Congratulations are in order for the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition and Santa Monica Spoke.
The LACBC and its local chapter Santa Monica Spoke received national recognition as they dominated the nominations for next week’s Alliance for Biking & Walking’s annual Advocacy Awards.
The nominations include:
- LACBC for Advocacy Organization of the Year
- LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler for Advocate of the Year
- LACBC Planning & Policy Director Eric Bruins for Advocate of the Year
- Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose for the Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award
- LACBC work on LA’s Mobility Plan 2035 for Winning Campaign of the Year
No other organization received more than two nominations. The winners will be announced at the National Bike Summit in Washington DC.
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The CHP is looking for the hit-and-run driver who left an injured East LA cyclist lying in the street.
The victim was hit by a white pickup just before 10 p.m. near the intersection of West Whittier Blvd and South Eastern Ave; no other description of the suspect vehicle or the driver is available.
No word on the condition of the victim, who was taken to a nearby hospital.
Thanks to John Damman for the heads-up.
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Metro has placed their Draft Active Transportation Strategic Plan online; you have until Friday the 25th to submit comments.
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More on Sunday’s North Valley CicLAvia.
KPCC looks at the route, and suggests four activities you should try. Eventbright looks back at some of the more notable riders from past CicLAvias to inspire you to bring your A game. Time Out LA recommends five things to see and do along the route, including curling — no, not your hair.
CiclaValley tells you how to get there. And the CicLAvia website offers advice on where to rent a bike for the day.
Meanwhile, Long Beach plans “dynamic” activities for their second ever Beach Streets ciclovía following on the 19th.
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Local
Richard Risemberg says cars waste space, while bike racks have the opposite effect.
KNBC-4 finally notices that Los Angeles is in the midst of a hit-and-run epidemic; CHP data shows one occurs every 18 minutes in the city, and the driver flees in half of all collisions in the county. It won’t get any better until California actually does something about it.
UCLA’s Daily Bruin calls for a free shuttle along Westwood Blvd connecting the campus with the new Expo Line station, since bicycling is unlikely to be a safe option. That’s thanks to Councilmember Paul Koretz unreasonable and unconscionable blocking of a long-planned bike lane along the Blvd.
A bike rider just barely avoids being run down during a police chase that started in Boyle Heights and ended in a Pasadena HoneyBaked Ham store.
A Long Beach bike rider was hospitalized after a collision on Tuesday around noon on Tuesday. Thanks to James for the heads-up.
State
Streetsblog looks at Calbike’s legislative agenda for the coming session; one bill under consideration would require traffic lights to be timed to create a green wave, ensuring that riders traveling at 12 – 15 mph would see nothing but green lights.
The inevitable bikelash has begun. Shortly after San Diego announces plans to make the city core safer for cyclists and pedestrians, business leaders in the city’s Little Italy district say they’d rather have parking than bike-borne customers.
A San Bernardino man was killed in a drive-by while riding a bike.
Isla Vista businesses partner with police and advocacy groups to give away around 1,000 lights to bike riders.
A Santa Cruz man is looking for investors to bring his custom-made e-cargo bike to market.
Candidates for mayor of Sacramento promise to make the city friendlier for bicyclists and pedestrians, while making it a vibrant place people can navigate without a car.
National
Good cyclists steer with their bodies, bad cyclists steer with their handlebars. And in other news, water is wet. No, really.
The eternal battle between hikers and mountain bikers rears its ugly head in Scottsdale AZ. It’s not that hard to show a little courtesy — on both sides.
Two cyclists were killed, and two injured, after an allegedly drunk driver plowed into a group of ten riders while they were stopped at a red light in Tucson AZ; they were all waiting in the bike lane when they were struck. If you’ve ever wondered why some bike riders go through red lights, this is it; while I don’t condone it, many bicyclists believe they are safer going through a light than waiting patiently and risking something like this.
A bighearted New Mexico man searched for two weeks to find a homeless man whose bicycle was falling apart just to give him a new one. It’s people like that who make this world a better place.
A Boulder CO program uses adult-sized balance bikes to help teens and adults with disabilities gain confidence and discover what they’re capable of achieving.
Lance Armstrong shares his views on doping and the Tour de France with a class of students at the University of Colorado.
Bikes heal. A former doctor refurbishes bicycle in a Des Moines co-op in an attempt to reclaim his life, after he was acquitted on manslaughter charges for recklessly prescribing drugs that killed his patients, including the bassist for the band Slipknot.
Minnesota’s StarTribune offers a look at the innovations in the bike world on display at this year’s Frostbike, saying there’s great stuff, but nothing revolutionary.
A Massachusetts man is ruled a danger to society after deliberately mowing down a boy as he rode his bike on the sidewalk; the driver was allegedly enraged that the victim had talked trash about his sister.
International
Vancouver tripled bike rack installations last year, and is still scrambling to keep up with demand. That’s a great problem to have, evidence that the city’s recent completion of a protected bikeway network is boosting ridership.
A Canadian mountain bike trail was sabotaged with wooden stakes and a wire strung at neck height in an apparent attempt to injure, or possibly kill, bike riders. Let’s hope the charges reflect that when they find whoever is responsible.
Caught on video: It’s not always bike riders who are the scofflaws. A London cycling hits the pavement trying to avoid pedestrians crossing against the light.
More on that UK survey that shows the overwhelming majority of Brits support bikeways; nearly 80% support bike lanes if they don’t significantly affect their commute, while more than half said they’d still support bike lanes even if it made their commutes five minutes longer.
The head of Britain’s equivalent of the AAA gets it. He says bike lanes that start and stop are one of the worst things for both bike riders and drivers, lulling both into a false sense of security.
Finally…
Sometimes riding can be a scream; no, literally. Always bring extra water; you never know when you’ll want to share it with a wheel-climbing marsupial.
And nothing like having your stunt bike promo photobombed by a bare butt.
