Tag Archive for bike cam video

Not so fast on schooling Long Beach cop, bike community raises funds for Ukraine, and teaching truckers urban bike skills

March 22, 2022 / / One comment

Well, maybe not.

That video we linked to yesterday showing a BMX rider educating a Long Beach cop and standing up for his right to ride may not have gotten it right after all.

This comment from Steve suggests that the cop may have been right, if the video was filmed after 10 am, and the riders were going any faster than a slow walk.

Re schooling the cop…the law was a bit more complex and of course no one bother to look the law up and read it. Typical. the cop was right (unless the riders were under 3 mph..looks like it was daylight hrs from the video..after 10 am?)
§ 16.08.502. Bicycles on Rainbow Harbor Esplanade.
Latest version.

Bicycle riding on the Rainbow Harbor Esplanade is prohibited in excess of three (3) miles per hour between the hours of ten o’clock (10:00) a.m. and ten o’clock (10:00) p.m., except City employees in the performance of their duties.

(ORD-08-0014 § 31, 2008)

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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Nice to see the cycling community step up to help Ukraine following the invasion and massacre of civilians by Russian troops.

Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton raised over $200,000 for the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund by riding 42 hours straight from Munich to Ukraine’s border with Poland, a distance of 661 miles.

Tennessee bikemaker Obed is auctioning an aero carbon gravel bike painted in the country’s colors to benefit UNICEF’s Protect Children in Ukraine Fund.

Former cycling great Jan Ullrich is auctioning off one of his own bikes from the 1998 Tour de France marred by the infamous Festina Affair to raise funds for A Heart for Children, to support sick kids and orphans in war-torn Ukraine.

Although personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing someone crowdfund money for a cruise missile pre-programmed for Putin’s dacha.

But maybe that’s just me.

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A DC website says maybe the viral bike rider shown below giving the so-called “People’s Convoy” truck driver’s protest a taste of their own medicine was just demonstrating safe urban bicycling skills.

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Why wouldn’t William Shatner ride an ebike accompanied by a robed gospel choir?

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Today’s mountain bike break comes from just outside Puerto Vallarta on Mexico’s Pacific Coast.

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

British broadcaster Jeremy Vine calls for a “toxic” van driver to be fired for driving up on the sidewalk to get around a stopped taxi. Never mind the recently removed bike lane that might have prevented it.

Sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Apparently, Irish police don’t take too kindly to someone riding the roads with a “dangerously defective” DIY gas-powered mountain bike.

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Local

Streetsblog takes a second look at the new Taylor Yard bike bridge.

Burbank/Glendale Assemblymember Laura Friedman will join CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman, LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds to discuss transportation projects in the San Fernando Valley via Zoom Thursday evening.

LAist looks at the difficulties faced by the US branch of Ukrainian ebike maker Delfast, headquartered in a Whittier storefront, following Russia’s merciless invasion of the East European country.

 

State 

Singletracks profiles the San Diego Mountain Bike Association as they advocate  for trails in California’s second most-popululated county.

Hats off to the Bay Area’s Bike East Bay, which is celebrating 50 hard-earned years of advocacy.

 

National

Consumer Reports offers advice on getting a bike helmet your kid will actually want to wear. Although I’m partial to the ones with a faux mohawk, myself. 

Washington State votes to ban new gas-powered vehicles by 2030.

The accused hit-and-run driver who killed an older married couple riding their bikes in Tucson, Arizona Saturday morning claims he blacked out and has no memory of the crash; he admits to drinking and getting stoned the night before, and was still apparently wasted at the time of the 10 am wreck.

A Kansas woman copped a plea to reduced charges for running down a man riding a bicycle, then getting out and shooting him to death. No word on whether she knew the victim.

San Antonio, Texas bicyclists say a poorly designed bike trail crossing that hides oncoming traffic from view was responsible for a bike rider’s death. The crossing calls for bicyclists to dismount and walk their bikes across the street, demonstrating that the people who designed it live in an alternate reality.

A Minnesota man faces up to ten years behind bars for killing a 73-year old priest when he drove onto the shoulder and rear-ended the man’s bicycle.

A bike shop founded by a Michigan couple works to provide bicycles to people in need, including former convicts in need of transportation after their release.

 

International

PinkBike looks at five new products from small European manufacturers.

A UK website considers the advantages of bicycling rather than driving, but leaves out most of them. Like actually enjoying your commute while you help save the planet, without putting oil money in Putin’s pocket.

Retired pro cyclist Dan Craven is starting a new brand of handmade steel frame bicycles in his native Namibia to help put skilled craftsmen to work in his home town of Omaruru; the brand name Onguza “comes from the Namibian word ‘okuti-onguza’, meaning ‘the great expanse of desert out there’ in the Himba and Herero languages.”

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews unveils what the top 20 male pro cyclists earn in annual salary, led by Tadej Pogačar with the equivalent of $6.59 million. Although lower paid members of the WorldTour peloton squeaks by with a relatively paltry minimum salary of $40,000. And women on the WorldTour earn considerably less, with the top pros getting less than $90,000.

Bad news from stage two of Spain’s Tour of Catalunya, where 31-year old Italian pro Sonny Colbrelli collapsed after taking second place to stage-winner Michael Matthews following an intense up-hill sprint to end the race, and was given CPR after losing consciousness; Colbrelli was competing just two weeks after a bout with bronchitis. At last report, he was hospitalized in stable condition.

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with angry LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about getting pushed off our bikes by a cantankerous monkey. Banned from the cycling cafe due to coffee ambivalence.

And this is either a weird jungle gym or a just bizarre attempt to keep anyone from accessing the trail.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

US gives up everything for Lent, tactical techniques to slow speeding drivers, and sharing the road with driving dogs

March 31, 2020 / / Comments Off on US gives up everything for Lent, tactical techniques to slow speeding drivers, and sharing the road with driving dogs

As we noted yesterday, this site will not observe April Fools Day. 

With everything that’s going on in the world right now, you need to be able to trust what you read. Especially here.

Photo by The Lazy Artist Gallery from Pexels.

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Catholic or not, thanks to Covid-19, we’re all giving up virtually everything for Lent.

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Streetsblog recommends tactical traffic calming measures to slow speeding drivers, newly freed from the constrictions of traffic.

The LAPD shows the tragic results of that speeding — a triple fatality crash on what looks like Highland Blvd.

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This is who we share the roads with, canine edition.

A Washington man was busted for leading police on a 109 mph chase while trying to teach his dog to drive.

Yes, his dog.

No word on whether it had a license.

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A new helmet mounted, dual lens bike cam simultaneously captures images to the front and rear as you ride. And the video quality is pretty damn good.

At the equivalent of roughly $220, the price isn’t bad, either.

And yes, this is moving to the top of my wish list.

Even if it does stick up like a periscope.

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Global Cycling Network steps you through some basic maintenance tasks you may have been putting off.

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

A 16-year old Long Beach boy suffered non-life threatening injuries when he shot by a pair of men riding bicycles Sunday night, in what police describe as an apparent gang-related shooting.

The next day, a man fleeing from police on a bicycle was injured in an officer-involved shooting after allegedly firing at police, who were responding to a reported shootout at Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Long Beach.

No word on whether these two incidents may be related.

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Local

The recent rush of celebrities to take a bicycle break from the coronavirus stay-at-home order continues, as Jennifer Garner went out for a ride through Pacific Palisades.

Andy Garcia is one of us, too, taking a spin on a fat tire bike through his West Los Angeles neighborhood, while calling on people to exercise to boost their immune system.

Gubernator scion Patrick Schwarzenegger took to an elliptical bike ride through LA with his girlfriend, and mother Maria Shriver.

Canadian Cycling Magazine considers why so many Hollywood celebs are taking to ebikes, saying the bicycles are perfect for life in Los Angeles.

 

State

San Francisco has moved its annual Bike to Work Day from this May to September 24th, in hopes this mess will all be over by then.

 

National

After much dithering, the federal government has finally concluded that bike repair workers provide an essential service, and should be allowed to keep their shops open. Meanwhile, Minnesota is the latest state to designate bike shops as essential businesses during the pandemic.

VeloNews looks at performance ebikes, and says there are a lot of changes yet to come. The magazine also offers an online preview of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, which has been postponed until August.

Chicago bike riders pulled the plug on Critical Mass this month, opting instead for solo rides or riding with a friend while maintaining social distancing.

While other cities are experiencing a jump in bicycling rates due to coronavirus fears, Cincinnati shuts down its bikeshare system to slow spread of the disease.

An Ohio newspaper recommends doing your social distancing on two wheels.

A Massachusetts school superintendent has postponed a planned 400-mile ride to celebrate his town’s 400th anniversary.

Buffalo, New York’s slow roll ride has released detailed route maps so people can do their own rides while practicing proper social distancing.

A 79-year old bike rider says she’s not sure how safe New York’s parking protected bike lanes really are, after she was hit by drivers twice in just the last eight months.

New York bicycling injuries are still up for the year, despite a slowdown in the last few weeks as traffic has slowed due to the city’s coronavirus lockdown.

Philly advocates are joining the nationwide call to close some streets to cars to allow bike riders and pedestrians to get out while maintaining social distancing, rather than overwhelming popular trails.

Good idea. A New Orleans bike advocacy group is coping with social distancing by offering virtual bicycling basics workshops.

The Covid-19 bike boom has extended all the way down to Florida.

 

International

Road.cc rates the five best foldies for 2020, including the usual suspects.

Ottawa, Ontario debates whether to take space from cars on the city’s now overly wide streets to create more room for people and bike riders.

A handful of workers with Great Britain’s National Health Service will get free ebike loaners for three months to help them avoid crowded transit services; hopefully, other companies will contribute so more people can ride.

Britain’s biggest bike chain is now offering free tune-ups to NHS and emergency workers, whether they’re on two wheels or four.

Thailand’s recently installed king has rented out an entire German hotel for himself and his entourage, including a harem of 20 concubines, as he reportedly rides his bike through the roads of Bavaria.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sixty-nine-year old former Milan-San Remo winner Pierino Gavazzi is in critical condition as he battles Covid-19 (scroll down), while 2018 Tour de France winner Geraint Thomas says cancelling this year’s Tour de France will cost cyclists their jobs.

 

Finally…

That feeling when surviving a mountain bike crash convinces you to make a pro wrestling comeback.

And this is probably not the best way to get a ride in without getting busted for breaking the coronavirus lockdown.

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Be safe, and stay healthy.

 

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

More Covid-19 bike news, you can’t carry heavy things on a bike, and Del Rey gets its very own Great Street

March 12, 2020 / / Comments Off on More Covid-19 bike news, you can’t carry heavy things on a bike, and Del Rey gets its very own Great Street

Today’s Covid-19 news comes from New York, where commuters wary of possible germ-infested subways are taking to bicycling, many for the first time.

Meanwhile, the city’s mayor and failed presidential candidate swears he was only joking when he said he wouldn’t follow his own advice to bike to work to avoid the new coronavirus because his bike skills need work.

And an op-ed says New York has to make the streets safer to make bicycling safer.

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As everyone knows, you can’t carry heavy loads on a bicycle.

https://twitter.com/PhilVabulas/status/1237321231386456064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1237321231386456064&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F271859-bonanza-budget-cycling-sorry-just-kidding-nothing-usual-cargo-bikes-ftw-paris

I said, you can’t…oh, never mind.

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CiclaValley goes gravel grinding in the Verdugos and Cherry Canyon with Gravel Bike California.

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A London bike rider stresses the importance of keeping a close eye on everyone on the road.

And misses the pothole that took him down.

Something I can relate to, after once noting the location of every vehicle at an intersection before leaning into a perfect high-speed right turn. Yet somehow failing to spot the puddle directly in front of my wheel.

Then almost miraculously skidding across eight lanes of busy traffic without getting run over, and smashing into the curb on the far side.

I was lucky to get up with just a broken elbow, road rash from head to heel, and my shredded spandex shorts literally hanging a thread from indecent exposure.

Good times.

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A speeding British driver loses control on a slick roadway, barely missing a bike rider before flying off the road.

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Local

Centinela Ave in LA’s Del Rey neighborhood is now the second street in Councilmember Mike Bonin’s 11th Council District to receive a Great Streets designation. Hopefully this one won’t bring out the NIMBYs for another years-long fight like the one on Venice Blvd in Mar Vista.

KCET presents seven places where you can discover the LA River, much of which is accessible by bike. And all of which should be by 2028, when the LA River bike path is scheduled to finally be completed.

Hoodline uses Yelp reviews to list the four highest-rated budget-friendly bike shops in Los Angeles, including Mar Vista bike co-op Bikerowave.

Pasadena’s Over Town Brewing Co. will celebrate their first anniversary by joining with the SGV Foothill Flyers Vintage Bicycle Club to host a Vintage Bike Show and Swap Meet on Sunday.

Friday the 13th could be unlucky for scofflaw bike riders, pedestrians and motorists in Santa Monica, where police will conduct bike and pedestrians traffic enforcement safety operations throughout the remainder of the month, starting tomorrow. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you’re not the one who gets a ticket.

 

State

The owner of Fullerton Bicycles and Buena Park Bicycles is buying the ebike shop next to the Fullerton store to expand their electric offerings.

Coronado’s popular My Bike kinetic sculpture is getting a tune-up.

Family members have identified the Bakersfield father who was killed in a collision with a sleeping motorcyclist while he was riding on the sidewalk; a crowdfunding campaign has raised just $900 of the $5,000 goal. Something is seriously wrong when people have to raise money from strangers just to bury innocent victims of traffic violence. And how the hell do you fall asleep riding a motorcycle?

The 2020 Bicycle Leadership Conference sponsored by PeopleForBikes, usually held in conjunction with the now-postponed Sea Otter Classic, has been rescheduled for October.

Palo Alto authorities have identified the 11-year old boy who was killed by the driver of a flat bed truck while crossing the street on his bike last Friday; his parents tell drivers to slow down for kids. Seriously, when we will decide that too many of our children have been senselessly killed on our streets — and finally do something about it?

A Modesto couple is credited with saving a man’s life after he suffered multiple seizures while riding a bike.

 

National

Curbed is turning the panel discussion that was planned for the now-cancelled SXSW into a virtual discussion at 9:30 am PDT tomorrow.

A pair of writers for Urology Times, which most men rush to read every month, says the health benefits of bicycling outweigh the risks, but while bike riding doesn’t cause erectile dysfunction, men should get a professional bike fit to lower the risk of urethral strictures, genital numbness and saddle sores.

Must be nice. All the Portland city council candidates agreed on the city’s transportation issues at a recent forum, including opposition to widening a freeway, and supporting more and better sidewalks and bikeways.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a three-wheeled bike a 61-year old Wisconsin man with cerebral palsy used as his only form of transportation. Even if an anonymous Good Samaritan replaced it with a new one the next day.

DC will try out experimental advisory bike lanes on streets too narrow for bike lanes without removing parking, by striping bike lanes on both sides with just one narrow center lane for drivers, but allowing drivers to merge into the bike lanes to pass cars coming in the opposite direction.

After Maryland officials rejected a proposal to put a bike lane on a new bridge across the Potomac, bike advocates responded with a plea to save the old one and turn it into a bike and pedestrian bridge.

A Florida driver got a well-deserved eight-years behind bars, plus another seven years probation, for the hit-and-run, distracted driving deaths of two women riding their bikes. The bad news is, he’ll get his driver’s license back three years after he gets out.

 

International

A new study published in the prestigious BMJ medical journal says yes, bike commuting is riskier than other forms of transportation, but the health benefits outweigh the risk.

US News & World Report — yes, it still exists — says carfree streets around the world help combat loneliness by providing spaces where strangers can mingle.

The London detective responsible for traffic safety says video evidence is “almost the biggest single agenda item” to improve safety on the streets. Except it still can’t be used in California, and much of the US, for enforcing traffic violations and misdemeanor crimes.

Residents of an English village pitched in to replace an 11-year old boy’s new mountain bike after it was stolen from his school.

Yes, it can be done. A British man quit his job of 20 years, sold his house, bought a bike and set out to travel the world.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside profiles 58-year old mountain biking legend Tinker Juarez, who has been riding for 45 years of his life and still beats competitors half his age.

The Paris-Nice bike race goes on, with a forth stage individual time trial. Enjoy it while you can; this is likely to be one of the last professional races we’ll see this year.

 

Finally

Riding a bike across the US isn’t that unusual anymore; doing it while dying of stage-four cancer is. When you get sued by the driver who hit you, take your case to the People’s Court.

And riding a bike to avoid coming down with something may not be a new idea, after all.

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

Morning Links: Road rage driver attacks LA bike rider, WeHo mayor OKs blocked bike lanes, and protected bike lanes AOK

August 23, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Road rage driver attacks LA bike rider, WeHo mayor OKs blocked bike lanes, and protected bike lanes AOK

Sorry about that. 

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

Blame it on my diabetes, after a bout of low blood sugar knocked me out for several hours. 

I’d like to say it won’t happen again.

But it probably will. 

Road rage photo by Wendy Corniquet from Pixabay.

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Un-effing-believable.

A man riding to work on Santa Monica Blvd was repeatedly harassed, brake checked, and physically assaulted by a driver in an unmitigated display of road rage that lasted over 6 minutes.

All for the crime of riding a bike, legally and exactly where he was supposed to be.

And to top it off, she accused him of scratching her car after she blocked his bike against another car, and proceeded to door him multiple times.

Seriously, watch the whole thing — with the sound up.

According to KCBS2/KCAL9, the road rage attack took place two years ago. The poster child for road rage driver was arrested after the victim called 911, and was recently sentenced to 450 hours of community service.

Which is why he’s just releasing the bike cam video now.

Hopefully, that will be enough to get her road rage temper under control. And help her realize that bikes do, in fact, belong on the streets.

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The LAPD is stepping up efforts to find the heartless coward who slammed into a 15-year kid riding legally in a South LA crosswalk, and left him lying crushed and bleeding in the street.

Meanwhile, advocacy nonprofit SAFE — Streets Are For Everyone — is hosting a March for Safety and Healing – In Honor of Roberto Diaz this Saturday.

Diaz is the victim of the crash, who remains hospitalized.

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Evidently, the mayor of West Hollywood is perfectly okay with mail carriers and delivery drivers blocking the city’s few bike lanes.

Which isn’t much of a problem.

Unless you’ve ever had to go around someone blocking the bike lane in heavy traffic on Santa Monica Blvd.

Because it’s apparently just too much to ask them to remove a parking space or two to create a loading zone.

Oh wait. Maybe I wasn’t the first one to say that.

After all, it’s much easier to accuse people of “outrage culture” than to take a small step to protect human lives.

WeHo can clearly do better than that. And should.

In fact, it does, no thanks to the mayor, apparently.

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No surprise here.

After the the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) released a study questioning the safety of some protected bike lanes, John Pucher and Ralph Buehler, two of North America’s leading bicycling academics, say it ain’t necessarily so.

According to a Forbes piece by British bicycle historian Carlton Reid, this is how Pucher responded in an email.

“Finding problematic intersection design of cycle tracks here and there in three U.S. cities does not at all negate the overwhelming evidence that protected bike lanes are both safer, in fact, than unprotected lanes or no facilities at all, and that the vast majority of cyclists and potential cyclists overwhelmingly prefer such protected facilities and feel safer on such facilities, thus leading to sharp increases in cycling rates.”

Pucher stresses:

“The IIHS study focuses on the dangerous intersections, but overall, cycle tracks are definitely safer. I agree, however, that intersection design is absolutely crucial to the safety of cycle track systems, and that special intersection, roadway markings, traffic signs, and traffic signals are necessary.”

So don’t stop fighting for protected bike lanes.

Just make sure they’re designed properly.

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The Malibu Times reports that local pro mountain biker Marshall Mullen’s short film The Woolsey Fire Through the Eyes of Marshall Mullen will make its local debut at Casa Escobar restaurant.

The paper notes that the film been on YouTube since late May. But oddly doesn’t bother to include the link.

Fortunately, we can do better than that. Even though this version has a much shorter title.

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They get it. No, they totally get it.

GQ recommends their picks for the best bike helmets for any kind of road riding.

But they begin their piece this way.

No, you don’t have to wear a bike helmet. If you were to, say, get hit by a garbage truck on your commute, a small piece of foam and molded plastic is not going to make much of a difference. But since this is America and not Copenhagen, where cyclists are demonized for taking a sliver of space away from precious steel boxes and commuters are regularly in fear of their lives, it’s best to hedge your bets. Wear a helmet. (But whatever you do, please don’t helmet shame those who prefer to let their locks flow.)

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Sometimes it’s the people on bikes behaving badly. 

A San Francisco man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was hit over the head with a bicycle. The attacker fled, but it sounds like police know who the attacker is, since they know his age.

An Aussie bike rider faces charges after he rode across several lanes of traffic to spit in the face of an anti-abortion protester. Seriously, don’t do that.

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Local

The LAPD is responding to CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz’ recent anti-scooter campaign by establishing a special task force to ticket e-scooter users riding on the sidewalk along Beverly Blvd, Melrose Ave and 3rd Street. Apparently, he’d much rather they get their asses run over on those narrow, busy streets that don’t offer any other place to ride. Or just not ride scooters, which is what he really has in mind.

Streetsblog talks with Bird’s sustainability chief.

Montebello Blvd is getting bike lanes and new medians in a 1.4-mile improvement project. And aggravating drivers in the process.

California is sending $315 million to LA County for highway repairs funded by the recent gas tax increase, along with $5.4 million for active transportation projects.

 

State

The proposed Complete Streets bill will stay alive in the state legislature, despite a “farcical” estimate from Caltrans that appears to be an effort to kill it.

The driver who killed Costa Mesa Fire Captain Mike Kreza as he rode his bike in Mission Viejo last year had seven different drugs in his system at the time of the crash, including prescription drugs, street drugs and various metabolized drug byproducts; 25-year old Stephen Taylor Scarpa is facing a murder charge in Kreza’s death, and remains behind bars on a $2 million bond.

Beautiful piece by an investigative reporter for the LA Times about the remarkable recovery of a man who was nearly killed in an Oceanside bike crash, after lingering in a near vegetative state for months. And her efforts to convince someone he was still alive in there.

San Diego advocates are calling on the city to reconsider plans to remove parking spaces to install bike lanes on 30th Street because of the impact it could have on elderly and handicapped people. Because apparently, it’s impossible to pull over just long enough to let someone out of a car. And elderly and handicapped people never, ever ride bicycles, as everyone knows.

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a woman was killed trying to ride her bike in a crosswalk; the CHP immediately absolved the driver of blame because it was dark. Apparently, Dodge Challenger’s like the one the driver had don’t have headlights, and the CHP has never heard of the state’s basic speed law, which prohibits driving too fast for current conditions. Like when it’s too dark to see what’s in the road directly ahead of your car.

A pair of men were busted for making off with six bikes worth $30,000 from a Santa Cruz bike shop after they were observed by a witness.

A car thief received the maximum sentence for plowing into a San Francisco bike cop as he attempted to flee from the police; Willie Flanigan was convicted on charges of “assault with a deadly weapon, hit-and-run, evading and resisting an officer, fleeing the scene of an accident, receiving stolen property and being an unlicensed driver.” Yet somehow, despite all those charges, the maximum sentence was just 12 years and 8 months.

Seventy-five-year old Courtney Rudin was convicted of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for the head-collision that killed a woman riding in a Sonoma County charity ride when he made dangerously ill-advised passed around a slower vehicle; he faces just one year behind bars. Seriously, killing another human being should never be a misdemeanor, intentionally or not.

An 85-year old Los Osos man was critically injured after he suffered some sort of medical issue and fell off his ebike, even though he was wearing a helmet.

 

National

Bike Lawyer Bob Mionske says excusing careless drivers by blaming their victims just ensures that other drivers will keep driving that way.

No shit. Streetsblog says testing self-driving cars on the roads endangers pedestrians. And everyone else.

Forbes says bicycle-oriented development is a growing force with the larger field of transit-oriented development throughout the US, now that bicycling is the nation’s fastest-growing form of transportation.

Entry-level ebike prices continue to drop, as Rad Power Bikes introduces their new RadRunner cargo bike, which can be ridden in e-assist or full throttle mode.

A moving and hard-hitting photo essay says Portland is spending millions to stop drivers from killing people, but it’s not working.

He gets it. A Salt Lake City-area father and bike rider says aggressive driving should be treated as a crime. Preferably before they kill someone.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 86-year old Utah man still rides 1,000 miles a year on a tandem with his son; he was riding 3,000 miles a year on his own until he was hit by a driver three years ago. Although I’d just as soon skip that whole “hit by a driver” part, thank you.

Former Bicycling editor and elite cyclist Andrew “Bernie” Bernstein speaks out from his hospital bed about the dangers of distracted, drunk and/or speeding drivers, a month after he was left to die by a hit-and-run driver outside Boulder CO.

A bike shop in my hometown is struggling to clear its name after police arrested someone selling stolen bikes on the Let Go app, and making it appear the bike shop was doing it.

A Dallas man faces a murder charge for allegedly running down a man riding a bicycle for allegedly stealing his gun, then allegedly beating him to death with a piece of wood.

Horrible news from Oklahoma City, where a professional magician suffered severe spinal damage when he was struck by a police car while riding his bike; the officer was placed on paid leave, while the victim may be permanently paralyzed and unable to speak.

The owner of three pit bulls that killed a nine-year old Detroit girl as she was riding her bicycle has been charged with second degree murder for not controlling his dogs; the dogs, one of whom was shot by a rescuer, will likely get the death penalty.

An Indianapolis teenager says he forgives the driver who fled the scene after running him down on his bike, leaving him lying in a ditch unable to move.

I want to be like him, too. Bicycling offers four tips from the 91-year old Indiana cyclist who keeps breaking age group records.

Rapper Kadeem’s new album World Sport takes on a bicycling theme, reflecting the time spent on his ‘87 Schwinn World Sport as he was recording it, as well as his time on two wheels navigating the streets of Boston, dealing drugs and delivering for DoorDash.

New York prosecutors threw the book at the 18-year old driver who ran a red light and caused the collateral damage crash that killed a Brooklyn bike rider two weeks ago, charging him with criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, vehicular assault, disobeying a traffic device and doing 61 mph in a 25 mph zone. In other words, driving his Dodge Charger exactly the way the carmaker suggests he should. Thanks to Shaggy for the heads-up.

The New York Times examines why drivers rarely faces charges for killing bike riders; prosecutors have to show the driver’s behavior was “egregious,” and that they broke at least two traffic laws. Although it seems unlikely that the same standard would apply to killing someone with any other kind of weapon.

In the eternal battle over car storage, Philly residents are on the warpath over new bikes lanes that removed over a hundred parking spaces.

 

International

Forbes recommends six bike tours from around the world, including a self-guided tour of LA-area movie star homes, for people who are into that sort of thing.

Road.cc offers a guide to group ride hand signals. No, not that one.

Montreal will soon start ticketing drivers who violate Quebec’s equivalent of a three-foot passing law by using an ultrasound device that measures the distance between a bike and a passing car. The LAPD apparently has no interest in that, despite being told about the device multiple times as part of the department’s bike liaison program.

This is why you should always get checked out by a doctor after any bike crash. A London man died after a blood clot caused a heart attack two weeks after he fell off his bike. That’s a lesson I’ve learned the hard way.

A report from the UK Parliament says forget electric cars, get Brits on bikes. Good advice on this side of the Atlantic, too.

Evidently, placing solar panels in a French roadway was a bad idea.

Germans call for expanding bicycle infrastructure after bicycling deaths reach their highest total since 2010.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews suggests four story lines to follow at the four-stage women’s Colorado Classic bike race, which kicked off yesterday in Steamboat Springs CO. You can livestream the races on the magazine’s website.

The New York Times offers an obituary for Felice Gimondi, one of just seven cyclists to win the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia.

 

Finally…

Yes, you can find bikeshare above the Arctic Circle, in case you were wondering. If you’re riding your bike with several outstanding warrants, just put a damn light on it, already.

And your next bike could be a Harley.

No, really.

 

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Morning Links: Tour de Tucson this weekend, yours truly gets right hooked, and bike theft by drone

November 13, 2018 / / 2 comments

It’s a light news day, so let’s get right to it. 

………

Frequent contributor David Drexler sends a brief note asking for a mention of this weekend’s Tour de Tucson.

One of the best road bike rides/races in the USA that everyone can participate in, Tour de Tucson, is this Saturday.

Last minute registration is allowed on site on Friday I did that last year, can’t go this year.

I have raced it 4 times over the years.

100 miles, everyone get a timing chip and you can race/ride in your age class so it’s possible to come in 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

Tucson really turns out for it, broadcasting it, shutting down all roads, driveways, tons of police, raised over a million for charity.

At the front start are pros some from Olympics, Amgen, and the WorldTour.

Your name is published with finishing time.

Today is the last day for online registration for the Tour de Tucson. You can learn more about the race — a lot more — here.

Photo by Markus Spiske via Pexels.com.

………

Ride long enough, and you develop a sixth sense for when you’re about to get right hooked, long before a belated turn signal.

………

Local

CiclaValley looks at the before and after images of the tragic Woolsey fire, comparing the aftermath to the scenes from some of his previous rides.

What could be more LA than watching a bike rider get hit by a car in the background as TMZ interviews comedian Mike Ross as he steps out of a WeHo bar?

 

State

An Op-Ed in the Orange County Register says lawsuits against scooter makers threaten innovation.

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition invites you to join them for the opening of a new bike art exhibition this Thursday, as I Love To Ride My Bicycle opens at San Diego’s SDSU Downtown Gallery.

They’re onto us, comrades. A Palo Alto writer says a plan to add bus lanes and protected bike lanes on a major street is just a scheme to increase congestion.

 

National

Bicycling takes a photographic look at the “long and glorious” history of cycling.

A Seattle website says it’s time to take #MeToo to the streets because planners need to listen to women who walk and bike.

Houston residents argue that public safety isn’t a public health issue, even though public health experts disagree.

 

International

A local magazine offers ten reasons why an Ontario town is a car-first community.

A new report says ebikes could replace up to 813,000 trips in London every day, reducing CO2 emissions by 184 metric tons.

A British county is raising funds to buy five children’s ebikes in an effort to fight childhood obesity.

A Scottish bike advocacy group calls for dropping speeds on rural roads to 40 mph to improve safety for people on bicycles.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where a careless bus driver loses his license — and probably his job — for four years for killing a woman as she rode her bike, but won’t spend a day behind bars.

Another one to add to your bike bucket list, as a bicyclist photographs her way through Crete.

Founders of Moscow’s massively popular bike parades say the city’s Department of Transport is muscling in on them with a goal of taking them over and shutting them down; the three-times a year rides attract as many as 30,000 people each time.

An Aussie website recommends using an ebike to pull yourself out of a rut.

Kyoto, Japan is addressing climate change by setting itself on a path to become the Copenhagen of Asia.

 

Competitive Cycling

Transgender world masters track champ Rachel McKinnon is still facing a backlash — including death threats — a month after winning the title. I’ll leave it up to others to determine if being born male gives her an advantage or not — but she followed the rules, and beat cyclists who had previously beaten her. And no one deserves that crap, especially over a damn bike race.

 

Finally…

When your ride is interrupted by wild Alaskan cows. If you’re going to get drunk and trash a bar, try not to crash into a police car as you pedal away.

And now we have to worry about airborne bike thieves.

Or not.

Because that doesn’t look staged at all.

No, really.

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Morning Links: Bay Area bike advocate busted for Biking While Black, and LADOT officer blocks a DTLA bike lane

August 8, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bay Area bike advocate busted for Biking While Black, and LADOT officer blocks a DTLA bike lane

Was a Richmond bike rider busted in Oakland for Biking While Black?

Najari Smith, the founder and executive director of non-profit group Rich City Rides, was handcuffed and taken into custody on Friday for the crime of playing amplified music while leading a group of kids on a celebratory ride, and forced to spend the weekend in jail.

Which at it’s worst is a violation of the vehicle code, and a just ticketable offense.

Like LA’s East Side Riders, Rich City Rides operates as a bike shop/co-op dedicated to building a better community by getting the people of the economically depressed area onto two wheels. And Smith is respected, if not beloved, as the peacemaking leader of that group.

In fact, Streetsblog reports that Smith was trying to calm young riders angered by the aggressive police tactics when he was arrested. And that he remained calm and respectful throughout, turning down his music when requested by officers.

Not that it appeared to make any difference.

According to Streetsblog, Oakland police issued a statement saying Smith was taken into custody for repeatedly refusing to provide identification after officers approached him for blocking an intersection. Even though that’s not what was written in the citation.

However, police in the East Bay area have a history of cracking down on groups of young black bike riders.

And a Stanford University study showed Oakland police ticketed black riders at six times the rate of white bicyclists, in a city that’s less than one-third black.

Photo shows Najari Smith with the trailer and sound system he was using when he was arrested.

………

What does it mean when the people responsible for keeping drivers from blocking bike lanes are the ones blocking them?

In more ways than one.

A bike rider who prefers to remain anonymous forwarded this video of a confrontation with an LADOT Traffic Officer who not only stopped in a DTLA bike lane in heavy traffic, but passive aggressively stood next to her car refusing to move an inch so the rider could get by.

Maybe she was under no obligation to move until she was damn good and ready.

But is it too much to expect a little common courtesy from a city employee, when stepping aside for a few seconds wouldn’t have affected her job performance in the slightest?

Apparently so.

………

Once again, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office plea bargains a serious crime down to a mere caress on the wrist, as a French citizen was sentenced to time served — a lousy 18 days — for ramming his SUV into a group of people in DTLA.

That’s despite facing up to eight years on the original five counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Seriously, how can we expect drivers to take traffic crime seriously if the DA doesn’t?

………

Awhile back, we linked to a story about a rapidly growing petition from an Australian anti-bike group that was calling for bicyclists to be required to ride single file.

Now Cycling Tips reveals the results of a months-long investigation in to the hidden face behind the Facebook group behind the petition.

And their surprising discovery that it may be a well-known cyclist who turned against the local cycling community, after most of the local group rides had turned against him.

………

Local

Seriously? Public TV station KCET offers ten basic bike tips for a satisfying ride. And the first one is “Wear a helmet.” As I’ve noted before, I never ride without one. But bike helmets should be seen as the last line of defense when all else fails, never the first. Better advice would be telling people to ride defensively.

Keep Rowena Safe is asking for an all-hands on deck turnout for tonight’s meeting of the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council’s Transportation and Neighborhood Safety Committee, to counter a suspected effort to undo the successful Rowena road diet.

It’s going to be a busy few months on SoCal streets, as Santa Monica Next announces details of October’s two-mile COAST open streets event in the coastal community. That comes one week after the epic CicLAvia celebrating the LA Phil’s 100th birthday, and a little more than a month after Long Beach gets in on the act.

 

State

Some people just don’t get it. A community planning group in Ramona wants San Diego County to prioritize improving traffic safety before building bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Never mind that building them is how you improve traffic safety.

You’re invited to re-imagine Downtown Ontario tonight with pop-up buffered bike lanes on Euclid Avenue, as well as extended sidewalks and parklets, followed by a free concert in the town square.

A San Jose sidewalk rider asks everyone to just chill out, because he says it’s not that bad, and the streets can be dangerous. Never mind that sidewalk riding is illegal in downtown San Jose, and riding on the sidewalk actually increases your risk of a collision.

 

National

The rich get richer. Portland gets a beautiful new two-way protected bikeway through an industrial zone, even if no one knows its there.

A San Diego native plans to ride an electric wheelchair across the Cascade Mountains through Washington State to call attention to improving accessibility to the outdoors; he was paralyzed when he crashed his bike into a tree ten years ago while he was a student at UC Santa Cruz.

One Tucson AZ letter writer insists not all people on bicycles are jerks, while another says some bike riders don’t use common sense — like walking their bikes across busy intersections. Sure. As soon as drivers get out and push their cars across them.

An Op-Ed in a Colorado newspaper says mountain bikes shouldn’t be banned from wilderness areas.

A Colorado triathlete recounts the story of the horrifying crash with a careless driver that left her severely injured — and how the police and press got the story wrong because they could only talk with the driver afterwards.

A Colorado town pats itself on the back for improving safety for bike riders — by banning them from riding on sidewalks in the central business district.

Witness the Ofo graveyard, where yellow Dallas dockless bikeshares go to die. You’d think they could donate some of those bikes to homeless or underprivileged people. But evidently, you’d be wrong.

 

International

CNN looks at how children around the world get to school. Hint: Kids in the US don’t ride bikes. Or walk, for that matter.

A bike rider in British Columbia suffers potentially life-threatening injuries when he’s hit by a driver. But all the local paper seems to care about is the road that was closed as a result.

Calgary bicyclists complain after the city botched several bike path detours, forcing riders onto dangerous streets. Sort of like the repeated closures of the LA River bike path around Griffith Park, part of which remains closed through next year.

The Royal Canadian Mounties have recovered ten racing bikes stolen from a Malaysian track cycling team last month, hidden in an abandoned property outside of Edmonton.

An English bike rider wants to thank the bystanders who lifted a car off his leg following a crash.

A British children’s TV host is offering a reward for the return of his stolen ebike, which he named after his brother who died last year after suffering from Down’s Syndrome and dementia.

The New York Times offers a moving look at Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan, the American bike tourists murdered by ISIS terrorists in Tajikistan. Thanks to David Drexler for the heads-up.

Israel announces plans to build nearly 375 miles of bike paths to connect with existing paths, forming a 750-mile bikeway stretching across the country.

An Australian city attempts to save lives by experimenting with the equivalent of an 18 mph speed limit.

 

Competitive Cycling

The women’s winner of last year’s Colorado Classic will join the winner of the 2018 women’s Amgen Tour of California, and over 80 other riders, as she attempts to defend her title in this year’s race.

Aussie cyclist Simon Gerrans decides to call it a career after 14 years, with wins in Milan-San Remo, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Santos Tour Down Under, as well as stage wins in all three Grand Tours.

Maybe Gerrans shouldn’t be the only one to retire. Germany’s Tony Martin’s comeback from a fractured cervical vertebrae is on hold after his doctors say another fall right now could be fatal.

Scottish residents complain about being trapped in their homes by the time trial in the European road cycling championships.

 

Finally…

Who says you need a truck to move your belongings to a new home? Call it whatever you want, a fanny pack by any other name is still a fanny pack.

And this is not the proper way to carry a bike on your car.

Credit Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery with the link.

 

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Morning Links: Pedestrian deaths misrepresented, near miss caught on cam, and taxis barred from bike lanes

July 17, 2018 / / 6 comments

Let’s catch up on a few things that fell through the cracks recently.

Like the Tennessee study that found the public has a misunderstanding of how pedestrian deaths occur.

According to researchers, part of the problem stems from the fact that many deaths never get reported by the news media. And those that do are often misrepresented by the police and press.

That’s a problem we’ve seen too many times with bicycling crashes, when the police are quick to blame the victim, only to reverse themselves later.

Or too often not, leaving it up to the victims’ families and their lawyers to correct their mistakes.

And the public usually never hears about it.

………

Then there’s this video forwarded by Eric Lewis of a near sideswipe collision captured on his new bike cam.

Which is a perfect candidate for the new #NearMissLA hashtag.

………

There may be action taken to stop cab drivers from parking in the new bike lanes on Figueroa, and elsewhere, after all.

As a result of a recent flurry of tweets and videos showing the blocked bike lane, the LA Taxi Commission has proposed a new order prohibiting taxis from blocking bike lanes.

https://twitter.com/taxicomisionado/status/1018922399125782529

So keep up the pressure. Sometimes it does get results.

Now if they could just do something about cops and Uber drivers in the bike lanes.

………

Speaking of Uber, their primary competitor Lyft has endorsed Vision Zero, as well as serving underserved communities with bikeshare and e-scooters.

………

Local

The Los Angeles Sentinel profiles the East Side Bike Club and its mission to improve vulnerable communities through riding and maintaining bicycles.

Bicycling gives a thumbs up to the slim fit bike jeans made by LA’s own Swrve.

 

State

The wife of a fallen cyclist calls for a bike bridge over Santa Cruz harbor to keep it from happening to someone else; the long-time rider was killed crossing the only existing bridge.

Oakland plans to extend the road diet and bike lanes on iconic Telegraph Avenue, though current plans call for buffered lanes, rather than extending the current parking protected lanes.

 

National

Men’s Health explains how you can get in shape to ride the Tour de France. You can start by getting your weight under 140, which for most of us would require removing a limb or two.

A bike industry writer questions whether we’ve reached peak bicycle. Short answer, unless we get more safe places to ride, probably yes.

The good news is, there was nothing wrong with the cougar that attacked two bike riders in Washington this past May. The bad news is, it attacked them anyway.

A Denver writer says our transportation system is unbalanced. Which could be why even Denver bike cops are afraid to ride on the street.

Riding a handcycle, Michigan’s Laura Stark finished the cross-country ride she started two years ago, before she was paralyzed from the waist down by a distracted driver in Idaho; her riding companion wasn’t so lucky.

Curbed describes eight beginner’s bike rides for your next trip to the Big Apple.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. DC responded to the death of a bike rider by removing four parking spaces from an intersection to improve visibility.

Maybe Dracula is one of us, too. Transylvania has a ten-year plan to become more bike-friendly. But it’s the one in North Carolina, not Romania.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, after a Georgia man threw an injured stray dog onto his back and rode into town to get help; he met a woman who took the dog to the vet, and later adopted it.

So much for golf. A Florida retirement community is the first to be named a gold level Bicycle Friendly Community.

 

International

A new study says skip the hi-viz, because a small percentage of drivers will pass you unsafely no matter what you wear.

Forbes talks with the founder of TDA Global Cycling, formerly Tour d’Afrique, the company behind epic global bike tours.

Eight riders tag-teamed to ride 3,600 miles non-stop across Canada in just eight days.

A Winnipeg woman held a yard sale to benefit the families of three young boys who were killed by an alleged drunk driver earlier this year, as they walked and biked on the side of a road.

Bicycling is up in seven Toronto neighborhoods, where housing density near employment and education centers make bike commuting more practical.

A writer for the Guardian says children miss out on too much when they don’t learn to ride a bike, including fitness and confidence.

A German club is teaching Muslim refugee women to ride bicycles.

Road.cc reports on six cool things from this year’s Eurobike show in Germany. But I can’t get the damn page to load, so you’ll have to see for yourself what they are.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News looks at the team effort that’s keeping Lawson Craddock in the Tour de France, despite a broken shoulder bone; he’s now raised over $97,000 for a Houston velodrome.

USA Today discovers the role of domestiques in pro cycling.

The troubled BMC Racing team has finally got a new sponsor and will compete next year.

Bicycling offers a recap of everything you might have missed in the women’s Giro Rosa. Like the entire race, for instance.

Trek is forming a new women’s team headed by former world champion — and expecting mother — Lizzie Deignan. Another women’s team is great, as long as they pay them what the men make, which is highly unlikely. And get them some TV coverage so people might actually be able to watch for a change.

 

Finally…

What happens when your therapist’s couch is a mountain bike. When you need a $52,000 car to carry your bike.

And this is who we share the roads with.

But it was the gym’s fault for not wearing hi-viz.

 

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Morning Links: Safe bicyclist injured anyway, a big thumbs up for a safe pass, and our absurd surrender to cars

June 6, 2018 / / 2 comments

One quick note before we get started.

Yesterday, a friend and long-time supporter of this site texted me to say she was in the back of an ambulance on the way to the emergency room after getting hit by a driver.

Fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured, and was sent home with a large hematoma and assorted scrapes and bruises.

She’s one of the safest and most conservative bike riders I know, and someone who always rides with a helmet and hi-viz. Yesterday the helmet came in handy; the hi-viz, apparently not so much.

I don’t have any details yet.

But this is just one more reminder about the dangers of LA streets. And that it’s already long past time to do something about it.

………

Undoubtedly the cutest thing you’ll see today, as a four-year old Brit bike rider gives a truck driver a big thumbs up for a safe pass.

………

Local

LA’s traffic safety deniers say don’t bike the vote.

It will be a busy day on PCH Saturday, when 2,500 bicyclists come through the ‘Bu on the final day of the AIDS/LifeCycle Ride; this year’s ride raised a record $16.6 million for HIV programs.

 

State

An Orange County writer has been commissioned to write a history of Richard Long and the founding of GT Bicycles.

Bike SD calls on San Diego to save the planned Hancock Street bike lane, as local businesses demand its removal from the community plan in favor of more parking.

San Bernardino’s bus system talks with a man who rejuvenated his life when he got back on his bike in his 40s, and on the bus.

A Santa Cruz work skills program that teaches high school students to work as bike mechanics for class credit is slowly spreading across the US, with programs at schools in Colorado and Minnesota, and throughout California.

Someone should tell the UC Davis school newspaper there’s absolutely nothing funny about kicking people off their bikes. No, seriously.

Sad news from NorCal, where a 70-year old man died of an apparent heart attack while participating in a gravel race at Lake Davis.

 

National

Treehugger says people who walk, bike or ride scooters aren’t fighting over a cookie, as London’s former cycling chief said, we’re fighting over crumbs.

Another great piece from Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss, who says our surrender to the automobile is absurd and deadly, yet people still prefer a handful of cars to hordes on bikes coming to spend money at local businesses. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Strong Towns looks at how bike lanes benefit businesses, saying that in city after city, business owners see more foot traffic and higher sales when streets are redesigned to be more bike and walk friendly.

Once again, a cross-country cyclist has his bike and all his gear stolen, this time in Eugene OR. And once again, the local community pitches in to help out.

Colorado tells bicyclists and pedestrians that safety starts with all of us. On the other hand, it usually ends on the bumper of a car.

Come to the US for a summer work program, go home in a box thanks to a Texas drunk driver who plowed into a group of five bike riders, injuring one rider and killing a 23-year old man from Columbia who had only been in this country for three weeks. Somehow, I suspect the tears on the cheek of the driver in her booking photo are nothing compared to those of the victim’s family. But maybe that’s just me.

A St. Paul MN man has pled guilty to vehicular homicide for fleeing the scene after killing a bicyclist; he claimed he ran a red light to get away from a road rage altercation and hit something, but didn’t stop to see who or what he hit. His mother is also charged with aiding him in the coverup.

Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula is called a secret mountain biking mecca.

An Ohio family is understandably outraged that no charges will be filed in the death of a 12-year old boy, even though the driver admitted he was reaching for a phone just before the crash; police incorrectly blamed the victim for riding his bike in the traffic lane, rather than as close to the edge as possible.

A Boston bus and bike lane has been returned to its previous life as a parking lane, despite a successful one-month pilot project.

New York bicyclists will form a human-protected bike lane tomorrow to demand safer streets where a man was killed while riding home from work last year. Maybe that’s what we need to do here to finally get a little attention.

 

International

Cycling Weekly looks to bespoke bike builders to determine the trends in women’s bikes, beyond the mass market bike makers’ usual approach of shrink it and pink it.

A Canadian news site talks with the Toronto mountain biker who cut up his arms crashing into barbed wire that had been strung at chest height across a popular trail. Stunts like this aren’t pranks, they’re acts of terror — deliberate attempts to injure or kill people on bicycles. And the jerks responsible should be charged accordingly.

A Toronto man gets a $1,200 bikeshare bill despite insisting he returned the bike, then proving it.

Ikea’s Sladda bike has been done in by a belt, as the company permanently recalls all of the build-it-yourself bike-in-a-boxes.

London tells “irresponsible” cyclists to slow down and be considerate.

Two armed, masked men on bikes stole a $25,000 TV camera from an Australian news crew reporting from the UK.

A British university professor says ebikes could be core to sustainable mobility — if the government stops marginalizing bikes in favor of low-emission motor vehicles.

An Indian planning professor says he wishes he could ride to work, if only the country would invest in safe streets and bikeways.

Mumbai considers plans to build dedicated bike paths near the city’s transit stations.

 

Competitive Cycling

Third place finisher — and last year’s winner — Alison Tetrick offers a first hand view of this year’s 200-mile Dirty Kanza gravel race.

Forget Peter Sagan’s legs, check out his core workout.

Cycling Weekly offers tips on how to nail your first bike race, saying “racing is a landmark moment in the life of any competitive-minded rider.” Funny, I took up bicycling because I was too competitive, and it offered me a chance to ride just for the sheer joy of it.

Joe Lindsey offers up five ways to liven up the Tour de France. My favorite is his suggestion to make the riders shotgun a beer before a mass start.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to sue the government over injuries caused by a pothole you didn’t even hit. Seriously, slow down, watch for cars and don’t run into light poles.

And when you get hit by cars twice in nine days, it’s either incredibly bad luck, or bad streets and crappy drivers.

Or maybe all of the above.

 

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Morning Links: Pasadena’s Orange Grove complete street on hold, and chill out on dockless bikeshare already

March 29, 2018 / / 5 comments

So much for that.

Pasadena has responded to the vocal concerns of drivers and local residents by putting an indefinite hold on plans for a road diet on dangerous Orange Grove Blvd.

Even though that means ignoring the concerns of everyone who wants to live on a quieter, calmer street. Or doesn’t want to get run down by those same drivers.

Which marks yet another victory, albeit hopefully a temporary one, for the people behind the driver activist group Keep LA Moving, which organized the resistance to the bike lane.

As well as opposition to the recently shelved Temple Street road diet, and the failed road diets in Playa del Rey.

So far, only the Mar Vista Great Streets Project on Venice Blvd has survived their traffic safety denier onslaught.

Let’s hope Pasadena can do a better job of communicating the benefits of such projects than LADOT has up to this point. And that the Orange Grove project will come back more successfully at a later date.

Because right now, the people in the black hats and two-ton vehicles are winning.

And needless to say, Keep LA Moving’s allies at KFI radio cheering the decisions.

……..

A writer for San Diego’s City Beat suggests maybe it’s time to just chill out about dockless bikeshare.

As Matthew T. Hall, San Diego Union-Tribune editorial director, lamented on Twitter about the kits, “What kind of world are we leaving our children?”

Well, for one, apparently one where folks Spin’s age, edging toward 60 and above, think the appearance of bicycles in certain communities amounts to some apocalyptic hellscape of two-wheeling insurgents intent on demolishing mankind as we know it…

Never mind that not everyone can afford to buy a bike, nor the notion that perhaps a significant portion of the bikes that appear in Little Italy—or Mission Hills or Point Loma for that matter—might have actually brought someone to your popular neighborhood. Seems like short-sighted economics to drive that kind of business away…

Is it a perfect system? Hell no, but what is? But for this curmudgeon who this week turned 59, the bikes have offered—at a reasonable price—an opportunity to regain some semblance of a connection with my city and, by some miracle, my youth.

………

Horrifying video of a head-on collision as a driver turned directly into a bike rider waiting at a red light.

Needless to say, the driver claims she never saw him. Which should be seen as a confession rather than an excuse.

Note: This video shows exactly what it looks like to get hit head-on from the rider’s perspective. So consider that before deciding if you really want to hit play.

………

Bloomberg reports that Uber disconnected the collision avoidance system that comes standard in the Volvo SUV that stuck and killed Elaine Herzberg while she was crossing the street in Tempe Arizona, relying on their own failed self-driving technology instead.

Meanwhile, Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss says instead of counting on self-driving cars to save us, we should build cities to marginalize motor vehicles.

………

Local

Metro wants your input on how to spend their budget for next year. Hint: Shift all the highway funds to build bikeways and sidewalks, instead.

Normally, this would be your warning that upcoming lane closures for a Culver City construction site would mean the closure of the eastbound bike lanes on Venice Blvd. But I’m told they’ve already been closed for weeks.

Bicycling takes a little floatation therapy in Santa Monica.

 

State

Here’s your chance to design a new image for a proposed bicycle-themed California license plate. I’ve already submitted my design, showing an angry driver yelling “Get on the sidewalk!” Thanks to Phil Gaimon for the link. 

The New York Times looks at California’s SB-827, which would encourage denser housing to reduce reliance on motor vehicles to cut greenhouse gasses.

An Agoura Hills writer says the weather is nice, so it’s time to ride a bike.

Advocacy group Bike Bakersfield has developed their own stolen bike bulletin board.

These are the people we share the roads with. A San Francisco driver was arrested for plowing into a group of pedestrians, killing one and injuring four, before fleeing the scene. To make matters worse, the crash appear to have been intentional, coming after he shouted homophobic slurs and threatened the victims with an ax.

Former pro Peter Stetina will host a gran fondo during this year’s Interbike in Reno-Lake Tahoe.

 

National

Business Insider reviews bike helmets, and concludes the best option for most people is a $25 skid lid from Schwinn.

Peer-to-peer bikeshare firm Spinlister has announced they will be closing at the end of next month.

Bike Portland talks with a safe-driving advocate for a BMW magazine, who wants to put the focus for Vision Zero on the people behind the wheel.

For the next three weeks, you can explore Yellowstone National Park by bike, with no cars allowed.

Streetsblog makes the case for why a new bike trail-adjacent Chicago apartment building should only have 36 parking spaces for 124 units.

No bias here. No, Time Out, bicyclists in New York can’t legally run red lights. But they can start riding when pedestrians are legally allowed to go, which is a different matter entirely.

A New York cyclist makes the case for why bicyclists should support congestion pricing.

An American Idol contestant is teaming with the Tennessee Highway Patrol and a Nashville bike/walk advocacy group to discourage texting while driving, two years after he was run down by a distracted driver while riding his bike.

Philadelphia bike riders will honor a pastry chef killed in a bike crash last year with a pastry-filled bike scavenger hunt.

 

International

CNET says increasing regulation could, but probably won’t, stop the global spread of dockless bikeshare.

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to get more aero. Which probably won’t help on your cruiser bike.

A Canadian mountie won’t face charges after investigators conclude there isn’t enough evidence to prove he ran over a fleeing bike theft suspect, even though he probably did.

It takes a major schmuck to sue a 10-year old girl for not following the vehicle code to the letter after he crashed into the rear tire of her bicycle while running. Fortunately, the judge dismissed the case.

A new study shows one in four drivers in Australia’s Queensland state pass bicyclists too closely. Which should sound familiar to most bike riders just about anywhere else.

 

 

Finally…

If you’re going to punch the driver who just crashed into your friend’s bike, at least wait until the cops leave.

And yes, you can go mountain biking in Los Angeles.

………

Thanks to Zachary R for his generous donation to the unofficial BikinginLA Dead Computer Replacement Fund.

 

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Morning Links: It’s bike video day, with bad LA drivers, Burbank PD safety, and an oldie but badie from SaMo PD

March 15, 2018 / / One comment

It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten a video from topomodesto.

The good news is he’s still riding; the bad news is he and his dog still have to deal with LA drivers.

https://twitter.com/topomodesto/status/974032838277279745

………

Burbank police offer tips on how to stay safe when walking or biking.

Although they seem to have missed the memo that says it’s now legal to cross the street during the numerical countdown.

But really, the best part of the video is where they tell drivers not to speed, to turn off their cell phones when they get behind the wheel, signal turns and lane changes, come to a full stop for stop signs and red lights, and always watch for vulnerable road users.

They did say that, right?

Meanwhile, velocipedes reminds us of the horrible bike safety video put out by the tone-deaf Santa Monica Police Department a few years back.

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Actor and director Taylor Nichols is one of us.

The president of American Farmland Trust is one of us, too, as he writes about his apparent significant other falling in love with riding a bike in DC.

And the late, great Stephen Hawking was once one of us, as well.

………

Local

DTLA bike shop Just Ride LA has reopened after a complete remodel, and is now an official Giant dealer.

Filmmaker and photographer Brian Vernor offers a great photo essay of riding the abandoned 1915 Old Ridge Road on Super Bowl Sunday.

Pasadena threatens to pull out of the Metro Bike bikeshare, which is currently operating at a significant loss in the city.

Downey’s mayor announces new bike lanes on a rebuilt Brookshire Ave.

 

State

A new study from UC San Francisco shows that riding your bike hard could be good for your sex life, at least if you’re a woman. And female bicyclists are no more likely to experience serious sexual or urinary problems than non-riding women.

 

National

Despite the rapid spread of Vision Zero across the US, traffic deaths continue to soar. Los Angeles deaths declined just 3% in the past two years, far short of the city’s overly ambitious goal of a 20% reduction by last year.

Santa Fe, New Mexico bicyclists tell the city council they’re afraid to ride the streets after the sheriff’s department apparently fails to take a road rage assault seriously. Maybe it’s time for LA bike riders to once again let the city council know how we feel.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A Boulder CO bicyclist killed in a crash this week was described as “the epitome of a good person.”

Denver plans to turn part of a massive parking crater into a human-scaled walkable, bikeable neighborhood, including the narrow, shared streets known as woonerfs.

A panel at SXSW discusses how to fuel your body on the bike; meanwhile, the streets of Austin are visited by massive bike-based eagle, owl and snake puppets.

A Wisconsin jury rules that it’s perfectly okay to kill someone on a bicycle when you’re not paying attention to the road.

 

International

Maintaining your fitness by riding a bike could reduce your risk of dementia later in life. And it’s pretty good for your immune system and aging muscles.

Speaking of which, Cycling Weekly offers tips on how to make the jump to your first century.

About time. Montreal recognizes that bicycles and motor vehicles are fundamentally different, and proposes changing the law to allow bikes to treat stops as yields, make rights on red lights, and follow pedestrian traffic signals.

Bicycling members of the Canadian equivalent of AAA can call for assistance with the touch of an app.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work, sort of. Edinburgh, Scotland responds to the death of a bike rider by proposing bicycle traffic lights that give riders a head start. But does nothing to address the tram tracks that caught her wheel and caused her death.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list: A bicycle tour through Scotland’s historic and stormy Hebrides Islands.

Malta’s oldest bike shop celebrates its 130th birthday. But it doesn’t look a day over 100.

A New Zealand editorial says maybe it’s time to take another look at the country’s mandatory bike helmet law.

 

Competitive Cycling

CyclingTips previews Saturday’s 109th Milan-San Remo, the first of cycling’s five one-day Monuments.

 

Finally…

The answer to losing is as easy as putting a motor in your bike, unless you get caught. Racing across America is challenging enough if you can see.

And when protecting bicyclists is the least you can do.

Literally.

Category: Bike Cam Video, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,
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