Tag Archive for bike the Oscars

PCH near-closure due to Malibu rockslide, Tish & Greg’s Excellent Oscar Adventure, and East Side Riders BEAST classes

March 12, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 294 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,011 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

Photo from Caltrans tweet, below. 

………

As we mentioned yesterday, hats off to Tish and Greg Laemmle, owners of the Laemmle Theater chain, for once again leading a group bike ride from West LA to Sunday’s Oscar ceremony, as the following photos attest.

I can imagine few things more badass or sending a stronger message than walking the red carpet holding a bike helmet.

Tish and Greg Laemmle preparing to ride to the Oscars

The assembled entourage posing in front of the Laemmle on Santa Monica Blvd

And in a reminder that there’s always a troll around, a participant on the ride responds to a commenter’s faux concern about scofflaw riders.

………

The East Side Riders Bike Club will now be hosting Bicycle Safety and Education Classes, aka BEAST, as Keller Park every Saturday; participants will get a free bike helmet.

………

It’s now 83 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

No bias here. A Cincinnati public radio station says bicyclists wonder if a Covington KY road diet, and new bike lanes on a bridge things, will make things better or worse, but can only seem to find people who think it will get better. But they do find the city’s mayor, arguing that the city’s streets are too narrow for bike lanes, and you just can’t take people’s parking away, because cars matter more than people’s safety, evidently.

There’s a special place in hell for the two men who stopped to “help” a seriously injured mountain biker in York, England, and made off with his bike, instead.

The metro Manilla area in the Philippines is banning ebikes from all major roadways starting next month, for reasons that must make sense to someone.

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

Brooklyn police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who may have killed a 67-year old man riding an ebike in an apparent bike-on-bike collision, although a close pass by an oncoming van driver may have played a role.

………

Local 

After conducting a nationwide search, Pasadena found their new DOT head in their own backyard, promoting 20-year Pasadena Department of Transportation veteran Joaquin Siques to lead the agency.

Santa Monica police will conduct yet another Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Operation this Thursday and Friday, targeting anyone who commits a traffic violation that could endanger either group, regardless of who commits it. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets written up and fined. 

 

State

June will officially be mountain bike month in California.

San Luis Obispo has received $4 million in federal funding to build a 1.25-mile extension of the existing Edna Valley Trail next to Highway 227.

The chair of the San Mateo County Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee reminds everyone that bicyclists pay taxes, too, and deserve safe streets.

Sad news from San Jose, where a woman died a week after she was struck by a motorcyclist while riding her bicycle across the street. The story notes that she was riding “outside of any marked crosswalks,” even though there’s no requirement for bicyclists to ride in one. 

More sad news from Sacramento County, where police are looking for witnesses to an apparent solo bicycling fall last December, when a 62-year old man died after being found in the roadway next to his bicycle. Although it’s also possible that a close pass or bump by a driver could have caused his fall. Read the second link on Yahoo if the newspaper blocks you. 

 

National

No surprise here, as the streets of Milwaukee are even deadlier for people of color, especially when walking or riding a bicycle.

A West Warwick, Rhode Island driver somehow managed to jump an island at a “horrible” intersection, and crash into not one, not two, but three kids riding their bikes; fortunately, none of the tween kids were seriously injured.

A speeding Brooklyn driver faces charges for the “wild” drunken crash that injured a bike rider, and put a pedestrian into a coma.

This could be your best smile of the day, as a South Carolina boy teaches his little sister how to use a backyard bike ramp.

Residents of Valdosta, Georgia are understandably horrified when the driver of a city-owned semi was caught on security cam right-hooking a 56-year old man riding a bicycle, who had pulled up next to the truck at a red light just as the light was changing; the victim remains in stable but critical condition. Naturally, one commenter said “Bicyclists should know traffic laws,” even though the victim didn’t appear to break any. 

 

International

An orthopedic surgeon writes in the prestigious British Medical Journal that active transportation is the “best buy” for improving people’s health, and the UK should make more cycling and walking journeys a priority in the United Kingdom, while calling for more 20 mph speed limits.

Mumbai bike riders raise the alarm over wheel-trapping roadway grates on a new highway flyover. Even though most cities around the world got rid of these hazards years ago. 

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 91-year old South African man gets back on his ebike and finishes the country’s largest fondo, despite a nasty fall that left him momentarily motionless. Although I could do without the nasty fall. And the bandages. 

Luxury Travel Magazine recommends three bicycling routes you need to travel to explore Vietnam by bike, including the Mekong Delta and the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Which are bound to bring up warm memories for any Vietnam vet.

A columnist argues that New Zealand’s war on bicyclists can’t continue, as the country’s Transport Minister proposes slashing bike funding in half, even though other departments only face a 6% cut.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling says wet cobbles couldn’t slow Lorena Wiebes down at the Ronde van Drenthe. Although this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else yet, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

That feeling when Amsterdam has the ability to remotely slow ebike riders, but speeding drivers are apparently A-OK. Or when drivers owe a bike rider their thanks for sucking up flat-causing nails and screws by towing a bigass magnet behind his bike.

And your next cruiser ebike could be built by the same people who made the little red wagon you probably had as a kid.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month today. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

EVs present danger to all road users, how Measure HLA ballot measure changed the city, and Laemmle’s bike the Oscars

March 11, 2024 / / Comments Off on EVs present danger to all road users, how Measure HLA ballot measure changed the city, and Laemmle’s bike the Oscars
Just 295 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,010 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

………

A new study shows even a total worldwide switch to EVs would perpetuate what the authors call “car harm,” such as death, injury, disease and other miseries, because the current system “prioritizes speed over safety.”

 

The report concludes:

  • In 2019, 43% of people killed by motor vehicles were walking, using a wheelchair or riding a bike.
  • Motor vehicles kill more than 700 children a day. Traffic deaths occur at the highest rates in Africa and Southeast Asia, and, in the US and Brazil, crashes disproportionately kill Black and Indigenous people.
  • SUVs, which make up nearly half of car sales globally, are eight times more likely than traditional cars to kill children.
  • Traffic-related air pollution is linked to circulatory and heart disease, lung cancer, asthma and, according to a cited study, “acute lower respiratory infections in children.”
  • Other car harms include drunk driving, drive-by shootings, carbon monoxide poisoning and, in the US, traffic stops that “are a setting for police violence against Black, Latine/x, and Indigenous people,” they write.
  • Access to oil has played a role in a quarter to half of wars between countries since 1973.
  • The electric car, a juggernaut of the energy transition, “fails to address a majority of the harms,” they write, including crashes, sedentary travel, inequality and cities designed more for cars than people.

 

Greg and Tish Laemmle, owners of the Laemmle Theater chain and descendant of early Hollywood royalty, led a group biking to the Oscars yesterday.

………

GCN tests whether an experienced amateur can descend at the same hair-raising speeds as a pro cyclist.

………

It’s now 82 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

No bias here. A writer for Streetsblog complains that an NYPD precinct is responding to complaints about ebike riders by targeting riders of traditional human-powered bikes, because they’re easier to catch.

A Scottish mountain biker was lucky to escape without serious injuries after someone booby trapped a trail with buried spike strips they had welded together to cause maximum damage.

A British woman learns the hard way what happens when you hug the edge of the road, as several drivers pass her bike way too close — including a large truck.

No bias here, either. The UK traffic lawyer who calls himself Mr. Loophole for getting scofflaw drivers off the hook continues his campaign to force bike riders to carry ID and have numbered license plates on their bicycles. Apparently forgetting that it’s the dangerous drivers he represents who are the real problem. 

………

Local 

A letter from a former LA resident argues that the passage of Measure HLA is proof that NIMBYs aren’t the majority, no matter how loudly they scream.

Arnold is apparently in the clear, after the woman suing the former governator for crashing into her bike with his massive SUV dropped her lawsuit.

A 40-year old man was airlifted from the Haines Canyon Mountainway in the Sunland/Tujunga area after injuring his back in a mountain bike fall Sunday morning.

Culver City is asking the state for a $4 million grant to replace existing bike lanes with protected lanes on a 1.75-mile stretch of Overland Avenue between Washington and Sawtelle Boulevards.

 

State

An op-ed from the leaders of Hispanic rights organization LULAC and the California Alliance for Jobs calls for an “all of the above” approach to transportation infrastructure to keep people working. But what they really mean is keep spending billions on highways — even though bike and pedestrian projects create more jobs.  

San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood received a $3.3 million state grant for enhanced bike and pedestrian infrastructure.

A Simi Valley letter writer calls out the “dismal condition” of the city’s major streets and bike lanes, thanks to a “multitude of ruts, cracks, potholes.”

San Francisco bike shop owner fear the city’s new ban on dangerous lithium-ion ebike batteries, along with a requirement for any store that sells them to install sprinklers, could put them out of business. Meanwhile, a British member of Parliament calls the batteries “unexploded bombs.”

 

National

A travel website recommends 20 American cities to visit without a car.

Jalopnik says bike lanes are good for business, and anyone who says otherwise is wrong. So there.

Electrek says riding an ebike instead of driving can really impact your wallet — in a good way.

Bicycling drama Hard Miles is set for a nationwide April 19 premier date; the fact-based film tells the story bicycling team made up of inmates from a Colorado correctional school as they ride from Denver to the Grand Canyon.

Give your kid an early start on the biking bug with a new book large-format picture book for kids ages 3 to 6 that follows a mom and her son on a bicycling adventure.

This is who we share the road with. Life is cheap in Vermont, as the driver who killed motorcycle-riding actor Treat Williams walked without a day behind barsl, despite pleading guilty to negligent driving.

A writer for Forbes offers advice on how to stay safe riding a bicycle in New York traffic. Or any other traffic, for that matter.

The mayor of Baltimore’s security team parked in a bike lane for over an hour while he attended a candidate forum, despite the city’s recent crackdown on bike lane violators.

 

International

An Irish man just returned home for bicycling across Afghanistan, Iran, India and Pakistan as part of a multi-stage ride around the world, while attempting to meet as many people as possible along the way.

A conservative Irish counselor claims she was never told that a Limerick road project included segregated bike lanes — even though she posted on Facebook four years ago how delighted she was with them.

Velo looks at the best bike tech from small brands only Belgians have access to.

A bicycling organization hosting a series of of bicycling“camps in spectacular destinations throughout Türkiye, formerly known as Turkey in the English-speaking world.

Rappler rides a 120 kilometer — 75 mile — bike route through central Manila to rate the roadway quality, and concludes not so much.

David Seymour, leading of New Zealand’s rightwing Act Party, wasn’t injured when he went over his ebike handlebars to avoid a driver, then suffered verbal abuse from a bystander who complained about what he was doing to the Māori, even though he is one.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-four-year old American Matteo Jorgenson won the Paris-Nice stage race on Sunday, capping the biggest victory of his young career, as Cycling News offers a blow-by-blow recount of the final stage; Bobby Julich in 2005, and ex-Tour de France champ Floyd Landis in 2006, are the only other Americans to win the iconic Race to the Sun.

Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard claimed a dominating victory in the seven-day Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, as the Visma-Lease a Bike cycling team took both Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico in the same year for the first time.

Ghana’s national cycling team blamed substandard equipment for their poor showing in the ongoing Africa Games, competing on their own aluminum-frame bikes and using the same gear they train on.

This year’s 38th annual Redlands Bicycle Classic will take place on April 10th through this 14th.

 

Finally…

If you’re carrying illegal narcotics on your bike, put a damn light on it and don’t ride on the sidewalk. Your next ebike could have four wheels and look more like a dorky little car. Or maybe be made of recycled plastic.

And an NFL cheerleader turns gravel racer, while a track cyclist turns astronaut.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month today. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Morning Links: Three OC bicyclists struck by callous distracted driver, and Russian doping doc wins at Oscars

March 5, 2018 / / 6 comments

Last night, I received the following email from Allyson Vought, describing a collision with a distracted driver that sent two bicyclists to the hospital.

But fortunately, could have been much worse.

Almost lost some friends today

Well, it was a close one today for me, and 2 friends were taken to hospital after being struck by a distracted driver. Luckily no death or dismemberments, only (if there is such a thing) a few broken bones, scrapes and bruises, one concussion, and 2 very destroyed bikes.

Here are the details.

There were 6 of us in the group and we were at the end of a 22 mile out and back putt putt. We were riding our usual Brea to Diamond Bar and back easy day cruise. The incident occurred at the corner of Imperial Hwy and Puente, just 1/2 mille from the finish at Linda’s house. We were southbound on Puente and had stopped at Imperial Hwy waiting for our green light. The light changed and I was out first after seeing traffic had stopped to the left and right. Tim was 2nd, Tom was 3rd, Sigrid, Tom’s wife, was 4th then Maralyn, and Linda were the last two.

I was mid-intersection when I heard heavy skidding and I had just a moment to look to my left and saw a Black Toyota Camry (I think) heading for all of us. I pushed it and closed my eyes waiting for the hit. She JUST missed me (I was lucky) and I heard thuds, yells and screams. Witnesses say that she hit Tim on the left corner sending him flying and Tom dead center where he was thrust into the windshield and thrown forward to the pavement about 25 feet. Sigrid hit the side of the car and went down. Linda and Maralyn were able to stop OK.

Lady was on the PHONE it seems and failed to see the traffic stopped in the 2 inside lanes and just proceed through a red light and into our group. We did not see her as she came from behind the stopped cars and was passing them on the outside (fast lane) and there was no way to see her until it was too late to do anything.

Attached  is a picture of the car (see above). You will see the white on the bumper, that was Tim’s destroyed Jelly Belly Focus, and the clean spots on the hood — that was Tom’s doings.

Tim had gotten up and was sitting on the center divider and seemed lucid. There was blood below his left ear and his hand was scrapped and bloody. It may be broken and he had to get 4 stitches to close the open wound on his head. Funny thing was I took his helmet from his head, his gloves, shoes, jacket, and jersey and got him to the ambulance. We were still sorting things out and before I got to the hospital he called me asking what had happened, how was his bike, and where were his things. He was in one of those knocked out but chatty zones it seems. No memory of anything.

Tom was on the ground and in pain. Luckily his wife and Maralyn are both nurses so he was in good hands to be sure until the EMS and the Brea police arrived. They were there in minutes and took great care of our friends. We had pleantly of witnesses and we all gave statements. Kudo’s to all and they were very thorough to be sure.

We were there for about an hour giving statements and I made sure to document the scene with photos. Finished the ride and then headed to the hospital, the Irvine Med Center in Orange. Took a few minutes to find Tim as he was just being checked in and Tom was already ensconced in a room with Sigrid by his side, He was resting after all of the scans and X-rays. Not sure what was broken as the results were not in, but he remembers the whole incident quite clearly.

Tim was brought to the adjacent room about 15 minutes later and still had no clue as to what had occurred. Was not a happy camper when I told him his bike was toast.

So, it was a lucky day in that we all survived.

The older woman driver never got got off the phone — for even one second and made no comments, showed no emotions, nor exhibited any concern to the welfare of our friends. Shock or what I am not sure, but it was sure bizarre. I asked the police if anyone had checked on her and they said they had. I also went so far as to go to her window and asked how she was (on the phone) — no reply — and she did not even look my way. I  told her not to worry as no one was killed thankfully…still no response.

I DO hope she is insured.

The callousness of not even getting off the phone, let alone getting out to check on the victims, is just unbelievable. Fortunately, the crash occurred in Orange County, where the DA takes traffic crime, and distracted driving, seriously.

But please, someone tell me again how dangerous all those entitled cyclists are.

………

The highlight of last night’s Oscar ceremony, at least from a cycling perspective, was the victory of the doping-themed Icarus in the best documentary category.

Oddly, the response from RT, aka Russia Today, to the film that exposed the country’s systematic doping and led to the loss of previous Olympic medals and banishment from last month’s winter Olympics, was something less than positive.

Go figure.

………

USA Today offers an inspiring story about an LA marathoner and cyclist who was paralyzed by a red light-running driver while riding her bike. And shortly afterwards, committed herself to training to compete in a Florida half-marathon as a handcyclist.

Although the story is just a tad late, since the race was run in January; she finished in 1:13:20.

And tragic that stories like this are even necessary.

………

Local

KPCC asks LADOT’s Seleta Reynolds if Vision Zero can really eliminate LA traffic deaths. Meanwhile, the Daily News says a lack of funding is setting Vision Zero up for failure.

Curbed calls for making the Oscar street closures permanent.

No, there won’t be a Marathon Crash Ride before next week’s LA Marathon, for the second straight year.

The Pasadena Star-News looks at plans for a lane reduction on Orange Grove Blvd; naturally, the traffic safety deniers want to keep the street free-flowing and dangerous.

 

State

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A 95-year old man just got his driver’s license renewed until he’s 100 — without even having to take a driver’s test.

Palo Alto residents demand the city halt plans for roundabouts, claiming they make the street more dangerous — even though studies show they reduce serious crashes up to 80%. Another case of traffic safety deniers opposing projects they don’t understand, without giving them time to succeed.

A San Francisco paper looks at the efforts of car advocates to convert a hard-won bike lane on the Richmond Bridge to car use, allowing bike riders to have limited access only when drivers don’t want it, and bizarrely describing that as sharing the road. Maybe someone should tell them about induced demand, let alone complete streets.

 

National

It’s easy to forget that service members from other countries have fought, and been injured, in Afghanistan; two British veterans will ride down the left coast from Oregon to Mexico to raise funs for a charity for injured vets.

A new paper blames vehicular cycling for a 40-year delay in building bike infrastructure in the US.

A writer with the Denver Post says he doesn’t want ebikes on bikeways “already packed with the unaware, the inconsiderate and the distracted.” Then again, he doesn’t want those people on the paths, either.

Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park will allow mountain bikes on a two-mile section of a lakefront bike path for the first time.

A New York counclimember says he feels threatened and intimidated by bicyclists angry that he backed out of his promised support for a protected bike lane.

DC-area bike shops have joined the boycott of Vista Outdoor over their gun and ammunition subsidiaries.

 

International

A Halifax, Canada business association opposes a prospective protected bike lane because it would mean the loss of 55 parking spaces, and would rather locate it on the sidewalk. Never mind that it could bring hundreds more customers on bikes. Or that using sidewalk space for a bike lane would mean a less walkable business district, which would probably have a far greater negative impact than losing a few parking spaces.

A Canadian city is just the latest choose parking over a protected bike lane, disappointing local bicyclists who feel threatened on the streets.

The Guardian talks with the founder of women’s bike brand Liv Cycling, who says shrinking and pinking women’s bikes isn’t good enough.

UK Parliament ministers are prepared to propose a new crime of causing death by dangerous cycling, in response to a recent case where a careless bicyclist killed a pedestrian. The Guardian responds that judging people by their means of transport brings out the worst in everyone.

British running great Roger Bannister was one of us; the first man to break the four-minute mile took up bicycling after he had to stop running in 1975 following a car crash.

A British radio host says stop targeting bicyclists, because they’re the real victims.

Ireland opens a 26-mile crushed gravel rail-to-trail conversion.

A cyclist in Kathmandu, Nepal says he loves riding a bicycle and he’s going to keep on riding, despite the country’s deep reverence for the west and its motor vehicles.

South African police make an arrest in the hit-and-run death of a rugby team manager who was killed while warming up for a bike race.

An Aussie letter writer complains about a presumed liability proposal, saying it would only benefit a whining, arrogant minority of cyclists who don’t pay for the roads, at the expense of those poor, put-upon people in cars. No, really.

A Kuala Lumpur writer can’t believe the city would put in a bike lane, since the only ones who won’t be using it are the ones on bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

No, those testosterone patches that showed up on the doorstep of Team Sky in 2011 didn’t get there by accident. But sure, the era of doping is over. Right.

Speaking of Team Sky, a British commission concludes that Bradley Wiggins use of a banned corticosteroid under a therapeutic use exemption contributed to his win in the 2012 Tour de France, accusing the team of crossing an ethical line.

The race director for the Giro d’Italia says the race isn’t getting rid of podium girls, and says dropping them, as the Vuelta has done and the Tour de France is considering, is just a passing trend. In other words, not treating women as a trophy for men to win, and showing respect for them — and women cyclists — is just a fad. Nothing sexist about that.

Cycling Tips offers photos from Saturday’s sloppy but exciting Strade Bianche.; Belgium’s Wout van Aert overcame leg cramps to make the podium.

American Tejay Van Garderen is out after crashing into a team car on the first day of the Paris-Nice stage race; fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.

Over 1,600 competitors are expected for next weekend’s two-stage Tour of Murrieta.

 

Finally…

When you want to stop a law that benefits bike riders, find one to oppose it. Forget bike polo; it’s time to try unicycle hockey.

And now you can buy your very own stolen dockless bikeshare bike.

………

Thanks to George W for his generous contribution to help keep this site coming your way every day. Donations are always welcome.

 

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

Morning Links: Don’t blame bike lanes for bad pavement lawsuits, and a call to ban cars from Rose Bowl loop

February 7, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Don’t blame bike lanes for bad pavement lawsuits, and a call to ban cars from Rose Bowl loop

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says not so fast.

Despite what Councilmember Mitch Englander asserted in his recent motion, Los Angeles hasn’t paid out tens of millions of dollars for injuries to bicyclists due to bad pavement in bike lanes.

In fact, only one of the seven recent bike-related settlements with the city was due to a crash that occurred in a bike lane.

The rest took place on the sort of infrastructure-free streets most LA bicyclists have to ride every day due to the lack of a even the most basic bicycle network in most of the city.

And on the same crappy streets you’ll find on most city streets.

The City Council Public Works and Gang Reduction Committee will discuss two motions mandating much-needed inspections, and possibly repairs, to pavement in the city’s bike lanes and bike paths at 1 pm today.

But let’s not confuse that with the real problem.

Which is the city’s failure to build out the 2010 bike plan as promised. And the failure to the maintain streets we all have to use.

………

He gets it.

A writer for the Pasadena Star News says instead of adding stop signs to the Rose Bowl loop, which would effectively put a halt to the popular cycling, why not ban cars instead?

Why not, indeed.

………

We’re less than a month away from the annual Oscar ceremony. Which brings up the annual question, will anyone bike to the red carpet in Hollywood?

Environmentalist and actor Ed Begley, Jr. has done it before. In a tux, and despite the rain.

But no word yet on whether anyone will do it this year.

………

Local

In news that should surprise absolutely no one, a new report shows Los Angeles has the world’s worst traffic congestion for the sixth year in a row. And it will only get worse unless the city and county provide people with viable alternatives to driving.

Atwater Village residents say they don’t feel safe walking or riding on the LA River bike path due to homeless camps along the river.

Bike SGV will hold their first general meeting of 2018 tomorrow night.

 

State

California’s only emperor was one of us.

The 9th annual Jim Rogers Memorial Ride rolls in Nevada City this Sunday.

 

National

The art of mountain biking.

Bike friendly Boulder CO debates whether to allow ebikes on open space trails.

Ride Chicago’s bikeshare system ten times this month, and they’ll pin a medal on you and invite you to a party.

The NYPD puts out a wanted poster for a group of reckless teenage bike riders.

 

International

A writer for the Guardian discovers firsthand what it’s like to be doored.

You may never be a star of the English stage. But your bike might be.

A British city noticed that 68 near-identical bike-hating comments about a road closure came from a single computer. And 50 more came from just three additional IP addresses. In case you’ve ever wondered why there always seem to be so many public comments from people who hate bikes.

A Dublin paper asks if it’s time to give bicyclists and pedestrians a head start at red lights. That would be yes. And not just in Dublin.

Replacing delivery trucks with cargo bikes in Barcelona.

Workers for Dutch bike brand Van Moof track down a Bluetooth-equipped stolen bike, and discover a warehouse full of stolen bicycles from across Europe.

Docked bikeshare is expanding in India, while a free public bikeshare is opening at Hyderabad Metro stations.

A new Australian study shows that how you commute to work really does affect your body mass. And no, driving doesn’t make you any skinnier.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wolfpack Hustle is bringing back the Forsyth Cup at the Encino Velodrome in April, thanks to BikinginLA sponsor Thomas Forsyth.

Pro cycling’s Team Dimension Data plans to donate 5,000 bikes to an African charity this year.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to launch yourself off the roof with an antifreeze-fueled rocket attached to your bicycle. Now you can tow your new sailboat with your mountain bike.

And forget the bike park. Try riding the waterpark, instead.

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

Morning Links: New women’s hour record, Ed Begley Jr. bikes the Oscars, and no more $10k tech bikes

February 29, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: New women’s hour record, Ed Begley Jr. bikes the Oscars, and no more $10k tech bikes

She did it.

American cyclist Evelyn Stevens not only broke the hour record, she shattered it, beating the women’s record set just last month by nearly seven-tenths of a mile.

The former Wall Street analyst, who was 25-years old before she raced for the first time, rode 29.81 miles in 60 minutes, setting the record just seven years after she turned pro.

By comparison, the men’s record, held by British pro Bradley Wiggins, is roughly 4 miles further.

………

Once again, Ed Begley Jr. rode his bike to the Oscars from his Burbank home, carrying his tux in his pannier and changing once he arrived.

You can read his live tweets from the ride and during the ceremony on his Twitter page.

And when he’s not getting chewed on by bears, new Best Actor winner Leonardo DiCaprio is one of us, too.

………

Local

Richard Risemberg says it’s easy to get bike racks installed in Los Angeles.

LAist asks what could possibly go wrong by renting bikeshare bikes to tourists in the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills without adding bike lanes on major streets. The good news is, Cedars-Sinai is just a few minutes away.

The Glendale News-Press offers a good look at LACBC local chapter Walk Bike Glendale’s efforts to hand out free bike lights to lightless riders as part of the coalition’s Operation Firefly.

Whittier rallies around the Tricycle Man, after the well-known local man’s adult trike is destroyed in a left cross collision; over $12,000 has been raised for a new bike, far surpassing the original $1,000 goal. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

CORBA will offer a free mountain bike skills seminar at Malibu Creek State Park this Saturday.

 

State

California approves $133 million for 59 trail projects and separated bikeways in the new budget.

A San Marcos flood-control project intended to revitalize the city’s downtown area will include a bike and pedestrian pathway on the levee above San Marcos Creek, along with bike lanes across two new bridges.

Times are hard in Silicon Valley, as tech start-ups are giving away fewer $10,000 custom-made bikes as signing bonuses.

Sacramento cyclists flock to examine the bikes and gear at the 12th annual North American Handmade Bicycle Show. Lucky bastards. We either need to find a way to get the show down here, or get me up there.

 

National

A Seattle artist offers some nice illustrations of downtown bike messengers and delivery people.

More proof bicycling is good for you. A Nebraska man lost 136 pounds over three years by walking and biking, making a planned lap-band surgery unnecessary.

Members of a Texas cycling team were lucky to walk away after eight of the twelve riders were hit, and three injured, when they were left-crossed by a van driver. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.

After a Texas rider complained about a close pass by another rider on a bike path, the second cyclist responded by pulling a gun on him.

Great idea. A Wisconsin after-school program teaches bike maintenance to middle school students. I’m told Orange County’s Bicycle Tree offers a similar program; thanks to Calvin Design for the tip.

A Vermont OpEd bizarrely insists a road diet will make cyclists more vulnerable because no one have been killed on that particular street yet, while suggesting bike riders are safer on pathways and sidewalks, even if that means paving the latter over.

A New Jersey paper provides a very auto-centric guest column from a Hoboken minister who seems to forget that God loves those who don’t drive, too.

 

International

The Canadian government concludes truck side guards don’t save lives after all, despite widespread acceptance overseas.

More outrage from the UK, as a man takes up six train seats for himself and his bike. I think we can all agree it’s boorish behavior. But I wonder if anyone politely asked him to move his bike so they could sit?

Who needs bikeshare when you’ve got a bike bank? A British program loans bicycles to anyone who needs one.

Apparently upset at a collision with a sidewalk riding cyclist, an angry English pedestrian takes it out on the rider’s bike.

A Parisian family revives a line of hand-made, high-end bicycles that once counted Marlene Dietrich, Maurice Chevalier, Edith Piaf and Josephine Baker as customers; the standard model will set you back $12,000, while an e-bike runs $17,000. Thus pricing beyond the reach of most tech startups.

Residents of a Mumbai neighborhood demand a cycle track.

Two hundred Aussie riders strip down for what was billed as the final Melbourne edition of the World Naked Bike Ride.

Caught on video: A rear-view dashcam captures a cyclist knocked down in a violent hit-and-run; fortunately, the victim walked away with just some nasty road rash.

An Australian writer evidently thinks their equivalent of a three-foot passing law means bicyclists have to stay that far from cars, as well. And that if you give cyclists a meter, they’ll take a kilometer.

 

Finally…

Who needs a weather balloon when you have a bicycle? At last, a bike for people the rest of us have to look up to.

And apparently, driving a car 280 miles a week and not riding a bike since you were 12 makes a person an expert on bike safety.

 

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

Morning Links: Biking the Oscars, challenging helmet stats and a big jump in Santa Monica bike commuting

February 23, 2015 / / One comment

Even the threat of rain couldn’t keep a handful of Angelenos from biking to the Oscars on Sunday.

Actor Ed Begley, Jr. lived up to his promise to bike into the Academy Awards over the Cahuenga pass, donning rain gear on the ride before switching to his tux for the ceremony.

Laemmle Theater president and LACBC board member Greg Laemmle also rode in, wearing his tux on his folding bike despite the threatening weather.

And even the LAPD biked the Oscars as part of the massive security presence protecting the event.

LAPD bike cops at the Oscars

……..

Somehow I missed this one earlier this month.

The Examined Spoke examined that highly flawed stat behind SB 192, Glendale state Senator Carol Liu’s proposal to require bike helmets for all riders, as well as reflective hi-viz after dark.

Liu cites a statistic from the National Conference of State Legislatures that says 91% of bicyclists killed in 2009 weren’t wearing helmets. Never mind that it fails to addresse how many bike riders actually suffered head injuries, or whether their injuries would have been survivable with one.

ES looks at it another way, revealing that the 91% figure may questionable, since it appears the authors may have combined the figures for victims who weren’t wearing a helmet with those where it’s unknown whether or not a helmet was used.

As he points out, that’s a big no-no, statistically speaking.

And it’s definitely not true in California.

Separating out the unknowns from the cases where it’s known if the victim was wearing a helmet, the figure drops to just 63% of bike riders killed in California in 2009 were without helmets.

And it drops even further in recent years, as just 53% — barely over half — of cyclists killed in the state in 2012 weren’t wearing one.

Hardly the overwhelming statistic that would justify forcing every rider to wear a helmet under every circumstance.

……..

Local

Built it and they will come. Afternoon rush hour biking in Santa Monica is up 67% between 2011 and 2013, while overall bike commuting rose from 2.3% to 3.7% from 2010 to 2013. That corresponds with the city’s efforts to improve conditions for cyclists, with 45 miles of new bike lanes and sharrows since 2011.

Writing for HuPo, Joel Epstein reports on a panel discussion questioning whether LA has embarked on a bicycling revolution that will bring about post-car dominated city embracing transit, biking and walking. We can only hope.

Bicyclists get new bike racks in Echo Park. Which should come in handy since bikes are forbidden from the pathways around it.

Two UCLA alums will ride from San Francisco to New York to promote science education, especially for girls.

Don’t miss tonight’s Town Hall Meeting of the Westwood Village Improvement Association to discuss the Remove Nothing Plan for much-needed bike lanes on Westwood Blvd.

CICLE’s Tweed, Moxie and Mustaches Ride rolls on Sunday.

 

State

The editor of the Stockton paper says yes, helmets are important, but mandating them is the wrong answer. The Woodland newspaper disagrees, though they could do without the tasteless and highly offensive cartoon that accompanies the editorial — which also appeared down here in the Daily Breeze, though they don’t seem to have posted it online.

The Times looks at the route for this year’s Tour of California.

A San Diego woman suffers major head injuries despite wearing a helmet after touching wheels with her husband’s bike.

Signs warning drivers about the state’s new three-foot passing law go up outside of Napa.

 

National

Salon looks at why it’s so hard to punish killer drivers.

A Seattle rider travels all of the city’s protected bike lanes in a single day. That would be a lot easier here in LA.

A Wyoming paper calls for a statewide bike path, calling it a visionary proposal. Depending on the route, it could pas through some breathtaking scenery and be a huge draw for bike tourism, as well as long-distance recreational riding.

When life gives you snow, build a 40-foot long bike tunnel to get through it like they did in Boston. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

 

International

A Dutch bike team has to go home after thieves steal all their bikes and equipment from the team truck.

Rising American rider Teejay van Garderen misses a chance to win the Tour of Oman after the fifth stage was cancelled due to sandstorms and extreme temperatures.

Another attempt to ride around the world has ended in tragedy in Thailand, as a Chilean cyclist attempting to set a record by riding 155,350 miles across five continents in five years is killed in a collision, less than two years after a British couple on a similar quest lost their lives in the country. Tragically, the wreck happened right in front of the victim’s wife, who was riding separately with their two-year old son.

 

Finally…

San Francisco police recover a stolen bike, but release the suspect because the bike hadn’t been reported stolen yet, except it had. Let’s get one thing straight: It’s not a bicycle if it has more than two wheels, electric or not. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

And Bicycling says if you want to lose weight and improve your performance, put butter in your coffee. No, seriously.

You first.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Afternoon Links: Kicking cars off H’wood Blvd, silly season for bike laws, and MyFig now a year behind schedule

February 18, 2015 / / 2 comments

Why think small?

Curbed asks what if Hollywood Boulevard was closed to cars all the time, or at least on weekends, rather than just for the Oscars?

But instead of just closing LA’s biggest tourist attraction to cars in front of the massively crowded Hollywood and Highland/Chinese Theatre area, why not close it down for the full length of the Walk of Fame?

It’s already scheduled for a road diet and bike lanes, which would improve safety and increase walkability for the many millions of tourists who stroll the street every year.

Turning it into a pedestrian mall with bike lanes and a trolley or shuttle buses would make it even more attractive to visitors, while increasing property values and giving a huge boost to businesses along the way. Including the dilapidated and increasingly vacant blocks west of Cahuenga.

Virtually all of the businesses on Hollywood rely on foot traffic, rather than customers arriving by cars. And the few that do can be easily serviced by the many cross streets along the way.

So why not cater to them, while eliminating the risk of pedestrians and bicyclist being hit by cars on the street once and for all?

……..

Speaking of the Oscars, no surprise here. Bike rider and environmental advocate Ed Begley Jr. is the first to say he plans to #biketheOscars this Sunday.

Although Megan Lynch and I are still the only ones to use that hashtag.

……..

Clearly, it’s the silly season for state legislatures, as bike laws good and bad come up for consideration.

KPCC’s AirTalk program discusses the proposed law that would require all California bike riders to wear a helmet, as well as requiring reflective hi-viz clothing after dark, while the Bay Area’s KQED holds a similar discussion. And the San Francisco Chronicle says the proposed law is intriguing, but needs work.

Another proposed CA law would require bike riders to have a flashing red tail light after dark; an earlier version of the bill, which called for a flashing white light, is put off as a typo. Note to reporters: Riding a bike in California is not particularly dangerous; while bad things can happen — just as they do with any other form of transportation — the primary reason the state leads the nation in bicycling deaths is because it also leads the nation in population, and possibly in bike riders.

A proposed Virginia law would prohibit highway funds from being used for transit projects, bike lanes or pedestrian trails, ensuring automotive hegemony for years to come.

Then again, it could be worse. Taking bike hate to the next level, a Hawaii lawmaker proposes prohibiting a driver’s insurance company from having to pay for injuries to a bike rider.

……..

Turns out the most sprawling city in the country isn’t.

Which means it should now be easier to ride from the West Valley to the Eastside, right?

……..

South Figueroa gets new lighting, and an extension.

The MyFig project, which had been scheduled to be finished this December, now won’t even begin until next January and be done by the end of 2016.

……..

Local

LA’s Downtown News becomes the latest to endorse CD14 councilmember Jose Huizar for re-election, raising the question WTF is up with the LA Times? Meanwhile, the very active CiclaValley covers the latest forum to replace Tom LaBonge in CD4.

KNBC-4 looks at the planned anti-hit-and-run billboard from Finish the Ride.

Now there’s a real bargain, as West LA’s Bikerowave co-op now offers unlimited wrench time for just $100 a year, and $80 for students.

CicLAvia hosts a community meeting in NoHo tonight to discuss next month’s Valley CicLAvia.

Santa Monica police will conduct another bike safety operation on Friday; as always, watch how you ride because they’ll be writing up law breaking riders, as well as drivers.

Malibu wil hold a public meeting to discuss safety on PCH tomorrow.

No surprise that bike-friendly Long Beach ranks as the nation’s 33rd most physically active city; more surprising that auto-centric LA checked in just three spots later.

 

State

A Washington Post article suggests California should take the lead in requiring carmakers to install collision avoidance systems to protect bike riders and pedestrians.

A Corona boy is back on his bike 18 months after he was mauled by two dogs while riding.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 92-year old Palm Desert man rides his bike 20 miles nearly every morning and is about to the inducted into the Triathlon Hall of Fame; thanks to sponsor Michael Rubenstein for the heads-up.

 

National

A new study shows even moderate exercise — like riding a bike, for instance — can help middle-aged women protect their hearts. Although anyone who calls a woman middle-aged may need to protect more than their heart.

An Oregon driver gets two years in prison and an eight year ban on driving for fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist while texting.

The man in charge of reinventing London bicycling visits Portland; we could use his help down here.

Seattle’s Vision Zero plan calls for reducing speed limits on certain streets to 25 mph in an effort to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030.

A Colorado lawyer says yes, the legal system is broken when it comes to bike riders, but sometimes we’re part of the problem, as well as the solution.

Caught on video: A 92-year old Wisconsin driver smashes into nine — count ‘em, nine — cars in a parking lot. Yet doesn’t get a single ticket.

 

International

AARP writes about the benefits of Open Streets, yet somehow fails to mention the largest and most successful Open Streets event in the US. Or any US event, for that matter.

The unsung star of British track cycling is now a British banker.

Ireland-based Lovely Bicycle looks at what’s normal wear and tear on your bike.

 

Finally…

In today’s edition of the trials and tribulations of our favorite ex-Tour de France winner, Lance pleads guilty to careless driving in Aspen, but gets away with the attempted cover up and possibly a DUI. A new study concludes bike riding may or may not contribute to erectile dysfunction; no, that helps, really.

And this is how you pimp a police bike.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,
 
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee