People for Bikes wants you to weigh in to stop yet another attack on US bicycle funding by a pair of GOP Congressmen.
In a world that made sense, conservatives would support bicycling as a far more cost-efficient alternative to driving, requiring significantly less public subsidy while reducing reliance on foreign oil.
But let’s face it, American politics stopped making sense a long time ago.
And just out of curiosity, what the hell does Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer’s bicycle lapel pin have to do with a proposal to raise the national gasoline tax?
………
A coalition of LA advocacy groups, including the LACBC, are sponsoring a series of Stakeholder Workshops to take action on improving access to parks in LA County, starting tonight in El Monte.
………
Local
Long Beach celebrates its second Critical Mass five years after the current LA County Sheriff, then the chief of the LBPD, ordered what was probably an illegal crackdown and confiscation of rider’s bikes. Not only were the citations unfounded and the riders denied their freedom of assembly, but there was no apparent legal justification for impounding their bicycles.
This Sunday marks the 10th edition of Feel My Legs, I’m a Racer, one of the most challenging amateur hill climbing races in the US.
The LACBC is hosting the first 15-mile, family friendly Great Valley Bicycle Roundup on Saturday, November 14th.
Climate Action Santa Monica hosts What a Way to Go — Bike, Bus, Expo! on Sunday the 22nd; it’s a free event, but registration is requested due to limited seating.
Streetsblog LA has several other bike events in their This Week in Livable Streets.
State
A man on a bike was critically injured when he was hit by a car in Santa Ana Monday night; there seemed to be a lot of victim-blaming going on, as police said the victim was not in a bike lane, while the driver claimed he “came out of nowhere.” Then again, it’s hard to ride in a bike lane when there isn’t one. And “he came out of nowhere” is usually just another way of saying “I wasn’t paying attention,” since cyclists seldom suddenly materialize on the street.
It takes a real jerk to steal a three-wheeled bike from a disabled San Diego man; the bike was his only form of transportation since suffering a brain injury in a DUI crash 30 years ago.
BikeSD’s Sam Ollinger takes a deep dive into what the organization can do to have an impact on income inequality.
A 16-year old East Salinas boy was killed in a shooting while riding his bike Sunday night.
Cupertino drivers are responding to road construction by attempting to drive in the bike lane, often without looking for bikes first.
Bay Area bicyclists are still waiting for a long-promised bike path to Treasure Island on the Bay Bridge, let alone all the way to San Francisco. This is what happens when they build bridges and roadways without considering anyone other than motorists; it’s difficult, if not impossible, to shoehorn in accommodations for people traveling by foot or bike at a later date.
Petaluma police attempt to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety by reigning in those darn people on bike and foot instead of the ones in the big, dangerous machines.
National
Fox News recaps some of the latest developments in the bike world, including fat tired bikes and MIPS helmets. Although someone should tell them Phat Bikes is a brand, not a description, and fat tires can hardly be called “tech.”
Bicycling offers good advice on how to check yourself for injuries after a collision or fall.
Business Insider says the coolest thing in road cycling is multimodal recreational riding, which is riding further than you normally would, then taking the train back.
Wyoming considers establishing a task force to study bike safety improvements and new bikeways in response to an increase in fatalities last year.
Like much of the rest of the country, Baton Rouge LA is experiencing a bikelash as bikes make inroads onto formerly auto-centric streets.
A Pennsylvania driver says he’s really sorry he killed a cyclist, and it was just an accident when he crossed onto the wrong side of the road and ran up onto the sidewalk, dragging the victim 88 feet under his SUV. Sure, that could happen to anyone, right?
A 16-year old Philadelphia bike rider was fatally shot after he and his companion had an altercation with a car full of men in a possible road rage incident; the assailants fired 17 times, which a police captain described as “a lot of shots to fire at two kids on a bike.” You think?
The accused drunk driver who killed a Maryland couple riding their tandem bike over the weekend tried to convince police she just happened to stop when she saw two people lying on the side of the road. Probably because she’d just smashed into them.
International
The Department of DIY strikes in Toronto, where cyclists turn a buffered bike lane into a pumpkin-protected lane.
Britain’s Cycling Weekly explores what roadies can learn from mountain bikers.
London’s Evening Standard looks at the new women’s bikewear line Victor and Leap. Is it really feminist to make bike clothes to meet the needs of women, or just finally recognizing that women’s needs aren’t the same as men, and they ride bikes too?
Paris plans a major makeover for the famed Champs-Elysées to make it more human-friendly, including better walkways and “proper” bike lanes on either side. And just in time for Public Bikes’ latest edition.
A South African cyclist understandably loses his love for his favorite mountain ride after he’s beaten and robbed of his $3,000 bike.
Finally…
Where else would you put a bike chop shop except in a secret room behind a swinging bookshelf hidden in abandoned house? A turnabout is fair play, as Brooklyn cyclists ticket police cars parked in a bike lane.
And caught on video: An inept Washington State thief spends 17 minutes trying, and failing, to steal a bike before being chased off by police.
