Tag Archive for fatal shooting

Time change means watch your ass next week, ebike rider killed in LA road rage shooting, and leave the car at home today

November 1, 2024 / / One comment
Just 60 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Thanks for your patience and understanding with this week’s absences, as I work through a number of seemingly unrelated health issues, which all seem to be coalescing at the same time. 

And trust me, it ain’t fun. 

………

Don’t forget that Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday.

Which not only means you have to reset your clocks once again for no apparent reason, but it will also get dark an hour earlier the next time you ride.

So be sure to have a light on your bike if you plan on riding after sunset. And it can’t hurt to carry an extra light set with you on daylight rides, just in case something keeps you out on the road longer than planned.

It also pays to remember that the days after a time change are among the most dangerous for traffic collisions, so ride defensively for the next several days.

Not that you don’t, but still.

Photo from Pixabay.

………

Sadly, this is who we share the road with, too.

Our worst fears were realized when authorities confirmed that the victim in Tuesday’s fatal shooting of an ebike rider was killed in an apparent road rage attack.

Police arrested the suspect, 50-year old Marvin Magana, after Magana turned himself in for killing 43-year old Jorge Guerrero Hurtado Tuesday afternoon, as well as another woman who was shot and killed in her car hours later.

Hurtado was riding on the 900 block of South Victoria Avenue in the Mid-Wilshire area of Koreatown when Magana allegedly knocked him off his bike with his car around 4:20 pm, then shot him five times as he was on the ground.

He died at the scene.

There’s no word on what may have led to either murder.

Magana is being held on $3 million bond.

Or make that $6 million bail, as he waits a December arraignment on two counts of murder, along with gun use allegations.

So much for the myth that the DA doesn’t ask for cash bail anymore.

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD’s West Bureau Homicide office at 213/382-9470, or 877/LAPD-247.

………

If you’re going to the Dodger’s World Series victory parade in DTLA this morning, leave your car at home and ride your bike or take Metro.

And leave the damn guns and fireworks at home, too.

………

It’s now 316 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 41 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

Meanwhile, the San Diego Union Tribune reports that Pedal Ahead, the San Diego nonprofit selected to operate the program, is facing multiple investigations, including at least one possible criminal count.

But they apparently think only San Diego residents could possibly be interested in the story, hiding the story behind a paywall for subscribers only.

Or maybe they think people in Santa Monica, Sausalito or Sacramento will want to pay for the paper just to get one lousy story if they lock it away from everyone who might possibly be interested.

Yeah, that’ll work.

………

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

Life is cheap in Florida, where a road-raging St. Pete Beach fire captain got off with a gentle caress on the wrist for attempting to run down a bike rider who had gone up onto a raised median to escape him, then got out of his truck to push the victim a couple times; he walked without a day behind bars, with just a lousy $2,000 fine. But at least he apparently lost his job after his arrest.

Ontario, Canada Premier Doug Ford’s war on bikes is claiming it’s first casualties, after proposed legislation to put the provincial government in charge of local streets was amended to remove three popular Toronto bike lanes, which were installed to improve safety on some of the city’s deadliest streets.

………

Local  

Metro is offering free transportation on all buses, trains and Metro Bikes for Tuesday’s Election Day; enter “1-Ride” at the Metro Bike kiosk, online or in the Metro Bike app to redeem a free ride, although a credit or debit card will be required.

A new bike and pedestrian bridge opened over the Pacoima Wash in Cindy Montañez Natural Park in San Fernando, after 14-year old Elias “Eli” Rodriguez died when he was swept away by rushing water in 2017.

Seriously? Los Angeles fitness influencer Joe Hicks is getting criticism after he and his wife posed for a photo with their kids on the bike path in Santa Monica, with only the kids wearing bike helmets.

 

State

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department is looking for witnesses who may have seen a driver strike a boy riding a bicycle at Las Posas Road and Temple Ave on Monday. Or rather, a “vehicle,” since the story doesn’t even mention if it had a driver. 

Bakersfield is asking for input on the city’s proposed Active Transportation Plan.

 

National

Momentum ranks the top ten bike commuting cities in the US, with Portland and Seattle coming first and second; surprisingly, Los Angeles makes the list a number nine, at an average of 9.5 miles per trip.

Bicycling says ebikes are real bicycles, and great for everyone. But they apparently don’t want anyone to know it, either.

The University of Washington will have to pay $16 million to the family of a man who’s now in need of round-the-clock care after crashing his bicycle while attempting to avoid a notorious speed bump, which had already injured five other bike riders. One of the biggest factors that determines fault and drives up settlements is whether someone knew about a problem, and failed to fix it.

Sad news from New York, where a 24-year old man was killed when the driver of a fire truck on an emergency call crashed into his bicycle as he rode in a painted bike lane.

New York City’s transportation department is developing a new code of conduct after a lawmaker crashed a recent meeting to loudly and aggressively oppose extending a popular bikeway.

A comic essay from the Washington Post asks — and answers — why so few women ride bikes, when they have long been a feminist symbol.

 

International

Your next cargo ebike could seat a family of five.

A London man forced the police’s hand by conducting his own sting operation after spotting his stolen bike for sale on a website.

Even workers with the National Health Service are complaining after an English  town severed a popular bike route to add more traffic lanes, just so drivers can go zoom zoom a little faster.

A British woman says she’s now at peace after completing a fundraising ride started by her father, after the 64-year old man died of a heart attack halfway through his ride down the length of the country.

Bike riders in the UK are accusing officials of making bicycling more dangerous, as cities throughout the country are banning people from riding their bikes through the city centers.

An Irish website offers tips on how to ride safely during the dark and wet winter. Most of which will apply wherever you are.

The Netherlands is facing calls to restrict fat ebikes, after the country sees 96 emergency room visits resulting from them in a single week.

Aussie cycling champ Rohan Dennis received a six-week delay in his trial for the death of his wife, former Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins, to give his lawyers more time to negotiate an apparent plea deal.

 

Competitive Cycling

A British man finished 249th in the country’s National Hill Climb Championship, but first in the hand-cycling category, as the first and only paracyclist to compete in the competition; he said afterward that he thought it would be harder.

Dutch pro Demi Vollering, the 2023 Tour de France Femmes champ, interrupted her hike through the Greek countryside to rescue a goat from a well. Yes, an actual goat.

 

Finally…

Nothing like hundreds of witches on bikes or sketching out a 69-mile skeleton with your bike to celebrate Halloween. That feeling when even the person who put it there calls the object chained to the fence a Lump of Shit in the Shape of a Bike.

And seriously, who doesn’t want their very own Wout van Aert cuddly toy?

………

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: , , , , , ,

Sacramento boy fatally shot after winning bike race, memorials for Aussie cyclist Melissa Hopkins, and US ebike incentives

January 3, 2024 / / Comments Off on Sacramento boy fatally shot after winning bike race, memorials for Aussie cyclist Melissa Hopkins, and US ebike incentives

Well, that was unexpected.

Thanks to Robert H for a surprising January donation to last month’s 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Even though the fund drive is officially over, donations of any amount are always welcome and appreciated. And help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

………

14 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch in the fall, as promised; 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law.

………

A tragic story got even worse yesterday, when news broke that the killing of a Sacramento boy may have resulted from winning a bike race.

Ten-year old Keith “KJ” Frierson was riding the bike he got for Christmas when he was shot by another ten-year old boy, who allegedly found the gun in his father’s truck when he went to get his dad a pack of cigarettes.

Frierson’s mother alleged the other boy shot him after losing an impromptu bike race to the victim.

The alleged killer’s father, 53-year-old Arkete Davis, had the gun — which was allegedly stolen — despite being prohibited from possessing one as a convicted felon.

He reportedly dumped the gun in a trash can after the shooting to hide his son’s involvement.

The alleged shooter has been charged with murder; his identity has been withheld because of his age.

His father faces a host of charges, including illegal possession of a firearm, criminal storage of a gun, carrying a loaded weapon in a car, child endangerment and acting as an accessory after the fact.

………

The family of Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins announced her funeral will be held in her hometown of Perth, Australia, along with a memorial service in Adelaide after the Tour Down Under.

Her husband, former two-time world time trial champ Rohan Dennis, has been charged in the crash that killed her as she reportedly clung to the hood of their pickup while attempting to open the door.

Why she was on the hood has yet to be explained.

………

GCN offers a state-by-state guide to ebike incentive programs throughout the US, including California’s currently moribund program.

The site also alludes to a regional ebike incentive program currently operating in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. But if that exists, I’m not aware of it.

Meanwhile, a San Francisco man has teamed with a local bike shop to lower the barriers to ebike ownership by launching a new subscription service.

The program, called Friiway, allows ebike-curious people to try quality Stromer or Riese & Müller ebike for several months.

Maybe by then, the state’s incentive program will finally launch.

………

If you haven’t already, sign the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we all face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, as well as the city’s ongoing failure to actually care enough to do anything about it.

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

………

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

Seriously?  A Florida TV station reports two people were killed last week because of ebikes, then describes how both ebike riders were struck by drivers, including one in a hit-and-run. But somehow, ebikes — not cars or the people in them — are the problem.

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

An Illinois man faces drug charges after he was run down from behind while riding his bike without a light after dark, then attempted to bury the prescription pills, meth and syringes he was carrying under a nearby tree.

“Gangsters” on bicycles pelted an Indian shop with rocks after arguing with the shopkeeper, despite shaking hands after the dispute.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. A 21-year od woman was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon for attempting to ram her car through security barriers blocking access to the Pasadena Rose Parade on New Year’s Day; police say she was suffering from a mental health issue, and credit the barriers with saving the lives of nearby parade spectators.

 

State

Hats off to Hoodline for breaking the shocking news that California bike riders are required to adhere to traffic laws, just like drivers. And yes, that was sarcasm. 

Bike lanes have now been added to Santa Barbara’s increasingly popular State Street Promenade.

Sad news from Fremont, where someone riding a bicycle was killed in a collision with a commuter train.

 

National

A writer for Outside says bikes aren’t always the answer to life’s tragedies. But they help.

Bicycling offers expert advice on how to become a better bicyclist, according to experts. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

Cycling News says the new 2024 Trek Emonda may have been spotted in the wild.

A Minneapolis man has pled guilty to a single count of criminal vehicular homicide for killing a bike-riding Minnesota priest in 2021, but no word on whether he reached a plea deal or what his sentence might be.

Alexandria, Virginia is launching an ebike incentive program, while a bill to establish a statewide program has been introduced in the legislature. Meanwhile, California’s ebike incentive program remains moribund.

 

International

Toronto’s fire chief offered advice on how to avoid fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries after an ebike battery caught fire in a crowded subway on Sunday, filling the train with smoke.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 87-year old British man is riding and walking 100 miles on a 100-year old military bicycle, complete with decommissioned rifle and grenade, to raise funds for the hospital that saved his eyesight. Although I could maybe pass on the weaponry.

CNN recommends riding the Trans Dinarica Cycle Route, which follows quiet asphalt roads, forest trails and bike paths nearly 2,500-miles through all eight countries of the Western Balkans.

India’s most successful triathlete has established a foundation to provide bicycles to underprivileged girls, to give them freedom, fitness and access to education.

The Philippine government has committed one billion pesos to building new bike lanes. Which isn’t quite as impressive as it sounds, since that’s equal to about $18 million. But still.

 

Finally…

A pair of pedals on the floor does not a mini bike make, let alone a mini-bike.

And that feeling when a lawyer referral site reports a bicyclist was killed, but the bike turns out to be a motorcycle.

And the victim was a mule.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Canoga Park bike rider wanted for fatally shooting driver, and accused Oceanside hit-and-run driver pleads not guilty

July 28, 2021 / / Comments Off on Canoga Park bike rider wanted for fatally shooting driver, and accused Oceanside hit-and-run driver pleads not guilty

LAPD detectives are looking for a bike-riding man who murdered a driver in Canoga Park on Monday afternoon.

The shooting took place around 2:18 pm, when the man on the bike shot into the driver’s car following some sort of dispute near the 6400 block of DeSoto Ave.

Forty-three-year old Glendale resident Mkher Alaverdian was pronounced dead after he was taken to a local hospital.

There’s no description of the shooter or his bicycle, and no word on whether this was a road rage dispute or some other kind of argument.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Valley Bureau Homicide at 818/374-9550, or 1-877/LAPD-24-7 after business hours.

………

Twenty-four-year old Bailey Tennery pled not guilty to a single felony count of hit-and-run causing death yesterday.

Tennery is accused of being the driver who sped away after killing Jackson Williams as he rode his bike in Oceanside on July 15th.

She remains in custody on $150,000 bail.

………

This is why protected bike lanes are necessary.

………

Like more of this, please. And not just in Willowbrook.

https://twitter.com/multimodalLA/status/1420217792062582797

………

The cycling fuckups continue at the Tokyo Olympics.

World time trial champ Anna van der Breggen was abruptly threatened and pulled off her bike while doing a recon ride on the time trial course, by a security guard who didn’t recognize her as an Olympic competitor.

It also doesn’t help when an official walks across the track while you’re training.

………

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

A pair of Wisconsin men face charges for allegedly shouting at a bike-riding couple from their car and telling them to ride on the sidewalk, then getting out to confront the victims and steal their phones, keys and IDs.

………

Local

Los Angels Magazine says LA and California stand to lose big if the proposed bipartisan Senate infrastructure plan fails, which is looking more likely every day.

 

State

The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition says it’s fine with restaurants taking over parking spaces, as long as they play by the rules, and replace any bikeways they might block.

Twelve young women stopped in Lompoc on their way down the West Coast on a 1,700-mile bike ride from Seattle to San Diego to call attention to human trafficking.

Bay Area bike riders will get a new protected cycle track near UC Berkeley.

Kindhearted Richmond cops dug into their own pockets to buy a new bicycle for a 12-year old boy, after his new bike was stolen just two days after his birthday.

An Oakland bikemaker who works out of his garage gets tasked with building a custom bike for 6’6″ Golden State Warriors forward Juan Toscano-Anderson.

 

National

A federal ebike rebate bill has been introduced in the US Senate; like a previous House bill, it would provide a 30% refundable tax credit on the purchase of ebikes up to $1,500.

Outside recommends their favorite bicycling base camps, including one in California.

Colorado mountain bikers are joining with residents to fight a proposed 63-acre expansion of a Salida gravel mine that would force the realignment of a popular bike trail.

An Illinois bike shop was collateral damage in a police shooting, when a 19-year old woman was shot and killed by police after waving a gun while complaining about a closed drive-thru, then attempting to speed off with a cop hanging inside her window; she crashed into the shop after she was shot while allegedly aiming her car at the cop who opened fire.

Not even a slap on the wrist for a Moline, Illinois cop who killed a 13-year old boy while responding to an emergency call, even though she slammed into his bike while driving well over the speed limit without lights and siren activated.

After the story of a Michigan boy’s stolen bike was shared on Facebook, a Good Samaritan stepped up to buy him a new one.

A pair of Ohio brothers decide to shut down the bike shop they grew up in, opened by their parents 67 years ago.

A New York man is planning to bike 8,000 miles through ten states to get more kids on bicycles, raising funds to donate new bikes to underprivileged children around the country; the Black bike rider who grew up in the city’s low-income Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood says if he can do it, most people can.

The New Jersey legislature has passed a bill requiring drivers to change lanes to pass bike riders; it now goes to the governor, who is expected to sign it.

Evidently, the bicycling death of former Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi is about the only thing that can bring about a bipartisan agreement in DC.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever left a ten-year old Florida boy lying in the street after slamming into the bike he was riding. And no, turning yourself in later does not make it all better.

 

International

Momentum Magazine looks at five petite handlebar bags for riding around town. I’d go for the last one, myself. But I’ve always been a sucker for that classic look.

A Toronto architect wants to transform a “car sewer” with scary bike lanes into an “inhabited bridge” for people, as well as cars.

An English man was sprayed with bleach by an attacker who attempted to steal the bike he was riding; the victim was treated and released at the scene. Police later arrested a 28-year old man for the attack.

Add this one to your bike bucket list — a five-day Coast and Castle ride through England and Scotland.

 

Competitive Cycling

Switzerland stands alone atop women’s Olympic mountain biking, as the country swept the gold, silver and bronze medals, led by winner Jolanda Neff.

VeloNews offers a photo essay of the men’s Olympic cross-country mountain bike race won by Tom Pidcock of Great Britain.

The inaugural TransRockies Gravel Royale got the green light for this August; the 233-mile, four stage gravel grind will roll through the indigenous Ktunaxa Nation in the Canadian Rockies, featuring around 23,000 feet of climbing.

 

Finally…

The LEGO bicycle of your dreams may finally be here — if you can read German. Now you, too, can own a pair of weird-looking, 3D-printed carbon bike shoes, for the low, low price of just $1,900.

And who needs energy bars when you can just tape pizza and potatoes to your top tube?

………

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

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

LA promised bike lanes but gave us sharrows, CA Assembly approves stop as yield, and popular bike rider shot and killed

May 11, 2021 / / One comment

Update: We saw a big jump in donations yesterday after I asked you to give to a crowdfunding campaign for 31-year old Adriana “Fishy” Rodriguez, who left five young children behind when she was killed by a driver while riding her bike in Lincoln Heights last month.

And you responded.

Donations jumped within minutes of my initial tweet, and kept growing throughout the day, rising from just $1,375 to a much healthier $3,116.

Now let’s keep it going.

If you haven’t given yet, take a few minutes to donate to the GoFundMe account established for Rodriguez before she died.

Because those kids will now have to spend the rest of their lives without their mother. So let’s try to get them off to the best start we can.

Photo of sharrows on LA’s Riverside/Zoo Bridge by Photo by Joe Linton of Streetsblog LA; see story below. 

………

Once again, city officials promised a bike lane.

And gave us sharrows.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton writes that, like the undelivered bike lanes on the North Spring Street Bridge, the Riverside/Zoo Bridge in Griffith Park was scheduled to get bike lanes during a recent widening project.

Instead, drivers got the sort of plush, wide lanes that encourage speeding.

And we got sharrows — placing bike riders directly in the path of those speeding drivers.

The city’s environmental documentation (called a Mitigated Negative Declaration – MND) as approved by City Council for this project states that the project scope included two new five-foot shoulders. The MND states that “The proposed project would add shoulders to the bridge for the bicyclists” as well as a bike undercrossing (more on that below.)

Though the city’s MND does not call them “bike lanes,” the city’s rendering shows bike lane markings in newly-striped shoulders.

Linton goes on to include an apt description of those little arrow-shaped chevrons that do little to nothing on the road, other than aid in wayfinding and positioning, while helping drivers improve their aim.

At us.

For folks not familiar with the term, sharrows are shared lane markings, called “the dregs of bike infrastructure” because they don’t actually allocate space to cyclists, nor have they been shown to make streets safer.

He also makes the case, as I have many times, that parks are for people, not cars. And that the bridge has more than enough bicycle traffic to justify painted, if not protected, bike lanes.

The bridge is located inside Griffith Park. Does L.A. really need big wide lanes for drivers to speed through its parks? No. Inside parks, the city should encourage more park-compatible quieter modes, like bicycling. Similarly, in pursuing river revitalization, the city states that the river corridor will prioritize walking, bicycling, and transit…

The city’s MND acknowledges that the bridge sees plenty of cyclists. It notes a 2013 bicycle count that found that approximately 375 bicyclists crossed the bridge on weekdays, with 43 crossing during the morning peak hour and 34 during the evening peak hour. The same count found higher numbers on weekends: approximately 610 cyclists per day on Saturday, and 796 cyclists on a Sunday, where the hourly peak was 158 cyclists. That peak is more than two cyclists per minute, on a bridge not designed for cyclists (no bike lanes and two freeway ramps).

He goes on to make some very viable and practical suggestions on how to give us the bike lanes we were promised, while improving safety for everyone on the roadways.

It’s more than worth taking a few minutes to give the piece a read.

It’s also worth taking a few minutes to contact new CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman to ask her to do what her predecessors didn’t, whether by email or phone.

Instead of letting the city settle for the least they can do.

Again.

………

It’s on to the state senate after the California Assembly approved a modified Idaho Stop Law, allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields.

It’s not the first time a bill like this has been introduced in the legislature. But to the best of my knowledge, it’s the first time one has gotten out of committee, let alone survived a floor vote.

Maybe we’re making progress, after all.

………

Heartbreaking news, as a popular South Carolina bicyclist was shot and killed while riding near a park, just blocks from his home.

Forty-four-year old David “Whit” Oliver was on the phone with the 911 operator when shots were heard in the background, and the phone went silent.

But he knew his attacker, giving the operator the name of the man who killed him just before he was shot.

Police were able to quickly find his killer, 62-year old Jeffrey Mark Murray, but not before he was involved in another shooting minutes later.

Murray was shot and killed by police officers after getting out of his car with a gun.

A friend of Oliver’s wrote that Murray was known for harassing bicyclists “and anyone else that the man came across while walking in our neighborhood.”

The South Carolina bicycling community was in mourning as news of Oliver’s death spread; former pro cyclist George Hincapie was among those tweeting a link to the crowdfunding campaign to benefit Oliver’s wife and young son.

As of this writing, it’s raised over $21,000 of the $50,000 goal in just 24 hours.

………

Looks like America’s most popular open streets event could be back soon, as the pandemic continues to loosen it’s deadly grip on the City of Angels.

………

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

A Saskatchewan man calls for a little empathy from drivers, after his wife took a bad fall while being harassed by a honking, tailgating driver; needless to say, the driver saw her fall, but just kept on going.

A bike-riding former Welsh cop suffered elbow, hip and knee injuries when a driver intentionally swerved into him, after threatening to kill him; when the local police hesitated to take up the case, he started the investigation himself.

………

Local

They get it. Capital and Main says political gridlock is the reason Los Angeles hasn’t solved its transit gridlock, as planners argue that a combination of “rail, bus rapid transit (BRT) and electric bikes and scooters would transport Angelenos around the county more easily” — and more safely — than cars do.

 

State

A Voice of San Diego op-ed argues that it will take more than just bike lanes to get more people to bike to work, saying ebike rebates and incentives would be money well-spent to get people riding in the hilly city.

The Christian Science Monitor profiles Richmond’s Najari Smith, founder of Rich City Rides, who uses the bicycle co-op as a tool to uplift his entire community. Which is why he is one of my personal bike heroes and one of the people I admire most.

 

National

The Verge talks with Transportation Secretary Pete about the future of transportation and infrastructure in the US. And that future includes micromobility and active transportation, as well as eliminating traffic deaths.

More proof that bikes are good for the environment, as a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in conjunction with Trek confirms that replacing car trips with biking or walking is one of the most effective ways of improve human health and mitigate climate change.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 75-year old Maine chocolate maker is taking a few weeks off for a 3,000-mile fundraising ride up the East Coast; the retired, award-winning architect is hoping to raise $30,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Traffic deaths in Boston rose last year as empty streets encouraged more speeding drivers, though bicycling and pedestrian declined. Although even one death is still one too many.

A Huntsville, Alabama man has biked over 2,000 miles to ride every street in town.

 

International

Bike Radar offers advice on how to ride faster.

A pair of Canadian teens learn first hand what it’s like to unexpectedly ride their bikes through a den of rattlesnakes.

British bike riders may soon be allowed to ride up to 30 miles from home as the country begins to loosen the latest pandemic lockdown restrictions.

The international pandemic bike boom may be bypassing Aussie bike clubs, as some Victoria clubs are struggling to attract members despite the increasing numbers of bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch cyclist Taco Van Der Hoorn won the third stage of the Giro in a surprising victory in his first Grand Tour, the last survivor of an eight-man breakaway that led the peloton by six-and-a-half minutes before declining to a slim four-second margin at the finish.

An 18-year old Belmont, California man is planning to put off college at UC Santa Cruz for awhile in hopes of succeeding as a pro cyclist — assuming Covid-19 allows developmental racing to resume this year.

 

Finally…

What would it look like if road space for cars and bikes were reversed? How about a game of Bike Tag, you’re it?

And who needs an ebike when you’ve got a propeller on your back?

https://twitter.com/NickyTay55/status/1390955665083019269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1390955665083019269%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-10-may-2021-283191

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask. 

And get vaccinated, already.

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

5-year old fatally shot riding bike on neighbor’s lawn, reclaiming road space for bikes and dining, and Pasadena BLM ride

August 13, 2020 / / Comments Off on 5-year old fatally shot riding bike on neighbor’s lawn, reclaiming road space for bikes and dining, and Pasadena BLM ride

My God.

A North Carolina man is being held without bond on a charge of 1st degree murder, after shooting a five-year old boy point blank for the crime of riding his bike onto the man’s yard.

There are no words.

Or a pit in hell deep enough for someone who could do that.

………

Today’s common theme is trading space for cars in exchange for space for bikes and diners.

That’s what’s happening on Culver Blvd in downtown Culver City, where city leaders approved plans for quick-build “tactical mobility lanes” for buses, bicyclists and emergency vehicles for the next two years, with additional space to be used for outdoor dining.

Hermosa Beach is trading the sharrows on Hermosa Ave for dedicated bike lanes and more outdoor dining space for at least the next six months.

San Luis Obispo is removing a traffic lane to stripe what may or may not be a temporary bike lane to accommodate the Covid-19 bike boom, while providing a buffer for outdoor diners.

New York goes the other way, moving a bikeshare rack to make room for diners at a 100-year old restaurant.

However, a writer for USA Today questions whether people dining al fresco at restaurants newly expanded into the streets to provide a safe space from Covid-19 are actually safe from people driving cars. Short answer, probably not in most cases.

Today’s photo shows SCAG’s revived Go Human campaign mentioned below.

………

Ride to support Black Lives Matter and demand civilian police oversight in Pasadena on Saturday.

………

LA’s Slow Streets movement finally made its way to Valley Village.

………

The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition talks with ’84 Olympic cycling hero Nelson Vails on Instagram this Friday.

https://twitter.com/sdbikecoalition/status/1293736129066176512

………

When is a Scottish pathway not a pathway?

When it’s a raging river.

………

Christian Bale is one of us, as he takes his mountain bike out for a spin with his wife, in what may or may not be LA.

Britney Spears is one of us, too, going for a ride along the beach with her boyfriend.

Die Hard star Bruce Willis is one of us, going shopping by ebike in Santa Monica.

MMA fighter Ronda Rousey is one of us, though she may be rethinking that after she “ate it so hard” falling off her bike.

………

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

Road rage incidents directed towards bike riders are up in at least one Oregon county.

Once again, someone has sabotaged a British mountain bike trail, hiding spikes and barbed wire in a deliberate attempt to seriously injure someone.

Someone may be deliberately targeting bike riders by spreading oil across a greenway trail; a little girl was injured when her scooter skidded off the trail and into a wall.

A Land Rover driver hit a Scottish bike rider on a narrow country road, then got out of his SUV to push the victim off his bike before driving away.

……..

Local

No surprise here, as a new report from the Southern California Association of Governments shows a massive drop in both public and private transportation compared to last year since the coronavirus crisis kicked in, including a 39% drop in bikeshare use. Meanwhile, SCAG is revising its successful Go Human campaign.

Metro Bike is offering discounted daily, monthly and yearly passes through this month.

 

State

A San Diego County man reports he was stung over 150 times after being surrounded by a swarm of bees while running on a North County bike path. Which serves as a reminder just how lucky I was to ride into a similar swarm, and escape with major injuries — but not a single bee sting. 

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is kicking off a semi-virtual scavenger hunt; no word on whether the recalcitrant North Park businesses actually opted out.

Police are looking for a cowardly Murrieta driver who fled the scene after crashing into a woman riding a bike; fortunately, she only suffered minor injuries, but her new bike was damaged. Thanks to Jeff Hammons for the heads-up.

Ventura police bust a bike thief, only to discover he has over 30 priors in the last six years.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 95-year old Santa Maria man just hit 100,000 miles on his bike. Although I’d have to back up to get back down to a 100,00 miles. But I’m not 95-years old, either.

A volunteer group is helping San Francisco restaurants fight high delivery fees by delivering food orders for them by bike, foot and car, at no charge.

Modesto police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who ran down a bike rider, leaving him or her with undisclosed injuries.

 

National

A man honored his late father’s legacy and raised over $6,000 to fight cancer by riding a century every day last month. The story is available on Yahoo if you can’t access it on Bicycling.

Meanwhile, Bicycling drops its paywall to call the new Tern GSD the best-equipped electric cargo bike. As long as you’re willing to fork out over $4,500, or more than eight grand for the version they tested.

Finishing out our Bicycling trifecta, the magazine wants to tell you how to avoid road raging drivers.

Used bike sales have helped US bike shops to survive the pandemic bike boom, which has cleaned many shops out of new bikes for the foreseeable future. However, Cycling News says there are still good deals on new bikes if you know where to look. And apparently, they do.

City Lab says life-saving technologies already exist to keep people from getting killed by drivers, yet manufacturers aren’t required to install them.

Now that’s more like it. Cars could be considered guests on Denver streets in the not-too-distant future.

A Western Colorado rafting guide rescued a family trapped by a wildfire on rental bikes.

Kindhearted Colorado cops bought a new mountain bike for a 12-year old autistic boy, after he inadvertently left his bike next to a Free Furniture sign and someone helped themselves to it.

An Iowa man was killed when a tree limb fell on him as he was riding his bike during the 100 mph derecho storm that tore through the Midwest. And no, I never heard of one before, either.

No bias here, as a Dallas newspaper says they’re glad to be rid of the “bike litter” of dockless bikeshare bikes, even though there’s now a shortage of bikes due to the bike boom.

You can have as many lights as you want on your bike in Texas.

A New York priest raised $20,000 for a food bank with a century ride through Long Island.

This week’s VeloNews podcast talks with Wall Street Journal sports columnist and dedicated bicyclist Jason Gay about the bike boom and the rescheduled Tour de France.

A Georgia man learned the hard way that if you’re going to ride with meth on your bike, put a light on it, already.

 

International

Red Bull directs your attention to the best bike accounts on YouTube.

Vancouver cops are facing criticism for crashing a patrol car into a bike rider three times before knocking him off his bike, then violently tasing him, kneeling on his neck and wresting him to the ground before taking him into custody — all because he didn’t stop for a damn traffic violation.

A Canadian community will pay $120,000 to rip out temporary bike lanes that were part of a pilot project.

Talk about damning with faint praise. Bike-riding British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that “not all cyclists are Lycra louts.”

You might be able to get that Brompton you’ve been dreaming of after all. The British bikemaker is starting a subscription service in the UK for the equivalent of $39 a month, with Germany and the US likely to follow. Although there are other, much cheaper alternatives.

That didn’t take long. Just days after opening, Britain’s first Dutch-style protected roundabout had to be closed after a driver plowed through it.

Speaking of Dutch style, The Netherlands offers a guide to cities looking to build a better bike culture, from discouraging cars to building an actual network of separated bikeways.

The City Fix says African nations can still become more walkable and bikeable through targeted investments, despite the coronavirus crisis.

A Cartier ad featuring two men taking a romantic bike ride apparently crossed a line with Chinese sensors; a later version described them as father and son, which somehow seems worse.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as the 2020 world road championships were the latest Covid-19 domino to fall.

Just days after winning Milan-San Remo, former world cross champ Wout van Aert won the opening stage at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Former Tour of California champ George Bennett rolled to victory at Italy’s prestigious, 114-year old Gran Piemonte race.

Weight weenies rejoice! Canyon tells cycling’s governing body to stuff their weight minimums, checking in with a complete new bike weighing just 13lb 11oz, over a pound lighter than UCI’s minimum weight restriction.

 

Finally…

It’s not exactly the Virgin Mary in a tortilla or anything, just Simon Cowell’s face in a rock wall. Turns out that towing your kid’s bike with a towel tied to your car may not be the best idea.

And yes, you can carry your groceries home on a bike. Even if they’re already in the fridge.

Thanks to W. Corylus for that last link.

……

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

Morning Links: Bike rider murdered on LA River path, Westwood NIMBYs rise again, and LA makes bad list of best bike cities

December 10, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike rider murdered on LA River path, Westwood NIMBYs rise again, and LA makes bad list of best bike cities

I’m not usually one to leave a job half done. 

But evidently, I’m okay with knocking off when it’s just two-thirds finished.

Especially when I don’t have any choice. 

I’ve been struggling with low blood sugar most of the night, ranging from dangerously low to just extremely nauseatingly low. 

Despite which, I’ve somehow managed to get this far with today’s post. But I can’t make it any further. 

At least not tonight. 

But don’t fret.

I promise to catch up on the rest tomorrow, when I’ll (hopefully) be feeling better.

………

Evidently, nowhere is safe for LA County bike riders.

The LA Times reports that a man was found shot to death next to his bicycle on the LA River bike path just before 11 pm Sunday night.

The vicim was discovered suffering from a single gunshot wound to the upper body on the pathway near Clara Street and River Road in Cudahy.

There are no known suspects.

Anyone with information is urged to call the LA County Sheriff’s Department at 323/890-5500.

Thanks to Eban Lehrer for the heads-up.

………

The decidedly bike-unfriendly Westwood Neighborhood Council is raising its ugly NIMBY head once again.

The group, which is dominated by wealthy homeowners in the area, is calling for a motion to block proposed bike lanes on Westwood Blvd from just below Wilshire Blvd to the UCLA campus.

Even though the North Westwood Neighborhood Council, where the lanes would actually be located, overwhelmingly favors them.

And even though they could help revitalize the rapidly dying Westwood Village, while improving safety for UCLA students, staff and employees, along with what few shoppers, diners and movie goers remain.

New LA advocacy group Streets For All is calling for everyone to contact area Councilmember Paul Koretz. Though it’s questionable what good that will do, since Koretz is the one who singlehandedly blocked bike lanes along the lower portion of the street below Santa Monica Blvd at the behest of a handful of homeowners.

More effective could be their final suggestion.

3 – Show up at Westwood Neighborhood Council’s meeting – and encourage any friends that live in Westwood to join you. We will be passing out signs to hold up. Give public comment supporting Metro’s bike lanes on Westwood Bl. and opposing their interference in part of Westwood that isn’t even in their neighborhood council district.

When: Wednesday, December 11, 2019. 7pm.

Where: Belmont Village Senior Living, 10475 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90024

………

I don’t want to frighten you.

But before you read this next item, you need to sit down.

Now set down your coffee, tea or whatever you’re drinking. You don’t want you to ruin your laptop, phone or any other device with an unplanned spit take.

Because what I’m about to say may come as a shock. Or maybe a laugh.

Or in my case, a damn good guffaw.

Because Los Angeles finally made a list of the most bike-friendly cities.

No, in the world.

Seriously.

Even though we can’t even make a list of the most bike-friendly cities in California. Or barely in LA County, for that matter.

Let alone with criteria like this.

For this edition of the ranking, we have evaluated and ranked over 60 cities from around the world using 7 factors including biking infrastructure, bike safety, roadside rentals, bike-share index, friendliness (designated bike lanes), road connectivity, and bicycle culture (the shops, routes, and attributes that make each city a great place to ride). These are the best cycling cities in the world. Did your city make the list?

Clearly, they didn’t deduct for LA’s angry, aggressive and distracted drivers. Or elected leaders who seem to like the way Vision Zero looks on LADOT’s website, as long as they don’t actually have to do anything.

Never mind the steadily rising toll of fallen bicyclists that disprove the city’s meager efforts to date.

But not only did LA make the list, we apparently made it twice.

Magazine placed Oslo in sixth on the list ahead of Bremen, and Antwerp. San Francisco and Helsinki round out the list at nine and ten, respectively. Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Portland, Boulder, and Seattle came out as the top five most bike-friendly cities in the United States.

CEO Magazine, which created this list, may or may not be legit.

But LA’s inclusion on it is total bull.

The Onion, on the other hand, get it right with a story saying Los Angeles is now adding lanes for bike riders to recover from getting hit by drivers.

………

Yesterday we posted video of a road raging Texas truck driver blocking both lanes of a narrow highway to tell off a group of bicyclists, which made it look like the riders may have been taking up both sides of the road.

Today we get additional video from another angle, making it clear they weren’t. And that she was going way too fast.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

………

‘Tis the Season.

Four hundred Coachella Valley 4th graders got new bikes and helmets courtesy of Variety of the Desert.

Around a hundred volunteers pitched in to build 123 bikes for a Pennsylvania nonprofit, marking more than one thousand bikes the group has given away since 2008.

Even Fox News is getting in on the bike building act.

Meanwhile, Bike Radar has eco-friendly gift ideas for the bike rider in your life. Or maybe something for the bike-riding lesbian on your list.

And the New York Post has advice on gifts to avoid so you don’t end up like the Peloton husband.

………

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

A bike-riding Grinch made off with a San Jose family’s Christmas decorations.

An Illinois man was busted for pedaling his bike up behind a woman to steal her purse in a Walmart parking lot. Even if the headline suggests he was trying to sell his bike, instead.

………

It looked for awhile like Monday would be the first day with no donations to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

But appearances can be deceiving. 

So let me offer a heartfelt thank you to William S for coming through at the last minute with his generous donation help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos from Sunday’s West Valley CicLAvia, while CiclaValley offers a video recap. And no, my fumble fingers never gotten used to typing CicLAvia and CiclaValley in the same sentence, and probably never will.

Yet another reminder that Los Angeles will close Hollywood Blvd at the drop of a hat for a movie premier. But somehow can’t create a pedestrian plaza to improve business and save human lives.

 

State

California planners are already telling LOS to get lost.

San Diego’s popular Rose Canyon bike path will be closed this week to pave the final segment.

San Francisco will close a section of Octavia Street in the Hayes Valley neighborhood to cars, and fling it open for people on bicycles. Permanently. Maybe Los Angeles can take the hint.

 

National

Bicycling lists the ten most popular Strava segments from across the US, with a heavy emphasis on the West Coast.

The magazine also looks at Utah’s shrinking Bears Ears National Monument, warning that oil wells could soon replace a bikepacking paradise.

A coalition of conservation groups have filed suit against new federal rules opening National Park trails to ebikes if other bikes are allowed. Evidently, the wilderness is only for the fit and able bodied, as far as they’re concerned.

Trek recalled their 2017-19 Super Commuter+ 8S ebikes because, as the Miami Herald points out, nobody expects the wheels to come of a $5,200 bike. Actually, no one expects the wheels to come off any bike, regardless of price.

A Colorado bike advocate is blown away by biking in Portland. Just imagine how blown away she’d be by Los Angeles, which scored 15 places higher on that list up above.

Life is cheap in Texas, where you can kill a seven-year old little girl in front of her school and walk without even a ticket.

With no apparent sense of irony, a Providence, Rhode Island letter writer says bike advocates should have a more inclusive vision for the city, while insisting there’s no room for bike lanes on the city’s streets.

Streetsblog accuses New York Mayor Bill De Blasio of hypocrisy for encouraging corporate ebike deliveries while banning ebike food deliveries. Meanwhile, the state’s governor is sitting on a bill that would legalize ebikes throughout the state because of an unrelated dispute with the bill’s sponsor.

New York doormen are worried about conflicts between customers and people on bicycles as bike lanes expand throughout the city. Or they could just assume that bike lanes are meant for people on bicycles. Not tourists with suitcases.

 

International

British six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy offers tips on how to teach your child to ride a bike. Because everyone knows Olympic track cycling is the ideal background for the best sidewalk bike coaches.

Get your next H&M order delivered by bicycle. But only if you live in the Netherlands, of course.

 

Finally…

Now you can gravel grind and ride epic singletrack without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. It’s not a bicycle, it’s an artist’s brush.

And it’s one thing to attack the leader of Britain’s Labour Party. But making fun of his bike is going too damn far.

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

Morning Links: Bike rider fatally shot in South LA, Peloton’s “awful” new ad, and why people keep dying on our streets

December 3, 2019 / / One comment

Today is Giving Tuesday.

So take a few moments, and a few dollars, to help make a difference in our world. Or more than a few dollars, even.

Give generously, wherever your heart leads, and to whatever inspires you.

Because Lord knows, this world could use the help.

………

Sad news from South LA, where a man riding a bicycle was shot to death in an apparent drive-by.

The 20-something victim was found lying dead next to a bicycle, in the traffic lane near the intersection of Figueroa and 89th Streets around 9 pm Sunday.

According to a police spokesperson, there is a lot of gang activity in the area, which may or may not explain the motive for the shooting.

Seriously, the only thing more wasteful than unintentionally taking the life of another human being with a car is doing it on purpose with a gun.

Thanks to John Damman for the heads-up.

………

This one just cracks me up.

Today’s best read comes from USA Today’s For The Win! website, begging someone to “please help the woman from Peloton’s awful new ad,” and saying it earns the indoor cycling brand “our collective wrath.”

For the second year in a row, no less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShKu2icEYw

The woman’s terrified face is so disconcerting, her distress so obvious that it’s impossible to focus on anything else happening in the ad. She’s already trim and gorgeous, and yes, even though exercise should be about more than self-image, it’s clear this woman is trying to compensate for something. Is it her crumbling marriage? Her husband’s not-so-subtle suggestion she drop a few pounds?

The zeal with which she attacks the Peloton clearly speaks to some deep, unfulfilled need somewhere in her life.  Here she is — young, beautiful, successful, with a child and financial security– and yet, something inside her is still so obviously and utterly broken that only an unhealthy fixation on indoor cycling can help mend it.

Meanwhile, the online world quickly jumped in to offer its own takes.

Like this one.

https://twitter.com/morninggloria/status/1201569872083378176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1201570411047276544&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fftw.usatoday.com%2F2019%2F12%2Fpeloton-bike-lady-needs-help-someone-please-help-her

The writer wraps it up this way.

It’s clear this woman doesn’t need a Peloton. She needs a good therapist and a divorce lawyer.

Maybe you won’t find it as funny as I did, after working most of my career in advertising and marketing.

But take the time to read it if you want a good laugh.

Unless maybe you work for Peloton, in which case it’s probably not funny at all.

………

This is why people keep dying on the streets.

A Michigan man was convicted of driving a motorized bicycle without a headlight or a driver’s license, with a BAC over twice the legal alcohol limit.

Which is nothing new for him, though. He had 13 previous DUI convictions on his record, including four stints behind bars.

He’d had just finished adding the motor to his bike.

A Margaritaville-branded bike appropriately enough, given the circumstance.

Meanwhile, a distracted Canadian driver was still on the road despite being cited for cellphone use nine previous times.

………

Metro and the LACBC want to help you learn to ride your bike safely.

………

‘Tis the Season.

Yesterday we mentioned that Michigan volunteers built 240 bikes for Toys for Tots. Today we learn that 130 of those bikes were donated by a single bighearted nine-year old girl, who collected cans all year to pay for them.

Toledo, Ohio police and firefighter unions donated and built 52 kids bicycles for the county children’s service department.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A road raging Russian driver intentionally swerved into a bike rider after brake checking him, knocking him into another car.

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

A Texas woman lost her wallet to a bike-riding bandit, even after she managed to sink her teeth into him.

………

Thanks to Theodore F, Mark J, Moore R, James L, Matthew R and Jack M for their generous donations to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Your support helps keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. Or nearly every day, anyway.

………

Local

Apparently misunderstanding the “new” in news, the LA Times gets scooped by a full five days on the arrest of the LAUSD teacher in the caught-on-security-cam Silver Lake hit-and-run that left a homeless bike rider critically injured.

CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew throws down the gantlet for the Militant Angeleno with his preview of this Sunday’s West Valley CicLAvia. Meanwhile, CicLAvia clarifies whether ebikes are allowed. Short answer yes, as long as you have to pedal to make it work.

 

State

The San Diego Union-Tribune profiles the executive director of the I,400-member SD Mountain Biking Association

The less rural than it used to be Santa Ynez Valley could soon have a bike plan offering a network of new and enhanced bike lanes.

A Bakersfield professor has tossed his hat in the ring to replace a retiring congressman; the Republican former college teammate of Pat Tillman — the Army Ranger who walked away from a successful NFL career after 9/11 only to be killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan — once rode his bike 3,468 miles across the US.

Caltrans wants Sonoma bicyclists to help them identify to area’s worst roads.

 

National

Singletracks reviews eight hip packs for mountain biking. Because no one wants a fanny pack.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the bicycle a Washington man with cerebral palsy used as his only form of transportation.

It could take up to two years to repair a 195-mile long Nebraska bike path, one of the longest in the US, following massive flooding last spring.

Minnesota police get the law wrong, merely ticketing the impatient driver who killed a woman on a bike by going around a car that was stopped to let her cross in a crosswalk, as well as the courteous and law-abiding driver who stopped for her.

Police in Detroit don’t hesitate to absolve a driver for the crash that seriously injured a bike rider — right up to the point he fled the scene.

Many college students survive on dorm vending machines, but University of Kentucky students can get their bike parts the same way.

A Pittsburgh letter writer blames bike lanes, and the accompanying loss of parking, for threatening the city’s commercial district. Even though all that parking apparently didn’t help the major department stores stay in business before the spaces were removed. And never mind that drivers “speed through listening to music and (ignore) the rules of the road, too.”

DC-area suburbs are adopting Vision Zero plans to protect bike riders and pedestrians on auto centric streets.

A North Carolina pickup driver turned himself in to police Monday afternoon for the Thanksgiving hit-and-run collision that killed a bike rider. Which probably gave him plenty of time to sober up before turning himself in.

A 15-year old Florida boy tragically demonstrated the dangers of skitching, losing control of his bike and slipping under the truck he was holding onto when the driver slowed for a right turn.

 

International

A Toronto writer says e-scooters may be dangerous and annoying, but the city needs them anyway — or anything else that provides an alternative to driving. No, scooter riders can be annoying, but cars and their drivers are dangerous.

Horrible story from China, where three people are missing after a giant sinkhole swallowed a truck and an ebike rider.

A South African writer makes a bike tour of Bangkok sound like a real adventure. Which is not necessarily a good thing.

 

Competitive Cycling

The famed Paris-Roubaix just got a little less rough. A nearly one-mile section of cobblestones near the end of the race was partially paved, allowing riders on either side to travel a smoother road than those in the middle.

That Congressional Gold Medal for America’s last remaining Tour de France winner isn’t a done deal yet, still needing approval from the Senate after it was approved by the House.

 

Finally…

Your next ped-assist delivery ebike could be a refrigerator, too. Your next BMX could steer from both ends.

And if you’re going to file a fraudulent insurance claim after a bike crash, turn off your Strava and stop posting to Facebook first.

 

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

Morning Links: 63-year old bike rider killed in Pomona drive-by, Culver City bike petition, and free bike tourism doc

March 22, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: 63-year old bike rider killed in Pomona drive-by, Culver City bike petition, and free bike tourism doc

Tragic news from Pomona, where a 63-year old man riding a bike was killed in a drive-by shooting early Thursday morning.

Pomona resident Robert Arthur Fausto was shot at 12:49 am by the occupants of a small blue car, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Shootings like this usually turn out to be gang related, although the victim’s age might argue against that in this case.

Either way, he’s one more needless victim of violence. And one death too many.

Thanks to Henry Fung for the heads-up.

………

LACBC neighborhood chapter Bike Culver City wants your signature on a petition calling on the city to stand by its ten-year old promise to complete a bike network and build infrastructure by the end of next year.

………

J. Patrick Lynch forwards a new documentary from a Pittsburgh public TV station, as they take a 335-mile ride along the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath from Pittsburgh to DC.

Or as he put it, “Lots of interesting places and people, pared with some stunning scenery.”

The video is available free until the end of this month.

………

Local

US News & World Report — yes, it’s still around — questions why Los Angeles is so dangerous for bike riders. Then fails to answer the question, and digs about as deep into the subject as scraping your fingernail through the dust.

You’re invited to help form a “ginormous” human bike sculpture at the Rose Bowl next month.

The Santa Monica Mirror credits LACBC neighborhood chapter Santa Monica Spoke for working with the city to improve safety for pedestrians as well as bicyclists through Leading Pedestrian Intervals.

A new 47-unit housing complex rising in Long Beach will have just 40 parking spaces, along with bike storage and a bike lounge where residents can work on their bicycles.

State

Just what the world needs. A $7,000, 45 mph ped-assist e-mountain bike made by a California company that would qualify as an electric motorcycle under state law, and requires a license, license plate and helmet. And isn’t likely to be allowed on any public trails.

La Jolla has unveiled new artistic bike racks as part of a redesign of the Children’s Pool Plaza. Thanks to Robert Leone for the links.

Santa Barbara is starting a weekly series of Cycling Without Age rides to help older people experience the joys of bicycling.

Palo Alto will take another crack at bikeshare, after last year’s pilot program failed due to staffing problems.

San Francisco settled for an undisclosed amount with a bike rider who was injured when a cop pulled his car into the bike lane he was riding in.

A Bay Area writer hopped on an e-scooter, and rode as far from civilization as he could before the battery gave out. Or until it locked up when it didn’t show up in the app anymore.

After months of discussion, Marin County finally approves allowing ebikes on paved bike paths and multiuse trails in county parks.

National

Bicycling talks with the person behind a parody instagram account that pillories sexist cycling ads.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss says there’s no such thing as just one bike you’ll love riding for the rest of your life.

A new children’s book examines the perils of bicycle face and riding while female.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an 87-year old Texas man’s customized adult e-tricycle; it was his his only form of transportation after his eyesight started to fail.

A Queens NY newspaper says bike riders should stay in their lane, and not speculate about how a fatal bike crash happened or say bad things about the driver. Which might be valid if the NYPD didn’t have a long established bias against bicyclists, and a history of wrongly blaming bike riders for crashes. Which inevitably leads people to question their conclusions.

If you’re going to honor a fallen Philly pastry chef, a dessert-themed scavenger ride and bike rodeo makes sense. And calling it the ProfiteROLL, a stroke of genius.

A Virginia couple will ride across the US to raise funds to fight preeclampsia in honor of their son, who died just days after being born prematurely; they’ve raised over $5,000 of the $9,000 goal.

Charlotte NC plans to trade a traffic lane for the city’s first protected bike lane.

International

A new foldout bar end bike mirror is designed to give you a rear view when you need it and fold away when you don’t.

Good question. A Canadian paper asks what good is a dedicated bike lane if drivers park in it?

A bike rider says breaking his arm in a fall restored his faith in his fellow Londoners, and convinced him the world hadn’t gotten as mean as it seems.

Bicyclists in Manchester, England could soon get a winding, snake-style bike and pedestrian bridge as part of a $180 million bicycling and walking transportation plan.

Ebikes are boosting bike sales in Germany, with sales up 36% in the last year; one out of every four bikes sold in the country is electric.

Competitive Cycling

After finally getting around to banning Tramadol from the pro peloton, pro cycling’s governing body is looking to ban all corticosteroids next year; some — such as the asthma spray that raised questions about Chris Froome — have been allowed under a therapeutic use exemption, or TUE.

SoCal’s Coryn Rivera will wear the stars and stripes as she competes in Europe this year, after winning the US national championship last summer.

The Highland Community New says there was plenty of great racing at this year’s Redlands Classic; too bad almost no one showed up to watch.

Finally…

When riding the 1,600-mile Baja Divide on two wheels is one wheel too many. And the bike-riding wizarding world of fire investigation.

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

Morning Links: Huizar, Price under corruption cloud, bike rider kills Davis cop, and driver attacks Fresno bicyclist

January 14, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Huizar, Price under corruption cloud, bike rider kills Davis cop, and driver attacks Fresno bicyclist

A couple quick notes — If anyone is still using the old bikinginla@mindspring.com email address to contact me, that account has now been closed; please use the address you’ll find on the About page.

And use extra caution if you’re riding in the rain today, or any day this week. Most drivers can’t imagine anyone would ride in wet weather, and aren’t likely to be looking for you. At all.

………

The FBI could be preparing to take down one of bicycling’s biggest supporters on the city council.

And one who’s not.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that DTLA Councilmember Jose Huizar is a subject of a wide-ranging investigation into possible “bribery, kickbacks, extortion, and money laundering involving 13 people” in the Los Angeles city government.

Also among those 13 is South LA Councilmember Curren Price, and a senior aide to Council President Herb Wesson.

Huizar has overseen the rapid expansion of bicycling networks in DTLA, while Price was responsible for killing plans for a desperately needed bike lane on historic Central Ave and removing it from the city’s mobility plan.

But supporter or not, there’s no excuse, ever, for corruption.

Period.

If any or all of those under investigation are indicted, let alone convicted, they should leave the council immediately — and have a nice, long sentence to reconsider their crimes.

It just hurts a little more when it’s a trusted ally like Huizar who’s done so much good for the community.

………

Very sad news from bike-friendly Davis, where an apparently disturbed gunman rode his bicycle up behind a young cop as she was investigating a traffic collision, and shot her multiple times, before reloading and shooting wildly around him.

She died at the scene.

He then rode his bike back home, locked himself in his apartment, and fatally shot himself as police tried to get in.

He left behind a letter claiming the police had been assaulting him for years with “ultrasonic waves” meant to keep dogs from barking.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.

After a Fresno woman was sideswiped as she was taking the lane in Clovis, the road raging driver lunged his car at her when she complained, then got out and physically attacked her.

Although here’s a hint: If you don’t want the occupants of a car to assault you, don’t use pepper spray on them — regardless of how much they may deserve it.

………

The next generation of e-scooters is about the hit the streets of Austin TX, courtesy of an Oxnard company. The scooters are designed for street use, with seats and wider platforms and tires for greater stability.

Maybe that will help reduce the e-scooter conflicts on the sidewalks.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County is attempting to shove the genie back into the bottle, as it considers a policy that would ask companies to pretty please not to deploy their scooters in unincorporated areas.

………

The Wall Street Journal has prepared a 20 minute video about Denise Mueller-Korenek’s successful attempt to set a new bicycle speed record of 184 mph.

Thanks to George Wolfberg for the tip.

………

Not only is this guy better on a bike than you — or me, for that matter —  he’s only eight years old.

Okay, especially me.

Seriously, when I was eight years old, I was still trying to master a controlled skid on the gravel playground across the street.

………

Local

Los Angeles is proposing a nearly one-mile bike lane on deadly Winnetka Ave, connecting the Orange Line to the LA River bike path.

Streetsblog offers a short interview with new LACBC Executive Director Eli Kaufman.

KABC-7 profiles Manny Silva, the Mexican-born owner of Compton’s Manny’s Bike Shop, builder of some of the world’s best chromed-out, custom low-rider bicycles.

If you prefer to do your riding inside, especially in this weather, Peloton has opened a new Pasadena showroom.

A new 185-acre, 450-home residential development in Santa Clarita will include an 11-acre park with 10 miles of shared-use pathways.

Santa Monica is finally taking steps to improve safety on deadly Wilshire Blvd as part of the city’s Vision Zero program; unfortunately, no lane reductions or bike lanes are planned.

State

A UC Irvine student was seriously injured when his bike was struck by a rideshare driver leaving a parking structure Friday morning.

A group of bighearted Laguna Beach middle school students built bicycles for children at the Orange County Rescue Mission as part of their annual Christmas toy drive.

Spectrum News 1 considers Riverside’s Bikes for Vets program, where veterans refurbish confiscated bicycles for people in need.

The Coachella Valley bicycling community turned out on Sunday to remember fallen bike rider Will Campbell, who was killed by a speeding driver exactly one month earlier. Thanks to Victor Bale for the link.

A couple takes an ebike ride along the Monterey Peninsula’s famed 17 Mile Drive. And discovers bike riders don’t have to pay the $10.25 toll.

A bike riding Bay Area architect switched to rowing after surgery for a brain tumor left him blind; he says he’s now even better at his job.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever broke into a Stockton ministry that built and refurbished bicycles to donate to people in need, forcing it to close after it was broken into for the fourth time.

National

Americans are now more likely to die of an opioid overdose than in a traffic collision. Which is not actually good news.

The Bike League offers five tips on how to build a more bike friendly business.

Your next helmet could take you from bicycling to snowboarding, complete with built-in speakers and microphone, impact sensor and turn signals. Which would no doubt come real handy on the slopes. Especially the turn signals.

Writer and artist Anna Brones is one of us.

A former addict is riding his recumbent through 48 states to raise awareness of addiction.

Bicycling says the death of bike commuting has been greatly exaggerated, noting that commuting rates are still way up from just ten years ago. Meanwhile, the magazine looks at the best bike tech from the CES trade show in Las Vegas.

New Mexico state legislator Angelica Rubio finished her six day, 350-mile bike ride from Las Cruces to Santa Fe for the new legislative session.

Nice story from a small — okay, minuscule — Kentucky town, where a tree-cutting crew pitched in to buy a new bike for a man who came to watch them work every day, after his was stolen.

Liev Schreiber is one of us, as he goes for a cold weather ride in NYC.

My new hero. Bike-riding New York Rangers hockey player Sean Avery is picking fights with people who park in bike lanes.

He gets it. A New Jersey letter writer says streets aren’t just for car owners.

International

Road.cc ranks their top ten commuter bikes for under $1,300. Note to Road.cc — if you’re doing a piece on commuter bikes, try not to picture most of the people riding in spandex.

Vancouver bicyclists aren’t thrilled bikes have to share a lane with buses. And neither are the bus drivers.

He gets it. A Toronto columnist says the city’s bike lanes prove transportation solutions can be cheap and effective.

No surprise here, as London’s attempts to reclaim the streets to fight pollution have been met with hate and anger from some drivers.

Brit bike hero Chris Boardman says he knows how to turn auto-centric Manchester, England into a bicycling city, setting an example for other cities to follow.

The Guardian says British bike shops are closing because Millennials think bicycling is too scary. Seriously, is there anything Millennials don’t get blamed for these days?

Interesting idea. A German company has developed a city bike that converts to a cargo bike and back in just seconds. It’s set to sell for around $2,000 when it hits the ground this summer.

Luxembourg is now the first country to make all transit free.

The Guardian asks why is Australia failing its bicyclists. Which is a question we should be asking here, too.

Japan is moving forward with plans for mandatory liability insurance for bicyclists.

Caught on video: A Singapore bicyclist is lucky to escape with a few scrapes after falling trying to move away from a bus during a far too close pass.

The South China Morning Post asks who gets the blame credit for fashion’s current bike shorts craze.

Competitive Cycling

Australia’s Caleb Ewan held off Peter Sagan to win his home country’s Tour Down Under, beating last year’s champ by a bike length.

Wired examines the insane numbers behind the hour record, calling it bicycling’s most masochistic race.

Bicycling profiles 2016 Trans Am champ Lael Wilcox, calling her the fastest untraendurance racer in the world. And questioning why anyone else even bothers.

Forget racing in the SoCal sun. If you really want to impress everyone, try racing on snow and ice in the dead of the Alaskan winter, with a wind chill of -11° Fahrenheit. And leave those skinny tires at home while you’re at it.

Finally…

No, ebikes don’t pedal themselves. If Strava crashes, did your ride really happen?

And if motorcycles don’t need riders anymore, how long before your bicycle can do a century while you sleep on the couch?

………

Thanks to John H for his generous donation to support this site. Donations of any size are always welcome.

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