Tag Archive for Eunisses Hernandez

New Central LA bike lanes and proposals for CD1, Move Culver City bike use jumps 1/3, and Metro urged to junk new fares

November 3, 2022 / / One comment

Fun thing about diabetes. 

High blood sugar makes you sleep. But so does low blood sugar. 

And cycling between the two, like I did Tuesday, can knock you out for hours, regardless of whether you’re trying to write something. 

Which is why you didn’t see anything here yesterday. 

But we’ll more than make up for it today.

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Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers a long list of actionable transportation ideas for incoming CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, including busways, bike lanes and pedestrian improvements.

Hernandez leadership promises a sea change in the district, where the councilmember she defeated, “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, earned his sobriquet by blocking virtually every major safety improvement and bike lane in the district, including deadly North Figueroa.

Meanwhile, Linton also offers updates on a handful of new bike lanes in Central Los Angeles, including:

  • Sixth Street Bridge connection in Skid Row and the Arts District
  • Ramirez Street/Center Street/Santa Fe Ave in the Arts District
  • Avenue 19 in Lincoln Heights

He also points out the missed opportunity on North Spring Street in Chinatown, where the street, which is scheduled for a bike lane in the city’s mobility plan, was recently resurfaced.

Sans bike lane, of course.

As Linton points out, this is exactly why we need the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposal, which is scheduled for a public vote in 2024.

The proposal would force the city to build out the mobility plan whenever a section of street contained in the plan is resurfaced.

Meanwhile, the city’s alternative proposal, which is based on Healthy Streets but likely to lack the enforcement mechanism of the ballot measure, is due back for a vote of the city council in the next few weeks.

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Culver City has crunched the numbers on the 1.3-mile Move Culver City complete streets project along Culver and Washington Blvds.

And the results have been impressive, to say the least.

  • 52% jump in bus ridership
  • 32% increase in bicycling
  • 18% climb in walking
  • Nearly double (92%) micromobility trips

Maybe that will encourage Los Angeles to give it a try.

We can hope, right?

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Metro’s Community Advisory Council urges the Metro board to reject the proposal to “simplify” the fare structure, which is really just a massive rate increase for many, if not most, transit users.

Never mind that it’s the opposite of the fare-free transit they promised to study.

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Whittier Blvd’s Esquina Bicycle Shop is hosting a vigil ride for fallen bicyclist Sergio Cordova tonight.

Cordova was killed in a collision at the west entrance to the new 6th Street Bridge last Wednesday.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CkeBLvHvrY7/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D

Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign for Cordova’s funeral expenses has raised over $9,500 of the revised $15,000 goal. 

Thanks to Susannah L for the heads-up.

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The LACBC looks forward to Saturday’s Bike Fest, which has replaced the River Ride as the bike nonprofit’s largest fundraiser.

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Did someone say handcycling?

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Streets For All will host another virtual happy hour on Wednesday, featuring Glendale Councilmember Ara Najarian.

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Apparently, robots are no more likely to stop after a crash than human drivers are.

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Why settle for a mere bicycle, when you could have had an early velomobile prototype?

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

No bias here. An Arizona letter writer suggests charging anyone over 16 a $150 annual fee to register a bicycle, with a licensing fee for the rider that oddly declines with age. Because licensing and vehicle registration has worked so well to keep motorists in line, evidently.

No bias here, either. One in three Brits wants bikes banned entirely from public roads, while seven in ten think bike riders would be required to carry liability insurance. Apparently because it costs so much to hose our blood off their hoods.

An English man suffered a broken jaw when someone ran up from behind and knocked him off his bicycle. Although in this case, the attack may have had more to do with the fancy dress he was wearing.

A UK TV show promises to explore road rage directed at people on bikes, but looks at the dangers bike riders face on the road, instead, with a hint of anti-bike bias thrown in.

And especially no bias here, where an Estonian city councillor says he was forced to crash his car into a “verbally and physically aggressive” bike rider in self-defense. Twice.

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

An Illinois man faces charges for fleeing from police while armed with a flare gun modified to fire shotgun shells.

In a bizarre case, police report a New York man was fatally shot in a driveby while riding his bike on the way to shoot someone else.

A North Carolina bike rider is facing charges after attacking three men with a machete, for no apparent reason.

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Local

Metro will host a virtual community meeting one week from today to discuss the first bus-only lane in the San Fernando Valley, on Sepulveda Blvd.

Glendale approves plans for a lane reduction and bike lanes on La Crescenta Ave, between Montrose Ave and Verdugo Road.

A Santa Monica Redditor asks if there’s an increase in the frequency of “needlessly loud” motor vehicles. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, hell yes. Then again, I live in Hollywood, so my perception may be a tad skewed. Thanks to How The West WS for the link. 

Homeboy Industries founder Father Greg Boyle used to be one of us, racing his bicycle towards the sound of gunfire as he worked to reduce gang violence.

 

State 

San Diego is paying out a total of $420,000 to two women who were seriously injured in separate incidents when their ebikes hit the city’s broken pavement.

A San Francisco salmon cyclist questions why the insurance company for the distracted driver who hit her won’t pay for her injuries or damaged bike; a local paper patiently explains the concept of comparative negligence, and says, in effect, get a lawyer.

A new $2.4 million clean air grant could lead to hundreds of new San Francisco EV charging stations, as well as a fleet of ebike for food delivery workers.

Completing our San Francisco trifecta, a local website presents opposing op-ed urging voters to save both the carfree JFK Drive and Great Highway, and arguing that closing them to motor vehicles was a big mistake.

 

National

Surly’s latest cargo bike goes electric.

At last, an e-foldie for everyone with fond memories of their little red wagon.

A new report looks at the ten US cities where bike commuting is growing the fastest. Hint: LA ain’t one of ’em.

A crowdfunding campaign is raising money to publish a new book on Jobst Brandt, author of The Bicycle Wheel and inventor of the bike computer and slick bike tires.

A 68-year old Utah driver was formally charged with ignoring a highway flagman and slamming her car into a pair of competitors in the cycling portion of an Ironman triathlon — yet somehow wasn’t charged with DUI, despite admitting getting stoned earlier.

Billings, Montana is looking for an artist in residence to beautify a local bike path. Although if you have hire someone to beautify it, you probably made it too ugly to begin with.

After a San Antonio, Texas man stole a bike from Target by threatening to use pepper spay on an employee who tried to stop him, he waited nearly six weeks before turning himself in, for reasons only he knows.

A Wisconsin student paper examines why Madison consistently ranks among the nation’s most bikeable cities, where it has comfortably resided for decades.

After a Kentucky Walmart worker had his bike stolen, kindhearted customers not only gave him a ride to work, but went into the store and bought him a new one.

A new lawsuit blames an Atlantic City cop for killing a 63-year old bike rider by cutting him off while driving without lights or siren.

Three years after a highly contentious lane reduction in Alexandria, Virginia, a new report shows it’s led to less traffic while cutting crashes nearly in half.

A 17-year old Virginia driver faces charges for fleeing the scene after a street racing crash that left a bike-riding man with multiple broken bones.

Once again, authorities have managed to keep a deadly driver on the streets until it’s too late. A Virginia man struck and killed a man riding his bike across the street, 11 years after he was arrested for his third DUI for killing a bike-riding woman. But at least he was apparently sober this time.

 

International

Road.cc recommends the year’s best front and rear bike lights.

The new Swytch ebike conversion kit features a pocket-sized battery that promises a nine-mile boost.

Who needs carbon fiber when you can lower your carbon footprint through F1-inspired BioFiber.

Bike Radar offers advice on how to keep bicycling from being a pain in the foot.

Treehugger talks with Toronto’s bike mayor, concluding every city needs one. Which is a reminder than LA still doesn’t have a bike mayor. 

Montreal announced plans for 124 miles of new bike lanes and ten bike highways, to accommodate a 20% increase in ridership.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a gas truck driver walked without a day behind bars for killing a 22-year old woman riding her bike, despite admitting to carless driving and covering the truck’s side camera with his coat.

 

Competitive Cycling

A California teenager just months out of high school spurns an opportunity to sign with a Spanish development team, and decides he’d rather race on gravel, instead.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be “almost as ridiculous as the truck that inspired it.” That feeling when 29″ wheels just aren’t big enough.

And now, you can take your last trip by bike, too.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Northvale Gap can kicked down the road, missing OK bike riders possibly found, and hope for safety once Roadkill Gil resigns

October 17, 2022 / / One comment

LADOT appears to be kicking the Northvale Gap can down the road once again.

Writing for Streetsblog, Jonathan Weiss reports the city transportation agency says construction on closing the gap along the E Line, nee Expo Line, through Cheviot Hills will now begin in 2024, after most recently promising to start this year.

This comes a full decade after the Westside train line, and the rest of the bikeway accompanying it, opened.

The city decided to skip the section along Northvale Road after litigious residents rose up in arms over fears that bike-riding burglars would utilize the path to make off with their big screen TVs and other valuables.

So instead of riding safely and comfortably in a channel behind their homes, bicyclists riding the Expo path are forced to take the steep hill in front of them, while the city forks out tens of millions more over what it would have cost to have closed the gap when the train line opened.

How that improves security, or anything else, for the handful of overly entitled homeowners along the street is beyond me.

Rendering of Northvale Gap Expo Line path from LADOT, courtesy of LA Streetsblog. 

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Heartbreaking news from Oklahoma, where four unidentified male bodies were pulled out of a river outside of the small town of Okmulgee on Friday, five days after four friends disappeared shortly after setting out on a bike ride Sunday evening.

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up. 

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The sooner “Roadkill” Gil resigns, the sooner we can start seeing the safety improvements he’s blocked for the past nine years.

Although he seems to be dragging his feet.

Speaking of Eunisses Hernandez, it couldn’t hurt to get some bus, bike and pedestrian supporters on her staff, if you’re looking for work.

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A reminder that LADOT wants to talk bikeways in Del Rey tomorrow.

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Today’s common theme is ebikes.

Bicycling offers a guide to everything you need to know to start commuting by ebike, but were afraid to ask. Short version: Get an ebike, start commuting. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

The magazine also offers tips on riding an ebike in the rain, insisting you can do it safely with a few simple precautions. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

Marketplace says the popularity of ebikes is soaring, but not everyone is convinced — including host Kai Ryssdal.

And a government technology site says ebikes are gaining momentum as a solution for climate change and traffic congestion.

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

A teenage driver was arrested for ramming a bike rider outside Dublin, Ireland, apparently intentionally, in an assault that was stupidly recorded and posted online.

A British driver was fined a total of 451 pounds — the equivalent of $506 — for a breathtakingly close call after he ran a red light and nearly slammed into a boy crossing on his bike.

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

A Michigan man faces charges for robbing a business before making his escape by bicycle; police tracked the suspect to his home a few hours later.

Police in Ithaca NY are looking for a bike-riding man who pointed a gun at a motorist, for no apparent reason.

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Local

KTLA-5’s Sam Rubin and Eric Spillman completed last week’s Bike MS: Bay to Bay charity ride from Irvine to San Diego Bay. Although I’m not sure just what Bay they’re referring to in landlocked Irvine.

The Pasadena City Council voted unanimously to include the Arroyo Link in a request for Metro funding after the cancellation of a planned grade separation for the Metro L Line, aka Gold Line; it would create a multi-use path for walking, biking and jogging from Old Pasadena to the Arroyo Seco along the route of the partially built, 1899 elevated bikeway.

 

State 

San Diego’s bicycle-themed Rouleur Brewing Company won gold in Denver’s annual Great American Beer Festival for their Domestique Blonde Ale in the “Belgian-style Ale or French-style Ale” category; 11 other San Diego-area breweries were also honored.

San Francisco follows New York’s lead in exploring bounties to report drivers blocking bike lanes. If they’d do that here in LA, we could all retire comfortably.

 

National

Even Car & Driver questions whether it’s time to reverse the national “Right on Red” trend of the 1970s, as DC bans the procedure to protect bike riders and pedestrians.

Outside reviews ten plus-sized mountain bike shorts for men and women.

Milwaukee residents were outraged by video of a white man grabbing a Black teen by the throat while holding his bicycle to prevent him from leaving, accusing the kid’s friends of stealing a bike from the man’s friend’s yard. No word on how he knew they were the right kids, or that the teen had anything to do with it.

Over a hundred New Yorkers turned out for a bike tour of Harlem to demand a protected bike lane on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd to provide “Black and Brown people…safe passage to Central Park.”

A nonprofit and a local distributing company teamed up to give new bicycles to the entire first grade class at a Baltimore elementary school.

A South Carolina Uber driver faces a lawsuit for killing a man on a bicycle while he was checking the company’s app on his phone; he faces a charge of careless driving for somehow failing to see the rider decked out in a reflective vest, with front and rear lights on his bike, as he rode right in front of him.

A Florida man faces an attempted murder charge for shooting at, but apparently not hitting, another man in a dispute over bike parts outside a convenience store. As we’ve said before, no bike is worth a life. And especially not bike parts.

 

International

Road.cc examines the differences between gravel and endurance bikes.

Cycling Weekly explains everything you need to know before buying your first gravel bike, followed by five gravel bike upgrades to help you go faster and/or farther.

A delivery rider was attacked with a knife by a teen bike rider in a dispute that began when their bikes collided on a London bike path.

The Peak highlights six of the world’s most scenic bike trails, including the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route through the US and Canada, although they rank a Vietnamese trail as number one.

Olivia Williams is one of us, as the British actor rides her bike in London while she prepares to portray the new Queen Consort Camilla Parker Bowles in new season of The Crown.

An 82-year old English man says he’d rather go to prison than pay a £100 fine — the equivalent of $112 — after he was ticketed for riding a bike through the town center, just as he has for over 40 years.

She gets it. A Belfast, Northern Ireland columnist says vilifying bike riders is dangerous and irresponsible, and it’s selfish for drivers to complain about someone on a bicycle slowing them down. I like her already.

Irish families are reportedly distraught over plans to put a bike lane through a Dublin cemetery. Although something tells me the residents won’t object.

Bloomberg examines the decades-long campaign to reclaim the streets of Amsterdam for people on two wheels. Thanks to Victor Bale for the link.

Brussels’ Minister of Mobility, Public Works and Road Safety says death threats won’t stop her from implementing the city’s plan to reduce motor vehicle traffic by nearly 25%, while improving streets for people on two wheels or on foot.

The Associated Press of Pakistan offers a great photo of a man with his bicycle loaded down with a massive bundle of sticks.

 

Competitive Cycling

Road.cc talks with French road race and time trial champion Audrey Cordon-Ragot, who’s looking forward to next year after suffering a stroke on the eve of last month’s world championships.

American Nielson Powless got his first win of the year in his final race of the year, as his EF Education-EasyPost team took the top two spots at the Japan Cup.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can buy a brand new Porsche for just $11,750. Your next GMC could be a VanMoof. Or maybe vice versa.

And more proof you can carry — or tow — anything on a bike.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Not guilty plea in DUI hit-and-run death of Andrew Jelmert in Griffith Park, and LA Times endorses Cedillo opponent in CD1

May 10, 2022 / / 2 comments

No surprise here.

Thirty-seven-year old Jairo Martinez pled not guilty for the alleged drunken, hit-and-run death of Andrew Jelmert in Griffith Park last month.

Martinez was charged with felony counts of murder and hit-and-run driving resulting in death, as well as a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license following a previous DUI conviction.

He reportedly ran away on foot after killing Jelmert, who was participating in a training ride for next month’s 545-mile AIDS/LifeCycle Ride.

Martinez remains behind bars on $2 million bail.

The murder count stems from receiving a Watson notice after his previous DUI conviction, which states that he could be charged with murder if he kills someone while driving drunk anytime in the future.

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There might be hope for LA’s 1st Council District after all.

Current CD1 Councilmember “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo has apparently made it his life’s work to throttle traffic safety projects that pose the slightest risk of inconveniencing motorists or annoying local business owners.

Like the fully funded and shovel-ready lane reduction on deadly North Figueroa he halted as one of his first acts upon taking office, after holding a series of sham public meetings with predetermined outcomes. And despite vowing to support the project when he was begging for our votes.

An act he followed up by actively blocking bike lanes in the district he runs like a fiefdom, going so far as trying — and thankfully, failing — to have every bike lane in CD1 removed from the city’s mobility plan.

Yesterday, though, the Los Angeles Times took the rare step of endorsing the opponent of a sitting councilmember, selecting progressive policy advocate and community organizer Eunisses Hernandez over Cedillo.

Here’s the salient part of the endorsement for our purposes.

The council member (Cedillo) has also been a barrier to building bike infrastructure and street projects designed to make it safer and easier for people to travel without a car. Council District 1 has some of L.A.’s most deadly streets, yet he voted against the city’s Mobility Plan to make the car-dominated streets safer and more inviting for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit. He blocked bike lanes, including directing city staff to remove bike lanes from the widened Spring Street bridge.

Hernandez, on the other hand, has made transportation and street safety top priorities within her larger environmental justice and climate change agenda. She said she would launch community reviews of the most dangerous intersections, and advocate for bike lanes, bus benches and shelters, redesigned streets and pedestrian plazas, so it’s easier for people to get around without cars.

Cedillo was in serious danger of losing last time around when the community rallied around challenger Josef Bray-Ali — until Cedillo’s campaign leaked a handful of intemperate, ill-advised and offensive comments Bray-Ali had posted to various websites.

It will be interesting to see what Cedillo comes up with this time to attack his opponent. Let’s hope Hernandez has a few less skeletons in her closest.

Because people in CD1 are dying for a less regressive representative.

Too often, literally.

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A KABC-7 remote broadcast captures an attempted bike theft in the background on live TV.

I love LA! Live ABC7 story about Chappelle; watch the background.
byu/LAKnobJockey inLosAngeles

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Yet another reminder to register your bike today.

And yes, it’s free, for life.

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Bicycles. Good as gold for more than 125 years.

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A partially paralyzed filmmaker offers a short video calling for greater trail access for e-mountain bikes.

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Okay, I’m impressed.

Even if it would be easier to just pick it up and walk up.

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Local

Vice talks with Silver Lake resident Eric Brightwell, who has been living carfree in Los Angeles ever since his broke down 11 years ago, leading to the unexpected discovery that he doesn’t need one here.

Metro will hold a public meeting on the 18th to discuss the agency’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which funds a return to pre-pandemic levels of service.

A Santa Clarita kid was lucky to escape without injuries when a hit-and-run driver ran him down as he rode his bike in a parking lot. Although the local paper seems to have missed that part about a bike in their own story. Thanks to Joe Linton for the heads-up.

 

State 

Seal Beach police announced a crackdown on drivers who threaten the safety of bike riders and pedestrians ths month through speeding, failing to yield to pedestrians or bicyclists, illegal turns and running red lights or stop signs. Although nothing says they won’t ticket you for the same violations, so ride to the letter of the law while you’re in the city.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A man was killed in Encinitas when he got out of his car to pick a flower on the other side of the road, and was stuck by another driver.

Seriously? A San Diego TV station says someone was taken to the hospital following a collision between a driver and a bike rider, but they aren’t sure which one was injured. Yet somehow, the Union-Tribune was able to figure it out.

Katy Perry is still one of us, going for a Mother’s Day bike ride on the beach somewhere in California with her 20-month old daughter and fiancé Orlando Bloom.

 

National

Planning Magazine writes in praise of the humble sidewalk, calling it the best infrastructure investment communities can make.

Money Inc. considers the most important things to wear mountain biking. I’d say pants, but that’s just me.

A Mt. Hood ski area is banning bikes this summer, after paying out a $10.5 million settlement when a mountain biker was paralyzed hitting a signpost placed directly next to a double black-diamond trail.

Denver bike riders are putting up signs around the city to remember the victims of traffic violence, and remind drivers of the risk they pose to others on the road around them.

Speaking of Denver, the city’s recently enacted, first-in-the-nation ebike rebate program is already driving an increase in ebike sales at local bike shops.

Frustrated with the city’s inaction, a small group of Chicago bike riders conducted their own DIY traffic study at an intersection where a bike rider was killed, catching drivers running red lights and driving at pedestrians in the crosswalk, as well as threatening the study volunteers.

A Pittsburgh driver pled guilty to ten charges, including vehicular homicide and DUI, for killing a man riding a bike while the driver was high on heroin.

Once again, a faulty ebike battery has torched a bike shop, this time in New York.

Writing for New York Streetsblog, a 20-year transportation engineer calls for responsive countermeasures to curb traffic violence, and “reach the very small percentage of dangerous drivers who can’t be stopped otherwise.” Although most of us might call it a large percentage.

A Delaware beach town installs sharrows in a misguided attempt to protect bicyclists, apparently unaware that studies show sharrows are worse than nothing. Although they do help drivers improve their aim at us.

WaPo offers an introduction to gravel biking.

 

International

Nova Scotia gets its first bicycle traffic signal, which halts right turning traffic so bikes can cross the intersection.

A delivery rider from Brazil is on trial for killing a 16-year old boy in Dublin, Ireland, in a confrontation with another man over the theft of a second delivery rider’s bicycle. And yes, that’s every bit as confusing as it sounds.

A British paper talks with the motorists who helped bring a couple of road racing drivers to justice for killing a man riding a bicycle, who had the misfortune of being in their way.

 

Competitive Cycling

British pro Tom Pidcock won Sunday’s mountain bike World Cup race in Albstadt, Germany by a wheelie big margin, popping a wheel as he crossed the finish line. Sorry.

  

Finally…

Live out your bike mechanic dreams, without leaving your sofa. When you can’t decide whether to ride a bike or a kick scooter.

And maybe the Dutch one hit wonders were a lot cooler than we thought.

Correction: Two-hit wonders. Thanks to Opus for the catch.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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