Tag Archive for Beverly Hills

Morning Links: Koretz proposes ban on e-scooters in Los Angeles, and keeping drivers on the road until it’s too late

August 1, 2018 / / 6 comments

In a move that probably shouldn’t have surprised anyone, LA’s self-proclaimed environmentalist councilmember has called for a temporary ban on dockless e-scooters.

Yes, Paul Koretz, the councilmember who singlehandedly blocked desperately needed bike lanes on Westwood Blvd — as well as on other major corridors throughout the Westside — has taken action to force people of their e-scooters and back into their cars, rather than allowing a viable first mile/last mile solution to take root.

This is the same councilman who has called for a Climate Emergency Mobilization Department. Yet can’t seem to see the logical disconnect in fighting alternative forms of transportation while paying lip service to climate change.

Then again, he doesn’t seem to see any problem with blocking increased density, either.

Evidently, he’s all for emergency action to address climate change, as long as it’s in someone else’s district.

Never mind that, as someone else pointed out, blocking bike lanes is just climate change denial in action.

Then there’s this disconnect, from the report by KFI radio.

“When we had a hearing in our Transportation Committee, at the time I had seen about three of them and I thought it wasn’t a big deal,” Koretz said. “I’ve probably seen a thousand since just on Beverly Boulevard where I live, and 100 percent have no helmet usage. … I’ve seen probably 20 go by with double on the scooter, which is very dangerous. On the commercial streets, everyone is illegally on the sidewalk.”

Which was followed by,

As for the public’s reaction, Koretz said he believed most residents want the scooters off the streets. He said his office has receive hundreds of complaints about them in recent weeks.

Yes, that is the scientific way to gauge public opinion, especially since people who support the scooters aren’t likely to call to say so without some compelling reason.

Like a stupid proposal to ban them, for instance.

And how is it that “hundreds of complaints” somehow outweighs thousands of users — by his own observation?

As for Koretz’ “better safe than sorry” concerns, there’s this from the Hollywood Reporter’s overview of the response, legal and otherwise, to e-scooters in the LA area.

Scooters have shown to pose safety hazards while operational and parked. According to injury attorney Catherine Lerer of L.A.’s McGee Lerer & Associates, who has written extensively about electric scooters, the top two seen in her office are people hurt when a scooter malfunctions — when a brake line is cut by disgruntled L.A. residents, for instance, or the scooter’s main post collapses — and pedestrians tripping over the scooters. “I’ve gotten calls from elderly people exiting businesses…people leave them right outside the front door,” Lerer notes.

Doesn’t exactly sound like a disaster in the making. Especially when one of the leading causes of injuries is sabotage by scooter-hating NIMBY terrorists.

The proposal was seconded by San Fernando Valley Councilmember Mitch Englander, who has also proposed a ban on dockless bikeshare until the city can work out a permitting process.

This follows the misguided bans on e-scooters in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills; the latter banning even riding bikeshare bikes or e-scooters through the city, which most likely violates state law.

Of course, this kind of hysteria about a new form of transportation is nothing new.

And something tells me Koretz would have been one of the first to call for a ban on bicycles had he lived in the 1890s. Although he probably would have been fine with the Model T chasing everyone else off the roads.

Of course, Los Angeles could take a more rational approach, like working with Lime and Bird to address any issues while they work the bugs out, as Culver City and Long Beach are doing.

But that would make too much sense.

Especially for an environmentalist who seems determined to keep Angelenos in their smog and greenhouse gas-belching cars.

https://twitter.com/LAMetroBlueLine/status/1024492126694866944

………

As long as we’re talking about e-scooters and dockless bikeshare, let’s look at a few more stories on the subject.

Curbed offers everything you need to know about renting e-scooters and dockless bikeshare in Los Angeles. While you still can, that is.

When a Portland-area website went fishing for complaints about e-scooters, what they got were complaints about cars.

And a St. Louis website gives Lime scooters a test ride, and comes back with 13 things they learned. Including that they’re fun as, well, you get the idea.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a driver gets just 45 days behind bars for killing a van driver while speeding, tailgating and driving recklessly — despite receiving 40 tickets over the last 20 years.

And a Tuskegee University football player will never play the game again, after his leg was severed when a friend’s car he was helping to jump was hit by a driver with a “criminal history dating to 1989 (that) ‘shows a pattern of driving offenses and felony arrests.'”

Just two more examples of authorities keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late.

………

More on the American couple killed in a terrorist attack in Tajikistan on Sunday, who had quit their jobs to bike around the world.

The couple from Washington, DC had written about their trip on a blog that sadly will never be finished.

And authorities blamed the attack on members of the blacklisted Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan.

………

Local

As we noted last week, fresh green bike lanes are finally going down on Santa Monica Blvd in the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills, which had fought the lanes for nearly a decade before surprisingly embracing them last year.

Today Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies will step up enforcement of traffic violations that put bicyclists and pedestrians at risk, regardless of who commits them. So ride to the letter of the law until you leave their jurisdiction.

 

State

A Cambrian man accidentally became the first bike rider to travel Highway 1 in Big Sur after it reopened last month.

San Francisco approves plans for a curb-protected bike lane the promises to be the safest in the city.

Sad news from Del Norte County, where the CHP is looking for a hit-and-run driver who killed a woman as she rode her bike; the victim wasn’t carrying ID and still hasn’t been identified. One more reminder to always carry some form of identification when you ride; I never leave home without my RoadID, which doubles as a medic alert bracelet.

 

National

A writer for Forbes says cities must take advantage of the opportunities presented by bikeshare.

Bloomberg says Uber and Lyft may not be the solution to traffic congestion, but they’re probably not the cause, either.

Bicycling profiles BMX star Nigel Sylvester, saying the “rebellious superstar is breaking all the rules,” and doesn’t need your permission, thank you.

A writer for Fox News blames “big-spending liberals” for pushing Seattle bike lane and streetcar projects that have been plagued with cost overruns.

A Washington writer gets a detailed education in why many bicyclists prefer to ride on the highway, when there’s a perfectly good bike path nearby. Which should be required reading for planners before they’re allowed to design any offroad path.

Evidently, Los Angeles isn’t the only city where councilmembers have the power to block bike lanes. A Chicago bike rider was killed when he was doored on a street that was supposed to have a protected bike lane, which was halted by the local alderman.

After Ofo pulled out of White Plains NY, they donated over 100 bike for use by low income families.

An Albany NY TV station raises concerns about the structural integrity of an old railroad bridge that now used by over “200,000 bike riders, joggers and dog walkers” every year.

Charlotte NC is planning its first two-way, protected cycle track.

 

International

Curbed looks at 14 gorgeous carfree cities around the world. Anyone one of which I’m just about ready to move to. Although bike riding on the Venice canals might be a bit of a challenge.

No surprise here, as a study shows the noxious fumes in London’s air disappeared during the annual carfree Ride London event.

A British lawyer who calls himself Mr. Loophole suggests revising the country’s traffic laws, including requiring all bike riders to pass a proficiency test, and have their bicycles inspected annually for safety violations (aka an MoT, or Ministry of Transport exam).

Talk about lessons not learned. Bike Biz reprints a speech in the British parliament that calls for a revival of bicycling in the national interest — which was given sixty years ago. And clearly not acted on.

Egyptians are being encouraged to leave their cars behind in an effort to spread bicycle culture throughout the country.

Shimano has apparently overcome the losses from the factory fire in Japan earlier this year, with sales up 6.8%.

 

Competitive Cycling

Forbes calls bicycle racing the best sport to combine spectating and active participation.

A French newspaper calls for a budget cap for pro cycling teams following Team Sky’s dominating performance in the Tour de France; the president of cycling’s governing body calls for limiting teams to a maximum of six riders instead.

After successful surgery to repair a fractured vertebrae suffered during the Tour, Vincenzo Nibali hopes to return in time for the Vuelta a España later this month.

VeloNews talks with a sports psychologist about whether the abuse Team Sky riders suffered from fans during the Tour had any effect. Apparently not, since they led most of the way and placed two riders on the podium; cutting back on salbutamol probably had a bigger effect on Chris Froome.

Speaking of VeloNews, the magazine also talks with the head of the Dimension Data team about his efforts to build an African team; while several African riders have competed on the WorldTour with the team, no black African has yet won a stage at the highest levels.

And completing our VeloNews trilogy, the magazine offers a beautiful photo essay of the Tour de France from the Pyrenees to Paris.

A 60-year old Australian woman won the masters mountain bike world championships just one day after suffering a major crash.

 

Finally…

Evidently, the more bikes change, the more they look the same. Doing the Tour de France without a bicycle.

And sometimes, doing the right thing gets rewarded.

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Morning Links: Battle over LA streets, bike events, e-scooter legislation, and new bike lanes in Beverly Hills

July 27, 2018 / / 4 comments

The battle for LA’s streets made it into the pages of Los Angeles Magazine.

Writer Andy Hermann examines the fight over road diets, or what traffic safety deniers describe as “lane theft.”

“It’s just created havoc,” says John Russo of KeepLAMoving, an organization that sued the city to remove the Playa del Rey bike lanes. That Venice Boulevard already had a bike lane (albeit an unprotected one) and hadn’t seen a cyclist death since 2010 has only added to the outrage. “I don’t think we’ve ever gotten a good explanation as for why Venice Boulevard needed a road diet,” says Selena Inouye of Restore Venice Blvd., a neighborhood group opposed to what it calls the L.A. Department of Transportation’s “lane theft.”

Which suggest that drivers do, in fact, own the roads. Or at least think they do.

However, there is another side to the argument.

In a region with the world’s worst traffic congestion (for six years running, according to transportation analytics firm INRIX), it’s hard to fault people who would rather drive than bike for being impatient. But it’s also hard to blame people who opt out of driving and choose to pedal. “Our streets are already built out,” says Rogers. “There’s no room to expand them. So the only way to guarantee the failure of our streets is to do nothing. If you keep doing exactly what we’re doing now, we will reach a dystopian future where our streets are so gridlocked that nobody can move at all.”

 

And yes, that’s me he’s quoting there.

It’s worth reading the full piece.

Then maybe get mad, and demand that the lives of human beings start taking priority over the convenience of selfish drivers.

And do something to save our lives, and our city, while we still can.

………

Let’s catch up with a few upcoming events to add to your calendar.

Pure Cycles is hosting a Bike Metro Back to Basics bicycle education class at their Burbank headquarters tomorrow.

Also on Saturday, Metro Bike Share is hosting Pedals and Pitstops — Back to the Beach along the Venice canals and the Artists & Fleas LA on Abbot Kinney.

On Sunday, join with the Street Librarians Ride to replenish little street libraries in Echo Park and Silver Lake.

Metro presents the Pride of the Valley open streets event on September 16th in Baldwin Park and Irwindale.

The ultimate CicLAvia rolls on September 30th to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the LA Phil with a massive, eight-mile street party connecting Walt Disney Hall in DTLA with the Hollywood Bowl.

BikeSGV is hosting their annual Noche de las Luminarias awards bash on December 1st.

………

A bill currently under consideration in the state legislature could make it considerably easier to use an e-scooter.

AB 2989 would still require a driver’s license to use a motorized scooter, but it would eliminate the requirement for a helmet for anyone over 18.

It would also allow scooters to be legally used on streets with speed limits up to 35 mph, or on higher limit streets that have bike lanes.

They’re currently limited to streets with bike lanes, or a speed limit of just 25 mph.

………

It’s official. Hell has frozen over.

https://twitter.com/danwentzel/status/1022647626330558464

………

A new study says not so fast on the bike helmets.

According to the study, four times as many drivers and five times as many pedestrians died of head injuries, compared to bike riders.

While head injuries accounted for 46% of bicycle deaths, 25% of drivers killed in traffic collisions died of head injuries, as did 42% of pedestrians.

Yes, studies have shown that bike helmets are effective in reducing the risk of head injuries.

But no one suggests that pedestrians should wear them, let alone people in cars, where they could theoretically save far more lives.

………

Local

The East Side Bike Club is raising funds to provide bicycle safety eduction to kids in South LA.

Former LA pro Phil Gaiman offers his insights on seventeen pieces of awesome summer cycling gear in the latest Men’s Journal.

A 10-year old junior Jonathan Gold reviews Culver City’s new bike themed Super Domestic Coffee.

Pasadena bought new Complete Streets software to identify gaps in the street networks, and design solutions while keeping the public involved, in hopes of avoiding more disastrous meetings like the one that killed plans for a lane reduction on Orange Grove Blvd.

Long Beach gets nearly $1 million dollars in Caltrans grants to make zoning changes and create complete streets on the city’s north side.

 

State

After this year, you can be charged with hit-and-run if you leave the scene of a crash on an off-road bike path. Governor Brown signed AB 1755 last week, which removes any question of whether hit-and-run laws apply to bike riders on trails; the law takes effect Jan 1st.

CiclaValley explores California’s Central Coast by bike.

A 28-year old woman has been arrested in the hit-and-run death of a bicyclist in Crockett on Tuesday.

If you live or ride in the East Bay Area, take a few minutes to sign a petition calling for the Major Taylor Bike Park and Velodrome in Richmond.

 

National

A new study that should surprise absolutely no one shows UberPool and Lyft Line are making traffic congestion worse, and helping to creat a hostile environment for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Portland’s famed Velo Cult bike shop is closing its doors, six years after moving from San Diego. The shop, which was unable to keep up with requirements to maintain it’s license to serve beer, will now focus exclusively on e-commerce, which does not require a local liquor license. Thanks to brer bear for the heads-up.

Nevada has its first official US Bicycle Route.

A Flagstaff AZ public radio reporter goes for a ride with a pair of experienced women’s mountain bikers who are mentoring the next generation of riders.

Houston PD is the latest big city police department to use an electronic device to measure precisely when drivers come too close to people on bicycles. Meanwhile, the LAPD doesn’t.

A 77-year old Texas man has put together his own guide on how bicyclists and motorists can share the road. Although it would help if you can read upside down if you want to know what it says.

Once again, a state department of transportation does the right thing once it’s too late, as Rhode Island officials study the lack of effective safety measures on a bike path after a six-year old boy was killed in a collision.

A bike path around DC’s National Zoo is closed for the next year after heavy rains cause the pathway to crumble and tumble into a creek.

If you know a diocese that’s looking for a killer bishop with a drinking problem — who apparently still refuses to take responsibility for her actions — former Baltimore Episcopal bishop Heather Cook has applied for work release from her well-deserved sentence for the drunken hit-and-run death of a bike rider in 2014.

This month’s Miami Critical Mass will be dedicated to Miami native Patrick Wanninkhof, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver on an Oklahoma highway in 2015; his childhood friend Janna Belle says her latest music video was inspired by the crash.

 

International

Police in Hamilton, Ontario are looking for witnesses in a five year old murder case, where someone in a pickup chased down a bike rider before running him over.

Montreal bikeshare bikes will soon come equipped with lasers that project an image of a bicycle on the pavement ahead.

London announces plans to eliminate traffic deaths by 2041, after already reducing fatalities 50% over the past decade.

The war on cars is a myth, but the war on bikes goes on, as a British rider was clotheslined by a rope strung across a bike path at chest level.

Police in the UK are looking for two young mountain bikers who punched a driver after blocking his car. As usual, no word on what the driver might have done to encourage the assault. Which does not make it right in any way.

British schools are starting to prohibit parents from using motor vehicles to drop their kids off at school in the name of safety. Doing that here would not only improve safety, but the health of the students, while dramatically reducing morning traffic congestion and improving air quality.

An English woman was rescued by four strangers who lifted a car off her after the driver hit her bike.

The UK’s growth in cycling is being driven by experienced bicyclists riding more and further, rather than more people taking it up.

Never mind that ban on bicycles in Prague’s city center; a city court has overturned a law prohibiting bike riding in pedestrian zones.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling discusses what it’s like to drive a race moto in the Tour de France. Hopefully without putting any more cyclists in the hospital.

What it’s like to have someone grab your arm while leading the Tour.

Pro cyclists debate whether the super tuck position on descents should be banned.

The New York Times considers the Tour de France’s continued insistence on maintaining the sexist and outdated tradition of having podium girls.

 

Finally…

Canadians love separated bike lanes, as long as they’re in someone else’s neighborhood. And Lance wants your love.

 

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

Morning Links: BOLO Alert for bike-riding sexual assault suspect, and road and bike rage rears their ugly head

April 24, 2018 / / 2 comments

Beverly Hills police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a bike-riding sexual assault suspect who attempted to rape a woman early Sunday morning near the Beverly Hilton at Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds.

He is described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, around 5’6″ with black hair pulled back in a ponytail and facial hair, riding a red single speed bicycle.

Police think someone in the bike community may know him due to his riding skills.

Anyone with information is urged to call BHPD detectives at 310/285-2158.

Security cam photos from Beverly Hills Police Department.

………

Today’s common theme: road rage and bike rage rears their ugly head.

This is who we share the roads with. A driver in DTLA intentionally ran down four pedestrians because he was mad that they woke him up from a nap in his car.

A DC bike advocacy group discusses trail etiquette after a man was deliberately knocked off his bike by a rider passing in the opposite direction.

Bike anger rages even in the Netherlands, where a mountain biker pushed an 80-year old man off his bicycle after the older man complained about getting cut off. Seriously, it takes a special kind of jerk to attack an 80-year old man.

………

Local

You can now use bikeshare systems in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and UCLA interchangeably with a single membership, and ride from one system to another without penalties.

Interesting piece from a part-time wrench in an LA bike shop, explaining to a Middle Eastern audience the business model of fixing bikes sold by big box stores so people can actually ride them.

A writer for City Watch calls LA Mayor Eric Garcetti a bully for doubling down on Vision Zero “based on lousy science, lousy presumptions, and a lousy narrative that somehow Angelenos don’t care or do enough for pedestrians and bicyclists.” Even though a) most bike riders can tell you Angelenos don’t car or do enough for pedestrians and bicyclists, and b) city leaders don’t seem to take Vision Zero seriously.

Streetsblog reports on Sunday’s CicLAvia in the San Gabriel Valley. Meanwhile, CicLAvia gears up for a return to the northern San Fernando Valley June 24th.

 

State

Auto-centric opponents of a plan to reconfigure the Coast Highway in Leucadia have appealed to the state Coastal Commission to stop the project, saying that the plan to make it safer to visit the coast without a car “fails to consider public access to the coastline, that fails to adequately consider public safety, and fails to give adequate consideration to environmental concerns.” Sure, let’s go with that.

San Diego’s University Avenue is one of the nation’s most dangerous streets for bicyclists.

Mountain bike legends Tom Richey and Thomas Frischknecht have teamed with a Carmel couple to open a bike-themed coffee shop.

Sad news from Manteca, where a bike rider was killed when he crashed into the rear of a pickup and fell under the wheels of the boat trailer it was pulling; witnesses said the victim didn’t appear to even see the truck and trailer in front of him until it was too late.

Sacramento begins installing the city’s first parking-protected bike lanes.

 

National

Honolulu honors a bike rider who was killed in a 2010 hit-and-run by naming a new bike path after him.

While Seattle fights over every inch of bike lanes, opposition has melted away in nearby Vancouver, where bicycling numbers are up and driving rates down after the city built a network of protected bike lanes. Vancouver faced the same sort of bikelash we’ve seen in Los Angeles, but city officials had the courage to move forward anyway.

The murder trial is set to begin in the case of the stoned driver who killed five bike riders in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, and injured four more; he faces life in prison if he’s convicted.

Bicycling catches up with five New York bicyclists to discuss their plans for getting to work when the city shuts down a major subway line for maintenance next year.

In a very tongue-in-cheek piece, a Virginia writer says he hates the Amish, farmers, equestrians and especially cyclists for startling him when he looks up from his phone while driving, and forcing him to slow down for a few seconds. But commenters don’t get the joke.

 

International

Next City offers an excerpt from Copenhagenize author Mikael Colville-Andersen’s new book explaining how design can reclaim our life-sized cities.

The Guardian looks at the international Warmshowers network, giving bike tourists a floor to sleep on, a place to clean up, and someone to listen to your tales of life on the road.

A pair of Hamilton, Ontario bike riders were struck by a 72-year old driver when they stopped in the curb lane to fix a bike trailer. Another reminder to move your bike out of the roadway if you need to stop for any reason, because too many drivers won’t be looking for you.

Road.cc looks at the highlights of Britain’s only handmade bicycle show.

The Beeb asks if ebikes are the future, while a travel website questions whether they’re the best or worst thing to happen to bike tours.

Dublin bicyclists will hold a die-in on the government steps tomorrow. Something we desperately need to do here in Los Angeles if we could get enough people to show up.

Italian cycling legend Gino Bartali will be awarded honorary Israeli citizenship prior to next month’s start of the Giro d’Italia for his role in saving Jews during World War II, 18 years after his death.

A Kiwi adventurer is stranded in South America after riding from Philadelphia to Alaska, then down the Pacific Coast, when a merger between shipping companies costs him his planned ride on a container ship.

There’s always another side to the story. A New Zealand mountain biker insists the trail crash that left another rider paralyzed from the neck down wasn’t his fault. On the other hand, he’s not the one who ended up in a wheelchair.

China’s Mobike dockless bikeshare company promises to stop putting more bikes in oversaturated cities, and to share their data with local governments.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Monterey County weekly catches up on the action with photos from last weekend’s Sea Otter Classic.

Bicycling reports on Saudi Arabia’s first-ever women’s bike race.

No surprise here: World champ Peter Sagan is cycling’s most valuable social media persona; one Facebook post alone generated $330,000 worth of exposure for his sponsors.

Efforts to revive the women’s La Route de France Féminine have failed after the withdrawal of a host city.

 

Finally…

Bad bike infrastructure doesn’t speak, but it does tweet. Pedal your way across the Greek islands from above.

And sometimes, riding a bike is poetry.

 

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

Morning Links: Green bike lanes coming to Beverly Hills, and windshield bias from Pepperdine economics prof

February 9, 2018 / / One comment

Hell is about to freeze over.

After years of telling us it was impossible and repeatedly voting it down, Beverly Hills has given final approval for bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, between Wilshire Blvd and Doheny Drive.

The city council also overrode a staff recommendation for white striped lanes with a little green paint at key conflict zones, instead voting for green lanes the entire length, at a cost of around $100,000 — nearly triple the staff’s $35,000 budget.

Which should give you an idea just how cheap bike lanes really are.

The work should be done sometime this spring.

Thanks should go to Beverly Hills’ bike-friendly Mayor Lili Bosse, as well as Better Bike’s Mark Elliot, who continued a quixotic and nearly solitary fight for the lanes, long after others had given up.

Myself included.

Photo from Beverly Hills website.

………

I’d give this econ professor an F.

In an Op-Ed for the Orange County Register, Pepperdine’s Gary Galles writes that transit use is down because cars remain popular.

And that the reason they are so popular is because they are “vastly superior” transit and other forms of non-motorized transportation.

Many things are already in motion to solve transit agencies’ problems. For instance, in 2015, Los Angeles began a 20-year plan to remove auto lanes for bus and protected bike lanes, as well as pedestrian enhancements, diverting transportation funds raised from drivers and heightening congestion for the vast majority who planners already know will continue to drive.

Such less than effective attempts to cut driving by creating gridlock purgatory suggest we ask a largely ignored question. Why do planners’ attempts to force residents into walking, cycling and mass transit, supposedly improving their quality of life, attract so few away from driving?

The reason is simple — cars are vastly superior to alternatives for the vast majority of individuals and circumstances.

Of course, what he fails to consider from his windshield-perspective perch overlooking PCH is that drivers around Southern California already complain about massive traffic congestion.

And, in fact, one of the reasons bus use is less attractive that driving is that bus schedules are constantly thrown off by all those people in cars jamming streets beyond their practical capacity.

So what traffic planners are attempting isn’t to create a gridlock purgatory.

It’s dealing with the traffic congestion hell we already find ourselves in, and preparing for an otherwise dystopian future in which more and more people try to jam themselves into an already built-out traffic system that can no longer be expanded.

So unless we provide those people with safe, practical alternatives to driving, our streets will continue to get worse with every new car added to the grid.

That means more frequent and reliable transit, and safer walking and biking. Which in some cases will require making traffic worse in the short term in order to make it better in the long term.

As an economics professor, he should understand that.

But as a shill for the motor vehicle industry, he’s doing a damn good job.

………

The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council will discuss the draft Hollywood Community Plan at the William & Ariel Durant Library, 7140 West Sunset Blvd on Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 6-8 pm.

If you live, work or ride in bikeway-challenged Hollywood, you’ll want to be there to support the bike lanes described in Section 6 of the plan.

Because the Hollywood Hills homeowners will undoubtedly turn out in force once again to complain about density and traffic congestion. As well as bike lanes, if they think it will contribute to either one.

Thanks to the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition for the heads-up.

………

Local

A Pacoima square will be dedicated in honor of fallen cyclist Saul Lopez, the 15-year old boy who was collateral damage in a crash between two cars at Glenoaks Boulevard and Vaughn Street after one of the drivers ran a red light.

 

State

Coronado, where bike lanes give residents vertigo, considers improving bike safety by replacing stop signs with roundabouts; needless to say, not everyone approves.

The annual Tour de Palm Springs rolls this weekend, and a letter writer says it’s rude to ride two or more abreast and force drivers to change lanes (scroll down) to go around them. Even though that’s exactly what drivers are supposed to do, unless there’s a solid yellow line.

A Bakersfield columnist shares the joys of his regular Saturday morning group ride, which has been riding together for over 20 years.

Not so fast on the bike boulevard in San Luis Obispo, as the cycle track portion of the project has been put on hold after residents rise up to demand their God-given right to free street parking.

The former mayor of SLO tries to out-crazy the Coronado NIMBY’s, describing the planned bikeway as “urban rape … not to be performed by a male penis, but by thousands of inanimate bicycles … .” No, seriously.

Three-time world champ Peter Sagan will host a pair of California fondos, starting with a gravel ride in Truckee this May, and a road ride in a city TBD in November.

 

National

Nice idea. In an attempt to support sustainable transportation, a Washington couple builds a small Bike Hut on the edge of their property, providing riders in need with spare tubes, chain lube and other small necessities.

A Montana paper looks at the efforts of rural towns to capitalize on bicycle tourism.

Zen and the art of bicycle maintenance in Minneapolis.

After moving off campus, a Johns Hopkins University student discovers the joys of bicycling in Baltimore and the city’s monthly Bike Party.

A writer from Los Angeles falls head-over-heels — literally — for mountain biking just a few hours outside Atlanta. And wonders why he doesn’t do it more here in California.

 

International

A couple of British pub owners ride the length of South America, covering over 3,000 miles from Chile to Argentina.

A London physician gets it, saying the city’s Camden neighborhood won’t meet its smog reduction goals without a greater emphasis on bicycling and presumed liability. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, presumed liability assumes the operator of the more dangerous vehicle is at fault in any collision, unless it can be proven that the other party is at fault, because they have a greater responsibility to avoid crashes due to their ability to cause greater harm.

A British coroner rules that a velodrome did not follow safety guidelines when a cyclist was killed in a 35 mph crash with another rider in 2014.

An Aussie letter writer says bicycles should be required to have bells, since there’s apparently no other way to politely warn others a bike is approaching. And seems to be under the illusion that drivers politely yield to people on bikes and on foot.

 

Competitive Cycling

An entre Italian amateur team gets busted for systematic doping (scroll down) following the heart attack death of a 21-year old cyclist last May. But sure, tell us again how the era of doping is over.

VeloNews previews this year’s Amgen Tour of California, and says the key stages will be the famed Gibraltar climb and the time trial in Morgan Hill. And looks at how the pros overcome the fear of failure and getting hurt.

 

Finally…

Evidently, I’m not actually a road cyclist. Maybe someday you’ll ride wearing an inflatable flak jacket.

And today is International Winter Bike to Work Day.

So pat yourself on the back if you were able to somehow endure Southern California’s sunny winter weather on your way to work this morning.

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Dockless bikeshare comes to Griffith Park, the death of Vision Zero, and hope for Beverly Hills

November 6, 2017 / / 3 comments

Just days after a false alarm that the LimeBike dockless bikeshare had come to LA, Chinese dockless bikeshare provider ofo has apparently invaded our city.

Despite the fact that a proposed ordinance that would permit dockless bikeshare hasn’t yet made it to a single city council committee hearing.

Ofo tweeted Sunday morning, then deleted, that they were now live in Griffith Park.

They followed that up with a tweet saying they were partnering with the LA Department of Recreation and Parks to provide an easier way to ride through the park.

Brian Nelson confirmed that his wife saw four of the ofo bikes parked near the Greek Theater.

How that conforms to Councilmember David Ryu’s motion to permit privately owned dockless bikeshare in the city remains to be seen.

Especially since other providers, including LimeBike, are waiting patiently for their opportunity to come into the city.

It’s inevitable that dockless bikeshare will come to Los Angeles. The question is how — or if — it will be managed to avoid the problems that have plagued other cities.

Thanks to Erik Griswold and Zachary Rynew for the tips.

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The LA Weekly asks if LA’s ambitious Vision Zero plan to end traffic fatalities is already dead. And accurately quotes the very pissed off author of this site.

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I happened to run into Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse at the city’s Woofstock dog fest on Sunday, and was encouraged to hear her say that the coming bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd are just the start.

As she tweeted later, she’s looking forward to more bike lanes and better mobility throughout the city.

Maybe there’s hope for the former Biking Black Hole yet.

At least as long as she’s in office.

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More on last week’s New York bike path terrorist attack.

A mass was held at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral to honor the victims of the attack.

Bicyclists say the new K-rail protective barriers make the bike path less safe.

A writer for Time says the terrorist’s fearmongering has failed, while Cycling Tips captures the fear and emotion brought on by the attack.

Actor Jason Biggs lets the terrorist know what he really thinks.

And radical right scumbag firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos said “he was glad the only people hit were cyclists and ‘not actual human beings.’” Thanks to F. Lehnerz for the link.

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In Alberto Contador’s case, the N + 1 formula for how many bikes you need equals 42 or 43.

Nobody said working through the details for the Giro’s 2018 Jerusalem start would be easy.

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Local

If you ride the Rose Bowl loop, you owe it to yourself to attend tomorrow night’s meeting of the Pasadena City Council Parks and Recreation Committee, where the future of the popular riding route will be up for discussion. Thanks to Wesley Reutimann for the heads-up. Correction: This originally said it was a City Council meeting; thanks to Bike SGV for the correction.

With the help of a Metro grant, Bike SGV has formed what could be SoCal’s first bicycle traffic school in El Monte.

Manhattan Beach officials and the Manhattan Beach-based leader of Keep LA Moving —no irony there — are unhappy with the way the reversal of the Playa del Rey road diets is going, even though they won the battle. Apparently, they won’t be satisfied until the streets are deadly again.

The Long Beach Police Department has received a grant for traffic safety enforcement over the next year, including a focus on bike and pedestrian safety.

 

State

The Orange County Register correctly notes that the end of daylight savings time increases the dangers to drivers and pedestrians. Wrecks go up after the time change, so make sure you use lights after dark, and ride as if everyone else on the road is driving distracted and half asleep. Which they probably are.

A Chino Hills man rides to collect recyclables, tossing them into a trailer behind his bike, while yelling out to passing people to drive safely.

Los Angeles isn’t the only city being sued by bike riders for injuries caused by bad streets; San Diego is currently facing a trio of lawsuits.

A woman in San Diego’s Mira Mesa neighborhood was seriously injured when a tow truck driver rammed her bike as he left a parking lot.

The great bike debate goes on in the pages of the San Luis Obispo newspaper, as a letter writer says encouraging bicycling provides a great value for bicyclists, as well as the drivers we share the roads with.

A San Francisco street near Golden Gate Park is being converted into a “neighborway,” diverting and calming motor vehicle traffic to improve bike and pedestrian safety. Which sounds a lot like a bike boulevard by any other name.

Instead of the usual complaints that fire engines can’t get through narrow streets with bulb outs and protected bike lanes, San Francisco buys a more compact fire truck that can.

 

National

A BuzzFeed writer calls for banning cars from big cities; a conservative website seems to think it’s a leftist plot.

The Felt behind Felt evidently felt it was time to leave Felt.

Funk-meister Bootsy Collins quit drugs after being told he’d never play bass again when he flipped his road bike several times while riding high in the woods. And no, that’s not a reference to altitude.

Kindhearted Washington residents pitch in to buy new Air Jordans for a teenage Canadian tourist after his were stolen by a BMX-riding man armed with bear spray.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An Iowa man rode his bike 90 miles to celebrate his upcoming 90th birthday.

Police in Stillwater, Oklahoma are repairing abandoned bicycles to be used by residents of a local mission to run errands or look for work.

Nope, nothing odd about Kentucky Senator Rand Paul being attacked in his home by his bike-riding, rice vest-inventing next door neighbor; Paul suffered five broken ribs and bruised lungs.

Grist says Pittsburgh got the bike advocate it never knew it needed in former Trojan JuJu Smith-Schuster

Life is cheap in Florida, where a driver got five years probation for a fatal hit-and-run that killed a bicyclist. Naturally, he claimed he had no idea he’d hit anyone.

 

International

British Columbia considers raising their paltry $81 fine for dooring a bicyclist.

Montreal’s mayor denies he used his influence to muzzle a Toronto parking officer’s popular Twitter account, which he uses to call out scofflaw drivers; the officer vows he won’t be silenced after officials suspend his account. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

The co-founder of the aforementioned ofo says London will one day reach Amsterdam-like bicycling levels. You’ll note he did not say the same thing about Los Angeles. Or anywhere else in Southern California.

A new British study says bike commuting can lower your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, as well as overall mortality. As much as I’ve ridden over the years, I should live forever.

A driver in Britain complains about a bike rider’s misaligned, too-bright headlamp. Evidently, no one in the country has ever been blinded by a driver’s headlights.

Evidently, they don’t take using a car as a weapon seriously in the UK, either. But they do take DUIs seriously, sentencing a drunk driver who killed a cyclist to eight years.

Bicycling helped a British teenager control his epilepsy.

The rich get richer. Bike-friendly Copenhagen asks bike riders to identify where they feel uncomfortable riding to determine where infrastructure needs to be improved.

Now you, too, can take an eight-day cooking and bicycling tour of Sicily led by celebrity chefs Traci Des Jardins and Mary Sue Milliken for a mere $4,595.

An Australian website asks if bicyclists and pedestrians should be banned from using headphones. Never mind that drivers in today’s hermetically sealed motor vehicles have a hard time hearing a siren right next to them, even with the sound system turned down.

An Aussie paper traces the anatomy of a fatal hit-and-run, and how the police tracked down the unlicensed driver who killed a bicyclist.

A rider from Down Under learns the hard way not to accept fruit juice from his friends without asking if they’d spiked it.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to stare at a woman’s chest when there’s a Google Maps camera car driving by. You know you’ve made it when you get mentioned in the GOP tax bill.

And don’t ride your bike down an escalator without a helmet.

 

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

Morning Links: Beverly Hills approves SaMo Blvd bike lanes, Echo Park hit-and-run, and your new bike safety jam

June 21, 2017 / / 3 comments

It’s good news from Beverly Hills, for a change.

Several sources — including Better Bike’s Mark Elliot and the city’s mayor — tweeted late last night that the city council voted unanimously to install bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd as part of the current reconstruction of the iconic street.

Credit Elliot, who never gave up on the seemingly lost cause, despite years of rejection from the city.

Maybe it’s time to stop calling it the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.

Or maybe we should wait until there’s paint on the ground, just to be safe.

Update: Mark Elliot has written his story on the approval — including the news that the council voted to make the lanes hi-viz, which will piss off the film industry. Meanwhile, Joni Yung reported live from the meeting on Facebook.

Thanks to Joni for the heads-up.

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Once again, a heartless coward has fled the scene after hitting a bike rider, leaving his victim writhing in pain.

KCAL-9 reports Michael Starr was not seriously injured in the crash caught on security camera on Alvarado Street near Sunset Blvd in Echo Park early Friday morning.

But Starr had no way of knowing that at the time. And neither did the driver who hit him.

The suspect is described as being about 30 years old, with olive skin and a dark goatee. His car appeared to be a 5 or 7 Series BMW with a license plate starting with WXP.

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People for Bikes unveils their new Bike Days of Summer campaign to get people out on their bikes, with one day each month dedicated to a specific theme.

Although we already missed the first one.

Besides, they’ll have a hard time topping this bike safety jam.

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Caught on video: A Mexico City cyclist goes on a hair-raising ride to rescue a runaway dog and return it to its owner.

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Federal prosecutors lay out why they’re picking on Lance Armstrong in their $100 million lawsuit, even though he wasn’t the only one on the US Postal team who doped. Odds are team leaders knew exactly what was going on, as well. But Lance makes a convenient, and high profile, scapegoat.

Meanwhile, Lance’s lawyers want Greg LeMond and Betsy Andreau to be prevented from testifying, and USADA decision than detailed his doping regimen barred from evidence.

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Britain’s Cyclist magazine takes a look inside RAAM, calling it the toughest ultra-endurance race of all.

The Orange County Register reports on the June 11th Ladera Ranch Gran Prix, just a tad late.

VeloNews says LA’s own 24-year old cyclist Coryn Rivera is just getting started, despite 71 national titles.

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Local

Improvements are finally coming to the Ballona Creek bike path, which will be under construction — but not closed — for the next three weeks between Sepulveda and Lincoln Blvds.

An LA company is introducing a new e-cargo bike on Kickstarter; right now, you can pre-order yours for the low, low price of just $2,799.

The LA Times reviews Blood Road, the documentary about champion cyclist Rebecca Rusch’s bike tour along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to visit the remote site where her father died in the Vietnam War.

Caught on video: Someone broke a window at Burbank’s H&S bike shop, stealing a pair of Rocky Mountain bikes worth around $4,000 apiece; two other bikes have been stolen from them in recent weeks.

South Pasadena will hold the groundbreaking for the Arroyo Seco Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail this Saturday. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.

Bike SGV discovers the first signs of incipient bikeshare coming to Pasadena.

The Malibu city council hears the recommendations of the PCH parking study, which really addresses safety on the deadly roadway through the lens of improving parking. However, no word on what they intend to do as a result.

Skip the traffic and ride your bike to Santa Monica’s Twilight Concerts on the Pier, and take advantage of the bike valet. The same goes for this weekend’s inaugural Arroyo Seco Weekend at the Rose Bowl.

 

State

Streetsblog talks with Caltrans Sustainability Director Ellen Greenberg about changes in the state transportation agency.

Fullerton announces plans to create a two-mile bike boulevard along Wilshire Blvd, to be completed late next year. LA’s bike plan calls for a network of Bicycle Friendly Streets as the city calls them, exactly zero of which have been built. And probably won’t.

Once again, a dangerous driver manages to stay on the road until it’s too late, as a Menifee bike rider suffered severe, but not life-threatening, injuries when he was hit by an alleged drunk driver with a suspended license and history of DUIs.

If you were planning on mountain biking in Hemet’s Simpson Park any time soon, you might want to change your plans; it’s closed for the foreseeable future due to fire danger.

Bixby the Dog received the “bone to the city” in San Luis Obispo Tuesday; the rescue dog had been traveling the country by ebike with his owner to promote animal rescue until stopping in SLO to have some malignant growths removed.

 

National

An Alaska teenager competing in a mountain bike 5K trail race was killed by a black bear in a rare predatory attack after he veered off the trail and got lost; he had called his brother to say he was being chased by the bear. Despite what this story says, he was actually competing in a running race, not on a mountain bike. Which doesn’t make it any less tragic. Thanks to Mark for the correction.

Detroit hopes new bicycling infrastructure can help reverse an increase in deaths and serious injuries.

The murder of a young Muslim woman in Virginia wasn’t a hate crime, unless hatred of people walking and on bikes qualifies; the teenager was part of a group that got into a dispute with the road raging driver, who hit her with a baseball bat, then dumped her body in a pond. There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the murderous jerk who killed her. Thanks once again to Megan Lynch.

 

International

David Suzuki writes that two centuries after their invention, bicycles are still the most efficient and beneficial form of transportation we have.

A city in the Netherlands installs a 3D-printed concrete bike and pedestrian bridge at virtually no cost by using recycled materials along with the 3D-printing.

A German politician parks his cargo bike in the middle of a traffic lane to pop into a bakery to protest drivers who use the same excuse to park in a bike lane.

Hit-and-run is not just an American phenomenon. An Iraqi cyclist was the victim of a speeding driver who fled the scene after fatally striking him.

An Australian TV network looks at the partnership between the country’s Deacon University and America’s only remaining Tour de France winner to dramatically cut the cost of producing carbon fiber for a wide range of applications.

The competition among China’s dockless bikeshare companies claimed its first victim after 90% of the company’s bike were lost or stolen because, unlike its competitors, it neglected to install GPS on them.

 

Finally…

Bicycle touring is seldom boring, but now it’s a board game. Also not boring, your very own bicycle wall of death.

And you can see all kinds of things when you ride a bike. Like Irish people schtupping, for instance.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,

An open letter urging Beverly Hills to approve Santa Monica Blvd bike lanes

June 20, 2017 / / 2 comments

Yesterday we had a guest post by Better Bike’s Mark Elliot discussing the return of the never-ending debate over bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, which is back for discussion before the Beverly Hills City Council at 7 pm tonight.

Stephen Collins wrote to the mayor and city council in response, urging them to approve the desperately needed lanes, which is the missing link between existing lanes in West Hollywood and Century City. He agreed to let me share his letter with you.

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Hello Mayor Bosse and Beverly Hills City Council Members,

As a resident of a neighboring community (Hollywood), an individual who makes an effort to bicycle commute whenever possible (for the environment we all share, in addition to my wellness), a visitor and patron to parks and businesses in Beverly Hills and surrounding communities, and an engineer with work experience in public infrastructure;

I write to urge your strong support of Bicycle Lanes on Santa Monica Blvd. I ride this route regularly, and there is a stark contrast between the safe, relaxed, and predictable riding I am able to do on this same street through nearby West Hollywood, and the dangerous, nerve-racking, and unpredictable riding I must choose if I stay my path into Beverly Hills.

A popular website for cyclists called Strava publishes an aggregate map of where their users ride. I would like to draw your attention to how important Santa Monica Blvd. is to the region in the image below, where I’ve approximately circled the segment through Beverly Hills.

Brighter lines indicate higher utilization. As you can clearly see, this is the most important East/West route for bicyclists North of the 10 Freeway. It’s utilization is on par with streets like Venice Blvd (complete bike lanes, with recent safety improvements in Mar Vista), San Vicente Blvd (complete bike lanes), Sunset Blvd through Echo Park/Silverlake (complete bike lanes) and even the Ballona Creek Bicycle Path, which is car-free. This is the most important stretch of road in the whole area which does not have complete bike lanes. You should have no worries that an investment in safe multi-modal transit for the future of Santa Monica Blvd will be underutilized.

[FYI – Strava is able to provide better data and analysis to city planners and decision makers directly through their Strava Metro program – I encourage you to check it out here: http://metro.strava.com/]

If you haven’t, I would also encourage you to take a single short ride along this segment of road one weekday morning or afternoon, in either direction. Cars and buses move swiftly in open sections of road, and completely jam forward progress when traffic gridlocks. Neither of these are nearly such a concern to cyclists in neighboring communities on this route.

The wide, green lanes in WeHo are a delight, but even the striped lanes on the other side through Century City are leaps and bounds more safe and comfortable to ride than the section through Beverly Hills.

This is a very important bicycle thoroughfare for the region, and Beverly Hills has an opportunity to step up to or even exceed the standards in safety and environmental consciousness set by its neighbors on the same road. It can also be used to encourage cyclists to visit your business district, and to allow community members safer access to their favorite shops in town.

Thanks for your consideration of this matter. I am sorry I am unable to attend your meeting tomorrow – thus my note.

Best,

Stephen M. Collins

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If you’d like to voice your support, you can attend attend the meeting at 7 pm in the council chambers at Beverly Hills City Hall, 455 N. Rexford Drive. If you can’t make it, email your support to mailto:mayorandcitycouncil@beverlyhills.org, and indicate whether you are a resident or work there.

 

Category: Guest Columns / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Beverly Hills considers SaMo Blvd bike lanes, bikes as mobility aids, and not speeding fast enough

June 20, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Beverly Hills considers SaMo Blvd bike lanes, bikes as mobility aids, and not speeding fast enough

Don’t miss yesterday’s great guest post by Better Bike’s Mark Elliot about the return of the never-ending debate over bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd through Beverly Hills. After being rejected several times in recent years, they will be back before the Beverly Hills City Council at 7 pm tonight.

The anti-bike NIMBYs will undoubtedly be out in force once again. So turn out in person if you can; if not, email to voice your support for a desperately needed safe route through the city.

Here are the vital details from Elliot’s post.

Help us support bicycle lanes for Santa Monica Boulevard!

Please contact City Council by email with your support for high-visibility bicycle lanes. Reach Council at mayorandcitycouncil@beverlyhills.org. Your short statement should indicate whether you are a resident and/or if you work here. Those are important considerations for any councilmember.

Plan to attend the meting on Tuesday, June 20th in Council Chambers, City Hall, 455 N. Rexford Drive. The curtain will rise at 7 p.m. and the main act should hit the stage at 7:45 or so (please refer to the agenda).

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A British survey confirms that many disabled people use bicycles as a mobility aid, finding that traveling by bike is easier on them and healthier than other means.

Yet they are frequently required to dismount and walk their bikes, despite using them in the same way someone might use a wheelchair or mobility scooter.

Which is something else to consider in bike-unfriendly Los Angeles, where the city’s disconnected bike non-network could raise issues of compliance with the ADA (American’s with Disabilities Act), if it prevents people with physical mobility issues from using their bikes to get around.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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A Canadian cyclist got pulled over by a cop, not because he was speeding on a descent, which he was. But because he was doing it in the traffic lane, which forced drivers who wanted to zoom even faster above the speed limit to change lanes to pass him.

Go ahead and think about that one for awhile.

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Italian cyclist Gianni Moscon is back to racing after a six-week suspension for making an alleged racist comment to another rider, which he kind of denies.

Hundreds of cyclists have competed in RAAM. But how many have done it without any legs? Then again, racing with one arm and a bum leg isn’t exactly easy, either.

The 25th annual Yukon to Alaska Kluane-Chilkat International Bike Relay will have to wait a year, after the race was cancelled due to a very late spring snow storm — except for the unicyclists, who decided to ride it anyway. And no, you won’t be getting your money back.

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Local

Transportation planner and UCLA faculty member Ryan Snyder says LA must be a bikeable city in order to be a world class city.

Apparently, Elon Musk thinks you’re going to want to walk or bike through his underground tunnels.

LA designer Phillip Lim was inspired to get into the movie business while on a bike ride along New York’s East river with a director friend.

CiclaValley explores the eastern portion of Angeles Crest Highway.

Santa Monica Spoke is hosting a community ride with the mayor of Santa Monica this Sunday.

 

State

Bicycling injuries have dropped for children and teens in California, while more bike riders over 55 are suffering injuries serious enough to visit the ER. The most obvious explanation is that fewer children and teens are riding bikes, while more people over 55 have taken up recreational riding.

A transient bicyclist was injured when he was hit by a car in Anaheim while ghost riding a second bicycle. Let’s hope police checked the ownership of the second bike; ghost riding is a common way to transport a freshly stolen bicycle.

People continue to be attacked by rock-throwing residents of homeless camps, for no apparent reason, along a popular bike path on the American River in Sacramento; one rider was seriously injured last week.

A mobile bike co-op helps keep Ukiah bicyclists on the road.

A pro skier is spending her summer selling homemade gourmet popsicles by bicycle in Lake Tahoe.

 

National

Deadspin offers a comprehensive guide to riding your bike, saying buy a goddam helmet and don’t buy that fixie; thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the link. Meanwhile, Bicycling explains everything you need to know about ebikes.

A Texas writer says yes, bicyclists have to obey the law, too. But we bear the brunt of collisions when drivers don’t.

After an Arkansas teenager set up a lemonade stand to try earn money for a bicycle, kindhearted strangers gave him two bikes, and bought more lemonade than he could make.

Austin TX residents have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the Spanish-speaking bike rider who was shot in the face with a shotgun by a man who said he was just blowing off steam.

A writer for the New York Post seems to think she’s the victim after people take offense at her tweet that she’s nearly been run down by cars twice and by bikes 3,763,459 times, and that we should be grateful that the city has been transformed for bike riders. Maybe she could try looking up before she steps off the curb next time.

A New Jersey man gets 35 years for killing a bike-riding man who got caught in the crossfire of a shootout near his home. Now if they’d just take it that seriously when people use their cars as weapons.

A Philly writer takes offense when two cops refer to bicyclists as “hood ornaments” on Facebook. Although it’s more offensive that police officials didn’t.

 

International

In a report that should surprise no one, a Canadian newspaper concludes that drivers usually receive nothing more than a fine for hitting a bike rider. Which makes Canada pretty much like just about everywhere else.

After 14 months of sobriety, a Canadian man is riding over 5,100 miles across the country to raise awareness of addiction.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 85-year old Quebec man is still riding 25 miles a day, and says crashing is just part of the sport. Except for the crashing part, that is.

A Montreal cyclist survives by hiding in a small hole after encountering a tornado on his ride.

Lululemon is getting into the “small” bicycling market by investing in a Canadian bikewear maker.

Bike riders in Canada’s Maritime Provinces call for more to be done to protect people on bicycles.

London’s new walking and cycling czar lays out plans for the future of bicycling in the city; the city’s new cycle superhighways and quietways have boosted bicycling rates 56%.

A British bicyclist nearly died when paramedics misdiagnosed a rare adrenal condition due to a benign tumor, assuming he was just a drunk tourist before sending him to the hospital. If anything ever happens to me, promise you’ll smack anyone who refers to me an “avid cyclist.”

Britain’s Cyclist magazine takes a tour of Fausto Pinarello’s personal bicycle collection.

The Italian soccer coach who promised his team he’d ride across the country if they avoided relegation to a lower league finishes his 800-mile journey in nine days.

Caught on video: A bike-raging Aussie cyclist lashes out at a woman driver after she pulls out of a parking space into his path, apparently without looking. Seriously, don’t throw a temper tantrum like that. And if you do, don’t be stupid enough to post it online.

A new survey says more women in Canberra, Australia are riding bikes — including BMX bikes. However, the opposite is true in the country’s New South Wales state, where cycling rates are dropping, especially among women. Which couldn’t possibly have anything to do with NSW’s draconian fines for cycling violations that went into effect last year.

 

Finally…

No, Fox News host Sean Hannity was not killed in a bike crash — and didn’t fake it to catch a terrorist, either. Hold your horses on getting that poop transplant.

And don’t chase bike riders in your creepy clown suit.

 

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

Weekend Links: Bikeshare really is coming to Beverly Hills; new CEQA regs could encourage active transportation

February 27, 2016 / / One comment

Hell has officially frozen over.

As we mentioned earlier, the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills is looking for people to test out their coming bikeshare system starting this week. Volunteers can check out the bikes and ride for free for up to one hour.

The abbreviated two-station pilot program, based on the same CycleHop system as Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare, is starting with stations at Beverly Hills City Hall and next to the Wells Fargo bank at Camden Dr. and Santa Monica Blvd.

The latter is where these photos were taken, proving that one of the least bike friendly cities in the LA area really is moving forward with bikeshare. And plans to have the full 10 station system up and running this April, even before Downtown LA’s long-promised bikeshare moves beyond the vaporware stage.

BH Bikeshare

Photo0213

Of course, the question is what happens when up to 50 bike riders at a time, many of them most likely tourists with little or no knowledge of the area, hit the city’s overly crowded, auto-centric streets with their near-complete lack of bike lanes or any other bicycling infrastructure.

Santa Monica, Long Beach, and to a lesser extent DTLA, are ready for bikeshare.

Beverly Hills, not so much.

Meanwhile, Long Beach’s long delayed bikeshare system may finally be up and running this spring; it will be based on the same system as SaMo and the BBHBH.

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Cyclelicious says changes to California’s CEQA regulations could boost active transportation; the outdated, auto-centric Level of Service will be replaced by a more flexible Vehicle Miles Traveled standard.

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Local

The owners of the Sherman Oaks Vespa shop raise more than $4,000 to buy a new bike for a Burbank boy with cerebral palsy after his was stolen by a homeless man; his old bike was recovered after the new bike had been ordered, and will be fixed up and donated to charity.

CiclaValley looks at his riding buddy and pro cyclist Phil Gaimon’s Malibu Gran Cookie Dough ride in November.

 

State

A 68-year old Gilroy man suffered life-threatening injuries in a collision.

A Redwood City man uses Tile to recover his stolen $2,400 bike in San Francisco; whoever stole it apparently put some serious miles, with an extra 300 miles on the odometer in just three days.

The judge who bent over backwards to give a San Ramon lawyer a slap on the wrist for the drunken hit-and-run death of a cyclist now threatens to give him a tougher sentence for lying about his wife’s health to delay sentencing in the case. Never mind that he already violated his probation by failing a drug test.

Only 18% of the residents in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district own cars, yet the streets are designed to funnel motor vehicles, with no plans for bike lanes.

The Sacramento Bee makes the case for why the city needs a bikeshare system.

Chico cyclists erect a new bike-related artwork in honor of a long-time local advocate.

 

National

A woman was inspired to ride across the US by her grandfather’s death when she was just 16, carrying his ashes in a locket.

More proof that bike commuting is good for you, as a Provo UT man loses 100 pounds in just one year of riding to work.

Evidently, police in Austin TX think the way to achieve Vision Zero is to chase people off the sidewalk.

In the latest study from the University of Duh, Michigan researchers figure out that skilled cyclists are better at controlling their bodies when they ride, and have to make fewer large corrective moves than less experienced riders.

A new report looks at protected bike lanes in New York City. Which will likely induce envy in bike riders most everywhere else.

The Bike Law website gets it. After their webmaster was critically injured in a North Carolina collision, they vow to never call crashes “accidents” again. Period.

 

International

The rate of bicycling has tripled in London over the last 15 years, while driving has dropped 50%, even though the city continues to lag behind other European cities in encouraging cycling.

Brit bicyclists are warned about bike thieves sawing through bike racks, then covering it up with gaffer’s tape. That’s a common bike theft technique here as well, with cuts often covered by bicycling stickers; always check the integrity of a rack before locking up if you see any stickers or tape on it.

Study bicycling and bike infrastructure in Copenhagen with People for Bikes this June for just $5,000, plus airfare.

The Guardian aptly observes that the draconian new bike laws in Australia’s New South Wales seem designed more to deter bicycling than protect riders from motor vehicles.

 

Finally…

Your next bike may be printed instead of built, whether you prefer a titanium roadie or a foldie. A homeless man’s claim to fame is stealing Bruce Springsteen’s bike back in the ‘60s.

And you know your proposal to allow motor vehicles on a 243-mile bike and pedestrian trail really sucks when even bike haters think it’s a bad idea.

 

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

Morning Links: Busting on Beverly Hills and its San Diego soulmates, and a Chitown writer busts on bikes

July 29, 2015 / / 3 comments

Just too much to catch up on after yesterday’s breaking news.

So hold on to your handlebars, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

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Looks like everyone is condemning Beverly Hills for their shortsighted, misguided and wrong-headed refusal to put bike lanes on the soon-to-be-rebuilt Santa Monica Blvd; even a realty website is getting in on the act.

And its a 70’s era traffic planning blast from the past from their like-minded contemporaries in Carlsbad, as the local Planning Commission says roads are for cars, and they’re tired of hearing about bikes. Thanks to The Editors for the heads-up.

………

Evidently desperate for click bait, a bike-hating Chicago writer calls people on bikes “reckless terrorists,” and “rude, vulgar and violently intimidating” “imbecile muff monkeys.” And says bicyclists should be forced to carry a special ID at all times, and face fines up to $1000 and a year in jail just for riding on the sidewalk.

No, really, that’s what he said.

………

VeloNews lists five winners and losers from the just completed Tour de France. And Bicycling finishes their long, long five-part story on who punched the great Eddy Merckx. Did I say it was long?

………

Local

Hats off to Streetsblog guest writer Michael Fleming, who calls out Westside Councilmember Paul Koretz for his hypocritical support for fighting climate change while blocking bike lanes on Westwood Blvd.

The LACBC is hosting a feeder ride to the RevisitReseda Blvd celebration this Thursday.

Metro is holding a series of weekly contests asking people illustrate how you walk or bike instead.

The Pomona Valley Bicycle Club is hosting a Bicycle Photo Scavenger Hunt next week.

 

State

Our old friend Rick Bernardi looks at the problem of cyclists getting buzzed by CHP officers, and cops who don’t know bike laws. Or care.

An El Cajon cyclist was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash; police are looking for an older, grey 3-Series BMW.

A Las Vegas writer rides San Diego’s coastal North County.

A day after a Hollister boy was killed by a bus while riding his bike, local restaurants pitch in to raise funds for the victim’s family, and a Hollister councilwoman bemoans kids riding and skating without helmets — even though she has no idea if the victim was wearing one.

Evidently, getting dragged from your home and beaten by San Francisco police for the crime of biking on the sidewalk while black is only worth a $20,000 settlement.

San Francisco police ticket bike riders for squeezing past a several-block queue of backed-up cars on the left, even though there’s no valid alternative for it, and even though lane splitting is legal in California. In a brilliant move, cyclists plan to protest the police crackdown by riding legally en masse.

No bias here. A Bay Area website says a cyclist riding downhill was injured when he crashed into the windshield of a car.

A 61-year old Sacramento cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run.

A Chico man confronts bike thieves with his own vigilante bait bike program.

 

National

It’s the 30th anniversary of many people’s favorite bike movie. So here are 20 things you didn’t know about Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.

The National Law Review considers one of the burning questions of jurisprudence: How often should your bike helmet be replaced.

A Portland bike shop employee spots a stolen track bike, wrestles it from the thief and the thief into submission, all before the police arrive.

Caught on video: A Seattle bike rider captures the hit-and-run driver who left crossed him on his helmet cam; not only did the driver flee the scene, but he was caught looking at his phone as he turned. A Minnesota writer responds by questionng if a safe bike ride is too much to ask. Thanks to @BrianMScott for the heads-up.

A dump truck driver from my hometown faces a vehicular homicide charge for attempting to pass a bike rider despite a double yellow line, then cutting back because of oncoming traffic, trapping the victim under his truck.

Boulder CO says not so fast on right-sizing those streets to make room for separated bike lanes; they want to see how the first one works out first.

San Antonio TX wants more hikers and bikers, and less motor vehicle traffic. Well, who doesn’t? Aside from Beverly Hills and Carlsbad, of course.

A Chicago woman is suing another bike rider for causing a three-bike pileup on a bike path. Proof you’re not always safe even when you’re protected from cars.

Anyone can tell you how to keep from getting hurt on your bike; an Indiana TV station offers tips on avoiding injuries after a long bike ride.

An Albany NY website says a new protected bike lane is for all kinds of people, and that the city’s first one shouldn’t be the last. They’re preaching to the choir.

A New York advocate says bike lanes should be a default feature of street designs under the city’s Vision Zero Plan. The same goes for LA’s Vision Zero, which is supposed to be officially announced next month.

This is why you never lock your bike to a tree, as a Brooklyn bike thief chopped down a 25-foot tree to get the bike chained to it. Not only did the cyclist lose his bike, but the rat bastard killed the damn tree in the process.

A Pennsylvania cyclist is behind bars pending trial for the crime of obstructing traffic by riding in the lane, and getting pissed off when impatient drivers tried to pass him. Since when are traffic violations a criminal offense? And unless he threatened or attacked motorists, swearing was protected by the First Amendment, last I heard.

Philadelphia plans to sweep away abandoned bikes so they won’t besmirch the streets when bike-riding Pope Francis comes to call. Meanwhile, a Philly lawyer offers a detailed look at the problems faced by bicyclists and pedestrians in the city, and what can be done about it short of papal intervention.

A new policy passed by hard-hearted city officials in Durham NC requires ghost bikes to be removed after just 45 days, or even sooner if someone complains; not surprisingly, friends and relatives of bicycling victims object.

Thanks to a law change, it’s legal to ride without holding on to your handlebars in Florida. Shouting “Look ma, no hands!” remains optional.

 

International

A new Canadian study confirms that traffic lanes 10 to 10.5 feet wide improve safety at intersections, while still allowing traffic to move efficiently.

No bias here, either. A Calgary website calls the victim of a hit-and-run a “pedestrian,” but the driver who may have killed her is a “person.”

Caught on video: A Toronto pedestrian kicks a cyclist’s bike and punches him in the face after the rider collided with him on a shared waterfront pathway.

Three Ontario sisters are stopped by police for riding their bikes topless; after pointing out that it’s legal in the province, the cop says he was really just doing a light and bell check. Right.

Evidently, life is cheap in the UK, as a British driver who killed a cyclist on the Isle of Man walks away — literally, perhaps — with a suspended sentence and a three-year driving ban. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

A road raging Brit cop is accused of knocking a cyclist off his bike, then throwing him into a store window. Then again, it goes both ways, as London police are looking for the road raging bike rider who attacked a driver with a glass bottle; the victim appears to have survived getting whacked in the knee.

Caught on video: A motorcyclist catches a London woman somehow managing to drive while simultaneously talking on the phone and eating cereal.

The Dutch are riding further after getting a boost from their e-bikes.

New Zealand parents are rightfully upset after their six-year old son isn’t allowed to bring his bike onto an otherwise empty bus.

More proof cyclists are tough. An Aussie man rides his bike home after being stabbed by a woman.

 

Finally…

Let me see if I’ve got this straight. An Ohio man fled from the coppers on his bike after stealing two rolls of copper, and was caught after getting hit by a car making his escape. If you’re going to flee the scene on a bike you pulled out of the trunk of the stolen car you just crashed into a telephone pole, it helps if you’re sober enough to ride it.

And one last caught on video, as a Brazilian cyclist takes a car parked in a bike lane into his own hands. Literally.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luNGjffDjCs

 

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