Yes, Dr. King was one of us.
We’ve seen photos of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on a bicycle before.
But it never occurred to me to consider the role bikes played in the Montgomery bus boycott kicked off by Rosa Parks.
Although maybe it should have, because in retrospect, it’s not surprising that Black men — and presumably women — would take to their bikes to get around town while boycotting the city’s bus system to demand an end to segregated transportation.
Just one more way bicycles have helped change the world.
https://twitter.com/Jay_Pitter/status/1351382966933598209
Image by Michael Gaida from Pixabay.
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A British bike rider plays dodge the dump truck after the driver pulled out in front of him, as well as in front of cars coming from the opposite direction.
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How to tell when you’re a real bicyclist.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes keeps going on.
A 12-year old South Carolina boy suffered dozens of puncture wounds when he was repeatedly shot with a BB gun by a group of teenagers after passing them on his bike. This shouldn’t be treated any differently than any other random shooting. It’s a violent assault, not a prank.
A London borough counselor says she’s finished with riding after being attacked by two men in a car for failing to get the hell out of their way. We’ll never get people out of their cars as long as driveway vigilantes can use their cars enforce their often mistaken interpretation of the law. And too often, get away with it.
https://twitter.com/Jo_Earlsfield/status/1351543555169386497
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Local
No news is good news, right?
State
Heartbreaking news from Miltipas, where a seven-year old boy was killed when an armed robbery suspect in a stolen SUV slammed into his bicycle; the woman behind the wheel was arrested, while her male partner is on the run.
The Consul General of the Netherlands gave a presentation to Bay Area officials on how to apply Dutch expertise on cycling infrastructure, pointing out that ebikes nullify the area’s famous hills.
Congratulations to Davis on retaining its status as a platinum-level bicycle friendly community.
National
Maybe Joe Biden can take his Peloton to the White House after all.
NBC News picks the year’s ten best ebikes.
The pandemic-induced bike boom and subsequent shortage is fueling a surge in bike theft in the Denver area.
Texas bike riders will soon be able to ride 100 miles from Austin to the Alamo in San Antonio without ever riding on the roadway.
Car choked Houston is planning a network of 1,800 miles of high comfort bike lanes. Seriously, if they can do it, why the hell can’t Los Angeles?
No bias here. A impatient New Jersey DJ somehow feels a bike-riding woman has an obligation to get the hell out of her way instead of “lollygagging” through an intersection.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Pennsylvania man pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts for killing a bike rider while driving under the influence, and with cocaine in his blood.
A woman from DC is suing a Florida city for $200,000, the maximum allowed under state law, despite having over $1 million in medical bills after a careless garbage truck driver hit her bike, leaving her with “multiple compound fractures, a crushed pelvis, eight broken ribs, a punctured lung and a traumatic brain injury.”
International
Road.cc announces their picks for the bike of the year, with prices starting at a surprisingly low £749 — the equivalent of $1,025.
Cycling News considers the best women’s road bike saddles.
Next City examines what American cities can learn from Chinese dockless bikeshare providers.
Christy Brinkley is one of us. Or she just knows the value of posing with a bicycle on a tropical beach.
Kids, don’t try this at home. A Costa Rican BMX rider knocked himself out landing on his un-helmeted head after riding off the roof of an ice cream parlor trying to film a video.
Life is cheap in Ontario, Canada, where an 80-year old man walks with a lousy $5,000 fine for killing a 13-year old bike-riding boy, after admitting that he wasn’t even wearing his glasses behind the wheel. At least he lost his license for four years, even though it should have been permanently.
An English man was beaten by a group of thieves armed with metal pipes who stole his bike.
A British man is riding around the world on a tandem bike after overcoming a diagnosis of terminal cancer.
Kolkata, India is building a 74-mile cycle track criss-crossing the city.
The world watched in awe as paraplegic climber Lai Chi-wai fell just short of his goal of pulling himself to the top of a Hong Kong skyscraper, climbing 800 feet while raising $700,000 for charity. But what’s not mentioned is the cost of the traffic violence that left him confined to a wheelchair in the first place.
Yes, please. A new report suggests that Aussie commuters should be paid to bike to work instead of driving.
Competitive Cycling
Somehow we missed this news over the weekend, as an SUV driver plowed into six members of the Bora-Hansgrohe cycling team after failing to stop at an intersection during a training ride in Italy. Three members of the team were injured seriously enough to be taken to a hospital with concussions, while two of the riders, Wilco Kelderman and Andreas Schillinger, also suffered spinal fractures. But Kelderman didn’t let a little thing like a fractured vertebrae keep him from training.
Finally…
Now that’s a pretty picture. Chubby Batman is one of us, too.
And no, bike riders shouldn’t be allowed to use drive-thrus during the pandemic.
We should be allowed to use them any time drivers can.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already.
