Tag Archive for Jeff Rickard

SF bike rider killed by hill bombing skater, fighting back from a heart attack to ride again, and uncuttable bike locks coming

July 21, 2020 / / 3 comments

Earlier this week, I made a decision not to link to a hill bombing event in San Francisco.

After watching a number of videos, it became clear it was just for skate boarders, and the only bikes were being held by spectators on the sidelines.

What I didn’t know was that Andrew Sanders was killed when he was hit by a skater while riding his bike on the hill.

Now the city is installing rows of Botts Dots across the base of the hill to put an end to competitions like this.

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Take a few minutes to read this great thread from a man who worked his way back on his bike after nearly dying from a heart attack; just click on the date to load the full thread.

Thanks to Tim Rutt, Rickard’s friend and former coworker, and my friend for over four decades, for the heads-up.

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There may be hope yet in the battle with bike thieves.

A new material promises to make bike locks that can’t be cut — even by an axle grinder.

Seriously, take my money.

Please.

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This is who we share the road with.

A British bike rider blames an overly close pass on the perceived protective powers of a thin strip of magic white paint.

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This is exactly what we’ve been worried about.

https://twitter.com/anneramsey740/status/1285002157264117770

If we can’t give them safe places to ride, those new bike riders who started during the coronavirus lockdown are likely to head back to their cars after getting frightened off the streets.

And a once in a generational opportunity to reimagine our streets will be lost forever.

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

Utah police are looking for a killer driver who appeared to intentionally run down a man on a bicycle, then turn around and run over him again before fleeing the scene.

No bias here. A British TV fashion advisor apologized after saying she “fucking hate(s) cyclists” and wants to kill them all with her car — including her own bike-riding husband. Although her apology only came after extensive online criticism, and doesn’t change the fact that she said it to begin with.

There’s a special place in hell for the reckless wrong-way Welsh driver who ran an 85-year old bike rider off the road; remarkably, he wasn’t seriously injured, despite his age.

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

If your “friend” beats you to death in front of his daughter for trying to use his bike, you probably weren’t really friends to begin with. Just saying.

A Scottish couple vowed to never use a bicycle delivery service again after a road-raging bicyclist spit on their car window when they honked to alert him to their presence. Although something tells me the bike rider might tell the tale just a tad differently.

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Local

The East Side Riders Bike Club teamed with the LA Galaxy for a ride to the closed-to-the-public Dignity Health Sports Center for Saturday’s match with LAFC; it didn’t help, though, as the Galaxy fell to their crosstown rivals.

The West Hollywood City Council was asked to reconsider the city’s ill-conceived ban on e-scooters, which is blocking a dockless ebike bikeshare pilot program.

 

State

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a man riding a bike was killed in a hit-and-run collision Sunday night.

Santa Barbara County has completed a temporary bridge in Montecito crossing the mudflow from the disastrous flooding in January 2018, allowing bicyclists to finally ride through the area without using busy highways. Although hopefully, they’ll pause to remember the 23 people who died that night.

SF Gate professes to offer tips on how to maintain your bike, when all they’re really doing is pimping online sites for tool kits and accessories.

 

National

If you haven’t already hit the extremely low, four article monthly limit on the Bicycling website, they have tips on how to ride with no hands like a pro.

Gear Patrol looks at the outdated concept of men’s and women’s bicycles, when they really mean the differences between top tube and step through frames.

A new four-wheeled bike promises an offroad ride for wheelchair users.

A Nebraska man was the victim of a violent thief who chased him down and assaulted him with a baseball bat to steal his bike.

The community rallied to support bike riders after Chicago police seized the bicycles of people serving as bike marshals during recent protests.

After a bighearted Tennessee boy won a new bike in a drawing, he turned around and gave it to his neighbor.

The New York Times examines the problem of ensuring marginalized residents are heard in the rush to repurpose streets due to the coronavirus, and that outdoor dining, Slow Streets and popup bike lanes don’t just benefit wealthy white residents. At least the last one’s not a problem in Los Angeles, because the city doesn’t have any.

Sad news from New York, where a 26-year old TV reporter was killed when she was thrown from the back of a Revel Vespa-style dockless scooter; neither she nor the man she was riding with were wearing the helmets that come with the scooter rental, even though they’d been disinfected.

New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare celebrated its 100 millionth bike ride.

A physician assistant capped off eight weeks on the front lines of the Covid-19 crisis in a New York hospital with a 3,500-mile coast-to-coast bike ride.

New Jersey residents are complaining about obnoxious kids on bikes. Again.

 

International

No bias here, as Toronto bike riders celebrate a new bike lane, but the headline on the website only focuses on people who oppose it.

Despite writing for a London site, a woman offers 11 reasons why living outside the city is better, including safer places to ride a bike.

An 84-year old British driver will be nearly 87 before he’s a free man again, after he was sentenced to 30 months behind bars for killing a bike rider, despite being told twice to stop driving due to his poor eyesight.

The UK has allotted the equivalent of $48 million for popup bike and pedestrian routes in response to the coronavirus crisis. Which compares favorably to the zero dollars approved by the US for the same purpose.

An English bike rider says no, a new popup bike lane didn’t endanger an ambulance on an emergency call.

Dueling petitions call for opening a seaside Brighton, England street back up to motorists, or keeping it closed to everyone but bike riders and pedestrians.

A UK dentist recalls a 2018 bike commuting crash that nearly ended his dental career, leading him to sell his handmade fixie and promising to never ride a bike again.

Some European countries are great for bicycling; evidently, Luxembourg isn’t one of them.

Just like our friend above, a South African man is back on his bicycle following a “remarkable recovery,” just 16 months after a mountain biking crash left him a quadriplegic with little hope of improvement.

 

Competitive Cycling

More on the cancellation of this year’s Colorado Classic women’s stage race to prevent crowds from gathering during the pandemic.

They get it. A WorldTour team offers advice on how to safely watch cycling again as they prepare to start the season. But say if you’re in doubt, just stay home.

Or better yet, just stay home, period.

 

Finally…

Bike helmets may not protect against cars, but evidently, they can be used to protect against federal secret police. Your next bike could be a brand new 40-year old racing bike.

And listen to the founder of the Major Taylor Cycling Club discuss America’s first Black sports hero with his son. (Correction: I originally misread that as a discussion with Major Taylor’s son, even though he didn’t have one, and would be pretty old if he did. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link, and Andy Stow for the correction.)

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

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