Tag Archive for bike lanes

Repeat drunk driver kills OC pedestrian, support Culver City mobility lanes, and bike-riding French Resistance fighter dies

February 23, 2023 / / 2 comments

You might want to rethink plans to ride your bike for the next few days. 

The forecast for LA County is calling for dangerously heavy rains and high winds, with flooding in low-lying areas and blizzard warnings for higher elevations. 

So even with the best rain gear, the smart money is on staying home if possible, or finding some other way to get around. 

Hopefully, it will clear up before Sunday’s Valley CicLAvia. 

Photo by energepic.com from Pexels.

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This is why people continue to die on our streets.

A repeat drunk driver is on trial for murder and DUI for killing a pedestrian while speeding through an Orange crosswalk in 2021; 40-year old Sitani Pinomi still had a BAC of .10 several hours after the crash.

Pinomi was convicted on two previous DUI charges, and had signed a Watson advisement acknowledging that he could be charged with murder if he ever drove drunk again and killed someone.

Which he allegedly did.

Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.

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This past weekend, my wife and I visited Culver City for the first time since those heady pre-pandemic days, and were struck by how pleasant the city’s Mobility Lane Project made walking in the downtown area.

And how restricting car traffic made other modes more inviting than driving, which is kind of the point.

Now the city is conducting a survey to gauge support for the project, which could be little more than a fig leaf for the city council’s newly empowered conservative majority to rip the entire thing out.

So take a few minutes, and share your love for the city’s safer and more welcoming streets, so maybe they’ll think twice before removing them.

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The Washington Post remembers World War II’s Girl Partisan of Chartres, after the death of heroic French freedom fighter Simone Segouin,

Her battlefield experience began when she was just 14, recruited by the resistance commander she later married as he hid out on her father’s farm.

The teenager helped him exchange messages with other resistance members on a bicycle she had stolen from a German patrol outside a hotel in Chartres after slashing the tires of their other bikes.

She repainted her bike and, in the guise of a sweet-faced farmer’s daughter carrying baguettes in a basket, moved around the German-occupied countryside without suspicion. Her bike, she said, was her “reconnaissance vehicle.”

She later learned to use handguns, rifles and submachine guns, as well as becoming an expert in explosives and guerrilla tactics. Yet was still just 18 when she captured 25 German soldiers as Allied troops rolled into Chartres, then fought with them to liberate Paris.

She was 97-years old when she died Tuesday.

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BikeLA, the former LACBC, is teaming with CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman to host a feeder ride to Sunday’s CicLAvia, beginning 9 am at the Balboa Orange Line Station, RSVP requested.

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Sycamore Canyon riders are being told you can’t get there from here, at least for the next week.

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The self-proclaimed Lock Picking Lawyer demonstrates why saving a few bucks on a cheap lock isn’t worth it.

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

Once again, someone has sabotaged a British bike trail, as a 41-year old bicyclist suffered a concussion, broken collarbone and three broken ribs after hitting a wire strung across the trail, in what witnesses said was an apparent attempt to steal his bike.

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

Seriously? The local paper takes up the charge after a single UK pedestrian complains about bicyclists riding at “breakneck speeds” in Sheffield’s pedestrianized town center.

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Local 

Sad news from North Hollywood, where a man in his 20s was killed when a driver rear-ended the e-scooter he was riding on Vineland Ave near Riverside Drive early Wednesday.

Streets For All is hosting an information session March 1st for anyone considering running for their local neighborhood council. And yes, they want you to.

The Los Angeles Times says distrust of politicians is running high in the CD6 special election, following the resignation of former Councilmember Nury Martinez after she was heard making racist remarks on a leaked recording.

Pasadena Now considers plans to close several miles of the Pasadena Freeway to motor vehicles for a few hours, and open it up to bike riders, skaters and walkers for October’s ArroyoFest.

Streetsblog reports Pomona will build a bike path along San Jose Creek from near Ganesha Park to Cal Poly Pomona, providing a safer route to several local elementary schools.

New Congressman Robert Garcia, former mayor of Long Beach, announced a $30 million grant for the Shoreline Drive Gateway project, which will demolish the northbound half of the existing Shoreline Drive to create new park space, including a new bike path.

 

State

The NRCDC says it’s time to cut polluting projects from the state transportation budget, and realign spending with the state’s climate priorities.

The California YIMBY website — that’s Yes In My Back Yard — examines how NIMBYs have hijacked the state’s CEQA anti-pollution laws to block housing and other needed developments.

Ventura County’s Carpinteria Creek Bike Path has reopened, following repairs due to January’s rains. And just in time for this weekend’s coming deluge.

An “avid” Bakersfield bicyclist for the past four decades calls out the poor quality of the city’s bike lanes, saying biking the streets of Bakersfield just isn’t safe anymore. There’s a Buck Owens joke in there somewhere, but it’s escaping me at the moment.

For a change, a bikelash works in our favor, as Palo Alto agrees to rethink a proposal to ban ebikes from local preserves after residents complained about the plan

 

National

House Beautiful offers “ingenious bike storage racks that won’t cramp your style,” many of which actually aren’t. Unless you consider a barn or storage closet a bike rack.

It turns out that one of the two people killed riding bikes in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown was a 76-year old retired FBI special agent and Vietnam vet, who was riding the bike his wife gave him for Christmas.

A Colorado artist and frame painter describes how riding her bike made her fall in love with the state again, saying her bike feels like a drawing tool.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Chicago FedEx driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card, claiming he just didn’t see a little old lady crossing the street with her walker before he slammed into her with his truck, killing her.

A Minneapolis news site deflates internet conspiracy theories over why protected bike lanes get plowed faster than traffic lanes when it snows; the answer is simply that there are no parked cars blocking bike lanes. Or at least, there shouldn’t be.

A bikelash worked in our favor in Ohio, too, where an outcry from bike riders defeated a proposal to strip local control over bike lanes from the Ohio budget.

New York Streetsblog proposes a lithium battery trade-in program to reduce the number of dangerous old ebike and e-scooter batteries at risk of fires, with newer, safer models.

Life is cheap in New York, where a USPS driver faces a lousy misdemeanor charge and summons for failing to yield and exercise due care for killing a man riding a bicycle two years ago, despite a long record of reckless driving both before and after he was hired.

The Washington Post seems shocked that older Americans are participating in extreme sports like Ironman triathlons and the Iditarod Trail Invitational, tackling the Alaskan backcountry in subzero temperatures by bicycle, foot or skis. My own brother was in his 60s when he ran his sled dog team in the Iditarod four times, and his 70s when he tackled his first major cross-country bike tour.

 

International

Momentum Magazine offers advice on what to do if bike riding is a literal pain in the back.

The British bike boom has officially gone bust, as bike sales in the UK have dropped to their lowest level in two decades.

British news anchor Dan Walker was unconscious for 20 minutes after he was struck by a driver while riding his bike, which suggests that his bike helmet may have kept his skull intact, but didn’t prevent a traumatic brain injury, aka TBI. Meanwhile, drivers complain that he was wearing dark clothing and wasn’t riding in the glass-strewn bike lane.

After bike-riding Brit broadcaster Jeremy Vine blasted a “maniac” van driver for a right cross turn directly across his path, drivers slam him for not dressing like a hi-viz clown.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver walked without a single day behind bars for a “perilous maneuver” that resulted in the death of a bike-riding man; a judge imposed community service and a lousy 15 month license suspension.

The self-governing island of Jersey is introducing what they call the world’s first smart cycling scheme, which will use smart bike lights to collect data from individual bike rides, including routes and destinations, as well as road conditions, busy spots and conflicts.

Fans of Dutch bikes can now get an e-Gazelle, starting at the equivalent of four grand.

Your next ebike could have no chain or belt, or any other kind of direct propulsion system, thanks to a new German ride-by-wire drivetrain.

 

Competitive Cycling

Yes, British cyclist Tom Pidcock can descend faster than you. Or me, anyway.

 

Finally…

The right seat could keep gravel riding from being a pain in the butt. When you’re riding your bike at 1 am, with eight — count ’em, eight — active warrants and carrying meth, put a damn light on it, already.

The bike, that is, not the meth.

And not only is Jimmy Carter one of us, so is his wife Roselyn.

https://twitter.com/paulvaldezsf/status/1627818357272592386

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Drivers must change lanes to pass bike riders, and SD weekly cynically blames old business closures on new bike lanes

January 3, 2023 / / 3 comments

Welcome back!

Before we get started, let me take a moment to thank you for yet another successful BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Not only did we set a new record for the 8th year in a row, but a record 103 people donated, breaking the $5,000 barrier for the very first time.  

And I couldn’t be more grateful to each and every one of you.

So thanks to Michael W, Lisa G, Mark K, Glen S, Adrienne G, Johanna K, Liam W, Joel F, Sonia B, Michael B, David A, Teodoro C, Carol K, Neel K, Robert H, Beverly F, Matthew R and Kevin B for their generous donations since the last time we posted. And everyone else who gave from their hearts to keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. 

Thank you!

Today’s photo shows what happens when my sister and her husband send the perfect gifts.

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Celebrate the new year by jaywalking, which isn’t exactly legal now, but has been decriminalized by the State of California.

Or improve your safety by taking off from a red light with the leading pedestrian interval, which is now legal for people on bicycles in California. Correction: A closer reading of the law makes clear that it doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2024; thanks to Andrew Goldstein and Bryan J Blumberg for keeping me honest.

And drivers will now be required to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle in California if there is an open lane the driver can move into.

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No bias here.

The San Diego Reader goes off on an anti-bike lane screed, complaining about the new bike lanes on 30th Street in the North Park neighborhood, which required the removal of 460 parking spaces.

And in the process, blames every business closure in the neighborhood on them.

Never mind the effects of two years of pandemic closures, or a difficult business climate marked by rampant inflation and endemic supply chain problems.

Or that they also included businesses that closed years before the bike lanes were built.

Although by far the best one was the article’s first photo, which showed a damning image of a vacant business under the banner for a roofing company. Except they were simply installing a new roof on the building, and had never occupied the space.

Other shuttered businesses had moved to more desirable locations, or were reopening under new management or new formats in the coming months.

But all were somehow blamed on the bike lanes, which the paper claimed were seldom, if ever, used. Something that could have been easily refuted if they had bothered to check the nearby bike counter.

As noted in the first tweet above, the story appears to have been motivated by a California appellate court’s rejection of a lawsuit filed by business owners to have the bike lanes removed.

But none of that would have fit with their pre-determined pro-driving, pro-parking and anti-bike lane bias.

Thanks to everyone who responded on Twitter to point out the glaring inaccuracies in the Reader story. 

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Marlene Scott reports there will be a Celebration of Life tomorrow for 56-year old Michelle Scott, who lost her three-year battle for life over Thanksgiving weekend.

Michelle Scott was 53 when she was run down by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bike to work in Ramona in October, 2019.

She spent the next three years shuttling between longterm care facilities, as she struggled just to give a thumbs-up or say the name of her husband of 35 years.

Thirty-seven-year old Chase Edward Richard served just two years of a 44-month sentence for cruelly leaving her alone and bleeding in the street with a severe head injury.

Now he’s free, and she’s gone.

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Gravel Bike California reminds us that Los Angeles is a mountain town, offering outstanding paved and unpaved climbing.

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A Denver man is holding vigil at the intersection where his brother was killed by a hit-and-run driver nearly two weeks ago.

And plans to stay there until his killer is brought to justice.

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This is who we share the road with.

And no, the person on the bike isn’t the one at fault.

https://twitter.com/AjcheGustavo/status/1610101371507965953

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This is how fast a potentially deadly dooring — or a near miracle — can happen.

And yes, unless the person on the bike is riding against traffic, dooring is always the driver’s fault.

https://twitter.com/ReallyActivist/status/1607866017669316608

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I don’t know. I think I could pull it off.

Or cut it off, as the case may be.

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

No bias here, as Bicycling screws the pooch by wholeheartedly endorsing Ford’s massive F-150 Lightening electric pickup, with its high, flat grill seemingly designed to kill bike riders and pedestrians. As usual. read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

No bias here, either. A San Diego TV station tries to raise a public panic over the loss of parking spaces for new bike lanes on Convoy Street, despite citing a restaurant owner who says his customers don’t mind walking several blocks. And says he only knows of two customers who currently bike there. Apparently, if never occurs to him that if two people biked there before, maybe others will now that it’s safer.

A DC driver attempted to run down a bicycle delivery rider after she smacked his car mirror for pulling up too close to her and blocking her right-of-way, then got out of his car and attacked her on the sidewalk, knocking out one of her teeth.

A British driver will spend more the two years behind bars for using his car as a weapon in an effort to run down a group of bike-riding teenagers, after the kids threw French fries in his car.

A driver in the UK marked Boxing Day by trying to run down a bike rider, after becoming angry when he was stuck behind him on a country road.

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

Body cam video shows a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy shooting a man riding a bicycle after the man waived a knife at him while calling himself the antichrist, although he had lowered the weapon before the officer shot; he was originally stopped for riding salmon, as well as an outstanding warrant. A simple traffic stop should never be allowed to escalate out of control like that; thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up. 

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Local 

CNN includes South LA’s Destination Crenshaw among the new buildings set to reshape the world in the coming year; the 1.3-mile open air museum and cultural center will include new buffered bike lanes on Crenshaw Blvd.

Metro has completed work on the new bus lanes on Alvarado between Sunset and 7th. Which you can now share on your bike, as long as you don’t mind having a bus run up your ass.

Urbanize LA lists the Complete Streets makeovers of 7th Street in DTLA and Venice Blvd in Mar Vista as the city’s most exciting “small” transportation projects of the year.

The parents of two girls involved in a fatal ebike crash in 2021 have settled  their cross complaints against one another, freeing them to blame Rad Power Bikes for the crash.

 

State

A San Diego man was stabbed in the chest by a man who stole his bike in the city’s Balboa Park, after arguing over it with another man. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up. 

A San Diego loan-to-own ebike program is set for a $10 million statewide expansion, despite low participation so far.

Finishing our San Diego trifecta, the city’s bike riders are fighting to reclaim a portion of the streets to make room for protected bike lanes.

In another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a Fairfield man was booked for the suspected drunken hit-and-run death of a bike rider, despite three previous hit-and-run convictions; he was also charged with being a felon in possession of a gun.

The Yolo County DA has decided not to file charges against the UC Davis garbage truck driver who killed a 19-year old student riding her ebike to class. blaming “multiple factors” for the crash.

 

National

NPR takes a look at ebikes and their ability to replace car trips and their emissions. Or maybe replace cars, period.

CNBC looks at the problem of trying to navigate the ebike boom on America’s less-than-adequate bike infrastructure.

Bicycling questions whether bicycling has a drinking problem, as research shows that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Although other studies show moderate drinking can offer health benefits. Once again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. .

Pacific Cycles is recalling their kids bikes that were sold at Target, because the handlebars can come loose during use, causing falls.

This is who we share the road with, part two. Thirteen bison were killed when the herd was struck by an apparently sentient semi-truck in Montana near Yellowstone National Park, since there’s no mention of a driver anywhere in the story.

In yet another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a New York pickup driver killed man riding a moped — despite the company truck being cited for 30 traffic violations over a four-year period, including 17 tickets for speeding in a school zone.

A Guatemalan man working as a delivery rider in New York complains that winter is the hardest time of year for bicycle delivery workers, while the apps they work for don’t care about their safety. Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up. 

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers fifteen things about bicycling that really annoys them. Although their complaint about the high cost of bicycling is a relative thing, depending on how you ride; you can get by with spending almost nothing, and still get where you’re going.

Build your own DIY heavy duty bike trailer.

Cities from Bogotá to Stockholm are keeping their pandemic-era carfree spaces.

London ebike and e-scooter riders could be banned from a section of the Thames Path, along with reckless riders of regular bikes.

Police identify a suspect in just one in ten British bike thefts, and file charges in less than 2% of cases.

A Swiss startup is building elevated bike lanes to address space problems that limit bike lane placement on the streets. Which sounds good, except it removes bikes from the local community, and prevents bike riders from making convenient stops along their route.

Road.cc examines whether there is anywhere on earth where bike riders are required to be licensed, aside from North Korea.

No surprise here, as Singapore bike riders conclude that draconian rules limiting group rides to no more than five bikes aren’t practical in real life.

An Aussie woman teaches herself how to ride a bicycle at the ripe, old age of 49, after being shamed by a French tour guide.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-six-year old former WorldTour cyclist Sean Bennett is entering the year without a pro contract, after spending after spending last year riding at the Continental level in China.

Cyclist looks forward to 2023, including women’s great Annemiek van Vleuten going out on top, and the return of Eritrean pro Biniam Girmay, who missed much of last year after taking a champagne cork to the eye.

A seven-year old Arizona kid broke her 11-year old sister’s record for completing the Tour de Tucson, while also setting a record as the youngest person to complete the 102-mile course.

 

Finally…

Every now and then, a scofflaw bike rider gets away. Seriously, if you’re riding your bike with an outstanding warrant, don’t ride salmon.  That feeling when you ride the equivalent of 2,400 miles in less than 14 days just for the hell of it.

And when you need a garter to comfortably ride your bike, even if it would fit around your impossibly narrow waist.

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Before we go, I’d like to share this Twitter exchange, which offered one of the nicest compliments I’ve received in a long time. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

La Brea Ave bus/bike lanes on hold, new bill would mandate bikeways next to light rail, and more proof speed cams work

December 22, 2022 / / One comment

Just three days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Seventy-two short hours to open your heart and wallet to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming to your favorite screen every morning. 

The week before Christmas is always one of my most challenging times of year, as preparations for the holiday collide with the pressures of preparing the next day’s post every night. Add to that my wife’s insistence on cleaning every inch of our apartment before guests arrive for Christmas, while dealing with the effects of my varied and sundry health issues — all of which seem to spring from my diabetes in one way or another. 

Never mind coping with the inevitable tragedies made exponentially more tragic by the time of year. 

I always point to the coming holiday, if only for the opportunity it presents for a well-deserved collapse before we return after the first of the year.

But it’s your support that gets me there, lifting my spirits when I need it the most. Whether in the form of the donations that demonstrate appreciation for the work we do here, or the kind words that so often accompany them. 

So let’s thank Brandon H and Kirsten B for coming through late yesterday when it looked like no one would. And everyone else who has given from their hearts to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Thank you, sincerely, from my heart to yours. 

If you have donated yet, take a moment to give right now via PayPal or Zelle. Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated.

And needed.

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Metro put the installation of new bus lanes on La Brea Blvd on hold for the holidays; the work, which was supposed to begin last week, will now begin sometime after the first of the year.

Bicyclists are allowed to use bus lanes in Los Angeles County, as long as you don’t mind having a multi-ton vehicle run up your ass while you ride. Although the bus lanes are usually enforced only during rush hour, and open to cars and/or parking at other times.

However, some other areas interpret the law differently, and may ban bikes from bus lanes some or all of the time, so be sure to read the signs wherever you ride.

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A new Congressional light rail bill introduced in the House would mandate bikeways along most light rail lines, along with bikeshare and secure bike parking.

Although the current political divide make the chance of actual passage minimal, at best.

Thanks to Akber Khan for the heads-up.

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No surprise here, as New York demonstrates once again that speed cams are effective in reducing speeding by drivers.

And even more effective when they’re enforced 24/7.

Unfortunately, automated speed cams are currently illegal under California law; attempts to change that have gone nowhere in the legislature in recent years.

Because apparently, it’s just not fair to punish drivers for dangerously breaking the law.

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is also raising funds this holiday season; the organization helped lead the successful fight to close roads in LA’s Griffith Park in the wake of recent bicycling deaths.

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‘Tis the season.

More than 40 Texas kids got new bikes, courtesy of a College Station civic group.

A 77-year old North Carolina woman is gearing up for her last bike giveaway, with at least 1,000 bikes ready for local kids, nine years after she took over for her late husband.

A Georgia group has cleaned, repaired and donated over 400 bicycles for local kids.

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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 writer of a car website travels the byways of the Boston area looking for bike riders on the legally mandated bike lanes, and is shocked when he fails to see many at the exact time and place when he happens to drive by. Never mind the disconnect that he was forced to use byroads because the highways were choked with rush hour traffic.

No bias here, either. A Nova Scotia letter writer trots out the standard bromide “We are not Amsterdam or Copenhagen” to argue against bike lanes, which they insist are never used. But without building more bike lanes, it never will be, either.

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

Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts are looking for a road raging bicyclist who circled back and deliberately rammed a woman who asked him to watch where he was going as she was crossing the street. The suspect was described as a man in his 50s, who certainly should have known better at his age.

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Local 

A British writer samples bikeshare systems in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and finds the City of Angels not at all to his liking, though he does have nice things to say about Metro Bike. Which is okay. Not everyone has to like LA just because we call it home. Although there’s a large enough British expat community here to show his complaints aren’t universally shared. 

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman digs in on LA Councilmember Kevin de León and his refusal to do the right thing and just resign, already.

 

State

Appropriately for the season, construction is ongoing on the Santa Claus Lane bike path, which will connect bike lanes in Santa Barbara and Carpinteria when its completed next year.

Bay Area bike riders will be able to ride from Berkeley to San Francisco by 2030, when a dedicated bike and pedestrian trail is expected to open on the Bay Bridge.

A 65-year old Sacramento bike rider was lucky to survive when he became collateral damage in a police chase, after the driver of a stolen car bailed from the vehicle and it rolled over the man, trapping him underneath; he was freed when police lifted the car off him with the help of bystanders.

 

National

A new study shows bicycling injuries have decreased over the last ten years, even as ridership — and deaths — have gone up. As usual, read the story on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

Wired reviews the new book Cyclettes by Tree Abraham, which recaps her “delicately composed biographical vignettes” through the lens of bicycling.

New Seattle DOT Director Greg Spotts went on a walking tour with members of a local transportation advocacy group; Spotts led LA’s Bureau of Street Services before he left to take the Seattle post.

Tragic news from Arizona, where a man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by a Tucson ambulance driver; no word on whether the ambulance was on an emergency call or using red lights and siren. Then again, there’s also no mention at all that the ambulance even had a driver, although I think we can safely assume it. 

A Pueblo, Colorado teenager received a new bike just one day after his was stolen, thanks to a crowdfunding campaign and a partnership between the police and a local Walmart.

Chicago gave away 500 bicycles to local residents in the first year of a new program to increase affordable, climate-friendly mobility options; the city plans to give away a total of 5,000 bikes over the next five years.

Three Brooklyn council members demand that ebikes be allowed to return to Prospect Park; ebikes are banned from New York parks, even though they are legal on the streets outside them. Oddly, cars aren’t banned from most of the parks where ebikes are, even though one does much more harm than the other.

Advocates are holding back on their approval for New York’s planned human-scale redesign of iconic 5th Avenue, saying they’ve heard the promises before.  Sort of like Los Angeles bike riders and pedestrians, who long ago stopped chasing after the latest shiny object elected officials dangled in front of us, without following through.

Maryland officials announced no criminal charges will be filed against the truck driver who killed US diplomat Sarah Langenkamp as she rode her bike last August, despite three traffic citations and a lawsuit filed by her husband alleging negligence by the driver, and the company he worked for. Just in case you were wondering why people keep dying on our streets.

An admitted serial killer was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to killing a Florida woman, who disappeared while riding her bike home from work in 1991.

 

International

Kindhearted members of a British Columbia coffee ride dug into their own pockets to buy a new bike for an eight-year old girl, after noting her bike was too small for her, and being impressed that she was riding her bike in conditions they wouldn’t even brave.

A rider for Tom’s Guide rode a Brompton ebike foldie for a month, and liked it. Even if the bike was a tad heavy.

A new study from the UK shows contraflow bike lanes don’t increase crash rates, regardless of the direction of travel, and should be considered on all one-way streets to extend bicycling networks.

Two British men pled guilty to manslaughter in the death of a teenager who tried to stop them from stealing a bike; a third man, the stepfather of one of the men, was acquitted on the same charges.

 

Competitive Cycling

Florence, Italy will host the first three stages of the 2024 Tour de France.

 

Finally…

Your periodic reminder that bike seats are best used for sitting on while riding a bike, not wielding as a weapon. If you have an outstanding felony warrant, maybe don’t ride salmon.

And more proof you can carry anything on a bike.

couch and spare bike moving service
byu/National-Fox9168 inbikecommuting

 

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Happy Chanukah to everyone celebrating today.

Chag Urim Sameach!

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

LA city officials back off “aspirational” mobility plan, CD13’s Hugo Soto-Martinez talks bikes, and still more bike giveaways

December 16, 2022 / / Comments Off on LA city officials back off “aspirational” mobility plan, CD13’s Hugo Soto-Martinez talks bikes, and still more bike giveaways

Just nine days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

We’re on the cusp of the last full weekend of the fund drive, just slightly ahead of last year’s record pace. But we need your help to push it over the top, and best last year’s total for the 8th consecutive year!

So thanks to Matthew L and Tom C for their generous donations to keep all the latest bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Now it’s your turn, so donate today via PayPal or Zelle! 

Every contribution, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated, and gets us that much closer to our goal.

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Before we get started, thanks to Paul Jamason for this tweet that took me by surprise yesterday. 

https://twitter.com/sdurban/status/1603544746118373376

But that’s what I do, all day and every day, confronting misinformation and disinformation about bikes and the people who ride them. And working to shine a light on the problems we face just trying to get from here to there in one piece. 

So if you value that work, and have a few extra bucks to spare, ask yourself what it’s worth to you, and donate now to help keep this vital work going.

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Today’s must read comes from Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who calls out Los Angeles city officials for their mealymouthed support of the city’s Mobility Plan 2035, which we are once again told is merely “aspirational,” despite its overwhelming approval by the city council.

But what has been disturbing has been the city’s wholesale backing off of the Mobility Plan as a plan. Instead city staff – from the Planning Department, Chief Legislative Analyst, Department of Transportation, and others – are casting doubt on the city’s approved plan. This occurred repeatedly in an October 6 CLA memo and a November 30 City Council Public Works Committee meeting [audio] discussing the city council’s alternative version of HSLA.

CLA staff repeatedly characterized MP2035 as just “a policy foundation,” “a working guide,” “not an implementation tool with specific projects,” and “street segments indicated on the network concept maps represent potential opportunities.” (emphasis added).

He goes on to add this.

At the committee meeting, (Department of City Planning) Planner Emily Gable stated that MP2035 is “guidance” for a “general vision.” MP2035 network maps are “guides for decision-makers.” She called the plan “aspirational” and emphasized its “flexibility.”

It’s instructive to note the pernicious double standard of how the city is treating other aspects of the Mobility Plan.

Bus lanes? Guidance.

Bike lanes? Policy foundation.

Safe walking? Aspirational.

Car capacity? Build it exactly as the plan specifies.

Then again, that’s nothing new.

Just weeks after the 2010 Bike Plan was approved, which was later subsumed into the mobility plan, we were told by an LADOT official that it was merely, yes, aspirational.

But here’s the thing.

While the city may consider the mobility plan aspirational, people who ride bikes just aspire to do so without fear.

We aspire to have safe routes allowing us to ride across the city, and through our own neighborhoods.

We aspire to be treated as equals on the road.

We aspire to have secure places to park our bikes when we get to our destination.

And we aspire to have city officials who actually give a damn whether we live or die.

It’s a good piece. So take a few minutes to give it a read.

Then get mad as hell.

Because your safety and right to ride should never be just aspirational.

………

If, like me, you missed Streets For All’s virtual happy hour with newly installed CD13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez on Wednesday, the transportation PAC has posted a recording online so we can all catch up.

This is how they describe it.

In this month’s happy hour we give an update on Venice Bl and our state efforts, talk about upcoming neighborhood council elections, and go over some wins and fails. Our special guest is Hugo Soto-Martinez, newly elected Councilmember for District 13, City of Los Angeles. We discussed many possible bike, bus, and pedestrian projects, including Fountain Ave, Santa Monica Bl, Hollywood Bl, Vermont, and capping the 101 freeway.

………

Speaking of Streets For All, the group wants you to request a ballot for the Democratic Party’s ADEM representatives to help elect pro-transit delegates.

………

‘Tis the season.

A religious group will donate a total of 500 bicycles to kids in need in Madera and Fresno, California this weekend.

A Bozeman, Montana bike shop is conducting their ninth annual children’s bike giveaway, hoping to donate at least 110 bikes to break last year’s record.

Kids in Sioux Falls, South Dakota will build a sense of pride and generosity by building 120 bicycles tomorrow, which will be given to less fortunate children as Christmas gifts.

………

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

There’s not a pit deep enough for the middle-aged British dog walker who chased down and attacked a teenage girl as she rode her bike, after shouting threats at her. Nothing justifies violence, whatever the reason for his anger.

………

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Local 

New CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez filed a motion instructing city officials to report back on the condition of the streets in her district, which had been neglected under former Councilmember “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, while directing that construction of bicycle infrastructure simultaneously coordinated with street repairs.

New LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath has been seated on the Metro board, giving it a fresh voice with a track record of supporting bikes, walking and transit.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, better known as the LACBC, announced their official name change to BikeLA.

 

State

San Francisco Streetsblog says the removal of traditional parking meters in the city means fewer places to park your bike. LADOT was supposed to conduct a study a few years ago about whether bikes could be safely locked up to parking meters here in Los Angeles, but as far as I know, the practice remains technically illegal, though seldom enforced. 

A Napa Valley paper examines the work of the Napa County Bicycle Coalition.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a woman was killed in a collision while riding her bike Thursday evening.

A Rancho Cordova man will be charged with murder after ambushing a 60-year old ebike rider with a machete, for no apparent reason.

 

National

Equitable Cities is conducting a survey of bicycling in the Black and Hispanic communities; you could be entered to win one of ten $200 gift cards for completing the survey.

The Bike League wants you to contact your Congress members to push for a return of the Bicycle Commuter Benefit in any year-end tax or spending legislation. Maybe they could also push for the ebike rebate the feds teased us with earlier this year.

Bicycling recommends eight “hilarious” Insta reel creators they say you have to follow. Even though you don’t. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Gear Junkie explains the myriad joys of the derailleur.

Red Bull considers whether you really want a BMX or a mountain bike.

There’s a special place in hell — and hopefully behind bars — for whoever sexually assaulted a 12-year old Virginia girl before stealing her bicycle.

A newly completed Complete Street in Sarasota, Florida, complete with a lane reduction and sort-of protected bike lanes, is part of the planned 336-mile Florida Gulf Coast Trail. But as usual, local business owners are complaining.

 

International

Cycling Weekly considers what to eat and drink before, during and after a long bike ride, which they define as lasting longer than three and a half hours.

Frightening story from Wales, where a 14-year old boy’s heart suddenly stopped while on a group ride with his stepdad, even though he was an experienced mountain biker; he survived, despite four days in a coma, because one member of the group performed CPR while others raced for a defibrillator.

Belgian ebike brand Cowboy is dealing with the problem of recycling ebike batteries by recycling the entire bike instead, refurbishing and reselling them at a reduced price.

The most popular electric vehicle in Deutschland isn’t a car, as Germans are 2.5 times more likely to ride an ebike than drive an EV.

 

Competitive Cycling

The nascent National Cycling League announced $7.5 million in startup funding from a diverse group of investors, including NBA All-Star Bradley Beal; the league will consist of teams made up of eight men and eight women, who will compete for a slice of the $1 million purse in closed course crits in cities across the US. Although it’s kind of sad that a relatively paltry $7.5 million reflects the largest ever investment in US bike racing, when it’s just a rounding error on Beal’s annual salary. 

Track cycling fans should head down to the Velo Sports Center in Carson for a full weekend of racing, starting tonight.

 

Finally…

Your bike can be an electric generator contributing to the power grid. And now you, too, can own newly Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s used $7,900 tri bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

San Diego woman on life support after ebike hits shopping cart, a carfree Embarcadero, and holiday bike rides

December 15, 2022 / / Comments Off on San Diego woman on life support after ebike hits shopping cart, a carfree Embarcadero, and holiday bike rides

Just ten days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

We’re entering into the home stretch just slightly ahead of last year’s record-setting pace. But we’ll need to raise almost $1,000 over the next week and a half to make it happen.

So thanks to Miriam H and Phillip Y for their generous donations to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day, and ensure it will always be there, ready and waiting when you need it. 

So now it’s your turn.

Just stop whatever you’re doing, and donate today via PayPal or Zelle! Every donation, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated!

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Tragic news from San Diego, where a 56-year old woman is on life support with a brain bleed after crashing her ebike into a shopping cart someone carelessly left in a bike lane Tuesday evening.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding in the westbound bike lane on the 5100 block of Friars Road shortly after dark, which would have made the cart that much more difficult to see.

And no, she was not wearing a helmet.

Which matters in this case, since she suffered a head injury, and this is exactly the kind of low speed crash bike helmets are designed to protect against.

Let’s all hope she makes a full and fast recovery.

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

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A small group of San Francisco community organizers is calling for kicking cars out of the city’s Embarcadero.

Advocates Stacey Randecker and Alex Soble suggest converting the waterfront into a vibrant, walkable Grand Embarcadero that “could match or surpass comparable destinations like Chicago’s Lakefront Trail, San Antonio’s Riverwalk and Paris’ Seine waterfront.”

Not to mention easily exceed anything found here in Southern California.

Which would be a big improvement from the Embarcadero’s current deadly and dangerous car-choked environment.

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A pair of holiday rides are on tap this weekend, with rides on Saturday in Costa Mesa and Sunday in Glendale.

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Good question.

Is it the scooter or the cars that are really blocking the sidewalk?

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

No surprise here, as San Diego’s bike hating Ocean Beach Rag jumps on yesterday’s anti-bike lane hit piece in the San Diego Union Tribune. If you missed it, you can read my takedown on the piece here. 

Its a sad commentary when a Chicago ghost bike isn’t even safe from traffic violence.

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Local 

‘Tis the season. The San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles partnered with the Bikes for Kids Foundation and Pechanga Resort Casino to surprise about 150 Compton second and third-graders with a new bicycle.

 

State 

The Bike League announced their latest list of Bicycle Friendly Communities, with several NorCal cities renewed or promoted; the only city named in Southern California is Beverly Hills with an honorable mention.

CalBike looks back at the past year’s wins in the state legislature, including new bike laws, more funding for bikes and walking, and the state ebike rebates, which remain sadly theoretical at this point.

Streetsblog takes a very early look at the transportation bills expected to be considered in the next legislative session, including a requirement to consider the climate emergency in transportation funding, and another bite at the apple for Stop As Yield.

The Voice of OC says the death of 8-year-old Bradley Rofer as he rode his bike through an Orange County intersection this past September is “prompting a tough debate about whether civic leaders are doing enough to protect kids at dangerous intersections.” Short answer, no. Longer answer, oh hell no.

The Coast News Group looks forward to next month’s Cyclovia Encinitas open streets event.

Agoura Hills officially unveiled a new, wider bridge on Roadside Drive as the first project in implementing the city’s bicycle master plan — yet somehow, they don’t seem to have included any bike lanes in the project.

Heartbreaking news from San Francisco, where a 16-year old boy rode his bike halfway across the Golden Gate Bridge before jumping to his death, as a project to install mesh suicide barriers on both sides of the bridge has stalled amid soaring costs.

‘Tis the season. A Castro Valley man has fixed up and given away over 700 bicycles to people who can’t afford one for work, school or fun, calling the money-losing program Bad Business Model Bikes.

 

National

No surprise here, as researchers have concluded that 55% of people involved in serious or fatal crashes had drugs or alcohol in their systems — whether drivers, passengers or people outside the vehicle — with nearly 25% each testing positive for weed or alcohol.

Forbes recommends their picks for the best balance bikes for your favorite toddler — including a $1,000 carbon framed Specialized for your future pro. Junior doper kit sold separately.

House Digest recommends the five best American cities to live in if you don’t have a car. Shockingly, Los Angeles was not included among them. And yes, that’s sarcasm.

Bicycling considers the meaning of the massive, and completely unrecoverable, $353 million judgement against the drunk and stoned hit-and-run driver who killed master’s cyclist Gwen Inglis as she rode with her husband in Lakewood, Colorado — not Boulder, as the magazine says. For a change, read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

The owner of San Antonio’s oldest bike shop is asking for support from the community, as nearby construction could force it to close before it can reach its 103rd year.

Chicago drivers will now face a $250 fine for blocking a bike lane, as well as running the risk they could be towed; the move stems at least in part from the deaths of four little kids this past summer.

The Boston Globe says we need to make traffic jams a thing of the past if we’re going to curb emissions by 2030, calling for congestion pricing and better transit. And more biking and walking would help, too.

Grocery chain Safeway teamed with a local nonprofit to give a new adaptive bicycle to a young Baltimore girl suffering from a form of childhood dementia.

 

International

Bike Radar offers five reasons why you don’t need a new bicycle, including N+1 is dead. Which should come as a surprise to many of us.

Canadian Cycling Magazine is surprised to find Gwyneth Paltrow’s luxury Goop gift guide suggests a trio of relatively reasonably priced bikes.

Past and present English city officials protest the poor quality of a Hereford bike lane before it even opens to the public.

German manufacturer Bosch is pushing the US to adopt the tighter ebike regulations that allowed the company to dominate the European market.

An Aussie truck driver will have to spend four years behind bars for the drunken, distracted crash that killed a 21-year old man who was riding throughout the country to call attention to climate change.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling offers a photo essay from the recent ‘cross Nats. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new e-cargo bike is based on a Japanese bento box.

And bike touring down the East Coast on one wheel.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Soto-Martinez calls for new bus and bike lanes in CD13, San Diego op-ed calls bike lanes a rip-off, and drivers behaving badly

December 14, 2022 / / One comment

Less than 12 days left in the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Which means time is running out to show your support for SoCal’s best source for all the latest bike news and advocacy, delivered fresh to your favorite screen every morning!

So let’s all thank Nina M and Todd T for their generous donations to ensure the bike news you need is ready and waiting when you need it. 

Don’t wait. Donate today via PayPal or Zelle.

Or better yet, stop what you’re doing and donate right now to keep all the bike bike news coming your way every day!

………

You can’t say things aren’t changing in Los Angeles these days.

And Hollywood in particular.

In his first council session after replacing the recently ousted Mitch O’Farrell in LA’s 13th Council District, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a motion calling for LADOT to report back with a list of bus lanes, bike infrastructure and pedestrian safety improvements that can be implemented within the next 18 months, as well as calling for placing shelters at every bus stop in the district.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1602864863667101697

Quite a change from O’Farrell, who spent eight years slow walking most safety projects, if not outright blocking them.

You can ask Soto-Martinez about his plans for the district at this evening’s Streets For All virtual happy hour; RSVP here.

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No bias here.

A retired university professor suggests that San Diego’s commitment to building bike infrastructure, with a goal of achieving a 10% bike commuting rate, is just another special interest rip-off.

Is this a joke? Or is it a monumental rip-off perpetrated by a very small but clearly well-organized special interest group of biking enthusiasts?

And then there is a safety issue. To date, there seemingly has not been any effort by the city or the state to either educate or enforce the multiple safety issues that are important for a mutual use of roadways by bicycles and automobiles. Few bikes on the road after dark have reflectors or lights; it is very rare to see a bicyclist signal to turn. And bicyclists blow through red lights and stop signs consistently — usually as they fly down one of the hills.

Just wait until he sees how people drive, in their big, smelly, two-ton death-dealing machines as they text on their phones, roll stop sighs and race to the next red light.

Of course, his proof that it’s a rip-off is that he and his husband don’t see bikes in the exact bike lane they’re watching, at the exact moment they’re watching it.

And never mind that the well-funded advocacy groups he complains about are in fact dramatically underfunded nonprofits who have to beg for money to continue their work every year.

It would be of interest to know which consultant arrived at this 10 percent number — and how. Special interest groups are focused, connected, well-organized and funded. My guess is that they were heavily involved in the planning for the pathways. And while clearly their prerogative, their influence seems to have outweighed the broader public good.

In reality, the broader public good includes getting people out of their cars — electric or otherwise — before we succeed in our so far successful efforts to destroy our planet, unless and until the erstwhile world’s richest man manages to find another one to move us all to.

And, of course, he can’t manage to make his case without the stunning revelation that “San Diego is not Copenhagen, Stockholm or Amsterdam.”

No, it isn’t. San Diego has much better weather for much of the year. And none of those cities were bike-friendly until they made the commitment and difficult transition to become that way.

But there is one thing he gets right.

San Diego is hilly, built around numerous canyons and hillsides. Yet I somehow managed to find relatively flat routes to get wherever I was going when I lived down there decades ago.

I doubt it’s gotten any hillier since.

Then there’s the ability of ebikes to flatten that terrain, and let anyone ride up and down them with minimal effort.

And if you’re to believe the local media and panicked seaside city officials, the entire place is already being overrun by ebike-riding social terrorists.

It’s possible that the city’s efforts to increase bicycling rates may fail, with too many people clinging to their steering wheels like Charleston Heston to his guns.

But it’s far too soon to give up, when the city’s bike network is still in its nascent stage. Let alone when its success is the only way the city can meet its climate goals.

So give it time, and keep building bikeways.

The worst thing that will happen is that the city will continue to get safer and more livable.

And maybe someday, someone in Copenhagen or Amsterdam will insist that they’re not San Diego.

………

This is who we share the road with.

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured, except for the driver of the suspected stolen truck.

And a Laguna Beach hardware store was forced to close when a woman somehow drove her Tesla through the outer wall. Luckily, no one was injured.

………

You only have until the end of this month to offer your input on how to make Redondo Beach Blvd and Ripley Ave safer and more comfortable spaces to bike and walk.

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After yesterday’s item about the brief flight of a pedal-powered plane, Steven Hallett reminds us about the Gossamer Albatross, the human-powered plane that successfully crossed the English Channel all the way back in 1979.

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

New York building owners are banning ebikes and e-scooters over concerns about battery fires, even though the problem is largely limited to refurbished batteries and mismatched chargers.

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

The people have spoken. People commenting here have all said we should stop linking to articles here where bike use is just incidental to some crime, rather than central to the story. So from here on, this section will be reserved for bike riders who fuck up big time. Let’s just make sure it’s not you, k?

Or me, for that matter.

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Local 

A Los Angeles actor and producer makes a pilgrimage to the great bicycling meccas of Europe.

In what should be must-see viewing for local and state officials, the new documentary 21 Miles in Malibu examines LA County’s killer highway, calling it one of the deadliest stretches of roadway in California.

 

State 

Caltrans is holding a webinar on Friday to present a progress report on the the Statewide Bike and Pedestrian Plan, with public comment extended to January 13th. Yes, Friday the 13th.

Streetsblog examines the worthy active transportation projects that didn’t get funded by the California Transportation Commission under a one-time, $1 billion state funding boost, demonstrating just how much demand there is for better bike and walking infrastructure.

‘Tis the season. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office held their annual Christmas Bike Giveaway for the 33rd straight year, donating 300 bicycles refurbished by county jail inmates to kids in need.

San Francisco Streetsblog checks the progress on the new curb-protected bike lanes on Oakland’s iconic Telegraph Ave.

 

National

A writer for Planetizen argues active transportation and micromobility can do far more to provide cost-effective cuts in emissions than most current emission reduction plans. Meanwhile, Government Technology suggests micromobility has rebounded from its pandemic-induced downturn.

A Streetsblog podcast talks with historian and author Peter Norton about the history of roadside memorials to the victims of traffic violence.

Bike Portland reports the city is working with the FHA to build several advisory lanes, where bike riders get a lane on both sides, and drivers share a single center lane.

Kindhearted Texas cops worked with a nonprofit group to give a boy with special needs a new bike after his was stolen. Don’t get me started on what kind of schmuck would steal a bike from a special needs kid, though.

More on the Michigan bike shop owner killed in a Florida collision while delivering bikes to children affected by Hurricane Ian; 57-year old Steven Pringle was a grandfather and Army vet who founded a nonprofit providing “bicycle therapy” to veterans by repairing bikes to give to children in need.

The bike lanes on New York’s Roosevelt Island Bridge got a new weather-resistant surface, replacing the metal grate that was prone to causing tire punctures.

New York building owners are banning ebike and e-scooters over fears of battery fires.

 

International

CityLab sees a big opportunity in tiny electric minicars.

Quebec rules that a bike rider who was grazed, but not hit, by a passing motorist is entitled to compensation for her injuries. Although someone should tell them that getting “grazed” is getting hit. And so is getting sucked in or blown off the road by a passing vehicle. 

A London micromobiity company is placing a cognitive function test within their app, which will require ebike and e-scooter users to prove they’re not intoxicated before they’re allowed to rent one. So why can’t we do the same thing for motorists?

Portugal is the first country to reduce the value-added tax, or VAT, on bicycles in an effort to encourage increased ridership.

A Norwegian student praises the kindness of people in India’s Uttar Pradesh province, after thieves stole his phone, credit card, ID and other documents while on an around the world bike tour.

Bizarre story from Australia, where a young woman pled guilty to manslaughter in the death of a 7-foot tall man who was last scene riding his bike, after arguing that she only thought her boyfriend and another man were going to “kick the shit out of him,” not kill him.

 

Competitive Cycling

Colombian cyclist Miguel Ángel López was unceremoniously fired from his Astana-Qazaqstan cycling team, after the team found “probable” connections to a Spanish doctor being investigated for suspected drug trafficking and money laundering. But the era of doping is over, right? Or did they just get better at hiding it?

A Burbank website profiles a 16-year old mountain biker who competes in competitions throughout the US.

 

Finally…

Your bike could soon tell you when it needs new shoes. Why reinvent the wheel when you can just build a better kickstand?

And that feeling when bikes get squeezed out by pickleball.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Support bike advocacy on Giving Tuesday, Metro rescinds disguised rate increase, and new bike lanes in CD1 at last

November 29, 2022 / / 5 comments

Happy Giving Tuesday!

It’s the day you give your hard-earned money to help one or more deserving organizations do some good in the world. 

We listed a handful of local organizations that deserve your support yesterday, like CicLAvia, Streets For All and LA’s legendary Bicycle Kitchen.

Other deserving LA and California bike groups include Calbike, Streetsblog, BikeLA (formerly the LACBC), SAFE and Walk ‘n Rollers. 

Then if there’s anything left under your sofa cushions, it’s also Day 5 of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

So let’s give a special thanks to Andrew G, David R, Eric L and SAFE for their generous donations yesterday to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

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Apparently, they heard us.

After transit users and advocacy groups rose up against Metro’s proposed new rate structure, which was presented as a “simplification” but would have resulted in a disguised rate increase for many riders, the LA County transit agency backed down.

Metro is now keeping the existing $1.75 fares and free transfers, while capping daily fares for multiple rides at $5, with an $18 weekly cap.

Which should work better for everyone.

While we’re on the subject, Metro is recruiting members for the agency’s Public Safety Advisory Committee.

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It looks like LADOT is getting a jump on “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo leaving office.

After nine years of blocking most, if not all, bike infrastructure in LA’s CD1, new bike lanes are beginning to appear on the streets of long-neglected Lincoln Heights now that Cedillo has lost his bid for a third and final term, with incoming Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez set to take office in two weeks.

Let’s hope it’s just the first of many, starting with deadly North Figueroa.

https://twitter.com/hippierunner/status/1597268600175284224

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Apparently, it is possible to build a bike lane that’s actually protected from motor vehicles, without relying on those little car-tickler plastic bendy posts.

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Speaking of Walk ‘n Rollers, the Culver City-based kids bike safety and education group is hosting a fundraising donut ride this Saturday.

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And speaking of CicLAvia, you can chase your donuts with America’s largest open streets event as it rolls through South LA on Sunday.

Fingers crossed that it doesn’t rain, though.

………

‘Tis the season.

Seventy-five students in a Colorado elementary school were surprised with new bicycles thanks to a local nonprofit, after the kids watched a performance by a retired BMX stunt rider.

Hundreds of 3rd graders at a pair of Greenville NC elementary schools got new bikes, thanks to the Poway, California-based Bikes for Kids Foundation.

………

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

A Michigan judge faces a judicial ethics complaint after falsely accusing a bike shop owner of a racist assault after she demanded for a discount due to a problem with one of the bicycles; security video showed she was the one who actually assaulted the bike shop owner.

No bias here. Bike riders in Winnipeg, Manitoba were warned not to clear snow from city bike lanes or risk a fine, even if the city doesn’t do it.

A Toronto roadway vigilante asks if he was wrong to honk at a bike rider who started off from a red light during the Leading Pedestrian Interval, saying he’s tires of bicyclists making up their own rules; a columnist politely points out that there are too many traffic infractions at every intersection to enforce every one, and it ain’t his job anyway. Correction: I originally wrote that California bike riders are allowed to proceed along with the walk signal, in advance of the green light; however, Bryan J Blumberg explains that the rule won’t take effect until 2024. 

No bias here, either. London cops took a bike rider to task for swearing after they parked their unmarked car in bike lane, forcing the rider into the street — even though bicyclists are required to used the bike lane, and even though he had no idea they were cops. The Metro police later apologized, admitting the cops were wrong.

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

The FBI is continuing to search for a 38-year old armed robber, despite removing him from Ten Most Wanted list 18 years after he allegedly shot a 24-year-old armored-car guard five times in the head, then fled on a mountain bike with $56,000 in cash.

Students at England’s Cambridge University have a tradition of ignoring the university’s one-way traffic regulations, according to a university fellow.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State 

Calbike offers suggestions on how young people can get started in advocacy to get more people riding bicycles.

More bad news this week, as a 71-year old man suffered critical injuries when he was struck by a driver while riding in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Oakland is moving ahead with a $295 million package of infrastructure improvements between the city’s Jack London Square and a proposed new stadium at the port, including a bike path, regardless of whether it actually gets built.

 

National

VeloNews examines whether MIPS bike helmets really prevent traumatic brain injuries, as the manufacturers claim. However, you’ll have to sign up for a free account to read the story.

Bicycling looks at the problem of ever-shrinking passing zones, as bike lanes have failed to keep up with larger private vehicles — let alone vehicle sizes that force bike riders who don’t take the full lane even further into the door zone. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Bike Portland takes an early look at Oregon’s proposed ebike rebate program, which would offer up to $1,200 to purchase a standard ebike, or up to $1,700 for a cargo ebike. Although that could change as the bill moves forward.

Utah has suffered a 30 year high in bicycling fatalities; 15 people have been killed riding bikes in the state this year, with over a month to go.

Once again, authorities have managed to keep a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late. A Utah man faces up to 20 years behind bars after pleading guilty in the drunken crash that killed a 13-year old boy riding his bike in a crosswalk; he was still on the road despite three previous DUI convictions, as well as violating court-imposed alcohol restrictions.

A sitting judge, who was the co-founder of the nonprofit Bicycle Coalition of New Mexico, was killed by her husband in murder suicide; he also shot a number of their pets before taking his own life.

A defendant in Colorado’s Operation Vicious Cycle bike theft scheme agreed to a plea deal of three years behind bars, followed by another three years of probation; seven other defendants are also accused of stealing high-end bikes from Denver-area bike shops for resale in a Mexican bike shop.

Good news, as Christian singer Amy Grant returned to a Memphis stage for the first time since she suffered a traumatic brain injury hitting a pothole on her bike in August; she was reportedly unconscious for up to 15 minutes following her fall. And yes, she was wearing a helmet.

New York’s fire department will require landlords to post a notice warning about the risk of ebike and e-scooter battery fires when charging them indoors.

Prosecutors in North Carolina have charged a driver with killing an Asheville man riding a bicycle, even though the driver played the Universal Get Out of Jail Free card by claiming he just didn’t see him; police say the area was well lighted, so the driver should have seen the victim in time to avoid the crash.

 

International

Road.cc asks its readers what’s the scariest thing that’s happened to them on a bike that didn’t involve a driver, with responses ranging from rampaging cows to exploding rims. In my case, it was probably when a log resting on a Louisiana roadway started moving when I rode closer, and snapped his alligator jaws at me as I swerved around it.

A writer for We Love Cycling makes the case for why requiring registration plates for bicycles doesn’t make sense.

A Japanese writer takes on the new rinko trend, defined as taking a folding bicycle on a train to explore your destination at the other end.

 

Competitive Cycling

A British man has been sidelined in advance of this week’s Cyclocross Masters World Championships after someone broke into his home and stole his bikes.

 

Finally…

Build your own DIY bicycle turn signals and brake light. Your next ebike could be your caddie, although it probably sucks at selecting the right club.

And presenting the answer for everyone who ever wanted to pedal through the library.

Or in it, anyway.

https://twitter.com/Michele_Bryans/status/1596218054077480960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1596218054077480960%7Ctwgr%5Edaafdaf1036e381419e91ae9390e8aa5b3f4c859%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-28-november-2022-297679

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

LA bike rider victim of BB gun driveby, LACBC rebrands as Bike LA, and East Side Riders Thanksgiving giveaway

November 7, 2022 / / 2 comments

Let’s hope you took advantage of that extra hour over the weekend to catch up on your sleep. 

Or maybe your bike just a little longer. 

Just remember that the time change seems to have a deleterious effect on people’s driving abilities. 

So ride defensively and with a little more caution for the next few days. And make sure you’ve got a set of lights with you if you plan on riding late in the day. 

Photo by Ivan Samkov from Pexels.

………

Let’s start with a couple of recent Reddit posts.

First up is a rider who’s tired of fixing flats due to the ubiquitous broken glass coating LA bike lanes.

Rant: I think the constant glass on the road is really messing with my life
byu/marsandsaturn inLosAngeles

Let’s deal with the obvious first.

If you’re still riding in LA without quality puncture-resistant tires, you should get some. I used to suffer flats three or four times a month before switching to Gatorskins, dropping to one or two a year afterwards.

Second, most streets in the City of Angels should be swept on a weekly basis. So if the streets you ride remain covered with glass and other tire threatening detritus — or the bike lanes never seem to get cleaned at all — use the 311 app to complain to the Bureau of Street Services.

More important, however, is this post forwarded by Streets For All founder Michael Schneider.

Shot at on my bike path today
byu/MonkeyParadiso inBikeLA

Once again, let’s start with the obvious.

This is a crime.

If this happens to you, you should immediately called the police and report it as a shooting. This is no less a driveby than if they had used a handgun, and should be prosecuted as such.

Even if prosecutors conclude there isn’t enough evidence to bring charges, it could establish a pattern of behavior in case they do it again. That’s what led to the conviction of Dr. Christopher Thompson in the infamous Mandeville Canyon brake check case.

Second, this would make a strong case under LA’s bicyclist anti-harassment ordinance, which allows a claim of $1,000 or triple the actual damages, whichever is higher.

The law also allows for attorney’s fees, although you’d be hard-pressed to find one who will take such a small case.

But you can file it yourself in small claims court.

One way or another, the shooters shouldn’t be allowed to get away it, or they’ll just do it again to someone else.

And next time, the victim may not be so lucky.

Thanks to HowTheWestWS for forwarding the first post.

………

About damn time.

It’s been six long years since I served on the board of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

And one question that continually came up during board meetings was a proposal to rebrand the LACBC using the then popular hashtag #BikeLA. But there were always holdouts who weren’t sold on the idea, or thought it wasn’t the right time for one reason or another.

Evidently, support finally aligned in recent weeks, as the organization announced their new branding as Bike LA at Saturday’s Bike Fest.

Not only is it a simpler and more self-explanatory name, but it gives the group a much-needed opportunity for a fresh start after a few very difficult years.

Thanks to Ravener for the tip.

………

Another reminder, if we needed it, that the East Side Riders Bike Club is about a lot more than just bikes.

And do a hell of a lot of good in, and for, the community.

………

This is who we share the road with.

Every driver on the road is armed and dangerous, whether or not they have a weapon in the car.

Because their car is a weapon.

………

A new video attempts to answer the question of why does riding a bicycle feel so damn good?

Meanwhile, frequent contributor Victor Bale recommends this podcast about the introduction of the safety bicycle, if you’re looking for a good listen.

………

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

No bias here. British residents blasted their local leaders after a new bike lane opened — blocked by lampposts in both directions.

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

Georgia police busted a man who attempted to escape the cops by fleeing through a Taco Bell lot to avoid being arrested; they caught up to him when he crashed his bike into a curb.

………

Local

Good2Go Bikes, a joint project from Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, and Pedal Movement, launched recently in the Rancho San Pedro public housing development to provide low-income residents with access to low-cost ebike and e-cargo bike rentals.

The Signal looks at SAFE founder Damian Kevitt and the Santa Clarita Finish The Ride and Finish The Run Halloween events to raise money for bike safety.

 

State 

A 79-year old San Diego man was seriously injured when he somehow lost control and fell off his bike in Sorrento Valley.

 

National

A Las Vegas bike rider was killed, and another critically injured, in a drunken, serial hit-and-run that ultimately involved ten vehicles, and left another seven people injured — including four people from Alhambra.

Arkansas is planning a 500-mile bike path along the historic Butterfield Stage Route connecting Jefferson City, Missouri and Fort Smith, Arkansas.

New York bicyclists ride to the rescue to close the gaps in the city’s composting program by using teenage microhaulers to collect and transport refuse the city doesn’t; in ten years, just one such business diverted nearly a million pounds of food waste from landfills, turning it into 427,000 pounds of compost.

New York firefighters rescued a woman who was dangling outside a 20th floor window to escape a fire apparently started by an ebike battery.

No surprise here. DC business owners and a relative handful of residents have brought out the torches and pitchforks over a proposal for a 2.7-mile bike lane, apparently failing to grasp the concept that bike lanes are good for business, as well as property values. Thanks again to Victor Bale.

 

International

A pair of studies refute the accepted wisdom that micromobility doesn’t reduce car travel and emissions, showing that banning e-scooters after dark increased travel times, and that the most recent generation of e-scooters reduce emissions 70% over the lifetime of the scooters.

Bike Radar talks with four people who say their lives have been transformed by ebikes; the site also argues that ebikes could solve a number of problems, including car dependency and transport poverty, but only with “better infrastructure, updated attitudes and government backing.”

So why not hitch an e-trailer to your ebike?

A new Dutch company has opened new low-cost a London bicycle subscription service, identified by a single blue tire, complete with an antitheft guarantee.

A new 250-mile, coast-to-coast Scottish bike path scheduled to open next year promises to add millions of pounds to the local economy.

A hard-hitting piece from a British columnist, who says he prepares for war every time he rides his bike, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Although he could spend a lot less time insisting he’s not one of THOSE cyclists.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 74-year old driver got just two and a half years for killing one bike rider and seriously injuring another, while blaming the victims for failing to ride single file and “bumping” onto his car. He also failed to mention his recent stroke when renewing his license.

Unbelievable. An Irish railroad worker won an unfair dismissal claim for the equivalent of nearly $4,000 after the railroad fired him, claiming he couldn’t perform his duties — because he was in prison after plowing into a group of women bicyclists while driving at four times the legal alcohol limit, leaving two women with life-changing injuries. Thanks again to Victor Bale.

Two-hundred-fifty people turned out to honor a Berlin bike rider who was killed when she was run over by a truck driver.

Tens of thousands of bike riders enjoyed a carfree afternoon on a ten-lane Dubai freeway.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard says he’s “just not bothered” by all the pressure and attention that comes with winning cycling’s premier event, and looks forward to defending his title next year.

 

Finally…

Racing Penny Farthings in Prague. That feeling when you steal a bike, but can’t remember where you left it.

And apparently, bike commuting on the marathon course is a no-no.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

New Central LA bike lanes and proposals for CD1, Move Culver City bike use jumps 1/3, and Metro urged to junk new fares

November 3, 2022 / / One comment

Fun thing about diabetes. 

High blood sugar makes you sleep. But so does low blood sugar. 

And cycling between the two, like I did Tuesday, can knock you out for hours, regardless of whether you’re trying to write something. 

Which is why you didn’t see anything here yesterday. 

But we’ll more than make up for it today.

………

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers a long list of actionable transportation ideas for incoming CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, including busways, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements.

Hernandez leadership promises a sea change in the district, where the councilmember she defeated, “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, earned his sobriquet by blocking virtually every major safety improvement and bike lane in the district, including deadly North Figueroa.

Meanwhile, Linton also offers updates on a handful of new bike lanes in Central Los Angeles, including:

  • Sixth Street Bridge connection in Skid Row and the Arts District
  • Ramirez Street/Center Street/Santa Fe Ave in the Arts District
  • Avenue 19 in Lincoln Heights

He also points out the missed opportunity on North Spring Street in Chinatown, where the street, which is scheduled for a bike lane in the city’s mobility plan, was recently resurfaced.

Sans bike lane, of course.

https://twitter.com/multimodalLA/status/1587664862607380481

As Linton points out, this is exactly why we need the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposal, which is scheduled for a public vote in 2024.

The proposal would force the city to build out the mobility plan whenever a section of street contained in the plan is resurfaced.

Meanwhile, the city’s alternative proposal, which is based on Healthy Streets but likely to lack the enforcement mechanism of the ballot measure, is due back for a vote of the city council in the next few weeks.

………

Culver City has crunched the numbers on the 1.3-mile Move Culver City complete streets project along Culver and Washington Blvds.

And the results have been impressive, to say the least.

  • 52% jump in bus ridership
  • 32% increase in bicycling
  • 18% climb in walking
  • Nearly double (92%) micromobility trips

Maybe that will encourage Los Angeles to give it a try.

We can hope, right?

………

Metro’s Community Advisory Council urges the Metro board to reject the proposal to “simplify” the fare structure, which is really just a massive rate increase for many, if not most, transit users.

Never mind that it’s the opposite of the fare-free transit they promised to study.

………

Whittier Blvd’s Esquina Bicycle Shop is hosting a vigil ride for fallen bicyclist Sergio Cordova tonight.

Cordova was killed in a collision at the west entrance to the new 6th Street Bridge last Wednesday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkeBLvHvrY7/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign for Cordova’s funeral expenses has raised over $9,500 of the revised $15,000 goal. 

Thanks to Susannah L for the heads-up.

………

The LACBC looks forward to Saturday’s Bike Fest, which has replaced the River Ride as the bike nonprofit’s largest fundraiser.

………

Did someone say handcycling?

………

Streets For All will host another virtual happy hour on Wednesday, featuring Glendale Councilmember Ara Najarian.

………

Apparently, robots are no more likely to stop after a crash than human drivers are.

………

Why settle for a mere bicycle, when you could have had an early velomobile prototype?

………

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

No bias here. An Arizona letter writer suggests charging anyone over 16 a $150 annual fee to register a bicycle, with a licensing fee for the rider that oddly declines with age. Because licensing and vehicle registration has worked so well to keep motorists in line, evidently.

No bias here, either. One in three Brits wants bikes banned entirely from public roads, while seven in ten think bike riders would be required to carry liability insurance. Apparently because it costs so much to hose our blood off their hoods.

An English man suffered a broken jaw when someone ran up from behind and knocked him off his bicycle. Although in this case, the attack may have had more to do with the fancy dress he was wearing.

A UK TV show promises to explore road rage directed at people on bikes, but looks at the dangers bike riders face on the road, instead, with a hint of anti-bike bias thrown in.

And especially no bias here, where an Estonian city councillor says he was forced to crash his car into a “verbally and physically aggressive” bike rider in self-defense. Twice.

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

An Illinois man faces charges for fleeing from police while armed with a flare gun modified to fire shotgun shells.

In a bizarre case, police report a New York man was fatally shot in a driveby while riding his bike on the way to shoot someone else.

A North Carolina bike rider is facing charges after attacking three men with a machete, for no apparent reason.

………

Local

Metro will host a virtual community meeting one week from today to discuss the first bus-only lane in the San Fernando Valley, on Sepulveda Blvd.

Glendale approves plans for a lane reduction and bike lanes on La Crescenta Ave, between Montrose Ave and Verdugo Road.

A Santa Monica Redditor asks if there’s an increase in the frequency of “needlessly loud” motor vehicles. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, hell yes. Then again, I live in Hollywood, so my perception may be a tad skewed. Thanks to How The West WS for the link. 

Homeboy Industries founder Father Greg Boyle used to be one of us, racing his bicycle towards the sound of gunfire as he worked to reduce gang violence.

 

State 

San Diego is paying out a total of $420,000 to two women who were seriously injured in separate incidents when their ebikes hit the city’s broken pavement.

A San Francisco salmon cyclist questions why the insurance company for the distracted driver who hit her won’t pay for her injuries or damaged bike; a local paper patiently explains the concept of comparative negligence, and says, in effect, get a lawyer.

A new $2.4 million clean air grant could lead to hundreds of new San Francisco EV charging stations, as well as a fleet of ebike for food delivery workers.

Completing our San Francisco trifecta, a local website presents opposing op-ed urging voters to save both the carfree JFK Drive and Great Highway, and arguing that closing them to motor vehicles was a big mistake.

 

National

Surly’s latest cargo bike goes electric.

At last, an e-foldie for everyone with fond memories of their little red wagon.

A new report looks at the ten US cities where bike commuting is growing the fastest. Hint: LA ain’t one of ’em.

A crowdfunding campaign is raising money to publish a new book on Jobst Brandt, author of The Bicycle Wheel and inventor of the bike computer and slick bike tires.

A 68-year old Utah driver was formally charged with ignoring a highway flagman and slamming her car into a pair of competitors in the cycling portion of an Ironman triathlon — yet somehow wasn’t charged with DUI, despite admitting getting stoned earlier.

Billings, Montana is looking for an artist in residence to beautify a local bike path. Although if you have hire someone to beautify it, you probably made it too ugly to begin with.

After a San Antonio, Texas man stole a bike from Target by threatening to use pepper spay on an employee who tried to stop him, he waited nearly six weeks before turning himself in, for reasons only he knows.

A Wisconsin student paper examines why Madison consistently ranks among the nation’s most bikeable cities, where it has comfortably resided for decades.

After a Kentucky Walmart worker had his bike stolen, kindhearted customers not only gave him a ride to work, but went into the store and bought him a new one.

A new lawsuit blames an Atlantic City cop for killing a 63-year old bike rider by cutting him off while driving without lights or siren.

Three years after a highly contentious lane reduction in Alexandria, Virginia, a new report shows it’s led to less traffic while cutting crashes nearly in half.

A 17-year old Virginia driver faces charges for fleeing the scene after a street racing crash that left a bike-riding man with multiple broken bones.

Once again, authorities have managed to keep a deadly driver on the streets until it’s too late. A Virginia man struck and killed a man riding his bike across the street, 11 years after he was arrested for his third DUI for killing a bike-riding woman. But at least he was apparently sober this time.

 

International

Road.cc recommends the year’s best front and rear bike lights.

The new Swytch ebike conversion kit features a pocket-sized battery that promises a nine-mile boost.

Who needs carbon fiber when you can lower your carbon footprint through F1-inspired BioFiber.

Bike Radar offers advice on how to keep bicycling from being a pain in the foot.

Treehugger talks with Toronto’s bike mayor, concluding every city needs one. Which is a reminder than LA still doesn’t have a bike mayor. 

Montreal announced plans for 124 miles of new bike lanes and ten bike highways, to accommodate a 20% increase in ridership.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a gas truck driver walked without a day behind bars for killing a 22-year old woman riding her bike, despite admitting to carless driving and covering the truck’s side camera with his coat.

 

Competitive Cycling

A California teenager just months out of high school spurns an opportunity to sign with a Spanish development team, and decides he’d rather race on gravel, instead.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be “almost as ridiculous as the truck that inspired it.” That feeling when 29″ wheels just aren’t big enough.

And now, you can take your last trip by bike, too.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

No Steve, it’s not a bike lane to nowhere; drivers yell at LA bike rider; and big Transportation Comm meeting tomorrow

October 31, 2022 / / 2 comments

No bias here.

The LA Times’ Steve Lopez writes about a $2 million bike lane to nowhere that the Los Angeles LGBT Center was forced to build by the city’s dysfunctional rules.

Except the short curb cut isn’t a bike lane, and probably never will be.

A short half-block long, it took about 18 months to complete and cost roughly $2 million, and yet it is not marked as a bike lane and does not connect to one.

“It’s a bike lane to nowhere,” said Stephen Burn, general manager of building services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which was required to complete and pay for the project as a condition of approval.

Burn apologized for calling it a stupid waste of time and money that delayed the opening of badly needed supportive housing and social services, but no apology was necessary. He said he honestly wanted to pull his hair out at times when dealing with various government agencies, and after he shared the details, I wanted to pull my hair out.

And needless to say, the story is already being used by bike lane opponents.

But longtime advocate Alissa Walker clarifies that, regardless of what Burn was told, the added space was created for cars as the result of a longstanding city policy.

So yes, as Lopez points out, it’s a perfect example of LA’s dysfunctional government in action. But seriously, it’s not our fault this time.

If only Lopez had looked at the lack of safe bike lanes leading up to the new 6th Street Bridge, instead.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

………

A Redditor complains about the dangers of riding on LA streets. And the anger they experience every time they ride.

I’ve been biking more to get out of the house, exercise, and just enjoy the city. But literally each time I’ve gone into the street a driver has yelled at me!

I try to avoid riding in the streets, but the bike lanes are few and far in between and aren’t that much better. You often have trash cans in the bike lanes, people leaving their car doors open, random debris, and when you don’t have to deal with that you still have cars speeding past you with the closest thing protecting you being a thin line of paint that couldn’t even stop an ant from crossing it! I don’t even have to get into how bumpy and packed the sidewalks can be.

So when I do get in the streets it’s because that is unfortunately the best route. Yet no matter how much I ride on the shoulder, check behind, in front, on the sides, above me, etc… I always have a driver either honking or yelling at me for going too slow.

I’m worried that someone might get really angry with me one day and try and run me off the road…

I’m just frustrated and wish biking in this city was safer. We have the perfect weather to bike in. Why isn’t L.A a bikeable city?

Why, indeed?

Thanks to HowTheWestWS for the heads-up.

………

Streets For All is asking you to support for several proposals at Tuesday’s meeting of the LA City Council Transportation Committee.

  • Sunset4All’s efforts to build a 2-way protected bike lane on Sunset Blvd;
  • A protected bike lane on Riverside Drive and Stadium Way;
  • Encouraging the newly-legal installation of cameras on Metro buses;
  • Expanding LADOT’s budget and staffing for the Slow Streets program.

Sunset4All explains how to participate in the meeting.

The Sunset4All item is back on the transportation agenda for this Tuesday (11/1) at 3 PM. If you haven’t voiced your support please write in and or attend the virtual meeting.

Item #3 (22-1072) – Sunset4All To call dial 669-254-5252, meeting code 161 750 5079, #, #, and then hit *9 to raise your hand. Here are Talking Points. If you’re not able to call in, then use the links below to make public comment on the council file in advance at the buttons below.

Make Public Comment on the Council File

Send an Email to CD 13 to Support the Motion

Thanks to Keith Johnson for the tip.

………

When you cast your vote in CD5, maybe consider who actually cares enough to show up.

………

Horrible news from Ohio, where a popular local bicyclist lost a leg when she was mauled by dogs.

A reminder that you could end up with more than just a simple bite on the leg from that dog that chases you whenever you ride by.

………

A new amphibious ebike claims to be the future. Although I’m not sure how much latent demand there is for a combination ebike, boat and built-in camper.

………

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

Someone sabotaged a Seattle bike path by spreading screws across it. Although someone else came up with a brilliant way to clean up the mess.

A writer for Daily Kos complains “dumbasses working in public health and espousing concern for future generations fired me over bringing a bicycle into their national meeting” at a Tacoma, Washington convention center.

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

A rideout of up to a couple hundred teens on bikes took over the streets of Boston, before allegedly stealing $350 of merchandise from a 7-11.

Toronto police are looking for a bike-riding suspect who followed a young woman and sexually assaulted her twice after she got off a bus.

If you’re going to rudely shove a wheelie-popping bike rider out of your way, try not to follow the move with a faceplant.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CkLzV2EO60z/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=c9cbdc5e-dc53-4d6f-afa9-07fb1097f1e9

………

Local

Save this one for future reference. Streets For All founder Michael Schneider lists the common complaints we’ve all heard from people opposed to bike lanes, and details effective arguments to overcome them.

Patch reports a bike rider was rushed to a trauma center after they were struck by the driver of an RV at PCH and Coastline Drive in Malibu Sunday afternoon.

This is who we share the courtrooms with. A woman received a more than $4 million judgement after she was struck by a driver while walking in a Santa Monica crosswalk four years ago, suffering permanent injuries; the defense shamefully argued she threw herself in front of the car in a suicide attempt — which might have been more credible if the driver was doing more than 25 mph. Thanks to Andrew Goldstein for the link.

 

State 

Carlsbad is focusing on schools and collision hotspots to improve safety for standard bicycle and ebike riders after declaring a local emergency.

This is who we share the road with. A 68-year old woman is fighting for her life after she was run down by a hit-and-run driver while pushing her three-year old grandson in a San Jose crosswalk; the boy is recovering from his injuries. Thanks again to Victor Bale.

Sentencing was postponed for a Fairfield man who was convicted of second-degree murder and hit-and-run in the death of a 52-year-old man riding a bicycle last October; he faces 15 to life on the murder count, and two to four years for fleeing the scene.

Sonoma County is investing half a million in climate resilience funds in building new bikes.

Sad news from Sacramento County, where a woman riding a bike was killed in a collision in North Highlands early Sunday afternoon.

 

National

NBC News reports on the spreading use of speed cams, and the rise of road raging drivers who don’t like getting caught breaking the law.

A diabetic journalist says he lost 40 pounds and brought his blood sugar down to a sub-diabetic level within eight months after taking up bicycling — and has kept it off and under control for the four years since. If only it was that easy for all of us.

A Portland woman says stop telling her to be safe when she rides a bike, and learn how to drive safely around bike riders, instead.

A 68-year old Utah woman could face multiple charges after she ignored a flagger and crashed into two people competing in the cycling portion of the St. George Ironman triathlon, resulting in serious injuries to both; she failed a roadside drug test, and admitted using marijuana before the crash.

The new advisory bike lanes are now open in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown.

Sounds familiar. Oklahoma bike and walking advocates say the city isn’t doing enough to improve safety. Sort of like a certain megalopolis we could name.

A nine-year old Michigan boy is raising the alarm and warning his neighbors after his dream bike was stolen.

That’s more like it. A 65-year old Ohio man was sentenced to a mandatory 14 years behind bars, with the possibility of another four years, for the hit-and-run death of a 13-year old boy; he claimed the damage to his truck was from hitting a mailbox, and that he only ran over the boy’s bike after someone else knocked the kid off it.

NPR looks at the rising rate of ebike battery fires in New York, blaming the problem on the use of refurbished batteries and mismatched chargers.

Philly bike riders turned out for a Día de los Muertos, while calling for safer streets.

HuffPost says Pennsylvania Republicans are taking a bill to permit safer bike lanes hostage in an effort to strip Philadelphia’s progressive DA of his powers.

A Birmingham, Alabama man faces multiple charges for a one-man crime spree that included a fatal shooting, carjacking and a hit-and-run that killed someone on a bicycle — all in just one hour.

 

International

The bike boom isn’t over, even if it’s lost a little steam, as Shimano says demand is still above pre-pandemic levels despite signs things are cooling down.

Vancouver bike riders are calling on the city to reverse plans to remove a bike lane from a park and return the roadway to pass-through commuters, although a planned protest ride was called off due to an atmospheric river.

A London man was somehow able to get his bike back after it was stolen by three muggers in a London park, despite suffering head and face injuries in the attack.

A British cop who co-founded a program to place undercover cops on bikes to catch careless drivers who pass people on bikes too closely now rides to relieve arthritis pain that threatened his career.

A UK safety expect calls it “a bit daft” for bicyclists to ride in the middle of the traffic lane, despite recently changes to the country’s Highway Code allowing them to do just that, when there’s a perfectly good bike lane they could be using. Of course, the problem is that the “perfectly good” bike lane usually isn’t.

Paris may be making great strides in becoming a biking city, but someone should tell the local cops, who are stopping bike riders and insisting they should wear reflective clothing in anticipation of the fall time change.

Writing for Travel + Leisure, a woman suggests that biking through Sicily is the best way to discover small towns, delicious food and local culture.

The rise of bicycle taxis in eastern Zambia is creating business opportunities for young people, while allowing passengers to ride for a fraction of the cost of a regular taxi.

There’s a special place in hell for a Philippine man who faces a charge of “frustrated homicide,” after repeatedly stabbing a neighbor using a knife disguised as a ballpoint pen in a dispute that began with a bicycle blocking his path.

Melbourne, Australia bike riders were left feeling deflated when the local government passed a one-year pause on building bike lanes; The Guardian asks if it’s a bikelash, or just plain old NIMBYism.

 

Competitive Cycling

Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard won his second Tour de France of the year, outsprinting his competitors to win the Tour de France Singapore Criterium on Sunday, after winning the three-week Grand Tour earlier this year.

French magazine Vélo lists the finalists for the prestigious 2022 Vélo d’Or award, including, for the first time, a separate category for women cyclists. And no Americans made the short list, of course.

Former Paris-Roubaix champ Sonny Colbrelli is reluctantly calling it a career after he collapsed with a heart attack moments after finishing the opening stage of March’s Volta a Catalunya.

Cycling Tips looks back on the legacy of Brian Robinson, whose Tour de France stage wins set the stage for decades of British cycling success.

Dan Martin, the only Irish cyclist to win a stage in all three of Grand Tours, reflects on “crashing for a living, doping, retirement and writing a book through 100 hours of Whatsapp voicenotes.”

 

Finally…

Your next bike could have ABS brakes, for the low, low price of just eleven grand. When witches ride bikes instead of brooms.

And I think I’ve found my next bike.

Or at least the bikemaker, anyway.

Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the tip. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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