Tag Archive for Los Angeles

Morning Links: LA’s absent mayor leads to failing Vision Zero, and anti-Vision Zero widening of Magnolia Blvd

September 18, 2018 / / One comment

The Guardian’s Laura Laker questions whether Vision Zero has lost its way, describing the program as a success in New York.

And a failure in Los Angeles.

In January last year the city’s mayor, Eric Garcetti, announced its first Vision Zero strategy, with a goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2025. Work would focus on 40 High Injury Network streets, particularly those near schools. Interventions included pedestrian scrambles, painted kerb extensions protected by bollards, and left turn safety improvements.

However, things started to unravel. On Temple Street, where 34 people were killed or severely injured within 2.3 miles in eight years, a “road diet” expected to reduce crashes by up to 47%met backlash from residents and drivers. Local city leaders downgradedlane removals to things that wouldn’t interfere with motor traffic: sidewalk repairs, new traffic signals and crosswalks.

She quotes Jon Orcutt, the former NYDOT director of policy who developed New York’s Vision Zero plan, as he points the finger exactly where it belongs by saying LA councilmembers who supported Vision Zero were left isolated and “hung out to dry” in the face of opposition.

The former policy director also explained who was responsible  for problems with New York’s plan after its initial success.

Orcutt also expresses his frustration at a lack of ongoing improvement in New York after those initial improvements.

“We need leaders to say, ‘This is what we are doing in the city, and you don’t get to say no, and you don’t get to come back on what our technical experts say,’” he says. “That is the power of the mayor – that’s the point of the megaphone you have.”

That’s exactly the problem in Los Angeles, with a mayor who’s too busy exploring a run for president to do the job he was elected to do. And who has repeatedly failed to support his own Vision Zero and Great Streets programs, let alone fight for them.

It was also Mayor Garcetti who pulled the rug out from under Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin, caving in the face of a backlash from angry drivers after Bonin took bold action to improve safety in Playa del Rey.

And yes, hanging him out to dry.

If Garcetti really wants to be president, maybe its time he stepped down as mayor to focus full-time on his run for the White House.

Then maybe someone will step in to take his place, and actually fight to stop the deaths on out streets, instead of just talking about it.

If not, it’s long past time to come back home and roll up his sleeves, put up his dukes, and start fighting for the safety plans he put in motion.

Because right now, his traffic safety legacy is just so many words.

Ghost bike photo by Matt Tinoco

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More evidence that Vision Zero is failing in the mayor’s virtual absence.

CiclaValley reports on plans to widen Magnolia Blvd between Cahuenga Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, as the city claims to be improving safety by adding a traffic lane.

Never mind that reducing congestion and improving traffic flow will allow more drivers to speed through what once was a quiet two-lane street.

Which is the exact opposite of Vision Zero.

He urges you to send a version of the following email before the comment period ends at 5 pm next Monday.

And so do I.

To: Billy.Ho@lacity.org

CC: karo.torossian@lacity.org, jackie.keene@lacity.org, ciclavalley@gmail.com

Subject: Magnolia Boulevard Widening (N) Comments

I am writing because I am opposed to the widening of the north side of Magnolia Boulevard between Vineland and Cahuenga. This project does not improve safety conditions for those that use the roadway and puts vulnerable populations at increased risk of injury.

This is a growing and vibrant area that needs to serve everyone’s needs safely. Please prioritize projects that saves lives over seconds.

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Local

Jonathan Weiss, whose son’s bike was recently stolen from the Westwood Rancho Park Expo Line station, calls for e-lockers to improve the security problems that can keep people from biking to the train. Or riding back home if they do.

Pasadena police will be conducting a bicycle and pedestrian enforcement program on Friday. Which means ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports on Sunday’s Pride of the Valley open streets event in Irwindale and Baldwin Park.

Santa Monica’s 16-month dockless bikeshare and e-scooter pilot program officially kicked off on Monday, including the introduction of Uber’s Jump dockless ebikes.

 

State

Former Elektra Records president Jeff Castelaz is preparing to embark on his tenth Pablove Across America Ride, traveling from San Raphael to Los Angeles. The annual ride, which is named after his late son Pablo, has raised over $3 million dollars for pediatric cancer research.

As we noted yesterday, San Diego resident Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest person on Earth, setting a new land speed record for human-powered vehicles. The Wall Street Journal offers on-bike video of the record-setting ride, if you can get past their paywall.

El Cajon is struggling to regulate dockless bikeshare, as both Ofo and Limebike set up shop in the city.

The San Francisco department of transportation’s Rapid Response Team is working with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to fix a deadly crosswalk where a bike rider was killed last week. That’s how Vision Zero is supposed to work, unlike Los Angeles, where traffic deaths just result in crickets.

 

National

Reader’s Digest — yes, it’s still around — explains how to use Google Maps to find safer bike routes.

An Iraq war vet is focusing on helping others after riding 4,300 miles across the US, saying she bought her bike to save her own life instead of ending it.

VeloNews considers the difference between long-term bike trends and passing fads.

A New York bus driver faces just 30 days in jail as he goes on trial on misdemeanor charges in the death of the first person killed riding one of New York’s Citi Bike docked bikeshare bikes.

Orlando FL moves towards allowing dockless bikeshare, despite complaints from the city’s docked bikeshare provider.

 

International

Venture capitalists say the future is bright. And comes on two wheels.

Treehugger says if you have trouble riding a bike, maybe you’re just using the wrong kind.

After writing a needlessly offensive column that made a good point — that some bike riders should cool it with aggressive cycling around pedestrians — a Vancouver writer ignores the complaints and pats himself on the back because older people agreed with him.

A Toronto columnist explains why bicycle licensing is a bad idea, saying that city abolished its licensing requirement in the 1950s.

Speaking of Toronto, advocates say political will is needed to solve the city’s bike infrastructure inequity.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a young woman gets off with community service and losing her license for 18 months for killing a bike rider after losing control of her car while speeding.

Dublin bicyclists are attaching cardboard wheel clamps — aka boots — to cars parked in bike lanes to protest the lack of police enforcement.

The Guardian offers a photographic look at Sunday’s carfree day in Paris and Brussels.

A writer sets off on a bike tour of Austria’s Tyrol region in search of the best food, in advance of next week’s road cycling world championships.

After arriving from Lithuania, a woman has created her own position as Malmö, Sweden’s Violinist on a Bike, between rehearsals with the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A Bulgarian driver faces a murder charge for killing a bike-riding ballet dancer while high on coke and cannabis; he also faces a charge for his third offense for driving without a license.

Once again, an Australian study has found that drivers are responsible for the overwhelming majority of traffic collisions involving bike riders.

Fourteen percent of Australians have traded their car commutes for walking or bicycling, and 56% are open to leaving their cars at home.

Good question. An Op-Ed in the Guardian asks why bicycling deaths are rising in Australia when cars are significantly safer than they were 25 years ago, concluding that the problem rests with aggressive and entitled drivers.

Heartbreaking story from Japan, where a mother faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter after her umbrella got caught in her bike wheel, and her 18-month old son hit his head on the pavement when he fell to the street.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can ride a slightly used pro racing bike, or buy weed from a slightly used ex-yellow jersey winner.

And what’s the penalty for Scooting Under the Influence, anyway?

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Thanks to Hamid V for his generous donation to help support this site. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

And G’mar Tov to all our Jewish friends; may your fast be easy.

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Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

September 17, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Census shows LA bike commuting under 1%, flying cars and their power lines, and Bird no-fly zones

New US Census estimates show fewer people are commuting by bicycle than in years past, while Los Angeles is stuck at a 0.9% bike mode share.

However, Census Bureau estimates have always been problematic, since they only include people who actually ride to to a job.

People who commute to school or other destinations aren’t counted in the census, and people who live in immigrant or lower income neighborhoods tend to be undercounted.

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As if terrestrial drivers weren’t bad enough, now we have to worry about flying cars and their power lines.

Which brings up the question of whether the three-foot passing law applies to overhead, as well.

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Local

LADOT summarizes the recent street improvement workshop for Winnetka Ave.

The LA Times reports that Bird has pockmarked Los Angeles with individual no fly zones where e-scooters are discouraged, if not prohibited.

CiclaValley discovers nice, smooth new pavement in Griffith Park.

 

State

San Diego police are looking for a pair of bat-wielding bike riders who attacked a man sitting on a bus bench, striking him in the head with a baseball bat before escaping on their bikes.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, has hired Hasan Ikhrata to be its next executive director; he’s leaving his post as head of the Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, after ten years.

San Jose drivers can’t seem to figure to the city’s new parking protected bike lane.

A Bay Area writer discusses his decision to go carfree ten years ago, with no regrets.

Sad news from San Francisco, where a bike rider was killed in a collision, just blocks from where advocates had formed a people-protected bike lane to call for safer streets. Note to drivers: No bike rider has ever “come out of nowhere.”

The US Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis will induct four new members this year, including Jennie Reed (Modern Road & Track Competitor), Eric Rupe (Off-Road Competitor), Jerry Ash (Veteran Road & Track Competitor), and Richard DeGarmo (Contributor to the Sport).

 

National

NPR looks at the problem of counterfeit goods — in this case, fake Specialized bike helmets.

Utah bicyclists are warning that a new road design actually forces drivers into a bike lane.

This is how it should work. Two years after Denver installed a two-way bike lane along a busy roadway, it’s proven successful enough to expand to remove a lane of traffic to expand it another 1.5 miles along the street.

No bias here. A Wisconsin letter writer says streets are for cars, and drivers shouldn’t be impeded by bicyclists, joggers and dog walkers, because drivers are going places to do important things, while bike riders are “going nowhere, to do nothing.”

Chicago Cubs player Ben Zobrist is one of us, riding to Sunday’s game at Wrigley Field on his upright bike — wearing his uniform. So who says you have to wear special clothes to bike commute?

A 23-year old Michigan woman was arrested for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider on Saturday; she still had a BAC three times the legal limit hours after the crash. Her lawyer will undoubtedly argue that she only got drunk after the crash because she was so freaked out.

He gets it. Writing for the American Conservative, an Akron, Ohio planner looks at the problem of Baby Boomers aging in a car-dependent world. Although one solution would be to install protected bike lanes that would allow seniors to bike safely and conveniently, while improving their health.

People in Indianapolis IN are making a difference in the community by opening a bike shop. Although it sounds more like a bike co-op.

The Burrito Riders of Louisville takes to their bikes twice a month to feed the homeless in the Kentucky city.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. Someone has sabotaged a Massachusetts bike path with hundreds of thumb tacks.

A New York bike lawyer calls for a speed limit in bike lanes to combat speeding scooter riders.

A South Carolina letter writer makes the point that building bike lanes isn’t enough, cities have to maintain them, as well.

 

International

City Lab talks with Vancouver’s Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, authors of Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality, who say bicycling is the key to healthier and more vibrant cities.

Road.cc offers money saving tips ranging from learning how to patch a tube to when to buy bikes and parts on sale. Unfortunately, we can’t use the first tip; British commuters can deduct 25% of the cost of a new bike and accessories, but the only small tax benefit for US bike commuters was lost in the recent tax reforms.

Nearing the end of a round-the-world bike tour, a woman sets off through Mexico on a search for a lost British Surrealist.

A group of Canadian mounties have set off on a ten-day, 621-mile ride to raise funds for kids.

A Canadian writer says he’s become completely and utterly addicted to bike commuting. Even after crashing into an illegally parked car.

A London letter-writer says bicyclists should be forced to wear license plates on their bike helmets. Sure. What could possibly go wrong with that? And what’s with the bizarre, yet common belief that police will track down scofflaw bike riders, when they don’t do that with drivers?

British drivers will now be required to give bike riders a nearly five foot passing distance, or pay the equivalent of a $130 fine.

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail says last week’s death of a pedestrian at the hands of an ebike rider could be just the first of many, calling ebikes “the silent killer on our streets.” Never mind that ebikes in the UK are limited to 15.5 mph, which is slower than the cruising speed of many non-powered road bike riders. Or that it’s entirely possible the rider wasn’t at fault.

They get it. France plans to triple the rate of transportation bicycling in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics through better bike infrastructure, financial incentives, and taking steps to fight bike theft.

A Delhi writer describes the daily humiliation faced by bike riders on the city’s streets, where they’re considered trespassers by drivers.

Tuesday marks the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It’s also a day many Israelis take to their bikes on streets empty of vehicular traffic.

Caught on video: After Emirates police post video of a speeding driver hitting a bike rider after cutting across several lanes of freeway traffic, the press blames the guy on the bike for just being there.

Police in the UAE have permanently seized 435 bicycles and motorcycles in a crackdown on scofflaw riders for violating basic traffic laws, as well as failing to wear helmets or hi-viz. Which is fine, as long as they also seize cars, trucks and SUV for the same violations.

We already knew Patrick Dempsey was one of us, as he discusses his life in front of the camera and on two wheels with a Kiwi news site.

A Canadian tourist goes bike riding in the land of Mickey Mao.

 

Competitive Cycling

Great Britain stakes its cycling supremacy with Simon Yates’ victory in the Vuelta; the country swept all three Grand Tours, thanks to Geraint Thomas’ Tour de France win and Chris Froome’s victory in the Giro.

Pro cyclist and gravel racing champ Allison Tetrick walked away from a career in molecular biology to compete on her bike.

Great story from Bicycling about Jim Nelson, who won an age group BMX national championship just days after his last chemo treatment for stage three non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Two cyclists were disqualified at the end of a 206-mile race through Utah and Wyoming for taking selfies at the finish line; a third was DQ’d for flipping it off.

There’s a new women’s hour record, courtesy of Italian rider Vittoria Bussi.

Denise Mueller-Korenek is now the fastest woman — no, make that human — on earth, after setting a new record for a human-powered vehicle at 183.93 mph, beating the old record by over 16 mph.

 

Finally…

It takes a rare candidate to unite weed users, bike riders and sex workers against her. Get that healthy nuclear glow on your next ride.

And don’t take someone else’s parking space in Texas.

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Thanks to John H and Tom S for their generous donations to help keep this site coming your way every day. 

If everyone who visits BikinginLA today donated just $10, it would be more than enough to keep to keep this site going for a full year. 

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Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Morning Links: Long list of bike events, a moving tale of a cross-country rider, and what the hell is Metro on?

September 14, 2018 / / 2 comments

We’ve got a long list of bike events to catch up on.

Explore the new MyFigueroa Complete Streets project this afternoon with the Bike on Fig Ride, hosted by BikeSafe USC and MyFigueroa.

Metro’s Bicycle Education Safety Training (BEST) Program is teaming with People for Mobility Justice and the Ride On! bike co-op to host the People Street Bike Rodeo in Leimert Park starting at 6 pm tonight.

Culver City, Go Human and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) are sponsoring Experience Elenda on Elenda Street in Culver City tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, BikeSGV and Metro BEST are holding the Sriracha Slow Roll through Duarte and Irwindale to the famed Sriracha factory, riding along a little-known off-road greenway.

Party for a good cause tomorrow night at the Pure Cycles HQ in Burbank, benefitting the Pablove Foundation to fight childhood cancer.

Metro is hosting the Pride of the Valley open streets event in Baldwin Park and Irwindale from 9 am to 2 pm this Sunday.

The LACBC and the Metro Best Program are hosting the BEST Ride: Forgotten History of Venice this Sunday.

Beverly Hills is hosting the formal dedication and ribbon cutting for the reconstructed Santa Monica Blvd at 1:30 pm this Monday, including the new green bike lanes. Maybe it’s also time to formally retire their designation as the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.

Go Human is sponsoring Connecting Chino on September 22nd to demonstrate temporary street improvements around the Chino Community Building.

Go Human and City of San Jacinto are sponsoring Envision San Jacinto on the 29th.

Wrapping up our events for this month, CicLAvia celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Los Angeles Philharmonic with the massive Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia from DTLA to Hollywood. Which will also feature the first ever public appearance of the Militant Angeleno as he leads his first epic CicLAvia Tour.

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Today The Beauty of Cycling lives up to its name.

In a beautifully moving piece from Peter Flax, an Illinois college student describes his ride across the US, just 17 months after he barely survived what could have been a fatal car crash.

Seriously, if you can make it through this piece without tears in your eyes, you’re a stronger person than I am.

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The San Francisco Chronicle ran a series of stories about bike tourism on Thursday, including —

Speaking of bike tourism, my brother is nearing the end of the first week of what has so far been a soggy ride through the Pacific Northwest, forwarding these photos from the Washington coast.

He also notes that on just the second day of his ride, a total stranger insisted on giving him $20 to buy lunch.

Another reminder that there’s real kindness in this world, if we stop arguing long enough to let it surface.

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Someone needs to find out who is slipping acid into the water coolers in Metro’s marketing department.

And mind your manners with your bike, or get banished to a distant planet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=8iMH1pnlmt0

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Local

Fast Company gets the story half right, saying Los Angeles is making a massive push towards zero emissions transportation, calling for 45% of cars and trucks to be electric within ten years. On the other hand, the city is backing away from its commitment to safer streets for bikes, ebikes, scooters and other forms of personal zero emissions vehicles.

LADOT has opened the semi-annual window to apply for speed humps. Which should be installed on every street until LA drivers learn how to take their foot off the gas pedal.

 

State

Governor Brown has signed an executive order requiring California to be carbon neutral by 2045, a goal the state is unlikely to meet without a dramatic drop in driving.

The San Francisco Business Journal says Prop 6, which would reverse California’s new gas tax, is a road back to the past that shouldn’t be taken.

E-scooters and app-based dockless bikeshare are behind San Diego’s plan to create a new Mobility Board focused on improving safety and re-thinking road and sidewalk designs

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 78-year old retired physician still rides 100 miles a week around his Carlsbad neighborhood. After which he returns his bike to his garage where he keeps his other 21 bicycles — down from the 50 he used to own.

Nice story from La Quinta, where police officers and Riverside County sheriff’s deputies pitched in to buy a new bike for a 6th grade girl after hers was stolen. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Nearly 100 bike riders opened the new on-road Peninsula Bikeway, providing a connection between Redwood City and Mountain View.

Streetsblog says San Francisco may be hosting the Global Climate Action Summit, but the city falls short on bicycling, walking and transit policies.

Bay Area bike riders call for change after the arrest of Rich City Rides founder Najari Smith for Biking While Black; black bike riders are six times more likely to be ticketed than white riders in Oakland.

 

National

The US House has passed the Every Kid Outdoors Act, which would provide every fourth grader with a free pass to enter US public lands by foot or bike, accompanied by up to three adults.

Reno warns drivers to watch out for more bikes on the road as Interbike comes to town.

This is who we share the roads with. After nearly running a bicyclist off the road, a Washington driver says he was taught that bike riders were supposed to yield to people in cars, and have an obligation to get the hell out of his way.

Wired considers what they call the “exquisite, intricate insanity” of Denise Mueller-Korenek’s attempt to set a new two-wheeled human-propelled speed record this weekend at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats.

A Minneapolis columnist wonders where bikes fit into the city’s updated transportation plan, while a city councilmember looks to the Netherlands for inspiration.

A Philadelphia trash company has settled with the family of a fallen bike rider for $6 million, as well as an agreement to improve driver training and fund local traffic safety organizations.

Evidently, they take traffic crime seriously in Louisiana, as a New Orleans driver gets 20 years for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider.

 

International

The United Nations is struggling to come up with crash avoidance strategies to keep autonomous cars from running over bicyclists.

Bike Radar offers a lucky 13 reasons to be a roadie.

Toronto bicyclists want to know why nothing has been done to fix death traps on the city’s west side.

A British writer tests Brompton’s new folding ebike, with an engine developed by an F1 team, to see if it’s worth the $4,000 price tag.

A team from Britain’s University of Liverpool has set new handcycle land speed records for both men and women, topping out at 51.86 and 41.86 mph, respectively.

After surviving a brutal hit-and-run, a bike rider says drivers in the UK show little respect for people on bicycles. Kind of like drivers everywhere else.

An Irish driver pens a letter to bike riders, insisting he doesn’t want to kill anyone, but if he does, it will be their fault for not wearing hi-viz and putting lights on their bikes. He’s right about the lights, but you shouldn’t have to dress like a clown just to ride a bike. You have an obligation to be seeable, while drivers have an obligation to see you.

A town in the Netherlands has opened a new 100-foot long bike path made of recycle plastic.

 

Competitive Cycling

Italy’s Fabio Aru apologized to famed bikemaker Ernesto Colnago for his comments after crashing when the derailleur locked up on his bike during the Vuelta; cameras picked him up yelling “cazzo di bici!”, which translates to “shit bike.”

Phillippe Gilbert unexpectedly returns to racing, two months after finishing a stage in the Tour de France with a broken kneecap.

Pro surfing is now offering equal prize money for men and women, but pro cycling has a long way to go, despite a few bright spots.

Former world track cycling champ Kristina Vogel says she’s ready to start her new life as a paraplegic after she was paralyzed in a training crash earlier this year; she hasn’t heard from the Dutch rider she collided with or the country’s cycling federation.

 

Finally…

This is what it looks like when 500 cyclists hit the wall. And if Google’s founder had his way, you could have been shot through a 35-mile tube at high speed, propelled from behind by a mixture of helium and oxygen.

Um, I don’t think so.

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Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

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

Morning Links: Triathlete runs months after chainsaw attack, app-based bike lockers, and entitled drivers

September 13, 2018 / / One comment

Need a little inspiration?

Then stop whatever you’re doing, and read this story about South African triathlete Mhlengi Gwala, who was back running just four months after attackers nearly cut off one of his legs with a chainsaw.

And who somehow found the courage to forgive them.

Photo by Gratisography from Pexels.com

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Yesterday we discussed the problem of bike thefts at Metro station bike corrals, and how Jonathan Weiss was pushing for short-term rental bike lockers to help solve the problem.

Like this rapidly growing Irish company that can provide an app-based bike locker system that fits twelve lockers in the space required for a single parking spot.

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Talk about not getting it. This is what a candidate for mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia had to say about the city’s bike lane network.

Never mind that many older people are able to ride bikes, and often use them for mobility after losing the ability to drive safely.

And countless moms, single and otherwise, take advantage to the health benefits of bicycling to ride with their kids.

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These are the people who share the roads with. After all, why let a little thing like traffic cones get in your way?

Credit CiclaValley with this one.

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Local

LADOT will begin work on repairing the LA River Bike Path between Fletcher Drive and Barclay Street later this month; one side of the bike path will remain open while the work is underway.

 

State

Good piece from the Orange County Register’s David Whiting, who carefully considers both sides of the debate over whether to allow ebikes on mountain bike trails.

A San Diego lawyer crunches the numbers, and concludes three of the city’s four most dangerous intersections are in the Point Loma neighborhood.

San Diego considers dissolving the city’s Bicycle Advisory Board, along with the Parking Advisory Board, and replacing them with a new city mobility board to take a holistic approach to transportation.

Representatives from the Netherlands discuss policies for sustainable transportation at San Francisco’s Global Climate Action Summit. Needless to say, bicycles are a key part of the discussion.

In a case that doesn’t make sense, a San Francisco bicyclist was arrested for attempting to drag a passenger out of a car and steal her purse after he was doored. It seems far more likely that he was angry about being doored and tried to pull the woman out to confront her, and either inadvertently grabbed her purse, or tried to see her ID. Either way, he was in the wrong the moment he took the law into his own hands.

 

National

Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter reminds us that bikes are climate action.

Bikes also a tool for good, as a pair of riders are crossing the US to raise $1 million in cryptocurrency funds to support a Houston women’s shelter.

The Interbike trade show kicks off in Reno with a consumer festival this Saturday.

Pink Bike offers a complete guide to riding in Tucson.

Speaking of Tucson, ’84 Olympic medalist Nelson Vails will be honored at this year’s Tour of Tucson; the 58-year old silver medal winner overcame a bout with high blood pressure and congestive heart failure earlier this year.

A Tampa woman books her family on a week-long Montana bike tour with nonprofit Adventure Cycling Association. But forgets to read the fine print about a singletrack trail through bear country.

Fargo, North Dakota proposes quadrupling fines for some bike traffic violations — from $5 to a whopping twenty bucks.

A six-foot tall white bike sculpture has been installed in Michigan to honor the five bike-riding victims of the Kalamazoo massacre, who were allegedly murdered by an allegedly stoned driver;

A new parking protected bike lane in Boston is confusing drivers and bike riders due to a lack of signage saying who should go where.

The mother of an Australian tourist killed while riding a bike in New York called the city’s district attorney a coward for failing to file charges in the case; she was run down by a garbage truck after swerving to avoid a driver who cut into the bike lane she was riding in.

New Jersey police crack down on swerving, in which teenage bicyclists swerve in front of traffic while performing stunts.

The Virginia woman who infuriated some and became a hero to others by flipping off Donald Trump as his motorcade past her bicycle announced she’s running for her county board of supervisors.

 

International

A new documentary follows a 29-year old Canadian woman with MS as she rides 434 miles through California to get to a 143-mile ride to benefit an MS charity; she credits bicycling with helping her control her symptoms. Forget pro cyclists. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the people like this, and the South African triathlete above, that overcome genuine adversity who are the real bike heroes.

An Edmonton letter writer says a dawdling bike rider in a dedicated bike lane slows his drive because it means one less lane for traffic. And somehow, his solution to that is charge bike riders an annual licensing fee.

Icelanders come to the aid of a woman who was injured after the slipstream from a passing truck blew her off her bicycle. Which is why large vehicles need to give a greater passing distance when traveling at speed. As anyone who has ever been caught in a slipstream can attest.

Sad news from London, where a woman died two weeks after a collision with a man on a ped-assist ebike; the rider was booked on a charge of “injuring persons by furious driving” after turning himself in the next day. The news stories note this is the first time someone in the UK has been killed by an ebike; however, ebike speeds in the UK are capped at 15.5 mph, which is far slower than many roadies travel. And hardly “furious.”

Once again, bike riders are heroes, as three British men chased a man who terrorized bank customers with a machete and a can of gas.

Brit bicyclists and commuters are being terrorized by a band of dockless bikeshare-riding bandits.

Joe Seaward, drummer for the English rock band Glass Animals, says he’s lucky to be alive as he recovers from a serious head injury after he was hit a truck while bicycling in Dublin earlier this year. And that trucks are hard. Scroll down for the story. No, further.

Apparently, Belfast isn’t willing to commit to its annual ciclovía, closing the streets for just two and a half hours on a Sunday morning. 

Dutch bike blogger David Hembrow writes that a recent European study shows ebikes do nothing to improve health. However, that contradicts the findings of a number of other studies, which have concluded that riding a ped-assist ebike offers significant health benefits.

A new study looks at who bikes in Israel on Yom Kippur, when the streets are otherwise empty. And finds only 7% of adult Jews bike on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, compared to 40% on a normal weekday — but nearly half of the country’s children do. Maybe they have less to atone for.

 

Competitive Cycling

ESPN talks with Houston native Lawson Craddock about how he turned a last place finish in the Tour de France into a win.

VeloNews says it was fun while it lasted, and BMC cyclists can leave with their heads held high after the team folds at the end of this season.

Nice piece from Peloton Magazine about two-time Tour de France champ Ottavio Bottecchia, who died after falling on a training ride — whether from illness or an attack — in 1927.

 

Finally…

Apparently, even bomb-sniffing dogs can have a windshield bias. When you just accidentally end up riding around the world.

And security cam video catches a Mustang hitting a bicyclist.

No, literally.

https://twitter.com/Agha_Zadeh/status/1039971451036741632

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the link.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Morning Links: Bike thefts from Westwood Expo Line station, and blocked MyFig bike lane

September 12, 2018 / / 5 comments

How many people would continue to use transit if they had to worry about their cars being stolen from the station while they’re away?

Yet that’s exactly the problem people in West LA are facing after a series of bike thefts from the Westwood Rancho Park station on the Expo Line.

Jonathon Weiss writes to report that his son’s bike was stolen from the bike corral at the station, just months after his own bike was stolen from the same place.

And as he continues to wait for a response to his request for temporary bike lockers at Metro stations without a Bike Hub.

Which would be almost all of them.

He also notes that his son’s bike was securely locked with a good quality U-lock; the thieves apparently pried it open to get the bike.

That doesn’t bode well for most of us, who have long been told that a good U-lock was the most effective theft deterrent.

Weiss is right to call for more bike lockers at Metro stations. I’m told the Westwood Rancho Park station has a waiting list over 50 names long for the few available lockers on site.

Rather being reserved 24/7 for one person, like Metro’s existing bike lockers, the kind he proposes would be available for a single, short-term rental, allowing users to lock their bikes securely without having to worry about frequent bike thefts, while only paying for the time actually used.

And making it much safer and more convenient to use bicycles to solve the first mile/last mile problem.

Because no one is going to be comfortable leaving their bikes at the station if there’s no guarantee they will be there when they get back.

And right now, there isn’t.

The bike that was stolen Monday

Let this serve as yet another reminder to register your bike for free before something like this happens. Because that offers your best hope of seeing it again if it does.

Top photo shows the empty Expo Line bike corral where Weiss’ bike should have been earlier this year.

………

Chris forwards a brief video clip of yet another driver blocking the MyFigueroa bike lane at 22nd Street Friday afternoon.

Or as he calls it, the MyFig Loading Zone.

He also notes that the semi-protected bike lane didn’t manage to protect one rider.

Also, there was a crash involving a cyclist further up at Fig between 7th and 8th, in the far left lane, closest to the plaza. Did not witness the crash but I did see police questioning a motorist and a witness. The cyclist was in an ambulance and the police put the bike in the ambulance with him or her. Not sure how it happened or the condition of the cyclist. Perhaps something to look into, but I couldn’t find any news or police reports.

………

The exceptionally popular beachfront Marvin Braude bike path will be closed for construction work near the border of Santa Monica and Venice through the end of October, except for Sundays.

Hopefully there will be a well marked detour around the construction zone.

Thanks to Alt Housing California for the heads-up.

………

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

And it claimed a new victim in Seattle, where an 18-year old man was hospitalized after crashing into a tree because some sick schmuck cut the brakes on the Lime Bike he was riding.

Let’s hope they find the person responsible, and lock ’em up for a long damn time.

………

Local

LA Downtown News says the MyFigueroa Complete Streets project has potential — if the bugs can be worked out.

A new proposal would build a pedestrian bridge at the secluded Los Angeles River & Aliso Creek Confluence Park in the San Fernando Valley, as well as adding bike and pedestrian paths leading from the bike lanes on Reseda Blvd.

A Pasadena columnist invites e-scooters to besmirch the city’s streets now that Metro Bike has been given the boot, while blaming high user fees for the demise of the bikeshare program.

 

State

Streetsblog questions whether recent news stories about the dangers of e-scooters are an attempt to derail a newly passed bill that would remove the requirement to wear a helmet, as it sits on Governor Brown’s desk.

The CHP is recommending a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge against the woman who killed Grossmont College professor Brian Jennings near El Cajon while allegedly sleeping behind the wheel.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a bike rider was killed in a collision with apparently driverless pickup.

Sacramento police are looking for whoever brutally attacked a 73-year old bike rider on a secluded trail; a 76-year old man was killed in an attack on the same trail earlier this year.

 

National

A new report suggests that improving transit systems can improve traffic safety, because cities with a higher level of public transit usage have a smaller proportion of road fatalities.

REI offers advice on how to chose an ebike.

A Texas public radio station asks if e-scooters are the key to getting better bike lanes in San Antonio. We can only hope that works in LA, since the limited adoption of bikeshare hasn’t done the trick.

Friends struggle to make sense of the hit-and-run that left a popular San Antonio restaurant manager in the hospital with critical injuries; she was injured when her bike was rear-ended by the driver, knocking her into a tree. Thanks to Stephen Katz for the link.

Detroit is rapidly shedding its reputation as the Motor City, with a five-year plan to build out a complete protected bike lane network, as well as making improvements for pedestrians. Compare that with LA’s mobility plan, which calls for improvements over the next 17 years. And which we’re told is only aspirational.

The hit-and-run epidemic has hit Ohio, with a 50% increase in drivers fleeing the scene since 2012.

A Maine driver has admitted to driving under the influence of a sleep-inducing medication when he allegedly hit a bike rider in the face with the mirror of his truck, before crashing into two other cars; police suspect he was on other medications, legal or otherwise, but were unable to get a blood sample after the crash. He had a previous DUI, as well as a long string of other traffic violations. Yet another example of authorities keeping dangerous drivers on the road until they kill someone. Or in this case, nearly.

A Delaware man faces up to 30 months behind bars after he was convicted of killing the bike-riding owner of a TV station; he unsuccessfully tried to blame the victim by saying the rider swerved out onto the roadway.

Another reason to hate Elon Musk. A New York Tesla dealer is converting the streets, sidewalks and two-way bike lane in the Red Hook neighborhood into its own private car storage.

Bicycling helped save the life of a DC Iraq War vet who suffered from Gulf War Illness; she’s now competed in 27 triathlons.

No bias here. Black bike riders get two-thirds of the bicycling traffic tickets in New Orleans, but make up just one third of the city’s riders.

 

International

After a Toronto city councilor urges pedestrians to point in the direction they want to go to cross a street — even in a crosswalk with the right of way — a columnist compares it to using an automotive air bag or a bike helmet to improve safety.

An Anglican bishop rode his bike nearly 4,500 miles across Canada, raising over $187,000 to support his church’s ministry; that converts to over $147,000 US.

A European website looks at the adoption of graphene in bike tires and clothing, predicting internet-connected bikewear with embedded electronics to help prevent collisions.

This is the benefit of ebikes. A 93-year old English letter writer says his ebike has changed his life, allowing him to get uphill to the local market — and pass younger riders along the way.

In a new survey that should surprise absolutely no one, most people in the UK — but especially women — prefer riding in bikeways that are physically separated from vehicular traffic.

Britain offers incentives to buy any kind of electric vehicle — except ebikes. That’s also true in the US, something that will have to change if the country every gets serious about reducing traffic and fighting climate change.

A pair of bike tourists from Slovenia and the Czech Republic pause in Pakistan on a world tour that began twenty years ago.

Bicycling is making a comeback in India.

A sharp eyed South African driver helped bust a bike theft ring when he spotted a pair of vans with $26,000 worth of high-end bikes carelessly thrown in the back; the bikes had been stolen from a bike shop that same day.

Nothing has been done to fix a deadly Brisbane, Australia intersection, despite the city’s promise to install protected bike lanes after a woman was killed riding there four years ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews says five moments in the last two weeks have given American cycling fans a reason to cheer.

Cycling Tips profiles America’s newest cycling hero, newly crowned world mountain bike champ Kate Courtney.

 

Finally…

Now you can get on your bike at spin class, and get off somewhere else. You can own Robin Williams’ fixie — if you have an extra $4K to $6K lying abound.

And apparently, Alabama has repealed the law of gravity, and mountain bikers can now ride horizontally.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

 

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

Morning Links: Near miss from speeding Lyft driver, and why bike lanes matter more than parking

September 11, 2018 / / 3 comments

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels.com.

………

An LA bike rider is nearly run down by a speeding Lyft driver.

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1039182608200949760

………

Former New York traffic commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan explains why protected bike lanes are more valuable than parking spaces, saying there’s not a better investment.

………

San Diego’s chief medical officer joins the chorus of officials who are certain someone will be killed by an e-scooter soon. Just wait until he learns about cars.

They get it. The Washington Post makes a subtle point with a quiz asking if hysterical quotes are historic comments about early bicycles, or current ones about e-scooters.

Slate says the backlash over e-scooters proves Uber’s tactic of deploying in a city and asking for permission later was right.

And Vox says cities should take their own rhetoric about sustainability seriously and embrace scooters, rather than misguidedly trying to squash them.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. A Rochester NY man believes a hit-and-run driver targeted him on purpose, after the driver made a U-turn and swerved off the roadway to hit him as he rode his bike on the shoulder.

If they find him, he should face a charge of assault with a deadly weapon at a bare minimum, if not attempted murder. But probably won’t.

………

Local

The Cypress Park Neighborhood Council will discuss requesting Metro Bike bikeshare at tomorrow’s meeting.

 

State

San Diego police conducted a bike and pedestrian safety operation on Monday, issuing 137 tickets and 27 warnings, almost all of which went to drivers, along with some pedestrians.

 

National

Great piece from Bike Snob’s Eban Weiss, who argues that bike riders don’t really have the same rights and responsibilities of drivers. And your only responsibility as a role model is to make it look fun and like something anyone can do.

Go ahead and catch a few extra Z’s. A new study shows an afternoon nap can enhance endurance performance. Just don’t do it while you’re riding.

Mark Zuckerberg used to be one of us, but isn’t anymore after crashing his bike two years ago while training for a triathlon.

Portland installs a curb-protected bicycle roundabout to help riders get through a dangerous intersection.

A Sierra Club member takes the slow road home, bicycling 380 miles down the Oregon coast to rehab a torn hamstring and a broken heart.

Bicycling credits a bike shop and its African American owner with saving Denver’s troubled Five Points neighborhood.

San Antonio bicyclists are on edge after a series of assault on a secluded bike trail.

Three Arkansas cities are about to get as many curb protected bike lanes as Los Angeles has, thanks to a gift from the Walton Foundation. That would be just one. And they’re doing it the easy and less expensive way, using prefabricated curbs.

A political website wonders why more government officials don’t bike to the US capital, and places the blame on DC weather and the lack of safe bikeways.

The Baltimore Sun explains why the fight over bike lanes inspires such passion on both sides.

An Annapolis MD letter writer can’t seem to decide if he’s mad because a new contraflow bike lane took away 50 parking spaces, or just 36 prime ones. Then again, a bike rider doesn’t seem to like it much, either.

A North Carolina man rode across the US with a touring group, crossing ten states and one Canadian province, just one year after breaking his neck in a bicycling fall; he’s raised over $10,000 for rehabilitation hospital that saved him.

 

International

Cycling Weekly says having an offroad adventure is easier than you think.

Bike Radar discusses the top five trends for next year’s high-end road bikes.

Cycling Tips explains everything you always wanted to know about tire pressure, rim width and the limits of safety, but were afraid to ask. Even if they do spell tire wrong. 

Red Bull catches up with Michael Strasser as he rides down the left coast from Alaska to the tip of Patagonia, passing through Columbia on Sunday.

Residents of Cambridge, England are fighting plans for an inexpensive hotel owned by the budget airline easyJet, which comes with its own bike fleet.

The British government is investing the equivalent of $2.6 million dollars to support the development and deployment of e-cargo bikes. You’ll know they’re serious when they add a few zeros to that.

A Scottish lawyer says a call to register and license bicyclists, while requiring them to wear helmets and high viz, and take a cycling proficiency test, is “frankly bizarre and completely impractical.” If I ever need a lawyer in Scotland, I know who I’m calling.

The Washington Post offers an obituary for legendary Italian framebuilder Dario Pergoretti.

If you’re going to do a gran fondo, it might as well be in Mallorca, Spain.

Bikeshare is off to a quick start in Bratislava, Slovakia, although some people are already vandalizing the bikes.

Over 3,000 bicyclists and motorcyclists took part in a two-wheeled pilgrimage to honor their patron saint in Malta.

India is installing a 7-mile long solar bike path, with the panels on posts to cover the path and protect riders from sun and rain, while generating six megawatts of clean power every day.

Bhutanese farmers are some of us, too.

Singaporeans slam a photo of a cop using a speed gun to enforce the city-state’s 15 mph speed limit for bicycles on bike paths and shared pathways.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s a rest day at the Vuelta, while VeloNews considers why Colombia keeps producing talented cyclists.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could cost $21,000, but you can totally customize it. Seriously, if you’re wanted on outstanding warrants, put a damn light on your bike — and don’t crash into the patrol car when they  try to stop you.

And yes, calling attention to prostate cancer is a good cause, but no.

Oh, hell no.

  

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

Morning Links: Bikeways the best way to fight climate change, and buy a steel bike to cut CO2 emissions

September 10, 2018 / / One comment

Want to fight climate change?

Build more and better bikeways.

According to a new British study, the single most cost-effective way to reduce the CO2 emissions causing climate change is to build more bicycle infrastructure.

In fact, if bicycling rose to just 7.5% of urban bike trips globally, it would keep 2.3 gigatons of CO2 emissions out of the atmosphere.

Increase bike modal share to 10%, and that rises to a savings of 11 gigatons of CO2.

And the cost of all that new climate change fighting infrastructure?

Just over $2 billion worldwide. Minus $2 billion, that is.

Which means that bike infrastructure more than pays for itself.

Tell that to the traffic safety deniers. And to LA city councilmembers like Paul Koretz, who profess to fighting climate change while blocking bike lanes in their districts.

………

Another way to cut carbon emissions is to buy a steel frame bike, instead of ti, carbon or aluminum. And patch your tubes instead of throwing them away.

………

My former Iditarod Sled Dog-driving brother Eric is off on another unsupported solo bike tour.

This time he’s following a route that will take him 2,400 miles from Portland Oregon to Grand Junction, Colorado, hitting five national parks along the way.

And likely riding through some serious winter weather before he makes it home late next month.

Then again, after mushing through the wilderness on the way to Nome in the middle of winter, he should be used to it.

And yes, I’m jealous as hell.

I’ll try to provide updates along the way.

Eric’s bike loaded down with his kitty litter panniers as he sets out on the first day.

Not a bad view for the first night of the tour, as he settles in for the night at Tillamook Bay.

………

Local

CiclaValley catches a driver continually weaving in and out of a bike lane to bypass backed up traffic.

 

State

Bad news from Escondido, where a 14-year old boy suffered life-threatening burns when he was hit by a driver while riding his bike, and was trapped underneath the car; police were quick to blame the victim for not having lights on his bike or wearing “safety gear.” Bike riders in California are required to have lights and reflectors after dark, and riders under 18 must wear helmets — even though that would have done nothing to prevent the victim’s burns in this case.

Police in San Luis Obispo are stopping bicyclists and pedestrians for traffic violations, and asking them to post to social media why they were stopped in lieu of receiving a ticket. Although it would be nice if they did the same for drivers, instead of just blaming and shaming potential victims.

 

National

City Lab offers an explainer on how induced demand works. Someone tried to argue last week that induced demand was a myth, based solely on the fact that he chose not to believe it.

Writing for a tech website, an “avid cyclist” calls e-scooters one of the season’s most ridiculous and unnecessary fads, and hopes they die before they kill someone. He seems to see the streets from a windshield perspective, despite having spent a “not-so-small fortune” on bicycles, kits, helmets and gloves.

Life is cheap in Arizona, where a driver was acquitted of murder charges for fatally shooting drunken bike rider following a fight that began because the victim was weaving in and out of traffic.

Heavy rains have forced Madison WI bike riders to find alternative routes, as bike paths in the bike-friendly city have been taken over by ducks and kayaks.

Chicago Streetsblog says buffered bike lanes offer an inexpensive way to prevent doorings.

A Columbus, Ohio writer says the current panic over scooters is nothing new; the arrival of bicycles sparked the same fears over 120 years ago.

A beginning Ohio bike commuter offers advice based on what’s he’s learned.

Four hundred fifty bicyclists are making their way 325 miles across the state of Maine in the sixth annual BikeMaine tour.

An Op-Ed from a Boston bike rider describes the day he was assaulted by a road raging driver while riding in a bike lane — which wouldn’t have happened if the city had built the protected bike lane bicyclists had asked for

A real estate website has identified New York’s most blocked bike lane. LA’s would probably be the new MyFig bike lane across from Staples Center, with nearby 7th Street a close second. But that’s just a guess.

The New York Post’s bike-hating columnist gets exactly what he was after when his latest screed stirs up an angry response, concluding that the people who called him racist for ignoring anyone other than young, white bicyclists are the real racists. Sure, let’s go with that. Nothing like tossing a molotov cocktail into a crowd, then acting innocent when people get upset.

An Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun says it’s time to stop caving into the bike lobby, citing the $850 million in federal TAP funds, and the paltry $3 million spent by the Bike League and People for Bikes to lobby the federal government. Even though TAP funds go for a lot more than just bike lanes. And wait until he finds out how much the feds, states and local governments spend to subsidize motor vehicle traffic. Let alone how much car makers, oil companies and construction firms pay to lobby them.

A Virginia letter writer says expecting bike riders to give a verbal warning is outdated, and they should be required to use a bike bell, instead.

 

International

Bike Radar discusses the “essential pieces of cycling clothing and kit you need” to ride a bike. I can’t begin to say how much I hate stories like this; all you need to ride a bike is pants or shorts, and some sort of shoes. Everything else is optional to a greater or lesser degree.

A Toronto physician’s group calling itself Doctors for Safe Cycling says lowering speed limits and building more protected bike lanes is the prescription for road safety.

Now that’s something to be proud of. A 20-year old British woman became the first blind rider to independently ride a 30-mile trail.

The Guardian says Great Britain needs a boost from ebikes.

An English driver will spend nearly four years behind bars after smashing into a group of randonneurs a year ago, leaving one rider paralyzed and two others injured — then simply driving home despite acknowledging he’d hit “something.”

Do we really want to get into the great bike helmet debate again? Not when it’s as lightweight as this piece from the UK.

Even in the Netherlands, school drop-off points are dangerous places, as a government minister urges parents not to drive, and to walk or bike their kids to school instead.

A century old Kiev, Ukraine velodrome might be the coolest cycling track in Europe.

You’ve got to be kidding. An Australian city puts a series of bike safety signs on hold over fears they could increase liability by acknowledging the streets are dangerous. So apparently, the solution is just to keep them that way.

 

Competitive Cycling

Heartbreaking news, as 27-year old German Olympic and world track sprint cycling champion Kristina Vogel announced her legs are paralyzed, following a crash with another cyclist while training earlier this year that resulted in a severed spinal chord. Yet another reminder that bicycling is a dangerous sport, especially at the highest levels.

Ending a 17-year drought, 22-year old Kate Courtney became the first American since 2001 to win the mountain bike world championship; Denmark’s Annika Langvad finished second, followed by Canadian Emily Batty.

The leader’s jersey change hands once again at the Vuelta a España, where the top four riders are separated by just 47 seconds.

Twenty-three-year old American former mountain biker Sepp Kuss is making an impact at the Vuelta in his first year on the WorldTour, after winning this year’s Tour of Utah.

We probably don’t need to worry about spoilers with the Tour of Britain, where France’s Julian Alaphilippe won the title.

The Dimension Data pro cycling team will reduce the number of African riders as it struggles to maintain its WorldTour status; the team has focused on developing black African riders.

Sad news from Canada, where a 20-year old Edmonton track cyclist is in intensive care after crashing at around 40 mph in a Mexican velodrome.

 

Finally…

Most people usually don’t drink while they’re on their bike. It’s not a tandem bike, it’s an argument machine.

And once again, an Aussie rider is the victim of a rude ‘roo. Or two.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia on September 30th!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

………

L’Shana Tova to all marking Rosh Hashanah today!

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

Morning Links: Busting bike thieves around the world, CiclaValley rides Riverside Drive, and coke dart doping

September 7, 2018 / / 3 comments

Today’s common theme is stolen bikes and the thieves who take them.

Bike thieves in Moab UT aren’t bothering to break bike locks, but stealing the entire bike rack along with the bicycle. Only use bike racks that are embedded in the concrete. And make sure there are no cuts in the rack, which thieves often hide under stickers.

Edmonton, Alberta police bust a prolific bike thief, recovering 83 bikes worth up to $20,000. Which is a good reminder to register your bikes now, so you’ll be protected if it someone like that comes to visit your bike.

A British cop out rides a suspected bike thief in a high-speed bike chase caught on first-person bodycam video.

Police in Dublin, Ireland are starting a “Lock it or lose it” campaign, after bike thieves make off with nearly 10,000 bicycles in two and a half years; nationwide, the total is at least 14,000, with more thefts unreported.

As today’s photo shows, bike thieves don’t always take the whole bike at once. Which means you need to secure as much of your bike as possible

………

Local

CiclaValley rides the newly redesigned bike lanes on Burbank’s Riverside Drive, and finds them lacking.

KABC-7 discovers the Cycling Savvy program from the nonprofit American Cycling Education Association, including their instructions to take the lane.

Speaking of KABC-7, they talk with the Dream Riders bicycling down the Pacific Coast on the 37-day “Journey to Justice” tour from Seattle to San Diego as they stop in Long Beach.

 

State

A San Clemente letter writer says the greatest risk in allowing bikes on the beach path is that pedestrians may get startled.

An overweight, 68-year old Bakersfield bike rider hears a shouted request to put on a shirt, and politely but firmly says no.

The bike path paralleling Mission Road, aka State Route 246, will be closed for repairs east of Solvang for three weeks, starting September 17th.

A writer for Streetsblog says it’s time to stop hiding behind studies and process, and install a protected bike lane on San Francisco’s Valencia Street.

 

National

Bike Snob says give kids bikes, not helmets, arguing that helmet giveaways are an act of surrender to our dangerous streets.

Streetsblog reports a handful of states are throwing away millions of dollars in transportation funds that could go to build desperately needed sidewalks, bike lanes or trails.

A standup comic is riding down the left coast on a tour of open mic nights, while raising funds to buy 20 bikes through Bicycle Relief.

Nice gesture from the US Air Force, which sent members of the Air Force Cycling Team to assist fellow riders at this year’s RAGBRAI, calling them Guardian Angels of the Road.

One Chicago bicyclist was killed, and another critically injured, in separate dooring incidents.

In a study from Boston, researcher conclude what we already knew — local planning and zoning board meetings are dominated by older, wealthier NIMBYs. Which can be confirmed by virtually anyone who has attended a public meeting to argue for safer streets.

A Harvard research scientist makes the case for designing greener streets, starting with making room for bicycles and trees.

A writer for New York Streetsblog says the state needs to stop treating drivers and bike riders the same, subject to the same $190 fine for running a red light. Even though bike riders pose significantly less risk to others.

A Louisiana grand jury has declined to return a negligent homicide charge against the driver who killed a Baton Rouge city councilman as he rode with a friend, settling instead for a charge of reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

Tampa city leaders express concern that the police are still unfairly ticketing black bike riders when the new police chief shows up without any stats to address it.

 

International

Toronto bicyclists are riding with pool noodles to demonstrate the one-meter passing distance required by law, and often ignored.

A London driver — and a tabloid paper — freaks out over a man in a suit talking on a cellphone as he rides down the street, even though that’s not illegal for bike riders. Unfortunately, the video won’t play in this country.

An actor from the Game of Thrones is riding 980 miles across the UK on a tandem with his father, who suffers for Parkinson’s, to raise funds for a Parkinson’s charity.

The bike mayor of Bangaluru, aka Bangalore, says there’s no denying that bicycling is essential in the city.

The African Cycling Foundation has donated six bicycles to students in Nigeria to help them get to school — and stay in it.

An Australian government conference asks the same question everyone else keeps asking, how can we get more women back on their bikes.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. A road raging Chinese driver gets out of his car and attacks a bike rider with a machete. Until the rider turns the tables and kills the driver with his own knife.

 

Competitive Cycling

The winner of Thursday’s stage of the Vuelta was lucky to escape injury when a boneheaded race official stepped in front of his bike shortly after the end of the race, bringing down several riders.

You may never win a grand tour, but you can live like it, as the sprawling Georgian-style Minnesota estate belonging America’s last remaining Tour de France winner can be yours for a mere $4.9 million.

More proof that it’s not just cyclists who dope, as a professional darts player — yes, darts — has been banned for two years after testing showed a metabolite of cocaine in his system; he blamed it on a night of excess partying.

 

Finally…

Your next bike shorts could cost $300 — without a chamois. It’s one thing to win a KOM, another to beat a horse.

And you can relax now that autonomous cars have giant fake eyes to look at you with.

………

If you want to join the Militant Angeleno and me for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour on September 30th, RSVP by emailing MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. 

We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Motorist blames Vision Zero, the real problems on our streets, and the best bicycle dog chase ever

September 6, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Motorist blames Vision Zero, the real problems on our streets, and the best bicycle dog chase ever

Honestly, I don’t even know where to start with this one.

A writer for the extremist National Motorists Association blames New York’s Vision Zero for everything this side of the Lindberg kidnapping.

Vision Zero is a huge nightmare for everyone that lives or works in NYC. Since the introduction here of Vision Zero, commute times have more than doubled. The city has introduced road diets, has converted streets for bike and bus only lanes and has gotten rid of left turn lanes. These changes have made NYC streets nearly impassable. Road rage has now become more common due to frustration, crowded roads and less space to drive.

Under the Vision Zero regime, driving to work during morning rush hour takes hours instead of minutes. NYC has become anti-car and really anti-transit too since there seems to be little money available to fix the decrepit subway system. The use of congestion pricing to help pay for the subway won’t help either. Is it fair to make motorists pay for public transportation when we might not even use it?

Never mind that improving public transportation relieves pressure on the traffic grid, as more people choose not to drive.

Let alone his unsupported claim that commute times have doubled — or maybe it’s gone from mere minutes to hours, since he doesn’t seem sure.

Which you’d think would result in higher stress levels, though most New Yorkers seem to disagree.

He also takes offense at “entitled” pedestrians and bike riders who apparently throw themselves in front of those poor, put-upon motorists in hopes of getting hit.

Road diets are one thing but another side product of Vision Zero is that it has produced  a generation of distracted and entitled pedestrians who expect motorists to yield to them as soon as they step foot into the street even when crossing against the light or outside of legal crosswalks. I have witnessed so many close calls where pedestrians with intent moved in front of a moving vehicle because they know whatever happens, the motorist will always be at fault. The same holds true for bicyclists who seem to think that the rules of the road do not apply to them.

But seriously, it’s worth reading, if only to understand who we share the roads with.

Or because you need a good laugh.

Photo by Stanley Nguma via Pexels.com

………

Good question.

A mobility blogger says cities are dithering with e-scooter caps, while ignoring the real problem.

When was the last time cities like San Fransisco, Santa Monica, or Los Angeles threatened Ford or GM with cease and desist letters, or slapped them with vehicle caps, or threatened to ban them from cities for creating, say SUVs, that are even more deadly than regular cars, even when we knew they were more deadly 14 years ago?

………

Stop whatever you’re doing, and check out the best bike chase in recent memory, as a couple of ebike riders pursue a runaway dog in a hair-raising ride through the streets of New York.

And be sure to stick around for the surprising denouement.

Update: Unfortunately, it looks like they’ve taken down the original version I’d embedded.

Here’s a less edited and non-captioned version of the video. But it’s worth clicking on the link above to get the full effect.

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up. And the best laugh I’ve had in weeks.

………

Local

If you’re headed to the 13th Annual AltCar Expo and Conference in Santa Monica this weekend, go by bicycle and take advantage of the free bike valet. Or better yet, just forget the car and buy a good ebike or cargo bike instead.

Talk about the cup half full. While everyone else saw LA’s e-scooter pilot program as compromise to keep scooters on the streets, KNBC-4 says it will force thousands of scooters off them.

 

State

An Op-Ed in the Desert Sun calls for creating protected bike lanes in a planned makeover of Indian Canyon Drive to create a Complete Street that works for everyone.

Something virtually every bike rider can relate to, as a Thousand Oaks bike rider was forced to jam on the brakes when a driver cut across two lanes of traffic to make a right turn from the left lane.  Let’s give a shout out to TOPD deputy Mike Berg, who says bike riders are at fault in some of the crashes between bicyclists and drivers in the Conejo Valley. Which is undoubtedly true, as is the obverse. 

Protected bike lanes barely win out over parking spaces in San Luis Obispo, as residents argue a cycle track would actually make bicycling more dangerous.

A mobility website asks if San Francisco just solved scooter sharing.

 

National

Treehugger says we all have to stop obsessing about bike helmets, because “in most interactions between bike and truck, the helmet doesn’t make much of a difference,” and just isn’t relevant to the real safety discussion.

A writer for Strong Towns says maybe we need to talk about the dangers of bicycling, as well as advocating for more riders. Because it’s not fair or honest to to do one without the other.

Bicycling says if you really like spin class, try riding a real bicycle once in a while.

Two young Korean men finished a 70-day trip across the US to call attention to Korean comfort women in WWII; only 27 survivors remain today.

A Chicago bike rider was seriously injured by a woman fleeing in a stolen car, just seconds after barely missing a father taking his kids home in a cargo bike.

New signs tell Chicago bike riders to walk their bikes on what is supposed to be a multi-use trail, after a single “crackpot” threatened to sue the city.

New York police wanted to file charges in the case of an Australian tourist who was killed in a crash with a garbage truck after a taxi driver cut her off in the bike lane, but the district attorney refused to accept the case.

A New York website says Central Park is an oasis for bicyclists — if they can get there.

 

International

Practice makes perfect. Yamaha is out with their 25th generation of ebikes, after inventing the ped-assist category in 1993.

A Vancouver bike commuter says the city’s holier-than-thou bicyclists are ruining it for everyone; his point is that a little courtesy and respect for others make a big difference. Although he could make the point just as effectively without stereotyping the people he complains about.

No bias here. A Winnipeg TV station says a bike rider was killed when “collided” with a semi. After all, it couldn’t possibly be that a truck driver actually hit the person on the bike.

Toronto’s mayor calls for a crackdown on loud cars and motorcycles, saying their owners should be heavily fined for creating disturbances. Please, please, please let that spread here to LA. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

Chinese dockless bikeshare provider Mobike has thrown in the towel in Manchester, England after too much vandalism and too many stolen bikes.

The British government has dropped plans to raise the floor for liability claims to the equivalent of $6,500, which would prevent most bike riders from filing claims for minor injuries.

Britain’s roads minister — the equivalent of our Secretary of Transportation — tells parliament that segregated bike infrastructure is critical for improving traffic safety.

Local residents are threatening to sue to stop a 100-mile closed course UK ride that’s expected to draw up to 15,000 riders; they also plan a walking protest to block the route of the ride.

A German man who now lives on his bike plans to set a new record by riding over 14,000 miles from the Arctic Circle to Argentina in under 125 days.

 

Finally…

Not even bike-riding police commissioners are safe from lawbreaking drivers. When you can’t make the ride for the first time in 18 years, so your friends try to recreate it for him.

And hats off to whoever heroically filmed a British man being beaten by a bike thief in a strong-arm robbery, while a suited man politely tries to sort of, but not really, intervene.

It’s not like anyone would actually want to do something to stop it or anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ajcsLBv8c4

………

If you want to join the Militant Angeleno and me for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour on September 30th, RSVP by emailing MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. 

We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Morning Links: BikinginLA & Militant Angeleno host epic CicLAvia tour, and the worldwide war on bikes goes on

September 4, 2018 / / One comment

Okay, so the Militant Angeleno and I may or may not have a small announcement to make.

You may be familiar with the Militant through the Epic CicLAvia Tours he’s prepared for virtually every CicLAvia.

Few, if any, people are more knowledgable about the City of Angels, offering surprising details both large and small.

Yet, he’s never been seen in public.

Until now.

The Militant Angeleno will make his first ever public appearance when we team up to lead The Militant’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the LA Phil 100 x CicLAvia: Celebrate LA! on Sunday, September 30th.

We’ll meet near Disney Hall at 12 noon; just look for the guy dressed head to toe in camo.

That won’t be me.

………

Apparently, an ebike really can help you arrive at work feeling fresher.

A new European study shows ebike riders sweat three times less than people riding regular bicycles, and arrived at their destinations with a lower heartbeat and body temperature.

………

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

Alabama police refuse to do anything after a bike rider is intentionally run down by a driver, who fled the scene afterwards, because the police didn’t want to waste resources since he wasn’t injured or killed or anything.

A British music teacher was lucky to escape with rope burns when someone sabotaged a bikeway by stringing wire across the trail.

A Scotsman was seriously injured when he was deliberately targeted by a car driver following an altercation with a group of men.

………

Police are looking for the scumbag — and I use the term advisedly — who fled the scene after running down a pair of San Jose kids on their bikes.

………

An elderly Singapore bicyclist gets doored by a cab passenger, who clearly doesn’t give a damn. But at least the driver had the decency to help him up.

………

Local

USA Today takes a visit to the Palos Verdes Peninsula, calling it a hidden rural, coastal gem at the end of the beachfront bike path, where bicycling and surfing are the top sports, as any South Bay cyclist can attest.

Zach Rynew, aka CiclaValley, talks bicycling on Bike Talk.

 

State

A bighearted Castro Valley man has a founded a nonprofit he called Bad Business Model Bikes to restore vintage bikes and give them to people in need, for whatever reason.

The San Francisco Chronicle says buses and RVs pose a risk to bike riders on the East Bay’s Mt. Diablo.

 

National

Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter wonders why there’s a constant press to make bike helmets mandatory, but no one is pushing for car helmets — even though car crashes are the biggest cause of head injuries.

A seven-year old mountain bike network has helped bring nearly 30,000 riders and an extra $2 million a year to a Minnesota town, helping to make it one of Outside magazine’s best places to live.

A Chicago community leader says he’s the latest victim of the city’s “broken windows” crackdown on bicycling violations in black neighborhoods, after he was ticketed for riding on an otherwise empty sidewalk.

Bowing to pressure from a Congressional representative, New York will take the unprecedented step of ripping out a protected bike lane; business owners didn’t like it because it made it harder to park illegally.

The New Yorker explains what the other bike signals mean.

New York is taking the first steps to legalize e-scooters in the city, despite the lack of safe places to ride them. Jalopnik worries New York will find a way to ruin it, like it ruins everything else.

The New York Times says virtually nothing has changed after a series of shocking hit-and-run deaths in the city five years ago, except for a name change of the police unit assigned to investigate them.

As if hit-and-run drivers aren’t bad enough, police in New York are looking for a group of ATV riders who fled the scene after killing a bike rider in a crash; witnesses report the riders may have intentionally pulled the victim off his bike.

Saving the best of New York for last, the New York Post’s bike hating columnist is back with a racist, sexist rant that insists only spoiled, young, white males ride bikes, despite obvious evidence to the contrary. I’d say his bosses should make him ride a bike in the city to see what it’s really like, but he probably wouldn’t be able to sit on the saddle with his head so far up his own ass.

The same day that column ran, the Post published another story which points out the real problem, saying over 45% of New York drivers speed, and half of those do it while looking at their phones.

New Orleans bike advocates will be constructing their own temporary protected bike lanes pilot projects to test different types of protected lanes, as well as demonstrate how well they work. Maybe if we tried more pilot projects like this in Los Angeles, we might have better luck making them permanent.

 

International

A writer for Vice says he biked the most dangerous road in the world in Bolivia, and lived to tell the tale. Thanks to Brandi D’Amore for the heads-up.

London takes the next step in fighting smog and climate change by banning everything but electric cars, the newest hybrids, hydrogen vehicles and bikes or ebikes during morning and evening rush hours on nine streets dubbed “ultra-low emissions zones.”

A UK lawyer known as “Mr. Loophole” calls for bicyclists to wear identification placards large enough to be read at a distance, and face fines and point penalties just like drivers. Even though bike riders pose just a minute fraction of the risk to others that drivers do.

A British ultracyclist has reset his record for the most countries visited by bike in a seven day period, traveling through 15 European countries in a single week; he had originally set the record last year, only to see someone else break it a month later.

A new study from the UK casts doubt on the benefits of bikeshare, saying they don’t improve health, reduce CO2 emissions, or reduce congestion on the roads. All of which seem highly questionable.

Dublin residents worry that improving safety for people on bicycles with a parking-protected bike lane will mean speeding bicyclists making things worse for people on foot.

When you’re in the mood to suffer in breathtaking surroundings: A bicycling tour through the mountains of Catalunya, Spain.

Life is cheap in Dubai, where a 22-year old civil defense officer has been sentenced to just six months behind bars and the equivalent of a $3,500 fine for running down a woman training for an Emirati cycling team while he was racing another driver; he was also ordered to pay $54,000 to the victim’s family.

A Saudi Arabian professor was surprised to learn all his government benefits were frozen due to a number of unpaid — and apparently secret — tickets for reckless and distracted bike riding, as well as “drifting” while riding his three-wheeled recumbent; the tickets and fines were all dropped after a social media backlash. And thanks to the article, we now know the Saudi term for a ‘bent is “jariya.”

More trouble for Ofo, as the Chinese dockless bikeshare company is being sued by a 120-year old bikemaker for failing to pay for the equivalent of over $10 million worth of bicycles, and cancelling orders for three million more.

 

Competitive Cycling

The newest track US cycling star is an enduro wrench who rose out of the Kansas corn to set a world record in the 4,000 meters. Twice.

Now you can compete on, if not with, Geraint Thomas.

Another cycling team bites the dust, as Britain’s One Pro Cycling is dropping its men’s team to focus on their women’s team. The good news is it speaks volumes about the growth of women’s cycling.

Cycling Weekly considers why there’s been an increase in compression spinal fractures in pro cycling this year.

As if having to dodge race motos isn’t bad enough, now pro cyclists have to dodge helicopters in the Vuelta, as one rider was injured when he was blown off his bike by copter’s downdraft.

 

Finally…

What could be better than combining bicycles, Dickens and gin? When N + 1 equals 140. It’s not the World Naked Bike Ride if you do it alone. No. Just…no.

And that four-year old bike rider who went viral after giving a truck driver a thumbs up for safe pass is now the youngest person to ride the full length of Great Britain.

 

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