Tag Archive for bighearted cops

65-years of love and bikes fill LA couple’s lives, LA cop buys girls new bikes, and 1890’s LA bike and camera club

February 15, 2021 / / Comments Off on 65-years of love and bikes fill LA couple’s lives, LA cop buys girls new bikes, and 1890’s LA bike and camera club

Anyone who’s been active in bike advocacy in Los Angeles, or done bicycle volunteer work, has probably met — and liked — Aubrey Provost and his wife Melba.

Myself included.

The Bicycle Advisory Committee member represents the Eighth Council District on behalf of Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, and both have volunteered with CicLAvia and the LACBC. And taken part in virtually every major bike ride and event the city has to offer.

The LA Times marked Valentine’s Day by talking with the octogenarian couple about their 65-year love affair that only gets stronger by biking together nearly every day.

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A bighearted LAPD cop dug into his own pocket to buy new bikes for a couple of young girls after their bicycles were stolen from their mom’s car.

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Bikes and cameras just naturally go together.

And apparently, always have.

Check out those bigass pneumatic tires, too.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

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This is what happens when drivers turn onto the wrong side of the road in the UK.

For what it’s worth, the West Midlands police responded on Twitter to say the driver appears to be in the wrong.

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Take a two and a half minute Monday mountain bike daydream.

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

A driver in the UK blared his horn at a bike rider before knocking the man off his bike, then got out of his van to scream at him. Although from the story, it’s not clear if he left the scene, or if police are just looking for witnesses.

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

WTF? It takes a real jerk to perform bike stunts on a fragile, 1,750-year old ruins of a Roman wall in the UK. Seriously, don’t do that.

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Local

LAist reporter Sharon McNary walked and biked the newly completed 13-mile Park to Playa trail, which stretches from the Crenshaw District to Playa del Rey.

Three-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Shaun White is one of us, as he rides through LA with his girlfriend. Although someone should buy the man a shirt.

WeHo is considering a plan to shut down Robertson Blvd from Santa Monica Blvd south to Melrose to everyone but pedestrians — but only on Saturday nights and Sundays, at least for now. You have until 4 pm Tuesday to get comments in, or you can ask to speak at the 6 pm council meeting.

Pasadena police busted a bike thief who stole a couple’s bicycles at hammer-point after they discovered him and another man attempting to smash their bike locks; police are still looking for the other man.

 

State

Montecito’s newly rebuilt San Ysidro Bridge opened to bike riders and pedestrians after a three-year closure, providing renewed access to recreational trails.

Thieves stole $70,000 worth of high-end bicycles from a Fresno bike shop in a pair of break-ins just three weeks apart.

A new effort is underway to get a bike lane across the entire Bay Bridge between Oakland and San Francisco; the current bikeway bizarrely stops halfway across, forcing riders to turn around. Or swim.

 

National

Who says you have to choose between an ebike and gravel?

The Nevada truck driver charged with the alleged meth-fueled death of five bike riders last December had his bail set at three-quarters of a million dollars; no word on whether he’ll be able to raise it.

A Michigan appeals court tossed out a killer driver’s overly lenient one-year sentence for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider two years ago.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The abusive father of rapper Nicki Minaj was killed by a hit-and-run driver as he walked along a Long Island roadway.

Armed robbers beat a New York delivery man to steal his ebike in an attack caught on video.

Once again, New Yorkers voice their support for bike lanes as long as they’re on someone else’s street.

Streetsblog wants to know why Gotham’s bike lanes still haven’t been cleared, nearly two weeks after a massive storm dumped snow on the city.

No surprise here, as traffic deaths increased in the DC area, despite a drop in vehicular traffic. Which tracks with what cities and states around the US have been reporting.

A Charleston, South Carolina newspaper applauds the state DOT’s embrace of Complete Streets.

 

International

Meet the designer of some of the most iconic bikes of the past 20 years.

Shimano’s head of training explains how to keep your ebike running like new.

An 18-year old Mexican man suffered life-threatening injuries when a man known only as El Bananas broke into his home as he was sleeping and shot him, accusing him of stealing the man’s bike.

A Toronto paper remembers a longtime bike advocate who died of cancer after decades of working tirelessly to “improve street safety and the labor conditions of bike couriers.”

Studies from the UK show that exercise can help prevent cancer. Like bicycling, for instance.

Seriously? A British woman who just wanted to let her four-year old daughter ride a bike was ticketed the equivalent of $103 for parking without paying in a pub parking lot, even though it had been closed by the pandemic.

After watching a man get stabbed by his friend in a ferocious attack, an English junkie got on the victim’s bicycle and rode off, telling the court he was just frightened and trying to get away; he somehow walked with a year’s probation, despite 17 prior convictions.

A British man suffering from terminal cancer plans to ride the length of Great Britain to raise funds to fight Ewing’s Sarcoma, despite not taking up bicycling until after his diagnosis; he’s already raised the equivalent of nearly $28,000, almost $7,000 more than the initial goal.

The rate of bicycles stolen from homes more than doubled in the UK last year.

Next City examines how New York and Paris got more women on bikes; even lowly Los Angeles saw a more than 80% increase in women riders last year, according to Strava.

Two-time Formula One world champ Fernando Alonso had surgery to repair a broken jaw following a collision while riding his bike in Switzerland.

An Indian columnist says a kid’s bicycle is a metaphor for freedom. Or maybe just freedom, period.

A Korean ebike concept looks to be the future of commuting bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Banning the extreme aero tuck position could cost bike racers as much as 3 mph in lost speed on descents.

Former Tour de France winner Chris Froome says he’s finally back to 100%, two years after a frightening solo crash training for the Critérium du Dauphiné; Froome spent the off-season rehabbing in Los Angeles.

A rainy finish line crash in the Tour de Provence raised more questions about rider safety on the pro tour after a spectator moved onto the course causing American Matteo Jorgenson to lose a shot at his first win; Jorgenson responded saying it sucks to miss his first real chance at victory like that.

 

Finally…

About damn time someone designed a futuristic autonomous car with a built-in bicycle carrier in the back. Why let a little ice stop you when you can just swap your wheels for saw blades?

And that feeling when Paul McCartney borrows your bike to escape from fans while disguised as a cop.

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

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

Morning Links: More bike helmet studies, bicyclist badly injured in Burbank crash, and booby trapped trails in West SFV

September 20, 2019 / / One comment

A quick note — My brother should arrive in Los Angeles Monday evening on his bike tour of the Western US, I plan to publish on Monday, after all.

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More fuel for the never-ending bike helmet debate.

Another new study suggests that wearing a bike helmet can significantly reduce the risk of severe injury or death.

The British study examined over 6,600 people brought to hospital emergency rooms for bicycling related injuries, and found 61.5% of the injured bicyclists for whom data on helmet use was available were wearing a bike helmet at the time of the crash.

That compares to just 22% in the recent American study, which was limited to bike riders with head and neck injuries.

The British study showed that use of a bike helmet was associated with a “reduction in severe traumatic brain injury, death within 30 days of the injury, the need for intensive care, and ‘neurosurgical intervention,'” as well as a reduction in traumatic brain injuries and facial injuries.

Although as I’ve been reminded many times, correlation does not equal causation.

Meanwhile, neurosurgeons at a Toronto hospital are calling for mandatory bike helmets for children and adults, but the city rejected a proposal to require them for kids.

And Road Bike Action Magazine reviews Bontrager’s new WaveCel helmets, and finds the improvement in safety is offset by it feeling hot on slow rides and heavy on long ones.

Bike helmet photo by Projekt_Kaffeebart from Pixabay.

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Bad news from Burbank, where a bike rider suffered major injuries in a collision; unfortunately, there’s no further information at this time.

Thanks to Bean for the heads-up.

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Michael Kim sends word that someone has been booby trapping mountain bike trails in the West San Fernando Valley.

As we’ve said before, when they catch the jerk — or jerks — responsible, they should face attempted murder charges at the very least, if terrorism charges, because this is a blatant attempt to frighten bicyclists off the trails.

Thanks to Michael Kim for the news.

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I’m told that Alana Ealy, the road-raging driver who intentionally slammed her car into bike rider Quatrell Stallings as he blocked the intersection where Frederick “Woon” Frazier was killed in a hit-and-run the day before, has been sentenced to a well-deserved five years behind bars.

Ealy had quarreled with several other protesters, left the scene and returned prior to the exceptionally violent assault captured in the video below.

She was finally taken into custody after a two month manhunt by police; no word on who, if anyone, will get the standing $25,000 reward for her capture and conviction.

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The US House of Representatives has voted to award the Congressional Gold Medal to America’s last remaining Tour de France winner.

The resolution to honor Greg LeMond now must be approved by the Senate and signed by President Trump. 

However, Trump’s approval should be a given, since LeMond competed in the president’s eponymous bike race as he was making his comeback after getting shot by his brother-in-law.

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A pair of bighearted LAPD officers dug into their own pockets to buy a new bicycle for a hit-and-run victim whose bike was destroyed in a head-on collision.

Complete with panniers, no less.

https://twitter.com/LAPDCTD24/status/1174910497071611904

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CiclaValley visits the Valley Glen intersection where LADOT crossing guard Delia Huerta Arrearan was killed in a collision that also injured a student on Monday.

The crowdfunding page for her family is now up to $3,555 of the $15,000 goal.

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The annual Eastside Mural Ride takes place tomorrow. I’m told it’s a great ride. And one I’ll look forward to doing myself one of these days.

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Here’s your chance to grab a free poster honoring SoCal’s two new junior world champs.

Thanks to David Huntsman for the tip.

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No surprise here, as a British police department sent an undercover cop out on a bicycle, and discovered exactly what bike riders face on the roads.

Clearly, things are no different on that side of the Atlantic than they are here.

Although just 84 drivers behaving badly in a metropolitan area of nearly three million seems just a tad low.

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Now that’s a smart idea.

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Congratulations to LA-based Cero, whose e-cargo bike won gold at the recent Euro Bike show.

https://twitter.com/CERObikes/status/1174762497028452352

Everyone who thinks Cero should sponsor my site with a new cargo bike raise your hands.

Seriously, I could use one to replace my car, and give our next dog a ride in that big basket when we find one. 

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

A New York bike rider was attacked by a pedestrian who kicked him off his bike and threatened to kill him. But says gaslighting by the cops was worse than his injuries.

But sometimes it’s the people on bikes behaving badly.

Or in this case, a grocery chain, as the Whole Foods in New York’s Bowery neighborhood is hogging the sidewalk with industrial-strength bikes and trailers for their Amazon Prime Now delivery service.

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Local

Nice to see Josef Bray-Ali is continuing his old Flying Pigeon tradition of the Get Sum Dim Sum ride, following the implosion of his failed city council campaign in CD1.

Curbed looks forward to next year’s Arroyo Fest, which will shut down a seven-mile stretch of the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway, aka the 110 Freeway, to cars and open it up to people for the first time in 16 years.

 

State

Streetsblog says California’s proposed Complete Streets bill needs your support as it sits on Governor Newsom’s desk awaiting his signature.

Encinitas is considering installing protected bike lanes on the coast highway, replacing the current painted lanes.

Sad news from San Diego, where a 47-year old man suffered major head injuries after allegedly riding his bike through a red light on a T-shaped intersection in Kearny Mesa; he was allegedly riding salmon, as well.

If you’re headed to the annual Adams Avenue Street Fair in San Diego this weekend, ride your bike and take advantage of the bike valet.

Drivers were so confused by new bicycle traffic lights on a Monterey bike lane that the city covered them up until they can come up with a fix.

The San Francisco Chronicle hops in the way back machine to go 25 years into the past for a look at the original Critical Mass rides.

 

National

Tsk tsk. Indoor cycling firm Peloton is facing $300 million in damages, up from $150 million, after music publishing companies discover even more tunes they allegedly used without permission.

Your bike already looks like a work of art, so hang it like one.

Lyft is adding bike lane maps to their apps to encourage safer bikeshare and e-scooter rides.

Life is cheap in Oregon, where a red light-running driver who killed a blind man walking in a marked crosswalk won’t spend one lousy day behind bars.

You only have ten more days to buy a new cargo ebike from a Texas startup designed especially for riding with your dog.

Go hogs! The University of Arkansas is offering a free bike valet to cut vehicular traffic to their stadium for Saturday’s football game. Maybe UCLA and USC should consider doing the same. Except maybe not maybe.

Wisconsin prosecutors rule that a police officer was justified in fatally shooting an armed 18-year old bike rider who fled after getting pulled over for not having a light on his bike. Even though he had dropped his gun and doesn’t appear to have made a move for it before he was shot.

Chicago police are looking into whether a masked bike rider who shot a woman walking along on a sidewalk is linked to a similar attack in June.

They get it. Kalamazoo MI approves plans for a road diet, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements. Yet no word on residents rising up to demand their car lanes back, unlike a certain SoCal city we could all name.

Horrible news from Kentucky, where a little girl was killed when she fell off her bike, and her neck was impaled by the hand brakes on her handlebars; even worse, it happened on her ninth birthday. Unfortunately, tragedies like that happen several times a year, yet bike makers continue to sell kids bikes with dangerous brake levers. And the government continues to look the other way.

That’s a new one. An arsonist in Ithaca NY has been setting Lime Bike handgrips on fire.

Yet another Long Beach NY community wants to criminalize teenage bike riders for scaring and inconveniencing people in cars with ride-outs, instead of trying to find a way to accommodate an otherwise healthy activity intended to keep kids out of gangs.

Despite the seemingly endless rants of bike lane opponents, the New York Fire Department says cars and construction, not bike lanes, are the reason their response times are up nearly 30 seconds in the past four years.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss explains why he loves riding in New York City, despite the risk. But adds that “cycling in this or any city should not be the exclusive domain of the death-defying.” Amen on both counts.

A writer for Streetsblog says NY mayor and still presidential candidate for reasons no one can comprehend Bill de Basio’s Vision Zero is just a blood-soaked joke.

A Newark NJ mom writes a friendly letter to the thief who stole her bike, complete with the toddler seat in front.

No windshield bias here. A Kentucky congressman says DC shouldn’t become a state because it would make it too hard to park. And yes, he appears to be serious.

A Florida man faces charges for a sword fight with an unarmed pregnant woman in a dispute over a bicycle.

A bike co-op in Florida is allowing community members to ride out with a new bicycle as long as they’re willing to work a little for it.

 

International

Who needs paint when you can just wrap your frame in vinyl?

London, Ontario police and officials are coming under fire for a traffic safety crackdown that also targets pedestrians and people on bicycles. Just like all the ones frequently held in California. Although that’s required under California law, which prohibits targeting any specific group. Like drivers, for instance.

Dutch companies will be able to provide their employees with company bicycles starting next year, just like they do company cars. But employees will lose the 19¢ per mile they get for riding their own bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Apparently, all it takes to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Cycling Team is winning a world championship, like world mountain bike champ Kate Courtney.

Outside profiles former world mountain bike champ Kirt Voreis and his many injuries.

Odd story from the UK’s The Courier, which says pro road cycling is on the right tracks (sic), then goes on to discuss the problems with team sponsorships and racing’s failed financial model.

Unless you want to fork out the cash for NBC’s cycling pass, you’re screwed if you want to watch next week’s road world championships.

 

Finally…

Signs maybe you’ve been riding your bike too much. If you ride naked with a group of people, it’s a statement; if you ride naked alone, you’re just a two-wheeled flasher.

And maybe they meant along instead of across. Otherwise, it’s going to be a very short trip.

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

Morning Links: Victorville bike rider critical after crash, LA bike lanes pay for themselves, and Clarkson says FU bikes

August 12, 2019 / / One comment
Let’s start with bad news from Victorville.

A man riding a bicycle suffered life-threatening injuries when he reportedly tried and failed to beat traffic on a busy highway.

The CHP reported it as a fatal crash; however, San Bernardino sheriff’s deputies were unable to confirm a fatal Victorville crash over the weekend.

We’ll let you know when and if we get more information.

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Someone should remind our elected officials here in Los Angeles that spending on bicycling infrastructure makes sense.

And dollars.

Lots of dollars.

https://twitter.com/geoff_doerksen/status/1147536368253300736

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A letter writer in the Los Angeles Times says a Copenhagen-like level of bicycling may not be practical in the short term, but building a backbone network of bike lanes crossing the city would get many people out on their bikes.

Which, oddly, is exactly what the city’s bike plan calls for.

Meanwhile, another letter writer says Copenhagen is a great place for bicycling because it’s relatively flat.

Unlike Los Angeles, which is… uh, relatively flat.

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As long as we’re on the subject of letters, an Oregon letter writer says —

  • Bicyclists need to take more responsibility.
  • There’s no proof bicycling infrastructure benefits anyone but people on bikes;
  • Bike riders use senior citizens as “wrinkly, silver-haired pylons on the imaginary racetrack of the handle-barbarians;”
  • Bicycling can never be made entirely safe, so riding on city streets will always be a gamble;
  • Oregon’s governor is rewarding the lawless behavior of bicyclists by allowing them to “wander through red lights, stop signs and ignore yield signs while challenging vehicles to the same space.”
  • Bike riders need to be taxed, tested and licensed. And ticketed.

Damn, that’s a lot to unpack.

But let’s give it a try.

First of all, yes, bike riders — and everyone else — need to assume more responsibility.

I myself recently assumed responsibility for disappearing Jimmy Hoffa, snatching the Lindberg baby, and trading Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

Second, there is plenty of evidence that bike lanes improve safety for everyone.

Third, anyone who endangers pedestrians, especially older, younger or disabled pedestrians, is a complete and total jerk. And probably drives exactly the same way. Never mind that a lot of the people on bikes fit in that nebulous senior category themselves.

Fourth, saying the streets will never be safe for bike riders is just another way of saying motorists are incapable of driving safely. But yes, there are ways to improve safety, even in intersections.

Fifth, the version of the Idaho Stop Law that was recently approved in Oregon only allows bicyclists to treat stop signs as yields, while still requiring bike riders to stop and wait at red lights. And it passed both houses of the legislature.

Finally, most bike riders already hold a drivers license, so they have been tested and licensed. And bike riders are subject to traffic fines, just like drivers, in every state of the union.

And as we’ve already seen, testing and licensing drivers hasn’t exactly inspired good behavior, either.

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Talking with a driving website, Jeremy Clarkson, co-host of the Amazon Prime series The Grand Tour, and former host of Britain’s Top Gear, laced into bicycles and the people who ride them in an expletive-filled diatribe.

He particularly goes off on plans for a bike lane on the street next to where he’s sitting, insisting no one rides there, as numerous bike riders glide past behind him.

And he insists you’ll get a disease if you ride a bus.

No, really.

Although evidently, he’s including himself in that big FU to bikes and the people who ride them.

Thanks to F. Lehnerz for the heads-up.

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Lots of generous people in today’s news, starting right here at home.

Unfortunately, that’s all the information we have now. I’ve put in a request for more information, and will let you know if we learn more.

Meanwhile, thanks to the bighearted people the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers’ Charities, 13 special needs kids and two adults now have new adaptive bicycles.

A Colorado Springs CO paramedic and firefighters teamed with a local nonprofit to give a boy a new bike after his was stolen.

Milwaukee residents help a little girl raise enough money in half an hour by selling lemonade to replace her mother’s stolen bike — including two people who paid $100 for their $1 drinks.

Kindhearted firefighters replaced a 10-year old Ohio girls’ bicycle and helmet, just two hours after her brand new bicycle was destroyed by a hit-and-run driver.

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More proof that bikes can go where cars can’t.

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This is who we share the roads with. Legally or otherwise.

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Local

LA-based ex-pro Phil Gaimon goes on KCBS-2 to discuss his Phil’s Cookie Fondo coming this October in Malibu; the ride benefits Chef’s Cycle and No Kid Hungry to help ensure every child has something to eat.

Sixty-two-year old Claremont resident Sandra Marie Wicksted faces up to 17 years behind bars after pleading not guilty to murder for intentionally plowing her car into bike rider Leslie Pray, as well as four counts of attempted murder for trying to do it to other people, as well.

The Hoff is one of us, as David Hasselhoff goes mountain biking in Calabasas with his new Welsh wife.

 

State

A 55-year old San Diego man suffered a serious leg injury when he was hit by a driver while riding his bike, after allegedly failing to yield.

San Diego councilmember and candidate for mayor Barbara Bryophytes tries to stuff the genie back in the bottle, calling fo a moratorium, if not an outright ban, on e-scooters.

The Encinitas bikeshare system has been put on hold thanks to Trump’s trade war with China.

A young boy and his father were rescued from the base of a San Francisco cliff after the child somehow rode his bike off the edge and his father went down to help him.

Results of San Francisco’s pilot study on the city’s Valencia Street protected bike lane shows a dramatic reduction in risk to bike riders, including a 95% decrease in mid-block interactions with drivers, where dooring had previously posed a substantial risk.

Time says higher prices for Jump bikes and e-scooters are threatening the micromobility revolution in the Bay Area.

 

National

Far from being cheating, a new study shows ebike riders actually get more exercise than regular bike riders.

An Oregon appeals court says yes, bicyclists can legally pass vehicles on the right, after a bike rider was cited by a cop for unsafe passing after he was right hooked by a bus driver who’d just passed him.

More on the innovative new bike lights developed by students at the University of Colorado that bathe the user in rainbow-hued lights, as well as illuminating the road.

An ex-Denver radio host lists of a who’s who of local bike advocates as he complains about their “activist agenda,” while spouting his own anti-bike lane one. But he does claim that he’s polite to each and every one he meets, even “the obnoxious ones.”

Beyonce fans take a bike ride in Houston’s blistering heat to visit Queen Bey’s favorite haunts.

It was nice while it lasted. In the two years since St. Joseph MO opened a free bikeshare system with a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all 40 bicycles have been stolen or destroyed.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a pair of donated adaptive bicycles from a couple of adopted, autistic Kentucky children.

Finishing our Kentucky trifecta, it’s good to be king. Or mayor, anyway. The former mayor of Somerset KY walks with a lousy $100 fine for clipping a 15-year old girl while she was riding in a crosswalk with the right-of-way — then driving off, claiming he didn’t realize he’d hit her bike.

Riding a bike across the country isn’t all that rare anymore. But riding a bike 3,000 miles across the US with serious vision and hearing problems due to a genetic condition, like this Kentucky teacher, is.

Vermont’s governor is one of us, taking to his bike to see what problems bicyclists face in one county, and what they’re working on. That exactly what we should expect of all elected officials.

A New Hampshire bike rider tells drivers not to be nice by waving bicyclists through intersections, and to be predictable, instead.

A Rhode Island chef is beating his addiction to alcohol with the help of his bicycle, riding 100 miles a week and losing 40 pounds in the process.

After a Connecticut bike rider was injured in a crash, police added insult to injury — literally — by giving the victim a stern warning for riding salmon.

A vehicular cyclist in upstate New York repeats the myth that bike lanes make bicyclists less visible and safe, when the fact is, bike lanes have been repeatedly shown to improve safety. And the better the bike lane, the greater the improvement.

Things just keep getting worse in the Big Apple, as the city suffered its 19th bicycling fatality this year when a 52-year old man was collateral damage when a teenage driver ran a red light and smashed into another vehicle. And yes, the crash was captured on video, and no, you don’t really want to see it. Trust me.

As we speculated last weekend, Atlanta appears to lead the nation in scooter deaths, with twice as many this year as any other major American city.

An angry Miami man exited a restaurant, stripped naked and hopped on his bicycle, riding in the buff to a nearby store where he grabbed a pair of shorts and walked out, telling the startled clerk he was paying with his bicycle. Needless to say, he didn’t have any ID on him. Although he does have some great thighs and a definite cyclist’s tan.

 

International

Automakers seem to think the future is in micromobility, as five companies — Volkswagen, Ford, Audi, BMW and GM — explore variations on e-scooters, while Peugeot goes back to its bikemaker roots with a line of ebikes. Just don’t plan to ride them on the medieval cobbles of Bruges.

Evidently, near total hegemony on the streets isn’t enough for some drivers, as one is captured on video driving on a busy bike path in a Vancouver park.

Vancouver brightens the city’s outlook for bicyclists with a series of colorful new bike racks.

After getting hit by someone on a bicycle, an Ontario man says bike riders are too comfortable breaking the law against riding on the sidewalk. The simple fact is, no one rides on the sidewalk if they feel comfortable on the street. So the best way to stop sidewalk riding is to demand safer streets.

No bias here. Police in the UK stopped a 13-year old black kid and demanded the receipt for his bike to prove it was actually his. Because we all carry the receipt for out bikes with us every time we ride. Right?

The mother of a fallen British bike rider calls for requiring bike lights on the sale of every new bicycle.

Trump ex-wife Marla Maples is one of us, riding a bike as she vacations in Spain.

Great photos from a Czech city, as they celebrate the 150th anniversary of the country’s first bike race. Although the first caption, by way of the Chinese press, seems just a tad off.

 

Competitive Cycling

Who says women can’t compete with men? Twenty-four-year old medical student Fiona Kolbinger became the first woman to win the grueling Transcontinental Race, riding across the European continent in 10 days, two hours, and 48 minutes — beating her nearest rival by 11 hours.

A Philippine paper looks at SoCal’s Coryn Rivera and her efforts to make the US cycling team for the 2020 Olympics, even though she could compete as part of the Philippine national team.

If you couldn’t get past the Wall Street Journal’s paywall to read Jason Gay’s profile of South LA’s back-to-back US crit champ Justin Williams and the League of Cycling, a Belizean website offers a synopsis of the piece in honoring the Belizean-American cyclist.

Lance may be officially barred from bike racing, bu that doesn’t mean he can’t gloat about “blowing the doors off” Vice President Mike Pence on a Nantucket bike path.

Forget doping, now you can just cheat on Zwift.

 

Finally…

Don’t just drink your expensive single-use coffee, ride it. Who needs a barber shop when you can just use a bikeshare bike.

And if you’re going to ride your bike carrying a loaded BB gun while high on crack, put a damn light on it.

The bike, not the BB gun.

Or the crack.

 

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

Morning Links: Nipsey Hussle was one of us, and kindhearted cop replaces 91-year old Tarzana woman’s stolen bike

April 2, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Nipsey Hussle was one of us, and kindhearted cop replaces 91-year old Tarzana woman’s stolen bike

The late Nipsey Hussle was one of us.

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A 91-year old Tarzana woman is back on the road after a kindhearted cop teamed with Reseda Bicycles to replace her stolen adult tricycle.

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Local

CD2 Councilmember Paul Krekorian, who killed a shovel-ready plan for bike lanes on Lankershim Blvd, says climate change is creating a sense of global urgency, and young Angelenos want “land use decisions to be used in a way that creates walkability, bike-ability, and proximity between work, entertainment and homes.” Never mind that the Lankershim bike lanes he killed would have addressed both of those concerns. But hey.

Two Lincoln Heights teachers and an Olympic cyclist have teamed to form the LA LA Bike Club at the Los Angeles Leadership Academy, giving students an alternative to drug use and gang activity.

State

No surprise here. Encinitas bicycle advocate and local leader Roberta Walker and her husband have filed a claim against the city for the crash that left her with critical injuries last December, arguing that the signage and sharrows she was riding on were confusing and contributed to the crash. And that there should have been a bike lane, instead.

San Diego trauma surgeons say the rash of scooter-related injuries goes on, though they won’t give any actual figures until a journal study comes out later this year.

Hoodline ranks the five best bike shops in San Diego. The question is whether San Diego bicyclists would actually agree.

Oakland has released the draft of their proposed 2019 bike plan for public comment. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A pair of Napa parents are committed to promoting bicycle safety after their 11-year old son was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver while crossing the street on his bike; naturally, the driver wasn’t charged.

National

Outside discusses five insects everyone can eat. Most bike riders have probably eaten a few before learning to ride with their mouths closed.

Looks like Seattle is retreating on its bike-friendly reputation. A week after pulling the plug on a long-planed bike lane, Seattle scratches plans for 22 proposed bikeways, requiring an update in the city’s Bike Master Plan.

Speaking of Seattle, the local paper offers seven reasons to buy an ebike.

Grand Junction CO makes a big deal over their new sharrows, saying they show where bicyclists are allowed to use the full lane — before noting that they don’t actually change anything.

Texas bike riders participating in the Ride for Reading San Antonio program collect books each month, then ride to distribute them to local schools. Meanwhile, a San Antonio, Texas bike shop owner was killed by an alleged drunk driver, who said she saw his bike and flashing lights, but somehow couldn’t avoid hitting him.

An Austin, Texas writer discovers she actually can give up driving for a month and survive. And likes it.

A group of bike-riding teenagers swarmed Boston’s former Big Dig tunnel, taking over two lanes of the freeway on the O’Neill Tunnel until they were herded out by police. Although I’m more concerned by the driver who used a handheld cellphone to record them.

Queens residents demand the NYDOT finish the uncompleted bike lane on Queens Blvd, despite loud organized opposition.

Streetsblog informs New York’s bike-riding police commissioner that many of the department’s rank-and-file don’t share his bike-friendly attitude.

A new short film shows New York’s ill-advised war on ebikes through the eyes of the Chinese delivery people who bear the brunt of if.

A Virginia man was given eight life sentences without the possibility of parole for the rape and murder of a Muslim teenager who was walking to a Ramadan service with a group of friends; the incident began with road rage when he honked at a bike rider in the group, who angered him by yelling back at him.

They get it. Business owners along a Baton Rouge LA street undergoing a road diet say it will be worth it once the work is finished. Even if the work is 18 months behind schedule.

International

They’re some of us, too. US Magazine shows bike-riding celebs around the world. Depending on how you define celebrities, of course. Although I like Lea Michelle, who said she kept a bicycle on the Paramount lot to bike to the set and back.

A bike-riding Toronto man is on trial for fatally bludgeoning a family friend with a steel pipe for no apparent reason.

The BBC’s Piers Morgan insists that bike riders should be licensed and insured, accusing riders of being “completely unaccountable,” “invisible people marching around anonymously on your bikes creating havoc.” Maybe someone should explain to him how bicycling works, because marching ain’t it.

Bicycle and motorized scooter-based ambulances are expanding the reach of healthcare in Uganda.

A Chinese man was critically injured when he was struck by a bicycle. No, it was a riderless bikeshare bike that someone threw out the window of a tall building.

The Chinese woman who cheated in a marathon by riding a bike for much of the route has received a well-deserved lifetime ban. Hope that 5 hour, 38 minute time was worth it; makes you wonder how long she would have taken without cheating.

Competitive Cycling

Dutch Continental rider Robbert de Greef was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a heart attack while competing.

Italian downhill racing legend Corrado Hérin was killed when the ultralight plane he was piloting crashed.

Finally…

Build your own 37 mph, handlebar-free ebike ‘bent. Apparently, you’re not supposed to ride a bicycle pulling a suitcase on a Shanghai freeway.

And here’s a second chance if you missed yesterday’s round of April Fools gags.

Although I think the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies won the day.

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