Tag Archive for coverups

Secrecy in Ethan Boyes death, DEA agent killed Oregon bike rider, and dangerous conditions on new SaMo bike lanes

My apologies if you received an incomplete, premature version of this post, after I inadvertently hit the Post button.

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Two month’s later, the driver who killed Master’s cycling champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes in San Francisco’s Presidio National Park has still not been identified.

And federal officials are being unusually tight-lipped about the case.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a medical examiner’s report obtained through a public records request shows officials suspected his killer was under the influence at the time of the crash.

But there’s no word on whether the driver was tested, or whether he or she has been or will be charged with a crime.

The story also confirms that Boyes was wearing a helmet, which was shattered by the force of the impact, and that he died of multiple head and body injuries, suggesting he was hit at a high rate of speed.

Yet the ongoing secrecy raises inevitable questions of just who the driver was, and why the government is taking so long to release any information.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

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Speaking of federal coverups, officials in Salem, Oregon kept in close contact with officials from the Drug Enforcement Administration after one of their agents killed Salem, Oregon woman as she rode her bike in March.

The local police went so far as to allow officials with the DEA to review a press release before it was given to the media, and secretly forwarded photographic evidence to the DEA.

Yet officials kept information about the crash from the public, despite appearing to be an open book to the feds, even though it was their own employee who was under investigation.

While there’s a case to be made for allowing the DEA to keep the identity of an agent under wraps, any further involvement in the investigation would in inappropriate under any circumstances.

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Mitchell Guzik writes to warn bike riders of dangerous conditions on Ocean Ave in Santa Monica, after he took a bad fall when he struck a newly installed curb, saying construction work that closed the bike lane means there’s no safe place to ride.

The street recently received a new curb protecting the two-way bike lane, but it doesn’t do any good if the bike lane is closed.

Although Guzik reports some people were riding in the closed bike lane anyway.

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The West Hollywood Bike Coalition will hold its monthly meeting tomorrow.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

No bias here. A news site lists the dangers of ebikes, including a lack of licensing and registration, implying that they somehow should be.

No bias here, either. A La Jolla website suggests Encinitas residents are up in arms over the removal of parking spaces near Swami’s Beach to build bike paths and a walkway on the Coast Highway — even though the project actually adds 50 spaces a short walk away.

Australian bicyclists aren’t the least bike surprised by new research showing drivers see people wearing bike helmets and spandex as less than human. Thanks to Geri for the heads-up.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

A London bike rider needed extensive surgery for a broken jaw after he crashed into a young girl walking in a crosswalk — not because he was injured in the crash, but because someone walked up to him afterwards and punched him in the face.

Several British bike riders were charged the equivalent of $625 in fines and fees after illegally riding their bikes through a pedestrian zone.

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Local 

Torrance has backed out of an agreement with Redondo Beach to build a network of bike paths throughout South Bay, after receiving opposition to a plan for a short connector bike path on Diamond Street, which will now stop at the city limit between the two cities.

 

State

Sadly, no surprise here, as Black residents of San Diego are four times more likely to be stopped by police while walking or biking as white people.

San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties are looking forward to the arrival of over 2,000 bicyclists later this week participating in the annual AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles; the ride is raising $11.7 million for HIV and AIDS services in the two cities.

This is who we share the road with. A Bay Area man faces multiple charges for a South Bay crime rampage that included a series of carjackings, stabbings and deadly collisions across several cities and neighborhoods, leaving three people dead and five others injured.

 

National

PeopleForBikes offers the second part of a three-part series on the 15 best arguments to advocate for bikes and counteract anti-bike lane activists at your next public meeting; you can read part one here, while part three will be released tomorrow.

It could be a good time to shop for a bike, as American bike shops face a glut of bicycles as demand softens, except for gravel bikes and ebikes. Meanwhile, Axios offers advice on how to pick the right ebike with your rebate, assuming you can get one.

It turns out it was kindhearted Miami Dolphins offensive lineman Terron Armstead who donated a $5,500 ebike to a 14-year old St. Louis boy who walked two hours to attend his middle school graduation; the boy’s grandfather, who is raising the boy and his five siblings after their mother died, also received a new minivan from a local car dealer.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Missouri woman faces charges for the stoned crash that killed four motorcyclists on Saturday, including a 17-year old girl, when she jumped the center line and hit a group of ten motorcycle riders head-on after taking several anti-psychotic meds just hours before the crash.

A 15-year old Chicago boy took the stand to testify against a former police sergeant accused of pinning him down after falsely accusing him of stealing a bicycle.

A 26-year old man faces charges after swerving into a group of pedestrians and bike riders in New York’s Gramercy Park while allegedly under the influence, killing a 23-year old man and injuring three other people, one critically, while destroying two ebikes; the driver had a blood alcohol level of .08, just over the legal limit.

After Raleigh, North Carolina’s self-proclaimed “No-Hands King” disappeared from the streets, a reporter discovers he was busted for selling a half ounce of crack cocaine out of the back of his SUV; he was famed locally for riding shirtless, with nor hands, on one wheel of a cruiser bike festooned with American flags.

 

International

British Columbia’s new ebike rebate program received 12,000 applications within the first 24 hours; only the first 4,000 people with get a rebate now, while the other 8,000 will be waitlisted.

Unbelievable. Life is cheap in New Brunswick, Canada, where a 25-year old woman was sentenced to one year home vacation detention for the hit-and-run death of a 62-year old man — but she can leave home for work or school, to care for her daughter or go to medical appointments, or just run errands for four hours every Saturday. Meanwhile, her victim received the death penalty for the crime of riding a bicycle.

English bicyclists planned to take over all lanes of a major highway to demand a separate bikeway between two towns, while asking participants to leave their Lycra at home to demonstrate that the purpose of the bikeway would be for transportation, not for sport.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a 26-year old driver won’t spend a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that left a 10-year old girl with serious injuries when he jumped a red light, and slammed into her as she rode her bike home — and faced the equivalent of just over $1,100 in restitution.

Britain bikemaker and online retailer Planet X is going belly up, and will be dissolved in the country’s equivalent to bankruptcy court.

A British three-time cycling world record holder plans a 3,000-mile ride around the circumference of the country on a handmade bamboo bike to call attention to the climate crisis.

Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety agency recommended that residents of the country cope with rising gas prices by taking to their bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Danish triathlete relates what happened in the crash that killed a race moto driver during a German Ironman last weekend, explaining the victim hit a triathlete head-on in a section where competitors where riding in both directions on the roadway at speeds up to 30 mph.

The Netherland’s Mathieu van der Poel returns to racing after a two-month layoff, with plans to compete in the Tour de France, and both road and mountain biking at the world championships.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to lead cops on a bike chase when you’re already wanted to failing to appear. When you’re riding your ebike carrying a meth pipe, it may not be the best idea to lead cops on a chase after threatening people with a knife.

And it’s definitely not the best idea to lead police on a wild two-and-a-half minute bicycle chase, before dropping your bike and violently confronting officers.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Prison for racist bike lock attack, slap on wrist for hit-and-run coverup, and LACBC Bikes & Botany Ride this weekend

Once quick note. 

This Saturday, my 73-year old, former Iditarod mushing brother is leaving to ride up through the Tetons and Yellowstone to the Canadian border, then down the Continental Divide Trail to Mexico, and back up to Colorado.

And no, I’m not the least bit jealous. No, really.

Photo by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay.

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A pair of high-profile legal cases finally came to a conclusion this week, with less than satisfying results in one.

In Michigan, a 43-year old man got a well-deserved five years behind bars for beating a Black teenager with a bike lock.

Lou Mouat confessed to shouting racist slurs while telling the Black teens they weren’t allowed on the public beach in last year’s hate crime.

Meanwhile, the owner of a Virginia landscaping company got off with a caress on the wrist for conspiring to cover up the 2018 fatal hit-and-run committed by one of his employees in a company truck.

Instead of just picking up the damn phone to report what happened after his driver killed a 50-year old man riding home from a group ride, 64-year old Robert Lee Strickland Jr. fired the worker and ordered him to get away. Then he had the truck towed to a bodyshop for repairs, and told workers to say the fired staffer had just hit a deer.

Due to what the DA termed a total lack of remorse, Strickland was sentenced to a year behind bars for his role in the cover up — a stiff penalty under state sentencing guidelines, which call for no more than six months in jail.

But shamefully light given the heinousness of the crime.

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The LACBC invites you to join their free Bikes and Botany Ride this Sunday, now open to everyone, rather than just LA Rivers Challenge participants, and starting at a top secret location somewhere near Griffith Park.

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Glendale wants your input on a proposal to build a safe active transportation greenway on along the Verdugo Wash.

And no, that’s not a Glendale laundromat.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1413206014946549763

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Gravel Bikes California takes a cruise through Gold Country, to visit Yankee Jims & the Auburn State Recreation Area.

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Pink Bike offers a beginner’s guide to setting up your mountain bike.

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Your periodic reminder that lowering speed limits remains illegal in California, thanks to the deadly 85th Percentile Law that allows drivers to keep pushing speed limits ever higher.

And for reference, 30 kmh works out to just 18 over mph.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. Delaware state police went out of their way to blame the victims after a 70-year old man ran down two girls riding their bikes in a crosswalk, leaving one in critical condition; troopers said the teen girls were supposed to walk their bikes in the crosswalk — which would put them at greater risk while crossing — and said the driver was somehow “unable to avoid them” despite a flashing warning beacon.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Authorities in Buffalo, New York are looking for a bike-riding gunman — or gunwoman — who shot two men in an early morning bike-by.

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Local

The Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, awarded over $275,000 in Go Human mini grants to 31 LA and Orange County area organizations to help improve traffic safety, including Active SGV, Bicycle Kitchen, Los Angeles Walks, LACBC, Santa Ana Active Streets, Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), and Streets For All.

 

State

A 15-year old cancer survivor has completed a 363-mile fundraising ride through all nine of California’s National Parks in 13 days; he’s raised $690 of his modest $1,000 goal for bicycling charities Team California Juniors and VeloYouth.

Rialto is opening a 16-dock, 100-bike e-bikeshare system, using a $1 million state grant.

A mountain biker is in good condition following a difficult rescue off a ledge, after he rode off a cliff in Nevada County, northeast of Sacramento.

The Montana mountain town where a Northern California woman on a bikepacking trip was dragged out of her tent and killed by a grizzly bear is popular with bikepackers riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Which may or may not be the same as the Continental Divide Trail my brother will be riding.

 

National

NBC News picks the six best bikes for kids.

Road Bike Action says you really need to carry a chain breaker with you when you ride.

There is something very wrong with America’s educational system when an Oregon university professor has to ride 1,600 miles to all of the state’s 17 community colleges just to raise funds to buy textbooks.

Breaking Bad fans can add this one to your bike bucket list — a guided bike tour through 12 Albuquerque shooting locations for the Emmy winning show.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 89-year old Michigan man has ridden a total of 35,000 miles over the last ten years.

An Iowa woman has written a new book about her 26-year odyssey to travel every US state by bicycle, along with her husband.

The bike boom shows no sign of letting up in Memphis.

Fast action prevented a horrific crime, after a man snatched a 6-year-old Louisville, Kentucky girl off her bicycle and pulled her into his car; witnesses called 911 with a description of the vehicle, and police were able to arrest the 40-year old driver and rescue the girl within half an hour of the kidnapping.

Apple’s AirTag proves its worth, helping Boston cops recover a man’s stolen bicycle. Note to Gadget Lite: There’s no need to capitalize bicycle or bike in your story.

Momentum Magazine says New York may have hit peak bike boom with projects to add bike lanes to the iconic Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges. Although as we’ve learned from the Netherlands, no matter how bike friendly a city is, there is always room for improvement.

A Philadelphia man has been charged with knocking a Black Lives Matter protestor off his bicycle and beating him as he was on the ground; he was part of group of men armed with hatchets, baseball bats and golf clubs who confronted protestors in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood.

The wheels of justice grind slowly in North Carolina, but at least the results are worth it, as a 27-year old woman will spend up to six years and four months behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that took the life of a bike-riding man four years ago.

 

International

Eight thousand women and girls around the world stand to get new bicycles, after June’s Women on Wheels fundraiser collected a whopping $1 million for World Bicycle Relief.

An 83-year old British man is remembered for his record-setting achievements; Chris Davies held the record for riding 916,791 miles on his bike, the greatest distance ever officially recorded at the time. Davies passed away this week at 83-years old.

Chiang Mai, Thailand has been crowned the world’s best city for a ‘’beautiful bike ride’’ in a recent report from a British bicycle insurance company.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews profiles Austrian cyclist Michael Gogl, who swapped his cello for a bike, and now sits in fourth place in the Tour de France.

An inflamed knee has forced Peter Sagan out of the the Tour, eliminating a key competitor in Mark Cavendish’s quest to match Eddy Merckx’s record for most stage wins.

Cycling Weekly talks with British cycling fans lining the memorial to fallen British cyclist Tom Simpson on Wednesday’s climb up Mount Ventoux, where Simpson collapsed during the ’67 Tour.

The high altitude Crusher in the Tushar gravel bike race returns to Beaver, Utah tomorrow.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could use levers and pulleys instead of a chain, to move four times more efficiently. Your next bike could be a Lotus — yes, that Lotus.

And let’s hope this isn’t the most epic folding ebike video ever.

Even if it is.

 

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.