Tag Archive for Michael William Nine

Weekend rides, Tamale Throwdown and a heartbreaking comment from a recent bike widow

Lulu Laing, the widow of James Laing — the cyclist killed by an alleged drunk driver in Agoura Hills October 23rd — left a comment on here Friday in which she talks about, and to, her late husband.

But fair warning, don’t read it if you don’t want to cry.

I think Ross X, aka @dudeonabike, said it best in a tweet this evening:

Wow … just wow. The tears that must have fallen on her keyboard as she wrote that… For Lulu and James, we fight on.

The San Fernando Valley Bicycle Club is tentatively scheduled to hold a memorial ride for James Laing, next Saturday, November 20th beginning at 8 am at the Agoura Hills Bicycle John’s. Organizers say it will visit the site where Laing was killed on Agoura Road, with an easy pace to accommodate all riders.

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The landscaper accused in the death of OC cyclist Michael Nine returns to court on Monday, charged with vehicular manslaughter after pleading guilty of driving without a license; thanks to Lois for the heads-up.

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Friday and Saturday, November 12th & 13th, celebrate the city’s favorite cuisine by riding your bike to the LA Tamale Throwdown sponsored by the Eastside Bicycle Club at Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Rose Hill; free bike valet sponsored by Flying Pigeon LA bike shop.

Flying Pigeon and the Bike Oven host the free Spoke(n) Art Ride on the 2nd Saturday of every month; the next ride will take place on Saturday, November 13th, starting 6:30 pm at 3714 N. Figueroa St. in Highland Park.

Sample the route for the upcoming 2011 River Ride as the LACBC hosts a free ride from Griffith Park to Long Beach on Sunday, November 14. Riders will leave from the Autry Museum in Griffith Park at 7:30 am and arrive in Long Beach between 11 am and noon, then return by riding back or taking the Blue Line to L.A. Email erica@la-bike.org to RSVP; click to download the ride waiver or share a ride to the starting point.

Also on Sunday the 14th, tour Beverly Hills and talk about opportunities to make the city more inviting for cyclists with the inaugural Better Bike Beverly Hills Ride, starting at 2 pm at Peets Coffee at 258 South Beverly Drive.

Explore the effects of bicycles on art and culture at Re:Cycle — Bike Culture in Southern California, at U.C. Riverside’s newly relocated Sweeney Art Gallery at the Barbara and Art Culver Center of the Arts3834 Main Street in downtown Riverside, exhibition continues through December 31st.

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Police are looking for a Torrance hit-and-run driver who collided with an 11-year old cyclist, then ran over his leg. City Council candidate Stephen Box says L.A.’s planned construction on PCH is reminiscent of the construction work that resulted in the deaths of two cyclists in 2005. Gary reports on the recent meeting of Santa Monica’s Recreation and Parks Bike Committee. Hip, hot and in the know Sacramento girls on bikes. Coworkers remember a cyclist killed near Napa on Wednesday. The SF Weekly looks at last weekend’s successful San Francisco Bike Expo. Looks like that California middle school student can keep his flag after all. Tucson’s Director of Transportation has his own personalized parking space. Joining in on the great Cat 6 commuter race. An Iowa cyclist slowly recovers after being clotheslined by wire strung across a bike path. A Michigan drunk driver hit something, but kept driving because she wasn’t sure what it was; turned out it was the cyclist she killed. Bike Radar says don’t be afraid of clipless pedals. Advice from the first great depression, bike your way back to prosperity. The UK’s Cycle to Work tax benefit survives the country’s budget cuts, barely. A cycling Brit lawyer captures a death threat from a motorist on video, and can’t get anyone to do anything about it. Astana reloads to move past the Contador era; yeah, good luck with that. Cycling legend Gino Bartali will be honored for risking his life by working undercover to save the lives of Jews during WWII. NYDOT director Janette Sadik-Khan tells Sydney cyclists if she can do it in New York, they can do it there; if she really wants a challenge, why not try to do it here — after all, we have an opening right now. A South African cyclist is shot to death in an apparent road rage attack.

Finally, what do you call it when a New York cyclist is attacked by a naked man on the newly bike friendlier Queensboro Bridge?

Friday.

Cyclist killed in Newport Beach; a full slate of biking events

Forty-three year old Michael William Nine of Santa Ana — some reports indicate he was 47 — was killed in a collision at the intersection of Spyglass Hill Road and Harbor Ridge Drive in Newport Beach Thursday morning.

According to authorities, the collision occurred at 7:47 am as Nine was riding with a group of cyclists headed north on Spyglass Hill. He was traveling at about 30 mph at the head of the group when something caused him to lose control of his bike and slide across the road, where he collided head-on with a southbound truck; he was pronounced dead at Hoag Medical Center.

Some reports indicate that he may have lost control after he swerved to avoid a gardener’s truck, however, other witnesses contradict that version of events. The other riders in the group didn’t see what happened because their view of the collision blocked by a bend in the road.

It was the third fatal bicycling collision in the area in less than a year, which is about three too many.

Prayers and condolences to his family and loved ones.

Update: Jim Lyle pointed me to this comment on the Road Bike Review forum, from a cyclist who says he witnessed the collision:

For those of you that ride in the OC.

Mike Nine an avid cyclist out of Tustin was killed Thursday morning during a training ride in Newport Beach.

He crashed into the back of a stake truck as he tried to avoid the vehicle which was traveling the wrong way on the road and in the path of a group of riders.

The OC news channels have incorrectly reported that the cyclist lost control of his bike causing him to go into oncoming traffic and striking the truck. The news channels have cited that the Newport Police have been unable to determine the reason the cyclist lost control of his bike.

As 1 of the 10 witnesses of this event, I think it is important to set the record straight. Mike did not lose control of his bike and go into oncoming traffic. The truck was going the wrong up a narrow road. This caused the crash. The truck driver’s negligence set this tragedy in motion.

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Mark Cavendish of HTC-Columbia won his third stage of this year’s Tour de France on Thursday, as teammate Mark Renshaw was kicked out of the Tour for head-butting a rival rider in a bit of argy-bargy that was caught on video during the final sprint.

Got to admit, though, Andy Schleck looks good in yellow. David Millar barely survives one of his worst days ever on a bike in stage nine, while Team RadioShack gets it’s first Tour win in stage 10. And Bicycling says if Lance isn’t going to win this year’s Tour, he should become the first American to claim the last place Lanterne Rouge.

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An open letter from Reed Bates, the Texas cyclist jailed for the crime of riding a bike.

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In upcoming events, tonight (Friday) say goodbye to the LACBC’s much loved and soon to be much missed Dorothy Le at Far Bar in Little Tokyo beginning at 4 pm.

Fortunately, she’s not quite gone yet. This Saturday, Dorothy will join with Madeline and Lauren in hosting the How To’s and Hubs Bike Ride for Ladies and Allies through the gentle streets of Downtown to encourage more women to ride by teaching the how to’s of savvy cycling.

Wombyn’s cycling krew — their spelling, not mine — Ovarian Psychos/Cycles rolls through the Eastside Friday night.

Summer Fix LA kicks off Friday night in Culver City, with events throughout the city all weekend. And I had to learn about this from a website in New York?

Tuesday, July 20, Mia Lehrer + Associates is hosting 5X20/SEED spotlighting the upcoming CicLAvia. Wednesday the 21st, the LACBC holds its monthly board meeting at the Encino Velodrome; the meeting starts at 7 pm, but you’re invited to arrive early to meet the board members — including yours truly — and discuss the bike issues important to you. The L.A. City Planning Department will be hosting their first ever Webinar to discuss the revised draft bike plan on Thursday, July 22nd. And wrap up the week with Walk and Ride for a Safer 4th Street on Saturday the 24th.

The LACBC is hosting the 2nd Regional Meeting for bike activists from around the region on Wednesday, July 28th.

The First Annual City of Lights Awards Dinner takes place downtown on Thursday, August 12th.

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The LACBC reports that the 10% set aside from Measure R funds for bike and pedestrian projects has been officially confirmed, with $3.27 million available the first year. Ground breaks on Downtown’s new Civic Park, but where’s the Bike Station? Even Berkeley is getting one, already. LADOT is now 2/3 of the way through their sharrows pilot project; not all sharrows are on the streets, though. Flying Pigeon has your new Nihola Danish cargo bike on sale now. The host of Travelin’ Local goes car lite. Dancer a la Mode tries to get a broken-hearted driver to hang up the phone. Patrick Pogan, the now ex-NYPD cop who knocked a Critical Mass cyclist off his bike, walks with no jail time after a conviction for lying about the event; seriously, did you expect anything else? The Wall Street Journal reports that this is the season of biker chic; thanks to George Wolfberg for the link. The FBI says bike theft is on the rise nationwide as car theft is down. TreeHugger reports bike commuters show lower absenteeism and greater productivity than their four-wheeled coworkers. Shop for your next house by bike in KCMO. Missouri’s St. Charles County may not be able to ban bikes, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try. Biking skills can come in handy off the bike, too. This animation clearly shows where to ride in traffic, and why. There’s a certain indisputable logic to this comment about bike parking. London’s bike superhighway hasn’t even opened yet and it’s already torn up for construction. A British driver who shattered a cyclist’s arm is fined £90, while a woman who dropped a cigarette in the street is fined £170. Downhill/four-cross racer Dan Atherton is placed in a halo brace after fracturing two vertebrae when he missed a jump. Next up in Biking Toronto’s 10 Secrets to Cycling with Traffic, ride in a straight line, play by the rules and avoid the stoplight squeeze.

Finally, powered pedals are a few cranks closer to reality.