Tag Archive for cicLAvia

Morning Links: Another successful CicLAvia, riding sans culottes for safer streets, and bizarre SaMo road rage

June 12, 2017 / / 2 comments

Grab some coffee and settle in, because we’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.

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Let’s start with a quick look at yesterday’s Glendale to Atwater Village CicLAvia.

Given the short course, I left my bike at home, and set out to walk it with my wife and dog in tow, starting at the Atwater Village hub.

Unfortunately, we didn’t make it past the Central Hub, after both succumbed to the intermittent sunshine and a pace slowed by the curse of a cute dog, as countless hands stopped us to pet the Corgi along the way.

We were able to catch a pedicab back to Atwater, which was good news since they were both done for the day at that point. It was the Corgi’s first time on a bike, and she took to it like a kid at Disneyland — especially when we picked up speed on the steep downhill.

So I only got to see the southern half of the route. But what I saw was countless happy people on their bikes, as well as a handful of skaters and fellow pedestrians.

And a lot of bored cops and paramedics, which is always a good sign.

As always, businesses that cater to CicLAvia riders are richly rewarded

Bluegrass band performing outside the Atwater farmers market

I foolishly forgot to get this kid’s name; he bravely struggled up the steepest hill on the route, with much encouragement from his father

Glendale’s finest engage in a little community relations of the Corgi kind

My wife immediately recognized this as the Glendale Train Station, thanks to the Militant Angeleno’s guide

Bike Walk Glendale was busy giving CicLAvians a taste of what the city could be

So what was your experience?

Leave a comment below to offer your thoughts on the day, especially if you made it the Brand Hub, and saw the part of the route I missed.

Meanwhile, LAist recaps yesterday’s CicLAvia with a handful of photos.

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CicLAvia wasn’t the only ride of note this weekend.

The World Naked Bike Ride rolled over the weekend, resulting in a bunch of not exactly safe for work photos and videos of bike riders around the world, as people shed all, or nearly all, to call for better safety on the streets.

Including some of our fellow Angelenos.

https://twitter.com/VTheMovieGirl/status/873651987279040512

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Seriously, I don’t even know what to say about this one, which started when a road raging driver in Santa Monica attempted to give a bike rider a piece of his mind.

And apparently, didn’t have any to spare.

The driver jumped out of the truck to confront the bicyclist at Broadway and  Second Avenue near the busy Third Street Promenade. That’s when a third man got into the Toyota and tried to drive off with it. The driver tried to stop the thief. In the process he was hit by his own truck. The pick-up went a little farther and hit a person in a wheelchair. Witnesses said the wheelchair was dragged for some distance.

When the truck came to a stop, a traffic officer and a witness stopped the thief from getting away. Police arrested him officers said.

Thanks to dammannjohnj for the heads-up.

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The Irish Times celebrates the 200th anniversary of the bicycle — or at least, the forerunner of the bicycle — while offering ten reasons bikes are better than cars.

Meanwhile, CNET looks at what the dandy horse begot. And the NY Post celebrates 200 years of the bicycle.

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Good piece from a Toronto writer about the double standard in how the press commonly absolves drivers of blame in collisions — intentionally or not — while doing just the opposite for bicyclists.

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Timbuk2 is hosting a CycleHack meetup in their Venice store tomorrow evening. Here’s how their press release describes it.

Starting June 13, Timbuk2 Venice is kicking Summer Sessions off with a special CycleHack Meetup, meant to inspire innovation within the city’s cycling community. All season long the shop will host bumpin’ parties, kickin’ deals, and hitting the streets for rides full of general revelry with numerous events, parties, and partnerships that will span from now until the end of September.

As the official start to Summer Sessions, the Venice shop has teamed up with, CycleHack, a worldwide movement that organizes an annual 48-hour think-tank in cities all over the globe to inspire and aid people to find solutions to their city’s cycling barriers. Leading up to the official event in September, Timbuk2 Venice is hosting a special CycleHack meetup on June 13, where the community can come together, learn about the organization’s mission, enjoy complimentary food and drinks, and discuss local cycling issues. Together, Timbuk2 and CycleHack are on a mission to make cycling more accessible, safe, and fun for all, so don’t miss out and RSVP here.

The Timbuk2 Venice CycleHack Meetup is one of many events that are taking place at the store this season. With several others like rides to the Abbot Kinney Fest and a community beach clean-up, you’ll want to keep up with the official schedule here.

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Local

Silicone Beach entrepreneurs are up in arms over the Playa del Rey road diets. Evidently, they’re fine with keeping the streets dangerous if fixing them means adding a few minutes to their commute.

A writer for the LA Daily News recommends riding a bicycle as part of a personal commitment to live up to the Paris climate accord, even if the US is pulling out.

Curbed catches up with last week’s news that 17 miles of bike lanes will be coming to South LA and the San Fernando Valley. Meanwhile, a total of zero bike lanes are coming to Hollywood.

La Verne is working on its first new general plan in 19 years, which is expected to feature a greater emphasis on active transportation.

Here’s the reason you won’t be riding Angeles Crest anytime soon.

No, Malibu Times, the San Francisco to Los Angeles AIDS/LifeCycle Ride is not a race. Bizarre how some people can’t comprehend that anyone would ride bikes together unless if there’s a finish line and podium at the end.

 

State

Calbike wants to know what you think their priorities should be for the next five years.

That South African rhino-towing cyclist has made it to OC on his way down the left coast in an effort to save the species.

Santa Ana begins a program to improve safety for people traveling by bike or on foot; the city ranks first among California cities over 250,000 for DUI collisions and collisions involving kids under 15, and third for bicycling collisions.

The Ocean Beach Planning Board discusses a possible bike boulevard through the San Diego neighborhood.

The Press-Enterprise offers photos of Sunday’s Santa Ana River Trail Bike Ride and Festival.

A Ventura letter writer is convinced that bike riders should be taxed and licensed (scroll down) because, in his mind, a) almost as much road space is dedicated to bikes as to cars, b) the massive amount of bike signage has created a visual mess, c) bicyclists have more rights than drivers, and d) when a bike rider gets hurt, the taxpayers have to pick up the bill. Because obviously, no bike rider could possibly afford insurance, and no drivers ever pay up after a crash. Maybe he should look into a new career writing for the Weekly World News.

CiclaValley wants to know what the hell is going on with parking in Santa Barbara bike lanes. According to the DMV, it’s legal to park in a bike lane as long as you don’t block a bicyclist. Which is pretty much impossible.

A Bakersfield drunk driver could get away with killing a bike rider because she was in dark clothes, didn’t have a helmet and wasn’t in a crosswalk — none of which is illegal — even though the driver could have faced a murder charge since it’s his second DUI arrest. Of course, none of that could have anything to do with the fact he’s part of a well-connected local farming family.

 

National

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 82-year old man will spend the next week riding 447 miles through the Colorado high country as part of the Denver Post’s Ride the Rockies.

Heartbreaking news from Massachusetts, where a boy hailed as a hero last year for trying to save a kayaker was hit by a train while trying to retrieve his bike from the tracks.

Maryland discovered the hard way that it was perfectly legal to run over a bicyclist in a crosswalk. And to their credit, fixed it.

Florida homeowners are all in favor of improving safety for students on their way to school. As long as it doesn’t involve a bike path through their neighborhood.

 

International

A new study says overly cautious medical advice could be scaring pregnant women off their bikes.

The Guardian goes for a ride in a team car, and discovers a world of controlled panic. Meanwhile, keep an eye on the paper this week, as they explore the state of bicycling around the world.

The British prime minister took a bath in the recent elections, as did a pair of MPs (Members of Parliament) known for being anti-bike. Road.cc says the opposition Labour party needs to focus on bicycling to retain younger voters.

A BBC presenter explains why he never wears a bike helmet, believing drivers will give him a wide berth because of his white hair. Which will do nothing to protect his head if he hits a pothole or other road obstacle.

A man in the UK was running late, so he took a taxi to a job interview. Then stole a bike because he didn’t have any money to get back home.

Ireland considers a proposal to force riders to use bike lanes, many of which are overcrowded and in poor condition.

France’s new president is one of us, as he goes for a bike ride with his wife. We’re not likely to see the US president on one anytime soon. Unless Mike Pence somehow takes over.

China invades Kazakhstan as part of their secret plan for world bikeshare domination.

Apparently, you don’t want to spit on the ground while bicycling in the Old City of Jerusalem.

A New Zealand man built a modified ebike that allows him to attach his Parkinson’s-afflicted wife’s wheelchair to the handlebars.

Seriously? Chinese bikeshare company Ofo is introducing a new “princess bike” to encourage more women to ride.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to go to all the trouble of busting into a bike shop, at least take something. Nothing like having a group of armed bandits argue over which one gets to steal your bike.

And here’s today’s candidate for headline of the year.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the last one.

 

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

Morning Links: A prediction LA’s Vision Zero will fail, and CicLAvia comes to Glendale and Atwater Village

June 9, 2017 / / One comment

A writer for City Lab cites his 50 years of experience with the LAPD’s Traffic Safety Field for his belief that Vision Zero will fail in Los Angeles.

He blames the poor driving habits and rule violations of the city’s drivers, as well as LADOTs inability to transform the streets on their limited budget.

Both of which are legitimate, if not insurmountable, obstacles.

The whole point of Vision Zero is to recognize that drivers are human, and will make mistakes. Streets need to be designed in ways that keep those mistakes from turning into catastrophes. Which LADOT certainly knows how to do, if our city leaders will actually let them.

But we agree on one thing, at least.

The $24 million currently budgeted for Vision Zero is just a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions that will be required make a serious dent in traffic deaths, let alone end them by 2025, as the mayor’s plan calls for.

Unless the leaders of this city gets serious about funding the program, it will fail. Spectacularly.

And the blood that results from that failure will be on their hands.

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The long, cold winter of our discontent is finally drawing to a close.

Or spring, anyway.

Because the year’s second CicLAvia — and the first in Glendale and Atwater Village — is here.

The Eastsider looks at CicLAvia from the Atwater perspective, while Parksify considers how it can change the way we think about street design.

CicLAvia offers an interactive route map, along with a list of specials along the way.

And you can’t truly get the most out of CicLAvia without committing the Militant Angeleno’s epic guide to memory. Or your smartphone, anyway.

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Local

The LA city council has approved plans to reduce vehicular traffic and congestion at LAX, including improvements to increase bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

A new hotel-centric plan for Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station reduces the planned bike center by a whopping 4,000 square feet, from 4,600 to just 600. Which is not exactly the way to encourage people to leave their cars at home.

Burbank gives approval to a massive new development after getting a number of concessions from the builder, including $50,000 for an elevated bike lane on 1st Street.

A new report calls for LA County’s southeast cities — Bell, Bell Gardens, Commerce, Cudahy, Huntington Park and Maywood — to invest Measure M return funds to make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.

A Long Beach resident writes a semi-literate letter saying the city is pampering bicyclists with all those road diets and bike lanes, and shouldn’t build anymore until bike riders obey the law. Oh, and drivers need to obey the law, too.

 

State

A mom and pop Auburn bike shop fixes a young man’s bike for free at the request of their firefighter son after it was damaged in a crash, and tosses in a free helmet and lights, when they learn it was his only form of transportation.

Emeryville police are on the lookout for a bike-riding arsonist who allegedly burned down a $35 million complex under construction in the city. And not for the first time.

Davis unveils new wayfinding signs for bicyclists and pedestrians.

 

National

Over 300 people rode their bikes in honor of the victims of last year’s Kalamazoo massacre.

More information on the Indiana bike rage case we linked to yesterday; a women says a male bicyclist broke the mirror of her car after getting angry over her driving, then physically attacked her when she stopped to examine the damage.

A writer for the Daily News says New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare system has stopped growing, and points the finger at the city’s mayor.

After a New Jersey teenager steals a bicycle to get to school on time, the local police suggest setting your alarm, and putting out your clothes and packing a lunch the night before to avoid running late. No, really.

Riders in the New Orleans edition of the World Naked Bike Ride will avoid Bourbon Street this year, after people couldn’t keep their hands and comments to themselves on last year’s ride.

The South Carolina teacher who raised enough money to buy every kid in her school a new bike has quit her job, after deciding her true calling is to raise enough money to buy one for every kid in the county school district.

Apparently, running a stop sign and killing a ten-year old girl riding her bike to school is no big deal in Florida.

 

International

So much for the Hippocratic Oath. A Good Samaritan ran inside for help following a collision directly in front of a British hospital, only to be told they couldn’t spare anyone to save the life of a dying bike rider.

Bicyclists in a British town are threatened with possible jail sentences for running red lights, after a bike rider receives a four-figure fine for knocking down a 90-year old woman when he blew through a light. Maybe they should move to Florida, where that doesn’t seem to matter.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a careless driver walks without a single day behind bars for killing a 67-year old man riding his bike.

A member of India’s parliament was arrested for circumventing police barricades by bicycle and on foot in a failed attempt to reach the site of a fatal police shooting during a protest. Yet all a government minister can do is criticize him for not wearing a helmet.

 

Finally…

Who gets the ticket if you’re brake-checked by a self-driving car? If you’re going to shoot someone with a flare gun loaded with Rice Krispies, a bicycle makes a great getaway vehicle.

And you’re not truly a hipster until you have your own wooden e-dandy horse.

 

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

Morning Links: Another successful CicLAvia, riding the KY Bourbon Country, and all the bike news that fits

March 27, 2017 / / 2 comments

LA hosted another successful CicLAvia on Sunday, where a good time was reportedly had by all, or nearly all, anyway, at the 20th edition of what is arguably the country’s most successful open streets festival.

According to a report on KNBC-4 that doesn’t appear to be online yet, the crowd was estimated at 50,000 people. Which sounds like yet another in a long line of chronic attendance undercounts, as people come and go throughout the day.

But does anyone really believe San Antonio drew more people to their ciclovía than LA did?

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What could be better than a three day ride through the Kentucky Bourbon Country — complete with samples at the end of the day?

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Three cyclists and a race marshal were injured, two seriously, when a car stopped around a blind curve during a German bike race and the riders reportedly slammed into the back of it. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the tip.

The cobbles belong to Belgian Olympic champ Greg Van Avermaet this year. Cycling Weekly offers five things they learned from his victory in Sunday’s Gent-Wevelgem, while Finland’s Lotta Lepistö was two for two on the women’s side this week.

Spain’s Alejandro Valverde won his second Tour of Catalonia on Sunday, as countryman Alberto Contador took second.

Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins says his testimony in a British doping investigation will shock a few people. At this point, the only that that would really shock anyone would be if there wasn’t any.

That’s one way to keep your kid home. Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini’s mom cut his bike in half to keep him from riding off when he was six years old. Apparently, it didn’t stop him.

Team Rwanda Cycling technical director Jock Boyer says his goal is to make the country an elite cycling nation. Boyer was the first American to ride in the Tour de France; he also convicted of molesting an eleven-year old girl for three years.

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Local

Metro is asking for comments on their newly released guidelines on how to spend Measure M money; Streetsblog says cities are already jockeying for funding. My suggestion: Invest in transit and Complete Streets, and don’t waste a dime on demand-inducing highway projects, like the failed widening of the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass.

Speaking of Measure M and Complete Streets, you’re urged to attend Wednesday’s meeting of the city council Transportation Committee to call for LA to spend its share of the funds to make the streets safer for everyone.

Venice-based Solé Bicycles is opening a new bike shop near USC, intending it to be a gathering place for students. But that means a small on-campus bike shop will get the boot.

 

State

This is why you didn’t want to ride in Bolsa Chico State Park on Saturday.

The Tour de Palm Springs will stay in Palm Springs after Palm Desert agrees to host the ride, but not the name.

Cyclocross Magazine looks back at last year’s classic bicycle L’Eroica California in Los Robles; this year’s ride rolls April 8th and 9th.

The San Jose Mercury News says ebikes are catching on with the public; a 79-year old Aussie e-trike rider would agree.

Who says cyclists aren’t tough? A Stockton man continued riding home after hearing a loud pop, not realizing he’d been shot.

A Lake Tahoe advocacy group says it’s great that there are more bikeways in the area, but a map so they could actually find them might help.

 

National

Wired says the way to get commuters out of their cars is to pay them not to park them.

If bicycling isn’t enough fun, you can always turn it into an augmented reality game and deduct points for scofflaw cyclists.

Riding across the US is one thing; riding from San Diego to San Francisco the long way is another. A Kansas City man plans to ride 7,000 miles on a route that will take him to the Bay Area by way of Georgia, the Great Lakes and Oregon, to raise funds for victims and survivors of sex trafficking.

Seattle is finally getting around to cleaning up a homeless encampment encroaching on a bike path after a woman is attacked.

The president of USA Cycling writes to rebut the Montana senator who wants to ban cyclists from state roads.

It takes a special kind of asshole to steal a 13-year old autistic Albuquerque kid’s therapy bike.

Country singer Clay Walker is sort of one of us, hosting a Houston TX bike ride to fight MS.

A Houston Op-Ed says to function efficiently, roads must work for all users.

A horrifying story from Texas, as a San Antonio driver is under arrest for fleeing on foot after fatally running down a bike rider participating in an MS fundraising ride, then hitting and killing another rider just 80 yards down the road; as a third rider had to dive into a ditch to get away from him. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.

A Chicago study shows red light cameras really do improve safety. They were removed in Los Angeles when motorists argued they caused wrecks by making drivers actually stop for red lights.

A New York man was finally arrested nine months after he allegedly ran down a cyclist and fled the scene, then claimed his car had been stolen.

For some bizarre reason, ebikes are banned under New York state law, and NYC cops seem more than happy to confiscate them.

Caught on video: A bike cop throws his bicycle at an anti-Trump protester in Philadelphia.

An Op-Ed in the Washington Post says if car drivers made cyclists feel safer, we’d all be better off.

In a bizarre case, a Virginia man was convicted of pulling a gun off his bike frame and shooting a little twelve-pound terrier he claimed was viscously attacking him and left him in fear for his life. Because so many little ankle-biters have been known to leap up and rip the lungs out of passing cyclists, evidently.

 

International

Bike Radar offers advice on how to care for your next cut or road rash, while a Canadian cycling site offers advice on how to keep riding when you’re expecting.

David Beckham is a proud father, as his 5-1/2-year old daughter is now one of us, too.

The release of a British strategy to double biking and walking rates has been delayed due to last week’s London terrorist attack.

English police are looking for a bike-riding purse snatcher who left a woman in her seventies with two black eyes and a broken arm.

An Indian woman quit her job to ride across the country calling for gender equality.

A New Zealand study shows bicycling is no more dangerous than many other recreational activities, and safer than many. But fear of the perceived danger still keeps many people from riding.

Yes, cyclists are welcome on a Kiwi walkway. Not so fast, you mountain bike riders.

A Hong Kong clean air group says it’s time for the island to stop paying lip service to bicycling projects and get serious. The same could be said for Los Angeles — and most other American cities.

 

Finally…

First step as a secret KGB agent embedded in America — become a bike messenger. If you have to crash your car, always blame Bigfoot.

And maybe you need an overdose of cuteness to get you out of your post-CicLAvia Monday morning funk.

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: CicLAvia returns to Culver City–Venice, and Malibu parking study could bring better safety to PCH

March 24, 2017 / / 3 comments

The big news this weekend is the return of CicLAvia to Culver City and Venice, and points in between.

CicLAvia lists feeder rides, including a chance to ride with the mayor of Santa Monica. Meanwhile, Metro offers advice on how to get there via the Expo Line, which is by far your best bet if you can’t ride there.

CicLAvia also offer an interactive map of highlights along the route. And no CicLAvia is complete without the Militant Angeleno’s epic guide.

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It was only seven short years ago that cyclists started seriously pressing Malibu officials to make much needed changes on deadly PCH through the city.

Efforts that at first seemed to go nowhere in what was then a very bike-unfriendly city, but gradually led to significant improvements as they recognized both the value of bicyclists and the need to make the city’s de facto Main Street safer for everyone.

A change for which Eric Bruins, now the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Culver City, deserves the lion’s share of the credit.

Now those efforts appear to be bearing fruit, as many of the suggestions made by cyclists in those meetings — like narrowing traffic lanes to slow drivers, installing bike lanes and widening shoulders to reduce the risk of dooring from parked cars — are contained in a new PCH Parking Study commissioned by the city.

According to the Malibu Times, the study calls for making traffic lanes, which are currently anywhere from 14 to 16 feet wide, a uniform 11 feet throughout the 22-mile length of the highway through the ‘Bu.

It also calls for bike lanes, which city officials had rejected out of hand back in the bad old days, on PCH west of Trancas. And from Webb Way to Las Flores Canyon, stretching 3.3 miles from just beyond the Country Mart to a little before Pepperdine University.

However, it’s not a done deal.

Malibu is holding a special joint meeting of the Public Safety and Public Works Commissions this Wednesday to discuss the study. And it’s sure to be filled with the usual anti-bike forces who don’t want any changes to accommodate bikes, as well as residents who are willing to keep PCH dangerous if it means they can keep their parking spaces.

So if you ride PCH through the city — or would like to — make plans to be there, from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Malibu City Hall, 23825 Stuart Ranch Road.

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It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from LA Bike Dad. Now we know why, as he relates the harrowing tale of his wife’s emergency C-section and his son’s premature birth.

Best wishes to him and his family, and congratulations on a healthy baby boy.

And let’s offer a word of thanks that everyone is okay.

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Local

LA’s $5.5 billion plan to reduce auto traffic at LAX includes improvements in bike and pedestrian access.

Rapha is planning a series of weekend rides and parties in cities around the world; they’ll come to Los Angeles in July.

The mayor of Santa Clarita makes a call for residents to complete a short five-question survey about the city’s proposed bikeshare system before the end of the month.

 

State

Don’t plan on riding the bike path at Bolsa Chica State Beach this Saturday, unless you want to find yourself in the middle of a pro-Trump rally.

A Salinas writer says bikeshare has been a huge success in SoCal, so why not there?

A bike-hating Vallejo letter writer blames bicyclists for just about everything, from running into car doors to riding outside the door zone. The only thing she seems to have left out is colluding with the Russians to put bike lanes on our streets.

 

National

A writer for Road and Track makes a surprising call to bring back red light cameras — not to raise revenue for cities, but to actually improve safety for everyone on the streets.

Tucson concludes that painted bike lanes aren’t enough for riders of all ages.

A Seattle-area bicyclist complains about the insensitivity of drivers who refuse to pass safely.

A Boston reverend says she found a new spirituality and sense of community bicycling through the city’s traffic clogged streets.

New York delivery cyclists speak out about what the Village Voice calls the toughest job on two wheels.

New Orleans plans to double bicycling rates over the next three years as part of the PeopleForBikes Big Jump Project. Los Angeles is also one of the ten cities participating in the project, with plans to boost cycling rates in DTLA and University Park.

 

International

Grab another cup of joe; a new books says for most people, coffee isn’t just not harmful, it’s actually good for you.

Seriously? A British lord blamed the bike lanes on London’s Westminster bridge for making it easier for a terrorist to run down dozens of people in Wednesday’s attack. As if it would have been harder for him to drive down the sidewalk if the traffic lanes butted up against the curb, instead.

A physician who used to live in Visalia got caught up in the attack as he was bicycling across the Westminster Bridge, and rushed to help the victims before the paramedics arrived.

A British bike industry association is staring a new campaign to get more children to start cycling.

Officials in an English town remind angry drivers that bicyclists aren’t required to use a new network of bikeways, and there are good reasons why they might choose to ride in the road instead.

Now that I’d like to see. Danish ebike maker Diavelo will unveil a new model at the Taipei Cycle Show designed by famed auto design firm Pininfarina, the company responsible for classic cars from Ferrari, Fiat, Alpha Romeo and Maserati.

Drivers aren’t always the bad guys. A South African motorist came to the aid of a woman who had been pulled off her bicycle and dragged down some stairs by a pair of robbers; they bolted when he ran to help.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to hitch your dog to a bike rack, make sure it’s bolted down first; same advice holds for your bike, too. Maybe you’re in the market for a slightly used 24K gold BMX bike for a mere fifty grand.

And usually the douchebags are behind the wheel, not protecting the bikes.

 

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: A human speed bump at Sunday’s CicLAvia, and a miscarriage of justice in Ventura County

August 15, 2016 / / 2 comments

Sunday marked yet another successful CicLAvia, as thousands turned out for the shortened course on Wilshire Blvd despite the heat.

However, some aspects left something to be desired, as dangerd explains.

Vision Zero L.A Style at CicLAvia

Do you want to know how much the LAPD cares about your safety and “Vision Zero”?

At the Wilshire CicLAvia this Sunday my girlfriend and I were making our way back to where we parked mid-route at our hotel near MacArthur Park when at 3:30pm a LAPD motorcycle cop escorting the DOT truck reopening Wilshire Blvd. pulled up behind us an announced over his loudspeaker “Get over to the right, the street is re-opening, this is L.A. You are just a speed bump.”

I pulled aside the cop on my bicycle and said, “I am not a speed bump I am a road user and I would appreciate it if you enforced the traffic law. If someone runs me off the road I expect that you will give them a ticket.”

To which he answered, “How can I give them a ticket after they run you over, you will already be dead?”

In my opinion we will not achieve “Vision Zero” by 2035, IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN, Not with a police force who is unwilling to enforce traffic law even at a CicLAvia event, and makes jokes about cars running over pedestrians and bicyclists.

Are you listening Eric Garcetti?

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I got to CicLAvia late myself, but still managed to grab a few photos along the way, presented in no particular order.

Church-&-Bikes

Bike-Rodeo-Course-smallCicLAvia-Van-small

Nice to see the City Attorney's office represented

Nice to see the City Attorney’s office represented

Indodnesian-Band-small

An Indonesian band performed, drawing a large crowd

Gen. Otis, founder of the LA Times, not the namesake of MacArthur Park

Gen. Otis, founder of the LA Times, not the namesake of MacArthur Park

A very moving memorial to Robert Kennedy, steps from where he was assassinated

A very moving memorial to Robert Kennedy, steps from where he was assassinated

The LA Public Library book bike

The LA Public Library book bike

CicLAvia-Van-small

As usual, businesses that catered to CicLAvia participants were richly rewarded

As usual, businesses that catered to CicLAvia participants were richly rewarded

Soon to be the Left Coast's tallest building

Soon to be the Left Coast’s tallest building

KCBS-2 anchor Jeff Vaughn is one of us, as he rode the full route with his charming family

KCBS-2 anchor Jeff Vaughn is one of us, as he rode the full route with his charming family

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In a truly bizarre miscarriage of justice, a 27-year old Camarillo woman who killed two people while allegedly texting is allowed to plead out to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charges.

The CHP concluded that Rachel Hill was “distracted by a portable electronic device” when she ran down Emmy Award-winner Maciek Malish as he rode his bike on the shoulder of Moorpark Road, then overcorrected and hit Jesse Cushman as his motorcycle came from the opposite direction.

Yet somehow, the Ventura County DA concluded that the death of two innocent people at the hands of a distracted driver really wasn’t that big a deal, and didn’t merit felony charges.

And can’t seem to explain why, other than to respond in an unsigned form letter to say the decision was not made lightly.

Which really makes you wonder just who Hill knows in the DA’s office.

She’ll be sentenced to a slap on the wrist on September 20th.

………

BMX rider Kevin Robinson came out of retirement to set a world record with an 84” power-assisted backflip, after crashing hard on his first attempt.

Or maybe you’d be more impressed by a mountain biker leaping over a train gap — aka a railroad track running through a ravine —  in British Columbia; although that’s still not as impressive as doing it over an actual train.

………

A Dutch cyclist rode on the wall — vertically — in an attempt to avoid a crash in the women’s keirin.

The Australian cycling team is going bust at the Rio Olympics.

A Detroit artist’s work was along for the ride when Kristin Armstrong won her third consecutive gold in the time trial. Although it does have some rather operatic competition.

The British women’s pursuit team pens a note of congratulations to their medal-winning countrymen, with a friendly reminder not to drunkenly stumble into the wrong room. And apparently, it worked.

Temecula’s Sarah Hammer was part of the silver medal winning US pursuit team.

A Brazilian cyclist was suspended for failing a drug test. Meanwhile, a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune, looking oddly like Rodney Dangerfield, says Americans shouldn’t throw stones when it comes to doping at the Olympics.

And no, a Canadian parliament member did not win cycling gold in Rio.

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Local

Metro’s $22 million underpass connecting the Red and Orange Lines in North Hollywood is set to open today.

A San Marino man plans to ride 17,500 miles from Alaska to Argentina to honor his friend, who was paralyzed from the neck down in a Las Vegas traffic collision.

The Santa Monica Spoke will host an August “Go Public” Ice Cream Ride visiting three gourmet ice cream shops in the Santa Monica area on the 27th.

 

State

An Encinitas bike rider was hurt in a hit-and-run Sunday morning; fortunately, his injuries were not life threatening.

A Carlsbad dog escaped from its home and attacked a bike rider, then lunged at police, who had to use pepper spray and a beanbag gun to subdue him. Bad dog!

The madness continues in Coronado, where a candidate for city council says no to a proposed bike and pedestrian bridge under the San Diego-Coronado Bridge, because transients, homeless people, drug addicts and alcoholics would use it along with the bike riders and tourists. “I’m going to build a wall, a beautiful wall, across the bay. And I’ll make the homeless drug addicts pay for it.”

A bike rider was airlifted to a local hospital following a collision on PCH in Ventura County. Which seems unusual since she was listed as suffering just minor injuries.

A San Francisco bicyclist says it’s time to require bike riders to register their bikes, obtain a license and carry a minimum amount of liability insurance, using the money to design and build safer roads. In other words, the people most at risk, who do the least harm to the roads, should pay prohibitively to protect themselves from those who do the most damage and pose the greatest danger. Got it.

 

National

After a recording proves a Utah councilmember said bike riders should be run off the road, a woman writes that’s exactly what happened to her husband, and she wouldn’t wish that pain and sorrow on anyone.

Denver business owners are worried about how a new six mile, two-way cycle track will affect their businesses, even though studies show it could actually help.

Colorado authorities are investigating after someone spray painted messages on the roadway suggesting bike riders should be killed in advance of a Gran Fondo.

 

International

A Toronto driver complains that she was left with a $500 deductible payment after a careless bike rider scratched her car while she was stopped at a red light, and wants the law changed to hold bicyclists accountable. Which it already does, but she chose not to file a case in small claims court.

An Irish cyclist is nearing the finish of a 14 month bike tour from New Zealand to Ireland, through 23 countries on three continents.

An Aussie cyclist has his bike stolen three months into a one year, 12,000 mile charity ride around the continent.

A Wellington, New Zealand columnist pens a piece that could have been written here, saying that local leaders are reluctant to make the hard choices to improve bike safety, in a city where cars form the top of the transportation pyramid and everything else is on the bottom.

Philippine police are surprised when no admitted drug users show up for a bike ride with drug enforcement cops. The only real surprise is that the cops were surprised.

Bikeshare comes to Shanghai, even if some riders are hording the orange-wheeled bikes for their own use.

 

Finally…

Don’t buy meat from skinny Brits in hi-viz. If you’re going to wrestle a bike away from its owner, don’t hang around and watch when the police come to investigate.

And seriously, when you’re riding with outstanding felony warrants, don’t weave in and out of traffic.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Law Enforcement, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Weekend Links: Reward for killer hit-and-run Riverside County driver, and CicLAvia returns to Wilshire this Sunday

August 13, 2016 / / 2 comments

The family of fallen cyclist Duane Darling calls on the public’s help in tracking down the hit-and-run driver who left him to die on the side of a Riverside County road.

Investigators are looking for a Ford F-150 pickup with damage to the passenger-side headlight. Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP at 951/637-8000; there’s a $1,000 reward in the case.

………

Just in time for Sunday’s CicLAvia, the Militant Angeleno offers his guide to the iconic, if truncated, route, which has been shortened due to construction on the Purple Line subway.

However, he fails to include the locations of any of the other 55 Pokestops along the route.

CicLAvia offers a list of feeder rides to the event. Given the heat forecast for the weekend, my feeder ride may be the Red Line.

………

More kindhearted cops.

Over a dozen Virginia police officers pitch in to buy a new bike for an autistic boy after his was stolen off his porch.

And a pair of Kentucky cops buy a new bike for a seven-year old girl after hers was stolen; the girl touchingly said the officers healed her heart.

………

Evidently, it takes one to know one. Lance Armstrong makes a cryptic, one-word doping accusation when Fabian Cancellara won gold in the Rio time trial.

Bradley Wiggins becomes the UK’s most decorated Olympian after winning gold in the men’s team pursuit.

The Guardian looks at the impact not making their nation’s Olympic teams has on women cyclists, and what comes next for them.

………

Local

Damien Newton talks with Bike SGV’s Wes Reutimann.

Membership in the new WeHo Pedal bikeshare costs just $69 for the first year.

 

State

A two week ride to put an end to human trafficking will end in Newport Beach on September 25th.

The co-founder and CEO of the Lyft car-sharing service once biked 350 miles from LA to Mono Lake, and helped raised funds for a campus bike line as a student at UC Santa Barbara.

The Department of DIY strikes in San Francisco, as a group called the San Francisco Transformation Agency is taking bike safety into their own orange cone-bearing hands.

Thirty bicyclists riding across the US with the Bike & Build program stopped in Stockton to work on a home.

 

National

A Colorado woman wants a new mayor who won’t pander to bike riders by allowing them to rudely ride in the middle of the traffic lane, while a bike-riding Colorado lawyer offers advice on how to deal with police and angry drivers. Such as the letter writer, probably.

A new Nebraska law gives bike riders the same crosswalk right-of-way enjoyed by pedestrians, as well as repealing the outdated mandatory side path rule.

Evidently, cycling is an obscure sport, at least as far as a Boston writer is concerned as he ranks the greatest sports movies. American Flyers over Breaking Away? Seriously?

A writer for the Boston Globe calls for cycle tracks in the city.

DC is installing pocket lanes to help bike riders navigate through intersections to avoid right hooks.

Tragic story from South Carolina, as a 77-year old bike rider died after riding into a ravine; he left a voice mail for his wife saying he’d crashed into a creek bed and needed help, and hung his shirt on a tree branch to signal rescuers, but wasn’t found until it was too late.

A Louisiana cyclist made it about a mile onto the 26-mile Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, which prohibits bicyclists. I threatened to try riding it myself more than once when I live down there, since it would cut the ride to New Orleans down to a few scenic hours.

The Florida cop who accidently shot and killed a 77-year old woman left his previous job after siccing his police dog on a bike rider.

Florida cyclists wisely object to plans to place buffered bike lanes on a six lane divided highway with a 55 mph speed limit.

 

International

Bike Radar asks if you’re a cycling snob.

An off-duty British cop goes beyond the call of duty by stopping a thief and recovering the bike he stole, then using his own car to track down the vacationing Dutch couple it belonged to.

After a Brit bike rider was knocked cold by a hit-and-run driver, paramedics leave him on the side of the road, despite a neck injury and a broken shoulder, telling him to find his own way home.

A BBC TV reporter discusses his long road to recovery after a near-fatal bicycling collision; when he woke from a two-week coma, he thought he was an American race car driver in 1952.

Spend your next bike vacation pedaling through the real Palestine from Tel Aviv through Jericho and Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

 

Finally…

If you can’t fix it with duct tape, it ain’t broken. If you miss not being on your bike, doesn’t that mean you wish you weren’t on it?

And you’ll need to ride a bike for 50 minutes to work off the calories from the new frozen deep-fried Twinkies.

Which seems like as good an excuse as any.

 

Category: Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bike the Vote LA offers their endorsements, and CicLAvia wants to give you a bandana

April 27, 2016 / / One comment

If you haven’t heard, there’s an election coming.

Bike the Vote LA unveiled their endorsements for the upcoming June primary, when you’ll have a chance to vote against the presidential candidate(s) of your choice and have it actually mean something for a change.

And as long as you’re in the voting booth, you can Bike the Vote by casting a ballot for these bike-friendly candidates for state Senate and Assembly from the LA area.

bikethevote2016-ca_primary

A couple names on that list jump out at me.

A long-time cyclist, Steven Bradford was the father of the state’s three-foot passing law when he was in the state Assembly, and has long worked to make our streets safer for everyone. Which is why he had my endorsement the minute he announced his candidacy for state Senate.

Former Glendale Mayor Laura Friedman has been one of the most consistent voices for safer bicycling in any city government, and would make the ideal replacement for outgoing Assemblyman Mike Gatto — who will also have my support for any office he runs for in the future.

And Richard Bloom, my own state Senator now that I live in Hollywood, is up for a well-deserved third and final term.

I can’t say I’m familiar with the others on the list.

But knowing the people who make up the Bike the Vote LA team, I trust their judgment. They’re one of the few organizations whose recommendation could get me to mark my ballot.

………

Next month’s Southeast Cities CicLAvia just got a little more interesting.

Pick up a stamp card and get it stamped at all five hubs, and you’ll get a free bandana to mark the occasion. As well as the satisfaction of riding all 10 miles.

Let’s hope they have a lot of them.

I need to get one for the Corgi, who, like most redheads, looks good in black.

………

Surprisingly, the 19-year old Belgian motor doper gets just a six year suspension and a $20,000 fine; most observers predicted she’d get a lifetime ban for cheating. As usual, though, it’s unlikely she was the only one cheating; just the only one who got caught.

A year after a key report on reforming bike racing’s governing body was submitted, not enough has been done to make it an “independent, self-governing and more economically-sustainable premier league sport.”

British Cycling suspends the technical director who told a track cyclist to go have babies instead of competing for the Rio Olympics.

The Amgen Tour of California will continue to be the Amgen Tour of California, as the race’s title sponsor renews its sponsorship, along with co-sponsors Coke and United Healthcare. Good thing, since it’s now America’s only UCI Men’s WorldTour race.

………

Local

Streetsblog looks at how Mayor Garcetti’s ambitious sustainability plan has done after the first year. They’ll have to step up bikeway installation in a big way to meet the goal of 35% active transportation and transit by 2025.

A new LA startup wants to put your bike bag between your legs; the company has surpassed their $10,000 Kickstarter goal by over $6,000 with four days to go.

Aussie singer Cody Simpson is one of us, riding his bike barefoot along the sidewalks of Abbott Kinney in front of the new Shinola store.

CiclaValley edges his way around Strawberry Peak, wearing a Raspberry Beret. Okay, maybe not the last part; I may have been hearing too much Prince lately.

 

State

Calbike says the state Assembly Transportation Committee let us down by choosing bigger, faster, wider roads and highways over the needs of underserved Californians who have no choice but to ride the bus, walk and bike. Except making those roads bigger and wider seldom makes them any faster. Or safer.

Once again, a killer drunk driver gets off with a slap on the wrist, as a Bakersfield man gets one year in jail, with six years suspended, for the drunken hit-and-run death of a bike rider in 2014. People will continue to die on our streets as long as judges refuse to take traffic crime seriously.

San Francisco’s People Behaving Badly looks at badly behaving people in the bike lane who don’t belong there.

Napa Valley bike riders complain about dangerous road conditions around the tracks for the Napa Valley Wine Train.

 

National

The bikeshare director for NACTO says we’ll know we’re getting bike equity right when bikeshare systems, and bikeways, adequately serve low income neighborhoods and create jobs. See state Assembly fail above.

HuffPo says making cities less dangerous and more livable for women makes them better for everyone. That includes making our streets safe and welcoming for women riding their bikes alone, day or night.

As usual, LA expat Bikeyface nails it, saying it’s not about bicycling, it’s about creating neighborhoods where people will stop bicycling and stay awhile.

Jeffrey Tanenhaus — the guy who rode a New York Citi Bike across the US — explains why riding one was the best way to see the US.

City Lab is the latest to question Phoenix’s “incredibly gruesome” anti-bike bike safety graphic novels.

Colorado authorities confirm that human remains found earlier this year belonged to Mountain Biking Hall of Fame member Mike Rust, who disappeared without a trace in 2009.

A year later, police identify two suspect vehicles, but still no suspect, in a series of random roadway shootings that began with the murder of a cyclist near my hometown.

Where to ride your bike the next time you’re in Brooklyn.

A Charleston SC columnist investigates complaints that a trial bike and pedestrian path over a key bridge is creating massive traffic tie-ups, and finds not a single congestion in sight.

The US Department of Justice says Tampa Bay’s policy of ticketing black bike riders to reduce crime and improve safety only succeeded in unduly burdening black bicyclists; eight out of every ten bicycling tickets went to black riders. But despite the findings, the city insists it wasn’t discriminating. Of course not.

 

International

Momentum Magazine asks if banning biking under the influence is really the right answer. Both are dangerous, but I’d much rather see a drunk on a bicycle than behind the wheel.

A writer for the Guardian says don’t assume people with disabilities aren’t interested in riding their bikes, and won’t benefit from quick, safe bicycle routes.

Dublin plans to swap its door lane bike lanes for parking protected lanes.

Paris will now ban motor vehicles from the famed Champs-Élysées the first Sunday of every month. Maybe we can see their bet and shut down Hollywood Blvd once a month, as well.

Amsterdam will select the world’s first bike mayor in June, but plans to export the position to cities around the world. If they get around to LA, I’m available. Just saying.

This laser-welded aluminum Dutch bike doesn’t look a thing like a Dutch bike.

A Swiss laboratory uses a full-body model to study why your head gets hot when you wear a bike helmet; they estimate better ventilation could encourage more helmet use, potentially reducing over 1000 avoidable head injuries per year.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to wear a hoody to ride your bike on a chilly night, you might want to throw some pants on, too. If you’re going to get loaded and ride your bike, try not to crash into a loaded school bus.

And we all love our bikes. But gutting your stepson with a knife for messing with your bicycle is going a tad too far.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Another sunny & successful CicLAvia; SaMo Spoke’s Cynthia Rose wins Inspiration award

March 8, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Another sunny & successful CicLAvia; SaMo Spoke’s Cynthia Rose wins Inspiration award

Once again, it was a safe, sunny and successful CicLAvia.

The clouds parted way just in time for the 8:30 am kickoff with Mayor Garcetti and actor and local native Danny Trejo.

CiclaValley offers a great photo recap of the day, as does Streetsblog’s Joe Linton; I particularly like the plush lion king bike.

Although someone should tell the Daily News that the brakeless bike they refer to is called a fixie, not a “fix-it.”

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Congratulations to Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose, who won the award for the nation’s most inspirational bike advocate from the Alliance for Biking & Walking at the National Bike Summit.

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Nineteen-year old Dutch ‘cross rider Femke Van den Driessche could face a lifetime ban for the first confirmed case of motor-doping. It’s not that the penalty is too stiff; it’s just sad that she’s thrown away her entire racing career at such a young age.

Meanwhile, aptly named Jelly Belly rider Joshua Berry became the latest in a rash of pro cyclists who have been injured in collisions, as he was hit by a car while training in San Diego; he credits his helmet with preventing more serious injuries.

………

Thanks to James for discovering this great poetic Brit PSA warning people not let their broken glass endanger the war effort by puncturing the bike tires of battleship builders.

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Local

Boyle Heights residents call for safety improvements after a series of deadly hit-and-runs; Saturday’s Nuestra Avenida: Cesar Chavez Reimaginada Great Streets event will promote safety improvements while trying to tamp down fears of gentrification.

The new album by the LA band Dunes was inspired by a hit-and-run collision that seriously injured the band’s bike-riding guitarist. Note to the LA Weekly, as well as KPCC for the above item — Repeat after me: wrecks aren’t accidents, and hit-and-run is a crime, not an oopsie.

Peloton calls the upcoming Malibu Gran Fondo America’s five-star biking event.

 

State

Plans move forward for bike lanes and a multipurpose trail — or multipupurpose, as Press-Enterprise calls it — in Wildomar.

The family of fallen 14-year old Ventura bicyclist Jonathan Hernandez, the victim of last month’s double hit-and-run, calls on the city to offer a reward to find the still-unidentified second driver; the city’s deputy mayor says that would be “unprecedented.” So maybe it’s time they set a new precedence by taking hit-and-run seriously.

 

National

Bike Radar looks at Black Girls Do Bike, which grew from a Facebook page to a nationwide movement.

One of the people who worked on a Kona HI bike lane defends the design against an accusation it’s a death trap.

Utah considers closing a bizarre legal loophole that requires bike owners to buy their stolen bicycles back from pawnshops.

Nebraska’s Cheyenne County hopes to build bike paths connecting the county’s towns to promote agricultural bike tourism.

Hats off to police in Des Moines IA, who arrested what may be the nation’s most obnoxiously motor-addled woman for driving up behind an eight-year old kid riding his bike, and revving her engine to frighten him B.cause those damn little bike-riding kids never get out of her way. Yes, eight-years old. Which is at least how long she should lose her license.

When your working life revolves around bicycles, your office should too, like the new Chicago headquarters for SRAM.

Chicago cyclists complain about drivers parking in bike lanes and using them for turn lanes. If someone can park or drive in a protected bike lane, maybe it’s not protected enough.

Tennessee proposes fining drivers $50 for swerving into a bike lane unless it’s an emergency. It should rise to $500 if there’s someone riding in it at the time. Or $5,000 if they hit them.

New Hampshire police discover two abandoned bicycles, and trace one back to a ten-year old boy whose bike was stolen a year earlier. In Oregon.

New York police shoot a man suffering from mental illness following a bloody rampage that began when he slashed a woman for looking at him as he rode past on his bike.

The 30-mile Tammany Trace trail allows riders to leisurely explore the north shore of Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain; New Orleans is on the other side of the lakes massive causeway. I used to take my life in my hands by riding through that same area on the narrow high-speed roadways before the trail was built, but the scenery was worth it.

 

International

Co.Exist looks at Milan’s plans to pay people to ride their bikes to work. That could be more effective, and less coercive, than congestion pricing in a spread-out city like Los Angeles; the challenge would be verifying that people are actually riding rather than driving, which could be overcome with a tracking app similar to Strava.

A British cyclist wins a bike race, then suffers a broken leg when a delivery driver turns into her path on the way home. Then gets screwed again when the driver is fined a lousy £145 — the equivalent of just $206.

A UK man is convicted of stealing a $700 bicycle, then selling it for $28 worth of heroin; he’s been prohibited from even touching any bicycle he doesn’t own pending his sentencing. Although he’s the exception; Brit bike thieves get away with it at least 75% of the time.

A HuffPo writer says London’s next mayor must “go Dutch” on bicycling. Meanwhile, British actor Tom Conti displays more than a touch of paranoia, claiming a planned London bikeway is just the first step in a “some kind of Soviet idea” to ban all vehicular traffic from the city. Um, sure. Now calm down and take your meds.

Norway is investing over $900 million to build ten bicycle superhighways around the country’s nine largest cities.

A writer for Australia’s Daily Telegraph says the solution for drivers who want bike riders out of their way is to provide cyclists with better bike lanes.

 

Finally…

Will anyone get out of your way if it sounds like you just got a text message? It takes a real prick of a vice principal to prick the tires of a schoolboy’s bike for not wearing a helmet.

And what do you give the motor-crazed multimillionaire outfielder who has everything? A tricked-out tricycle, of course.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: LACBC & SaMo Spoke up for national honors, CHP looks for driver in East LA bike hit-and-run

March 4, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LACBC & SaMo Spoke up for national honors, CHP looks for driver in East LA bike hit-and-run

Congratulations are in order for the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition and Santa Monica Spoke.

The LACBC and its local chapter Santa Monica Spoke received national recognition as they dominated the nominations for next week’s Alliance for Biking & Walking’s annual Advocacy Awards.

The nominations include:

  • LACBC for Advocacy Organization of the Year
  • LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler for Advocate of the Year
  • LACBC Planning & Policy Director Eric Bruins for Advocate of the Year
  • Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose for the Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award
  • LACBC work on LA’s Mobility Plan 2035 for Winning Campaign of the Year

No other organization received more than two nominations. The winners will be announced at the National Bike Summit in Washington DC.

………

The CHP is looking for the hit-and-run driver who left an injured East LA cyclist lying in the street.

The victim was hit by a white pickup just before 10 p.m. near the intersection of West Whittier Blvd and South Eastern Ave; no other description of the suspect vehicle or the driver is available.

No word on the condition of the victim, who was taken to a nearby hospital.

Thanks to John Damman for the heads-up.

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Metro has placed their Draft Active Transportation Strategic Plan online; you have until Friday the 25th to submit comments.

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More on Sunday’s North Valley CicLAvia.

KPCC looks at the route, and suggests four activities you should try. Eventbright looks back at some of the more notable riders from past CicLAvias to inspire you to bring your A game. Time Out LA recommends five things to see and do along the route, including curling — no, not your hair.

CiclaValley tells you how to get there. And the CicLAvia website offers advice on where to rent a bike for the day.

Meanwhile, Long Beach plans “dynamic” activities for their second ever Beach Streets ciclovía following on the 19th.

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Local

Richard Risemberg says cars waste space, while bike racks have the opposite effect.

KNBC-4 finally notices that Los Angeles is in the midst of a hit-and-run epidemic; CHP data shows one occurs every 18 minutes in the city, and the driver flees in half of all collisions in the county. It won’t get any better until California actually does something about it.

UCLA’s Daily Bruin calls for a free shuttle along Westwood Blvd connecting the campus with the new Expo Line station, since bicycling is unlikely to be a safe option. That’s thanks to Councilmember Paul Koretz unreasonable and unconscionable blocking of a long-planned bike lane along the Blvd.

A bike rider just barely avoids being run down during a police chase that started in Boyle Heights and ended in a Pasadena HoneyBaked Ham store.

A Long Beach bike rider was hospitalized after a collision on Tuesday around noon on Tuesday. Thanks to James for the heads-up.

 

State

Streetsblog looks at Calbike’s legislative agenda for the coming session; one bill under consideration would require traffic lights to be timed to create a green wave, ensuring that riders traveling at 12 – 15 mph would see nothing but green lights.

The inevitable bikelash has begun. Shortly after San Diego announces plans to make the city core safer for cyclists and pedestrians, business leaders in the city’s Little Italy district say they’d rather have parking than bike-borne customers.

A San Bernardino man was killed in a drive-by while riding a bike.

Isla Vista businesses partner with police and advocacy groups to give away around 1,000 lights to bike riders.

A Santa Cruz man is looking for investors to bring his custom-made e-cargo bike to market.

Candidates for mayor of Sacramento promise to make the city friendlier for bicyclists and pedestrians, while making it a vibrant place people can navigate without a car.

 

National

Good cyclists steer with their bodies, bad cyclists steer with their handlebars. And in other news, water is wet. No, really.

The eternal battle between hikers and mountain bikers rears its ugly head in Scottsdale AZ. It’s not that hard to show a little courtesy — on both sides.

Two cyclists were killed, and two injured, after an allegedly drunk driver plowed into a group of ten riders while they were stopped at a red light in Tucson AZ; they were all waiting in the bike lane when they were struck. If you’ve ever wondered why some bike riders go through red lights, this is it; while I don’t condone it, many bicyclists believe they are safer going through a light than waiting patiently and risking something like this.

A bighearted New Mexico man searched for two weeks to find a homeless man whose bicycle was falling apart just to give him a new one. It’s people like that who make this world a better place.

A Boulder CO program uses adult-sized balance bikes to help teens and adults with disabilities gain confidence and discover what they’re capable of achieving.

Lance Armstrong shares his views on doping and the Tour de France with a class of students at the University of Colorado.

Bikes heal. A former doctor refurbishes bicycle in a Des Moines co-op in an attempt to reclaim his life, after he was acquitted on manslaughter charges for recklessly prescribing drugs that killed his patients, including the bassist for the band Slipknot.

Minnesota’s StarTribune offers a look at the innovations in the bike world on display at this year’s Frostbike, saying there’s great stuff, but nothing revolutionary.

A Massachusetts man is ruled a danger to society after deliberately mowing down a boy as he rode his bike on the sidewalk; the driver was allegedly enraged that the victim had talked trash about his sister.

 

International

Vancouver tripled bike rack installations last year, and is still scrambling to keep up with demand. That’s a great problem to have, evidence that the city’s recent completion of a protected bikeway network is boosting ridership.

A Canadian mountain bike trail was sabotaged with wooden stakes and a wire strung at neck height in an apparent attempt to injure, or possibly kill, bike riders. Let’s hope the charges reflect that when they find whoever is responsible.

Caught on video: It’s not always bike riders who are the scofflaws. A London cycling hits the pavement trying to avoid pedestrians crossing against the light.

More on that UK survey that shows the overwhelming majority of Brits support bikeways; nearly 80% support bike lanes if they don’t significantly affect their commute, while more than half said they’d still support bike lanes even if it made their commutes five minutes longer.

The head of Britain’s equivalent of the AAA gets it. He says bike lanes that start and stop are one of the worst things for both bike riders and drivers, lulling both into a false sense of security.

 

Finally…

Sometimes riding can be a scream; no, literally. Always bring extra water; you never know when you’ll want to share it with a wheel-climbing marsupial.

And nothing like having your stunt bike promo photobombed by a bare butt.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA River bike path closed through Memorial Day, and biking & walking are booming in the US

March 3, 2016 / / 2 comments

You might as well give up on riding the LA River bike path anytime soon.

LADOT reports the Army Corps of Engineers plans to keep the flood control closure in place through the Griffith Park, Silverlake and Atwater Village areas at least through Memorial Day. And possibly longer if El Niño persists.

LA River Closure

Then again, I wouldn’t plan on hiking Runyon Canyon, either.

………

The Alliance for Biking & Walking says both are on the increase.

According to Bicycle Retailer, the organization’s nearly 200-page 2016 biannual report says bicycling is up 71% in large cities since 2007, and 50% overall, even though men continue to outnumber women riders, who make up just 29% of all bicyclists.

The report also shows protected bike lanes encourage bicycling, increasing riding levels anywhere from 21% to 171%.

And eight out of the ten Complete Streets projects studied resulted in increased property values for the surrounding area. Which means that when home and business owners argue against bikeways, they’re fighting against their own financial self-interest.

Meanwhile, the reports lists the top ten US cities where people bike or walk to work. And needless to say, Los Angeles isn’t on it.

Although surprisingly, Los Angeles leads the nation in miles of bikeways. Too bad so few of them connect into a useful network, or those commuting levels might be higher.

US Bike Lane Comparison

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It’s a CicLAvia preview battle royale, as reigning champ the Militant Angeleno is out with his epic 20-point look at Sunday’s North Valley ciclovía, while Valley boy CiclaValley challenges with a preview so jam-packed it had to come in two parts.

But as any fan of the pugilistic arts can attest, it’s the blows that land, not the ones thrown, that count.

Read ‘em all, and plan your day accordingly.

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VeloNews offers a preview on the biggest year ever for women’s cycling.

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Local

The Valley’s Vineland Ave bike lanes get a coat of green paint in conflict areas in an attempt to keep cars out, since nothing else has seemed to work.

Look for the South Bay’s Beach City Bike Tours to be featured on the Today Show Friday morning.

 

State

Goleta approves plans for a bike and pedestrian bridge crossing San Jose Creek.

Sad news from Fresno, as a bike rider was killed after being hit by one or more cars. And a salmon cyclist suffered life-threatening injuries when he was hit by a car in nearby Hanford.

Alameda approves a plan to improve bike and pedestrian safety.

Outside Magazine provides a look at 21 of the world’s most beautiful bicycles from Sacramento’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show.

 

National

Caught on video: Michael Eisenberg forwards news of a stuck-and-run driver who somehow managed to travel more than 300 feet along a separated bike path on an Oregon bridge before getting wedged in, then simply went home for the night. leaving her truck where it was. Police let her off, saying totaling her truck was punishment enough.

Seattle’s city council can’t decide whether to save the city’s bikeshare program.

Cycling in the South Bay takes a trip down memory lane at Lance Armstrong’s Mellow Johnnie’s bike shop in Austin TX

Talk about a winner. An Arkansas woman whose dog mauled a cyclist last month is arrested for threatening a 17-year old girl on Facebook.

Caught on video 2: A road raging Chicago driver chases down and beats the crap out of a bicyclist, all because the rider softly said “You’re in the bike lane bro” as he rode past the man’s car.

New DC bike ramps will make it easier to bike near the White House.

 

International

A worldwide network of bike counters — including one at UCLA — show ridership is rising rapidly; a new report says training is the key to getting new riders out on the road.

A member of the Manitoba Hell’s Angels faces assault charges for pummeling a 14-year old boy for riding his bicycle past the biker’s yard.

A London bike loan program is helping to get underrepresented groups out on bikes; people get a bike, lock and helmet for a month, along with bicycle training, for the equivalent of just $14. Something like that could be very effective in increasing ridership in underserved areas right here in LA.

Despite vocal opposition, London’s network of segregated cycle tracks enjoys exceptionally strong support, with 71% of Londoners saying they’d like to see protected bike lanes on main roads in their own neighborhoods.

Okay, so maybe 3 pm on a Friday isn’t the best time to pull a 200-yard wheelie in front of a cop on a busy British street.

More stupid criminal tricks, as a New Zealand man left his bike helmet and lock behind after gunning down two people; DNA from the helmet identified him as the suspect.

A new Streetfilm looks at why so many people bike in Tokyo when there are so few bike lanes.

Speaking in Taipei, Trek’s CEO challenges bike makers to do more to support bike advocacy. Which shouldn’t be hard, since they currently do almost nothing.

 

Finally…

When you have a $1.2 million bet on the line for your first bike ride in 18 years, clearly, the first thing to do is shave your legs; although a bicycle powered by 4,500 PSI of compressed air might help, too. If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a hundred times — if you’re going to ride with meth and drug paraphernalia on your bike, put a damn light on it. Thanks to Bryan Dotson for the heads-up.

And the seven deadly sins of cycling that will have you burning in hell for all eternity.

Well, maybe not you, but some other cyclists you probably know.

 

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,
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