Call it a sneak attack.
Over the weekend, supporters of traffic safety deniers Keep LA Moving tried — and failed — to get the LA Neighborhood Council Coalition on the record supporting a total ban on road diets.
The factually incorrect motion, which traffic safety supporters found out about less than 24 hours earlier, was tabled until next month after it met overwhelming opposition.
Here’s the full text of the motion, in case you want to mark your calendar for the next meeting.
BikinginLA sponsor Josh Cohen wrote a powerful message opposing the ban.
Today’s photo comes with a wish for a Happy Chanukah to all those celebrating this week.
Chanukah Sameach!
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The Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee will hold their regular bi-monthly meeting tomorrow night in the conference room of the Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall, 6501 Fountain Ave.
The committee is the only official voice for bicyclists in city government. Even if elected officials usually just ignore it and hope it goes away.
Click to enlarge
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Today’s common theme is ebikes.
Or more precisely, the way ebikes and other bikes can benefit people with physical limitations.
Curbed’s Alissa Walker calls ebikes a game changer for people who need them.
And makes a point I’ve been making for some time now.
A 2018 study by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities that surveyed 1,800 e-bike riders found that they bike more often, take longer trips, and make different types of trips than they do on pedal bikes. Plus, not only did more respondents feel safer riding an e-bike than they did riding a pedal bike, the percentage of people who felt safer on an e-bike was even greater when the respondents were women, over 55, or had physical limitations.
“E-bikes are making it possible for more people to ride a bicycle” reads the study, “many of whom are incapable of riding a standard bicycle or don’t feel safe doing so.”people
There are a number of bicyclists, especially roadies, who think ebikes are cheating.
I know, I used to be one of them.
And there many people who think older people and people with handicaps can’t ride bikes.
They’re both wrong.
Because unless you’re racing, bicycling is not a competition. Whether you’re riding for pleasure or transportation, anything that makes it easier to get on a bike is a good thing.
For the person doing the riding, for their community, and for the environment.
And ebikes make it possible for people who otherwise couldn’t ride a bike — because of age, physical condition, the length of their commutes, or any number of other problems — to get out and ride like anyone else. Going further and more confidently than they otherwise could.
Or at all, for that matter.
There’s another quote from the story that sums it up.
E-bikes are not a substitute for safer infrastructure, but they could help move more riders from “Interested but Concerned” to “Enthused and Confident.
And that’s a good thing. For all of us.
Meanwhile, a Boulder CO newspaper talks with a bike shop owner who says he used to be dismissive of ebikes, until he realized their benefits for people with physical limitations.
A British survey shows 72 percent of disabled bicyclists use their bikes as mobility aids, but half of respondents are afraid of being seen riding them for fear of losing their benefits.
And more than a quarter of the disabled commutes in Cambridge, England are made by bike.
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Speaking of electric mobility devices, apparently they’re a wise choice. And not just limited to humans anymore.
https://twitter.com/therourke/status/1068875942473404422
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Sad news, as longtime Tour de France commentator Paul Sherwen died unexpectedly at his home in Uganda; no cause of death was announced.
He was 62.
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It’s Day 11 of the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.
Your generosity helps keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day, from around the corner and around the world.
Anything you can give helps. And is truly and deeply appreciated.
Thanks to Adrienne G and Alan C for their generous donations to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
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Local
By all accounts, yesterday’s Heart of LA CicLAvia was another successful event. But it comes just days after the organization was sued by a woman who suffered a brain injury when a careless rider clipped her wheel.
A sports tech website talks with LA-based former pro Phil Gaimon about the tech he uses and life as a YouTube star.
State
A San Diego bike rider suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a driver, who claimed he never saw the victim until he was in front of him. Unfortunately, that’s not too surprising; let’s hope investigators get a warrant for the driver’s phone.
National
Bicycling offers advice on how to buy a women’s bike, and their recommendations for the best bike in 11 different categories.
The Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for Walmart talks about his passion for mountain biking, saying he’s learned some of his best business lessons from the saddle. Something I can relate to; I often did my best work while riding my bike.
It may be a few years since their last basketball title, but the University of Kentucky can celebrate a national championship as the nation’s most Bicycle Friendly University.
A pair of New York bike advocates and engineers say they’ve figured out the exact optimal traffic signal timing to improve safety for everyone and ensure the highest number of green lights for both drivers and people on bikes.
A Virginia landscaper had the truck towed to be repaired and ordered employees to say a worker had hit a deer, instead of the bike rider he’d hit in a work truck and left to die on the side of the road.
International
An Op-Ed on Calgary website says traffic laws must reflect the new transport options, including dockless e-bikes. Meanwhile, the Calgary bike boom goes on, even in the winter months, after the city built out a network of protected bike lanes.
Sidewalk riding is a complicated issue, according to an Ontario, Canada letter writer in part because of poorly designed bike lanes and the people who drive in them.
The Guardian looks at who is behind the effort to have one of London’s most popular cycle superhighways ripped out, pointing the finger at a property company, and truck and taxi drivers.
A British man rode 3,200 miles from LA to New York in just 34 days — arriving at the airport half an hour before his flight back home.
A new paper by an English researcher argues that yes, drivers really do pass bicyclists who wear bike helmets closer than they do bare headed riders.
Brit mountain biking legend Hans Rey was the victim of bike thieves, who took eight bicycles, including custom bikes and bikes that aren’t currently available in the country.
Thanks to a new Dutch bike rack design, your bike could power the city.
Madrid bans cars built before 2000, and diesel vehicles built before 2006, from driving in the city center to battle air pollution. Los Angeles will need to do the same for the entire county if we’re going to meet pollution, let alone climate change, goals.
Malta’s prime minister suggests widening the roads to make more room for all road users, while creating preference lanes for bikes, buses and electronic cars.
Tel Aviv is building a 68-mile network of bike trails in an effort to become the Amsterdam of the Mideast.
After the first of the year, you’ll need a special driver’s license to operate an ebike in Israel.
More grist for the climate change mill, as a New Zealand study shows that bike lanes and pathways do, in fact, coax people out of their cars, resulting decreased emissions.
Australian football legend James Hird suffered a broken leg when his bike was hit by a driver.
Competitive Cycling
Anyone can win a bike race; the Eurosport website recounts the cycling world’s most spectacular flops of 2018.
Aussie cyclist Mark Renshaw will miss a number of events Down Under after he suffered a fractured pelvis when a driver when through a stop sign.
Cycling Tips talks with women’s cycling legend Marianne Vos about getting her grove back this year.
A roadie discovers he can do more than he thought, completing a 78-mile gravel race despite fears caused by a recent runaway heart rate.
Finally…
No, seriously. If you’re riding a bike with crack and purple heroin, put a damn light on it, already. Call it Waze for bikes.
And yes, Vladimir Putin is one of us.
