There is no information on how the crash occurred.
Video from the scene shows two cars, one with a shattered windshield and apparently missing a wheel; a broken white road bike lies in the center of the street some distance up the road.
Update 2: AIDS/LifeCycle has identified the victim as Andrew Jelmert, a five-time participant in the annual fundraising ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Vice examines the bizarre case of a 14-year old Belfast boy who left home on his bike to meet some friends, lost his backpack, fell off his bike, and was seen riding naked through a housing estate before vanishing — all in the space of just 18 minutes. His body was found in a storm drain six days later.
Tune in, turn on and go for a bike ride next Tuesday to mark the 79th anniversary of Bicycle Day, when LSD inventor Albert Hoffman dropped a few tabs and tripped all the way home on his bicycle in Basel, Switzerland.
Pro cyclists are riding the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to get ready for this weekend’s 126th edition of the Monument, give or take a few war years, with the women rolling tomorrow and the men on Sunday.
Now you, too, can dress like your heroes from the the L39ion of LA cycling team, as long as you’re willing to fork out a couple hundred dollars for an aero jersey, and nearly three hundred for bib shorts. But at least you can get a hat or socks for twenty bucks.
Arcata explains their new two-stage bike boxes, which eliminates the need for bike riders to filer across three lanes of a one-way street to make a left turn. Although it does mean waiting through up to two light cycles.
Bullshit. Forbesconsiders what types of bikes are best for seniors, which they seem to define as anyone over 55, including ebikes, cruisers and adult trikes. Never mind that many people ride road and mountain bikes well into their 70s, and sometimes 80s. The right bike for you depends entirely on your relative fitness and the kind of riding you want to do, regardless of your age.
The Cherokee Nation introduced the six young women who will participate in this year’s Remember the Removal Bike Ride, which follows the northern route of the infamous Trail of Tears for 950 miles through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma; this is the first time the participants have been made up entirely of Cherokee women.
Georgia police investigators are criticized for not knowing the state’s bike laws, blaming a young woman for her own death because she didn’t have a rear light on her bike or hi-vis clothing, even though neither are require in the state. And even though she was run down by a woman stoned on meth and valium, as well as two other drugs.
A new Dutch study offers some much-needed perspective on the relative dangers of ebikes, revealing that ebike riders are 1.6 times more likely to end up in the emergency room than people on traditional bikes — compared to two times more likely for people on racing bikes, and three times more likely for mountain bikers. Which kind of refutes many of the panicked reports we’ve been seeing about the dangers posed by ebikes.
Cycling star Peter Sagan has temporarily stepped away from racing to deal with lingering health problems following his second bout with Covid. He’s not calling it long Covid, but others are. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
April 13, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Crowdfunding for families of fallen Bullard brothers, ebikes booming despite short supplies, and register for coming LA rides
Following up on yesterday’s lead story, a crowdfunding campaign is raising money for the families of Adam and Matthew Bullard.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that reported bike thefts are climbing in Los Angeles, up six percent over last year, following a decline the past few years from the high of 2017. Although that decline may or may not be accurate, since many people never report their stolen bikes to the police, so theft figures likely reflect a dramatic undercount.
Police in Boulder, Colorado recovered three stolen bikes — including two chainless prototype bikes worth $70,000 — when the thief walked into a bike shop with a hot $12,000 ebike and a pair of bolt cutters.
A writer for T3 calls out three mistakes every ebike buyer makes, including buying a cheap bike, thinking ebikes are really fast, and breaking the law. Everyone being a relative term, of course, since countless people don’t do any of those things.
April 12, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Utah crash victims identified as Whittier brothers, San Diego bikeway fail, and Santa Ana Karen assaults bike-riding boy
Sadly, our worst fears have been realized.
On Saturday, two men identified only as brothers from California were killed when they were run down from behind by a repeat DUI driver near St. George, Utah, who claimed to be on fentanyl from being hospitalized the day before.
And told police she lost control of her car after losing control of her bowels as she was driving.
He also reports a pair of teens in cycling gear were standing by their bodies, screaming about their dads.
Read into that what you will. But it fits with rumors that the Bullard’s teenage sons were among the first riders to come upon the scene shortly after the crash.
Adam’s last post is particularly heartbreaking in retrospect.
Their accused killer, 47-year old Julie Budge, faces twin counts of vehicular homicide, DUI and hit-and-run, as well as single counts of reckless driving and failure to stay in her lane.
She continues to be held without bail, no doubt to the relief of everyone else on the roads.
Budge was previously convicted of DUI seven years ago.
Like Los Angeles before it, San Diego has learned the hard way that traffic safety projects are doomed to fail if they’re not rolled out carefully.
In LA’s case, it was the failed installation of road diets and bike lanes in Playa del Rey, which were unceremoniously ripped out at the mayor’s orders when angry drivers got out their torches and pitchforks, after getting no advance notice the changes were coming.
No bias here. An Idaho letter writer complains about “arrogant” bike riders who hog the road by riding side-by-side, forcing drivers to — gasp! — actually slow down until it’s safe to pass. And he must know what he’s talking about, since his family owns two bikes.
The Kansas woman who pled guilty last month to running over and shooting a bike-riding because he smiled and gestured towards her has changed her mind, and now insists she didn’t do it; she’s asking the judge to allow her to change her plea.
New York City will shut down over 100 streets to celebrate Earth Day later this month. Meanwhile, Los Angeles officials will undoubtedly mark the day by making a few pronouncements about how important it is to save the earth, while doing absolutely nothing about it.
First, thanks for all the kind words and well wishes following my surgery. Things seem to have gone well and are progressing nicely; I have nearly full use of my left hand again, which is more than I could say before the operation.
We have a lot to catch up on. I’ll get through as much as I can today, and try to finish up over the next few days. Including the failed rollout of an innovative San Diego street design.
And my sincere thanks to everyone who sent in tips while I was out, especially for the story below. There’s just too many people to thank everyone individually this time, let alone keep track of.
But I’m truly grateful for all your help.
Fractured bike helmet photo by WikimediaImages from Pixabay.
The victims were found unresponsive, and died later at a local hospital.
There’s no information on their names, or where they’re from in California. However, rumors are circulating that at least one was a popular rider from the Los Angeles area.
Let’s pray it isn’t true.
Forty-seven-year old Julie Ann Budge faces two counts of negligent vehicular homicide, as well as double hit-and-run and DUI charges for the two needless deaths. Hopefully they hosed her down before booking her.
Manuel Aboyte was last seen stopping for lottery tickets at a Circle K gas station in North Long Beach on March 30th.
The 74-year old resident of Sinaloa de Leyva was in the city visiting his sister, who was suffering from illness, and was hospitalized just before he disappeared.
Costa Mesa wants a minute of your time — no, literally — to introduce a new bollard-protected bike lane, as they work to install “high-quality bicycling facilities” throughout the city.
Although as we’ve seen in Los Angeles, a bike lane isn’t really protected if the bollards are spaced widely enough for drivers to park in it.
………
This seems like a good time for a reminder that yellow traffic signs are advisory, and don’t carry the force of law.
Although you’ll definitely get blamed if something goes wrong after you ignore one.
A broadcaster for NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team is one of us, after suffering “significant injuries” in a bicycling crash. However, it’s not clear if he was struck by a motorist or fell off his bike.
Colorado’s state legislature has approved a true Idaho Stop Law, allowing riders to treat stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs; the bill is now on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature. Hopefully it won’t suffer the same fate as California’s attempt to allow bicyclists to treat stop signs like yields, which was vetoed by Governor Newsom last year.
A British Columbia man is fighting back after the provincial driver’s insurance agency billed him $3,700 for damage to the Mercedes-Benz that ran him down as he pedaled through an intersection, somehow concluding he was 50% at fault for the crash — even though the driver ran the stop sign.
This is who we share the road with. In yet another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a 22-year old British man will spend 30 years behind bars for using a stolen car as a weapon to run down another man outside a pub, dragging him under his car; he was accused of using a vehicle as a weapon twice before, yet somehow kept driving until he killed someone.
Former German great Jan Ulrich raised the equivalent of over $43,700 for children in Ukraine by auctioning his custom yellow Pinarello from the 1998 Tour de France; the never-used bike was created for him to ride into Paris for what would have been his second consecutive Tour win, until he was upset by Marco Pantani.
Manahan was riding near 10201 Mason Ave, south of Devonshire Street, when he was struck by a driver just before 8:30 pm.
He died at the scene.
Initial video from the scene indicated Manahan was riding a minibike. However, it looks like a throttle-controlled ebike, and was identified by the police as a bicycle.
Warning: The victim’s body is clearly visible covered with a tarp. So be sure you’re comfortable seeing that before you click play.
The crash appears to have taken place in the southbound lanes of Mason in front of a large apartment complex, across from a shopping center.
You can still see the headlight from Manahan’s bike shining down on the street.
Unfortunately, no other information is available. Or likely to be at this point.
This is at least the 28th bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Charlotte NC couple complain they were attacked by a gang of teenage bike riders after the driver “just kind of beeped the horn,” and were further traumatized when the cops said there was no point in pressing charges because it happens all the time.
A hearing impaired Singapore woman says a bike rider slapped and verbally abused her when she failed to give way when he rang his bike bell. Contrary to popular opinion in some quarters, a bike bell or “on your left” are both polite warnings, not commands meaning “get the eff out of my way.”
More on Carlsbad’s crackdown on ebikes in the beachfront city, after collisions involving ebikes jumped from 39 in 2020 to 63 last year. Which likely corresponds with the jump in ebike usage over the last year. And just wait until someone tells them about cars.
A Staten Island teen will spend the next four years behind bars after stealing a car, crashing into a bike rider, and leading police on a wild chase; the man on the bike suffered a broken nose and several other injuries, but wasn’t seriously hurt.
It also includes a lane reduction to improve safety in downtown Eagle Rock, with a single traffic lane in both directions, along with bus and bike lanes.
The next steps include working with CD12 Councilmember and mayoral candidate Kevin de León to make adjustments to the plan, such as enabling al fresco dining and keeping cut-through traffic from disrupting residential neighborhoods.
And getting de León to sign off on the plan, after he’s done significant waffling on the project since taking office.
………
Nice surprise from my friend Jonathan Weiss, who forwards photos from a recent ride to check out the new Taylor Yard Bridge.
And stumbled across an apparent corgi meetup.
Better yet, my wife instantly recognized the blue merle corgi staring off into the distance as one she knows from meetups with her corgi Instagram group.
Face it. It’s a corgi world, and we just live in it.
The Archinect News site says LA’s new bike and pedestrian-friendly 6th Street Viaduct is about to change common perspectives on public urban space. Although you’ll have to earn the bike crossing with a steep climb to get there.
Tragic story from Wales, where a factory worker was killed riding his bike home from work when he grabbed hold of a coworker’s car to talk as the other man drove alongside his bike, then was thrown from his bike after his handlebars hit the side of the car.
Belgium’s Alpecin-Fenix team blamed their failure at the one-day Gent-Wevelgem race on other teams not doing their part to chase down the lead group. Seriously, if your strategy relies on other teams to help you win, you’ve already lost.
Finally…
Build your own ebike with whatever scraps you happen to have lying around. You may never win an Olympic cycling medal, but now you can buy one.
March 28, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Young siblings victims of traffic violence in Sylmar crash, LA traffic violence spikes, and modest bike gains in Beverly Hills
Sadly, traffic violence continues to climb on Los Angeles streets.
And just three years from the date he promised to end LA traffic deaths once and for all.
Maybe someone should have warned him that it would require actually taking bold action and making the tough decisions to tame traffic and reduce motor vehicle use.
Oh wait, we did.
………
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Mark Elliot of Better Bike Beverly Hills, who almost single-handedly led a shockingly successful fight to transform the former Biking Black Hole into something far friendlier to people on two wheels. Although there’s still a long way to go. .
Despite the evident disinterest among our City Council majority (3-2) for multimodal mobility, the city has nevertheless notched a couple of modest wins for safer streets in Beverly Hills.
New leadership at the Transportation Division marks a new era. Mobility planning in Beverly Hills effectively cleared two kidney stones with the retirements of Aaron Kunz and Susan Healey Keene last year. Subsequently the mobility function was moved to Public Works from Community Development. Each change represented a big step forward. Daren Grilley and Jessie Holzer now are in charge of the transportation division and each understands the importance of safe streets. They walk the walk too, so to speak, as they both ride.
New commissioners have revitalized the Traffic & Parking Commission. For too long this commission sat idly by as crash injuries increased year-after-year. Commissioners for too long didn’t even ask why traffic enforcement in Beverly Hills took a ten-year holiday. But starting a few years ago, new appointments to the commission changed the dynamic. Now we have a safety-minded commission and a new chair: Sharon Ignarro. She really walks the walk. But hold on, we are hardly out of the woods yet: one of our councilmembers seems intent on defanging this commission. We beat-back that effort last month.
Elliot also calls on the biking and walking communities to support bike-friendly Mayor Robert Wunderlich and Councilmember John Mirisch in their campaigns for re-election to the Beverly Hills City Council.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Before you try to intimidate a woman riding a bicycle by revving your engine and honking your horn during a close pass, maybe make sure she’s not a plainclothes cop, first.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Carlsbad imposes a draconian crackdown on ebikes and e-scooters, banning them from “public sidewalks, drainage ditches, culverts, channels, athletic courts or gyms,” as well as requiring riders to walk their bikes within 50 feet of a pedestrian on any trail less than five-feet wide; the city blames bike riders for 70% of all bike collisions, which defies logic.
Proving it can be done, Seattle is taking steps to remake a major state highway that cuts through the city, with a $50 million plan to revive the corridor dying from cut-through traffic, and make the seven lane roadway welcoming to people on riding bikes and on foot. Maybe Malibu can take note before LA’s killer highway claims another innocent victim.
Nice way to bury the lede. A Hudson Valley newspaper reports a 69-year old man was charged with wearing earbuds while riding a bike, and failing to signal his turn. Neither of which would have likely come to the attention of the police if he hadn’t been hit by a driver, first.
The New York press is quick to paint bike riders as outrageous scofflaws endangering pedestrians, but it’s just as likely the rider will suffer serious injuries in any collision with someone on foot. The latest case in point is a Harlem ebike rider who was gravely injured when he struck someone crossing the street and flew over his handlebars.
No bias here. Wackadoodle rightwing Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene told a crowd that ”Pete Buttigieg can take his electric vehicles and his bicycle, and he and his husband can stay out of our girls bathrooms. Yup.” Not that they were planning to take their electric cars and bicycles into one.
Canadian Cycling Magazine celebrates the Oscars with their picks for the best and worst bicycling movies. Although nothing matches the action of an open-handed Will Smith slap delivered to the face of a stunned Chris Rock.
London is facing a bikelash from Conservative councilmembers, who have taken steps to remove popup bike lanes and pedestrianized areas before they had a chance to change transportation behavior; the city’s transportation agency has responded by cutting funding to their districts.
We’re less than one week away from the world’s biggest little bike race, as men’s and women’s teams were announced for Indiana University’s famed Little 500, made famous in Breaking Away.
