Let’s get this one over the top today.
Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, is working in conjunction with the family of fallen bicyclist Jeff Knopp to raise funds for a permanent memorial where he was killed on Foothill Blvd.
At this writing, the crowdfunding campaign is just $130 short of the $3,500 goal.
If this one goes up, maybe we could see these spread across the city as permanent memorials to take the place of ghost bikes after they’re removed.
Illustration of proposed memorial from Jeff Knopp GoFundMe page.
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Nice to see some good come from a heartbreaking tragedy.
After 27-year old Wisconsin bicyclist Tyler Droeger was killed by a Utah driver on the last leg of a 4,000-mile ride through the American Southwest to raise funds for Navajo children, his crowdfunding page brought in over $27,000 — far surpassing the modest $4,000 goal.
Now that money will be used to create an after school mountain biking program for disadvantaged kids on the Navajo Nation east of Flagstaff, Arizona.
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If the sight of a rideout with a hundred or so wheelie-popping bike riders taking over Sunset Blvd doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will.
anyone know what this was? Big group of cyclists biking down Sunset Blvd in Hollywood pic.twitter.com/gKYzYnCgnB
— Thalia Ramirez (@ThaliaRamirez) March 13, 2022
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Help fight Alzheimer’s while you shake off some of the stress of recent weeks with a 100% carfree ride on the San Gabriel River Trail.
Ride the River & Help Ride Against #Dementia – Join ALZLA & our friends at @ActiveSGV on SAT 3/26 for a morning bike ride along one of the most scenic stretches of the San Gabriel River. This free ride is completely off-street & car-free Register: https://t.co/G6F7n6qDiE
— Alzheimer's Los Angeles (@AlzheimersLA) March 11, 2022
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How to tell when bikes are just being used for marketing purposes.
Upper Crust: “let’s deliver pizza by bike, use a bicyclist as our logo, and *checks notes* oppose bike lanes” pic.twitter.com/OX49HQecom
— Danny (@dannickx) March 12, 2022
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Once again, bike riders are heroes, after rescuing a suicidal man who jumped off a bridge in Lagos, Nigeria.
Although he doesn’t seem too happy about it.
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Thanks to Phillip Young for forwarding video of a literal steampunk bike, which doubles as a BBQ grill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfGjIUeZR7g
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An Everette, Washington letter writer complains that local transit has gone from “being insufficient and inconvenient to being insufficient, inconvenient and unsafe,” and assumes the same is true for bicycling. So he opposes a bike lane that would make it more sufficient, convenient and safer.
A Wisconsin letter writer says move bike lanes off main streets onto quieter side streets. Because evidently, bike riders don’t need to go to those places where all those apparently more important people in cars need to go. And don’t need red lights or otherwise safe crossings to get across busy streets.
No bias here. A New Jersey man tries to demonstrate that bike riders have a right to ride safely in the roadway. But to the New York Post, he’s a disgruntled bicyclist who pisses everyone off by dangerously pedaling into traffic.
Police in England are looking for a driver who intentionally rammed into a bike rider, after the victim apparently struck the driver’s passenger-side mirror.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
In a story that makes no sense, an Oceanside cop was injured in a fight with a bike rider, who crashed while fleeing from the officer, who wasn’t even trying to make a stop, then attacked the cop when he stopped to help after the crash.
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Local
Vogue profiles the women artists of LA’s Frogtown neighborhood, at least one of whom rides her bike to work on the LA River bike path.
State
America’s last remaining Tour de France winner has been inducted into the California Outdoor Hall of Fame, which doesn’t appear to have a physical presence anywhere. And no, I never heard of it, either.
For the past two years, Orange County’s So Cal Klunkers have met for weekly relatively leisurely Monday night rides that draw admiring fans, as well as complaints on Nextdoor. Then again, that seems to be all Nextdoor is for sometimes.
San Diego e-scooter use is climbing along with gas prices.
Sad news from the Sacramento area, where a 15-year old Elk Grove boy suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding in a raised crosswalk on his way to school.
Despite the crappy name, the somewhat stinky Tour de Manure Metric Century bike ride will return to Sierraville for its 12th iteration, following a two year Covid hiatus.
Petite mountain town Truckee is getting it’s own ebike bikeshare system this summer.
High gas prices are boosting ebike sales in Chico, too.
National
Gazelle is bringing its Dutch-made Arroyo comfort ebikes back to the US, with prices starting around $3,300.
Talk about not getting it. The editorial board of the Seattle Times says dropping the county’s mandatory bike helmet law was a wrong-headed decision — even though it disproportionately targeted people of color and disadvantaged riders who couldn’t afford to pay. And even though studies show helmet laws depress bicycling rates.
Kindhearted Salt Lake City cops bought a new bike and helmet for an 11-year old boy whose bike was stolen by a thief while he was riding it to school. Now let’s see that here in Los Angeles.
A trio of researchers write that “inequities in hard infrastructure combine with racialized policing to inhibit bicycling” in Chicago.
Great idea. Boston is piloting a free ebike-based delivery service for local businesses, allowing them to keep more of their profits while reducing delivery vehicles.
New York is exploiting a loophole in city regulations by installing secure bike parking pods for just 29 days before moving them to other locations, to get around a requirement for review and approval by a city commission for periods longer than that.
No bias here, either. After a Maryland bike rider is killed in a close pass by a semi driver, police investigators blame the victim for hitting the rear of the trailer.
A New York man trying to ride his bike to all 50 state capitals in a single year crossed number 28 off his list with a visit to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. And met a half-sister he didn’t know he had when the trip started.
International
A Glasgow, Scotland organization is teaching Muslim women in their 40s how to ride a bike for the first time.
There’s a special place in hell for the knife-wielding thief who stole the Brompton belonging to London bike cam vigilante Cycling Mikey, right after he’d taught a special needs kid how to ride a bike.
You’ve got to be kidding. English cops intend to prosecute a bike rider who held up traffic for a whole nine seconds while he videoed a driver using his cellphone behind the wheel.
UK government ministers are being urged to promote ebikes, after a study shows they could result in the equivalent of $2.61 billion in health savings and cut a million tons of emissions every year. Not to mention reduce dependence on Russian oil.
British broadcaster and bike advocate Jeremy Vine says there’s a strong argument that drivers shouldn’t be allowed to overtake bike riders in cities, calling it pointless.
A travel site offers advice on touring Western Sicily on two wheels.
This is why people keep dying in the streets. Former Manchester United star Chris Eagles is now one of us, albeit unwillingly, after he was banned from driving for three whole months when he was found in his car partially undressed, and nearly three times over the legal alcohol limit. Maybe he would have gotten four months if he was four times over the limit.
Bike historian Carlton Reid explain how the Netherland’s embrace of bicycling started with carfree Sundays in response to the 1973 OPEC oil embargo — paid for by the discovery of a large deposit of natural gas under Groningen.
Denmark is doing the right thing, opening a website where people can donate their bikes to Ukrainian refugees.
A 25-year old Japanese man is pedaling across the country to play basketball with high school students and spread awareness of mental health.
Competitive Cycling
Tadej Pogačar captured Italy’s weeklong Tirreno-Adriatico stage race, the third victory in three starts for the nearly unbeatable Slovenian.
To the surprise of no one, Slovenia’s Primož Roglič won the Paris-Nice stage race, though he had to hold off a furious challenge from Simon Yates on the final stage, with the help of ‘cross star Wout van Aert.
Luxembourg national champ Kevin Geniets was forced to abandon Paris-Nice following a freak accident when a sponsor sign toppled in a gust of wind, and landed on top of him.
New Zealand national champ and Into The Lion’s Den Crit winner Olivia Ray has apparently been dropped by women’s WorldTour team Human Powered Health amid allegations of doping, as well as concerns that she was a victim of domestic violence.
Finally…
That feeling when you ride seven miles through 30 mph winds on a cruiser bike to caddy for a golf pro, only to learn his tee time was canceled due to weather. We may have to deal with angry drivers, but we hardly ever get chased by hungry tigers (Even if he was on a motorbike).
And apparently, we’re taking over the ER.
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin, too.
