Tag Archive for bicycling

Morning Links: Bonin recall effort suspended, and a Florida study shows bike riders aren’t scofflaws after all

January 4, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bonin recall effort suspended, and a Florida study shows bike riders aren’t scofflaws after all

Maybe there aren’t so many angry voters after all.

The effort to recall CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin over last year’s Playa del Rey road diet fiasco has hit a snag, as organizers say they need another $300,000 because they can’t afford to hire enough minimum wage signature gatherers to circulate the necessary petitions.

As a result, the recall effort has been put on hold until at least November.

If it happens at all.

Organizers claim to have raised nearly $100,000 for the recall effort, but somehow spent all but $20,000 — including a $6,000 consulting fee to co-chair Alexis Edelstein.

This comes after a bungled press event in which organizers attempted to file the necessary forms to begin the recall process, but left out a required signed affidavit. Then somehow never managed to make it back with the right forms.

But what it really boils down to is a lack of support to recall the popular councilmember, who won re-election just last year with 71% of the vote.

Not to mention a distrust of the people behind the campaign, including Edelstein himself.

Something tells me Bonin will sleep easy tonight.

But the fight will go on. Because the real reason behind the failed recall effort, aside from furthering Edelstein’s political career, was to intimidate city officials into halting any more road diets in the city.

And as CD4 Councilmember David Ryu’s recent rejection of the planned 6th Street road diet shows — one that local resident had fought for — in that, they’ve been very successful.

Above, a typical complaint about the since-removed road diet on Vista del Mar in Playa del Rey.

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If you read the comments to virtually any news story about bicycles — which I wouldn’t recommend — you’ll quickly find most accuse bike riders of being lawbreaking scofflaws who flaunt traffic regulations every chance we get.

Evidently, they’re wrong.

According to a new Florida study, bicyclists rode in compliance with traffic laws 88% of the time during daylight hours, and 87% after dark.

Meanwhile, drivers obeyed the law just 85% of the time.

And of the three near collisions and one actual collision involving bicyclists during the study, drivers were blamed in three of the incidents, along with a lack of infrastructure.

Show that to the next person who says we all break the law.

And tell ‘em to shove it.

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Let’s call it a tie for today’s best bike news.

Costa Mesa police and The Cyclist bike shop teamed up to give a new adult tricycle to a man who’s suffering from stage four cancer, after his $400 trike was stolen just before Christmas.

And a nice follow-up story from New Zealand, where a couple is still riding together after 44 years of marriage even though she has Parkinson’s; her husband modified a three-wheeled e-cargo bike to hold her wheel chair in front of the handlebars.

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Local

The LA Times says keep mountain bikes out of federal wilderness areas, despite a bill that would legalize their use.

If you can find one of the Ofo dockless bikeshare bikes around Griffith Park, they should be free to use for the remainder of this month, if a North Carolina story is correct.

Walk Bike Long Beach released a report on their efforts to make the city a better place to do both.

 

State

San Francisco’s Patrick Traughber is tracking all bicycling fatalities in the city, as well as calculating how many years of life was lost with each crash.

A San Francisco electric scooter-sharing company will be adding ebikes to their dockless rental fleet.

Officials are letting a curb-protected San Francisco bike lane fall into disrepair, despite repaving the traffic lanes next to it.

It’s bad enough that a firebug may be setting fires across Berkeley, but setting a bike on fire crosses the line.

 

National

Bike Snob says maybe you only need one bike after all.

Advice for aging Baby Boomers: Forget the car and get on a bike.

Women’s Health offers tips to get more out of your bicycling work out. Or you could just enjoy riding your bike, and let the workout take care of itself.

Oregon drivers face the horror of having to pump their own gas. This time, read the comments.

Nevada follows a pattern seen around the US, as traffic deaths decline for people in motor vehicles, but increase for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The war on bikes goes on. An Arizona cyclist is recovering after he was shot with a pellet gun from a passing car.

New York finally bans cars from Prospect Park after 50 years of trying. Maybe LA could take a page from their book, and at least start reducing motor vehicle access to Griffith Park.

A DC website offers advice on how to bike safely and comfortably in terrible weather. Which comes just in time for Angeleno bike riders, who actually saw clouds yesterday.

 

International

A Niagara Falls man was busted for trying to sell a $10,000 BMC bike that was stolen from a tourist’s car six months ago. Of course, that’s Canadian dollars; it was just an $8,000 bike in US dollars.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker offers advice for new bike commuters, including that the occasional soaking rain or buffeting wind is part of the joy of riding to work. Meanwhile, Cyclist magazine offers tips on how to become a better bicyclist this year.

After a British boy’s bike was stolen, he responded by organizing a bike safety and awareness workshop to keep others from suffering the same fate.

The real news isn’t that a UK paperboy’s bike was stolen, but that they still have paperboys in the UK.

Caught on video: An Irish food delivery cyclist plows through flood waters from a massive storm to get a meal to its destination.

Five must-sees on your next bike tour of France.

An Aussie rapper is under arrest after leading police on a car chase, nearly crashing into a bike rider in the process.

Life is cheap in Singapore, where a delivery driver was sentenced to 15 months for killing a bike rider after taking medications to induce sleep and driving anyway; he was so out of it he didn’t even know he hit anyone.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pro cycling is putting the disc brakes on.

No irony here. Lance will host a reception for the Netflix doping documentary Icarus that was partly inspired by his own fall from grace, calling it “incredible work.”

 

Finally…

Don’t fake a mountain bike crash just to steal someone’s backpack. Maybe taking on a downhill mountain bike course on a Walmart bike isn’t the best idea.

And cars are attracted to bikes like tornados are to mobile homes.

Whether or not we’re on them at the time.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Formerly paralyzed BMX champ dances at his wedding, and bicycling as a mobility tool

January 3, 2018 / / 4 comments

In today’s best news story, 26-year old Australian BMX champ Sam Willoughby danced with his new wife at their wedding in San Diego, just 15 months after he was paralyzed from the neck down in a training accident.

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Important piece in the Guardian, which notes that riding a bicycle is easier than walking for most disabled people, and that many disabled commuters travel by bicycle.

Which make bike lanes an important mobility tool, rather than an obstacle for the disabled as bike lane opponents commonly accuse.

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This is what happens when a professional BMX racer misjudges his jump over a fence. And is lucky to avoid getting impaled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhoalv9S2Gw

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Local

Disappointing news from DTLA, as Arts District coffee shop/bike shop The Wheelhouse closed unexpectedly at the end of the year, though the owners promise to make a comeback somewhere, in some form. Meanwhile, Calabasas-based 10-Speed Coffee, run by the owners of the bike-themed Pedaler’s Fork restaurant, will be opening a new location in Santa Monica this April.

Megan Lynch forwards a South Pasadena news story about the Rose Parade, including photos of bike riders accompanying a bicycle-themed float.

A look back at what could have been, on the 118th anniversary of the famed California Cycleway, an elevated wooden bikeway that was supposed to link Pasadena with Downtown Los Angeles but was never finished.

 

State

Seriously? The new mayor of Solana Beach in North San Diego County says she doesn’t support efforts to get more people on bikes, because she can’t show real estate using a bicycle. Maybe she should try a little harder. Or not judge everyone else by what she isn’t willing to do.

 

National

Less than a year after taking up riding, newly retired NASCAR favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. vows to ride his bike 50 to 100 miles a week, even with a new baby on the way. Anyone who has a new baby is probably thinking “Good luck with that.”

A bicyclist is riding from New York to the CES show in Las Vegas in just 10 days to promote the Elektron Gen 2 e-assist wheel with a beta version of the new Google Assist installed. Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

Sounds like fun. Arizona bike riders welcomed 2018 with a New Year’s ride through the desert under the supermoon.

Utah may consider adopting the full Idaho Stop Law, which would allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and red lights as stop signs. And potentially go one step further than California, which is set to consider a bill that would allow bicyclists to treat stops as yields, but still have to stop for red lights.  Thanks to Eric Rogers for the heads-up.

Dockless bikeshare finally has Dallas TX residents talking about bikes.

The head of a Wisconsin bike nonprofit says every kid who wants a bike should have one. Not to mention a safe place to ride it.

It’s now officially legal for drivers to pass bicyclists in a no passing zone in Illinois, and for cyclists to ride on the shoulder of a roadway. Even if they may have to wait for the state to thaw out first. It would be legal for drivers to briefly cross the yellow line to pass bicyclists in California if Governor Jerry Brown hadn’t vetoed an earlier version of the three-foot passing law that contained that provision.

Life is cheap in Michigan, where the life of a bicyclist killed by a drunk driver is only worth a lousy nine months in jail.

Auto-centric Michigan is finally getting around to updating the laws to protect people on bicycles, including a five-foot passing law and banning distracted driving. Although based on the previous story, it sounds like tougher penalties for DUI and fatal crashes might be a good idea, too.

Baltimore drivers are complaining about protected bike lanes, saying the streets are too narrow to accommodate a buffered bike lane, a parking lane and two travel lanes. Although it sounds like what they really want is to get their parking spaces back.

A kindhearted Florida woman crowdsourced funds to buy an 80-year old man a three-wheeled ebike after learning he walked eight miles each way to get to his job.

 

International

Lawrence Solomon, head of a climate-change denying Canadian think tank, is back with yet another bike-hating diatribe, urging cities to rip out bike lanes “before more innocent people get hurt.” Never mind that studies have shown that bike lanes — and especially protected bike lanes — improve safety for all road users.

A British bike advocacy group says a biased online survey of that found drivers want bike riders to have insurance and wear hi-viz is, well, biased. Meanwhile, the head of that advocacy group was stunned to get his stolen Brompton back after someone found it abandoned at a train station.

Caught on video: A Brit bicyclist is nearly squeezed off the road in a punishment pass by a bus driver. And he responds with the same language I’ve used under similar circumstances, which is why I usually post my videos with the sound off.

The husband of an English woman killed in a crash with a bicyclist calls for a new law banning dangerous or careless cycling that results in injury or death. Even though the rider who hit his wife was sentenced to 18 months behind bars, which is more than most drivers get.

A man in the UK is looking for the Good Samaritans who helped him when he broke his arm after his bike was crowded off the road by a passing driver.

A bighearted stranger bought a British boy a new bike after the one he got for Christmas was stolen at knifepoint in a bike-jacking.

The deputy director of Zimbabwe’s national intelligence agency was posthumously named a national hero after he was killed in a traffic collision, despite killing a bike rider in a crash 16 years earlier.

This is why you should always carry ID when you ride. Australian authorities are trying to identify a man who collapsed while riding his bike. I wear my Road ID whenever I leave home, whether or not I’m riding; it doubles as my medical alert bracelet.

A travel writer calls Taiwan a bicycling paradise.

 

Competitive Cycling

Eight-time world BMX and mountain bike champ Caroline Buchanan is expected to make a full recovery after she was critically injured in a one-car crash in Australia’s New South Wales state over the weekend.

Pro cyclist Kristian Sbaragli learned the hard way not to leave his team bike unattended when he stops for coffee after a training ride.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to use a bike as your getaway vehicle, at least show a little respect and rob something better than a dollar store. Don’t extort money from the driver that hit you.

And seriously, don’t wear your headphone turned up so loud you can’t hear an oncoming train.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Road raging New York mobster, LA transforming to city of the future, and a kindhearted bike gift

January 2, 2018 / / 8 comments

These are the people we share the roads with.

An 82-year old New York mobster skated on charges that he participated in the legendary 1978 Lufthansa heist that inspired the movie Goodfellas.

But now he’ll spend the next eight years behind bars after using a law enforcement database to track down a driver who cut him off on a freeway, and setting the man’s car on fire.

Evidently, road rage is dish best served cold.

Unless you get caught.

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Nice KCRW interview with UCLA urban planning professor Bryan Taylor, who says LA’s traffic problems are the result of the city transforming from a “bucolic Southern California bungalow environment” to an “urban global city of the future.”

And one in which people will walk, bike and take transit in denser communities — and where the 30-mile commute is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

I think that the idea that we should build a system that allows someone to live 30 miles from where they work is ridiculous. If you went that far in Tokyo, you’d cover an area that has most of the population for California. The expectation that someone should be able to get in their car and drive through one of the largest cities in the world unimpeded from one end of the metropolitan area to the other is an expectation that could have existed when L.A. wasn’t a global city of that scale. We now have 17 million people. It’s just not going to be possible for them to live in in Pasadena and drive to Santa Monica and feel like they can do that comfortably. Those days are over.

Which is a point I’ve been trying to make with drivers and reporters for some time, with limited success.

As in none.

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This is by far the best news story of the day.

After an Indiana woman’s bike broke down on her way to work Christmas Eve, a kindhearted stranger stopped to help. And ended up giving her a bicycle she’d bought for her grandchild’s Christmas present.

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Local

Metro Bike is planning to expand into the San Gabriel Valley, Culver City and around USC, while it struggles to meet ridership projections in the face of competition from dockless bikeshare.

Curbed offers 18 things to look forward to this year, including the opening of the long-delayed My Figueroa Complete Streets project on South Figueroa, and September’s Disney Hall to Hollywood Bowl CicLAvia.

You have until noon tomorrow to vote for Streetsblog’s annual Streetsie Awards for Elected Official, Civil Servant, Media/Journalism, Individual Advocacy, and Advocacy Group of the year.

The latest episode of Bike Talk interviews prolific bike writer Peter Flax, one of the journalists nominated for a Streetsie this year.

South Bay bike riders can now go to bicycle traffic school instead of paying a fine for traffic tickets. Los Angeles has been talking about doing that, but so far, it doesn’t appear to have moved beyond talk at this point.

A man on a bicycle shot a Norwalk man in the hand after talking with him briefly; police suspect it may have been gang-related.

 

State

San Diego opens the new bicycle-themed Bikeway Village along the bayfront bike path in Imperial Beach.

An Aussie BMX champ vowed to walk down the aisle to marry his fiancé on New Year’s Eve in San Diego, where he’s in rehab for a training accident that left him paralyzed for awhile.

A couple hundred Bakersfield riders get the new year started right with an early morning ride. Although that doesn’t compare to riding with a wind chill factor of 12 below.

Things are getting better for bicyclists on the Bay Area’s Mount Diablo after a number of safety improvements designed to reduce conflicts with motorists.

Sad news from San Raphael, where a bike rider died after hitting an object on a paved trail.

 

National

Motor vehicles are now the leading source of CO2 emissions in the US, as what now passes for the EPA is busy dismantling regulations intended to protect us.

Oregon’s new $15 tax on new bicycles over $200 went into effect yesterday.

A Tucson woman is looking for the beloved bike belonging to her late brother, which was stolen shortly after he died of pancreatic cancer.

Life is cheap in New Mexico, where a man convicted of careless driving in a crash that severely injured a woman riding her bike walks with just 90 days probation, and a whopping $156 court fee that the judge may have waived.

Engineering students at the University of Colorado build an adaptive bike for a girl with autism and limited motor skills.

A Denver paper says ebikes could help reduce traffic congestion, but questions whether they belong on singletrack trails.

While some Los Angeles residents are demanding that the city rip out bike lanes, residents of Amarillo TX are begging the city to put bike lanes in their neighborhood to slow speeding traffic.

A San Antonio man is finally under arrest, seven months after he fatally ran down a bike rider while struggling with a couple of passengers trying to stop his out-of-control driving.

A recovering addict from Missouri rode 3,300 miles across the US to promote recovery.

 

International

A new book tells the story of four young Canadian women who took off on a 400-mile bike ride in the middle of WWII.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 81-year old man rode 4,300 miles across Canada. So much for all those people who say older people can’t ride bikes.

Young Toronto residents are passing on getting a driver’s license, and choosing to live in complete communities where walking, biking and transit take precedence.

Bike advocates are fighting plans to block an abandoned British rail tunnel, hoping it can be converted to the country’s longest underground bikeway instead.

No bias here. A non-scientific survey of Brit drivers shows 73% want to force cyclists to wear hi-viz, and 80% want bike riders to carry mandatory liability insurance.

A UK letter writer says bikes were here first and it’s not the fault of bicyclists that roads are getting more dangerous, while another letter writer reminds motorists that cars are dangerous machines, and says drivers who kill should be banned for life.

Finland plans to become a bicycling mecca by 2050, with most commuters riding company-supplied ebikes. But why wait another three decades?

Sweden is now offering a 25% rebate on the purchase of an ebike, as research shows electric bicycles often replace cars.

Caught on video: A Polish mountain biker completes the world’s first backflip in the Superman position.

A 19-year old Indian woman will attempt to set a new record for being the youngest and fastest woman to complete an unsupported, 18,000-mile ride around the world.

Caught on video too: An Aussie bicyclist is caught in a left hook crash, the Down Under equivalent of our right hook, as the writer says the driver was legally at fault but the victim shares the blame.

Caught on video three: A trio of Australian bike riders were lucky to stay upright when they were passed way too close and too fast by the driver of a massive truck.

After two Australian cyclists were sideswiped by the driver of a rental camper van, all the driver had to say was “Big mirror. Sorry.”

Nothing like having to dodge a car thief speeding down an Australian bike path.

Britain’s Sky News says abandoned dockless rental bikes have turned into a social menace in China. Meanwhile, CNN says Chinese dockless bikeshare has turned into a bubble.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a purple, bike-riding octopus. Go for a New Year’s swim, come up with a new bike.

And don’t steal a bike from a pack of Santas.

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Thanks to Gil S for his generous donation to help support this site. While the annual holiday fund drive may be over, contributions are always welcome.

And on a personal note, today is the first day my wife has been back at work in nearly two months. So let me offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone who have offered so many kind words and support over the past several weeks.

 

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

Morning Links: LA’s woeful bike lanes, Calbike supports Idaho Stop law, and risky riding with Hugh Jackman

December 29, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA’s woeful bike lanes, Calbike supports Idaho Stop law, and risky riding with Hugh Jackman

Please accept my best wishes for a very healthy, happy and prosperous new year. May the coming year bring you 12 months of safe roads and enjoyable rides.

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Local

A former Los Angeles City planner takes a bike ride to the beach with his wife, and discovers the woeful state of the city’s bicycle infrastructure. And says it’s no secret how to build successful grade-separated bike lanes. Other than getting LA’s entitled drivers to make room for them, of course.

A La Mirada man is riding to eradicate polio in honor of his father, who contracted the disease as a child and suffered from its effects the rest of his life. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Santa Monica will hold a public meeting on January 10th to discuss plans for a new bridge leading to the pier, including one that would replace the current bridge with a bike and pedestrian bridge. Unfortunately, none of the options include removing cars from the pier and making more room for people.

CICLE and Metro’s BEST program are hosting a free tacos and churros ride in Lincoln Heights tomorrow.

This should be fun. Former pro Phil Gaimon, author of Draft Animals, will talk with Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson at Pages bookstore in Manhattan Beach next Friday.

 

State

Calbike is collecting signatures in support of the Idaho Stop law, which will be before the state legislature next year.

It takes a major scumbag to steal a three-wheeled bike from a Costa Mesa man suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, is offering $30 million in competitive grants for projects that will increase walking, biking and transit use.

Simi Valley police bust a bike thief who stole four bikes worth $10,000 from a truck belonging to an evacuee from the Thomas fire. But at least the victim had the sense to rescue his bikes from the fire first.

If you’re going to burglarize an Oxnard bike store, try to come up with a better escape plan than riding them away one at a time.

San Jose improves safety near a high school, including adding bollards to separate an existing bike lane.

Redding police are working with the National Bike Registry to register bicycles and help reduce bike theft. You can register your bike for free right here with Bike Index. But whatever service you choose to use, do it now — before it’s too late.

 

National

Momentum Magazine discusses the scientifically confirmed health benefits of urban bicycling, and even Dr. Oz says make time to ride a bike.

A new Kickstarter campaign promises to replace your current brake pads with brake lights that work without batteries, wires or friction generators.

LimeBike is working to solve the problem of irresponsible parking of their dockless bikeshare bikes in Seattle. I saw my first LimeBike, parked responsibly, at a coffee shop in DTLA yesterday, a long ride up from their home in LA’s port cities.

No, riding 350 miles from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas in five days is not a “mammoth cycling challenge,” even if it is for a good cause.

A new movie looks at the “whack jobs” who fat bike the snow covered Michigan backcountry in the dead of winter.

A Harvard Business School student is hoping to improve bike safety with a $24 neon yellow T-shirt reading Bikes May Use Full Lane, Change Lanes to Pass.

New York will try out a bike valet parking program near three transit hubs in the city.

 

International

A Toronto writer blames a popular bike lane for driving stores out of business, insisting that no one is using the path in the winter. Seriously, if your business can’t survive something like that, your problems go a lot deeper than a bike lane. And there’s a major lack of imagination on display if a bookstore owner can’t figure out how to make money off people who ride bikes.

Zac Efron is one of us, as is Hugh Jackman, while the latter nearly gets the former run over by a double decker bus in London traffic.

The Guardian looks at how tech is hopefully, but probably not, improving bicycling.

A British letter writer says cyclists should have to pass a test before being allowed on the roads to weed out bad riders. After all, it works so well with drivers, right?

Scottish police are still looking for a man who disappeared without a trace while trying to ride his bike home in September.

One-third of Scottish children don’t receive bicycle safety training in school. That compares to nearly three-thirds in the US.

Former Indian Congress party leader Sonia Gandhi is one of us, too.

An Aussie driver gets a $500 fine and a three-month license suspension for driving with meth and THC in his system; remarkably, it was considered his first offense since he’d just gotten a new driver’s license after losing his previous license following seven — count ‘em, seven — previous DUI convictions, and eight convictions for driving without a license, as well as killing a 10-year old girl in 2003. Another example of authorities keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late. Some people simply shouldn’t be allowed to drive. Ever.

Caught on video: Once again, a bike rider is a hero, as a Chinese man jumps off his bike to save the life of an elderly woman who had fallen into a frozen river, breaking the ice with his bare hands to bring her to safety.

 

Competitive Cycling

Ella Cycling Tips recounts the most memorable moments of women’s cycling over the past year.

You’ve got to be kidding. Banned cyclist Riccardo Riccò swears he’ll once again be part of the pro peloton when his 12-year doping ban finally expires, and insists he’ll still be competitive when he returns at age 40. And that doping with drugs is better than motor doping.

Speaking of dopers, former pro Thomas Dekker’s tell-all book is now available in English.

Now that’s a real hero. A 26-year old Spanish man with cerebral palsy is planning to compete in a six day bike race across the Sahara Desert, despite being paralyzed in 76% of his body.

 

Finally…

No, repeatedly slamming a dockless bikeshare bike into the ground is not among the recommended uses for it. On the other hand, flooding someone’s yard with them may be.

And now you can get in on the cryptocurrency craze just by riding a bike.

Although you might have to move to Singapore first.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Glendale Narrows trail moves forward, Vision Zero in the US, and bike-riding kung fu nuns

December 28, 2017 / / 2 comments

Thanks to Mark G, Stephen A and Stephen C for their generous donations to close out the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. And to everyone who gave from their hearts to help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way every day.

The kindness and generosity of the readers of this site never fails to amaze me.

And let’s all give a special thanks to over there on the right sponsors, without whom this site wouldn’t be possible.

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Local

Things are looking good for Metro’s trial bikeshare station at Echo Park.

Glendale approves the next phase of a bike and pedestrian path that will eventually connect the Glendale Narrows to Griffith Park.

The head of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association writes the LA Times to say mountain bikers will not be taking over the Pacific Coast Trail, even if a new bill allowing bicycles in federal wilderness areas passes.

 

State

An Orange County nonprofit provided six special needs kids with customized adaptive bikes.

A San Diego weekly calls the possible advent of dockless bikeshare “Chinese bicycle torture.”

Sad news from Tulare, where a homeless man was killed riding his bicycle on Christmas Eve.

More bad news comes from Santa Rosa, where a 67-year old man died two days after his bike was hit by a car.

A Sacramento parolee was busted as he was riding his cruiser bike for injuring several drivers by tossing boulders off a freeway overpass; he has two previous arrests for similar crimes.

It takes a real scumbag to leave an 11-year old Rancho Cordova kid bleeding in the street after crashing into his ebike.

 

National

NBC News looks at the spread of Vision Zero across the US, including the failure of the Playa del Rey lane reductions here in LA.

In a couple months, you could be riding your very own $400 Ikea bike. And yes, you have to assemble it.

Slate calls the lighted Lumos bike helmet something every bike commuter needs. Ignoring the fact that countless bike commuters successfully ride without it every day.

X-Shifter is developing voice and gesture controls that could allow more disabled people to ride bicycles.

Iron Chef Cat Cora is one of us.

Bicyclists are calling Seattle streetcar tracks a death trap after one rider is killed falling on the tracks and another seriously injured.

A Washington bike cop gets credit for busting a pickpocket by racing to the store where the alleged thief was using the victim’s credit card.

Las Vegas is planning to pilot a program that would use computer analytics to warn drivers about the presence of bikes, as well as warning bicyclists about encroaching drivers and how to time traffic lights.

The next time someone tells you LA’s 60° winter weather is too cold to ride in, point them to this guy riding in a -40° wind chill factor in Fargo ND.

Don’t Tase me, bro. New Chicago guidelines forbid shocking bike riders, or other fleeing suspects, with Tasers.

An Illinois city exonerates its police department after officers arrested two boys for riding a single bike, with one on the handlebars. Which was probably the single most asinine police action of 2017.

A Minnesota woman and her son were released from custody after they were arrested for a hit-and-run crash that killed a bike rider; police still haven’t been able to locate the killing machine.

A kindhearted Michigan cop buys a bicycle for an 11-year old boy after learning he’d never had one.

A 10-year old New Hampshire boy received an inspiring New Year’s greeting from hockey star Milan Lucic after he fell riding his bike, lacerating his liver and damaging his pancreas.

A Massachusetts woman was sentenced to up to four years in prison for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider, as well as intimidating a witness; her boyfriend was previously sentenced for helping to hide the victim’s bicycle.

No bias here. Residents of a New York community say they’re not opposed to bike lanes, but they don’t belong on historic streets or in front of schools. Never mind that bicycles have a longer history track record in the city than the cars that no one seems to object to.

A New Jersey man is suing a railroad after his bike tire got caught in a gap in a rail crossing near their home.

CityLab looks at how DC built a bike boom. Meanwhile, DC authorities say please don’t call 911 to complain about dockless bikeshare riders.

 

International

Strava says their stats show bicyclists around the world rode a total of 4.5 billion miles this year. Even more impressive when you consider how small a percentage of the worldwide bicycling community actually uses the app.

Caught on video: This is what it looks like to ride a bicycle at 125 mph on a Brazilian roadway.

A British Columbia letter writer says bike riders should be forced to carry liability insurance, citing the death of a London woman killed by a sidewalk riding bicyclist. Here in California, your car insurance should cover you in the event of any crash while riding your bike.

Ottawa, Canada police have your back, at least when it comes to anti-bike distracted drivers.

A pair of San Diego men pass through India on an around-the-world bike ride, after deciding they were having so much fun riding from Vancouver to Tijuana that they wanted to keep going.

In the best story of the day, 200 Kung Fu nuns on bikes swap their traditional robes for Lycra leggings on a month-long ride around Kathmandu.

Nairobi’s deadly streets could be getting safer and more inviting for bike riders and pedestrians.

Sydney, Australia area cities combine to impose new regulations on dockless bikeshare providers, including a requirement for geo-fencing to keep them within approved areas.

Two Malaysian men are riding their bikes to the seven wonders of the modern world to raise money to fight cancer. Only one of which is really all that modern.

 

Competitive Cycling

Lance loved the Icarus doping documentary. Maybe it reminded him of the good old days.

The four-day Colorado Classic bike race and music festival will return this August.

A Turkish rider quits the new Israeli cycling team over the controversy started when Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Peter Flax looks at the “comedy, tragedy and pure circus” of the past year in pro cycling.

 

Finally…

Nothing like celebrating Christmas with Santa on a sex-toy bike. Sure, anyone can ride naked in the middle of summer.

And save a little bike-riding kid from a dog attack, and get honored in the Rose Parade.

Especially if you have four feet and a tail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Opm9b2WDk&has_verified=1

………

I’ll try to be back tomorrow. But if we don’t meet here, for whatever reason, stay safe on the streets and we’ll see you again next year.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Gardena motorcyclist murdered by road raging driver, Brompton recall, and bike giveaways

December 22, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Gardena motorcyclist murdered by road raging driver, Brompton recall, and bike giveaways

It’s penultimate day of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just two days left in this fundraising campaign, the only time all year we beg shamelessly for your financial support.

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

Thanks to Jennifer S, Katherine D and Richard S for their generous contributions to help keep this site coming your way every day. And to everyone else who has opened their hearts and wallets over the past month.

………

This is the cost of traffic violence.

A 21-year old motorcyclist was killed by a road raging driver in Gardena yesterday, and the driver arrested on a murder charge.

One life has ended far too soon, leaving a hole that can never be filled in the lives of his loved ones. And another life has been thrown away, facing years behind bars.

What a senseless waste.

………

If you bought a Brompton in the last three years, your bike could be subject to a recall.

………

‘Tis the season.

Forty-one Dana Point children got new bicycles, locks and helmets through an earn-a-bike program run by the YMCA.

The family of a fallen bicyclist donated 13 bicycles to troubled Kentucky kids in memory of the man, who was killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver; his killer is serving a 35-year sentence for the crime.

An Ohio counseling center gave 50 bicycles to children with a history of abuse, neglect, and abandonment.

A Georgia Baptist church gives 160 new bikes to local kids as part of their annual bike giveaway.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton samples LA’s three dockless bikeshare systems, with LimeBike coming out the clear winner.

Despite the anti-road diet hysteria on LA’s Westside, the Eastside’s Alhambra Ave will be getting a road diet and new bike lanes in the El Sereno neighborhood; work is scheduled to begin next month.

A Burbank bike rider finally achieves his goal of getting a contestable ticket for riding a bike on the Mariposa Bridge leading to Griffith Park, where equestrians have succeeded in getting bicycles banned.

Long Beach will offer a free bike valet at their monthly 4th Fridays on 4th Street tonight.

Another great piece from Peter Flax, who created his perfect year on the bicycle by cutting the tech cord and embracing his life as a bike commuter and advocate.

 

State

A San Diego weekly issues a call to arms to fight a proposal to allow bicycles in wilderness areas, accusing a mountain biking group of working with Republicans to roll back protections of public lands. Although they seem somewhat confused about what a wilderness area is, since neither of the places they mention would be affected by the bill.

The CHP has found the damaged Prius that was involved in the hit-and-run that left a Fallbrook bike rider seriously injured last week, but haven’t been able to locate the driver.

A Visalia restaurant owner thanks the strangers who came to her aid when she was hit by someone riding a bike on the sidewalk; she is recovering despite being knocked unconscious in the crash.

Sad news from San Jose, where a bike rider was killed in an early morning hit-and-run as he rode in a bike lane.

A Berkeley cycle track made People for Bikes list of the country’s best new protected bike lanes.

Sad news from Santa Rosa, too, where a 67-year old man died nearly three days after his bicycle was rear-ended by a driver.

Oher cycling groups jump in to help after the Santa Rosa Cycling Club lost $150,000 worth of bikes and equipment when a wildfire destroyed the home they were renting for their headquarters.

Bighearted Chico fifth graders spent a month refurbishing old bicycles to give to kids through the Boys & Girls Club.

 

National

After Seattle bicycling rates drop .3% to a 2.6% mode share — still a number most cities, including Los Angeles, would envy — a radio host says bicycling will never catch on in the hilly city, despite “placating militant bicyclist activists.” Or maybe they’re just average people who want a safe place to ride their bikes.

A Phoenix homeowner was pepper sprayed by a bike riding “porch pirate.”

A Chicago bicyclist says the way the city designs protected bike lanes makes them death traps for bike riders.

Treehugger says bike riders in New York and Toronto are dead because trucks aren’t required to have side guards.

Business owners in Queens, New York blame a new bike lane for a drop in sales.

Pitch Perfect star Elizabeth Banks is one of us, shown riding an NBC Universal bike in a New York Times profile.

 

International

Life is cheap in Canada, where the death of a 17-year old girl riding her bike is officially considered just a tragic accident.

Calgary bicyclists say riding in foot-deep snow is no big deal. Meanwhile, Los Angeles drivers insist that no one will ride a bike in a sunny SoCal winter.

A letter writer says he can spot bike thieves from his seat at a popular Canadian diner in the middle of the night; he knows they must be bike thieves because they ride a different bike every night, and don’t use lights or reflectors.

After Canadian police recover a bicycle stolen from a British bike tourist in Niagara Falls, he donates it to a woman whose family helped him when he was stranded in the town.

Life is cheap in the UK, too, where a killer driver walks with just probation in the death of a bike rider, despite being convicted of careless driving.

The head of a British bike advocacy group was infuriated to have his own folding bike stolen from a train while he was talking bike safety with a stranger.

Caught on video: An Irish bicyclist is clipped by a driver after failing to signal or look before swerving into traffic.

Solar-powered ebikes outfitted with trailer chairs are serving as ambulances in Namibian villages.

In what has become an all-too common crime in South Africa, a cyclist was pushed off his bicycle and beaten with a pipe by robbers who took his bike and cellphone.

An Aussie rider received a six-figure court judgement three years after he was forced off the road by a truck driver, who was never identified; now fully recovered, he’s planning to ride as part of a two-person team in next year’s Race Across America, aka RAAM.

An Australian website explores what bikeshare programs need to succeed.

 

Competitive Cycling

A transgender Canadian cyclist is suing cycling’s governing body after she was forced to undergo humiliating gender verification exams, contending that rules allowing unqualified people to conducts the tests amount to a violation of human rights.

VeloNews names Dutch pro Anna van der Breggen their female cyclist of the year.

Chris Froome’s reputation is tarnished forever according to Lance Armstrong, who should know.

Suspended New Zealand cyclist Karl Murray will have to restart his nearly completed two-year doping ban after he illegally coached two young riders.

 

Finally…

Do you really need a concierge to tell you to ride a bike on Christmas Day? If your significant other won’t ride with you, don’t take it out on the koi.

And yes, car makers really are trying to kill us.

………

Please accept my best wishes for a very happy holiday.

And stay safe out there this weekend. Remember that many drivers will be drinking, and those who aren’t are likely to be more focused on finishing their shopping than on looking for you.

I’ll be taking Monday and Tuesday off, but will probably be back with a post or two next week.

Merry Christmas!

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: More frontline news from the war on bikes, and more heartwarming holiday bike giveaways

December 21, 2017 / / One comment

It’s a light bike news day today, which is no surprise as the world starts gearing down for the holidays.

But you can make up for it by checking out yesterday’s massive 2,600+ word missive, which we finally got online and working Wednesday afternoon.

Although you may need to take the rest of the day off to make it through both of these.

Hopefully the tech problems that knocked us offline for the first part of the week are finally behind us.

Fingers crossed.

And be careful riding out there. These next few days will be jammed with office Christmas parties and people stopping off for a few holiday drinks on their way home.

So use the standard protocol — ride defensively, and assume every driver on the road has already had a few too many.

And be especially careful around malls and shopping districts where drivers are likely to be more focused on looking for a parking spot — and their cellphones — than watching for you.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bike riders is all too real.

An English driver intentionally swerves into a bicyclist he says made a gesture at him; fortunately, the rider wasn’t seriously injured.

A passenger in a passing car got out and punched a New Zealand bicyclist who had the audacity to complain about a too-close pass, breaking his nose.

………

‘Tis the season.

Two kids from LA’s Harbor City earned new bikes donated by Full Factory.

The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians donated 30 bikes and 15 skateboards to be distributed to local kids.

A seven-year old Florida girl shows her holiday spirit after she received a new bicycle from a toy ride, and gives it to another girl since she already had one.

………

Just three days left in the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

………

Local

Damien Newton talks with Streetsblog’s Joe Linton and Wes Reutimann of Bike SGV in the final SGV Connect podcast of the year.

West Hollywood is installing speed feedback signs along sharrow-tattooed Fountain Ave in an effort to slow down speeding drivers. I have a hard time believing they actually do any good, but Wired insists they worked in Garden Grove; thanks to Brad Milison for the last link.

 

State

A local paper talks with Folsom Prison Inmate Mauricio Argueta, who spent the past year refurbishing 250 bicycles to donate to kids this Christmas. Too often, prisons just warehouse people until they’re released; it’s nice to see someone using his time behind bars constructively to help others.

Sad news from Sacramento, as chef and former Cat 2 cyclist Christopher Davis-Murai, owner of The Bicycle Chef restaurant, has passed away at age 51 after collapsing in his home.

 

National

People for Bikes ranks America’s ten best new bikeways this year, none of which are anywhere near Los Angeles.

Cyclocross Magazine offers ten maintenance tips before you put your bike away for the winter. Or you could just keep riding all year, especially if you live here in SoCal.

A new video looks at Seattle’s Bike Batman, who has used Bike Index to help return over 40 stolen bikes to their rightful owners.

Santa Fe cyclists will now have a tunnel under the rail yards to improve safety.

Caught on video: LA bike riders have to dodge cars, Tennessee bike riders have to dodge dogs.

A Louisville KY paper looks at the massive cave holding the world’s largest underground bike park, which is drawing tourists from around the world.

Philadelphia’s mayor says he wants to provide protected bike lanes to improve safety, but paying for schools and trash and police are more important; Next City says there’s no simple formula for when to roll out new bike lanes.

Speaking of Philadelphia, a 52-year old father was killed by a street racing hit-and-run driver as he rode his bike to work.

The rich get richer, as New York adds another 25 miles of protected bike lanes; the city is racing to provide safe alternatives before a subway line is shut down for reconstruction.

 

International

Halifax, Nova Scotia bicyclists hope the city’s new networked bike plan will mean no bike lanes to nowhere. Which is exactly what LA bicyclists were hoping for with the 2010 bike plan; let’s hope Halifax riders have better luck with it.

The London School of Economics considers what the rest of the world can learn from Mexico City’s bikeshare system, which has cut private car use by 5%.

No disconnect here. A British member of Parliament says bicyclists must use bikeways to improve safety — at the same time he’s trying to cut the budget for them. Bike advocates call his comments “unhelpful,” but he insists he was just misunderstood.

Sort of caught on video: A Bristol, England bike cop pulls over a Bentley when he sees the driver talking on her cellphone. And spent 30 seconds staring at her through the window before she noticed him.

A Dublin, Ireland advocacy group is warning that someone will get killed from getting a bike wheel caught on tracks for a new light rail line, as a local paper maps where riders are turning up with nasty injuries. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Caught on video three: A Dublin bike rider gets hit by a cab while blowing a red light.

London’s Telegraph calls Croatia’s Istria peninsula Europe’s most beautiful but unexpected bicycling destination.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling looks at the new advocacy organization formed to fight for living wages for women pro cyclists. About damn time; let’s hope the people running pro cycling take them seriously.

The other shoe may not have dropped yet, as French authorities investigate an alleged motor doping conspiracy involving “very notable riders” with “links between international teams, private companies and cycling’s highest authorities.”

A new study shows that the opioid pain killer Tramadol, which is widely used in the pro peloton, may improve performance, but at the risk of reduced concentration and increased falls. Can’t speak for anyone else, but it definitely affects my performance; I won’t even take it if I have to drive anywhere.

 

Finally…

Now you can pedal and purify water at the same time. When two people appear to become one on a bike.

And now you can make your very own protein-packed, sexless gingerbread people.

  

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

Morning Links: Fix deadly La Tuna Canyon, LimeBike off to a fast start, and ‘tis the season for bike giveaways

December 20, 2017 / / 2 comments

Well that was a major pain in the tukus.

Please forgive the extended unplanned and unexcused absence this week. Sometime between Friday night and early Monday morning, a problem developed that prevented me from posting anything or saving any changes to this site.

After extended troubleshooting, the problem was tracked down to an invisible folder hidden on the webhost’s site. We still don’t know why it was acting up, but the problem finally seems to have cleared up, at least for now.

The good news is, you haven’t missed anything. You’ll find all the news from the last five days included in today’s massive post.

So make yourself comfortable. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.

Thanks to Steve S, without who’s invaluable help we’d still down for the count.

………

A new petition calls on LADOT to immediately implement long-delayed safety improvements on La Tuna Canyon to reign in speeding drivers and improve safety for bike riders and equestrians.

There’s no way to know if that would have prevented the hit-and-run crash that has left Keith Jackson in a coma for the past week.

But it may help prevent the next one.

………

Dockless bikeshare provider LimeBike released a year-end report detailing its impact in cities across the US, from DC to Seattle.

As well as a pilot project in LA’s CD15.

Although those figures pale compared to the 103,000 active riders and 220,000 miles traveled on their bikes in Seattle in just the last five months.

………

‘Tis the season.

Note: There’s so much bad news out there, it helps to take a few moments to realize that there are a lot of bighearted people trying to do a little good in this world.

A Santa Clarita landfill company donates 60 bicycles and helmets to kids through a pair of local groups, part of a nationwide effort to donate 2,000 bikes across the US.

Fontana police gave nearly 200 bicycles to local kids.

Eighteen Adelanto students got new bicycles after winning a drawing for bringing non-perishable food items to their schools.

A group of Lompoc mountain bikers have given 120 bicycles and helmets to children of military personnel stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

The San Luis Obispo sheriff’s office donated 150 kids bicycles that were refurbished by inmates at a local honor farm.

A local property company donated 50 bikes to kids at a Fresno elementary school.

Fifty kids in Coarsegold CA received new bicycles thanks to donations from people throughout the Central Valley.

An Idaho group gave 400 bicycles to kids in need; no one was turned away, even if they weren’t registered for the program.

Hundreds of people in Austin TX volunteered their time to distribute thousands of bikes and other gifts for families who struggle to put presents under their tree.

GM employees donated 260 bicycles, along with toys for 30,000 North Texas children.

An Arkansas church bought and built over 400 bicycles for struggling families.

A thousand Michigan volunteers helped build bikes to be given to kids in need.

A Kentucky Audi dealer has donated 262 bikes through the local Big Brothers Big Sisters program; a local bike club gave funds to include bike helmets and locks for each kid.

The son of a late Pennsylvania school nurse has continued the woman’s bike giveaway drive, donating 150 refurbished bicycles to local school kids.

Eight Pittsburgh-area special needs kids received new adaptive bicycles, enabling them to ride for the first time.

The wife of North Carolina’s late Bicycle Man is carrying on his tradition by giving 1,200 bikes to kids.

Seventy kids in Savannah GA received new bicycles thanks to a pair of local nonprofits.

Florida’s Jack the Bike Man continued a 26-year tradition by giving 1,500 bikes and helmets to kids in need.

A Florida artist is teaching 24 kids how to build their own bicycles that reflect their personalities.

………

It’s the last four days of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

Thanks to Steven F and Dennis F for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way!

………

Local

More theater of the absurd in the fight against road diets by overly entitled LA drivers, as Keep LA Moving is continuing their lawsuit against Los Angeles — even though they’ve already won by getting the Playa del Rey road diets ripped out. All because some of the traffic lanes are narrower than they were before, and a few small sections of bike lanes still remain on the streets where there was enough room for them after the traffic lanes were reinstalled.

No surprise here. Our old friend Richard Lee Abrams once again confuses the cure with the disease, insisting densification is killing Los Angeles. What’s really killing the city are the NIMBYs who fight growth, creating more sprawl and forcing people live miles from their jobs. The solution is more walkable, bikeable neighborhoods served by adequate transit, so people don’t have to drive to get to work or shopping.

No surprise here. The British tourist who was accidently shot by an LAPD cop last year as she was riding on the Venice beach bike path has filed a suit against the city; the bullet passed through the dog the cop was trying to shoot and hit her in the calf. The city might as well just open the treasury and let her walk out with as much as she wants; it will still be less than a jury is likely to give her.

A Georgia man will arrive at the Santa Monica pier at the end of this month, completing a 10,000 mile ride around the perimeter of the US that he began 17 years ago; he’s raised $75,000 to fight childhood cancer along the way.

A Long Beach letter writer says bike lanes need to be maintained, and trash and broken glass removed. It doesn’t do any good to build bike lanes if they’re not kept in a safe and ridable condition.

Ofo is bringing their bright yellow dockless bikeshare bikes to Bellflower.

Monterey Park’s vote on its first protected bike lane has been put off until next month.

CLR Effect discovers that basketball great Reggie Miller is one of us, too.

 

State

The LA Times says the car can no longer be king of the road if California is serious about climate change, as proposed new CEQA guidelines will make it easier to build bike lanes and transit oriented development projects.

Chula Vista was honored by the San Diego Bicycle Coalition for their efforts to make the city’s streets safer for people on bikes.

Riding to the Coachella festival should be a little easier in 2019, as plans are underway for bike lanes in Indio leading to the festival site.

A San Luis Obispo Op-Ed points out that not only do bike riders pay for the roads, bicyclists were responsible for paved roads in the first place.

Even the trees are out to get us. A Palo Alto man was severely injured when a tree fell on him as he was riding his bicycle during high winds.

Sacramento bicyclists complain that the closure of a bridge leaves no safe route into the city.

 

National

If the GOP tax plan passes today, you can kiss your paltry $20 a month bike commuting benefit goodbye. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

The LA Times examines Rep. Tom McClintock’s bill to allow mountain bikes in wilderness areas, which has split the offroad community.

Slate says the dockless bikeshare invasion is going to be messy, but worth it.

A writer for Road and Track says traffic calming just makes drivers angry. And that Vision Zero won’t work without a scientific approach to reducing fatalities. Which is exactly what Vision Zero is supposed to be, anyway.

A new study says the pollution you suck in on your bike commute may be killing you after all.

A singletrack site offers advice on how to buy a new bike without your significant other catching on.

Bicycling offers advice on what to do if your bike breaks down in the middle of nowhere. I always carried wire, a bandana and a roll of duct tape in my seat pack when I rode far from civilization, which was usually enough to patch it up — or stop the bleeding — long enough to get home.

Bike-friendly Portland is going the wrong way, tearing out a popular bike route to widen a freeway.

Seattle will continue with dockless bikeshare through at least the middle of next year, even though the pilot program technically ends this month. And decides to install bike racks where they’re not needed to discourage homeless camps.

Arizona police are looking for an elderly woman who right hooked a bike rider, then drove off after giving him $100 for a new bike.

A Santa Fe NM writer says the way to make bicycling safer is to build more separated bike paths, and improve the ones they have.

No bias here. An Indianapolis radio host says people complaining about the plot of The Last Jedi are the worst people in the world — even worse than people who ride in bike lanes.

Memphis will remove the bollards from a protected bike lane in front of a 72-year woman’s home, because she wants to be able to “twirl” into her driveway.

A Syracuse NY scumbag asshole cycling coach gets seven years for sexually abusing a girl under the age of 15 who he was training.

New York considers proposals for dockless bikeshare to serve areas where the city’s successful Citi Bike system doesn’t reach.

Over 200 New York delivery people protest the city’s absurd ban on ebikes, which are legal to own as long as you don’t use them on city streets.

New York appears to be practicing Vision Zero in reverse, with bicycling deaths up nearly 50% this year. But all the mayor wants to talk about is busting delivery people for riding ebikes.

No bias here, either. The NYPD bends over backwards to blame a bike rider in a fatal crash, saying he just happened to fall over as he was trying to pass a truck. A more likely explanation is the driver didn’t see the rider, and passed him close enough to knock him off his bike.

A proposed DC rail bridge could include a parallel crossing for bikes and pedestrians.

Louisiana’s West Baton Rouge Parrish is prepared to meet a court challenge over plans to build a five-mile recreational bike path atop the Mississippi River levee; they’re being sued by four landowners who have refused to grant access to construction crews.

 

International

The researcher following the migration of the Monarch Butterflies finally finished her journey in Mexico, after over nine months and 10,000 miles.

A British Columbia columnist says separated bike lanes squeeze buses and other drivers. But a letter writer says that’s why we need protected bike lanes, because there are enough angry drivers out there already.

Nice piece from the Guardian, where a writer says bicycling helped him overcome depression and panic attacks.

If you build it, they will come. Bicycling has surged another 15% in central London after the city built a network of protected bikeways. Which suggests what could happen here, where the distances may be longer, but the weather is a hell of a lot better.

An English community concludes that reducing speed limits to 20 mph in some areas has actually resulted in an increase in fatalities, but it would cost too much to roll it back; a nationwide study shows lowering speed limits is more effective when done in conjunction with other traffic calming measures.

A British man has refurbished roughly 1,000 bikes a year for the last 18 years, donating them to local charities or selling them for the equivalent of $13 to pay for parts.

British black box driving data shows women are safer drivers than men, and speed is the single biggest risk factor.

Authorities are looking for a UK mountain bike rider who allegedly went berserk after a driver accused him of preparing to run a red light, by attacking her car and threatening her with a knife.

A new movie will tell the story of Scottish BMX star John Buultjens, who rose from a battered childhood to portraying his own abusive father on film.

An Australian writer says drivers and bicyclists break the rules of the road in equal proportions, that there are aggressive drivers as well as cyclists, and that no motorists have been killed by anyone on a bicycle. So don’t hate us because we wear Lycra.

A test of bicycling paramedics on Australia’s Gold Coast has proven so successful that it’s spreading to other cities.

Former Aussie pro Adam Phelan writes movingly about the healing power of riding a bicycle. Something I think most of us have experienced at one time or another.

Over 120,000 people voted to name Seoul’s bikeshare system the Korean city’s favorite public service. Personally, I’d vote for indoor plumbing, but that’s just me.

A Japanese ebike rider is accused of gross negligence in the death of a 77-year old woman while using a smartphone in one hand and holding a drink in the other.

 

Competitive Cycling

Let’s just get all the Chris Froome news out of the way first.

Lance’s invitation to speak before next year’s Tour of Flanders is called “absolutely reprehensible.”

Former pro Alexander Vinokourov faces charges for paying a competitor to take a dive in the 2010 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

The women’s pro peloton has formed a union to fight for better treatment and a living wage.

Britain’s Tour de Yorkshire has set an example for the rest of the cycling world by replacing podium girls with successful local businesswomen.

Sad news from the UK, where former British national champ Sharon Laws died of cervical cancer; she was just 43.

 

Finally…

No, the shoulder of a roadway is not a bike lane, even if it has a bike route sign. Your next bike could be a classic seat tube-less mountain bike worth $6,500. If you’re going to sell a hot bike, try taking the sticker with the owner’s name on it off first.

And an Italian bicyclist fulfills every rider’s fantasy to shoot down threatening motorists.

And yes, I know that last one is probably fake. But still. Thanks to Erik Griswold and Ed Rubinstein for the heads-up.

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

Morning Links: A busy weekend for bike events, more bike giveaways for the holidays, and more doping news

December 15, 2017 / / One comment

Let’s start with a long list of bike events on a very busy weekend.

Beginning with a vintage bike ride in the San Fernando Valley.

Earlier this summer, local vintage bike enthusiast Peter Glenn started a vintage bike ride in the Valley. The final vintage ride for this Sunday rolls from 19600 Plummer St in Northridge at 9am, with a 20 mile loop, and free coffee and pastries afterwards. Peter describes it as a rolling bike show, with a mixture of beautifully restored American and European bikes from the 70’s and 80’s.

Everyone is welcome, even if you don’t own a vintage bike. And unlike Eroica, there’s no anti-Lycra brigade.

Thanks to Steve S for the heads-up.

………

Finish the Ride and Safe Streets for Everyone will hold a ride to support hit-and-run victim Keith Jackson, who remains in a coma after he was struck from behind on La Tuna Canyon last weekend.

Meanwhile, CiclaValley writes about the search for his killer. And a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $1,100 in the first 24 hours to help pay Jackson’s medical bills.

………

Still more events:

Bike SGV is holding a Cycling Santas Holiday Lights Ride on Saturday.

The final SoCal Cross races of the year take place Saturday and Sunday in Moreno Valley.

Bike Walk Glendale and the LACBC are hosting a Holiday Lights Ride on Sunday, with a stop in Gauchos Village for a hot cocoa treat.

SC Velo and Incycle Bike Stores are holding a Toy Ride in San Dimas on Sunday.

One of the nation’s most challenging hill climb competitions rolls Sunday with the 12th edition of Feel My Legs, I’m a Racer.

The Bikerowave will host a talk on getting more women bicycling with London Bike Kitchen founder Jenni Gwiazdowski next Friday; she’ll sign copies of her new book afterwards.

Bike SGV will ride the streets of Glendora January 6th to gather data the city can use to “make more informed decisions about their bike and walking infrastructure.”

………

‘Tis the season.

LA Chargers running back Melvin Gordon has teamed with the Rally Cycling Pro Continental team to build 150 bikes for SoCal kids.

Burbank’s appropriately named Bike Angels have refurbished 150 bicycles to a nearly new condition for kids who might not otherwise be able to afford one.

The Cameron Park Rotary Club will be distributing over 200 bicycles refurbished by a single inmate at Folsom State Prison.

Fifty Fresno kids received new bicycles courtesy of a local property company.

Singer, songwriter and Broadway star Sara Bareilles is teaming with bikemaker Priority Bicycles and Santa Rosa’s North Bay Bike Project to provide bicycles for kids affected by the recent North Bay fires.

A Newport RI advocacy group has restored 30 bicycles for local kids.

The widow of North Carolina’s Bicycle Man has kept up his holiday tradition, refurbishing 1,200 bikes for children whose families couldn’t afford one.

………

It’s the last day of the penultimate week of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

………

Local

It looks like the long-promised protected bike lanes on 7th Street may finally be moving forward, after the LA City Council voted to approve funding for the 7th Street Streetscape Improvements Project; they were promised as part of the approval process for the Wilshire Grand Center.

The Monterey Park City Council will vote on city’s first protected bike lanes on Monterey Pass Road at their meeting this Wednesday.

LA County is looking for input on a planned Complete Streets project on Rosemead Blvd in Pico Rivera and the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area.

Long Beach has received a $150,000 state grant for bicycle and pedestrian safety education. Although the money would be much better spent educating drivers, since they’re the ones who pose a risk to others.

 

State

The Orange County Register talks with a San Clemente cruiser ebike maker who started the company after getting bad customer service when he bought an ebike.

Riverside sheriff’s deputies are searching for whoever who beat a Menifee man to death, shortly after he was seen riding a bicycle towing a trailer to collect recycling.

No surprise here. The CHP and Alameda County District Attorney decided not to file charges against a driver who swerved into oncoming traffic to avoid a bike rider signaling a left turn, hit his outstretched arm, and kept going. Thanks to F. Lehnerz for the tip.

 

National

Bellingham, Washington police have busted nine people for bike theft using a GPS-equipped bait bike.

The Colorado man who killed mountain bike legend Mike Rust has been sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole, as well as concurrent sentences of 12 years for burglary, 18 months for tampering with evidence and 12 months each for theft and abuse of a corpse. Rust had disappeared in 2009 after setting out to track a burglar; his body was discovered early this year.

A Michigan driver got three to 15 years for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider. Another example of keeping dangerous drivers on the road until they kill someone; she had five crashes in the previous eight years, as well as citations for careless driving and hit-and-run.

An allegedly drunk driver killed a bike rider while cutting donuts with his car. Yet another case of keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late; it was his third drunk driving arrest, yet somehow, he was still allowed behind the wheel.

The New York Times looks at a bike rider’s confrontation with a state senator who blocked a bike lane, then allegedly pretended to be a cop when the rider approached him.

More proof that bikes are good for business, as a new study using data from MasterCard shows higher receipts at New York restaurants near bikeshare locations.

A Louisiana bike rider says before you call an angry cyclist a nuisance, consider what made them so angry in the first place. And build better infrastructure, already.

 

International

Your 2018 Specialized Allez may be being recalled because of a bad fork.

Bike thefts are continuing to spike in Calgary, as riders are feeling ignored by the police.

Good idea. A proposed bill in Ontario, Canada would require anyone who killed a bicyclist or pedestrian to undergo renewed driver training, perform community service and appear in court to hear victim impact statements.

Here’s a surprise. A Toronto bike advocacy group has disbanded after nearly 25 years, saying conditions had improved enough in the city that they were no longer needed.

A British city has received the equivalent of $7,600 from a Chinese city to teach lower-income residents how to fix their bikes.

A Dutch consortium has developed an ebike designed to improve stability for elderly riders.

A study from the Netherlands shows GPS equipped decoy bikes cut bike theft up to 50% in areas where’s they’ve been used. Maybe that will be enough to finally convince the LAPD to give them a try.

Germany’s national bike industry trade association warns about the dangers of unsafe dockless bikeshare bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Chris Froome continues to insist he’s innocent of doping accusations, as Germany’s Tony Martin decries the double standard, questioning why Froome wasn’t immediately suspended.

Belgium authorities aren’t pleased Lance has been invited to attend next year’s Tour of Flanders as a special guest.

Italian cyclist Nicola Ruffoni will be 30 years old before he can compete again after getting a four-year ban for doping.

Dutch team LottoNL-Jumbo has sent three riders home for possessing a legal sleep aid that had not been approved by the team.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be powered by hydrogen. Forget three feet; how about a 20-foot passing distance and a 6 mph speed limit? Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

And if you’re going to unveil the new national team, it might help if you actually named them.

Just saying.

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

Morning Links: LA debates dockless bikeshare, more bike giveaways, and handlebar mounted tiger repellent

December 14, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA debates dockless bikeshare, more bike giveaways, and handlebar mounted tiger repellent

Once again, bikeshare was the common theme in today’s news.

LA officials debate proposed regulations for dockless bikeshare programs that allow them to expand beyond a handful of test programs currently underway.

The San Diego Reader reports that dockless bikeshare companies are pouring money into the city to lobby for favorable regulations.

Coronado took a pass on a pilot dockless bikeshare program after residents argued that the community already has too many bikes. But sure, just keep bringing in more cars.

Video shows New Yorkers swarming a bikeshare station while cars sit parked idly at the curb, suggesting that the 150,000 acres of curbside parking in the city could be put to better use.

………

‘Tis the season.

Ninety-two San Diego third graders go crazy when they’re given new bicycles by the Padres, the last remaining major league sports team in the city that hasn’t yet bolted for Los Angeles.

San Diego’s Metropolitan Transit System gave new bikes to 100 elementary students in the Logan Heights neighborhood.

A pair of San Diego-area organizations gave new bicycles to all 187 second and third graders at a Spring Valley elementary schools.

Corona firefighters are taking time between emergency calls to build 72 bicycles donated by a local businessman for disadvantaged kids.

Over 100 Georgia students will receive new bicycles donated for needy families.

………

It’s Day 21 of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

You can help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

Thanks to Mike W and Plurabelle Books for their generous contributions to help keep bringing the best bike news and advocacy to your screen every morning, from around the corner and around the world.

………

Local

A new pop-up museum in DTLA celebrates notable failures, from the Edsel and a Donald Trump board game to a plastic bicycle that melted on hot days.

CiclaValley looks at this weekend’s holiday ride sponsored by the LACBC and Bike Walk Glendale.

Bicycle Retailer looks at LA-based Team Dream Team and their new San Marino Cub House.

Bike Talk chats with custom bike maker Art Ramirez.

 

State

A Fallbrook man was seriously injured when his bike was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver; police are looking for a charcoal grey vehicle with damage to the right front. Best euphemism of the day: the driver “failed to safely maneuver” around the victim’s bike, which is another way of saying the cowardly jerk plowed into him from behind.

Take a 10-mile bike tour of life-like metal sculptures representing the Pleistocene age in Borrego Springs.

Indio will add a pair of bike lanes this spring, including a separated bike lane.

Ventura County sheriff’s deputies are asking for the public’s help in identifying a Camarillo bike thief.

A Fresno man took revenge on a suspected early morning car burglar by cutting his bike in half and nailing it to a tree. Although it’s entirely possible that the bike he cut in half may have been stolen from someone else.

Yes, you can take your Christmas tree home by bike, as these photos of Bay Area bike riders prove. Or a Chanukah bush, for that matter.

A San Raphael man was busted for stealing a cheap guitar after smashing a music store window, when police spotted him riding a bicycle carrying the purloined instrument a few hours later.

 

National

Treehugger says it’s time to start thinking about driving like we do smoking.

Bicyclists in Tucson are angry over the city’s ranking as the second most dangerous city for people on bikes in the US. Meanwhile, no one really seems to care that LA was ranked as the tenth most dangerous city.

A Minneapolis columnist is angry over an LA letter writer’s suggestion that the city shouldn’t go backwards on bike lanes, saying maybe we should put bike lanes on Sepulveda Blvd so we can understand what it’s like. Maybe someone should tell her that we already have bike lanes on Sepulveda, crappy though they may be in places.

Turns out the New York state senator who attempted to impersonate a police officer after illegally blocking a bike lane has a long history of dangerous driving, including speeding through a school zone — three times.

Philadelphia is responding to a recent cycling death by upgrading six blocks of bike lanes in the downtown area. Although I have a hard time calling a few plastic posts a protected bike lane.

 

International

An Instagram account documents a man’s unique collection of classic stamped, forged and cast steel dropouts.

Caught on video: A Vancouver cab company apologizes after one of its drivers was caught on dashcam driving in a bike lane before running a red light with people in the crosswalk.

The human-protected bike lane movement has spread to London.

Bloomberg visits the UK’s Sven Cycles to discover what goes into making a handmade bespoke bike.

A British driver was acquitted of killing a bike rider after saying he just didn’t see her. Which should be seen as an admission of guilt instead of an alibi.

An Australian radio station asks how the country can change drivers’ open hostility towards people on bicycles. Easy. Just make them all ride bikes for a month.

Five people were killed in China when ebike batteries caught fire after being plugged into a homemade recharging system.

A Bangkok writer explores one of the few places where people can ride their bikes free from motor vehicles or joggers, thanks to monks who agreed to abandon the land after moving to a new temple.

 

Competitive Cycling

Does it really surprise anyone to learn that four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome failed a drug test at last year’s Vuelta? Froome had a controversial Therapeutic Use Exemption, or TUE, for salbutamol to treat his asthma, but tested at twice the allowed level. Which he quickly explained away. Just like everyone else who’s gotten caught.

 

Finally…

Once again, throwing a bicycle in front of a train is not a recommended usage. If you’re going to get drunk and ride your bike on the wrong side of the road, at least put a damn light on it.

And always keep a bell on your bike in case you’re ever attacked by a Bengal tiger.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,
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