It’s Day 12 of the 7th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
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Yet another horrifying mass casualty crash, as a drunk driver in Mexico City slammed into 13 bike riders in a collision caught on security cam.
The Daily Mail reports 12 people were injured after the driver lost control of his car while changing lanes; injuries ranged from bruises to broken bones, with four of the victims hospitalized with head trauma.
They were on a 19-mile pilgrimage to the city’s Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a week before the feast day honoring Mexico’s patron saint.
And yes, you can see video of the crash, although the paper bizarrely blurs images of the car, so the victims look like pins being scattered by an invisible bowling ball.
As always, though, be sure you really want to see the video before you click play. Because you can’t unsee it.
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Here’s your chance to meet — and ride with — another of the candidates to replace termed-out CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz.
And it’s about damn time someone did.
Are you ready to RIDE? Through DISTRICT 5 ? With ME?Please join me December 18 @imartinbicycles to ride through our community,help promote bicycle riding,get to know me as a candidate & what my plans are for LA.The New Voice.The Right Choice for LA @streetsforall @LosAngelesFwd pic.twitter.com/0oV5UWuc8s
— Molly Basler (@MollyLA2022) December 7, 2021
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This could have been your grandfather, or great grandfather.
Or maybe even your great, great grandfather.
100 years ago. In 1921, the @washingtonpost had a contest for paperboys who sold at least 30 newspaper subscriptions. This lucky kid won a brand new Mead Ranger bike. What a beauty.
(Library of Congress image) pic.twitter.com/VFai4mj8fU— Peter Flax (@Pflax1) December 3, 2021
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
Massachusetts bike riders tell whoever has been sabotaging a Cambridge bike lane to cut the crap. Let’s hope the cops take it seriously, and treat it like the potentially deadly crime it is instead of a mere prank.
No surprise here, as a Pensacola, Florida bike rider discovers that the local police don’t understand the law allowing bicyclists to take the lane on substandard lanes. And has to argue it with a cop driving a foot from his handlebars.
People on a Brazilian group ride were pepper sprayed by a passing motorcyclist who wasn’t even in the same lane, for no apparent reason.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Someone on a bicycle apparently torched the public Christmas tree in Oakland’s Jack London Square; the suspect was captured on security cam fleeing on his bike.
Federal marshalls busted an Ohio bank robber, despite his successful getaway on a bicycle.
You’ve got to be kidding. A Pittsburgh man walked with probation and time served, despite riding his bike to plant a bomb-filled backpack near a protest over the killing of George Floyd last year, although it’s unclear whether he was participating in the protest or targeting it. Because evidently, building and planting bombs that don’t go off is just no big deal.
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Local
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton provides photos from Sunday’s South LA CicLAvia, along with an open thread. Although as we’ve learned here, open threads only work if people actually comment.
State
Santa Barbara kindergarten kids will get lessons in how to ride a bicycle as part of the All Kids Bike program, funded by a grant from Yamaha. Which is something that should take place at every school in the US.
San Luis Obispo bike riders got an early Christmas gift — or maybe late Chanukah gift — when the city opened new curb-protected bike lanes on a pair of downtown streets.
Sad news from Oakland, where a 41-year old man was killed in an apparent solo crash on Sunday, after evidently losing control of his bike.
National
CleanTechnica offers advice on how to choose an e-mountain bike, while Parade — yes, Parade — suggests their picks for the best ebikes.
Livestrong recommends the best racks for hauling cargo on your bike.
They get it. An Oregon TV station makes the case for fighting bike theft by registering your bicycle with Bike Index. Which you can do right here and now with free lifetime bike registration. Just one more service we provide at no cost to you. And yet another reason to donate today.
The Denver Post profiles a 67-year old Colorado Penny Farthing rider, who wants people to wave instead of just staring as they go by.
Shattering story in Outside, as a Colorado man describes how the hit-and-run driver who nearly killed him as he was riding his bike got a lousy two years behind bars, while the driver sentenced him to a lifetime of pain and partial paralysis.
A 38-year old Ohio man has been busted for being the hit-and-run driver who left a 13-year old bike-riding kid to die alone in the street. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough.
An appeals court rules that Amazon is not liable for injuries caused by a defective ebike that was sold on the site by a Chinese company, and assembled by a New York firm.
This is the cost of traffic violence. New Jersey bicyclists responded with an outpouring of grief to the death of a beloved 62-year old woman, after she was run down from behind by a driver while on a group ride, in what was described as a “reckless,” “senseless” crash caused by someone who wanted to get where he was going a minute sooner. Then again, isn’t every crash reckless and senseless?
‘Tis the season. Pennsylvania volunteers built over 100 bicycles to donate to kids in need.
Yet another reminder that bikeways more than pay for themselves. The 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage rail-to-trail pathway connecting Pittsburgh PA and Cumberland MD is described as an economic highway that generated a whopping $121 million in 2019 — or more than $800,000 per mile.
Speaking of Pittsburgh, the city is finally getting around to banning parking in bike lanes. But they’re not planning to tell anyone about it by posting No Parking signs or painting curbs red, apparently assuming everyone will obey a law they don’t know about.
Old school country star Stonewall Jackson got his start in music when he traded his bicycle for a guitar as a ten-year old in Georgia; he died last weekend at 89. And yes, that was his real name. In retrospect, it’s hard to argue he made the wrong move, but still.
Congratulations to Florida, which retains its title as the nation’s most dangerous state for bike riders and pedestrians. And yes, that’s sarcasm, folks.
International
Treehugger’s Lloyd Alter accuses politicians and planners of missing the ebike revolution, arguing that electric cars are not the only way to cut carbon emissions. Or even the best way, for that matter.
Road.cc’s Ebike Tips is clearly not a fan of Terranet’s new ebike safety system that promises to warn riders when a driver is about to plow into them, taking issue with positioning for the product that places the onus the bike rider not to get killed, rather than on drivers not to kill someone.
Cycling News explains the difference between road bikes and hybrids, so you know what to ask Santa for this year. Pro tip: If you’re not sure whether an article comes from the US or Europe, look for the currency products are priced in, or whether common words have weird spelling, like tire with a y.
Who needs a truck when the London symphony orchestra has a cargo bike?
A UK bikemaker says shop early if you want to put a new bike in your kid’s stocking this year. Even though it may already be too late.
An urbanist Bay Area expat discovers how quickly a progressive city can change from car-centric to people-focused, after moving to Berlin.
Police in India recovered 13 purloined bicycles when they busted a 27-year old bike thief, who was reselling them at cut-rate prices. Note to The Tribune — A 27-year old man is not a “youth,” in India or anywhere else
There’s no lower form of walking human scum than whoever stole a Kiwi teenager’s bicycle while he was being treated in an ambulance after he was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver.
Competitive Cycling
The Guardian offers a photo review of the 2021 World Master’s ‘Cross Championships.
Former pro and Ph.D Christina Birch discovers how it feels to go from 11-time national track cycling champ to rookie NASA astronaut.
Rouleur takes a deep dive into the personality of American cyclist Chloé Dygert, calling her the unicorn of professional cycling.
Los Angeles-based women’s cycling team LA Sweat has signed Belize’s Kaya Cattouse, called the most recognized cyclist in the country.
Finally…
When someone parks in the bike lane, block ’em in with k-rails. Who needs a limo when you can just pedal your blushing bride on your bike’s handlebars.
And if you’re going to post a “comic” film about bicycling, maybe make sure it’s funny first.
SPOOF ALERT: This is a comic film and events fictitious. But has serious message about failings of cycling law. Please watch and sign our petition @Iromg @cristo_radio @Sueperb2 @JeremyClarkson @theJeremyVine #cycling https://t.co/mJTs4R9eBn pic.twitter.com/IPLCAqZc4R
— Nick Freeman (@TheMrLoophole) December 5, 2021
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
