Tag Archive for bicycle advocacy

Fed grant to close gap in Chandler path, UK groups issue bike manifesto, and coyotes absolved for biting Irvine boy

October 29, 2024 / / One comment
Just 63 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Good news for San Fernando Valley bike riders.

US Representative Tony Cárdenas presented Los Angeles officials with a ceremonial check for $650,000 to help close a 2.7-mile gap between the Chandler Bike Path and Orange Line Bike Path.

The federal grant will help create a continuous 20-mile-long combination of protected, separated and offroad bikeways between Chatsworth and Burbank.

Thanks to Lionel Mares for the heads-up.

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Yes, please.

An alliance of the five largest providers in the UK’s cycle to work program has issued a manifesto to advance the country’s bicycle community.

The Manifesto for Cycle Commuting outlines a series of strategic proposals based on exclusive data commissioned through YouGov, including:

  • Enhanced safety measures: Urging the Department for Transport to include the needs of cyclists in its new Road Safety Review.
  • Improved infrastructure: Advocating for long-term funding to build safe and accessible cycling routes.
  • Expanded scheme access: Encouraging policy changes to include low-income earners and the self-employed in the Cycle to Work Scheme.
  • Support for e-bikes: Promoting the use of e-bikes as a key solution for older and long-distance commuters, while countering misconceptions about their safety.

Maybe we need to do the same thing over here.

Okay, no maybe about it.

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Last week, we mentioned a a ten-year old Irvine boy who was reportedly bitten by a coyote while riding his bicycle on the way to school.

Now comes word that no coyote DNA was found on his clothing, suggesting that he was probably bitten by your basic, garden variety stray dog.

Thanks to Don Sanders for the heads-up.

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We keep saying it. Bikes are good for business.

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So that’s where “war on cars” came from.

Figures.

Meanwhile, a Canadian news site suggests the Ontario premier’s attack on bike lanes could be a smokescreen for more highway building.

A Toronto writer accuses Premier Ford of making life more dangerous for the city’s delivery riders.

And a writer for Canada’s conservative — small C — National Post says the left is losing the battle over bike lanes, “as it should,” because traffic flow is what matters most.  Bicycling is neither liberal or conservative, but should be a viable option for anyone, regardless of political leanings.

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Evidently, killing one of us just once isn’t enough for some drivers.

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It was man against machine Saturday, as Mathieu van der Poel defeated multiple world rally champion Sébastien Loeb in a head-to-head matchup.

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It’s now 313 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

While we can’t manage to get such a simple program off the ground, the UK’s Cycle to Work Program has helped over 2 million people buy bicycles to commute to their jobs, with much more to come.

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

Talk about not taking a crime seriously. Three Portland men face charges of charges of fourth-degree assault and reckless endangering for boobytrapping a bike path by stringing a spiderweb of wires across it, injuring a woman who unknowingly rode her bike into it. Maybe someday, someone, somewhere will actually prosecute people like that on terrorism charges for deliberately attempting to harm innocent people simply because they don’t like bikes.

No bias here. A conservative — again, small C — New York councilmember instructs everyone to be civil at a public meeting to to discuss a proposed bike lane, before nearly igniting a brawl by standing on a chair and shouting that opponents of the greenway should pick up and leave because their opinions wouldn’t be counted, before storming out.

No bias here, either. A Conservative — capital C — English councilor was criticized for a “reprehensible” rant arguing that “Lycra louts” who ride in the roadway instead bike lanes, which are often blocked or somehow substandard, deserve to suffer the consequences.

It’s a well-deserved three years and eight months behind bars for “very enraged” British motorist who deliberately rammed a 67-year old man off his bicycle, resulting in “serious, severe and long-lasting” injuries; he will also be banned from driving for nine years. Let’s hope drivers take license suspensions more seriously over there than they are here.

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

A Vietnamese website asks whether the problem of people bicycling on prohibited roads can ever be solved, arguing that “people disregard the law and ride bicycles on prohibited roads is considered an act that poses a risk of serious traffic accidents.”

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Local  

This is who we share the road with. A boy riding a minibike was killed in a hit-and-run after laying down his motorbike in a Koreatown intersection and getting struck by a driver, who fled the scene.

 

State

Calbike celebrates their 30th anniversary, while acknowledging that their work for safety isn’t finished.

Sad news from Berkeley, where an unconfirmed comment reports a bike rider was killed in a solo crash. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

An Amazon delivery driver was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run crash that left a 14-year old Castro Valley boy with minor injuries, and “demolished” the front wheel of the boy’s bike. However, the CHP didn’t seem very interested.

San Francisco unveiled a one-block long protected bike lane directly in front of city hall, while leaving the rest of the street what Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick calls a “shit show.” Which is pretty much the definition of putting lipstick on a pig. Unless you’re into that sort of thing, of course. 

More sad news, as a 20-year old man was killed when he was run down by the driver of a semi while riding his bicycle in a Sacramento industrial neighborhood.

Megan Lynch also points to a Davis sidewalk to demonstrate how badly some sidewalk dining areas are done, leaving almost no room to get by — let alone walk a bike.

 

National

Turning old mountain bikes into new cargo bikes.

A writer for Cycling Savvy demonstrates how to tigger a vehicle detector embedded in the roadway. Which can be pretty damn complicated sometimes.

Bicycling offers the health benefits of riding an ebike. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

In yet another Arizona bicycling mass casualty event, a 21-year old Tempe was busted for crashing into a group of bicyclists, sending three people to the hospital. Although the three misdemeanor counts will likely result in a slap on the wrist, if that.

A couple of Arizona universities are collaborating on creating a virtual dashcam for bicycles, replacing the handlebar plugs with a camera and sensors to detect any vehicle passing within three feet, offering an audio/visual warning for the rider, as well as recording a video to capture the license plate of the vehicle, with a time and location stamp.

Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert, the pistol-packing former bar owner kicked out of a “Beetlejuice” musical for getting too frisky with her date, is now taking aim at bicycling, inserting a provision in a GOP bill to remove the bicycling benefit for Dept. of the Interior staffers who bike to work.

A New York state judge put the brakes on a planned bike lane through an NYC industrial zone, after businesses along the route accused the city of bypassing a required environmental review.

 

International

Couldn’t have said it better myself. “If you design a city just for cars, you fail everyone, including the drivers.”

Oops. Evidently, the exact movements of world leaders — including Joe Biden, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris — can be tracked by the Strava apps of their bodyguards.

Momentum argues that bicycling delivers the freedom that cars can only promise.

Tragic news from Scotland, where a former rugby star died of a heart attack, just one day after completing a 1,000 mile fundraising ride; Ken MacAulay raised the equivalent of more than $18,000 for four different charities. He was 66.

She gets it. An Irish public health physician says we have to “wean ourselves off our love of large, fossil fuel-burning cars” if we’re going to meet climate and traffic safety goals.

Momentum says the Paris Olympics bicycle revolution offers lessons for Los Angeles, as well as other cities around the globe.

Even in the Netherlands, two out of five people are bothered by blinding bike lights. Which is why I angle mine down so they don’t shine in people’s eyes.

A star-struck Chinese man rode his bicycle over 8,000 miles from China to Saudi Arabia to meet soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo for all of one minute.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from British Columbia, where 41-year old two-time provincial cyclocross and national track champ Lindsay Burgess was killed in a collision with a pickup driver, who apparently strayed onto a poorly marked cycling race course.

A new documentary shows the reaction in the peloton when Mark Cavendish broke the record for most Tour de France stage wins.

Radio France questions the dominance of Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, implying something fishy is going on, since neither was outstanding as a junior cyclist.

A writer for Cycling Weekly questions where the country’s next generation of cyclists will come from if the Tour de France is no longer broadcast on free TV. Probably the same place they do on this side of the pond.

Velo offers the “ultimate” guide to this year’s gravel racing season.

Velo also says at 6’7″, NBA Hall of Famer Reggie Miller is breaking the cycling mold, which only motivates him to try harder.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal a bicycle in broad daylight, always wear a bike helmet so people will think it could be yours. Now you, too, can be replaced by AI — even on your bicycle.

And no, there’s nothing new about road rage or fighting over bikeways.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

A call to rejoin the fight in Fullerton and LA County, what CA’s bike rebates could be, and tips for your first cargo bike

July 25, 2023 / / Comments Off on A call to rejoin the fight in Fullerton and LA County, what CA’s bike rebates could be, and tips for your first cargo bike

Okay, I screwed up this time. 

In the words that follow, I called in BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, to step up and help this writer for the Fullerton Observer, and other bicyclists in the area, with their campaign in support of plans for a lane reduction on Associated Road. 

In my mind, I mistakenly placed Fullerton in the tangle of cities in Southeast Los Angeles County. 

It’s not, of course. 

Fullerton is in Northern Orange County, on the other side of Buena Park. Which I should know, having written about the city several times — let alone being there more than once. 

I stand by my call for BikeLA to step up and resume its role as LA County’s leading bicycle advocacy organization. But any criticism, real or implied, for not taking a direct role in Fullerton is off base, and I apologize. 

He gets it.

A writer for the Fullerton Observer calls for improving safety on Associated Road by removing two traffic lanes between Bastanchury and Imperial, allowing for wider bike lanes and several feet of painted buffering.

But warns it’s not likely to happen without wide support, particularly from the city’s bicycling community.

Only property owners on Associated Road received notice of the meetings on this issue. Almost all were opposed to the project, primarily to the parking and the fear that it would result in homeless and student parking.  Two Councilmembers supported the opponents, while Councilmember Charles opposed the parking but supported the lane removal. Mayor Jung did not speak directly to the issue, but at a later meeting, in response to some comments that decisions seemed to have been made behind closed doors, he stated that it would come back for a vote.

That is yet to happen. Thus the issue remains open. In the meantime, staff has stopped working on this proposal. Since it involves only paint and the road re-construction is going forward from now until November 20, time remains to determine the ultimate lane configuration.

He goes on to call for people to sign a petition supporting the lane reduction, which doesn’t even have 40 supporters as of this writing.

And ends with this.

The Council majority would prefer to see this go away, even though there is no shortage of bicycle riders in Fullerton. Over 1000 turned out for a July 4 ride on Wilshire. Not so many readily turn out for Council meetings, contact their members, or sign petitions. Nor is there an active bicycle or road safety advocacy group in Fullerton at the moment.

If you wish to weigh in on this proposal (pro or con), you can contact the Council at Councilmembers@cityoffullerton.com, Or you can show up for public comments at Council meetings on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 5:30.

It has long been a problem, not just in Fullerton, but throughout LA County to get the bicycling community involved with their local government, and to stand up en masse to demand safer streets.

For nearly two decades, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, now rebranded as BikeLA, led the fight, often working behind the scenes with government leaders, but able to marshal a significant turnout at council meetings when needed.

But now they’re needed — desperately — in Fullerton, and elsewhere throughout LA County.

As a former board member of the organization, I’ve withheld any criticism for some time now — especially knowing the dire straights the previous Executive Director left them in when he left the group at the brink of financial disaster after leaving the country.

I know the current board and leadership of BikeLA have worked hard to bring the organization back to health, financially and otherwise.

But it’s time they got back into the fight.

They have long since been supplanted as the county’s primary voice for bicycle advocacy by groups like Active SGV, SAFE and Streets For All.

Yes, some chapters of BikeLA have continued to be active in their local communities over the past few years.

But those chapters, and individual members, need to light a fire under the the current leadership, and urge them to once again step forward to lead the fight for bicycle access and safer streets.

And become, once again, the advocacy organization we all need them to be.

Because Fullerton is literally crying out for help.

And the rest of us aren’t far behind.

Photo from Pexels.

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This is what California could have, if it ever rolls out its long-delayed, vastly underfunded ebike rebate program.

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Arleigh Greenwald, better known as Bike Shop Girl, offers a Twitter thread with tips on buying your first cargo bike.

Although you’ll have to click through to read it, and may not be able to if you don’t have a Twitter account, since Elon keep changing the damn site rules every five minutes, along with the name.

https://twitter.com/bikeshopgirlcom/status/1683655598691287041

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

The US Army Corps of Engineers is closing a popular lakefront roadway near Fort Worth, Texas to bike riders and pedestrians, citing “hundreds” of safety incidents over the past three months. Because evidently, people are much safer with cars zooming by than people walking or riding bikes.

No bias here. A Cambridge, Massachusetts city council candidate says she won’t sign a pledge to keep building bike lanes, because some people can’t ride a bike, and even people who ride bikes sometimes drive cars.

Police in England are looking for the person who pushed a man off his bike and into a river; the victim was okay, but his bike was lost in the water.

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

A Virginia man faces charges after he allegedly crashed his bike into a car, then fired a shot at the driver. Seriously, violence — especially gun violence — is never the answer, though I suspect there may be some dispute over just who hit who. 

A Singapore bike rider is looking for the man who somehow took offense to being passed on his bike, catching up to him outside a store and repeatedly kicking his bike and wheels while swearing at him, until police broke up the confrontation — but evidently let the attacker go.

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Local 

Apparently, Metro finally figured out they can waste all the money they want on widening the 605, without having to tear down people’s homes in Latino working class neighborhoods in Downey and Santa Fe Springs after all.

A Streetsblog op-ed from Streets for All’s Michael Schneider and Eli Lipmen of Move LA says it’s time to go bold, and finally make bikeshare a core Metro mobility service instead of an afterthought.

Bizarre attack in Pasadena, where a man pushing a bicycle walked up to another man at a bus stop, pushed the tip of a machete against his abdomen, then slashed a four-inch gash in the man’s leg, before gathering his bike and walking off, all without a single word.

 

State

Police in Huntington Beach are jumping on the ebike crackdown bandwagon, warning, ticketing and/or arresting those who “mis-use” ebikes, while warning that riding over-powered ebikes under the influence could lead to a DUI. Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for the heads-up.

A man in his 60s was lucky to apparently escape with minor injuries when he was the victim of a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Chula Vista late Monday morning.

San Diego’s SDNews says ebikes are popular and convenient, but also pose dangers, citing battery fires and speeds up to 28 mph — but fails to mention that you can achieve that relatively easily on a good road bike, too. And without the risk it will burst into flames. 

A lithium-ion ebike battery is blamed for setting an apartment on fire in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.

 

National

A group of 15 Portland bike riders are suing the city for failing to comply with a 52-year old state law requiring cities to build cycling and pedestrian infrastructure whenever a road is reconstructed. Too bad we don’t have something like that on the books here in California. Because there are a lot of cities that need to have the hell sued out of them, starting with a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

This is who we share the road with. A New Mexico woman faces vehicular homicide, DUI, hit-and-run and child abuse charges for fleeing the scene after driving against traffic, hitting a parked car and killing a 70-year old man riding a bicycle, all with her three-year old son in the car.

A Houston TV station reports on a local group using mountain bikes to help teens and their families dealing with addiction and other self-destructive behaviors.

Police in Minneapolis are warning about new bike theft tactics, as thieves are using super glue to jam bike locks so they can’t be opened, then coming back later and cutting the locks. I’ve been told by LAPD officers that’s being used here, too.

A Kentucky man will spend the next ten years behind bars after copping a plea to the hit-and-run death of a bike-riding mother, claiming he somehow didn’t see her despite the flashing lights on her bike, and the man’s she was riding with.

The shameful scourge of sharrows continues to spread, despite studies showing they increase the risk for bike riders, now leaving their dangerous road markings on the streets of Plattsburgh in upstate New York.

Lyft is considering selling off New York’s highly successful Citi Bike bikeshare due to mounting financial problems at the company. Meanwhile, Curbed questions why Citi Bike’s ebikes are always broken, concluding the problem is likely the bikes themselves. Or maybe a financially strapped company is just cutting corners. 

The rich get richer, as NYC’s public realm officer, aka “czar of public spaces,” is building on the city’s recent biking and pedestrian successes by ramping up projects to benefit both.

A 45-year old Pennsylvania man was sentenced to a well-deserved five to ten years behind bars after pleading guilty to the drunken, stoned crash that killed a bike-riding bank manager exactly 1,392 days earlier.

A West Virginia man faces charges of attempted murder, malicious wounding, wanton endangerment, and presentation of a firearm in the commission of a felony for jumping down off his trunk and shooting a passing bike rider in the arm, after screaming at him for some unknown reason.

Unbelievable. A North Carolina woman faces charges for fleeing the scene after running down two bike riders from behind, leaving one man with serious injuries — then trying to coverup her crime by telling investigators she thought she’d hit a deer, and going so far as to place hair from her dog on her windshield to support her story.

 

International

Electrek says the bike industry should refocus on building simple, attractive, and serviceable ebikes following the “shocking” VanMoof bankruptcy.

Canadian Cycling Magazine suggests a half dozen outdated rules for city bicycling that should be modernized.

London officials admitted that a bike lane is causing congestion when buses stop to pick up passengers. In other words, it’s the narrow traffic lanes and lack of bus stops, not the bike lanes, that are the problem. 

A pair of Scottish brothers are about to stand trial for murdering a man taking part in a 104-mile charity bike ride, then hiding his body for months afterwards; they allegedly abandoned the victim after hitting him with their car while driving under the influence, then came back the next day to move his bike and body.

 

Competitive Cycling

Germany’s Liane Lippert captured her first stage win since 2020 on Monday’s stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, aka the Women’s Tour de France.

Velo offers 21 quick hits in summing up this year’s Tour de France, from a “super” Sepp Kuss to pulling for Cav to make a comeback next year.

Lost in the news from the Tour de France was that upstart American Neilson Powless lost the polka dot King of the Mountain jersey to Italian Giulio Ciccone over the final stages, after pushing the action for much of the race.

Bicycling reports that Netflix’s popular cycling docuseries Unchained will be back for a second season, this time focusing on Tadej Pogačar and the UAE Team Emirates team.  As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

Evidently, winning a Tour de France stage is like getting drunk — especially the next day. The video game-ish future of mountain biking.

And victory is not always to the swiftest, but to those who manage to remain upright.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Change LA one advocate at a time, WHO warns on dangerous streets, and new Venice bus and bike lanes open

June 27, 2023 / / One comment

My apologies to anyone who got a premature version of today’s post, after I inadvertently hit the Publish button before it was ready. 

Which makes me the poster child for premature publication.

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I’ve struggled with feelings of failure for several years now, the result of the the city’s failure to follow through on its promises to improve the safety and livability of our streets.

I started this site 15 years ago today, in part because I realized I can’t change the world. But I could help make Los Angeles a safer place to ride a bike.

And that, in turn, could change the world.

But as I’ve gotten older, and watched the backsliding and lack of commitment from our elected and appointed leaders, I’ve had to accept that the livable Los Angeles I’ve long envisioned is not likely to happen in my lifetime.

So I’ve continued to get more depressed fighting for bikeways, safe streets and livable communities, while working to build a community I may never see.

Something else that has happened over this decade and a half, however. I’ve watched as other people have picked up the torch, first a relative handful inspired by myself and others to fight to improve their own communities, then the others they have inspired, building exponentially on one another.

I now realize that whatever success I have in this life will be measured, not by the changes I’ve achieved, but the spark I’ve helped spread to so many others.

Like Moses, I see the promised land of what this city can and should be, but know we’re not likely to get there in whatever time I have left in this life.

Yet I’m confident that the change will one day come, and generations to come will enjoy a city that is livable and welcoming for all, whoever you are and however you travel, because of those who may just now be joining the fight.

So I promise to keep it up.

And if anything I say or do inspires you to join in or keep up that fight, then my work here will not be in vain.

Now let’s get off this damn soapbox, and onto the news.

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He gets it.

The World Health Organization warns there’s an urgent need to rethink mobility, moving on from dirty and dangerous streets for cars to safe spaces for people.

According to Nhan Tran, head of Safety and Mobility for WHO,

“We must urgently move from an old model of drab, dirty and dangerous streets built for cars, to safe, green and vibrant spaces designed and built for people. Mobility underpins so many other aspects of public health and development. By making walking and cycling safe, we can reduce air pollution and fight climate change,” Tran said at the Vision Zero Conference on Road Safety here in the Swedish capital.

“By prioritizing the safety of vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists, we can reduce poverty and tackle inequalities, including access to jobs, schools as well as gender equality,” said Tran.

Sounds right to me.

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Los Angeles officials teamed with Metro to celebrate Monday’s opening of a four-mile extension of parking protected bike lanes and 24/7 bus lanes on Venice Blvd.

Meanwhile, People Powered Media offers a Twitter thread covering the event — and some of the challenges still confronting bike riders on the boulevard, while calling for safer streets for a very personal reason.

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Finally, social media confirms that Angelenos really did strip to save the planet on Saturday.

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

No bias here. A self-described public safety expert is calling for drivers to park in a Portland protected bike lane this Friday to protest the city’s supposed “war on cars,” saying this is what happens when citizens are ignored. But aren’t people who bike citizens too?

Readers of London’s Express called for following Italy’s possible lead, with a “staggering” 84% calling for bikes to be licensed and registered. Which is likely more a reflection of who reads the Express than more general sentiments.

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

A group of middle-aged bike riders are accused of peeing all over a pretty Cornwall, England beer garden after complaining about the food, then riding away without paying their tab. And forcing pedestrians and a person in a wheelchair out of their way as they rode off.

A bike-riding London man got fed up with a group blocking a roadway to protest oil use, pushing them out of the way while shouting at them to “fucking move” and “go and protest properly” so people in cars could use the street.

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Local 

Santa Monica police will conduct another bike and pedestrian safety enforcement operation this Friday, with an emphasis on “primary collision factors involving motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.” The standard protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line so you’re not the one who gets ticketed. 

 

State

Anaheim received $5 million in federal funding for five active transportation projects near the Honda Center, including a new bike/ped bridge over the Santa Ana River.

The misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter trial for Lindsay Turmelle has been continued until September; Turmelle is charged with killing Carlsbad ebike rider Christine Hawk Embree, who was riding with her miraculously unharmed 16-month old daughter.

Injuries from bicycling — ebikes and otherwise — jumped a frightening 50% over the past four years in San Diego’s North County region, highlighted by the death of a 15-year old boy in Encinitas over the weekend.

San Francisco media sites are finally picking up the complaints about the “confusing,” and potentially dangerous, center-running protected bike lane on the city’s Valencia Street.

An Oakland website says artist, preacher, community organizer and barber De’Morea “Truckie” Evans is one of the most connected and influential people in the city, while working to make the streets safer through bicycling.

 

National

Business Insider picks up the story about bike riders in helmets and hi-vis being seen by drivers as less human, adding to the debate over mandating helmets when helmet laws have been shown to drive down ridership, while unfairly targeting the poor and people of color. Thanks to Marcello Calicchio for the heads-up. 

Walmart has a new Schwinn e-mountain bike for less than $400 right now.

Members of the Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air cycling team will hold a memorial ride to mark ten years since teammate Pete Makowski was killed when he was struck by the driver of gravel truck while on a training ride, calling for “3 Feet for Pete.”

Former Star Trek actor and gay icon George Takei was blasted by conservatives on social media for defending nude bike riders taking part in a Seattle Pride parade, where they could have been seen by kids. Even though what he said was more a criticism of anti-Pride commentators than a defense of the bike riders. And any parent who takes their kids to a Pride event should be prepared for what they might see.

Boulder, Colorado will start offering income-qualified ebike rebates up to $1,400, plus another $200 for helmets, locks and other accessories, starting July 6th. Still no word on when California’s long-delayed program will finally launch.

Cheyenne, Wyoming will host its annual Bike to Work or Wherever Day tomorrow, described by some as “the best holiday ever, all on two wheels.” Something that would have been unthinkable in the former cowboy town when I grew up less than an hour south of it.

The Des Moines Register explores the reasons first-time RAGBRAI riders are taking part in the paper’s bike ride across Iowa.

In a nice change, Evanston, Illinois is planning to build a protected bike lane on a busy street that carries 12,000 cars a day, along with “an unknown number of cyclists.” Recognizing, as others have said, that you can’t measure how many people will use a bridge by counting the people who currently swim across the river. 

A New York group discusses the “menace” of ebikes, scooters moped on the city’s sidewalks, as some people blame the “bike lobby” for the dangers to pedestrians, while a state senator calls them the number one complaint to his office.

 

International

Road.cc tests whether a gravel bike is slower than a road bike, and just how fast you’ll get dropped riding one.

Toronto elected a left-wing progressive for mayor on Monday; Momentum discusses how Olivia Chow will give the city a real bicycling mayor.

Welsh drivers are just three months away from seeing speed limits cut to 20 mph in an effort to save lives and build stronger communities. So what the hell are we waiting for?

“Shocking” video captures a drunk UK driver high on coke speeding along the wrong side of the road, moments before slamming into a bike rider; the driver got seven well-deserved years for killing the victim. Even if it looks like he’s on the right side of the road to those of us on this side of the Atlantic. 

A UK site considers why Mallorca, Spain has become the “go-to holiday destination” for bicyclists who won’t compromise on luxury.

An Aussie bicyclist will attempt to set a new record by crossing the country in 65 days, cutting 19 days off the existing record, while raising $200,000 for spinal cord injury research.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s a changing of the guard, as Mark Cavendish is confirmed for his final Tour de France, needing just one more victory to break the legendary Eddy Merckx’ record for stage wins. 

Former Tour de France champ Egan Bernal will return to the race for the first time since last year’s life-threatening crash while on a training ride in his native Colombia.

Road.cc considers the unwritten rules that determine the outcome of the Tour de France.

Swiss cycling great Fabian Cancellara posted a “beautiful, and heartbreaking tribute” to fallen cyclist Gino Mäder, who was killed riding off the road on a steep descent during the recent Tour de Suisse.

Swiss masters cyclist Isa Pulver became the second consecutive woman to win the solo race category in the Race Across America, aka RAAM, in a time of 9 days, 12 hours and 16 minutes, making her the first woman to finish in less than ten days in nearly 30 years.

The Press Democrat celebrates 20-year old Sebastopol resident Luke Lamperti’s three-peat as the national crit champ.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your stylish new ebike was inspired by a…piano? Your new bike tires could be made from your old bike tires.

And Twitter was quick to remind Lance he’s a cheater. Because he seems to forget sometimes.

And that stain lasts forever.

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

Oh, and Yevgeny Prigozhin says fuck Putin, too.

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

NY bike path terrorist spared death penalty, and memorial ride Saturday for murdered bike rider Dr. Michael Mammone

March 15, 2023 / / 2 comments

Convicted terrorist Sayfullo Saipov will spend the rest of his life in a Super Max prison, after a New York jury failed to agree on the death penalty.

Saipov was convicted of killing eight people, and injuring several others, when he drove a rented U-Haul truck down a Manhattan bike path on Halloween Day in 2017.

Several of the other victims suffered life-altering injuries, ranging from paralysis to lost limbs.

………

Laguna Beach will host a Ride in Peace memorial ride on Saturday for Dr. Michael Mammone, who was murdered by a man apparently suffering from mental illness as he was riding his bike last month.

Dr. Mammone, an emergency physician with Providence Mission Hospital, was stopped at a red light on PCH in Laguna Beach when he was allegedly intentionally run down from behind by Vanroy Evan Smith, who got out of his car and stabbed Mammone to death, apparently choosing his victim at random.

So when you ride to remember Dr. Mammone this weekend, remember, too, this country’s failed mental health system that led to his murder.

………

Some of LA’s leading advocacy groups are teaming up to fight for safer streets.

Although the question is whether street safety advocacy groups Streets For All and Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, weren’t invited, or chose not to play.

And why, either way.

https://twitter.com/LosAngelesWalks/status/1633961609013116929

………

ActiveSGV invites you to help scout out the next 626 Golden Streets ride.

………

Mark your calendar for June’s Culver City Pride Ride.

https://twitter.com/CulverCityPride/status/1633252099537666050

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

And why it will only get worse as vehicles keep getting bigger.

………

Very cool to know the estimable will.i.am is one of us.

And so, evidently, is Twisted Sister.

………

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

Fox News wants you to be afraid, very afraid, of ebikes and their supposedly exploding batteries.

Apparently, it’s okay to pass someone on a bike too close, as long as they’re riding a Penny Farthing on the streets of London.

A bike rider in Bristol, England says he’s fed up with a “pointless” bike lane, which is always blocked by drivers who find their desire for a convenient cup of coffee more important than his desire to stay alive.

Sadly, the tweet below is an all-too typical example of victim blaming, when watching the replay at the end makes it clear the bike rider was right hooked; thankfully, the victim escaped unscathed, even if his bike didn’t.

But sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Inconsiderate bikeshare users will be now be charged five times as much for dumping rental ebikes in central London — a whopping ten pounds, or $12.16 at current exchange rates.

Um, okay. A Dutch “traffic psychologist” blames Amsterdam’s “bicycle fetish” for traffic misconduct, describing it as a feeling of superiority that “my bike and I are completely in charge here.” A feeling I would love to have just once in my life.

………

Local 

LAist recommends riding with People for Mobility Justice if you want to make friends on two wheels. And talks with honored PMJ volunteer and immigrant rights advocate Erick Huerta.

Nice move from South LA’s East Side Riders, who are marking their 16th anniversary by establishing an ebike lending library for residents of Watts, Willowbrook and Compton.

UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs takes justifiable pride in parking maester Donald Shoup being featured in discussions of parking reform in both the New York Times and the Congress for New Urbanism’s Public Square.

This is who we share the road with. A Pasadena man faces charges for repeatedly, and intentionally, ramming a woman’s car after rear-ending her at a red light; he was arrested after causing a disturbance at a nearby business.

A Santa Monica man faces hate crime and attempted murder charges for yelling racial slurs at a Black man who was just walking his dog, then attacking a Black man and woman with a pipe on an Expo Line platform, again shouting racial slurs, after fleeing the first scene on his bike when nearby firefighters intervened.

Work has finally begun on a long-planned beautification project on Front Street in San Pedro, including construction of a 22-foot wide multiuse path.

 

State

Caltrans announced a number of traffic safety projects in Orange County, including extending bike lanes through intersections in Huntington Beach.

The Orange County Register invites you to sign up for their new traffic and transportation email newsletter, The Road Ahead. Let’s just hope they take an expansive view of transportation, rather than just limiting it to the vroom, vroom crowd. 

Hats off to Carlsbad, which has narrowed traffic lanes on historic Highway 101, aka Carlsbad Blvd, reducing one section to just one lane to make room for a buffered bike lane, as well as marking areas where drivers and bike riders have to share the lane.

Five-time world champion triathlete Lesley Paterson co-wrote and executive produced the German movie All Quiet On The Western Front, which won four Oscars out of nine nominations, including best foreign language film; she wrote the script as she rode her bike around San Diego. I always did my best work while riding my bike, too. 

A Streetsblog op-ed accuses San Francisco officials of trying to fake their way to Vision Zero, citing the failure to slow speeding drivers and improve safety on the city’s Franklin Street.

That’s more like it. A first-term Oakland councilmember says she’s had it with the city’s dangerous streets.

 

National

CityLab suggests e-trikes are coming to the rescue of aging suburban Boomers, who quickly discover the roads aren’t as friendly for people on wide bikes as they are for drivers.

Bicycling says the Bicycle Film Festival is coming to your living room through the end of this month. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

MotorBiscuit raises the question of whether a bicyclist is a driver or pedestrian, saying bike riders exist in a weird gray area between the two. Which is exactly the problem, since people riding bikes are neither one, but traffic planners, engineers and government officials insist on forcing us into one camp or the other. 

Portland is considering an update to the city’s Freight Master Plan, including a proposal to use cargo bikes for last-mile deliveries.

Advocates in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown are pushing for construction of a “world class bike park” on the site of the former football stadium where I used to play in the marching band. And may have smuggled booze for the band inside my tuba.

This is who we share the road with. In a truly bizarre case, a Texas boy is dead, along with two horses, when a driver slammed into three teenaged rustlers riding stolen horses along a freeway.

Evidently, Los Angeles isn’t the only place with inconsiderate film crews, as Chicago bike advocates had to spring into action when the catering crew for Chicago Fire set up shop in a separated bike lane.

Chicago Magazine takes a ride down the city’s busiest, and most dangerous, bikeway, where 50 bike riders have been hit by cars, and three killed, in the last three years.

Wisconsin’s Democratic governor is proposing to more than double spending on recreational trails, raising funding from an average of $7 million to $18 million a year.

Illinois is considering an ebike rebate bill, with a focus on people who receive government assistance or earn less than 300% of the federal poverty level. Which is similar to plans for California’s ebike rebate program, if it ever actually happens.

Kindhearted community members pitched in to buy a $4,000 ebike for a 60-year old Bowling Green, Kentucky bike shop worker who rides his bike everywhere, due to a learning disability that prevents him from driving.

A Philadelphia man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the driveby shooting that killed a 16-year old boy who was just riding his bike home from a convenience store, in a case of mistaken identity.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. DC is replacing its flimsy plastic car-tickler bendy posts with concrete dividers to improve safety on separated bike lanes where drivers have just driven over the plastic bollards.

A Florida lawyer and bicyclist alleges that Miami-Dade County has done absolutely nothing to improve safety in the nine months after two bicyclists were killed riding along the city’s deadly Rickenbacker Causeway.

Police have charged an 86-year-old Clearwater, Florida man for the hit-and-run death of a 36-year old woman riding her bike. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive, and why officials insist on keeping elderly drivers on the road until it’s too late. 

 

International

Momentum Magazine says getting serious about active transportation in Europe means getting serious about eliminating street parking. The same would be true in this country, except eliminating street parking seems to be a nonstarter most places.

Momentum also considers the best ways to carry groceries on your bicycle.

A British Columbia writer says biking to work is her form of self-care, after becoming lethargic and irritable working from home.

A Toronto op-ed says the city’s residents are turning from cars to bicycles, which is reflected in a new condo development.

Scotland’s Endura bikewear manufacturer takes helmet design to the extreme by auctioning off four bike helmets imprinted with actual CAT scans of bicyclists who suffered life-threatening brain injuries, to benefit The Brain Charity in the UK. I’ll pass, thank you.

Cycling Weekly examines the phenomenon of middle-aged British men geeking out over vintage bikes. In my case, it’s just lusting after the classic bikes I couldn’t afford when I was younger. Then again, I can’t afford them now, either.

Brexit claimed another victim, as the UK distributor for bike brands including Tern Bicycles, Lake, Forme, ETC, Emmelle and MeThree has entered liquidation proceedings.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 74-year old driver walked without a day behind bars for killing 41-year old father as he rode his bike. But at least he won’t get his license back until he’s 81.

A 49-year old Irish woman embraced the single life as she rode her bicycle through six continents, describing herself as “just Bridget Jones on a bike.”

A Hong Kong man faces charges for stealing the bicycle of a Chinese influencer, which he had ridden through 32 Chinese provinces over the past three years.

Bike riders blame aggressive motorists as Australian bicycling injuries reach a record high.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews says French cyclist David Gaudu is setting hearts aflame in his home country with hopes for the Tour de France, after finishing second to Tadej Pogačar in Paris-Nice.

No bias here. Cycling’s governing body showed its antagonism towards diabetics competing at the highest level by stripping Alaska’s Kristen Faulkner of her surprising third-place finish in the Strade Bianche Donne for wearing a continuous glucose monitor during the race.

Rouleur tells the “heartwarming” story of how French cyclist Romain Bardet’s old bike is carrying the dreams of Oman’s national champion, as he strives to race in Europe.

Bicycling reports Belgian road and track cyclist Lotte Kopecky will take part in this week’s Nokere Koerse race, despite the unexpected death of her 29-year old brother last week. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you. 

If you held the Strava KOM for Tenerife volcano Mount Teide, Remco Evenepoel  has some bad news for you.

Nothing like having a rogue motorist driving salmon on a supposedly closed bike race course during Sunday’s final stage of Paris-Nice.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and heroin on your bike, maybe don’t pop a wheelie in the middle of an intersection with the cops looking on. That feeling when you need a ebike that shares tech with the Mars Rover.

And fortunately, she said yes. Because it would have been very embarrassing to jump off a bike mid-race to propose, otherwise.

https://www.tiktok.com/@hanner.knapp/video/7202635612095024426?embed_source=121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.bikemag.com%2Ftrending-news%2Fcyclist-dream-proposal&referer_video_id=7202635612095024426

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Let me offer a special thanks to a longtime friend of this site, who made an unexpected donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way every day, which literally came in five minutes before an automatic payment would have bounced. 

As always, donations of any size, any time and for any reason are always welcome and very appreciated.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

US traffic deaths keep climbing while the world drops, Cyber Monday bike deals, and ’tis the season for bike fundraising

November 28, 2022 / / Comments Off on US traffic deaths keep climbing while the world drops, Cyber Monday bike deals, and ’tis the season for bike fundraising

It’s finally here!

No, not Cyber Monday. It’s the first full week of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — your chance to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

And what could be better than that?

Just take a moment, and join over a dozen of your friends and neighbors who’ve already given to support this site, and our work shining a light on all the news that effects your safety, convenience and right to ride on the road. 

Give today via PayPal or Zelle.

Or if you’d rather send a check through snail mail, let me know in the comments below; if there’s enough interest to outweigh the cost, we’ll give it a shot. 

And let’s all give a special thanks to James L, Stephen C, Bonnie W, Michael S, Robert K, Anne F, Arthur B, Ted F, Mark J, Bryan B, Jame I, Lorena C, Samer S, Joseph R and Michael S for their generous donations to help keep this site up and running for you. 

So don’t wait. Just click the link, and give now!

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If you think American roads are getting worse, you’re right.

The US was one of just three major countries to see a rise in traffic deaths last year, tying Switzerland with a five percent jump, while Ireland increased a more modest two percent.

That compares with a whopping 27 percent drop in Italy, followed closely by Hungary, Turkey, Spain, France and Sweden.

And not surprisingly, it’s the people outside of cars paying the brunt of the price, according to the New York Times.

In 2021, nearly 43,000 people died on American roads, the government estimates. And the recent rise in fatalities has been particularly pronounced among those the government classifies as most vulnerable — cyclists, motorcyclists, pedestrians.

Much of the familiar explanation for America’s road safety record lies with a transportation system primarily designed to move cars quickly, not to move people safely.

“Motor vehicles are first, highways are first, and everything else is an afterthought,” said Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board. “Other countries started to take seriously pedestrian and cyclist injuries in the 2000s — and started making that a priority in both vehicle design and street design — in a way that has never been committed to in the United States,” Mr. Freemark said.

In fact, the paper reports that the US and France had similar traffic fatality rates in the 1990s.

But one of those countries made major changes to improve safety. And that country was not the US, where drivers now kill road users at three times the rate of French motorists.

Other developed countries lowered speed limits and built more protected bike lanes. They moved faster in making standard in-vehicle technology like automatic braking systems that detect pedestrians, and vehicle hoods that are less deadly to them. They designed roundabouts that reduce the danger at intersections, where fatalities disproportionately occur.

In the U.S. in the past two decades, by contrast, vehicles have grown significantly bigger and thus deadlier to the people they hit. Many states curb the ability of local governments to set lower speed limits. The five-star federal safety rating that consumers can look for when buying a car today doesn’t take into consideration what that car might do to pedestrians.

Or people on bicycles, for that matter, as we all pay the price for government inaction on our roads.

US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg promises that’s going to change.

Let’s hope so. Because it has to.

………

Today’s common theme is Cyber Monday bike deals.

Wired lists the best deals on ebikes and e-scooters.

Electrek offers their picks for the best Cyber Monday ebike deals.

Cycling Weekly recommends the sales on Adidas bikewear and bike shoes.

CNN goes all in on REI’s Cyber Monday deals.

Meanwhile, Road.cc warns that scammers may try to cheat you out of your hard-earned cash by setting up fake websites for companies, including FSA/Vision, SRAM and British mountain bike and dirt jump bikemaker DMR.

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We’re not the only ones asking for your hard-earned money over the holidays, with Giving Tuesday just one day away.

CicLAvia wants to give you a chance to win new Brompton in exchange for a donation through tomorrow.

Streets For All is hosting a fundraising party on December 9th.

And a fundraiser for LA’s legendary bike co-op Bicycle Kitchen is hoping to raise $20,000 to celebrate their 20th anniversary; it stands at a little over $5,400 now.

………

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

A driver in New Mexico faces charges for the road rage shooting of a bike rider that began with a punishment pass for the perceived crime of riding in the roadway, and escalated into a shoving match before the man pulled out a gun and shot the 22-year old victim in the cheek.

London’s former bicycling commissioner Andrew Gilligan says forget the fake claims and bad journalism, because the city’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods, aka LTNs, really do reduce traffic — and usually reduce pollution, too.

After a London man explains what led up to a viral road rage incident in which an SUV driver ran over his bike, a self-proclaimed driver and cyclist seems to put much of the blame on the victim, while saying ego seemed to get the best of both of them.

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

A San Francisco man faces multiple charges for stealing a city bus and going on a nearly two-mile joyride through the city, crashing into ten cars in the process; bizarrely, one of those charges is for operating a bicycle without “breaks.” Which should serve as a reminder to always take breaks during your bike ride if you plan to hijack a bus.

Murder charges have been filed against a bike-riding Las Vegas woman who repeatedly hit 53-year old woman in the head with a rake, for no apparent reason; there was also no explanation for why she even had one on her bike.

A standard poodle was seriously injured when he was run down by a hit-and-run rider on a bikeshare bike while walking on a London pedestrian-only path, leaving the dog’s owner with a $2,400 vet bill.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. An English bike rider was fined a lousy £2,500 — the equivalent of just over $3000 — after being convicted of careless and inconsiderate cycling for the crash that killed a motorcyclist, and left him with life-changing injuries.

Forget doping. A cheating Chinese marathon runner was banned for life after allegedly riding a bikeshare bike for over four and a half miles of the 26-mile course.

………

Local 

Three LA city councilmembers have introduced a motion banning the practice spot road widening, in which private builders are required to widen a small section of roadway in anticipation of widening the entire thing at a later date; LA bike riders were recently blamed for a half-block long “bike lane to nowhere” on Santa Monica Blvd that actually isn’t.

Developer Rick Caruso spent $162.42 for every vote he received in his losing campaign for Los Angeles mayor, while Mayor-elect Karen Bass spent a relatively paltry $10.15; newly elected City Controller Kenneth Mejia spent a frugal $1.30 per vote.

The Port of Long Beach is now accepting concept papers for new bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects that could qualify for grant funding.

 

State 

A 14-year old San Diego boy suffered serious injuries when police allege he rode his bike through a stop sign, and into the path of an SUV driver.

San Diego City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn is calling for lower speed limits on the city’s most dangerous roads, taking advantage of a recently passed state law allowing cities to set speeds as low as 15 mph in some cases.

Troubling news from Riverside County, where a bike rider was hospitalized in life-threatening condition after being struck by a driver Saturday morning; unfortunately, no details are available.

A Berkeley man in his 30s was critically injured when he was rear-ended by a driver while riding his bike Friday evening.

An “anti-capitalist” Berkeley bike shop is closing after 51 years to make room for a 26-story apartment building. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Bad news from Oakdale, where a 67-year old man was killed when police allege he swerved his bike in front of an oncoming driver in what sounds like a Single Witness Suicide Swerve.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers advice on fixing and preventing flats on your ebike.

They get it. The 150-year old Popular Science says ebikes could be the future of transit in urban centers — if cities take steps now to encourage and accommodate them.

VeloNews considers ten ways riding a bike can improve your mental and physical health, from lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease to improving sleep and sex life. Although you may have to sign up for a free account to get past their paywall.

A writer for Outside says he spent $800 fixing up a very mediocre 1990s era Diamondback Topanga, and couldn’t be happier. I want to do the same with my old 1981 Trek if I ever have the money.

A Washington driver was charged with DUI, vehicular assault and child endangerment after she seriously injured a bike rider while driving under the influence, then rear-ended a truck attempting to flee the scene — with her two kids riding in her car, sans seatbelts.

Anchorage, Alaska may not be the first place you think of for progressive urbanism, yet the city just eliminated all off-street parking requirements for new buildings, while adding a requirement to include bike parking.

After his high-end Pinarello bike and a laptop were stolen in a burglary, a Texas man got them both back within hours, thanks to an assist from a local bike shop.

Going over his handlebars after hitting a chunk of pavement may have saved a Texas pastor’s life, after the doctors treating him discovered he had cancer.

A 2022 book from a former adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota details the conversations she and her husband had traveling 14,000 miles in 14 months with two fully loaded bicycles.

A Pittsburgh newspaper takes the state GOP to task for cynically torpedoing a popular bike safety bill by attaching an unrelated bill appointing a special prosecutor in southeast Pennsylvania, in an effort to force out Philadelphia’s popular progressive DA.

 

International

Whew. Road.cc readers conclude that it’s okay to stand your bike upside down when you take a break.

Nice gesture from Rapha, who marked Black Friday by donating $150,000 to World Bicycle Relief to provide much-needed bikes in Africa.

More Dutch bicyclists are ending up in the emergency room while drunk or stoned, with a whopping 84% increase since 2012.

A pair of self-employed Frenchmen avoided the World Cup crowds at the Doha airport by riding their bikes three months and roughly 4,350 to see their home team compete, while promoting the benefits of sustainable travel.

In one of the rare stories that’s not hidden behind their paywall, VeloNews reports 23,385 people have now successfully Everested — that is, ridden uphill equal to the 29,032 feet elevation of Mount Everest. But only one man from Austria has done it on a unicycle.

An Indian firm has invented a wheelchair that converts into a road bike.

A South African car finance company would be more than happy to write a loan for a $15,765 Pinarello Dogma F, but no one has taken them up on it yet.

The Philippines honored people on two wheels with yesterday’s National Bicycle Day, as advocates call on the government to take steps to ensure the safety of bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews questions who will dominate women’s cycling after the great Annemiek van Vlueten retires. But again, you may have to sign up for a free account just to read it.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a bike-riding Queen Victoria becomes a squid-faced woman on a bike. Your next EV could be the 3D-printed illegitimate child of a small passenger car and an ebike, complete with hexagonal wheels.

And who needs a kid’s carseat when you can just hook a baby carriage onto your bike?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Lime supports local bike advocacy, Bicycling calls for racial diversity on bikes, and dogs (and a monkey) on bikes

June 26, 2020 / / Comments Off on Lime supports local bike advocacy, Bicycling calls for racial diversity on bikes, and dogs (and a monkey) on bikes

E-scooter riders have come to appreciate the value of bike lanes as much as anyone.

Now Lime is trying to channel that energy into safer streets for all of us.

The company is launching their new Lime Action program in partnership with a number of advocacy groups across the US, including the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

“As people around the world are taking action to support racial justice, safer streets and cleaner air, we are excited to provide a platform for our millions of riders to turn their passion into action,” said Katie Stevens, Head of Global Policy at Lime. “Lime Action connects our riders with local grassroots organizations making meaningful change in their communities. We’re proud to help riders strengthen their hometowns by getting involved in efforts to create safer, calmer streets, reduce congestion and harmful emissions from car traffic, and fight systemic racism and injustice.”

Lime will provide their partner organizations with access to a number of advocacy tools, as well as directing their users to get involved with local organizations like the LACBC.

However, it light of today’s issues, safer streets in the traditional sense are just part of the fight.

The Lime Action partnerships and organizations will enable our riders to engage on issues that range from those directly impacting their rides, such as safer streets, to making transportation and our cities as a whole more equitable, and to helping make our world more sustainable:

  • Safer Streets: Lime riders are often encountering bike lanes for the first time on a scooter– and quickly discover how street space issues between cars and other modes of transportation can affect their safety. Lime Action will provide a way to translate this awareness into action to support campaigns for safer street infrastructure, including bike lanes, greenways, and cycle tracks.
  • Social Justice: Lime believes in strengthening our cities, and that goes beyond safe infrastructure. That’s why Lime Action partners with local organizations supporting re-entry for formerly incarcerated people, addressing institutional racism, providing career training and meaningful employment, and increasing opportunities for underprivileged youth.
  • Sustainability: The COVID-19 crisis has driven home the impact car travel has on our local air quality, with major improvements to clean air in cities when car use is minimized — but these reductions are already being erased as cities begin to recover. Lime riders already help to contribute to reductions in car use, with a quarter of all rides replacing a car trip, and all trips being powered by 100% renewable energy. Lime Action provides additional ways to support cleaner air by getting involved in local environmental and sustainability campaigns.

Lime also has a program that allows users to donate a small additional percentage to the LACBC and other organizations at the end of their rides.

Although it would be nice to see the company put its money where its mouth is, by committing to donate a few cents from every ride to the advocacy groups they partner with, which could provide a steady revenue stream for groups that desperately need it.

But this is a great start. Because scooter users need safe and fair streets as much as we do.

And we can definitely use their help to demand change from our elected leaders.

Meanwhile, a writer for Medium says the coronavirus may mark the turning point to profitability for scooter companies, by providing a safer alternative to transit.

………

An editorial from Bicycling calls for support for national and local bicycling organizations working for more racial diversity.

Here in Los Angeles, they mention the Bahati Foundation, Legion of Los Angeles, and Alterra Home Loans Cycling Team in Houston and LA.

All of which are worthy of your time, money and efforts.

But I’d also include local standouts like East Side Riders Bike Club, which is feeding hundreds of people who might otherwise go hungry this summer, and South LA’s Black Kids on Bikes, just to name a few.

………

He gets it.

After celebrating the newly carfree State Street pedestrian plaza, and calling for everyone to wear masks when they go there, a Santa Barbara columnist had this to say.

In all this forced solitude and isolation, people are rediscovering the simple joys of one of mankind’s greatest inventions: the bicycle. Not to state the obvious, but there are few better ways to get out and about while maintaining a safe social distance. Hazards and Bicycle Bob’s report their bike repair waiting lists longer than Trump’s Tulsa rally reservation list — only there are no K-Pop agitators and saboteurs involved. Bikes that sell for $500 flew out the door a month ago. Electric bikes are everywhere.

With so few cars on the road, the streets are safer. For a while, every day felt just like Sunday morning.

He goes on to criticize plans to ban bikes from the plaza, as we noted a few days ago.

And ends with this line.

There’s hope. Humans, after all, remain the only species that can ride a bike or snap their fingers.

So someone should tell him about this.

And this.

And this.

And yes, this.

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You’re invited to Ride Against Racism this Sunday to support Black Lives Matter and protest police brutality.

https://twitter.com/VelTheWonder/status/1276186111186853890

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Former basketball great Bill Walton is teaming with marathon champ Meb Keflezighi to host another BikeForHumanity virtual bike ride this July to benefit several charities, including No Kid Hungry.

………

This is what it looks like to get run down from behind when a close pass isn’t.

https://twitter.com/getacarhippie/status/1276384959205240833

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Rapper and producer DJ Mustard’s son is one of us now.

Although someone should tell him to be careful around walls.

https://twitter.com/RapCentury_/status/1275970424476663809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1275970424476663809&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Freal923la.iheart.com%2Fcontent%2F2020-06-25-mustard-teaches-his-son-to-ride-a-bike-it-didnt-go-as-planned%2F

………

Unfortunately, there are far too many bikeways like this in the US, too.

………

Former pro Phil Gaimon is back with another video, explaining five common bike collisions and how to avoid them, no matter how man wheels you travel on.

………

Local

Somehow we missed this ranking of America’s best and worst cities for your heart. And for a change, Los Angeles scores well on a national list, checking in at a relatively healthy 20.

The LA Times recommends nine Los Angeles trails to ride your bike. Although they take a very expansive view of LA, including anything north of San Diego and Imperial Counties. 

Speaking of The LA Times, they join a long list of news outlets asking if the pandemic-fueled bike boom will continue. Short answer: At least as long as the pandemic does.

Downey’s mayor now has a 26-year old, bike-riding, YIMBY challenger for her city council seat.

This is who we share the road with. A woman walking her dog on a Palmdale bike path was killed by a driver who lost control while fleeing from sheriff’s deputies.

 

State

The California Transportation Commission, not to be confused with Caltrans, approved $100 million in Complete Streets funding, and began a discussion of equity in transportation.

San Luis Obispo bike riders rode 8.46 miles on Wednesday to honor George Floyd and show solidarity with Black Lives Matter.

 

National

FloBikes offers advice on how to avoid common bicycling injuries. The ones that happen without falling off.

WTF. Police in Maine report a pickup truck creepily followed an eleven-year old girl as she rode her bike. But never mention that the truck may have had a driver.

Six urban rides to explore Boston for the next time you find yourself in Beantown.

A Rhode Island bike shop is celebrating its 100th anniversary; the shop was founded two years after the last pandemic, and its anniversary comes just in time for the next one.

Life is cheap in upstate New York, where even killing an off-duty cop riding a bike with his son merits nothing more than a traffic ticket.

New York advocates are making progress in efforts to remove the NYPD from traffic enforcement and return responsibility for enforcement to the city’s Department of Transportation.

After years of ticketing and confiscating bicycles from immigrant delivery workers, New York City has finally gotten around to legalizing ebikes. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean they’ll be giving all those bikes back and refunding their money.

New York continues to lap Los Angeles, as it opens up normally congested streets so people can dine al fresco, unlike their Left Coast counterpart.

A Delaware letter writer says the problem isn’t people parking their bikes illegally, it’s that the city didn’t put bike racks where people need them.

Superstar Columbian singer Maluma is one of us too, going for a Miami bike ride with a friend.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on whether you should buy a tandem, and how. Hint: Only if you like to ride with someone else.

Gear Patrol says one of the best bike saddles is from a company you’ve never heard of.

Take a virtual bike ride along a London DIY pop-up bike lane.

A London paper offers advice on basic bike maintenance for new riders.

An Indian woman who couldn’t even ride a bike four years ago is now a virtual RAAM champ. And she’s not a small woman, which should give hope to people everywhere.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pope Francis has joined people around the world in expressing his support for Alex Zanardi, as the Paralympic champ fights to recover from a horrifying handcycling crash; doctors are worried that Zanardi, who already lost his legs in a car racing crash, may lose his eyesight or suffer brain damage.

The Dutch cycling federation considers how to move forward this summer after the country lifted its ban on competitive sports.

 

Finally…

Not many people can claim they sold bikes to Bruce Springsteen and Richard Nixon. Who needs a clown car when you’ve got bikes?

And Tour de France champ Egan Bernal has clearly mastered the most important bike skills.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

Bike and civic giant George Wolfberg dies at 82, Mariah Kandise Banks prelim a bust, and anti-bike bias in CA Senate

February 14, 2020 / / One comment

Happy International Winter Bike to Work Day.

Oh, and Valentines Day, too. 

And sorry if I leave a tear or two on your screen today.

………

Giants are usually invisible.

You seldom notice them hiding among the rest of us, doing the same things we do.

Until one falls. And it’s felt all over the city.

Like my friend George Wolfberg, an invisible giant of the Los Angeles bicycling community.

And virtually every other community in the City of Angels.

It was just yesterday, flipping the pages of the LA Times, that I recognized Wolfberg’s face looking back at me from the obituary pages, and learned he’d passed away last week after an extended illness at the age of 82.

His death did not go unnoticed in Pacific Palisades, where he was a longtime resident, chair emeritus of the community council, and the former leader of the Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association.

I first met the longtime bicycle and community advocate nearly a dozen years ago, when he was fighting a battle to extend the beachfront Marvin Braude bike path to Malibu.

One he ultimately lost to a group of fellow advocates who preferred the danger of keeping bicyclists on deadly PCH to the optics of such an expensive bikeway project.

But George quickly got me involved in other projects, from joining the PCH Task Force to represent the needs on bike riders on the dangerous corridor, to connecting me with just the right people in the city and county governments to get finally piles of sand swept off the beachfront path months after a storm.

Which wouldn’t have happened without Wolfberg’s help.

Because George Wolfberg knew almost everyone at every level of the city, county and state governments. And even set up meetings with state Assembly Members and Senators to present my approach to halting hit-and-runs.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to convince them at the time that hit-and-run was that big a problem.

I wonder if they get it now.

For years, I could count on finding links to some bicycling story or another from the Wall Street Journal or New York Times popping up in my inbox on a regular basis, with the email address invariably leading back to him.

And he never missed contributing to this site’s holiday fundraiser every year; it breaks my heart to think this last one was, in fact, the last one.

But that’s the funny thing about giants.

They don’t always tell you they are one. Or why.

I’d known for some time that George Wolfberg was one of the first members of the Los Angeles Bicycle Advocacy Committee.

But it wasn’t until yesterday that I learned he’d also served on the LA County BAC. Or that there even was an LACBAC.

I was familiar with the late LA bike legend Alex Baum’s work to bring the ’84 Olympic Games to Los Angeles, and that he was instrumental in bringing women’s cycling to the Games for the first time.

But I never knew Wolfberg had worked hand-in-glove with him, writing the original proposal for the Games that forced the International Olympic Committee’s hand by including women’s cycling as a demonstration sport.

Or that he was instrumental in bringing the World Cup to Los Angeles in ’94. Let alone that he fought the horrific South African apartheid by working to get the city to divest from the racially divided county, later earning thanks from Nelson Mandela himself.

And worked just as hard for the residents of South LA, setting up a meals program for soccer playing kids who didn’t get enough to eat at home.

George never told me any of that. Or the countless other civic and athletic accomplishments on his resume that have made this city a better place for all of us.

Because that’s not what giants do.

I am poorer today, because I lost a friend and ally.

But more importantly, this city is poorer because it lost a true giant of a community leader. A man who did everything Los Angeles asked of him, then kept on doing more.

We will all miss George Wolfberg, even if most of us will never know it.

May his memory be a blessing for all of us.

Photo from Pacifica Palisades Community Council

………

Our anonymous courtroom correspondent attended yesterday’s hearing for Mariah Kandise Banks in the hit-and-run death of fallen bicyclist Frederick “Woon” Frazier, which turned out to be a prelim, rather than the actual trial.

But for no apparent reason, as it turned out.

Banks’ public defender couldn’t get herself extricated from another case that’s currently at trial (these things happen), so today’s preliminary hearing was delayed until March 17th, and I’ll be there.

A film crew from USC was there to cover the proceedings, which were brief. Bogart was there, Spencer was there. I met a budding activist, new to LA from Chicago, who had lost his fiancee of 8 years, and another activist fresh from Corvallis.

Nobody’s bike was stolen during the hearing, but Bogart et al were in the elevator (with Courtroom 38’s bailiff!) when it jammed, so their arrival was delayed for 20 minutes.

Woon’s mama was there and holding it together as best she could, which of course meant rivers of tears. She wore a t-shirt with a picture of young Woon and his bike, from which his face beamed. She repeated the words he said to her as he walked out the door for the last time, and I could just about hear them in his voice. Then her body heaved with sobs. So many arms were there to comfort her, but there’ll never be enough.

After Banks accepted the motion for continuance, the Assistant DA spoke to us in the hallway, providing a basic overview of the prosecution process and a chronology of expected future events. Woon’s mama indicated that she’s unlikely to actually be in the same room with Ms. Banks.

God damn. I wish I could suffer her pain for her.

………

No bias here.

Streetsblog reports that the Republican Vice-Chair of the California Senate Transportation Committee buys into the myth that bike lanes increase traffic emissions.

Bates has made it clear that she is hostile to taxing people to pay for transportation, and hates the idea of paying for transportation infrastructure that doesn’t involve cars. At the hearing, she said that active transportation projects–“translated as ‘road diets,’ which is the term used these days,” she said, further muddling the topic–contribute to higher emissions by causing “mounting congestion on some of the primary arterials.”

“I think [the Active Transportation Program] had more to do with moving people out of automobiles and onto bikes and things where you create less greenhouse gas and the emissions, but when you’ve got the other two lanes and people are sitting in their cars, running, you have the same problem,” she said.

The transportation site’s Melany Curry had this to say in response.

And a lot more.

This actual data is in sharp contrast with the kind of fearmongering promulgated by groups like Keep L.A. Moving and Keep Pasadena Moving, whose anti-bike advocacy has prevented safety measures in those cities, and resulted in the removal of a road diet in Playa Del Rey before data could even be collected. Those fears are also fed by awful click-bait headlines like the one on the recent story in the S.F. Chronicle blaming bike lanes — very wrongly — for congestion on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge.

Sure, it’s possible for a poorly designed road diet to increase congestion. But that’s not what happens, for the most part. And Senator Bates’ repeating the idea that they do is unhelpful, at best.

And blaming bike lanes for vehicle emissions is just gaslighting. Senator Bates is not alone in doing this, and she needs to stop. And she also needs to stop pushing that as a reason for the state to stop funding active transportation projects.

Seriously, give it a read.

Because we have to know who and what we’re up against out there.

And how to respond to made-up facts with real ones.

………

This is who we share the roads with. And the airspace, apparently.

………

It may not be romantic, but chances are, you’ll still love killing a little time this foggy downhill run.

………

Local

Crosstown LA at USC crunched the numbers, and came up with a list of the most dangerous intersections in Los Angeles; surprisingly, all but three are in the San Fernando Valley, with the others in South LA. Hint: You might want to avoid Sepulveda and Sherman Way. 

Curbed looks at CD14 Councilmember Jose Huizar’s proposal to permanently prohibit cars from a 1.5-mile stretch of historic Broadway in DTLA.

Active SGV will host their first Emerald Necklace Bike Train of 2020 this Sunday.

The Santa Monica City Council voted to approve the bike and pedestrian friendly makeover of deadly Wilshire Blvd.

You can stop waiting for the other shoe to drop, as CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew unveils his Karate Kid custom hand-painted bike shoe; he showed off the other one earlier this week.

 

State

New polls show San Diego residents want parking more than bike lanes, and stricter regulations on e-scooters — even though the current regs have already chased some providers out of town.

An 11-year old Ventura boy was seriously injured when he was hit by a driver while riding his bike on a private roadway in a condo complex; needless to say, the driver played the Universal Get Out of Jail Free card, claiming he just didn’t see the kid.

UC Santa Barbara’s HOPR bikeshare will be hopping off campus this spring.

The garlic capital of the world considers establishing bicycle parking minimums for apartments and commercial buildings, including both long and short term bike parking.

A Modesto paper welcomes a road diet and protected bikeway, as long as it’s accompanied by affordable housing.

A debunking website says yes, Amazon’s first CFO really was killed by one of the company’s own delivery subcontractors while riding her bike in San Jose.

San Francisco’s shortest protected bike lane could be here to stay — assuming all goes well at a hearing next week, after it was already ripped out once.

 

National

Streetsblog says don’t hold your breath waiting for a Democratic presidential candidate who’s committed to breaking car culture.

Writing for Bicycling, a woman describes how her fellow mountain bike coaches got her through the darkest days of her divorce.

It’s 44 days into Oregon’s new Idaho Stop Law, and the sky hasn’t fallen.

There’s a special place in hell for the bike thief who stole a beautiful, $4,000 custom-made low rider bike from an Arizona barbershop.

Colorado Public Radio offers tips on how to keep riding in the snow. Which is not a problem you’re likely to encounter on International Winter Bike to Work Day here in Los Angeles.

A Michigan School got a visit from professional mountain biker Jeff Lenosky, and every 1st and 2nd grader got a new bike and helmet, thanks to Lenosky and a local nonprofit.

Over 2,000 safety-minded people signed a petition calling for protected bike lanes downtown Nashville TN.

A Boston TV station comes to the rescue of a college student, who got stuck with a $1275 bill when she was unable to dock a bikeshare bike after a $2.50 ride.

Singer and rapper Ray J discusses his Scoot e-bike/scooters on a Gotham morning talk show.

 

International

A red light-running London driver has been convicted in the hit-and-run death of a bike rider, who slipped away after 18 months in a coma; his father, cousin and younger brother were convicted of helping him coverup the crime.

The driver of a commercial skip loader got a well-deserved three and a half years for killing a bike rider while high on coke and cannabis.

A British woman refused to accept the diagnosis when doctors told her she’d never ride a bike again following brain surgery; now she rides a bike, runs, climbs mountains and jumps out of perfectly good airplanes.

A woman in the UK is furious after thieves stole her $1,000 bike, then came back to take her hot tub, too.

Forget CicLAvia. Paris will now ban cars from four arrondissements — aka districts — on the first Sunday of every month, opening the streets to the people.

German bicycle and trucking associations say the country has to do more to improve safety for bicyclists, with over 400 people dying while riding their bikes in Germany every year.

The hit-and-run epidemic has spread to Oman, where a driver was busted for fleeing the scene after running over a bicyclist; no word on the condition of the victim.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the entire adult fat tire race gets its ass kicked by a 7th grader. Kicking out Stanford students for their first bike infraction — or not.

And be glad deadly snakes don’t hide inside bicycle helmets.

I hope.

 

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

Morning Links: PeopleForBikes leads ebike fight, CHP victim blaming, and the best 3 minutes 27 seconds of your day

July 24, 2019 / / 4 comments

I recently received the following press release from People for Bikes — or as they now call themselves, PeopleForBikes (I should talk, I know).

I don’t normally repost PR stories in their entirety, if at all. But it’s a good message and a battle worth fighting.

Besides, it’s a quarter to four, I’m tired and cranky, and the Corgi needs her beauty sleep and won’t go to bed until I do.

Research over the past year has extolled the virtues of e-biking: Studies have shown that e-bikes significantly bring down cities’ CO2 emissions, reduce noise pollution, get people active, and even have the capacity to create car-free households. Simply put, e-bikes form a certain way to help our planet as it enters an uncertain future. That’s why PeopleForBikes has made e-bike advocacy a core part of their work, working to drive the conversation that’s building towards an “e-bike revolution.”

PFB has supported pages and pages of research and resources that have been instrumental parts of legislation giving people access to and infrastructure around e-biking. PFB has generated information on state-by-state e-bike policy, easy-to-read research and statistics, and e-bikers’ favorite city-by-city routes. They’ve seen some awesome results: Through the work of advocates and legal advisors, 22 states have passed PFB’s model e-bike legislation, which regulates e-bikes like regular bicycles. This is a huge win for the health of our cities, the planet, and e-bike riders.

Of course, many challenges remain ahead. Most states have confusing laws saying where e-bikers can and can’t ride, and tariffs make bike motors and e-bikes themselves more expensive than they need to be. PFB wants to continue to be at the forefront of this conversation as we push for accessible e-biking for all.

………

No windshield bias here.

A Santa Rosa bike rider was killed when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver who continued without stopping, throwing him onto the opposite side of the roadway, where he was struck by another car.

But instead of addressing the heartless coward who murdered an innocent man, the CHP blamed the victim for possibly riding in the traffic lane instead of the bike lane, and wearing dark clothing on a dark street.

Which shouldn’t matter in the slightest if the victim had the legally required lights and reflectors on his bike, which they don’t mention at all.

And maybe someone should tell the CHP about the numerous exceptions to CVC 21208 that allow bicyclists to leave a bike lane whenever necessary.

Not to mention that it’s almost impossible to pinpoint the exact point of contact for a bike crash unless the driver braked before impact, which doesn’t seem to have happened here.

But sure, let’s keep demonstrating that notorious CHP windshield bias.

Thanks to Sindy Saito for the heads-up.

………

Watching this video could be the best 3 minutes and 27 seconds of your day.

Or maybe you have a more exciting life than I do.

But still.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.

Someone has been planting dangerous medieval-style booby traps on biking and hiking trails in national parks across Australia’s New South Wales; one local official called the people responsible “complete scumbags,” which pretty well sums it up.

………

Local

City Watch talks with environmental justice advocate and CD10 city council candidate Aura Vasquez, who wants to fix our streets and build more bike and micromobility lanes.

Dodger Stadium is scheduled to get a $100 million makeover next year. But that huge parking crater surrounding it will remain, despite previous plans to replace it with housing and an entertainment district. Let’s hope they at least improve bike access, and provide safer places to park your bike. Or better yet, a bike valet.

 

State

Deputies with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department busted a Dana Point bike chop shop on Tuesday; if you recently had a bike stolen in the area, they may have found whatever is left of it.

The owner of a new Encinitas gelato shop talks about his only other job as a pro cyclist in Italy until a knee injury forced his retirement at the ripe old age of 22.

A San Diego TV station considers SB 127, the Complete Streets bill currently working its way through the state legislature, which would mandate bike and pedestrian accommodations any time a state roadway is resurfaced.

Sun-baked Banning will build a bike lane crossing the entire city in an effort to improve the health and waistlines of its residents; the city expects the lane to draw 400 bike riders a day, while a Safe Routes to School Coordinator bizarrely responds they’ll be lucky to get that many in a year, because no one bikes in Banning. Maybe they would if they actually had safer places to ride, as he should well know.

Deadly Rancho Mirage has introduced a $400,000 bike and pedestrian safety plan.

After 20 years, Victorville is nearing completion of the Mojave Riverwalk, an eleven-mile bikeway with four miles of offroad shared use paths.

San Francisco bicycling and walking advocates turn out to demand safer streets and call for the declaration of a traffic emergency in the city after the deaths of 21 people walking or riding bicycles so far this year.

A woman has been charged in the hit-and-run death of a Crockett bike rider, after another woman overheard her telling the second woman’s roommate she’d been in a crash, but wasn’t sure what she’d hit because the sun was in her eyes. God forbid she should have stopped her car to find out — especially in full daylight. Let alone stopped once she realized she couldn’t see, and avoided the crash altogether. 

 

National

A new nationwide study confirms that protected and separated bike lanes improve safety for everyone on roadway, not just the people on two wheels. And that cities with the greatest number of bike riders also have the best safety records. Which brings up the whole chicken/egg thing — do safer streets attract more bike riders, or do more bike riders improve safety?

Surprise your best friend with a dog-friendly e-cargo bike, complete with his or her own set of handlebars.

Slate examines what happens to all the old bikes when bikeshare providers pull out of a city or shut down entirely. In most cases, the picture isn’t pretty.

Your next steel frame bike could be printed, not built. And have a really weird looking kink in the seat post.

You can now legally ride your bike — or your e-scooter — through any Portland fast food drive-through.

Seattle considers adopting Dutch-style intersections to improve safety for bike riders.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the wheels of a disabled Nebraska man’s bicycle, in broad daylight as people walked by, leaving him without any form of transportation; fortunately, the local Trek dealer gave him a new set of wheels and tires worth up to $500. And a lock to secure them.

The Texas driver who ran over a bike cop’s bicycle while fleeing a traffic stop last month and dragging his partner by the arm, has been arrested after being identified in a photo lineup.

A Chicago bike rider was killed when he somehow fell off a train station platform and landed on the electrically charged third rail; three other riders were also injured in separate incidents last week.

Ohio State University collects over 500 abandoned bikes each year and donates them to a local bike co-op.

Four “reckless” Connecticut bike riders were busted for loitering near a park, harassing residents and blocking traffic with their bicycles. No doubt it’s just a coincidence that they all happened to be biking while black.

No bias here. New York approves a pilot program to allow bike riders to use leading pedestrians intervals to cross intersections before drivers get the green light. But the anti-bike New York Post insists on calling it a “green light for cyclists to run red lights.” Just wait until someone tells them about the Idaho Stop Law.

So much for Vision Zero under presidential candidate Bill de Blasio. New York’s death toll keeps getting worse, as two more bike riders lose their lives in collisions with the drivers of large trucks; 17 bike riders have died in the city this year, compared with ten for all of last year. Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the link.

The driver who killed longtime DC bike advocate Dave Salovesh while fleeing a traffic stop pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter Tuesday, after the DA reduced the charge from second degree murder. The city will install a road diet and bike lanes that Salovesh had long fought for on the street by 2021 — just a tad too late to save his life.

A new study shows drivers are actually less likely to stop for bike riders who activate a crossing signal on a New Orleans greenway than if the riders simply crossed the street without it.

Shameful. Florida police use deadly force to stop a fleeing teenage bike rider, ramming his bicycle for the crime of, yes, popping wheelies. And yes, biking while black.

 

International

A Victoria, British Columbia letter writer insists the city’s newly appointed bike mayor is crazy for thinking that safer streets will improve bike safety more than requiring bike helmets. And somehow feels the need to inform her she’s not in Amsterdam, in case she was unaware.

An Australian driver insists on demonstrating that fatal hit-and-runs against bike riders aren’t just an American phenomenon. Although unlike most Americans, he turned himself in 40 minutes later. Thanks to Steve Messer for the tip.

Make a good impression on your next trip to Korea by talking bikes in the local lingua franca.

An English language website makes the case for bike commuting in Hong Kong, where most people only ride recreationally.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Tour de France riders adopt the risk and rewards of the super tuck to increase downhill speed. And prayers to make it down safely.

Defending TdF champ Geraint Thomas hit the pavement for the third time in 16 stages, saying he was thrown from his bike when the gears jammed. Meanwhile, Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang crashed out of the race.

Rising Belgian star Wout van Aert left the hospital following successful surgery to repair a deep cut to his upper thigh acquired when he caught a retaining barrier during the individual time trial in this year’s Tour; doctors want him to stay off his bike for another two months.

Esquire asks pro cyclists what it feels like to ride in the Tour de France, while London’s Telegraph examines the not-so-secretive inner workings of the race.

A former Tour de France reporter looks back on Greg LeMond’s remarkable comeback victory exactly 30 years ago yesterday, after he was nearly killed by his brother-in-law in a hunting accident.

Rouleur makes the case for Tour de France announcers Phil Liggett and the late Robert Sherwen to be inducted into the Cycling Hall of Fame.

 

Finally…

Your next water bottle could come back as a collapsable bike helmet. That feeling when your eight-year old gets his low-rider bicycle back after it was stolen — both times.

And every bike ride should end with pie.

Or beer. Or maybe both.

 

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

Last chance to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy

December 22, 2018 / / One comment

Okay, that’s not true.

You’re more than welcome to make a donation to this site anytime.

But it’s the final weekend of the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

The last two days to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy during our one and only fundraising campaign of the year.

And the only time we’ll come right out and ask for your support.

Or beg, even.

It’s easy to donate via PayPal, or through Zelle with the banking app that’s already on your phone using the email address you’ll find on this link.

Any amount is truly and deeply appreciated, no matter how large or small, to help keep this site coming your way every day. And ensure the Corgi has a little kibble under her tree Christmas morning.

So what are you waiting for, already?

Thanks to Evan B, Robert H and Karen K for their generous donations to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Person behind fake advocacy group outed, and SCAG takes a deep dive into traffic safety data

October 13, 2017 / / One comment

Once again, Peter Flax has written a great piece, as he investigates the fake, Twitter-based advocacy group LA Westside Walkers.

And outs the person behind it as a Playa del Rey music video and documentary director Justin Purser, who lives steps from the initial Vista del Mar road diet.

Purser admits to being the person who started the account, although he bizarrely contends that he handed it off to a group of people he refuses to name after it was mentioned on this site, following his equally bizarre claim to have co-founded BikinginLA.

You can probably count the number of people who actually believe that on a closed fist, however.

Flax digs into the account, which continues its misleading, false-flag form of fake advocacy.

All the while, the barrage of strange tweets from the Westside Walkers account continues, a maddening mélange of dubious facts and falsely earnest advocacy, leveraging a completely faked identity to convince unsuspecting readers that measures meant to save lives are not working. It’s a total cesspool of bullshit distracting people from an actual life-and-death issue.

Meanwhile, someone from Playa del Rey forwarded screenshots in the upper left corner and below, showing comment by Purser from around the time the Westside Walkers account was started.

His point seems to be that the real goal of people who supported the road diets was to make the streets more dangerous, not less.

If that’s supposed to be a joke, it’s in very poor taste.

And says a lot more about the person who made it than it does anyone else.

Let’s hope his attitude really has changed, as Flax’s article suggests.

………

The Southern California Association of Governments, or SCAG, has prepared an in-depth look at traffic safety conditions for the six-county region, as well as each of the individual counties.

Needless to say, it’s not a pretty picture.

A few graphic highlights —

 

………

As we mentioned yesterday, Bike SGV is hosting their BEST Ride: Bike Art Night Pasadena tonight. Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

Meetings will be held tonight and tomorrow in La Puente and Montebello, respectively, to provide input on the SGV Regional Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan (scroll down).

The October Slow Ride: Revive Gateway Park! will be held tomorrow, hosted by the Elysian Valley Slow Ride.

AIDS/LifeCycle is holding a pair of Kickoff AIDS/LifeCycle 2018 rides beginning at Balboa Park this Saturday to start training for next year’s 545-mile ride down the California Coast.

The South Bay Cycling Awards will be held in Torrance tomorrow; you can see a list of nominees here.

Bike SGV will hold a memorial ride on Sunday to honor staff member Brian Velez, who recently passed away unexpectedly.

Helen’s Cycles will hold a number of rides this weekend, as well as a women’s bike maintenance clinic this coming Thursday.

Also on Thursday, the LACBC will host a City Cycling Class to develop urban riding skills.

Helen’s Cycles in Arcadia is sponsoring a No Drop Group Ride next Saturday, October 21st.

Also on the 21st, CD4 Councilmember David Ryu is hosting an open house to discuss much needed safety improvements to 6th Street between Fairfax and La Brea.

West Hollywood will be holding a WeHo Pedals Bike Share Basics workshop on October 26th.

Santa Monica’s Breeze Bike Share is celebrating its second birthday with a ride with the mayor on November 4th.

CicLAvia will hold their 2nd annual Play Day in LA fundraiser om November 5th.

The very busy Bike SGV will hold their annual “Noche de las Luminarias” awards ceremony on December 2nd.

And CicLAvia returns to iconic Wilshire Blvd on December 10th.

………

Local

Long Beach bike advocates met with former LADOT Bicycle Coordinator Michele Mowery, now the city’s new mobility and healthy living programs officer.

The seven-day Pablove Across American fundraising ride will end in Malibu tomorrow; the ride raises money for pediatric cancer research.

Calabasas unveils a new and improved Las Virgenes Road, complete with two lanes in each direction, bike lanes and continuous sidewalks.

 

State

The bike lanes on El Toro Road will be closed for construction work Monday between Laguna Canyon Road and the 73 tollway.

Joshua Tree residents complain that new bike lanes installed by Caltrans in the downtown area don’t go anywhere.

Half Moon Bay drops plans for a bike bridge and pathways after giving up on funding from Caltrans.

After getting caught in a traffic jam caused by people escaping the Sonoma County wildfires, a Santa Rosa woman went back home and got her bicycle, carrying her 70-pound dog to safety in a duffel bag.

A drunk hit-and-run driver has been sentenced to five years for killing a Suisun City cyclist; he fled the scene on foot, abandoning his car after he crashed again while fleeing the scene.

 

National

Bicycling offers five GoPro hacks to make your videos worth watching. Most important: Install some editing software and learn how to use it. No one wants sit through five minutes of video to get to the 30 seconds where something actually happens.

Caught on video: A Seattle bicyclist was the victim of a punishment pass for having the audacity to ride outside the bike lane to pass another rider; the city’s former mayor calls it assault, even if the police don’t.

A writer for a Colorado company asks if employers should pay workers to leave their cars at home. California has a parking cash-out program designed to compensate employees who give up their parking spaces to bike, walk or take transit to work, but the program is so narrowly drawn it only applies to three percent of the state’s workers.

A Colorado writer says he’s never seen a bicyclist display animosity towards a motorist that wasn’t in response to the driver’s actions. And that drivers need to check their “vehicular privilege” at the door to their vehicle.

A New York man says getting run over by a dump truck while riding his bike was the last straw, and he’s officially done with the city. Getting run over by anything can have that effect on you.

Lobbyists descend on DC to convince lawmakers that bikeshare is bipartisan.

Baltimore’s bikeshare returns with a reduced fleet of bikes, now equipped with GPS, after it was shut down due to excessive thefts and maintenance backups.

 

International

A 72-year old writer says what cyclists over 60 really want is protected bike parking. Oddly, that’s exactly what cyclists under 60 want, too.

Caught on video too: A British driver has been fined the equivalent of $932 and lost his license for six months for forcing a bike rider off the road.

Caught on video three: A Scottish newspaper sees an out-of-control, brakeless bike rider barrel into a toddler; others may see a toddler suddenly dart in front of the bicyclist.

A Scottish writer wonders what can be done to get more women on bicycles, and concludes that better safety matters more than sweaty clothes or helmet hair.

Paris moves to ban all gas and diesel-powered cars and trucks by 2030.

A new Swiss conversion kit promises to turn any bicycle into an ebike.

A Cape Town, South African cyclist was robbed of his bicycle, just days after armed thieves stole three bikes from a group of riders on the same roadway.

A 77-year old Australian man needed over a dozen stiches after he was the victim of a random attack by a man who stepped out from behind a tree, and beat the vicim’s face with a bottle as he was riding with his wife.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could run on strings. Nothing like getting your stolen bike back, and getting it stolen again on the way home.

And apparently, Metro really doesn’t want your bike blocking the aisles.

Although I’m still waiting to see a superhero zap the people blocking the bike area so you don’t have to block the aisle with your bike.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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