Tag Archive for bicycling

Morning Links: The risks of biking in the Valley, Pippa makes it all the way, and a road rager attacks rescuer

Local

A Ventura Blvd website looks at the risks of bicycling in the San Fernando Valley. Overall, a good piece, though there’s a lot to quibble over — like the lack of safety instructions for drivers, and the fact that LA wasn’t built for cars, but around what was then the world’s best transit system.

A Times OpEd piece looks at what LA can learn from Stockholm’s Vision Zero about reducing traffic deaths.

Wayfinding signs are finally coming to the LA River bike path.

CD2 Councilmember Paul Krekorian says he’s working to make NoHo safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Bike lanes on Lankershim would be a great place to start.

 

State

Costa Mesa bike shop owner gets 27 months for tax evasion.

Eighty-three year old driver hits and kills a bike rider in Salinas.

 

National

Dave Zabriskie’s Legends of the Road team wins the RAAM team competition, while Pippa Middleton shows she may be worth taking seriously after all, as her eight-person team finishes the world’s most challenging endurance race in just under six days and 11 hours.

A real estate blog offers 10 ways bicycling can save the world. Skip the infographic at the top and read the story below.

Commute by Bike says bicycling will remain a fringe way for adventurous, athletic and highly eco-conscious folks to get around without serious investment in bicycle infrastructure.

Nineteen Cherokee bike riders complete a 950 mile tour of the infamous Trail of Tears.

A Maine rider is injured in a solo fall that demonstrates the danger of a too close pass.

An Aussie travel piece says bicycling in New York is cheap, fun and safer than you think.

 

International

Vancouver columnists explain bicycle parts, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Yorkshire is infected with yellow jersey fever.

An Irish writer insists riding across Dublin without a helmet is taking your life, or at least your brain, in you hands. And demonstrates he doesn’t get road diets.

Naples, Italy is now bike friendly.

 

Finally…

Unbelievable. After a road raging Brit driver runs a bike rider off the road, he spins around to run down another motorist who stopped to help.

 

BOLO Alert: 1991 Trek 2300 road bike stolen from Wilshire/La Brea area

I hate bike thieves.

As far as I’m concerned, anyone who could steal someone’s beloved ride is one of the lowest forms of human scum infesting the planet.

Especially when they target a friend of mine.

That’s what happened on Saturday when bike advocate, urban planner and fellow LACBC board member Herbie Huff had her ride stolen. The theft occurred between 11 am and 2:30 pm when her distictive-looking bike was taken from her garage in the Wilshire/La Brea area.

Be on the lookout for a 50 cm, black and yellow 1991 Trek 2300. If you spot it, call the police, then contact Herbie via Twitter. Or let me know and I’ll forward word to her.

Herbie is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. And no one is more committed to making our streets safer and more livable for everyone.

So let’s see if we can get this one back for her.

trek_2300_5

 

trek_2300_3

Morning Links: A shameful plea for money, bike corrals hit contested streets and the worst bike injury ever

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More on last week’s waste of two hours Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s vanity session public meeting to discuss the proposed North Figueroa road diet and bike lanes.

Meanwhile, LADOT installs new bike corrals on North Figueroa and Lankershim; hopefully Council Members Cedillo and Tom Labonge, respectively, will stop blocking blocking safety and livability for everyone so the bike lanes promised for both streets can follow soon.

Seriously, even AARP is in favor of road diets.

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Sad news, as a Topanga man dies of a heart attack after a bike ride through Topanga Canyon with his new husband, just a month after they were married. Sounds like we lost a great guy. My prayers and condolences to all his loved ones.

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The Pasadena Mountain Bike Club is hosting a Bike Swap Meet this Sunday.

swap meet

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Local

KCRW traffic maven Kajon Cermak says it’s time to do something about LA’s hit-and-run epidemic and get the creeps off the road. You’re preaching to the choir, sister.

The Hollywood Fringe Festival presents Bike Odessey LA on Saturday, a combination bike tour and multi-location theatrical event.

A new section of the LA River bike path opens up for bikes and pedestrians from Sherman Oaks to Studio City.

Culver City’s Chubby Bikes offers a free Confident City Cycling Clinic, social ride and after party on Saturday; thanks to Walk ‘n Rollers for the tip.

Speaking of Walk ‘n Rollers, they’re sponsoring a series of monthly family rides, starting July 5th in Culver City.

Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies continue to arrest additional suspects in a rash of bike path robberies.

 

State

Three Santa Ana men are under arrest for critically injuring a bike rider in a possible gang-related assault.

The Sacramento cyclist who was intentionally run down by a road raging driver after slashing his tire says he did it in self-defense.

San Francisco cyclists get new left turn bike boxes.

Santa Rosa riders team up to recover their stolen bikes.

Salinas cyclists protest mud and debris from farm trucks blocking a bike lane.

 

National

A new tire and tube repair tool promises to fix any flat in seconds without taking the tire off. Although I don’t know how you can fix a flat if you don’t know where the leak is until you get the tube off, which is usually the case.

New bike lane design offers protected intersections for bike riders.

Life is cheap in Washington state, where a driver gets off with a $175 fine for killing a teenage cyclist riding in a crosswalk.

A Kansas cyclist is deliberately hit and run off the road by a road raging driver.

A New Hampshire boy rides his bike to school for an entire year, regardless of the weather. Sad that something like this is actually news.

Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewery is opening a combination beer and bike ranch near the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina.

 

International

London’s Mayor Boris gets credit for the city’s bike share program, even if it was his predecessor’s idea.

A writer for London’s Guardian discovers the joys of social cycling.

 

Finally…

Seriously. This has to be the most cringe-inducing bicycling injury ever.

And when you’re riding a bike through Santa Monica with burglary tools and stolen credit cards, just stop for the damn stop sign, already.

 

Morning Links: CABO opposes protected bikeway bill; Brit driver kills 5-year old, then says shit happens

Once again, CABO — the California Association of Bicycling Organizations, not to be confused with the California Bicycle Coalition — has come out in opposition to a measure that would benefit the overwhelming majority of bike riders in the state.

AB 1193 would legalize protected bike lanes, which are currently considered experimental under California law, creating a fourth class of bikeways in the state to go along with Class 1 off-road bike paths, Class 2 bike lanes, and Class 3 bike routes.

The bill, sponsored by the CBC, would require Caltrans to work with local jurisdictions to establish minimum safety requirements for protected, or separated, bike lanes, rather than rely on Caltrans’ antiquated rules that have severely limited innovation and safety.

I have no doubt CABO is sincere in their opposition, which appears to be based on maintaining the overly conservative Caltrans standards they helped create.

But their opposition stands in the way of encouraging more people to get on their bikes, and improving safety for all road users. And gives needless support to those in the legislature who oppose bicycling and bike infrastructure in general.

Instead of opposing a very good and necessary bill, they should find a way to support it. Or at the very least, stay neutral.

Or they will continue to find themselves out of step with most riders, and further marginalized in a state where the CBC has become the voice of mainstream bicycling.

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Local

Richard Risemberg asks what part of traffic calming doesn’t councilmember Gil Cedillo understand?

A Pasadena bike rider is assualted and robbed by passing motorists, possibly at gunpoint.

Nice. LA’s Milestone Rides prepares to ride from Vancouver to San Francisco.

 

State

San Diego City Beat goes drinking with BikeSD advocate Sam Ollinger.

The inaugural Big Bear Cycling Festival rolls at the end of next month.

A pipe bomb is found next to a Pacific Grove bike trail. The question is, did someone just hide it here, or were they targeting bike riders?

 

National

Good read, as Vice Sports says you can kill anyone with your car, as long as you don’t really mean it.

Great ideas never die. Okay, sometimes. But the self-inflating bike tire is back after a six year absence.

Utah will put rolling billboards on six semi-trucks to promote the state’s three-foot passing law. But will the drivers practice what they preach?

Two New Mexico bike riders find a missing 9-year old girl.

Biased much? A Denver TV station says cyclists are at fault in several bike vs car collisions, but fails to back it up in any way.

If you want to get away with murder, use a car. A Philadelphia judge acquits a driver of vehicular manslaughter for running down his bike-riding romantic rival.

A North Carolina bike lawyer explains why it’s often safer to ride abreast.

 

International

Paris’ Velib bike share system has added kids bikes to their rental fleet.

German bike rider poses for photos atop wrecked cars.

The Deutschland high court wisely rules that not wearing a helmet is not contributory negligence in the event of a collision; I’m told some American juries are starting to find otherwise.

 

Finally…

Sidi unveils a new camo mountain bike shoe. You know, for all those cyclists who want to be even less visible when they ride. Then again, whenever I see someone wearing camo, I want to walk up to them and say “I can totally see you.”

And a Brit lawyer insists his client really is remorseful, despite saying “Shit happens, life goes on” after being convicted of killing a five-year old bike rider while driving at over twice the speed limit.

Big heart, that guy.

 

Morning Links: Cyclist critically injured in Laguna Beach; lawsuit filed against LA County, LASD in Milt Olin case

Late breaking news as this goes online.

According to the Orange County Register, a 55-year old bike rider was critically injured when he was hit by a car on Coast Highway near Emerald Bay in Laguna Beach around 7 pm Tuesday. Despite initial reports that the driver had fled the scene, he actually stopped a short distance away and waited for authorities.

No word yet on how the collision occurred; a satellite view of the street shows a wide parking lane or shoulder, but no bike lanes.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a full and fast recovery.

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The only real question is why they waited so long.

Not surprisingly, the family of fallen cyclist and former Napster executive Milt Olin has filed a lawsuit against LA County, the LA Sheriff’s Department, and the deputy behind the wheel when he was run down from behind while riding in a Mulholland bike lane last December.

According to the LA Daily News,

The family “suffered a profound loss, a loss of a wonderful husband and father, and actually a wonderful human being, as all his friends will tell you,” attorney Bruce A. Broillet, who is representing the family, said Tuesday. “We believe the sheriff (deputy) was operating his vehicle negligently, inappropriately and this never should have happened. We will be seeking to hold the county, the sheriff (deputy) and the Sheriff’s Department accountable for the death of Milton Olin.”

The claim seeks an unspecified amount in damages for loss of love, care, protection, moral support and financial support, among other things. It also seeks more than $30,000 in damages for medical, burial and funeral expenses.

Meanwhile, the DA’s office is still reviewing the Sheriff’s Department’s self-described unbiased investigation of their own officer nearly a month after the results of the five-month investigation were turned over to them.

No word on what conclusions they reached, if any, or when or if the DA will announce whether charges will be filed.

Or whether it was an official or unofficial departmental policy that resulted in Olin’s death, as many suspect.

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Local

In response to Metro’s advice for cyclists on how to share the road with buses, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers his own five astute points on how Metro can better interact with us.

The LACBC will be providing free bike valet at the Roaring Nights at the LA Zoo.

Claremont is sponsoring a free bike safety class for children and adults this Thursday.

Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies arrest two men for a string of armed bike path robberies.

 

State

The Coronado Historical Society is hosting a series of guided bike rides around the island this summer.

An OC businessman is riding 5,000 miles to raise funds to help end malnutrition, while a Menlo Park man is competing in the Race Across America to raise funds for the Stanford Cancer Institute.

Police arrest a bike rider for groping a Bay Area woman before riding off.

A sharp-eyed Sacramento-area man spots someone riding this daughter’s stolen BMX bike.

 

National

Speaking of RAAM, the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay looks at Dave Zabriskie and his four-man Legends of the Road team.

Momentum Magazine examines the next great bicycling cities; shocked! shocked! am I that LA failed to make the list.

CLIF Bar teams up with People for Bikes to get more people on bikes.

A writer for Crain’s Chicago Business says we all have to get along, no matter how many wheels we travel on.

A bike shop in the Windy City installs a 24-hour bike parts vending machine.

Memphis turns half a divided highway into a two-way biking and walking path along the Mississippi River.

The Alabama man who posted videos of himself running cyclists off the road pleads guilty to reckless endangerment. And gets off with a mere loving caress on the wrist.

 

International

An Irish man learns not to honk and swear at a group of cyclists. Because they might turn out to be off-duty cops.

Forty-one amateur riders prepare to ride the entire 2014 Tour de France route.

Caught on video: a bike riding Japanese schoolgirl learns the hard way to stop at the stop sign and look both ways before crossing an intersection

 

Finally…

Repeat after me: When you’re carrying six bags of meth and wanted on outstanding warrants, stop for the damn red light — but don’t do it directly in front of a pursuing police car after trying to flee.

And it takes a real schmuck to steal a 9-year old’s bike at gunpoint.

 

Morning Links: Too many LA memorial rides, Fig4All is up for more debate, and Buzzfeed wants to scare you

 
Local

Boyonabike goes on Sunday’s Phillip O’Neill memorial ride in Pasadena, and pledges to work for the day when rides like that won’t be necessary. Amen, brother.

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman writes movingly of a weekend full of remembrances for far too many fallen riders.

The Cypress Park Neighborhood Council takes up the issue of the Fig4All North Figueroa road diet and bike lanes tonight.

Long Beach — and marriage — converts a confirmed vehicular cyclist into a bike lane rider.

Wired likes the new 1970’s style 10 speed bike from LA’s own Linus.

 

State

More on Assemblymember Gatto’s bill to create an Amber Alert-style system for serious hit-and-runs.

A 23-year old Costa Mesa man is charged with felony vehicular manslaughter, DUI and possession of marijuana after killing an 81-year old marathoner running in a Corona del Mar bike lane last week.

A San Diego cyclist is injured in a collision with a Border Patrol Vehicle.

A Santa Barbara writer discusses inspiring a children’s passion for pedaling.

Folsom Police recover 17 Trek bikes stolen from a local bike shop in April.

After getting caught up in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, Santa Rosa’s Levi Leipheimer has a lot to say, but no one wants to listen.

 

National

Buzzfeed tries to scare you off your bike with a new Reefer Madness-style video.

Chicago asshole writer calls bike riders terrorists for allegedly endangering pedestrians — even when those pedestrians are standing in bike lanes. Maybe someone should tell him how many pedestrians are killed, not just frightened, by those on four wheels instead of two.

Since when is stealing a bike considered a “minor disciplinary” problem? Oh, yeah, when you’re a football player at a major university.

New Jersey considers a $500 fine for any driver who causes a collision with a cyclist.

Turns out that Virginia driver who hit a bike rider head-on while driving on a bike/pedestrian bridge was working for the state DOT; police still refuse to file charges.

Extreme road rage, as a Florida driver swerves at a cyclist who told him to slow down, then shoots at the rider and three others who came to his aid.

 

International

A UK cyclist participating in a charity ride is seriously injured after crashing into an anachronism a telegraph pole.

It takes a real jerk to steal a dozen bikes from riders with the UK’s version of Ride 2 Recovery.

 

Finally…

A new study from the University of Duh show cyclists on separated bike paths suck down less smog than riders in the roadway. A new bike helmet reads your mind to map out the stressful points on your ride, as if you couldn’t figure that out for yourself.

And no. Just no.

 

Morning Links: 55 years to life for drunken hit-and-run, arrest in Eastdale hit-and-run, Fig4All drags on… and on

My apologies for the late post. Just too much bike news on a lucky Friday the 13th.

Well, maybe not so lucky for the New York Rangers.

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Now that’s taking hit-and-run seriously for a change.

Former substance abuse counselor Sherri Lynn Wilkins, who fell off the wagon and killed a pedestrian while driving under the influence — hitting him so hard she literally knocked him out of his boxers, and drove two miles with his body lodged in her windshield — was sentenced to 55 years to life.

Maybe if the heartless cowards who killed Andy Garcia and maimed Damian Kevitt, just to name a few in a shamefully long list, faced sentences like that, we might finally put an end to this horrible epidemic.

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San Bernardino authorities report an arrest has been made in the April hit-and-run death of Eastdale bike rider Troy Davids. More details when they’re released.

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KCRW covers the debate over the Fig4All bike lanes on North Figueroa, while a writer for KCET complains about the city’s incomplete streets exemplified by North Fig and Westwood Blvd, where Councilmembers Cedillo and Koretz have blocked bike lanes despite professing support for them.

Meanwhile Streetsblog looks ahead to the meeting that took place last night, and questions the motivations of CM Cedillo.

CedilloBallotBy all reports, the meeting was a total waste of time as Cedillo spent over an hour introducing his staff and patting himself on the back, while failing to take comments from the public on either side of the debate. Many people got bored and walked out long before the meeting was over.

Instead, attendees were asked to fill out a form indicating their preferences — the results of which will be compiled by the office of the same councilmember accused of trying to block the project.

Nothing fishy about that.

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Great read from a survivor of a cycling collision, who’s glad she didn’t die — not just for herself, but for the difference she’s made in other’s lives. And she wants your help for a great cause to raise $5000 to provide free legal services to low income veterans; she’s brought in over $3,200 so far.

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The Santa Monica Museum of Art invites you to design a critter on a bike (pdf) to serve as the logo for the August Tour de Arts.

And don’t miss the Bike Zone at this weekend’s Santa Monica Festival.

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Local

A committee recommends banning Segways from the Venice boardwalk, but continuing to allow them to risk your safety on the bike path.

An LA group wants to cap parking tickets at just $23. Or they could just, you know, obey the damn parking restrictions and not pay anything.

West Hollywood is teaming with the UCLA Triathlon Team to train 9 to 18 year olds to compete in the sport.

Cycling in the South Bay says it’s one thing to take the lane on PCH when you’re in a group, another when there’s just two of you.

The popular Kidical Mass bike ride continues to roll in Bixby Hills.

 

State

A father and son — 80 and 54, respectively — complete a 3,000 mile cross-country tour in San Clemente to raise money to fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

San Diego’s CBS8 looks at the Race Across America, which is already underway for solo riders; more on Pippa’s team RAAM ride.

Nice. A handicapped Yucaipa-area second grader gets a new custom-made hand cycle.

Seven people are under arrest after attacking, pistol-whipping and robbing a Bay Area cyclist riding on a BART bike path.

 

National

A new study says brain injuries are up an average of 14% in bike share cities. Which kind of makes sense since more people are riding, too.

A Fairbanks AK driver is under arrest for the drunken 7 am hit-and-run death of a bike rider. Yes, he was wasted and behind the wheel first thing in the morning; not surprisingly, it’s not his first DUI.

An Albuquerque cyclist says the hit-and-run driver who seriously injured another rider had deliberately attempted to run them both off the road; uncomprehending — or possibly uncaring — local police ignore her and call it just another accident.

Colorado’s governor signs a Safe Routes to School bill.

A Gillette, Wyoming cyclist recovers from harrowing injuries after he’s left-crossed while riding over 30 mph; other recent cycling victims in the area haven’t been as lucky.

A bicyclist travels 6,000 miles with his dog to raise awareness for animal shelters.

A heroic bike rider stops a suicidal man from jumping off New York’s George Washington Bridge.

 

International

Wow. A Yorkshire, England man turns down treatment after a recurrence of lung cancer, sells everything he owns and sets out to tour the world by bike; two years and over 21,000 miles later, he’s still doing well.

The UK considers restructuring the Highways Agency. And possibly indicating a shift in focus by renaming it the National Cycling and Highway’s agency.

The Guardian asks how the justice system can be rebalanced to support cyclists, and says Cyclists Stay Back stickers send a message that bike riders are second-class citizens. Thanks to Ralph Durham for the heads-up.

The president of the IOC says cycling is cleaning up its doping act. No really. And with a straight face.

A 21-year old cyclist takes a 3,000 mile journey through the Australian Outback — 100 years ago.

 

Finally…

Even if I could teach the Corgi to be a trail dog, who’s going to teach me to ride like that? A Glendale man leaves his car parked in front of a convenience store, then comes back on a bike 30 minutes later — and proceeds to throw the bike through the store’s window. And after a British rider is assaulted by another cyclist in a Team Sky kit, the Guardian assures us that the perp was not Brit bike heroes Bradley Wiggins or Chris Froome.

 

Morning Links: Figueroa for All comes to a head tonight; Bloomberg looks at the Biking (and Transit) Black Hole

Writing for Flying Pigeon, Rick Risemberg accuses Councilmember Gil Cedillo of lying — again — in his opposition to bike lanes on North Figueroa.

Which is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the resentment many riders and NELA community members seem to feel over the Councilman’s apparent attempts to tip the scales in opposition to the planned North Fig road diet and bike lanes.

And all for reasons known only to Cedillo, who has yet to take a public stand on the issue despite the obvious efforts of his office to torpedo the already approved, funded and shovel-ready project designed to improve safety and livability for everyone along the corridor.

It’s scheduled to come to a head tonight as yet another public hearing will be held to consider the matter.

The project enjoyed overwhelming public support at the last meeting on the subject, even though Cedillo and his staff refused to let most supporters be heard in a bizarre attempt at balancing those in favor and against the project. Which only served to amplify the voices of the minority opposition far beyond the limited support they actually had.

Anyone who lives, works or rides in the area is urged to attend. And wear green to show which side you stand with, even if they try to muzzle supporters once again.

6 pm to 8 pm
Franklin High School
820 North Avenue 54

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Local

In the wake of the recent video showing a bike rider deliberately buzzed by a Metro bus driver, the Source offers advice on how to share the road with buses.

KCET says the road to better health runs through the city’s proposed Mobility Plan. Maybe so, but only if we can stop rogue councilmembers from blocking bike lanes before they can get into it.

Bloomberg looks at the bike and transit unfriendly Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills, and finds it an obstacle to progress in neighboring cities.

Santa Monica votes to lower speed limits on some streets.

Long Beach bike shop The Bicycle Stand moves to a new, improved location half a mile away.

Streetsblog — and BikinginLA ­— sponsor Jim Pocrass is taking your legal questions to answer on the site next week.

 

State

Corona del Mar becomes a little more bike friendly, as new bike racks are installed in the city’s Business District.

The bike riding Silicon Valley tech exec charged with severely beating a motorist pleads not guilty in the alleged road rage case.

Streetsblog SF says the rear-end collision that injured a San Francisco cycling instructor shows sharrows don’t cut it.

 

National

Train your dog to ride on your bike.

Too much bad news on the national front today, as a 70-year old German tourist riding across the US is killed in Walla Walla WA; the driver claimed he was blinded by the sun, which should be excuse enough to avoid any adverse consequences.

Boise Idaho rips out their six-week old buffered bike lanes despite support from the mayor and city council.

Very sad. The 2012 US masters national points race champ is killed when his wheel overlaps another rider’s in a Colorado Springs velodrome collision; tragically, his daughter, the current 15-16 national track champ, was competing in the same race.

Dallas finally repeals its helmet law, at least for adult cyclists.

A Brooklyn DJ is killed in a collision on his way to a job interview as a bike messenger, yet the NYPD doesn’t seem to know anything about it.

 

International

The owner of a Vancouver bike shop is shot in the street in front of his store; police take the 61-year old shooter into custody.

A Toronto paper says you belong in the bike lane if one or both of your hands are holding a bicycle handlebar; if not, not so much.

London bike safety improves as serious injuries drop sharply in 2013, though fatalities are unchanged.

The ultimate guide to cross-county cycling. If the country you’re cycling across is Russia.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal a bike from a bike shop, don’t break it on the way out and don’t run into a passing homicide detective. And a writer for the Times looks forward to this weekend’s LA edition of the World Naked Bike Ride, though noting that most folks should never be naked after birth; must make for some awkward showers at his place.

 

Morning Links: Phillip O’Neill memorial ride and walk, cyclist’s rights on PCH, and a new bike video from LACBC

4314394Hard to believe it was a year ago that Phillip O’Neill lost his life riding on a Pasadena street.

O’Neill was on a bike date when he was struck from behind with enough force to throw him into a parked car on the other side of the street.

Fortunately, his companion was unscathed, although I’m told witnessing the collision took a tremendous emotional toll. As did the loss of someone she, and many others, cared about.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition is holding a memorial ride and walk this Sunday to remember Phillip as someone who should still be with us, and who is sadly missed. And to help ensure he will be the last bike rider or pedestrian to be killed in the city.

Let’s hope they succeed.

Phillip O’Neill Commemorative Ride/Walk this Sunday at 7:30 PM

This Sunday, June 15, we’ll be walking and riding to commemorate the one year anniversary of the death of Phillip O’Neill. Phillip was riding his bicycle on Del Mar on June 15, 2013 when he was struck from behind and killed by a motorist. Phillip was an amazing person who had already accomplished a tremendous amount at a young age. We mourn his loss.

We also gather to pledge to work together make our streets safer for people like Phillip and all the pedestrians and bicyclists in Pasadena. We want Pasadena to be a place where this never happens again.

DATE: 
Sunday, June 15, 2014
SCHEDULE: 
7:30 p.m.  Riders gather at City Hall, walkers gather at Grant Park.
7:45 p.m.  Riders and walkers depart from their respective locations.
8:00 p.m.  Riders and walkers gather at Grant Park for commemoration.
RIDE INFORMATION:
Ride gathers at Pasadena City Hall, Garfield steps (100 N. Garfield Ave., 91101). Rides to Grant Park via Del Mar (past ghost bike on Del Mar and Wilson). Please bring your bike with lights and in good working condition.
Pasadena City Hall: 100 N. Garfield Ave., 91101
WALK INFORMATION:
Walk gathers at Grant Park. Walks west on Blanche Street, south on Wilson, east on Del Mar, and north on Michigan to return to Grant Park.
Grant Park: 232 S. Michigan Ave., 91106
TO RSVP and LEARN MORE:
https://www.facebook.com/events/664199610324547/

#PhillipO’NeillGhostRide

Thanks to Candace Seu and the Caltech Bike Lab for the heads-up.

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Usually I try not to link to anything this old.

But everyone who rides PCH through Malibu should carry a copy of this 2009 — or maybe 2010 — letter from former CalTrans District 7 Director Michael Miles, which specifies that cyclists are allowed to ride in the right traffic lane. And that there is no restriction on the number of cyclists who can ride side-by-side in an non-sharable lane.

Then again, maybe every rider everywhere should carry a copy, since too many motorists and law enforcement officers still don’t seem to get it.

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Vote for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s entry in the DoGooder LA video competition.

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The Race Across America — aka RAAM — kicked off today as solo competitors departed from the Oceanside pier; teams leave on Saturday. A UK rider hopes to be the first British woman to finish the race, while Pippa Middleton — yes, that Pippa Middleton — will take part in the team competition.

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Local

KCBS-2 reports on the cyclist-buzzing Metro bus driver we wrote about yesterday.

LA is slowly pedaling to a more bike friendly future.

Metro, CICLE and Bike Odyssey LA host a Pedal Powered Street Theater Ride on June 21st.

Streetsblog invites you to join in a family-friendly fundraising walk and party to honor Streetsie Award winners Jessica Meaney and Alissa Walker.

Great looking plans for resurrecting the Pacoima Wash, including a bike path.

Team Bike Santa Monica invites you to join the National Bike Challenge.

The Downey Kids Bike Festival is scheduled for the end of this month.

 

State

As it turns out, Newport Beach is facing more than one lawsuit from the families of fallen cyclists.

A San Francisco cyclist and musician is getting close to a $3.75 million settlement after he was run down by a city street sweeper two years ago.

Oakland is remaking famed Telegraph Avenue to be more bike friendly, which should benefit local businesses.

Huh? An Oroville judge rules a hit-and-run driver didn’t cause great bodily injury when he killed a bike rider.

 

National

How HR Departments can encourage bicycling by employees.

USA Today looks at 15 fantastic bike trails across the US.

Pro rider Taylor Phinney is on the road to recovery, and refusing to be bitter about the injury that ended his season.

Cyclists participating in Colorado’s Ride the Rockies get caught in a blizzard, and have to be bused to a warmer location.

Good for her. A university website profiles a transgender TCU student and BMX rider.

A GoFundMe campaign for New England cyclist and Internet jokester Ryan Kelly, whose daughter was born last week with major heart problems.

An Atlanta SUV driver fled the scene after making a U-turn to deliberately run down a bike rider following an argument, dragging the victim 50 feet under his car.

 

International

Now that’s more like it. The UK gets serious about speeding by increasing the maximum fine to £10,000 — the equivalent of $16,745. That should make a dent in someone’s wallet.

Yorkshire cyclists create a bike-themed lingerie calendar to raise money for an air ambulance.

UK police search for yet another road raging cyclist who tried to throttle a motorist. Not that we all haven’t been tempted, but still.

A new report shows separated bike lanes in Sydney carry as many people as the cars in the lanes next to them.

 

Finally…

How to avoid seven beginner cyclists faux pas; I still get that chainring tattoo almost every ride. And Torrance paramedics discover a three-foot python in the backpack of a bike rider after he’s hit by a car; the victim should be okay after suffering a broken collarbone and ribs.

 

Morning Links: LA bike rider is deliberately buzzed by Metro bus driver for legally riding in the traffic lane

Last year, Metro proclaimed that every lane is a bike lane, to the applause of many in the bicycling community.

Unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten to tell some of their drivers.

In an all too common complaint, Twitter user topomodesto posted video of a close pass and brake check by a Metro bus driver apparently attempting to punish him for riding exactly where he was supposed to in the middle of the lane.

Personally, I had no idea bus drivers had been deputized to enforce their own mistaken interpretation of the law. Or that at least some seem incapable of remembering the message that was proudly plastered on the backs of their buses such a short time back.

Topomodesto reports he’s filed a complaint over the incident. But also notes that he and other riders have never heard back after filing similar complaints in the past, so he has no idea how seriously Metro takes them.

Unfortunately, no one outside of Metro does.

Complaints against drivers are considered personnel matters, so no one other than the driver and his or her supervisors are ever told the resolution of the matter.

Or if it was ever resolved, period.

Short of filing legal action — and this would appear to be a perfect test case for the city’s bicyclist anti-harassment ordinance — there seems to be no way to find out.

Which really needs to change.

Because we have a right to know if something, anything, was done in response to a deliberately threatening driver. Even if they don’t actually identify the driver.

And Metro’s well-intentioned attempts to promote bike riding will be meaningless if we have to ride in fear of self-appointed vigilante bus jockeys.

……..

Before you ride to Thursday’s public forum on the North Figueroa road diet and bike lanes with the Bike Oven and the Eastside Bike club, catch up on LADOT’s presentation on the subject from last month’s community meeting.

Meanwhile, it turns out the LA Fire Department did not determine that the North Fig bike lanes would slow response times, despite what a fire captain suggested last month. In fact, it wasn’t even studied by the department.

So why did he imply it was — and would?

……..

Local

The LAPD is looking for bike riders to start a volunteer bicycle patrol team in the northwest San Fernando Valley.

A West San Fernando Valley website looks at last weekend’s COLT ride.

KPCC’s annual Olympic Day considers the rise of bicycling on June 23rd; free, but RSVP required.

Despite what this story says, Santa Monica is already designated as a Bike Friendly Community, but they’re trying to certify more Bicycle Friendly Businesses.

 

State

A reporter for Marketplace completes the AIDS Lifecycle Ride.

Good for them. The family of fallen cyclist Paul Lin is suing Newport Beach, alleging that a dangerous intersection at San Joaquin Hills Road and Marguerite Ave was responsible for his death.

Evidently, it’s not just LA. The Voice of San Diego looks at that city’s hit-and-run epidemic.

A Bay Area bike safety instructor is recovering after being rear-ended by a distracted driver.

Sacramento police nail a butt ugly bike thief with a bait bike.

 

National

The bike industry wants tariffs reduced on imported bicycles since bikes have a positive effect on the environment.

A Massachusetts cyclist luckily lands in the back seat of a convertible after being hit by the turning car.

Bike shops may be collateral damage to the popularity of New York’s Citi Bike program, even though the opposite appears to be true in DC.

Unbelievable. A new three-foot passing law is approved in West Virginia, which also requires motorists to give an audible signal when passing a rider. Yes, they want every driver who passes a bike to honk or shout, which is about the most distracting and dangerous thing they could do.

Velonews says loyal Lance lieutenant George Hincapie’s new book rationalizes his doping choices; I’ve often wondered why the still popular rider seems to get a free pass on the subject.

The price of that $20 cardboard bike rose to $295 before dropping to $95 plus shipping, then nothing as the business collapsed.

 

International

Caught on video: A London cyclist is searching for the rider who crashed into him in a bike-on-bike hit-and-run.

A tragic reminder that bike-on-ped collisions are dangerous for both parties, as a UK scientist is killed when her bike collides with a pedestrian.

One third of all Czech cyclists blamed for traffic collisions had been drinking; no word on how that compares to the rate of drunk driving collisions in the country.

 

Finally…

An Indiana cyclist is doored. By a porta-potty. Here’s the latest bike-themed music video.

And no. Just… no.