Altadena Councilwoman Dorothy Wong expressed concern for vulnerable road users being sandwiched between 50-foot long trucks, cones and cars as work begins on removing sediment from the Devil’s Gate Dam, putting 400 dump trucks on the streets of the San Gabriel Valley every day.
A Kansas man rode his bike a thousand miles to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in just ten days, only to have it stolen off the back of his truck. But raised over $33,000 to fight eating disorders along the way.
David Drexler forwards some photos from the women’s Amgen Tour of California final on Saturday. Unfortunately, we don’t have names to go with the photos, but its amazing how close fans can get to the riders.
Drexler also took part in the Rose Pedal Ride after the race, when the Rose Bowl course was open to bicyclists while remaining closed to drivers.
And nearly had the entire thing to himself.
This is how he describes it.
What if you threw a CicLAvia and No One Came?
It was called the Rose Pedal — where was everyone??
After the Amgen from 2 Pm to 8 Pm there was a ciclovia — all the roads were closed to car traffic around the Rose Bowl, but it was me and less than 10 other cyclists. Sometimes I rode half way around the Bowl with no one in back or in front of me, no cars. It was weird.
I almost think that there would have been more people out there if it was not for Amgen keeping the regulars away due to car restrictions.
I had this vision of 1000’s of people cycling around he Rose Bowl like the LA CicLAvia’s.
Lot’s of people came on bikes to Amgen, but when it ended — most left?
And he posed for photos with a couple of celebs, one of whom is former US Postal Service Team rider and current broadcaster Christian Vande Velde.
I’m told the other one is pretty famous, too.
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Bike journalist Peter Flax plays Bingo with LA’s favorite traffic safety deniers. Take this one to your next contentious traffic safety meeting.
Then again, aren’t they all these days?
For those of you who interact with the good people at Keep LA Moving on social media, I made a bingo card of their default responses to any conversation. Good luck getting Bingo! pic.twitter.com/PKdc9CbUpe
Apparently, those new protected bike lanes we were promised as a condition of granting permits to build the towering Wilshire Grand aren’t exactly what we got.
This is the cost of traffic violence. Actress Rebecca Gayheart says she didn’t want to live after killing a nine-year old boy as she was driving in Los Angeles. On the other hand, the kid probably did want to live. And her comment of “Why me? Why Jorge?” seems to prioritize the victims of this crash the wrong way. Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the heads-up.
Malibu sheriff’s deputies will be conducting a bike and pedestrian safety enforcement crackdown today. As usual, that means riding to the letter of the law while in the city. And hoping deputies don’t fall back into their bad habit of ticketing riders for nonexistent requirements to ride single file and hug the door zone.
Olympic freestyle skiing silver medalist Gus Kenworthy says he’s participating in next month’s AIDS/LifeCycle ride to remind people that HIV rates are still climbing. He’s raised $153,000 to benefit the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation; his goal is to raise $1 million.
The NRDC says California cities are rolling towards a more sustainable future, calling out San Jose, San Francisco and San Diego for their efforts to increase bicycling rates. Noticeably missing is Los Angeles, for good reason. Maybe CA cities have to be named afters saints instead of angels to actually do something about building better streets for bike riders.
A writer for the Riverside Press-Enterprise says yes, bike riders are required to stop for stop signs and traffic lights, after a driver writes he did, and a bicyclist didn’t. However, there have been times when a driver called me out for running a stop sign I had already stopped at, so take it with a grain of salt.
Santa Barbara firefighters flew a critically injured mountain biker out by helicopter after the rider suffered what was described as a major spinal injury Monday afternoon. Let’s offer our prayers and best wishes for a fun and fast recovery.
A San Ramon letter writer somehow feels the need to remind us that bikes are inanimate objects and don’t have rights. And that mountain bikers have the same access to trails that anyone else does — on foot. Bikes may be inanimate objects, but the people who ride them do have rights.
Distracted driving is the new drunk driving, responsible for at least 3,166 traffic fatalities and countless close calls in 2017. And those are just the ones they know about; too many distracted driving crashes go undetected because police need a warrant to examine the driver’s phone, which requires probable cause. The law should be changed to require implied consent to search the driver’s phone after a crash, just like with blood alcohol levels in many states.
May 20, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Haute couture Dior ghost bike, bicyclists told to walk across bridge, and $43.6 million for LA bike projects
Apparently, memorials for dead bike riders are high fashion now.
And no doubt, rake in big bucks from people with too damn much money and too little taste.
The limited edition BMX is due at the end of the month; the only good news is that only 150 of the utterly tasteless Dior bikes will be built.
Maybe their designers saw a few white bicycles chained to the side of the road, and had no idea why they were there.
Or maybe Dior came up with the idea themselves, and didn’t bother to find out that someone else had the idea first, for an entirely different purpose. And that the all-white paint job actually means something far more important than overpriced fashion.
Though you’d think their bike-making partners could have told them.
Let’s just hope Dior wises up at the last minute, and cancels the sale out of an abundance of caution and taste.
Or at least donates all the proceeds to benefit the families of those who died riding their bikes.
County officials plan to require, or maybe just firmly request, that bike riders dismount and walk across the pedestrian walkway adjacent to the bridge while it is undergoing reconstruction.
Something that would be problematic, to say the least, with the bridge located just beyond a sweeping turn following a steep descent along the popular riding route.
It would also be of questionable legality, since bicyclists are allowed on any road where cars are allowed, with the exception of many limited access highways.
But whether there is an exception for construction zones is unclear at this time.
A lot will depend on just what the traffic signs look like when the bridge reopens.
If they have a yellow background, it’s merely advisory, like the suggested speeds on corners that virtually everyone ignores. But if the signs are white, like a speed limit sign, they carry the force of law, and violators can be ticketed.
Whether those tickets are legal, however, could be up to the courts to decide.
The other grant provides $24.8 million for improvements along the Broadway/Manchester corridor in South LA, including bike lanes, along with sidewalk and crosswalk enhancements and other safety projects.
Something tells me he — or she — will have a lot of explaining to do once they get caught.
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Today’s must-read is a hard-hitting Namibian op-ed that starts out with a clear-eyed look at drivers blaming bicyclists for “minor misdemeanors or violations of road rules to say we ‘asked for’ accidents.”
Then abruptly shifts to an examination of race and privilege, as “black Namibians literally take their lives in their hands every time they head out onto the road.”
It’s more than worth the few minutes it will take to read, if only to get a different perspective from a view most of us seldom see.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
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A black woman accuses Irish police officers of racism after they tackle her 15-year old brother, apparently for the crime of riding a bicycle.
Life is cheap in Montana, where a hit-and-run driver walked with just probation for a crash that paralyzed a bike-riding woman from the waist down; if she fulfills the terms of her probation, the felony conviction will be wiped from her record. Her victim, on the other hand, will serve a life sentence in a wheelchair.
No disconnect here. An Illinois man says a local road is too dangerous for people on bicycles, and it’s not a good idea to ride a bike there. Then adds that drivers pass him way too fast when he does.
The e-scooter invasion of Europe is nearly complete after Germany approves their use on the country’s roads and bike paths, leaving the UK as the continent’s only holdout. Then again, if Britain goes through with Brexit, they’ll sever the ties binding them to Europe anyway.
As always, the question is whether there were any independent witnesses who actually saw who had the green light.
Or if Long Beach police relied strictly on the driver’s account, since the victim would have been unable to share her side of the story.
Either way, it’s a reminder to always stop for red lights and observe the right-of-way.
Because the consequences can be life changing. Or ending.
Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.
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At least one rider made it out for yesterday’s soggy Bike to Work Day.
And on a very cool Pedersen bike, no less.
Neither rain nor heat nor cranky drivers prevented engineer and bike enthusiast @NPRPatrick from participating in LA’s Bike to Work Day. @NPR’s #BikeToWorkDay is tomorrow, and he’ll probably be pedaling in then, too! #BikeLApic.twitter.com/2q2ydp8RdS
And hats off to Michael Fishman and Pure Cycles for saving the day when the unthinkable, but all too common, happened to a rider in DTLA.
Got a tip that @purecycles is the #biketoworkday MVP. The guy pictured with the Pure Cycles Team has his bike stolen while visiting the @lacbc Pit Stop. Thanks to Michael Fishman and Pure Cycles for saving the day by giving him a bike on the spot. pic.twitter.com/3ebnNn8HOA
Jackson will be at Sunday’s Finish the Ride in Griffith Park to spread the need for safer streets if you want to wish him well in his recovery; registration ends at 6 pm tomorrow.
When the driver caught up to him at a red light, he allegedly kicked and punched the car, then reached in to grab her mother, before spitting on both women and riding away.
Let’s hope the woman he was riding with saw all that, and took it as fair warning before he turns that violent temper her way some day.
Although it does make you wonder what the driver said when she caught up to him.
Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay calls Ben King the humble king of American cycling. Unfortunately, the article is hidden behind the Journal’s paywall, so you may not get past the first few paragraphs.
Hopefully the weather will hold off, so you’ll be able to get out and ride your Bike to Work commute today.
And hopefully the LACBC and LADOT will both keep their promised morning pit stops, despite the forecast.
Especially since both promise fresh donuts and coffee instead of the usual Bike to Work Day energy bar fare.
Reminder. We have an awesome pit stop planned for tomorrow, #BiketoWorkDay on Spring St btwn 6th & 7th, 7AM-10AM. Ride your bike for free donuts, breakfast burritos, & @HighBrewCoffee! (while supplies last) Of course, the 2-way protected bike lane is pretty awesome too. #bikeLApic.twitter.com/19EbKhV8Vr
If no one shows up on Bike to Work Day, they can feel free to send any leftover donuts my way, since it looks like at least another month before I can ride my bike anywhere besides my living room.
Police tracked the driver to a nearby apartment, where he was taken into custody on suspicion of being drunk and stoned behind the wheel.
And if the street sounds familiar, it’s the same one where Rose City NIMBYs were driven to a frenzy by a group affiliated with traffic safety deniers Keep LA Moving to demand that the city keep the street dangerous.
Clearly, they succeeded.
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Brayden Dakota captured bike cam video of a close call on a blind intersection near the Canoga Station on the Orange Line Bike Path.
Unfortunately, it’s not the first time I’ve seen video of a similar near-collision at that location. Hopefully someone will finally do something to fix the problem, so it will be the last.
Very surprising, though, was Los Angeles actually making the list at 56th, primarily because we ranked first for the world’s best bicycling weather, though you couldn’t prove it today.
Recovering the feminist legacy of cycling requires overcoming the practical obstacles that keep women off bikes, and making sure women’s voices are heard in city planning. But perhaps most importantly, it will mean reclaiming the joy, pleasure, and sense of possibility that those early cyclists felt. Women deserve to reconnect with the idea that by riding our bikes we are creating a better future, for ourselves and for our cities.
An Ottawa, Canada man is back in the saddle for the first time in a decade after he was critically injured in a bicycling collision, as he trains for a 2K ride on a walking bike — basically a three-wheeled adult balance bike.
Road.cc offers advice for British bike riders who’ve been in a crash, most of which applies on this side of the Atlantic, as well. We should all be jealous of a country where bicyclists are entitled to free legal advice.
Um, okay. A Zambian witch-doctor was sentenced to 18 year hard labor for indecent assault against five elderly people that he blamed for using witchcraft to make a boy fall off his bike and die; he took them to a graveyard and made them undress and lie on a grave, then rolled on them to exorcize their powers.
Heartbreaking story from Michigan, where the brother of a fallen bike rider took his own bicycle to the exact spot where his brother was run down, and finished the ride his brother couldn’t.
Boston considers cutting speed limits to 20 mph to improve safety, while an advocate called for doing something about the city’s stroads — multi-lane thoroughfares that represent a cross between a road and a street.
May 13, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: It’s Bike Week in SoCal, but anti-Bike Week in Riverside, and OC columnist calls out deadly drivers
LA Downtown News looks forward to tomorrow’s multi-denominational Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Samaritan Hospital. Unfortunately, you won’t see me there this year as I continue to rehab my knee, even though the Blessing of the Bicycles is my favorite Bike Week event.
The annual Ride of Silence will take place on Wednesday, and for the first time, will travel from the Vermont and Wilshire Metro Station to Los Angeles City Hall. Maybe then our city leaders will get the message.
This is what Zachary Rynew, aka CiclaValley, had to say about it.
This Wednesday evening, there are a number of events across the Southland for the Ride of Silence and if you’re part of this community, I hope you take part.
Commemorating those that have been lost or injured riding in the roadway isn’t an experience we wish for, but it does provide a moment of inspiration. We all share these streets and each Ride of Silence has brought out all factions of our community. While we are blessed to be a part of this group, there’s an obligation to honor those no longer with us. I know from the number of ghost bikes I’ve placed, providing support to even complete strangers gives comfort to us all.
You can also find a number of other rides across California or the nation by going here. We ride for each other because these roads connect us not just point to point, but person to person.
On the other hand, hats off to the Riverside Police Department for celebrating National Bike Month and attempting to improve bike safety by — wait for it — cracking down on the vulnerable people on two wheels, and giving the ones in the big, dangerous machines a pass.
If the goal is to get more people on their bikes, that’s the wrong way to go about it.
He also quotes longtime Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin extensively.
Except things are even worse than Whiting says. With the death of a man in Santa Ana last week, there have now been four people killed while riding bikes in OC this year, not the three he cites in the article.
Thanks to John McBreaty for the heads-up.
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New Orange County Bicycle Coalition board member Mike Wilkinson wonders why downhill riders should have all the fun.
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Taylor Nichols says if you see this guy riding around the Hollywood Hills, say hi and maybe pass him a few bucks.
Reaching out to all the bikers who frequent the Hollywood Hills. This fashionable cyclist is Jeff. Great guy who has hit some hard times. If you pass him on a ride maybe you can spare this brother a dime. @lacbc @midcitywest @Pflax1 @bikinginla pic.twitter.com/H6j8s9eUfY
Life is cheap in New Zealand, where a violent road raging driver got ten months home vacation, uh, detention and community service for intentionally swerving at a man riding his bike, forcing him up on the sidewalk, then making a U-turn to come back and slam into him. Then when the victim came to in the street with a severely broken leg, the driver stood over him and said “Serves you right.”
The Orange County Sheriffs Department will conduct a pair of safety enforcement operations today, with a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement in San Clemente, and cracking down on motorcycle safety violations in Stanton. Standard protocols apply; ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city limits. Thanks to Rock Kendall for the tip.
No bias here. A writer for a driving website accuses Montreal’s leaders of having an anti-car agenda, after the city responded to the death of a bike rider by closing a roadway through a park that drivers had been using as a freeway to avoid traffic, and favoring high-speed “racing bike scofflaws.” Just like LA’s Playa del Rey, the action was reversed after angry drivers got out their torches and pitchforks.
As usual, we’re going to avoid spoilers for this year’s Amgen Tour of California, as well as the Giro d’Italia, for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to catch up on the most recent stages. Which is why we’ll just say Sunday’s first stage of the AToC offered a very dramatic sprint to the finish with a surprising competitor.
Despite being the victim of road rage herself — and holding herself blameless for the driver’s actions — she believes the rudeness of her fellow riders results in the anger too often directed our way.
Which is, to put it politely, bullshit.
Yes, we all have an obligation to safely share the road. As well as to show courtesy to our fellow human beings whenever practical, regardless of how they — or we — travel.
But to blame the victims of road rage for stirring up anger in motorists is no different than telling victims of domestic violence that they had it coming.
Nothing a woman — or a man, for that matter — does justifies violence from their romantic partner.
Period.
It’s up to each of us to control our anger, and never strike another human being, let alone those we profess to love.
If you can’t manage that, the problem is yours, and yours alone.
The same goes for road rage.
Yes, drivers may become angry because of the actions of those of us on two wheels. Justifiably or not.
But failing to control that anger, and taking it out on someone else, isn’t the fault of those it’s directed at any more than the black eye sported by a domestic violence victim is their fault.
So ride safely, and show a little courtesy.
But it’s up to all of us to keep our fucking tempers under control.
Especially the people in the big, dangerous machines that can too easily be turned into weapons.
In Mexico it’s hard, as a woman, to travel by bike; it’s a country engaged in constant violence against women. It’s hard for us not to imagine being one of the women for which the rest of us claim justice. It’s hard for us not to imagine being the one who’s photograph is next to a Ni Una Menos (Not One [Woman] Less) banner. And this feeling is reinforced by how people ask, “Are you traveling alone?” “Aren’t you afraid?” “How do you dare to do it?” and by the expressions “What a relief to know you have company!” “How brave you are!”
What we want is not to be brave — but to be free. We know these comments and questions are not directed at men who travel by bike. Men in Mexico have liberties and privileges that the patriarchal system has granted to them.
Even so, Mexican women have dared to travel by bike and use it as a tool of autonomy.
She ends the piece with this thought. But it’s what’s in between that makes it worth reading.
And learning from.
So, when asked constantly whether I’m afraid of traveling by bike, the answer is yes, but the things you learn, the natural and cultural history, the social relationships that result because of it; the self-discovery of the body and mind of the resisting women, make it worth it. Traveling by bike is a political act and of resistance in Mexico and the world.
This is who we share the roads with too. Pasadena police wrote 639 tickets for distracted driving last month, with over half of those for texting behind the wheel. If they’d just crack down like that the other 11 months of the year, our streets might actually get a little safer.
Santa Monica will celebrate Bike Week with a pair of bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement days on Monday and Thursday. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara will have one tomorrow. In both cases, police will ticket traffic infractions that put bicyclists or pedestrians at risk, regardless of who commits them. So standard protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit lines so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.
A 72-year old Huntington Beach woman accuses the DMV of discrimination against older people for making drivers over 70 take a written test and eye exam every five years, saying that should be required of anyone who has a crash or gets a ticket. Sounds like a plan to me. But let’s keep testing older drivers, too.
The Guardian’s Peter Walker visits Seattle for the first time, and calls out glaring gaps in the city’s bike network. And says if you really want to get people out of their cars, you need to make it difficult to drive.
Speaking of The Guardian’s Peter Walker, he explores whether bike riders think we’re above the law — and whether it even matters. Hopefully you can get the video to play, because I couldn’t despite repeated attempts.
The northbound driver lost control when he hit the railroad tracks and smashed into the victim at high speed, then slammed him into a utility pole.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was deemed beyond medical help when firefighters arrived, and died at the scene.
For once the driver stuck around. Probably because he was trapped inside his overturned car with minor injuries, and he had to be removed by the firefighters.
Witnesses reported that he was driving at least 50 mph before the crash, and appeared to be racing another driver.
Police took him into custody on suspicion of negligent manslaughter. Which sounds like the bare minimum he should be charged with.
Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD at 877/527-3247.
This is at least the 26th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the sixth in the City of Los Angeles.
The proposal would also require the addition of protected bike lanes when streets are repaired, impound vehicles blocking bike lanes or sidewalks, and allow bike rider to report bike lane parking violations by taking photos of the offending vehicles, with police ticketing the owners of the vehicles as a result.
Maybe someday Los Angeles will follow DC’s lead, and finally get serious about Vision Zero.
Because it sure as hell hasn’t happened yet.
Photo shows LA Mayor Eric Garcetti proudly signing the city’s Vision Zero proclamation at his prop desk; too bad that Vision Zero was just a prop, too.
This is who we share the roads with. A Cleveland woman attempted to use her car as a weapon, jumping the curb and slamming into a house in an attempt to ram a pair of women standing on the porch, but hit a kid riding his bike instead.
In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until it’s too late, the road raging motorcyclist who severely injured a Florida bike rider by allegedly swerving into a group of riders was still riding, despite having his driver’s license permanently revoked following four DUI convictions; he was also accused by his stepson of murdering his wife, though he was never charged with the killing.
A London woman says the city could be a bicycling town, if the reckless macho bicyclists would just tone it down. She’s got a point. The highest law of bicycling should be to always ride in a way that doesn’t pose needless risk to yourself or others.
When a Welsh bike rider couldn’t find a mountain bike he wanted, he built it himself.
Something that would be problematic, to say the least, with the bridge located just beyond a sweeping turn following a steep descent along the popular riding route.
