June 30, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 74-year old road bicyclist killed in apparent solo fall near Ojai; first Ventura County bicycling death this year
This is now how we wanted to start the holiday weekend.
According to the Ventura County Star, an older man was killed in an apparent solo fall while riding a road bike near Ojai Friday morning.
The victim, identified as 74-year old Ojai resident Michael A. Chambliss, was riding east on Rancho Drive west of Del Norte Road, just west of the Ojai city limits, shortly before 10:45 am when he somehow lost control of his Bianchi Infinito, and fell to the street.
He was taken to an Ojai hospital after paramedics attempted to revive him, where he died sometime later.
February 9, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on New USDOT head wants agency to think small, just moving money around won’t cut it, and a call to keep Ojai bike lanes
On ways the pandemic has changed transportation forever, Buttigieg said his department will be thinking more “micro”: “We think trains, planes and automobiles. But what about bikes, scooters — wheelchairs, for that matter? And getting around in a way that’s a little closer to home.”
Buttigieg goes on to add that roads aren’t just for motor vehicles, and calls out the need for pedestrians, individuals, bicycles and businesses to co-exist on the same roads.
So under the circumstances, maybe we can forgive him for the hopefully inadvertent implication that people on bikes somehow aren’t individuals.
Our organizations believe that putting advocacy efforts behind creating new agencies or interagency committees would be a cosmetic change no more meaningful than a bike sharrow painted on a four-lane 45mph road. At worst, it would take energy away from real change by creating a positive talking point when we should be creating a transformational approach to transportation. The urgency of the crises before us require more from us than “checking a box” and potentially undermining the very change we are seeking.
Instead, they say nothing less than a complete shift in emphasis to a Complete Streets approach and a radical reconsideration of how we get around will meet the moment.
For Americans to feel this change on the ground, advocates for active transportation, the environment, and equity need to look beyond retrofitting mistakes that make our roads unsafe for those outside of a car, more polluting, and less of a means of access to opportunity. While seeking a separate Active Transportation Administration (or a mobility or research agency) may sound like an innovative idea, we firmly believe that exiling non-drivers off to the jurisdiction of a separate administration will not create safe, convenient, and just mobility for people of all travel modes across the transportation system. We need to look at system-wide policy and spending changes that help address the bigger issues of safety, racial equity and climate change. We will be working with our partners to push the Biden administration and the 117th Congress to do just that.
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An Ojai bike shop calls for support for the new bike lanes on Maricopa Highway before tomorrow’s city council meeting.
Even though we usually have the perfect weather for it, unlike most of the places that celebrate it every year.
So mark it with your own pre-weekend ride to work, school, or wherever you have to go. Or just ride nowhere in particular, if that works better for you.
And drop a line to Metro and your local elected leaders to ask why we’re not doing more to promote year-round bike commuting right here.
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A woman from the UK writes a Twitter thread on how she went from anti-cyclist to a joyful one.
And offers some insights on how to get more women on bikes — and how not to.
Orange resident Diana Rodriguez pled not guilty to three felony counts for allegedly using her car as a weapon to deliberately run down her boyfriend as he was riding away on his bike; she also faces a pair of sentencing enhancements, as well as misdemeanor drug charges. A neighbor had to use a jack to get the car off him. Something tells me they may not be spending Valentines Day together this year.
How to choose and install bike fenders for wet weather rides. Good advice for what passes for winter in Los Angeles, where all you have to worry about is getting a little wet. You can read the story on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out.
Mardi Gras may be cancelled this year, but you can’t stop the spirit, as New Orleanians decorated their homes instead of floats to mark the day, making for an ideal self-guided bike tour.
British cyclist Tom Pidcock set tongues wagging with a remarkable time of 13:25 for a 5k run during an off-bike training session, just five seconds off the British record and 50 seconds off the world record; he plans to repeat the run later in the week to confirm his time after it was challenged by several runners and triathletes.
Update: The victim has been identified as 78-year old Ojai resident Marion Weil, who deserved better. The driver is identified only as a 40-year old Ojai man.
Anyone with information is urged to call Ventura County Sheriff’s Department Sr. Traffic Investigator Shawn Holzberger at 805/388-5146.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Marion Weil and all her loved ones.
