Glad to see we all made it through the holiday weekend.
I’d like to say we have a lot to catch up on, but there wasn’t a lot of bike news online over the weekend. And of the first four stories I had bookmarked today, three were hidden behind paywalls, and the fourth was written in Indonesian.
So we’ll just have to make do with what we’ve got.
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A 38-year old woman, identified as Asandria Jacobo, was killed in a collision while riding an ebike in Colton Friday night.
But as usual, there was no clarification whether she was on a Class 1, 2 or 3 ped-assist bike, or one of the more common e-motorbikes or electric dirt bikes.
Witnesses said that the Jacobo crashed into the side of an SUV after running a red light, but that has not been confirmed by the police.
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I mentioned last week that my Assembly Member, Rick Chavez Zbur, had signed a letter urging Los Angeles officials to halt safety work on Forest Lawn Drive, and publicly supported and voted for SB 194, a last minute bill to effectively halt any lane reductions on the street for the foreseeable future.
I also said that I would reach out to Zbur’s opponent in the November election, fellow Democrat Colin Hernandez, for his comments on the bill, and on Forest Lawn Drive.
For the sake of openness, I am sharing the email I sent to Hernandez’ campaign. I’ll let you know if I hear back.
Good morning,
I am the editor of BikinginLA.com, a leading site for bicycle news and advocacy in Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular.
As you may be aware, Forest Lawn Drive has been one of the most dangerous streets in the Los Angeles area, with four fatal crashed in the last 13 years — the last one less than one month ago. After years of public meetings and re-engineering to address community concerns, a fully funded and shovel-ready safety project was scheduled to begin this past June, before it was put on pause at the last minute by Mayor Karen Bass.
Her action came at the urging of the owners of Forest Lawn and Mt. Sinai cemeteries, who together have spent over $360,000 lobbying city and state officials to stop the project, which they believe will cause massive traffic congestion, interfering with mourners’ ability to reach the cemeteries.
Your opponent in the November election, Assembly Member Rich Chavez Zbur, was one of five Los Angeles-area legislators who signed an April letter calling for a halt to the project.
Then the state legislature passed SB 194, which was introduced at the last minute, and written halt any lane reduction projects in cities of 2 million population or more, on streets with containing two or more adjacent cemeteries — which would apply only to Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles, and nowhere else in the state. Assuming Governor Newsom signs it, it would effectively halt any safety projects on Forest Lawn Drive for the foreseeable future.
Assembly Member Zbur both publicly supported and voted for the bill.
I am writing to ask if you have any comment on the legislation, or the safety of automobile, bicycle and pedestrian traffic on Forest Lawn Drive, that I can share with my readers, whether you agree with Zbur and Bass in halting the project, or have a different stance on the matter.
I will be happy share any comment you care to provide in response to this email, or by calling the numbers below at your convenience any afternoon or evening this week.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation, and I’ll look forward to hearing from you or your representative.
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The popular Ballona Creek bike path was closed Monday after a body was found in or near the water around 9 am, just north of Lincoln Boulevard.
The victim had reportedly been dead for a few days when he was discovered, and appeared to have a hole in his head.
The area had been plagued by gang violence in the past, but that seemed to have abated in recent years.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A 17-year old Irish boy was killed in what may have been an intentional hit-and-run crash; the driver’s car was found partially burned the next morning. He had texted a friend prior to the crash that he was being followed.
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Local
The old cliche that they always return to the scene of the crime was right this time, when a man was arrested for stealing a $5,000 bicycle from a Hollywood Hills garage, after he returned to the same neighborhood a few days later.
Secret Los Angeles looks at the not-so-secret plans to close the infamous eight-mile gap in the Los Angeles River bike path through DTLA.
I can personally attest that All About the Cinnamon in Sherman Oaks is the best Black-owned, rap-themed cinnamon roll bakery in the state, if not the nation.
State
Calbike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey is a fan of Waymo, seeing expansion of the autonomous cabs as a benefit for bike riders, rather than a concern. Although I’m more excited about the next item, as freed-slave turned successful businesswoman Biddy Mason finally gets her due in DTLA.
A hit-and-run driver critically injured a 27-year man in Escondido Saturday night, failing to stop after right-hooking the victim as he was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk, leaving the victim bleeding in the street with life-threatening injuries; police are looking for a light-colored SUV with tinted windows, possible a Ford Expedition or Explorer.
Police in Salinas arrested a 32-year old hit-and-run driver who killed a man riding a bicycle last month.
A 23-year old man was killed in a collision that was a hit-and-run near Salinas involving multiple vehicles, until it wasn’t; the CHP initially said the victim was hit by at least two drivers, one of whom fled the scene, but they later corrected it to say the victim fell in the roadway and was run over by a pickup driver, who stopped after the crash. No explanation was given for the confusion.
National
This is the cost of traffic violence. Friends remember an 85-year old Boulder, Colorado man who was killed by a driver — not a “car,” thank you — while riding his bike; in addition to still riding his bike, he also held several martial arts black belts. The only belts I ever held kept my pants from falling off.
Hats off to 18-year old Finn Fremstad, who graduated from my Colorado alma mater this May, then hopped on his bike a month ago to ride 2,000 miles for his first day at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia. And probably learned more in those 31 days on a bike than he will in his first year of college.
Thousands of bicyclists turned out for Chicago’s 25th Bike the Drive, giving bike riders a carfree experience on 30 miles of Lake Shore Drive, showing riders what the city could be. Just like CicLAvia reveals what Los Angeles could be, but isn’t.
The Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets explains how Somerville, Massachusetts got down to zero traffic deaths for the past four years. Of course, it’s easier to achieve Vision Zero with a population on just 81,000. But still.
Streetsblog New York introduces a retirement-aged lawyer and convicted fraudster who keeps suing the Mamdani administration over bike lanes, to little or no success.
A Princeton, New Jersey writer explains that a new bike lane isn’t necessarily an underutilized frill, but rather, could be under used because it’s just part of a still-evolving network.
Tragic news from Connecticut, where a sixth grader was killed by a school bus driver while riding his bike — not in a collision with a school bus, thank you — when the driver apparently turned left as he was passing the bus, since he was struck by the vehicle’s left front wheel.
International
No surprise here, as the world’s happiest countries are the top bike-friendly ones, too.
The Onion says Google Maps is introducing crawling directions for bike riders hit by trucks. Although Google Maps also says there’s a Lake America between the US and Canada, so what the hell do they know?
A 51-year old Toronto man spent the last five-and-a-half years riding every street and trail in the city, a total of more than 4,200 miles. Which seems impressive, until you consider that Marc Pappas is nearing the finish line of riding all 7,500 miles of Los Angeles streets. Okay, it’s still pretty damn impressive.
Road.cc takes a backwards glance at ten British mountain bike brands that have bitten the dust, starting with last week’s death of the iconic Raleigh badge.
Who knew that 20 mph speed limits were bad for drivers’ mental health?
A Bangladeshi writer asks if there’s enough room on the city’s streets for bike riders, since the bike paths are full of potholes and trash.
Competitive Cycling
Wout van Aert won the final stage of the Vuelta before Monday’s rest day, his second win in three days, as Enric Mas held onto the red leader’s jersey.
In the final part of a video series, ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis explains how and why he blew the lid off the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
A Colorado paper covers the sixth edition of a 643-mile gravel race from my bike-friendly Colorado hometown to tiny Trinidad, Colorado. The town of just over 8,000 people was formerly known as the sex-change capital of the US, until a doctor specializing in the surgery retired or died. Now it seems to be best known for still being there.
Finally…
That feeling when the bike path you’re riding on could have been your juice bottle a decade earlier. Or when your new bike shelter is your old wind turbine blade.
And that feeling when Lycra is proibito, and don’t even think about clipless pedals.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
