Tag Archive for Forest Lawn Drive

LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

August 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

One quick note: I am now on Bluesky, in response to the increasing toxicity on Twitter/X, thanks to an invite from Todd R.

If you’re on there, you can follow me @bikinginla.bsky.social. And I’m still on Twitter, at least for now, @bikinginla. 

Photo by Luana Bento from Pexels. 

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The Los Angeles Times remembers the life and philanthropy of Burbank bicyclist and professional trumpet player Roy Wiegand, who was killed when a driver turned into him as he road his bike near Prunedale in Monterey County.

The 60-year-old ultra marathoner and cyclist was refueling after traversing 2,500 miles on his bicycle in 25 days and in the process raising $26,000 to help improve access to clean drinking water for the Navajo Nation.

Wiegand ventured through San Francisco and Yosemite and braved 110-plus degree heat in Death Valley and Las Vegas. He enjoyed stunning vistas in Arizona and New Mexico and stayed at the homes of friends and strangers alike, his posts showed…

Wiegand, a trumpet player who performed with the Who, Wayne Newton and Mel Torme among others, is survived by his wife, Angela, son Dillon, daughter Sophie and father Roy Sr.

In the last few years, he had dedicated much of his time to philanthropic causes, most recently working with the water advocacy group DigDeep to raise money for the more than 700,000 American Indian and Alaskan Native people who lack access to clean, reliable water in the United States.

Funny how killer drivers always seem to take the best of us.

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Los Angeles wants your input on whether to protect the bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive, which seems like a no brainer on the dangerous street.

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This is a phenomenon I’ve long observed riding from Los Angeles into Santa Monica, and vice versa.

One city clearly thinsk people on bikes actually matter.

And the other is Los Angeles.

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Who’s a good boy?

A San Diego bike thief stops to play with a golden retriever who only wants a belly rub before he goes — with the $1,300 bike belonging to the dog’s owner.

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Hundreds, if not thousands, of Bay Area bike riders, mostly in their teens, marked the first anniversary of a mass ride that took over the lower span of the Bay Bridge by doing it again.

Whether because of the sentiment expressed below, or because bikes still are only allowed to ride halfway across, before being forced to turn back.

Legally, anyway.

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Let’s share a little Seattle bike joy from my friends at West Seattle Blog, as a huge mass of people take off on two wheels for a questionably named ride.

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Well, that’s one way to stay safe on the road. Although I’m sure we all understand his reasoning.

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The question is, how and why do they get there?

Is this the result of people tossing unloved and abandoned bikes into the water, or drunk tourists not watching where they’re riding?

Thanks to the incomparable Patt Morrison for the heads-up. 

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

This is who we share the road with. After someone apparently riding a bicycle was injured in a collision at LA’s West Grand Ave and Vista Del Mar, the couple posting the video to Citizen observe the aftermath of the crash, and you can hear the man say “This is why you stay in the bike lane.” Never mind that he apparently has no idea what caused the crash, or why the victim may or may not have been in a bike lane, but automatically assumes the bike rider was at fault. I’m not sure if the link will work; unfortunately, I can’t embed the video. Thanks to Margaret W for the link. 

A 28-year old Toronto man faces charges for allegedly deliberately slamming his car into a bike rider after the two men argued at a red light. A reminder once again that motor vehicles are ready, locked and loaded weapons in the hands of the wrong people. 

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

A bicycling Montreal columnist says he’s had it with shadow-hidden potholes, and scofflaw ebike and e-scooter riders with little or no experience.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who understands these things a lot better than I do, takes a deep dive into the complicated, wonky subject of freeway mitigation, which requires Metro to take active steps to offset any increase in driving on future freeway, under California law. And hopefully, he’ll correct me if I didn’t explain that right. 

Burbank bike rider Doug Weiskopf once again calls on the city to allow people to walk bicycles on the Mariposa foot bridge leading to Griffith Park, seven years after the city caved to equestrians by banning bikes entirely.

More on Manhattan Beach’s decision to crack down on teenage ebike riders who violate traffic laws, instituting a zero-tolerance approach to scofflaw ebike riders. Although that sounds like illegally biased enforcement, unless the same zero-tolerance applies to motorists and pedestrians, as well as regular bike riders; if not, that could get all the tickets tossed if the kids get a good lawyer.

 

State

An East Bay bike ride demanded justice for the death of an unarmed, 20-year old Hayward man killed by CHP officers and Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies responding to an alleged stolen car.

 

National

A writer for The Verge says it’s not hard to convert a cargo bike to an ebike, as long as you have the right tools and expect the unexpected.

Apple Insider likes the design and features of the new Lumos Ultra ebike helmet, if not the $200+ price.

An RV writer gets a good life lesson from learning to ride her ebike, discovering that you need to look where you want to go, not at the obstacles you want to avoid.

Anchorage, Alaska took a number of steps to become more bike friendly, approving measures to allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, as well as eliminating requirements for lights and brakes and noise signals, and for children 16 to wear helmets; the city also eliminated penalties for jaywalking.

The Colorado highway where 17-year old cycling star Magnus White was killed is slated to get a 12-foot-wide separated bike path next year, a year too late to save his life.

A writer likes the new bike path over Colorado’s Vail Pass, despite — or maybe because of — a section known as The Wall, with its 14% incline.

A Dallas, Texas youth soccer coach is raffling off tickets to see soccer legend Lionel Messi to benefit the family of a 12-year old girl killed in a right hook as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.

A Corpus Christi, Texas woman got the feeling that city council members weren’t listening to a woman of color making the case for protected bike lanes, so she used AI to create a white male avatar to make her case, instead.

After a Chicago man used his bike to fight boredom and find solace during the pandemic, he honored it by having it tattooed on his thigh.

When a ten-year old Michigan boy won a new bike in a raffle, he raised funds to buy one for his friend so they can ride together.

The Michigan woman accused in the DUI killing of two people participating in a fundraising bike ride across the state has had her trial postponed until October; it had been scheduled to begin today.

Gear Patrol raves about TriBeCa-based Priority Bicycles new 16-pound, $1,299 “speed demon” fixie.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on how to beat the cost of living crisis, and feel healthier and happier, by riding your bike to work.

How to tell when a city actually gives a damn about people on bicycles. Montreal now has a 24/7 hotline to report vehicles blocking bike lanes.

There’s a special place in hell for the British teens who threatened a 13-year old boy with a machete to steal his bike.

The Verge looks are who’s in the bidding to buy what remains of bankrupt Dutch ebike maker VanMoof.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as Mathieu van der Poel overcame a late crash to win the world road cycling championship, becoming the first Dutch world champ since 1985; Belgian Wout Van Aert finished second, and Solvenia’s Tadej Pogačar beat out Denmark’s Mads Pedersen for third. No surprise here, either, as no American made the top ten. 

A French cyclist described the Glasgow road course for the worlds as “dizzying, dangerous and designed by a drunk person.”

The race was halted for a full hour as protesters blocked the roadway on a remote climb just 48-miles into the race, with environmental group This is Rigged taking the credit and/or blame for the incident to oppose new fossil fuel projects in Scotland.

Katie Archibald overcame grief over the death of her romantic partner, mountain biker Rab Wardell, to lead Britain to gold in the team pursuit, dedicating the win to Wardell.

Aside from Chloe Dygert’s victory in Thursday’s women’s individual pursuit, the US has failed to podium in any other race so far.

 

Finally…

Meet the training wheel “Bike Whisperer.” Although Britain’s PM probably didn’t need them for an indoor, Taylor Swift-themed LA cycling class.

And it’s hard to imagine these kids would be in their 80s by now.

https://twitter.com/CoolBikeArt1/status/1687583494984138752

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Morning Links: Thanks for a successful fund drive, a perfect Peloton Wife sendup, and wide bike lanes on Forest Lawn

December 24, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Thanks for a successful fund drive, a perfect Peloton Wife sendup, and wide bike lanes on Forest Lawn

That’s a wrap.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the 5th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

While we fell a little short of last year’s total, you helped set a new record for the most donations with 57.

So please accept my personal and heartfelt gratitude for each and every donation, regardless of size; $5 from someone struggling to give means every bit as much as a larger donation from someone more comfortable. 

Your generosity will help fund this site for the next few months, while ensuring I can pay for the medications I need to keep working, and keep riding. 

As usual, I’ll be taking off between the holidays to rest and recharge from the stress and carnage on our streets — unless there’s breaking news, of course. 

So ride safely and defensively, and have a warm and happy holiday season. And we’ll see you back here after New Years.

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LA journalist Alissa Walker nails it with her response to the recent Peloton Wife ad, with tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog calls it “pitch perfect.”

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CiclaValley experiences firsthand the newly widened bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive.

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‘Tis the Season.

A kindhearted Virginia cop bought a new bike for a nine year old boy after his was stolen, and the officer saw him walking next to his bike-riding friend a few days later.

Bighearted Massachusetts police gave toys and a new bicycle to a four-year old boy after his mother was killed recently, delivering them in a police parade featuring cops from 11 different departments across the state.

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Local

Our fund drive may be over, but LA Streetsblog’s isn’t. And deserves your support, too. They were my university when I got started in advocacy, and taught me much of what I know about equity and Complete Streets.

A newly released restoration plan for the Ballona Westlands included ten miles of new bike paths and foot trails, though opponents fear the restoration work will cause too much harm to fragile species.

CiclaValley’s Zachary Rynew provides an update on plans for Phase III of the LA Riverfront Park connecting the western section of the LA River bike path to White Oak and Lake Balboa Park.

 

State

A new report says Joy Covey, Amazon’s first CEO, was killed by one of the company’s own delivery vans while riding her bike in California six years ago.

A Huntington Beach bike rider suffered moderate injuries when he was the victim of an alleged drunk driver who slammed into him after losing control following a high speed turn, then crashed into two other drivers.

The San Francisco Examiner says a lot of work remains to be done on the city’s Vision Zero plan, as traffic deaths in the City by the Bay have only gone down by four in the five years since the plan was adopted.

 

National

Electrek reviews every ebike they reviewed this year. Meanwhile, Gear Patrol ranks the best non-electrified handmade bikes of 2019.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss nails it once again, insisting there’s no such thing as the wrong bike.

A Bellingham, Washington bike rider is suing the city after he was arrested simply for asking a parking enforcement officer not to park in a bike lane.

It’s a minor holiday miracle in Colorado, where a woman begged thieves to bring back a bicycle belonging to her late son. And they did.

Omaha NE artists are protesting the recent removal of a bike corral by placing ghost bikes around the city — including in view of the mayor’s office.

An Iowa cop hit a fleeing domestic violence suspect with his car as the man was trying to make his escape by riding his bike on the sidewalk. `

Life is cheap in Michigan, where authorities once again bargain away a stiff sentence to get a guilty plea, ordering a driver to serve just one year in jail and five years probation for fleeing the scene after killing a man on a bicycle.

A Vermont anthropologist explains the state’s bike culture in cartoon form. But not the fully kind.

The NYPD is belatedly cracking down on truck drivers, after four of the six pedestrians killed in collisions over a 48 hour period last week were killed in collisions with trucks. But if the victims had been riding bicycles, they’d be cracking down on the people on two wheels, instead.

 

International

Tragic news from the UK, where a 79-year old man died two days after he was hit by a bike rider earlier this year. Unfortunately, British privacy laws mean it can take a very long time for news to filter out.

Horrifying crime from Great Britain, where a 21-year old bike rider was knocked off his bicycle by three men and dragged into a car, were he was robbed at knifepoint.

Russian scientist Ivan Petrovich Pavlov — yes, the man famed for Pavlov’s dog — was one of us.

 

Competitive Cycling

American cyclist Alex Howes says people forget that pro cyclists are people, too.

Speculation is building about two unnamed WorldTour cyclists linked to the latest blood doping scandal. But seriously, the era of doping is over, right?

 

Finally…

Your next bike could cost a measly $100,000. Don’t leave your shoe at a crash site as you attempt to escape on a girl’s bike unless you want a fairy tale ending.

And nothing like making everyone else responsible for your inability to drive safely.

 

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