood Blvd is finally ready for its closeup. Which depends a lot on how well LA maintains it going forward. 

Ouch. Jalopnik says LA’s plan for a carfree ’28 Olympics was laughable when it was announced, and sounds even more laughable now after the city’s miserable failure to invest in bike lanes and other clean infrastructure.

KCBS-2 looks forward to the Meet the Hollywoods CicLAvia when it returns to Hollywood and West Hollywood on August 17th

 

State

Good news from behind the Orange Curtain, as the Irvine city council voted to make this year’s inaugural CicloIrvine open streets fest an annual affair.

Researchers from UC Santa Barbara will use a $480,000 Caltrans Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant to train AI to design a bicycle and wayfinding network for Santa Barbara County, while San Jose will get a similar, if considerably smaller,  grant from Toyota to use AI to improve traffic safety. Never mind that we’re talking about the same advanced tech that draws people with three legs, thinks some Nazi soldiers were Black, and suggests shows Netflix couldn’t pay you to watch. Or maybe that’s just me. 

 

National

Speaking of SAFE, as we did above, the LA-based traffic safety organization offers a recap of how the auto industry killed speed governors 101 years ago, as part of their series on Why the Auto Industry Opposes Safety Improvements.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. Chicago has now installed a spacious curb-protected bike lane on a deadly street where drivers killed two teenagers riding bikes in separate crashes recently, and is in the process of building a nearby neighborhood greenway.

Boston’s new CargoB bikeshare represents what is probably the nation’s first on-demand cargo bike system.

Join the nearly 2,000 people who ride their bikes to the iconic Newport Jazz Fest each day.

 

International

A new survey shows that while a third of UK residents now bike to work, up from just 19% last year, nearly half say they can’t afford a bike, and a quarter would have to save up for six months to buy one.

Copenhagen’s new ‘CopenPay’ plan rewards tourists for choosing green activities and transportation options, like bicycling. But the BBC questions whether it actually works.

Makes sense to me. Service workers at the international airport in Frankfurt, Germany get around the massive structure on bicycles. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

Amazon is expanding it’s e-cargo bike delivery program Berlin, which look like cute-little pedal-powered cargo vans.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 81-year old man from Goa, India could be one of the country’s oldest people to bike 100 kilometers — about 62 miles.

The widow of a fallen Aussie bicyclist has filed suit against the local government, claiming that a bare metal rail blocking access to a parking lot from a shared-use path was virtually invisible and camouflaged; it’s now been covered in yellow safety stickers.

 

Competitive Cycling

A writer for Cycling Weekly rode the cobbled Paris road cycling course on a 44-pound, three-speed bikeshare bike.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying heroin and meth on your bike, and riding with an outstanding warrant, just put a damn light on it. Inflate your bike tires electronically, without deflating your wallet.

And when you’re a wanted fugitive riding your bike despite being on the lam for the last 30 years after escaping a Wisconsin rape conviction, put a rear reflector on it, already.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

SaMo approves bicycle anti-harassment ordinance, Brit press demonizes bicyclists, and Wilmington CicLAmini Sunday

May 17, 2024 / / One comment
Just 228 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’ve made it up to 1,134 signatures, so don’t stop now! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until she agrees to meet with us! 

………

It took awhile, but LA’s bicyclist anti-harassment ordinance is finally starting to spread elsewhere in Los Angeles County.

The Santa Monica City Council unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting harassment of bicyclists, while providing a private right of action for violations in civil court.

They also clarified that the law applies to both human-powered and ped-assist ebikes — but evidently, not throttle-controlled ebikes.

According to Santa Monica City Attorney Doug Sloan,

“Defining activities would prohibit physically assaulting or attempting to physically assault bicyclists because of their status of a bicyclist, threatening to physically injure a cyclist, threatening to physically injure, including by road, cyclists because of being a cyclist. intentionally distracting or attempting to distract a cyclist, intentionally forcing or attempting to enforce a bicyclist off the street or bike lane,” Sloan said.

“It’s important to note that these are purely civil remedies,” he said before clarifying that this does not require city resources to enforce this — it is not criminal. So an aggrieved individual can bring a civil action against the perpetrator. It can include if they’re liable for damages for three times heir actual damage for each violation or $1,000, whichever is greater. Moreover, they can recover attorney fees and potentially punitive damages.

“It expressly says it does not constitute a misdemeanor or infraction. And that’s essentially it,” he said.

That last part is important, because it means a cop doesn’t need to witness the violation, or ticket the driver or file charges.

However, the same problems that have limited the Los Angeles ordinance would likely limit this one, as well.

Unless you record the violation on a bike cam or cellphone, it’s difficult to gather witnesses or other evidence to offer proof of what happened.

And even with the provision for legal fees, it’s hard to find a lawyer who will take a case without the possibility of substantial damages, because the amount of work required doesn’t usually make it worth their time.

Still, it’s a move towards holding dangerous, aggressive and road-raging drivers accountable.

Let’s just hope it spreads to the other 86 cities in LA County.

………

No bias here.

The British press continued its demonization of “killer bicyclists” in the wake of a new law imposing a sentence of up to 14 years for killing someone by dangerous, careless or inconsiderate bicycling.

Which is seven years more than motorists face for a similar crime.

The London Telegraph lifted their paywall to breathlessly share a story about “reckless” bicyclists chasing Strava coms — including one person reportedly riding 52 mph in a 20 mph zone, which would be a world record speed.

A columnist for Express says it’s about time London’s “Lycra-clad maniacs” were forced to abide by the rules of the road, including such “trivialities” as traffic lights and crosswalks. Never mind that British bike riders are already subject to most of the same rules drivers are.

However, former Olympic gold medalist, Hour Record holder, and current National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman puts it in perspective.

https://twitter.com/Boenau/status/1791191381446148550

………

Don’t miss Sunday’s CicLAmini open streets event in Wilmington this Sunday. The weather should be cool, dry and partly cloudy, so it should be comfortable whether you’re riding, skating or walking.

https://twitter.com/CaltransDist7/status/1791227045793481121

………

GCN considers whether Classified’s new Powershift hub could spell the end of front derailleurs, after it was used by the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team during the Giro’s individual time trial.

………

It’s now 149 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 35 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

Once again, a British bike rider has been pushed off his bike by some jackass in a passing car when the passenger in a BMW leaned out the window and knocked a man in his 40s off his bicycle, and suffered a broken shoulder, cuts and bruises.

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

A bike rider in Singapore was fined the equivalent of $163 for running a red light while a mother was in the crosswalk pushing her child in a stroller.

………

Local 

A new Caltrans plan to rebuild and widen Lincoln Boulevard — otherwise known as PCH — where it crosses Ballona Creek will include new sidewalks and protected bike lanes, along with lighting, landscaping and signage.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition and city Arts and Culture staffers will host a Pasadena Public Art Bike Ride tomorrow morning.

 

State

He gets it. A writer for the Thousand Oaks Acorn says “Bicycling instead of driving is a great way to reduce traffic, cut pollution, and save energy while contributing to California’s climate goals.”

The Big Bear bike parks will be opening in the next few weeks, with Snow Valley Bike Park opening weekends beginning May 24th, and Summit Bike Park opening daily on June 7th.

Pleasanton seniors discuss bike safety, amid concerns that a lack of safe infrastructure will keep older people from biking.

Mission Local shares photos from San Francisco’s Ride of Silence.

San Francisco Mayor Breed promises protected bike lanes in front of City Hall, even if “some supervisors have to give up their parking spaces.”

No bias here, either. A pair of writers for El Tecolote complain about the San Francisco MTA’s approval a $1.5 million contract with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to provide bicycle education for the next five years — which works out to just $300,000 a year — saying it “frees the Bicycle Coalition to hire a phalanx of lobbyists to influence city policy with Supervisors, commissioners, and city staff in all departments.”

Sonoma County is being sued by a woman who suffered a broken neck when she hit a pothole on her bike, on the same street where another woman was seriously injured hitting another pothole ten years earlier.

 

National

If you missed yesterday’s Bike to Work/Bike to Wherever Day, you may still have time to catch it today in New York or Seattle.

Seriously? ABC network officials are reportedly mad that Good Morning America 3 host DeMarco Morgan posted an Instagram photo wearing “skin-tight bike shorts” that “doesn’t leave much to the imagination.” Except he’s actually wearing a very normal bike jersey and padded bike shorts that leave about as much to the imagination as any other spandex-clad bicyclist. 

A self-described “car guy” swapped his four wheeler for an e-cargo bike for a week, and ended up rethinking what cars are really for.

Boise, Idaho intends to become the next bicycle capital of America. Although they may have to get in line behind all the other cities with the same aspirations. 

Idaho bicyclists got donuts and French pastries for Bike to School and Work Day. Meanwhile, LA bike riders got squat.

If you build it, they will come. After going a bike lane building binge in recent years, Chicago has doubled the number of bike trips over the past five years, with the greatest increase on the city’s South Side.

 

International

Hundreds of people turned out for a two-wheeled rave through the streets of Victoria, British Columbia.

Tragic news from the UK, where a “fit and active” 80-year old man died after falling from his bike following an “incident” with a van, after he was forced to ride close to the roadway when debris in the bike path narrowed it to just two feet wide; an inspector looked at the path just weeks before his death, and said it looked just hunky dory.

An Irish advocacy group rightfully complains that less than 350 drivers were fined for parking in bike lanes throughout the entire country in one recent year.

Mobility Outlook talks with the Head of Brand for India’s Hero Cycles, which it says is helping reshape the evolving bicycling culture in India with their ebikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Two-time former world champ Julian Alaphilippe won the 12th stage of the Giro on Thursday in a solo breakaway; leader Tadej Pogačar finished in the main pack to hold on to the pink jersey.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could pay tribute to Vincent van Van Gogh — cutting off your ear is optional. Your next super-ebike mountain bike could be a McLaren, yes, that McLaren.

And there’s a new AI sheriff in town to keep you from cheating on your KOMs.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

A call to ban “bike herds” after Florida crash, the American problem of traffic violence, and LA-area bike path news

January 8, 2024 / / 3 comments
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

………

Surprisingly, last minute donations are still trickling in for the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. So thanks to an anonymous donor for their generous gift to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

While the fund drive is officially over, donations of any amount are welcome anytime, for any reason.

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Unbelievable.

After an elderly Florida woman driving on the wrong side of the road plowed head-on into a group of eight bicyclists, sending seven to the hospital — two still critical — a local news website responds by firmly assigning blame.

On the victims, of course.

Asking if “bike herds should be banned,” they say the crash “raises new questions about whether bicyclists belong on area roads.”

Often a nuisance to drivers as they ride in packs, Florida law does permit these bicyclists to use a roadway when no bike lane exists. But these bike herds rarely ride at the speed of traffic. They often seem to lack any awareness that in a bike-versus-car collision, the car almost always wins.

Although a much better question would be whether elderly drivers who can’t confine themselves to the right side of the roadway should be allowed on them.

And maybe someone could assure them that we are all quite aware that cars are bigger than we are, and they hurt.

Unfortunately, however, the writer, or writers, aren’t done yet.

Now we ask you, our readers: should packs of bicyclists be permitted on area roads? Should they be permitted to interfere with traffic? Are there times of day where bike herds should be outright banned, or conversely, are there times of day where you believe it would be okay for bicyclists to ride on area roads? And this question: does anyone really believe that tight, brightly colored spandex offers any additional safety for these people at all?

They obviously don’t realize that we only form herds for protection from apex predators in motor vehicles.

And the purpose of our tight, brightly colored spandex is to get drivers to check out our butts and massive thighs, so they might actually see us for a change.

But hopefully not from the front, as they hurtle blissfully along on the wrong side of the road.

Seriously, the site’s whole argument makes no more sense than suggesting schools should be banned to prevent mass shootings.

Meanwhile, the local sheriff’s office is responding to the wrong way crash, in which the elderly driver was 100% at fault, by reminding bike riders of their duty to obey traffic laws.

Because evidently, someone, somewhere, once rode a bicycle through a red light, which somehow caused this whole mess.

But still.

………

A CNN op-ed from journalist Jill Filipovic decries the ever-increasing death toll on American streets, arguing that “Like gun deaths, this epidemic of car-related deaths is a particularly American problem.”

One that she blames in part on the ever-increasing size of American motor vehicles. But she takes it several steps further, to look at other factors contributing to the problem.

Growing vehicle size is a big part of the problem. But it’s far from the only problem. America has too-lax road rules and too few spaces where pedestrians are prioritized. American drivers are too often distracted by cell phones (European drivers, who are much more likely to operate manual-transmission cars, are as a result less likely to have a free hand to hold a cell phone). And enforcement of existing laws is weak: In many areas, officers reportedly have been told not to pull drivers over even for breaking the law.

One solution, she says, is increased camera enforcement — like the speed cams that were recently approved for a handful of California cities, including Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach.

Along with red light cams, which are currently prohibited in the City of Angels, because drivers didn’t like getting caught breaking the same laws they accuse bike riders of breaking.

Then she adds this, making the same case I’ve been making for some time.

If your license has been suspended several times, or if you’ve been convicted of multiple DUIs, or if you have double-digit numbers of speeding tickets in your name, or if you’ve been involved in multiple crashes that were your fault, you should lose the privilege to drive entirely. And if you have a record of this kind of reckless or dangerous driving and then you hit and injure or kill someone, you should pay an especially steep price.

Yet over and over and over again, people with long records of dangerous driving are allowed back on the road; dangerous drivers often aren’t even punished when they eventually maim or kill someone, or see penalties that amount to little more than a slap on the wrist. It is exceptionally rare for a driver, even one with a history of dangerous driving, to be charged with murder when they kill someone on the road. Killing someone with a car is, in the United States, too often essentially a free pass.

It’s worth reading the whole thing.

Because things will never get better until we get dangerous cars and drivers off the roads.

Permanently.

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.

………

Thanks to Joel Falter for forwarding news that the annual maintenance work on the Ballona Creek Bike Path will begin today, with intermittent closures this week that could affect your ride or commute.

You can find a full work schedule on the Culver City website.

………

Now that nearby freeway work is nearing completion, the city is finally getting around to fixing the north end of the LA River bike path. And hopefully, connecting it to new segments in the San Fernando Valley.

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1743001554138050647

………

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been tempted to crawl over — or through — vehicles whose drivers carelessly block the crosswalk to enjoy their God-given right to turn right on red.

………

The camera aspect appears to make this look even more extreme, as if it’s not extreme enough.

Thanks to Mike Burk for the forward. 

https://twitter.com/mikeburk/status/1743918919138816270

………

19 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

LA-based former pro cyclist Phil Gaimon warned “sane motorists” about “homicidal maniacs on the road” who threaten the safety of vulnerable road users, after a driver responded to the innocuous post below showing Gaimon and friends riding past crawling I-5 traffic — on the shoulder, no less — warning that he would “turn the wheel to the right and ram you” in the same situation. If he actually said he “would,” rather than he’d like to, that constitutes a threat under California law, and should be reported to the police to get that fool off the road before he kills someone.

GCN talks with bicycling historian and journalist Peter Norton about the roots of road rage directed from drivers towards people on bicycles, driven in part by street designs that tell drivers the roads were made for them. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link. 

No bias here. A Madison, Wisconsin letter writer insists that bike riders need to pay for their own infrastructure, apparently unaware of who actually pays for local streets, or that bike riders cause a minute fraction of the damage to roadway surfaces that drivers do, and we pay the same taxes as anyone else.

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

Leaked traffic data shows that only 40% of London bike riders actually stop for pedestrians as required at the city’s floating bus stops, where people have to cross a bike lane to get it.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. Speeds clearly haven’t declined on PCH, as a speeding Malibu driver slammed head-on into three other cars at over 100 mph, then escaped after bugging out through the brush on the nearby hillside.

An unidentified Hermosa Beach bike shop was the victim of a holiday week smash and grab, after someone broke out a window to make off with a high-end bike. Thanks to Jim Lyle for forwarding the story.

Metro Bike is hosting a bikeshare community ride along the Expo Line Bike Path on January 20th. But shouldn’t the path be renamed the E Line Bike Path now, since the Expo Line doesn’t officially exist anymore?

 

State

No news is good news, right?

 

National

Chicago Streetsblog pats itself on the back for convincing a local business to stop illegally telling bike riders they can’t park there.

A Florida man argues that he is a victim of political and social manipulation of physical and circumstantial evidence, insisting that he had a legal and constitutional right to fatally shoot a bicycle-riding man during a confrontation, part of which he live streamed from his motorcycle; he’s been behind bars awaiting trail for nearly four and a half years, largely because he keeps firing his defense attorneys.

The only form of life lower than a hit-and-run driver is someone who’d flee the scene after hitting a Florida paraplegic riding a handcycle. Schmuck.

 

International

Road.cc looks at the history of the bizarre, A-framed, belt-drive Strida foldie, calling it one of the most unusual city bikes ever made. Which is an understatement. 

Costa Rica is dealing with a sharp rise in traffic deaths over the past year, as more Costa Ricans drive like Americans.

So it begins. A Toronto letter writer draws from the standard “But this isn’t Amsterdam” playbook to argue that the city will never be a bicycling paradise like Paris. (Scroll down. No, keep scrolling.)

A woman with no previous interest in bicycling decided to ride 340 miles from her home in Wales to the Eiffel Tower to honor her bike-riding father, after he died following a short battle with brain cancer.

I’m not sure if we mentioned this one from last month, as The Guardian takes a look back at the four-year history of London’s Black Unity Bike Ride, born out of Covid restrictions and a fight for racial justice; there’s a podcast version of the story if you’d rather listen than read. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

Irish police were criticized for confusing messaging that mixed the legal requirement to have lights on a bike with advice not to wear dark clothing, which isn’t required. But others applauded the cops for ticketing a lightless rider in dark clothes.

The attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea could be leading to another round of shortages of bike parts, just as the industry is recovering from the pandemic-era shortages.

A Singapore man explains how he turned his love of bicycles into a fulfilling career running a bike repair shop, despite dropping out of school at 15 — including a stint sharpening his skills in the US.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclists participating in Australian women’s road cycling championship paused for a moment of silence to honor Olympic gold medal track cyclist Melissa Hoskins, who was killed when she reportedly fell off the hood of the pickup driven by her husband, two-time world time trial champ and Tour de France stage winner Rohan Dennis; Hoskins was remembered as a “beacon of strength” and “a freewheeling spirit.”

 

Finally…

If you think pro cycling is hard, try building a Millennium Falcon out of Legos. Prepare for your next road-raging driver with new bullet-resistant ebike batteries.

And probably not the best idea to kick the cop who tells you to get off your bike in a no riding zone.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

SaMo councilor withdraws anti-bike lane motion, calling out knee-jerk anti-bike bias, and Subaru bats just 300 at missing bikes

June 15, 2023 / / One comment

It looks like the Santa Monica bike community won this one.

Streetsblog is reporting that SaMo City Councilmember Phil Brock pulled his motion calling for a report offering more options for the 17th Street protected bike lane and pedestrian improvement project, which isn’t even completely finished yet.

The site says he wanted to prevent the sort of fiasco we recently saw in Culver City, where a newly conservative council voted to remove the highly successful Move Culver City project from the downtown area.

Santa Monica councilmembers report being flooded with dueling email campaigns, with one calling for preserving the bikeway, while another from residents of the Mid-City neighborhood called for its removal.

But for a change, more emails came from predominantly younger bicycle and pedestrian safety advocates, than from the more conservative — and presumably older — neighborhood activists.

So pat yourself on the back.

Even though the councilmember now says he never really wanted to radically alter or remove aspects of the project.

Good to know.

………

Boy, does she get it.

In an op-ed for the San Francisco Chronicle, a carfree former emergency room nurse, semiretired professor and septuagenarian bicyclist writes about the knee-jerk hatred of people on bicycles, both online and in what passes for the real world these days.

The next time you are tempted to pile on to such a discussion about bicyclists, ask yourself if you are doing so because you consciously or unconsciously resent them — for taking up space on the roads, for slowing you down in your car, for seemingly being so free while you are stuck in car traffic. And if so, stop and ask yourself if you can re-envision them in a non-stereotyped way: as your own kids, grandmothers, parents or other people who are placed at risk by negative comments. Your words have the power to reinforce hurtful stereotypes or to reshape perceptions.

Ultimately, hate of bicyclists comes from the same place as racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia: a desire to cling to the status quo power arrangements that favor some over others. As the bicycle becomes re-popularized as a legitimate form of transportation, there are inevitably more conflicts with those who continually and mindlessly assert that “streets are for cars.” But just as gay people are no longer willing to stay in the closet, nor women in the kitchen, bicyclists are no longer willing to settle for crumbs in terms of use of our public roadways.

It’s more than worth reading the whole thing.

Although you’ll have to find a way past the paper’s draconian paywall to do it.

………

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says Subaru’s EyeSight crash avoidance system shows promise, reducing crashes with drivers traveling parallel to bicycles by 30 percent.

However, it only showed a modest benefit in other types of crashes, which earlier versions — like the ones tested — weren’t designed to detect.

Although that means it failed in 70% of crashes, which may be a good record in baseball, but not so much in real life when it’s your ass that’s on the line.

………

A co-working site cites Boston and Newark, New Jersey as the best cities in the US to live without a car, followed by New York, DC and San Francisco.

That’s followed by 15 other cities, none of which is Los Angeles, unsurprisingly.

………

Apparently, Los Angeles County, which is responsible for maintaining the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail, has once again allowed it to become overrun with sand.

And is apparently allowing it to stay that way, rather than promptly clearing it.

………

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

No bias here. A Wyoming police chief blames bike riders for most crashes with motor vehicles, claiming bicyclists have a misconception that they aren’t expected to obey the same traffic laws as motorists — even though the department doesn’t track bicycle crashes, so he’s really just guessing who’s actually at fault.

No bias here, either. English residents complain that “unsightly” bike hangers don’t get used, then complain when they do.

In an apparent attempt to thin the herd, Edinburgh officials say two-way street markings on a Low Traffic Neighborhood, the UK’s equivalent of our Slow Streets, will remain in place, even though they direct bike riders directly into oncoming motor vehicle traffic on the one-way street.

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

Adding insult to literal injury, an Edinburgh bike rider was convicted of dangerous bicycling after he ran a red light and was struck by a motorist.

………

Local 

The popular Ballona Creek bike path will be closed for maintenance through 3 pm today, from Duquesne Ave to Jackson Ave. Or vice versa, depending on which way you’re traveling.

 

State

San Francisco Streetsblog says the city’s Hyde Street bike lane project is garbage, suggesting the “info-free outreach and terrible designs” demonstrate how little the city’s transit agency really cares about bicycle safety.

A Chico mom worries about whether she should send her kids to school on their bikes using dangerous major streets, or ride bike paths through homeless camps where she would feel unsafe.

 

National

GearJunkie has tips on how to buy a used ebike, whether online or in person.

A German brand has introduced a sturdy and capacious, but relatively pricey, e-cargo bike, with prices rising to seven grand for a belt-drive version; meanwhile, another German bikemaker is offering a more compact e-cargo bike for over two grand less.

PinkBike editors demonstrate the bike park protective gear they actually wear.

Speaking of protective gear, Bell Sports is recalling their “Giro” Merit helmets because they don’t comply with CPSC safety standards, and could pose a risk of head injury. Which kind of defeats the purpose of a bike helmet in the first place. 

A flight website offers tips on how to fly with your bicycle, complete with a table of major airlines’ policies. Which is not the same as flying on your bicycle, which usually happens if you hit a bump or something bumps into you. 

A “semi-new” Oregon explorer offers advice on overnight bike touring and bikepacking.

That crowdfunding campaign we mentioned last week to buy a new ebike for a popular carfree, 78-year old Longmont, Colorado man after his new one was stolen has topped the $3,500 goal, which means he’ll soon be riding again.

Missoula, Montana residents are resorting to a letter-writing campaign just to get the state transportation department to fund a study of a dangerous street, in hopes it will lead to safety improvements.

Good news from Chicago, where Streetsblog editor John Greenfield is on the mend, two months after he was placed in a medically induced coma with major head trauma, as well as several broken ribs and a broken clavicle, after he was struck by a plastic pipe sticking out from a passing truck while riding his bike on the sidewalk.

A Minnesota writer wonders whether we’ll ever have a European-style bike culture in the US, in which bikes are integrated into residents lives, rather than being considered exercise or an activity.

Vermont has opened its first fully adaptive mountain bike trails offering open accessibility to all trail users, able-bodied or otherwise. Read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

 

International

Momentum Magazine considers bike buses, calling them a global trend in active school transportation.

That’s more like it. Vancouver will offer a secure bike valet service for the downtown area. That contrasts with Downtown Los Angeles, where police warn your bike may not be there when you get back.

This is who we share the road with. After a 16-year old British bike rider was run down by a female hit-and-run driver while riding in a bike lane, the boy’s mother accused her of watching Netflix as she was driving; fortunately, the victim wasn’t badly injured.

This is who we share the road with, too. Video from the UK shows impatient drivers zooming down the wrong side of the road, on a street where three bicyclists have been killed in recent years. Then again, maybe they were just visiting Americans unable to comprehend the country’s left-side driving rules.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website considers the role of big data in shaping bicycle friendly cities.

 

Competitive Cycling

Women’s WorldTour cyclists condemn organizers of the Tour Féminin des Pyrénées, which was cancelled when riders protested dangerous conditions on the final stage, after they referred to pro riders as “girls” and “spoiled children” for cancelling the tour.

 

Finally…

If you’re making off with a stolen bike, maybe try stopping for the stop signs. And thank a 17th century mathematician and scientist for your air pressure gauge.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Guns versus cars, NIMBYs want to ban beach bike bridge in park named for late bike advocate, and SaMo anti-bike bias

May 8, 2023 / / Comments Off on Guns versus cars, NIMBYs want to ban beach bike bridge in park named for late bike advocate, and SaMo anti-bike bias

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me. 

I’d like to say I’m better now, but my blood sugar is still more reminiscent of a ballistic missile than a placid stream. And my mental state is still swirling around the drain, in part due to my health issues, and in part due too many stories like the ones below. 

The former should get a boost when I see my doctor this week, and impress on her the need for more urgent and aggressive action; the latter should improve once the former does.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t count on the health of our streets getting better anytime soon. Or our society, for that matter.

Now let’s catch up on a little news. 

I’ve lost track of who sent me what over the last week, so let me just apologize in advance and thank everyone who sent me something.

And I’ll try to do better next time. 

………

This is who we share the road with.

On Saturday, an alleged rightwing extremist stepped out of a car in Allen, Texas armed with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing eight people and injuring at least seven others, before he was killed by a police officer.

The next day, a speeding driver plowed into a crowd of migrants standing outside a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people and injuring at least eleven others, in a crash witnesses allege was intentional.

If there is a difference between these two events, it appears to be one without distinction.

The body count is remarkably similar; the only difference is the choice of weapon, and the only question is one of intent. Which something tells me matters not one wit to the victims or their loved ones.

We will continue to fail as a nation, and a society, until we take comprehensive action to rein in guns and cars, and the out-of-control people in possession of both.

………

George Wolfberg, right, talks with LA County’s Kristofor Norberg.

I received an email from a friend who lives in the Pacific Palisades area while I was out of commission last week.

She writes that a new park in Potrero Canyon has been named after our mutual friend George Wolfberg, a lifelong civic advocate and volunteer who fought for better beach bike paths, bike lanes and other safety facilities to help Angelenos bike more and drive less, both for cleaner air and to combat climate change, and just for the sheer joy of riding a bike.

George worked on what will now be known as George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon for over 30 years, part of his larger vision of an interconnected Los Angeles.

What he envisioned was a park that would be open to all of the public, an oasis for recreation and beauty, in a fully sustainable environment of coastal native plants, while a restored riparian water capture system would protect the canyon.

Sadly, though, George didn’t live to see the park he worked for decades to build, passing away three years ago at age 82.

And taking nearly eight decades of civic pride and advocacy with him.

But more than just a park, George envisioned a bikeway that would safely allow average people to ride from downtown Pacific Palisades, through the park and across a bridge to the beach, as well as connecting to the bike path to take riders south to the Metro Expo (E) Line in Santa Monica, or even further to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes.

The final step seemed to be when Senator Ben Allen and others earmarked $11 million for the bridge and bikeway,

But as we’ve seen too often in the past, someone always seems to step in at the last minute to throw a wrench in the whole thing.

In this case, it’s a group of wealthy NIMBY homeowners who bizarrely don’t want bikes of any kind to besmirch a park honoring a lifelong bike advocate.

Here’s how she described it.

HOWEVER, there is a group of homeowners in the Palisades with homes on or near the rim of the park who have been very vocal about not wanting any bicycles or any type or e-bikes to be allowed in the park (which goes against what the community came to agreement upon years ago). They are making a lot of noise and asking to return the funds and cancel the bridge.

  • Even though the Coastal Development Permit for the Potrero Canyon Park requires access to the beach;
  • The Recreation and Park Board of Commissioners’ approval for the George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon envisions a bridge access across PCH to the beach parking lot;
  • A bridge would provide safe passage across PCH rather than the danger of people trying to cross through the traffic on foot;
  • The bridge is also something that Caltrans supports (and it does not support adding a crosswalk or light at that location).

Yes, they want to cancel an already funded, and potentially life-saving, bike project.

Where have we heard that before?

But here’s the problem.

Because it was assumed that this was moving forward and funds were set aside, elected officials are only hearing from people opposed to the project, and not from anyone advocating FOR the bridge.

To complicate matters, supporters of the project only learned about the opposition last Wednesday, while the vote is set for this Wednesday, May 10.

Which means if you want a bike path and connectivity to the beach via a safe bridge over PCH, you need to speak up now.

No, now.

Email your support to the following California state senators today —

I’m counting on you.

Because banishing bikes from a park named for one of their biggest advocates would be this city’s ultimate bike fail.

………

Speaking of NIMBYs, a group of motorists are once again raising their anti-bike heads to demand the removal of a SoCal bikeway, this time Santa Monica’s new 17th Street bikeway project.

And once again, they are arguing that a Complete Streets project designed to improve safety for everyone somehow makes them less safe for people in motor vehicles.

Which is just a socially acceptable way of saying they don’t want to be inconvenienced, and are willing to risk sacrificing human lives for their God-given right to go zoom! zoom! to their hearts content.

You can sign a free petition thanking the Santa Monica City Council and Mobility Division for the project, and expressing your appreciation for their work to make our streets safer.

Meanwhile, a new video explains how Santa Monica is turning into Amsterdam. And as you’d expect, drawing more people on bikes.

………

Streetsblog spots new and improved bike infrastructure in Silver Lake, after motorists managed to destructively dismantle the previous effort.

………

Streets For All will host a virtual happy hour with special guest CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez on Wednesday.

After all, anyone who could get “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo off the city council deserves all the support she can get.

………

Mark your calendars for SoCal’s largest Pride ride on June 3rd.

https://twitter.com/CulverCityPride/status/1653863048577445888

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Speaking of Culver City, drop in for a Bike Month Handlebar Happy Hour this Friday.

https://twitter.com/Atticuz85/status/1653991731980034049

Meanwhile, LA’s Bike Week is next week, while Bike Day — formerly known as Bike to Work Day — will be Thursday, May 18th; Streetsblog offers an overview of Bike Month in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

And Santa Clarita is hosting its annual Bike to Work Challenge next week, as well.

………

Gravel Bike California grinds it out in the Cleveland National Forest. Which, oddly, is nowhere near Cleveland, thankfully.

………

Count on former Talking Heads frontman and bike advocate David Byrne to make a statement in white at the Met Gala.

………

God only knows how many times I’ve been tempted to do exactly this.

………

Who needs bike shorts, when you can just ride naked like Aquaman star Jason Momoa?

Although most bike riders don’t have that little bottle to follow us around.

………

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

Good question. A Montana writer wants to know when bicycle safety became a partisan issue.

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

There’s a special place in hell for the British hit-and-run bicyclist who left a two-year old boy lying in the street, after hitting him hard enough to knock the kid out of his shoes.

A Nairobi man faces charges after he was stopped while riding the bicycle he allegedly stole during a violent robbery of the bike’s original owner; his alleged accomplices are still at large.

………

Local 

LA Times Letters Editor Paul Thornton writes about the whiplash of Culver City caving to car culture, while other cities, like Alhambra, are resisting it; he also said Culver City’s ill-advised move made it a horrible week for ‘climate friendly’ cities. 

LAist explains how you can get involved in reshaping the size and structure of the Los Angeles City Council.

 

State

Calbike is asking you to email the California State Senate and the Senate Budget Committee to demand that California policymakers to “divest from regressive road-building” and invest $10 billion in Complete Streets and California’s transportation future. Works for me.

California saw a whopping 10% increase in pedestrian deaths last year, with a pedestrian fatality rate of 1.29 deaths per 100,000 people — a full 25% above the national average.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Corona man was found guilty of killing three teenagers, and critically injuring three others, when he ran their car off the road and into a tree, for the crime of playing Ding Dong Ditch and speeding off after mooning him.

The executive director of Bike SD says San Diego’s decision to widen SR-56 simply prioritizes short-term convenience over long-term sustainability.

San Diego’s Vision Zero is going the wrong way, as bicycling and pedestrian deaths spike on the city’s streets.

Arguello Boulevard in San Francisco’s Presidio will get a protected bike lane, after world masters champ Ethan Boyes was killed there last month. Although as usual, the decision to improve a dangerous street only came after it was too late. 

Hundreds of people rode their bikes in the annual Davis Loopalooza, as residents tried to reclaim their city in the wake of a serial stabber who killed two people, including one who was killed as he rode his bike through a local park.

 

National

If your favorite cyclist or bike advocate now has a blue check on Twitter, there’s a good chance they didn’t ask for it, let alone want it.

American men are three times more likely to ride a bike as American women, unlike many other countries.

Pinkbike’s editors explain what bike saddles they use on their own bikes and why.

A Spokane, Washington woman is — allegedly — a two-time hit-and-run loser, charged with killing two people after getting drunk and falling asleep behind the wheel, a decade after she was convicted of fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider. Which is precisely why drivers should lose their license for life after a single hit-and-run, because they’ve shown themselves to be unwilling to obey even the most basic requirement for driving. Let alone human decency. 

The definition of chutzpah. An Arizona driver, apparently dissatisfied with the gentle caress on the wrist he received for the hit-and-run crash that killed a bike rider, appealed his conviction and sentence of less than six months behind bars and five years probation; thankfully, the appeals court politely told him to pipe down and do his time.

A Salt Lake City TV station takes advantage of Yellowstone’s annual carfree soft-opening for a bike ride through the snowy Wyoming national park.

A Pittsburgh columnist argues the city should commit to zero traffic deaths by 2035. Although as we’ve learned the hard way, it’s one thing to commit to no traffic deaths, but it’s another to get elected leaders to actually invest the money and make the hard choices to make it happen.

If you build it they will come. No surprise here, as a controversial Staten Island lane reduction and bike lanes is seeing more two-wheel traffic as the weather warms.

There’s something wrong when a longtime advocate for bikes and improving New York’s deadly streets becomes a victim of them.

New York’s annual Five Boro Bike Tour brought 32,000 bike riders out for a 40-mile carfree ride through the city.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. The Washington Post looks at DC’s failure to rein in dangerous drivers, as one motorist manages to run up $186,000 in unpaid traffic fines. Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until its too late.

WaPo also examines the dirty underbelly of “clean” electric vehicles, and explains why free street parking could cost you thousands more in rent.

 

International

Tragic news from the UK, where former track champ and Tour of Britain director Tony Doyle died after a brief battle with cancer; he was just 64.

An Irish columnist feels unsafe on the street after arriving at her office, then returns to find her bike missing.

They get it. France will spend the equivalent of $2.21 billion to boost bicycle use over the next five years.

More proof you can carry anything on a bicycle, as a Pakistani photographer catches a street vendor with his bike overloaded with garlic.

That’s more like it. A Johannesburg taxi driver has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed a bike rider, after driving nearly one thousand feet — more than three football fields — with the victim trapped under his van.

 

Competitive Cycling

The home side was victorious in Sunday’s stage 2 of the Giro, as Italy’s Jonathan Milan took the day, and reigning world champ Remco Evenepoel held onto the leader’s jersey.

Dutch cyclist Martijn Tusveld survived a dramatic crash late in Sunday’s stage 2, but his bike didn’t, snapping in two when he was sent flying into a roadside barrier.

Cycling Weekly profiles four-time world champ Annemiek van Vleuten, saying Remco Evenepoel isn’t the only former soccer player to win the cycling worlds.

Conservative media was up in arms over a “biological man” winning the women’s Tour of the Gila, saying it renewed calls to ban trans women from competitive cycling. Which would only seem to matter if you ignore all the other times a trans woman didn’t win.

An Ohio woman finished the 2022 Race Across America, aka RAAM, in 11 months and seven days, completing the final 262 miles ten months after a crash into a wooden bridge left her with a broken hip.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you visit a Marin bike museum, and find your mother’s seatless bike on display. Your next bike could have brake levers poking out of the handlebars, even before you crash it.

And fortunately, this helped mitigate the trauma caused when Britain’s new figurehead not only failed to include a regiment of royal corgis in the coronation parade, but didn’t even his loyal four-foot soldiers a shoutout.

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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