Tag Archive for Riverside

Arraignment set for pickup driver charged with murder, Culver City opens Jackson gate, and San Diego debates bike safety

August 24, 2021 / / Comments Off on Arraignment set for pickup driver charged with murder, Culver City opens Jackson gate, and San Diego debates bike safety

My News LA reports Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez is scheduled to be arraigned on September 2nd for using his truck as a weapon to murder a bike rider last month.

As we reported over the weekend, Gutierrez allegedly made a U-turn in his massive Ford pickup and deliberately slammed into Benedicto Solanga on July 29th, in an apparent road rage attack.

Solanga died three days later, while it took nearly three weeks for authorities to conclude Gutierrez had been behind the wheel, after finding his truck hours after the crash.

Gutierrez is expected to be charged with murder, along with a sentencing enhancement for using his truck as a deadly weapon.

He remains in custody on $1 million bail.

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Chalk this one up as a win for people on two wheels or feet.

For anyone who’s wondered why one of the easiest and most convenient entrances to Ballona Creek has long been closed to everyone but maintenance workers, the Culver City Council just voted to change that last night.

And better yet, to keep it open.

Meanwhile, the city also voted to support extending the Ballona Creek bike path the full length of the creek from where it emerges from underground.

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The San Diego Union-Tribune explores the ongoing debate over bike lanes in a series of op-eds, saying the city is experiencing unintended consequences in the quest to get more people on bicycles.

Not everyone is in favor of the city’s move to expand bike lanes and get more people on bicycles, however.

Just wait until someone tells that last guy what it costs to keep building more traffic lanes.

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CicLAvia has officially unveiled the route for October’s return to the Heart of LA, running from MacArthur Park to Chinatown, and east to Mariachi Plaza.

Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.

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The perfect bike for when you’re ready to live your dream to chuck your job and become the neighborhood fruit vendor.

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Today’s mountain biking break is a first-person view of a “beyond black diamond” bike trail from Canadian mountain biker Dave Herr.

Unless maybe you’d prefer a first impression of the new Killington, Vermont Bike Park.

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

Heartbreaking news from the UK, where a Black teenage taekwondo star was killed when a driver slammed into his bicycle as he was trying to escape a group of alleged drug dealers armed with large knives.

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

A Washington man faces charges for allegedly chucking rocks at a road crew when they asked him to move his bicycle, before he escalated to shooting arrows at them.

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Local

The New York Times takes a look at the effect of pandemic era street dining and Slow Streets in the Los Angeles area, saying it’s chipping away at Southern California’s notorious deference to cars.

Speaking of which, hundreds turned out for Santa Monica’s first carfree weekend on Main Street this year, with two more planned for September and October.

 

State

A homeless man has been convicted of second degree murder for fatally stabbing another homeless man outside an Escondido Burger King, because he thought the man was trying to steal his bicycle.

Fremont is using plastic pylons to buck the trend of rising bike and pedestrian deaths, with a 45% reduction in major traffic crashes involving death or severe injury in the three years since they adopted Vision Zero, and a 23% drop in major crashes involving bike riders.

 

National

After concluding that Amazon was a driving force behind the problem, a company in the Pacific Northwest pulled their bike parts off the platform, taking a hit in sales to directly supply bike shops affected by the pandemic-driven shortage of bikes and parts.

Reno bike riders are staying inside as smoke from the massive California wildfires forces them off the streets.

Phoenix officials shoot down longstanding plans to install bike lanes on a major street, instead telling bike riders to be happy they’ll get new sharrows on an existing bike boulevard.

A writer for Singletracks tries racing a then top-of-the-line 1990’s mountain bike, surprisingly finding that it held its own against more modern bikes. And ends up selling it to a collector who promised to give it a good home.

A Pittsburgh children’s charity is devoted to letting kids be kids, while giving them more independence by providing them with adaptive bicycles. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.

 

International

Treehugger offers a review of the new longtail e-cargo bike from Blix, which sells for a relatively reasonable $1,999 for the twin battery version.

A Canadian man is finishing his summer-long bike tour to visit all 18 of the country’s residential schools in an effort to reconcile with Indigenous students.

Another Canadian man rode 745 miles on his recumbent bike, despite a broken collarbone, to benefit a nine-year old Alabama boy suffering from an aggressive brain tumor, four decades after beating the disease himself.

Officials in Dorset, England are defending a road makeover that narrowed traffic lanes while installing a spacious 11-foot bike lane, saying the bike lane has to accommodate wobbly riders traveling in both directions, while the traffic lanes are more than wide enough if drivers just obey the speed limit.

Forget the Hound of the Baskervilles. An English mountain biker encountered the apocryphal big cat of Cornwall.

In a bizarre tragedy, a British search and rescue team stumbled on the body of a mountain biker who had apparently crashed his bike while they were on an unrelated call to rescue a teenaged old boy suffering from hypothermia.

A UK driver got three years and four months behind bars for the speeding, hit-and-run death of a 15-year old boy riding a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling News peers into its crystal ball, and predicts the Vuelta is Primož Roglič’s to lose.

VeloNews credit’s Jennifer Valente’s physical and intellectual gifts for her gold medal in the women’s Omnium at the Tokyo Olympics, along with a lifelong background in track cycling.

World ‘cross champ Mathieu van der Poel pulled out of this week’s mountain bike worlds due to lingering back pain stemming from a crash in the Tokyo Olympics, though he still hopes to ride in next month’s road championships.

 

Finally…

That feeling when proper bike lanes are too “ideological” for LEGO. Who needs gas when you can buy a cool used bike for the same price?

And when building a shed for your bike would create to much “visual clutter.”

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

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

Riverside bike rider murdered by driver, Culver City considers Jackson gate, and selective enforcement in Highland Park

August 23, 2021 / / 2 comments

Murder.

That’s what Riverside prosecutors are calling it, in a crime you may have missed over the weekend.

Just one of three bicycling deaths that became public over the past three days.

According to reports, 31-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez briefly drove off after getting into what police termed a “brief interaction” with 46-year old bike rider Benedicto Solanga late last month.

Gutierrez then made a sudden U-turn, and came back to slam his Ford F-250 pickup into Solanga’s bike, before fleeing the scene.

Solanga died a few days later at a local hospital.

Gutierrez was arrested nearly three weeks after police found his damaged truck, and charged with using it as a weapon to murder Solanga.

He’s currently behind bars, being held on a whopping $1 million bail.

Let’s hope he stays there for a very long time.

Let the be yet another tragic reminder to be careful out there. And just who we share the road with.

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Streets For All reminds you to get your comments in to the Culver City city council in time for tonight’s meeting.

Because the NIMBYs are already lining up against it.

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Unconfirmed report that police will be targeting bike riders in Highland Park, at the behest of locals.

If true, that’s illegal selective enforcement.

Police are required to enforce traffic laws equally against all violators, without bias for or against any particular group. If they accepted a grant under these terms, they’re breaking the law.

Correction: Oops. A comment from Matt points out that the comment probably refers to Chicago’s Highland Park neighborhood, as a opposed to the Highland Park in Los Angeles. One more to add to a long and growing list of SoCal cities and neighborhoods that might not be. 

But it’s still selective enforcement, and should be illegal wherever it is.

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Hermosa Beach hosted the seventh annual Glow Ride for Cystic Fibrosis on Saturday; the Daily Breeze has photos if you can get past their paywall.

Meanwhile, Richard Masoner, aka Cyclelicious, offers a fun thread of photos from the monthly San Jose Bike Party.

https://twitter.com/cyclelicious/status/1428944793590140928

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New York’s leading alternative transportation advocacy group is looking for help, for anyone who lives out that way. Or wants to.

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This is what happens when people are considered more important than cars.

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GCN goes bike riding with a two-year old.

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

You’ve got to be kidding. A Las Vegas TV station reports that 19 people are being held at a local detention center for bicycle violations, including a lack of lights, in the wake of a man who was killed by Las Vegas cops after trying to flee when they tried to stop him for not having a light. Since when do police make an arrest for a simple traffic violation? Would they actually arrest a motorist who forgot to put his or her lights on?

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a ghost bike for a 12-year old suburban Denver boy and smashed the memorial where he died.

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

A 62-year old woman complains that the NYPD refused to investigate when a hit-and-run bike rider left her with a fractured spine, knocking her down while she was crossing the street and shouting that she took too long.

A 19-year old man has turned himself in for a horrific attack on a Philadelphia delivery driver; the recently married victim remains on a ventilator in the ICU nearly a week after he was surrounded and beaten by up to eight bike-riding teens.

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Local

A bike rider had to air lifted to safety after suffering non-life threatening injuries in a fall on Sullivan Fire Road near Pacific Palisades Saturday morning

The new mayor of West Hollywood points out the need for safer infrastructure, saying dockless bikeshare and e-scooters will only succeed when the city has protected bike lanes from one end to the other.

 

State

Caltrans gave Riverside County $5 million in grants for transportation projects; however, only $150,000 of that amount was dedicated to bike and pedestrian safety, for a project in Eastvale.

No bias here. Santa Cruz police and sheriff’s deputies both cited the 54-year old organizer of Saturday’s Santa Cruz Rideout for failing to get a permit for the event they said “jeopardized the safety of all riders and (the) motoring public.” Which would be like requiring a permit for Critical Mass.

Petaluma police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider, even though he appears to have been the victim in a pair of collisions while riding his motorized bike through a gas station.

Santa Rosa police busted a pair of bike thieves who tried to make off with a bait bike, which was valued at over $1,000 to ensure the thieves would be subject to felony charges. Los Angeles police still can’t use bail bikes, after the city attorney’s office bizarrely concluded it could constitute entrapment.

 

National

Somehow we missed this one from a few weeks ago, as MarketWatch makes the environmental and financial case for getting out of cars and onto buses and trains, arguing that improving public transportation is good for the economy and the planet.

A bike blogger looks back on the pre-1930’s history of Schwinn.

A Portland woman beat a bike rider with a plastic tube, and he was bitten by her dog, for the crime of taking too long in a public restroom; she was cited for assault and released at the scene.

This is who we share the road with. An Iowa bigot woman can look forward to spending the next 25 years in federal prison for intentionally running down two young kids because she thought they looked Mexican or Middle Eastern. She was already sentenced to 17 and a half years in state prison, which will be served concurrently. I can’t find who sent this one to me, so please accept my apologies and thanks, whoever you are.

An 18-year old Ohio man will play college football this year, nine years after he was nearly killed when he fell off his bike, and was impaled through the groin by his handlebars.

A seven-year old Buffalo NY boy born without a hand was able to ride a bike for the first time after kindhearted students at a local high school fabricated a prosthetic arm for him.

The return of New York’s popular Five Boro Bike Tour will have to wait another year, after it was cancelled due to Tropical Storm Henri this past weekend.

In yet another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the roads, a 63-year old woman from Florida’s The Villages, the nation’s largest senior’s community, had her license suspended for ten years for driving with a BAC nearly three times the legal limit, but won’t spend a day behind bars despite two previous DUI arrests. But as long as she gets to keep her car, there’s nothing to stop her from driving anyway. Thanks to Victor Bale for this one. 

 

International

A London website says just 90 seconds of video illustrates the risks for bike riders at one of the city’s most dangerous intersections.

London bike advocates are fighting to get a bike lane reinstalled on dangerous Kensington High Street, which was ripped out by local leaders after just seven weeks because it inconvenienced drivers.

An Englishman was attacked by a pair of teens, who laughed as they punched him off his bike, kicked him in the head and rode away with it.

Road safety continues to be the biggest barrier keeping women from riding a bike in the UK, with 42% saying they don’t feel confident on the road, and 45% saying well-lighted bike lanes would encourage them to try riding.

After nearly 5,000 bicycles were stolen in Dublin, Ireland in just 16 months, a local website says new bike lockers, proper lighting and security cams are desperately needed at bicycle parking spots.

Here’s something to look forward to. Owen Wilson will play a bike-riding reporter in the fictional French city of Ennui-sur-Blasé (get it?), in director Wes Andersons new film, The French Dispatch.

Recognizing that women too often weren’t allowed to ride a bicycle in some conservative Middle Eastern countries, a German group is giving refugee women their freedom by teaching to do exactly that.

Afghanistan’s internationally celebrated women bicyclists now fear for their lives in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

Visually impaired Paralympic cyclist Steve Bate plans to set a new record for crossing Africa by bicycle next year.

Your next bike could be a weird Chinese-made solar powered ped-assist tricycle, complete with two seats and a roof.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews talks with the stars of Sunday’s 9th stage of the Vuelta, as Primož Roglič proves my prediction wrong by giving the red leader’s jersey; Monday will be a well-deserved rest day.

Forty-one-year old Spanish great Alejandro Valverde’s cycling career may be over after he broke his clavicle riding off the roadway in Friday’s stage seven of the Vuelta, 12 years after he won the race.

Britain’s Ethan Hayter took a wire-to-wire victory in the four-stage Tour of Norway, for his first victory in a stage race. Bonus points if you even knew there was a Tour of Norway.

L39ion of Los Angeles continued its domination of the US men’s crit series with a pair of victories in Georgia.

 

Finally…

Nothing like having to ensure the public that bikeshare bikes were thoroughly cleaned after they were used for the local naked bike ride. To be honest, regular bikes hardly ever break out in flames.

And Road.cc calls this ode to anti-bike NIMBYs “the must-hear No.1 hit of the summer.”

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

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

Bike-riding Riverside man killed in July hit-and-run road rage attack, driver arrested for murder

August 21, 2021 / / Comments Off on Bike-riding Riverside man killed in July hit-and-run road rage attack, driver arrested for murder

Once again, a driver has used his vehicle as a weapon.

And once again, someone on a bicycle paid the price.

This time, it’s murder.

Multiple sources are reporting that 46-year old Benedicto Solanga was riding his bike on on Market Street near the 60 Freeway around 12:40 pm on July 29, when he had a “brief interaction” with a driver later identified as 31-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez of Riverside.

Which sound like a bad euphemism for a road rage dispute.

Gutierrez drove off, then made a sudden U-turn and allegedly aimed his massive pickup at Solanga’s bicycle before slamming into him.

Solanga was rushed to the hospital in grave condition, where he died a few days later.

Police found Gutierrez’s Ford F-250 later that night on the 3200 block of Iowa Ave in Riverside, leading to his arrest on Tuesday, nearly three weeks after the crash. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.

Let’s hope he gets used to it.

This is at least the 44th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Benedicto Solanga and all his loved ones.

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

Bicyclist killed in Perris hit-and-run Thursday night; driver arrested hours later

January 16, 2021 / / One comment

Just over two weeks into the new year, a second bike rider has been killed in Riverside County, both the victims of hit-and-run drivers.

But at least this time, the killer was caught a few hours later.

According to My News LA, the victim was riding through the intersection of Goetz Road and Mapes Road in Perris around 8:30 pm Thursday when he was struck by a car driven by 28-year old Perris resident Nathan Craig Rogers.

The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, died at the scene.

Rogers fled the scene, but Patch reports he was taken into custody around 11 pm Thursday.

At last report, he was being held on $75,000 bond on suspicion of felony fatal hit-and-run and misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.

It’s unknown if drugs or alcohol played a role in the collision.

Sadly, California’s lenient hit-and-run laws mean Rogers is looking at just four years behind bars, with another year in county jail for the misdemeanor manslaughter charge.

And that’s only if the judge rules the sentences should run consecutively, rather than concurrently.

Anyone with information is urged to call Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Kiebach at 951/776-1099, or the Perris Station at 951-210-1000.

This is at least the 4th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 2nd that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

Half of those SoCal bicycling deaths have ben the result of hit-and-run drivers, both in Riverside County.

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

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

Update: Bike rider killed in Riverside hit-and-run Thursday morning; first SoCal bike death of 2021

January 7, 2021 / / One comment

Sadly, it should surprise anyone that the first Southern California bike rider to lose his life this year was the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

According to MyNewsLA, the victim was riding south on Jackson Street at Colorado Ave in Riverside, in a dedicated bike lane, when he was struck by a driver around 6:30 am this morning.

The driver slowed down briefly, then took off without stopping.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to Parkview Community Hospital, where he died a short time later.

KTLA-5 reports the initial investigation indicates he left the bike lane and entered the regular traffic lane just before he was run down.

However, a street view shows a broken line on the bike lane prior to the intersection, which could have given the impression he left the bike lane.

Unfortunately, there’s no description of the hit-and-run suspect or the vehicle at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to call Riverside Police Detective Anderson at 951/826-8723.

This is the first bicycling fatality I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the first in Riverside County

That compares 65 bicycling deaths in Southern California last year, and ten in Riverside County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 66-year old Riverside resident Lin Tae Kim. 

The suspect vehicle is described as a 2002 – 2008 Mini Cooper, with the driver’s side window and mirror missing, as well as several pieces of side trim.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Lin Tae Kim and his loved ones. 

 

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

Riverside bike rider killed in collision with motorcyclist Monday night; 4th Riverside county bike death in 30 days

July 7, 2020 / / 2 comments

More bad news today.

According to My News LA, a bike rider was killed in a collision with a motorcyclist in Riverside Monday night.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was attempting to cross Magnolia Ave just east of Jackson Street around 10:25 pm when he allegedly rode directly out in front of a man riding west on a Harley.

He was killed instantly.

The motorcyclist and his passenger were taken to a hospital with unspecified injuries.

A police sergeant appeared to blame the crash on a lack of crosswalks in the area. Yet a street view clearly shows the intersection of Magnolia and Jackson controlled by a traffic signal, with a crosswalk in every direction, suggesting the crash may have been significantly east of Jackson.

Magnolia is a four lane divided street in a residential neighborhood, with bike lanes and a wide planted median, and a 40 mph speed limit.

The question is why the victim would ride out in front of such a loud motorcycle, even if he or she didn’t see it.

It’s possible they were under the influence or distracted in some way, or that the 54-year old motorcyclist may have been traveling at a high rate of speed.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Riverside Police Department’s Traffic Bureau at 951/826-8720.

This is at least the 29th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

It’s also the fourth bicycling death in the county in the past 30 days.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Update: Riverside road cyclist left dying in the street by hit-and-run driver

March 23, 2019 / / 3 comments

Yet another Southern California bike rider has been killed by a cowardly hit-and-run driver.

According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Riverside police found the 53-year old victim lying in the westbound bike lane on Victoria Avenue, just west of Myers Street, around 7:45 Saturday morning, after receiving a report of a bicyclist down.

He was transported to a local hospital, where he died.

Police initially thought the man, who has not been publicly identified, had fallen off his bicycle. However, hospital officials reported his injuries were consistent with being hit by a motor vehicle.

Unfortunately, no witnesses have come forward, so there is no description of the suspect or the vehicle used in the crime.

Video from the scene shows a black road bike and silver helmet lying on the side of the road.

Screen grab from KTLA report

No other information is available at this time.

Regardless of how the crash may have happened, there is simply no excuse, ever, for leaving a crash victim bleeding in the street. The driver should face a murder charge for making a conscious decision to let the victim die, rather than calling for help and providing assistance as the law requires.

We’ll never know if he might have survived if he’d gotten help right away.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Zach Fishell at 951-826-8723, or email zfishell@riversideca.gov.

Let’s hope they find the coward responsible for this crash. And that prosecutors treat this needless death with the seriousness it demands.

This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first I’m aware of in Riverside County.

Update: The Press-Enterprise has identified the victim as 52-year old Riverside resident Brian Sabel.

Despite wearing a helmet, he died of a head injury at Riverside Community Hospital roughly 45 minutes after he was found in the roadway.

No word on how long he had been lying there before help arrived.

This would appear to be his Strava profile.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Brian Sabel and his loved ones.

Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

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

Update: 57-year old Hemet woman left to die in San Jacinto hit-and-run

October 1, 2017 / / 7 comments

Yet another bike rider has been killed by a heartless hit-and-run driver, left to die on the side of a road just outside San Jacinto in Riverside County.

According to the Press-Enterprise, the victim was found on lying on the eastbound side of the Ramona Expressway, about 590 feet east of Alessandro Avenue, and pronounced dead at 6:26 am.

She was identified as 57-year old Hemet resident Vivian Thomas.

There’s no word on how long she may have been there, or if she might have survived her injuries if the driver had stopped and called for help, as required by law.

Let alone basic human decency.

If and when the hit-and-run driver is caught, he or she should face a 2nd degree murder charge for making a conscious decision to let the victim die. But probably won’t.

This is the 49th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth in Riverside County.

Seventeen of those SoCal deaths have been the result of hit-and-run.

Update: The Press-Enterprise reports Thomas was struck from behind by a Chevrolet or GMC truck or SUV. She had been dead about six hours when she was found, placing the time of the crash sometime around or before midnight. 

Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP San Gorgonio Pass office at 951/769-2000.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Vivian Thomas and all her loved ones.

 

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

Morning Links: Torrance tri canceled, Riverside carnage continues, and bike advocate ponders if it’s time to quit

September 9, 2016 / / 5 comments

If you haven’t read it yet, don’t miss yesterday’s guest post Letter From St. Louis, from CyclingSavvy’s Karen Karabell.

Go ahead. We’ll wait.

Then buckle in. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today.

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Don’t bother showing up for this weekend’s triathlon in Torrance.

Word comes from Todd Munson that the race has been called on account of apparent greed and billing irregularities from the cities involved, and not involved.

This is what the organizers had to say.

Yesterday, the city of Torrance canceled the 2016 LA Triathlon at Torrance Beach.  With much regret, we are forced to announce this cancellation to our participants and sponsors only 4 days prior to race day.  We understand that the cancellation will come with great disappointment to those of you who have worked hard and prepared for months toward this year’s triathlon.  We are disappointed by the unexpected and unprecedented circumstances and demands that have unfolded to cause this cancellation.

We have listed the key points that led to the city’s cancellation of our event in an effort to offer some immediate transparency to all participants:

  1. On August 31st, the City of Torrance sent to Pacific Sports an email demanding advanced payment, in full, to the city, prior to the event, for city services.  There was no detail of the charges, simply amounts in total and the requirement to bring two cashier’s checks by 5pm.   This is not standard practice in other municipalities and certainly not in those where all previous invoices had been paid in a timely fashion.
  2. In the same email on August  31st, we were informed that a significant separate payment was also required to be paid to the neighboring City of Palos Verdes, a city in which we have no footprint, no permit, no participants enter their city as part of our course, no liability coverage, and no relationship of any kind.  This demand is unprecedented in our 36 year history as an event production company, and to our knowledge unprecedented in the event industry in the United States.    This payment is demanded by Torrance (to be paid to Palos Verdes) although we have never been made aware of the apparent business relationship (although it has been requested) between Torrance (where we do have permits) and the city of Palos Verdes.
  3. Also in this email, it was finally revealed by the City of Torrance, after an audit requested by Pacific Sports, the city had significantly overbilled us by an amount in excess of 30% to the total in 2015 for city services.   We have strong evidence that the 2014 invoice may have been overbilled as well.   Importantly, we have no reliability that the advance payment demanded for 2016 (without detail of its calculation) is backed up by verifiable charges which will only be available after the event has occurred.
  4. Since August 31st, we have worked tirelessly with all levels of the city government including the city council and Mayor’s office in an attempt to bring resolution.  We offered a structured and fair written compromise on these issues in attempt to  insure the event went on as planned on September 11th.  Ultimately, the city offered no compromise or proposed solution and informed us they had unilaterally canceled the event.

We are upset and deeply disappointed by the cancellation, but the requirements were unreasonable and excessive.  Accepting the terms would have compromised the entire event and were untenable for us to continue at the current site for the LA Triathlon.

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Yet another teenager has been injured riding her bicycle in Riverside, where it’s apparently open season on bike-riding school kids.

A 14-year old girl is in stable condition after being hit by a pickup while riding in a crosswalk just 100 feet from her school Wednesday morning. The driver fled the scene after stopping briefly; she was taken into custody on a nearby highway about 10 minutes later.

Although despite what the story says, it’s hard to imagine the driver was “fully cooperative” with police when she tried to make a getaway before being caught.

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Lucas James Guidroz pled not guilty to in the hit-and-run death of math and music teacher, musician and cyclist Rod Bennett as he was riding on Placerita Canyon Road last May. Guidroz faces felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury.

Note to Santa Clarita Valley Signal: Show a little respect, and get the victim’s name right in the caption.

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In the wake of yesterday’s blog post from Surly’s Skip Bernet, in which he said he’s done riding on streets due to the dangers posed by cars, long-time LA bike advocate Examined Spoke questions whether he wants to keep riding his bike.

Is cycling in traffic safe? I can find statistical support for any answer I want: yes, no, who knows. My own experiences suggest the answer should be no, not safe. In 2009 I was rear-ended while riding on Los Feliz Boulevard; last year I was brushed (side-swiped) on Fountain Avenue. I can recount several other close passes, terrifying moments — the usual stuff that you will hear from almost any cyclist. I shrugged off these experiences when they happened, but they still haunt me. They’ve also made me into a poor advocate; I cannot argue for cycling’s essential safety, I am a personal testament to its dangers. As much as I want to believe the opposite, little by little I’ve had to admit to myself that I don’t feel safe on the road. I never feel safe out there.

It’s a very well-written and challenging piece, and one that poses some very difficult questions.

If anyone wants to respond to it, let me know. I’ll be happy to share your thoughts here.

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The bus carrying Britain’s Team Sky pro cycling team nearly made mince pie out of a cyclist on a narrow country road.

The team contacted him a few hours after the video went online to apologize.

They should give him an autographed team bike, at the very least. And a new pair of shorts, since he probably needs them after that.

Meanwhile, Lance’s doping ban has been partially lifted, so he is now free to compete in non-bike related Olympic sports, like ski jumping, pole vaulting and synchronized swimming.

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Local

Props to CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo for beginning work to create a pedestrian plaza, including bike racks, on the Hoover Triangle in University Park. Now if he could just do something to make it safer to bike or walk there.

More honorees at the LACBC’s upcoming Firefly Ball include Culver City Council Member Meghan Sahli-Wells and The Walt Disney Company.

CiclaValley shares video of the new Spring Street bike lane between 1st and 2nd Streets in DTLA.

Damien Newton talks with Marisa Creter of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments about plans for a 200 mile bike superhighway crisscrossing the entire valley.

WeHoVille examines the 18-month timeline to reconstruct Santa Monica Blvd through Beverly Hills; the street will be widened, providing enough room for the bike lanes that won’t be installed. Increased costs and the objections of residents to widening one narrow section of the street was given as the reason not to install much-needed bike lanes on the boulevard. So why won’t they commit to adding them now that the street is being widened anyway?

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson reports on Wednesday’s meeting of the Palos Verdes Estates Traffic Safety Committee as only he can.

 

State

A Canadian man is riding over 1,500 miles to attend next month’s Desert Trip music festival in Indio on his Pedego ebike.

Pismo Beach votes to move a bike path into a busy parking lot to keep it from besmirching a coastal subdivision for wealthy homeowners.

Fresno jurors find an accused career criminal not guilty of attempted murder of a police officer in a struggle that began when the cops tried to stop him for riding without a light.

 

National

Streetsblog says the US has the worst per capita traffic fatality rate in the developed world because we drive too damn much. Not to mention too damn fast, too damn drunk and too damn distracted.

Zocolo Public Square says modern roads resulted from a coalition of early bicyclists and rural farmers banding together to demand better streets, only to see cyclists squeezed out with the advent of the automobile.

Build your own DIY ebike that looks like it would probably alert the bomb squad.

Bicycling offers advice on how to ride through your pregnancy.

Exploring Hawaii’s Lanai island by bicycle, where only 3,200 people live and there are no traffic lights.

The Tacoma teenager tackled by police as she rode her bicycle through a mall parking lot is suing the police department, as well as the officer in question, the mall and its security company.

American Denise Mueller hopes to set a new motor-paced bicycle land speed record of over 168 mph at Utah’s famed Bonneville Salt Flats this weekend.

A Chicago area writer can’t seem to figure out if he’s pro or anti bike, saying allowing bicycles in wilderness areas is a bad idea, but giving bicyclists the same rights as drivers is a good one — especially if it means more riders get tickets.

An Op-Ed writer in the Chicago Tribune complains about a parking protected bike lane, and insists that bike riders can’t be ticketed — or pay fees — because they don’t have operators licenses. Never mind that most bicyclists have driver’s licenses, like most other human beings in this country, and can be ticketed even without them.

Cleveland officials say the bike lane that was removed to provide parking for the Hilton hotel wasn’t really removed because it was never really a bike lane to begin with.

A retired Boston doctor encourages drivers to open their doors with their right hands to avoid dooring cyclists.

New York protected the security of the presidential candidates from bike riders by forcing the riders onto a busy highway at rush hour.

A Pennsylvania website says bicyclists face a life and death struggle for space on the state’s roads.

 

International

Ottawa officials say it’s okay that bike lanes on a newly opened bridge are too narrow to meet official guidelines, because they’re not really bike lanes. Evidently, they’ve been talking with the people in Cleveland.

It only took 120 years to get a bike lane on one Toronto street.

The Guardian looks at the Rails to Trails movement in the UK, where abandoned rail lines are being turned into world class biking and walking trails.

Curbed introduces Amsterdam’s first Bike Mayor, elected as an unofficial representative for the city’s bicyclists.

Apparently Belgrade, Serbia fails to make the grade when it comes to being bike friendly.

A new report says Adelaide, Australia isn’t ready for bikeshare because of its immature bikeway network, mandatory helmet law and crushing car culture. Los Angeles can cop to two out of three.

An Aussie writer calls for a network of segregated cycle routes to replace painted bike lanes, augmented by a network of shared quietways where cars don’t own the roads. Which sounds a lot like the apparently forgotten Bicycle Friendly Streets called for in LA’s Mobility Plan.

 

Finally…

Bicycling may be good for your health, but good sex may kill you. Seriously, if you’re already on probation for drug charges and carrying an “unknown white substance” on your bike, don’t ride on the damn sidewalk.

And just in time to beat the Halloween rush, a bicycle on a kickstand pedals itself, both forward and back, with no one but the camera around.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Hit-and-Run, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Rough days for SoCal cyclists, RAAM champ critically injured, and Pokémon goes Ovarian Psychos

September 7, 2016 / / One comment

It’s been a rough few days for SoCal cyclists.

A bike rider was hospitalized after being struck by a car in Pomona Monday night; no word on the victim’s condition. Thanks to Joe Linton for the heads-up.

A 16-year old girl is in critical condition after being hit by a Dial-A-Ride Bus while riding in Riverside with her mother; KABC-7 shows her mangled bike.

………

Sad news from Ohio, as Danny Chew, two-time winner of the Race Across America, was paralyzed from the waist down after a solo fall while riding with a friend near Lodi, Ohio.

Chew was riding around 20 to 25 mph when he drifted off the road as the result of a dizzy spell, and broke his neck crashing into a drainage ditch. His long-term prognosis following emergency surgery won’t be known for several days.

A crowdfunding site has raised over $37,000 to help pay his medical bills.

He is an eight-time RAAM finisher, once crossing the US in eight days, seven hours, and 14 minutes as a solo competitor, and just 200,000 miles from his goal of riding one million miles on his bike.

………

Three-time Vuelta winner Alberto Contador predicts Columbia’s Nairo Quintana will win this year’s race, though second place Chris Froome still has his hopes up.

Froome insists over half of the peloton should have been eliminated for missing the time cut-off, which would have left just 71 riders to finish the race.

………

Local

Former LA City Controller Laura Chick endorses Jesse Creed in his race to oust incumbent Paul “No Bikes On Westwood” Koretz from the city council. Meanwhile, Josef-Bray Ali is hosting a fundraiser this Monday in his race to unseat Gil “No Bikes Anywhere” Cedillo.

Curbed races to Dodger Stadium to find the fastest way to get there from Union Station; the bicycle finished a close second to the car. But didn’t have to pay those parking fees, either.

Harrison Ford may be one of us, but doesn’t seem to have the hang of roof racks yet. Thanks to Steve Herbert for the link.

CiclaValley feels the call of the Great White North.

Pasadena’s Public Health Director will tell the city’s Complete Streets Coalition that their work aligns with public health efforts at the coalition’s monthly meeting tonight.

That didn’t take long. Just weeks after the Raleigh bike store opened in Santa Monica, thieves broke in early Monday and stole five e-bikes worth nearly $20,000.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson urges everyone to come out to support bike safety efforts in NIMBY haven Palos Verdes Estates at tonight’s Traffic Safety Committee meeting.

 

State

An Anaheim man has ridden across the country 64 times to raise funds to fight multiple sclerosis.

Santa Ana is offering eight hour Confident Cycling classes the next two weekends.

A writer for a North San Diego County paper calls for curb protected bike lanes to replace the painted lanes in the wake of a hit-and-run that left a cyclist seriously injured.

Sacramento police make their 41st bait bike arrest of the year to fight back against bike theft. Los Angeles doesn’t even have a bait bike program.

 

National

A health website attempts to raise a panic about the harmful effects of bicycling, which turns out to be nothing more than the old discredited fears that too much riding may make you a candidate for those ED commercials.

CNET recommends a $45 waterproof, 1080p action cam.

A new $250 smartphone attachment will allow you to control your phone and answer calls without taking your hands off your handlebars. Or you can get all that built into your helmet.

A Boulder CO designer has created a simplified bikeway map that includes ratings for difficulty.

Wichita KS changes the law to make biking under the influence a less serious offense than DUI.

A Dallas cyclist nearly gets into a fight with an aggressive driver who tells him to get on the sidewalk.

An Arkansas mountain bike park draws 1,000 cyclists a week; it will be the site of the International Mountain Bicycling World Summit in November.

An Ohio man gets four years in prison for blinding a 72-year old bike rider in one eye with a paint gun; however, he could be out in as little as six months with good behavior. Another reminder to always wear some form of eye protection while you ride. And have a good lawyer on speed dial.

New York’s Vision Zero is too ambitious, according to a writer the Post, who proposes making it Vision 123 instead.

The New York Times discovers the Rolling Coal movement, and drivers who think they have a God-given right to belch soot and smoke in the face of bike riders and pedestrians.

Solange Knowles is one of us, as she takes Ed Droste on a bike tour of her adopted hometown of New Orleans.

 

International

Yahoo offers typo-filled advice on how to ride your bike around the world.

Bike Radar lists the ten best movies about roadies. No, not those roadies.

City Lab takes up the issue of whether traffic dangers and population outweighs the benefits of bicycling, after the recent report from the Financial Times, and concludes the real danger is sitting on your ass. Thanks to Jon and Patrick Murray for the FT link.

An Ottawa columnist says separated bike lanes aren’t enough to protect cyclists, while another urges the city to embrace Vision Zero and consider all traffic deaths preventable.

Montreal considers improving safety for bicyclists by narrowing lanes, reducing speed limits and moving stop lines back to make room for bike riders at traffic lights.

A London bike lawyer says the police response to the recent Jeremy Vine case offers hope that they might finally take incidents involving other riders seriously.

Caught on video: A London cyclist catches a bus driver using his phone to place bets on soccer while driving.

A recent Polish immigrant tells the horrifying story of the vicious gay bashing he suffered while riding his bike in a Dublin park, and the suggestion from the investigating officer that he somehow provoked it. And what the hell difference would it make if he did?

Welsh cyclists — and anyone else — now have the legal right to propose new biking and walking routes, and local leaders are required to listen.

Apparently, road rage is no different in Mumbai than anywhere else.

 

Finally…

That’s not a bike, it’s a pedal-powered seismograph. Throwing your bike at police officers after stealing hash browns from McDonalds is not a generally accepted usage.

And let’s all go for a musical Pokémon bike ride.

Especially since the video seems to feature LA’s Ovarian Psychos.

Pokemon

Ovarian Psychos

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,
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