Tag Archive for Bike Culver City

Free LED safety gear for low-income Culver City commuters, and reasoning with an angry climate denying driver

Bike Culver City is starting a light giveaway program for bike riders and pedestrians in the city.

BCC steering committee member Art Nomura writes to say the organization has won a grant from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) GoHuman program to purchase and distribute hi-quality LED safety equipment to low income workers in Culver City and the vicinity.

Bike Culver City will be giving away a free top-rated LED Vest or a pair of hi-vis LED lights to qualified recipients; night or early morning workers that bike or walk to work (including first and last milers) are especially encouraged to apply.

Anyone interested in the program can click on this link to see what is available and to fill out a simple application form in English or Spanish.

However, he stresses that the application period ends on August 16, so this is a limited time opportunity.

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Um, okay.

An angry Portland driver goes off on a cargo bike rider because of his sticker reading This Machine Fights Climate Change, calling climate change a hoax and a scam, and saying the rider’s Antifa buddies can go to hell.

No, really.

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People For Bikes urges you to contact your US senators to demand the inclusion of an ebike tax credit and bicycle commuter benefit in the final draft of the new climate bill, aka the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Although at last report, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema was the last remaining holdout on the bill, looking to add back tax breaks for corporations and private equity managers.

So the question isn’t what your senator will support, but what can they get Sinema and bill co-author Joe Manchin of West Virginia to sign off on.

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This is the cost of traffic violence.

Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski was killed in a traffic collision, along with two of her staffers, when a driver traveled onto the wrong side of the road and hit her SUV head-on.

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That feeling when a famed mountain bike park is full of bears. And no, you probably shouldn’t greet one like a lost puppy.

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If you need me, I’ll just be pretending I’m on my way to Bruges now, thank you.

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

After a Toronto bike rider was hit by a cop rolling a stop sign, he claimed the same officer had been harassing riders in a city park all day.

A 65-year old English man was injured when a road raging driver pushed him off his bike for the crime of not riding in a bike lane; he says he was hurt so badly he had to quit his job as an undertaker, and now struggles to play his trombone and bass guitar. Although probably not at the same time.

A British driver and his passenger face murder charges for deliberately driving onto a sidewalk and killing a man who was riding a bicycle with his girlfriend on the handlebars, before fleeing the scene without stopping.

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

Police in New York are looking for a Brooklyn bike-by shooter who shot a man who was standing outside his house, leaving the victim in critical condition. Although the NY Post can’t seem to decide whether the shooter was riding an ebike or a scooter.

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Local

Streetsblog is over halfway to their summer fundraising goal of $15,000, and just needs to raise another $7,000 to keep up their vital work reporting on Los Angeles and California transportation issues.

The Meet the Hollywoods CicLAvia route returns on August 21st, once again heading along the Hollywood Walk of Fame before dropping south to Santa Monica Blvd.

Camilla Cabello is sort of one of us, trying a kids bike on for size at a Los Angeles area Walmart.

 

State 

Carlsbad’s long-awaited 94-acre Veterans Memorial Park could soon be home to the city’s first bicycle park, complete with pump track, jumps and a slalom course.

Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, pled not guilty to a charge of DUI stemming from a May injury collision in Napa County; the 82-year old driver had a blood alcohol level of .082% after the crash — just over the .08% limit.

 

National

A trio of Republican senators are fighting for your right to drive drunk, introducing a bill that would remove a requirement for carmakers to install passive drunk-driving detection mechanisms on all new cars by 2024.

The prestigious National Law Review considers the causes of bicycling crashes and how to avoid them.

Planetizen says accurate bicycle counts on city streets matter, because inaccurate — or non-existent — counts could lead to an underinvestment in bike infrastructure.

Streetsblog considers the multiple strange and varied vehicles that get called ebikes, and where they belong on the road, while Wired offers the latest deals on ebikes, e-scooters and accessories.

Prevention recommends the best women’s bike shorts. Only one of which is actually intended for, you know, riding a bike.

Seattle is testing a number of alternatives for building protected bike lanes this summer, from armadillos to low concrete barriers, with a goal of placing the winner throughout the city.

A Durango, Colorado letter writer insists residents of the city have been duped into thinking ebikes can have a tangible reduction on greenhouse gas emissions. Although he seems to think the point is to replace regular bike trips, rather than replacing car trips with ebikes.

A bighearted Odessa, Texas shop owner bought a new bike for a longtime customer after his was stolen outside the store.

Heartbreaking story from Michigan, where one of the two men killed by an alleged DUI driver shared his motivation for participating in the challenging 300-mile ride just hours before his death — a bracelet with the name of a Make-A-Wish child that he looked at whenever he needed inspiration.

A kindhearted Connecticut cop bought a new bike for a little kid who started crying after realizing he didn’t win one in a raffle on Tuesday’s National Night Out.

That’s more like it. A Manhattan community board is onboard with plans for a road diet and bike lanes, but are insisting on concrete barriers instead of just paint.

Another tragic ebike fire in New York, where an exploding battery took the life of a five-year old girl and a 36-year old woman in a Harlem apartment, along with their three dogs; the girl’s father survived in critical condition. Although once again, the local CBS station can’t seem to decide if it was an ebike or an e-scooter.

 

International

Bike Radar recommends the best torque wrenches to work on your bike. And no, that’s not what you use to hammer a tight nut you can’t get off.

An 80-year old Canadian man is trying to set a new world record for the longest journey by motorized bike, riding an ebike over 8,000 miles from Alaska to Panama.

Canadian bicycling injuries jumped 25% in the first full year of the pandemic, likely due to an increase in bike ridership. 

More proof that opposition to bikeways melts away over time. Despite the opposition of some drivers, local residents strongly support the UK’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods, Britain’s version of Slow Streets; in one study, 44% opposed an LTN in their neighborhood before it was installed, but after five years, less than 2% wanted it removed.

Porsche is jumping deeper into the ebike market by creating two new companies — one to make ebike components, and the other to build complete ebikes based on them.

A new German study suggests drivers pass bike riders just as close, if not closer, on streets with low speed limits as they do on faster streets.

Australia has issued an urgent recall notice for the children’s eZee Viento folding ebikes, which could suffer a broken frame while being ridden. The bikes were also sold in the US, but no word on a recall here yet.

 

Competitive Cycling

USA Cycling has announced the members of the US team for the Mountain Bike World Championships in Les Gets, France later this month.

Note to race organizers — speed bumps defeat the purpose of bike races. A half-dozen cyclists went down hard after clipping a speed bump in the last quarter mile of Spain’s Vuelta a Burgos.

 

Finally…

Is it really an ebike if it doesn’t have pedals, looks like a dirt bike and goes 38 mph? Or if the pedals are so hidden away they’re almost impossible to use?

And the story may be science fiction, but at least Amazon’s Paper Girls gets the ’80s bikes right.

And yes, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Morning Links: 63-year old bike rider killed in Pomona drive-by, Culver City bike petition, and free bike tourism doc

Tragic news from Pomona, where a 63-year old man riding a bike was killed in a drive-by shooting early Thursday morning.

Pomona resident Robert Arthur Fausto was shot at 12:49 am by the occupants of a small blue car, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Shootings like this usually turn out to be gang related, although the victim’s age might argue against that in this case.

Either way, he’s one more needless victim of violence. And one death too many.

Thanks to Henry Fung for the heads-up.

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LACBC neighborhood chapter Bike Culver City wants your signature on a petition calling on the city to stand by its ten-year old promise to complete a bike network and build infrastructure by the end of next year.

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J. Patrick Lynch forwards a new documentary from a Pittsburgh public TV station, as they take a 335-mile ride along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath from Pittsburgh to DC.

Or as he put it, “Lots of interesting places and people, pared with some stunning scenery.”

The video is available free until the end of this month.

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Local

US News & World Report — yes, it’s still around — questions why Los Angeles is so dangerous for bike riders. Then fails to answer the question, and digs about as deep into the subject as scraping your fingernail through the dust.

You’re invited to help form a “ginormous” human bike sculpture at the Rose Bowl next month.

The Santa Monica Mirror credits LACBC neighborhood chapter Santa Monica Spoke for working with the city to improve safety for pedestrians as well as bicyclists through Leading Pedestrian Intervals.

A new 47-unit housing complex rising in Long Beach will have just 40 parking spaces, along with bike storage and a bike lounge where residents can work on their bicycles.

State

Just what the world needs. A $7,000, 45 mph ped-assist e-mountain bike made by a California company that would qualify as an electric motorcycle under state law, and requires a license, license plate and helmet. And isn’t likely to be allowed on any public trails.

La Jolla has unveiled new artistic bike racks as part of a redesign of the Children’s Pool Plaza. Thanks to Robert Leone for the links.

Santa Barbara is starting a weekly series of Cycling Without Age rides to help older people experience the joys of bicycling.

Palo Alto will take another crack at bikeshare, after last year’s pilot program failed due to staffing problems.

San Francisco settled for an undisclosed amount with a bike rider who was injured when a cop pulled his car into the bike lane he was riding in.

A Bay Area writer hopped on an e-scooter, and rode as far from civilization as he could before the battery gave out. Or until it locked up when it didn’t show up in the app anymore.

After months of discussion, Marin County finally approves allowing ebikes on paved bike paths and multiuse trails in county parks.

National

Bicycling talks with the person behind a parody instagram account that pillories sexist cycling ads.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss says there’s no such thing as just one bike you’ll love riding for the rest of your life.

A new children’s book examines the perils of bicycle face and riding while female.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an 87-year old Texas man’s customized adult e-tricycle; it was his his only form of transportation after his eyesight started to fail.

A Queens NY newspaper says bike riders should stay in their lane, and not speculate about how a fatal bike crash happened or say bad things about the driver. Which might be valid if the NYPD didn’t have a long established bias against bicyclists, and a history of wrongly blaming bike riders for crashes. Which inevitably leads people to question their conclusions.

If you’re going to honor a fallen Philly pastry chef, a dessert-themed scavenger ride and bike rodeo makes sense. And calling it the ProfiteROLL, a stroke of genius.

A Virginia couple will ride across the US to raise funds to fight preeclampsia in honor of their son, who died just days after being born prematurely; they’ve raised over $5,000 of the $9,000 goal.

Charlotte NC plans to trade a traffic lane for the city’s first protected bike lane.

International

A new foldout bar end bike mirror is designed to give you a rear view when you need it and fold away when you don’t.

Good question. A Canadian paper asks what good is a dedicated bike lane if drivers park in it?

A bike rider says breaking his arm in a fall restored his faith in his fellow Londoners, and convinced him the world hadn’t gotten as mean as it seems.

Bicyclists in Manchester, England could soon get a winding, snake-style bike and pedestrian bridge as part of a $180 million bicycling and walking transportation plan.

Ebikes are boosting bike sales in Germany, with sales up 36% in the last year; one out of every four bikes sold in the country is electric.

Competitive Cycling

After finally getting around to banning Tramadol from the pro peloton, pro cycling’s governing body is looking to ban all corticosteroids next year; some — such as the asthma spray that raised questions about Chris Froome — have been allowed under a therapeutic use exemption, or TUE.

SoCal’s Coryn Rivera will wear the stars and stripes as she competes in Europe this year, after winning the US national championship last summer.

The Highland Community New says there was plenty of great racing at this year’s Redlands Classic; too bad almost no one showed up to watch.

Finally…

When riding the 1,600-mile Baja Divide on two wheels is one wheel too many. And the bike-riding wizarding world of fire investigation.