Happy Groundhog Day!
The good news is, it doesn’t matter whether the groundhog sees his shadow. Either way, there will be six more weeks of bicycling.
And a hell of a lot more after that.
Photo by Aaron J Hill from Pexels.
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San Diego’s popular Belgian Waffle Ride has been put off until mid-summer, while the Asheville NC edition will roll in August, with a new Kansas ride ten days later.
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It looks like Culver City’s proposal for quick build bus and bike lanes overcame NIMBY opposition to pass unanimously.
https://twitter.com/TorresKristen/status/1356491844478111747
Culver City city council just passed a motion (5-0!) approving protected bike and bus lanes east of, west of, and through downtown Culver City, and it will be done by May! Thank you to everyone who emailed & called in.
Learn more at: https://t.co/7sOuhgtiid pic.twitter.com/5D6p0puuXV
— Streets For All (@streetsforall) February 2, 2021
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Trek says it’s time to take a break from driving to the market and building picnic tables for squirrels, and buy an ebike.
No, seriously, it’s worth watching.
You might get the best smile you’ll have all day.
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This is who we used to share the road with.
Sadly, some things never change.
@bikinginla Hydrant should have been wearing a hi-viz vest, etc… https://t.co/B6bBxgRGRR
— W Corylus (@CorylusW) February 2, 2021
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NACTO celebrates Black History Month by sharing a tweet from last year about a little-known Black inventor who helped make all those kids and adult trikes possible.
Matthew Cherry patented improvements to the velocipede, a pedal-less predecessor to modern bikes. He also invented the tricycle, which in our time has evolved into a more stable and accessible option for many people to travel than standard two-wheel bikes. https://t.co/HLgXHiJZcg pic.twitter.com/rJnLff2mMp
— NACTO (@NACTO) February 13, 2020
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Local
No news is good news, right?
State
San Diego’s bike-friendly Republican former mayor has tossed his hat in the ring to replace California Governor Gavin Newsom in a possible recall election.
Santa Barbara kicks off its new ebike bikeshare system.
San Luis Obispo plans to take advantage of a scheduled street resealing to install paired separated and protected bike lanes.
A new petition calls for a quick-build bike lane on the Bay Area’s Oakland Bay Bridge.
National
Rolling Stone — yes, that Rolling Stone — offers suggestions on how to store your bike inside your apartment.
Spokane WA bike riders say winter riding isn’t for the faint of heart, especially with the city’s lack of good infrastructure. Something LA bike riders can relate to, where the bike network sucks and winter daytime temperatures sometimes drop all the way to the 60s. Brrrrrrr.
Las Vegas spent $5.9 million to upgrade a boulevard. And the best they could do for bikes was paint a few sharrows to help drivers improve their aim.
Chicago has roughly half the bike lanes they were promised by now. Yet LA bike riders envy them anyway.
After moving from New Hampshire, a pair of Colorado men discover the state doesn’t have a lift-served bike park dedicated solely to mountain bikers. So they’re building one that will be open half the year, less than an hours drive from Denver.
An upstate New York congressman calls for retaining part of an outdated elevated roadway scheduled to be torn down, and convert it to a bike and pedestrian pathway.
A New York bike rider complains about plans to put a bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge, saying we should stop making it harder for people to drive (scroll down). No, really.
Streetsblog says the plan for the bridge isn’t radical, but just adjusting to reality as vehicle traffic across the bridge drops and bike traffic increases.
New York’s mayor calls for bike boulevards throughout the city, but fails to make clear just what he means by that.
In yet another case of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a two-time hit-and-run driver in Florida made it three when he was arrested for leaving the scene after killing a bike rider nearly a year ago — then deliberately crashed his truck again to hide the damage from the hit-and-run.
International
Proving once again it’s not just an American problem, English police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who t-boned a bike-riding woman in her 50s, in a crash caught on a cringeworthy security cam video. As usual with stories like this, be sure you really want to see it before you click on the video, because you can’t unsee it.
A new survey shows a third of UK residents are riding more than they did prior to the pandemic.
Bike thieves burglarize a Scottish bike shop, making off with the equivalent of $68,000 worth of bikes and frames.
Bike use is soaring in Seoul, Korea, too.
An Aussie site examines why ebike bikeshares can succeed where others have failed.
Competitive Cycling
New ‘cross world champ Mathieu van der Poel says his rivalry with fellow Dutchman Wout van Aert is “getting bigger than the sport itself.”
The Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay suggests the competition between the Dutch cyclists could be the best rivalry in sports. Even if half his column is hidden behind a paywall.
Finally…
Your next bike could have a roof and look like a clown car. That feeling when a heavy foot on the gas pedal makes you what you hate most.
And no. Just…no.
Even if he is wearing bike shoes.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already.
