Tag Archive for crowdfunding

Morning Links: Crowdfunding campaign for Cudahy bike crash victim, and why you don’t pass a school bus

July 26, 2018 / / One comment

A GoFundMe page has been launched to help pay funeral expenses for Daniel Romero, who was killed in a collision while riding in Cudahy last weekend.

It’s raised over $2,100 of the $10,000 goal in less than 20 hours. And hopefully can reach the rest of the way, as his family struggles to cope with his loss.

Maybe someone who lives or rides in Cudahy can give us some insight on what needs to be done to improve safety in the city, so this doesn’t happen again.

Because one death is one too many.

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This is why you don’t pass a school bus when its lights are flashing. Even on a bicycle.

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Local

Bicyclist offers a lesson in bike path etiquette, which mostly concerns not using the Ballona Creek bike path as your personal race track.

KPCC’s Air Talk discusses municipal regulation of e-scooters and dockless bikeshare in the wake of Beverly Hills ban on both.

Santa Clarita is painting “Heads Up!” on local bike paths in an effort to get bike riders to pay more attention to their surroundings. Which doesn’t exactly seem like the biggest threat riders face.

 

State

Calbike wants you to tell the state DMV that self-driving cars aren’t ready for the road. Then again, many of the ones with drivers don’t seem to be, either.

La Mesa is working to improve bicycle and pedestrian access to the industrial part of the city. Not to mention the wineries and breweries that have opened there.

Santa Barbara gets $15 million from the state to build a 2.6-mile bike and pedestrian path, while Santa Maria gets $300,000 for a similar project; both would be defunded if the state gas tax increase is repealed in the fall election.

Atherton busts bike riders for rolling through stop signs, issuing eight $238 tickets along with two warnings.

Sad news from Crockett, where a 42-year old bike rider was killed when he was rear-ended by a truck driver, who fled the scene.

 

National

A website for gay and bi women lists the top 25 cinematic dykes on bikes — their words — with no distinction between women on bicycles or motorcycles. Or spin classes, for that matter.

In an apparent effort to force everyone back into their cars, the next round of Trump’s China tariffs will target ebikes. Which could kill their growth just as it’s taking off.

A Washington writer says there’s no such thing as being too old or too out of shape to ride a bike.

A road raging New Mexico driver faces up to five years behind bars after being charged with intentionally backing into a group of bicyclists, seriously injuring one of the riders. He denies any responsibility, claiming the victims just ran into his car when he stopped after they flipped him off for no apparent reason.

A Minnesota paper talks with Melody L. Hoffmann, author of Bike Lanes Are White Lanes: Bicycle Advocacy and Urban Planning, about the invisible cyclists and the need for equity in advocacy.

Apparently, Detroit isn’t exactly the safest place to ride a bike after all.

Not satisfied with getting off with a slap on the wrist for killing a woman on a cross-country bike ride, an Ohio woman is asking the court to seal the record of her conviction so she can “heal from this accident.” And apparently not suffer any repercussions, unlike the victim and her family.

Like bike riders virtually everywhere, residents in Atlanta are questioning the lack of bike funding in the city budget.

A North Carolina bike rider was collateral damage in a police chase, losing his leg when the driver of a stolen car slammed into him after fleeing police at speeds up to 100 mph. Warning: This story includes a deeply disturbing bodycam video of the police tending to the victim, who is in extreme pain and in fear for his life. The newspaper showed a severe lack of judgement in posting it. 

Evidently it’s not just Los Angeles. Officials in South Carolina rip out a road diet and bike lanes after complaints from angry drivers. Which leaves the situation just as bad as it was before, if not worse.

A Tampa bike rider says bicyclists don’t ride on the sidewalk because they want to, but because it’s safer. However, studies have repeatedly shown just the opposite, demonstrating that bicyclists are safer on the street than on sidewalks, where multiple driveways and limited sight angles dramatically increase the risk.

 

International

A Vancouver video shows bike riders aren’t the only ones who roll stop signs.

A Montreal cemetery that has been open to the public for the past 166 years is now banning bike riders. Though I’m sure it would welcome any run down on the roads after losing a safe place to ride.

Despite the overwhelming success of London’s cycling superhighways, the network remains patchy after five boroughs and other authorities blocked plans for new lanes.

London’s Mirror shares eight secrets to help build your child’s confidence bicycling on the road.

An American man is calling for safety signage after his wife was killed when she crashed her bike into a trailer full of sheep after rounding a sharp turn on an Irish trail; two other American tourists were killed on the same trail recently.

Europe’s high-powered ebikes continue to take a toll, with over 100 ebike riders killed in the Netherlands since 2014.

A New York bike advocate says Millennials are the key to brokering peace between bicyclists and drivers on the streets of Perth, Australia.

Fifteen Taiwanese children from disadvantaged families are riding around the island nation to provide support and comfort to elderly people in nursing homes. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

 

Competitive Cycling

The South Bay’s Easy Reader News recounts last weekend’s 57th annual Manhattan Beach Grand Prix.

This is what it looks like when you finish the last 30 miles of a Tour de France stage with a broken kneecap after tumbling over a retaining wall.

Peter Sagan vowed to continue in the Tour after the world champ misjudged a corner and crashed into the forest on Wednesday; fortunately, nothing was broken.

Costa Rican pro cyclist Andrey Amador wants to make history for his country in the Tour.

A book excerpt recounts the shotgun shooting of America’s only remaining Tour de France winner, before Greg LeMond came back and won the tour two more times.

The New York Times says American flags are disappearing from the Tour, along with American cyclists.

The Undefeated website recounts the day seven years ago when Guadeloupe native Yohann Gene became the first black cyclist to compete in the Tour de France.

A writer for the Telegraph learns what it’s like to sort-of ride a grand tour.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a new protected bike lane leaves the street too narrow for cars to get through. Note to world: It’s not an annual event until there’s a second one.

And you know you’re having a bad day in the Tour de France when police mistake you for a fan and try to kick you off the course.

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

Morning Links: Crowdfunding for new bike book, ‘tis the season for bike giveaways, and a call to ban bikes

December 4, 2017 / / One comment

A new crowdfunding campaign is raising funds to publish a new book about the growth of bicycling in the US, by Jay Walljasper and Pedal Love’s Melissa Balmer.

Here’s what she had to say.

This book tells of the David & Goliath showdown between the U.S. Bike Movement and the National Highway Lobby in in 1997 + 1998 which saved and expanded federal funding not only for bicycling, but walking and public transit too, and set the stage for biking to flourish into the future.

It’s also a story about the real people heroes who’ve transformed their own lives by bike and are helping others and their communities do the same. People like Megan Ramey + BIKABOUT Monica Garrison + Black Girls Do Bike Barb Chamberlain Gandy Charlie Jonathan Maus + BikePortland.org Cynthia Rose + Santa Monica Spoke Renee Yvonne + Deb Hubsmith + Safe Routes to School National Partnership Maria Boustead + Po Campo Gail Copus Spann + League of American Bicyclists Marin Tockman + Robin Lennon Bylenga + Pedal Chic Kellie J Morris Kit Keller Deana Acklin Andy Clarke Jeff Miller Claudia WaskoSarai Snyder + CycloFemme Maria Sipin + Multicultural Communities for Mobility Walk Bike Places Anne Poarch • Poetry + Basket & Bike Tamika Butler, Dave Snyder + California Bicycle Coalition and more! To make this book happen we need your financial support too! Our perks start at just $3 and everyone who supports this campaign gets thanks in the book: https://igg.me/at/surprisingpromiseofbicycling.

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‘Tis the season.

LA City Council President Herb Wesson’s team builds 1,000 bicycles for South LA students.

Dozens of kids in Santa Maria received new bikes thanks the local Elks Lodge, the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition and other nonprofits.

Thirty-three San Jose kids got new bikes from a nonprofit organization.

Marin County firefighters have collected 210 bicycles for kids affected by the recent North Bay fires.

Kindhearted Utah cops buy a new bike for an eight-year old boy after his was destroyed by vandals.

A West Virginia boy fulfills an anonymous little girl’s wish and gives her a bicycle.

A Virginia sheriff’s department has launched a crowdfunding campaign to buy a bicycle for a special needs kid.

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A writer for a financial paper calls for banning bicycles, saying bike lanes take up more space than they free up, cause pollution and drain public finances.

All of which are easily disproved with a little research.

But evidently, he’d rather settle for what the voices in his own head tell him that look it up himself.

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This is day eleven of the 3rd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

Help keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the Zelle app that is probably already in the banking app on your smartphone; send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla dot com (remove the spaces and format as a standard email address).

Any donation, in any amount, is truly and deeply appreciated.

As an added bonus, frequent contributor Megan Lynch will provide a free download of her CD Songs the Brothers Warner Taught Me to anyone who makes a contribution during the fund drive. If you’ve already contributed and would like a copy, just email me at the address above and I’ll forward it to her.

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Local

A letter writer in the LA Times says using infrastructure to slow drivers down would be a boon to all who use our roads without a car, while another says road diets are behind the recent increase in pedestrian fatalities — even though numerous studies shows they slow traffic and improve safety.

The LA Auto Show currently under way at the convention center features a few ebikes and e-scooters, as well.

The LA city council moves forward with plans to establish a bike traffic school in lieu of paying traffic fines, just like drivers have done for decades. So topless comedy bike schools can’t be far behind.

Bike thefts are down in Claremont, despite a spike for the holidays.

 

State

A 39-year old bike rider was critically injured in a Fullerton collision Friday evening.

A pair of Santa Barbara men have started a new ebike company, and will donate a new road bike through World Bicycle Relief for every one sold.

 

National

A LinkedIn writer says might as well face it we’re addicted to cars.

Caught on video: A father saves his son from a certain crash while teaching him to ride a bike. And the internet freaks out because the kid wasn’t wearing a helmet.

A health website offers the answers to every awkward bicycling question your relatives are likely to ask at Christmas. Or Chanukah.

People for Bikes says no town is too small for quality bikeways, as a Washington town of just 20,000 people builds a neighborhood bikeway, aka bike boulevard. Unlike, say, Los Angeles.

Tragic news from Las Vegas, where a Good Samaritan was shot and killed after attempting to chase down an armed robber on his bike.

According to a local TV station, a Milwaukee holiday bike ride either had dozens of bicycling Santas, or 2,500. Just a slight difference there.

An Indianapolis man entertains people stuck in traffic by riding his bike backwards.

A road raging Connecticut bike rider faces charges for chasing down a speeding driver and spitting in his face; the road raging driver faces charges for running him down in response.

Speaking of road diets, not a single bicyclist or pedestrian has been killed on New York’s infamous “Boulevard of Death” since a road diet was installed three years ago; 186 people had been killed on the street in the prior 24 years. Maybe someone should show that to the Times letter writer.

Here’s your chance to ride across Louisiana in the company of five-time Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault. Who still has his trophies, unlike a few American ex-Tour winners we could name.

The UPS ebikes have spread to Fort Lauderdale.

Designer Paul Frank has put his unique stamp on 200 Orlando FL bikeshare bikes.

 

International

An Ontario man gets 180 days for punching bike shop employees who refused to return the stolen bicycle he was trying to sell; he was already on probation for sex crimes.

A new report shows London’s protected cycle superhighways carry five times as many people as the roads they’re next to.

A London writer says the problem with dockless bikeshare is expecting others to learn how to share.

Don’t believe everything you read on social media. A British man is out the equivalent of $134 after ordering an ebike he saw in a Facebook ad. Seriously, if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is.

The UK’s transportation agency says bike-only lanes could save hundreds of lives in Scotland.

A Welsh man takes his first bike ride in 20 years — a 1,000-mile jaunt to Spain.

A Dublin letter writer says bicyclists are at the bottom of the traffic pecking order.

An Irish paper remembers a bike-riding dog from the 1950s.

An Indian father has ridden his bike nearly 1,000 miles looking for his disabled 11-year old son who disappeared six months ago.

An Aussie driver gets a $400 fine for buzzing a bike rider who he says abused him. Because really, it’s so easy to abuse someone who’s safely ensconced in two tons of steel and glass.

A Japanese man is riding his bike around Taiwan for the fourth time to show his thanks for the country’s support following Japan’s 2011 earthquake.

A letter writer says dockless bikeshare can help make Singapore a cycling city again.

 

Competitive Cycling

Giro d’Italia officials made Israel happy by removing a reference to West Jerusalem from its website; Palestinians, not so much. And no, Chris Froome won’t get a two million euro start fee, after all.

An ex-Marine from Ohio has reclaimed his world record by riding 415.2 miles in 24 hours on a fixie, as he gears up for next year’s RAAM.

A Portuguese man living in Wales set five new world cycling records in 24 hours, just a few months removed from living on the streets.

A cycling website interviews former pro Phil Gaimon about his new book.

If you’re going to dope, don’t break up with your supplier; US mountain biker Jenna Blandford gets a four-year ban after she was turned in by a spiteful ex-boyfriend.

 

Finally…

Your next bike shorts could be more connected than a New Jersey wiseguy. Probably not the best idea to speed past orange cones and construction workers to jump an open trench.

And if you already have an outstanding warrant, don’t ride your bike drunk.

Or get hit by a car, for that matter.

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On a personal note, my wife finally came home from the hospital yesterday, making this officially the best Monday I’ve had in a very long time. Thanks to everyone who has sent their support during these past weeks.

 

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

Morning Links: Crowdfunding campaign for injured cyclist, and a pre-Thanksgiving bike video trifecta

November 22, 2017 / / 5 comments

Before we get started, let me offer my apologies to anyone who sent me links to the stories below.

With all that’s been going on, I’m afraid I’ve lost any record of who sent me what. So please accept my thanks in advance; I am truly grateful to everyone who forwards bike stories for this site, today or any other day.

Photo of Fred Mackey taken from his GoFundMe page; see below.

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Sometimes I wish the people fighting traffic safety projects in Los Angeles could see the damage done by careless — and too often, cowardly — drivers.

Case in point, this crowdfunding page for yet another bike rider who was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver while crossing La Brea Ave.

The campaign to help Fred Mackey pay the medical expenses his insurance won’t cover has raised a little over $3,000 of the $25,000 goal after four days.

I sort of met Fred while he was in the hospital; after learning about his crash, I popped in to say hi since he was on the same floor as my wife. Unfortunately, he was busy with his doctors at the time, and by the time I could make it back a few days later, his bed was occupied by an Asian woman who was wondering what the hell I was doing there.

And yes, there’s something seriously wrong with a country where people have to go online to beg for money to pay their medical bills.

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CiclaValley offers what amounts to a painful Gravel Mob gag reel.

He follows that up with a compendium of bad drivers he encountered while riding to work.

Then again, looking for bad drivers in Los Angeles is like looking for ice in Greenland.

Except the bad drivers aren’t going anywhere.

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A foul-mouthed excuse for a comedian seems to think running bike riders off the road is amusing, and that share the road means bike riders have to get the hell out of his way.

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As long as we’re watching videos, let’s make the short leap from the seriously unfunny to a serious whackjob convinced LA is intentionally creating traffic jams to force drivers out of their cars and onto bikes and transit.

Unfortunately, though, he’s not the only one who believes this crap; you’ll find similar comments on almost any news story about or bike lanes or road diets.

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Local

Maybe LA is finally getting the message that it’s cheaper to fix broken bike lanes than pay out multi-million dollar settlements to injured bike riders, since they repaved bike lanes in Lincoln Heights and Eagle Rock last week.

The Daily Breeze looks at the arrival of the LimeBike dockless bikeshares in Watts, San Pedro and Wilmington.

As we mentioned before, Pasadena is threatening to put a stop to the popular Rose Bowl Loop rides by installing a number of stop signs around the route. Something tells me they’ll also park a patrol car next to each one to enforce it, too.

Glendora and South Pasadena are establishing Bicycle Friendly Business Districts, as The Source confirms something we’ve said many times — that bikes are good for business.

Cities in the western San Gabriel Valley are developing a $1 billion wish list for projects they want to install with funding originally set aside for the cancelled 710-N freeway tunnel.

Sad news from Santa Clarita, where a coach for the SCV Mountain Bike Team was killed in a car collision Monday night.

Long Beach is beginning work on reconfiguring Bellflower Blvd to remove parking spaces and add bike lanes.

 

State

Dockless bikeshare is being held up in San Diego due to the city’s exclusive contract with the under-performing DecoBike bikeshare.

San Diego is moving forward with plans for a $140 million replacement for a Mission Bay bridge; the new bridges will include bike lanes and space for walking.

Continuing our all San Diego theme, a kindhearted stranger donated a new bike to an Imperial Beach man after the one he used as his only means of transportation was stolen.

 

National

The US is now an outlier when it comes to traffic safety, with some of the deadliest roads in the industrialized world.

Chances are, you already know making carbon bikes isn’t an environmentally friendly process, but Outside is here to remind you that your carbon mountain bike ain’t exactly green.

Bicycling offers tips on how to deal with road raging drivers. In my experience, the best move is to remove yourself from the roadway; pull up onto the sidewalk if possible, preferably in a public place. And make a public display of taking a photo of the driver and his or her license plate.

Forbes looks at the best holiday gifts for women cyclists.

Bike Snob asks if riding with headphones is really such a big deal.

This may be LA’s future, as a Seattle paper looks at some of the strange places people have left dockless bikeshare bikes in the city.

A Colorado bike shop is teaching life skills to low-income kids and people with disabilities, while providing them with low-cost or free bikes.

Seriously, who the hell would steal St. Paul MN’s egg-shaped, solar-powered literary arts ebike and trailer?

Detroit is about to get a spanking new world-class velodrome.

The parents of one of the victims of the New York bike path terrorist attack are suing the city for not installing safety barriers until after the attack. Meanwhile, prosecutors have filed 22 charges against the attacker, including eight possible death penalty charges.

The Pennsylvania bike rider who served 20 months behind bars for obstructing traffic has filed an appeal, claiming the judge in the case was biased and didn’t understand the law.

Now that’s more like it. An unlicensed Florida driver got 12 years for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider, after getting his girlfriend to claim she was behind the wheel. Note to women: If your boyfriend, husband and/or significant other wants you to take the fall for his crimes, get a new one.

 

International

A road raging Canadian bike rider is facing weapons charges after threatening a couple in a car with a knife.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole and vandalized a handicapped British boy’s specialized adaptive bike.

An English man gets nine and a half years for plowing into a bike rider during a Jack Daniels-fueled rampage, after telling his girlfriend he was cheating on her, followed by carjacking a woman’s car.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver walks after seriously injuring a bike rider, despite his admission that he was “avoidably distracted.”

A drunk driver who was high on coke got three and a half years for the death of a British bike rider in a head-on crash while he was speeding to get another drink. Although that’s still just a fraction of what it should have been.

American cities can’t even get Vision Zero right, yet Sweden is already Moving Beyond Vision Zero to encourage safe bicycling and walking while designing roadways to make fatal collisions impossible.

A Norwegian researcher concludes ebikes are good exercise, while a Swedish retail company predicts they will be the country’s Christmas gift of the year.

Paris vows to reimburse customers as the city’s famed Velib bikeshare system grinds to a halt due to a series of strikes.

Once again, a bike maker is determined to demonstrate just how sexist the industry is, as Italian brand Pinarello’s new ads for their forthcoming ebike fall flat. To put it mildly.

Don’t sexually harass a woman on the street while riding by on your bike like this Aussie jerk, especially if she has her camera on. Or, better yet, just don’t do it. Period.

 

Competitive Cycling

No, you didn’t win that pro cycling contract by pedaling inside; a young New Zealand cyclist won the Zwift competition to join the Team Dimension Data under 23 team.

In the best news of the day, Italian cyclist Claudi Cretti is back on her bike, just four months after she suffered major head injuries in a crash at the Giro Rosa.

 

Finally…

If you lose your cellphone while stealing a bike, probably not the best idea to walk into the police station to ask if they’d found it. Who needs headphones when you can ride with your own piano?

And sometimes a dog’s best defense is just being too fat to attack anyone.

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On a personal note, let me offer my sincere thanks to everyone who has expressed their best wishes for my wife’s recovery from her recent surgery; it’s helped get us through a difficult few days.

And if you’re riding this weekend, remember that drivers will be far more focused on shopping and finding a finding parking space than watching out for you. So ride safely and defensively; I want to see you all back here next week.

 

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

Morning Links: Bikeshare in the news, no justice for a fallen Brooklyn rider, and crowdfunding a kids bike book

October 18, 2017 / / One comment

Once again, today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Dockless bikeshare continues to boom in Seattle, as the city’s two providers increase to 3,000 bikes apiece.

Baltimore’s bikeshare system is sort of back, with just 50 bikes at nine stations; a much larger system was shut down a few months ago due to problems with vandalism and theft.

DC could soon pass Portland as the nation’s bicycling capital, thanks in part to thriving bikeshare, though advocates question whether it has the infrastructure to support it.

Melbourne has new rules for dockless bikeshare to keep bikes from ending up in the river.

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A New York woman concludes her hard-hitting series of articles on the death of her sister in a Brooklyn collision. And the runaround her family received from the NYPD and judicial system in trying to learn what happened and getting any sort of justice.

If you can call a 90-day license suspension justice.

Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for heads-up.

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You have just 13 days to help fund a new children’s book about bicycles, and the animals that ride them.

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Bicycling says the cobblestoned 2018 Tour de France could be the best in recent history.

The LA Times says Chris Froome could face a challenge from Tom Dumoulin as he goes for a record-tying fifth win in the Tour de France. Could have sworn I once watched some guy win seven consecutive tours, but I must have been on something.

Speaking of Froome, he was awarded the Velo d’Or as the best cyclist of 2017.

A new documentary about pro cyclist Rose Osborne proves it is possible to quit happily.

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Local

Sad news from Boyle Heights, where one bike rider was killed and another injured in a shooting early yesterday morning.

South Pasadena will consider improvements to Monterrey Road at tonight’s council meeting, including bike lanes and better sidewalks. Thanks to Bike SGV for the tip.

West Hollywood’s Community Development Department has created a plan to increase business and livability in the city’s Eastside, including bike and pedestrian improvements. Although proposals to add parking are more likely to induce traffic.

 

State

Garden Grove’s Hazard Ave will get a pop-up separated bike lane this Saturday, along with other activities for adults and kids designed to spark a conversation about how the street can be improved to make walking and biking safer and more fun.

The 450-mile Project Hero Road 2 Recovery Bike Tour stops in Salinas on its way down the coast; the ride raises awareness of PTSD and other mental illnesses faced by veterans.

Former pro Levi Leipheimer is helping send 1,000 kids bikes to Sonoma County to replace bicycles lost in the recent fires — despite losing his own home.

An Op-Ed in the Sacramento Bee says the city must become more pro-bicycle if it’s going to have any chance of landing the new Amazon headquarters. Which is why Los Angeles doesn’t have a prayer.

 

National

Bloomberg says government data is missing the mark when it comes to distracted driving, suggesting it’s the most likely cause of the recent spike in traffic fatalities involving bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Soon your solar powered helmet could call for help when you crash. Or if you throw your helmet at the car that just ran you off the road.

Strava is now turning into even more of a social media, allowing members to post to the site just like the pros do.

Men’s Journal lists the ten best places to ride your bike this fall. None of which are in California.

City Lab says if you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, you’re better off using Uber or Lyft than owning a car. Or you could just, you know, ride a bike, instead.

Chicago is finally completing a bike and pedestrian bridge that had been blocked by long–serving alderman, possibly for racial reasons.

 

International

British Columbia bike advocates propose higher penalties for negligent and aggressive drivers, as well as drivers who door or harass bike riders. Maybe we can copy it here in California.

The CBC profiles a Manitoba maker of custom adaptive bicycles, who changes lives by giving disabled people a chance to ride.

A kindhearted Canadian bike shop owner gives a six-year old girl a new bike and helmet after hers was destroyed in a collision that left her seriously injured.

An American man could face charges for the death of a rising young bike racer in Toronto earlier this month.

A new report says Toronto courier and delivery companies should use more cargo bikes. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

Britain’s rabid tabloid press is likely to seize on a new survey showing half of all respondents think bicyclists should have to take a proficiency test; 86% want harsher penalties for scofflaw cyclists, and 59% think bikes should have license plates.

Speaking of the British press, the media distorts the risk bike riders pose to pedestrians, while downplaying the risks riders face.

British police are looking for a road raging bicyclist who tried to stop a motorcycle and snatch the keys, then pushed the rider off his bike, breaking both his legs.

A Dutch city opens what may be the world’s first 3D printed bike bridge.

When the new BMW is set in semi-autonomous mode, it’s designed to pass bicyclists at a dangerously close distance unless drivers use their turn signals. Which LA drivers seem to be pathologically incapable of doing.

New research shows that people in Australia’s Victoria state don’t ride bikes for exactly the same reasons people just about anywhere else don’t.

Caught on video: Aussie police are looking for an idiot driver — and I use the term advisedly — who drove up on the sidewalk to pass slower traffic, nearly running down a bike rider in the process.

 

Finally…

Always carry a selfie stick to defend yourself from creepy clowns when riding your bike. Don’t ask drivers to put down their phones; just spray yourself with reflective paint until you glow like a clown, creepy or otherwise, so maybe they’ll see you anyway.

And evidently, cyclocross isn’t just a ride in the park.

 

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

Morning Links: Beating and bike theft at gunpoint in Little Tokyo, and Peloton profiles SoCal pro cyclist Coryn Rivera

August 8, 2017 / / One comment

Bike theft is nothing new in Los Angeles.

A sound beating and bike theft at the point of a gun is.

This morning I received the following email from Jane Voodikon, who wrote to warn LA bicyclists about the robbers who stole a bicycle from her friend Ulises Melgar Saturday night.

Today I’m writing to report to you an incident that happened to one of my biking friends this past weekend, hoping that you can help spread the word to the bicycling community. He was riding home Saturday night at around 11:30 p.m. coming out of the Little Tokyo area across the First Street Bridge eastbound toward Mariachi Plaza when a green four-door Chevrolet pickup cut him off and the passenger in the front seat pointed a gun at him and then tried to hit him with the gun. At this point he got off his bike, and then one of the men in the truck (there were five men total, wearing hats and sweatshirts around their faces) punched him, enabling the hijackers to take his bike, throw it in the truck bed, and drive off. 

It seemed they had planned this out because they had covered up the license plate with a trash bag. Unfortunately there was nobody else around to witness the crime, and at that location there would be no surveillance cameras. Understandably my friend didn’t react by taking a photo of the truck so there are really not many other identifying details. He reported it to the police, and they said they searched the area for a truck matching the description but found nothing.

He said the truck bed was empty save for a construction toolbox. 

His bike is a 2012 silver Cinelli Mash frame, 52cm, with two noticeable dents on each side of the top tube. Fizik saddle, riser bars, platform pedals with Wellgo straps. Photos are attached. 

This is especially tough (apart from it being a terrifying and traumatic incident) because he has been getting back on his feet after being laid off last year. Since January he has been delivering food by bike for Simply Salad, UberEats, and Caviar. A friend has lent him a bike temporarily so he can continue to work but his bike is not only his property but also his transportation and most importantly his lifeline to income. 

We’re hoping you can help at least alert the cycling public to the fact that there are people driving around hijacking bikes at gunpoint, and that is downright scary.

She also reports that a friend saw someone riding the bicycle the night after the bike theft around Olympic and Normandie. You can contact Melgar directly through Facebook if you see the bike or have any information about the theft.

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign has been started in an effort to raise $800 to get him a new bike and gear so he can get rolling again and get back to work, but hadn’t received any donations as of this writing.

As causes go, you could do a lot worse. Maybe we can help him get that first donation.

Or maybe even put him over the top.

Update: Good news! Ulises Melgar’s bike was recovered after being spotted in Hollenbeck Park; all he ended up losing were the lights and a Garmin. 

As a result, donations have been disabled on the GoFundMe page, and any who gave will be contacted about their donations. 

………

Peloton profiles SoCal’s own Coryn Rivera, who became the first American to win the Tour of Flanders earlier this year.

Former Tour de France, Giro and Vuelta champ Alberto Contador announced his plans to retire after this year’s Vuelta.

Next year’s Giro d’Italia will start just a tad outside the country, in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Jillian Bearden will become the first transgendered woman to ride in a pro peloton when she takes part in Thursday’s Colorado Classic, setting a standard for trans athletes around the world; she credits bike racing with saving her life.

The last two days of the Colorado Classic will be part bike race, and part music and lifestyle festival.

……….

Local

A man riding a bicycle was the victim of a drive-by shooting in South LA early Monday; he was hospitalized in stable condition with bullet wound to one leg.

The Daily Breeze looks forward to Sunday’s CicLAvia in San Pedro and Wilmington, though not all the local businesses seem to be on board. They may get a pleasant surprise if they reach out to participants, instead of closing their shops or turning their backs on the event.

Competition kicked off in the 2017 World Police and Fire Games with a crit in Santa Clarita on Sunday, won by a 35-year old Cat 1 rider from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

 

State

Up to 1,000 people turned out for Santa Barbara’s annual unsanctioned Fiesta Cruiser Ride to Isla Vista and back. If the ride has been taking place every year since the 1970s, resulting in traffic citations and safety concerns, why not just make it official and control — if not close down — the route?

Sad news from Kern County, where a man was killed in a collision while riding his bike on Edwards Air Force Base early Monday morning.

The Hayward-based maker of Abba-Zaba, Big Hunk, Look, Rocky Road and U-No candy bars is one of us.

San Francisco installs concrete K rails to upgrade an existing protected bike lane, which was previously marked with paint and plastic bollards, but does nothing to improve safety at dangerous intersections.

Calbike released the schedule for October’s California Bike Summit in Sacramento.

 

National

A new CyclingTips podcast tackles the question of whether ebikes belong on singletrack trails.

The Department of DIY strikes in Spokane WA, as someone reinstalled a bike lane the city had moved to the opposite side of the street.

An Idaho man is training to compete in the Hawaii Iron Man triathlon, 23 years after he was paralyzed from the neck down.

A small Denver composting company is using a bicycle and trailer to collect food waste from restaurants and apartment buildings.

Thirty bicyclists take a ride through Dallas in their underwear. Next year, they should be able to do it on their choice of three dockless bikeshare providers.

Kindhearted Ohio sheriff’s deputies pitch in to buy a new bicycle for a young man, after the bike he used to ride to work couldn’t be repaired.

Caught on video: A compilation of footage from a Tennessee security cam clearly illustrates the dangers of riding across railroad tracks, even when there aren’t any trains around.

The battle over lane reductions and parking-protected bike lanes moves east, as residents and business owner in Cambridge, Massachusetts respond the same way they did here in LA.

New York removes a parking lane to provide space for a protected bike lane and a wider sidewalk. But only for one block.

Philadelphia is installing its first parking-protected bike lane, while bike cam video shows why the city’s unprotected two-way cycle track is a bad idea.

Eva Longoria is one of us, as she goes for a bike ride with her husband in Miami, dressed in casual clothes. Even if the press does freak out about her lack of a helmet.

 

International

Submitted without comment from the Toronto Globe and Mail: “Bike licensing fixes traffic problems about as well as mercury cures syphilis.”

A pair of Walmart heirs just bought British bikewear maker Rapha for the equivalent of $260 million.

No irony here. A London town council promotes a car-sharing program that allows drivers to drop off the cars anywhere, just days after impounding bikeshare bikes for doing exactly the same thing.

The world’s biggest bike parking garage just opened in the Netherlands; when finished, it will provide parking for up to 12,500 bicycles.

Let the Cycling Yogis be your guide the next time you’re riding in Madras, India.

The new government in India’s Uttar Pradesh is trying to rip out cycle tracks installed by the previous administration, blaming them for increasing traffic congestion. Although it doesn’t help that a bicycle is the ballot symbol of the outgoing political party.

 

Finally…

Maybe not the best time to go for a bike ride after you just escaped from prison a few days earlier. If you have to steal a package off a woman’s porch while walking your bicycle, try not to take the cremated ashes of her dead Yorkie.

And lots of people flip over pro cycling.

Just not literally.

 

Category: Morning Links, Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Crowdsourcing the fight against distracted driving, and a new look at the murder of Ronni Chasen

November 17, 2016 / / 4 comments

This one is worth your money.

The Milt Olin Foundation, named after the music executive killed by a distracted LA County sheriff’s deputy while riding his bike on Mulholland Highway, has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for the fight against distracted driving.

In just two days, it’s raised over $15,000 of the $20,000 goal for their #HandsOff movement to end Distracted Driving.

Send the link to everyone you know. And let’s see if we can push this over the top before today is over.

………

The Hollywood Reporter offers an extended follow-up on the shooting death of Hollywood publicist Ronni Chasen, alleging Beverly Hills police conducted a sloppy investigation before concluding that a bike-riding ex-con pulled the trigger, then shot himself two weeks later as police closed in.

It’s worth a read.

Because that was one case that never passed the smell test, even from the beginning.

………

No bias here. New York’s Daily News absolves the driver responsible for the death of 15-year old bike rider Saul Lopez in Pacoima Tuesday morning by saying “police believe one driver did not adhere to a traffic stop.”

Which is about as mild a way possible of saying someone killed him by running a red light.

………

Norwegian cycling officials say one of their junior riders was deliberately rammed by a Qatari policeman after winning a medal at the recent world championships, presumably because of her “inappropriate” clothing.

………

Local

Pulitzer Prize-winning transit expert Edward Humes discusses the plusses and minuses of Measure M, including support for bikeways and bikeshare among the former; highways, trains and carpool lanes in the latter.

The LACBC will host their annual open house on December 7th.

The Santa Monica Bike Center is celebrating its fifth birthday tomorrow evening.

Burbank’s formerly fixie-focused Pure Cycles is entering the road bike market.

Lake Arrowhead’s long-defunct Santa’s Village will reopen soon for the holidays, including a bicycle-themed Pedals Pub serving craft beers from area breweries. Which sounds like a good reason to stop on your next ride along the Rim of the World.

 

State

California’s proposed transportation bill would boost bike and pedestrian funding by $80 to $150 million, but doesn’t include a requirement for Complete Streets, or align with the state’s climate goals.

San Diego approves a new growth and development plan for the city’s uptown district, including a request to identify funding to complete a bike lane connecting the Hillcrest and North Park neighborhoods along University Ave.

Nice essay from a Stanford student about riding through campus, in which she concludes, “When you unlock your bike each morning you are entering into conversation with the world and those who populate it.”

 

National

Another reminder that bikes help those in need. A 19-year old Afghan refugee tells the story of her family’s long, arduous journey to the US, where her father rode his bike to work in construction every day after discovering his Russian engineering degree was useless in this country.

A Wichita KS Whole Foods puts its money where its mouth is, donating a $1,200 bike repair station to the city.

New York considers giving bicyclists a head start at red lights by allowing riders to go during the advance walk phase before the green light.

North Carolina’s governor challenges residents to hike, walk, bike, paddle or skate 100 miles. Not in a day, a week or even a month, but over the course of a full year. Seriously? If that’s a challenge, it’s no wonder most Americans are out of shape.

 

International

Sunday marks the World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Traffic Violence.

A cyclist and author offers advice on how to keep your lady parts happy when you ride. Assuming you have them, of course.

A Winnipeg city councilor calls for a Vision Zero plan for the Canadian city.

Talk about burying the lead. London’s Daily Mail reports a woman denied seriously injuring a bike rider when she rear-ended his bike. But fails to mention she’s accused of intentionally chasing and running him down in a road rage dispute that began when he complained about her cellphone use, and escalated when he kicked off her side mirror.

London’s former cycling minister suggests five things he says will determine if the city’s new mayor is serious about keeping his bike-friendly campaign promises.

We’re winning. Copenhagen now has more bike traffic than car traffic.

The Guardian looks at the opening of Africa’s first bikeshare system in Marrakech, Morocco, asking if it could be the launchpad for spreading the movement across the continent.

An Aussie paper reviews the new Ikea bicycle, and decides you could get a better value at your local bike shop. Or a cheaper bike at Kmart.

Three Zimbabwean soldiers face murder charges for beating a man to death in a dispute over a bicycle.

 

Finally…

Maybe cycling really is the new golf. Your next helmet could be an award-winning, banana-shaped piece of paper.

And note to thieves: If you drop your bike and run as soon as a police car approaches, it only calls attention to your probation violation and burglary tools.

Just a hint.

 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

Weekend Links: Bike crowdfunding, Bike Day at New Urbanism Film Fest, and a bike riding king of Bhutan

November 1, 2014 / / Comments Off on Weekend Links: Bike crowdfunding, Bike Day at New Urbanism Film Fest, and a bike riding king of Bhutan

Let’s start by catching up with world of crowdfunding.

A new Kickstarter project promises to deliver a carbon frame, belt-driven urban bike with integrated LED lights and GPS tracking for as low as $950.

A San Francisco cyclist currently living in Brooklyn is looking for Kickstarter backers to help fund the new book Ghost Bike: A Photographic Journey.

And Denver attempts to crowdfund part of a protected bike lane.

……..

A ghost bike will be installed at 5 pm today to honor fallen Newport Beach cyclist Shaun Eagleson.

The New Urbanism Film Festival screens November 6th through the 9th at the ACME Comedy Theater, 135 N. La Brea, featuring a Bike Day on Saturday the 8th — including a live podcast of the Pedal Love show — followed by a group bike ride on Sunday to help promote a bike friendly streets proposal from the Mid City West Community Council.

North Long Beach is hosting a Kidical Mass Ride on Saturday, November 15th.

……..

Local

The Times talks with cyclist, nail polish heir and Pedalers Fork owner Robbie Schaeffer.

Marina del Rey is getting a much needed makeover, including new bike paths.

Santa Clarita cuts the ribbon on a new bridge and bike path.

Long Beach begins work on a new pedestrian path to move walkers off what is now a multi-use path, as well as a bike route and roundabouts through Bixby Knolls and Los Cerritos.

 

State

This is what they take away from the highly flawed Governors Highway Safety Administration report? A website on California government blames drunk, helmetless cyclists for the apparent rise in bicycling fatalities; evidently, the drivers who hit them are totally blameless.

Newport Beach gets a grant for a year-long traffic safety enforcement program — including bike and pedestrian enforcement efforts.

Chula Vista extends bike access to the bay.

Now that’s more like it. Riverside County prosecutors re-file a murder charge against William Donald Johnson for the death of Beaumont cyclist Phillip Richards in Calimesa last December. Jurors convicted Johnson of felony gross vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence and hit-and-run causing injury or death, but deadlocked on the murder charge.

This is just too sad. A San Luis Obispo cyclist is killed while riding with her fiancé, just three weeks before their wedding day.

A Vacaville letter writer urges cyclists to think of themselves as cars and stop for red lights; of course, when we do, drivers get mad because we’re in the lane in front of them.

 

National

Bicycling’s Bob Mionske notes that cyclist anti-harassment laws are spreading across the country, and the political will to change intimidating behavior by motorists may soon follow.

Caught on video: An anti-bike motorist is challenged to bike to work for a full week.

Bike the Vote seems to be spreading, as the Denver city clerk declared Saturday “Bike in Your Ballot” day.

Dallas proves it is in fact possible to indict a cop for killing a bike rider while on duty. Maybe we can trade DA’s with them.

Grist looks at Mary Burke, who could become the next, bike-loving governor of Wisconsin.

Bike lanes are blamed for deepening inequality in Memphis; evidently, only the wealthier creative class benefits from bike riding in Tennessee.

A New York cop crashes his patrol car into a truck; needless to say, a bike rider gets the blame.

A New Orleans judge blocks a road diet and bike lanes on behalf of a church school that evidently doesn’t want to improve safety for its students.

 

International

So much for LA’s status as the hit-and-run capital of the world, as nearly 80 Londoners are injured or killed in hit-and-runs each week.

Now that’s a jerk. A British cyclist breaks both arms and a foot in a crash with another rider who just rode away without a word; an Aussie cyclist is awarded $1.7 million for another bike-on-bike collision.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. A Brit teenager is stabbed in the back in an argument over bike brakes.

The Netherlands institutes a bike safety exam for seniors; we can’t even get safety exams to get dangerous older motorists off the road.

In Bhutan, even the king rides a bike in a country that has become the latest improbable bastion of bicycling.

An Aussie state considers fining motorists who violate a proposed 1-meter law, the equivalent of California’s three-foot passing law.

There’s a new hour record holder already, as Australian Matthias Brandle breaks the record Jens Voigt set just a few weeks ago. No disrespect, but am I the only one who’s disappointed Jensie’s record is already off the books?

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you’re carrying illegal drugs on your bike, don’t crash into the back of police cruiser while texting — and don’t rack your nuts in the process. A British inventor creates an ice bike; no, not a bike designed to ride on ice, one with tires made of it.

And now you, too, can have a two-wheeled Ferrari of your very own, with walnut wood coating and woven leather for a cool $7,500 — or $11,300 with electric assist.

 

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