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Fear mongering at its finest, events & weekend links

September 25, 2010 / bikinginla / 10 comments

Seriously, they should know better.

On KABC Channel-7’s 5 pm Friday news broadcast, they teased a report on the then-upcoming L.A. Critical Mass by urging viewers to find out “what police are doing to keep it from becoming violent.”

So let me get this straight.

After a week of police and cycling community leader’s efforts to get CM riders to stay on the right side of road, not block intersections and stop for stop signals, the take away for one of the city’s leading news stations was that the LAPD was concerned about the ride becoming violent.

And with one 5 second tease, they managed to plant the suggestion that L.A. cyclists are aggressive thugs hell bent on rioting and/or assaulting innocent motorists.

So the next time a motorist cuts you off or runs you off the road, just remember he’s only acting in pre-emptive self-defense.

And you have KABC to thank for that.

The actual news report — which wasn’t available online as of midnight — was only slightly less biased, focusing on asking drivers if it was okay for cyclists to block intersections. And goading them into a negative response when most didn’t seem too concerned about it.

I have no idea what they said after the ride, or if they even covered it at all on the 11 pm news, since I decided to opt for a little less fear mongering with my nightly news. And switched to KNBC Channel 4, who said it turned out to be a smooth ride, after all.

And evidently, one without violence.

Despite what some other channels might have implied.

Update: Thanks to Aaron for providing a link to KABC’s 11 pm story on Critical Mass; to their credit, it was a much better report than their earlier efforts to frighten the driving public.

………

LADOT Bike Blog interviews two of the driving — or in this case, non-driving — forces behind the upcoming CicLAvia on 10/10/10.

And the L.A. Weekly makes clear that their days as a credible alternative publication are long past, as they demonstrate a surprising windshield bias against the upcoming CicLAvia. As a number of the comments point out, an event held on secondary streets — on a Sunday, no less — is highly unlikely to contribute to the city’s gridlock, despite the Weekly’s exceptionally negative take on it.

Maybe fear mongering is contagious.

………

Jure Robič, five-time winner of the ultra-endurance Race Across America, was killed in a collision with a car on Friday while on a training ride in his native Slovenia. The 45-year old rider was the winner of this year’s RAAM, as well as other ultra-endurance events and a holder of the world 24-hour endurance record. Thanks to Zeke for the heads-up.

Meanwhile, Riverside County officials released the name of the rider killed in Wildomar on Wednesday; 53-year old Lake Elsinore resident Peter Anthony Zupan died at the scene after being hit by a pickup while crossing Mission Trail.

And still no official confirmation on the rider who died after a collision on Mulholland Highway and Cornell Road in Agoura Hills last weekend.

………

In upcoming events:

Bike Talk airs Saturday at 10 am; listen to it live or download the podcast from KPFK.

Volunteers are needed for the Glendale bike count on Saturday the 25th.

The annual Abbot Kinney Festival takes place on Abbot Kinney Blvd between Venice Blvd and Main Street this Sunday; expect massive crowds and scarce parking, so take advantage of the bike valet.

Hearings for the proposed bike plan are scheduled for September 25, 29, 30 and October 2, with a noontime Webinar scheduled for Wednesday the 29th.

The second Folk Art Bike Ride rolls on Sunday, October 3rd at 12:30 pm, starting and ending at the Craft and Folk Art Museum at 5814 Wilshire Blvd. The easy, 6.5 mile route stops at several restaurants, galleries and cultural centers along the way; the first one got rave reviews, so don’t miss this one.

The Long Beach Green Port Fest takes place on Saturday, October 2, with bike valet and guided rides to the event departing every 45 minutes, as well as a guided pre-event bike tour beginning at 9 am.

Visit the Events page for more upcoming happenings, including CicLAvia and Santa Monica’s ciclovía on 10/10/10 and Tour da Fat on Oct. 23rd.

………

Gary says ridership is up 11% in Santa Monica, but bike collisions are up 78% — even though other cities tend to show a corresponding decrease as more people ride bikes. Tim Robbins bikes through Venice. Must be some kind of trend — Berkeley police crack down on stop sign running cyclists, Boston cracks down on rule breakers and Park City police let a stop-sign running rider off with a warning. Forgiving distracted drivers won’t keep anyone safe. Bike Snob says it’s okay to keep riding in the off-season. Salem OR removes a traffic lane to improve congestion. Independence MO bans harassment of cyclists, runners, pedestrians and roadway wheelchair users. It’s not the press who oppose the first Critical Mass in Aurora IL, it’s other riders. Kentucky authorities are looking for a driver intentionally targeting cyclists with his pickup truck. A Flying Pigeon spotting in Boston. An arrest has been made in the murder of a DC cyclist last month; the shooter — just 16-years old at the time — shot Eric Foreman as he rode by, then walked over and shot him twice more after he fell from his bike. Five reasons why your neighborhood cyclist hates you. A Google contest donates $1 million for a recumbent operated monorail system; Reuters says there must have been 149,996 stupid ideas if that was one of the five winning suggestions. The Department of DIY Toronto branch strikes again, graphically asking where’s our bike lane? Fixie-riding cyclists introduce polo vélo to Parisiens. Evidently, Barclay’s isn’t winning many friends for sponsoring London’s bike share program. Cycling England, the agency behind the Bikeability program to teach British children to ride safely, is rumored to be on the chopping block; instead of cutting it, how about exporting it? A promising young Belize cyclist is killed in an apparent hit-from-behind collision.

Finally, courtesy of our Kiwi correspondent the Trickster, comes a two part video tour of Australia’s World Championships course hosted by Robbie McEwen. And Aussie police tell cyclists not to run red lights or ride four abreast — even if they are training for next week’s World Championships.

Think they’ll enforce that during the race, too?

………

In case you were wondering what was in that big box last week...

Category: General / Tags: bicycling, cicLAvia, Critical Mass, KABC TV, Los Angeles

Create a car-free Sunday in the capital of car culture — without spending a dime.

March 2, 2010 / bikinginla / 7 comments

Less than two months after City Council Transportation Committee Bill Rosendahl famously declared an end to car culture, the movement that brought 36 years of car-free Sundays to Colombia’s capital is preparing to make it’s way to SoCal’s erstwhile car culture capital.

And you can help bring it here.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, ciclovía had its birth with a small street closure in Bogotá in 1974. Now the city closes over 70 miles of city streets to car traffic every Sunday, allowing more than 30% of local residents to safely retake the city for a few hours each week.

The movement has slowly spread north, to cities as varied as New York, San Francisco and Guadalajara. And if everything goes according to plan, CicLAvia will make its official L.A. debut this September.

According to the CicLAvia organization,

CicLAvia proposes to temporarily open 7.5 miles of streets in Los Angeles on Sunday mornings to pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders, dog walkers, families, and anyone who can imagine a new way to use the street. This temporary park space will occur on Sunday mornings from 10am-1pm. The roads will be car-free, thus providing residents with a recreational space, and the opportunity to view their city from a whole new perspective. Our proposed route connects Los Angeles from East to West through some of the most densely populated neighborhoods. The route is easily accessible by transit so that residents from across LA County will be able to attend.

On September 12th, the city is scheduled to shut down a network of streets to vehicular traffic, stretching from the light rail station at 1st and Soto in Boyle Heights to the Bicycle Kitchen in the HelMel district of East Hollywood.

And yes, before anyone panics, the LAPD and LADOT will maintain key crossing points, allowing emergency access and keeping traffic flowing through the city.

Besides, the closure will only take place for a few hours — and on a Sunday, no less — when L.A. streets are virtually abandoned anyway, with much of the city still nursing a hangover. And it’s not like Los Angeles doesn’t shut down busier roads, and for longer periods.

The idea is to give the city back to the people, creating an impromptu street fest with artists, musicians and community members participating at various points along the way, while allowing Angelenos to experience their city in a way never before possible.

Assuming the first one goes well, there are plans for another CicLAvia later in the year, followed by more next year. Organizers hope a successful series of event will lead other local cities to hold their own, creating a network of ciclovias that could be linked by local bikeways.

And you can help.

Right now, without ever leaving the comfort of your own computer, laptop, iPhone or other assorted internet-enabled communication device.

Just click here, and you’ll be instantly transported to the CicLAvia page on the Pepsi Refresh Project, where you can vote to secure a $50,000 donation to help cover the cost of staging the event. That’s $50,000 for doing nothing more than clicking on a link and signing on using your Facebook account or signing up with Pepsi Refresh.

You’re urged to vote early and often — up to 10 times a day, every day, through the end of March.

Which means you can spread your vote around to help support other worthy causes. Or do what I’m doing, and come back throughout the day to concentrate your support for CicLAvia and help ensure it really, truly happens, unlike so many promising plans that have fallen by the wayside over the years.

And that it’s successful so we can look forward to many more.

Best of all, it won’t cost you a cent.

Even I can afford that.

……….

Looks like LA will finally get its first sharrows by summer. Bike Kitchen celebrates its fifth anniversary with a bike ride and potluck; meanwhile, Bike Kitchen founder Jimmy Lizama discovers first hand the LAPD’s new attitude hasn’t made it down to the street level just yet. Good luck finding designated bike parking at LA Live. Lose weight fast on the car-free diet. Drive a car and you might kill someone; ride a bike, not so much. A bike in a snowdrift, or a fossil frozen in time? For once, New York cyclists are jealous of L.A., thanks to our new bike-friendly chief. Portland offers a new right-side left turn lane for bikes, while National Geographic Traveler names Portland the best cycling city in America; well, duh. Colorado’s cycling governor breaks multiple ribs in a crash with other riders; meanwhile, the state considers a mandatory helmet law for children. Cycling through the frozen tundra on Alaska’s Iditarod Trail. Wired tours the home of the world’s best bike saddle. More bike lanes in a Lancashire town might have saved the life of an 83-year old woman. Britain’s John O’Groats to Land’s End celebrity ride gets off to a rough start when one of the celebs falls before the ride even begins. It might save your life someday — a new car airbag designed to protect a cyclist in a crash begins preliminary testing in Amsterdam. New Zealand’s nude cyclist gets the court’s official blessing.