Tag Archive for Bike Week

New automatic braking regs protect peds, Bike Month just a day away, and SaMo and Pasadena honored for best bike lanes

April 30, 2024 / / Comments Off on New automatic braking regs protect peds, Bike Month just a day away, and SaMo and Pasadena honored for best bike lanes
Just 245 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 all face on the mean streets of LA.

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

We’re still at 1,128 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

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On top of everything else, I’ll be having a small skin cancer today, no doubt a souvenir of decades of riding a bike when they still thought the sun was good for you, and and any lotion you might use was meant for tanning, not screening out dangerous rays. 

So the status of tomorrow’s post is to be determined at this point. Not because of the minor surgery, but whether I’ll survive riding the bus with an effed up shoulder and ribs. 

Hopefully I’ll bounce back and see you in the morning; if not, we’ll be back bright and early on Thursday. 

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There may be hope yet. Eventually, anyway.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, unveiled the final draft of a new regulation to improve traffic safety, requiring every new motor vehicle sold in the US to have forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection braking.

According to the AP,

The standards require vehicles to stop and avoid hitting a vehicle in front of them at speeds up to 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour). Also they must apply the brakes automatically at up to 90 mph (145 kph) if a collision with vehicle ahead is imminent.

The systems also have to spot pedestrians during the day and night, and must stop and avoid a pedestrian at 31 mph to 40 mph (50 kph to 64 kph) depending on the pedestrian’s location and movement.

Presumably, any system than can detect pedestrians should be able to protect people on bicycles, although that’s not guaranteed.

Or even required.

Yet another reminder that we remain an afterthought when it comes to safety.

However, the new regulations won’t take effect for another five years. And it will take decades before most older cars with more limited capabilities are off the roads.

It’s predicted the new regs will save just 362 lives each year, less than 1% of the more than 40,000 people killed annually on American roads.

But it’s a start.

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Metro offers a guide to next month’s Bike Month, including Metro Bike discounts for Bike Week, starting May 13th, and free Metro rides for Bike Day on Thursday the 16th. Although what’s missing is any mention of Bike Day activities, or the pre-pandemic Bike to Work pit stops to encourage more people to try bike commuting.

UCLA will observe Bike Month with a series of mobile bike repair services across campus, along with pit stops on Tuesday the 14th, and Wednesday the 15th.

Beverly Hills will mark Bike Month with a series of events, ranging from a month-long commuter challenge and a “May the 4th Be With You” family bike ride to the kind of Bike to Work Day pit stop Metro appears to have forgotten.

Pasadena will also celebrate Bike Month, starting with National Ride a Bike Day this Sunday, the annual Rose Bowl Ride of Silence on Wednesday the 15th, and refreshments at City Hall for Bike to Work Day.

Meanwhile, LAist offers a guide to living carfree in the City of Angels, including how to use your bike for transportation; you can listen to their podcast from last year on the same subject below.

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Momentum lists the 20 best new bike lanes in the US, topped by projects in New York and Redmond, Washington.

Southern California is represented by Pasadena’s Union Street protected bike lane at #6, and Santa Monica’s 17th Street at #16.

And it should come to the surprise of absolutely no one that Los Angeles is nowhere to be found on the list.

As usual.

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Gravel Bike California conducts a little recon for NorCal’s planned 300-mile Great Redwood Trail network.

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It’s now 132 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 34 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. Sheriff’s deputies in San Marcos will conduct an “ebike safety sweep” on Wednesday afternoon to educate riders on ebike safety, while ticketing any violations committed by ebike riders — including a requirement to ride to the right, which only applies if you’re traveling at less than the speed of traffic. If you do get a ticket, fight it, because an operation specifically targeting ebike riders rather than all road users suggests illegally biased enforcement. 

A road-raging Maryland man faces charges for attempting to run a pair of bicyclists participating in a charity ride off the road with his pickup, then pulling into a driveway and firing three blasts with his shotgun, apparently missing them.

No bias here, either. A writer for Strong Towns says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis isn’t wrong when he says “some activists want to make driving so miserable that people have to abandon their cars,” accusing a “significant percentage of safe streets activists” of being motivated by a hatred of cars and the people who drive them. Never mind that a “significant percentage” of safe streets activists are drivers themselves. 

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Local 

A 38-year old man was shot by an unknown assailant while riding his bicycle in Sun Valley Friday night, calling police after “noticing” he’d been hit by gunfire.

 

State

Irvine will host the city’s first-ever open streets event this Saturday, with a relatively petite 1.66-mile CicloIrvine from 11 am to 4 pm.

An Encinitas paracyclist is looking for donations to help her make it to a qualifier for the Paris Paralympic Games.

San Diego recommends five scenic bike rides, calling the city a bike rider’s paradise. Just remember your ebike won’t be welcome in Mission Bay. 

Good question. A Redwood City writer wants to know what happened to the award-winning plans for the city’s first bike boulevard, which seem to have disappeared without a trace from the list of upcoming projects.

Eureka explains to drivers how to operate their big, deadly machines after a pair of new bikeways currently nearing completion are finished. Because evidently, that whole “licensing and registration” thing they keep insisting should be required for bicyclists isn’t enough to guarantee the people who pass them actually know how to drive already. 

 

National

If you’re looking for a bargain on bikes, parts and accessories, Colorado Cyclist and Planet Cyclery are holding online going out of business sales with up to 30% discounts across the board. But look around and compare prices before you buy, because liquidators often jack up prices before they cut them.

McLaren IndyCar racer David Malukas may be regretting being one of us, because he lost his contract after missing the year’s first four races due to an off-season mountain biking injury.

That’s more like it. An Arizona man will spend at least 12 years of a 14-year sentence behind bars, after pleading guilty to negligent homicide and hit-and-run charges for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider; he was already wanted on outstanding state and federal warrants at the time of the crash. Which at least explains why he fled.

Autopsy results show a Colorado mom, whose body was found three years after she disappeared on a Mother’s Day bike ride, was murdered “by unspecified means,” and had been injected with an animal tranquilizer used to immobilize wildlife before her death; her husband was initially charged with her murder, but charges were dropped because authorities hadn’t yet found her body.

Christian music star Amy Grant discusses the Nashville solo bicycle crash that took her memory, and nearly her life, forcing her to relearn the words to her own songs while leaning on her faith and family.

 

International

Mathematically challenged website Discerning Cyclist lists five things people get wrong about road bikes, which turns out to be six.

Israeli Occupation War Cabinet minister, and former opposition candidate Benny Gantz is one of us, too, breaking his foot while riding a bike in Southern Israel. But at least he has the freedom to ride a bike, unlike most people in Gaza these days. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Sofia Gomez Villafañe and teammate Matt Beers won this year’s Belgian Waffle Ride in San Marcos on Sunday, with Courtney Sherwell and Caroline Wreszin rounding out the women’s podium, and Alexey Vermeulen and Petr Vakoč finishing second and third for the men.

Bicycling considers how collegiate cycling can save American bike racing. This one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if they block you. 

British Cycling demonstrates the track bike they hope will carry their athletes to victory in the Paris Olympics. Demonstrating once again that victory in Olympic track cycling depends at least as much on technology as actual talent.

Former Tour de France champ Geraint Thomas blames UCI boss David Lappartient and race organizers for half of the crashes in pro cycling, saying that level of carnage wouldn’t be accepted in any new sport. Although someone should tell him about all those people flooding ERs with pickleball injuries. 

 

Finally…

Now you, too, could host your very own bicycle museum, assuming you own a vacant building somewhere in the Twin Cities. Your next bike could have a very cool looking Bugatti frame, handcrafted from a design created by Ettore Bugatti himself 115 years ago.

And who needs to ride a bike, when your bike can ride itself?

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Thanks to David V for his generous donation to help support this site, and keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Or every day my internet works and I’m not too banged up to do it, anyway. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Huerta guilty of murder in Tour de Palm Springs crash, more Bike Week news, and annual Ride of Silence rolls tomorrow

May 16, 2023 / / 3 comments

Guilty.

To the surprise of no one, Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr. was convicted Monday of killing Washington resident Mark Kristofferson in the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs.

A Riverside jury deliberated three days before convicting Huerta of 2nd degree murder, as well as driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

Although, for some reason, Huerta was not charged with severely injuring Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers in the same crash.

Huerta was high on weed and driving without a license when he ran down Kristofferson while driving at speeds up to 100 mph; he was arrested after being detained by witnesses in a nearby field as he attempted to run away on foot to high the cannabis he’d been smoking.

Huerta was remanded into custody after the verdict was announce, after being free on a quarter million dollar bond while awaiting trial. He now faces a minimum of 15 years behind bars.

On the other hand, Kristofferson received the death penalty at Huerta’s hands, while his loved ones were sentenced to life without him.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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Santa Clarita residents kicked off Bike Week a day early with a self-guided bike tour along the city’s bike path system Saturday morning.

Bike riders in Paso Robles can enjoy a Bike Breakfast of free coffee and breakfast burritos tomorrow morning.

Metrolink is one-upping Metro’s free rides on Thursday’s Bike Day by offering a full week of free rides this week if you board with your bike. Thanks to J for the heads-up.

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In more Bike Week news, tomorrow marks the annual international Ride of Silence to honor the victims of traffic violence, with memorial rides scheduled throughout Southern California.

Although there doesn’t appear to be a ride scheduled for San Diego County, which had at least 12 bicycling deaths last year, and 17 the year before.

Los Angeles
Contact: Rafael Hernandez   <–Send email
Distance: 10 mi
Notes: Location is tentativ
Pasadena
Contact: Thomas Cassidy    <–Send email
Distance: 12 mi.
Notes: Contact the organizer for more details.
Fullerton
Contact: Jane Rands   <–Send email
Distance: 10
Notes: Meet 6:30 pm at the plaza on E Wilshire Ave between Harbor Blvd and Pomona Ave. There is a parking garage with no charge if you enter before 9pm. We will begin riding east on the Wilshire Bike Blvd at 7pm, go south on Acacia, north on Commonwealth, cross Nutwoood and continue north on the county bike trail through the CSUF campus. We will loop south to Dorothy, cross State College and continue on Dorothy to Hornet way where we will turn right onto Berkeley, south on Lemon and west on E Wilshire to return to our starting location. Feel free to join us at any point if you miss our departure at 7pm.
Redding
Contact: Lisa Creps   <–Send email
Distance: 8.5 mi.
Notes: Contact the organizer for more details.
Riverside
Contact: Michele Hampton   <–Send email
Distance: 8 mi.
Notes: For details: https://www.facebook.com/groups/riversidebicycleclub
Palm Springs
Contact: John Siegel   <–Send email
Distance: 4.5 mi.
Notes: https://fb.me/e/Vpz3NHYT

When: Wed. May 17th, 6:30 PM, Ruth Hardy Park, Palm Springs

We will gather at the south parking area, with brief comments from community leaders and elected officials.

This year we will have great support from the Friends of CV/Link, Volunteer Palm Springs, clubs and the City of Palm Springs.

We also encourage non-cyclists to join us. Walkers can use the one mile loop around the park, and all can show support by joining us at the brief ceremony. There is parking for those not arriving by bike. We will honor people we have lost.

The Ride of Silence is held at 7:00 pm local time around the globe.
Thousand Oaks
Contact: Linda Coburn   <–Send email
Distance: 10 mi.
Notes: Bicycle riders of all ages and abilities are encouraged to join the Conejo Valley Ride of Silence. We ride silently together for 10 miles on some of the busiest Thousand Oaks roads during rush hour. By doing so we remind drivers that cyclists are traffic too and educate drivers to be more attentive and careful when sharing the roads. To ensure the safety of all, the Ride of Silence is escorted by the Thousand Oaks Sheriff’s Department.

Gather at The Oaks Mall near Pedals & Pints Brewing beginning at 5:30pm. A ceremony at 5:45 will honor cyclists who have lost their lives to vehicular violence. After the ceremony, at approximately 6:00, the entire group will roll out. The solemn procession of silent riders will keep an even pace of about 10-11 miles per hour, making it achievable by most riders. Helmets are mandatory.

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Yes, please.

The head of the National Traffic Safety Board calls for the federal government to step in to mechanically or electronically limit the speeds of motor vehicles.

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A viral video captures a bizarre interaction with a white woman in medical scrubs apparently trying to forcibly take a New York bikeshare bike which had already been checked out on Black man’s account.

https://twitter.com/Imposter_Edits/status/1657581292681064451?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1657581292681064451%7Ctwgr%5Effcff880297ca99cddc5557df14036845a671e73%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insider.com%2Fwhite-woman-video-citi-bike-black-man-2023-5

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A 70-year old London man somehow managed to fight off four blacked-out, moped-riding bike rustlers who tried to make off with his Brompton, while armed with an angle grinder.

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

Maybe ostensibly bike friendly Portland, Oregon wouldn’t have a declining bike ridership rate if they’d stop scaling back already announced plans for protected bikeways.

Police in Philadelphia are looking for the thieves who knocked a 48-year old man off his bike with their car, then jumped out and beat him unconscious before stealing his wallet and keys.

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

A Lafayette, Louisiana DJ calls out “idiots” he somehow thinks are unique to the city for riding their bikes down the center turn lane on busy streets, rather than riding to the right, calling them “soon-to-be customers” of the local ambulance service. Although somehow he didn’t mention the bike rider killed by a driver while riding in a crosswalk in the same city over the weekend.

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Local 

Streetsblog reports an open house will be held tomorrow night to discuss plans to extend the LA River bike path another mile north from the current terminus at the Riverside/Zoo bridge, including an equestrian trail along with an extension of the multiuse path; a virtual meeting will take place Wednesday. You can provide feedback using an online survey.

Hermosa Beach is dedicating a new bike corral this Sunday at Hermosa Ave and 10th Street, in honor of late South Bay bicycle advocate Julian Katz.

 

State

San Diego Magazine recommends a scenic, leisurely and food-filled trip down the coast highway from Carlsbad to Seaside Reef. Which is a lot safer these days when I used to do that ride on a semi-regular basis.

Richmond bike co-op and community organizers Rich City Rides has started a $6 million fundraising campaign to buy three properties, including their longtime HQ; so far they have received commitments for up to $4.5 million, including an offer of a $3.3 million loan from an anonymous donor.

 

National

PeopleForBikes is partnering with a battery recycling company and a San Francisco-based creative consultancy to create the new Hungry for Batteries campaign to recycle ebike batteries from 52 different bikemakers.

Tragic news from Arizona, where a Flagstaff woman was killed when she fell off her mountain bike and tumbled down a rocky embankment.

Police in Goodyear, Arizona are calling for witnesses to come forward to provide more information about the pickup driver who plowed into a large group ride last February, killing two people and injuring 19 others, after prosecutors rejected the case; the driver claims his steering wheel locked up, forcing him to drift into the victims. Apparently his brake blocked up, too, since he somehow couldn’t stop, either.

This is who we share the road with. When a man in rural eastern Colorado was pulled over for speeding, he switched seats with his dog and tried to convince the cop the dog was driving to avoid getting busted for DUI.

The husband and daughters of missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew, who vanished while riding her bike on Mother’s Day three years ago, have spoken out for the first time since filing a $15 million wrongful arrest suit, even though he reportedly remains the primary suspect in the case.

There’s a special place in hell for the 80-year old hit-and-run driver who knocked a ten-year old North Dakota boy off his bicycle, and left him severely injured in the street. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive.

In the understatement of the year, bike advocates in Lincoln, Nebraska respond to separate collisions that injured two bike riders, including a nine-year old run down by an off-duty sheriff’s deputy, by saying that drivers need to be more careful. Well, no shit.

The man behind the infamous collapse of China’s Ofo dockless bikeshare is now placing his bets on a new boba coffee chain in New York. Let’s hope he doesn’t leave hundreds of thousands of abandoned coffee cups scattered around the city, like he did with bikeshare bikes in China.

US prosecutors are calling for multiple life sentences for convicted New York terrorist Sayfullo Saipov, who killed eight people and injured several others by driving a rented truck down a Manhattan bike path in an ISIS-inspired attack.

Maybe the viral video of the bikeshare skirmish we lined to above was good advertising, as New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare saw record ridership last week.

 

International

Venture capital-backed ebike startup Civilized Cycles aims to make riding to work as luxurious as driving, with a patented suspension system that adjusts to the rider’s weight with a touch of a button. Get back to me when they offer air conditioning, surround sound and in-dash touch screens.

Surprisingly, a new Canadian study released this month shows the legalization of adult-use marijuana in the country has not resulted in an increase in car crashes.

Up to 20,000 people are expected to turn out for a pair of Montreal bike rides celebrating the return of the annual Go Bike Montreal Festival, following cancellations the last few years due to the pandemic.

Australia’s Bicycle Network is joining with the nations LGBTQ+ community to mark tomorrow’s IDAHOBIT Day, which stands for International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia.

 

Competitive Cycling

Teams competing in the Giro are going back to protocols they used in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, in the wake of race leader Remco Evenepoel dropping out with Covid hours after winning the time trial to regain the pink leader’s jersey.

Bicycling says not everyone is convinced Evenepoel really has the disease, suggesting it could just be an excuse to pull out of the race. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

Britain’s Cyclist recaps the first week of the Giro, from a dog-induced crash to positive Covid tests.

Who pooped in their cornflakes? Cyclist also throws a little shade on the current cycling scene, saying it’s not a golden age if the same riders win all the races.

Cycling Weekly calls Indiana University’s recently completed Little 500 the “coolest bike race you’ve never been to.” Unless you have, of course.

 

Finally…

Repeat after me — if you’re carrying fentanyl, weed and multiple cellphones showing drug buys on your ebike, don’t ride salmon.

And now you, too, can build your own bike-based RV camper.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Welcome to Bike Week LA, Tour de Palm Springs jury deliberating, and longtime LA County official Gloria Molina dies

May 15, 2023 / / 2 comments

If it ain’t one thing, it’s another. 

Just when I got my doctor to get more aggressive in treating my diabetes, something else came up to knock me on my ass. 

Wednesday night I went out to walk the dog, and by the time I got back, I was feeling the full effects of what was apparently a sudden-onset stomach virus, or maybe an adverse reaction to a new med. 

We’ll find that part out when I take it again on Tuesday. 

I’m not saying I was sick. But I lost a full eight pounds literally overnight, and was completely out of it until late Friday. 

So my apologies once again for yet another unexcused absence — something I’ve written so many times that my laptop is now autosuggesting the phrase for me. 

Honestly, I do my best to be here for you every morning. But after a lifetime of pushing my body to respond to ever-increasing demands, on and off the bike, it’s now saying “fuck you” on an ever more frequent basis.

Which is about the best way I can describe diabetes and all its multitude of complications. 

Seriously, you don’t want this shit. 

So if you’re at risk, whether from weight, family history or any other factor, get yourself tested. 

No, now. 

And do whatever it takes to turn your health around so you don’t get it. 

Now I’ll get off my damn soapbox and catch up with the news, because we have a lot to catch up on. 

Photo by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay.

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Welcome to Bike Week, the one week of the year when elected officials, government bureaucrats and the news media join in one voice to celebrate all things bikes.

As opposed to the other 51 weeks of the year, when they either ignore us, or actively try to kill us.

Santa Clarita is conducting their annual Bike to Work Challenge this week, encouraging business employees to commute by bike for the full week.

Long Beach is hosting the return of its “beloved” Beach Streets Open Streets event to the downtown area on Saturday.

Metro has unveiled their new line of bikewear and accessories. If anyone has me on their Christmas in July Secret Santa list, I’ll take the Every Lane Is A Bike Lane backpack, thank you. 

Other Metro highlights for Bike Week include —

  • May 18 is Bike to Work Day and we’re offering free 30 minute rides all day long. Simply choose 1-Ride in the app, online or at a kiosk and use code 051823. Metro Bus and Rail are also free- no tapping required. Code can be used multiple times throughout the day. Usage fees apply over 30 minutes.
  • There are two opportunities to join us on your commute. The first 10 Metro Bike Share Passholders at each event will receive a limited-edition mug! May 18 – North Hollywood Station, 8 -11 am and May 19 – Downtown Santa Monica Station, 8-11 am.
  • May 18 and 19, the 365-Day Pass is just $75. That’s a 50% savings! To purchase, select 365-Day Pass in the app or online and enter code BIKETOWORK23.Offer valid for first time 365-Day Passholders, 5/18/23 – 5/19/23 only. Code valid for Full Fare and Reduced Fare Passes.
  • May 21– CicLAmini Watts, presented by Metro will be a more pedestrian-oriented event than the typical CicLAvia, but sure to be just as special. Metro Bikes will be available to check out on a first come, first served basis from 9am-2pm. If you wish to check out a bike, get prepared by downloading the app. See you there!

Meanwhile, Glendale is jumping the gun by hosting their Bike to Work Day a day earlier on Wednesday. Go Glendale and Walk Bike Glendale will host a pitstop at 800 N Brand from 8 am to 10 am on Wednesday, with another pit stop hosted by the City of Glendale at the Glendale City Hall from 8 am to 10 am, .

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Jury deliberations are set to resume today in the trial of Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr. for killing Washington resident Mark Kristofferson, and severely injuring Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers, in an alleged high-speed DUI crash in the 2018 Tour de Palm Springs.

Huerta was allegedly high on weed and driving without a license when he ran down Kristofferson at speeds up to 100 mph; he was arrested after being detained by witnesses in a nearby field as he attempted to run away on foot.

The jury halted their work Friday evening after two days of deliberations without reaching a verdict.

Huerta is charged with second-degree murder, driving under the influence of drugs resulting in great bodily injury, reckless driving and driving on a suspended license.

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Sad news this morning, as groundbreaking populist LA political lead Gloria Molina has passed away at age 74, following a three-year battle with cancer.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Molina was California’s first Latina Assembly member, the first Latina to serve on the LA City Council, and the first Latina on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.

I honestly can’t tell you what Molina’s record on bikes was.

But she spent her entire career fighting for undeserved communities, particularly on the East Side of Los Angeles.

And that’s good enough for me.

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Streets For All is hosting a volunteer meet-up and bike ride tomorrow at Union Station night.

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This has got to be me from a prior life. Unless maybe it’s you.

But it’s got to be one of us, right?

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Okay, I’m moving there.

But where is Ghent, anyway? Oh, who cares, I’m going.

https://twitter.com/_dmoser/status/1657261388878970885

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Remarkable — and questionable — story, as a specially abled Indian man claims to have ridden 2,300 miles in just four and a half days, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

Questionable because that works out to 511 miles a day, or 21 miles an hour, every hour for 108 hours — without rest stops.

Stopping to rest or sleep would push that hourly figure even higher. Even just six hours of daily rest time would require averaging 28 mph for the other 18 hours straight, which seems unlikely.

But maybe some randonneurs out there can tell us how likely it really is.

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

No surprise here, as bike groups join with Democrats to call on Utah Senator Mitt Romney to rethink his comments calling bike lanes “the height of stupidity.” Actually, a lot of them are, but not for the reasons he thinks.

Road.cc deconstructs the so-called war on motorists, concluding it’s nothing more than encouraging people to drive less and consider alternative forms of transportation — despite the ongoing backlash.

A British Member of Parliament dismissed bicyclists’ concerns over new regulations allowing longer trucks on the country’s roads, bizarrely suggesting that they were “good for road safety.”

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

Demonstrating that some people just don’t get it, a Lycra-clad English bike rider stopped several cops who were targeting speeding drivers, asking if they didn’t have anything better to do. He should have thanked them for trying to save his life, and everyone else on the roadway, instead. 

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Local 

Yes, please. The LA City Council is considering a proposal to turn some peak-hour traffic lanes into bus lanes, which could also be used by people on bicycles; they’ve instructed LADOT to report back on converting lanes on Alvarado Street, Vermont Blvd, and La Brea and Roscoe avenues.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton say nice try LADOT, but the new plans to curb illegal street racing in Angelino Heights by Fast & Furious fans doesn’t go nearly far enough, as the city’s first round of changes are nearly complete.

Pasadena is nearing completion of the Union Street protected bikeway project, with a two-way bike lane on Union from Hill Ave to Arroyo Parkway, and a bike boulevard on Holliston Ave between Union and Cordova streets.

Writing on her Good Mom, Bad Mom blog, Redondo Beach resident Dr. Grace Peng urges you to respond to the Metro Active Transportation Corridor survey about remaking Redondo Beach Blvd, and offers a local’s perspective on how to answer those questions to help turn the current car sewer into something that safely serves all of us.

Kourtney Kardashian is one of us, as the British tabloids freak out when she rode a bike with her shirtless, shoeless and helmet-less eight-year old son standing on the rear wheel pegs.

 

State

Calbike is calling on California to boost its relatively meager $10 million funding for ebike tax credits to a more reasonable $50 million; California’s current funding is $2 million less than Colorado’s new ebike rebate program, despite having almost seven times the population.

Calbike also offers a tutorial intended to demystify California’s arcane budget process.

Patch considers six California bike laws you probably don’t know. All of which you probably do know, although some drivers may not. Okay, a lot of drivers.

Streets For All says state Assemblymember Chris Holden holds the key committee vote on legislation to approve speed cams, and study the impact of vehicle weight fees on pedestrians deaths; the group urges you to contact his office to urge their passage, even if you don’t live in his district.

A 47-year old San Diego man was rushed into surgery for a broken wrist and other non-life-threatening injuries suffered when he allegedly rear-ended a car stopped at a red light while riding an ebike at a high rate of speed.

That’s more like it. Bike riders in San Mateo County can now use a website to report violations of the state’s three-foot passing law online.

He gets it. A Palo Alto op-ed writer says safer streets, rail crossings and bike paths are key to a better community.

A San Francisco bike shop is shutting down, saying it’s a victim of repeated thefts and break-ins, a slow economy and a seemingly unending series of storms that kept customers away.

Megan Lynch forwards news that UC Davis is getting a new bike counter, after a reckless driver killed the last one.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers advice on the highly underrated skill of looking back to check traffic or riders behind you while maintaining your line.

Seventy-four-year old Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer has been pushing for bike legislation for nearly 30 years, as advocates gathered for a Friday bike ride through DC to call for more money and safer streets.

She gets it. An Albuquerque columnist suggests New Mexico should adopt a statewide Vision Zero program, comparing their more than 150 traffic deaths last year to Jersey City, New Jersey’s zero.

Denver residents enjoyed the city’s first Viva Streets open streets event, closing 3.5 miles of downtown streets to cars while opening them up for people.

It’s now been three years since a Colorado woman vanished with a trace on a Mother’s Day bike ride; Suzanne Morphew’s husband was arrested in her disappearance nearly a year after searchers found her helmet and mountain bike, but charges were dropped in a pre-trial hearing because her body still hasn’t been found.

Lincoln, Nebraska’s chief deputy swears he only looked down for a moment to switch the radio station when he ran down a nine-year old girl riding her bike, leaving her with multiple skull fractures, a brain bleed, fractured shoulder, injured knee and road rash. Any bets on how long it will take them to blame the victim?

Ten years and 180 million rides later, New York officials look back at the improbable success of the city’s bikeshare system.

President Joe Biden continues to be one of us, talking to the press about the calmer-than-expected US-Mexico border during a bike ride through Delaware’s Gordons Pond State Park.

 

International

Residents of North Montreal rallied to demand more bikeways after living with just one protected bike lane for the last 40 years, as the city backed out of a promise to build four bike paths in the neighborhood this year, instead committing to just three.

A Montreal bike shop has kept it in the family since 1948.

He gets it, too. A Toronto columnist calls for residents who use food delivery services to fight to keep bike lanes, saying they should be concerned for the safety for the bike couriers who deliver their food.

Heartbreaking news from the UK, where a 56-year old English man died of a heart attack while riding his bike, just an hour after snapping a smiling selfie. Although someone should tell the Daily Record that seemingly healthy people sometimes suffer from undetected health problems, which is why everyone who rides a bike should see a doctor on a regular basis. Then again, so should everyone else. 

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 43-year old former soccer player got just two years and four months behind bars for the horrifying, drunken hit-and-run that left a bike-riding woman in her 70s with life-changing injuries; he was four times the legal limit when he knocked her off her bike, then slowly drove over her with all four wheels. There’s video of the crash, but consider whether you really want to watch it, because you can’t unsee it if you do.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England, will have some penance to do after he was fined the equivalent of $625 for driving 25 mph in a 20 mph zone.

A Dublin, Ireland city official warns of inevitable conflicts between bike riders, pedestrians and e-scooter users in the city parks — despite just eleven such incidents in the last eight years.

The European Cyclists’ Federation name Helsingborg, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; and both Essen and Heidelberg, Germany best in class cities at this year’s Velo-city conference.

In a study that should put questions about the health benefits of ebikes to rest, German researchers find that regularly riding an ebike can cut the risk of a heart attack by 40%.

The Malta Times calls for putting the brakes on road anarchy in the island nation, saying traffic enforcement has moved from essential to critical.

 

Competitive Cycling

Big plot twist in the Giro, where race leader Remco Evenepoel was forced to withdraw after testing positive for Covid, just after regaining the pink leader’s jersey with a victory in the time trial.

 

Finally…

Your Peloton bike could go somewhere after all, after 2 million of the stationary bikes were recalled. Never bring a knife to a bike theft gunfight.

And what do you call a marching band that rides bikes, instead?

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

More Bike Week news, bikes and accessibility at PCSC next month, and LA gets new electric bike lane sweeper

May 17, 2022 / / One comment

More Bike Week news.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition is teaming with Day One to host a free evening taco ride tonight.

Pasadena’s Day One is hosting a bike-in movie Saturday night, screening Together We Cycle, a documentary about the history of bicycling in the Netherlands.

Santa Clarita is hosting a Bike to Work Week Challenge for businesses and their employees, including five pit stops on Thursday’s Bike to Work Day.

Metro is sponsoring a series of Bike Week events —

UCLA Bike Week Commuter Event

  • May 18 @ 8:30 am – 10:30 am
  • Perloff Hall at UCLA, 1317 Portola Plaza
  • Los Angeles, CA 90095 United States

It’s Bike Week! Come to Perloff Hall to learn more about Metro Bike Share at UCLA.

Bike Share 101: Bike Safety Basics at UCLA Bike Week (In-Person Class)

  • May 18 @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
  • UCLA LuValle Commons, 398 Portola Plaza
  • Los Angeles, CA 90095 United States
  • RSVP HERE

The BEST Bike Share 101: Bike Safety Basics class, presented by Metro, Metro Bike Share, and LA County Bicycle Coalition, is a 1.5-hour in-person class where you will learn how to navigate the Metro Bike Share system and improve your safety while riding Metro Bike Share on campus. RSVP REQUIRED.

Bike to Work Day Celebration

  • May 19 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm
  • Union Station, 800 N Alameda St
  • Los Angeles, CA 90012 United States

Ride Metro Bike Share to work on Bike to Work Day! Stop by our booth in Union Station East for free coffee, pastries, and passes for FREE 30-minute rides.

Bike to Work Day Lunch Community Ride

  • May 19 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
  • Union Station West Portal, 834 N Alameda St
  • Los Angeles, CA United States

Are you a bike commuter? Do you work from home and want to get out for a bike ride? The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and Metro Bike Share invite you to celebrate National Bike to Work Day with a short, fun-filled lunch hour bike ride sponsored by Metro’s Bicycle Education Safety Training (BEST) Program. Join us at Union Station, where we’ll ride along to Chinatown and the LA State Historic Park to enjoy a tasty fresh lunch.

3rd & Santa Fe Pop-Up

  • May 21 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
  • 3rd & Santa Fe, 999 E Third Street
  • Los Angeles, CA 90033 United States

Are you looking to visit the Arts District this weekend? Visit our table at 3rd & Santa Fe and get a free 1-Ride pass for you and your friends.

In addition, Metro is offering a one-year Metro Bike bikeshare pass for $75 this Thursday and Friday only.

You can find still more Bike Week news in yesterday’s post, in case you missed it.

Photo by Ana Arantes from Pexels.

……….

Bike accessibility advocate Megan Lynch will be speaking at next month’s meeting of the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition.

https://twitter.com/may_gun/status/1526308359820914688

As she notes, her appearance builds on the successful panel discussion she hosted at last month’s Calbike summit.

………

Apparently, Los Angeles has a new electric bike lane sweeper.

Now we just need more bike lanes to sweep.

https://twitter.com/TorresKristen/status/1526252066909216768

………

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

No bias here. NFL quarterback Tom Brady rode a bikeshare bike through the streets of New York over the weekend, but all anyone seemed to notice is he wasn’t wearing a helmet.

No bias here, either. Bike riders in a British city decry plans to cope with periodic flooding by removing a bike lane to make room for the flood waters, rather than actually dealing with the problem.

Or here. Scottish bike riders criticize an Edinburgh website for posting a video purporting to show a bike rider racing through a roundabout, which has obviously been speeded up to make it appear far more dangerous than it was. While ignoring the real problem of the person on the soundtrack singing about how he’d like to run the rider down with his truck.

………

Local

Los Angeles looks at the battle between challenger Dulce Vasquez and incumbent Curren Price for LA’s CD9 council seat.

Streetsblog’s SGV Connect podcast talks with bike-riding state Senator Anthony Portantino, who has sponsored legislation requiring communities to make progress on bicycle and pedestrian planning, as well as talking with the leaders of the very active Active SGV.

 

State 

A San Diego man was shot in the leg following an argument with another man in the city’s Logan Heights neighborhood, before the shooter made his getaway on a bicycle.

 

National

The Biden administration is sending out $5 billion to cities and localities to address the rising traffic death toll on our streets by by “slowing down cars, carving out bike paths and wider sidewalks and nudging commuters to public transit” under the Transportation Department’s new Safe Streets & Roads for All program. Needless to say, right wing Breitbart News does not approve.

Mas mojitos, por favor! Bicycling says drinking mint could make you faster in the summer heat. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

A writer for Electrek says “acoustic bikes” are incredible, but he only rides ebikes for transportation.

Cosmo offers their picks for the best cruiser bikes, with prices starting at just $190. Although that’s for a Huffy, so “best” may be relative.

Kindhearted Spokane cops replaced a seven-year old girl’s stolen bicycle after a group of teens pushed her off and rode off with it.

In a sign of pent-up demand, it only took three weeks for buyers to max out Denver’s new ebike rebate program. A fate that’s likely to befall California’s $10 million ebike rebate program as well, once it kicks off later this summer.

Nice gesture from the Pro Football Writers of America, who gave a lifetime achievement award to former Denver Broncos and New York Jets assistant coach Greg Knapp, who was killed in a collision while riding his bike in San Ramon last summer.

Houston is holding its annual Bike Summit for the first time since it was cancelled by the pandemic, amid calls to do more to improve and maintain the city’s bikeways. Los Angeles held a bike summit once. And needs to do it again.

More on the murder of rising gravel cyclist Moriah Wilson, who was shot to death in Austin, Texas last week while preparing for Saturday’s Gravel Locos race in Hico, Texas.

Once again, an elderly driver has taken the life of an innocent victim, as an 85-year old Oklahoma woman ran down a popular dentist from behind as he was riding his bike; investigators described it as “unfortunate,” while saying it’s unclear why she didn’t see him. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland has withdrawn a request for the death penalty for the truck-driving terrorist who killed eight people by speeding down a New York bike path, opting for life in prison instead of the death penalty requested by former Trump AG Jeff Sessions.

Unbelievable. The driver who killed a man and woman riding in a green bike lane on Miami’s Rickenbacker Causeway has been ticketed, but isn’t facing charges for their deaths; meanwhile, advocates call for safety improvements on the deadly bridge. Because evidently, killing two innocent people while breaking traffic laws is just an oopsie.

 

International

The United Nations is marking next month’s World Bicycle Day with a set of ten bicycle postage stamps. Raise your hand if, like me, you had no idea the UN had its own post office.

Treehugger says there’s an ebike and cargo bike revolution happening, and cities need to catch up with bike storage solutions to accommodate them. Add adaptive bikes to that list, too; as Megan Lynch has pointed out, bike parking for non-traditional bikes is woefully lacking.

More proof that not even physically separated bikeways are safe from reckless drivers, after a Toronto bike rider was left with life-altering injuries when a driver lost control of their car, jumped the curb, crossed a grass divider, and struck the victim on a bike trail before slamming into a guard rail. Sounds like maybe the guard rail was on the wrong side of the pathway.

The Conversation asks if New Zealand’s new budget will be another lost opportunity to get drivers out of their cars.

 

Competitive Cycling

LA’s Bahati Foundation, founded by Compton’s multiple US crit champ Rahsaan Bahati, is sponsoring five young people of color in this summer’s SBT GRVL race in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to “help broaden their cycling experience and bring diversity to gravel’s starting line.” Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available on Yahoo, so you’re on your own if Bicycling blocks you.

 

Finally…

Hide your AirTag inside your tire. That feeling when you catch a bike thief in the act, and the cops never show up.

And turn your bike into an ebike with a pocket-sized battery. As long as you have a very big pocket, that is.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Welcome to Bike Week, top LA mayoral candidates support bikes and transit, and women’s gravel racer murdered in Texas

May 16, 2022 / / Comments Off on Welcome to Bike Week, top LA mayoral candidates support bikes and transit, and women’s gravel racer murdered in Texas

Welcome to Bike Week 2022!

Metro is marking Bike Week with a 20% discount on the Metro Shop Bike Collection through the end of the month with coupon code BIKE20 at checkout.

The transit agency is also offering a one-year Bike Hub membership for just $1 on Thursday’s Bike to Work Day with promo code: BIKEMONTH22, as well as free Metro Bike bikeshare rides on Bike to Work Day.

Pro tip: You don’t have to only ride to work just because they’re calling it Bike to Work Day, you can actually ride anywhere for any reason. Or no reason at all.

Metrolink is offering free rides all week if you board with a bicycle.

The LACBC is hosting a 30-mile, family friendly ride this Sunday to reconnect with the LA River, or Paayme Paxaayt as it’s know by the Tongva/Kizh/Gabrielino people who originally inhabited the LA area

UC San Diego wants you to celebrate a healthy, environmentally friendly, cost-saving two-wheeled commute. Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.

………

It looks like there will be a Los Angeles Ride of Silence on Wednesday, after all.

Wildwolf Cycling Collective forwarded this announcement of the ride to me over the weekend.

CALLING ALL RIDERS! Wednesday May 18th at 7PM we ride in silence in solidarity with riders around the globe for the annual Ride Of Silence.

We will be riding as a community to HONOR those who have been injured or killed on bikes

To RAISE AWARENESS that we are here

To ask that we all SHARE THE ROAD

Please wear white if you can. We will have some sign making materials. Bring your own sign or a light colored or white blank shirt to print on.

The ride will be led out by the Bicicrofono, we ask that everyone respect the 12mph or slower pace and stay behind the bike trailer.

Following the ride there will be a gathering  to connect as a community and release our emotions.

Leaving from 3554 W. First St (corner of 1st and Bimini Pl).

………

A coalition of LA advocacy groups, including the LACBC, LA Walks, CicLAvia, and Streets For All, have gotten most of the candidates for mayor of Los Angeles on the record for their stands on transportation issues.

While it focuses on transit, some of the candidates also staked out a position on bicycling and safe, livable streets.

Of the top candidates, Karen Bass seems to take the strongest stand in favor of bikes and livability.

Here’s how Streetsblog’s Joe Linton and Sahra Sulaiman summed up her responses.

As she had done in previous forums, frontrunner Karen Bass described herself as a bicyclist while also explaining she preferred beach paths over city streets “because we have not created the infrastructure to make biking convenient and safe.” She pledged to transform all major corridors to be “walkable, bikeable, green, and safe,” including expanding dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, and first- and last-mile access to transit. Bass stressed the importance of prioritizing “accessibility for the most vulnerable members of our community” and ensuring that their voices – often not heard during traditional community engagement efforts – were part of the conversation….

And she spoke to the importance of building coalitions to create more dedicated spaces for buses, bicyclists, and pedestrians while also weighing the impacts on local neighbors and businesses – a position that some will read as potentially giving in to NIMBY sentiments but which is likely meant to speak to the way in which wealthier newcomers’ demands for amenities in gentrifying communities, like in her home base in South L.A., often steamroll the long-standing demands, aspirations, needs, and concerns of the stakeholders of color.

Mike Feuer and Kevin de León also called for more protected bike lanes and alternatives to driving.

However, in all likelihood, the race will come down to a contest between Bass and self-financed billionaire Rick Caruso.

While Caruso focused on his call to significantly increase police staffing — although I haven’t hear him explain how he’ll pay for it yet — he also had some good things to say about active transportation and transit.

I believe the potential for Los Angeles to create the same type of walkability and community is untapped and limitless and with the right planning and determination, we can make the city known for sprawl and the automobile, a truly community driven city where owning a car will no longer be a prerequisite for getting around. I also believe that we must elevate biking and transit options to the same level and truly ensure that all forms of transportation are viable, safe, efficient, and accessible…

If we are truly going to get Angelenos out of their cars and onto mass transit and active transportation we have to build a better, more reliable system that touches every inch of this city.

You can download PDFs of all the candidate responses here, including statements by Craig Greiwe, Gina Viola and Mel Wilson, as well as Joe Buscaino, who dropped out of the race last week while throwing his support to Caruso.

………

Heartbreaking news from Austin, Texas, where 25-year old cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson was shot and killed while visiting a friend.

A top gravel and mountain biking specialist, Wilson had flown to Texas to prepare for the Gravel Locos race in Hico, where she was favored to win, according to VeloNews.

She had won a number of races already this year, including San Diego’s recent Belgian Waffle Ride, and had recently quit her job with Specialized to race full time.

The Austin Statesman-American reports she died of multiple gunshot wounds in what police say was not a random act; police have identified a person of interest.

The editors of FloBikes offer a remembrance.

Thanks to Gravel Bike California for the heads-up.

………

This is what the Beach Life Festival looked like in Redondo Beach this past weekend.

And what other LA venues — including, yes, Dodger Stadium — could look like.

………

This one’s just too beautiful to pass up.

………

There’s something you won’t see from a car.

………

NFL great Tom Brady is one of us, as he takes a bikeshare tour of New York, while casting a critical eye on scofflaw riders.

………

This is who we share the road with.

https://twitter.com/Imposter_Edits/status/1525896971583733762

………

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

A road raging motorist sucker punched a 60-year old Trinidad, California bike rider after subjecting him to a punishment pass, for the crime of legally riding a bike in the traffic lane.

New York’s bike-hating columnist demands that ebikes be banned from the city, calling them a menace. Just wait until someone tells him about cars.

Good damn question. British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid asks why so many motorists feel persecuted when in reality, they rule the world.

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

At last report, police were responding to a man on a bicycle chasing people with a machete in DTLA. Thanks to Meagan Lynch for forwarding the link.

………

Local

Super Domestic Coffee, a combination bike shop and coffee shop with locations in Los Angeles and Culver City, will open a third location in Venice.

 

State 

California Streetsblog explains why congestion decreases when cities remove traffic lanes — regardless of what Elon Musk says.

San Diego hospital workers report an anecdotal uptick in ebike injuries, with the typical victim being a tourist under the influence.

Police have arrested a pair of men who robbed the Berkeley High School mountain bike team at gunpoint last month. There’s not a pit in hell deep enough.

 

National

A new study shows American cities are drowning in parking, which could probably be put to better use.

Wired has tips on how to join the e-cargo bike boom with your kids.

Electrek suggests the US Postal Service should invest in four-wheeled e-cargo bikes instead of gas-guzzling delivery trucks.

A group of Denver-area men sprang into action when they saw someone trying to steal a bicycle, and ended up detaining a man suspected of stealing over 100 bikes.

Kindhearted Omaha firefighters donated around 100 bikes to kids in need for the 10th consecutive year.

Boston area police conclude an ebike rider simply lost control of his bike, rather than being the victim of a hit-and-run, as originally thought — although it’s clear they haven’t bothered to talk with the victim. Never mind that it’s entirely possible that a driver can cause a crash, without actually hitting someone.

Tragic news from Miami, where a man and woman were killed by a hit-and-run driver on the Rickenbacker Causeway between the city and key Biscayne; witnesses said they were riding a pair of “mom and pop” bikes when they were run down in the green bike lane.

 

International

Cycling Tips says pressure washing your bike may not be the best way to do it, regardless of what Peter Sagan does.

Bikeshare use is plummeting in Cork, Ireland with a drop of over 75% since 2019, even as businesses have reopened post-pandemic. Although it’s likely the pandemic is far from over.

Hundreds of Edinburgh families turned out for the city’s Kidical Mass ride to demand child-friendly bicycling; Swiss families took to the roads to call for kid-friendly roads, too.

No bias here. A Welsh paper says a local town has had to live with chaos, congestion and abuse, with drivers sitting for hours with their heads in their hands — all because it reduced the speed limit to 20 mph. Sure, that’s credible.

What do you do after hosting the British equivalent of the Emmys? Ride your Brompton back home, of course. Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

A local website profiles a Ghanian bikemaker who uses wood to craft his frames.

The ghost bike movement has made it to Singapore, with eight all-white bikes to mark the eight people killed on the city-state’s roads last year.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sunday’s stage nine of the Giro shook up the standings, as Aussie pro Jai Hindley won a mountaintop sprint to claim the stage, while Simon Yates and Wilco Kelderman rode themselves out of competition; Spain’s Juan Pedro López held onto the pink leader’s jersey by a slim 12-second thread.

It took Hindley 570 days to get back on the podium after finishing second in the 2020 Giro, followed by a year of mental and physical setbacks in 2021.

Former German pro Danilo Hondo got less than a slap on the wrist for his involvement in the Operation Aderlass blood doping ring, with a backdated two and a half year ban that’s already expired, and another five and a half year ban suspended because of his confession and cooperation with authorities. But that means the era of doping is really over now, right?

VeloNews considers how coverage of bike racing can be modernized to make it more engaging, after 50 years of the status quo.

 

Finally…

Vroom, vroom! Your next ebike could be the two-wheeled equivalent of a Shelby Cobra. Sometimes you just have to ride your bike handsfree so you can play your ukulele and harmonica.

And that feeling when you become your own dog’s domestique.

Although sometimes, riding slow can be just as good.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Welcome to a pandemic Bike Week, Newsom gives extra half billion to active transportation, and don’t Koretz our streets

May 17, 2021 / / One comment

Welcome to Bike Week 2021.

Such as it is.

Thanks to year two of the pandemic, there’s no opening event, no Blessing of the Bicycles, and no pit stops on Friday’s Bike Anywhere Day — the Covid inspired replacement for Bike to Work Day.

But Metro is trying to fill the gap with a series of online bike classes ranging from basic bicycle repair and maintenance to how to use bikeshare.

Speaking of bikeshare, they’re offering a free 1-ride Metro Bike pass this Friday only, using promo code 052121, or half-off a 365-Day Pass using Promo code: BIKEANYWHERE2021.

You can also get a one-year Metro Bike Hub pass for just $20 this month, two-thirds off the usual $60. Register here with promo code MAY2021.

Metrolink — no relation to Metro, despite the similar names — is offering free rides to anyone with a bicycle this week. Which is a great excuse to hop a train to Ventura, San Bernardino or Oceanside to try riding somewhere new.

The LACBC is continuing their Bike Month Photo Scavenger Hunt all month, in conjunction with Las Fotos.

And Wednesday marks the annual Ride of Silence to remember fallen bicyclists; sadly, there doesn’t seem to be any rides scheduled in the LA area this year.

Hopefully this damn disease will be behind us soon, and we can bounce back with an even bigger and better Bike Week next year.

Photo by Michael Gaida from Pixabay.

………

Okay, so I screwed up on Friday.

Thanks to Joe Linton for pointing out that I had the wrong link to LADOT’s virtual public meeting to discuss closing the infamous Northvale Gap on the Expo Bike Path.

The meeting will take place this Wednesday at 5pm; advance registration is required.

The .7 mile gap in the bike path was forced by homeowners in Cheviot Hills, who settled for stopping the bike path through their neighborhood after failing to stop the Expo Line itself — somehow fearing that the bike path would bring some sort of criminal element, who would bike off with their bigass flatscreens.

Metro and city officials decided it would be easier to leave the gap and just build the train line, and come back to to close it at a later date — and at a much higher cost.

But the joke was on the homeowners, since the gap in the bikeway forces riders to take a more circuitous route in front of their homes, rather than on the other side of a wall behind them.

The usual NIMBYs will undoubtedly be out in force to oppose it. So make sure to attend if you can to voice your support.

This is what Streets For All is asking for.

We encourage you to attend and to make public comment asking that:

  • the bike path be open to people on bikes 24/7 (there is a NIMBY effort to close it after dark)
  • the bike path have multiple access points to maximize convenience for people on bikes (there is a NIMBY effort to limit access)
  • the bike lanes on Motor be physically protected from moving car traffic

………

Governor Gavin Newsom is tossing bike riders and pedestrians a half-billion dollar Active Transportation bone, although that’s just a small part of the state’s $79 billion pandemic tax windfall.

Never mind that he seems to be doing his best to buy a victory in the upcoming recall by spreading state money around to everyone.

………

I wasn’t the one who first turned “Jerry Brown” into a verb meaning a dangerously close pass, after he vetoed not one, but two three-foot passing laws before finally signing a much weaker version.

But I sure as hell did everything I could to popularize and spread it.

Now Alissa Walker has turned pseudo-environmentalist Paul Koretz into a verb, as well.

As in CD14 Councilmember Kevin de León tried to Koretz Eagle Rock’s Beautiful Boulevard plan.

And it couldn’t happen to a more deserving person.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1393556992917078016

………

This is who we share the road with.

………

9 to 5 Mac puts Apple’s new AirTag to the test for a simulated bike theft. And likes the result.

………

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

No bias here. A London paper tries to stir up anger with a one hour time-lapse camera showing barely any bicyclists using a new bike lane, as drivers complain about snarled traffic. Even though it doesn’t look very snarled. It also does say what time of day the video was taken; it was likely filmed at the slowest part of the day.

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

An unidentified man escaped by bicycle following a failed attempt to scale a wall into Ben Affleck’s Los Angeles home, after he was chased off by paparazzi.

………

Local

Metro plans to boost spending on induced demand by 80% in their upcoming budget, devoting $212 million to widening highways and other highway “improvements;” it will be on the agenda of their meeting this Wednesday. Eagle Rock’s resident-driven Beautiful Boulevard will also be on the agenda.

Hancock Park residents opposed LADOT’s Stress Free Connections plan for a safer and more bikeable 4th Street, with the head of the homeowner’s association saying “We want to make the neighborhood safer for everyone, not just those riding bicycles,” apparently failing to grasp that making it safer for bicyclists makes it safer for everyone.

Santa Clarita held their Bike to Work Week last week, and a community bike ride, complete with goody bags, on Saturday.

Long Beach may consider building a three-mile pedestrian pathway alongside the San Gabriel River bike path.

 

State

Call it a good argument badly framed. A columnist for the Southern California New Group points out the reasons why bike riders should be allowed to treat stop signs as yields. Although he calls it blowing though stop signs, a phrase that is guaranteed to piss drivers off.

San Diego is also dropping Bike to Work Day in favor of Bike Anywhere Week this week.

Speaking of San Diego, the city appears to be making progress with Vision Zero, as traffic deaths and serious injuries dropped for the second straight year.

The Bakersfield Californian calls for allowing ebikes and scooters on the 30+ mile Kern River Parkway Trail. Although they awkwardly refer to them as “motorized vehicles,” which likely means something entirely different to most people.

 

National

A new study from the CDC reports there were 596,972 emergency department visits for bicycle-related traumatic brain injuries in the ten years from 2009 to 2018; surprisingly, that represents a 5.5% decrease for adults, and a nearly 50% drop children. Although that could reflect a decrease in ridership among children as much as improved safety.

Gear Patrol recommends their favorite fixies, with prices ranging from $299 to $1199.

No bias here. A bad take from an insurance company based in the Pacific Northwest, which says there’s a “battle for road supremacy” in Portland and Seattle between drivers and increased numbers of people on bikes. Even though their survey shows half of the people who responded think bikes and cars share the road well.

A retired National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist rode his bike across the Permian Basin oil fields in New Mexico and Texas to call attention to climate change.

Heartbreaking news from Chicago, where a 13-year old boy was critically wounded when he was shot in the head and neck in a driveby shooting as he was riding his bicycle. There’s just no damn excuse for that crap. Period.

Tragic news from New Hampshire, where a 69-year old man was killed when he was struck by a bike rider as he was crossing the street. Another reminder to always slow down and ride carefully around pedestrians, who can be unpredictable and don’t always look for bikes when they step out into the street. Which is not to say that’s what happened here.

A kindhearted New York filmmaker gave his own bike to a young man who recently rode a heavy bikeshare bike up a local mountain.

 

International

Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter questions why ebike regulations are so random, and no one is looking at them as part of the larger transportation picture.

A travel website looks at the world’s most dangerous mountain bike trails. Which is a large part of the appeal to some people. 

A Montreal woman is devoting her time to ensuring kids get bikes despite the short supply cause by the bike boom by passing along donated bicycles to underprivileged children; she’s given away over 250 bikes since March.

If you insist on stealing a bicycle, probably not the best idea to steal an English police bike.

An Irish man is riding his bike over 1,700 miles from Dublin to where he first met the love of his life in Spain to raise funds to fight Motor Neuron Disease, after she succumbed to the disease at just 31-years old.

Forget an inflatable helmet. A French company is introducing an airbag jacket that inflates if you crash or fall. As long as you have an extra nine hundred bucks to buy one.

Break India’s Covid curfew and you might have to do sit-ups in the street and carry your bike back home.

A Singapore writer says “errant cycling” gives the rest of us a bad name, and “we could all stand to exercise more graciousness.”

An Australian woman cried tears of joy after receiving a custom adaptive bicycle, following the loss of both legs and most of her fingers to a bacterial infection.

 

Competitive Cycling

French cyclist Victor Lafay won his first Grand Tour stage in Saturday’s stage eight of the Giro

About damn time. The organizer of the Tour de France says they’re going to bring back the women’s TdF after more than thirty years, with the first edition to come sometime after the men’s race. But he made it clear not to expect parity with the men’s Tour.

SoCal bike racing is back with the season opener for the California Bicycle Racing 2021 CBR Criterium Series; L39ION of Los Angeles swept the podium for the men’s pro race, while Serious Cycling’s Chloe Patrick took the women’s race.

 

Finally…

Why vacuum with a Dyson when you can ride one, instead? That feeling when you accidentally photobomb a soccer team bus with your bakfiets and a poodle.

And probably not the best idea to jump into a river to avoid the police, after drunkenly smashing your head into a storefront window, and attempting to jack a bike.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask. 

And get vaccinated, already.

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

Happy virtual Bike Week, Bike the Vote makes Culver City endorsements, and the time to reimagine public transport is now

September 21, 2020 / / One comment

Welcome to the long-delayed Bike Week for the Age of Covid-19, where not much is going on, and like everything else in this plague infested year, what does will be mostly virtual.

The one actual semi-activity to hit the streets will be tomorrow’s Ride A Bike Day, on what is otherwise known as Worldwide Car Free Day, in which you’re encouraged to ride your bike somewhere.

Or anywhere.

The Bike League simply calls it Bike There Day, wherever there happens to be.

So do what you’d probably do anyway, and get out on your bike to enjoy what passes for relatively smoke-free fall weather here in Southern California.

But give yourself a pat on the back for it.

Meanwhile, Ventura County has a number of eco-friendly activities to get you involved.

And enjoy this from Pedal Love.

Photo by Lina Kivaka from Pexels.

………

With the upcoming election is just over a month away, Bike the Vote LA is offering their endorsements in the Culver City race.

There are three out of five council seats on the ballot. Only one incumbent is running (Mayor Goran Erickson), as Bike The Vote L.A.-endorsed Meghan Sahli-Wells is termed out and bike-friendly Councilmember Thomas Small decided not to seek re-election. Five of the eight candidates running responded to Bike The Vote’s questionnaire. Each of the responses were promising, but Bike The Vote’s Cuvler City committee determined that these three candidates stood out as worthy of endorsements.

Meanwhile, San Diego’s BikeSD offers their own endorsements in local races.

And consider this my endorsement for Downey’s bike friendly Alexandria Contreras for city council in District One.

………

The NRDC says the moment to reimagine public transportation is right now.

The environmental organization lists three key themes, including —

  • Streets are not just for cars
  • Public transportation infrastructure needs and deserves investment
  • Access to safe, effective transit is very much a racial justice issue

That’s exactly what’s being done in cities around the world, particularly when it comes to bicycle access during the coronavirus pandemic.

And exactly what we need to do here in Los Angeles.

………

They get it.

Lyft has partnered with several New York advocacy groups to pen a white paper calling on New York City to create resilient streets for transit, biking and walking.

(You can find an edited version of the piece on New York Streetsblog if you’ve used up all your free Medium visits for the month.)

At the risk of repeating myself, that’s exactly what we need to do here in Los Angeles, where the need may be even greater than in Gotham.

And exactly what the city has been pledging, and failing, to do for the past decade.

………

Speaking of which, when is a bike lane not a bike lane?

………

Some people are seriously effed up.

Drivers in London’s upscale Hackney borough compare limited access Low Traffic Neighborhood with Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip — and the Holocaust.

………

Malaysian are aghast at the sight of a bike rider drafting a truck.

https://twitter.com/Aweeff/status/1307172043171872770

The tweet awkwardly translates to this, which appears to be saying that all bike riders get blamed for one rider’s actions.

Because a drop of tilapia spoils the milk of an orange. Deck because of a cyclist’s suicide act exhausted all cyclists are beaten equally.

Which, sadly, is all too true.

And seriously, kids. Don’t do that.

………

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

Canadian authorities are looking for a man who yelled at a pair of bike-riding women, then used a telescoping camera pole to knock them off their bicycles.

No bias here. When the Queensland, Australia Department of Transportation asked online about the minimum passing distance on a road with a 43 mph speed limit, readers insisted the bike rider shouldn’t be on the road to begin with.

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

A Philadelphia bike rider opened fire on three plainclothes cops when they slowed down to ask if he was okay; another man joined the firefight after the officers got out of their car to exchange fire. Fortunately, none of the cops were seriously injured.

A road raging Irish bike rider was bitten in the nose by a passenger in a car, after the passenger got out and attacked the bicyclist for shattering the car’s windshield with his bike; both men face well-deserved charges.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman offers a frame-by-frame analysis of the video the LA Sheriff’s Department says is proof that their deputies were justified in shooting Compton bike rider Dijon Kizzee, and says bullshit.

A Silver Lake gym owner and social justice advocate is riding his bike across the US, accompanied by a documentary crew, to explore American’s attitudes and show we’re stronger together than apart. Yahoo mirrored the story in case you can’t access the Times site. 

 

State

An ad hoc group of Bakersfield bicyclists are turning out for weekly half century rides on a local bike path to keep in shape during the coronavirus lockdown.

 

National

Former basketball player Damen Bell and professional skier Connor Ryan moved their Break the (Bi)cycle” ride from the left coast to the Rocky Mountain states after fires in Washington and Oregon forced them to change their route; they’re riding to call attention to mental health for Black and Indigenous men.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Montana man celebrated his 84th birthday by riding 84 miles along the Bitterroot Trail.

A former Michigan college student was reunited with her stolen bicycle when it unexpectedly turned up four years later. Which probably means it was taken by a fellow student.

They get it, too, Michigan’s Department of Transportation says most crashes aren’t accidents.

A New York bike commuter says the laws have to be changed to better protect people on bikes from road raging drivers.

The New York Times examines the anatomy of a protest, including the role of bike blockers to protect protesters.

Leftovers star Justine Theroux is one of us, taking an apparently chilly ride through New York, a day after speaking in honor of the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

New Orleans police release a video they say proves a bike rider ran a red light before being struck by the driver of a police cruiser. Except the video doesn’t show traffic signal, which could have changed before the rider went through.

A drunken hit-and-run driver in Florida faces charges for killing a bike rider, then driving another two and a half miles down the highway dragging the victim’s bike beneath his car before police pulled him over.

 

International

Yet another study shows that both drivers and bike riders break the law. But drivers do it to save time, while people on bicycles do it to save lives.

Cycling Weekly considers the best comfort hybrid bikes, and offers advice on how to buy a bike on a budget without needing an upgrade six months later.

A Montreal bikemaker uses recycled steel, ethical suppliers and local labor to build high-end bikes.

The New York Times asks whether Canada’s bike boom will last through the winter.

Scottish cyclist Josh Quigley set a new world’s record by riding the 516-mile North Coast 500 route through the Scottish Highlands in just 31 hours and 17 minutes, less than a year after he barely survived being struck by a Texas driver doing 70 mph while attempting to ride across the US.

Seventy-three-year old former Tour de France winner Joop Zoetemelk broke both his legs when a driver knocked him off his bike, 40 years after he wore the yellow jersey in Paris.

A European court ruled that Barcelona soccer star Messi clearly ain’t Spanish bikemaker Massi.

After news got out about an Indian boy who made a bicycle for his younger sister out of newspaper, a kindhearted local business owner gave him a real one.

Hundreds of Nairobi, Kenya residents rode to protest harassment of people on bicycles, after a bike rider was killed when the driver of a private minibus cut him off.

A group of Chinese bike riders are using their bikes for good, riding up to 1,200 miles to buy agricultural products to support poor villagers, and delivering food and milk to those in need.

Indonesian bike riders are now required to wear a helmet and ride a bicycle certified to meet the country’s safety standards.

Ebike sales are projected to surpass car sales in New Zealand in the next three years.

 

Competitive Cycling

The biggest surprise in this year’s Tour de France is that they actually made it to the finish in Paris in the midst of a pandemic. The second biggest surprise came in Saturday’s time trial, where 21-year-old Tadej Pogačar upset everyone to became the youngest winner of the Tour de France in 116 years, following an epic collapse by leader Primož Roglič.

Cycling News calls Tadej Pogačar a shark in sheep’s clothing, while Cycling Tips asks what do you say to someone who just lost the Tour de France.

Nice move from the pro peloton, which came together on Sunday’s final stage to condemn racism, after Kévin Reza, the only Black rider in this year’s Tour, was subjected to racist abuse from at least one rider.

More on Oneida Tribe member Neilson Powless, the only Native American to compete in this year’s Tour de France, or any other year for that matter — including a couple of near-podium finishes.

Business Insider ranks the bikes ridden in the Tour this year, giving the win to Astana’s Wilier Zero SLR, even if the team didn’t.

Bicycling recounts the biggest and craziest comeback victories in the Tour de France; here’s the Yahoo link for the firewall deprived. Greg LeMond certainly belongs there, although I’m not sure I’d include Floyd Landis’ pyrrhic victory.

The Tour of Luxembourg took place at the same time as the other, better known Tour.

Cycling Tips catches up with everything you missed in this year’s Giro Rosa — which is probably everything, since the most important stage race in women’s cycling was nowhere to be found on TV, as usual. Italy’s Longo Borghini got the win, her first after six previous top ten finishes.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could have an Apple logo. Or maybe be spokeless.

And forget a Covid mask. Just put your bike helmet on under this.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

SaMo bike path remains closed, free rescue wagon for stranded bike riders, and OC Bike Week moves to fall

April 24, 2020 / / One comment

More proof you can carry anything on a bike.

Or in this case, pull.

Thanks to Aurelio Jose Barrera, who spotted this sign in Boyle Heights.

………

Beaches in Santa Monica, Los Angeles and LA County remain closed, along with the beachfront bike path.

Even if Hermosa Beach residents don’t like it.

On the other hand, Orange County beaches are open for business. But only for OC residents. Although whether they’re checking IDs for bike path riders is open to debate.

Meanwhile, SaMo resident David Drexler confirms the beachfront bike path is officially verboten. And the path on the California incline is now, too.

Even if that part gets ignored.

SM closed the incline that leads to the overpass that drops you on the beach. They fenced the bottom I saw today but a gap in the fence  was open and as you can see some people still went over. But to further discourage you if you venture over to the beach, SM bulldozed sand barriers you see in the photos to make your bike ride annoying (unless you have a Mountain Bike?).

………

Things like this are why I love the LA bicycling community.

Just as I was about to post this page, I got a late night — or early morning, if you prefer — email from Daniel Gaffey with a great offer on behalf of his company, Silver Lake Electric Bicycles.

Free bike bailout shuttle

So my company started an electric bike tour a few months ago. It turned out to be a pretty bad time to do that, with COVID cancelling all the rides we had worked so hard to book. Nonetheless we’ll survive but a lot of the equipment is now just idle.

I’d like to offer something to LA bicycling which has given so much to me, by converting our tour van into free emergency transport for the duration of the COVID shutdown. If you (and others) are somehow stranded on a ride, I will send a guide out to help you or your bikes get home. The van holds six mountain bikes or four road bikes and has a good set of tools and air on-hand.

Call 213-537-6774 if your ride goes bad and you have no one else to call. We’re licensed and insured, you can look us up at webikela.com.

Think of it as your own personal rescue wagon when things hit the fan.

So on behalf of all of us, thanks to Dan for a really bighearted offer.

But give ’em a little something for helping out if you can. Because they’re not making any money now either.

………

Orange County will mark Bike Week this September, with Bike to Work Day to be celebrated on September 22nd. Thanks to the Orange County Bicycle Coalition for the heads-up.

Colorado will join them, moving their Bike to Work Day to September, as well.

But there’s still no word from Metro about when, or if, we’ll see Bike to Work Day in Los Angeles this year. Let alone Bike Week and/or Month.

………

More on the recent death of Effective Cycling author John Forester.

British bike historian Carlton Reid skips the niceties, and calls it the death of a dinosaur. Thanks to Phillip Young for the link.

Bicycle Retailer offers a more respectful remembrance of the man who had an outsized influence on how bike riders rode for decades.

But Peter Flax got in the last word — literally — with last September’s Sunday conversation with John Forester, which may have been his last interview.

………

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

Police in New Jersey are looking for a bike-riding armed robber wanted for holding up a convenience store.

………

Local

No surprise here. Beverly Hills decides that cars still need street space more than people do right now.

A kindhearted Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputy gives a new bike he was saving for a raffle to seven-year old kid whose bike was broken and too small.

 

State

One more reason to be careful out there, as SoCal street racers are turning streets emptied by the coronavirus into their own illegal speedways.

San Diego’s KPBS looks at how Covid-19 is changing the city’s streets, concluding there’s more bicycling and walking, and fewer cars. The question is how can cities continue to encourage that after the lockdown is lifted? Because the last thing we need is to go back to the former auto-centric status quo.

Streetsblog calls on Bay Area officials to encourage bicycling by opening the Bay Bridge to bike riders.

Morgan Hill-based Specialized is making deep cuts to survive the coronavirus crisis, laying off seven percent of its workforce and cutting executive pay.

Yes, Yosemite is closed, unless you can walk or ride a bike in.

 

National

HuffPo says the coronavirus shows it’s time to remake American cities for a world where cars are no longer king.

A writer for Bicycling says wear a mask when you ride a bike, even if your city or state doesn’t require one. Meanwhile, Outside recommends new social distancing rules for trail riders.

Spin is sponsoring a contest to design better lane delineators to separate bicyclists and pedestrians from other traffic.

Gadget Flow recommends a handful of “must-have” bike accessories. None of which actually are, but still.

That’s more like it. Bike Radar recommends ten cheap and discounted suggestions to keep you warm, cool and comfortable on your bike.

Colorado mountain bike maker Yeti Cycles paused bicycle production to turn out masks and face shields for Denver’s transit agency.

The boom in bike commuting inspires Cleveland planners to consider how to accommodate bike commuters in a post-coronavirus world.

Ebike maker Aventon Bicycles donated several bicycles and thousands of surgical and N95 masks to a Queens hospital at the forefront of the coronavirus battle.

A New York community board calls for safe routes for essential workers riding through Central Park.

A Philly mother is on a personal mission to get kids to wear bike helmets, after crediting her son’s with saving him from serious injury when he was hit head-on by a driver.

DC will convert no-parking zones into new dockless vehicle corrals.

 

International

Europe’s bike industry is ready to go as the continent moves towards lifting restrictions on businesses.

A new film examines how an ebike was life changing for an English man with multiple sclerosis.

Seriously. If you’re still riding a bike and competing in triathlons at 80 years old, you deserve a hell of a lot better than getting run down by a Brit driver.

A new survey shows 35% of UK bike riders have been involved in a crash, with 20% of those blamed on drivers.

Unbelievable. A British judge sends a message that it’s perfectly okay to kill someone for damaging your car by giving a driver a suspended sentence for repeatedly punching a drunk man riding a bike for allegedly breaking off his car mirror.

A 12-year old boy in the UK raised the equivalent of more than $5,000 by riding 460 miles in a 36-hour virtual cycling challenge.

Wired says that Belgian-Dutch study warning about the danger of spreading coronavirus while biking or running ain’t necessarily so, and the health benefits of physical activity likely outweighs any risk.

Austria’s Secretary of State for Cultural Affairs is one of us, though she could use a little work on staying on the bike and off the pavement.

About damn time. Germany’s transportation ministry is funding Masters-level courses in bicycle traffic at several universities, saying bikes must be put on equal footing with other forms of transportation.

E-bikeshare use is climbing as a healthier alternative to mass transit in China, as the country slowly reawakens from Covid-19.

 

Competitive Cycling

World champ Ruth Winder responds to the cancellation of the women’s cycling tour by baking sourdough babka and delivering them by bike to her friends in Boulder CO. But riding to LA with a couple wouldn’t be that far out of her way, would it?

A South African cyclist explains why he loves the annual joberg2c mountain bike race, which was cancelled like everything else this year.

Bicycling looks at the pro tour’s rush to virtual cycling, while a writer for Bike Radar says esports aren’t a substitute for the real thing, and he’d rather do literally anything else than watch virtual cycling. Took the words right out of my mouth. Although I can think of a few things even less enjoyable.

 

Finally…

You know your marriage is in trouble when your wife turns you in for hit-and-run. When you’re trying to escape the police on your bike, you’ll have much better luck if you avoid doing a faceplant.

And you could own your very own 1973 Campy-equipped Colnago Super Pantografata, just like the one the Cannibal rode.

But those rare Ebay bike finds aren’t always what they seem.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Ramadān Mubārak!

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

Morning Links: Happy Bike to Work Day, Pasadena bike rider injured in hit-and-run, and close call on Orange Line Bike Path

May 16, 2019 / / One comment

Happy soggy Bike to Work Day!

Hopefully the weather will hold off, so you’ll be able to get out and ride your Bike to Work commute today.

And hopefully the LACBC and LADOT will both keep their promised morning pit stops, despite the forecast.

Especially since both promise fresh donuts and coffee instead of the usual Bike to Work Day energy bar fare.

https://twitter.com/zrch4light/status/1128787896897458176

If no one shows up on Bike to Work Day, they can feel free to send any leftover donuts my way, since it looks like at least another month before I can ride my bike anywhere besides my living room.

Meanwhile, another 74 pit stops are promised throughout the LA area, though no telling whether they will still be there if it rains.

If your commute is too wet, you can hop a bus or train; most local transit systems are offering free rides to anyone accompanied by a bike or helmet today, including Metro and Metrolink. And if the rain lets up, the unimaginatively named Metro Bike bikeshare will be free, as well.

On the other hand, Santa Monica has wisely moved their Bike to Work pit stops at City Hall and the Bike Center to tomorrow, when the forecast calls for drier weather.

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels.com.

………

A Pasadena man is recovering from critical injuries after he was run down by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike across Orange Grove Blvd.

Police tracked the driver to a nearby apartment, where he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk and stoned behind the wheel.

And if the street sounds familiar, it’s the same one where Rose City NIMBYs were driven to a frenzy by a group affiliated with traffic safety deniers Keep LA Moving to demand that the city keep the street dangerous.

Clearly, they succeeded.

………

Brayden Dakota captured bike cam video of a close call on a blind intersection near the Canoga Station on the Orange Line Bike Path.

Unfortunately, it’s not the first time I’ve seen video of a similar near-collision at that location. Hopefully someone will finally do something to fix the problem, so it will be the last.

………

A new study from a German insurance company ranks Vancouver, British Columbia, as North America’s 2nd best city for bicycling.

The Canadian city was ranked 37th out of the world’s 90 top cities, compared to Montreal at 18th.

San Francisco was the best bike city in the US at 39th, followed by Portland and Seattle.

Not surprisingly, Utrecht in the Netherlands ranked first, followed by Munster, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium.

Despite its vaunted cycle superhighways, London failed to crack the top 50.

Very surprising, though, was Los Angeles actually making the list at 56th, primarily because we ranked first for the world’s best bicycling weather, though you couldn’t prove it today.

Although we did make another much shorter list awhile back.

………

Good long read from Curbed on reclaiming the feminist legacy of bicycling.

Recovering the feminist legacy of cycling requires overcoming the practical obstacles that keep women off bikes, and making sure women’s voices are heard in city planning. But perhaps most importantly, it will mean reclaiming the joy, pleasure, and sense of possibility that those early cyclists felt. Women deserve to reconnect with the idea that by riding our bikes we are creating a better future, for ourselves and for our cities.

………

Evidently, it’s open season on bike riders.

A Wisconsin teenager was shot in the head as he was riding a bike, in an apparently random, apparently unintentional shooting.

And someone shot an Indianapolis man twice in the leg as he was on an early morning bike ride.

………

More proof that drivers are the same everywhere.

A British Columbia driver calmly cruises down a bike lane, passing traffic on the right, before eventually turning onto a freeway onramp.

………

Watch a hydraulic press destroy an odd assortment of helmets in a fun, but totally meaningless, demonstration.

………

Local

KCRW wants to know if Los Angeles can clean its dirty air. Unless the city provides viable safe alternatives to driving, no.

Streetsblog looks at Tuesday’s Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital in DTLA; Joni Yung offers photos from the event.

KABC-7 says the bike club at Los Angeles Leadership Academy is helping to keep kids motivated and headed in the right direction.

LADOT says plans are moving forward for safety improvements on Winnetka, including nearly a mile of bike lanes, spurred at least in part by the death of a 72-year old bike rider last September. I’m the first to criticize the city council when it’s called for, so let me thank CD3 Councilmember Bob Blumenfield for responding to this tragedy and helping push this project through.

The Pasadena Star-News previews Sunday’s 626 Golden Streets open streets event, which will see streets closed to motor vehicles through South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel, predicting a turnout of 20,000 people. With more rain forecast for Sunday, they may be right; turnout on a sunny day could be several times that.

The Downtown Pasadena Neighborhood Association will hold a pot luck meeting Thursday evening; among the items to be discussed are proposed enhancements to Cordova Street, including suggestions for a bike lane extending to Arroyo Parkway.

An internationally renowned Palos Verdes artist is staging his first show since he was nearly killed riding his bike on PCH in Malibu after finishing an organized century ride.

Long Beach votes to make e-scooters a permanent addition to the city, while tripling the number allowed.

 

State

Calbike says a pair of bike-friendly bills are making their way through the legislature, including tax vouchers for ebikes, which is scheduled for a vote in the Senate today.

A writer in an Ocean Beach paper says bicycling is great, but he’d rather have parking and his right turn on red back, thank you.

The 13th Annual San Diego Century ride rolls this Saturday, and will be passing through Ramona.

A 10-year old Cambria girl with cerebral palsy can ride a bike for the first time, after a nonprofit and a Texas bikemaker help provide her with an adaptive ebike.

Lyft promises to bring their Jump dockless ebikes back to the Bay Area by June, a full three months before they’ll return to the Big Apple.

Los Angeles should take a clue from Oakland, and add adaptive bikes for people with disabilities to the Metro Bike bikeshare.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a paralyzed Richmond man’s mountain bike handcycle, a crowdfunding page to help pay for a replacement has raised $3,000 of the $10,000 goal.

No surprise here. A Sacramento teenager is suing the police for assault and excessive force, among other allegations, after officers intentionally ran him down on the sidewalk as he tried to flee a traffic stop — for not having a light on his bike.

 

National

A new study shows that 37 million Americans think they put themselves in danger from distracted listening while wearing headphones over the past year.

Uber tells its passengers to stop dooring bike riders already.

Let’s face it. What you really need is a good ale trail.

Forget the standard argument over bike lanes versus parking; near Salt Lake City, it’s bikes versus birds.

Denver is planning to add 17 miles of “high comfort” bike lanes this year, a down payment on the 125 miles planned for the next five years.

In yet another example of keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late, a Chicago-area driver fled the scene after running down a 6-year old girl on her bike, despite having a revoked license; the schmuck abandoned his truck — and his dog — then turned himself in the next day, most likely giving himself plenty of time to sober up.

A Minnesota letter writer says the law should be changed so kids can ride salmon, because her friend hit some bicycling teens 40 years ago.

No, 25News in Fenton MI, you don’t have to be an “avid” bicyclist to celebrate Bike Month.

A Boston bike shop manager and triathlete offers safety tips for riding your bike. And gets them right for a change.

A Syracuse NY public radio station discusses the meaning of Complete Streets.

A Pennsylvania TV station warns about breaking the law by allowing the bike rack on your car to block your license plate. That’s illegal here in California, as well, though it seems to be seldom enforced.

Baltimore’s drunken, killer hit-and-run ex-bishop is officially out of prison after serving just half of her seven year sentence for fatally running down a man riding a bike. Let’s hope she got sober while she was behind bars. And that a condition of her parole is no more driving. Period.

A Baltimore newspaper explains why car ownership continues to climb in the US, despite alternatives.

They get it. A North Carolina TV station says drivers need to do their part to improve safety by not parking in bike lanes and other multi-use lanes.

 

International

An Ottawa, Canada man is back in the saddle for the first time in a decade after he was critically injured in a bicycling collision, as he trains for a 2K ride on a walking bike — basically a three-wheeled adult balance bike.

Road.cc offers advice for British bike riders who’ve been in a crash, most of which applies on this side of the Atlantic, as well. We should all be jealous of a country where bicyclists are entitled to free legal advice.

The Department of DIY struck in the UK, where someone anonymously posted warning signs after a bike-riding girl was hit by a bus.

An English man rode his custom bike 9,500 miles across the US. And naturally had it stolen once he made it to California.

Um, okay. A Zambian witch-doctor was sentenced to 18 year hard labor for indecent assault against five elderly people that he blamed for using witchcraft to make a boy fall off his bike and die; he took them to a graveyard and made them undress and lie on a grave, then rolled on them to exorcize their powers.

Israeli authorities are charging an ebike rider for the death of a pedestrian after he went through a crowded crosswalk at 15 mph.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wednesday’s Giro offered a preview of what the Amgen Tour of California riders may have to look forward to today.

French cyclist Remi Cavagna rode an “audacious” solo breakaway to victory in the Amgen Tour of California in Tuesday’s third stage. Although he could stand a few lessons on how to descend.

Evidently, Mark Cavendish is no fan of the AToC, comparing Monday’s second stage to sitting on an indoor trainer for seven hours.

Ventura sisters and pro cyclists Kendall and Alexis Ryan discuss women’s parity in cycling in advance of Thursday’s first stage of the truncated women’s Tour of California.

A sports website predicts misery and pain for the women’s teams in the Tour’s three stages, especially on Mt. Baldy and the final stage from Santa Clarita to Pasadena.

VeloNews calls the women’s race a dynamic route with a competitive lineup.

 

Finally…

Don’t just watch Stranger Things, ride it. Seriously, if you’re a known gang member carrying a gun and heroin on your bike, put a damn light on it — the bike, not the gun. Or the heroin.

And why stop for lunch, when you can just have it delivered while you’re stuck in traffic?

 

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

Morning Links: It’s Bike Week in SoCal, but anti-Bike Week in Riverside, and OC columnist calls out deadly drivers

May 13, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: It’s Bike Week in SoCal, but anti-Bike Week in Riverside, and OC columnist calls out deadly drivers

Today’s common theme?

Bike Week, of course.

Metro is celebrating with a 30 day Metro Bike Pass for just one dollar this month.

LA Downtown News looks forward to tomorrow’s multi-denominational Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital. Unfortunately, you won’t see me there this year as I continue to rehab my knee, even though the Blessing of the Bicycles is my favorite Bike Week event.

The annual Ride of Silence will take place on Wednesday, and for the first time, will travel from the Vermont and Wilshire Metro Station to Los Angeles City Hall. Maybe then our city leaders will get the message.

This is what Zachary Rynew, aka CiclaValley, had to say about it.

This Wednesday evening, there are a number of events across the Southland for the Ride of Silence and if you’re part of this community, I hope you take part.

Commemorating those that have been lost or injured riding in the roadway isn’t an experience we wish for, but it does provide a moment of inspiration. We all share these streets and each Ride of Silence has brought out all factions of our community. While we are blessed to be a part of this group, there’s an obligation to honor those no longer with us. I know from the number of ghost bikes I’ve placed, providing support to even complete strangers gives comfort to us all.

There will be hundreds of rides taking place across the globe, but if you’re in the Los Angeles area, please take the time Wednesday evening to take place in one of the rides at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, or the one I’m hosting from the Vermont / Wilshire Station to City Hall.
You can also find a number of other rides across California or the nation by going here. We ride for each other because these roads connect us not just point to point, but person to person.

Thursday is Bike to Work Day, which is the Bike Week equivalent of trick or treating for bike commuters. You’ll find pit stops with treats and other assorted goodies all over LA County; though not all are on the map. Metro will also offer free rides for anyone with a bike or helmet.

The LACBC will have their own Bike to Work Day pit stop on Spring Street in DTLA.

Pasadena and CICLE will bring you a full week of Rose City Bike Week events, ranging from a Taste of Pasadena and Women’s Bike Night, to a Bike from Work Happy Hour and a Bike-In Movie.

Santa Clarita will mark Bike Week with Bike to Work Day and the final stage of this year’s Amgen Tour of California.

Ride with Santa Monica City Manager Rick Cole on Saturday to explore the city’s 19 miles of new green bike lanes. Santa Monica Spoke has more Bike Month and Bike Week activities, including a Bike From Work Handlebar Happy Hour.

LA County Bike Week wraps up with the 626 Golden Streets: Mission to Mission ride on Sunday; the Alhambra Source tells you everything you need to know.

OCTA, aka the Orange County Transportation Authority, is hosting a ride on Thursday, plus a chance to win a Trek 2 bicycle or Fitbit Charge 2 if you pledge to ride to work at least one day this month.

San Diego will celebrate Bike to Work Day on Thursday, as well.

Ventura County celebrates Bike Week with a full week of biking to work, instead of a single day, including “entertainment, opportunities and prizes.”

Photo by Ali Arapoğlu from Pexels.

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On the other hand, hats off to the Riverside Police Department for celebrating National Bike Month and attempting to improve bike safety by — wait for it — cracking down on the vulnerable people on two wheels, and giving the ones in the big, dangerous machines a pass.

If the goal is to get more people on their bikes, that’s the wrong way to go about it.

Let alone improve safety.

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Powerful piece by Orange County Register columnist David Whiting, who calls out distracted and aggressive drivers for far too many OC bicycling deaths.

He also quotes longtime Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin extensively.

Except things are even worse than Whiting says. With the death of a man in Santa Ana last week, there have now been four people killed while riding bikes in OC this year, not the three he cites in the article.

Thanks to John McBreaty for the heads-up. 

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New Orange County Bicycle Coalition board member Mike Wilkinson wonders why downhill riders should have all the fun.

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Taylor Nichols says if you see this guy riding around the Hollywood Hills, say hi and maybe pass him a few bucks.

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

An Aussie driver is accused of running down a man on a bike, intentionally backing over him, and fleeing the scene. Then gets released on a ridiculously low $10,000 bond, and claims she thought she just ran over a piece of metal. Sure. A piece of metal with wheels and a human being attached.

Life is cheap in New Zealand, where a violent road raging driver got ten months home vacation, uh, detention and community service for intentionally swerving at a man riding his bike, forcing him up on the sidewalk, then making a U-turn to come back and slam into him. Then when the victim came to in the street with a severely broken leg, the driver stood over him and said “Serves you right.”

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Local

Police in South Pasadena are warning about an increase in bicycle thefts.

A new survey shows most Santa Monica bikeshare and e-scooter users are young, affluent and live outside the city. And over half are using them to replace motor vehicle trips.

 

State

Speaking of OCTA, they want your input on how to improve the Beach Boulevard La Habra and Huntington Beach; options include enhanced sidewalks and bicycle paths.

The Orange County Sheriffs Department will conduct a pair of safety enforcement operations today, with a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement in San Clemente, and cracking down on motorcycle safety violations in Stanton. Standard protocols apply; ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city limits. Thanks to Rock Kendall for the tip.

San Diego County has broken ground on what will be the county’s first bike park, scheduled to open later this year.

Los Angeles is known for car chases; in San Diego, they flee on bikes.

Too scary. Someone apparently took a few shots at Oxnard bike rider from a passing car for no apparent reason.

People for Bikes says Santa Barbara is the best bike city in California.

San Francisco’s Timbuk2 is keeping up with the times by shifting its emphasis from messenger bags to backpacks and products designed for women.

Sad news from Stockton, where a hit-and-run driver left a man who was either riding or walking his bike to die alone in the street.

 

National

Open your wallet wide. Because bicyclists will get to pay for Trump’s trade war with China. Especially people in the market for entry level and kids bikes.

Good piece from Curbed’s Alissa Walker, saying bike lanes need barriers instead of just paint, because cities shouldn’t let people on bicycles get run over.

City Lab explores what it will take to finish America’s first coast-to-coast bike trail.

A new app from a pair of Oregon professors promises to give you a green light 80% of the time.

An Idaho letter writer calls for the law to be changed to allow bicyclists to ride facing traffic, on the assumption it will improve safety. Hint: It won’t. Riding salmon dramatically increases your risk of a serious crash. 

Nice work. A pair of bicycling Colorado grandmas are hanging it up after riding 20,000 miles on multiple trips across the US, raising nearly three-quarter of a million dollars to fight Huntington’s Disease.

Kindhearted North Dakota firefighters buy a new bike for a boy whose bike was stolen, after seeing a Facebook post about the theft.

A retired Kansas trauma surgeon is planning to ride 1,000 miles from Wichita to Winnipeg, Canada to honor his daughter and raise funds to fight eating disorders, following her death from anorexia and depression.

Not even bike cops are safe from hit-and-run drivers, as a Dallas police officer learned the hard way; fortunately, he was not seriously injured.

Minneapolis police busted a bike rider for smashing the windows on a school bus, though they’re not sure if it’s the same person who vandalized two previous school buses for parking in a bike lane.

Now that’s more like it. A Michigan century ride is providing bicyclists with food stops offering cherry pie along the way, and a hot buffet, live music and cocktails at the end.

Now that’s more like it too. An Indiana bike park has opened an adaptive use trail for kids and adults with disabilities.

Great video of kids from a Massachusetts Boys and Girls Club being surprised with 25 new bicycles.

A biking Buffalo bishop plans to ride 3,000 miles through 600 cities on four continents to raise funds for homeless people and the less fortunate.

A Brooklyn bike path is not the place for a swastika; nowhere else is, either.

A New York letter writer tells the red light-running bicyclist who cursed him out for almost hitting him, “If you ever wonder why arrogant cyclists are so reviled by law-abiding motorists like myself” just look in the mirror. Something tells me there’s another side to this, but still.

You gotta respect a successful Hollywood actor who rides the streets of New York with a wooden crate instead of a basket. And takes his rescue dog with him.

The son of a Pennsylvania police officer who was killed in the line of duty will join in on the 250-mile national police memorial ride to Washington DC to honor fallen officers.

He gets it. A Virginia coffee shop owner has started a petition calling for safer streets for people on bicycles, based on personal experience.

They get it too. A South Carolina newspaper says safety education and increased enforcement won’t reverse the longstanding neglect that kills too many bike riders and pedestrians. And the only way to get truly safe roads is to build them that way.

A Tampa, Florida TV station says putting your garbage can out in the bike lane is a serious problem.

 

International

No more dirty bikes. Now you can buy your own pressure washer made just for washing bicycles for the equivalent of less than $120.

The makers of the new Xtracycle ebike promise it never become obsolete, changing along with the rider through all stages of life.

Riding across Canada with two good legs is hard. Riding 4,500 miles across the country on a handcycle after losing the use of his legs is another thing entirely.

Canadian Cycling Magazine offers tips for beginning riders.

A Toronto newspaper says six years and $2.59 million dollars is a lot for bike parking, even if it does come with showers; they’ve got a point, the project was originally supposed to be done two years ago for less than half of that.

No bias here. A writer for a driving website accuses Montreal’s leaders of having an anti-car agenda, after the city responded to the death of a bike rider by closing a roadway through a park that drivers had been using as a freeway to avoid traffic, and favoring high-speed “racing bike scofflaws.” Just like LA’s Playa del Rey, the action was reversed after angry drivers got out their torches and pitchforks.

A New Brunswick, Canada teenager has developed a bike light designed to show drivers the equivalent of a three-foot passing distance.

British blogger Velo City Girl is working to make bicycling more socially inclusive, while dumping the Lycra.

The New York Times considers the Welsh program allowing doctors to prescribe bikeshare to their patients, saying “take two bike rides and call me in the morning.”

If you build it, they will obey the law. A new study shows that just 5% of Dutch bike riders break the law, compared to 66% of drivers; that rose to 14% of bicyclists when there was no bike infrastructure present.

Just in time for Bike Week, an Aussie columnist describes his journey from timid beginning bike commuter to peak MAMIL.

 

Competitive Cycling

As usual, we’re going to avoid spoilers for this year’s Amgen Tour of California, as well as the Giro d’Italia, for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to catch up on the most recent stages. Which is why we’ll just say Sunday’s first stage of the AToC offered a very dramatic sprint to the finish with a surprising competitor.

The Tour of California continues to grow in international stature, with lots of stars, but no clear favorite. Although it’s questionable what this headline from the LA Times preview even means.

CiclaValley offers his own take on the action about to unfold this week.

VeloNews says the penultimate Mount Baldy queen stage could overshadowed by four potential breakaway stages.

The Santa Clarita Signal looks forward to Saturday’s final stage of the AToC.

And in non-ATOC news, apparently bike racing is the perfect cure for the stress of working with dolphins.

 

Finally…

Now you can own your very own Bird scooter for the low, low price of just $1,299; thanks to David Drexler for the link. When your bike becomes a moveable kinetic sculpture. Real FBI agents hardly ever ride bikes on the job, and they seldom dump live catfish on your lawn.

And apparently, my name has an entirely different meaning north of the border.

Somehow, I prefer the second meaning.

Thanks to Chris Klibowitz for finding that one.

I think.

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