After living with topical chemo for a few weeks, I now have a gaping, pulpy hole in my right cheek, and virtually no skin left on the top half of my left ear; we’ll learn in a few weeks if that got rid of the skin cancer, or if I will still need surgery.
Seriously, wear sunscreen when you ride. Your future face will thank you.
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An 86-year old man was injured in a collision after allegedly riding an ebike through a red light in Carlsbad on July 31st, and died later at the hospital.
But once again, the story fails to mention whether he was riding a legal Class 1, 2 or 3 ped-assist e-bicycle, or an electric motorbike.
It also fails to mention whether the vehicle that hit him had a driver, which would seem to be an important detail.
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No bias here.
A road-raging Laguna beach driver got out of his car to confront a bike rider on PCH on Saturday, attempting to punch the bicyclist as the other man backed away.
Needless to say, many people sided with the driver, blaming bicyclists for simply riding on the busy highway, despite having no idea what had spurred the incident.
Never mind that the driver committed assault simply by getting out of his car to confront the rider, and again by trying to punch him.
Funny how people get upset about bicyclists riding the coastal highway on weekends, but have no problem with people clogging it with their cars, taking up far more space less efficiently.
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Interesting insight, as a physician says his 36 year of medical training convinces him not to use a rear-facing radar to detect oncoming motorists, because it would not hold up to a randomized clinical trial.
The problem, according to Dr. James H. Stein, is that an unbiased funder would look at the premise, and immediately concluded that it is unlikely to hold up to scrutiny.
At its limit of roughly 450 feet, for a vehicle driving 55 mph, the device provides about 5-6 seconds of warning (less if they are driving faster). That is enough time to register an alert, but I do not think it meaningfully changes the decisions available to a cyclist. The options remain the same as seeing a vehicle in your rear view mirror or hearing it approach: hold your line, move right (even if that means moving off the road), or signal your presence by waving your arms. Those decisions are made as the car approaches, not from that far away. Earlier detection, in this context, adds information without adding options.
A radar also tells you nothing about a driver’s trajectory, or whether it will hit you or go around you. It only notifies you of the vehicle’s presence.
The problem is that the constant notifications may lead to divided attention and notification fatigue, as the rider’s focus is repeatedly diverted from the roadway to the screen and back again.
Furthermore, most of what can hurt a cyclist is in front of them: potholes, gravel, debris, pedestrians, other cyclists, and cars either parked or entering the roadway. Even before radar, I have seen cyclists become so absorbed in their cycling computer that they rode off the road, and others have hit parked cars in front of them because they were not paying close enough attention. And I can’t count the number of times riders I know forgot to charge their light (the one with safety evidence) but did remember to charge their radar device.
Stein says looking at the marketing materials is where his research training kicks in, telling “There are no data showing that radar, or even early detection, reduces crashes or injuries,” and “Showing that an intervention changes something we can measure is not the same as showing that it improves the outcome we actually care about.”
It’s worth taking a few moments to read the whole thing, and giving it some thought. And even learning something about supplemental oxygen and treating anemia in hospitalized patients, while you’re at it.
Because he brings up a perspective that you may have never considered.
I know I hadn’t.
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Today’s common theme follows the pattern in recent weeks of ebikes of all stripes and the people who hate them.
- A child riding an ebike was injured in a Lancaster hit-and-run Friday afternoon, but there’s no description of the suspect or vehicle involved, no age or other identifying information given for the victim, and word on the child’s injuries.
- A group of Long Beach neighbors say they’re being terrorized by teen hoodlums on ebikes who call everyone pedophiles, scream racial slurs and throw fireworks — although video appears to show kids on illegal e-motos and dirt bikes.
- An Irvine educator responds to a recent op-ed from a 12-year old boy calling for more ebike laws and safer places to ride, arguing that her Bellemont Project helps communities “move beyond fragmented responses and toward a complete safety strategy.”
- An Orange County father has created a scannable decal and registry for ebikes, allowing school officials to scan a QR code to learn the name of the student, the school and if the bike was stolen.
- Two bills advancing in the state legislature would set up a pilot program allowing San Mateo county to ban ebike use of any kind for kids under 12, and give local governments more authority to set speed limits on bike trails.
Additional ebike-related news, good and bad, includes —
- A kindhearted Kansas man returned a stolen ebike to a legally blind man who had used it as his only form of transportation, after his son bought from the juvenile thief for $85, knowing it was probably stolen; the victim is now offering to refund donations to a crowdfunding page that had drawn $5,785.
- Three ebike riders with killed by hit-and-run drivers in New York this week alone, bringing the city to a total of 17 bicycling deaths this year, as bike riders and advocacy groups demand safety improvements.
- An argument over damage to a car escalated into a shooting in Philadelphia early Saturday morning — despite its reputation as the City of Brotherly Love — reading between the lines, it appears an ebike rider crashed into a vehicle, though it’s not clear if it was parked or moving, then shot a man in the hip after arguing with the apparent owner over the damage.
- The London Times oddly drops its paywall for a story about impressing the other parents by showing up for the school run carrying your kids on a premium e-cargo bike.
- Two English men, ages 31 and 24, face murder charges for killing a 27-year old man riding a bicycle by punching him in an unprovoked attack.
- Four Italian students won the Product Design category of the Toyota Logistic Design Competition by creating a human-powered cargo lifter bicycle built for banana farmers in rural Kenya, allowing farmers to harvest the bunch, transport it and load it onto a truck in a single workflow.
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BikeLA announces the return of their annual Bike Fest fundraiser this November.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bike just keeps on going.
Literally war, in this case, as Russia’s 3rd Army posted video of a drone attack on an unarmed Ukrainian civilian riding a bicycle, before removing the online video, perhaps after realizing they had just posted evidence of a war crime.
Speaking of bias, the Adelaide, Australia Advertiser says forget toll roads, and make bicyclists pay a toll to pay for the $12 million the city is investing in bikeways. But then they kindly hide the story behind one of the country’s typical draconian paywalls to avoid the disservice of making us actually read that dreck.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A British writer confesses to riding through red lights, but says the solution to scofflaw bicyclists is fewer laws governing bicyclists, not more.
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Local
South Pasadena will host a pair of community meetings next week to discuss Metro-funded makeovers of the Fremont Avenue corridor from Columbia Street to Alhambra Road, and the Huntington Drive corridor from Alhambra Road to Garfield Ave.
A Cal Poly student describes riding his bicycle back to school from the San Fernando Valley to San Luis Obispo via Topanga Canyon Boulevard and PCH. Not once, but twice.
State
LAist says a $10.7 million bike lane project is coming to a long-overdue ten-mile stretch of PCH in Huntington Beach.
National
Two Navy vets in their 50s reunited for the first time in 30 years for a cross-country bike ride from California to New York to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11.
A Portland writer describes the law, or lack thereof, behind the trail crossing sign that has been used nationwide since 2000 under the MUTCD, showing a yellow warning square with a pedestrian and a bicycle; yellow signs are considered advisory, and not legally binding.
Good idea. Three Chattanooga, Tennessee microbreweries host weekly bike nights. Although if anyone tried that here, you’d probably have cops lined up outside waiting for anyone biking under the influence.
A 38-year old Raleigh, North Carolina woman was under the influence, driving with a suspended license and had her six kids under ten years old in her car when she hit and killed a 69-year old man out for a midnight bike ride.
A North Carolina cyclist is calling for safety changes in the state, after two young men he knew were killed in the Milligan University massacre, saying he raced with or against every victim of the crash.
International
A writer for Cycling Weekly says riding a fixed-gear bike is the best way to demonstrate your superiority over riders on carbon superbikes. Although the name of the magazine describes by own riding style these days, of cycling weakly.
Speaking of good ideas, Calgary, Alberta, hosted a women’s-only Gran Fondo, with 180 women lining up for timed rides of 25 and 44 miles.
Two English men, ages 31 and 24, face murder charges for killing a 27-year old man riding a bicycle by punching him in an unprovoked attack.
A bike route crosses four European countries, crossing from the Netherlands through Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg on the Vennbahn, and ending with a soak in Aachen, Germany’s historic thermal baths.
Momentum says Japan’s newest national bike route draws a 101-mile circle around Mount Fuji, combining bicycling with mountain scenery, cultural attractions and “some very good reasons to stop for ice cream.”
Australia’s Bicycle Networks says a new bike and pedestrian bridge marks another step forward for Sydney as a bicycling city.
Competitive Cycling
Mauritian cyclist Kim Le Court-Pienaar won the women’s Tour of Britain by a 24-second margin, after claiming the leader’s jersey with an uphill solo attack on stage three; Lorena Wiebes finished second by claiming four of the five stages, just not the one that counted.
Twenty-one-year old British rider Matthew Brennan won the second stage of the Vuelta, the longest stage the race’s 21 stages, as Tadej Pogačar held on to the leader’s red jersey; as it now stands, Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan are second and third.
Julian Alaphilippe says he’s done with pro cycling, and is calling it a career “with immediate effect” at age 34.
Finally…
If you’re underage and riding an illegal e-moto, try not to crash directly in front of the cop shop. If at REI you don’t spend, your car’s not welcome here in Bend.
And yes, a bright kit will make you more visible to everyone. Thanks to Norm for the link.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
