Tag Archive for just the links

Morning Links: LA Weekly says LA driving is fun, LA doesn’t make the bike commuting list, and Lance lies again

February 4, 2015 / / One comment

Local

The LA Weekly resorts to fiction, citing 12 streets that make you love driving in Los Angeles. Actually, nothing could make most LA motorists enjoy driving; only bike riders seem to truly enjoy our streets.

Glendale is the latest city to step up enforcement to prevent collisions involving cyclists and pedestrians. But police only ticket five people in the big dangerous machines that actually hurt people.

Flying Pigeon hosts their monthly Brewery Ride on Saturday.

 

State

KABC-7 offers a nice report on Monday’s memorial ride for Joey Robinson; let’s hope SoCal drivers were watching and got the message.

A Sacramento college student encourages us all to stay calm when encountering a flat tire.

Best advice ever? San Francisco traffic police say don’t rely on motorists to obey the law.

 

National

Clean Technica maps the top 25 US cities for bike commuting. And no, LA is not on the list, but Santa Monica is. And so is Santa Barbara.

In Portland, they have special lanes for bike riding chickens.

Caught on video: A Eugene OR driver blocks an unpainted bike box, then bumps a cyclist with his car twice — apparently on purpose.

Spokane thieves steal a green ghost bike for a 15-year old cyclist who died in a non-collision with a speeding police car.

Corpus Christi turns to bike cops to improve safety.

Michigan landowners don’t want a bike trail on their properties because they’d have to be more careful where they fire their guns.

In the immortal words of the Pretenders — and the Kinks before them — stop your sobbing; a Florida driver charged with killing a cyclist in a drag racing collision gets a stern warning from the judge to stop crying, already.

A Florida driver is arrested in the hit-and-run death of a bike rider; the victim wasn’t discovered for 11 hours after the collision. Which means the driver should face a murder charge on the assumption his victim might have been saved if he’d gotten help in time. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the link.

 

International

Game, set, match. A new Canadian study shows 12% of drivers pass cyclists unsafely on two lane roads without bike lanes; that drops to .2% on similar roads with bike lanes.

A Wednesday vote could determine whether London will take a bold step into a bike friendly future.

Caught on video: A Brit bike rider tries to beat a train crossing barrier, but gets knocked off his bike when it comes down on him.

Here’s something that will never, ever happen in the US, as Britain’s major political parties agree to participate in a debate on bicycling and bike infrastructure.

That Norwegian bike escalator is now available for installation anywhere in the world. Like maybe Los Angeles, for instance — and for as little as roughly $2 a yard.

New Zealand’s capital commits to making the city safer for cyclists.

 

Finally…

Maybe he should stick to his bike. As if doping wasn’t bad enough, integrity-challenged Lance Armstrong hit two parked cars last December after drinking at a party, then drove away. His girlfriend, who claimed to be his wife, initially took the blame for him, which gave him plenty of time to sober up before the truth finally came out. Thanks to John McBrearty and David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: LA considers hit-and-run alert, Pacoima Wash Bikeway meeting, Glendale surrenders to traffic

January 28, 2015 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA considers hit-and-run alert, Pacoima Wash Bikeway meeting, Glendale surrenders to traffic

Local

LA considers a hit-and-run alert system similar to the one vetoed by Jerry Brown earlier this year.

Yes, please. There will be a community meeting in Pacoima tonight to discuss the proposed Pacoima Wash Bikeway.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune says a Pasadena bike share station could reduce the number of bikes on the Gold Line.

If Glendale really needs to make pedestrians wave a flag to cross a street, they should fire their traffic planners. And make the flags white to signal the city’s unconditional surrender to cars.

 

State

Vista okays the city’s new Bicycle Master Plan, though the San Diego suburb runs into the usual demands to preserve parking instead of lives.

An 18-year old Paso Robles man will be charged with vehicular manslaughter in the November death of LA cyclist Lee Hekyung Craig; he also severely injured Seal Beach rider Lawrence Chong when he drifted off the road at 60 mph trying to pick up the cell phone that fell off his lap. But why is it just a misdemeanor?

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is the latest state bike group to hire a new Executive Director after a nationwide search.

There’s got to be a punch line in there somewhere, as a pink haired Giants fan steals a Fetish Cycle in Mill Valley.

 

National

The Bike League discusses taking Bike to Shop Day nationwide, after it was created by new Calbike board member Janet Lafleur in Silicon Valley last year.

Once again, Seattle Seahawk Michael Bennett takes a cop’s bike for a ride.

Ogden, Utah’s mayor completes a full year of biking to work to bring attention to alternative transportation and the city’s commitment to bicycling.

Caught on video: A Chicago bike messenger takes on a cab driver in a race across the city.

Talk about Viking biking. A separated bike lane is planned to get riders to and from the new Minnesota football stadium.

The Maryland Episcopal officials have officially requested the resignation of the killer DUI Baltimore bishop.

Now that sounds like fun. Louisiana’s Cycle Zydeco bike tour samples the local music and Cajun and Creole food as it winds its way through bayou country. The challenge is surviving the massive swarms of condor-sized mosquitos they have down there.

 

International

VeloNews discusses how to reform pro cycling’s notoriously corrupt inept governing body, while the former UCI president says Lance was a scapegoat. Well, duh.

Vancouver rallies to support a bike rider who was seriously injured when he was run over by a truck after being sideswiped by a bus. And a local woman becomes a virtual recluse after being charged with booby trapping a mountain bike trail; her husband says she only meant to slow riders down, evidently by killing or maiming them.

More on London’s planned bike superhighway, which promises to be Europe’s longest protected bikeway.

Instant justice? Indian villagers block a roadway to demand compensation from a speeding truck driver after he kills a 16-year old girl riding her bike.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you’re going to claim the sun was in your eyes after running down a cyclist, make sure he’s not one of the area’s leading personal injury lawyers. Someone rode off on a Singapore cyclist’s self-proclaimed $50,000, Swarovski crystal-studded bicycle while he was busy filming his argument with another man.

And finally, a solution to airlines’ excessive bicycle shipping fees, as a New Zealand pilot puts bike racks under the wings of his Cessna.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Catching up with the local blogs, better PR from LADOT, and BWB at the Kingdom Day Parade

January 21, 2015 / / 4 comments

It’s been awhile since we’ve checked in with some of the local blogs, thanks mostly to my recent move.

And yes, we’re finally making progress.

Most of the boxes are unpacked; the rest are waiting for me to figure out how to manipulate time and space by cramming in more stuff than the apartment will hold.

And maybe even uncover my bike in the process.

Let’s start with the wit and wisdom of Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson, who figuratively dances on the grave of a retiring bike-hating sheriff’s deputy, and celebrates a successful bike ticket legal strategy that resulted victory over the absent officer who wrote it.

Meanwhile, CLR Effect’s Michael Wagner laments the end of ‘cross season, goes riding with the girlz and considers the possibility of biking with a shark fin up your, uh, crack.

Bicycle Fixation has an LA-oriented bike URL for sale.

Better Bike considers whether bike share will come to the Biking Black Hole, which might force Beverly Hills to make the streets safer for any locals and tourists who might actually use it.

And BikeSD says hit-and-run is not the epidemic in our neighbor to the south that it is here, but it’s still a problem.

………

LADOT may not have transformed out streets in the few months since Seleta Reynolds was hired to lead the agency, but they’ve certainly improved their communication with the public, to wit —

Although they did license that music before using it, right?

On the other hand, they seem to have established a temporary bike parking tow-away zone in DTLA. Thanks to Richard for the heads-up.

Bike rack no parking

………

No profiling here.

South LA’s Real Rydaz and Black Kids on Bikes get stopped for Biking While Black — while participating in annual the Kingdom Day parade, no less.

………

Local

A $10,000 reward has been offered in the shooting of a Rolls Royce-driving real estate mogul in Hollywood. Although I wonder if the press would identify the shooter by transportation mode if he’d been walking or driving.

The LACBC and Multicultural Communities for Mobility are partnering in a series of women-led bike rides and workshops dedicated to empowering women to transform their communities; the first is a Pomona Valley Ride this Saturday.

Santa Monica’s bike and pedestrian safety crackdown continues this Friday; enforcement is directed towards all violations, regardless of who commits them. So mind your bike Ps and Qs.

 

State

The board president of the Inland Empire Bicycling Alliance offers advice on how vehicular cyclists and bikeway supporters can find common ground.

A Santa Barbara letter writer complains about a pack cyclists holding up traffic on a local highway; he must have been driving pretty slowly to count the 75+ cars he claims were stuck behind.

Palo Alto plans to make things safer for high school students riding to school.

San Francisco’s Mission Bicycle Company provides a step-by-step example of how to get your stolen bike back.

 

National

Ambulances in my hometown now come equipped with bike racks so injured riders don’t have to worry about their rides.

After a deadly year for Wyoming cyclists, the state considers a three-foot passing law, while Indiana legislators introduce not one, not two, but three three-foot bills. And in Nebraska, which already has a three-foot law, cyclists ask for a law requiring drivers to pass cyclists the same way they would a car.

A Kentucky cyclist is intentionally doored by a passenger in a moving car.

New York City considers requiring side guards on large trucks to keep cyclists and pedestrians from falling underneath in the event of a collision, which should be a requirement everywhere.

 

International

A Vancouver letter writer says bike riders should be licensed, you know, like dogs; someone should tell him bicyclists subsidize the streets he drives on.

British cyclists don’t need a bike bell to warn drivers they’re around anymore, as long as the drivers have a Jaguar or Range Rover. But it’s a start.

An Israeli Indiegogo campaign is raising funds for a lampshade for your bike’s tail light, promising to make the light visible from every direction while reducing glare for those behind you.

The bicycling revolution has officially begun in the United Arab Emirates.

Caught on video: The Australian press panics when a “reckless” cyclist “dices with death” by passing slower traffic on a steep downhill. In other words, just like bike riders do everyday, all around the world.

Now that’s more like it. A Japanese man faces an attempted murder charge after stringing a wire over a bike and pedestrian path. On the other hand, Japan is cracking down on drunk, distracted and brakeless riders.

 

Finally…

Caught on video: It’s a sad day when even kangaroos don’t respect bike lanes; there seems to be a rash of ‘roo wrecks Down Under these days.

And a bicyclist miraculously lands on her feet and walks away when her bike is hit by a speeding car; I’m still not sure this one is real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3mPBy4uFU

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Rolls Royce driver shot by bike rider, Times looks at North Fig politics, NFL bike victory lap

January 20, 2015 / / 6 comments

Well, I wanted to live in a more exciting neighborhood.

Friday night, the sirens on the streets and news helicopters hovering above Hollywood signaled something big was up; as it turned out, LA real estate investor Kameron Segal was shot while sitting in his Rolls Royce, just blocks from out new apartment.

Fortunately, he’s expected to survive.

To make matters more interesting, the shooter was riding a bike, described variously as a 10-speed or racing bike.

Evidently, no one involved has ever heard of a road bike.

Or maybe seen a bike in the last 30 years.

………

The Times examines the political conflict over the cancelled North Figueroa road diet and bike lanes, asking if it’s better to aggressively confront an elected official or work quietly behind the scenes.

Personally, I’d suggest all of the above, thank you.

………

In a video that’s gone viral around the world, Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett commanders a police bike to celebrate the Seahawk’s come-from-behind victory on Sunday to secure a spot in the Super Bowl.

Naturally, the Taiwanese animation is just a little more dramatic.

Correction: I initially misidentified the animation as coming from Japan, when it’s clearly identified as Taiwan on the YouTube page. Thanks to James for the correction. 

………

Local

The LA Weekly suggests a cheaper, and possibly better, way to patch LA’s crumbling streets.

Long Beach homeowners complain a new pedestrian path paralleling the beachfront bike path is too damn close to their homes.

El Monte is just the latest area city to step up police enforcement to prevent bike and pedestrian injuries; Anaheim is doing it, too.

KNBC-4 looks forward to March’s first-ever Valley CicLAvia, while the Weekly simultaneously holds their nose and says it’s about time.

You’re invited to ride with the Milt Olin Foundation and Yield to Life on February 22nd.

 

State

A Laguna letter writer says it’s those damn cyclists that make the streets unsafe, not all those angelic, law-abiding drivers. Well, okay then.

Back-in parking is much safer for cyclists and drivers — and so easy an 80-year old could do it.

Ten new bike infrastructure projects will be coming to the Bay Area this year.

Oakland rallies support for that bike rider who was robbed of his wallet after being hit by a truck; it’s worth noting the driver had his stolen, as well.

Natomas volunteers build bikes for 50 kids in honor of Martin Luther King day.

A Fresno-area man is arrested for threatening people with a knife while riding his bike inside a market. And mothers everywhere were proven right when his face did freeze like that.

 

National

City Lab looks at the problems associated with Biking While Black.

NPR says food bikes are crowding into food trucks’ turf.

A Portland company has developed a $50 bike counter that could revolutionize bike planning; LADOT should order a thousand or so.

That hit-and-run Baltimore bishop has checked into rehab after posting $2.5 million bond; these days, that’s the first resort of a scoundrel.

A German cyclist receives a $21 million settlement for the life-changing injuries he suffered when he was hit by a truck in Virginia while on a tour of the East Coast.

A representative of the Bike League sees first hand just how bike friendly Southwest Florida isn’t.

 

International

That UK van driver caught on video attacking a cyclist turns himself in to police, but the victim declines to press charges.

A British teacher quits his job to go on a 5,000 mile bike tour of Europe.

A new bike light projects an image of a bike ahead of you to alert drivers of your presence; the BBC talks with woman who developed it.

Even in The Netherlands, a driver flees the scene after running down eight bike riding teenage girls from behind, sending two to the hospital.

An Aussie cycling fan channels his inner superhero, preventing an inflatable arch from collapsing while using his other hand to catch a bike that was knocked off a team car.

Cadel Evans retires as Australia’s greatest ever pro cyclist.

The bikelash is in full effect Down Under, as a news columnist tells cyclists to get off their high horses since there was this one woman who got hurt when she evidently stepped out in front of a bike — never mind how many cyclists are hit by cars every day. And get off our tall bikes would seem more appropriate.

 

Finally…

Pubic enemy #1: A Florida woman crashes her car while shaving her genitals on the way to meet her boyfriend — with her ex-husband holding the steering wheel, no less. Ride a penny farthing in Bagdad by the Bay and the local weekly will call the cops on you; bet that doesn’t happen when Jay Leno takes one of his antique cars out for a spin.

And pro cyclist Mark Cavendish finally snaps when asked if biking is really, truly 100% clean; well, maybe not 100%. Then again, Stuart O’Grady, like Bill Clinton, only did it once. Honest.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links, Violence & Crime / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Aaron Paley talks CicLAvia; a visionary from the past; and a pedal-by fooding in Seattle

January 13, 2015 / / 2 comments

Clif BarLet me start with a quick thank you to my friends at Clif Bar for sending me samples of their two new flavors.

Personally, I preferred the Berry Pomegranate Chia flavor, though the Nuts and Seeds wasn’t bad, either.

Even though I’m not on my bike these days — something I hope to change in the next few weeks — both came in handy during my recent move, giving me the energy I needed to get through all the packing and heavy lifting.

And their whole grain formula helped avoid the sugar crash that can come with other energy bars — even more important for a diabetic like me, since it can lead to dangerously low blood sugar levels.

……..

Local

LA Weekly talks with Aaron Paley about the founding of CicLAvia, which he says was a turning point for the city.

The bike route improvement project along PCH in Malibu is nearly complete, and expected to finish later this month.

The Long Beach Post looks at the LACBC’s successful Operation Firefly to give bike lights to lightless low-income riders.

Flying Pigeon hosts their popular monthly Get Sum Dim Sum ride on Sunday.

Streetsblog, the LACBC and Los Angeles Walks will host a forum on livable streets for the candidates to replace Tom LaBonge in LA’s Council District 4 — which I just moved into — on February 5th. So yes, this would be an appropriate time for candidates to start sucking up to me showing their support for bicycling.

 

State

Governor Jerry Brown reveals himself to be a true visionary stuck in the past, viewing more efficient cars as the solution to cutting gas use in the state while ignoring alternative transportation, including bikes.

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition looks back on a very successful year for bicycling in our neighbor to the south.

The San Francisco Fire Department is urged to stop opposing safety improvements designed to slow traffic.

Caltrain will increase bike capacity on six of their trains. Eventually.

Turlock is working to make life safer for cyclists and pedestrians.

 

National

Making road designs safer for people in cars could be killing the rest of us.

The Bike League talks with Bekka Wright, the artist behind the popular web comic Bikeyface.

Bicycling provides good advice on protecting your vision when you ride. Personally, I use a pair of prescription sunglasses from San Diego’s Sport Rx.

Distracted driving costs a man in Minneapolis a year in jail; on the other hand, it cost the bike riding mother he hit her life. As more proof of how non-seriously traffic crime is taken in this country, he will get out of jail some weekends to fulfill his National Guard obligations.

The amazing Katie Compton defends her national cyclocross title for the 11th straight year. Jeremy Powers took the men’s title for the second year in a row, although he’s holding up the wrong finger to suggest he’s number one in the photo accompanying the story.

New York’s bus system will soon start using radar to alert drivers to people and objects hidden in their blind spots, including bike riders.

Nice. A New York man is riding from the Big Apple to LA, with stops to volunteer in 20 cities along the way.

A Florida cyclist watches, splayed out on the street, as the driver who hit him picks up his bike, throws it on the sidewalk and drives away like a heartless jerk.

 

International

Cargo bikes are gaining traction with businesses around the world — including a very cool three-wheeler from UPS.

The insanity goes on, as a Canadian driver continues her lawsuit against the three teenage cyclists she hit — including the family of one she killed — for the emotional trauma it caused her. Seriously, there ain’t a pit in hell deep enough.

A Toronto rider describes what it’s like to be subjected to catcalls from men, and it ain’t pretty.

A member of the British Parliament says thoughtless cyclists need to watch out for pedestrians. But also calls for better infrastructure to keep cyclists and pedestrians safe.

Britain starts a new ad campaign to get women more active, including a nice one encouraging women to get on their bikes, in shape or not.

Turns out bicycling in Mumbai doesn’t mean taking your life in your hands after all.

 

Finally…

Caught on video: A cyclist rides through São Paulo with a gas can and a watermelon on his head. A travel website actually encourages drivers visiting Portland to run “entitled, grade-A cyclist douchebags” off the road.

And a Seattle cyclist is the victim of a pedal cab-by fooding.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: New bike shop, Cedillo trades bike lanes for parking, and the heartbreak of a MAMIL wife

December 12, 2014 / / 3 comments

It’s a brand new bouncing baby bike shop.

I’m told a new bike shop has recently entered the world on 3rd Street near La Brea, so say hi to Labrea Bike Works the next time you’re out that way.

Thanks to Beverly Hills bike lawyer Michael Rubinstein for the heads-up.

……..

Local

A Zócalo panel discusses whether LA will ever escape the tyranny of the car. Not without big changes, it won’t.

CicLAvia brings the world to Leimert Park. Or all or LA, anyway.

KCET looks at the comprehensive new San Gabriel Valley bike plan, which is rapidly gaining approval from local governments throughout the area.

Mayor Garcetti’s Great Streets program enters its second phase.

Apparently unable to escape the auto-centric 20th Century, Councilmember Gil Cedillo abandons plans for a Great Street on North Figueroa in favor of more parking, in an apparent attempt to kill long-planned bike lanes for reasons known only to him.

Incycle stores will host toy drives in San Dimas, Pasadena, Chino and Rancho Cucamonga through Saturday.

 

State

San Diego’s repeatedly delayed bike share program will finally roll out in January; no, they really mean it this time.

Santa Barbara kids get new bicycles for the holidays in a Bikes for Tykes program.

Oakland approves protected bike lanes on historic Telegraph Avenue.

 

National

My hometown draws nearly 1,000 riders for their Winter Bike to Work Day.

At least they take hit-and-run seriously in Texas. A Houston woman is sentenced to 15 years for fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist, after claiming she thought she’d hit a tree; no point in pausing long enough to make sure, I guess.

A Missouri mayor has been indicted for deliberately running down a bike rider; he could also face impeachment by the town’s Board of Aldermen.

New York cyclists reject a new victim-blaming safety campaign from the local transit authority.

DC’s mayor stops to help a bike rider involved in a collision.

 

International

The Guardian asks if social equity legislation could force local governments to build roads that accommodate everyone.

A series of bike libraries, not bike shares, will open soon in the UK’s Yorkshire region.

A Kiwi cyclist deconstructs the need for that proposed Smart Helmet, which most cyclists seem to think is pretty stupid.

An Aussie paper looks at the fictional war between motorists and cyclists from both sides of the windshield.

 

Finally…

Repeat after me. If you’re riding your bike after dark with “a little weed” and three outstanding warrants, put a damn light on it already. Who’s the rocket scientist who put parking meters along a Dallas curbside bike lane?

And London’s Daily Mail looks at the heartbreaking tragedy of a MAMILwife.

No, really, I think they’re serious.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: More on Sunday’s CicLAvia, Santa Fe Springs bike rider shot, Dubai site doesn’t get Bono joke

December 9, 2014 / / 6 comments

More on Sunday’s successful South LA CicLAvia.

Across LA offers photos from the day, calling it one of his favorite CicLAvia’s ever. Streetsblog says it was a great day for South LA.

And TJ Knight forwards KCBS-2’s report on the day, featuring his astute and too cute for words daughter around the 1-minute-plus mark.

I’m told turnout may have been a little lighter than previous events, due perhaps to the demands of the holiday season or distance from transit stations. The latter should be improved when the planned Leimert Park station opens on the upcoming Crenshaw Line in a few years.

……..

Local

The Daily News looks at Sunday’s memorial ride for Milt Olin, just one of many fallen riders who should still be with us.

Clear your schedule for Sunday’s Santa Cross at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

The Santa Monica Lookout looks at the local PD’s crackdown on bad roadway behavior that could endanger cyclists and pedestrians.

A 52-year old bike rider is shot to death in Santa Fe Springs.

 

State

Anaheim opens a new state-of-the-art, bike friendly transportation center. Now if they can just provide bike riders with safe, bike friendly routes to get there.

Santa Cruz County considers guidelines to protect cyclists, pedestrians and disabled travelers during road construction projects, something that seems to be universally ignored here in LA, both city and county.

 

National

The National Journal examines the bicycling gender gap, while City Lab says local bike shops could serve women a lot better.

Peloton says if you want to go faster, switch to an oval chain ring.

Santa Fe’s mayor proposes making the city a safer place to ride a bike.

Now here’s a unique argument. Bike cops at Colorado State University are accused of violating the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable search and seizure by stopping cyclists riding without lights or through dismount zones. Although it would seem both are readily apparent without conducting an illegal search.

My Colorado hometown hosts a Winter Bike to Work Day on Wednesday. Seriously, is there any reason we shouldn’t do that right here in sunny LA?

 

International

A British man suffers a serious injury falling from his bike. So naturally, local officials suggest banning bikes from the town center. I wonder that they’d do if someone tripped.

A Brit bike rider is convicted of dangerous cycling for walking his dog while he rode. The cop, who apparently doesn’t get out much, claims he’d never seen anything like it.

France prepares to crack down on rogue bike riders.

Copenhagenize offers daily updates on Viking Biking, proving that it really is possible to ride all winter, even in less tropic climes. Thanks to my bike riding and formerly Iditarod sled dog racing brother Eric for the heads-up.

Evidently, life is cheap Down Under, where fatally dooring an e-bike rider is only worth a lousy $1,200 fine — just under $1000 US.

 

Finally…

Apparently, Norwegian cyclists wear top hats instead of helmets. A Dubai website doesn’t get the joke that Bono was dressed in Hassidic attire when he had his Central Park bike accident, blaming the clothes he wasn’t actually wearing for actually causing the wreck.

And screw the drones, Amazon tries out Gotham bike messengers for one-hour delivery.

……..

Check back a little later today for a guest post featuring some amazing bike collision stats courtesy of longtime LA bike wonk and advocate Dennis Hindman. 

 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: The Times says every driver should ride a bike, and cops throw the book at a Hawthorne rider

December 3, 2014 / / One comment
 
Local

Amen, brother. An LA Times Opinion piece says too many police officers see the world from a windshield perspective. And that all cops should spend time on a bike — and all drivers, for that matter.

Now that’s progress. Even though Santa Monica bike ridership is through the roof, bike collisions are down below 2011 levels.

Very busy Bike Walk Glendale offers their December newsletter.

Monterey Park considers the proposed San Gabriel Valley regional bike plan Wednesday night.

A Hawthorne rider must have done something to royally piss off the local cops, as they throw the book at him — including citations for riding too far from the curb, public intoxication, resisting a peace officer and not having a light on his bike. At 11:30 am.

 

State

Pedal Love’s Melissa Balmer asks what gives you the courage to be the change you want to see?

Glendale Assembly Member Mike Gatto reintroduces a bill to create Amber Alert-style notices for serious hit-and-runs, despite Governor Brown’s veto of the same bill this year.

It’s clearly not just an LA problem, as a Bakersfield rider is killed in a hit-and-run.

San Jose bans bikes from downtown sidewalks. Sort of.

Yes, you can hunt by bicycle. Just don’t fall off and shoot yourself. Or someone else.

 

National

Evidently, it takes a real rocket scientist to stop drivers from texting.

Forty-three-year old Chris Horner continues his career, stepping down a level to the US-based Airgas-Safeway team.

Phoenix is just the latest city to get a bike share program before Los Angeles does, following the failure of a previous non-membership-based attempt.

 

International

Cycling Weekly looks at some of the more unusual Kickstarter bike projects.

Vancouver shows how to build a controversial bikeway after a near 20 year effort.

Someone in the UK is deliberately scattering pins on a bike path to cause flat tires and possibly injure riders.

Slate belatedly discovers that Norwegian bike escalator.

A Zambian bike rider is sentenced to six months hard labor for recklessly causing the death of another bicyclist in a head-on bike-on-bike collision. But since when is 53-years old an advanced age?

 

Finally…

You’ve got to be pretty damn drunk to drive your car onto the bike and pedestrian pathway on the Golden Gate Bridge, let alone get it wedged there. Wait, you mean I’m not the only one who gets stuffed up — or worse — when riding a bike?

And that frightening video of a bear chasing a cyclist is probably fake, since the off-road rider in question would have to be doing around 40 mph on level ground to outrun it.

……..

Thanks to Wesley Reutimann for his generous donation to help support this site.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Pre-Thanksgiving Morning Links: SaMo begins enhanced enforcement; stop bike thieves with a handlebar bomb

November 26, 2014 / / 6 comments
Local

LADOT Bike Blog shares a combination bike/transit route from NoHo to UCLA. And invites you to share your favorite route.

After throwing North Figueroa cyclists under the bus — potentially literally — Councilmember Gil Cedillo is hosting safety meetings for Marmion Way and Avenue 26. Meanwhile, Fig4All is holding a potluck to discuss it.

Culver City is installing over 100 bike racks throughout the town.

Pay extra attention to the letter of the law in SaMo this weekend, as the Santa Monica police will begin enhanced enforcement to improve bike and pedestrian safety on Saturday. This one will focus equally on violations by drivers, pedestrians or cyclists, as it should.

 

State

The Times reports that Huntington Beach cyclist busted with a large weapons cache was initially stopped for riding the wrong way without a light; he said he was heavily armed because it was just good to be prepared. For what, he didn’t say.

Great cause. Friday’s Tour de Tryptophan in Fullerton will raise funds for a cyclist who suffered a spinal cord injury, but is determined to walk and ride again.

Flashing headlights increase visibility but can annoy others on the road — and aren’t addressed in state law one way or the other.

A San Francisco lawyer faces up to four years in prison after pleading guilty to the hit-and-run death of a Chinese bike rider.

 

National

The Bike League looks at what bike equity means in light of the decision not to charge the cop who killed Mike Brown in Ferguson MO. Meanwhile, a Ferguson bike rider is arrested while attempting to video police, which is perfectly legal under the 1st Amendment.

Streetsblog says banning speed cameras puts lives at risk.

A post-ride rubdown helps your heart as well as your muscles.

A Kickstarter for a new folding cargo bike has raised nearly twice their goal with 24 days to go.

A Maryland man gets his burgled bike back after spotting the thief riding it.

 

International

Montreal’s threatened bike share system gets a reprieve for the next five years.

British Olympian Dani King thought she was going to die when she crashed after hitting a pothole.

Talk about a jerk. A UK driver faces charges for running three separate cyclists off the road.

 

Finally…

A new company wants to stop thieves by turning your bike into a rolling bomb; no, really, what could possibly go wrong? Heads-up courtesy of Bike Portland. Maybe this is how Santa Claus finances all those toys, as a man in a Santa cap robs a Solano Beach bank before making his escape by bike.

And Florida cyclist says that following a collision that left him seriously injured, the driver got out of the car, cussed him out, spit on him and left him lying in the middle of the road.

Nice.

………

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, starting with the amazing support I’ve received from visitors to this site over the past few days.

As bad as things have been this year, they could be a lot worse. And there are a lot of people out there facing far bigger problems than mine.

So I hope you’ll join me, and take just a moment amid all the football and feasting and early Black Friday specials to find something to be truly thankful for.

And if the opportunity presents, lend a hand to someone in need, because there’s always someone a little worse off, and it doesn’t take much to make a difference.

So please, have a great Thanksgiving, however you celebrate it.

I’ll see you back here after the holiday.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Mobility Plan to be revised, a crumbling Bike Route 66, and biking with a machete in your pants

November 21, 2014 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Mobility Plan to be revised, a crumbling Bike Route 66, and biking with a machete in your pants

A friend wrote last night to suggest I need a less cumbersome name for the condition that currently afflicts me.

Diabetic Amyotrophy may be the correct term.

But he thinks we need something easier to understand that doesn’t need a complicated explanation. Something that will make discussion easier, while allowing me to take ownership of my illness.

Like the 24/7 Pain Party, perhaps. Or maybe the Effing Crap That’s Keeping Me Off My Damn Bike.

On the other hand, when I suffered a massive hematoma that lingered on my hip for over four months following the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, my wife named it Bob.

The last remnants of which are still visible on my hip seven years later, for those who have the rare privilege of seeing me naked.

Let’s hope this one doesn’t hang around as long.

Whatever we call it.

……..

Local

The LA Planning Commission sends the city’s proposed Mobility Plan back for revisions. Not promising when a commissioner requests a “more realistic balance” on the streets because Los Angeles is “hooked on automobiles;” the whole point is to break that deadly, destructive addiction.

Nice read from Across Los Angeles, explaining 12 ways bicycling has changed his life for the better.

Hats off to the CicLAvia-riding Pasadena City College Chemistry Club, honored by the American Chemical Society. But probably not for attending CicLAvia together.

Baldwin Park becomes the second city to formally approve the San Gabriel Valley bike plan; very smart to have a regional plan that crosses city boundaries.

 

State

Laguna Streets says the city’s planned roundabouts are designed to move more cars, not people.

The Adventure Cycling Association says the planned Bicycle Route 66 leaves a lot to be desired in San Bernardino County; then again, I’ve seen a lot of LA streets that look worse than that. Thanks to Milestone Rides for the link.

Shouldn’t be hard to find a snazzy stolen bike in Arcata — a description I’ve never heard anyone other than my mother use, especially not for a missing bike.

 

National

A nod and a smile can help defuse the tension between cyclists and drivers. I’ve always believed in giving a friendly wave to thank helpful drivers, though sometimes I only use one finger for the other kind.

Bike Radar offers 10 superfoods to supercharge your riding. Although they have a very broad definition of superfoods.

Good news, as the Specialized-lululemon women’s team will go on next year under the Velocio-SRAM moniker.

Evidently, the leading Portland paper finds running over bike riders pretty funny; they’ve since apologized.

Proposed protected bike lanes could help keep Des Moines from dropping off Bicycling’s list of the top 50 bike cities.

A Memphis writer complains about unintentional racists in spandex, insisting that the bike movement is leaving black and brown and poor people behind. Evidently, they don’t ride bikes in Memphis.

New York is making the city’s bridges safer for bicyclists.

 

International

A new study says getting your mind right can boost your bike speed, as psychological factors account for as much as 20% of cycling performance.

You’ve got to be a pretty crappy driver to mistake a bicyclist for a pothole. And a pretty crappy judge to let him off for it.

Government ministers says biking and walking should be the norm for short trips in Scotland within 15 years.

A Dutch website asks if it’s possible to have too many people on bikes. Depends on who you ask; some drivers would say one is too many.

Cycle Space rails against the punishment pass, something most of us have experienced, as self-appointed driveway vigilantes try to teach us a lesson for being in their way. Or on their planet.

 

Finally…

Bike Snob gets bent out of shape over the New York press getting bent out of shape that Bono may not have been wearing a helmet when he fell off his bike and got bent out of shape. A bike riding radio host gets a ticket for speeding in London’s Hyde Park, at the breakneck speed of 16 mph; thanks to Jim Pettipher for the heads-up.

And if you’re on your bike with a two-foot machete hidden in your pants, don’t ride on the damn sidewalk. He’s lucky he didn’t give himself an unwanted circumcision.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,
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