BikinginLA

My apologies for another unexcused absence. 

I was knocked on my ass by yet another migraine, which I’m told probably results from the TBI I got a couple decades ago in the Infamous Beachfront Bee Incident. 

And yes, I was wearing a helmet, and no, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference. 

Then again, that’s probably the cause of my REM sleep disorder and potential pending Parkinson’s, too. 

Good times. 

And of course, I came back to yet another person killed riding a bicycle in Southern California. Which means we’re now averaging another bike death every 3.3 days this year. 

Image by Shafin Al Asad Protic from Pixabay. 

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A week of life-threatening dry air and epic March heat could threaten your safety for the next several days.

Wear light, quick-drying clothing, bring — and drink — plenty of extra fluids, and stick to cooler, shady routes if you can.

And if possible, do your riding in the cooler morning or evening hours, when you’re less likely to suffer from heat-related problems.

I say that as someone who used to love riding on the hottest days when I was only likely to encounter mad dogs and Englishmen on the roads.

Depending on where you are, temperatures could range anywhere from the high 80s to the low 100s, at a time of year when your body isn’t adjusted to the heat.

So just be careful out there.

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The driver who hit and killed 54-year-old Lori Ann Carreon last month called police to turn himself in the day after the crash.

But only after waiting seven hours following a call to Avis Car Rental to report he’d been in a crash in one of their cars. And even then, taking another three days to turn himself in at Long Beach police headquarters.

The beloved Long Beach occupational therapist was riding her bike just one block from her home when 40-year old Christopher Bryant allegedly blew through the stop sign at high speed, killing her on the spot.

Detectives seized his cell phone and filed search warrants to obtain phone records and GPS data, which could reveal not only where he went after the crash, but whether he was driving distracted at the time of the impact.

It would not show whether he had been under the influence when he killed Carreon, then drove home to his apartment in DTLA, however.

Bryant released on $50,000 bond after being booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

No charges have been filed yet.

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No surprise here.

A California appeals court upheld the conviction of socialite Rebecca Grossman, co-founder with her ex-husband of the famed Grossman Burn Center, in the speeding hit-and-run deaths of two young brothers in Westlake six years ago.

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It’s got nothing to do with bicycling — or only tangentially, anyway — but Streets For All asks you to support the staff-approved route for the K Line Northern Extension at today’s 11 am meeting of the Metro Planning and Programming Committee meeting.

As they put it,

Once built, this would be the busiest light rail line in the country, and connect the region to key destinations like The Grove, Farmers Market, the Beverly Center, Cedars Sinai, nearly all of West Hollywood, and the Hollywood Bowl!

But it’s not a done deal, and Metro needs to hear overwhelming support for the project.

Although without a big boost in funding, it’s not likely to happen in my lifetime.

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Megan forwards news that New York will be lowering speed limits to 15 mph in school zones.

Although you can lower speeds as much as you want, but without the right infrastructure, many drivers will just ignore it.

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A Cartagena, Colombia-based mountain biker hangs on for dear life after taking a spill near the edge of a cliff before pulling herself to safety.

@sol_y_bici

♬ sonido original – Sol ☀️

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

They’re onto us, comrades. An op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune suggests the city’s new bike lanes are part of a secret plot to enhance transit-oriented developments around the city, which would trigger SB 79 to allow greater housing density near transit stops, and foist it upon unsuspecting single-family neighborhoods. Although you’ll have to find your own way around the paper’s draconian paywall. 

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

Seal Beach police report an elderly woman was hospitalized with serious injuries when she was struck by a “juvenile riding a Surron electric bicycle.” Except a Surron does not look, ride or perform anything like a bicycle, and should be classified as an electric motorbike; at least KCBS gets it right. 

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times recommends riding a bicycle as one of the best things you can do for under twenty bucks in Los Angeles — and at least three times.

No surprise here either, as Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports drivers are destroying the new quick-build traffic circle at a deadly Koreatown intersection.

Linton also reports on quick-build bus lanes on the Westside, and a new protected bike lane Long Beach’s Pacific Ave.

Venice and Washington boulevards could get some of LA’s first automated speed cams.

A consortium of Altadena bike advocacy groups got a $2,000 Bike League grant to develop a concept for a continuous trail loop connecting West Altadena neighborhoods affected by the Eaton Fire.

Culver City finally dumps the muted green bike lanes forced upon us all by Hollywood filmmakers too cheap to digitally remove the brighter lanes.

About damn time. Santa Monica is on a path to become the first jurisdiction in California to implement automated bike lane enforcement.

 

State

Two SoCal teens are rewriting the narrative around ebikes by promoting responsibility, community and positive culture among young riders. Although the press is still conflating ped-assist ebikes with electric motorbikes and dirt bikes. 

A Victorville BMX rider was hospitalized with undisclosed injuries after being struck by a driver headed for a freeway onramp, while riding in a crosswalk.

Sad news from Salinas, where a woman in her 60s was killed when she was struck by not one, not two, but three drivers while riding her bike; naturally, the CHP blamed her dark clothing.

The Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter train is reconsidering plans to ban cargo bikes, panniers and bike child seats in the face of major blowback from bike commuters.

Sad news from San Jose, where a man riding a bicycle was killed by an alleged DUI Tesla driver, who inexplicably returned to his car after abandoning it following the crash.

 

National

Hack your own DIY illuminated bicycle pedals, while turning your small, lightweight clip-in pedals into bigass platforms.

A new study from Bicycle Colorado calls for automated enforcement after identifying 7,900 violations among just over 49,000 vehicles during 30-minute observations at 196 intersections across 25 Colorado cities and counties.

Um, okay. A website for a Chicago suburb remembers the final resting place of six-day bike race champ Albert Schock, “currently listed as the 31st greatest American rider of all time (behind Lance Armstrong and Greg Lemond.)” And no, I’m not merely mocking it because the period is in the wrong place. But that doesn’t help any.

An 83-year old Ohio man says repairing and donating bicycles is his “bicycle ministry,” giving away over 400 bicycles a month to kids and people in need. Which is an astounding number if accurate, since most organizations can’t even manage that, let alone elderly individuals. 

A local magazine says Richmond, Virginia’s mountain biking community has helped create the city’s outdoorsy culture.

 

International

He gets it. A writer for Cyclist says bikes have never mattered more because they give you a little sanity break while the world is burning. My bike got me through the death of my father, 9/11, and (insert your least favorite president here).

New bike lanes are helping to trigger “remarkable reductions” in air pollution in 19 cities around the world.

A London school kid says “safety is Paramount when you are cycling on the road.” True though it may be, the odd capitalization made me think safety matters only because it’s buying Warner Brothers. 

A British broadcaster unexpectedly finds himself riding with the country’s next king.

The head of Britain’s Asphalt Industry Alliance says it would take 12 years and the equivalent of nearly $25 billion to bring the roads of Wales and England up to standard conditions. Or as we call that here in Los Angeles, a down payment. 

A new report says bicycling saves the UK’s National Health Service the equivalent of $96 million a year in health costs. Meanwhile, it helps American insurance companies enjoy more of their record profits. 

No bias here. A British paper says the residents of Plymouth, England are up in arms for a decision to spend the equivalent of over $5 million to build a bike lane a little more than the length of two football fields, even though that involves boring through an abandoned railroad tunnel to connect two bikeways. Never mind that it should say “some” residents, and no one would likely complain if it was a car tunnel. 

The smallest bike lane in Killarney, Ireland — and possibly the entire country — measures just six inches at its narrowest point. Which even makes LA’s bike lanes seem absolutely capacious. 

The recent bicycle-friendly conversion of Paris, France may continue, as a former deputy of Mayor Anne Hidalgo is leading in early election results, after Hidalgo chose not to pursue a third six-year term.

India held the 65th edition of the nationwide Fit India Sundays on Cycle, which is a series of organized bike rides in 5,000 cities large and small.

A 40-year old Swiss bicyclist’s 10,500-mile journey from one end of Africa to the other was delayed for two weeks when military authorities in Cameroon detained him for filming a bridge in a restricted area. Because as we all know, international spies always prefer traveling by bicycle instead of high-powered sports cars.

That’s more like it. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in the Philippines has opened a Bike-to-Work End-of-Trip shower facility to allow riders to clean up and change clothes after riding to work in the humid city.

Aussie university researchers consider the burning question of whether ebike riders should be required to have a driver’s license, aptly noting the pedelecs, or ped-assist bikes in this country, don’t pose a greater risk than regular bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mexico’s Isaac del Toro claimed the second CG victory of his career by winning Tirreno-Adriatico on Sunday.

A British Continental team was the victim of an armed robbery when moped-riding thieves pulled bikes off the roof of a team car.

Jonas Vingegaard crushed the GC at Paris-Nice, sending a warning to the competition.

A Philadelphia writer looks back at Robin Morton, the first woman to own and manage a men’s professional cycling team back in the ’80s. That’s the 1980s, not the 1880s. 

 

Finally…

You could get stuck in your Waymo when restless residents rebel against our new robotic overlords. Who says bikes can’t climb trees (thanks to Steven for the heads-up)?

And only Michael Caine could look that posh on a foldie with a flat.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.