Tag Archive for bicycling fatalities

Anger boils after deadly WeHo hit-and-run on Fountain Ave, and 79-year old San Diego man injured in crash with bike rider

July 14, 2025 / / No comments
Day 195 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A handful of protesters turned out on Friday evening to demand safety improvements on Fountain Ave, following the Thursday night hit-and-run that killed 26-year old Blake Ackerman.

According to WeHo Times,

Local cyclist and advocate Nicholas Renteria organized a grassroots demonstration at the intersection of Fountain Avenue and Gardner Street, where the deadly collision occurred on Thursday, July 10, around 9:47 p.m. According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the victim, Blake Ackerman, 26, was riding westbound on Fountain when he was hit by an older-model BMW sedan, which fled the scene. The victim was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.

Anger has built following Ackerman’s death because individuals and advocacy groups have demanded action on the deadly corridor for more than a decade.

Plans have finally begun moving forward over the past few years, but are hung up by the usual demands to persevere parking at the expense of human lives.

As calls for accountability grow louder, local leaders have pointed to upcoming initiatives like the Fountain Avenue Streetscape Project, which aims to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety with measures such as protected bike lanes and wider sidewalks. A community meeting about the project is scheduled for August 19 at Plummer Park.

Renteria hopes awareness leads to action before another life is lost. “This isn’t a fight between drivers and cyclists,” he said. “It’s a fight between people and a government that’s not being responsive.”

In addition to the community meeting next month, plans are underway for a ghost bike to be installed in the coming days.

You’ll know more when I do.

Photo: Streets For All and Measure HLA stickers on a bicycle parked at Lowes Home Improvement in Mid-City LA Sunday afternoon.

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A 79-year old man was seriously injured when he was struck by a bike rider while walking in a bike lane in San Diego’s Clairemont neighborhood.

The victim was hospitalized with a skull fracture and a brain bleed.

No word yet on what he was doing in the bike lane, or why the bicyclist was unable to avoid him.

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

Another Canadian province appears to be going the wrong way, as the provincial government of Alberta is “actively reviewing” bike lanes that have raised the ire of some residents, with the government questioning both current and planned bike lanes that “reduce road capacity.”

Police in Australia are looking for six men who brutally beat a man riding a bicycle in an apparent road rage attack; the occupants of two vehicles chased a pair of bike riders following an argument, before jumping the curb and beating one of the bike riders with baseball bats. The other rider somehow got away.

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

A New York teenager riding an ebike was killed a hit-and-run driver while he was being pursued by police who suspected him of a knifepoint robbery; a 28-year old driver was arrested for the hit-and-run shortly later.

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Local 

Streets For All offered their July newsletter, including news that a total of $7 million has been approved to move forward with necessary technical and environmental clearance work on the proposed extension of the Ballona Creek bike path.

 

State

Police in Huntington Beach busted a bike thief who stole a bait bike valued at over $2,000, enough to qualify for felony charges. Yet the LAPD still won’t use bait bikes, following outdated advice from the City Attorney’s office that it could be considered entrapment

 

National

Bike Magazine recommends a selection of the year’s best bike locks, depending on your needs.

Outside highlights seven of the best bikepacking trip across the US. None of which are in California.

A hit-and-run driver left an Oregon woman lying in a ditch all night after they crashed into her bike sometime Saturday night; she was found by a passerby after 7 Sunday morning suffering from serious leg, facial, and other injuries. The driver should be charged with attempted murder when they find them for making the conscious decision to risk the victim’s life by leaving her there to die. 

Sad news from Nevada, where the founder of Bob’s Bikes died following a battle with prostate cancer; retired mechanic Bob Crane had repaired and given away more than one thousand bicycles for needy kids.

A Wyoming website recommends putting a bell on your mountain bike, as well as shouting and carrying bear spray, to reduce the risk of deadly bear encounters. Mountain lions seem to pose a bigger risk on SoCal trails; I can’t recall a mountain biker mauled by a bear down here, even though we have a lot of ’em. 

Now even the trees are out to get us. Someone riding a bicycle was killed in Urbandale, Iowa when a tree fell on them as they were riding on a trail.

Forget the Tour de France. America’s only Penny Farthing bike race rolled for the 11th time over the weekend, with 50 competitors from the US and around the world competing on “wheels are bigger than most 5th graders.”

 

International

A Vancouver Grand Fondo resulted in yet another mass casualty event, as one person was killed and two others injured when a driver somehow plowed into a group of bicyclists.

Police in an Ontario city put bicyclists on a stationary bicycle so they could get a feel for what it’s like to be passed by a driver at the legally mandated one-meter distance (approximately three feet); most felt shaken after the experience, with several wanting the mandatory passing distance increased to two meters. Although it would have done a lot more good to put motorists on that stationary bike, so they would understand just how it feels.

That’s more like it. A drunk and stoned British driver was sentenced to nine years and three months behind bars for killing a 70-year old woman as she walked her bike across the street; his license was already suspended at the time of the crash for a previous DUI, among other offenses.

Cargo bikes dominated the recent Eurobike show, resulting in plans for a separate cargo bike-only show.

Irascible TV celebrity chef Gordon Ramsey completed his first triathlon in over a year in Luxembourg on Sunday, after he was seriously injured crashing his bicycle in June of last year.

The Malay­sian Natio­nal Cycling Federation calls out the lack of sharing on the country’s roads, where bicyclists have the right to ride but “tolerance between cyclists and motor vehicle drivers is declining.”

Bicycling rates are up in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, New Zealand, rising 40% since 2017. But like most American cities, there’s room for even more growth by tapping demand from people who don’t own bikes, or lack confidence to ride them.

 

Competitive Cycling

European road champ Tim Merlier sprinted to victory in Sunday’s ninth stage of the Tour de France to secure his second win of this year’s Tour, after the peloton reeled in Mathieu van der Poel following a day-long breakaway; van der Poel dropped to sixth in the GC standings despite Sunday’s long solo ride, while race leader Tadej Pogačar held onto the yellow jersey.

Pogačar’s chances of wearing yellow in Paris took a hit on Sunday, however, as key domestique João Almeida was forced to abandon, two days after breaking his ribs in a fall.

Tensions are starting to build in the Tour peloton, with Pogačar objecting to feed zone tactics from the Visma-Lease a Bike team that seemed intended to force him to defend the yellow jersey before he wanted; Pogačar was also caught on camera pushing Visma’s Matteo Jorgenson when Jorgenson got in his way, preventing both from getting their bidons.

Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini repeated as Giro champion after winning last year, securing a slim 18-second margin of victory on the final day, as Germany’s Liane Lippert won the stage in late breakaway.

Australian Sarah Gigante was thrilled just to make the Giro podium after a long and challenging comeback from iliac artery endofibrosis surgery.

Baja California’s Isaac del Toro proved he’s too legit to quit, showing his second-place finish at the Giro was no fluke by winning the 75th Tour of Austria.

 

Finally…

How to stop worrying and love the bicycle. How to play AirTag with a bike thief.

And that feeling when bike riders get buzzed by a cop traveling at twice the speed limit, yet commenters blame the people on the bikes, anyway.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Angry security guard rams car into kid on bike, burnout driver slams into Inglewood crowd, and crowdfunding for Marvin Cortez

June 17, 2025 / / No comments
Day 168 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A security guard for a San Raphael shopping mall faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse for allegedly using his patrol vehicle as a weapon.

The 66-year old guard is accused of running over a kid riding a bicycle after he became angry when a group of children took down the caution tape blocking off part of a two-story parking garage.

He drove away after the crash, but returned later to turn himself in.

The young victim was hospitalized with injuries that were described as non-life threatening.

But you have to wonder what the charges would have been if he had used a gun instead of a motor vehicle.

The only difference is the size of the weapon.

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This is who we share the road with.

At least six people were injured when a driver doing burnouts “to get attention” lost control and plowed into a crowd of people standing on an Inglewood sidewalk protesting ICE immigration raids.

KTLA-5 reports the victims included 14 and 16 year old kids.

Fortunately — and surprisingly — the victims’ injuries were not believed to be serious.

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A crowdfunding campaign is raising funds for a memorial for Marvin Cortez, the 37-year old man killed by a driver while riding his bike on Stunt Road in Calabasas on Saturday.

The story of his death is also beginning to change, as witnesses claim the driver was out of control, and rumble strips in the center of the roadway make it unlikely that Cortez would have been riding on the wrong side of the road, as initial reports claimed.

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South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel will host a five-mile open streets event from 3 pm to 8 pm this Sunday.

Which means you could double up, and do the Historic South Central meets Watts CicLAvia and the Active Streets: Mission at Twilight the same day.

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

Denver, Colorado spent $200,000 to make a downtown street more dangerous, removing flex posts from a protected bike lane because people complained about visual clutter, choosing prettier slight lines over human lives.

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Local 

The Santa Monica city council approved a pilot program allowing bicyclists to ride in select bus lanes in the city.

 

State

The YMCA in San Diego’s Mission Valley opened its own $300,000 skate and bike park, creating what could become a training facility for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

A Santa Ana bike thief was busted on a local bike trail after police located him thanks to an AirTag hidden on the bike.

The University of California’s Berkeley Library marks the retirement of a librarian who rode the San Francisco to LA AIDS/LifeCycle Ride six times, stating that librarianship and bicycling are both “powered by compassion, care, and a sense of community.” I would have said the latter was powered by strong legs and a good crank, but what the hell do I know?

A British woman rode her bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles — or most of the way, anyway — in search of “real American cuisine,” from Berkeley’s Chez Panisse to The Apple Pan on Pico Blvd in LA, and on to the original McDonalds in Downey.

 

National

Hit-and-run alerts help, but they’re not perfect. Authorities in Colorado sounded the alarm after a man was found dead next to his bicycle, urging any witnesses to the hit-and-run to come forward, but the coroner later determined there were no traumatic injuries that could have led to his death, and the cause of death remains undetermined.

Even tiny Basalt, Colorado gets it, issuing ebike rebates for the second year in a row to get residents out of their cars.

Police in Pittsburgh PA are looking for a pair of hit-and-run drivers who critically injured a man riding a bicycle in what appeared to be a street race; the drivers were caught on a security cam traveling side-by-side at a high rate of speed before slamming into the victim.

Vermont will now allow bike riders to cross a street on the pedestrian signal, legalizing something many riders already do — although the law won’t take effect for another year.

 

International

A London council is accused of installing “prohibitive, discriminatory” barriers on a steep ramp at the exit of a park in order to stop possibly nonexistent speeding bicyclists, forcing people with disabilities and families in cargo bikes onto a busy road with no bike lane, while ignoring a January compromise agreement.

A motor vehicle once again became a weapon of mass destruction when the 87-year old driver of a motorhome slammed into a group of four Swiss bicyclists in Cher, France, killing two people in their 60s and critically injuring a third. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive — especially a vehicle that can weigh seven tons or more.

Malaysian roads are under increased scrutiny after a man riding a bike was killed due to cracked pavement, just a week after 15 students were killed in a bus crash, as statistics show one person is killed every two hours in the country due to traffic violence.

 

Competitive Cycling

USA Cycling offers an insiders guide to mountain biking in Bentonville, Arkansas, revealing what they claim makes it the perfect training ground for the USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Team.

Aussie sprinter Michael Matthews was forced to drop out of next month’s Tour de France when doctors diagnosed him with a pulmonary embolism.

You might not win Wisconsin’s Tour of America’s Dairyland, but your mutt could be selected as the Dog of the Day.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be a car, sort of. Your next e-cargo bike could come with a detachable rickshaw-style rear seat for your family, or maybe the in-laws.

And that feeling when a century ride to select the ultimate road bike ends up in the ER.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Walk ‘n Rollers hosts bicycle safety workshop and pizza party, and “powerful force” for N.M. bike community killed

January 23, 2025 / / Comments Off on Walk ‘n Rollers hosts bicycle safety workshop and pizza party, and “powerful force” for N.M. bike community killed
Day 23 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It’s our third light bike news day in a row, as some guy in Washington seems to be sucking up all the news space. Which just means I can get to bed that much earlier. 

Although it’s questionable how much sleep I’ll get, as smoke from yet another not-too-distant LA fire infiltrates our apartment once again. 

Today’s photo: apropos of nothing, a bike hanging on a wall of a defunct coffee shop. 

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

No bias here. British drivers complain about bikeshare bikes, calling them a “blight” on the sidewalks, but parking cars on said sidewalks appears to be just fine.

A road-raging UK driver will spend the next 18 months behind bars after being convicted for using his car as a weapon by deliberately ramming a bike rider following a punishment pass, then getting out of his car and yelling at the victim as he lay helpless on the street.

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

A 73-yer old Dublin, Ireland woman died of a head injury after she was struck by a man riding a bicycle, while she was putting up political campaign posters last year.

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Local  

Walk ‘n Rollers is teaming with the YMCA and Culver City to host a free bicycle safety workshop and pizza party this Sunday to “help keep commuters and recreational cyclists safe.”

 

State

Calbike considers a number of policy changes to protect vulnerable road users.

Orange County’s most bike-friendly city just got its first protected bike lane, with a new 1.25-mile curb protected lane to go with Irvine’s 300 miles of painted bike lanes and 100 miles of off-street bikeways.

The Imperial County DA’s office says they’ll be cracking down on riders of ebikes and electric motorcycles for unspecified violations. Which seems like illegal selective enforcement, unless they crack down on violations by other road users to the same degree.

Bad news from Bakersfield, where a 14-year old boy was critically injured by a driver while riding his bicycle against traffic.

A 44-year old Oregon woman pled not guilty to charges including vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and DUI for allegedly just driving off after hitting two men riding bicycles in San Luis Obispo, killing an 87-year old Avila Beach man and injuring his 74-year old companion.

Sad news from Walnut Creek, where a woman was killed by a driver while riding her bike Wednesday morning — or rather, by a vehicle, since the story doesn’t even mention that it had a driver until the last paragraph.

A suspect has been arrested in Amarillo, Texas for a deadly hit-and-run that took the life of a 49-year old Tulare County man riding a bicycle last August.

 

National

This is the cost of traffic violence. A man describe as a “powerful pedaling force” for the Albuquerque, New Mexico bicycling community was killed by a driver while riding his bike home after spending the day refurbishing bicycles for children in need; 64-year old Chuck Malagodi, who led bike tours around the world before moving to the city, was just a mile from his home when he was killed, after he had refused a ride from a friend.

I want to be like them when I grow up. Three men in their 70s from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, along with a fourth man in his late 60s, completed a bike-touring trip down the 3,000 mile East Coast Greenway trail.

 

International

Vancouver, British Columbia is shutting down some popular DIY bike trails, arguing that they pose a risk to bike riders and the environment.

A Toronto woman thanks the “stranger angel” who came to her aid after she was seriously injured when one of her tires got stuck in a streetcar track. Although what makes one angel stranger than another is beyond me. 

A London bikeshare provider will now offer ebikes with a basket in front and a child seat in the back — or maybe another adult seat.

A writer for Cycling Weekly celebrates the joys of cafe stops after a long ride — in her case “stinking up” British tea rooms.

The BBC insists that a TV show attacking ebikes and lumping low-speed ped-assist ebikes together illegally modified electric motorbikes was “fair and impartial and clearly not an attack on the e-bike industry,” despite complaints by viewers and a trade association that it was exactly that.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada is trying to level the playing field by banning time trial bikes in junior cycling events.

Wind tunnel simulations suggest your water bottle may be in the wrong place — as long as you don’t actually use a bicycle, since they didn’t use one in the tests.

 

Finally…

Your next electric scooter could come disguised as a telecom utility box that magically transforms into an ebike. Your old brake levers could be reborn as door handles.

And that feeling when the real sprinters aren’t even in the peloton

https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1881882165828346210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1881882165828346210%7Ctwgr%5E2517ed17769547aae86b204e10ffde7b36f76ccc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-22-january-2025-312235

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

High wind warnings and fire danger return to LA, man dies riding Simi Valley trail, and denouement to bizarre Scottish hit-and-run

January 20, 2025 / / Comments Off on High wind warnings and fire danger return to LA, man dies riding Simi Valley trail, and denouement to bizarre Scottish hit-and-run
Day 20 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Well, this ain’t good.

The National Weather Service is calling for a return of Santa Ana winds up to 100 mph starting this afternoon — the same conditions that fueled the deadly wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena exactly two weeks ago.

So beware of dangerous wind gusts that can rise suddenly, keep an eye out for any sign of fire or smoke, and keep your phone handy for any wind or evacuation alerts.

After last time, we’ve all seen what could happen. So if you smell smoke, wear a mask. And if there’s a fire anywhere around you, get the hell out.

Please.

Let’s hope we don’t see the return of orange skies, like this shot from Cole Keister for Pexels.

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Sad news from Simi Valley, where a man believed to be in his 50’s collapsed and died while riding his bike with a companion.

The incident occurred shortly before 1:30 pm Saturday, along Albertson Fire Road in the hills south of Simi, and east of Thousand Oaks.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, despite the efforts of first responders.

This was at least the third bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in Ventura County.

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Call it the denouement to a shocking case we’ve been following for several years.

The family of a 63-year old man killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver while on Scottish fundraising ride has received an undisclosed six-figure settlement from the driver’s insurance company.

Tony Parsons died after the driver drove away, leaving him propped against a fence overnight. The driver came back with his brother the next day and buried Parsons in an unmarked grave in the woods, along with his bike and belongings, where his body wasn’t found for another three years.

Alexander “Sandy” McKellar was sentenced to 12 years behind bars, while his twin brother Robert got five years and three months.

They probably would have gotten away with it if Sandy McKeller hadn’t taken his girlfriend to the burial site in 2020, and confessed the whole crime to her.

She promptly reported it to the police. Yet it wasn’t until the next year that the grave was finally discovered and the McKellers arrested.

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This is who we share the road with.

https://twitter.com/motorisms/status/1881011234092503154

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It’s questionable whether most drivers will ever grasp the concept that riding abreast and controlling the lane makes us safer, while making it easier for them. It just requires a little patience.

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

A man attacked a 74-year old man riding a bicycle in East Harlem, New York, first pushing to victim off his bicycle, then picking it up and beating him with it, for no apparent reason.

Police in Spartanburg, South Carolina are on the lookout for two suspects, after the passenger in a car threw a drink cup at a man riding a bicycle; the cops were able to find the cup, so it’s conceivable they may be able to lift prints. That happened to me so often riding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that I could have opened my own convenience store. Although it must not have been illegal there, because I eventually gave up on trying to get a cop to take a report.

Complaints are flooding in against the BBC for a recent report attacking ebikes, as one bike shop owner says “Finding a wolf in sheep’s clothing should not be a reason to attack sheep.” Which may just be my new favorite expression.

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

A 31-year old Scottish man faces sentencing for intentionally riding his bicycle into his girlfriend, knocking her to the ground. No word on whether the woman was injured. Although if she’s still his girlfriend after that, she may have suffered serious brain damage. 

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Local  

KNBC-4 offers more details on the fire that destroyed Altadena’s Steve’s Bike Shop and most of the city two weeks ago, while owner Steve Salinas was fighting to save his brother’s home.

 

State

A 40-year old Riverside man was killed while riding an electric scooter against traffic when he was hit head-on by a driver turning out of a school parking lot.

Don’t plan on riding a new, fully funded bike lane connecting Downtown San Francisco with Golden Gate Park anytime soon.

An alleged burglar was busted for stealing several bicycles with an estimated value of $28,000 from a San Francisco home; he was arrested after the victim spotted one of the bikes for sale online and notified the police.

Sacramento is urged to consider addressing the city’s climate goals and the high rate of bicyclist and pedestrian deaths by making a new bridge across the American River car-free.

 

National

Bicycling offers the key to a successful Everesting attempt, which research shows comes down to selecting the right gradient for your fitness level. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Bicycling also considers how to recognize the signs of exercise addiction in bike riders. But you may have to find a way around their paywall if the magazine blocks you, since this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else.

One last bike-friendly federal bill before the new administration takes over, with the signing of the Biking On Long Distance Trails (BOLT) Act, which will require the feds to build at least 10 long-distance bicycle routes throughout the US, and identify potential routes 10 more using existing roads and trails.

An ebike impact calculator launched last year now includes data from over 500 US cities, allowing users to assess the environmental and economic impact of shifting short vehicle trips to ebikes.

Bicycling deaths continue to climb in ostensibly bike-friendly Portland, Oregon. Probably due to the same problems with distracted drivers and massively oversized vehicles plaguing every other American city. 

A Seattle components maker takes a look back, and discovers that bicycling has come full circle.

Washington state launched a $5 million dollar ebike rebate program, which expects to fund about 7,000 more vouchers than the botched first round of California’s intentionally throttled program.

Cycling West shares photo of an Ogden, Utah bronze statue of a kid riding a bicycle, with a dog running alongside.

A new 9.3-mile multi-use trail for art aficionados in the Berkshires will connect three Massachusetts art museums, as well as a theater, multiple art galleries and other cultural and historic destinations.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. Heartbreaking news from Florida, where a 53-year old man without a license was busted for his third DUI — but not until he ran a stop sign and killed six-year old kid riding a bike. Just one more example of why it’s not enough to suspend the driver’s license after a second DUI. The driver’s car should have been impounded for the full term of his license suspension. 

 

International

British Columbia’s Rocky Mountain Bikes is now under bankruptcy protection, with parent company RAD Industries Inc. in dire financial straits.

Bicyclists in Lahore, Pakistan now have their on lane on some of the city’s busiest roadways, but they’ll have to share them with motorbikes.

Bike counters captured a record number of bike riders in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, as the city topped 4 million bike trips, up from 3.6 million in 2023.

A senior political journalist writes in defense of bike lanes in New Zealand’s capital, both as a bicyclist and a driver.

A pair of Aussie bicyclists were seriously injured, and their bikes significantly damaged, when they were run down from behind by a hit-and-run driver. Raising the obvious question of how anyone fails to see not one, but two grown men on bicycles directly in front of them.

No surprise here. A new Australian study shows that wearing bike helmets or bright, reflective clothing is dehumanizing, with bicyclists in the helmeted, hi-vis camp seen as less human that bike riders in more casual attire.

 

Competitive Cycling

A woman watching the Tour Down Under was hospitalized when several competitors lost control and slammed into the fencing in a “chaotic” crash on a tight corner, at speeds topping 30 mph.

Visma – Lease a Bike, the flagship cycling team of the Netherlands, will go into the year’s Tour de France without any Dutch riders on the team, though it will have American Sepp Kuss.

Sad news, as former American pro Doug Shapiro died following a California climbing accident; the 65-year old New Yorker raced for the legendary 7-Eleven team, as well as the forerunner to Visma-Lease a Bike, while winning the 1984 edition of Colorado’s Coors Classic.

Thirty-year old Ryan Collins now owns 12 ultra-cycling world records, despite being told he’d never ride a bike again after a head-on collision in his early 20s.

Two-time Tour de France camp Jonas Vingegaard calls for an immediate end to carbon monoxide doping, the latest not-yet-illegal fad among the pro racing crowd. Which raises the question of whether LA cyclists would fail a CO test simply for breathing the air around here these days.

The former sports director for Belgian women’s cycling team Proximus-Cyclis, now Team Velopro–Alphamotorhomes, was banned for five years on Friday after being accused of inappropriate psychological and sexual harassment; the team manager was banned for 18 months and fined the equivalent of $5,500 for failing to report it. Is there really such a thing as appropriate psychological and/or sexual harassment?

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can own a $7,500 carbon frame racing bike spec’d entirely of Chinese parts, from a company you probably never heard of. How can you call yourself a real bike rider if you don’t know the difference between a Bicicletta and a Bicycle Thief?

And if you’re planning to snatch a $15,000 racing bike while the owner is having lunch with his friends, maybe make sure they’re not elite cyclists first.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Cars — plural — seized in road rage murder of teen bike rider, and 21 bicyclists dead in LA this year as hit-and-runs rise

November 26, 2024 / / Comments Off on Cars — plural — seized in road rage murder of teen bike rider, and 21 bicyclists dead in LA this year as hit-and-runs rise
Just 34 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 
But so far, no LA city leader has even mentioned the impending deadline. Let alone done anything about it. 

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Let’s start with an update on yesterday’s lead story.

The CHP has identified, but not publicly named, a 28-year old Hispanic man as a person of interest (scroll down) in the intentional hit-and-run death of 16-year old Jonathan Flores in LA’s Exposition Park Friday night.

Investigators also seized two cars after serving a search warrant at a home in Los Angeles.

According to witnesses, a group of around forty teenage bike riders got into a verbal dispute with the driver of a blue BMW while riding south on Figueroa Street.

They rode into the parking lot at BMO Stadium to get away, but were followed by the driver of a second car, described as a Honda sedan. That driver plowed into Flores, who wasn’t involved in the initial confrontation, before fleeing the parking lot.

Flores died at the scene.

The cars seized by the CHP were a blue BMW, and a Honda Accord, corresponding with the witnesses description.

However, no arrest has been made, as the CHP is urging the person of interest to turn himself in.

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It should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been following this site that hit-and-run deaths in Los Angeles continue at near record levels, accounting for nearly a third of all traffic deaths in the city.

According to Crosstown LA, 345 people were killed as a result of traffic violence in Los Angeles last year, including 108 who died as a result of hit-and-run collisions.

And things aren’t not much better this year, with just five fewer people dying in hit-and-runs through the end of October, compared to last year.

Also not surprising, people in DTLA and South LA bore the brunt of the problem, without a single neighborhood in the wealthy Westside showing up on a list of the 13 worst neighborhoods for hit-and-run this year.

Then there’s this.

Also increasingly at risk are bicyclists. According to LAPD data, nine cyclists have died in hit-and-runs so far this year; the recent annual high for bicycle hit-and-run deaths was nine in 2019 and again in 2023.

Altogether this year, 21 bicyclists have been killed in collisions, according to Traffic Division Compstat data. Another 130 people suffered serious injuries.

Michael Schneider, founder and director of transportation-focused advocacy group Streets For All, said bicyclists are “being pushed to the margins” of the roads. With streets in the city being designed like freeways, with wide lanes and synchronized traffic lights, the result, he said, is more speeding, which endangers cyclists and pedestrians.

That’s a whopping 14 more than the seven bicycling deaths I’ve counted in the City of Fallen Angels so far this year — exactly three times as many bicyclists actually killed as have been mentioned by the local media.

Never mind that a total of 151 people have been killed or seriously injured riding a bicycle in LA this year.

And you wonder why I’ve been warning that my totals were probably an undercount.

I’ve long called for taking the crime more seriously, including revoking, not suspending, the license of any driver who flees the scene of a collision, regardless of severity.

Along with impounding their cars as evidence until their case is settled, then selling them upon conviction, with any proceeds going to the victims.

………

Failure continues to stalk the bike industry, with three more bike-related companies going belly up or suspending sales.

British bike distributor The Martlet Group, owner of i-ride and its bike brand Orro, went into receivership — the equivalent of bankruptcy — earlier this year, due to heavy discounting of overstock merchandise.

French sportswear maker Le Coq Sportif also went into receivership; the firm made all the yellow jerseys for the Tour de France for more than four decades, noncontiguous though those decades may have been.

And Swiss bikemaker Stromer is immediately suspending sales of its Stromer and Desiknio bike brands in the US and Canada, after it was unable to find a North American distributor willing to take it over. Thanks to Ellectrek for the heads-up. 

………

Black Friday is once again rearing its ugly head. Although now it’s a week, if not a month, instead of a single day, making it much harder to ignore.

Bike Rumor is first out of the gate with a roundup of the best Black Friday bike deals, while Momentum makes their picks for the best Black Friday deals on bikes, cargo bikes and ebikes.

………

It’s now 342 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

More than 30 Evanston, Illinois business owners decided to shoot themselves in the foot by urging city officials to drop plans to expand a protected bike lane, apparently not wanting the increase in foot and bike traffic, and higher retail sales and property values, that usually come with such projects.

No surprise here, as Ontario, Canada passed controversial legislation allowing the province to go over the heads of city officials to remove local bike lanes; making matters worse, the legislation also allows construction of a highway through First Nations lands without consulting Indigenous leaders. Schmucks.

Momentum explains just what cities give up by giving in to car culture — starting with an increase in traffic congestion and a decline in business revenue — aptly calling the Ontario bike lane dispute “hogwash.”

………

Local  

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Coronado is hosting a family friendly bike ride on Sunday, December 8th.

Hundreds of San Jose residents turned out for a bike-only ride through an annual holiday light display usually reserved for motorists.

Velo examines why San Francisco is ripping out the city’s most controversial bike lane, as the centerline Valencia Street bike lane is being replace with a more conventional curbside lane.

More bad news from Northern California, after someone riding a bicycle was killed by the driver of a massive Yukon SUV in Concord on Sunday. Although a collision with a vehicle that big is unlikely to be survivable, anyway. Which is why drivers of large vehicles should have a greater responsibility to drive safely, but unfortunately don’t. 

 

National

Hawaii celebrated the opening of a new bike lane through Central Oahu that was decades in the making. Which demonstrates the needless and ridiculous delays we face nearly everywhere in the US in getting much needed safety improvements on the streets.

Our former president isn’t the only one skating on criminal charges, after an Oregon judge granted a DEI agent immunity from prosecution on charges of blowing through a stop sign and killing a woman riding a bicycle in Salem last year. Although you’ll have to figure out a way around the Oregonian’s paywall if you want to read about it. 

A New Mexico researcher is looking into why the number of pedestrians and bicyclists killed on American roads has nearly doubled in just the past 12 years. Hint: Tell him to look at the rise in distracted driving, and the massive bloat in motor vehicle size.

The legacy of the Fayetteville, Arkansas “Bicycle Man” lives on despite his passing in 2013, as the program prepares to give away more than 1,000 bikes to kids in need next month — although that’s just a fraction of the actual need, since they receive over 3,000 requests each year.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A friend gave a Knoxville, Tennessee Korean War vet a new bicycle to replace his worn out bike, so the 86-year old man can continue his daily 22-mile bike rides.

New York responded to complaints of double parked drivers and blocked bike and bus lanes by opening more than 500 new loading zones throughout the city. Although if New York drivers are anything like their SoCal counterparts, they’ll continue to block the bike lanes, rather than drive another 30 or so feet to get to an open loading zone.

My hero. A Huntsville, Alabama radio host is staying up on a 40-foot outdoor tower, exposed to the elements, until a local campaign receives enough bicycles to give every foster kid in the city a new bike for the holidays.

 

International

An English driver proves there are still good people in the world, giving stranded bike riders a lift across flood waters in his 4 x 4 pickup.

No bias here. A British man complains that police are “completely unwilling to prosecute drivers” who hit bicyclists, after getting knocked off his bike a couple weeks ago..

A Philadelphia op-ed writer says bicyclists are treated like traffic in Northern Europe, making it safer for everyone, unlike here in the US where bicycles are considered obstructions for drivers to squeeze by.

 

Competitive Cycling

Australia has banned 25-year old track cyclist Matt Richardson for life, after he switched teams and won three Olympic medals at the Paris Olympics competing for Great Britain. But he won’t be banned from international competition for his new team.

 

Finally…

Kick ass on a BMX bike, and maybe one day, you too can get your very own line of “Bike Air” Jordans. And if wanting to ban SUVs makes you a communist, just call me a pinko.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Los Angeles promises bike lanes but delivers traffic lanes in San Pedro, and an unexplained bike death explained

October 15, 2024 / / One comment
Just 76 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Western was supposed to get bike lanes, until it wasn’t, apparently.

Which could be a Measure HLA violation.

Or not.

Ken Shima forwards news that Western Avenue and 1st Street in San Pedro recently got a makeover, adding a central turn lane — while removing space for a long-promised bike lane.

LA’s Mobility Plan 2035, which subsumed the city’s 2010 bike plan, includes bike lanes on Western. That means they have been planned for at least 14 years; according to Ken, they were finally scheduled to be installed in 2027.

But the new center turn lane recently installed by the city removed curbside parking, moving the right traffic lane right up to the gutter.

And in the process, removed any possible space for the promised bike lane.

Which means that unless the city is planning a road diet, they are no longer planning on the promised bike lanes.

Yet Measure HLA, which passed with an overwhelming majority earlier this year, requires the implementation of any street safety measures contained in the mobility plan anytime an eighth-mile or more of street gets resurfaced.

And that looks like more than an eighth-mile to me.

But maybe they’re trying to get around HLA by restriping the street without resurfacing.

Ken tells me he’s reached out to Councilmember Tim McOsker’s office, which represents the district, for clarification.

It will be interesting to see how they respond.

If they do.

All photos by Ken Shima

Western Ave prior to restriping

………

Over the weekend, I wrote about the unexplained death of a bike rider in Del Mar Saturday morning.

All we knew at the time was that he fall after somehow losing control of his bike on the 1900 block of Jimmy Durante Blvd.

I speculated about various possible causes, but without more information, all I could do was guess.

However, there’s no word on why he may have lost control. It’s possible he could have struck a pothole or some sort of obstacle while riding at speed, lost a tire, or been the victim of a too-close pass — which would make it hit-and-run.

There’s also no word on whether he had a cycling computer or Strava account that could shed some light on what happened. So unless investigators find a witness or video of the crash, we may never know the cause.

Now longtime San Diego bike advocate Serge Issakov visits the scene to fill in the blanks.

Issakov reports the site is at the bottom of a descent with a typical 4% grade, where road cyclists typically reach speeds of 26 to 30 mph, while a KOM could be somewhere in the 40 mph range.

The typical car-ticker plastic bollards show clear signs of being run over more than once, and would likely have been virtually invisible under the typical Del Mar marine layer — let alone if there was any coastal fog or haze in the morning hour.

But even without hitting the post, the cracks visible in the pavement could have easily destabilized the victim, which could have been enough to send him into the curb or the grate in the gutter, and onto the sidewalk.

And at those speeds, it might not have mattered whether he was wearing a helmet.

All I can say, after watching Issakov’s video, is I hope the victim’s family has a good lawyer.

If not, I can sure as hell recommend one.

………

Talk about misreading the data.

The former Streets Officer for London TravelWatch says ebike crashes are pushing up bicycling death rates in the Netherlands, while the bicycling death rate is declining in the UK.

So why, he asks, is Britain still trying to emulate the Dutch?

Even though the Netherlands has a far greater rate of bicycling, a higher ebike adoption rate, and a much lower per capita rate of bike deaths.

And even though the major reason deaths are declining in the UK has been the adoption of Dutch traffic designs.

But other than that, he seems to have nailed it.

………

It’s now an even 300 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.

………

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

She gets it. Dame Sarah Storey, Britain’s most successful paracyclist and the Active Travel Commissioner for Manchester, England, says don’t believe what business owners will tell you, because businesses closing after a new bike lane goes in is a “coincidence, not an unexpected consequence.”

British bicyclists were properly horrified by a recent column in the conservative Telegraph newspaper that called for driving dangerous bike riders off the road, as Tory MPs ignored bike safety in calling for a crackdown. I wanted to link to the original Telegraph piece yesterday, but it disappeared behind the paper’s paywall before I could. 

………

Local  

Is anyone really surprised that Los Angeles has already exceeded its $87 million budget for liability claims by a whopping $10 million, just three months into the fiscal year?

Bike Culver City held a vigil last night to mark the city’s latest pedestrian death, after a man was killed on particularly dangerous stretch of National Blvd near Turning Point School last month.

 

State

Smart Cities Dive examines the nine bike-friendly bills signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, along with the two he didn’t.

Tragic news from Orange County, where a man was fatally shot while riding his bicycle in unincorporated Anaheim Sunday night.

This year’s MS 150 Bay to Bay Bike Tour down the coast of Orange and San Diego counties will be dedicated to the late KTLA-5 entertainment anchor and longtime bicyclist Sam Rubin.

Santa Barbara plans a crackdown on wheelie-popping teens and scofflaw ebike riders.

A 73-year old Humboldt Bay woman celebrates the jolting joys of riding an ebike, after a lifetime of riding more traditional bikes.

 

National

Red Bull offers a potentially life-changing beginner’s guide to bicycling.

A new study by Harvard researchers suggest you never forget how to ride a bike because it’s stored deep in your cerebellum.

The Bureau of Land Management wants to know whether you want to see ebikes on the world-class trails of Moab, Utah.

Kansas will invest over $31 million to enhance walkable and bikeable routes throughout the state.

No surprise here, as New York’s predominantly Latino and Black West Harlem still doesn’t have a single bike lane, ten years after the city adopted Vision Zero.

 

International

A new European study shows people who don’t wear bike helmets usually skip it for comfort and convenience, but free helmets, education and nagging might help.

The ancestral home of Pembroke Welsh corgis was forced to cut back the availability of their e-bikeshare system because too many of the ebikes needed repair work, raising fears of vandalism.

Over 8,000 bicyclists turned up with wool jerseys and vintage bicycles for this year’s Tuscan L’Eroica in Siena, Italy.

A German truck driver will spend the next four years in an Italian jail after he was sentenced for the hit-and-run death of former Italian cyclist Davide Rebellin; Rebellin, a three-time winner of Fleche Wallonne, as well as winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Amstel Gold Race, was run down while he was on a training ride.

A new Australian study released in advance of tomorrow’s National Ride to Work Day shows a whopping 40% of commuters currently bike to work, a number that could rise to 72% if they could work closer to home.

 

Competitive Cycling

Champion triathlete Kristian Blummenfelt says he’s putting his dreams of competing in the Tour de France on hold, because he’d take too big a financial hit jumping from his role as the world’s top triathlete to the WorldTour.

There’s something very fishy about this podium prize for Japan’s Tour de Kyushu.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can bike an extended century in your bloomers. Your next cycling shoe could be a sock.

And pissing off bicyclists since, well, now.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

A $7 million SD safety fail, U-T sharrows fail, and taking a pass on what passes for record CA traffic safety investment

October 3, 2024 / / Comments Off on A $7 million SD safety fail, U-T sharrows fail, and taking a pass on what passes for record CA traffic safety investment
Just 88 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

L’Shana Tova to everyone celebrating the new year today!

And apropos of nothing, I’m happy to report I wrote today’s entire post wearing a T-shirt with a bear riding a bicycle, as bears are wont to do. 

Just saying.

………

Call it a $7 million fail — one that ultimately cost the life of a San Diego bike rider.

That’s the amount the city paid out to the family of Marc Woolf, who died 17 months after he was struck by a pair of drivers and paralyzed from the next down, dying of sepsis 17 months later.

Woolf was on his way home from his job at the San Diego zoo in May, 2021 when a driver coming out of a blind driveway backed into him, knocking him onto the other side of the street, where he was hit again by second driver.

But instead of blaming the drivers, Woolf’s legal team accused the city of creating and maintaining poor road conditions.

According to San Diego CBS8, those conditions included —

  • Restricted site lines and distances caused by physical conditions
  • Insufficient red curb prohibiting parked cars
  • Overgrown vegetation
  • Confusing and misleading shared lane striping
  • An improperly maintained light fixture which was not functioning on the night of the incident

The station reports the city finally extended the red curb to improve sightlines along the corridor in response to the crash.

As usual, only acting after it was too late.

Now Wolff’s family is $7 million richer, and the city’s taxpayers are $7 million poorer.

But as his daughter notes, no amount of money can bring Wolff back, or ease the pain the new grandfather suffered for so many months.

Meanwhile, the Union-Tribune blamed sharrows in general for the crash.

The case highlights the potential dangers of “sharrows,” marked bike routes that require cars and bicycles to share portions of roadway instead of giving cyclists areas reserved only for them.

I’m no fan of sharrows, which studies have shown to be worse than nothing when it comes to protecting the safety of bike riders.

But that’s a discussion for another day.

The paper was clearly mistaken, at best, in blaming any and all sharrows for this particular crash, rather than the poorly designed and implemented sharrows on this one particular street.

I’ve heard that some San Diego bicyclists have called on the paper for a retraction.

And they may have a point this time.

………

California is making a record investment in traffic safety and enforcement as traffic deaths continue to rise, according to the Governor’s office.

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) is awarding a record $149 million in federal funding for 497 grants that expand safe biking and walking options and provide critical education and enforcement programs that will make roads safer throughout the state. This is the third consecutive year of historic funding, exceeding last year’s amount by $21 million.

Yet that record spending to “expand safe biking and walking options” includes just $13 million for bicycle and pedestrian safety programs, up a modest 12% from the previous grant cycle.

Even though bicyclists and pedestrians account for most, if not all, of the recent increase in traffic deaths.

Meanwhile, a whopping $51 million will go to law enforcement agencies to conduct what’s described as “equitable enforcement targeting the most dangerous driving behaviors such as speeding, distracted and impaired driving, as well as support education programs focused on bicycle and pedestrian safety.”

In other words, more daylong — or usually, just a few hours — enforcement actions targeting violations that could put bicyclists and pedestrians at risk, regardless of who commits them.

Which, to the best of my knowledge, hasn’t been proven to do a damn bit of good reducing deaths or serious injuries among either group.

So if that’s what passes for a record investment, I’ll pass.

………

Streets For All politely reminds Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass that Measure HLA applies to Metro projects in the City of Los Angeles, too.

Never mind that the city’s barely competent and very conservative City Attorney’s Office continues to drag its feet on crafting guidance for city departments regarding the measure, nearly seven months after it went into effect after passing overwhelmingly.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports that new bike lane mileage in Los Angeles fell to a five-year low for the most recent fiscal year, adding up to a massively underwhelming 22.5 lane-miles of new and improved bike facilities.

And remember, lane-miles means they count each side of the road separately, so we’re only talking a measly 11.25 miles of actual street.

Then there’s this.

While there is some year-to-year variation, and some lag time between project planning getting underway and on the ground upgrades, the first full fiscal year does not look like a promising start for Mayor Karen Bass. Bass has prioritized critical housing issues and not paid much attention to safer multimodal streets – at least not yet. FY2024 did see Mayor Karen Bass appoint Laura Rubio-Cornejo to head the city Transportation Department (LADOT). Rubio-Cornejo replaced interim GM Connie Llanos last September.

No shit.

If anyone has heard Bass even mention safer and/or multimodal streets, let me know. Because I sure as hell haven’t heard it.

Then again, the city’s freeze on resurfacing projects to avoid implementing HLA hasn’t helped.

And neither has Bass’ continued failure to meet with us.

………

Momentum wants to see your pics of bike lane fails, of which we should have more than a few.

https://twitter.com/MomentumMag/status/1841505396596342989

………

Presenting the cutest BMX balance bike stunt video you’ll see all day.

………

It’s now 288 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And an even 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, apparently tired of waiting, San Francisco will consider a proposal for their own yet-to-be defined ebike rebate program.

That deafening silence you hear is Los Angeles not considering one.

………

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

Apparently, elected office provides no protection from dangerous drivers, as an Ottawa, Canada city counselor captures a way-too-close punishment pass on his bike cam while riding past several parked cars.

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

Maybe something was lost in translation, as an Ottawa letter writer complains about the incivility of local bicyclists who “love listening to the music of the folk group With No Headphones,” while riding their bikes without a “ten dollar doorbell.”

………

Local  

Looks like they slipped one past us this time, as a planned two-day closure last week for repairs on the Ballona Creek Bike Path only took one day, with the path reopening before some of us (i.e. me) knew it wasn’t.

Start times for the Long Beach Marathon have been moved up due to a high heat warning, with the bike tour now scheduled to start the same time as the runners at 5:30 am.

Speaking of Streets For All, the Los Angeles-area transportation PAC is hosting a fundraiser in Franklin Hills this Sunday afternoon.

 

State

The CHP has received a $1.55 million federal grant for year-long initiative focusing on “educating the public and enforcing traffic safety laws for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.” Maybe they could spend some of the money on educating their patrol officers a little better on bike law and how to investigate collisions involving bicyclists. 

San Diego was dubbed the greenest city in the US for the third year in a row; needless to say, Los Angeles wasn’t, coming in 18th.

San Diego pediatrician Dr. Mike Nelson dropped by a Claremont Mesa fire station to thank the first responders who saved his life when he crashed his bicycle on the way to an appointment a couple months back.

A San Francisco neighborhood is tearing itself apart fighting over a proposal to permanently close a highway to motor vehicles, even though it’s eroding into the ocean anyway.

 

National

Momentum offers ten “amazing coastal cities” in the US for bicycling; Santa Barbara is #9 on the list, while Huntington Beach is #2 — even though three people lost their lives riding in the city in just the last 12 months.

Bicyclists in the Pacific Northwest are challenging online marketplaces like OfferUp to do more to fight the reselling of stolen bikes on their platforms.

An editorial from a local Boston paper says bicycling isn’t safe in the city. Then again, the same could be said in virtually any city in the US. Los Angeles included. 

A proposed Pennsylvania law could authorize parking-protected bicycle lanes for the first time in the state.

Washington DC’s Reagan National Airport is encouraging travelers to skip the taxi and ride their bikes to the airport. Maybe LAX should be taking notes.

More proof bikes make the best emergency vehicles, as a North Carolina family grabbed their chainsaws and hopped on their bicycles to rescue the family’s 87-year old matriarch when they couldn’t contact her after Hurricane Helene.

 

International

Bike Radar considers why mixed-terrain ultra-distance cycling events are rising in popularity.

Residents of a British Columbia city aren’t sold on plans for a new bike path if it means chopping down a tree.

London bicyclists will soon be shuttled through a new motor vehicle-only tunnel under the Thames on special double-decker buses.

The rich get richer, as London bicyclists will soon get a £4 million — $5.3 million — bike route through the heart of the city.

There won’t be any more changes to the UK’s infamous “optical illusion” bike lane, even though it’s led to more than 100 trip and fall injuries. Sounds like they need better injury attorneys over there. 

 

Competitive Cycling

That’s Sir Mark Cavendish to you, as the Manx Missile gets knighted at Windsor Castle. Unless you’d rather call him the new High Performance Ambassador for Aston Martin.

Cyclinguptodate compares UCI to the Mafia for the way they managed the recent Zurich world championships, arguing that the organization implements rules, then neither complies with or implements them.

Rouleur considers the recent rise of WorldTour mega-contracts.

 

Finally…

Maybe your new wireless shifters can be hack-proof, after all. Now you, too, can trade your ten gallon hat for a helmet and bike through LBJ’s Texas ranch.

And maybe you were a bicycling British soldier in a past life, bad teeth be damned.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Bike-riding NHL star and brother killed by accused drunk driver, and transportation safety bills on governor’s desk

September 9, 2024 / / 2 comments

We’re back, more or less. 

I’ve been out for over a month after surgery to replace two tendon and fix a number of tears in my right shoulder. I’m now looking at a long recovery, with six months of rehab before I’m back to normal, let alone get back on a bike.

Or whatever passes for normal at my age. 

I’ll do my best to keep this site going on a regular basis, but may face some issues going forward depending on how well rehab goes. 

Before we move on, though, let’s take a moment to consider that the new tendons holding my shoulder together came from caring people who donated their bodies after death.

We tend to think of organ donation as involving hearts and lungs, livers and kidneys. But corneas, skin, bones and yes, tendons, also stem from that same kindness. 

And I couldn’t be more grateful for them. 

So if you haven’t signed your organ donor card, what the hell are you waiting for?

Now let’s catch up on some of the bigger stories we missed over the past 34 days, before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.

Photo by Tembela Bohle from Pexels. 

………

Just 113 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

……..

Let’s start with the biggest — and worst — news of the last month.

It was just over a week ago that 31-year old NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his 29-year old brother Matthew were killed by an (allegedly) extremely drunk driver while they were riding their bikes in New Jersey.

The brothers were run down on a rural road in Oldmans Township on Thursday, August 30th, the night before they were supposed to be groomsmen in their sister’s wedding.

Needless to say, the wedding is off for now.

They were run down from behind after the driver, identified as 43-year old Sean Higgins, passed one car on the left, then attempted to pass an SUV on the right when it moved left to go around the Gaudreaus.

Higgins failed a field sobriety test, telling police he had five or six beers before the crash, and that his drinking probably contributed to “his impatience and reckless driving.”

He was arrested at the scene, and charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.

Higgins serves as a Major in the US National Guard, while working for a nonprofit substance abuse treatment center. Which means he should have known the risk of driving under the influence.

A crowdfunding campaign for Matthew Gaudreau’s wife, Madeline, who is pregnant with their first child, has raised nearly $645,000 — over 21 times the $30,000 goal.

Meanwhile, USA Today points out that the NHL star was just one of hundreds of bicyclists killed in the US each year — make that over 1,000 in 2022, actually — while Streetsblog says the real story is the systematic failures that led to the Gaudreau brothers deaths.

And the BBC issued a non-apology, saying they were sorry a bicyclist “did not appreciate” their headline which called the crash an “accident.”

………

Streetsblog offers an update on transportation bills on the governor’s desk after being approved by the legislature, including:

  • SB 960 requires Caltrans to follow their own Complete Streets policies
  • SB 961 is a severely watered-down version of the bill which would have forced automakers to prevent drivers from speeding more than ten miles over the speed limit; the law now just requires an audible warning
  • SB 1297 extends the states speed cam pilot program to PCH in Malibu
  • SB 1261 limits the placement of sharrows to streets with speed limits of 30 mph or less
  • SB 689 eliminates the need for a separate Coastal Commission study in order to convert a traffic lane to a bike or transit lane
  • SB 1271 requires that only ebikes with UL or EU certification can be sold in the state

………

While we were gone, the Glendale City Council narrowly approved the city’s draft transportation plan, along with safety improvements to La Crescenta Ave, after an extremely contentious debate.

Meanwhile, Glendale will consider a a proposal to build the nine-mile Arroyo Verdugo Greenway at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

In 2021 the City began a high-level study which envisioned the Wash as a nine mile green space from its confluence with the LA River up to Crescenta Valley Park. It includes bike and pedestrian trails with access to business and entertainment venues, and connects several important city centers, services and a multitude of neighborhoods that make up a large core of Glendale.

Walk Bike Glendale urges you to attend or call into the meeting, or email the individual council members in advance.

………

Streets For All is hosting a virtual Mobility Debate with the candidates for the Burbank City Council Thursday Evening.

………

Once again, the Los Angeles County Sheriff department demonstrated how little their deputies know about bike law, when former LA-based pro Phil Gaimon — star of the Worst Retirement Ever videos on YouTube — had to educate one on why the ticket he was about to get was against the law.

………

It’s now 263 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 39 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

After a 14-year old boy was seriously injured by a garbage truck driver while riding to school in La Mesa, California, the city’s NBC station demonstrated how to get the story wrong, with a headline suggesting the boy collided with the truck, rather than the other way around. Nope, no bias there.

A road-raging 19-year old Zion, Utah woman chased down a bike rider and rammed him with her car as he tried to flee, after arguing and spitting at her when she ran a stop sign and nearly hit him. Evidently, she felt a crashing need to finish what she’d started. 

When a road raging driver attacked a group of Black Baltimore bicyclists with bear spray, the community responded with a love ride.

Police in Dublin, Ireland are investigating an apparent road rage attack by a driver who pushed a bicyclist up against a barrier and repeatedly hit him with his fists as bystanders tried to stop the attack.

A 59-year old German man was arrested for sabotaging mountain bike trails by stringing wire across them to fell unwary riders; for once, the charges fit the crime, booked on suspicion of attempted murder. Velo says attacks like that are not something you need to fret about, though.

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

A bike-raging New York bicyclist was busted for allegedly punching a woman jogger in the face after they argued when his handlebars made contact with her as she ran in the opposite direction on an Eastchester bike path.

A British woman says it made her ashamed to ride a bicycle when another rider crashed into her after jumping a red light, and called her a “stupid bitch.”

………

Local 

The New York Times considers whether Los Angeles can really pull off a carfree Olympics just four years from now. Short answer, no. Longer answer, hell no.

Caltrans is still conducting its Pacific Coast Highway Master Plan Feasibility Study to determine just what safety improvements people want — or rather, are willing to tolerate. So if you bike, walk or drive along PCH in Malibu, you owe it to yourself and everyone else to take part. 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton examines the first six months since Measure HLA passed with overwhelming support, mandating the city to build out the eight-year old mobility plan whenever a street gets resurfaced. So far the news isn’t good, with work on Reseda Blvd moving forward while everything else stalled out — including the city’s workaround on Vermont Ave in South LA to avoid triggering HLA.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge summarily denied a CEQA lawsuit from Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City to keep Culver City from removing the protected bike lanes through downtown, calling it “the weakest petition (he’s) ever seen in an environmental case;” the group vowed to appeal.

WeHo Times reports on a “tumultuous” community meeting to discuss bike lane designs on Willoughby, Vista/Gardner and Kings Street; as usual, most of the complaints centered on parking and outreach. The city also accepted an $8.2 million grant for transportation and safety improvements, including Fountain Ave, where protected bike lanes are planned.

Santa Monica is dropping speed limits on over 30 miles of streets to improve safety.

The southwest San Gabriel Valley is moving closer to a Metro-funded improvement project linking the First Street, Riggin Street and Potrero Grande Drive corridor, including 5.3 miles of bike lanes through Rosemead, South San Gabriel, Montebello and Monterey Park.

LA County received over $60 million in grants for safety improvement projects, including projects in Long Beach, Palmdale and South LA.

The LA Times picks up the story of how Bike Index’s Bryan Hance uncovered an international bike theft ring on his own when authorities didn’t give a shit show any interest.

 

State

Calbike talks with Wes Marshall, author of the new book, Killed by a Traffic Engineer.

The Voice of OC questions whether deadly Beach Blvd will ever be safe for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Family members are urging any witnesses to come forward who may have seen the hit-and-run crash that critically injured 71-year old Bob Hilborn as he rode his bike in Chula Vista last month.

San Diego is conducting a survey to get input on the forthcoming bicycle master plan.

A man riding his bike on Highway 1 suffered several injuries — and got a couple traffic tickets — after falling over 100 feet when he ignored “road closed” signs and a warning that he would probably die by attempting to ride across a rock slide that shut down the highway. And he nearly did.

 

National

A new bill in Congress would finally mandate federal standards for hood height and visibility in order to protect pedestrians, bicyclists and other people outside the vehicle, after research showed SUVs and trucks with high front ends and blunt profiles are 45% more likely to kill pedestrians in a crash than smaller cars and trucks.

A recent study from Oregon State University shows that the Idaho Stop Law, aka Stop as Yield, does not result in dangerous behavior by bicyclists or drivers; Velo says of course it’s safer for bicyclists. Gavin Newsom vetoed two bills that would have legalized it in California.

A new book from Rob Walker of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy looks at 20 Apps, Ideas, and Innovators Changing the Urban Landscape.

Apple TV+ premiered Ghost Bike, a short film about a mother who meets a stranger in a Greek diner, who may hold the key to solving her son’s untimely death — apparently on a bicycle.

A writer for BuzzFeed offers 22 very tongue-in-cheek reasons why wearing a helmet is “literally one of the absolute worst decisions a person can make.”

Your next ebike could be a Ford Bronco. Or maybe a Mustang.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz is accused of holding up a bill to improve ebike battery safety in a misguided attempt to halt regulations he thinks could lead to a ban on gas stoves.

The New York Times examines what the city could learn from the recent reimagining of the streets of Paris.

A Miami man is on trial for murder for chasing down and fatally shooting a man as he rode in a club peloton, although the defense insists it was self-defense after he was attacked by armed bicyclists with guns that were apparently secreted in their spandex kits and mysteriously disappeared afterwards; a Key Biscayne paper somehow described the incident as occurring in “the ultra-machismo world of the Miami cycling community.”

 

International

Momentum recommends the world’s most beautiful bicycle routes; just three of the 30 routes are in the US, with none in California.

Fifty-five-year old former Canadian IndyCar driver and 2003 ChampCar World Series champion Paul Tracy suffered a dislocated shoulder and three broken vertebrae when he was struck by an SUV driver while riding his bike last week.

A 29-year old British drug dealer was sentenced to a well-deserved 14-years behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that killed a bike-riding man, before driving off to make his weed deliveries.

It turns out the ever-feuding Gallagher brothers from the newly reunited British band Oasis are two of us; Road.cc lists other bicycling musical greats and songs about bikes.

Ireland’s Finance Minister justifiably complained about a new bike shed that cost the equivalent of $372,000 to hold just 18 bikes, when a competitor could have built it for $22,000.

A new German report says distracted bicycling is on the rise, blaming it for a significant, but undetermined, increase in crash risk. Never mind that many of the 10 to 17% of bicyclists who use their smartphones while riding are probably just using navigation or bike apps. 

A new Chinese study shows how ebikes are changing the landscape of transportation, including reduced reliance on motor vehicles and improved mobility for people of all ages.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Parisian website recounts all the paracycling medal winners from the Paris Para-Olympics.

Bicycling writes that America’s Kristen Faulkner was told she had just a 6% chance of winning gold in Olympic road cycling, just before she did it. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you.

Olympic bronze medalist Wout van Aert is done for the season, after a knee injury suffered in a major crash required a series of transfusions to prevent infection.

Sad news from Las Vegas, where five-time Venezuelan Olympic cyclist Daniela Larreal Chirinos was found dead in her home during a welfare check, at age 51, after not being seen for several days; she apparently died from choking on her food.

Six bicycles “beyond any monetary value” that were ridden by Peter Sagan, Mathieu van der Poel, Julian Alaphilippe and Egan Bernal were stolen from the Netherland’s Shimano Experience Center last week.

 

Finally…

We may have to dodge LA’s flighty drivers, but at least we don’t have to duck dive-bombing magpies — then again, we don’t have to worry about herds of leaping deer, either. Now they’re out to get us on beachfront bike paths, too.

And that feeling when wild horses couldn’t stop your ride. Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for that one. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Ramos faces up to 20 years for killing five-year old in drunken hit-and-run, and wannabe Trump assassin was one of us

July 19, 2024 / / Comments Off on Ramos faces up to 20 years for killing five-year old in drunken hit-and-run, and wannabe Trump assassin was one of us
Just 165 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

A few people have volunteered to write guest posts to help keep this site from going dark when I’m out next month for surgery on my torn rotator cuff. 

So if you’re interested in filling in here for a few days, or joining them in submitting a guest post or two, just email me at the address on the About page above.

………

Twenty years.

Charges have been refiled against Ceferino Ascencion Ramos for the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed five-year old Jacob Ramirez, and injured his entire family, as they were enjoying an evening bike ride in Garden Grove nearly two weeks ago.

Ramos, who had a blood alcohol content of .22% at the time of his arrest, now faces a charge of vehicular manslaughter, as well as felony counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, driving with blood alcohol of .08% or more causing bodily injury, and hit and run with injury, with sentencing enhancements for leaving a victim comatose or paralyzed and inflicting great bodily injury.

If he is convicted on all counts, Ramos could spend the next two decades behind bars. But the most likely result is that the DA will allow him to plead to a reduced sentence in order to guarantee a conviction.

The lack of a murder charge indicates this is probably Ramos’ first DUI arrest, or he at least hasn’t been convicted before.

The good news, if there is any in this mess, is that Jacob’s six-year-old sister has been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery for her injuries. However, the children’s father is still in a coma due to a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain.

Meanwhile, Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will install a ghost bike for Jacob Ramirez later today.

The ceremony will take place at 7:30 pm on the 12300 block of Haster Street at Twin Tree Lane in Garden Grove.

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Wannabe Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was one of us, as reports suggest he used his bicycle to scout the rally where the shooting took place last Saturday.

He then ditched his bike in full view of cops and crowds of people before climbing onto to warehouse roof and opening fire on the former president.

Which kinda raises the question of why no one noticed a man riding a bicycle while carrying a rifle at a political rally, whether it was in or out of a case.

Meanwhile, a writer for a conservative website writes, with tongue firmly planted in cheek, forget guns, it’s time to ban bicycles.

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A Seal Beach police captain answers a reader’s question to say yes, bicycles are considered vehicles under California law, subject to the same rules and regulations as drivers.

But he doesn’t get it quite right, insisting bike riders can’t use a handheld phone, even though that law specifically applies to motorists only.

And he bizarrely says bicyclists should slow and come to a complete stop at any intersection without a green light, which would mean pissing off drivers by stopping at every uncontrolled intersection.

Then again, we seem to piss off drivers if we stop for stop signs, as well as when we roll through them.

And God help you if you find yourself blocking a driver’s turn because you stopped for a red light.

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Gravel Bike California marks their 5th Anniversary by revisiting their favorite LA Area route.

………

It’s now 211 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 37 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

The solemnity of a poignant Birmingham, England slow ride in memory of a fallen bicyclist was interrupted by angry drivers blaring on their horns over the momentary inconvenience of having to slow down to go around them. Which kinda made the bicyclist’ point for them.

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

Once again, cops and the news media conflate electric motorcycles and ebikes as if they’re the same thing, with sheriff’s deputies complaining about kids on illegal off-road electric motorcycles — not electric bicycles — terrorizing customers at an Orange County mall with air-soft guns.

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Local 

LAist reports on the health effects of chronic noise, as the US Department of Transportation says Los Angeles is one of the country’s loudest counties, thanks largely to our incessant traffic.

 

State

A writer for Forbes explains how to love living carless in California. It’s long past time stories like this lost any shock value, when up to a fifth of Angelenos don’t own cars, and seem to manage okay without one. 

A San Francisco writer asks if the city’s most harrowing bikeway is about to become a thing of the past, as a new water taxi promises to replace the narrow chasm of the Posey Tube’s bike/pedestrian sidewalk, which he describes as the “ninth circle of cycling hell.”

 

National

Strong Towns looks at ways to build a biking culture to make your city stronger.

Writing for Streetsblog, former Southland resident Melissa Balmer says it’s time to revive the 1990’s Bikes Belong campaign to help deliver needed funds for active transportation infrastructure, and stop killing people.

Planetizen says specially equipped data bikes can help government agencies better understand conditions on bike paths by collecting information on trail accessibility and pavement conditions to prioritize maintenance projects. That’s if anyone actually cares about conditions on bike paths once they’re built, let alone budget for it.

PeopleForBikes says a simple bike bus helped transform a south Tempe, Arizona neighborhood, while reconnecting students and their parents with joy.

Emergency responders were caught off guard when they found themselves in the middle of a Colorado gravel race as they responded to a bicyclist injured in a multi-rider crash, with competitors reportedly swerving in front of the ambulance. Seriously guys, give emergency vehicles a wide berth, regardless of whether you’re competing in a race or just riding to the corner market. Someone’s life could depend on it. 

Boston officials refute claims that new bike lanes and road diets are slowing ambulance response times, saying roadways are engineered to provide room for emergency vehicles, and ambulances can drive through bike lanes when necessary to get around stalled traffic.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The woman killed in a Philadelphia collision while riding her bike Wednesday night has been identified as a 30-year old medical resident specializing in pediatric cancer patients at a Philly children’s hospital.

 

International

Momentum says the health benefits of bike commuting mean it could be one of the best decisions you ever make, cutting your risk of dying from any cause nearly in half.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever tethered an 18-month old horse to an old bicycle wrapped in barbed wire in an English field, without food or water, leaving the horse emaciated and covered in lice; fortunately, it has made an “astonishing” recovery since after it was rescued five months ago.

Heavyweight boxer Derek Chisora is accused of headbutting a food delivery rider outside a London restaurant, after the victim refused Chisora’s demands that he dismount instead of riding near the fighter’s kids.

Business is booming for a British man who launched a cargo bike sandwich delivery service last month, saying he just used his bike to deliver a few ham sandwiches, and things took off from there.

 

Competitive Cycling

Thursday’s stage of the Tour de France went to former hour record holder Victor Campenaerts, who came out in front of a three man sprint to the finish, while the race leaders held back for the day.

Road.cc says Tadej Pogačar could have ridden a heavier mid-tier bicycle and still matched the time of second-place finisher Remco Evenepoel over the Galibier.

 

Finally..

That feeling when they won’t let you use the drive-thru, so you ride your bike up to the counter inside, instead. Why settle for single wheel propulsion when you can ride a two-wheel drive ebike?

And why steal one bike, when you can use a fork lift to make off with four at once?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Woman critical after hit-and-run in San Diego’s Rancho Peñasquitos, and guilty plea in Tracey Gross hit-and-run death

July 15, 2024 / / One comment
Just 169 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

I’m still looking for anyone interested in filling in here after my shoulder surgery next month, whether you’re willing to take over for a day or two a week, or simply submitting a guest post or two. 

Just email me at the address on the About page, above. 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

A hit-and-run driver left a 60-year old woman with life-threatening injuries in in San Diego’s Rancho Peñasquitos neighborhood Sunday morning.

The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding her mountain bike eastbound in the 13100 block of Rancho Peñasquitos Blvd around 8:40 am, when a driver traveling in the same direction swerved into her.

Police are looking for a mid-sized, silver or charcoal gray SUV of an undetermined make. There’s no description of the driver, who was reportedly driving erratically prior to the crash.

The victim suffered injuries including bleeding in the brain, as well as a broken neck.

Anyone with information is urged to call the traffic division of the San Diego Police Department 858/495-7823; or call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 888/580-8477.

Hopefully, the victim will recover from her injuries, and they’ll find — and prosecute — the heartless coward who did it to her.

………

A 26-year old Riverside man faces sentencing in September after pleading guilty to killing an Oceanside woman.

According to the San Diego County DA’s office, Christian Joshua Howard pled guilty on Thursday to a single felony count of hit-and-run causing death, along with a misdemeanor count of destroying or concealing evidence for the March 17th collision that killed 51-year old Oceanside postal carrier Tracey Gross.

Howard reportedly dragged Gross’ bike two miles underneath his car as he fled the scene, running her down as she rode her bike home after going into work at the post office on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign for Gross’ family stands just $55 short of the $20,000 goal.

………

It’s now 207 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 37 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

A Chicago letter writer pushes back on a bicyclist’s assertion that people drive aggressively and angrily and are actively hostile to people on bicycles, arguing that from a driver’s and pedestrian’s perspective, bike riders are no different.

Yet another Conservative British city councilmember called for license plates for bicycles to put them on a level playing field with trucks, vans and cars, as if bicyclists somehow pose the same risk to others as motor vehicles; meanwhile, another Conservative councilmember complains that no one will ride a hilly bike route — yet at the same time, warns of anti-social behavior by bike riders on their way down.

A Singapore car columnist argues for bicyclists to have to pay the same road taxes as motorists, insisting that “bicycles are not ‘bigger’ than cars, but some cyclists ride like big idiots.”

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

Authorities in Montreal have installed new speed bumps — not for drivers, but to slow down people on bicycles.

Police were called when teenagers were observed riding bikes and smoking week in the aisles of a UK supermarket, searching them and obtaining “their details.”

Police in Dubai confiscated nearly 650 bicycles and e-escooters from lawbreaking bicyclists. Which sounds like a lot, until you consider it’s a country of 3.5 million people. 

………

Local 

Writing for a Santa Clarita paper, a retired LAPD motorcycle cop somehow feels the need to remind bike riders that the law applies to them, too. Funny how no one ever seems to feel the need to remind drivers about that, even though they break the law just as often, with far deadlier consequences.

Long Beach leads the way when it comes to SoCal traffic circles.

 

State

Simi Valley will get a new bike plan, after the city awarded a nearly quarter-million-dollar contract to develop a new plan, including an outreach program featuring at least three community workshops, 10 local events, and web and social media engagement. Although as we’ve learned the hard way here in Los Angeles, even the best plan is only as good as the commitment of city leaders to actually build the damn thing.

 

National

A travel website recommends ten beautiful rail trails across the US that they say you need to ride at least once. None of which are in Los Angeles. Or California, for that matter. 

The author of Seattle Bike Blog rode his ebike 30 miles to Everett, Washington to play night hockey, then rode another 30 miles back home.

A Utah man explains what he’s learned from riding the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail nearly 4,000 miles across the US to raise funds for college scholarships in the state.

A 22-year old Florida woman was killed by a Sarasota County sheriff’s deputy as she was just walking her bicycle across the street, raising the question of why the hell the cop couldn’t manage to avoid her.

 

International

Momentum offers ten ways bicycles “deliver the freedom that cars can only promise.”

A petition urging Toronto food delivery riders to obey the law has drawn less than 300 signatures in two weeks, despite being featured in the city’s main newspaper.

Lila Moss is one of us, as the model daughter of former supermodel Kate Moss went for a bikeshare ebike ride through London.

The head of English foldie-maker Brompton warns that contraction in the bike industry isn’t over, predicting that more bicycle businesses will go belly up this winter.

Velo says famed British designer Paul Smilth has the biggest, best and most extensive collection of bicycle memorabilia you’ll ever see.

Bicyclists in the UK are less satisfied with bike lane design and maintenance, feel less safe, and face more barriers to riding than bicyclists in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Germany.

A 26-year old British woman will spend a well-deserved eight years and eight months behind bars for the drunken and stoned hit-and-run that killed a 40-year old bike rider

The best bike routes for your next trip to Andalucía, Spain.

Kim Kardashian is one of us, going for a nearly naked, lightless bikini-clad ride after a nighttime swim in Puglia, Italy.

A writer for The Guardian describes how he found his bliss bicycling along the coast of Estonia. Raise your hand if you didn’t even know Estonia had a coast. 

An Aussie bicycle advocacy group looks to tax receipts from San Francisco’s Valencia Street to argue that bike lanes don’t have a negative effect on local businesses.

 

Competitive Cycling

Two-time Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar won his second consecutive stage on Sunday over fellow two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard; Pogačar enters today’s rest day with a three minute, nine second lead over his chief rival.

The New York Times says forget the rest of the peloton, the Tour de France is down to a two-man race between Pogačar and Vingegaard, between them winners of the past four Tours.

Slovenia’s Primož Roglič is out of the Tour de France after crashing hard and losing time in stage 12.

Covid is taking a toll in the race, with several riders dropping out, while Geraint Thomas is continuing to race despite the illness, and members of the press face a mask mandate.

The pro cyclists union plans to take legal action against a “fan” who assaulted the race leaders — with potato chips.

An Egyptian cyclist was kicked off the country’s Olympic team following uproar over her selection, despite knocking a competitor off her bike in a sprint.

 

Finally…

Why just ride a bike when you can pedal a canoe across Scotland? Who needs tires when your bike can wear slippers?

And you can see a lot of things riding a bike — like a Patagonian rodent as big as a medium-sized dog, thousands of miles from its normal South American range.

https://www.tiktok.com/@accuweather/video/7388563615881661727?embed_source=121374463%2C121442748%2C121439635%2C121433650%2C121404359%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.msn.com%2Fen-us%2Flifestyle%2Fpets%2Fcolorado-resident-out-on-a-bike-ride-stumbles-across-a-rodent-native-to-south-america%2Far-BB1pXIhm&referer_video_id=7388563615881661727

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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