No major news stories this weekend, so let’s get right to it.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a road-raging driver walked with a suspended sentence for deliberately attempting to slam into a semi-professional cyclist, even though the judge bellowed from the bench “What the bloody hell were you doing? Had you hit him and he went under you could have been facing a charge of manslaughter or causing death by dangerous driving. What were you thinking of? You are right to look ashamed.” And even after that, let him off with a slap on the wrist.
A British parish council faces well-deserved backlash for reporting a group of kids to the cops for building a tiny dirt bike ramp, as locals ask why the council doesn’t have more important matters to attend to.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The bomb squad was called out in San Diego when an apparently well-meaning man rode off on his bicycle after dropping off a bag full of high-powered ammunition at the Santee sheriff’s station; he just wanted the deputies to safely dispose of it and didn’t intend to cause a security incident.
The CHP seized a whopping 85 bicycles and cited dozens of people when participants in an apparent rideout attempted to take over the San Francisco’s Bay Bridge; the state police stopped the group as they tried to enter the bridge on an offramp after riding recklessly through the city.
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Local
The Eastsider wants to know if you’d be willing to reduce or eliminate curbside parking on Sunset Blvd to make room for bike and bus lanes. “Hell yeah!” doesn’t seem to be an option, so you’ll have to settle for yes.
A Whittier man was hospitalized in unknown condition early Friday after he was shot when he rode his bicycle past a car, and two people inside fired multiple shots at him.
Once again, ebikes got the blame when a group of about 50 people riding “illegal electric motorcycles, pocket bikes and e-bikes” took over Long Beach streets late Friday afternoon, leading to the arrest of a 17-year old boy, police issuing five traffic citations and impounding five vehicles. Something tells me that not one of those ebikes would be legal under California’s Class 1, 2 or 3.
State
The LA Times catches up with the road rage harassment and attempted assault of two bicyclists in Newport Beach last week, and the subsequent arrest of one of the drivers allegedly involved, which we told you about on Friday. Ironically, the belated story was reported by the paper’s breaking news desk.
In a story that should sound familiar to Los Angeles bike riders, criticism directed at Caltrans for building a very short bike lane should have been directed at San Diego officials, who were supposed to build a new bike lane when a street was resurfaced for a water project, but neglected to budget enough for a complete resurfacing, and decided to just skip it, even though Caltrans didn’t.
The inaugural family-friendly Bike the Coast Ventura is scheduled for this June.
A Spanish architect completed a six-month, 1,200-mile bike trip retracing the route of the 1775 Anza expedition from Sonora, Mexico to the San Francisco Bay.
Speaking of San Francisco, the city’s transportation department released a map showing where the most collisions involving drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists occurred. Something that we were promised under Vision Zero, but which the city only maintained for a year or two.
Finishing our San Francisco trifecta, the city absurdly ripped out a DIY protected bike lane installed by a local advocacy group after a driver ran down and killed a two-year old kid last month — removing their yellow plastic posts and replacing them with white posts.
National
A Redditor is grateful for a random act of kindness after she fell off her bike on a rough patch of pavement, and a stranger ran over with his dog to was her off and help her get back up.
A website for people over 60 offer the best bicycle dad jokes — or grandad jokes, in this case — although “best” is doing a lot of work here.
A health website offers “the ultimate guide to choosing the best bike for every rider.” Which isn’t, and aren’t.
Seattle creates four “low-pollution neighborhoods” designed to reduce air pollution and increase access to transit and safe walking and biking infrastructure.
A Washington bike rider was lucky to escape with minor injuries when the driver of box truck jumped the sidewalk she was riding on, and fled the scene after hitting her; the driver was later arrested for reckless driving, hit-and-run and driving with a suspended license.
That’s more like it. Denver, Colorado is moving forward with a nearly $1 billion Complete Streets makeover of the city’s streets, with over 500 traffic calming projects which will reduce space for motor vehicles and replace it with wider sidewalks, bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes throughout the city; naturally, critics complain it will increase traffic congestion. However, you’ll have to find your own way past the paper’s paywall.
That’s more like it, part two. A 24-year old Colorado ex-con was sentenced to 18 years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a 41-year old man riding a bicycle in Boulder, Colorado, after he was paroled despite being previously considered a high risk to re-offend on drug crimes.
An Indiana bikemaker is urging the Trump Administration to level the playing field by imposing hirer tariffs on imported bicycles, in what could be a test case of the administration’s strategy of using import taxes to promote domestic manufacturing.
That’s more like it, part three. New Jersey officials threw the book at a hit-and-run driver for dragging the victim and their bicycle behind her car as she fled the scene; she was charged with vehicular assault, aggravated assault, and endangering an injured victim, as well as DUI, reckless driving and hit-and-run counts.
A five-year old Virginia boy was remembered with a 6th annual Easter event that gave away 20,000 eggs and 65 bicycles to families in need; he was shot point-blank by a neighbor while riding his bike in North Carolina in 2020.
You’ve got to be kidding. Police in Charlotte, North Carolina blamed the victim when an eight-year old girl was killed by a driver after she rode her bike out of the family driveway into the street — even though the driver was a) driving with a revoked license, b) driving without insurance, c) driving an unregistered vehicle, d) driving with a fictitious registration, and e) may or may not have been speeding.
Life is cheap in Louisiana, where a 36-year old man got just two and a half years behind bars for killing a 64-year old man riding his bicycle, despite pleading guilty to negligent homicide and a number of traffic infractions after striking the victim with a too-close pass. And even though sideswiping the victim’s bike is a prima facie violation of the state’s three-foot passing law.
International
How to find yourself metaphorically singing in the literal rain while you ride.
Tres shock! It turns out that sucking high-sugar energy gels is bad for your teeth.
The UK’s Factor bike brand received a cease-and-desist letter from a Colombian bikemaker, which complained the Scarab logo for Factor’s new iridescent aero bike is too close to custom steel bikemaker Scarab Cycles name and logo, and likely to cause confusion in the market. And yes, they’ve got a damn good point.
A British soccer legend learns the hard way that being the Premier League record-holder for goals scored is no protection from hitting a nasty pothole on his bike.
A bicyclist in Malta dreams of a safer environment for riding.
Tragic news from India, where a 42-year-old businessman was killed by a speeding 17-year old hit-and-run driver, while on his very first bike ride after taking up bicycling to maintain his fitness.
Dubai announced the opening of 13 new cycle tracks to create a nearly 400 mile network, placing the Emirate on track to open over 630 miles of bikeways by 2030.
Starting next month, bike riders in Japan will be subject to traffic tickets and fines, just like drivers; parents fear it will make it more challenging to get their kids to school.
Competitive Cycling
A couple of men in Italy seriously stretched the definition of “fans” as Velo reports a “rampaging fan” climbed on top of the moving Visma-Lease a Bike team car during stage four of the Coppi e Bartali, attempting to steal a bike off the roof, while another “fan” punched and threatened the people inside; American teenager Ashlin Barry went on to claim his first victory for the team’s development squad.
Speaking of first wins, Aussie Brady Gilmore claimed his first WorldTour victory on the final stage of the Volta a Catalunya — even if Bicycling Australia takes until the final paragraph to mention almost in passing that Jonas Vingegaard captured overall victory.
Speaking of the Volta, British cyclist Tom Pidcock considered himself lucky to escape with relatively minor knee and wrist injuries from crashing down a steep ravine on Friday.
Good news from Italy, where Debora Silvestri is out of the hospital, more than a week after she suffered severe chest trauma going over a guard rail in a terrifying Milan-Sanremo crash, then landing on a service road after a ten-foot drop.
Texas Monthly says the next great American cyclist could be unassuming Amarillo 18-year old Beckam Drake. Although once again, you’ll have to get around their paywall. And never mind how the last great American cyclist from Texas turned out.
Speaking of which, it turns out that women dope, too, as Italian cyclist Linda Laporta was provisionally suspended for testing positive for a banned substance during the recent UAE Tour Women. Although she has a long way to go to catch up with Lance’s record of seven ex-Grand Tour wins.
Finally…
That feeling when you “ingeniously” tow a mattress-laden boat with your ebike, unless maybe it was all stolen. Who needs carbon fiber or titanium when you can build your own frame from PVC pipes?
And why let tandem riders have all the fun, when you can build your very own unicycle for two?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
