Congratulations on making it through April.
The way this year has gone, we should all hold May Day celebrations today just for making it this far.
Today’s photo shows the ghost bike for Joseph “Joey” Robinson installed by his coworkers, courtesy of Biking Brian.
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Some things you just never forget.
I’ve written about literally hundreds of fallen bicyclists over the past 12 years. Yet when I saw the tragic photo from the ghost bike for Joseph “Joey” Robinson on the Voice of OC yesterday, I instantly recognized the former worker from an Irvine bike shop.
The 21-year old man was riding in the bike lane on Santiago Canyon Road on February 2, 2014, when he was run down from behind an 18-year old woman driving while stoned at 7 am on a Sunday morning, killing him instantly.
Sommer Gonzales was arrested when an off-duty Orange County Fire Battalion Chief spotted her fleeing the scene with a shattered windshield, then saw Robinson’s black bike shoe in the roadway.
Gonzales was sentenced a year later to 11 years for killing Robinson while high on meth.
According to the OC DA’s office, Sommer Nicole Gonzales pleaded guilty to:
- one felony count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence while intoxicated
- one felony count of hit and run with death
- one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance
- one misdemeanor count of use and under the influence of a controlled substance
- one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance paraphernalia
- a sentencing enhancement allegation for fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter
Unfortunately, similar cases in Los Angeles County typically get pled down to a single charge and a few years just to get a conviction.
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Apparently, it never crossed the mind of our ostensibly bike-riding mayor to include bike lanes, bus lanes, or Measure HLA in her Climate Action Plan as she runs for re-election.
Because everyone knows bikes, buses and walking could do nothing to improve the health of our beleaguered planet. And the people who use them don’t vote.
Right?
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Proof Los Angeles can, in fact, build curb-protected bike lanes.
They just take years longer, cost a lot more, and require endless public meetings compared to similar lanes in Santa Monica or Culver City.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A road-raging Missouri truck driver was arrested for intentionally knocking an 85-year old man off his bicycle, breaking his hip — although the driver says he “only tapped the bike with his truck. He also spit on a cop and grabbed one by the balls during his arrest. Although someone might want to introduce the TV station to the concept of commas, so they don’t write things like the victim was “riding a bicycle while driving a truck.”
Maybe the reason bicyclists in the UK don’t use the bike lane is because there are, count ’em, six drivers parking in it.
Seriously? Maybe they need better driver training in Australia’s New South Wales, where Yahoo reveals a “little known road rule” that allows bicyclists to take up the entire traffic lane by riding two abreast; three abreast, though, not so much.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Fort Meyers, Florida newsman does a gotcha report on those darn bike riders, both on ebikes and otherwise, ignoring a ban on sidewalk riding in the downtown area. Although as others have said, no one rides their bike on the sidewalk unless they don’t feel safe in the street.
His highness has given royal assent to a new law that could sentence British bike riders to up to life in prison for killing someone while riding recklessly.
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Local
LA’s Glendale Hyperion Bridge is set to undergo extensive reconstruction for the next five to six years to improve earthquake-resistance and traffic flow, as well as adding bike lanes and a sidewalk, while preserving the historical design. Although that’s one sidewalk, on just one side, forcing pedestrians to cross two bike lanes and four lanes of motor vehicle traffic if they want to walk across the bridge.
Pasadena Weekly offers more information on the city’s Bike Month events. Or as it’s known in Los Angeles, May.
State
A San Diego op-ed says the city needs a bikeshare system like other big cities, after a previous effort failed. But you’ll have to get past the Union-Tribune’s draconian paywall.
The remake of San Francisco’s Valencia Street from a center-running bike lane to curbside protected bike lanes has improved safety, but there’s still a four block gap with no timeline for completion.
British hill-climb champ Harry Macfarlane is sitting back and enjoying the KOM battle he set off by matching the best time on San Francisco’s steepest climb.
Sad news from Oakland, where a 38-year old man riding a bicycle died two days after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.
National
If you bought a set of Malker Bicycle Light from Amazon last October or November, throw them away and contact the company for a refund; they’ve been recalled because kids can swallow the batteries.
A new bike lane will finally complete Seattle’s City Center bike network — except for all the sections that haven’t been built yet.
A Las Vegas writer rides his mountain bike along the Strip corridor to Downtown Las Vegas and back the old fashioned way, with no ebikes, bike lanes or trails.
A Laramie, Wyoming newspaper examines the relatively recent rise in the popularity of gravel riding and racing. Which I mention just because it’s just 40 minutes from where I grew up. And no, I never tried to ride my bike there because the wind in Wyoming blows.
Madison, Wisconsin is planning a more than 250-mile low-stress bike network, though it could take decades to build out.
WTF? There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for a 65-year old Texas man who struck a five-year old kid riding a bicycle, dragging the boy under his truck, then stopping briefly before fleeing the scene and leaving the kid lying in the street with road rash and a brain bleed; police arrested the man at a casino for hit-and-run and DUI.
International
PeopleForBikes examines how World Cup host cities in the US, Mexico and Canada can take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move fans more efficiently by biking and walking, including closing key corridors to motor vehicle traffic and turning them into fan zones.
A local newspaper looks at the bike co-op at the University of Toronto.
Another bike brand has risen from the dead, as a British retail empire has swooped in to buy children’s bikemaker Frog Bikes out of bankruptcy.
Road.cc recommends the best road bikes for under the equivalent of two grand, although the links will likely take you to retailers in the UK.
Irish President Catherine Connolly says she’s working on a plan to get back on her bike, after security concerns forced her to stop riding following her election.
Dublin police conducted a number of raids to capture modern teenaged highwaymen who hijacked and robbed bicyclists and pedestrians on a popular greenway.
Momentum has everything you need to know about Japan’s 43-mile Shimanami Kaidō bike route linking the islands of Honshu and Shikoku, with “dedicated lanes, clear signage, and plenty of places to stop, snack, and soak it all in,” making it “one of the most enjoyable cycling routes anywhere.”
Competitive Cycling
Rapha’s CEO tells UCI that pro cycling has to evolve, like the English Premier League did, or it will wither and die.
Durango, Colorado’s Iron Horse Bicycle Classic rolls out for the 53rd year this weekend; the race began with two brothers competing against each other, as one rode a bicycle and the other took a train.
Finally…
That feeling when you evidently don’t know the difference between the United States and the country’s capital. Or somehow feel the need to demonstrate your city’s keen grasp of the obvious by explaining a tall bike is like a regular bike, but taller.
And who knew bike tires could get moldy?
Which is why you should always store your bicycle in the refrigerator.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
