Tag Archive for bikeshare

Weekend Links: Act now for complete streets and more bike funding; Metro releases bikeshare timetable

Calbike says your help is needed to secure funding for bikeways before the state legislature calls it quits for the year next Friday.

Your California Bicycle Coalition has two hugely important bills that will transform how California funds bikeway projects. Now we need your help to show that we have enormous grassroots support for world class #CompleteStreets policies and increased funding for bikeway networks. Here’s what these laws would do:

  1. Implement a Complete Streets policy for state funding: SBX 1-1 will require “new bicycle and pedestrian safety, access, and mobility improvements” in every state-funded road maintenance project. It calls for sidewalks and protected bike lanes or bike paths in transit-dense areas on most roads with a speed limit over 25 miles per hour. Thank you, Senator Jim Beall for proposing sensible complete streets policies.
  2. Increase dedicated funding for biking and walking: ABX 1-23 doubles the size of the Active Transportation Program (ATP) with a $125 million increase. The ATP is the sole source of state funding dedicated to biking, walking and Safe Routes to School projects. Last year, the ATP was underfunded by nearly $800 million—many shovel-ready walking, bicycling and safe school access projects were denied funding. This bill also includes an innovative grant program that will fund complete bikeway networks connecting every destination in communities like yours with unbroken webs of bike paths, protected bike lanes, and quiet bicycle boulevards. Thank you, Assemblymembers Eduardo Garcia, Autumn Burke, and David Chiu!

Contact your state Senator and Assemblymember now to let them know that you support implementing strong “complete streets” policies and increasing funding for biking and walking.

Streetsblog has more information on the second bill, which would double funding for the Active Transportation Program.

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Looks like Metro has a five-year plan for building out bikeshare in the LA area, starting with Downtown, then expanding to Pasadena, Central LA and University Park. If they stick to the schedule, it will reach Hollywood and WeHo in 2019-20, and most other areas the next year.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica Spoke is recruiting volunteers to do outreach and spread the word about Santa Monica’s new Breeze bikeshare system. They also invite you to become a founding member of LA County’s first bikeshare system.

And the debate goes on over whether helmets are needed for bikeshare bikes.

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I received the following email earlier this week from the author of a new book about ghost bikes.

I have finally finished a project that I have been working on the last few years that is near to my heart. I traveled the country photographing ghost bikes (white bikes places as memorials for cyclist fatalities) and have self published a book called: Don’t Forget Me; Ghost Bikes-A Photographic Memorial by Genea Barnes. I would appreciate if you took a few minutes to check it out and if you like it, share it with those you think might appreciate it. This project has taken a long time, and I really wanted to share the final product with all those that I have reached out to along the way.

The book is divided into 2 sections. The first, the journal of my travels while searching Ghost Bikes, including small photographs that document who the bike was for, and where it was located. The next section includes images that were created from the photographs that I took. The book is hard cover, 148 pages, and measures 10.25in x 10.25in x 0.75in (thick).

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Portugal’s Nelson Oliveira wins stage 13 of the Vuelta in a breakaway from the breakaway group, while American rider Larry Warbasse discusses what it’s like to suffer in a challenging mountain stage.

The editors of Australia’s Ella Cycling Tips respond to the comment by Oleg Tinkov, owner of the Tinkov Saxo team, that Chris Froome was riding like girl as he fought to rejoin the peloton despite a broken foot; they agree, but not the way he meant it.

Cycling News talks with cycling scion Taylor Phinney about his long road back from a devastating injury at last year’s nationals, and looks forward to the coming world championships in Richmond VA. He says the Americans will be on the offensive, while the US men’s and women’s teams were unveiled Friday.

No surprise here, as the Astana team has been booted from the anti-doping Movement for Credible Cycling after letting teammate Lars Boom compete with an un-credible cortisone level, not to mention the five Astana riders busted for doping. And it wasn’t just my imagination; four riders in the pro peloton have been taken out by race motorcycles this year.

The Guardian says cycling shouldn’t forget its rich history and tradition, despite a proposal to develop a “season-long narrative” to produce a single champion at the end of the year.

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Local

The Guardian offers a pretty good look at LA’s underground bike racing scene. If you can look past describing riding groups as “tribes” and “gangs.” Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

Calling all planners. Councilmember Mike Bonin’s office is looking for a “seasoned” professional to join their staff as Senior Planner. After last night’s curry, I’m pretty seasoned myself.

CicLAvia introduces the people behind the scenes who bring you the world’s largest open streets event.

There’s a special place in hell for someone who’d steal a bike a Long Beach family who uses it as therapy for their two-year old autistic kid.

The LACBC’s monthly Sunday Funday Ride rolls through the parks of Long Beach this Sunday.

The Grand Opening of Metro’s first Bike Hub is scheduled for 10 am to noon on Monday, the 14th at the El Monte Metro Bus Station. Show up with your bike and get a free 30-day Metro Bike Hub Pass.

 

State

A Dana Point woman faces a second degree murder charge for killing a woman who was walking in a bike lane with her blind grandson, after knocking back at least a dozen drinks before she got behind the wheel.

This is what the air rescue of an injured cyclist looks like from the perspective of a Contra Costa County rescue team.

Modesto residents pitch in to replace a 75-year old man’s recumbent bike after it was stolen; the bike was the only form of transportation for him and his wife, both of whom are being treated for cancer.

An 11-year old Hollister boy killed in a collision five weeks ago was riding brakeless, though police aren’t sure if that was why he apparently rode out in front of a bus.

 

National

Someone’s assaulting cyclists in Portland to enforce their own vigilante rules about who should ride on a bike path, and how.

Protected bike lanes are coming to Provo UT.

Accidently start an Idaho wildfire while on a mountain bike poop break, and get a bill of up to $75,000 to put it out.

Two-thirds of the bike collisions in Sioux Falls SD involve people riding on the sidewalk.

Boston Magazine responds to that anti-bike screed in the Boston Globe earlier this week, while the local public radio station says bicycling remains a relatively safe way to get around the city, but could be made safer.

The NYPD’s 19th precinct cracks down on cyclists while virtually ignoring people in the big dangerous machines; they ticketed more cyclists in three hours than they did speeding drivers in seven months.

Evidently, they get right on it if you steal a bike from a B-list New York celeb, though.

A writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution complains about proposed bike lanes on Peachtree Street, saying it might increase the 1% who ride bikes to 2%.

 

International

The head of Canada’s Green Party can’t ride a bike. Personally, I’d rather see a politician who doesn’t ride a bike but supports bicycling than someone who can but doesn’t.

The Economist says there’s a worldwide shift under way from keeping cars moving to making it easier to walk, cycle and play on city streets.

In yet another piece from the Guardian, a former bike courier explains why he rode 150 miles to donate his bike the people in a French refugee camp.

A London bike safety campaign puts candidates for mayor on the spot, asking them to commit to a 10-point plan to Stop Killing Cyclists.

In China, if a driver hits someone, it pays for them to make sure their victim is dead. Even if that means backing up to run over them again. Thanks to Alan Thompson and Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

 

Finally…

Don’t drive drunk on an Iowa bike path at 4:30 in the morning. Don’t shoot your boss if he tells you not to ride your bike to your second floor office, and don’t beat your neighbor to death if he complains about how a boy is riding his bike.

And once again, Bikeyface nails it.

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Get out there and enjoy the great SoCal weather this weekend. But don’t forget that three day weekends mean more drunk and distracted drivers on the roads, especially with both UCLA and USC opening their football seasons at home on Saturday. So ride safely and defensively, wherever you ride. I want to see you back here next week.

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Barring any breaking news, BikinginLA will be off Monday for Labor Day. We’ll see you bright and early Tuesday morning.

 

Morning Links: LA signs off on new pilot bikeshare system for DTLA, and a wild weekend at the Vuelta

It’s official.

Bikeshare is coming to Downtown LA.

A pilot project consisting of 1090 bikes and 65 docking stations is projected to open next year, in a partnership between Metro and LADOT.

Metro is picking up the $5.8 million tab for the bikes and docking stations through a pair of grants, while the estimated $5.2 million in operating costs for the first two years will be split 35%/65% between Metro and the city.

Metro retains the naming rights for the system, while LA will have advertising rights for the docking stations.

The system will be operated by Bicycle Transit Systems, Inc. (BTS) and partner BCycle, chosen in part for a promised ability to incorporate payment through Metro’s Tap Card system. However, the system will likely be incompatible with Santa Monica’s new Breeze bikeshare, and the coming systems in West Hollywood, Long Beach, Beverly Hills and UCLA.

It’s hoped the program will eventually expand to other areas, such as Hollywood, Mid-City, North Hollywood and Venice.

Maybe that will force the city to build out the newly passed Mobility Plan in those areas to give users a safe place to ride.

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The Vuelta a España lived up to its wild reputation on Saturday.

The Euro Sport website bizarrely accused Peter Sagan of sulking and having a meltdown worthy of the Hulk after he was knocked down by a race moto just 10 km from a possible stage victory, and forced to withdraw due to his injuries just a day later. Under those circumstance, even Gandhi would be pretty pissed off.

Meanwhile, Belgium rider Kris Boeckmans is in a medically induced coma after a multi-rider pileup that began when he hit a pothole; he suffered severe facial trauma, as well as a concussion, broken ribs and bleeding in one of his lungs.

American Teejay van Garderen’s hard-luck year continued, as he was knocked out of the race with a broken shoulder in the same wreck; two other riders were forced to withdraw, as well. The injury will keep van Garderen out of next month’s world championships in Richmond VA.

Trek rider Jasper Stuyven won the day on Saturday, despite finishing with a broken wrist, while Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin came back to beat Chris Froome at the wire in Sunday’s stage to regain the winner’s jersey.

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In other racing news, Britain’s Lizzie Armistead wins in Belgium to successfully defend her title in the Women’s World Cup; her victory wasn’t determined until the last lap of the year’s last race.

An Alaska woman set a new record in the grueling 2,745 Tour Divide, as she beat the previous women’s record by two days. Despite riding with bronchitis. And despite it being just her second long-distance race. And despite riding 2,100 miles from Anchorage to Banff before she even got to the starting line. Then she did it again two months later, beating her own record by another day and a half.

Twenty years after the county’s mass genocide, a team from Rwanda will be competing in the world championships in Richmond.

And a pair of university professors say maybe it’s time to legalize safe doping in professional sports, since cheating is going to happen anyway. Although a new study from a Spanish University suggests you should be doping at your local Starbucks.

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Local

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman suggests the first step in LA’s Vision Zero should be to stop cops and parking enforcement officers from parking in bike lanes.

A man was stopped by Santa Monica police while riding one bike and pulling another behind him; he claimed he had bought the second bike, which doesn’t explain a backpack full of burglary tools and stolen documents.

Mind your bike Ps and Qs in El Monte on Monday, as the police plan a crackdown on traffic violations by motorists, pedestrians and cyclists to improve bike/ped safety.

As we mentioned last week, Ryan Seacrest is one of us now.

 

State

Southern California Bicyclist profiles Calbike board member and bike blogger Janet Lafleur.

Another group of San Diego bike riders were harassed while riding on sharrows, just days after police there ignored harassment of a group of shadow-riding cyclists, and hit-and-run that followed.

Coronado’s council will reconsider a study to determine if the town should build a bike path along the beach in the face of vocal NIMBY opposition. Meanwhile, a local paper shows other SoCal city’s have built bike paths on the beach without the world coming to an end.

A Palm Springs man gets 15 years behind bars after pleading guilty to the drunken hit-and-run death of cyclist Edward James Shaieb when prosecutors agreed to drop a felony murder charge. It was the second offense for Brandon Royce Melton, who had gotten off with just three years probation for driving with a BAC nearly twice the legal limit in 2007. More evidence that lenient sentences for DUI only serve to keep dangerous drivers on the road until they kill someone.

Cathedral City wants to speed up construction of their segment of the CV Link, a proposed 50-mile bikeway looping through the Coachella Valley.

A Bakersfield writer faces the moral dilemma of whether to give away his only spare tube to a stranded rider.

San Luis Obispo honors a 70-year old bike advocate by naming a bikeway after him.

This gives a whole new meaning to hybrid bike, as Clovis police are looking for anyone crazy enough to steal a rusted, homemade bicycle-rotating mower.

A San Francisco woman completes a solo, 80-day journey across the US on an e-bike powered by a 10-pound solar panel.

Robin Williams was a frequent visitor of Marin County bike shops; now his heirs are fighting over his collection of high-end bicycles. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

The Jensie is hosting his own Gran Fondo in Marin County this October. Which will give people up there one more thing to complain about, in addition to objecting to tourists on bikes.

 

National

People for Bikes suggests what better Census data on bicycling could look like.

Bicycling offers advice on bike riding etiquette for shared pathways.

A new study tells us what we already knew. Drivers respond better to signs saying “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” than “Share the Road.”

A Portland cop borrows a bike to chase down a hit-and-run suspect who crashed into the Thai restaurant where the officer had just finished eating.

Des Moines IA risks falling behind as other cities become more bike friendly, such as the nearby suburb of Johnson, which just opened the state’s first protected bike lane. Meanwhile, the Des Moines paper bemoans the lack of bike helmet laws in the state, mistakenly equating them with seatbelts.

Amtrak finally allows cyclists to roll their bikes onto the train. But only as a demonstration project on the Chicago to DC line. And with a $25 ticket surcharge.

A hero cyclist visiting from Argentina puts out a burning car and rescues the driver after it went off the road in Maine’s Acadia National Park.

A New York man is going to owe a huge late fee after checking out one of New York’s bikeshare bikes and riding to Los Angeles; he’s already been gone three and a half weeks, which is just a tad over the usual 45 minute limit.

Bicyclists aren’t even safe from hit-and-run drivers when they’re not on the road. A New Jersey rider was hit by a car when he stopped to fix his bike on a grassy median.

In a rare victory for common sense, a Charleston newspaper says rather than fighting over a bike lane on a local bridge, just try it out and see if it works.

Tampa Bay police have cut back on ticketing cyclists for biking while black.

 

International

It takes major chutzpah to strip a locked bike down to its frame right outside the local office of the Royal Canadian Mounties, who didn’t bother to get their man in this case.

Two British brothers will spend the next few years behind bars after headbutting a bike rider and beating him senseless with a crowbar over a long-standing grudge.

Bike cam-using Brit cyclists are accused of self-righteously goading drivers into misbehaving so they can post the video online. Sort of like the case of a road raging Scottish driver who became a victim of instant karma by rear-ending the car ahead after an argument with a cyclist.

Two of the eleven people killed the recent UK air show disaster when a fighter jet crashed into a highway were just out for a Saturday bike ride.

Maybe it’s time to take a tour through the wine country. Like in France’s Loire Valley. Or Australia’s Barossa and Eden Valleys.

An Aussie website offers advice on selling bikes to women.

 

Finally…

Cycling Weekly lists the five best bicycle songs, before concluding that there really aren’t any decent ones. LA cyclists only have to worry about angry drivers; Denver bike riders have to contend with angry bears.

And you, too, can have an ultra lightweight limited edition bike with 24-karat detailing if you have a spare $27,773 lying around.

 

Morning Links: Bikeshare finally besmirches Santa Monica, and the disappearing American bike shop

Bikeshare is finally here.

No, really.

After years of promises, Santa Monica has officially won the race for Los Angeles County’s first bikeshare program, with seven test hubs hitting the street as a pilot program for the Breeze bikeshare system that will hopefully turn into a gale by the end of the year.

And unlike some city’s we could mention, SaMo actually put a full bike network in place to protect riders before planning to throw bike renters to the traffic wolves.

Meanwhile, LA’s long-promised bikeshare system could finally make an appearance next year, just in time to take riders to see LA’s long-promised pro football team make its — or their — debut at the Coliseum.

And yes, it really is starting to feel like bikeshare is popping up everywhere, much to the chagrin of some who dread the besmirching of their fair cities, to cite a classic.

No one appears to have risen up in opposition to bikeshare in Los Angeles yet.

But there’s still plenty of time.

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Red Kite Prayer explains why 38% of American bike shops have gone out of business in the last 15 years, despite the recent bike boom.

Meanwhile, a new bike maker has an interesting idea to help change that by charging more to buy direct than to buy the same bike from your local bike shop. They also promise to donate all their profits to bike advocacy programs.

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Good thing the doping era is over. An Italian rider for Team Katusha has been provisionally suspended for using EPO back in 2012. Don’t you love how cycling teams are always shocked! shocked! to discover one of their riders is cheating?

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Local

The Times’ Sandy Banks says that it’s up to us to hold city officials accountable for living up to the lofty promises of the Mobility Plan and Vision Zero.

The LA Explorers Club hosts their annual bike ride from the Garden of Eden to Devil’s Gate this Sunday, led by guest host Tom Carroll of the Tom Explores LA web series. The ride starts with New Belgium beers and ends with a stop at a brew pub, so this might be a good time to brush up on how alcohol affects your ride.

Nice interview with Wolfpack Hustle’s Don Ward, aka LA’s legendary Roadblock.

Metro wants to know your top priorities for improving walking and bicycling to train stations, bus stops and along regional bikeways or shared-use paths.

CicLAvia offers a photographic wrap-up of the recent Culver City to Venice event, where a good time was had by all.

 

State

Not surprisingly, a Camp Pendleton Navy man has pled not guilty in the hit-and-run death of cyclist Philip White.

San Diego’s Bike the Bay rolls through five bay-adjacent cities and across the Coronado Bay Bridge this Sunday.

Riverside considers replacing four-way stops with traffic circles, as well as building berms that will allow bike riders to bypass stop signs.

So much for the myth of scofflaw cyclists, as San Bernardino police write 95 tickets during a crackdown on bike and pedestrian safety, with just seven going to the people on two wheels, and 49 to those on two feet.

Palm Springs police go undercover to bust three thieves with a bait bike.

A Santa Barbara writer offers advice on essential tools for bike riders. I concur — especially about the cell phone, which can be a life saver in an emergency.

San Francisco unveils secure bike parking at the Civic Center BART station; users pay $5 for an access card and user verification, then just three cents an hour to park their bike. Can we pretty please get that down here? Please?

A Lodi bike summit aims to make the city a destination for bike tourism.

 

National

Biking to work is growing fastest among the richest Americans. Perhaps because the poorest have already been doing it.

Bicycling offers advice on how to take better pictures of your bike.

Portland distinguishes a bikeway from a sidewalk by painting the former green.

Santa Fe is planning a $3.8 million tunnel to allow cyclists and pedestrians to pass under a six-lane highway.

An Iowa driver had a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when he killed a cyclist during a Sunday morning ride. So instead of cracking down on drunk drivers, the city naturally goes after unpermitted group rides.

A Minnesota driver faces up to 10 years for allegedly killing a bike-riding mom while texting.

At least they take drunk driving seriously in Illinois. A driver from that state faces up to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a cyclist while driving with a BAC 2.5 times the legal limit.

A full year after a New York bike rider was seriously injured in a hit-and-run, the NYPD still hasn’t spoken with the owner of the vehicle — and left it to the victim to track him down. Nice to know the police really don’t give a damn there.

 

International

This is why you never lock your bicycle to a street sign, as a Canadian rider returns to find thieves had unbolted the sign post to get his bike.

A British actress had to wait two hours for an ambulance after she was impaled on her own handlebars after a collision with another rider.

Floating bus stops designed to protect London bike riders could endanger blind and partially sighted people, according to one writer.

A London mayoral candidate insists riding a bike in the city is taking your life into your own hands, saying he doesn’t ride because he doesn’t want to leave his children without a father. No point in being overly dramatic or anything.

A writer for the UK’s Guardian explains why Manchester is a rubbish city for cycling.

A British cyclist saves the lives of several other people when his organs were donated, after he died from an apparent solo fall. I’ve signed my donor card just in case; if the worst ever happens, I want some good to come from it.

An Irish soccer player faces charges of drunk driving and hit-and-run after crashing into a bike rider, followed by driving into a gas pump.

Seriously? A test of the road race course for next year’s Rio Olympics is deemed a success, despite being rerouted for a protest and the mugging of photographers covering it. But other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, the play was a huge success.

Singapore has plans to become Asia’s first bicycling city, with plans to add over 430 miles of bikeways, including shaded paths to compensate for the city’s hot temperatures.

 

Finally…

Shape offer 30 reasons why bicycles are better than boyfriends. When is a three-month suspension for punching a fellow member of your national cycling team not a suspension? When there are no races scheduled to compete in.

And repeat after me: When you’re riding with a gun and a small amount of drugs on your bike, don’t ride salmon, already.

 

Weekend Links: Bikeshare finally coming to LA, and fighting among ourselves won’t make bicycling to grow

It looks like bikeshare is finally coming to Los Angeles.

According to Streetsblog, Metro’s Planning and Programming Committee approved a contract for the first phase of the program, starting with 1,000 bikes in Downtown Los Angeles before hopefully spreading to other parts of the city.

Metro selected Bicycle Transit Systems, operator of Philadelphia’s Indego system. And they pinkie swear the system will be interoperable with the bikeshares in Santa Monica and Long Beach.

The LADOT Bike Blog says Metro’s goal is to allow rentals using a TAP card, so it becomes an extension of the transit system. And calls bikeshare an ideal fit for LA.

Which is true, as long as we have the infrastructure network in place to keep riders safe. And that currently exists only in DTLA.

Then again, this isn’t the first time it’s been promised.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica has announced their proposed rate structure, ranging from $6 for a one-hour rental to $25 a month for one hour per day of riding. Annual passes start at $119, or $79 for SaMo residents; Santa Monica College students get a discount at just $47 a year.

Looks like I may have to go back to college.

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Mobility Lab says if we want people to like bicyclists, we all need to slow down, lose our helmets and spandex and buy cruiser bikes.

Screw that.

Despite what some have to say, we won’t win any battles if we turn on ourselves, and say one way to ride a bike is right and every other way is wrong.

We should expect everyone to ride courteously and safely.

Beyond that, there is nothing inherently wrong with riding fast for sport, just as there is nothing wrong with a moderately paced ride to work or a leisurely cruise along the beach.

And there is nothing wrong with dressing for the kind of riding you do, whether that means Lycra, jeans, shorts or a dress.

Our strength comes from working together to support all forms of bicycling, by every kind of rider. Demonizing one form of riding and dividing bicycling into various camps is the best way to ensure we conquer ourselves.

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Long Beach-based bike advocate extraordinaire Charlie Gandy goes car free after his trusty Jeep dies.

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The National Brotherhood of Cyclists is attempting to band bike advocacy groups together to bring equity to the front of the movement.

Speaking of which, there will be a Ghost Bike Ride for Justice in South LA Saturday evening.

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The US amateur and junior cycling championships will come to Truckee and North Lake Tahoe next week.

VeloNews talks with Ian Crane, the pro rider who nearly died after a gut-wrenching crash through the window of a race vehicle during last year’s USA Pro Challenge.

Pro cyclist John Degenkolb says dopers are still thriving, and bike racing will never be 100% clean.

Or any other sport, for that matter.

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Local

Los Angeles residents continue to drive less.

LA’s Topanga Creek Bicycles is honored as the small business of the year for California’s 27th Senate District.

A Santa Monica traffic safety group says an analysis of traffic collisions over a 10-year period shows bikes aren’t to blame for road injuries, cars are.

A Manhattan Beach man plans to ride 3,800 miles from one Manhattan Beach to another,

 

State

San Diego cyclists may be down but not out after a kick in the pants by the local Association of Governments.

An Indio cop says he fatally shot a bike rider who hadn’t threatened him because he was mourning the death of a fellow officer. Oh, well okay, then.

Wealthy Rancho Mirage once again votes to block a planned 50-mile bike path around the Coachella Valley.

A hit-and-run cyclist flees the scene after crashing into an 81-year old woman in a San Francisco intersection. Jerk.

A Sacramento columnist calls for a ban on sidewalk riding after she and her husband are nearly hit by the sort of rider who probably wouldn’t obey it anyway. Meanwhile, a DC sidewalk rider asks why all the hate?

Davis is installing solar powered bike lockers to encourage cyclists to leave their bikes at the station.

 

National

ESPN discovers women’s bike polo. And yes, it is a badass sport.

Seven people suffering from Parkinson’s are riding 464 miles across the Rockies as part of a 30-member Davis Phinney Foundation team.

A Montana fixie-riding bike commuter experiences firsthand what it’s like to be hit by a stop sign-running driver.

A new Texas mom on her first outing after giving birth saves the life of a bike rider after noticing him slumped on the side of the road with a massive heart attack.

A local website asks how bike-friendly Louisville KY really is after the city gets bumped up to Silver status.

Evidently, aggressive cyclists are the biggest problem in the Twin Cities, as a writer offers up six ways to tell you’re a bike jerk. And London, too.

The family of a bike rider who was killed in a New Jersey amateur race settles a lawsuit against the organizers for $7.1 million; the victim collided with a race referee while riding at 30 mph.

Cute story from Philadelphia, as a young kid on a bike joins a couple of bike cops out on parole, then gets a tour of a fire station.

A bike rider once again beats a driver and a bus rider in a race to see who can commute faster in Savannah GA.

An LSU fan site says a football player should be banished from the program for beating a man and punching his girlfriend. But evidently, stealing a bike was okay.

 

International

McDonald’s introduces to-go packaging specially designed for use on bikes overseas. So what are we, chopped liver?

A Canadian boy suffering from a brain tumor gets a new bike after his was stolen.

Calgary’s new bike network comes in under budget after engineers scrap plans for bike signal lights; even so, ridership is already 25% above projections.

Caught on video: Sniggering Brit hooligans film themselves pushing a cyclist off his bike from a passing car. Hopefully authorities will show them just how stupid they were to post it online — let alone do it.

A London cyclist suffers a broken leg when he’s mugged for his bike.

An English TV presenter says bike riding is London is too dangerous, and cars should be banned from the city center. Getting rid of the blind spot on large trucks could help, too.

A Brit rider making a comeback in racing after 16 years off the bike offers advice on how to stay married and ride your bike, too.

A 19-year old British bike rider is two-thirds of the way through his attempt to become the youngest person to ride around the world.

A Dublin bike rider is searching for the Good Samaritan who drove her in search of a bike shop after she double flatted in a fall.

 

Finally…

Caught on video: A bike-riding London mayor tells an angry cabbie to “fuck off and die.” The London Press freaks out over a texting cyclist riding with no hands in relative safely.

And London’s Telegraph offers a tongue-in-cheek test to see just how much of a cycling psycho you really are.

Apparently, if I’m not a bike messenger, I should be.