This is what I ran into while walking home with my dog yesterday.
This driver couldn’t be bothered to park at one of the open meters around the corner, and somehow felt entitled to park on the sidewalk just to run into 7-11.
Just for a minute, I’m sure.
But sure, tell me again about all those entitled cyclists.
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This comes up from time to time on here.
So here’s my take on bike helmets in a nutshell, in response to a question from Eban about whether I wear one, after I questioned someone’s misuse of helmet safety stats in yesterday’s post.
I never ride without one, and recognize that it may have saved my life in a solo crash. But I also know that they are designed to protect against relatively slow speed falls like mine, not high impact collisions, and don’t protect any other body parts. Too many studies cite fatalities in relation to helmet use, without indicating whether the victims actually died of head injuries. I also know that stats on helmets tend to vary widely, are often misrepresented, and tend to cited in a way that represents the perspective of the author. My take is that you are far better off avoiding a crash in the first place than relying on your bike helmet to save you, and it should always be seen as the last line of defense when all else fails, not the first.
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Today’s common theme is ebikes, in all their fame, glory and infamy.
Forbes calls this the year of the ebike — if you can manage to get past their paywall.
America’s only remaining Tour de France winner has introduced a lightweight, carbon fiber, drop handlebar ebike designed to be used on any type of road, while coming in at a relatively svelte 28 pounds.
I don’t even know what to make of this. Punk rocker and rapper Machine Gun Kelly got out of his chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce to confront DJ and social media personality Kerwin Frost on the side of a Sherman Oaks street, standing in front of the influencer’s ebike to prevent him from leaving the heated confrontation.
They get it. The Orange County Register says local cities are overreacting to ebikes, arguing that sensible regulation is fine, but enough with the hysteria. Amen, brother.
A 25-year old San Diego man was seriously injured when he crashed his ebike into the back of a parked pickup truck in the city’s Sorrento Valley; police blamed the victim for “riding at an unsafe speed for conditions.” Then again, it’s hard not to blame the victim when someone rides into a legally parked car.
A Santa Barbara wrench calls for parents to check and maintain their kid’s ebikes, saying the heavier, faster bikes could pose a danger otherwise.
The Urbanist offers tips to potential ebike buyers, as Seattle ebike sales are soaring and the state prepares to offer a rebate. Which will probably come long before California’s long-delayed ebike rebate program finally gets here.
Wyoming’s Bridger-Teton National Forest is asking for public input on a proposal to allow Class 1 ebikes on a measly 27.5 miles of existing trail in the Teton Pass; Class 2 and 3 ebikes would be prohibited.
Long Beach — no, the one in New Jersey — struggles to implement rules for ebike riding, because local residents complain about too many signs. No, really.
Porsche is driving a stake through the Croatian ebike brand Greyp, in which they own a majority stake, while shifting the bikemaker’s technology to its own in-house brand.
A pair of French bikepackers were lucky to escape injury when their ebike battery exploded as it was being charged in an Aussie hostel; the blast was caught on security cam as they fled into the hallway.
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Today’s other common theme is armed robbery.
Never mind the shooting I just hear outside my Hollywood window at 2:30 in the morning.
A Norfolk, Virginia man captured an armed robbery attempt on his rear-facing bike cam, as four men ran up from behind as he rode on a narrow bridge bikeway, pulled guns on him and sprayed him with pepper spray while demanding his bike, then ran away just as quickly; police arrested two adults and two juveniles the next day.
A pair of masked men were caught on security cam attempting to steal a man’s bike in a small English village, after using their SUV as a weapon to run the victim off the road; the bikejacking attempt ultimately failed when the homeowner came running out armed with a shovel.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Canadian Cycling Magazine shares what they say may be the scariest close-pass ever, as a speeding bus driver appears to come within a foot of a bike rider, and observes that buzzing bicyclists is one of the worst things a driver can do.
London’s Metropolitan Police tweeted out a victim-blaming call for bike riders and pedestrians to “be seen,” using an edited and discredited photo.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Scottish bike rider was caught on video yelling and swearing at an elderly woman who had the audacity to ask him to dismount on a narrow pedestrian walkway, including using the C word. Seriously, don’t do that. Show a little respect for others, and for women, and for the aged. And for yourself, for that matter.
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Local
Rather than following through on it’s climate and Complete Street commitments, Caltrans is doubling down on highway construction, announcing a nearly $300 million project along the 605 Freeway from Long Beach to San Gabriel, to “improve overall ride quality along the route while bolstering safety for drivers and for state highway workers.” Meanwhile, Car-Light Long Beach discusses the minuscule multi-modal component of the first segment.
Long Beach approved a $2.5 million contract extension to keep their existing 100-hub bikeshare program going for another year.
Jennifer Garner is one of us, going for an LA bike ride with her 14-year old daughter.
State
A man who spent three months in a coma following a DUI crash pedaled a hydro-bike nine hours from Catalina to Newport Beach to call attention to brain injuries.
A retired economics professor calls for removing San Diego’s popular Coaster train, rather than moving the tracks off a crumbling Del Mar cliff, and converting it to a bike and pedestrian trail.
National
Bicycling lists their Gear of the Year, with a nifty 50 products you can buy right now. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
A Streetsblog podcast considers what livable street means in the coming era of driverless cars.
A Minnesota man is attempting to raise a half million dollars to fight prostate cancer and schizophrenia by riding 11,000 miles around the US, all while battling stage 4 prostate cancer himself; so far he’s raised a little more that $100,000.
You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in Michigan, where a convicted drunk driver walked with just two days behind bars — and credit for time served — for the hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a 36-year old man riding a bicycle; he was sentenced to three years probation and a lousy $1,200 restitution.
A church in West Lafayette, Indiana has made it part of their mission to loan bicycles to international students at Purdue University, and will tune and repair recipients’ bikes for free; they currently have a waiting list of over 100 people. Thanks to Melissa for the heads-up.
Louisville KY will throw in the towel on its municipal bikeshare system after six years.
Three months later, police in Niagara Falls finally charged the alleged hit-and-run driver who left an 84-year man to die alone in a ditch after rear-ending the victim’s bike.
Massachusetts passed a $1 billion tax cut retroactive to the first of this year, including expanded deductions for transit and bicycle use.
Life is cheap in Florida, where police refused to charge a van driver who killed a 14-year old boy riding his bike to school, after the driver played the universal Get Out Of Jail Free card by saying he just didn’t see the kid. Well, okay then. It’s not fair to expect motorists to see a human being directly in front of their vehicle, right?
International
Bike Radar offers advice on how to make your bike more comfortable, while Road.cc recommends the best and brightest rear bike lights for day and night use.
Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a red light-running driver was fined a whole $167 for the crash that left a bike rider seriously injured — and could have that reduced to $147 if it’s paid within 30 days. And that’s in Canadian dollars, which works out to the equivalent of about $107 in US dollars.
After posting helmet cam video of a typical bike ride through the city, a London bicyclist asks readers if they’d be comfortable riding there.
A British group projected a video promoting a 20 mph speed limit on the Houses of Parliament, after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to end the mythical war on motorists.
The UK’s rolling rave returns to Sheffield, with a DJ pumping out drum and bass from his bicycle-mounted sound system.
The European Commission has released a document promoting bicycling as a safe and sustainable mode of transport, while seeking to unleash the full potential of bicycles as a “sustainable, accessible, inclusive, economical and healthy” mode of transportation.
A growing number of French companies are giving employees the chance to ditch driving by providing a company bicycle.
Competitive Cycling
Mark Cavendish announced he’ll be returning next year in an attempt to set a new record for Tour de France stage wins; he’s currently tied with the legendary Eddy Merckx at 34.
A British man just three days shy of his 86th birthday became the oldest person ever to compete in the historic Monsal Hill Climb, and plans to do it again when he’s 100.
Another British man set a new record for riding coast-to-coast across the UK from Pembroke, Wales to Norfolk, England, covering the 350-mile course in 14 hours flat, and beating the previous record by one hour and 20 minutes. One day, I hope to take our Pembroke Welsh Corgi to her ancestral home, so she can run with herds of wild corgis on the Welsh Serengeti. And yes, I only included this item so I could get that joke in.
Competing in a Mexican double deca triathlon that includes a 47-mile swim, 2237-mile bike ride, and 524-mile run is hard enough, without encountering a bike-riding ghost passing in the opposite direction.
Finally…
Sometimes, you just want a streetwear-inspired bike that screams F you to the world. We may have to deal with wild LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about getting tackled by a rogue deer while riding with your parrot.
And that feeling when you don’t realize you just won the race, so you just keep going.
Yes, he stopped.
Yes, he won.
Yes, he celebrated.Champ. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/wbpAud0uTV
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) October 3, 2023
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
