Tag Archive for New Mexico

A short ferry could complete Braude bike path, Tour Divide rider severely injured by driver, and defending our right to the road

July 6, 2026 / / No comments

As promised, the new BikinginLA merchandise store is now up and running; just click the top link over there on the right. 

It’s just standard T-shirts for now, while I’ve been focused on design, but I’ll extend the product selection soon with women’s T-shirts, as well as introducing other materials, coffee mugs and maybe even a cap or two. 

It’s a great way to show your support for this site and bicycling in general.

Not to mention make a statement or two supporting bikes and calling for better road conditions in this City of Fallen Angels. 

Full disclosure, most of the images were rendered by AI, in most cases based on a photo I provided. As much as I’d love to use actual human-produced artwork, I lack the artistic skill, and can’t afford to pay anyone right now. 

So if you’re diametrically opposed to AI, I offer my apologies. 

If not, take a look. And wear them with pride. 

………

He gets it.

An op-ed from our old friend and longtime LA bike advocate Jonathan Weiss argued that a short ferry ride could close the gap on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, eliminating a dangerous and laborious 1.5 mile detour around Marina del Rey.

Every summer, Los Angeles County runs the Marina del Rey WaterBus — a small, seasonal service that quietly demonstrates how much mobility can be unlocked with modest infrastructure. What the WaterBus doesn’t do, at least not yet, is help the thousands of people who bike between the South Bay and Santa Monica.

At Ballona Creek, the Marvin Braude Bike Trail reaches the exact point where a short water crossing — roughly 250 to 300 feet — would link riders directly to the Marina Peninsula. Instead, cyclists are pushed into a 1.5-mile long inland detour through Fiji Way, Admiralty Way, and Washington Boulevard.

For people commuting to work, that detour adds time, stress, and exposure to fast‑moving traffic.

A bike‑friendly micro‑ferry would change that. The County already has the operational framework through its contractor Hornblower: vessels, insurance, staffing, and a proven seasonal schedule. One potential stop could be at the UCLA Marina Aquatic Center, with its low‑slope concrete ramp used for rowing shells and sailboats.

It would also eliminate the need for a long-debated, and very expensive, bike and pedestrian bridge over the waterway, which would force people to climb the equivalent of a steep hill to allow boats to pass underneath.

I used to ride that section of the trail on a regular basis, and can attest that the detour around the marina was a high-stress segment, sharing Washington Blvd with inattentive speeding drivers, crossing Admiralty Way at a light where drivers may or may not bother to stop, then getting buzzed by drivers on Fiji Way.

And yes, I’ve seen people get hit by drivers at every one of those areas.

Even if you had to wait for a ferry, it would be worth it to avoid that mess. It could also be kinda fun, as anyone who has ever taken the Coronado Ferry in San Diego could attest.

It’s certainly something worth discussing.

Thanks to Jim for the heads-up. 

………

Tragic news from New Mexico, where 35-year old ultra-endurance cyclist Alyssa Secreto suffered severe injuries while competing in the 2026 Tour Divide.

Secreto was in second place, just 60 miles or so from the finish line when she was struck by a driver traveling at highway speeds.

She is reportedly in stable condition, but has sustained multiple major injuries including eight fractured vertebrae, six cracked ribs, a broken arm, internal bleeding, a brain bleed, and lacerations to the kidney, spleen and liver.

According to her friend Molly Murrow,

Alyssa is out of her first surgery. Here’s the verdict after today: 8 fractured vertebrae, 6 cracked ribs, a broken arm, internal bleeding, a brain bleed, lacerations to the kidney, spleen and liver. Alyssa will go back in for more surgery tomorrow. Highway Patrol believes that she was hit while the driver was going somewhere between 50 and 60 mph. I will be increasing the goal amount of this fundraiser to reflect the needs of the surgeries required. If you are a prayerful person, please pray for her. If you are a spiritual person, please send love her way. Thank you for supporting Alyssa during this incredibly difficult time!

A crowdfunding campaign to help pay her medical expenses and replace her bike, which was completely destroyed in the crash, has raised over $100,000 of the $130,000 goal.

There’s no word at this time whether the driver will face any charges.

………

Her gets it, too.

A Tennessee physical therapist writes to defend our right to the road. Even if some people don’t like it.

A lot of people hate people on a bicycle. It’s true. I’ve been cussed, been the recipient of way too many single finger salutes, and have had vehicles (mostly trucks) swerve in an attempt to scare me.

My wife, who used to quietly support my need for riding, now makes it clear that she doesn’t like for me to go out on my road bike.

He pushes back on the idea that bike riders belong on the city’s greenbelt, arguing that it’s meant for casual riders and not serious bicyclist out for a hard ride.

But here’s the thing — bikes have every right to be on the roads. There are laws governing bicycles on public roads (stay to the right, double line only, pull off if traffic is backed up behind you), but it is completely legal for me to ride my bicycle on a road. Any road.

It may not be smart, but it is legal. It is also illegal to come within three feet of a bicycle rider on the road. That law was passed after a local man was killed, riding on the shoulder of the road.

Smart riders — and that would be most of us — stay off busy roads. Main arteries in and out of town should be avoided, but what about the person that rides their bike to work? Or maybe the individual who made a mistake and lost their driver’s license?

It’s worth remembering that driving is a privilege, which can be taken away. But bicycling, at least as it stands now, is a right, just like walking.

We may be expected to obey the law.

But we have a right to the road that came before motor vehicles, and still supersedes them. Regardless of what the “roads were built for cars” crowd has to say on the subject.

………

A 30-year old Oxnard man was critically injured when he allegedly ran a stop sign on his ebike, and was hit by a driver. The 36-year old driver remained at the scene, and was arrested for DUI.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Oxnard Police Officer Joseph Clarke at 805385-7749 or email joseph.clarke@oxnardpd.org, or call the Oxnard Police Department at 805/385-7600.

………

Road.cc focuses on what cycling trends you shouldn’t copy from the pros.

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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Merced County bike rider was busted for DUI after a CHP officer spotted him riding with an open Budweiser tallboy

A Denver woman took to TikTok to complain that “cyclists are the worst” after her car got t-boned by a driver who ran a stop sign, then a passing bicyclist complained about her wrecked car blocking the bike lane. Seriously, don’t do that. 

………

Local 

A person riding with the popular Bikes and Hikes tour was stuck by a driver in West Hollywood; the tour guide thought the driver had acknowledged that there were others in the group behind her, but the 60-something driver proceed through the intersection and hit the victim, anyway.

She gets it, too. A a 73-year-old Culver City homeowner says opponents of the Better Overland Complete Streets project are trying to frighten elderly homeowners about the project, which would only result in the loss of 44 parking spaces, not the 160 spaces opponents claim.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 95-year old Arizona man drove to Pasadena to compete in the cycling events in the Pasadena Senior Games, which had its strongest turnout in roughly a decade as about 1,200 athletes competed in this year’s Games.

No bias here. The publisher of the Crescenta Valley Weekly says she finally saw a bicyclist using the new La Crescenta Ave bike lanes after “we destroyed an entire traffic lane for these bicyclists not to mention the parking spaces we sacrificed.” Never mind that bike lanes are more efficient at moving traffic than lanes for motor vehicles, so if you don’t see someone using them at the exact moment you happen to look, that doesn’t mean no one is using them.

A virtual community meeting will take place on July 16th to discuss the Potrero Canyon Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge, a proposed crossing over Pacific Coast Highway that would connect George Wolfberg Park to the Will Rogers State Beach parking lot, providing a safe and convenient way to get to the Marvin Braude Bike Trail from Santa Monica and Pacific Palisades.

 

State

The owner of San Diego’s Havana Grill blames new bike lanes on Clairmont Mesa Blvd for the closure of her business, saying it exacerbated pre-existing problems, particularly with the loss of parking.

A kindhearted Delano cop bought a new bike for a woman out of his own pocket after the bicycle she relied on as her only form of transportation was stolen.

This is who we share the road with. Police arrested 86-year old Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, for a wine country hit-and-run that caused major damage to a parked car; Pelosi seemed confused after he was stopped, telling officers that he knew he hit something but wasn’t sure when or what caused the damage to his car. One again raising the eternal question of how old is too old to drive, although he was also the victim of a violent attack with a hammer less than two years ago.

Sad news from Chico, where a 78-year old man was killed when video shows he ran a stop sign on his bike and collided with the right front side of a passing car.

 

National

Forbes celebrates the Tour de France with a list of nine bicycling-themed breweries across the US; the only one in Southern California is Pedals & Pints Brewing in Thousand Oaks.

A Seattle couple stepped in to stop a man from removing a ghost bike for a 76-year old woman, just one week after it was installed.

No surprise here. A Colorado CBS station reports that a company that promised free ebikes based on the state’s relatively meagre $250 ebike rebate program may not be a scam, but it’s struggling to deliver the ebikes it promised.

A pair of Nebraska men completed a two-month, 2,500-mile bike trip from Texas’ Gulf Coast to central Saskatchewan, following the route of endangered migrating whooping cranes.

A Wisconsin woman plans to ride around 400 miles in a multi-community listening tour across Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District as she runs — or in this case bikes — for Congress.

A high school kid proposes hanging Dutch-style bicycle infrastructure in Brooklyn, making it easier to pass through the city, and making Brooklyn a destination for bike-riding tourists.

Pint-sized patriots took to their tricycles and training wheels, decorating them for a 4th of July bike parade in Lake Charles, Luisiana.

A man was killed by Florida’s Brightline high-speed train while trying to ride his bike across the tracks in Fort Lauderdale, just the latest death caused by the at-grade train line, which averages roughly 24.5 deaths per million miles traveled, making it 150% more deadly that the nation’s second worst train line, San Diego County’s Coaster train, and six times deadlier than the Amtrak system.

Nice lady. A 72-year old Florida woman defied a no-contact order to steal her neighbor’s cane at a local spa, then wrecked his ebike and assaulted officers while being arrested.

 

International

Momentum looks at Canada’s most popular rail trails.

Road.cc considers the best British-designed road bikes.

Momentum talks with Paris-based bicyclist, adventurer, model, and co-founder of the Quiet Hiking Club, Jeanne Toinon, who they describe as “part of a growing wave of riders who see cycling less as a category of sport or transport, and more as an extension of personal style, curiosity, and everyday life.”

A Canadian writer returns to tackle Mont Ventoux, one of the Tour de France’s most notorious climbs.

Speaking of Road.cc, the bike site considers if the island of Mallorca, Spain lives up to its reputation for bicycling, concluding it “is a truly stunning place to visit with your bike!”

A Singapore man took early retirement from his job as executive and opened a bike shop offering free bicycle repairs for people in need — and named his shop Free Bicycle Repairs to drive the idea home.

Aussie bicyclists have to use a bike lane if there’s one parallel to the road, and can’t ride more than two abreast, regardless of circumstances.

 

Competitive Cycling

Jonas Vingegaard is back in yellow after his Visma-Lease a Bike team took the first stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, winning the team time trial by eight seconds, finally coming all the way back following his near fatal high speed crash at the 2024 Itzulia Basque Country race.

Tadej Pogačar held back in Sunday’s second stage, sacrificing a possible win that could have put him in yellow to give Mexico’s Isaac del Toro his first state win in his first Tour de France.

The peloton will compete without an audience for today’s third stage of the Tour, as French police are blocking access to the stage route due to a wildfire in the area.

Members of the Netcompany Ineos team dealt with Europe’s extreme heat by soaking their arms in ice water before Saturday’s team time trial.

UCI nixes any ice socks in riders’ skinsuits, arguing it changes the “morphology” of the rider’s profile.

 

Finally…

Why settle for just a bike when your ride can be…different. Ad cycling fans can really be bananas at times.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

NM kids face murder in death of bike-riding scientist; killer Playa street claims fresh victim; Metro threatens suit to prevent safer streets

March 20, 2025 / / Comments Off on NM kids face murder in death of bike-riding scientist; killer Playa street claims fresh victim; Metro threatens suit to prevent safer streets

This is getting old.

Nearly two weeks in, I’m still struggling with Covid, and need a few more days before I get back to our usual updates. Just another of the many joys of diabetes, which can make Covid hit harder and last longer than it might otherwise.

Hopefully, we’ll be back on Monday to catch up on what we missed.

But there are a few stories this week that can’t really wait, so let’s do a quick update in the meantime.

………

It’s happened again.

Or rather, it happened last year, and the authorities are just now catching up.

According to multiple sources, three Albuquerque teenagers face charges for stealing a car, and intentionally crashing it into a man riding a bicycle while they recorded themselves laughing.

And if that sounds familiar, it should. And more than once.

The victim, a beloved physicist at the nearby Sandia National Laboratory, was killed when the kids “bumped” him with the car.

The 13-year old driver and the 16-year old egging them on from the back seat both face murder charges — as could the 11-year old waving a gun and laughing from the passenger seat.

Yes, I said eleven. With a rap sheep of violent crimes that makes John Gotti seem like an extra from Westside Story.

Apparently, New Mexico law allows them to be publicly named, and charged as adults.

Police became aware of the video shortly after the May 29, 2024, murder of 63-year old Scott Habermehl, but it apparently took until now to uncover the identities of his teen and preteen killers.

Habermehl was a dedicated bike commuter who was said to have ridden more than a quarter million miles over the last 30 years, and did absolutely nothing to cause his death.

The older teens each face felony charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, leaving the scene of an accident involving great bodily harm or death, and unlawful possession of a handgun.

The younger boy is likely to join them.

Thanks to Joel Falter for the heads up. 

……….

It’s happened again, again.

Because once again, an innocent person has been killed on Vista del Mar in Playa del Rey, eight years after then Councilmember Mike Bonin tried to fix the deadly street, only to have then Mayor Eric Garcetti rip it out after caving to angry pass-through drivers.

According to the Los Angeles Times, two cars — excuse me, drivers — collided in the 8200 block of southbound Vista del Mar, near Dockweiler Beach, with one car spilling over the embankment and killing a woman walking below.

Twentynine-year old Cecilia Milbourne died at the scene. A 70-something man also suffered minor injuries.

The crash occurred exactly where a road diet had been installed by Bonin after the city paid $9.5 million to the family of 16-year old Naomi Larson, who was killed by a cab driver as she was crossing the street in 2015.

That road diet was removed, along with other nearby bike lanes and other safety improvements, when Garcetti pulled the rug out from under Bonin, ordering them to be ripped out to appease drivers who were apparently willing to sacrifice a life or two if it meant they could have a little faster commute.

And reverting the road to a four lane speedway.

It only took a few years after that before the deadly roadway claimed another life. And two more after that.

Now, after another woman has been killed — at least the fifth in just ten years — that blood is on Garcetti’s hands, and everyone who demanded the removal of the safety improvements just so they could continue to go “zoom! zoom!”, innocent victims be damned.

Not to mention whoever designed the damn thing.

………

Metro has bizarrely come out against bus lanes and safer streets.

According to a post from Streets For All, the ostensibly safety-oriented county transportation agency is threatening to sue if they are forced to comply with Measure HLA when they make changes to the streets.

Even though the law clearly applies to any significant street projects, regardless of who is responsible for them.

Twitter post

Which is kind of like Metro arguing that speed limits and traffic signals don’t apply to them, either.

Here’s how Streetsblog’s Joe Linton responded to Metro’s threat.

So, Metro will fight the city in order not to install bus lanes, bike lanes, crosswalks, curb ramps, all approved a decade ago.

Metro is blocking routine upgrades to all the ways their riders get to bus stops and rail stations, plus blocking bus lane facilities that would improve Metro bus speeds.

Really.

Really, indeed.

It’s worth noting that Metro’s board is made up of elected officials and appointees from cities throughout LA County, and led by board chair and County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

So you know where to direct your anger.

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Finally, Glendale is hosting their own CicLAvia-style open streets event May 31st on South Glendale Ave, in conjunction with Metro and Community Arts Resources (CARS).

Here’s how the press release describes it:

GLENDALE, Calif. (March 18, 2025) — Southern California’s newest open streets event, Let’s Go Glendale, will transform a portion of S Glendale Ave into a car-free space on Saturday, May 31 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The community is invited to explore the area on foot, bike, scooter, wheelchair or any other way that moves you.

The City of Glendale’s Open Streets Event, Let’s Go Glendale, is presented by Metro and produced by Community Arts Resources (CARS). This free day features a full schedule of carefully curated performances and activities along a meaningful vehicle-free route through the city’s south. People of all ages are invited to discover local businesses, enjoy delicious food, listen to live music and connect with the city’s vibrant cultures in the open streets. It’s an opportunity to walk, roll, shop and stroll through Glendale with a whole new perspective! A full schedule of event locations, activations and a detailed route map will be announced in April.

WHEN: Saturday, May 31 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

WHERE: City streets along S Glendale Ave will be closed to car traffic and opened to pedestrians. Full route details will be released soon.

ADMISSION: This event is free to attend and open to the public.

MORE INFORMATION: For more information visit, letsgoglendale.com

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Walk ‘n Rollers hosts bicycle safety workshop and pizza party, and “powerful force” for N.M. bike community killed

January 23, 2025 / / Comments Off on Walk ‘n Rollers hosts bicycle safety workshop and pizza party, and “powerful force” for N.M. bike community killed
Day 23 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

……..

It’s our third light bike news day in a row, as some guy in Washington seems to be sucking up all the news space. Which just means I can get to bed that much earlier. 

Although it’s questionable how much sleep I’ll get, as smoke from yet another not-too-distant LA fire infiltrates our apartment once again. 

Today’s photo: apropos of nothing, a bike hanging on a wall of a defunct coffee shop. 

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

No bias here. British drivers complain about bikeshare bikes, calling them a “blight” on the sidewalks, but parking cars on said sidewalks appears to be just fine.

A road-raging UK driver will spend the next 18 months behind bars after being convicted for using his car as a weapon by deliberately ramming a bike rider following a punishment pass, then getting out of his car and yelling at the victim as he lay helpless on the street.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

A 73-yer old Dublin, Ireland woman died of a head injury after she was struck by a man riding a bicycle, while she was putting up political campaign posters last year.

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Local  

Walk ‘n Rollers is teaming with the YMCA and Culver City to host a free bicycle safety workshop and pizza party this Sunday to “help keep commuters and recreational cyclists safe.”

 

State

Calbike considers a number of policy changes to protect vulnerable road users.

Orange County’s most bike-friendly city just got its first protected bike lane, with a new 1.25-mile curb protected lane to go with Irvine’s 300 miles of painted bike lanes and 100 miles of off-street bikeways.

The Imperial County DA’s office says they’ll be cracking down on riders of ebikes and electric motorcycles for unspecified violations. Which seems like illegal selective enforcement, unless they crack down on violations by other road users to the same degree.

Bad news from Bakersfield, where a 14-year old boy was critically injured by a driver while riding his bicycle against traffic.

A 44-year old Oregon woman pled not guilty to charges including vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run and DUI for allegedly just driving off after hitting two men riding bicycles in San Luis Obispo, killing an 87-year old Avila Beach man and injuring his 74-year old companion.

Sad news from Walnut Creek, where a woman was killed by a driver while riding her bike Wednesday morning — or rather, by a vehicle, since the story doesn’t even mention that it had a driver until the last paragraph.

A suspect has been arrested in Amarillo, Texas for a deadly hit-and-run that took the life of a 49-year old Tulare County man riding a bicycle last August.

 

National

This is the cost of traffic violence. A man describe as a “powerful pedaling force” for the Albuquerque, New Mexico bicycling community was killed by a driver while riding his bike home after spending the day refurbishing bicycles for children in need; 64-year old Chuck Malagodi, who led bike tours around the world before moving to the city, was just a mile from his home when he was killed, after he had refused a ride from a friend.

I want to be like them when I grow up. Three men in their 70s from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, along with a fourth man in his late 60s, completed a bike-touring trip down the 3,000 mile East Coast Greenway trail.

 

International

Vancouver, British Columbia is shutting down some popular DIY bike trails, arguing that they pose a risk to bike riders and the environment.

A Toronto woman thanks the “stranger angel” who came to her aid after she was seriously injured when one of her tires got stuck in a streetcar track. Although what makes one angel stranger than another is beyond me. 

A London bikeshare provider will now offer ebikes with a basket in front and a child seat in the back — or maybe another adult seat.

A writer for Cycling Weekly celebrates the joys of cafe stops after a long ride — in her case “stinking up” British tea rooms.

The BBC insists that a TV show attacking ebikes and lumping low-speed ped-assist ebikes together illegally modified electric motorbikes was “fair and impartial and clearly not an attack on the e-bike industry,” despite complaints by viewers and a trade association that it was exactly that.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada is trying to level the playing field by banning time trial bikes in junior cycling events.

Wind tunnel simulations suggest your water bottle may be in the wrong place — as long as you don’t actually use a bicycle, since they didn’t use one in the tests.

 

Finally…

Your next electric scooter could come disguised as a telecom utility box that magically transforms into an ebike. Your old brake levers could be reborn as door handles.

And that feeling when the real sprinters aren’t even in the peloton

https://twitter.com/NBCSCycling/status/1881882165828346210?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1881882165828346210%7Ctwgr%5E2517ed17769547aae86b204e10ffde7b36f76ccc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-22-january-2025-312235

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Car chases end on LA-area bike paths, couple kidnaps and tortures prospective bike buyer, and weigh in on Glendora Ave

February 18, 2021 / / 2 comments

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence, once again. 

The assorted health issues stemming from my diabetes, and the many and varied meds to treat them, conspired to knock me on my ass all Tuesday night and most of the following day.

One more reminder that diabetes sucks.

Virtually all my health problems are the result of doctors who insisted I’d never get diabetes, despite a family history on both sides, allowing it to go undetected for as much as 20 years. 

So if you’re at risk, get checked. And don’t believe anyone who insists your bicycling, lean build and/or healthy diet means you won’t get it. 

Then do whatever you have to do to avoid it.

Because trust me, you don’t want this shit.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

………

Los Angeles TV viewers watched live Tuesday evening as a car theft suspect led police on a high speed chase before briefly driving on the Westside’s Ballona Creek bike path.

He then abandoned the allegedly stolen van to run across the 90 Freeway during rush hour traffic, and apparently made a failed attempt to buy, beg or steal a man’s bicycle back on the path.

All in vain, as it turned out, as the bike rider refused, and police tackled the man in a grassy field shortly later.

It appeared to be a common theme for the day.

Two other suspects appeared to escape capture earlier Tuesday after an extended high speed chase that ended in Long Beach.

They, too, abandoned the car — apparently their own, this time — and beat an escape by walking along the LA River bike path.

………

Buyer beware, indeed.

A New Mexico couple faces a raft of charges after allegedly kidnapping a man who came to their house to buy a bicycle.

 
Albuquerque Police said Crane allegedly shot the man in the foot, heated a metal pipe and threatened to burn him in the face, and shoved an object up his nose, KRQE reports. Crane allegedly spray-painted a cross on the man’s chest and threatened to shoot him.

They reportedly were looking for someone they said owed them money. But they’re likely to get long prison terms, instead.

And yes, this is why you should always meet prospective bike buyers or sellers in a public place.

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Here’s your chance to weigh in on a safer Glendora Ave.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1361767303843471360

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Learn how to fight for, and implement, effective Vision Zero programs.

Twitter post

Hint: Find politicians with more commitment and courage than LA’s weak kneed mayor and city council.

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Ever get the feeling they’re just trying to thin the herd?

https://twitter.com/just_barely/status/1361626101559271424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1361626101559271424%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-17-february-2021-280977

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Here’s today’s mountain biking break, courtesy of the “insanely long” trails of Idaho’s Silver Mountain bike park.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

An Aussie bike rider voiced his obvious displeasure after a driver passed far too close and too fast.

………

Local

It’s getting closer. The new Taylor Yard bike and pedestrian bridge connecting Elysian Valley and Cypress Park is about three-quarters done. Let’s just hope it’s worth the $18 million price tag, which is more than two to three times the original estimate.

KCET highlights 12 bikeable spots to explore in WeHo’s Rainbow District, aka Boystown, viewable along the bike lane on Santa Monica Blvd. Some I didn’t even know about, like the Door’s offices and rehearsal space, where Jim Morrison laid tracks for L.A. Woman.

Sofi Tucker is one, uh, two of us, as the EDM DJ duo partnered with Venice Beach’s Solé Bicycles for a limited-edition white and purple single-speed bike called The Purple Cheetah, in honor of its paint job and cheetah-print seat.

 

State

Congrats to carfree bike rider Jacob Madel on his appointment as the new advocacy manager for the San Diego Bike Coalition.

A coalition of San Diego advocacy groups reaffirms its support for protected bike lanes on 30th Street through the North Park neighborhood.

San Diego letter writers debate the virtues of protected bike lanes, with frequent BikinginLA contributor Phillip Young taking the contrary view.

Completing our San Diego foursome, 51-year old Leovardo Salceda may finally face very belated justice, 32 years after he allegedly fatally shot bike rider Oliver Harrison with a stray bullet.

Maybe San Francisco construction crews are starting to get it, apparently thinking more about bike riders and other vulnerable road users when setting up their work zones.

Sad news from Riverbank, where a teenaged boy was killed in a collision while riding his bike at 2:30 am.

 

National

Bicycling says Vanmoof’s team of bike hunters could make stolen bicycles a thing of the past. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling’s site blocks you.

Esquire rates the seven best bikes to choose from if you want to ride in style this year, ranging in price from around $300 to $1,200.

A Seattle nonprofit uses bakfiets cargo bikes to deliver food and supplies for food banks; 450 volunteers have transported over 88 tons of food since the pandemic started last spring.

The Killers’ Brandon Flowers is one of us, as the lead singer of the Las Vegas-based band will have shoulder surgery for a mountain biking injury.

Nevada’s Clark County, home to Las Vegas, belatedly gives bike riders the right to take the lane.

They get it. The latest draft of Missoula, Montana’s long-range transportation plan is heavy on bike lanes, greenways, shared-use paths and Complete Streets, while dropping a proposed freeway interchange. Now if Los Angeles could just somehow make that leap.

Meet a Missouri man who’s lived carfree for the last 14 years, riding his bike more than an hour to work every day, regardless of the weather.

An Ohio bike shop got a stolen BMX bike back when the owner’s mother called the mother of one of the suspected thieves, asking for her son do the right thing. Which in this case, meant buying it back from the person he sold it to before he could return it.

You can now rent an ebike in New York for $99 a month.

The American spy who killed a 19-year old British man when she slammed into his motorcycle, then fled the scene — and the country, claiming diplomatic immunity — offered to go into mediation when a Virginia court refused to dismiss the civil suit against her. Sadly, the Trump administration refused to send her back to the UK to face charges, and Biden appears to be following suit.

The Virginia Senate approved measures requiring drivers to change lanes to pass bike riders when they can’t give a three-foot passing distance and allow bicyclists to ride two abreast, but punted on adopting the Idaho Stop Law.

 

International

Your next bike helmet could come with built-in lights, complete with your choice of light(er) weight and air vents, or self-charging solar panels.

Banksy’s recent English bike mural is literally off the wall, after it was sold, bricks and all, to an art gallery for an undisclosed six-figure price, despite claims that it really belonged to the people of Nottingham, rather than the building owner who sold it.

A British man will have to find a new home for the hundreds of broken bikes he fixes to give away on Facebook or raffle to raise funds for nonprofits, after his homeowner’s group gave them the boot from his own driveway.

An Irish researcher says a helmet and hi-viz are less effective than segregated infrastructure to improve bicycle safety.

Cyclist touts Les Trois Cols as possibly the greatest bicycling loop in the French Alps, traversing three mountain passes while offering challenging climbs and spectacular views.

F1 driver Fernando Alonso is back in the saddle training for the upcoming motorsports season in Switzerland, just days after surgery to repair his jaw and teeth damaged in a bicycling collision.

An Indian paper asks if the pandemic-induced bike boom is safe and there to stay.

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A New Zealand man who killed a bike rider is asking to get his driver’s license back, less than a year after the distracted driving crash; the judge disqualified himself because he has feared for his own safety while biking on the same road.

The Australian edition of Gizmodo examines how the bicycle changed the world for women.

 

Competitive Cycling

About damn time. Thirty-three year old former bike messenger Ayesha McGowan has joined Liv Racing, achieving her high-profile goal of becoming the first Black American woman to compete on the World Tour, just six years after first taking up the sport. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

The US men’s road cycling team for this year’s Tokyo Olympics could fit in a bobsled. No, a two man bobsled.

 

Finally…

VeloNews meets Vogue. When you’re riding a bike, with an outstanding warrant for car theft hanging over your head, just put a damn light on it, already.

And this pretty much sums it all up.

Twitter post

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already. 

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