Tag Archive for Los Angeles

Morning Links: Nefarious plot to make people bike, induced demand school parking, and French motor doping

October 3, 2017 / / 2 comments

He’s back.

The latest piece from the apparently non-existent LA lawyer Richard Lee Abrams describes the city’s mobility plan as being an evil plot to force people out of their cars and onto transportation appropriate for 1895 New York.

He also accuses the city of capitalizing on pedestrian deaths to meet that nefarious goal, rather than just, say, trying to keep anyone else from getting killed.

Never mind that the easy solution he recommends for improving safety on Vista del Mar is exactly what the city tried. And then undid when South Bay commuters were revolting.

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Induced demand applies to parking garages, too. Yet Studio City’s exclusive Harvard-Westlake school wants to build a 750-space parking garage anyway, instead of encouraging alternative transportation and demanding safe routes to school.

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Leading Ethiopian cyclist Tsgabu Grmay will be competing for Trek on the WorldTour next year.

The French Cat 3 racer busted for motor doping over the weekend tried to escape after noticing officials were watching him, leading to a brief car chase; he could face fraud charges. Note to cheaters: always try to hide the wire leading from the battery hidden in your water bottle.

Fans saved the cancelled Philadelphia International Cycling Classic, which will be back next year under a new name.

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Local

Vision Zero LA says a record 177 LA area schools will participate in Wednesday’s National Walk & Bike to School Day.

Jim Shanman posts a photo showing the Ballona Creek Bike Path will be closed between 8 am and 4 pm between Duquesne and Overland in Culver City through the 5th.

Streetsblog offers photos of Sunday’s Coast open streets event in Santa Monica.

The Long Beach Marathon runs this Sunday, including a 20-mile bike ride preceding the race.

 

State

CiclaValley says bicycling from Ventura to Santa Barbara is the perfect ride for all cyclists.

The Morongo Basin is developing its first active transportation plan, thanks to a $200,000 grant from the Southern California Association of Governments.

An Op-Ed in the Mercury News calls for ensuring that active transportation funds from a Santa Clara County transportation sales tax are used for projects that actually work.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition unveils a new Ride With Respect campaign to encourage bicyclists to show more respect for others navigating the roads with us.

Sacramento will show how it intends to improve safety with a pop-up demonstration of its first parking-protected bike lane, along a reduction from three to two lanes to slow traffic. The plan appears to be a mirror image of the Venice Great Streets project that has led to near rebellion by some Westside drivers.

 

National

Bicycling has tips on what to consider before you buy a bicycle-shaped object bike at Walmart. Although you’re usually better off visiting your local bike shop, instead.

Great photo from the Seattle Times shows a BMX rider catching some serious air in mid-flip.

A Colorado Springs CO bike rider was killed in a collision with an unmarked police car; it’s the third bicycling fatality in the city this year, after none the previous two years.

Drivers in Dearborn MI now have to give bike riders a five-foot passing distance.

New York’s DA refuses to prosecute a bike rider who crashed into pedestrian last summer, even though the victim was crossing in the crosswalk with the walk signal. For once a bike rider has been held to the same standard most motorists are after a crash. None.

Four hundred New York cyclists raised over $650,000 to support mental health, domestic violence and supportive housing programs sponsored by the Jewish Board on a ride preceding the high holidays.

Even in New York, where lane reductions and bike lanes have successfully increased safety and livability, new plans are still getting pushback in neighborhoods where residents prefer parking, instead.

DC’s bikeshare system plans a $5 million expansion next year, even as competition from dockless bikeshare systems flood the market.

Florida announces plans for a massive eight-lane bridge in Tampa Bay, complete with a protected bike and pedestrian lane and an option for future rail.

 

International

The new leader of Canada’s third-largest political party is one of us. New Democratic Party leader and Brompton owner Jagmeet Singh calls for the country to develop a National Cycling Strategy. Which is something the US has never even considered.

Great idea. A women’s business site talks to the founder of a British company that’s solved the problem of children outgrowing bicycles by leasing bikes, then exchanging them for a new bike as your child grows.

UK police are looking for a man who crashed his bicycle into three people while illegally riding on the sidewalk, then got up and attacked them, leaving one man unconscious and breaking a woman’s nose.

Paris took open streets to the max on Sunday, banning motor vehicles from most of the city in an effort to fight pollution and encourage cleaner transportation.

European ebike makers have complained to the European Commission, accusing Chinese ebike makers of dumping their bikes below the cost of production.

The arrival of a Chinese dockless bikeshare company could mean the end of a free, city-owned bikeshare system in Adelaide, Australia.

You’ll still be able to ruin your lungs by smoking on a nearly 10-mile Australian inter-city bike path.

Sidney, Australia calls for a crackdown on rogue scofflaw delivery cyclists.

 

Finally…

Your next DIY bike could have front wheel drive — and you sit on the handlebars. And if you’re unemployed, just “get on your bike and find a job” with gorgeous EU women.

Or so says a British MP.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Bike SGV advocate Brian Velez passes away, new Vision Zero ad, and tips on videoing cops

October 2, 2017 / / One comment

More tragic news.

As if there wasn’t enough last week, the Los Angeles bicycling community suffered another big loss when one of the area’s leading advocates passed away unexpectedly.

Bike SGV reports that Brian Velez, outreach coordinator for the San Gabriel Valley advocacy group, died last Wednesday from an undiagnosed illness.

Velez also served as the co-host of Streetsblog’s SGV Connect podcast, as well as creating artwork for his blog.

He was just 33.

He is survived by his parents and his sister Diane, who worked with him as the Safe Routes coordinator for Bike SGV.

A scholarship fund is beingcreated in his name, and a memorial ride will be held in his honor on October 15th; you can find information on both on the Bike SGV website.

I hope you’ll join me in offering our deepest sympathy and prayers for Brian Velez, and all those who loved him.

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Vision Zero Los Angeles punts on its first TV spot, using LA Rams punter Johnny Hekker and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to call on drivers to watch their speed and pay more attention to people walking and biking.

Not exactly the hard-hitting ad some of us were hoping for.

But as Streetsblog’s Damien Newton reminds us, maybe it will mark a turning point in steering the conversation back to safety.

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The LAPD offers tips reaffirming your 1st Amendment right to film and photograph police officers in public, and how to avoid getting into trouble in the process.

Which is not to say every officer has gotten the memo, or agrees with it. So you may want to copy print this out and carry it with you or commit it to memory.

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A couple items were inadvertently left out of last week’s listing of upcoming bike events.

Starting with the 2017 South Bay Cycling Awards, hosted by Cycling in the South Bay author and bike lawyer Seth Davidson. If you make it, say hi to everyone; a great group of people and some very dedicated advocates down there.

The Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition is holding their 5th Annual Pumpkin Patch Pedal this Sunday.

And the LA Bicycle Advisory Committee meets tomorrow night in Hollywood.

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Once again, today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Bikeshare has officially opened on the UCLA campus. Your move, USC.

A Venice writer tries out the area’s new Metro Bike bikeshare, and ends up loaning it to a stranger who tried to wrestle it away from her.

As bikeshare flourishes in DC, questions arise of whether the city has the infrastructure to support it.

A bikeshare bike stopped a teenage Australian boy who was terrorizing the public when a bystander threw it under the boy’s SUV, to keep him from running over people on the street.

An Australian professor explains how dockless bikeshare providers actually make money.

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Another case of motor doping has been uncovered, as a French amateur rider was caught using a motor hidden inside his bicycle.

Former world team time trial champ Carmen Small retired after suffering her third major concussion since 2006.

Retired Spanish cyclist Oscar Freire says pro racing was much harder back in his day. After which he yelled at the kids to get off his lawn.

Trek is credited with giving men and women equal prize money for a recent cyclocross cup, even though cycling’s international governing body doesn’t believe in equal pay for equal results.

Ventura officials see virtually unlimited potential in hosting next year’s Amgen Tour of California.

The Malibu Times reports on last month’s Malibu Triathlon.

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Local

Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman writes about her experience with the LACBC’s recent bike and pedestrian count in South LA.

LAist says Angelenos need to atone for routinely driving a half mile when they could walk, bike or take a bus.

New plans to restore the Ballona Wetlands include options that would remove the concrete and restore Ballona Creek to a more natural state, requiring a realignment of the bike path.

Funding for the $20 million bike, pedestrian and equestrian bridge connecting Glendale and Griffith Park has been approved by the state legislature, and is sitting on Governor Brown’s desk awaiting his signature.

South Pasadena will establish a Bicycle Friendly Business District (pdf) in the downtown area, as part of the Bike Friendly San Gabriel Valley program. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up and pdf.

Santa Clarita has installed a solar-powered bike counter along a commuter bike trail.

 

State

San Clemente proposes narrowing existing traffic lanes and installing eight-foot wide buffered bike lanes on Calle Saluda.

San Francisco announces another plan to clear the homeless off a popular bikeway known as the Hairball, after encampments made it nearly impossible to ride through.

Kindhearted Antioch cops teamed with a local bike shop to buy a new bicycle for a 10-year old hit-and-run victim.

A Marin hiker says he was beaten by a trio of mountain bikers who were illegally using a singletrack trail where bikes are prohibited. Seriously, never resort, or respond, to violence except to defend yourself or others.

Modesto plans to sell a $9,000 trained police dog to the family of his handler for just $1, after the officer was killed by a suspected drunk driver while riding his bicycle.

 

National

Ford has patented a method to maintain stability on a bicycle and help keep the rider upright. Which in theory could allow countless people who aren’t comfortable balancing on two wheels to get out and ride.

Life is cheap in Idaho, where a truck driver who killed a bike rider was fined just $90 — yes, nine zero — for “inattentive driving;” the victim’s wife was not even allowed to tell the jury her husband had died as a result of the crash.

Country music star Luke Bryan is one of us, as he takes a tour of Austin TX with America’s most famous ex-Tour de France winner.

An Ohio woman rode 1,900 miles from Ohio to Arizona, recreating the route her son took before he died of Ewing’s sarcoma and acute myeloid leukemia.

A New Hampshire city appoints the country’s first bike mayor.

Buffalo NY bicyclists ride to raise funds and awareness for hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

More New York bike couriers are mistakenly riding through the Lincoln tunnel, riding past the signs indicating no bikes in the process.

An 84-year old Virginia man faces charges after making a wide turn at high speed and crashing into a woman carrying three children on her bicycle. Once again bringing up the difficult question of how old is too old to safely drive. And how to get older people off the road once they’ve lost their ability to drive safely, which varies from one person to another.

 

International

A NASA astronaut will join a pair of scientists in bicycling 600 miles across the Amazon to document the effects of climate change.

City Lab reports that bicycles and parks were lifelines for people affected by last month’s Mexico City earthquake. A reminder that owning a bike with durable tires could be a lifesaver for those of us who live in earthquake country.

A hard-hitting piece by a Toronto columnist says the city’s streets are deadly by design. Not unlike the streets of Los Angeles, which some Westside and South Bay drivers are fighting to keep that way.

British bike advocates have mapped out every bicycling fatality in the UK from 2005 to 2016, discovering in the process that roundabouts are risky for bike riders.

Not a hint of eccentricity here. A Welshman is riding 5,000 miles to Africa to follow the swallows that live in his shed.

A UK cyclist calls out his fellow riders for leaving their trash behind on the road. He’s got a point; it always saddens me to see gel wrappers, blown tubes and spent CO2 cartridges littering popular riding routes.

A bicyclist from Malta says he started bike commuting because he wanted to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. And lost 30 pounds in the process.

Athletes in Turkmenistan gave the country’s president a golden bicycle, which inexplicably appears to be painted green. Although it’s hard to tell what the story’s really trying to say in its broken English.

Brilliant idea from a South African writer, who says drivers should be given an automatic 15-minute timeout on the side of the road when they get pulled over by police for bad driving. Although here in LA, that could result in a massive traffic jam of stopped cars on the side of the roads.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to do a good deed, at least keep an eye on your bike. Go to your next Halloween party as a self-driving car.

And congrats, roadies. Your spandex bike shorts are now fashion forward.

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Thanks to John Hall for his very generous donation to help support this site.

And let’s all take a moment to remember the victims of last night’s shootings in Las Vegas. And dedicate ourselves to keep things like this from happening again.

 

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

Morning Links: Upcoming bike events, possible Topanga Canyon closure, and bike boulevards coming to East LA

September 29, 2017 / / 4 comments

Let’s start by catching up with a few bike events coming in the next few weeks.

The LACBC will be hosting a ride along the lower LA River in Paramount this Saturday. That will be followed the next day by the monthly Sunday Funday ride in Elysian Park.

Walk Bike Burbank is holding their Burbank Bike Festival this Sunday.

Warm up for next week’s CicLAvia when Santa Monica’s COAST Open Streets Festival returns for a second year this Sunday.

This Wednesday is National Walk/Bike to School Day.

SoCal cyclocross season starts next weekend in Irvine.

CicLAvia returns to the Heart of LA on October 8th.

With the Olympics coming back to LA, this is a great time to meet legendary ’84 LA Olympic cyclist Nelson “The Cheetah” Vails at Stan’s Bike Shop on October 14th.

Long Beach is bringing back an expanded edition of their popular Beach Streets ciclovía on October 28th.

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If your weekend plans included riding Topanga Canyon, you might want to consider another route.

The road will be closed overnight on Saturday and Sunday from PCH to Grand View Drive; the article is unclear whether it will be closed entirely to bikes and pedestrians, or just until 5 am.

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Local

In a remarkably one-sided report, the Los Feliz Ledger says opponents of the successful Rowena road diet are awaiting the results of a safety study in hopes of reversing the lane reductions, and are feeling empowered by the reversal of the Vista del Mar road diet.

Metro will be installing a pilot bikeshare kiosk in Echo Park in time for next week’s CicLAvia in an effort to gauge demand for bikeshare in the area.

The anti-road diet mania in Los Angeles apparently hasn’t cowed county officials, who are moving forward with plans for at least one on the Eastside, as well as several other bike safety projects, including a pair of bike boulevards.

A cyclist helped come to the rescue when a car went off the road on Glendora Mountain Road yesterday.

The LA Times says greater density is the solution to California’s environmental and affordable housing crises, not sprawl-inducing developments like Newhall Ranch, however environmentally friendly they may strive to be.

 

State

A 21-year old plan to improve downtown Del Mar is finally moving forward, including widened sidewalks and bike lanes on Camino del Mar.

San Francisco police are looking for a bike-born dog-napper who threatened the dog’s owner with a golf club.

San Francisco Streetsblog asks whatever happened to the word “allegedly,” as the press is quick to blame the person on two wheels in any crash. I’d like to know the answer to that one myself.

Sports Illustrated takes in a San Francisco hill climb competition with inclines up to 21%. Which would elicit yawns from anyone who’s competed in LA’s own Feel My Legs I’m A Racer seven hill climb. (Correction: It’s a ten hill climb; thanks to CiclaValley for the tip.)

Thirteen bicyclists are riding from Reno NV to San Francisco to honor EMS workers who have died recently.

Horrifying story from Stockton, where three boys forced an eight-year old kid into a house and beat him severely, before stealing his bicycle and $16 — then posted the video on Instagram.

Evidently, San Jose hasn’t gotten the memo that road diets are evil, either.

Great article from Sacramento, where Sactown Magazine makes a call for tactical urbanism, from filling potholes with daisies to DIY protected bike lanes.

 

National

The new GoPro promises to unshake your bike cam videos.

A Navajo Nations cop has been charged with murder for crashing into a bicyclist after drinking all night while attending a conference in Arizona; his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.

A long-time Iowa radio DJ and a member of the state’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was killed when he allegedly turned his bike into the path of an oncoming car.

Life is cheap in New York, where a negligent driver, whose boat detached from the car pulling it and killed a 21-year old woman riding her bike, will serve just 60 days behind bars.

A new interactive New York map will tell you when bikeshare is your fastest travel option. And it usually is.

Philadelphia adopts a Vision Zero plan, vowing to end traffic deaths by 2030.

 

International

If you own a Brompton made in the last four years, take it back to the dealer; the company is recalling all models made between 2014 and 2017 due to a problem with the bottom bracket.

A new London play was inspired by a ghost bike installed for the victim of a 2009 bicycling crash.

The British press is in an uproar over brakeless fixies, even though a fixie is a brake in the hands of a skilled rider. The problem comes when inexperienced cyclists try to ride brakeless, without the skills or leg strength to stop their bikes.

A British woman complains that her husband loves his bike more than her.

The Italian supreme court has officially ruled that cycling legend Marco Pantani wasn’t murdered.

 

Finally…

Before you ride 7,500 miles to pedal your bike around a famed racetrack, make sure they allow bicycles. Go ahead and pedal your bike while drunk, but don’t paddle your canoe.

And maybe the problem is too many American drivers are selfish assholes.

 

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

Morning Links: Bike riders rescue woman in Santa Clarita, and dumping bikeshare bikes in all the wrong places

September 28, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike riders rescue woman in Santa Clarita, and dumping bikeshare bikes in all the wrong places

Let’s call this Morning Links lite.

Writing about bicycling fatalities in San Diego and Laguna Canyon — with a third in Santiago Canyon still to come — left limited time to write today’s post.

So we’re just hitting the highlights today. Or lowlights, in some cases.

We’ll be back with a more detailed report tomorrow.

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Local

Bike riders, including a retired police officer, come to the rescue when a 70-year old woman was attacked on a Santa Clarita bike path; a 29-year old transient from Orange County was arrested on an attempted murder charge. Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare is getting an updated look, and a new Instagram contest to help promote it.

You could soon find yourself sharing Santa Monica bike lanes with new rental e-scooters.

 

State

Bicycle safety is now officially part of the curriculum in Atascadero elementary schools.

Pleasanton has installed a permanent memorial to a 72-year old woman killed in a bicycling crash last year, following a number of bike and pedestrian safety improvements after her death.

Sad news from Petaluma, where a 74-year old bike rider was killed in a collision while making a left turn.

 

National

Your next Trek could come with batteries.

Bicycling offers advice on how to climb up a really tough hill. Without resorting to an ebike, that is.

Life is cheap in Colorado, where a driver still hasn’t started his five-month sentence for killing an eight-year old girl as she rode her bike, despite accepting the slap-on-the-wrist plea deal in April. Which means he would have been out already otherwise.

A Chicago weekly looks at female Mormon missionaries and their bikes.

Michigan considers requiring a statewide five foot passing distance in the wake of last year’s Kalamazoo massacre.

The organizers of a St. Louis century ride apologize to the Jewish community for scheduling the ride on Yom Kippur.

New York’s mayor throws bike riders under the bus, ignoring stats from his own Department of Transportation showing protected bike lanes improve safety for everyone and enhance compliance with traffic laws.

Now that’s more like it. A South Carolina woman was sentenced to ten years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider.

 

International

A Toronto writer says bicycling brings out the worst version of herself. If that’s as bad as she gets, she should be a candidate for sainthood.

Caught on video: A total jackass records himself leaning out of a car window to shove a London bicyclist off his bike and into a bus stop sign, as his equally obnoxious passengers laugh. Hopefully they’ll catch these jerks and give them the jail time they so richly deserve.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a customized adaptive bike from a severely disabled British man with cerebral palsy.

The war on bikes continues, as a man in the UK is on trial for allegedly punching a passing bike rider in the face, and sending him crashing through the rear window of a van.

An Aussie website calls Warsaw, Poland, the picturesque bike-friendly European capital you’ve never heard of.

Just like dockless bikeshare systems around the world, Australian bikeshare bikes continue to be dumped in all the wrong places. Although Aussies may be taking “wrong places” to a whole new level.

 

Finally…

As long as you’re riding your bike on a river anyway, you might as well clean it up a bit.

And Phil Gaimon’s Worst Retirement Ever takes on Boulder CO.

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Morning Links: Streetsblog talks with LACBC’s Erik Jansen, Massachusetts bikelash, and CiclaValley hits a deer

September 27, 2017 / / One comment

It’s a light news day, so let’s get right to it.

Then get out on your bike and enjoy this beautiful LA weather.

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Forbes says the Israel start for next year’s Giro poses a difficult dilemma for pro cycling’s two Arab-owned teams, who must decide whether to participate in the Arab boycott of the country.

Call it Lance’s revenge. The French lab that uncovered proof of his doping has been provisionally suspended by the world anti-doping agency.

Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini complains that the dominance of Chris Froome and Peter Sagan has made bike racing boring. Maybe he didn’t see Sagan’s three-inch come-from-behind victory in Sunday’s world championships.

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Local

Streetsblog offers an interview with new LACBC Executive Director Erik Jansen.

Bicycling talks with former UCLA triathlete Nako Nakatsuka, who was unfairly sued by the driver who hit her, about her new bike advocacy website Bike Woke.

Wallet Hub ranks the most fun cities in the US, based on criteria that includes bike rentals and hiking trails, but not bikeways. Which may be why Los Angeles just barely missed the top ten, checking in at number twelve. That’s better than Oxnard, though, which ranks as the least fun city in the US.

San Francisco’s Beyond Chron website looks at former USC bike repairman Lil Bill Flournoy, who was unceremoniously booted off campus last year, and now fixes bikes on a city-owned space across from the university.

CiclaValley collides with a deer while riding on Mulholland. And of course, does it when his bike cam isn’t working.

 

State

A German dentist paused briefly in San Diego on his 19,000-mile bike ride from Argentina to Alaska.

A San Francisco supervisor is shocked to learn Uber and Lyft drivers illegally use bike and transit lanes; people who bike and ride buses, not so much.

Bay Area bike shops are being plagued by a serial test-ride thief.

 

National

Former DC and Chicago transportation director Gabe Klein says smart cities are the wave of the future.

Bighearted Idaho paramedics bought a new bike for a 13-year old boy after his was damaged when he was hit by a driver, along with bike helmets for his brothers and sisters.

A kindhearted stranger bought a new bike for an Illinois boy battling cancer after his bike was stolen.

An Indiana suburb is proving that it is possible to remake the streets to accommodate everyone.

It’s not just LA. Cambridge MA is experiencing their own bikelash as residents rise up to complain about the overly rapid implementation of a whole 1.25 miles of bike lanes in one year, leading to an apology from the mayor. Yes, just over a single mile.

New York bicyclists complain they’re being left out of a redesign of New York’s famed Fifth Avenue.

A New York man faces up to 15 years behind bars after being convicted in the hit-and-run death of a Queens bike advocate.

An Op-Ed in the Washington Post says it was reckless for lawmakers to drop a requirement that all bikes must have a bell, insisting that a polite little ding is more effective than yelling a warning.

 

International

A cyclist from my hometown rides the route traveled by Spanish conqueror Cortes from Veracruz to Mexico City.

A Toronto Op-Ed says new separated bike lanes are encouraging more “normal” people to come out and ride, while noting that removing these lanes could make those people go away.

Caught on video: Sometimes it’s the cops who violate safe passing laws, coming within inches of a UK bicyclist on a blind corner.

Britain’s Labour Party pledges to invest £10 per person for bike and pedestrian projects each year. Which would work out to roughly $4.3 billion here in the US. Note: I originally wrote $4.3 trillion; thanks to Andy S. for the correction. 

A writer in the Guardian says Google Maps must be improved if it’s going to be useful for bike riders, including information on bike parking once you get where you’re going.

It takes a truly massive schmuck to steal the custom racing handcycle specifically made for an Aussie Paralympic cyclist, which even can’t be used by anyone else.

Motorists in five Australian states will now face a $159 fine for violating their equivalent of a three foot law, prohibiting passing closer than one meter on roads with speed limits over 37 mph, and one and a half meters over that.

China’s bikeshare boom is cutting into the demand for gas.

 

Finally…

Give up your ironic hipster beard or your Belgian cycling career. And yes, your new Google Levi jacket can make and receive texts and calls, but you may have to put up with the smell.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , ,

Morning Links: Erik Jansen replaces Tamika Butler as LACBC ED; Delaware could adopt Idaho Stop

September 26, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Erik Jansen replaces Tamika Butler as LACBC ED; Delaware could adopt Idaho Stop

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has decided to promote from within, turning to interim Executive Director Erik Jansen to replace the irreplaceable Tamika Butler as head of the coalition.

Jansen, the Deputy Executive Director of Advancement, stepped up to fill the void after Butler announced her resignation last June. And was selected to remain as head of the organization by the coalition’s board of directors, following a nationwide search.

Building upon the national reputation the LACBC enjoyed under previous ED Jennifer Klausner for its groundbreaking efforts to reach out to LA’s immigrant community, Tamika Butler led the organization in refocusing its efforts on building equity in underserved communities.

And in doing so, became a leading voice for the underprivileged and people of color within the bicycling community nationwide.

Now it will be interesting to see if Jansen continues those efforts, or moves the LACBC back to a more mainstream form of bicycle advocacy.

He comes at a time of unprecedented bikelash in the City of Angels, with bike lanes and safety projects under fire in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey. And as a lawsuit against the city, and a recall campaign to unseat Councilmember Mike Bonin, attempt to derail LA’s Vision Zero program and intimidate councilmembers to prevent any future lane reductions.

The LACBC has grown to become a mature advocacy group over the past several years. And will need strong leadership to help LA become the bikeable, livable community it must become.

You can meet Erik Jansen when the LACBC hosts a Handlebar Happy Hour at Pure Cycles in Burbank tonight, with free food and drink courtesy of BikinginLA sponsor Jim Pocrass.

Photo from LACBC.

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Delaware could become just the second state in the country to legalize the Idaho Stop.

Hopefully California won’t be too far behind.

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Male pro cyclists get a boost in the minimum wage, but women riders still don’t even have a guarantee of getting paid.

Britain governing body for cycling hopes to create a women’s cycling team patterned on the successful Team Sky.

A reminder to always cover-up or wear sunscreen when you ride, as retired Columbian racer Lucho Herrera blames cycling for his skin cancer. Something I can relate to, and more than once.

Sometimes a wicked time trial crash is the best form of advertising.

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Local

KPCC reports on the bike and pedestrian count conducted over the weekend by Los Angeles Walks and the LACBC.

The MyFigueroa project is just one of the projects changing the face of DTLA’s Figueroa corridor.

UCLA will launch an on-campus bikeshare program next week.

KNBC-4 looks at the COAST Open Streets Festival coming to Santa Monica this Sunday.

 

State

The San Diego Bicycle Coalition is looking for public input on plans for the pre-Halloween CicloSDias open streets event to be held next month.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 81-year old North San Diego County man rode 4,200 miles across Canada in 56 days as part of a church group ride.

San Francisco moves forward with plans to sort of crack down on bicycle chop shops without actually making them illegal; a homeless advocate argues that they’re just an entrepreneurial way to for homeless people to make a living recycling bike parts that they happen to find. Except too often, they happen to find bikes that belong to other people.

A 63-year old Napa woman is back home after riding solo 5,000 miles across the US.

 

National

The Denver Post lists Colorado’s best mountain bike trails for your next trip to the Centennial State.

Police in Colorado arrested a man accused of threatening mountain bike riders with a hatchet, on the same trail where a rider was fatally shot a week earlier.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever ambushed a 13-year old Colorado boy in a park to steal his bicycle.

A 19-year old Fargo SD man was killed in a bicycle collision over the weekend, three years after he was deliberately run down in a dispute with a breakaway Mormon religious sect while riding his bike in Utah.

Bike lanes get the blame for traffic congestion in Minneapolis, even though construction projects are likely the real culprits. Never mind that the local TV station couldn’t seem to find any traffic backups to show in the report, despite taking the time to count bikes and cars during the morning and evening rush hours.

The Today Show’s Al Roker is one of us, making room on his daily bike commute for new co-star Megyn Kelly.

No bias here. When a bikeshare rider was hit by a New York Uber driver, the NYPD went out of its way to blame the victim, even though a witness said the driver was at fault.

 

International

Mexico City residents are using bicycles to deliver emergency supplies and help victims of last week’s earthquake.

The war on bikes continues. A Montreal man was seriously injured when he fell off his bike trying to avoid fishing line that had been strung at neck level across a bridge on a bike path.

A Toronto bike rider says the city’s car-first policies create a war on people, as a backlash results in the removal of stop signs that had gone through a community-driven public approval process.

Kindhearted Brits contribute the equivalent of $4,000 to replace the custom-made trike that allowed a man with cerebral palsy to ride, after his was stolen.

The Guardian says government efforts to criminalize reckless bicycling in the UK are ignoring the cause of 99% of the country’s fatal crashes to focus on just 0.12% of them, calling it headline grabbing hypocrisy.

Amsterdam is cracking down on unauthorized dockless bikeshare systems.

An Istanbul man fights his own depression by documenting his journeys around Turkey on his 1960s bicycle with photos and inspiring messages, earning 130,000 Instagram followers in the process.

An Israeli website takes a two-wheeled tor through bicycle history in the county.

Someone is dumping dockless bikeshare bikes into an Australian river; contractors pulled out 40 bicycles in just four hours. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

China’s Mobike and Ofo are battling for world domination in the dockless bikeshare market.

 

Finally…

Next time you sign up for a bike race, make sure it’s in the right country. Your next jean jacket could be more connected than a mafia hitman.

And now you, too, can live like America’s only remaining Tour de France winner for just $5 million.

 

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

Morning Links: More on the all too real war on bikes, world championship highlights, and #1 on a bike trail

September 25, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: More on the all too real war on bikes, world championship highlights, and #1 on a bike trail

We’re finally back after missing the last two Mondays due to technical issues.

So if it only seems like we’ve been offline for a year, why am I a year older than I was when this all started?

………

More proof that while the alleged war on cars in a myth, the war on bikes is all too real.

Colorado sheriff’s deputies were investigating reports of a man threatening mountain bikers with a hatchet on the same trail where a rider was found shot to death last week.

A report on Twitter says a British century ride was sabotaged when someone poured oil over the roadway. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

And a mountain biker in the UK was lucky to avoid serious injury when someone left barbed wire piled on a trail.

………

Spoiler alert: If you still have the worlds in your viewing cue, skip to the next section.

Peter Sagan won by mere inches to make it a three-peat in the world championships, while Dutch rider Chantal Blaak won the women’s road race over Australian Katrin Garfoot.

Another race, another cyclist injured in a collision with race vehicles.

Cycling Tips offers a photo essay of the men’s world championship races.

The Giro d’Italia is accused of “sports-washing of Israel’s occupation and apartheid” with their Jerusalem start in next year’s race. Race organizers hope politics will stay out of the race. Good luck with that.

UCI’s new boss makes a much needed call for organizers and TV to boost women’s bike racing, and plans to crack down on motor doping and other forms of technological fraud.

Nice article on 13 cycling legends every road cyclist should know. Although someone should tell them it is actually possible to ride a road bike without any interest in bike racing, or need for it.

……….

Local

LA County’s bike riding public health director announces he will be leaving his position and heading back to New York at the end of the year.

Letter writers in the Times discuss a recent editorial accusing entitled drivers of getting in the way of the state’s climate goals; the first writer makes the paper’s point for them with absolutely no sense of the irony.

A man was shot to death while riding his bicycle through a Norwalk parking lot Thursday night.

Santa Monica’s COAST Festival returns for a second year this Sunday, offering a ciclovía to help get you ready for CicLAvia the following week; the city offers tips on what not to miss.

A new garden and bench were dedicated to fallen 13-year old bike rider Ciara Smith, who was killed in a collision with a Metro bus in Redondo Beach last May.

 

State

A San Diego woman gets her stolen bike back when a total stranger spots a man riding it, after seeing her post on Facebook.

An eight-year old Palm Springs boy was given a custom-made lowrider bicycle by the Make-A-Wish Foundation after battling kidney cancer for the last five years.

The Bay Area’s East Contra Costa County is working towards solving the first mile/last mile problem by improving bike routes leading to and from a new BART station.

San Francisco’s Curbed offers a short course in sidewalk etiquette, including the admonition to get off and walk your bike. Which is good advice on any crowded walkway, whether or not it’s legal to ride on it.

 

National

CleanTechnica explains everything you always wanted to know about ebikes but were afraid to ask. Or maybe not.

Outside offers advice on the seven essential items you need to start mountain biking for the low, low price of just $2,000. Or you could just buy a helmet and a used bike for a couple hundred, slap on some gloves and start riding.

A off-duty Navajo Nation cop faces DUI and manslaughter charges after sideswiping an SUV and running down an bike rider on the sidewalk, then blowing through a red light before crashing into Glendale AZ police cruiser.

Thousands of bicycles abandoned at Burning Man will be shipped to Houston and the Caribbean to aid hurricane victims.

Texas cops use their bikes to sneak up on drug dealers and other criminals who might be spooked by a police cruiser.

More people are skipping the traffic and commuting to St. Louis by bicycle.

A Minneapolis writer offers seven things to know about what he terms the city’s asinine fight over bike lanes on the south side. Most of which translates to the similarly asinine battle over bike lanes and road diets on LA’s Westside.

WNBA star Sylvia Fowles donated her entire $15,000 league MVP bonus to a Minnesota organization that helps low-income girls get access to bicycles.

Nothing like the British press’ breathless hysteria over a New York actor sharing a bike with his kids. Seriously, am I the only one who wants to slap their editors and say get over it already?

A second Boston-area bicyclist has been arrested for refusing to stop for a bike cop after blowing a stop sign on a bike trail. Seriously, just stop, take the ticket and fight it in court. Beats the hell out of spending a night behind bars.

The Washington Post reviews DC’s four new dockless bikeshare systems.

 

International

A Cycling Weekly Op-Ed says a kneejerk law prohibiting dangerous cycling won’t solve the problems on the country’s roads. On the other hand, overly careless or aggressive bicyclists should face consequences for their actions, just like drivers should but too often don’t.

Caught on video: An English driver just barely avoids hitting a bicycle with a child on the back as the rider blows through a red light; however, the driver starts going before the light changes, too.

The BBC asks, ala Rodney King, if cyclists and other road users can get along. Short answer, of course. If — and only if — everyone involved actually wants to, however.

A Brit radio program is shocked! shocked! to find brakeless fixies for sale in London, despite a ban on bike without brakes.

Dublin’s bikeshare system has helped double the number of daily bicyclists in the city to 96,000 in just six years.

Amsterdam turns off the traffic signals, and chaos does not result. Good luck achieving the same results with LA’s overly entitled drivers, however.

A new German study explains how bicycling effects the brains of Parkinson’s patients, after previous studies have shown noted improvement in symptoms while riding.

A bike advocacy group in Malta calls for bicyclists to be allowed to use highway tunnels.

Phuket, Thailand joined nearly 850 cities in 25 countries in going carfree on Sunday. No surprise that Los Angeles was not one of them.

Japanese bicyclists are rushing to buy liability insurance after courts have given huge damage awards in cases involving bike riders. Here in the US, your automotive insurance and/or homeowner’s or renter’s insurance should cover you, but check with your agent to be sure.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be a wood sandwich. Get a weight weenie’s dream for just $12,000.

And it’s one thing to relieve yourself on the side of a bike trail, another to dump 50 gallons of number one next to one.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: An interview with yours truly, bikeshare around the world, and what’s left after the La Tuna Fire

September 22, 2017 / / 5 comments

I’m back.

In more ways than one.

The latest computer problem was solved with the painful realization that Apple’s iCloud is not your friend. Once that was mostly shut down, the problems I was having seem to have disappeared.

But while BikinginLA was down yesterday, my words were going up somewhere else.

Wes Salmon, host of the popular Seattle podcast The Group Ride, recently made the big move down to Southern California.

And for reasons known only to him, one of the first things he wanted to do after moving here was to invite me to appear on his show.

Personally, I would have gone to Disneyland instead.

Although talking to me was about a hundred dollars cheaper. And only slightly less likely to induce you to lose your lunch.

Nevertheless, yesterday he posted his full 42 minute interview with me. Which should make the perfect soundtrack to today’s post, if your ears and eyes can manage to multitask better than mine.

I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, so let me know if I embarrassed myself.

Or more likely, how badly.

………

Today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Dockless bikeshare company Spin didn’t bother waiting for city permits before rolling their first bikes out in San Francisco. And San Franciscans didn’t bother waiting to break the rules on where those bikes could be left — or walking off with a wheel.

Seattle bikeshare riders aren’t being ticketed for riding without a helmet, even though they’re required in the city; meanwhile, the privately owned dockless bikeshares are looking promising. And yes, one may have something to do with the other.

Bikeshare is about to become more practical, as DC will be one of the first cities in the US to get a dockless ebike system, while Chinese dockless bikeshare company Mobike makes a beachhead in the US with its new DC system.

A South Carolina writer insists helmets should be required for bikeshare users. Although it should be noted that there have been just two bikeshare fatalities anywhere in the US, with or without helmets. Which makes it seem like a solution in search of a problem.

A new bikeshare system at a Pakistani university is bringing greater freedom to female students.

Even North Korea has jumped on the bikeshare bandwagon, as fuel supplies get tighter.

………

In a heartbreaking post for anyone who knows the area, the Radavist rides through the Verdugo Mountains to examine the damage caused by the La Tuna Fire earlier this month.

………

Chris Froome couldn’t make it a three-peat as Tom Dumoulin won the time trial at the world championships.

Caught on video: A Norwegian cop levels a fan who got a little too close to the action at the worlds, while bored fans cheer a leaping squirrel.

Cycling’s governing body has a new president, as France’s David Lappartient takes the helm at UCI after outgoing president Brian Cookson gets the boot.

Recently retired cyclist Tyler Farrar says despite the recent drought, US men’s cycling is just in a transitional phase, with new top riders on the horizon. One of whom may be Colorado’s Sepp Kuss, who’ll be riding for Team LottoNL-Jumbo next year.

……….

Local

LA Councilmember Bob Blumenfield says the old Rocketdyne site in the San Fernando Valley would be the perfect site for Amazon’s new second headquarters. However, he seems to forget that the company insists on locating in a bikeable community; something LA’s current anti-road diet, anti-bike lane hysteria is likely to preclude.

Four LA bicyclists — some of whom you may recognize — describe their favorite LA-area rides to see the city from a different perspective.

An editorial in the LA Times says entitled drivers are getting in the way of California’s climate change goals. Too bad the rest of the editorial doesn’t hit as hard as the headline.

The student newspaper at Santa Monica College offers a look at the controversy over the Venice Blvd Great Streets project.

The Argonaut says the proposed campaign to recall Mike Bonin is off to a rocky start, as both sides trade accusations.

West Hollywood is considering changes on three streets to improve bike and pedestrian safety, including sharrows and bike traffic signals. Tell them they can save the money they’d spend on sharrows, which only seem to help drivers improve their aim.

 

State

A Thousand Oaks letter writer accuses the city of social engineering by requiring apartment builders to provide “only” an average of two parking spaces per unit, and allowing adjacent street parking to count towards that requirement. Never mind that the entire history of driving could fit that description.

A Santa Barbara paper says yes, you can go grocery shopping by bicycle.

Great story. One year after a South Carolina man was nearly paralyzed in a collision while riding his bike, he’ll be running in a Napa half marathon, accompanied by the surgeon who saved him — and the driver who hit him.

Davis is the first American city to host the International Cycling Safety Conference.

 

National

Curbed offers 101 ways to improve transportation in your city, several of which include bicycling.

A writer for VeloNews says Interbike may be moving, but it’s still worth a trip to Las Vegas just to ride the trails.

The Denver Bronco’s C.J. Anderson is one of us, regaining his starting job after building endurance by riding his bike.

Denver is about to get a curb-protected bike lane in front of the city’s train station to keep drivers from blocking the lane, but only green paint on the other side of the street.

My hometown built an entire five-mile neighborhood bikeway for just $1 million, as part of the city’s low-stress bicycle network. Exactly what LA’s bike plan calls for, but none of which has been built.

An Indiana task force is considering building a 500-mile bike path around the state.

A Boston bike rider is led away in cuffs after she refused to stop for a bike cop who tried to pull her over for rolling a stop on a bike path; she said she kept riding as a protest against police ticketing bicyclists instead of drivers. Seriously, when a cop tries to pull you over, on two wheels or four, just stop already.

A road-raging off-duty New York cop faces charges for pulling a gun on a bike rider after making an illegal U-turn, then knocking the other man off his bike.

Once again, a bike rider rides to the rescue, as a bicyclist in Mississippi discovers two people who had been trapped in a car for over two hours after it had rolled over in a wooded area.

Nice gesture from a kindhearted Georgia man, who bought a homeless man a new bicycle after witnessing the other man’s bike get run over by a truck.

 

International

After a British bike chain stops advertising in right wing newspapers in response to a campaign to stop funding hate, the blacklisted Daily Mail calls it a publicity stunt, while a writer for another paper calls for journalists to boycott the company, describing it an enemy of free speech.

A cyclist in the UK could have been ticketed for a fatal crash with a pedestrian. Except he was the one who died.

An English writer says she’s fed up with selfish, racing cyclists who only have themselves to blame for not getting hell out of the way of drivers who take up the entire road with their SUVs.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker says a new cycling law to criminalize collisions with pedestrians won’t improve safety, and could delay laws that actually would; he notes that an average of just two of the 400 pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in the UK every year are hit by people on bikes.

The war on bikes goes on. A rider was injured in the UK when someone strung wire at neck level across a bike path.

The Netherlands is seeing a jump in fatal collisions as ebikes gain in popularity.

A group of wounded British vets ranging in age from 28 to 74 rode 450 miles through the French Pyrénées along some of the world’s most challenging cycling routes.

The president of Burundi is one of us, too, as he goes for a ride in the suburbs followed by armed soldiers and a full presidential convoy.

 

Finally…

Here’s the solution to hit-and-run drivers — just rip the license plate off the car that hit you. You may want to reflect on your next bicycle. No, literally.

And seriously, don’t ride your bike on the escalator.

……….

Thanks to John P. Lynch for his generous donation to what he describes as the BikinginLA Computer Repair Fund. 

 

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

Morning Links: Indignorant anti-road diet columnist, bike riders on the wrong end of guns, and more traffic mayhem

September 20, 2017 / / 5 comments

So wrong, in so many ways.

A columnist for the LA Daily News goes out of her way to demonstrate her near total ignorance of traffic safety, Vision Zero and “dangerous” road diets in a column saying the latter belongs in a Museum of Stupid Ideas.

Never mind that road diets have been shown to increase safety up to 47%. But why let a little detail like that get in the way of a good rant?

Then there’s her screed about Vision Zero coming from — gasp! — Sweden.

Common sense would tell you that traffic solutions should be developed locally without guidance from irrelevant foreign capitals, and that’s why common sense is not in the museum.

During 2016, the first full year of Vision Zero’s implementation in Los Angeles, fatalities in traffic collisions were up a horrifying 43 percent over the previous year.

Although she might have mentioned that all LA did in 2016 was develop a plan for Vision Zero. And to the best of my knowledge, talking about reducing traffic deaths has never caused a single collision.

Or that the purpose of Vision Zero is not to prevent traffic collisions, but to keep people from dying in them, by recognizing that people will always make mistakes, but better roadway designs can keep those mistakes from killing someone.

And never mind that virtually every traffic solution currently in use in LA came from somewhere else. From traffic lights and stop signs, to the billion dollar HOV lanes on the 405.

About the only innovation we can claim is the right turn on red light. Which isn’t exactly a template for safety.

But the topper is this one, where she goes out of her way to have it both ways.

Although city officials consulted extensively with community groups before turning eight-tenths of a mile of Venice Boulevard into one of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Great Streets,” the part of the plan that involved taking away a traffic lane in each direction wasn’t exactly displayed on street banners.

So she acknowledges that the city conducted extensive outreach. Then turns around and says it didn’t do enough outreach.

Maybe next time she should do a little basic research so she knows what the hell she’s talking about before flying off the handle.

Or wasting newsprint with uninformed drivel like this.

………

Today’s common theme is bikes and guns.

There are still no suspects in the fatal shooting of a popular Colorado mountain biker as he was riding last week; his body was discovered days later next to a trail.

A Florida bike rider was shot by a driver in an apparent road rage incident; no word on the condition of the victim.

And compared to the previous two cases, a Pennsylvania bicyclist got off easy when an angry driver merely pointed his gun at him following an argument.

Of course, if the drivers had just used their cars instead, it would have been written off as just an accident.

And the bike riders would have been blamed for it.

………

Today’s other common theme is the more traditional form of traffic violence.

A pair of Oklahoma men tried to cover-up a fatal hit-and-run collision by intentionally driving into a highway guard rail to hide the damage from hitting a bike rider.

A Missouri man was doing 93 in a 35 mph zone — and driving on a suspended license — when he slammed into a bicyclist last year; he now faces a charge of first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

A Wisconsin man was turned in by his own wife following a drunken hit-and-run that took the life of man riding a bicycle.

An 83-year old Michigan man faces a misdemeanor charge after killing one bicyclist and injuring another in a rear-end collision last year. Older people may depend on their cars for mobility, but we’ve got to find a way to get them off the roads before it’s too late.

………

Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten bounced back from her horrific crash in the Rio Olympics road cycling race to win world championship in the time trial yesterday.

If you’ve ever questioned how tough women cyclists really are, consider this video of British cyclist Lauren Dolan celebrating her 18th birthday by finishing the time trial despite a horrific leg injury suffered when she hit a manhole cover. Thanks to Jon for the heads-up.

https://twitter.com/JamieHaughey/status/909870748549943296/video/1

……….

Local

Letter writers in the Times say dark tinted windows on cars make it more dangerous for bike riders and pedestrians.

Los Angeles is planning for temporary walkways and bike paths in the recently purchased Taylor Yards railroad site, while plans are developed for a permanent park.

Curbed examines the future of bikeshare in the City of Angels.

Doris Day used to be one of us, riding her bicycle through Beverly Hills to rescue stray animals.

The Beach Reporter looks at Manhattan Beach resident Evens Stievenart’s new world record in the Le Mans Pearl Izumi 24 Hours Cycling race

 

State

Nice story from San Diego, where a nearly blind 94-year old woman took her first bike ride in 15 years on the back of a tandem as part of a Dreams Do Come True program at an Escondido retirement community.

The new dockless bikeshare bikes in San Diego’s Imperial Beach are already getting trashed by users and vandals, less than two weeks after their introduction.

A three mile Wildomar bike lane project has been put on hold after all the bids came in over budget.

A Riverside columnist explain what those green patches in the bike lanes are all about.

Speaking in Oakland, a traffic engineer says protected bike lanes must be the new normal, and urban planners are still trying to undo the damage caused by vehicular cyclists in the 1970s and 80s.

Jens Voigt returns to Marin County to headline the third annual Jensie Gran Fondo of Marin,

 

National

A new study shows teens are increasingly putting off drinking, driving and sex. Which makes sense, since the last one seldom happened without the first two, anyway.

No overreaction here, as TV’s Inside Edition says groups of crazed cyclists are causing “absolute mayhem in the streets.” Meanwhile, a group of young bike riders tried to prove them right by ignoring a ban on bikes to take over New York’s Cross Bronx Expressway.

Houston residents are donating bicycles to help people who lost their cars in Hurricane Harvey.

Kellen Winslow II is one of us, as he tries to sell the home he bought in the Texas hills in hopes of becoming the first pro football player to turn pro cyclist.

A New York woman confirms that riding across the Brooklyn Bridge is one of the city’s most difficult commutes, even if it was better than she expected.

Curbed talks with Philadelphia’s biggest bike advocate.

 

International

Edinburg, Scotland is waiting to give hometown hero Mark Beaumont the welcome he’s earned after a record-breaking 79-day bike ride around the world.

A British personal injury lawyer says the laws must be changed to clarify the rights and obligations of bicyclists, and protect riders who hit someone while riding in a bike lane.

A New Zealand cyclist calls for ripping out a new separated bike lane, after first assuring us he’s one of the good ones — not, he insists, a spandex clad rider on a $5,000 carbon fiber bike, or someone who insists on slowly taking the lane at rush hour.

 

Finally…

Apparently, you’re more dangerous than a truck. And everything you always wanted to know about bicycling in Bogotá but were afraid to ask.

Thanks to Dennis Eckhart for his generous donation to help support this site. Or maybe just help pay for that new hard drive.

 

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

Morning Links: Multi-tool bars Streetsblog editor from Metro meeting, and Lyft re-envisions Wilshire Blvd

September 19, 2017 / / 5 comments

Streetsblog editor Joe Linton was kept out of a Metro meeting to discuss the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor Project until he agreed to throw his “dangerous” multi-tool and wrenches into the trash.

And was told he could fish them out after the meeting — after one of the security officers dumped coffee into it.

Just another sign of how bike riders are treated in this city.

Never mind how easy it would have been for someone, anyone, to agree to hold them for him until he came back out. Or just how stupid it is to talk about encouraging bicycling, while actively discouraging bicyclists.

And never mind the kneejerk opposition he found to including bikes in the project once he finally got inside the Metro meeting.

Photo from LA Streetsblog.

………

Lyft envisions a redesigned Wilshire Blvd that reduces the street’s 10 spacious lanes down to just three narrow one, along with dedicated bus lanes, to show what life could be like in a world of shared, self-driving vehicles.

The plan also includes wider, park-like sidewalks and protected bike lanes.

The company says the narrowed street could accommodate twice as many road users and carry four times as many people as it currently does.

Wilshire capacity before redesign

Wilshire capacity after redesign. Charts from CNN

No word on whether the forces attempting to roll back road diets in Mar Vista and Playa del Rey plan to recall the president of Lyft or file suit to stop the concept while it’s still in the vaporware stage.

………

A report on KABC-790 radio says evacuees fleeing the La Tuna fire earlier this month were delayed due to traffic jams caused by the road diets on Foothill Blvd. Although it’s surprising they would have been so surprised by changes that were made five months ago.

………

Three-time US Olympic track cyclist Sarah Hammer retired at age 34, ending a career that began with her first junior title 22 years ago.

Next year’s Giro d’Italia will start just a little outside the country in the ancient Roman suburb called Jerusalem.

It’s official. Scottish cyclist Mark Beaumont rode around the world in less than 80 days, finishing in 78 days, 14 hours and 40 minutes — smashing the previous record by 44 days.

A memorial was unveiled in the English hometown of fallen cyclist Tom Simpson to mark the 50th anniversary of his death on the slopes of Mont Ventoux during the 1967 Tour de France.

……….

Local

An Op-Ed in the LA Times calls the cars the third rail of California politics, saying people will revolt if you slow them down or make driving more expensive. Which, as we’ve seen recently, is all too true.

Pasadena’s Art Center in planning a bikeway inspired by the historic California Cycleway to connect its separated campuses.

Parisian haute couture menswear brand Berluti has opened in Beverly Hills, with a made-to-order bespoke bicycle among the shop’s offerings.

Simon Cowell is one of us, as he goes bike riding with his family in the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills, which is finally starting to show some promise.

Curbed calls the Marvin Braude Bike Path through Santa Monica LA’s most beautiful bike path, even though the Santa Monica section is actually in… wait for it… Santa Monica. I’ve heard the beachfront bike path called many things in my many years here, but never The Strand.

The South Bay’s Easy Reader News looks at the controversy over Vista del Mar and the Playa del Rey lane reductions, albeit from a mostly windshield perspective.

Long Beach police are looking for a bike-riding scumbag who’s been exposing himself to underage girls.

 

State

UberEats will now be delivering some of their food orders by bicycle in San Diego.

This is why you shouldn’t chase a bike thief yourself. A pair of Visalia men nearly got shot by a bike thief after they chased him down when they saw him take a bike from their garage.

A Modesto Op-Ed calls for greater enforcement of bike safety laws, especially California’s too-often ignored three-foot passing law

The International Cycling Safety Conference in Davis will explore how smart city technology can help make urban areas more bicycle friendly.

A homeless Redding woman was stabbed by another homeless woman following an argument as the victim was riding along a canal.

Eureka police are looking for a fleeing DUI suspect who hijacked a woman’s bike at gunpoint, before trading down by jacking a car as he rode her bike through a mall parking lot.

 

National

Bicycling talks with cyclists who credit their helmets with saving their skulls.

Seattle permanently removed a traffic lane on a downtown street to make room for protected bike lanes. Despite mixed opinions, no politicians appear to have been recalled and no one’s filed suit to stop it yet, unlike a certain SoCal city we could name.

Bicycle Retailer says this week’s Interbike show in Las Vegas is still the best way for smaller brands to get noticed.

A popular Colorado man was found shot and killed three days after he disappeared while on a bike ride this past Thursday; police are treating the case as a homicide.

Counter protesters interrupted a press conference by a New York state legislator who wants to halt plans to install a protected bike lane on a deadly Queens boulevard.

 

International

A new study shows triathletes face twice the risk of dropping dead during a competition as marathon runners, with the greatest risk occurring during the swimming leg of the race.

Brakeless fixie-rider Charlie Alliston has been sentenced to 18 months after being convicted of wanton and furious driving for killing a London woman as she was crossing the street. Thanks to Allyson Vought and John McBrearty for the heads-up.

Caught on video: Nothing like a little no-hands dab and dance while riding on a British street.

British bike historian Carlton Reid examines why the country’s most bike-friendly urban design failed to encourage bicycling; short answer, they made it too easy to drive.

Bicycling deaths and serious injuries are down 20% since UK police began an undercover operation to catch drivers passing too close to bicyclists. Maybe that will convince the LAPD to finally give it a try.

Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, will receive the equivalent of nearly $30 million dollars to convert their city centers to bike-friendly mini-Hollands.

German police are looking for a cyclist who interfered with rescue personnel to film a dying motorcyclist, rather than offering assistance before paramedics arrived as the law requires. Seriously, WTF is wrong with some people?

An Australian news site looks at what happens in the aftermath of a bicycling collision, including the obvious observation that it’s always the person on the bike who loses.

Aussie authorities blame tourists using GPS devices for a crash that injured a bike rider. So naturally, social media blames the people on two wheels.

Caught on video two: A dog sits upright in the saddle behind a bike-riding girl in an undisclosed Asian country, with its paws wrapped around her waist like a child trying to hold on.

 

Finally…

Who needs motor doping when you can just fire up the afterburners. Or maybe just let hurricane-force winds give you a gentle little nudge.

And now you, too, can own your very own Beastie.

Unless you’d rather ride a bike made of whisky casks.

 

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