Tag Archive for NPR

Feds scrub bike lanes and speed cams from best practices, and Boston mayor joins vigil for bike advocate killed by her funding cuts

July 17, 2026 / / One comment

Just a quick note before we get started that I have another new T-shirt design behind that SWAG button over there on the right — this time in multiple type and fabric colors to suit anyone’s taste.

Maybe even yours.

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Apparently, the Trump administration meant it when they threatened to go after “DEI bike lanes.”

Because not only did US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy transfer nearly $2 billion in transportation grants from bike lanes to roads and bridges, now they’ve removed any reference to bike lanes and speed cams from the list of Proven Safety Countermeasures on the department’s website.

According to NPR, which broke the story yesterday,

The FHWA says the changes to its website, which have not been previously reported, are part of a broader review of safety countermeasures to ensure they align with current DOT policies and the administration’s priorities. But critics say the Trump administration is undermining safety strategies that have already been proven to work.

“We should be making decisions about safety based on evidence,” Stephanie Pollack, the former acting administrator of the FHWA under President Joe Biden, told NPR. “It’s hard for me to understand how you could say you’re putting safety first, and then make arbitrary decisions about what does and doesn’t improve safety.”

No shit.

So instead of reducing traffic deaths, the plan seems to be to see just how high they can drive them.

Pun intended.

Then again, maybe that’s why they defunded public media, in an effort to keep them from reporting on this administration’s Dr. Evil-ish machinations.

If you question that wording, consider this statement from a USDOT spokesperson.

“Drivers paying taxes and vehicle fees expect their dollars to be reinvested into our roads, not social initiatives that burden their commutes,” the statement said. “Under Secretary Duffy, the Department is getting back to basics and putting safety first.”

So, they’re putting safety first by taking actions that put safety last.

Got it.

Twitter post

Again, according to NPR,

“It’s not just changing the web page, but it’s really going to put lifesaving projects at risk,” said Josh Naramore, a policy expert at NACTO, the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

“That list of approved safety countermeasures and all the research really helped change the game for local agencies and even for states to have conversations with the federal government, with state departments of transportation, and even with regional planning agencies,” Naramore told NPR. “So you’re essentially taking tools out of the toolkit that would be available for them.”

For instance, among the measures no longer considered best practices, speed cams have been shown to reduce crashes on urban arterial roads by as much as half, while adding bike lanes on a two-lane road cut crashes by as much as 30%, jumping to 49% on four-lane road, according to a 2021 brochure published by the Federal Highway Administration.

Then again, those figures were backed up by scientific studies. And we’re not supposed to believe in science anymore.

So drivers, start your engines. Speeding is legal once again, and bicycles are just speed bumps on your road to freedom.

And let’s get those traffic death back up to those heady days of the pandemic.

Thanks to Andy for that first link — and sorry it took so long — your email got caught up in spam folder hell.

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Boston is still in an uproar over the recent bicycling death of a city transportation planner.

As we discussed yesterday, 36-year old bike advocate and Boston transportation planner Louisa Gag was killed by a truck driver while riding her bike to work last Thursday.

To make matters worse, she was killed at an intersection where safety improvements had been promised for years, only to be put on terminal hold by the very mayor she worked for.

Today, an open letter to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signed by 4,000 people — 2,300 Boston residents — was delivered to Wu’s office.

“For years, we have told you, in public and to your face, that continued delay on street safety would cost lives,” the letter reads. “Last week it cost the life of Louisa Gag — a transportation planner in your own administration, a person who devoted her career to making our streets safe…”

“For at least eighteen months, your administration has stalled and re-studied safety projects that were designed and funded,” the letter continues. “You have told us these projects need more process, more consensus, more perfection. But consensus never arrives for the dead, and a study protects no one.”

Four hundred people rode their bikes to Boston City Hall to personally deliver that letter.

Yet somehow, we can’t even get 1,000 people to sign an open letter calling on Los Angeles officials to declare a Traffic Violence State of Emergency, no matter how many people get killed.

Or who, for that matter.

And when was the last time you saw hundreds of people turn out on bikes for anything but CicLAvia or Critical Mass? Let alone demand that someone, anyone, in city office actually give a damn about the safety of people biking or walking?

Or the city’s mayor joining the vigil, for that matter.

Mayor Michelle Wu gave an emotional speech to those remembering Gag.

“I can’t stop thinking about Louisa, but especially the Boston that she wanted to live in,” she said. “A Vision Zero city. A city where everyone could access every opportunity.”

“I really struggled with whether I should come here tonight or not,” Wu said through tears. “Whether it would help the healing that is so needed for a community in such grief in pain, and whether I would be able to get any words out at all.”

If it’s happened here, I don’t know about it. But then again, I’ve only been doing this advocacy thing for about 20 years now.

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So when was the last time you had a deadly poisonous snake stuck in your bike chain?

A woman in Australia was bitten by an eastern brown snake — the second most venomous land snake in a country known for deadly critters — when she accidentally rode over the bigass snake on her bike, and it somehow got caught up by her bike.

Fortunately, it turned out the bite was dry — aka, no venom — after she was rushed to a hospital.

Then again, so was the snake.

An expert snake catcher rushed to the scene, and held the viper’s head as cops dismantled parts of the bike to free it. And yes, they rushed the injured reptile to the nearest wildlife hospital, where it had to be euthanized due to the extent of its injuries.

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

Schumck. A Florida man faces charges, including aggravated assault and child abuse, for intentionally running a stop sign and driving into an 11-year old kid riding an ebike, then getting out of his car to slap the boy and smash his cellphone, because he said the neighborhood kids were harassing him.

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

Police in San Antonio, Texas shot and killed a man riding a bicycle after he refused a traffic stop, then led them on a brief pursuit before he allegedly pointed a gun at them. No word on what they were originally attempting to stop him for, and whether it was worth killing him over. 

A 43-year old woman remains in a coma after a 26-year old man riding an ebike hit her from behind in New York’s Central Park ten days ago, while the rider was allegedly speeding and riding the wrong way in the running lane; there’s no word on what kind of ebike he was on, though witnesses said he appeared to be a delivery rider. But if he was going the wrong way, how could he hit her from behind, unless she was going the wrong way, too?

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times belatedly picks up the story about merchants on Pico Blvd fearing the effects of planned protected bike lanes, just like merchants everywhere else, while failing to mention that studies show sales usually go up after protected bike lanes go in, and most people will later fight to keep them.

KNBC-4 reminds us about the Meet the Hollywoods CicLAvia and World Cup final watching party, as well as Santa Monica’s COAST26 open streets event and World Cup watching party, leaving out only the Beach Streets open streets and World Cup watching party in Long Beach, all on Sunday.

A pair of 15-year old boys have been identified and detained by Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies after one allegedly threw a rock at a man riding a bicycle on a Valencia bike trail, while they passed in the opposite direction illegally riding an electric motorcycle on the bike path; fortunately the victim captured their images on his bike cam.

 

State

The Bicycle Film Festival comes to San Diego next weekend.

Damn. A 50-year old Palo Alto woman remains on a ventilator two weeks after she was struck by the driver of a bus, and dragged underneath until a riding companion caught up to it and pounded on the side to get the driver to stop; according to friends, she suffered multiple fractures, including a broken femur and tibia, a fractured pelvis and a collapsed lung, and has already gone through seven surgeries.

San Francisco is closing another street to cars and converting it to a pair of parallel pathways; the former Twin Peaks Blvd is planned as part of a 550-mile trail tracing the city’s ridge lines.

 

National

PeopleForBikes goes back to their City Ratings to look at which US cities are investing in youth bicycling. None of which are Los Angeles. 

That’s more like it. An 18-year old Nevada driver was sentenced to a whopping 25 years behind bars for killing a 62-year old woman and significantly injuring her husband in a head-on crash as the couple was riding their bikes, after the driver admitted to smoking weed prior to the crash; however, he’ll be eligible for parole after just nine years.

The family of 17-year old fallen cyclist Magnus White settled their lawsuit against Yeva Smilianska, the allegedly intoxicated Colorado driver who killed the US National Cycling Team member in 2023, for just a measly $25,000, saying they just wanted to get her out of their lives. Then again, the Ukrainian refugee likely didn’t have any assets, and that’s probably all her insurance would cover — which is why you need to max out the uninsured motorist section on your car insurance, which will cover you when you ride your bike. 

Hie thee to my bike-friendly Colorado hometown for a beer-infused fondo this weekend. But is it really a “tradition” if it only goes back a decade?

Hats off to Laramie County, Wyoming for their new stagecoach-inspired, e-cargo bike powered bookmobile. And no, it’s not the least bit confusing that Cheyenne, Wyoming is in Laramie County, but Laramie is in Albany County, and Albany, Wyoming is in Albany County, too. 

A Houston suburb is surrounding 330 homes priced up to $1 million with 2,100 acres of trails and bike lanes. No word on whether they will follow the new FHWA best practices, and pave over all those trails with eight-lane highways.

The new documentary Cycles of Resilience follows the Black History Bike Ride, an Austin nonprofit founded by cyclist Talib Abdullah to teach people through bike treks to historical sites; according to the MovieMaker site, “learning shouldn’t have to be an act of resistance. But it is, given the efforts of many states and the Trump Administration to erase Black history.”

A Minnesota man took distracted driving to a new level, watching animated porn on his phone as he ran down and seriously injured a man riding a bicycle, leaving the victim with a fractured pelvis, multiple rib fractures, fractured lumbar requiring spinal surgery, a closed head injury, an acute kidney injury and acute anemia. But other than that, he was just peachy.

The Canadian wildfires are casting a pall over the 400-mile Cycle the Erie Canal bicycle ride, with more than 600 cyclists from 37 states and Canada riding from Buffalo NY to Albany along the Erie Canalway Trail.

As predicted, New Jersey’s new law requiring a license and registration for every ebike, regardless of whether it’s a ped-assist cargo bike or an e-motorbike, is turning out to be a total shitshow that no one’s happy with.

The Washington Post explains how people get trapped by obscenely high car payments, as $1,000 monthly payments become more common. Never mind that you can buy a decent used bicycle for a hundred bucks. 

 

International

Cycling Weekly says modern bikes are becoming more like F1 cars, but we’re still sending them to the equivalent of a quick oil change shop for repairs. I, for one, like the idea of an F1-style pit lane, where you can get your tires changed, your bike lubed and your glasses cleaned, and be back out on the road in under ten seconds.

 

Competitive Cycling

Ouch. Australian cyclist Chris Harper says he’s now “ten grams lighter” after losing part of his thumb in a horrific crash on stage 10 of the Tour de France.

Multiple riders went down like dominoes in a high-speed sprint at the end of Thursday’s stage 12 of the Tour de France; Belgium’s Tim Merlier outsprinted what was left of the field for his third stage win in this year’s Tour.

Forget doping. Cyclists at the Tour are now loading up on Urolithin A, a naturally occurring substance derived from pomegranates. Then again, psilocybin and hemlock are derived from naturally occurring substances too, but that doesn’t necessarily make them decent bicycling supplements. 

Outside asks the burning question, if Tadej Pogačar is so great, why isn’t he a global superstar?

Bike Radar offers 24 “remarkable” photos from the Tour de France, from hosing off riders with a firehose in the ’40s, to that gut wrenching shot of Johnny Hoogerland caught up in a barbed wire fence after crashing in 2011.

 

Finally…

Rasta Rolling on a Penny Farthing through the streets of London. Now you, too, can buy the long-awaited Tesla bike, though you may enjoy if more if you’re still a toddler.

And at last, someone has designed coat hangers, not for your coats, but for your bicycling kit.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Local LCI takes NPR bike/ped advice to task, San Bernardino sucks for biking and walking, and surreal NJ story gets more so

October 6, 2025 / / Comments Off on Local LCI takes NPR bike/ped advice to task, San Bernardino sucks for biking and walking, and surreal NJ story gets more so
Day 279 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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I received a lot of news links over the weekend that I didn’t have time to get to for today’s post.

So if you sent me something, don’t worry. I’ll try to catch up on everything tomorrow.

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Longtime bike advocate, League Cycling Instructor, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition member and NPR listener Colin Bogart gave the public radio network a piece of his mind.

Something I’ve had to stop doing because I don’t have many pieces left these days.

Bogart addressed a Life Kit article we touched on recently offering tips for bike and pedestrian safety, zeroing in on the problems with it much more effectively than I did.

Here’s just a portion of what he wrote.

I’m sure your intent was good, but there is so much we don’t do in our country to protect vulnerable road users that a piece like yours becomes victim blaming.  The advice isn’t inherently bad (well, some of it is), but in the context of how poorly we as a country prevent crashes, it becomes ridiculous if you don’t address drivers directly.

You mentioned in your piece, “DON’T put yourself in danger just because you have the right of way. While drivers are responsible for driving safely, road safety is everyone’s responsibility.” I could pick apart every single recommendation you gave, but this is the worst part of your piece. No bicyclist can ride on the road, no pedestrian can cross a street, without the expectation that one’s right of way will be respected. To then say that road safety is everyone’s responsibility ignores the imbalance between vulnerable road users and motor vehicle drivers. My responsibility as a bicyclist is NOT the same as someone driving a two ton vehicle capable of high speed. It simply isn’t the same. The responsibility of the driver is far greater. And that’s why we are required to have a driver’s license and insurance to operate a motor vehicle and we’re not required to be licensed to ride a bike or walk. But it doesn’t end with a license or an insurance payment. It extends to behavior on the road and drivers should be held to a much higher standard than they currently are. We’ve lost sight of the inherent differences between drivers and vulnerable road users by stating that we’re all equally responsible. That statement also doesn’t take into account children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. There should be more onus placed on licensed drivers, simply because the act of driving a motor vehicle creates the greater risk in the first place.

And yes, it’s worth clicking on the link to read the whole thing.

Preferably after reading the Life Kit piece, which seems pretty benign at first glance, until you give it a little more thought.

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Congratulations to San Bernardino on being named the nation’s fifth most dangerous city for bike riders and pedestrians, behind only Baton Rouge, Tucson, Las Vegas and Jacksonville, Florida.

On the other hand, Irvine and Santa Clarita deserve props for making the list of the top ten safest cities, led by New York and Boston.

Which will probably shock the hell out of New York bike riders.

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We keep learning more about the alleged intentional crash that killed two 17-year old girls riding an ebike in Cranford, New Jersey, just 18 miles from New York City.

He was allegedly driving 70 mph when he steered his car at the victims and slammed into them, nearly three times the posted 15 mph speed limit.

Authorities have not named the suspect because he’s still a minor. But that didn’t stop CNN and other outlets, naming a 17-year old boy who received 15 separate traffic tickets the afternoon of the crash, with details that line up with the accusations.

The New York Times says things took a surreal turn the night of the crash — as if the whole damn thing wasn’t surreal enough — when the alleged suspect broadcast live on YouTube.

“What’s going on everybody?” he said breezily. “We’re back with another stream and this one is going to be a little different from the previous ones.”

A few minutes later, he started to explain: “In a neighboring town, unfortunately, two girls were killed in a hit-and-run crash,” he said. “There has been a lot of misinformation going on over the internet. But I will say this: I wish my sincerest condolences to those girls, lost in that tragic accident.” He then said that he was “not authorized to talk about the whole thing,” and moved on.

No shit.

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Gravel Bike California goes riding with current gravel world champ and Paris-Roubaix winner Mathieu Van Der Poel.

Lucky bastards.

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

Life is cheap in Ukraine, where a 44-year old motorist was sentenced to a lousy 30 days behind bars for beating a Kyiv bicyclist unconscious, after the rider complained about his parking in a bike lane. Then again, they do have other things to worry about over there. 

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

A Singapore man riding an ebike killed an 88-year old woman by crashing into her as she walked in the street.

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Local 

Pasadena students are encouraged to walk, bike or roll to school on this Wednesday for National Walk and Roll to School Day.

 

State

A 70-year old man suffered serious injuries when he allegedly turned left in front of a pickup driver while riding his bike in San Diego’s Midway neighborhood.

A San Diego bike rider reportedly suffered a compound leg fracture when he was struck by a light rail trolley east of the Santa Fe Depot.

A 36-year old woman was busted for allegedly driving under the influence of both alcohol and drugs for causing major injuries when she crashed into a 13-year old boy in Victorville.

Nearly 600 Palo Alto bicyclists rode to a local elementary school yesterday to promote safe rides to school and a more bicycle-friendly city.

 

National

A new 12-month randomized trial showed that fast bicycling can slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease.

NPR talks with retired US Ambassador to Ukraine George Kent about his cross-country bike ride to raise awareness and funds for the country’s war effort.

Police in Odessa, Texas arrested a man for beating a bike rider with a crowbar to steal his mountain bike.

Pittsburgh bike riders rode through the city to raise funds for local playgrounds in honor of an FBI agent killed in the line of duty in 1994.

A Hornell, New York man known locally as The Bikeman was honored as the city’s citizen of the year for donating 400 refurbished bikes so kids in need can ride; he’s donated 1,540 rebuilt bicycles over the past four years.

The witches are riding once again in Florida’s Delray Beach at the end of this month.

 

International

Results of a survey published in the journal Human Reproduction show that riding a bike with a padded saddle could reduce your chances of becoming a father, showing up to a 25% lower chance of getting a partner pregnant; riding a hard road saddle didn’t appear to have any effect. Which could cause a rush on padded bike seats among single straight men. 

Cycling Weekly says sometimes you’re better off not knowing about damage to your bike, suggesting willful ignorance for a stress-free ride, at least until something falls off or it stops working.

Cycling Weekly also recommends the best front and rear bike lights.

Momentum recommends “20 of the best under-the-radar cycling routes on the planet.” Because bicycling routes off the planet are just too hard to get to.

Bicycling and motorists groups each blamed the other for jumping a temporary red light in Oxfordshire, England, and who caused the greatest danger doing it. I know which one would get my vote.

London’s famed “Boris Bikes” bikeshare celebrated 15 years on the city’s streets with a photo contest, drawing photos showing the bikes at a wedding in Chelsea, a Coronation street party, St Paul’s Cathedral and a Regent’s Park sunset, among others.

A Welsh man ran a half marathon to raise the equivalent of nearly $27,000 for the air ambulance service that saved his life after he rode his mountain bike off a 70-foot cliff.

CNN talks with an English father and son who became TikTok stars after setting out to bike around the world, catching up to them on an off day in China.

Colnago teamed with Ferrari to build a $33,500 carbon-kevlar composite monocoque bike in the late ’80s. Or two, actually.

It’s happened again. A 22-year old British man was arrested for the alleged drunken crash that killed a 38-year old woman riding her ebike, then driving another eight blocks with her body embedded in his windshield before she finally fell out.

 

Competitive Cycling

European cycling teams tried once again, and failed, to beat Tadej Pogačar, as he soloed to victory in the European road championships with a 46-mile breakaway; Jonas Vingegaard was accused of not taking the race seriously enough by waiting too long to respond to Pogačar’s attack.

The bull has once again showed his horns, as 21-year old Mexican cyclist Issac Del Toro outsprinted Britain’s Tom Pidcock to win Italy’s 108th Giro dell’Emilia classic.

Noway’s Alexander Kristoff fell one short of 100 career wins before retiring, after injuries forced him to withdraw from Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi when he crashed on the seventh stage.

 

Finally…

Nothing like bunny hopping all the way up the Eiffel Tower, one step at a time. Your next bicycle could measure just 3.34 inches — and yes, it’s fully functional.

And it’s probably not the best idea to get caught up in the middle of a grizzly bear chasing a herd of bighorn sheep.

……… 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

More on unsafe 6th Street Viaduct bike lanes, missing South Bay bike lanes amid climate crisis, and the joy of bike riding

July 19, 2022 / / Comments Off on More on unsafe 6th Street Viaduct bike lanes, missing South Bay bike lanes amid climate crisis, and the joy of bike riding

Hats off to LAist for exploring the “now you se ’em, now you don’t” bike lanes on the nifty new $600 million 6th Street Viaduct.

Okay, just a mere $588 million.

Which surely could have bought better bike lanes than these.

As you’ll recall, the bridge, which pays homage to the classic but crumbling 1930s original, was built with a safe, barrier-protected walkway. And unsafe, Class IV semi-protected bike lanes on the other side of the barrier, protected only by easy-to-drive-over rubber curbs with big, squishy white bollards on bendy posts that wouldn’t stop anything.

Apparently, that was intentional.

LADOT was tasked with striping the pavement on the bridge and also worked with the construction contractor on the design and installation of the bike lanes, according to spokesperson Colin Sweeney. He said the decision to place the bike lanes outside the concrete walls that protect the pedestrian walkways came from Caltrans.

“Since there are no shoulders on the viaduct, Caltrans requested that the bike lanes be ‘permeable’ to act as an emergency lane,” Sweeney told LAist, saying the bike lanes offer “the highest level of protection that could be accommodated by the width of the bridge while also allowing emergency vehicles to enter if needed.”

Never mind that it’s also permeable for out-of-control truckers and distracted drivers, who will only feel a little jolt before slamming into someone on a bicycle.

And never mind the east end of the bridge, where’s there’s no protection at all — forcing riders to mix it up with usually speeding, and too often uncaring motorists.

Let alone the lack of safe connections leading to or from the bridge.

To call it a fail from a bike rider’s perspective is a massive understatement. Like maybe a $588 million understatement.

But this quote from the story sums the sad situation up as well as anything else.

Twitter post

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Never mind the iffy bike lanes.

It was nice of Caltrans and the 6th Street Viaduct designers to include these nifty viewing grandstands for the inevitable burnouts and sideshows.

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What if they threw a climate crisis and nobody came?

Or cared.

Bad Mom, Good Mom takes a deep dive into the confluence of the ambitious South Bay Bicycle Master Plan and global atmospheric CO2 levels, which were 392 ppm when the plan was adopted in 2011.

And now stand 36 ppm higher.

Yet just like LA’s bike and mobility plans, the South Bay plan has been largely forgotten by the cities it was supposed to save, and has now been downgraded even further with a Local Traffic Network replacing the promised bike lanes, as CO2 levels — and the risk to bike riders — continue to climb.

Many of them children on their way to school, as the piece points out. Kids who should have had a safe route there by now.

But now won’t. And won’t have cleaner air to breathe.

Or a livable planet to do it on.

Go ahead and read the whole piece. We’ll wait.

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The best piece you’ll read today comes from a reporter for NPR, who manages to capture the sheer peace and joy of riding a bicycle better than I’ve ever done.

As well as the inherent contradiction of being a serious cyclist when riding is so much fun.

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

No bias here. Someone asks about a large group of bike riders in downtown Santa Barbara, and the online conversation quickly devolves into accusations of wealthy white recreational bike riders running stop signs. Sort of like any other online discussion of bikes.

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

The man who infamously rode his bicycle down the aisle to loot a San Francisco drug store has been arrested for shoplifting again, after serving just half of a 16 month sentence.

A 28-year old Toronto woman faces carjacking charges for allegedly riding up to a car on a bicycle, before pulling out the 70-year old woman driving and taking off with her car.

An Aussie bike rider is accused of repeatedly hitting a woman he says cut him off with her car; police say there’s nothing they can do without knowing who he is. Unfortunately, video of the incident doesn’t appear to work in this country.

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Local

CicLAvia is teaming with Motional to host a free panel discussion titled Talking Innovation and Safe Streets at the LA Cleantech Incubator tomorrow evening.

A bicyclist was hospitalized in unknown condition after being struck by a driver in Canyon Country Monday afternoon.

 

State 

San Diego’s Rouleur Brewing Company will donate all the proceeds from the sale of their new hazy New England-style IPA to the Moriah Wilson Foundation in honor of the late cyclist.

A pair of Twentynine Palms residents suffered serious injuries when the bicycle they were sharing was struck by a hit-and-run driver Saturday night.

 

National

Livestrong recommends their picks for the best bike mirrors, which aren’t just for old guys on ‘bents anymore.

Bicycling recommend the best rear bike lights you can buy on Amazon. Although these are pretty damn good for just 13 bucks and change, too. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Triathlete offers advice on how to make your pedals go round more efficiently.

Evidently, city officials in Pueblo, Colorado don’t think there’s room in the planned 20-foot wide sidewalks on each side of a redesigned street to make space for the existing 5-foot wide bike lanes.

Wyoming considers charging mountain bike user fees to fund essential trail work.

A Chico, California woman was the victim of a predatory attack by a food-conditioned grizzly bear last year along the banks of Montana’s Blackfoot River, made famous by A River Runs Through It.

An Iowa man will spend up to ten years behind bars for killing a bike rider in South Dakota while driving under the influence; he claims he never saw the victim, who was riding in broad daylight wearing high-vis with a flashing red taillight.

Spectrum News 1 discovers the volunteer-driven ghost bike project in Austin, Texas to memorialize people killed riding bicycles in Central Texas.

Thirteen fraternity members from my alma mater are riding 3,400 miles across the US to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research. So far they’ve raised $96,000 of the $150,000 goal, according to the story, although their website shows just half of that.

Once again, a bicyclist on a cross-country tour has been killed. A rider with a group riding to California from Savannah, Georgia died in an apparent collision outside Norman, Oklahoma. Although the only mention of a driver was to say they weren’t at fault.

Lonely Planet recommends the seven best bike rides if you ever find yourself riding on Cape Cod.

 

International

An 80-year old Edmonton, Alberta man is riding his ebike over 8,000 miles from Alaska to Panama City, accompanied by his relatively youthful 69-year old friend.

Toronto bicyclists took over the city’s High Park, riding laps around the roadway to protest police targeting bike riders breaking the low 12 mph speed limit.

James Corden, host of The Late Late Show, was in a heated altercation with another London bike rider who cut across his path and caused Corden to come off his bike, narrowly avoiding falling in front of traffic. However, the other guy did apologize.

A London newspaper offers advice on riding in the city’s current 100° heatwave. All of which you could probably come up with yourself with a little thought.

Finishing our London trifecta, bicycling rates are up 25% in the city over pre-pandemic levels.

Students at a Kochi, India high school have formed a 150-member bicycle brigade to promote bicycling to city residents and cut traffic to the school.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgium’s Yves Lampaert was left fuming after losing a chunk of flesh from his leg when a dog wandered in front of the peloton during Friday’s 12th stage of the Tour de France; no word on whether the dog was injured.

https://twitter.com/cyclingtips/status/1547914174411317251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1547914174411317251%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news.com.au%2Fsport%2Fcycling%2Frider-still-furious-after-tour-de-france-dog-crash-chaos%2Fnews-story%2F5590e5ddf90e496988adf4f9758b4f22

Welsh cyclist Owain Doull hit the pavement after riding over a stray water bottle in Sunday’s 15th stage.

Cycling News looks back on how the Tour overcame man-eating bears and walls of snow to conquer the Pyrenees.

Rapha offers a short film examining the brother and sister duos anchoring the L39ion of Los Angeles cycling team.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re looking for a big, heavy bike trailer with a hard to use brake. Uncool bicycling accessories due for a comeback.

And this is why the pros are in the Tour de France, and you’re not.

Although in my case, I’m just too damn old and falling apart.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Blaming deadly streets, LA council considers Healthy Streets plan, and stoned driver injures mother and child

May 26, 2022 / / Comments Off on Blaming deadly streets, LA council considers Healthy Streets plan, and stoned driver injures mother and child

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.

I’m still dealing with what my doctors insist is a form of neurological migraine, even though it hasn’t responded to treatment.

Most nights I struggle to work through it; last Tuesday I couldn’t. My head had me down for the count, and every attempt to rally ended in failure.

I’d like to say it won’t happen again.

But it probably will, until they finally get this damn thing figured out.

Graphic by tomexploresla.

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Let’s start with this piece from NPR.

The public radio network looks at the recent bike boom, and the unfortunate boom in bicycling deaths that accompanied it. Along with the role played by deadly streets designed for maximum automotive throughput.

Take this brief quote, for instance.

Improving urban transportation safety for all users starts with putting cyclists, pedestrians and those using scooters, e-bikes and other alternative mobility modes on a level playing field with car and truck drivers, says P.S. Sriraj, director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois – Chicago.

“There is this lack of awareness about sharing the road between different modes, between motorists and bicyclists,” he says.

“The U.S. has this perception about modes other than automobiles being inferior and that needs to be addressed right from the get go,” Sriraj adds.

It’s worth a few minutes out of your day to read the whole thing.

Thanks to Lionel Mares for the heads-up.

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It looks like the Healthy Streets LA ballot measure is making an impact at city hall.

Los Angeles Council President Nury Martinez has joined with four other council members to introduce a measure to implement the city’s long-ignored mobility plan while performing unrelated street resurfacing and slurry seal projects.

The proposal, also backed by councilmembers Monica Rodriguez, Kevin de León, Curren Price and Marqueece Harris-Dawson, requires the city attorney to draft an ordinance based on the Healthy Streets LA initiative.

It’s just as notable, however, for who didn’t sign on, including pseudo-environmentalist Paul Koretz, “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, and Hollywood councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, among others.

While the ordinance would be a big step forward, it could be subject to change down the road, and likely could be overridden by a vote of the council, unlike the ballot measure.

Depending on how it’s written, it could also be weaker than the ballot measure, which would require implementation of the mobility plan, rather that just recommending it.

However, it would also avoid a long, difficult and expensive campaign for passage of the Healthy Streets proposal, with no guarantee it would win.

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What’s worse than an out of control elderly driver?

A stoned one.

A San Diego mother and her child learned that the hard way, when a 78-year old alleged drugged driver slammed into their bikes at 11th Street and Fern Ave Tuesday evening.

Fortunately, their injuries where not life-threatening. The mother was hospitalized with serious injuries, while the child, who was not identified, suffered minor injuries.

The unidentified driver was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.

Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive. And why can’t we manage to keep impaired drivers the hell off the road.

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Police believe Kaitlin Marie Armstrong, the alleged killer of top gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson, flew to Houston before catching a flight to New York.

Armstrong reportedly shot Wilson multiple times, believing she was involved with Armstrong’s boyfriend, cyclist Colin Strickland, who Wilson had briefly dated when the couple were on a break.

Armstrong is 5′ 8″ tall and weighs around 125 pounds. Anyone with information is urged to call the US Marshals Service at 1-800/336-0102.

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LADOT has made safety improvements to deadly Foothill Blvd.

Although I suspect most bike riders would prefer to see the bollards on the other side of the bike lane.

Twitter post

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The rich get richer.

Long Beach continues to lead the way in the LA area by building out an actual bike network.

Twitter post

Speaking of Los Beach, the city will host a Pride Ride tomorrow evening.

https://twitter.com/CenterLB/status/1528835863513288705

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Pico Rivera is getting a new bike lane, too.

Even if it is just a short strip of paint.

https://twitter.com/ayruem2/status/1528924673248858113

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As former New York DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said, first they fight to stop it, then they fight to keep it.

Twitter post

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

No bias here. After a Macon, Georgia bike rider was right hooked by the driver of a logging truck, the local press blames him for riding into the truck’s rear tires.

After Welsh police sent a warning letter to a van driver about an overly close pass of a bike rider, the driver posted the letter on Facebook and bragged about getting away with it.

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Local

Pasadena police will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation tomorrow, ticketing any violations that put bike riders or pedestrians at risk, regardless of who commits them. So ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

Colorado Boulevard recaps the recent 626 Golden Streets open streets event on the first of this month.

Santa Clarita’s Bike Week celebration took 400 car commuter days off the roads.

 

State 

San Diego advocates are calling on the mayor to improve safety by doubling funding for quick-build bikeways, while the mayor calls for “sexy streets,” a plan to repave 54 miles of major roadways while adding bike lanes and improved sidewalks.

No surprise here. San Diego spent over $68,000 to stripe advisory bike lanes on a Mira Mesa street, then rip them out just days later.

Intense has opened a new assembly plan in Temecula, allowing the mountain bikemaker to streamline operations while giving it greater flexibility.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Montecito, went for a bike ride with a friend from the old country, where he used to be a royal.

Sad news from Fresno, where a 73-year old man was killed by a driver while riding his bike in a crosswalk; Fresno bike riders say they fear for their safety after a recent string of fatal crashes.

Alameda will decide whether the safety of people on bicycles is more important than convenient parking spaces.

More sad news, this time from ostensibly bike-friendly Davis, where a UC Davis student was killed when she was struck by the driver of a garbage truck while riding her bike — even though the story doesn’t even mention that the truck had one. Megan Lynch, who came upon the crash scene shortly after the collision, says Davis “should NOT be Platinum level year after year without serious work on accessibility, and serious enforcement around car-centrist vandalism and car violence.”

 

National

Cycling News looks at the Memorial Day bike sales to help you find the best deal. But before you buy anything online or from a chain store, check with your local bike shop to see what they have to offer, including better service.

A new white paper from Portland State University considers how to make ebike incentive programs more effective.

Portland and Denver have halted wasteful freeway expansions. Let’s hope LA Metro follows their example at today’s board meeting.

A Denver TV station declares the great bicycle shortage is over, as bike shops are rebuilding their inventory, although prices are still up.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. Days after an alleged drunk driver drove onto a new bike path next to an Iowa highway, killing one person and injuring two others, officials installed a temporary barrier to keep cars out while they decide on a permanent solution.

Guardian Bikes, a fast-growing startup backed by Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban, is building a highly automated manufacturing plant in Seymour, Indiana to overcome supply chain problems inherent in Chinese manufacturing.

Pittsburgh is using complex metrics to design safer streets for bike riders and pedestrians exactly when and where they’re needed.

The best places to ride your bike on your next trip to Cape Cod.

A Boston college student has developed a one-pound backpack for bike riders that automatically inflates into an upper body airbag in the event of a crash.

 

International

Mark your calendar for the 5th annual World Bicycle Day one week from tomorrow.

No surprise here. A new European study confirmed that protected bike lanes help close the bicycling gender gap, with more women willing to ride on safer bike lanes. And no, that does not include bike lanes protected by LADOT’s flimsy plastic car ticklers.

Get a new ebike for less than the equivalent of $1,200 from German grocery chain Aldi this week. But not, sadly, in the US.

You can now borrow an e-cargo bike to transport bulky waste or reusable items to a Rotterdam environmental park.

The New York Times takes multi-day ride from Italy to Croatia.

An Aussie driver will spend the next four years behind bars for killing a respected Adelaide doctor as he was riding his bike; the driver was under the influence of a cocktail of illicit drugs, including meth, ecstasy, coke and weed.

 

Competitive Cycling

Still more bad news, as former pro cyclist Jaime Alberto Restrepo was shot and killed Monday in Antioquia, Colombia; the 25-year old Columbian was targeted by two men on a motorcycle, one of whom was arrested.

The Giro remains incredibly tight, with Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz maintaining a slim three second lead over Australian Jai Hindley with just four stages to go.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you need a massive $75,000 pickup with a three-quarter ton payload just to drive down the street for a cappuccino. When you’re carrying meth, coke and a crack pipe on your bike, put a damn light on it. The bike, that is, not the crack pipe.

And if you’re going to make your getaway from the cops on a bicycle, don’t choose an uphill route.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

The racist history of LA’s 10 Freeway, the real cost of traffic violence, and no, bicycles aren’t the new cars

May 5, 2021 / / 4 comments

It’s Cinco de Mayo, when Americans celebrate by pretending to be Mexican by acting like drunken gabachos. 

And too often, getting behind the wheel afterwards. 

It’s also one of the few days when I refuse to ride or walk extended distances. Or even get in a car if I can avoid it. 

Which is a long-winded way of saying be careful if you’re going to ride today, and assume every driver on the road has been drinking. 

Because you probably won’t be too far off. 

Photo by Sabel Blanco from Pexels.

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NPR offers a heartbreaking and infuriating story about the racist history of LA’s 10 Freeway, and the prosperous, tight knit Black neighborhood that was destroyed to build it.

Unfortunately, I can’t embed the audio. But take a few minutes to listen to it, or at least read the transcript.

Because it makes painfully clear just how much we’ve sacrificed on the altar of the automobile.

And it’s a story that was repeated in virtually every major city in the US, where it’s almost always communities of color that pay the price.

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This is the cost of traffic violence.

A Minneapolis woman wrote a heartbreaking Twitter thread about the death of her husband when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike home from work.

Twitter post

Then there’s this.

Twitter post

And it’s not just her. Virtually anyone who’s lost someone like that will recognize themselves in her words.

So take a moment to click on that top tweet, and read the whole thread.

Then do whatever you can to to make sure it never happens to anyone else.

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On a related note, Streetsblog explains what traffic violence means.

And why that’s the right term for it.

Meanwhile, in a powerful piece for The Atlantic, an Atlanta writer says despite what we may believe, we can’t control what happens on the road. And uses his personal experiences behind the wheel to explain why we should all be more afraid of driving.

If you can read it without catch in your throat and a tear in your eye, you’re a stronger person than I am.

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A fashion, beauty and culture site asks if bicycles are the new cars, examining the sustainable reasons some people are making the switch.

Short answer, no.

Longer answer, unlike motor vehicles, bicycles cause no harm to the environment and our cities, and pose little risk to the people around them. So maybe we’d all be better off if cars aspired to be more like bicycles.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

No bias here. A grand jury is targeting an award-winning Monterey bike path project, calling it a “bike path to nowhere,” even though it was completed completed below budget and local businesses and residents were kept informed by a thorough public process.

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Local

Metro celebrates Bike Month by offering a month of Metro Bike bikeshare for just a buck, and a chance to win a year of Metro Bike.

The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition is kicking off Bike Month with a month-long series of virtual rides.

The owner of West Hollywood’s Bikes and Hikes LA / Bike Shop LA complained to the sheriffs department after someone walked off with a new BMX bike without paying for it.

 

State

Streets For All asks for your support for AB 53, which would weaken the deadly 85th Percentile Law by allowing cities to lower speed limits on streets with high injury and fatality rates, and ensure they won’t have to raise speed limits in order to enforce them.

Chula Vista officially opened the new Sweetwater Bicycle Path and Promenade on Tuesday.

Chino police have scheduled a bike and pedestrian safety crackdown for next Monday. The usual protocol applies, so ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

San Luis Obispo is starting work on a $2.5 million, 1.7-mile neighborhood greenway — aka bike boulevard — connecting Cal Poly SLU with Downtown.

A Turlock man faces charges of hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter for fleeing the scene after running down a 50-year old bike-riding man, who died after he was removed from life support; the coward behind the wheel was captured after crashing his truck trying to escape from witnesses who tried to stop him.

A 36-year old man was sentenced to 15 years to life after pleading guilty to murder for the drunk driving crash that killed a Modesto police officer riding his bicycle, while driving at four times the legal alcohol limit; he had a previous DUI conviction from 2014 that legally justified the murder charge.

 

National

Schwinn is sponsoring an LGBTQ+ advocate on a 363-mile bikepacking trip to promote the need for inclusivity in the outdoor industry.

Conde Nast Traveler recommends the best bike saddle bags for your next expedition.

No wonder he moved there. My bike tourist brother’s new western Colorado hometown is marking its mountain biking roots with a new housing development featuring street names like Singletrack, Yeti and Pivot.

That’s more like it. A newly signed Colorado law puts people and safety first on the state’s main streets.

An allegedly drunk 24-year old Texas woman and the bar that helped her get that way face a $20 million lawsuit for the death of a mother of two, who was killed when the driver jumped a curb and slammed into the victim’s bicycle. Sadiy, lawsuits like that are prohibited under California law, which states that a bar or host can’t be held responsible for the actions of people who got drunk there.

Tragic news from Moline, Illinois where a cop is on administrative leave after killing a 13-year old boy riding a bike while responding to a call in his squad car; no word on whether he was using lights and sirens at the time of the crash.

Police in Buffalo NY are looking for a 73-year old man who disappeared on a bike ride.

Baltimore attorney Barry Glazer successfully bid the equivalent of over $61,000 for Princess Diana’s “shame” bike so he could display it to call attention to “the British Royal Family’s basic racist roots” and colonial past. It was dubbed the “shame” bike after the royal household informed her it was not a suitable form of transport for a future member of the Royal Family. Which should have tipped her off right then to run like hell while she still could.

A Maryland man marked the pandemic by fixing donated bicycles, then giving them away for free at a local park to anyone who needs one.

Miami police busted a killer driver who fled the scene in his Maserati after fatally rear-ending a man on a bicycle.

 

International

Taking a page from the Bike League, Canada’s non-profit Share the Road Cycling Coalition and the Canadian Automobile Association are teaming to name the country’s Bicycle Friendly Communities.

This, too, is the cost of traffic violence. A viola soloist who played with the Paris National Opera for 36 years was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike. At least we can assume there was a driver, since the story doesn’t mention one. Or a car, for that matter.

Finnish police have uncovered a thriving black market trade in secondhand bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin’s Jumbo-Visma team is unsure whether he will ever return to the sport, after walking away last year due to stress and not being sure whether he even wanted to keep riding.

Bicycling profiles Josie Fouts, who started racing on a whim despite being born with just one hand. And now is aiming for the Paralympics. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

Forget fantasy football, Cycling Tips invites you to participate in a Giro fantasy competition.

 

Finally…

Throwing it at a parked car during an excuse is not one of the approved used for a bicycle. Nothing like being banned by the Duke of Devonshire.

And apparently, Trevor Noah knows nuts when he sees it.

https://twitter.com/Trevornoah/status/1389364697464557569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1389364697464557569%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Findianexpress.com%2Farticle%2Ftrending%2Ftrending-globally%2Fno-vaccine-for-crazy-video-of-man-riding-a-bike-over-a-bridges-arch-goes-viral-7301655%2F

 

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

And get vaccinated, already.

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