Tag Archive for Los Angeles

Prison for racist bike lock attack, slap on wrist for hit-and-run coverup, and LACBC Bikes & Botany Ride this weekend

July 9, 2021 / / Comments Off on Prison for racist bike lock attack, slap on wrist for hit-and-run coverup, and LACBC Bikes & Botany Ride this weekend

Once quick note. 

This Saturday, my 73-year old, former Iditarod mushing brother is leaving to ride up through the Tetons and Yellowstone to the Canadian border, then down the Continental Divide Trail to Mexico, and back up to Colorado.

And no, I’m not the least bit jealous. No, really.

Photo by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay.

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A pair of high-profile legal cases finally came to a conclusion this week, with less than satisfying results in one.

In Michigan, a 43-year old man got a well-deserved five years behind bars for beating a Black teenager with a bike lock.

Lou Mouat confessed to shouting racist slurs while telling the Black teens they weren’t allowed on the public beach in last year’s hate crime.

Meanwhile, the owner of a Virginia landscaping company got off with a caress on the wrist for conspiring to cover up the 2018 fatal hit-and-run committed by one of his employees in a company truck.

Instead of just picking up the damn phone to report what happened after his driver killed a 50-year old man riding home from a group ride, 64-year old Robert Lee Strickland Jr. fired the worker and ordered him to get away. Then he had the truck towed to a bodyshop for repairs, and told workers to say the fired staffer had just hit a deer.

Due to what the DA termed a total lack of remorse, Strickland was sentenced to a year behind bars for his role in the cover up — a stiff penalty under state sentencing guidelines, which call for no more than six months in jail.

But shamefully light given the heinousness of the crime.

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The LACBC invites you to join their free Bikes and Botany Ride this Sunday, now open to everyone, rather than just LA Rivers Challenge participants, and starting at a top secret location somewhere near Griffith Park.

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Glendale wants your input on a proposal to build a safe active transportation greenway on along the Verdugo Wash.

And no, that’s not a Glendale laundromat.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1413206014946549763

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Gravel Bikes California takes a cruise through Gold Country, to visit Yankee Jims & the Auburn State Recreation Area.

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Pink Bike offers a beginner’s guide to setting up your mountain bike.

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Your periodic reminder that lowering speed limits remains illegal in California, thanks to the deadly 85th Percentile Law that allows drivers to keep pushing speed limits ever higher.

And for reference, 30 kmh works out to just 18 over mph.

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

No bias here. Delaware state police went out of their way to blame the victims after a 70-year old man ran down two girls riding their bikes in a crosswalk, leaving one in critical condition; troopers said the teen girls were supposed to walk their bikes in the crosswalk — which would put them at greater risk while crossing — and said the driver was somehow “unable to avoid them” despite a flashing warning beacon.

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

Authorities in Buffalo, New York are looking for a bike-riding gunman — or gunwoman — who shot two men in an early morning bike-by.

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Local

The Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, awarded over $275,000 in Go Human mini grants to 31 LA and Orange County area organizations to help improve traffic safety, including Active SGV, Bicycle Kitchen, Los Angeles Walks, LACBC, Santa Ana Active Streets, Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), and Streets For All.

 

State

A 15-year old cancer survivor has completed a 363-mile fundraising ride through all nine of California’s National Parks in 13 days; he’s raised $690 of his modest $1,000 goal for bicycling charities Team California Juniors and VeloYouth.

Rialto is opening a 16-dock, 100-bike e-bikeshare system, using a $1 million state grant.

A mountain biker is in good condition following a difficult rescue off a ledge, after he rode off a cliff in Nevada County, northeast of Sacramento.

The Montana mountain town where a Northern California woman on a bikepacking trip was dragged out of her tent and killed by a grizzly bear is popular with bikepackers riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route. Which may or may not be the same as the Continental Divide Trail my brother will be riding.

 

National

NBC News picks the six best bikes for kids.

Road Bike Action says you really need to carry a chain breaker with you when you ride.

There is something very wrong with America’s educational system when an Oregon university professor has to ride 1,600 miles to all of the state’s 17 community colleges just to raise funds to buy textbooks.

Breaking Bad fans can add this one to your bike bucket list — a guided bike tour through 12 Albuquerque shooting locations for the Emmy winning show.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 89-year old Michigan man has ridden a total of 35,000 miles over the last ten years.

An Iowa woman has written a new book about her 26-year odyssey to travel every US state by bicycle, along with her husband.

The bike boom shows no sign of letting up in Memphis.

Fast action prevented a horrific crime, after a man snatched a 6-year-old Louisville, Kentucky girl off her bicycle and pulled her into his car; witnesses called 911 with a description of the vehicle, and police were able to arrest the 40-year old driver and rescue the girl within half an hour of the kidnapping.

Apple’s AirTag proves its worth, helping Boston cops recover a man’s stolen bicycle. Note to Gadget Lite: There’s no need to capitalize bicycle or bike in your story.

Momentum Magazine says New York may have hit peak bike boom with projects to add bike lanes to the iconic Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges. Although as we’ve learned from the Netherlands, no matter how bike friendly a city is, there is always room for improvement.

A Philadelphia man has been charged with knocking a Black Lives Matter protestor off his bicycle and beating him as he was on the ground; he was part of group of men armed with hatchets, baseball bats and golf clubs who confronted protestors in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood.

The wheels of justice grind slowly in North Carolina, but at least the results are worth it, as a 27-year old woman will spend up to six years and four months behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that took the life of a bike-riding man four years ago.

 

International

Eight thousand women and girls around the world stand to get new bicycles, after June’s Women on Wheels fundraiser collected a whopping $1 million for World Bicycle Relief.

An 83-year old British man is remembered for his record-setting achievements; Chris Davies held the record for riding 916,791 miles on his bike, the greatest distance ever officially recorded at the time. Davies passed away this week at 83-years old.

Chiang Mai, Thailand has been crowned the world’s best city for a ‘’beautiful bike ride’’ in a recent report from a British bicycle insurance company.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews profiles Austrian cyclist Michael Gogl, who swapped his cello for a bike, and now sits in fourth place in the Tour de France.

An inflamed knee has forced Peter Sagan out of the the Tour, eliminating a key competitor in Mark Cavendish’s quest to match Eddy Merckx’s record for most stage wins.

Cycling Weekly talks with British cycling fans lining the memorial to fallen British cyclist Tom Simpson on Wednesday’s climb up Mount Ventoux, where Simpson collapsed during the ’67 Tour.

The high altitude Crusher in the Tushar gravel bike race returns to Beaver, Utah tomorrow.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could use levers and pulleys instead of a chain, to move four times more efficiently. Your next bike could be a Lotus — yes, that Lotus.

And let’s hope this isn’t the most epic folding ebike video ever.

Even if it is.

 

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

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

$10 million ebike rebate added to CA budget, onerous bikeshare insurance bill, and Beverly Hills gives up on bikeshare

July 8, 2021 / / 3 comments

This is beginning to look like a watershed year for bicycle bills in Sacramento.

Calbike writes that a proposed $10 million program to help Californians buy ebikes has made it into the latest draft of next year’s state budget.

SACRAMENTO – CalBike is thrilled to announce that legislators approved a $10 million e-bike incentive program in next year’s state budget. Funded as part of the state’s campaign to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles, the program will help thousands of Californians get access to e-bikes to replace car trips. Bikes eligible will include bikes “designed for people with disabilities; utility bicycles for carrying equipment or passengers, including children; and folding bicycles.”

It joins bills to decriminalize jaywalking (AB 1238) and allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields (AB122), which both pass out of committee in the state senate last week.

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Calbike and the LACBC are also stepping up efforts to oppose AB371, which would force bikeshare and e-scooter providers to extend insurance coverage to their customers, which could have a chilling effect on micromobility.

This is why we are frightened by a bill in the state Senate that could kill shared bike and scooter systems. It would require nonprofits, government agencies, and private companies that operate shared bike and scooter systems to extend their liability coverage to the sole negligence or reckless behavior of a rider, setting a legal precedent that no other industry is subject to. Just like a rental car company cannot be held liable for the reckless actions of their drivers (Graves Amendment), neither should shared bike and scooter operators Further, the proposed form of insurance would be highly susceptible to fraud due to the low cost and ease of staging accidents, with minimal burden of proof.

The bill would even apply to the nonprofits and government agencies that just got funded to operate bike share systems with some of the $20 million in Clean Mobility Options grants. The Air Resources Board clearly understands the potential of these systems; the legislature should also, and abandon this attempt to impose a fatally impractical requirement.

Let’s hope they get it.

While more probably can and should be done to protect bikeshare and scooter users, and those around them, this is not the time to make them financially untenable and drive micromobility users back into their cars.

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You can kiss Beverly Hills Bike Share goodbye.

The tony city is joining a growing list of SoCal cities in pulling up stakes on its docked bikeshare system at the end of this month.

I wouldn’t hold your breath on those new shared mobility options, though.

At least not as far as bikes or scooters are concerned.

Thanks to David Drexler for the forward.

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Cable news outlet Spectrum News 1 highlighted Walk ‘n Rollers bike repair hub and free bicycle distribution program.

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

No bias here. The mayor of an Iowa town is begging for lawsuits, let alone funerals, after posting a large sign telling drivers not to stop for bike riders where a popular bike trail crosses a two lane highway. Even though he insists he rides a bike himself, and only wants to improve safety by encouraging people in cars to kill people on bikes just keep going. Sure, let’s go with that.

A London school is using traffic cones to block a new bikeway, claiming bicyclist are endangering the students — never mind that they’re endangering their own students and parents who ride bikes to school.

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

An English ebike rider with defective brakes walked without a day behind bars after he was sentenced for recklessly weaving in and out of traffic before running a red light and crashing into a car; he suffered serious head injuries in the crash.

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Local

Los Angeles was ranked as the nation’s 14th most future-focused city, based in part on LA’s bike score. No, really.

KCRW considers what a post-pandemic Los Angeles will look like, as UCLA architecture and urban design professor Dana Cuff points to CicLAvia as a sign of hope.

LA Taco offers a photographic look at the annual Chief Lunes Fireworks Party Ride through DTLA and Glendale on the 3rd.

Pasadena is looking for input on the city’s proposed pedestrian plan.

KNBC4 sounds its “bulbous bike horn” over the return of CicLAvia in Wilmington next month.

 

State

There’s justice for a fallen San Diego bike rider, after Abbas Karama Shariff copped a plea in the hit-and-run death of 35-year-old Daryl Treadwell in May of last year; he’ll be sentenced to the maximum penalty of four years behind bars.

A new study from San Diego’s Juiced Bikes confirms that riding a ped-assist bike over challenging terrain burns as many calories as a game of basketball. Playing, that is, not watching.

Streetsblog San Francisco calls Oakland’s decision to keep the protected bike lanes on Telegraph Ave a “resounding win for safety.”

Bike riders in Los Altos are calling a new freeway expansion project a death zone, with riders on the Foothill Expressway now expected to cross left over double right turn lanes in order to keep going straight.

Sad news from Chico, after it turned out the bikepacker killed by a grizzly bear while camping in Montana earlier this week was a 65-year old woman from the NorCal city.

 

National

Bicycling says yes, there’s a shortage of bicycles and parts due to the pandemic bike boom, but you don’t have to be a jerk about it. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Outdoor Life rates trunk-mounted bike racks.

A pair of Nebraska nonprofits formed the state’s first all-girl mountain bike team to encourage young women to get out and ride.

There’s a special place in hell for the owner of a historic St. Louis building, who is threatening to evict a bike charity by Monday after the bicycles they’d planned to donate to disadvantaged kids were damaged in a partial building collapse last summer — even though the owner was renting them space in a building that had been condemned in 2013. They estimate it will take another $40,000 to clean and repair the bikes so they can be safely ridden.

A Houston rabbi is recovering from multiple broken bones after the bike path he was riding on ended without warning, and he crashed into some large traffic barrels that were lining the roadway.

A Virginia bike shop owner calls the state’s new law requiring drivers to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle “a blessing,” saying most people didn’t know how to judge the previous three-foot passing requirement.

Good for them. Inspired by a five-year old amputee, a group of Lafayette, Louisiana high school students are hoping to take a product they developed for a robotics competition to market; the adaptation kit they created can be added to any bicycle in minutes to assist people with missing or compromised legs to ride a bike.

 

International

A group of young Bolivians are battling pollution by forming the first bicycle messenger and delivery service in the smog-choked city of Cochabamba.

This is the cost of traffic violence. An eleven-month old baby is dead and his father hospitalized after they were collateral damage in a collision between the drivers of a supercar and an SUV in Vancouver, when one of the vehicles slammed into a group of pedestrians.

I want to be like them when I grow up. Canada’s Royal Academy of Octogenarian Cyclists Facebook group is for people over 80 who still love to ride a bike.

When my wife and I visited London several years ago, we quickly learned walking around Parliament and Westminster Abbey meant taking your life in your hands. Now plans are in place to cut Westminster speed limits to just 20 mph to improve safety and encourage more people to walk and bike.

Call it a royal tandem, as the queen’s daughter-in-law Sophie, Countess of Wessex, took to two wheels to support a “new initiative to tackle rising unemployment among people who are blind or partially sighted,” with the program’s appeal manager as stoker.

A British motorcycle rider got three years behind bars for fleeing the scene after slamming into a bicycle rider when he clipped the wheel of another bicycle and sliding across the roadway. He was arrested after he returned to the site of the crash on a borrowed bicycle, and was chased down by a cop who had to borrow another bike to catch him.

A new Austrian study confirms what most of us already suspected — suburban living is the worst for carbon emissions.

Victoria, Australia will give new See.Sense smart lights that collect roadway data to 1,000 bike riders in an effort improve safety for bicyclists.

 

Competitive Cycling

Yesterday’s Tour de France winner claimed his fourth career stage win, on the most prestigious stage of the world’s most prestigious bike race. Meanwhile, no change in the yellow jersey, even if it did crack a bit.

Germany cyclist Tony Martin was forced to abandon the Tour after crashing into a ditch.

Sadly, we don’t have to worry about spoilers in women’s cycling. Twenty-one-year old Dane Emma Norsgaard won her first stage in the Giro Donne by just edging out SoCal’s Coryn Rivera on a course that circled Lake Como. No word on whether they waved to George and Amal Clooney as they went by.

Pink Bike examines how technology pioneered in mountain bikes is making its way into pro cycling.

Flo Bikes looks forward to this weekend’s Mountain Bike Nationals. They’re being held at the Colorado resort where I learned to ski, back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth.

A 29-year old Poway man with cerebral palsy is on his way to Tokyo to compete on the US cycling team in the Paralympic Games.

 

Finally…

Police seldom have much of a sense of humor when you blow through the barricades and nearly run over a bunch of bike cops. Los Angeles bike riders have to watch out for LA drivers; bike riders in Maine have to beware of itchy caterpillars.

And this is what the latest installment in the Fast & Furious franchise looks like to a traffic safety advocate.

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

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

CD4’s Raman rides through district to examine safety, and Sunset4All just $16,000 short of protected bike lane goal

July 7, 2021 / / Comments Off on CD4’s Raman rides through district to examine safety, and Sunset4All just $16,000 short of protected bike lane goal

Maybe there’s hope for my part of town yet.

CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman rode ebikes with Streetsblog’s Joe Linton and the LACBC to learn just what bike riders face on the streets of her district.

And the overwhelming lack of safe bike infrastructure that forces them to.

Due to Raman’s council predecessors, there are not a lot of bikeways in this part of CD4; the only bike lane on the ride was on Hauser Boulevard through Park La Brea. The southern part of the district does feature many fairly well-biked areas, including 4th Street, a low-traffic sharrowed bike route long preferred by cyclists and pedestrians (during COVID, parts of 4th saw more walking and bicycling than driving.) The ride also visited neighborhood traffic-calming street closures along Fairfax Avenue, and the relatively calm 8th Street – which appeared on SBLA’s list of suggested relatively easy bikeways that Raman might consider taking on. There are currently no protected bike lanes in Raman’s district…

“My dream for this district and for the city as a whole is that we can make it safer and easier for people to be able to move around outside of their cars: have it be not just possible, but a pleasant and beautiful experience to get around this city.” “We started six months ago,” noted Raman, “but we’re at the beginning of that process now. And I am really excited to get the entire community involved in thinking about that.”

Let’s hope that she can and will finally get LADOT to actually get something done around here. And repair some of the damage cause by her less-than-bike-friendly predecessors.

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Sunset4All is now 36% of the way to their $25,000 goal to create a private/public partnership to install protected bike lanes on Sunset and Santa Monica blvds east of Hollywood, after crossing the $9,000 barrier.

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

A bike-riding Houston couple open up about the 4th of July incident, when the husband shot a road raging driver who shouted they didn’t belong on the street before intentionally ramming his car into the wife; police arrested the driver after concluding they shot him in self-defense.

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Local

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Two scientists from opposite ends of the earth converged in San Diego to help change the world. And both lost their lives riding bicycles within 24 hours of one another.

One of those deaths was caused by an alleged drunk driver, part of a disturbing increase in DUI deaths in San Diego County.

Residents of San Diego’s Hillcrest and North Park neighborhoods are taking matters into their own hands to recover their stolen bikes by pushing the apparent thieves off their bikes and demanding them back.

A San Jose man was left for dead after a hit-and-run driver fled the scene while the victim was on a group ride with 20 other people.

Tragic news from Fremont, where a 15-year old boy suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike on the 4th of July; for a change, the 23-year old driver stuck around.

Big win in Oakland, where the city council voted unanimously to keep and improve the successful protected bike lanes on Telegraph Ave, rejecting a DOT plan to replace them with an unprotected buffered bike lane.

 

National

A trio of Utah advocacy groups are using a tandem bike as a two-wheeled metaphor to call for parents to support their LBGTQ+ kids to help keep them off drugs and alcohol.

The family of a popular Colorado Springs CO bike fitter has filed wrongful death suit, following his death in police custody while handcuffed and prone on his stomach after being tased multiple times; 49-year old Chad Burnett had allegedly threatened a neighbor with a knife while suffering a mental health crisis.

Here in Southern California, we have to worry about bearish drivers, but we seldom have to face the real thing, as a Montana bikepacker was killed by a grizzly that wandered into his campsite.

A Black Army vet used bicycling to recover from a devastating disease after receiving a stem cell transplant. Then she went on to found an annual bike race and a family bike fest to inspire others. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

A Michigan man began fixing discarded bikes as therapy for his depression. Now he’s fixed and given away nearly 400 bicycles to people in need.

A Streetsblog op-ed calls for the NYPD to combat the department’s windshield perspective by requiring officers to get out and bike their beats at least once a year. Although once a week would be much more effective for everyone.

The New York Daily News says the city’s 80,000 delivery riders are the unheralded heroes of the pandemic.

 

International

The owner of a bike touring company is refusing to pay damages for a bike-on-bike collision on an Edinburgh pathway, insisting she’s not to blame when the other rider was doing 20 mph around a blind corner.

An Irish newspaper calls bike fitting a 90-minute analysis that will change your bicycling life forever.

 

Competitive Cycling

The beat goes on, as Mark Cavendish, who wasn’t even expected to ride in this year’s Tour de France, is now just one win from tying The Cannibal’s once unreachable record of 34 Tour stage wins.

Defending Tour champ Tadej Pogačar says he doesn’t need to cheat since he’s leading this year’s race because he pushes “good watts.”

Today the Tour peloton with tackle the legendary Mount Ventoux, not once, but twice from different directions — 54 years after British cycling champ Tom Simpson collapsed and died on the slopes of the mountain.

By now, we’re all familiar with how the legendary Gino Bartali saved countless Jews by smuggling documents in his bike frame during WWII. But he also saved his own country a few years later when Italy was on the brink of anarchy, providing his countrymen with something to cheer for by gaining an incredible 30 minutes in just two stages to win the Tour, after being 21 minutes down in the general classification with just one week to go.

Dutch cyclist Lorena Wiebes took the fifth stage of the women’s Giro d’Italia Donne, while defending Olympic champ Anna van der Breggen held onto the pink leader’s jersey.

Aussie cyclist Lachlan Morton isn’t the only rider trying to beat the Tour peloton into Paris; seven-day cycling distance record holder Jack Thompson is attempting to ride the entire Tour de France route in just 12 days.

Let’s hope you’re happy with the current direction of pro and amateur cycling, because we’re going to be stuck with it for another four years.

 

Finally…

Throwing a bicycle through a business window is not one of the recommended uses for it. And when a driver blocks the bike path, just walk your bike over it.

The car, that is.

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

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

CicLAvia returns with 3 dates this year, a first-hand view of traffic violence, and bike rider shoots driver in self-defense

July 6, 2021 / / Comments Off on CicLAvia returns with 3 dates this year, a first-hand view of traffic violence, and bike rider shoots driver in self-defense

We all have something to look forward to this year, with the return of America’s largest and most successful open streets festival.

In the best news we’ve had in a pandemic plagued year and a half, CicLAvia will return next month in Wilmington on August 10th.

That’s followed by the traditional Heart of LA route in Downtown Los Angeles on October 10th — the same date as the first CicLAvia, also in DTLA, eleven years earlier.

And last but far from least, a long-awaited return to South Los Angeles on October 5th.

Here’s what our bike-riding friend at KCBS2/KCAL9 have to say on the subject.

https://twitter.com/JeffVaughn/status/1411175401552896004

Photo of an earlier CicLAvia in DTLA by yours truly.

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Every day as I search through the news, I find heartbreaking stories about fatal and near fatal crashes from across the US.

For every one I link to, there may be a dozen or more I don’t.

Just more collateral damage in our incessant obsession with getting from here to there as quickly and inefficiently as possible

Like this story from the very tip of the Pacific Northwest, a stone’s throw from Canada, about a 76-year-old man struck by a trailer pulled by a pickup driver while riding his bike.

Normally I’d read it, maybe mutter a quick prayer, and move on. Just another every day tragic occurrence.

Except this time, the details dovetailed with an email I received yesterday, in the form of a script, from fellow bike rider and corgi aficionado Mike Burk, who moved from SoCal to the cooler and cloudier clime a few years ago.

Fade in:

Late morning, driver’s POV.

Coming home from town this morning when we’re diverted off the highway to a side road because of a road block. At the intersection, noticed a truck towing a poorly loaded trailer carrying an old backhoe. The truck was stopped, the driver getting a ticket by a couple of sheriff’s deputies.

Finally back on the highway and two or three miles down the road. Flashing lights ahead. As we inched along I noticed a bicycle on its side and no rider around. Whatever happened is over (it had been only 90 minutes since we came that way into town).

Seeing the bike and the emergency vehicles, I got a picture.

Photo by Mike Burk

Dissolve to:

Early afternoon, POV over shoulder, sitting at computer.

Me, during a Zoom meeting with our homeowner’s association Publications Committee. Going over articles for our next month’s Kala Pointer Newsletter. One of the committee members asked, “Did you hear about Stan Cummings this morning? He was riding his bike…”

You can guess the rest. Yes, that was Stan’s bike. He was medivacced (sp) to Harborview Hospital in Seattle (40 miles… if you’re a crow). He’s in their TBI unit, not expected to recover well, if at all.

It didn’t take too long for someone following to dial 911 — and then for the sheriffs, local police, and state police to locate and stop the truck.

Stan is active in the community and on his bike. We’ll see what happens.

Fade to black.

Burk adds this final thought.

I forget that this can happen anywhere. We’re in a REALLY small town. Even after all the miles I’ve put on my bike, the thought of getting out on that highway (WA19 and WA20) up here just terrifies me. I keep to the back roads.

Sadly, that’s exactly the case.

The news stories I see come from everywhere English is spoken, and many places it’s not.

From big cities and tiny towns in every state throughout the US, as well as Canada, Mexico and Central America, the Caribbean, the UK, Europe, India, Africa, New Zealand and Australia. And virtually everywhere else, on every kind of roadway.

Yet somehow, the onus for safety inevitably rests on our narrow, unprotected shoulders, rather than the people in the big, dangerous machines who pose the danger to people on bikes, and everyone else.

It’s like living in a village where monsters roam the streets, dragging people off at random. And instead of doing something about them, we merely tell the villagers to be careful and lock their doors at night.

Like this rabidly auto-centric anti-Vision Zero diatribe, in other words.

Which is kind of like telling gunshot victims to dodge the bullets, rather than suggesting that maybe gun owners shouldn’t shoot them.

Frankly, I don’t have the answers anymore.

I just know I’m so damn tired of reading every day about still more innocent people dragged off by the monsters.

And worrying that one day they’ll grab me, too.

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Bike Talk talks protected bike lanes, from every angle.

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Speaking of which, the protected bike lane on Oakland’s Telegraph Ave has been so successful, the city wants to tear it out.

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Apparently, Minnesota’s annual Freedom From Pants Ride went off without a…well, you get the idea.

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

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Megan Lynch forwards this piece about a man seven years into a diagnosis of dementia, yet still riding his bike across Nova Scotia to fight the disease.

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Evidently, the Dutch city of Groningen was been a bicycle city for awhile.

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British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid explores England’s old Great North Road from London to Newcastle, traveling in style in a classic Morgan sports car, accompanied by a Brompton foldie in the passenger seat.

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

In a truly bizarre case, a man on a bike shot a road raging Houston driver in self-defense when the male driver told a bike-riding couple they couldn’t ride in that neighborhood, then deliberately knocked the woman off her bike; her pistol-packing partner was let go, while the driver was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon.

No bias here. After a driver intentionally knocks a British man off his bike, she claims to be an ex-cop, and the current cops don’t hesitate to blame the victim. And a driving instructor uses the incident for a training video.

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

A man on a bicycle remains at large after shooting an Arleta man following an argument Sunday night.

Seriously? There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for a 23-year old English man who was caught masturbating on his bicycle, riding one-handed as he pursued women and young girls. Yet the bike-riding perv somehow avoided jail despite doing it not once, not twice or even thrice, but four times, apparently because the judge thought he’s a “promising student.”

A Singapore bicyclist was criticized for leaving a painted bike lane to draft behind a trio of dump trucks. Although that would be perfectly legal in the US, though not necessarily smart, where most, if not all, states allow bike riders to take the lane if they’re riding the speed of traffic.

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Local

The Gateway Cities Council of Governments will discuss the ill-advised plan to widen the 710 Freeway, displacing homeowners and fouling the air to create more induced demand. A much better option would be to spend the same amount on transit, bikeways and pedestrian improvements so people don’t have to drive the damn thing.

Brooklyn Beckham is one of us, as soccer great David Beckham’s grownup son goes for a Beverly Hills bike ride with a friend.

 

State

Just days after a woman was killed riding her bike on North Torrey Pines Road in La Jolla near UC San Diego, another bike rider was injured when a suspected drunk driver drifted into the bike lane he was riding in, less than half a mile from where the first woman was run down.

The San Diego Union-Tribune considers how North Park’s new 30th Street protected bike lane will affect the community.

A Santa Barbara librarian says her new ebike was the best thing to come out of 2020.

San Jose police busted an alleged fence who specialized in high-end bicycles and construction equipment, while paying thieves a fraction of their actual value; he was caught with an estimated $100,000 of hot merch at the time of his arrest. If you’re missing an expensive bike anywhere in the Bay Area, give ’em a call, just in case.

Tragic news from South Sacramento, where a 76-year old man riding a bike was killed by a hit-and-run driver who briefly stopped following the collision, then ran over the victim to make her getaway.

For anyone up in the Sacramento area, the Davis Bicycling, Street Safety and Transportation Commission will meet on Thursday to discuss a number of proposals, including a newly funded plan to widen the I-80 corridor (bad), while possibly adding bicycling improvements (good). Thanks again to Megan Lynch.

 

National

Seriously? Women’s Health asks if outdoor bike riding is good for weight loss. Hint: A resounding yes!

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, after a California man raised $13,000 to provide running water to families in the impoverished Navajo Nation by riding his bike from California to New Mexico.

A Santa Fe, New Mexico school is tapping into federal funds to get more kids to bike and walk to school. Which is something every school should be working on.

Boulder CO police say there’s a nationwide bike shortage, so use a damn U-lock, already. Although they may not have said it quite that way.

More proof that collisions with pedestrians are just as dangerous for the person on the bike, as a 28-year old New York woman was left clinging to life after she crashed into a pedestrian walking in a Prospect Park crosswalk while she was riding in the bike lane. Seriously, ride carefully around pedestrians, who are just as unpredictable as people on bikes. And in cars.

An Atlanta bike rider flagged down paramedics after an 18-year old backup quarterback at Kennesaw State University was fatally shot near Pensacola, Florida; his 19-year old passenger suffered multiple gunshot wounds when their attackers fired over 50 rounds at their car.

 

International

TechRadar rates the “super smart” Cowboy 4 as their top ebike, saying it feels like the future of bicycling.

Mashable offers tips on what to think about before entering the ebike world. But they get the first tip wrong, suggesting that ebiking is just a seasonal thing for everyone but the most extreme bicyclists.

Offroad.cc shares their thoughts on what to look for in a used mountain bike.

Um, okay. Pink Bike looks at all the things that didn’t happen in the world of bicycling last month.

Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a hit-and-run driver walked without a single day in jail for killing an 18-year old man riding a bike. But at least he called 911 before driving off.

A young Black man plans to file a complaint against the Montreal cops who roughed him up and handcuffed him for the crime of not having a reflector on his front wheel. Or maybe because he stopped to watch them question another man.

Life is cheap in the UK, too, where a truck driver walked without spending a day behind bars for killing a 73-year old ebike rider, because the judge thought he showed “genuine and enduring” remorse. Which, oddly, won’t do a damn thing to bring his victim back.

A Singapore bike rider unfairly gets the blame for riding in the traffic lane when a driver slams into him from behind, throwing him onto the windshield before landing in the roadway; the victim sat up following the crash, so hopefully he’s okay. Warning: The dashcam video of the crash is absolutely horrifying, so be sure you really want to see it before you click on it.

 

Competitive Cycling

By now, you should have had plenty of time to catch up on the Tour de France. So it shouldn’t come as a spoiler to reveal that last year’s winner Tadej Pogacar not only reclaimed the yellow jersey, but tightened his grip on it before Monday’s rest day.

Breakaway specialist Thomas De Gendt argues the level of competition is much higher at this year’s Tour de France, thanks to a rash of young riders making their presence known.

Cavendish says he may be struggling, but don’t write off four-time Tour champ Chris Froome yet.

Mathieu van der Poel pulled out of the Tour after losing the yellow jersey to focus on winning mountain bike gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Judging by the video below, he might just have a shot.

A sports physicist considers how many calories you’d have to consume to ride like a pro in the Tour de France.

Nicholas Dlamini, the first Black South African to compete in the Tour, received a round of “rapturous” applause when he crossed the finish line on Sunday’s ninth stage of the Tour, despite failing to make the cut following a crash.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get so drunk you can’t remember stealing a $1,000 bike. That feeling when you’re glad the bear only ate your bike seat.

And John and Yoko were both one of us.

Thanks to author Richard Risemburg for the heads-up.

………

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

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

Man riding bicycle killed by LA hit-and-run driver nearly two weeks ago; no mention in news until now

July 4, 2021 / / 2 comments

Once again, someone riding a bicycle has been murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver.

And once again, it never made the news.

According to My News LA, a man on a bicycle was run down by a driver at 2:30 am on Tuesday, June 22nd, while riding south in the west crosswalk of Melrose Ave at Normandie Ave, near LA’s Little Armenia neighborhood.

The driver kept going without stopping.

The victim, who still hasn’t been publicly identified nearly two weeks later, was taken to a local hospital, where he died sometime later.

As usual, there’s no word on why the public wasn’t informed until My News LA broke the story on Sunday.

Police are looking for the driver of a white two-door 2019-21 Camaro with a black convertible top, likely with noticeable front-end damage.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD West Traffic Division detectives at 213/473-0236, or call Crime Stoppers at 800/222-8477. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles.

This is at least the 32nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the tenth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also at least the fifth in the City of LA.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Unconfirmed report of West LA bicycling death, fighting for racial justice and equity in bicycling, and Metro Bike turns 5

July 2, 2021 / / One comment

One quick note —

Get out on your bike and enjoy the summer weather with the three-day Independence Day holiday coming up this weekend.

But remember drivers are likely to be distracted, and possibly under the influence after outdoor barbecues and picnics. 

So have fun. But remember to ride safely and defensively. 

I expect to see you back here safe and sound on Tuesday. 

………

Once again, we have a credible report of a fatal bicycling collision, but still have to wait for confirmation.

KNX 1070 helicopter pilot Scott Burt tweeted that traffic had been halted on a dangerous stretch of Sunset Blvd between the 405 Freeway and Veteran Ave in West Los Angeles, due to what he termed a deadly vehicle versus bicycle incident.

The photo appears to line up with the intersection of Sunset and North Lenroy Ave. Although it’s hard to tell just what we’re looking at in the photo, beyond the officers and patrol cars securing the scene and investigating the crash.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.

I can’t begin to tell you how tired I am of this crap.

Is it really too much to ask for the right to ride a damn bike and expect to return home in one piece afterwards?

………

Bike equity and racial justice advocate Tamika Butler has penned another powerful piece for Bicycling, arguing that we’re still not seeing the inclusivity promised by the bike industry in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis.

Never mind that people of color don’t experience the same level of safety on our streets as white riders.

Or rather, the lack of it.

We ride bikes, we get how dangerous this can be. Yet, white advocates didn’t realize that the color of someone’s skin meant that they were more likely not to be seen by a driver while at the very same time exponentially more visible to police. For bicycle advocates of color, especially Black advocates, the goal was never to make streets safe-er. Instead, we are fighting for the same baseline level of safety that white cyclists enjoy.

We worry about being doored or hit by a careless and distracted driver just like all cyclists. But we also carry the burden of knowing that our risks are amplified because we can’t ride around with the protection of whiteness. We too want the experience of riding our bikes without worrying whether people think they look too expensive for us to own, or living in a neighborhood that isn’t deemed too poor or too Black to deserve infrastructure.

Seriously, read it.

And yes, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you, apparently forgetting their commitment to widely share stories about racial equity.

………

Happy birthday to Metro Bike, which is celebrating five years since the bikeshare system was introduced in DTLA.

To mark the occasion, they’re offering free 30 minute Metro Bike rides and the sticker below, or half off an annual membership.

………

Now that’s more like it.

Amazon announced a new program to reimburse employees up to $400 a month for using a bicycle to commute to work instead of driving.

The exact amount will vary by city — it’s just $175 a month for workers in Nashville. However, it’s unclear if it just applies to the company’s five regional centers, or if the benefit will be available to workers at Amazon’s distribution centers and warehouses, as well local delivery drivers.

Now we just need to convince other employees that it’s in their benefit to pay workers not to drive instead of paying for employee parking.

………

A London bike rider was lucky to walk away from a head-on crash, as a driver suddenly swerved onto the wrong side of the street before continuing on to crash into a pole on the sidewalk.

https://twitter.com/standardnews/status/1410646692416925697

………

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

There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for a 25-year old Detroit man, who can expect to spend the next 14 to 25 years behind bars after admitting to breaking into a woman’s home and raping her, then fleeing by bike.

………

Local

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s detectives busted a pair of men accused of mercilessly shooting two other men as they rode past the victims on a bicycle and skateboard; they also arrested three other people, and seized a number of ghost guns.

 

State

Encinitas will hold a meeting to talk ebikes at some underdetermined date, to address fears from residents freaking out over the ped-assist bikes in the coastal San Diego County town.

Oakland bike riders will have one last chance next Tuesday to fight to keep the highly successful protected bike lane on Telegraph Ave.

 

National

The US House approved a $715 billion transportation infrastructure plan, with $920 million specifically marked for projects throughout California, including a bicycle garden in Antioch. San Diego County would get $97 million, but much of that would be wasted on demand-inducing freeway projects.

PeopleForBikes wants you to Ride For Freedom this month, offering patches to riders who complete 7, 14 or 21 rides of at least for miles before the end of the month.

Bicycling lists some of the best 4th of July sales on bike gear. Here’s the Yahoo link if the magazine blocks you.

The bike boom goes on, especially for ped-assist bikes, with someone in the US buying an ebike an average of every 52 seconds.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Thirty-eight-year old Boryana Straubel, a philanthropist and founder of sustainable jewelry maker Generation Collection, was killed in a head-on collision while riding her bike in Nevada’s Washoe County, outside of Reno. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

A Texas court decides to lock up a deadly driver and throw away the key, sentencing him to life without parole for intentionally slamming his truck into a group of riders participating in a bike race, killing a man and a woman, and injuring three others.

A Black-owned startup benefitted from a Milwaukee business incubator program to bring their next-gen, IoT-enabled ebike to market.

A new Ohio law prohibits the use of eminent domain to take land for a planned bike path for the next five years, delivering a victory for property owners but a significant delay, if not defeat, for anyone hoping to ride it.

 

International

An English man has set out on a 3,100 mile ride up the UK’s steepest ascents to raise money to fight homelessness, after being told he’d never ride a bike again following a major high-speed collision.

You’ve got to be kidding. More proof that life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver was sentenced to a lousy 12 weeks behind bars for killing a 71-year old man out for a bike ride. And even that was suspended for 18 months.

Portuguese bike riders are planning a 30-minute sit in and vigil to call attention to too many people being killed and injured while riding their bikes, in the wake of a bike-riding expectant mother who was killed by a driver.

An engineering website takes a look at South Korea’s 20-mile solar panel-covered, electricity-generating bike path. Which has the misfortune of being located in the center of a freeway, exposing riders to noise and smog from passing cars.

 

Competitive Cycling

Make that 32 stage wins in the Tour de France, as Mark Cavendish closes in on the once-unreachable record of 34 set by the legendary Eddy Merckx.

At least some members of the peloton think arresting a fan is a step too far, even if the 30-year old sign-carrying Frenchwoman did cause a massive crash in first stage of the Tour while giving a shoutout to her grandparents. Meanwhile, the operators of the Tour backed off a threat to sue the woman when she was caught. Which she was.

He may not wear the yellow jersey, but 29-year old Australian cyclist Lachlan Morton intends to be the first rider to reach Paris, as he rides the entire route of this year’s Tour de France — plus an extra 1,302 miles — on a self-supported bikepacking tour to raise funds for World Bicycle Relief; so far he’s raised enough money to donate over 1,400 bicycles to help change lives in need. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

We all admire cyclists who get up from a major crash and keep riding to the finish. But a writer for Cycling Tips says racing with broken bones isn’t something to admire.

The world’s biggest women’s stage race, the Giro d’Italia Donne, kicks off today, with rising American star Katie Clouse making a surprise debut in the 19-year old cyclist’s first year on the world stage.

US mountain bike champ Chloe Woodruff withdrew from the US Olympic team, citing personal reasons; she was replaced by Erin Huck.

 

Finally…

Who says you can’t move your entire apartment by bicycle?

And here’s your vertigo-inducing mountain bike ride of the day.

………

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

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

Six-figure settlement for SD bike rider, plan replaces 710 extension with bikeway, and blind woman rides across US

July 1, 2021 / / One comment

A San Diego man received a “generous” six-figure settlement, two and a half years after suffering a broken leg while riding to get coffee.

Dave Nicolai was injured in a fall when his bike slid out from under him in a pool a standing water, algae and debris caused by a defective irrigation system and a clogged storm drain.

Nicolai was represented by Oceanside lawyer Richard Duquette, a longtime friend of this site, along with co-counsels Daniel Petrov and Michael Norton.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

………

The abandoned 710 Extension project could provide the backbone for a much-needed north-south bikeway between Los Angeles and Alhambra.

………

Hats off to 45-year old Shawn Cheshire, who’s riding the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail across the US in an effort to become the first blind woman to ride across the United States, guided by another rider on a separate bike.

Then there’s adventure athlete Brendan Walsh, who has raised over $2,300 for the Alzheimer’s Association by climbing the highest summit in all six New England states, then riding his bicycle in-between to get from site one to another, in just four days, 15 hours, 34 minutes — beating his goal by more than 30 hours.

………

A British bike rider set out to create the hardest 100 kilometer — 62 mile — bicycling route he could, featuring 20 steep climbs in and around Bath, England.

GCN also answers the eternal question of whether you can mountain bike in roadie togs.

You can ride naked if you really want to. Which doesn’t mean it’s necessary a good idea.

………

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

Santa Cruz County residents have been sabotaging a popup bike safety demonstration project in Pleasure Point every morning since it opened last Friday, as well as yelling at workers when they come to repair the damage.

A road raging Ohio driver faces charges for assaulting a bike rider who inadvertently brushed against the man’s car.

Pennsylvania police are looking for the driver of a 2009 Ford Edge who whacked five bicyclists with the SUV’s wing mirror after crossing over the fog line, intentionally putting real punishment in a punishment pass.

No one has been charged nearly a year after a North Carolina grandfather was ambushed and killed while riding on a secluded bike trail.

………

Local

Transportation Secretary Buttigieg announced $905 million in infrastructure grants on Wednesday, including $18 million for traffic lights, bike lanes and other safety improvements in South LA.

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider makes the case for why bus and bike lanes are good for drivers.

Streetsblog is starting the annual summer fund drive for SoCal’s leading nonprofit transportation website. And make a solid case for why you should open your wallet and give what you can.

 

State

Encinitas approved a long-planned streetscape plan for the Coast Highway in Leucadia, including dedicated bike lanes along every segment of the project.

 

National

BestReviews offers tips on how to tune your bike.

Trek says the first full year of their green packaging program removed a whopping 433,600 pounds of plastic from bike boxes and Bontrager accessory packaging.

MarketWatch recommends three towns where you can bike, hike and kayak after you retire. I’d take their recommendation for Pagosa Springs in Southwestern Colorado. Except my only retirement plan is dying early.

Even the nation’s most bike-friendly cities can be deadly for someone on a bicycle, as a man was killed in a collision with a pickup driver in my Colorado hometown, one of just five Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Communities in the US.

Former two-time Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was one of us, although his pedal-powered vehicle of choice was a unicycle; Rumsfeld died Tuesday at age 88.

Ohio’s 2.2 thousand-member Bike Snoop Facebook group is dedicated to tracking down and recovering stolen bicycles.

The New Jersey legislature approved a new law requiring drivers to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle, scooter or on foot.

A Delaware church deacon and trans activist has spent every weekend of Pride Month on her bicycle, raising funds for LGBTQIA charities.

The battle over DC bike lanes goes on, as local residents fight the loss of street parking to make way for them, while accusing the DC Department of Transportation of “trying to shove this cycle track down the throats of residents and business owners.”

No bias here. A Virginia newspaper says it’s up to bike riders to “do their best to prevent traffic jams that could trigger road-rage incidents” from drivers incensed by the state’s new law requiring them to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle — even though the law allows drivers to briefly cross the yellow line to do so.

Florida’s Republican governor signed a new three-foot passing law, which also mandates educational campaigns and questions about bicycling on the driver’s exam.

 

International

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a bicycle a Scottish man had customized for his 29-year old wife, who died recently of a heart attack while hiking.

An 82-year old Scottish woman got off with a slap on the wrist for running down a bike rider in a roundabout, merely losing her license for breaking the victim’s leg. Which she probably should have lost years earlier.

Life is cheap in Japan, where 74-year old former pro wrestler Killer Khan will avoid prosecution for the hit-and-run crash that injured a young woman riding a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

French police arrested the woman accused of taking out half the peloton with a sign giving a shoutout to her grandparents on the first stage of the Tour de France; despite reports she’d fled the country, they found her in Brittany.

Back to our relatively spoiler-free Tour de France updates. The Tour’s defending champion made a statement in Wednesday’s individual time trial, while just eight seconds separated the yellow jersey from fast-charging competitors.

The AP offers an advance look at the cycling events in the Tokyo Olympics.

 

Finally…

Busting a bike thief with a pint-sized self-deputized posse.

And this is who we share the bike lane with.

………

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

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

Man killed 3 weeks ago in South LA hit-and-run; police belatedly announce $50,000 reward for death of Leo Dimeglio

July 1, 2021 / / One comment

Sadly, we don’t know much more now than we did this morning.

According to a press release from the LAPD, a man later identified as Leo Dimeglio was riding his bicycle east on Jefferson Blvd at West Blvd in South LA around 11:41 p.m on June 10th, when he was run down by a hit-and-run driver.

Dimeglio was pronounced dead at the scene; there’s no word on his age or residence.

The driver continued east on Jefferson without stopping, which suggests he or she was likely traveling in the same direction as Dimeglio prior to the crash.

Police are looking for a dark-colored SUV, most likely with heavy damage.

There was no explanation given for why the LAPD waited almost three weeks to ask for the public’s help in finding the driver, or even release word that someone had been killed on city streets.

It also makes you wonder if there are more bicycling deaths they haven’t bothered to tell us about.

Anyone with information is urged to contact LAPD South Traffic Division Detective Daniel Ramirez or Officer Andrew Guzman at 323/421-2500.

As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

This is at least the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also at least the fourth in the City of LA.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Leo Dimeglio and all his loved ones. 

Thanks to Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Justice grinds slowly in SoCal bike cases, reward in previously unknown hit-and-run, and DUI driver injures man on bike path

June 30, 2021 / / Comments Off on Justice grinds slowly in SoCal bike cases, reward in previously unknown hit-and-run, and DUI driver injures man on bike path

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from our anonymous legal correspondent.

She’s back today with a long list of cases that are slowly working their way through the court system.

Along with a few killer drivers scheduled to get out from behind bars too damn soon.

………

Mariah Kandise Banks, charged in the hit-and-run death of Frederick “Woon” Frazier, has yet another prelim reset date coming up on July 13th. This case is just so long and drawn out, and meanwhile, Banks continues to drive and has not ceased her harassment of Woon’s family, in violation of Judge Hobbs’ repeated reminders,

On April 10th, I attended a group march from Woon’s mama’s house to the site of his slaughter, where a new ghost bike was installed. It is really horrible to have to see his mama right there at the scene where a stranger held her son as he died.

In speaking to our group, she told us all she was thankful that so many people showed up and are still fighting to make things safer.

The DA’s office has not been very communicative. I feel that the DA’s office is in violation Marsy’s Law. My understanding is that the clerk has even outright hung up on Miz Beverly. I spoke with Edin (Chief Lunes) at the event, and suggested that perhaps a calm, independent liaison would be helpful in exchanging information. Naturally he volunteered. I spoke to Miz Beverly about this and I think it is a relief to her that she doesn’t have to pick up that phone herself to harangue the prosecutor, who’s really dropping the ball.

______

On the subject of long, drawn-out cases, Justin Scott German has his next appearance date on August 18th for the alleged drunken hit-and-run death of 41-year-old Binh Ngo in Huntington Beach.

 _____

Scuzzy Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes, who told the mechanics who cleaned the blood off her dented car that she’d hit a dog, and subsequently fled to another continent, is eligible for parole in October. Yes, October 2021.

(Chan Reyes was sentenced to seven years just three months ago for the 2017 hit-and-run death of Agustin Rodriguez, after dragging Rodriguez the length of two football fields under her car as she sped away — then fleeing to Hong Kong and Australia in an ultimately vain attempt to avoid prosecution. Evidently, seven years doesn’t last as long as it used to.)

_____

I remain furious that Brandon James Lindsley only got 7 goddamn years for the hit-and-run death of Carla Becerra while illegally riding a motorcycle on the San Gabriel River Trail, but at least he’s not eligible for parole until… February 2023.

Becerra’s ghost bike is still there next to the river trail, so I added some flowers for her birthday a couple weeks ago.

_____

Unrelated to bikes, repeat drunk driver Maritza Joana Lara, who killed a dad on Father’s Day and critically injured four other people, then fled the scene on foot before her arrest in Mexico, will be eligible for parole in 2033.

_____

Stephen Taylor Scarpa, who left Costa Mesa Fire Captain Mike Kreza’s three little girls fatherless, is still set for a jury trial in August. Scarpa is charged with murder for allegedly driving while stoned when he killed Kreza as the popular firefighter was training for a triathlon while riding in Mission Viejo.

_____

Richard David Lavalle, charged with murder in the death of a 12-year-old autistic boy as he rode bikes with his dad in a Costa Mesa crosswalk, wants to fire his public defender. If this doesn’t happen, his prelim will likely proceed as scheduled September 21st.

_____

Robert Calvin Mata, who killed John Crouch at PCH & 1st in downtown Huntington Beach late last month, remains under investigation for DUI (drugs, not alcohol).

A commenter on your blog said that the crosswalk on the south side of that intersection had been removed, but I remember being surprised that one wasn’t intstalled after the new development went in, given the great increase in pedestrian activity it’s brought to that location.

_____

Ronald Earl Kenebrew, Jr., who was already locked up awaiting a court date on charges of robbery & indecent exposure, was arraigned yesterday on charges of murder, carjacking, and hit & run in the death of Branden Finley as he rode to the Ride For Black Lives in Downtown Los Angeles last year. The court website hasn’t been updated, so I dunno the outcome of his hearing.

LA Superior Court opens back up this week, and I’ll be there to do some digging into a backlog of cases.

_____

School teacher Molly Jane Hoene had a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 21st, and no further hearings scheduled as yet, but her bail still stands, so I don’t think the charges were dropped. Hoene was arrested for the 2019 hit-and-run death of a homeless bike rider in Silver Lake that was caught on security cam.

_____

Moises Iscaya, who fled the scene after killing South LA father Jorge Guerra on July 8th as he rode bikes home with his two kids last fall, is likely to be declared mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Investigators found Iscaya three months later, already in custody on multiple unrelated charges, including murder.

_____

Jared Walter Anderson, who allegedly squished the life out of scooter rider Evan Dyer Faram at Sunset & Vine in 2019, faces the judge again on July 15th.

_____

On a separate not, last month, on Friday, May 14th, I was waiting for the bus at Fig & Pico about 11am, and a ride rolled by… and rolled and rolled and rolled… I thought the river of bikes was never going to end. I honestly started wondering whether they had just looped a few blocks and were going around in a circle. A young man yelled an invitation, so I jumped in and followed a guy riding backwards for at least a half mile. To this day I still don’t know what this ride was!!!!! All ages. Guys, gals. Fixie trash. Insta-girls. Geezers on trikes. BMX kids. Dogs in backpacks, dogs in baskets. Spandex, cargo shorts, hot pants, and a skirt or two… everybody and all their neighbors. Just an amazing encounter. Los Angeles, 2021. Wow.

………

The LAPD announced a $50,000 reward for the hit-and-run driver who killed Leo Dimeglio as he was riding his bicycle on eastbound Jefferson Blvd around 11:41 p.m on June 10th.

Unfortunately, this is the first we’ve heard of the fatal crash. It shouldn’t take nearly three weeks for the police to inform the public that an innocent person has been killed. Let alone ask for our help in apprehending a heartless, cowardly, killer driver.

I’ll have a more detailed story later today.

………

Once again, a driver has gotten onto a supposedly carfree bike trail — this time with tragic results.

An alleged drunk driver somehow got onto Sacramento’s popular American River Parkway and slammed into the Sacramento Wheelmen group ride, leaving one rider in critical condition with severe injuries.

Let’s hope the victim makes a fast and full recovery, and that they secure the trail to keep it from ever happening again.

And that the driver is never again allowed behind the wheel.

………

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

A Boston man is under arrest for slashing a food delivery rider on the arm with an “industrial-style pocket knife” in an apparent random attack. The victim was treated at the scene but refused further medical attention.

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

San Francisco police are offering a $25,000 reward for the 2016 fatal shooting of a man in the Tenderloin District; a security cam captured an image of the suspect riding on the handlebars of another man’s bike; the bike rider has been cleared, but the shooter is still at large.

………

Local

For the first time since the 1980s, Los Angeles doesn’t has the worst traffic in the US. The Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim region was number two last year, behind the New York-Newark area. Which, oddly, is exactly what it feels like to ride a bike here.

Progressive news site Knock LA looks at the fight to form a union representing Metro Bike workers, who don’t actually work for Metro.

The new state budget includes $4.3 million in funding for a proposed walking path along the San Gabriel River.

 

State

Streetsblog offers an update on key issues that passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee yesterday, including a bill allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, a bill legalizing jaywalking, and a third allowing cameras on buses to capture bus lane violations. So we can have cameras on buses, but no speed cams in school zones. Got it.

San Diego safety advocates are calling for drivers to pay attention after the recent rash of bike deaths in the county.

A San Luis Obispo paper say the transportation bill currently taking shape in the US House — as opposed to the recently announced bipartisan bill — contains $20 million for transportation projects in SLO and Santa Barbara counties, including a bike path connecting Morro Bay and Cayucos.

San Francisco Streetsblog calls out a deadly combination of reckless driving and unsafe street design for the needless death of a man riding his bike home from work in Hayworth last week.

 

National

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske examines the safety and legalities of modern roundabouts.

The Christian Science Monitor questions whether America even knows how to do infrastructure anymore.

They get it. The county surrounding Boise, Idaho is suddenly a national leader in protecting bike riders, committing to install protected bike lanes whenever they resurface any of the most dangerous multilane roadways in the region. Maybe the newly bike-friendly Caltrans can follow their lead. Let alone the ostensibly progressive LADOT.

Visions of cowboys on scooters, as e-scooters hit the streets of Cheyenne, Wyoming just in time for the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo.

Sioux Falls, South Dakota is expanding its 35-mile network of bike trails to serve the area’s one million annual users.

A Minnesota bike rider calls on drivers to look out for people on bicycles after he was nearly run down while riding in a crosswalk with his girlfriend while crossing with the walk signal.

The carnage continues in New York, where a 71-year old man was killed when he was stuck by a postal truck in an apparent right hook.

A New York county approves its own three-foot passing law after concluding bike riders need more protection than the state’s “safe distance” passing rule.

That’s more like it. A University of Pennsylvania cop goes viral for her friendly interaction with an Instagram star, as she and her partner join him in passing out sandwiches after initially responding to a call of bike riders blocking the sidewalk.

The DC bike community is in mourning after 61-year-old Jay Moglia died of a massive heart attack while leading a group ride last Saturday; the former bike messenger, racer and cycling trainer was a renowned figure in the Washington area.

 

International

Treehugger rates the year’s best ebike conversion kits.

Pink Bike takes a spin on Earthbound’s high pivot bamboo-frame enduro bike. And likes it.

A British Columbia man questions whether the motorcyclist who ran down his bicycle-riding mother caught a break because authorities thought he was a “nice” and “decent” man.

A Clinton, Ontario website looks back to the “Victorian age of muscular Christianity,” when a group of itinerant American clergymen rode into town on their Penny Farthings under the banner of the newly formed American Wheelmen.

He gets it, too. A Montreal writer questions whether an accident waiting to happen that puts children, bike riders and pedestrians at risk is still an accident.

A British transport minister says no, there is no chance bike riders will be required to wear license numbers, regardless of the demands of “Mr. Loophole,” a lawyer who specializes in getting wealthy drivers off the hook.

Okay, so they weren’t on a bicycle. It’s still worth mentioning two Indian men sharing a motorcycle who escaped a charging leopard by feeding him cake. Although something tells me the big cat will be waiting to blow to the candles when they come back.

A new Australian study hopes to determine whether “excessive” recreational riding leads to heart problems in non-elite bicyclists.

 

Competitive Cycling

Spoiler alert: Skip this section if you still have yesterday’s stage of the Tour de France in your viewing queue. Still here? The news that aging Mark Cavendish won his first stage of the Tour de France in six years is just to big to hide behind a spoiler-free link; the win leaves the sprinter just three victories behind The Cannibal’s record of 34 Tour stage wins.

The entire peloton stepped off their bikes for a silent protest at the start of yesterday’s stage to call attention to the dangerous conditions that have led to a rash of crashes in this year’s Tour, arguing that someone could be killed next time.

The woman who caused a massive crash with her sign in the first stage of the Tour has disappeared after fleeing France to parts unknown.

Now you, too, can wear the same kit as LA’s own L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team.

 

Finally…

A driver cuts out the middleman and runs down bikes before they even leave the shop. Nothing will test your relationship like riding 3,700 miles on a tandem.

And that’s one way to do a multimodal commute.

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

Category: Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Funds pour in to improve safety on dangerous Sunset & Santa Monica, and new Burbank protected bike lane

June 29, 2021 / / Comments Off on Funds pour in to improve safety on dangerous Sunset & Santa Monica, and new Burbank protected bike lane

Let’s start with an update on Thursday’s lead story.

Sunset4All has raised nearly $7,000 of the $25,000 goal towards LA’s first public/private partnership to force encourage city officials to build protected bike lanes and other safety improvements on Sunset and Santa Monica Boulevards, through East Hollywood, Silver Lake, and Echo Park.

Every donation is being matched dollar for dollar this week, so that $7,000 really represents $14,000 to help keep bike riders safe on a dangerous corridor that’s way down on the city’s priority list.

So if you’ve got a few extra bucks, open your wallet and give what you can.

Because if this is successful, this kind of public/private partnership could come to your neighborhood next. And help improve safety where you ride.

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Burbank’s Hollywood Way is now graced by a new partially curb-protected bike lane.

https://twitter.com/pjrocks/status/1409702511179563012

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Video of the Nairobi Critical Mass proves that bicycling really is a worldwide phenomenon.

Thanks to Stormin’ Norman for forwarding the video.

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That feeling when a cough lozenge makes up for forgetting your bike’s front thru-axle that somehow caused a flat to your rear tire.

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Local

Streets For All is hosting another of their virtual happy hours, this time talking with UCLA distinguished professor and parking meister Donald Shoup on July 14th.

A couple dozen people turned out Saturday to ride in support of union organizing efforts for the workers who serve the Metro Bike program, which is operated for Metro by Bicycle Transit Systems.

KCRW looks at the volunteers behind Koreatown’s Bicycle Meals, who ride to feed the area’s homeless people.

 

State

A 33-year old San Diego man broke his ankle when he was right hooked by a bus driver, after coming off the sidewalk into the crosswalk.

Santa Barbara-adjacent Goleta wants to hear from you about whether they should invest in a bikeshare system. Which can and should be answered with a resounding yes.

Sad news from Hayward, where police are looking for the hit-and-run pickup driver who killed a 55-year old man riding a bike.

Legendary bike mechanic John Stein is hanging up his wrench after more than four decades serving Redding bike riders.

 

National

A new Kickstarter project promises to let you check your tire pressure with a swipe of your smartphone. As long as you don’t mind a big round bulb on your valve stems.

Even Las Cruces, New Mexico has installed popup bike lanes in an effort to get people safely outside while they study how to improve bike and pedestrian safety throughout the city. Unlike a certain megalopolis to the west, with roughly 40 times the population.

A Western Colorado bike shop just gave a $10,000 check to a shelter for homeless teens; the shop resells donated bike and gives the proceeds to the shelter, while donating some bikes to homeless kids.

An Evansville, Indiana community college partnered with a local school district to give away 280 bicycles, along with locks and helmets; the annual program has given away over 3,500 bikes over the last 15 years.

Cambridge, Massachusetts shelved plans for nearly five miles of separated bike lanes after local residents chose the convenience of streetside parking over the safety of people on two wheels.

The New York Times offers a reluctant rider’s guide to bicycling.

Life is cheap in Pennsylvania, where an unlicensed drunk driver got just two to four years behind bars for killing the rider of a motorized bicycle in a left cross collision.

After years of watching the Tour de France together, it became more than just a bike race last year when a man’s DC-based father was dying.

After tomorrow, Virginia bike riders will finally be able to legally ride side-by-side, while drivers will be required to change lanes to pass them if the road doesn’t allow for a minimum three-foot passing distance.

An 1,186-mile bike ride from Fredericksburg, Virginia to Miami as teenagers in the ’70s helped bond three friends for 50 years.

 

International

Pink Bike looks at the year’s best mountain bike helmets.

Treehugger takes a look at the how and why of traffic calming.

An English woman is honoring her dying husband’s last wish by selling his prized bicycles to raise the equivalent of $6,200 for the cancer ward that cared for him.

Scottish bicycling deaths surged to a seven-year high as roads emptied and bicycling boomed during the pandemic.

Seoul, Korea will test child bike riders and provide a safe cycling certification, which provides a discount on the city’s bikeshare system.

A Singapore-based artist takes a zen-based look at bicycling.

Bicyclists in Hong Kong celebrate California’s lowrider bicycle culture.

 

Competitive Cycling

Once again, the third stage of the Tour de France was marred by crashes, which took down Caleb Ewing, Peter Sagan and Primož Roglič, who lost significant time on the leaders.

Geraint Thomas somehow finished the stage after a team doctor popped his separated shoulder back into place, while Robrt Gesink was forced to abandon the race; Mark Cavendish was lucky to avoid injury in a crash that trashed his bike.

Yet another crash may have knocked 27-year old Australian cyclist Jack Haig out of the Tokyo Olympics later this month.

A photographer for Peloton captured a gripping image of Ewing on the ground, surrounded by teammates.

The manager of French cycling team Groupama-FDJ calls for rule changes to prevent the sort of chaotic, crash-ridden stage finales seen Monday’s stage before someone gets killed.

Cyclist looks back at what may have been the Tour’s toughest stage ever, marked by a legendary ride by Lucien Buysse nearly 100 years ago.

SoCal’s own Coryn Rivera will represent the US in a grueling ride up Mt. Fuji in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Red Bull profiles French 2019 world downhill mountain bike champ Myriam Nicole.

 

Finally…

Who needs streets to evade the cops, when you can drive on a bike path? Your next retro chic ebike could do its own shifting.

And who really needs hubs, anyway?

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Thanks to Michael W for his annual donation to help support this site, and keep SoCal’s best bike news winging your way every morning. 

Donations are always welcome, regardless of size or reason. 

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

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