Tag Archive for bike tourism

Morning Links: Feds say wear a helmet or else, cross-country bike tourist killed, and bike parking on South Pas agenda tonight

November 6, 2019 / / One comment

A new report from the National Transportation Safety Board says the most common cause of bicycling fatalities is drivers passing people on bicycles.

Or rather, failing to.

That’s followed by “problems with parallel bike and vehicle lanes” — presumably meaning painted bike lanes — bicyclists failing to yield and bicyclists making a left turn.

Bearing in mind that those stats are based on police reports that can suffer from a severe case of windshield bias when it comes to assigning blame.

And the NTSB’s recommended solutions?

Protected bike lanes. Blindspot cams for SUVs. And mandatory bike helmet laws in every state.

Seriously.

Never mind that bike helmet laws have been shown to reduce bicycling rates at exactly the time we need to increase riding to fight climate change.

Or that requiring everyone to wear a helmet every time someone rides a bicycle is like addressing gun violence by requiring everyone to wear a bulletproof vest whenever they leave home.

Except bulletproof vests are a hell of a lot more effective than bike helmets, which are designed to protect against a fall off your bike — not an impact with a speeding SUV driver.

And as we’ve pointed out before, they do nothing to protect against injuries to any other part of the body.

https://twitter.com/Kenmcld/status/1191749183881043970

As we’ve said before, a bike helmet should always be considered a last line of defense when everything else fails.

Like better infrastructure, lower speed and safer motor vehicles.

Yet the board still approved the last-minute addition to their agenda, even though staff members had specifically recommended against it.

Mike Cane used screen grabs to capture much of the discussion leading up to the vote.

It should be stressed, however, that at this point, it’s just a recommendation for each of the 50 states. Although the NTSB’s recommendations have a habit of getting turned into laws.

Meanwhile, Washington lawmakers from both parties are finally talking about ways to reduce bicycling and pedestrian deaths.

Of course, talking is what they’re good at.

We’ll see if they can actually get anything passed in today’s highly divided Congress.

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Once again, a bike-riding visitor to this country will be going home in a coffin.

A 27-year old Korean man was killed in South Carolina on Monday when he was struck by a delivery truck driver.

He was riding down the East Coast before turning west, planning to arrive in Los Angeles in early January.

Now he’ll never get here. Or anywhere else.

Seriously, there’s something very wrong when someone can’t visit this country without risking their life.

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Active SGV reminds us that South Pasadena will consider bicycle parking at tonight’s City Council meeting.

And Megan Lynch reminds South Pasadena to consider the needs of disabled bicyclists.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1191916300253089792

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He gets it.

Bay Area State Senator Scott Weiner says fighting climate change means making it easier for people to cut back on driving.

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America’s oldest surviving veteran of the excruciating WWII Battle of Iwo Jima was one of us, still riding his three-wheeled bike two weeks before his death at  103.

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The crowdfunding page for dirt bike legend Micky Dymond has raised just under $24,000 of the $100,000 goal for his medical care, after suffered critical injuries going over the handlebars of his time trial bicycle.

There are a lot worse things you could do with your money.

Thanks to Steve S for the reminder.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

As one OC bike rider learned the hard way yesterday.

But sometimes its the people on bikes behaving badly.

San Diego police are looking for a man who beat another man senseless with a bicycle, or part of it, in a 7-11 parking lot.

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Local

This is who we share the roads with. After a pedestrian was killed by a street racing, hit-and-run driver while crossing an LA street, dozens of people continued to drive past his body lying in the street without stopping to help.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker says the problem isn’t the new ride hailing management system at LAX, it’s the cars. And it won’t get better until the airport finally embraces mass transit. Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

Metro approves funding for Rock the Boulevard, a $16.2 million Complete Streets makeover of Eagle Rock Blvd. Even if it will be awhile before we see any changes to the street.

Lime is launching a new hyperlocal ad campaign focusing exclusively on the LA market.

Hollywood Burbank Airport will try to cut its emissions, in part by encouraging employees to bike, carpool or use transit.

Culver City restaurant Hatchet Hall will honor noted LA chef and fallen bicyclist Joe Miller with a special dinner tomorrow night, with proceeds going to No Kid Hungry; the Michelin Star-winning chef died of a heart attack while riding in New York recently.

Santa Monica Next says a record jump in available parking spaces in Downtown Santa Monica presents a rare opportunity to reclaim the city’s streets.

Long Beach wants your input on the city’s Safe Streets Action Plan.

 

State

Instead of encouraging bicycle riders to use bike lights, or providing free lights to riders who don’t have any as other cities have done, San Luis Obispo police will be cracking down on lightless bicyclists with a pop-up checkpoint today, subjecting bike riders to a fine up to $200.

About damn time. San Francisco responds to another traffic death by declaring a state of emergency for pedestrian and bicyclist deaths. Now maybe Los Angeles can take the hint and actually do something about the deaths down here.

Heartbreaking news from Petaluma, where an bike rider who was killed two weeks ago in a crash with a semi driver was identified as an 89-year old man riding an adult tricycle. Anyone who can still ride at that age, on two wheels or three, deserves better.

More bad news comes from nearby Santa Rosa, where a bike rider was killed when he inexplicably crashed into the trailer of a flatbed truck he was riding next to yesterday, in a crash that doesn’t make any sense at all the way its described.

 

National

Depending on how they decide, and how broadly the justices rule, a case currently before the Supreme Court could make hit-and-runs easier to prosecute by ruling that police can assume the owner of a car is the person driving it.

A driving website makes a surprising case for getting rid of your car altogether. Trust me, I’m working on it.

A 70-year old woman is on a six-year quest to ride around and across the United States in the shape of a peace sign; so far, she’s logged over 40,000 miles through the US and Canada.

Outside says mountain bikes make great “self-sufficient adventuremobiles” for bikepacking trips.

Indoor cycling company Bkool has pulled the plug on their turbo trainers and exercise bikes, and will be focusing on the software side of their business.

Evidently, bicycling must be kosher, as the Jewish Journal picks up a story from Wired concluding that the vehicle of the future is a bicycle.

Speaking of the NTSB, the board concluded that the new software for Uber’s self-driving cars would have spotted a bike-riding Tempe AZ woman in time to avoid the crash that killed her.

Congratulations to Virginia’s Juli Briskman; the woman who gained fame by flipping off Trump’s motorcade while riding her bike just got elected to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, where she’ll oversee the president’s golf course.

A Florida state trooper is asked if drivers are allowed to use a bike lane to pass a stopped car. Short answer, no. Longer answer, hell no.

 

International

Your next Segway could be half mountain bike, half dirt bike, and all electric. Although it would be considered a motorcycle under California law, and require a motorcycle helmet and license.

Bike Radar offers advice on how to determine what kind of bike you need, based on how you plan to ride.

The Guardian’s Laura Laker rides a ped-assist ebike from one end of the UK to the other; she joined 800 other bicyclists on the ride, but was one of just two on ebikes.

More heartbreak, as a British man decides to end his life by turning off his ventilator, six years after he was paralyzed in a mountain biking crash.

One hundred Dublin bike riders held a die-in outside city hall to protest the dangers of riding in a city without adequate bicycling infrastructure, following the death of a local man riding his bike.

German students are learning about the Berlin Wall by riding their bikes alongside it, 40 years after it fell.

Ebikes are surging in popularity Down Under, even as a lack of safe bicycling infrastructure puts lives at risk. Just flip the globe over, and you could be talking about Los Angeles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling looks at the five most badass American women crushing cycling right now.

Former Olympic champ Alexandre Vinokourov and fellow cyclist Alexandr Kolobnev have officially been cleared of fixing the 2010 Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, after prosecutors said they gave them the benefit of the doubt.

New Zealand cyclist George Bennett will be riding next year with three fewer ribs.

 

Finally…

Even world champs get their bikes stolen; teenage state champs, too. When you’re a registered offender riding your BMX with several outstanding warrants, maybe you should try leaving the meth and guns at home.

And nothing like posting your own anti-bike self-own.

 

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Morning Links: Arrest made in Boyle Heights hit-and-run, Jeff Jones ghost bike tonight, and bike tourism for a cause

August 28, 2019 / / One comment

The LAPD made fast work of its search for the hit-and-run driver who critically injured a bike-riding father of five in Boyle Heights last week.

They got their man one day after announcing a $25,000 reward, arresting 23-year old Canoga Park resident Luis Raya-Flores for the crime.

Police said Raya-Flores knew why they were there as soon as they showed up at his door, telling them he fled because he panicked.

Which doesn’t excuse a damn thing.

Or shouldn’t, anyway.

Raya-Flores was booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run and being held in custody on an $80,000 bond.

The victim, 53-year old Boyle Heights resident Gabriel Lopez, was riding his bike to his job as a construction worker when Raya-Flores lost control of his speeding truck and smashed into him.

Now it will be at least a month before Lopez can return to the job he needs to feed his family.

And a lot longer than that before he gets justice in the case.

Photo from LAPD website.

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A ghost bike will be placed tonight for fallen cyclist Jeff Jones.

The well-known and well-liked bicyclist was killed Saturday on Griffith Park Blvd when a van driver made a U-turn in front of him.

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Today’s common theme is bike tourism for a cause.

The annual Bike & Build program is rolling across the US to raise funds for affordable housing — and actually build it.

A Michigan man is riding 3,100 miles through the upper Midwest to call for an end to gun violence, and promote a hotline for people thinking about using a firearm to harm others.

And a man is riding from Maine to California, by way of West Virginia, to raise awareness of brain injuries after he suffered major brain damage when he was run down by a drunk driver several years ago.

Although sometimes, just a well-planned bike tour without a cause is good enough.

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Take a four-minute mental health break and explore California’s undiscovered country with mountain biker KC Deane.

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Sometimes, it’s the people on bicycles behaving badly.

A white DC bike rider learned the hard way that justice goes both ways, after he gets a well-deserved three years behind bars for a racially fueled U-lock attack on a black motorist.

After bicyclists ignore a bike ban on an Aussie walkway, officials installed barricades that everybody hates.

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Local

Streetsblog’s SGV Connect podcast catches up with Active SGV director David Diaz.

Santa Monica police credit a reduction in e-scooters and a state law removing the helmet requirement to ride them with a nearly 500% drop in tickets to scooter riders.

 

State

San Diego bicyclists had their annual chance to ride the city’s iconic Coronado Bay Bridge over the weekend.

Speaking of which, here’s your chance to take a relaxed bike tour of Coronado with Ken “Fat Woody” McNeil and his handcrafted artisan beach cruisers.

Bakersfield police book a killer driver on DUI charges with a 12% BAC. Yet still manage to blame the victim for turning her bike in front of his car. As always, the credibility of the accusations depends on whether there were any independent witnesses to the crash, since the driver has an inherent bias to blame the victim and see his actions in the best possible light.

If only cars had brakes. A San Jose driver is shocked when a jogger yelled at him for not giving him enough room as he passed a parked school bus, insisting he couldn’t give the runner any more space because there was a car in the lane next to him (last item). Because evidently, it’s impossible to slow down or wait until it’s safe to pass.

St. Helena residents are being urged to ride their bikes during next month’s Walk and Roll to School month.

 

National

The New York Times offers tips on tourism using dockless ebikes, scooters or motorbikes to get around a city.

Bicycling lends an ear to complaints about bike shops. So if you own, run or work for an LBS — aka local bike shop — pay close attention, because bad service is the best way to drive customers online. And you know they’re already looking there.

Your next Specialized bike seat could be the result of lattice-structured 3D printing, for a cooler, shock absorbing ride.

A Portland bike park was damaged in a brush fire, but all the staff was able to escape safely.

A bighearted Arizona special needs van builder bought a new adaptive bike for one of their young customers after learning his bike had been stolen.

Police in Fayetteville AR tell pedestrians, bike riders and motorists that the way to avoid crashes is just pay attention.

A Minnesota city approves a controversial mountain bike trail through a nature park, despite fears it could compromise the habitat for an endangered bumble bee. I gotta go with the environmentalists on this one; no use should be allowed that threatens any endangered species, because once they’re gone, they ain’t coming back.

A Detroit columnist complains about the city’s “tepid” response to the death of a nine-year old girl who was mauled by a neighbor’s dogs as she was riding her bike.

Cincinnati is the latest city to roll out a mountain bike-mounted EMS unit to get paramedics to emergency situations faster.

No shit. A Rhode Island legislator urges the state not to take $37 million earmarked to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians to fix roads and bridges for drivers.

No bias here. Yes, a Cape Cod bike rider may be at fault for a crash. But if he ended up on the hood and windshield of a car, he’s probably not the one who did the colliding.

The NYPD responds to a series of bike crashes in Central Park by turning out in force to slow riders down.

New York provides bike riders and pedestrians with a spacious, 20-foot wide path on a new bridge span. But neglects to give them a safe way to get there.

After kids in their early teens start a ride out group to keep away from drugs and gangs, Schenectady NY city leaders respond with an ordinance allowing police to impound the kid’s bikes, because they piss off drivers and are too young to ticket. Although one former cop would rather use an old Soviet tactic and just toss them in a psych ward.

South Philadelphia is one of the top bicycling neighborhoods in the US. But that doesn’t seem to matter to local residents, who refuse to sacrifice 24 parking spaces to protect human lives.

Sad news from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where a 14-year old boy was fatally shot as he rode his bicycle, just days after making the football team at his middle school. Seriously, this shit has got to stop.

Either a Florida supermarket employs costume makers, or a local TV station doesn’t know how to spell customer. And apparently, neither one knows bike riders don’t have to ride in the crosswalk.

A Miami weekly says you can survive in the city without a car, but you have to bike at your own risk.

 

International

Mexico’s biggest bikemaker is building a $25 million maquiladora plant with plans to begin exporting to the US. Which isn’t a bad idea in light of Trump’s tariffs on Chinese-made bicycles and parts.

Ottawa city councilors respond to a deadly year for bike riders by saying they want people on bikes to feel safe on the streets. Maybe Los Angeles city councilmembers could take the hint from them.

After getting back on his bike after breaking his leg in a major endo, a London writer finds drivers have gotten meaner. And hopes for a day when all city centers will be carfree.

Bike Biz takes a tour of Britain’s legendary Brooks saddle factory.

Time says the streets of Europe aren’t big enough for bicycle riders and e-scooterists.

 

Competitive Cycling

Watch two-time world mountain bike champ Danny Hart’s dream custom mountain bike build come together in 22 minutes.

Apparently, closing your eyes as you sprint for the finish in the fourth stage of the Vuelta makes you faster.

Evidently, Chloe Dygert Owen is doing a good job of overcoming her confidence issues, after demolishing the peloton to win all four stages of the Colorado Classic. Meanwhile, race organizers hope to add more European teams for next year’s edition of the women’s stage race.

 

Finally…

Who needs a bike path when you’ve got the Great Wall of China? Despite what the company says, Peloton is less than a bike because bikes have wheels.

And if you’re going to burglarize a store, don’t leave the keys in your truck where a bike-riding car thief can find them.

 

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

Morning Links: Long list of bike events, a moving tale of a cross-country rider, and what the hell is Metro on?

September 14, 2018 / / 2 comments

We’ve got a long list of bike events to catch up on.

Explore the new MyFigueroa Complete Streets project this afternoon with the Bike on Fig Ride, hosted by BikeSafe USC and MyFigueroa.

Metro’s Bicycle Education Safety Training (BEST) Program is teaming with People for Mobility Justice and the Ride On! bike co-op to host the People Street Bike Rodeo in Leimert Park starting at 6 pm tonight.

Culver City, Go Human and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) are sponsoring Experience Elenda on Elenda Street in Culver City tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, BikeSGV and Metro BEST are holding the Sriracha Slow Roll through Duarte and Irwindale to the famed Sriracha factory, riding along a little-known off-road greenway.

Party for a good cause tomorrow night at the Pure Cycles HQ in Burbank, benefitting the Pablove Foundation to fight childhood cancer.

Metro is hosting the Pride of the Valley open streets event in Baldwin Park and Irwindale from 9 am to 2 pm this Sunday.

The LACBC and the Metro Best Program are hosting the BEST Ride: Forgotten History of Venice this Sunday.

Beverly Hills is hosting the formal dedication and ribbon cutting for the reconstructed Santa Monica Blvd at 1:30 pm this Monday, including the new green bike lanes. Maybe it’s also time to formally retire their designation as the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.

Go Human is sponsoring Connecting Chino on September 22nd to demonstrate temporary street improvements around the Chino Community Building.

Go Human and City of San Jacinto are sponsoring Envision San Jacinto on the 29th.

Wrapping up our events for this month, CicLAvia celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic with the massive Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia from DTLA to Hollywood. Which will also feature the first ever public appearance of the Militant Angeleno as he leads his first epic CicLAvia Tour.

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Today The Beauty of Cycling lives up to its name.

In a beautifully moving piece from Peter Flax, an Illinois college student describes his ride across the US, just 17 months after he barely survived what could have been a fatal car crash.

Seriously, if you can make it through this piece without tears in your eyes, you’re a stronger person than I am.

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The San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of stories about bike tourism on Thursday, including —

Speaking of bike tourism, my brother is nearing the end of the first week of what has so far been a soggy ride through the Pacific Northwest, forwarding these photos from the Washington coast.

He also notes that on just the second day of his ride, a total stranger insisted on giving him $20 to buy lunch.

Another reminder that there’s real kindness in this world, if we stop arguing long enough to let it surface.

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Someone needs to find out who is slipping acid into the water coolers in Metro’s marketing department.

And mind your manners with your bike, or get banished to a distant planet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=8iMH1pnlmt0

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Local

Fast Company gets the story half right, saying Los Angeles is making a massive push towards zero emissions transportation, calling for 45% of cars and trucks to be electric within ten years. On the other hand, the city is backing away from its commitment to safer streets for bikes, ebikes, scooters and other forms of personal zero emissions vehicles.

LADOT has opened the semi-annual window to apply for speed humps. Which should be installed on every street until LA drivers learn how to take their foot off the gas pedal.

 

State

Governor Brown has signed an executive order requiring California to be carbon neutral by 2045, a goal the state is unlikely to meet without a dramatic drop in driving.

The San Francisco Business Journal says Prop 6, which would reverse California’s new gas tax, is a road back to the past that shouldn’t be taken.

E-scooters and app-based dockless bikeshare are behind San Diego’s plan to create a new Mobility Board focused on improving safety and re-thinking road and sidewalk designs

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 78-year old retired physician still rides 100 miles a week around his Carlsbad neighborhood. After which he returns his bike to his garage where he keeps his other 21 bicycles — down from the 50 he used to own.

Nice story from La Quinta, where police officers and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies pitched in to buy a new bike for a 6th grade girl after hers was stolen. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Nearly 100 bike riders opened the new on-road Peninsula Bikeway, providing a connection between Redwood City and Mountain View.

Streetsblog says San Francisco may be hosting the Global Climate Action Summit, but the city falls short on bicycling, walking and transit policies.

Bay Area bike riders call for change after the arrest of Rich City Rides founder Najari Smith for Biking While Black; black bike riders are six times more likely to be ticketed than white riders in Oakland.

 

National

The US House has passed the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which would provide every fourth grader with a free pass to enter US public lands by foot or bike, accompanied by up to three adults.

Reno warns drivers to watch out for more bikes on the road as Interbike comes to town.

This is who we share the roads with. After nearly running a bicyclist off the road, a Washington driver says he was taught that bike riders were supposed to yield to people in cars, and have an obligation to get the hell out of his way.

Wired considers what they call the “exquisite, intricate insanity” of Denise Mueller-Korenek’s attempt to set a new two-wheeled human-propelled speed record this weekend at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

A Minneapolis columnist wonders where bikes fit into the city’s updated transportation plan, while a city councilmember looks to the Netherlands for inspiration.

A Philadelphia trash company has settled with the family of a fallen bike rider for $6 million, as well as an agreement to improve driver training and fund local traffic safety organizations.

Evidently, they take traffic crime seriously in Louisiana, as a New Orleans driver gets 20 years for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider.

 

International

The United Nations is struggling to come up with crash avoidance strategies to keep autonomous cars from running over bicyclists.

Bike Radar offers a lucky 13 reasons to be a roadie.

Toronto bicyclists want to know why nothing has been done to fix death traps on the city’s west side.

A British writer tests Brompton’s new folding ebike, with an engine developed by an F1 team, to see if it’s worth the $4,000 price tag.

A team from Britain’s University of Liverpool has set new handcycle land speed records for both men and women, topping out at 51.86 and 41.86 mph, respectively.

After surviving a brutal hit-and-run, a bike rider says drivers in the UK show little respect for people on bicycles. Kind of like drivers everywhere else.

An Irish driver pens a letter to bike riders, insisting he doesn’t want to kill anyone, but if he does, it will be their fault for not wearing hi-viz and putting lights on their bikes. He’s right about the lights, but you shouldn’t have to dress like a clown just to ride a bike. You have an obligation to be seeable, while drivers have an obligation to see you.

A town in the Netherlands has opened a new 100-foot long bike path made of recycle plastic.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italy’s Fabio Aru apologized to famed bikemaker Ernesto Colnago for his comments after crashing when the derailleur locked up on his bike during the Vuelta; cameras picked him up yelling “cazzo di bici!”, which translates to “shit bike.”

Phillippe Gilbert unexpectedly returns to racing, two months after finishing a stage in the Tour de France with a broken kneecap.

Pro surfing is now offering equal prize money for men and women, but pro cycling has a long way to go, despite a few bright spots.

Former world track cycling champ Kristina Vogel says she’s ready to start her new life as a paraplegic after she was paralyzed in a training crash earlier this year; she hasn’t heard from the Dutch rider she collided with or the country’s cycling federation.

 

Finally…

This is what it looks like when 500 cyclists hit the wall. And if Google’s founder had his way, you could have been shot through a 35-mile tube at high speed, propelled from behind by a mixture of helium and oxygen.

Um, I don’t think so.

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Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

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

Morning Links: Sympathy for fallen LADOT Traffic Officer, and terrorist attack kills bike tourists in Tajikistan

July 31, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Sympathy for fallen LADOT Traffic Officer, and terrorist attack kills bike tourists in Tajikistan

As bike riders, we don’t hesitate to criticize LADOT when its called for.

But let’s take a moment to offer the the city’s Department of Transportation our sympathy and prayers on the death last week of LADOT Traffic Officer Gregory Park, who became collateral damage in a traffic collision as he was writing a parking ticket in Van Nuys.

I hope you’ll join me in sending our condolences to his family, friends and co-workers.

And remember that we’re not the only ones at risk on the streets.

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Yesterday we mentioned two American bike tourists who killed in Tajikistan, along with riders from Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Today we learned that the four were victims of a terrorist attack, as Islamic State claimed credit for the killings. They were run down with a car, then attacked with knives.

Three others in the group were wounded.

Authorities later killed two suspects and arrested three others, as well as recovering a car that may have been used in the attack. Another three suspects were “rendered harmless,” though it was unclear what was meant by that.

Although I’m sure we can guess.

Thanks to Richard Risemberg for the heads-up.

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Hats off to new LA Laker LeBron James for opening a new Akron, Ohio school for at-risk kids.

The goal is to help kids who are lagging behind in school and struggling at home with accelerated learning and help combating difficulties outside of the classroom.

But here’s the best part.

LeBron James often credits his bicycle as a huge factor in his childhood that gave him an escape from dangerous parts of his neighborhood and the freedom to explore — every student will receive a bicycle when they arrive.

I’ve never been a big basketball fan, but I’m starting to like this guy.

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Local

The LACBC’s monthly Sunday Funday bike ride will explore South LA and the Watts Towers this Sunday.

Santa Monica approved a $5 million plan to quintuple the amount of green bike lanes in the city, as well as providing more secure bike parking and video bike recognition systems at red lights.

 

State

Wheel Tales is offering three community bike adventures, including four day rides along California’s Central Coast or a Santa Cruz Challenge.

Charles Hudak sends word that Ofo is not leaving Southern California, let alone the US, despite emails to that effect that went out Friday in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Speaking of San Diego, it’s less than a month away from Bike the Bay, your once-a-year chance to ride the city’s iconic San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge and cruise around the San Diego Bay.

Video shows a bike rider nearly run down on the Bay Area’s Mt. Diablo, as a tour bus drifts onto the wrong side of the road as the rider approaches.

Deontae Bush, the bike rider killed in an Oakland collision Friday night, was just pushing off from the curb after giving a woman money for bus fare when he was struck and killed.

 

National

Oh, hell no. A new bill in Congress would tax transit agencies, bicycle tires and ebike batteries to pay for the growing Highway Fund deficit instead of raising the gas tax, which hasn’t been increased since 1993. In other words, they want bike riders and transit users to subsidize drivers even more than we already do.

Bloomberg says Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods will make virtually every bicycle sold in the US more expensive, at a time when local bike shops are already struggling to survive.

Pacific Standard talks with Adonia Lugo about building a more inclusive bike advocacy movement.

Good piece, as CNN’s Wisdom Project considers the mindfulness and zen of bicycling. I’ve long considered bike riding a form of moving meditation.

An economist riding across the US concludes that bicycling is the third most dangerous sport, no matter how you calculate it.

Police in Houston release new video of the suspect in the fatal shooting of famed cardiologist Dr. Mark Hausknecht as he rode his bike to work.

No bias here. After a Tulsa bicyclist was killed and another rider injured when they were run down by a pickup driver, a local TV station blames the confusing bike lanes that they weren’t using, which aren’t on the street they were riding on.

Last week’s Chicago Critical Mass ended in front of city’s police headquarters to protest the department’s policy of zero-tolerance bike enforcement in black and brown communities.

Bicycling to Rhode Island’s famed Newport Folk Festival reached an all-time high, as over 1,800 people left their cars at home each day to rode to the festival.

New York could have a black, bike-riding mayor in three years if the Brooklyn borough president has his way.

Gothamist says private cars are increasingly pointless as e-moped sharing comes to New York. Meanwhile, dockless ped-assist e-bikesharing is unveiled in the Big Apple, which just legalized such lower-speed ebikes.

A Florida letter writer complains about all those inconsiderate bicyclists who park their cars at the beach to ride their bikes, as opposed to all those very considerate drivers who park at the beach to just go to the beach.

 

International

A new campaign is underway to get bicycle mayors appointed for over 100 cities around the world by 2020. Although the Los Angeles bicycle mayor would probably be too busy running for bicycle president to actually get anything done.

Caught on video: A clumsy Montreal thief dismantles a traffic sign to steal a bicycle, prompting the mayor to call for more bike parking. And this is why you never lock your bike to a sign post.

A new Toronto app allows riders to report problems with bike parking, including the need for more. Meanwhile, a new survey shows 80% of Toronto residents support building protected bike lanes, including 75% of drivers. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

As we mentioned last week, London’s new Vision Zero plan would eliminate traffic deaths by 2041. They might actually succeed, after cutting traffic fatalities nearly 50% in just the last ten years, and with an actual plan to get them the rest of the way.

After a British woman was knocked unconscious in a crash with another bicyclist, she woke up unable to remember how to speak English.

A driver in the UK gets eight years for a drunken hit-and-run that took the life of a local chef as he biked home.

Great Britain is looking for ideas on how e-cargo bikes and electric transport vans can make more last mile deliveries.

Celebrate Geraint Thomas’ victory in the Tour de France with five of the best bicycling routes in Wales.

According to a Swiss study, riding an ebike less than four miles a day, at least three times a week for four weeks, is enough to start getting back into shape. Meanwhile, a writer for Bike Radar says like it or not, ebikes are here to stay, and that’s a good thing.

Korea will mandate the use of bike helmets at the end of September, though hygiene-wary bicyclists question the wisdom of shared helmets for bikeshare.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Magazine recounts five OMG moments from the Tour de France. Four of which are exactly the ones I’d list.

Cycling Weekly goes back to last winter to examine how Geraint Thomas won the Tour, while a Welsh columnist says maybe Thomas should run for first minister of Wales.

Nice piece from NPR about Texan Lawson Craddock’s last place finish in the Tour de France, riding almost all 2,082 miles with a broken shoulder blade. Needless to say, it was not easy on his mom.

In a sign of the times, officials examined bikes for motor doping over 3,000 times during the three week tour.

Ethiopian cyclist Tsgabu Grmay’s determination and thick skin has made him a two-time competitor in the Tour de France.

A writer for VeloNews decides to enter the Leadville 100 race on a mountain bike as old as he is.

Writing in Bicycling, a former racer recounts the broken promise that cost him the 2001 U-23 championship, which had haunted him ever since.

 

Finally…

Biking home after too many biers could get you a big fine. Apparently, asking a cop why he’s pulling over bicyclists on a charity ride can also get expensive.

And Cincinnati unexpectedly gets the Bird.

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Morning Links: Times talks bike tours, reward for bike-riding Koreatown killer, and more stupid criminal tricks

April 11, 2017 / / 2 comments

The LA Times Travel section went heavy on the bikes this week, following up on yesterday’s story on charity bike rides in the West.

The paper asked “bicycling enthusiasts” for their favorite rides, which ranged from LA’s Ballona Creek north to Washington, and east to the Mississippi. But somehow managed to place Iowa’s RAGBRAI in Missouri.

They suggest trying a pedal-assist ebike to get a bigger charge out of your trip — no pun intended, I’m sure — and follow up with ten questions to answer before you set out on a bike trip.

And last but not least, they offer a short timeline of the 200-year history of the bicycle, noting that the first recumbents were met with derision.

An attitude that continues today in some circles.

………

Local

There’s now a $50,000 reward for the bike-riding man who killed a homeless woman in Koreatown in February.

CiclaValley urges everyone to show up for Wednesday’s meeting for bike lanes on Lankershim Blvd.

CicLAvia is looking for a paid digital engagement intern.

A 36-year old homeless man has been ordered to undergo a psych evaluation after getting busted for throwing an object at a driver’s car when he was apparently cut off while riding his bike on a Santa Clarita sidewalk.

 

State

Welcome back to SoCal, Frank. Former Newport Beach bike advocate Frank Peters is back in Southern California, setting up shop in Santa Barbara after a stint in Portland. And back to his old bike advocacy ways.

Plans are starting to fall into place for a possible 13-mile bike and pedestrian path linking Petaluma and Sebastopol.

The organizer of the Napa County triathlon where over 30 competitors were treated for possible hypothermia after swimming in a freezing lake says it didn’t really happen, and besides, they should have worn a jacket.

 

National

Cyclocross Magazine offers seven pretty good reasons to visit your local auto parts store.

Thankfully, there’s no consensus in the Iowa legislature for a bill that would force bike riders to dress like roadway workers and light their bikes 24/7.

Equestrians carry the anti-bike torch in Wichita KS, partially blocking plans for a bike path through a park.

A Wisconsin bike rider faces charges for allegedly beating a pedestrian after they nearly collided as the victim was crossing the street.

Chicago drivers who ignore No Parking signs and park in a buffered bike lane are blocking more than just people on bicycles.

The driver charged in the drug-fueled Kalamazoo massacre that killed five bike riders was arrested for a previous DUI in 2011, but his confession that he was stoned on painkillers was tossed because he hadn’t been read his rights.

Winston-Salem NC plans construction of a separated bike path along with a highway project, minimizing costs and disruption; the route is designed to allow riders to avoid a pair of major hills on their way downtown.

Atlanta is putting the finishing touches on a new three mile, 14-foot wide section of the planned Beltline multi-use trail through the city.

 

International

Treehugger reviews the new book by the Guardian’s bicycling writer, Peter Walker.

Montreal makes a smart move by making their bikeshare free on weekends.

After being acquitted in Britain’s first crowd-funded private prosecution, a British driver says it’s horrifying to be responsible for the death of another person, while insisting that she just didn’t see him.

Police are looking for an English cyclist who assaulted a couple in their 60s when they parked their car after passing him. I’d really like to say there’s another side to the story, but there’s no excuse for physically attacking anyone. Ever. Period.

No bias here. A British paper says a bicyclist suffered serious injuries smashing into a windshield. Never mind that she was actually hit by the car, which apparently did not have a driver.

As long as you run the country, you can make them play any damn song you want. The president of Turkmenistan has chosen a song he recorded as the official anthem of the Asian Indoor Games being hosted by his county.

An Indian couple is riding from Mumbai to Bangkok, having covered over 2,100 miles so far.

 

Finally…

A police station probably isn’t the best place to hide after getting off your bike and snatching a woman’s cell phone. Just a suggestion: If you’re going to ride your bike in the Applebee’s parking lot, leave your gun, heroin and prescription drugs at home.

And if you’re going to drop out of a bike race, try not to get picked up by the police for riding on a highway.

 

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