Tag Archive for Griffith Park Drive

Mariah Kandise Banks, killer of Frederick “Woon” Frazier, finally sentenced; Griffith Park car ban is just the beginning

August 22, 2022 / / 3 comments

Before we get started, the LA City Council will consider the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposition at Wednesday’s 10 am council meeting. 

This is an all hands on deck announcement. We’ll have more on this tomorrow, but clear your schedule if at all possible to be there and make every voice heard in support of this vital measure. 

Now buckle in, because we have a lot of ground to cover today. 

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Today’s photo shows a happy corgi enjoying a pedicab ride at yesterday’s CicLAvia, more proof that a good time was had by all. 

Even the four-footed attendees. 

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Friday finally saw justice served for the killer of Fredrick “Woon” Frazier, as Mariah Kandise Banks was sentenced to four years behind bars for hi hit-and-run death.

She has so far shown no sign of of remorse, and has reportedly been living the high life in the four years since is death, regardless of the impact it had on those left behind.

Woon’s friend Edin Barrientos forwarded the impact statement he wrote on behalf of the Chief Lunes bike crew.

Words To The Judge

I’m here on the behalf of the victim

Frederick Frazier and all the other cyclists /pedestrians killed by reckless drivers. I want to make it clear that the driver who took away Fredericks life back in 2018 was NO accident.

These speeding and reckless drivers who are out on the roads always use their cars as a means to intimidate and run us off the streets.

Every week we here news stories of people getting killed by violent drivers in our city.

It is a big injustice to the victims families and communities like South LA that harsher punishments aren’t being served to these mindless drivers. They don’t see us as equals on the roads and I feel that the Justice System sympathizes with drivers who kill the innocent.

Frederick left behind a loving mother and a baby boy behind who need his emotional and financial support.

Words for The Driver

You took away a father figure, you took away a loving son and a beloved cyclist in a welcoming community.

You deserve to be in jail for 10 years at least.

You tried running away with murder.

You’ve been free for 4 years, having the time of your life while knowingly having blood in your hands.

You’re a monster and monsters don’t deserve any freedom.

  • D.A fought for maximum sentence and was able to get the medium term
  • Charges: Vehicular Man Slaughter & Hit and Run
  • 4 years in State Prison
  • Moriah Banks was handcuffed and taken away by Sherrifs

Meanwhile, our anonymous courtroom corresponded had this to say.

This morning is Mariah Kandise Banks’ sentencing and the victim impact statement hearing. I don’t want to be there. I spoke with Woon’s mama in June and she was on the fence about speaking in court. What good can it do, she wondered. Nothing will ever bring her son back to her. She forgives Banks. I don’t, because I’ve attended her appearances and haven’t seen an iota of remorse. None. She’s just sorry she got caught.

Please pray for Woon’s family today.

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Our anonymous correspondent goes on to offer updates on multiple cases working their way through the courts.

On June 27th, a woman walking her three dogs was struck by a hit and run driver just two blocks from the site of AJ Brumback’s slaughter. (His little ghost bike and the large memorial are still there on Google Street View). This collision site is also two blocks southwest of Anita Sue Cherry’s last known address, on the corner of Seneca Dr. and Shawnee Rd.

The victim was hospitalized; the dogs are okay.

This echoes the Ali Zohair Fakhreddine case (going to trial next month), in which repeat drunk driver Fakhreddine killed a Newport Beach woman and her dog, then fled. I “watched” his arrest play out across two counties via the continuously updating CHP Live Incident page. Although Fakhreddine led police on a chase in his bloodied car, he was apprehended.

Next Thursday, Alexis Marvin Garcialopez, who killed 80-year-old Ernest Adams, will be arraigned for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.

Former bank robber Richard David Lavalle, who killed 12-year-old Noel Bascon as he biked in a crosswalk with his dad, has noir dire set for September 30th.

In regards to the recent hit and run death of the cyclist in La Habra, suspect Mario Poppop (the media gave the name as Popsuc, but jail & court records say Poppop) was released on the 15th. He’s charged with a single count of being an accessory after the fact. Since his son, the accused killer, is a juvenile, I’m unable to determine his status.

Still no court date for Amanda Martin, suspected in the hit and run death of Liem Bui near Mile Square Park last January. (Incidentally, only a week after her arrest, there was another major injury collision involving a cyclist near Mile Square.)

Unlicensed drunk driver Johnathan Martinez Aguilar, who fled after he ran down two female bicyclists (one a doctor) on PCH in Newport Beach in 2019, was sentenced on August 9th to 1 year in jail, 5 years of probation, restitution, and a First Offender Alcohol program.

Nicole Lorraine Linton, who killed six on South La Brea, isn’t the only killer driver with substantial mental illness. Ronald Earl Kenebrew, Jr. and Moises Iscaya, both remanded, remain under continued mental health evaluation.

My Favorite Lawyer™ Christien Petersen, the All-American Freedumb Fighter, will be arraigned on his assorted weapons and kidnapping charges on the 26th, and then the Court turns its attention to his drunk driving matter.

Anyway I have more updates than time to write.

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Evidently, the permanent ban on cars on Griffith Park Drive is just the beginning.

According to LAist, the closure of nearly a mile of the street in Griffith Park to stop commuters from using it as a dangerous cut-through route is just the first phase of the coming safety improvements.

The next phase will involve installing speed humps and speed feedback signs to slow speeding drivers.

That will be followed by creating a road buffet on Crystal Springs Drive, removing a car lane in each direction for new dedicated bike and pedestrian lanes, as well as buffer space for drivers.

This is the street where Andrew Jelmert was killed by an alleged speeding, DUI driver. Whether that would have been enough to keep him alive is questionable, but it’s a good start.

In addition, plans call for bike lanes to Zoo Drive, which is where Finish The Ride and SAFE founder Damian Kevitt was riding when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, and dragged a quarter mile underneath his van onto the 5 Freeway.

As you can see, the street closure is already creating smiles.

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This is who we share the road with.

The son of a 67-year old Azusa man has filed suit over the death of his father, who was killed by an Azusa motorcycle cop who somehow ran him down when he was just crossing the street; it’s unclear whether he was walking or riding a bicycle.

A 17-year old was murdered when he was run down by one or more hit-and-run drivers following a dispute at a warehouse parking lot party in South LA, apparently intentionally; the driver ran him down, then jumped into another vehicle and ran over him again. A crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $5,000 of the $14,000 goal.

A Vancouver woman in her late 60s mistakenly hit the accelerator as she was pulling out of a shared driveway, and plowed into a wedding party, killing two people and injuring ten others, two critically. But police say it was just an “oopsie.”

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By all accounts, yesterday’s return of the Meet the Hollywoods CicLAvia was a big hit, with a huge morning turnout.

The Los Angeles Daily News offers a nice photo essay, if you can get past their paywall.

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This is a very detailed and insightful submission to Redondo Beach officials, and worth a read for anyone who rides the South Bay.

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Bike Silicon Valley is looking for a new Program Coordinator/Manager who can speak Spanish.

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Congratulations to Chicago, on finding a crappy new way to door bike riders.

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If this doesn’t give you nightmares, you’re officially immune.

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

A Washington man vows to continue riding, after a road rage attack while training for an Ironman triathlon left him confined to a wheelchair.

This is the harm a single determined NIMBY can do, as one neighborhood lawyer appoints himself to halt a fully approved and funded Chicago greenway.

No bias here. A British lawyer welcomes a proposal to require numbers license plates, speed limits and liability insurance for bike riders, saying “bikes cause harm.” Just wait until someone tells him about cars.

No bias here, either. A British paper blares a headline calling bike riders “Red light rats!” after counting 26 bicyclists rolling through a red light in front of Buckingham palace in just one hour — but fails to mention that the road was closed to cars, and police urged riders to keep going through the intersection, regardless of red lights.

A jury in the UK found two men guilty of murder for intentionally running down a rival drug dealer as he was riding a bicycle, and leaving him to die in the street.

A Spanish driver was arrested following ten hours on the run, after he intentionally drove into a group of eight people riding bicycles, killing two and seriously injuring three other riders.

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

Bike riders tragically found themselves on both sides of the gun in Los Angeles this weekend; a woman was fatally shot near Seventh Street and Central Avenue early Sunday morning, after arguing with a man who fled by bicycle following the shooting. Meanwhile, a man riding a bicycle was the victim in a Friday shooting in Echo Park, when another man walked up and shot him as he rode by.

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Local

Streetsblog has more details on the “damning” report showing Metro’s highway building program more than offsets the climate benefits of all their bike, pedestrian and transit programs combined.

Streets For All urges you to complete a survey on LA’s Al Fresco Dining Program, which is currently under review; the program allows restaurants to convert parking spaces to outdoor dining areas, bringing more life to the city’s streetscape.

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton interviews CD11 candidates Traci Park and Erin Darling to get their views on transportation issues as they vie to replace outgoing Councilmember Mike Bonin.

Outside considers the case of 12-year-old Molly Steinsapir, whose family is suing Rad Power Bikes after the girl was killed while riding on the back of a friend’s ebike.

Automotive website MotorBiscuit concludes that the LA-based Cero One is worth the $3,800 price tag if you can afford it, calling it the SUV of ebikes.

Active SGV co-founder Wesley Reutimann writes about the new GoSGV program, calling it the nation’s first ebike subscription program.

 

State 

Maybe you can’t walk on water, but you can pedal across it. An Orange County man is attempting to break a world record by pedaling from Newport Beach to Catalina.

A nine-year old boy was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver in San Diego’s Mountain View neighborhood, suffering multiple fractures, a concussion and facial lacerations.

Kindhearted Fontana cops bought a new bike and birthday supplies for a seven-year old boy, after a thief stole his mom’s purse with the money she had saved for a birthday gift and party.

She gets it. A Santa Barbara op-ed says bikeways nurture cities.

A 45-year old woman was airlifted from the Santa Ynez Valley after suffering a head injury in a bike crash.

Apparently having learned absolutely nothing from the 2013 San Luis Obispo fiasco, Santa Rosa County is planning to refinish 50 miles of roadways with chip seal, making them virtually unridable for months afterwards

Prosecutors charged a 73-year-old Orinda man with felony hit and run for a July crash that left a 41-year old Oakland bike rider with a fractured pelvis.

 

National

Curbed’s Alissa Walker examines why it’s so hard to take a drivers license away from people who clearly shouldn’t have one. Thanks to Ted Faber for the link.

They get it. A Streetsblog op-ed makes the case that slow transportation should be a human right.

A new study from the American Academy of Pediatrics sounds the alarm over decreased helmet use by children, as 52% of kids under 18 injured while skateboarding, snowboarding and bicycling weren’t wearing helmets.

Trek is recalling every existing 2021 and 2022 Emonda SLR and 2022 Speed Concept SLR bike over fears the carbon frame could break while riding.

A 60-year old man is in the midst of his 13th bicycle tour across the US to raise awareness of brain injuries; he’s been riding for 15 years and 37,500 miles, and is on his third bicycle and fifth bike trailer.

Redbook recommends nine bike friendly cities you can visit right now, without leaving the US.

State and federal leaders are teaming with bike advocates trying to save an aging bridge over the Potomac to use as a bike bridge when a parallel new bridge opens, despite the insistence of transportation officials that maintaining the bridge is not an option.

 

International

Winnipeg, Manitoba is painting murals on city streets in an effort to slow speeding drivers.

A Toronto paper discovers that some people are choosing to forgo planes, trains and automobile, and take trips by bicycle instead, often aided by ebikes.

The Guardian talks with Brompton’s “evangelist-in-chief,” who is trying to change the world one foldie at a time.

The news isn’t good for Welsh decathlete Ben Gregory, who is in a coma and on life support after fracturing his neck and skull when he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle last week.

A former UK bouncer has turned himself into a bike-riding vigilante to fight crime, after someone vandalized his car, causing around $1,200 damage.

Doctors with Britain’s National Health Service will now be prescribing bike lessons, bike loans and long walks to improve their patients health.

A teenager appears to have set a new world record by riding his bicycle to 76 British castles in a single week, topping the old record of 67.

The Irish Times considers whether Denmark is Europe’s most bike-friendly country.

 

Competitive Cycling

British cyclist Dan Bigham set a new hour record of 54.723km, topping the 54.526km set by Bradley Wiggins in 2016 — the equivalent of 33,003 miles.

On Sunday, Austrian cyclist Marco Haller was a Hamburger, outsprinting Wout van Aert and Quinten Hermans to win the one Bemer Cyclassics in Hamburg, Germany.

Team leader Richard Carapaz gave his Ineos Grenadiers teammates a scare when the Ecuadoran crashed hard after hitting a cone on a tight corner in Sunday’s stage three of the Vuelta.

The news wasn’t as good for Canada’s Michael Woods, who crashed out of the Vuelta with a concussion.

Swiss mountain bike specialist Mathias Flückiger was suspended pending an investigation after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Zeranol. But the era of doping is over, right? Or are most cyclists just getting away with it?

 

Finally…

Once again, President Biden took a bike ride along the beach, and did not fall off.

And there are a lot worse things you can do with an old bike.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Caltrans plans PCH bike lanes in Malibu, guilty verdict in DUI killing of LB family, and more on Griffith Park Drive closure

July 6, 2022 / / Comments Off on Caltrans plans PCH bike lanes in Malibu, guilty verdict in DUI killing of LB family, and more on Griffith Park Drive closure

Caltrans is finally taking steps to tame SoCal’s killer highway.

Maybe.

The state transportation agency, which has responsibility for deadly Pacific Coast Highway, announced tentative plans to stripe bike lanes on a 16-mile stretch of PCH, from Malibu Lagoon to the Ventura County Line.

However, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press, Malibu officials complained about what they called vague plans, which could include the removal of over 2,000 roadside parking spaces.

And the state Coastal Commission might have something to say about it, since their rules prohibit the removal of beach access parking, while requiring some form of mitigation.

Never mind that the Malibu mayor’s primary concern seemed to be whether bicyclists would be ticketed for riding in the traffic lanes instead of the bike lane.

So much for the city’s flirtation with accommodating people on bicycles in recent years.

Maybe he should be asking why the state agency insists on having a major highway run through the heart of the coastal city, instead of turning it into a Complete Street Main Street to serve the needs of all residents and road users, rather than primarily benefitting cut-through commuter traffic.

And yes, CVC 21208 requires bicyclists to use the bike lane if they’re riding slower than the speed of traffic.

The plans call for a painted, Class II bike lane, although bike riders called for a buffer zone next to any remaining parking, as well as next to traffic speeding by at — or often above — the 50 to 55 mph speed limit.

Someone also asked why the bike lane was planned for the west side of the city, rather than the east side where it’s needed more.

Good question.

Thanks to Austin Brown for the heads-up.

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This is who we share the road with.

A 23-year old Long Beach man faces up to 45 years behind bars after he was convicted of three counts each of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated for killing an entire family on Halloween night in 2019.

Carlo Adrian Navarro was just 20 years old when he drunkenly drove onto the sidewalk, striking a mother and father, and their three-year old son, as they were walking home from trick or treating.

He’ll be sentenced in September.

With a little luck he could be out by the time he’s 50.

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As we mentioned yesterday, Los Angeles has closed a roughly one-mile section of Griffith Park Drive in Griffith Park to cars, at least for now.

The pilot closure comes in response to drivers using the park as a cut-through route to avoid freeway traffic, putting bike riders, pedestrians and other park users at risk.

Streetsblog reports it’s part of a multi-phase effort to fast track safety improvements to the park.

SAFE, aka Streets Are For Everyone, the traffic safety organization founded by Finish the Ride’s Damian Kevitt, hosted a ride on Saturday attended by hundreds of bike riders to mark the closure.

Lionel Mares shared his photos from the ride.

SAFE and Finish the Ride Founder Damian Kevitt

LACBC Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider, and California State Senator Anthony Portantino

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Claremont Cyclist / CLR Effect author Michael Wagner sends us a photo from the July Ride Around Pomona, saying the long line of broken bollards doesn’t instill much confidence in the ability of drivers around the Cal Poly campus.

If your kid goes there, you might want to call just to make sure they’re okay.

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Streetfilms says Emeryville, California mayor John Bauters is the biking mayor your city needs.

Especially if your city is Los Angeles.

Never mind that Bauters sports Peter Flax’s Sharrows Are Bullshit t-shirt.

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British tennis pro Cameron Norrie is one of us.

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Stephen Hallet forwards this context-free photo he ran across recently.

Something tells me there’s a story there. Albeit a painful one.

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

No surprise here. Texas officials dramatically undercharged a driver who intentionally drove onto the wrong side of the road, instead of the felony assault with a deadly weapon the crime calls for. 

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

A Houston man made his getaway by bicycle after robbing a Burger King with a gun pointed at a worker’s head.

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Local

Metro has begun construction on the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Project, a 5.5-mile shared use path connecting the A (Blue) Line and the upcoming K (Crenshaw/LAX) Line through Inglewood and South Los Angeles.

The Fullerton Observer offers photos from that city’s 4th of July holiday bike parade.

 

State 

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who fled after striking a 13-year-old bike rider in Merced County, leaving the boy hospitalized with minor injuries.

 

National

Accessory maker Knog is introducing a waterproof, Apple-compatible “super loud bike alarm and highly accurate bike finder.”

Road Bike Rider offers advice for long-distance riding with “at least some measure of comfort.”

A Portland man faces multiple charges for a racially biased attack on a bike-riding man and his five-year old daughter, after yelling slurs based on their Japanese ancestry while repeatedly punching the father in the head, as well as punching the little girl in her bike helmet. There’s not a pit deep enough for a jerk like that.

Denver is renewing its ebike rebate program after an initial rush depleted the funds in a matter of days. Meanwhile, California’s ebike rebate program continues to tread water waiting for the people in charge to get their shit together.

Chicago Streetsblog complains that People For Bikes ranks the city well below “car-centric, bicycle-sparse metropolises like Houston and Los Angeles” in their annual ranking of bike-friendly cities.

Gotham gets mini street sweepers to clean the city’s protected bike lanes.

 

International

Alleged killer Kaitlin Armstrong reportedly fled the US using her sister’s passport, and had a receipt for plastic surgery when she was arrested in Costa Rica last week; she faces a first degree murder charge for the fatal shooting of gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson.

Apparently, hit-and-run isn’t just an American problem, as drivers have fled in over 1,500 crashes in the last three and a half years in England’s West Midlands, including 28 fatal crashes.

A new Polish study suggests male bike riders should stand on their pedals every ten minutes to avoid genital damage that can lead to erectile disfunction and fertility problems.

Cairo, Egypt is unveiling a 45 dock, 500 bike bikeshare system to fight climate change while providing an alternative to the city’s crushing traffic.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wout van Aert won Tuesday’s stage four of the Tour de France to extend his hold on the yellow jersey; Red Bull profiles the Belgian ‘cross champ as he turns his attention to road cycling.

The annual 2,700-mile Tour Divide is becoming even more extreme, as climate change-driven wildfires, flooding and extreme drought conditions pushed competitors to the edge.

The inaugural Life Time Grand Prix moves on to Beaver, Utah this weekend with the 70-mile, mixed terrain Crusher in the Tushar race, featuring “60 handpicked WorldTour roadies, gravel pros, track world champions and MTB Olympians” competing for a $250,000 purse.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to use an excavator to break into a bike shop, make sure you can get the bikes out past the rubble afterwards.

And who doesn’t need a little monkey-faced Wednesday weirdness?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Create true multimodal networks for vibrant cities, Griffith Park Drive closes to cars next week, and ticketing speeding bicyclists

June 23, 2022 / / Comments Off on Create true multimodal networks for vibrant cities, Griffith Park Drive closes to cars next week, and ticketing speeding bicyclists

They get it.

The World Resources Institute says the secret to creating vibrant US cities — and meeting US climate goals — is to invest in true multimodal transportation.

The group calls for a coordinated system of various modes of transportation that work for the entire community.

Transportation emits more climate-warming greenhouse gases than any other sector in the United States, so cutting carbon from transport is also essential to achieving the ambitious goal of reducing emissions 50%-52% by 2030. Recent modeling from America Is All In, a coalition of state and local climate leaders, shows that emissions reductions in the transportation sector can contribute more than one-third of what’s needed to reach the 2030 U.S. climate goal.

The key is to go multi-modal: not just cars, buses, rail, bicycles or walking, but a coordinated system of various modes of transportation. States, tribes, cities, universities and businesses have vital roles to play in developing clean multi-modal transportation systems that work for the entire community while fostering health, safety and economic prosperity.

Photo by Blue Bird from Pexels.

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About damn time.

Griffith Park Drive will be closed to cars between Travel Town and Mount Hollywood Drive starting next week, part of a pilot program to “reduce cut-through traffic and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and wildlife.”

Now do the rest of the streets in Griffith Park. Because parks are for people, not cars.

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Bicycling questions whether bicyclists should be subject to speeding tickets in Toronto’s High Park, where police are using speed guns to enforce a 13 mph speed limit. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available on Yahoo, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

I’ve long questioned whether speed limits, like the 8 mph limit on the boardwalk in Hermosa Beach, are enforceable for people on bicycles without cycling computers or other forms of speedometers.

After all, how can you be punished for breaking a law if you have no viable way of knowing you’re breaking it?

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

Even a deaf cat knows ice cream trucks don’t belong in the bike lanes on London’s Westminster Bridge.

A Scottish national time trial champ said she wanted to quit the sport after men on motorcycles leered at her and tried to knock her off her bike on two separate occasions. Seriously, guys. Give that Neanderthal crap a rest.

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

A Jamaican truck driver refused to stop after a man rolled a bicycle into his path, in what may have been a robbery attempt.

A man in Donnybrook, Ireland was the victim of a real donnybrook when he was severely beaten by a man riding on a bike path, after reflexively putting out an elbow to protect himself from the distracted rider.

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Local

Streetsblog reports the long-promised bike lanes on the North Spring Street Bridge connecting Lincoln Heights and Chinatown should finally be striped in the coming months, after nearby street resurfacing is finished.

A woman and her dogs were killed by lightening while walking on the San Gabriel River bike trail in Pico Rivera yesterday. A tragic reminder to always seek shelter anytime you see lightening or hear thunder, and get away from your bike if it has a metal frame.

 

State 

The head of Caltrans District 7, which covers Los Angeles and Ventura counties, got a promotion to become the new leader of the state transportation agency.

Encinitas opened the newest segment of the North Coast Bike Trail, offering bike riders and pedestrians a view of the San Elijo Lagoon from a giant concrete jellyfish.

A UC Santa Barbara geography professor is crowdsourcing data for Bike Maps to identify the city’s best bike routes and worst hot spots.

The co-owners of Emeryville-based Clif Bar are now billionaires, after walking away from a $120 million buyout offer 22 years ago.

A Chico man faces seven years to life behind bars after pleading guilty to the random, senseless shooting of a man riding on a bike path two years ago, when he was just 17.

 

National

No, The Atlantic didn’t call Biden’s bike crash heroic.

Bike Hacks helps you plan what to bring on an overnight bikepacking trip. I’d add bug spray to that list. And a bike.

A Seattle man was been charged with assault and theft for stealing someone’s bicycle in a strong-arm robbery and illegally riding it onto a freeway; that came after he shattered a bus door when the driver wouldn’t let him on at an intersection.

My former home state of Colorado has the second-highest rate of bike commuters in the US, behind only Oregon, although it’s still a relatively paltry 1.1%.

Speaking of Colorado, the state held its Bike to Work Day yesterday, although most of the news stories are hidden behind paywalls; here’s one from Colorado Springs that isn’t. However, the day was marred when a bike rider was killed when he was run down by a pickup driver.

A 60-something Black stroke survivor is riding from Maine to Florida to call attention to stroke awareness, as well as her nonprofit Heels on Wheels; she’s already completed rides from Florida to California, and down the West Coast.

Local readers crowdsource the best places to ride a bike in Massachusetts.

A group of MIT students are riding across the US to conduct STEM workshops — science, technology, engineering and math — for students along the way.

A Pennsylvania driver faces DUI and drug charges for running down a woman on a bicycle while attempting to pass another car on the right.

 

International

Cycling News offers a guide to selling your old bike, while Road.cc goes deep on how to choose a bike helmet.

They get it, too. Toronto’s Globe and Mail calls for Vision Zero to end the 2,000 traffic deaths in the country each year, saying road deaths are never really accidents.

An 83-year old English man says he’s lucky to be alive after falling down a set of steps while attempting to walk his bike down a steep hill while wearing cycling cleats; the stairs were installed as an alternative for people unable, or unwilling, to ride the steep descent.

Credit British acting legend Dame Judy Dench with providing a full 10% — the equivalent of $2,334 — of the $24,333 goal for a man riding his bike across the US to raise funds to fight MS.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a driver high on ecstasy and coke got three years for killing a man riding a bicycle; he was five times over the legal limit for ecstasy and six times the limit for cocaine. Which bizarrely means there’s actually a legal amount of illegal drugs you can have in your system.

Police in Dubai have seized 400 bicycles and mopeds in a crackdown on scofflaw riders.

A Sydney, Australia paper says bike riders and pedestrians want separate trails, not shared paths.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews offers a preview of today’s men’s and women’s elite time trials at the US Professional Road National Championships.

Nineteen-year old Luke Lamperti wants to prove last year’s US crit title was no fluke, setting his sights on the national road race championship to improve his chances of making the World Tour next year.

 

Finally…

That feeling when Strava reveals the location of secret military installations. Or when you get a settlement for getting busted for twerking in a bike lane.

And something tells me there’s a story here.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Possible closure of Griffith Park Drive, more on bike chop shop ban, and fallen AIDS/LifeCycle rider remembered

June 17, 2022 / / Comments Off on Possible closure of Griffith Park Drive, more on bike chop shop ban, and fallen AIDS/LifeCycle rider remembered

My apologies for another unexcused absence yesterday.

I’m still battling debilitating bouts of dizziness and brain fog, which my doctors insist is a form of neurological migraines. But which haven’t responded to medication or drastic changes in diet.

Which makes me think maybe they missed the mark this time.

Most days I can struggle through it. But others, like yesterday, it knocks me on my ass.

Photo by Athena from Pexels.

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There may be hope for Griffith Park yet.

Sam forwards a Reddit post about a planned closure of Griffith Park Drive from Travel Town to Mt. Hollywood Drive.

While it’s shorter than the original proposal, this is a huge step forward in removing cars from the park, and reducing the kind of cut-through traffic that resulted in the April death of Andrew Jelmert on Crystal Springs Drive.

Parks should be for people. Not an alternative to driving the freeway.

EMAIL SUPPORT for Griffith Park pilot project program Road Closure from Travel Town to backside of Mt Hollywood Dr!!!!!
byu/onlyfreckles inBikeLA

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Streetsblog’s Sahra Suliaman calls the new LA ordinance banning bike chop shops a remnant of outgoing CD15 Councilmember Joe Bucaino’s failed “broken sidewalks” campaign for mayor.

The proposal, which passed by an 11 to 3 vote, must go back to the council next week after failing to receive a unanimous vote for approval in its first reading. A second vote only needs a majority vote for approval, virtually guaranteeing its passage.

Meanwhile, Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus points out that “laws enforced by police against vulnerable people have a way of being abused and unfairly implemented.”

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The hometown newspaper of fallen bicyclist Glen Brown remembers the AIDS/LifeCycle rider who was killed in a solo bike crash just blocks from the Los Angeles finish this past weekend.

The 57-year old Illinois man was on his third ride to raise funds and awareness to fight HIV/AIDS, after riding from Minneapolis to Chicago and Boston to New York.

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Let’s talk bike helmets.

Discover looks at the science behind bicycle helmets protecting bicyclists, pointing out the benefits of helmets, as well as the limited protection they offer at speeds above 20 mph. And how mandatory helmet laws can have a contradictory effect by reducing ridership.

Meanwhile, a new study from the UK shows that only one-in-five competitive cyclists are aware of the limited protection offered by bike helmets, including the fact that most helmets don’t protect against concussions.

And Lime has opened a popup Helmet Hair Salon in London, to address the one-in-five bike and scooter riders who won’t wear a helmet because they don’t want helmet hair.

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Active SGV is asking for your support for the Arroyo Link to connect Pasadena to the Arroyo Seco.

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Megan Lynch forwards a tweet expressing the frustration many UC Davis students feel, after the inherent conflict of interest when a 19-year old student was killed by a truck owned by the university, in a crash investigated by the campus police.

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

A 77-year old British driver whines that he passed with plenty of room, after he was fined the equivalent of over $2,200 when his illegally close pass was caught on a bike cam and sent to the cops. Which we really should be able to do here in the US, but can’t. 

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

For once, a freeway traffic tie-up really was the fault of someone on a bicycle. A Seattle man was arrested after stealing a bicycle in a strong arm robbery, then riding it onto an Interstate highway and fighting with the cops when they tried to stop him.

Former New York Rangers star Sean Avery walked with time served for using his e-scooter to bash the door of a car blocking a bike lane, after arguing with the driver. We all know the feeling, but violence is never the answer, as tempting as it may be.

A Nottingham, England man faces charges after threatening to shoot a pawnbroker in the head after the shop refused to take his bicycle because they didn’t have room for it, then smashed a window on his way out.

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Local

The new $588 million Sixth Street Viaduct will finally open next month, three years late and $100 million over budget; the July 9th opening will be limited to pedestrians, with the following day open to bike riders and pedestrians, before the bridge opens to motor vehicles on July 11th.

Metro is pushing to use the upcoming ’28 Los Angeles Olympics as a catalyst to request federal funding for additional transportation projects, including new bike paths and bikeshare stations.

Speaking of Metro, the agency lists both online and in-person bike classes for the remainder of the month, as well as a handful of community bike rides — starting with tonight’s ride from Africatown in Leimert Park to Biddy Mason Park.

 

State 

A 55-year old Encinitas man continues to ride his bike hundreds of miles each month, despite suffering from stage four pancreatic cancer for the past eight years.

Police in McKinleyville are looking for the heartless hit-and-run van driver who ran a red light and hit a man on his bike, then got out of her vehicle to look at him lying on the ground before getting back in and driving away.

 

National

A Next City op-ed says it’s time to let Black and Brown people take the lead on reducing traffic deaths, since they’re at the greatest risk.

Bicycling examines the current state of the manhunt for Kaitlin Armstrong, the accused killer of gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson, including new clues to her whereabouts. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available on Yahoo, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

Planetopedia examines the concept of Tactical Urbanism.

Stranger Things star Matthew Modine is set to star in a new movie about a cycling team for at-risk youth.

Summer is almost here, and Momentum wants to tell you how to plan a bike picnic in just 15 minutes.

CNN takes a look at how competitive mountain bikers keep their cool while blazing across inches of trail on the edge of steep mountain sides.

An Arizona man discusses learning how to function again after losing his leg when a tow truck driver plowed into a group of bike riders last year, killing one woman and sending four riders to the ER.

Yes, please. Austin Texas is now offering a bike lane bounty for anyone who reports a driver blocking a bike lane; the person who turns them in gets 25% of the ticket revenue. You could make enough to retire if we had that here in LA.

Heartbreaking news from Chicago, where an 11-year old boy was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike, the third child killed by traffic violence in the city in just two weeks.

Tom Vanderbilt takes a bike tour through New York’s Hudson Valley, discovering a rich countryside and “farm to glass” whiskey.

A North Carolina postal worker faces charges for killing a 62-year old man riding his bike on the sidewalk, after exiting a parking lot in his mail truck without yielding to the bike rider.

 

International

Forbes examines the World Naked Bike Ride, which protests “the indecent exposure of people and the planet to cars and the pollution they create.”

Charges were dropped against a Windsor, Ontario driver accused of the drunken, hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle after she was found dead; no word on the cause of death.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a speeding British motorcyclist was sentenced to just 20 months behind bars for killing a man riding a bike, while riding at more than double the 30 mph speed limit.

A German website asks if bicyclists and drivers will ever learn to live with each other, or continue to remain in a constant state of road rage.

Interesting idea. A new Japanese cargo bike prototype offers a compact, three-wheeled, double-decker design.

 

Competitive Cycling

EF Education has just two riders remaining in the Tour de Suiss, after four team members were forced to abandon after catching Covid. Which serves as yet another reminder that the disease hasn’t gone anywhere, as much as we might wish it was over.

Cycling’s governing body tightened the rules for transgender cyclists, raising the transition period on low testosterone to two years, while reducing the maximum level of testosterone

A 25-year old Wyoming man competing in the Tour Divide was forced to abandon when he wrecked his bike in Glacier National Park, then got lost trying to make his way back, and was trapped by flood waters.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the “more affordable” bike from a pair of retired cycling stars goes for a mere $5,990. Or when you find a Penny Farthing just hanging on the wall.

And when a naked bike ride photobombs your wedding pictures.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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