Tag Archive for Bike LA

Better bike lanes beat hi-viz for safety, commuting 46 miles — each way — by ebike, and Sunset4All gaslit by O’Farrell

December 5, 2023 / / Comments Off on Better bike lanes beat hi-viz for safety, commuting 46 miles — each way — by ebike, and Sunset4All gaslit by O’Farrell

It’s Day 12 of the of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Which means you have just 19 days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy.

It was a slow weekend while I was out of town for my sister’s birthday, but the fund drive is still ahead of last year at this time.

Please join me in thanking Bonnie W, Patt M, Plurabelle Books and Damian K, who says he’s only here for the corgis, for their generous donations to keep all the freshest bike news and corgi pics coming your way every day. 

So take a moment and give now!

It’s okay, we’ll wait. 

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He gets it.

A writer for Velo says better bike lanes will stop bicyclists from getting hit by drivers — not lighting yourself up like a Christmas tree.

There is one proven way to lower the risk of cyclists being killed: adding quality bike lanes.

A quality bike lane works for cyclists of even the most novice of levels to help them feel comfortable moving around their community. Usually, they’re separated from the road, or at the very least partitioned in a way that provides freedom of movement and opportunity to get around.

Hi-viz and fluorescent gear won’t stop inattentive drivers from hitting cyclists. It won’t stop a driver angered by the mere inconvenience of having to share the road. Unfortunately, it won’t stop drivers who mean well but don’t see a cyclist either. It’s a bike lane. More specifically, it’s separated bike lanes that improve cyclist safety.

It’s worth taking a few minutes from your day to read the whole thing.

Because he’s right, even though I ride with enough lights to guide Santa’s sleigh these days.

Thanks to Joel Falter for the heads-up. 

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He gets it, too.

Los Angeles Times Letters Editor Paul Thornton shares his experience after buying an ebike to beat traffic on a commute between his Alhambra home and the Times offices El Segundo that can stretch to two hours or more.

Tell that to someone who says you can’t use a bicycle for LA’s long commutes.

That was until I bought an electric bike and just this week started using it to ride the 46-mile round trip between home and work.

On Tuesday morning, by which time L.A.’s rush-hour traffic had fully rebounded from its holiday break, getting from Alhambra to El Segundo by e-bike took 90 minutes. The electric motor flattened hills and helped with attaining traffic speed sooner.

The commute home lasted 80 minutes. That’s 46 rush-hour miles in less than three hours — typically what it takes in a car, and less than the same journey on Metro rail.

But as we’ve all learned by now, even the best bike commute isn’t all sunshine and roses.

Thornton says bicycle safety is dangerously backsliding due to a lack of safe bike infrastructure, even as cities rush to catch up.

Big SUVs and trucks, with front ends resembling battering rams, are outselling all other vehicle types and killing pedestrians and cyclists with greater ease than ever before. Even many of the “protected” bike lanes popping up around Los Angeles, which separate cyclists from vehicles with flimsy plastic bollards that collapse if hit by a car, offer barely any protection.

To L.A.’s everlasting shame, traffic deaths have ballooned to crisis proportions since then-Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the goal of eliminating them completely by adopting Vision Zero in 2015. That year, according to the group Streets Are for Everyone, 203 people died in L.A. traffic; in 2022, 312 were killed.

Once again, it’s worth taking a few minutes from your busy Tuesday to read it.

Because he succinctly captures both the risks and the opportunity ebikes present, on a personal level.

And gives me a nice shoutout in the process.

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The Guardian takes a look at the Sunset4All project to improve safety and livability along LA’s busy — and deadly — Sunset Blvd, led by LA Bike Dad Terence Heuston.

Heuston says that at the time his group formed, safety problems with the Sunset corridor were already on many radars. The section of Sunset made it on the LA department of transportation’s Vision Zero High Injury Network, a list of the most dangerous roadways in Los Angeles. And safer biking on Sunset fit with Los Angeles’ Mobility Plan 2035, a blueprint launched in 2015 to transform LA’s streets into “complete streets” – roadways that can be safely used by bikers, pedestrians, cars and mass transit alike – by the year 2035. Furthermore, in 2015 the LA Metro Active Transport (Mat) program identified the Sunset corridor as high priority for safety improvements because it would make a significant impact on resident use of active modes of transportation, as well as the Metro.

The clear solution was creating protected bike lanes along the corridor, which studies have shown can improve safety for everyone on the street.

With Heuston leading the charge, activists were buoyed by the idea that they were advocating for something so many agreed should be done. “We were hoping this could be a model project,” says Heuston. “Sunset is this iconic boulevard in the most iconic ‘car-centric’ city in North America. The idea was: if we can change it here, then we can change it anywhere.”

They had community buy-in thanks to countless events like the coffee walk gathering and long hours spent talking to various groups, lots of volunteers and the support of their city council – or so they thought.

Unfortunately, Heuston and the other volunteers were gaslighted by former CD13 Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who told them to hire expensive independent traffic engineers to create plans and renderings for the project.

So the plans and renderings crowdfunded by the group just ended up in the circular file.

Hugo Soto-Martinez, who defeated O’Farrell for District 13 in the 2022 general election, says his predecessor lied to the group. Studies conducted by third parties aren’t accepted by the city. O’Farrell was “just sitting on the project”, Soto-Martinez said.

And yes, once again, it’s worth taking the time from your busy day to read the whole thing.

If for no other reason than to fully grasp the frustrations bike and safety advocates experience dealing with our auto-addled city leaders.

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Dr. Grace Peng calls your attention to a proposal to improve bike-carrying bus service in the Bay Cities. And wants your support to put an actual ebike user on the Redondo Beach Ebike Task Force.

Preferably her.

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This is who we share the road with. A Bellevue, Washington driver turned a local restaurant into a drive thru, the easy way.

Thanks to Ralph Durham for the heads-up.

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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 Claremont, California letter writer applauds himself for striking a nerve with the “bike lane fanatics,” then proceeds to say a recent survey showing overwhelming local support for bike lanes doesn’t pass the smell test. Which evidently, is the only proof he requires. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link. 

A New York bike rider shares “infuriating” video of the city’s drivers blatantly ignoring bicycle infrastructure, with “numerous sizable vehicles obstructing an already small bike lane.”

No bias here, either, as London’s Daily Mail accuses the city’s mayor of chopping down a historic palm tree to make room for “yet another bike lane for his beloved cycling constituents,” before conceding that the tree was merely moved to another location.

Organizers of an Oxford, England Christmas market threatened to cancel the event because city officials demanded they maintain bicycle access, instead of blocking a bike lane.

French officials decided to celebrate the season by plopping a large Christmas tree in the middle of a trans-European bike path. Because why wouldn’t they?

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

Bakersfield police arrested one person and seized seven bicycles after a large group of bicyclists took over city streets on Saturday, allegedly causing traffic hazards and disturbing the peace, as well as engaging in thefts, vandalism and at least one assault with a deadly weapon.

The family of a 91-year old British Army veteran says the ebike rider who crashed into him will likely get off with a slap on the wrist because the country has failed to update its bike laws, after the man died of his injuries three months after he was struck.

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Local 

LA Weekly takes a long-delayed look at Mobility Plan 2035, which promised a transformation of Los Angeles streets when it was passed by the city council in 2015 — but fails to mention that it was promptly shelved and forgotten, in a story with the depth of something written by AI.

CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt called for new protected bike lanes on a 3.1-mile stretch of Venice Blvd between Fairfax and Arlington avenues.

A coalition of South LA organizations is launching a new ebike library pilot called Power Up South Central, similar to an existing program in Pacoima.

Tomorrow is the last day to offer comments on the Glendale Bicycle Transportation Plan.

Santa Monica’s mayor proudly proclaims that the city will soon be the bicycling capital of the world, warning Amsterdam to watch out as she opens the new protected intersection on 17th Street. Correction: I originally misidentified the mayor of Santa Monica as a man, rather than a woman. But with a name like Gleam, I had a 50/50 shot. Thanks to Joe Linton for setting me straight. 

A Santa Monica letter writer says speed limits and road design must change if the city hopes to save lives.

 

State

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition has teamed with CABO and the American Bicycling Education Association to create a short video explaining CVC 21202, the basic law governing the operation of bicycles on the roadway. Thanks to Phillip Young for the link.

A Fullerton writer calls for safer bike and pedestrian detour around construction zones. Something that’s just as needed in Los Angeles, where construction work too often reminds us that people walking and biking barely enjoy second-class status.

 

National

Cycling Weekly offers a long list of reasons why roadies should ride in the dirt this winter.

A Wyoming website profiles one of the state’s most senior wildlife biologists, who is also a ninth-degree blackbelt in karate, the former mayor of Laramie, and a founder of the Tour de Wyoming cycling event.

A Houston magazine calls ghost bikes painful reminders of the city’s cyclist death problem, with over 100 such memorials dotting the city.

Bicycling says convicted killer Kaitlin Armstrong is appealing her 90-year sentence for fatally shooting gravel cycling champ Moriah “Mo” Willson, in a perceived love-triangle with pro cyclist Colin Strickland. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

A 30-year old Chicago woman faces charges for the drunken death of a 59-year old man riding a bicycle in October, while running three stop signs and driving in the bike lane, with a BAC two and a half times the legal limit.

The mayor of Anne Arbor, Michigan is one of us, urging others to join him in commuting by ebike.

 

International

Momentum tells Elon Musk’s vaunted Cybertruck to move over, because ebikes are the real sustainability game-changer, and considers the right and wrong way to lock your bike.

Bike riders continue to flock to Bolivia’s famed Death Road, despite the nearly three-mile high roadway claiming the lives of nearly 20 bicyclists every year.

Good question. The parents of a Newfoundland teenager want to know why the driver who hit him was able to get behind the wheel despite a lifetime ban on driving, after the man fled the scene after hitting the kid as he was riding his bike.

Forbes talks with a representative of the European Cycling Foundation attending the COP 28 climate conference about the role bicycling can play in confronting the climate crisis.

An angry driver tells British radio star Jeremy Vine to fuck off, after the bike-riding BBC presenter challenged him for blowing through a stop sign.

An Oxford, England city councilor responds to a challenge from a bicycling critic to post a photo of school bike racks on a cold wet December day by doing just that — showing the racks overflowing with bikes.

A French engineer is attempting to solve the problem of exploding lithium-ion ebike batteries by storing energy with a supercapacitor, instead.

A Kenyon newspaper looks at the nation through the eyes of a 24-year old woman who is riding solo over 8,000 miles across Africa.

A Pennsylvania man recreates a historic 900-mile trip from Nagasaki to Yokohama by Penny Farthing, 136 years after the original journey.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News offers a comprehensive team-by-team look at next year’s WorldTour cycling teams.

 

Finally…

Seriously, why wouldn’t an elderly ghost want to watch a little kid learn how to ride a bike? Is it really a folding bike if the wheels don’t?

And why go around when you can go through?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Whistleblower demoted in Caltrans scandal, CD12 CM John Lee faces ethics charges, and LA Bike Fest this Saturday

October 4, 2023 / / 3 comments

Maybe things haven’t changed at Caltrans after all.

As we mentioned a few weeks back, Jeanie Ward-Waller, deputy director of planning and modal programs at state highway agency, was unceremoniously transferred from her position last month.

In other words, demoted.

The reason, according to a new report from Politico, is that she stood up against a plan to circumvent environmental rules on Sacramento-area road construction projects, announcing her intention to file a whistleblower complaint.

Caltrans’ chief deputy director, Michael Keever, notified Ward-Waller on Sept. 14 that she would be terminated from her role Oct. 4 and placed on administrative leave until then. In a letter seen by POLITICO, he offered her the option of returning to her previous role at the agency or one administrative level above that.

The former policy director for the California Bicycle Coalition, aka Calbike, had worked at the agency since 2017. She was promoted to her most recent position three years ago by former Caltrans Director Toks Omishakin, who is now serving as state Secretary of Transportation.

Apparently, even that was not enough to protect her when she spoke out against the agency circumventing its own rules, as well as state climate regulations.

Ward-Waller said in an interview — her first since her termination — that she had objected to two construction projects on Highway 80 because, she said, Caltrans’ state and federal permits improperly understated their environmental impacts…

Ward-Waller alleged that Caltrans improperly described the first project as “pavement rehabilitation” when it will actually widen the road to accommodate new lanes. Because of that, she said, it’s illegally using state funds that are intended only for road maintenance, not widening.

She also said the projects should have been considered as one and that by “piecemealing” them into two, Caltrans was able to streamline permitting for the first project, avoiding a full evaluation of alternatives under the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Ironically, the news broke just one day before California Clean Air Day.

Maybe it’s time for Caltrans to clear the air about their own failure to live up to their clean air goals. And stop punishing high-ranking employees for standing up to them over it.

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About damn time.

Anyone who has been paying attention knows there has been a cloud hanging over CD12 Councilmember John Lee ever since his role in the Mitch Englander bribery scandal came to light.

Now the Los Angeles Ethic Committee is accusing him of failing to disclose gifts he received in excess of the allowed limits in 2016 and 2017, when he was the top aide to the disgraced and now convicted former councilmember.

He also stands accused of misusing his city position, and aiding and abetting his old boss in misusing his council seat.

The only question is what took so long. Okay, that’s the second question.

The first is why he never faced criminal charges for his role in the bribery scandal; smart money says he turned on Englander, and earned a free pass by working with the FBI to provide key evidence in the case.

According to the LA Times,

The accusations arise from Lee’s time as chief of staff to Englander, who pleaded guilty in 2020 to lying to federal investigators when he was caught in a pay-to-play corruption investigation. Lee, referred to as City Staffer B in the federal indictment, was on the now-infamous trip to Las Vegas when Englander received an envelope with $10,000 in a casino bathroom. The trip, we learned from the Ethics Commission’s accusation, was to celebrate Lee’s pending move from City Hall to the private sector.

On that trip, according to the accusation, a developer and a businessperson put Lee up in a hotel suite, gave him $1,000 in casino chips (which, Lee told investigators, he lost playing baccarat), wined and dined him, and spent $34,000 on bottle service at a nightclub. The value of the trip far exceeded the $470 gift limit for city officials.

Lee did not include the trip or gifts on his disclosure forms when he left city service that month. After the FBI contacted Englander around Sept. 1, 2017, as part of its investigation, Englander sent two $422 checks to the businessperson, one from himself, the other from Lee, for “Vegas expenses.” The checks were backdated to Aug. 4 to make it appear that Englander and Lee had reimbursed the businessperson before the FBI inquiry, according to the accusation.

Unfortunately, the most the Ethics Committee can do is issue a fine, which will amount to a relative slap on the wrist, no matter the amount.

And it’s unlikely Lee will have the integrity to step down, regardless of whether that’s the right thing to do after skating on criminal charges.

I can’t speak for you, but after five councilmembers convicted, charged or implicated in corruption scandals over the last few years, I’m beginning to lose faith in our city leaders.

Okay, that’s a lie.

I lost faith in them a long damn time ago.

Maybe we just need to show up with a cargo bike full of unmarked bills to finally get some action on safer streets around here.

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BikeLA, the advocacy group formerly known as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is hosting their annual Bike Fest this Saturday at the Highland Park Brewery in DTLA’s Chinatown neighborhood.

Here’s how they describe the event.

LA Bike Fest is BikeLA’s 2nd Annual Fundraiser and Celebration of bike-minded people from daily commuters to weekend warriors and everyone in between. A Pedal-Powered Party where attendees are encouraged to ride to and from LA Bike Fest via the healthiest, happiest, most sustainable, and equitable transportation available – THE BICYCLE. Taking place on Saturday, October 7 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. at Highland Park Brewery, a hop, skip and roll from the Chinatown Metro station, the event is open to all ages, but you must be 21+ to be served beer. The $25pp ticket (purchased in advance; $35 at the door if capacity allows) includes free bike valet (along with minor bike repairs), one beer or non-alcoholic drink, a commemorative BikeLA bandana, music, 360°photo booth, an online silent auction, and a fully supported group bike ride to the venue.

Join fellow BikeLA supporters, local chapter members, elected officials, with the shared desire to transform Los Angeles into a better place to live and bicycle. In addition, BikeLA’s 2023 Spoke Award Honorees will be honored during LA Bike Fest: Laura Friedman, Assemblymember, 44th District, a leading advocate for making California a more bikeable region for everyone; Sunset4All, a community-led vision to create 3.2 miles of pedestrian improvements, protected bike lanes, safer access to schools, transit upgrades, and more; and Tafarai Bayne, Chief Strategist, CicLAvia, a Los Angeles native who has worked on urban development and planning issues for 23 years, emphasizing the dynamics impacting working-class communities. Bike LA’s honorees are passionate, dedicated, and collaborative in making Los Angeles a more bikeable region for everyone.

Highland Park Brewery will have a bar in a designated area where additional beer can be purchased as well as offering a special menu (including a vegan option) available for purchase. This year’s silent auction will be online this year. For those who can’t make it to the event but want to show support, can still bid on a wide variety of awesome auction items. The auction is set to tentatively launch on September 29th. Visit https://www.la-bike.org or sign up for email announcements HERE.

Ticket proceeds and additional donations help raise crucial funds to support BikeLA’ advocacy and programming to make Los Angeles more bikeable for everyone.

Unfortunately, the 2 pm cutoff means I won’t be able to attend due to another commitment.

But hopefully you can make it, and quaff a nice Festbier or two for me.

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Here’s your chance to tell Redondo Beach you’d rather see protected bike lanes on Manhattan Beach Blvd, instead of the thin painted lines the plan currently calls for.

I mean, you would, wouldn’t you?

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

Statistics are a dangerous thing in the wrong hands. No, even if 75% of people killed while riding bicycles weren’t wearing a helmet, that doesn’t mean 75% of bicycling fatalities were due to not wearing one. And even that stat is highly debatable.

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

A 24-year old Los Angeles man was busted for riding a bicycle while under the influence. And yes, that’s a thing in California.

Police in New York are still looking for a hit-and-run bicyclist who slammed into a 59-year old woman last month, while riding salmon in a bike lane on a bikeshare ebike; the victim remains in a coma two weeks later.

Several women have complained of being frightened and harassed by male bicyclists in London’s Richmond Park, who mistakenly assume they aren’t permitted to drive on streets that are otherwise closed to motorists. Seriously, don’t do that. No matter how right you may think you are.

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Local 

The aforementioned LA Times asks if Los Angeles could follow San Francisco’s lead in banning right turns on red lights, which could go a long way towards preventing crashes with bike riders and pedestrians.

The former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills continues its surprising bike-friendly turnaround, announcing plans to install bike lanes on Beverly Blvd between Santa Monica Blvd and Doheny Drive.

Pasadena public school students will be walking to class today to mark National Walk and Roll to School Day, as well as the state’s Clean Air Day. Which probably isn’t what they’ll be breathing as they walk to school along the Rose City’s busy streets.

A Los Angeles man has been booked on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and felony assault for knocking a woman off her ebike and strangling her on Santa Monica’s Main Street after yelling incoherently, for no apparent reason.

 

State

A Leucadia woman is calling for a law mandating helmets for ebike riders, after her 69-year old husband suffered a fractured skull when he hit a curb and went over his handlebars just two blocks from their home; he remains in a coma weeks after the crash. Although to be fair, the same thing could happen hitting a curb on a regular bike. 

Solano Beach is just the latest SoCal city to adopt an ordinance cracking down on scofflaw ebike riders, though it sounds like all they’re doing is recommitting to enforcing existing regulations, while creating a diversion program for ticketed bicyclists.

This is who we share the road with. A San Francisco woman is in critical condition after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing the street and tossed into the path of a driverless cab, which came to a complete stop on top of her leg, pinning her underneath.

Sacramento is planning to slow traffic by installing a number of speed bumps throughout the city, in an effort to improve safety on the city’s deadly streets.

 

National

A 73-year old Wisconsin man faces charges for driving under the influence after hitting a nine-year old boy riding a bike with his two brothers; the boy faces a long road to recovery after waking up in the hospital, and asking if he was dreaming. A crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses has raised nearly half of the modest $9,000 goal. Drinking may be a disease, but getting behind the wheel afterwards is a choice — a very bad one.

Chicago hit-and-run victims call for better protection for bike riders on the city’s streets.

Tragic news from Florida, where a high school senior was killed by a 78-year old school bus driver just as he was arriving at school on his bike, and was left crossed by the driver as she pulled into the school parking lot; a crowdfunding campaign for the victim’s family has raised over $19,000 of the $20,000 goal. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive — especially a vehicle that large and full of children. 

 

International

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. After a bike rider was killed in a right hook by the driver of a cement truck, officials announced the intersection in downtown Hamilton, Ontario will undergo a review to improve safety. You can probably count on one hand the number of times that’s happened after any crash in Los Angeles. And have enough fingers left over to let them know what you think about it.

A Manchester, England city councilor is feeling the heat after a bike rider was injured by a stoned driver on the same section of roadway where two other bicyclists were killed last year, after he was responsible for having a protected bike lane ripped out in 2021.

An English man credits the doctors who were riding behind him with saving his life when he suffered a heart attack during a charity ride.

Leading British cyclists fire back over the Conservative government’s plan to restore automotive hegemony to the country’s poor, put-upon motorists, arguing that everyone should feel safe enough to choose walking or biking, and that every person on a bike frees up space for people who actually need to drive.

Good idea. Instead of just installing ghost bikes at the site of fatal crashes, advocates in the UK left a half dozen on the steps of the county hall to represent the six people killed on county roads so far this year — and to make sure officials and the press actually saw them.

A $29 million road improvement project in the UK may have to be redone over fears that bicyclists riding on the segregated bike lane could crash into pedestrians using the narrow sidewalk, which is less than three feet wide in places.

Belgian bicyclists may soon be able to take the motorcycle license exam on their ebikes.

Students at Kenya’s Moi University are ditching East Africa’s traditional low-powered motorcycles known as boda-bodas for bicycles, describing them as more convenient on campus and better for the environment.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling highlights the “astonishing, heroic story” of Ayesha McGowan, as she successfully achieving her “wildly ambitious” goal to become the first Black American woman in the pro peloton. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Velo highlights seven rising stars to watch in next year’s women’s WorldTour rookie class.

Thirty-nine-year old Frenchman François Pervis failed in his attempt to become the fastest person on two wheels last month, when he fell 3.1 mph short of the 89.39 mph record for the fastest human-powered vehicle; his previous attempt last year nearly left him paralyzed after crashing at 80 mph.

It looks like the nascent National Cycling League will survive for a second season after signing a number of cyclists to contracts, including L39ion of Los Angeles rider Tyler Williams, who will ride for the Miami Nights. Apparently, pro sports have officially run out of good team names. 

 

Finally…

Who needs a tent when you can tow a trailer behind your bike? Probably not the best idea to engage in a shootout with cops trying to stop you for blowing through a stop sign.

And it’s not too late to get this for my birthday.

No, really.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Bike lanes as parking lots, BikeLA hosts Florence Firestone Community Ride, and riding a bike with a sofa on your head

August 4, 2023 / / Comments Off on Bike lanes as parking lots, BikeLA hosts Florence Firestone Community Ride, and riding a bike with a sofa on your head

The good news is, there’s not much bad news today. 

After a week’s worth of news about crashes and fallen bicyclists, today offers a welcome and much needed emotional respite. 

So kick back with a steaming cuppa coffee or a nice cold drink.

And enjoy some happier bike news heading into the weekend. 

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That feeling when your new protected bike lane becomes a parking lane.

Speaking of which, the new La Brea bus and bike lanes apparently make great idling spots.

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BikeLA is hosting a community bike ride in the Florence Firestone neighborhood this Sunday, as part of the Department of Public Health Vision Zero project.

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A New York man rides a bike with a sofa balanced on his head.

 

And yes, he looks to be the same guy who recently rode a bikeshare bike with a flatscreen TV on his head.

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Pro mountain biker Alex Rudeau demonstrates what you can do with an e-mountain bike.

Okay, maybe not you. Or me, for that matter.

Especially not me.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvU_TATtfkW/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0124c64f-60d0-4600-9c1c-5c9df8a8722f

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Anyone old enough to learn the ins and outs of physical intimacy from The Joy of Sex may wish this one had been approved.

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

A Portland cop, apparently ignorant on bike law, admonished a woman riding with her kids for taking the lane, telling her to ride to the right by weaving around parked cars. Just to be clear, you are far safer riding in a straight line in the traffic lane, than weaving around parked cars to ride next to the curb. And any cop who doesn’t know that needs retraining.

A New Orleans area letter writer says he’s all for protecting bike riders, but a three-block protected bike lane doesn’t seem worth the effort.

It doesn’t help matters when traffic lights on a British protected bike lane are permanently stuck on red.

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

Seriously, don’t leave your bike lying directly in front of the train car doors.

Your periodic reminder that people on bicycles have the same responsibility to stop after a collision that anyone in a motor vehicle does.

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times recommends riding on the “breezy” seven-mile Elysian Valley Bicycle & Pedestrian Path to find a safe haven away from cars. Which is just a fancy name for the LA River bike path through the Glendale Narrows.

 

State

San Francisco’s controversial new Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane officially opened on Tuesday, even if it isn’t completely complete.

 

National

Bicycling offers advice on how to stay safe riding your bike in bad weather. More than once I’ve found myself riding out a thunderstorm or the occasional tornado lying in a wet ditch. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

A new study says sixty percent of bike riders would move to a new city if they were offered a new ebike. Although if that were true, we’d all live in Denver by now. Or maybe Arkansas. 

Bicycle Colorado is offering a free, 75-minute interactive course for motorists to improve their ability to drive safely around pedestrians and bicyclists. Now we just need that to spread to the other 49 states, and get insurance companies to offer incentives for taking it.

A new report from the Michigan State Police says someone is most likely to be killed riding a bike in the evening or on Friday, as bicycling fatalities rise 63% in the state.

Former NFL QB Alex Smith plans to take part in a 200-mile bike ride across Massachusetts to raise money for cancer research, just a year after his young daughter was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor.

J-Lo’s daughter Emme is one of us, as she joined her mom and stepdad Ben Affleck for a family bike ride in the Hamptons.

Good advice. A Long Island community group responded to a collision that seriously injured a bike rider with a radio PSA urging everyone to “Take a deep breath, slow down, and don’t be distracted.”

Yes, please. A New York proposal would require the city to create a searchable, real-time bike lane map showing up-to-the-minute obstructions and closures.

President Biden ignored Thursday’s drama with his predecessor in DC, and drew a crowd on another Delaware bike ride. Although apparently, only presidents are allowed to wear bike helmets.

 

International

Rouleur looks at the physiological benefits of bicycling, regardless of your ability level.

Cycling Weekly considers whether SRAM’s patent for voice-operated shifting solves an invented problem, or breaks down barriers to bicycling. I can’t wait for the day you tell your bike to downshift, and it responds “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Even though your name isn’t Dave.

A new rooftop bike rack from a German company does the heavy lifting for you, using a hydraulic lift to effortlessly move your bike up to the roof of your car.

Forget the local Marriott. Now you can stay in a Peter Sagan-owned and themed hotel in his native Slovakia.

Japan plans to approve traffic fines for bike riders who run red lights; bike riders currently either receive a warning, or an indictment that can lead to criminal prosecution.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo looks forward to the sprawling, 13-event “Super Worlds,” as the all-discipline cycling world championships gets underway.

America’s Chloe Dygert overcame three years lost to major injuries and other travails to win gold in the individual pursuit at the world championships; she’s just one of the 150 Americans across all age groups and disciplines competing at the worlds.

Belgium is a heavy favorite to win the men’s cycling championship if Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, and defending champion Remco Evenepoel can’t keep their egos in check and work together.

 

Finally…

How can we expect drivers to avoid people walking and riding bikes when they can’t even avoid apartment buildings? Who needs a bottle opener when you have a passing mountain bike?

And even a Maserati enjoys a good bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

I confess to a major screw up, advocates call on Metro to keep its damn promises, and shooting cars while naked

July 27, 2023 / / Comments Off on I confess to a major screw up, advocates call on Metro to keep its damn promises, and shooting cars while naked

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. 

I screwed up. 

On Tuesday, I issued a call for BikeLA, the former LACBC, to step up and resume their rightful place as LA County’s leading bicycle advocacy organization, after recovering from serious economic turmoil.

Something I continue stand by. 

But in doing so, I called on them to help Fullerton bike advocates support a planned lane reduction, which has run into predictable opposition. 

In my mind, I was placing Fullerton in the tangle of cities in Southeast Los Angeles County. 

It’s not.

It’s in Northern Orange County, of course, on the other side of Buena Park. Something I should have known, having written about it several times. Let alone being there more than once. 

So my apologies to BikeLA for any real or implied criticism of any lack of action in Fullerton — which is like criticizing the OC Sheriff’s Department for not patrolling in Norwalk. 

I fucked up, and I own it.

Photo by Steve Johnson from Pexels. 

………

Los Angeles bicycle and livability leaders called on Metro Wednesday to keep its damn promises.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton writes that a group of organizations including BikeLA, Climate Resolve, MoveLA, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Streets For All signed a letter urging Metro to “promptly add several bike/walk facilities left out of Metro Regional Connector construction.”

Linton broke the news last month that Metro had left out several promised and/or required first-and-last-mile projects intended to improve safety and connectivity for people walking and biking near the near Regional Connector stations.

Although they somehow didn’t forget to add lanes for drivers.

According to Streetsblog,

The missing Connector first/last mile facilities fall into two categories: (more on these below)

  • omitted and scaled-back facilities in a Metro (with LADOT) federal grant – by Little Tokyo Station
  • facilities omitted that had been approved in the city’s Downtown Street Standards – at all three Connector stations

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider has been sounding an urgent note regarding the grant moneys, declaring that “[Metro and DOT] should implement the omitted elements now to avoid having to give the Feds their money back.”

The letter urges Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and Metro Board Chair Mayor Karen Bass to “to move expediently to complete these required and promised pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the next three months,” as Linton notes in his subhead.

Let’s hope they take the advice to heart.

As well as the streets of DTLA.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A naked woman armed with a gun opened fire on passing cars on the busy San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge until she was taken into custody, apparently without hitting anyone.

She was probably angry that bike riders still can’t get more than halfway across the bridge.

Although she probably wasn’t the same person who took a drive-by shot at an Oakland bike rider in broad daylight early Wednesday afternoon.

………

Speaking of BikeLA, they’ll be at the Bicycle Kitchen — which is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary — on Saturday, preaching bike safety and giving away free digital bike horns

………

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

Safety advocates predicted more bicycling deaths after the New Orleans suburb of Algiers ripped out a two-year old protected bike lane, because some people complained about the aesthetics, lack of parking, and traffic. Someone should tell them that traffic congestion isn’t caused by bike lanes; it’s the result of too few people in too many cars. 

Tampa officials blame “rogue cyclists” for plans to ban bicycles from the city’s Riverwalk. But at least the mayor is calling for bike lanes parallel to the popular route.

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

The LAPD finally arrested a bike-riding man suspected of committing multiple assaults, including the sexual assault of a 67-year old woman outside her East LA home.

In a truly bizarre story, a 19-year old Rhode Island man was arrested when security cam video showed he was the “primary aggressor,” after someone driving a pickup stopped and took his bicycle, and threw it into the back of the truck; he then took his bike back and punched the pickup driver hard enough to possibly break his own hand. Because apparently, you’re not allowed to fight back to keep someone from stealing your bike in Rhode Island, at least not if you’re big and Black.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering wants your feedback on three options for remaking the massive Sepulveda Basin, including an extension of the LA River bike path. And pickleball courts.

They get it. Pasadena city councilmembers say more has to be done to prevent bike and pedestrian deaths in the city, which has suffered between 2 and 6 active transportation fatalities per year for the past four years.

Santa Monica police will conduct another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation next Thursday and Friday, ticketing any violations that could put either at risk, regardless of who commits them. So follow the usual protocol and ride to the letter of the law until you’re safely back in LA. “Safely” being a relative term. 

 

State

Calbike says California is falling short on Complete Streets policies, with only one California city making Smart Growth America’s list of the nation’s leading cities for forward-thinking active transportation policies. And needless to say, it wasn’t Los Angeles. 

For the second day in a row, a San Diego ebike rider was seriously injured in a crash with a pickup — even if this one was unoccupied — when 32-year old man crashed into the left rear bumper of a legally parked truck in the Shelltown neighborhood. Although it’s always possible that he was forced into the truck by a driver passing too close. 

Only In Your State calls the 16-mile bikeway from Ventura to Carpinteria the ultimate outdoor playground.

At least one bicyclist likes San Francisco’s new centerline protected bike lane, finding the new Valencia Street project “glorious.” Although it’s interesting that the San Francisco Chronicle dropped its draconian paywall just for this story.

San Francisco’s Vision Zero plan is failing after traffic deaths jumped during the pandemic; the city has just one more year to meet its goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2024. Los Angeles has two more years, and still doesn’t have a chance in hell of meeting that.

A proposed bike and pedestrian bridge would connect the East Bay cities of Oakland and Alameda, replacing a dark and dirty tunnel under an estuary between the cities; however, opponents balk at the $200 million price tag.

 

National

The US Chamber of Commerce highlights five small businesses capitalizing on the ebike “craze,” including Orange County’s Electric Bike Company.

Truly awful story from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a 40-year old woman was found dead in her home after someone apparently drove her there when she was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding her bike miles away. Yet another tragic reminder to always seek medical care if you’re hit by a motorist, because you’re probably hurt more than you think. 

An Iowa state senator was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of refusing to abide by a law enforcement officer during this week’s RAGBRAI, insisting he didn’t have to budge when the cop ordered a group of bike riders to clear a roadway.

The Green Bay Packers maintained their annual tradition of opening training camp by riding bicycles borrowed from little kids, after the storm clouds parted to allow the event to go on.

Jalopnik apparently sees its first advisory lane at a pilot demonstration in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and comes away predicting disaster for bike riders; the roadways feature a single traffic lane shared by drivers with bike lanes on either side, requiring drivers coming from opposite directions to briefly move into the bike lanes to pass one another.

Feel free to keep parking in Michigan bike lanes, after a supposed bill banning the act turned out to be a hoax.

Connecticut is increasing funding for the state’s ebike rebate program after accepting nearly 6,400 applications. That’s not likely to happen when California exhausts the far too low $7.5 million budget for the state’s ebike rebate program, in a state with over ten times the population of Connecticut.

Hundreds of New Yorkers demanded the city do something to get dangerous ebikes and scooters off the streets at a local town hall, complaining that people on ebikes, mopeds and other motorized vehicles often run red lights and refuse to yield to pedestrians. Because evidently, only people in cars are allowed to do that.

Philadelphia bike messenger bag maker R.E.Load Bags is going out of business after 25 years, because the founders want to move on to other things.

Once again, Florida retains its title as the nation’s deadliest state for people on bicycles. California usually comes in second to Florida in terms of sheer numbers, despite having nearly twice the population.

 

International

In another bizarre case, a 31-year old Scottish man confessed to the drunk driving death of a 63-year old man taking part in a charity bike ride, then coming back with his twin brother the next day to bury the victim’s body and dispose of his bike and other belongings; the victim was considered missing until his body was finally found over three months later.

A UK electric safety organization calls for regulating ebike batteries, after 12 people died in suspected ebike and e-scooter fires in the country since 2020.

The pandemic bike boom is clearly over, as Shimano’s bike component sales dropped nearly 18% in the first six months of this year due to weak demand.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo writes that Wednesday’s fourth stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, aka the women’s Tour de France, turned into a measuring test between pre-race favorites Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten, with Vollering gaining eight seconds over her chief rival.

Dutch cyclist Yara Kastelijn won a “hard-earned victory in a long, grueling stage,” according to Velo.

UCI conducted nearly 1,000 checks for motor doping during the recent men’s Tour de France, looking for any mechanical device that could give a cyclist an unfair advantage over his competitors. And thankfully came up empty.

Twenty-three-year old Polish cyclist Filip Maciejuk will miss the world championships and his home country’s stage race, after he received a 30-day ban for causing a massive pileup in April’s Tour of Flanders.

Bold move from the Northampton International Cyclocross, as the country’s oldest ‘cross race requested that it be removed from the UCI calendar in order to continue to welcome all riders, after bike racing’s governing body recently reversed course to ban trans athletes from competing in women’s events. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.

 

Finally…

Your new cyberpunk ebike could look like a Tesla pickup — but why the hell would you want it to? Every city needs a bike path connecting local microbreweries.

And who needs a bike mechanic when you can fix it yourself in the middle of the race?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

A call to rejoin the fight in Fullerton and LA County, what CA’s bike rebates could be, and tips for your first cargo bike

July 25, 2023 / / Comments Off on A call to rejoin the fight in Fullerton and LA County, what CA’s bike rebates could be, and tips for your first cargo bike

Okay, I screwed up this time. 

In the words that follow, I called in BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, to step up and help this writer for the Fullerton Observer, and other bicyclists in the area, with their campaign in support of plans for a lane reduction on Associated Road. 

In my mind, I mistakenly placed Fullerton in the tangle of cities in Southeast Los Angeles County. 

It’s not, of course. 

Fullerton is in Northern Orange County, on the other side of Buena Park. Which I should know, having written about the city several times — let alone being there more than once. 

I stand by my call for BikeLA to step up and resume its role as LA County’s leading bicycle advocacy organization. But any criticism, real or implied, for not taking a direct role in Fullerton is off base, and I apologize. 

He gets it.

A writer for the Fullerton Observer calls for improving safety on Associated Road by removing two traffic lanes between Bastanchury and Imperial, allowing for wider bike lanes and several feet of painted buffering.

But warns it’s not likely to happen without wide support, particularly from the city’s bicycling community.

Only property owners on Associated Road received notice of the meetings on this issue. Almost all were opposed to the project, primarily to the parking and the fear that it would result in homeless and student parking.  Two Councilmembers supported the opponents, while Councilmember Charles opposed the parking but supported the lane removal. Mayor Jung did not speak directly to the issue, but at a later meeting, in response to some comments that decisions seemed to have been made behind closed doors, he stated that it would come back for a vote.

That is yet to happen. Thus the issue remains open. In the meantime, staff has stopped working on this proposal. Since it involves only paint and the road re-construction is going forward from now until November 20, time remains to determine the ultimate lane configuration.

He goes on to call for people to sign a petition supporting the lane reduction, which doesn’t even have 40 supporters as of this writing.

And ends with this.

The Council majority would prefer to see this go away, even though there is no shortage of bicycle riders in Fullerton. Over 1000 turned out for a July 4 ride on Wilshire. Not so many readily turn out for Council meetings, contact their members, or sign petitions. Nor is there an active bicycle or road safety advocacy group in Fullerton at the moment.

If you wish to weigh in on this proposal (pro or con), you can contact the Council at Councilmembers@cityoffullerton.com, Or you can show up for public comments at Council meetings on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 5:30.

It has long been a problem, not just in Fullerton, but throughout LA County to get the bicycling community involved with their local government, and to stand up en masse to demand safer streets.

For nearly two decades, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, now rebranded as BikeLA, led the fight, often working behind the scenes with government leaders, but able to marshal a significant turnout at council meetings when needed.

But now they’re needed — desperately — in Fullerton, and elsewhere throughout LA County.

As a former board member of the organization, I’ve withheld any criticism for some time now — especially knowing the dire straights the previous Executive Director left them in when he left the group at the brink of financial disaster after leaving the country.

I know the current board and leadership of BikeLA have worked hard to bring the organization back to health, financially and otherwise.

But it’s time they got back into the fight.

They have long since been supplanted as the county’s primary voice for bicycle advocacy by groups like Active SGV, SAFE and Streets For All.

Yes, some chapters of BikeLA have continued to be active in their local communities over the past few years.

But those chapters, and individual members, need to light a fire under the the current leadership, and urge them to once again step forward to lead the fight for bicycle access and safer streets.

And become, once again, the advocacy organization we all need them to be.

Because Fullerton is literally crying out for help.

And the rest of us aren’t far behind.

Photo from Pexels.

………

This is what California could have, if it ever rolls out its long-delayed, vastly underfunded ebike rebate program.

………

Arleigh Greenwald, better known as Bike Shop Girl, offers a Twitter thread with tips on buying your first cargo bike.

Although you’ll have to click through to read it, and may not be able to if you don’t have a Twitter account, since Elon keep changing the damn site rules every five minutes, along with the name.

………

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

The US Army Corps of Engineers is closing a popular lakefront roadway near Fort Worth, Texas to bike riders and pedestrians, citing “hundreds” of safety incidents over the past three months. Because evidently, people are much safer with cars zooming by than people walking or riding bikes.

No bias here. A Cambridge, Massachusetts city council candidate says she won’t sign a pledge to keep building bike lanes, because some people can’t ride a bike, and even people who ride bikes sometimes drive cars.

Police in England are looking for the person who pushed a man off his bike and into a river; the victim was okay, but his bike was lost in the water.

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

A Virginia man faces charges after he allegedly crashed his bike into a car, then fired a shot at the driver. Seriously, violence — especially gun violence — is never the answer, though I suspect there may be some dispute over just who hit who. 

A Singapore bike rider is looking for the man who somehow took offense to being passed on his bike, catching up to him outside a store and repeatedly kicking his bike and wheels while swearing at him, until police broke up the confrontation — but evidently let the attacker go.

………

Local 

Apparently, Metro finally figured out they can waste all the money they want on widening the 605, without having to tear down people’s homes in Latino working class neighborhoods in Downey and Santa Fe Springs after all.

A Streetsblog op-ed from Streets for All’s Michael Schneider and Eli Lipmen of Move LA says it’s time to go bold, and finally make bikeshare a core Metro mobility service instead of an afterthought.

Bizarre attack in Pasadena, where a man pushing a bicycle walked up to another man at a bus stop, pushed the tip of a machete against his abdomen, then slashed a four-inch gash in the man’s leg, before gathering his bike and walking off, all without a single word.

 

State

Police in Huntington Beach are jumping on the ebike crackdown bandwagon, warning, ticketing and/or arresting those who “mis-use” ebikes, while warning that riding over-powered ebikes under the influence could lead to a DUI. Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for the heads-up.

A man in his 60s was lucky to apparently escape with minor injuries when he was the victim of a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Chula Vista late Monday morning.

San Diego’s SDNews says ebikes are popular and convenient, but also pose dangers, citing battery fires and speeds up to 28 mph — but fails to mention that you can achieve that relatively easily on a good road bike, too. And without the risk it will burst into flames. 

A lithium-ion ebike battery is blamed for setting an apartment on fire in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.

 

National

A group of 15 Portland bike riders are suing the city for failing to comply with a 52-year old state law requiring cities to build cycling and pedestrian infrastructure whenever a road is reconstructed. Too bad we don’t have something like that on the books here in California. Because there are a lot of cities that need to have the hell sued out of them, starting with a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

This is who we share the road with. A New Mexico woman faces vehicular homicide, DUI, hit-and-run and child abuse charges for fleeing the scene after driving against traffic, hitting a parked car and killing a 70-year old man riding a bicycle, all with her three-year old son in the car.

A Houston TV station reports on a local group using mountain bikes to help teens and their families dealing with addiction and other self-destructive behaviors.

Police in Minneapolis are warning about new bike theft tactics, as thieves are using super glue to jam bike locks so they can’t be opened, then coming back later and cutting the locks. I’ve been told by LAPD officers that’s being used here, too.

A Kentucky man will spend the next ten years behind bars after copping a plea to the hit-and-run death of a bike-riding mother, claiming he somehow didn’t see her despite the flashing lights on her bike, and the man’s she was riding with.

The shameful scourge of sharrows continues to spread, despite studies showing they increase the risk for bike riders, now leaving their dangerous road markings on the streets of Plattsburgh in upstate New York.

Lyft is considering selling off New York’s highly successful Citi Bike bikeshare due to mounting financial problems at the company. Meanwhile, Curbed questions why Citi Bike’s ebikes are always broken, concluding the problem is likely the bikes themselves. Or maybe a financially strapped company is just cutting corners. 

The rich get richer, as NYC’s public realm officer, aka “czar of public spaces,” is building on the city’s recent biking and pedestrian successes by ramping up projects to benefit both.

A 45-year old Pennsylvania man was sentenced to a well-deserved five to ten years behind bars after pleading guilty to the drunken, stoned crash that killed a bike-riding bank manager exactly 1,392 days earlier.

A West Virginia man faces charges of attempted murder, malicious wounding, wanton endangerment, and presentation of a firearm in the commission of a felony for jumping down off his trunk and shooting a passing bike rider in the arm, after screaming at him for some unknown reason.

Unbelievable. A North Carolina woman faces charges for fleeing the scene after running down two bike riders from behind, leaving one man with serious injuries — then trying to coverup her crime by telling investigators she thought she’d hit a deer, and going so far as to place hair from her dog on her windshield to support her story.

 

International

Electrek says the bike industry should refocus on building simple, attractive, and serviceable ebikes following the “shocking” VanMoof bankruptcy.

Canadian Cycling Magazine suggests a half dozen outdated rules for city bicycling that should be modernized.

London officials admitted that a bike lane is causing congestion when buses stop to pick up passengers. In other words, it’s the narrow traffic lanes and lack of bus stops, not the bike lanes, that are the problem. 

A pair of Scottish brothers are about to stand trial for murdering a man taking part in a 104-mile charity bike ride, then hiding his body for months afterwards; they allegedly abandoned the victim after hitting him with their car while driving under the influence, then came back the next day to move his bike and body.

 

Competitive Cycling

Germany’s Liane Lippert captured her first stage win since 2020 on Monday’s stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, aka the Women’s Tour de France.

Velo offers 21 quick hits in summing up this year’s Tour de France, from a “super” Sepp Kuss to pulling for Cav to make a comeback next year.

Lost in the news from the Tour de France was that upstart American Neilson Powless lost the polka dot King of the Mountain jersey to Italian Giulio Ciccone over the final stages, after pushing the action for much of the race.

Bicycling reports that Netflix’s popular cycling docuseries Unchained will be back for a second season, this time focusing on Tadej Pogačar and the UAE Team Emirates team.  As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

Evidently, winning a Tour de France stage is like getting drunk — especially the next day. The video game-ish future of mountain biking.

And victory is not always to the swiftest, but to those who manage to remain upright.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Bike riders feel like #2 as PeopleForBikes ranks LA 821st in US, and Sunset For All hosts ice cream social next month

June 28, 2023 / / 6 comments

PeopleForBikes is out with its latest ranking of the bikeability of nearly 1,500 American cities.

And needless to say, Southern California has a long, long way to go.

The national bike advocacy group rates cities according to the quality of each city’s bike network, assigning a Bicycle Network Analysis score, or BNA, on a scale of 0 to 100.

The good news, if you can call it that, is that no US city scored lower than a 2.

Provincetown, Massachusetts and Crested Butte, Colorado ranked #1 and #2 overall, respectively, with BNA scores of 88 and 87.

Although I’m sure many LA residents think riding here is #2. And sadly, PeopleForBikes seems to agree.

In fact, you have to scroll past 820 other American cities to find LA in a 39-way tie for 821st, with a pitiful BNA score of 19.

Which puts us in a class with such bicycling nirvanas as Santa Ana, Las Vegas, Laguna Niguel, Raleigh NC, and Krugerville, Texas.

Which probably wasn’t named after Freddy, even if it should be.

Bike-friendly Sacramento suburb Davis ranked #1 among medium-sized cities with a BNA score of 77, while Minneapolis, Minnesota ranked atop the large city listings with a score of 68.

Here in SoCal, Ventura received a BNA of 32, with San Diego 30, Riverside at 21, and San Bernardino an awful 12.

Among other cities in LA County, relatively bike-friendly Santa Monica scored a respectable 52, Burbank checked in at 29, and Pasadena was a sad 16.

Meanwhile, PeopleForBikes highlights Long Beach’s efforts to build a true 15-minute city, with protected bike lanes on every arterial street, and bikeshare docks in every neighborhood. Although the city still has a long way to go, checking in with a BNA score of 37.

But that’s nearly twice as high as its much larger neighbor to the north.

………

Sunset For All is teaming with BikeLA — the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — to host an ice cream social starting at 3 pm on July 8th, with a bike ride to follow at 4 pm.

………

Outside+ is on sale for $1.99 a month for the next year, including the Outside digital network and the new Velo site. No guarantee what happens to your rate after that, however.

………

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

No bias here. A San Diego TV station gets the story backwards in a report on the growing memorial to 15-year old Brodee Champlain-Kingman, who died last weekend after a collision in Encinitas; the station warns about the dangers of ebikes, but neglects to consider the risks posed by people in the big, dangerous machines.

No bias here, either. A Maine letter writer opposes plans for a rail-to-trail conversion, bizarrely arguing that “active transportation” is a vague term at best, and that a trail is likely to be too crowded on weekends.

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

Police in New York are looking for an ebike rider who punched a 72-year old Manhattan man in the face after the victim told him to get off the sidewalk.

………

Local 

New stories from Urbanize and Streetsblog examine Monday’s opening of the Venice Blvd Safety and Mobility Project, which upgrades 2.5 miles of existing bike lanes and adds 2.1 miles of dedicated busways, while leaving a few notable gaps. Correction: Originally I had written that the project added four miles of protected bike lanes, and 2.5 miles of bus lanes, which was a misstatement. Thanks to Joe Linton for the correction.

 

State

OC Parks will host an intermediate-level bike ride exploring the newest trails in the recently opened Saddleback Wilderness on July 9th.

The Goleta city council approved plans to use eminent domain to acquire the land for a planned multiuse path, as negotiations continue with landowners to buy the necessary easements.

Montecito bike shop Mad Dogs & Englishmen raised funds to donate 75 bicycles to underprivileged kids, after the bicycle they gave to British Prince Archie sparked an unexpected backlash.

A Bay Area TV station discusses how people taking part in the recent AIDS/LifeCycle ride bonded on the 450-mile, seven-day ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

Streetsblog says a new physically separated bike lane on the extreme western end of Alameda Island is the first in the Bay Area to get bike lanes right, using a European model.

 

National

An ebike-maker lists ten tips to help you ride your ebike safely. All of which apply to regular bikes, as well. And most of which you probably already know.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says yes, your kid should ride an ebike, saying the right setup can bring joy to your family.

Teams of women participating in the Pedal the Pacific bike rides down the Pacific Coast have raised over $860,000 to fight human trafficking.

The family of a Texas bike rider have filed suit after he was killed by material falling from a construction project while riding in winds up to 40 mph this past March.

Bicycling examines plans to build an advisory lane in Kalamazoo, Michigan, referring to it as an edge lane, which creates a single traffic lane in the center of the street while allowing drivers to move into the bike lanes on either side to pass another vehicle. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you. 

New York has cleared the final federal hurdle preventing congestion pricing; the city is now expected to begin charging drivers to enter midtown Manhattan sometime next year. Which should clear the way for Los Angeles to institute its much discussed congestion pricing plan, as well.

Art-pop musician Anohni is one of us, as the 51-year old singer with an eight-octave range rode her bike to talk with a reporter from the New York Times.

Savannah, Georgia multi-disciplined visual artist, jazz vocalist and bassist, full-time professor and elite cyclist Maggie Evans is making a comeback after she was nearly killed last year when a pickup driver slammed into her on a training ride at 64 mph.

 

International

Now you, too, can have your very own solar powered mini-travel trailer designed to be pulled by an ebike, for less than seven grand.

Hundreds of naked and partially clad bike riders rode through the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico to raise awareness of bike safety in the city’s edition of the World Naked Bike Ride.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is practicing Vision Zero in reverse, cancelling plans to improve safety at the intersection where a bike-riding woman was killed by the driver of a cement truck nearly a decade ago.

A bike rider in the UK was lucky to escape without serious injuries when he was robbed at knife point and beaten by a passenger who got out of a passing car to attack him.

Britain’s Parliament will once again consider whether bike riders should be required to wear a helmet, after a Member of Parliament from Rugby introduced the latest attempt.

A new Australian report lists 50 distinct contributory factors leading to bike riders being struck by drivers, along with another 50 leading to near misses; the leading factors are drivers pulling out in front of bicyclists, driver non-compliance with road rules, and drivers failing to give way. Note the key word with all of those is “drivers,” not bicyclists. 

Aussie researchers will examine the prevalence and impact of structural damage in carbon fiber bicycles currently in use by the general public.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist talks with James Gay-Rees, producer of the Netflix eight-episode docuseries Tour de France: Unchained.

WaPo asks the burning question of whether Tadej Pogacar can win the Tour de France after training for the race in his kitchen, a result of breaking his hand in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege race.

Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Induráin says people who think time trials are boring should find another sport to watch.

Australian GQ considers the biggest scandals in Tour de France history, including a certain ex-seven time doper winner who seems to think trans cyclist are cheating.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new ebike has a built-in chatbot for no discernible reason. If you can’t steal a bike from your own family, who can you steal from?

And who really needs bike wheels, anyway?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

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

Busy bike weekend coming up, fight to preserve Move Culver City, and Chubby Checker resurrected to stop doorings

April 11, 2023 / / Comments Off on Busy bike weekend coming up, fight to preserve Move Culver City, and Chubby Checker resurrected to stop doorings

Before we start, let’s take a moment to thank Cohen Law Partners for renewing their sponsorship of this site for another year. 

It’s thanks to them, and our other sponsors, that I can to do this full-time, and keep bringing you all the best bike news and advocacy every day. 

Hopefully, you never need a good bike lawyer. But I’d trust any one of the people over there on the right if it was my life and rights on the line. 

………

BikeLA invites you to kick off your CicLAvia weekend festivities with their Earth Month edition of the Cruise & Connect ride series this Saturday.

The advocacy nonprofit, formerly knows as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, aka LACBC, promises a 15-mile “relaxed and fun-filled ride along the scenic LA River Bike Path.”

That’s followed the next day by the Mid-City meets Pico Union CicLAvia, the second of eight planned open streets events presented by CicLAvia and Metro this year, including two new CicLAminis.

Best of all, California’s seemingly endless series of atmospheric rivers resulted in a disaster declaration for most of the state, including Los Angeles County.

Which means you have an extra six months to do your taxes. So you can enjoy a bike-filled weekend without worrying about getting them done.

Thanks to Atticuz for the heads-up. 

………

Speaking of BikeLA, the advocacy group is helping bicycle researchers at Portland State University conduct a survey for ebike owners.

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Former Culver City Councilmember Alex Fisch continues to fight for the Complete Streets makeover of downtown Culver City, despite the conservative NIMBY takeover of the council that ousted him.

https://twitter.com/AlexFischCC/status/1645634068363759616

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New York resurrects early rock and roll legend Chubby Checker to rebrand the Dutch Reach as the New York Twist in an effort to prevent doorings.

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

A Las Vegas writer explores a “spectacular” 34-mile trail through the foothills of Boulder City. But has to dodge a lost motorist blissfully traveling along the paved pathway.

No bias here. NIMBYs in New York’s wealthy Upper West Side are getting out the torches and pitchforks to fight a plan to convert an abandoned newsstand into an ebike charging stand and rest space for low income delivery workers, calling it a “horrendously inappropriate location” and a “very, very dangerous thing to do.”

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

A San Antonio bike rider apparently faked a crash to rob a Good Samaritan who stopped to help. Although the story is hidden behind a paywall, so it’s hard to say for sure.

A Chinese man learns the hard way that when you’re smuggling 6,000 microSD cards hidden inside your bicycle, try not to look so guilty when you go through customs.

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Local 

Streetsblog offers more information about the new Westwood Connected campaign announced by Streets For All last week to improve safety and connectivity for people who choose to travel the car-choked Westwood streets by some other means.

Metro is offering free Earth Day rides on Saturday, April 22 in recognition of “transit’s role in improving our environment and public health…and fighting climate change.” And yes, that includes the full Metro Bike system.

 

State

Bad news from San Jose, where police are investigating a hit-and-run that left a woman riding a bicycle with life-threatening injuries.

A Sacramento school is investing $6,000 in bicycles and helmets to teach every kindergarten student how to ride a bike.

 

National

Momentum Magazine says bicycling in a dress or skirt is not as difficult as you might think. Unless you live in Tennessee, where you may be subjected to a physical inspection to verify you have the right to wear one.

Lebanese-American author Nassim Taleb is one of us, returning to bicycling after discovering that weightlifting alone isn’t good for your heart.

A handful of Portland riders ignored the rain, and donned their finest wool garments for the city’s annual Tweed Ride. Which is actually the kind of weather tweed is made for, anyway. 

They get it. A university student newspaper says Tacoma, Washington needs a Vision Zero program to make traffic fatalities a completely avoidable tragedy. Although with a few notable exceptions — hello Hoboken — American Vision Zero programs have had decidedly mixed results. And that’s if they actually get funded, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis we could name.

A Denver website profiles bike shop owner Scott Baker, saying he turns bicycles into an art form.

Upscale Colorado resort town Vail is joining Denver and nearby Avon in offering an ebike rebate program, with residents who buy one from a local bike shop eligible for rebates up to $500.

New York is on pace to have its deadliest year ever for bicyclists, with ten people killed riding bikes already this year, despite the city’s rapid expansion of protected bike lanes. As usual, read the second link on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

More tragic news from New York, where two children became the latest victims of defective ebike batteries; their father and three other children were able to jump out of a window to escape the fast-moving flames, but they were unable to escape.

A Philadelphia woman is launching the free Black Girl Joy Bike Rides to promote joy, self-care and a sense of community for Black women.

 

International

Forbes goes beyond the usual suspects to “vet” the seven best gravel bikes, three of which are actually retail for less than four grand.

The UK’s rapid prime minister churn has resulted in the latest Conservative government’s scrapping of the Zero Emission Transport City project, putting plans for 1,000 bike hangers and 250 electric buses in Bristol at risk.

A European website explains why you should consider Türkiye, the country formerly known as Turkey, for your next bicycle tourism trip.

 

Competitive Cycling

Steamboat, Colorado gravel race SBT GRVL is teaming with nonprofit organization Ride for Racial Justice to increase equity in gravel racing.

A participant in a Belize cross-country race says he’s “еmоtіоnаllу brоkеn іntо а thоuѕаnd ріесеѕ lіkе а рuzzlе” after crashing into a traffic control cop while trying to gain time at a roundabout.

 

Finally…

Vienna considers requiring bike parking in multi-family housing — no, the other Vienna. Put your money into bike helmet stocks.

And who needs tires when you can have square treads, instead?

………

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover. 

And Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Mitt Romney calls bike lanes “height of stupidity,” it’s Election Day in CD6, and BikeLA is hiring HR and finance manager

April 4, 2023 / / Comments Off on Mitt Romney calls bike lanes “height of stupidity,” it’s Election Day in CD6, and BikeLA is hiring HR and finance manager

No bias here.

Business Insider looks at the prospects for ebike tax credits and bike safety measures on Capitol Hill, and says, in effect, don’t hold your breath.

According to the magazine, Congressional Republicans are a long way from being convinced to do anything for bikes, especially in the GOP-controlled House.

Consider this from Susan Collins, often considered the party’s relatively moderate voice of reason.

“We’re over-subsidizing electric vehicles as it is now,” Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, told Insider in the Capitol this week. “I don’t want to add to the unfairness of the current system where electric cars are free riders and don’t pay to help maintain our roads and bridges through a gas tax or any kind of surcharge.”

Then there’s the very wealthy Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who pans a new bill to increase bike and pedestrian safety and doesn’t want to subsidize rich people like him.

And thinks bike lanes only cause congestion.

“I’m not going to spend money on buying e-bikes for people like me who have bought them — they’re expensive,” he said. “Removing automobile lanes to put in bike lanes is, in my opinion, the height of stupidity, it means more cars backing up, creating more emissions.”

Never mind that he could afford to buy an electric jet without subsidies, let alone an ebike. And yes, that is a thing.

The problem is, too many of the rest of us can’t.

And never mind that the myth of bike lanes causing traffic congestion and emissions has been a favorite talking point on the right, when studies show bike lanes actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions as efficiently as highways create them.

The real problem, however, has little or nothing to do with bikes, or giving them a safe piece of the roadway.

According to The Insider,

The opposition to pro-bicycle policy has to be understood in the larger context of the culture war and conservative fears of Democrats’ climate-friendly agenda, said Tim Carney, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

“There is a widespread suspicion on the right today that liberals want to take away their way of life,” Carney told Insider. “This idea that the left knows there’s only one right way to live, it’s the way that we want to live and we’re going to force it on you. That is in the background of the mind of every conservative, and so when they hear more bike lanes, they think, ‘Okay, what is that code for?'”

Which makes the bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding the concept of 15-minute cities make more sense. Or at least as much sense as a completely whackadoodle conspiracy can, anyway.

But there may be some slight glimmer of hope, as Carney says to frame the story in terms of building safer and more interconnected communities for children and families.

“What parents need now is the ability to set their kids free and have them be safe,” Carney said. “Better bike safety, and better bike trails and lanes make life easier and more fun for your average suburban parents and for the kids. It also builds resilience and independence among kids, and makes us have fewer snowflake kids when they get to college.”

We can only hope.

You can read the story on MSN if the magazine blocks you. 

Photo of US Capitol at night by Trev Adams for Pexels. 

………

Today is Election Day in LA’s 6th Council District, in the special election to replace disgraced Councilmember Nury Martinez.

The LA Times has endorsed Marco Santana, while Streets For All split their endorsement between Santana and Antoinette Scully.

So if you live in the district, get out and vote like your life depends on it.

Because it just might.

………

BikeLA, the bike advocacy organization formerly known as the LACBC, is looking for a full-time finance and HR manager.

And no, that doesn’t stand for Home Runs, even if it is baseball season.

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No, they’re not there to help improve your aim.

Thanks to Marcello Calicchio for the heads-up. 

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Seriously, this is effing gorgeous.

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Call him the drum and bass Pied Piper.

A DJ with a bike-mounted sound system led hundreds of English bicyclists on a “mind blowing” ride through the streets of Bristol.

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

No bias here, either. A “flash mob” of angry anti-bike lane protesters blocked a new British bike lane by parking their cars on it.

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

A Visalia, California man wanted for several violent felonies led police on a bicycle chase as he tried to escape arrest, which only ended when he was struck by a driver while attempting to ride on a highway.

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Local 

Bike bag brand Fierce Hazel designs their True Grit line of bags and pouches using sustainable repurposed fabric right here in LA, although they’re actually made in Vietnam.

Long Beach bike riders will have to cope with the closure of the bike lane on north side of E. Third Street between Linden and Atlantic avenues for a movie shoot tomorrow.

 

State

Caltrans released a five-year progress report on the state transportation agency’s first-ever statewide bicycle and pedestrian plan, including developing active transportation plans for each of the agency’s 12 districts. Although I can write that report in just two words — not enough. 

This is who we share the road with. Heartbreaking news from Orange County, where an allegedly stoned driver jumped the curb in Los Flores and drove up o the sidewalk, killing an infant boy in his stroller while seriously injuring his parents. Thanks to Larry Kawalec for the link.

Encinitas is beginning work on a two-way cycle track on the west side of Coast Highway 101, along with traditional bike lanes on either side of the road for higher-speed bicyclists, with work expected to be completed by June.

San Jose’s mayor and police chief got on their bikes to promote public safety and refocusing on basic city services, including housing everyone on the streets. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass rides a bike, as does LAPD Chief Michael Moore, so maybe we could get them both on bikes sometime.

San Francisco is scheduled to approve plans for a highly contentious two-way, center-running cycle track on Valencia Street today, which has been very unpopular with bicyclists.

Streetsblog explores the new curb-protected bike lanes currently taking shape on Oakland’s Telegraph Avenue, which barely survived efforts to kill them last year.

Bicycle co-op and community advocacy organization Rich City Rides has started a $6 million capital campaign to raise funds to buy its Richmond location and three other buildings; the owner has given them until the end of June to raise the money. So if you have an extra million or two lying around, they can use the help.

 

National

Forbes makes their picks for the best bike locks. And wouldn’t mind if you bought one, so they could make a few bucks.

A writer for political site Outside the Beltway badly misses the point as he considers yesterday’s very Shoupista piece in The Wall Street Journal arguing that America has too much parking, concluding that it’s too pro-developer, and that Americans need their parking spaces. Never mind that everyone who doesn’t drive subsidizes free parking for those who do, in the form of higher rents and home prices, and inflated retail prices to cover the cost of building and maintaining massive parking lots.

Portland is hiring a polling company in an effort to learn why bicycling rates have dropped significantly in what is largely regarded as one of the country’s most bike-friendly cities.

That feeling when a bike rider is struck by a semi-truck driver by surprise, in Surprise.

Congratulations. Oregon says it’s legal to briefly cross the centerline in a no passing zone to get around an obstruction on the right side of the roadway. And yes, you’re the obstruction.

A Chicago driver finally faces charges for aggravated driving under the influence in last June’s death of an 83-year old man who was killed while riding his bike around a nearby forest reserve, like he did almost every day.

New York is marking Earth Day by banning cars, at least temporarily, and opening the streets to people, with seven signature and 23 community-organized Open Streets locations throughout the city.

Virginia authorities are offering a $15,000 reward in the hit-and-run death of a 70-year old former Commonwealth’s Attorney — the equivalent of a district attorney — who was run down by a driver while riding his bike.

Even nature is out to get us. An unsuspecting Virginia bike rider was lucky to escape without serious injuries when a large tree branch broke off and fell on him, as a door cam captured the crash.

Tragic story from Mississippi, where an Air Force Wing commander’s 30-year career didn’t prepare her for the trauma she experienced when she and two friends were run down by a driver on the last day of a bike and kayak race across Florida that injured her, and killed one of her teammates.

 

International

There’s a special place in hell for the Scottish bike thief who stole a bicycle from an 11-year old boy at a playground, then flashed a gun at a Good Samaritan who tried to get it back.

A Philippine fundraising ride will mark the 81st anniversary of the brutal WWII Bataan Death March, following the route traveled by American and Filipino soldiers captured by the Japanese.

A new Aussie study confirms that women face many barriers to bicycling that keep them from riding, not the least of which is access to safe infrastructure.

Life is cheap in Australia, where a sleeping driver got a whole two years behind bars for fleeing the scene after dozing off and slamming into a man taking part in a group training ride — but could get out after just nine months.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly offers five things they learned from Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, including that 23-year old Brit Fred Wright can ride with the big dogs.

British cyclist Ethan Hayter took the opening stage of the Tour of the Basque Country in an uphill sprint to the finish.

Russian Petr Rikunov won the first stage of the “prestigious” Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup Vietnamese stage rage.

Here’s video of the Tour of Flanders crash caused by Polish cyclist Filip Maciejuk we mentioned yesterday. Oops.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can take a bike tour of Taiwan without leaving Indiana. Who needs puncture-resistant bike tires when you’ve got tennis balls?

And never buy a bike helmet at a garage sale. Or morph a story about bike helmets into a completely different topic without warning, for that matter.

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

BikeLA releases report on LA County bike deaths, more on Bay Area dooring attacks, and no more roadbuilding in Wales

February 15, 2023 / / Comments Off on BikeLA releases report on LA County bike deaths, more on Bay Area dooring attacks, and no more roadbuilding in Wales

Let’s start with a couple of well-deserved thank yous.

First up, thanks to Kurt G for his generous donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. Donations of any amount are always welcome and deeply appreciated.

Next, let’s all give Pocrass & De Los Reyes a round of thanks for renewing their title sponsorship of this site for another year.

The Century City law firm was our first sponsor, and  their support for the past ten years has made this site possible.

Photo of deadly East Anaheim Street from advocacy group BikeLA; the Long Beach street is one of several cited by the group as areas of concern in the report on LA County bicycling deaths below.

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Maybe LA area safety organizations are finally getting serious about fighting the effects of traffic violence.

Just weeks after the die-in at Los Angeles City Hall, and the release of a report from Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, detailing LA’s record rate of traffic deaths in 2022, BikeLA released their own report on the 26 bicyclists killed on LA County streets last year.

A press release from the group, formerly known as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, or LACBC, describes the findings of the report this way.

Most notably, the report identifies four factors that were prevalent in the vast majority of collisions. These design elements include high speed limits, excessive travel lanes, missing bike lane infrastructure, and poor street lighting. With 81% of collisions involving two or more of these factors, it suggests that infrastructure deficiencies are the main culprit behind the dangerous conditions on the county’s roads. 

The report also considers the geographic distribution of each collision and found that 61% of last year’s bicycle fatalities took place in heavily concentrated low-income, Black and Latinx neighborhoods. Tragically, many crashes were also concentrated along heavily-traveled corridors without quality bike infrastructure including Anaheim Street in Long Beach and Figueroa Street in Los Angeles.

As an organization committed to creating safe, enjoyable, and vibrant communities for cyclists, BikeLA recommends several solutions including reducing speed limits, embracing road diets, and expanding cyclist education programs. Taken together, these solutions can help governments across the county recommit to their vision for zero traffic fatalities.

A chart complied by the group demonstrates the distribution of traffic deaths in LA County; Los Angeles is responsible for over half of the deaths, despite having less than half of the county’s population.

It’s also worth noting the report’s conclusion that 85% of LA County’s bicycling deaths occurred where there are no bike lanes or other bicycling infrastructure.

Although that could have a lot to do with LA’s failure to build out the bike plan, and the slow pace of bike lane construction everywhere but Long Beach and Santa Monica.

It’s worth investing the time to take a deep dive into the report, to gain an understanding of how and why people continue to die on our streets.

You can learn more about each of the bicycling deaths in LA County, and the rest of Southern California, by clicking here.

Full disclosure: I was a board member of what was then the LACBC for over five years, and continue to be a member of the organization. 

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

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Bay Area media coverage of the spate of dooring attacks is snowballing.

A Berkeley site says at least two people riding bicycles were targeted in the the city in recent days, as the count rises to 20 attempts to intentionally door victims in three Bay Area cities, with nine victims struck.

According to the East Bay Bike Party, the assailants used four different cars, including one that was confirmed to have been stolen.

“In several attacks,” the group said in a statement, “a driver sped alongside people riding bikes and a passenger on the right side of the car opened their door to hit the bike riders at speed. In at least two incidents the driver also drove directly into a bike rider rather than using the side door.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl0EdZtnY1M

An Oakland website adds more to the story, citing work by a team of volunteers to scour social media looking for more information on the attacks.

First, the group says that the four cars the suspects were driving were likely either Hyundai or Kia models, which have been recently targeted for theft due to a security loophole that has gone viral on TikTok. The EB Bike Party found that Ta’Liyah Hands, an Oakland resident, had her 2018 Silver Hyundai Elantra stolen in the Laurel Districtaround noon Friday. The car, confirmed by its license plate, was seen later that day in a video attempting to collide with bicyclists headed to the Bike East Bay Party. Several witnesses told the Oaklandside the cars the drivers used to attack them matched these models.

The group was also able to determine that the suspects were young, possibly teenagers. Several of the victims the Oaklandside spoke to for this story agreed, saying they heard laughter from the car’s occupants as they swerved at bicyclists. Most or all of the suspects were also male.

Meanwhile, the Oakland police department was unable to comment due to an ongoing cyber attack that prevented officials from accessing police files, and kept bicyclists from filing police reports.

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That’s more like it.

The Welsh government has canceled all roadbuilding projects over environmental and safety concerns.

Any future road projects must pass strict criteria requiring that they don’t increase carbon emissions, can’t increase the number of cars on the road or lead to higher speeds and emissions, and can’t have a negative impact on the environment.

Which pretty much means no new roads will be built in the country.

Period.

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No surprise here.

The accused killer of Dr. Michael Mammone in Dana Point two weeks ago had the criminal proceedings against him temporarily suspended Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that the case against Vanroy Evan Smith will be delayed until he has a competency hearing next week.

Smith told a reporter for the Orange County Register that he was both God and Jesus Christ. Which somehow seems unlikely, raising doubts about his competency to stand trial.

He could be committed to a psychiatric facility for treatment until he is competent to face trial, which could come in a few months, or may never happen.

Meanwhile, a memorial for Dr. Mammone will be held at the Festival of Arts grounds tomorrow at 11 am; mourners were asked to make donations to Wounded Warrior Project, the Laguna Beach Food Pantry or The LA Mission in lieu of flowers.

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The candidates in the special election to replace former LA City Councilmember Nury Martinez in CD6 will take part in a candidate forum tonight.

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British broadcast personality Jeremy Vine demonstrates a driver performing a left hook across a bikeway, the UK’s equivalent of our right hook.

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

A Virginia public radio station asks if bicycles should be required to stop at intersections. Which is not the same as asking whether bike riders should be allowed to treat stop signs as yields, as new bill in the state legislature proposes.

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Local 

LA city officials broke ground on two new mini-parks along the existing Chandler walk/bike path in North Hollywood, as well as adding new trees and lighting along the pathway, and improving two access points.

LAist offers a primer on how LA’s neighborhood councils work, and how you can join one.

BikeLA, formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle County Bicycle Coalition, will host its first bike ride of the year in Griffith Park on Saturday, February 25th. Thanks to Ravener for the link.

 

State

A new bill in the state legislature would direct the state’s Mineta Transportation Institute to study ebikes, although it’s unclear just what information legislators are looking for.

 

National

It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that American motor vehicles are getting too big for their parking spaces.

Yahoo asks if ebikes are the unsung secret to curbing climate change. Short answer, probably.

Outside considers what kind of mountain bike you should buy this year. Which somehow assumes that you can, should, and want to buy one at all.

A new Utah state legislator is proposing a bill that would require drivers to change lanes to pass a bike rider, if there’s room to do so; the bill is personal for him, after he lost his own father when he was run down by a careless teenage driver while riding his bike. The bill is similar to a new California law that took effect this year.

Sad news from my Colorado hometown, where the county coroner’s office has identified the first of two bike riders killed there this week as an 81-year old man; police investigators are blaming him for running a stop sign, which seems unlikely at his age.

The Adventure Cycling Association calls out a five-mile section of US Highway 93 directly west of Whitefish, Montana as a particular area of safety concern due to crumbling shoulders and heavy traffic moving at high speeds.

Advocacy group BikeTexas is angling for a stop as yelled bill in the state legislature, as well as allowing ebikes in state parks.

A Streetsblog op-ed says the new and improved bike and pedestrian pathways on New York’s George Washington Bridge still aren’t good enough; a 1933 design called for cantilevered, 15-foot wide paths on both sides of the bridge.

The New York Times says bicycle delivery workers bore the brunt of Monday’s vehicular attack on Brooklyn sidewalks; a Chinese immigrant delivering food by bike was killed, and another man is lingering in a medically induced coma.  Meanwhile, the New York Post says the accused killer suffered a mental health crisis set off by “seeing” an invisible objet coming directly at him.

No surprise here, as a majority of residents in Charlottesville, Virginia say they’d like to walk, bike or take transit more often, if they just felt safe on the roads. Which is pretty much what the residents of virtually every American city would say.

A New Orleans bike club uses a fleet of eight tandem bikes to allow blind bike riders to experience the city in a new way.

The man accused of stabbing a bicycle-riding Florida couple to death during last year’s Daytona Bike Week has been found incompetent to stand trial; Jean Macean will be committed to a state facility until he understands the legal process and the case against him.

 

International

Porsche appears to be diving head-first into the ebike market by acquiring all of e-bikemaker Greyp, a subsidiary of Croatian supercar maker Rimac.

Mirroring the Aussie case we mentioned yesterday, an Ottawa, Canada man is on trial for killing his neighbor in a dispute over an alleged stolen bicycle. As we’ve said many times before, no bike is worth taking a life, let alone sacrificing your own. 

A Montreal driver was caught on video traveling an entire block in a protected bike lane.

The CEO of foldie maker Brompton blames Brexit for the problem besetting British bikemakers.

The rich get richer. Paris plans to build another 30 miles of bike lanes connecting the city center to Olympic venues in time for next year’s Summer Olympics.

A Philippine community is delaying plans to convert a protected bike lane into sharrows, in response to a massive protest by bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly profiles 22-year old British cyclist Harrison Wood, who’s set to make his WorldTour debut for French team Cofidis, after overcoming a brain bleed and broken collarbone suffered in a crash at the Course de la Paix.

Sad news from the UK, where record-setting bicyclist Eileen Sheridan has died at the age of 99. She rode the full nearly 900-mile length of Britain in less than two and a half days, a record that stood for 36 years.

Cyclist remembers how Fausto Coppi became the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year, in his rookie year of 1949.

 

Finally…

Your next car could be an e-trike. Now you, too, can move your entire household by bike.

And that feeling when your new bike parking looks artistic, but pretty damn useless.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Die-in driven from news by mass shooting, LA Vision Zero a “totally unfunny self-parody,” and voters say no to De León

January 23, 2023 / / Comments Off on Die-in driven from news by mass shooting, LA Vision Zero a “totally unfunny self-parody,” and voters say no to De León

Three-hundred-twelve lives needlessly lost to traffic violence.

Most of them bike riders and pedestrians, many lower income, as Los Angeles set a record for the most traffic deaths in at least the last two decades.

Yet almost as heartbreaking as the lives lost to traffic violence in the City of Angels last year was the way Saturday’s die-in at City Hall to protest the deaths was shoved out of the headlines by yet another mass shooting.

The protest, which drew around one hundred participants, appeared to be covered by a number of news outlets.

Yet the only news story that’s been posted online so far came from Fox11.

And even they couldn’t be bothered to identify California Senator Anthony Portantino as the prone bicyclist shown gripping his handlebars in the story’s top photo.

Oops.

When your lead photo shows a state senator participating in a large protest, maybe it would be nice to identify him. Just saying.

 

The brief story attempts to put LA’s unacceptable rate of traffic deaths in perspective.

Yet somehow fails to mention that even one death is one too many.

How does that compare to other cities across the state, or even nationally? LA’s 312 traffic fatalities equate to just over eight deaths per 100,000, nearly twice that of San Francisco (4.5 deaths per 100,000 in 2022), but fewer than San Diego, which saw just less than nine traffic deaths per 100,000 people in 2022. In Cook County, Illinois, home to Chicago, there were roughly 7.8 traffic deaths per 100,000 people in 2022.

It ends with an all-too-brief mention of just what the assembled protestors were demanding.

Protesters organizing Saturday, want the city to do more to help curb traffic deaths in LA. They’re asking Mayor Karen Bass to declare a state of emergency on traffic violence; for more funding for the LA Department of Transportation and initiatives like VisionZero; and the passage of legislation that would allow for automated speed enforcement on dangerous roads.

“Throwing only $50.6 million at road safety issues in a city this big, especially considering how many lives are being lost, is a joke,” SAFE’s report concludes.

All of which was great.

But in addition to failing to identify Portantino, the station also failed to mention that Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman took part, as did CD3 Councilmember Bob Blumenfield.

Not to mention leaders from Streets Are For Everyone, Families For Safe Streets, Streets For All, LA Walks and BikeLA — formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — among others.

Even then, the story was gone by morning, as LA’s news outlets went with wall-to-wall coverage of the Monterey Park shootings.

Leaving the reaction to the city’s horrendous death toll forgotten on the newsroom floor, just a blip in the weekend news.

I’ll have more tomorrow, after I have a chance to sift through all the many photos I took of the event.

At center is this photo, with the red bandana, is very good boy Max, who joined his owner in playing dead along with everyone else.

The top photo shows Assembly Member Laura Friedman addressing the crowd, flanked by state Sen. Anthony Portantino; behind her are LA Councilmember Bob Blumenfield and Streets For All founder Michael Schneider. 

Correction: Apparently suffering a major brain cramp, I somehow originally misidentified Streets For All’s Michael Schneider in the above caption as Michael MacDonald, evidently mistaking him for a member of the Doobie Brothers. He is, to the best of my knowledge, not a Doobie nor a rock star, but a street safety star instead. My apologies. 

………

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times Letters Editor Paul Thornton introduced responses to LA’s rising toll of traffic violence with a headline calling the city’s Vision Zero failure a “totally unfunny self-parody.”

All along, the city’s primary tool to achieving its Vision Zero goals has been redesigning roads to reduce vehicle speeds and allocate more and safer spaces to cyclists and pedestrians. What we’ve gotten since 2015 are bike lanes removed from street widening projects, quashed “complete street” proposals, a thriving Lincoln Heights street market shut down by the city, and a reopened 6th Street Viaduct used as a drag strip. Something tells me we’ll be much worse off on Vision Zero in 2025 than we were in 2015.

Although naturally, one letter writer felt the need to remind us that streets are for cars, and everyone and everything else doesn’t belong there.

Nope. No bias there.

And while we’re on the subject of letters to the editor of the Los Angeles Times, the expected complaints about ebikes in the paper’s recent article about their supposed invasion of Orange County Beach cities, a Huntington Beach man says what the outrage over ebikes really points out is the lack of safe bike infrastructure.

Well said.

………

No surprise here.

The LA Times is reporting that CD14 voters have turned sharply against incumbent Councilmember Kevin de León in the wake of his comments on a racist and otherwise offensive recording that has already led to the resignation of the former council president and one of LA’s most powerful labor leaders.

The turnaround comes just two years after those same voters overwhelmingly installed De León to replace disgraced Jose Huizar, who pled guilty to racketeering last week.

…By a wide margin, voters said De León puts his own political self-interest ahead of the people he represents. Even reliable supporters who voted for him in the past have lost faith, the poll found.

Only 23% of the voters surveyed approved of the job De León is doing, compared with 48% who disapproved, the poll found. Just over half think he should resign, compared with fewer than a quarter who want him to stay in office and 18% who were undecided; 9% did not answer the question.

If a recall were to qualify for the ballot — an effort to qualify one is currently circulating petitions — 58% would support recalling him from office, compared with 25% who would be opposed and 17% undecided, the survey found.

That comes after De León was heard on the leaked recording comparing the Black adopted son of former Councilmember Mike Bonin to a Luis Vuitton purse, and discussed how Latino councilmembers could mute the influence of their Black peers on the council, as well as their constituents.

Yet De León continues to ignore calls to resign, apparently thinking there is some pathway that will allow him to rehabilitate his image before facing the voters again in 2024.

Or sooner, if the recall petitions currently circling in his district qualify for the ballot.

De León had shown promise when it came to supporting bike and safety improvements in his district, including selecting the resident-designed Beautiful Boulevard option for the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit route through Eagle Rock.

But whatever good he promised came to a quick end the moment he was heard on that infamous recording.

It’s time for De León to read the writing on the wall — and in the pages of the Times — and resign.

CD14 deserves a leader who can more effectively represent all the people, including those of us who travel on two wheels.

………

This area has long been one of the most unforgiving areas for bicycling in all of the Los Angeles areas.

Although the long-delayed Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle Pedestrian Path over the new Long Beach International Gateway Bridge, better known as the replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge, should help.

Once they finally get around to opening it.

Meanwhile, this video of trying to find a safe route around the Port of Los Angeles plays like a one-man Marx Brothers routine.

………

Dr. Grace Peng forward news that an anti-bike lane Redondo Beach councilmember is facing possible loss of his license to practice law after allegedly misappropriating over a half million dollars of client funds.

Proving that corruption allegations extend far beyond LA City Hall.

………

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

The Chicago Sun-Times probably didn’t mean it when they placed an ad about the warning signs of dementia in a story about a man riding 60 miles across the frozen wintery city to meet with other similar-minded viking bikers. But still.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A road raging British driver was found not guilty of punching and choking a man riding a bike after claiming self-defense because the bike rider punched his car after the driver “clipped” him.

This is what “clipped” looks like, as an Australian truck driver sideswipes a bike rider, then keeps going, possibly unaware he’d even hit someone.

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

Seriously, if you’re carrying guns and a large amount or narcotics on your bike, make sure the damn thing is up to the vehicle code.

………

Local 

Streets For All is calling for more support for the heavy rail option to extend the Metro train system through the Sepulveda Pass, including a Metro station on the UCLA campus, at an in-person meeting on Tuesday and a virtual meeting on Thursday. Bel Air residents are demanding an impractical monorail through the center of the 405 because it wouldn’t, you know, inconvenience the rich people.

VeloNews has more on the nonprofit Bahati Foundation, formed by Compton’s own former national crit champ Rahsaan Bahati to change the lives of underprivileged kids through bikes.

Santa Monica-based Bird is selling their consumer ebike for 60% off right now, marking it down from $2,299 to just $899, including free shipping.

 

State

Twenty people got tickets during Goleta’s latest crackdown on traffic violations that endanger bike riders and pedestrians; unfortunately, there’s no breakdown on whether the tickets went to motorists, bike riders or pedestrian.

 

National

Washington’s governor pitched in on the first day of a new program to teach Seattle kindergartners how to ride a bike.

They get it. The Chicago Sun-Times says that it’s worth trying surveillance cameras and automated ticketing to keep drivers out of bus and bike lanes.

Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale is one of us, as he explains what happened when he fell off his bike and broke his wrist, which combined with Tommy John surgery and a broken finger to cost him most of three seasons.

 

International

Rouler explores the relationship between Italian bikemaker Cinelli and artist and former pro cycling wunderkind Taylor Phinney.

A travel site offers tips on exploring Europe’s over 27,000 miles of bikeways. Which would take the better part of two years if you averaged 50 miles a day. Works for me.

An insurance company issued an urgent warning to British bicyclists about the crumbling state of the country’s roads, as 21% of bike riders suffered pothole-related injuries. Although I imagine what they really mean is 21% of bicycling injuries are related to potholes. But what do I know?

Once again, a driver has claimed multiple victims, as a British driver faces charges for the hit-and-run death of two men who were riding their bikes, before abandoning his car and fleeing on foot. Although even more frightening is how the local weekly paper seems to accept the horrific crash, mentioning it almost in passing.

A history website tells the story of Peter Masters, an Austrian Jew who escaped the Nazis, then returned as a bike-riding British commando during the D-Day invasion.

Horrible story from India, where a 70-year old man was killed when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike, then desperately clung to the drivers hood before he was thrown off and run over when the driver finally hit the brakes.

A New Zealand man’s planned three-day bike ride to babysit his granddaughter took a detour when his ride was interrupted by Cyclone Hale.

 

Competitive Cycling

British pro Simon Yates won an uphill battle to claim the final stage of the Tour Down Under, as Aussie Jay Vine took the GC title to win his first WorldTour race.

Bryan Coquard claimed his first WorldTour stage win in Saturday’s stage four of the Tour Down Under, 11 years after he joined the top pro circuit.

Rising Dutch ‘cross star Shirin van Anrooij had to sit one out after thieves stole her race bike from the parking lot while she was doing recon on the course in Costa Blanca, Spain.

Zimbabwean mountain biker Pressmore Musundi is aiming to compete in this year’s African Games, despite being born with no toes on either foot, following first and third place finishes in a pair of South Africa’s top mountain bike races.

 

Finally…

If a cop stops you for driving under the influence, try not to bite his finger off trying to get away. And we may have to deal with aggressive LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about leopard attacks.

Usually, anyway.

………

Happy Lunar New Year, whatever language you celebrate in! And my sympathy and prayers to all the victims of the Monterey Park shooting and their loved ones. May the new year finally bring an end to both traffic and gun violence. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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