Tag Archive for Los Angeles

LA overrated in new bikeability survey, San Diego strong-arm bike theft caught on video, and e-scooter murdered for battery

August 9, 2023 / / One comment

Yet another survey ranks the best bike cities in the US, with Minneapolis passing Portland for first place.

San Francisco comes in third, with San Jose seventh, both of which will undoubtedly shock many Bay Area bike riders.

In fact, California placed three cities in the top 15, none of which are Los Angeles — or anywhere else in Southern California, for that matter.

San Diego is the highest ranked SoCal city at 27th among major cities, while Los Angeles checks in at a vastly overrated 29th.

Meanwhile, Riverside barely cracks the top 50 at 48th. But at least they made the list.

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A TikTok video appears to show a San Diego man stealing a bicycle by yanking it out of the hands of a woman who lays sprawled on the street, before walking off with it as she cries for help.

https://www.tiktok.com/@onlyonexbox/video/7263896107984407854?embed_source=121355058%2C121351166%2C121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.dailymail.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticle-12385227%2FSan-Diego-bike-victim-help-cries.html&referer_video_id=7263896107984407854

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Frequent contributor David Drexler woke this morning to the painful death throes of a e-scooter being murdered by a battery thief for its metaphorically still-beating heart yesterday morning.

Here’s how he describes it.

At the VEO scooter corner cross from my place, I heard the sit-down scooter chirping for a long time—went to the window and recorded this video.

He used a crowbar to crack open the battery compartment and removed the battery and then pushed the poor thing to the ground.

To me this was like ripping someone’s heart out and then kicking them to the ground.

He had some remorse and picks the scooter back up, but it’s officially dead as he walks off with the battery!

I have been sad all day about this.

That scooter did not deserve to die like that!

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Comedian Trae Crowder rode his bike to record a podcast at a new studio near his home, and can’t figure out how and where to stay safe on the way. 

Which isn’t the least bit funny, really.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

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Active SGV is hosting a South El Monte walking tour on Santa Anita Ave this evening to identify ways to improve safety for all road users, including people on foot or bikes.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A Novato man has been arrested for the second time in four days, charged with stalking, making threats, hate crime offenses and committing a crime while on bail, which followed an earlier racially charged incident in which he allegedly tried to ram a man riding a bicycle while shouting racial slurs.

A Toronto driver faces charges after he was caught on dashcam intentionally slamming his car into a bike rider following an argument between the two men; fortunately, the victim escaped without life-threatening injuries.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A man riding a bicycle frightened motorists by riding alongside bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 101 Freeway in Hollywood last week, but appears to have survived his risky ride.

Police in Philadelphia are investigating a series of sexual assaults committed by a middle-aged, bald man riding a bicycle.

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Local 

People for Mobility Justice is hosting a 14-mile bike ride this Saturday to gather input for quick build projects to improve several South LA corridors for pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and transit users.

The Burbank Leader says the community is mourning the death of professional trumpet player and bicyclist Roy Wiegand, who was killed in Monterey County while on the final leg of a fundraising ride to bring running water to the Navajo Nation.

 

State

Maybe they get it, after all. Caltrans’ carbon reduction strategy says that switching to electric vehicles may be important and necessary, but it is clearly not enough to achieve carbon neutrality, and that Californians will need to drive less.

The Carlsbad Unified School District describes the new ebike education and permitting process required to ride an ebike to a Carlsbad school and park it on campus. Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette for the heads-up. 

A 27-year old bike rider suffered serious injuries in a collision on Sycamore Canyon Road in Montecito Tuesday morning.

A San Francisco man got his missing bike back five years after it was stolen from his building’s bike storage room, when a new buyer tried to register it with Bike Index, and spotted the stolen bike listing. Which is yet another reminder to register your bike for free with Bike Index before anything happens to it.

 

National

Bike Magazine offers the “ultimate” guide to choosing the right mountain bike, and says you need your local bike shop for more than you think.

A Montana woman is credited with saving a kid’s summer by confronting a bike thief at a gas station, and stealing back the boy’s stolen bicycle.

A Kansas bike club says parts of a Topeka bike path are unsafe due to an encroaching homeless camp. Something bike riders across the country can relate to these days.

This is who we share the road with. A 33-year old Illinois driver faces hit-and-run and DUI charges for fleeing after he struck a light pole, then veered into the opposite lane and killed a 64-year old man riding a bicycle, while driving with a BAC nearly three times the legal limit.

A writer for Streetsblog responds to the New York Times one-sided, fear mongering series attacking ebikes and their teenaged riders with four guidelines for spotting a bad ebike article, starting with blaming ebikes and/or their riders for the drivers that hit them.

Despite the fears of opponents, the installation of a road diet and buffered bike lanes on a Maryland roadway resulted in virtually no change in driving times, while tripling of bicycle traffic and dramatically reducing traffic deaths. Then again, that’s usually how it works.

Heartbreaking news from Virginia, where a 17-year old boy was killed in a police pursuit while riding his bike home from work, when he was struck with a stolen car driven by a teenage carjacker.

 

International

Windsor, Ontario snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, cancelling plans for a temporary bike lane in favor of a redesign of the street that will take ten years longer and cost over 50 times more.

The manager of the Mercedes-Benz Formula One team is one of us, breaking his arm mountain biking on a family vacation.

 

Competitive Cycling

SoCal native Coryn Labecki approvingly describes the course for Sunday’s world championship women’s road race as a crit on steroids.

Italian cyclist Simone Consonni is out of the remainder of the worlds after colliding with an ebike rider on a Glasgow bike path.

Dutch paracyclist Daniel Abraham Gebru won his first world track title, just hours after taking a secret six-hour training ride without even telling his coach.

Sad news from Toledo, Spain, where the mayor declared two days of mourning for 95-year old Federico Bahamontes; Bahamontes, who died Tuesday, was the first Spaniard to win the Tour de France, as well as the first cyclist to win “King of the Mountains” in all three Grand Tours.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the local paper publishes advance notice of your bike safety event two days after it happened. Or when your bike lane is somehow blocked by a hot grill.

And forget ebikes — your next weird-ass, ultra-futuristic bike could run on hydrogen.

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Thanks to Michael W for an unexpected donation to help keep all the best and brightest bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

Donations of any amount, and for any reason, are always welcome and deeply appreciated.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

LA mired in scenic bike mediocrity, PeopleForBikes fights ebike right-to-repair, and driving SF’s new protected bike path

August 8, 2023 / / 4 comments

Apparently, we’re not that scenic, either.

Ebikes.org ranked the nation’s 100 most scenic cities to see by bicycle, by combining Instagram hashtags and bike-related Google search volume with bikeability ratings, the number of road biking trails, and average yearly sunshine.

And Los Angeles came in at a remarkably mediocre 52. Then again, even our weather barely made the top 25, as far as they’re concerned.

Not surprisingly, Seattle, San Francisco, and Miami came out on top, with North Las Vegas, and Garland and Irving, Texas all tying for the bottom.

So start tagging those Instagram posts from the City of Angels. Because it may not improve the weather, LA’s scenic beauty or make this city any more bikeable.

But at least we can boost our Insta rank.

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Maybe PeopleForBikes isn’t completely on our side, after all.

The organization, the advocacy arm of the national trade organization representing bicycle manufacturers, is lobbying officials in several states to exempt ebikes from right-to-repair bills.

In other words, they want to keep forcing you to send your ebike back to the manufacturer — or at least your local dealer — rather than allowing you to fix it yourself.

The group says it’s a matter of safety, and recommends recycling ebike batteries instead.

Never mind that it would be a simple matter to require bike owners to recycle spent batteries, and that batteries aren’t the only thing on an ebike that might need fixing.

Maybe they should stick to ranking bikeability.

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Evidently, the many critics of San Francisco’s new Valencia Street bike path were right.

Drivers took to the ostensibly protected centerline bike path when a driverless car unexpectedly froze in the traffic lane, forcing drivers to use the bike path to go around it.

Never mind that keeping cars out is the very definition of a protected bike lane, and they should never have been able to use it as a bypass lane.

Fortunately, no one appears to actually have been using it for its intended purpose at the time.

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Um, no.

The Sacramento Bee misses the mark in answering a reader’s question about whether helmets are required to ride a motorcycle, e-scooter to bicycle in California.

The paper implies — whether mistakenly or through inartful editing — that bike helmets are required to ride on sidewalks, trails, parks and bike paths. And fails to mention that helmets are required for all Class 3 ebikes and mopeds.

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This is what a catastrophic frame failure looks and sounds like during a competition, as Alex Anderson goes up a jump on a mountain bike, and lands on a pile of crumpled and broken carbon fiber.

Seriously, his painful moans were loud enough to wake the corgi from a sound sleep, and make her stare to see what the problem was.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. A 76-year old Montana columnist says young people shouldn’t ride ebikes if they can ride a regular bike, and that if he can ride his bike up the local pass, you should be able to, too.

No bias here, either. After a Bath NY man became just the latest bike rider run down by police, the local sheriff reminds bicyclists they have to use lights and reflectors after dark, rather than consider the deputy who rear-ended the victim might be at fault.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Wyoming man known for giving away thousands of bicycles to children through a local bike project is facing a felony count of first-degree abuse of a minor for allegedly sexually abusing a child under the age of 13.

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Local 

Metro is looking for input on first mile/last mile active transportation connections within a half-mile of Western and Slauson.

 

State

Oops. A Westminster man was busted for carrying a large amount of narcotics and a loaded gun while already on probation, after being stopped for a traffic violation while riding a bicycle.

Carlsbad is taking a proactive approach to teenage ebike riders, teaming with the local school district to offer an ebike safety course in exchange for a free permit park their bikes on campus.

Police in Redwood City have arrested two men for the June 1st bike shop burglary that netted several high-end bikes worth a combined fifty grand.

San Francisco Streetsblog says the question shouldn’t be why are bike riders on the Bay Bridge, but why are they banned in the first place, in the wake of last weekend’s takeover of the lower span by hundreds of mostly teen bike riders.

 

National

Consumer Reports says bicycling can be a great and safe way to exercise as you get older. And for once, the safety recommendations don’t start and end with wearing a helmet.

This is the cost of traffic violence. After news broke that an Oregon bike rider was killed by a 71-year old driver in a left-cross crash, it didn’t take long to learn the victim was the popular manager of a Mt. Hood ski area.

Ten people who were injured riding their bikes on the “missing link” gap on a Seattle bike path have filed a claim against the city, demanding that Seattle act quickly to make the trail safe for riders, as well as seeking unspecified monetary damages.

Colorado Public Radio answers a listener’s question about the proper etiquette for driving behind a bicyclist on narrow, twisting mountain roads. Short answer, be patient, follow at a safe distance, and only pass when it’s safe to do so, giving a minimum three-foot passing distance. Besides, there’s a good chance the person on the bike can navigate curves better than someone in a car, anyway. 

A Colorado woman calculates she’s saved nearly $1,900 by commuting on her ebike for the past five years, rather than driving her 2010 Toyota, putting 11,500 miles on her bike in the process.

Indianapolis has named the cop who killed a bike rider after swerving around a car while responding to a call last week. Contrast that with the LAPD and LA County Sheriff’s Department, who go out of their way to keep officers from being named. 

An Ohio boxer is riding his bike across the state to raise funds to keep his gym open and fund scholarships for low-income participants, in memory of his nephew killed by gun violence. Which is a very passive way of saying someone was shot to death. 

A New York website tracks the cost of traffic violence in the city, both in terms of lives and financial costs.

 

International

Bike Radar considers how gravel biking is changing the way we think about road bike design as road bikes become more capable of riding more varied terrain.

A Bristol, England advocacy group calls for more protected and segregated bike paths, after 81% of local bike rider complain of aggressive motorists.

An international team of eight bicyclists is riding 2,175 miles from the British Museum to Greece’s Acropolis Museum to demand the return of the Parthenon sculptures, known in the UK as the Elgin Marbles.

A New Zealand woman says her husband was a careful, experienced cyclist who felt invisible on the road following a number of near misses, until one truck driver tragically didn’t miss.

 

Competitive Cycling

Apparently, not everyone objects to the “dizzying, dangerous and designed by a drunk person” world’s road course, as bronze medalist Tadej Pogačar said he enjoyed the fast and technical Glasgow circuit, adding he “really likes city street racing.”

Not only did Mathieu Van der Poel have to overcome a late crash on his way claiming the world road cycling title, he also had to knock on a stranger’s door to poop.

Eleventh place finisher Neilson Powless says he could have had a top five finish in the road race, if not for a crash that separated the peloton and created a gap the American couldn’t close.

The head of the pro cyclists’ union issued a scathing condemnation of the environmental protesters who halted the worlds road race for an hour, calling it the opposite of helping the environment.

Team USA star Jennifer Valente became America’s most decorated track cyclist with a third place finish in Sunday’s elimination race, adding to the 15 medals she won prior to this year’s world’s.

The BBC looks back at the maverick life and mysterious death of the late, great Marco Pantini; the Italian cycling star’s death was officially blamed on acute cocaine poisoning, though questions remain over whether the mafia somehow helped him ingest it.

Cycling Weekly profiles Spain’s remarkable para-athlete Ricardo Ten, as the one-limbed swimmer aims for his seventh Paralympics, this time as a cyclist — despite having no hands and just one leg.

 

Finally…

When you already have nine outstanding warrants, maybe riding a bicycle out in the open isn’t the best choice. Not only are bike paths not safe from DUI drivers, now they’re not even waiting until they’re finished.

And probably not the best idea to try to ride your bike atop a wrought iron fence.

At least not if you ever want to have children.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cuw_-IuRZ9s/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

August 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA Times remembers philanthropic Burbank bicyclist Roy Wiegand, and LA wants your input on Forest Lawn Drive

One quick note: I am now on Bluesky, in response to the increasing toxicity on Twitter/X, thanks to an invite from Todd R.

If you’re on there, you can follow me @bikinginla.bsky.social. And I’m still on Twitter, at least for now, @bikinginla. 

Photo by Luana Bento from Pexels. 

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The Los Angeles Times remembers the life and philanthropy of Burbank bicyclist and professional trumpet player Roy Wiegand, who was killed when a driver turned into him as he road his bike near Prunedale in Monterey County.

The 60-year-old ultra marathoner and cyclist was refueling after traversing 2,500 miles on his bicycle in 25 days and in the process raising $26,000 to help improve access to clean drinking water for the Navajo Nation.

Wiegand ventured through San Francisco and Yosemite and braved 110-plus degree heat in Death Valley and Las Vegas. He enjoyed stunning vistas in Arizona and New Mexico and stayed at the homes of friends and strangers alike, his posts showed…

Wiegand, a trumpet player who performed with the Who, Wayne Newton and Mel Torme among others, is survived by his wife, Angela, son Dillon, daughter Sophie and father Roy Sr.

In the last few years, he had dedicated much of his time to philanthropic causes, most recently working with the water advocacy group DigDeep to raise money for the more than 700,000 American Indian and Alaskan Native people who lack access to clean, reliable water in the United States.

Funny how killer drivers always seem to take the best of us.

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Los Angeles wants your input on whether to protect the bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive, which seems like a no brainer on the dangerous street.

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This is a phenomenon I’ve long observed riding from Los Angeles into Santa Monica, and vice versa.

One city clearly thinsk people on bikes actually matter.

And the other is Los Angeles.

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Who’s a good boy?

A San Diego bike thief stops to play with a golden retriever who only wants a belly rub before he goes — with the $1,300 bike belonging to the dog’s owner.

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Hundreds, if not thousands, of Bay Area bike riders, mostly in their teens, marked the first anniversary of a mass ride that took over the lower span of the Bay Bridge by doing it again.

Whether because of the sentiment expressed below, or because bikes still are only allowed to ride halfway across, before being forced to turn back.

Legally, anyway.

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Let’s share a little Seattle bike joy from my friends at West Seattle Blog, as a huge mass of people take off on two wheels for a questionably named ride.

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Well, that’s one way to stay safe on the road. Although I’m sure we all understand his reasoning.

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The question is, how and why do they get there?

Is this the result of people tossing unloved and abandoned bikes into the water, or drunk tourists not watching where they’re riding?

Thanks to the incomparable Patt Morrison for the heads-up. 

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

This is who we share the road with. After someone apparently riding a bicycle was injured in a collision at LA’s West Grand Ave and Vista Del Mar, the couple posting the video to Citizen observe the aftermath of the crash, and you can hear the man say “This is why you stay in the bike lane.” Never mind that he apparently has no idea what caused the crash, or why the victim may or may not have been in a bike lane, but automatically assumes the bike rider was at fault. I’m not sure if the link will work; unfortunately, I can’t embed the video. Thanks to Margaret W for the link. 

A 28-year old Toronto man faces charges for allegedly deliberately slamming his car into a bike rider after the two men argued at a red light. A reminder once again that motor vehicles are ready, locked and loaded weapons in the hands of the wrong people. 

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A bicycling Montreal columnist says he’s had it with shadow-hidden potholes, and scofflaw ebike and e-scooter riders with little or no experience.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, who understands these things a lot better than I do, takes a deep dive into the complicated, wonky subject of freeway mitigation, which requires Metro to take active steps to offset any increase in driving on future freeway, under California law. And hopefully, he’ll correct me if I didn’t explain that right. 

Burbank bike rider Doug Weiskopf once again calls on the city to allow people to walk bicycles on the Mariposa foot bridge leading to Griffith Park, seven years after the city caved to equestrians by banning bikes entirely.

More on Manhattan Beach’s decision to crack down on teenage ebike riders who violate traffic laws, instituting a zero-tolerance approach to scofflaw ebike riders. Although that sounds like illegally biased enforcement, unless the same zero-tolerance applies to motorists and pedestrians, as well as regular bike riders; if not, that could get all the tickets tossed if the kids get a good lawyer.

 

State

An East Bay bike ride demanded justice for the death of an unarmed, 20-year old Hayward man killed by CHP officers and Alameda County Sheriff’s deputies responding to an alleged stolen car.

 

National

A writer for The Verge says it’s not hard to convert a cargo bike to an ebike, as long as you have the right tools and expect the unexpected.

Apple Insider likes the design and features of the new Lumos Ultra ebike helmet, if not the $200+ price.

An RV writer gets a good life lesson from learning to ride her ebike, discovering that you need to look where you want to go, not at the obstacles you want to avoid.

Anchorage, Alaska took a number of steps to become more bike friendly, approving measures to allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, as well as eliminating requirements for lights and brakes and noise signals, and for children 16 to wear helmets; the city also eliminated penalties for jaywalking.

The Colorado highway where 17-year old cycling star Magnus White was killed is slated to get a 12-foot-wide separated bike path next year, a year too late to save his life.

A writer likes the new bike path over Colorado’s Vail Pass, despite — or maybe because of — a section known as The Wall, with its 14% incline.

A Dallas, Texas youth soccer coach is raffling off tickets to see soccer legend Lionel Messi to benefit the family of a 12-year old girl killed in a right hook as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.

A Corpus Christi, Texas woman got the feeling that city council members weren’t listening to a woman of color making the case for protected bike lanes, so she used AI to create a white male avatar to make her case, instead.

After a Chicago man used his bike to fight boredom and find solace during the pandemic, he honored it by having it tattooed on his thigh.

When a ten-year old Michigan boy won a new bike in a raffle, he raised funds to buy one for his friend so they can ride together.

The Michigan woman accused in the DUI killing of two people participating in a fundraising bike ride across the state has had her trial postponed until October; it had been scheduled to begin today.

Gear Patrol raves about TriBeCa-based Priority Bicycles new 16-pound, $1,299 “speed demon” fixie.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on how to beat the cost of living crisis, and feel healthier and happier, by riding your bike to work.

How to tell when a city actually gives a damn about people on bicycles. Montreal now has a 24/7 hotline to report vehicles blocking bike lanes.

There’s a special place in hell for the British teens who threatened a 13-year old boy with a machete to steal his bike.

The Verge looks are who’s in the bidding to buy what remains of bankrupt Dutch ebike maker VanMoof.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as Mathieu van der Poel overcame a late crash to win the world road cycling championship, becoming the first Dutch world champ since 1985; Belgian Wout Van Aert finished second, and Solvenia’s Tadej Pogačar beat out Denmark’s Mads Pedersen for third. No surprise here, either, as no American made the top ten. 

A French cyclist described the Glasgow road course for the worlds as “dizzying, dangerous and designed by a drunk person.”

The race was halted for a full hour as protesters blocked the roadway on a remote climb just 48-miles into the race, with environmental group This is Rigged taking the credit and/or blame for the incident to oppose new fossil fuel projects in Scotland.

Katie Archibald overcame grief over the death of her romantic partner, mountain biker Rab Wardell, to lead Britain to gold in the team pursuit, dedicating the win to Wardell.

Aside from Chloe Dygert’s victory in Thursday’s women’s individual pursuit, the US has failed to podium in any other race so far.

 

Finally…

Meet the training wheel “Bike Whisperer.” Although Britain’s PM probably didn’t need them for an indoor, Taylor Swift-themed LA cycling class.

And it’s hard to imagine these kids would be in their 80s by now.

https://twitter.com/CoolBikeArt1/status/1687583494984138752

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Bike lanes as parking lots, BikeLA hosts Florence Firestone Community Ride, and riding a bike with a sofa on your head

August 4, 2023 / / Comments Off on Bike lanes as parking lots, BikeLA hosts Florence Firestone Community Ride, and riding a bike with a sofa on your head

The good news is, there’s not much bad news today. 

After a week’s worth of news about crashes and fallen bicyclists, today offers a welcome and much needed emotional respite. 

So kick back with a steaming cuppa coffee or a nice cold drink.

And enjoy some happier bike news heading into the weekend. 

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That feeling when your new protected bike lane becomes a parking lane.

https://twitter.com/chiyclist/status/1687166768098291712

Speaking of which, the new La Brea bus and bike lanes apparently make great idling spots.

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BikeLA is hosting a community bike ride in the Florence Firestone neighborhood this Sunday, as part of the Department of Public Health Vision Zero project.

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A New York man rides a bike with a sofa balanced on his head.

 

And yes, he looks to be the same guy who recently rode a bikeshare bike with a flatscreen TV on his head.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/z0NqNqoUaP8

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Pro mountain biker Alex Rudeau demonstrates what you can do with an e-mountain bike.

Okay, maybe not you. Or me, for that matter.

Especially not me.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvU_TATtfkW/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=0124c64f-60d0-4600-9c1c-5c9df8a8722f

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Anyone old enough to learn the ins and outs of physical intimacy from The Joy of Sex may wish this one had been approved.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A Portland cop, apparently ignorant on bike law, admonished a woman riding with her kids for taking the lane, telling her to ride to the right by weaving around parked cars. Just to be clear, you are far safer riding in a straight line in the traffic lane, than weaving around parked cars to ride next to the curb. And any cop who doesn’t know that needs retraining.

A New Orleans area letter writer says he’s all for protecting bike riders, but a three-block protected bike lane doesn’t seem worth the effort.

It doesn’t help matters when traffic lights on a British protected bike lane are permanently stuck on red.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Seriously, don’t leave your bike lying directly in front of the train car doors.

Your periodic reminder that people on bicycles have the same responsibility to stop after a collision that anyone in a motor vehicle does.

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times recommends riding on the “breezy” seven-mile Elysian Valley Bicycle & Pedestrian Path to find a safe haven away from cars. Which is just a fancy name for the LA River bike path through the Glendale Narrows.

 

State

San Francisco’s controversial new Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane officially opened on Tuesday, even if it isn’t completely complete.

 

National

Bicycling offers advice on how to stay safe riding your bike in bad weather. More than once I’ve found myself riding out a thunderstorm or the occasional tornado lying in a wet ditch. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

A new study says sixty percent of bike riders would move to a new city if they were offered a new ebike. Although if that were true, we’d all live in Denver by now. Or maybe Arkansas. 

Bicycle Colorado is offering a free, 75-minute interactive course for motorists to improve their ability to drive safely around pedestrians and bicyclists. Now we just need that to spread to the other 49 states, and get insurance companies to offer incentives for taking it.

A new report from the Michigan State Police says someone is most likely to be killed riding a bike in the evening or on Friday, as bicycling fatalities rise 63% in the state.

Former NFL QB Alex Smith plans to take part in a 200-mile bike ride across Massachusetts to raise money for cancer research, just a year after his young daughter was diagnosed with a very rare brain tumor.

J-Lo’s daughter Emme is one of us, as she joined her mom and stepdad Ben Affleck for a family bike ride in the Hamptons.

Good advice. A Long Island community group responded to a collision that seriously injured a bike rider with a radio PSA urging everyone to “Take a deep breath, slow down, and don’t be distracted.”

Yes, please. A New York proposal would require the city to create a searchable, real-time bike lane map showing up-to-the-minute obstructions and closures.

President Biden ignored Thursday’s drama with his predecessor in DC, and drew a crowd on another Delaware bike ride. Although apparently, only presidents are allowed to wear bike helmets.

 

International

Rouleur looks at the physiological benefits of bicycling, regardless of your ability level.

Cycling Weekly considers whether SRAM’s patent for voice-operated shifting solves an invented problem, or breaks down barriers to bicycling. I can’t wait for the day you tell your bike to downshift, and it responds “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” Even though your name isn’t Dave.

A new rooftop bike rack from a German company does the heavy lifting for you, using a hydraulic lift to effortlessly move your bike up to the roof of your car.

Forget the local Marriott. Now you can stay in a Peter Sagan-owned and themed hotel in his native Slovakia.

Japan plans to approve traffic fines for bike riders who run red lights; bike riders currently either receive a warning, or an indictment that can lead to criminal prosecution.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo looks forward to the sprawling, 13-event “Super Worlds,” as the all-discipline cycling world championships gets underway.

America’s Chloe Dygert overcame three years lost to major injuries and other travails to win gold in the individual pursuit at the world championships; she’s just one of the 150 Americans across all age groups and disciplines competing at the worlds.

Belgium is a heavy favorite to win the men’s cycling championship if Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, and defending champion Remco Evenepoel can’t keep their egos in check and work together.

 

Finally…

How can we expect drivers to avoid people walking and riding bikes when they can’t even avoid apartment buildings? Who needs a bottle opener when you have a passing mountain bike?

And even a Maserati enjoys a good bike.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

CA ebike rebate program now set to launch this fall, and more details on fallen bicyclists Bruce Elliott and Roy Wiegand

August 3, 2023 / / One comment

The California Air Resources Board reports that the state’s ebike incentive program is now expected to finally go live statewide sometime this fall, as the launch date keeps getting pushed back.

But don’t hold your breath.

The program was set to launch at the beginning of this year, then pushed back to the second quarter of the year, before now being set for fall.

Hopefully, they mean it this time.

You can learn more about the program here.

Ebike Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

………

More details are finally available about fallen Redding bicyclist Bruce Elliott, who was killed by a driver during a group ride in Mentone on Saturday.

A memorial service will be held at 2 pm this Sunday at The University of Redlands Memorial Chapel for the well-loved phys ed teacher, who was also captain of Don’s Bikes Race Team, and mentor to bicyclists with Big Wheel Coaching.

Elliott’s family requests contributions to a crowdfunding campaign in lieu of flowers, with the funds to be split between the nonprofit Bikes for Kids Foundation and Grand Teton National Park. At this writing, it has raised over $9,400 of the modest $12,500 goal.

You can read more here.

………

While we’re on the subject, SF Gate has more details on the crash that killed popular Burbank musician and long-distance bicyclist Roy Wiegand in Monterey County Saturday afternoon, in what was a very bad weekend for SoCal bike riders.

Wiegand was riding alone after his riding partner had turned back, when he was right hooked by a 25-year old pickup driver while riding in the designated bike lane in the same direction.

He was on the last leg of his 2,500-mile Roy’s Ride fundraising ride to benefit the Navaho Nation, and bring clean, running water to impoverished households on the reservation.

The campaign has currently raised more than $35,000, easily topping what had originally been a $25,000 goal.

There’s no word on any charges for the driver, even though the CHP said the driver made an “unsafe” turn.

Which is putting it mildly.

………

Don’t hold your breath waiting for congestion pricing on Los Angeles roadways, as numble reports we still have four years to go before we’re likely to see anything.

………

Calbike has completed a year-long search by hiring active transportation and land use professional Kendra Ramsey as the group’s new executive director.

A member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, Ramsey comes to the organization from Sacramento civil engineering firm GHD, where she served as Active Transportation Project Manager, “developing innovative mobility options, Complete Streets plans, and corridor studies for local and regional agencies throughout the state.”

Let’s hope she finds her footing fast, because we definitely need help.

………

The New York Times continues their anti-ebike campaign, asking if California should regulate the bikes because teenagers are dying on them.

Unfortunately, though, teenagers get killed on regular bikes, too.

The question left unasked by the Times and other news outlets — let alone unanswered — is whether they’re getting killed or seriously injured at a higher rate on ebikes than on regular bikes.

Until the Times can answer that question, it’s all just noise.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

It’s finally happened. A 16-year old Las Vegas boy was killed when he struck a wire booby trap, possibly set by a homeless man, while riding with his older brother and friends. Various booby traps have been set on roadways and trails around the world, but to the best of my knowledge, none have been fatal — until now. Let’s hope that whoever set the trap faces a murder count, if not terrorism charges. 

………

Local 

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a $60 million contract with Metro for the design and construction of the Los Angeles River Valley Bike Path Project, including a new 13-mile segment of the LA River bike path connecting to the existing path in Griffith Park.

Streetsblog reports a new SGV Greenway project is under construction along the Big Dalton Wash in the unincorporated community of Vincent, between Covina and Irwindale; the 3-mile Vincent Community Bikeway is expected to open next year.

NHL referee Dan O’Rourke is scheduled to set off today on a 2,400-mile bike ride from Santa Monica to Chicago along old Route 66, to raise money and awareness for the National Federation of the Blind. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.

The Manhattan Beach city council is urging the police to crack down on scofflaw ebike riders.

 

State

The Los Angeles Times reports that communities around the state are launching ebike and other green transit programs, as Long Beach prepares to open a 40-bike ebike lending library.

Calbike offers advice on how to talk back to the seemingly inevitable bikelash to virtually any bicycling proposal or news story.

Patch says a Temecula bike advocacy group is leading the way in creating harmony on city streets.

Sad news from Modesto, where a 79-year old man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike; police booked the driver on charges of felony hit-and-run causing death and vehicular manslaughter, after she originally stayed at the scene before denying any involvement and driving off.

No surprise here, as San Francisco lowers the speed limit on several streets to 20 mph to improve safety, but drivers keep speeding, anyway.

 

National

Vice considers the best bike bags for your next ride.

Streetsblog says a new book explores America’s revenue-focused approach to traffic policing, including that traffic fines have “no discernible relationship to public safety,” while harming people of color and other vulnerable people.

Arizona bike riders remembered fallen bicyclist Karen Malisa on what would have been her 62nd birthday; she was one of two people killed, and 19 others injured, when a pickup driver plowed into a group ride in Goodyear, Arizona in February. Meanwhile, the driver still hasn’t been charged six months later.

A 22-year old New Mexico man will spend the next 20 years behind bars for fatally shooting another man after trying to steal his bike at a bus stop, and the 43-year old victim tried to fight back.

Colorado’s governor responds to the death of rising 17-year old cyclist Magnus White by reminding everyone to drive safely and yield to people on bicycles. Good advice, regardless of the circumstances. 

The New York Times examines the practical effects of the VanMoof bankruptcy filing, after the company ceased to exist virtually overnight, leaving owners of the Dutch ebikes unable to get repairs and unsure if the bike’s app-based software will continue to work.

A New York program is training formerly incarcerated people to work as bike mechanics for the city’s Citi Bike bikeshare, working with the Brooklyn DA’s office to recruit members of marginalized communities; the bikeshare program is experiencing record breaking ridership despite rumors of a sale.

Former President Trump is being arraigned today on conspiracy charges, but all Fox News seems to care about is President Biden going for a leisurely Delaware bike ride instead of hanging his head in shame over his son’s alleged misdeeds.

Robert Pattinson is one of us, as the Twilight actor goes for a bike ride around his New York neighborhood. But would it kill him to look like he’s actually enjoying it?

 

International

Three young British men face murder charges in the hit-and-run death of an ebike rider, even though police are still looking for their car.

Three people were hospitalized and several others treated at the scene after seven bike riders collided during the World Police and Fire Games in Winnipeg, Canada.

 

Competitive Cycling

In yet another tragic reminder of the dangers of race motos, four people were hospitalized after TV motorcycle crashed into fans with just over three miles to go Wednesday’s fifth stage at the Tour of Poland.

Australian road cyclist Rob Stannard will miss this week’s world championships in Glasgow, after he was provisionally suspended for an alleged doping violation from five years earlier.

Eritrean cyclist Biniam Girmay was reportedly denied a visa to travel to Scotland for the cycling world championships, but it didn’t matter because he withdrew from the race after crashing in last weekend’s Clasica San Sebastian.

Bicycling offers an update on the condition of Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters, who suffered a severe brain injury on a training ride with the Dutch national team two years ago, and still faces a very long road to recovery. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Pro basketball star Kevin Durant is now a part owner of the new National Cycling League, joining a number of current and former NBA and NFL players.

 

Finally…

Who needs shift levers when your bike could respond to voice commands? No, you don’t owe a reward to the person who stole your bike.

And yes, Tour de France bikes are different from what you ride.

And cleaner, too.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

New York proposes speed limiters for habitual speeders, and LA won’t fix dangerous bump on LA River bike path

August 2, 2023 / / One comment

They get it.

Sort of.

State legislators in New York have proposed a bill that would require habitual speeders to install a speed limitation device on their cars, similar to an interlock device for drunk drivers.

“We are going to literally force you to slow down by requiring you to install a speed limiter on your car,” bill sponsor state Sen. Andrew Gounardes warned reckless drivers on Tuesday during a press conference at the Atlantic Avenue intersection where a speeding driver killed Katherine Harris, 31, in April.

The proposal comes amid an historically deadly year for city streets, in which 132 people have died in crashes so far, including 49 pedestrians. Speed limiters have been shown to reduce traffic deaths by 37 percent, supporters said, citing a report from the European Transport Safety Council.

So far, so good.

But the devil, as they say, is in the details.

Like a particularly devilish requirement that the law doesn’t kick in until a driver receives at least six speeding tickets in a single year.

As if you can’t kill anyone by driving too fast until the seventh time you get caught. Never mind that virtually no one only speeds once or twice.

Or that most drivers routinely exceed the speed limit, at least here in Los Angeles.

The other devilish detail is that even with the device installed, drivers could still speed by 5 mph over the post speed limit. Because evidently, requiring drivers to actually observe the speed limit is cruel and unusual punishment.

But it’s a good start.

And something like that would make a great companion piece to the proposed speed cam pilot project here in California.

………

KCAL News led off last night’s broadcast with a report on a dangerous bump caused by a tree root on the LA River bike path. which has already injured a number of bicyclists.

And yet, the city has done nothing to fix it, despite repeated requests going back a couple years.

Which means that every injury caused by the raised, cracked pavement could cost exponentially more to settle, because lawyers can easy show that officials were aware of the problem, and let it continue to cause injuries, anyway.

Meanwhile, the LA city council is considering a $60 million contract with Metro to build a 13-mile segment of the Los Angeles River bike path in the San Fernando Valley.

The project would plug existing gaps in the bikeway between Vanalden Ave to the west and Forest Lawn Drive/Zoo Drive to the east.

Maybe they can use a little of that money to fix a bump, too.

………

Once again, we’re likely to hear howls of protest from local business leaders, somehow convinced their businesses will fail unless people can park their cars directly in front of them.

Because people who walk and bike apparently live off the grid, don’t eat or drink and buy nothing.

https://twitter.com/TallDarknJewish/status/1686376236950421504

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Four Virginia bike riders have been injured riding into a gate used to close a popular roadway at night, after the city failed to open it on time. Although you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard to see a gate blocking a roadway.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two-wheels behaving badly.

A small New Jersey town has amended the city’s bike rules after blaming teens on bikes for ruining the “Downtown experience.”

After a couple of South Carolina kids killed someone’s schnauzer while riding an ebike on the sidewalk, an op-ed writer says blame the careless bike riders, because it’s not the ebike’s fault.

………

Local 

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, offers a quick lesson in the importance of language in framing perceptions — like saying crash instead of accident.

Metro wants your input for first mile/last mile improvements around the Culver City Metro Station. You know, like restoring the Move Culver City protected bike lanes recently ripped out by the city’s new conservative city council.

The Pasadena Star-News considers whether it’s legal for drivers to cross into a bike lane to make a right turn, correctly answering yes, while calling out careless drivers. Unlike most other states, California requires drivers to enter a bike lane prior to an intersection to make a right, rather than turning across the lane.

 

State

A Bay Area writer complains that San Mateo County was an early Vision Zero adopter, but the concept was never taken seriously. Sort of like the chronically underfunded Vision Zero program in Los Angeles.

Sad news from Rohnert Park, where police were surprised to learn the bike-riding man killed in a collision was actually a homeless woman.

 

National

CNN suggests the best gear for beginning mountain bikers, while Road Bike Rider offers advice on how to keep your bike clean.

Cycling News considers your best options for ebike conversion kits.

CleanTechnica questions why the website doesn’t cover more bikes without plugs.

Anthropocene suggests your next EV should have two wheels instead of four, saying ebikes now prevent a lot more emissions than all the world’s Teslas.

Idaho authorities recommend that a 14-year old driver face a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge for the hit-and-run death of a woman riding her bike last 4th of July; Idaho allows residents to get a learner’s permit at 14 and a half, but they aren’t allowed to drive unsupervised.

Boulder, Colorado bike riders say a new door zone bike lane fails the comfort and safety test.

Review a safety brochure, sign an injury waiver form, and you’ll get a free lift pass to ride the mountain bike trails at Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin — and a free beer.

Minnesota bike riders now have a green light to roll stop signs, becoming the latest state to adopt the Idaho Stop Law, or Stop As Yield. And once again, California won’t be joining them, even though the law has been repeatedly shown to improve safety, after Encinitas State Assemblymember Tasha Boerner pulled her bill legalizing Stop As Yield in the wake of two previous vetoes from the governor.

Chicago residents are on the lookout for an 82-year old man with limited English skills who went missing after going for a bike ride.

Yesterday we mentioned a bike rider who was critically injured when he was struck by an Indianapolis cop, who swerved onto the wrong side of the road to avoid another car; tragically, the 34-year old father of two kids died of his injuries.

A Boston TV station examines how the city’s bike mayor is working to make the roads safer and more inclusive. Which is a reminder that Los Angeles still doesn’t have one.

A New York bike rider says the recent crash of mo-ped and electric motor scooter riders on the Manhattan Bridge calls for “difficult conversations about the purpose of the city’s precious bike lane real estate, food delivery worker equity and the role NYPD should play in enforcing existing rules.”

Planetizen complains that ebikes from New York’s Citi Bike are too popular for their own good, as bikeshare operator Lyft struggles with maintenance and charging.

 

International

Road.cc examines the world’s lightest, cost-be-damned road bike frames and components to create the ultimate featherweight bike. For weight weenies with more dollars than sense, apparently. 

Toronto Blue Jays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier will have to find another way to get to work, after the bike he used to ride four and a half miles to the ballpark was stolen from his garage.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns against wearing bike helmets from SQM and Xinerter, which don’t meet mandatory safety requirements and may pose a serious risk of injury or death, as the Chinese manufacturer refuses to issue a recall.

Officials at South Korea’s Camp Humphries US Army base urged soldies to register their bicycles, after a pair of sergeants discovered a trove of over 100 missing bikes when one of them went to recover her own stolen bike.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new bike garage looks like an Apple Store, but without all the computers and iPhones and stuff. If you’re going to bury the victim of a drunken hit-and-run, don’t leave your Red Bull can behind.

And it might be worth a pilgrimage to Pittsburgh to see Pee-Wee Herman’s iconic bike.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Redlands cycling coach killed in Mentone crash, charity Burbank bicyclist killed in NorCal crash, and Taylor Swift is one of us

August 1, 2023 / / 3 comments

Note: Today’s post covers a number of sensitive stories and tragic events. So no one will fault you if you’d rather just skip it and come back tomorrow. 

……….

Yesterday I wrote that I had heard of a possible second bicycling fatality in the Highland/Mentone area over the weekend.

Sadly, that rumor was confirmed with the news that the victim was well-known Redlands cycling coach Bruce Elliott.

Commenter GregW left word that he saw the crash, which apparently happened when a driver turned into the left turn bay Elliott was waiting in while on a group training ride, striking him head-on.

I’ll update the story when I know more.

Graphics by tomexploresla.

………

Graphic by tomexploresla

As if the past weekend hadn’t been bad enough, news also broke yesterday that 60-year old Burbank-based professional trumpet player and long-distance bicyclist and runner Roy Wiegand was killed riding his bike in Monterey County on Saturday.

Wiegand was on the final leg of a month long, 2,500-mile cross-country ride to raise funds for the Navajo Water Project, to help bring clean running water and solar power to the Navajo Nation, when he was reportedly run down from behind by a pickup driver outside of Salinas.

Wiegand was riding by himself after his riding partner had turned back, opting to take a bus back to LA.

Wiegand leaves behind a wife and two children, after raising more than $28,000 on the ride.

Thanks to Paul Thornton for the heads-up. 

………

More information is emerging about the death of rising junior cyclist Magnus White, who was killed by a driver near his Boulder, Colorado home on Saturday.

The 17-year old national junior ‘cross champ was on a final training ride in preparation for traveling to Scotland with the US team for next week’s world championships in Glasgow.

For those who know the area, White was riding the Diagonal Highway, aka Colorado 119, when he was run down from behind by a 23-year old woman who had drifted onto the shoulder of the roadway where White was riding.

He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Police have ruled out intoxication and speed as factors in the crash, but were still investigating the possibility that the driver’s rightward drift could be explained by distracted driving. Although if speed — legal or otherwise — wasn’t a factor, White would still be alive.

A competitive cyclist since age eight, White had recently expanded his skillset into mountain biking and road cycling, and was planning to speak to representatives of professional cycling teams in Glasgow.

Now he’ll never get the chance.

A crowdfunding campaign has raised over $108,000 of the revised $110,000 goal.

Maybe someday, instead of just giving money, Americans will decided they’ve finally had enough of sacrificing our kids to the four-wheeled god, and demand real changes on our streets.

Maybe someday.

Note to NPR and other American media, White was struck with a car, not by a car; the car did not have autonomy. And several stories have noted that White was wearing a helmet, which only matters if he suffered a head injury since bike helmets don’t protect any other body parts, despite the magical thinking so many media sites seem to suffer from. 

………

Today’s common theme is bike riders getting run down by cops, who will often admit to being the worst drivers on the road.

And are too often right.

A 15-year old boy riding a bike was left crossed by a Chicago cop, who apparently failed to yield to the bicycle traveling through the intersection; needless to say, the local press blamed the victim.

An Indianapolis bike rider was critically injured when a cop responding to a reported home invasion swerved to avoid another car, and crashed head-on into the victim riding in the opposite direction.

………

Streetsblog’s Streetfilms takes a tour of the amazing new cycletracks in Alameda CA.

………

Evidently, Tay Tay is one of us, too too.

https://twitter.com/YIMBYLAND/status/1685787199306940416

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

The New York Times continues their anti-ebike campaign, arguing that the youth-oriented, ped-assist Super73 ebikes are just motorcycles for children.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two-wheels behaving badly.

Police in Tokyo have recommended that the state minister for eduction should be prosecuted for crashing his bicycle into a woman crossing a street without traffic signals.

………

Local 

A bike giveaway by One Bicycle Foundation donated twenty-four new bicycles to former foster kids who are now students at Pasadena City College; LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, a PCC alumni, spoke in support of the nonprofit group.

Streetsblog questions whether the new door-zone sharrows on Slauson Ave in LA’s Del Rey neighborhood are the city’s worst, in a city with no shortage of sharrow shame.

South Pasadena broke ground on a series of “transformative” street improvements to benefit connectivity, including traffic calming devices for the city’s slow streets program.

Traffic deaths continue to rise in Long Beach, despite the city’s Vision Zero program’s commitment to end traffic deaths by 2026.

 

State

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who ran down three Bakersfield kids as they rode their bikes in a left turn lane; two of the children were sent to a local hospital, one with life-threatening injuries.

Six Stanford students rode their bikes across the US, teaching students along the way.

 

National

A senior research scientist for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety writes that smartphones could be more than a distraction behind the wheel with sufficient buy-in from automakers and tech companies, such as an app that can inform drivers when they’re speeding.

A new research study shows the presence of an Interstate highway contributes to a significant increase in pedestrian deaths, which occur disproportionately in Black communities. Maybe because that’s where they built the freeways. And what affects pedestrians usually affects people on bicycles, too.

A Honolulu bike rider was the victim of a violent armed robbery when a man deliberately drove his car into him, then got out and stole the victim’s backpack as he lay in the roadway.

Houston is on pace to set a new record for bicycling deaths, after passing last-year’s already too-high total with the city’s 12th person killed riding a bicycle this year.

As most of us can testify, there’s no better way to leave work pressures behind than going for a bike ride, as President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden did in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware on Monday. And no, he didn’t fall off this time.

A Florida woman turned herself in for the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle, after abandoning her car in the grocery store parking lot. And giving herself plenty of time to sober up — assuming she’d been imbibing, of course.

 

International

Momentum says North American cities need to push for more, and more secure, bike parking.

Wired says Specialized’s new $2,800 Globe Haul ST light utility ebike makes up for the loss of VanMoof to bankruptcy, although the dormant Dutch ebike maker may not be completely dead yet.

 

Competitive Cycling

Demi Vollering won the equivalent of nearly $55,000 by claiming the yellow jersey in 2nd Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, the biggest payout in women’s cycling — and still just ten percent of what Jonas Vingegaard got for winning the men’s race.

The president of the professional cyclists union spent 5,172 Czech korunas out of his own pocket — the equivalent of about $240 — in an effort to develop a laser-based sensor to keep bike riders from crashing into race motos. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

The AP says American cyclist Chloe Dygert has overcome overwhelming obstacles to have a shot at another world championship, from undergoing several rounds of surgery for injuries suffered crashing her bike into a guardrail, to heart surgery required to treat supraventricular tachycardia, as well as extreme fatigue caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.

 

Finally…

That’s one way to enjoy a snack on your bike, as long as you can steer with your butt.

And that feeling when you ride in the tire tracks of greatness.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LBPD ignores Yellow Alert after deliberate fatal hit-and-run, and bike lanes — and sharrows — coming to Doheny Drive

July 28, 2023 / / 2 comments

Let’s start with the frightening news that a Long Beach bike rider was deliberately murdered by a hit-and-run driver earlier this month.

According to the Long Beach Police Department, 29-year old Long Beach resident Leobardo Cervantes died this past Saturday, after he was intentionally run down by a driver on Sunday, July 9th.

Unfortunately, there’s no description of the driver, and the suspect vehicle is described only as a dark-colored sedan that fled east on Harding Street, after the crash near Harding and California Ave.

Shockingly, Cervantes is the third bike rider killed in a Long Beach hit-and-run this year, and the second just this month.

In fact, over a third of the year’s fatal bike crashes in Southern California have been hit-and-runs, and a full third of those have taken place in Long Beach.

Long Beach police could have alerted the public within minutes of the crash using California’s Yellow Alert hit-and-run notification system, rather than waiting two weeks until the victim died and the trail went cold.

You’d think prompt public notification would be helpful in solving any crime, but apparently, they would disagree.

Even though a similar Colorado program has been successful in bringing a number of fleeing drivers to justice.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

Beverly Hills is installing bike lanes on a sizable portion of Doheny Drive south of Burton Way — although part of that will be sharrows, instead of a painted lane.

And as we all should know by now, sharrows have been shown to be literally worse than nothing.

It’s also just a tad concerning that they have to explain to Beverly Hills drivers what the hell a bike lane is in the first place.

………

Mark your calendar for November’s World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence.

Click through for the thread, but you may need a Twitter account to read it.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

No bias here. Police in Ontario — no, the one in Canada — added a jet engine sound effect to video of a bike rider going through a stop sign, and gave the rider a $180 ticket even though there was no conflicting traffic. The ticket might have been justified; the sound effects, not so much. 

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

An NYPD traffic agent was hospitalized with minor injuries after being attacked by a bike rider, who repeatedly punched the victim for refusing to get the hell out of their way.

A woman walking on a Newmarket, Ontario pathway was seriously injured when she was struck by someone riding a bicycle; people quoted in the story complained about bicyclists speeding along the trail, even though there was no suggestion the bike rider was going too fast in this case.

………

Local 

Work began two weeks ago to convert a a 10-foot-wide, 450-foot stretch of alley in Redondo Beach into a bike path, after Torrance pulled out of the project.

 

State

Uber is headed to court after a San Francisco bike rider refused a $1 million settlement to keep quiet about getting doored by a passenger leaving one of their drivers’ vehicles. You could buy a lot of my silence for a million bucks.

Bay Area bike riders were urged to use caution after a yet another East Bay bikejacking, when a pair of men boxed in a teenaged bike rider with their car, before jumping out and stealing his bike.

A Sacramento bike advocacy group is using a massive citywide bike valet program to fund its operations while getting people out of their cars; they hope to park more than 10,000 bikes this year.

 

National

There’s a special place in hell for the thief who stole over a dozen adaptive bikes worth more than $100,000 from an Anchorage, Alaska disability nonprofit on Saturday; police charged a man with the theft after spotting a wanted woman on outstanding warrants, who was in possession of some of the bikes. Seriously, what kind of schmuck steals bikes from people who need them for disabilities?

The 50,000 or more bike riders participating in this year’s RAGBRAI are finding small-town economies driven by local microbreweries.

A columnist for the New York Times looks back on the case of the alleged Citi Bike Karen, who says her life has been turned upside down after a recorded conflict with a young Black man over who had rightfully checked out a bikeshare bike. Never mind that both appeared to have a claim to the bike. Meanwhile, a website says the column is “like ‘Inception’ but for unmitigated white woman entitlement.”

Several people were injured on New York’s Manhattan Bridge bike path when four or five moped riders and bicyclists collided on the span, at least some of them were delivery riders illegally using ebikes or mopeds on the bridge; one victim was reportedly at risk of bleeding out from severe leg cuts before another rider used a sweatshirt to put pressure on his wounds.

Some New York delivery riders are turning back to gas-powered mopeds because of a lack of ebike charging stations.

New York’s fire commissioner testified before the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Thursday, calling for new safety standards for lithium-ion ebike batteries.

A Georgia man was convicted in the controversial hit-and-run that killed a bike rider four years ago, after he called his buddy the local state representative following the crash instead of dialing 911, and the politician called the local police chief; the victim clung to life in a ditch for over an hour after the crash, and might have survived if he’d gotten help sooner. The driver faces a maximum of five years for hit-and-run. Even though it should be life for 2nd degree murder.

 

International

English bike riders complain about a “dreadful” new contraflow bike lane, calling it “an accident waiting to happen,” but the local government insists the green paint will magically protect them.

Britain’s Daily Mail once again played the game of who’s at fault, after a bike rider was sideswiped by a motorist when they both made a left turn at the same time. Okay, the driver should have checked his mirror before turning, but the bike rider was a damn fool for not holding back until the driver had finished his turn. So there.

The Turkish Cycling Federation is calling for stronger deterrent penalties after three people were killed riding bicycles in the country over the last two weeks.

 

Competitive Cycling

German cyclist Ricarda Bauernfeind soloed to victory in Thursday’s stage five of the Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, aka women’s Tour de France, after opening up a 90 second lead over the peloton.

Dutch cyclist Demi Vollering received a 20-second penalty for briefly drafting behind a team vehicle following a puncture, dropping her to 7th in the general classification standings, 12 seconds behind primary rival Annemiek van Vleuten.

Nine cyclists barely made the cut after they were delayed by a train with just one and a quarter miles to go during Thursday’s stage, clearing the stage by just 17 seconds.

Cycling News says Britain’s Hope x Lotus track bike for the 2024 Paris Olympics is even wilder than ever.

 

Finally…

Always tow a small catamaran behind your bike in case of climate change-induced flash floods or thousand-year rain events. That feeling when you illustrate a story about ebike licenses with an antique single speed bike, because your editors apparently have no idea what an ebike looks like.

And probably not the best idea to buy a bike using counterfeit money.

Unless maybe it’s a really good counterfeit.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

I confess to a major screw up, advocates call on Metro to keep its damn promises, and shooting cars while naked

July 27, 2023 / / Comments Off on I confess to a major screw up, advocates call on Metro to keep its damn promises, and shooting cars while naked

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. 

I screwed up. 

On Tuesday, I issued a call for BikeLA, the former LACBC, to step up and resume their rightful place as LA County’s leading bicycle advocacy organization, after recovering from serious economic turmoil.

Something I continue stand by. 

But in doing so, I called on them to help Fullerton bike advocates support a planned lane reduction, which has run into predictable opposition. 

In my mind, I was placing Fullerton in the tangle of cities in Southeast Los Angeles County. 

It’s not.

It’s in Northern Orange County, of course, on the other side of Buena Park. Something I should have known, having written about it several times. Let alone being there more than once. 

So my apologies to BikeLA for any real or implied criticism of any lack of action in Fullerton — which is like criticizing the OC Sheriff’s Department for not patrolling in Norwalk. 

I fucked up, and I own it.

Photo by Steve Johnson from Pexels. 

………

Los Angeles bicycle and livability leaders called on Metro Wednesday to keep its damn promises.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton writes that a group of organizations including BikeLA, Climate Resolve, MoveLA, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and Streets For All signed a letter urging Metro to “promptly add several bike/walk facilities left out of Metro Regional Connector construction.”

Linton broke the news last month that Metro had left out several promised and/or required first-and-last-mile projects intended to improve safety and connectivity for people walking and biking near the near Regional Connector stations.

Although they somehow didn’t forget to add lanes for drivers.

According to Streetsblog,

The missing Connector first/last mile facilities fall into two categories: (more on these below)

  • omitted and scaled-back facilities in a Metro (with LADOT) federal grant – by Little Tokyo Station
  • facilities omitted that had been approved in the city’s Downtown Street Standards – at all three Connector stations

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider has been sounding an urgent note regarding the grant moneys, declaring that “[Metro and DOT] should implement the omitted elements now to avoid having to give the Feds their money back.”

The letter urges Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins and Metro Board Chair Mayor Karen Bass to “to move expediently to complete these required and promised pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the next three months,” as Linton notes in his subhead.

Let’s hope they take the advice to heart.

As well as the streets of DTLA.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A naked woman armed with a gun opened fire on passing cars on the busy San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge until she was taken into custody, apparently without hitting anyone.

She was probably angry that bike riders still can’t get more than halfway across the bridge.

Although she probably wasn’t the same person who took a drive-by shot at an Oakland bike rider in broad daylight early Wednesday afternoon.

………

Speaking of BikeLA, they’ll be at the Bicycle Kitchen — which is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary — on Saturday, preaching bike safety and giving away free digital bike horns

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Safety advocates predicted more bicycling deaths after the New Orleans suburb of Algiers ripped out a two-year old protected bike lane, because some people complained about the aesthetics, lack of parking, and traffic. Someone should tell them that traffic congestion isn’t caused by bike lanes; it’s the result of too few people in too many cars. 

Tampa officials blame “rogue cyclists” for plans to ban bicycles from the city’s Riverwalk. But at least the mayor is calling for bike lanes parallel to the popular route.

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

The LAPD finally arrested a bike-riding man suspected of committing multiple assaults, including the sexual assault of a 67-year old woman outside her East LA home.

In a truly bizarre story, a 19-year old Rhode Island man was arrested when security cam video showed he was the “primary aggressor,” after someone driving a pickup stopped and took his bicycle, and threw it into the back of the truck; he then took his bike back and punched the pickup driver hard enough to possibly break his own hand. Because apparently, you’re not allowed to fight back to keep someone from stealing your bike in Rhode Island, at least not if you’re big and Black.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering wants your feedback on three options for remaking the massive Sepulveda Basin, including an extension of the LA River bike path. And pickleball courts.

They get it. Pasadena city councilmembers say more has to be done to prevent bike and pedestrian deaths in the city, which has suffered between 2 and 6 active transportation fatalities per year for the past four years.

Santa Monica police will conduct another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation next Thursday and Friday, ticketing any violations that could put either at risk, regardless of who commits them. So follow the usual protocol and ride to the letter of the law until you’re safely back in LA. “Safely” being a relative term. 

 

State

Calbike says California is falling short on Complete Streets policies, with only one California city making Smart Growth America’s list of the nation’s leading cities for forward-thinking active transportation policies. And needless to say, it wasn’t Los Angeles. 

For the second day in a row, a San Diego ebike rider was seriously injured in a crash with a pickup — even if this one was unoccupied — when 32-year old man crashed into the left rear bumper of a legally parked truck in the Shelltown neighborhood. Although it’s always possible that he was forced into the truck by a driver passing too close. 

Only In Your State calls the 16-mile bikeway from Ventura to Carpinteria the ultimate outdoor playground.

At least one bicyclist likes San Francisco’s new centerline protected bike lane, finding the new Valencia Street project “glorious.” Although it’s interesting that the San Francisco Chronicle dropped its draconian paywall just for this story.

San Francisco’s Vision Zero plan is failing after traffic deaths jumped during the pandemic; the city has just one more year to meet its goal of eliminating traffic deaths by 2024. Los Angeles has two more years, and still doesn’t have a chance in hell of meeting that.

A proposed bike and pedestrian bridge would connect the East Bay cities of Oakland and Alameda, replacing a dark and dirty tunnel under an estuary between the cities; however, opponents balk at the $200 million price tag.

 

National

The US Chamber of Commerce highlights five small businesses capitalizing on the ebike “craze,” including Orange County’s Electric Bike Company.

Truly awful story from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where a 40-year old woman was found dead in her home after someone apparently drove her there when she was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding her bike miles away. Yet another tragic reminder to always seek medical care if you’re hit by a motorist, because you’re probably hurt more than you think. 

An Iowa state senator was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of refusing to abide by a law enforcement officer during this week’s RAGBRAI, insisting he didn’t have to budge when the cop ordered a group of bike riders to clear a roadway.

The Green Bay Packers maintained their annual tradition of opening training camp by riding bicycles borrowed from little kids, after the storm clouds parted to allow the event to go on.

Jalopnik apparently sees its first advisory lane at a pilot demonstration in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and comes away predicting disaster for bike riders; the roadways feature a single traffic lane shared by drivers with bike lanes on either side, requiring drivers coming from opposite directions to briefly move into the bike lanes to pass one another.

Feel free to keep parking in Michigan bike lanes, after a supposed bill banning the act turned out to be a hoax.

Connecticut is increasing funding for the state’s ebike rebate program after accepting nearly 6,400 applications. That’s not likely to happen when California exhausts the far too low $7.5 million budget for the state’s ebike rebate program, in a state with over ten times the population of Connecticut.

Hundreds of New Yorkers demanded the city do something to get dangerous ebikes and scooters off the streets at a local town hall, complaining that people on ebikes, mopeds and other motorized vehicles often run red lights and refuse to yield to pedestrians. Because evidently, only people in cars are allowed to do that.

Philadelphia bike messenger bag maker R.E.Load Bags is going out of business after 25 years, because the founders want to move on to other things.

Once again, Florida retains its title as the nation’s deadliest state for people on bicycles. California usually comes in second to Florida in terms of sheer numbers, despite having nearly twice the population.

 

International

In another bizarre case, a 31-year old Scottish man confessed to the drunk driving death of a 63-year old man taking part in a charity bike ride, then coming back with his twin brother the next day to bury the victim’s body and dispose of his bike and other belongings; the victim was considered missing until his body was finally found over three months later.

A UK electric safety organization calls for regulating ebike batteries, after 12 people died in suspected ebike and e-scooter fires in the country since 2020.

The pandemic bike boom is clearly over, as Shimano’s bike component sales dropped nearly 18% in the first six months of this year due to weak demand.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo writes that Wednesday’s fourth stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, aka the women’s Tour de France, turned into a measuring test between pre-race favorites Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten, with Vollering gaining eight seconds over her chief rival.

Dutch cyclist Yara Kastelijn won a “hard-earned victory in a long, grueling stage,” according to Velo.

UCI conducted nearly 1,000 checks for motor doping during the recent men’s Tour de France, looking for any mechanical device that could give a cyclist an unfair advantage over his competitors. And thankfully came up empty.

Twenty-three-year old Polish cyclist Filip Maciejuk will miss the world championships and his home country’s stage race, after he received a 30-day ban for causing a massive pileup in April’s Tour of Flanders.

Bold move from the Northampton International Cyclocross, as the country’s oldest ‘cross race requested that it be removed from the UCI calendar in order to continue to welcome all riders, after bike racing’s governing body recently reversed course to ban trans athletes from competing in women’s events. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.

 

Finally…

Your new cyberpunk ebike could look like a Tesla pickup — but why the hell would you want it to? Every city needs a bike path connecting local microbreweries.

And who needs a bike mechanic when you can fix it yourself in the middle of the race?

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

News conference drums up support for LA-area speed cam pilot program, and Spanish mayor nails parking debate

July 26, 2023 / / Comments Off on News conference drums up support for LA-area speed cam pilot program, and Spanish mayor nails parking debate

Speed cams could soon be coming your way.

At a press conference in Studio City Tuesday morning, city and state officials explained the reasoning behind AB 645, which would establish a speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, Long Beach and Glendale, along with three NorCal cities.

According to LADOT’s Makenzi Rasey,

“Too many people are dying on our streets and these crashes disproportionately impact low-income communities, people walking, people biking, our seniors, and our children.”

Like the 4,379 Californians killed in traffic collisions in 2021 alone, including 1,275 people walking and riding bikes.

Every one of them someone’s mother or father, son or daughter, sister or brother, leaving massive holes that can never be filled in the lives of their loved ones.

Rasey went on to add that LADOT is fighting the speeding crisis with “every street design tool available,” including lower speed limits on nearly 200 miles of streets, speed humps, signals and redesigned streets, along with more bike lanes.

Although as we can all testify, not nearly enough of those.

And the city still hasn’t moved forward with shovel-ready lane reductions planned for North Figueroa and Temple Street, which were blocked by councilmembers who are no longer in office.

Never mind the Westwood Blvd bike lanes blocked by then-Councilmember Paul Koretz, who has been replaced by the ostensibly more bike-friendly Katy Yaroslavsky.

The bill is also tailored to inflict minimal financial impact on, well, anyone, as Assembly Transportation Chair and congressional candidate Laura Friedman explained.

“Under our bill, unlike with getting a traditional speeding ticket, there’s no points on your license … Under this program, your first ticket, assuming that you aren’t egregiously speeding, is a warning. and after that, if you get a second ticket, that ticket starts at just $50. Now if you’re low-income that $50 is cut in half to just $25. And there’s a small escalator for every 10 mph over the limit you are going,” said Friedman.

Which doesn’t seem like nearly enough to get drivers to take their damn foot off the gas.

But that’s the compromise needed to get the bill through the legislature in a state where driving — and exceeding the speed limit — is considered a God-given right.

………

This may be the best answer to the incessant parking demands of drivers I’ve seen.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A Portland city commissioner is calling for rolling back requirements to install bike parking facilities in new residential buildings to increase affordability. Even though the costs are pretty damn negligible, especially compared to installing car parking. 

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Seriously, don’t be a dick when riding your ebike at Burning Man.

A New Jersey teenager repeatedly punched a Target employee in the mouth when he was instructed to stop riding his bike. No, in the store.

A “thrill-seeking cyclist” was captured on video riding his bicycle on a busy Toronto freeway.

A middle-aged man in the UK, who should certainly know better, is accused of swearing at and threatening a young girl, and throwing her phone to the ground, after they collided while riding their bicycles. Schmuck.

………

Local 

ActiveSGV is hosting a family-friendly community bike ride this Saturday to demonstrate the Santa Anita Ave Complete Streets Project.

An LA-based writer for Velo is excited to encounter a man riding a custom Holland Cycles Titanium road bike on PCH in the ‘Bu.

 

State

Tragic news from San Diego, where a woman suffered life-threatening injuries when she was sideswiped by the driver of a massive pickup while riding her bike in the downtown Gaslamp District. Which should have at least been a prima facie violation of California’s three-foot passing law, but apparently wasn’t.

San Diego bike thieves are targeting ebikes as their popularity continues to grow. Ebikes, that is, not bike thieves, who continue to be unpopular in San Diego, and most everywhere else.

Bicycles — electric and otherwise — will now be banned from a five-block carfree section of downtown Ventura, along with skateboards and scooters. That would be illegal under state law if cars were allowed on the street, but apparently allowed since cars are banned.

SFist says San Francisco’s contentious Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane is causing confusion and chaos, with some people calling it the “Valencia Meatgrinder.”

Streetsblog talks with a 32-year old San Francisco man, seven years after he was severely injured by an inattentive driver while riding his bike, who argues that it would be easy to protect people on bicycles but the city won’t.

 

National

Apparently, rock and metal music tops the Spotify playlists for American bicyclists.

Bicycling offers tips on how to test-ride a bicycle before you buy. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Public comments submitted to the Consumer Product and Safety Commission calls for eliminating the requirement that kid’s bikes have coaster brakes, arguing the it keeps them from learning how to use handbrakes.

A lawsuit from the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) argues that the National Park Service was wrong to allow ebikes into national parks, saying the NPS hadn’t adequately addressed their potential to disturb wildlife and create conflicts with other people on the trail. Because evidently, the wilderness is only for fit people who don’t need a little help riding a bike. 

Seriously? Alaska’s governor vetoed a bill regulating ebikes, arguing ”…it creates unnecessary bureaucracy by regulating recreational activity,” even though all it does is establish the same three-tiered classifications pioneered in California, and passed in many, if not most, other states. The sponsor says the legislature will override the veto of the bill, which passed with overwhelming support.

In a clear demonstration of bent-up demand for ebike rebates, Denver’s latest round of ebike rebate vouchers was completely snapped up just three minutes after they became available. Which does not bode well for California’s vastly underfunded program, whenever it finally goes online.

Even rural ski resort town Jackson, Wyoming could soon require bike parking in all future developments.

An AP sportswriter is one of the roughly 80,000 people riding across Iowa in this year’s 50th RAGBRAI, writing that the mantra of the participants is “The ride will provide.”

Um, okay. An Illinois man reportedly threw a kid’s bike into a pond because he thought the boys were fishing too close to some ducks.

A panicking Michigan father threw a bicycle at a second story window to wake his kids and alert them that their home was on fire; firefighters arrived shortly afterwards to pull the kids to safety.

Who needs a car to attend the legendary Rhode Island Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals when you have a bicycle?

Florida man strikes again — literally — after a 37-year old man whacked another man over the head with a bicycle kickstand, because the victim apparently refused to play a country song. Although it’s not clear if he refused to play a particular country song, or just country songs in general.

 

International

Police threw the book at a 17-year old Toronto girl after she crashed a stolen car into a female bike cop.

Oxford, England merchants are accusing the city council of being “hyper-woke” — whatever the hell that means — after refusing to close a bike lane for the city’s annual Christmas market. Because obviously, the lives and safety of bike riders are of no importance compared to selling holiday treats and trinkets.

A 55-year old Oxford, England man faces a charge of “‘wanton or furious cycling” for crashing into an 81-year old woman walking on a pathway, who died 12 days later.

Litium-ion ebike battery fires could eventually be a thing of the past, as Swiss bikemaker Stromer introduced the first solid-state ebike battery, which promises to cut charging times down to just 20 minutes or less, even for the largest batteries.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside talks with trans cyclist Austin Killips, who says she just wants to ride her bike, after becoming the poster child for excluding trans athletes from women’s sports.

Bicycling says Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky continues to hold the yellow jersey in the women’s Tour de France, but expects a shake-up in today’s mountainous stage four. The story doesn’t appear to be locked behind their usual paywall, but here’s the Yahoo link just in case.

The Guardian says the pay parity gulf between men’s and women’s cycling is continuing to widen, as all three Grand Tours now have women’s versions, but with significantly less prize money.

Colombian national time trial champ and former Tour de Suisse and Volta a Catalunya winner Miguel Angel Lopez has been provisionally suspended for a suspected doping violation. But bicycling is clean now, right?

 

Finally…

What bikes of the future could look like, if it wasn’t for rules and stuff. Your next e-mountain bike could be made of bamboo, other than, you know, the battery and all that metal and rubber stuff.

And this is what happens when you give an ebike to a Slopestyle cyclist.

https://www.tiktok.com/@canyon_bicycles/video/7254580546742045979?embed_source=%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.bikemag.com%2Fnews%2Fgravel-bike-slopestyle&referer_video_id=7254580546742045979

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin

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