Tag Archive for ebikes

Rancho Palos Verdes tries to ban ebikes, ebike looting follows Mountain Fire, and protected bike lanes south of the border

November 11, 2024 / / One comment
Just 49 days until LA fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Happy Veterans Day to everyone who has served our country at home and abroad!

Get out for a good ride today to celebrate. And thank you.

Photo from Lime Micromobility.

………

Rancho Palos Verdes extends its usual unwelcome mat for bicyclists to e-bike riders, with new restrictions and fines to make you feel as unwanted as possible.

Of course, the Daily Breeze feels compelled to hide the story behind their paywall for subscribers only, so they evidently don’t want you to know about it.

However, this excerpt from the article suggests that they intend to ban ebikes entirely from city streets and sidewalks; the last part is legal, the first not so much.

Expanded e-bike restrictions

The city council recently expanded the ordinance to ban e-bikes on city streets and sidewalks, while allowing them on bicycle paths.

California state law allows bicycles on any street where cars are allowed, and ebikes are allowed under state law. So unless they’re planning to ban cars from city streets, they can’t ban ebikes, either.

But it could mean going to court to fight a ticket and convince a judge if you want to challenge it.

Thanks to Jim Lyle for the heads-up.

………

A worker on a Camarillo landscaping crew was arrested for looting an ebike Friday in the wake of the Mountain Fire.

After a homeowner parked his ebike in his driveway to check on his property, he returned to find the bike missing. He confronted a landscaping crew working in the area, and one of the men admitted to taking the bike, and gave it back to him.

The homeowner reported the incident to the police the next day, resulting in Ramon Avila Pacheco being booked on suspicion of looting in an evacuation order area.

Apparently, returning the ebike had no effect on the charge.

………

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider visits Mexico City, and discovers what Los Angeles could do with a little more political will.

Okay, a lot more.

………

MSNBC political commentator Chris Hayes is one of us, too. Thanks to Glenn with 2 Ns for the heads-up. 

Best way to commute before a big night.

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes.bsky.social) 2024-11-05T22:24:25.118Z

………

It’s now 327 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.

………

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

Seriously? The Marin County Supervisors are backing what the local newspaper calls a “bike-lane experiment,” which amounts to ripping out the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge four days a week, on a trial basis. Although it’s questionable whether they could do it without a CEQA review on anything but a trial basis. 

That’s more like it. Thousands of people on bicycles jammed the streets to protest the removal of Toronto bike lanes, which were ordered taken out by the anti-bike provincial government. Maybe someday, we’ll be able to get a turnout like that here in Los Angeles. Click through if the video below appears truncated on your screen, like it is on mine.

Thousands turn out for protest to save bike lanes
byu/ICanGetLoudTooWTF intoronto

………

Local  

Streetsblog looks at new bike lanes and safety improvements around the city, stretching from DTLA to Leimert Park and the San Fernando Valley.

Metro Bike wants to know what you think; complete the survey and you could win a raffle prize.

An op-ed writer in the Los Angeles Times says he thought he had his bike commute down, until a bike-riding German man pointed out the obvious flaw in his route, which needlessly bypassed the beachfront bike path.

Sally Struthers is one of us, as the 77-year old former All in the Family star went for a casual bike ride in Los Angeles last week; a London paper uncharitably calls her “unrecognizable,” yet somehow the paparazzi managed to spot her.

 

State

Calbike says budget cuts have left California’s Active Transportation Program in dire straits, leaving just $100 million on hand, enough to fund just 4% of the $2.5 billion in requests.

Just days after a Victorville man was killed by a driver while riding his bike, another person riding a bicycle was critically injured by a pickup driver Friday evening; unfortunately, there’s no information about the victim at this time.

Good news from the Bay Area, where Prop K is leading with 54% of the vote, although it’s still too early to call; the ballot measure would permanently close San Francisco’s Upper Great Highway to motor vehicles and turn it into a linear park, bikeway and walkway.

 

National

No surprise here, as a new buffered bike lane in Bellingham, Washington is popular with bicyclists, and hated by motorists; ridership increased a third, while motor vehicle use on the street dropped by 14%. Which sounds like a win-win to me. 

Tragic news from Utah, where a county employee was killed when he rode his ebike off the side of the road during the ceremonial opening of a paved bike trail.

Former President Bush — that’s W, not his late dad — held his annual mountain bike ride for veterans on his sprawling Texas ranch.

 

International

Momentum offers the complete guide to cargo bikes, calling them the next big thing.

Momentum also highlights eight of the leading bike advocacy groups on both sides of the border; the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Santa Barbara’s Bici Centro make the cut, but none of the Los Angeles-based organizations did.

More proof that bicycles make the best emergency vehicles, as two men share a bike to get through floodwaters left behind by Hurricane Rafael in western Cuba.

Bike-friendly Canadian cities to consider if you’re already packing your bags to leave the US after last week’s election.

A London writer said she’s swearing off the Tube, aka the city’s subway system, after ebiking to work for a month, and pledges to never go back.

A golfer took an epic 47-day, 1,700-mile bike ride around Ireland to play golf and raise the equivalent of nearly $8,000 for a cancer charity.

Dutch ebike maker Stella is just the latest casualty in the bike industry.

Cycling Weekly explores how a bike trail along the former border between East and West Germany helped rewrite the history of the Berlin Wall.

A South African bicycle mayor is evangelizing bike riders in a Cape Town township, and throughout the city.

Hong Kong discovers that cracking down on illegal ebikes could spark a crisis for the city’s food delivery services.

Speaking of stories hidden behind paywalls, Kaifeng, China learned to be careful what they wish for when they encouraged night-time bike riding, and the streets became gridlocked with bicycles. Seriously, if the photo is legit, we’re talking wall-to-wall bikes. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Record-holding sprinter Mark Cavendish called it a career with a win in Singapore’s Tour de France Criterium; Cav raced wearing bib number 35, the record-setting number of Tour de France stage wins he set this year.

 

Finally…

No, fleeing police on a bicycle is not “driving away.” Your next ebike could have a sidecar.

And it could be a throwback to the original bicycles made by the Dodge brothers, before they got into the car biz.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Ebike-riding man fatally shot in LA’s Mid-Wilshire neighborhood, and Streets For All voter guide for Tuesday’s election

October 30, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 62 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Breaking news, as a man riding an ebike was fatally shot in LA’s Mid-Wilshire neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.

And that’s about all we know right now.

The victim was shot multiple times while riding in the 900 block of South Victoria Ave around 4:15 pm.

The shooters reportedly fled in a dark blue or purple sedan.

Police don’t yet know the identity of the victim, or any reason for the shooting. It’s also unknown if this was a case of road rage, or if the shooters may have known the victim.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more as the investigation moves forward.

………

It’s now 314 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

More fallout from Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s war on bike lanes, as one site says the bill to restrict them contradicts experience, science and safety, and another says it’s just taking the province backwards.

The owner of an Oxford, England “ultra-low emission courier company,” aka a cargo bike delivery firm, warns that bicyclists and drivers are “warring factions, shaking angry fists and hurling expletives at each other.”

Damn. A Japanese truck driver turns himself in after the “worst close pass ever,” as he’s shown on video nearly brushing a bike rider — and somehow, commenters still find a way to blame the guy on the bike.

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

Dockless Lime bikes are accused of being a “constant menace” to London cabbies due to the “totally selfish actions” of riders. Because we all know cab drivers go out of their way to share the road and show consideration for other road users. 

A Singapore resident questions why bicyclists continue to ride on the city’s elevated bridges, despite clearly displayed signs telling them to dismount. That’s easy. Dismounting and walking is inconvenient, time-delaying and more difficult than riding, especially with cleats — even if it is rude.

………

Local  

Streets For All offers their voter guide for Tuesday’s election.

Streetsblog takes a look at Westwood’s new Broxton pedestrian plaza.

The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering will host a community meeting to discuss filling a gap on the LA River bike path through the San Fernando Valley tonight.

 

State

A Fresno bike rider was hospitalized with unknown injuries after they were struck by an undercover cop in an apparent unmarked vehicle.

No shit. San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Rudick says the local cops need to stop mindlessly exonerating killer drivers, arguing the hypocrisy shown in investigating two recent crashes is astounding.

Sad news from Oakland, where a 44-year old Emeryville man was killed when he apparently crashed his bike into a guardrail.

More sad news, this time from Cloverdale, where an 11-year old boy was killed  in a freak accident when he fell off his bicycle, and his handlebars hit his stomach.

 

National

Inertia rates the year’s best e-cargo bikes.

A new study published in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine shows that riding a bicycle over the course of your lifetime can result in a significant decrease in knee pain and osteoarthritis. It worked for me; I was told I needed a knee replacement nearly 30 years ago, and was able to put it off for another 25 years. 

Tariffs on ebikes have almost always “raised consumer prices and hurt sales.”

Police in Texas are on the lookout for thieves who stole a U-Haul truck, and used it to make off with $60,000 worth of ebikes from a New Braunfels bike shop.

 

International

Momentum lists their top urban bikewear and bicycling gear finds for the fall season, along with the best upright commuter bikes.

Momentum also examines “amazing examples” of bicycling solutions from cities around the world. None of which can be found in Los Angeles, or anywhere else in North America.

Topping off our Momentum trifecta, or rather quadfecta, the magazine notes seven reasons bicycles are perfect for the 15-minute city.

The Alpecin Cycling WorldTour team says you really should try riding gravel.

A Norwegian master’s student attempts to quantify the impact large transportation infrastructure like railways or highways have on bicyclists, a phenomenon known as the barrier effect.

Velo highlights the best gravel bikes from the Bespoked Dresden show, including one with a frame made entirely of wood.

 

Competitive Cycling

The stages were announced for next year’s Tour de France, including a stage up the “evil” Mont Ventoux; IDL Pro Cycling says the new route gives hope to cyclists not named Pogačar, Vingegaard or Evenepoel.

The longest ever edition of the modern Tour de France Femmes was also announced, featuring the Col de Joux-Plane and a “brutal” Col de la Madeleine summit finish.

 

Finally…

Why just ride a bike when you can peddle your way to the America’s Cup? Your next golf cart could be a funky three-wheeled ebike.

And why trip over your bike when you can levitate it?

Thanks to Steven for the link.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

A 20-year battle for bike access to VA cemetery, Prime Day bike deals, and prepping your bike for a hurricane

October 9, 2024 / / No comments
Just 82 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

I have a medical test that will keep me from writing tonight, so there won’t be a new post tomorrow. But I expect to be back as usual on Friday to catch up on anything we missed.

And if you have any extra prayers or good thoughts lying around that you don’t need right now, send ’em my way. Because this one scares me. 

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. 

………

We’ve been talking about this one way too long.

If you’re under 23, you’ve never ridden a bike from Westwood to nearby Brentwood using the safe and convenient short cut through the Los Angeles National Cemetery.

Not even in a child’s seat on your parent’s bike.

Yet that’s exactly what UCLA students and faculty did on a daily basis for decades prior to 9/11. But after that terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon building in Washington DC, the gates were closed, and have never reopened.

In fact, you can’t even ride your bike into the cemetery to pay your respects to the many Americans who served their country with honor — and too often sacrificed their lives for it.

Apparently, they’re afraid of someone hijacking a bicycle and crashing it into the gravestones, sacrificing honored veterans who have been dead for years.

And if that makes sense to you, congratulations.

Because I’ve been writing about it since at least 2010, and it still doesn’t make a damn bit of sense to me.

Now you once again have a chance to do something about it.

The Veteran Administration’s Advisory Committee on Cemeteries and Memorials will hold a pair of meetings later this month to discuss, yes, the administration of national cemeteries. Which gives you a chance to weigh in with your comments calling for reopening this vital route that was used for years without causing any significant problems.

You can get up to speed on the debate with the link above to this site, and this 2016 post from the UCLA Bicycle Academy and Healthy Wheels VA.

Because your opinion matters. And given that we’re taking about the VA, it matters even more if you’re a veteran.

In that case, reach out to me and I can put you in touch with others who’ve been fighting this battle for over 20 years now, and can definitely use your help.

………

It’s the final day of Amazon Prime Days.

Cyclingnews has an updated list of all the best deals, while Bike Magazine highlights the best mountain bike deals.

Cyclist has the best deals you can buy using your British pounds.

And this Cyclingnews recommended bike taillight is on sale right now on either side of the Atlantic.

……….

Electrek offers advice on how to prep your ebike for a hurricane.

Which could be important if you happen to be in Florida right now.

………

That feeling when you need a little help to consume enough carbs on your bike.

………

It’s now 294 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And an even 40 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

Sistine Stallone, the 26-year old daughter of Sylvester Stallone, recounted a terrifying encounter with a “deranged” bike-riding man who screamed profanities at her, then chased her on his bike even after she ran into a Sephora store for protection.

Six young Singaporean bicyclists will be prosecuted for allegedly “flouting multiple road cycling rules…in a manner that endangered both their own safety and that of other road users.”

………

Local  

Los Angeles has approved the use of automated on-bus cameras to enforce parking bans in bus lanes. Which means someday soon, the only vehicle you could have to worry about when you ride in a bus lane is the bus running up your ass. 

A lawyer says yes, you’ve got to have a light on your bike, and yes, you’re subject to the same laws as drivers are, including stopping at stop signs. Although there’s a good argument for changing that last part. 

 

State

Sonoma County approved two miles of new on-road bike lanes in Sonoma Valley. Although it sounds like you may have to share them with pedestrians.

 

National

No, riding a bike will not give you prostate cancer.

US News and World Report — yes, it’s still a thing — has seven bike brands recommended by the proverbial “avid cyclist.”

No surprise here. A public defender has requested a mental competency test for Jesus Ayala, the 19-year old Las Vegas driver accused of intentionally running down retired Bell, California police chief Andy Probst just for the hell of it.

No surprise here, either, as a Tucson, Arizona bike boulevard is annoying some people, who fear it will increase risk on the roadway. But this time, bike riders are doing some of the complaining.

Moab, Utah may open its world-class mountain bike trails to ebikes.

He gets it. An Evanston, Illinois writer says it may seem like it’s pedestrians versus bikes after a woman was injured by someone riding on the sidewalk, but the real problem is cars.

A Black neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina is still haunted by the death of a six-year old boy who was riding his bike when he was run down by a driver in a pickup; 35 years later, the area still has no sidewalks, damaged walkways, and roads with the high speed limits typical of too many Black neighborhoods.

 

International

Momentum shares a half-dozen bike-friendly airports around the world where you can virtually ride your bike to the front door.

The rich get richer. London now has 250 miles of bike lanes. Many of which look a lot better than most of the bike lanes over here. 

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A stoned English driver walked without a single day behind bars, despite knocking a bike rider 20 feet in the air while driving at twice the legal limit for cannabis, on the wrong side of the road, leaving the victim with serious injuries.

A British man has been sentenced to a minimum of 21 years behind bars for intentionally running down a man riding a bicycle and leaving him on the side of the road, because he mistakenly thought the victim had ratted him out for employing illegal immigrants; another man got four years for helping him.

Riding a bicycle helped save a man in the UK suffering from homelessness, alcoholism, depression and a nervous breakdown.

An Irish public health physician says building better infrastructure is the best way to improve safety for bicyclists, but we need to better educate drivers until that happens.

Your next ebike could be powered by a universal, repairable ebike battery developed by a French company that can be swapped from one bike to another.

A Croation website discusses the rise of high-speed ebikes that can speed through city centers at up to 40 mph.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italy’s single-day Tre Valli Varesine race was called off with 62 miles to go after a heavy downpour left the course flooded, with water rising to riders’ disk brakes and lifting manhole covers; world champ Tadej Pogačar said it was the right call, because no one could see where they were going.

Sad news from Colombia, where 1994 youth world cycling champ Marlon Alirio Pérez was killed when he was stabbed several times during an armed robbery; the 48-year old was a three-time national champion, 2011 Pan American time trial champ, and 2017 world paracycling tandem champ as a guide for blind cyclist Javier Serna.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can share your rides with people who do theirs indoors. Who needs a sports drink when you can have coffee with benefits?

And you thought you had bike skills.

@tetonjuggler

Had to pray to the powers on high for the first one. Second one has taken 6 years. #foryou #mtb #skills

♬ original sound – tetonjuggler

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

It wasn’t ebikes that shut down San Pedro bridge, 80 mph hit-and-run driver pleads not guilty, and more ebike junk science

September 27, 2024 / / No comments
Just 94 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

……..

It’s not our fault this time.

No, really.

After a couple years of headlines about fires and injuries caused by exploding lithium-ion ebike batteries, a lithium-ion battery fire shut down the entire Vincent Thomas Bridge over the LA Harbor in San Pedro.

But we didn’t have anything to do with it.

This time it was an overturned semi carrying six massive lithium-ion batteries that burst into flames shortly after it tipped over.

Fortunately, Li-ion batteries are usually shipped with just a partial charge, or we could have been looking at a much bigger disaster.

It just feels good that ebikes had nothing to do with it, for once.

Screen grab from KABC-7.

………

Alan Reyes, the 23-year old driver accused fleeing the scene after critically injuring a 16-year old ebike rider in San Marcos, pled not guilty in his first court appearance yesterday.

He is accused of driving his pickup 80 mph in a 45 mph zone, with alcohol in his system at the time of the crash, but is not accused of being legally drunk.

Probably because he had two days to sober up before police found his truck and identified him as the driver, making it impossible to administer a valid alcohol test.

Meanwhile the victim, Jonathan Ramos, is still in the ICU suffering from severe injuries, including a damaged lung, and is unable to breathe on his own.

His mother says the kid was just one minute from home when Reyes ran him down.

Allegedly.

Reyes is being held on $100,000 bond.

………

More junk science about the “staggering” rate of ebike injuries.

In a new study, researchers from Columbia University estimate that ebike and e-scooter injuries increased by a “staggering” 293% and 88% respectively between 2019-2022.

Which does sound staggering. Until you consider ebike sales were up an estimated 269% over the same period, meaning estimated ebike injuries only increased a relatively modest 24% over estimated sales.

And both figures are presented in terms of percentages, making it impossible to compare the actual number of injuries to the total number of sales.

So until someone finally gets around to conducting a rigorous study that compares injury rates to ridership, alarming statistics like this aren’t worth the silicon they’re printed on.

Meanwhile, in not so junky science, a new five-year study from Lime and the Bike League shows micromobility users — ie, bike and scooter riders — prefer using painted bike lanes, and particularly protected bike lanes, over streets with no bike infrastructure.

And yes, the bike lanes do make them feel safer — and actually makes them safer, especially the protected lanes.

………

Pledge to go a week without driving next week.

Which is easier said than done if you rely on Metro buses, like I do.

………

Now you might actually be able to find a restroom the next time you take a Metro bus or train.

………

Zachary Rynew offers more proof that too many Los Angeles drivers are (insert offensive epithet of your choice).

………

It’s now 282 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 39 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

A 76-year old Florida woman faces an aggravated assault charge for chasing after a man on a bicycle and intentionally trying to run him down with her car, following an argument that began when she tried to cut him off in a roundabout.

A Canadian website says Ontario Premier Doug Ford has declared war on bicyclists, carrying on his crack-smoking former Toronto mayor brother’s hatred of all things bike.

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

Mobs of teenagers on bicycles have now descended on fourteen 7-11s across the Los Angeles area, stealing everything they can get their hands on “with the efficiency of a well-oiled machine” — except, oddly, the cash.

Police in Wales are looking for a man riding a bicycle who pushed a schoolgirl, for no apparent reason.

A British man was convicted of manslaughter for fatally punching a 78-year old widower, after the victim objected to the man riding his bicycle on the sidewalk; he tried to flee afterwards, but was detained by bystanders until police arrived.

………

Local  

Streets For All urges you to contact the governor to demand he sign SB 961, which would require that all new cars emit an audible warning when drivers go more than 10 mph over the speed limit.

Calbike offers a guest post from Anne Marie Drolet, founder of LA’s biweekly Gender Expansive Ride. 

 

State

That’s more like it. A San Francisco man is finally going to trial eight years after he allegedly killed a 41-year old woman riding a bicycle, after the judge vacated a deal that would have imposed a 15-year sentence on lesser charges; Nicky Garcia was allegedly blowing through stop signs at up to 60 mph, after breaking into a car and stealing a backpack, when he ran down Heather Miller. Garcia has already spent the last eight years behind bars, apparently unable to post bail.

 

National

Popular used bike and component retailer The Pro’s Closet announced it will be shutting down next month after 18 years.

Bike Radar says famed handmade bike builder Bob Parlee’s legacy will live on through his incredible bikes, following his death from natural causes earlier this week.

A Milwaukee man was lucky to keep his head on his shoulders when a thin wire dangling from a light pole wrapped around his neck as he was riding downhill on a bike trail at 28 mph; no word yet on why the wire was there, or if was placed intentionally.

Common sense prevailed for once, as a judge ruled that a former Pittsburgh cop who was fired for repeatedly tasing a nonviolent Black man mistakenly suspected of stealing a bicycle can’t get his job back, after an arbitrator had ordered him reinstated with back pay.

A Massachusetts state representative is demanding answers from the state police on why they didn’t charge the driver who jumped the curb and killed 62-year old man riding his bike on the sidewalk in a head-on collision. And no, I can’t recall any California legislator demanding to know why a driver who killed someone on a bicycle wasn’t charged. 

The New York Times says bicycles ruled the Gulf Coast before Hurricane Helene made landfall Thursday night. After it made landfall, probably not so much.

 

International

Sounding like a classic Seinfeld episode regarding something far different, Momentum says “Yes, these bicycle campers are real and they’re magnificent.”

In a bizarre story reminiscent of an infamous scene from Blazing Saddles, an apparently suicidal Vancouver man led police on an extensive chase riding an ebike while holding a pellet gun to his own head, leading to a shelter-in-place order for the surrounding community.

Canada has opened four new bike tourism routes across the country.

No, there’s nothing wrong with a driver pulling over into a bike lane to let a fire truck pass, in Britain or anywhere else. Including here.

Proving that it is possible, bicycling fatalities in the UK have dropped to the lowest level ever recorded, although that’s also accompanied by a jump in injuries and a drop in bicycling rates. But it took a significant investment in safe bike infrastructure to do it, which we’ve yet to see on this side of the Atlantic.

A British driver was “spoken to” but not charged after apparently passing out at the wheel, jumping the curb and plowing into a row of bikes, throwing a woman through the air and snapping her bike in two. Fortunately, the bike rider’s injuries were not life-threatening; no word on the condition of the driver.

Add this one to your bike bucket list. A new Turkish bike tour — excuse me, Türkiye — promises to take you back in time 3,700 years.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bad news from Zurich, Switzerland, where 18-year old Swiss cyclist Muriel Furrer is in very critical condition with a serious head injury, after crashing during yesterday’s junior women’s road race at the UCI world championships.

 

Finally…

Maybe your under-the-breath comments aren’t so under-the-breath, after all. Now you, too, can do your very own aero testing.

And a bike helmet may not protect you from a massive SUV. But apparently, it can keep your head safe from nut-tossing squirrels.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

15-year old Monterey Park girl found safe, context-free rise in ebike injuries, and elderly man gravely injured in Mira Mesa

July 24, 2024 / / One comment
Just 160 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

Photo from Monterey Park Police Dept. 

………

She’s safe.

KABC-7 reports that Alison Jillian Chao, the 15-year old Monterey Park girl who disappeared on a bike ride last week, was found safe outside their studio in Glendale yesterday morning.

Chao was reportedly recognized by someone who followed her in their car and notified police.

Her aunt says she believes the girl ran away because she didn’t want to live with her mother, who was granted full custody of her on a temporary basis.

One more example of why the courts need to give more consideration to the desires of kids in custody cases.

But the important thing is she’s safe. The rest is details.

………

Researchers are reporting a “remarkable” rise in ebike and e-scooter injuries.

A new study from UC San Francisco shows ebike injuries in the US have doubled each year for the last six years, rising from 750 in 2017 to 23,500 in 2022, while e-scooter owies have climbed an average of 45%, from 8,500 to 56,800 over the same period.

Although ebike injuries still represent less than 2% of the roughly 2.5 million injuries suffered by riders of more traditional bicycles.

And we have to look at that nine-fold rise in electric micromobility injuries in the context of the 50-fold jump in micromobility usage over the past ten years.

It’s also worth noting that the risk of death in comparison to injuries is just one-fifth of one per cent or less for any form of micromobility, ranging from <0.1% for ebikes and traditional scooters to 0.1% for regular bicycles and 0.2% for e-scooters.

Which appears to be a hell of a lot less than we’re usually led to believe.

The researchers also note a lack of helmets among injured riders, as well as drinking and drug use.

“Our findings stress a concerning trend: helmet usage is noticeably lower among electric vehicle users, and risky behaviors, such as riding under the influence, are more prevalent,” said study co-first author Kevin Li.

Never mind that they conflate rental ebikes and e-scooters with devices that are owned by their riders.

Which matters because renting a bicycle or scooter is often a spur of the moment decision. People who have been drinking or using drugs may choose to ride one instead of risking a DUI, and someone with lowered inhibitions may be more likely to ride one on impulse.

It’s also worth noting that less than 10% of e-scooter users were under the influence, dropping to 7% for ebike riders, and just 4% for riders of more traditional bicycles.

Which means that well over 90% of all users were sober a judge. Depending on the judge, of course.

And few people are likely to carry a helmet with them wherever they go, especially if they aren’t planning in advance to ride a bike or scooter, electric or otherwise.

It also appear the researchers conflated relatively low-speed ped-assist bikes with higher-speed throttle-controlled bicycles, which are better classified as lower-powered electric motorcycles.

As for the rapid jump in electric bike and scooter injuries, such stats are absolutely meaningless when not considered in context with the rapid rise in ebike and e-scooter usage.

Without that comparison, we have no way of knowing if the rate and severity of injuries are climbing relative to electric bike and scooter use, or if one is increasing faster than the other.

What’s needed is a side-by-side comparison of annual bicycle, ebike and e-scooter injuries relative to usage for each. Unless and until we have that, studies like this are interesting, but relatively meaningless.

Meanwhile, if you want to read a really badly reported synopsis of a synopsis of the study, you could do a lot worse than this story in the New York Post.

Like maybe this story in The Hill, which somehow blames the increase in ebike injuries on risky behavior and urban design — which may have been inferred, but neither of which were directly implicated in the study.

………

More bad news from San Diego, where a 74-year old man was gravely injured in a solo bike crash.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, lost control of his bike and hit a curb while riding in the 10700 block of Camino Santa Fe in Mira Mesa, suffering life-threatening injuries including a brain bleed, broken collarbone and several fractured ribs.

Let’s all hope and pray he pulls through.

………

It’s now 216 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 37 full months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

A Florida jogger faces a battery charge for hitting a woman in the face with a bottle and knocking her off her bicycle, yelling that she had to share the road, even though she was on a bike path where pedestrians aren’t allowed. Or joggers.

No bias here. Writing for the London Telegraph, the TV editor for the Independent newspaper says she’s a regular bike commuter, but she’s “sick of reckless cyclists ruining it for everyone,” while somehow assuming all those Lycra-clad louts are blowing through red lights at a remarkable 40 mph — double the speed limit, and far beyond the capacity of just about everyone without a motor. But still lower than the 52 mph cited in the headline.

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

Police dashcam and bodycam images captures video of a man on a bicycle evading cops on a chase through the city back in May, after attacking someone with a machete.

………

Local 

To paraphrase Sunset Boulevard, the new Hollywood Blvd bike lanes are ready for their closeup, Mr. DeMille. And from what I’ve seen going by on the bus, they look marvelous.

https://twitter.com/LADOTofficial/status/1815507535148781864

 

State

Calbike accuses Caltrans of contributing to incomplete streets for bicyclists and pedestrians in Orange County by ignoring their own rules on Beach Blvd.

Yes, please. Dozens of Orange County drivers were ticketed for various offenses in a traffic crackdown over the weekend, including having overly loud exhaust systems. Now do Hollywood, where illegal decibel-shattering cars and motorcycles roar through the streets all day and night.

San Diego’s sparkling new fully separated Pershing Bikeway will have a partial opening this weekend, with connecting bike lanes coming online in the next few weeks.

San Diego bicyclists can use the Bike Lane Uprising app to document drivers parking in them.

SFGate says a quiet movement is growing in San Francisco, as more people trade the family car for e-cargo bikes, although residents are divided over the city’s Slow Streets program.

 

National

Americans set a new record for bikeshare and e-scooter rentals last year, topping the previous high of 147 million trips set in 2019 by a full ten million.

Bicycling may cause genital numbness, but doesn’t result in a statistically significant rate of erectile dysfunction in men, while women bicyclists are no more likely to report urinary or sexual dysfunction symptoms than swimmers or runners.

The parents of fallen Boulder, Colorado junior cycling champ Magnus White hope a memorial ride marking his death next month will be the largest advocacy ride in history.

There’s a special place in hell for the 41-year old Pueblo, Colorado man who shot a child in the back over an allegedly stolen bicycle; he faces three counts of attempted 2nd degree murder, despite causing the kid only minor injuries.

Thousands of riders participating in the annual RAGBRAI ride across Iowa visited tiny Greenfield, Iowa — population 2057 — just two months after a devastating tornado killed four people and injured dozens more.

The Boston Globe says bikes are booming in Beantown as new separated and protected bikeways roll out, but barriers to biking remain. Kinda like just about everywhere else, but without the spiffy new infrastructure in a lot of places.

J-Lo continues to impress fashionistas with her casual bike chic, going for a casual ride in the Hamptons in a floral skirt and matching bandeau top.

 

International

British Columbia bike riders complain that bicycles are just an afterthought on the local ferries.

More proof bikes mean business. Hotels and bicycle touring companies in a pair of Scottish cities have seen an increase in business since a new coast-to-coast bike route opened a year ago.

A writer for Cycling Weekly considers whether getting on your bike is really the best medicine, as more and more physicians in the UK prescribe bicycling to cure what ails you.

A British bike shop owner says “it’s a bit of a Wild West out there” when it comes to the safety of ebike batteries, as King Charles calls for better regulation of high risk products such as the lithium-ion batteries found in many ebikes.

You won’t find any “cyclists” in The Hague in the Netherlands, which PeopleForBikes calls the world’s best bicycling city. Although the country does use “the” a lot, and has some weird rules on its capitalization.

Michelin offers a handy guide to biking to newly bike-friendly Barcelona’s hotels and restaurants. Bearing in mind that tourists aren’t exactly welcomed by everyone in the Catalan city.

Good on them. Japan decided to cut the speed limit on narrow roadways from 60 kph to just 30 kph — aka 36 mph to 18 mph — which will affect roughly 70% of the nation’s streets, while improving safety for everyone.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bike World News introduces the US Olympic Cycling Team.

Newly re-crowned Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar pulled out of the Paris Games after winning the race on Sunday, aiming for a triple crown by winning the world championship, after taking the Giro title earlier this year.

British time trialist George Fox set an unofficial new road bike record over a 10 mile course, knocking two seconds off the current mark, while using a controversial triathlon bike.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you interrupt your ride across Iowa for a cold beer in The Middle of Nowhere. Or when your favorite bike path is closed for a boat race, even though boats hardly ever ride bikes.

And how to catch Olympic motor doping.

Let’s just hope they do a better job with that than they do with regular doping.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Nonprofit overseeing CA ebike voucher program under investigation, and Gordon Ramsay says “wear your helmet”

June 17, 2024 / / One comment
Just 198 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.

Image by Maxfoot from Pixabay.

………

And that, my friends, is when it all went to hell.

As you may know, we’ve been tracking the moribund California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which has now reached 178 days since we were promised it would open in fall of last year.

Spoiler alert — it didn’t.

It’s also a full three years since the plan was approved by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor. And counting.

And just two weeks before they’re guaranteed to miss the most recent promised launch date in the second quarter of this year, which has now been pushed back to sometime this summer.

They’re not likely to meet that one, either.

Because the program charged with operating the California ebike incentive program, San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, could end up facing charges themselves.

In fact, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Pedal Ahead is currently facing not one, not two, but three ongoing investigations. (Although the paper’s newly even more draconian paywall means you’ll have to register with your email if you want to read it.)

It’s a confusing and convoluted story. But the gist of it is that Pedal Ahead is accused of being delinquent in filing the required paperwork with various government agencies, leading to investigations by San Diego County, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Department of Justice.

Yet somehow, they’re supposed to handle the increasingly complicated statewide program, which has now been funded with a still-too-small $31 million to distribute, even though that’s up from the initial $10 million fund, which was reduced to just $7.5 million after overhead.

And even though they’ve been removed as operators of the low-income ebike loan-to-own program launched by the San Diego Association of Governments two years ago.

Yet it was that “expertise” that formed the basis of their selection to operate the statewide program.

But at least that part of the story is clear.

It gets more confusing when the paper tries to explain the numerous nonprofit and for-profit companies opened by Pedal Ahead chief executive Edward Clancy in recent years, many with nearly identical names.

And many, if not most, of which either ran into problems, or apparently never got beyond the naming stage.

Then there’s the fact that Clancy wore a wire for the FBI’s probe into illegal campaign financing involving his former boss and a Mexican businessman, while skating on any possible charges himself.

Clancy was appointed as “bike czar” by former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who resigned under a torrent of sexual misconduct accusations after less than a year in office.

According to the Union-Tribune,

Clancy was later reported to have been a confidential informant in an unrelated federal investigation into illegal campaign financing in San Diego County.

The Union-Tribune reported in 2014 that he wore a wire for the FBI, recording conversations with three people who were later charged with coordinating $500,000 in donations from Mexican businessman Jose Susumo Azano Matsura to Filner, then-District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and two Democratic political committees.

Clancy, who received qualified immunity from federal prosecutors and was never himself charged with any wrongdoing, maintained his political connections after he stopped consulting.

No problem, then.

It’s long past time that the state legislature conducted an open, public hearing into the problems with the state ebike incentive program that have led to its ongoing failure to launch, despite the clear intent of our elected leaders.

And shine a much-needed light on a program that has been utterly opaque up to this point.

Because something tells me what we’ve learned today is just the tip of an iceberg big enough to sink the Titanic all over again.

Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for the heads-up. 

………

The common theme over the weekend, the one that sucked the air out of the news headlines, is Gordon’s Ramsay’s advice to wear your bike helmet.

Yes, the lovably irascible chef is one of us. Although “lovably” kind of depends on your perspective.

Ramsay revealed in a Father’s Day greeting that he had been the victim of a bad bicycling crash in Connecticut recently, lifting his traditional chef’s jacket to reveal a badly bruised torso. And crediting his shattered helmet and “those incredible trauma surgeons, doctors, nurses in the hospitals” that looked after him with saving his life.

Meanwhile, a writer for the Christian Science Monitor also says wear a helmet, and put front, and especially, rear lights on your bike, offering his own hard-won experience in Long Beach as proof.

Although he misses the mark in calling out bicyclists for riding “two, three or even four abreast.” forcing drivers to “swerve completely into the incoming traffic lane.”

Never mind that riding abreast helps prevent unsafe passing, and using the next lane to go around them is exactly what drivers are supposed to do.

Then again, even Dutch officials are calling for the country’s largely helmet averse population to change “because the brain is very vulnerable.”

………

Nothing like have your bike stolen right in front of you on a Metro platform in broad daylight, as passengers look on.

………

It’s not every day you actually see a positive report about new bike lanes on the local news.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdK5c-i6HDs

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

………

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

No bias here. A writer for an off-road racing website blames a group of Atlanta bike riders for complaining when a cop ignored the speeding BMW driver who zoomed around them on the wrong side of the road, only to lecture them for some undisclosed reason. “We’ve all encountered entitled, difficult cyclists before,” he writes. “Maybe they’re riding three or four abreast, not letting cars get by, and acting aggressive towards any driver who does try to pass.”

A UK paper complains about the mythical war on cars over plans to fine drivers who step out into London bike lanes, as if the real problem is the penalty, and not the reason for it.

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

Bavarian police observed over 11,500 bicycling infractions over a one-month period of heightened enforcement.

………

Local 

Discover Los Angeles reminds us about this Sunday’s CicLAvia on Western Ave in South LA.

Here’s your chance to tell Glendale you want a permanent calmer, safer North Brand Boulevard, after the city’s successful pilot project.

Pasadena is implementing a quick build safety improvement program on Allen Ave between Colorado Blvd and Villa Street, offering enhanced crosswalks, curb extensions and new bicycle lanes.

Active SGV offers a recap on the recent Active Streets: Mission to Mission, including an appearance by the inimitable Gabe the Sasquatch.

Malibu releases details on the upcoming safety improvements on deadly PCH. All of which only offer a downpayment on what the killer highway really needs. 

 

State

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, says three speeding bills they support are moving forward in the state legislature, including bills to allow speed cams on PCH in Malibu, and increase penalties for speeding on highways.

Motor vehicle speeds aren’t the only concern for state legislators, however, as AB 1774 would prohibit the sale of any product or device that can modify the speed of an ebike.

The California Building Standards Commission wants your input to shape bike parking standards in the new state building code.

Just days after the heartbreaking death of a 17-year old San Diego boy killed by an Amtrak train while riding his bike across the tracks, comes news that California is the deadliest state for train collisions, with 38 fatal crashes last year, compared to just 21 in Florida, the next highest state.

The Orange County Power Authority is launching its own ebike voucher program, offering up to $1,500 for income-qualified buyers.

Beach cities aren’t the only ones freaking out about ebike safety, as cities in California’s Inland Empire attempt to rein in teenagers on electric bicycles. Although they often conflate ebikes and e-motorbikes.

The latest proposal to replace San Francisco’s widely loathed Valencia Street center-running bike lane would create a slalom course as the bike lane swerves around restaurant parklets.

 

National

A writer for Bike Magazine pens a Father’s Day ode to his favorite riding companion, and the man who gave him everything.

Despite the best efforts of rightwing culture warriors, the World Naked Bike Ride returned to Mad City, Wisconsin on Saturday.

There’s not a pit deep enough for the schmuck who stole an 11-year old boy’s lowrider bike he’d customized himself from a New Mexico museum display.

Hundreds of teenaged bike riders gathered in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley to call for nationwide bike safety improvements at the 10th annual national Youth Bike Summit.

In news that should surprise absolutely no one — but probably will — a new study from New Jersey’s Rutger’s University shows bike lanes calm roadways, improving safety for everyone.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever rode off after stealing a collection jar raising funds for a premature Florida baby.

 

International

The mayor of Quebec City offers a master class in how to respond to accusations that bicyclists don’t pay for the services we receive. Although you’ll need to read the subtitles if you don’t understand French. Thanks again to Megan Lynch. 

A neighborhood in Birmingham, England is now offering an e-cargo bikeshare service to help cut pollution.

The UK’s best bicycle-friendly homes, starting at just £225,000 — the equivalent of a little over $285,000. I’ll send y’all a postcard once I get settled.

 

Competitive Cycling

That’s Sir Mark Cavendish to you, now.

Twenty-year old Norwegian pro Johannes Kulset is demanding an apology from cycling’s governing body after he was banned from the Tour of Slovenia for using the ‘super tuck’ position, denying he used his chest or forearms for support.

A pair of best buds are hoping to set a new record for the fastest duo to cross the Atlantic City finish line for the Race Across America, aka RAAM.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can own your very own Van Gogh bike. Ranking the Euro 2024 soccer teams based on how bike-friendly their cities are.

And there’s actually nothing funny about using laughing gas behind the wheel.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Grossman gets 15-to-life for high-speed vehicular murders, and Hermosa Beach can’t tell ebikes from electric motorbikes

June 11, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 204 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the city’s mean streets.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’re up to 1,196 signatures, so don’t stop now! Let’s get just four more to get it up to 1,200 before I send it to the mayor’s office!

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

………

That’s more like it.

Wealthy socialite Rebecca Grossman was sentenced to a well-deserved 15 to life for the vehicular murder of two little kids.

The co-founder of the famed Grossman Burn Foundation, Grossman was convicted of the high-speed deaths of 11-year old Mark Iskander, and his 8-year old brother as they crossed a Westlake Village street with their parents.

Here’s how the Los Angeles Times describes the crash.

The boys’ mother testified during trial that her older children had been walking ahead of her and her youngest son in the marked crosswalk on Triunfo Canyon Road when she heard engines roaring. Two sport utility vehicles were barreling toward them.

Iskander dived for safety, grabbing her 5-year-old son. Her next memory, she said, is of Jacob and Mark crumpled on the roadway.

Grossman was driving behind Scott Erickson, a former Dodgers player, who earlier in the day had been drinking cocktails with her at a nearby restaurant. She was driving as fast as 81 mph and traveled another half-mile after slamming into the children, according to evidence presented at trial.

However, the judge apparently took pity on her, sentencing Grossman to two concurrent terms for the murders, plus another three years for the hit-and-run to be served concurrently.

She could have been looking at 33 years before she’d be eligible for release. Instead, the 60-year old Grossman could get out when she’s a relatively young 75.

On the other hand, her victims would have been young men of 26 and 23, respectively, if the married woman hadn’t decided to race her then-boyfriend after drinking and taking valium.

Although it would be nice if Erickson had been held accountable for his not-insignificant role in the boys’ deaths, rather than given a walk by prosecutors.

………

Hermosa Beach adopted an emergency ebike ordinance that mostly restates existing state law, but can’t seem to distinguish between electric bicycles and electric motorcycles.

And if it’s so effing urgent, why didn’t they include a link to the damn press release, and not bury it on their website?

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

https://twitter.com/HermosaBchCity/status/1800198737479836037

………

CicLAvia looks forward to their fourth open streets event of the year, and the 53rd overall, when they come to Western Ave in South LA on the 23rd, with a list of where to eat and shop along the route.

………

It’s now 172 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And three full years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

No bias here. An Austin, Texas columnist complains the city is putting in all these bike lanes, when it just makes more sense to ride on side streets — which take riders out of the way and usually don’t have traffic signals. And says you should have to wear a numbered armband to ride in certain areas.

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

A Redditor rightfully complains about the “disgusting” amount of used gel packs, water bottles and other assorted detritus left behind following a mountain bike rice through the woods.

Once again, an elderly person has been killed in a collision with someone on a bicycle, this time a 70-year old woman in Dublin, Ireland. Note to Irish Cycle — putting an urgent call for more funding in the middle of a story about a woman getting killed by a bike rider probably isn’t the best look.

………

Local 

Spectrum News 1 profiles Finish the Ride and Streets Are For Everyone founder — and all-around good guy — Damian Kevitt, as he dedicates his life to making the roads safe for everyone.

More on the teenaged, motorbike-riding assholes who attacked beach goers and businesses with fireworks in Hermosa Beach on Saturday, as the press continued to blame “ebike” riders, apparently incapable of distinguishing between a ped-assist bicycle and a battery-powered dirt bike.

 

State

Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry looks at the latest tranche of bike and transportation bills in the state legislature, including a bill to exempt bike lanes, bus lanes and pedestrian projects from the need for additional Coastal Commission studies.

The San Francisco Chronicle says the city is ready to throw in the towel on the deeply unpopular centerline bike lanes on Valencia Street, and replace them with some form of side lanes, even though putting the bike lanes in the middle of the street has reduced doorings. Which makes you wonder how the hell someone gets doored when they’re riding in the middle of the street.

Good news from Davis, where a member of the UC Davis cycling team finally awakened from a coma, five weeks after the freshman was struck by a driver while she was riding her bike.

 

National

Bloomberg says the goals of the 15-minute city are laudable, but questions whether it’s even possible to put retail, services and jobs that close to every resident. Hey, nobody said it was going to be easy.

Electrek considers why more American teens are choosing ebikes over driver’s licenses. Maybe they’re just a lot smarter than we give them credit for.

Velo examines whether Biden’s new Chinese tariffs will raise the cost of your next ebike, concluding it’s complicated.

Men’s Journal recommends their choices for Father’s Day gifts for bicyclists that won’t get stashed in the back of the drawer — including a liquor flask, in case you somehow feel the need to get sloshed during your next ride.

CNN Underscored once again considers the best bike locks, sticking with choices from Kryptonite and Hiplok.

A Brooklyn paper talks with the New York borough’s legendary bikeshare-riding stuntman famed for balancing various objects on his head.

Tragic news from upstate New York, where a teenaged boy was killed when he went off the top of a five story parking garage while riding an ebike with a group of friends. Although once again, what kind of ebike isn’t specified.

The annual 900-mile Remember the Removal Bike Ride bike ride is underway, as a group of bicyclists with Cherokee ancestry follow the infamous Trail of Tears their forebears walked from Georgia to Oklahoma.

 

International

Lime will bring the first bikeshare system to a First Nations community when they open an ebike system on British Columbia’s Squamish Nation.

If you build it, they will come. Just a month after critics said a new bike lane in Colchester, England was an accident waiting to happen and would cause carnage, bicycling rates are up 300% on the route while gaining positive reviews from riders.

More than half of bike riders in the UK say the roads are in terrible shape due to potholes and cracked pavement following months of rains.

British carmaker Ariel is releasing its first bicycle in 92 years; the company made the first mass-produced bicycle in 1871, but switched exclusively to cars in 1932.

UK police warn that drivers can’t see you if you’re wearing dark clothing. Even in broad daylight, apparently.

 

Competitive Cycling

Once again, a cyclist loses after celebrating too soon, this time in the women’s Tour of Britain when retiring Luxembourg champ Christine Majerus raised her arms in victory before losing at the finish line.

https://twitter.com/TourofBritain/status/1799821631201902952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1799821631201902952%7Ctwgr%5E7a41bc1f59a4e4d89f72caec2115b760319db438%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-11901174861121623140.ampproject.net%2F2405231944000%2Fframe.html

 

Finally…

That feeling when you take your new tall bike to extreme lengths. Or when your band performs on a bicycle built for six.

And when you’re on felony probation and carrying illegal weed on your bike, just stop for the damn stop sign, already.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Ebikes blamed for actress injured in e-motorbike crash, and bill banning sharrows on high-speed roads gets CA Senate nod

May 24, 2024 / / One comment
Just 221 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’ve inched up to 1,147 signatures, so don’t stop now! I plan to forward the petition to the mayor’s office next week, so urge anyone who hasn’t already to sign it now! 

Photo from Nina Dobrev’s Instagram account. 

………

When is an ebike not an ebike?

Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev posted before and after photos showing her on an electric off-road motorcycle, and in a hospital bed wearing neck and knee braces, saying it’s going to be a long road to recovery.

The problem comes, like Simon Cowell before her, in how the media has reported it.

News stories have variously described the motorbike she was riding as an ebike, an electric dirt bike and an electric motorcycle. Or sometimes more than one.

But only the last two are accurate.

By conflating all two-wheeled electric bikes as ebikes, they add to the misperception that ebikes are dangerous, as Malcomb Watson points out below.

Part of the problem comes from the ebike classifications that began in California, and have been adopted by states across the US.

But there’s a big difference between a ped-assist ebike with a top speed of 20 mph, and a throttle-controlled moped that can do 30 mph.

Let alone a motor scooter or electric motorcycle.

Yet to most of the media — and much of the public — they’re all ebikes. So if you wonder what the ebike panic is all about, that’s a good place to start.

Chart by Orange County Bicycle Coalition

………

A bike bill moving on to the state Assembly would ban sharrows from streets with speeds over 30 mph.

Now we just have to ban them from all the other streets, too.

………

Gravel Bike California offers a beginners guide on where to start.

………

It’s now 155 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 35 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

A Houston woman was the victim of a road-raging terrorist, who allegedly tossed roofing nails onto the side of the road following a back-and-forth encounter with a group of bicyclists; she suffered a broken collar bone, pelvic bone injuries and a concussion after hitting the nails on her bike while riding at around 25 mph. A crowdfunding page to help pay her medical expenses has raised over $11,000 of the $15,000 goal.

In yet another example of cops without a clue when it comes to bike law, a Georgia man was detained for riding his ebike in the street after dark, with the cops apparently unaware what an ebike is, and why he couldn’t just ride it on the sidewalk, where it’s prohibited.

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

A 36-year old San Francisco man is under arrest after allegedly running a red light on his bicycle and slamming into a 65-year old woman, then fleeing the scene and leaving the victim with life-threatening injuries. Yet another reminder that you’re required to stick around after hitting someone with your bike, just like the people in the big, dangerous machines. Even if they too often don’t. 

………

Local 

Enjoy a ride under the full moon with tonight’s Moonlight Mash in Long Beach.

 

State

Caltrans officially opened a new bike underpass beneath the 5 Freeway in San Diego’s Carmel Valley, providing a new connection to the State Route 56 Bike Path, North Coast Bike Trail and Coastal Rail Trail.

This is who we share the road with. A Subaru driver apparently tried to turn a Goleta 7-11 into a drive-thru, plowing through the front windows to completely embed his Outback in the convenience store. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

Speaking of Goleta, a recent series of bicycle and pedestrian safety stings operations resulted in 53 citations, but the story doesn’t break down how many drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians got them. Thanks again to Megan Lynch. 

The Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission moved a step closer to ripping out the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and turning the bridge over to the people in motor vehicles, who want the whole damn thing for themselves.

Streetsblog asks how many San Francisco bike riders have to get doored before the city stops installing painted bike lanes.

 

National

Bike Index has launched a new app to simplify registering your bikes, for free, from anywhere in the world.

After 412 days and 18,000 miles, Spencer McCullough has finished riding to all 51 National Parks in the lower 48 states.

Gear Junkie picks 13 of the year’s best bike helmets for roadies.

Bicycling looks back at the horrific coal rolling case that nearly killed six bicyclists in a rural community outside of Houston. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

Indianapolis is now the first American city to offer free bikeshare to all its residents, with a fleet of 325 new ebikes. Which could be the best way to keep people from stealing them, since they can just go out and use another one.

Tennessee invited bike riders to “explore 52 stunning, epic landscapes” on the state’s 52 curated bike routes, traversing 1,739 miles across 53 counties, complete with a nifty pedaling logo on their website.

A writer for the Harvard student paper says the contentious new bike lanes currently being built on the streets of Cambridge, Massachusetts represent a bitter division in the city’s politics, leaving may residents at a loss for how it can be bridged.

New York’s Indian Consulate noted the “disturbing trend” of Indian citizens getting killed in the US, after an Indian student at SUNY university was killed in a collision while riding a bike on Wednesday; needless to say, the driver wasn’t charged.

 

International

Momentum offers ten must-try North American summer bike touring routes. The magazine also offers a guide to the World Naked Bike Ride, spreading its cheeks in over 70 cities across 20 countries this year; Los Angeles is set to bare it all on June 24th. Or most of it, anyway.

Road.cc offers tips on how to diagnose and deal with saddle pain, and why your bike seat may not be the problem.

A Cuban radio station recounts the many benefits of bicycling, in advance of next month’s UN World Bicycle Day.

Parents in the London borough of Ealing won’t let their kids ride bikes on the street, despite millions spent on new bicycling infrastructure, because illegal parking, congested roads and a lack of traffic enforcement have made many bike lanes virtually useless.

Londoners will get a new bike and pedestrian bridge connecting the boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham over the River Lea.

This is who we share the road with, part two. After finishing a 40 month sentence for killing a 15-year old bike rider in a 2021 hit-and-run, a British man led the cops on a chase at speeds up to 100 mph, despite a three year driving ban that began the day he got out.

Cycling Weekly considers why speed limits don’t apply to Brits on bicycles, and whether that really means you can ride as fast as you want in the UK.

A new Danish study shows people who bike for transportation seldom choose the shortest route, but rather one that feels the shortest, with fewer interruptions.

The Global Times examines the historic “cycling craze” that’s sweeping Chinese cities — and inspiring demand for luxury bikewear.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former pro cyclist Lizzy Banks describes how a false positive on a drug test derailed her racing career, and took a toll on her “mental health, finances, future earnings as a pro, and her love and faith in the sport,” despite being cleared of any wrong doing. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you.

Bicycling Australia says if there’s anyone who can win the rare Giro – Tour de France double in the same year, it’s Tadej Pogačar, who has the first part pretty much wrapped up.

Former Unbound gravel race champ Ivar Slik suffered a severe concussion, broken nose and cuts and bruises when he somehow crashed into a car while on an Arkansas training ride with a group of his fellow Dutch cyclists.

Several cyclists collided on the 4th stage of the Tour of Albania; no word on any possible injuries. Bonus points if you even knew there is a Tour of Albania, now in its 81st year. 

 

Finally…

Busted for looking like a wanted man’s doppelgänger. Why go to court, when you can battle it out with the cops on Facebook?

And when you’re carrying meth and fentanyl on your bike, stop for the damn stop signs, already — and put a taillight on it.

The bike, that is. Not the drugs.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Santa Monica offers ebike rebates, while California’s ebike voucher program goes nearly 3 years with no progress

May 1, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 244 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. 

We’re up to 1,129 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

Photo by Maxfoot from Pixabay.

………

Well, that was fun. 

What was supposed to be the quick and easy removal of a small skin cancer on my ear turned into an excruciating five hours on the surgical table, scraping every half hour before they got the whole thing. 

All because every doctor I asked about it told me it was nothing to worry about, allowing it to spread unchecked for over a decade before anyone actually bothered to do a biopsy. 

But at least I left with my ear still attached, albeit lacking most of the skin inside, and with a bandage the size of a golf ball shoved in.

Which leads to today’s hard-earned life lesson. 

Just wear some damn sunscreen, already. 

………

It’s now 133 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 35 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Unfortunately, Washington state is following California’s lead, with no set launch date for their ebike voucher program a year after it was approved.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica will provide ebike rebates up to $2,000 for 90 low and moderate income residents.

Denver, which started it all, saw its latest round of ebike vouchers claimed in just three minutes, with over 8,200 ebike vouchers redeemed so far.

Even tiny Basalt, Colorado — population 4,062 — is offering residents a $500 ebike rebate, while Minnesota will provide rebates up to $1,500 on ebikes and accessories.

………

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

Even the ungulates are out to get us, after two people riding a tandem bike were taken out by a deer near the entrance to Zion National Park.

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

Adding insult to injury — literally — a 58-year old Valdosta, Georgia man will face charges for causing a traffic collision by abruptly turning directly in front of a pickup. As usual, the charges will be based strictly on the driver’s perspective, since the victim was found unresponsive and unable to give his side of the story.

………

Local 

LA Progressive calls for the defeat of incumbent CD14 Councilmember Kevin de Leon, in part for cutting off communication with community leaders over the $16.3 million in funding raised by local residents for street improvements on Eagle Rock Blvd, allowing the project to go dormant for two years.

Santa Monica will conduct yet another bike & pedestrian safety enforcement operation on Friday, ticketing anyone who commits a violation that could endanger either group, regardless of who commits it. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits to ensure you’re not the one who gets ticketed. 

 

State

Streetsblog celebrates Bike Month with events throughout California.

San Diego police will are looking for a hit-and-run driver who fled after striking a homeless father of five, who died nearly a month after he was run down while walking in a Balboa Park bike lane.

A Santa Maria bike club for kids now has 110 riders and more than 50 coaches, eight years after it was founded by three mothers and their kids.

The organizers of the Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days named their Bike Champions for the nine Bay Area counties, recognizing some of the area’s top bike advocates.

A Marin County Grand Jury is calling on local governments to strictly regulate ebikes and ban kids under 16 from riding throttle-controlled Class 2 bikes — even though that conflicts with existing state law.

 

National

A writer for Cnet says riding an ebike for a year not only saved him money, but changed his life.

Craig Medred takes a deep dive into the death of a 48-year old Alaska man who was reportedly among the area’s “safest and most responsible cyclists,” yet who was blamed by investigators for his own death, despite doing everything right before he was run down by a driver — because police couldn’t find the missing bike light they may not have looked for.

A Michigan man is turning his pain into advocacy, calling for a redesign of the bike lane he was riding in when he was struck by a driver leaving a Taco Bell drive-thru.

A Kentucky TV station answers the eternal question of why bicyclists don’t have to pay a road usage fee — and gets it mostly right. Although they left out a) local roads are funded primarily through the same state and local taxes we all pay, and b) most people who ride bikes also drive, and pay gas taxes and registration like anyone else.

The Cambridge, Massachusetts city council narrowly approved a plan to delay completing a 25-mile network of separated bike lanes by one year, in order to gather more data on how they will affect local businesses. Although the best way to study their effects would be to build them on a trial basis and see what happens.

 

International

Momentum rates the “seven best and most affordable” commuter bikes for spring.

It’s Bike Month in Colombia, too.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list. A new 435-mile elevated, tree-top level bikeway through the Italian countryside, leading to a 16th Century UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Italy.

 

Competitive Cycling

An Egyptian woman is being accused of assault after forcing another woman to the side of the road during the final stretch of country’s Women’s National Cycling Championship, then using her bike and hands to knock her off her bike.

Twenty-three-year old Jamaican chocolate maker Llori Sharpe is honing her crit skills with LA-based L39ION of Los Angeles, the first Jamaican cyclist to ride for a UCI road team.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be a four-wheeled, pedal-operated ebike capable of hauling a whopping 800 pounds. Or an ebike that can quickly convert from a cargo bike to an e-rickshaw.

And now you, too can have your very own Bob Marley One Love bike, a collaboration between State Bicycle Company and the reggae master who’s been dead for the last 43 years.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Help identify unconscious Boyle Heights bike crash victim, LA backing out of HLA, and South LA ebike lending library

April 16, 2024 / / Comments Off on Help identify unconscious Boyle Heights bike crash victim, LA backing out of HLA, and South LA ebike lending library
Just 260 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the needlessly mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can. 

We’re now up to 1,095 signatures, so let’s get it over 1,100 today! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

Well, I survived Tax Day, although my bank account may be on life-support for awhile. I hope you and your accounts faired better. 

We have a lot to catch up on, so let’s get right to it. 

………

Los Angeles General Medical Center is asking for help identifying a man who was struck by a driver while riding his bike at Fresno Street and Cesar Chavez Ave in Boyle Heights on Thursday.

The victim is described as approximately 55 years old, 5 feet, 11 inches tall, 150 pounds, with average build, brown eyes, a shaved head and multiple distinctive tattoos.

Anyone with information is urged to call Licensed Clinical Social Workers Brian Dillon at 323/409-3134 or Cristol Perez at 323/409-4317.

This offers yet another reminder to always carry ID with you whenever you ride — preferably in a form that isn’t likely to be stolen if you’re incapacitated.

………

It’s now 117 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 34 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, Forbes says other states should follow Colorado’s example of offering a $450 credit on the purchase of an ebike.

Which would make far more sense than California’s bizarre plan to provide a larger voucher to a relative handful of the limited number of low-income residents who qualify, and which is likely to get far fewer people out of their cars than a broader plan open to everyone.

………

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

Poor, put-upon Welsh drivers are complaining they’re being squeezed off the road, after a new two-way bike lane nearly the width of the existing car lanes was installed. Because apparently, enough room for a motor vehicle isn’t enough room to satisfy them.

In an apparent attempt to thin the herd, a town in the UK has installed contraflow bike markings on a number of narrow, one-way streets. And by narrow, they mean barely wide enough for a single vehicle going one direction.

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

The local DA says a Pennsylvania driver was justified in shooting a male bike rider who tried to forcibly enter the shooter’s car; the victim reportedly chased the driver, who had honked at him for blocking a line of backed-up vehicles, before opening the passenger door and trying to get in. Thankfully, the victim is expected to make a full recovery. Although I don’t suppose the driver considered just locking the door before getting out his gun.

………

Local 

Urbanize looks forward to Sunday’s Venice CicLAvia. You’ll have to go without me this time; I’ll be home nursing a torn rotator cuff while looking after my wife’s broken shoulder. 

The LA County Sheriff’s Department will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation in West Hollywood tomorrow, ticketing anyone who does something that could jeopardize people walking or biking, regardless of who does it. Which means the usual protocol applies, so ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets written up.

Beverly Hills has launched a six-month traffic calming pilot program on Clifton Way, installing curb-cut extensions and a pair of traffic circles, which should make the residential street safer and significantly more pleasant alternative to Wilshire Blvd. Assuming local drivers can figure out how to navigate it, of course.

People using the popular Ballona Creek bike path may experience intermittent closures on a lengthy section between Sepulveda Blvd and Sawtelle Blvd due to flooding; LADWP is reportedly investigating whether the problem is due to a broken water main, or the result of excess rainfall.

 

State

Calbike’s new Executive Director Kendra Ramsey recounts her experiences at her first National Bike Summit.

A decade after becoming the first Congress member to ride in the 545-mile AIDS/LifeCycle from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Burbank Rep. Adam Schiff hopes to become the first US Senator to take part.

Apparently, the San Diego Padres aren’t fans of bicycles after the club banned bicycles from Gallagher Square, aka the Park at the Park, as part of a new renovation, despite being allowed for the past 20 years at the ostensibly public property. Thanks to Malcomb Watson for the link.

Video of a half-dozen Santa Cruz cops swarming a Black man is stirring controversy over what started as a traffic stop for riding his ebike through a group of pedestrians in a crosswalk; he was arrested after refusing to identify himself to the cop who stopped him.

Awful news from Berkeley, where bike-riding man’s leg was severed when a driver crashed into a row of parked cars, pinning him in between; police may have saved his life by applying a tourniquet within two minutes of the crash. A comment on Mastodon says the city refused a federal grant to improve safety at the intersection. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Sad news from Modesto, where a 49-year old woman was killed when she reportedly rode her BMX bike around a railroad crossing barrier, and into the path of an Amtrak train east of the city.

A San Francisco business owner is going on a 30-day hunger strike to protest the centerline Valencia Street protected bike lane, which he claims is killing his business. The point of a hunger strike is being willing to risk death to call attention to the problem; a hunger strike with a limited duration is more like wanting to lose weight after the doctor refused to prescribe Ozempic.

The City by the Bay now has its first sidewalk-level protected bike lane.

 

National

Streetsblog talks with California 4th District Rep. Mike Thompson, the incoming co-chair of the Congressional Bike Caucus, who wants to get more of his fellow US Congress members on bikes.

Outside columnist Eben Weiss sings the praises of cotton clothing for bike riding, calling it the original performance fabric. As long as you don’t mind riding with sweat-soaked fabric clinging to your skin. And as for the original performance fabric, wool and silk might have something to subject.

Witnesses blamed an ebike rider for blowing through a red light, after the victim was struck by a New York cop in a marked patrol car. Seriously, if you’re not going to pay attention to the traffic light, at least look for the police before you blow through the intersection. 

Philadelphia protestors enjoyed coffee, churros and dance tunes as they partied to keep Sunday worshippers from parking in a bike lane.

An incumbent Baltimore city councilmember called for the bicycle community’s support against his “anti-bike” opponent.

 

International

Momentum ranks 30 of the world’s most beautiful bike routes. Yet oddly fails to include any in California. 

Momentum also considers whether cargo bikes are harder to ride, concluding they’re different, but worth the extra effort.

Road.cc looks at some of the world’s most expensive production bikes. For riders with more dollars than sense, apparently. 

Bike riders are on edge in otherwise bike-friendly Bogotá, Colombia, home to the world’s first ciclovia, where small gangs of robbers are targeting people riding bicycles, and a bike gets stolen every 42 minutes.

Hundreds of Toronto residents turned out for the city’s largest ghost bike ride in the past decade, to call for safer streets and honor the year’s third bicycling victim — which may be why Toronto is “getting a whack” of new bike lanes and pathways this year. Maybe if we had a turnout like that here in Los Angeles, we might finally see some safer streets, too. 

London celebrates 30 years of Critical Mass rides to fight for safer streets.

A “chatty” bike-riding French Bulldog charmed people in Amsterdam.

Le Monde considers how Taiwan became the world’s leading bikemaker.

This is who we share the road with. A 28-year old New Zealand man has been drastically undercharged for attempting to use his car to kill a 15-year old boy, who is fighting for his life after the man repeatedly, and intentionally, ran over him — yet the driver only faces a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

 

Competitive Cycling

A man after my tastes. Yorkshire, England’s Tom Pidcock won this year’s Amstel Gold Race, but remained decidedly unimpressed with the namesake beer.

Dutch great Marianne Vos slipped in to win the women’s Amstel Gold after her countrywoman Lorena Wiebes celebrated just a tad too soon; Canadian Cycling Magazine considers the worst premature cycling celebrations.

Velo looks at 18-year old American Andrew August, who makes his debut as the youngest rider to ever compete on the WorldTour.

Canadian Nadia Gontova won the women’s Redland’s Classic, as fellow Canuck Mara Roldan took the final stage in a two-rider breakaway; American Tyler Stites won the men’s GC.

No surprise here, as the US-based National Cycling League decided to “pause” operations for the 2024 season, and release all the league’s riders from their contracts. Which is business speak for shutting the whole thing down unless they can find more funding.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a driver can’t even see you on a Penny Farthing. When a gigantic gator tries to cross your path, maybe you should just let it.

And make your plans to tune in, turn on and drop out for this year’s Bicycle Day.

……... 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries  
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee