Tag Archive for bike hating animals

Morning Links: Don’t walk the streets of Bakersfield, Wag heads enter scooter wars, and bike hating deer

Even Buck Owens would probably think twice about walking the streets of Bakersfield these days.

The Central Valley city is the seventh most deadly city for people to walk in the US, and the only one in the top nine that’s not in Florida.

Then again, you probably don’t want to walk at all in the Bible Belt.

Surprisingly, though, Los Angeles didn’t even make the top 20.

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A new Los Angeles-based startup created by the founders of the Wag dog walking service has hit the streets of San Diego.

Jonathan and Joshua Viner are positioning Wheels as the next generation in dockless personal mobility, a cross between an e-scooter and mini-bicycle that allows the rider to be seated instead of standing.

You can even recharge your cellphone. And play your music while you’re at it.

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We may have to deal with distracted LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about taking a massive header over a bike-hating deer.

Usually.

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Turns out the left lane isn’t always the fast lane.

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Local

Sahra Sulaiman writes that Leimert Park bike crew Black Kids on Bikes passed the community service torch to a younger generation of bike riders at this year’s King Day Parade.

Streetsblog says the Arroyo Seco Bike/Walk Path is damaged from the recent rains, but still passable.

Popular Mechanics recommends three affordably priced bikes from Burbank’s Pure Cycles.

Homegrown bike service company Pedal Movement will take over operation of the Long Beach Bike Share, which will be expanding into more areas of the city.

State

The Orange County physician who prescribed drugs to driver who fatally ran down Costa Mesa firefighter Mike Kreza has pled not guilty to charges of illegally prescribing opioids; drugs from the alleged Dr. Feelgood also made their way into the hands of the Borderline shooter.

An Anaheim man was killed in a suspected gang shooting while riding his bicycle Tuesday night.

Bike SD co-sponsored a one-night Holiday Lane last December, closing down a major Pacific Beach street for a carfree community celebration.

Hats off to a group of kindhearted Thousand Oaks teenagers, who are collecting 400 bicycles, as well as wheelchairs, crutches and shipping costs, for impoverished kids in Puerto Rico and Africa.

A San Luis Obispo Facebook group forms the basis of a 280 member, all female mountain biking group called SLO Dirt Girls.

Sad news from Fresno, where a bike rider was killed when a driver was briefly blinded by another car’s headlights.

Candidates for the board of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition are being challenged on whether the bike advocacy group should accept money from car companies.

The Marin transportation board wants to steal a lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge back from pedestrians and bicyclists just a tad sooner than expected, cutting a promised pilot program from four years to six months so they can give it back to motorists.

Friends can’t explain why a Marin County man was riding bike on a freeway, where he was struck and killed by at least three separate drivers as he swerved back and forth across all three traffic lanes.

National

He gets it. In a Newsweek op-ed, a GOP advisor questions why car-choked cities are banning e-scooters. More proof that common sense traffic solutions are not a partisan issue.

A new analytical tool based on publicly available cellphone data allows cities to get a more detailed picture of how many people are walking and biking, and where they’re going.

CNN recommends walking or riding a bikeshare bike to maintain a healthy lifestyle while traveling for business.

The Shift Up podcast discusses why a Denver man shuttered his bike shop, and started his own line of $800 DIY cargo bike kits.

Denver gives its Vision Zero program a passing grade, even though traffic fatalities are up in the Mile High City.

You may soon be able to get drunk and ride your bike in North Dakota. Or your horse.

They get it. A Minnesota newspaper tells readers to be a hero and don’t drive distracted.

Seriously? A Minnesota police chief is serving a one week suspension for choking a 12-year old boy he mistakenly thought was trying to steal his mountain bike, when the kid was actually just trying to pick it up after it had been knocked down. I hate bike thieves as much as anyone, but he should have been fired the moment he put his hands on the kid’s neck.

New York police are looking for a bike rider who attacked an Uber driver and his car with a U-lock, then jumped on the roof and hood when the driver attempted to get away. There’s never an excuse for violence. But you’d think the press might wonder what the driver might have done to provoke it.

Residents of New York’s West Village complain about derelict bicycles left on the sidewalks.

A New Orleans artist yarn bombed a bikeshare bike, covering everything but the wheels and pedals.

Fort Lauderdale FL is banning e-scooters during spring break, apparently preferring to jam the streets with smog belching cars than allow partying students to get around on small, clean machines.

A Miami TV station shows video of the Wheels Up, Guns Down protest in Miami that led to a white driver pulling a gun and yelling racial epithets at a group of black teenagers; the bike riders were protesting the redevelopment of a housing project. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

International

Road.cc tests whether the new Pinarello Nytro ebike is faster uphill than a lightweight roadie.

Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry discusses why he loves riding his Vogue Elite bicycle around London. Note to Christies — it’s called a Dutch-style bicycle, not a ladies bike.

Sad news from Columbia, where a former dean from Vassar College was killed less than two-thirds of a mile into a planned 750-mile ride through the country.

Bolivia’s famed Death Road proved aptly named for a New Zealand bike rider, who slipped off a rain-slicked roadway and down a cliff while on a mountain bike tour with his fiancée.

Victoria, British Columbia plans to sacrifice a tree in one of the city’s busiest intersections to make room for bike lanes and a scramble crosswalk; urban forest advocates say not so fast.

For a monthly fee, a Dutch startup provides a working transportation bike and handles all the maintenance and repairs.

The most shocking thing about this video of a Swiss synchronized cycling team isn’t their amazing performance, it’s that AOL is still around.

National Geographic looks at the new 1,500-mile bike path that will connect cities and towns in eight Balkan countries when it’s completed. Thanks to the Previn Report for the heads-up.

A 27-year old Afghan man is trying to improve children’s literacy by riding his bike across the country handing out free books.

A homeless Australian man pled guilty to the hit-and-run death of a bicycling Dutch tourist; he was speeding at twice the speed limit in a stolen car on his way to buy drugs when he crashed the car.

Finally…

Now you, too, can be a virtual pro cyclist. Cars burst into flames, bikes aren’t supposed to.

And maybe there’s a better place they could have put this.

Just saying.

Traffic throttling bike net neutrality protest, Peter Flax interviewed on podcast, and when animals attack

Call it a brilliant metaphor for net neutrality.

Or maybe just another way to get drivers pissed off at people on bikes.

A video director protested the FCC’s decision to roll back net neutrality by deliberately throttling traffic.

Rob Bliss made his point by slowly riding his bicycle in front of lines of backed-up drivers outside the DC offices of the Federal Communications Commission.

Then giving drivers the opportunity to go around him.

For $5.

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Red Kite Prayer’s The Paceline Tandem podcast talks with LA bike scribe and beachfront bike commuter Peter Flax.

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Local

The Daily News asks what’s next for LA’s Vision Zero, after traffic deaths fell well short of the city’s goal of a 20% reduction by 2017. Then again, meeting that goal was never realistic, especially when the city didn’t even do anything until last year — then ripped out the lane reductions in Playa del Rey when drivers went berserk.

Speaking of Vision Zero, KPCC looks at the changes currently underway on Spring Street in DTLA, and how the improvements — including a left-side protected bike lane — could help cut traffic deaths. Especially if LA drivers and business owners start to realize a bike lane isn’t the end of the world, so they can go in more places.

A Burbank bike advocate is fighting the ban on bikes on the Mariposa Street over the LA River — and a citation for violating it — calling it unenforceable. It’s also ridiculous and unfair, put in place at the urging of equestrians who said bicyclists couldn’t be trusted to walk their bikes around horses.

 

State

Your next Bay Area Uber may not have a driver — or four wheels, for that matter.

A Marin columnist is back at it, complaining that sharing the road means drivers should get 100% of a new bridge at peak hours. And bike riders and pedestrians can have their own lane, but only once the people in cars are done with it.

 

National

Writing for CyclingTips, James Huang says maybe the bike industry would do a little better if it marketed itself based on how much fun road cycling is, rather than focusing on the joys of suffering.

Washington state is considering adopting the same ebike regulations that were pioneered in California.

A missing link in a Seattle bikeway receives environmental clearance, although opponents threaten to sue to stop it for the third time.

A Wyoming task force calls on the state to spend $10 million a year to create more walkable main streets, community pathways and rural bicycling routes in the sparsely populated state.

Bicycling offers six things you can learn from Fargo ND bicyclists who ride in sub-zero temperatures. Like maybe that even the worst LA winters aren’t so bad.

No, a New Orleans pedestrian wasn’t robbed by a group of cyclists; he was robbed by a group of teenagers who happened to be riding bicycles.

 

International

One more trip to add to your bicycle bucket list — bicycling the volcanic craters and tropical forests of the Azores. Unless maybe you’d rather ride through the French Alps.

A letter writer in the Guardian says riding an ebike isn’t cheating.

A Bristol, England newspaper begs to differ with a city councilor who says replacing a footbridge with a bike crossing is “a scandalous waste of public money” and “pandering to the cycling lobby.”

The war on bikes goes on, as a road raging British driver nearly runs a bike rider off the road, then blocks his way by driving in slow motion.

Nearly 200 bike riders were injured on Edinburg tram tracks in a seven year period; authorities say many never got back on their bikes again.

Aussie bike riders are urged to use bike cams to record dangerous drivers, though a motoring group says it’s likely to inflame tensions. Actually, it’s a good idea for everyone, regardless of where you ride; I use a helmet cam every time I ride in traffic. And no, it’s never enraged anyone, though it has caused a few angry drivers to back down once they realized they were on candid camera.

Brisbane, Australia considers a trial suspension of the city’s mandatory bike helmet law for the city’s bikeshare system. Although one city councilmember says he’d rather have separated bike lanes to get riders out of the way of cars and pedestrians.

An Australian driver claims it’s not his fault he killed a bike rider because he was totally zoned out behind the wheel, and doesn’t remember hitting anyone, possibly because of his diabetes or sleep apnea or something. Sure, let’s go with that.

A Kiwi bike rider is knocked off his bike braving the waves along a beachside street during a king tide.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twelve cyclists competing in the Tour of Costa Rica have tested positive for EPO, including the race winner. But sure, the era of doping is over, right? 

Retired pro cyclist Thomas Voeckler says it wouldn’t surprise him if Lance had motor doped. And he’s sure other cyclists did in the past, but that new tests have stamped it out. Just like they’ve put an end to every other form of cheating.

 

Finally…

Now you can ride on the handlebars all by yourself. Apparently, crashing your bike into a car can lead to a career in fashion.

And evidently, kangaroos aren’t the only animals that have it out for us. Thanks to Neal Henderson for the heads-up.