Tag Archive for Monica Rodriguez

Morning Links: Pablove Across America ride, campaign histrionics in CD1, and a worldwide rash of assaults on cyclists

April 20, 2017 / / 2 comments

I normally don’t repost press releases.

I usually don’t finish reading them, for that matter. Let alone share them on here. But I’m making an exception this time, to give you a chance to ride the Left Coast for a good cause.

Pablove Across America (PAA) is a pro-plus experience with a world-class support crew and the energy of 50 cyclists riding for a cause. Cyclists will have the opportunity to ride down the beautiful California Coast, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Los Angeles. This race was started a few years ago when Jeff Castelaz and Jo Ann Thrailkill lost their six year old son to a rare form of cancer. In order to cope with the pain Jeff rode his bike from Florida to LA and it started in 2009. When friends and family heard of this news a family friend set up a fund and began collecting donations for his ride and for the family. Before they knew it there had over $250K in their account and from there this ride turned into an annual fundraising event to celebrate the life of Pablo and the Pablove Foundation was created to raise money for pediatric cancer.

The Pablove Foundation helps kids with cancer live a love-filled life today, and a cancer-free life tomorrow. Pablove’s mission is to invest in under-funded, cutting-edge pediatric cancer research and improve the lives of children living with cancer through the arts.

The event takes place October 1-7 and is unlike the others – you can see all the 5-star details below. If riders want to participate in just one day of the race (either the sendoff in SF or arrival in LA) they can also do that.  And when riders arrive in LA there will be a special party for them at Trancas Country Mart — just north of Zuma/Malibu. The party will include a live musical performance (big name to be confirmed soon) with great food and drinks for all. Locals can also attend to participate in the festivities and welcome in the riders.

Riders are asked to raise at least $7,500 to receive a professional-grade experience, including:

  • Pro-race support to roll behind the peloton and perform daily maintenance on your bike
  • Soigneur services to keep your body in good working order through massage
  • Nutritious meals and on-bike food and drink
  • A double-occupancy hotel room (upgrades to single rooms available for $100/night, dependent on availability)
  • A training plan and individualized coaching
  • Pablove cycling kit with short-sleeved jersey and bib shorts

………

KPCC looks at Monday’s “raucous” debate between CD1 candidates Joe Bray-Ali and incumbent Gil Cedillo, which was lowlighted by a racist call for the LA-born Bray-Ali to “go back to India;” the LA Weekly calls it the all-time craziest debate in LA.

Meanwhile, Bray-Ali apologized for a nine-year old YouTube video in which he repeats a George Lopez joke about Mexicans; needless to say, it was sent to reporters by the Cedillo campaign, who’ve clearly done their opposition research.

Bray-Ali will host a campaign block party tonight.

And with all the histrionics in CD1, it’s easy to forget there’s another runoff going on in CD7, between bike-friendly Monica Rodriguez and even more bike-friendly Karo Torossian, who will both participate in a debate a week from Saturday.

………

Unfortunately, today’s common theme is violent attacks on bike riders.

A San Francisco cyclist was attacked by two men who attempted to knock him off his bike, then punched him and stole his bag when he managed to stay upright.

A New York man suffered a broken arm and jaw after he was knocked off his bike and jumped by a road raging driver and his passengers, because he wouldn’t get the hell out of their way so they could go around a double-parked car; no arrests have been made, even though police got their license number from two separate sources.

Four Brooklyn gang members will serve life in prison for fatally stabbing a man after he refused to hand over his bicycle and backpack.

Two British teens were arrested for attacking a man with a machete as he rode his bicycle home from his girlfriend’s house.

Another British rider was saved by a passerby after being attacked by four men armed with golf clubs and a crowbar.

A Yugoslav Ironman competitor was knocked off his bike and robbed by a gang in South Africa, less than a month after similar attacks on two other riders.

Then there’s the road raging driver who pulled his car over to harass a group a cyclists, then provoked an altercation with a second group and apparently pepper sprayed them — then was stupid enough to post the video on Facebook. I don’t know where this occurred, but this appears to be damn good evidence of felony assault; regardless of who attacked whom, he pulled his car over in order to provoke a confrontation. Thanks to Cyclist’s Rights for sharing the link.

………

Then there are the bike riders behaving badly.

A 73-year old Bay Area driver was reportedly punched by three different bicyclists, and his classic Camaro damaged, after he allegedly bumped a rider participating in the East Bay Bike Party Monday night.

A Brit bicyclist reached in to snatch the keys from a driver’s car and rode off after a roadway argument.

Seriously, just don’t. As tempting as the last one may be sometimes.

………

Czech-based Team Elkov-Author Cycling faces a suspension from competition after two team members received four year bans for doping.

A pair of HuffPo writers discuss the pressure on professional athletes to dope, and the consequences they face, physical and otherwise.

Members of the Cylance Pro Cycling team met with Big Bear elementary school students, as they trained in the area for this weekend’s Tour of the Gila.

………

Local

Streetsblog takes an initial look at LA’s new interactive Vision Zero map, which appears to be still working the bugs out. What’s missing from the map is any word on what happened in response to the fatality; whether the driver was charged or if any changes were made to the roadway following the crash.

The Bike Metro bikeshare will be free this Saturday for Earth Day.

CiclaValley checks out Little Tujunga’s recovery from the massive Sand Fire.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Boyonabike, who reviews The Guardian bike scribe Peter Walker’s new book How Cycling Can Save the World.

Don’t plan on using the Chandler Bike Path through Burbank on Saturday.

A 46-year old man was fatally shot while riding his bike in El Monte Tuesday night.

A Santa Monica bike rider is expected to recover after he was hit by an 80-year old driver, who sideswiped a car before hitting him, then crashed into at least one more vehicle.

Ride with the mayor of Santa Monica this Sunday.

LA County is now offering a $10,000 reward for information on the murder of a Compton man as he sat in his parked car last June by someone who rode up on a bicycle; two other men in the car were wounded in the shooting.

While you’re jonesing for the June CicLAvia, take advantage of the Beach Streets University open streets event in East Long Beach at the end of the month.

 

State

Newport Beach will be conducting a bike and pedestrian safety operation through Monday; as with similar programs in other cities, ride to the letter of the law as long as you’re in the city so you’re not the one ticketed.

A San Diego man who took off with a Border Patrol agent hanging on for dear life in the back of his truck after the agent tried to stop him from stealing a bicycle was sentenced to five years in prison.

Congratulations to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, which saved 14 bike riders from themselves in a crackdown aimed at preventing crashes involving motorists, pedestrians and cyclists, but could only manage to find a single scofflaw driver to ticket.

A team of San Bernardino firefighters will take part in June’s Race Across America to support a pair of fellow firefighters who are battling cancer.

The country’s largest bike expo starts tomorrow in Monterey, as the Sea Otter Classic takes place at the famed Laguna Seco raceway.

Watsonville police recover five bikes believed to be stolen while conducting a probation search, including a $7,500 bicycle.

Once again, a bike rider was the hero, as a Dublin cyclist spotted a Pleasanton boy who’d been missing from his elementary school for three hours.

San Francisco approved protected bile lanes on 13th Street, and proposed replacing sharrows with painted bike lanes on another while realigning parking to make room for them. Unlike LA, where parking spaces are more sacred than cows in India.

A San Francisco Op-Ed from the head of the city’s transportation agency says it’s time to make traffic deaths a thing of the past.

An alleged drunk driver has been arrested for critically injuring a five-year old Sacramento boy as he rode his bike Tuesday evening. There’s something seriously wrong when a little kid can’t ride his bike without being endangered by some jackass who can’t manage to stay the hell out of his car after drinking.

 

National

Streetsblog considers the human toll of normalizing distracted driving.

People for Bikes offers a half dozen first person accounts to show the only thing that’s just like riding a bike is riding a bike.

Bicycling offers advice on how to pass an alligator in the road. Which is not a problem we normally have here in sunny Southern California.

Apple Maps now includes bikeshare docks, but only in New York, London and Paris. After all, the LA area is so unimportant in the greater scheme of things, right?

NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr beat fellow racer Jimmie Johnson, at least when it came to bragging rights for putting in the most miles on his bike.

The Guardian asks if Seattle’s mandatory helmet law killed their bikeshare system, or if it was the hills, rain and lack of infrastructure. In short, yes.

No bias here. A Las Vegas cyclist allegedly lost control and made a suicide swerve into the side of a tour bus.

A Colorado state senator wants to ban coal-rolling drivers; if you live in Colorado, the bill could use your support. Although it’s questionable whether a $100 fine will deter them, when an existing $3,750 federal fine doesn’t.

Topeka KS native Steve Tilford will be honored with a four hour celebration of his life on Sunday; the cycling legend was killed in a Colorado car crash earlier this month.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the Kalamazoo massacre might have been avoided if there had been better communication between the three police agencies in the area; the initial call warning about the stoned driver came 22 minutes before the crash that killed five riders.

The NYPD has shifted gears and will recommend charges against a truck driver who killed a bike rider, just days after attempting to blame the victim, who had the right-of-way.

The Daily News mostly gets it, calling on the NYPD to stop confiscating ebikes and target reckless cars, instead. Although Disney movies aside, most cars are only as reckless as the drivers in them.

New York state gets serious about active transportation, investing $112 million in federal funding to pay for several dozen bike and pedestrian projects.

A New Jersey study shows barriers to bicycling go far beyond infrastructure for people of color.

 

International

An Austrian endurance cyclist plans to ride 900 miles across Cuba in 37 hours. Although the hardest part of the journey may be listening to a single song on endless repeat.

Benedict Cumberbatch is one of us, too. Or was five years ago, anyway. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

The Brit driver who threatened BBC presenter Jeremy Vine as he rode his bike has lost her appeal, and will spend nine months behind bars.

A very popular London bike safety advocate has been killed in a collision with an allegedly drunk and stoned driver in Mallorca, Spain.

A 35-year old English man is returning home after a 43,000 mile journey by bike around the world; he was only 28 when he set off in 2010.

A new study from the University of Glasgow shows that bicycling to work can cut your risk of cancer and heart disease nearly in half, and your risk of premature death by any cause by 41%. Which means that after 37 years of adult riding, I should live forever.

India’s Army Chief General “felicitated” a retired general for riding over 6,800 miles in 183 days to honor the nation’s 21,000 fallen soldiers.

Someone stole 20 track bikes worth the equivalent of over $15,000 from a Durbin, South Africa velodrome.

 

Finally…

You can carry anything on a bicycle — even a body. Probably not the best idea to bike away from a known drug house if you’ve got outstanding warrants, and drug paraphernalia and meth in your backpack.

And nothing like crapping in your own hands and throwing it at the driver who honked at you.

Clearly, someone has spent way too much time watching the monkeys at the zoo.

………

I know firsthand how hard it is to ask for money to support a site like this. So when Seth Davidson asks for your help to support his work at Cycling in the South Bay, it should mean something.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bike Events, Morning Links, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bike-friendly council candidates still in running, and DSS poster makes biking look dangerous

March 21, 2017 / / One comment

It looks like three of the four remaining city council candidates could be good for bicycling.

And you can guess who the other one is.

Monica Rodriguez and Karo Torossian will be in a runoff for the CD7 council seat. Rodriguez was one of the three candidates who got the nod from Bike the Vote LA before this month’s primary election. I’m told Torossian would have received strong consideration if he had gotten his response in before the deadline.

Meanwhile, the results in CD1 are expected to be certified today, with long-time bike and community advocate Joe Bray-Ali taking on the extremely bike unfriendly Gil Cedillo. As you’ll recall, it was Cedillo who singlehandedly blocked the desperately needed road diet on North Figueroa, and attempted to have all the proposed bike lanes in CD1 removed from the Mobility Plan, earning him the moniker “Roadkill Gil” from some in the district.

The Times sums it up nicely, calling Bray-Ali’s forcing the runoff a victory for a new vision of a sustainable LA.

Although it’s not a victory yet.

Think of it as the game going into overtime. Both candidate start out on even footing, and who wins will depend on what happens in the coming weeks.

It will take the support of the entire bicycling community, and everyone who wants a better LA, to overcome the massive amounts of special interest money that will inevitably flow in from outside the district to help keep a career politician in office.

………

Streetblog’s Joe Linton takes the L.A. County Department of Social Services to task for making bicycling look dangerous.

The ad depicts a fallen spandex cyclist. The text reads “When life gets rough.” The ad falls into the all–too–common grim bicycling-equals-danger trope which shames cyclists and reinforces misperceptions about cycling safety.

To be honest, it really doesn’t bother me.

Given the unpaved surface, I read the image in the ad as a face plant by a mountain biker, which is just part of the sport.

But maybe that’s just me. What do you think?

………

Former Stallone stunt double Eric Barone beat his own record with a 141 mph downhill on a snowy French ski slope. Which is just a tad faster than most of us have done on dry land.

………

Sad news from South Africa, where an Egyptian cyclist died of a heart attack while competing in the African track cycling championships.

Cycling News offers five things they learned from last weekend’s Milan – San Remo, including that Peter Sagan is no Cannibal as he slips to the 78th second place finish of his career, compared to 92 wins.

………

Local

The LA Times says Los Angeles needs to become a more walkable, bikeable and transit-oriented city, and the city needs to channel Angelenos’ desire for a more urban city into more effective new planning guidelines.

Los Angeles Magazine calls Sunday’s CicLAvia your next chance to experience LA free from the tyranny of the automobile.

Take a great rear-facing bike cam view of this past Sunday’s Marathon Crash Ride. CiclaValley also joined in on the ride.

Pasadena Now looks at the recently approved state grant to build a two-way protected cycle track on Union Street.

 

State

Back east, they have to plow bike paths. Out here, we mow them.

After missing last year, Garden Grove will host its third almost-annual Open Streets event on April Fools Day. Let’s hope they don’t say that when we all show up.

Bay Area bicyclists ride to consider what can be done to fix the Hairball, a maze of intersecting highways where a bike path that runs underneath has turned into a de facto homeless camp.

A pair of bike-riding UC Berkeley researchers take a deep dive into the physics of why bike riders hate stop signs. Speaking of which, Calbike wants your support for AB1103, which would legalize the Idaho stop in California. Thanks to Cyclist’s Rights for the heads-up.

 

National

NACTO says Trump’s budget would be a disaster for cities and their transportation systems. No shit.

Performance Bike is using the world’s most famous computer to get inside your head, or at least your browsing history, to target their marketing at you.

Outside recommends an e-fat bike to power your way over backcountry terrain. Because don’t we all want to rip up endangered terrain by riding off trail, while annoying the crap out of everyone else on trail? Or is that just me?

The heartbreak of people who can’t ride bikes.

The Mayor of Maui tells bicyclists to ride in the door zone to avoid salmon cyclists in the bike lane, and misreads the law to suggest that’s required anyway. There is no law, anywhere in the US, that requires people to ride to the right in a bike lane. And it’s usually safer to ride in the center to left third, depending on the width of the lane, to ensure you’re outside the door zone.

Idaho police shoot and kill a rampaging armed man on a mountain bike who was threating dog owners on a popular trail, and killed one dog.

Au contraire, Findley, Ohio’s The Courier; the city is not proposing a ban on bicycling in the downtown area, just against riding on the sidewalk. Big difference, mais non?

A road raging Ohio driver faces a minimum of two and a half years in prison for a screaming punishment pass and brake check that left a bike rider injured. Meanwhile, Ohio becomes the latest state to adopt a three-foot passing law; 28 states now require drivers to give at least three feet while passing someone on a bike.

The Village Voice asks if racism will derail plans for bike lanes and other safety improvements on 111th Street in Queens; one opponent insists the lanes won’t be necessary once Trump deports all the illegals, since there won’t be anyone left to ride a bike. Maybe someone should explain to her that lots of people who ride bikes were born in this country, including the many of the ones she assumes don’t belong here.

They’re onto us, comrade. A North Carolina letter writer insists a group of new hotels under construction are a plot to make driving so impossible everyone would be forced to bike or walk.

 

International

The premier of Manitoba plans to ride 100 miles this June to honor indigenous peoples in the province.

London is about to get protected bike lanes on the Westminster Bridge, providing safer access to Parliament and the palace.

A new British report says new roadways damage the countryside, quickly get jammed due to induced demand, and discourage alternative forms of transportation like biking and walking.

Something happened between a bicyclist and a pedestrian in a British town. No, really, that’s all the story says.

A new French law requires kids under 12 to wear a bike helmet when they ride. And they want kids to nag their parents to wear one, as well.

An Aussie man got a $1,000 fine for biking under the influence, adding to his 17-page rap sheet.

 

Finally…

Evidently, the way to clear a crowded bike path is to raise your voice in song; thanks to Scott Larsen for the heads-up. Yes, bicycling can be boring, but only if you are.

And nothing like snuggling up around an ebike fire on the beach.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA elections: Still hope in CD1, while Koretz re-elected in CD5; living with the pain of killing a cyclist

March 8, 2017 / / 3 comments

Disappointing news in yesterday’s LA city elections, with 100% of precincts in.

Anti-bike incumbent Gil Cedillo appears to have eked out a victory in CD1, setting the stage at least five and a half more years of deadly streets as the city switches to holding its elections at the same time as state and national votes.

Although a runoff with Joe Bray-Ali is still possible, as Cedillo topped the minimum 50% threshold by just 198 votes; Bray-Ali issued a statement saying he isn’t conceding until all the votes are counted.

And in CD5, current councilmember Paul Koretz won a final term with nearly two-thirds of the vote over bike-friendly challenger Jesse Creed.

In the end, Creed and Bray-Ali struggled to overcome the power of LA incumbency, where office holders running for re-election almost never lose — thanks in large part to the city’s gerrymandered districts and the massive amount of out-of-district special interest money that inevitably pours in to benefit sitting councilmembers.

Not that those special interests would dream of expecting a return on their investment or anything.

The news was better in CD7, where Bike the Vote LA-endorsed Monica Rodriguez was leading, and will enter a runoff with Karo Torossian if the totals hold.

As expected, the other current officeholders steamrolled to victory over their token opposition in all the other races.

So if nothing changes, it looks like nothing changes.

A few districts with bike-friendly councilmembers such as Joe Buscaino, Jose Huizar and Mike Bonin will continue to get safer and more complete streets, while Cedillo and Koretz will continue to block much needed improvements.

And our city will suffer for it.

But at least we can end on a brighter note, as anti-growth Measure S went down to defeat, handing AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Michael Weinstein his third loss in three tries at ballot propositions in four months; attempts to regulate drug prices and require condoms for porn shoots statewide lost last November.

And Measure H passed with the necessary two-thirds majority, as the city and county finally appear to be getting serious about working together to end the crisis of homelessness.

……..

This is the cost of traffic violence.

A Massachusetts woman writes about what it’s like to live with the knowledge she killed a cyclist 20 years earlier.

I wasn’t found at fault in my crash; I wasn’t speeding, distracted or impaired on the night I rounded a highway curve and a bicyclist crossed in front of my car, too close for me to avoid. But I will always see him staring wide-eyed at me as he flew into and over my windshield. I will never forget his body at roadside, utterly motionless.

If you remember nothing else I write, I hope you’ll remember this: You do not want to be me. No destination, no text, no drink, no glance away from the road is worth knowing that you have killed another human being. You don’t want to feel you’d give anything not to have been on that road at that time. You don’t want to believe that anything you accomplish in life is offset by the death of another person. You don’t want any happiness you experience to remind you of the happiness denied the person you hit, her family, his friends. You don’t want to struggle to go on living, convinced you don’t deserve to exist, wishing you hadn’t been born.

She still says the collision could have been avoided if only the victim had lights on his bike. But notes that drivers have to change their attitudes to prevent similar tragedies.

Her own friend was killed riding a bike two years ago.

………

Cycling News looks back at the day the great Marco Pantini left cycling after being busted for doping during the 1999 Giro d’Italia.

The manager for Italy’s Androni Giocattoli team is royally pissed off that they’ve been excluded from this year’s Giro, calling it the biggest injustice of his career. Then again, Axel Merckx isn’t thrilled his team has been left out of the AToC.

The former Scottish national coach says men’s cycling is shit, but women’s racing is a growth industry.

The new chairman of British Cycling says there’s no evidence the organization isn’t clean. Which isn’t exactly the same as saying it is.

………

Local

KPCC’s AirTalk program will discuss California’s proposed Idaho Stop law at 10:40 this morning; you can listen to it live online.

A columnist for the Pasadena Star-News says don’t put the brakes on the Idaho Stop law that can make it safer for California cyclists.

Bike SGV posts more great photos from Sunday’s 626 Golden Streets, where a good time was clearly had by all.

Police in La Verne are looking for a bike-riding burglar after break-ins in a pair of jewelry and cellphone stores.

The Santa Monica Lookout says a new study shows SaMo residents are still sticking to their cars. Maybe if they washed their hands more often…

Pierce Brosnan is one of us, as he goes for a bike ride with his wife on an apparently non-existent beachfront bike path in Malibu.

 

State

Laguna Nigel police will hold an event at city hall on Monday to talk about traffic safety and enforcement.

The Sacramento Bee reviews the one-man performance Concussed: Four Days in the Dark, by comedian Jack Gallagher, based on the traumatic brain injury he got when he was hit by a car while riding his bike.

The driver for the mayor of Sacramento hit a bike rider at a notoriously dangerous intersection on Tuesday evening while the mayor in the car; naturally, they blame the victim for running a stop sign. So if the intersection is so dangerous, why haven’t they fixed it already?

 

National

A new US study posted on an Aussie website shows bicycling can slow the effects of aging, and that older people benefit more than the young. And here I assumed all those close passes were aging me, not realizing I was getting younger, and yes, better looking, with every pass.

Gizmodo says building the new Ikea bike is a pain worth suffering through.

Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer calls on bicyclists to use bike advocacy as a tool to save America.

Speaking of close passes, Houston researchers are looking for bicyclist and pedestrian victims of close passes by motorists for a new safety study.

The newspaper for tiny Victoria TX calls on the city to invest in making it more bike friendly.

A new Minnesota study shows bike commuting reduces chronic illness and preventable deaths, saving millions of dollars annually in medical costs. Maybe the GOP should make bicycling a part of their new healthcare plan.

This is what happens when you take Vision Zero seriously. Philadelphia’s mayor calls for a three-year plan touching on virtually every aspect of road travel in order to make the city’s streets safer.

It only took NASCAR’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. five minutes into his first bike ride to get flipped off by a Florida driver.

 

International

A Canadian man with type 1 diabetes is riding across the country in the dead of winter.

A Calgary driver says it’s not her fault she hit a cyclist because the sun was in her eyes. Seriously, if you can’t see what the hell is directly in front of your car, pull the damn thing over and wait until you can.

A UK bike advocacy group calls for clarification on the differences between careless and dangerous driving charges after a driver who admitted to a dangerous pass gets just eight months for killing a man on a bike.

British police are asking for bike cam video to protect cyclists and enforce the law against dangerous drivers. It’s questionable whether similar video footage can be used to prosecute drivers for traffic violations in California, where current law says police must actually witness the violation, except in the case of felonies. Thanks to Cyclist’s Rights for the heads-up.

In an update on yesterday’s story, it turns out a Brit bus rider could tell it was a bicyclist fucking in the bushes because he still had his helmet on; his more traditionally attired partner was wearing a coat, at least. Or maybe it was just a couple with a weird bike helmet fetish.

Police in Malvo, Sweden are on the lookout for a pair of bike-by shooters.

Controversy over a 15-year old model aside, the Lagerfeld Paris fashion show featured crepe de chine Bermuda shorts edged in tweed, described as being perfect for space travel, as well as ideal for riding a bicycle. Seriously, you can’t make this shit up.

India’s Business World considers bicycling as a form of public transport.

Bicycling looks at Team New Zealand’s efforts to pedal to victory in the America’s Cup.

An Aussie news site examines how cycling culture around the world differs from Australia’s not-so-great approach.

Taipei is cracking down on sidewalk riders.

 

Finally…

Seriously officer, the wreck couldn’t be my fault, I was asleep at the time. Maybe this Haribo thing is catching on.

And Lance finally gets around to admitting he was a dick. Which everyone else knew a long time ago.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
 
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee