Tag Archive for just the links

The war on bikes keeps on going, bike riders behaving badly, and that really was Chris Froome riding that bike in SaMo

January 7, 2021 / / Comments Off on The war on bikes keeps on going, bike riders behaving badly, and that really was Chris Froome riding that bike in SaMo

It’s a light news day in the big, wide, wonderful world of bikes, after yesterday’s DC shit show sucked up all the oxygen.

So let’s get right to it.

Photo by Maria Orlova from Pexels.

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

Life is cheap in the UK, where a man walks without a single day behind bars for reaching out of a car window to push a man off his bicycle.

A 27-year old British man remains in critical condition with a head injury after he was brutally attacked while riding his bike.

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

An Ontario, Canada man faces charges for biking under the influence after cops observe him yelling and swearing at passing cars while struggling to stay upright.

A pair of young kids walking in a crosswalk were sent flying when a New Zealand bike rider slammed into them after blowing through a stop sign; fortunately, the brothers have been released from the hospital, but the youngest one is now afraid of bicycles. And understandably so.

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Local

‘Tis still the season. A Santa Clarita landfill company built out 100 bikes and 70 scooters to donate to a pair of nonprofits for distribution to local kids for the holidays.

 

State

Visalia punts on plans to complete an offroad bike trail after property owners refuse to sell, and councilmembers balk at using eminent domain.

 

National

CityLab looks forward to the incoming Biden administration, saying it could take steps to make motor vehicles a lot safer, especially for bike riders and pedestrians. Let’s start by banning oversized private trucks and SUVs, and redesigning the high, flat grills on SUVs and pickups.

Despite initial opposition, the Slow Streets movement have proven its popularity, causing planners to rewrite their playbooks.

Fort Worth’s bike-riding mayor calls it a career after five full terms leading the Texas city.

Huh? Martha’s Vineyard rejects a proposal for a shared use path on a local roadway, because bicycles would be “detrimental to the bucolic nature of the road.” Because only cars and SUVs are bucolic, evidently. 

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Syracuse NY judge undercuts prosecutors by offering a hit-and-run driver a reduced sentence for killing a beloved local street musician as he was riding his bicycle — even though the driver, who was out on parole, was driving without a license.

Life is cheap in New York, where a truck driver gets to keep his license despite killing a teenaged bike rider with his erratic driving.

An NYPD commander throws in the towel, saying a deadly Brooklyn intersection should be redesigned to physically separate bike riders and pedestrians from reckless drivers, because nothing else will work.

In an unusual move, a New Jersey driver and his passenger will both face charges for the hit-and-run death of a 56-year old bike rider.

After a lifetime of bicycling, a Florida woman switches to a ‘bent in order to keep riding as she gets older.

 

International

Red Bull offers easy but awesome tricks to customize your mountain bike.

Life is cheap in Great Britain, where a drunk, speeding driver got a lousy 34 months behind bars for slamming into a bike rider while driving at three times the legal alcohol limit; the victim had to have a number of surgeries and skin grafts to repair his shattered knee and lower leg.

Cycling News goes shopping for the best bike deals in the US and the UK so you don’t have to.

More bike fallout from Brexit, as bicycle and accessory makers suspend shipments to the UK.

No surprise here, as an Irish bicycle advocacy group comes out against a mandatory helmet law, saying traffic cameras, separated cycle tracks and lower speed limits would be more effective in reducing bike injuries.

Why choose between a mountain bike and a city bike when a German ebike maker will give you both with a single shared engine and battery.

High-end Indian bikemakers are struggling to keep up, as import restrictions and supply chain disruptions result in a delay of up to four months to buy a new bike.

Bizarre story from Zimbabwe, where a 39-year old bike rider was killed in a collision with a donkey cart driven by a man with the same name.

 

Competitive Cycling

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome is spending his winter riding and rehabbing in Santa Monica in an effort to fully recover from the critical injuries he suffered in a high-speed training crash last summer.

 

Finally…

Who needs wheels when you can turn your bike into an e-snowbike? That feeling when they promise the best bike baskets to bring your dog along for the ride, but only deliver one barely big enough for a chihuahua.

And still wheelie good at 51.

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

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Free bikeshare on Election Day, traffic violence scares kid off bikes, and Mexico adds safe mobility to constitution

November 3, 2020 / / Comments Off on Free bikeshare on Election Day, traffic violence scares kid off bikes, and Mexico adds safe mobility to constitution

It’s a light news day as today’s election apparently sucked up all the attention of the news media, so let’s get right to it. 

And if you haven’t already, get out and Bike the Vote!

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels.

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Local

Several SoCal transit agencies are offering free rides to the polls for today’s Election Day, as well as free Metro Bike bikeshare and free Bird, Motivate, Spin and Lime dockless scooter rides.

Just what every man wants. A shiny new bicycle from Venice Beach bikemaker Solé.

 

State

Streetsblog San Francisco announces the winners of the Bay Area Streetsie Awards.

Oakland is planning to extend a short, quarter-mile curb-protected cycle track that may be the best bike infrastructure in the Bay Area, while local advocates say it can’t happen soon enough.

 

National

A new study concludes that most people killed while riding a bike are middle-aged men because fears of traffic violence keep most kids and younger people from riding.

Kim Kardashian is one of us; so is her sister Kourtney. The question is, do we really care?

The new Bachelorette is one of us, too.

A Minnesota man says he’ll miss the moments of clarity and poignancy he’s had riding his bike around town, after buying a trainer to ride indoors this winter. And sees that as a metaphor for our country, where we’ve all been riding in one place without going anywhere.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 20-year old Indiana man who walked and rode his bike everywhere was the victim of a hit-and-run driver as he rode his bike home from his job at a sandwich shop, despite the efforts of a passing doctor and at least one nurse to save his life.

Security cam video shows New York police investigators wrongly blamed a bike-riding Queens teenager for his own death, rather than the truck driver who ran him down, according to an attorney representing the boy’s family.

New Orleans-area police are looking for a pair of hit-and-run drivers who killed two people riding bikes just one day apart.

A Florida TV station examines the risks facing bike riders in St. Augustine after a woman was killed riding on the coast highway, where the state DOT recently canceled plans for a bike lane.

 

International

In a groundbreaking move, Mexico has adopted a constitutional amendment guaranteeing safe mobility as a basic human right.

Bike Radar considers what you should look for in a bike for winter riding. Because apparently, you have to leave your summer bike at home alone with your white shoes after Labor Day.

Good idea. A Brit homeowner bought a fake speed camera on eBay in a successful effort to get local drivers to slow down — until an angry motorist stole it.

A British man vowed to move away from the town he’d just moved to after he was beaten and robbed of his bike by several men, who claimed the bike belonged to them.

It takes a real schmuck to steal a bicycle from a mountain-biking amputee while she was visiting a hospital in the UK. Which is not to suggest that it would have been okay anywhere else.

A British letter writer says children should be required to wear hi-viz to keep them safe from drivers to and from school.

Four streets in central Dublin will be made car-free following a successful trial over the summer.

A pair of Dutch designs promise to let you control your smartphone from your handlebars without losing control of your bike.

Horrifying story from China, where a man allegedly beat his wife to death in broad daylight as bystanders looked on, following an argument that began when he crashed the ebike they were riding into a pedestrian.

 

Competitive Cycling

Diversity-based L39ION of Los Angeles — read Legion — is forming a UCI Continental cycling team for next year, as well as hiring their first two women’s cyclists for a new co-ed Domestic Elite team.

Cycling Weekly offers six things to look for as the Vuelta enters its third and final week, along with six things to know about the newly announced route for next year’s Tour de France.

 

Finally…

Nothing like getting right hooked with a school bus. Forget the earbuds, just grab your helmet.

And you know mountain bikes are popular when they design a new Jeep just to get you there.

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

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Giving the cops a hand, Dorothy Wong fights for bike safety, and Froome is back in the saddle again

October 1, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Giving the cops a hand, Dorothy Wong fights for bike safety, and Froome is back in the saddle again

It’s a light news day for a change. 

Which is probably a relief for both of us after yesterday’s massive missive. 

So settle in for a few minutes, and we’ll get right to it. 

Photo by Craig Adderley from Pexels.

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A Scottish Uber Eats delivery rider gave police a hand, skidding to a stop and chasing down a moped thief to help take him into custody.

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Local

Altadena councilmember, League Cycling Instructor and former pro mountain biker Dorothy Wong continues her fight for bike safety and protecting the Hahamongna Watershed.

 

State

Streetsblog says the San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, can’t see the future for the cars, after the board overrules staff members to invest funds in widening highways. Although invest might not be the right word.

A Silicone Valley bike tour was scratched due to sick chickens.

The Sacramento Bee explains how drivers’ choices can help cut traffic deaths, including using the Dutch Reach and not stopping in bike lanes; the capital city has the deadliest streets for children under 15 for any large California city.

 

National

You, too, can get your very own bicycle designed specifically to fit a woman’s anatomy — if you have a measly $12,300 hidden under your sofa cushions.

Bike Snob says bicycle tech has advanced so far that it’s almost impossible to buy a bad bike these days. There may be some big box bike buyers who’d probably disagree.

A new portable, quick-release bike saddle promises to eliminate the problems of rain soaked or stolen bicycle seats by allowing you to take it with you; it’s currently raising funds on Kickstarter.

Popular Mechanics lists their choices for the best bike apps.

A Washington writer patiently explains why someone would want to ride on the left edge of what drivers might see as a perfectly good bike lane.

An Idaho judge decides a badly fractured ankle isn’t punished enough, and fines a woman $90 for running a red light on her bike, which led to collision with a driver.

After his grandparent’s neighbor was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike, a bighearted Colorado 8th grader raised $1,200 for a state bike advocacy group in the victim’s honor.

Clearly, we’re not safe from heartless, cowards anywhere. An Illinois pedestrian was run down by a hit-and-run golf cart driver while walking on a bike path.

No shit. A Dutch man visits his sister in Minnesota, and finds riding a bike here is just a tad different than over there.

An Indianapolis official apparently thinks his constituents aren’t bright enough to grasp how a parking protected bike lane works.

An Arkansas man participating in a century ride was killed when he fell down a 30-foot embankment after apparently suffering a blown tire.

A Maine bike rider is lucky to be alive after a man trained in CPR found him lying unconscious on the side of the road, despite wearing a helmet.

Providence, Rhode Island decides to rip out a two-way protected bike lane over fears that emergency vehicles can’t get through on the newly narrowed traffic lanes. Even though they could easily fit in the wide bikeway or run over the plastic bollards separating the lanes from vehicular traffic if they don’t.

A Long Island teenager learns the hard way that popping a wheelie in traffic may not be the best idea. 

New York bike riders rally at city hall to demand passage of bills that would improve bicycle safety, including more protected bike lanes, limiting where garbage trucks can go, and targeting the city’s most dangerous drivers.

A DC bike rider says he was lucky to escape with a bent rim when he was jumped by a group of bike-riding teenagers on the National Mall.

Chapel Hill NC considers banning right turns on red lights at several mostly downtown intersections to protect bicyclists and pedestrians.

A New Orleans radio station says the city may be on its way to becoming carfree.

A very drunk, 51-year old Florida man went back to school without an invitation, riding his bike past security at a high school and taking a seat in a classroom before police led him away in cuffs.

 

International

A writer for Bike Radar tries a handlebar mirror for the first time. And after reflection, comes away unimpressed.

Speaking of Bike Radar, they can’t wait for the next Trek bike — or the next bike name based on an anagram of Madone — so they invented their own.

A couple in Mérida, Mexico explain how they met while riding their bikes to work. Try doing that in a car.

He gets it. Instead of the usual call for more bike helmets, an Edinburgh trauma surgeon calls for lower speed limits to prevent crashes and save lives.

There’s a lesson here somewhere. A 60-year old British man on a bike tour to Venice collapsed and died while watching porn in an Italian sex shop. Maybe he should have worn his helmet.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch pro Ellen van Dijk is getting her stolen bike back, after German police recovered the purloined Trek Madone that went missing on the final day of the Lotto Ladies Tour.

Colorado Springs CO is planning a $50,000 four-day mountain bike race on the dirt roads, four-wheel paths and mountain bike singletrack of legendary Pikes Peak.

Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome is back in the saddle again, 14 weeks after a crash while training for the Critérium du Dauphiné sent him to the intensive care unit.

 

Finally…

Doesn’t everyone wear skintight leather pants for a tandem ride — and stand on the pedals to pose for the camera? Surely, you joust.

And your next e-scooter could do 50 mph.

But that’s not necessarily a good thing.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: LA traffic isn’t our fault, OC man on trial for stabbing bicyclist, and LA street & transit meetings

February 20, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA traffic isn’t our fault, OC man on trial for stabbing bicyclist, and LA street & transit meetings

It’s a relatively light news day, so let’s just get right to it.

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Somehow, I just can’t spot the bike lane causing all this traffic congestion on Robertson Blvd yesterday.

So it must be a scooter.

Right?

Or maybe it’s just more LA drivers who can’t see the traffic for the cars.

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Local

Los Angeles will host a series of public workshops to help create proposals for the city’s Great Streets Challenge Grants, beginning tonight in Van Nuys.

Metro will hold a series of committee meetings to discuss congestion pricing to help reduce traffic, and a report on secure bike parking at Metro stations today and tomorrow.

Thanks to LA Streetsblog for the links.

State

San Diego continues to face a lawsuit claiming dockless e-scooters discriminate against people with disabilities, at the same time the city is finalizing regulations for them.

Great reporting job here. An apparently ageless and nameless El Centro child was injured when he was struck by an apparently driverless truck on his way to his apparently nameless school.

A tip of the hat to the Palm Springs Police Department for busting two bike thieves, and recovering a pair of bikes worth $12,000 that had been stolen from a locked rack on the victim’s car.

Oxnard police are looking for a BMX-riding attacker who assaulted a school employee.

National

The new owners of the parent company of the late, lamented Performance Bicycle say they’re back in business, shipping Fuji, Kestrel, Breezer, SE Bikes and other brands owned by the company to dealers. But Performance itself is dead as a physical presence.

Even Pink’s two-year old son is one of us.

Montana considers clarifying the right-of-way rules regarding bicycles, requiring drivers to move to the left lane or cross the center line to pass bicyclists, even when they’re riding on the shoulder, and to yield to bike traffic traveling in the same direction before turning.

Bike riders are warned to use lights and reflective gear to improve safety. But that wasn’t enough to keep an Austin TX man from getting run down by a possibly stoned bus driver earlier this month.

Even enhanced security wasn’t enough to keep thieves from hitting a Chicago bike shop for the second time this month, making off with $20,000 worth of bicycles.

A Concord NH woman faces a vehicular assault charge for running down a man on his bike from behind while driving without a license; prosecutors contend she was following the victim too closely, even though he was in a bike lane. Although the charges are just misdemeanors and traffic violations, so let’s hope survives that vicious slap on the wrist.

New York Mayor de Blasio defends the NYPD’s bizarre crackdown on bike riders — including using physical force and ticketing riders for breaking nonexistent laws — which followed the hit-and-run death of a bike rider. Even though the victim wasn’t breaking the law, and even though police still haven’t arrested that driver, or any of the other drivers in recent hit-and-runs.

A New Orleans attorney offers tips on riding your bike to Mardi Gras, including advice to avoid riding drunk. Which kind of defeats the whole purpose of the Carnival Season.

A well-deserved hate crime charge has been filed against a Florida driver who threatened a group of young black bike riders with a gun while shouting racial epithets, after one of the teenagers allegedly ran over his wife’s foot.

It’s a sad comment when even someone riding on the sidewalk isn’t safe from drivers on the street, as a New York man visiting Florida was collateral damage in a crash between two motorists.

International

Four men completed an eight day, 372-mile frozen fat bike journey on Canada’s Ice Road in temperatures dipping down to 40 degrees below zero. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the heads-up.

An official police watchdog group has recommended charges against Vancouver police officers for the death of a bike rider, who was somehow killed during a traffic stop because he didn’t have a helmet, lights or reflectors. None of which would normally call for the death penalty.

London blames good weather for a dramatic increase in bicycling and pedestrian fatalities last year, and not just bad drivers and poorly designed trucks.

There’s a special place in hell for the bicycle-riding bandit who injured an 85-year old woman as he made off with his purse; police eventually used dogs to chase him down and take him into custody.

Caught on video: This is what it looks like to be punched by a road raging driver, for the crime of riding on the correct side of the road as the British van driver sped towards him on the wrong side.

Copenhagen residents say Dublin, Ireland’s bike lanes really aren’t.

Caught on video too: A South African bike rider gets ambushed by a man who pushed him off his bicycle to steal his cellphone.

Bicycling Australia says it’s a battlefield out there, offering five tips to improve bicycle safety.

Competitive Cycling

The La Cañada Valley Sun fondly recalls when the 2009 Amgen Tour of California rolled through town on its way to Pasadena; the Peloton included both of America’s future ex-Tour de France winners, as well as eventual winner Levi Leipheimer.

The BBC examines cycling’s obsession with suffering.

Bicycling visits the first-ever Ice Cycle Crit, held on a frozen Massachusetts pond. And examines three current and former pro cyclists to see if there really is a bicycling gene, including cycling scion Taylor Phinney and LA’s own Phil Gaimon.

Cycling Tip’s Neal Rogers writes that he used to be a not-very-good bike racer, with emphasis on the past tense.

Finally…

Put your indoor cycling time to better use baking bread. You can carry anything on a bike — even a basketful of stolen copper pipes.

And most of us can’t walk on water, but at least you can ride on it.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Sweating on your bike to improve your health, and Elon Musk’s Tesla Tunnel with a bike rack

December 20, 2018 / / One comment

Just four days left in the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Time’s running out to support SoCal’s leading source for bike news and advocacy. Donate in just minutes via PayPal, or through Zelle with the banking app that’s already on your phone, using the email address you’ll find on this link.

Any amount will help, and is truly and deeply appreciated, no matter how large or small. 

Or if you own a business, consider buying an ad on BikinginLA to show your support for this site, while you spread your message to thousands of bike riders in Southern California and around the world. 

Besides, you can write off the full cost as an advertising expense on next year’s taxes.

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Let’s start with a pair of medical studies.

Mike Wilkinson forwards news of a new study that shows just six months of walking for bicycling may reverse cognitive decline. Although at that rate, it ma take me a couple years.

And don’t throw away your pills just yet. But a new British study shows working up a good sweat while riding can lower your blood pressure as well as prescription medication can.

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‘Tis the season. The Virginia Beach VA Rotary club teamed with a local Methodist church to collect and refurbish 45 bikes for underprivileged kids.

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Local

Elon Musk unveils his first test tunnel, with plans to solve urban traffic problems using modified Teslas on an underground track. And maybe even put a bike rack on the back. Meanwhile, Streetsblog calls it a bad joke.

State

Trek Bicycle Westlake Village in Thousand Oaks is working with volunteers to donate 200 bicycles to victims of the Woolsey Fire.

National

People for Bikes ranks the top 10 new protected bike lanes in the US. Guess how many are in Los Angeles?

Streetsblog asks if e-scooters are unsafe at any speed, as the Centers for Disease Control — aka CDC — prepares to look into it.

Bike Snob says cars and great cities don’t go together, suggesting that to have the latter, we have to ban the former.

Snow biking in the Colorado high country near my hometown.

Chicago opens separate bike and pedestrian pathways along the lake front, as well as a flyover to keep both from having to deal with dangerous intersections.

Boston plans to use a peanut to improve bike and traffic safety.

New York added nearly 21 miles of protected bike lanes in 2018, for a total of 45 in the past two years. Meanwhile, Los Angeles only added the semi-protected MyFigueroa.

Jacksonville FL is getting its first two-way cycle track, courtesy of a new road diet.

International

A writer for Bike Radar makes mistakes so you don’t have to.

It’s been a bad year in Trinidad and Tobago, where bicycling fatalities are up 300% over last year.

Cyclist explains why bikes make the perfect Christmas gift for the kids in your life. Grownups, too.

In business news, virtual cycling firm Zwift has raised $120 million to expand into esports; the company already has deals to operate cycling championships in Great Britain and Australia.

Uber’s Jump e-bikeshare bikes are about to jump to the UK and Ireland.

Police in Punjab, India are “adopting” ebikes in a pilot project.

A New Zealand man invents a detachable taillight assembly to keep your bike and rack from blocking your car’s lights.

The CEO of dockless bikeshare provider Ofo says the company nearly filed bankruptcy after misreading the market, in what would have been the biggest failure of a Chinese startup.

Competitive Cycling

Belgian cyclist Tosh van der Sande has been suspended by his Lotto-Soudal team after testing positive in a doping test. Thank goodness the doping era is over though, right?

Floyd’s Pro Cycling, the new Continental-level cycling team started by America’s other ex-Tour de France winner, is attracting top talent by promising riders they’ll get to compete on a variety of surfaces and types of racing.

Following in his dad’s tire tracks, a man sets out to finish the 120-mile, three-pass Colorado road race his father created.

A West Virginia woman uses a sports talent search to make the rare leap from high school wresting and soccer to track cycling Olympic hopeful.

Now you, too, can own the Van Gogh inspired bike that Giant gave Dutch cycling star Tom Dumoulin, for a low, low $22,000. Cutting off your ear to match the bike is optional.

Finally…

Pseudo cycling products for cheapskates. Chances are, those grey-bearded guys could drop you like freshman English.

And so could a 90-year old spin instructor.

Or maybe that’s just me.

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Thanks to James E and Darryl K for their generous donations to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive to keep this site coming to your favorite screen every morning! 



Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Captain Kirk is one of us, Long Beach giving bike lanes the shift, and bicycling for masochists

October 30, 2018 / / One comment

It’s kind of nice to have a relatively light news day after yesterday’s massive post. 

So let’s jump right in. 

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William Shatner is one of us, too.

Hopefully, he has his ebike wired so Scotty’s voice calls out “I’m giving her all she’s got, Captain!” whenever he accelerates.

And yes, I know he never actually said that. At least not on Star Trek.

But still.

………

Local

Long Beach is moving bike lanes on Third and Broadway to the opposite side of the street to simplify life for people on bikes, and eliminate dangerous crossings.

 

State

San Diego finally moving forward with the bike lanes and sidewalks on Golf Course Drive that local residents have been requesting for the past thirty years. Now they just have to be patient for another three and half years.

Ventura considers stopping the e-scooter scourge before it can start, threatening to ban the scooters before anyone tries to actually introduce them to the city.

Streetsblog looks at Sunday’s anti-Prop 6 rally in San Francisco, where bike riders donned wigs and heels to shoot down a ridiculous argument against the state gas tax increase. And those were just the men.

A Marine Corps vet from Sacramento is riding across the US to get his fellow vets talking about mental health; after making the decision, his first step was to buy a bike and learn to ride it.

 

National

Bicycling sings the praises of balance bikes, suggesting that starting your toddler on one can pay big dividends when they ride a regular bike later.

The Seattle Times examines the new UPS pilot project to make deliveries by ebikes capable of carrying up to 400 pounds of cargo.

Seattle’s Burke-Gilman Trail will use solar powered sensors to warn bike riders and pedestrians about approaching cars at crossings, and vice versa, through an app on their phones. Hopefully that won’t be just be another form of distraction for drivers.

Denver bicyclists and e-scooter riders are learning to share the streets and bike lanes, even though scooters are required to stay on the sidewalk in the Mile High City.

It’s not just LA. Drivers illegally parking their cars in bike lanes remains a problem for Minneapolis bicyclists, despite increased enforcement. Though someone should tell the Southwest Journal that it’s more than just an annoyance for people on bikes.

Treehugger gives a positive review to the new podcast The War on Cars from leading New York bike advocates Sarah Goodyear, Doug Gordon and Aaron Naparstek.

Five first responders are riding from DC to Syracuse NY to honor the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, which was blown up by Libyan terrorists over Lockerbie Scotland 30 years ago.

Cycling Tips gets up close and personal with the latest bikes at last weekend’s Philly Bike Expo.

Georgia bike riders say don’t punish the victims by banning bikes from a highway bypass just because local motorists can’t drive safely.

 

International

Good question. A Canadian driver asks if it would kill you to check for bicyclists before opening a car door after parking.

Faster and heavier ebikes pose a problem for Vancouver bike riders in the city’s bike lanes.

Speaking of Vancouver, the city’s bike registration system is credited with cutting bike theft by 30% in just three years, and has spread to 35 cities across North America.

The UK edition of Runner’s World says BMX riding is the best cross-training workout to improve running. But doesn’t seem to understand that BMX and singletrack aren’t the same thing.

A British writer says making drivers over 70 do the Dutch Reach is ageism because they’re not “bleeding gymnasts.” And fondly recalls the good old days when people drove drunk and streets were even deadlier.

Caught on video: An English website collects video of the town’s “dumbest drivers,” including a pair who evidently couldn’t tell the difference between the roadway and a walking path.

A new book tells the story of former Iranian cyclist Ishbel Rose Holmes, who rescued a stray dog as she rode across Turkey while riding around the world.

Context matters. A New Zealand website says there’s been a 27-fold increase in ebike crashes in the last five years; advocates are quick to point out the increase correlates with a rapid boom in ebike use.

 

Competitive Cycling

Rouleur talks with former world champ and new mother Lizzie Deignan, who kept riding through her pregnancy, stopping just three days before giving birth.

Former British Tour de France champ Sir Bradley Wiggins has a new book out, in which he calls Lance “precisely the sort of winner” race founders had imagined. Aside from all that doping and bullying, that is.

Cycling News discusses five notable cyclists who are retiring from the pro tour this year, including American great Megan Guarnier.

Tragic news from Indonesia, where the passenger list for a downed airline flight included 26-year old former Italian pro Andrea Manfredi; all 189 passengers and crew are presumed dead.

 

Finally…

Annoying the crap out of drivers to fight knife crime. If you want to tell the history of the bicycle, always start with the invention of the wheel.

And the leading cause of death in the US is unintentional injuries.

So masochists, as you were.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: More on the great bike helmet debate, and LA Times sort of says we’re dangerous

October 23, 2018 / / 4 comments

Today’s common theme is bike helmets.

Just a day after British bike scribe and new Forbes transportation writer Carlton Reid says he doesn’t wear a helmet when he rides, a couple others chimed in on the subject.

A Montreal writer says the problem with that is that bike helmets are proven to save lives. Which is true, as long as you don’t look at the studies that contradict them.

And pro cyclist Alex Dowsett says helmets “should be compulsory for all cyclists, everywhere, all of the time,” after crediting his with saving his head during yesterday’s stage of China’s Tour of Guangxi.

As regular readers of this site may know, I always wear a helmet when I ride.

But I realize that they’re not magic talismans that protect you from any injury. Except for the new MIPS helmets, they don’t protect against concussions, and they don’t protect any other part of the body.

They’re also only designed to protect against impacts up to 13.5 mph. Which means bike helmets are better in a slow speed fall than a high speed crash.

So yes, they can offer some protection, and may even save your life under certain circumstances.

But they should always be seen as the last line of defense. Not the first.

It’s better to avoid a crash in the first place than count on your helmet to save you.

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Thanks to the Los Angeles Times for alerting the world to the dangers of this site in yesterday’s daily email blast.

Although I prefer to write it as one word.

Thanks to Chris Klibowitz for the heads-up. 

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Local

The LA Times offers their endorsements for next month’s election, including a no on Prop 6, which would repeal the recent gas tax increase to fund road repair.

 

State

A new class-action lawsuit against Lime and Bird calls for banning e-scooters in California, with three plaintiffs alleging they were injured by defective and unsafe scooters; the suit also alleges the companies created a public nuisance and abetted assault. On the other hand, they love them in Portland, and are replacing car trips.

The CHP’s Pedestrian and Bicyclist Enforcement and Education Project has received a $1 million federal grant, as San Jose becomes the fourth California city to adopt Vision Zero.

Sad news from Sunnyvale, where a man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike.

 

National

A writer for Business Insider says he can highly recommend REI’s own line of hybrid bikes.

As if anyone still cares, Cosmo updates the world on Britney Spears inner circle 20 years after the release of Baby One More Time. Although if you want to scroll all the way down to #13, Nigel Dick, the director of that video and some of her other hits, is one of us.

A Missouri city administrator explains there are many reasons why he rides a bicycle. But mostly, because it’s fun.

Critical Mass has finally made it to Brattleboro, Vermont, population just below 11,500.

Sure, that’s it. The New York Post’s resident anti-bike crank says local residents are making a last stand to fight a planned bike and pedestrian bridge, arguing that the mere presence of people on bicycles would lower their property values. And that the bridge is just the mayor’s attempt to get even with the governor, whose mother lives nearby. Of course. Who wouldn’t build a multi-million dollar just to get back at your political nemesis?

A WaPo writer says DC pedestrians have to walk at their own risk. And it’s not much better for people on bikes.

Speaking of DC, the district is considering banning right turns on red lights to improve safety for people on bicycles and on foot.

 

International

Most Scots think bicycling is a good thing, but over half say it’s not for them. Meanwhile, a newspaper wonders why so many adults lose the ability to ride a bike when it’s literally child’s play.

A Euro website looks at L’Eroica and the return of vintage steel road bikes.

For the second time in a week, a French mountain biker has been shot by a hunter; the victim was hit in the shoulder by someone who apparently thought he was shooting at a wild boar. Since so many try to escape hunters by bicycle, evidently.

A Kiwi writer says he has seen the future, and it’s dockless bikeshare.

Caught on video: An Aussie bike rider suffered a broken ankle when he was the victim of sidewalk rage, after a large man brushed against him rather than move over a bit to make room.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews calls the just concluded Tour of Guangxi a success, as it builds a cycling bridge between east and west.

 

Finally…

When protected bike lanes come to Dinkytown. And just in time for Halloween, the bicycling dead.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

September 17, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

New US Census estimates show fewer people are commuting by bicycle than in years past, while Los Angeles is stuck at a 0.9% bike mode share.

However, Census Bureau estimates have always been problematic, since they only include people who actually ride to to a job.

People who commute to school or other destinations aren’t counted in the census, and people who live in immigrant or lower income neighborhoods tend to be undercounted.

………

As if terrestrial drivers weren’t bad enough, now we have to worry about flying cars and their power lines.

Which brings up the question of whether the three-foot passing law applies to overhead, as well.

………

Local

LADOT summarizes the recent street improvement workshop for Winnetka Ave.

The LA Times reports that Bird has pockmarked Los Angeles with individual no fly zones where e-scooters are discouraged, if not prohibited.

CiclaValley discovers nice, smooth new pavement in Griffith Park.

 

State

San Diego police are looking for a pair of bat-wielding bike riders who attacked a man sitting on a bus bench, striking him in the head with a baseball bat before escaping on their bikes.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, has hired Hasan Ikhrata to be its next executive director; he’s leaving his post as head of the Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, after ten years.

San Jose drivers can’t seem to figure to the city’s new parking protected bike lane.

A Bay Area writer discusses his decision to go carfree ten years ago, with no regrets.

Sad news from San Francisco, where a bike rider was killed in a collision, just blocks from where advocates had formed a people-protected bike lane to call for safer streets. Note to drivers: No bike rider has ever “come out of nowhere.”

The US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis will induct four new members this year, including Jennie Reed (Modern Road & Track Competitor), Eric Rupe (Off-Road Competitor), Jerry Ash (Veteran Road & Track Competitor), and Richard DeGarmo (Contributor to the Sport).

 

National

NPR looks at the problem of counterfeit goods — in this case, fake Specialized bike helmets.

Utah bicyclists are warning that a new road design actually forces drivers into a bike lane.

This is how it should work. Two years after Denver installed a two-way bike lane along a busy roadway, it’s proven successful enough to expand to remove a lane of traffic to expand it another 1.5 miles along the street.

No bias here. A Wisconsin letter writer says streets are for cars, and drivers shouldn’t be impeded by bicyclists, joggers and dog walkers, because drivers are going places to do important things, while bike riders are “going nowhere, to do nothing.”

Chicago Cubs player Ben Zobrist is one of us, riding to Sunday’s game at Wrigley Field on his upright bike — wearing his uniform. So who says you have to wear special clothes to bike commute?

A 23-year old Michigan woman was arrested for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider on Saturday; she still had a BAC three times the legal limit hours after the crash. Her lawyer will undoubtedly argue that she only got drunk after the crash because she was so freaked out.

He gets it. Writing for the American Conservative, an Akron, Ohio planner looks at the problem of Baby Boomers aging in a car-dependent world. Although one solution would be to install protected bike lanes that would allow seniors to bike safely and conveniently, while improving their health.

People in Indianapolis IN are making a difference in the community by opening a bike shop. Although it sounds more like a bike co-op.

The Burrito Riders of Louisville takes to their bikes twice a month to feed the homeless in the Kentucky city.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. Someone has sabotaged a Massachusetts bike path with hundreds of thumb tacks.

A New York bike lawyer calls for a speed limit in bike lanes to combat speeding scooter riders.

A South Carolina letter writer makes the point that building bike lanes isn’t enough, cities have to maintain them, as well.

 

International

City Lab talks with Vancouver’s Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, authors of Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, who say bicycling is the key to healthier and more vibrant cities.

Road.cc offers money saving tips ranging from learning how to patch a tube to when to buy bikes and parts on sale. Unfortunately, we can’t use the first tip; British commuters can deduct 25% of the cost of a new bike and accessories, but the only small tax benefit for US bike commuters was lost in the recent tax reforms.

Nearing the end of a round-the-world bike tour, a woman sets off through Mexico on a search for a lost British Surrealist.

A group of Canadian mounties have set off on a ten-day, 621-mile ride to raise funds for kids.

A Canadian writer says he’s become completely and utterly addicted to bike commuting. Even after crashing into an illegally parked car.

A London letter-writer says bicyclists should be forced to wear license plates on their bike helmets. Sure. What could possibly go wrong with that? And what’s with the bizarre, yet common belief that police will track down scofflaw bike riders, when they don’t do that with drivers?

British drivers will now be required to give bike riders a nearly five foot passing distance, or pay the equivalent of a $130 fine.

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail says last week’s death of a pedestrian at the hands of an ebike rider could be just the first of many, calling ebikes “the silent killer on our streets.” Never mind that ebikes in the UK are limited to 15.5 mph, which is slower than the cruising speed of many non-powered road bike riders. Or that it’s entirely possible the rider wasn’t at fault.

They get it. France plans to triple the rate of transportation bicycling in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics through better bike infrastructure, financial incentives, and taking steps to fight bike theft.

A Delhi writer describes the daily humiliation faced by bike riders on the city’s streets, where they’re considered trespassers by drivers.

Tuesday marks the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It’s also a day many Israelis take to their bikes on streets empty of vehicular traffic.

Caught on video: After Emirates police post video of a speeding driver hitting a bike rider after cutting across several lanes of freeway traffic, the press blames the guy on the bike for just being there.

Police in the UAE have permanently seized 435 bicycles and motorcycles in a crackdown on scofflaw riders for violating basic traffic laws, as well as failing to wear helmets or hi-viz. Which is fine, as long as they also seize cars, trucks and SUV for the same violations.

We already knew Patrick Dempsey was one of us, as he discusses his life in front of the camera and on two wheels with a Kiwi news site.

A Canadian tourist goes bike riding in the land of Mickey Mao.

 

Competitive Cycling

Great Britain stakes its cycling supremacy with Simon Yates’ victory in the Vuelta; the country swept all three Grand Tours, thanks to Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France win and Chris Froome’s victory in the Giro.

Pro cyclist and gravel racing champ Allison Tetrick walked away from a career in molecular biology to compete on her bike.

Great story from Bicycling about Jim Nelson, who won an age group BMX national championship just days after his last chemo treatment for stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Two cyclists were disqualified at the end of a 206-mile race through Utah and Wyoming for taking selfies at the finish line; a third was DQ’d for flipping it off.

There’s a new women’s hour record, courtesy of Italian rider Vittoria Bussi.

Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest woman — no, make that human — on earth, after setting a new record for a human-powered vehicle at 183.93 mph, beating the old record by over 16 mph.

 

Finally…

It takes a rare candidate to unite weed users, bike riders and sex workers against her. Get that healthy nuclear glow on your next ride.

And don’t take someone else’s parking space in Texas.

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Thanks to John H and Tom S for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way every day. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Morning Links: Busting bike thieves around the world, CiclaValley rides Riverside Drive, and coke dart doping

September 7, 2018 / / 3 comments

Today’s common theme is stolen bikes and the thieves who take them.

Bike thieves in Moab UT aren’t bothering to break bike locks, but stealing the entire bike rack along with the bicycle. Only use bike racks that are embedded in the concrete. And make sure there are no cuts in the rack, which thieves often hide under stickers.

Edmonton, Alberta police bust a prolific bike thief, recovering 83 bikes worth up to $20,000. Which is a good reminder to register your bikes now, so you’ll be protected if it someone like that comes to visit your bike.

A British cop out rides a suspected bike thief in a high-speed bike chase caught on first-person bodycam video.

Police in Dublin, Ireland are starting a “Lock it or lose it” campaign, after bike thieves make off with nearly 10,000 bicycles in two and a half years; nationwide, the total is at least 14,000, with more thefts unreported.

As today’s photo shows, bike thieves don’t always take the whole bike at once. Which means you need to secure as much of your bike as possible

………

Local

CiclaValley rides the newly redesigned bike lanes on Burbank’s Riverside Drive, and finds them lacking.

KABC-7 discovers the Cycling Savvy program from the nonprofit American Cycling Education Association, including their instructions to take the lane.

Speaking of KABC-7, they talk with the Dream Riders bicycling down the Pacific Coast on the 37-day “Journey to Justice” tour from Seattle to San Diego as they stop in Long Beach.

 

State

A San Clemente letter writer says the greatest risk in allowing bikes on the beach path is that pedestrians may get startled.

An overweight, 68-year old Bakersfield bike rider hears a shouted request to put on a shirt, and politely but firmly says no.

The bike path paralleling Mission Road, aka State Route 246, will be closed for repairs east of Solvang for three weeks, starting September 17th.

A writer for Streetsblog says it’s time to stop hiding behind studies and process, and install a protected bike lane on San Francisco’s Valencia Street.

 

National

Bike Snob says give kids bikes, not helmets, arguing that helmet giveaways are an act of surrender to our dangerous streets.

Streetsblog reports a handful of states are throwing away millions of dollars in transportation funds that could go to build desperately needed sidewalks, bike lanes or trails.

A standup comic is riding down the left coast on a tour of open mic nights, while raising funds to buy 20 bikes through Bicycle Relief.

Nice gesture from the US Air Force, which sent members of the Air Force Cycling Team to assist fellow riders at this year’s RAGBRAI, calling them Guardian Angels of the Road.

One Chicago bicyclist was killed, and another critically injured, in separate dooring incidents.

In a study from Boston, researcher conclude what we already knew — local planning and zoning board meetings are dominated by older, wealthier NIMBYs. Which can be confirmed by virtually anyone who has attended a public meeting to argue for safer streets.

A Harvard research scientist makes the case for designing greener streets, starting with making room for bicycles and trees.

A writer for New York Streetsblog says the state needs to stop treating drivers and bike riders the same, subject to the same $190 fine for running a red light. Even though bike riders pose significantly less risk to others.

A Louisiana grand jury has declined to return a negligent homicide charge against the driver who killed a Baton Rouge city councilman as he rode with a friend, settling instead for a charge of reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

Tampa city leaders express concern that the police are still unfairly ticketing black bike riders when the new police chief shows up without any stats to address it.

 

International

Toronto bicyclists are riding with pool noodles to demonstrate the one-meter passing distance required by law, and often ignored.

A London driver — and a tabloid paper — freaks out over a man in a suit talking on a cellphone as he rides down the street, even though that’s not illegal for bike riders. Unfortunately, the video won’t play in this country.

An actor from the Game of Thrones is riding 980 miles across the UK on a tandem with his father, who suffers for Parkinson’s, to raise funds for a Parkinson’s charity.

The bike mayor of Bangaluru, aka Bangalore, says there’s no denying that bicycling is essential in the city.

The African Cycling Foundation has donated six bicycles to students in Nigeria to help them get to school — and stay in it.

An Australian government conference asks the same question everyone else keeps asking, how can we get more women back on their bikes.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. A road raging Chinese driver gets out of his car and attacks a bike rider with a machete. Until the rider turns the tables and kills the driver with his own knife.

 

Competitive Cycling

The winner of Thursday’s stage of the Vuelta was lucky to escape injury when a boneheaded race official stepped in front of his bike shortly after the end of the race, bringing down several riders.

You may never win a grand tour, but you can live like it, as the sprawling Georgian-style Minnesota estate belonging America’s last remaining Tour de France winner can be yours for a mere $4.9 million.

More proof that it’s not just cyclists who dope, as a professional darts player — yes, darts — has been banned for two years after testing showed a metabolite of cocaine in his system; he blamed it on a night of excess partying.

 

Finally…

Your next bike shorts could cost $300 — without a chamois. It’s one thing to win a KOM, another to beat a horse.

And you can relax now that autonomous cars have giant fake eyes to look at you with.

………

If you want to join the Militant Angeleno and me for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour on September 30th, RSVP by emailing MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. 

We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: The press gets it, people still riding in their 80s and 90s, and reporting cab drivers via Twitter

August 20, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: The press gets it, people still riding in their 80s and 90s, and reporting cab drivers via Twitter

They get it.

A rabbi considers the complaints about e-scooters in the LA area, and the vandalism that has taken place as a result, and has this bit of advice: “The surest way to restore civil society is to act with civility, towards all people at all times.” That’s not so hard, is it?

Bike Snob continues his newfound advocacy, saying drivers should be held to a higher standard, because even seemingly minor infractions can turn fatal.

The New York Times says e-scooters could be a real help to people trying to get around the city — if the mayor gets more serious about protecting riders. Maybe we should all email that message to LA’s mayor, as well.

London will now charge drivers of higher polluting vehicles more money to park them. If Los Angeles is serious about fighting climate change — which seems pretty unlikely, based on recent experience — officials will be on the phone to the British capital before the day is out.

A British broadcaster deflates the myth of freeloading scofflaw bicyclists, and says the onus should be on drivers to look out for us.

………

I want to be like them when I grow up.

A retired UConn professor is still riding his age at 91 years old. Or 90, anyway.

An 82-year old British man beats intestinal cancer, and celebrates with a 311-mile ride from London to Paris to raise funds for the hospital that treated him.

Three generations of a British family go bike riding in the Austrian Alps, including an 88-year old grandfather on an ebike.

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You can now report bike lane blocking taxi and car sharing drivers via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/taxicomisionado/status/1030574197708218370

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Local

It’s too hot for a tweed ride, so Bike SGV is hosting a vintage Seersucker Slow Roll Bike Ride this Sunday.

Speaking of Bike SGV, they’re bringing back their free City Cycling Classes in Glendora this weekend.

 

State

San Jose will remove parking spaces to install bollards on bike lanes and build protected intersections.

City Lab says San Francisco’s sidewalks are the city’s last shred of public space, so it’s no wonder everyone is fighting over them. And the same goes virtually everywhere else, as well.

Caught on video: Sacramento police run down a 16-year old boy who was fleeing after being stopped for not having a light on his bike, then blame the crash on vehicle understeer.

 

National

A Kiwi writer recommends five bike trails to ride throughout the US. Although “trail” is stretching it, since one of the recommended routes is the coast highway through Big Sur.

A serial vandal has been cutting the brake cables on Seattle bikeshare bikes, putting the lives and safety of bike riders at risk; London’s Daily Mail gets it right, calling the perp sick and deranged.

A Utah man is building custom handmade bikes with unique designs from recycled parts, including one based on his son’s drawing of a dinosaur.

The rich get richer. My platinum level bike friendly hometown opens a 4.4-mile bike path connecting with the neighboring town, which used to be much further away.

New York Mayor de Blasio is planning to ride from city hall to Brooklyn on a ped-assist ebike to inaugurate the ped-assist bikes as part of the city’s bikeshare system.

Former world track cycling champ and Olympic medalist Marty Rothstein was booted from the board of a Pennsylvania velodrome after allegations of sexual misconduct, which he claims are merely an attempt to derail his run for Congress.

A trio of Rutgers University students have formed a group called Girls Do Bike to empower girls by teaching them how to ride bikes.

Philadelphia bike riders sue to force the installation of plastic delineators to keep hotel valets from parking cars in bike lanes, turning to the courts when they can’t make any progress with elected officials to improve bike infrastructure. Can we do that here? Pretty please?

Louisiana bike riders find out the hard way what happens when people who don’t ride bikes try to write laws for those who do. And then cherry pick the people they want to discuss it with.

Caught on video: A road raging Alabama driver faces charges after blowing through a group of bicyclists stopped for a stop sign.

 

International

If you build it, they will come. Vancouver, British Columbia sees a record number of riders on major bike routes after building out a connected bikeway network.

An Edmonton, Canada bike rider tells drivers “We come in peace.”

Police in Waterloo, Canada take bike cam video seriously, talking to drivers and writing tickets based on GoPro video a rider posts online and forwards to the police. California law currently requires that police witness an infraction to write a ticket, but is unclear on whether video evidence is sufficient; most departments say no. That needs to change.

Once again, two new European studies show bicycling is the healthiest way to get around, and can help you lose weight.

Huh? An English letter writer calls for putting bollards as close together as possible on a street to keep bike commuters from terrorizing residents. And says that will increase property values.

A British triathlete was killed when her bicycle hit a pothole, after the contractor hired to repair it mistakenly fixed one three miles away, instead.

Bike thieves in the UK are cutting bike racks, then returning to steal the bikes after riders lock up to them. That’s a common technique on this side of the Atlantic, as well. Always check the rack to make sure it’s secured to the ground, and doesn’t have any hidden cuts; thieves will often use stickers to hide a cut in the rack.

Berlin has a lot to learn from Münster when it comes to bicycling. And LA could learn from both.

Bikeshare comes to Tehran, with smart bikes based on the Internet of Things.

A Rwandan writer says bicycling has become embedded in the lives of his countrymen and women, from cyclists approaching the level of Tour de France riders, to the growing amount bike infrastructure remaking the streets of the country.

The number of bicyclists fined for not wearing a helmet under New Zealand’s mandatory helmet law has dropped 75% over the last five years. The question is whether the number of bike riders has dropped, as well.

Who says bike riders aren’t tough? A New Zealand government minister and her husband rode their bikes to the hospital to give birth.

An Aussie bike advocate says it’s time for everyone on the roads to take responsibility for their actions, and respect each other.

 

Competitive Cycling

The UnitedHealthcare team swept the Colorado Classic, finishing first and second in both the men’s and women’s races. But the team may not exist next year after the sponsor pulled out; in fact, three teams may go under.

Cycling scion Taylor Phinney won the most aggressive rider jersey, as well as the adoration of his hometown crowd, after finishing the race just two weeks after breaking his face in the final mountain stage of the Tour de France.

The Velorama festival accompanying the final stages of the Colorado Classic worked most of the bugs out in its second year, drawing up to 30,000 people.

French cyclist Geoffrey Soupe was lucky to escape with a badly slashed neck after crashing into barbed wire at the Tour de Limousin last week.

Former cycling great Jan Ullrich is in rehab following his recent arrests for attacking a neighbor, and an escort; no word on what he’s rehabbing for.

A writer for Bicycling learns that a famed Belgian climb that once defeated the great Eddy Merckx isn’t so easy, even on a modern bike.

Slate looks at the Zwift Academy, which gives you a chance to become a pro cyclist in the comfort of your own living room.

 

Finally…

It’s only been 122 years since the first driver crashed into someone on a bicycle — and clearly, nothing’s changed. The next time someone makes fun of your skintight bike shorts, tell them its this summer’s must-wear trend.

And Shakespeare as it was meant to be performed.

On bicycles.

 

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