Tag Archive for Beach Streets

Tell feds to cancel deadly trucks & SUVs, photos from Saturday’s Beach Streets, and what passes for bike lanes in CD3

May 23, 2023 / / One comment

Here’s your chance to tell the feds to stop allowing massive trucks and SUVs that seem intentionally designed to kill anyone outside the vehicle.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, is asking for input to draft new crashworthiness regulations to help improve safety for vulnerable road users, like bike riders and pedestrians.

Tell ’em it’s long past time to make vehicles safer for vulnerable road users like us.

Meanwhile, as long as we’re talking about feds, the US Department of Transportation has introduced their new Equitable Transportation Community (ETC) Explorer.

The tool is designed to help city planners, advocates, and elected officials plan more equitable transportation investments targeting traditionally underserved communities.

Which may be a mouthful, but it’s badly needed to help correct the deadly inequities on our streets, where people in low income communities or communities of color are more likely to be killed while biking or walking.

Photo by David Drexler from Long Beach Beach Streets (see below).

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Yesterday we shared David Drexler’s photos from the official opening of the new Mark Bixby bike-ped path over the International Gateway Bridge.

Today he’s kind enough to share a few photos from Saturday’s Beach Streets open streets event in downtown Long Beach.

Let’s just hope he got there early, and it was more crowded than the photos suggest.

Photos by David Drexler

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Good question.

Unfortunately, you can find substandard bike lanes like this in underserved neighborhoods all over the LA area.

https://twitter.com/gatodejazz/status/1660863095927873538

On the other hand, this is what you end up with when elected leaders actually give a damn.

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Calbike is urging you to contact your state assemblymember to call for passage of AB73, the latest attempt to pass the Bicycle Safety Stop, aka Stop as Yield.

The bill is intended to improve safety by allowing bike riders to roll through stop signs when there’s no conflicting traffic, and it’s safe to do so.

Assuming it can get past Governor Newsom’s veto pen this time.

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Put this on a T-shirt, and I’m all in.

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The creator of Sherlock Holmes was one of us.

And he’s right.

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

No bias here. After an elderly Hawaiian man died crashing his bike in an apparent solo fall, officials said his death wouldn’t count towards the county traffic fatality totals because he was riding a bicycle instead of driving a car.

No bias here, either. The Dallas Morning News reports someone stole a Dallas city bus, then crashed it into several parked cars and a bicycle. But they wait until the penultimate paragraph to mention that someone was actually riding that bike at the time; fortunately, the bike rider wasn’t injured.

A car passenger was caught on camera throwing trash at a British man as he rode his bike, even though he was riding with his four-year old son.

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

Two Louisiana schools were put on lockdown when a man was seen carrying a rifle on his bicycle; police gave the all-clear when they determined he was just taking it to a pawn shop.

Commenters are praising a Dollar General manager who used her car to run down an alleged shoplifter making off on his bicycle, even though she could — and perhaps should — be charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

https://twitter.com/4Mischief/status/1659997986284355586?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1659997986284355586%7Ctwgr%5E100edd9a18e866a2b8543c811c1d87f8ae365e1e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Fdollar-general-employee-chase-down-thief-viral-1801733

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Local 

Streetsblog offers photos and an open thread from LA’s first CicLAmini on Sunday.

Urbanize reports on Saturday’s opening of the new Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle-Pedestrian Path on the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge, offering expansive views from 205 feet above the Port of Long Beach.

Right now, you can get $600 off a new e-cargo bike from LA-based Cero One.

 

State

San Diego bike riders are dealing with a problem familiar to riders in other parts of the state, as trash and debris from a homeless camp piles up on an Ocean Beach bike path leading to the beach; a homeless advocate blames downtown sweeps that push homeless people to other parts of the city. Although as inconvenient as it is for people on bikes, not having a home is probably worse.

Fresno bike riders will get new protected bike lanes on four busy streets.

Unlike most other major US cities, San Francisco continues to improve safety for bike riders, as bicycling deaths dropped 58% over last year, averaging just 1.4 fatal bike crashes for every million residents. That compares to approximately 3.5 bike deaths for every million residents in Los Angeles last year.

This is who we share the road with. A Sacramento area man was killed by a 17-year old driver after successfully shepherding a family of baby ducks across the road.

 

National

Bicycling warns about the swayback position, saying you should check your posture on your bike if you get lower back pain. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Road Bike Action considers how an ebike can help people improve their general health and well-being by leading a more active life.

Men’s Journal recommends the year’s best gravel bikes.

Travel + Leisure recommends the unpaved, 100-mile White Rim Road in Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, which takes three to four days to travel by bike.

Denver’s ebike rebate program is accomplishing its goal of getting people out of their cars, helping replace an estimated 100,000 vehicle miles per week.

A 62-year old Chicago man was the victim of a vicious attack when he was struck with a construction sign by another man while riding along a sidewalk, then beaten with his own bicycle, all for no apparent reason; he was hospitalized in critical condition.

Michigan parent groups are urging the state to adopt a mandatory helmet law for children, even though helmet laws have been shown to reduce childhood bicycling rates.

Anonymous donors have given over $3,000 to a private fund in Kalamazoo, Michigan to help solve crashes involving bicyclists.

New York is producing a series of themed self-guided route maps to encourage people to explore the city by bike.

A writer for the American Conservative says the outrage over the hospital worker who tried to wrest a bikeshare bike from a black teenager just reflects America’s “racism shortage.”

Frightening crime in Mobile, Alabama where a man riding a bicycle was forced off the road by a couple in a pickup, then robbed of his bike at gunpoint.

 

International

Cycling Weekly has declared this ebike week, offering a series of articles offering tips, advice and know-how.

In a result that shouldn’t surprise anyone, the removal of a highly praised bike lane in Vancouver’s Prospect Park has only resulted in more traffic congestion, not less, suggesting that maybe the bike lane wasn’t the problem after all.

A pair of writers for Outside take a blind ride down Quebec’s newest lift-accessed mountain bike park. Which probably doesn’t mean what you think.

Sports journalist Claude Droussent discusses his new crowdsourced guide to the best bicycling routes throughout the continent.

British motorists are “furious” about a confusing new road layout with a center-running bus lane, a spacious two-way bike lane, and walking paths on both sides of the road. All of which seems pretty damn clear to me.

The leader of a Malta bicycle advocacy group says narrowing traffic lanes without providing protective barriers for bike riders will only encourage speeding.

A writer compares riding on the volcanic island of Tenerife to a lava-filled moonscape, ending with a dinner of fresh squid at a bike-friendly hotel.

 

Competitive Cycling

Legendary sprinter Mark Cavendish is calling it a career, confirming that he plans to retire at the end of this year; the director of the Tour de France called him the greatest sprinter in the history of the Tour, and in history, period. Meanwhile, Wale’s Geraint Thomas says he has no plans to follow his friend into retirement.

England’s Lizzie Deignan says the increasing ability of both men’s and women’s cyclists mean the sport is getting harder than it’s ever been, which she says it great.

Retired ‘cross champ Hannah Arensman spoke out about why she quit the sport after losing a podium spot to a transgender woman, who Fox News insists on calling by her former male name.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could come with a built-in Bluetooth speaker, even if you can’t hear it over city traffic. Evidently, you can still ride a bike, even when you’re next in line for the throne.

And that feeling when you go out for a ride on your ebike, and end up in the Giro.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

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

May 19, 2023 / / 2 comments

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

And worse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Local 

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

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

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

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

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

 

State

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

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

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

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

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

 

National

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

International

Momentum Magazine considers the best bike gear for spring riding.

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

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

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

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

 

Finally…

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

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

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

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Welcome to Bike Week LA, Tour de Palm Springs jury deliberating, and longtime LA County official Gloria Molina dies

May 15, 2023 / / 2 comments

If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. 

Just when I got my doctor to get more aggressive in treating my diabetes, something else came up to knock me on my ass. 

Wednesday night I went out to walk the dog, and by the time I got back, I was feeling the full effects of what was apparently a sudden-onset stomach virus, or maybe an adverse reaction to a new med. 

We’ll find that part out when I take it again on Tuesday. 

I’m not saying I was sick. But I lost a full eight pounds literally overnight, and was completely out of it until late Friday. 

So my apologies once again for yet another unexcused absence — something I’ve written so many times that my laptop is now autosuggesting the phrase for me. 

Honestly, I do my best to be here for you every morning. But after a lifetime of pushing my body to respond to ever-increasing demands, on and off the bike, it’s now saying “fuck you” on an ever more frequent basis.

Which is about the best way I can describe diabetes and all its multitude of complications. 

Seriously, you don’t want this shit. 

So if you’re at risk, whether from weight, family history or any other factor, get yourself tested. 

No, now. 

And do whatever it takes to turn your health around so you don’t get it. 

Now I’ll get off my damn soapbox and catch up with the news, because we have a lot to catch up on. 

Photo by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay.

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Welcome to Bike Week, the one week of the year when elected officials, government bureaucrats and the news media join in one voice to celebrate all things bikes.

As opposed to the other 51 weeks of the year, when they either ignore us, or actively try to kill us.

Santa Clarita is conducting their annual Bike to Work Challenge this week, encouraging business employees to commute by bike for the full week.

Long Beach is hosting the return of its “beloved” Beach Streets Open Streets event to the downtown area on Saturday.

Metro has unveiled their new line of bikewear and accessories. If anyone has me on their Christmas in July Secret Santa list, I’ll take the Every Lane Is A Bike Lane backpack, thank you. 

Other Metro highlights for Bike Week include —

  • May 18 is Bike to Work Day and we’re offering free 30 minute rides all day long. Simply choose 1-Ride in the app, online or at a kiosk and use code 051823. Metro Bus and Rail are also free- no tapping required. Code can be used multiple times throughout the day. Usage fees apply over 30 minutes.
  • There are two opportunities to join us on your commute. The first 10 Metro Bike Share Passholders at each event will receive a limited-edition mug! May 18 – North Hollywood Station, 8 -11 am and May 19 – Downtown Santa Monica Station, 8-11 am.
  • May 18 and 19, the 365-Day Pass is just $75. That’s a 50% savings! To purchase, select 365-Day Pass in the app or online and enter code BIKETOWORK23.Offer valid for first time 365-Day Passholders, 5/18/23 – 5/19/23 only. Code valid for Full Fare and Reduced Fare Passes.
  • May 21– CicLAmini Watts, presented by Metro will be a more pedestrian-oriented event than the typical CicLAvia, but sure to be just as special. Metro Bikes will be available to check out on a first come, first served basis from 9am-2pm. If you wish to check out a bike, get prepared by downloading the app. See you there!

Meanwhile, Glendale is jumping the gun by hosting their Bike to Work Day a day earlier on Wednesday. Go Glendale and Walk Bike Glendale will host a pitstop at 800 N Brand from 8 am to 10 am on Wednesday, with another pit stop hosted by the City of Glendale at the Glendale City Hall from 8 am to 10 am, .

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Jury deliberations are set to resume today in the trial of Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr. for killing Washington resident Mark Kristofferson, and severely injuring Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers, in an alleged high-speed DUI crash in the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs.

Huerta was allegedly high on weed and driving without a license when he ran down Kristofferson at speeds up to 100 mph; he was arrested after being detained by witnesses in a nearby field as he attempted to run away on foot.

The jury halted their work Friday evening after two days of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

Huerta is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

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Sad news this morning, as groundbreaking populist LA political lead Gloria Molina has passed away at age 74, following a three-year battle with cancer.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Molina was California’s first Latina Assembly member, the first Latina to serve on the LA City Council, and the first Latina on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.

I honestly can’t tell you what Molina’s record on bikes was.

But she spent her entire career fighting for undeserved communities, particularly on the East Side of Los Angeles.

And that’s good enough for me.

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Streets For All is hosting a volunteer meet-up and bike ride tomorrow at Union Station night.

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This has got to be me from a prior life. Unless maybe it’s you.

But it’s got to be one of us, right?

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Okay, I’m moving there.

But where is Ghent, anyway? Oh, who cares, I’m going.

https://twitter.com/_dmoser/status/1657261388878970885

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Remarkable — and questionable — story, as a specially abled Indian man claims to have ridden 2,300 miles in just four and a half days, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Questionable because that works out to 511 miles a day, or 21 miles an hour, every hour for 108 hours — without rest stops.

Stopping to rest or sleep would push that hourly figure even higher. Even just six hours of daily rest time would require averaging 28 mph for the other 18 hours straight, which seems unlikely.

But maybe some randonneurs out there can tell us how likely it really is.

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

No surprise here, as bike groups join with Democrats to call on Utah Senator Mitt Romney to rethink his comments calling bike lanes “the height of stupidity.” Actually, a lot of them are, but not for the reasons he thinks.

Road.cc deconstructs the so-called war on motorists, concluding it’s nothing more than encouraging people to drive less and consider alternative forms of transportation — despite the ongoing backlash.

A British Member of Parliament dismissed bicyclists’ concerns over new regulations allowing longer trucks on the country’s roads, bizarrely suggesting that they were “good for road safety.”

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

Demonstrating that some people just don’t get it, a Lycra-clad English bike rider stopped several cops who were targeting speeding drivers, asking if they didn’t have anything better to do. He should have thanked them for trying to save his life, and everyone else on the roadway, instead. 

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Local 

Yes, please. The LA City Council is considering a proposal to turn some peak-hour traffic lanes into bus lanes, which could also be used by people on bicycles; they’ve instructed LADOT to report back on converting lanes on Alvarado Street, Vermont Blvd, and La Brea and Roscoe avenues.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton say nice try LADOT, but the new plans to curb illegal street racing in Angelino Heights by Fast & Furious fans doesn’t go nearly far enough, as the city’s first round of changes are nearly complete.

Pasadena is nearing completion of the Union Street protected bikeway project, with a two-way bike lane on Union from Hill Ave to Arroyo Parkway, and a bike boulevard on Holliston Ave between Union and Cordova streets.

Writing on her Good Mom, Bad Mom blog, Redondo Beach resident Dr. Grace Peng urges you to respond to the Metro Active Transportation Corridor survey about remaking Redondo Beach Blvd, and offers a local’s perspective on how to answer those questions to help turn the current car sewer into something that safely serves all of us.

Kourtney Kardashian is one of us, as the British tabloids freak out when she rode a bike with her shirtless, shoeless and helmet-less eight-year old son standing on the rear wheel pegs.

 

State

Calbike is calling on California to boost its relatively meager $10 million funding for ebike tax credits to a more reasonable $50 million; California’s current funding is $2 million less than Colorado’s new ebike rebate program, despite having almost seven times the population.

Calbike also offers a tutorial intended to demystify California’s arcane budget process.

Patch considers six California bike laws you probably don’t know. All of which you probably do know, although some drivers may not. Okay, a lot of drivers.

Streets For All says state Assemblymember Chris Holden holds the key committee vote on legislation to approve speed cams, and study the impact of vehicle weight fees on pedestrians deaths; the group urges you to contact his office to urge their passage, even if you don’t live in his district.

A 47-year old San Diego man was rushed into surgery for a broken wrist and other non-life-threatening injuries suffered when he allegedly rear-ended a car stopped at a red light while riding an ebike at a high rate of speed.

That’s more like it. Bike riders in San Mateo County can now use a website to report violations of the state’s three-foot passing law online.

He gets it. A Palo Alto op-ed writer says safer streets, rail crossings and bike paths are key to a better community.

A San Francisco bike shop is shutting down, saying it’s a victim of repeated thefts and break-ins, a slow economy and a seemingly unending series of storms that kept customers away.

Megan Lynch forwards news that UC Davis is getting a new bike counter, after a reckless driver killed the last one.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers advice on the highly underrated skill of looking back to check traffic or riders behind you while maintaining your line.

Seventy-four-year old Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer has been pushing for bike legislation for nearly 30 years, as advocates gathered for a Friday bike ride through DC to call for more money and safer streets.

She gets it. An Albuquerque columnist suggests New Mexico should adopt a statewide Vision Zero program, comparing their more than 150 traffic deaths last year to Jersey City, New Jersey’s zero.

Denver residents enjoyed the city’s first Viva Streets open streets event, closing 3.5 miles of downtown streets to cars while opening them up for people.

It’s now been three years since a Colorado woman vanished with a trace on a Mother’s Day bike ride; Suzanne Morphew’s husband was arrested in her disappearance nearly a year after searchers found her helmet and mountain bike, but charges were dropped in a pre-trial hearing because her body still hasn’t been found.

Lincoln, Nebraska’s chief deputy swears he only looked down for a moment to switch the radio station when he ran down a nine-year old girl riding her bike, leaving her with multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed, fractured shoulder, injured knee and road rash. Any bets on how long it will take them to blame the victim?

Ten years and 180 million rides later, New York officials look back at the improbable success of the city’s bikeshare system.

President Joe Biden continues to be one of us, talking to the press about the calmer-than-expected US-Mexico border during a bike ride through Delaware’s Gordons Pond State Park.

 

International

Residents of North Montreal rallied to demand more bikeways after living with just one protected bike lane for the last 40 years, as the city backed out of a promise to build four bike paths in the neighborhood this year, instead committing to just three.

A Montreal bike shop has kept it in the family since 1948.

He gets it, too. A Toronto columnist calls for residents who use food delivery services to fight to keep bike lanes, saying they should be concerned for the safety for the bike couriers who deliver their food.

Heartbreaking news from the UK, where a 56-year old English man died of a heart attack while riding his bike, just an hour after snapping a smiling selfie. Although someone should tell the Daily Record that seemingly healthy people sometimes suffer from undetected health problems, which is why everyone who rides a bike should see a doctor on a regular basis. Then again, so should everyone else. 

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 43-year old former soccer player got just two years and four months behind bars for the horrifying, drunken hit-and-run that left a bike-riding woman in her 70s with life-changing injuries; he was four times the legal limit when he knocked her off her bike, then slowly drove over her with all four wheels. There’s video of the crash, but consider whether you really want to watch it, because you can’t unsee it if you do.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, will have some penance to do after he was fined the equivalent of $625 for driving 25 mph in a 20 mph zone.

A Dublin, Ireland city official warns of inevitable conflicts between bike riders, pedestrians and e-scooter users in the city parks — despite just eleven such incidents in the last eight years.

The European Cyclists’ Federation name Helsingborg, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; and both Essen and Heidelberg, Germany best in class cities at this year’s Velo-city conference.

In a study that should put questions about the health benefits of ebikes to rest, German researchers find that regularly riding an ebike can cut the risk of a heart attack by 40%.

The Malta Times calls for putting the brakes on road anarchy in the island nation, saying traffic enforcement has moved from essential to critical.

 

Competitive Cycling

Big plot twist in the Giro, where race leader Remco Evenepoel was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid, just after regaining the pink leader’s jersey with a victory in the time trial.

 

Finally…

Your Peloton bike could go somewhere after all, after 2 million of the stationary bikes were recalled. Never bring a knife to a bike theft gunfight.

And what do you call a marching band that rides bikes, instead?

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Garden Grove bike rider critical after alleged DUI hit-and-run, coronavirus hits bike world, and NoHo road rage on video

March 4, 2020 / / One comment

Once again, an alleged Orange County drunk driver fled the scene after slamming into someone on a bicycle.

The Monday night crash in Garden Grove left a man in critical condition with major head trauma.

And yes, the victim reportedly had the right-of-way.

Not that it mattered.

Garden Grove resident Victor Medina was arrested a quarter-mile away when police found his Chevy Suburban with major front-end damage, while Medina showed signs of intoxication.

Anyone with information is urged to call Garden Grove Traffic Investigator Paul Ashby at 714/741-5823.

Let’s hope the victim makes a full and fast recovery.

Image by 4711018 from Pixabay.

………

The COVID-19 coronavirus continues to take a toll on this year’s cycling season.

Italian spring classics Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adratico and Milan-San Remo may be the latest victims of the virus, as reports circulate that they will be cancelled to prevent spread of the disease.

France’s Paris-Nice stage race will go on, but all teams will be tested for exposure to coronavirus.

The Tokyo Olympics could be postponed until the end of the year.

Another six people have tested positive for coronavirus following the cancellation of the UAE Tour. Three teams remain quarantined, while a fourth is in self-imposed isolation.

The annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show has been postponed until August, in hopes that COVID-19 will run its course by then.

And Monterey, California’s annual Sea Otter Classic is still on for now, though organizers are closely monitoring the situation before next month’s event.

Meanwhile, an SFist op-ed suggests working from home and walking or biking everywhere.

In other words, what some of us do every day, anyway. Virus or not.

………

A quick reminder that CicLAvia isn’t the only open streets game in town.

………

This is who we share the roads with, North Hollywood edition.

https://twitter.com/BENBALLER/status/1235013923193012224

………

Local

An “historic” former Silver Lake gas station will presumably be disassembled and moved to a new spot somewhere on the LA River to serve as a concession stand, bike repair and rental station — if an appropriate spot can be found.

Self-driving cars may not be ready for primetime, but WeHo will now allow autonomous Postmates delivery robots on the sidewalks.

Don Ward, Jesi Harris, Shane Phillips and CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew talk housing and transportation on the latest Bike Talk podcast. 

Speaking of Rynew, he’s quickly becoming Southern California’s bard of gravel as he documents Gravel Bike California’s Verdugo Adventure.

 

State

Kindhearted Paso Robles residents dug into their pockets to buy a new adaptive bicycle for a four-year old girl with a rare genetic disorder.

A Livermore teenager got his hot bike back after police stopped a man who was pushing it while acting strangely.

A new interactive map shows the most dangerous places for bike riders in Santa Clara County. Although Robert Leone questions whether defense lawyers will use it to argue that bicyclists should have known better than to ride there. Or that their clients can’t be guilty, because officials should have fixed the problems right away. Which they should, but still.

A bike helmet handed out a year ago by a Sacramento police detective is credited with possibly saving a young girl’s life in a crash that was investigated by the same officer who gave it to her.

 

National

A writer for Streetsblog argues that right-of-way laws are where America went wrong.

Residents of a Las Vegas neighborhood want a new bike lane removed because they didn’t see a lot of bike riders riding there before it went in. Which is kind of like saying they didn’t see a lot of cars crossing the desert before the roads were built, either.

Life is cheap in Iowa, where a retired cop walked with a shameful two years probation for the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle. If you ever wonder why people keep dying on our streets, the failure of our court system to hold drivers accountable for killing people — let alone fleeing the scene afterwards — is Exhibit A.

A Licensed Cycling Instructor in Missouri realizes, perhaps belatedly, that bikes are good for transportation as well as recreation.

According to a writer for Streetsblog, alleviating the “financial burden of car ownership” should be part of the Chicago mayor’s plan to end poverty in the city.

A writer in Martha’s Vineyard recalls an 1896 bicycling event that reportedly devolved into a disgraceful, disorderly riot of drunken orgies and property destruction. So in other words, nothing’s changed in the past 124 years.

A Rochester NY public radio station discusses the city’s bike culture and the need to share the road, in the wake of the pizza driver who hit a bike rider, then sued him for damage to his car.

No bias here. A Staten Island op-ed argues that speed cameras placed near schools are just a money grab, because if officials really wanted drivers to slow down, they’d say where the cameras are. That way drivers could slow down for half a block to avoid a ticket, then speed up and resume putting the lives of little kids at risk.

A DC councilmember pulls a proposal for a protected bike lane in the face of opposition from several nearby African American churches.

 

International

Cycling Weekly suggests making your own environmentally friendly degreaser. Although the greasy gunk it removes won’t be.

After a Swiss round-the-world bicyclist had his $8,000 Surly stolen in New Zealand, a Good Samaritan gave him his own nearly identical bike to finish the ride.

Credit a crash with a bike rider for helping doctors discover a benign brain tumor that had plagued an Australian woman’s health for years.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — riding the “roller coaster roads, dirt trails and empty beaches” of southeast Thailand.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news, as former pro Nicolas Portal, director sportif of the Ineos cycling team, died in his home of an apparent heart attack; he was just 40.

Orange County’s Over the Hump mountain bike race series returns on May 5th.

VeloNews looks at San Diego County’s nine-year old Belgian Waffle Ride, calling it a “brutal mix of Liége-Bastogne-Liége and Il Lombardia, only with a heavy dusting of dirt and trail,” while riders describe it as wild ride that defies definition.

 

Finally…

If you’re carrying stolen salmon filets on your bike, don’t ride that way — and put a damn light on it. If you’re going to ride a stationary bike, you might as well make margaritas while you’re at it.

And as a matter of fact, I have seen a drag queen riding in a bike lane in West Hollywood.

More than once.

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

Morning Links: DIY red cup protected bike lanes today, LA traffic deaths up despite Vision Zero, and a busy bike weekend

April 26, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: DIY red cup protected bike lanes today, LA traffic deaths up despite Vision Zero, and a busy bike weekend

It’s National Red Cup Project Day. 

So go out and stake out your own protected bike lane by using your favorite brand of plastic red cups to mark your favorite bike lane for just a few bucks.

And knowing LA drivers, for just a few minutes before they run them over anyway.

But still.

Then send me the photos or video, and I’ll post them on here.

………

Good piece from the LA Times’ Laura Nelson, who writes that, despite Vision Zero, traffic fatalities are up significantly in Los Angeles; advocates blame inaction by the city and a lack of commitment to improve safety if it means inconveniencing drivers.

I’d say that about sums it up.

………

It’s a busy bike weekend in the LA area.

Culver City is looking for volunteers to clean up Ballona Creek on Saturday, presumably including the bike path.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield hosts his annual Blumenfield Bike Ride in Reseda Saturday morning.

Long Beach’s popular Beach Streets open streets event takes place on Saturday, as well.

And the ever-popular CicLAvia rolls through the streets of Wilmington on Sunday, with their first event of 2015.

………

KCBS-2 looks forward to Monday’s arrival of LA’s first two-way bike lane on Spring Street in DTLA.

Although unlike the photo they use to illustrate the story, it probably won’t be cobbled.

………

Kindhearted Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies surprised a young boy with a new bike after his was stolen; credit the local Bicycle John’s outpost for donating the bike.

Thanks to Nina Moskol, Chairperson of the Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition for the heads-up.

Speaking of Santa Clarita, the city’s mayor looks forward to next month’s visit by the Amgen Tour of California, while encouraging residents to explore the city by bicycle.

And a columnist for The Signal decries a “relative bloodbath of pedestrian and bicycle accidents” in the area, saying more must be done to improve safety, especially on busy six-lane McBean Parkway.

………

Today’s common theme: mountain bikes.

Recently retired football great Rob Gronkowski is one of us; Bicycling offers a little unsolicited advice as he takes up mountain biking.

Congratulations to gun maker Smith & Wesson, whose attempt to enter the mountain bike market ranks 41st on USA Today’s list of the 50 worst product flops of all time.

Finishing our mountain bike trifecta, Outside offers seven tips for beginning mountain bikes, whether or not they answer to Gronkowski.

But wait, there’s more!

The Orange County Register’s David Whiting takes a docent-led mountain bike tour through the volunteer-managed Irvine Ranch Conservancy, which he says most people have never heard of, even though at 40,000 acres it’s nearly as big as Bryce Canyon National Park and even more spectacular.

………

Local

Spectrum News 1 is the latest LA news outlet to look at the city’s new program to install permanent memorials to fallen bicyclists.

A former LA city planner states the obvious, suggesting that LA traffic congestion is only going to get worse and that solutions like walking and biking remain woefully underfunded, without the safe infrastructure necessary to make them work. However, he also blames increased density and transit oriented development, as well as reduced parking requirements, calling them frauds, without citing evidence to back it up.

An op-ed in the LA Daily News says California drivers won’t willingly give up their cars.

This is who we share the beach with. A woman tells what it was like to get run over by an LAPD SUV while sunbathing on Venice Beach.

Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare program could be on the chopping block due to competition from dockless bikes and e-scooters, as the city faces budget cuts and layoffs under a program to speed payment of its $448 million unfunded pension liability. 

He gets it. An op-ed from the vice chair of the Long Beach Transit board of directors says everyone deserves safe streets.

This is who we share the roads with. A Long Beach bus driver faces charges for sideswiping more than a dozen cars while driving at three times the legal alcohol limit.

Signal Hill police will be cracking down on violations that endanger bike riders and pedestrians net month.

 

State

California’s Complete Streets bill moves forward after passing through the Senate Transportation Committee; SB127 would require Caltrans to consider the safety of all road users on any state-owned road.

That’s more like it. An El Cajon woman driving with a suspended license got three years behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a nine-year old boy who was riding his bike to school.

A San Diego TV station says bike riders and skaters at a new pump track think the park isn’t big enough for both of them.

A 75-year old Indian Wells man was hospitalized with significant injuries after he somehow crashed into the back of a parked city van Thursday morning.

Riverside sheriff’s deputies are still on the lookout for the red light-running hit-and-run driver who killed a 21-year old Eastvale man as he was biking home from work five years ago; deputies originally arrested a man who admitted to driving while “drunk out of his mind” and thought he had hit something that night, but phone records placed him miles from the crash site.

The speeding driver in the Sunnyvale crash who intentionally rammed eight pedestrians and bike riders as they waited at a red light was reportedly suffering from PTSD from his time in the Army; witnesses said they heard him repeatedly moan “Thank you, Jesus” following the crash.

 

National

A tax bill pending in Congress could mean an extra $53 a month in your pocket for commuting by bike.

Fast Company says people only realized just how much they’d miss ebikes after they were taken away.

Breaking a sweat today can provide health benefits up to a decade later.

An Oregon weekly offers its annual bicycling edition, with stories ranging from BMX and gravel grinding to low stress bicycle networks.

Phoenix says what’s a few traffic deaths between friends, bucking the national trend by voting not to adopt a Vision Zero plan.

A new study from an Arizona professor recommends leading bicycle intervals or split LBIs to reduce the risk of collisions with right-turning drivers.

Colorado comedian Wally Wallace discusses the second edition of his bicycle and comedy festival in tiny Trinidad CO, choosing the city of slightly more than 8,000 people because it’s halfway between Los Angeles and Chicago by train.

A Boise, Idaho bike cop is about to log 100,000 miles on his bike.

A Minneapolis transportation columnist says if you want a happy commute, travel by bicycle.

The NYPD is cracking down on red light-running bike riders, after a woman suffered a fractured skull that left her in a coma when she was struck by a food delivery rider who blew through the light. Seriously, unless you live in Idaho or Arkansas, stop for the damn red light, already — especially when pedestrians are present.

A DC website says it’s very charitable to conclude that the cop who hit a bike rider as he rode in a crosswalk actually had the right-of-way, as the local police insist.

Life is cheap in North Carolina, where a speeding driver who killed an 18-year old basketball star while he was riding his bike walked with just 75 days behind bars — and even that was suspended.

A travel writer visiting New Orleans says bikeshare is a surprisingly good way to tour the city.

 

International

Research papers usually tell just half the story about exercise science, since they too often leave women out of the equation, according to a Cycling Weekly writer.

Heartbreaking video from England, where a balance bike-riding three-year old became collateral damage in a road rage dispute between two drivers; remarkably, the truck driver who killed him was cleared of wrongdoing. Evidently, road rage is perfectly legal in the UK, even if it kills an innocent person.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in Britain, where a “remorseless” hit-and-run driver walks without a single day behind bars for leaving a triathlete with serious injuries after deliberately cutting in front of her bike — and saying she deserved it, calling it karma, for the crime of delaying his car for a few moments. Let’s wish him well, because karma’s got a nasty way of coming back to bite you in the ass.

Seriously? Japan Today points out the dangers of reckless bicycling, while noting that police blame bike riders for “nearly 100%” of crashes with pedestrians. While we have an obligation to ride safely around people on foot, anyone who’s ever had someone step off a curb or turn around in front of them knows that’s pretty damned unlikely.

The Japanese man whose wife and three-year old daughter were killed when their bike was struck by an 87-year old driver calls attention to elderly people who can no longer drive safely. We’ve got to find a better way to identify unsafe drivers and take the keys out of their hands. Because despite what Elon Musk says, self-driving cars are a long way off.

 

Finally…

When you’re sexually harassed by your e-scooter.  Here’s your chance to tour Winterfell by bike.*

And yes, I would.

In a heartbeat.

*dragons not included

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

Morning Links: Smith vindicated for BWB, Beverly Hills Complete Streets meeting, and more e-scooter news

August 21, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Smith vindicated for BWB, Beverly Hills Complete Streets meeting, and more e-scooter news

Good news.

The Alameda County DA’s office has dropped the charges against Najari Smith, founder of the Richmond, CA bike co-op Rich City Rides.

Smith was arrested by Oakland police on August 3rd while leading a weekly social bike ride, ostensibly for illegally playing amplified music.

However, witnesses at the scene were convinced he was busted for Biking While Black.

A statement released by the Oakland Police Department in response to the public outcry over the arrest said Smith was “impeding traffic” and “refused to provide identification or any information that would assist the officers in identifying him.”

Even though Smith says he cooperated with the officers and provided them with two forms of ID.

Fortunately, he won’t face any serious consequences for the misguided arrest. Although no one can give him back the two days he spent locked behind bars before making bail.

………

Beverly Hills will hold a workshop to discuss Complete Streets in the former Biking Black Hole tomorrow night.

………

Long Beach’s first evening Beach Streets event takes place this Saturday. Let’s hope CicLAvia follows their lead and schedules a few evening or nighttime events.

………

Today’s common theme is yet another return to the e-scooter debate.

After a Cleveland woman was killed by a DUI driver while she was riding a scooter, the focus was on the dangers of scooters, rather than the dangers of drivers who admit snorting heroin before getting behind the wheel.

Streetsblog gets it, saying scooters aren’t a public safety hazard, but streets designed only for cars are.

He gets it, too. A Portland writer says if it makes sense to charge for scooters to use city streets, then it also makes sense to charge proportionately for cars to use them.

No bias here. The Philadelphia Inquirer says the e-scooter sky is falling, and it’s time for panic before they besmirch the city’s streets.

BuzzFeed says people with broken bones and missing teeth are turning up in ERs around the nation as a result of scooter crashes, although no hard data is available.

Bloomberg may have the smartest take, saying scooters pose a serious challenge to the reign of cars by providing convenient first and last mile solutions, as well as transportation for quick errands.

And Santa Monica is dealing with the problem of haphazardly parked scooters by providing designated scooter parking on the sidewalk. Although a better solution would be to replace a car parking spot with parking for the more efficient scooters.

………

Local

Streetsblog offers a review of Sunday’s sparsely attended open streets event in Huntington Park and Vernon, which could have benefited from better promotion.

CiclaValley previews Bike Walk Burbank’s 4th Annual Midnight Ramble this Saturday.

Still no word on who is behind the rash of shootings at Malibu Creek State Park, or whether bike riders, hikers and campers are safe there after a camper was murdered earlier this year.

 

State

The California Sun lists seven must-see California destinations operated by the Bureau of Land Management.

The 11th Annual Bike the Bay rolls this Sunday across the iconic San Diego Coronado Bridge and around the San Diego Bay.

Stockton residents have installed a ghost bike for a rider who was killed in an unsolved 2016 hit-and-run.

This is who we share the roads with. A San Jose woman called the police after she got home at 2 am, and discovered a dead pedestrian lodged under her truck; she was not arrested, despite driving with a suspended license and an outstanding warrant for theft.

 

National

The Seattle Times applauds nearby Bellevue for a pilot bike lane project that uses a variety of separators, from bollards to planters, to determine what works best and how it’s accepted by the public and business owners.

An Albuquerque man offers an impassioned Op-Ed calling for drivers who hit bike riders to face justice and for the city to do more to protect bicyclists, after his friend who refused to own a car was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike.

Texas Senator John Cornyn welcomes riders to this week’s Hotter’n Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, after helping out as a volunteer last year.

An Iowa bicyclist offers advice on how to avoid killing someone on a shared use path. Because someone recently did.

A Catholic monk stops in Oklahoma on an unsupported cross-country ride to promote religious unity; his indirect route has taken him over 4,000 miles to get just halfway across the US.

Video has been released of the crash involving the hit-and-run Kentucky mayor that sent a 16-year old girl to the hospital. It’s hard to see, but it appears to show the mayor’s SUV hit the girl’s bike without knocking her down, supporting his contention that she rode off without stopping.

A Detroit website examines the Motor City’s use of road diets to successfully remake its streets.

Pacific Standard magazine looks at ghost bikes, including a moving ghost bike prayer written by Pittsburgh minister.

New ped-assist bikeshare ebikes are the alternative transportation alternative for New Yorkers stranded by the shutdown of a major subway line. Not surprisingly, the mayor didn’t show up for his own widely promoted ride to promote them.

Oops. A New York cop admits on video that his supervisor ordered officers not to ticket people who park in bike lanes.

Pennsylvania police crack down on groups of teens who block traffic with their bikes and shout obscenities at drivers.

Now you, too, can own your very own dockless bikeshare bike, because Ofo may be no more in DC, but a local bike co-op is selling off some of their bikes for the low, low price of $100.

 

International

A writer for the New Republic says the modern automobile must die in order to fight climate change.

The Mother Nature Network provides photos of 18 spectacular pedestrian and bike bridges around the world.

A European website looks at Complete Streets design in Vancouver, where they’re busy doing it right.

A Toronto writer recommends having your bike tattooed with a registration number from Britain’s Bike Registry to prevent theft and help recover it if it is stolen. I recommend the free Bike Index registration, but whatever you do, register your bike somewhere. Now.

WTF? A Toronto newspaper asks if bikeshare users give “real” cyclists a bad name. Unless your bicycle is imaginary, you’re a real cyclist until the moment you step off it.

A Hamilton, Ontario website calls a newly resurfaced road design “deranged” after the city blocks off space where a curbside bike lane could go, then paints sharrows in the traffic lane.

An Irish mayor has turned his own reserved parking space into a bike corral.

A bill in the Israeli Knesset would require all ebike riders to wear a helmet any time they’re on their bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling tells you how to watch the Vuelta, if you’re willing to fork out the bucks; the race starts this Saturday, but won’t be carried on American TV. Let’s all send a big FU to NBC, which has decided to charge to stream the races they used to carry on cable.

No wonder women’s cycling is so exciting. A new study shows female cyclists race at a greater intensity than their male counterparts, who sustain more load and volume over longer courses.

Pro cyclist Lauren Hall retired after winning the final stage of the Colorado Classic, ending a career that included three national track cycling championships, and two second place finishes in the US road cycling championships.

The pros are going with snub nosed saddles.

 

Finally…

When your on-camera bike ride is only for the cameras. This is who we share the roads with, too; thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

And always try to look up from your phone before hitting a parked car.

………

Eid Mubarak to all observing Eid al-Adha today.

 

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

Morning Links: Ride the Long Beach Grand Prix route sans cars, and Bike Snob looks at presumed liability

March 14, 2018 / / 2 comments

Long Beach is once again allowing bikes, skaters and pedestrians to experience the Long Beach Grand Prix route in a carfree mini-ciclovía, but only for an hour and a half.

Although it might be more exciting with the cars zooming by at breakneck speeds with just inches to spare.

Just like on most LA-area streets.

Click here for a larger version of the Long Beach Grand Prix View poster.

………

Good piece from Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss, as he tackles the topic of presumed liability and the disparity between bikes and motor vehicles.

To be fair, we do acknowledge this disparity in responsibility by requiring motorists to obtain licenses and to register and insure (at least in most states) their vehicles. We don’t acknowledge it, however, once a motorist collides with a cyclist. Indeed, in practice, cyclists often bear more responsibility than drivers in these instances, due in part to the common misconceptions that bikes don’t belong on the roads in the first place and that people out riding are just thrill-seeking fitness freaks who get what’s coming to them. On top of that, cyclists must then deal with all the ensuing legal and medical issues that come with being hit, and generally speaking, people aren’t exactly at their sharpest after they’ve been clobbered by an SUV. Forget standing up for your rights; you’re lucky if you can stand up at all.

It’s worth taking a few minutes out of your day to read the rest.

And hats off to Weiss, who’s finding his voice as an advocate for safer streets.

………

Local

Curbed talks with outgoing LA Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne, who is taking the newly created post of chief design officer for the City of Los Angeles, with oversight responsibilities including reviewing the design of streets, sidewalks and bikeways.

Santa Clarita had no pedestrian deaths last year, even though LA County led the nation.

 

State

A new bill would authorize congestion pricing demonstration projects in two cities in Northern California, and two in the southern part of the state, offering the potential to get more people out of cars and onto bikes, foot and transit.

A 71-year old bike rider suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by the driver of an SUV in San Marcos on Monday; witnesses reported he veered out of a bike lane and into the path of the SUV. As always, the question is whether any of those witnesses were outside the car that hit him.

Projected costs have more than doubled for San Diego’s planned downtown protected bike lane network, in part because the mayor has decided to use planters as dividers instead of plastic bollards; completion has been delayed until at least 2021.

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is looking for a full-time advocacy coordinator.

A San Diego writer offers a self-described chill guide to the city’s dockless bikeshare and scooters. Thanks to Evan Burbridge for the link.

A Redding letter writer says the requirement to ride with traffic is a stupid, stupid law and needs to be changed. Never mind that riding salmon is one of the best ways to get into a serious crash; drivers don’t expect to see you riding upstream.

 

National

The Kentucky senate unanimously passed a three-foot passing law, including provisions allowing bicyclists to ride two abreast, and allowing drivers to briefly cross a double yellow line to pass people on bicycles; now the bill goes back to the state house for reconciliation.

Actor and Jennifer Anniston-ex Justin Theroux is one of us, captured by the paparazzi riding incognito in New York.

Five hundred New Yorkers marched to demand safer streets in response to the deaths of two children killed by a red light-running driver last week.

The Wall Street Journal sings the praises of dockless bikeshare, saying “Uber for bikes” is a commuter’s dream. Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

A Philadelphia jury awarded a bicyclist $3.19 million dollars for injuries he suffered when he hit a pothole during a charity ride, despite signing a waiver before the ride.

 

International

Great idea. Vancouver is working with three bike co-ops to recycle abandoned bicycles and give them to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford one, to help keep them out of the landfill.

A forthcoming British book illustrates bicycling not too distant past.

An English county will test radar and thermal technology to detect bike riders on the road, and flash a warning to drivers of a rider up ahead.

A BBC radio personality rode 350 miles in five days to raise the equivalent of nearly $700,000 to fight mental illness, after her partner committed suicide las year.

An Op-Ed says New Zealand’s bicycling rates could double if riders had a choice on whether or not to wear a helmet.

An American bike helmet “expert” weighs in on New Zealand’s helmet law, saying a helmet will protect you if you’re hit by a car traveling under the speed limit. Which is probably true, if the speed limit is 15 mph, since bike helmets are only designed to protect against impacts up to 12.5 mph. 

 

Competitive Cycling

World Champion Peter Sagan says it’s not whether you win or lose, it’s all about putting on a good show. Something tells me his sponsors would beg to differ.

 

Finally…

No, really. Bike advocates always bring out the best in online commenters. Oddly, TV viewers don’t like suggesting that bike riders should be tossed out with the trash.

And your next bike could be a Lamborghini.

Assuming you have more dollars than sense to spend on it.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Photos from Saturday’s Beach Streets in Long Beach, LA bike thefts, and BMUFL wars in PVE

November 14, 2016 / / 4 comments

Mike Wilkinson and his wife Angela took in Saturday’s Beach Streets event in Long Beach.

This past Saturday Metro and the City of Long Beach presented Beach Streets Midtown, a 2.5 mile open streets event along Anaheim Street from PCH to Orange Avenue. My wife and I put the doggies in their trailer, saddled up on our tandem bike and hit the road at the eastern end of the route. The four of us were quite a sight, but we were just one among many unique conveyances along the way.

Whether they were on foot, bike, skateboard or something almost indescribable, the participants were relaxed and friendly. We said “hi” to a wider variety of people in two hours than we have in the past year. Everyone seemed to be having fun, and riding right down the middle of what is usually a big, busy street was liberating and almost joyful.

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All photos by Angela Wilkinson

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You can download these photos, and a few others, from his Google Drive account.

The Cal State Long Beach paper took in the day, as well.

………

LA bike thieves strike again, this time snatching a beautiful Geekhouse Woodville touring bike from one of the authors of the Radavist. Thanks to Bryan Hance of Bike Index for the heads-up.

stolenbike

Meanwhile, David Drexler noticed the aftermath of another semi-successful bike theft at the Bundy station on the Expo Line, which was stripped after the thieves were able to cut through one U-lock, but not the other.

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And no, to answer the question we’re all asking, he didn’t get the make of the yellow lock.

………

Local

The Daily Breeze looks at the nasty battle over the proposed installation of Bikes May Use Full Lane signs in Palos Verdes Estates, which has refused to post the signs despite the recommendation of their own Traffic Safety Committee, at least for now. Although you’d think three cyclists killed on the peninsula in the last year, and another critically injured, would create some sense of urgency. But apparently, you’d be wrong.

 

State

An OC man was stabbed and his bicycle stolen after two men challenged him over gang affiliations in the parking lot of the Santa Ana zoo.

Laguna Beach is improving access to the Top of the World singletrack trail from the Top of the World Drive in the Top of the World neighborhood to make it accessible to a wider range of non-Top of the World people.

Sunnyvale police are looking for witnesses to a wreck that sent a bike rider to the hospital with multiple skull fractures.

 

National

Road.cc says Donald Trump’s promise to rebuild America’s infrastructure could be an opportunity to convince him to support building more bikeways.

Nearly one thousand Las Vegas cyclists took part in Sunday’s ride to benefit Ride 2 Recovery.

Gary Johnson, New Mexico resident and distant third place finisher in last week’s election, will now dedicate himself to health and fitness, riding the 2,768 Great Divide Mountain from Banff to Antelope Wells NM next June.

The Guardian looks at a proposal for a floating bike path along the Chicago River.

Can we vote for him here? The vice mayor of Cambridge MA says the city’s bicycle safety efforts are the difference between life and death, even if that means drivers will be inconvenienced and parking will be lost.

The operator of a New Orleans bike tour company wants to know why a woman wasn’t given a sobriety test after doing a slow roll over several bikes being ridden by his patrons. Which is a damn good question.

 

International

Canadian traffic safety advocates are focusing on distracted driving and lowering speed limits as public health issues.

A British bike rider died after he was kicked off his bike by a group of youths, not long after he was released from prison after 24 years behind bars.

A jazz musician in the UK performed seven shows in a single day, towing his keyboard behind his bike between gigs as he rode to each one.

A Belfast councilor was kicked off his bike by a group of young men after he tried to stop one from taking a dump on a memorial to a Northern Irish politician while the others filmed it.

Call it a reverse dooring. A Dublin councilor was knocked out by a hit-and-run salmon cyclist who ran into his car door as he was getting out.

Pakistani cyclists ride to raise awareness of breast cancer, while Islamabad restores a network of cycle tracks that had fallen into disrepair.

Cyclists from around India turn out for a nationwide event to promote bicycling.

A new Australian study shows biking or walking can improve artery health in people with Type-2 diabetes.

A Malaysian cyclist returns home after spending the last 16 months riding through 22 countries, losing 22 pounds in the process.

A Jakarta paper asks if wooden bikes can prevent global warming.

 

Finally…

Nothing like auctioning a cow to raise funds for bicycling. Crash your mountain bike, and wake up to a new career as a competitive beard growing champion.

And if you’re going to ride drunk, try not to run into any police cars.

 

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime / Tags: , , , ,
 
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