Tag Archive for bike events

Upcoming bike events, Metro approves plan for NoHo to Pasadena BRT, and NBA’s Klay Thompson is one of us

April 29, 2022 / / Comments Off on Upcoming bike events, Metro approves plan for NoHo to Pasadena BRT, and NBA’s Klay Thompson is one of us

Let’s start with a look at a few upcoming events.

The raucous Belgian Waffle Ride rolls through the countryside around San Marcos this weekend, with races starting today.

The LACBC and Metro Bike will host a family friendly Earth Week ride through the NoHo Arts District tomorrow.

A South Pasadena paper looks forward to the opening ceremony for Sunday’s 626 Golden Streets Mission-to-Mission open streets event, which returns after a three year Covid-induced hiatus.

Wednesday is National Bike and Roll to School Day, so plan accordingly.

Mark your calendar for Thursday, May 12th, when Streets For All hosts a virtual happy hour with Culver City mayor and congressional candidate Dr. Daniel Lee.

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Thanks to Robert Leone for forwarding news of several events in both Northern and Southern California.

He reports racing has resumed at San Diego’s open air velodrome.

San Jose’s Viva Calle SJ open streets event rolls on Sunday.

And San Jose’s Helllyer Park Velodrome is resuming Wednesday night racing next week.

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The Metro board has approved plans for the North Hollywood to Pasadena bus rapid transit line.

The approved option, based on the community designed Beautiful Boulevard plan, calls for dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, on-street parking, and a single car lane in each direction.

The 18-mile long route drew widespread community support, despite very vocal opposition accusing Metro of “trying to manufacture gridlock.”

Meanwhile, a writer for City Watch calls it an unnecessary boondoggle, while attacking the board and the Measure M sales tax funding the project, and accusing supporters of being “bought and paid for.”

In that case, I’d sure as hell like to know who is passing out those checks, because I’m still waiting for mine.

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Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson is one of us, riding his bike to play in the decisive game five against the Denver Nuggets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFLeRqNKBm0

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

No bias here. A piece originally written for — and firewalled by — the Denver Post takes a clearheaded look at bike law, and the rights and responsibilities of bike riders in the wake of Colorado’s adoption of the Idaho Stop Law. But frames it by saying the law is creating animosity between motorists and bicyclists.

A man in Edinburg, Scotland apparently took issue with a woman riding her bike on a shared use path, and pushed her into the river.

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

A 26-year old British ebike rider faces charges for a hit-and-run collision with a pedestrian that left the other man seriously injured.

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Local

The crowdfunding campaign to help send fallen cyclist and pastry chef Leonidas Accip Serech back home for burial in Guatemala, and benefit his brother and family, has now raised almost $17,000 of the $20,000 goal. Serech was riding to work with his brother when he was killed by a driver trying to escape another man in Koreatown.

Culver City News reposted a piece on bike safety written for State Farm Insurance, without crediting the source. And without bothering to use any paragraphs.

 

State 

Longtime transportation equity advocate and Antioch University professor Dr. Adonia Lugo has been appointed to a position on the California Transportation Commission, though she still needs confirmation by the state senate.

The Pacific Beach Planning Group recommends that San Diego continue plans to make the Slow Street on Diamond Street permanent, after the city cancelled an earlier effort after running into vocal opposition.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria says he’s committed to improving the city’s bike lane network, even when those projects face vocal opposition — despite the recent controversy that resulted in the removal of new advisory lanes in the Mira Mesa neighborhood, with the mayor going door-to-door to apologize.

A new documentary follows a Palo Alto ultracyclist as he rides 3,000 miles across the US in the Race Across America, aka RAAM, to raise money for cancer research.

Congratulations to Rich City Rides co-op founder Najari Smith on being named a 2022 Bike Champion of the Year for Contra Costa County. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving and inspiring person. 

 

National

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is asking for comments on a proposed rating system for vehicle impacts on pedestrians. And by extension, bike riders. Let’s tell them that any vehicle that rates less than three on the five point scale should be banned from the roads. Starting with oversized pickups and SUVs with high, flat grills designed to kill.

A crowdfunding page for a 13-year old Utah boy killed by a hit-and-run driver has raised over $33,000 of the $36,000 goal in a single day; he was just one block from his home when he was killed.

Unbelievable. An Iowa man charged with killing a bike-riding woman while driving distracted walked when the judge dismissed the case, agreeing with the defense that there wasn’t enough evidence for a conviction.

Houston, Texas is continuing to improve the city’s disjointed bike network, with plans for new bike lanes to connect several existing segments.

The Boston Globe says the best way to visit Maine’s Acadia National Park is by bicycle, whether you’re an experienced rider or just a beginner. Then again, that’s true just for about every other national park, too. Hint: Stop the page as soon as it loads to get past the paper’s paywall. 

Streetsblog says the NYPD’s supposed crackdown on drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians is anything but that.

About damn time. A group of New York councilmembers are calling for the Department of Education to add bicycling to the curriculum, and teach bike safety in every school.

New York’s annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour returns to full strength this weekend, with 32,000 riders registered for the 40-mile bike tour through each of the city’s five boroughs.

 

International

A questionable new British study claims e-scooters are five times safer than riding a bicycle, and pose much less risk to pedestrians than assumed.

An English man was collateral damage in a road rage dispute between two drivers, one of whom has denied responsibility for his death in court.

Mail carriers in New Zealand will deliver the mail by foot or on a bicycle, after the entire fleet of electric mail buggies were taken off the road due to a maintenance issue.

 

Competitive Cycling

The popular Over The Hump mountain bike race series kicks things off on Tuesday at Lakeview Park at Irvine Lake, in Santiago, CA.

Finally some good news about Dutch pro Amy Pieters, who regained consciousness following four months in a medically induced coma, after suffering severe brain damage in a training crash; however, doctors are unsure how much of her previous abilities she’ll eventually recover.

  

Finally…

That feeling when a former pro cyclist, soldier, CEO, lawyer, author, academic, hostage responder, weapons instructor and Strava KOM king isn’t. If you lose an arm in a collision while riding your bike, just build a new one.

And before you get carried away celebrating your victory, make sure you really won.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA adopts redistricting plan, PA man dies after being tased 8 times for riding bike, and Peloton’s Big PR nightmare

December 10, 2021 / / 2 comments

Just two weeks left in the 7th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Joseph R, Brian N and Joshua T for their generous donations to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your favorite screen every morning.

That makes 50 donations in just two weeks — a full week ahead of last year’s record pace!

So don’t wait. Give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.

Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. 

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The LA City Council has approved final redistricting maps that will take effect January 1st.

You can find your new district here.

At first, I thought I’d been disenfranchised by the council, who moved CD5 Councilmember Nithya Raman out of much of her old district, and away from many of the people who elected her.

Instead, it looks like I’m still there, if barely.

Meanwhile, there’s an active campaign going on in nearby CD5, where pseudo-environmentalist Paul Koretz has gone out of his way to block bike lanes contained in the city’s mobility plan for far too long. And who will thankfully be termed out this year.

Fortunately, there’s a long list of candidates running to replace him, most of whom appear to support bikeways and safer streets.

I’ve already endorsed Scott Epstein, who I’ve known for years as a friend, and for his work on the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee and chairing the Mid City West Community Council.

But I’m always open to hearing from other candidates.

Anyone running for office in CD5, or any other Los Angeles council district, is welcome to submit a guest post outlining their positions on bicycling, transportation and safe streets.

Then again, that same offer goes for any other LA elected office, or any other city in the LA area.

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Unbelievable.

A Pittsburg, Pennsylvania man is dead, after being tased by cops eight times for the crime of test riding a used bike, apparently without permission.

According to a local TV station, 54-year old Jim Rogers — no relation — took a bicycle that was being sold for 50 bucks on someone’s front yard, then returned it after riding around the block.

Why that required a massive police response, let alone lethal force, I will never understand.

And any ostensibly non-lethal weapon can easily become lethal when it is used repeatedly on someone in a short period of time.

Some witnesses reported that Rogers became aggressive after police arrived, while others reported him begging them to stop.

To make matters worse, officers told arriving paramedics to go away, then loaded Rogers into a patrol car — and inexplicably drove past one hospital to reach another one further away, as he slumped unconscious in the back seat. The cops reportedly said they thought he was sleeping.

He died the next day.

Let’s hope his family has a good lawyer. Then again, even a crappy one could probably win this case.

Meanwhile, four cops now face firing for the incident, with two others staring at well-deserved demotions.

Hopefully that includes the cop who fired his taser eight times, and needed two tries to get through the police academy.

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Spoiler alert.

Peloton discovers that feeling when their high-profile product placement unexpectedly turned into a PR nightmare.

Skip this one if you’re still planning to watch the first episode of the new Sex and the City reboot, though.

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Finish the week with a little gravel grinding.

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Join Active SGV for the return of their annual holiday ride on Saturday.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1469033860147077121

Meanwhile, the LACBC is hosting a family-friendly ride through Maywood and South Gate along the LA River the same day.

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If you’re up near Santa Barbara this weekend, stop by the bike yard sale to find all the stuff you need, and probably won’t get for the holidays.

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Here’s your chance to become a certified bike instructor.

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‘Tis the season.

A Boise, Idaho public radio station talks with the executive director of the Boise Bicycle Project, which is planning to give 500 bicycles to local kids.

A bike shop owner in Iowa is donating 14 upcycled bicycles to a local Christmas club for kids in need.

An Illinois bike shop owner is donating 60 refurbished bikes to a state children’s home.

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

A North Dakota man managed to slip the cops as he fled a traffic stop on his bike. But was busted anyway, after he kicked in the door of a random apartment and barricaded himself in the bathroom.

Oakland is repairing a public Christmas tree in Jack London Square that was torched by a bike-riding arsonist.

 

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Local

This site’s not the only one begging for money this month. If you have anything left over after donating to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, give a little to LA Streeetsblog, too.

 

State

SANDAG’s proposed 70-mile regional bike lane system will now cost more than double the original estimate, cover 10% fewer miles and take longer to finish.

The Voice of San Diego says forget the debate over proposed road usage fees, and focus on making the transportation changes we need to save the planet, and ourselves.

 

National

A new report surprisingly suggests it would only take a minimal investment to restore American bicycle manufacturing, despite losing over 97% of bike building to overseas factories.

The Adventure Cycling Association is looking for a Safety Manager to join their advocacy team to work for better safety on US Bicycle Route System.

WaPo talks with the former chief of strategy and innovation for Seattle’s DOT; Benjie de la Peña predicts shared micromobility will continue to grow as an alternative to traffic-choked commutes.

Las Vegas hosts a police-escorted ghost bike ride along the Las Vegas strip this morning on the anniversary of the meth-fueled massacre that took the lives of five people riding their bikes last year. Which got the stoned truck driver who killed them a well-deserved 16 to 40 years behind bars.

Police in New York are on the lookout for a pair of strong-arm robbers on a two-month crime spree targeting low-income, often immigrant, delivery riders for their ebikes.

That’s more like it. A New York community board says don’t bother arguing against the need for bike lanes, just tell them where the lanes should go.

A proposed remake of a Brooklyn street would create New York’s first bicycle superhighway. Which is one more than Los Angeles, which has exactly none on the drawing board.

A Maryland TV station talks with DC’s one-wheeled Grubhub delivery rider.

 

International

Bike Radar recommends the best winter-weight mountain bike jerseys to keep you warm on the trails, while Cycling News considers the best truck-mounted bike racks for your car.

A tiny new automotive-style shifter could allow you to bang through the gears on your electronic derailleur.

No surprise here, as plans to expand ebike access in Canada’s Banff National Park are drawing fire.

London is banning e-scooters from all forms of public transit after one burst into flames on a train last month.

Twelve percent of Brits want to find a new bike under the tree this year.

Germany’s new food and agriculture minister is one of us, eschewing the standard black limo to arrive at the country’s presidential palace on a bicycle.

A 25-year old, visually impaired Indian man is riding 4,660 miles across 12 of the country’s states to prepare for his ultimate goal of climbing Mt. Everest.

That’s more like it, too. An Aussie man was sentenced to nine and a half years behind bars for killing a 60-year old woman who was riding her bike in a bike lane, while he was still stoned from a multi-day drug binge. He abandoned his car and passengers after the crash and called an Uber to take him home; he still had ice, amphetamines and cannabis in his system when he was arrested hours later. The judge described his attitude after the crash as “superficial, glib and self-centered.”

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclocross could become the next new Winter Olympic sport. But you’ll have to wait until 2030 at the earliest.

The careless spectator who got her 15 minutes of fame by causing a massive crash with her cardboard shoutout to her grandparents in the first stage of this year’s Tour de France was lucky to escape with the equivalent of a $1,353 fine.

Twenty-one-year old Australian cyclist Sarah Gigante is angling for a spot in next year’s inaugural Women’s Tour de France.

Fifty-year old, three-time Fleche Wallonne winner Davide Rebellin will enter a remarkable 30th year as a pro cyclist next year.

 

Finally…

People thinks you need a bigass bike seat. If Santa’s not around, maybe a bike-riding Ms. Christmas will do.

And when you care enough to send your worst.

Then again, it beats the hell out of these Share the Road stickers.

https://twitter.com/YPLAC/status/1468944049629503498?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1468944049629503498%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-9-december-2021-288495

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

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

Fed ebike tax rebate cut again, DTLA flyover would raise risk for Figueroa riders, and South Pasadena Community Ride

November 4, 2021 / / Comments Off on Fed ebike tax rebate cut again, DTLA flyover would raise risk for Figueroa riders, and South Pasadena Community Ride

The up and down, back and forth tug-of war continues on the federal ebike tax rebate program.

What started out as a $1,500 tax credit on the purchase of an ebike was cut to $750 in a House committee, before being restored to the original $1,500, or 30% of the purchase price.

It’s now back down to a maximum $900, or 30% of the purchase price of a ebike up $4,000, after being cut yet again in a House committee.

Never mind that the bills also provide tax benefits up to $12,500 for an electric car, providing yet more assistance to many of those who need it least, while continuing the country’s harmful over reliance on motor vehicles.

And proving yet again that our elected leaders just don’t get the crisis we’re in, both in terms of traffic safety and congestion, and the most effective solutions to the climate emergency facing our country, and the world.

Although on the plus side, the bill would increase the pre-tax commuter benefit for riding a bike to work from $20 per month to a slightly less paltry $81.

Of course, all of that is moot if the bills don’t manage to get through both the House and the Senate.

And their prospects are just as murky as the heavy fog blocking my view out the window right now.

………

I had thought this disastrous Metro highway project had been put out of our misery when it first raised its ugly head a few years ago.

Evidently not.

https://twitter.com/rootsimple/status/1456089321522405377

As this thread notes, freeway projects disproportionately target poorer neighborhoods and people of color, and this one is no exception.

It’s also true that it makes no sense to keep building massive freeway projects during a climate emergency, when it’s vital that we shift people out of their cars in favor of transit, walking and biking.

Spending millions on a project that will merely result in yet more induced demand, while destroying a neighborhood and greatly increasing the risk to people on bicycles is like lighting a match to our future and community.

Never mind that, like the thread points out, the many millions to be spent on this ramp, and the millions of dollars that have already been spent on consultants, would be better spent improving transit service and making it free for everyone.

Instead of a wasteful project that will only benefit a relative handful of people in cars, while ultimately making traffic and the environment worse.

You would think Metro would have learned from their disastrous widening of the 405 through the Sepulveda pass, which wasted $1.1 billion to make traffic congestion even worse than it was before.

But evidently, you would be wrong.

https://twitter.com/rootsimple/status/1456089328698855428

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South Pasadena will host a community bike ride this Saturday with state Senator Anthony Portantino and Mayor Pro Tem Michael Cacciotti.

Thanks to Michael Siegel for the heads-up. 

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Here’s the equivalent of 3,000 words on problem with the concept of shared responsibility.

Because the potential for harm is anything but equal.

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It’s hard to believe people on bikes gain a lot of supporters by blocking intersections, especially from the people stuck in their cars.

But it does make us more visible.

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Needlessly close call, as an impatient driver in the UK nearly hits an oncoming car head-on while trying to pass a group of bike riders occupying a narrow lane.

The riders are lucky neither driver swerved their way to avoid the near crash, which could have resulted in multiple injuries.

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

A man described as a male “Karen” approached a trio of Black women filming a TikTok video in Seattle, ordering them to pick up their phone “real quick” before pushing over their bicycle for no apparent reason.

https://www.tiktok.com/@hollymichelle206/video/7025687282413849902?referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailydot.com%2F&referer_video_id=7025687282413849902&refer=embed

Unbelievable. A Black man was racially targeted as he stopped briefly while riding a bike in his own Houston neighborhood, after a man told him he didn’t belong there and was making people nervous, then got out of his car and smashed the victim’s phone before brutally attacking him and slamming his head on the concrete. Yet his White attacker was arrested on a simple misdemeanor charge and released on a ridiculously insulting $100. More proof just how un-seriously authorities take attacks on people of color, and people on bicycles.

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Local

The LA Times’ Patt Morrison says, contrary to the gospel of Who Killed Roger Rabbit, we’re all responsible for the death of LA’s Red and Yellow car streetcar systems. Maybe we should take those billions Metro has budgeted for traffic-inducing highway projects and rebuild the streetcar system by taking a lane from every major street to lay down the tracks.

The LA City Council’s Public Safety Committee approved a motion calling for the city attorney to draft an ordinance banning bicycle chop shops on public property. Even though chop shops dealing in stolen bicycles are already illegal.

A recent survey conducted in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Korean shows 91% of people in the Los Angeles area support revitalizing the Los Angeles River, regardless of ethnicity.

A bike rider was critically injured while riding on Sherman Way in North Hollywood early Wednesday morning; the victim was apparently riding without lights two hours before sunrise. And for a change, the driver stuck around afterwards.

 

State

KCBS-2 reports Orange County has seen a whopping 500% increase in ebike injuries compared to this time last year. But they fail to consider whether ebike sales and usage have increased a similar, or even greater, amount, while sounding the alarm about the bikes supposed dangers.

A local Pacific Beach newspaper looks forward to Sunday’s CiclaSDias open streets event in the San Diego neighborhood.

A Berkeley paper remembers local artist Claudia Hoffberg, who passed away this past August at the age of 62; Hoffberg was noted for yarn-bombing bike racks throughout the Bay Area.

Tragic news from the Bay Area, where Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan was killed by a driver while walking her dog across a street at an intersection called out in the Alameda Vision Zero plan for a high rate of injuries at the hands and bumpers of motorists.

NIMBYs seem to feel a constant need to remind us that this isn’t Copenhagen, or Amsterdam, or some other bike-friendly city. Now you can add smallish Davis to that list, where 20% of all non-recreational trips are taken by bike.

 

National

PeopleForBikes is teaming with battery recycler Call2Recycle to establish the first industry-wide ebike recycling program.

This is who we share the road with. Former Las Vegas Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III had a BAC over twice the legal limit and was driving 156 mph just two seconds before he slammed into a car driven by 23-year old Tina O. Tintor, killing her and her dog in a fiery crash; Ruggs was released by the team hours later, and faces up to 20 years behind bars.

Denver voters approved a $63.3 million transportation initiative to expand sidewalks and bike lanes, as well as fund street projects.

Kindhearted Oklahoma cops came to the rescue when someone stole a young woman’s bike by raising funds to buy her a new one.

If you build it, they will come. Once again, a once controversial bike lane has become a resounding success, as a nearly two mile, two-way bike lane in New York’s Astoria district now averages two riders every minute at peak hours, with a high of 2,300 trips in a single day.

NPR rides with a New York delivery rider, discovering the risk of injury and theft the app-based workers face on a daily basis, along with clients who too often take problems with the food out on them.

Heartbreaking story from Athens, Georgia, where a man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike, eight years after his mother met the same fate while walking along a roadway; neither driver has been caught.

 

International

Once again, an Apple Watch has come to the rescue. An English bike rider credits his with saving his life when it automatically called for help after he was struck by a driver. Which is about the only reason I would want one. And yes, I do.

A billionaire British phone tycoon decries what he calls the “barbarian” conditions in an Italian hospital, after a blown bike tire exploded during a descent, leaving him fighting for his life.

That’s more like it. Dublin, Ireland responds to an increase in ridership by contracting for a pair of secure, indoor bicycle parking facilities capable of holding up to 300 bikes.

Needless to say, not everyone agrees with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s commitment to build a 100% bikeable city, yet she won re-election anyway, despite the doubters. Although her campaign for president remains mired in the single digits.

More on the new Indian bike brand developed to preserve traditional crafts, with everything but the wheels, seat, front fork and drive train made from bamboo.

Aussie footballer Jordan De Goey is one of us, mountain biking with a friend somewhere in California as he faces charges for harassment and assault stemming from incident at a Manhattan nightclub.

 

Competitive Cycling

UCI released the final rankings for the past racing season, dominated by Tadej Pogačar and Wout van Aert on the men’s side, and Annemiek van Vleuten and Elisa Longo-Borghini for the women. Meanwhile, the US is nowhere to be seen in the top five nations on either side.

Hungary will finally host the first three stages of the Giro, two years after the original plans were scrapped because of the pandemic.

Congratulations to 20-year old Lauren Lackman, a junior at Colorado Mesa University, on winning the women’s Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships.

 

Finally…

Who needs batteries? Your next (really weird looking) ebike could run on hydrogen. Your next foldie could have folding wheels, too.

And riding a bike provides infinite headroom.

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

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

Morning Links: A conservative laughs at traffic violence, upcoming bike rides, and AI won’t replace bike writers yet

November 22, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: A conservative laughs at traffic violence, upcoming bike rides, and AI won’t replace bike writers yet

Evidently, conservatives are expected to be totally cool with people needlessly dying on our streets.

At least according to a writer for the National Review.

He — and of course it’s a he — takes issue with Elizabeth Warren’s tweet decrying traffic violence on last Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Crash Victims.

“Traffic violence” is quite a phrase. In the end, it may be all that anyone remembers of Warren’s decreasingly persuasive but increasingly eccentric campaign. In this bold new framing, cars are not the principal way Americans get around, with fatalities being an unfortunate but blessedly rare occurrence (one per 100,000,000 vehicle miles traveled, a rate that is down more than 80 percent in my lifetime). No, to Warren, cars are instruments of violence like, I don’t know, nunchucks or fuel-injected guillotines, and so she issues her clarion tweet to #EndTrafficViolence. So, right now, November 18, 2019, “it’s time” for us to zero out deaths from cars? How? On what planet?

He concludes with this brilliant observation.

Down here in America, where almost nobody has ever doubted that the benefits of motorized transportation have more than justified the various costs, even when the chance of getting killed in a car was 20 times higher than it is today, I’d say cars have a much brighter future than Elizabeth Warren’s White House bid.

Never mind that an estimated 36,750 lost their lives on American roadways last year. And that traffic deaths are going up for anyone not safely ensconced in a few tons of glass and steel, surrounded by numerous safety devices not afforded to the rest of us.

Or that countless Americans, and a number of American cities, are working to bring that death toll down to zero.

And the future of automobiles is in question, thanks to rising traffic congestion, inefficiency and climate change.

So I hope he enjoyed his laugh at Warren’s expense. And pray that no one he loves loses their life to traffic violence.

Or anyone else, for that matter.

Meanwhile, City Lab looks at the progress, or lack thereof, for several major cities who were early Vision Zero adapters.

Including Los Angeles, which continues to set the standard for lack of progress.

Photo by Netto Figueiredo from Pixabay.

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Active SGV is going to be busy this weekend, with a ride to the first holiday event of the season.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1197611136914464772

That will be followed with a ride to examine proposed South Pas bike parking tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1197557870847389697

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The next Metro BEST ride will roll to CSUN two weeks from tomorrow.

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Robert Leone forwards word that this week’s closure of San Diego’s Rose Canyon Bike Path was postponed due the Wednesday’s rain.

Due to forecasted inclement weather conditions this week, the full closure of the Rose Canyon Bike Path originally scheduled for Tuesday, November 19, has been postponed and rescheduled for December. The path will remain open this week. The rescheduled closures are anticipated as follows:

Beginning Tuesday, December 3, there will be a temporary full closure of the Rose Canyon Bike Path as crews pave the final section of the newly constructed permanent bike path. The full closure will begin at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, December 3, and will be in place for approximately four days.

More information is on the mid-coast website, click here. During the closure, and as was planned prior, Mid-Coast Trolley crews will facilitate a “bus bridge,” which will include bicycle-carrying capable vans, to transport cyclists and pedestrians around the closure area. Signage will be in place to direct cyclists. The bike path is anticipated to reopen by 6 p.m. on Friday, December 6. As always, we appreciate your patience! Thank you.

My apologies for the late notice, after I lost his email for a few days.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.

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Maybe Artificial Intelligence isn’t going to replace bike racing scribes anytime soon, after all.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is never-ending.

A Cleveland teenager faces charges for punching a bike rider in the head and knocking him cold, in an apparently random attack.

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

Tacoma WA police are looking for the bike-riding bandit who needlessly blew off a carjacking victim’s foot with a double-barelled shotgun after he had already given up his car.

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Local

No news is good news, right?

 

State

San Diego approves new regulations shutting down dockless bikes and scooters after midnight.

Palm Springs police have released a description of the suspect vehicle in last month’s hit-and-run that took the life of Raymundo “Ray-Ray” Jaime as he was riding his bike; police are looking for a 2008-2012 dark-colored Chevrolet Malibu with likely front-end damage. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Congratulations to San Luis Obispo for their new status as a gold level Bicycle Friendly Community.

Sad news from San Jose, where a bike rider was left to die alone in the street by a heartless hit-and-run driver.

Speaking of San Jose, the city shows Los Angeles how it’s done, installing ten miles of quick-build protected bike over the past year for just $1.5 million.

Not only is San Francisco’s new transportation boss one of us, he’s an advocate for increased density, opposes free parking and parking minimums, and prefers automated buses over self-driving cars.

That didn’t take long. Just weeks after the Trump administration approved a policy allowing ebikes on government trails, equestrians have filed suit to block e-mountain bikes from the Tahoe National Forest.

 

National

The Smithsonian takes a long look back, comparing the resistance to e-scooters to the backlash over the first bicycles.

Bicycling recommends the best men’s and women’s bike shoes. Personally, I’m holding out for a good pair of cleated wingtips. Or maybe cowboy boots.

Action cam maker GoPro is finally returning to its roots, after its attempts to diversity crashed faster than its failed drones.

Five bike-friendly bars for your next trip to Tucson. You’re welcome.

Utah police literally ran down a woman suspected of riding a stolen bicycle, dragging her 40 feet beneath the patrol car; remarkably, she didn’t suffer any major injuries, despite ending up pinned beneath the car with her ankle behind her ear. The cops swear it was just an oopsie, even though the officer behind the wheel is no longer with the department.

Denver’s docked bikeshare service is pulling the plug on the system in January. Or maybe not, if they can get a new vendor.

A Missouri letter writer says the law should be changed to ban bikes on highways after dark. Or you could just, bear with me here, slow and pay more attention when you drive at night. And lower the damn speed limits while you’re at it. 

Wisconsin ebike riders aren’t breaking the law anymore, after the governor signed a bill legalizing them.

No bias here. After a Minneapolis bike rider was fatally right hooked by a truck driver, police say he was the one who struck the truck. Note to WCCO-4 — If police are blaming the victim for striking the truck, it’s a pretty good indication they don’t think the victim was stopped.

This is who we share the roads with. Country music star Sam Hunt was busted for driving salmon in Nashville with a BAC over twice the legal limit. And I’m not crazy about his music, either.

A Massachusetts woman goes to Germany with her family, and discovers bicycling is the go-to mode for running everyday errands.

There’s a special place in hell for the New York State condo board that ordered a four-year old boy to stop riding his tricycle in the complex. Never mind that the kid is the only Latino child in the development.

Bighearted New Jersey bike riders will ride eleven miles to donate frozen turkeys to a community food bank for people struggling with hunger.

A 1.4-mile multi-modal trail is connecting Baltimore neighborhoods for the first time since they were severed by a highway project.

Just months after Atlanta stiffened fines for drivers who park in bike lanes, they’re letting offenders get off the hook with a parking scofflaw diversion program.

A kindhearted deputy bought a new bicycle to replace a 12-year old Florida boy’s stolen bike, after noticing he’d stopped riding it to school.

A grieving letter writer calls on Florida to place protective barriers between roadways and bike lanes to prevent more needless deaths like her heartbroken daughter’s fiancé, who was killed last week by a hit-and-run driver while doing everything right.

 

International

How to live a vegan lifestyle without adversely affecting your bicycling.

Nothing like a four-wheeled, $19,000, fully enclosed, ped-assist ebike to keep out of the rain. Or you could just save around $18,900 and buy some decent rain gear, without looking quite so ridiculous.

Popular Mechanics — yes, it’s still around — explains how a Mexican engineering student turned a personal project into a handmade bamboo bike company, combining his passions for bicycling and sustainable living.

An Ontario, Canada website explains how installing safe bike lanes improves safety for everyone else on the road, too. As well as making the community healthier and more prosperous.

The founder of Britain’s Black Cyclists Network says his recent run-in with police — where he was ordered to move his bike to an unsafe spot, then stopped and searched because he allegedly “smelled like marijuana” — says a lot about how the general public views bicyclists.

 

Competitive Cycling

Life is cheap in Australia, where the driver who killed 23-year old rising pro cyclist Jason Lowndes just moments after texting her boyfriend walked with a lousy $2,000 fine — just $1,357 US — and community service.

 

Finally…

Seriously, every town needs a puppet bike. If you’re going to burglarize a business, don’t make the media make fun of you.

And if you never know when you’re going to need a lampshade.

Even on your wedding day.

Got married last year. Best way to get her to the altar!
byu/eivindtraedal inbicycling

 

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

Morning Links: Eric Garcetti strange choice to chair global mayors’ climate group, and lots of upcoming bike events

October 11, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Eric Garcetti strange choice to chair global mayors’ climate group, and lots of upcoming bike events

In a surprising move, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has been chosen to chair the C40 group of global mayors as they confront climate change.

Maybe the other 90-plus mayors haven’t taken a good look at what’s happening on our city streets lately.

Or more precisely, what’s not happening.

Garcetti was chosen to follow Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo as chair, who earned her bona fides by taking dramatic steps to cut auto use and emissions in the city, including closing down a major highway along the Seine, banning diesel cars from the entire metro area by 2025, and removing all gas-powered cars from the city’s streets five years later.

By comparison, Garcetti has talked about, but not implemented, Vision Zero and a citywide Green New Deal. And ripped out road diets and bike lanes in Playa del Rey because some people got mad.

He claims he’s going to make implementing a Global Green New Deal his top priority.

Maybe he could start by doing something about the sheer number of motor vehicles on the streets, and providing safe, convenient alternatives to driving. Something he’s failed at miserably in the six years he’s been mayor.

But maybe all those other mayors know something we don’t.

We can only hope.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers ten specific steps Garcetti could take to show he’s taking the climate emergency seriously — all of them good.

And the LA Times says fighting global climate change will take political courage at home. Something else Garcetti has failed at miserably so far.

Paris’ green revolution has been both wildly popular and incredibly controversial — in part because the transformation has been so swift. But the mayor has been unrelenting in her campaign, showing what is possible when a major city commits to fight climate change on the ground.

Garcetti could do something similar in Los Angeles. He could, for example, build bus-only lanes, protected bike lanes and safer streets. He could set a powerful example for the entire world by starting to transform a city famous for its cars (and the traffic and pollution and greenhouse gases they bring) into one that people can navigate without them.

But unless Eric Garcetti can rediscover the political leadership he showed as council president under former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, you can probably plan for a very hot future.

Photo of Eric Garcetti at C40 group taken from press announcement from the mayor’s office.

………

Let’s catch up on some upcoming bike events.

You’re invited to tomorrow’s slow roll and model-building workshop to envision a more bike-friendly Elysian Valley.

This Sunday Lyft and Santa Monica Spoke are sponsoring a Lyft Scooters Safety Event with free test rides, skills training, refreshments and helmet giveaways at the Santa Monica Bike Campus.

The California Bike Summit returns to Los Angeles this Tuesday through Thursday at the Center for Healthy Communities in DTLA, sponsored by Calbike.

Volunteers are still needed for the 12th Annual Bicycle and Pedestrian Count in Long Beach on October 17th and 20th.

Phil Gaimon’s Hillclimb World Championships will head up Santa Barbara’s famed Gibraltar Road on the 19th. Cookies will be had by all.

CicLAvia will team with Strava to present A CivSalon: Who Do LA Streets Serve? on October 22nd.

The San Gabriel Valley’s 626 Golden Streets open streets event returns on the 26th of this month, with a route through El Monte and South El Monte.

San Diego’s CicloSDias open street event will walk, roll, skate and stroll the streets of our neighbor to the south on October 27th. Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.

Peter Sagan’s Gran Fondo Roadie-Oh comes to San Diego November 8th through 10th.

Pasadena will host the 2nd Annual Pasadena Adaptive Sports Festival on November 9th, with eight adaptive sports including handcycling.

The San Diego Padres will host their 7th Annual Padres Pedal the Cause at Petco Park November 16th to raise money to fight cancer.

The last CicLAvia of the year will roll a straight route down Sherman Way in the San Fernando Valley on December 8th.

………

Local

Less than half of all UCLA employees drive alone to the university, compared to just 23% of students. But just 3.5% of students and staff bike to campus, in a sign of how little Los Angeles has done to provide safe riding routes through Westwood.

South Bay letter writers say people on bicycles aren’t the problem, it’s the people in the big, dangerous machines.

 

State

New rules are reining in San Diego’s e-scooter Wild West.

The man who allegedly ran down a Ramona woman as she rode her bike to work last week pled not guilty to a charge of felony hit and run.

A Vallejo cop takes the fifth in a lawsuit over the shooting death of a man who was stopped for not having a light on his bike; he was also one of the cops who fatally shot a man who was sleeping in his car in a Taco Bell parking lot with a gun in his lap.

 

National

A new study shows wearing a bike helmet can reduce your risk of a facial injury by 40%, but does nothing to reduce the severity if you do suffer one; despite those results, the researchers recommend that bicyclists should wear the equivalent of a full-face motorcycle helmet.

The Verge offers tips on how to buy an ebike. Step 1: Find the bike you want. Step 2: Pay for it. Step 3: Enjoy!

If you can get past their paywall, the Wall Street Journal concludes that smart helmets are probably safer; you can now get the new Lumix Matrix smart helmet at the Apple Store.

Bicycling says its not just an Apple Watch that can call for help if you fall off your bike. And offers 15 great trails to add to your mountain bike bucket list.

Don’t count on a driverless Tesla to spot you. Or avoid you, for that matter.

Kindhearted Sioux Falls SD residents join with a local business to buy a new handcycle for a man suffering from a rare cancer after he had a leg amputated.

A Minneapolis man decides to honor his late brother with a “fantastical” diagonal ride across the US from Northwest Washington state to Key West, Florida.

Michigan bike advocates say put a bell on your bike.

Senior players on an Ohio high school football team pitched in to buy a new bicycle for a freshman teammate, after the one he used to ride to school was stolen.

Evidently, it’s not just the NYPD that insists on using a new bike lane as a parking lot.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is one of us, relaxing after games by riding his beach cruiser home. But he’s willing to have the fans join him.

This is who we share the roads with. A white Florida man gets 20 years for fatally shooting a black man in a dispute over a lousy parking spot.

 

International

Trump says he’s aware of the wife of an American diplomat who claimed diplomatic immunity to avoid responsibility for the hit-and-run death of a British motorcyclist, but is noncommittal about sending her back to face charges, and puts the blame on Brits for driving on the wrong side. But his notes tell a different story, clearly stating that she will not be going back to the UK.

Dyson drops its plans to build an electric car. Which is too bad, because we could really use a car that vacuums the road at the same time.

Expect to pay an extra 30 rupee baggage fee to take your non-foldie bike onto a Bangalore Metro train — which works out to just 42¢.

A South African website offers advice on how bicyclists can stay safe on the roads. Which for once doesn’t start and finish with “wear a helmet.”

A plus-sized former rugby player worked with another Aussie man to build an unbreakable high-end road bike for heavier riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

A sports website says riding in the Tour de France would be murder on your body, no matter how athletic you are.

Some of pro cycling’s better known names still aren’t under contract for next year, including American’s Taylor Phinney and Brent Bookwalter.

 

Finally…

Some people think the answer to everything is found in the Bible, like whether to build a bike path. If you’re riding a stolen bicycle while carrying garden shears, brass knuckles and a shotgun, put a damn light on it, already.

And let’s end today with a couple minute mountain bike break.

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

Morning Links: Upcoming bike events, auf Deutsch look at LA bicycling, and right hooks and left crosses on the Orange Line

June 7, 2019 / / One comment

Let’s kick things off with a handful of upcoming bike events.

On Sunday you can ride the COLT without fears of getting bucked off at the free Chatsworth Orange Line Tour bike rally and health walk.

The LA Design Festival will talk bikes on the 19th of this month, with a Culver City panel discussion on Biking in LA — Bridging the Gap in LA’s bike network. Or many gaps, for that matter. And no, I have nothing to do with that one; the title of the talk is just a coincidence.

The next edition of CicLAvia rolls on the last day of June, with the Mid City meets Pico Union open streets event.

The popular Wolfpack Hustle Presents: 2019 Forsyth Cup returns to the Encino Velodrome for three days of bike racing on July 20th, August 17th and September 1st. There will be free admission and cash prizes, with free tacos, rice and beans for all spectators and participants courtesy of BikinginLA sponsor Thomas Forsyth.

Calbike will hold their annual California Bike Summit in Los Angeles this year from October 15th through 17th.

And as we mentioned yesterday, the 19th annual edition of LA’s favorite fundraiser ride rolls this Sunday; the LA River Ride helps fund the LACBC’s operations throughout the year, allowing them to keep fighting for you at city hall and on our streets.

Photo by Huỳnh Mai Nguyễn from Pixabay.

………

Sprechen sie Deutsch?

I was recently interviewed by a German radio reporter about the miserable conditions on the streets of Los Angeles, and the lack of any real action on Vision Zero in the city.

Then helped her correct the, um, errors in the information she got in a later interview with LA’s favorite traffic safety deniers Keep LA Moving.

Now her report has been broadcast in Austria, and posted online for a limited time.

The only problem is it’s in German, naturally.

So if you understand the language better than I do, give it a listen and let us know how it went.

………

The biggest problem with the popular Orange Line Bike Path comes when you have to cross a major street. And drivers don’t exactly cooperate, as Brayden Dakota illustrates with a trio of videos.

………

Here’s your chance to work as a Public Affairs Specialist at the Southern California Association of Governments.

Or maybe you’d rather put in your days as a Digital Communications Manager for CicLAvia.

………

Local

No bias here. An Associated Press report carried by KTLA-5 says e-scooters are like a death wish, as injuries and fatalities mount. Even though only nine people have been killed on rental scooters since the beginning of 2018, compared to 38.5 million trips last year alone — which works out to just one death for every 4.2 million trips. I’ll take those odds to Vegas any day.

 

State

Costa Mesa is moving forward with plans for a multipurpose trail along the Paularino Channel, despite residents fears it will bring “transients, vandals and criminals closer to their backyards.”

San Diego appointed long-time bike advocate Andy Hanshaw, executive director of the San Diego Bike Coalition, as to lead the city’s new Mobility Board.

An alleged bike-riding San Diego serial killer has been found competent to stand trial; Jon David Guerrero is accused of riding up behind several homeless people and jamming railroad spikes into them.

A San Luis Obispo paper examines how the city’s most popular mechanic came to die alone while riding his bicycle after years of alcohol abuse.

NorCal’s Caltrain is adding seats to the bike cars on their coming electric trains so riders can keep an eye on their bicycles.

 

National

Outside picks the best uncrowded state and national parks in every state, settling on Redwood National and State Parks in California.

After actress Selma Blair decided crowdfunding was taking too long, she gave a fellow MS patient a new mobility bike.

This is why you don’t ride your bike on a freeway. A man was killed by a hit-and-run driver while trying to exit a Houston freeway on his bicycle; no word on why he was on the freeway to begin with.

Tacoma WA police are looking for a bike-riding armed hotel robber.

A Wisconsin jury awarded the family of a fallen bicyclist over $15 million, although state law says they’ll only actually get a little over $5 million of that.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a popular disabled Ohio man’s bicycle.

Ohio bike riders rode to the courthouse for the arraignment of a 21-year old hit-and-run driver who critically injured a woman riding her bike.

An Ohio man completed a 4,200-mile bike tour around all of the Grand Lakes.

A Massachusetts man was convicted of the hit-and-run death of a bike rider and burning his car to cover up the crime, as well as getting his girlfriend to give him a false alibi.

People for Bikes flew 25 women professionals from the bike industry to DC to lobby Congress for better bike funding.

The Washington Post says maybe select civilians should be able to ticket driver who park in bike lanes or commit other parking violations.

 

International

Forget the supplements. The World Health Organization says the best way to ward off dementia is with a healthy Mediterranean diet and exercise. Like riding a bike, for instance.

A British Columbia newspaper goes heavy on the sarcasm, saying they miss the days when bike riders actually signaled their turns.

California’s popular Sea Otter Classic goes to Europe.

London’s mayor calls for a 20 mph speed limit in the central city to cut traffic deaths.

A UK newspaper says bike riders and pedestrians need to be separated on the road because they just can’t get along.

Over two-thirds of British drivers think you should have to have a license plate on your bike.

British agent Sonia d’Artois was one of us, parachuting into German-occupied France nine days before D-Day to train the resistance and carry messages and weapons on her bike.

A writer for the Guardian takes a bike tour of D-Day sites in Normandy on the 75th anniversary of the allied landing that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany less than a year later.

Aussie driver Thomas Harris got a $1,250 fine for filming himself hurling abuse at a pair of bicyclists while driving on a separated path — who turned out to be off-duty cops. Harris said a traffic offender program made him realize it’s not about him. Thanks to F. Lehnerz for the link.

Lifehacker says don’t throw your old bike away, recycle it or give it to a group to refurbish. Like the entrepreneur who’s collecting unwanted Chinese bikeshare bikes to distribute to school kids in Myanmar.

 

Finally…

Slow it down already. Smacking a bike rider with your mirror is a pretty good indication you probably didn’t obey the three-foot passing law.

And that feeling when Google’s street view immortalizes the moment you fell off your bike.

 

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

Morning Links: Metro talks congestion pricing, induced demand goes both ways, and FilmedByBike this Sat

January 25, 2019 / / One comment

Metro’s board of supervisors considered congestion pricing to discourage driving and fund the 28 by 28 initiative at their monthly meeting on Thursday, but decided not to decide until next month.

The plan would provide funding to complete 28 transit projects in time for the 2028 LA Olympics. Metro’s CEO has also discussed using congestion pricing funds to provide free bus and train rides throughout the LA area.

LA’s ever-worsening traffic congestion means we have a choice between encouraging people to leave their cars behind by making it more convenient to ride a bike or use transit, or taking painful steps to force them to.

But the city’s ever-present NIMBYs, entitled drivers and traffic safety deniers have fought to block bike lanes, and too many spineless city officials have caved in to them.

So now congestion pricing is on the table. Whether they like it or not.

………

More evidence that induced demand goes both ways.

The Seattle Times looks into where the 90,000 drivers who formerly used the city’s shorefront Alaskan Way Viaduct every day went once it was closed down, and before the new tunnel meant to replace it opens.

The paper concludes that some drivers moved to another highway, some switched to transit, and some took to their bicycles.

But most, they say, either changed their commutes, or simply stayed home.

………

Looks like LAist and LA Magazine know a good thing when they see them.

LAist recommends The Frogtown Show comedy night at the Spoke Bicycle Cafe along the LA River Bike Path in Elysian Valley Saturday Night.

And both recommend FilmedByBike — Los Angeles at the Boomtown Brewery in Aliso Village on Sunday. Admission includes two movie screenings, a panel discussion, raffle and 25 exhibitors with bike demos. Correction: Earlier I wrote it was on Saturday; it’s actually Sunday. Thanks to Joe Linton for the correction.

………

An impatient driver forced his way through an Oakland protest, running over a bicycle — after the rider jumped off — then ran over the leg of a blind homeless man, while driving on the sidewalk.

Remarkably, no arrest was made, as police appeared to make excuses for the driver.

You can see some of the event below, despite the shaky camera work.

………

You can’t keep a good man down.

Or off an arena with his camera crew, evidently.

A British court ruled that YouTube star Ryan Taylor can legally post video of his scofflaw BMX ride on top of London’s massive O2 Arena.

Even if it encourages others to copy his dangerous stunt.

And eve if his ride was interrupted by a police helicopter.

………

Local

This is who we share the roads with. A woman was arrested for killing a MacArther Park pedestrian Wednesday night; the victim was walking in a crosswalk when he was run down by the driver, who was viewing messages using WhatsApp.

LADOT is hosting a mixer for community-based organizations and community leaders on February 19, from 3 to 6 pm.

More on the selection of homegrown Long Beach bike service provider Pedal Movement to operate and expand the city’s bikeshare program.

State

Santa Cruz, which already has the state’s second-highest bike commuting rate, will raise downtown parking fees to finance efforts to further increase bike and transit use.

Bay Area bike riders say not so fast to plans to steal back a long-promised bike and pedestrian lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and give it to the same drivers who claim the other five lanes.

A San Francisco TV station honors Richmond’s Rich City Rides for its work building community around bicycle rides and projects.

National

Entrepreneur talks with William Shatner, the new captain of the starship Pedego.

No bias here. A Seattle website accuses “anti-car ideologues” at area DOTs of forcing bicycles on an unwilling populace.

Oh, well that’s okay, then. A hit-and-run driver who killed a bike rider in Salt Lake City told police he fled the scene because he was scared. Even if that was the case, he should have turned himself in the next day — after he sobered up, most likely.

A 19-year old Wyoming man’s self-funded film captures the spirit of freeride mountain biking.

Dallas isn’t afraid of road diets, unlike a certain SoCal city I could name. The Texas city approved plans to reduce a major streets from six lanes to four to make room for bike lanes and wider sidewalks. The same sort of six-to-four lane reduction was what made some Mar Vista drivers apoplectic, demanding its removal.

E-scooters could finally get the green light in Gotham, as scooter companies descend on the city to lobby for their approval. However, Gothamist warns there could be roadblocks ahead.

A 62-year old Brooklyn bike rider was awarded $2.25 million after suing the city accusing a police detective of shoving him into a parked car, suffering permanent injuries; needless to say, the officer denied touching him, bur security video — hidden from the defense for four years — showed otherwise.

US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will be confined to a wheelchair and walker for the next several months as she recovers from a painful broken pelvis and hip socket suffered in a bicycling crash; still no word on whether if was a solo fall or if she was hit by a driver.

A proposed DC ordinance would give scooter and ebike riders involved in crashes the same rights as regular bicyclists and pedestrians.

Bighearted North Carolina police pitch in to replace a bike that was stolen from a young girl, whose father is suffering from stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Life remains cheap in Louisiana, where the driver who got just 90 days for killing a bike-riding city councilman gets another 90 days for injuring his riding companion. But he’ll serve just 17 days of that.

Georgia thieves steal a page from the Middle Ages and the Old West, laying a tree branch across a bridge to force a bike rider to stop; when he tried to move it, they popped out with guns and stole his cellphone. Although victims in the Middle Ages and Old West hardly ever carried cellphones with them.

He gets it. A Gainesville FL writer considers his transportation options, and concludes that cars are expensive and cumbersome, and nothing beats a bike.

The Tampa Bay Times says it’s time to make the dangerous city — and the entire state of Florida — safer for people walking and on bicycles.

International

Bike Portland looks at the bikeways of Baja.

Singer, rapper and producer Ray J plans to stay involved in the business, after selling his e-scooter company to a Canadian concern for a price tag in the high seven figures. The money will help rollout the scooters throughout North America.

A Vancouver newspaper asks if a proposal to put bike lanes and a walkway down the center of an existing bridge is smart planning or the first step towards Carmaggedon.

A British Columbia bike rider asks if the impatient driver who nearly ran her down was as frightened by it as she was. Probably not.

A Saskatoon, Canada teenager just became the youngest person to ride a bike around the world, covering nearly 20,000 miles through 16 countries.

A new report says building community bike hubs could encourage more bicycling in the Toronto suburbs; the hubs provide access to bicycles, repairs, tools and other items and services to promote bicycling in areas with no bike lanes and very few bicyclists.

The younger brother of royal spouse Kate Middleton is one of us, as he takes his two dogs for a cargo bike ride.

An “anti-social” bike mob is accused of frightening shoppers at a local mall, riding directly at them while hurling abuse.

It’s not every day that a bike thief asks to be put in prison to break his spiral of addiction; a Belfast judge was happy to oblige. Because everyone knows there are no drugs behind bars. Right?

Retired pro cycling favorite Jens Voigt tells an Indian newspaper that the problem with Millennials is they want to be millionaires in two weeks, and life doesn’t work that way. Don’t blame me, take it up with Jensie.

An Indian environmental website says bicycling would have huge benefits for the country, but the high cost of bicycles and a lack of a bicycling ecosystem are holding it back.

NIMBYs are everywhere. Even in South Africa, where white homeowners are fighting to have a new separated bike lane removed from their street.

A Singapore paper says don’t give up on dockless bike sharing yet.

Competitive Cycling

CiclaValley offers scenes from the SoCal Cross season finale.

Finally…

Turning bike parts into art. Even cartoon pigs have to wear bike helmets, ven if they originally didn’t.

And seriously, when you’re carrying meth on your bike after dark, put a damn light on it.

It might even help see the soft dirt when you flee from the police.

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

Morning Links: Raging bicyclist flings his poop, Thanksgiving bike events, and riding with a knife in his skull

November 21, 2018 / / 3 comments

Monkey see, monkey poo.

A bike-raging British Columbia bicyclist reverted to his simian self following a collision with a motorist.

He reportedly dropped his pants on a public street, pooped on the pavement and flung it at the woman’s car, who had wisely locked the door after he had previously opened it to hurl abuse at her.

Before hurling his own poop, that is.

And like they say, if there’s no video, it didn’t happen.

So yeah, poop happens.

According to Phil Gaimon, there’s a word for that.

I could come up with a lot more words for someone like that — especially for someone who now has to ride home with that crap all over his handlebar.

Needless to say, police are looking for him.

………

SoCal Cycling offers a list of Thanksgiving Day bike rides if you can tear yourself away from the turkey and football.

Bike Walk Burbank is hosting its own post-Thanksgiving ride from Burbank to Lake Balboa this Saturday.

And SoCal Cross is holding the 15th annual Turkey Trot Cross in Glendale this Sunday.

………

The Bike Exchange has launched a new ad campaign in an attempt to create the world’s first global bike marketplace.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ymVscUXic

I haven’t managed to get past the buffering to see the last 24 seconds, despite several attempts. But maybe you’ll have better luck.

………

Carlton Reid says “Cargobikes have a long history, and a bright future, even in car-obsessed America.”

And tells the story of how America’s WWII Victory Bikes led to a notable anti-car — or at least anti-OPEC — beer commercial made by an Oscar-winning director.

………

Local

Metro has proposed starting work on the $365 million Los Angeles River Bike Path Gap Closure Project by 2023, hoping to finish the eight-mile connector between the existing sections of the path in time for the 2028 LA Olympics.

Santa Clarita has installed a traffic light bicycle detection system; if you have the app installed on your phone, it can detect your bike and activate the signal from up to 300 feet away. If not, you’re evidently on your own. Correction: In a comment below, Nina Moskol of the LACBC’s Santa Clarita chapter clarifies that this system is being beta tested, and not yet available for public use. She says it’s intended as a backup system for when the bike detectors currently in place fail to work properly.

 

State

Streetsblog offers a reminder of California’s projects and programs to help meet climate change and equity goals, including bicycle and pedestrian safety training.

After first filing suit against the city, Encinitas NIMBYs are now suing the state Coastal Commission to keep Highway 101 dangerous as it passes through Leucadia.

San Diego County is considering a 6.5-mile bike path leading from the border crossing in San Ysidro, and connecting with the new Bayshore Bikeway around the San Diego Bay.

Streetsblog’s Roger Rudick says the only reason San Francisco has to consider spending $300 million to add a bike and pedestrian path to the Bay Bridge is that drivers refuse to give up an inch of the bridge’s ten lanes.

 

National

Bike Snob wants to know whatever happened to single-speed mountain bikes.

A Santa Fe newspaper tells drivers to move over and make room for bicyclists, noting that it’s not sharing when everyone has an equal right to the road.

An Aspen CO columnist lists the things she’s thankful for, including bike riders who respect those who can’t or won’t ride a bike themselves.

A Colorado Springs CO letter writer insists she’s not anti-bicyclist — then says “The bicycling thing is out of control” and those “crazy cyclists” should be limited to just certain streets and trails.

A pair of bike advocates write that Montana will be healthier with cleaner car regulations — and more people on bicycles.

An Oak Park IL resident says the city will only see minimal benefits from a planned road diet.

A Cincinnati wheelchair user asks drivers to please stop hitting him with their cars, after getting hit three times in ten months.

Life is cheap in Ohio, where a driver who walked with nothing more than probation for killing a bike rider won a court order to have her sentence sealed. So she won’t suffer any consequences for taking the life of another human being.

It’s been just five years since DC finally removed its mandatory bike bell law that had been on the books since 1884; bicyclists had originally requested the law, but tried to have it removed three years later after concluding the bells were ineffective.

 

International

Canadian Cycling Magazine offers tips on how to true your own wheels.

A London writer questions whether the city’s bike lanes are on the wrong side of the road.

In a story most California residents can relate to, a UK bike advocacy group says the country’s roads are in a dangerous state of disrepair, putting bike riders at needless risk.

British police will go undercover as ordinary bike riders to catch drivers who pass too close. Which we could easily do here, if police cared enough about bike safety to enforce the three-foot passing law.

Britain’s Laura Laker examines the failure of the country’s bicycling network.

The European Union is preparing to take action against China after accusing the country of ebike dumping.

The city of Utrecht in the Netherlands is opening the world’s biggest bike parking garage, with space for 12,500 bicycles once it’s finished next year.

Agenda 21 alert! The UN is working with the Zambian government to make space for bike riders and pedestrians despite the country’s crushing traffic congestion.

An anonymous Aussie writer questions whether the country’s “Safe System” is working to protect vulnerable road users.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News looks at late-blooming Nebraska cyclist Ashton Lambie, who applied his training as a classical pianist to breaking the world record in the Individual Pursuit.

Cycling Weekly explains the point behind a breakaway in bike racing.

Cyclist writes in praise of the gruppetto.

About damn time. The new head of pro cycling’s governing body says he’s working to eliminate the overlap between the one-week Tour of California and the three-week Giro d’Italia. Although my preference would be extending the ToC to two weeks, and shortening the Giro and the Vuelta by a week to open space in the calendar.

Former Tour de France champ Bradley Wiggins promotes his new book with an “emotional, funny, rude” talk demonstrating “a deep dislike for everyone and everything.”

Slovenian cyclist Martin Lavric is the winner of this year’s Zwift Academy challenge, and will join next year’s Dimension Data Continental development team.

 

Finally…

Convicted of scooting under the influence. And nothing like riding to the hospital with a knife embedded deep in your skull.

Who says bike riders aren’t tough?

………

One last thought.

Bicycling offers a list of the best Black Friday bike deals.

Here’s what I think about that.

………

Barring any unexpected breaking news, the Corgi and I will be taking the rest of the week off to celebrate Thanksgiving. 

But that doesn’t mean BikinginLA will go dark for the next four days. 

Tomorrow will mark the start of the Fourth Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. So save a few bucks from your holiday feasting and festivities to help support this site and keep the Corgi in kibble. 

We’ll also repost a couple of guest posts on Friday about the importance of supporting your local bike shop for this weekend’s Small Business Saturday. 

Enjoy the holiday, be good to yourself, be kind to others, and ride safely. I want to see you back here on Monday. 

Snoop Dogg y dog.

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

Morning Links: Keeping our streets deadly, biking to a surf record, and hard-hitting non-LA Vision Zero ads

October 31, 2018 / / 2 comments

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

San Gabriel police arrested a man for the hit-and-run death of a grandmother and her one-year old granddaughter as they walked in a crosswalk last week.

The suspect, who was taken into custody leaving a local hospital, has three previous arrests on DUI charges. Yet was still driving, and posing a risk to everyone on the road around him.

So once again, authorities managed to keep a dangerous driver on the streets until it was too late.

And another innocent family had to pay the price.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

……….

Brazilian big wave surfer Maya Gabeira combined running and riding intervals on her bike to get back in shape, five years after she was nearly crushed to death by a monster wave.

The result was a new world record for the largest wave ever surfed by a woman.

 

………

A hard-hitting public service campaign uses actual broken bicycles, helmets and personal possessions belonging to people who were killed on Toronto’s streets to drive home the message of the city’s Vision Zero campaign.

These definitely succeed at cutting through the usual ad clutter, and eliciting a strong visceral response.

The question is whether it’s enough to convince people to drive more carefully. Or just convince people that riding and walking are too dangerous, as Marc argues in this Twitter thread.

I’m not sure just where I come down on that debate.

But I do know they’re a hell of a lot more effective and impactful than this embarrassing effort from LA’s Vision Zero program.

………

Let’s catch up with a few coming events.

SoCalCross is hosting a weekend of cyclocross racing at Lake Casitas this weekend, including a Halloween-themed Spooky Cross.

The LACBC’s monthly Sunday Funday Ride will roll from the Spoke Bicycle Cafe to the free 2nd Annual Griffith Park Harvest Fest this Sunday.

Bike SGV reports Arcadia is hosting what may be its first ever public meeting on November 7th to discuss bicycle improvement projects throughout the city.

The East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice will host their annual LA River Bike Toxic Tour on November 18th. And no, I don’t know what that means.

………

Local

After losing at City Hall, LA’s overly litigious, self-appointed NIMBY watchdogs have filed suit against the City of Los Angeles to halt the recently approved plans allowing for greater density near Expo Line stations.

 

State

Life is cheap in San Diego, where a 20-year old woman will serve just four months of a one-year sentence for killing a Fallbrook man as he was riding just minutes from his home, while she was under the influence of antidepressants.

Sad news from Marin County, where a popular teacher was killed when her bike was rear-ended by an alleged drunk driver.

More bad news, this time from nearby Sonoma County, where a woman was run over by a loaded dump truck as she was riding her bike in a Santa Rosa crosswalk.

 

National

Zwift wants you to ride for a good cause starting next week, including helping pay the medical expenses for former pro Adrien Costa, who lost a leg while rock climbing in Italy, as well as raising funds for African bike charity Qhebeka, among others.

A Michigan charity group is getting into the holiday spirit already, gearing up to distribute 101 bicycles to needy families.

This is who we share the streets with — and who polices them. A Massachusetts police lieutenant is on administrative leave after a series of columns he wrote for a police publication came to light, including calls to “meet violence with violence” while complaining about Lime Bikes, bike lanes and Tour de France wannabes. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

Gothamist asks if just tossing protective bollards in pedestrian areas and bikeways is enough to protect New Yorkers against another truck terrorist attack.

Baltimore has officially changed the fire code to allow bike lanes on narrower streets, despite the mayor’s failure to sign the bill.

After a North Carolina man was killed by an alleged drunk driver while riding on a narrow street, a local resident says bicyclists should ride on the nonexistent sidewalks.

Four experienced Florida bike riders were critically injured when they reportedly changed lanes in front of an oncoming car, and were run down by the 92-year old driver; police blame the victims for an improper lane change. Bicyclists said the popular riding route where they were struck is dangerous, but local residents say bikes belong on the sidewalk instead.

 

International

Here’s another way of looking at Vancouver’s successful bike registration program — it helps return an average of one stolen bike a day to their original owners.

An Ottawa, Canada woman says bike riders should stay off the damn sidewalk already. No matter where we ride, people will complain that we should be somewhere else. Or anywhere else. So just ride safely, legally and courteously, and let it be their problem.

Caught on video: Just moments after safely passing one bike rider, an English bus driver nearly takes out a second bicyclist by cutting in way to close after passing to avoid oncoming traffic.

A British sporting goods company has saved a chain of bike shops from insolvency, while warning that half of the stores may be shut down.

A researcher in the UK finds no evidence that bicyclists pose an elevated risk to disabled people, but says that cars do.

Irish bike riders are posting photos of their bikes outside of polling stations as part of an “I Bike I Vote” campaign. If anyone wants to share photos of how you Bike the Vote next week, I’ll be happy to post them on here.

A New Zealand bicyclist penned an Op-Ed decrying the growing anger on the roads, after an impatient driver posted an irate video showing his group delaying her car for a whole 20 seconds.

Beleaguered Chinese dockless bikeshare company Ofo appears to be in retreat around the world.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former American national champ Larry Warbasse was back in pro cycling’s WorldTour, just days after his Aqua Blue team unexpectedly folded after he had signed a new two year contract.

Cycling Tips profiles former U-23 national champ Keegan Swirbul, who finds himself without a team at the ripe old age of 23; he may be the only rider to make the leap from parkour to the pro tour.

 

Finally…

Honestly, who doesn’t need a $6,000 sort-of bamboo e-cargo bike?

And why bother with brake levers when you can just brake with your butt?

………

Happy Halloween! Use extra caution if you drive tonight, and watch for kids early and over-indulging revelers late.

And if you ride your bike, ride defensively, because drivers won’t be looking for you tonight.

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

Morning Links: BOLO alert for stolen Cervélo S1, a handful of bike events this week, and a Bird in the hand

October 16, 2018 / / 2 comments

CBS2 news anchor Jeff Vaughn is asking everyone to be on the lookout for a bicycle that was stolen from a member of the station’s charity cycling team.

According to Vaughn, a Cervélo S1 belonging to Erez “Eric” Setty was stolen from outside the Woodland Hills Ralph’s market at 21909 Ventura Blvd on Tuesday, October 2nd at 2:49 pm.

He found security camera footage from inside the market that showed the thief making off with his bike.

The theft has been reported to the police. So if you happen to spot the bike on the street, or see a suspiciously low priced Cervélo S1 being sold on Craigslist or some other forum, contact the detectives at the LAPD’s West Valley Division.

If you’re not sure if a bike is hot, you can check Bike Index’s free nationwide stolen bike registry, which has helped return over 5,000 stolen bikes to their original owners.

I don’t know how the bike was secured in this particular case.

But let this be yet another reminder to never leave your bike unlocked and unattended even for a few moments; even a lightweight cable lock or chain could be enough to deter a thief while you run in for a quick errand.

If you need to lock your bike up for a longer period, use a heavy chain to secure the frame and both wheels, or remove the front wheel and secure it to the frame and back wheel with a heavy U-lock. Or a combination of both.

You can find more tips on how to lock your bike here.

It’s a pain in the ass to carry around a heavy lock with you everywhere you go. But it’s a lot better than coming back and finding your bike missing.

Even if it isn’t a Cervélo.

And if you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and take a few moments to register your bike for free with Bike Index or some other service.

Before something like this happens to you.

………

Streetsblog’s This Week in Livable Streets offers news of a trio of bike events.

………

Local

Curbed looks at the new left-side, parking-protected bike lane on Spring Street in DTLA. And wishes drivers would just stop parking in it.

Long Beach is ranked as the 27th best bike city in the US, even if a pair of councilmembers are standing in the way.

CiclaValley takes a ride up Mount Gleason. Which probably wasn’t named for Jackie.

 

State

CityLab says San Francisco fought the e-scooters, and the scooters won.

Tragic news from Sacramento, where a bike rider was killed in a collision with the driver of a truck.

 

National

Bicycling names the year’s best bike gear.

NPR examines the safety concerns that are rolling into American cities along with the e-scooter rollouts. The best way to improve safety for scooter users is the same as with bike riders — build out an actual network of safe, protected bike lanes.

Life is cheap in Hawaii, where a former Honolulu cop faces a $2,000 fine and up to one year in prison after being found guilty of misdemeanor negligent homicide for the on-duty crash that killed a bike rider; he was acquitted on charges of evidence tampering and filing a false police report.

Curbed asks if New York is ready for the e-scooter revolution. Then illustrates it with a photo of Bird riders on the beachfront bike path in Venice, where they’re prohibited.

Huh? A Louisiana letter writer says Baton Rouge isn’t safe for bicyclists and doesn’t need a bikeshare program, then complains that certain areas were left out. And says he conducted his own survey of how many people ride in the city — while he was driving — then fails to share those undoubtedly accurate stats.

A Miami jury sided with Bell Sports in a $17.5 million lawsuit alleging that the company’s Giro Skyla bike helmet caused a triathlete to suffer brain damage when she fell during a competition; the company’s lawyers allege she failed to follow the instructions in fitting the helmet.

Even sleepy Key West, where many people get around on two wheels, can be deadly for people on bikes; two bike riders have been killed in the last two weeks, and another was airlifted after a crash on Friday.

 

International

Authors Melissa and Chris Brunlett discuss how to turn a car town into a cycling city.

Forget drones, cargo bikes are the future for urban deliveries.

A European website asks if the European Union should be doing more to promote ebikes. Short answer, yes. So should everyone else if we’re serious about fighting climate change.

This is who we share the roads with. A driver in Northern Ireland lost his license for just one year for cutting off a group of bicyclists, causing an experienced rider to fall and fracture his elbow — then telling the riders to fuck off and flashing the bird as he sped away. Sounds like a nice guy. No, really.

A Scottish woman is scheduled to arrive in Berlin on Thursday, shattering the women’s record for riding around the world by a full 20 days.

New York Magazine examines the plans of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to reduce the city’s reliance on motor vehicles, saying it could be a guide for Gotham. Not to mention Los Angeles.

Advocates in Switzerland, which recently added bicycling to the constitution, call for the equivalent of a nearly five-foot passing law; similar laws are already in effect in Germany, Ireland, Spain and Portugal.

Police in a town in the United Arab Emirates “improved safety” by confiscating 500 bicycles belong to allegedly reckless cyclists, as well as motorbikes used by unlicensed food delivery people. I think everyone in the city will rest easier know that they’ve removed a few hundred bicycles and their riders from the streets.

Lime’s e-scooters have established a beachhead in New Zealand.

 

Competitive Cycling

Trek-Segafredo team director Steven De Jongh was hospitalized with a concussion after police spotted him lying unconscious in a ravine; his wife had reported him missing for several hours when he failed to return from a training ride.

Cyclist ranks the top ten pro cyclists of the year. For a change, Peter Sagan only comes in third.

Cycling Tips offers photos from the recent Il Lombardia, calling it the neglected Monument.

Canadian university professor Rachel McKinnon became the first transgender woman to win a women’s world track cycling championship in Los Angeles on Sunday; needless to say, conservative news sites did not approve. Meanwhile, VeloNews talks with her about the win, and the objections to it.

At least three bike races have been cancelled by organizers in a Louisiana parish, after it passed an anti-bike ordinance requiring bicyclists to wear fluoro hi-viz and ride single file in groups of ten or fewer.

 

Finally…

One stolen bike is bad, 24 is about two dozen times worse. Nothing like banning hunting after it’s already too late.

And just a quick reminder that…

…is worth two in the bush.

 

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