Over 2,000 bike riders rolled up to LA’s Fairfax High School on Saturday during LA Pride celebrations, ending the 545-mile AIDS/LifeCycle ride that began in San Francisco last Sunday.
US Olympic freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy was the top fund-raiser for the ride, bringing in over $238,000 to benefit the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, and HIV/AIDS services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
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New San Gabriel Valley e-bikeshare provider Gotcha is looking to fill several positions in the LA/SGV area to help get the system up and running, including —
I might consider the first one, but only if they changed the title to Minister of Propaganda.
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Bike riders around the world dare to go bare for the World Naked Bike Ride, calling for better bike safety by asking “Can you see me now?”
Rides took place in Chicago, Cleveland, New Orleans, Mexico City, London and throughout the UK,
Meanwhile, bike riders in Laredo, Texas kept their clothes on while lighting themselves up.
But seriously, are you really naked if you’re armed to the teeth?
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This is who we share the roads with.
A North Hollywood motor scooter rider was killed by a speeding driver while stopped at a red light, who proceeded to crash into several parked vehicles after fleeing the scene, then tried to walk away after her car caught on fire.
Police said it was unclear if drugs or alcohol were involved, demonstrating that they really do have a sense of humor.
Thanks to Evan Burbridge for the heads-up.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
An off-duty New York firefighter used his car as a weapon to deliberately try to run over a bike rider after smashing the rider’s cell phone, when the bicyclist had the audacity to complain about nearly getting run down by the red light-running motorist. Naturally the driver says it’s no big deal.
And someone intentionally placed an old railroad tie across the entrance to a Portland bike path in an apparent attempt to injure riders.
Reader says someone purposely placed a large railroad tie across the Columbia Slough. He crashed and damaged his body and bike. Anyone else experience this? pic.twitter.com/yFfDUWKwMg
— BikePortland (@BikePortland) June 7, 2019
Seriously, this shit has got to stop.
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Local
City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield say the new bike lanes on Winnetka Ave “won’t prevent all accidents, but it certainly will save some lives.” The new lanes close the gap where Ignacio Sanchez Navarro was killed by a hit-and-run driver two years ago.
Architectural leaders say LA architects have to step up their game, like designing more buildings to accommodate bicycles, because cars may be a thing of the past due to the city’s “notorious traffic congestion.” We can only hope.
Evidently, riding a bicycle on LA freeways is a thing now.
A meeting will be held tomorrow in Pico Rivera to discuss the city’s first protected bikeway.
A Santa Clarita writer looks at the faces behind the area’s many roadside memorials, including ghost bikes for Teresa Mae Angeli and Rod Bennett.
State
San Diego city planners are refining efforts to make the city’s iconic Mission Blvd safer and more welcoming to people, whether they travel on two feet or two wheels.
A salmon cyclist was luck to escape with just a broken leg when he was hit by a driver in San Diego; he also had a passenger on his bike, who wasn’t injured.
Great idea. Chico residents celebrate the city’s 10th annual Bicycle Music Festival by riding to several locations to hear live music, all the while being serenaded by a musician on a bike, amplified with a pedal-powered generator.
Bike author Richard Fox offers safer alternatives to get around locations where bike riders were killed in the Coachella Valley.
Sad news from Bakersfield, where an elderly man riding a bicycle was killed in a collision.
Roughly 100 Santa Barbara teens turned out for a Ride Out on Saturday, sending drivers into a tizzy; good thing they didn’t try it today, when the city is conducting a bike and pedestrian safety sting.
A Santa Cruz writer says you can reduce your carbon footprint by riding a bikeshare ebike.
National
The Flagstaff AZ city council backed off plans to ban ebikes from gravel trails, and will continue to allow soused riders to pedal home.
Boulder CO has placed a monument in a local park to honor the late, great Red Zinger Bicycle Classic and the legendary Coors Classic bike races.
The former head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Grizzly Bear Recovery Team says yes, mountain bikers pose a grave threat to grizzly bears in the Yellowstone area.
Young descendants of the Cherokee tribe made their way through Southern Illinois on the Remember the Removal bike ride, retracing the route taken by tribal members in the infamously brutal Trail of Tears.
There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a disabled Michigan man’s new bicycle just minutes after he bought it.
Louisville KY bicyclists rode to honor Muhammad Ali, the self-proclaimed greatest fighter of all time.
Maine bike riders say the way to deal with gridlock on Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park is to take your bike and leave the car at home. But they don’t expect tourists to take that advice.
Nice piece in the New York Times profiling a historic black bike club in Brooklyn that may have produced America’s next track cycling star. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the heads-up.
WaPo says your GPS is breaking your brain.
No surprise here. A poll of DC residents shows drivers are worse than bike riders and pedestrians — or scooter riders, for that matter — when it comes to breaking traffic laws. Meanwhile, a DC writer says it’s time to take a stand against car supremacy, and dethrone cars from their policy throne.
A Florida bicyclist says it was the camaraderie and sense of belonging he found with his fellow bike riders that got him through chemo.
International
Mercedes F1 driver Lewis Hamilton is one of us, relaxing between races by riding his mountain bike.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says studies show bike lanes boost urban businesses.
No bias here. Calgary bike riders caught riding just 6 mph over the city’s 12.4 mph bike path speed limit could face a $400 fine; a driver would have to be doing nearly 20 mph over the limit to face a fine that high.
Montreal merchants are carefully aiming a shotgun at their feet by demanding the cancellation of plans for a bike lane that would result in the removal 275 parking spots. Even though studies consistently show bike lanes are good for business, and bike riders spend more per month than drivers do; see the CBC report two stories up.
A writer for The Guardian says even riding the French Alps is no sweat on an ebike. Meanwhile, another article in the paper recommends some of Europe’s best easy bicycling holidays.
A bronze Mahatma Gandhi rides a bicycle to promote food safety. Even if he does look more like Dobby in the photo.
For years, we’ve joked about airbags for bike riders. You can stop joking now, thanks to an Indian inventor.
Rising Palestinian cycling champ Alaa al-Dali is making a remarkable comeback as a paracyclist after losing a leg to an Israeli sniper
Unbelievable. An 18-year old Saudi Arabian boy faces beheading for leading a bike protest during the Arab Spring when he was just ten years old. Yes, ten.
A South African bike rider learns the hard way that there’s a lot we don’t know about concussions after losing consciousness for several minutes after a fall on her way home.
An Australian father reached out and tried to pull his 12-year old son out of the way as a van driver careened out of control, smashing into them and critically injuring a pedestrian. Although it might be nice if the writer didn’t wait until the very end to even mention that the van had a driver. And then only in passing.
It takes a real schmuck to steal a Kiwi woman’s bicycle as she’s trying to rescue a loose goat.
Competitive Cycling
VeloNews considers the women who ride the Dirty Kanza.
What do you do if you crash your bike in sight of the finish line? Just make a run for it.
Finally…
If someone steals your bike, just pull a page from Reservoir Dogs. What do you do if you’re diagnosed with a grave medical condition? Ride a ‘bent across the US, of course.
And don’t try to snatch the Governator’s bike — at least not when his bodyguards are on duty.
Thanks to Evan Burbridge for that last one.
