Tag Archive for bicycle advocacy

Boston bike advocate & transportation planner killed while biking to work, and virtual meeting tonight for bike/ped bridge over PCH

July 16, 2026 / / One comment

Once again, a city transportation planner has been killed while riding a bicycle. This time, in Boston.

Unfortunately, most of the news and reactions have been hidden behind paywalls, like this piece in the Boston Globe. Or this one, for that matter.

Or even this one.

However, the basic facts at that 36-year old bike advocate and Boston transportation planner Louisa Gag was killed by a truck driver while riding her bike to work last Thursday, sparking calls to improve safety on the city’s streets.

Not to mention vague “oopsies” and promises to do better from the mayor’s office.

Fortunately, this piece from Boston public radio station WGBH tells the story in heartbreaking detail.

In it, Tori Bedford, a guest host for the station, speaks with Galen Mook, the executive director of statewide bicycling coalition MassBike, who had worked with Gag at a local advocacy group before she went to work for the city.

Bedford: In her first administration (Boston Mayor Michelle Wu), back in 2023, Boston launched the Mission Hill Transportation Planning Project. I think they dedicated $300,000 to that initiative. They held meetings and at those meetings, city officials identified the intersection, a number of intersections, but the intersection where Louisa Gag was killed as one of the most hazardous areas in the project study area. StreetsblogMASS reported that the plan was to move forward with plans to improve visibility, build curb extensions, reduce pedestrian crossing distances. They were going to put in a crosswalk. That was all supposed to be put together by 2024, but at the end of that year, that hadn’t happened. The city had used less than half of its budget for the project. Then in 2025, Mayor Michelle Wu initiated a review of the city’s transit and safety improvement projects, and after that review, the city ripped out protective bollards on bike lanes. They halted work on dozens of transit and safety plans around the city, including that Mission Hill safety project. And then in the city’s 2027 fiscal budget, that Mission Hill project was removed entirely.

Take a minute to digest that.

A woman who spent her life working to improve safety for others was killed at an intersection where the city not only didn’t make the safety improvements they had promised, but actually removed the ones they did.

Then there’s this.

Bedford: Yeah, she did so much. We found this clip of her talking about Go Boston 2030, which is a transportation plan to improve safety and access in Boston. This is from a meeting filmed by The Forum Network in 2019:

“The system is not working for people. People’s buses and subways are not showing up on time. They feel unsafe while they’re walking and biking and it’s really hard to get around. And their frustration was really clear and something that we heard a lot. And these issues absolutely echo the priorities that are featured in Go Boston 2030.”

It’s worth reading the full story, because it paints a picture, not just of the city’s failures, but of Gag as real person, not just a victim.

Her death came just over a month after Chicago Complete Streets planner Riley O’Neil was killed in a dooring while riding his bike in a painted bike lane. He was just a year younger than Gag.

It’s only sheer luck we haven’t seen something like that here.

I know a number of bicycle advocates who’ve had some very close calls, myself included. In fact, I used to think the odds were stacked against me, if only because I spent more time on my bike than I did anywhere else except bed.

And as anyone who’s followed the fight over Measure HLA, Vision Zero and Garcetti’s Green New Deal can tell you, Los Angeles has repeatedly failed to follow through on its commitments to improve safety — not just for bike riders, but for pedestrians, drivers, transit users, and anyone else who ventures out on our streets.

We’ve also had some truly lovely people lose their lives on our streets, too often through no fault of their own. People who became victims and statistics the moment they hit the pavement, and are soon forgotten outside a small circle family and loved ones.

That’s if we even learned anything about them in the first place, other than the barest facts of what happened. If that.

As the late, great — and yes, largely forgotten — Phil Ochs sang,

And I’m sure it wouldn’t interest anybodyOutside of a small circle of friends.

It’s up to us to make sure it matters. And that doesn’t happen to anyone else.

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A virtual meeting will be held tonight to discuss plans for the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge Project, something my friend George Wolfberg had been working on for some time before he died.

The project will provide a bridge over PCH to connect Will Rogers State Beach to George Wolfberg Park in Pacific Palisades. Although I’m told some local residents have already got the torches and pitchforks out to halt the project, or at least get bicycles kicked off it.

I know it’s late notice; I’ve already got another commitment tonight. But try to attend if you can, because every voice will matter to move this forward into reality.

Thanks to Joe for the heads-up.

¡Bienvenidos! Para ver esta información en español, HAGA CLIC AQUÍ.

You’re invited!

The City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering (Engineering) and Councilwoman Traci Park (Council District 11) are excited to announce the upcoming online community meeting for the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian / Bicycle Bridge Project.

Learn how the Bureau of Engineering Team proposes to:

  • Improve safety when crossing Pacific Coast Highway
  • Enhance pedestrian and bicycle access to and from the beach
  • Support a more connected park and open space environment that contributes to overall community health and well-being

Community members are invited to attend, ask questions, and share feedback as the project moves forward.

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Register Today

Meet the team, learn about the benefits, explore proposed improvements, and share your feedback.

Join Online

Be sure to share with a friend and save the date for our upcoming Zoom webinar. Click the button below to register and learn more.

Thursday, July 16, 2026

5:30 – 7:00 PM

Register HERE!

Be sure to tell a friend!

Zoom Registration: https://bit.ly/potrerobridgewebinar

Webinar ID: 883 8804 6930

English call-in (audio only): (213) 338-8477

Spanish call-in (audio only): (571) 317-3122

Access code: 287-406-717

Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will be provided for those who need language assistance.

We look forward to connecting with you soon.

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Do you need to catch up?

Whether you are new to the project or just need a refresher, watch the last Community Meeting Video to get caught up.

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Project Overview

Located on the coast near the Pacific Palisades community, the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian / Bicycle Bridge Project is led by Engineering, in collaboration with Council District 11. The City of Los Angeles recognizes that the Pacific Palisades and many north Los Angeles communities have endured significant hardship due to wildfires, including the loss of family and friends, homes, businesses, and cherished community spaces.

With deep respect for these experiences, this project is being advanced thoughtfully and in close coordination with the local community. Engineering seeks to work in close collaboration with area residents and stakeholders to develop a pedestrian and bicycle bridge to cross the Pacific Coast Highway, providing a safer connection between the City’s George Wolfberg Park and Will Rogers State Beach. The intent is to improve crossing safety, restore access and connectivity to open spaces that are integral to the neighborhood’s identity and well-being and which serve all Angelenos, as well as support long-term community recovery and a return to a sense of place.

This project is part of the City’s broader efforts to enhance connectivity and accessibility to recreational areas while prioritizing safety, resilience, and environmental stewardship. The bridge will be designed with sensitivity to its surroundings, contributing to the responsible revitalization of the area and supporting the community’s path forward as it heals and rebuilds.

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Stay Connected

There will be multiple public meetings over the next couple of years, and we want to keep you up to date as the project moves forward. Sign up to receive updates and meeting invitations at PotreroCanyonPedBridgeContact.org and let us know the best way to stay in touch, be it by email, text and/or postal mail. To share a commentor contact the project team, please email: Eng.PotreroCanyonPedBridge@LACity.org

Visit the project website (PotreroCanyonPedBridge.org) to learn more.

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This is who we share the road with.

The governor of Nevada makes an itty bitty faux pas while driving, and gets pulled over by a Las Vegas cop for failing to stop when making a right on a red light.

Oops.

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

No bias here. A new London lawsuit claims a proposed Holland Park roundabout and bike lanes will dangerously and “disproportionately benefit the most privileged commuters at the expense of the most vulnerable,” like the elderly. Because as we all know, people who ride bicycles are all extremely privileged, and not the least bit vulnerable. And never, ever elderly. 

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Local 

Hats off to the Major Taylor Los Angeles bicycling club, which is is hosting its inaugural Golf tournament in Manhattan Beach August 30th to benefit the Los Angeles Mission and LA Regional Food Bank, as well as introducing Wheels to Wellness as the new outreach department of the organization.

Santa Monica Next observes that the new curb-protected bike lanes being installed as part of the Broadway Safety Project have now reached the eastern terminus at 26th Street.

If you don’t have any plans for 2028, LA28, the organization sponsoring the ’28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is looking for 60,000 volunteers to staff the events. So feel free to invite a few friends, give or take 60k.

 

State

This is who we share the road with. A 21-year old trucker from Yuba City was sentenced to four years and eight months for causing an eight-vehicle crash that killed 3 people in Ontario last October, after he was convicted of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and reckless driving; he entered the country illegally from India four years ago, but was able to obtain a commercial driver’s license under state and federal policies in place at the time.

A new $3 million federal grant will help complete the final 2.85-mile missing link in a five-mile bicycle and pedestrian pathway connecting Highland and Redlands, bypassing a deadly street corridor.

San José will showcase more than 300 bicycles, including antique and custom-made bikes, at the annual Sunny Side Up bike and classic car show this Sunday.

A 30-year old man was arrested for last month’s Stockton hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bike and two dogs he was pulling behind him in a shopping cart; the suspect has been booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter; let’s hope they tack on a couple of animal abuse charges for the dogs.

 

National

You can now ride your ebike in RAGBRAI, aka the Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, but you’ll have to behave yourself.

A Kansas City, Missouri cop recovered an ebike that was stolen from a woman with stage 4 breast cancer on Mother’s Day, who then suffered a stroke two days after watching someone ride off on her bike; the officer made the arrest and recovery after spotting someone riding her repainted bike.

They get it. A couple of bicyclist and educators — one a high school teacher and the other a university professor — argue that the word “driver” too often gets left out of headlines and news stories about a crash between a bike rider and a vehicle. That’s exactly the point I’ve been trying to make, thank you. 

No, a Waymo didn’t strike and injure a bike rider in Miami on Tuesday, it took a U-turning human driver to do that; the Waymo just happened to be stopped nearby.

 

International

In truly horrible news, an 89-year old year old man was somehow crushed by a 22-ton asphalt roller while walking his bicycle just 656 feet — just over two football fields — from the safety his home in San Rafael, Argentina.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge connecting Detroit, Michigan with Windsor, Ontario will open to motor vehicles on July 27th, despite President Trump’s threats to keep it closed — but won’t open to bike riders and pedestrians until a week later.

A 20-year old Welsh man was sentenced to seven years behind bars for killing a 72-year old man riding a bicycle; the driver had been up the night before using booze and coke, and had failed a driver’s test weeks earlier; the judge also banned him from driving for nine years and eight months. Hopefully, that stats after he gets out, not concurrently.

You still have time to get to the UK for Bristol, England’s edition of the World Naked Bike Ride next month.

Ted Lasso star and Emmy winner Hannah Waddingham has been added to the cast of Jason Statham Stole My Bike, starring the eponymous actor as some version of himself, which is shooting now in the UK and Malta. Speaking of which, if the US Men’s National Team wanted to finally make it past the round of 16, why not get a proven coach like Lasso instead of that Pochettino guy?

Tragic news from Italy, where German bicyclist and influencer Laura Viktoria Härtig died three weeks after she was stuck head-on while riding her bike, by a motorcycle ridden by former Italian Olympic skier Peter Runggaldier; the 30-year old Härtig was on her honeymoon at the time of the crash.

Aussie archaeologist and cyclist Sam Wood is following the route of Odysseus’ journey outlined in Homer’s epic — no, not that Homer — on two wheels, though the effort is complicated by some debate as to where Odysseus and his merry band actually travelled, as well as the lack of Sirens and Cyclops in the modern world. Although you will have to sign into The Guardian to read the story now.

Bike riders in Delhi, India are complaining that bike paths are meant for bicycles, not motor scooters and motorcycles; a harrowing photo shows a small girl riding on a pathway with training wheels on her bicycle as a motor scooter bears down on her.

Thanks to Robert for forwarding a mini documentary about a retro bike parking garage from Japanese broadcaster NHK.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian pro Jasper Philipsen was relegated, then un-relegated, following a chaotic bunch sprint on stage 11 of the Tour de France won by everyone’s favorite, Norway’s Søren Wærenskjold, with Olav Kooij second and Philipsen third, then not, then third again.

Cyclists in the Tour peloton have to overcome the intense heat before they can even think about overcoming Pogačar and Vingegaard.

Now you, too, can experience all the thrills of the peloton, when L’Étape Romania by Tour de France presented by Decathlon stages a one-day faux stage in the middle of Bucharest. Because when I think Tour de France, I think Bucharest, I think. 

The ever-popular Tour de Big Bear returns to Big Bear Mountain Resort the weekend of July 31st through August 2nd, for the 16th consecutive year, with “bigger races, bigger prizes and more family fun than ever.”

Cycling News follows a WorldTour team into a wind tunnel to discover what it takes to kit them out in the latest high tech fabrics and designs. Unlike the good ol’ days when Bartali and Coppi would show up in whatever woolen jersey they had lying around. 

 

Finally…

It turns out that designing a bicycle is hard; I mean, who knew? Your next light set could generate its own power from a tiny frictionless dynamo, but only if you have aluminum wheels.

And expect to shell out twenty grand if you want Pogačar’s bike.

Well, not his. But one just like it, more or less.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

13-year old gets max for thrill-killing bike riding man, and brokering peace between fire departments and safety advocates

April 18, 2025 / / Comments Off on 13-year old gets max for thrill-killing bike riding man, and brokering peace between fire departments and safety advocates
Day 108 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A 13-year old Albuquerque boy will spend the next eight years behind bars, after he was sentenced to the maximum penalty for second-degree murder.

The boy pled guilty yesterday for the thrill-kill death of a 63-year old engineer at Sandia National Laboratories last May as the victim was riding his bike to work.

Johnathan Overbay admitted he was driving a stolen car with two other boys, ages 11 and 16, when they intentionally crashed it into the victim while recording it on video, apparently just for the hell of it.

As a minor, the most he could be sentenced to was being imprisoned until he turns 21.

But since he was tried as an adult, his record is unlikely to be sealed, and will follow him for the rest of his life.

He was just 12 at the time of the killing.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

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Calbike writes that there’s no reason for firefighters and street safety advocates to be at odds, since we both want the same thing.

There is a growing body of evidence showing how bike lanes and other street design changes can save the lives of cyclists and pedestrians, but there isn’t a lot of data on the impact of bikeways on emergency response times; what little there is appears to show not much difference before and after. (Former Berkeley firefighter, paramedic and EMT Mike) Wilson sees a long-term upside to safer infrastructure for people biking and walking: “If you build the infrastructure in ways that are safer for bicyclists and pedestrians, that infrastructure will get used.” He cited a survey of Berkeley residents that found 27% regularly bike or walk for daily needs, and another 27% would bike or walk if it were safer. To feel safer, 86% of respondents reported wanting concrete-protected bike lanes, and 74% wanted parking-protected bike lanes.

That mode shift would reduce vehicle congestion, which is the biggest access issue for fire and EMS response. “The problem of cars blocking access by fire and EMS equipment, that’s the big impediment when it comes to getting your equipment through,” Wilson said.

Wilson thinks he can get firefighters to talk with, and presumably cooperate with, Calbike and other active transportation advocates about AB 612, which would give fire departments veto power over traffic safety improvements.

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Sacramento claims to be the first US city to use AI-powered cameras on buses to enforce illegal parking in bike lanes .

Which is technically true, since LA’s bus-mounted AI cams, which came first, enforce illegally parked cars in bus lanes, rather than bike lanes. Even though bike riders are allowed to use them.

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

No bias here. A San Diego letter writer says the city can balance its books by charging bike owners for a bicycle license. Although with $258 million in red ink,  those licenses would have to be pretty damned expensive.

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Local 

Don’t forget tomorrow’s Streets Are For Everyone bike ride and protest to mark the 3rd anniversary of Andrew Jelmert’s death at the hands of a speeding hit-and-run driver on Griffith Park’s dangerous Crystal Springs Drive — and demand the safety improvements Los Angeles has promised, but failed to deliver.

 

State

Mountain bike legend Gary Fisher’s new startup is ready to introduce a new ultra-lightweight bicycle that can recharge in just 15-minutes using a standard electrical outlet. Although ultra-lightweight in the world of ebikes means it still weighs 30 pounds.

A ten-year old San Bernardino girl is set to graduate from Crafton Hills College in Yucaipa with two associate degrees, saying that for her, learning is “almost as fun as playing outside or riding a bike or whatever.”

Former New York transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan wrote that people typically fight improvements, then fight to keep them. That seems to be what’s happening in San Francisco, where people who fought plans to make the city’s Great Highway its newest car-free park are among its most frequent users.

A 55-year old woman suffered major injuries in Tuolumne County, in what police initially thought was a hit-and-run, but it turned out she lost control on a curve while riding with a group of competitive cyclists.

 

National

Good for her. A 34-year old mom learned to ride a bike for the first time so she could ride with her six-year old daughter.

Utah’s Zion National Park has a 15 mph radar unenforced speed limit, and you have to pull to the side and stop completely to allow shuttle buses to pass.

Carbondale, Colorado-based Revel Bikes is the latest bikemaker to go belly up, notifying dealers they are shutting down operations, as financial pressures force them to relinquish ownership to their bank despite just launching three new models. It happens, unfortunately. I wrote advertising for Alesis, which was forced into bankruptcy just days after successfully launching nine new models at the music industry’s NAMM trade show, when their bank cut off funding.

Missouri State University proves it can be done, reducing bike thefts to just five last semester thanks to a new security system. Of course, they only has 13 bikes stolen the previous semester, but still. 

Apparently, it’s perfectly legal for a cop to slash bicycle and trailer tires if they belong to homeless people, after a San Antonio, Texas police officer walked with a lousy 30-day suspension for doing exactly that, despite the dastardly deed being captured on his body-worn camera.

Still more tariff news, as Wisconsin-based Trek has informed retailers they will be raising their prices immediately due to the increase in import taxes.

A new photo essay reveals what it’s like to ride a bicycle in Minneapolis.

A Bronx website recommends the New York borough’s most beautiful bike lanes, for your next trip to the Big Apple.

Sad news from Florida, where Arnold “Arni” Nashbar, the founder of mail-order bicycle parts retailer Bike Nashbar, died at his Florida home earlier this week; he was 83.

 

International

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s vision to “unleash a nation of cyclists” seems to have hit a plateau, with bicycling rates failing to match those heady pre-pandemic days, despite the country’s investment in bikeways.

Here’s one for your bike bucket list, as Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website recommends riding the Wild Atlantic Way along Ireland’s west coast, from the rugged cliffs of Donegal to the pristine beaches of Kerry. Seriously, you had me at “Ireland.”

Here’s one more for your bike bucket list, as Italy has just finished a short rail trail from Monte Mario to the shadow of Rome’s Vatican Dome — or maybe between Circus Maximus and the Colosseum, if you prefer.

The New York Times examines the new campaign to get people in the Netherlands to wear bike helmets, saying the Dutch love their bicycles, but helmets, not so much.

Speaking of the Netherlands, the country’s traffic safety efforts seem to be working, with traffic deaths down 42% since 2000.

Bollywood star Salmon Khan walked a group of children into a sporting goods store, and bought new bicycles for them as someone recorded it on video, allowing the kids to pick out the bikes they wanted.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from the UK, where a 55-year old man was killed competing in an East London velodrome when he collided with another cyclist, and went over his handlebars.

Olympic road race champ Kristen Faulkner gets her gold, courtesy of Cannondale.

 

Finally…

Why run down bike riders with a car when you can just electrocute them? Your next bike lock could work like a bear trap, but hopefully less painful.

And your next bike kit could represent your favorite football, uh, soccer team.

As long as your favorite side is Liverpool.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Ebike crash critically injures Brea students, Bike League advocacy workshop still on, and fewer cars means cleaner air

January 17, 2025 / / One comment
Day 17 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Awful news from Brea, where two high school students were critically injured when they crashed a shared ebike into a brick wall.

The teens were riding single-person ebike when they clipped a tree with their handlebars while traveling at a high rate of speed. The ebike rider reportedly suffered significant, life-threatening injuries, while the passenger suffered major injuries.

Neither was wearing a bike helmet, which is legally required for any bike rider under 18 in California, or anyone riding a Class 3 ebike.

There’s no word on their identities at this time, or whether what they were riding was an electric bicycle, mo-ped or electric motorcycle.

Click this link for an easier to read graph of California’s bicycle and ebike regulations, courtesy of the Orange County Bicycle Coalition. 

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Thanks to Anna Tang for forwarding news that the Bike League’s March Bike Advocacy Workshop will go on as planned, despite last week’s wildfires, which hopefully will be out by then.

You can register by clicking here, since I can’t embed her BlueSky post with the link, and had to settle for a screenshot.

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Another lesson from Paris that seems lost on Los Angeles.

As Paris has worked to build a 15-minute city and provide effective alternatives to driving, it has seen a corresponding improvement in air quality.

And yes, I have the same problem embedding this BlueSky post, too.

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

Aussie bicyclists are understandably angry after an 18-year old man was arrested for sabotaging two bike trails by stringing fence wire strung at waist level, injuring two people and severely damaging four high-end bikes, in an attack that could have literally killed someone. He’s being held without bail on four counts of endangering life, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years for each count, not 25 as we said yesterday, as prosecutors suggest he may have thought it was just a prank.

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Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Sacramento BMX riders are fighting to keep a DIY bike park they built by hand over a decade ago, despite city plans to level it to restore the natural habitat.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a woman in her 50’s was killed when she was right-hooked by the driver of a semi-truck — although though the CHP immediately blamed the victim for attempting to pass the truck as it was turning. And judging from the article, the truck was apparently was operating on its own while the driver just sat there. 

Finishing our Sacramento trifecta, the Sacramento Bee apparently lowered their paywall to profile each of the 32 lives lost to traffic violence on the city’s streets, each killed despite the city’s impending Vision Zero commitment to end traffic deaths in the next two years.

 

National

Consumer Reports suggests that buying a bike helmet online could be dangerous, due to a proliferation of third-party sellers of helmets that don’t meet federal safety standards. One more reason you’re better off buying from your favorite local bike shop.

BMX star Nigel Sylvester just dropped his latest collaboration with Nike’s Jordan Brand by introducing his new Air Jordan 4 “Brick by Brick” shoe.

Bicycling’s senior test editors offer their solutions to some of the most vexing bicycling problems. But you’ll have to subscribe if you want to get the answers.

A Portland, Oregon woman spent the past year posting signs at the site of all 69 fatal traffic collisions in the city. Doing that in Los Angeles would be a full-time job posting nearly one sign a day.

Las Vegas suggests using the city’s bikeshare system, rideshare or a double-decker bus on your next trip to flush your money down the craps table.

Albuquerque, New Mexico is building buffered bike lanes and multi-use trails to protect riders in one of America’s most dangerous cities for bicyclists, though disparities remain between wealthier and low-income neighborhoods.

Great idea. Fayetteville, Arkansas’ trash department is teaming with a local nonprofit to set up a drop-off location where people can donate their old bicycles to be repaired and donated to people in need.

A Vermont city is being sued after a hit-and-run cop allegedly killed a bicycle-riding man who was waiting at a bus stop at 3 am, then continued without stopping before his conscience apparently got the better of him, and he came back to the scene.

 

International

How do you love ditching your car for a bike commute? Let Momentum count the ways.

A Toronto op-ed dispels some of the myths used to dismiss the value of bicycle infrastructure by examining just who is actually using it.

A new kind of bike shop has opened in Manchester, England, offering service for delivery riders reminiscent of a Formula 1 pit crew.

A Paris suburb has launched a pilot program to light up bike lanes at dangerous intersections, which automatically light up when someone on a bicycle enters the intersection.

In 1923, six men from India set out to ride their bikes around the world to prove that Indians were capable of greatness, in contrast to the colonial image of them as subjugated and incapable; three completed the journey four-and-a-half year later, traveling more than 40,000 miles across 27 countries, while meeting Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini along the way.

A group of Indian men set off this week on a 2,500-mile bike rally from Kashmir to Kanyakumari to promote a pollution-free India. Although judging from the photos, the “rally” consists of just five men.

Bike brands from around the world are trying to cash in on China’s latest bike boom.

 

Competitive Cycling

The 2025 Santos Women’s Tour Down Under kicks off the first of three stages today, which is actually yesterday in Australia. Or today is tomorrow. Or something like that.

Canadians Sarah van Dam, Adele Normand and Mara Roldan hope to make their mark at the Tour Down Under, as they debut with their new teams.

Bicycling considers whether the sport has a drinking problem, as some recent studies suggest there’s no safe amount of alcohol. Although Yahoo says they posted the same story, word-for-word, two years earlier. And no, cycling doesn’t have a drinking problem, but some cyclists do. There’s a difference.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be ready for the apocalypse. And the late, great David Lynch was one of us.

Then again, so was Bob Uecker, for those of us old enough to remember.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Booting bike advocates for advocating for bikes, and mental health eval for driver in 2022 Palm Springs vehicular rampage

January 14, 2025 / / Comments Off on Booting bike advocates for advocating for bikes, and mental health eval for driver in 2022 Palm Springs vehicular rampage
We’re now 14 days into LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No bias here.

A pair of Danville “councilmembers run amok” are trying to kick a pair of bicycle advocates off the city’s Bicycle Advisory Commission, after failing to disband the commission a year earlier.

Apparently for the crime of “annoying” city staffers by trying to advise them on bicycling policy.

Which would seem to be the whole purpose of a bicycle advisory commission, but maybe that’s just me.

According to a columnist for the Mercury-News, Councilmembers Newell Arnerich and Robert Storer are attempting to remove original members Al Kalin and Bruce Bilodeau from the commission, all because they insist on a data-driven approach to bicycle safety,

As opposed to just throwing darts at a map, evidently. Or maybe the esteemed council folk don’t want to know about anything that might adversely the ability of drivers to continue thinning the city’s bicycling herd.

To wit, as columnist Daniel Barenstein puts it,

Kalin and Bilodeau led efforts to identify collision hotspots in Danville and document the very real dangers of posts installed too close together just before street crossings along the Iron Horse Regional Trail, which runs through the town.

It was exactly what the commission was charged with doing when it was directed to, among other things, “assess the conditions, operations, and safety of existing bicycle facilities and non-motorized transportation…”

There’s been a troubling lack of specifics about what Kalin and Bilodeau have done wrong. In a verbal lambasting at a council study session last month, Storer did provide one example, criticizing the study of the poles, also called bollards:

“I don’t care about the sizing of the bollards on the Iron Horse trail,” Storer said. “I care about the (street) crossings on the Iron Horse trail. That’s what we should be looking at.”

Maybe because bollards only protect bicyclists and pedestrians, while a focus on street crossing protects every motorist’s God-given right to go “zoom, zoom” to their hearts content, without having to use that little stoppie pedal thing on the floorboard.

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Well, no shit, Sherlock.

A sentencing hearing for 30-year old Palm Springs resident Juaquin Mercer Moraga was suspended when his attorney requested a mental health evaluation.

Moraga was convicted last March on three counts of felony assault with a deadly weapon, two counts each of misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor vandalism, and one count each of felony vandalism and misdemeanor battery for a bizarre hours-long series of physical and vehicular attacks on multiple motorists and a man riding a bicycle in 2022.

He attempted to run down the latter head-on, gunning his car from the opposite side of the road and jumping the median at an estimated 60 mph, forcing the man to jump off his bike to avoid getting hit.

All accompanied by shouted non-sequiturs demanding people stop following him or challenging them to fight, telling one driver “you’re not man enough to use a gun.”

According to the trial brief filed by the defense, Moraga was in the throes of paranoid delusions due to major depressive disorder and cannabis use disorder, while suffering from post-traumatic stress.

The evaluation will determine whether Moraga is eligible for a post-conviction diversion to Mental Health Court, as opposed to a pre-trial mental health provision.

It sounds like he should be a shoe-in, under the circumstances.

………

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

A British letter writer pleads for someone to consider the poor, forgotten children instead of wasting money on bike lanes that could be used by those same poor, forgotten children riding their bikes.

Once again, someone has boobytrapped bike paths in a deliberate attempt to injure people riding bicycles, after someone used fence wire to string across multiple pathways near Adelaide, Australia, injuring at least three people and causing extensive damage to their bicycles.

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

Police in Lakewood, Colorado are on the lookout for a bike-born butt slapper, who glides up behind women on an ebike and smacks them on the ass, making him subject to sexual assault charges once they find him.

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Local  

An Australian man evacuated from last week’s Palisades wildfire on his bicycle along with his 18-month old daughter, stopping on his way out to knock on neighbors doors to warn them about the flames.

 

State

A UC Santa Cruz sociology professor says she found people working to solve problems while riding her bike along the backroads of Kansas.

 

National

A new Congressional bill would require automakers to install automatic emergency braking systems on new vehicles designed to obey speed limits, detect vulnerable road users, and recognize different skin tones and complexions, as well as clothing and protective gear.

New York bicyclists are grumbling about a price hike for the city’s Citi Bike bikeshare service, but most say they’ll continue to use it anyway.

 

International

Bosch wants to deter thieves by enabling you to lock your ebike battery using a smartphone app.

Forty-two people have now been charged with riot-related offenses following the deaths of two Welsh teenagers who crashed the ebike they were riding as they were being followed by the cops, although police insist they weren’t actually pursuing them and didn’t crash into them.

A British PhD candidate examines the role women bicyclists played in the “uphill climb to equality.” Then again, you seldom hear about anyone climbing downhill or across level ground.

A Malaysian website says biking to work in the country isn’t for the faint-hearted, yet a “small but determined group of bike commuters” brave the hazards to embrace the freedom and sustainability of bicycling.

 

Competitive Cycling

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website highlights the women’s cyclists to watch this year in multiple disciplines, from road cycling to BMX. Although it does seem to be a little light on women from this country.

NBA star Lebron James isn’t the only dad who wants to compete alongside his son, as 42-year old Venezuelan climbing specialist José Rujano came out of retirement to ride the eight-day Vuelta al Táchira stage race next to his son Jeison.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you waste your roadie upgrade funds on pointless weight weenie exotica. And use our chain lube or you, too, could die of cancer.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

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. 

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

We keep saying it. Bikes are good for business.

Twitter post

………

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

Figures.

Twitter post

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.

………

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

Twitter post

………

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

Twitter post

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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.

………

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.”

………

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.

………

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

………

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.

………

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.

Instagram post

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

………

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.

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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.

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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

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

Twitter post

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

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

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This is why people keep dying on our streets.

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

Twitter post

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

Twitter post

And so, evidently, is Twisted Sister.

Twitter post

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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.

Twitter post

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Twitter post

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.

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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?

Twitter post

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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.

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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

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

Twitter post

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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.

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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.

Twitter post

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

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