Tag Archive for PCH

PCH widening will put bikes in door zone, support urged for CA bike/ped safety bills, and Branson lied about biking to launch

July 14, 2021 / / Comments Off on PCH widening will put bikes in door zone, support urged for CA bike/ped safety bills, and Branson lied about biking to launch

Nothing like sacrificing bike safety on the altar of parking that hasn’t even been built yet.

Malibu is finally getting around to widening a two-mile stretch of deadly PCH between Webb Way and Puerco Canyon Road to improve safety for people on bicycles.

Except instead of adding bike lanes, they’re merely widening the shoulder so there’s room to add parking, while allowing bikes to share the space on the side of the roadway with the new parked cars.

Which means instead of dodging cars in the traffic lanes, bicyclists will now have to dodge swinging doors from parked cars. And risk getting knocked into those traffic lanes in front of speeding drivers if they don’t.

So if you ride the coast highway, tell everyone you know to tune into Monday’s virtual meeting of the Malibu Planning Commission.

And tell them to go back to the drawing board.

………

Streets For All has made a number of calls to urge support for important transportation safety bills in the state legislature in recent days.

Unfortunately, most have come too late to repeat here, with the deadline for comments coming before you’d likely have a chance to see it and respond.

However, this one is different.

The LA traffic safety PAC is urging you to send an email before 4 pm today to support a pair of common sense bills allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and eliminating the state’s blanket prohibition on jaywalking.

Two bills to make our streets safer and friendlier for walking and biking have passed the Senate Transportation Committee and will soon be voted on by the Senate Appropriations Committee:

  • AB 122 would legalize the safety stop, allowing people on bikes to yield at stop signs. Eight states and a number of local jurisdictions have already taken this measure, and research has shown a reduction in bicycle injuries of up to 23% as a result.
  • AB 1238 would replace the archaic ban on “jaywalking” with common sense rules for crossing the street. Today’s laws are used as a pretext for racial profiling and originated from auto industry pressure and corruption.

Both of these bills are important for democratizing our street space. It is time for the rules of the road to reflect the needs of different users, rather than just motorists.

Please use our template below to email a comment to the Appropriations Committee by 4 PM on Wednesday, July 14. Feel free to add your own message, and remember to enter your name and address at the bottom for your comment to be considered.

Streets For All offers an email template you can modify and send to show your support for the bills, with the correct email addresses already included.

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Speaking of Streets For All, Joe Linton politely pointed out that I got the date wrong, and the group’s Zoom happy hour with UCLA parking expert and professor emeritus Donald Shoup is from 5 to 6 pm this evening, rather than last night.

Confirming once again that I have no idea what the hell day it is any more.

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That bike commute billionaire Richard Branson took to get to Sunday’s maiden launch of his Virgin Galactic flight into space?

Never happened.

According to Reuters, an anonymous company official admitted it was all a publicity stunt, and the famous ride was actually staged nearly a week before the brief flight.

Never mind that the faked video was supposed to form the basis for a cross-promotion with Trek, which will now be left looking like fools if they use it as originally planned.

Next they’ll probably tell us the flight was staged, too.

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This is who we share the road with.

A Seattle bike rider was confronted by a road-raging driver, apparently for the crime of not confronting him when the motorist made a dangerous and illegal turn to go the wrong way on a traffic circle, and the rider just shook his head and went around him.

Then this —

It’s worth clicking on the tweets to read the whole tread, because most of us have been in similar situations with angry drivers.

And if you haven’t yet, chances are you will.

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That feeling when an Austin, Texas bike lane is just a feeder route for Pennywise the Clown.

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Oh, nothing. Just someone riding a bike one handed, with a bag suspended on his handlebars and a sofa on his head.

@albeezyyyyyy

One man moving company

♬ original sound – @bloutbert

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

There’s a special place in hell for a St. Louis hit-and-run driver who murdered two people at once when he ran down a 19-year old woman riding her bike home from work, despite being six months pregnant.

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

A California appeals court upheld the 16-year sentence for a man who calmly rode off on his bicycle after fatally stabbing an acquaintance in a South LA parking lot.

An Ohio man was shot by police when he pulled a knife on a cop, after he was stopped for carrying a baseball bat on his bike in an early morning incident.

New York police are looking for a Brooklyn bike rider who groped a woman’s ass as she walked on a sidewalk, then yanked down her top, exposing her breasts, before riding off. But at least the cops managed to get a damn good security cam image of the schmuck’s face before he disappeared.

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Local

The Bike Shop offers a look at last month’s Culver City Pride Ride.

Streetsblog looks at some of the 31 grants made to SoCal cities and groups as part of SCAG’s Go Human campaign, focusing on three in the San Gabriel Valley.

 

State

This is who we share the road with. A San Diego driver crashed his car not once, not twice, but thrice in just a few blocks while allegedly driving under the influence of…something.

Seriously? At least some San Diego residents are complaining that a new coastal bike path is too wide, arguing that it’s designed more like a highway.

Kern County advocacy group Bike Bakersfield offers tips for riding in hot summer weather. Which is something we’re all going to have to get used to.

San Luis Obispo has a shiny new protected intersection, the city’s first. But needless to say, some drivers find it confusing.

Participants in this year’s Pedal the Pacific campaign stop in Santa Cruz on their 1,700-mile ride down the Left Coast to call attention to sex trafficking. Note to Santa Cruz Sentinel — Just because a group of young women are riding together, a cycling team that does not make.

A Bay Area TV station explains what a bicycle superhighway is, as plans move forward for one in Santa Clara County.

Forbes tests Brompton’s new ebike foldie on the hills of San Francisco.

Sad news from Merced, where a 64-year old Ventura County man is under arrest for the hit-and-run death of a 22-year old man after rear-ending his bicycle. Note to cowards — If you’re going to run after a fatal crash, take your damn license plate with you. Or better yet, don’t.

 

National

Axios demonstrates a keen grasp of the obvious, observing that the US has a lot to learn from Europe when it comes to bike friendly cities.

While bikemakers everywhere are struggling to get the parts they need during the pandemic bike boom, Seattle-based ebike maker Rad Power has cut 50 days off the supply chain simply by shifting overseas deliveries to a different port that isn’t so backed up.

A Colorado woman is on trial for murder after shooting an alleged meth-using man who had threatened her after she threw his bicycles and drug paraphernalia into the trash.

A San Antonio, Texas bike ride will stop at a pair of the city’s murals promoting vaccinations to call attention to the need to get your shot to fight Covid-19. And yes, that means you.

Kindhearted Pittsburgh firefighters made a little kid’s day by doing a little repair work after he flagged them over to fix the broken training wheels on his bike.

New York Streetsblog complains that the city’s Department of Transportation doesn’t care that a protected bike lane is being blocked by construction work.

 

International

London’s Independent recommends gear for people inspired to ride by the Tour de France.

Here’s your chance to own Princess Diana’s childhood chopper bicycle, if you have a spare thirty to forty grand lying around.

The 72-year old aide on the British version of The Apprentice will be off the show for the foreseeable future after falling off his ebike, and undergoing a number of surgeries due to the “horrific” crash.

 

Competitive Cycling

By the time you read this, Tadej Pogačar will be deeply engaged in defending his yellow jersey in the penultimate mountain top Pyrénées finish in the Tour de France, offering competitors just two more chances to realistically deny him a second straight title.

Pogačar is expressing his confusion over the “strange” tactics other teams are using, at the same time they’re complaining about his team.

Four-time Tour winner Chris Froome says Pogačar has the race all wrapped up as long as he keeps his bike upright during the final week.

Cycling Weekly fills in the details on Aussie cyclist Lachlan Morton’s solo challenge to beat the peloton into Paris by six days, riding the same routes followed by the Tour de France, plus every mile in between. Morton’s ride has raised nearly half a million dollars for World Bicycle Relief, enough to send 3,110 rugged new bicycles to Africa for people in need. Although Bike Radar seems more concerned with his bikepacking rig.

Rouleur celebrates Marianne Vos’ record 30 stage wins in the Giro d’Italia Donne, which used to be known as the Giro Rosa, and her decade-long domination of women’s cycling.

Three-time world champ Peter Sagan is officially out of the Tokyo Olympics after the Slovak Olympic Committee and Cycling Federation said he won’t recover from recent knee surgery in time to compete.

Outside challenges you to take part in one of their favorite bike races this summer.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the ‘bent bike that drops you looks like a banana. Get a new bike for the price of a canned iced tea — but only if you live north of the border.

And good thing bike riders tend to wear quick drying clothes.

https://twitter.com/london_pco/status/1414635776462180353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1414635776462180353%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-13-july-2021-284799

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

 

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

Two bike riders killed in Malibu collisions on PCH; just two of five fatal crashes on LA’s killer highway in recent weeks

April 18, 2021 / / One comment

My biggest fear when I agreed to surgery on my arm and hand was that someone would lose their life riding a bike, and I wouldn’t be able to write about the victim.

Which is exactly what happened in Malibu.

And not once, but twice.

The first came when three men were crossing Pacific Coast Highway just west of Busch Drive around 10:35 pm on Easter Sunday, one of whom was apparently walking a bicycle.

According to the Malibu Times, the man with the bike was struck and killed by a driver headed west on PCH.

A few moments later, one of his companions was struck and killed by a second driver as he scrambled to collect the victim’s belongings from the roadway.

Both men apparently died at the scene, just minutes apart. According to the paper, there have now been three people killed at the same spot in recent years.

Six days later, another man was killed while riding his bike at PCH and Corral Canyon.

The crash occurred sometime after dark on Saturday, April 10th.

The victim was riding without lights or reflectors when he was run down by a driver headed east on PCH at 51 mph, as recorded on the vehicle’s black box. He was knocked onto the other side of the highway, where he may have been struck by another driver.

There’s no word on whether the victim was riding on PCH or trying to cross the street. There’s also no word on whether the second driver remained at the scene.

Unfortunately, no identification was given for any of the victims, other than the first two men were homeless, while the third may have been.

But they all deserved better.

These are at least the 18th and 19th bicycling fatalities in Southern California this year, and the fourth and fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

They are also just two of at least five people killed on PCH in Malibu since early March, along with another pedestrian and the driver of an SUV who went off the road.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for all the victims and their loved ones.

Thanks to Valley Duke for the heads-up.

 

 

 

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

‘Tis the season to give bikes to kids, LA delivery drivers turn bike lanes into parking, and dangerous PCH rumble strips

December 21, 2020 / / Comments Off on ‘Tis the season to give bikes to kids, LA delivery drivers turn bike lanes into parking, and dangerous PCH rumble strips

It’s the last four days of the 6th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Joel F, Kim D, Carol K, Danielle C, Brian N, Gregory C and John M for their generous donations to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. 

Your support helps keep this site free for everyone, with no access or subscription fees. And no paywalls, popups or premium content. 

Period. 

So don’t wait. Give to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive now!

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‘Tis the season.

Something to smile about in this plague-infected year is the outpouring of bike love we’re seeing, with groups all over the country giving their time, skills and money to make sure countless kids will have a bike under the tree this year.

A group of Ojai organizations donated 42 new and refurbished bicycles, along with helmets and bike locks, to local kids.

A kindhearted Sacramento CHP officer bought a new bike for a young boy after a driver ran over his bike and his family couldn’t afford to buy him a new one; fortunately, the boy wasn’t injured in the crash.

In addition to donating 420 bicycles to local kids, a Boise, Idaho nonprofit is delivering 100 bicycles to a pair of Indian reservations.

A Bozeman, Montana bike shop that refurbishes and resells bicycles most of the year allows kids to come in and pick a free bike every December, giving away 75 to 100 bicycles every year.

A Syracuse NY program gave away a remarkable 2,300 bicycles to kids in need despite the pandemic, while teaching kids to give as well as receive.

Thanks to a donation from a secret Santa, a Pennsylvania nonprofit was able to give 100 bicycles and helmets to kids in need.

Thanks to two Florida men, 25 local kids received newly refurbished bicycles reclaimed from the scrap heap.

A Florida sheriff teamed with a local group to give away 13 refurbished bicycles.

For the fifth year in a row, a retired NFL player is giving over 80 bicycles to kids in need at the Florida high school he attended.

On the other hand, Fayetteville, Arkansas’ annual Bicycle Man giveaway, which normally hands out up to 1,200 bikes each year, was cancelled due to the pandemic.

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What do you call a Los Angeles-area bike lane filled with delivery vehicles?

An illegal parking lot. And dangerous as hell.

https://twitter.com/abikeist/status/1340506670519078913

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An effective new video calls for the removal of dangerous rumble strips along an already dangerous stretch of PCH in Orange County.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0BrKqO9psk&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR16PSLZfEdm2wZQ57M8cV_YuEiD-hvmLB3eMiRmXEfKrFUjZ7kSJapWS-E

A Facebook post from the Riverside Bicycle Club explains the problem in more detail, as well as proposing specific actions to fix it.

Seriously, when will Caltrans finally learn that rumble strips should never be used on any roadway used by bicyclists.

Which is pretty much all of them.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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Maybe there’s hope yet.

https://twitter.com/rufusgifford/status/1340346200671850496

Meanwhile, Bicycling considers what his nomination will mean for people who ride bikes. As usual, you can read the story on Yahoo if you get blocked out of the Bicycling site.

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This is why you should never rely on a cable lock to secure your bike.

Because chances are, there was a bike connected to this that someone is missing now.

It’s also a reminder to register your bike before this happens to you.

Because even the best bike lock can be defeated by a determined thief with the right tools.

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

A London man with a potentially life-threatening condition is suing to remove a bike lane in front of a hospital, claiming that potential congestion could delay his arrival at the hospital, and the removal of parking spaces means that his friend couldn’t park to bring him in. Never mind that his friend could always drop him off, and the bike lane could help countless others improve their health. For that matter, I have a potentially life-threatening condition too, as do countless other people who ride bicycles. 

A British truck driver will spend nearly four years behind bars for killing a bike rider, despite losing his license three months earlier due to diabetes and poor eyesore.

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

A 32-year old man was stabbed by someone on a bicycle in an apparent random attack while he was standing with friends on a bridge in San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood; fortunately, he’s expected to survive.

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Local

This is who we share the bike path with. The LA Times remembers one of the many men and women who live along the banks of the LA River in the shadow of the bike path, who, unlike most, was neither unknown or alone.

 

State

About damn time. A new bill under consideration at the state legislature could provide financial incentives to purchase ebikes, most likely in the form of rebates.

San Dieguito River Park near Del Mar received a $1.39 million grant to fill a gap in the planned 71-mile-long Coast to Crest Trail.

Construction workers lifted an arched bike and pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks in Emeryville.

 

National

Outside considers how much you should spend on a gravel bike, noting that higher cost doesn’t always translate to higher value.

Wired says learn to fix and upgrade your bike instead of buying a new one.

Cycling News looks at their favorite new bike tech of the year.

The Verge considers how to keep the pandemic-inspire bike boom from fizzling out. Which it will, unless our leaders take steps to encourage riding and improve safety.

Consumer Reports explores whether an ebike is right for you, while a writer for Forbes says that’s all she wants for Christmas.

More than a thousand people took part in a virtual bike ride to honor the victims of the Las Vegas bicycle massacre that killed five experienced riders; the Zwift ride raised $15,000 for the victims.

Boston removed the concrete barriers protecting a bike lane, blaming them for causing drivers to crash. Evidently, the barriers must have jumped out in front of people in cars without warning; otherwise, the blame should go to all those people who couldn’t manage to drive safely next to them.

New York’s least bike-friendly newspaper shows a little sympathy for winter bike riders blocked from bike lanes that weren’t plowed after a heavy snowstorm, unlike the streets next to them.

Six people are suing New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare, alleging they were injured when the brakes locked on the ped-assist bikes they were renting, throwing them off their bikes.

 

International

Two English men will spend the rest of their lives behind bars for beating a recent college graduate to death after he pushed a boy off his bike for riding directly at him on a sidewalk.

An English driver continued to claim a bicyclist somehow rode into his truck, despite video showing he plowed right into the young woman who was wrapped in hi-viz bikewear, while making no effort to go around her.

The Scottish bicyclist who nearly got killed on a Texas highway just miles from the end of his round-the-world bike ride has bounced back to have a record-setting year, and announced he’ll return to Texas for a group ride to raise funds for the two hospitals that saved his life. And this time, he’ll have a police escort to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Kenya’s second lady rode 90 miles to mark 100 days since she established the Mama Cycling club to encourage people to become more physically active and call attention to the need to prioritize road safety to protect people on bicycles.

A Manilla op-ed warns about the risk of wearing a face shield when you ride a bike, despite a new nationwide mandate; a Philippine advocacy group doesn’t like the mandate, either.

A Kiwi city became the canvas for a New Zealand man’s bicycle Strava reindeer art.

An Australian judge rejected a truck driver’s claim that he didn’t know he hit and killed a man riding a bicycle because his music was cranked up too loud.

 

Competitive Cycling

The L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team — pronounced Legion — unveiled their roster for the upcoming racing season.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to shoplift a shitload of toys, try not to ride over a police bike making your getaway. Try not to break anyone’s leg when you’re biking under the influence.

And this is just what I feel like on a trainer.

https://twitter.com/deceuninck_qst/status/1339988426830049282

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

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

Breaking news: Man killed in apparent solo bike crash on PCH in Seal Beach

October 2, 2020 / / 3 comments

Southern California’s killer highway has claimed yet another victim.

The Seal Beach Police Department is reporting that a man was found lying in the bike lane on Pacific Coast Highway near Seal Beach Boulevard around 9:17 Wednesday morning.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.

According to the police, he was apparently riding in the bike lane when he hit some unidentified object, and was thrown from his bike.

The article stresses that no other vehicle was involved.

However, without identifying the object he allegedly struck, it’s also possible that the victim could have been sideswiped by a passing driver, or fallen in an attempt to avoid one.

There’s also no word on whether the victim was wearing a helmet, which might have helped in this situation, depending on the speed he was riding. Or it might have been of no use, since they don’t specify what injuries he suffered.

Hopefully we’ll learn more later.

Anyone with information is urged contact Traffic Investigator Keith Phan at 562/799-4100 ext. 1625, or email kphan@sealbeachca.gov.

This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eleventh that I’m aware of in Orange County, which is having a very bad year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones. 

Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Caltrans wants input on replacing Encino ped bridge, best ad ever for LA bicycling, and maybe we should just move to Dubai

August 14, 2020 / / Comments Off on Caltrans wants input on replacing Encino ped bridge, best ad ever for LA bicycling, and maybe we should just move to Dubai

Caltrans is looking for feedback on a proposal to replace the pedestrian bridge over the 101 Freeway in Encino.

Or maybe not, since one of the options doesn’t involve a replacement.

Artwork from Caltrans rendering. Thanks to S. Martinez for the heads-up.

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Phil Gaimon does a little lane splitting on PCH through the ‘Bu, passing cars like they were standing still.

Which, from the looks of it, they mostly were, as usual.

He calls this the best ad ever for cycling in Los Angeles. And he’s got a point.

Although I’m not sure I’d split lanes like that on SoCal’s killer highway, even though it’s perfectly legal.

But I confess, there’s a real satisfaction in passing long lines of stalled traffic on your bike.

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Maybe we should all just give up on LA and move to newly bike-friendly Dubai.

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Once again, an English police department shows their American counterparts how it’s done when it comes to enforcing safe passing laws.

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Local

A Pasadena website looks at the new bike lanes in Arcadia and San Gabriel.

 

State

San Jacinto approves plans to implement critically needed bike and pedestrian safety projects.

Santa Maria police will step up bike and pedestrian safety enforcement from the 18th through the 25th of August. Standard protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you get out of their jurisdiction.

Santa Cruz has chosen eleven streets for the city’s Slow Streets program.

San Francisco proposes a protected bike lane and other steps to fix a dangerous section of Folsom Street.

A Sacramento TV station wants to see your first bike.

 

National

A new Amazon Prime show from the producer of Survivor promises to pit the world’s toughest cyclists against the world’s most challenging bike race. If you can’t access the Bicycling site, you can read it on Yahoo.

Road Bike Action Magazine is offering free online access with registration. And entertain yourself for hours swatting their many popup windows.

Your next bike tires may never need air or a patch kit.

A columnist for a Salt Lake City paper says biking in the age of coronavirus is the least we can do. Which is all most people do, anyway.

The Green Bay Packers’ website goes all the way back to 1958 to uncover the source of the team’s annual tradition of borrowing kid’s bikes to ride to the first day of training camp.

Sadly, there will be no more bicycle taco deliveries in Milwaukee.

A Minnesota public radio station looks at the local chapter of Red Bike and Green, a Black riding collective founded in Oakland 13 years ago to bring more diversity to bicycling.

Heartbreaking news from Detroit, where a mother was killed, along with her one-year old son, when a driver plowed into the bike trailer she was pulling with her bicycle. Crashes involving bike trailers may be rare, but sadly, they do happen, despite what many drivers will tell you.

More proof that ebikes are real bicycles, as a Tennessee man lost 105 pounds and beat diabetes by riding one. Once again, if you can’t access the Bicycling site, you can read it on Yahoo. And before you ask, no, that won’t work for me; if I lost 105 pounds, there wouldn’t be much left. And I’d still have diabetes.

A Boston website takes understandable pride in Bicycling’s promotion of the hometown East Coast Greenway. Although hometown is a bit of a stretch for something that runs over 3,000 miles through 15 states.

A Hoboken NJ bike thief folded under interrogation about the theft of a folding bike, appropriately enough.

Apparently, Virginia state police plan to put a pickup truck behind bars for fleeing the scene after running down a teenage boy who was walking his bike, since they don’t even mention that it might have had a driver.

 

International

Bloomberg examines the problem planners face balancing expanded space for bike riders with the needs of disabled people. Although it’s worth noting that expanding space for bikes allows some disabled people to ride bikes, which many use as mobility devices.

CBC says cutting speed limits could slow climate change. Not to mention save lives.

That’s more like it. After 12 criminal convictions in the past 15 months — including four for bike theft — a prolific British thief has been banned from even handling or sitting on a bicycle for the next two years.

Surprisingly, bike theft in down dramatically in the UK, with 19,000 fewer bikes stolen compared to the previous year.

The Guardian’s Laura Laker says UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will never see the golden age of bicycling he anticipates as long as the roads continue to feel unsafe.

In what may be the best story of the day, a four-year old British girl rode three miles on her little pink bike — complete with a doll in the toy rear child seat — raising the equivalent of $522 to fight cancer, after her grandfather died of the disease.

Helsinki, Finland is converting a boulevard into a shared bike boulevard, creating an express bikeway where drivers have to slow to the speed of bike riders.

A play that premiered in Germany’s Terezín Ghetto during the Holocaust will be performed live in New York and Israel; The Last Cyclist is described as a comic allegory that “pits innocent bicycle riders (Jews) against escaped lunatics (Nazis) who seek to destroy them,”

Residents of India Goa state are turning to bicycles and running to stay fit and get away from the pandemic for awhile. They also have the country’s best cuisine, which is annoyingly hard to find in Los Angeles. 

A former Philippine volleyball star turned TV host is giving away 50 bicycles to deserving people to help them get to work during the pandemic.

 

Competitive Cycling

A writer for the New York Times examines the coronavirus lockdown phenomenon of Everesting and the rapidly falling world records.

Colorado’s high school mountain bike season is going virtual in response to Covid-19. Now if they can just figure out how to make that work with high school football.

Cycling News wants to know if anyone can beat Remco Evanepoel at the rescheduled Il Lombardia monument race.

You may never win a stage in the Tour de France or the Critérium du Dauphiné, but you can own the bike that did. Or might have, anyway.

Speaking of which, Stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné featured an unexpected hazard — hailstones.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you have to revise your story because people don’t know what a stroad is. Your next bike helmet could squish down, so hopefully your head won’t.

And if you’re going to ride 621 miles on a stolen bicycle to see Tokyo for the first time, try not to get busted for bike theft just short of the city.

But at least the purloined bike the adventurous thief took was only worth $93.

Thanks to Robert Leone for that last one.

……

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

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

Bike riders under attack around the world, pickup-driving Torrance racists, and PCH bike path closure above Ventura

July 24, 2020 / / Comments Off on Bike riders under attack around the world, pickup-driving Torrance racists, and PCH bike path closure above Ventura

This is who we share the road with.

A Utah driver faces a murder charge for deliberately killing a bike rider, smashing into him and dragging him down the road, then turning around and doing it again; his rage appeared to stem from living in the same building with the victim.

No surprise here, as a Cleveland man who tried to run over a group of bike-riding Black teenagers while hurling racial slurs has been indicted on charges of felonious assault and ethnic intimidation; he also robbed his own brother at knife point.

Unbelievable. A British driver who used his car as a weapon to attack a bike rider walks without a single day behind bars, because the judge doesn’t want to send anyone to jail during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Then there is this stunning attack stemming from the ongoing protests in Seattle.

https://twitter.com/capang9555/status/1286464045185249280

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Closer to home, the danger comes from hate.

https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1286441313429266435

 

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Congress finally got around to approving the Great American Outdoors Act.

The bill creates an ongoing $900 million annual fund for conservation and address the massive backlog of maintenance projects in American National Parks and other public lands.

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Caltrans has announced a nighttime closure of the PCH bike path above Ventura.

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That cycling KOM you’ve been gunning for may be a goner, thanks to bored pros waiting for the season to gear back up.

Although some pros may be looking for something a little more challenging.

………

Good point.

………

No. Just…no.

https://twitter.com/LkCycleDesign/status/1286320588911501312

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Bikes are good for soccer careers, too.

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Pink Bike looks at easy ways to tuneup your mountain bike.

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

See above.

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

A Texas man told a Target employee he could take whatever he wanted as he stuffed a pair of shoes and shorts into his backpack; police stopped him as he rode his bike nearby to tell him “No, you can’t.”

A road-raging British bike rider punched a 78-year old driver in the mouth, knocking out a tooth, after the driver stopped his car when the man made rude gestures and shouted at him as he passed him and his two kids. Violence is never the answer. But that kind of response from a man riding with his kids just might imply that the guy earned it.

………

Local

Essential workers can get a free 30-day Metro Bike pass.

Pasadena is introducing Project Wheelie to bring a bike-matching service and basic bike repairs to low income residents who might not otherwise be able to ride a bike right now; it’s presented by public health nonprofit Day One in conjunction with the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, Active SGV and the LACBC.

Speaking of Pasadena, the Rose City received a $150,000 state grant for a bicycle safety outreach program.

Construction has started on a new bike park in Santa Clarita.

 

State

Calbike and Streets for All are urging you to contact your state senator to support AB 3153, which would extend an LA-style bike parking law to the entire state, allowing developers to substitute bike parking for car parking minimums.

Electrek reviews the latest 28 mph offering from Newport Beach’s Electric Bicycle Company.

In another sign the coronavirus hasn’t made our streets any safer, San Francisco authorities say they’ve seen a significant uptick in bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities.

An Oakland councilmember calls for ripping out the protected bike lanes on iconic Telegraph Avenue. Apparently, increased retail sales and a 40% reduction in collisions is a bad thing now.

Volunteer members of the American Ski Patrol have traded slats for wheels, and will be patrolling the 32-mile American River Parkway multi-use trail in the Sacramento area. Maybe we can talk them into patrolling a few trails down this way, too. Because no one else is doing it.

 

National

Market Watch says cannabis, whiskey and mobile bike repair businesses are thriving during the pandemic. Now if someone would just combine the three they might really be onto something.

A Portland State University study says no, bike riders don’t slow down drivers on most urban roads without bike lanes. But try telling that to the next impatient driver who gets on your ass.

Ebike sales will continue to drive the bike boom through the end of this year.

Colorado bike rack and lock maker Rocky Mount barely survived the pandemic, thanks to a loan from the Payroll Protection Program, but the owner realizes it’s not over yet. Just to be clear, the pandemic is barely getting started; it’s going to be a rough ride for all of us before things get better.

After someone stole a three-wheel adaptive bike from an Iowa man suffering from non-verbal autism, an anonymous, kindhearted stranger took it upon themselves to replace it.

Three burglars broke into a Texas bike shop and cleaned it out, stealing 19 bikes worth at least $45,000. Schmucks.

An Arkansas woman describes how she kept mountain biking, even if her first ride ended up in the back of an ambulance.

A Wisconsin nonprofit has managed to donate 100 bicycles to people in need, despite reopening from the coronavirus lockdown just one month ago.

Dozens of Louisville residents took to their bikes to demand justice for Breonna Taylor, who was mistakenly shot by cops busting into her apartment on a no knock warrant.

Calls for bikemakers to stop making police bikes after they were used as shields and weapons by cops during the Black Lives Matter protests is putting a Massachusetts Black-owned police bike startup in an awkward position.

After bikeshare user Sarah Jessica Parker intervened on behalf of a 100-year old New York restaurant, New York’s mayor agreed to move a bikeshare dock so they could set up outside dining.

Philadelphia bicyclists will ride this weekend to honor three young men killed by drivers while riding their bikes, and send a message that “We are not expendable;” meanwhile, an op-ed from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia asks how many preventable deaths will it to make the city care about bicycle safety.

When life gives you a pandemic-induced Florida school closure, take a cross-country bike ride with your twin brother to raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

 

International

Google Maps now offers live bikeshare availability for 24 cities around the world, including Los Angeles.

No surprise here, as Streetsblog says the most important traffic safety technology is street design.

Heartbreaking news, as an experienced bike tourist was killed in a collision just as she was starting a two-month bike ride across Canada. Although it would be nice if the story didn’t wait until the next-to-last paragraph to mention that the pickup that hit her had a driver.

Turns out the Mounties don’t always get their man, particularly when the suspect is one of their own, who ran down a bike rider with his car.

Dooring a bike rider will now cost British Columbia drivers $368, after the province quadrupled the previous $81 fine. Which is still way too low, but at least it’s going in the right direction.

An Ontario bike rider was just nine miles from the finish of a 472-mile fundraising bike ride when he was attacked by hornets while crossing a bridge, nearly dying before paramedics could get to him. So naturally, he went back and finished the ride as soon as he was released from the ER.

They may be considered safe enough for US streets, but Great Britain says American SUVs are too dangerous for their roads. Those killing machines shouldn’t be allowed here, either.

British filmmaker and Madonna ex Guy Ritchie apparently isn’t one of us. Although he may be soon, after losing his license for six months after a bicyclist caught him on camera driving distracted.

An Irish cycling organization was upset they weren’t allowed to compete in the ’72 Olympics, so they just crashed the race and did it anyway.

When the US Army challenged soldiers stationed in Europe to ride a bike 1,000 kilometers — 621 miles — they probably weren’t expecting anyone to do it in 19 days, on a mountain bike.

Even in France, demand for bicycles is outstripping supply.

This Dutch bike may be the world’s longest functional bicycle. But just try finding a place to lock it up.

More on Germany’s new safety standards for e-cargo bikes, which should be expanded worldwide — including here.

Six-time Formula 1 world champ Lewis Hamilton is one of us, enjoying a shirtless and well-tatted mountain bike ride just days after winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.

A bike rider in Kyiv, Ukraine says bike ridership has probably seen a ten times increase during the pandemic, even though riding in the city remains a deadly business.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canada’s WorldTour races are the latest to bite the dust due to Covid-19.

Britain’s erstwhile Team Sky, which changed its name to Team Ineos after a sponsorship change, will now be the the erstwhile Team Ineos, as it changes once again to Ineos Grenadiers to promote an upcoming brand of SUV.

Former WorldTour cyclist Peter Stetina’s shift to gravel racing is on the rocks after everything was cancelled due to coronavirus.

Austrian cyclist Georg Preilder got a one-year suspended sentence for his role in a German doping scandal uncovered last year. But cycling is clean now, right?

 

Finally…

No, turning a bicycle into a monochrome planter is not upcycling, in any sense. On the other hand, turning it into a mobile washing machine might be.

And don’t use gasoline to disinfect your cloth face masks.

And don’t smoke if you do.

………

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

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

Morning Links: Forgiveness and friendship follows near-fatal PCH crash, and no justice in fatal OC collisions

January 15, 2020 / / One comment

Sometimes a friendship can form in unusual ways.

Like getting run over by a truck.

After a La Habra man was nearly killed when a pickup driver ran him down from behind as he was riding on PCH last May, the driver — who was leaving an AA meeting — started a crowdfunding campaign to help pay the victim’s medical expenses.

He also modified his shower so it would be easier to get in and out as he recovered from multiple injuries.

That was after the victim’s wife reached out to tell him he was going to survive.

And they’ve been friends ever since.

Tom Sovilla hopes to get back on his back on his bike this year, with a goal of doing 5,000 miles before year’s end.

Meanwhile, the man who hit him, Jack Keith, went to five AA meetings the day after the crash, and looks forward to celebrating three years of sobriety in March.

Photo from Pexels.com; if they can be friends, maybe there’s hope for the rest of us.

………

Looks like there may not be any justice for Sidney Siemensma.

The 51-year-old bike rider was stabbed to death just short of three years ago today on Irvine’s San Diego Creek Trail.

Police arrested a 41-year old transient acquaintance, Dennis Thomas Monson Jr., for the crime, as well as an unrelated child pornography charge.

However, despite having enough evidence to take the case to a jury, the case has been put on semi-permanent hold after the judge ruled Monson is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

It’s possible he could still stand trial, if and when his mental state improves.

But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

………

There definitely won’t be any justice for Laguna Nigel triathlete Scott Clark, who was killed when he was collateral damage in an alleged road rage dispute between two women.

According to Patch, the Orange County DA has concluded that there is no way to bring charges against driver Jamie Mulford after two independent experts were unable to conclude how the crash occurred.

Clark had the misfortune to run into a crosswalk just as Mulford allegedly cut off the other driver in the lane next to her, forcing the other car into Clark.

Despite what the Patch story says, Clark was training for a triathlon on foot, rather than riding a bike, at the time of the crash.

………

It looks like noted equity advocate and former LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler has left her widely applauded appointment to the California Transportation Commission; no word yet on why.

https://twitter.com/mlevinreports/status/1216741720643137536

………

A San Diego bike rider was allegedly assaulted by an impatient driver while taking the lane on a sharrowed street.

Unfortunately, whatever took place appears to have happened off-camera, and the brief description included on the YouTube page doesn’t clarify matters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzG9s_Io9c&feature=youtu.be

Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the link.

………

A Tesla dashcam captured a hit-and-run in Whittier last Saturday when a bike rider was right hooked by someone turning onto the street; fortunately, the victim doesn’t appear to be seriously hurt.

No word on whether the driver was arrested, or even ticketed.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.

A drunk Florida man faces charges for chasing a bike rider and throwing an empty beer can at him as cops looked on. After all, there’s no point in wasting a full one.

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

New York police are looking for a bike rider who spit in the face of a pedestrian in a crosswalk after accusing the man of cutting him off, then broke his wrist hitting him with a U-lock.

Also in New York, another bike rider — or possibly the same one — smashed a 61-year old woman in the face with some sort of hard object. Like a U-lock, for instance.

Florida police are police are looking for a hoody-clad man who fired his gun in a bike-by shooting; fortunately, no one was hit.

………

Local

BMX riders are the stars of Cirque du Soleil’s new Volta show, opening this weekend at Dodger Stadium.

UCLA’s Daily Bruin says a new request for the Westwood Blvd bike lanes killed by CD5 Councilmember and faux environmentalist Paul Koretz appears to be falling victim to a dispute between Westwood-area Neighborhood Councils. Which one do you think the city will listen to — an NC representing students, or one advocating for wealthy NIMBYs? I know which one my money is on.

Speaking of UCLA, a DIY bike co-op in the John Wooden Center is teaching students and staff how to fix their own bicycles.

Bruce Willis is one of us, as he goes for an ebike ride in Brentwood. The cool thing about British tabloids is they’ll criticize someone for not wearing a helmet, then ridicule them if they do.

LA Curbed places tongue firmly in cheek, and lists 20 headlines you might read in the coming decade, but probably won’t — including permanent, year-round CicLAvia routes and an end to LA traffic deaths.

Alan Goldsmith, the former owner of Supergo, is returning to his roots by investing in Manhattan Beach’s South Bay Cycle bike shop, scheduled to open later this month.

Bike theft dropped 10% in Long Beach last year, despite an increase in violent crime.

 

State

In the wake of last year’s implosion of the Interbike trade show, the CABDA Expo West opens in San Diego today. Even though CABDA stands for the Chicagoland Area Bike Dealers Association, which this ain’t.

An 18-year old Barstow man faces attempted murder charges, along with a pair of underage teenagers, for a drive-by shooting spurred by the victim’s demand to get his stolen bicycle back.

A UC Berkeley neurologist has developed a new type of helmet designed to protect users from traumatic brain injuries caused by twisting impacts.

Lime is testing an accessible scooter for people with disabilities in Oakland. Although it looks like all they did was bolt a seat onto their existing e-scooters.

San Francisco was already planning to install protected bike lanes along the Embarcadero next week; unfortunately, it comes too late for a woman who’s clinging to life after she was struck by a cement truck while riding an e-scooter on Monday.

Sacramento’s first food bike is peddling a 200-year old stroopwafel recipe.

 

National

American bikemakers are struggling to replace their Chinese supply chains after being priced out by Trump’s tariffs.

A new senior editor for Streetsblog explains her 15-year old transformation to a bike advocate.

A New Mexico state representative is once again riding her bike hundreds of miles across the state from Las Cruces to Santa Fe to attend this year’s legislative session.

My bike-friendly hometown is trying out back-in diagonal parking to improve safety for people on bicycles.

An Iowa woman will spend the next 40 years behind bars for stalking a man, before fatally running him over as he rode his bike in a parking lot, in a deliberate, drunken attack.

A Texas man faces charges for shooting a homeless man five times while trying to steal his bicycle.

Bad behavior has gotten Vermont mountain bikers kicked off parts of one of the East Coast’s best trail systems; Bike Snob says this is why they can’t have nice things.

A New York woman faces five well-deserved felony counts and four misdemeanors for the drunken, 85-mph crash that killed a man on a bicycle; she was still over twice the legal limit more than three hours after the crash, with bags of coke found all over her car.

A Manhattan councilmember calls for life-saving sensors on all large trucks to make drivers aware of people and things they can’t see from the cab. Like bike riders and pedestrians, for instance.

The allegedly racist, bike-riding jerk who was convicted of attacking a black DC driver with his U-lock lucked out when a second, similar charge was dismissed when the victim didn’t show up to court; he’s currently doing three years on the original charge.

A Miami man will face charges in the gruesome, apparently drunken, 100 mph hit-and-run crash that killed a homeless man riding his bike on a causeway last August.

 

International

A new bicycle from World Bicycle Relief can help lift children and their families out of poverty; the nonprofit has provided half a million bicycles in countries around the world.

Cycling Weekly looks forward to what you can look forward to on the bike tech front in the coming year.

The Guardian examines how Strava became a religion to bike riders and runners.

Arguing against building a bike lane, a Hamilton, Ontario city councilor estimates there are only 100 bicyclists in the entire city of 550,000; the city’s bikeshare system alone has over 33,000 members.

That’s more like it. An unlicensed English driver got six years for killing a man riding a bike, along with other unrelated charges; not only didn’t he have a license, he’d never even taken a driving test.

The founders of a British bike nonprofit have been banned for 11 years after paying themselves the equivalent of nearly $420,000 — nearly a quarter of the money it took in.

Staff members for Pink Bike design the mountain bike of the future as a joke. Then go to Taiwan and actually build it.

Life is cheap in Singapore, where a truck driver who was caught on video crashing into a bike rider during a road rage dispute has been sentenced to just seven weeks behind bars and a $500 fine. He’ll also be banned from driving for two years.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s only remaining Tour de France champ is preparing to launch a new bike line made with a revolutionary “‘high-performance low-cost carbon fiber.”

Cycling Tips rates the team kits of the women’s pro peloton.

Pro/am gravel grinding is coming to the annual Sea Otter Classic this April.

A 17-year old Indian woman has won gold in the nation’s U-21 road race, bouncing back from a training wreck five years earlier that was so bad her mother ordered her to quit cycling, until her father intervened.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can zoom around on your new bike pretending you’re in Stranger Things. Nothing like having a bike tug-of-war with a fleeing meat lifter.

And don’t shoot guy you’re arguing with, shoot his bicycle instead.

 

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

Morning Links: DUI crash injures PCH bicyclists, drunken Mardi Gras bike wreck, and Beto’s dad was one of us

March 4, 2019 / / 2 comments

This is how I roll.

For now.

The good news is, the doctor said my knee replacement surgery went well, and I should get back to near 100%. Eventually.

The bad news is that the damage to my knee was so extensive that what is usually a two-hour operation took nearly four. And the recovery promises to be just as extensive and difficult as that implies.

And don’t get me started on the pain. Or constant sleepiness, nausea and confusion caused by the meds to control it.

Let alone the constant nickel and diming for medical services and devices that oddly aren’t covered as part of the surgery.  Even though I couldn’t have it without them.

But I’ll get there.

The only thing standing in the way is the willingness to do the work and fight through the pain to get to where I’m going.

And I think we bike riders know something about that.

But in the short-term, it’s seriously affecting my ability to think clearly and get any work done.

So instead of getting back to our usual Morning Links this morning, let’s go with a more limited edition to try and ease back in.

Call it Morning Links Lite.

………

My biggest fear when life forces me to take time some off is that we”ll miss an important story while I’m not able to share it with you.

Which is exactly what happened this time.

Last Wednesday, Allyson Vought forwarded news of a DUI crash on SoCal’s Killer Highway in Newport Beach that left two riders seriously injured.

Our friends Dr. Sherri Bates  & Allison Prendergast were hit by a DUI driver at 8am in Newport Beach today on PCH near Superior Blvd. Not sure of direction of their travel. We do know that the driver tried to run away but was stopped by witnesses and later arrested. 

Gil Bates, Sherri’s husband, just spoke with the plastic surgeon. Sherri needs facial surgery to repair sinus cavity, eye-socket and nose. Could be done tonight if the swelling subsides. Most incisions can be hidden but one will be at eyebrow line. Her knee is sore and swollen but not serious. 

Sheri is going for a neck MRI in a little bit.

Meanwhile, Allison has a broken femur at the hip socket and torn lip. Will possibly have surgery tonight. Really bad so early in the morning.

Unfortunately, there was no way I could write anything from my hospital bed that night, or do anything more than the bare minimum after I was released the next day.

That was followed on Friday by this email from Jay Doyle of the Velo Allegro cycling club.

On Wednesday, February 27th, Sherri Bates and Allison Prendergast went for an early morning bike ride from Long Beach and headed south on PCH. They were riding side-by-side in the bike lane and as they approached and passed Superior Avenue in Newport Beach they encountered slowed and stopped morning traffic. 

A northbound van turned left between the stopped southbound traffic to enter a strip mall parking lot on the west side of the street. Due to the stopped traffic the van driver, as well as Sherri and Allison, did not see one another. As the van crossed the bike lane, Sherri and Allison had no time to react and they both slammed into the right side of the vehicle. Both Sherri and Allison took the brunt of the impact head and face-first.

Sherri and Allison had to be taken by Paramedics to the closest trauma center at Orange County Global Medical in Santa Ana.

Sherri needed to undergo facial surgery to repair her sinus cavity, right eye-socket and nose. She also sustained neck and head trauma. 

Allison needed to undergo surgery to repair a broken femur at the hip socket and torn lip.

As serious as these injuries were, thank God they were not life threatening. Both Sherri and Allison had successful surgeries and will be going home on Friday for many weeks of recuperation.

Allison is self-employed as a massage therapist and will be out of work for an extended period of time. A Go Fund Me account is being set up to assist her with her medical and personal expenses. As soon as more information is obtained regarding the account we will let you know. Any financial donation that you might be able to make to help Allison would be greatly appreciated.

Regarding the driver of the van, NBPD was able to identify his whereabouts within the parking lot area. The male suspect exhibited signs of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol and was arrested.

Accidents like this are tragic, especially when it occurs to fellow Velo Allegro family members that we know and love. Please, be careful out there! Unfortunately, our fate is in the hands of strangers driving past us on the road. We can only hope that they are sober, paying attention to the road, and giving us at least 3-feet of passing clearance. This is sad news but it could have been much worse. We wish Sherri and Allison a quick road to recovery and we hope to see them back on the bike soon. Get well soon! We love you guys!!

Unfortunately, I can’t find a crowdfunding page for either of the victims, but I’ll be happy to share any links once they come online.

And let this be yet another painful reminder that there’s no time of day when you’re completely safe from drunk and stoned drivers.

………

This is what happens when attempts to encourage people to walk and bike to Mardi Gras celebrations meet an entrenched car culture in a community dedicated to laissez les bons temps rouler.

AKA, letting the good times roll.

A celebratory night in New Orleans was ruined when the adult son of a New Orleans cop slammed down a few drinks too many before getting behind the wheel of his car, and plowing into a group of people on famed Esplanade Ave.

The multi-block rampage, which took place just blocks from the popular Endymion Mardi Gras parade, left two people dead and three critically injured, along with another four less seriously injured.

Most, if not all of those, were believed to have been riding bikes at the time of the crash.

The driver, Tashonty Toney, tried to flee the scene on foot, but was stopped nearby by bystanders, who described him as “blind drunk.”

A witness said the 32-year old Toney had swerved his sports car into the bike lane on Esplanade to go around slower traffic, then stumbled out of his car after coming to a stop, and passed out on a street corner.

He later told police he had a drinking problem and should have gotten help.

No shit.

This came just two years after another driver plowed into crowds at the same Endymion parade.

Toney is being held on $510,000 bond.

………

Stephen Katz forwards a reminder that unannounced Democratic presidential contender Beto O’Rourke’s father was one of us.

And it didn’t end well.

Prominent Texas Judge and cross-country cyclist Pat O’Rourke was killed while during a solitary recumbent ride on July 3rd, 2001, before having an El Paso bike trail named after him 16 years later.

Clearly, it hasn’t scared his son off.

………

Who said women can’t compete with the men?

A Belgian women’s cycling competition had to be halted by race officials after the lead racer caught up with the back of the men’s race, despite giving the men a ten minute head start.

Unfortunately, she ended up finishing 74th when the peloton caught her after being forced to cool her pedals for so long.

………

Speaking of Belgium, the country’s E3 Harrelbeke race once again rushes into sexist territory where wiser minds would fear to tred, following a number of regretful marketing misfires in recent years.

The poster for this year’s race features what at first glance appears to be a frog — but on closer examination turns out to be two naked, intertwined women painted green.

What that has to do with bike racing, we’ll probably never know.

Or, chances are, want too.

………

And finally…

Who says bicyclists aren’t tough? Like riding 30 minutes to get help after a rattlesnake bite.

At 75 years old.

………

Thanks to Bryan Z and Matthew R for their generous and unexpected donations support this site and help pay for my new knee.

I couldn’t have been more surprised by their kindness. Or grateful.

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

Morning Links: Super Bowl biking, Malibu road closures, Triple Crown Rider dies, and surprise! they’re cops

February 1, 2019 / / 3 comments

Rumor has it there’s a football game this weekend.

Which makes Sunday the perfect time to ride, if you can avoid those SoCal raindrops and get back before the drunks hit the road.

Maybe even before they start their beer runs.

Or join the LACBC — maybe even literally — for a historic spin around San Fernando and Pacoima before the game starts. Update: The ride has been cancelled due to threat of rain.

You should be home in plenty of time for the kickoff. Or the first commercials, if that’s what you’re into.

And in honor of the Super Bowl, let’s take another look at what may be the most innocuous, ineffectual Vision Zero ad in human history.

No offense to the Rams punter, who did his best with a crappy script and a weak concept.

Maybe someday Los Angeles will actually take Vision Zero seriously, and come up with a hard-hitting message targeting the city’s entitled drivers.

We can dream, can’t we?

………

If you’re planning to take advantage of a break in the storms to ride PCH or any of the canyons in the ‘Bu this weekend, watch out for road closures, mud flows and boulders in the roadway.

………

Sad news from the Inland Empire, where Cerritos cyclist John Clare was killed in a hiking accident.

The well-loved Triple Crown Cyclist — honoring riders who complete three century rides in a calendar year — was hiking in the San Bernardino National Forest when he lost his footing on an ice chute and fell 500 feet down a ravine.

A crowdfunding campaign to benefit his family has raised over $4,400, exceeding the $2,500 goal in just two days.

Thanks to Bill Clare (no relation) for the heads-up.

………

Sometimes it takes awhile to get to the punchline.

All week we’ve talking about the Aussie man who illegally drove on a bike path to scream abuse at the two bicyclists riding legally on the parallel roadway.

Today, we learned that the bike riders were off-duty cops.

Oops.

………

UC San Diego is celebrating the opening of a new bridge over I-5 linking the two sides of the campus, with sidewalks and bike lanes to cut commute times and improve safety for non-driving students and faculty.

Click here to RSVP.

Correction: I initially wrote San Diego State University when I meant UC San Diego. Thanks to Robert Leone for the tip, and Charles for the correction.

………

OC bike lawyer Ed Rubinstein offers a correction to yesterday’s item saying you have two years to file a lawsuit if you’re injured in a crash.

According to a comment from Rubinstein,

The comment about the deadline to file a civil suit in California after a crash is accurate, but dangerously incomplete. The deadline to file a personal injury or property loss against a private person or entity is correctly stated as 2 years. However in California if a public government entity is involved (I.e., state or local government and any public entity e.g. CALTRANS, CHP, a public school or university) you must first file a claim within only 6 months (California Tort Claims Act Gov’t Code 810-996.6). So if a cyclist is hit by a school bus, public transit bus or a police car, the deadline is 6 months to first file a claim. Also the 6 months claim requirement applies if the crash involves a dangerous road condition.

………

Local

The state’s Active Transportation Program has awarded a $35 million grant to provide safe routes to schools around eight Los Angeles schools, as well as improving routes for seniors in five LA neighborhoods.

Los Angeles expects to receive $46 million in funding to convert 2.8-miles of Manchester Ave and Broadway in South Los Angeles into Complete Streets to improve safety and revitalize a blighted area.

A bike rider is lucky to be alive, after firefighters rescued him as he clung to a branch with his bike in the rain-swollen LA River near Griffith Park yesterday.

KCRW asks if car-loving Angelenos will say yes to congestion pricing.

Streetsblog reports that two new Metro Bike docking stations have been installed in Koreatown.

Downey officials celebrate the city’s new docked bikeshare system, available through the Zagster app at the Apple App Store, as well as Google Play.

State

Orange County plans to reduce the hazards on Hazard Ave by installing a parking-protected bike lane on a four-mile stretch of the street connecting Garden Grove, Santa Ana and Westminster.

A pair of OC ebike shops are struggling to survive Trump’s tariffs imposed in his trade war with China.

The Red Cross is looking for volunteers to help prepare for its Operation Ride for the Red fundraiser in Ventura County this May. They’re also looking for participants.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole five custom-made motorized bicycles from a Bakersfield veteran’s garage after he died last week.

Caught on video. It takes a real schmuck to break in and steal a bicycle from a Stockton church-based co-op that repairs bicycles for the poor and gives free bikes to people in need.

Sacramento police busted a hit-and-run driver who ran down a 12-year old girl on a bicycle while driving with a suspended license; fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.

National

The erstwhile Captain Kirk — or TJ Hooker, if you prefer — talks to Ad Age about his new Pedego commercial and love of ebikes. While he was riding one, no less.

The alleged drunk driver who killed two Honolulu pedestrians and a bike rider, and injured four other people, faces up to 60 years behind bars on three counts of vehicular manslaughter; he’s being held on $1 million bond.

Utah moves closer to adopting the Idaho Stop Law, which would allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and proceed through red lights after coming to a full stop — but only when there’s no conflicting traffic.

A Denver man explains why he commutes by bikeshare, instead of driving. Or owning a bicycle.

Someone’s been breaking into Chicago bike shops, and making their getaway on the bikes they steal.

An Illinois man will serve 59 years for the drive-by shooting that killed a 27-year old bike rider, with no chance of parole.

Yes, you can go Viking Biking in a polar vortex, even when it’s -20° Minneapolis.

Life is really cheap in Maine, where a driver walks with just a $1,000 fine and three-month license suspension for killing a respected doctor as she was riding her bike. He played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card, claiming he couldn’t see her because the sun was in his eyes.

A new zero-waste Brooklyn grocery startup will deliver your order by bicycle, and pick up the reusable packaging when they deliver your next order.

Three Good Samaritans were honored for saving a man’s life when he suffered a heart attack during a New York state bike race.

Some people can’t see the highway for the cars. Somehow, motor vehicles are allowed in a Virginia wildlife sanctuary, but county officials think bicycles would have too great an impact on the environment.

International

Life is cheap in the UK, too. The allegedly distracted driver who killed the mother of bike advocate and former pro cyclist Chris Boardman got off with just 30 weeks behind bars and an 18-month ban on driving.

Police in a British town release a short video showing “anti-social cycling” by young bike riders.

Helsinki plans to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians by building a tunnel under a railway station for the equivalent of $26 million.

It will now cost Dutch bicyclists the equivalent of $110 if they’re caught using a cellphone while riding.

The Indian state of Goa rewards traffic vigilantes for informing police about scofflaw drivers. Can we do that here? Goa also has the best Indian food. Just saying.

Iraq, maybe. But you might not want to add North Korea to your bike bucket list yet.

A Kiwi columnist calls bicyclists the road users we all love to hate. But redeems herself by noting that every bike is one less car, and calling for improving safety for people on two wheels.

Competitive Cycling

Today’s racing news is all about the Amgen Tour of California.

Almost, anyway.

The full route for this year’s race was released yesterday; officials describe the 773-mile route as the longest and most challenging yet. But once again, women get the scraps, with just three stages totaling 177 miles.

Both the men’s and women’s races will finish with a lap around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Meanwhile, you’ll get a chance to ride the race’s Mount Baldy stage when the annual L’Etape California by Le Tour de France before racers take the road.

In non-AToC news, the sexist prick clearly didn’t fall far from the tree. After Belgian pro Iljo Keisse walked with a small fine for rubbing his genitals against an Argentine waitress while posing for a photo, his father claims that she was partly responsible for being “very suggestive with her ass.” Note to clueless pricks: It doesn’t matter what the fuck a woman does — or what you think she does. No one has a right to touch another human being in a sexual manner without their consent. Period.

Finally…

At last, an e-Ducati you can take on MTB trails. Why pedal when you can use a sail?

And yes, he may have been texting while driving a car with expired plates, was already wanted for evading police, and drove off down a one-way street when a bike cop tried to pull him over.

But at least he said he was sorry as he drove off.

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

Morning Links: Westbound PCH closures for fire repairs, CiclaValley gets right hooked, and more ‘Tis the season

December 5, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Westbound PCH closures for fire repairs, CiclaValley gets right hooked, and more ‘Tis the season

It’s the 13th day of the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

Your support keeps SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

And allows me to devote whatever I have left on this planet trying to make it a better place for people on two wheels. 

Anything you can give helps, and is truly and deeply appreciated!

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Don’t plan on riding PCH anytime soon.

Caltrans will be closing sections of the right lane and shoulder on a 20-mile stretch of the westbound PCH in Malibu between Coastline Drive and Decker Canyon Road to repair damage caused by the Woolsey Fire.

The work will take place between 8:30 am and 3:30 pm, Monday through Saturday; no word on when they expect to be finished.

The state will also close one lane in each direction on PCH between Puerco Canyon and Corral Canyon roads to work on a median project.

………

CiclaValley has a notable ride to work for the second day in a row — and not in a good way — after yesterday’s high-speed buzz by a motorcyclist.

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A second Dutch bike rider barely avoided getting run down by a train after riding around crossing barriers, just days after video surfaced of a similar incident.

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‘Tis the season.

One hundred kids from a Gardena youth and family services program got new bicycles courtesy of Chargers running back Melvin Gordon and Rally Health.

London’s Telegraph offers a holiday gift guide for roadies.

An English news site is attempting to raise the equivalent of nearly $160,000 for the country’s MS Society this holiday season; woman with MS who bought an ebike with a grant from the group calls it a game changer.

And in less happy news, a Cape Town, South Africa bike shop was vandalized and looted in the wake of a festival kicking off the holiday season; authorities were able to get four of the stolen bikes back.

………

Local

An environmental justice advocate is recruiting bicyclists to monitor air quality in Southeast and East LA.

Pasadena public radio station KPCC examines why California’s three foot passing law is so seldom enforced in the LA area, and how that contributes to the city’s well-earned status as America’s worst bike city; you can find the same report on LAist if you’d rather read than listen. Both versions have the extreme good taste to quote yours truly.

 

State

San Diego will spend $2.3 million to connect two existing bike paths in Carmel Valley, closing a missing link in the regional bike network.

A Palo Alto bike rider was the victim of a hit-and-run when he was run down from behind by the driver of a Porsche SUV, while riding in a green bike lane.

San Francisco voted to become the first major city in the US to eliminate minimum parking restrictions.

The City by the Bay will add parking protection to an existing bike lane to keep parents out of it when they drop off and pick up their kids from a nearby school.

On the other side of the Bay, Oakland approved plans for a purple and green parking protected bike lane.

 

National

Streetsblog offers suggestions of what a Green New Deal could look like.

The former head of the Chicago and DC departments of transportation says the solution to quickly and easily accommodating e-scooters and other forms of micromobility is restriping streets to create narrow “slow lanes.”

An 1896 Portland map shows the city’s bike culture goes back at least 122 years.

Oregon police use a bait bike to bust four bike thieves. That’s something that the LAPD still doesn’t use, despite the city’s soaring bike theft problem, due to the City Attorney’s office fears of entrapment.

A Washington man rode 4,233 miles through 13 Mid-American states in the shape of a heart to unite Americans in love and political balance. Although it doesn’t seem to have worked just yet.

The LA Times recommends a seven-day bike tour through the Arizona desert, beginning and ending in Tucson, for the low, low price of just $2,995. Or you could just, you know, go to Tucson, get on your bike, and start riding.

Now that’s more like it. A DC-area county has approved a new bike plan calling for an additional 750 miles of paths, trails and separated bike lanes, to go with 250 miles already on the ground; as usual, they just need the money to pay for it.

Florida bicyclists want to know why the distracted driver who killed two bike riders wasn’t charged; police say the sun was in her eyes, yet somehow it didn’t blind the group of riders she slammed into.

 

International

National Geographic offers their take on the world’s best bike cities. San Francisco made the list; oddly, Tucson got the only honorable mention, despite ranking just 24th in the US according to Bicycling. Needless to say, Los Angeles didn’t.

An Irish writer politely notes that some bicyclists are “bending the rules,” perhaps because the explosive growth in bicycling is outpacing bike infrastructure. Or it could be that some people are just jerks, whether on two wheels or four.

Dutch bike writer David Hembrow says overuse of motorized transport is destroying everything.

He gets it. The mayor of Tehran has joined the country’s Car-Free Tuesdays movement to help reduce the effects of air pollution, riding his bike to work this week, while taking a subway last week.

Apropos of today’s weather in Los Angeles, Bicycle Times offers tips from an Aussie rider on how to stay safe while biking in the rain.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Daily Breeze posted, then removed, a story reporting next year’s Amgen Tour of California would end with a stage from Santa Clarita to Pasadena. So maybe you now have advanced word if they took it down because they jumped a news embargo. Or not.

VeloNews explains why elite women’s ‘cross is must-see TV.

Phil Liggett say the death of close friend and broadcast partner Paul Sherwen is hard to believe, and hints that it may cause him to rethink his role as the voice of professional cycling.

American pro cyclist Ian Boswell explains what happens when a bike racer turns race promoter.

 

Finally…

The bicycling model of financial management. Evidently, wearing a mask on your bike in the cold can get you arrested for frightening children.

And London’s bike shop to rock royalty.

Somehow, it’s hard to imagine Keith Richards riding a bicycle. Fortunately, you don’t have to. 

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