Tag Archive for LA Critical Mass

Nurse, cop honored for saving PVE bicyclist; bill to rein in worst speeders; and LA Critical Mass to honor fallen mom, baby

February 27, 2026 / / No comments

Let’s start with some good news for a change.

A former Olympic racewalker can credit a retired nurse and a PVE cop for the fact that he’s still alive and pedaling.

Former nurse Rachel Ebright and Officer John Zabukovec were honored by the Palos Verdes Estates city council Tuesday for saving the life of 61-year old Allen James after finding him lying in the street, bleeding and badly injured, following a crash on his bicycle.

Allen was riding near near Paseo Del Mar and Palos Verdes Drive West when he went over his handlebars and through the windshield of a parked car, leaving him with a severely gashed neck, along with a broken rib and scrapes on his arms and left knee, disoriented and near death.

There’s no time or date given for the crash, only that it happened at night, roughly four months ago.

KTLA-5 describes what happened next.

Rachel Ebright, a retired nurse, was driving nearby when she spotted James lying on the road. She quickly pulled over and ran over to help.

“I told him to stay with me,” she recalled. “Whenever he flexed his neck, there was massive arterial spray, so I had to restrain a 6-foot-3 elite athlete and try to keep him down.”

John Zabukovec, an officer with the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department, arrived at the scene soon after and also stepped in to help.

“There was an overwhelming sense of chaos,” he said when he first arrived. “I knew immediately that I needed to apply life-saving measures.”

Allen was rushed to a nearby hospital, and recovered after emergency surgery. He’s back on his bike and riding again — and still alive — thanks the efforts of two kindhearted strangers.

Thanks to Chris for the heads-up. 

Image by FuzzyRescue from Pixabay.

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About damn time.

A new bill has been introduced in the California Assembly to rein in the worst speeding offenders.

AB 2276 would require drivers convicted of particularly egregious or excessive speeding and/or reckless driving violations to install active intelligent speed assistance devices that use GPS and digital maps to determine posted speed limits in real time, and limit drivers ability to exceed them.

Drivers would be required to install the devices for a specific period, based on judicial discretion and offense history. The bill would use income-based fees for device costs and installation to protect low-income drivers from excessive fees.

Similar ISA programs are already in place in Virginia, Washington State and the District of Columbia.

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If you haven’t participated in LA Critical Mass lately — or ever — tonight might be time to start.

The monthly ride will roll in honor of two victims of needless traffic violence, 36-year old mother Regan Cole-Graham and her unborn daughter Ophelia, who were killed by an 87-year old driver while Cole-Graham was riding ebikes with her husband and two young sons last month.

They were run down from behind on Pershing Drive in Playa del Rey. That’s where a road diet and bike lanes were installed in 2017 to improve safety, then removed a few months later after loud complaints from motorists used to using the street to bypass traffic on the 405.

Here’s a press release from Streets Are For Everyone about the memorial ride.

1500 Cyclists Ride to Remember Regan Cole-Graham and Ophelia Graham
Advocates Call on Mayor Bass to Prioritize Safer Streets in Wake of Multiple Mass Traffic Fatality Events.

LOS ANGELES, CA — 1500 cyclists, street safety advocates, and family members will gather for a public ride to remember Regan Cole-Graham and her daughter Ophelia Katherine Graham, who were both killed after a driver hit them while they were riding a bicycle along Pershing Dr on 31 January 2026.

This is being done as part of the monthly LA Critical Mass ride held on the last Friday of each month. LA Critical Mass has modified the route so all cyclists will end up at the location where Regan, Ophelia, and her other daughter were hit for a memorial vigil.

The vigil will include:

  • Gathering of cyclists led by LA Critical Mass organizers
  • Remarks from Jeff Cole, father of Regan and grandfather of Ophelia.
  • A live amplified song
  • Remarks from advocates and LA Critical Mass
  • A banner calling on the city and Mayor Bass to make roads safer

WHEN: Friday, February 27

Ride departs 7:15 PM from Wilshire & Western

Vigil approximately 9:15 PM – 9:30 PM at Hacienda Playa

8415 Pershing Dr, Playa Del Rey, CA 90293

EXPECTED ATTENDANCE: Approximately 1,500 cyclists

WHO:

  • Lisa Lundie — President, LA Critical Mass
  • Jeff Cole — Father of Regan and grandfather of Ophelia
  • Kat Primeau (vocals) and Ryan Ross (keyboard) singing Ophelia from the Lumineers. Regan and Matt named their daughter after the song, Ophelia.
  • Damian Kevitt — Executive Director, Streets Are for Everyone
  • Many of Matt and Regan’s family will be joining the ride when it arrives at Del Rey Lagoon between 8:45 and 9:00 PM.

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Streets For All and the Housing Action Coalition are hosting the first of what promises to be many debates in this year’s race for mayor next month, with three of the whopping 40 or so candidates already confirmed.

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

No bias here. Reading, England is “scaling back” an “underused” bike lane to relieve pressure on the city’s road system, and make “best possible use of road space we have.” Because evidently, providing a safe alternative to driving isn’t the “best possible use.”

Now the people on dirt bikes are out to get us, too. A New Zealand man suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and dislocated kneecap when a motocross biker made a U-turn and deliberately crashed into him as he rode past on his bicycle, for no apparent reason.

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

Once again, a driver has been violently attacked by a group of teenagers on a bicycle ride out, this time in San Francisco; the assault apparently began when one of the kids groped a woman in the car and she threw her drink on the boy, who responded by punching the driver in the face, as the kids kicked the car and slammed it with their bikes.

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Local 

Los Angeles broke ground on the new $152 million Avalon Pedestrian Bridge and Promenade Gateway project, providing bike and pedestrian access to the Wilmington Waterfront Promenade.

Burbank is fighting the recent trend of cities cracking down on ebikes, adopting an ordinance that aligns local laws with state ebike regulations, as well as defining other electric mobility devices including scooters and motorized boards.

Learn to ride a bicycle for free in El Monte this Sunday, courtesy of ActiveSGV and the El Monte Mobility Nexus Program.

Carson is planning to build 20 miles of new bike lanes before the ’28 LA Olympics, creating an actual bike network in the city.

 

State

Calbike has opened registration for the biennial California Bicycle Summit, to be held in Sacramento in April.

The nonpartisan California Legislative Analyst’s Office is urging legislators to reject Governor Newsom’s proposed $200 million EV rebate program, as the state faces a looming $18 billion shortfall. Which means the $18 million in ebike voucher funding that was shifted to pay for electric cars represents a lousy 0.1% of the deficit. 

Encinitas will move forward with a redesign of the redesigned Santa Fe Drive, which will spend around $3.5 million to widen traffic lanes and remove back-in parking, while exploring “alternatives” to the existing bike lanes; that comes after already spending $4 million on the previous redesign that was completed less than a year ago.

Police in San Diego are investigating a pair of ebike crashes that left the riders seriously injured, in the East Village area on Thursday night and Wednesday in University City, though only the latter appeared to involve a driver.

San Diego is considering rule changes that will bar anyone under 12 from operating an ebike, and allow a passenger only if the bike has a permanent second seat. Which will presumably prevent parents from riding their kids to school in a bucket bike, without permanent child seats. Or even carrying their kids in a nonpermanent child’s seat. 

Despite President Trump’s claims in the State of the Union that his tariffs have made the economy stronger and more affordable for Americans, an El Cajon bike shop owner says they’re hurting his business.

A section of Goleta’s Maria Ygnacio Bike Path will be closed through summer after the recent rains undermined a roadway.

Marin County bicyclists are calling for the reopening of nearly half-mile abandoned rail tunnel built by Chinese laborers in the 1880s, even though engineers say it would cost $48.6 million to make it safe for bikes and pedestrians.

A Sacramento public radio station examines the proposed California bill that would require licenses and registration for ebikes capable of going faster than 20 mph, although a researcher at San Jose State’s Mineta Transportation Institute correctly observes that all those shocking ebike injury stats lump legal ped-assist ebikes together with illegal dirt bikes and e-motos.

Two Redding bicyclists are suing the city, claiming they were injured as a result of poorly maintained sidewalks.

 

National

Seattle is building a new bike lane to close a critical gap in the city’s bicycle network. Which is what happens when a city actually has a bike network, and cares enough to do the hard things required to finish it. 

A Washington State couple fighting for more accessible streets, after spending the last ten years riding all over the country and across Europe on an accessible tandem bike built to accommodate her double leg amputations.

Ebikes get the blame when teens riding electric motorbikes tore up the greens on a Henderson, Nevada golf course, as the media once again conflates ped-assist ebikes with e-motos and dirt bikes.

Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the 18-year old Arizona man accused of stealing a nine-year old boy’s bike at gunpoint; a 14-year old kid busted with him could also face charges.

Unbelievable. A Tyler, Texas woman faces charges for hitting and killing a 19-year old man riding a bicycle, after saying she should have gone back to see what she hit, but she was ready to go home. Apparently, it was just too much bother to see who or what she killed.

More sad news from Texas, where a 67-year old man riding a bicycle was killed in Arlington when he was apparently right-hooked by a school bus driver.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is supporting the controversial 15 mph Central Park speed limit imposed by previous Mayor Eric Adams, even though a judge blocked implementation of the law after the city’s oldest bike club sued, calling it a perversion of a new law meant to crack down on reckless drivers.

The Florida Senate passed an ebike bill that would impose a 10 mph speed limit around pedestrians, and create a state task force to recommend changes in state law to improve safety and reduce injuries and fatalities involving ebikes and electric scooters.

 

International

Road.cc lists the best reflective bikewear and accessories, for anyone who wants to give off a healthy glow when they ride.

Sad news from British Columbia, where professional snowboarder Stratton Matteson was killed in an avalanche; the 28-year old Bend, Oregon splitboarder — a snowboard that separates into two halves, allowing the user to climb uphill like cross-country skis, then reconnect them and snowboard down — was a pioneer of the “bike to board” movement, riding his bicycle hundreds of miles with his gear in tow instead of relying on motor-driven transportation.

A London borough councilor is using his GoPro on his bicycle to hold scofflaw drivers to account, and says he doesn’t care what the anti-bike Daily Mail says.

Four in ten London bicyclists say they still don’t feel safe riding in the city, despite the recent improvements.

A British man recreated his father’s 1984 bike ride to Australia, following the same route and recreating the same photos 40 year later — even meeting and photographing the same Belgium man his father met when they both were 40 years younger.

Fifteen years after an Irish advocacy group identified the ten worst intersection in Dublin, none have been fixed, and only two have seen any improvements.

Luxembourg — the city, not the country — is removing parking spaces to close gaps in their existing bicycle network.

That’s more like it. Drivers in New Zealand could face fines up to $3,000 for passing bicyclists too closely, though advocates are calling for the distance to be increased to roughly 4.5 feet, rather than the current 3 feet below 37 mph, and 4.5 feet above that.

Speaking of New Zealand, Kiwi researchers followed Māori and Pacific adults for a year to study the health benefits of riding an ebike, concluding it’s an “achievable and enjoyable way of moving,” well-suited to the older and bigger riders, as well as people with chronic conditions like joint pain. Although the site may make you prove you’re human before they let you read it. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-nine-year old French cyclist Damien Touzé may have to call it a career after hitting a raised reflective pavement marker at high speed during the Tour of Oman, suffering a ruptured spleen, broken leg and busted knee, as well as an intestinal perforation that wasn’t diagnosed until he was discharged from the hospital and returned home.

Danish pro Mads Pedersen is already back on his bike, despite breaking his wrist and collarbone at the Volta a Comunitat Valenciana just three weeks ago.

Four-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome may have effectively retired from professional cycling, after he was unable sign on with a new team when his contract with Israel-Premier Tech expired.

Cyclist offers a preview of tomorrow’s Omloop Nieuwsblad, the first true Classic of the new racing season, as the pro peloton takes to the historic cobbles.

American Neilson Powless will miss the entire Classics season after having successful knee surgery to remove inflamed tissue.

Forget doping, now cycling teams are turning to AI to get a jump on the competition, as doping cases involving pro cyclists dropped for the first time in three years.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be a big red multi-directional ball with handlebars. Or maybe $14,500 titanium e-gravel bike.

And when you’re operating a crime den out of your apartment, complete with illegal drugs, guns and a roommate with an outstanding warrant, maybe don’t advertise a hot bike for sale online.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Repairs begin on Marvin Bruade Trail, share your thoughts on 3rd Street barriers, and LA’s bike “party on wheels” tomorrow

August 28, 2025 / / Comments Off on Repairs begin on Marvin Bruade Trail, share your thoughts on 3rd Street barriers, and LA’s bike “party on wheels” tomorrow
Day 240 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

About damn time.

Work is finally underway to repair a section of the beachside Marvin Braude Bike Trail near Will Rogers State Beach.

The $800,000 project will fix the pathway between Chautauqua Boulevard and Entrada Drive, near the Roosevelt Pedestrian Tunnel, that was washed out by heavy rains early last year.

The popular pathway is used by upwards of 10,000 people a day.

It’s been awhile since I’ve ridden that path, but I’m told there’s also a section further south that’s been washed out, as well.

And raise your hand if you even knew that tunnel had a name. Because I sure as hell didn’t, and I used it for years.

………

LADOT wants to know what you think about the new concrete barriers protecting the 3rd Street bike lanes in DTLA.

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LA Critical Mass invites you to join their “party on wheels,” aka the nation’s largest community bike ride, tomorrow, and the last Friday of every month.

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Bike Long Beach invites you to attend a screening of Biking While Black tonight, and join them for Bikes and Coffee on Sunday.

 

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Bike Portland editor Jonathan Maus talks with Portland Mayor Keith Wilson as they bike to work together.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass claimed she was one of us when she campaigned for office. But to the best of my knowledge, she’s has ridden a bike to work or with any member of the community ever since.

The last LA mayor I know of who actually biked to work was the late Richard Riordan, who frequently led rides with hundreds of his fellow Angelenos.

………

An English man took a tandem ride from his home in Bristol to Beijing after recovering from a rare form or cancer.

Which a reviewer for The Guardian says “makes for a good story but a rather annoying film.”

Ouch.

………

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

A Texas man faces multiple charges after allegedly using a stolen truck to jump a curb and intentionally crash into a man riding a bicycle, then returning three minutes later to run over the victim where he sat injured on the ground; the driver was arrested following a short police chase, after a witness used her own pickup to halt the second attack.

Life is cheap in London, where the father of a two-year old kid was sentenced to just 18 months behind bars for brutally attacking bike riders in two separate incidents, using his mo-ped to kick them off their bicycles while they were riding, and leaving both victims with lasting injuries.

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

A writer for the Southern California News Group explains the rules governing bicycles after an Upland writer asks what can be done to stop scofflaw bike riders from breaking the law. Just wait until they find out about all those scofflaw drivers breaking the law in their big, dangerous machines.

Commenters in Victoria, British Columbia were up in arms after someone posted a photo of a man riding a bicycle with a helmet-less baby strapped to his back. Although it’s my understanding that a baby’s neck isn’t developed enough to support the weight of a bike helmet.

A bike rider allegedly punched a driver in the coastal town of Poole, England and threw his bicycle into the car, causing the equivalent of $1,350 in damage. Nope, that’s the entire story, taking up all of one sentence. 

………

Local 

The LA City Council Planning and Land Use Management Committee approved a motion that could lead to ending off-street parking requirements for new developments, although Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says they’ll probably just build it anyway.

They get it. An injury law firm says LA’s streets are dangerous by design, and have a notable lack of bike lanes, protected or otherwise.

WeHo Times says a driver T-boned another car turning left from Fountain Ave onto De Longpre Ave, reigniting calls to improve safety on the deadly corridor; fortunately, no one was seriously injured this time.

Seriously? Mountain biking events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics will be be held in the City of Industry, which is better known for housing warehouses than for its challenging terrain.

Police departments in multiple South Bay cities teamed up to crack down on ebike riders on Tuesday, citing riders for illegal ebikes, as well as blowing stop signs and teens not wearing bike helmets.

 

State

An 18-year old ebike rider and a younger relative both suffered non-life threatening injuries when they reportedly went through a red light and crashed their ebike into a car in San Marcos Monday evening. Although judging from the damage to the car, it looks a lot more like the driver hit them. 

Good for them. Bakersfield is formally opposing a recent grand jury report calling for a halt to building bike lanes that might kinda, sorta inconvenience some drivers; meanwhile, the founder of advocacy group Bike Bakersfield remains committed to working with the city to improve safety for everyone.

A San Jose bike co-op is teaming with the YMCA to provide third, fourth and fifth graders in East San Jose with free bicycles to help them get to schools farther away, after the closure of three local elementary schools.

 

National

Applications are now open for next year’s Cherokee Nation Remember the Removal Bike Ride, a three-week tour retracing the northern route of the infamous Trail of Tears.

Bike Mag offers a recap of Portland, Oregon’s MADE Handmade Bike Show, calling it the best bicycle show in North America.

That’s more like it. Portland backed off on plans to rip out concrete traffic diverters protecting bike lanes after a huge hue and cry from the public.

Thirty-seven-year old adventure cyclist Sarah Swallow set off on nearly 3,700 mile trip from Oregon to Missouri, becoming the first person to ride Adventure Cycling’s new, mostly dirt road Golden Gravel Trail.

A Reno, Nevada bike rider was hospitalized with minor injuries after being struck by a 14-year old riding an illegal electric motorcycle on the sidewalk; the kid who caused the crash was cited for multiple violations, while a friend on another bike was released with a warning.

The lead singer of ’90s rock stars The Offspring is one of us, going for a ride through Austin, Texas with America’s seven-time ex-Tour de France champ.

The leader of an Illinois advocacy group urges drivers to have “patience, empathy and attentiveness” in the wake of two serious bicycling collisions in the past week.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A second-generation Methodist paster in rural Tennessee was killed when he was rear-ended by the driver of a big rig truck while riding his bicycle.

Talk about not knowing your market. The owner of a Summerville, Massachusetts donut shop fears the removal of parking in front of his shop for a new bike lane will force him to move. Never mind that studies show bike lanes are good for business. And we don’t need any studies to know donuts attract bicycles like magnets.

A 49-year old New Jersey man will spend the next five years behind bars for killing a “selfless” nurse bicycling with her husband eight years ago, while driving under the influence of “a very high level of narcotics.” Although his two previous DWIs — aka DUIs — would have made him subject to a murder charge here in California. 

Speaking of DUIs, a Pennsylvania man faces a DUI charge for crashing his ebike while riding under the influence.

Seriously? A recent ex-con faces charges for attempting to sell firearms from his ebike, just five months after he was released from prison for his 12th — yes, 12th — felony conviction.

 

International

Bike Radar says carbon fiber is great, but your next bike should have an aluminum frame. Or maybe just get the new steel Pashley.

A former UFC announcer was fined the equivalent of nearly $3,400 for attempting to throttle a 14-year old boy over a Lime dockless bikeshare bike blocking the sidewalk outside his London home — even though he rode one himself to his court hearing.

The New York Times says the fatal stabbing of a 17-year old girl riding her bike home from a night out in Amsterdam has unnerved residents, in a city where riding a bike safely at any hour is taken for granted.

German ebike maker Riese & Müller has stopped shipping bikes to the US as a result of Trump’s 50% tariff on steel.

 

Competitive Cycling

Jonas Vingegaard is back in the leader’s jersey at the Vuelta, after his Visma-Lease a Bike team came in second in the team time trial.

Protesters briefly held up the Israel-Premier Tech team during their team time trial attempt to protest the war in Gaza. While the team is based in Israel, it’s mostly in name only, with only one of the team’s riders currently competing in the Vuelta from Israel. 

Velo looks forward to the third edition of America’s leading one-day bike race when the Maryland Cycling Classic kicks off next week, featuring US stars Neilson Powless, Brandon McNulty and Quinn Simmons.

A website for a tutoring company makes the case that the bikes used by cycling legends matters as much as the people on them, ranging from Fausto Coppi’s Bianchi to Lance’s Trek.

 

Finally…

Don’t mess with a cross-country rider’s Surly Trucker. Don’t let your next ebike make you SchArt yourself.

And probably not the best idea to use the local cop shop as your alibi for the hot bike you pawned.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Metro simplifies — and jacks up — fares, Pasadena unveils bike action plan update, and Halloween rides roll on Friday

October 26, 2022 / / 3 comments

Let’s start with a little non-bike news, although it could affect anyone with a multimodal commute.

Metro is hosting a virtual public hearing on November 14th to get community input on a proposed rate change to “simplify” transit rates.

Although it looks more like a rate increase from here.

The LA County transportation authority promises to eliminate daily, weekly and monthly passes, as well as transfers, replacing them with stored-value cards and fare caps.

Under the proposal, Metro’s basic fare will increase from the current $1.75 to $2, with a daily max of $6, and a weekly cap of $20.

While that will benefit people who make multiple trips in a single day, or over 12 trips each week, it will nearly double the cost for a typical two-way commute with a transfer in each direction, from the current $3.50 roundtrip fare to $6.

Which is exactly how I use Metro in most cases.

A single roundtrip with no transfers will increase slightly, from $3.50 to $4. Meanwhile, weekly costs will jump from the current $12.50 for a weekly pass to a max of $20, while the current $50 monthly pass will be replaced with a max of $80 for four weeks.

That doesn’t exactly sound like a good deal to me, but your mileage may vary.

And it’s definitely not the no-fare transit system Metro promised to study and report back on.

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ActiveSGV shares the update to Pasadena’s 2015 Bicycle Transportation Action Plan we discussed yesterday, which was rolled out at last night’s Municipal Services Committee meeting.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1585063774792601601

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It looks like an early kickoff to Halloween weekend, with a pair of spooky rides set to roll this Friday.

First up is ActiveSGV’s Halloween-themed ebike tour of Pasadena.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1584968380817473536

Meanwhile, the monthly LA Critical Mass rolls just an hour later for their annual Halloween ride.

https://twitter.com/LACriticalMass/status/1585002814618890240

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Now that’s more like it.

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

No bias here. A San Diego TV station insists a bike counter on a North Park bike lane is double-counting some bike riders, even though the city insists it’s been double-checked for accuracy while explaining that ridership naturally decreases in the fall when weather cools and school is back in session.

No bias here, either. In a story hidden behind a paywall, the Bay Area’s East Bay Times reports that the bike lane on the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge exacerbates pollution and congestion, directly contradicting a new study showing protected bike lanes have the opposite effect.

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

Police throw the book at an Ohio man, who was arrested for obstructing official business, failure to disclose personal information and lack of bicycle signal devices after refusing to give his name when cops stopped him for riding without lights on his bike.

There’s a special place in hell for the New York man who rode his bicycle up to an 18-year old Hasidic man and punched the Jewish teen in the back of the head without warning.

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Local

Jennifer Hudson is one of us, riding her bicycle on the Warner Brothers lot, as the EGOT-winning actress, singer and talks how host is named Glamour’s Woman of the Year.

Long Beach is looking for volunteers for the city’s annual two-day bike count, scheduled for tomorrow and Saturday.

Los Angeles and Orange Counties are slated to share $295 million dollars in new state active transportation funding, including projects on Western Ave in South LA, Osbourne Street in Pacoima, and the LA River Greenway in the East San Fernando Valley.

 

State 

A Goleta incumbent says he hasn’t decided about plans for a lane reduction and bike lanes on the city’s Hollister Ave, while his challenger for a seat on the city council is strongly in favor of it, as well as expanding bike and pedestrian access throughout the city.

Tragic news from Kern County, where a 14-year old Tehachapi boy was killed as he was riding his bike on the sidewalk when a pickup driver failed to see him while exiting a driveway; a crowdfunding page has raised over $14,000 of the $20,000 goal to help pay his funeral expenses.

A San Francisco district supervisor was criticized for rolling back the area’s Slow Streets program after one senior citizen was killed and another injured by a speeding driver as they walked in the Sunset District.

 

National

A new four-part documentary series looks back to a ragtag cross-country bike ride, when a group of inexperienced teenagers set out to ride across the US on whatever bikes they could get their hands on.

US Transportation Secretary Pete says Elon Musk’s Hyperloop idea sounds “super interesting,” but Musk can pay for the damn thing himself. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Flying Magazine recommends taking your bike with you if you’re flying your private plane into an airport near a rail trail, especially if you own a foldie.

Bellingham, Washington is removing parking spaces and installing bike lanes in a cynical effort to run off homeless people living in their vehicles.

Denver pauses its popular ebike rebate program for the remainder of the year, after burning through three years worth of the vouchers in the first six months.

After a Kansas City bike mechanic was injured in a hit-and-run, a crowdfunding campaign raised over $20,000 in just 24 hours to help him get back on his feet, easily topping the low $5,000 goal.

A weekly Houston Pride Ride returned to the streets for the first time since a 45-year-old father was killed by a hit-and-run driver after falling into the street two weeks ago.

A Boston TV station rushes to the aid of a woman who was charged for failing to return a bikeshare bike that wouldn’t register when she tried to dock it.

New York residents are taking out their anger over losing parking spaces for a new Forest Hills protected bike lane by blaming the K-rail dividers.

A 35-year old Florida woman was arrested on charges of hit-and-run causing death and tampering with physical evidence, four months after she allegedly crashed into the 56-year old victim as he was riding his bike home, knocking him off a bridge and into a river.

 

International

Road.cc looks at a handful of new products, including what they say may be the year’s best looking bike helmet, while Bike Biz offers a guide to the latest new bikes and accessories.

Audi claims their new vehicle-to-vehicle system is the secret to improving safety for people on bicycles — even if their massive SUVs are designed to kill anyone outside of a vehicle.

Horrible news from Wales, where a man claiming to be the area’s “the most accomplished car thief” faces an attempted murder charge for deliberately running down a man riding a bicycle, leaving the victim paralyzed from the waste down, in what appears to have started as some sort of grievance between the two,

A new funky looking Dutch ebike claims to be the world’s safest.

 

Competitive Cycling

Gear Junkie offers a brief tutorial on breakaways, pace lines and how to draft.

 

Finally…

A college writer suggests “No Bike Wednesdays” to give campus bike thieves a day off. Who says you can’t do a backflip on a cargo bike?

And that feeling when the city’s brilliant solution to a tree root breaking through a bike lane is…spray paint.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Update: L.A. Critical Mass rider killed in Westwood fall

September 1, 2012 / / 97 comments

God, I hate this.

According to a report from Koreatown311, a cyclist on Friday night’s LA Critical Mass ride has died as a result of a mass fall while riding through the UCLA campus.

Details are sketchy, but reports are a group of riders fell while going downhill on Charles E. Young Drive, leaving several riders injured; at least one suffering critical head injuries.

The only significant hill I know in that area would be the one leading down from the residence halls, past Drake Field.

LA Scanner reports that the victims were taken to Cedar Sinai as well as nearby UCLA hospital. Reportedly, no cars were involved, but there may have been an obstacle in the roadway.

Several reports have said that the victim was not wearing a helmet.

Koreatown311 reports the ride was halted following the collision at the order of the LAPD Incident Commander, with the riders sent back to the starting point at Western and Wilshire.

More details as they become available.

This is the 51st cycling fatality in Southern California this year, the 12th in Los Angeles County, and the third (correction: 4th) in the City of Los Angeles. It is also, to the best of my knowledge, the first to occur on the L.A. Critical Mass ride.

My heartfelt prayers for the victim and his or her family.

Update: A comment from Gina suggests that the police may have been at fault (Update: other witness reports contradict Gina’s statement, and suggest she may have seen a different wreck; see below).

I was there. The police caused the crash. The “obstacle” in the road was an unmarked police car, some wise-ass decided to slow the riders down by pulling out into the middle of the road and parking with one little nark-light on the hood. The family should sue the LAPD. The police need to leave LACM alone, it was fine before they started ‘escorting’ the ride.

More information on the Critical Mass Facebook page, including the name of the victim. However, I won’t post it on here until I know the net-of-kin have been notified. No one should ever find out a loved one has died by reading it here.

Update 2: In an inflammatory report, KNBC-4 has identified the victim as 18-year old Jerico Culata of Los Angeles, who is not the person who was named on the Facebook page in the link above. They place the location as Charles E. Young Drive and De Neve Drive, around 9:50 pm, which places it west of Drake Field, rather than north as I had guessed.

According to the report, Culata lost control of his bike on a downhill curve, and slammed into a masonry wall; despite Gina’s comment above, there is no mention of a police car involved.

A comment from Kryzstov adds additional information, saying Culata may have died instantly. He also clarifies Gina’s comment, suggesting she may have witnessed a different collision.

I witnessed the whole thing. He was right in front of me when he crashed and hit the wall. He unfortunately couldn’t stop because he was riding a fixie and we were coming down a steep hill. Myself and another cyclist were the first two to approach him to see if he was ok. The other cyclist turned him over from being on his stomach and it was clear that he had died instantly. Regarding the other two crashes, the police car that the boy hit was not unmarked and it was parked on the side of the road.

I know that road well, as it’s part of my regular ride when UCLA is out of session. There is a relatively steep downhill with a minor curve, combined with rough pavement in places; I usually have to brake in that section to control my speed.

Update 3: KTLA-5 reports that there may have been as few as 100 cyclists who ride through the UCLA campus, rather than the main group of around 2,500 riders who often  participate in L.A. Critical Mass on a nice night.

Both the KNBC and a report from KCBS-2 contain an inappropriate reference about run-ins with the police during Critical Mass rides; while both reference a minor altercation that occurred on the San Diego ride, there is no suggestion that Culata’s death had anything to do with a confrontation between police and the riders. In fact, all indications are that the ride was peaceful from start to finish.

It should also be noted that solo falls like this are exactly what bike helmets were designed to protect against. Whether wearing one last night would have kept Culata alive, we’ll probably never know.

Update 4: According to Krystov, the main body of the Critical Mass ride went through the UCLA campus, rather than an offshoot, which would have put the number of riders at many times the 100 riders cited by KTLA.

And despite the inflammatory news reports linking Culata’s death with an incident on the San Diego Critical Mass ride, it turns out the screwdriver that injured the San Diego police officer was thrown from a balcony along the ride route, rather than by one of the riders.

Meanwhile, Sgt. Krumer urges anyone who witnessed  Culata’s fall to contact police investigators. 

It would be really great if those who stated that they witnessed the whole thing…please contact West Traffic Division and provide an official statement. 213-473-0220.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,
 
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