Tag Archive for Lankershim Blvd

Hunt for killer driver in anti-bike rampage, police search for Metro-riding bike shop burglars, and NoHo CicLAmini Sunday

September 12, 2023 / / No comments

It’s the 16th anniversary of the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, the solo crash that laid me up for four months. And in a roundabout way, set me on the path to bike advocacy, and starting this site. 

Yet somehow, I’ve never thanked those bees properly for not killing me that day. 

Image by Gerd Altmann for Pixabay.

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No update yet on the search for a rampaging hit-and-run driver who appeared to intentionally run down three bike-riding men in separate incidents in Huntington Beach Sunday night, killing one man.

Keep your eyes open for a black Toyota four-door sedan, with significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side. Even if the car turns out to be stolen, it could provide vital clues leading to the killer.

If you see the car, or have any other information, call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066, or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times quotes Mario Obeja, vice president of the Southbay’s Beach Cities Cycling Club, saying attacks from road-raging drivers are all too common.

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Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying two men photographed riding the Metro A (Blue) Line with several brand-new bikes that appear to have been stolen from Irwindale Cycle, with price tags from the shop still attached.

The men, apparently part of a group of five who burglarized the shop early Monday morning, were last seen as they exited the train at Pasadena’s Memorial Park station at 5:30 am.

A crowdfunding campaign is raising money to help the shop, which faces the risk of closing after losing $40,000 worth of bikes in the theft.

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CicLAvia is hosting their second CicLAmini open streets event on Sunday with a one-mile excursion along NoHo’s Lankershim Blvd, along with brief legs extending along Magnolia and Chandler.

There’s easy access from B (Red) Line subway at the North Hollywood Metro Station, directly across from the CicLAmini route.

Meanwhile, SAFE, aka Streets Are For Everyone, is looking for volunteers to help them work the event.

And while we’re on the subject, SAFE is also looking for volunteers to help assess the condition of LA County bike paths.

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Streets For All is hosting CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt for their latest virtual happy hour tomorrow evening; Hutt was appointed by the council to replace recently convicted councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Streets For All is also calling for support for a pair of motions at tomorrow’s LA City Council Public Works Committee meeting to the accelerate the design, construction, and implementation of transportation infrastructure projects, and create better coordination between city agencies who build and maintain public infrastructure.

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

A British man accused the local police of doing nothing after thieves broke into his home and stole four high-end mountain bikes worth more than $54,000; he spent the equivalent of $7,500 to track them down and fly to Poland to recover them.

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

A Singapore driver complains that many cyclists think they’re “king of the road” and expect everyone else to give way, after a spandex-clad bicyclist taking part in a group ride pounded on his car’s hood in retaliation for honking at them. No, he shouldn’t have honked. But violence is never the right answer. 

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Local 

A producer for LAist’s How To LA podcast discusses how he lives carfree in the car capital of the world.

Altadena residents discussed local traffic safety issues at a popup event that featured a demonstration bike lane, mini-park and a curb extension.

Culver City’s newly conservative city council is trying to abuse California’s CEQA laws as an excuse to rip out the existing Move Culver City protected bike lane.

Santa Monica councilmembers will discuss a proposed study of how to keep drivers out of bike lanes at tonight’s council meeting, along with repurposing taxi stands and extending the city’s shared mobility program.

 

State

Calbike is calling on you to contact your state Assemblymember to support SB50, which would ban the sort of pretextual traffic stops too often used to target Black and Latino bike riders.

Streetsblog calls for everyone to complete Calbike’s rider survey of Caltrans Complete Streets efforts, or the lack thereof, as the statewide advocacy group prepares to issue a report card of state-controlled routes that double as local streets.

The CHP says a 71-year old Paso Robles man suffered a concussion and broken nose when he rode his “performance bicycle” into uneven pavement on the shoulder of a state highway near Cambria, blaming his unfamiliarity with the roadway and riding too fast for conditions. But not for Caltrans’ failure to maintain a safe road surface. 

A crowdfunding account for a 55-year old Hayward bike rider killed by a hit-and-run driver has raised over $36,000, as police continue to look for the Mercedes driver who left him dying in the roadway.

 

National

Cycling Weekly says the sport has a body image problem, as bicyclists face pressure to conform to a lithe physical standard.

Electrek offers tips on how to ride your ebike around cars and the people who drive them, and live to tell the tale.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 47-year old man killed by a Nebraska driver while riding his bike on Sunday was identified as a “talented and compassionate” Omaha cardiologist.

Police in Massachusetts still haven’t filed any charges against the driver who killed an 86-year old man as he rode his bike last week.

A 13-year old Long Island boy is clinging to life, the victim of a cop responding to a 911 call with lights and sirens as the boy was riding his bike.

A Baltimore basketball player faces charges for the hit-and-run crash that injured a bike-riding man, but still hasn’t been served with a warrant a full year later.

 

International

Momentum lists the top ten bicycle-friendly North American cities to visit this fall. Needless to say, Los Angeles isn’t one of them.

More proof we face the same problems everywhere, as a bike rider in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan decries the city’s hostile environment for bicyclists after a 36-year old man was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

British Cycling, the UK’s governing body for all things bike-related, joined with a law firm to publish a paper in Parliament complaining about a “hazardous leniency” in sentencing drivers who kill or injure bicyclists and pedestrians, which “enables even the most persistent and reckless offenders to evade justice.”

Volkswagen is the latest carmaker to get into the ebike business, announcing a bike-building partnership with the Netherlands’ Pon Holdings.

 

Competitive Cycling

When you’re finishing the final climb of a major stage race near your hometown, you might as well enjoy a beer with your drag-wearing brother.

Finally…

Chances are, your mountain bike won’t look any better with a mullet than you would. Biking along an LA River wall of mulch.

And that feeling when you singlehandedly halt a slow speed stampede.

Although maybe they’d just never seen anyone in spandex before.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Update: Man riding bicycle killed in pre-dawn Sun Valley hit-and-run; 5th SoCal bicyclist killed by hit-and-run drivers this year

March 17, 2023 / / One comment

St. Patrick’s Day got off to a deadly start when a man on a bicycle was killed in Sun Valley this morning.

The driver fled the scene, in what almost seems to be a normal occurrence these days.

According to My News LA, the victim was riding on the 8400 block of Lankershim Boulevard when he was struck by the driver around 6:20 am.

There’s no word yet on the identity of the victim, or how the crash occurred.

The only description of the suspect vehicle is a possible GMC truck, no year or model given. And no word on the heartless coward behind the wheel, who left an innocent victim to die alone in the street.

Anyone with information is urged to call 877-LAPD-247, 877/527-3247.

This is at least the 13th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it also appears to be the second in the City of Los Angeles.

Five of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Yet no one in any level of government seems concerned about the mounting toll from hit-and-run drivers, or the increasing frequency of drivers fleeing crash scenes.

Let alone willing to do anything about it.

Update: The LAPD has released security video of Friday morning’s fatal crash.

The bike rider, who still has not been publicly identified, was the victim of a left-cross crash from the truck driver turning from Lankershim onto Tuxford while riding in the crosswalk on Tuxford. 

Police are looking for a work truck with a white cab, and a distinctive yellow logo on the passenger door.

As always, there is a $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones. 

Thanks to Johnson Attorneys Group and KCAL-9 anchor Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

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

Morning Links: A little good news, new NoHo Metro Bikes but no Lankershim bike lanes, and anti-bike Redondo official

August 6, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: A little good news, new NoHo Metro Bikes but no Lankershim bike lanes, and anti-bike Redondo official

After recent events, I think we could all use a little good news to start the day.

After an Indiana woman’s bicycle, which was her only form of transportation, was stolen, a pair of kindhearted Indiana bike cops gave her an extra bicycle one of them had at home.

A Maine bike co-op allows new immigrants and low-income residents to earn a bicycle by learning how to refurbish and repair it.

Thanks to a Virginia nonprofit founded by a US Army vet, 21 special needs kids now have new adaptive bicycles to ride.

And hats off to a couple Georgia cops who spotted a 71-year old man riding his bike on a busy highway without any lights or reflectors to get something to eat. So they put his bike in a patrol car, drove him to the restaurant, then went to Walmart to buy safety gear for his bike.

Photo of bike-riding family by Brett Sayles from Pexels.

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On the local front, the good news is Metro Bike has made its first appearance in North Hollywood.

The bad news is, we could have had a safe place to ride them if CD2 Councilmember Paul Krekorian hadn’t blocked plans for a lane reduction and parking-protected bike lanes on Lankershim Blvd.

Krekorian killed the fully funded and shovel ready plan two years ago, bizarrely claiming that the project needed more public outreach.

As if five years of meetings, workshops and pop-up bike lanes isn’t enough.

And someone should tell him we’re still waiting on the additional public outreach and those alternative Lankershim options he promised us.

Or maybe Krekorian is just waiting until he’s termed out of office and it becomes someone else’s problem.

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Nothing like a Redondo Beach official finding a little humor in running your ass over for no apparent reason.

Except maybe people commuting, exercising, recreating or having fun just annoys the crap out of her.

That would be this Recreation & Parks Commission, in case you were wondering.

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This is who we share the roads with.

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

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The Green Bay Packers take their traditional bike ride to training camp, borrowing bicycles from little kids, who carry their helmets for them.

Unfortunately for one kid’s bike, the Houston Texans joined them.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.

Someone is shoving people off their bicycles on Portland OR bike paths.

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Local

The LA Bicycle Advisory Committee will meet in Hollywood tonight; unfortunately, the posted agenda here is from December — 2018.

LA City Planning announces that LOS, which measures how many cars can move through a given point, is out, and VMT, or Vehicle Miles Traveled, is in; the latter counts people on bikes and buses, too.

Adam Conover, host of TruTV’s Adam Ruins Everything talks about living carfree in the City of Angels, and how it’s cars that actually ruin everything.

A Frogtown artist bought a small slice of the LA River to give himself a bigger voice in plans to restore it.

The last candidate forum for next week’s special election in LA’s 12th Council District will be held in Chatsworth Wednesday night. You owe it to yourself to be there if you live in CD12. Unless you’ve already decided to vote for Bike the Vote LA and LA Times-approved Loraine Lundquist, in which case you have my permission to stay home tomorrow night.

Los Angeles County puts forth a sustainability plan for a carbon-free county by 2050. Which could be about 30 years too late. Then again, the way things are going on the international front, the long-sought solution to global warming may turn out to be a nuclear winter.

 

State

Camarillo is starting work on a road widening project to add bike lanes on Pleasant Valley Road.

San Diego bike riders turn out to support plans for protected bike lanes on 30th Street; however, some in the area evidently prefer parking spaces to more customers and saving lives.

A San Jose driver complains that she right hooked a bike rider and was actually held responsible for it. And columnist Mr. Roadshow says that’s because she was. Thanks to Robert Leone for the link.

A San Francisco newspaper watches a bike lane for 30 minutes just before rush hour, and observes drivers blocking it an average of once per minute.

No bias here. A bike-riding Sausalito marketing flack says all the people in his neighborhood “resent the awful attitudes, rude demeanor and reckless actions” of roving packs of scofflaw cyclists who terrorize the city at speeds of up to 50 mph.

A popular Sacramento riverfront bike path will be shut down for a month to realign the path and repair a damaged embankment. Someone might want to point that out to officials in Los Angeles, where repairs to the LA River bike path are usually measured in years.

 

National

Bicycling recommends a more comfortable bike seat for women, who have to sit on often-painful parts men don’t.

A Washington columnist says yes, it’s legal to ride a bike on a freeway in the state, which doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.

For the second week in a row, a triathlete has been killed during a competition, this time a 68-year old man who crashed his bike in an Illinois race.

Sad news from Minnesota, where an off-duty cop was killed when he was rear-ended by a driver while riding his bicycle.

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who killed a nine-year old Gary, Indiana boy as he was riding his bike, then burned the car to hide the evidence.

Police and the press in upstate New York freak out over a group of around 60 kids on bicycles riding in the roadway. And by all reports, taking the lane just like they should.

A New York op-ed says the way to stop the recent rash of bicycling deaths is to do what it takes to cut the number of cars on the streets.

Bike Snob says New York Mayor and presidential candidate Bill di Blasio’s “audacious” plan to prevent bicycling deaths just isn’t enough.

The University of Virginia offers suggestions on how to stay safe while you’re riding your bike. And for a change, most of them make sense.

The bike rider killed in a collision with a pickup truck driver during a Mississippi charity ride was a respected structural engineer for the U.S. Army Engineer and Research Development Center.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution presents six of the city’s best bike trails for your next journey to the Peach State.

Surprisingly, it’s pretty easy riding in the Big Easy these days, as the city ranks  fifth in the US in bike commuting per capita, with 3% of people riding to work. Needless to say, Los Angeles didn’t the list.

 

International

Forbes‘ Carlton Reid offers advice on the easy way to teach your kid to ride a bike.

Here’s another one to add to your bike bucket list — a 400-mile network of dramatic British Columbia rail-to-trail conversions, including 18 former railroad trestles in just one 12-mile stretch.

It takes a massive asshole — and I use the term advisedly — to sell an apparently purloined UK ghost bike online. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

A British author says narrow bike lane traffic islands turn bike riders into human traffic calming islands.

 

Competitive Cycling

In a heartbreaking reminder that cycling is a dangerous sport, 22-year old Belgian pro Bjorg Lambrecht, a member of the Lotto-Soudal team, was killed yesterday while competing in the Tour of Poland.

Lambrecht reportedly fell into a concrete culvert 60 miles from the finish of Monday’s stage, and died during surgery after being resuscitated at the scene.

Race organizers cancelled the traditional post-race podiums and festive atmosphere when the news about Lambrecht broke; today’s stage remains in question.

Thanks to John McBrearty for the tip.

Finally…

Bikeshare today, furniture tomorrow. And don’t park in a bike lane, bro — especially if you’re armed and drinking.

 

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

Morning Links: A profile in political cowardice on Lankershim Blvd, and biking while your spouse shops

June 1, 2017 / / One comment

Call it a profile without courage.

The Daily News looks at CD2 Councilmember Paul Krekorian’s last-minute decision to pull the plug on the long-discussed Lankershim Blvd bike lanes in North Hollywood, as he hides under the political fig leaf of claiming more outreach needed to be done.

Because evidently, five years worth of Lankershim meetings, workshops and pop-up bike lanes just isn’t enough. Maybe what he really wants is to keep talking until he’s termed out in 2024, so it can be someone else’s problem.

Meanwhile, CiclaValley questions Krekorian’s leadership on the issue, and sounds pretty damned pissed off about it. And justifiably so.

Krekorian’s rejection of the project may be at least partially related to the defeat of bike advocate Joe Bray-Ali in last month’s CD1 council race, which may have sent a mistaken signal that LA’s politicians have nothing to fear from bike riders.

That’s the wrong lesson to take away from that election, however.

Bray-Ali appeared to be on the verge of an upset victory over incumbent Gil Cedillo when he lost many of his supporters as his comments on a racist website came to light.

It should be seen instead as a sign of what the bicycling community can do when they’re truly motivated, when a sitting councilmember was forced to fight dirty just to hold onto his seat in a city where incumbent members of the city council virtually never lose.

And that’s something Krekorian may want to remember as 2020 approaches.

Krekorian cited fears of lost business along the Lankershim corridor, even though numerous studies have shown that bike lanes are good for business, and creating a more walkable, bikeable corridor could more than make up for the loss of any parking spaces. Which LADOT must have undoubtedly pointed out in discussing the project with him.

And fears of unending traffic jams are usually unfounded, as well, as road diets have been shown to actually improve traffic flow in some cases.

The simple fact is that Krekorian’s decision to keep Lankershim solely dependent on dangerous and unhealthy automotive traffic is far more likely to hinder the success of the district than to benefit it, or the people and businesses in it, in any way.

What it really comes down to is what former New York DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan discussed in her book Street Fight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution.

…An important observation that I share from my years as commissioner is that when you push the status quo, the status quo pushes back — hard. Six years after we rolled the first barrels into place, closing Broadway to cars, the plazas at Times Square became the new status quo…

The Times Square saga is a reminder that in New York and other cities, changing the streets is a blood sport at all levels. Projects that alter streetscapes upset people who naturally cling to stability, even if that stability is unsafe or inefficient. The flip side is that once change is in place, it becomes the new norm and frames expectations of citizens.

The most important lesson is that safer streets work, and that they can be executed quickly and cheaply… Sustainable streets make sense for safety, traffic, and long-term planning, and they make sense for the economy.

Maybe we should buy him the book.

Or maybe we should all send him copies of Profiles in Courage and Do the Right Thing, because he seems to have missed the point of both.

The real problem, with Krekorian and the rest of LA’s city government, is that they live in constant fear of angering the electorate in their districts — never mind that they probably hold some of the most secure council seats in the country. And so they’re afraid to do anything that might upset anyone, which makes doing nothing seem to be the safer choice.

Which is why the city’s streets are crumbling underneath us, and why they will likely remain dangerous long after our current leaders are gone.

There are exceptions, of course. Mike Bonin in CD11, CD14’s Jose Huizar, and Joe Buscaino in CD15, in particular, have shown genuine leadership and courage in transforming the streets of their districts.

But let’s be honest.

However he chooses to frame it, Krekorian’s decision to pull the plug on Lankershim was less an example of leadership than plain, old fashioned cover-your-ass cowardice.

And the people of Los Angeles deserve better.

If you’re as angry about this as I am, you can let Paul Krekorian know how you feel at an ice cream social today at noon in North Hollywood.

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Mike Wilkinson forwards this photo captured by his wife Argelia in a Walmart parking lot yesterday.

Photo by Argelia Wilkinson

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Another young bike racer has been killed on a training ride, as promising junior time trial specialist Joe Guy died when he was struck by a van in the UK.

A European website suggests Giro winner Tom Dumoulin’s bowels may have saved the 100th edition of the race from an epic flop.

The 2019 edition of the Tour de France will honor the legendary Eddy Merckx in the five-time winner’s homeland by departing from Brussels.

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Local

Unlike NoHo, road diets and bike lanes will be coming to a number of Playa del Rey streets in an attempt to slow traffic, improve safety and reduce cut-through driving. Councilmember Mike Bonin, who represents the area, gets it right, pointing out the need for improvements while overcoming the usual kneejerk NIMBY objections by suggesting that the changes aren’t necessarily permanent.

Barrio.LA takes a field trip to Atwater Village in advance of the Glendale – Atwater Village CicLAvia on the 11th.

 

State

The Orange County Register says the county is the mecca of the ebike craze.

The New York Times looks at Berkeley-based Monkeylectric and nearby Revolights wheel lights, noting the former is nearly required at Burning Man.

Sad news from Yuba County, where a 50 year-old Marysville woman was killed from behind as she rode her bike without lights at 1 am. Seriously, if you’re going to ride at night, put some damn lights on your bike. And carry a spare set with you during the day in case you get caught out after dark.

 

National

Streetsblog says blaming dangerous streets on people wearing black, as the Seattle Times did on Sunday, wins the prize for anti-pedestrian — and anti-bike — idiocy.

Former New Mexico governor and Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is training to ride the 2,800-mile Tour Divide.

The father of a killer hit-and-run driver brought gasps to a Colorado courtroom when he blamed the victim for simply riding his bicycle on the street — even though his daughter had a BAC nearly twice the legal limit three hours after the crash, as well as trace amounts of cocaine and THC.

A Tennessee woman who took up ebike riding in her 40s says ride big in every way. Thanks to Karen Karabell for the link.

This is who we share the roads with. After tearing up a ball field by cutting doughnuts on the grass, a Connecticut pickup driver apparently targeted a bike rider, forcing him to dive off his bicycle to avoid getting hit.

Syracuse NY offers a $2.25 million settlement to a bike rider injured when he was struck by an off-duty police officer driving a city police car; the officer played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card, saying he was blinded by glare on his windshield.

It took the NYPD just four days to piece together security camera footage to catch the hit-and-run driver who killed a bicyclist, even though it took them four months to make an arrest in the case.

 

International

The BBC looks at how the privately funded ciclovías in Santiago, Chile are transforming the streets.

A Canadian paper says your epic fundraising bike journey across the Great White North probably won’t actually make any money, and isn’t really a great idea.

In a change from just two years ago, all three major British political parties support bicycling in their manifestos, the equivalent of American political platforms; Brit cycling great Chis Boardman says that represents progress.

A London bike project fixes old bikes to give to refugees, providing around 90 bikes a month to people in need.

An Irish judge rules an ebike rider was highly negligent in riding without lights after dark, denying him any damages from the driver who hit him.

The Telegraph asks if Italy’s Alta Badia is the world’s greatest cycling destination. Actually, the best cycling destination is wherever you happen to be going today.

A new Spanish study shows the amount of bikeways boosts the number of bike riders, while improved safety depends on connecting them into an actual network.

Caught on video: An Aussie bicyclist was lucky to survive when a rope attached to a truck got caught in his spokes, dragging him for 70 feet.

 

Finally…

This is what it looks like when a stray dog steals a GoPro and accidently films a Russian bike ride, along with the inside of its mouth. When you’re named after a bird, you can probably expect to be attacked by one.

And if you miss your brother, just dig him up and take him for a bike ride.

Literally.

 

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

Morning Links: Driver busted in fatal Winnetka hit-and-run, and Krekorian kills Lankershim Great Street

May 31, 2017 / / One comment

As we noted last week, an arrest has been made in the hit-and-run death of a bike rider in Winnetka.

Forty-seven year old Victor Mainwal Jr. was arrested Friday on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, and is being held on $50,000 bail, with his utility truck impounded as evidence.

Police have not confirmed whether the crash was intentional, as a witness alleged.

The name of the victim has still not been released, pending notification of next of kin; the surviving victim has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home.

News of the arrest was first announced right here on Friday, and on the BikinginLA Twitter account.

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Following in the footsteps of former Councilmember Tom LaBonge, Councilmember Paul Krekorian snatched defeat from the jaws of victory last week.

Announcing his decision on the Friday before a three-day weekend — a longstanding public relations ploy to ensure whatever you do doesn’t make the next news cycle — Krekorian pulled his support from the nearly shovel-ready plan to remake dangerous Lankershim Blvd into a safer Complete Street that would meet the needs of all road users.

The LACBC reports that he blocked the plan, like LaBonge before him, saying it had to go back to the drawing board because of inadequate public outreach.

Apparently, the countless well-attended public meetings, workshops and pop-up bike lanes held over the past year don’t count. Never mind all the previous meetings going back nearly a decade.

Instead, Krekorian inexplicably threw his hat in with street safety opponents Gil Cedillo, Paul Koretz and Curren Price, all of whom blocked much-needed safety projects supported by large segments of the community.

And never mind that this was exactly the sort of lifesaving project he claims to support, judging by this quote from Yo! Venice.

“Reducing pedestrian and traffic fatalities is something we urgently need to work toward,” said Krekorian, who serves as the Chair of the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee.

Evidently, like Cedillo, Koretz and Price, he’s all for projects designed to save lives. As long as they’re in someone else’s district.

Which means businesses on Lankershim will continue to suffer, and people will continue to risk their lives, however they chose to travel.

And they’ll have their councilmember to blame.

The LACBC offered this call to action in response to Krekorian’s misguided decision:

We firmly believe that this is not an approach that is consistent with Vision Zero’s goal of saving lives.  Want to help? Join us in calling Councilmember Krekorian (818-755-7676) and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (213-972-8470) today to tell them you don’t think this project needs to go back to the drawing board.

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In today’s edition of how to lose your job as a pro cyclist, Daniel Summerhill, a rider on the United Healthcare Pro Cycling team, is charged with firing his gun at a Colorado hillside near occupied homes on a February training ride; he says he did it because he was having a bad day.

Never mind why he had a gun in his jersey pocket to begin with.

Needless to say, once word got out, he immediately resigned from the team.

Which is PR speak for they fired his ass.

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Bid on a bike tour with cyclist and KPCC political and infrastructure reporter Sharon McNary — one of LA’s most insightful and knowledgeable members of the media — while you help support Southern California Public Radio.

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The war on bikes continues, as a tire bounds across a roadway to attack a helpless bike before leaping into the arms of a man inside an office. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

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Local

Construction is nearing completion on the Venice Blvd Great Streets protected bike lanes in Mar Vista, which are already being used by bike riders, although local residents worry the loss of a traffic lane will cause more cut-through traffic. Which shows you what can happen when a councilmember — Mike Bonin, in this case — actually has the courage of his convictions.

LA’s Metro Bike will be expanding this summer, with new branches opening in Pasadena on July 14th, and along the LA Waterfront in San Pedro and Wilmington on July 31st.

The presumed death of the 710 Freeway extension means there’s now $600 million available to spend on transportation projects in the area, in addition to $100 million already budgeted for improvements including synchronized traffic lights, sound walls and bike lanes.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The Cal Poly Pomona student newspaper looks at the impact the loss of fallen cyclist and Cal Poly student Ivan Aguilar had on his family and fellow students, four years after his death.

If you lost a red Specialized Allez recently, the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station could be looking for you after recovering one they believe was stolen.

 

State

The San Diego Union-Tribune gets it right after a worrisome start, concluding that bike lanes have little or no negative effect on business. And are often good for local businesses, even if that means a loss of parking spaces.

 

National

A new video series explores the allure of tall bikes.

A Colorado woman will spend the next 12 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run death of a man on his bicycle.

The national Little Bellas organization helps empower young girls through mountain biking; the Denver Post looks at how a local chapter helps make a difference.

Massachusetts is adding a section on bike safety to their driver’s training manual, as well as posting a video on the Dutch Reach to avoid doorings.

Here’s another reason to ride a real bicycle. A former VP with Peloton was arrested at his Manhattan home for allegedly looting the indoor cycling company of $400,000 to support his lavish lifestyle.

GQ spots actor Justin Theroux riding his fixie through the streets of New York with a $3,000 Tom Ford bag on his back. Note to Theroux: Next time you have an extra three grand lying around, spend it on the bike, not the bag.

The New York Times offers a pretty good beginner’s guide to biking to work.

Evidently having run out of kids to order off his lawn, a columnist with the New York Post takes time out of his busy day to tell cyclists just how much they suck. Mike Wilkinson reminds up this is how it’s really done.

 

International

Toronto has a 10-year plan to build out a complete bicycling network to coax nervous riders onto the roads, though polite Canadian bicyclists want it built sooner, if possible. LA has a 25-year plan to create a safe bicycling network, but we’re told it’s only “aspirational.”

A writer for Forbes recommends luxury self-guided European bike tours. Or you could just buy a good guide book, make some reservations, and start riding.

Treehugger goes in search of the lost British bike lanes.

A driver decided to use a new raised, separated bike lane as a convenient and traffic-free way to bypass all those other cars on an Irish highway.

A 73-year old German woman was killed by lightning as she rode her bike. A tragic reminder to find the nearest shelter if you get caught in a thunderstorm while riding; the National Weather Service advises waiting at least 30 minutes after the last thunder before resuming your ride.

A Spanish art project shows the dangers of disappearing bike lanes by placing bicycles that disappear into blank walls, titling one “Cycle Lane 9 ¾ to Hogwarts.”

After a Bollywood actress is criticized for falsely claiming she was so poor she had to ride a bicycle to school, others point out her fellow students were so poor they couldn’t afford one.

A Billings, Montana non-profit collected 260 bicycles to deliver to impoverished villages in Jordan.

There’s something seriously wrong when someone who drives a 233 mph race car for a living is afraid to ride his bike because the streets are too dangerous.

 

Finally…

When you’re pedaling with plans to peddle the crystal meth you’re carrying, just put a light on your bike, already. No, really, if you’re carrying meth, marijuana and drug paraphernalia on your bike, put a damn light on it — and leave the machete at home.

And your next bike could be made like a bamboo wicker basket.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Support Lankershim bike lanes, new buffered lanes in Sunland, and killer driver warns others

April 10, 2017 / / 2 comments

The LACBC is asking for people to come out on Wednesday to support plans to install bike lanes on Lankershim Blvd between Magnolia Blvd and Vanowen Street.

The meeting of the Mid-Town NoHo Neighborhood Council starts at 7 PM, at the Senior Citizen Center at 5301 Tujunga Blvd. RSVP to greatstreets@lacity.org if you plan to attend.

These are the same bike lanes former Councilmember Tom LaBonge blocked while he was in office; now that he’s gone, maybe we can finally make the street a little safer for everyone.

………

Maybe there really is hope.

Michael Sullivan forwards photos of new buffered bike lanes going in on Foothill Blvd in Sunland, where Jeffrey Knopp was killed when his bike was struck from behind while riding on the narrow shoulder.

Looking west from Foothill and Riderwood towards Wentworth

Looking east from the same spot towards Sunland, next to the barriers that previously trapped riders next to fast-moving traffic

The road diet should slow traffic, while giving people on bicycles a safer and more comfortable piece of the roadway. Sullivan calls it a very welcome change on a street he regularly rides as part of his commute.

My understanding is that these plans were in the works long before Knopp’s death. But it’s good to see a dangerous road made a little safer.

………

The 22-year old driver who killed Cal Poly Pomona student Ivan Aguilar four years ago is now speaking to high school students about the dangers of distracted driving, his probationary penance for what he calls the worst day of his life.

Gonzalo Aranguiz Salazar says the appearances mandated as part of his five-year probation have allowed him to help heal himself.

I sincerely hope he’s able to peace, and live with the knowledge that he needlessly destroyed an innocent life.

But I’m far more concerned that Aguilar’s loved ones are able to come to terms with his loss, and the fact that his killer wasn’t sentenced to a single day behind bars.

………

Very sad news, as Peter Flax reports the husband of fallen OC cyclist Deborah Gresham — the subject of his moving piece on the creation of a ghost bike — has died unexpectedly, leaving their four kids without a mother or father.

Let’s hope there’s someone to take them in and comfort them. Because that’s just too much tragedy for any child to bear.

………

A driver buzzes a bicyclist as he’s filming a trailer for a documentary. And proves once again that too many drivers don’t have a clue when it comes to the rights of cyclists, or how to drive safely around people on bikes.

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Spoiler alert: If you still haven’t seen Sunday’s Paris – Roubaix, skip to the next section. Or watch streaming video of the race courtesy of SoCal Cycling, then come back for the rest.

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Local

Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson and Mike Bonin call for using Measure M return funds to save lives through Vision Zero, noting that New York is spending $174 million on Vision Zero projects this year, while Los Angeles has committed to spending a paltry $3 million.

A writer for The Source notes that she feels safer on a Metro Bike than a regular bike, and that bikeshare has made her feel more comfortable riding around DTLA.

Help clean up the Ballona Creek for Earth Day on the 22nd.

A mountain bike rider had to be evacuated from the Lower Monroe Truck Trail in Angeles Forest following a crash. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Santa Monica is set to unveil the final draft of the city’s Downtown Community Plan on Wednesday. Hopefully, it will include a heavy reliance on bicycling, transit and walking over motor vehicles.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson relates the tale of a cycling wedding.

 

State

The LA Times recommends getting fit and doing good by joining one of several charity bike rides around the state, as well as one in Tucson.

A Huntington Beach event allowed people with disabilities to experience the freedom of handcycling for the first time.

A helmetless La Jolla woman suffered life-threatening injuries in a solo fall after losing control of her bicycle going downhill. Sadly, crashes like this are exactly what bike helmets are designed for.

Apparently, it was worth it to a San Diego driver to risk injuring a bicyclist to snag a prime beachside parking space; the rider slammed into the back of her car after she cut him off.

A Riverside driver turned herself in Sunday morning for fleeing the scene after crashing into two bike riders Saturday night. Which would have given her time to sober up if she’d been drinking.

Two Stockton teenagers were killed fleeing from police following a robbery after crashing into a bike rider and several cars; fortunately, the bicyclist and the people in the other cars weren’t seriously injured.

Seven months later, Sebastopol authorities still can’t prove — or disprove — that a fatal crash between two cyclists on an organized ride was caused by a careless driver.

Over 30 triathletes suffered hypothermia after swimming in a Napa County lake before getting on their bikes.

 

National

A new book from a Colorado woman describes her victory in the frozen 1000-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational bike race.

The Montana bill that included a tax on out-of-state bicyclists — which sponsors later said was a joke — passed out of committee without the provision attached.

Life is cheap in Massachusetts, where a hit-and-run driver gets a whole 18 months in prison for killing a bike rider, then claiming he hit a deer.

The New York Post questions why the city should spend $12 million to expand the Citi Bank bikeshare to outlying areas, when the coming dockless, app-based bikeshare systems could do it for them.

A writer for the Guardian describes his single week as an Uber courier, which ended when he discovered the hard way that Uber doesn’t ensure couriers’ bicycles against theft.

The World Cycling League will team with a Reading PA college to build a world-class, $20 million velodrome.

A kindhearted friend of a Virginia McDonald’s customer bought a new bicycle for one of the store’s employees after learning he was walking 10 miles each way to get to and from his job after his old bicycle gave out. Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

The Tampa Bay Times offers a strongly worded editorial calling for better safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, saying it’s time to stop accepting injuries and deaths as “collateral damage in a culture focused on cars.”

 

International

Here’s video of the Cuban cyclist stopped by police in his attempt to set a record for the world’s tallest ridable bike with the help of LA’s Ritchie Trimble, builder of the current record holder; builder Félix Ramón Guirola Cepero says he’s going to try it again. Got to hand it to Trimble; it’s a total class act to help the guy trying to beat your own record.

An 82-year old Brit man had the chutzpa to apply for a new driver’s license, just days after knocking a man off his bike, then driving over him at 3 mph.

The UK is about to be invaded by Chinese app-based bikeshare providers, extending their battle from the Middle Kingdom to foreign shores.

Caught on video: A British driver tweets that a bike rider should be prosecuted for riding through a red light when there was no traffic coming in any direction.

A Bollywood filmmaker plans several additional rides after finishing a 1,500 mile ride across India to promote mental health; he has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.

Australian police are closing in on a suspect in the 15-year old cold case murder of a man who was gunned down in his home weeks after finishing an eight-month tour of the country that ended when his bike was stolen.

 

Finally…

No, seriously. If you’re going to use a bike as your getaway vehicle after robbing a bank, try not to drop the cash you just stole. Your next bike helmet could fit in a water bottle, not that it would do a lot of good there.

And your latest bicycling jam comes courtesy of Frank Ocean, with an assist from Jay-Z and Tyler the Creator.

………

Chag Sameach!

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure, Vision Zero / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Early signs of bike life in Hollywood, and protected bike lanes could be coming to Lankershim in 2017

December 6, 2016 / / 2 comments

Maybe things are finally starting to happen around here.

A walk down Sunset Boulevard over the weekend confirmed that Hollywood is the city’s second district where bicyclists are allowed to lock their bikes to specific parking meters where racks have been attached; Westwood Village was the first.

SAMSUNG

Racks are spaced one per block

Hopefully it will soon spread to other parts of the city, where it is still illegal to lock a bike to a parking meter, though the law is seldom enforced.

And work is ongoing to open the long promised Bike Hub in the W Hotel at Hollywood and Vine, just around the corner from the Red Line Metro Station. Although with just 72 secure bike parking spaces, demand could quickly outstrip supply.

SAMSUNG

Now if they could just do something about providing people with safe places to ride their bikes, as called for in the hard-fought 2010 bike plan, now part of the LA Mobility Plan 2035. Virtually none of which exist today.

screen-shot-2016-12-06-at-12-40-33-am

And which will be desperately needed when bikeshare comes to Hollywood in a few years, as promised.

Unless maybe those are just pretty lines on a map, and more of the empty promises we’ve long been used to.

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Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports North Hollywood’s Lankershim Blvd could finally be getting protected bike lanes next year, after they had previously been blocked by former councilmember Tom LaBonge.

He also says plans are underway for a protected bike lane on Chandler Blvd, which could result in the city’s first protected intersection where they meet.

Welcome to Day 7 of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Donate to the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today to keep Southern California’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way bright and early every morning.

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Nothing suspicious here. An Italian Strava king is looking to turn pro at 38, an age at which most pros have long since retired; his father is a notorious dope doctor associated with a number of banned cyclists.

USA Cycling wants you to buy a license to participate in Gran Fondos and gravel rides. But at least they’ll come fix your flats if you do.

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Local

The LA County Sheriff’s Department gets a $1.9 million grant to reduce traffic fatalities, including a six-year rise in bike and pedestrian fatalities in the state.

Los Cerritos News proclaims itself LA’s best investigative newspaper, but apparently can’t be bothered to investigate which streets recently received $89,900 in bikeway improvements.

CiclaValley posts his favorite video of the year, as he catches up to a father and his young daughter bombing down Nichols Canyon at 30 mph on an ebike.

Ryan Seacrest is one of us, going for a ride on the beachfront bike path through Venice Beach with his apparent past and future girlfriend.

Former Criminal Minds star Shemar Moore is one of us too, as he describes what he calls the worst day of his life, when he suffered a broken leg after he was hit by a car while riding his bike in LA seven years ago.

 

State

Orange Coast College bike groups are distributing coupons on campus for free U-locks, after raising $1,000 for 42 locks.

San Diego police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who fled after striking a bicyclist near Mission Bay Park.

Community members in San Francisco discuss whether to ban cars from Golden Gate Park.

Marin hikers and pedestrians worry that approving access for mountain bikers on a short connecting trail will make it unsafe for everyone else.

A Sacramento man loses 75 pounds after buying an $800 dollar bike.

Great idea. The Davis Bike Club fights bike theft by giving out free Tile GPS-tracking anti-theft devices.

 

National

Bicycling interviews the founder of Portland’s first transgender cycling club.

An Iowa mountain bike group is building a 2.3 mile “roller coaster” off-road trail through 20 acres of wooded hills.

A Texas driver walks after playing the universal Get Out of Jail Free card when police determine the sun was in her eyes when she killed a state cyclocross champion.

A 68-year old Wisconsin man rides 1,900 miles across the US to his winter home in Texas, raising $6,000 for a local school along the way.

A Philly website offers advice on winter riding, which oddly doesn’t include moving to Los Angeles.

A Yonkers NY bike rider receives a $625,000 settlement after he was knocked off his bike by a speed bump.

New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare system is under pressure to expand into less affluent areas.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Virginia driver won’t spend a day in jail, despite being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a bike-riding college student — and despite a number of previous violations, including two hit-and-run charges.

 

International

London’s mayor proposes investing £770 million — the equivalent of nearly one billion dollars — in new bicycling initiatives to make cycling a “safe and obvious choice” for residents of the city; that works out to an impressive 5.5% of transportation spending.

A British coroner blames a bike rider for causing her own death by wearing headphones; never mind the big scary truck that may have frightened her into falling off her bike, even if it didn’t hit her.

A group of Brit cyclists ride the full length of Britain, covering over 1,000 miles in just six days.

The train station in a Norwegian commuter town now has a 400 space bike hotel, allowing people to securely drop off their bikes while they’re away at work.

Iraqi women defy cultural expectations by getting out on their bicycles, flooding Bagdad streets in response to a social media campaign.

A DHL delivery truck took out five Aussie cyclists over the weekend, fortunately, just two of the riders were seriously injured

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a customized bicycle and a prosthetic arm attachment from an Aussie amputee.

Caught on video: An out-of-control Chinese truck smashes through traffic at a red light, mowing down everything in its path, including people on bikes, before blowing up in a burst of flames. Warning, this one may be particularly hard to watch.

A Singapore bicyclist received a $8.65 million settlement for PTSD caused when she was struck by a bundle of cables at a construction site.

 

Finally…

A little dehydration could make you a better climber. And don’t call 911 when you can’t unlock your bike — even if they do respond with sirens blaring.

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Special thanks to Steve Herbert for his generous contribution to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. Donate today to help keep SoCal’s leading source for the freshest bike news and advocacy coming your way every morning.

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Lankershim Great Streets Pop Up, Finish the Ride Holiday Challenge, and ebike with Nelson Vails

November 30, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Lankershim Great Streets Pop Up, Finish the Ride Holiday Challenge, and ebike with Nelson Vails
It's the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today to help keep SoCal's best source for bike news coming your way every day.

It’s Day 6 of the 2nd Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! Donate today, and help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Let’s start with a couple of upcoming events.

First up, this Saturday’s Lankershim Community Pop Up will demonstrate what the boulevard could be if it’s reimagined as a Complete Street — complete with protected bike lanes — as part of the city’s Great Streets program.

Lankershim was scheduled to have bike lanes installed several years ago, but the plans were halted by then-Councilmember Tom LaBonge as part of his successful campaign to keep LA streets dangerous. Now that he’s been termed out of office, there may be hope for progress on the dangerously auto-centric street.

The LACBC will be hosting a #RideLankershim community bike ride as part of the event.

lankershim-pop-up

And a week from Sunday, Finish the Ride will host a Ride, Run, Walk ‘n Roll + Cyclocross Holiday Challenge at Woodley Park in Van Nuys, in conjunction with SoCal Cross and SAFE.

dec-finish-the-ride

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Local

Shinola has opened their latest Los Angeles location in the Arts District in DTLA (scroll down).

Bella Thorne is one of us, as the 19-year old actress and singer rode the streets of LA in her hoodie and ripped jeans.

Bike SGV invites bike riders to join them in tomorrow’s Monrovia Holiday Parade.

CiclaValley says riding the Cogswell Dam trail offers the solitude of getting away without much hassle.

You’re invited to ride a pedal-assist ebike with 1984 LA Olympian Nelson Vails at Saturday’s Electric Bike Expo in Santa Monica.

 

State

San Diego cyclists will ride to the city’s December Nights celebration in Balboa Park Friday night to highlight bikes as transportation and a way to fight climate change. Meanwhile, the city is making the temporary Bicycle Advisory Committee permanent as part of the city’s Climate Action Plan.

A Corona bike rider was lucky to escape with minor injuries when his bicycle was clipped by a train as he walked it along the railroad tracks.

Pedego is opening a shop in Palm Springs.

San Luis Obispo’s Bike SLO County is working to help put low-income, homeless and at-risk children and adults back on bicycles; they’ve given refurbished bikes to 17 people so far.

 

National

Peer-to-peer bikeshare system Spinlister is starting a new program to help bike shops rent bicycles.

An Oregon woman rode solo on a 5,350 mile journey across the US by following Adventure Cycling’s northern tier route.

Houston plans to double the size of the city’s bikeshare system.

Chicago’s Divvy bikeshare system celebrates the season with a fully reflective, candy cane stripped bike.

Streetsblog Chicago calls it a waste of police resources to ticket bicyclists who cross the street during a leading pedestrian interval crosswalk signal.

A Detroit non-profit wants to spread bicycling to every neighborhood in the city, giving away hundreds of used bikes to make sure every kid can have a bicycle.

It takes a real jerk to steal a ghost bike for a fallen Kentucky rider.

Despite the mayor’s upbeat pronouncements, New York’s Vision Zero is headed in the wrong direction, as more pedestrians and bike riders have lost their lives in the two years the program has been in effect.

The NYPD has released a near-real time map tracking traffic collisions in the city, including crashes with bicyclists and pedestrians. Which is something Los Angeles can and should be doing as part of Vision Zero. Thanks to Opus the Poet for the heads-up.

Philadelphia women describe the harassment they experience working as bike messengers on the city’s streets.

 

International

A new study shows exercise really does lower your risk of death. Although bicycling drops your overall risk 15%, but oddly, doesn’t reduce the risk of cardiovascular death.

Bike Radar says you don’t need an expensive bike to enjoy mountain biking, but it helps.

British police are looking for the bike rider who collided with a 71-year old woman, who later died of her injuries; the rider did stop and provide assistance until the woman was airlifted for treatment, but left without providing his contact information. Yet another reminder to always ride carefully around pedestrians, especially the elderly. And yes, you need to provide your ID and insurance information, just like drivers do.

Caught on video: A Brit driver barrel rolls into a ditch after hitting a bike that fell off the roof rack of another car at 70 mph. Always make sure to mount your bike securely. And double check it before you hit the road.

Britain’s Prince Charles was one of us, reporting that he was lucky to survive being hit by a bus while riding his bike as a youth.

An Indian rider describes the experience of riding the country’s first cycle superhighway.

A UNICEF program has donated 150 bamboo bikes to help girls in Ghana stay in school by providing the means to get there.

Caught on video too: A road raging Australian cyclist boarded a Brisbane bus and repeatedly punched the driver in the face before getting back on his bike and riding away. Once again, no matter what the driver may have done, violence is not the answer; take down the time, location and number of the bus and file a formal complaint instead. Preferably with bike cam video to back it up.

An Aussie website examines the history of bikewear.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to scam someone out of a bike by dressing like fake cop and saying it’s stolen, at least make sure it’s worth stealing; no, this wasn’t him.

And if you’re going to sell your used bike, at least make sure the wheels face the right way.

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If you missed it yesterday, take a few minutes to read David Kooi’s insightful guest post explaining why you should support your local bike shop.

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: A bridge over troubled roadway, post memorial hit-and-run, and buffed Cipollini in the buff

February 18, 2016 / / One comment

Metro is preparing to open a new pedestrian bridge linking the Universal City Metro stop to the Universal Studios across the street this April.

Because slowing traffic and fixing the street on busy Lankershim Blvd so it would be safe for pedestrians was apparently out of the question.

So if you take your bike on the subway to visit City Walk or take the studio tour, you’ll need to either cart it over the elevated walkway — if bikes are allowed on it — or risk your life crossing a street that city officials seemingly determined was too dangerous to fix.

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Something is seriously wrong when a bike rider is injured in a left cross hit-and-run after attending a memorial for a fallen 13-year old San Diego bicyclist. Thanks to Bryan Jones for the heads-up.

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Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini responds to complaints about riding without a helmet by donning one to ride on rollers. And doffing everything else.

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Local

The Biking Black Hole is looking for volunteers to test its new bikeshare program starting next Monday; there will be two stations with 50 bikes in Beverly Hills during the pilot phase, part of the promised expansion of Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare program. Although the question remains whether users will be able to find a safe place to ride in the notoriously bike-unfriendly city.

CiclaValley urges you to write to keep Griffith Park’s Mt. Hollywood Drive closed to motor vehicles, citing Burbank’s Mariposa Street bridge debacle as an example of what could happen.

 

State

Irvine is asking bike riders to ring a bell to politely announce their presence. Or you could just say “hello” or “excuse me.”

The San Diego Reader talks to local residents who accepted New Belgium Brewery’s challenge to live carfree for a full year, and finds they like it.

Tres shock! A planned road diet reducing the Coast Highway in Oceanside to two lanes, along with bike lanes on either side, is meeting resistance from some local residents. Not unlike virtually every proposed road diet, and most bike lanes, everywhere.

The CHP blames a Palo Alto cyclist for making an unsafe lane change in a fatal collision; he was riding in a bike lane that forces riders to cross high speed traffic merging right onto an on ramp. From the description, it sounds like the real person responsible the tragedy is whoever designed the bike lanes in the first place. Not to mention whoever approved a 55 mph speed limit on a surface street.

A Dublin driver who hit a 12-year old boy riding his bike swears he didn’t do it on purpose; fortunately, the victim is expected to survive.

 

National

Dallas and Forth Worth plan a 64-mile bike trail connecting the two cities. Yet we can’t even manage to get a continuous bikeway connecting Downtown LA and Santa Monica.

Women bike messengers in Chicago call for an end to cat calls and harassment. Seriously, women should just be allowed to do their jobs, and ride a bike without being subjected to abuse.

Urbana IL police donate abandoned and unclaimed bikes to people who need transportation.

A Brooklyn street gets an upgrade from sharrows to buffered bike lanes after overcoming previous opposition. Meanwhile, the head of a neighborhood group is trying to stir up a scandal, saying two members of a community board should have abstained from the vote that overwhelmingly approved bike lanes on another street, even though it wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference in the outcome.

NY Streetsblog questions why one police precinct openly permits illegal parking in a bike lane.

Outside reports on the sad last days of BMX legend Dave Mirra, who took his own life in North Carolina earlier this month; friends say he was depressed and had lost direction, despite making plans for a comeback.

 

International

Caught on video: A British cyclist narrowly escapes being hit by a large truck in a dangerously close pass.

Former Brit pro cyclist David Millar says he can teach young cyclists about the dangers of doping, following his two-year ban for using EPO. In that case, just imagine what Lance could teach.

Russian two-time road cycling bronze medalist Olga Zabelinskaya is cleared to compete in the Rio Olympics after accepting a postdated 18-month ban for a performance enhancing drug, which expired five months ago.

To cut down on congestion, Mumbai is proposing to ban all new car and motorcycle registrations after a yet-to-be-determined date; the city also plans 100 new cycle tracks, among other roadway improvements.

The five best places to ride you bike on your next business trip or vacation in Abu Dhabi.

Aussie world track champ Annette Edmondson is lucky to escape serious injury after t-boning a car on a blind corner at 31 mph.

A Singapore writer puts his own local spin on the old “we’re not (insert bike-friendly city here) cliché.

 

Finally…

Why roll when you can walk while you ride. Now you can use your butt to fill your tires.

And who needs wheels when you’ve got snow?

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Come back later this today when we’ll have the latest Bikes Have Rights guest post from LA bike lawyer and LACBC board member Jim Pocrass.

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

Morning Links: KPCC calls LaBonge a bike advocate, CicLAvia rolls, Kerry breaks a leg and Hövding sort of works

June 2, 2015 / / 7 comments

KPCC offered an hour long show to celebrate bicycling in Los Angeles over the weekend.

Okay, 45 minutes without station breaks.

It’s worth a listen; Cyclelicious breaks down the program, and archives the full hour if you’d rather hear the whole thing.

But in a major WTF moment, they interviewed outgoing Councilmember Tom LaBonge, discussing his support for bicycling, while acknowledging in passing that some bike advocates would disagree with that assessment.

Or how about, virtually all bike advocates would disagree.

While LaBonge has been a supporter of recreational riding, including completion of the LA River path, he seems unable to comprehend that some people have an actual need to get from here to there on the streets of LA, on two wheels and in one piece.

Like Paul Koretz and Gil Cedillo before him, LaBonge has personally halted plans for vital bikeways contained in the 2010 bike plan that was unanimously approved by the city council.

Which means he was for it before he was against it.

For instance, Lankershim Blvd was supposed to have a bike lane by now.

But LaBonge agreed with at least one neighborhood group that bikes belong on nearby Vineland instead, a quieter street that parallels Lankershim. Although the real issue isn’t giving cyclists a more serene street to ride, but rather, preserving traffic lanes and street parking along the dangerous boulevard.

Never mind bike riders need to go to the same places drivers do, and that shunting them aside merely forces them to ride further and bypass places where they might otherwise do business.

Or that bike lanes have been shown to help calm traffic and improve safety for everyone. And that businesses usually benefit by having a calmer, more walkable and rideable street passing by their storefronts, encouraging people to stop in rather than speed by.

LaBonge is also responsible for the death of the long-planned bike boulevard — excuse me, bike friendly street neighborhood greenway — on 4th Street.

Local residents objected, not to plans for a bike boulevard, but the idea of traffic lights at Highland and Rossmore that would allow riders to cross the busy streets safely, fearing that drivers would use the quiet side street to bypass busier streets on either side.

Instead of explaining that the planned traffic lights would be a demand lights that would only work if someone pushed a button on the side of the road, or that traffic diverters would keep motorists from driving more than a few blocks on 4th — or any of the other options that would have improved safety and livability for everyone along the corridor — LaBonge simply killed the whole thing.

Leaving both bike riders and local residents worse off.

As the program touched on, he’s also one of the prime movers trying to force a pedestrian-unfriendly Glendale-Hyperion bridge through the city council before he leaves office.

And before the less auto-centric David Ryu can replace him.

That’s not to say LaBonge isn’t a likable person, or that he’s not the closest thing to a cheerleader the City of Angels has had in years. In fact, he’d be the perfect choice to replace the late Johnny Grant as the honorary mayor of Hollywood.

But he’s been a mediocre and unpopular councilmember at best, which is one of the primary reasons his protégé Carolyn Ramsay lost to Ryu in the recent council race to replace him.

And he has been the enemy of anyone forced to ride the unwelcoming streets in his district. Something KPCC should have considered before allowing LaBonge to celebrate himself on the air.

Let’s hope Ryu will revive some of those projects LaBonge sent to an early death.

And that KPCC will do something like this again. But talk to a few more real bike advocates first.

……..

Pasadena police estimate attendance at Sunday’s CicLAvia at just 40,000, which would make it the lowest attended of any CicLAvia.

However, as Henry Fung points out, that’s most likely an estimate of the crowd at any given time, rather than the attendance for the full day, as people came and went throughout the day. The actual attendance was probably two or three times that.

The Source offers some truly great photos of the day, as does the Times, although the responses to the Time’s piece are sadly predictable. And while Boyonabike proclaimed the day potentially subversive, his son termed it awesome-tacular.

The next official CicLAvia will take place August 9th with a route along Venice and Washington Boulevards from Culver City to the coast. Hopefully, the redesigned and shortened route will avoid the problems with 2013’s CicLAvia to the Sea, which resulted in bike traffic jams that rivaled the 405 at rush hour.

But if you can’t wait that long, you’re in luck. Because Long Beach is hosting its first ciclovía on Atlantic Avenue this Saturday.

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Calbike calls on everyone to call your state legislators to urge support for more active transportation funding.

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Secretary of State John Kerry broke his leg while riding in France. Kerry is said to be an exceptional cyclist, even if some people who clearly don’t have a clue say he’s too old to ride a bike; I know some people who might disagree.

The question is what effect his injury will have on current international negotiations, including efforts to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.

On the other hand, who goes out for a bike ride with a motorcade, including physician, in tow?

Thanks to George Wolfberg for the second link.

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Bike Radar tries out that Hövding inflatable bike non-helmet, which surprisingly enough, seems to actually work.

Although if you watch carefully, the side of her head impacts the mattress before the helmet moves around to protect it. Which could result in serious injury if you don’t happen to fall on bedding.

……..

No surprise from the Giro d’Italia as Contador cruises to an easy victory, setting up a chance to try for rare back-to-back victories in the Giro and Tour de France. The breakout star of the tour has been Astana’s Fabio Aru, who may get a shot at the TdF as a result.

And VeloNews looks at how the young American contingent faired.

……..

Local

The Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee meets tonight at the Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall, 6501 Fountain Ave; you can find tonight’s agenda here. The BAC is the only official voice in the city government for bike riders, even if most LA cyclists don’t even know it exists. Correction: earlier I misidentified the location of the meeting; the address above is the correct location.

Streetsblog is the latest to complain about scofflaw cops parking in the bike lane near the old Parker Center police headquarters.

Architect Michael Maltzan’s squiggle is turning into a new 6th Street Viaduct, complete with circular bike ramps to lift riders up to the crossing while providing views of LA.

Caught on video: The first green-backed sharrows come to Venice.

David Beckham teaches his three-year old daughter how to ride a bike. And without training wheels, no less.

 

State

Orange County rescue teams had a busy day on Sunday, as they came to the aid of three mountain bike riders injured in separate incidents.

A 68-year old Los Angeles woman suffered a serious head injury when she was hit by a cyclist while crossing a street in Del Mar. Let’s hope she makes a full and fast recovery. And always give pedestrians the right-of-way; they’re the only ones on the street more vulnerable than we are.

An Oceanside road diet and roundabout designed to improve safety for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians has received a third engineering design award. Awards are nice, but the real test is whether it reduces conflicts and collisions.

Competitive mountain biking is spreading throughout California high schools; the Union-Tribune offers a nice look at a budding team from an Escondido high school.

Goldenvoice, the company behind the Coachella music festival, has offered to pay the maintenance costs for the Coachella Valley’s planned 50-mile bike and pedestrian path.

San Luis Obispo police bust a bike burglar in a stolen van after a brief chase; inside they found six high-end bicycles valued at over $40,000 stolen in a break-in at a local bike shop.

San Francisco officials hope to get a change in state law to allow speed cameras to automatically ticket speeding drivers. LA should get behind the bill, as well; we’ll never meet Vision Zero goals if LA drivers continue to be allowed, if not expected, to speed with impunity.

 

National

Okay, so don’t try to fix potholes yourself.

Next City asks when the US will embrace truck side guards to keep bicyclists and pedestrians safer.

Bicycling’s Elly Blue discusses the potentially burning question of how to drink coffee while you ride.

Vox discusses how to get more people biking and walking to work.

Portland cyclists ride to demand no more ghost bikes, while a local website asks if biking in the bike friendly city is getting more dangerous.

Yes, it’s upsetting to get into an argument after crashing into jaywalking pedestrian. But don’t pull out a knife and stab the other man multiple times; a Seattle man faces assault charges for doing exactly that.

A Colorado woman is riding from Denver to Anchorage to raise funds for Nepal earthquake victims.

Wyoming police are on the lookout for a suspected hit-and-run driver who injured a bike rider, but that doesn’t stop him from venting on Facebook. Seriously, anything you say on social media can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Houston cyclists were involved in at least 950 vehicle collisions in a 12-month period since the city approved a three-foot passing law; at least 213 of those were hit-and-run. Clearly, hit-and-run is not just an LA problem.

A Minnesota driver warns about the dangers of distracted driving, after serving a whole six months for the death of a bike riding mother pulling her two daughters in a bicycle trailer; he’ll serve another three months in each of the next two years.

This is why so-called pranks aren’t funny. A 72-year old Ohio bicyclist was blinded in one eye when he was shot with a paintball gun by a passenger in a passing car; a 20-year old man faces a felony assault charge in the case. This is also one more example why you should always wear eye protection when you ride.

In a bizarre twist of fate, a North Carolina cyclist considers giving up bicycling after he’s the victim of a hit-and-run, five years to the day after he was severely injured in another hit-and-run while riding.

 

International

Sad news from up north, as an impaired British Columbia driver plowed into a group of three cyclists, killing two, as well as a passenger in his own vehicle.

Vancouver’s move to better bike infrastructure has resulted in a doubling in ridership since 2008.

An Edmonton man gets his knickers in a twist after he’s denied entry to a bike co-op on a women and transgender night.

Prepare to get pissed off. An Ottawa judge rules a driver not guilty of hit-and-run because he was… wait for it… too drunk to know he’d hit a bike rider. He also got off on a separate drunk driving charge because police allegedly violated his rights when he was arrested.

English police warn about yet another attempt to injure cyclists by stringing wires at neck level across a bikeway.

A British group is raising funds to put women’s bike racing on TV on a weekly basis.

Caught on video: A road raging Brit driver has a foul mouthed meltdown, threatening to eat a bike rider for breakfast for failing to use a nearly unrideable bikeway. Somehow, I feel like I’ve seen this movie before. Or maybe lived it.

Apparently not caught on video was the road raging British Brompton rider who grabbed another bicyclist by the throat and pushed him into the bushes.

Maybe it’s time to take a bike tour through the heel of Italy’s boot. Or perhaps you’d prefer to ride along the Danube. Or just retire to ride around the world.

On the other hand, this is the risk we face in today’s world, as a Chinese bike tourist is being held hostage by a Taliban group in Pakistan.

Who knew Dubai was becoming bike friendly? The emirate has constructed 110 miles of cycle tracks spanning the country.

An Aussie woman writes about what it’s like to live with a cyclist and worry about her partner’s safe return. Which is why my wife doesn’t want to know what happens on my rides anymore.

A Japanese prefecture now requires bike riders to carry liability insurance.

Hong Kong cyclists push to make the city bike friendly, while the city seems to move in the opposite direction.

 

Finally…

When a Toronto man left his $2,500 Dutch cargo bike at the airport, a maintenance crew tossed it in the trash; fortunately, a worker rescued it and returned it to its owner. Does a wrist-held smartwatch come under the ban for using hand-held devices while driving?

And yes, riding a bike can be very exciting, as a participant in a UK edition of the World Naked Bike Ride was removed by police for becoming a little too aroused during the event.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bike Events, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,
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