Tag Archive for Culver City

LA media claims opposition is growing to planned Overland Ave bike lanes, and 3 LA area open streets events compete on Sunday

No bias here.

According to Fox-11, opposition is growing to bike lanes on Overland Ave in Culver City, as some residents claim to represent all, or at least most residents, in opposing the Better Overland plan.

And as usual, they brought out the standard list of objections, claiming we’re taking space away from cars, and that protected bike lanes — which have repeatedly been proven to improve traffic safety for all road users — would somehow make the street more dangerous.

Never mind that it’s already dangerous, with speeding drivers zooming past a couple schools, two cemeteries and a library.

Naturally, they complain, like locals everywhere who haven’t been paying attention, that the city hasn’t done enough outreach. Because apparently, more than two years of outreach just isn’t enough.

One man even claimed that he drove both directions on Overland and didn’t see a single bike rider at the exact time and locations he happened to be passing by. And bringing to mind the old saying that just because you don’t see anyone swimming across the river, that doesn’t mean you don’t need a bridge.

Honestly, it would be funny if it wasn’t just so damn sad. Because you can hear exactly the same comments at any public meeting for any traffic safety project, in every neighborhood of every city.

And I have.

Wash, rinse and repeat.

I used to think the loudest voices, voicing the most complaints, represented the majority of people. Until Measure HLA passed by an overwhelming two-thirds majority. Which told anyone paying attention that most people — or at least, most people who bother to vote — want safer, more livable streets.

Unfortunately, that message seems to have somehow bypassed LA’s mayor and city council.

Let’s hope Culver City’s leaders get the message, anyway.

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It’s going to be a very busy weekend.

Because not one, not two, but three open streets events will take place on the same day this Sunday.

The list starts with the very popular Meet the Hollywoods CicLAvia connecting Hollywood with West Hollywood along Hollywood Blvd, Highland Ave and Santa Monica Blvd, from 9 am to 4 pm.

Then there’s Beach Streets in Downtown Long Beach, offering four hubs along Cherry, Broadway and Pine from 11 am to 4 pm, with the added bonus of the World Cup finale on a 16-foot LED TV, featuring Spain and a team to be determined at the North Pine hub.

Finally, there’s the COAST 2026 open streets festival in Santa Monica from 10 am to 6 pm, extending more than a mile in downtown on Ocean, Colorado, and Arizona aves, Third Street Promenade, and the Santa Monica Pier; they will also have a World Cup watch party, along with music and entertainment on four stages.

Which means if you plan it right, you could theoretically ride CicLAvia from WeHo to Hollywood in the morning, catch a train to Long Beach to watch the World Cup, then hurry your ass up to Santa Monica before they roll up the streets at 6.

I said it’s possible, not plausible.

Unfortunately, I’m going to miss all three, as well as the World Cup finale, because I have been told that celebrating my wife’s birthday with my in-laws trumps any and all other plans.

I just wish they were at least soccer fans.

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Apparently, scientists still can’t figure out why a bicycle works.

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

As if it wasn’t bad enough competing for space on the streets, San Jose bicyclists had to cope with three people illegally riding their motorcycles on a local bike path; one person who was arrested, and had his motorcycle impounded, had covered his license plate in an attempt to avoid getting caught.

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

A Sacramento CBS station is stoking the flames of panic after a large bicycle group accused of swarming cars and appearing to strike them announced plans for another ride in the area. Although it’s not clear if they meant a large group of bicyclists, or a group that rides large bicycles.

Um, okay. A bike-riding Dublin, Ireland city councilor says it was “really lovely” to see a city-sponsored campaign depicting bicyclists riding through red lights, because no one else is documenting how ofter bike riders do it. Other than virtually every TV station and newspaper, anyway.

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Local 

Next time you ride the LA River bike path, keep your eyes and ears peeled for musicians, including renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

Streetsblog says LADOT is making progress on a $7 million, 3-mile extension of the popular Chandler bikeway.

Culver City Walk ‘n Rollers is hosting a family friendly Sweet Streets Ride this Saturday to sample some of the tastiest treats the city has to offer.

 

State

Three people were hospitalized when someone on an ebike allegedly crashed into the side of an SUV in Fullerton late Monday night, although there’s no word on how badly anyone was injured, only that the ebike rider and two people in the SUV suffered “injuries of varying severity.” There’s also no word on what type of ebike it was, since the cops seem to lump anything with a battery together as ebikes, whether legal or otherwise. 

In yet another story hidden behind their draconian paywall, the San Diego Union Tribune explains what it means when federal authorities, aka ICE, say a car is weaponized. Something that virtually every bike rider is clear on, even if the feds aren’t.

Sad news from San Mateo County, where a 34-year old bike rider was killed in a head-on collision when the driver of a Porsche crossed onto the wrong side of the road; the CHP said speed was definitely a factor.

More sad news from San Francisco, where a man who appeared to be in his 50s was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike early Tuesday.

San Francisco is considering a nearly $2 million settlement with the family of a 70-year old man who died 12 days after he was doored by a city worker while riding his bike.

A San Francisco writer says “It’s a short path from winning on bike lanes to becoming social-justice scolds,” arguing that the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition now considers it a racist act to report a bike theft.

A 71-year old man will face multiple charges, including murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run causing death, for killing two 17-year old girls riding their bicycles in West Sacramento last year; the defense claims he wasn’t really drunk, just bipolar.

 

National

A slide show curated by AI highlights 13 US cities that excel at carfree living. Because really, who knows more about living carfree than some lifeless, legless artificial intelligence program? 

Velo recommends the year’s best road bikes, which actually might be, for a change.

Cycling West offers a beautiful bicycle watercolor by artist Moh’d Bilbeisi.

No bias here. A Bend, Oregon paper examines whether the city should ban right turns on red lights, making an effective case for the increased risk they pose — then concludes that the city’s current policy of making a case-by-case determination works just fine, thank you.

Good news from Kansas City, Kansas, after an eight-year old boy who disappeared while riding his bicycle was found safe, and apparently unharmed.

We can add Somerville, Massachusetts to the very short list of towns that have made Vision Zero work; the town credits “tried-and-true best practices for traffic safety” for why they’ve now gone three years without a traffic death. Although having a population under 85,000 doesn’t hurt.

New York Streetsblog says 16,000 fewer daily car trip on the Queensboro Bridge means it’s time to convert a traffic lane into a bikeway to accommodate the increasing number of bike riders.

While we’re on the subject of New York, the Department of Transportation is phasing out the traditional “Mushroom Head” stencil of a helmeted, stick-figure riding a bicycle in favor of a plain bicycle stencil.

A Philadelphia driver was charged with attempted murder for nearly killing a man riding a bicycle, in what reportedly began as a dispute over a stolen BMX bike.

Atlanta residents are calling for changes to a protected bike lane, after discovering the city’s drivers apparently lack the necessary skill to avoid crashing into the barrier protecting the bike lane. Although it’s better to crash into the barrier than the people riding on the other side.

 

International

Road.cc rounds up 14 of the best bike-related TED talks from around the interwebs. Every time I open my mouth is a Ted talk.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 83-year old man just set a new record for riding the full length of Great Britain, covering over 1,000 miles in under 11 days.

Good idea. The UK’s largest bicycle trade group is launching a campaign to tag actual ebikes so customers can distinguish road legal ebikes and from illegal electric motorbikes.

Momentum says US cities should pay attention to Paris, which grew bicycling rates by 240% in just five years. To which every American city responded, “But we’re not Paris!”

Instead of just dropping a couple new ebikes into the marketplace, Volkswagen developed an entire automotive-inspired ecosystem around the bikes, “which riders can call upon to ride safer, faster, and more connected.”

The New Indian Express says ultracycling is “the new vogue” in Bengaluru, formerly known as Bangalore, drawing bicyclists who see it as a test of endurance.

China Daily says Chinese bicyclists are making a beeline to Shenzhen in Guangdong province for new bicycling facilities, including a 125-mile bike trail connecting “more than 10 of the city’s major peaks, 17 nature parks, eight large reservoirs, over a dozen historical and cultural sites and nine key urban development areas,” as well as a coastal bikeway linking parks, fishing harbors, docks and ancient villages.

 

Competitive Cycling

Four-time Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar feasted on the tears of his enemies with another crushing victory in yesterday’s hilly 10th stage, for his third stage win in this year’s Tour, and a lead of more than three-and-a-half minutes after just a week and a half of racing.

Fans have taken to booing Pogačar, apparently because of his dominance in the race, although maybe it was just because he shamed the French riders on Bastille Day.

Cyclist takes a look at the books to see who and what the WorldTour team sponsors really are, while Bike Radar considers how much Tour de France bikes have changed in 124 years.

Thirty-three-year old South African cyclist Willie Smit was booted from the China’s Tour of Magnificent Qinghai after just one stage for recording the race on his AI-enabled Oakley Meta Vanguard glasses; UCI rules only allow cameras to be mounted directly on a bicycle, not the rider.

Philadelphia Magazine profiles the hairstylist and bicyclist responsible for reviving the Philadelphia Cycling Classic after a ten-year absence.

Keep your eye on nine-year old Nino O’Connell, who found out this weekend’s single-speed race for his age group had been dropped, so he’ll be lining up against the grownups, with every intention of winning.

 

Finally…

Like they say, a friend will help you move, but a real friend will help you move a body on a bicycle in the heavy rain. No, the bike rack on the front of a Metro bus is not intended for temporary seating.

And that feeling when the damn rules get in the way of the really cool stuff.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Happy Bike to Work Day (not you LA), Reseda hit-and-run critically injures e-scooter user, and USDOT takes credit for Biden funding

Happy Bike to Work Day, or wherever the hell you want to ride.

Just get on your bike, and ride somewhere.

Unfortunately, Bike to Work Day seems to be a bust here in Los Angeles. Instead of the dozens of Pit Stops we enjoyed back in those heady pre-pandemic days, Metro is observing Bike Day with free Metro bus, bike and train rides.

But they’re doing it next Thursday, rather than today, for reasons known only to them. And the link for more information on their site was dead when I tried it last night.

Although it will be interesting to see if any of mayoral candidates or city council candidates rides a bike today, or even makes note of the day. So far, if any of the leading mayoral candidates other than Nithya Raman has even mentioned bicycles, I haven’t heard it.

But all is not lost.

A handful of other cities in the LA area still observe Bike to Work Day, to wit:

Look, I’m not saying I’m old. But I remember when Bike to Work Day used to be, you know, fun.

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A man riding an e-scooter — or “e-shooter,” as KABC-7 called it — was critically injured in a Reseda hit-and-run last week, suffering what was described as “severe injuries.”

Although why we’re just learning about it now is anyone’s guess.

According to KABC-7,

The hit-and-run crash happened the morning of May 7. A dark-colored SUV traveling east on Strathern Street hit the victim who was riding an e-schooter in the bike lane along Reseda Boulevard, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD detectives at 818/644-8025. Never mind that they might have gotten more help if they’d asked sooner.

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Seriously?

The good news is the US Department of Transportation is releasing nearly $1 billion in Safe Streets and Roads for All grants, funding a total of 521 projects nationwide.

But they’re also making a point of putting President Trump’s and USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s names all over it. And taking an uncalled for swipe at their predecessors while they’re at it.

In April, Secretary Duffy announced the program had been retooled to remove DEI and environmental justice requirements installed by the last administration. These absurd requirements were bogging down the system and making it harder for dollars to flow to critical safety projects across the country.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg inserted radical DEI and Green New Scam requirements into these safety grant programs – making it harder for communities to apply for these funds and delaying critical projects. Under President Trump’s leadership, we’ve put aside the woke nonsense and focused on one goal: safety,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “We’re moving these investments at the speed of Trump to save lives and deliver infrastructure upgrades that will benefit the American people for generations.” 

It continues funding at about the same level as under Biden, who established the program under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, providing $5 billion in competitive grants from 2022–2026.

I really don’t care if Trump and Duffy want to take credit for a program Biden created and funded.

But seriously, come on, already.

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Streetsblog is sponsoring a three-way race from Beverly Hills to DTLA next week, according to their Headlines yesterday.

Next Tuesday May 19 is Streetsblog L.A.’s D Line Dash commuter race: a cyclist vs. a driver vs. a subway rider – all racing from Beverly Hills to Downtown Los Angeles. Watch this week’s short videos introducing the racers:bicyclist Michelle Moro and driver Rachel Reyes! Subway rider Kalayaan Mendoza will be featured tomorrow.

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

No bias here. Reuters writes that 50,000 people turned out for the opening of a new 1.2-mile bike and pedestrian bridge in Helsinki, Finland, yet focuses on the lack of car lanes and money the city has invested on public transport and bike lanes. Even though lumping the two together makes no sense, since public transport is a hell of a lot more expensive than bike lanes, and virtually any American city would kill for the cold and windy city’s 9%–11% bicycling rate.

Road.cc says viral video of “hated” bicyclists legally riding two abreast actually makes a better argument for protected bike lanes.

Twitter post

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

No bias here, either. A Milwaukee letter writer confuses free bike licenses with the kind drivers get after passing a test, saying those darn dangerous bike riders have to obey the law or be held accountable and fined. For anyone unclear on the concept, bicycles are licensed so they can be recovered and returned to the owner if they’re stolen, while driver’s licenses are intended to ensure people are capable of safely and legally operating their big, dangerous machines, even if they don’t actually do it in practice.

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Local 

LAPD traffic detectives are still looking for the hit-and-run driver who severely injured a man in his 60s riding a bicycle at 20th and Hoover streets last May, although the “new video” cited in the story is nine months old.

Streets For All wants you to tell the City Council Rules Committee to fix the Public Works Department at this afternoon’s meeting. Because the way it works now, Public Works doesn’t. 

 

State

The Orange County DA’s office is opening a special unit to prosecute illegal ebike and e-motorcycle use, with a focus on potential criminal cases involving juveniles, adults and parents who knowingly allow children to ride illegal e-motos.

San Diego Mayor Gloria released his revised budget, which restores some funding for libraries and a dog park, but does nothing to reverse bike and traffic safety cuts.

The La Mesa City Council voted 4 to 1 to approve a new ebike ordinance, prohibiting children under 12 from riding any kind of ebikes.

San Francisco officially opened a new bikeway that closes a gap along the waterfront, providing a continuous route through Mission Bay.

Caltrans joined with a hundred or so Sacramento bicyclists to mark Bike Month last week.

 

National

A Reno, Nevada driver rolled the dice by fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider, running the victim down from behind while they were riding in a bike lane.

New York Mayor Mamdani is adding funding for additional bike and bus lanes to the city budget, and will extend an Astoria bike boulevard by installing a traffic circle to divert drivers from continuing forward.

Philadelphia advocates are marking Bike to Work or Bike to Anywhere Day by demanding safer streets for bike riders and pedestrians.

A Pennsylvania paper reminds us of next week’s Ride of Silence. Which LA Metro will probably ignore, too. 

The DC area is celebrating Bike to Work Day tomorrow, with over one hundred actual pit stops. Unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name.

 

International

A writer for Cycling Weekly says he won’t ride without his rear-facing bike radar, calling it an essential safety device, despite initially dismissing it as “an expensive gimmick, a rich boy’s toy.”

Google Maps will now show bikeshare locations and how many bikes are available in ten cities around the world, including four in the US. And no, Los Angeles is not one of them. 

Momentum highlights the top 12 Canadian rail trails.

Speaking of commuter challenges, bicyclists dominated a series of bike versus car races in Victoria, British Columbia, with just a single driver winning their race, compared to 16 bike riders. Even though the the story mistakenly flips the numbers. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Thirty-two-year old Dutch sprinter Arvid de Kleijn is returning to the peloton after a turbulent off-season that included the birth of his first child, the death of his father, and a violent, unprovoked attack by a group of teens during a training ride that left him with a broken nose.

Spanish pro Igor Arrieta came back for a last-gasp win in stage 5 of the Giro, despite a fall, and taking a wrong turn near the end of the race.

 

Finally…

Crossing guards here, lollipop ladies there.

And that feeling when you want to float above your handlebars.

Reddit post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Disinformation campaign opposes Better Overland project, and Florida adults rough up kid for pulling ebike wheelies

She gets it.

A writer for Culver City Crossroads complains about a lawn sign campaign to “Save Overland” from the Better Overland Complete Streets project.

She argues that the opposition campaign is “both amazing and shocking. Also, laughable.”

The slogans on these signs are not just false, they are complete reversals of truth. That is organized disinformation.

So, first of all, there is no plan to remove all the parking from Overland Ave. Making this the top slogan shows that the people leading this campaign are consciously using a bait-and-switch approach to getting your attention.

She goes on to make the case that the project has been thoroughly vetted, and if people didn’t know about it, it’s only because they weren’t paying attention.

Actual, verifiable facts: The Better Overland project has been in process since May of 2024, and has been approved twice by the Culver City Council. Twice.

City staff held eight public meetings for the community, in addition to multiple private meetings with smaller organizations that were stakeholders in the process.

There were QR codes posted along the entire length of Overland Avenue so that everyone using the street could post their thoughts and ideas regarding Overland directly to the project portal. They received more than a thousand public comments, the vast majority in favor of the project.

It’s typical whenever a project like this goes in that some people will somehow insist there wasn’t enough public outreach, no matter how many times they were given an opportunity to provide their input.

Or that they were never informed, despite repeated efforts to do just that.

That was what happened in Playa del Rey, when opponents said they were never informed about the road diets to Vista del Mar, Pershing Drive and Manchester Ave, or given a chance to voice their objections.

Even though the project was designed by local residents, part of a multi-year public process that included several meetings at a local school, as well as outreach efforts to contact local residents.

So if anyone didn’t know about it, it was because they had their heads firmly buried in the sand at Dockweiler Beach.

Never mind that any increased congestion usually goes away as motorists find other routes, or other ways to get around, like walking or riding a bicycle.

Then there’s the ultimate trump card for the driving public, which seems to be in play with Better Overland, that officials are coming for your parking spaces.

Even though most homes have driveways, and the curb space along the street belongs to the city, not local homeowners. And any actual loss of parking is usually mitigated nearby.

It’s inevitable that no matter what a city does to prepare residents for road changes, some people will always complain. It’s human nature to resist change.

But as former New York DOT director Janette Sadik-Khan put it, people always fight to prevent changes. Then once they get used to it, they’ll fight to keep it.

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A group of at least five adults are being investigated for allegedly roughing up a kid in Palm Beach, Florida who was doing wheelies on his ebike, while a woman heckled the boy from the sidelines.

They are also accused of stealing the boy’s phone, which contained video of the altercation.

No matter what the boy was doing, or what kind of ebike he was riding, they had no right to put hands on him or take his property.

If he was actually causing a problem, call the cops. That’s what they get paid for.

@sab.trader445

Crazy, who do you thinks at fault? – #fyp #viral #ebikekid #karen #xyzcba

♬ original sound – CrazyClips

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Streets For All is endorsing CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman for Mayor of Los Angeles, calling her the change agent the city needs.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/2041309360010494095

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LADOT is looking for input on creating a low-stress bikeway along Marmion Way and Monte Vista Street, rather than implementing the road diet long planned for the deadly, high-speed North Figueroa corridor.

The Complete Streets project was killed by former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, who was for it before he was against it. Cedillo conducted a series of sham public meetings, which ostensibly gauge public opinion, while blocking comments from those in favor of the project.

Twitter post

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

Sad news from Tulare County, where the CHP was quick to blame the victim when someone riding a bicycle was killed after allegedly veering left in front of an SUV driver — which a local paper TV station reported by saying “it” veered in front of the SUV. Talk about a great job of dehumanizing someone. Never mind that what actually happened depends entirely on whether there were any independent witnesses, or if the CHP relied entirely on the driver’s perspective. 

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

Schmuck. A British bike rider is justifiable criticized after posting video of himself telling a pedestrian to “use a bit of fucking common sense” when the man steps out in front of him as the bike rider ran the red light. Seriously, don’t do that. 

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Local 

No significant action yet on Joe Linton’s lawsuit to force Metro to comply with Measure HLA by installing bike lanes on the Vermont Avenue project, after the first day in court last week.

 

State

Sad news from San Jose, where a man was killed trying to put out an ebike battery fire in his apartment; a woman was able to escape without serious injury. A tragic reminder to only use UL or European certified lithium-ion batteries, as well as a battery that’s made for your bike.

That’s more like it. Santa Rosa is installing 120 new U-shaped bike racks in key locations along the city’s bicycle network.

 

National

Portland, Oregon is launching a $20 million ebike rebate program to help pay for more than 6,000 ebikes over the next three years. Which compares favorably to Los Angeles, which has invested exactly $0 in ebike rebates to help improve traffic congestion and air quality by getting cars off the road.

Washington State is rolling out another round of ebike rebates up to $1200 for a Class 1, 2 or 3 bike, with recipients chosen by lottery. That compares favorably to California’s ebike rebate program, which now only pays for electric cars after the funding was stolen by the California Air Resources Board, aka CARB. Thanks to Megan for the heads-up. 

You’ve got to be kidding. A 52-year old Arizona man died in police custody after he was repeatedly struck and tased by cops for fleeing a traffic stop — because he didn’t have a damn headlight on his bicycle.

A Las Vegas writer says you can easily bike to any of the city’s three major sports arenas in ten minutes or less from the Las Vega Strip, with bike parking available at each site.

A Wyoming group is opposing a bike trail over fears it would cut off a vital migration route for a mule deer herd, even though supporters says it would be on the opposite side of a lake and wouldn’t affect the herd.

A writer for Cycling West recounts her experiences exploring the bikeways of the Grand Tetons National Park, easily among the most beautiful spots in the US.

A pair of sisters in their 60s are riding more than 2,000 miles from Miami to Cape Cod along the East Coast Greenway to raise climate awareness.

Hats off to a group of Fort Meyers, Florida nonprofits, who provided eight adaptive bicycles to local kids with disabilities.

 

International

Momentum offers 20 reasons why the Netherlands is a bicyclist’s paradise, as if we needed any convincing; the magazine also shares six lessor-known bike-friendly cities around the world. None of which is Los Angeles. Or even on the West Coast. 

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 72-year old Indian man is joining six other men to ride more than 2,200 miles across Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Prices for Chinese ebikes are going up, as the price of raw materials goes up and the country reduces trade-in incentives.

A 33-year old Australian man faces culpable homicide and DUI charges after a woman was killed in a skitching incident last year, when she lost her grip on the man’s SUV and fell into the car’s path.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tadej Pogačar could etch his name in history as just the fourth cyclist to win all five Monuments, including the great Eddy Merckx; Pog has already won Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and Il Lombardia, and only needs a win at Paris-Roubaix to complete the cycle.

The 40th edition of the Redlands Bicycle Classic kicks off tomorrow with a time trial at Lake Perris.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the bike and belongings of Polish endurance cyclist Justyna Jarczok, which she described as everything she owns, including her house keys, when she stopped at a gas station after winning one of the UK’s toughest bikepacking events; her belongings were found at a local park, but her rare Kona mountain bike is still missing.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you somehow find humor in the idea of running someone down with an SUV.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Fountain Ave design meeting tonight, LA opens HLA appeals process, and recaps from Sunday’s successful CicLAvia

Day 231 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A quick reminder before we start about this week’s anticipated heat wave, with temperatures in Woodland Hills, LA County valleys and the Inland Empire expected to top well over 100°. 

So try to ride early or late if at all possible, stick to shady, tree-lined routes when you can, and drink plenty of non-alcoholic fluids. 

And keep your phone handy to get help if you get overheated. 

Seriously, stay safe out there. I need every reader I’ve got these days. 

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West Hollywood with host a meeting tonight to discuss plans for the long-delayed Fountain Avenue Streetscape Project tonight in Rooms 5 & 6 of the Plummer Park Community Center on Santa Monica Blvd.

The presentation starts at 6 pm with an open house and refreshments, followed by a presentation and Q&A session.

You can review a pdf of the draft plan here.

Unfortunately, I’m not comfortable leaving my wife alone so soon after her heart attack, so I’m disappointed I won’t be there this time.

And yes, I feel guilty as hell asking you to go in my stead, but supporters need to turn out in force if you can make it.

Because opponents of the plan are certain to be there to fight for their precious free curbside parking spaces and a not-so-secret alternative to busier Sunset and Santa Monica Blvds, valuing convenience over protecting human lives.

Photo by Joe Linton/Streetsblog depicts protesters opposed to Fountain Ave bike lanes.

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Los Angeles officially opened the appeals process for street projects that bypass Measure HLA’s strict requirement to build out the city mobility plan whenever streets get significantly resurfaced or re-striped.

Acting on his own behalf, Joe Linton wasted no time filing an appeal for work not done on Ohio Avenue.

Today I submitted a city-level appeal for protected bike lanes that the city did not install during resurfacing on Ohio Avenue – along the Bundy Triangle Park in Sawtelle. Read my appeal letter.

He is also aware of a number of other appeals that should be filed soon.

I have discussed possible appeals with several people, and I understand that other folks are planning to file city-level appeals today. Below are additional appeals that I am aware of today. (I am adding to this list as I learn of additional appeals.)

  • Appeal of Corinth Avenue in Sawtelle Japantown – pdf
  • Appeal of Kingsley Dr. in Koreatown – one page image
  • Appeal of Kingswell Ave. and Rodney Dr. in Los Feliz – pdf or page 1, 2
  • Appeal of Mesa and Eagle Dale Avenues in northeast L.A. – pdf
  • Appeal of Middlebury St. in East Hollywood – pdf

This is the first step required by the city before a lawsuit can be filed to enforce the requirements of Measure HLA — even though that was not part of the proposition passed overwhelming by LA voters.

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Streetsblog offers an open thread on Sunday’s Culver City meets Venice CicLAvia, along with Joe Linton’s typically great photos.

David also forward several photos, along with these brief comments.

This was an extraordinary one. Maybe the largest group of cyclists ever for a Ciclavia.  It was an impressive turnout of cycles.

Councilwoman Tracy Park set up a Tent in Mar Vista and the Venice end and unlike any other elected politician ever she stayed there from morning till it was done handing out bike flashing to everyone and chatting with anyone about anything that stopped on their bike. I saw her in the morning at Mar Vista and later at almost 4 pm in Venice.

Usually the electeds stay for the 1 hour morning photo-op to start the event and leave their staffers at the table the rest of the day.

Attached is a photo of me with Tracy Park and some Misc photos from the Venice end.  I did not take a lot of photos at this one just wanted to enjoy the experience.

Photos by David Drexler

Finish the Ride was there, too.

Twitter post

 

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Today’s common thread is just how cheap life your life is held if you ride a bicycle.

Like in Nebraska, where an Arkansas man was sentenced to a lousy 31 months behind bars for the attempted hit-and-run death of an 82-year-old man riding a bicycle.

Or in Louisiana, where a former state trooper walked without a day behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run death of a man biking with his two sons, after a judge sentenced him to a three-year suspended sentence and three years probation.

Or Singapore, where a garbage truck driver was sentenced to just six months behind bars for killing a 60-year old man riding a bicycle, insisting he only realized he’d hit someone when he felt a bump under his wheels, although an eight-year driving ban will keep him from working again until he’s 72.

On the other hand, a 28-year old Texas man got 15 years for the hit-and-run that killed a Fort Worth father of five as he was riding his bicycle last year; the driver’s mother told police he wasn’t sure if he hit a deer or a homeless man, neither of which would justify just driving away — or covering his car with a tarp to hide it from the cops.

………

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

No bias here. Indianapolis, Indiana scrapped several segments of a planned bike lane after gradually paring it down so drivers could keep their precious curbside parking, choosing their convenience over everyone’s safety.

A bike rider in Cheshire, England says people riding on the county’s roads are “fair game for crazy drivers,” after police reject video evidence of dangerous driving due to a lack of witnesses. Although it seems like the cops themselves would be witnesses if they just watched the videos.

Bicyclists in West Yorkshire, England criticized the cops following yet another mass casualty event when a driver cut back into a group of bicyclists while attempting to pass on a blind curve, resulting in serious injuries to two riders, with several others hurt; the “abysmal” police report failed to criticize the driver, or even mention that the car had one.

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

A 20-year old British man was sentenced to eight years and three months in a young offenders’ institution for the hit-and-run death of an 86-year old man just walking to a fish and chips shop, moments after popping a wheelie and swerving all over the road on his ebike. Although it sounds more like he was riding an e-motorbike than a ped-assist ebike, but still. 

………

Local 

KCBS-2 looks at Metro’s adopt-a-bike program to assist families affected by January’s devastating Eaton and Palisades firestorms

Secret Los Angeles looks forward to Santa Clarita’s forthcoming $7.4 million Haskell Canyon Bike Park. Even though that scheduled opening is only a secret if you haven’t been paying attention.

ICE agents are accused of snatching a man off his bicycle in a Santa Clarita raid, and heartlessly leaving the man’s bicycle lying in the roadway.

 

State

A Davis columnist recommends an ebike for a friend’s son, saying it’s the perfect solution to allow the 6’10” 16-year old to attend a school in another neighborhood with a better basketball couch.

 

National

Bicycling recommends eight jersey’s built for this month’s extreme heat, with no paywall this time because they hope to make a little on the backend.

Cycling Electric recommends the year’s best e-gravel bikes. Or gravel ebikes. Or something.

A member of the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission busts the myth of wrong-way riding being safer for bicyclists. I still hear from people on a regular basis who insist salmon bicycling is safer than riding with traffic, all evidence to the contrary.

Residents of Houston, Texas demanded better police protection after a 77-year old man was fatally stabbed by a transient as he was riding his bicycle to work on an East Houston bike trail.

An Iowa college professor is employing lessons in the classroom she learned on a 56-day bike ride from Kentucky to San Francisco with her husband along the Trans American Bicycle Trail and Western Express Bike Route.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 90-year old Milwaukee man is still riding his e-recumbent around 150 miles a week when weather allows.

A Boston company now allows you to rent a cargo bike in eight neighborhoods throughout the city.

The rich get richer, as New York releases a masterplan of 100 projects to expand the city’s 506-mile bicycle greenway network, designed to “connect underserved communities, spur economic development and provide environmental benefits.”

Great idea. Alexandria, Virginia is recruiting bike-riding volunteers to deliver food from local farmer’s markets to residents in need as part of their Bike for Good program.

 

International

A new McGill University study shows Montreal doesn’t have enough bicycle infrastructure to meet demand, taking up just two percent of street space despite a measurable need for more in some areas.

An Icelandic man is working to raise funds and awareness for multiple myeloma, after a new treatment helped ease his pain and get him back on his bike.

Cycling UK opens a new multi-day bikepacking route through “Majestic rolling hillsides, historic regal villages and bluebell-lined woodland trails,” just a stones-throw from London.

A bicycling professor offers advice on how newcomers can safely bike through Amsterdam. Which would seem to be a lot safer than biking in LA, newcomer or otherwise.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canadian Tour de France stage winner and world championship medalist Michael Woods calls it a career, arguing that it’s a “ludicrously dangerous sport,” but Velo says he has big plans going forward.

Former South African champion Ryan Gibbons calls it quits after nine years in cycling’s highest tier, the last two as Mads Petersen’s key lead-out man.

Belgian “domestique extraordinaire” Tim Declercq also calls it a career after 14 years, torching the peloton on his way out for having too many riders who don’t care if they crash and take ten other riders out with them.

A writer for Cycling Weekly argues for making bike racers take a skills test, just like motorsports drivers, with tongue placed firmly in cheek.

 

Finally…

That feeling when “Lime Bike leg” only seems to afflict London bike riders.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

How LA’s inaction led to a child’s death, LADOT “improves” safety by restoring parking, and CicLAvia rolls again

Day 230 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Of course he gets it.

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider says fourth-grader Nadir Gavarrete did not have to die in a Koreatown intersection earlier this month.

Nadir Gavarrete was riding an e-scooter along with his 19-year old brother when they were run down by a drunk driver, who was accused of blowing through a stop sign to make a left turn.

A stop sign, and an intersection, that shouldn’t have still been there.

Koreatown is one of the densest parts of Los Angeles — at 44,000 people per square mile, it’s more crowded than most New York City boroughs. Nearly every major street in Koreatown is on the city’s “high injury network” list — the 6% of streets that cause 70% of the traffic injuries and deaths. In other words, L.A. knows how dangerous Koreatown’s streets can be.

As a result, 14 years ago, in 2011, L.A. applied for a federal grant to improve safety along several city streets, specifically choosing to focus on the intersection of New Hampshire and 4th for one of its projects. The city won the grant money and kicked off community meetings to discuss installing a roundabout at the intersection, as well as adding enhanced crosswalks and other safety improvements to the immediate area.

Needless to say, a decade-and-a-half later, nothing has happened, this being Los Angeles and all.

Except for yet another needless death, added to a long and ever-growing list of failure.

What will it take for Los Angeles to have a sense of urgency in actually making our streets safer? We currently spend more on legal settlements to those hurt and killed on our streets than we do on Vision Zero, the city’s half-baked effort to reduce traffic deaths. Since Los Angeles declared itself a Vision Zero City in 2015, with the ultimate aim of having no one killed in car crashes on city streets by 2025, deaths and injuries have only gotten worse. In the last few years we’ve had at least three children hit and killed while walking to school. And yet the city’s leaders — facing a budget crisis, much of it of their own making — perpetually underfund LADOT and street safety in general.

Good question.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole thing.

Because the more things change in this city of fallen angels, the more they stay the same.

And that’s not a good thing.

………

Good news and bad news, as LADOT announced plans to remove peak-hour lanes on a number of low-traffic streets throughout the city in an effort to improve safety.

The lanes currently prohibit parking during morning and/or evening rush hours, too often turning them into high speed traffic lanes.

However, the bad news is, instead of converting the lanes to full-time bus or bike lanes, the city is restoring parking throughout the day. Which doesn’t actually improve safety for anyone, just trading one problem for another.

LADOT dangles the possibility of converting the lanes to some other, better use at some undisclosed future time. Although given the city’s financial problems — due in large part to those legal settlements referenced above — that day could be years, or even decades, off.

If ever.

LADOT Begins First Phase of Peak-Hour Lane Removal

LADOT has begun implementing the first phase of a citywide initiative to improve safety and access to street parking by removing peak-hour travel lanes and restoring full-time parking. This initiative, directed by the Los Angeles City Council, aims to enhance safety, improve access, and support the City’s long-term mobility goals.

Phase 1 of this initiative focuses on low-traffic corridors, restoring street parking on corridors where traffic volume is below determined thresholds. Future phases will examine higher-volume streets and may propose alternative uses for peak-hour lanes, such as dedicated bus lanes, protected bike lanes, or expanded pedestrian zones. LADOT will conduct outreach and collaborate with community stakeholders as future phases move forward, ensuring that proposed changes align with neighborhood needs.

In addition to providing greater parking availability to support surrounding businesses, these changes are expected to have minimal impact on congestion while improving street safety, with reduced speeding, fewer collisions, and improved visibility for people walking and biking.

The specific corridors selected for Phase 1 of peak-hour lane removal are:

  • Alpine St, from N. Spring to Yale
  • Alvarado St, Northbound, from James M. Wood to 7th
  • Beverly Blvd, from Rampart to Witmer
  • Broadway, Northbound, from 2nd to 1st
  • College St, from New Depot to Alameda
  • Crenshaw Blvd, from Florence to 59th St
  • La Tijera Blvd, Northbound, from Thornburn to Knowlton
  • Melrose Ave, from Vermont to Virgil
  • Nordhoff St, Westbound, from Corbin to Canoga
  • Pico Blvd, Westbound, from Overland to Sepulveda
  • Ventura Blvd, Eastbound, from Farralone to Tampa
  • Victory Blvd, from Lankershim to Clybourn
  • Washington Blvd, from Vermont to Flower
  • Washington Blvd, Eastbound, from Redondo to La Brea and from Wellington to Crenshaw

Thanks to Dr. Grace Peng for the heads-up.

………

A writer for Circling the News was the first to post a report from yesterday’s Culver City meets Venice CicLAvia.

And the first thing they noticed was the bad shape of the road around Venice and Abbot Kinney, saying it was easy to notice if you’re trying to dodge pavement problems.

The second thing seemed to be members of White People 4 Black Lives, several accident attorneys and the Venice High School Cheerleaders handing out free water along the route, the latter as they tried to raise funds.

And yes, it seems a good time was had by all.

Although I had to miss it because of my wife’s health problems, since she still hasn’t bounced back enough to go herself, or to be left at home alone.

Meanwhile, the Militant Angeleno’s guide to highlights along the route was posted too late to link to before the CicLAvia, but you can still check it out to see what you missed.

………

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

No bias here. A 55-year old Miami man claims he was arrested just for touching a police cruiser, as he tried to ride around the patrol car stopped in a bike lane; police claim he intentionally hit the car hard enough to dent it “four to five times.”

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

A 12-year old Singapore girl was hospitalized after she was knocked cold by a 51-year old man on fixie while riding her bicycle; the older man was being investigated for a “rash act causing hurt.”

A Brisbane, Australia writer offers a carrot and stick solution to the problem of scofflaw bicyclists, saying the answer is more bike paths, while forcing bike riders to wear registration numbers.

………

Local 

Two women were arrested for shooting another woman in the arm on Sepulveda Blvd in Culver City earlier this month, in an attempt to steal the victim’s ebike; a search of their apartment also turned up two assault rifles with high-capacity magazines, ammunition and a kilo of suspected cocaine.

 

State

Mark your calendar for September 4th, when the Orange County Transportation Authority will hold a webinar to discuss the OCTA Bikeways Connectivity Study to expand options for bikeways across Orange County.

A mom writing for the Times of San Diego explains how to select the right bicycle for your kids.

California Streetsblog reports on Bike Bakersfield and Calbike teaming up to “flip the script” on a “ludicrous” grand jury report decrying efforts to implement bicycle safety measures.

A local website reports bicycling and pedestrian deaths in Watsonville far outpace the average in Santa Cruz County, and considers four ways to make the city streets safer.

 

National

ABC News says the deadly 85th Percentile Rule that allows drivers to set speed limits with a heavy right foot could finally be on the way out.

Great idea. The White Line — the bicycle safety group founded by the parents of fallen Team USA cyclist Magnus White — put a group of Colorado lawmakers on a bus, and drove them around for a series of mobile town halls to show them the impact crashes have on vulnerable road users.

I want to be like her when I grow up. A Missoula, Montana woman calls a local octogenarian, peacemaker and bicycle evangelist her hero and mentor, the 87-year old woman is known throughout the community for riding around town in a bright vest, with her dog in her basket.

Chicago Streetsblog says yes, the city has a long way to go to become bike friendly, but People For Bikes’ use of it as a poster child for bicycling problems is just a joke.

New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare will now require users to prove they’re over 16 to use the service.

Florida — yes, Florida — is now the first state in the nation to offer ebike education as part of the regular curriculum, at least in some schools.

A 54-year old Miami man riding a bicycle on the city’s deadly Rickenbacker Causeway was killed when he was struck by two kids riding an electric dirt bike.

 

International

Momentum ranks the ten best European city’s for bicycling and the best time to visit, including four French cities, led by Paris.

An op-ed from a Calgary, Alberta bike advocate urges local drivers not to fear road diets, arguing that they can ease the city’s traffic woes.

An expat website explains how to get around the Netherlands by bike like a local.

Here’s another one for your bicycle bucket list, as Travel + Leisure recommends a 560-mile bike trail through France’s Loire Valley, exploring a unique blend of ancient Gaelic history, Renaissance châteaus, and ancient vineyards.

A 65-year old Tallahassee, Florida high school teacher and tennis coach stopped in Madrid, Spain, a little less than a quarter of the way on his attempt to become the oldest person a bike around the world.

 

Competitive Cycling

Remco Evenepoel will now be on the same team as Primož Roglič, as Roglič says he hopes they can do great things together, after the Belgian star signed with the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe cycling team.

 

Finally…

Your next car could be a bike.

No, seriously, that’s all we’ve got this time. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Dangerous streets keep kids off bikes, Canadian bike riders have a right to not get killed, and CicLAvia rolls on Sunday

Day 226 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

She gets it.

A writer for the Washington Post says dangerous streets make it hard to give kids the freedom they need to roam and explore.

In recent decades, many of America’s roads have indeed become more chaotic: Speed limits are higher; vehicles are (much) bigger; drivers are more aggressive and more likely to be distracted by smartphones. When parents see massive SUVs speeding down neighborhood streets or blowing through stop signs, they might feel less inclined to allow their kids to roam freely on foot or bicycle. And though the number of children injured or killed by cars while walking or riding a bike has fallen steadily since the 1970s, research by the CDC notes that this decline is not because streets are safer, but because fewer kids are out and about in the first place.

This pattern, some parents say, can create a self-perpetuating cycle: If drivers are less accustomed to encountering kids on roads, they might be less likely to drive safely around them, which in turn makes parents more anxious and restrictive of their child’s movements.

It’s worth giving the whole story a read.

Because one of the most common refrains from parents is that they would never allow their kids to ride on city streets, in Los Angeles or elsewhere, whether or not they ride themselves.

………

He gets it, too.

In a piece that starts out very tongue-in-cheek before evolving — devolving? — into legalese, a Canadian columnist takes conservatives to task for complaining about a recent court ruling ordering the government not to remove Toronto’s protected bike lanes.

It was judicial activism run amok, they agreed. Canada’s ever-inventive courts had discovered a “right to bicycle lanes.” What next: a right to volleyball courts? Time to invoke the notwithstanding clause, said some.

Well, that was then. When, one week ago, the Conservative government of Nova Scotia, with the province’s forests tinder-dry and fearing a repeat of the devastating wildfires of two years ago, issued a ban on hiking and camping in forested areas, conservatives were again apoplectic.

But the real issue, he says, is whether the government has the right to kill you.

The issue at stake in the bicycle lanes case is disarmingly simple: does the government have the right to kill you? It is not hyperbole but demonstrable, probabilistic fact that banning bike lanes will sentence a certain number of randomly selected Torontonians to death, and cause serious injuries to still more…

That’s also reflected in our Constitution. Section 7 of the Charter does not assert an absolute right to “life, liberty or security of the person” but the right not to be deprived thereof “except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.”

Because removing bike lanes could predictably deprive some people of their “life, liberty or security of the person.”

And likely would.

Which does not mean the government has to build bike lanes. But it does mean the court had a reasonable basis to prohibit the government from removing them.

Nothing in the decision obliges the government to build new bicycle lanes. As such it involves no “positive rights,” which conservatives are right to oppose. It simply requires that before a government takes the extraordinary step of ordering the removal of lanes that have already been built – an action guaranteed to cost some lives and put many more in peril – it ought at least to have some basis in evidence or logic for doing so.

Maybe we should try that same argument on this side of the border the next time someone wants to rip out an existing bike lane here.

………

 

CicLAvia marks its 61st open streets event this Sunday with the 6.75-mile Culver City meets Venice CicLAvia, connecting Culver City, Mar Vista and Venice.

Hard to believe it’s been 15 years since the first one on 10-10-2010. And even harder to believe now that we thought it would never happen when CicLAvia’s founders came to the LACBC, now BikeLA, board to ask for our support.

Meanwhile, KNBC-4 suggests honoring the Venice lifestyle by skating the whole route.

Thousand, a woman-owned Boyle Heights bike helmet-maker, will celebrate their tenth anniversary by giving away 1,000 helmets at their booth at the Mar Vista Hub.

………

The Spring Street bike lanes in DTLA are getting new safety barriers, with enough separation to hopefully prevent the kind of injuries San Diego bicyclists have complained about.

https://twitter.com/LADOTofficial/status/1955736202172092503

………

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

No bias here. Middlesborough, England is going to spend the equivalent of nearly $3 million to rip out a bike lane derided as “an absolute nightmare” and “exploited by drug dealers,” despite spending just $100,000 to settle injury claims after it went in — and spending $2.3 million to install it just three years ago.

A Dublin, Ireland city counselor accused civic leaders of “pure gaslighting” and treating bicycles “like a child’s toy” by shutting down a popular bicycle route, forcing riders into an “anti-cycling death trap.”

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

British motoring lawyer Mr. Loophole accuses bike cam vigilant Cycling Mikey of using his bicycle as a weapon by pushing it into the path of a driver attempting to illegally drive down a closed roadway, resulting in his bike getting run over and shattered into pieces. So he’s saying it wasn’t a very good weapon?

………

Local 

Streets For All released their August newsletter, including calls for protected bike lanes on Pico Blvd and Alameda Street.

 

State

California is hitting pause on a requirement to install bike parking in new commercial and residential buildings, after the legislature passed a bill delaying the requirement until 2027.

A Monterey County woman says there’s no law against kids under 16 riding an e-scooter or a Class 1 or 2 ebike, but maybe there should be. Actually, there is a law against riding e-scooters without a driver’s license. 

Sad news from Yuba County, where a 60-year old man was killed by a driver while towing a trailer behind his bicycle.

 

National

An op-ed writer in USA Today argues that ebikes are driving him crazy, so we need to make them obey the same rules as drivers. Even though most drivers don’t.

Singletracks offers a guide to the ten best downhill mountain bike trails in Idaho.

Portland’s mayor has called a pause on plans to remove diverters and change the traffic flow on two neighborhood greenways, after the bicycle advisory committee increased pressure on the city.

Police in Houston arrested a 40-year old man in the fatal stabbing of a 77-year old man as he was riding his bike to work; the victim somehow made it to his job site before collapsing, and died at the hospital.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 70-year old cancer treatment specialist in the Indiana University medical system was killed by a driver while riding his bike on Monday.

A Boston writer explains how she fell in love with her ebike after moving here from France, saying biking every day makes her life better.

Princeton, New Jersey banned right turns on red lights as part of the city’s Vision Zero program. Meanwhile, Los Angeles just tells drivers to carry on. 

Arlington, Virginia is joining the ebike rebate movement, offering vouchers for up to $1650 on the purchase of an ebike. Although those ebikes are about to get a lot more expensive, thanks to Trump’s 30% tariff on goods imported from Asian manufacturers. 

An Atlanta photo exhibition documents one man’s journey to bike every single street inside the city’s I-285 perimeter.

A TV station in Lake Charles, Louisiana unmasks a mysterious man on a Mardi Gras-festooned ebike, who says he rides through the community because “he loves to see people smile.” Although something tells me Adorian Hollywood Flavor probably isn’t his real name. 

A Florida teenager was lucky to survive his first day of school when he was struck by a driver while riding his ebike in a crosswalk, after witnesses teamed together to lift the car off him.

 

International

A recent study ranks Victoria, British Columbia as Canada’s most bicycle-friendly city, edging out Winnipeg and Quebec City.

The 134-year old Cycling Weekly introduces the British nonprofits working to transform the lives of refugees and asylum-seekers by providing them with bicycles.

A clueless Conservative city counselor in the UK questioned why disabled bicyclists can’t simply get off their bikes and push them across a footbridge. Um, maybe because they’re disabled?

 

Competitive Cycling

The Cyclists’ Alliance, the union for women’s cycling, is calling for mandatory, annual screening in the wake of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot’s victory at the Tour de France Femmes, amid comments about her drastic weight loss.

Cyclist offers a preview of the three-stage Tour de Romandie Féminin, which kicks off tomorrow.

 

Finally…

What it’s like to suffer for the sake of science on a ten-mile time trial. That feeling when you stop riding in the year’s hottest month because your cleats are haunted.

And we may have to deal with stampeding LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about getting trampled to death by elephants.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Earth Day bust for bike-riding DTLA tree-chopper, Culver City named eco-friendly city, & how to apply for CA ebike voucher

Day 113 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

They got him.

Just in time to celebrate Earth Day, the LAPD busted the bike-riding creep who allegedly used an electric chainsaw to fell at least five trees lining the streets of Downtown Los Angeles.

The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was taken into custody sometime before 6:30 pm yesterday.

Hopefully we’ll learn more today.

………

Congratulations to Culver City, which came in at number 14 on a list of the nation’s top eco-friendly cities for car-free travel.

Although I’m guessing that measure was taken before the city ripped out the protected bike lanes in the MOVE Culver City project.

The survey from Realtor.com and LocalLogic listed Hoboken, New Jersey number one; that city has now gone seven consecutive years without a traffic death, proving that Vision Zero can actually succeed with buy-in and funding from city officials.

Bay Area cities Berkeley, San Francisco and Emeryville also made the list.

Los Angeles didn’t, for obvious reasons.

………

The California Ebike Incentive Project explained the rules for the second round of deliberately throttled ebike incentives planned for next week, including what documentation you’ll need and how to get it.

………

A pair of bills sponsored by Streets For All moved forward in the state legislature, including one requiring speed limiters for repeat speeding drivers, and another streamlining the permit process for transit projects.

Twitter post

Twitter post

………

A hard-hitting Bluesky thread from Dr. Grace Peng demonstrates why her South Bay commute is only for the brave; click through for the rest of the posts.

Bluesky post

Bluesky post

………

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

That feeling when the mere sight of the dotted white lines indicating a coming British bikeshare station replacing a handful of parking spaces is enough to send the local residents into apoplexy with shouts of the “war oscars.”

………

Local 

A 14-year old boy was hospitalized after he was stuck by the driver of a minivan while riding a bicycle in Canyon Country Tuesday night.

Long Beach’s popular Beach Streets open streets event will shut down large parts of Willow Street and Santa Fe Ave to cars on Saturday, May 10th.

 

State

San Diego approved a sweeping master mobility plan designed to improve traffic safety and make the city less dependent on private cars and SUVs; according to one councilmember, the goal isn’t to mandate people out of their cars, but “incentivize it and plan for it through smart land-use decisions.”

The Palm Springs Historical Society wants to take you on a bike tour of the area’s Midcentury Modern neighborhoods, with four opportunities this week, for the low, low price of just $95 to (gulp) $950.

Speaking of Berkeley, the Bike East Bay advocacy group set up $6,000 worth of temporary pop-up bike lanes and other traffic calming measures to show how much nicer the city’s 9th Street could be without cut-through car traffic.

Sad news from the Bay Area, where a 44-year old East Oakland security guard was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle home from work, after getting off a BART train.

A teenage girl from Concord has been chosen to take part in the 1,000-mile Remember the Removal bicycle ride for members of the Cherokee nation, following that path of the horrific and shameful Trail of Tears.

More sad news, this time from Sacramento County, where a 63-year old man was killed in a collision while riding his bicycle.

 

National

Smithsonian considers what can be done to make ride hailing, bikeshare and other transportation options accessible to everyone.

Prospects are dimming for a long-promised bikeway connecting Albany and Corvallis, Oregon, with key sections of the 10-mile long bike path still unplanned and unfunded, eleven years after the project was first introduced.

Trump’s tariffs aren’t the only thing hurting the bike industry these days; bike burglars and hijackers are also leaving their mark, like whoever stole an entire truckload of bikes from Ari Bicycles on their way from Los Angeles to the company’s Utah warehouse.

A Colorado bikepacking bag maker still had to lay off workers because of Trump’s tariffs, despite sourcing almost all their materials from the US, because their suppliers had to get their materials from overseas.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 92-year old South Dakota man started ebiking two years ago, and has clocked more than 2,000 miles.

Chicago bike and pedestrian advocates took advantage of a street construction project to turn the blocked street into a pedestrian plaza.

 

International

Momentum lists the top seven environmental benefits of bicycling for every day, including Earth Day.

An Ontario, Canada judge says “not so fast” to Premier Doug Ford’s plan to rip out some key Toronto bike lanes, ordering a temporary pause while he considers the evidence in the case.

London’s 138-year old cast iron Hammersmith Bridge is now open to bicycles and pedestrians following a near $4 million refurbishment project, though when or if the bridge will ever be open to cars again remains to be determined. Let’s hope not.

Good question. A physician in Cork, Ireland asks when will we take our heads out of the sand and realize that bicycles are the future of urban mobility.

A man from Spain’s Basque Country was killed, and his 14-year old son suffered a broken leg, when an allegedly stoned driver plowed a group ride near Calpe in southeastern Spain on Easter Sunday.

In another mass casualty crash, a Taiwanese driver plowed into a group of bicycling students, injuring seven bike riders, one seriously, while driving on the wrong side of the road.

Christchurch, New Zealand is cracking down on bike theft by focusing on the city’s most prolific bike thieves, including one man accused of stealing seven bikes in four days.

 

Competitive Cycling

Only one American man had as many Giro pink jerseys as the Pope did, and only two American men had as many rainbow jerseys; then again, along with his Catholic dogmas, he also had more Pinarello Dogmas than most of us, too.

If you read this early enough, you may still be able to catch the men’s La Flèche Wallonne on the Peacock streaming service starting at 3:45 am PDT, or the women’s race at 7:55 am.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a $150 bike intended for Indiana University’s  Little 500 from a student just days before the iconic race.

 

Finally…

Oh, nothing. Just a fine English chap riding a Penny Farthing through the South to honor another fine English chap on a Penny Farthing. That feeling when your heart goes pitter patter while trying to dock a bikeshare bike.

And hats off to the Irish triathlete busted for speeding on a bicycle in a 31 mph zone.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Walk ‘n Rollers hosts bicycle safety workshop and pizza party, and “powerful force” for N.M. bike community killed

Day 23 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

……..

It’s our third light bike news day in a row, as some guy in Washington seems to be sucking up all the news space. Which just means I can get to bed that much earlier. 

Although it’s questionable how much sleep I’ll get, as smoke from yet another not-too-distant LA fire infiltrates our apartment once again. 

Today’s photo: apropos of nothing, a bike hanging on a wall of a defunct coffee shop. 

………

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

No bias here. British drivers complain about bikeshare bikes, calling them a “blight” on the sidewalks, but parking cars on said sidewalks appears to be just fine.

A road-raging UK driver will spend the next 18 months behind bars after being convicted for using his car as a weapon by deliberately ramming a bike rider following a punishment pass, then getting out of his car and yelling at the victim as he lay helpless on the street.

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

A 73-yer old Dublin, Ireland woman died of a head injury after she was struck by a man riding a bicycle, while she was putting up political campaign posters last year.

………

Local  

Walk ‘n Rollers is teaming with the YMCA and Culver City to host a free bicycle safety workshop and pizza party this Sunday to “help keep commuters and recreational cyclists safe.”

 

State

Calbike considers a number of policy changes to protect vulnerable road users.

Orange County’s most bike-friendly city just got its first protected bike lane, with a new 1.25-mile curb protected lane to go with Irvine’s 300 miles of painted bike lanes and 100 miles of off-street bikeways.

The Imperial County DA’s office says they’ll be cracking down on riders of ebikes and electric motorcycles for unspecified violations. Which seems like illegal selective enforcement, unless they crack down on violations by other road users to the same degree.

Bad news from Bakersfield, where a 14-year old boy was critically injured by a driver while riding his bicycle against traffic.

A 44-year old Oregon woman pled not guilty to charges including vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and DUI for allegedly just driving off after hitting two men riding bicycles in San Luis Obispo, killing an 87-year old Avila Beach man and injuring his 74-year old companion.

Sad news from Walnut Creek, where a woman was killed by a driver while riding her bike Wednesday morning — or rather, by a vehicle, since the story doesn’t even mention that it had a driver until the last paragraph.

A suspect has been arrested in Amarillo, Texas for a deadly hit-and-run that took the life of a 49-year old Tulare County man riding a bicycle last August.

 

National

This is the cost of traffic violence. A man describe as a “powerful pedaling force” for the Albuquerque, New Mexico bicycling community was killed by a driver while riding his bike home after spending the day refurbishing bicycles for children in need; 64-year old Chuck Malagodi, who led bike tours around the world before moving to the city, was just a mile from his home when he was killed, after he had refused a ride from a friend.

I want to be like them when I grow up. Three men in their 70s from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, along with a fourth man in his late 60s, completed a bike-touring trip down the 3,000 mile East Coast Greenway trail.

 

International

Vancouver, British Columbia is shutting down some popular DIY bike trails, arguing that they pose a risk to bike riders and the environment.

A Toronto woman thanks the “stranger angel” who came to her aid after she was seriously injured when one of her tires got stuck in a streetcar track. Although what makes one angel stranger than another is beyond me. 

A London bikeshare provider will now offer ebikes with a basket in front and a child seat in the back — or maybe another adult seat.

A writer for Cycling Weekly celebrates the joys of cafe stops after a long ride — in her case “stinking up” British tea rooms.

The BBC insists that a TV show attacking ebikes and lumping low-speed ped-assist ebikes together illegally modified electric motorbikes was “fair and impartial and clearly not an attack on the e-bike industry,” despite complaints by viewers and a trade association that it was exactly that.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada is trying to level the playing field by banning time trial bikes in junior cycling events.

Wind tunnel simulations suggest your water bottle may be in the wrong place — as long as you don’t actually use a bicycle, since they didn’t use one in the tests.

 

Finally…

Your next electric scooter could come disguised as a telecom utility box that magically transforms into an ebike. Your old brake levers could be reborn as door handles.

And that feeling when the real sprinters aren’t even in the peloton

https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1881882165828346210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1881882165828346210%7Ctwgr%5E2517ed17769547aae86b204e10ffde7b36f76ccc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-22-january-2025-312235

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

World Day of Remembrance,Westwood Mobility Popup on Sunday; and bike-friendly November election wins

Just 45 days until LA fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Sunday is the World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence.

So take a moment to remember those who have been sacrificed to the almighty motor vehicle gods, and those who drive them — including the 48 SoCal bike riders who have needlessly lost their lives this year.

Streets Are For Everyone, So Cal Families for Safe Streets, LA Walks, Bike LA and SAFE Families will hold memorials Sunday to remember the 746 people killed in collisions in Los Angeles County last year at Gloria Molina Grand Park in DTLA, at 9:30 am, 11 am, and 2:30 pm.

Other observances will be held in Corona and San Diego; see the top link in this section for details.

Photo by Tucă Bianca from Pexels.

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Candidates endorsed by Streets For All helped lead to bike-friendly city council majorities in Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Culver City, as well as winning races in CD10  and CD14 in Los Angeles.

So maybe the new majority in Culver City can undo the ridiculous removal of the highly successful MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes.

We can hope, right?

Meanwhile, Calbike claims victory for seven of the nine bike-friendly candidates they endorsed in this month’s election, including new Burbank Assemblymember Nick Schultz, and new Los Angeles Assemblymembers Jessica Caloza and Sade Elhawary.

And famed Emeryville “Bike Mayor” and cargo bike pilot John Bauters is now officially an Alameda County District Supervisor.

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Streets For All is hosting a mobility popup in Westwood this Sunday, in conjunction with AARP.

And Bike LA — the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — will host their annual Bike Fest Happy Hour a week from tomorrow.

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It’s now 331 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s ebike rebate pilot program boosted the net earnings of delivery workers compared to using a car, while generating virtually no greenhouse gas emissions. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

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

Cycling Weekly offers tips on how to rebut the usual anti-bike rants.

It will cost at least $48 million to remove Toronto bike lanes targeted by bike-unfriendly Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

Once again, someone has boobytrapped a UK mountain bike trail, stringing electric wire fencing at neck level across the trail, which could shock or strangle, if not decapitate, an unsuspecting victim. And which should be prosecuted appropriately once they find the asshole.

A road raging Norwegian driver went on a rampage against a bike-riding man, first blocking the bike lane with his van, then drop kicking him off his bicycle before assaulting both bike and rider.

Twitter post

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Local  

Santa Monica’s 17th Street and Michigan Ave Safe Streets project was named Transportation Project of the Year by the Southern California Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA).

 

State

Coronado considers banning ebikes from sidewalks.

Livability says the all-year sunshine, mild high desert climate, and open roads and mountain bike trails make San Bernardino County’s Victor Valley a bicycling paradise.

Heartbreaking news from Bakersfield, where a 13-year old boy was killed by a driver while riding his bicycle home from school.

Sonoma is looking for feedback on the city’s Active Transportation Plan.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a man in his 40s was killed by a motorist when he allegedly swerved his bike in front of the driver’s SUV.

Sacramento is considering a plan to limit parking spaces in new buildings, while increasing bike parking; Los Angeles passed a similar measure over a decade ago.

 

National

Consumer Affairs ranks the worst states per capita for bike thefts. Shockingly, California isn’t on the brief list.

About damn time. GM is making technology to alert drivers to the presence of bicyclists standard equipment on all its brands, beginning with the 2025 model year.

Bike Magazine highlights the country’s six best winter mountain biking destinations; the list includes Southern California from Santa Barbara to Santa Monica. Although word has it that Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties ain’t bad, either.

Five years after a Minneapolis street safety advocate was killed while riding his bicycle, his father continues to carry on his son’s work.

Tragic news from Wisconsin, where five people were killed when their car went off the road and struck a tree; all five were active in the annual Ride to Cure Diabetes, a fundraising ride to fight type 1 diabetes.

Life is cheap in Connecticut, where a 72-year old woman walked without a single day behind bars for killing a 47-year old woman riding a bicycle while “fiddling” with her steering wheel, and the two “just seemed to merge together.” Yeah, that’s one way to describe it.

An Atlantic City writer says he knew an ebike was the best investment he ever made the moment he sat in the saddle.

 

International

Momentum highlights the seven lightest ebikes for easy urban riding, and lists the top ten reasons to bike to work in the winter. Most of which don’t apply here in sunny SoCal.

Life is cheap in Ontario, Canada, where a driver walked without a single day behind bars after he was sentenced to home vacation detention for the hit-and-run death of a 54-year old man, despite leaving his bike-riding victim to die alone in a ditch.

British bicyclists are warned not to ignore pain or weakness in your hands, which could result in a serious condition known as cyclist’s palsy. The same advice holds on this side of the Atlantic. 

A 62-year old father and noted criminal defense attorney died in a solo fall during a Belfast, Northern Ireland sportive when he struck a badly worn speed bump.

No surprise here, as a “groundbreaking” new German study shows bicyclists exhibit a greater commitment to the common good than their motoring counterparts.

More proof bikes make the best emergency vehicles, as bicycles prove critical in the wake of extreme flooding in Spain’s Valencia region. Thanks again to Megan Lynch. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist ranks the top 50 cyclists of this decade; Sepp Kuss is the top rated American at number ten.

Sad news from Germany, where six-time world track cycling champ Michael Hubner passed away in a Saxony hospital; he was 65.

French pro cyclist Célia Le Mouel was lucky to escape with minor injuries when a driver turned across her path without looking; her bike was not so lucky.

Three-time Tour de France champ and one-time shotgun blast survivor Greg LeMond tops Cycling Up To Date’s ranking of the all-time best North And South American cyclists.

Carbon monoxide could be the new doping.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal a $6500 ebike, maybe don’t leave your old bike behind as evidence. It’s one thing to carry a keyboard on your bicycle, it’s another when your entire bicycle is a piano.

And of course Hitch was one of us.

Twitter post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Improving first/last mile connections in Culver City, no safe routes to LA River path, and Metro fail at Union Station

Culver City-based bicycle training and advocacy group Walk ‘N Rollers wants your input on improving first and last mile bike and pedestrian access to the Culver City E-Line/Expo Line Metro Station.

Please join Metro, LADOT, Walk ‘N Rollers, and BikeLA on Thursday July 13 for an important community planning process! We are seeking participants who live, work and play within a 1⁄2 mile radius of the Culver City Metro Station on the E-Line (formerly Expo Line) to help ensure that future street improvements in the project area create more accessible and safer pedestrian, cyclist and transit rider pathways and experiences.

At this meeting, we will workshop and gather input on the proposed First/Last Mile Project List for street improvements around the Culver City Metro Station on the E-Line.

Space is limited – Please RSVP here by July 7. bit.ly/CCExpo1stLastMile

Date: Thursday, July 13, 2023
Time: 6 – 8pm
Place: Helms Design Center, 8745 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232

Photo by Olya Kobruseva from Pexels.

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This.

In the six years I’ve lived in Hollywood, I’ve yet to find a safe, comfortable route to the LA River Bike Path that doesn’t involve a bus or car.

It will never reach its potential until it’s easy to access by anyone from any part of the city.

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Another lost opportunity in the City of Angeles, as Metro’s plan to improve bike and pedestrian access to Union Station, as well as improving the forecourt to the station, appears to be in jeopardy as grant funding expires

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London and Paris aren’t the only cities where bikes are taking over the morning commute.

More proof that if you build it, they will come.

Twitter post

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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 New Jersey cop says yes, “Lance” is allowed to take the entire lane, though he doesn’t really recommend it, while conceding that drivers who yell “Get out of the way!” are wrong.

Talk about not getting it. The Jerusalem Post writes that high-end Canyon bikes will come with embedded V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything) tech to prevent crashes by notifying other bike riders to their presence — apparently assuming the real danger to bike riders comes from other people on bikes, not the people embedded in the big, dangerous machines.

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

DC police are searching for a bike-riding man accused of sexually assaulting two people.

A 73-year old Edinburgh woman was left badly bruised when she was struck by a hit-and-run bike rider as she stepped out of her home; the man refused to identify himself before riding off.

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Local 

West Hollywood announced that construction is underway on the new bus priority lanes on North La Brea Ave in the city, with work set to begin yesterday.

Registration is now open for the Santa Clarita Halloween edition of Finish The Ride and Finish The Run.

Streetsblog says new El Monte buffered bike lanes offer a safer route to two transit stations for the area’s working class bicyclists.

 

State

Two men completed a 550 mile bike ride through Central California, following the path of a legendary 1966 farmworkers march.

Authorities in San Diego blame an ebike battery for “possibly” starting a fire that caused $50,000 damage to a condo in the Serra Mesa neighborhood.

For a change, both bike riders and business owners approve of a $10 million plan to improve safety on a Bakersfield street.

Sad news from Stockton, where a 73-year old woman was killed by a driver while riding her bicycle.

 

National

New Smith bike helmets will call for help if you’re in a crash.

Best Reviews offers advice on the best dog bicycle leashes to ride with your “high-engery” pooch, while failing to mention that the AKC recommends against it for small to medium-sized dogs.

A Washington newspaper offers advice to drivers on how to avoid a right hook. Short answer, don’t turn in front of people on bicycles.

Streetsblog wants to know why a Chicago-area street Google calls bike friendly isn’t getting any bicycle upgrades in a new streetscape improvement project.

Ohio state troopers blame a 15-year old bike rider and the design of a bike path for a fatal crash, and not the 91-year old driver who hit a kid riding in a crosswalk.

After a 38-year old Kentucky man was run down from behind by a hit-and-run pickup driver, police quickly conclude that speed wasn’t a factor in the crash, but drinking probably was. Although if the driver had been going slower, the victim might still be alive. So maybe what they really meant is excessive speed wasn’t a factor. Thanks to Glenn Crider for the link.

 

International

They get it. Momentum casts more dirt on the sharrows grave, saying they used to make sense in theory, but are now useless and possibly dangerous in practice. Although I’d say they can drop that “possibly.”

A science site says a runner expends more energy than a bike rider, even when they’re traveling side-by-side.

Life is cheap in Montreal, where police say it was just an oopsie when a truck driver ran over a 53-year old man who fell off his bike, and just kept going without stopping.

Earth.org writes that Hong Kong residents are missing out on the benefits of bicycling when the city ranks 84th out of 90 cities worldwide for bike friendliness. Then again, Hong Kong isn’t exactly friendly to its own residents these days under new Chinese management.

Life is cheap in Australia, where a former Australian football star walked with a lousy $1,500 fine for the hit-and-run crash that seriously injured a bike rider, leaving the victim with a series of bolts and plates in his neck, and suffering from constant headaches and flashbacks.

The Sydney Morning Herald says bicycling can be a great way to enjoy overseas cities, even if it’s a dismal experience in most Australian cities.

 

Competitive Cycling

Aussie Jai Hindley took the first mountain stage of the Tour de France, along with Adam Yates’ yellow jersey, by staging a stunning solo finish on stage five; an Australian news site applauds the preparation that led to a “brilliant” move in the Pyrenees.

Velo says Jonas Vingegaard’s “rocketship acceleration” over the stage’s final summit left his chief competitor Tadej Pogačar reeling and 53 seconds down. But it’s still a long way to Paris.

Former Paris-Nice champ Luis Leon Sanchez was the latest notable rider to withdraw from Le Tour, crashing out with a broken collarbone on stage four.

USA Cycling announced the American team that will compete in the Track World Championships next month.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 95-year old man is preparing to compete in the cycling events in the biennial National Senior Games, and offers advice on how to stay in shape, physically and socially.

 

Finally…

Now you and your bike can both have mullets. It can make for a crappy ride when there’s a toilet in the bike lane.

And now you, too, can use a common traffic cone to stop a self-driving car in its tracks.

Twitter post

My apologies to anyone who can’t see the Twitter video; I haven’t been able to find the original on TikTok.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.