Tag Archive for cicLAvia

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

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.

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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.

 

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.

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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.

 

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

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.

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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.

 

Morning Links: CicLAvia previews, Cycling Without Age comes to El Monte, and ToC teams announced

Excitement is building for Sunday’s CicLAvia, even if El Niño is threatening to make an appearance.

Getting there just got a little easier, as Metrolink is adding trains from Union Station to Van Nuys.

CiclaValley offers part one of his CicLAvia preview, including a mural for the Day the Music Died, commemorating the day when Pacoima’s favorite son Ritchie Valens went down in a plane crash that also took the life of Buddy Holly and The Big Bopper. If you don’t know who they are, you’re missing a big chunk of music history.

And CD 7 Councilmember Felipe Fuentes offers a video preview of Sunday’s event.

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As we mentioned last week, Bike SGV will be bringing the Cycling Without Age program to the El Monte Senior Center on the 15th to let older people enjoy the thrill of bicycling once more on specially modified rickshaws — often for the first time in years.

Cycling Without Age flyer

Which leads us to point out that Bike SGV is looking for a part-time Bicycle Education Center Coordinator with wrenching skills.

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Teams are announced for this year’s Amgen Tour of California, with Peter Sagan, Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish returning. Although the women’s field may be even more exciting, and both the men’s and women’s hour record holders will be taking part.

Speaking of which, a nice piece from a New York women’s rider says it’s Evelyn Stevens that matters, not the record she set.

And talk about a bad fall. A German pro cyclist survives a 39-foot fall off a bridge into a frozen lake; he swam to safety despite suffering a broken hip.

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Gizmag calls Calfree Design’s new bamboo e-bike a real car killer, which only seems appropriate, since that’s the name of the bike. Or maybe you’d rather build your own bamboo bike, minus the “e”.

And this non-bamboo yet decidedly bizarre looking bike is built to adjust to your exact fit.

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Local

The LA Times looks at the morning-long conversation they hosted Monday about the future of transportation in LA, where the word bicycle apparently went unmentioned.

LA Magazine says LADOT traffic maven Seleta Reynolds is tackling the dangers of traffic safety, quoting her as saying we have to “bust myths about who a street’s for.”

New traffic lights in Downtown LA give pedestrians a head start on motorized traffic to improve safety. But why not include bike riders, as well?

Nice piece from the LACBC talks with local cyclist Victor Boyce, whose mother was one of the original students who broke the color barrier in 1956.

Streetsblog looks at the Ovarian Psychos documentary planned to premier at this year’s South by Southwest. They’re looking for some help with production, though their Kickstarter is now fully funded.

CSU Northridge police issue a crime alert after five bicycles were stolen in just three days.

Walk Bike Glendale recaps their successes for last year.

Take a look at the Facebook rantings of the group dedicated to keeping Temple City’s Las Tunas Drive ugly, dangerous and bike-free. Thanks to Vesley Reutimann for the tip.

Cal Poly Pomona students are working to improve access for alternative transportation at the notoriously auto-centric campus.

Mark your calendar for April 10th, when you can ride through Northeast LA with the LAPD’s senior lead officers for the area.

 

State

Calbike lists their legislative goals for this year, primarily preserving active transportation funding and clarifying cyclists right to ride side-by-side.

Yes, drivers have to give you at least a three-foot passing distance, even if you’re riding in a bike lane.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton talks about San Diego’s plans for a suddenly bike-friendly downtown with BikeSD’s Sam Ollinger, as well as the coming LA Bike Festival with the Bicycle Culture Institute’s Nona Varnado.

Speaking of San Diego, work has begun on a separated bike path next to State Route 15 through the city.

The 50-mile bike loop around the Coachella Valley could be a little shorter, as the Coachella Valley Association of Governments votes to leave a recalcitrant Rancho Mirage out.

A Berkeley bike rider makes an urgent call for better bikeways for him and his family, in a city that was once a leader in bicycling infrastructure. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A Sacramento bar takes security a step further by installing cameras above the bike racks outside. Meanwhile, residents of South Sacramento are concerned that the SPD’s bait bike program could turn the neighborhood’s young people into criminals. Um, only if they try to steal one.

A bike rider says the Truckee River Legacy Trail has turned into a $2.5 million per mile illegal dog park.

 

National

Treehugger explores whether cars are the most socialized form of transportation. Despite what many drivers would say about freeloading cyclists who don’t pay gas/road taxes, the answer is a resounding yes.

An Anchorage cyclist rides a fat bike 350 miles in just under two days along Alaska’s famed dog sled trail to win the Iditarod Trail Invitational 350.

Nike has built their own 1/3 mile bike path through the woods to connect their headquarters with a rail station.

Seattle debates whether to save the city’s Pronto bikeshare or let it die.

The LA Times recommends an easy, traffic-free five-day rail-to-trail bike tour through the Cascades in Washington state. Although you could do it yourself a lot cheaper.

Denver’s leading bike advocacy group is looking for a new executive director to lead the fight for a bikeable Mile High City.

A thoughtful driver in my hometown evidently stopped to move a cyclist’s bike and backpack to the curb before fleeing the scene, while leaving the rider he hit lying injured in the street.

Oklahoma considers legislation allowing cyclists to treat stop signs as yields, and ride through red lights that don’t change.

A bill under consideration in Tennessee could make it difficult to build bike and pedestrian projects by prohibiting the use of gas taxes to fund them.

The Wall Street Journal reviews Janette Sadik-Khan’s new book Streetfight. And the Journal’s bike-riding Jason Gay looks at Evelyn Steven’s hour record, Tim Johnson’s fat bike winter ride up New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington, and wonders if Peter Sagan will get around to shaving his legs.

The rich get richer, as New York City will set another record for protected bike lanes this year.

An OpEd in the Washington Post says the car century was a mistake, and it’s time to move on.

 

International

Suffering from depression? Get out and exercise, says a Canadian physician.

Vancouver’s Chris and Melissa Bruntlett argue it’s hard to claim no one uses the city’s bike lanes when you have a bike counter with six zeros staring back at you.

Nice gesture from a Calgary family, who gave their dead son’s bike to a Syrian refugee boy.

Auto-centric Milan proposes paying people to leave their cars at home and ride to work. Which is something LA should take a serious look at if we’re serious about getting cars off the roads.

CNN looks at how men with monster thighs seduced Germany with the Berlin Six Day track event.

A Calgary website looks at Amsterdam’s transformation into a city for people, not cars.

Despite public fears, Australian police haven’t seen a jump in Lycra-wearing cyclists speeding down sidewalks at 25 mph after riders were allowed on sidewalks in Adelaide last year.

No bias here. An Aussie paper reports a cyclist smashed through the back window of a taxi, whose driver apparently did absolutely nothing to contribute to the crash.

 

Finally…

If it’s not drivers, it’s huge rocks falling on rider’s heads. If you’re going to ride drunk, make sure your bike helmet fits first.

And now you, too, can enjoy the same sort of built-in distractions that drivers do.

 

Morning Links: Turning Vision Zero into an unfunny joke, adventures in traffic blocking, and CicLAvia the Musical

No bikes involved this time.

But sadly, a 17-year old high school student was killed while walking in a crosswalk on North Figueroa yesterday, apparently unaware that classes had been cancelled due to a terrorism hoax.

This is the fourth traffic fatality on the street in the last six months, with three pedestrians and a cyclist losing their lives on a street that was supposed to have been made safer by now.

And would have been, if Councilmember Gil Cedillo hadn’t unilaterally killed a fully funded, shovel ready road diet for reasons he has yet to fully explain, instead bizarrely claiming he was halting the safety project in the name of safety. Yet as yesterday’s tragedy clearly shows, his inaction has merely helped keep a dangerous street deadly.

Unfortunately, we live in a city where councilmembers oversee virtual fiefdoms, thanks to the reluctance of their fellow councilmembers or the mayor to challenge them for fear of retaliation against projects in their own districts.

This has to change.

If Cedillo is unwilling to admit his mistake, someone in city leadership or LADOT has to find the courage to stand up to him to protect the lives of our fellow Angelenos.

Otherwise, people will continue to die needlessly.

And our much-vaunted and fought-for Vision Zero will be nothing more than a very unfunny joke.

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Today’s theme is bizarre court cases involving allegedly traffic-blocking bike riders.

A Louisville KY bike and pedestrian advocate rejected a plea deal on charges of blocking traffic and running a red light, insisting that bicyclists aren’t required to use bike lanes. Or stop at red lights, for that matter.

A Pennsylvania bike rider faces charges for repeatedly obstructing traffic by slowly riding his bike in the middle of the road; a prosecutor hints he may be trying to get hit after receiving a settlement from a drunk driver for a 2007 collision. Or he could just be taking the lane on a narrow street, like bike riders are instructed to do.

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‘Tis the season.

For the seventh year, the Burbank Bike Angels will donate over 120 refurbished bikes to children of local low-income families.

A Rochester NY bike shop donated 20 bikes to an organization serving children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, for the second year in a row.

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Local

Democratic legislators ask Obama for funding to start planning and design work for the restoration of the LA River, which could include extensions of the LA River bike path.

LADOT is looking for a Planning Assistant. Riding a bike should be an added requirement for the job, though.

CiclaValley offers 100 seconds of bike commuting from the Valley to DTLA.

 

State

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition says anti-bicycle bigotry is growing, as local residents fight plans for long-promised bikeways.

San Diego approves a new climate action plan, including a commitment to cut car trips in key transportation zones by 50% within 20 years.

SF Gate says nice try on San Francisco’s first raised bike lane, but it doesn’t actually keep cars and trucks out.

 

National

Pro ‘cross racers offer advice on how to avoid high bike fees when you fly.

The Federal Highway Administration provides Case Studies in Delivering Safe, Comfortable and Connected Pedestrian and Bicycle Networks.

The family of a Portland driver accused of fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist while driving stoned says it was just an accident and he’s really an awesome person. Except when running down bike riders while too high to drive, evidently.

A New Mexico man is arrested for his seventh DUI, just three months after being released from prison for killing a bike rider in 2005 while driving at three times the legal limit. Yet somehow, despite repeatedly proving he’s incapable of resisting the temptation to drink and drive, he’s still allowed behind the wheel.

Forget skiing. If you’re looking for a little winter adventure, try fat tire cycling through the Minnesota snow.

The Wall Street Journal says New York safety advocates say more needs to be done even though traffic deaths are declining. After all, it’s Vision Zero, not Vision Slightly Better.

A Savannah writer nails it. “A legion of scofflaw cyclists cannot inflict the amount of pain, suffering and death as one young man driving a Dodge Durango.”

 

International

Unbelievable. A Costa Rican cab driver denies doing anything wrong after pulling out from the curb and hitting three lead riders of a bike race after police had cleared the route; fortunately, no one was badly hurt.

A road raging bus driver deals with a confrontation with a London cyclist by running over his bike.

A candidate for London mayor offers a six-point plan to make the city a “byword for cycling around the world.”

A British man gets life in prison for intentionally driving his car into his bike-riding romantic rival.

Police are looking for a Brit rider who threw a woman down a flight of stairs after becoming enraged because her dog was not on a leash.

An Indian paper calls speeding and luxury cars a killer combination. Meanwhile, 110 CEOs from all over the world will ride over 500 miles on a week-long expedition through the country, and a champion para-cyclist explains how he didn’t let losing a leg stop him.

Brisbane, Australia’s Green Party proposes a network of protected bike lanes, which would allow cyclists to ride in safety to within two blocks of any location in the downtown area.

 

Finally…

Go ahead and win the world championships, as the prestigious former British Medical Journal says the rainbow jersey isn’t cursed after all. What it’s like to ride a bike to your own wedding.

And presenting CicLAvia, the musical.

Weekend Links: CicLAvia videos, safer VA passage, more Coronado madness, and a busy bike weekend

Let’s start the weekend with a few videos.

First up is a moving piece about a legally blind photographer experiencing his first CicLAvia. Bruce Hall not only rode a bike, accompanied by professional cyclist Damon Roberson, but captured the day in a series of beautiful photos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rfWGTo7s6g

Which brings up this this short film that captures the magic of the Culver City Meets Venice CicLAvia earlier this year.

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If you ever wondered why some people think cyclists are crazy, semi-suicidal scofflaws, this should answer the question.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Padm05-xHVM

Of course, the problem comes when they witness the actions of one rider, or even a few, and decide that all people on bikes are like that.

Which is a pretty good metaphor for a lot of what’s going on in the world these days.

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You only have until Monday to offer comments on the draft master plan for Veterans Administration campus in West LA.

While that may not seem like something that would affect cyclists, many riders use the VA grounds as a safe alternative to virtually unridable Wilshire Blvd; for decades, it was my preferred passageway on the way to the coast.

And as others have pointed out, safety could be dramatically improved for both bicyclists and pedestrians by reopening the gates to the Los Angeles National Cemetery just across the street, and allowing non-motorized traffic to use the roadway that passes between Westwood and the VA, just as they did prior to 9/11.

Here’s my take on it from a few years back.

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The collective madness continues in Coronado, where a letter writer somehow manages to tie the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition, KPBS public radio and the Late, Late Show’s James Corden into a single grand conspiracy to besmirch their isthmus with bike lanes.

Note to Coronado: It doesn’t take a conspiracy to make you look like fools; you’re doing a damn good job of it on your own.

At least there’s one voice of sanity.

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Today is Global Fat Tire Day. So what are you doing to celebrate?

Here’s one suggestion.

fattire_l

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Get him to the Greek, where the SoCalCross Prestige Series brings the CACX District Championship Weekend to the Greek Theater in Griffith Park this weekend for two full days of fun and cyclcocross racing action. No word on whether Russell Brand will make it there in time.

The award-winning documentary Bikes vs. Cars opens at the Laemmle NoHo 7 this weekend; check out reviews from the LA Times, OC Weekly, Bicycling Magazine and the New York Times.

Unless you’re a very early riser, you may not have time to catch the December edition of Helen’s Cycles Monthly Group Ride with Tour de France stage winner Eros Poli. But you can still catch the Cannondale Saturday Demo at the Santa Monica store on Saturday, and the Cannondale Demo Sunday Nichols Ride on, uh, Sunday.

If you read this early enough, you may still be able to make it to the Culver City Bicycle Coalition’s Holiday Ride, kicking off at 9:30 this morning.

Santa Monica’s Cynergy Cycles will teach you how to fix a flat at 11 am today. Seriously, If you’re going to ride a bike, you need to know how to keep air in your tires.

The LACBC joins with local chapter West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition this month’s edition of their popular Sunday Funday Ride tomorrow, with the 14-mile family friendly We Go WeHo Ride.

Downtown’s Just Ride LA bike shop is taking to trip up La Tuna Canyon on Sunday.

Figueroa for All invites you to join their crew for the 2015 NELA Holiday Parade on Sunday, whether you choose to ride, walk or roll.

Join pro cyclist Phil Gaimon, the LACBC and Councilmember David Ryu’s office in cleaning up a stretch of Mulholland between Cahuenga and Runyon Canyon on the 12th.

Also on the 12th, the Southern California Toy Drive Ride will deliver toys to Camp Pendleton for the Toys 4 Tots program.

Finish the Ride will host their first ride, run, walk and roll across the San Fernando Valley on the 27th.

And mark your calendar for the first Los Angeles Bicycle Festival next May.

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Local

In non-breaking news, Metro has officially adopted the fare structure for the still-unnamed bikeshare system, which is pretty much what it was before.

CiclaValley looks at bicycling and pedestrian equity in South LA, or the lack thereof. As he puts it, “A bike network is only as good as your weakest link. It’s about time someone at least bought a chain.”

LA Times’ architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne calls for a series of parks and bikeways along the planned corridor for the un-built 710 Freeway extension through Pasadena and South Pas.

Actor/Director Chad Michael Collins had his bike stolen recently while he was watching the new Hunger Games movie. If you see him, tell him to list it on here with Bike Index to increase his chances of getting it back.

A cyclist will arrive in LA on Sunday after riding fixed 2,451 miles from Chicago along Route 66.

The Pasadena Star News reports a man was punched and the mountain bike he was riding was stolen while on a test ride from a local bike shop.

 

State

San Clemente plans two-way protected bike lanes along PCH.

Following the death of a 12-year old bike rider, Oceanside plans to improve safety for cyclists by installing more speed limit signs and speed monitors. Neither of which would have done anything to prevent the collision that killed Logan Lipton.

It takes a real schmuck to hit a bike-riding kid and leave him lying in the street like this Moreno Valley hit-and-run driver; fortunately, his victim wasn’t badly hurt.

A cyclist and author has his custom titanium tandem stolen in Watsonville, after 50,000 miles of touring the world and picking up riders on his empty back seat. And not for the first time.

So much for that. San Francisco police resume their crackdown on bike riders after earlier assurances it had ended.

Shaq gets an early Christmas present with an oversized 36” wheel bike made for taller riders by San Francisco’s DirtySixer Bicycles.

We all fall off our bikes sooner or later; slashing the neck of a Vacaville kid who laughed at another boy for doing probably wasn’t the best response.

 

National

It looks like that folding cargo bike collaboration between Tern and Xtracycle is a thing now.

Speaking of being a thing now, a new Kickstarter has kicked off for Invincible, which claims to be the world’s first city-proof bike; their new protection plan promises to replace your bike within 24 hours if it’s stolen while using the U-lock that comes with it. If anyone has me on their Secret Santa list, I’ll take the eight-speed version, thank you.

Finally a sentence that fits the crime. After being convicted of driving under the influence, followed by a drunken jailhouse tirade, a former Snowmass city councilman is sentenced to ride his bike 13 miles through the Colorado snow to deliver urine samples to prove he’s not drinking.

Nice thought from a writer from my hometown, who says we all share the same roads and face the same issues, and need to stand together as one, no matter how you ride.

Chicagoist offers five mistakes to avoid after a bike crash.

To improve safety on New York streets, focus on the cars, trucks and SUVs that cause 97.6% of deaths and injuries, not the bikes that cause the rest.

Crash into a cyclist, attack him and throw his tire into the woods before fleeing the scene, and a Maryland judge will let you walk with just 16 lousy hours of community service. Nice to see they take road rage seriously there. And yes, that’s sarcasm of the dripping variety.

Eighteen months after controversial bike lanes were installed in Alexandria VA, they’ve calmed traffic, reduced collisions and increased the number of bike riders on the street, despite the fears of local residents.

 

International

What to get for the bike riding women in your life.

Toronto considers allowing their parking officers to take a photo of cars parked illegally in bike lanes, then follow up with a written ticket later.

Not surprising that the founder of Britain’s Motorists Association would call for cyclists to “pay their way,” just like motorists, who actually don’t; even then, the equivalent of $75 a year seems excessive.

Good news from France, as a gendarme who was critically injured by an out-of-control race moto at this year’s Tour de France is making a miraculous recovery from his injuries.

A new Dutch program promises to take elderly Kiwi residents on rickshaw bike cab rides, while a Dutch bicycle engineer says sharrows aren’t necessarily a bad thing — as long as they’re used on streets with a speed limit under 19 mph.

Fund-Drive-With-Type-2

Help keep the Corgi in kibble this holiday season.

The Department of DIY strikes in Jerusalem, where residents paint their own bike lanes to protest the city’s delays in building bike paths.

 

Finally…

Sometimes, a bike theft isn’t a bike theft. If you’re doping to win an age-group Masters race, you have a serious problem.

And stealing a car, hitting a cyclist and fleeing the scene while five months pregnant probably isn’t the best way to win Mother of the Year.

 

Morning Links: Sentence in Fiesta Island crash, red light-running SaMo driver, and a long list of bike events

Nineteen years.

That’s the sentence given to Teresa Owens in San Diego on Thursday, for the meth-fueled wrong way collision that injured a dozen cyclists on Fiesta Island last year, leaving one paralyzed from the chest down.

According to the Union-Tribune,

Owens, 50, was at Fiesta Island to try to catch her boyfriend cheating on her. She admitted doing “a small line of methamphetamine” 12 hours beforehand. She was also driving on a suspended license, and she was fresh off a previous DUI arrest.

She drove the wrong way on the one-way road around the island and slammed into a group of cyclists on a training ride coming around a corner. Several flew onto her car or smashed into her windshield.

After her arrest, she was also found with a bag of meth hidden in her snatch.

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While making a legal left turn on the yellow, bike rider Wes High was nearly hit by a Santa Monica driver who swerved into the bike lane to get around a stopped car and blow through the light long after it had turned red.

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A new study is quick to blame the victims after 40% of teenagers report being hit or nearly hit by cars while walking. Never mind that careless or distracted drivers may have had something to do with it. And no, walking after dark is not an unsafe habit; that’s what human beings have done since we first stood upright.

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Nice project from CicLAvia, as they want to give back to the community — as if they don’t already give enough — by donating 30 new bikes, helmets and lights to LA County kids who can’t afford them. They want your help to nominate a kid who deserves one; nominations close on December 2nd.

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We’ve got a long list of bike events coming up in the next few weeks.

Today: If you can still make it, Caltrans District 7 Bicycle Advisory Committee is meeting at 9:30 this morning at Caltrans headquarters in DTLA; they want your input on two separate closures on the LA River Bike Path (see below under Local for more information on one of the closures). Thanks to LADOT Bike Program for the heads-up.

Today: Walk Bike Burbank will offer free bike valet at the annual Holiday in the Park festival sponsored by the Magnolia Park Merchants Association.

Saturday: The LACBC will participate in Path Hack at the Spoke Café on the Elysian Valley Pedestrian and Bike Path, a series of free art workshops designed to create a slow zone on the pathway.

CICLE MacArthur Park rideSaturday: Join CICLE and Equitas Academy for a family friendly Bikes and Batidos Ride around the MacArthur Park neighborhood, sponsored by Metro’s Safe Routes to Schools Pilot Program.

Saturday & Sunday: Professional cyclocross comes to El Dorado Park in Long Beach this Saturday and Sunday with the UCI CXLA Weekend.

Sunday: Celebrate the UCI CXLA cyclocross race by joining the Palms to Pines Ride along the San Gabriel River Trail, or take a shorter ride along the beach; proceeds benefit the LACBC and Bike SGV.

Some of the biggest names in international, national, and local cyclocross racing are coming to Long Beach’s El Dorado Park on November 21st and 22nd. As part of this weekend of racing, SoCalCross is offering a Palms to Pines community ride (Ride with GPS route is can be found here.) The ride, along the San Gabriel River Trail, will take riders from the palm trees and sand in Seal Beach all the way north to the pine trees at Azusa River Wilderness Park at the start of the San Gabriel Mountains, before returning to El Dorado Park in plenty of time to watch an afternoon of exciting racing action, enjoy food and beverages at the races, and visit the event’s sponsor Expo. The ride is 77 miles long, but you can ride as much or as little as you like. A shorter Ocean Breeze ride goes to the beach and back. Both are 100 percent on protected bike paths with no car traffic (only 3 street crossings). Registration is $45 ($55 day-of), less for the short ride, and includes an event t-shirt, lunch, pit stops, and a donation to LACBC and other local bicycle advocacy groups.

For more information and to register, go to SoCalCross.com

November 29th: The Encino Velodrome hosts the Encino Omnium track cycling race, sponsored by Burbank’s own Pure Fix Cycles.

November 29th: The SoCalCross Prestige Series: Turkey Trot Cross comes to Glendale’s Verdugo Park.

December 3rd: The LACBC hosts their annual open house, with drinks from Angel City Brewery; admission is free for LACBC members, so consider joining at the door.

December 3rd: Stan’s Bike Shop invites you to dress up in a holiday theme and join them as they ride in the Monrovia Christmas Parade.

December 3rd – 15th: Metro will be holding a second round of workshops to discuss their Active Transportation Strategic Plan, starting with North Hollywood and ending in Santa Clarita.

December 4th: The highly praised documentary Bikes vs Cars opens at the Laemmle NoHo 7.

December 5th: Ride your bike down to Long Beach for the Belmont Shore Christmas Parade, featuring hundreds of festively dressed marching Corgis.

December 12th: Calbike is hosting a special Bikeways to Everywhere donor party in Los Angeles.

December 27th: Finish the Ride comes to the San Fernando Valley for the first time to combat hit-and-run and help create safer streets for everyone.

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Local

A USC student marketing group conducts guerilla marketing campaigns to promote bike safety and security, along with alcohol awareness and combating sexual assault.

The Eastsider reports a one-mile stretch of the LA River bike path along Griffith Park has temporarily reopened after being closed for three days in advance of a projected year-long closure; Zoo Drive and Western Heritage Way are reportedly being “enhanced” in anticipation of the detour.

Santa Monica gets a $300,000 grant to improve traffic safety and help make “streets a more pleasant experience for everyone.” Meanwhile, Seal Beach gets a $140,000 traffic safety grant of their own.

The BBC looks at the Venice Beach Electric Light Parade, as bicyclists light their rides with hundreds of LED lights.

Santa Clarita celebrates its Bronze level Bicycle Friendly Communities award.

 

State

A memorial will be held today for John Pavlisin, Sr., the 89-year old owner of the Orange Cycle bike shops in Orange and Santa Ana.

A Saratoga driver is being sought by police for intentionally swerving into a bike lane in an attempt to hit a bicyclist. Somehow, that doesn’t merit more than a couple lines in the police blotter, though.

Menlo Park plans to add buffers to an existing bike lane, along with pedestrian-activated crossing lights, to improve safety along a preferred school route.

Palo Alto plans to extend the nation’s first bike boulevard three decades after it was first installed.

Napa police arrest a man claiming to be a wolf who speaks 13 languages for stealing a bike at knifepoint. No word on whether one of the languages is Lupine.

 

National

Bicycling offers a cute look at eight ways having a baby changes your cycling.

No bikes involved, just another example of the mass insanity on our roads, as an allegedly drunk driver killed 38 sheep in a Colorado hit-and-run.

There’s a special place in hell for someone who would steal a custom–made bike from a Texas girl with cerebral palsy; fortunately, a kindhearted stranger has offered to replace it.

The Guardian looks at how Oklahoma City has overturned car culture and what can happen when cities kick the car habit.

A South Dakota business owner and bike advocate says forcing everyone into cars isn’t the solution to bike safety.

A New York radio station explores six things they’ve learned about biking in the city by studying over 3,000 photos of blocked bike lanes.

Forget all those cars, evidently the greatest danger New york bicyclists face comes from other riders. Seriously, that’s what she said; you can stop laughing now.

Not only is Pennsylvania’s Genesis Bicycles planning to close for Black Friday, the shop’s employees will donate that day’s salaries to a local charity.

Evidently, it’s legal to kill a cyclist in your sleep in Maryland, as a dozing Bethesda driver got off with just $690 in fines for negligent driving.

 

International

Toronto cyclists says just because a bike looks old or unmaintained, that doesn’t mean it’s been abandoned.

Caught on video: London’s mayor Boris is greeted with angry words and gestures as he opens the city’s first segregated cycle superhighway. The best part is his friendly wave in response to a one-fingered salute from a bike rider. Thanks to Sam Kurutz for the tip.

A London exhibition will display nine of the Cannibal’s racing jerseys; the jerseys, worn by five-time Tour de France winner and multiple world champion Eddy Merckx, are worth an estimated $304,000.

The Guardian looks at a dozen designs that revolutionized bicycling, from Brooks Saddles to fixies and 3D printing.

A coldhearted Brit writer says he only feels sympathy for the “poor car driver who will have the death of the blithering idiot on their conscience” if a ninja cyclist is killed.

Caught on video: A British bike rider stands his ground while demanding that a driver who violated his right-of-way back up instead of going around him.

A new UK company has developed a circular bike parking garage that stores bikes vertically, above or below ground. Can we have a few of those here? Or maybe a few dozen?

A Jewish woman rides a Vélib’ bike across Paris to visit a friend just days after the terrorist attacks.

Emirates and Dubai royalty join in the mourning the death of a champion cyclist and triathlete just a week before his wedding.

Islamic State, the group behind last week’s Paris terrorist attacks, has claimed responsibility for shooting a bike-riding Italian priest in Bangladesh.

A 20-year old South African student gets 13 years for fatally stabbing a man to steal his bicycle.

An Aussie driver with a provisional license apologizes on social media after the cyclist she nearly killed leaves a very polite note saying she looks too nice for prison.

 

Finally…

Evidently, doping predates the invention of the bicycle by a few millennia.

If you’ve been very good, maybe Santa or Hanukkah Harry will bring you a $75,000, platinum and diamond encrusted racing bike for your next club ride. Or you could sell it and by the world’s first bicycle/scooter hybrid for 115 of your closest friends.

And caught on video: Chinese cyclists crash head-on at the end of a Gran Fondo when the lead group somehow takes a wrong turn and sprints to the finish from the wrong direction.

Morning Links: gofundme for HB bike victim, bike lane and salmon cyclist signs in Santa Ana, and more CicLAvia

A gofundme account has been set up for the victim in last week’s Huntington Beach bicycling collision, who passed away over the weekend.

I’m told that his name won’t be officially released until his parents can arrive here from Mexico to identify the body.

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Last week, our Orange County correspondent mentioned in passing that she’d spotted what looked like the initial markings for a bike lane near the Santa Ana courthouse.

Now Mike Wilkinson sends confirmation that the lanes are going in. Along with signs telling salmon cyclists to turn around.

Santa-Ana-bike-lane-1 Santa-Ana-bike-lane-2

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A reader writes to share her post-CicLAvia experience with an aggressive driver.

CicLAvia was its usually flurry of fantasticness that was over too soon. By 3pm, I was already commiserating with a friend about jonesing until the next one! You know the feeling, kind of like late Christmas morning.

But. But then. CicLAvia was over. And the road closures had created hordes of people operating vehicles under the influence of rage which doesn’t subside immediately when those barricades come down.

I was mashing westbound on 3rd Street, approaching Olive and minding the countdown timer. Despite what I, as a slowpokey old woman, consider a scary amount of speed, there’d be no time for me to clear the green. I braked at the yellow. The sedan behind me did not. Instead, the driver passed me on the left and shot into the Third Street Tunnel. How he didn’t sideswipe the vehicle in the designated left turn lane, I will never know.

Technically, the driver didn’t hit me; he hit the cardboard Militant Angeleno crossbucks protruding from under the flap of my Chrome bag. There was a single, loud THWIP as the cardboard bent and smacked my left flank. I knew immediately that my art project had been damaged, but didn’t feel the welt forming until I’d cleared the tunnel, and couldn’t pull off my dress to verify until I got home. The wound can barely even be called that; it’s just superficial, no broken skin and it won’t scar.

If I hadn’t already had a bad feeling about this driver, I would have been in the middle of the lane, exactly where I was supposed to be. I’d be writing this from the hospital, or not at all.

And no, I didn’t report it. I was hot and sweaty and tired, and had no information to give the police. I’m not even certain of the driver’s gender. “Mid-sized silver-grey sedan, last seen heading west.” Yeah, that’s helpful. Besides, the LAPD has made it crystal clear that hit and runs are too difficult to investigate, and an incident so minor that it doesn’t warrant reporting will serve only to divert resources away from solvable crimes. Also, I didn’t feel like explaining to an officer who should already know that it’s 100% legal for a cyclist to be in the left lane at that location. I was on a one way street and fixing to turn left onto Flower, and even in a car it’s fucking suicide to try to get over into the left lane. In the tunnel it’s impossible, and upon emerging, the two lanes immediately split into five.

Earlier in the day, I’d gotten rear-ended at the Mandatory Dismount Zone, and that collision was merely hilarious. It would’ve been awesome to have a rear-facing camera to have recorded the expression on the apologetic perpetrator’s face! But alas.

At least the event was fun from start to finish!

………

Local

KPCC recaps Sunday’s 5th Anniversary CicLAvia, where a good time was had by all.

The LA Times notes that thousands of cyclists, skaters and pedestrians turned out, but still insists on calling CicLAvia a bike festival.

The Times also seems shocked that white people would support the Black Lives Matter movement at CicLAvia. Wait. Who says CicLAvia is a liberal event? Or do they suppose that conservatives would never set foot on a bike, let alone set foot on foot?

CiclaValley offers a good summation of Sunday’s CicLAvia. Seriously, does anyone realize just how hard it is keeping all those damned internal caps straight?

Getting people out of their cars and onto feet and bikes at CicLAvia not only improves moods, it results in a noticeable reduction in air pollution, according to a UCLA study.

And yes, there will be another CicLAvia, although you may have to wait awhile, as it returns to the Valley next March.

In non-CicLAvia-related news, KPCC looks at LA’s ban on locking bikes to parking meters, which is largely ignored by riders and cops alike, and how the ban could be lifted in Westwood to address the area’s acute shortage of safe bike racks.

 

State

A San Diego salmon cyclist is lucky to survive a head-on collision with just a broken arm after reportedly veering out into traffic; police suspect she may have been drinking.

BikeSD’s Sam Ollinger tells the story of the organization’s birth and its efforts to create a world-class bicycling city.

Injuries have tapered off at a Marin County bike park six weeks after opening.

 

National

Volkswagen cheats on emissions tests, and USA Cycling could pay the price. And at the same time the group is getting competition, no less.

Unbelievable. A driver flees the scene after killing a Utah handcyclist, and will have charges dismissed in just 36 months if he pays a measly $2500 in court fees and writes an apology to the victim’s family. Evidently, life is really cheap in the Beehive State.

A pair of mountain bikers ride into a dispute over overuse of wild trails in their attempt to ride all the rideable Colorado mountains over 14,000 feet elevation.

A Kansas letter writer insists that highways are meant for cars, and there’s nowhere to pass groups on cyclists who take the lane on the one he drives, even though it has both a right lane and a left lane.

A Houston bike rider gets screwed twice; once by a deputy constable who hit him while responding to a call, and again by a law that limits his compensation to just $100,000, forcing him to pay his medical expenses out of pocket.

A Texas bike rider called both 911 and his wife before passing out after suffering five fractured ribs, a broken left fibula, a partially collapsed lung and some nasty road rash when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Congratulations to Anderson IN, which just conducted a road diet to give the city its first bike lanes. Although that’s got to be the widest damn center turn lane I’ve ever seen.

A Massachusetts driver is charged with fleeing the scene after killing a motorized bike rider he described as a dear friend; he reportedly got out and looked at his friend before driving off, promising a witness he’d be right back.

 

International

Six large international cycling events team together to form the World Association of Cycling Events. Yet somehow, they leave out CicLAvia, which should serve as proof to the Times that it isn’t a just bike event.

A British driver suffering from sleep apnea was told by his doctor not to drive the day before he killed a bicyclist.

There’s a special place in hell for the thieves who stole a British boy’s bike while he was being treated by paramedics after falling off a scooter.

Dublin thieves steal 14 bikes a day.

A 12-year old Australian boy is the latest bike rider to suffer a slashed neck because some asshole — and I use the term advisedly — strung a rope across a trail. Note to The Age: Attempting to decapitate someone by stringing a rope between two trees may be a lot of things, but a prank, it ain’t.

An Aussie developer rejects claims that an improved bikeway will encourage investment along the corridor. After all, that’s only been shown to work around the world, so why would anyone expect it to work there?

An Australian writer insists the Dutch don’t go far enough to make cities bike friendly, and that urban centers should be redesigned to make bikes the default mode of transportation.

An 18-year old British bike rider passes through Thailand four months after leaving London on an around the world journey.

 

Finally…

You could ride your next bike lying down. Or maybe you’d prefer a chainless bike with the seat set next to the handlebars. Or you could build a one-of-a-kind bicycle that’s like no other, except it looks suspiciously like a lot of other four-wheel pedal cars.

And a Brit writer criticizes cyclists for unfairly criticizing her for unfairly criticizing cyclists. But not all cyclists.

Got that?