Tag Archive for cargo bikes

A call to rejoin the fight in Fullerton and LA County, what CA’s bike rebates could be, and tips for your first cargo bike

July 25, 2023 / / Comments Off on A call to rejoin the fight in Fullerton and LA County, what CA’s bike rebates could be, and tips for your first cargo bike

Okay, I screwed up this time. 

In the words that follow, I called in BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, to step up and help this writer for the Fullerton Observer, and other bicyclists in the area, with their campaign in support of plans for a lane reduction on Associated Road. 

In my mind, I mistakenly placed Fullerton in the tangle of cities in Southeast Los Angeles County. 

It’s not, of course. 

Fullerton is in Northern Orange County, on the other side of Buena Park. Which I should know, having written about the city several times — let alone being there more than once. 

I stand by my call for BikeLA to step up and resume its role as LA County’s leading bicycle advocacy organization. But any criticism, real or implied, for not taking a direct role in Fullerton is off base, and I apologize. 

He gets it.

A writer for the Fullerton Observer calls for improving safety on Associated Road by removing two traffic lanes between Bastanchury and Imperial, allowing for wider bike lanes and several feet of painted buffering.

But warns it’s not likely to happen without wide support, particularly from the city’s bicycling community.

Only property owners on Associated Road received notice of the meetings on this issue. Almost all were opposed to the project, primarily to the parking and the fear that it would result in homeless and student parking.  Two Councilmembers supported the opponents, while Councilmember Charles opposed the parking but supported the lane removal. Mayor Jung did not speak directly to the issue, but at a later meeting, in response to some comments that decisions seemed to have been made behind closed doors, he stated that it would come back for a vote.

That is yet to happen. Thus the issue remains open. In the meantime, staff has stopped working on this proposal. Since it involves only paint and the road re-construction is going forward from now until November 20, time remains to determine the ultimate lane configuration.

He goes on to call for people to sign a petition supporting the lane reduction, which doesn’t even have 40 supporters as of this writing.

And ends with this.

The Council majority would prefer to see this go away, even though there is no shortage of bicycle riders in Fullerton. Over 1000 turned out for a July 4 ride on Wilshire. Not so many readily turn out for Council meetings, contact their members, or sign petitions. Nor is there an active bicycle or road safety advocacy group in Fullerton at the moment.

If you wish to weigh in on this proposal (pro or con), you can contact the Council at Councilmembers@cityoffullerton.com, Or you can show up for public comments at Council meetings on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 5:30.

It has long been a problem, not just in Fullerton, but throughout LA County to get the bicycling community involved with their local government, and to stand up en masse to demand safer streets.

For nearly two decades, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, now rebranded as BikeLA, led the fight, often working behind the scenes with government leaders, but able to marshal a significant turnout at council meetings when needed.

But now they’re needed — desperately — in Fullerton, and elsewhere throughout LA County.

As a former board member of the organization, I’ve withheld any criticism for some time now — especially knowing the dire straights the previous Executive Director left them in when he left the group at the brink of financial disaster after leaving the country.

I know the current board and leadership of BikeLA have worked hard to bring the organization back to health, financially and otherwise.

But it’s time they got back into the fight.

They have long since been supplanted as the county’s primary voice for bicycle advocacy by groups like Active SGV, SAFE and Streets For All.

Yes, some chapters of BikeLA have continued to be active in their local communities over the past few years.

But those chapters, and individual members, need to light a fire under the the current leadership, and urge them to once again step forward to lead the fight for bicycle access and safer streets.

And become, once again, the advocacy organization we all need them to be.

Because Fullerton is literally crying out for help.

And the rest of us aren’t far behind.

Photo from Pexels.

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This is what California could have, if it ever rolls out its long-delayed, vastly underfunded ebike rebate program.

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Arleigh Greenwald, better known as Bike Shop Girl, offers a Twitter thread with tips on buying your first cargo bike.

Although you’ll have to click through to read it, and may not be able to if you don’t have a Twitter account, since Elon keep changing the damn site rules every five minutes, along with the name.

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

The US Army Corps of Engineers is closing a popular lakefront roadway near Fort Worth, Texas to bike riders and pedestrians, citing “hundreds” of safety incidents over the past three months. Because evidently, people are much safer with cars zooming by than people walking or riding bikes.

No bias here. A Cambridge, Massachusetts city council candidate says she won’t sign a pledge to keep building bike lanes, because some people can’t ride a bike, and even people who ride bikes sometimes drive cars.

Police in England are looking for the person who pushed a man off his bike and into a river; the victim was okay, but his bike was lost in the water.

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

A Virginia man faces charges after he allegedly crashed his bike into a car, then fired a shot at the driver. Seriously, violence — especially gun violence — is never the answer, though I suspect there may be some dispute over just who hit who. 

A Singapore bike rider is looking for the man who somehow took offense to being passed on his bike, catching up to him outside a store and repeatedly kicking his bike and wheels while swearing at him, until police broke up the confrontation — but evidently let the attacker go.

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Local 

Apparently, Metro finally figured out they can waste all the money they want on widening the 605, without having to tear down people’s homes in Latino working class neighborhoods in Downey and Santa Fe Springs after all.

A Streetsblog op-ed from Streets for All’s Michael Schneider and Eli Lipmen of Move LA says it’s time to go bold, and finally make bikeshare a core Metro mobility service instead of an afterthought.

Bizarre attack in Pasadena, where a man pushing a bicycle walked up to another man at a bus stop, pushed the tip of a machete against his abdomen, then slashed a four-inch gash in the man’s leg, before gathering his bike and walking off, all without a single word.

 

State

Police in Huntington Beach are jumping on the ebike crackdown bandwagon, warning, ticketing and/or arresting those who “mis-use” ebikes, while warning that riding over-powered ebikes under the influence could lead to a DUI. Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for the heads-up.

A man in his 60s was lucky to apparently escape with minor injuries when he was the victim of a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Chula Vista late Monday morning.

San Diego’s SDNews says ebikes are popular and convenient, but also pose dangers, citing battery fires and speeds up to 28 mph — but fails to mention that you can achieve that relatively easily on a good road bike, too. And without the risk it will burst into flames. 

A lithium-ion ebike battery is blamed for setting an apartment on fire in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.

 

National

A group of 15 Portland bike riders are suing the city for failing to comply with a 52-year old state law requiring cities to build cycling and pedestrian infrastructure whenever a road is reconstructed. Too bad we don’t have something like that on the books here in California. Because there are a lot of cities that need to have the hell sued out of them, starting with a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

This is who we share the road with. A New Mexico woman faces vehicular homicide, DUI, hit-and-run and child abuse charges for fleeing the scene after driving against traffic, hitting a parked car and killing a 70-year old man riding a bicycle, all with her three-year old son in the car.

A Houston TV station reports on a local group using mountain bikes to help teens and their families dealing with addiction and other self-destructive behaviors.

Police in Minneapolis are warning about new bike theft tactics, as thieves are using super glue to jam bike locks so they can’t be opened, then coming back later and cutting the locks. I’ve been told by LAPD officers that’s being used here, too.

A Kentucky man will spend the next ten years behind bars after copping a plea to the hit-and-run death of a bike-riding mother, claiming he somehow didn’t see her despite the flashing lights on her bike, and the man’s she was riding with.

The shameful scourge of sharrows continues to spread, despite studies showing they increase the risk for bike riders, now leaving their dangerous road markings on the streets of Plattsburgh in upstate New York.

Lyft is considering selling off New York’s highly successful Citi Bike bikeshare due to mounting financial problems at the company. Meanwhile, Curbed questions why Citi Bike’s ebikes are always broken, concluding the problem is likely the bikes themselves. Or maybe a financially strapped company is just cutting corners. 

The rich get richer, as NYC’s public realm officer, aka “czar of public spaces,” is building on the city’s recent biking and pedestrian successes by ramping up projects to benefit both.

A 45-year old Pennsylvania man was sentenced to a well-deserved five to ten years behind bars after pleading guilty to the drunken, stoned crash that killed a bike-riding bank manager exactly 1,392 days earlier.

A West Virginia man faces charges of attempted murder, malicious wounding, wanton endangerment, and presentation of a firearm in the commission of a felony for jumping down off his trunk and shooting a passing bike rider in the arm, after screaming at him for some unknown reason.

Unbelievable. A North Carolina woman faces charges for fleeing the scene after running down two bike riders from behind, leaving one man with serious injuries — then trying to coverup her crime by telling investigators she thought she’d hit a deer, and going so far as to place hair from her dog on her windshield to support her story.

 

International

Electrek says the bike industry should refocus on building simple, attractive, and serviceable ebikes following the “shocking” VanMoof bankruptcy.

Canadian Cycling Magazine suggests a half dozen outdated rules for city bicycling that should be modernized.

London officials admitted that a bike lane is causing congestion when buses stop to pick up passengers. In other words, it’s the narrow traffic lanes and lack of bus stops, not the bike lanes, that are the problem. 

A pair of Scottish brothers are about to stand trial for murdering a man taking part in a 104-mile charity bike ride, then hiding his body for months afterwards; they allegedly abandoned the victim after hitting him with their car while driving under the influence, then came back the next day to move his bike and body.

 

Competitive Cycling

Germany’s Liane Lippert captured her first stage win since 2020 on Monday’s stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, aka the Women’s Tour de France.

Velo offers 21 quick hits in summing up this year’s Tour de France, from a “super” Sepp Kuss to pulling for Cav to make a comeback next year.

Lost in the news from the Tour de France was that upstart American Neilson Powless lost the polka dot King of the Mountain jersey to Italian Giulio Ciccone over the final stages, after pushing the action for much of the race.

Bicycling reports that Netflix’s popular cycling docuseries Unchained will be back for a second season, this time focusing on Tadej Pogačar and the UAE Team Emirates team.  As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

Evidently, winning a Tour de France stage is like getting drunk — especially the next day. The video game-ish future of mountain biking.

And victory is not always to the swiftest, but to those who manage to remain upright.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

E-cargo bikes beat delivery vans in city centers, new and improved LA bike lanes, and who’s really in the way

August 5, 2021 / / One comment

Let’s talk e-cargo bikes.

A new European study shows electric cargo bikes are cleaner and less polluting than typical delivery vans, which isn’t really surprising.

But they’re also faster and more efficient — 60% faster than vans in city centers, resulting in significantly more deliveries per hour.

And they’re even cleaner than electric vans, emitting a full third less carbon — and 90% less than diesel vans.

As an added bonus, they have a far smaller impact on urban congestion.

Here’s what The Guardian had to say —

Home deliveries have soared in recent years, spurred by online shopping and the coronavirus pandemic. Vans can travel along clear stretches of road at higher speeds than cargo bikes but are slowed by congestion and the search for parking. Cargo bikes bypass traffic jams, take shortcuts through streets closed to through traffic and ride to the customers door.

“Recent estimates from Europe suggest that up to 51% of all freight journeys in cities could be replaced by cargo bike,” said Ersilia Verlinghieri at the Active Travel Academy at the University of Westminster and lead author of the report. “So it’s remarkable to see that, if even just a portion of this shift were to happen in London, it would be accompanied by not only dramatic reduction of CO2 emissions, but also contribute to a considerable reduction of risks from air pollution and road traffic collisions, whilst ensuring an efficient, fast and reliable urban freight system.”

In other words, cargo bikes for the win.

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Speaking of which, our German correspondent Ralph Durham forwards photos of the the wide variety of work bikes he found on a recent visit to Strasbourg, France.

Starting with a food delivery bike for a Japanese restaurant…

A postal bike…

And what appears to be a bakery bike.

Finally, he sends this photo of an electric flatbed bike towing a trailer, which was picking up food waste from a restaurant for treatment offsite.

But as drivers and NIMBYs keep reminding us, you can’t carry things on a bicycle, let alone make deliveries.

Right?

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Maybe there’s more going on that it seems.

Streetsblog reports on a number of new and improved bike lanes in the LA area, including in Downtown LA, South LA, Koreatown and the San Fernando Valley.

Then again, it seems like nothing is going on outside of DTLA, so anything is an improvement.

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Your old bike could have been a Volvo.

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This is what LA could look like in just two short years with a little more leadership.

Okay, a lot more leadership.

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They should put this on the cover of every driver’s instruction manual and owner’s manual in the country.

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

Culver City police are still looking for the bike-riding man who assaulted a young woman last month.

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Local

This is who we share the road with. Three innocent people were killed in a violent Burbank collision when a speeding driver slammed into their car on a quiet surface street; the killer driver may have been racing with the driver of another car, who also crashed.

LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez calls for redesigning streets to put a stop to street racing. Making them bike and pedestrian friendly helps, too.

 

State

Sad news from San Jose, where a man died a day after he was struck by a driver when he allegedly ran a red light on his bike. As usual, the question is whether anyone saw him run the light, other than the driver who hit him.

 

National

Streetsblog says the new bipartisan infrastructure bill could be better for active transportation than it seems, with hidden clauses within the bill that could benefit bike riders and pedestrians.

They get it. CityLab says if you want safer streets, get rid of dangerously aggressive language in car and truck commercials. But you may have to give up your email address if you want to read it.

Putting a bike rack on your car can significantly reduce your gas mileage. So you might as well just ride your bike in the first place.

Apparently firm believers in thinking small, Civilized Cycles thinks their new ebike could replace your second car. Because replacing your first — or only — car is just a bridge too far for them, evidently.

A 14-year old Washington boy made it all the way across the US on a fundraising bike ride to see the Statue of Liberty, accompanied by his 72-year old grandfather.

A woman in Maine put together a virtual posse and got her stolen bicycle back within days, although the ukulele she kept on the handlebars may be gone forever.

America’s only remaining Tour de France winner is turning Eastern Tennessee into the hub for his new bike line. And wants to turn it into what he calls “Carbon Fiber Valley.”

The Cherokee Nation is now accepting applications for next year’s 950-mile Remember the Removal bike tour retracing the infamous Trail of Tears through seven states. But you have to be Cherokee to apply.

 

International

Forget the best ebike. Treehugger considers what would be a good design for both older and beginner ebike riders.

Yes, you can put a bike rack on your car in Costa Rica. Just be sure to mount your bikes correctly.

A new London resident tries the city’s bikeshare for the first time, and it completely changes his view of the city. Let alone how fast he could get around.

You know there’s a problem when seven people have been killed riding their bikes at the same London junction in the past 13 years, where long-promised safety improvements have yet to materialize.

A pair of Bengaluru bike riders are attempting to set a new record by riding 15,000 miles through 29 Indian states and 2 territories in 200 days.

 

Competitive Cycling

More troubles for Britain’s Olympic cycling team, with reports that the radical new design of the team’s track bikes may have been stolen from a design patented by famed cycling engineer and aerodynamicist Richard McAinsh and his Dutch bike brand.

Good news from Tokyo, where BMX cyclist Connor Fields was released from the hospital just five days after a horrific crash during a preliminary heat put him in the ICU with a brain hemorrhage, collapsed lung and broken ribs.

Danish team pursuit cyclist Frederik Madsen finally apologized to the British rider he unceremoniously yelled at after slamming into him while looking down at the track.

 

Finally…

Strap one on your handlebars, and never get bit by another mosquito when you ride. If you’re going to steal a bike, return it with a note saying you’re sorry.

And sometimes, other road users just jump right out at you.

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

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

Bike rider critical after South LA hit-and-run, de Leόn opposes Eagle Rock’s Beautiful Blvd, and cargo bikes of old

May 14, 2021 / / 2 comments

It’s happened again.

A heartless coward fled the scene, leaving an innocent person on a bicycle seriously injured in the street.

Police are looking for the driver of a maroon Kia Optima, who was turning right onto Flower Street from Florence Ave in South LA, when he or she right hooked the victim, who was crossing Flower in the crosswalk around 6:55 Monday evening.

The driver fled south on Flower.

Paramedics transported the victim to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Ramirez of the LAPD South Traffic Division at 323/421-2500, or call 877/527-3247 after hours or on weekends.

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Disappointing news, as CD14 Councilmember Kevin de Leόn comes out against the resident-driven Beautiful Boulevard plan for Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock, choosing cars over people and livability.

Meanwhile, the Eagle Rock Association has taken the opposite stance by endorsing the plan.

Maybe de Leόn is just trying to avoid angering anyone by allowing the removal of a traffic lane before his widely expected run for mayor next year.

But he could be making the same miscalculation too many others on the council have made, mistaking the loudest and angriest voices for that of the majority — many of whom prefer safe and livable streets to sucking in exhaust fumes and playing Frogger with speeding drivers.

Former CD4 Councilmember David Ryu learned that lesson too late to save his seat.

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Apparently, there’s nothing new about cargo bikes.

Yes, bike riders have always been cool.

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CD7 Councilmember Monica Rodriguez calls for public participation to re-envision deadly Foothill Blvd in Lakeview Terrace.

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

A Redwood City man faces charges for attacking a woman riding on a beach bike path in Half Moon Bay, pushing her down a rocky slope before throwing her bicycle on top of her, then threatening a witness who tried to help.

No bias here. After New York’s outgoing mayor says he’s open to license plates on bicycles, a local news station gleefully points out all the scofflaw bike riders they can find. Never mind the ones who don’t break the law, or all those drivers who do. Or that it just doesn’t work. 

Unbelievable. A road raging British man will spend the next year behind bars for getting out of a car and repeatedly punching and choking a man on a bike, who had apparently offended him by swerving to avoid a cat — but then shook the victim’s hand and apologized, using his own shirt to clean up the man’s blood, when he realized a recording of the incident would be sent to the police. And later friended the frightened man on Facebook.

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Local

No surprise here. As Los Angeles heads back to the streets and driving rates rise to pre-pandemic levels, road rage is making a big comeback, too.

LADOT will host a virtual meeting this coming Wednesday to discuss plans to close the infamous Northvale Gap on the Expo Line bike path; expect the same entitled NIMBY opposition from homeowners as we’ve seen from the beginning.

UCLA’s Transportation department calls for biking your way to better health. It makes for healthier cities, too. And universities.

West Hollywood’s carfree weekend closure of Robertson Blvd got off to a slow start on Mother’s Day weekend. Although it might help if the city got the date right.

Racism has raised its ugly head in Santa Monica, where anti-Semitic graffiti had to be painted over on the beachfront Marvin Braude bike path; similar offensive messages were painted on Abbott Kinney Blvd in recent weeks, as well.

Life is cheap in Long Beach, where a speeding drunk driver who lost control of his car, killing a young woman riding with him and injuring another driver, got a lousy 50 days of community service, 18 months of DUI classes and three years probation. He also lost his license for three years, which doesn’t actually seem to stop anyone.

 

State

A planned 1,230-mile bike trail stretching from Oregon to Mexico is around 70% complete; the pathway stitches together existing bikeways to make up the longer trail.

San Diego has taken a page out of LA’s book, as the city has become even deadlier, five years after adopting Vision Zero, although deaths there have gone down the past two years.

A group of Berkeley high school students spent the past year carving an unpermitted mountain jump course into the hills above the city; now they’re fighting to keep the city from bulldozing it. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A 12-year old boy and a 50-something man in Sebastopol suffered major injuries when an alleged speeding drunk driver slammed into their bikes, before smashing into a tree and suffering major injuries himself.

 

National

Far from killing business as opponents predicted, Yelp data from five cities, ranging from Boston to Burbank, shows that interest in restaurants along newly carfree streets went up.

Lifestyle website Inside Hook says between gas shortages, fuel prices, climate change and the resurgent pandemic, there’s never been a better time to ditch your car for a bike. Permanently.

Pez Cycling News offers tips for beginning bicyclists to help new riders get out on the road, while Cycling News considers the things you should think about before riding an ebike for the first time, but probably haven’t.

Seriously, you shouldn’t have to remind anyone that cemeteries are sacred ground, and not the place to train on your bike. In Portland, or anywhere else.

Kansas City adopted a Vision Zero plan, pledging to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030. Let’s hope they take it more seriously than Los Angeles has. Then again, it would be hard to do less. 

 

International

A new study of bicycling rates in 17 countries confirms what we already knew — women are the strongest indicator of a healthy bicycling environment. Thanks to Keith Johnson for the link.

Cycling Weekly pays tribute to the Beatle’s Sgt. Pepper album with a cover collage of 130 people who changed bicycling. Hopefully for the better, because we’ve had more than enough of the other kind.

Trek does the right thing, and offers a free bicycle to a British Columbia nurse after hers was stolen while she was busy giving Covid-19 shots. Seriously, it takes a real schmuck to steal a bike from someone working to save lives.

No bias here, either. After an Ontario, Canada man was hit by a cop while riding his bike, the local paper bends over backward to shift blame from the cop to an apparently sentient patrol car.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a 15-year old English paperboy’s bicycle while he was making his rounds.

A British man is calling for a change in the law to require that collisions involving bike riders are treated like crashes involving drivers, five years after his wife was killed in a collision with someone on a bicycle. Actually, they already are; in either case, the person on the bicycle almost always gets the blame.

In a European study conducted by Ford, people wearing headphones were four seconds slower to identify road hazards than those without them, whether traveling on two wheels or four.

A Kiwi bike rider narrowly escaped disaster when a shortcut across a New Zealand airport runway nearly led to him being cut in half by a glider tow cable.

Amazing bike cam video, as a trio of Aussie bicyclists were lucky to escape injury when a bolt of lightening struck the roadway just behind their bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Giro got its third leader in four days, as Swiss cyclist Gino Mäder won his first Grand Tour stage in Thursday’s 6th stage.

Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin is back from his six-month non-retirement to reconsider his future, apparently deciding it will include next month’s Tour de Suisse.

VeloNews profiles Mavi Garcia, the double-Spanish national champ and top 10 finisher, who often flies under the radar on the women’s pro tour.

More evidence that motor vehicles don’t belong in bike races, whether race motor or team support cars.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new bike hub used to be a brothel. Politicians can’t catch a break when they bike.

And nothing like hopping around on your pogo bike.

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

And get vaccinated, already.

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

Wealthy LA-area man accused of shielding son in deadly crash, cargo bikes and dogs, and ride like a bike messenger

March 9, 2021 / / Comments Off on Wealthy LA-area man accused of shielding son in deadly crash, cargo bikes and dogs, and ride like a bike messenger

Is this who we share the road with?

A Reddit user accused an LA-area millionaire of allegedly using his money and influence to protect his speeding, Lamborghini-driving son from the consequences for killing a woman driving another car on Olympic Blvd in Westwood.

Monique Munoz was killed when a 17 year old, driving a $200,000 Lamborghini at over 100 MPH crashed into her at 5PM. The drivers father, James Khuri, is a millionaire and has been throwing money to get any news coverage of the incident pushed to the back of google and have positive articles of himself populated instead. Meanwhile, following Moniques death Khuri has been posting about his lavish lifestyle on Instagram and deleting and blocking  anything in reference to Monique. It’s been two weeks and no charges have been pressed.#JusticeForMoniqueMunoz

Update: Anyone interested in helping please email DA Gascon to move forward with the case at info@da.lacounty.gov and keep the story alive on socials. #JusticeforMoniqueMunoz

Photo by Sundesh Chaudhary from Pexels.

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Dogs and bikes. What’s not to like?

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How to ride like a bike messenger.

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This is the difference a well-planned bikeway can make.

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

A British woman claimed a bike rider somehow threw himself onto the hood of her car, and flashed a salute as he slid off. Although we can probably guess what kind of salute it was, and how many fingers he used.

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Local

Today is the last day to request a mail-in ballot for the neighborhood council elections in the Hollywood and Mid City areas.

LA street safety PAC Streets For All will host a free virtual happy hour with bike-friendly Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin on Wednesday.

 

State

San Clemente has banned ebikes from the city’s eponymous pier, as well as the city’s beachfront trail.

Sad news from Turlock, where a 44-year old man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike; police are looking for the driver of a gray or charcoal Mercedes sedan with possible front-end or side damage.

The news wasn’t any better in San Jose, where an 81-year old man was killed when he was right hooked while riding his bike; the case will be reviewed by the DA’s office to determine if the driver will face charges.

And still more bad news from the Bay Area, where a woman suffered life-threatening injuries when her bike was hit by a van driver in Golden Gate Park. Which raises the eternal question of what the hell are motor vehicles doing in a public park in the first place?

San Francisco Streetsblog calls for keeping a small street next to the city’s new transit center open to people and closed to cars, instead of converting it to an access ramp for a new parking garage.

 

National

Advice on how to keep your bike from being stolen, including using multiple locks, taking your seat with you, and letingt your bike sleep inside whenever possible when not in use. Or you could just make potential thieves vomit all over your bike.

Bicycling says riding a cargo bike is the perfect way to instantly add joy to any outing. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be a Yahoo version this time in case bicycling blocks you.

VeloNews offers a new website for women gravel grinders.

A retired army colonel is riding his bike from San Diego to Florida’s St. Augustine Beach to raise funds for the Wounded Warrior Project; so far he’s raised $12,000 of the $100,000 goal.

A Sitka, Alaska driver learns the hard way that it may not be the best idea to flee the scene after killing a bike rider when you live in a town of less than 10,000 people.

Seattle researchers discover racial disparities in traffic stops and tickets are prevalent throughout the city, including enforcement of the city’s mandatory helmet law.

A Bellingham WA driver questions whether a bike rider belongs in the center of a traffic lane with those funny symbols of a bicycle and some arrows; the local newspaper patiently explains that those things are called sharrows.

Chicago suffered the city’s first bicycling fatality of the year when a woman was killed by an unlicensed driver in an apparent right hook.

Gothamist examines where the candidates for mayor of New York stand on the future of bicycling in the city.

 

International

This is who we share the road with, part 2. A Brazilian motorcyclist clung to a large truck for dear life as the apparently unaware driver carried him 19 miles following a crash that took his wife’s life.

A Kenyan TV station marks International Women’s Day by talking with the bike-riding head of the country’s World Wide Fund for Nature, who founded a public awareness and advocacy campaign calling for safety for everyone, including bike riders and pedestrians, without prejudice, on Kenyan roads.

A Aussie driver faces charges for allegedly killing a 57-year old bicyclist while driving stoned, then ditching a large quantity of illegal narcotics following the crash.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s first Tour de France winner was a woman.

Former Tour de France competitor Peter Stetina continues his post-pro tour winning ways by capturing Alaska’s 100-mile Gravel Hugger Race.

 

Finally…

Coyotes don’t attack people on bicycles — except, apparently, when they do. What good is karate if it can’t protect your dojo from cars?

And no, this probably isn’t the right message for International Women’s Day.

Or any other day, for that matter.

https://twitter.com/AwesomeCycling/status/1368501816363806722

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

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

Soda pop cargo bike art in East LA, has Covid-19 affect your bike riding, and the war on bikes just keeps on going

October 9, 2020 / / Comments Off on Soda pop cargo bike art in East LA, has Covid-19 affect your bike riding, and the war on bikes just keeps on going

Why does East LA get all the good art?

Aurelio Jose Barrera caught this soda pop delivery truck adorned with a Jariritos-selling cargo bike.

If they didn’t have so much sugar, that would be enough to get my dollars.

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PeopleforBikes wants to know how Covid-19 has affect your bike riding.

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

Newly found video shows a Portland driver intentionally run over a man’s bike as he tried to cork traffic during an August protest; naturally, police just let the driver go.

A North Dakota woman pled guilty to using her car as a weapon to intentionally run over a man on a bike after they argued about money; the victim was lucky to escape with road rash and bleeding.

No bias here. A London paper gleefully reports that a popup bike lane will be removed after causing traffic congestion, leading to calls to remove others, as well. Although no one seems to consider that it’s all those cars that cause traffic congestion, not bike lanes or the people using them.

A London driver didn’t take kindly to being told to drive more carefully, telling BBC presenter Jeremy Vine to fuck off.

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

Police in Milwaukee are looking for a bike-riding, saw-toting man wanted for damaging several trees.

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Local

Bike-riding Downey city council candidate Alexandria Contreras will be on Bike Talk this evening. However, the link in the tweet is dead, but you can find the show here.

 

State

Weight weenies rejoice! Morgan Hill’s Specialized has introduced the lightest disk brake bike yet, checking in at a svelte 13 pounds, even though they insist it’s really about the ride quality. As long as you’ve got a cool twelve and a half grand in spare cash lying around, that is.

San Francisco is moving forward with plans for a complete Slow Streets network after ruling against several CEQA appeals that were holding things up.

Next City examines how Oakland was inspired by Covid-19 to get real about equitable urban planning.

Historic Angels Camp will get new bike lanes and sidewalks to serve the town’s 3,800 residents and assorted tourists.

 

National

A new study shows it only takes 15 minutes of high-intensity bicycling to boost your memory. You can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out.

Bicycle Times takes a trip in the wayback machine to review the 1972 Schwinn Paramount.

A new bike helmet takes a more subtle approach to lighting, and will call for help if you crash.

A pair of young Armenian and Turkish bike riders formed an unlikely friendship on a ride across the US despite centuries of hostility between the two countries, including the mass genocide of Armenians at the hands of Turks a century ago.

Shaq is one of us, even if he has to have his bikes custom built to fit his 7’1″ frame. And yes, you can read it on Yahoo, too.

One app to rule them all, one app to find them. Lime takes a step towards world domination, or at least the world of micromobility, by offering Wheels scooters through their app, along with the usual Lime e-scooters and ebikes.

The bad news is, Boston has removed its popup bike lanes. The good news is, they’re making them all permanent, instead.

When Rhode Island cops were unable to recover a boy’s stolen bike, the kindhearted officers pitched in to buy him a new one.

A new candidate to replace termed out Bill de Blasio as mayor of New York says bike lanes should be part of the city’s transportation network. But fails to mention that city law requires 50 miles of new protected bike lanes and 30 miles of bus lanes every year. Unlike Los Angeles, where city officials are legally required to build absolutely nothing. And too often don’t. 

A Pennsylvania man will face charges for running down a bike rider after running not one, but two stop signs while driving without a license.

Another unlicensed Pennsylvania driver pled guilty to charges of slamming his SUV into a bike trailer pulling an 11-month old infant; fortunately, the critically injured baby pulled through.

Maryland drivers will now be allowed to briefly cross a double yellow line to pass bike riders on narrow roads. California drivers would have the same privilege, except Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed an early version of the three-foot passing law because it contained the same provision.

She gets it. A Delaware letter writer says developers should be required to build a mile of bike lanes and sidewalks when they get project approvals.

 

International

A writer for Tech Digest shares what he’s learned by riding a bike during the coronavirus lockdown, including that cars are scary, pedestrians are not your friend, and no, you don’t look good in Lycra.

Cycling Industry News asks a panel of experts about the role of bikeshare in attracting new bike riders.

Revel Bikes is raffling off a custom painted Rascal mountain bike to benefit LoveYourBrain; tickets are just $5.

You can add Colombia to your bike bucket list, as bicycles create a sustainable path to tourism in the country.

Forget speeding drivers, Toronto cops are turning their speed guns on bicycle riders exceeding a bike path’s 12 mph speed limit.

A pair of Welsh bike thieves are pretending to have mechanical problems while riding on a bike path, then riding off with the victim’s bike when they stop to help.

An Irish mother is calling for more and safer bike lanes after a near miss with a driver as she was biking to school with her seven-year old daughter.

A trio of Rwandan firms will pitch in to provide bike helmets for bicycle taxi riders in Kigali.

Motor loving Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor is one of us, riding his chunky $635 e-foldie through Mumbai with his mom.

Bollywood actor, professional model and former first runner-up to Mr. India Rahul Rajasekharan is one of us, too.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former Tour de France champ Geraint Thomas is out of the race with a broken pelvis. And out for the remainder of the season; VeloNews says that leaves the race wide open.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could look pretty cool, even without a front hub. Nothing like doing a century in less than two and a half hours — while drafting, of course.

And seriously, don’t ride your bike directly at cars, no matter what you call it.

………

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

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

LA skips worldwide Slow Streets movement, print your own Slow Street signs, and tackling Amazon in a cargo bike

May 11, 2020 / / Comments Off on LA skips worldwide Slow Streets movement, print your own Slow Street signs, and tackling Amazon in a cargo bike

Today’s common theme is the ongoing battle for Slow Streets and Open Streets — and what will follow post-pandemic — allowing people to safely get outside during the coronavirus crisis.

Something that seems to be sweeping the world. Except for Los Angeles, which is sweeping up the rear behind virtually everyone else.

As usual.

Mayor Robert Garcia wants Long Beach to repurpose some streets to provide more space for people. Funny how much more progressive Long Beach is when it comes public spaces and transportation than its ostensibly progressive neighbor to the north.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss wonders what happens when traffic comes back to our formerly quiet streets, warning we need to be prepared to hear a much-needed new normal is a luxury we can’t afford.

Houston’s chief transportation planner says coronavirus-quiet streets can’t just be for motor vehicle commuters. Could someone please give him LA Mayor Garcetti’s phone number?

It’s a sad commentary when the people of Bentonville Arkansas, the hometown of Walmart, get Slow Streets to provide safe space to exercise outdoors, and Los Angeles can’t.

Maine’s bike advocates think a more bike-centric culture could take hold in the state as a result of the pandemic. Unfortunately, that’s just wishful thinking unless steps are taken now to actively encourage bicycling while discouraging people from getting back into their cars.

Maybe someone should explain the concept of open streets to the NYPD, after the department sent 30 cops to shut one down in Brooklyn — despite an okay from New York’s Department of Transportation.

CNN says our cities may never look the same in a post-pandemic world, as they provide more space for biking and walking, and make other adaptations to adjust to the new reality.

A Vancouver newspaper suggests paying people to bike instead of driving to keep traffic from roaring back post pandemic. Which could be much more effective than congestion pricing, without the inevitable backlash.

No bias here. A London mayoral candidate says plans to encourage people to walk and bike to work are “madness,” and people shouldn’t have to choose between crowded trains and getting crushed by a truck on a bike. At least he’s got the last part right. But the solution is to tame traffic so we can encourage active transportation without posing a risk to human life.

After a Scottish columnist demanded that bike riders “do something” in return for pop-up bike lanes, the UK’s cycling organization wants to know why people on bikes have to meet some sort of special criteria just to be kept safe.

And these brilliant street signs from New York’s Transformation Dept gets the idea across better than just about anything else.

Maybe we should just print them out and start using them, instead of waiting for the city to finally get around to it.

………

London’s Pedal Me e-cargo bike delivery service warns it’s coming for the world’s biggest retailer.

If they cross the Atlantic, I’m all in.

………

Local

Assisted by a truck-driving stranger, a 17-year old South Pasadena boy tackled a bike thief as he tried riding away after snatching a bike out of the hands of the boy’s sister.

Long Beach is reopening parks and the beach bike and walking paths today, even as Covid-19 cases and deaths continue; however, face masks will not be required for “physically distanced exercise.”

Long Beach is partnering with bicycle community group Pedal Movement to offer virtual bike workshops, although you already missed the first one.

What it’s like to ride 55 miles on PCH from Long Beach to Crystal Cove along PCH in today’s Covid-19 world.

Yes, that could have been the former Governator’s oldest son you saw riding an elliptical bike through LA last week.

 

State

A 53-year old Spring Valley bike rider suffered major injuries when he was run down from behind by a hit-and-run driver in a dark sedan.

A San Jose nonprofit is using bicycles to distribute vegetable plants to people in need.

Sad news from Chico, where a 65-year old man was killed when his bike was rear-ended by a driver in a pickup. Note to CHP: When a bike rider gets run down by a motorist doing 55 mph, it doesn’t effing matter how fast the bike was going.

 

National

Take your dog with you on your next ride, with nine “unbiased” reviews on doggie bike trailers that just happen to link to Amazon pages where you can buy them. And only the Amazon pages.

A 68-year old lifelong bike rider says signs on Oregon mountain bike trails prohibiting ped-assist ebikes is just outright snobbery; meanwhile, Cycling Tips says ebikes are okay on gravel, but more fun in the company of other ebike riders.

The other Vancouver — no, the one in Washington— is forced to hit the pause button on a planned protected bike lane after stripping the city’s transportation budget due to the coronavirus crisis. Something we can look forward to just about everywhere in the days to come, including Los Angeles.

A 17-year old Colorado man is now a thriving triathlete, eight years after his mother made the heartrending decision to amputate his leg due to a congenital condition.

An Austin TX man faces charges for deliberately running down a man on a bike as the victim was attempting to escape following a domestic dispute.

Now that’s a real superhero. Chicago’s beer fairy is delivering craft beer by bicycle. And yes, with wings attached.

French BMX pro Matthias Dandois rides though an empty New York.

 

International

The Guardian offers ten reasons now is a great time to start riding a bike. All of which apply wherever you are.

He gets it. A writer for a sports and development website says bicycling should be considered a form of public transportation in a post Covid-19 world, once we finally get there.

Tragic news from Argentina, where soccer legend Tomás Carlovich died after slipping into a coma when he was mugged by a thief who stole his bicycle; Argentine great Maradona called Carlovich the greatest of all time, even though he never played for the national team, by choice.

A British Columbia city shows how easy it is to make a protected intersection.

Montreal residents are “desperate” for bicycles, as local shops sell out due to the coronavirus bike boom.

A London letter writer complains that “aggressive” cyclists should look out for pedestrians in bike lanes, not the other way around.

Madonna’s 19-year old son is one of us, going for a ride through London dressed like Oliver Twist.

A six-year old English girl raised £1,000 for Britain’s National Health Service — the equivalent of $1,234 — by riding 100 miles on her bike in ten days.

Britain’s government is encouraging people to get out on their bikes as the country begins lifting its coronavirus lockdown, including a surprise announcement that it is investing £2 billion — the equivalent of nearly $2.5 billion — to “put cycling and walking at the heart” of the country’s transportation policy.

A writer for The Guardian debates whether we’re entering a golden age of bicycling, or if it’s just another empty promise. And says riding a bike does more to help the UK’s National Health Service than clapping once a week.

Once again, a Brit medical worker has been targeted by a heartless bike thief, after an intensive care nurse got off work to find all three locks on her bike had been cut.

The coronavirus bike boom has cleared British bike shops of virtually all their available bicycles, with foldie maker Brompton seeing a five-time increase in online sales.

Thousands of Slovenian bike riders took over the streets of the capital city, Ljubljana, to protest allegations of coronavirus purchasing corruption; a smaller protest was held in Maribor, the country’s next-largest city.

Once again, an Indian migrant worker has been killed by a driver while bicycling over 700 miles back home during the coronavirus lockdown.

 

Finally…

Otters help bring bike thieves to justice. How about a new Ferrari that weighs less than an unabridged dictionary?

And no. Just…no.

………

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

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

Funds pour in to aid cargo bike mugging victim, ebike maker donates medical masks, and bikes are bliss on two wheels

April 3, 2020 / / Comments Off on Funds pour in to aid cargo bike mugging victim, ebike maker donates medical masks, and bikes are bliss on two wheels

Let’s start with a little good news for a change.

Because there are still a lot of very kind and generous people in this world.

Yesterday we mentioned the cargo bike-riding elotera who was mugged when a pair of thieves assaulted her in South LA, stealing her purse with the meager amount she had earned to support her family.

She lost $80 to the muggers.

But now, thanks to the generosity of over 450 kindhearted strangers, she’ll be getting more than 135 times that much back.

Photo by Skitterphoto from Pexels.

………

Speaking of generous people, I was happy to find this announcement in my inbox yesterday.

Luis Razo, Manager of Operations at Aventon Bicycles, an Ontario, California-based E-bike manufacturer & retailer, says the community has supported the company, so now it’s time to give back four thousand surgical masks and one thousand N95 masks to Loma Linda University Medical Center and Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, where supplies are running short.

The company will also donate two E-bikes to Loma Linda University Medical Center. It’s a personal mission for Luis Razo. His wife Gracie is an RN at Loma Linda Hospital, on the front lines of this pandemic.

Nice to see so many members of the bike industry pitching in to help when our entire world is in crisis.

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

………

He gets it.

An Illinois writer describes bicycling as bliss on two wheels. And doesn’t stop there.

Of all avocations, riding a bike is, almost beyond dispute, the finest. With endorphins and all, it is as much exercise for the brain as the heart, lungs or legs, a way to solve all the world’s problems while seeing the world.

Which is about as good a description as I’ve ever come up with.

………

Phil Gaimon remembers what it was like to ride with other people.

………

Local

He gets it, too. A writer for the LA Times says it’s time to take streets away from cars and give it to people.

The LA Times examines what’s open (hint: not much) and closed (almost everything) in LA, Orange and San Diego Counties this weekend. At last word, the Ballona Creek bike path, LA River bike path and San Gabriel River Bike Trail were still open, but that could change any time.

Evidently, it was family bike day in LA, with Kate Hudson riding with her son in her LA neighborhood, Arnold riding through West LA with his less-famous daughter, and  Adam Sandler going for a ride with his daughter in the ‘Bu.

English actress and Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is one of us, too, even if she sticks to the sidewalks of Los Angeles.

 

State

A San Jose man writes in to complain that Millennials and their dogs are ruining bike trails for everyone else. Seriously? There are just as many jerk and jackass Baby Boomer and GenXers as there are Millennials — and just as many kind and considerate people, too. It’s no more fair or accurate to blame every member of any generation for the actions of a few than it is any other social, ethnic or religious group.

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition says get your bike ready, and get out for a slow ride. Thanks to Robert Leone for the forward.

Tragic news from Stanislaus County, where a 51-year old single father was run down by a driver as he was riding his bike, and left to die alone on the side of the road.

 

National

VeloNews looks at more bikes from the virtual North American Handmade Bicycle Show, including one from my hometown, as well as a very cool wooden tandem. The cycling magazine also offers their take on the best women’s mountain bike gear for 2020.

Bike Mag suggests hacks you can try out on your own bicycle while you’re stuck at home.

Neil Young famously said rust never sleeps. But there are things you can do to keep it from ruining your mountain bike.

Sears waits until the entire bike industry is on the brink to try to claw back money it paid out to several bicycle companies before it went belly up two years ago.

The annual Iron Horse Classic in Southwestern Colorado has been postponed, if not cancelled.

A kindhearted Boise cop bought a bike for a homeless man so he’d have a way to get to work after he was involved in a crash.

The local paper in Lincoln, Nebraska offers tips on how to avoid collisions while maintaining social distancing on the city’s newly crowded bike trails. If that photo is any indication, crowded is a relative term.

A Milwaukee man wanted to show his support for local bike shops struggling to hold on in the coronavirus crisis, so he set out on a solo bike tour of several shops to post words of encouragement in their windows.

A Chicago letter writer says we may be keeping our distance, but people have never been friendlier.

Eight beautiful bike rides in the Chicago area. Or maybe get back to nature on Houston bike trails.

A writer for Jalopnik goes carspotting in New York, and discovers classic bikes are the real city cars. Including the first modern bike built for women.

Bike shops are listed as essential businesses in Pennsylvania.

 

International

Good question. Fast Company questions whether we can maintain the current coronavirus bike boom when the world finally comes out the other side. Which it inevitably will, even if it doesn’t seem like it at the moment.

Cycling Weekly examines what steps bike shops are taking to survive the coronavirus pandemic.

Road.cc wants to get you in a gilet.

British Columbia advocates join their counterparts around the world in calling for more space for pedestrians and bike riders during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Brompton is crowdfunding the equivalent of nearly half a million dollars to donate 1,000 of their iconic foldies to staffers with the UK’s National Health Service; they’ve raised the equivalent of nearly $110,000 with 12 days to go.

The Next Web loves the new race bike from Germany’s direct-to-consumer bikemaker Canyon, but says it’s “hella expensive;” at the equivalent of nearly six grand, though that’s barely midrange these days. On the other hand, Gear Patrol thinks Canyon’s full-suspension mountain bike is surprisingly affordable at $2,399.

Heartbreaking story, as an Indian man is riding over 1,300 miles on a secondhand bike from Mumbai to Kashmir to see his dying father one last time, despite the country’s 21-day mandatory lockdown.

After the country went into a coronavirus lockdown, New Zealand’s Health Minister stirred up controversy by bending, if not breaking, the rules by driving to get out for a mountain bike ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Vuelta says they’re sticking with their August start date, despite the cancellation or postponement of most of the cycling season so far this year.

Covid-19 is taking a toll on pro cycling, as riders are forced to take a drastic cut in pay until racing resumes later this year — assuming it does.

 

Finally…

No, you don’t need Android Auto unless you’re actually in one. Oh, nothing much, just a casual fat bike ride through the Yukon at 44° below zero.

And keeping the team alive by riding together every morning, separately. And at home.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy.

 

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

More Covid-19 bike news, you can’t carry heavy things on a bike, and Del Rey gets its very own Great Street

March 12, 2020 / / Comments Off on More Covid-19 bike news, you can’t carry heavy things on a bike, and Del Rey gets its very own Great Street

Today’s Covid-19 news comes from New York, where commuters wary of possible germ-infested subways are taking to bicycling, many for the first time.

Meanwhile, the city’s mayor and failed presidential candidate swears he was only joking when he said he wouldn’t follow his own advice to bike to work to avoid the new coronavirus because his bike skills need work.

And an op-ed says New York has to make the streets safer to make bicycling safer.

………

As everyone knows, you can’t carry heavy loads on a bicycle.

https://twitter.com/PhilVabulas/status/1237321231386456064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1237321231386456064&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2F271859-bonanza-budget-cycling-sorry-just-kidding-nothing-usual-cargo-bikes-ftw-paris

I said, you can’t…oh, never mind.

………

CiclaValley goes gravel grinding in the Verdugos and Cherry Canyon with Gravel Bike California.

………

A London bike rider stresses the importance of keeping a close eye on everyone on the road.

And misses the pothole that took him down.

Something I can relate to, after once noting the location of every vehicle at an intersection before leaning into a perfect high-speed right turn. Yet somehow failing to spot the puddle directly in front of my wheel.

Then almost miraculously skidding across eight lanes of busy traffic without getting run over, and smashing into the curb on the far side.

I was lucky to get up with just a broken elbow, road rash from head to heel, and my shredded spandex shorts literally hanging a thread from indecent exposure.

Good times.

………

A speeding British driver loses control on a slick roadway, barely missing a bike rider before flying off the road.

………

Local

Centinela Ave in LA’s Del Rey neighborhood is now the second street in Councilmember Mike Bonin’s 11th Council District to receive a Great Streets designation. Hopefully this one won’t bring out the NIMBYs for another years-long fight like the one on Venice Blvd in Mar Vista.

KCET presents seven places where you can discover the LA River, much of which is accessible by bike. And all of which should be by 2028, when the LA River bike path is scheduled to finally be completed.

Hoodline uses Yelp reviews to list the four highest-rated budget-friendly bike shops in Los Angeles, including Mar Vista bike co-op Bikerowave.

Pasadena’s Over Town Brewing Co. will celebrate their first anniversary by joining with the SGV Foothill Flyers Vintage Bicycle Club to host a Vintage Bike Show and Swap Meet on Sunday.

Friday the 13th could be unlucky for scofflaw bike riders, pedestrians and motorists in Santa Monica, where police will conduct bike and pedestrians traffic enforcement safety operations throughout the remainder of the month, starting tomorrow. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you’re not the one who gets a ticket.

 

State

The owner of Fullerton Bicycles and Buena Park Bicycles is buying the ebike shop next to the Fullerton store to expand their electric offerings.

Coronado’s popular My Bike kinetic sculpture is getting a tune-up.

Family members have identified the Bakersfield father who was killed in a collision with a sleeping motorcyclist while he was riding on the sidewalk; a crowdfunding campaign has raised just $900 of the $5,000 goal. Something is seriously wrong when people have to raise money from strangers just to bury innocent victims of traffic violence. And how the hell do you fall asleep riding a motorcycle?

The 2020 Bicycle Leadership Conference sponsored by PeopleForBikes, usually held in conjunction with the now-postponed Sea Otter Classic, has been rescheduled for October.

Palo Alto authorities have identified the 11-year old boy who was killed by the driver of a flat bed truck while crossing the street on his bike last Friday; his parents tell drivers to slow down for kids. Seriously, when we will decide that too many of our children have been senselessly killed on our streets — and finally do something about it?

A Modesto couple is credited with saving a man’s life after he suffered multiple seizures while riding a bike.

 

National

Curbed is turning the panel discussion that was planned for the now-cancelled SXSW into a virtual discussion at 9:30 am PDT tomorrow.

A pair of writers for Urology Times, which most men rush to read every month, says the health benefits of bicycling outweigh the risks, but while bike riding doesn’t cause erectile dysfunction, men should get a professional bike fit to lower the risk of urethral strictures, genital numbness and saddle sores.

Must be nice. All the Portland city council candidates agreed on the city’s transportation issues at a recent forum, including opposition to widening a freeway, and supporting more and better sidewalks and bikeways.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a three-wheeled bike a 61-year old Wisconsin man with cerebral palsy used as his only form of transportation. Even if an anonymous Good Samaritan replaced it with a new one the next day.

DC will try out experimental advisory bike lanes on streets too narrow for bike lanes without removing parking, by striping bike lanes on both sides with just one narrow center lane for drivers, but allowing drivers to merge into the bike lanes to pass cars coming in the opposite direction.

After Maryland officials rejected a proposal to put a bike lane on a new bridge across the Potomac, bike advocates responded with a plea to save the old one and turn it into a bike and pedestrian bridge.

A Florida driver got a well-deserved eight-years behind bars, plus another seven years probation, for the hit-and-run, distracted driving deaths of two women riding their bikes. The bad news is, he’ll get his driver’s license back three years after he gets out.

 

International

A new study published in the prestigious BMJ medical journal says yes, bike commuting is riskier than other forms of transportation, but the health benefits outweigh the risk.

US News & World Report — yes, it still exists — says carfree streets around the world help combat loneliness by providing spaces where strangers can mingle.

The London detective responsible for traffic safety says video evidence is “almost the biggest single agenda item” to improve safety on the streets. Except it still can’t be used in California, and much of the US, for enforcing traffic violations and misdemeanor crimes.

Residents of an English village pitched in to replace an 11-year old boy’s new mountain bike after it was stolen from his school.

Yes, it can be done. A British man quit his job of 20 years, sold his house, bought a bike and set out to travel the world.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside profiles 58-year old mountain biking legend Tinker Juarez, who has been riding for 45 years of his life and still beats competitors half his age.

The Paris-Nice bike race goes on, with a forth stage individual time trial. Enjoy it while you can; this is likely to be one of the last professional races we’ll see this year.

 

Finally

Riding a bike across the US isn’t that unusual anymore; doing it while dying of stage-four cancer is. When you get sued by the driver who hit you, take your case to the People’s Court.

And riding a bike to avoid coming down with something may not be a new idea, after all.

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

Weekend Links: Own your own bicycle coffee café, slower driving works in Scotland, and WeHo candidate surveys

February 27, 2015 / / 3 comments

Ever want to just chuck your damn job and become self-unemployed self-employed like me?

Now you can become a bike-born coffee entrepreneur with your very own Wheelys.

No, not those kid’s shoes with a wheel in the heel.

But a full service café on wheels that folds out in just minutes to put you in the business of serving caffeine aficionados anywhere you can pedal. And it folds back down to store in the shipping container it came in, which doubles as a garage.

Think of it as your very own food truck. Without the truck.

Better yet, at just $3450, it costs less than a lot of road bikes. And less than 1% of the cost of opening your own Starbucks.

For that price, an enterprising cyclist could park one along PCH, and make enough to retire just from the riders who pass by.

Heck, I even want one.

If only to make sure I’ll have fresh coffee and Danish on my next ride.

Wheelys graphic

………

As slower traffic speeds spread through Scotland, attitudes that bicycling is unsafe are changing, and more children are riding to school — jumping from 3% to 22% among older children in Edinburgh.

………

Harelbeke posterThat ridiculous E3 Harelbeke poster has been banned.

As much as I hate censorship, this isn’t the way to promote bike riding to women. Or anyone but than teenage boys, for that matter.

Then again, it’s nothing new for the folks at Harelbeke.

………

The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition has received candidate surveys from 10 of the 12 candidates for the city’s three at-large seats in next week’s city council election.

………

Still more bike events coming up this weekend and beyond.

Los Angeles Magazine recommends Saturday’s Chinatown Firecracker Run/Walk & Bike Ride, as does commenter Brian Nilsen.

Culver City Walk and Rollers will host a Family Fun Ride and Smart Gardening Workshop on Saturday.

UCLA’s Fowler Museum invites you to celebrate all things bicycle at the Bike Day Family Festival this Sunday.

The Santa Monica Bike Center is hosting a women-only Ladies Bike Ride for International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8th.

Zócalo and Metro host a discussion on whether Car Culture is Dead on Wednesday, March 11th at MOCA. We don’t actually have to kill car culture, just tame it.

………

Local

Streetsblog asks what DTLA needs to do to get ready for bike share.

Tori Spelling teaches her unicorn-helmeted daughter how to ride a bike.

That gargantuan six-way Los Feliz mess where Hollywood Blvd, Hillhurst Ave, Sunset Blvd and Virgil Ave connect remains a challenge for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

 

State

Maybe it really is a new era at Caltrans, as the notoriously auto-centric state transportation agency releases an annual report focusing on non-motorized travel. Although, as Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry points out, calling bicycling and walking non-motorized transportation is “like calling women nonmen.”

More confirmation of a change in attitude at the agency, as the Adventure Cycling Association looks at Caltrans’ agreement to allow bike tourists to legally ride through the high desert, completing the Bike Route 66 through the state. The ACA thanks Calbike and CABO, among others, for their help in finding a solution.

The San Diego Untion-Tribune says California’s proposed mandatory helmet law doesn’t make sense on the boardwalk, while BikeSD spells out the reasons a helmet law doesn’t make sense. And Pedal Love says requiring helmets is a step in the wrong direction; better to remember it’s another person out there, whether on a bike or behind the wheel.

A Sacramento bike shop doubles as a pedal-powered delivery service for farm-to-table restaurants.

A new city report says San Francisco is dangerous but not deadly for bike riders.

 

National

A trucking website suggests bikes could be the next wave in cargo hauling.

Clean Technica says the US has built as many protected bike lanes in the last two years as it had in the previous 140 years. But what exactly did bikes have to be protected from in 1875, except maybe outraged equestrians?

Maybe the LAPD should follow Portland’s lead and establish a bike theft task force.

A Colorado House committee votes to encourage dangerous driving by banning red light and speed cameras over the objections of law enforcement agencies.

Kentucky’s best known liability lawyer is back at work after a near-fatal bicycling collision; the driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card by saying he was blinded by the sun.

A Boston doctor says bicycling can help provide relief from migraine symptoms. Having blown chunks home more than once trying to make it back home home after developing one while riding, I can truthfully say it didn’t help me.

Credit fellow bike blogger the Witch on a Bicycle for pointing out a New York site that keeps track of cops who park in bike lanes, including here in LA.

Parking wins out over bike lanes in Princeton NJ.

 

International

Saskatoon gets its first protected bike lane this spring.

London introduces bike-friendly construction trucks loaded with safety features in an attempt to reduce bike fatalities, while a UK cyclist argues it’s safer to jump red lights, even if the cops ticket you for it.

A British woman posts a public sign demanding the return of her stolen bike.

Caught on video: A Brit bike rider jumps a railroad barricade as a train bears down on him.

A Chinese man set out on a bike ride in 1997 to explore different cultures. And he’s been cycling around the world ever since.

 

Finally…

Here’s your chance to be a star, as a British TV show is looking for a “speed freak” bicyclist to travel the world competing in local racing events, including Mongolian yak racing. You could own your very own Transformer as Ford patents plans for a car that reassembles into a bicycle.

And LA’s notorious bike thieves take it too damn far by snatching one of those new bicycle-shaped Echo Park bike racks.

I wonder if they realize it’s not really a bike.

………

Not only was Leonard Nimoy one of us, but William Shatner stole his bike.

 

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, The business of bikes / Tags: , , , , , , ,
 
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