Late last year, David Kooi, the owner of Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery in Woodland Hills penned a great guest post for this site about the importance of supporting your local bike shop.
Now they’re showing their support for others, with a fundraiser for the Milt Olin Foundation’s #HandsOff Movement to celebrate the shop’s sixth anniversary. Donations of just five or ten dollars will enter you to win prizes ranging from lights and helmets, to a new $2,500 ebike.
I can’t think of a better cause.
The Milt Olin Foundation was born from the tragic death of entertainment executive Milt Olin, who was run down by a sheriff’s deputy as he was riding on Mulholland Highway; the deputy was distracted by his cellphone and onboard computer, and never saw Olin riding in the bike lane. Remarkably, no charges were ever filed.
His family channeled their grief into forming the foundation, which unveiled the #HandsOff app and program last year, urging drivers to pledge to keep their hands off their phones while driving and encouraging others to join them.
By supporting them, you can help save lives. And maybe even get some great bike gear while you’re at it.
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Tonight marks the second LA edition of Draft: A PeopleForBikes meet-up at Pure Cycles in Burbank, 713 N. Victory Blvd.
The free event, which runs from 7 to 9 pm, will feature several luminaries of the local bicycling community, along with food and craft beer from Golden Road Brewing.
- Michelle Mowery, senior project coordinator for LA RiverWorks
- Don Ward, founder of Wolfpack Hustle
- Dorothy Wong, director of SoCalCross PRESTIGE SERIES
- Naomi Iwasaki, director of neighborhood services at the Office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Great Street Initiative
- Members of the Zwift team.
The beer alone is worth the price of admission. Even though there isn’t any.
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Here’s what CiclaValley had to say about the Draft meet-up, as well as the SMMC anniversary celebration.
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The LACBC is looking for applicants for its Team LACBC Diversity Program, which is designed to help riders who might not have the resources to participate in a multi-day ride take part in this year’s Climate Ride.
Team LACBC participates annually in Climate Ride California (June 9-13), providing LA cyclists with an opportunity to support the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and raise awareness of sustainability, active transportation, and environmental causes. The annual group charity ride features an all-new route this year, exploring the stunning California Central Coast, departing from San Francisco on June 9 and winding up 300 miles later in San Luis Obispo on June 13.
Riders chosen as a result of the nominating process will receive $2500 toward the minimum Climate Ride fundraising requirement of $2800. In addition, they will receive:
• Free Climate Ride registration ($100 value)
• Equipment support of up to $1000 (cycling and camping gear, as needed)
• Transportation assistance to and from the Ride (as needed)
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Pro cyclist Mikel Landa gets it, saying that the decision by Australia’s Tour Down Under not to have podium girls sets an example other pro tours should follow/
Now that’s a crash. Spanish pro Joaquim Rodríguez goes over a guard rail on a training ride and flies down a steep ditch. Then just gets back on his bike and rides off.
A women’s pro cyclist explains what it’s like to go to boarding school with your cycling heroes.
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Local
The student government at traditionally bike-unfriendly USC discusses making the campus even more unfriendly to bicyclists by banishing bike riders to the periphery of the campus. Oddly, their rivals across town at bike-friendly UCLA don’t seem to have any problem welcoming bike-riding students and faculty on campus.
A Long Beach columnist writes a tongue-in-cheek piece about first-world problems, like bollards on a protected bike lane.
State
The Guardian looks at fat biking in California, as more ski areas take up the sport.
Placentia is asking for input on plans to revitalize the downtown area, which could include curb-protected bike lanes, judging by the drawing.
Costa Mesa will study the impact of a possible bike trail through Talbert Regional Park.
An Irvine police lieutenant is honored as one of America’s 40 under 40; he got started on his career path in high school when he was ticketed for riding his bike while wearing headphones.
Advisory groups in exclusive La Jolla continue fighting to keep bikeshare from besmirching their fair city, preferring one car parking space over a handful of bikes, and insisting the town’s “topography is not conducive to more bicycles.” Oddly, I didn’t have any problem with the topography when I lived and rode down that way.
Sad news from Bakersfield, as a woman has died after the bike she was riding was struck by a drunken hit-and-run driver; the driver may be the senior VP of a vineyards operation.
San Francisco’s supervisors vote to disrupt the disruptors, as writer for Forbes considers what the city’s backlash against a Chinese app-based bikeshare company says about East-West cultural differences.
America’s first protected bike lane was built 50 years ago in Davis.
A Davis columnist complains that killing a cyclist doesn’t seem to be against the law in California, as a woman walks when the DA decides there’s not enough evidence to get a conviction in the death of a cyclist competing in a time trial — even though she may have been on her phone at the time of the crash. And even though no one bothered to test her for drugs or alcohol.
National
Bike Biz worries that forcing American bike makers to actually build bicycles in the US will make them more expensive, both here and overseas, resulting in lower value as the price goes up.
Police recover a bicycle stolen in a Washington bike shop break-in, but it will cost more to repair the damage to the shop than the bike is worth.
Adventure Cycling Association is hiring a Digital Production Specialist for their Missoula MT headquarters.
Bicycling picks up the story of proposed North Dakota legislation that would legalize running over bicyclists and pedestrians.
Austin TX will install bicycle traffic signals; meanwhile, the six county region around the Texas capital is working on its first long range regional active transportation plan.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A Michigan woman discovers she’s pregnant weeks after her bike-riding boyfriend was killed in a hit-and-run.
Life is cheap in Ohio, where a 76-year old driver walks with a $500 fine for killing a bicyclist. But at least he won’t have a driver’s license until he’s 81.
A Greenwich Village website says bikes will save the community when New York shuts down a major subway line for a year and a half for maintenance work.
Incoming Vice President Mike Pence says he’s not planning to leave his bicycle at home when he takes office in DC.
International
London appoints it’s first full-time Walking and Cycling Commissioner.
Caught on video: A speeding, wrong way British driver nearly hits a cyclist after he mounted emergency lights and a siren on his car to avoid traffic jams.
A cyclist in the UK was forced to crawl off a busy highway when he fell off his bike and broke his hip — then had to wait two hours to be flown to a hospital.
An Indian TV network asks if riding a bike is worth the risk, and concludes that the country’s bad roads and lack of protections for vulnerable road users don’t help.
A pair of cyclists are riding over 1,300 miles across India to raise funds for a school that teaches differently abled children.
A Dubai developer will build 65 miles of cycle tracks around the emirate.
Cape Town, South Africa is working on transforming itself to become a “bicycling super city,” as it seeks to boost cycling by a whopping 800%.
An Australian cyclist writes about the five worst habits too many drivers have.
Add this to your bucket list. A Kiwi newspaper lists five of the world’s best bike trips, from skirting the North Sea to riding from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh on Vietnam’s Highway 1.
Finally…
If you fall off your bike, they may not ask you who the president is. Who needs a bike lane when you can ride down a vertical wall?
And Lamar Odom gets just six months for plowing into a group of bike riders; no, not that Lamar Odom.
